#Nico was a mess without her and it started immediately

[nicolibbyquotes]

“That was a future Nico problem. Right now, it was about doing whatever it took to find her. "A lot of work for someone you claim to hate," remarked Gideon”

- “The Atlas Six” by Olivie Blake

[brainddeadd]

ok i love matt with her. like everyone’s fighting in the ice and she’s just staying back and shaking her head at all the idiots and matt finished his fight and saw her standing so he anted to go stand with her and one of her teammates immediately thought he was gonna fight her but he would never

Caught in the Crossfire

The tension between the Devils and Rangers hit its boiling point that night. Fists were flying, helmets were off, and chaos erupted on the ice. Yn, stuck in the middle of it all, stayed back, shaking her head at the mess unfolding around her. She had learned early on not to get dragged into every fight—especially when all the boys she called teammates were more than happy to play enforcers for her.

Luke was swinging at anyone wearing blue, Jack was jawing at anyone within earshot, and Nico was tangled with a Ranger near the boards. It was a disaster—but somehow, Yn had found a little space near the neutral zone to just stand there, watching all the chaos unfold like an exhausted parent watching unruly kids.

And then she saw Matt Rempe.

Matt had just finished throwing a few heavy punches in his fight, landing one last hit before the linesmen stepped in to separate him and Kevin Bahl. He took a deep breath, skating off as his opponent was dragged to the box. As Matt wiped his face with his jersey, his gaze found Yn standing off to the side, looking exasperated but untouched.

A small, lopsided grin pulled at the corner of his mouth. Leave it to her to stay out of the madness.

Without a second thought, he started skating toward her, hoping to get in a quick word before the officials noticed. He figured she’d at least give him one of those disapproving but amused looks she always used to send his way—one that somehow felt more like affection than annoyance.

But before Matt could reach her, he noticed movement from the corner of his eye.

Jack Hughes came flying in at full speed, shoving Matt back with a scowl. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Jack barked, his protective instincts flaring instantly.

Luke was right behind him, grabbing Matt’s arm. “If you think for one second you’re getting near her—”

“Guys, guys!” Yn jumped between them, holding up her hands to block her teammates. “Chill! He’s not here to fight me!”

Jack and Luke exchanged confused glances, both still bristling with suspicion.

Matt threw his hands up in defense, his expression shifting from confusion to amusement. “I’d never fight her. You kidding me?” he said, looking between Jack and Luke like they’d lost their minds.

“Then what are you doing skating over here?” Jack demanded, glaring up at the much taller forward. Nico skated over, hovering a few feet away.

Matt smirked, his gaze landing on Yn. “Just wanted to stand with her. That a crime?”

Yn couldn’t help it—she laughed, the tension in her chest releasing at how ridiculous it all was. “You’re such an idiot,” she muttered, but there was warmth in her voice.

Nico shot her an incredulous look, as if to say, Really? Him?

Jack scowled, still suspicious, but Luke finally eased off with a grumble. “Next time, give us a heads-up or something, man. Jesus.”

Matt just grinned, giving Luke a playful shove. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll pencil it in.”

Yn shook her head at all of them, biting back a smile. “Boys and their fights,” she muttered under her breath, skating away as the officials blew their whistles and began breaking up the remaining scrums.

As she drifted toward the bench, she heard Matt’s voice from behind her, low enough that only she could hear. “You good?”

She glanced over her shoulder, catching his soft, familiar expression beneath all the chaos. “Yeah,” she whispered back. “I’m good.”

And with that, she skated off, leaving Matt and her overprotective teammates to glare at each other in mutual annoyance—because, as far as they were concerned, no one would ever be good enough to get close to Yn.

But Matt? He wasn’t planning on giving up anytime soon.

~~

After the game, Yn sat in her room, mind still spinning from everything that had happened. She was just starting to unwind when her phone buzzed on the nightstand.

Trevor Zegras: What the FUCK was that about with Rempe???

She stared at the message, a laugh slipping out despite herself. Of course, Trevor would get wind of it—he had his ear to the ground for any drama, especially if it involved her.

She quickly typed back: Relax, Z. It’s nothing.

A new message appeared almost instantly.

Trevor Zegras: NOTHING??? Jack and Luke looked ready to murder him. Do I need to catch a flight and fight him too or what??

Yn rolled her eyes, shaking her head fondly. You’re as bad as they are, I swear.

As she set her phone down, another message buzzed in.

Trevor Zegras: I'm serious. What’s going on between you two?

Yn smiled to herself, biting her lip.

Not sure yet, Z, she typed back. But I think it’s going to be interesting.

She had barely recovered from Trevor's chaotic texts when her phone buzzed again—another notification lighting up her screen.

Quinn Hughes: What the hell was that with Rempe?

She groaned, rubbing her face with her hands. Of course. First Jack and Luke, now Quinn was on her case too. She loved the Hughes brothers, but man, they knew how to overanalyze everything.

She typed back quickly: Don’t start, Quinn.

Almost immediately, his response came through.

Quinn Hughes: I saw Luke and Jack trying to take his head off. What’d he do to you?

Yn sighed. They always assumed the worst—like Matt had done something terrible or crossed some invisible line. But that wasn’t it. Not at all.

He didn’t do anything, Q. He was just… checking on me, that’s all.

Quinn Hughes: “Checking on you”? Seriously?

She could almost hear the disbelief in his voice, even through the screen. Quinn might have been the most level-headed of the Hughes brothers, but when it came to her, the protective instincts kicked in hard.

Another text buzzed in a second later.

Quinn Hughes: You know he’s not exactly popular with your guys, right?

Yn rolled her eyes. Yeah, I noticed. Thanks for the heads-up.

She paused before sending another message, fingers hovering over the keyboard. And he’s not as bad as you all think. He’s actually… kinda sweet when he’s not punching everyone.

There was a long pause on Quinn’s end, and then—

Quinn Hughes: You sound like Jack when he talks about Zegras. That’s concerning.

Yn snorted at that, shaking her head. Relax. I know what I’m doing.

Quinn's next message came after a beat.

Quinn Hughes: Do you? Because if he screws up, you know we’re all coming for him.

Her heart softened at the reminder that, beneath the teasing and the fights, the Hughes brothers always had her back. Even if they were a bit much sometimes.

Yeah, I know, she replied. Thanks, Quinn.

Just as she set her phone down, another buzz came in from Trevor.

Trevor Zegras: Still thinking about Rempe. Do I need to beat his ass or what??

Yn groaned, flopping back onto the pillows with a laugh.

Between Trevor and the Hughes brothers, Matt Rempe didn’t stand a chance. And yet, she couldn’t help but feel a flutter of excitement in her chest.

Whatever this thing with Matt was—it wasn’t going to be boring.

[lfghughes]

Say Cheese

a/n: I’m telling you guys that dad!nico, uncle!jack fuel me

There was no way you could wrangle your five year old at the moment as horrible as that sounded. When Nico had originally brought up it was time for the team photo a part of you wasn’t nervous about any of it. She no longer needed either of you to keep her entertained while photos were being taken. This was also one of the few times that everyones kids were also all together and she had kids at all various age stages around her which was nice because it meant all her fun uncles could also concentrate on getting their photos done without her interrupting.

She zoomed around with the other kids and you were comforted in knowing that she was at least safe and there wasn’t much for her to get into that would not be safe. Right now you knew she was off somewhere with Haulas kids, every once in a while they would zoom by and her giggles would fill the whole rink. Now it was time to get the whole family together and this was the part you knew would be the hard part. Getting her attention and dragging her to this photo.

Something about asking a five year old to take a picture was the end of the world suddenly. “Your daughter is about to give me the biggest chase of my life once I ask her to come over for the picture.” You warned Nico, giving him a warning look because she got her stubbornness from him no matter what he said about her getting it from you. “I’ll get her.” Dawson, John, and Luke offered at the same time. “Perfect, teamwork, I like it.” You told them and watched them skate off.

From where you were you watched the whole thing unravel in front of you. She loved her uncles but she loved being difficult a lot more and she was giving them a run for their money until finally Dawson managed to grab a hold of her. She squirmed most of the way over until Nico got her in his arms. “Did you guys give her chocolate?” He asked, looking at at Dawson, John, and Luke a little confused and they all shook their heads. “She was like that when we got her.”

You couldn’t help but facepalm because you had a feeling you knew what happened. “Baby, did you find a snack table?” You asked and she immediately beamed at both you and Nico. “Mhmm, I love chocolate donuts.” She exclaimed and you could only imagine the mess she probably left behind. “They’re going to ban our kid from coming here.” You laughed as you both got settled onto the seats on the ice. “Daddy look what I found too!” She said as she raised a puck in her hands.

“Where did you even get that??” You asked and she just gave you a small giggle. “She gets all of this from you, I swear.” You told Nico and he just laughed. “Definitely not from me.” Somehow by some miracle she sat patiently on Nicos lap for the first two pictures and then she started wriggling around. “I want to play.” She insisted as she kept wriggling until Jack who was next to her got her attention. “Here make a silly face with Uncle Jack for the photo okay?” He asked, diverting her attention to something a little more fun and of course she listened to him. “Okay, Uncle Jack. Can you go with me to get more chocolate donuts now?”

“Of course we can, giggles.” He told her, referring to her nickname and immediately both you and Nico shook your heads. “No more sugar.” Both of you started but Jack was already shrugging. “Sorry favorite uncle duties call.”

[pain-is-too-tired]

G/t pjo thoughts so bad on brain-

So anyway more about Borrower au.

Kronos and Minos work together. Both being in charge of the complex.

Kronos managed to convince Luke that it was "totally safe" for him and the other borrowers to live there after he was caught by Kronos. And Luke falls for it.

Both Kronos and Minos kidnap borrowers, Minos doing experiments and Kronos just seeing them no more then entertainment.

Chris is one of the first of Luke's group to get captured, left at the hands of Minos. The experiments leave him a shaken mess.

Nico is also captured at one point, but not for as long. Minos oddly enough doesn't do as much harsh experiments on him as he does with Chris. And he manages to escape a lot sooner.

Tensions rise with the others when people start going missing, and they become a lot more cautious when going outside their base.

The complex has multiple families of course, most involving college kids given how close it is to the campus.

Lee,Michael, Will and Kayla live in one apartment, with Austin visiting often but living with his mom nearby.

Lee's a music teacher who is heavily involved with programs helping kids in rough situations.

Michael's a freshman in college, going into Nursing.

Will is a Sophmore in highschool and Kayla and Austin in 8th grade

Luke gets caught by Lee one day why trying to take some cloth scraps left from one of Lee's projects for the programs he's involved in. He panics when Lee returns to his room after a shower and falls immediately into the pile of cloth scraps and gets tangled up instead.

Lee managed to get him untangled and is unfazed by Luke's whole tough guy act when he picks him up.

Jake gets caught by Michael one night when trying to get some food for his siblings why Charles is sick. Michael walks into the kitchen to get more water as he's pulling an all nighter why studying and just stops and stares when he sees Jake in the counter. Before just going, "fuck it, I'm too tired for this" and walking past Jake to get the water before heading back to his room without a word.

Meanwhile, Jake feels like he just saw his life flashed before his eyes.

Next time they run into eachother, Jake ended up getting badly hurt why scavenging around in the complex's main lobby(fell off something or got stepped on or whatever). Michael finds him and ends up healing him. When Jake wakes up he's frantic but Michael manages to calm him down.

Leo getting caught by Jason and Piper why taking bits and pieces of stuff to work with for his projects and Jason is immediately attached to the little guy. Leo has no idea what to do, he was going in expecting the human to hurt him if he was caught, but Jason's just absolutely amazed meeting Leo. And also very touchy. Piper teases the two of them and helps Leo find certain stuff when he needs it. Both their dads are rich, though they're not crazy about being given money by them they don't mind giving stuff to Leo as they have safety net to get more.

Jason lives with his cousin Percy, Piper lives with her sister Drew. Their older sister,Silena, lives across the hall with her girlfriend.

Charles had gotten caught by Silena and Clarisse why he was searching for Chris after he first went missing.

Clarisse had found Chris first after he just hardly somehow escaped Minos. He was hardly responsive. When they realized how bad he was and they were in over their head they went to Michael for help as a last resort to heal him.

Charles was nervous but relieved when he saw how careful Michael was with tending to Chris.

Michael of course was absolutely furious when he quickly figured out lot of Chris' injuries were inflicted by man. But he tried not get to worked up around Chris in fear of freaking him out.

[gutsybitsies]

summer camp 2 electric boogaloo

summary: kiddie big 3 kids have to go to get along camp to prevent ww3

There was a reason that children of the Big three made people in the modern times nervous, Chiron thought as he watched the kids lounge around in the Big House. Back in the age of heroes, even mortals without godly ichor running through them could accomplish great feats. But now, this group of children under 13 had the power to destroy towns and when they grow into their own, cities. And if things turn out really, really bad, they could mess up entire continents.

But that'll take a while, Chiron thought as he watched little Hazel, their exchange camper from Camp Jupiter, try to put rainbow stickers on Percy's face. She's having a hard time because Percy kept moving around to try and catch the popcorns that Thalia was throwing at him. Bianca was IM-ing Nico, who was in California, and he's tripping verbally over his excitement at meeting at the other big three child there.

"Jay is so cool! He can fly! He's like Superman!" His chubby 9 year old cheeks glowed in the misty spray. Nico pulled a preteen into view, "Jay, do the thing! Do the thing!"

The kid, Jason, as Chiron knew him by, grinned and held out a finger. Electricity crackled at the tip of his index finger. "Don't get too close like you did last time, Nico."

Jason wasn't complaining about this exchange program, at all. He'd been disappointed when Hazel was chosen to go instead of him, but then Nico came and immediately started following him around like a puppy. And it was nice having someone treat him like a teddy bear instead of, well, instead of the exact opposite. Nico wouldn't know the word respect if someone had spelled it out for him (no, literally, the kid has a really hard time reading and spelling).

Jason concentrated so that the crackle of electricity on his finger started to turn into different colors. Nico screeched in delight.

"We have to keep them friendly with each other, united," Hera had commanded Chiron. "To make that happen..."

"So that's why you will all be flying over to Greece to attend a personalized program just for the Big Three kids, designed to unite you into a cohesive unit."

"Why fly?" Bianca complained. "None of us like planes!"

Percy nodded and pointed to himself. "This guy likes staying on the ground, and the death kids like to stay under the ground, no offense."

Bianca slapped his shoulder. "Offense taken!"

Chiron sighed, "A plane will be the fastest way to get to Greece."

"I can take turns shadowtravelling with Mrs O Leary," Bianca said, definitely overestimating her own abilities. "We'll be able to make it to Greece faster than a plane."

"Maybe we don't care about speed," Percy said. "Maybe we care about comfort and we commandeer a ship and I can get us across the Atlantic in 5 days."

"Bianca, it's not so simple, and Percy, we don't have a ship for you," Chiron said. "When Hestia and Hera envisioned this summer program, it was to keep peace between their three brothers and their children. Everything is symbolic of the bonds of family and the Olympic court between the six of you. Some people are more prideful than others, and would prefer that all of you travel through his domain in order to reach the new summer enrichment program."

"Friendship camp," Hazel said. "You're making us go halfway across the world for friendship camp because they want us to get along. Isn't that why I'm here and Nico's visiting California?"

"And Zeus," Nico started to say before thunder rolled ahead from where Nico was, and he grabbed onto Jason's arms for safety. "I mean, some people insist that we go to this camp on a plane because he says so? Also Bianca!! I have so much to tell you about the Roman camp-"

"That's great, Nico, you can tell me all about it later!" She cut him off before he could go on another ramble.

Thalia gave a frustrated grunt, "Look, I'm not jazzed to be on a plane either."

"That makes Jason the only one out of all of us who's going to be happy about this," Bianca said. Everyone looked at Jason, who looked even more embarrassed.

"Bianca, I don't want to fly," Nico pouted. "I'll puke all over you."

Jason rubbed his shoulders. "I'll carry puke bags for you."

"Jason's the designated flight attendant," Thalia decided. "He'll attend to our every needs. He'll be the one getting the lifejackets and water and snacks!"

