#Oh! I want my focus to be light based cause I really like these crystals! Oh! My eyes are green so I want that to be a focus in my flag!

[selvepnea]

Some builds I've been working on

[wetcatspellcaster]

Not only do I love your writing, with many a snippets living rent free in my head, and now you are spoiling us with these DVD commentary posts! Oh, and here's on:

As her arcane vision opened, and she was greeted by a hexagonal chamber, wrought from white marble. The proportions of the chamber were briefly dizzying, and off-putting enough to require adjustment to - its walls were high, suggesting a tower, with long, thin, arched windows and a mural in the domed ceiling. Everything was deathly still, and quiet.

And at the chamber's centre, a pristine white coffin.

Its lid was carved into an ornate frieze of flowers, foliage, and winged birds. All its fastenings were pale white gold, the clasps inlaid with rubies. Rose felt her consciousness tugged like a boat anchored, as the hairpin focus called her forward.

When Rose approached the coffin, she heard stifled, harried breathing within. This was truly Astarion’s resting place, then - and close enough for him to cross planes in the time it had taken them to make it to their own sanctuary. He was already inside, recovering from the death she’d willed upon him. If she’d been real, in this moment, Rose would’ve laid her hand upon the surface of the casket.

Echoing from within the coffin, came a long, gravelly groan, that ended in a series of stuttered breaths.

Ah, Rose thought, skin burning in the material plane. Not in too much pain, then.

And... definitely Astarion.

She hastily backed herself away from the coffin, rising up through the centre of the strange, pristine room to the nearest window. It seemed the quickest way to find out more information on their current location, and to leave him to whatever… that was. She felt the connection finesse itself and stretch taut, finding the limits of her own concentration as she drifted up-

Rosalie felt the temperature drop drastically as she came up to the arched window. Its glass was rimed with frost, small glittering starbursts of ice lining the edges and patching the view in places with fronds of glimmering crystal. Beyond, a pale, snow-covered landscape with no signs of life, only mountains that were impossible to scale, and a sky that was brutally dark. A night blue as ink with not a single star to light it, only pulses of colour in an aurora of paler blue and deep, bruise purple, fluttering in and out of existence and rippling through the endless, dark sky like a wave.

Rosalie did the disembodied, arcane equivalent of pressing her ear against the glass. The metal of the window frame felt so cold, it burned across her mind like flame. Though the air inside the chamber was still, she thought she heard the high, roaring howl of a merciless wind.

...why did I not realise that when I offered up DVD Commentary the 'is he wanking in his coffin' segment was bound to come back to haunt me :-)

Curse you, anon (affectionate).

I spoke a lot about where I wanted to put the coffin in the endnotes, but there are many spoiler-y reasons why I decided on Cania as the ideal place, to the point where it caused me to ignore the fact that it technically broke Scry. I'm going to try and give teasers here for the fun of it, but unfortunately a lot of my commentary on this section is going to be [REDACTED] bc it's setting up some (I think) very fun and sexy plot-twists later. Maybe I'll just use this space to be really indulgent and point out some instances of foreshadowing just to annoy readers into guessing what they might mean.

I really love the Hells in general in D&D - I'm not just brain poisoned by the House of Hope, I've always been obsessed with the very D&D specific distinction between Lawful Evil and Chaotic Evil and what Hell, as the Lawful Evil plane, looks like as a result.

Cania is Mephistopheles' domain, I based the choice that they would be in contact not just on the fact that the Black Mass is Mephistopheles' plan, but also on that one line in Ascendent!Astarions dialogue with spawn!Tav when he mentions 'Mephistopheles' gifts', as if they're on first name terms and pals now.

The description of Cania was based on what lore I could glean from online searches and also Descent Into Avernus. Cania isn't actually spoken about in great detail to be honest, it's basically lifeless, cold, and barren. Which...was already prime Gothic vampire imagery, tbh, but then I found this line on the wiki: 'Preserved corpses were frequently uncovered after collisions between glaciers.' I see Ascended!Astarion essentially, at this point, as a 'preserved corpse', particularly when contrasted to Rose's aging, so I figured it was fate.

Also idk if people have googled Mephistopheles but based on his wiki description... it seems like him and Ascendent!Astarion would get along :)))))

The flashes/aurora in the sky are meant to be a sign of arcane activity, Cania is characterised by Mephistopheles 'overseeing endless experiments with arcane magic [...] conducted throughout the wastes of the layer.'

The inside of Astarion's infernal palace registers to Rosalie as warm, but the world outside is very, very cold. There. That is my only piece of foreshadowing that I can highlight here. Make of it what you will.

Also.... yes, he was wanking in the coffin :') at least, in my vision as an author. But tbh the responses in comments were so valid, and I now also have a very funny image of it being a combination of a wank and a panic attack, which... you know... if you're an invulnerable, all-powerful vampire who's become alienated from your own humanity and your own emotions, maybe being scared *does* get you off?

Also shout out to the commenters who imagined what she overheard was actually just a Blood of Lathander style temper tantrum. Imagining an alternative version of this scene where Rosalie goes over to the coffin, here's a tea kettle high voice going "Power Word Kill! Power Word Kill!!" and goes "...ah, that's Astarion alright. Just like the old days." and then moves on with her life.

DVD commentary ask

[norosesnolife]

Stuck In This Moment

A short, fluffy story loosely based on the amazing ‘After Red Shore’ by @sassyphoenixsblog - Go give them some support!! As well, do not tag any of this as shipping, it’s strictly platonic family stuff, thanks! <3

A firm paw ruffled the fur atop Buster’s head, causing the koala to laugh in both discomfort and pride- Was Crystal really that proud of him? It seemed too good to be true! Following after Jimmy Crystal, Buster smiled enthusiastically,

“I assure you, Mr. Crystal, this performance will blow you out of this world! It’s going to be… no, it is my best show yet! A-And the cast, well, they’re all doing terrific, even Porcha, she-“

The wolf paused in his strides, and it felt like all the warmth of before had been drained completely from the room. He turned, an icy blue eye glaring down at the koala.

“Don’t you remember, Moon? You fired Porcha from your show.”

Voice a low growl, Buster barely had time to react before Crystal had grabbed the back of his shirt, lifting him up into the air.

“W-Wait!! I never fired her!! S-She still has a role in m- our show!!”

The koala frantically searched for ground, before realizing that the hallway had disappeared from beneath his feet, leaving him dangling several thousand feet above Redshore City. Panic coursed through his veins, hands grasping at the cuffs of Crystal’s shirts, he was helpless. 

“You’re nothing but a spineless little loser, Moon, it’s a wonder how you made it so far. But now? I’m gonna have to let you go.”

Crystal’s voice echoed in his head, and suddenly, Buster was falling at a whirling pace, voice torn from his throat by the wind that whipped at his fur. 

And then, he woke up.

Covered in a cold sweat, the koala gasped for air, his throat sore- most likely due to the screams he had exclaimed during his unconscious terror. Trembling, he put a paw to his chest, clutching the fabric of his blue pyjamas. It was just another nightmare... 

It had been several weeks since the events that had transpired at Redshore City, yet Buster could not get over what had nearly happened to him. Jimmy Crystal, who had sponsored their newest show, had tried to kill him. Twice. Despite the fact that the wolf was now in jail for his murderous attempts, Buster still found himself jumping at every little noise, consumed with nightmares that affected his sleep, not to mention, he was now acutely terrified of most large animals, more than he used to be.

Rocking back and forth in his bed, Buster tried to calm himself, but the sound of knocking on his office door brought him back to that state of panic. His breathing quickened, body freezing in utter terror as he stared, wide-eyed, at the stairs leading from his office to his makeshift apartment.

“Moon? You awake?”

A familiar raspy voice broke the spell, his ears perking up in surprise and slight relief.

“Ash?”

He tumbled out of bed, still shaking enough that he managed to trip over a few of the stairs, and opened the door. 

Sure enough, the young porcupine had been the one to knock on the door, Clay Calloway right behind her, carrying two guitar cases. Buster managed a tired smile, tucking his trembling hands behind his back.

“Ash! What are you doing here? Not to mention how late it is..”

“We wanted to run some lyrics by you, Clay said you might be awake, working on some new project, or something.”

She didn’t like how his eyes couldn’t keep their focus, flitting from object to object in an anxious pattern. When had he last slept? 

“Oh? Well, c-come on in then, I’ll get some tea boiling!”

Smiling as enthusiastically as he could, Buster let the two inside, but Clay put a hand on his shoulder, causing the smaller animal to flinch.

“Ash, get the tea, will you? I wanna talk to Moon.”

Once she had left, the old lion sat Buster down, looking at him with the sort of knowing expression he normally wore. The dim light of a table lamp made his face look softer, more worn.

Fidgeting anxiously in his seat, Buster couldn’t make eye contact, instead choosing to look down at the floor.

“Moon. You’ve been distant for the last few weeks, and everyone’s noticed. You’re like me, don’t like t’ talk about yourself, but whatever’s going on with you, you need to let people help, otherwise it’ll eat you alive.”

Clay’s voice faltered for a moment, he was speaking from experience. After having spent so many years alone, without the will to properly grieve Ruby, it had felt like a breath of fresh air to suddenly be surrounded with a group that was willing to support him. He had Ash to thank for that, she was like a granddaughter to him, and he was thankful every day for the way she saved him.

“I... I can’t. What happened, i-it... it always plays in my mind, and I’m scared that something like that will happen again... they’re my only family, I don’t want them to fall apart because of me.”

The koala had begun to rock back and forth once more, trying to not let his voice break, he had to be strong for his family. They were all he had. There was a moment of silence between the two, Buster’s words heavy in the air, before Ash came back, balancing three cups of tea in her arms.

“Here we are... eucalyptus and honey,”

Glancing at Clay, she smiled,

“Sorry, it was all he had.”

With a shrug, the old lion took one of the mugs, handing it to Buster, who tried to regain his composure, sipping the warm drink. It made his whole body feel warm, which began to calm some of the shivers that had rocked his body only moments ago. Ash gave Clay a worried look, but he only nodded, standing up, which made Buster startle.

“Calm down. I’ll be right back.”

This left Ash and Buster sitting in the all-too quiet of his living space, the former leaning her head on her friend’s shoulder. He took such great care of everyone at the theatre, why couldn’t he let them do the same for him? Buster sighed, the tension draining from his body as he set the mug of tea down.

True to his word, Clay returned not even twenty minutes later, a slight grin on his face. Behind him were the rest of Buster’s family; Miss. Crawley, Rosita, Gunter, Johnny, Nooshy, Meena, Porcha, and even Eddie.

Buster’s eyes widened, leaping off the couch in shock. Clay only laughed, standing beside Ash with a hand on her shoulder.

“I called everyone, told ‘em to get over here. Said Mr. Moon needed some support.”

“B-But- Rosita! What about your kids? A-And you all have families, you should be at home sleeping right now-”

“Norman’s watching the kids right now, and besides Mr. Moon, we’re all here for you, no matter what time it is.”

Rosita said gently, leaning down to look the disgruntled koala in his eyes. He took a moment, before his eyes softened gratefully, and he sighed. 

“Now, you need to get to bed, and we’re all here to make sure nothing bad happens to anyone, isn’t that right?”

Adopting her ‘Mommy’ voice, Rosita elicited encouraging responses from the others. With a look of satisfaction, she put her hands on her hips, gently nudging Buster over to his bed, much to his confusion.

“Are you guys just going to stand here while I sleep? That may get a little weird...”

He chuckled, and Eddie interjected.

“Nah, Calloway said this was a ‘Moon Theatre Sleepover’, sounds like something you’d do, honestly.”

Buster nearly fell over, his heart swelled with so much love for all of them, he may never be able to forget what happened in Redshore, but with his family, at least it would be a little easier.

After a few minutes of struggling to fit eleven different sized animals into his moderately sized bed, the theatre group had settled into a comfortable position, with Buster right in the middle of it all. Clay was beside him, with Miss Crawly curled up by his head, already snoring away, bless her heart. 

The others slowly began to drift off, some purring, some snoring, and other’s sleeping peacefully. Buster felt safe, both arms wrapped around Eddie, who was on his other side, breathing nosily while he slept.

“Hey, Clay?”

“Mm.”

“Thank you. For all of this. I-I was really scared.. y’know?”

“Mhm. But it’ll get better.”

“Yeah... Have a good night, Mr. Calloway.”

“Night, Buster.”

[marimoswords]

oh my god im really gonna update my gem au for the first time in years all because i just got some asks about it klsdjfskldjal IM A LITTLE EMBARRASSED TO POST THESE BECAUSE THEYRE SO OLD but i realized these backstory drawings for asl never saw the light of day lol and i guess i never really went into depth with my hcs for these gem’s “purpose” or whatever haha so theres that under cut that i surprisingly remember pretty well

for the sake of this gem au op-verse, gem colonies and humans kinda coexist with eachother as a sort of compromise for the aliens to occupy the world but they still have their own separate societies that a gem breaking away from would be significant (i.e sabo). anyway moving on.

sabo/labradorite were meant to go alongside sapphires’ to assist in their future vision since earth (or whatever the op planet is called) is very unpredictable. sapphires can see the all the possible events and timelines in detail but cannot dictate what is most likely to happen or what would be the more favorable decision to lead to a more favorable outcome. labradorites fill in this gap by having all of their powers focus solely on instinct/intuition. they cannot see the future or know why they are making their decisions but they and the power of a sapphire guarantees that they can make an intuitive but informed decision.

tl;dr in really simplified metaphorical terms: sapphires are the map that shows every possible branching path while labradorites are the compass telling you which way you should go.

similarly to su and op canon, both gems are high ranking in the social hierarchy with labradorites and sapphires often walking around with their arms linked like theyre one single unit. one thing leads to another and sabo grows to detest his noble standing and becomes unable to do his job properly (since the future feeling is based on intuition of whats “good” or “bad” for the gem, sabo’s prediction often wanted them to be pointed in the other noble’s gems demise).

fearing retaliation and no longer wanting to take part in this kind of society, sabo leaves and meets ace. its basically like op canon from here.

ace/fire agate is kinda similar to the whole rose quartz situation in su canon. roger was a gem that caused a massive uprising that caused every other fire agate to be bubbled..........and eventually shattered. ace survived because, as a favor, rouge was a human that basically harbored these gems as fugitives. in desperate measures, the others she was protecting were shattered and she poofed one last gem to save and pass hands to garp. blah blah blah its like op canon from here on.

fire agates are kinda similar to holly blue in su where they are both meant to be leaders that kept other gems in line by being stern and mean. ace’s initial attitude is similar to this until he mellows out beyond his preprogramming of his gem.

luffy...........is special. he is an accident formed from a kindergarten that split due to an earthquake. the leftover drippings from spinel, rubies, and a hint of jasper miraculously re-implanted itself into the ground in a way that could actually incubate a gem, making luffy. red coral, like its real life counterpart, is technically not a gemstone. its..................coral. whatever luffy is technically doesn’t exist so he was dubbed “red coral” since his hole was more lower down on the cliffside of the kindergarten in a sea cave and the leftover goop ended up becoming coral like crystal fixtures.

sabo and ace find luffy after sabo gets a super strong future feeling to go to the kindergarten.

btw, names in this au for the gems are a thing because gems who have defected from gem society often take on human qualities as an act of rebellion! so they often give themselves names or reform with scars as a type of decorative marking in ways as if they were human.

[carnationcreation]

Can i request a meet cute for Reggie of JATP, female reader could be someone who can naturally see/interact/touch ghosts(like a medium?), and she just so happens to notice Reggie at a cafe and he notices she can see him? Rambly idea, I know but, pls and thank you 😅🙏🏼

The Median (JATP Reggie x reader)

Masterlist

Request an imagine here!

Request: Yes!

Prompt/summary:  Reader is a medium and she just so happens to notice Reggie at a cafe and he realizes she can see him

Word Count: 1,217

Warnings:  none

Authors note: I literally had an idea like this when I was watching the show today! Since I’m a practicing Pagan I’ve had a few experiences with spirits so that is what I’m going to be basing this off of. Hope you enjoy!

The laptop sitting on the table grew hot as (Y/n) frantically tried to finish the school assignment that was due at noon. The coffee shop was fairly empty for early afternoon, only a few customers at a booth in the back and the baristas up front working on orders as the top 40 countdown played over the speakers. (Y/n) cursed as she saw the battery drop down to 15%, she looked around and under her table to try and find an outlet to plug her macbook into but sighed as she stood up to continue the search.

She felt the crystal on her neck shift and the energy in the room chill slightly. This didn’t happen often for her. Normally this would signal a spirit trying to communicate with her but those mostly happen in her house, not a coffee shop. Surely there wouldn’t be a dead soul here, right?

She saw a boy sitting at a table near the window. His head was in his hands and the sleeves of his black leather jacket blocked her view of his face. She glanced at the bottom of the table and saw the white outline of an outlet peeking out from behind the metal pole of the table.

“Excuse me, do you mine if I sit here to plug in my laptop? I’m almost dead,” she asked sweetly but nervously.

The boy looked up at her confused, he glanced over his shoulder to try and figure out who she was talking to. It wasn’t until he turned back and saw her (Y/c/e)s gazing back into his brown ones that he realized it was him, “You can see me?”

‘Uh, yeah? Or is this one of those things people say to get someone to freak out and leave them alone?” she giggled.

“Umm, I uh- Yeah feel free to sit,” Reggie stumbled.

The girl turned to get her bags when she saw the other customers in the booth look at her with concern in their eyes. The girl closest to her spoke up, “Who are you talking to?”

“Huh?” (y/n) said and turned back to the table, “He’s right-”

A brief flicker of light cut her off, it’s something so subtle most people would miss. She knew exactly what it was.

“Oh, guess he’s gone now,” she tried to play it off cool but the embarrassment of the moment made her want to beat her head with her laptop. They must think she’s crazy. She quickly grabbed her bag and dragged her laptop and charger back over to the table.

“You’re dead aren’t you?” she said quietly as she opened her laptop, trying her best not to be heard from the booth.

“How did you know? And how can you see me?” he said.

“I’m a medium, I talk to spirits all the time.”

“A median?” he asked.

“No,” she huffed, “a medium!”

“I’ll stick with median,” he said as he leaned back in his chair.

The girl rolled her eyes, “I should’ve known when I first looked at you. Your aura is all out of whack. I normally can read people's aura like the back of my hand, and for some reason yours just isn’t showing.”

“What’s an aura?” his face scrunched up in confusion. 

“Think of it like someone’s spiritual fingerprint. I see colors around people and it tells me something about them,” (Y/n) tried to explain.

“Oh sweet,” he said. He stared at the girl in front of him. Her (Y/h/c) framed her face perfectly, her hands moved swiftly across the keyboard. She hadn’t looked up at him since she sat down, mostly to keep anyone else from staring at her like she was crazy. Maybe she was, but he was just so glad someone other than Julie could see him.

“I’m Reggie,” he said, sticking his hand out.

“I’m (Y/n), and my hand wouldn’t grab anything so you can drop yours,” she giggled.

“Oh, right,” Reggie laughed nervously, “so what are you working on?”

“Just an essay for my music appreciation class,” she shrugged.

“You like music?” he asked.

“I like it, not a complete music nerd but I can strum a guitar and I know basic piano.”

“Cool,” Reggie smiled.

“What about you?”

Reggie sighed, “Well when I was alive I was in a band with my friends. We all died the same night.”

“Oh that sucks. When did you die?” she said. Her typing slowed down as she got more interested in the conversation.

“1995, then me and my friends were stuck in some weird black room for 25 years.”

(Y/n) looked up and furrowed her brow before beginning to type again, “Oh you were in purgatory.”

“Per-what now?”

(Y/n) giggled, “Purgatory, it’s mostly a catholic thing but most spirits I talk to confirm it. It’s just a place spirits go when they either don’t cross over immediately or haven’t found their unfinished business.”

“Oh Alex told me about that!” he smiled.

“What’s yours, do you know?” 

“I don’t, probably has something to do with music though. Watch this!” he said. He thought about his bass and it immediately popped into his hands. The girl jumped and looked at him questioningly.

“Pick up my pen,” she said slowly.

Reggie put away his bass and leaned forward, he reached towards the pen but when he got close to touching it his hand passed through the pen, table, and he fell forward slightly. The motion caused (Y/n)’s drink to spill some over her notepad and she jumped to grab napkins out of the dispenser.

“Sorry sorry sorry!” Reggie said as he sat up and raised his hands up.

(Y/n) only laughed lightly. Her eyes flickered over the rest of the cafe. The big booth table had left and it was only them and the baristas left in the store. The cashier giggled slightly at the mess, thinking the girl bumped her own cup.

“So you can pick up your instruments but not objects?” She said. She leaned her face on her hand and used the other to scroll through Tumblr on her laptop.

“Sometimes if we focus really really hard, but it feels tiring.”

“That gets better the longer you're in between, I’ve met spirits that have been here for centuries and they can open doors and turn on radios and stuff,” the girl shrugged.

“But it’s weird, if we play instruments people can hear and even see us! And the girl that got us out of, what’s it called? Pur-ga-tory? She can always see us,” he said confused.

“Even when you aren’t in the house?” (Y/n)’s eyes flickered up to his.

“Yes!”

(Y/n)’s eyebrows furrowed again, “Wow that’s really strange.”

Before Reggie could respond he heard the door jingle open and Julie stepped in. She found him sitting at the table and slowly walked up.

Reggie looked at the girl in front of him, “(Y/n) this is Julie, she’s the one that got us out of purgatory.”

(Y/n) turned around and stuck her hand out to Julie, the girl looked extremely confused.

“Wait, you can see him?” she said.

“Yes yes we’ve just been through that. I’m a median. He can summon a bass out of nowhere too,” (Y/n) rolled her eyes.

Reggie interrupted, “Hey (Y/n) the median, you wanna come to band practice?

[rosesareviolentlyread]

Bakery Box Boy Intro

CW: BBU, modern slavery, hypothermia, vague past references to abuse, this is a pretty light one WC: 1486

This is based on a post I can’t find again about a bakery that gets a box boy! This series will mostly be focused on recovery & fluff, that nice angst that comes with the struggle to heal. Jasper is a refurbished box boy, and I might do some pieces or flashbacks of his previous owners, but otherwise this will mostly be a comf/recovery series. Let me know if you’d like to be tagged! I’ve got a few pieces drafted for this already that I’ll be putting out over the next few days. Thanks to @moose-teeth and @whumpywhumper for beta reading!

847650 felt so, so cold. It was all he felt now, besides tired. The bindings on his wrists, holding them in place in the box as he tumbled and shook and turned in transport, blended in, just another piece of the block of ice that made up his body.

It hurt less though, now. The shivering as rain seeped into the box, soaking around him until he feels cocooned in dampness that freezes first against his skin and then in his skin. It had made its way through him like a serpent, moving through his limbs until its icy poison made his ribs tighten like a vice around his chest, making it hard to breathe. After that, it seemed to slither so deep in him that it was him. Icy numbness incapable of anything. It felt like peace, somehow, leaving him with nothing to do much more than wait, no thoughts besides fighting the drowsy feeling for a reason it was getting harder and harder to remember. 

The frozen world that had become safe, and comfortable, abruptly shattered as he felt himself tipped, the world up-ending himself. He would’ve cried out, if it weren’t for the way he was slammed into the side of the box, pushing out his shallow breath into coils of frosted nothing in the air, setting his skin alight again with pins and needles of agony. 

He couldn’t be aware of anything, even as the world came flooding back in through the sounds of voices and rain and road and movement. It was just a blur, bookended by a second thump as his box slammed harder, throwing him against the other side in a way that felt like it shattered every bone in his body. Still, no sound came, no movement, as he existed only to suffer in his crystallized cocoon of a body. 

For long moments, his brain scrambled, struggling even to find the focus to breathe, let alone listen to the sound of swearing and latches being undone. 

He could only find that as worthy of focus, when the damp walls were unwrapped, and warmth flooded in like mist, sending his body in further pain as molten awareness filled the comfortable cold, pushing it out of him. 

Someone was talking, someone important and 847650 struggled to focus on why. 

“Oh my god, you’re soaked”  The words were spoken with horror, sending panic coursing through 847650 as he recognized the tell-tale tone of a mistake.

This is his owner, his owner towering above him, gray hair and pinched face and shaking hands. The sight makes the breath catch in his throat. He had fucked up. He had fucked up for his new owner before he’d even left his box. 

Adjusting to the light, he can see now it’s a woman, an older one. Hair with more gray than blonde sits loose on her head, damp strands hanging limp. Wrinkles and smile lines dot her face like the memories of a life lived long, but not easily. But her expression. Her expression is stern, and immediately recognizable to 847560, down to his still cold bones. 

Upset.

