#I've had this sitting in my docs for a while and needed to post it sdbfsd

[laughterfixs]

Once Bitten Twice Shy

Summary: After Rayman is returned to his home world with the promise to visit more often, the Daycare family is left to relax after the hectic situation and in the meantime, Ana is still struggling with the fact that her rage caused her to attack one of her own babies.  Divo and Glitchy belong to miss @coy-lee~!

“You can’t hide from mee~” Ana sang as she slowly stalked through the daycare, looking for her prey. With every step, there was not a sound from her paws. Her ear twitched when she heard a giggle. 

The dragon hummed a chuckle to herself as she followed it, her large ears allowing her to pinpoint exactly where it came from. She turned her head around the corner and there sat her dear Sunny, back to her while hiding in the play structure and peeking through the barred area. Clearly he was looking for her, trying to find where she was so he could properly hide. The sneaky lil thing had no idea he was already caught!

With a smirk, she crept closer, reached her paw in and wrapped it around his middle to pull him out. 

“GOTCHA!”

Sun squealed as he was yanked back but laughed as Ana placed him on the foam floor in front of her. Squirming like a cat, he rolled onto his front to try and crawl away but Ana gently pulled him back. 

“Where you think yer goin huh?!”

“N-nohowhehehere!”

“Ohoho you bet yer sweet lil rays yer not goin anywhere! Yer mine now firefly! I’m gonna-“ 

Sunny laughed more as his mother pushed him over onto his back. He squealed louder when he felt a raspberry over his tummy, combined with her whiskers and velvety muzzle, it tickled so much! 

“NYAHAHAHAOOO MAHAHAHAHAMAHAHA!! GYEEEHEHEHAHAHAAA! T-TIHIHIHICKUHUHUHULS!!”

“Oh yea? Ya sure? Does this tickle?” She nibbled his sides but instead of giggles, she was met with a loud terrified and hurt shriek. Ana jolted her head away only to see Sun cradling his arm, two holes in it with oil pouring out of them. Her blood went cold as she immediately backed away, ears flat to her head and eyes wide with terror. 

Moon and Glitch held Sun fretting over him. Lofi and Divo looked to her with angry expressions. 

“You really are a monster!!”

“To think I considered you a sister….you’re no better than my cousins.” 

“B-but…but no. No please I didn’t-“

“Get away from us!” Moon snarled with glitch glaring right with him. 

“We don’t want a beast as our mom!” 

“Moonberry please- Glitch, sugarcode-“

“HA! Don’t you sugarcode me, you should get out of here while you still can. Who would ever love a monster like you?” 

“MONSTER”

“BRUTE”

“WRATHFUL ANIMAL!”

“BEAST!” 

Ana woke up with a gasp. Her head swiveled in every direction to look around and take in her surroundings. She sighed realizing she was still in the daycare loft before placing a paw over her hammering heart. 

“Just another dream…” she muttered to herself but squeezed her eyes shut before the tears could start. “But the same one for the third time this week…” 

“Heeeey Moooom~!” 

The cheerful voice that belonged to the daytime daycare attendant, Sundrop, sounded from the balcony and not long after, the quite literal ray of sunshine skipped past the balcony and put his hands on the railing, grinning down at the dragon. 

“Guess what!! All the kids have gone home, staff is closing up earlier for the long weekend aaaand Moonie and I are finished cleaning! You got us all to yourself for three. Whole. DAYS!! Isn’t that great!?” Sun punched the air excitedly over having a long weekend with his family. 

Ana managed to put up a smile. 

“That sounds amazing suga’.”

Sun tilted his head at the rather….lackluster response. He…kinda expected more of a reaction than that. Squinting, he could see the bags under his mother’s eyes. It brought a small frown to his faceplate. 

“You okay..? You look…” he paused, trying not to sound rude or mean. “…not good…” 

“I’m okay sweetheart.” Ana assured while she stretched her body and yawned. “Just waking up is all…” 

Sun had climbed down the ladder to get closer to her. 

“Are you sure? I know you haven’t been sleeping well lately.” He watched Ana lay her head back down on the ground, he sat on his knees in front of her and rubbed her snout. 

“I’m fine Sunny. Like I said, just groggy from my nap. How was your day?” She asked, quickly changing the subject off of her. She didn’t need him worrying. 

Sun gave a shrug, still absentmindedly stroking the bridge of her nose as he spoke. 

“It was okay. Had a bratty parent get angry with me telling me how replaceable I was…but Moonie handled them and got them out quickly.” 

Ana kept her growl to herself, she didn’t much appreciate how a lot of humans treated her boys…but they’ve assured her there’s plenty of good ones they get to interact with. And with the incident with Rayman…she was doing her best to control her temper. 

“I’m so sorry Firefly. They don’t know how important you are.” 

Sun giggled a bit, hugging her nose. 

“It’s okay mom, now we have so much time to play and spend time together!! Moon’s gonna get his patrol done early soooo maybe it can be just us for a bit and we can…do the thing? I-if you wanna that is!” Sun asked with a shy spin of his rays and an embarrassed but pleading smile. 

Ana looked up at him, watching him tap his fingers. She knew what her baby was asking, of course but as she watched him…her vision flashed again to her dream, Sun in tears and holding his arm. 

Her body stiffened and she blinked. It was gone in a second and she saw his shy smiling face again. Ana frowned a bit, lifting her head. 

“Uhm…I’m sorry Sunny…I don’t think I have the energy today. Or at least for now…” 

“O-oh! Okay….we-we don’t have to if you don’t wanna!”

Ana could tell he was disappointed. She never refused to tickle them. Sure in some playful moments or to use as a punishment since her boys loved it so much…but she never told them she didn’t want to. And she hated how awful she felt over it…

“I’m sorry baby…”

Sun shook his head though. “No, no it’s okay mama. You should want to and I know you’re tired.” 

Ana exhaled through her nose quietly. She didn’t want to hurt him…

“I think I’m gonna go for a quick walk and stretch my legs while everyone’s gone…when I come back we’ll figure out something to do okay?” 

Sun perked up a bit, he nodded quickly. At least she still wanted to spend time…but still…

“That sounds good!” 

“Okay. Love you, firefly. See you soon.” 

“Bye mama! Love you!” 

Sun waved as she exited the loft and jumped down the balcony. He sighed as soon as she was gone and sat against the playhouse. 

Snf

Sun brought his knees to his chest and hugged them. 

“What did I do wrong…?” 

The usually cheerful bot let loose the tears that were building up, he scrubbed at his face with the bottom of his palms. Was it his fault? Did he do something to upset her? She always wanted to play, so what happened?

Each question got him crying harder. He just wanted to spend time with his mama.

Sun didn’t notice the shadowy tendrils curling around his form; he lifted his head seeing a familiar skeletal hand rest on his shoulder. 

“Oh Sunbun…What’s gotten you so upset?” 

Sun whimpered, not wasting a moment to hug the shadow entity. He didn’t care about the armor or the boney body he was snuggling into. He just wanted the hug. 

“I-I thihink I upset mahahawm…” he blubbered, burying his face against the armor. 

diVo gave a small frown, putting a hand over Sun’s back. 

“Why would you ever think that?”

Sun sniffed, cuddling against diVo while he tried to calm down. 

“She didn’t want to…” he struggled to say, it was still embarrassing. “P-play with me. And-and she never says no unless Moon or I did something bad! B-b-but I dohohont know what I dihihihiiiid!” 

The shadow hummed as Sun cried against him. He looked toward the exit of the loft. He’d have to talk with his sister, it seemed…but first. 

“Was she acting upset with you, Sunnimon?” 

Sun sniffed as he processed the question and shook his head. 

“N-no…she-she just seemed tired and-and said we’d figure out something to do when she got back…” 

diVo nodded in understanding. 

“I believe there is something beyond your mother’s exhaustion that is bothering her. And it’s not you. You’re much too precious to be mad at either way~” he teased, skating his jet black claws over the small animatronics sides. Sun squeaked, giggles bubbling out of his voicebox. 

“Dihihihivooohohohoo!” 

Said entity chuckled, pulling his claws back. 

“There we are…that’s better already.” He gently scooped Sun up and moved him to the little nest next to the arcade machine. 

“Why don’t you stay here? Keep Glitch company.” diVo suggested, nodding to the machine. “I’ll go look for your mother and see what I can do. Alright?” 

Sun nodded, grabbing one of the cords to plug himself into the machine. 

“Okay…thanks diVo.” 

diVo nodded with a smile, watching Sun plug in and transfer his consciousness. He then left once he was in the game. Now to find where his sister was and get her out of this thought process…not only for her own sake, but for her boys. 

In the meantime, Ana had gone to the arcade room. It had become her favorite spot other than the daycare. It was dark. The DJ was usually the only one there, and cameras hardly covered the area. 

She sighed to herself as she took a seat. 

I can’t believe I refused Sunny tickles…

But god what if I hurt him again…

What if that dream becomes reality? 

What if…what if…

Her thoughts brought tears to her eyes. 

She wrapped her wings around herself, curling her tail around her paws. She was so tired…she wanted to sleep…

“Seems we’re here again, eh sister?” 

Ana jolted at the sudden deep voice questioning her. She poked her head out of her wings, seeing diVo tilt his head at her with a concerned look. He had taken to his other form, the wispy shadow head floating above the black suit, coat tails curled behind him. 

“d-diVo I-“

“I know.” 

Ana lowered her ears and turned away. 

“….it won’t leave me alone…I can’t even look at Sunny without…that night just…flashing before my eyes...” 

diVo moved to her side. He gently tapped the wing blocking his view of her. It twitched, but she folded them back. 

“I know you’re ashamed, Ana.” He began, watching her expression. “But you’ve learned from your mistake. And you’ve been doing good thus far keeping your temper in check-“

“But I can’t unsee it!” She interrupted quickly. “I keep having the same dream! I keep seeing him so hurt and scared and…and…” 

“And..?”

“…and you…all of you, hating me…You, Lofi, Moon, Glitchy and Sun…” 

diVo watched as Ana sank down to lay on her stomach, throwing her front paws over her head. 

“I’m so scared diVo…I’m scared of losing you, I’m scared of hurting anyone I love, I’m scared of them all being right about me!” 

diVo watched her claws dig past her hair. He reacted quickly enough to gently grab them and move them away. 

“Keeping yourself from them is not the answer to the problem, Ana. We all know you are none of that. You made a mistake and you’ve learned from it. We wouldn’t cast you aside…I know Sun and Moon are precious to you.” 

Ana shook her head. “Yeah…so much so I’m scared of breaking them…” 

diVo squinted his eyes incredulously at her. He took a breath, gently rubbing his thumbs into the back of her paws. 

“Took a lot of rage to poke him with holes. He's not fragile. You might think you're punishing yourself, but in reality, he's being punished…” 

Ana blinked at that and turned to him. 

“What do you mean..?”

“After you left, Sun was in tears. He thought he upset you or did something wrong.” 

Shit. Ana thought to herself. She lowered her gaze and flattened her ears. 

“Heh…seems I can’t stop hurting him….I’m bad at this ain’t I…?” She asked, a look of shame covering her face. 

“No. You are learning, you will make mistakes. That’s all part of the process. Of being a mother and of life.” He gently moved his hand under her chin to get her to look back at him. 

“But you also need to learn to let us help you. To talk to us when you need to. We can only do so much sister…” 

Ana exhaled slowly and put her head in her brother’s lap. 

“I guess I’m still not used to having help at the ready…I’ve done things on my own for so long…”

diVo nodded, smoothing out her mane. 

“I know how you feel…being so independent for so long…having anyone to depend on simply…”

“Doesn’t feel real…” Ana finished with a sigh. She lifted her head then. 

“I think I’m ready to go back…I have a lot that I need to fix and make up for Sunny…”

diVo nodded, letting the dragon stand before he walked along with her back to the daycare. As they entered the loft, Ana swallowed nervously, seeing both her boys were turned off and plugged into the machine. diVo noticed her nervousness eating at her soul and gently nudged her with his cape. “That dream of yours is just a dream sister…you’d have to be an awful person for us to cast you away.” Ana took in a breath. “Right…right.” she nodded. With their powers and magic, they entered the machine. The two were greeted by the sight of Glitch and Moon playing a card game, Sun simply watching while hugging a pillow. “You suuuure you don’t want me to deal you in, Sunny?” Glitch asked with a showy shuffle of the cards, wearing a poker dealer’s hat instead of his usual starry jester hat and a chocolate wafer cookie sticking out of his mouth to mimic a cigar.  

But Sun shook his head, hardly putting up a smile. 

“No thanks…I’m okay…” 

Ana felt her heart break at the scene before her. She slowly made her way over. 

“Sunny?”

Sun blinked and turned his head when he heard her voice. 

“MOM!” He cried out, climbing over the couch arm to get to her. As Ana lowered her head to him, the DCA wrapped his arms around her muzzle and nuzzled foreheads with her. 

“I’m so sorry Sunny…” 

Sun pulled his head back a bit to look at her. 

“Huh? But…wasn’t I the one to upset you?” 

“No firefly. You didn’t do anything.” Ana sighed as she laid down, Moon walked over and she pulled both her pups into a hug. 

“Ya see…the reason I haven’t been sleeping well is because I’ve had recurring dreams ever since I…” she shut her eyes at the painful memory. 

“…Since you bit me…?” Sun asked gently. He earned a shameful nod. 

“I’ve been so scared honey…of hurtin ya and losing all of yall. In fact I was so scared of hurtin ya physically I forgot to take in the fact I was hurtin ya emotionally and mentally…” 

“That’s why you didn’t want to tickle me earlier…” Sun muttered in realization, seeing his mother give another sad nod. 

“But it was an accident.” Moon frowned. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault. I don’t think any of us could’ve been able to predict that.” 

“Yeah! You’d never hurt me on purpose…” Sun hugged around her face again. 

“I know hun…it just…” she sighed. “It just caused me to lose trust in myself…”

Sun shrank in his rays at that. He moved his hands under his mothers chin to lift it so he could look into her eyes. 

“Well I trust you…” 

“Me too.” Moon added, putting a hand on her nose. 

“We all do, Cookie.” 

Ana perked her ears up seeing her mate traverse from his spot. Glitch kissed her cheek. 

“None of us are perfect, we each have our own issues and flaws. Hehehe! You know I’m not all there myself! But we have faith in you just as you have faith in us. We’ll overcome it together.” 

“And just as I’ve told you in the past sister, I’ve seen the contents of your heart…I know all I need to trust you.” 

Ana felt her eyes water. She let out a choked laugh and hugged her babies and mate. 

“What did I do to deserve any of you…?” 

“Doesn’t matter, you have us now and that’s the way it’s going to be.” Glitch assured, rubbing a hand through her hair and down her ears. 

Ana hummed happily, even feeling diVo rubbing the back of her wings. She was truly surrounded by love. But…there was still one thing she needed to fix. She pulled from the group hug a bit and lowered her head to Sun, booping noses with him. “Still wanna play, firefly?” Sun blinked and spun his rays at the offer. “Really?!” He stopped and calmed down a moment. “Are…are you sure you’re ready for that…?” 

Ana nodded with a smile. “I can’t keep being afraid to touch you because of a one time incident that probably would never even happen again, right? Yer my baby sure, but you ain’t a delicate lil sunflower.” 

