#This probably makes sense because a deer has more reason to murderize you than like. A big cat does.
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Gonna be real I'm an aggressive murderbeast but I can't conceive of myself as a predator animal at all
#dama speaks#Ime dear 🦌🦌🦌#This probably makes sense because a deer has more reason to murderize you than like. A big cat does.
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1, 9 and 10 for the ask game.
1. the character everyone gets wrong.
To me, it'd be Rivulet or Artificer.
Rivulet because I don't think people actually take into account how smart they really are. Rivulet isn't some ADHD fast slugcat on rain world's mushrooms or anything. Riv is fast not because they're hyper or something, but it's because they have death constantly looming over their shoulders because of the rain. They practiced being fast so they wouldn't die. Not only that, but Rivulet performed the iterator equivalent of a heart transplant, and in my head, that would be extremely difficult to do. Rivulet is extremely smart, and I don't see them get a lot of credit for this
The other one would be Artificer. Even though Arti has a lot of grief on her shoulders (and I get it. Artificer did NOT have to go through that. What she went through was absolutely horrible, and nobody should have to), I feel that trying to kill an entire species is taking it way too far. Artificer isn't badass for killing every scavenger on sight, she's actually just committing reckless murder because the victim so happens to be a scavenger. Cheiftian Scavenger didn't even know Arti or what happened, Arti just killed an innocent scavenger out of blind rage. This is hinted at multiple times in Arti's campaign as well. Arti's dreams about killing scavengers have the most twisted music to accompany them, Arti is stuck at karma 1 as punishment, Five Pebbles even calls Arti out saying that he finds it appalling. I'd say that Artificer has gone way too far with killing scavengers, as I think she became obsessed, given the dreams. I love Arti, don't get me wrong! It's just that the cannon existence of Arti is extremely messed up though because of the reckless murder.
This is also why I love the interpretations of Artificer trying to make up for the past mistakes, and not going through with killing Chieftain.
9. worst part of canon.
Hm... This one is a tough one. I like almost everything about Rain World, and like to see the positives for even the things I dislike strangely enough.
I'd have to say Saint's ending. If anyone hasn't guessed by now, Saint is my favorite slugcat for a multitude of reasons. I just dislike the ending. Saint is stuck in a permanent hell basically, and it drives me nuts trying to think about what happens in the future future. When the void sea finally eats away at the world, does Saint fall into Rubicon, leave, then only to fall back in again because there's no solid ground? What happens when every iterator is finally ascended? Do they just wander the world ascending the smaller creatures instead? What happens when there's nothing left? A lot of these are probably irrelevant, and might not make sense, as I also doubt some of the questions too. (Mainly the void sea eating away at everything one, and the nothing left to ascend one too) Saint's ending leaves me with more questions than answers, and leaves me generally confused.
Despite this, I also still like Saints ending at the same time. The game leaves it up to headcannons to find out what happens to Saint, and I've got my own headcannons with it to ease my own mind
If you mean only PURELY dislike, I'd say Rain Deer AI, but that's cheating bc almost everyone hates it.
12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them
I think The Cheiftian Scavenger needs more love. I like to think that they're kind and that they make sure that their scav colony thrives, and cares a lot about their people. Five Pebbles having beef with the scavengers is actually just a huge miscommunication, and if he communicated with the scavengers better, I'm sure they would've understood.
If the scavengers can understand and set up pearl tolls, echoes, and make graffiti, I'm sure they would understand that they're actually hurting Five Pebbles, or at the very least, putting him in distress. Five Pebbles just didn't communicate it well enough. *cough cough* Not the first time he failed to communicate either *cough cough*
If you want to have a friendly debate with me about these, go ahead! I'm open to hearing other perspectives and changing my thoughts!
#Five Pebbles failed to communicate with the scavengers just like he failed to communicate with his sister#rain world#rain world downpour#rw artificer spoilers#rw artificer#rw saint#rw saint spoilers#rw rivulet#rw rivulet spoilers#rw cheiftian scavenger#long post#dust talks
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I dunno if my ask went though, tumblr said no links are allowed in the ask. If it didn’t just lmk plz cuz im just sobbing/j
But I’ll rewrite here so if it did you can ignore this haha.
Anyways you fave anon is back, me 🌽 anon /j. So I loved what you did with my ask before and gotta say didn’t expect art but it was also amazing I ate that up. Anygays, I was recently scrolling in your page since I haven’t been here for a lil while and my eyes caught your post with Alister(?) with Abyss with the whole theatrical bit. And that obviously had me hooked since I’m also a lil hyper fixed on hazbin myself but not fully…yet.
So I decided to come back with this one simple ask:
What kind of demon is Abyss and power or abilities do they posses? Also also what are their relations with the hazbin crew, like what are their usual interactions with one another?
Now one may say that one is simply curious….which is half true. One could say that I could be getting more info to cook up something that one might enjoy.
That’s all form me, until we meet again! /ref
Ps: love your art!! I always eat it up and it is simply divine!!! Have a lovely day and always be gay /j
- 🌽 anon
Unfortunately, your original ask never went through, but I'm very glad you doubled down on it. It's one of the reasons why I try to make posts encouraging asks sometimes, in case someone either forgot or realizes that it probably might not have gone through
Now, onto the ask. Lemme just start with: AAAAAAAAAHHHH! I fucking love Hazbin so much! I've loved it since the pilot, it's just one of those things I've silently enjoyed for years, I couldn't help but make an OC! Also, sorry for the rambling in advance, this is going to be long. Like, LONG long, so buckle up buddy bois. Also, also, very brief mentions of suicide, rapists, and murderers, but it’s a Hazbin post, sooooo
Of course, the initial was a more feline demon, as you can see, but then I was talking with an old RP buddy that suggested deer since I wasn't quite sure about their original design. Deer had been on my radar, but I tried the cat first. I love both, but the deer based one is definitely the one I prefer. I actually based the coloration and bioluminescence on this reply from @roseytoesy that I forgot to add in my original post of Abyss (Sorry Rosey!)
Abyss has two primary ‘abilities’. Abilities in quotations because one is passive: they have a venomous bite and venomous spines. They're laced with a venom so potent that they easily killed their first demon on accident when they were attacked and their assailant stabbed themself with a spine. Since joining Hell, they've also found out that their venom can be a very potent drug if processed/diluted a certain way, so their main source of income is selling their venom concentrate. Their spines, however, will lose both potency and bioluminescence within three days. They'll use these shed spines to hang stuff up in their room sometimes though
Their second ability is the only reason they weren't exterminated during the angels coming down, and it's the fact that they can shrink. It's mostly involuntary and just sort of a panic button to slip away. They've gotten better at controlling it so that they're not just shrinking everytime they get spooked, but it still happens occasionally. They’ll also use it to shrink slightly to help shrug off people touching them. I’m not sure whether or not to add more abilities, but there's the two for now
As for day to day interactions, I also have to think about how they'd be introduced and general personality
Of course, Abyss is another self-insert, so mostly what my other characters do, they do as well. They’ve got a rather dry sense of humor and sarcasm, though they’re not very good at reading other people’s sarcasm and will tend to take things at face value. They’re a pretty recent fall compared to the others, less than five years in Hell, so they’re more skittish and anxious than cold-hearted or confident in their abilities. They are, however, one to make fast friends given the opportunity and compatibility. They love games, but find Charlie's overly childish games a bit nauseating
They're very… skittish/antsy/defensive when first being introduced to new situations and hate leaving whatever small comfort zone they can make in Hell. So I more or less picture them sneaking around to scout out the place and the inhabitants before they decide whether or not they want to actually be a part of the whole operation. I think they'd last maybe two days before being outed by Alastor
I'm imagining since Alastor just doesn't show up in some episodes that it's not uncommon for him to be missing from the hotel occasionally during the day. But, when he comes downstairs the next day Charlie is like, “Now that everyone's here!” and Alastor just goes “I think you're missing someone”, just YOINKING them from nowhere and plopping them in front of everyone. He probably knew they were in the hotel the entire time but thought it’d be funny to give them a false sense of security before just procuring them from wherever they were hiding
Aside from the obvious surprise at the sudden deer demon, initial impressions would range from skepticism with maybe even the thought of them being a new attempt for the Vees to get information about the hotel. But, thanks to Charlie wanting to see the best in everyone and them barely knowing about the Vees (Only Vox because of the TVs everywhere), everyone would cool off mostly pretty quickly. And, here’s what I think everyone’s relationship would be with them in no particular order
Charlie, of course, would love that there was another demon interested in the hotel, even if she’s a bit appalled and stumped at what she’s working with when she finds out that they committed suicide and mostly didn’t do much wrong in their life (I'm going with the thing I grew up with where Catholic people would tell me that if someone committed suicide they'd instantly go to Hell). Most of their sins would occur after reaching Hell, such as drug use and killing (even if most times is in self-defense). Abyss would have an amicable relationship with Charlie, being suspicious of the good-nature at first. But, once they’re comfortable with Charlie, they have no problems just hanging out and shooting the shit with her. Even though they will find her optimism sometimes a bit overbearing, they’d try to be polite about it (in their own way)
Vaggie would be suspicious of them at first like with Sir Pentious, but would overall not really mind them. Probably wouldn’t like their attitude a bit because if she says “I’ve got my eye on you” or something, they’ll almost definitely reply back with “Well, you’ve only got the one”. I think they would eventually get along with each other. Maybe not super buddy-buddy, but friendly enough. Abyss definitely thinks Vaggie is a bit too suffocating with Charlie sometimes, but it’s between the two girls not them, so as long as Charlie doesn’t mind
Angel Dust is one where I’m not quite sure where their relationship would stand, either at first or over time. He’d probably make a raunchy joke or something to test the waters to see if he can piss them off to get a reaction. I can’t imagine him trying to make a pass at them because they sound more feminine, but if he did they’d probably be caught off guard and either reply bluntly in confusion or give a playful comeback thinking it was a bit. I can imagine them being drinking buddies with both of them at the bar. I feel like he’s the type to maybe find random ramblings amusing? Which is good if he’s drinking with them
Husk is another one I’m not entirely sure about. I feel like it’s a very hit or miss with him. Currently my buddies and I have said that he's the most like one of my friends, so I feel like Abyss and him would get along fairly well. Even if they don't particularly like each other the most, it'd probably be pretty amicable. Also, Abyss would definitely try to be nice because they're still new-ish and also can't imagine that being a bartender in Hell is better than in the human world. Fucker is used affectionately
Nifty would probably be a bit curious and vice versa, but I think both of them would mind their own business overall. I think she’d be a bit appalled by the disarray in Abyss’s room if she ever goes in because they’re a cluttered mess. Not dirty necessarily, but very unorganized and everything is everywhere. Both would definitely cause chaos while drunk
Sir Pentious is one where he definitely wouldn't trust them at first, but he's also a bit of a goofball. Aside from probably passing out if he tried to squeeze them because of their spines, Abyss likes his inability to take certain jokes (like in the Pilot when Angel calls him “daddy” and he confusedly goes “Son?”), and will help explain things when they can. I feel like he doesn't particularly like them until they show an interest in his gadgets or egg bois. Do they understand what he's talking about? Absolutely not, they just want to hold a gun
Now, for who you're probably waiting for, Alastor! He’s a bit more complicated. Not because he’s hit or miss with Abyss, I think he wouldn’t actually dislike them. Hell, he might even like them. More because he’s still a mystery in general and more… conflicting? I know that I already drew a picture of him taunting Abyss to make them shrink, but I can’t help but think of this page from the Hazbin Hotel comic that came out on the official site years ago
From what we see in the whole comic, he only threatens the butcher when the butcher reaches for his cleaver to potentially strike at Alastor. Even then, when the butcher backs down and starts preparing his meat, Alastor doesn’t go full sicko mode. He’s perfectly chipper and back to being pleasant. It’s only when the butcher just grabs the sheep demon that he goes ballistic and ‘kills’ him. I don’t know if by ‘fairer means’ he just means weaker people/demons or just feminine people/demons (He came from the 1930s, he probably goes off appearance and voice rather than asking people pronouns)
Now, I’m not sure how canon the prequel comic is in general since it’s been years since it’s illustration, but we also see similar instances in the show. Maybe not exactly coming to the aid of someone off beat, but Alastor never really starts shit. He’s just fully prepared to finish it. He didn’t come after Vox, Vox started dissing him and then he retaliated effectively. He wasn’t really bothered by Sir Pentious, even when he blew up a wall, until he either mentioned the Vees or presumably just kept pestering Alastor to fight, where he defeated him soundly. Even with Lucifer, I think the reason he was so pissy on sight is that he was blatantly ignored at first and then immediately presumed to be the bellhop before Lucifer proceeded to insult his work on the decor and bash on the hotel before singing about obviously needing the ‘Big Boss of Hell’s help
Anyways, back to interpersonal relations between Abyss and Alastor.
He’d probably do the classic “I’m sure you’ve heard of me from my radio show” thing, to which Abyss would reply “I haven’t, sorry”. since they weren’t around before he left for seven years. Now, the thing that I think would make this a favorable interaction for Abyss is that they apologized. Regardless of whether it was a quick sorry or a genuinely sheepish look since Alastor always seems to have a massive point of pride on his radio show, they still did it. Angel Dust kind of just got told who he was by Vaggie in the pilot, but Lucifer downright disrespected this man by calling him a has-been because he hasn’t heard of the Radio Demon, even though the same King of Hell doesn’t even have a television either
I feel like Abyss could remain in Alastor’s… well, probably not favor, but good graces is the best phrase I can think of, as long as they are generally chill and polite enough. He’s surrounded by delinquents, murderers, rapists, and so on. I think a coping semi-depressed deer who curses like a sailor but generally doesn’t cause trouble is alright in his book. I think though that, like Lilia from Twisted Wonderland, he does like taunting and spooking them to get amusing reactions from them
I do love the idea of Alastor as a pred, but as of right now I can’t think of how it would escalate to that kind of situation realistically unless they REALLY pissed him off or something. Maybe I’ll think of something after the finale tonight, lmaoooo
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So, whether the mother is an adoptive mother or not is complicated.
It is said that the word "godmother" was something from the monkey king's TV media and that in reality the nine-year-old fox is their biological mother. Golden and Silver Horned Kings had to cultivate in the right way and become immortal to then work for heaven, something that for one reason, the nine-tailed fox couldn't or didn't want to along with her brother (The nine-tailed fox does not refuse to eat Tripitaka, so it is normal for her to eat humans like other demons). It would make more sense for them to follow their mother's poor cultivation than good cultivation. Furthermore, they were transformed into demons, they are NOT demons from birth, we assume that they have human appearance. They are strong but their mother and uncle are weak in comparison. The nine tailed Fox is not a demon who served heaven, so she was still quite weak compared to Wukong and her sons. It is mentioned that they are Taoists, and that they had good relationships with other Taoists. Taishang Laojun never mentions the mother when he explains their origins. Furthermore, Guanyin's plan ended in the mother of the two children she borrowed being murdered along with her uncle. Their story simply does not align with them being children of a demon. I'm assuming they are humans, because it is never said what kind of being they are, but they are not demons by birth.
It could be that she left them with someone else and then they found out about their family relationship when they escaped. Either the mother wanted them to have good cultivation or they had the talent for it. The demons don't seem to know about Guanyin's plan, but the idea that her plan would end in the birth mother dying even though she was an evil demon is...kind of very manipulative. I'm speculating that the nine-tailed fox's death didn't matter because it was an evil demon anyway. So I guess it's more preferable to think of them as her adopted children. It would make more sense that they had fox traits if the nine-tailed fox conceived them with a human, but I think they can also be born 100% human (which is not uncommon). Idk if family relationships count if some immortal considers you to work in heaven, so everything is very complicated,
It is said that they were originally the children of Taishang Laojun (probably the first versions of the story?) and that would mean that he and the nine-tailed fox had children together or she adopted them later, but it seems unlikely.
It is said that the word "godmother" was something from the monkey king's TV media and that in reality the nine-year-old fox is their biological mother.
I’m sorry, but while this is a possible theory, I think in practice it’s just far too convoluted to be considered practical, especially for such minor characters. Not to say that this arc isn’t exciting but it would just make no sense to give these characters such a complex backstory but have other characters shown to be adopted and provide a far simpler explanation and an explanation that has been used multiple times in the story.
There is no reason for Silver Horn and Golden Horn to have a bio mom when we've seen four other examples of them being adopted. And if they were related then it would make sense to never address it at all either. I think that if it was never said in the story then it is because it is meant to be read in the story.
I’m not saying that this theory can’t be discussed, but just that it’s far too unlikely that the Nine Tails is their bio mom and shouldn't be considered 'reality' when there isn't a passage confirming that either. Story wise it follows other adopted demon's patterns.
White Deer was saved because he was from heaven and White Faced Vixen died. Nine-Headed Lion was saved because he was from heaven and his 8 adopted lions died. Silver Horn and Golden Horn were saved because they were from heaven and Nine Tail and Seven Fox King died.
Golden and Silver Horned Kings had to cultivate in the right way and become immortal to then work for heaven, something that for one reason, the nine-tailed fox couldn't or didn't want to along with her brother (The nine-tailed fox does not refuse to eat Tripitaka, so it is normal for her to eat humans like other demons). It would make more sense for them to follow their mother's poor cultivation than good cultivation.
Already if they were born to a human-eating demon then they wouldn't be able to go to heaven because she would have them eat humans as well. If they used that bad cultivation, then how would they be recommended to heaven? Who would vouch for them if they didn't have an immortal teacher? Who would hire demons that only know how to take cultivation from humans instead of making their own cultivation? And even if they get to heaven without knowing how to cultivate without eating humans, how would they keep their powers? None of this makes sense practically.
Furthermore, they were transformed into demons, they are NOT demons from birth, we assume that they have human appearance. They are strong but their mother and uncle are weak in comparison. The nine tailed Fox is not a demon who served heaven, so she was still quite weak compared to Wukong and her sons.
Yes, they were not demons at birth and we see that with other mothers like Yellow Robe's Wife that if they were half-human they should have come out either monsterous as well. Or like with White Snake they would have been weak in cultivation since we never got to see her son gain any powers that I know of.
It is mentioned that they are Taoists, and that they had good relationships with other Taoists. Taishang Laojun never mentions the mother when he explains their origins.
Exactly, he never explains their mother because she isn't related to their backstory. This allows us to see that because they never go into details, it is most likely that there is no detail to go into.
Furthermore, Guanyin's plan ended in the mother of the two children she borrowed being murdered along with her uncle. Their story simply does not align with them being children of a demon. I'm assuming they are humans, because it is never said what kind of being they are, but they are not demons by birth.
I agree! They must be human because with how the story of the narrative they could not be a child of the Nine-Tails. They were borrowed in Guanyin's plan and were willing to put other demons as risk because they are evil. Without any family relation they should be fine with having both the mother and uncle killed.
It could be that she left them with someone else and then they found out about their family relationship when they escaped. Either the mother wanted them to have good cultivation or they had the talent for it.
Unless they are heroes of legend with a secret destiny there is not reason to give them this backstory. Again this could be a fun theory but there is nothing to suggest that they found a long-lost family since that was never mentioned. Also that their mother wants a better life for them, but still being okay to eat human flesh also doesn't align with the story either.