Fix it, his brain screams from a place of terror, and he tries to force out apologies on dry frozen lips, but it only comes as a wheeze, a whimper squeezed into raw air. 847650 shakes now, and tells himself its from the cold. But memories slam against the walls in his mind, sending shivers down his body. He wants to wilt away, but pulling away from an owner’s touch is forbidden. He isn’t sure how much he even could in the touches that feel gentle but only because his skin is like a shield of icy rubber still. His body feels stiff, unmoving.

Which isn’t good, because the next thing she says is, “Can you get out of there for me? These old bones aren’t as strong as they used to be.” A hand is outstretched, a confusing contradiction to her words. 

It’s like moving the arms of a doll, rather than his, as 847650 twists, putting his arms on the lip and trying to balance on the prickling sensation to push himself up. But all he succeeds is falling out of the box with a pained yelp as the wood slips out from the barely controlled limbs. 

But instead of the ground, warm arms catch his shaking body. “I gotcha big- well, you really aren’t that big, are ya? Just a skinny bean pole.” He looks up and her smile is tight, and strained, the words nervous. 

847650 twists out of her grasp until he’s all the way on the floor. “‘m so’y” the words finally come on numb lips, as he sees the big wet spot on her sweater, the one that had felt so soft and is now covered in dirty rain water. “I-I ‘an do it” He tries to push himself up, but the lingering effects of the drugs, the cold, leave his head spinning, and he slips in the water spilled on the wood floor, landing back down with a thump that sends another jolt of pain. It’s more intense now, the warm air having soaked away some numbness, but only enough that everything feels like pins and needles again. Tears prick his eyes, and he squeezes them shut as he tries to breath through the pain with a whimper.

“Oh shhh, shhh, it’s ok. Oh dear- I’ve never done this before, I just- you stay right there, I’ll be back.” It’s a blessedly easy command as the footsteps retreat, but he can’t stop the screaming in his brain about how much he has messed up. How many mistakes he’s made in painfully short minutes. He tries to pull himself together, to think of what to say, but all he feels is white terror. 

It’s too soon when his owner comes back...and drops something warm on top of him. Gentle hands rub through the fabric, soaking up the damp and cold as she coos gently with sushing noises at him. 

“There, let’s get you all nice and dry. I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t think you were supposed to come until next week.” 

847650 doesn’t understand. Is this a precursor to punishment? He was a week early causing problems, being bad before he even was for this owner. But she doesn’t sound mad. She sounds...nice. 

Maybe..maybe she wasn’t his owner? Maybe she was another pet? But she didn’t have a collar, and he’d never met a pet this old. It was so hard to just think right now, with his brain feeling like it’d been left in the freezer.

“A-are you ‘y ow’er?” words tumble out ill-formed, even as he tries to enunciate. To be right. 

The hands stop, adjusting the towel so he can see her more properly, and he struggles to not shake more in fear at the loss of such foreign kindness. “Oh, oh, I’m really bungling this up, aren’t I? I’m sorry, my name’s Adele Brooks, yes, I’m your owner. But, you should call me Della.” 

And then. And then, she smiles at him, a real smile, without a trace of anger or sadism, so warm he feels his limbs tingle, “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“W-wha’e’er you wan’ i’ ‘a be Miss ‘ella.” It was a risk, but he didn’t want to seem rude, using a nickname for an owner. It was unfathomable. He was already rude enough forcing her to dry him off because his body wouldn’t cooperate. 

“I- oh, right. They make me name you, don’t they? I read it online, thank god, since it looks like the booklet is ruined.” He feels enough of his limbs to manage sitting up, feeling her drape the towel around him. It’s...sad. To lose the touch, some deep part of him aching for reasons he doesn’t know why at the loss. 

She pulls a face, squinting at him. For a second his heart skips before he sees her smile return. “How about...Jasper. You look like a Jasper to me. What do you think?”

Does he look like a Jasper? What does a Jasper look like? He didn’t know if he did, and he didn’t want to say the wrong thing. So, instead, he just nods, hesitantly, hoping that’s enough of an answer. 

“Well then, Jasper, why don’t we get you a bit more warmed up? Hmmm, what would you think about a warm bath? I thought they’d..well, have you come more...decent, but you look like you might fit some old things I’ve got laying around.” The hand reaches out again, an offering, and gently pulls him - Jasper - to his swaying, numb feet. He feels light-headed still, shaky, but he determines he will not mess this up. Not make anymore mistakes.

Not if he gets to keep feeling the foreign sense of warmth that had touched his chest with his owner’s smile.

[anika-ann]

Tall as the Skyline, Roots Like a Tree (S.R.)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader     

Word Count: 11,150 (oh, oh no)

Summary: You are one step from officially becoming a SHILED agent. Involved in a secret relationship with Captain America, you feel like the world might lie at your fingertips. Until it doesn’t because of your stupid inexplicable phobia.

Steve’s friend might be able to help… except it would take an open mind and a huge leap of faith on your part.

You wonder… how much can one endure to get where they want?

A/N: for a challenge hosted by @tilltheendwilliwrite​​. Congratulation to your rightfully earned milestone! Your writings are a work of wonder and you deserve evry single one of those followers *✧･

Prompt: Phobias - What if your phobias are based off how you died in a past life.

Warnings: !! Some might be extremely upsetting I’m afraid:  - elements of horror, talk about phobias (dogs and needles), character death (past lives), use of lethal injection, mention of murder, canon-typical violence (brief), swearing… French and fluff 

◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦ *✧･◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦ 

For the briefest moment, you allowed yourself to smirk as the door to the lab slid open, shuffling along the bodies two unconscious guards.

You knew cockiness was an enemy, but you the security system yielded after less than a minute of work. Was that supposed to be… hard? You guessed that taking the class that called anything but Hacking 101 bore fruit after all.

Also, you could smirk all you wanted – that obnoxious facemask you wore as a security measure might be obnoxious, narrowing your field of vision, but hiding your expression was a sweet perk of it.

Your smile slipped upon seeing the lab, upon being reminded of how much you hated the environment. The three scientists and two more guards staring at you did not help.

The alarm started blaring instantly.

Before the guards near the door could draw their guns, you sprang forward, kicking one of them to his knee and elbowed his face, causing him to fall to one knee with an unmistakable ‘crack’ in the joint. You twisted his gun from his right hand, using him as a shield as the other one fired his weapon.

From the corner of your eye, you saw the scientists gather by the wall, opening a small vault and placing a container that was doubtlessly that container there. Shit.

The first guard fell to the ground and you quickly aimed at the other one’s arm. He yelled and grabbed at his wound as crimson painted his already dark sleeve black, but didn’t release the weapon. Grimacing, you fired again, this time with more success. The gun clanked as it fell on the ground and you strode towards your opponent rapidly, knocking him out with a well-aimed punch to his temple before he could use the knife he pulled out from his sheath.

You turned on your heels, only to see the scientists had hogged improvised weapons; two of them armed themselves with those round flasks and started throwing them at you. You quickly ducked, swearing out loud when one of them grazed your arm. Luckily, you could barely feel the sting of the shards, barely sparing the injury a glance, crouching behind a counter instead.

Firing without much aim, you managed to hit something behind them, sending them to the ground as they tried to avoid the spray of sparks flying from the machine.

The third one, the only one with grey hair, was the one who nearly stopped your heart when he grabbed a dark bottle of something. You gulped in fright; you definitely didn’t want to be hit by that, whatever was the content.

Focus. Breathe, you chastised yourself mentally, narrowing your eyes at the last man standing, the senior scientist readjusting his hold. The moment was enough for you.

Two shots rang in the lab, followed by the sound of shattering glass and a scream. You peeked from your hideout, seeing crimson staining the snow-white lab coat, while the man tried his best to discard his stained shoes – or what was left of them – without touching the chemical with his bare hands.

Checking on your surroundings, making sure everyone else was still down, you paced to the scientist, grabbing a metal platter on your way, unceremoniously striking him in his head. He dropped to the ground and your path clear at last.

The vault made you sweat a bit, approximately two minutes passing before you managed to crack it. But here you were, pulling your gloves on – and you carefully extracted the container with three vial.

This time, you allowed yourself to smile fully.

“Bingo,” you mumbled to yourself, satisfaction rumbling deep in your chest.

The Sigma virus. Friggin’ jackpot.

Wasting no more time with revelling in your victory, you headed to the exit, container in one hand, gun in the other, just to make sure.

The sudden vice-strong grip on your ankle took you by surprise.

You weren’t proud of it, but you nearly yelped at the sensation, instinctively jerking your foot to free yourself as your gaze shot towards the attacker.

All of sudden, the world spun, your heartbeat skyrocketing, loud pounding echoing in your ears.

It was only one of the younger men in a lab coat, easily to be ridded off, unlike a guard, except-- except-

You felt your knees wobble, your chest constricting so tightly that when you tried to breathe in, it hurt. The gun slipped from your hand as did the container at the sudden wave of faintness.

No, no, no, please no--

The tip of the long needle rested against your calf, thick enough to pierce through your tactical suit, the liquid in it crystal clear, glimmering in the fluorescent light-

Your stomach made a quick somersault, your ribcage aching, darkness swimming in front of you-- it embraced you almost peacefully, as did the feeling of a free fall and then… then you felt nothing.

◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦ *✧･◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦

A dull ache pondered at the back of your head, rush of blood in your temples, as you slowly realized you were lying on something soft – relatively soft –, dim lights dancing behind your closed eyelids. With each second passing, memories of what happened poked at your brain, causing you to groan.

Fucking shit, of course it would happen to you.

You passed out during your final exam – one that would officially saw you as a SHIELD agent. You royally fucked up.

Your heart raced, the headache only growing more intense with your anger rising. You were raging, in fact, the feeling bitter on your tongue, heavy in your stomach.

You had just ruined your shot at your dream job, because of a stupid fear of needles. There you were; a badass wannabe SHIELD agent, afraid of a harmless pointy object.

Just recalling the ugly thick thing brought nausea that told you the item was as far from harmless as you could imagine, but that wasn’t the point. The content of the syringe could be pure water for all you cared; you still fell apart like a house of cards under the slightest breeze, only seeing the needle too close to your body – and it meant that you failed.

Fuck needles. Fuck you.

“Hey, you with me?” a male voice asked, so gentle and careful it made you want to cry, startling you all the same, because him being here – wherever exactly ‘here’ was – was the last thing you expected.

“What are ya’ doin’ here?” you asked, throat unpleasantly dry, your tongue feeling like sandpaper, sticking to the roof of your mouth. In response, warm fingers closed around your bicep, shortly squeezing.

Your eyes snapped open, surprised by the touch; every minute ever since you had come clear about your mutual attraction, about your feelings for each other, you had tried to keep physical contact – or any contact at all – on minimum, at least in places where it could bring unwanted attention.

After all, Captain America had no business dating a to-be SHIELD agent. Better yet, the said to-be agent should not as much as try pursuing a relationship with Captain America.

But here you were, four months in, four months since your first date that left you with no doubt that you were quickly falling for the man behind the shield, exactly one person besides you and Steve knowing about it for they had eyes of the sharpest female spy known to the world.

And now Steve was here, by your bedside, touching you, no less-- well, not anymore. However, his concerned blue eyes fixed on your face still spoke volumes. One corner of his lips rose in a lopsided smile.

“Well, I’m checking on one of my best recruits. I was worried a bit,” Steve explained as if it was clear as day. Then, he sobered up a little. “No one is in the room. What they can’t see doesn’t hurt them… or us.”

You smiled at him weakly, shifting in the bed, testing the strength in your arms so you could sit up. It was embarrassing really – hell, it was maddening.

You couldn’t believe you had done that. You had passed fucking out. Because of your stupid phobia of needles. It had been in you since you could remember, ever-present. Most of the time, you could deal with it somehow, distracting yourself, making a deal with your hospital attendant to use peroral medication… or to simply made sure you were out of consciousness when needles couldn’t be avoided.

You weren’t a complete idiot; you knew it posed a problem, especially considering your career choices, but nothing seemed to work, any kind of therapy, not even exposure therapy. And you weren’t really into hypnosis, the idea of someone having power over your mind truly terrifying.

What drove you even crazier though was that you couldn’t recall why you should freak out at the sight of a needle alone in the first place. Your fear was absolutely laughable and you hated it from the bottom of your heart. However, that didn’t change the fact it was there, seeped deeply into your bones, just a glance at a damn needle causing your heart to hammer in your chest.

And seeing that-- that thing near you, the man’s finger ready to pump the whatever in you-

You trembled at the intense shiver that ran down your spine, goosebumps rising on your skin.

Steve’s voice snapped you from your trance, salvaging you from the spiral of self-depreciation and unpleasant memories.

“How do you feel?”

You almost wanted to scoff at the routine question, no matter how valid one it was.

“Tired. My ego is hurt. I’m mad at myself. Kinda glad you’re here,” you listed, answering honestly, unable to resist the pinch of sarcasm.

Steve smirked, yet his gaze remained kind.

“I’m kinda glad too… and hey, don’t be mad. You can’t help it. You did your best and from what I saw, you were absolutely amazing. I’m sure Cortez will still clear you for service.”

His optimism and support would be sweet hadn’t you been a realist.

“Steve, I literally passed out in the middle of a mission to retrieve vials with a dangerous virus. I’m pretty sure I dropped the container, actually,” you deadpanned, earning a grin. What was so funny?

“It didn’t break.” Okay, now you understood. But still. “You were about ten seconds from the end of the simulation. You might not pass with flying colours, but I have a firm belief that you will.”

You pondered for a second, staring at Steve’s expression; he was genuine in his effort to cheer you up, but also appeared perfectly serious on a professional level. He meant what he said. Against your will, a flicker of hope fluttered in your chest – and you could tell he noticed the change, the blue of his eyes diluted by a green twinkle of joy.

“If you say so…” you mumbled, now fully seated up, scooting so your back was resting against the headboard just in case your body betrayed you again.

“I say so. How about staying at my place tonight?”

You hesitated for a moment, weighting up your options; no matter the ray of hope he had provided, you had no doubt that your failure would come back to haunt you. Which meant that you would sulk at home, stuck with wanting to punch things, but being too exhausted to do so, because hello, passed out, and with crying yourself to sleep, possibly with a tub of ice-cream. Or you could do all that in Steve’s arms, which sounded more pleasant for sure, except it meant he might see a side of you he wasn’t ready for – and you weren’t ready to show him.

Steve’s eyes never left your face, hypnotizing, patiently waiting for you to think it through; but you did notice the minute fall of the corners of his lips when you hesitated a minute too long.

Oh no, you don’t.

“Sounds great,” you blurted out, a tired smile finding its way on your face as well, quickly turning brighter when Steve’s face lit up again. How could you even think about saying no? “Where can I find a doctor to tell them I’m completely fine and ready to sign discharge papers?”

◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦ *✧･◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦

An hour later, you were meeting Steve in the underground car park, relieved to find it empty except for your boyfriend. You slid to the front seat, softly returning his barely audible ‘hey’. The ride was silent, something heavy hanging in the air, something neither of you wanted to address; Steve was clutching the wheel tightly enough for his knuckles to turn white, but you didn’t find the courage to comment on it, wondering what that was about instead.

He had told you to meet him in the garage in an hour, saying that he only had one errand to run. It didn’t take you long to figure out what kind of an errant, however the idea of calling him out on his actions caused your stomach to twist unpleasantly.

You hadn’t talked until you were snuggled on the couch, mindlessly watching the TV – what was on again? – a steaming mug of tea in front of each of you.

“He’s not letting me pass, is he?”

Steve’s fingers stopped their periodic motion on the skin of your arm, his body tensing, his heart speeding up under your cheek just enough for you to notice as you had nestled your head on his chest.

The absence of immediate verbal answer was an answer on its own, his body language all you needed to catch on.

The pit in your stomach was now gaping open, a gnawing pain; a voice in your head whispered your dreams were in shambles. Tears burned in your eyes, but you kept them at bay.

“It’s okay. I wouldn’t deserve to pass anyway.”

Steve instantly straightened in his position, his palms sprawling on your arms to pull you up as well, leaning down a bit in attempt to catch your gaze. Vain effort, naturally.

“Hey now, that’s not fair. They used your biggest weakness against you. It was—it was a real low blow,“ Steve argued, squeezing your arms firmer, probably trying to reassure you and get you to look at him.

You had to swallow against the lump forming in your throat, your gaze flickering to meet his gaze only to avert it again, unable to bear it.

“Well, had it been a real mission, I’d be dead or captured, spilling the agency’s secrets. It’s only fair.”

You heard Steve gulp in the silence that followed – he couldn’t argue with what you said.

“They are gonna use it again if I retake. But I’ll be more prepared next time, knowing it’s coming. I’ll-“ you stopped in the middle of a sentence, shaking your head with a bitter chuckle. The words tasted almost disgusting as you knew you were bullshiting yourself completely.

You had tried to fight it, to get rid of it, to swallow your fear, to bury it so deep it would never crawl out again. You had tried so many times. But the phobia just wasn’t going away, that stubborn piece of shit-!

You hated it so much. You hated it, because it kept getting in your way to happiness. You had dreamed of being an agent since you were twelve, feeling it in your bones like a damn calling. It only intensified when you met Steve, the desire growing practically unbearable once you started dating.

This wasn’t only about your pride anymore. This was about him being proud of you. This was about you being worthy of being by his side. You would be no Avenger by any means, but you’d be a SHIELD agent.

The rational part of you argued that love wasn’t to be bought by titles; your gut was telling you that despite the relatively short time you and Steve were an item – a rather stealthy one, but still an item – Steve wouldn’t leave you just because you didn’t succeed. He would love you just the same had you been a SHIELD agent, a doctor, a librarian, an artist, a worker in retail, a mechanic, anything. He wouldn’t care.

However, another part of you suggested that people talked and you’d hate to have Steve deal with that shit. Not to even mention that eventually, it might lead to him leaving you nonetheless because of the constant pressure, his heart be damned. Captain America and a SHIELD agent simply had a better ring to it than Captain America and a failed SHIELD agent.

Goddamnit, you had to succeed, for both you and him, because he was the best damn man you had ever met and he loved you, if his words of two weeks prior and his behaviour were anything to go by. And you loved him too.

You couldn’t lose him and you couldn’t lose against something as ridiculous as a needle.

But how?

You groaned, pressing the heal of your palm to your temple, feeling your headache return. “I’ll deal with it. It’s a Tomorrow Me problem.”

Steve chuckled at your antics and pressed a light kiss to the top of your head, sweet and loving, one of his hands moving to cradle your cheek, causing your eyes to flutter close, a warm feeling of contentment sneakily replacing your agitation.

“And Tomorrow Me.”

At that, your eyes snapped open, blatantly staring at him.

Really? Tomorrow Him? What was he going to do? Out your relationship to Director Fury and start a battle for favouritism? No thank you.

You’d hate to be the woman who got somewhere because of her boyfriend’s connections. For one, it would be about as humiliating as passing out at the sight of a syringe. For second, it wouldn’t solve the problem of your phobia and – more importantly – the potential dangers it posed in the field.

“I don’t need you to fight my battles for me, Steve,” you hissed before you could think twice of it, before you could realize how absurd that thought was.

Steve would never do that; it went against what he believed in and he knew you’d never accept it.

Your jaw clenched when it hit you just how hurtful your words might have been, shame filling every fibre of your being, your gaze falling to your lap where your restless fingers fumbled together. You were acting like a little ungrateful piece of shit. Steve was only trying to help. He was only being here for you, declaring his support.

An apology already on your lips, his hand slipped under your chin, his thumb caressing your cheek before he applied the slightest pressure and raised your head to face him, his expression serious.

“This isn’t that,” he said, voice laced with severity. It caused your body feel as heavy as made of lead and yet unbearably weightless.

“I wouldn’t dare,” he added in a light joke then, his gaze locking with yours. “But I’d like to fight your battles with you. We’ll figure something out.”

He kept you in the beautiful prison of his eyes until you finally nodded, not voicing your doubts, not saying you were only convinced to a point.

You stretched out, catching the corner of his mouth with yours to express your gratitude and settled back into his chest with something dangerously resembling a smile tugging at your lips.

“I love you,” you whispered, the words no less true despite the battle raging inside of your head. Of that you were certain. Of your future, not so much.

“I love you too.”

Despite the few stray tears that soaked into his shirt several minutes later, these were the last words spoken before you drifted off to sleep.

◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦ *✧･◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦

Sensation of a free fall and an instinctive jerk of your foot snapped you from your restless sleep.

Your eyes opened to the darkness, a groan dying in your throat when you came to yourself enough to feel strong arms around you, ones belonging to a man you loved and whose sleep you sure as hell didn’t want to disturb. Less so since you were obviously lying in his bed where he had had to move you since you had fallen asleep on the couch.

You couldn’t remember what you dreamed of, but it must have been nothing pleasant.

However, Steve’s arms winding around you tighter, bringing you close to his warm bare chest definitely did count as pleasant and you hoped for an early return to the dreamland.

The lightest of kisses landed in the crook of your neck, whispers barely audible, mumbled to your skin.

“You alright?”

You grimaced, snuggling further into Steve’s form, your hand settling over his on your stomach.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to wake you,” you said at the very same volume, wishing not to ruin the peace of the night any further.

“You didn’t.”

His reassurance eased your guilt only for a moment – only until you realized that what he said carried two different meanings.

You shifted in his arms, rolling over to look at him, finding his face without any trace of sleep… as if he never even tried to get a shut-eye in the first place. His eyes were like reflectors even in the dark of his bedroom, intense blue shining with something you couldn’t quite grasp. In only fed the guilt suddenly gnawing at your chest, for not only waking him up, but actually keeping him awake the whole time, his serum-boosted brain even more restless than yours.

“I’m so sorry, Steve,” you apologized sincerely, your hand leaving the warmth of the sheets to lay on his cheek.

He smiled at you softly, covering your hand with his palm, bringing yours to his lips to show you he didn’t blame you, no matter how clear it was that you were the reason for him losing sleep. The guilt stabbed you again, your momentarily fully frantic mind racing, your lips quick to peck his shoulder, his sternum, his chin in silent apology.

“I’ve been simply… thinking. That’s not on you, mon cœur.”

Despite yourself, you smiled against his skin; his ‘mon cœur’ never failed to make you smile and feel warm all over. You had learned about his decent French when one of the recruits snapped at him, calling him an asshole in his mother tongue, clearly not expecting a comeback; a smart one, not necessarily a rude one, but certainly a hot one.

Steve then let casually slip a word or two in conversations, calling you his heart as if his French alone wasn’t turning you putty in his hands, and you were a goner.

“Nice attempt at distracting me,” you praised him, nestling your chin on his chest to face him. “What’s on your mind, mon amour?”

He hesitated, watching you for long moments as if assessing whether he should tell you or keep you in your blissful ignorance. You hoped that he wouldn’t shut you out, especially if his thoughts concerned you.

“I’m thinking… about Wanda,” Steve whispered finally, causing your heart to jump in your chest in surprise, your body going rigid. His eyes widened at instant, a groan leaving his throat, rumbling under your chin. “That came out so wrong— don’t look at me like that, it’s always you-“

“Sure am,” you snorted silently, relieved and actually rather amused. For all his smooth lines, he could be just as awkward as your next guy.

He swatted your rear lightly to shut you up, wordlessly telling you to quit being a smartass.

“Sorry. Please, go ahead, talk about your gorgeous Avengers recruit,” you encouraged him, earning a glare. “She’s gorgeous, you can’t deny that. And if not that, she’s definitely at least cute. Anyway. Speak up. I’m listening, Steve. It must be serious if it’s keeping you awake.”

He licked his lips, his gaze rising to the ceiling, his thumb drawing a circle on your bare arm.

“When we were fighting Ultron – Tony’s genius murder robot –, before Wanda joined our side… there was this fight and she… entered our mind, sort-of. She… she trapped us in visions, showing us our deepest fears. She offered a glimpse at things we were trying to keep buried inside for no one to see. The fear of… not being enough, not belonging, fear of missed chances that would never come back.”

You listened, gulping at the mentions of visions, of his very own fear lying in the open, simultaneously dreading where he was going with talking about it. You had a good idea that it wouldn’t get any more pleasant.

You squeezed his arm softly to ground him, noticing his breath hitching, determined to hear him out nonetheless.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” you crooned sympathetically, even if it could barely make him feel any better.

He still seemed to appreciate it, gently threading his fingers through your hair, taking a deep calming breath.

“I’m here. The thing is, she showed us something else too, something more… primal, I suppose? Carnal? Like… fear of spiders, dark, drowning, things like that…?”

You stiffened, sensing that now he was much closer to hitting home that you liked. But you supposed he was about to make a point, so you tried to keep your voice neutral despite your curiosity about what that specifically meant for him.

“Okay?”

“You can ask what she showed me.”