Sun giggled in response, nuzzling against his mother’s face. Glitch hummed a chuckle as he scooped up Moon and carried him a bit aways to give Sun and Ana some room, much to Moon’s chagrin. “H-hey! Gl-Gliiiitch!” “Awww doncha wanna spend time with your dear papa, Moonpie~?” Moon muttered out of embarrassment, crossing his arms. Ana chuckled lightly at the both of them before she gently nudged Sun to lay down. He laid sideways in front of her, head on her right arm and legs over her left. She stared down at him, flicking her ears back as oil flashed into her vision. Sun noticed her unease, so he decided to help her. He reached up and gently held her muzzle bringing it down toward his belly. “I trust you, Mama. You won’t hurt me.” Ana softened her gaze, Sun once again showing off that bright lil light of his that made him so endearing. She smiled and huffed air against his belly, earning a squeak out of him. “GYApffffhehehehe!” Ana chuckled, starting to nuzzle his belly and giving him tiny mlems of her forked tongue. “Nyahahahahaoooo! M-mahahahamaaahaha! Gyeep! Ohohoho stahahahars!” Moon watched his brother and mother play, while he was glad things were better between them….He…kinda wanted to play too. Glitch took notice of the look of longing on Moon’s face. The code smirked and suddenly wrapped his arms under Moon’s arms in a hug. “Gnk! Gl-Glitch!?” Glitch didn’t respond other than a mischievous chuckle and summoned two more pairs of arms, one pair of hands tickling his ribcage and around the exo under his arms, the second pair going straight for the belly. “GYAHAHAHAHA!! DAHAHAHAHAAAD WAIT-WAHAHAHAIT! NO-NO-NAHAHAHAHAO FAHAHAHAHAIR!!” “Tiiiicky ticky tickle~!” diVo chuckled, deciding to sit back on the sofa and simply enjoy the meal being made before him. Seems things were already starting to truly get back to normal around here.

[absolutelynotsanebaby]

I've had this one-shot in my docs for a while, I decided to post it here. It's villain au, specifically a moment in Cole's time in the temple with Yang. You can find more info on this au here. The tag for this au is 'villains.au'.

CW: graphic violence, abuse, blood (in the form of ectoplasma), eye injury.

Fic is under cut:

The door to the bunks slams shut with a deafening bang. 

Cole stares at it from down the hall. Behind him, Lloyd and Nya are crowding but also hiding in a way. They don’t move past his shoulders. Distantly, Cole wonders where Zane is before coming to the conclusion that he’s in the Bridge, staring at a wall or—or something. 

“What’s his problem,” Lloyd hisses, voice suspiciously wet. Cole looks down at him and finds Lloyd’s eyes shining and lip curled up in a scowl, clearly hiding a hurt expression. His cheeks are all red and Cole finds his hand is reaching out to rest on Lloyd’s head.

For a moment Lloyd looks conflicted, face going through a series of expressions—confusion, anger, sadness and then it’s all wiped away. He leans into the touch anyways, though without looking Cole in the eyes.

Cole runs his fingers through his hair softly, thumbling along Lloyd’s forehead. It seems to calm Lloyd some, his shoulders slumping a bit. He looks up at Cole with tired eyes, bags under them, and glances at the bunks.

“Just go sit down, alright?” Cole says, “I’ll talk to Jay.”

Lloyd is quiet for a moment before nodding and walking off.

Not before he mutters ‘what an asshole’ under his breath. Cole almost wants to snort. 

Of course, Nya doesn’t budge.

“Nya—” he starts but she interrupts, hands flying out in an angry motion. 

“No! You can’t—can’t tell me to go sit down!” she yells, her face is all screwed up. She tries to move forward but Cole steps in front of her. She glowers at him.

“I wasn’t going to say that, just…just let me handle him alright?” he explains, hands in a placating manner. 

“I can handle him.”

“I know.”

“He needs to get his head out of his ass,” she says quietly but with a viciousness, “he’s not the...the only one who’s hurt right now. Kai left all of us but he—he’s so—” she breaks off into an angry, growly sound.

“Trust me, I know. It’s just—Nya, he cares about you so much. I don’t want him to say anything to you that the—the both of you would regret, y’know?” Cole says, reaching out to gently squeeze her shoulders.

“I don’t love him.” she says back.

“I didn’t say that,” Cole squeezes again. Nya huffs.

“Yeah, yeah you didn’t,” she mumbles, “don’t you worry about it? What he’d say to you?”

“Nah, I got tough skin,” he grins and then hurries to continue before she gets mad, “not that you don’t! I’m just used to Jay, he’s my best friend and all.”

Nya raises an eyebrow, her expression is still pulled taunt and face flushed miserably but it’s—something. “Best friend, right, right, sure.”

She turns around, shrugging out of hands and begins to walk away.

“Hey now, I don’t like you’re implying there.”

Nya throws her hands up in a shrugging motion and turns the corner, exiting Cole’s line of sight.

He lets his shoulders slump. A weary, shaky sigh leaves him, expelling…some sort of feeling into the air. He waves it away. He brings his hand up to his face and just—rubs it. Presses into the crease between his eyebrows with an exhausted sort of energy.

Then he takes a deep breath and squares out his shoulders again. He glances at the bunk door and for good measure, takes another breath. He doesn’t really need to breathe but it makes Cole feel better. More steady.

He walks down the hall, his feet making no sound and grabs the doorknob. He goes still for a moment before turning it and opening the door. The room is dark and cold, they haven’t spent too much time in it as of late. It feels like too much of a reminder, he guesses. Kai’s bed is always empty.

Jay is curled up on—Cole’s bed actually. Cole’s eyes go soft. Jay is laying on his side, knees up to his chest and arms haphazardly thrown in between. Cole can’t see his face, it's covered up by the dark and also Jay’s stupid, curly bangs.

“Is there a reason you’re in my bed?” Cole asks.

Jay takes a moment to answer, “...it’s bigger.”

“It’s not,” Cole says as he sits down. The bed creaks a bit under his weight.

They sit in silence for a few minutes. Cole is trying to gather his words but he can’t seem to find them. His tongue is all heavy. He doesn’t know…how to help really. Ever since Kai left there’s been an open wound in the team. He’s done his best but he has the equivalent of duct tape and a dream when what he needs is cement.

Jay’s foot brushes against Cole’s arm. For a second, he thinks it’s an accident but then it happens again. Cole reaches out to brush his fingertips along Jay’s ankle. He’s got a little scar there, he realizes. Just a small nick on the back of his heel. Jay twitches a bit and Cole smiles faintly. He’s always been ticklish.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Cole asks quietly, letting the words reverberate into this quiet, vibrating silence they’ve made.

“No,” Jay says back, muffled, “what’s there to talk about.”

“Oh,” Cole’s voice goes deep and soft, “I don’t know, maybe why you’ve been so angry at everyone?”

“I’m not angry.”

“You were just yelling at Lloyd,” Cole recalls, resting his hand on Jay’s ankle, “what’d Lloyd do to you?”

“He—he…” Jay trails off, “...nothing.”

Cole hums, “you can’t keep doing that Jay, they’re getting mad.”

“I’m not,” Cole says.

Jay scoffs, bitter and resentful, “yeah, well, who isn’t mad at me?”

“Shouldn’t you be?”

“I think I got all my ‘mad-at-Jay’ out of my system already,” Cole says, “I don’t know if you remember but we kinda fought. A lot.”

Jay scoffs again but it sounds just a little bit more like a laugh.

Cole squeeze’s his ankle, “come on, Bluebell. Talk to me, it’s what I’m here for.”

Jay goes quiet and Cole resigns himself to waiting again. After a few minutes, Jay finally sits up, he does so slowly, pushing on his arms. Then he flops into a slouched over criss-cross position. He’s still not looking Cole in the eyes but he’ll take what he can.

Jay’s hands begin to mindlessly draw out patterns in the bed sheet. It's an anxious tic, Cole has noticed. He does it when he doesn’t know what to say.

That’s okay, he can start, “Jay, I know you’re mad but what happened with Kai isn’t your faul—”

“It’s not that!” Jay interrupts, then he deflates a little more, “Okay, maybe it’s a little that.”

“Jay–”

“But it’s just—just…how could he just leave like that?” Jay says. Cole’s been thinking the same thing, logically he knows it was that—damned staff. Twisted Kai’s mind. Kai loves them, he has to have faith in that, it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt though. “I can’t be him.”

Jay continues, gesturing desperately like he really wants Cole to understand, “I’m not—good at what he does. The on the spot plans and—and Nya. Lloyd. Hell, I don’t even know how you’re so good with them.”

“Listen, I get it dude. I’m out of my depth too,” he says, squeezing Jay’s knee, “but we just have to hang on.”

“So…” Cole starts, “you’re lashing out at them because you’re…not sure how to help?”

“I—I mean, when you put it like that,” Jay mumbles. Cole pats his knee.

“How long will we have to hang on?” Jay says miserably.

“I…I don’t know, Jay,” Cole says quietly. Jay sighs and then tips sideways onto his shoulder. He rests his head there, staring out forward. Cole slips an arm around his back. Jay leans into it. 

“I’m sorry,” Jay mutters, his voice is shaky, “for being mean. I really am trying but—but I’m probably going to be mean again.” Cole rubs his back.

“I know,” he says back, “but it’s alright, I’ll be there to rein you in.”

“That’s not your job,” Jay turns his head to bury his face into Cole’s shoulder.

“Sure it is.”

Jay goes quiet for a minute or so. He’s all wiry, all bony and thin muscles. Cole wouldn’t call him anything like small or delicate, Cole’s seen him take way too many hits that have sent him into a wall before and his shoulders are too broad but he feels so small sometimes.

Jay shifts, “I miss how warm you were.”

Cole’s hand pauses on his back before continuing to rub. He looks down at his hands, trying to swallow everything down.

“Yeah I—uh,” he takes a very quiet breath, “me too, buddy.”

“It’s not fair, y’know? You and Kai were always so warm but Kai’s gone and now you’re a ghost,” Jay mumbles,”’s not fair.”

“I know,” Cole closes his eyes, “I know.”

Jay opens his mouth to reply but the only thing that comes out of it is the sound of wood smashing against the floor.

Cole startles awake, stumbles and dragging himself away from where he thinks the impact came from. His eyes can’t focus and he’s—he’s still half asleep. He tries to sit up fully but the end of a staff stabs him dead center in the chest and slams him into the ground. His head bounces against the floor and he lets out a pained, shocked noise. 

“Cole, don’t you think it’s time to wake up?”

A staff member hit him in the face, shoving his head to the side. 

“A–Ah–!”

“Get up.”

Cole stumbles up finally, frantically backing away. His eyes—eye finally focus enough to be able to see what’s going on. Yang is standing in front of him, staff clenched in his hand and looking down on him with a vitriol. Cole breathes heavily. His—his eye hurts. It’s not fair that the one type of person who can hurt him without water—another ghost—is the one he’s trapped with.

“Yang,” he whispers. He covers his eye and yanks it back when it comes away—wet? No—No, not wet, just…slimy. His hand is bright green, it sort of looks like blood.

“Ectoplasma,” Yang comments. 

“Ecto—ectoplasma?” he stutters back, his hands shake.

“It’s how a ghost bleeds, child,” Yang says.

Cole backs away but Yang starts to advance. A ghost's steps are supposed to be—quiet, unheard but Yang’s are loud and heavy. Like a beat to a drum that hurts Cole’s ears. 

“Y–Yang,” he stutters, “Yang! Stop!” 

His voice is raw and shakes, his hands twitch out in front of him. He can fight, he’s trained to fight but he’s so—so scared—

“Stop!”

Yang strikes out and Cole screams, ducking lower and stumbling back under the staff that flies over where his head was. He can’t breathe—he can’t think! His feet are tripping over themselves. Yang slams his staff into Cole’s side, sending him sprawling onto the floor.

Cole chokes and grabs at his sides. He screams again when Yang’s staff slams into the ground besides his head. He pushes himself back by his feet, clutching at his side and eye bleeding. He throws his arm up just in time to block another hit to the face. Still it catches his chin and sends a shock wave of pain down his arm.

“Sloppy, weak,” Yang spits, “scared.”

“Yang—” Cole sobs. 

“Did you forget everything Wu taught you?” Yang says, spinning his staff and Cole flinches, sobbing, “or did he not teach you anything at all?”

“Why—why’re you—why’re you do–doing—” Cole’s voice cracks and he flinches again when Yang lifts his staff. He covers his face.

He tries to think—how to stop Yang and punch him in the face and so many other things but he can’t think. His brain’s all muddled up and his eyes bleeding and—and—

He sobs, voice cracking and hitching, crying without any tears. Yang steps forward, until his shadow covers Cole. He forces the end of his staff under Cole’s chin and forces his head to tilt up. He stares Cole dead in his eyes. 

“You need to be trained,” he says lowly.

“I’m not your student!” Cole yells back.

Yang lifts his staff again and Cole—Cole kicks his knees in. Yang flies back with a shout, slamming into the wall. He groans and Cole stumbles up, running away. He runs down the hall, turning the corners so fast he nearly slips. After a moment, he can hear Yang start to follow him.

Cole makes it to the stairs and stumbles up them. Yang catches up and grabs the collar of his shirt. Cole yells, throwing the both of them into the wall, pin–balling between them until Yang lets go with a grunt and a battered body. The walls creak but Cole flies up the stairs. Once he gets to the top, he turns around and kicks Yang down.

Then he continues to run. He’s on the second floor so now he just needs—needs to find somewhere to hide. He turns the corner and finds a series of doors, he freezes, panicking before he hears the sound of Yang stumbling up the stairs.

“F–Fuck,” he sobs and runs to one of the door—he doens’t even know which, just one of them and throws the door open. He runs inside and slams the door shut, his fingers are shaking badly but he manages to lock it. He looks around frantically.

He’s in a—closet? There’s a couple of dusty boxes and chests and Cole hits his knees. He shoves them in front of the door, leaving one behind. He curls behind it, shoving his face between his knees. 

He hears Yang start walking down the hall, his staff tapping ominously. Cole shutters, heaving a breath and struggling to muffle his cries. He slams his hands over his ears but it doesn't drown out the tapping.

He shakily extends his fingers to feel around his eye and flinches when they make contact. It’s—puffy and sticky with ectoplasma. He needs a mirror or something. His hand pats around where he’s curled up blindly. He jolts when he feels something. He runs his fingers over it and its—glass?

He grabs and brings to his face. It’s a glass shard, about as long as his hand and half as wide. The edges are sharp but it shouldn’t hurt him.

He positions it over his eye and sucks in a breath. It’s all swollen, puffed up and bright green. The skin around it is completely black. Ectoplasma is leaking—no longer dripping—out of the socket. Cole bites back a sob and lightly probs it, trying not to flinch.

It—it should heal. 

He hopes so, anyways.

Yang slams his staff into the floor outside his door.

“Cole!” he yells, loud and angry, “come out!”

Cole swallows a sob and presses his hands harder over his ears.

“Cole!”

“Stop—stop,” he whispers wetly, biting onto his knuckles to muffle himself. He curls into a tight, painful ball.

“Cole!” Yang screams, voice ragged and vicious, “this is childish! Come out!” 

“Jay—” Cole sobs.

It takes a long time for the tapping of Yang’s staff to fade away. Cole remains curled up behind the box. 

“They’ll come for me…they’ll come for me…” Cole mumbles into his knees.

“I just have to…wait…”

Jay shoves him down and lays directly onto his chest. He shoves his head under Cole’s chin.

“Oh-ho, sleepy?”

“Just shut up and sleep.”