Hazel looked on with awe as she watched the rest of the Greek kids make fun of Jason, and as Jason just grinned happily through it all.

Two days later, a private chartered plane picked up Jason and Nico from California and flew over to Long Island.

....................................................................

The plane landed in a makeshift airfield near Camp Halfblood, where Hazel, Bianca, Percy, and Thalia were waiting with their suitcases in tow.

Percy thought he'd see Jason and Nico step out of the plane for a quick leg stretch, but neither of them came down the steps.

The four of the handed off their suitcases to be stowed in a separate compartment on the ship before making their way inside.

Ah, that was why they didn't see Jason or Nico.

Jason had taken up residence on the biggest couch on the plane. Nico was nowhere to be seen, until you realize that he must be the small quivering mass underneath a blanket that was on Jason's lap (or maybe sitting between his legs? Percy wasn't sure, he was covered by a blanket).

"Shhh," Jason gestured, and mouthed, "he finally fell asleep!"

The mass moved a little under the blanket, and Jason immediately started gently petting it while shushing it. "Shh, shh, it's going to be okay. We're all good, I got you."

Bianca gaped at the sight. "I-What have you done to my brother?"

Jason shrugged. "Nico? He was really nervous so I put a blanket over him."

"This is the first time I've seen Nico so quiet and still," Percy whispered back. "Are you Mary Poppins?"

"This is just like how we put a hood on horses so they don't get jumpy," Hazel said. "Wow, Jason's like an animal handler."

"Makes sense because Nico's like an animal. You haven't seen the way he tears into my mom's cookies."

The plane moved smoothly, but Jason noticed the nervous expressions on the other kids' faces. Thalia sat next to him and tried to put him in a headlock, but Jason just whipped out a hand and said "Shhhhh, he's resting!"

It was too late, and Nico had popped his head out of the blankets already. The plane hadn't taken off yet, but it was heading down the runway already.

Nico clambered off of Jason, taking the blanket with him, and scrambled to where Hazel and Bianca were sitting. He gave a hello wave to Percy and Thalia before jumping on his sisters and covered them all with the blanket.

"This way, we can pretend this isn't happening." The other kids heard him say from under the blanket.

The plane jolted as it took off, and someone, definitely not Percy, screamed in nervousness. He inched towards the pile of Underworld kids in the blanket.

"Uh. Is there room?"

Hazel peeked out. "No, sorry. But you can cuddle with Jason and Thalia?"

Percy looked over at the Graces, and Thalia had already started to cling to her little brother like a teddy bear. The plane jolted again.

He ran over to the Graces, and just like Nico had done, jumped on them.

"PERCY GET OFF-"

"I DON'T CARE I DON'T LIKE THIS-"

"Maybe we should hood you guys too-"

"HOLD ME TIGHT AND SAVE ME-"

Nico laughed as he grabbed onto Bianca and Hazel under the blanket. Their ears popped, and Hazel took out some gum for them to chew on. Pomegranate, his favorite flavor. Planes were terrible, awful, no good contraptions. But he'd take it if it meant spending more time with his favorite people in the world.

"PERCY I SWEAR TO GODS-"

The end.

(edited to add ao3 link)

[icouldntthinkofabetternamesook]

let's see.....

I generally think that if just Percy and Jason had switched camps Jason would have ended up the host of Kronos instead of Luke and we would be looking at the darkest timeline but that kinda depends on Luke, Thalia and Annabeth still all being at Camp. If there's no Thalia and no Luke, I think Jason might just grow into an even more neurotic version of Annabeth without the Athena cabin, Luke or even the concept of an outside family as support. Desperate to prove himself, near Stockholm, the best at everything with no real world experience.

If Hazel comes into the narrative when Nico does she wouldn't have her own cabin and would be left with the Hermes Cabin which might actually be good for her, especially if she's staying year round and can get some space for the summer rush. If she has Arion she might go on the run like Nico did and navigating the Labyrinth would be child play though she would probably meet Pasiphea's rather than Minos. Being on the run probably wouldn't mess her up as bad as it would Nico as she would be older but it still wouldn't be fun. If Hazel enters the narrative when she usually does then she would only have a few months alone in her cabin before the Quest of the 7 gets started but it still wouldn't be fun, primarily because I think she was using all the constant training and people to distract from having to think so hard about her death quest martyrdom situation and having to much time alone would mess her up.

If Frank keeps the same timeline, then he's only in the Hermes cabin for about six months, during the off season when its not as crowded. that would still be long enough to get people antsy after the gods promised to claim faster. other folks in the cabin remember when it took years and I feel he'd be in good hands with the Stoll's making sure he doesn't feel to out of place.

Okay Luke. Luke is in and interesting place because his trauma is not a flat line. A lot of the issues that make him into Kronos host come from the fact that his mom went insane when learning he becomes Kronos host. if he doesn't do that, he won't have any reason to do that in the first place. Rome doesn't have the Pythia for May to fail to become but if she was part of Camp Jupiters system she very well could have come in contact with some other oracle energy to mess with her head, which then leads to would she be kept in new Rome or sent back to her home to make endless koolaid and cookies. Luke would resent the fuck out of camp for messing with his mom and he's right next to mount Othrys to meet the titan's. his rebellion would be swift and possibly more brutal. I think he might bide his time to become Praetor and then turn all of Camp Jupiter against the gods to march on mount Olympus. If he got Annabeth on his side I think he could do it.

of course if his mom has no contact with the oracle, Luke gets to be the best version of himself, grins and bears his way through camp service, tries to make things softer for the next generation while praetor and retires to New Rome University to major in economic theory.

Leo is another timeline question. If he shows up wheneverI think he would try to runaway and get killed or tortured for deserting, unless he really quickly found someone to latch on and relate to. if he shows up with a swapped Jason, immediately gets a quest, and has to start preparing as a prophecy kid for Juno's great plan, then he gets leeway and special treatment to as a weapon-smith and would be fine if not slightly resentful of the larger structure he's in, plus separated from the rest of the camp as one of the specials.

Reyna really couldn't be greek as Bellona has no greek counterpart. If Jason does the sea of monsters quest and personally takes her and Hylla from Circe's spa I think Hylla would try to raise Reyna in the mortal world for a bit before leaving to join the Amazons. Reyna either joins the Amazons or stays at camp with Jason out of personal loyalty. she'd be over crowded in the Hermes cabin but have no responsibilities and I think it might be really good for her and then she could be really good for Jason. If Percy and Annabeth still do the sea of monsters quest and Reyna winds up at camp after Blackbeard, and Hello joining the Amazons, I still think she would be in a pretty good spot if harder to trust and it would take her and Jason going on a quest together to forge them into friends. As Jason takes on Annabeth position as Camp Half bloods perfect child, Reyna takes on Percy's role as the outside force that breaks complacency.

Camp Half blood doesn't do legacy's Octavian is going to high school somewhere. probably a bully but no where near as bad as he could be.

Annabeth is another tricky one as Minerva doesn't have children and if she did it would be radically taboo. If she gets claimed she gets shunned and abused and joins Luke to destroy Olympus. I also think there's an option where she doesn't get claimed and is just taken for a legacy or child of Mercury. Her and Luke are already siblings. If not immediately thrown out of the game for her taboo birth I think she would just be an even more neurotic version of Jason utterly consumed with proving herself not because the expectations are high but because she has to prove the right to even exist. If she gets a Percy to help break her out of this mindset she might not join Luke and I think she would make praetor out of pure spite and will. If Luke is his best self it would do miles to help her self-esteem and I kinda like the idea of her befriending Grover as the weird overly passionate outcasts.

I don't think Thalia would become a tree, but she would not vibe with camp and would join the Hunters of Diana as soon as possible. She would beg Annabeth to come with her to save herself, but Annabeth would be so indoctrinated I don't think she could barring a miracle in Thalia and Luke raising her right.

Percy would only be even remotely okay at Camp Jupiter if they let his mom move to New Rome, and even then Sally would be so horrified they would probably jump ship as soon as possible. Percy would be made into the worst version of himself and join Luke and Annabeth to march on Olympus. The Gods are going down in the version. While Jason and Reyna would be alright as greeks, Percy and Annabeth would be destroyed as romans.

Grover is the only hope for the timeline if he manages to help Annabeth and Percy into a slightly better state of mind as outcast together. He might not have the same drive or purpose to find Pan but I think he would still care for the wild and be his deeply empathetic self and might move the dial enough that Percy would still choose to give Luke the dagger to self terminate at the last moment.

I think Piper might actually do pretty well as a daughter of Venus, especially if she shows up with Jason and Leo. I don't think Bianca would be able to join the hunt as soon from camp Jupiter leaving a much happier Nico. Will would be fine, not great but fine. Tyson could get a job in New Rome and be pretty happy, provided Percy doesn't go off the rails.

At least that's my thoughts

I know this definitely isn’t a new concept, but what if the Greek demigods were Roman and vice versa?

How would Jason’s life, and his very self, be different if he wasn’t basically raised in the army, but in a comparatively chill camp? Not always having to prove himself, not having to always be perfectly behaved or else face horrific punishment. But also, how would he feel having the identity of “forbidden child” for his entire life? Not expected to be a powerful leader just because of his parentage, but always seen as a mistake and an omen of doom? Maybe he would still feel the need to always be perfect and special, just to make up for existing.

How would Jason and Hazel feel, all alone in their respective cabins? How would Frank feel, living with the Hermes kids, in a place where knowing your parent is even more important than at Camp Jupiter? Would Luke feel less abandoned at Camp Jupiter, where you’re not restricted by who your parent is?

Would Leo’s creativity and hyperactivity be stifled at the militaristic Camp Jupiter? Would he be utterly miserable? Maybe he’d gain renown as a master weaponsmith and onager maker, and be allowed to be a little strange and a little disobedient because of the creations he brings to the table. Or maybe he’d get sewn in a sack of weasels before the first week is over. It’s a toss-up.

What would it be like for Reyna, not having to deal with the responsibilities of leading the camp, but merely with looking after her cabin? Would Octavian be a less awful person if he didn’t have his position as augur and all the power going to his head?

Annabeth would be a Praetor, no question. What would that be like for her? What would Thalia think of Camp Jupiter? It doesn’t seem like her style. What would Camp Jupiter think of Percy and his sass and rulebreaking? Would he get the weasel sack? For sneaking off on quests he’s not part of, definitely, if not something else first.

I know I’ve considered the concept of Grover at Camp Jupiter already, but how different would he be if he had lived there with the other fauns his whole life? How different would his very personality be, growing up expected to amount to nothing? Would he still care so deeply about the Wild, or Pan, or his friends? What would he learn to be like?

What about Piper and Nico and Will and Tyson and everybody else???

I have no answers, only questions.

[bebepac]

A Piece of Heaven on Earth: Part 3

This is part 3 of my tribute piece.  There will be one last part to conclude this story. To catch up on what has happened so far please click:

A Piece of Heaven on Earth: Part 1

A Piece of Heaven on Earth: Part 2. 

The Book:  TRR (no royals) Pairing:  Liam x Riley Word Count: 4323 Warnings and Ratings:  Profanity, Mention of character perceived or pending death, sexual innuendo;  Teen Summary:  Liam finds out more about Riley’s life.   Song Inspiration:  The Nearness of You by Norah Jones Movie Inspiration: Just Like Heaven

Original Post: 03/26/22 at 3:23PM

A/N:  This is very special to me.  So please be kind.  I’m writing this as a tribute story to my Riley FC, the late Cheslie Kryst, in a way to deal with my grief which has almost been consuming my life.  I started following her in 2019 when I was watching the Miss USA pageant.  I rooted for her immediately.  Not only was she from my home state, but she was just this bright twinkling light on stage, she was a minority, like me. So when I came to the fandom in January 2020 and started writing stories for TRR I picked her as my Riley FC because she embodied what I wanted my “Riley” character to be.  Even in her untimely passing, I am still finding out more about her life and I have written her pretty accurately, even down to having depression.  So I will say it again.  If you need help please reach out.

Two Months Ago

NICO

“Hey RB1.  Ready for our daily chat session?  Well it’s a little one-sided these days. But lucky for the both of us, I’ve always loved the sound of my own voice.”

Nico laughed at his own terrible joke.

“I know you’re rolling your eyes at me. I can feel it. But you have that little amused smirk you do, when you don't want to admit that you think what I said was funny.  I miss that smile, Riley.  I miss you.  I don’t know what went wrong.  The surgery was textbook.  I did everything right. Yet…. Something apparently was wrong.  Maybe I shouldn’t have scrubbed in.  What happened to you… is all my fault, and I’m sorry. I never meant for this to happen.  I only wanted to keep my promise to you.  This world is not the same……without you.”

Hana gently touched Nico’s shoulder and smiled at him, putting down her flowers.

"She needed fresh flowers. You’re always here every time I come to visit her.  You spend your lunch break here every day don't you?”  

Hana looked down at Nico's half eaten sandwich and drink. Nico nodded, his eyes filled with tears.

“I know I messed up my chance with her because of my behavior around the hospital, but If she only knew how much I really cared about her Hana.”

“She does. Nico.  I know she does.”  

“It’s my fault.”  

“You did everything you could.  The review board saw it, everyone believes that.  No one blames you Nico.”  

“Did you see the look on her Father's face?”

Hana laughed.

"Nico, that's just his face. He'd have the same face, if he won a million dollars. He scowls as a default. You have to let this go."

"I don't know how Hana, I just miss her so much."

“I do too, Nico.”  

The Present

LIAM

“She’s a doctor?”  

“A pretty good one from what I heard of her.”  

Liam could not refer to Riley in the past tense. He wasn’t accepting that for her.  Not yet.  

“Do you know what hospital she works at?”  

“Mount Sinai.”  

“Thank you so much.”  

When the clerk went to hand Liam his change, he told him to keep it.  

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yes, you can’t take it with you. You should at least share the blessings while you are here.”

“Thanks man, I appreciate it."

Liam had bought the  two drinks with a one hundred dollar bill.  

Once he got into the apartment he immediately called out for Riley.

“Rye!  Rye! Are you here?”

Riley appeared to him wearing the same outfit but this time without her shoes.

“Hi Liam. I’m here.”  

“Where are your shoes?”

“I took them off, I told you my feet hurt.”  

“Well, do they feel better now?”

“Yes, they actually do.”  

“I have some news.  First off,  I know your name, and I know where you work, and I think we should go together and see what info we can find out about you.  Since we both agree, going to your family is not a good idea.  They will think I’m crazy.”

“Thank you again for trying to help me Liam.”  

“I made you a promise, and I want to keep it.”  

“So, what’s my name?”

“It’s Riley.  Riley Brooks.”

“Riley Brooks….Do you think I look like a Riley?”

“I think you’re definitely spunky and you tell it like it is, to the point of almost being obnoxious.  So I think the name Riley suits you. Riley sounds like she would be a firecracker, and you are. There hasn't been a dull moment in my life, since you've been around.”  

“What did I do to be able to afford this amazing apartment?”  

Riley used past tense.. He wasn’t ready for that yet, so he answered with present tense.

“You’re actually a doctor at Mount Sinai.”  

“I’m a doctor?  That’s pretty awesome. How did you find that out?”  

“I walked down to the little Bodega down the street. The owner knows you.”

"He's a sweet man. He would always let me bring Chance in the store with me when I went there."

“I got some Tahitian Treats, but I’m going to put those in the fridge, so we can go to the hospital.  We’re going to find more about you Riley, and figure out what happened to you.”  

“Fuck that noise!!!  We got plenty of time for that, but You HAVE GOT TO TRY ONE NOW!  Though the best way to drink one is to put it in the freezer for a bit and let it get a little slushy.”

Riley began to chant.  “Do it… do it…. Do it…”

“Okay already, enough with the peer pressure.”

Liam opened the soda, the loud hiss of the carbonated pressure being released,  and he took a sip, his eyes widening.

"Well?!? What do you think?"

"It's good….if you like fruit punch flavored battery acid."

Riley gasped.  “You take that back!!!!”

“I mean it’s not terrible, it’s just a very strong drink.”

“And bold and obnoxious for a drink… like me?”  

Liam cracked a smile.