You shifted in his embrace, frowning as he glanced at you – slightly uncomfortable, but definitely sincere.

“What… what did you see?” you asked lowly, your hand sliding down his arm to interlace your fingers with his.

His heart sped up under your chin, his Adam’s apple bobbed, but he still told you.

“I was torn apart by wolves. Dogs maybe, I’m not sure. I just remember claws and sharp teeth-“

“Jesus,” you breathed out at the vivid image appearing in front of your eyes, squeezing his hand tighter.

At the same time, your mind raced as much as his heart did.

Was Steve afraid of dogs? That would be… strange. For one, there was a reason he was compared to a golden retriever at times, but the idea was even more surprising because you had seen him interact with dogs on occasion. He was… maybe not enthusiastic exactly, but alright.

Why would he be scared of them anyway? Was there a story? A childhood memory perhaps? You of all people should know that phobias often had been caused by a negative experience in childhood – it was one of the reasons you hated yours so much, because you couldn’t pinpoint the moment that had caused it.

But this wasn’t about you. Not yet anyway, you guessed.

You remained silent as Steve gathered his thoughts, his eyes misted as he lost himself in a memory.

“I’m still not great with them, but I… manage. Wanda was the one to help me achieve that.”

Somewhere in the back of your mind, a jealous bitch of a voice whined. You shushed it mentally, trying to follow his train of thought. The conclusion was ridiculously clear.

“You think she can help me too,” you stated the obvious, finding Steve fully in the present again, gazing at you intensely.

“Only if you want to try. You… you don’t know what your fear is based on exactly, right? No concrete memory?”

You shook your head automatically. “No clue. One of my past therapists thought that it was the reason why our sessions weren’t working, not even after repeated exposure. We never got to the bottom of it.”

Steve was still watching you with almost unnerving intensity. There was more to what he was suggesting, you could tell. You only didn’t know what – was it about the nature of Wanda’s powers?

You wouldn’t lie – the idea of someone intruding your mind scared the hell out of you, but here you were… growing desperate to get rid of the only thing holding you back.

“She might be able to help then. But… eh, hear me out before passing judgement, okay?”

That caused you to frown deeply – wasn’t it what you were doing?

“Okay?”

Steve bit the inside of his cheek, wavering again and you sighed, propping yourself on your elbow, staring down at him in utter confusion and with a healthy amount of expectancy.

“Some people believe that-- no, uhm- what Wanda did was that she made me see the very cause of my fear, the exact memory. And this might not be making any sense at first, but— I was seeing it from my perspective, it was definitely me… and my hand was— it was a black man’s hand.”

“…huh?”

Colour you fucking clueless.

What the hell was he talking about?

Steve grimaced helplessly, his explanation apparently not turning out the way he wanted to.

“Some people believe that our fears are based… on the way we died in our past life,” he finally admitted and you… froze.

Your eyes grew wide, your body tensing and for a brief second, you wondered if Steve had gone completely mad, because the look on his face was deadly serious.

Past life?

Seriously? Steve, of all people, the very rational guy desperate for factfulness, was talking about reincarnation?

What. The actual. Fuck.

Steve, the guy who had scientists pump his body with supersoldier serum – by needles, of all things, seriously, the procedure sounded downright terrifying and reading about it made you respect him even more –, a guy who survived being frozen thanks to science, was trying to convince you that past lives existed.

Your mind went entirely blank.

The worst thing about it was that he had a solid reason to believe this thing, that was if he was telling the truth and he had been able to lessen his fear. And if Steve believed something, then for the reasons you had listed to yourself, there must have been a damn good portion of truth in it.

It was just a lot to wrap your head around.

You cleared your throat, feeling Steve’s eyes burning a hole into your head as he awaited your reaction, possibly with dread, which was perfectly justified.

It sounded insane… but.

“So… let me get this straight. You think that the origin of my fear lies in… some past life of mine. A life which ended, because of a-- a needle?” you choked out, the words sounding even crazier when spoken out loud.

You shook your head, still processing the information when Steve confirmed it. “Well… yes.”

“Uh-huh.”

You lowered yourself back to the cushions, rolling over to your back, staring at the ceiling instead. You could feel Steve fidget next to you nervously, his eyes still on you.

“You think I’m crazy.”

The corner of your lips twitched, your chest rising and falling calmly, the sentence easing the pressure that built there during his explanation.

“Well, yeah, but I knew that before you told me all that, so-“

“Hey-!“

You slapped your hand over his as it neared you, pinning it to the mattress and casting a grin in his direction, a strange feeling of contentment spreading through your body.

Maybe you fear wasn’t your fault. Perhaps it wasn’t the worst thing in the world that you needed help. Hell, even the great Steve Rogers, the bravest man you knew, had sought assistance – and then he had won.

Knowing that felt so damn liberating.

Mostly because maybe, just maybe, you had a chance of overcoming this. Maybe you could still become a SHIELD agent.

You were lying here in the bed, side by side, hand in hand, head turn to side, gazes locked, and while you were smiling, Steve’s lips slowly spread in a hesitant smile as well.

God, you loved this man so much, more than words could express.

“Thank you for trusting me with this, Steve,” you said simply, but from the very bottom of your heart.

His eyes narrowed a fraction. “Does that mean you’re… willing to give it a shot?”

You shrugged, scooting closer to him and he eagerly opened his arms for you, contentedly wrapping you in his embrace again as you pressed a kiss to his sternum.

“Not gonna lie. It might be a very long shot and the idea of someone raking through my mind is… unsettling to say at least, but if you trust her enough to let her do that… I trust you, Steve. I trust your judgement and I believe you wouldn’t come up with something like this just for laughs. So yeah. I’m willing to give it a shot.”

His hand found its way under your chin to tilt your head back, chasing your mouth with his, sealing the deal with a surprisingly sensual kiss which turned into another and another… gradually growing lazier and sloppier until you settled for one last kiss goodnight, melting into each other like you belonged there and nowhere else.

Maybe you did – for all you knew, you could be lovers who reincarnated time and time again only to find each other across time and space.

The thought made you chuckle, the breathless sound escaping your lips before you finally fell asleep.

◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦ *✧･◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦

You shifted uncomfortably in your seat on the couch, one you had taken after anxiously pacing the living room for what felt like forever. Steve had called Wanda the first thing in the morning-- well, almost the first thing, and she had agreed to meet you this very day, accepting the offer to be picked up after lunch.

One light meal later, because you could barely swallow anything with your throat tight and stomach twisted, and one unpleasant call later in which you learned you officially failed the exam, oh joy, here you were, waiting in Steve’s apartment in Brooklyn.

For the millionth time you thanked heavens for Steve wanting to have his own space outside the compound. You really didn’t want to deal with this near everyone and you weren’t certain you were comfortable with the woman you didn’t know at all in your crampy apartment.

The lock clicked and you jumped to your feet, instantly making your way to the door. You stopped in your tracks when you realized you would probably freak her out right from the start.

Better let Steve handle this part. And the introduction-

Shit, can she read my thoughts right now?!

Naturally, your mind suddenly filled with the most embarrassing moments of your life and you wanted to scream in frustration, mentally apologizing to the young ‘witch’.

Yep, still weird to think that.

One sweetly familiar and one foreign voice reached your ears, the female one chuckling silently and you just knew she heard every single one of your thoughts.

Well. Worse things had happened, you guessed.

You sighed, took a deep breath and tried to fix an inviting smile that wouldn’t seem too desperate and awkward as hell. You probably failed, but you would take what you could get.

“I still can’t believe Sam challenged you to a flying contest. I really thought he’s a sensible guy,” Steve said as they entered the common space and you wiped your sweaty palms to your jeans, searching his face first.

His lips were smiling, but if you looked into his eyes closely, you could read the hints of anxiety you felt yourself.

Your gaze shifted to his companion then; the pretty brunette with shade of red in her hair shrugged at Steve’s remark, smirking.

“Who am I to argue with him if he wants to have his behind handed to him?”

If you were being honest, you had been slightly intimidated at the mere idea of meeting the Scarlet Witch; however, you took an instant liking to her.

She was young and while her eyes carried pain of her complicated past, she radiated strength and positive energy, a glow of something extraordinary that had nothing to do with her powers, but more with her personality.

She met your gaze, smiling at you kindly and you shook yourself, registering Steve making his way to you, dropping a chaste kiss to your cheek.

“Hi,” he whispered and you returned the sentiment, brushing his hand before deciding to grab it firmly and squeeze in greeting.

“Hello, miss Maximoff. I’d say ‘welcome’, but I’m not sure I have the right since this is Steve’s apartment,” you rambled, mentally cursing yourself for it. You couldn’t just keep your cool, could you?

The woman only smiled wider as you went and offered your hand to shake along with introducing yourself.

“I appreciate the sentiment anyway. And please, call me Wanda. It’s nice to meet you. I only heard good things.”

You frowned slightly, trying to imagine how much Steve could tell her about you during the ride, when Wanda subtly pointed to her head.

Oh. OH.

What should you even say to that? She had seen you before and possibly knew things about you she didn’t ask for (was that how that worked, people throwing thoughts on her without her will, or-) without even meeting you.

You gulped and from the corner of your eye, you noticed a slight hint of red to Steve’s cheeks. Interesting.

“Likewise. Uhm… I’m sorry to meet you like this though. I—we barely introduced and… I’m already asking for your help,” you said apologetically, honestly ashamed for that. “I’m sorry.”

It might have been a mutual decision of Steve and you to lay low with your relationship, which meant postponing meeting his friends to later, however it didn’t change the fact you felt like you were using Wanda.

It was not the best feeling in the world. This was how low you had steeped-

“Please, don’t even worry about it. Steve’s… friends are my friends as well. I’ll be happy to try and help, more so to help people that make Steve happy.”

A twinkle of mischief appeared in her eye and Steve next to you cleared his throat loudly, rushing to be a good host.

“Anything I can offer you, Wanda? Water, tea, coffee…?”

You did not miss the pointed look he gave her and the beautiful creature she was, she grinned at him, amusement dancing across her face.

“Tea would be great. Shall we sit?” she beckoned to the couch and you nodded, asking Steve for a cup of tea as well. Coffee and talked about your phobia did not sound like a good mix after all. “Alright. Let’s see what can we do about your situation.”

Steve had told her most of the essential information, obviously including the fact you didn’t know when the phobia developed.

“Okay. Are you comfortable with me trying to reach out into your mind? To create a mental connection of sort?” she asked after a while, sitting in an armchair opposite to you, while Steve nestled next to you in respectable distance, not touching you at all, letting you choose how much of a physical contact you wanted.

You greatly appreciated both Steve and Wanda for respecting your boundaries and allowing you to push them whichever direction as you seemed fit.

Because having Wanda probing in your head was fucking terrifying.

Steve trusts her, you reminded yourself, and she gave you no reason not to trust her either. She was in fact so welcoming you could cry.

Wanda smiled at you patiently and you felt heat rising into your cheeks, once again realizing she could probably hear your hesitance as well as seeing it.

“Yes. Tell me what to do,” you decided, hoping you sounded at least twice as firm as you felt. “…that is if I need to do something.”

“I’d be much more comfortable if you did, I’m sure you would like that better too. Once you do what I say, you will feel certain nudge, my mind reaching out – please, try to let me in. Now I want to you to close your eyes and imagine a safe space. A truly safe space, somewhere you feel like nothing can touch you, can’t hurt you in any way, not physical one, not emotional one. Just a completely safe place,” she coaxed you gently.

With a deep breath, you eyed Steve, catching his supportive smile before following her instructions.

Your first thought was of your childhood bedroom. You were surprised how sharp the memory felt – probably an effect of Wanda’s powers.

You stood there, as if truly there, looking at your desk, papers with amateur doodles scattered all over it, and you couldn’t but smile at the memory of your notebooks being filled with little results of boredom. And then the angry male voice reached your ears, followed by a shout from a woman, and the illusion shattered just like the plate that hit the ground, causing your eyes to snap open to reality.

The intense weight on your chest startled you, the fights you had heard from the relative safety of your room during your early years crushing your ribcage with each breath you tried to take.

You met Wanda’s kind eyes, feeling Steve’s hand gently brush the back of yours which was gripping the edge of the couch.

The young witch shook her head lightly, your gazes locked with such strength you felt like she was staring into your soul through a looking glass – and boy, did you feel like Alice in wonderland yourself.

“There’s no rush,” Wanda assured you, voice low. “You don’t need to force it. Breathe in, breathe out. In and out, how many times you need. Close your eyes and try to remember. When was the last time you felt truly safe?”

Steve’s hand squeezed yours before withdrawing and leaving you to your own thoughts again as you took several calming breaths and let your eyes flutter shut.

You honestly had no idea why you had thought of your childhood first, when you in fact only felt safe once you left to pursue your dream career. You loved your tiny apartment much more – because it was your space, your safe space.

Your couch bought on extra sale because of the horrendous colour, that bookshelf that remembered better days, but still didn’t yield under the weight of your books, the three pitiful plants you got only to shut your friend up… you walked to the poor excuse for a kitchen cabinets, involuntarily smiling at the mismatched door that your neighbour was able to get you and installed after the original one nearly knocked you out as if fell off without warning.

Your fingers traced the counter when a pair of strong hands landed softly on your hips, an arm sneaking around your stomach, a kiss pressed into the crook of your neck. It didn’t startle you, a sense of comfort enveloping you instead, Steve’s lips curling into a smile against your skin.

“Tu m’as manqué, mon cœur,” he admitted and you couldn’t but melt into his form, a content smile tugging on your lips.

“Missed you too.”

His grip grew stronger before he allowed you to turn in his embrace so you could give him a welcome kiss. He had been on a mission for a week and you somehow found yourself at that stage in a relationship where you felt comfortable enough to admit you fell hard for each other, while retaining that sense of your time together being precious and too limited no matter how much of it you actually spent together. Or at least that was what this was for you – judging by the satisfied smile painted on Steve’s lips when you withdrew to catch your breath, the feeling was mutual.

“…though that phrase is still not making a damn sense,” you complained, earning a chuckle and another kiss, his arms lifting you so you barely stood on your tiptoes.

You were an independent and a dare to say badass woman, but hey, you would not deny that such display of strength made your toes curl.

“So, what’s on the agenda today?” you asked once he set you back down, though he never released you from the cage of his arms.

The sudden dull pressure in the back of your head surprised you, but wasn’t necessarily unpleasant.

More than anything else, it brought you back to reality a little; this was nothing but a memory. Steve appearing as if his motions slowed down only proved that.

Unsure what to do, you massaged the back of your head and stepped back, Steve’s arms easily falling; his gaze remained fixed on your though, patient. A game your mind had built, you realized, a mirage created with the witch’s help.

Let me in, Wanda had said. Yeah well, a manual to follow would be nice.

Willing yourself to relax as much as possible, you felt a slight pop and the pressure disappeared.

Before you could question it, a voice sounded somewhere, close but yet far.

“Thank you for letting me in,” Wanda said simply, causing you to jump few inches above the floor.

But the Steve in your memory nodded and you focused on breathing in and out, trying to take in his comforting presence in the safety of your apartment rather than focusing on Wanda, the intruder you invited.

The thought of the witch seeing this however felt anything but comforting – embarrassment filled your being instead. A part of you couldn’t quite believe Steve, your boyfriend of barely four months, belonged to your safe place as much as anything else.

You were honest with each other, but how would he react if he knew that? What Wanda must have been thinking?

“There is no reason to be ashamed,” her voice reassured you softly, sounding as if she was smiling a bit. This really was awkward. “I won’t tell on you either way, but you must know you are on his mind often. I believe I was being clear on that earlier. He would be – and he should be – honoured by this. Plus, it’s still your apartment, he’s just an addition.”

Letting her words sink in, you noticed a strange red glow by the edge of your couch, just a flicker of something that certainly didn’t belong – and sure as well wasn’t making you feel safe.

In fact, simply watching it caused your stomach to somersault.

“Think of your fear for a bit. What you see is a rift to the world you’re trying to reach.”

Balling your hands into fists, you gulped and reluctantly did as Wanda told you.

Needles. Christ, why.

The glimmer of red energy pulsated, growing in size considerably – and with it, so did the cold sensation in your stomach. Your breathing picked up, your heart hammering in your chest.

Gentle fingers curled around your wrist, causing you to look at Steve, having been ignoring him for a while. He swept his thumb over the sensitive skin on your inner wrist, a smile spreading on his lips when your eyes met.

“You’re doing great,” he encouraged you and you briefly wondered if this was your imagination, Wanda’s doing or actual real-life Steve touching you.

Whichever it was, it grounded you, your ribcage expanding easier despite the pain.

The rift stretched to your height, its powerful presence feeling like a punch in your solar plexus, making your skin crawl, your body shrinking into itself. The wave of nausea that hit you didn’t help either.

Your hand was lifted, lips brushing your palm before letting go.

“You’re going to hate this, but I need you to touch it,” Wanda instructed you and indeed, you hated the mere idea of coming closer to that thing. But what other option did you have?

Steve smiled at you again, supportive and understanding, and you clenched your jaw, forcing your feet, suddenly feeling like made of lead, to move.

“Once you touch it, you’ll find yourself in the memory. Sadly, I can’t follow you there, but trust me – and trust Steve –, we will pull you back. It’s nothing but a memory,” Wanda explained and that truly did not ease your building anxiety at all.

You supposed it shouldn’t have, she was only stating facts, but the remark about her and Steve did give you strength as did looking around your apartment again.

All you had to do was to touch that-- weird thing… and relive your death. Death involving needles. Charming.

You took another shaky step, every fibre on your being screaming at you to run the opposite direction instead. Leaning onto the couch for support as your legs turned wobbly, you let the familiar sensation of the fabric sooth you.

You had to do this. You could do this.

You casted one more glance at Steve, who crossed the short distance you had walked and placed his hand on your shoulder, clearly not having any difficulty approaching the rift. It made sense, you supposed – this was your fear you were dealing with, not his.

“I’ve got you,” he promised, his palm sliding down your back, its warmth so damn pleasant against the goosebumps that rose on your skin. “And you’ve got this, mon cœur.”

“Damn you,” you mumbled and that bastard had the audacity to chuckle and squeeze your hip.

“Go. I’ll be right here when you get back.”

Easier said than done.

With a suffocating lump in your throat, you forced yourself to take the last step and reached out your trembling hand towards the pulsing red energy.

A scream ripped from your throat when that thing gripped you fiercely and sucked you in.

◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦ *✧･◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦

The lights were bright, burning in your eyes as did the unshed tears. After the dark corridors you had walked with a man at each of your side, both shorter than you, and another man behind your back, the startling clinical white made you nauseous.

Or maybe that was just knowing the inevitability of fate. Bile rose to your throat, the world spinning, shadows of the hall following you like claws of death, already reading for you at the mere thought of what waited in this room.

You didn’t try to run; each of your steps felt too heavy for that.

You didn’t try to break free of the men’s hold on your veiny arms; they felt like made of lead, weak and clammy from the lack of sleep and sustenance.

You didn’t try to insist on your innocence anymore; there was no point in talking if words fell on deaf ears.

People always heard what they wanted to hear. People always saw what they wanted to see.

Truth was a matter of circumstances and death was the only certitude a man had.

The door fell shut behind your group of gloom, the white walls closing on around you, the hairs on the back of neck standing at attention. The icy tone of the room barely aggravated the cold seeped in your core, in your very bones. Each step echoed in the almost empty room, every breath – as much as your last would.

You had practised yesterday; you knew the drill. Enter the room slowly. Don’t look at the one-way glass as it might startle the high representative of state whose daughter you had (supposedly) violated and strangled to death. Lie down and let them strap you to the table.

When you had obediently sat down and one of the guards – Franz they called him, decent guy you thought – met your gaze, a warning in his eyes mingling with regret as you laid down.

Staring onto the ceiling, tears gathering in your eyes, your heart was beating its way out of your chest, anger, so much anger at the injustice once again battling with the feeling of resignation. Justice didn’t exist int his world; they had found their scapegoat. Your innocence virtually didn’t exist. Your testimony was a lie, everyone thought so.

You squeezed your eyes shut as you heard the buckles at your feet, a torturously loud sound in the silent room and then your feet were restrained. Your chest right under your armpits came next; the guard fastened it harshly, so tight your eyes snapped open in surprise.

You stared into the eyes of a guilty man, a man whose face held no remorse for wrecking and taking two lives. You remembered the black orbits from the night you saw them widened with wildness, a savage pleasure gleaming in the dark, noticing your figure behind the beams.

Strange, you pondered. The restraint on your chest felt like a tickle in comparison to the pressure on your chest when you looked into those eyes, your breath hitching in your throat, suffocating weigh squeezing your lungs and heart; was this how it was going to feel? You had heard rumours.

Like a liquid fire running in your veins, slowly licking until it reached your heart. You wondered – who spread the tale? Everyone with this treatment met their death, didn’t they? Then how could people know?

Was it something made up so the inmates died a bit by bit, every minute before even feeling the pinch of the needles?

A violent shudder shook your whole body, but you didn’t think you moved at all.

Your limbs didn’t belong to you anymore as they uncuffed your wrists in order to strap them to the table instead.

God, it was so so cold- what was the last time you were warm?

Your eyes followed Adams’ hands, hands painted in invisible blood, invisible tonight as least, as they fixed the strap on your right wrist and moved to your head, jerking it so you faced the blinding light instead.

You couldn’t plead Satan to take the true killer anymore; you were out of time. You prayed instead.

You prayed for your soul to find peace and justice, for the light to engulf you quickly, before you could feel the fire in your veins in stark contrast to the ice in them present now.

Now I lay me down to sleep

To an eternal sleep. To death. This was your end. Tears ran down your cheeks, silent and useless.  Shame on a man who cries for himself – but you lied to yourself, just this one time, that you were crying for the unjust world where lies and deceit won over the truth.

I pray the Lord my Soul to keep

Your gaze blurry, your head restrained, you could still make up the needles piercing the skin of your forearms, attached to the bags on the IV poles. The liquid in them was clear, pure like water, seemingly so innocent – as much as the inmate on the table.

If I should die before I wake

It was a strange dichotomy – the numbness spreading from one side, the burning heat from the other. Your fingers twitched and closed into a tight fist at the sudden surge of pain, gnawing, blinding.

Oh God, please, please-

I pray the Lord my Soul to take

A scream filled the blank room, a sound so animalistic it couldn’t belong to a human being, deafening to your ears. You couldn’t breath as the fire burned its way through your arm, leaving ashes in its wake-

“-the fuck-“

“What’s-“

“Just--it! ---thing!”

The fire subdued as the world lost its colour, everything swallowed by blackness, a bleary image of a spasming arm with a glint of thin piece of metal flickering before disappearing altogether.

◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦ *✧･◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦

Your throat burned from the scream ripping from your its depth, a blurry image of a woman in front of you casing you to back out into the bed— no, you were sitting up now, the room wasn’t white, was darker-- the scream was definitely not male anymore, no, it was a female one, it was yours-

The room spun and disappeared, replaced by a sharp image of an apartment, your apartment, and you looked around frantically, catching a glimpse of a tall blonde figure in the corner of the room, your heart, hammering so painfully in your aching ribcage fluttering in relief. Your gaze swiftly returned to the man, like a drowning person to the sun glimmering on the surface of water.

Steve.

Your apartment and Steve.

Your name was being called silently and you realized that the scream had died down, only your harsh breathing remaining.

“You’re safe. Remember? Nothing can touch you here, no one can, not unless you let them,” Wanda’s voice soothed you, causing your eyes to flutter shut in respite, your knees giving out.

Despite having been standing several feet from you, Steve was suddenly there to catch you, scooping you into his arms, enveloping you in a protective embrace while you sobbed into his shirt, his soft voice whispering sweet nonsense, not saying a word of complaint about how desperately you were clinging to him, inhaling his aftershave and detergent and him.

You’re safe. I’ve got you.

Je te protègerai toujours, mon cœur.

I’ve got you, I’ve got you.

I love you.

When you opened your eyes again, the images blended together. His heart was beating vigorously against your cheek, his lips pressed into your hair, but you could hear Wanda moving around – you were in Steve’s apartment, back to reality.

Upon realizing that, you gripped him with all you had and whispered a shaky sorry, which only resulted in his embrace growing tighter.

It took you another hour to settle down enough to discuss what would be your next steps, ones that certainly wouldn’t be taken today.

“I know how hard this is to hear, but I won’t just magically snap my fingers to make it go away – I mean, I could, but no one can tell the consequences in the long run. It will take several sessions, short though, when we dull your very understandable fear a bit. You’re strong – I believe we can deal with this. Thank you for trusting me,” Wanda said nonsensically, as if she wasn’t the one helping you.

Even if her help so far felt entirely awful.

“Thank you, Wanda. Truly. It means a lot.”