[shadowisles-writes]

Too Sweet 🍯 Elucien Week Day 7

You know you're bright as the morning, as soft as the rain Pretty as a vine, as sweet as a grape If you can sit in a barrel, maybe I'll wait Until that day I'd rather take my whiskey neat My coffee black and my bed at three You're too sweet for me - Too Sweet, Hozier

A/N: I hope everyone had fun with this week, the amount of elucien content I've seen on my dash was unreal and I'm so excited to go catch up on all the fics that have been posted over the past few days! To finish off well, I've kept this fic in my docs for a while because the only right way to finish elucien week for me is definitely a smutty AU <3

Summary: Lucien believes Elain is too sweet for him, and she's very quick to prove him wrong. (smut, ice play, light choking)

Word count: 4530

“Which one is she?” Lucien tilted his head in curiosity.

There were three girls sitting at the table a few feet away from them. Two of them had to be twins, with perfectly matched dark skin, identical features and raven black hair. The other one was a brunette in a yellow dress patterned with tiny flowers. The dress was more suited for a summer picnic than an evening in a bar.

“The brunette.” Jurian jutted his chin as she laughed at something her friends said, her hand shyly coming to cover her face.

“You’re not serious,” Lucien chuckled and took a sip from his whiskey. “You know that’s not my type.”

Historically, pretty girls in pretty summer dresses truly weren’t, and Lucien wasn’t their type either. He rode a bike no matter the weather rather than buy a car, wore a leather jacket to go with it, and the lip ring didn’t scream “meet the parents” type of guy. If that wasn’t enough to scare them away, the brutal scar that ran in three jagged lines from his forehead, across his eyebrow and all the way to his cheek usually did the job.

“Your type is girls you can fuck and leave in the morning without causing a fuss.” Vassa scoffed. “You said you wanted more, I found you a girl who can be more.”

“Not this one.” Lucien knocked back the rest of his drink, determined to win this argument.

What he didn’t account for was that Vassa didn’t care enough to argue with him. She got up from their table before his glass touched the table again and headed for the girl she had met in the bathroom less than an hour before.

She turned, and it was only then that Lucien saw her face. Too pretty, too sweet. He knew it from one glance and tore his eyes from her before they could make eye contact. He didn’t need her thinking that he was interested or that he’d make a move on her.

“Here we go,” Jurian grinned a few seconds later.

“Vassa can be mad all she wants, I’m not going over there.”

“You won’t need to.” A foreign voice interrupted.

Lucien had no choice but to turn and face her. A laugh muffled into a cough came from his left, followed by a sound that had to be Vassa punching Jurian’s arm. A scrape of a chair, then Lucien knew he was alone.

“Evening,” was all he said to the girl.

She was beautiful. Her heart shaped face was framed by wavy hair, and her pretty pink lips were still smiling. Lucien counted a couple of seconds before her eyes went to his scar and trailed the whole length of it.

“I’m Elain, may I sit?” She rested her hand on the back of the chair across from Lucien and he nodded. “Aren’t you going to tell me your name?” She asked as she gracefully took the seat.

“Lucien,” he pushed his glass aside with his knuckles and rested both of his forearms on the edge of the table as he really took her in.

The dress was out of place for the bar, but it suited her. The way the square neckline framed her chest made it hard for him not to let his eyes dip low, but he remained focused on her face. Lucien gave her another minute before she’d conclude she hated him.

Elain smiled wider instead. “How eloquent.”

“If what you’re looking for tonight is conversation, I’m afraid you’ve picked the wrong table.”

“Mmh, what am I signing up for then?”

Lucien wished he didn’t feel a spark of delight at the defiance in her tone. He wasn’t an asshole—Lucien was raised too well not to hate being rude, but he couldn’t let her go on. “I’m sorry, Elain. You seem really nice, but I’m not looking for anything right now.”

“Jesus Lucien,” she laughed. “You’d think I asked you to marry me.”

Lucien couldn’t help but chuckle with her. “I’m not husband material.”

“Good,” Elain beamed. “I’m not looking for a husband.”

She was pure sunshine. Happy, beautiful, bright sunshine. 

Lucien sighed, “I’m not boyfriend material either.”

“That’s not what your friend said.”

At this, he actually laughed. “If you think Vassa is trustworthy, your judgment is severely off.”

Elain set her hands on the table and asked in a serious tone, “are you going to fight me every step of the way, or are you going to buy me a drink?”

Lucien raised a surprised brow silently waved at one of the bartenders for their attention.

A fruity mocktail and a whiskey neat later, he knew he was in trouble. Elain was beautiful, and funny, and she managed to smile and make a joke of every dry answer he threw at her. Lucien was smiling so much that his reticence was hardly believable. 

Even alone in the bar’s bathroom, Lucien had to grin at the mirror like an idiot.

“Dammit,” he cursed softly and tried to convince himself he’d tell her to leave once he got back to their table. He could do this, save himself the struggle of any sort of attachment before it was too late. They weren’t compatible. He could tell her to leave.

Elain was talking with her friends when Lucien emerged from the bathroom. They had jackets on, but hers was still on the back of a chair. She beamed when she saw him and walked over, forcing Lucien to notice how short she was compared to him. How easy she’d be to pick up and throw on his bed. How comfortable it might be to have her nestled in his arms on the couch.

Tell her to leave. That was his task, but Lucien was distracted by the pretty honey of her eyes and the way she had to crane her neck to look up at him when she stood so close to him.

“You’re too sweet for me, Elain.” He breathed out.

Elain cocked her head. “I think you’re wrong.”

“Honey,” Lucien looked down without lowering his head enough to risk doing something stupid like kiss her. “Go home with your friends.”

“Why don’t you take me home yourself?”

He almost screamed. Was there nothing he could say for her to stop tempting him? “You’re not getting on my bike in a dress,” was his last argument.

She smiled wider and shrugged. “I have a car.”

“You really have an answer for everything,” Lucien laughed in disbelief.

“If you don’t want to go home with me you can just say that,” Elain was serious then, her feet shuffling just a step back. “It’d be quicker than your half assed excuses.”

He knew he should say it, but the words that came out of his mouth were “Get your jacket, Elain.”

.

Her home was cozy. The lights were dim and warm, and the place was neat while looking lived in. Her couch looked like sitting meant sinking into the cushions forever and Lucien had half a mind to drag her there and sit her in his lap already.

“Do you want some water?” She dragged him out of his filthy thoughts with a polite offer, so Lucien cleared his throat.

“Sure, thank you.”

He curiously kept on walking to the next door. He found a blue themed bathroom, with a flowery shower curtain and the matching bath mat. There was only one other door, so he stepped into her bedroom and took in the postcards lined up on one of the walls.

“I get them from museums wherever I travel,” Elain explained as she stepped in behind him.

“Cute,” he commented and took the glass of water from her.

She had put a few ice cubes in, and he almost dipped his fingers in to hold one to her skin. He wanted to trace her neck, her chest, watch her nipples harden, then follow that trail with his tongue.

As if reading his mind, she smoothed her hands down her dress. “You didn’t come here to talk about postcards.”

“Unless that’s all you want to do.”

“It’s not.” Elain removed the glass from his hand, put it on her nightstand, then reached for the fabric of his shirt. “It was hard work getting you here in the first place, I’m not about to change my mind.”

“Good,” Lucien cupped her cheek and finally allowed himself to kiss her.

Elain let out a tiny whimper, the smallest of noises that had Lucien’s free hand flying to her lower back to press her against him. All of the restraint he had been grasping at since she first talked to him flew out of the window. Lucien let his hand slide back to tangle his fingers in her hair, he twisted into the strands at the back of her neck and tilted her head up to better claim her mouth with his.

Elain whimpered again, her hands grasping at his shirt in all the wrong ways in a pathetic effort to get it off. Lucien groaned when her nails scratched at his skin and kissed her harder. He’d expected her to be chaste, or at least to ease into things, but Elain was kissing back just as ardently, their lips and tongue meeting in a mess that made his head spin.

She only hesitated when her tongue teased at his lip ring like she wasn’t sure what to do with it. Lucien slowed down enough for her to figure out how to play with it, a quiet moan coming from the back of his throat when her teeth lightly tugged on the metal. His blood rushed south too fast, urging him to move his hands to her ass and bring her even closer.

When he couldn’t take it anymore, Lucien left her mouth to start trailing kisses down her jaw, her neck. He found the spot that made her breath hitch and grazed it with his teeth before sucking on the sensitive skin just long enough to leave a mark. At the same time, his fingers began to tug at the sleeve of her dress to pull it down, the other hand still on Elain's perfect ass. Lucien exposed her breasts, his lips following the hem of the dress until he could finally suck her nipple into his mouth.

Elain moaned, a hand flying to his head to guide him where she wanted. Her knees nearly buckled when he caught her nipple between his teeth and tugged just enough to send a hot wave of pleasure through her.

"I need this off," he groaned in annoyance when the dress wouldn't go any lower than her waist, and Elain chuckled breathlessly.

"There's a zipper," she turned and offered her back to him. "Can't hurry everything."

"My bad," he pressed an apologetic kiss to her neck.

Lucien's fingers fumbled with the fabric to find the zipper, then pulled it all the way down to let it fall to the floor. She wasn’t wearing panties, so he wasted no time turning her around to guide her back until her knees hit the edge of the bed. Elain sat and gasped as he immediately fell to his knees in front of her.

Lucien was rushing this, but a nudge at her knees was all it took to spread her legs and see the glistening wetness already clinging to her inner thighs. He tore his eyes from the pink pussy he was dying dive into and latched on to the soft skin of her thigh instead, biting and licking on each side until light purple marks began to litter her thighs. Elain was growing impatient under his touch, writhing and lifting her hips to get him closer, but he denied her every time.

“Stop teasing,” she eventually grabbed his hair to put his mouth where she wanted it.

Lucien caved, at least as desperate as she was. Her taste spread on his tongue and wetness coated his face, but he’d never minded getting messy. He tried not to get lost immediately and paid attention to the way her breathing hitched when he did certain things. Lucien kept a hand on her inner thigh and felt the way her muscles clenched every time his tongue stroked a sensitive spot. He mapped her out with his tongue until he knew exactly what patterns worked to make her moan.

Elain loosened her grip on his hair, no longer guiding but accompanying as she relaxed into his touch. Lucien looked up at her with eyes wild with desire and echoed her moan with one that vibrated against her pussy. He licked and sucked eagerly on sensitive skin until she was close to seeing stars. Elain threw her head back on the pillow, eyelids fluttering shut as she got lost in the sensations.

She didn’t see Lucien reach for the glass of water just close enough for his hand to wrap around it, didn’t dare complain when fingers replaced his mouth on her clit, thinking he might need to catch his breath. Then, his cold tongue stroked her and Elain lost a cry.

She jolted to look at Lucien, whose eyes were full of mischief as he sucked her clit into his mouth until the cold sensation was replaced by warmth. Elain would have complained if he didn’t choose this moment to gently press two impossibly thick fingers inside of her while his tongue still moved on her clit. Whatever she was about to say came out as a garbled whine and gasps.

Lucien curled his fingers just so, and the dragging against her sweet spot combined with his tongue began to make her thighs shake. He kept his pace steady, building the pleasure up, and up, and up until Elain came on his fingers and tongue with a soft cry. She panted, eyes rolling back with each wave of pleasure while Lucien hungrily lapped up everything she gave him.

Elain had to shove his head away for him to finally lift himself from her pussy.

“That little trick was mean,” she said breathlessly.

“Yeah?” Lucien chuckled as he wiped his face with his hand and came back to hover atop her body. “What are you going to do about it?”

He had expected an eye roll, maybe a half hearted slap on his arm. Instead, Elain took him by surprise and used her hips to roll them over. She perched herself in his lap and carefully placed her hand on his neck. She wasn’t pressing down, but Lucien stopped breathing all the same.

“How about you take your clothes off and find out how I play?”

Yes please, was what he would have said if he could still speak. Lucien nodded instead and wordlessly began to move to remove his shirt. Elain lifted herself from his lap, freeing his neck so he could hurry to undress. She watched without an ounce of shame, eyes filled with lust the more she got to look at him.

Lucien wanted nothing more than to keep pleasing her. He was on his back once again in seconds, his cock painfully hard and leaking a bead of precum. Elain climbed back on him—ass low on his thighs so she wouldn't touch his cock just yet. Looking right into his eyes, Elain placed her hands high on his chest and carefully brought both thumbs to brush his nipples.

Lucien surprised himself with the loud gasp he let out, his cock twitching from the stimulation. No one had ever bothered to play with his nipples, and the wicked grin growing on Elain's face told him she was going to keep on exploiting that particular weakness. She removed her hands and leaned to the side, and Lucien followed with his eyes as she dipped her fingers into the glass to pull out an ice cube.

He would have fumbled and dropped it for sure, but Elain moved with confidence and she must have been the sexiest thing he had ever seen perched on top of him like this. A drop of cold water fell on his chest—just enough to make him jerk lightly.

"Payback's a bitch," Elain murmured as she held the ice in front of her. "Did you know that?"

"I-ah," the next words out of Lucien's mouth were unintelligible as she ran the ice cube from his Adam's apple down the middle of his chest.

His breaths were shudders as she went back and traced random lines, then suddenly followed his collarbone, swirled in an unexpected circle, moved along the lower line of his pectorals. Lucien was positive he'd lose his mind, and he nearly swatted her hand to reverse the situation. His curiosity regarding her next move was the only thing that kept him from doing so.

He couldn’t even remember the last time he had wanted anyone this badly. The ice cube melted somewhere around the V of his lower stomach and Elain wrapped her still cool hand around his hard cock. Lucien tried not to jerk, and miserably failed. A few strokes of her hand and the press of her thumb at the top were enough to make him whimper like he’d never been touched by anyone in his life.

Elain shimmying up his body to rest a hand on his chest and grind her soaked pussy against his cock should have felt like a mercy, but Lucien didn’t know how he could keep himself together long enough to please her. A breathless moan escaped her every time the head of his cock caught her clit and she went from slowly grinding to adding more pressure in a maddening cycle that was about to become Lucien’s undoing.

“Fuck, Elain, I can’t—” he groaned and got stopped by her small hand on his neck again.

“Not yet.” She ordered without ever slowing down.

Lucien would have done just about anything to obey. He dug his nails into his left palm and lifted his other hand to her waist, caressing up and down her impossibly soft skin. His eyes remained torn between looking at the glassy look in her own or the way her tits bounced with each rock of her hips.

In the end, it was her small hand adjusting his now soaked cock at her entrance that caught his attention. Elain lowered herself slowly, little sighs of pleasure falling from her lips while Lucien struggled to keep ahold of himself at the sight of his cock disappearing in her perfect pussy. Careful up and down motions took her lower and lower, their bodies easily sliding together with how wet she was, but Elain was still struggling to take him.

Elain winced slightly. “I don’t know if I can, ah,” she had to lift herself to be able to keep breathing.

Lucien pushed on the mattress to sit up and carefully grabbed her ass to adjust their position. He bent his knees to cross his ankles, and Elain shifted to wrap her legs around him.

"There," Lucien licked a hot stripe up her neck and guided her hips down on his cock again, stopping before he accidentally went in to deep. “Do what feels good,”

This position gave her more support so she could control her movements without having to exhaust herself. Lucien leaned back on one hand and brought the other between their bodies to toy with her clit. Elain’s chest flushed a bright pink along with her cheeks, her pants were quickly muffled into a kiss and Lucien tried not to weep from the maddening tightness of her pussy on his cock.