The demons don't seem to know about Guanyin's plan, but the idea that her plan would end in the birth mother dying even though she was an evil demon is...kind of very manipulative. I'm speculating that the nine-tailed fox's death didn't matter because it was an evil demon anyway. So I guess it's more preferable to think of them as her adopted children.
I agree! It just seems to be out of left field and completely strange to think as to why have the birth mother involved at all if this was all planned. And why save Silverhorn from his death when arguably he did more damage than his godmother or uncle.
While she is an evil demon this story still has a strong sense of filial piety in its message. We see other stories like Journey to the South where a deity Huaguang dadi does has a demon mother and gives her an immortal peach so she never has to eat humans again to save her. We never see that with the Horn brothers and it just makes more sense that they are adopted by her in the short time they were one earth.
It would make more sense that they had fox traits if the nine-tailed fox conceived them with a human, but I think they can also be born 100% human (which is not uncommon). Idk if family relationships count if some immortal considers you to work in heaven, so everything is very complicated,
I'm not sure about a lot of half-yaoguai and how often they seem more human or not but I would think that if a half-yaogaui was to become a full yaogaui then they would take on traits of their parent.
It is said that they were originally the children of Taishang Laojun (probably the first versions of the story?) and that would mean that he and the nine-tailed fox had children together or she adopted them later, but it seems unlikely.
Oh I didn't know that kind of backstory! Yeah, that sounds like it would track even if I'm not sure who Laojun would have kids with. But I kinda like the idea of him working with his kids and they keep stealing his shit.
Oh him hooking with the Nine-Tails Fox.... now that is a new theory I didn't think I would hear.
#anon ask#anonymous#anon#jttw#journey to the west#sun wukong#silver horned king#golden horn king#nine tails fox demon#nine tail fox demon#nine tail fox#nine tailed fox
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𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝙳𝙴𝙴𝚁 ::
You know I don't think Alastor hates his deer traits but he certainly doesn't love them either. For him, he's kind of neutral about it, but looking ""cute"" in any sense of the word has never been Alastor's goal so he has kinda fluctuating feelings about his demon form. The fear of Alastor in hell comes from his reputation, not his appearance ━ and I think it irritates Alastor sometimes to know that there are def demons out there who look at him as cute and non-threatening and as a result dismiss the carnage Alastor has achieved and is capable of. Yet, at the same time, he is happy to use this "ignorance" to his advantage because when you underestimate him you make it easy.
Its funny though, cause Alastor was never not "cute," if that makes sense. In his mind he'd rather project class, style, refinement and thats what he thinks, but even as a human, in my HC, Alastor wasn't handsome in a sexy, suave daddy kind of way. He was handsome in genuine, disarming boyish way.
To me, he was the last guy you would imagine was committing the brutal murders he was and even if you knew he was it would still be so hard to comprehend. If Alastor ever got caught and jailed as human he'd be the kinda guy that the public would doubt did it and even in confessing to it they'd still try to depict him as sympathetically as possible. Its also why I kind of depict Alastor as a bit "younger" as human than he might actually be in canon. ( Early 30s, rather than mid-late 30s or 40s, but we have no idea of canon age yet. This being said I think I'm about on the mark cause if Alastor was older than 32 or 3 when he died, he more than likely would have served in WW1 and there has never been any indication or mention of that, which is another major reason my Alastor is the age he is. )
And its also why Alastor was such an effective killer. He was cute, young, handsome, articulate and witty and people generally wanted to be around him with 0 suspicion that he could or would ever harm them. Women happily let him into their houses and men happily followed him into the marshes never expecting anything violent or even unfriendly from him until it was way too late. In comes the symbolism of the deer, which are generally seen as innocent, gentle, harmless creatures. But Alastor's not a deer. He only looks like one. Just like Alastor wasn't innocent, gentle or harmless, he only looked it, and, of course, acted it. Even Alastor's deer features as a demon don't display him as some mighty stag, he's not some twisted king of forest type figure, he doesn't invoke a sense of strength and power like a "stag" might. Alastor displays more as cheerful young buck, which keeps in line with the typically innocent, gentle, harmless image of the deer. I mean as demon, in human standards Alastor would be pretty creepy to look at. Teeth and claws aside, I imagine his human features are more gaunt than when he was alive. His limbs are a little longer, too. All sorts of things about Alastor's demon form would come off as uncanny in human perception so "cute" isn't the first thing that would enter most humans head on looking at Alastor's demon form. But as far as demons in hell go, Alastor's probably considered pretty "cute looking" in the sense that he does retain a lot of his human features and the deer parts of him aren't overtly rugged or twisted. Theres nothing about his usual appearance outside of his big nasty chompers and claws that exert danger. As far as demons go, Alastor's really not the most inhuman or bestial looking, thus he's not the most scary or intimating looking.
At first blush, anyway. Because the from Alastor is almost always seen in isn't Alastor's true self, either. Alastor's true self is much more imposing and monstrous. But no one sees what Alastor really looks like until they're as good as dead (Some might get a glimpse if they piss him off enough, though) and that theme follows from Human Alastor with his victims knowing nothing of his true nature until it was too late. Which might make you think : If Alastor doesn't necessarily want to be looked at as "cute" why not just live life in "hell" in his true form ? The answer is simply because Alastor is a predator who practices aggressive mimicry. Its kind of... Innately ingrained into him to camouflage himself as something as pleasant and appealing to others as possible. He uses his appearance and behaviors to lure prey, which, again, is the twisted, demonic mirror of his human life as a serial killer who used his boyish good looks, wit and charm to aid in his murders.
Finally, I think there is something to be said about the fact that Alastor was torn apart by hunting dogs as a human. The execution style shot to the head was a small mercy and only happened after he'd been mutilated by the dogs. He would not have survived even if that hadn't happened. Now, as a demon, Alastor kills in a brutal, animalistic way, mauling and shredding victims with his claws and teeth like an animal, reminiscent of the way he was killed.
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𝓐𝖑𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗 ; Not-Deer
You know I don't think Alastor hates his deer traits but he certainly doesn't love them either. For him, he's kind of neutral about it, but looking ""cute"" in any sense of the word has never been Alastor's goal so he has kinda fluctuating feelings about his demon form. The fear of Alastor in hell comes from his reputation, not his appearance ━ and I think it irritates Alastor sometimes to know that there are def demons out there who look at him as cute and non-threatening and as a result dismiss the carnage Alastor has achieved and is capable of. Yet, at the same time, he is happy to use this "ignorance" to his advantage because when you underestimate him you make it easy.
Its funny though, cause Alastor was never not "cute," if that makes sense. In his mind he'd rather project class, style, refinement and thats what he thinks, but even as a human, in my HC, Alastor wasn't handsome in a sexy, suave daddy kind of way. He was handsome in genuine, disarming boyish way.
To me, he was the last guy you would imagine was committing the brutal murders he was and even if you knew he was it would still be so hard to comprehend. If Alastor ever got caught and jailed as human he'd be the kinda guy that the public would doubt did it and even in confessing to it they'd still try to depict him as sympathetically as possible. Its also why I kind of depict Alastor as a bit "younger" as human than he might actually be in canon. ( Early 30s, rather than mid-late 30s or 40s, but we have no idea of canon age yet. But this being said I think I'm about on the mark cause if Alastor was older than 32 when he died he more than likely would have served in WW1 and there has never been any indication or mention of that, which is another major reason my Alastor is the age he is. )
And its also why Alastor was such an effective killer. He was cute, young, handsome, articulate and witty and people generally wanted to be around him with 0 suspicion that he could or would ever harm them. Women happily let him into their houses and men happily followed him into the marshes never expecting anything violent or even unfriendly from him until it was way too late. In comes the symbolism of the deer, which are generally seen as innocent, gentle, harmless creatures. But Alastor's not a deer. He only looks like one. Just like Alastor wasn't innocent, gentle or harmless, he only looked it, and, of course, acted it. Even Alastor's deer features as a demon don't display him as some mighty stag, he's not some twisted king of forest type figure, he doesn't invoke a sense of strength and power like a "stag" might. Alastor displays more as cheerful young buck, which keeps in line with the typically innocent, gentle, harmless image of the deer. I mean as demon, in human standards Alastor would be pretty creepy to look at. Teeth and claws aside, I imagine his human features are more gaunt than when he was alive. His limbs are a little longer, too. All sorts of things about Alastor's demon form would come off as uncanny in human perception so "cute" isn't the first thing that would enter most humans head on looking at Alastor's demon form. But as far as demons in hell go, Alastor's probably considered pretty "cute looking" in the sense that he does retain a lot of his human features and the deer parts of him aren't overtly rugged or twisted. Theres nothing about his usual appearance outside of his big nasty chompers and claws that exert danger. As far as demons go, Alastor's really not the most inhuman or bestial looking, thus he's not the most scary or intimating looking.
At first blush, anyway. Because the from Alastor is almost always seen in isn't Alastor's true self, either. Alastor's true self is much more imposing and monstrous. But no one sees what Alastor really looks like until they're as good as dead (Some might get a glimpse if they piss him off enough, though) and that theme follows from Human Alastor with his victims knowing nothing of his true nature until it was too late. Which might make you think : If Alastor doesn't necessarily want to be looked at as "cute" why not just live life in "hell" in his true form ? The answer is simply because Alastor is a predator who practices aggressive mimicry. Its kind of... Innately ingrained into him to camouflage himself as something as pleasant and appealing to others as possible. He uses his appearance and behaviors to lure prey, which, again, is the twisted, demonic mirror of his human life as a serial killer who used his boyish good looks, wit and charm to aid in his murders.
Finally, I think there is something to be said about the fact that Alastor was torn apart by hunting dogs as a human. The execution style shot to the head was a small mercy and only happened after he'd been mutilated by the dogs. He would not have survived even if that hadn't happened. Now, as a demon, Alastor kills in a brutal, animalistic way, mauling and shredding victims with his claws and teeth like an animal, reminiscent of the way he was killed.
#💀 𝓣𝖆𝖌 : ooc#💀 𝓣𝖆𝖌 : headcanons#💀 𝕯𝖊𝖛𝖎𝖑 𝕯𝖆𝖓𝖉𝒚 : alastor#hellaverse cw#Ill re-post this on Alastors blog IF/WHEN it lets me#smh severe issues with tumblr over there.
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Texas Heat (Part Two)
Alpha!Tommy x omega!Reader (AFAB). When you find yourself trapped within the Hewitt family’s web of murder, violence and pain, the last thing you expect to do is fall in love.
Warnings: implied non-con, gore. NSFW in later chapters.
Part One / Part Two / Part Three
~
Dinner that night is stew.
You help Luda cut the vegetables, but the meat is already simmering in the pot by the time you come down. Thomas is nowhere to be seen, and when you ask where he is, as casually as possible, Luda answers with a sly grin.
“Oh, he’s probably workin’ down in the basement. Often doesn’t eat ‘til later, ‘specially when we have guests. He’s awful shy, you see.”
You don’t mention the way he’d stared at you upstairs – more domineering and intense than anyone else you’d have described as “shy”.
“I hope you don’t mind me asking—” you begin to say, but she’s already nodding, clearly anticipating your next words.
“His face?”
You nod. Setting down the knife she’s using to slice the carrots, she adjusts her spectacles and glances towards the door you presume leads to the basement.
“He’s awful sensitive about it. We don’t usually talk about it, but I don’t want you to be makin’ any nasty judgements ‘bout him.”
“Of course not, I wouldn’t.”
She pats your arm and continues chopping the carrots. “I found him when he was just born. Some cruel no-goods had left him to die in a trash can. Lord knows what filthy things he was exposed to in there before I took him home. He started gettin’ skin complaints when he was a boy. Real bad. The other kids used to tease him for it, call him ‘diseased’. Got too much for him so he took a knife and . . .” She presses the tips of her fingers to her mouth and shakes her head. “Sorry, still gets to me.”
“I understand,” you say, your heart aching empathetically. “I’m sorry.”
She pats your arm again and sighs, “You’re a good girl, Y/N.”
For some reason, she says this with a note of sadness which makes you uneasy again. You don’t have long to dwell on it, though, before Hoyt enters the room.
“How’s that stew comin’ on, Momma?” he asks jovially.
You help set the table and bow your head respectfully while Hoyt says Grace, accepting your bowl of stew with a grateful smile. The meat is tender, with an unusual flavour you can’t quite place. You figure it must be some kind of game animal you’ve not tasted before, or herbs mixed in with the broth. It’s good, whatever it is. You help yourself to the cornbread Luda offers you and try not to be disconcerted by the way Monty is staring at you.
He’s just a dirty old man, you try and convince yourself. Ignore him.
Though it’s not that late by the time your plate is cleared, you claim tiredness and go upstairs to your tiny room. Closing the door behind you, you wish there was some kind of furniture you could prop against it; the chest of drawers is far too heavy for you to move inconspicuously. You don’t feel quite comfortable enough to change into the camisole you usually wear for sleeping, so decide to remain in your shorts and T-shirt. One night won’t hurt. You brush your teeth in the tiny sink, making a mental note to rinse your toothbrush with clean water before using it again, and curl up on top of the blanket. The air is thick and humid, and you’re soon wishing you could just sleep naked. Your own scent hangs heavy in the air and you curse your time of the month. Even with the precautions prescribed to you, your heat was always strong, but it never has this much of a toll on you. You remember your first – you were ten, an early bloomer, and it had hit you at summer camp. It was the height of August, and the counsellors had found you whimpering in a corner of the dorm, hugging a pillow and grinding frantically against it.
That was the last time you went to camp.
Could it be because of Thomas? Is that why your body is reacting so strongly?
Growling in frustration, you reach for your bag and grope inside for your pills. The doctors only advise taking three pills in a single day under extreme circumstances, but being under the same roof as an alpha as intimidating as Thomas Hewitt strikes you as pretty damn extreme. It takes you almost three whole minutes to realise the awful truth – the pills aren’t there. You know you put them back in the inside pocket earlier, the same place you always do. They’re definitely gone.
Your heart starts pounding and you feel that prickling sense of danger creep over you again. It would have been easy for Hoyt, Monty, or even Thomas to come in here and take the pills while you were downstairs helping Luda. Which means they know. Perhaps you were kidding yourself that you could lie to them.
You decide not to take any chances. Even without your car, there was no way you could stay here. Your parents would understand. Perhaps you could even call the cops when you got to the next town and ask them to fetch it for you. Gathering your belongings as quietly as possible, you open the door just a crack and peer out down the darkened hallway. All is still. You manage to make no sound all the way to the top of the stairs, taking care not to step in the centre of each step as you tiptoe down.
You’re almost at the door when you hear it – a low, keening moan.
You turn glacially slowly to look at the basement door. You could kid yourself that it was a dog, but you know in your bones that’s not the case.
“Please . . .” the voice calls plaintively. A girl. “Help me . . .”
Fear washes over you like a bucket of ice water. You should go – you know you should go. The door is right in front of you.
“Pleeeeease . . .” the voice sobs.
Your parents’ faces swim before your eyes. You think of what they’d suffer were you to never come home. You brother, your sister, your friends . . .
“Oh God, help me . . .”
“God damn it,” you whisper through gritted teeth. With a quick glance upstairs, you tread as light as a spider down the corridor towards the basement. The girl’s voice gets louder – it’s definitely coming from down there. The door is unlocked when you twist the handle, pulling it towards you just enough to slip inside and down the rickety steps beyond. A large pool of water is gathered at the foot of the stairs, too large for you to avoid. You wince as the damp soaks through your sneakers and socks.
Two large hunks of meat are hanging from hooks along the wall. You think they may have once been pigs, though the head and limbs are all hacked away. You find the girl – a petite blonde in a short blue dress – on a filthy mattress, roped to a pipe in one corner of the room. She looks as though she’s been there for days, weeks, even. Her skin is bruised, and you can tell by her frightened scent that she’s a beta. You can also smell Hoyt’s potent musk on her – in her hair, in the smears of congealed fluid between her legs.
She smells you before she sees you, eyes searching disbelievingly in the half-dark. You quickly stifle her mouth with your hand before she cries out.
“Keep quiet, okay?” you hiss. You pick at the tightly-knotted rope, breaking a fingernail in your attempt to untie it. “Fuck.”
“Oh God,” she gasps.
“Shh, it’s okay, I’m gonna—”
“NO!” she screams, her body falling into a fit of panicked flailing. Her eyes are big and brimming with fear, staring over your shoulder.
The scent reaches you just before Thomas’s fingers do.
You duck and back away from the captured girl, who continues screaming like she’s being sliced apart. Every nerve in your body is yelling at you to flee, to fight, to do anything besides what you are doing – which is staring like a deer in headlights up at Thomas approaching you. His scent is almost overpowering, and despite the terror seizing you, you feel a warm stream of slick trickling down the inside of your thigh.
He gives a sharp intake of breath and rumbles deep in his chest. Your knees tremble, and you unconsciously breathe in the heady aroma surrounding the enormous man. Your breath shudders as it leaves you. Your instincts are commanding you to stay, to submit, to give yourself to this alpha; you can already feel your body leaning into him.
The basement door slams open and Hoyt’s angry voice preceeds his heavy footsteps.
“Nuff of this dang caterwauling, some of us’re tryin’ to sleep!”
He stops dead at the wall of scent surrounding you, and a sly grin takes over his rugged features. “Well, lookee here.”
Reaching inside his pocket, he pulls out a small foil strip that you recognise instantly.
“Guess somebody’s not just a plain ole beta after all, huh?”
“You asshole,” you spit, your disdain for Hoyt overriding your lust for just a moment.
“That’s not very polite now, is it?” he says. He moves casually towards the whimpering blonde, who stares in terrified anticipation up at him. He reaches down and strokes her hair, and she cringes away from his touch. “Tommy, why don’t you teach this little bitch a lesson in manners?”
Thomas takes two short strides towards you, but you dart out from under his grasp and sprint towards the stairs. The girl you’re abandoning screams after you, but all you can think of now is to escape, battling the nagging tug at the back of your mind that’s still desperately reaching out for Thomas.
You somehow make it up the steps and through the door, your footsteps crashing on the boards as you fly down the hall. You throw your entire weight against the front door, splintering the wood surrounding the lock as you burst out into the night.
You breathe in lungfuls of air as you sprint across the field, heading for the road. You’ve never been a fast runner, but the adrenaline pumping through your veins has you practically leaping like a gazelle. Your feet catch on stones and loose earth, threatening you with a fall, but you just manage to keep your balance. The sound of pounding footsteps behind you sends a sharp spike of fear into your gut, and if you weren’t running you may have vomited.
You vaguely recognise another sound – a deep, mechanical roar – but you don’t want to risk glancing over your shoulder to see if it is what you think. He’s getting closer, you can smell him, you can hear his laboured breathing, you can feel his fingers grasping at your hair—
He overshoots you by a good ten strides when you fall to the ground, scraping your hands and knees on hard soil. Turning to face your supine form, he brandishes the growling chainsaw clutched in his massive hands.