“Thank you,” you echoed Steve’s words lamely and heard a hint of a smile in Wanda’s voice when she was leaving the apartment.

“You’re welcome. Get some rest. I can get to the compound on my own – I need to practise for the match with Sam anyway.”

Involuntarily, the corners of your lips twitched at the image of Wanda floating above the city and landing in front of Steve’s gobsmacked friend, cursing himself for challenging a witch. About thirty seconds later, you were laughing, practically doubled over with the force of it, tears still streaming down your face.

To be fair, you did deserve to be hysterical all you wanted.

Much later, you fell into an uneasy sleep, Steve’s voice laced with amusement and concern at the same time as he read to you about adventures of a young telekinetic girl, about her sweet teacher and the terrible headmistress bullying them both.

◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦ *✧･◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦

You might have been fiddling with your fingers, anxious about what you were about to face, but you couldn’t’ quite shush the excitement spurting in you with each joyous beat of your heart.

You eyed Steve in search for silent support – or any support really – but if his expression was anything to go by, he was highly amused at your antics. The corners of his lips were twitching as he stared ahead, ignoring your very pointed glare.

You elbowed his ribs playfully, but made sure to dig you bone into him. Cocky little shit.

He actually chuckled at that, fully aware that you probably hurt yourself more than you hurt him, because his damn serum turned his abs into stone. A very hot stone in both senses of the word, a stone sensitive as hell when you ran your fingers over it (or your mouth, for that matter), but still.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he let out between his chuckles and you didn’t believe him one bit.

You knew that you were being a tiny bit ridiculous, but… he didn’t have to rude about it.

“Likely story,” you muttered grumpily, trying to recall just when had the anxious but fully supportive Steve turned into a laughing mess.

It must have been when you passed your fucking exam. Finally!

After weeks of Wanda working her magic on you – and of your work on yourself, being very brave and determined, as she had never forgot to mention, as did Steve – you had been able to retake your exam, the last one in the line of group missions and tests. You could have been done long before today, but truthfully, you couldn’t be happier with the result.

Besides passing your exams and officially becoming a SHIELD agent, you had learned how to control your phobia. Not entirely, but considerably, just enough to do your damn job.

Your dream job.

The fact that it meant you and Steve not having to be shy about your relationship anymore was an entirely pleasant bonus. By no means you had been shy when you succeeded – you had assaulted him right in front of Director Fury, jumping into your very secret boyfriend’s arms. Thank god for Steve’s reflexes, because while he had seemed utterly shocked at your lunge, he still hadn’t dropped you. Needless to say, you both had to collect your jaws from the floor when the director just snorted in amusement, a knowing look in his eye. Apparently, nothing escaped this man’s attention. It was almost funny, actually.

Naturally, with majority of your friend being off to missions, because they had graduated spy school at their first attempts, you were left with Steve to celebrate with; no complaints were filed though, celebrating in Steve style was very much glorious. One might say you even saw fireworks.

Anyway, since his friends were in town for once, he decided that the time had come for you to meet them, with not having to hide your relationship anymore and all that.

Hence you being worked up again; you were about to meet Steve friends. The Avengers.

You had every right to be slightly terrified. What if they didn’t like you? SHIELD agent or not, how would you face an angry Hulk? Or a demigod? Hell, Barton or Romanoff—okay, Romanoff at least knew you existed, occasionally catching your gaze in the corridor or during training, but-? And Wilson could fly in that get-up of his-! Not to mention the android!

Steve’s arm winded around your waist, pulling you to his side and spinning you to him until you were chest to chest. That did effectively snap you from your gloomy thoughts.

“You just defeated your phobia and showed everyone what a great agent you will make. You can handle a bunch of people with the same goal as yours,” Steve reasoned with you, smiling down at you widely, even dropping a kiss on your forehead. “Plus, they are excited to meet you.”

Was that supposed to make you feel better? Because your stomach dropped even lower and you sighed, meeting Steve’s eyes, soft and yet joyful.

His enthusiasm was infectious. Plus, you did become a SHIELD agent today… Steve had shown you his appreciating in many ways… plenty of reasons to be happy.

“What did you tell them about me?”

“All the good things. Stop worrying, they have to be nice to you anyway, it’s your day after all.” A smile spread on your face at the reminder and Steve’s arm tightened around you. “The moment we started to plan the reunion, they knew celebrating your big break would be on agenda.”

You leaned your head onto Steve’s chest contentedly and closed your eyes, showing him how sweet you thought he was being. In the back of your mind, you wondered just how long one elevator ride could be, even if it was to the top of the Avengers Tower, and if the AI running the building happened to slow it down just so you could try and calm your nerves.

Which was exactly why it took a moment for Steve’s words to truly register. Your eyes snapped open in horror and you quickly retreated, not missing the shit-eating grin forming on your boyfriend’s lips.

“Steve… when did you start planning this get-together?” you asked warily, narrowing your eyes at him and swallowing the luckily unnecessary panic.

“Four days ago. Why?”

He knew damn well why!

You slapped his left peck with vigour, half-angry, half-moved by his stunt. He chuckled and placed his palm over yours, pinning it to his chest, shaking with hushed laughter.

“This isn’t funny, Steve!” you argued only half-heartedly, because to his utter luck, things worked out. “What if I have failed? That would be so-”

He removed his hand from yours in order to cradle your jaw. You wanted to be angry with him, you did. Furious, in fact, but he was making it really hard and you officially got your dream job today and- yeah, he was hard to be mad at, especially when he spoke with sincerity that took your breath away.

“I knew you wouldn’t. I had faith in my girl.”

Steve pecked your lips as you sputtered a curse, frustrated with your inability to chastise him properly when he was being charming and melting your heart with every word.

“You know, everyone keeps saying that you’re reckless…” you grumbled and one corner of his lips rose higher in a lopsided smile, twinkling eyes watching you with a blend of admiration and amusement and love and how could you resist him? “Punk…”

His fingers sneaked to your nape, pulling you in for a deep kiss; lips parting, tongues meeting just because you couldn’t get enough of each other and of the delight you tasted on each other with every kiss.

His arm just lifted you from the ground a few inches, causing your stomach to flutter in the most pleasant way, when the elevator doors slid open and a snarky comment welcomed you.

“Rude.”

You jerked away from Steve, startled, but the ball was in his court as he had to place you back on the ground. Your cheeks were burning with embarrassment when your gaze fell on a smirking Tony Stark.

Well, shit. As far as first impressions went, this could have happened much better…

“You sure you want to celebrate here and not somewhere else?” the Ironman himself continued, gesturing his hand in a so-so motion and you wished to face hundreds of needles rather than him and the rest of Steve’s friend who had just got a free show. A rather PG one, but a show nevertheless.

“Stark, quit being a dick,” a female voice stuck up for you, rendering you speechless as it didn’t come from Wanda, but from Natasha Romanoff. “Congratulations!”

The rest of the team had various mixture of amusement and surprise written over their faces, but neither of them seemed hostile. In fact, they did look eager to meet you despite your dramatic entrance. Wanda smiled at you reassuringly from behind the android – Vision, you believed – and nodded, probably hearing your thoughts practically scream at her.

You smiled back at the witch before turning to the Black Widow herself.

“Thank you, Agent Romanoff,” you replied politely and a grin that told you that one day, you might even become friends, appeared on her face.

“You’re welcome, Agent 18.”

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S.R.masterlist

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Title taken from Halsey’s Haunting. Pics used are not mine, credit to original creators.

Also: yes, Steve was reading Matilda to our brave to-be SHLED agent as a comfort book.

Thank you for reading!

(If you at least a bit and you’re a fan of Wanda being awesome, please consider reading Walpurgis Night. It’s a result of rereading too much of T’s work anyway.)

◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦ *✧･◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦

Tags:  @scentedsongrebel​ @orions-nebula​ @cxptain​ @patzammit​ @kayteewritessteve​

[chaniters]

Candy House

Facing against Candymaster, Ash realizes he’s bit more than he can chew, and ends up joining forces with a ranger at the last minute.  Spoilers for Fallen hero. 

Trigger warning: Addictions. 

“So young and yummy.” He snorted. “Shouldn’t you be at school instead of taking candy from strangers?”

“I’m going to get more than candy” You mirror his smile, the power gloves crackling with energy  

“Oooh, I definitely think you’re my type now! Let’s dance, shall we?”

“But of course” you let out, lunging forward.

He responds by raising his arms. 

Which does nothing.

He seems very sure that he’ll be ok, but you’re not going to question stupidity right now, so you do what you came to do. Hit hard, hit fast, the moment you’re close enough. 

The gloves crackle with energy, causing an explosion of… 

Shards? 

You look down, and only his feet remain standing, cracked at the base, the rest of his body seems to have exploded in a thousand pieces. 

That’s when you notice the entire warehouse is covered in white dust… white… sugar?

And he’s still there. You can feel his mind laughing.

You can hear him laughing! 

“My turn!” 

The ground starts shaking, and you can sense incoming attacks from every direction. 

Sharp-colored crystals begin sprouting at an alarming speed, breaking in through the floor itself. Very sharp crystals. 

“Where are you?!” you let out.

“Everywhere” the answer is loud and maniacal, confirming your worse fears.

A large crystal stalagmite surges… trembles.. And breaks apart, revealing the Candymaster, unharmed and fully reformed, grinning with the whitest of smiles, his arms reshaping into pointy crystal blades.

Sucrose manipulation. You’ve seen it, but never to this extent.

And he’s made of the stuff himself?! You’ve seriously miscalculated here. “I’ll break you as many times as I need to!” you challenge, running forward, evading his swipes, before crushing him once more to pieces.

“Rude. But I’m going to be your sugar daddy either way by the end of this.” 

More crystals form out of thin air, from the ceiling this time, and soon you’re evading a complete storm of falling shards, aimed your way. 

“Nice sidesteps. I wonder how long can you keep this up”

“As long as I have to…” you curse as a shard explodes against your leg, giving you a hard bruise. You manage to keep your balance, but the cheap armor on your discount suit isn’t going to help much. 

He reforms before your eyes once more, walking slowly in your direction. Toying with you. “I’m not afraid of you, sidesteps. As I said, I was expecting you”

“How did you know…?”

“Oh, you’ve been just too cute standing there pretending to be clueless. Red Spectre, Clobberer Queen, Lord Ember, you visited them all in one night? It’s almost like you know all of my friends.”

“Losers you mean”

He snorts at that “You’re funny. Now tell me, while we’re talking about losers… did Owl send you? Is she really that desperate”

“Fuck Owl” You distract, not willing to follow his game. “I came to bring you in myself”

“Loyal huh? Heroes can be annoying. But you’re going to give me a straight answer!” 

He pushes forward, sending a wave of shards at your face. You block with the gloves, as best you can, but when it’s over you can see they are cracking with broken circuits, several shards stuck to them.   

“Aww did I break your toy?” he circles around you. 

“I don’t need it to break your face!” you challenge him, discarding the broken power gloves.

“Well let’s see about that” he charges, arms made into razors again. 

You let him down with a roundhouse kick, shattering his face as promised, but that doesn’t stop the rest of the body from swinging at you. You dodge left, then right, stepping back…. only to find another Candymaster.

Fuck. 

“As long as I have sugar, I can be anywhere, sidesteps” he laughs. “You’ll never get rid of me with silly dance moves”

You keep fighting, cracking one of the arms of the newcomer while evading the last one… but a third and a fourth are coming your way. 

It doesn’t take long for you to take the wrong step, and they take hold of your arms, holding you down. 

You curse and kick but it’s useless, and they drag you towards the far end of the warehouse. 

They hold you against a wall, crystal begins growing over your legs and arms, immobilizing them.

You’re stuck. 

“Now you’re you’re going to tell me everything you know about Owl”

“I’m not telling you shit!”

“Believe me you will talk,” one of them says bringing up a large box and placing it at your feet.

“Is that supposed to scare me, clown?” you say, staring down at it. 

“Nah. You’re going to love it… This makes even people like you into obedient good puppies, let  me show you” two of them open the lid, taking out a small bottle… placing a couple of pills in his hand…

You freeze, staring at them.

It can’t be…

“Open wide!” 

You struggle as hard as you can, but they pinch your nose, they punch you… until they can force you to open your mouth… and swallow them.

White supplement. 

“Alright now. I will start asking questions and you will answer each one” 

His voice keeps talking falling into the background, and you can hear yourself answering, but the words aren’t yours. It’s someone else.

The rest is a blank.

--------------------------------------------- “FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE!!” Ashley’s words are still ringing in your ears. Only that she’s not here.

She died. Why do you still hear her? Why do you still...(...) 

“Wow, good job, kid that was surreal!” 

You’re lying down, on a very wet floor, water raining down from the ceiling. A hand on your shoulder, trying to help you sit up.

“Are you ok?”

You focus on the face of the person speaking to you… wearing a mask!

You almost jump, stumbling back, falling down on your ass onto the water again. 

“I guess that’s a no.”

They give a few slow steps your way, palms extended. They mean no harm (or is that what they want you to think?)

“Hey hey. It’s ok. We won” 

“Who are you?” you ask before he gets any closer.

“Aww, you forgot me already? I’m Anathema. Tried to talk to you the other day, and you ran away?”

It takes a few seconds for it to click that you actually do remember this one. 

“The ranger”

“There you go. That’s me!” 

They are completely colorless, even as more details begin to come back. 

You pain gate. It’s active, at its highest setting. You stare at your hands… completely numb and bloodied. You can feel sore fingers and knuckles, even through the gate, and your legs are like two wooden logs. You’ve taken a hell of a beating.

“What… happened?” 

“You’re having a moment huh? We beat the crap out of Candymaster, that’s what happened.”

“Ah” you stand up, finally accepting his hand.

“There you go. Must say, turning on the fire sprinklers was a genius move, washed out all that sugar on the floor and ruined his day” “Right. What’s that?” you ask looking at a gooey puddle of blackish ooze.

“Well, Sugar and Acid don’t mix. The rest of him ran away after that… you seriously don’t remember?”

“Maybe I’m having a moment like you said” you reply following him.

“I think you might have been drugged,” they say looking down at the box, holding one of the bottles full of white supplement pills resting in packing peanuts before tossing it back in “That might explain it. That shit is strong...”

You say nothing, looking down. 

A box full of white supplement...

Your hands are hurt but steady now.

“You were amazing. Candymaster had you down, interrogating you, so I got the jump on him, released you, and you looked a bit lost at first. But when I told you to fight and you turned into a total beast, you were breaking off those sugar creeps with your bare hands. It’s almost as if… hey don’t touch that! It’s evidence!” they interrupt themselves.

“Touch what?” you ask, pathetically. 

“The box! Leave it back on the floor!” 

You order your hands to put it down as they say, but that’s not what seems to be happening at all. 

“I’m just…” You step back “... I need…”

“Leave it right there! Don’t make me… shit!!!”

You’re sprinting, and they are chasing you, and the box is really heavy but you don’t care. 

You need it. You need the white supplement so you won’t feel like shit all the time. You can’t go back, but with this, you won’t need to. 

You almost make it in range of a low building, drawing the grappling hook, only to have it fly off your hand, half-melted, covered in acid. Shit.

You turn and notice Anathema jumping at you just in time to sidestep, letting them hits a traffic light instead. You don’t stop running, they can’t catch you if you don’t stop. You’re too focused on evading him to notice the car coming at you tough. 

It wasn’t a very strong bump, and you barely felt it with your pain gate active, but you were running fast enough to be projected a few feet away as the driver hits the brakes, hitting the pavement hard. Another thing you don’t feel.

“Oh, shit are you ok? Get off the street!” Anathema runs, stopping traffic.

The box.

The box is right in front of you… you just need to stand up and...

And an enormous Geni-Tech truck runs it over, squishing all of its contents and sending pieces of wood, pills, and packing peanuts all over. 

“NO!” you lunge forward, trying to get as many pills as you can, but it’s too late. Anathema pulls you, holding you back. “NO NO NO, LET ME GO, YOU IDIOT! I NEED THOSE! I NEED THEM” 

You hit them hard with your hurt hands, but it’s no use, they don’t even budge. “I think you had enough of those,” they say extending a hand towards the white supplement stain…

“NO! DON’T DO THAT! YOU DON’T GET IT, I REALLY NEED THOSE, PLEASE DON’T…” 

But they don’t listen, sending a small blob of acid at the stain, turning it all into a muddy black substance, the pills dissolving forever. 

“Nonononononono…” you can’t stop yourself, hitting him as hard as you can, completely out of it while they pull you off the street. 

“Believe me, you’ll be better off in the long run.”

Your gaze is fixed on the muddy substance, cars running over it, washing it down the drain. 

You’re doomed. 

You’ll never be normal again __________  If you want to read more: My Fanfiction: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero    DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.

[adventuresinhermiton]

Chapter 2: Unimpressive Apprentice

< Previous Chapter

“Tell me, apprentice, what kind of magic are you looking to study under Scar?”

Before you even get the chance to respond, Mr. Goodtimes speaks up in response to Virgam’s question. “Well, I’m going to teach them everything I know, of course! I can’t have my apprentice simply focusing on one track. They have too much magic in them to simply keep all of that bottled up.”

Virgam looked unimpressed, rolling her eyes at your enthusiastic teacher. “Scar, you only know one track yourself.”

“I- Well, that might be true, but I have plenty of tomes that I study every day.”

“I’m sure you do.” She picks up a glass set on a side table, a dark liquid barely visible over the rim as she takes a sip. “But wouldn’t it be easier for you to start your apprentice off on something they already know? Work from there?”

You looked over at Mr. Goodtimes, whose eyes were narrowed in thought as he processed this line of logic. You were starting to get the feeling that your self-appointed mentor may have embellished his title a little bit. He seems to come to a decision though as he nods, his ears perking up. 

“You have a point, Virgam. Yes, apprentice!” He turns to you and you stand straighter. “Now then, what do you know how to do?”

You think about what it is you know how to do with your magic. Sure, you’ve tried to do plenty of simply, small tricks. Lighting candles without a source or creating little illusions to watch when you couldn’t sleep. You glance over at Virgam, her hand gently swirling the glass as she inspects your every move. Right, you used to work in a bar and there is one thing you managed to become an expert at.

You walk up to her, taking the glass from her hand with nothing but a confused look from Virgam. You then walk over to Mr. Goodtimes, grabbing the bottom of his robe and pouring the dark drink onto the pristine purple fabric, instantly creating a dark spot that quickly begins spreading.

“Apprentice!” He cried, his ears flattened on his head as he gave you a betrayed look. Virgam’s laughter echoed off the walls. “Why did you do that?”

You hold up a hand, telling him to wait. You look down at the stain, moving your hand to hover over it. Light envelops the stain for a few seconds before it fades, leaving the purple in the same state it had been a few seconds ago. You gesture to it with a flourish.

Mr. Goodtimes’ look of betrayal quickly shifted into a blank expression. “Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.” He giggled, running his thumb over the clean spot and rubbing the back of his neck. “Is, uh, that all you know how to do?”

You drop the robe, shoulders slumping. You raise your hands, palms up, and conjure up a small illusion of a sheep that runs around across your hands. You look back up at Mr. Goodtimes, his expression clearly telling you that he had expected something a little more.

“Do you… know anything else?” 

You drop your hands and the illusion, thinking if your other small tricks are worth showing. You ultimately decide they aren’t and shrug, shaking your head. 

 “Alright, so you know basic spells, that’s good, I guess. Plenty of room for improvement though!” He squints at you, like he had before when he was deep in thought. “Alright,” he says, “how about we focus on more chore-based spells to begin with?”

“You’re supposed to make them your apprentice, Scar, not your maid.”

Mr. Goodtimes sputtered in offense. “Excuse me, I will not make them my maid! I just think it’ll be easier for them to learn some simple utility spells before we move into, say, shooting giant fireballs or raising the dead.”

“Because you can do that?”

“That’s not important.” Mr. Goodtimes grabs you by the shoulders, beginning to push you out of the shop. “So, how soon can you get a staff made, Virgam?”

You are able to spot Virgam rolling her eyes before Jellie rubs against your legs and past you out the door, causing you to almost trip over your feet. “I’ll have one made in a few hours, don’t you worry. Just be careful out there.”

Mr. Goodtimes pushes you out into the bustling village once again, and you bring your hand up to block the sunlight that reflects off the blue crystal in front of you. Once you’re out the door Mr. Goodtimes lets you go, and you watch as Jellie runs off further into the village. You look at Mr. Goodtimes, wondering if he is worried about that at all but he is just looking out over the village with a wide smile. He looks at you.

“Well, my apprentice, since that is taken care of, why don’t I show you around?” Before you have a chance to respond you are being dragged off once again by your arm. “I was born and raised here in this village, you know. Magic runs deep and strong here, aided by the wonderful crystals you see all around you.”

He guides you up a small hill and gestures downwards at the blue crystal in the middle of the village. You can now see two farms, tabaxis like Mr. Goodtimes and Virgam are working in them as well as moving sparkles that you can only assume are some kind of fairies that zips back and forth across the fields. 

“That crystal there helps irrigate our crops. Rain is rare on this part of the island, and hauling water in from the lake isn’t always safe. So the founders of the village found a way to draw this crystal from the ground! It keeps all the dirt nice and moist. The only downside is that it can get pretty muddy sometimes, but that’s why we have stone paths everywhere, so no big deal.”

He leads you to the edge of the village, and gestures to a large green crystal that is suspended by some sort of structure in the middle of the lake. Light reflects off it, sending brilliant green rays over the already green jungle. The structure around it looks old, and you honestly don’t know how it hasn’t toppled over into the water yet.

"That crystal is really special! It can detect the intent behind magic, and deactivate it if there is any ill will.” He smiles at the shining rock. “It’s kept this village safe for many years now. I don’t want to think about what may have happened without it.”

After a few more moments of staring out over the lake, Mr. Goodtimes turns on his heels and back through the village, leaving you to follow behind. You spend an extra second looking at the crystal, a nagging feeling itching the back of your mind as you do. You manage to shake it away and follow your mentor as he walks up a small hill, between a farm bustling with activity and a small shop packed full of customers. You can faintly smell freshly baked bread, and your stomach growls. You haven’t eaten in a while, with you skipping out on dinner last night and no chance for breakfast this morning, and you’re just now remembering. You almost want to stop and grab some of the delicious smelling bread but you almost lose sight of Mr. Goodtimes while you are distracted and have to rush up the rest of the hill to catch up with him, far past the bakery.

Ahead of you stands a tall tower, it’s shape winding above you in a precarious way that makes you worried it will tip over with a slight breeze. Your mentor is standing in the doorway, beckoning you in. As soon as you do you are caught off guard by the beautiful and intricate decor, the wood carvings in the floor and on the walls absolutely breathtaking. A small round table sits in the middle of the room, with a stove off to the side and a cozy fireplace tucked in the corner. You don’t have time to dawdle, though, as Mr. Goodtimes leads you upstairs.

Lining the walls are tall bookshelves, multicolored spines creating a mesmerizing effect as you try and take in just how many there are. Nestled in between the shelves is a small window and cushion for sitting. You walk over to it, taking in the view. You can see a magnificent tree towering over the rest of the jungle a ways away. You didn’t know trees could even grow that big.

“That’s been there for centuries.” Mr. Goodtimes’ voice pipes up as he looks over your shoulder. “No one really knows how it grew, but it’s the oldest thing on the island. People think it’s the source of all the magic but I don’t think that’s true.” 

He backs up, tracing a finger along the spines of a few books before grabbing one and flipping through some pages. He stops on one with an “aha!” before his face falls in annoyance and he closes the book with a pout and puts it back. He turns back to the shelf and grabs another book. This time he flips to the first few pages before flipping further, tapping to a page victoriously.

“Here we are,” he says, “I’ll be right back.” He follows the spiral staircase back down, coming back up a few minutes later, a yellow crystal in hand that he shows off to you. “This is for you, my dear apprentice! It should help amplify your magic until you get better control over it.”

You hold the rock up to your eye, looking through the crystalline substance and at a now distorted Mr. Goodtimes. You smile at him, gesturing a thanks and grasping the crystal tight in your hand.

He opens his mouth again to speak, but is cut off by a loud boom that sends a shockwave through the tower. The sheer wave of energy that has just passed over you leaves you woozy, grasping onto one of the shelves so you don’t topple over. When you’re steady you look up at Scar who is staring out the window with wide eyes. After a few moments he looks back at you.

“That was big.” You give him an unimpressed look. “That was a massive surge of magical energy.” He grabs your arm, pulling you down the stairs, your dizziness momentarily returning at the sudden movement. “Come on, we have to go check it out!”

Something in your gut is telling you that this is a bad idea, but you figure you don’t really have a choice in the matter. As you go through the village now alive with questions of what that was, Mr. Goodtimes leads you back towards the large green crystal. Right before the outskirts of the village, a voice stops you both in your tracks.