Fucking perfect, was all Lucien could think when she let her head fall back.

“Too much,” Elain dug her teeth into her lower lip in a failed attempt to hold back a desperate whine. “I need you to, ah, please.”

The last word was his undoing. Lucien fell over the edge right along with her; he bit her shoulder with a groan as he emptied himself inside of her. Even as he panted, trying to catch his breath after his release, Lucien knew he’d been thinking of this night for the rest of his life.

With Elain still atop him, Lucien carefully licked the light marks his teeth left into her skin before moving up, nuzzling her neck briefly and catching her lips in a messy kiss. She pushed at his shoulders gently, and he lowered them back onto the mattress on their sides, carefully slipping himself out of her. They didn’t say a word for a minute—or five, Lucien wasn’t sure he could count anymore.

“Should we…” Elain broke the silence and traced a finger down his chest.

Lucien shivered and eagerly agreed, “Yes, if you give me a minute. Or five.”

She didn't, already pushing herself up on her elbow to look at him better. “Oh I have ideas on things to do while we wait.”

“Oh?”

It took both of her hands on his shoulders for Lucien to lay fully on his back and keep still to watch what she’d do next. Elain threw her leg over his body to straddle his torso and moved up, and up.

“I like where this is going,” Lucien licked his lips in anticipation.

“Open your mouth.” Elain said before her knees reached either side of his head. “Tongue,” she added once he complied.

She sat without hesitation, her pussy dripping their mixed fluids on his tongue. “That’s it,” she praised quietly when he kept still and let her grind herself on his tongue the way she wanted. “Just let me, mmh.”

Lucien was in heaven. His eyes remained wide open to stare at her, perfect and just a little bit sweaty as she took what she needed from him. His hands fit just right over her ass, supporting each roll of her hips. He had never been used like this before, but he’d let Elain do it until the day he died. Wetness covered his mouth and cheeks, slick on her inner thighs that made the filthiest wet noise against his face every time she moved.

Lucien groaned as the muscles in her legs tightened and her breathing grew more erratic. Elain was going to come on his face again, and he didn’t think his cock had ever been harder. He watched the way her skin flushed bright pink, his toes curling when she suddenly reached for his hair and tightened her fist in the red strands.

“Lucien,” she moaned his name as she moved faster, ground harder.

She came without slowing down, riding each wave of pleasure with whimpers that had Lucien’s cock twitching. He cleaned her up with his tongue, eyelids fluttering at the taste of her until she ground her hips to a halt. He almost begged her to come back when she lifted herself to slide back down his body, but she went boneless in his arms and he could do nothing but catch her.

Lucien ran his hand up and down her back soothingly while she recovered, he felt the urge to kiss her temple, too, but held himself back in fear that the gesture would be too intimate for people who barely knew each other. Then, his chest almost shook with a laugh that a kiss could be too intimate after his tongue had been in her pussy.

“You okay?” He asked softly when she moved again, her hips sliding to trap his hard cock between her soaked pussy and his stomach.

“Mmh,” she adjusted again so the head caught at her entrance and carefully slid down.

Her wince made Lucien frown. “If it’s too much we can—”

“It’s not,” Elain interrupted. “You might just need to…” Her weight shifted, and Lucien followed until he was on top of her, her sinfully perfect legs wrapped around his waist. “There.”

Her heels dug into his skin to urge his hips forward and Lucien whimpered.

He had tried not to push all the way in too fast considering how she’d struggled to take him earlier, but riding his face must have worked wonders because her pussy practically sucked him in to the hilt and Lucien lost his mind the moment his hips were against her skin. He gave her a couple of slow strokes, watching out for her reaction, but there was nothing but bliss on her face.

Lucien lost himself in her, thrusting harder, skin slapping together every time and dragging uncontrollable moans from them both. It was nothing like the calculated way he ate her out earlier, or her controlled pace on top of him, this was an animalistic craving. Their skin was slick with sweat, bodies more slippery as he grabbed one of her thighs and hiked it up higher to be able to pound into her.

Elain cried out, the new angle doing something to her that had Lucien cursing through groans. He desperately wanted to feel her come on his cock again, but he was already out of his mind with pleasure and he had no idea how much more she could take. Her cunt tightened on his cock with each thrust, so wet they had to be making a mess of her bedsheets, and Lucien’s mind immediately went to the mess he’d make inside of her when he came.

The thought was enough to make his hips stutter. His arms trembled from holding himself up and keeping up such a hard rhythm, and he focused on not crushing her so hard he didn’t even notice her get close. Elain came so hard she nearly sobbed, pussy clenching around him in a way that made it impossible for him to hold back.

Her small hands clutched Lucien’s back as he lost all control and thrust roughly for another few seconds before he spent himself inside of her with a groan. His cock twitched hard, spilling as deep inside of her as he could get in a moment so earth shattering he knew he’d never recover from her.

Their pants were out of sync, both of their breathings erratic until Lucien leaned down to kiss her again. Elain hummed against his lips softly and let him roll them over again so she was laying on top of him. She broke the kiss to rest her her cheek on his shoulder, their chests now rising and falling together.

“I’ve never, um finished just with someone in me before,” she eventually said, still breathless.

Lucien grinned at the ceiling like an idiot and tried not to let his ego inflate too much. “How was it?”

“Life altering, I think. You should try it.”

“Having someone in me?” Lucien chuckled.

Elain’s giggles were like sunshine. “I’m having a hard time thinking, but I don’t see why not if you’re up for it.” She turned to look at him and cocked her head pensively. “Are you?”

“I could be,” he admitted.

Something sparked in her eyes. “Do you want to find out?”

“Right now?” Lucien was both turned on and alarmed.

“Maybe later,” she laughed at his panic. “Or another time.”

“Another time,” he agreed, like he had never doubted for a second that he would want to see her again.

[bloodstainedsaint]

Hey, I'm not sure if you take requests, but if you do, I have an idea:) Could you write something about a young woman who was in the Air Force disguised as a man and her plane was hit by the Germans while under attack, forcing her to jump out, leaving her stranded with her plane down and easy company witnessed the whole thing and tries to look for the pilot?

maybe with some romance or whatever with my mans lieb or doc roe if that’s possible hihi

when worlds collide (joseph liebgott x air force! reader)

word count: 1000+

warnings: blood & injury, but nothing really graphic

notes: sorry for the wait on this one 😭 i've been busy BUT i promise to be posting more during my break

You didn't remember much after your plane was hit by German flak while passing over some Dutch forest you couldn't recall the name of. What you could remember was everything rapidly blinking and on fire around you, dials going this way and that, your hands flying around the control board and trying desperately to pull up with the yoke as you cursed violently beneath your breath.

Following your fruitless struggle against gravity, you remembered preparing to parachute out of your plane and into the woods beneath you.

You were pretty sure you blacked out for a while after that.

-

The sight of a fighter plane nosediving into the ground and its booming resulting crash interrupted an otherwise uneventful five-man patrol through the woods.

“Jesus Christ! Did you see that?” Babe exclaimed, gawking up at where the plane had been in the sky mere seconds ago.

“Looks like it landed near us,” Pat observed.

Don looked wide-eyed. “It was one of ours. The pilot might need our help if he ejected in time!”

Lip shushed them. “There's AA guns nearby. Someone ought to go back and tell Battalion they’re positioned somewhere to our left near that dike we passed. Christenson, you go.”

As Pat nodded and left the way they came, Lip said, “We can't take too long looking for a pilot we don't know is alive or not." He checked his watch and sighed. "Alright, meet back here at 1700. Stay alert. Don't go too far on your own.”

The squad spread out in search of the hopefully-alive pilot. Joe walked with his rifle at the ready for about 20 minutes before stumbling upon large chunks of debris from the plane. Not far from that was a severed parachute, and then a blood trail.

He followed it until he noticed a pilot sitting on the ground next to some brush with his back turned to him, his clothes torn up enough to where large parts of skin littered with cuts were visible. Joe slowly approached, mindful not to scare him and wind up with a bullet in his head.

“Hey,” he called out. “Hey, buddy.”

The pilot turned around, and Joe noticed that “he” was not a he at all.

Your hand shot to the pistol on your belt, leveling it at him while vainly covering up your top half. You’d been trying to treat your wounds with the first-aid kit strapped to your waist; you'd gotten several steadily bleeding scratches from falling through trees and one or two broken ribs from your hasty landing. You ended up taking off your corset to relieve pressure on your ribcage, leaving you with your ripped up uniform and coveralls.

Regardless of your relief that an American soldier had found you rather than a German one, you kept your hand fixed on your sidearm.

“Woah, lady, put down the gun. I'm not a Kraut.” Lowering his own gun, his narrowed eyes flashed to your chest and widened at the sight of the reddish purple bruises that blemished it. "Goddamn..."

“It’s not what it looks like,” you managed out, though talking (or breathing, for that matter) was difficult.

“I don’t care what it looks like,” he said, the edge to his tone softening as he carefully walked toward you. “You need help.”

You painfully exhaled and set the gun down next to you. You turned around again to focus on treating your injuries, wincing with the movement. “I'm fine.”

“You don't look it.” He crouched down next to you. You flinched away slightly — you'd been disguised as a man for a while now, and this was the first time anyone was seeing you so vulnerable since your enlistment — before letting him inspect your wounds, albeit with you concealing your chest with your arms and what remained of your jacket.

“What’s your name?” he asked, gingerly applying sulfa powder to the gashes on your body.

You slightly hissed at the stinging sensation. “(Y/N), Senior Airman, 4th Fighter Group.”

“Joseph D. Liebgott, Technician 5th Grade, 101st Airborne.”

There was a temporary silence, punctuated only by you sucking in air through your teeth. As he bandaged one of the cuts, he said, “We need to get you some help. I was out here on patrol with my squad; we have a medic back at—”

“What?” You looked at him with a bewildered expression. “No, I don't need any medic. I just need help informing my superiors I got lost going through dense fog and got shot down here.”

“Why not? ‘Cause he'll see you're a girl?”

You gave him a pointed look. “Why else? If you haven't noticed, there aren't very many women serving on the front lines.” You paused and took a deep breath in through your nose. “If you bring your squad over here, someone's gonna report me and get me kicked out of the Air Force…Hell, I don't even know if I trust you to not report me. I just met you, for Chrissakes.”

In truth, you didn’t even know why you were letting him tend to you anyways — you were capable of doing it yourself, your biggest secret was currently exposed, and he was a stranger. But there was something about his change in demeanor and a sudden tenderness in his voice once he saw your injuries that made you want to trust him.

“Your secret’s safe, (Y/N),” he said firmly, a set expression on his face. “I got no reason to rat you out; I just met you too.”

You scanned his face for any signs of deceit, sighed when you found none, and nodded. “I’m still not letting your medic take a look at me.”

“Fine, but that’s not gonna stop me from helping you. I’ll be quick; the guys are gonna be expecting me back soon. We’ll go talk to them together.”

He resumed his aid, and after a few minutes, you could tell that he had started getting curious; he didn't seem like a man who knew how to shut up.

“How’d you disguise yourself as a man this long?”

With a shaky inhale, you closed your eyes as his hands brushed over your rib cage. Involuntarily, a small smile made its way onto your face as the countless predicaments you’d found yourself in flooded your memory. “It’s a long story.”

Liebgott cracked a crooked smile. “I can make some time.”

Laughing despite the pain that flared in your rib cage from the action, you couldn't help but feel that this chanced occasion wouldn't be the last time you would speak to Liebgott. And for some reason foreign to you at that moment, you hoped that your intuition was correct.

-

taglist: @mads-weasley, @ronsparky, @dcyllom, @malarkgirlypop, @joetoyesbrassknuckles101

[blue-thief]

Ok. Thoughts on the Itoshi Sibs / their parallels with Isagi?

HELLO this took forever for me to answer because summer school and the sadness. as you know.

also i went too crazy with tying blue lock into my fixation with japanese nationalism so it got way too complex and i got scared but now i'm just gonna make that its own post (<- said the same thing about bsd. that analysis about bsd's connection with japanese nationalism has been sitting in my docs for a year now i think)

(smh this is what happens when the japanese imperial army almost wipes out your entire bloodline /gen /srs)

anyway. all that waiting to say that rin is... just some guy to me

usually a fw anime boys named rin. esp if they're the sworn rival of the plain protagonist. not necessarily this one though

i have no clue why he doesn't scratch my brain properly. he just doesn't. i need to spend a good three hours staring at the ceiling at night to figure that out

when you first sent me this i didn't really care for sae much either. now i do

that's how long this has been sitting in my drafts 😃😃

(i've written and scrapped thousands of words for this ask sob sob)

(this answer wasn't even formatted this way originally)

i've probably told you the story of how sae grew on me before but like

i don't plan out my fics right

i do play out random scenes in my head to test out if i like them or not

(shivers because updating my fic is another thing that is taking forever.......)

and i was just fucking around with random jokes kaiser and sae could say to each other

then i imagined sae smiling

and i was like "what the fuck... why is that so endearing........"

that was the turning point but it really was a lot of sitting and contemplating sae's character honestly

to really understand him and why he'd be friends with kaiser

and sae is kinda just like me frfr

that guy can't do anything other than soccer/football. he has nothing going on beyond that

and yeah. yeah... i get that.......

it's the reason why i like a bunch of other bllk characters but it's most pronounced with sae yk

(SORRY MR. SNUFFY)

and like. just his inability to be a normal fucking person 😭😭 too real

anyway those are my general itoshi brothers thoughts

now for the parallels part.

(this is the part that killed me and i wanna go more in-depth. but i'm saving that for another post. because holy shit my original idea was so fucking ambitious)

i had other thoughts and god i wish i wrote that stuff down

but the major thing i want to get into here is dependence

isagi is independent. soo independent it's kinda crazy

this was outlined most during the second selection with bachira where he had to learn to play by himself

meanwhile there's rin who seems independent on the surface

however, rin has always been dependent on sae in one way or another

when they were younger, rin was dependent on sae to take care of and guide him

rin also depended heavily on sae on the field

now that they are older, sae's attempt to shake rin off has just made rin's dependence on sae even more intense, just in a different way

rin's only motivation to play soccer/football had been to "crush" sae

...but now he's met isagi

and his obsession has found a new object

with the recent chapters, now we know he places isagi and sae on a similar level in his personal hierarchy, and his desire to destroy sae has bled into rin's feelings toward isagi

while rin has only one rival, the same can't be said for isagi

isagi gains rivals like pokemon, and while they have all played a significant roll in isagi's development as a person and a character, his obsession doesn't consume him. in the PXG vs BM match, he's doesn't fully comprehend the effect he's had on kaiser and rin

and mannn i wish i could find this analysis, but it's gone now

but someone compared isagi's desire to "devour" to rin and nagi's desire to "kill"

I WISH I COULD REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT THEY SAID

but from what i remember, "devouring" someone is temporarily defeating them, but both parties ultimately improve so there's room for them to meet again and help each other improve even more

however, "killing" someone is defeating them completely so they're never able to play/improve ever again

which outlines the fact that while isagi can be a little bitch on the field, he wants his rivals to improve alongside him, and in the end, he wants the best for people (in terms of soccer/football)

which is why he never became overly-dependent on bachira and why he treats midfielders as actual human beings 😭😭

isagi is independent, but he pushes for the people around him to be just as independent

the itoshi brothers are different though

rin is codependent on sae, and you could say his hatred/obsession with isagi is a different type of codependency

but that thing about treating midfielders as human beings...

uh. that doesn't really apply to rin

sae is somewhat similar with how he "tamed" shidou but it's not THAT imbalanced lmao

there's also how the three of them are on different places of the striker-midfielder spectrum

in-universe and within the fandom, rin is perceived as japan's ultimate striker. his raw shooting power + metavision makes him perfect for this position.

however sae, another metavision user, is the perfect midfielder

then there's isagi who's tried emulating rin's play style at first but is ultimately most similar to sae, leading people to say that isagi is better suited to be a midfielder rather than a striker

while rin represents what the ultimate japanese striker is, something isagi is trying to reach, sae's path is one that isagi could easily fall down instead

many people have theorized that sae became a midfielder to improve rin's chances at becoming a better striker. sae may be considered to have a strong ego, but if this turns out to be true, that might not be the case lmao

errm. idk how to end this off. sorry for the wait sob sob

[poppadom0912]

Med Students

Characters: Jay Halstead x Reader, Will Halstead

Warnings: Brief mentions of surgery, gossiping/backbiting, scary attendings

Summary: Stupid students don't gossip quiet enough.