You’re dead. You must be. How can you possibly expect any other outcome from this situation? Scrambling to your knees, you try to rise, but the metal teeth of the chainsaw brush too close; you can almost taste your own blood. Thomas’s eyes, black with rage, focus on you. His chest is heaving, his muscular arms flexing as he prepares to deal the killing blow—
“Alpha!” you shriek, the word spilling from your tongue before you can recognise its meaning. “Alpha, please!”
He freezes, arms aloft, staring down at you in surprise and disbelief.
You crawl forwards, reaching out a shaking hand to touch his booted foot. “Please . . . p-please don’t kill me.”
He glances up towards the house. You can tell he’s not used to making decisions without approval, but Hoyt isn’t here to spit poison in his ear.
“I’ll . . . I’ll be yours.” You can’t believe the words you’re saying. “Please, alpha . . . you can have me. I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t kill me.”
He steps back and shakes his head angrily, but not in refusal – more like he’s trying to rid your honeyed words from his head as a bull might dislodge a persistent fly. Taking your life in your hands, you slowly rise to your feet and proffer your sweating hands towards him; the scent from your wrists glands is strong, unavoidable. The chainsaw powers down, and his arms slowly fall to waist-height. You take careful hold of one wrist and detach his fingers from the chainsaw handle. Keeping your gaze locked with his, you part your dry lips and press the flat of your tongue against his own wrist, licking a long, slow stripe. His skin is salty with sweat, the musk beneath deep and earthy, hitting the back of your throat like spice. You feel a shudder pass through his body and go one step further – baring your teeth just enough to nip the tender, swollen skin. The chainsaw falls heavily to the ground as he grabs you, one hand twisting the skin of your wrist, the other securing the back of your neck, fingers knotted in your hair. You stare up at him, heart dancing, skin tingling, fear and lust seeking dominance in your stomach. His teeth are bared behind the gap in his mask, his brow furrowed in bewildered rage and desire. You lift the hand still free from his grip and, as tenderly as though handling a baby sparrow, touch the gland at the nape of his neck. The skin is raised and warm, and his eyes close almost in reverence at the contact.
“What in Lord’s name’re you doin’, boy?!” Hoyt’s furious voice startles you both. He’s hurrying up behind you, shotgun under one arm, glaring between you and Thomas.
In a swift, one-handed movement, Thomas pulls you flush against his body, your nose filling with the metallic scent of blood imbedded in his apron – which, it occurs to you, is undoubtedly human blood.
Hoyt stops in his tracks, assessing the situation before him. You, pliant and submissive in Thomas’s arms; Thomas, dominant and possessive, ready to protect you from the threat Hoyt poses. The older man sighs, chuckling softly.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Swinging the shotgun to rest on his shoulder, he shakes his grizzled head. “Y’sure, Tommy? She’d taste mighty sweet with Mama’s hot biscuits.”
Thomas’s grip tightens and you whimper – he’s about to break your wrist. His fingers immediately loosen, and you see a flash of what could almost be called concern cross his face. Hoyt rolls his eyes and turns, heading back towards the farmhouse.
“Come on, then.”
Before you can protest, Thomas sweeps you up into a bridal embrace, pressing your body against his broad chest. Tears prick your eyes as you’re brought back to the place you fought so hard to escape from. As you’re carried over the threshold, Hoyt shoots you a nasty grin.
“Welcome to the family, Little Miss Omega.”
~
Comments are greatly appreciated because I’m a needy little trashbag.
#thomas hewitt#tommy hewitt#thomas hewitt x reader#tommy hewitt x reader#slasher x reader#slashers#slasher lover#slasher fandom#slasher community#the texas chainsaw massacre#tcm#tcm the beginning#the texas chainsaw massacre the beginning#slasher fic
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INURE
Peeta Mellark x Reader
[ We all know who Katniss Everdeen is, but what if Primrose hadn’t been chosen but another boy from another unfortunate family? YOUR family. ]
Info: This is basically a reader insert and I’ve changed a few rules, not ground breaking though. The reader is a bit bland for now but I plan for his actions to be different. Because he has different moral grounds from Katniss and such. Would appreciate feedback! FEEL FREE TO POINT OUT TYPOS. GRAMMARLY SOMETIMES DOESN’T DO MY DYSLEXIC ASS JUSTICE
Part four: Click here, rooroorara shooty shooty vang vang
Part five: You're right here, silly!
Part six: Click here, war criminal of 1878!
Wattpad acc: L0calxDumbass
The moment the anthem finished, we were taken into custody. It's not as if we were cuffed or anything; a group of Peacekeepers simply marched us through the front door of the Justice Building.
Each year, at least one of the tributes tries to escape; I've never seen one successfully do so.
Once inside, they put me in a room. It's the most prosperous place I've been to. With a thick carpet in the ground and a weird couch made of fabric, I've never seen before.
It was a strange texture, almost like the weird fuzzy stuff in deer's antlers. My father called them velvet; was this the same thing? If so, that's a bit gross.
Despite this, I still caressed the couch; it was oddly comforting. Almost like you're patting a nearly hairless kitten. It switched from smooth to rough each time I ran my hands through it.
Then I remembered that we only had an hour to say goodbye to our loved ones before leaving for the Capitol. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath in. I didn't want to cry at all; the cameras were trained on me. I'm sure the Capitol would eat my tears up.
The first people who came in were my mother and my brother. Kunal let out a sob as he ran towards me, practically throwing himself onto me. I hugged him, staying silent as he buried his face into my neck, afraid that if he let go, I would disappear.
But I needed to break it one way or another. "Mother," I called, my voice detached. Her green eyes met mine, her lips quivering. I gulped down my spit, taking another deep breath in. "Do you. . . Have any idea on how you'll support yourselves. . ?" I asked.
Her eyes landed on the thick, red carpet. "Not as of now," she answered grimly, "But Katniss' mother offered me some work at the apothecary,"
My arms around my brother tightened. Maybe Gale and Katniss could bring them some of the game as well, though I wouldn't count on it. Why would they help us when they have other things to worry about? It's not as if I could teach Nal how to hunt either. The boy's frightened by his own shadow.
All he's good for right now for picking flowers as much as I love him. A sigh escaped my lips, my chest falling slowly as the reality sunk in.
"Well, you must think of something," I told her, my brows furrowing. "I'm not going to come back; I won't be able to support you and—"
"No!" she barked, "No! You will come back, Y/n." she proclaimed, her eyes shaking. She clenched her, fists, "Swear that you will."
Bitterness rose within me. "Tell that to the Capitol, mother," I said coolly. "If I die, then I—." My words were cut short by the sobbing of my brother.
He sniffled, pulling away from my now wet neck. "You'll win, won't you?" he croaked, wiping his eyes with the sleeves of his reaping clothes.
I felt my heart stop; what was I supposed to say to him? "No, Nal. I will surely die, don't count on it," a lump formed in my throat.
My eyes landed on my mother, who gave a stern look. It told me to lie, if not for her sake, then for my brother's. With shaky hands, I held my brother's shoulders. "I'll make it out; then we can— gather some flowers in Victor's village, yes?"
Nal nodded, hugging me once more. I took a deep breath before I started explaining what they should do. With mother possibly getting a job at the apothecary, perhaps they have a chance to survive, after all. Though I'm not sure, that's such a pleasant thought with the fact that I will die.
Soon enough, a Peacekeeper was at the door, telling them their time was up. I gave Nal a hard squeeze before pushing him off. My mother nodded at me; her strawberry blonde hair bounced as she did so. "I love you both,"
The words were stuck in my throat; I couldn't say them. Maybe it was because of my strained relationship with my mother or because I hated the fact that I had just given my brother a false sense of hope. I simply watched as they walked away, hand in hand.
Nal's watery blue eyes looked back at me one last time, a look of sadness. He knew I was lying. I sounded unconvinced when I told him. My posture slumped; I felt horrible. Our maker is siis merely, I suppose.
The next visitor was unexpected; Peeta's father, the baker. My gut churned; I was off to kill his son soon. Why has he come to visit me? Perhaps he has come to beg me not to kill his son? Not that I could either way, Peeta was stronger than me: it was clear as day.
He handed me a small piece of parchment. It was filled with warm cookies. A delicacy. He must've visited his son; after all, why would he just me cookies? I was about to die anyway; why feed a dead man?
I let out a huge breath, "How was the squirrel?" my voice pierced through the thick silence. He shrugged, "Alright," he answered. Then another wave of silence hit us. I sniffed awkwardly, the scent of fresh bread entering my lungs.
I couldn't think of anything to say. What was I supposed to do? ApoloApologisebe, but I never really liked apoloapologisingee no need to. If I'm sorry, then I'll show it. We sat in awkward silence before the Peacekeepers told him his time was up. He stood up, clearing his throat.
"I'll keep an eye on the little boy, make sure he's eating," He stated before leaving. I felt the pressure lift from my chest. They may not like me much, but Nal was practically an angel to them. An angel born in a family of rebels, I'm guessing, is their thoughts.
The next guest then entered. Madge. Her expression wasn't weepy nor evasive, nor did she wear that bright smile she always had when she was around me. It looked urgent. She walked straight to me, the urgency in her tone quite surprising, "They let you wear one thing from your district in the arena. One thing to remind you of home, will you wear this?" she holds out a circular gold pin that was on her dress earlier.
My brows furrowed, "Your pin?' I said. Does she really to die wearing rich-people-things? That hasn't even crossed my mind. . .
"I'll put it on your tunic, alright?" She said, not waiting for my answer as she leaned in and fixed the bird on my chest. "Promise me you'll wear it to the arena, Y/n. Promise me," She took my hand, her thumbs rubbing the back of my own.
Compared to Peeta's, hers was cold yet soft, almost as if she was nervous, worried. But why would she? I barely talk to her; she's the one who always strikes a conversation. All I do is nod and disagree at certain times.
She leaned closer to my face; I gave her an uncertain smile, pulling away. "Thank you, Madge," I muttered. She nodded, letting go of my hands. "Please, stay safe," her voice trembled as she rushed out of the room. I was left standing there, confused. What was that? Why did she visit me despite my rudeness earlier?
Next was Gale and Katniss. I didn't hesitate to hug both of them before pulling away with a sigh. "Hey, you'll be fine," Gale reassured, patting my shoulder. I stayed silent, only nodding. Katniss gave me a pity smile, "I'm sure it would be fairly easy to get knives, Y/n."
A sigh left my mouth, "I know— I just— Don't want to—" I stammered, making a stabbing motion with my hand. Gale gave me a pitied look, "It's just like hunting, Y/n. You're the best hunter we know," he said.
"They're not animals. They think; they're armed." I reasoned, my voice trembling. Why did I have to feel these emotions now? Maybe reality has finally settled in, the truth that I'll never see any of these faces again. On the off chance that I do, I'm sure they'll view me differently, a cold-blooded murderer.
"What's the difference, reale said grimly. Those words echoed in my head as they went away with the Peacekeepers. What is the difference? We're all just feral dogs forced to fight or cocks pit against each other.
I took a deep breath as I got called to ride a wagon to the train station. It was a relatively short ride. We never really had the luxury of these; we always had to travel by foot.
I silently thanked myself for not crying; there were insect-like cameras trained onto my face. Thankfully, I knew how to act, to bite my tongue. If I hadn't, I'd probably be screaming profanities. My eyes glanced onto the television screen; I look bored. Which, I surprisingly was.
It was as if my spirit left me already.
Peeta Mellark, on the other hand, had obviously been crying. However, he didn't even try to hide it, which was quite odd. Was this his strategy? To appear weak and vulnerable to assure the other tributes that he was no threat? This worked for a girl from district 7. Johanna Mason.
She seemed frightened, a cowardly fool that no one bothered about her until only a handful left. She then killed them all, with no problem whatsoever. I remember watching this game, quite shocked. She sold her act to me, but then again, maybe I'm just oblivious.
This worked for her because she looked frail, weak. Peeta applying this strategy was quite odd. Not only did he not look soft, but he was also jacked. He just looked like a big doofus. All those years having bread to eat and hauling trays made him physically capable.
Annoyance rose through me when we had to stand by the train's entrance while cameras gobbled out images up. I was sure I no longer looked bored but rather pissed. It wasn't like I was about to put on a pretty smile for them. These jester-dressed-worms should know how I feel.
Finally, we boarded, and the train began to move at once. The speed took my breath away. It was going faster than I could ever think of. The scenery around us just blurred—a mix of the neutral colour palette that made up District 12.
We were taught about coal in school. Some basic maths and reading before it circled back to coal again. Our district was used for coal mining, even hundreds of years ago.
Then there are the weekly lectures about the history of Panem, which never fails to annoy me. It's all blather about how we owe the Capitol because of the rebellion and whatnot.
I knew they're hiding something; we couldn't have lost that easily. I always think about this whenever I'm up in the trees, daydreaming, which is why I'm always the last one to arrive at the hill.
The tribute train was much fancier than the room at the Justice building. We were given our own rooms, a dressing area and private bathroom with cold and hot running water. We've never really had hot water readily available at home; we had to boil it.
Though I can't say, I like it, with all that effort I just end up not liking the bath. I much prefer the cold, flowing current of a river.
There are drawers filled with fine clothes, and Effie Trinket told me to do anything I want, wear anything I want, everything is at my disposal. Just be ready for supper in an hour. I peel off my father’s tunic and take a cold shower. I’ve never had a shower before. It’s like being in the rain, inky much tamer. I dress in a dark green shirt and pants, trying my hair to the usual, small pa
At the last minute, I remember Madge’s little gold pin. For the first time, I get a good look at it. It’s as if someone fashioned a small golden bird and then attached a ring around it. The bird is connected to the ring only by its wingtips. I suddenly recognise it—a Mockingjay.
Funny little birds, my favourite creature in the forests, that's for sure. These were a slap to the Capitol's face. They genetically altered animals as weapons. Muttations as we call them, or Mutts for short. One particular kind was a bird they labelled Jabberjay, able to memorise and repeat whole human conversations.
Homing birds, exclusively male that were released into regions where the Capitol’s enemies were known to be hiding. After the birds gathered words, they’d fly back to centres to be recorded. It took people a while to realise what was going on in the districts, how private conversations were being transmitted. Then, of course, the rebels fed the Capitol endless lies, and the joke was on it. So the centres were shut down, and the birds were abandoned to die off in the wild.
But they didn't die; instead, they mated with the female mocking birds and produced this weird species that can replicate both bird whistles and human melodies. They've lost the ability to enunciated words but could still mimic a range of human vocal cords.
My father used to sing them a lot. I guess he passed that habit down to me. Whenever I'm not doing anything, I find myself singing to the hummingbirds, who surprisingly listen and replicate my Father's song. It was a simple melody, made of 10 notes at least.
It warmed by heart, especially at times where I miss him. I smiled, fastening the pin to my shirt, the dark green as its background.
Effie came to collect me. I followed her through a narrow, rocking corridor into a dining room. There's a table where all the dishes are highly breakable. There waiting for us was Peeta Mellark, the chair beside him empty.
"Where's Haymitch?" Asked Effie Trinket brightly.
"Last time I saw him he said he was going to take a nap," said Peeta. "Well, it’s been an exhausting day," said Effie Trinket. I think she’s relieved by Haymitch’s absence, and who can blame her?
Food came in courses. Though I barely touched the carrot soup, the chocolate cake, lamb chops nor the mashed potatoes. I wasn't going to eat this, not from the Capitol.
My jaw clenched as Effie told me to eat up, smiling brightly at me. I gave her a pained smile, slowly taking a bite of the lamb on my plate before swallowing it roughly.
A swirl of guilt formed in my stomach, was I eating really this luxurious food whilst Nal and mother struggle? I sighed, digging my nails into my palms.
Peeta looked at me oddly as he stuffed his face, he nudged my side and nodded towards the food. I simply shook my head, pushing the plate away.
Effie put her lips together at my stubbornness. She was muttering something about having no manners.
We go to another compartment to watch the recap of the reapings across Panem. They try to stagger them throughout the day so a person could conceivably watch the whole thing live, but only people in the Capitol could really do that since none of them has to attend reapings themselves.
One by one, we see the other reapings, the names called, the volunteers stepping forward or, more often, not. We examine the faces of the kids who will be in our competition. A few stand out in my mind.
A monstrous boy who lunges forward to volunteer from District 2. A fox-faced girl with sleek red hair from District 5. A boy with a crippled foot from District 10. And most hauntingly, a twelve-year-old girl from District 11. She has dark brown skin and eyes, but other than that, she’s very like Nal in size and demeanour. Only when she mounts the stage and task for volunteers, all you can hear is the wind whistling through the decrepit buildings around her. There’s no one willing to take her place.
Last of all, District twelve. It showed Nal getting called and me volunteering. The commentators weren't sure about what to say regarding the silence. I only smirked at this, crossing my legs in amusement. Just in time, Haymitch fell from the stage, earning a comical groan from the commentators.
Peeta silently took his place on the stage; we shook hands and then just cut to the anthem.
Effie Trinket is disgruntled about the state her wig was in. "Your mentor has a lot to learn about presentation. A lot about televised behaviour."
Unexpectedly, Peeta laughed. "He was drunk." He said. "He's drunk every year."
"Everyday," I added, finally breaking my silence streak with a smirk. Effie makes it sound kike Haymitch just had rough manners that could easily be dealt with.
"Yes," She hissed "How odd you two find it amusing. You know your mentor is your lifeline to the world in these Games. The one who advises you lines up your sponsors, and dictates the presentation of any gifts. Haymitch can well be the difference between your life and your death!"
Just then, Haymitch staggers into the compartment. "I miss supper?" he slurred. Then he vomits all over the expensive carpet and falls in a mess.
"So laugh away!" said Effie Trinket. And so I did, I barked out mocking laughter as she hopped in her pointy shoes around the pool of vomit and fled the room.
Word count: 2974
Tags:
@nin3s
#hunger games x reader#hunger games#hunger games x male reader#male reader#male reader insert#peeta mellark x male reader#peeta mellark x reader#peetamellark#x male reader#gale#male x male reader
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danger | choi soobin
× pairing: guardian angel!soobin x reader (beomgyu x reader) × genre: fluff (probably angst in later parts) × warnings: none? yet × word count: 2k × synopsis: after living most of your life thinking you were never going to meet your guardian angel, you’re suddenly put into a situation where he is the only one that could save you from oncoming danger. the plot twist? no one knows what kind of danger
part 1 | part 2

➳
you live in a world where you get a guardian angel if you're a good person and about to run into danger
well, everyone has a guardian angel by default, but isn't able to sense them in any way
only if something extremely dangerous might happen to you, you can see your guardian angel's physical form
the catch is, only you can see your own guardian angel
they appear without warning and also without knowing what kind of danger you're in
so, obviously the guardian angels job is to keep their human safe from whatever danger their human might be in
you had always heard stories of people meeting their guardian angels and wondered what yours might be like
until one rainy morning those wonders turned into reality
"y/n wake up already! your alarm has been going off for minutes, jeez"
you're confused, eyes still closed, barely woken up
but who does this unfamiliar, but still strangely familiar voice belong to..?