“Hey! Scar! Scar’s apprentice!” Virgam’s voice cuts through the murmuring crowd and you both look back to see the woodworker holding a staff in her hands. She walks up to you, holding it out. “This is one of my rejects. Since Scar is pretty insistent on dragging you into danger at the first opportunity he was presented with, I figured you’ll need something to defend yourself with.”

You give her a look to be sure, but at her certain stare alongside the knowing glint in her eyes, you grip the staff firmly in your hands. The wood is unsanded and clearly unfinished; it grates against your palms that haven’t gripped anything much rougher than a mug full of beer in the past few years. You can feel the splinters already digging into your hands, but the way the end curls to a messy ball at the top fills the pit of your stomach with excited anticipation. You nod in gratitude to Virgam with a smile. She looks past you to your impatient mentor. 

“And you, be careful. It’s not just yourself you have to worry about now, you know. Their life could very well be in your hands.”

Mr. Goodtimes stands up straighter, hand landing on your shoulder in a firm grip. “Don’t worry, Virgam. I’m sure everything will be fine. We’ll be back before you know it, okay?”

You both wave to the village, and you follow him up a spiral staircase hidden within the trunk of a tree. The smell of sap and damp wood is almost overwhelming, but luckily you’re able to breathe fresh air before long. Mr. Goodtimes leads you out onto suspended bridges above the lake and thicker parts of the jungle, connected by the sturdier looking trees. You look down at the green crystal, blinking away some light that gets reflected into your eye. You stumble forward a bit on the rickety bridge, but Mr. Goodtimes is quick to catch you before you can fall, keeping a steady hand on you until you can confidently wave him off. Silence looms over you both, a thick blanket of something you can’t quite place making your steps feel even heavier than they should be. By the way Mr. Goodtimes’ demeanor has completely changed, you have a feeling that he feels it too.

You grip your staff tighter, ignoring any pinches of pain, and look out under the bridge. You catch a glimpse of purple and black, a stark contrast to the rest of the island around you, but before you get a chance to ask, Mr. Goodtimes has gotten ahead of you and you once again need to hurry to catch up. Soon enough, you exit the bridges as you entered, though a little passageway in the trees and are met with a green pathway in the jungle.

“This way.” Mr. Goodtimes’ voice is certain. “We’ve had these tremors come from this place for a while now, but this one was way bigger than any of the others.”

He pulls away some leaves, revealing a massive trench, the bottom fading behind a fog. In front of you lies a stone bridge that leads to an absolutely monstrous tower. Shining metal towers surround it, and it tapers to a point at the top that you can’t see on the upper levels. It’s overgrown and crumbling and you wonder how much it would take for it to fully cave in, and you have a sneaking suspicion it wouldn’t take much. Despite this, you can’t help but be in awe.

Mr. Goodtimes walks forward and over the bridge, you hesitate but soon enough follow behind, under the gigantic archways into the halls of the tower. It’s dark, only a few remnants of what you assume are lanterns hung from broken and rusted chains from the far up ceiling. The only light is from the other three open arches and some fading torches that had been placed in what you can only assume to be a few hours ago. 

Mr. Goodtimes lifts his own staff, creating a small ball of light that floats above it and illuminates the area more. He looks at you silently, glancing at the ball with an inquiring look. You catch on, fumbling, glancing at your staff before quickly disregarding the thought that popped up in your mind. You grab one of the smoldering torches and, with a flick of your wrist, relight it. You can see your mentor’s smile clearer in the added light.

You can also see the tall centerpiece, stained glass that looks as if it swirls when you move your light stretched up into the ceiling, framed by more of the same crumbling stone as the main structure. Past the glass into what you assume to be a hollow center is pitch black, and it leaves you with an unsettling feeling and you shift your feet on the uneven wooden planks beneath you.

“Alright,” Mr. Goodtimes starts, “let’s split up. I’ll go left, you go right, okay?”

Without waiting for an answer he heads up the left stairwell.

----

Here is this chapter’s decision! https://forms.gle/bVnvg68RHxPTpuap9

[moonlightsolo]

bête noire

summary: It’s been two weeks since the Resistance has made their new home on Ajar Kloss. You’ve disconnected yourself from everyone on the base, including Poe. Ever since Kylo Ren infiltrated your mind with dark thoughts, you’ve tried to steer clear of the Force. 

pairing: kylo ren x female reader

warnings: none. nada. zip. zero. zilch.

wc: 3.1k

note: here ya go. hope you enjoy. i worked rly hard on this. pls leave feedback thx.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

The days go by slowly as you sit in your tiny room on the dormant ship. You’ve shut yourself off completely from the Resistance, ignoring the pull from the light and the dark.

Since the last time you spoke with Kylo Ren, he hasn’t been bothering you. Although his presence in the Force is still there but he has cut his ties from you for now. 

It’s time you focus on yourself and your children.

The only opportunity you get to you leave your little sanctuary is when you need to use the bathroom or get cleaned up. 

The droid has been fetching you food from the commissary and bringing it back for you. She also has gotten you books too so the time would go by quicker.

You’re reading about the galaxy when somebody knocks on the metal door, you can feel that it’s Rey. She has been bothering you ever since the incident in the jungle. She knows you’re pulling yourself away from the light purposely and she doesn’t want you to go astray too far.

“Fine. If you’re not going to open the door, I’ll leave it out here for you.” She sighs, her footsteps begin to stomp away.

Did she leave something for you?

You lay down your book and stand up from your spot on your bed to open the door and peek out. It’s a staff.

You quickly grab it and retreat back into your room like a hermit crab. Your fingers run over the smooth wood, seeing how the edges are singed and black. You grip the edges and smile. You lay it against the wall and sit back down, “What is that?” Mary beeps out.

“It’s a quarterstaff. I can train with it.” You nod, your eyes glancing at your babies. They’re reaching their tiny hands over the bassinet to grab their sibling. They’ve gotten so big. “I’ll sneak out tonight when everybody is asleep and go train. Will you watch them for me?” You look up at her and she nods.

You pick your book back and up and begin reading again.

-

With a quick motion, you bend down to tie your shoelaces. You tuck your utility pants into your boots then you adjust your tee shirt. Your fingers run over the embroidered Resistance emblem on the sleeve.

“I’ll be back soon.” You tie your hair up into a top knot before grabbing your staff. You open the door slowly, your head peeking out through the crack to look both ways down the hall.

There are a few people scattered in the hallways sleeping so you just creep past them and out of the ship.

You haven’t felt fresh air in a while, it feels like it has been almost a month. You take a deep breath and begin sprinting towards the exit of the cave, hoping your footsteps are quiet enough so nobody hears you.

You take a sharp turn into the trees, following the nature-made path Rey took you down once before. You dodge large rocks and skip over the branches that are laying in the way.

When you make it to the opening, the moonlight has replaced the sun in the night sky. You can vividly see the stars twinkling in space above you. Your mind drifts to Kylo, knowing he is somewhere out there. You shake your head and take a deep breath, you begin to swing your staff expertly. You use the trunk of a tree to practice.

Your feet twirl your body around with the staff in your hands, holding it in a striking position as you launch forward. You make sure not to hit the tree, stopping it inches away from the bark. You don’t want to cause unnecessary damage to nature.

You spin your body to do countless strikes, your teeth grit together as your grunt with every swift movement. Someone’s hand touches your shoulder, which is a bad idea on their part. You turn towards the body, sweeping the staff under their ankles to knock them to the ground.

They groan in pain as they lay back against the lush grass. You push the staff against their chest with your face full of anger. You instantly soften when you realize it’s Poe. “Oh, my stars. I’m so sorry.” You drop the staff to the ground as you bend down to his side.

He starts to laugh, holding his side as he did. Maybe he hit his head too hard.

“I can’t believe you knocked me down. Now I can see how good you handle yourself.” He chuckles and takes in a deep breath. You start to laugh with him, your eyes closing as you feel tears trying to leave your eyes. “I… was… so focused… I didn’t even hear you..” You say between laughs as you stand up and reach your hand out to help him up.

When he gets to his feet, he doesn’t let go of your hand and instead he pulls you into a hug. You’re stiff at first but you relax and almost go limp in his arms. You let out a relieved sigh, a small smile forms on your lips and your eyes close. “I missed you.” He said softly, his head rests on top of yours. “Me too, Poe. Me too…” You open your eyes to look up at him.

Poe’s brown eyes look down at you, his smile copies yours. “Why’d you pull yourself away from us? It was like you weren’t here again.” He shakes his head and hugs you tighter as the negative memories flood his head. “I’m scared, Poe. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to be tied up in this war anymore. It’s impossible for me to just pick up and leave.” You pull away slightly but he still keeps you close.

Before he could answer, something cracks a twig behind him. You summon the staff to your hand, turning your body so Poe is behind you. You get into a fighting stance but Poe puts his hand on your staff to stop you. “It’s just Rey…” He notices how scared and defensive you got. He feels sorry for you and it makes you sick that he does. Poe knows that you’re protective because of your past, he knows that it scarred you.

Rey’s body creeps out of the shadows, the light casting down on her features as she walks closer to you both “I noticed her running through the cave earlier. I was going to go after you but Poe saw you too. So I let him handle it…” Her eyes look at the staff and she smiles. “I’m glad you got it.” She nods and you smile, “Oh yeah... Thank you, Rey.” You sigh then bite your lip from being nervous. It’s silent for a moment before Rey speaks again, “Can I speak to her alone?“ She glances over at Poe.

Poe looks at you and back at Rey, his shoulders lift up into a shrug. He starts to walk back towards the base with his eyes watching his feet. “Remember when we were training here and I said you can use a saber pretty well?” Her accented voice speaks out excitedly. “I want to make my own one day and I was wondering if you would be open to making your own too?” Her smile is wide and your face shows pure shock. “Really? My own?” She grabs your hands and closes her eyes.

“I had a vision,” Her voice echoes in your head. A scene starts to flicker through your brain. You’re seeing it through Rey’s perspective. It feels like you’re watching a film. She’s piloting the Falcon with Chewie through hyperspace. Then your muffled voice appears behind her and she turns her head to look at you. You’re shocked by your appearance— You look so different.

Your hair is cut to your shoulders, two pieces are braided and secured back. You’re wearing tight black leather pants, boots and a gray tunic of some sort. You notice the belt around your waist with a clip that would hold a lightsaber hilt. You have a blaster connected to the other side in a holster. You notice how you’ve gotten more fit, you seem genuinely happy too. 

You can barely make out the conversation then the scene skips forward. The three of you are walking in a cave, it’s dark until you all stumble upon a cavern filled with glimmering crystals. They litter the floor and the ceiling. There is a large spiral stone ramp going up the side so anyone could reach the high ones. Rey bends down to touch a crystal and when her fingers graze the outside, the vision ends.

You gasp as you come back into reality, your chest is rising and falling quite quickly. “See? You are destined to be great. I know you’re scared right now but take your time. You’ll choose the right path.” She pulls your body into a hug.

When she pulls away, she notices the tears flooding in your eyes, “Are you happy or sad?” She asks, her hands are now resting on your shoulders.

You shrug and sniffle as you bring your hands up to wipe your tears away from your eyes. You don’t know if you’re happy for sad, you’re feeling so many emotions. “I should get going now. I hope I’ll see you tomorrow?” She asks as she pulls away. You nod with a smile on your face, wiping your tears away as you look up at the stars again.

You take a deep shaky breath as you watch them twinkle. You sit down in the grass, laying down on your back so you can stargaze for a few moments. Before you know it, you’re fast asleep.

-

The stars are still twinkling above you when you open your eyes but you can’t see your surroundings, it’s too dark. Not even the grass beneath you.

The sound of a lightsaber hums around you but you can’t seem to find it in the dark. Then you spot it, the beam of angry red light casts over your face. It’s not Kylo’s though, it’s a regular red saber with no cross-guard.

Their stature almost matches his; Tall and dark. A cape billows out behind their broad frame, they twirl the saber expertly in their one hand.

Are they a Sith?

A crackly heavy breathing sound comes from the helmet they’re wearing. The light casts over the helmet and his armor.

The black surface shines under the red glow. A vent covers the person's mouth, the beady black eye covers look into your soul. They continue to breathe heavily while looking at you.

You’re drawn to this person, almost like you’re put in a trance. You’re certain that he could definitely harm you if you get too close but their presence comforts you in away.

You slowly creep towards them, your hand lifts up hesitatingly to touch the helmet. You want to see if he’s real if they’re standing in front of you.

His gloved hand comes up and grabs your wrist, “Enough.” His deep voice crackles through the modulator.

Light swirls around you like hyperspace, your breath was taken from your chest. Wind howls in your ears then you’re dropped onto the sand.

Your hands grip the gritty texture, it falls right through your fingers. The environment around you is hot. So hot. Sweat almost instantly begins to pool on your forehead. You inhale sharply as the air returns to your lungs, tears sting your eyes as you try to focus.

A blurry hand reaches into your vision, they’re standing in front of you. You warily take their hand and they hoist you up to your feet. “Hey, are you okay?” The man asks you.

You blink away your tears, looking at him with wide eyes when your vision focuses on his face. He’s young, most likely a teenager or a man with a baby face. You can’t help but notice a scar that travels across his features; It’s like Kylo.

His skin is sun-kissed most likely from the double suns behind him, his outfit resembles the old Jedi garb. You look around and notice the sandy huts around you. You’re on Tattooine.

“I know why you’re here.” He speaks to you. Your head whips around to face him again, “I don’t even know why I’m here. How did I get here?” You breathe out in panic.

“It’s okay. Let’s speak somewhere more private.” He leads you into a hut, it’s quite nice inside. He sits you down at a table that has a bowl of odd looking fruit in the middle.

“My name is Anakin Skywalker.” The name takes your breath away. Your hand grips the edge of the table as you try to steady yourself.

“Kylo’s grandfather? As in the Darth Vader?” You barely croak out. He seems a bit troubled by your words.

“Yes. I can feel your pain through the Force. I once was in your shoes. I was torn between the light and the dark.” His eyes flicker down for a moment then he looks back up at you. “I lost my family by choosing the wrong path. My grandson, Ben Solo, lost his family by choosing the wrong path. Choose your own path. Take care of your children.” His hand reaches across to grab yours before you could respond. His touch sends tingles across your skin, he smiles then you drop through the floor.

It’s like you’re being teleported to a different realm once again. Images swirl around you in a cyclone, your hair is blowing everywhere from the insane amount of wind. Your hands reach out to try and grab something to stop yourself. All of the air has left your body and it feels like you’re going to be falling for eternity.

The grass suddenly appears beneath you, your fight or flight kicks in. As you get closer to it, your hands go up to shield your face then you hit the ground. Everything goes dark.

-

The bright light around you is what wakes you up, surprisingly not the humid air. Your eyes open and for a moment, you still think you’re in your dream. Then you realize that you’re laying on your side in the grass and dirt. Sweat is soaked into your clothing, your hair is sticking to your damp forehead. You shoot up from the spot, your vision gets a bit fuzzy from standing up too quickly. You take a sharp breath through your nose as you grab your staff and head out of the jungle. 

As you get closer to the base, you see that people are walking everywhere. Anxiety settles in your chest, you wonder what people will think when they see you in this state. Especially because you’ve been a little bit of an introvert lately.

You slide out of the tree-line into view, walking back towards the cave so you can get cleaned up. You keep your head down in an attempt to not make eye contact with anyone. 

Rey spots you walking, she waves then her face scrunches up when she sees the state you’re in. You instantly make a beeline towards her, walking with purpose.

“What happened to you?” She questions, looking at your dirty clothes and face.

“I fell asleep out there,” Your hand goes up to itch your arm and you feel bumps under your fingers. You grimace from the pain, “Ouch.” You look down and see pink bites, most likely from bugs.

“I don’t know what happened last night. I remember being visited by Anakin. Anakin fucking Skywalker, Rey.” Your voice hushes down so people wouldn’t notice but they were already looking.

Her eyes go wide and she looks around nervously, her hand goes to your shoulder. “We need to talk to Leia about this.” She leads you to the command center where Leia is talking to Poe and other officials.

Poe’s face lights up when he sees you, then his eyes look at your dirty outfit and his eyebrows furrow. “What happened? Are you okay?” He interrupts Leia who was in the middle of speaking to him. He slides past her and meets you, his hands go to cup your cheeks.

“Hi, Poe.” You smile, “I’m okay. I just need to talk to Leia.” Rey scoffs as you guys hold eye contact for a little too long.

“Come on. This is urgent.” Rey tugs on your arm like a parent, “I’ll talk to you after okay?” You look back at Poe as she leads you away.

Leia has already turned herself around and was staring at the three of you. “What’s going on?” Her voice is soft but still concerned.

“She had a vision.” Rey says with a shaky voice, “From Anakin, your father.” You quip in. Rey glances at you in the corner of her eyes then looks back at Leia to see her reaction.

Her face is still, maybe she’s in shock. “Why would he visit you...” She breathes out as she thinks. “Do you remember anything he said to you? Even if it’s just one word.” She asks as she moves closer to you.

“He told me to choose my own path. He compared himself to... Ben... By how he left his own family for power.” Your head falls to look at your feet.

“Force ghosts visit you to give you guidance during a hard time. Usually only if you’re a Jedi... But, I guess he made an exception for you.. Unless he knows something we don’t.” Leia sighs, her hand goes to your chin to lift up your face.

“Follow his advice. Do what you think feels right, okay? Do not let anyone else persuade you to do anything other than that.” She is stern, she wants you to follow her advice too.

“Of course, Leia. Thank you.” You smile as she pulls you into a quick hug, “Now go get cleaned up. You’re dirty.” She laughs along with you.

When you walk away from the command center, your steps feel lighter like a weight has been lifted off of your shoulders.

Poe stops you, “I want to talk.” He’s serious but right now, you smell like sweat and wilderness so you need to get cleaned up first. “Of course. After I shower though, is that okay?” You ask with a small smile. He nods, then of course, he returns it but adds a kiss to your cheek which makes you blush.

“Come to my room when you’re done.” He walks away quickly to go finish whatever he needed to as commander. 

You quickly grab your shower supplies from your room, you give your babies a kiss before leaving again. 

You make your way to the communal showers, hopefully nobody is in there already since you’d like some privacy.

Thankfully, there is closed off sections where a shower is but it’s kind of awkward showering when there’s another person in the same room with you.

When you pull off your boots to get undressed, golden sand falls out onto the tile floor. You bend down to touch it, “What?” You breathe out in surprise.

You attempt to forget about it but as you take the rest of your clothes off of your body, more sand falls out from hidden crevices. 

You just push your clothes to the side and step into the stream of water. With your soapy cloth, you scrub at your body to get all the residue of the dirt off of your skin. 

You don’t want to believe you were actually teleported to Tattooine to talk to Anakin. It was just a vision. Nothing else.

-

tags: @officiallpeterparker @funnysadshit @ymariejp @attorneyl @fangirl570 @trinityrud20 @kylos-sassy-cousin @delicatelyherdreams @fizzywoohoo @savvy7392 @angelias134 @that-girl-named-alex @cas-backwards-tie @glimmering-darling-dolly @glitterypinkkitty @blxkstar @his-snow-white-queen @elsasshole @smiithys @nanocoool @deathbyarabbit @alex-skr @theholycakehole  @averillian  @crazynocturnalkiki @arcanebabe @tinydancer40 @superduckypower  @thomasscresswell @butterfly-writes @thatintrovertedbisexual @fangirlanotherjust @somekindofroger  @nicci442 @little-girl-who-dream-too-much @wildest-dream- @silverlambcaptain @cliffordmess​ @xkylorxn​ @lowkeyofsassguard @nickangel13​ @carol-twinklefists-danvers​ @oopsiedoopsie23​ @fandomshit6000​ @baba-eina @cosmichellfire​ @ravngers​ (still don't know why tumblr won't let me tag some of u sorry)

[lihikainanea]

so it’s my birthday today and i want to make the most of this full moon. any tips on how to like properly cleanse and clear the mind cause i really want to manifest.

oh man so weird, I responded to this but I guess I never hit post? what a drag!

first of all, HAAAAAAAAAAAPPY BIIIIIIIIIRTHDAAAAAAAYYYYYYY baby! I hope it’s an amazing one full of love and cake and everything good in the world.

Second of all....look, I use lots of things. Palo Santo, sage smudges, I use candles and Florida Water and crystals. But you don’t need any of this stuff. My grandmother could literally read your tarot from a deck of playing cards, and she always said that if you NEED all this other trickery to be on your game--maybe your game ain’t strong enough.

I smudge my whole house, I open the windows and I was around with sage. My grandmother taught me something that I recite in Italian, and I wave the smug around all my windows, my door frames, in each room. I focus on bringing in new light, new energy, and cleansing all the old. I focus on renewal, on regeneration, on the power of the moon. I always stand out in a full moon and just let the light hit me for as long as possible, just absorb all of it.

But again, you don’t need any of this. You just need your intention.

If you have a candle, light it. And if you don’t--that’s fine. Take a deep breath. Take a few deeps breaths. Focus on breathing in everything new, and exhaling out all the old. My grandmother was big on opening shit--if you have a front and a back door, open both. If you only have a room but the room has a window--open that. With every breath in, focus on breathing in all of the new--new intentions, new moods, new goals, new experiences--and with every exhale, visualize all of the old cycle leaving your being--old thoughts, old vices, old experiences.

Look up at the moon and see how it makes you feel--apprehensive? energized? excited? weary? Set your intentions based on that. What do you want to be, in the next few weeks? what do you want to focus on? Think of how you want to be cleansed, and you WILL be cleansed. It’s that easy, cupcake <3

[whatsseobb]

More Than Meets The Eye (Crystal x Gigi Fanfic) - Chapter 3

AO3 Link

[A/N: Hello! I’m sorry this took over a week to be updated. Real life is just getting too much for me but I’m trying my best to write. However, please expect for slow updates. I’m sorry. Thank you for waiting. I hope you enjoy this chapter. 

I hope you enjoy this fic and leave me your thoughts!!]

Synopsis:

Too bad that you couldn’t see

See the girl Crystal could be

There is more that meets the eye

I see the soul that is inside~

Based from Avril Lavigne’s Sk8ter Boi but with different twists.

Chapter Three - Under the Moonlight 

Two vehicles parked along the edge on the hilltop, the overlooking view of the city below them painted their scenery. The lights from below lighted the small cliff, enabling them to have a little source of brightness under than the luminescence brought by the moonlight.

The two groups merged once more as Heidi blasted the music coming from the car’s radio louder for them to all hear. They all gathered by the pick-up truck, getting their red cups once again and cheering.

They were all partying by the back of the car when they realized one person was left inside the car, silently staring at her phone. Jackie went in and talked to Daegen silently which the others tried not to listen to.

It didn’t take a while before the pink-haired girl joined them, bumped her cup and downed her drink before screaming by the cliff, “Fuck all guys! They are all pieces of worthless shit!” She yelled at the top of her lungs which gained a few giggles from the girls before they all said “Yeah!” in agreement to her.

“You know, I don’t think I’m gonna be dating anyone in a long time. I’m going to focus on myself, love myself and all that.” Daegen said in a tone that seems to be trying to convince herself rather than being extremely sure about it.

“What happened back there anyway?” Jan asked as if reading the minds of the whole bunch. True, they were clueless to what took place and they all had no courage to ask during the car ride to the cliff.

Lux was the first to explain, assuming what she might have seen that moment from the party. “Well, Noah suddenly appeared in the party… and was dancing with another girl.” She looked at Daegen to confirm her statement which the pink-haired girl continued.

“Yeah, he told me he was going to rest for the night because he fried his brains out from the exams but…” She shrugged before taking another sip of her drink. “I saw him dancing with this girl from our PE class. She’s not even good at sports. What’s to like about her?”

Widow cleared her throat before she stood up in the middle of the two cars, bopping to the beat that was being played from the radio. “Forget about boys. Speaking of dancing, you should all join me here and dance along.”

Soon after, half of the group joined Widow while the rest stayed at the back of the car, watching their friends. Gigi was sitting at the edge of the truck, letting her feet dangle as she looked at the overlooking view in front of them. Crystal went to sit beside her, joining in her silence. She dug her hand inside her pocket and picked up another cigarette, lighting it up and taking a puff. The blonde just looked at her, tilting her head to the side as she observed the teenager.

Gigi was trying to pinpoint where she might have met her before. The sapphire waves coming down from her head, the silver nose ring, the black and silver earrings on her earlobes, the black blouse topped with a denim jacket, a short black skirt over a stripped black and white tights. They all looked like she have seen it before. The girl beside her looked like trouble, with her blue-hair being the accent against her black and white outfit. She appeared to be like someone Gigi would choose last when asked to pick partners in their PE classes but here she was sitting beside her by the cliff.