“But, that doesn't mean I don't  like the drink. I do. It's a very unexpected drink that I didn't  think I was looking for.  Kind of like you Riley Brooks.”

Riley smiled back at him.  It almost felt like they were flirting with each other.  Were they flirting, and how the hell was this going to work out?

“I’d better go and put my shoes back on.”  

“But you said they hurt your feet?”  

“Dead or not, walking around the city barefoot just seems weird.”  

“Oh that makes sense.”  

They drove to Mount Sinai, and when Riley walked into the building her memories flooded back of her work.  She loved her job.

Riley began to call out the names of coworkers, ones she liked and ones she didn’t.  Who was sleeping with who, as she recalled et cetera.  Liam walked up to the receptionist.  

“Her name is Janet.”  

“Hi Janet, I was wondering if you could help me.”

“How’d you know my name, you can’t see my ID badge?”  

Liam flashed a smile that made Janet’s cheeks flush.  “You look like a Janet.  Dear sweet Janet, I need your help.  I’m trying to track down someone.”

“Who are you looking for?”  

“Doctor Riley Brooks.”  

Her face changed immediately.  

“Dr. Brooks is currently not an active doctor on staff at this time.  Can you hold on for a moment please?"

Janet walked away from the desk disappearing down the hall.

“Oh no….She gave you the look?”  

“What look?”  Liam whispered as he knew he couldn’t talk loud because people would think he was talking to himself.

“That look!  She has bad news to tell but she doesn’t want to be the one to tell it.”

Janet came back with almost a relieved look on her face.

"If you go up to the third floor nursing station there will be a person there waiting there  to answer  all of your questions."

They took the elevator  upstairs and when they rounded the corner. Riley screeched excitedly.

"It's my best friend Hana!"

Hana looked at Liam with a very critical eye.

"You were the one inquiring about Dr. Riley Brooks?"

"Yes, I'm Liam Rys."

"I'm Dr. Lee-Amaranth, and what's your relationship to Dr. Brooks?"

Hana crossed her arms over her chest. She had never seen Hana with so many emotional walls built up around herself.

"Tell her we were dating. She won't give you any information about me unless we have a personal relationship."

"I was dating Riley."

"That's not true, Riley wasn't dating anyone. I would have known it if she was."

"Tell her we had just started and are sure I was going to share with her when I felt like I  had something worth sharing. Say that part exactly, because that sounds a lot like me."

Liam parroted Riley's words verbatim.

The emotional walls came crashing around her as Hana's eyes welled with tears.

"Then where have you been the last three months Liam?"

"I travel a lot for work. I hadn't heard from her so I got worried. Hana…  What happened to Riley?"

"Then you don't know?"

"Know what? Please tell me."

Riley gasped. The memories of the accident and what she thought were her last seconds on Earth came flooding back to her in waves.

"I remember what happened to me! I was in a very bad car accident.”

Riley felt a physical tug on her body.

"Liam what's happening?!?"

"I don't know!!!!  Riley don't go!!!!"

"I DON'T WANT TO GO!!! I WANT TO STAY HERE WITH YOU!!!"

Riley panicked as she  felt herself being lifted off the floor and pulled down the hallway by some invisible, and powerful force.  Then as quick as the fear had descended on her, it was replaced with  a feeling of  serenity. 

Being calm she could finally hear a soft heartbeat.  She touched her chest but it wasn't coming from her. It sounded like the sound was coming from all around her and got louder as she floated down the hallway. She knew…. It was her heartbeat. 

SHE. WAS. NOT. DEAD.

Riley closed her eyes as she phased through the door and when she felt her body halt. She opened her eyes to discover… herself.  She was lying in a hospital bed, on a ventilator, in what looked like a coma.

Nico was sitting beside her bed, gently stroking her hand.  

“Riley, please wake up. You’re running out of time.  You have to wake up.  RB1.  Please!!  You opened your eyes for me once when I called you that. I need you to do it again!”

It was the weirdest thing she had ever experienced in her life, her watching herself while Nico talked to her. She had never seen that side of him. He really, truly cared for her.

The door burst open  and Liam walked in.  

“I told him she already had a guest, but he wouldn’t listen.”

Nico jumped up letting Riley’s hand go, looking at Liam.

"Who are you?" He sounded defensive, as if he was trying to protect unconscious Riley from Liam.

Before Liam could even speak, Hana spoke for him.

"He’s Riley's boyfriend, Nico."

"Oh."

He glanced down at comatose Riley.

"That makes sense. I'll leave you alone with her."

"Nico…."  Riley called out to him even though he couldn't hear her. His face said it all. For the first time ever, his feelings were hurt and he had truly cared about her.

Nico and Hana exited the room leaving Liam and Riley alone.

When she was alone with Liam, her eyes slowly drifted to his. He looked jealous and a little bit hurt.

"We were just friends, Nico and I." Riley immediately said as if Liam had just caught her cheating.

"It looks like he has meaningful feelings for you."

"That's not the side he really ever showed me.  He showed me man hoe living his best life, making his rounds through the staff here and I'm not trying to get mouth herpes or herpes anywhere else."

Liam laughed, shaking his head.

"But look Riley! You were right! You are alive!"

She looked at herself wearily.

"I am but I've been in a coma for three months. That's bad Liam. Something's not right. Nico said I am running out of time.  Open my chart so I can read it."

Liam looked at her wearily.

"Liam, I'm a doctor! I can read my own chart."

He walked over to her chart and pawed at the folder 

until it fell open.

"What the actual hell Liam?"

"Oops."

She shook her head at him giggling.

Riley read her own chart in silence.

"Well what does it say?!?!

"It says my coma was stable until two weeks ago."

"When we first met…and now?"

"My brain activity is steadily declining. My brain is dying. I'm dying Liam. They're recommending terminating life support to my parents. I'm going to die for real."

"No you're not. It's because you're separated. And now we can fix it. You're here, with you. We can figure this out."

"So maybe I can put myself back together. I still don't know how this is possible."

"Me either Riley."

Riley laid flat against her comatose self and her spirit  disappeared.

Liam glanced at her vitals and her heart rate increased.

"Riley, I think it's working!  Your heart rate just spiked!!!!”

Spirit Riley sat up. "Really?"

Liam's smile faded.

"Well maybe I'm just not comfortable."

"Like the princess and the pea. Try again."

Riley wiggled her body and settled in again.

"I'm not sticking. It's like I've been apart too long."

She got out of the bed  looking at herself.

"What's wrong with me? Why isn’t it working?"

Liam glanced around the room; her family had made the hospital room a home for Riley. She had a homemade blanket on her bed. She was surrounded by pictures of her life with family and friends and flowers. He was drawn to a picture of Riley  at the statue of Liberty.  Somewhere he had always wanted to go but he’d never been to New York.  

"There is a solution I know there is. I have an idea. Turn around."

"What?"

"Just turn around."

Riley turned so she wasn't facing herself or Liam.

After a few seconds, she gasped. She could feel the warmth of Liam holding her hand, gently squeezing it.  She looked down at her hand and abruptly turned around.

"I can feel that. I didn’t feel anything when Nico was touching my hand."

“That means, we have a special connection Riley.”  

Riley closed her eyes, focusing all her will on her hand that Liam was holding in his.

Liam felt Riley gently squeeze his hand back.  

“I felt that too.”  When Liam glanced back at her, there were tears in his eyes.  “See, you’re still connected. So there’s still hope. We just have to figure out how to put you back together again.”

Hana knocked first before she walked in.  

“I’m sorry Liam, we need to take Riley for another brain scan.”  

“Can I have a few more minutes with her?”

“Sure, but we really have to take her back soon.”  

Hana took one last glance as Liam sat next to Riley tightly holding her hand.  

“So we should go back to your place, or maybe go to the library and see if there are any documented cases of this.”  

“Where?  In the science fiction section?  The supernatural section?  Touched by an Angel section?  There is going to be nothing reliable in a library about this.”  

“Then we’ll go to a church.  They believe in angels  and everything. Or a psychic.  An out of body experience can’t be a far stretch for them.”

“I think I should stay here  with my body.”

“Oh.”  Liam felt immediately hurt, he didn’t want to leave her behind.  

“Maybe I can find out more information about myself and my coma and scans and stuff being here and listening to what people around me are saying.”

“That makes sense.”

“Liam, we really have to take her to get her scan done.”    

“I understand.”  

He softly kissed Riley’s hand, laying it to rest back on the bed, and gently stroked and planted a soft kiss on her cheek.  

“Goodbye Riley.”  

“Goodbye Liam.”  

As he walked by Riley she was holding her cheek, a soft smile on her face.  

Once out of the room, Liam pulled the picture frame out from under his jacket. When Riley’s back was turned he had grabbed the picture of her at the statue of liberty.  

He was worried he would never see her again, and wanted something to remember her by.  

Liam walked around town for hours. His body finally started feeling tired so he decided to rest on a bench. He had never felt that lonely in a long time without Riley with him.

Riley was loud, and funny, and her laugh was a smile wrapped in a hug.

Finally Liam made it back to his vehicle and headed to the apartment. After dinner, he fell into a lonely restless sleep.

The next morning Liam woke up to his phone ringing; it was Rashad.

“Good news!  The family wants to offer you a lease effective immediately.  Everything in the apartment included, and at a great price.”  

“Why?”

“Because my parents are terminating life support. I didn’t know where else to go. I didn’t want to be alone.”  

Riley stood before him, tears rolling down her cheeks in rivers.

“I’ve got to go Rashad.”  He quickly hung up the phone so he could talk to Riley.

“Riley, what happened?”  

“My latest scans were the worst ones yet.   It’s time.  My family has been through so much.  Yesterday was the first time I’ve seen my father cry in my entire life. My Daddy cried because of this. Because of me. They can’t do this anymore, and  I don’t blame them.”  

“But you’re still here.  Me talking to you is proof. We can fix this.”

“How Liam?  How are we going to fix this?”  

“I’ll go talk to them.  We need more time.”  

“And say what?”

“I don’t know, but I'll try.  We should try.”  

“I don’t want to scare them or upset them Liam.  They’ve been through so much.”

“All they want is you back and that’s what we’re trying to figure out how to make that happen.  They will be so happy when we figure this out and you’re not Casper the Cranky Ghost anymore.”

Riley laughed.

“You know, I thought that was hilarious when you said it, but I wouldn’t give you the satisfaction of laughing.  It was very witty.”

“I have a special brand of humor. I’m glad you’re a fan Riley.   Let me finish getting ready and we can go to your parents' house.”

Before Liam rang the doorbell to her  parents' house, Riley asked, “Do you know what you’re going to say?”  

“Nope not a damn clue.”  

The door opened to reveal Taylor.

Liam was shocked, staring at the Riley look alike, but there was one difference.

“May I help you?”  she asked.

“That’s why I couldn’t remember what she looks like,  I thought I was staring at myself, but it was her.”  

“I’m a friend of Riley’s.”  

“My baby sister is  pregnant.”  Riley said in awe.

“Would you like to come in?”  

“Yes please.”  

Liam walked inside.

"So you're Taylor?"

"I'm Riley's identical twin sister, well not so identical these days.” She patted her stomach.

Liam smiled. "Is Mr. and Mrs. Brooks home?"

"My dad isn't but my mom is. I'll get her."

While Liam was alone he  looked around at the pictures of Riley, Taylor, and Jaiden as kids, pictures of birthday parties and holidays filled their walls.

“If you’re wondering, we’re adopted.  My mom and dad wanted more children, but after having a rough pregnancy with Jaiden, they decided it was best that they not try again for any more children naturally. So they adopted my sister and I when we were four days old.”  

Riley’s mother was walking down the stairs  and Chance was at her side.  

“Chance!”  Riley screamed.

Chance perked up heading directly towards her.

“Liam, he can see me too.”  

Chance barked happily as he stood in front of Riley.  

“Chance quiet!!!  I’m sorry I don’t know what’s gotten into him.  I’m Ren.  Riley’s mother. How do you know her?”  

“I was one of her patients.  I was in a bad situation, and she never gave up on me.”

“That sounds like our Riley.  She’s the backbone of this family.”  

Chance began to bark happily at Riley.  To everyone, but Liam, it looked like Chance was barking to the empty seat next to him where Riley sat.

“Chance zip it!”  Riley said with a stern voice and authority.

Chance immediately stopped mid bark.

“Chance you know that’s not how we act at home.”

A sad whimper emanated from Chance.

“You know better boy.  You’re the bestest boy.  Now Sit!”

Chance immediately sat down on his haunches.

“Good boy.”  Riley smiled at him, and Chance started to wag his tail a bit.  

Liam glanced up noticing Taylor was watching Chance’s abrupt changes in behavior.  

Taylor sat down next to her mother.  “You said you were a friend of Riley’s?”  

“I am now. And I know things have been hard for you all since the accident.  But she can pull through this.  Don’t give up on her yet.  Please.  Give her a little more time.”  

“We signed the paperwork yesterday.  We’re terminating life support tomorrow.  She’s not getting better, it’s time for us to let her go.”  

“Don’t please!  You can’t do that.  Just give me more time. Please!!!!”

“Liam don’t…”

“I can see her spirit!  She’s here with me right now.  She wants me to convince you to wait.”

Ren was eerily calm.  “You can see Riley’s spirit?”

“Yes, somehow it’s separated from her body, but she’s still here.  We’re trying to get her back together.” 

“Will you excuse us for one moment.  You said your name is Liam right?” 

“Yes, Ma’am. It is.”  

Ren got up and she grabbed Taylor’s arm gently.

“Excuse us.”  

“Liam…. I really don’t like this.  I think we should leave. My mom is too freakishly calm.  It’s legit making all the hair stand up on my arms.”

She burst back into the living room with a shotgun screaming.

Liam jumped up holding his hands high in the air.

“I DON’T KNOW WHO YOU REALLY ARE, OR WHAT YOU THINK YOU CAN GET FROM US.  ARE YOU A CRAZY PSYCHIC  AFTER OUR MONEY OR A CON ARTIST?????  HOW DARE YOU TRY TO CAPITALIZE ON OUR PAIN!!!!!!

“I’m not, I promise!!!”

“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!!”  

Liam and Riley fled from her childhood home.  Liam could finally breathe again once they were a little distance away from the home.  He didn’t know they were being followed.

“I told you not to, Liam.  You scared her.”

“I had to try Riley. I had to.  You’re going to die tomorrow if I don’t try everything to save you. I can’t lose you.”  

“It’s okay Liam.  Whatever is meant to happen tomorrow, is meant to happen.  I know you’re doing everything you could for me.”

Riley grumbled looking at her feet.  “On an unrelated note, the next time my damn sister picks me an outfit that i’m doomed to spend the afterlife in, she better pick some damn comfortable shoes.”

Despite the situation, Liam laughed.

“What’s so funny?”  

Both whirled around to find Taylor staring at them, holding Chance in her arms.  

“You look like you’re talking to yourself.”  

She put down Chance.  He immediately walked up to Riley.

“Are you a psychic or something?”  

“No, I’m just a regular guy.”  

“And you can see her and talk to her?”  

“Yes, but I don't know how or why it’s happening. She wants to know how far along you are, Taylor.”

“Fourteen weeks, three days.”  

“So you got pregnant on your birthday.”  

“You could find out her birthday, our birthday, from social media.  I don’t believe you.”

“Chance can see her.  He can.  She says she’s the only one he listens to, and she trained him how to do tricks.”

“Then Riley if you are really here and you can hear me, make Chance do ‘the trick’  you know the one.”  

Riley smiled.

“Let’s Dance Chance!!!”    

Riley cupped her hands like they were paws and did a little shimmy.

Chance jumped on his hind legs barking happily parading around  like he was dancing.

“How is this even possible?  She’s really here!!! What do we do?!?!?”  

“We need more time, Taylor, to figure this out.  Tomorrow can’t happen, you have to convince your parents not to go through with it.”

“I’ll do everything I can to help.  But Liam, why are you doing this for her?”    

Liam’s cheeks turned pink.

“Do you have a crush on my sister?”  

“Ummmmmm….”  

“I need to have some girl talk to my sister alone.  Go over there Liam.”  Taylor insisted.   Liam walked out of earshot of  Riley and Taylor’s conversation.