A/N: This isn't exactly what I planned. Not too sure if I like it but it is what it is I guess. I'm posting this in commemoration of the last day of Christmas break. I'm very much not looking forward to getting back to normal life.

*****

Strolling into the moderately quiet ED, Jay was pleasantly surprised at the volume and the lack of people sitting in the waiting room. Spying Will behind a computer doing he's not too sure what, he walked up to him, nudging him with his elbow.

"Hey, you know where Y/N is?" Jay asked, leaning his back against the desk as his eyes inspected the ED.

"Hey Will, how are you brother? How's your day? How's work? You good?" Will sarcastically replied, changing his tone as he imitated Jay. "It's good to see you too Jay."

"What's up Will?" Jay rolled his eyes, caving into his older brothers 'wants and needs'. He was on a schedule and it needed to be followed because if he wasn't back at work in an hour, Voight would probably have his head.

"Mrs Halstead is currently in surgery, she might be a minute but you shoulda seen the guy." Will started gushing, lowkey geeking out on the patient that was brought in. "He was pushed onto the road, had like threes cars max run over him and he somehow is still alive and breathing. Her and Connor have been in their for two hours now, who knows when they'll finish."

"Thanks man." Jay said, clapping Will on the shoulder but either brother made indication that they were moving, Will was doing his patients charts and Jay had nowhere else to be for the next hour.

"I've heard they're called the 'Amok'."

"But we're doctors?"

"I know right, that's what I said!"

"Omg, how could they let a dude like that teach a bunch of students?"

"I knew I should've gone to Lakeshore."

Jay rose his brow in suspicion and curiosity. Looking over at the small group of young adults, standing not too far from where the brothers stood since they could clearly make out their whispers. It was clear that were out of their league.

"And who are they?" Jay asked, crossing his arms, not realising that his action made his badge and gun stand out more than they already were.

Will looked up from the computer, following Jay's line of sight before shaking his head, huffing with some sort of smile. "It's that time of year again, we get sent a bunch of students and Y/N decided that she'd give them a try instead of Ethan. Something about doing it before he got here and missing teaching."

"Huh." Jay said to himself, not recalling you telling him anything about this. If you'd been this excited about teaching, he was sure you'd be gushing about it to him several times over most meals you shared.

"Maybe he's hot."

"Or he's old and a creep."

"What if he's a pedo?!"

"Then he'd be fired Janet. Have you seen Ms Goodwin, cause she's scary."

"What if the 'Amok' is a woman?"

...

"Maybe she's hot."

"Or she's really nice and totally not strict."

"We'll have this year in the bag, easy."

"What if she'd like a young doctor? Look around us and there's plenty of young docs."

"Are you trying to get into her pants? Ew dude!"

"Heck yeah man!"

Now, Jay was ticked. These kids were speculating and it totally would've been fine if they weren't making such comments, especially about his wife. Will also caught on, rolling his eyes, sharing Jay's frustration.

While the students were surveying the ED as they gossiped, they lay eyes on Jay and before any comment could be made on his gorgeous appearance, they caught sight of his gun and badge sitting on his belt.

"Shit, what's a fed doing here?"

"He's hot."

"Him next to doctor Halstead, my ovaries."

"Shh, you're so loud!"

"Anyways, back to the sexy doctor we were talking bout..."

Jay scoffed, more than ready to go up to the kids so he could give them a piece of his mind. Normally, he would've let such petty things get under his skin but these students caught him on the wrong day.

Before Jay could even take a step towards the huddled group, from the corner of his eyes he found the only woman that he loved more than life itself.

You were back in your maroon scrubs, your surgical cap still on your head since you just came back from giving the wife the good news. With the brightest smile on your face, so bright that it could brighten up the darkest of rooms.

The students were obviously doing worse at whispering then they thought. At the same time, you found Jay and the med students that would be shadowing you for the next year.

At the sight of your husband, your smile only got bigger, almost chuckling at your handsome man who looked so delicious but even with most the tension gone from his body, you noticed his crossed arms. Your brother-in-law, who stood besides Jay, wasn't looking in your direction but instead, was glaring at the young adults.

Following his line of sight, you beamed at the students, your excitement causing your smile to widen even further than it already was. Before you could introduce yourself, only taking a few steps towards them, you caught them mid through their conversation.

"50 she'll flirt back."

"You're on."

"Don't be such pigs. The name 'Amok' sounds pretty masculine to me."

"Either way, they're going to kill us."

"That surgeon is hot."

Your smile fell faster than a pulse would if burst a vessel. It seemed that by doing so, you caught the attention of nearly the entire ED, everyone somehow sensing the sudden drop in your mood; the air must've shifted or something.

"And she's staring right at us."

"Oh shit."

"That's it, we're fucked."

"Oh my Gosh, it's her."

"It's been great knowing you guys."

"No it hasn't."

Raising your brows, you inspected the group of students heavily, finding it funny how they shrunk under your scrutinising eyes. It was somewhat entertaining watching them squirm but you'd have a better 'punishment' for them later down the line for their gossiping.

"I want you guys to stick by Maggie's hip. She wants something done, it gets done beyond outstanding standards. I don't care if she wants you getting coffee, you do it. Understood?" You said sternly, leaving no room for any objections.

In sync, they all nodded their heads, instantly agreeing with you even if they weren't happy with their given roles for their first day on the job.

With a smirk, you watched them scurry away towards the charge nurse who was waiting for them. A knowing look in her eyes, a hand on her hip as she smiled and winked at you from afar. You'd find yourself listening to her retell their day at Molly's tonight.

With the students out of your sight, you spun around and your face lit up at the sight of your husband. Despite the dark colours he wore in comparison to your brother-in-law, you noticed and ran to him first.

"Husband!" You wrapped your arms around him tightly, sighing in content when he enveloped you in his, his cologne drowning your senses. You briefly heard Will say something along the lines of no one cared about him before he left you two alone, something about he knew how single he was without it being shoved in his face.

"Wife." Jay kissed your temple, tightening his arms around you. He would proudly say it any day that he was proud of you and found it amusing to watch you boss around the younger doctors.

"How long have you been waiting?" You asked, pulling away from him but not too far so he could still have his arms around you. Hopefully he hadn't been waiting too long and you could still have lunch together before it got too late.

"Long enough to hate those kids guts." Jay pouted slightly, squinting his eyes almost threateningly in remembrance of what was said about you. "Was this close to telling them your the wife of a detective so they'd back off."

"My hero." You pretended to swoon, cheekily smiling at his faux hurt expression. "What would I do without you."

"Forget to eat your lunch, that's what." Jay said, indirectly reminding you that lunch still needed to be eaten.

"Yes! To the cafeteria we go." You smiled, pecking him on the cheek before grabbing his hand, intertwining your fingers with his so you could leave the ED together.

From the corner of your eye, you could feel several eyes following you and Jay as you left and without looking back, you knew who it was. You were sure that tomorrow, you'd be spoken to with much more respect and wariness than what you witnessed today.

The students wouldn't make that mistake again, especially in front of your husband.

[cbk1000]

Hey, just giving an update because I haven't been on much.

I have been feeling pretty rough after my infusion. Some days are a little better than others, but for the most part I feel like a dumpster fire. I had my follow-up with my hematologist today and told her how I'd been feeling, and she said while it's not uncommon for people to feel worse before they feel better, it usually happens in the week or so after the infusion; she thinks I'm probably having a delayed reaction and/or because I've likely been deficient for quite a while, and this is my first infusion ever, my body is just Going Through It figuring out how to process iron again after rationing for so long. She said to just hang in and that I will feel much better, it's just going to take a bit longer. (I have just barely hit three weeks post-infusion, and I have read quite a few people who were deficient for a long time take more like four to six weeks to start feeling human again, and she said that's definitely the case with some people.) She did say she would order a different type of iron if I need another infusion in the future and see if a different one isn't as rough on me.

I have seen some small improvements in things that have been plaguing me for a while. (Ex: apparently bleeding gums can be a sign of iron deficiency? I was wondering why the fuck they were bleeding so much every time I flossed, till the hematologist asked me if I'd been having issues with bleeding gums. They have been bleeding off and on for a while, and day and night, every time I floss, for months now. Since the infusion they have stopped bleeding.)

The hematologist was super pleased with my labs and how much my ferritin went up from only one infusion. She said my numbers are excellent and now my body has lots in storage to draw on and start helping with all my symptoms. My iron panel looks great now, and the additional tests they did for various bleeding disorders all look good. So basically I just have to grit my teeth and wait for my body to figure out how to use all the iron it's got.

I am about midway, maybe a bit more, through the next chapter of Book of Merthur, but writing/updates will be delayed till I no longer feel like the body of a homeless person who crawled into a dumpster to keep warm and died there. I might throw up a few previews this weekend; I'm sitting on a fair amount of unpublished words in Google Docs.

Thank you to everyone who's checked in on me, and hopefully I will be back to churning out too much gay porn very soon.

[crikeygatormate]

I Promise - K.B

Summary: After your clan had been exiled and shunned from the western lands, your family grew to hate the royal family who they felt betrayed them. In return you were sent on a mission to reclaim your families honor, but you would come to find out that your mission came with a price.

Dragon Prince!Bakugou x AFAB Reader

Warnings: Spelling just pretend its right lol

A/N: thought Id post this FINALLY its been in my docs for months, and I've been so busy with school lord but I did it. (Not because I got a whole ass 30 on one of my exams lmao dw the class average was a 40, but still needed that little bit of serotonin that comes with posting things here lmao) Also dont clown me on the banner I've got like 2 functioning brain cells rn

PART ONE (Part Two) (Part Three)

————————————-

Growing up you were told stories about the royal dragon riders out west, where the land was vast and dragons as big as castles soared above the sky with a rider on their back. Sometimes you could have sworn you heard the deep rumble of a dragon's roar from somewhere up in the distance. You’d look up at the sun, squinting in hopes to see a shadow of a beast block out the light.

Your clan used to be dragon riders too a long time ago before dragons were only given to royals. Granted, you didn’t know the exact history or that it was your clan who had caused their own downfall and loss of its dragons. Shrouded by the innocence of youth you failed to see the consequences that this downfall had on your clan, the famine, the pestilence, the anger.

You heard stories about how the great dragon queen cast out her right-hand man, your grandfather, due to his so-called betrayal of her trust. This was because the queen became fond of a group of barbarians from the north that wanted an alliance. Your grandfather had advised against it, insisting that she was being used, and it would lead to the downfall of her family. The queen refused your grandfather's advice, which left him to his own devices. He attempted to kill her intended, the king of the barbarian group, which in turn got him exiled. In time his predictions came true and the barbarian group took over for a time, trying to claim the throne for themselves.

Still ever loyal, your grandfather came to the queen's aid, only to have been killed by the queen herself. It was said that your grandfather tried to kill her children and their dragons, in hopes to wipe the barbarian line from the royal family. He managed to kill two, leaving the queen with one child. Your clan refused to believe this, claiming that your grandfather was attacked and killed trying to help his queen.

As punishment, the royal family butchered your clans dragons and pulled all resources to survive as well. Leaving your family to struggle to survive in a barren land.

As the years passed, a small farming village was built where your family was exiled, and other rouges and outsiders moved into town. It became a town of thieves, murderers, and other criminals. Your family never forgot where you came from and the betrayal that fell upon them.

At night, when you were young, your mother would sit you down while she dressed you retelling that tale over and over again till it was ingrained in your brain and you understood that the dragon riders out west, the royals, were traitors and needed to be brought to justice.

—-----------

You were eight currently, playing hide and seek with a few friends after the announcement of your future role in the clan, the infiltrator. Not that you knew what that meant yet.

“Hey!” your friend, Shoji, called from further back in the wheat field, “you’re going too far, Koda isn’t going to be able to find you!”

You giggled, slapping a hand over your mouth as you sprinted through the field, trying to contain your excitement. With another quiet shriek of laughter, you turned your head to see your friend jumping up past the tall grass trying to spot you.

Unbeknownst to you, there was someone crouched right in front of you, and you ran right into them.

“Ouch!” A raspy voice snapped as you face planted into the grass. “Watch where you’re going!”

You sniffled, lifting your face from the ground and wiping your palm over your eyes to get rid of dirt. “Sorry, I didn’t see you,” you said as you blinked, your gaze focusing on a boy in front of you.

“Clearly,” he scoffed, rolling his vermillion eyes.

You nodded, taking in the stranger's appearance. He was dressed weirdly, and painted with strange marks on his bare arms. His clothes were lighter , meant for a place that was used to warmer weather. “Who are you?”

“Who am I?” the boy snorted, folding his arms over his chest, “you really don’t know?”

You shook your head, straightening out the stained shirt you were wearing.

“Of course, you don’t, you’re one of those traitor’s family members, you got those orange eyes like the elders say” the boy said as he spat on the ground much to your surprise. “I’m Katsuki Bakugou, prince of the western lands, soon to be the king once I get my dragon.”

Your eyes widened, and you weren’t sure what to say.

Bakugou nodded, “I know, probably your first time being around someone like me.” He had his chest puffed out. Clearly, your lack of response had stoked his small ego.

You furrowed your brows, “traitor?”

Bakugou rolled his eyes, “look,” he paused waiting for you to tell him your name before continuing, “I’m sure this must come as a shock, but your people out here have all been exiled for being traitors-”

“We’re not traitors, you are,” you shot back, eyes growing wide as your mother's story about the royal dragon riders finally started to piece together in your mind.

Bakugou sneered, curling his upper lip to reveal a set of pointed canine teeth, “hah, keep telling yourself that.”

You balled your hands into fists, feeling anger for the first time in your life it seemed as you stared this snotty royal boy down. A darker part of you seemed to awaken and you suddenly felt the urge to smack his pompous smirk off his face.

He didn’t even have time to react before he noticed you lunging at him with a raised hand. However before you could even land a blow on him, a pair of arms yanked you back.

“Quit it you insolent child,” your mother hissed, holding you close to her as you thrashed. She was looking to the sky, feeling fear settle in her veins like ice when a shadow momentarily blocked out the sun.

You were too busy exchanging insults with Bakugou to notice a giant golden dragon land behind Bakugou, or see his mother slide off her dragon's back and stomp towards you three.

“Katsuki!” a shrill voice cut through your haze of anger and suddenly you froze at the sight of a woman, presumably the queen, and her dragon. A puff of hot air blew your hair back and a primal fear sank into your gut.