“What? Do you want some?” Crystal offered, handing her the roll of cigarette in her fingers. Gigi refused politely, offering her a small smile.

“I don’t smoke. Isn’t that bad for you? Plus you’re also drinking.”

“Well, Ms. Goode, thanks for your concern but I’ll be fine.”

“How did you know me? Do we have classes together?” The blonde tilted her head to the side as she glanced at the person beside her.

“The question is do I attend classes? Haha kidding. I think we used to have History back in second year. Now I’m not entirely sure. Maybe English or Literature?”

“Mhm.” The blonde hummed under her breath, playing with her cup that was placed on her lap. “Since when did you start smoking? Do you always have that with you? Is it like a thing for someone like you?

“What do you mean someone like me? Am I like an alien or something?” Crystal darted her eyes towards the blonde beside her, watching her laugh at her question. “What’s funny about it?”

“No no, I mean, like you. Uhm, people who skates and likes metal rock stuff.” The ballerina was fiddling with her cup, staring at the clear content inside it. She watched the ripples as it bounced against the wall of the container.

“Metal rock stuff? Me? It’s not a match. Wait, do you mean because I dress up like this I like dark stuff already? I mean it’s not offensive but woah with the stereotype.” The sapphire-haired girl placed her hand on her chest, her lips turning into an O-shape as she imitate a hurt gasp, making the girl beside her chuckle lightly.

“Oh my, I’m sorry. It’s just th-“

“Yeah, I know I look like someone who likes those kinds of stuff just because of the way I dress and what I do with my skateboard, but believe me, I’m not. Not that they are not good choices of music tho, it’s just not my style.” Gigi looked down again at her cup, frowning. “Hey, it’s fine. I’m not mad.”

“But I’m really sorry for assuming things. I-“

“I said it’s fine. Come on, chill.” Crystal nudged the girl beside her with her elbow. She took another inhale of her joint before she puffed it out. The other girl just glanced at her with a faint smile on her face before looking at the view in front of them once more. She adjusted her pink jacket wrapping around her shoulders, pulling it tighter closer to her body to feel warmth. Crystal couldn’t help but notice the shifting beside her. She scooted closer towards the blonde. “I have an extra jacket in the truck. Do you want me to get it for you?”

“Oh no need. You can use it later cause I think it’s gonna get colder soon.” The blonde responded as she swing her legs while looking at the horizon. The blue-haired girl jump down from the back of the truck and jogged to get her coat. As Crystal returned back to Gigi’s side, she put it over her shoulder and let her hands rest on them firmly but not too tight.

“I’ll get it from you later when I need it. You can use it for now.”

 Meanwhile, in the makeshift dance floor, the bunch of girls were enjoying the time of their lives. They all cheered, dancing along to the songs in synchrony as if they were all part of a dance group. It was a Britney Spears song that everyone was familiar with. Their giggles and singing echoed the area as they had their little party.

Jan and Jackie paired with each other as they danced to the song. They grooved and swayed their hips to the song as they had a little chat over the loud music.

“You are good at dancing, Jan.” Jackie commented, watching as the other girl in front of her bopped to the beat of the song from the radio.

“Well, of course. I am part of the dance group, remember?” The short blonde took a swig of her drink which caused her to cough a bit as she felt the alcohol run through her throat. “Woah. This is strong. But anyway, you are not bad yourself. You have some good dance moves. You should join us, maybe. So we could get to hang out more!” Jackie shook her head at the suggestion as she took her hand and twirled her around, which made the two laugh.

“I don’t want to embarrass myself any further. Plus, I have the school magazine to focus on to. I like peaceful spaces more.”

“But it’ll be fun. Come on, I can teach you our dance routines some time.” Jan offered as she continued her mini dance.

“No, but thanks, really. I just like dancing here with all of you. Plus dance while drunk is much more fun.”

“Should I always give you drinks just to let loose? I think that would be really bad for you, we both know that.” Jackie took her hand again and spun her around.

“Oh no, I’m sorry.” A light-headed Jan accidentally stepped on the Persian girl’s foot, making her slightly wince in pain. She bent her knee and reached for her foot which Jan held as well, trying to caress it. “I’m really sorry, Ja-“

“Jackie, my name’s Jackie.” The brunette offered her a kind smile as they both tried to sooth the pain on her foot.

“Wait, let me get something cold. Just stay there.” Jan looked around as she tried to locate the pick-up truck with her blurry vision, which was behind Jackie. She hurried towards the car only to bump against Jackie once again. “Oops, I did it again.”

That made the brunette roll her eyes with the joke she tried to share, letting out soft chuckles. “I think it would be best if I go with you. Who knows how many feet you’re going to bump with and step on your way to the car.”  

“Hi Lux. Are you having fun?” Jan noticed Gigi approaching them who was gently swaying her hips as she danced along the music. She met eyes with Jackie who shook her head at the statement of the tipsy girl.

“She surely is drunk. It was Gigi, Jan.” Jackie led the way towards Widow’s car, settling Jan inside before she went to get a cold drink for her feet.

Gigi found Widow and Heidi on their makeshift dance floor as she felt the alcohol kicking in to her system. It helped her loosen up, allowing her to enjoy the music and bop along with her friends even with the company of people she just met. She lifted her arms into the air, feeling the melody flowing through her veins.

Back at the truck, Daya was hanging out with Crystal, the two of them standing and leaning at the roof of the car, watching their friends in their dancefloor. They silently stood by each other, passing the cigarette as they let the other enjoy the winter breeze paired with their joint.

“That Gigi doesn’t seem to be that quiet, hm?” Crystal broke the silence, turning to Daya as she pass the cig to her.

“Is she not? Oh yeah, I saw you two talking earlier. In all fairness, you made her laugh. I thought she’ll be a tough cookie to break even though she seem really soft.” The taller girl commented as she poured some drink onto Crystal’s cup. Daya then followed where the other was looking at before laying her eyes on the girl beside her, letting out a soft sigh.

“She’s quite something…” The smaller one trailed off as she locked her eyes on the ballerina, watching her dance with the bunch of girls. Her hair was flawlessly bouncing against her shoulders as she jumped around to the beat, her giggles echoing onto their small spot by the cliff. Crystal noticed the moonlight reflecting on her as if her skin was glistening under the moon’s touch.

  Present Day, 2020.

 The group were all at their large table by the stage, waiting for the program to officially start. They knew they had come earlier than the time but they did that as to have a longer time to be with their girlfriends as well as to update each other with their current lives. It had been some years since they all came together in one place. They were always incomplete for the past years that they had gathered. Sometimes it would be Lux, Daegen, Daya, and Crystal when they all went to visit Crystal and Lux in California. Sometimes it would be Daegen, Jackie, Jan, and Gigi in the East Coast to watch a musical. There was also a year when they almost were complete. It was during a tour Gigi and her dance company did back in their hometown. Everyone was available that weekend except for Crystal who was having her hell week for her finals in her art degree.

That reunion party was the first time after years that they were complete. Surely, they missed each other. They were all in relief as they all didn’t lose touch of each other especially with the growth of social media back in their college days which made it easier for the group to keep in touch. It also made them be as close as they used to be back in high school. It was as if they were never apart. At least for most of them.

 “I’ll be right back. The band is calling me, I think there’s something wrong with the instruments. Later.” The dark-haired vocalist bid a short goodbye to her girlfriends as she walked back to the side of the stage and approaching her bandmates.

“So Lux, how has it been with you? I heard you started your own small boutique. When we go to San Francisco maybe we can all visit your store.” Jan mentioned as she picked up a piece of nacho chip and shoved it in her mouth, turning to look at the small blonde girl across the table.

“Business is going great, really. Lately, people have been fond of the vintage dresses that I make. They were asking if I also do customized pieces.”

“Do you also do wedding dress, Lux?” Heidi asked from one side of the table, smiling from ear to ear as she shifted her eyes around the table. Eyes darted back on her in confusion. “What? I’m just asking.”

“Is it for a movie? Wow, I thought you have a lot of costume designers already. That would be a pleasure to work in your movie tho. But I don’t make wedding dresses. I can give you some of my friends’ number from college.” Lux took her phone from her small purple bag as she looked for her friends’ contact information.

“Something is fishy here…” Widow shot a look towards the actress as she playfully looked around while whistling. “Hey, don’t tell us…”

Heidi then showed a flashing diamond ring that she wore on her left hand which surprised the whole table. It earned loud squeals and cheers from her girlfriends as they ran towards her. “Oh my gosh, Di, I didn’t know you are getting married!”

“We are so happy for you!”

“Congratulations!” A few of the people around their table looked at their direction since their noise were getting louder but the group didn’t mind. They are used to all the stares they get when they are all having fun.

“Wait, does the media know already? I’m pretty sure I follow all news about you. How come this didn’t come out yet?” Daegen said as she wrapped her arms around Heidi excitedly.

“Well well well, I made sure you all are the first ones to know. He proposed just this last week for our 11th anniversary. Can you believe it? I’m getting hitched!”

“Oh gosh, finally. It’s about time, don’t you think?” The group chuckled at Widow’s statement.

 Out of nowhere, Jan burst into fits of laughter, covering her mouth as she tried to silenced herself but to no avail. The whole table looked at her in confusion as she continued laughing on her own. “Wait wait, hahahaha. I’m sorry. I just… hahahaha…remembered something.”

“It better be worth the laugh or you have to find your new table, Janette.” Daegen threw a table napkin towards her direction but it landed on Widow’s plate. This made the blonde laugh some more. Jackie had to offer her a glass of water to help her calm down.

“Okay, so here it goes. I suddenly remembered this thing back in high school. I am not sure if we were friends already but it did happen during dance rehearsals and the table napkin is so funny as if it read my mind because it was a story about Widow.” The taller girl shot daggers through her eyes towards Jan’s direction, murmuring “don’t you dare.”

“I love you, Widow.” Jan mouthed back before continuing with her story. “Alright, so dance rehearsals. We were all there, of course practicing and then suddenly, we heard a very loud ‘WHERE IS MY GODDAMN PHONE’ from the front of the stage. We were about to have a run-through of our routine but her phone was “missing”.” She did some air quotes with her fingers.

Gigi, who was on her phone, started giggling as well as she remembered the story Jan was referring to. “Widow just got mad at us and we have no idea why because we were all on our own groups stretching and warming up for the rehearsals.”

“Then Widow said, ‘I swear, if you all don’t bring out my phone right now, y’all have to stay here and do ten extra laps around the auditorium. ‘ We all looked at each other, then Heidi started laughing. I swear I thought my cheeks were burning that time because I was so scared for her.” Jan reached out her hand and placed it above Heidi’s who gently caressed it back. “We were all trying to stop Heidi from laughing until she pointed to the metal box Widow was holding back then. I swear she was so scary but it was so funny watching her get mad at us for that.”

The whole table started to burst into loud cackles as they listened to what Jan shared to them. They didn’t even notice Gigi excusing herself as she half-ran towards the exit with her phone in her hand, hurrying towards a much quieter place.

She reached the outside of the building, standing beside a small tree as she answered the call from someone. She talked for a few minutes before she turned back aiming for the door until a figure at the corner of her eyes caught her attention. She was wearing sparkly silver jacket and some tight leather pants, paired with black boots which was hard to miss. In the middle of her finger was a thin stick of cigarette, its smoke fuming into the air. Gigi was supposed to ignore it and go back to her friends when she heard, “Hey.”

She was stopped on her tracks, her mind wandering aimlessly as she looked down at her phone. She inhaled a deep breath, fixing the strands of hair falling onto her face, before glancing to the direction of the voice. “Oh hi.”

“I just came out to get some fresh air. Are they all having fun inside? Uhm, do you want some?” Crystal offered her a stick which Gigi politely refused.

“You know I don’t smoke.” Gigi glided towards where Crystal was, leaning her side against a column.

“Oh yeah, Ms. Goode.  I remember that.” The smaller girl exhaled a chuckle as she shook her head before taking a puff of her stick.

“I thought you stopped.” It came out more like a statement rather than question as Gigi focused her eyes on her shoe, her right foot rocking back and forth as she waited for a reply.

“There are just some things that are harder to quit.”

Silence enveloped the atmosphere as they both slowly realize what Crystal’s words meant. It had been a really long time, years even, since they have been left alone with just each other’s company. The first time they met were similar to their situation now, awkward, back in the first party they attended together but things quickly changed between the two. They grew close together, comfortable with each other’s’ presence. They were friends, to say the least, always looking out for each other, searching for one another when times of need. However, they seemed to be back to square one.

They both were caught off guard when they heard some footsteps towards their spot. Crystal then felt a pair of long arms hovering over her shoulder, wrapping her into a back hug. “There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you. We’re about to start performing again. You should go back inside,” said the person behind her.

[incorrect-pokespe-quotes]

I read every single Emerald fic on FFN so you don’t have to

There are 66 fics with Emerald listed in the tags. 

First, I took out any fic that was either not in English or actually gameverse, leaving me with 38 fics-- though I will say, the Spanish fics look like they slap

After filtering out “everyone appears” fics (I skimmed them to make sure) I was left with 26 fics. (While I would like to include “everyone appers” fics, I do not have the time nor motivation to read 30,000 words of derring-do and melodramatic heroics seventeen times in a row for Emerald to show up, deliver 2 lines, shoot something, and leave)

From there, I sorted them into various categories based on whether Emerald was a BG character or not, whether the fic had romance, whether Emerald was actually PART of that romance, etc. Then, finally, I was ready. 

Below the cut are the reviews of all twenty six fanfictions!

Category 1: BG Emerald      Every fic needs side characters, whether to provide extra voices or comedic relief or just a foil for the MCs. These fics don’t feature Emerald in a huge capacity, but he’s there and that’s what matters to me. I came into this site expecting anything: third wheel Rald, wingman Rald, Im-only-here-to-complain-about-your-flirting-Rald... I found everything but! It seems the most cliche writers among us don’t like using the Emerald tag, bc the few Frantic-with-BG-Emerald fics with I did find turned out to be spectacular! I’m pleasantly surprised and impressed. 

1. That Special Someone - Team Cap      Cap is on this list like 30 times so get used to it. This fic is mostly about Ruby refusing to shut up about Sapphire and how much he loves her (and how Emerald finds it infuriating). The details of this fic are super cute and the way Ruby and Emerald interact added 3 years to my lifespan, so I highly recommend this one if you want a nice, relaxing read involving the Hoenn boys (dare I say best boys?). In short, read this fic and all of Cap’s other fics while you’re at it.

2. A Picnic - Team Cap      Oh look. It’s Cap again. This fic, surprise surprise, is also good, and while it’s a little more basic than the others (Emerald runs into Ruby/Sapphire at a park and they mess around), it’s still cute and I still love it! Not really much else to say here... but the fic is good and I recommend if you’re in for some light domestic reads. 

3. High Hopes and Checkered Skies - aromatisse      I’ll be honest: my general opinion of frantic fics with BG Emerald is... low. A lot of them shoehorn my poor boy into whatever the plot requires at the cost of his characterization but this fic really surprised me in the best way! This one features Sapphire bringing Ruby to a “special place” the two of them arguing, and Emerald having to patch things up (mature Emerald? I don’t believe it!!). I found this fic while making this list and immediately bookmarked it bc THIS SHIT GOOD FAM. Please read this. 

4. Alpha and Omega- Ruby and Sapphire's Thoughts - Shadoweevee70     Not much to say about this to be honest. It’s exactly what it says on the tin. No plot, no development, not even 500 words. Emerald has a line. I think two. 

5. Boundaries - Team Cap     This fic hurt my heart. Though it focuses on Wally’s one-sided crush on Sapphire, there’s a touch of Emerald in there acting as Wally’s emotional support buddy, which tells me that either Emerald has matured or Hoenn is just devoid of emotionally stable individuals. Regardless, this fic is heartbreaking and beautiful but contains very little Emerald, so therefore I have very little to review. In short... not a lot of Rald, but you should read it anyway. 

6. Summer Days - eonentity      Crystal and Silver go on a “date” and Gold + Emerald try and stop them. It’s cute, it’s honestly kind of creepy if you think about it, and it involves Emerald. While the premise is kind of sketch, the banter between Gold and Emerald is incredible and I really like the general progression of the plot (especially the ending!) This is a very cute fic if you’re looking for something simple to read. Highly recommend, utilizes Emerald as a character really well!

Category 3: MC Emerald (gen)       This... this is my bread and butter baby. These fics run the gamut from friendship to domestic to drabbles to angst and everything in between, but the gist of it is that it includes Emerald as a focus without pairing him off. Not to say this is my favorite category... but it is. I’m biased, sue me. 

1. Family Inclusion - Team Cap      They say to leave the best for last, but I disagree. You’ll realize pretty quickly that Cap is one of my favorite authors to appear in this tag, and this fic is one of her best! I’m focusing on Chapter 3 (that’s the part with Emerald) where he has to entertain a shiny baby Ralts while Ruby and Sapphire are away (everybody say awwww). The fic is stupid cute, and while it doesn’t really offer much in terms of character development or stakes, it’s the type of domestic fluff you can read over and over and still find just precious each and every time. Also... Emerald takes care of a baby pokemon how can you NOT love that. Seriously. Look at this. 

2. At the Amusement Park - Team Cap       Oh wow, another Cap fic I really like. What a surprise. I’m astounded /s. This fic focuses on Emerald’s dilemma of being short at a place where height restrictions mercilessly mock the vertically challenged and how he deals with it with the “help” of Ruby and Sapphire. Though there is background Frantic (which shouldn’t really come as a surprise), this fic mostly focuses on Emerald’s insecurities and his relationship with the trio. It’s introspective, it’s wholesome, I’ve read it six or seven times (I lost count). Regardless, it’s good, and like every other Cap fic on this list, I demand you read it. That is a threat. 

3. Frantic Fight - Puph17      Any fic that drops a line like “margarine is in vogue” within the first three lines is immediately propelled to my top ten fics of all time list and this is clearly no exception. Despite the name, this isn’t franticshipping, just Ruby and Sapphire bickering and Emerald / Wally being annoyed about it. This fic, hands down, is one of the funniest pieces of fanfiction I’ve ever read on this godforsaken site. I am begging you to read this fic, if not for Emerald with a megaphone for the sheet amount of laughter it will cause. This fic may not be deep but it sure as hell is hysterical. ... Well, what are you waiting for? Why are you still here? Go read the fic, we’re wasting daylight. 

4. Weird War - storm-aurora      This is another fic I think I’ve probably read a dozen times and refuse to get tired of. Emerald and Sapphire are having a paintball fight in Slateport market, and I literally could not ask for a better friendship fic. The writing is high quality, the characters are very accurate (altho bc this is fanfic it doesn’t matter all that much), the friendships feel real, they’re having a paintball war.... everything about this is ideal. This is the quality content I live for. Please PLEASE read this fic, you’ll be happy you did. Close this tab and go read it immediately for your sake and mine. 

5. Skydrop - ayasato      Not a lot of people write about Emerald. The ones that do, for whatever reason, seem to do it very, VERY well. This fic, which is so long it might as well be considered an epic, is probably the piece de resistance of Emerald friendship fics. While not as snappy or funny or domestic as some of the other fics in this list, it more than makes up for it with a beautifully built slowburn friendship between Emerald and Sapphire, my favorite take on his living situation I’ve ever seen, and enough introspection to make your high school English teacher swoon. This fic is a must for any Emerald fan, even if it takes like an hour to read in full. It may be long but it’s magnificent.

6. Croissant Kings - ayasato      The fact that this fic is discontinued is irrefutable proof that this is the timeline god abandoned. Emerald and Pearl running a croissant stand is quite possibly the single most absurd fic concept I’ve ever heard but... it works. Somehow? It works. This fic is perhaps, hands down, one of the most ridiculously entertaining concepts and executions I have ever seen in my life. Everything about it, from the setup to the writing to just Emerald being Emerald is so raw and so ridiculous that I smile fondly when I think of it. I wish there were more than 3 chapters, however...

7. Perfect - Micah Debrink      I’m gonna be straight with y’all: I don’t like this fic. I’m not too sure what the plot is, and it was certainly an interesting read, but not my cup of tea. It’s good, don’t get me wrong; the writing is mature, very well paced, and overall well-written, but something about the characterizations is just not vibing with me. Thus, I’m not gonna pretend I thought this fic was perfect (har har) but I will say it’s something you should give a try. I’m admittedly a very biased party, so maybe you’ll enjoy this fic more than I did. For sure give it a shot, because maybe you’ll like it more than I did. This ain’t my jam, but it’s quality preserves nonetheless.

8. Roost - ayasato      This is short and sweet and may have some Sapphire/Emerald crushing if you squint, but overall a fun read. Very short, very good, give it a shot. This author is very high quality and that’s that on that. 

9. One Day - Jian-Kenkoku      This is short yet again but has a super interesting (if poorly explained) premise: Emerald gets adopted by Gold / his mom! This short oneshot details his first day, and while it is a tad rushed, it gives me the Emerald family content I have been sorely lacking. Not sure if this is one of my “reread until my eyes bleed” fics, but it’s certainly worth the trouble of reading through! It’s very cute and I recommend!

10. Emerald: Lying to Himself - reminiscent-afterthought        Very poetic and extremely well-written, but less than 200 words. This fic took me thirty seconds to read and it feels like time well spent. Please read it, even if for the sole reason that it’s super short. It’s also a super poetic way to talk about the Emerald arc. 

11. Go Away Gold! - jayfeatherelle      Ah yes, the “little brother enlists the help of a prankster to keep apart his sister and her boyfriend” trope... This may be cliche, but it sure as hell was enjoyable! Emerald enlists the help of Meddler Blue (side note: where did this trope come from bc she never does anything in canon that would be qualified as meddling other than just messing with Red at any given opportunity). Anyway, this fic is adorable, has a lesson at the end (that surprised me), had a really mature conclusion, and gave me Blue / Emerald friendship I really didn’t know I needed. In short? This is a cliche done well. It’s predictable, sure, but that’s not a bad thing! If anything, it’s a great nostalgic read. 

12. What if: Emerald never met Crystal - LetEveryoneOveraRip        This fic stole the last little bit of hope I didn’t even know I still had. You thought it couldn’t get more violent or sad? You were wrong. Everyone dies. This fic made me sad for like 45 minutes and I feel emotionally manipulated. I guess I should have seen this coming. Not much else to say except that this fic made me really sad, which, of course it did, but I still feel cheated out of a happy ending regardless. 

13. Emerald Owner’s Guidance and Maintenance Manual - Pokerescue18    Nothing happens in this fic. It’s literally an instruction manual and it’s well written and all but also has no plot. It is quite literally what it says in the title, so perhaps this should have been obvious but even still, I was left confused after reading this. I think I need a nap. 

14. Through My Eyes - Kaith1    Relationship angst that hurt my heart. This is less than 400 words so again, took me only around a minute to leave but the emotional impact scarred me for life. Very well done! This fic details Emerald’s inner turmoil as Gold and Crystal get together and Emerald worries he’ll be abandoned again. While I do feel like Emerald hating the two of them for getting together is a little ehhh, this fic does a great job of showing why Emerald would be so upset about it and his inner motivations for being so hurt by it. While I don’t agree, the author made me “get it” a little more, and for that I say bravo! 

15. At the Fair - IanDonyer      This one is short and focuses on Emerald meeting a security guard at a Halloween fair kinda deal. It’s also one of the first Emerald fics on FFN, released far before the remakes even came out! While obviously it doesn’t contain much in terms of character development, it also was written with only the Emerald arc to go off of-- so I can easily overlook any character inconsistencies. That being said, this fic is really cute and uses the OC pov really well! If you’re looking for a blast from the past, check this fic out! 

Category 4: Emerald shipping fics      On the rare occasion where the blue moon hangs melancholy in the sky, the planets align, and starlight rains down from the heavens... someone ships Emerald with another character. Romantically. Not sure where the aversion to shipping him came from, but for whatever reason everyone prefers him single. These authors, these brave knights, they’re changing that. Hell yeah for romance. 

1. Left Out - RedCharmeleon       Not to be like “this fic is painfully straight...” but yknow. Emerald is upset at Gold/Crystal’s wedding because he’s the only single one and needs a girlfriend. There’s also a “what are you, gay?” joke in here, which soured my mood for the rest of the fic. I’ll be honest, I never really liked the “all male protag / female protag ships and then taking Silver, Pearl, and Emerald and pairing them off with OCs” deal, so I’m heavily biased against this fic, but the writing is decent and the plot is fine. If you enjoy this style of plot (everyone needs to be paired up, blushing galore, love at first sight, everyone acts like they stumbled out of a hallmark movie script) then this is the fic for you!