“We can use Chance to communicate.  So first off, Liam’s  cute. I  totally approve.”  Taylor whispered.  

Riley made Chance do his dance.

“He likes you Riley, do you like him too?”  

Riley made Chance bark twice.

“Okay so that’s two barks for yes, one for no?”  

Chance barked twice again.  

Her sister’s eyes filled with tears.  “On a serious note, are you in any pain?”  

Chance barked once.

“Liam you can come back now.”  

Liam’s face was bright red when he walked back over to Riley and Taylor.

“You know what Liam?  I keep looking at you and I swear you look familiar.  Have we met?”

“Riley asked me the same thing.  I would have remembered if I met either of you.”

“Do you have siblings?”

“Yes, I have an older brother.  We resemble each other.  Maybe you have seen him around.  His name is Leo.”

“That name is not ringing any bells. Give me your number Liam,  I’ll talk to my parents when they are together, and see what we can do.”

They exchanged numbers.

“Thank you for trying to help my sister.  She tries to be so independent, but she really does need people she can trust to lean on. I’m glad she found you.”

“I’m glad she found me too. It still baffles me though.”  

“Have you experienced the loss of a loved one Liam?”

Liam nodded.  His eyes filled with tears.  “And I can’t lose anybody else.  So we have to fix this.”

Once behind the wheel of his vehicle again, Liam hesitated starting it.  

“Who did you lose Liam?”  

“My wife Olivia.”

“Would you tell me about her?”  

“She was strong willed, confident, intelligent, and beautiful.  She could be incredibly sarcastic and pigheaded. But she would fight for you, when you needed her. She was always there for me.  And that last day with her, started like every other one before it.  We had coffee and breakfast on the veranda.  But when she got up from the table, she grabbed her forehead and collapsed and she never woke up.

“Brain aneurysm?”  

He nodded.  “I thought she was playing at first when she collapsed.  She had a dark sense of humor.  And I pushed her hair out of her face, she had the most beautiful fiery red hair, I knew something was wrong.”

“How long ago was this? Three years ago?”  

“How did you know that?”  

“You brought her to Mount Sinai?”  

“Yes.. they brought her by ambulance. Why do you ask?”  

“I think I saw her.”  

CLICK HERE FOR PART 4 OF THIS TRIBUTE PIECE

[desireness]

Wants & Needs [Sasha x f!reader] 16+

-cw: au, praising, oral sex, thigh riding, fingering, wlw, slight choking, dom! reader, sub! sasha

sneak peak: You’ve had attraction for your friend Sasha for a very long time. What will happen when she calls, begging you to hangout? Especially when she confesses that she’s been so horny lately..

notes: Been having sasha brain rot recently so here’s this. Sasha is just *chefs kiss*. Enjoy.

You open your eyes to the sound of your ringtone going off on your phone. You search around for your phone on your bedside table without even looking, too tired to bother. You briefly look at your phone’s screen to check who’s calling you.

“Sasha, what the fuck do you want?” you ask annoyed.

“Were you already sleeping? what are you? a fucking grandma?” she snorts.

“yea, i’m hanging up”

“NO WAIT”

Sasha goes on to talk about how she’s sorry for waking you up and babbles about other irrelevant things. She could be so annoying sometimes but you love that about her.

“Okay, why did you actually call?” you ask rubbing the tiredness away from your eyes.

“i’m bored... and hungry. Please bring food and come hangout with me” she whines over the phone.

You hesitate at first, wanting to sleep more but also not wanting to let her down. Plus, you forgot to eat dinner before bed anyways so why not?

“Fuck it, fine. You owe me though.” You say before hanging up.

You sigh, throwing your phone on the bed. You get out of your bed, quickly missing the warmth and comfort it provided. A chill washes over your skin as you’re exposed to the cold air of your room. You go to put on a warm hoodie and decide to keep your comfy sweatpants on. You quickly grab your car keys and your phone, taking one last glance in the mirror before heading towards the parking lot of your apartment complex. Your hair was messy and disheveled, but you could care less. You were just going to see Sasha anyways.

On your way to her apartment, you stop at Sasha’s favorite fast food restaurant to get dinner for you both. The drive there was short, only about ten minutes. As you arrived you texted her, “here.”

She didn’t reply, which was quite strange. She’s usually fast at replying, especially when there is food involved. As you reach her apartment door, you type in the passcode and walk right in like you normally do. You walked into the kitchen and set the bag of food on the counter.

“Sasha?” you called out. No answer.

You walk towards her bedroom, opening the door that was already cracked open. There she was, cuddled up in her blankets, sleeping. “For fuck’s sake.” You said under your breath.

Sasha looks so pretty with her hair down and sprawled out on her pillow. You had always noticed how attractive she was. Sometimes staring a little too long at her face or especially, her lips. Her skin is so gorgeous and bright. You often find your touches on her skin lingering too long or your eyes wandering over her body whenever she changed in front of you. She was perfect and it often made your head so full of her. Wondering was it was like to touch her, kiss her, taste her, pleasure her.

You realized these actions weren’t normal for regular friends, you’ve known that for awhile so you never acted on them in fear that she might push you away. Plus, it’s not like you’ve ever really had the chance, she’s always been with some guy. They were all trash and the relationship often didn’t last long but still, it frustrated you. She deserves better, no, the best. You’ve heard all of her sex stories and how they never seem to truly satisfy her. You knew you could be the one to do that for her, make her feel so good. Sometimes you day dream about filling her up with your fingers and having her scream your name. You get wet just thinking about it. If only you had the chance.

You move some hair out of her sleepy face, admiring her for a few more seconds before softly shaking her awake. “Sash, wake up I brought food.” You say sweetly.

Sasha’s eyes flutter open and she sits up, yawning and stretching.

“Ahh shit, sorry for falling asleep. Thanks for coming.” She softly smiles at you making you flash a smile back. " ‘s ok”

You’re sitting in front of her, watching her grab her phone and look at the time. 12:23 A.M. She’s wearing an oversized t-shirt, exposing her plush thighs to you. You rub your thighs together to help ease the tension. You could tell she wasn’t wearing a bra and probably wearing some cute lace panties as well. It’s driving you crazy, you want to feel her so badly.

Sasha lays back on her bed with a groan. You ask her what’s wrong and she replies “i’ve been so fucking horny lately and nico’s been busy so I can’t even call him up. It’s so annoying.” She sighs. This only made you crave her more, trying so hard to push your desires away. “Maybe I should buy a new vibrator or something to keep me company.” She laughs. You smiled but didn’t think it was funny. She didn’t need a vibrator or anything else. What she needed was you.

“Anyways, where’s the food?” She asks eagerly.

“In the kitchen...” You trail off looking at the small bit of drool placed on the corner of her mouth. You take your thumb and wipe it away, your touch lingering a little too long on her lips. All Sasha did was giggle.

Before Sasha could say anything, you place your lips on hers, holding her chin between your thumb and your pointer. You kiss her softly, afraid to scare her off by being too aggressive at first. Sasha’s eyes are wide open, slowly processing the scene before her. You continue to move your lips against hers but you quickly realize she isn’t doing the same. You take this as a hint that she is uncomfortable, parting away from her lips. Not even a second after you broke the kiss, Sasha leaned back in to put her lips on yours. Her hands are on both sides of your cheeks, cupping your face.

Your lips move in synch with hers, relishing in each other’s taste. You want to memorize what she tastes like, you aren’t in any hurry. Your mind is fuzzy as you run your tongue against her bottom lip, asking for entrance. She quickly abides slightly opening up her mouth so your tongue could slide in. Your tongues intertwine, pulling a sweet moan from her mouth into yours. Your cunt clenches in response. It’s your first time hearing her pretty voice like that, all whiny and submissive. It was all because of you. You briefly came back to your senses, pulling away from her lips.

She is slightly panting, lips glossy from the kiss. She looks so sensual right now. “What about niccolo?” you say, slightly averting your eyes so your not tempted to throw her on the bed and fuck her right there, not caring about her feelings. “We’re not exclusive or anything.” She grabs the hem of your shirt, nervously playing with it between her fingers. “So don’t stop, please.” She’s blushing, eyes meeting yours. That’s all you needed to hear from her, a sign that she wants you to keep making her feel good.

You take no time reattaching your lips with hers, placing your hands on her waist to pull her onto your lap. You take your time to pepper sweet kisses from her lips to her jaw then to her neck. Taking the skin of her neck between your teeth while she hisses at the sting, gripping your shoulders roughly. You use the pad of your tongue to ease the sting, tasting her skin. It wasn’t hard for you to find her sweet spot. You suck and kiss her skin, making her an aroused mess on top of your lap. You creep your hands underneath her shirt, feeling the sides of her waist and ribs, while just brushing against the underside of her breasts. You can tell she’s getting impatient from the way she’s letting out small desperate gasps at your touches. You like seeing what a mess she is for you. You can feel the goosebumps on her skin as you feel around underneath her shirt. You give her jaw one last kiss before you pull away to grab ahold of the hem of her shirt. You shoot her a glance of permission and she quickly nods.

One you slide the shirt up and over, her breasts bounce down on full display for you to see. You can only mutter “fuck” at the sight before you. You had seen Sasha barely clothed before but never like this. You’ve never seen this sight knowing you had full control over it. Your eyes wander over her body being completely topless, only some cute lace underwear covering her cunt. “You’re so gorgeous, baby.” you say grasping her breasts in your hands. Sasha moans in response, loving the way you praise her.

You eagerly attach your mouth to her breast, finding the nipple with ease. She immediately whines at the contact. You suck on one breast and palm at the other, making her fingers intertwine with your hair and slightly tug on it when you nip and roll at her nipples. Her breasts are the prettiest you’ve ever seen. Perfectly round and perky, god she’s amazing. You feel her start to grind on top of you, trying to relieve the growing ache between her legs. That only makes you want her more.

“Ride my thigh, baby.” You whisper in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. You grasp her ass and her hips with your hands and guide her body over yours. Helping her ride you while your face is buried in her tits. She gasps at the sudden contact, burying her face into your neck. Her breasts practically bounce in your mouth as she moves back and forth. She nibbles and bites on your neck, trying to handle the overall pleasure of it all. You can tell she’s getting close by the way she’s whining in your ear, hands grasping your shoulders tightly.

All of a sudden you grab her hips harshly, stopping her from making anymore movement. She whimpers at the loss of contact, making you smile as you leave a sweet kiss on her shoulder. You look up at her, grasping her jaw and giving her a light kiss. Your fingers find her wet clothed cunt, making her gasp into your mouth. She whines loudly as soon as your fingers start to circle her clit. You moan in response into her mouth, lapping your tongues sloppily.

She lets out a desperate muffled, “please” into your neck. “Please what? hmm?” you purr bringing her face to look at yours. Her face is a flushed mess and her lips are slightly swollen, making you feel proud of yourself knowing you caused it. Sasha grabs your your other hand that is on her ass and places it near her cunt. “Your fingers, need them so bad.” She pleas. You hum in response, bringing your fingers up to your lips, not hers. You want her to watch you make them wet, so that it’s engraved her mind. You swirl your tongue around your fingers, making wet and sloppy sounds. Sasha watches eagerly, letting out a needy moan. You remove your fingers, leaving a string of saliva connecting from your mouth to your fingers.

Sasha stands up, removes her panties, and sits her pretty ass right back on your lap. You move your fingers down to her folds and softly run through them. Sasha let’s out a small gasp as your fingers reach down to find her slit, teasing the entrance. “Shit, you’re so wet. All this for me?” She nods in agreement with a breathy moan.

You insert your two fingers inside her, painfully slow. She clenches down hard and squeezes her eyes shut. You want her to feel every part of your fingers, want her to remember this feeling. “Feels so good inside me.” She says sweetly, making you pump your fingers inside her just to hear more of her sweet voice. She rides your fingers as you pump them into her at the same time. She throws her head back in pleasure, giving you perfect access to her neck. She cries out your name as you kiss and suck on her sweet spot while filling her up. You grip her ass hard, helping her move up and down on your now soaked fingers. Her walls are so squishy and wet, making you fuck her with your fingers ruthlessly. She repeatedly lets out loud high pitched moans. You’re soaked at this point, all aroused because of her pleasure.

“Am close, you’re filling me up so good!” She cries out. Her words go straight to your cunt and you increase the speed of your fingers, using your thumb to circle her clit at the same time. The erotic sounds of her wetness and her moans fill the room, leaving you so satisfied. Her tits are flying up and down as she rides you faster and you take a mental screenshot to remember this sight forever. “Who’s making you feel good hm? Who’s the one that’s pleasuring you the way no one ever has?” You groan. Your free hand finds it’s place around her neck, squeezing ever so slightly. “You are! It’s all you!” She sobs. The coil in her stomach has reached it’s max and is ready to snap. “Fuck, good girl.” You grunt grabbing her jaw and pulling it forward so your faces are inches away. “Now come for me, pretty.” And she does, practically screaming your name as she cums around your fingers.

She collapses onto your shoulder, panting into your neck. You rub soft circles on her clit to help her come down from her high. You pull your fingers out gently and place them in your mouth to clean them off. She tastes so sweet and saccharine, you can’t help but want to clean her off with your tongue. You whisper sweet praises to her, telling her how amazing she did. She nuzzles into your neck, leaving soft kisses as a thank you.

She hops off of your lap, laying down on the bed. You take no time to pull your sweatpants and panties down. You are so wet, you couldn’t just leave yourself like this. Sasha stares at the ceiling, unaware of your actions until you climb on top of her, cunt hovering over her breasts. She lifts her head up slightly with a confused expression on her face but blushes at the sight of your bare and soaked count. You slightly drag you cunt over her breasts as you grab the back of her head and say “Remember how you said you were hungry? Now eat.”

You practically shove her face into your pussy and she complies. Kissing and kitten-licking your folds at first, making you satisfyingly sigh. She grabs onto the back of your thighs, pushing you closer. You’re basically sitting on her face now. She finally starts to lap her tongue on your clit, making you grip her hair hard. You let out a series of satisfied, loud moans making Sasha whine into your cunt. You praise her for her good work. “such a good girl for me, gonna make me cum, baby?” She pulls away to nod at you before placing her tongue on your pussy again.

She sucks on your clit repeatedly, making your hips slowly ride her face. You do your best not to crush her face in the process. Her tongue feels so good and you love having this power of her. You love quite literally sitting on her face while she submits to all of your requests. She slips her tongue into your dripping hole, making you groan as your throw your head back. You continue riding her face as the room fills with wet sounds from her tongue slipping in and out of you.

It all starts to become too much for you, making your legs twitch and shake. Sasha pulls away for a second. “Want you to cum” She pleas looking up at you, teasing your clit with her tongue. She looks so cute with her begging eyes. You hum in response, grabbing the back of her head. “Since you’ve been very compliant, i’ll allow it.” You stroke the side of her mouth before entering two of your fingers inside. You collect her saliva and your own juices with your fingers, making her pleasantly sigh in response. You bring your fingers out of her mouth and place them on your tongue. “Make mommy cum.”

You shove her face right back where it belongs, earning a gasp from her. She flicks her tongue on your clit at a rapid speed which makes you a moaning mess. You moan over and over again as her tongue reaches all the right places. Her tongue switches between your hole and clit, making you see stars. Your legs start to shake and your breathe picks up. You can feel yourself about to cum by the way your stomach and pussy tingles, sending you into pure euphoria. Sasha focuses on your clit, flicking her tongue ruthlessly to help your reach your high. Your orgasm washed over you with a loud high pitched moan, making your mouth into a perfect O shape. You cum all over Sasha’s face.

She circles your clit with her tongue to help you come down from your high, cleaning all of your release off your pussy and thighs with her tongue. You come back to your senses and remove yourself from her grasp. You both lay there for a couple of minutes, processing everything that just occurred. You couldn’t help but smile, knowing that you just fucked Sasha better than anyone else ever has. All Sasha could say was “wow” and giggle. You laughed along with her, pushing her hair out of her face.