“You know better than to wander this far,” the queen hissed, glancing at you and your mother. By the bitter look on her face, she clearly recognized your mother. “And you,” she said harshly, pointing a slim finger at your mother, which prompted her dragon to let out a low growl, “keep your offspring away from mine, that child is feral. Don’t think I didn’t see her try to attack the prince. A crime like that is punishable by death.”

Your mother was collected as a wry smile tugged at her lips, “Mitsuki, what makes you think it was my child that started this squabble?”

“Because I know you, and I know your type,” Mitsuki snapped, grabbing Bakugou roughly by his spiky hair, making him whine. “Stay the fuck away from us, the second I catch wind that any of you traitors crossed the border, I’ll have you all burned alive.”

Your eyes were wide as you watched Bakugou smirk as his mom dragged him away and they both got on her dragon. You don’t think you’d ever forget the glare that the queen gave you as her golden dragon took off into the sky.

Dirt bellowed around you and your mom as powerful wings pushed the air around you, you squinted, digging your nails into the skin of your mother's arm.

“Do you understand now?” your mother asked, her voice even as you both watched the dragon fly into the distance towards the west.

You nodded, feeling a bitter feeling settle into the pit of your stomach.

—----------

Many years passed, and throughout those years you trained, fell into your role as the infiltrator. The one that was supposed to regain your clan's power, regain your dragons. You were the only one able to do this, it was destiny it seemed. And it was because you had a dragon.

On your thirteenth name day, you were presented with something that had been hidden since your grandfather was exiled. It was a small dragon egg, your grandfather had stolen it before he was killed, took it from the royal clutch, in hopes that it would serve his family well.

It was doubtful that the egg would hatch, but it did. Your dragon grew to be large and fueled by your anger she had become lethal, like you. She was a deep army green with amber eyes and a double set of teeth. She was snake-like, long, and slender with an ear-piercing roar that made you sometimes wince at the whistle of it.

You both grew up together, bonding over a common goal, feeling each other's anger towards the royals. Now you were an adult, old enough to go out on your own and complete your mission that has been planned for decades.

“Are you ready?” your mother asked as she straightened your top.

You nodded, blinking hard as she ran her cold fingers over your bare stomach where a large scar ran across the lateral length of your skin. A training accident, at least that’s what it was called, but it was a reminder of what could happen if you were to fail.

“Good,” your mother said as she took a step back, “prince Katsuki is out on his dragon patrolling this evening. We know his dragon is not a usual one, he is a shifter, which makes him susceptible to silver. We have a trap set down by the ravine, they should fly right into it.”

You nodded, keeping your gaze forward as your dragon shifted behind you, her growl rumbling into a whistle.

“Get going,” your mother said as she handed you a dagger, it was your grandfather’s.

You kept silent as you climbed on your dragon's back and urged her forward. You felt numb as she took off into the evening sky, the orange of the setting sun illuminating her scales. She was let out a wheezing breath as he turned past a cloud and the ravine came into the distance.

You landed in a cave that was specifically scouted for this mission, and there you both waited, two sets of amber eyes pointed towards the sky awaiting the prince.

Soon you heard the unmistakable roar of a dragon and a flash of deep red appeared briefly through the broken clouds.

It was him, Prince Bakugou.

Your heart was pounding in your ears as you watched him descend towards the trap set out. It was meant to look like a threat from a neighboring nation. One that had been having issues with the dragon's riders of the west, a more civilized nation that was moving past the need to be controlled by those who ride dragons. In other words, the royals knew if this nation continued to grow, so would their weapons. Which meant they could become a threat to their dragons.

“Fuckin’ shitty scales, just land, damn it,” Prince Bakugou’s gruff voice echoed off the cold ravine walls.

You watched as his dragon landed and shook his head while Bakugou slid off. To your interest, his dragon shook again, changing forms and turned into a man. A big one with a long red tail, horns, and a set of red wings.

Dragon shifters were rare, rarer than dragons themselves, and for Prince Bakugou to have one as his dragon, meant that he was special. Which gave your goal an even greater weight.

“Wadda you think happened?” the shifter asked as he stepped over a few burning logs.

“Looks like it was the north,” Bakugou said with a scoff as he kicked a skull that went tumbling down the rocks till it shattered.

You stiffened, feeling your muscles bunch as you waited for the next part of the plan. A member of your clan, Shoji, the best archer, was in place to shoot Bakugou’s dragon with a silver-tipped arrow. He only had one.

With bated breath, you waited to see Shoji peek out from on top of the ravine. After a heartbeat, you noticed a flash of wood, and before you could blink a pained roar echoed around the ravine.

You froze for a moment watching the shifter crumple to the ground screaming as smoke curled from the arrow wound. But then your training kicked in and you took off, grabbing onto your dragon as she slid down the side of the ravine. Her claws scraped against the slate stone sending shards tumbling down below. She huffed, wheezing before leaping off the side and landing squarely in front of Bakugou and his dragon.

It took him no time at all to react and he instantly pulled his blades out, red eyes aflame with alarm and anger. “Who the fuck are you?”

You slide off the side of your dragon's thin back and landed on the charred ground, ash billowing around you. “Someone that can help, if you don’t treat that immediately, he’ll die.”

“Katsuki,” the shifter whimpered, his face paling.

Bakugou hesitated, glancing at your dragon. It was strange looking, long and slender with pointed features. An odd color too, he’s only known of red, gold, and orange dragons. He didn’t have time to ponder though, Kirishima needed help. “Do it.”

You nodded, feeling a sense of relief knowing that everything was going to plan. You wasted no time kneeling by Kirishima, eyeing his wound. His blood was bubbling around the tip of the arrow and evaporating into foul-smelling smoke. In one swift movement you yanked the arrow out, not flinching as Kirishima roared. With the arrow gone, you proceeded to pull the bag that was around your back to your side where you quickly found the antidote to neutralize the silver in his body.

“Here,” you said, “open his mouth.”

Bakugou glanced at you once more before prying open Kirishima’s jaws and watching your pour a strange-colored liquid down his dragon's throat. However, he was shocked to see Kirishima’s wound immediately stop smoking.

Kirishima let out sigh of relief, shutting his eyes as he took a deep breath.

“There,” you said as you capped the bottle and placed it back in your bag, “that should be good for now, he’ll need another dose in the morning. He won’t be able to shift back either, not till that is healed,” you told Bakugou while eyeing the wound.

Bakugou hummed, glancing at you again, “great. Now, answer my question, who the fuck are you?”

You frowned, “you don’t remember?”

Bakugou narrowed his eyes, “am I supposed to?”

You huffed, “of course you don’t, look, you and I got into a argument when we were kids? You wandered out too far, started acting like a dick - still act like one.”

“Do you have any clue who I fuckin’ am?” Bakugou snarled, getting ready to press his blade against your throat.

You gave him a wry smile, “Prince Katsuki Bakugou, how can I forget it a second time.”

Recognition flashed across Bakugou’s face as he looked at you again. Were you that mangy girl that got pissed at him for telling her that her family were traitors? He shifted his gaze towards your face, taking note of your orange eyes, which told him that you were indeed from the family that betrayed his.

“Remember now?” You asked as you glanced down at Kirishima again who was phasing in and out of consciousness. And then to your utter surprise he said your name. It made you still your hands on Kirishima and look at him. “So you do remember?”

Bakugou didn’t nod, instead he narrowed his eyes. “How did someone like you get a hold of a dragon?”

You shrugged, “Luck.”

“That’s not the answer I was looking for, you must have stolen it, traitor,” Bakugou hissed, suddenly moving towards you at an incredible speed.

You were somewhat caught off guard as he slammed you into the ground, pinning you down with his knee on your chest and the blade of his sword pressed against your neck. “I didn’t steal anything.”

“Yeah fuckin’ right, only my family has dragons,” he snarled, pressing the sword further into your neck, causing the skin to split under his blade. A few scarlet drops of blood slid down the side of your neck and dripped onto the ashen earth.

At the sight of this your dragon growled, slinking forward towards Bakugou. A wheezing hiss escaped her as she opened her mouth. The back of her throat started to brighten to a electric green threatening to breathe her fire on the prince, not that it would do much to him.

Bakugou stilled, glancing at your dragon. He had never seen green fire before. He looked down at you again, you were collected, watching him with a cool expression. Perhaps you were telling the truth. There have been tales of dragons far south, those of a different species than the royal line.

Your heart was in your throat as you watched him assess you. He was breathing hard, his chest was heaving as he tightened his grip around his sword. Then to your relief he moved off of you and sheathed his weapon.

“You’re coming back with me,” Bakugou announced, “to finish healing Kirishima and then to be questioned.”

This part was important, you couldn’t easily go with him, or it’d be suspicious. So you sat up, rigid and with eyes wide, “questioned? I just saved your dragon?”

“I don’t trust you,” Bakugou said with a hiss through clenched teeth. “Something about this is wrong, and I’d be fuckin’ stupid to let you go. Especially when you are the only other dragon rider in the country who isn’t part of the royal family. My family.”

You frowned, standing up and folded your arms across your chest. “Look-”

“No, you look,” Bakugou hissed, jamming his finger into your shoulder, “you don’t get a fuckin’ option. Get on your dragon we’re leaving.”

You yelped when he roughly grabbed you by the upper arm and practically threw you towards your dragon. With a huff of irriatiton you regained your balance and climbed on your dragon’s back. You watched as Bakugou hauled Kirishima over his shoulder and to your surprise managed to get on behind you, securing Kirishima between the both of you and your dragons spikes. With a hissing whine your dragon crawled forward, speeding up before she pushed herself off from the ground.

Her leathery wings extended and ash plumed around her form as she rose up higher in the sky. She didn’t fly exactly like a normal dragon would, she would weave through the air, tucking her wings in before extending them to propel herself forward again.

It wasn’t a smooth ride to put it simply.

You glanced back behind you to see Bakugou pinning Kirishima down with his upper body while he held onto the large spikes on your dragons back. He looked pissed, probably because he wasn’t used to riding bare back, at least that’s what you assumed.

It didn’t take very long to enter the western lands, and you could immediately tell that you had left your homeland due to the dramatic change in scenery.

The terrain became plush with pine forests, with trees as tall as some of the castles you heard from the elders in your town. The earth was covered with plush grass too, and the forests would break away to vast meadows with rolling hills, covered with hundred of wild flowers.

Your eyes widened at the sheer beauty the western lands held. It was warm here too, the sun had blessed these lands and all its creatures. In fact, you had never seen so much wildlife before in your life. There were herds of elk migrating north, and so many birds that were all different colors, you didn’t even know that so many animals existed.

In your town the only animals were pests, and a few scraggly farm animals that helped to feed the people. Your home was full of dry cracked earth, dead fields of straw grass, and swampy bogs that sucked and devoured any life form that entered them. The sun was shrouded by clouds and a perpetual dust seemed to hang heavy in the air.

You glanced back at Bakugou quickly, your amber gaze catching his crimson ones. A bitter feeling rose like bile in your throat and you quickly realized that you were jealous of where he grew up, and angry that his family had taken the opportunity for you to grow up in the western lands away too.

Soon a clearing near the foot of a mountain came into view. There you were able to see a large town, clearly a nomadic one, but the quality of the tents told you that the royal family and its people didn’t have much to worry about.

As you flew closer to the clan you began to notice the common people running out in groups, alarmed that a dragon, and not one they were familiar with, was about to land in their home.

With a wheezing sigh, your dragon landed, her nostrils flaring as she warily watched the three other dragons resting by the royal tent. You watched them too, hesitating to get off in case you needed to leave quickly.

“They won’t hurt you,” Bakugou said as he looked towards the trio of fire colored dragons. One a deep gold, his mothers. Another a pale yellow, his fathers. The final one, a rusty orange, his grandmothers.

You nodded, about to say something but he had already gotten off your dragon and was carrying Kirishima towards the royal tents, there were four of them. The people cried out his name and Kirishima’s, obviously concerned about who you were and what had happened to Bakugou’s dragon.

“C’mon,” Bakugou called out, not bothering to look back at you, “leave your dragon, she won’t be harmed. For now at least.”

“Comforting,” you muttered as you got off your dragon and gave her a quick pat on the neck. She grumbled, lowering her head to the ground as she watched you follow the prince with unblinking eyes.

As you followed behind Bakugou you glanced at the common folk. They were all dressed similar, wearing clothes lined with furs, and various skins. They looked well fed, well rested…happy.

You narrowed your eyes as they continued to watch you follow their prince, and you didn’t miss the whispers amongst them. They too knew of the tales between your clan and Bakugou’s, and how your family was know to have amber eyes.

Your lip curled in irritation as they exchanged snide comments about your family.

Traitors, murderers, thieves, cowards.

—---

Bakugou had you wait outside of a tent that was guarded by two warriors before allowing you to come inside. With a sharp inhale you entered the tent, pushing the door flap out of your way as you walked forward.

The inside of the tent was huge, bigger than the home you grew up in. The ground was covered in plush furs, and there was enough room for a large bed and a table. The tent walls were home to various weapons, swords, axes, and a few spears. Along with a few exotic pelts and horns from animals.

At the sound of a pained groan you turned your head to see Kirishima curled up on a makeshift bed of pelts and pillows. That silver, although neutralized for now, would keep him from shifting for another few days.

“Sit,” Bakugou’s gruff voice cut through your thoughts as he yanked out one of the chairs at his table.

You turned your gaze to his as you moved across the room and silently took a seat.

Bakugou sat down in the chair across from you and let out a strained sigh. He looked frustrated, which was not surprising, considered all that had happened within the past few hours. “The queen will be coming in to question you, along with the queen mother-”

Before he could even finish his sentence, Mitsuki, the queen, the woman who told you she would burn you and your mother alive, stomped into the tent. Her red eyes were ablaze with a deep anger upon the sight of you.

“You,” she hissed, rushing over to you, about to presumably smack you across the face till a frail voice spoke from the opening of the tent.

“Mitsuki, behave yourself,” an older lady the spitting image of Mitsuki hobbled in. She was frail and thin, but still was proud as she stood tall. The queen mother had to lean heavily on her cane as she made her way over to you, and Bakugou got out of his seat to allow his grandmother to sit.

You remained quiet, your gaze flicking between the two women. This was the most crucial part, to convince the royal family that you were not what they perceived you to be. An infiltrator, someone that was going to come in and wipe out their family line. Someone who was going to take revenge for what they did to your family.

“Now, child,” the queen mother spoke, clearing her throat as she folded her hands together, “what did you do that made my grandson fly you all the way back here, and away from your home?”

“Mother, don’t you know who this is?” Mitsuki hissed, “look at her eyes.”

“I’m well aware,” the queen mother responded curtly, “however, I trust Katuski’s judgment, if she was a threat she wouldn’t be here now would she?”

Mitsuki kept her mouth shut, but she still was glaring at you with such intense hatred that you had a hard time holding eye contact with her.

“Speak,” the queen mother said, gesturing at you with her hand to talk.

“I was in the area, and saw prince Bakugou get attacked, his dragon was injured and I helped him. He told me to come back with him, presumably because Kirishima needs another dose of antidote in the morning to remove the silver from his system,” you explained, keeping your voice even.

“And how did you obtain that dragon out there?” the queen mother asked.

“I found an egg when I was traveling away from home. It looked to be dead, so I thought I could sell it along the trade line by the coast far south,” you began, remembering the lines you rehearsed for years, “but to my surprise it hatched, so I kept it-”

“You have no right to own a dragon,” Mitsuki hissed, “not after what your family did to mine, what your grandfather did to my siblings.”