2. Glances - Diemerald      A collection of drabbles about Emerald and Wally becoming friends and falling in love. I’ve read it seven times now. While the plot is a tad disjointed because of the format, this author really NAILS Emerald’s character. Emerald (and Wally) show a lot of growth between the snippets and god it’s so beautiful I need more of it. Please read this fic. Tell your neighbors about this fic. This fic is fantastic. 

2. Revolvershipping Cuddles - Charmerruby     You’re never gonna guess what this one is about. It’s very cute but it’s literally just fluff. Very cute, like marshmallows. This is kinda short so there isn’t really much to say, but I will am starving for Emeruby content, so though this be but little, it be fierce. And fluffy. Did I mention cute? This fic is so filled with love my heart grew three sizes after reading it. I could keep calling it adorable, but I don’t think that’s productive. Spend the time reading this fic instead. 

3. Misunderstandings - Pokeluv101      Reading this was very weird because I know the person who made the OC the story is centered around. Reading even the names thrust me so violently back into my middle school days I can almost taste the edge. It’s very good, and I suggest giving it a read even if you’re not a huge dexholder/OC fan. Also tsun Emerald is good Emerald. 

4. Unexpected - Diemerald     A fic about Emerald and Yellow falling in love. Not exactly my cup of tea so I skimmed it but this author is really good so it’s a great fic, even if it’s not to my tastes. I suggest giving it at least a once over because this author worked hard and I respect them, even if this isn’t really... my thing. Check it out!

5. Big Changes - Aquatales     You know how I said I would read every Emerald fic? I lied. This one is about Emerald getting genderbent and immediately shipped with Wally against his will by his friends. Reading the summary gave me hives and I could not bring myself to read it in full.

Final Thoughts      While I’ll be honest and say that I did find some of the the cliche fics I was expecting, I was incredibly and happily surprised to discover that more often than not, the people who bother to publish Emerald fics really care about his character and publish some pretty high quality stuff, and that’s pretty damn cool. There are shipping fics, BG Emerald fics, MC Emerald fics, and most of them are pretty fantastic! Way to go spe fandom writers, you did my boy justice, all..... 10 of you.

[gimmeyoon]

Slayer: Call It Magic

   ✰ pairing: warlock!Jimin x Slayer!reader

   ✰ setting: Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU (part 4)

   ✰ word count: 5.6 k

   ✰ warnings: explicit language, mentions of death, violence, heavy angst, smut (oral (f), bondage, choking, degradation,  )

   ✰ summary: ❝Yoongi has been missing for months and the Slayer has lost focus because of it. Jimin offers to brew her a potion that should mend her broken heart.❞

Prev | Next

    It's strange the way the world keeps turning even when you're certain it won't. It's almost unsettling how unchanged things are. The demons keep maiming, killing, or bringing about the apocalypse, and you still head to the front lines to defend the world and all the good that is in it. Even when it feels like there is no good in it.

    You haven't seen Yoongi in a month now, the pain of it all only slightly better. Namjoon's seen him. He checked in with your watcher a week ago when he heard a demon had plans to kill you.

    Jungkook said after the demon was long dead that he could smell Yoongi the whole fight.

    He had still be watching, ensuring your safety.

    You wish he had stepped out of the shadows long enough for you to stake him. Or maybe to hold him. You weren't sure.

    He was staying in the city nearby. Jimin had scried for him just to make sure he wasn't dead. He found him ten miles away. Close enough that you could track him down and kill him if you really wanted to.

    Maybe that's why you knew if he did come out of the shadows you would welcome him back with open arms.

    You felt weak for even thinking that.

    "All of the demon's victim's are young people who have given into one of the seven deadly sins," Namjoon said, pulling your attention back to the meeting.

   Your watcher had called the Scooby gang together after he got a tip that the police reports on the most recent murders all had some unexplainable elements. Namjoon, of course, could explain them. The supernatural was afoot.

    "Wait," Jimin said, sitting up straighter. "You're telling me all of the things my grandma tried to tell me about sin was real?"

    "Well," Namjoon said, looking a bit uncomfortable at the question. "That depends, do I know if you will be ultimately judged by one specific higher power? No, I don't know. Do I know that there is a demon that specifically targets people based on what also happens to be the seven deadly sins? Yes. Yes there is."

   "Maybe he'll come for me," you said, looking down at your hands and sighing.

   "Way to keep the mood up, kid," Jimin said, patting you on the shoulder.

   "I've got a lot of wrath," you said turning to look at him.

    "Yes, and I'm the king of lust, so let's not bring any 'maybe he'll come for me' energy into this room," Jimin replied.

    "_____ has a point," Namjoon said, pushing his glasses further up his nose bridge. "We should always be vigilant."

    "How does he feel about cursed humans?" Jungkook asked, earning a punch in the arm from Jimin.

    "Oh, so you're cool if you're safe? What about the rest of us?"

    "What about former demons turned human?"

    "Hey!"Jimin said turning to Taehyung. "Since when is it every man for himself?"

    "I just want to know how vigilant I should be?" Jungkook grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and sinking further down in his chair.

    "At least you have magic," Jin said. "I'm a sitting duck, waiting for this demon to get me."

    "What's your vice?" Jimin asked.

    Jin shrugged. "Depends on the day."

    "It might be easier if we all die," you said, not thinking much before letting that thought out.

    "Yes, but then we'd miss the annual Kappa Alpha Tau roast and toast, miss doom and gloom," Jimin said turning in his seat to look at you. "And I for one want to get drunk and eat pork in the middle of the day for no reason one more time before I die."

    "You have to be invited,” Jin said, earning a scoff from Jimin.

    “As if I haven’t had my date with the one gay guy in the fraternity lined up since Fall.”

    “Maybe Yoongi’s gay,” you said. “Maybe he realized that and that’s why he left town.”

    “For some homoerotic self-discovery?” Taehyung said.

    “Well, Vampires are usually described as being bisexual in the literature on them,” Namjoon said, drawing everyone’s attention across the table to him. “The act of drinking blood can be very erotic and as they don’t discriminate against victims based on gender.”

    “So, he is gay?” Jin asked.

    “I don’t mean to presume someone’s sexuality,” Namjoon quickly added, shutting the book in front of him. “I just meant to present the facts for a fuller understanding of vampire sexuality.”

    “We’re all a little gay,” Jimin said with a shrug. “Jin said he’d suck my dick once for a cup of coffee.”

    “That was hyperbolic,” Jin said, eyes wide.

    “Is dick sucking an acceptable form of currency among humans?” Taehyung asked.

    “Depends who you ask,” Jimin said just as Jungkook and Namjoon replied in the negative. “Oh, so I’m the only one?”

    “It’s prostitution,” Namjoon said, shaking his head. “That’s what you’re looking for, Taehyung.”

    Jimin frowned. “Respect sex workers.”

    “I might as well have prostituted myself,” you said, earning a sigh from Jimin.

    “No, you slept with a guy and he didn’t call you back. Welcome to the very real world of human problems.”

     “At least I would have gotten something out of it if I had prostituted myself.”

     “Very true,” Jimin said, earning another dismissive look from Namjoon. “The moral of the story is never sleep with anyone without securing the bag first. Love is dead.”

    “My heart is dead,” you agreed.

    The room went silent as your friends all looked back at you an uneasy look on all of their faces. This was becoming a very familiar look.

    “So, a demon is murdering people,” Jin said breaking the silence.

    “Yes,” Namjoon said, nodding his head slowly. “We should patrol.”

    “Okay,” you said, standing from your seat and grabbing your stake off of the table.

    “We,” Namjoon said, standing as well. “Plural.”

    “Nosotros,” Taehyung said, causing everyone to look at him. “What? I speak seven demon languages, but you draw the line at Spanish? That’s racist.”

    The Scooby gang minus Jin and any vampires that may or may not want to be a part of the group, all go patrolling through campus. It's odd, having so many people with you. Occasionally Namjoon would join you, especially when had his suspicions that you might skip it for a party or other various social event, but having Jimin and Jungkook, basically undertrained humans, with you. That was weird.

     You accidentally bumped into Jimin when both of you rounded the same mausoleum and a you were inches away from piercing his throat with a stake. He looked back at you with wide eyes that seemed to wake you up from whatever haze you were in, but only for a moment.

    Sometimes you find yourself looking at your own life like a spectator. Like you know you're no fun to be around right now. You can hear yourself whining, feel yourself losing focus, but you can't stop yourself. You can't make your heart hurt less and its infuriating sometimes.

    It feels like Yoongi stole something from you.

    Like right now, you know your lack of focus is why Jungkook and Jimin are risking their lives. Namjoon, this was his job. He had killed plenty of demons without your help. But Jungkook and Jimin? This was not easy for them.

    Jungkook was basically a human who got a little hormonal three nights a month. Jimin was a novice witch with little to no fighting skills. Yet they stood beside you as your rocks. As the one's here to ensure you didn't die tonight. It was unfair of you.

    Still you couldn't get your head on straight.

    It was like watching someone else live your life. Like you were controlling yourself in a game of Sims but couldn't get your character to respond for some reason. Probably needed to restart the whole game.

    What was the real life equivalent of restarting the game? Cutting all of your hair off, moving to a new city, and adopting a new name and accent?

    But you liked your hair and didn't have enough money to move to a new city.

    So you seemed to be stuck like this.

    The demon has bright red eyes. You stare into them, seemingly unable to move. You're not sure why, it's like he has a power over you, but he doesn't. Not in actuality. Yet you stand frozen right in front of him.

    He roars in anger, one of his large clawed hands coming up to slap your face, sending you tumbling to the ground.

    Jimin shouts something that you can't make out as your ears ring from the blow.

    Jungkook reaches you first, pulling you away from the demon and behind a tombstone, one next to where Jimin is chanting something, holding a crystal in his hand. You try to identify it, but Jungkook blocks your view as he crouches down in front of you to see if you're okay.

    You don't respond immediately to his inquiry, causing his eyes to widen in fear.

    "I'm fine," you said, shaking your head slowly to try and wake yourself up. "Namjoon?"

    "Right," Jungkook said, standing up and running back towards the demon.

    You're able to stand up slowly, and as you turn back to the demon, you watch as Namjoon swings a scythe, taking the demons head off with one blow.

    "That was close," Jimin said, taking your hand in his and giving it a light squeeze. "You good?" You nodded your head in response as you dropped his hand. "I'm okay but I'm not okay."

    "Yeah, I know," he said, following behind you as you walked to join Namjoon. "It's going to get better though."

    You spend more days as a ghost, your physical body being present but your mind being far away.

    You feel yourself just existing, though at the same time the days seem to blur together. Each one seemingly as insufferable as the next. You have never been happy, you are sure of it. Life has always been darkness.

    "_____ will agree with me," Jungkook said, calling you attention back to the group.

    You've actually left your apartment today to get lunch with Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook after Jimin promised to buy you a cake pop for your sorrows. It hadn't been as effective as you had hoped.

    "Hm?" you mused, as you picked at your lunch.

    "Should Jimin sign Taehyung up for Tinder?"

    "All dating is suffering," you said with a shrug.

    Jungkook seemed to hesitate for a moment before turning towards Jimin. "I think that counts as a no, so I was right she sides with me."

    "There is something seriously wrong with you," Taehyung side, causing both Jungkook and Jimin to turn quickly towards the former demon.

    "Tae, we try not to tell people they have something wrong with them when they are going through emotional trauma," Jungkook said, earning only a noncommittal head nod from Taehyung.

    "I mean he's not wrong," Jimin said, offering you a small smile. "I've been looking into potions."

    "To fix me?" you said, looking around the table, a bit embarrassed. You knew you weren't at the top of your game, but it was never nice to hear your friends were actively looking for ways to improve you.

    "There's nothing wrong with you," Jimin said, shaking his head. "I just want to make it hurt less."

    "So you've found a potion that'll rip out my heart and any emotions I have ever had and/or ever will have?"

    Jungkook's eyes went wide at your remark before he turned to Jimin to wait for his answer.

    "No, it's a potion to mend a broken heart," he said. "We're not turning you into a robot."

    "Not even if I ask nicely?"

    "Can you do that?" Taehyung asked, leaning forward on the table.

    "No," Jimin said. "Well, I mean, I don't think so."

    "Lame," you said, earning a scoff from Jimin.

    "At least you still have your sense of humor," he deadpanned.

    So that's how you end up at Jimin's apartment three days later, on the new moon.

    You like his apartment, it's changed a lot since he discovered Wicca. It's usually dark, his preferred method of illumination being vintage lamps and candles. Velvet curtains stop any outside light from entering, and his opulence is accented with a velvet couch he got from his grandmother and the velvet throw blanket and velvet pillows on the floor next to it. It's a sea of darkness and velvet.

    He's in the kitchen when you invite yourself into his home. He never locks it, even after learning that all of the horror stories he was told as a child are real. Or at least most of them. Still no word on Bloody Mary.

    His argument is that vampires need permission to enter your home. You almost thank God you never invited Yoongi over. Your apartment will always be free of him.

    "I'm making it now," he said as he acknowledged your presence.

    He's placed a small piece of rose quartz in a glass jar, surrounded by a nearly clear liquidly you can't identify, and rose oil which you ascertain by the bottle on the counter. he throws in Chamomile leaves almost as soon as you stop beside him.

    "You need to inhale this," he said, motioning towards the rose oil on the counter. "Relax your mind."

    "Easier said than done."

    "All I'm asking for is a good old college try from my favorite co-ed."

    You picture yourself floating in nothingness, clearing your mind until everything around you goes silent. Rose petals float around you as the scent fills your sense. For the first time in what feels like forever your brain actually stops yelling, even if for just a moment.

    "And now we let it charge," he said, drawing his line through the salt circle surrounding the jar and taking it to the balcony where he left it in the moonlight.

    "May I interest you in bad reality television?" he asked as he reentered his apartment.

    "Sure," you said, following him towards his couch. "I want to hate other people more than myself for a moment."

   "Don't hate yourself," he said, earning a glare from you. "I know, easier said than done."

    "Do you ever tell your brain to stop doing what it's doing, but it doesn't?"

    "Yeah, I get it," he said, pulling you into his side. "It's going to listen to you one day. Hopefully soon, if I'm actually a warlock."

    "Best warlock I know," You said, as you let yourself relax in his embrace.

    "Only warlock you know."

    You fall into comfortable silence as Jimin's terrible reality show of choice numbs your brain just enough to keep you content. He rubs small, slow circles into your arm as his head comes to rest on top of yours. Jimin is nothing if not comfortable to be around. He has the kind of presence that makes you feel at home no matter how well you know him.

    You've always liked that about him.

    "It's going to be okay, friend," Jimin said as the first episode came to an end. "I know it's not right now, but one day, one day you'll feel whole again."

    "How can you be so sure?" you asked, looking up at him.

    "Because you save the world. You can save yourself."

    That night, you don't rub the potion over your heart as Jimin instructed you to do before you left his place. Three times he told you exactly what to do, but you don't. You're not sure why, but as you hold the jar, something in you says to set it down on the table and go to sleep.

    You suppose in some ways Jimin becomes the potion. You find yourself at Jimin's almost every day that week, him always coming up with a new way to distract you. Your favorite was when the two of you went shopping for clothes that reminded you that you were in fact "that bitch." Your least favorite was when you, Jimin, and Jungkook went mini-golfing, as Jungkook insisted Jimin cheated using magic, and ended up breaking the club in half in his rage. That's how you all discovered the wolf was latent. Always ready to emerge. It wasn't how you had expected your night to go, though in the course of the last month or so it certainly wasn't the worst.

    Jimin manages to convince the whole gang to go see a movie together, even Hoseok shows up, which is perhaps the oddest experience you've had in recent memory. It's a horror movie, per your request. Namjoon and Jin scream like babies, Taehyung looks the happiest you've seen him perhaps ever.

    At some point you start to feel better. You're not sure exactly, when but one night as Jimin and you do homework together on his bedroom floor, you realize you're not waiting for Yoongi to walk in the door so you can stake him or hold him, the jury is still out on that one.

It's not life changing, you're not your old self again, but you feel slightly more at peace.

    You laugh easily for the first time in many moons. Jimin is telling you stories about his child hood, and the animated way he recounts them has you nearly rolling on the floor with laughter.

    "Can I say something and you promise to hear me out?" Jimin said, his bright smile causing you to mirror it.

    "Of course."

    "Of course," he laughed. "Like you ever listen to me."

    "I do," you defended, punching him lightly in the shoulder. "You're my best friend."

    "You don't listen to anyone," he said. "Especially not me. Maybe Namjoon, but I have several nights out with you to prove that you don't listen to him."

    "Get to it, or you'll piss me off so much I won't let you."

    "Okay," he laughed. "I think you should sleep with someone."

    "Oh, so you're a comedian now?" you said, raising an eyebrow at him. "Do I need to recount to you my past two sexual encounters?"

    "Please do, with detail," he said, earning another punch in the arm.

    "Seriously, I slept with a demon that tried to kill all of my friends and a vampire that hit it and quit it."

    "So sleep with a human," he said, to which you rolled your eyes. "Have you ever considered that both of those sucked because you slept with creatures of the underworld."

    "Are you kink shaming me?"

    "Never," he said, with a wink. "Seriously, find a nice, normal, safe guy and fuck him."

    "No," you said.

    "See, you don't listen to me."

    You laughed at this as Jimin's wide, accusing eyes stared you down. "Sorry, I can't be the hoe friend you always wanted."

    "I guess I'll forgive you."

    "Only if you can find it in your heart," you said, batting your eyelashes dramatically.

   Jimin and you laughed together as the two of you laid back on the floor, the melody of your friendship filling the room.

    "Seriously," Jimin said looking over at you as you lay side by side. "It helps me. Stressed? Fuck. Heart broken? Sex. Feeling the existential dread of life? Do the do."

    "You just think sex is the answer to everything."

    "That's because it is."

    "I just can't keep hooking up with people I barely know," you said, shaking your head. "I've put my trust blindly in two people and it was horrible."

   "What about me?" he asked.

    You shoved his shoulder, pushing him away from you. "What is this, an elaborate ploy to get into my pants?"

    "Fuck off," he laughed. "Someone explain to me why two friends can't fuck and still be friends after. I mean, your friends offer emotional support, so why can't they offer physical support when necessary. I'm not about to confess my love to you, no offense-"

    "None taken."

    "I just don't understand why two friends can't blow off some steam together."

    You lay there in silence for a moment, letting his words fully sink in. "Why is that a solid argument?"

    "I've been thinking about it for a while."

    "Okay," you said.

    "Okay, what?"

    "Okay, I'll do it."

    "Seriously?" Jimin asked, sitting up quickly. "I'm going to join the fucking debate team, I can't believe I convinced you."

    "But only when it feels right," you said, sitting up as well. "Right now it feels like a mediation. I want to be in the moment, feel sexy, want dick."

    "Fair," he said, giggling as he laid back down on the floor, looking up at the ceiling with mirth in his eyes.

    You're in the moment a week later at a party that Jimin dragged you too. It's at a frat you he   usually frequents and the two of you are easily pulled into the party atmosphere by his friends. You want to feel miserable but Jimin's making sure that it isn't, pulling you into his friends room to play drinking games.

    It's about 3 shots of tequila later that Jimin pulls you to the dance floor. It's innocent at first, him jokingly dancing to try and make you life, which is highly successful due to the aforementioned tequila shots. At some point the two of you start dancing normally but facing each other with enough room for Jesus and at least one if not two disciples to dance between the two of you.

   It's when a stranger unceremoniously starts grinding against you, that Jimin pulls you towards him, spinning you so that your back is flush to his body. You don't hesitate to continue moving your hips, grinding into him as his strong arms keep you against him.

    The hit and run grinder gets the message and leaves with his tail between his legs, and even though that is enough of a reason for you to return to your safe distance away from Jimin, you don't. The two of you stay body to body, moving to the rhythm together.

    And while you want to say this is what did it for you, that feeling him grow hard against you was what convinced you tonight was the night, you knew you would end up there before he'd even lead you to the main room to dance. It was earlier, when he pulled you into his side and laughed at a funny story his friend was telling that you knew. You wanted him, if only for the night.

    You're absolutely sure hours later as the two of you sit on his couch, greasy gas station food between the two of you as you watch the Kardashians. Jimin's saying something about how Scott is the only valid member of the family when your hand casually rests on his thigh and begins to move upwards.

    He just looks at you as if this is something that happens all of the time between the two of you. It almost makes you rip your hand away and return your attention back to the show. But there's the other part of you that takes it as a challenge.

    That part of you wins as you move so that you're straddling him, his hands almost instantly coming up to rest on your hips.

    "Can I help you?" he asks, a smirk slowly growing on his face.

    "I think we can help each other," you replied, your hands moving across the expanse of his chest.

    "I think you're right," he said, smiling as he pulled you as close as possible to his body.

    You're not sure who leans in first, maybe it's you, maybe it's him, but it doesn't matter as your mouths connect in a rushed kiss. It feels better than you expected, no trace of awkwardness as the two of you move together, your hips rotating against his crotch as your tongues dance together.

    When your hands move to his belt, Jimin stops you, his hands grabbing your wrists. "Bed," he said, moving his head in the direction of his room.

    You almost try to make a joke about him being bossy, but there's something in the way he looks at you that has your brain disconnecting from your mouth and leaving you at a loss for words, so you do what he says.

    "Strip," he said, as the two of you stood before his bed.

    You blush at how quickly you oblige, your skirt falling to the floor almost instantly. Jimin smiles in a way that lets you know he noticed, but he doesn't tease you. Instead, he closes the space between you and lightly caresses your face as he looks at you with fierce eyes.

    "Lie down for me, _____," he said, lightly pressing on your shoulder until you sat down on the edge of his bed.

    You feel safe and loved among the velvet and silk of his bed. Even as Jimin moves around the bed, looking at you with predatory eyes, you know there's no one else you trust more in this moment than him.

    "Are you sure?" he asked, coming to sit on the bed beside you and giving you a softer look than before.

    "I thought you were going to fuck me?" you said, smiling at him. "What are you? Afraid of the Slayer?"

    Jimin's gaze grows predatory again as he stands to his feet. "Snap," he said. "Do it."

    You did as he instructed, though not without a raise eyebrow and look of confusion.

    "I would have suggested a safe word," he said, smirking as he leaned down to kiss your forehead. "But I'm afraid you might not be able to say anything with that pretty mouth of yours.

    "So this is what you're like," you mused, looking him up and down.

    "You've thought about me?" he asked, humor in his eyes.

    "You talk about sex all of the time, it's kind of hard not to."

    He laughed kissing you on the lips this time. "I've thought about you too, baby."

    "And how do you want me?" you asked, more confident than you perhaps should be considering his earlier warning.

    Instead of answering you, Jimin only smiles as he move to stand at the food of the bed. “Irretite.”

    You only notice the plants placed at the four corners of the bed as they stir at his words, the vines quickly growing to ensnare your limbs. You instinctively fight against them, but Jimin's magic ensures your bond and unable to move on his bed.

    "Now," he said, getting on the bed and resting between your legs. "Do you trust me to make you feel good?"

    "You and no one else," you said, your breathing already slightly erratic just at the sight of him.

    "That's what I like to hear," he said, kissing the inside of your thigh.

    He licks slowly up your cunt, pressing a light kiss to your clit, before looking up at you with those same predatory eyes. He sucks your clit into his mouth, causing your head to fall back into his pillows, his comforting scent filling your senses.

    He laps at your clit as he fingers your cunt, his movements precise and motivated by your sounds as they fill the room.

    You long to entangle your fingers in his hair, but despite your pulling at the vines, they don't let up. If anything you swear the tighten, but you don't mind as Jimin's attention to your body has your mind completely focused on him.

    “I always knew you were just a dirty little slut,” he said lookin up at you with dark eyes.

    There’s something in you that feels a stranger to this Jimin. His foreign words have you clenching around his fingers and yearning to pull your arms free and get your hands on him.

    You can feel your high approaching as two of his fingers fill you and another works circles into your clit, but just as you go to tell him to keep doing what he's doing, he pulls his hands away from you.

    "What?" he asked innocently, though the look on his face said differently. "I thought you trusted me?"

    "I do," you said breathily, panting as you felt your high disappear.

    "Good," he said, kissing your hip as he moved up your body. "I like it when you do as you’re told."

    "Please Jimin," you said, pulling against the vines. "Fuck me."

    "Only because you said please," he said, before leaning back on his heels and pulling his shirt over his head. It feels like torture as you long to run your hands over his defined abs, and it feels practically like murder as he slowly removes his pants. You want nothing more than to reach out and quickly rid him of them, but all you can do is whine as the vines tighten back around you.

    "None of that," he said, throwing his clothes into a corner of his room. "Behave, baby, and you'll get what you want."