All of a sudden, Sasha’s phone rings. You grab it, seeing Niccolo’s name on the screen and hand it to her. You can slightly hear Niccolo tell her he’s free tonight if she wants. You kiss her shoulder sweetly, waiting for her response. “I’ll pass, i’m pretty content at the moment.” She smiles at you and hangs up on him.

She gives you a quick peck before heading off towards the kitchen. She looks back at you with a cute smile before leaving the room. “Thanks for two meals tonight, by the way.”

[mewmewkitten101]

Never added the arsene drawing so here's what she looks like.

I never really mentioned characters races either! Satan is biracial, part white part some poc, I don't really wanna decide specific races and in canon their DNA tells them nothing about their race and i wanted people to be able to headcanon their race. That being said feel free to give me your headcanons on what Satan + his family's are. Arsene and her sisters were originally meant to be vaguely white but rn I'm considering making them Spanish (Spain Spanish not Latin America Spanish) to fit with the idea that their pantheon has a bunch of races. Nico is tri-racial, he's part black, German and greek. Of course, it's mostly a demon equivalent. He is meant to be very white passing

Next up we're talking about...

Nico!

Nico is part of a group of demons that during the war between hell and heaven had to drop on the planet Ayuzuma and go into hiding in the Ayzumian hell. The groups where the would be Plutonian demons and the would be Solarian demons. These two groups created a unique kind of demon, the Ayuzumian demon, who was known to be grey and possibly have the solarian demon tail but are so varied its hard to know.

Nico was born to a would be Plutonian father and a would be Solarian mother. He adored his parents, his father became ruler of the Ayuzumian hell before it was ever the red kingdom. Most rulers of hell are royalty but Nico's dad was never considered royalty, he functioned of like a government but without terms, though since hell is a whole country president or prime minister is probably better but yeah. Nico grew up working in the government house doing various jobs, he liked being a public servant. I think the last position he held though was probably a senator. He also eventually got a baby sister! Unfortunately though this did not last long as one day he learned from a coworker of his fathers' that someone had assassinated his entire family except him. His fathers' second in command had to take over to give Nico time to mourn and bury his family. There were talks of Nico inheriting but Nico really didn't want to. While the people were okay with what the second in command wanted they would rather have someone else lead. Their home was a mess and nobody could make a decision so Nico headed to Earthinian Hell, where the Satanels lived. Nico told Diablo that his home was chaos due to his fathers' death and they couldn't decide on a new ruler and he wanted Diablo to send someone that could set things right. Diablo felt sympathy and he sent his elder son, Satan, to live out a punishment from the recent disappearances of two of the seven deadly sins. Diablo also offered Nico a new job as bodyguard to Satan so he sticks to ruling Ayuzuma, and Arsene, to make sure nothing happens to her in her line of work. Nico didn't necessarily need one but it would get him into learning about fighting which Nico never really got to do so he took it. He helped Satan, his ex-wife Arsene move to the government house. When they came to Ayuzumian Hell since Nico brought back THE Satan Satanel everyone immediately accepted them, no questions asked. For the time being, while waiting on renovations to make a new part of the palace, they converted some of the old rooms into bedrooms, and Nico started learning blood magic and fighting under Satan. Satan and Arsene could easily have kept a professional relationship only with Nico, but Arsene has always been close to her bodyguards and she befriends them, so that's what they did. Satan and Arsene comforted Nico and let him take off when needed, and Nico was there for them in return. Nico was not just a bodyguard but a good family friend. Nico eventually also found love in Katherina Astraia, Queen of The Fuschia Kingdom and they had a daughter named Bree together. Katherina unfortunately was not a good person and separated. Anyway his backstory is long let's get into his traits.

Nico is a very shy and sweet person, he's very quiet and awkward even occasionally around people he knows. He loves reading. He's protective of others, especially Bree, he's the only family he's got and is afraid of something happening to her. He also visits his deceased family members' murals a lot. While renovations were being made a few old coworkers came together and commissioned paintings of his mom, dad and baby sister, and Nico frequently visits them, talks to them, and I imagine maybe either their graves are embedded in the walls or something too since they spent a lot of time here. Nico lived in his childhood home but eventually he sold it and regretted it and he wants it back but its not happening anytime soon most likely. Also about the hair, the picture is inaccurate and more of his book 2 and 3 appearance, in book 1 he dresses in hoodies and sweatshirts and has short hair. He's a lot like Arsene in a sense that he feels beneath others and has to serve him, while he's more a literal servant. He's also very smart, not only was he a civil servant for a long time but he loves learning and acquiring knowledge.

I think that's everything that's not spoilers for now? If you want clarification just send me an ask!

Morning Writeblr, why don't we start introducing the main cast of kingdoms?

The main protagonist is Satan Satanel, no, not also Lucifer, and no, not the one that fell from Heaven, that's his father. As the name suggests, he is a demon, but he is one with a more human-like appearance. Satan has been living out a punishment on causing the disappearances of two demons for over two thousand years now. In time Ayuzuma has become a beloved home. He rules a kingdom in Ayuzuma called The Hell Sector of The Red Kingdom, as the Red Kingdom consists of both Ayuzuma's heaven and hell.Satan will go to extreme lengths to protect his family, even if it's members he's not close to nor ones he doesn't get along with. He overworks himself a lot. He suppresses his emotions a lot. He also has a temper, but he does his best to keep it controlled in the presence of his kids. Wants to be very independent from his father. Also keeps a diary. (Bio is kinda spoilers ngl but whatever)

(I'll add on to this more after school but here's one dude for now)

[justonemorechapternicercy]

to distract you from the serial killer yeti hunting you: Rachel and Nico are on a ski trip vacation to celebrate a successful business deal, but the weather gets super bad and they get snowed in with the suuuper cute staff member they hired to be their maid/cook/overall lil helper in their private lodge. Percy!

Thankfully your ask was too much to handle for the serial killer yeti, so in exchange, I hope you will like this little ficlet. Happy Valentine's day, I hope you will enjoy this more ;)

Everything was still and silent, yet Percy woke with a start. For a disorienting moment he wasn't sure where he was and what was happening, but then everything from the night before rushed back, and he realized that the quiet might have been because the storm had thankfully passed. No light came from the windows, so he had no real reason for waking up, except...

Oh.

Now, he really did remember everything.

He bit his lips as he cautiously moved slightly, careful not to wake up the red haired beauty in his arms, nor the handsome Italian draped over him. From their deep and even breathing, he guessed they were asleep, which was great, because he had a reason why he couldn't get out of the bed and go home.

It was just a night with two almost complete strangers, two people he assumed were on a romantic getaway, so there was no way they would want anything to do with him, except for having him as a little plaything in a dark, snowy night. Still, this way he could indulge himself just for a little bit in cuddling with them without being too clingy.

He almost moaned, when the man - call me Nico, caro mio - pushed a leg between his, completely molding himself to his back. He was warm, and heavy, and coupling it with the woman's - I'm Rachel, not Ms Dare, sweetie - soft curves fitting perfectly under him, he felt he was in Heaven.

Especially when he noticed something hard was pressing against his ass, and he might or might not was also affected by the situation. Last night was... Well.

Something he was going to remember for the rest of his life, that's for sure.

Nico was mumbling something, a name that suspiciously sounded like Percy, and he pushed his hips tightly against Percy's, while Rachel turned around, half-asleep, to face him. She looked so beautiful even without much light. Her curly hair was a mess, red locks were all over the place, even in Percy's face, but he wouldn't mind waking up to this forever.

"Mmm, good morning," she moaned, teasingly pushing her stomach tightly against his erection.

"What a good morning, indeed," Nico growled in his ear. Lighting bolts of lust ran through him, as the two of them shifted closer, rubbing themselves against him.

"I... I should..." Percy started, but he had to bite back a shout, as curious hands tried to find those spots that drove him wild the previous night. "Are you sure you... Ah... You want me here?" He finished it with a whimper. For a heartbeat they froze, then jerked back.

"What?" Nico gasped. "Of course, we want you here! Don't you want to...?" He asked, and tried to move away to give Percy space.

"Oh, no! I want to," he was quick to reassure. "I was just asking, because I didn't want to come between the two of you. You came here to be together, and now I'm here, and..." He was rambling. He knew he was rambling, and he wanted to stop, but-

Oh. Well. He knew it was a popular trope, but he didn't know it was this enjoyable to being shut up with a kiss.

But before he could let himself lose in the kiss, Rachel was already leaning away from him.

"Sweetie, we are coworkers and friends. This? What is happening now? Is purely because of you." With each sentence, she pressed a kiss on his cheek, his jaw, his neck, and his shoulder. He was a shivering mess, aching, and yearning.

"Last night, when we came here, and found you in the kitchen, baking for us while dancing to a silly little song, you immediately captivated the both of us. Then you wanted to leave, but you couldn't, we wanted you to stay with us to get to know you. We just came here for to celebrate a successful deal, but we found something even better: you," Nico said, his thumb caressing his elbow. A platonic little touch, yet Percy felt he was burning from inside out.

"Are you telling me," Percy moaned brokenly, "That you... What?"

"We want you. The both of us. Do you want us?" Rachel asked, looking into Percy's eyes to show she was being truthful.

"I..." His brow furrowed, but reaching a decision, he grinned. "I don't know what will happen in the future, but I want to get to know you," he said, then not leaving them a chance to reply, he kissed Rachel first, then Nico, making them forget about everything, except for the delightful young man begging for their attention.

---

When Percy agreed to clean and cook for a Ms. Dare and a Mr. di Angelo, he didn't know what he was getting into. Meeting with the pair of intimidatingly beautiful people was an... experience.

They were charming, and funny, and nothing what he expected. He was ready to hate the rich couple who asked for expensive wine that he could almost not get anywhere nearby, and wanted him to cook steak and other fancy dishes, but they were nothing like the stuck up assholes he expected them to be.

He... Liked them. And that started to become a problem as the night went on. He just had to leave, before he could have a crush on two unattainable people. But he couldn't.

As he pushed open the door, after saying good night to the pair, he was greeted with a rush of cold air that nearly knocked him off his feet. Snow rushed in a dizzying speed, and everywhere he looked, there was nothing but wall of white. The wind howled furiously, and he knew he was definitely not going home that night.

"Did you leave here something?" Rachel asked, concerned, when he rushed back to the living room.

"I'm so sorry, but can I stay here the night? I don't want to impose, and I know it is a lot to ask, but it seems there's a snow storm outside, and I really don't think I could go home in a weather like this," he asked with an apologetic look on his face.

"A storm?" Nico asked, surprised, and looking out the window, he had a grim look on his face. "No, no, devi stare qui. You can sleep here, we will make sure you won't get bored here with us," he declared.

Rachel's light little laughter filled the lodge, lighting up her whole face. "Yes, we will make sure it will be an enjoyable night for the three of us," she winked.

That was the moment that Percy should have made note of, that would define his future.

But even if he would have realized what they implied, he wouldn't have done anything differently, because he was already under their spell.

[tricksters-captain]

Helmut Zemo imagines - Hostage Part 1

AN: I came up with this idea for a series in the shower and I hope you guys are as intrigued by it as I am. Also I’m aware it’s posted later than I said but I’m a perfectionist and couldn’t post it until I was happy with it!! To make up for it, I have some Laszlo Kreizler smut coming up soon for you Alienist fans. 

Summary: You were chosen as one of Karli’s elite. You became a super soldier to help your cause, make the world a better place but taking the serum came with a price. After being cornered one day, you’re taken by the famous Helmut Zemo to give him answers or face the consequences. 

In This Chapter: Introductions. You are sent on a mission for Karli, only for it to turn bad. 

Pairing(s): Zemo x Fem!Reader, Karli Morganthau x Platonic!Reader

Word Count: 2,703

Warnings: Spoilers for TFATWS, violence, strong language 

You stared back at the burning building as the truck pulled away. 

Despite the rumbling of the thick tires on the tarmac beneath you, you could hear the screaming. 

“Hey.” DeeDee placed a hand on your shoulder and tugged you round. “Don’t look.” 

You could see in her eyes that she was just as shocked as you were but was trying to hide it.

The task had been to remove as many supplies as possible from the GRC depot to take back to the camps in Riga. There had been no mention of bombing the place. 

Lennox’s eyes met yours in the rear-view mirror. You were all thinking the same thing. 

Why would Karli go through with something that hadn’t even been discussed?

“Turn here. It’s faster.” DeeDee leant forward pointing towards a more narrow alley as fire engine sirens echoed up ahead. 

Lennox did as suggested and the others followed close behind. 

It wasn’t a long drive from Vilnius to Riga but you all stopped when daylight broke to take some time to eat something. 

You sat down beside Diego, your eyes flickering to Karli every few minutes as she dished out supplies for you all. 

She noticed. 

“(Y/n).” Karli remained standing as she handed out the last can to Dovich. 

You took the hint and rose to your feet. 

You followed her to the side of the abandoned structure as the others tried to tune the radio. 

“What’s the problem?” Karli asked you, a hard expression across her features.

“What’s the problem?” You couldn’t help but scoff at the question. “Karli, you blew up a building with people still tied up inside.” 

“I did what I had to do. It’s the only language these people understand. You saw just how much food, water and medicine they were sitting on. If we had a fraction of that just a few months ago Mama Donya might still be alive.” You could see the tears Karli was trying to suppress as she spoke of Mama Donya.

“You still should’ve consulted us before you went ahead with it. We’re better than an eye for an eye and you know that.” You cautiously took her hand into yours to try and comfort her. “We’re trying to make a difference here.”

“And that is how we do it.” She dropped your hand as she defended her actions. You shook your head but didn’t retaliate. You knew there was no use in arguing with her in that moment. 

“There’s something I need you to do after Mama Donya’s funeral today.” Karli was quick to change the topic. “A mission for you and DeeDee.” 

“What is it?” You asked, folding your arms across your chest. 

“I need you to go to these coordinates immediately after the funeral. One of our allies will be expecting you both. He has information and something I need. It’ll be a parcel, small enough to conceal so you can make your way back to us without any suspicion.” Karli texted over the coordinates and the information on the contact. 

“How can you be sure it’s safe?” You asked as you studied his profile. 

“I wouldn’t send you if it wasn’t.” Karli paused before she wrapped her hand around the back of your neck and brought your forehead to hers. “We have to stick together now more than ever.” 

You closed your eyes and exhaled a shaky breath. 

“One world.” You muttered. 

“One people.”Karli pulled away just as Dovich called over to you both. 

They had managed to get the radio to work. 

You sat down and opened a can of fruit slices to try and quench your hunger. 

“The depot that was bombed was funded and run by the GRC, the Global Repatriation Council. One of the workers killed was the father of two and had only been on the job for one week. After condemning this latest action by the radical group known as the Flag Smashers, the GRC formally began drafting legislation known as The Patch Act, which would seek to restore traditional border regulations and fast-track the return to normalcy. The act of violence has also brought attention and followers to the Flag Smasher cause. No one can deny the world-wide reach of this group is growing, as is the danger.”

You shared a look with Gigi and Dovich as you listened to the broadcast. Your stomach churned at the mention of the father. You swallowed hard as you placed your food down. 

Karli parted from the group again, feeling the pressure of the eyes on her, but you chose not to follow. 

You had known Karli for 3 years. You met in Riga and became close quickly. You both had lost everything and then you had each other. When she took off to Madripoor, you followed. She always knew how to get people to see things her way, she had a spark inside of her that drew in those who wanted to fight for something; she was powerful for 19. She only grew more powerful with the serums. 

You had backed her and supported her from the start but something was twisting. Something was going sour. You had never killed innocents before but in Karli’s eyes; was anyone on the side of the GRC innocent?

“Finish up. We need to get to the border in time to meet our contact.” Karli strode past the group and didn’t stop until she climbed into one of the cars. 

You cleaned up after yourselves, leaving no trace that you were there, before you got back on the road. 

You were back in Riga soon enough, your contact at the border let you through without any issues and you made it to the checkpoint with all the supplies safely. 

Fortunately, you still had time to spare before Donya’s funeral. 

You remained hidden, on the low, whilst Karli went with Nico to pick up the leftover serums. 

You had previously spoken about creating more super soldiers. You had been against it. There were more than enough of you for the moment and the process of turning into one was beyond any pain you’d ever felt. You didn’t think more people needed to go through that. However, the vote passed and more were to be created. 