A muscle in your jaw twitched as you looked at Mitsuki, she had her hand on the hilt of her axe, clearly ready to yank it out and cleave you in two. “It wouldn’t have hatched if I didn’t have a right to it-”

“You bratty bit-”

“Mitsuki!” The queen mother said, her voice straining as she looked at her daughter with wide eyes, “this young woman just saved your son’s dragon, I know you know the weight that carries. We only get one dragon our whole lives, and if Katsuki’s died, he wouldn’t be able to take the throne.”

Mitsuki scoffed, but backed off, knowing her mother was right. “I know, but that still doesn’t mean I trust her, and neither should you mother, or you Katsuki. I know her kind, her mother and I used to be friends. I have seen the evil that grows in her blackened heart, and no doubt she passed it to her daughter.”

With that, Mitsuki turned on her heel and left, clearly through with speaking and looking at you.

You let out a breath that you didn’t know you were holding. The air in the tent seemed to drop about five degrees too. It was rumored that the Bakugou’s had an affinity for fire too, which would explain how Mitsuki could raise the temperature of the air around her when she was mad.

You quickly glanced at Bakugou, who you had a feeling he had a more fiery temper than his mother, and you could only image how much heat he’d give off if he was mad. A small flicker of fear lit in your stomach as you began to think that this mission you were on was way more dangerous than you had thought.

“Look,” the queen mother spoke up, her voice was beginning to sound tired, “I knew your grandfather, he was a greedy man. He would do just about anything to get what he wanted.”

You remained silent, as feelings of doubt started to swirl in your mind.

“However, as much as our family dislikes yours, we are indebted to you. I can’t punish you for the crimes of your grandfather, and I wouldn’t anyway. Finish healing Kirishima and you may stay with us for a while, or leave it’s up to you, but perhaps it’s time that we try to rekindle the once great friendship between our clans.” The queen mother gave you a dry smile, “that doesn’t mean I don’t trust you either, I don’t make the same mistake twice. That’s why Katsuki will be in charge of you for the duration of your stay-”

“What? I don’t wanna fuckin’ babysit,” Bakugou hissed, shooting you a sharp glare.

Your ever growing fear, though you kept it well hidden, had been curbed somewhat. You had gotten in to their inner circle, so with enough patience you could achieve your goal. At the thought of this the scar on your abdomen seemed to burn and a pair of cold orange eyes flashed in your mind.

You couldn’t fail.

“You will. It will be good for her to learn about us and you to learn about them, Katuski,” the queen mother concluded with a nod, “now I think it’s time that I go have my late morning tea.”

You watched as the queen mother hobbled out of Bakugou’s tent, and you let out a sigh. You were relived that no one had picked up on your growing nerves. It would probably good the queen had left or she surely would have sniffed you out. With another sigh you turned your head and to your surprise you saw that Bakugou was already looking at you. His red eyes were narrowed slightly as he let out a huff.

“C’mon, there’s a spare tent on the outskirts of camp you can stay in,” Bakugou finally said as he pushed past you and slipped through the entrance of the tent.

You still for a moment, and then followed him out. The common people seemed to be more relaxed now. They still gave you some sideways glances as you passed, but it was nothing like from when you first arrived.

It was rather odd seeing Bakugou interact with the common folk too. He of course was prickly, but he’d dip his head to a few elders that would hobble past him, or even let some young kids jump at him and hang off is arms before he roughly tossed them off, making them squeal as they ran back to their tents.

You folded your arms over your chest, eyeing him closely. He was tall, much taller than you and built like a warrior. His arms were thick and strong, and tanned by the warm sun. He had a few milky pink scars that ran down his back along with a few tattoos that adorned his bare torso. His hair was golden, bleached by the sun, and spiky. Yet underneath his mane of hair he had a dark undercut, where you saw a set of scars that looked similar to claw marks run along the nape of his neck.

He would be hard to defeat. Someone like him, who was trained from birth to be a warrior, a prince, and a king. Not to mention the sheer amount of scars and battle tattoos he is no doubt a seasoned warrior. Uncertainty seeded in your mind once more as you both came to a stop outside of a gnarly looking tent. If thats what you could call it.

“You’ll stay here,” Bakugou said, his deep voice clipped with annoyance.

“Hardly call this a tent,” you mused, your gaze jumping from the torn fabric near the bottom of the tent and the worn flap that was barely holding it shut.

Bakugou rolled his eyes, choosing not to respond to your comment. “I’ll see you at dawn.” With that he turned his back to you and left. Not once did he turn his head back to glance at you, and you were glad.

—----------------

The next morning you were woken up before dawn. Not by choice, really, but there was a rather unpleasant groaning that started outside your tent about an hour before dawn. As much as you tried to drown out the sound decided to get up to see what was outside of your tent fussing up a storm.

To your surprise it was Bakugou’s dragon, Kirishima.

“I need more of that stuff, please,” Kirishima groaned.

You looked at the dragon shifter in mild shock. Had he crawled all the way across camp to your tent? With a quick glance at his bare torso, your question was answered, he was covered in dirt. “C’mon,” you finally said and let him inside of your tent.

Kirishima let out a grunt as he crawled behind you before collapsing on the straw mat in the center of your tent. He was panting hard and sweat was rolling down his sides.

You quickly lit the single candle in your tent and pulled out your healing pack, rifling through your various herbs till your found the antidote for Kirishima. The second bottle was much more potent than the first one you gave him, which was on purpose. You needed to be brought back to Bakugou’s clan after all.

Kirishima was watching you with glassy eyes as you moved next to his side and hovered over him. He was grinding his teeth so hard it felt like they would snap. He hissed when you ran your fingertips down his chest towards his wound, your hands were ice cold on his hot skin. “Hurry-”

“Patience,” you said sharply, your orange eyes flick between his face and the wound. Kirishima’s wound while, the silver would cure him, it was already infected. Which wasn’t supposed to happen. You poured the antidote into Kirishima’s mouth and watched him sigh as the last of the silver was broken down.

“Thank you,” Kirishima said quietly, letting out a sigh as he let his eyes shut again.

You frowned, watching as he promptly passed out from sheer exhaustion. His face was flushed pink with fever and it spread down his neck to his chest. That was unnerving to you, your knowledge with medicine was limited. You glanced at the open flap of your tent, the sun was about to break over the horizon which mean Bakugou would be here soon. A few moments passed and you grabbed your bag again, glancing at the wound before pulling out some flowers and a small jar of honey.

While you were busying yourself making a paste for Kirishima’s wound you failed to notice Bakugou sauntering up to your tent. He was dressed for a hunt, with his spear slung over his back. To his surprise he saw that you were up already.

You furrowed your brows as you smashed small marigold flowers into a paste with the honey before turning around only to see Bakugou standing in front of your tent.

“What’s wrong with him?” Bakugou asked, moving the flap to the tent opening aside and ducking before walking inside.

“His wound is infected,” you said, glancing up at him before turning your attention to Kirishima, reaching out to place the mush of herbs and flowers on his wound.

“He can see our healer,” Bakugou said gruffly as he grabbed your wrist roughly to stop you from touching Kirishima.

You wiggled your wrist in his tight grasp. His hand easily wrapped around your entire wrist, and you were sure if he wanted to he could snap it in half. “Sure, but it’s not looking great-”

“I’ll let our healer decide that,” Bakugou interrupted, his eyes were narrowed as he quickly dropped your wrist and then bent down to inspect his dragon. Kirishima twitched in his sleep, letting a hand flop towards Bakugou before letting out a grumble. Bakugou lifted his gaze to you for a moment, and then back at Kirishima. Why would Kirishima come to you? He knew where the healer was.

Bakugou grabbed Kirishima’s forearm before slinging him over his shoulders. “I’ll come back for you,” he said before leaving you again.

[icespur]

Akiren choosing to wear a wedding dress for Akeshu/ShuAke wedding: 

very late Part 2 to this post below:

I've had this sitting in a Google Doc for a while, I've just been too lazy to post it

(Mementos Mission Manga Scene Spoiler warning)

So while Unapologetically spoiling myself on Persona 5 content, I came across a Manga Spinoff called Mementos Mission. There's a scene where Akira (Protagonist’s name in the Manga canon is Akira Kurusu), teams up with Akechi on an investigation and he's advised to come in disguise and Akira’s version of disguise is “Oh, I just happened to have a female cop uniform in my wardrobe, along with curly hair extensions, lipstick and makeup. I'll wear that.” 

Akechi reacts like most people would, and after recovering from a laughing fit, questions what the heck he's wearing. 

And Akira is so nonchalant about it “You said to come in disguise and this is what I had on hand 🤷‍♀️.” 

The outfit is also available as a DLC costume pack in Persona 5 Dancing In Starlight. 

Point is, Akiren canonically crossdresses and has no issue with it. 

So what if he willingly wears a wedding dress to an Akeshu/ShuAke wedding scenario? 

Originally, the Wedding Dress option was just supposed to be plan B. If for some reason the Metaverse proves to be too dangerous to hold the wedding and they're forced to have it in the real world, Akira could just crossdress as a female and take the role of The Bride. 

Luckily Metaverse Wedding is manageable enough. During the private dressing process the Girls took it upon themselves to play Bridal Boutique for Akiren. 

Fast-forward to the Wedding. Akechi is waiting at the altar, Grim Reaper officiating (it was originally supposed to be Yaldabaoth but Grim showed up and it seemed letting him be a part of the ceremony was the only way not to get K.O.ed by him). Random assortment of shadows sitting in the crowd that the group managed to convince threaten to attend. Sophia is playing the role of the pipe organ, humming a wedding tune. Ryuji is one of Akiren’s best men, Yusuke is busy in the role of Wedding photographer—-um, “Artist”. Since cameras don't work in the Metaverse, Yusuke has to hand photograph the moments by painting them which he is more than enthusiastic about, this man is going to paint the most detailed works of art ever, who needs a silly camera? 

Morgana is on ring bearer duty. unfortunately since Sojiro can't enter the Metaverse, Cop PeePaw Zenkichi Is playing the role of “father that gets to walk Akiren down the aisle” 

Jose is the flower boy. 

Sumire is one of the girls not playing “Bridal Boutique” and is instead one of Akechi's best—-women? She felt bad for him barely having any Bests on his side so she insisted. The rest of Akechi's Bests entourage consists of docile cognitive beings of Sae Niijima, and a couple of his agents. 

Since fashion isn't her area of expertise, Futaba also willingly opted out of playing Wedding Boutique and stood next to Ryuji in Akiren’s Bests line up, along with Lavenza. 

Akechi didn't have anyone close to walk him down the Aisle. Shido was an obvious no go. “Absolutely Mcfucking Never In This Lifetime Or In Hell, Docile Cognitive puppet version or not” - in Akechi's own words. 

So Igor happily decided to fill that void. The long nosed hunchback was an unsettling sight for Akechi but Akiren reassured he's a decent dude. 

The moment comes, doors swing open for the second Groom to reveal—-

Akiren in full wedding dress and veil, hair extensions to further sell the feminine look, along with black lipstick. He's wearing a casual warm smile, absolute zero sense of shame in this man. 

Zenkichi and Ryuji do double takes, Futaba bursts out in a fit of cackles.

Behind Akiren, the girls, minus Futaba and Sumire, stand behind him, all with varying expressions from defeated, embarrassed, and holding in laughter.

“For the record, we didn't force him to wear this. Once we managed to convince him that wearing his Shujin school uniform is not appropriate attire to get married, he suggested a wedding dress. Despite us explaining it's not necessary and a Tuxedo will do just fine, he was already picking out dress options, so we just went along with it.”

“He also pulled black lipstick and curly black hair extensions out of his pocket and ominously claimed “My time has come.” He wouldn't give us an answer as to where he got them from, I can only assume they've been in his pocket all day.” 

Akechi just lets out a defeated sigh, and facepalms. Oh, that's right. His soon to be husband is a fucking dumbass

A lovable, amusing, cute, undeniably sexy dumbass, but a dumbass all the same. But—--he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

[olderthannetfic]

I've had a few commenters on my fics be surprised that I do plot outlines, make a timeline of events, and make Word docs going over everything that's canon for the character that's relevant to the story (particularly useful for comics' canons where there's multiple continuities and you need to get the details of a specific version straight). Personally, I have a lot of issues with remembering things later on while writing, so this combats my ADHD. I don't think most people would find my level of planning enjoyable. But surely most people do some planning? It just makes things easier to go, "okay, here's my beginning, my middle, and my end" as a plan than to sit there going, "I hope I come up with an ending eventually". Or at least, it's easier for me. Is that a universal experience, a neurodivergent one, or a "your mileage may vary regardless of neurodivergence/lack thereof"?

--

*cackling*

Guys...

"Planner" vs. "Pantser" is like the most basic division of writing styles ever and is covered constantly on every writing blog and in every writing how-to book and...

From what I have seen, your average prolific writer of genre fiction who also writes articles on craft tends to be a planner, though not always at the extreme end of that spectrum, but there are plenty of famous authors who are extreme pantsers. I remember some Isabelle Allende quote about "Write one good page a day and at the end of a year, you have a book".

I don't think it's as simple as writers of plot-forward genres vs. genres about the human condition, but in terms of people producing writing advice, it does often break down that way. (Also, it's a lot easier to write how-to guides for plotters than pantsers in some ways, so that probably skews the numbers.)

The big difference between fic writers and pros who are pantsers, from what I can tell, is that the pros 1. have a lot more experience with needing to finish big projects by a deadline and successfully doing so and 2. don't usually post serially, so revision of the full work is possible after they've written the first draft and discovered what the story is about.

(There are pros who do post serially to great success, but my impression is that many of them are planners.)

[thepictureofjune]

The music of Noah Temel

— from anger to loss to self discovery and love

this has been in my docs for two months now and it's (hopefully) the last day to actually post sad Noah content so might as well drop it now.

What is this? Songs I associate with Noah and kinda why I chose to associate them with him. Kinda Nolin focused tho obviosuly. :)

Nolin Playlist in case anyone is curious abt other songs

Verschwende deine Zeit by Edwin Rosen

Ich verschwende meine Jugend Verschwende mein Geld Ich verschwende meine Hoffnung Und alles zerfällt Ich verschwende meine Zeit Meine Zeit mit dir Verschwende meine Zeit Meine Zeit mit dir Du verschwendest deine Liebe Verschwendest dein Geld Du verschwendest deine Hoffnung Ich schau zu, wie du zerfällst Du verschwendest deine Zeit Deine Zeit mit mir Verschwendest deine Zeit Deine Zeit mit mir

Noah doesn’t want to be at Einstein, he has a hard time making friends and is basically just wasting time until he is allowed to leave again but then Colin comes around and suddenly they are wasting their time together. They make movies, they watch movies, they joke, they banter, etc. It’s all easy and there are never any issues between them as they are only wasting time together by staring at walls and thinking of nothing. Through this motion, Colin becomes Noahs best friend, his favorite person because he is the only one Noah can waste his time with and have it actually not feel like wasted time.

1980s Horror Film by Wallows 

It seems so long I need someone I don't know what to say She was sitting there I could touch her hair But still we watch A 1980s horror film Jamie I don't know what to say to you I feel You're always on my mind

Colin invites him to see a movie as an apology and also to demonstrate that he truly wants to be his friend. Noah seems like he hasn’t had a friend in quite a while now and that he missed having one and well, after the visit theatre and some quick resolved tension, Colin is always on his mind, isnt he? He is in fact so much on Noahs mind that Noah has to make a whole own movie in order to focus on his feelings.