“i can’t believe you’re gonna be late again”
you squint your eyes open and slowly focus on the figure right in front of you
vision still blurry, you realize they're right, your alarm is going off
letting out a groan you rub your eyes with the back of your hand and sit up
"finally!"
"what the hell?" you reply crankily to the mystery person
the figure, still in front of you, waves his hands in front of your face, too close for your liking
and once he stops, your eyes finally focus on him and your whole body freezes
"who the hell are you?" you blurt out
the boy squints his eyebrows, draws back from you and looks around him as if searching for someone
you take this opportunity and grab your phone, silencing the alarm but quickly backing up to a corner with it
"huh? there's no one here" the boy quietly notes
he turns back to you and is surprised to see you scared, huddling your pillow to your chest and phone i hand
"don't come any closer! i'll call the police!"
the boys eyes widen and his jaw pretty much hits the floor
"wha- me? don't come any closer me?" he points a finger at his chest
"yes you! how did you get into my apartment? are you my stalker?"
the boy is in absolute shock at the accusations you're yelling at him
still in disbelief, he checks behind him one more time to confirm; you are indeed talking to him
"you can see me?"
"what? i- i'm calling the police"
shaking your head you quickly start typing 911 on your phone
meanwhile the figure, boy, starts panicking, but out of a completely different reason than what you'd expect
"omg omg y/n you can see me! you're in danger!!! wait no don't call the cops-"
he quickly snatches the phone away from you just as you were about to press call
you scream and as the only instinct left, pull your cover over your head to hide under it and scream "please don't hurt me"
you're waiting for him to grab you or smack you but nothing happens
it's absolutely silent again and you begin to wonder if you were imagining the whole situation
even though you're the person always screaming at the characters in horror movies for being stupid for coming out of their hiding places too early, you can't help but do the same mistake
you peek from underneath your blanket, only to realize the boy is still there, holding your phone and looking like a deer caught in headlights
you scream bloody murder again and duck back into the safety of your duvet
"hey okay! y/n, i'm not gonna hurt you okay? i know you don't trust me so i'm gonna back away."
you're super confused about what he's saying, but you hear him actually step away from you
"i'm sorry, i'm in a little shock that you can actually see me, but i'm your guardian angel"
you whisper "what?" to yourself as you listen to this strange boy in your bedroom blabber
"this sounds a little creepy, but i've been watching you for your entire life and i got kinda used to the fact that you can't see or hear me. i think you might be in danger now that you can"
when you don't answer him, he takes the initiative to leave your room
"this is probably a lot to take in since i know how slowly you wake up. i'm gonna be waiting outside your door i guess"
you hear the door to your bedroom open and close right after, but it takes you a few minutes of silence before you're brave enough to check if the coast is clear
surprisingly enough, your bedroom seems empty and you let yourself to carefully crawl out of bed
you press your ear against your door to try and listen
there are faint footsteps pacing around, confirming he left your room
you quickly twist the lock and run back into your bed, hand reaching for your phone on the bedside table
much to your horror, your hand only comes in contact with the wooden surface of the table
oh yeah, he took your phone with him
"shit" you whisper under your breath
a brief thought of escaping through your window comes to mind but the idea is quickly abandoned after realizing you wouldn't survive a drop from the fourth floor
grabbing your thinking pillow (yes, a thinking pillow) you hug it to your chest as you go over what your intruder had said to you
everything that was thought to you about guardian angels comes to mind as you try to process what was going on
it takes you a long while to come to it, but eventually you abandon thinking pillow and make your way back to your door
soobin, your guardian angel who is now sitting on the floor leaning against your door and chewing on his finger nails, hears your soft voice call out to him
"hey uhh,,,, guardian angel?"
"hm? a-ah yes?"
"what's my most priced posession?" you ask unsurely
you must be testing him, soobin realizes
the corner of his mouth twitches up. he knows
it was something you had treasured since a very young age and he knew this, because he had listened to you talk to it every night before going to sleep for years. it warms his heart as much as it breaks it
"the picture of your mom on your night stand. it's the only one left because everything else burned. you tell her about your day every night." he answers softly
you're quiet and soobin begins to wonder if he accidentally made you sad. he didn't mean to
"are you sure you're not just my stalker?"
soobin smiles to himself
"been stalking you my whole life."
you realize he's joking, because for some odd reason your gut feeling is telling you to trust him, like you've known him your entire life
and maybe in a way you have, you just haven't seen him
"what's your name?"
"i'm soobin. at least i think that's my name"
"soobin" you repeat, smiling to yourself
"soobin, can i have my phone back? i won't call the police"
"you promise?"
"promise"
you jump in your place when he suddenly walks in front of you
"oh right, i can walk through walls. thought you should know" he shrugs casually and offers you your phone back with a soft smile
"you're telling me this now??"

you're walking with your headphones on, head spinning after a good few hours going through things with soobin, your guardian angel
you keep peering behind you, feeling extra paranoid now that the information is finally sinking in
you might be in danger
maybe someone wants to murder you? you don't know
your mind is occupied thinking over the options that could possibly put you in a dangerous situation
did you make enemies with someone? most guardian angel cases had the victim targeted by an enemy
had you angered someone? seemed unlikely since you barely had a social life-
someone rips out your left ear bud
"there you are"
"oh. beomgyu, hi"
you totally did not shit yourself thinking your best friend was a murderer
"you're late again" your friend deadpans as his walking pace matches with yours
"this time is different" you shake your head and peek behind your shoulder; he's still there
"don't you say that every time you're late?"
"what? no i don't!"
"i'm pretty sure you do but whatever. how is it different today?"
just one more time you take a look behind your shoulder
just to make sure he's still there, walking ten meters away from you like he promised to and each time, he is
beomgyu, your very observant best friend, of course, notices your weird behavior
"what? is someone following you?"
you're taken aback by his question
"no... well i mean yes!"
cue beomgyu coming to a halt and grabbing your shoulder
"some creep is following you? do i need to punch a man?" he quirks up an eyebrow, but you catch the humor behind his words
"well technically you can't" you whisper under your breath but before he can ask what you just said, you grab his forearm and pull him behind to an empty hallway
"okay y/n you're acting really weird. what kinda drugs are you on i want some to-"
you shush him by putting a finger over his lips and it works
but unbeknownst to you it's making beomgyu's heart go boom boom
you make sure no one is around to hear before you lean into his ear and whisper;
"i have a guardian angel"
beomgyu draws back with a bewildered expression
"so? nice job dumbass everyone has a-"
"mine showed up"
when beomgyu doesn't say anything, just keeps staring at you dumbfounded, you nod your head as encouragement
"it did?"
"it's a he. soobin. i think i'm in danger"
"soobin, huh? so where is he? what did he say?"
you peek around the corner and find him leaning against the wall near the entrance to the lecture hall
"he's over there waiting. he was as surprised as i was"
"huh. what kind of life threatening danger could you be in? you barely leave your house."
you would have thrown back a comment about his social habits if it weren't for the fact that your head was a jumbled mess after the events of the morning
instead, you keep on peering at soobin, who is patiently waiting for you to finish talking while reading a book, as if he was trying to blend in
how unnecessary that was, no one could even see him, you thought to yourself
"are you sure you're not high? let me see your pupils"
beomgyu grabs your face but you immediately slap his hands away
"i'm not high beom!"
you might have screamed? a couple students looked your way, you definitely yelled
like the asshole he is, choi beomgyu laughs at your embarrassed face as you cringe into oblivion
you hit his shoulder
"yeah, i'm not buying it. if you want to prank me you've got to act more convincingly" beomgyu shrugs and starts walking towards the lecture hall
"beomgyu i'm serious!" you throw your hands in the air ou of frustration
"tell soobin i said hi!" he waves at you with that damn dumb smirk on his face
rubbing your temples you wait until he's out of sight to talk to your guardian angel
"he's such a pain in the ass." you express your frustration to him
soobin scoffs
"yeah i know. i'm sure it'll take him time to understand"
"thanks. you're the worst at comfort." you try to speak quietly in order to not to look like a total madman talking to themselves
"my specialty" he shrugs "and let me guess, you're gonna let him sit by himself this lecture?"
you heave your backpack off your shoulder and drop it on a desk far far away from choi beomgyu's
"you guessed absolutely right."
letting out a chuckle, soobin watches as your professor arrives right as you sit down
"oh hey by they way, i always wanted to tell you this." he whispers in your ear
"what?"
you watch from the corner of your eye as soobin takes the vacant seat right behind yours
"you're literally the only person on campus that doesn't know this yet, but beomgyu's had a crush on you since forever"
#txt#tomorrow x together#txt imagines#txtwritersnetwork#soobin imagines#txt scenarios#txt x reader#txt fluff#txt fanfic#tomorrow x together scenarios#tomorrow x together imagines#choi soobin#choi beomgyu#soobin fluff#txt soobin#soobin x reader#soobin scenarios#txt guardian angel au
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Tiamat: Rise in Shadow p.3
Summary: Fresh from their missions, the team finds intruders stepping into their new territory. But the mad scramble nearly costs Tim his life and limb, if it weren’t for a mysterious stranger saving his life. But it isn’t over and a clue is left behind
Tags: Violence
Dick let out a heavy breath as he tipped back in his chair, eyes straining from working at the computer for too long and legs, jelly and aching from standing for hours trying to piece together information the team had found while fighting the Light, while trying to pull up whatever he could on what had killed those men and what little he could find, any possible leads always went nowhere. No evidence of alien activity lately since the Reach, it was too sudden, no reported similar sightings or cases that led to their island and no motive except maybe revenge or a contract but those seemed unlikely as well, Dick couldn’t tell with so little evidence. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t seen sickos do things like this before, that’s why generally, the team is told to avoid Gotham, not because Batman was possessive but because only he knew how to handle cases like this. If Dick had to be frank, they were lucky to have to deal with alien invasions and crazy robots mostly. Difficult, but easy on the mind and eyes, most of the time. It was too easy to underestimate how perverse the mind of a human could become and the Joker was evidence of this. But he was only one psycho in the midst of seven billion other possibilities some, probably capable of sicker methods, less efficient but as long as it was...fun. And Dick had seen too many of these since he became Robin, it made him wonder how he managed to not go insane as well. He tapped a key on the console, which brought up a new window, the camera overlooking the team’s kitchen where they were all congregating, over cake. Bart eating most of it, as usual, and Dick remembered, the reason he hadn’t tipped himself over the edge, the Young Justice, the team he, Kaldur, SuperBoy and Wally started all those years ago, disobeying orders and causing mischief, were the ones keeping him together. He had to protect them, protect what they had. He sighed, closing the window, great job he was doing. If only Wally was still around. If only he could go back to the way things were, he missed the way he could goof off as Robin. But people grow up and superheroes grow up even faster, lose that innocence even before they could enjoy it. That’s just how it was. The responsibility grows heavy on his shoulders. It was easy to underestimate how cruel and disgusting the world could be. For their sake and Tim’s, he had to protect what was left.
Suddenly, the alarms began to wail and it startled Dick so hard that he fell out of his seat, instinctively, when he picked himself up he immediately dropped into his combat stance. Already, the rest of the Young Justice were running out though half in uniform, half not in Beast Boy’s case, who managed to pull on the top half of his suit but was still in boxers. M’Gann and Cassie were still in sleepwear.
“What’s going on?” Robin asked as soon as he reached Dick, now tapping away at the console, flicking through camera to camera.
“Not sure yet, but the perimeter sensors were tripped, we’ve got someone snooping around outside.”
“Sure it isn’t some deer or something?” Bart said earning him an elbow to the gut from Jaime.
“Course not, why would we put them there if they kept picking up animals.”
“Jaime’s right, those sensors are designed to detect intruders and suspicious activity, if they’re going crazy, there’s definitely someone out there,” Dick said, as he checked each camera, suddenly his eyes caught a fleeting shadow out of 14b, just outside the third entrance, west.
“There!” Dick turned to the team, “Alright, Robin, Superboy you guys are coming with me, everybody else, cover the exit points, make sure that whoever has trespassed doesn’t leave. We don’t have much time, let’s go.”
As Bart was the fastest, he was gone before any of the others had reached the mouth of the cave. Very soon, Robin, Nightwing and Superboy reached point 14b, right where the disturbance was picked up. Of course, there was no sign of anything but following in the direction of the shadow, they continued the pursuit.
“M’gann put us into a mind link.” Dick said through his comm.
“Already done,” came her reply.
“Kid-Flash, see anything?” Dick asked through the mental link as the three continued the chase.
“Nuh-uh, pretty dark here and all I see are trees and more trees, I must’ve run in circles about a dozen times now.”
“Keep looking, they can’t have gotten far.”
There was nearly no sound, nothing stirred, if this was an infiltration by the Light they would’ve come out by now for a fight and a large group geared to take down superheroes wouldn’t be this quiet. Dick grimaced, it could only mean one thing, that their murderer was prowling nearby. Time to change tactics.
“Listen up, I want everyone to take caution and keep a careful eye out,” he paused, “There’s a possibility that our mass killer is here. Engage from a distance if possible and pull out if you can’t beat him, I repeat, engage from afar, retreat if the threat is too much.”
Just as Nightwing was barking orders, Robin who trailed behind the two, looked to his left and noticed a glint of light, shining from the cover of bushes as they ran past. Suddenly he felt overcome with the urge to look, forgetting to notify Superboy or Nightwing, He slowed down to a stop, eyes still glued to the two little lights and began to walk towards them, all thoughts leaving him with only his overwhelming curiosity. As he got closer, he saw those two dots flicker and move, retreating further into the dark of the woods. Against all his trained instincts screaming at him, he followed them in. His legs taking him forwards until he was very much lost within the thick clumping of trees, in that exact moment, his senses returned and Tim realized he’d just broken off from the group without them knowing. He attempted to call out mentally but no one replied, his link to them broken or blocked somehow. He could feel fear slowly building up inside.
“Okay, breathe, you can do this,” he muttered to himself as he gripped his bo staff tighter, “You faced Killer Croc, Ivy, Clayface and Two-Face, you can beat this creep.”
He advanced, though he could try find his way back to the cave, but in the minutes he’d walked further on like a zombie, Tim was unsure of where his location was, and the forests surrounding HQ was, simply put, vast. With the mind link gone, he felt alone and lost. This was bad.
“Miss martian, Blue Beetle?”
No one answered as he called out loud, “Nightwing? Superboy?”
How far had he walked? This was embarrassing, getting so lost even though technically he was so close to base. And it looked like it was getting darker than night, the deafening silence surrounded him. There was no way one of them wouldn’t let him go with this, especially Gar. The thickening shadows was lowering visibility further and further that for some reason his night vision lens was becoming less effective, then without warning, they malfunctioned and he had to switch back to normal vision. This was bad, he shouldn’t have wandered forwards. Robin decided to turn on his heel and attempt to trace his steps back. The moment his back was turned, a large, roaring mass slammed into him, sending him down onto the ground with its weight pinning him there. Robin grunted and struggled, trying to unbalance whatever was crushing him. It growled in response and Robin felt its grip tightening, claws digging into his armour which must have made it through the first layer. He swallowed, sincerely hoping it was just Gar playing a stupid prank on him.
“If that’s you Beast Boy it’s not funny. Get. Off.”
Robin tried to elbow his assailant lightly, just enough to take Garfield by surprise and hopefully get him to move but when he swung, he realized that it wasn’t Beast Boy at all. Not with that growl, that look. He’d never seen a creature like it, a hulking, oozing beast that was more bone and spines than flesh, pus and boils covered what skin it had, and it’s teeth, oversized, filthy spikes, constantly drooling. It’s breath was reminiscent of any rotting thing Robin could remember. Nothing should be that hideous and yet here it was pinning him down and savouring the moment before it tears him apart. And all at once, he felt the terror rip through him. Thinking fast, he took out the taser and attempted to knock it out or at least stun it with a jolt. It roared and reared it’s ugly head for a moment, seemingly distracted Robin attempted to kick the beast off him but before he could wriggle away, it turned back to its prey, visibly irritated now. Great, he thought, that did nothing accept piss it off even more. Think Tim, his mind running through various scenarios, any possibilities on how to dislodge the creature. You’ve faced bigger, badder, uglies than this from invasions and mutants. Suddenly, Tim’s mind blanked as he watched the creature rear up, staring right into his eyes past the mask, reading him, his mind, his life and regurgitating all the negative things from the empty void. No soul, no life, not an extraterrestrial mammal built for survival. No words just things Tim could see in it’s glowing eyes, and he couldn’t look away. A deep guttural growl bellowed from it, the creature now bearing all its rotten teeth, black oozing from its jaws. It seemed to be laughing, he couldn’t tell through the fear that was now bubbling through. This thing was playing, a mortal toy in its grasp and it knew nothing Tim or anyone could do would stop it. Suddenly, he couldn’t help but wonder, if he’d see Jason. He wanted to shut his eyes tight but he couldn’t, that thing was holding his gaze, all he could do was hope for a quick end. The teeth and pain never came. Instead, he heard a distinct hissing followed by something far quicker than the eye colliding with the monster. Caught off guard it bellowed with a deafening roar and was launched away, and then, Tim couldn’t feel it pinning him down anymore. He propped himself up feeling the weightlessness again, almost lost in relief before his eyes blinked in the dark, seeing two glowing eyes not looking at him but past him. He still couldn’t move, something was nagging the back of his mind, his comms but his hands weren’t listening.
“Did you really think I would be fool enough to assume you and your damned ken wouldn’t follow me here? You think little of me.”
A figure emerged slowly from the shadows, glowing blue eyes stared down yellow ones. A young man maybe only a few years older than Tim, dressed in all black in what looked like a dress shirt and pants, grinning like a devil, he was oddly...attractive. Which was an alarming thought to have for someone who literally just walked out from nowhere, but unable to help feeling himself drawn to the stranger. If it weren’t for the blaring danger that he’d been trained to be aware of, he’d have forgotten entirely about the multi-legged slime monster growling from in front of him. He looked to and back from them both as they continued their little stare down. The man didn’t seem to have acknowledged his presence and the monster, he hoped, had temporarily forgotten about him.
“You,” it growled, oh, it talks, “I could smell you coming.”
The young man gave a dark chuckle, “Flattering, seeing how you chased me around I take it that you like it?”
“We will have you, your kind won’t hear you scream here,” the demonic hound growled, leaning back on its haunches.
“I think you will find I can fend for myself, mutt.”
At that, it launched itself with a screech at him, with Tim only just managing to scramble away. The stranger not missing one moment, reached behind him and brought that hand back around, a long weapon in his grip. The shaft slammed hard enough into the creature to hear a squelch and crack of what Tim could assume was bone and something else. He didn’t really want to think about what it was made of. The weapon was completely materialized by the time the monster had stumbled back on its feet. It resembled a bo staff like Tim’s except it was black, not painted, black like obsidian or onyx. Was it possible for a weapon to be completely forged out of a mineral? Attached at the end was a weighted blade, curved and warped, a series of sharp edges wrapped around a crescent.
“Now, depending on you answer, I can make this quick or you can make this enjoyable for me.” he said, whirling the staff in hand, “Where is he?”