“You ready?” Karli asked you as she returned. You nodded. 

You headed to the secret location of Mama Donya’s funeral and fell into the crowd as the body came into sight. Mama Donya had been important to Karli and therefore important to you. She had been a kind woman. Kind to you. But Karli had a bond with her that you didn’t. This was Karli’s time to heal, to grieve, to help those who also relied on Donya. 

You watched Karli step up to say a few words. 

“I don’t remember my mother or my father. Same goes for siblings, grandparents, cousins. What I do remember is being alone. Worse than being hungry or cold or scared. I was alone. Until Mama Donya. Like a lot of you here, Mama Donya saved me. She clothed me, fed me, loved me.” You followed Karli’s eye line when she gasped softly. 

It was Sam Wilson. Avenger. 

You felt your blood go cold. Usually where there was one avenger, there were sure to be more. 

“She taught me that we have to do for each other because they won’t. And we know who they are. They imposed struggle and hardship on us, then labeled us as criminals for pushing back. But the struggle is what brings us all together. People who have nothin’ in common. For we are, after all, simply one world and one people. So live accordingly.”

As you stepped forward and placed your bouquet of flowers down beside Donya, Karli clasped hold on your wrist. 

“Go now.” She whispered under her breath. 

“What about you?” You asked. 

“I’ll be fine. Get to the contact.” Karli tried to assure you but you weren’t certain on leaving her. Dovich guided you away to stop you from arguing with Karli about it. He told you that he was going to stay behind to help Karli and that you had a more important job to do right now. 

You had to give in and leave. 

As you made your exit, you grabbed DeeDee and the keys to the motorbike outside. 

“We gotta make a detour. Make sure we aren’t being followed.” You announced as you climbed onto the motorbike. 

“Karli said our guy would wait for us so it’s better to be safe than sorry. We can’t mess this up.” DeeDee agreed with you as she placed herself behind you. 

You took off down the street and did your best to lose any tails. 

You ended up ditching the bike and moving underground once you were sure you were alone. 

You were either really lucky or they had only brought enough backup to deal with Karli. 

“We should be close.” You checked your phone to read the GPS before placing on your mask. 

DeeDee held the flashlight up as you worked your way through the empty tunnel. 

“You’d think Karli could organise a rendezvous point somewhere a little less musty.” DeeDee grimaced as a trio of rats scattered past you both. 

“This is the safest way. We may have gained a lot of supporters above ground but we have a lot of enemies too.” You tried to defend Karli’s choice but even you had to admit that the sewers were a low point for you all. 

“You think she got away okay?” DeeDee asked, the concern obvious in her voice despite her blank expression. 

“I think Karli’s smart and she wouldn’t stick around if she knew she couldn’t win.” You may have been anxious for her but you rarely had doubts with Karli. Even without the serum she always managed to slip through the cracks. 

As you continued to make your way through the tunnels, you spotted a silhouette up ahead. 

You narrowed your eyes as DeeDee shone her light on him. 

Fortautely, it was your contact.

“Greetings.” The man smiled widely at you both. He wore a bright head torch that stopped you from looking him in the eye and a large forest green coat. 

“We’re here to collect the parcel and information for Karli.” DeeDee informed him, shading her eyes from his light as she tried to lift her gaze. 

“Yes. Yes. I know.” The short man pulled out a small object wrapped in brown paper from under his coat. “Karli said you would be coming.” 

As the man spoke, you heard something splash in the water behind you. 

“What was that?” You asked, looking back to see if you could spot anything. 

“It was probably just one of the rats.” DeeDee tried to assure you but the hairs on the back of your neck began to stand up. 

You had a bad feeling about it. 

“I’m going to check it out.” You whispered to her. “Better safe than sorry.” You repeated what she had said earlier. 

“Be careful.” DeeDee handed you her flashlight before letting you go. 

You crept back round the corner from whence you had came. You remained close to the wall to avoid any oncoming intruders head on. Peering down into the water, you saw that it had been in fact just a rat that was now paddling through the sewage. 

“It's okay.” You relaxed, shouting ahead so they could hear you. “It was just a ra–––” You were cut short by a gloved hand covering your mouth. 

You sent your elbow backwards instinctively which threw your attacker into the wall. 

You spun around to see a figure dressed in a lavish coat with a purple mask covering his face. You furrowed your eyebrows at his appearance. You didn’t recognise him as an Avenger. 

He came towards you, sending a fist to the side of your head. You managed to block his attack, kicking him in the chest. 

You thought he’d be no match for you with your enhanced powers but he managed to put up a good fight. 

He wrestled with you against the wall as he gained the advantage. You resorted in head butting him to get him off you. 

You sent your leg up into his side but he wrapped his arm around your calf and yanked you forward. You lost your balance as he grip moved, hooking under your knee. He squeezed your thigh against him as he pulled out a rather large syringe. 

“DEE! RUN!” You managed to howl before the needle sunk into your thigh. 

You tried to fight again as he dropped your leg but your vision became patchy and your balance began to sway. 

Not to your knowledge, he had injected as much tranquilliser into you as one would a tiger. Your enhanced abilities wouldn’t help you with that, you were soon out cold. 

--

The stars shone above you as you and Karli laid back on the bonnet of the car. 

“I genuinely believe that you could be the one to change things, Karl.” You said as you munched down on the chocolate bar she had gifted you. 

“What are you on about?” Karli furrowed her eyebrows through her smile as she turned her head to face you. 

“I mean look what you did for my birthday, just using your powers of persuasion.” You smirked.

“Persuasion isn’t enough to change things.” Karli disagreed. 

“You’re right but right now, people need someone to look up to. Half the world is gone and hope isn’t something that's easy to come by anymore.” You stated. 

“And you think that person could be me?” Karli scoffed at the idea. 

“I think you could do anything you wanted if you put your mind to it.” You broke off a piece of chocolate and handed it to her. 

“I think you’re spending too much time around Mama Donya.” Karli took the chocolate and popped it in her mouth. 

“We’ll see who’s right one day.” You mused with a small smile. Karli rolled her eyes before trying to steal another piece. “Hey! It’s my birthday present!” 

--

When your eyes finally opened, you realised you were no longer in the sewers. 

You were standing but your hands were up above your head, chained to the wall behind you and a large metal strip was around your neck also. You desperately tried to search your surroundings through your mask but the restraints stopped you from moving much. 

The room was dark, no windows, a few dim lights dotted around caused the room to seem almost a brown colour and there was little furniture. 

You would’ve been a fool if you didn’t noticed the gun on a small table off to the side as well as the medical equipment glistening on a tall metal cart. 

Your head throbbed and your mouth held the metallic taste of blood. You tugged at your wrist restraints to test their strength and to your luck they were holding. 

“You’re awake.” You heard a thick accented voice when you stopped rattling your chains. “Good.” 

The possessor of the voice, your kidnapper, stepped into light and you clocked who it was immediately. 

It was Baron Helmut Zemo. 

Zemo could not see your face as he had left the mask on you but he could tell from your eyes that you knew who he was. 

“I bet you are wondering why you are here. Tied up in this basement.” Zemo started. “Let’s start with introductions, shall we?” 

You remained silent.

“My name is Helmut Zemo––”

“––I know who you are.” You retorted. 

“Then you know what I am capable of.” Zemo glared at you for the interruption. His hands finding his pockets as his eyes settled on your own. 

“I know you’re going to kill me.” You knew of what happened with the Avengers. You knew of Siberia and the destroyed soldiers. You knew of his hate. 

“I’m not going to kill you.” Zemo wagged his finger at you. “Not yet at least. No. We have a few things I’d like to discuss first.”

“Like what?” You scowled at the man. 

“Like the whereabouts of Karli Morgenthau.” 

(PART 2 HERE)

Taglist  

@cathrin2405 @serenityfirefly97​ @shannon-posts​ @dxnxdjarxn​ @hiddlepiddlediddlewiddle​ @trelaney​  @sierrabaltzer​  @daydreamer-in-training​ @e-barba​ @ornella0910​ @natty13 @bry-97​ @cherieweasley​ @kermuddgen @madelyn-barnes @jaxcliffaconda​ @candicerace​ @mo320 @takacsgram @hiccup005 

[maybeacrowdedmind]

So I Just Finished Skam...

First of all, I loved it. It was an incredible show and I'm so glad that there are so many remakes because I enjoyed it so much. One of my favorite things about the show was the fact that it feels extremely realistic, and I think a lot of that is due to the fact that a majority of the actors were actual teenagers (rather than actors who are obviously in their mid 20s and playing characters who are 16) and the fact that the characters behaved like actual teenagers (like using Facebook and Instagram, using "bad" language, dancing and singing along to music, etc. etc.). The other thing I adored about this show was the amount of importance that was placed on friendship. Platonic relationships in fiction are normally vastly underrated or underdeveloped in favor of romantic ones, so I appreciated that Skam showed so many friendships. So I decided to make a list of my favorite friendship moments from each season (two moments per season, with honorable mentions at the end before moving on).

Season 1:

1) Noora cheering up Eva by singing Justin Bieber to her:

I am not a fan of Justin Bieber at all (if you like him, all the more power to you, but I personally can't stand him), but Noora singing to Eva was such a great moment. She knew how sad Eva was, and decided to cheer her up by sharing something that made her (Noora) happy, and it was a really sweet moment between friends. It was also something that is realistic to do when someone you care about is down, and even though it was a small scene, it showed how strong a friendship Noora and Eva have.

2) All of the bonding moments between Sana, Vilde, Eva, Noora, and Chris:

I know this is a vague one, but just the sheer amount of time the girls spend together, whether they are doing something important or just hanging out was really awesome to see. Most of the time, tv shows don't take time to show us little moments like characters talking about boys or just sitting hanging out unless it has a more dramatc purpose. With Skam, we got to see those moments, which made the friendship between the girls that much more realistic.

Honorable Mentions for Season 1:

Eva grabbing the wrong Chris for Vilde, leading both Chris and Penetrator Chris (love that nearly everyone calls him that in the show by the way) to share a huge hug and go "name twins!" because that's totally something I'd do if I met someone who shared my name.

Eva and Ingrid finally talking about everything that happened, giving them both closure and the ability to move on, even if their friendship would never be the same (this was such a great scene because it showed Eva apologizing and telling Ingrid that she couldn't change what she did, but she would if she could, and it also allowed Ingrid to be hurt by what happened with Jonas, because let's face it, Ingrid was the injured party in that particular situation).

Season 2:

1) Noora telling Vilde all of the important things that the ingredients for tortilla do for you, and Vilde later doing the same for Noora:

I love how all of the girls take care of one another, but this scene in particular I loved a lot. Noora has noticed that Vilde hasn't been eating, and after hearing Vilde tell her all the reasons she doesn't like potatoes, Noora tells Vilde all the reasons she should. Noora also does so in a way that isn't shaming Vilde or being condescending to her, rather, Noora brings it up in a casual conversation. Later, Vilde notices Noora not eating, and prepares tortilla for her, quoting what Noora told her about potatoes and eating it with her. I loved this scene because it showed how much Noora and Vilde understood one another, as well as the importance of support.

2) The amount of support given to Noora by the girls after she discloses what happened with Nico:

This one is a total no-brainer. Noora had no idea what had happened that night, and had very little to go off of, and she spent the next few episodes terrified. When she tells the girls what she thinks might have happened, they all immediately stop what they're doing and rally around her. The no-dialogue scene in which they take Noora to the doctor and hold her and keep her safe was incredibly touching, and to be honest, nearly made me tear up.

Honorable Mentions for Season 2:

Sana and Chris playing a joke on the girls at the cabin during their break, because that whole episode was hilarious, and the individual ways each girl reacted was totally in character for each of them.

All of the girls telling Noora that they knew about her and William, because it was the most obvious thing in the world, and Noora being sheepish and surprised that she hadn't been hiding it as well as she thought.

Season 3:

1) Jonas, Magnus, and Mahdi telling Isak what to text Even:

This scene was so funny, and not the type I usually get to see when it comes to male friendships. I love that Isak tells them that he has no idea how to reply to Even, and Jonas tells him what he should say, with Magnus and Mahdi inserting their opinions and talking about how they text girls. It was enjoyable to watch because too many times fiction shows us that boys don't have the same relationship confusion that girls do, and it's often not true. I like that this scene allowed the boys to just be boys, because everybody deals with uncertainty, especially when it comes to liking someone.

2) Linn and Even playing video games together:

I know this scene is literally like two seconds and that we only see them ending from Isak's perspective, but hear me out. I'm pretty sure this is the first scene we see that shows Linn actively smiling and looking happy. Also, Even had just come off of a manic episode, was feeling depressed, and when we see him playing video games with Linn, he too looks actually happy, which is always great to see. Plus, the way Linn and Even are interacting with one another, it looks like they've known each other forever rather than two people who have just met, and even though it was a fraction of a scene, it was super great to watch.

Honorable Mentions for Season 3:

The entire development of Sana and Isak's friendship (I almost broke my "only two friendship moments" per season rule for this, but I decided to stick to my guns). Isak and Sana have a great friendship and I love how it came out of nowhere. Their friendship is literally started by being partnered together for school, which only happened because Sana sat by Isak to tell him that she had the weed he hid (a beautiful start to a beautiful friendship).

Isak coming out to Jonas by telling him that he liked someone and giving him the hint that it wasn't a girl, and Jonas reacting by thinking about the hint for a minute and then going "it's not me...is it?" because the expression Jonas had on his face while he thought about who it could be was funny because it looked like the fact that Isak had just come out to him wasn't even on his radar, because he was more concerned about guessing right, and the fact that he guessed himself was humorous to me.

Season 4:

1) Chris being a total ride-or-die friend to Sana after the stuff regarding the hate accounts for Sara and Vilde came out:

Everybody needs a friend like Chris. She is without a doubt one of the most loyal tv show characters I've seen and I wish Skam had run for more seasons so we could get a Chris season (and a Vilde season and an Even season, and a spin-off for Eskild and Linn, who both totally deserve one). Chris is the first person Sana told about the Sara account, and the first thing she did was tell Sana that the hate would blow over if Eva found out the truth (because Eva and everybody else thought Isak was responsible for it, and Eva was pissed AF at him). Chris also made sure that Sana knew that she didn't hate her for what happened, because everybody screwed up (seriously, we all need a friend like Chris).

2) The girls showing up to the bus meeting in their own tiny bus named "Los Losers" for Sana, effectively showing all of the Pepsi-Max girls (like Penetrator Chris, that will forever be their name) that if you mess with one of them, you mess with all of them. Sana was terrified that the girls would never forgive her, and when they all show up in the bus screaming her name, the joy on Sana's face is practically tangible. I love that they all pull Sana into the bus and give the Pepsi-Max girls the finger as they drive off, because really, what better way to show the true bonds of friendship than by collectively flipping off a ton of girls who messed with one of their own.

Honorable Mentions for Season 4:

Sana and Even's friendship, and the fact that she protected and respected his privacy when Isak asked her why she never said that she already knew Even, because too many times do I see characters give away information to other people that isn't theirs to give, and the fact that it didn't matter to Sana that Isak and Even were together, she was still going to make sure that Even had a right to the details of his personal life was extremely important.

The conversation between Sana and Jamilla about their schooling and Islam, because the texts we see between them prior to their falling out show that they were very close, and it was nice to see them talk and reconcile, because that's how life works sometimes. You fight and fall out with people, and after time passes, sometimes there is reconciliation.

[isolenmlyswear69]

𝕊𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕜𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕒𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕒

Jason Grace x Fem reader (daughter of poseidon)

Summary: star crossed lovers have nothing on Jason and y/n, they were fated for each other, but if percy found out they would be fated to never see eachother again. But y/n had other plans.