    You don't shy away from staring at his hardened cock, the tip red and dripping with pre-cum. You almost moan at the size of it and the thought of it filling you up. "Give me what I want, and I'll behave."

    Jimin raised an eyebrow as his hands gripped tightly at your hips. "You might regret that."

    You go to respond, just as Jimin aligns himself with your core and immediately rams into you, not giving you any time to prepare. He gives you the small mercy of catching your breath before he starts setting his pace and rhythm.

    He grunts above you as he works to angle your hips so that he has better access to your g-spot, his face breaking into a proud grin as you let out a loud moan once he finds it.

    "I get it," you said, panting as one of Jimin's hands moved to play with your nipple. "I get why everyone wants to fuck you."

    "You gonna fall in love with me and my cock? Want to be my cock slut forever?" he teased, bending down to kiss your chest directly between your boobs, before slapping your ass. What ever happened to sour then sweet?

    "In your dreams, Park," you said, though the bite of the remark was cut short by the load moan that followed it as he spanked you again.

    "Oh, that most certainly will be," he said, picking up his pace.

    "Creep," you said, laughing a little, though regretting it as soon as Jimin didn’t follow suit.

    "If you don't have anything nice to say," Jimin said, giving you a dark look and yet another spank, the burn of your skin hard to ignore at this point. "Don't say anything at all."

    You considered his words for a moment, a thought hanging on the tip of your tongue. "Make me," you said, a thrill running through your chest and to your core at the thought of what he would do.

    Jimin raised an eyebrow in challenge. "Irretite," he said, causing another vine to stretch from the plant on his right bedside table and entangle itself around your neck.

    Your head feels light as the vine pulls tight around you, but you're not sure if it's the thrill of the danger or the actual lack of oxygen that does it.

    "Oh look at that," he said, a smirk on his face. "Looks like the Slayer's not so big and bad after all. You're weak for my cock. You couldn't fight it even if you wanted to, which you don't. Because you're just a cock slut pretending to be the chosen one, right?"

    A mumbled yes dies on your lips as the veins tighten around you, causing your eyes to roll back in pleasure.

    Jimin's thrusts seem more intent to be your undoing as he watches the vines on your throat with the sort of proud confidence you loved to see from him.

    His moans increase as he thrusts become sloppier, and as you cry out in ecstasy, Jimin drops the vines hold on you. He helps you ride out your orgasm, your hands reach for his arms on instinct, and when you finally reopen your eyes and look at him, you watch him pull out and stroke himself to his own completion. He cums in long ribbons across your stomach, panting himself as he finishes and pressing a quick kiss to your thigh again.

   He looks at the cum for a moment, before swiping some of it up with two of his fingers, and pressing it to your lips. You take his fingers into your mouth and suck them clean, Jimin muttering a curse as he watches you.

   "Please," you said as he pulled his fingers from your mouth. "Not all of it."

   Jimin laughed at this, a bright melody filling the room. "Okay," he said. "But only because you asked so nicely."

    The next time you see Jimin it's normal. The two of you go your separate ways the next day after cuddling each other to sleep, and when you finally see him at lunch two days later, he's the same way he always was. You don't expect it.

    He doesn't tell anyone either, which perhaps is what surprises you the most. Jimin was absolutely the type to kiss and tell. When Taehyung asked what had gotten into you as you laughed easily with them at that lunch, you nearly choked on your coffee, already anticipating Jimin to say his cock. But he doesn't.

    "It's nice to see you happy again," he said instead. "Whatever it is, I'm glad it helped."

    "Me too," Taehyung agreed with a nod as he returned his attention to his sandwich.

     You feel lighter. You smile more. It's all you could really ask for. You're not cured; the only magic was that of friendship.

    You want to choke just thinking that.

    You can already hear Jimin offering you his vines in the back of your mind.

© gimmeyoon — all rights reserved. reposting, modifying, or translation onto other sites even with proper credit given is not permitted.

[kiminicricket]

Swords and Opals - 14

A Ruthari fic based pre-show. adventure. friendship. bad-assery. fluff. angst. romance. and of course, Ruthari. What else could you need?

Need to catch up? From the Start Previous Chapter

The next few days were torture for Ethari. He tried to focus on his work, but found himself distracted, tense, constantly looking at the two stones glowing with flickering lights, terrified that one of them would go out.

He shouldn’t have pulled back from Runaan, he should have kissed him all night. He should have told him exactly how much he meant to Ethari and made sure that he knew it before he went on this mission. Ethari’s gaze drifted to the village entrance. It was empty, as it had been every time he looked for the last three days. He needed something to distract himself. He got up and walked outside. Gathering some materials would help get his mind off things. Hopefully.

*

Ethari sat at his work bench, sketching jewellery designs. The model he was sketching was a bit more detailed than usual, and with a start, Ethari realised he was drawing Runaan. He slammed the book closed and got his tools out. He really just needed to hit something. Taking out some scrap metal and his hammer, he started pounding it into shape, no design in mind, just the distraction of the repeated movements, the loud ringing noises driving out any coherent thoughts from his brain.

*

The next day, desperate for distraction, Ethari went to see Instructor Tanyl.

“Ethari, welcome,” They said, opening the door and inviting him in.

“Hello,” Ethari said, trying to keep the glumness out of his voice. “I was wondering what you had learned about the plant we collected, if there was anything I could maybe utilise in my designs?”

“Of course, of course, come.” They turned and led Ethari though the house to the greenhouse out the back. Ethari saw the plant, looking much better than when he had dropped it off here. He noted Tanyl shifting into transparency, and knew he probably had as well. He shook his head.

“That is amazing!”

“Yes, it is. it is very powerful. I understand you have begun doing some enchantments?”

Ethari nodded and explained a few of his design ideas. Instructor Tanyl nodded thoughtfully.

“I’m not sure the plant will be of much use in those, but I have been meaning to have this sent over to you for your own research and experimentation.”

Tanyl took out from behind the plant a smaller off-shoot of the plant that had been put into a little planter. Ethari’s jaw dropped as he accepted the small pot.

“But, the conditions, I don’t think I could keep it alive.”

“Oh yes, there’s also this.” Tanyl brought out a sparkling cage. “This is enchanted to simulate the cliffside conditions that the plant thrives in. Other than that water it regularly and it should be fine.”

“Thank you!” Ethari bowed his thanks

“Do let us know how you get on with it. And we shall of course share our learning with you.”

“I will!” Ethari was already on his way out the door, intent on finding the perfect home for the plant and getting started on the research.

***

“Focus Runaan, what’s wrong with you?” Lain whispered as they approached the camp they were about to infiltrate.

“Nothing!” Runaan insisted, trying to still his fidgeting hands. In truth he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Ethari. He had lain awake the previous night reliving the kiss and imagining how he would approach things when he got back. He imagined bringing over a flower, but that seemed… not right somehow. He imagined asking him on a date, taking him out to dinner, watching the moonrise from the nearby mountain top. That could work, that was a nice idea. He closed his eyes and relived the too-short but very sweet kiss that Ethari had given him, the look in his eyes, clearly wanting more, but also wanting to give incentive for Runaan to come back.

Oh Runaan was coming back all right. And when he did he was going to-

“Move!” The head assassin, Usten whispered and Runaan’s thoughts snapped back to the mission at hand. He nocked an arrow, and fell into line behind his team, moving on silent feet towards the camp.

The camp was orderly. A single, neat row of three small tents, lined up almost perfectly. A sentry on either end, keeping watch for the dangers of Xadia. They were pitifully unprepared. Lain and Tiadrin broke off from the team to take care of them. Runaan’s gaze swept the camp, watching for movement, for traps, for anything unexpected. There was a fireplace exactly in the middle of the line - not unexpected - smoke drifted lazily up from the slowly dying embers. 

Embers that looked like they had the night Runaan and Ethari had danced in each others arms, and then fallen asleep next to each other under the stars as the melodaisies had sung in the distance.

The sentries for the camp were taken out before they could raise an alarm, and Tiadrin shot Runaan a Look as she sidled past him. He told himself once again to focus. They had a target. They had a mission. He brought his weapon back up to readiness and moved to the entrance of the centre tent, ready to breach.

A hand on his shoulder pulled his attention, and he turned to see Usten frowning and signalling him to take the lookout position. Runaan shook his head, but Usten’s hand was firm, and his gaze unflinching. He motioned Tiadrin to take this tent. 

Kicking himself, Runaan took up a lookout position next to Jeddy, who had been allocated lookout from the start. Jeddy shrugged sympathetically, but shied away from the glare Runaan shot him. Runaan told himself not to take this out on Jeddy - he hadn’t done anything wrong, but he couldn’t wipe the glare from his face as his team breached the tents. He kept an arrow nocked and ready should anything go awry. But they didn’t. It was all so quick. So neat. So silent. Well, almost silent. A gasp and a sobbing begging could soon be heard from the right tent, the one Usten had breached. Barely a moment passed before the assassins returned, Usten holding a captive. Runaan steeled himself as they approached. The team gathered and the captive was thrown down before them.

“Please, please!” The young man begged, incoherently asking for mercy he probably would not get.

“Why are you here?” Usten asked, casually wiping blood from one of his blades.

“W-w-w-we needed i-i-i-ingredients, for the mages. P-p-please!” Tears were freely running down the captives face, and Runaan had to harden himself to the pitiful pleading.

Usten had a blade under the captives chin, pushing hard enough to bleed, but not enough to cause serious damage.

“You can go and tell your mages” Usten spat the word, “That you can go elsewhere for your ingredients. You are not welcome in Xadia.”

The captives eyes widened with the tiniest spark of hope before clenching in pain as Usten dug his blade in a little further, still not enough to kill, but there was a steady stream of blood now darkening the mans neck and tunic.

“Better hurry,” Usten said, “Before I change my mind.” He withdrew the blade and the captive scrambled backwards a few yards before turning over, scrambling to his feet and disappearing into the trees.

“Will he even make it home to deliver the message?” Jeddy asked as they watched him run.

“One way or another. Them not returning sends basically the same message.” 

Usten’s eyes were hard as he turned to Runaan. He motioned the rest of the group to start heading back for home.

“I had heard great things about you Runaan,” Usten said, as soon as the others were out of earshot. “I was expecting a little better than spaced out and distracted on such an important mission.”

Runaan clenched his jaw. He nodded. “I’m sorry sir.”

“This job is a dangerous one. The slightest misstep can spell disaster for yourself or your teammates. I shouldn’t have to tell you this.”

Runaan closed his eyes at the painful reminder. “No sir.”

Usten regarded him thoughtfully for a moment. “You have enormous potential.” He eventually said. “Don’t let tonight hang over you. But also don’t let it happen again.”

Runaan nodded again. “Yes sir.”

“Good.” Usten turned to follow the team back towards the silver grove and Runaan fell into step behind him, his heart lifting for the first time since they had left. They were going home, soon he would see Ethari!

***

Ethari spent the better part of the last few days studying the plant, drafting new design ideas, and pouring through his enchantment book to see what kind of enchantments might benefit from it. So grateful for the distraction, he didn’t notice the day draw to a close until it was too dark to read. He glanced up. He hadn’t even put any lights on, the only light was coming from the fire flickering in the forge.

He glanced down for the first time this afternoon at his crystals. Both were still glowing. He sighed in relief, reaching up to grasp them and yawning. Maybe he would actually get some sleep tonight.

He stood and was putting his book away when the door to his workshop slammed open. Ethari spun around to see a shadowy figure standing in the doorway. He dropped the book as the figure stalked purposefully towards him.

Part 15 

[jedi-archivist]

Path of The Dai Bendu Part 1: Initiate Chapter 4: Heart of Kyber

Ilum is cold. You had thought Coruscant got cold. But, oh my gosh you are so, so very wrong! You pull your coat tighter and nuzzle into as much of the fluff as you can. 

Duz takes one look at you and nearly falls over laughing.

"What's so funny?" You ask sourly.

"You look like a marshmallow. Jedi marshmallow!" Duz bursts into laughter again and you smile behind your fluffy collar.

"Yeah, well we're about to be Jedi snow people if we don't catch up." You playfully bump into Duz. You see Duz grins so big his sharp teeth make it almost a snarl. Duz grabs your hand, perhaps worried that if you fall your coat would keep you down, and helps you catch up to your clan.

Outside of the Jedi Temple, jagged stone layers the cliff wall in seemingly random places. Yet to you it almost feels purposeful. 

Master Zepcira stops at a platform, kneels as she examines the ground,  then smiles.

"Younglings, welcome. To enter the temple we must work together. Reach out to the Force, and bid that it open the path. Only then may we continue."

Master Zepcira reaches a hand towards the stone and you feel her focus. You reach out and follow her example, feeling your clan joining. You feel the Force flowing from beyond the wall like a bubbling spring. As if it was reaching to touch you as much as you reached to touch it. You feel at peace even as the harsh winds kick snow and ice at you.

Slabs of stone slide into the ground as your clan wills it. Ice crackles and stone moves with the satisfying sound of stone on stone, revealing an opening to the temple. You make a mental note to research the architecture of this temple as you note the sharpness of the angles used. 

"Quickly, the sun is nearly in position and your time is short." Master Zepcira says.

The inside leads to the vestibule with a ceiling that must reach to the very top of the cliff. Arches cover the wall, hinting at hidden passages and hidden windows to the sky.

Giant statues of Jedi wielding their sabers in a guarded position lead to the center platform, itself surrounded by four pillars. Beyond is a wall of ice. Master Zepcira pulls her lightsaber out and allows the clan to examine it, the soft blue glow of the blade the color of Ilum ice.

"The crystal is the heart of the blade. The heart is the crystal of the Jedi. The Jedi is the crystal of the Force. The Force is the blade of the heart. All are intertwined: the crystal, the blade, the Jedi. We are one. Remember this when you seek your crystal, younglings."

Master Zepcira waves a hand high in the air and the sound of moving stone fills the air. You look up and see a beam of sunlight. Master Zepcira's hands begin to move more rhythmically and you notice the giant kyber crystal moves on golden gears. As it turns, the gears click, spinning the crystal faster and closer to the sunlight. As the sunlight hits the crystal it begins to glow and send sunbeams out as if the crystal was the true source of light. A smaller crystal begins to rotate around the larger one until it finds its place. The sunbeam refracts, the new beam touching the ice wall. Ice quickly melts and the water cascades down the steps into a base surrounding the platform.

"Go, seek your crystals. Trust yourselves. Trust each other. Most of all trust in the Force. As soon as you have found your crystal, return immediately. As soon as the sun sets, the water will freeze again. It will trap any who linger within." 

Lok dashes past Master Zepcira, stopping at the top of the stairs.

"Then let's go!" Lok disappears inside the cavern, spurring your clan to action. You each run inside, barely managing to keep your balance on the wet stairs.

As you enter, you note the symbol design on the ground, one you don't quite recognize. A circle with a rounded cross shape within, and a jagged x with a circle inside that.

You jog into a tunnel at random, already separated from your clan and stop. You won't make any progress like this. You take a deep breath, feeling the cold fill your body. You release the breath and watch it leave you in a little cloud before disappearing.

You reach out to the Force and it suddenly feels like an echo being bounced around the walls. You ease your view and realize that the entire cavern is embedded with the Force. You need to narrow your view. But what should you search for?

The crystal will be an extension of you. Should you look for yourself? That didn't make much sense and you aren't sure what that would even look like.

"Okay.." you whisper to the cave. "You're full of the Force and so am I. Right now there's so much I can't tell what's what. But you know what's what, so I'll trust you to lead me."

You close your eyes and once again, slowly this time, reach out to the Force like someone entering a bright room from darkness. You take a step, hearing it quietly echo, feeling the labyrinthine tunnel. You take another step. You feel your clan mates seeking their own Crystal's. You open your eyes to the Force and see that place between from your dreams or at least,  almost. You are in darkness, yet lights like stars twinkle distantly. There are no other celestial bodies. Your steps cause the floor to be disturbed like water, echoing out away from you. What does this mean?

You don't know, but you feel there must be a reason. You take careful steps forward and hear distant voices echo across the stars. You try to understand what the voices are saying, but you can't. 

You take another deep breath and try to focus on where the Force wants you to be. You begin to hear an odd, yet pleasant, sound. It makes you think of wind chimes and gardens. You hear another, this time like the ocean, but again there is a musical quality to it. Soon an entire choir of sound rings out around you, their lights shine in so many different colors and hues. 

You realize that you could take any one of the crystals, they each resonate with a portion of you. But not all of you. Not of who you would become. You continue past the surrounding beauty and allow their songs to be heard but not taken. 

You walk for long enough that your legs begin to ache and a doubt begins to whisper in your mind. Are you being a perfectionist? Should you just take a crystal before it gets too late? How much time had passed? Would you get yourself stuck in the cave? It did seem like something that would happen and Duz would be disappointed in you. And then what if that meant you could not be a Jedi. That you had failed.

No. You would not fail. Even if you got stuck, Duz would be supportive. Besides, the tradition was clear. You could not settle. You needed to find the one crystal that truly called you. These others held only a half true call. You breathe again and center yourself. You allow the worry, the doubt, and the fear to pass through you.  These feelings existed to keep the body alive but for a Jedi they would only shackle you.

You hear a new song, louder than the others. This is the one. You figure out its direction and go. Your presence echoes in the Force, the kyber crystals echo it back. Yet you can't decipher them.

You blink and you find yourself in the crystal caves of Ilum again. Around you are stalagmites and stalactites. Which were which again? 

You see stone jutting up, a stalagmite you recall, glowing a soft golden light from an opening at the top. You walk up to it and look inside.

There is your crystal, humming softly now. And submerged in water. Why hadn't this frozen over? You reach towards the crystal, stopping before the water, and call the crystal to your hand. It does not move and the crystal's hum almost seems to giggle in its rhythm. 

You frown. Pulling something this small shouldn't have been difficult for you. But no, this has to be part of it. You examine the stalagmite and the hollow. You look at the water and realize you have no idea how deep it really is.

Your brow furrows as you think about your training. You recall reading about various padawan trials that had to be passed before knighthood. One in particular came to mind, the Trial of the Flesh. The trial of overcoming pain, physical and mental.

You remember in ancient times that this trial often was read in such a way that a padawan might be subjected to varying levels of painful experiences. But nowadays the core of this trial was more about overcoming loss in its many forms. 

You do not think you are being subjected to this trial, but it reminds you that sometimes pain might be necessary. You undo your coat and the cold immediately siphons as much heat as it can away from you.

You take a shuddered breath and slip your left arm out while trying to keep the rest of you covered. You roll up your sleeve, take another shivering breath and plunge your arm into the water.

As soon as you touch it you gasp. Still, you keep your arm submerged and try to reach the crystals. You reach, putting more of your arm until you're shoulder deep. And still you can't quite reach. Your teeth chatter as Your body begins shivering so badly your bones ache.

You can barely feel your arm, but the intense  pin-and-needle feeling assures you that you still have an arm. You try to call your crystal to you again and this time you think you see it move. You force yourself to breath, to let the cold seep in and through you and pass you. To let the pain pass. Aware that the pain was your body trying to help keep you alive and from danger. But trusting the Force to protect you despite the danger to yourself. 

It was a stupid thing you had done, really. All logic said it was reckless. The Force said do it anyway. At least, you think that's it's will. Heck, you trusted the Force enough that if you felt it at a cliff, you'd probably jump off and trust things to work out. 

You feel something slimy burn like fire on your submerged arm. You gasp a whimper, the cold forcing too much air from you to scream as you struggle to keep your arm in the water.

You angle your head for a look down the stalagmite. If you weren't already shivering you would now. Heck, a lot of fear response would be hitting if the cold wasn't already demanding your body's attention.

Instead you let out a shuddering groan as thin, slug-like worms crawl up your arm. You try to focus and feel for a mind of some kind, a connection you could use. All living things are capable of being touched by the Force in some kind of way. All living things are part of the Force. If you could... just… there!

The slug worms stop at your shoulder, their long bodies weaved around your arm with no end to their long bodies in sight. You look like a droid poorly connected to the stone. And still they burn your skin. You would have thought the feeling of heat would have offset the cold. But no. Just pain and only pain.

Focus. You mentally ask the slug worms to hand you the crystal. The slug worms, for their part, do not have a brain and thus are confused by this request. You try to simplify things by instructing their movements in such a way that they slide off you (ouch), wrap around the crystal, and clumsily lift to your hand. You manage to close your hand around the crystal and pull your arm from the water as the slug worms slither back into unseen burrows.

The crystal fills you with a pleasant warmth that reminds you of the temple gardens and the Coruscant sun at noon. You realize your arm is dry and doesn't hurt, though you now have marks from the slug worms. You quickly put your coat back on, remembering you could freeze. You end up switching the crystal to your right hand as you slip your arm in the sleeve. The crystal has an odd pointyness that gives you the impression of holding a tiny star. It also made it difficult to slip your arm through the sleeve without stabbing yourself with it, thus the change of hands.

As soon as your coat is securely in place, the crystal's warmth fades. You consider your kyber crystal and remember reading that kyber crystals were said to form in the heart of stars. You feel like you could believe it, looking at yours. You grin. And then you look around. You have no idea where you are. Uh-oh.

You force yourself to stay calm. You can just use the Force to find your way out again. You think, anyways. You reach out to the Force and the crystal seems to warm up in your hand. That makes you pause. Part of the reason Jedi obtained a kyber crystal for their lightsaber was to act as a sort of foci. A way to maintain a kind of balance in the Force.

You hold your crystal up and feel the warmth as you enter a moving meditation. You suppose you had done a moving meditation to get here, even if it had been an unusual way of presenting itself to you. But this time you are still aware of the physical world around you. You begin walking up a slope, slowly growing steeper until you're forced to climb. You tuck the crystal away in your coat, confident that it won't fall out. 

How in the world had you ended up all the way down here? It hardly seemed to make sense, but you suppose you just had to accept it. The Force moves in mysterious ways. Did that make you, as a Jedi mysterious? You've seen enough to know non-Force users certainly thought so.

Your left arm begins to ache as you climb. It seemed that even your crystal was limited on how much it could help with that. You push through, determined to reach the top. Besides, it was not as bad as the water or the slug worms. That had been the worst thing you've ever felt.

Your hands finally find the edge to your exit, or at least the path to the exit. You practically throw yourself up the final few feet and land with a huff. You can't wait to go home and curl up in bed, maybe have some warm cocoa with Duz before passing out. 

You pat your coat and feel the crystal warm, as if saying "yup, still here buddy!" You smile. Kyber crystals aren't sentient, but their connection to the Force and to the Jedi suggests a borderline sentience. At least, that's what you read. You smile at the idea of your crystal having sentience and becoming friends. 

You suppose, in this imagined scenario, it would be it's own being with a history of symbiosis with Jedi, both gaining strength, knowledge, and a greater connection to the Force. You frown as you walk as a new thought bubbles. Would it be rude to consider such a being as it then? Could Crystal's have gender? Probably not since their Crystal's but you feel at a loss at how one would address such a being, given your limited experience. You suppose there must be beings where being called boy or girl didn't quite fit. You hope you get to meet them one day.

The cave becomes more leveled, though there are still many twists and turns. But you feel like you're much closer to the entrance now. Your stomach sinks and your heart races as you feel something in the Force. You close your eyes and search for the source of dread. 

You open your eyes and you are no longer you. You see a Zabrak Male pacing back and forth, his eyes never leaving yours. He wants to kill you but a barrier has paused your duel. You close your eyes briefly as you meditate in the time you have. This opponent is difficult. You feel his anger and his hatred directed at you. He is a Sith.

The barrier flicks off and you lunge at him. He blocks your attacks but loses ground. He quickly begins to move from blocking, to countering and now you are losing ground. His strikes meet your lightsaber saber with quick and powerful blows. Your apprentice cannot help you. You will not be able to help him. He is safe behind the barrier.

The Sith pulls back and glares briefly with frustration. You take the opening but he blocks and hits you in the face with the handle of his double bladed saber. You recoil from the blow, but he has already pierced you. You feel the pain in your torso as Obi-Wan yells his anguish and you fall to your knees. Your strength leaves your body. Your vision fades to nothing. You feel yourself collapse.

"Shy? Shy!" Your hear Duz yell distantly. You are in your own body again but you can't seem to open your eyes or move. Your body hurts. Your heart hurts. Could it be real? Was Master Qui-gon really dead? 

You vaguely hear Duz say a curse word you had taught him. Duz never cursed. You feel him pick you up and manage to balance you on him. It is difficult for you to tell how you are being moved. It all felt so far away. And you felt so very tired.

"Don't worry Shy, I'm gonna get us out of here. And then we're going to become Jedi together. Just stay alive!" You wish you could tell him not to worry. That you are alive and well. That it was Master Qui-gon that they should worry for. But right now… nothing seemed like a nice place to be… as you feel yourself slip into unconscious….

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