The creature answered with a roar and pounced again, jaws gnashing. The strange took a step back and before it could come crashing down on him, he brought his knee back and up into the its gut. It howled and crumbled into a trembling heap, snapping at nothing. Tim watched as the stranger strode up to it, crouching just a couple of feet away.
“I’ll ask you again, where is Reavon?”
A low, wet sound rumbled from the creature, it took a moment for Tim to realize it was laughing. The young man instead of looking frustrated or even slightly offended, smiled. A smile disturbingly beautiful in this current moment. Before he took the creatures head, slowly and carefully twisting it off. Tim gaped in shock and horror, watching as the young man examined the head like it was an interesting object. Reaching inside and pulling out some kind of red matter. Tim couldn’t hold it in anymore and threw up.
“Well, I didn’t expect you to enjoy the sight but you have quite a weak stomach for a Gothamite.”
At that, Tim looked up in surprise, “How-?”
He attempted to scramble to his feet.
“I wouldn’t move yet, you’ve been caught in his curse,” the stranger took a step towards him, his hand reaching towards Tim, “This won’t hurt.”
“Tim!”
Suddenly, the sound of Dick’s voice calling his name brought him back to reality, he’s still on Mount Justice island, still alive. A sharp hiss like a snake brought his attention back to the stranger, his face pulled into a look of irritation. As backed up into the shadows again, his eyes turned back to Tim, giving a knowing nod and vanished. It seemed he didn’t plan on sticking around for them to question him. Tim wanted to call out, ask him to wait. Just as soon as the thought materialized, it vanished along with the stranger’s presence and his mind went blank.
Dick arrived in time to see Tim collapse back, slouching limply in a sitting position and just in time for his sharp eyes to catch part of a figure, disappear into the shadows. But his attention focused on Tim. H knelt by the boy, removing the mask.
“Hey, hey, you okay? What happened, are you hurt?”
Tim was unresponsive, numbly staring up at Nightwing’s eyes and occasionally glancing back at the mutilated monster and the space where the figure was only moments ago. Dick caught the look and followed his gaze behind him.
“Shit!” he cursed under his breath. He finally took the black mass in all its horrible detail, there’s nothing natural about it, things in places that didn’t make sense. Flesh that wasn’t really flesh at least not one kind of flesh, torn out and realized, this creature wasn’t built for survival, it was built to kill, built for fear. If the things Zatanna had told him about magic were true, he was looking at a good example of the bad kind. He checked Tim all over for any signs of injury, knowing these types they probably carried venom or worse in their bodies. Dick sighed in relief, luckily, Tim seemed fine on the outside but his eyes still stared blankly ahead, as if his mind had shut down. He had no way of helping him here, at least not out here while it was dark. They’d have to deal with any traumatic stress back at base. Sounds of leaves rustling and feet running approached and the other heroes finally caught up. Bart came to a skidding stop as he closed in on the scene, his eyes taking in the creature lying in a pool of its own blood. He replaced the mask over Tim’s eyes.
“Robin!” Connor ran up to the two, eyes widening in shock, “What the hell happened?!”
“He was attacked,” Nightwing stated bluntly, reaching into his belt.
“Yeah, I can tell! I want to know what the hell is that thing?” Connor’s voice was close to yelling his lungs out as he pointed one angry finger at the bloody mass. Which Bart was now toeing cautiously, then retreating with a shudder.
“Oh man, that’s nasty.”
“I don’t know, okay? Not exactly,” Nightwing took a swab of the substance that coated the Robin uniform, analysing it, he narrowed his eyes, “But I’ve got a gut feeling that says I need to talk to Zatanna.”
Superboy calmed down as his face settled into worry, he seemed to understand what that meant. Nightwing pocketed the sample and lifted Tim up, whispering something barely audible to the others. Tim finally nodded, blinking a few times and muttered something back, he dug the heel of his palm into his eyes.
“Is he alright?” M’gann asked, tentatively resting her hand on Tim’s shoulder, “Do I need to...take a look?”
“Not right now, let’s go back. We’ll let him rest then we can find out what happened here.”
Suddenly, something further into the distance caught his Dick’s eye. A small light, blue and shining in under the dark of the trees. He could be sure that it wasn’t there before when they passed. He paused for a moment, staring, a moment too long. Superboy’s voice snapped him back to the present.
“Here I’ll take him back,” Connor offered. Nightwing handed Tim over gratefully. The boy hung limp in Connor’s arms. He and watched for a moment while they flew away.
“Beast boy, Kid-Flash, M’gann come with me and M’gann, tell everyone you have on the telepathic network to return to base and stay there.”
When he looked, the light was gone but he had its approximate location, though the distance was uncertain. Nightwing led the group on. But was silent, no orders, no comments, just an unsettling silence even for him. M’gann watched him with concern. She could read his mind, know what he is thinking and it could help her act appropriately but he’d no straight away she used telepathy, that would be rude. She hung back a bit before deciding to speak up.
“You must be really worried, for Robin I mean. After what happened...last time, you must be terrified for him.”
Nightwing sighed, “I am, I don’t know what happened exactly, or what that thing is. But it could’ve killed him I’m sure of it. I got samples but I have a feeling it won’t answer our questions. Especially who got to him before us,” Nighwing paused, hands clenched, “M’gann, I wasn’t there, I didn’t save him. Someone did but I didn’t get there in time. If it weren’t for, I don’t know who, that thing could’ve torn him apart and I still wouldn’t make it there, to save him. Just like I couldn’t, for him”
The martian put her hand on Dick’s shoulder, “You’ve got to stop blaming yourself, you can’t be everywhere at once. I’m at fault too for not noticing. Compared to you, a lot of us have failed a lot more. I don’t want anything like last time to happen again either but blaming yourself, won’t help. We don’t even know what we’re up against.”
“Shouldn’t we?” Nightwing said a little to harshly. M’gann flinched, hurt.
“I’m sorry, you’re right, I’m letting it get to me. I just can’t be helpless, I can’t fail and lose my friends again.”
M’gann flung her arms around him, “Me too.”
“Hey guys, what’s that?” Garfield said, pointing a finger up ahead. It was the shining object again, it certainly was farther than Dick had expected, but it seemed no more and no less brighter.
“That’s what I saw earlier, could be a clue.”
“Or could be more of those things, eugh, I really don’t want to see those monster dogs up close and ready to eat us.”
As they walked towards the glowing object, the air seemed to change. A presence that pervaded all around them now, it was heavy and empty at the same time. For Dick, it almost felt like the time he walked through the cemetery at night to see his parents, an oppressive atmosphere that left him feeling empty and cold and frightened. He forced the sensation down and glanced at the rest of the team. Both Kid-Flash and Beast Boy looked twitchy, something that nagged at their every instinct while M’gann was beginning to falter, hovering closer and closer to the ground, he face scrunched up in discomfort or pain.
“Are you guys okay?”
“Don’t feel so good,” Gar said, his tone on the edge of queasiness.
“Me neither,” Bart added wobbly.
Garfield suddenly shifted into gorilla form, letting out a frustrated roar and beating his chest. For a moment, he almost seemed unable to recognise any of them, fearing an attack. Dick stepped up in front of him.
“Beast boy! Stop, hey it’s me,” he said, holding out both hands trying to calm down the disorientated shifter. Bart, wobbly on his feet had to lay down. Beast boy looked uncertainly at him, at Nightwing and M’gann who now hovered unstably above, then back at Nightwing.
“Easy there. You still with me?”
Gar nodded, finally speaking, “Yeah, yeah, sorry, just something messing with me.”
Whatever the glowing thing was, it was seemed to be affecting all but Dick. M’gann not much later couldn’t hold herself in the air anymore. She drifted just a few inches above the ground before landing unsteadily on her feet, stumbling towards Dick. He caught her just as she was about to fall, visibly in pain.
“Something is interfering with my psychic powers, it’s messing with my mind. Nightwing...”
“Stay here, don’t come any closer, okay, stay right here all of you,” he said as he gave her over to a gorilla beast boy. The object still glowed brightly but with how it was messing with all their powers, he left the rest behind. He could feel something but if anything, it was more like pressure, like someone had put him in a pressure chamber and turned it up to eight. His legs felt like they were slogging through marsh but nothing more. When he finally walked right up to the little dot of light, it dimmed considerably. Now he could see what it was. A small stone, crystal. Blue, somewhere between a sky and deep sea. He reached down hesitantly, tapped at it. No shocks or pain, so he picked up the crystal. It fit into the palm of his hand surprisingly no bigger than a pebble when it was shining so brightly only moments ago.
He turned it over, examining it, “What is this?”
“Nightwing!” he turned to see the other three making their way towards him, visibly disturbed but no longer in pain or discomfort.
“You guys okay?”
“Yeah, whatever was messing with our powers, it’s gone now,” M’gann said.
“I think it’s this,” Nightwing held up the stone had completely stopped glowing, turning into a deep midnight color, the surface was smooth as a gem and it felt like one to. If reflected light like a crystal normally would, he would’ve thought it was some kind of gem, like the one Klarion used before in his ritual. It was shaped like an opal. Truly like a pebble, if it wasn’t glowing, he would’ve missed it. The other’s looked curiously at it too. He observed how they seemed to be perfectly at ease now around it, now that it had stopped emitting that strange light.
“Are you feeling alright?”
“Yeah, we’re fine now,” M’gann said.
“Still a bit off from feeling the mode but all good.”
“Kinda weird though, I swear something was making me to go full ape, literally. Like it was talking to my instincts, that sound weird even in my head.”
The now dormant object had lost all of the oppressive aura from earlier, slightly cold to the touch almost too cold. M’gann used her telekinesis to hold the object aloft. It didn’t react.
“Whatever it is, it seems to have stopped for now. Let’s go back, I need to see what it is and where it came from.”
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Survey #437
“you get what you pray for / you don’t get anything”
Do you tell your mom and dad everything? No. Who was the last person you talked about something that was bothering you with? Most likely my mom. What’s your favorite musical? I don't like musicals. Who did you last share a taxi with? I've never been in a taxi. If you’ve ever tried drugs or alcohol, what was your reason for first trying it? I've never done drugs, but the first time I drank was actually an accident. I'd come in from a long, hot walk, and I desperately needed water, and Mom offered me what I thought was just pink lemonade. Turns out it was a Mike's Hard Lemonade and I CHUGGED it before everyone around me was like "NOOOO!" because it was alcohol lmaooo. If you were far from home and needed to sleep for the night, would you choose to rent a crappy motel room for $60 or sleep in your car for free? I'm sleeping in my car. I'm afraid of things like bed bugs. Is there a situation where you caved into peer pressure and regretted it? I don't think so? Have you ever rolled off your bed in your sleep? Pretty sure no. What is your favourite planet? Saturn! Do you enjoy Mario games? Not really, honestly. They're just not my style. Mario Kart is fun every now and again, though. What flavor fruity drink is your favorite? Strawberry, in most cases. Ever done a keg stand? No. Who is the last person you lent money to? My mom. Do you have any health problems that are unusual for your age? I have carpal tunnel in my wrists from typing so much, but I'm not sure how "unusual" that is for young adults nowadays... I feel like there's something else, but it's evading me right now. Do you bite your nails? No, I pick/peel at them. :x What’s the longest nap you’ve ever taken? Oh god, hours. To the point it no longer really qualifies as a "nap." When people ask you about school, what is your usual response? Do you enjoy talking about school? Why or why not? I get all awkward and just reply that I gave it numerous shots, but my mental health couldn't handle it. I hate talking about school because I feel like a failure. Do you know how to fill a car’s tire with air? Have you ever had to do it? No to both. Do you like your best friend’s parents? Why or why not? Omg I LOVE them. They are spectacular people with massive hearts. I especially am drawn to her dad, whom I find incredibly inspiring. Both her parents are just great. I miss 'em. What do you like in your hot cocoa - marshmallows, whipped cream, candy canes? Do you even like hot cocoa? I loooove hot chocolate. I really just prefer it plain, but you can toss a few marshmallows in there. Which do you have a problem with: over-eating or under-eating? I'm way more likely to over-eat than under-eat. A girl likes her food lmao. The last boy you kissed, good-looking? He's by no means ugly, but I wasn't physically attracted to him personally. Do you love him? Not romantically, but definitely platonically. Do you like cherry Pepsi? I like cherry Coke. I don't like Pepsi. When was the last time you were given flowers? Ummm... I want to say the last time was many years ago when Tyler visited for the first time when we started dating. What do you want to name your children? I don't want kids. But hypothetically, Alessandra and probably Damien. Would you ever write a letter to someone you haven’t met yet, like your future spouse? No. I'd probably get too emotional anyway. Do you carry a mirror in your purse? No. Do you believe that there is beauty in everything? I've always thought this was such a stupid idea that tries to make reason out of life and its tragedies. Like yeah, cancer, rape, murder, etc. are definitely "beautiful." There is absolutely no beauty in a vast plethora of things. The first time you smoked, did you cough like a fool? I've never smoked before. When you were younger, did you have a Neopets account? Oh, yes. I loooooved Neopets, but not quite as much as Webkinz. I've actually remade a Neopetz account multiple times because I'd forget my info, ha ha... Who was the last person you got in a fist fight with? I've never been in a physical fight. Did you and your mom ever have a big fight that caused you to move out? Not "move out," no. We did, however, have a fight where I stayed with Dad for I want to say a week, maybe a bit less. Do you dislike anyone? Why? Well, yes. I don't know anyone who doesn't dislike somebody. There are a few people, in my case, that I'm not going to spend time going through and pointing out what I don't like. Do you think you will be in a relationship 2 months from now? No. Do you always feel like you’re making mistakes? Like constantly. Does your animal sleep with you? Roman usually does, yeah. Do you have any baby pictures of yourself on your computer? No. Mom has those in photo albums. What kind was the last chip you ate? I want to say traditional Lays? It was at my nephew's bday party. Do you eat onion rings? No, I'm not a fan. What was the last thing to disgust you? I think it was some thumbnail I saw on YouTube, even though it was (weakly) blurred. Where do you see your ex in 5 years? "The" ex, I don't want to think about it. Probably somewhere great for him, but would break my heart if I knew. Do your parents swear? Dad swears big time, while Mom tries to hold it back. You won't hear her say something like "fuck" unless she is SERIOUSLY upset. Do you ever drink warm milk? Warm milk sounds literally disgusting. Would you be really upset if Facebook ceased to exist tomorrow? No. I literally just came back from my break from it, so it'd be more funny than anything. The universe's way of telling me "nah, son." Who do you know that wears the most makeup? My friend Summer, but then again she's a cosmetologist. Have you ever had bronchitis? No, thankfully. Jason had it BAD once and I will neeever forget that cough, good Lord. Do you like to wear makeup? I hate applying it more than anything. Like, I love that it can help me feel prettier, but I pretty much never wear it because it's just a pain to put on, especially by myself because I have bad tremors in my hands. How many times have you been to the ER? Way too many times for being suicidal. How often do you feel lonely? Honestly, pretty much always. When are you most uncomfortable? I dunno, man. I'm always uncomfortable about one thing or another. Has anyone ever revealed a secret about you? Not that I remember... Have you ever revealed anyone else’s secret? No, that is such a shitty thing to do. Have you ever had a family member/friend that was hospitalized? Yes. Have you ever been in trouble with the law? No. Is there anything you want to experiment with? I mean, nothing that quickly comes to mind. There are things I want to try, but nothing major. What do you hope happens to you after you die? Mixed feelings. Sometimes I hope there's some sort of nirvana-like state we experience, I think it'd be wonderful to be reunited with loved ones, but I also sometimes think it'd be best if we just... stopped existing. Consciousness just stops. I dunno. I'll find out eventually. What is the most disgusting thing you have seen in person (not on TV)? Probably a maggot-infested deer corpse that I faintly remember from where I used to live. I thought it was the sickest thing ever lmao, in both senses. What is something others make fun of you for? Always holding some sort of technology. Just don't fucking comment on it. It makes me self-conscious as hell. Is your life turning out like you pictured it would? QUITE THE FUCKING OPPOSITE. Do your initials spell out a word? No. Has anyone ever given you roses? Yeah. Last baby you held? My older sister's youngest daughter. Whose wedding were you in the first time you were a bridesmaid or groomsman? My aforementioned sister's. What is something you would never do to your body? I mean, there's a large number of things. There are certain piercings and tattoos I wouldn't dare to get, I plan on taking care of my hair as best I can to avoid ruining it despite wanting to dye it a lot... *shrug* Stuff like that. How are you planning to decorate your house for Halloween? I don't know if we'll decorate. We haven't really for a few years now... I don't have the motivation to do it myself, and now that it's just me and her and I'm grown up (I know, I'm laughing too), Mom doesn't really bother with doing it. I know I DO want to carve pumpkins this year, though. Dunno what, but I'll figure it out. Ever lived in a trailer park? No. Do you like salsa that has fruit in it? NOOOOOOOOOOO Can you count in binary? No. Do you like hard or soft pretzels better? I'll eat both, but I have a strong preference for soft ones. When was the last time someone kissed you on the cheek? Who was it? I'm sure that was either my niece of nephew when I was leaving their house when I last visited for Ryder's birthday. What kind of ice cream did you eat last? Where’d you get it from? It was chocolate. I had a scoop at the aforementioned birthday party. Do you like flowers? What is your favorite kind to receive? I love flowers. I don't have a favorite to receive, really. Have you ever unblocked someone that you blocked before? Yes. Has anyone slapped you across the face before? If so, why? No. Do you prefer to have more or less in common with your significant other? I like to be pretty similar. Would you take a shot of heroin for a million dollars? No. I don't fuck with that, even for that much money. Why don’t you talk to your ex anymore? He wants nothing to do with me. Do you think it is okay to drive while high? Obviously not...? Do you find Halloween or Valentine’s Day more exciting? Halloween. Has anyone you know ever had serious surgery before? Yeah; my mom immediately comes to mind in both instances she had cancer. When she had kidney cancer, the tumor was larger than the kidney itself, and she lost the entire organ. When she had ovarian cancer, she had to have a complete hysterectomy because the cancer was EVERYWHERE along her reproductive system to an almost fatal degree. My mom's pretty metal. If you had the last person you kissed’s Facebook password, would you go snooping through their stuff? Why or why not? No, because that's a violation of privacy? You don't do that shit. Have you ever fainted? If so, when was the last time? If not, have you ever came close to? Yes. The only time that I remember was maaaany years ago, like, maybe '14. I've nearly fainted plenty of times since then for various reasons, but mostly just from low blood pressure. Ever take a keyboarding class? Do you type using the skills you learned in that class or how you used to before you took the class? Yes; I believe one course was mandatory in middle school. I type the proper way, yeah. Ever cut your hair (the entire thing – not just the bangs or a little part) yourself? Noooo. Would you ever open your own business? If so, what kind of business could you imagine yourself having? Well, I'd like to be a freelance photographer, but to be real, I'm starting to loosen up on that dream. It's been too long, I just don't see it happening anymore. Baby steps are one thing, but I've barely managed any of those in forever. Ever meet and talk to someone from an online dating site? No. Would you date someone you weren’t physically attracted to? Why or why not? Yes; I've done it before. I just care way more about emotional chemistry. Besides, historically, me liking someone for their heart has made each person a lot more attractive to me as a whole. Last person to hang up on you? I dunno. What’s your favorite scary movie? The Blair Witch Project. The second one is great, too, plus The Crazies. Which urban legend is your favourite? Oh man, you can't ask me this. I LOVE cryptids and conspiracies 'n shit. Are any of your fears completely irrational? Yes, like whale sharks. A whale shark ain't gonna hurt u boo but I see that mouth and am like no thnx Where is the light switch in your room? Funnily enough, I don't have a light switch; there isn't a ceiling light in this room. I instead have two table lamps that I can turn on on either side of my bed. Would you make a good lawyer? Hell no, I cry when I argue lmao. It's funny tho because I remember in TWO instances, in-depth surveys recommending jobs for you brought up me being a lawyer, and each time I was just like,,,,, no???????? Why did your family decide to live where you’re living now? It was more necessity than anything. Our old house had a LOT of issues to it, and with Mom's cancer diagnosis, she needed the cleanest environment possible, and that was NOT our old place. The house we live in now is owned by a family friend, and when the previous owner died, the timing just... kinda worked out to where that family friend I mentioned helped us pay our way into here. We really don't like this place because of the location, but it had to work. What was the best pet you've ever had? All things considered, I have to hand it to my boy Teddy. That dog was someone special. Very, very special. If you were allowed one murder without punishment, would you do it? Nah. Name one song you can play on an instrument, any instrument! I can probably still slam out "Hot Cross Buns" on a recorder. \m/ Have you ever ridden on a motorcycle? Noooo, I'm scared to. On the opposite sex, do you prefer muscles, average size, or scrawny bodies? It depends on the person, ig. I can be attracted to any of those. Just not EXTREME muscle. Not my thing at all.