Idk why but your request deleted itself so I couldn’t post the original ask but you asked for a fluffy jason x Fem reader where the reader was percy's little sister and was sneaking around with jason? I hope I got that right sorry if I messed it up :((

@happy-nico

—-—————————————————————————

y/n flinched as the floor squeaks under pressure, her head immediately whipping over to where her brother layed praying to the gods that he wouldn't wake up, only to find him still drooling all over his pillow. She never would have realized how loud the damn cabin was if it wasn't for her brother being too protective over her. Her brother was percy jackson, you heard me right percy jackson, the son of poseidon, the proficay child, part of the 7! Yup and she was his little sister, and that meant any guy that even looked at his baby sister was immediately scared off. She let out a sigh of relief after seeing her brother sacked on the pillow, and continuing to make a way out the door as quietly as possible. As she left she turned quietly close the door behind her and tiptoeing barefoot down into the grass before leaning down and throwing her shoes on and leasing them up as fast as it possibly could. She looked down at her watch to check the time.

“Shit i'm going to be late” she exclaimed as quietly as possible before taking off as fast as she could towards the lake. Her feet thundered against the ground, the wind whipping through her hair, whipping her clothes back tightly onto her body as she raced to me Her lover. As she came upon the clearing of the lake, she saw the shape of the boys she news standing on the dock waiting ever so patiently for her.She took a deep breath before slowly walking over, as she came closer she realized he was looking out at the lake and the moon, she let a small smile across her face as she wrapped her small arms around his waist inhaling his scent, she felt his chest vibrate as he let out a small giggle at her antics.

“It's good to see you to my love” he spoke gently to her as he turned around, and golfing her in a tight hug. Before brushing his lips gently against hers waiting to feel her lean in, and she did pressing her lips against his, happy to be with him. Then suddenly she felt his fingers tickling her side, a smile spread across her face as they broke apart before squealing all him to stop. Jason loved her laugh, and her smile, he just loved her. He slowly stopped tickling her both of them coming down from the serotonin high as the both flopped onto the deck, sighing y/n leaned into him, dropping her head down leaving a small kiss on his shoulder, before closing her eyes she smiled to herself as she felt Jason need his head on top of hers gently bringing his hand over hers to clasp around it.

“You know i wish my time with you would never end, whether we are sitting quietly on the dock like this or running off to the weapons shed to steal a kiss. I just wish we could do it in the open, so i can hold you during the campfiresor steal a kiss from you freely in the open without fear of getting drowned in my sleep” jason said with a voice laced with passion and a little fear at the end causing y/n to giggle a little at the fear of her brother, even though she knew percy wouldn't have the willpower to get up in the dead of night to exact revenge. But she had honestly felt the same, she crawled on top of his lap gently leaning her head against his, kissing his nose gently

“Im sorry my love, ik it hard i just really don't want you and percy to fight you guys are just starting to really getting along, and to be honest this is kinda fun.” she giggled agian before kissing gif forehead before leaning into his chest, jason hummed and wrapped his arms around her gently leaning back so he was laying on the doc with her on top of him they both slowly falling asleep in each other's arms. Gentle rays of light made them both sit up slowly waking up slown y/n grumbling about how it was too early, she had realized she was in her bed cozy and warm. A smile spread across her face thinking about how Jason snuck her back into her cabin so she wouldn't have to wake up, she smiled gently before drifting back off into sleep.

[the-ghost-king]

different anon but i know this is a little more what you hc for nico and i adore it and maybe the other anon will too: headcanons for nb nico who is fairly fem? idk feminine nb nico makes me so happy 🥰 i love that you make a fair amount of content for it i truly love to see it on my dash, i appreciate you so much

Firstly, thank you for the compliments; and yes anon, you would be correct, femby Nico is something I'm so down for:

So originally Nico doesn't know he's trans, he doesn't even know the word trans exists

He's one of those people who is like "most people don't care about gender it's not a big deal it doesn't matter" and he's quite confused when people enforce rules based off of sex/gender

He's stands there going, "okay?? but it doesn't matter?? it's not real??"

Gender just straight up confuses him

Anyhow, I think Nico definitly gets his further slightly more in depth explaination of queerness from Will, and Will is like "yeah then trans people-" or maybe Will is trans and tells him after they've been dating a short while

Either way Nico is like "oh, that's cool!"

Anyhow Nico doesn't really think about it for a long time, and kind of carries on without thinking about gender much.

If Will is trans in this as well, then Nico learns more about himself through learning about Will's gender... But if Will's not trans then maybe Nico finds out Lou Ellen is trans (I have a whole bunch of trans Lou Ellen and trans Will headcanons I need to write with Cecil too)

Anyhow basically Nico knows someone who's trans and there's a conversation of gender at some point where Nico's like "but gender isn't real?" or something similoar because he just doesn't understand the idea of feeling male or feeling female, it confuses him

So eventually he has a conversation with some friends who are cis, and he realizes that even they know they're a boy or girl, and so Nico is confused because "why does everyone have this figured out?"

So he starts asking more questions, and finds out about nonbinary and he gets nervous because he knows Will likes boys, but what if Will won't like him anymore because he's not 100% a guy

So he does eventually work up the courage to tell Will how he might be feeling and Will is super chill about the whole thing and he's like "Nico I like boys and girls, and most of all I like you" and Nico's happy because Will isn't going to break up with him

Anyhow they have a long conversation where Willl is like "please don't worry about coming to me with stuff I love you very much okay?"

Eventually Nico begins to try out different pronouns but just when alone with Will because he's not comfortable telling everyone yet

He decides he likes he/him, but she/her is nice too, and he dables in xe/xem pronouns but he has mixed feelings on them

In my last trans Nico post I said Nico would like alternating pronouns but maybe I don't think so... I think he would tell people what pronouns he wanted when/what day or he would say "you can use he/him or she/her" or something

and some people would use one set, and some people the other, and some people would mix his pronouns

So Nico starts getting more involved in fashion around this point

Mitchell and him are friends and Mitchell's dad is a fashion designer so free stuff!

Anyhow Nico finds all of this stuff fun, and eventually one day she gets the courage to try a skirt on and it quickly becomes her favorite type of clothing

Nico likes to wear skirts with tights and combat boots

Nico also falls in love withe leggings because "they're just so soft!"

He never really comes out he kind of just chooses to live life and if people know or find out whatever

Like he'll be somewhere with Jason and someone would ask for her pronouns and she'd be like "he/him or she/her is fine" and Jason is getting whiplash from how fast he turned his head to look at Nico and Jason's stumbling over "he/him" while looking at Nico because he wants to say congrats so bad

Or maybe Will is like "my girlfriend" and Percy's like "you have a girlfriend too?" and Will's like "no??? I mean Nico??" and Percy is confused af because he didn't even know people could be gay until recently- but people can be trans too?

(Percy has his own gender questioning that happens, although a bit smaller and he decides he/they and that dresses and heels are fun)

So Nico's friends all eventually know but they just sort of find out rather than a big coming out (this is how they all found out Nico was gay too, Nico was like “yeah so me and Will Solace are dating” or “my boyfriend” because Nico has a hard time saying “I’m gay” or “I’m trans” so he finds ways around it to make himself more comfortable).

Nico struggles a little bit with the concept, not as much as he did with being gay but there’s still obsticales there for him to overcome

When Hades finds out he’s just like “mhmm good for you okay love you… daughter?” and that makes Nico happy because he’s still trying to be a good dad

Anyhow immediately after Nico leaves Hades runs to find Dionysus or Apollo and is like “trans what does it mean? Daughter was the correct word right? I’m sorry tucking is what now??”

He’s confused af but also supportive af

“Nobody says that about my son-err daughter?”

“Both are fine, Papa”

And Will and Reyna are in the background silently giving Hades thumbs ups

Sometimes Hades buys Nico weird shit and is like “it’s for your gender” and Nico doesn’t need the stuff but his dad cares so she appreciates it

Dionysus is super chill about the whole thing when he hears it through the grapevine (ha!) and he’s like “new name or same one kid?”

Nico’s like “oh um, same name, just new pronouns”

And Dionysus is like “great sit your ass down you have therapy to do”

(Dionysus always gets trans kids name right and never even jokingly messes it up so he always asks)

Also, Nico loves little hair clips, you know the little ones that tik tokers wear? Yeah those he has hundreds of them!

Cloth headbands are also her best friend, she has so many of them… (they’re like square cloth pieces you tie and wrap a specific way and roll your hair around it… I don’t know the right word they were popular in the 50s)

Nico ends up growing out his hair because he likes being able to put it in a messy bun on top of his head and he likes having it in braids down his back too

She learns to do makeup from Hazel (Hazel had a makeup face and likes kpop I don’t take criticism on that) and it looks great tbh

Also in public all the time when people see Nico they’re like “Boy? Girl?”

And he’s like “yeah both is good, but also neither, I have all the genders and also no gender”

And Will’s standing in the background laughing his ass off at the confused look the cashier has on their face

Just imagine Nico and Will’s kids calling Nico both Mama and Papa interchangeably ~

She does end up changing her name from Nicolò to just Nico because Nico is gender neutral

So much jewelry… so much of it, Nico loves it

Nico ends up getting a leather jacket with “give us our roses while we’re here” printed/painted on the back of it and little roses built into the actual jacket as well

Nico always seems to have some new hair length going on, like sometimes her hair is down to her waist, sometimes it’s at her shoulders, and other times she has a mullet, while other times she has an eboy cut

He ends up dying his hair all the time, at first he does gold and silver highlights in really small spots so it looks like his hair sparkles with glitter when he moves

After that Nico does half of her head in blonde and the other side in black like a split down the middle type dye

And he ends up drying his hair a swirled blue and pink color as well when it’s short

When he grows his hair out long, he dyes it with the little egirl dye in the front

She also does that thing where you have a rainbow under your hair and a normal color on top

Nico gets an undercut at one point where she leaves enough in the center top to put it up in a bun or leave it down to her shoulders

He dies his hair a blue-green one time while lit’s long too and Will gets an ombre at the same time using his natural blonde and a bubble gum pink in his like “bangs” area (Will has like a halo of pink hair when he does that dye)

And yeah idk I’m out of ideas but nonbinary Nico is great actually

[hazellvesque]

your wounds; my sutures

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians/The Trials of Apollo

Rating: PG

Pairing: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace

Summary: When Will Solace, Camp Half-Blood’s greatest healer, is the one who gets hurt in battle, the son of Hades has to step up to the plate and put the skills he learned in the infirmary to good use. 

Word Count: 2,572

Warnings: graphic descriptions of cuts, blood, stitches, and questionable amateur medical practice.

Read on Ao3

* * *

The second he caught sight of the gaping wound in his boyfriend’s shoulder, Nico almost blacked out. It was hard to believe Will was even still conscious with so much blood seeping out.

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Will’s voice was strained, yet somehow calm, as if he hadn’t just taken a direct hit from the dangerous end of a sword. He was sitting on the ground, using his good arm to keep himself propped upright. The wound slashed across his shoulder blade, beginning just a few inches to the right of the base of his neck. The weapon had cut straight through his shirt, leaving tattered scraps of fabric as the only discretionary cover for the graphic injury. 

“Nico? Are you still with me?”

“You’re bleeding,” Nico said lamely, snapping back to reality, still not quite believing what he was seeing. 

He’d seen much worse in the past. Hell, he’d caused much worse. But this was Will Solace. He was Camp Half-Blood’s greatest healer. He wasn’t supposed to be the one who got hurt, ever. 

If Nico could, he would resurrect the monster just to kill it all over again. It deserved a punishment far worse than evaporating into golden dust, but at least the satisfaction might quell Nico’s anger a bit. He couldn’t stop staring at the wound. Fortunately, Will was faced away from him. Nico imagined the pained expression on Will’s face, how he was probably fighting to keep his lopsided, reassuring smile bright despite it all. 

“What do we do?” Nico spoke quietly, but desperately. 

The two boys were utterly exhausted. The fight had taken nearly everything out of them. Will’s own healing abilities couldn’t possibly work well right now - he was so weak he could hardly sit upright on his own. Nico thought of shadow traveling to Camp or even to the nearest hospital; he’d have to do some quick thinking to explain the situation to a mortal doctor, but the idea was quickly shut down by the black fuzziness already creeping into the corners of his vision. He probably wouldn’t be able to move himself ten feet without passing out. 

They’d have to solve this the old-fashioned way. 

Will gestured with his head towards his bag. It lay a few feet away, discarded early in the fight and no doubt now containing a few broken supplies and squished ambrosia squares.

“Grab some supplies for me? I don’t want to move too much and make it worse.” Will said, his breathing labored. “You’re going to have to help me clean and close it up.”

“Right.” Nico nodded a little too fast, hardly processing Will’s words at all. 

Nico dashed over to Will’s backpack and tore it open. In moments, the grass was strewn with miscellaneous bandages, ice packs, and burn creams that would be utterly useless in helping solve the problem at hand. He searched for the vial of nectar he knew should be there, and swore under his breath when he found it shattered, the pieces of broken glass nicking his fingertips and the golden liquid seeping into the canvas fabric, causing an utterly useless sticky mess. Reaching further, Nico pulled out everything he thought would be useful - gloves, cloth, peroxide, and the small suture kit box at the very bottom of the bag. 

He rushed back to Will’s side, fighting the wave of nausea that hit him, both from sight of the cut and from standing up too fast. He quickly pulled on the latex gloves, hoping to get this over with as quickly as possible. 

“You remember the first step in treating a wound?” Will asked.

“I have to clean it. And apply pressure to stop the bleeding,” Nico recited mechanically. Then he paused, head tilted, mouth scrunched in annoyance. “I can’t believe you’re turning this into a medical lesson.”

“Never a bad time to brush you up on your basic skills.” 

“This is anything but basic.” Nico’s hands trembled so hard that he nearly dropped the tools in his hands. “I can’t really see the whole thing. I’m going to have to-“ he gulped, silently chiding himself for how stupid he felt for asking, “-to take off your shirt. Cut it off, I mean. To get to the, uh...” 

Even through what must have been some of the worst physical pain of his life, Will chuckled. “If you want to prevent me from bleeding out, then yes, unfortunately, you’re going to have to see me shirtless. Did you grab the scissors?” 

“No,” Will’s shirt was already torn nearly to shreds, and precious time was slipping away. Biting back his mortification, Nico took hold of the already torn collar of Will’s orange camp shirt and ripped straight down, letting the cotton fibers fall apart in his hands. He quickly tore in two other places, removing the blood-stained fabric entirely. 

Any embarrassing implication of his actions was immediately shut down by the now clearer sight of the dark red stickiness quickly streaking down the right side of Will’s body.  

“Talk to me, Nico, what’s going on?”

Nico half-consciously began soaking the cloth in peroxide. “Isn’t this going to sting?” 

“Like hell,” Will made a hmph sound under his breath, then he laughed, “I know it was super common back in your day to do this-”

“I’m going to forgive you for that because you’re hurt right now.” 

“But peroxide on deep wounds can do more harm than good, so really, this is a last resort, since we don’t have any nectar. Even just clean water or soap would be better, but that doesn’t matter now. Just…don’t use a lot, just enough to make sure nothing gets infected. Give me something to hold on to?” 

With his right hand, Nico held the folded, peroxide-soaked rag precariously close to Will’s injured shoulder. His left hand silently slipped into Will’s and squeezed tight. “Do you want me to tell you when?”

“No, just go for it.” 

He went for it. 

Three of Nico’s senses sparked to life all at once: the sound of Will biting back a scream ringing in his ears, the gruesome sight of the cut bubbling from the peroxide chemicals burned into his eyes, and the feeling of all of the bones in his left hand being crushed by Will’s iron grip as he squeezed in desperation from the pain. 

“I’m sorry!” Nico cried. He twisted the already red-soaked cloth in his hand so that he could use the clean side to put more pressure on the cut. He could feel the heat radiating off Will’s body, which sent an odd shiver down his spine. 

“Don’t be,” Will said, though the tone of his voice would suggest otherwise. “You’re doing everything right. You should be more sorry about the stitches you’re going to have to put in.”

If he hadn’t been so focused on stopping the bleeding, Nico’s arms would have dropped uselessly to his sides in shock. Instead, he let his jaw do the dropping. “The what I’m going to have to put where? Will, I can’t-“ 

“If I can pull a baby out of a cloud nymph, you can learn how to properly stitch someone up.” Will hissed through gritted teeth. 

“But-”

“I can’t be the only one reattaching limbs at Camp, I need help sometimes so you may as well get practice now.”