Crush Culture by Conan Gray

I don't care if I'm forever alone I'm not falling for you 'Cause this baby is loveproof (culture) I don't care what you're sayin' I don't wanna participate in your game of manipulation (crush) And no, I don't want your sympathy, all this love is suffocating Just let me be sad and lonely

Basically Noah after the kiss up until 1056 and you can't convince me otherwise

When you’re gone by Shawn Mendes

I need to learn how to cope without you I'm tryna protect myself, but only you know how to, yeah Oh, I know what we're supposed to do Oh, but I hate the thought of losing you So I'm just tryna hold on Hold on, I don't wanna know what it's like when you're gone I don't wanna move on I don't wanna know what it's like when you're gone for good You're slipping through my fingertips A little bit, by a little bit I didn't know that loving you was the happiest I've ever been

Noah misses Colin as soon as he is gone, coming down with the realization that aside from Colin, he really didn’t have a lot that kept him at the school.

Deep End by Felix (Stray Kids)

How've you been? I guess you're fine It's been pretty long Since we've last seen Honestly Throughout my life Deep inside I never felt alive The way you used to touch my soul Was always so sweet and lovely No matter how far apart we were You'd always pick up the phone But now I'm truly all alone in this world I miss the way you felt so close to my bones

To be Alone by Hozier 

All I've ever done is hide From our times when you're near me Honey, when you kill the lights and kiss my eyes I feel like a person for a moment of my life But you don't know what hell you put me through To have someone kiss the skin that crawls from you To feel your weight in arms I'd never use It's the god that heroin prays to Oh to be alone with you

I do feel like if Noah ever admits his feelings, he’d go crazy Hozier-level obsessed with Colin. Also I’ll leave you with Hozier himself explaining the message of the song: "The artist explains that being alone is not necessarily a bad thing. It can be a source of self-discovery and self-reflection, allowing one to discover their true self."

Pretty Noah at the end of 1056 + 1057 to me up until the Ava talk scene.

so american by Olivia Rodrigo

He says I'm pretty wearin' his clothes And he's got hands that make hell seem cold Feet on the dashboard He's like a poem I wish I wrote I wish I wrote When he laughs at all my jokes And he says I'm so american Oh god, it's just not fair of him To make me feel this much I'll go anywhere he goes

Hear me out. It makes sense

I guess I'm in love by Clinton Kane

Oh, I'm obsessed With the way your head is laying on my chest How you love the things I hate about myself And no one knows, but with you, I see hope again Oh, I'm a mess When I overthink the little things in my head You seem to always help me catch my breath But then I lose it again, when I look at you, that's the end And why do I get so nervous when I look into your eyes? Butterflies can't stop me falling for you And darling, this is more than anything I felt before You're everything that I want, but I didn't think I'd find Someone who is worth the wait of all the years of my heartbreak But I know now I found the one I love

Extra: I won’t say (I’m in Love) 

No chance, no way I won't say it, no, no It's too cliché I won't say I'm in love I thought my heart had learned its lesson It feels so good when you start out My head is screaming "Get a grip, girl Unless you're dying to cry your heart out" You keep on denying Who you are and how you're feeling Baby, we're not buying Hon, we saw you hit the ceiling (Oh, no) Face it like a grown-up When you gonna own up That you got, got, got it bad?

Pretty self-explanatory…The little vocals obviously relate to Ava and Joel and how they feel about Noah not admitting anything.

will upload the colin version of this in a bit, see ya then and happy calm before the storm day :]

[rubydubydoo122]

Just wanted to tell you that I read 9 out of the 11 chapters of In Every Universe Still I Rise yesterday. I haven't left a single comment because each chapter left me so drained, as if I were the person that would be put to rest or has to watch his other variants die over and over and over again until the end of time.

I didn't know where this would be headed to but there are so many small ways in which you see that Dick's and Bruce's relationship with Jason is rebuilding. How they begin to see each other again. It feels so natural.

I love how the other Jason's are like this embodiment of goodness and yeah, innocence too, which is always painfully stripped away from them. There are the obvious ones, like the lamb and the angel. The kid on the street, the toddler. A hero, a martyr. A kid whose life was decided by a poll.

I can't make myself read the No Capes Au one yet. Because that Jason has no idea. No idea of vigilantism. Of the dangers that that life style brings.

Yeah, I understand the story being draining. It is very dark, and I find myself needing to take multiple breaks while writing.

I'm going to be honest, I have two endings in mind, and I haven't set my mind on how the fic is going to end, but I'm leaning towards one specific ending and.... I'm not going to spoil it. Even the friend who I've been talking to since I've had bulletpoints on a doc doesn't know how the fic is going to end, and I think it'll probably shock everyone.

Since there wasn't much of a plot to this story besides angst, I think it allowed me to focus on the characters relationship with each other more. From the acting strictly professional with each other in the first chapter, to Jason and Dick having their banter to lighten up the mood, to the first breaking of those walls all three of them have put up in the graveyard scene. Then there's the Lamb, the Baby back to back, and we see Dick and Jason let themselves fall back into being family. (I would say that their banter is definitely sibling banter, but the Wings chapter was more of the vunerable side to being a family especially during tough times) We also see in the hotel that Bruce is trying to comfort Jason, and it's something Jason desperately wants, but he doesn't let himself fall back into being Bruce's son. Then they go to the universe where Bruce, Talia, Jay and Damian definitely resemble a nuclear family, and Older more traumatized Bruce kinda just absorbs that energy, and we see him have a conversation about Jason's death with Jason without blaming him for it. And Obviously Dick caring about weather Jason lives or dies and all that Jazz. And just that little scene where Jason, Dick and Damian are sitting on the swing and Jason leans his head on Dick's shoulder for comfort. Then there's the, what I like to call the filler chapter, where Dick and Jason have their sibling banter and Bruce punches the Joker variant for saying Jason deserved to die, and I'm not gonna lie, I loved writing that chapter. The Dark Knights of Steel AU didn't really have much family bonding, but the No Capes AU... you haven't read that yet, but read it and come back to this post and tell me what you think. It's kinda like the last piece of the puzzle Jason needs to view Bruce as a father again.

[cursedvibes]

Fic Writer Q & A!

Tagged by @voxofthevoid Thank you 🤗

How many wips do you have currently?

In terms of stuff I'm more or less actively working on with a proper concept (not just vague ideas) and what I plan to finish: 9

Which one are you finding the hardest to finish?

The final chapter of Stitches Across The Eye 😖 I recently got a comment asking when I'm gonna post it, since the last update was over a year ago...well... It's just that canon has thrown me for a loop with the new Jin lore and also TenKen and Pinchan are hogging my attention lately. It has kind of messed with what I had originally in mind for the end of that fic. I will get around to it eventually though and if it's the last thing I ever do!!

What does it usually look like when inspiration strikes for you?

I write 5-10k in one sitting until my brain is mush and I can't form a single coherent thought anymore. Otherwise, if I have an idea for a scene, dialogue or general theme while lying in bed at night, I write it down as detailed as possible on my phone in whatever WIP document it fits. Thankfully Google Docs exists as an app too 🙏

Do you curate playlists for each fic or is your process different?

I have a playlist for Stitches, but I don't use it anymore. I prefer to listen to ambient-ish music to get into and keep myself in the mood I need for a certain fic. I have a whole YouTube playlist with 1h+ ambient compilations and whatever feels right for the fic or scene will play on repeat while I write. For example:

This is what I listened to a lot for my Pinchan fics

works well for TenKen fics

Chance Encounter

And the Official Prison Realm Lofi often fits as well like for example for Stitches

Do you go balls to the wall and write as you go or are you more organized?

I used to go balls to the wall. I did plan my fics, what would happen when, but I would only do that in my head and then write the fic from start to finish like I imagined it. No jumping around and only writing down what has been mostly solidified (excluding edits of course). Recently, I've gone to writing outlines in my docs first and then start writing, while deleting the passages in my notes I already finished. It has the advantage that I don't have to remember as much, I can add spontaneous ideas into my outline and don't have to hope I remember them when I get to that point in the fic and I write much faster when I have the bullet points further down as a reference. It's especially helpful for phrasing. And it's a nice feeling to see the bullet points slowly shrink, which makes it easier to finish WIPs even if I'm stuck at one scene. Has resulted in me getting more WIPs and jumping around between them more though.

Tagging (if you want): @hxhhasmysoul @kaitakushi @yukisdomain

[little-pocket-medic]

[since it’s early in the morning and rather chilly, i carefully place him in my shirt pocket to keep him warm and wait for him to get settled, then set off on the hike.

i walk for a few miles, occasionally chatting with him and checking in to make sure he’s okay. by the time i reach my destination, the sun is just about to rise.

i wake him up- he’d fallen asleep in my pocket some time ago- and give him a tiny cup of hot chocolate while i sip out of my thermos. we’re sitting at the edge of a little cliff, the desert sprawled out before us and just starting to glow orange and red in the sunrise.]

whatcha think, doc? pretty neat out here huh? bet you don’t get a lot of chances to leave that lab of yours, ‘specially now that you’re so little.

-🫀 anon

As Medic gets set down in your pocket, he shuffles into a more comfortable position. His hands hold onto the edge of your pocket, rather cutely.

He watches on as they walk, pointing out the different species of birds and rambling on about their features. Autism is a powerful thing. Hopefully you wanted to listen.

Medic yawned more and more as time went on. His eye lids felt heavy, and the enveloping warmth from you didn't help. Maybe you wouldn't mind if he took a little nap...

Medic awoke to a nudge from you, blinking a few times to fully regain consciousness. He fixed his glasses, taking the small cup almost instinctively, holding it close to him.

He took a drink from the cup. Hot chocolate was never his favorite- too sugary for his taste- but he didn't mind. If was from you.

As you ask, Medic turns his attention to the sunset. Its beautiful. The orange sun wrapped around the rocks like a hug from the stars. The gentle breeze from the darkening desert shook the small shrubs and bushes in a rhythmic dance.

He loved his lab. It was home to him. He knew where everything was, the way the doves coo'd in the morning. Medic knew exactly how the light shined through the windows. Where his tools were, and his books...

But a lot had changed recently. He'd shrunk. Engineer had been stressed trying to find a fix to it. Battles had been called off without a Medic. His whole schedule changed.

Looking out, Medic hummed. Maybe change isn't as bad as he thought. Maybe he needed it.

Hello! I'm not sure If that one anon is reading, but I've decided to only use the tf2 tag once a day. This way, I don't cover up too much of the art and stuff!

Otherwise, not a lot of people see I've posted. Thanks for understanding!

[ekrubynaffit]

Gonna get things off my chest post

So I haven't been very active in almost a year, and I can say because it's been a really horrible hard year for us. My eldest who is nearly 16 was attacked in June last year by a group of kids while he was out with his girlfriend celebrating their one year anniversary, he had his shoes stolen right off his feet and was whacked round the back of his head and one of the kids (there were 12-14 kids around just those 2) tried to force him up so they could all take a turn trying to beat him up. Since then he's been suffering from anxiety and depression and ptsd. He's gone missing in the dead of night twice and has said on multiple occasions he wants to end things. We are still in court proceedings as because of his footage the police were able to itendify these kids as the same group that have been doing calculated gay bashings to adult men and almost leaving them for dead at times. So far they have been charged with 11 of these hate crimes plus my sons, so it has been a very long stressful process for us! We are still waiting on counselling for him and are getting really desperate for help from the mental health sector.

Then just before christmas my husband had COVID and now has been diagnosed with long COVID, has been having heart and lung problems and a lot of lack of sleep and then to top it off, diagnosed with high cholestrol, and now they want to send him for tests for colon cancer. So thats a whole lot of new stress as we were told this at the start of the week.

Because of the stress my mental health has taken a toll and the final straw came for me when I sat watching a show and started bawling like I'd lost my best friend when a character died. So I went to the docs for medication which has been helping. To top that all off I have really bad back problems lately that I was sure was siatica but tests have shown absolutely nothing wrong, but yet the pain is indeed real!

So long story short, life is shit right now, and if anyone reading this feels like they are suffering mental health (or any health problem) please get it checked! If you have a lot on your plate and feeling the strain the first thing needed is to help yourself so you can be there for others!

So today I've finally had a chance to sit down and open my sims, its been almost a year and I found this build in the works, which is a reno of one of my first builds I ever uploaded to mts! Hopefully I can work on this more and get it finished!

Sorry for the big long story, I don't usually talk about my personal life here, but opening up the game made me realise I haven't used the sim as my stress relief in almost a year just wanted to share why I haven't been very active.

[bitchyfoxymama]

Make Room For It - Karev x F!Reader

Ahhh my first Grey's Anatomy Post!!! And it's for my fav Peds Doc!! 😍 I hope you enjoy this I was consistently watching til around season 6 then stopped but have been popping in when my mom and sis watch rn just to check in on my babies.

WARNINGS: Spoilers for Grey's Anatomy season 8 episode 24, mentions of the incident, fluff, depression

********

Empty, numb, heartbroken, all things you felt since you found out about the plane crash and the fact that Lexi wasn't here anymore. You had a stupid fight the night before about forgetting to do your laundry and her scolding you. 

You never said "I love you" to her before she left along with Mer and the other on that stupid surgery. You were so stupid! Stupid to let a stupid fight from telling your sister you loved her. 

You had Mer sure and you were so grateful to still have her but you and lexi grew up together, your bond was stronger, she was your person, quiet like Christina was Merideth's. 

The point is that you were grieving, work became hard, you would make small slip ups, forgetting why you'd enter a room or forgetting the patient's name. It all became too much so you took an early lunch and fled to one of the on-call rooms, locking it with shaking hands. 

You slide down the door and just let all the emotions you've been keeping inside finally free, all the guilt, regret and sadness fall from your eyes. When you had run off what you didn't notice was a certain intern had seen you rush past. 

You were pulled out of your crying session when there was a knock on the door. 

"THE ROOMS IN USE!" You shout, but another knock comes again. Your annoyed now, you mind going on how you want to scream at the person whose interrupted your much needed cry time, but before you can get up a voice comes through the closed door. 

"Hey, it's uh me. Look I know I'm probably the last person you wanna talk to right now but will you just let me in?" Of course it's Alex. 

You've been seeing him on and off again for a few months, but have since stopped since the accident. 

You get up and slowly unlock the door before going to sit on one of the beds while he gently opens the door and locks it once more. 

"I saw you run in here and had to check in on you" he says as he comes to sit next to you on the bed, placing a hand on your knee. 

"Thanks but I'm fine really, you didn't need to come check on me Alex," you quickly wipe away your tears. 

"Yeah well I care about you, and seeing you run in here upset alone, well I had to help you," he says pulling you into a hug. The contact made the tears fall once more. You didn't know how much you needed the comfort of a person. You hadn't gone to Merideth since but having Alex hold you while you cried, triggered something inside of you. 

The sobs wrecked through your body as you gripped tightly onto his scrubs.

"Does it ever stop hurting?" You cry out. 

"No, you just make room for it" he says rubbing his hand down your back. 

Your crying session continues until you are both paged, you look up at him, eyes red and puffy. 

"Oh no, I got your scrubs all icky and gross," you wipe your face. 

"Ah it's fine I've had worse cover my scrubs, but we should probably answer this page," he says, giving you one of his award winning smiles. 

You both get up off the bed but before either of you can leave you pull him into a gentle kiss. 

"Thank you, for everything," you say as you walk out of the room. 

You leave him there with a smile upon his face.