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“Unshaken” Chapter VI
Originally posted: March 29, 2020
Arthur Morgan x Reader, Slow-Burn Romance
(Art specially requested/Credit: @tylerzart)
Summary: You save a mysterious man who is dying on a mountain. Finding out he has Tuberculosis, you use your knowledge and skills with herbs and natural remedies to save him from death and help nurse him back to health. As he slowly starts to recover, you can’t help but wonder: Who is this man? Why had you found him the way that you did, beaten and ill? Only time, patience … and perhaps love … will tell.
•••••
I hate them, every outlaw out there.
The words rang in his head, and Arthur didn’t know how to react. He was almost nervous by the tension he felt rising between them now, but the feeling was only one-sided on his part.
She was completely unaware of the conflicting thoughts he was having now from those words. She had taken him in, nursed him back to health, and all the while she had never known who he was … what he was.
Murderers, thieves … outlaws. They had stolen her mother from her, someone close to her heart. Was he any different from them?
He understood her pain, the loss she felt for having lost someone she loved.
Not knowing how to react or what else to do, he continued rubbing his hand up and down her back in an effort to try and comfort her. “I’m truly sorry, Y/N. No one deserves to go through somethin’ like that.”
She let out a little sniff as she raised her head to look at him, wiping at her eyes and cheeks to get rid of the wet tears that had escaped. “You … You said you know how it feels to lose someone, Arthur.” Her sad eyes looked up at his, “Who did you lose?”
Arthur tensed.
He hadn’t been prepared for that question.
He was unable to figure out how to answer her, not without revealing himself and who he truly was.
He’d lost so many people. His entire gang, his family, either lost or dead. But he couldn’t tell her about any of them. He couldn’t reveal the people he’d lost without risking her recognizing any of those names and finding out who he’d been. He wasn’t sure if she even actually knew any of them, but he didn’t want to take that chance.
Besides, it wasn’t like he could’ve gone back to that life now. His old life was gone, and there was nowhere else to go.
But still … what the hell could he possibly say?
Now that he knew what she’d gone through, there was no damn way he was going to let her know what he’d been. She’d been through enough, there was no sense in allowing her to find out who he truly was, all the things he’d done. After all the care she had shown him she deserved to know him as a normal man.
So that’s who he was going to be.
He thought about Hosea, he thought about Dutch, he thought about the rest of the gang. He thought about Charles, of Lenny, of John …
Arthur lowered his eyes to the ground, emotion nearly tearing through him. “I lost a family,” his voice was hoarse, nearly gravel in tone, “they were very near and dear to me. Though we wasn’t related by blood, we stood by each other, keepin’ each other safe,” he lowered his lids, memories of them flooding him. “We did everythin’ to protect one another, no matter what damn mess we got ourselves in.” He could feel Y/N’s stare on him, and he turned his head to face her. Her expression was sympathetic, her eyes watering all over again. For him.
“I’m so sorry, Arthur,” her voice was cracked, as if she felt the same feelings that he did for the ones he’d lost.
He gave her a small smile. “I ain’t got no one now since you saved me from that mountain.”
It wasn’t an accusation, it was just the truth. He just wanted to let her know where he was in life now. Hell, he wasn’t even sure himself. His friends, any of them that were possibly left, he had no doubt they thought he was dead.
And John.
Arthur thought about the deer from his dream, about the fact that it had had John’s eyes. That it had turned away from him, heading towards an ominous storm.
He shook his head to clear the thought.
He had sent John away to lead a normal life with his own family.
Arthur couldn’t possibly try to reach out to John, not without risking even more than what both of them already had.
If he ever found John, there was no doubt him and John in the same place would attract dangerous and unwanted attention eventually. There was just no way in hell that it would ever end well.
Even though he desperately wanted more than anything to reach out to his brother, Arthur had to believe that John and his family were safe.
He had to let him go.
Arthur ran a hand through his chestnut-brown hair, squeezing the rough strands between his fingers. He grimaced, trying to focus on that small feeling rather than the pain that welled in his heart.
If he were truthful with himself, he wasn’t sure he was ever going to be able to move on.
He was supposed to have died on that damn rock.
But here he was.
He had to accept the fact that he needed to make a new life for himself … one way or another.
•••••
You watched as Arthur’s face seemed to twist in pain as he grabbed at his hair. You couldn’t bear to see him in that sort of agony. Reaching out you placed a hand on his arm, trying to get him to let go of his hair so he didn’t pull any of it out. “Arthur, please,” you whispered softly. “I’m sorry if I brought back any painful memories for you.”
He just shook his head as he lowered his arm, placing the hand on his journal instead as he stared down at it. “It ain’t your fault,” he said roughly, “Just gotta lot on my mind right now.” He cleared his throat, then patted hard at his chest with his other hand.
You observed his physical behavior closely, then you stood suddenly.
Arthur raised his head to look up at you. “Somethin’ wrong?”
You shook your head, “Not particularly. I just need to do another check-up on you.” You turned away to walk into the cabin, smiling a little as you heard his disapproving groan. As you gathered all the supplies you needed, you glanced over at his satchel. Maybe he would like to have it so he could carry his journal around easier, you thought. If he was going to be outside, it wouldn’t hurt to bring it out to him. You grabbed the brown bag and stepped back outside.
Luckily, Arthur hadn’t moved from his position on the bench. After having heard his less than favorable reaction to your statement earlier, you’d half-expected him to flee, though he probably wouldn’t have made it that far. Maybe that was the reason he was still here.
Either way, you knew that he knew you needed to look over him. Professionally, of course.
Sitting back down next to him again you placed your supplies on the small porch table by the bench swing. You held out his satchel to him, and when he gave you a puzzled frown you said, “I just thought it would make it easier for you to carry your journal around in, if you’re going to be outside for the day. You can keep the pencil, too.”
Arthur gave an amused smile as he let out a soft chuckle. “Thank you, honey,” he said as he reached out to take it, bringing the strap over his head so that it was looped around his neck, the bag getting tucked securely underneath his arm at his side. Then he placed the journal inside the satchel along with the pencil you had given him.
You gave him a smile, unable to help but blush a little from his gratitude. “You’re welcome, Arthur.”
Once you had all the supplies prepped, Arthur cooperated throughout the routine. It was almost second nature to him by now, no doubt. The stethoscope, listening to his heart and lungs, examining his mouth and throat. You smiled at him as you placed everything back on the tray. “Everything is looking wonderful, Arthur,” you said in a cheerful tone. “Honestly, I’m amazed at how quickly your body is healing.”
Arthur shrugged, his big shoulders tensing as he lifted them. “All cuz of you, honey,” he said teasingly with a grin, his deep drawl sending shivers up and down your spine.
Again, how on Earth could a man possess such a voice, you thought. Whoever was going to end up with him was going to be one lucky woman.
You froze, surprised that that thought actually sent a feeling of jealousy through you. But, why? The man clearly wasn’t interested in you in any way whatsoever. At least — he hadn’t shown any signs that he was. Sure he called you honey sometimes, but he’d told you it was simply because of the natural remedy you had been treating his tuberculosis with. So there was nothing romantic in that word, therefore it wasn’t an endearment, right?
You shook yourself mentally, feeling ashamed at the horrible emotion. You had no right to feel jealous over him. He was gorgeous, you had to admit, but that didn’t give you a right to him, not even if you saved his life. “How is everything feelin’ right now, Arthur?” You asked him, trying to get your mind away from that state. “Anythin’ hurting in your chest or throat?”
Arthur’s expression lifted as he shook his head. “Nothin’, Y/N. I don’t feel any pain at all.”
You nodded, happy with his answer. “That’s very good, Arthur. I’m very glad to hear that.” Grabbing a small glass vial from the tray, you pulled out one of the small leaves and held it out to him. “I need you to take this now.”
Arthur took the small leaf between his fingers, giving you a puzzled look. “This looks familiar.” He said, holding the leaf up in the light as he examined it closely.
“It’s Hummingbird Sage,” you informed him, “It should help give you a little bit of energy today.”
He smiled at you as he placed it in his mouth, and you watched as the bob in his throat moved, indicating that he had swallowed it. “Thanks, darlin’.”
You gave him another nod. “You’re welcome, Arthur, I’m just glad you’re doing better.”
His sharp blue eyes suddenly narrowed at you, “What about you?” He asked. “Have you been keepin’ yourself safe from the damn disease?”
He was referring to his tuberculosis, you knew. From that first night, when he’d tried to get away from you in an attempt to keep you from catching the disease, you’d tried to assure him that you were taking your own treatments, giving yourself the necessary herbs to kill off any potential bacteria.
“Yes, I’m just fine.” You replied.
He gave you a small smile, his beautiful blue eyes softening. “Good.”
You returned his smile. “Besides, you shouldn’t be infectious anymore. The medicinal properties should have killed off any active bacteria by now, if my past treatments are anything to go by.”
“I’m human.” He reminded you, his deep voice amused.
You blushed, “Yes, I know, Arthur.” You said, entwining your fingers around the glass vial nervously. “But I’m saying that if you wanted any sort of physical contact with anyone,” your blush grew hotter, but you reminded yourself that you were just giving him professional advice, as a doctor would to his patient, “there’s nothing to worry about. In fact, Tuberculosis can’t actually be spread by mouth or any sort of physical contact. Only just the coughing.”
You fiddled with the small vial, watching the tiny leaves shift back and forth within the glass. “But again, you don’t need to worry about us. I’ve treated this disease before and our herbs have never let us down in keeping us safe.”
Arthurs’ blue eyes just stared at you, his expression one of amusement, “You are way too smart for your own damn good, woman.” He teased.
You laughed, and your reaction made him smile. Both of you sat in silence for a moment, facing each other as the bench slightly swung back and forth.
Arthur’s blue stare skimmed over to your garden, and he asked, “So, you grow these herbs yourself?”
You rubbed your fingers together shyly as you glanced over at the variety of plants growing together. “Yes, I … I take notes in my mother’s journal about them. Whenever I discover anything new, that is. Any ailments they may treat or cure, what sort of treatment they need, how to grow them properly, how to prepare them for use or consumption. You name it, it’s all in there. Everything she and I know.”
“And this journal of yours, you fill it out yet?” Arthur asked, his tone amused as he turned his gaze back at you.
You gave a small laugh. “More like a book now, really. I’m very lucky my mother decided to get herself such a thick journal. Honestly, she filled up most of it. I’ve just been adding what I can, including some notes here and there on what she already wrote down.”
Arthur nodded, his eyes looking down slightly has he took in what you said. After a while, he looked back over at you again. “So how long you and Austin been livin’ up here?”
You looked over you shoulder to watch Austin working as you answered, “He and I, we’ve been up in these woods for about three years now. We used to live on our plantation with our father before Mother died. But I decided I didn’t want to stay cooped up there anymore.” You let out a long breath, lowering your gaze to your hands. “Father didn’t want me to leave. After what happened to Mother, he was scared to lose me. It took a long time to persuade him, but he finally gave in, but he insisted that Austin was to go with me for my own protection. Even Austin agreed.”
You smiled at the thought of your brother and his over-protective nature. “They didn’t want it any other way, and my brother came up here with me. We built this cabin since the , and it’s truly been a crazy few years up here.” You let out a small laugh at the memories.
Arthur grinned at your humor. “So what do you do up here usually?”
You watched as Austin picked up a pitchfork to lift up a patch of hay. “We mostly get by on our own. My brother hunts for us while I grow vegetables and fruits in the garden.” Your smile faded as you spoke the next words. “It’s been hard lately though. With winter coming up in a couple months, Austin has been finding it harder to find anythin’. He’s … he never quite learned how to hunt or track, he’s sort of … self-taught,” you confessed.
Arthur’s eyes widened at that, “So you two been strugglin’ up here off and on all this time?”
You nodded, hating to admit it, but it was the truth. “That’s why Austin was so mad when I took you in. I’m sure he never hated you personally, he just … he just worries, is all.”
Arthur stared at you for a moment, his blue eyes unmoving as he seemed lost in thought. After a few minutes, he finally asked, “Would you like me to teach y’all how to hunt?”
You jerked your head back over to him, your expression and voice surprised, “What?”
He looked over at Austin and back at you again. “I have a few skills under my belt, if y’all are interested in learnin’ how to track and hunt. Hell, I’d be glad to, it’s the least I can do to return the favor for now.” With those words he suddenly stood.
His action surprised you, but he didn’t give you any time to respond as he walked off the porch and headed towards your brother. What had just happened? You stood up to follow him. He was getting quicker on his feet since his body had been getting better, and him being a big man you already had to run to catch up to him. By the time you finally did he was already approaching Austin.
Austin noticed Arthur as he walked up to him and straightened up from the hay he was spreading on the ground. “Hey, cowpoke,” His voice was a teasing tone, but Arthur wasn’t amused.
“Don’t test me, boah,” he said, his blue eyes narrowing dangerously. He placed both his hands on his belt, then said in an amused tone, “Your sister here says you don’t know how to hunt.”
“What the hell, Y/N?!” Austin snapped furiously, a blush showing up in his cheeks.
“I didn’t say it like that!” You snapped back furiously, then stepped back. You brought your hand to play with your hair nervously. “Well, not exactly like that, anyway. I just — I just told him you’ve been havin’ a hard time with it because you were never … properly taught.”
Austin’s eyes narrowed at you, his expression still shadowed with anger. “Why would you tell him that?”
Arthur intervened into the conversation, his deep voice penetrating the air as he lifted his arms from his sides. “If you’re interested, boah, I’ll teach you how to track and hunt so you can catch more game.”
Austin looked back over at Arthur, his eyes nearly wide, his entire expression looking stunned. He almost looked like the young boy that was just told he was getting a horse for his birthday all over again. “You … you’ll what? You’d teach me to do all that?” He voice nearly sounded breathless, almost excited. He was clearly thinking back to when Arthur had shot that jackrabbit, the way he’d done it so flawlessly with such little effort. “I would — I would like that,” he stuttered, actually admitting to the truth to your surprise, again almost like a star-struck child. “When you’re better, I mean, I … Yeah, that might actually be fun.”
You knew how hard it was for your brother to admit to something like that, you thought, especially when it was about one of his flaws. But this could probably be a chance for the two of them to get along better.
Arthur nodded. “Sounds good, feller.” He looked around, placing his hands back on his belt as he took in the surroundings. “There anythin’ you need me to do here now? I need to find somethin’ to do other than lay on a damn couch all day,” he said, his voice sharp at the last words.
Austin looked taken aback, seeming a bit surprised that Arthur actually wanted to do some work. He nodded slowly, “Well, we need to catch some fish.” He looked over to the stream, “I was plannin’ to do it after this but I would really appreciate it if someone else did it for me. I really need to take the horses for a ride, give them some exercise outside their pen.” He narrowed his eyes at Arthur, “Do you know how to fish?”
“’Course I do,” Arthur said assuredly, giving a single nod.
“Good, cuz Y/N sure don’t.”
“Austin!” You snapped.
“Eye for an eye, sister, plus it’s the truth,” your brother stated, a grin stretching that stupid loud mouth of his.
You growled as he turned away, heading over to the small shack by the stables. He pulled out a large metal bucket with fishing supplies and a long fishing rod. He came back, holding the bucket out to Arthur. “Got everythin’ you need in here. Bait, lures,” he held out the fishing rod, “And here’s this.”
Arthur took the rod, but before he took the large bucket you snatched it out of your brother’s hand. “I will be holding this,” you said, looking at Arthur sternly, “I won’t be lettin’ you lift anything heavy.”
Those blue eyes lit up in amusement as Arthur smiled at you. “Alrighty then, darlin’,” his deep voice teased, “You’re strong, aint’cha?”
His comment nearly surprised you, you had expected him to protest you taking a share of the load, which would’ve annoyed you. But he hadn’t. He saw you as a completely capable woman able to carry your own weight. He was clearly not one of those high-society types, you thought, your heart lifting with a smile.
“Hey now,” Austin interrupted, “I ain’t toleratin’ any of that sweet-talk toward my sister.” His tone was light-hearted, but you could hear a trace of protectiveness underneath it.
You realized at that moment that that was the very first time Arthur had actually called you any sort of endearment right in front of your brother. Now that you thought about it, he’d never even called you honey when your brother was in the same room. Why was that?
Austin was right back to being his usual self again. “Alright, then. I’m going to take the horses out on their run. I’ll be back in about an hour or so.” He gave Arthur a dark look. “Don’t you dare try anythin’ with my sister, mister.”
Arthur’s dark brows furrowed, his expression amused at the fact that Austin was daring to talk to him like that, but he seemed to understand. Austin was just acting as a normal brother would. “Don’t you worry, feller,” he said, his voice matter-of-fact, “Your sister’s safe with me.”
Austin gave him a quizzical look, “She’d better be. Otherwise, I know she has her shotgun to take you out if I ain’t here.”
Arthur looked over at you and winked. His unexpected action made you blush, and you looked down at your feet to avoid those piercing blue eyes.
Austin nodded, as if he was sure he’d made his point. He came over to give you a hug, “I’ll be back soon, alright, Y/N?” Then he whispered in your ear. “Make sure he don’t try nothin’ stupid.”
You smirked at his words, even after a whole month Austin still had his doubts sometimes. You returned his hug, “Alright, Austin. Take care of Lily and stay safe.”