“I’m not exactly the best at healing people. Quite the opposite, actually.” 

“I’ll talk you through it,” Will squeezed Nico’s hand, which Nico hadn’t realized he was still holding. “If it were practically anywhere else on my body I would just do it myself, but I got hit in the worst possible spot.”

Nico dropped the bloody cloth and sat back on his heels, dumbfounded. “I don’t want to hurt you.” 

“You won’t,” Will reassured him. “I promise. I trust you.” 

The bold statement made Nico flush, his heart rate increasing even more, though by now he thought that would have been impossible. With his new determination, he opened the small box from Will’s bag. Inside lay a small, curved needle already threaded with a thin black cord, two differently shaped pairs of what looked like fancy tweezers, a small pair of scissors, and a tiny blade Nico hoped he wouldn’t have to use. 

“How do I do this?” Nico steeled himself, swallowing down his doubts. 

Will quickly explained the basic process: Nico would need to use both of the “tweezers” - one of which was actually a needle holder - simultaneously. One would be used to hold the skin in place and the other, as the name suggested, was to push the needle through. Then, he’d have to tie off the thread like a knot and cut off any excess. Rinse and repeat all the way up, until hopefully the cut would be closed well enough to not reopen on the way to get professional care. 

Nico delicately traced his gloved hand across the bottom of the cut, right where he’d need to start stitching. The bleeding had subsided, but Will’s skin was still too warm and bright red. 

He got to work right away. 

The first stitch was the most difficult. Nico had wielded swords as long as he was tall, but the intimidation of putting a tiny, intentional hole in someone was somehow worse. His hands trembled as he pushed the needle through one side, out the other, and knotted the thread tight. 

“Does that hurt?” Nico asked timidly. 

Will hesitated before answering: “Not as much as getting myself slashed open in the first place.” 

Glad to see he still had a sense of humor, despite it all. 

Nico continued his diligent work, taking about a minute to complete each tiny stitch. He’d probably need to do about 20 more to get the wound closed entirely. 

“This...reminds me,” Will said, his voice sounding far-away and dreamy. Whether it was blissful reminiscing or exhaustion, it was difficult to tell. “Of Manhattan. And Annabeth.”

“What about Annabeth?” 

Will was rambling now, taking his mind off the pain in the only way he could. “She was hit in the same place. Protecting Percy. During the battle against Kronos. I was the one who healed her back then. We were all looking for my brother Michael when Percy dragged me out of the search party and said he needed a healer. He was really freaked out, it was kind of scary to be honest. I’m pretty sure that was the first time anyone outside of my own cabin even acknowledged my existence,” Will took a deep breath, and after a heavy pause, he muttered, “I was made head counselor as soon as the battle was over.”

With all the losses they’d faced over the last few years, it was sadly almost too easy for Nico to forget that Will had lost at least four of his siblings during the Battle of Manhattan. Everyone coped with trauma and loss differently, but you wouldn’t look at Will Solace and think that he was hurting. Then again, Will’s optimism and willingness to constantly help others may very well have been a way to disguise that hurt. He hadn’t been able to help the people he’d lost. 

Nico had been about to express his condolences when Will asked, “Where were you during all of that?”

“Convincing my dad to let me borrow his dead army,” Nico laughed humorlessly, the memory rushing back to him. “And helping protect Percy’s parents.”

Will’s head tilted. “What were Percy’s parents doing on the battlefield?” 

“Sally Jackson is a powerhouse of a woman and will stop at nothing, not even a Titan. Plus, I felt like I kind of owed it to Percy after...everything I’d done.” 

Will made a humming sound, as if to say that’s fair. Over the past few months, Nico had opened up more about his early years at Camp Half-Blood. Even now, he felt a pang of regret for how he used to behave towards the people who were only trying to help him. Will didn’t know all of the details, of course, but he knew enough to understand. 

“I remember seeing you out there,” Nico continued, his voice a whisper. “We hadn’t even spoken before, but I knew who you were.”

Will responded just as quietly. “I knew you, too.” 

Not in the ‘I’d heard the whispers about the reclusive son of Hades’ way, or the ‘I knew about the boy who had lost his sister’ way. No; he’d said it like a confession. 

“You-,” Nico swallowed hard, “you did?”

“You kind of fascinated me,” Will murmured. “Can you believe it only took me another year to actually speak to you?”

Nico felt his heart jolt in his chest. Why hadn’t he known this before? If he knew any better, he’d think Will was only confessing this now because of his delirium. Or maybe he’d wanted to admit it for a long time. Nico knew exactly how that felt. 

“And you initiated conversation by asking me to touch your hands that had just birthed a baby. Real smooth, Solace. No wonder I liked you so much.” 

With that, Nico tied off the final suture, cut the excess thread, and carefully placed the tools back in the box. 

“I think...I think it’s done?” Nico exhaled, finally letting his hands tremble freely, begging for the pent up anxiety to somehow release through his fingertips. 

Slowly, carefully, Will reached back behind his head with his left arm, tracing his hand across the delicate stitches, checking for error. Nico stared intensely, only just now taking the time to notice the details of his own work. It was nowhere near perfect. Hardly satisfactory, even. His handiwork was messy, uneven. But it would keep the wound from reopening at least until they got back to Camp. 

“Not bad for a trainee,” Will said finally, dropping his hand and turning to face Nico. “Thank you. Really. You know I never would have asked you to do this if-”

“Don’t apologize,” Nico cut him off. “I’d do it again. In a heartbeat. I...” 

Nico frowned, his brain finally catching up to the scene in front of him. Without the distractions of the blood and sharp objects, the sight of Will Solace shirtless suddenly brought a rush of warmth to his cheeks. He unconsciously leaned back, all too aware of how close they were sitting, but that undeniable tense energy still radiated between them. Speaking of heartbeats…

“How were you so calm through all of this?” Nico asked. 

“Because I had to be. I always do,” Will shrugged without thinking, then winced from the pain. “All in a day’s work, you know? Someone’s got to step up when there’s an emergency.”

“That someone shouldn’t always have to be you.”

“No. You’re right. It shouldn’t,” Will said softly, his gentle eyes locking with Nico’s. 

It wasn’t meant to be a cruel comment, but Nico felt the weight of the words press down on him. He didn’t have the time to come up with a retort before Will spoke again: “Maybe we both have a thing or two to learn about helping others. Or helping ourselves.” 

Will reached out and took Nico’s hand. 

“You’re still shaking,” Will said. “You don’t have to be nervous, you did a good job.”

Nico felt his face grow hot. He stared down at their intertwined hands, then back up into Will’s eyes. 

“That’s not why I’m nervous,” he said. 

[wlw-lovestruck-fiction]

MC comforting Vinca while she is crying

Pairing with: Can we write mc getting terribly injured and almost dying for vinca? and then emotional vinca❤️

Warning: Mentions of blood.

...

Part 1

Written by @cute-ogre

A warm hand squeezes hers and let it go.

Nico breathes in heavily, inhaling the cold air, the familiar smell of antiseptic, bleach and pine telling her immediately exactly where she was.

The bleary vision soon became more focused and she was able to see the nurse standing by her bedside, checking her vitals and taking fast notes. He smiled when he noticed his patient was awake, making a nervous one-sided chat while waiting for the doctor responsible for her, a cautious looking woman that calmly explained her general state and left her alone after a long check up, noticing her tired state.

She closes her eyes, sighing, exhausted. Her body was weirdly numb and she couldn't quite move yet. Her thoughts  were difficult to grasp, like they were floating in a tick fog, bouncing slowly back into her mind one by one.

Her house was broken in, she was alone. There were shouts, hers, and growls from the way-smarter-than-it- should-be demon.

(Because, yeah, those exist.)

Cold hands trying to get the locket out of hers. The small locket with, apparently, Vinca's soul in it. Vinca couldn't read her mind and apparently that means creepy, stabby demon time.

Light catching in the metal as a pocket knife was pulled, made a shallow, bloody cut in the left side of her head and then sunk into her abdomen.

A piercing scream as she killed it, a mysterious light shooting from her wound like lightning, disintegrating the demon on the spot. The demon needed her blood for something, she thinks, but couldn't remember why or what.

Bloodied hands trying to make a call with no success.

Bandaging the wound with shaky hands, trying to keep the knife firmly in place.

A seven-minutes-long, careful, anxious walk until Vinca's house. Her hands pressing the wound, trying to keep the knife there without damaging her body even more.

Constantly analyzing her own state while looking for new attackers in the dark streets.

(The injury... below the belly button, lateral, probably non-lethal if treated soon by the looks of it. Elevated breath and heart rate with dizziness, so moderate blood loss, maybe?)

Knocking on the taller woman's door frantically, a door opening, wide blue eyes staring at her in shock.

And then everything was blurry.

The sound of the door opening brought Nico's attention back to the present.

"I can't believe she was stabbed! She will have such a cool scar!"

Trudy's voice rings loud and excited, and Vinca's answer is barely a hiss.

"If you don't shut up and back off, I will make sure you'll get one too."

"Really? That would be so badass!"

There's some commotion, a yelp accompanied by hushed whispered yell and then silence.

Someone clears their throat.

"We will go get some clean clothes for her, Laz is already there taking care of her mom. We'll be back soon." Yvette's voice sounds gentle and low, and was received with a low grunt of agreement and a closed door.

Nico's eyes open again, vision bleary for a second before being filled with the familiar big, crazed,blue eyes and messy blonde hair. The Pride assassin's face close enough that she was able to see the small freckles that adorned her -weirdly- make-up free face.

"H-Hi?"

Vinca just stares intensely at her in silence for a awkwardly long time before smirking, poking the small women's cheek.

"Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to wake up! Feeling better, Julius Caesar?"

The dark haired girl blinks, nodding distractedly, her eyes scanning the white hospital room. When she speaks, her voice sounds hoarse and weak.

"Thank you for bringing me here, and I'm sorry, I probably spilled blood all over your nice car."

Vinca's smile appears to waver for a second before she let out a snort, straightening up. "Yeah, your stabbed ass made quite a mess, had to drag you out of the car like a dead corpse. Hope you know that you will be the one cleaning it."

"Hey! It's not my fault I was stabbed!"

"Yes it is, you are the easiest target I have ever seen, you look like the type of person that tries to hold on to the water when you slip on the shower." The blonde shots her a teasing look, seeing the small woman roll her eyes in annoyance, a weak smile on her lips.

"Oh, you can kiss my ass!"

"What ass? You have none, you are flat like the surface of the earth."

She is using humor to cope, like she always does when she feels strong emotions.

Brown eyes stare at Vinca, seeing the model stands up with a tense posture and walk to a table with a jar of water nearby.

"Please tell me you are joking and don't, in fact, believe that the earth is flat."

Like the unbearable brat she is, the blonde woman just shrugs, smirking a little bit before resuming her task, and Nico notices the slight shake of her hands as she pours the water in a plastic cup.

"It may be."

"The- the earth isn't flat."

Nodding slowly, she sits on the bed again, blue eyes twinkling and a soft smile on her lips.

"I know, and neither are you, hotshot." She winks, offering the cup of water, earning a laugh from the bike mechanic. "You should drink it, you lost a disgusting amount of blood."

Nico sighs, before slowly trying to seat up with the taller woman's help.

"Did I pass out? I don't remember anything after knocking on your door."

Smile gone, the tallest Wren sister shakes her head seriously.

"You didn't, but you were definitely confused."

"Oh."

There is a heavy pause with Vinca opening and closing her mouth before clenching her jaw and letting out a  annoyed huff.

"I was really... " She waves her hand in the air and grimaces, like the next words are causing her physical pain "...worried about you, I think."

"Aww, you think?"

It takes all of her strength of will, but Nico manages to hold back a smug smirk, looking up to see the blonde scratch uncomfortably one of  her slightly reddened cheeks.

"I thought you hated me when we first met. Look at us now, progress!"

She bites her lip, holding back a smile, gives the Chinese woman a side-eyed look and sniffs.

"I did. But eh, you grew on me, like a fungus."

I care a lot about you too

Humming, the bike mechanic takes a sip of water, furrowing her brow when she notice the way the mind-reader keeps looking fixedly at her own hands, opening and closing them repeatedly.

"...Vinca? Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine."

The huge bags under her eyes doesn't exactly scream "fine" to Nico, but she decides to finish her water before asking again.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm peachy, why wouldn't I be?" She snatches the empty cup of water, throwing it into the garbage can without even looking at it.

"It's... It's about the locket? Something happened to it?"

"The locket it's fine." The answer is suddenly tense and Nico looks at her dubiously.

"Are you sure? It seemed impor-"

"Yes, I'm sure. I don't care about the fucking locket."

She grits, crossing her arms in annoyance, voice sounding snappy, but she doesn't meet her eyes when she keeps talking.

"And you are a moron. I can't believe you got yourself stabbed for that stupid thing."

The Chinese woman lets out a incredulous laugh, ignoring the way her head hurt a little when she did.

"A locked with you soul in it,detail you forgot to mention by the way! And you told me to take care of it!"

"I said 'Take care of it', not 'get killed protecting it' you dumbass!"

"Yeah, but I didn't die."

"You almost did!" There's a second of silence after the explosion, and when Vinca lifts her eyes they are shining with unshed tears and more vulnerable than Nico has ever seen them.

"It- it was so much blood and I thought that- I thought that you... and for a stupid locket!" Her breath is uneven, her hands moving in the air, wildly, and her eyes start darting to everything in the room besides the injured woman. "I don't care about my fucking soul! I could kick some old demon ass until they turned ash and get the locket back if it was stolen, but what would I do if I lost you?"

"Vinca..."

The dark haired woman stares at her in stunned silence, her body moving forward instinctively to touch her arm when she is hit by a sharp stab of pain, wincing.

The blonde rushes forward grabbing her shoulders and looking at her with wild eyes. A gentle pressure forcing the small woman to sit back.

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

"No. You are hurt."

It's a statement, a statement said with so much anguish that Nico doesn't even know what to do with it.

Long fingers touch delicately the bandage in her head and the sad blue eyes meet hers before learning in to press a soft kiss to her covered forehead earning a perplexed wide eyed stare.

"I'm sorry, you got hurt and I wasn't there to protect your nerd ass."

"Hey..."

The smaller woman mutters, hands cupping Vinca's face, wiping a tear and starting a gentle caress, drawing a shiver out of the woman.

"I'm fine, you are here right now to deck any demon for me, aren't you?"

Vinca smiles weakly and sniffs. "Bitch, you can bet I'm."

"Good. Now come here."

She moves carefully to the side, making a bigger space in the bed. To her surprise the taller woman immediately moves to sit by her side, hiding her face in her neck, inhaling the smell of strawberry shampoo coming from the soft  dark hair and muttering:

"....about the locket."

"What?"

Nico feels a warm tear hit her skin.

"I said I'm-"

She huffs annoyed, grabbing a fistful of the brunette hospital gown.

"I'm sorry about the locket. I gave it to you because I thought that you deserved some part of me that wasn't tainted."

Nico forces herself to be silent, unsure of how to answer and her hands lift to caress soft wild hair earning a sigh from the blonde.

I will talk to her about it later

"I shouldn't have- I put you in danger and I'm sorry."

"It's fine, I'm fine. Let's just... forget about it for a while hm?  But be aware that you will explain how did your soul ended up in a locked in details after I'm out of this hospital."

Nico jabs a accusatory finger, poking at the pride assassin's ribs.

"Whatever you say, girl boss."

Vinca chuckles, nodding and slowly raising her head and looking at the smaller woman with something in her eyes that the bike mechanic couldn't quite place.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

She hesitates for a moment, calculating, before speaking quietly.

"I... I'm just so glad that you are okay."

And something about the way blue eyes never leave brown tells Nico that that's not really what she was going to say at all.

"Me too."

Nico nods, smiling softly at her and seeing the Pride assassin blush and narrow her eyes.

"But if you tell anyone that I cried I'm gonna kick your tiny ass so hard that  you're gonna fly off the planet earth and become a satellite, are we clear?"

"Would you really hurt an injured woman?"

The brown haired girl clutches her chest dramatically, earning a cheeky grin from the blond.

"Have you met me?"

"... Fair point."