Since Butch was loyal to Austin, your brother often rode on Lily whenever he took them for a ride, knowing the war horse would follow him anywhere. It was better than tying poor Lily up to a rope and leading her with another horse like some kind of wild animal.
“You know I will. I’ll see you soon.” Austin gave you a peck on the forehead and headed towards the stables, waving over his shoulder. You watched as your brother climbed onto Lily and lead the horses away, taking them down a beaten path and disappearing into the thick woods.
“Alright,” Arthur huffed, “let’s get to it,” He grinned at you and started walking over to the stream with the fishing rod. You followed closely behind with the bucket. As you both reached the waterline, you set the bucket down on the large stump and sat down on the thick fallen log next to it.
Arthur knelt to the ground by the stump and reached into the bucket, pulling out a few lures and two cans of bait along with a can-opener. You watched as he got to work on setting everything up, tightening up the fishing line in the reel and attaching one of the lures to the end, his fingers working flawlessly. He made it look so easy.
“So, how long you been fishin’, Arthur?” You asked as he opened one of the cans with the small metal tool.
He looked up from his work briefly, “I was taught at a young age,” he answered, “Hosea showed me how.”
“Hosea? Who’s he?”
Arthur seemed to still, stopping what he was doing. Then a dark shadow went over his eyes as he appeared to get lost in thought.
“He was like a father to me.” He finally said, his voice nearly hoarse, “Took me in when I was about fourteen, raised me ever since.” He lowered his head, “I lost him not that long ago.”
You brought a hand up to your mouth, suddenly feeling terrible for having asked about the man. Arthur looked so pained now. “I’m so sorry, Arthur.”
He just gave a weak smile. “It’s fine,” was all he said for a long while, but his voice sounded far from sincere. “Don’t worry about it. What’s done is done.”
You gave Arthur a sympathetic look as he pulled some bait from the can and started attaching it to the lure. “I’m know he’s looking down on you, Arthur. I’m sure he’s proud of you,” you said, trying to comfort him. You didn’t know who Hosea was, but the man had raised Arthur from a child. And having seen the kind of man Arthur was assured you that Hosea had no doubt a good person.
Arthur looked up at you and gave a soft smile. “Thanks, honey.” After a long moment he went back to work on completing the task of connecting the bait to the lure.
“Okay,” He grunted once he was finished, standing back up to his feet, “We’re ready now.”
He walked over to the waterline. Bringing the rod over his shoulder, he swung the thing forward, and the lure travelled swiftly through the air, landing onto the water’s surface in the middle of the wide stream.
He playing and yanking at the fishing pole, cranking the reel every so often.
“What are you doing?” You asked, curious to his small actions.
“What d’ya mean?” He didn’t look back at you, his mind completely focused on his task. “Yankin’ the fishin’ line?”
You nodded, “Does that attract the fish?”
He looked over his shoulder at you then, a look of surprise on his face, “So Austin was tellin’ the truth, then. You don’t know how to fish?”
You lowered your head in embarrassment, shaking it back and forth in a ‘no.’
Arthur laughed, and his reaction surprised you. Why would that be funny? You narrowed your eyes, slightly offended.
“C’mere,” he motioned with one of his hands at you, prompting you to come forward.
You hesitated for a few seconds, but then you stood up from the log and walked over until you were standing next to his tall form. Arthur reeled in the line til the lure was withdrawn from the water.
“Here, take this,” he said. He held out the fishing rod to you, and you took it with a shaky hand. It was a little heavier than it looked, and you almost dropped it, but thankfully you managed to get a good grip on it with both of your hands.
“Alright,” Arthur said. “Stand right here.” He stood behind you and grabbed both your shoulders with his big hands, positioning you right at the edge of the water. His closeness astonished you. Did he even realize the blush that was starting to form on your face? Did he even register how close he truly was, or was his mind just on the fishing lesson?
“Now,” he said, his deep drawl firm, “Once you get a good stance, you’re gonna throw that fishin’ lure into the water.” He stood at your side then and imitated the action from earlier, moving his arms to show you how to throw the line properly. “Now once you toss it, ya need to let go of the reel so that it can unravel.
With slight hesitation and a lot of confusion, you held up the rod and snapped it forward, but you forgot to let go of the reel, causing the line to whip around and catch you on your thigh. “Ouch!” You shouted, grabbing at the lure that was now stuck on your pant leg.
“You alright?” Arthur sounded concerned as he walked around you to look at the hook now snagged in the cloth.
“Yes,” you said, catching your breath, “it just pinched me a little.”
“Here,” Arthur reached out with his hands and worked the hook loose. “There we go.”
You gave him a grateful smile as he stepped back around you. “Thank you.”
He chuckled. “Least I can do, wanna try again?”
You thought about it then nodded, smiling at him. “Sure, why not?” You tried a few more times, all the while Arthur mimicking how to throw the lure in an effort to help. Your throws were weak at first, but on your fifth attempt you finally managed to get a good toss and the lure flew through the air, landing out in the middle of the wide stream. “I did it!” You shouted happily.
Arthur smiled, “That you did, honey.” He came to stand behind you. “Now, you gotta pull at the fishin rod to get a fish’s attention. It won’t give a damn about the lure otherwise. You need to make the lure act like prey just asking to be eatin’.”
You nodded, then started yanking at the pole.
“Not so hard, now,” Arthur said with a chuckle, placing a hand on your wrist. “You gotta do it in short bursts. Little twitches here and there.” You did as he said. “There ya go, darlin’. Now, slowly start bringin’ the line back in, the lure will look like a small fish swimmin’ across the surface.”
You cranked the reel slowly, bringing the line in at a snail’s pace.
Suddenly the lure was yanked hard.
“You got one!” Arthur shouted.
“What do I do?” You asked frantically.
“Calm down, just start pullin’ the rod and reel that big sucker in.”
You struggled to pull but the fish was fighting you hard. How on Earth did such a small creature have so much strength? Arthur reached over to help you pull the rod back and you started reeling the fish in until it was at the shoreline. Finally you yanked it out of the water.
“You got yourself a Muskie there, honey!” Arthur exclaimed, his grin wide, his face glowing as if he were proud of you.
“I did it!” You said happily, all but ecstatic. Arthur helped you to undo the hook from the fish’s mouth and placed the fish into the large bucket.
“Good job,” Arthur said as he came back over. He reached out and patted you hard on the shoulder with his big hand. “Your first fish, and a big feller at that.”
You smiled widely, “That was so exciting, I want to try that again!”
Arthur chuckled, “Go for it, honey. You need my help?”
You thought about it. Arthur had used up quite a bit of energy helping you haul in that fish, and truth be told you actually wanted him to take a break. You shook your head. “No, Arthur, I got this one. Do me a favor?”
He looked at you expectantly.
“Go sit over on that log and rest for a bit.”
He closed his eyes in a huff, “Why did I get the feelin’ you were gonna tell me somethin’ like that?”
You gave him another one of your playful sad looks to try and appeal to him, “Please, Arthur?”
He let out a long, loud sigh. “Fine, honey. I’ll watch you on this one.” His words sounded stoic, not thrilled at all to be left out of the action. But he did as you asked, going over to sit on the large fallen log.
•••••
Arthur had known the woman was going to say something along the lines of ‘you need to rest.’ Dammit, he’d been hearing those words endlessly over the last month.
And honestly, why did he listen to her? He wondered that as he sat down on the thick log, facing Y/N so he was able to watch her fish. As he watched her throw the lure back out to the stream, he remembered the answer.
She was persistent, absolutely ruthless when it came to his health. Whenever he protested, she never let up.
Y/N cared about him, he had no doubt in his mind about that.
He couldn’t help himself as he took in her form, appreciating her body again. Damn, she was beautiful, he thought. A strong woman with a strong mind. He needed a woman like that, someone who wasn’t afraid to back down from him.
As she reeled in the lure and threw it out again, he thought about what she’d said to him earlier, about everything she’d gone through. The hardship she endured from having lost her mother to outlaws, moving away and living out here off the land with her brother.
He wondered who her father was. She’d said that she had lived on a plantation, and he wondered which one, if he would recognize it if she told him.
He smiled as he heard her curse under her breath.
Y/N was a damn god-send, he thought. She had saved his life, with no thought or worry for her own needs.
He needed to find a way to thank her. He wanted to help her in some way, to repay her somehow.
Arthur scratched at the underside of his jaw with the back of his thumb, thinking about how he could possibly repay her for all she had done.
He smiled to himself as he thought about her telling him about the white lily, her favorite flower, how much it meant to her. She’d said that they couldn’t grow in this area and that she couldn’t grow any for herself.
He knew what they looked like, maybe he could —
Arthur froze, a single thought sitting in his head. He immediately opened his satchel and pulled out his journal, opening it to another blank page. Without a second’s hesitation he began to sketch.
•••••
You huffed, starting to get irritated at the lack of any fish biting. You started to think that you were damn lucky in getting that other fish, let alone such a massive one. After about twenty minutes you reeled the line in, done for the time being. Fishing was clearly fun, but only when there were actual fish.
Turning around you walked back over to Arthur, sitting down on the log next to him and propping the fishing rod up against it. He was giving you a strange look, his blue eyes almost sparkling. “What is it, Arthur?”
“I … ,” His voice sounded rough, his eyes still having that strange look. He opened his journal and tore out a single page with a drawing on it. “I thought you might like this, Y/N.” He handed the paper over to you and you took it.
The sketch you saw instantly had your eyes nearly watering.
A white lily.
“Arthur … this is … ” You couldn’t find the words, feeling like you could barely breathe at the sight.
“This is so beautiful,” you finally breathed out. “Thank you.”
Emotion overcame you and you couldn’t control yourself as you suddenly reached up and laid a kiss on his cheek.
You pulled away to see Arthur’s stunned expression.
You were absolutely appalled at what you had just done. “I’m — I’m so sorry, Arthur, I didn’t mean … I — I don’t know what came over me … I’ve never kissed anyone before.”
Those shining blue eyes glittered as he looked at you with amusement, a beautiful smile slowly lifting on his face. “Is that right, honey?”
Then with that he leaned in … and placed a kiss on your lips.
•••••
— To Be Continued
#unshaken#chapter 6#part 6#arthur morgan x reader#arthur morgan x female reader#slow burn#romance#arthur morgan#fanfic#red dead fanfic#rdr2 fanfic#red dead#rdr2#red dead redemption#red dead redemption 2#red dead redemption imagine
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Unshaken Chapter VI
Arthur Morgan x Reader (18+) Slow Burn
Posted March 29, 2020
Thank y’all so much for 250+ followers, that is amazin’!!!!! I hope you enjoy Chapter 6 of Unshaken, and please ***like/comment/reblog*** it means so much to me!

(Drawing specially requested/Art Credit: tylerzart)
You save a mysterious man who is dying on a mountain. Finding out he has Tuberculosis, you use your knowledge and skills with herbs and natural remedies to save him from death and help nurse him back to health. As he slowly starts to recover, you can’t help but wonder: Who is this man? Why had you found him the way that you did, beaten and ill? Only time, patience … and perhaps love … will tell.
I hate them, every outlaw out there.
The words rang in his head, and Arthur didn’t know how to react. He was almost nervous by the tension he felt rising between them now, but the feeling was only one-sided on his part.
She was completely unaware of the conflicting thoughts he was having now from those words. She had taken him in, nursed him back to health, and all the while she had never known who he was … what he was.
Murderers, thieves … outlaws. They had stolen her mother from her, someone close to her heart. Was he any different from them?
He understood her pain, the loss she felt for having lost someone she loved.
Not knowing how to react or what else to do, he continued rubbing his hand up and down her back in an effort to try and comfort her. “I’m truly sorry, Y/N. No one deserves to go through somethin’ like that.”
She let out a little sniff as she raised her head to look at him, wiping at her eyes and cheeks to get rid of the wet tears that had escaped. “You … You said you know how it feels to lose someone, Arthur.” Her sad eyes looked up at his, “Who did you lose?”
Arthur tensed.
He hadn’t been prepared for that question.
He was unable to figure out how to answer her, not without revealing himself and who he truly was.
He’d lost so many people. His entire gang, his family, either lost or dead. But he couldn’t tell her about any of them. He couldn’t reveal the people he’d lost without risking her recognizing any of those names and finding out who he’d been. He wasn’t sure if she even actually knew any of them, but he didn’t want to take that chance.
Besides, it wasn’t like he could’ve gone back to that life now. His old life was gone, and there was nowhere else to go.
But still … what the hell could he possibly say?
Now that he knew what she’d gone through, there was no damn way he was going to let her know what he’d been. She’d been through enough, there was no sense in allowing her to find out who he truly was, all the things he’d done. After all the care she had shown him she deserved to know him as a normal man.
So that’s who he was going to be.
He thought about Hosea, he thought about Dutch, he thought about the rest of the gang. He thought about Charles, of Lenny, of John …
Arthur lowered his eyes to the ground, emotion nearly tearing through him. “I lost a family,” his voice was hoarse, nearly gravel in tone, “they were very near and dear to me. Though we wasn’t related by blood, we stood by each other, keepin’ each other safe,” he lowered his lids, memories of them flooding him. “We did everythin’ to protect one another, no matter what damn mess we got ourselves in.” He could feel Y/N’s stare on him, and he turned his head to face her. Her expression was sympathetic, her eyes watering all over again. For him.
“I’m so sorry, Arthur,” her voice was cracked, as if she felt the same feelings that he did for the ones he’d lost.
He gave her a small smile. “I ain’t got no one now since you saved me from that mountain.”
It wasn’t an accusation, it was just the truth. He just wanted to let her know where he was in life now. Hell, he wasn’t even sure himself. His friends, any of them that were possibly left, he had no doubt they thought he was dead.
And John.
Arthur thought about the deer from his dream, about the fact that it had had John’s eyes. That it had turned away from him, heading towards an ominous storm.
He shook his head to clear the thought.
He had sent John away to lead a normal life with his own family.
Arthur couldn’t possibly try to reach out to John, not without risking even more than what both of them already had.
If he ever found John, there was no doubt him and John in the same place would attract dangerous and unwanted attention eventually. There was just no way in hell that it would ever end well.
Even though he desperately wanted more than anything to reach out to his brother, Arthur had to believe that John and his family were safe.
He had to let him go.
Arthur ran a hand through his chestnut-brown hair, squeezing the rough strands between his fingers. He grimaced, trying to focus on that small feeling rather than the pain that welled in his heart.
If he were truthful with himself, he wasn’t sure he was ever going to be able to move on.
He was supposed to have died on that damn rock.
But here he was.
He had to accept the fact that he needed to make a new life for himself … one way or another.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
You watched as Arthur’s face seemed to twist in pain as he grabbed at his hair. You couldn’t bear to see him in that sort of agony. Reaching out you placed a hand on his arm, trying to get him to let go of his hair so he didn’t pull any of it out. “Arthur, please,” you whispered softly. “I’m sorry if I brought back any painful memories for you.”
He just shook his head as he lowered his arm, placing the hand on his journal instead as he stared down at it. “It ain’t your fault,” he said roughly, “Just gotta lot on my mind right now.” He cleared his throat, then patted hard at his chest with his other hand.
You observed his physical behavior closely, then you stood suddenly.
Arthur raised his head to look up at you. “Somethin’ wrong?”
You shook your head, “Not particularly. I just need to do another check-up on you.” You turned away to walk into the cabin, smiling a little as you heard his disapproving groan. As you gathered all the supplies you needed, you glanced over at his satchel. Maybe he would like to have it so he could carry his journal around easier, you thought. If he was going to be outside, it wouldn’t hurt to bring it out to him. You grabbed the brown bag and stepped back outside.
Luckily, Arthur hadn’t moved from his position on the bench. After having heard his less than favorable reaction to your statement earlier, you’d half-expected him to flee, though he probably wouldn’t have made it that far. Maybe that was the reason he was still here.
Either way, you knew that he knew you needed to look over him. Professionally, of course.
Sitting back down next to him again you placed your supplies on the small porch table by the bench swing. You held out his satchel to him, and when he gave you a puzzled frown you said, “I just thought it would make it easier for you to carry your journal around in, if you’re going to be outside for the day. You can keep the pencil, too.”
Arthur gave an amused smile as he let out a soft chuckle. “Thank you, honey,” he said as he reached out to take it, bringing the strap over his head so that it was looped around his neck, the bag getting tucked securely underneath his arm at his side. Then he placed the journal inside the satchel along with the pencil you had given him.
You gave him a smile, unable to help but blush a little from his gratitude. “You’re welcome, Arthur.”
Once you had all the supplies prepped, Arthur cooperated throughout the routine. It was almost second nature to him by now, no doubt. The stethoscope, listening to his heart and lungs, examining his mouth and throat. You smiled at him as you placed everything back on the tray. “Everything is looking wonderful, Arthur,” you said in a cheerful tone. “Honestly, I’m amazed at how quickly your body is healing.”
Arthur shrugged, his big shoulders tensing as he lifted them. “All cuz of you, honey,” he said teasingly with a grin, his deep drawl sending shivers up and down your spine.
Again, how on Earth could a man possess such a voice, you thought. Whoever was going to end up with him was going to be one lucky woman.
You froze, surprised that that thought actually sent a feeling of jealousy through you. But, why? The man clearly wasn’t interested in you in any way whatsoever. At least — he hadn’t shown any signs that he was. Sure he called you honey sometimes, but he’d told you it was simply because of the natural remedy you had been treating his tuberculosis with. So there was nothing romantic in that word, therefore it wasn’t an endearment, right?
You shook yourself mentally, feeling ashamed at the horrible emotion. You had no right to feel jealous over him. He was gorgeous, you had to admit, but that didn’t give you a right to him, not even if you saved his life. “How is everything feelin’ right now, Arthur?” You asked him, trying to get your mind away from that state. “Anythin’ hurting in your chest or throat?”
Arthur’s expression lifted as he shook his head. “Nothin’, Y/N. I don’t feel any pain at all.”
You nodded, happy with his answer. “That’s very good, Arthur. I’m very glad to hear that.” Grabbing a small glass vial from the tray, you pulled out one of the small leaves and held it out to him. “I need you to take this now.”
Arthur took the small leaf between his fingers, giving you a puzzled look. “This looks familiar.” He said, holding the leaf up in the light as he examined it closely.
“It’s Hummingbird Sage,” you informed him, “It should help give you a little bit of energy today.”
He smiled at you as he placed it in his mouth, and you watched as the bob in his throat moved, indicating that he had swallowed it. “Thanks, darlin’.”
You gave him another nod. “You’re welcome, Arthur, I’m just glad you’re doing better.”
His sharp blue eyes suddenly narrowed at you, “What about you?” He asked. “Have you been keepin’ yourself safe from the damn disease?”
He was referring to his tuberculosis, you knew. From that first night, when he’d tried to get away from you in an attempt to keep you from catching the disease, you’d tried to assure him that you were taking your own treatments, giving yourself the necessary herbs to kill off any potential bacteria.
“Yes, I’m just fine.” You replied.
He gave you a small smile, his beautiful blue eyes softening. “Good.”
You returned his smile. “Besides, you shouldn’t be infectious anymore. The medicinal properties should have killed off any active bacteria by now, if my past treatments are anything to go by.”
“I’m human.” He reminded you, his deep voice amused.
You blushed, “Yes, I know, Arthur.” You said, entwining your fingers around the glass vial nervously. “But I’m saying that if you wanted any sort of physical contact with anyone,” your blush grew hotter, but you reminded yourself that you were just giving him professional advice, as a doctor would to his patient, “there’s nothing to worry about. In fact, Tuberculosis can’t actually be spread by mouth or any sort of physical contact. Only just the coughing.”
You fiddled with the small vial, watching the tiny leaves shift back and forth within the glass. “But again, you don’t need to worry about us. I’ve treated this disease before and our herbs have never let us down in keeping us safe.”
Arthurs’ blue eyes just stared at you, his expression one of amusement, “You are way too smart for your own damn good, woman.” He teased.
You laughed, and your reaction made him smile. Both of you sat in silence for a moment, facing each other as the bench slightly swung back and forth.
Arthur’s blue stare skimmed over to your garden, and he asked, “So, you grow these herbs yourself?”
You rubbed your fingers together shyly as you glanced over at the variety of plants growing together. “Yes, I ��� I take notes in my mother’s journal about them. Whenever I discover anything new, that is. Any ailments they may treat or cure, what sort of treatment they need, how to grow them properly, how to prepare them for use or consumption. You name it, it’s all in there. Everything she and I know.”
“And this journal of yours, you fill it out yet?” Arthur asked, his tone amused as he turned his gaze back at you.
You gave a small laugh. “More like a book now, really. I’m very lucky my mother decided to get herself such a thick journal. Honestly, she filled up most of it. I’ve just been adding what I can, including some notes here and there on what she already wrote down.”
Arthur nodded, his eyes looking down slightly has he took in what you said. After a while, he looked back over at you again. “So how long you and Austin been livin’ up here?”
You looked over you shoulder to watch Austin working as you answered, “He and I, we’ve been up in these woods for about three years now. We used to live on our plantation with our father before Mother died. But I decided I didn’t want to stay cooped up there anymore.” You let out a long breath, lowering your gaze to your hands. “Father didn’t want me to leave. After what happened to Mother, he was scared to lose me. It took a long time to persuade him, but he finally gave in, but he insisted that Austin was to go with me for my own protection. Even Austin agreed.”
You smiled at the thought of your brother and his over-protective nature. “They didn’t want it any other way, and my brother came up here with me. We built this cabin since the , and it’s truly been a crazy few years up here.” You let out a small laugh at the memories.
Arthur grinned at your humor. “So what do you do up here usually?”
You watched as Austin picked up a pitchfork to lift up a patch of hay. “We mostly get by on our own. My brother hunts for us while I grow vegetables and fruits in the garden.” Your smile faded as you spoke the next words. “It’s been hard lately though. With winter coming up in a couple months, Austin has been finding it harder to find anythin’. He’s … he never quite learned how to hunt or track, he’s sort of ... self-taught,” you confessed.
Arthur’s eyes widened at that, “So you two been strugglin’ up here off and on all this time?”
You nodded, hating to admit it, but it was the truth. “That’s why Austin was so mad when I took you in. I’m sure he never hated you personally, he just … he just worries, is all.”
Arthur stared at you for a moment, his blue eyes unmoving as he seemed lost in thought. After a few minutes, he finally asked, “Would you like me to teach y’all how to hunt?”
You jerked your head back over to him, your expression and voice surprised, “What?”
He looked over at Austin and back at you again. “I have a few skills under my belt, if y’all are interested in learnin’ how to track and hunt. Hell, I’d be glad to, it’s the least I can do to return the favor for now.” With those words he suddenly stood.
His action surprised you, but he didn’t give you any time to respond as he walked off the porch and headed towards your brother. What had just happened? You stood up to follow him. He was getting quicker on his feet since his body had been getting better, and him being a big man you already had to run to catch up to him. By the time you finally did he was already approaching Austin.
Austin noticed Arthur as he walked up to him and straightened up from the hay he was spreading on the ground. “Hey, cowpoke,” His voice was a teasing tone, but Arthur wasn’t amused.
“Don’t test me, boah,” he said, his blue eyes narrowing dangerously. He placed both his hands on his belt, then said in an amused tone, “Your sister here says you don’t know how to hunt.”
“What the hell, Y/N?!” Austin snapped furiously, a blush showing up in his cheeks.
“I didn’t say it like that!” You snapped back furiously, then stepped back. You brought your hand to play with your hair nervously. “Well, not exactly like that, anyway. I just — I just told him you’ve been havin’ a hard time with it because you were never … properly taught.”
Austin’s eyes narrowed at you, his expression still shadowed with anger. “Why would you tell him that?”
Arthur intervened into the conversation, his deep voice penetrating the air as he lifted his arms from his sides. “If you’re interested, boah, I’ll teach you how to track and hunt so you can catch more game.”
Austin looked back over at Arthur, his eyes nearly wide, his entire expression looking stunned. He almost looked like the young boy that was just told he was getting a horse for his birthday all over again. “You … you’ll what? You’d teach me to do all that?” He voice nearly sounded breathless, almost excited. He was clearly thinking back to when Arthur had shot that jackrabbit, the way he’d done it so flawlessly with such little effort. “I would — I would like that,” he stuttered, actually admitting to the truth to your surprise, again almost like a star-struck child. “When you’re better, I mean, I … Yeah, that might actually be fun.”
You knew how hard it was for your brother to admit to something like that, you thought, especially when it was about one of his flaws. But this could probably be a chance for the two of them to get along better.
Arthur nodded. “Sounds good, feller.” He looked around, placing his hands back on his belt as he took in the surroundings. “There anythin’ you need me to do here now? I need to find somethin’ to do other than lay on a damn couch all day,” he said, his voice sharp at the last words.
Austin looked taken aback, seeming a bit surprised that Arthur actually wanted to do some work. He nodded slowly, “Well, we need to catch some fish.” He looked over to the stream, “I was plannin’ to do it after this but I would really appreciate it if someone else did it for me. I really need to take the horses for a ride, give them some exercise outside their pen.” He narrowed his eyes at Arthur, “Do you know how to fish?”
“’Course I do,” Arthur said assuredly, giving a single nod.
“Good, cuz Y/N sure don’t.”
“Austin!” You snapped.
“Eye for an eye, sister, plus it’s the truth,” your brother stated, a grin stretching that stupid loud mouth of his.
You growled as he turned away, heading over to the small shack by the stables. He pulled out a large metal bucket with fishing supplies and a long fishing rod. He came back, holding the bucket out to Arthur. “Got everythin’ you need in here. Bait, lures,” he held out the fishing rod, “And here’s this.”
Arthur took the rod, but before he took the large bucket you snatched it out of your brother’s hand. “I will be holding this,” you said, looking at Arthur sternly, “I won’t be lettin’ you lift anything heavy.”
Those blue eyes lit up in amusement as Arthur smiled at you. “Alrighty then, darlin’,” his deep voice teased, “You’re strong, aint’cha?”
His comment nearly surprised you, you had expected him to protest you taking a share of the load, which would’ve annoyed you. But he hadn’t. He saw you as a completely capable woman able to carry your own weight. He was clearly not one of those high-society types, you thought, your heart lifting with a smile.
“Hey now,” Austin interrupted, “I ain’t toleratin’ any of that sweet-talk toward my sister.” His tone was light-hearted, but you could hear a trace of protectiveness underneath it.
You realized at that moment that that was the very first time Arthur had actually called you any sort of endearment right in front of your brother. Now that you thought about it, he’d never even called you honey when your brother was in the same room. Why was that?
Austin was right back to being his usual self again. “Alright, then. I’m going to take the horses out on their run. I’ll be back in about an hour or so.” He gave Arthur a dark look. “Don’t you dare try anythin’ with my sister, mister.”
Arthur’s dark brows furrowed, his expression amused at the fact that Austin was daring to talk to him like that, but he seemed to understand. Austin was just acting as a normal brother would. “Don’t you worry, feller,” he said, his voice matter-of-fact, “Your sister’s safe with me.”
Austin gave him a quizzical look, “She’d better be. Otherwise, I know she has her shotgun to take you out if I ain’t here.”
Arthur looked over at you and winked. His unexpected action made you blush, and you looked down at your feet to avoid those piercing blue eyes.
Austin nodded, as if he was sure he’d made his point. He came over to give you a hug, “I’ll be back soon, alright, Y/N?” Then he whispered in your ear. “Make sure he don’t try nothin’ stupid.”
You smirked at his words, even after a whole month Austin still had his doubts sometimes. You returned his hug, “Alright, Austin. Take care of Lily and stay safe.”
Since Butch was loyal to Austin, your brother often rode on Lily whenever he took them for a ride, knowing the war horse would follow him anywhere. It was better than tying poor Lily up to a rope and leading her with another horse like some kind of wild animal.
“You know I will. I’ll see you soon.” Austin gave you a peck on the forehead and headed towards the stables, waving over his shoulder. You watched as your brother climbed onto Lily and lead the horses away, taking them down a beaten path and disappearing into the thick woods.
“Alright,” Arthur huffed, “let’s get to it,” He grinned at you and started walking over to the stream with the fishing rod. You followed closely behind with the bucket. As you both reached the waterline, you set the bucket down on the large stump and sat down on the thick fallen log next to it.
Arthur knelt to the ground by the stump and reached into the bucket, pulling out a few lures and two cans of bait along with a can-opener. You watched as he got to work on setting everything up, tightening up the fishing line in the reel and attaching one of the lures to the end, his fingers working flawlessly. He made it look so easy.
“So, how long you been fishin’, Arthur?” You asked as he opened one of the cans with the small metal tool.
He looked up from his work briefly, “I was taught at a young age,” he answered, “Hosea showed me how.”
“Hosea? Who’s he?”
Arthur seemed to still, stopping what he was doing. Then a dark shadow went over his eyes as he appeared to get lost in thought.
“He was like a father to me.” He finally said, his voice nearly hoarse, “Took me in when I was about fourteen, raised me ever since.” He lowered his head, “I lost him not that long ago.”
You brought a hand up to your mouth, suddenly feeling terrible for having asked about the man. Arthur looked so pained now. “I’m so sorry, Arthur.”
He just gave a weak smile. “It’s fine,” was all he said for a long while, but his voice sounded far from sincere. “Don’t worry about it. What’s done is done.”
You gave Arthur a sympathetic look as he pulled some bait from the can and started attaching it to the lure. “I’m know he’s looking down on you, Arthur. I’m sure he’s proud of you,” you said, trying to comfort him. You didn’t know who Hosea was, but the man had raised Arthur from a child. And having seen the kind of man Arthur was assured you that Hosea had no doubt a good person.
Arthur looked up at you and gave a soft smile. “Thanks, honey.” After a long moment he went back to work on completing the task of connecting the bait to the lure.
“Okay,” He grunted once he was finished, standing back up to his feet, “We’re ready now.”
He walked over to the waterline. Bringing the rod over his shoulder, he swung the thing forward, and the lure travelled swiftly through the air, landing onto the water’s surface in the middle of the wide stream.
He playing and yanking at the fishing pole, cranking the reel every so often.
“What are you doing?” You asked, curious to his small actions.
“What d’ya mean?” He didn’t look back at you, his mind completely focused on his task. “Yankin’ the fishin’ line?”
You nodded, “Does that attract the fish?”
He looked over his shoulder at you then, a look of surprise on his face, “So Austin was tellin’ the truth, then. You don’t know how to fish?”
You lowered your head in embarrassment, shaking it back and forth in a ‘no.’
Arthur laughed, and his reaction surprised you. Why would that be funny? You narrowed your eyes, slightly offended.
“C’mere,” he motioned with one of his hands at you, prompting you to come forward.
You hesitated for a few seconds, but then you stood up from the log and walked over until you were standing next to his tall form. Arthur reeled in the line til the lure was withdrawn from the water.
“Here, take this,” he said. He held out the fishing rod to you, and you took it with a shaky hand. It was a little heavier than it looked, and you almost dropped it, but thankfully you managed to get a good grip on it with both of your hands.
“Alright,” Arthur said. “Stand right here.” He stood behind you and grabbed both your shoulders with his big hands, positioning you right at the edge of the water. His closeness astonished you. Did he even realize the blush that was starting to form on your face? Did he even register how close he truly was, or was his mind just on the fishing lesson?
“Now,” he said, his deep drawl firm, “Once you get a good stance, you’re gonna throw that fishin’ lure into the water.” He stood at your side then and imitated the action from earlier, moving his arms to show you how to throw the line properly. “Now once you toss it, ya need to let go of the reel so that it can unravel.
With slight hesitation and a lot of confusion, you held up the rod and snapped it forward, but you forgot to let go of the reel, causing the line to whip around and catch you on your thigh. “Ouch!” You shouted, grabbing at the lure that was now stuck on your pant leg.
“You alright?” Arthur sounded concerned as he walked around you to look at the hook now snagged in the cloth.
“Yes,” you said, catching your breath, “it just pinched me a little.”
“Here,” Arthur reached out with his hands and worked the hook loose. “There we go.”
You gave him a grateful smile as he stepped back around you. “Thank you.”
He chuckled. “Least I can do, wanna try again?”
You thought about it then nodded, smiling at him. “Sure, why not?” You tried a few more times, all the while Arthur mimicking how to throw the lure in an effort to help. Your throws were weak at first, but on your fifth attempt you finally managed to get a good toss and the lure flew through the air, landing out in the middle of the wide stream. “I did it!” You shouted happily.
Arthur smiled, “That you did, honey.” He came to stand behind you. “Now, you gotta pull at the fishin rod to get a fish’s attention. It won’t give a damn about the lure otherwise. You need to make the lure act like prey just asking to be eatin’.”
You nodded, then started yanking at the pole.
“Not so hard, now,” Arthur said with a chuckle, placing a hand on your wrist. “You gotta do it in short bursts. Little twitches here and there.” You did as he said. “There ya go, darlin’. Now, slowly start bringin’ the line back in, the lure will look like a small fish swimmin’ across the surface.”
You cranked the reel slowly, bringing the line in at a snail’s pace.
Suddenly the lure was yanked hard.
“You got one!” Arthur shouted.
“What do I do?” You asked frantically.
“Calm down, just start pullin’ the rod and reel that big sucker in.”
You struggled to pull but the fish was fighting you hard. How on Earth did such a small creature have so much strength? Arthur reached over to help you pull the rod back and you started reeling the fish in until it was at the shoreline. Finally you yanked it out of the water.
“You got yourself a Muskie there, honey!” Arthur exclaimed, his grin wide, his face glowing as if he were proud of you.
“I did it!” You said happily, all but ecstatic. Arthur helped you to undo the hook from the fish’s mouth and placed the fish into the large bucket.
“Good job,” Arthur said as he came back over. He reached out and patted you hard on the shoulder with his big hand. “Your first fish, and a big feller at that.”
You smiled widely, “That was so exciting, I want to try that again!”
Arthur chuckled, “Go for it, honey. You need my help?”
You thought about it. Arthur had used up quite a bit of energy helping you haul in that fish, and truth be told you actually wanted him to take a break. You shook your head. “No, Arthur, I got this one. Do me a favor?”
He looked at you expectantly.
“Go sit over on that log and rest for a bit.”
He closed his eyes in a huff, “Why did I get the feelin’ you were gonna tell me somethin’ like that?”
You gave him another one of your playful sad looks to try and appeal to him, “Please, Arthur?”
He let out a long, loud sigh. “Fine, honey. I’ll watch you on this one.” His words sounded stoic, not thrilled at all to be left out of the action. But he did as you asked, going over to sit on the large fallen log.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Arthur had known the woman was going to say something along the lines of ‘you need to rest.’ Dammit, he’d been hearing those words endlessly over the last month.
And honestly, why did he listen to her? He wondered that as he sat down on the thick log, facing Y/N so he was able to watch her fish. As he watched her throw the lure back out to the stream, he remembered the answer.
She was persistent, absolutely ruthless when it came to his health. Whenever he protested, she never let up.
Y/N cared about him, he had no doubt in his mind about that.
He couldn’t help himself as he took in her form, appreciating her body again. Damn, she was beautiful, he thought. A strong woman with a strong mind. He needed a woman like that, someone who wasn’t afraid to back down from him.
As she reeled in the lure and threw it out again, he thought about what she’d said to him earlier, about everything she’d gone through. The hardship she endured from having lost her mother to outlaws, moving away and living out here off the land with her brother.
He wondered who her father was. She’d said that she had lived on a plantation, and he wondered which one, if he would recognize it if she told him.
He smiled as he heard her curse under her breath.
Y/N was a damn god-send, he thought. She had saved his life, with no thought or worry for her own needs.
He needed to find a way to thank her. He wanted to help her in some way, to repay her somehow.
Arthur scratched at the underside of his jaw with the back of his thumb, thinking about how he could possibly repay her for all she had done.
He smiled to himself as he thought about her telling him about the white lily, her favorite flower, how much it meant to her. She’d said that they couldn’t grow in this area and that she couldn’t grow any for herself.
He knew what they looked like, maybe he could —
Arthur froze, a single thought sitting in his head. He immediately opened his satchel and pulled out his journal, opening it to another blank page. Without a second’s hesitation he began to sketch.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
You huffed, starting to get irritated at the lack of any fish biting. You started to think that you were damn lucky in getting that other fish, let alone such a massive one. After about twenty minutes you reeled the line in, done for the time being. Fishing was clearly fun, but only when there were actual fish.
Turning around you walked back over to Arthur, sitting down on the log next to him and propping the fishing rod up against it. He was giving you a strange look, his blue eyes almost sparkling. “What is it, Arthur?”
“I … ,” His voice sounded rough, his eyes still having that strange look. He opened his journal and tore out a single page with a drawing on it. “I thought you might like this, Y/N.” He handed the paper over to you and you took it.
The sketch you saw instantly had your eyes nearly watering.
A white lily.
“Arthur … this is … ” You couldn’t find the words, feeling like you could barely breathe at the sight.
“This is so beautiful,” you finally breathed out. “Thank you.”
Emotion overcame you and you couldn’t control yourself as you suddenly reached up and laid a kiss on his cheek.
You pulled away to see Arthur’s stunned expression.
You were absolutely appalled at what you had just done. “I’m — I’m so sorry, Arthur, I didn’t mean … I — I don’t know what came over me ... I’ve never kissed anyone before.”
Those shining blue eyes glittered as he looked at you with amusement, a beautiful smile slowly lifting on his face. “Is that right, honey?”
Then with that he leaned in ... and placed a kiss on your lips.
— To Be Continued
#unshaken#unshaken part 6#arthur morgan#rdr2 arthur#arthur morgan x reader#arthur morgan x female reader#arthur morgan x y/n#rdr2#red dead redemption 2#red dead#red dead redemption#red dead redemption imagine#red dead redemption fanfic#red dead fanfic#rdr2 fanfic#romance#drama#slow burn#love
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CHRYSANTHEMUMS
a hunter investigates a ghost in the woods that has been plaguing the village & terrorizing the other local hunters, only to find it to be a long lost friend. longer short story, about 20 pages in normal format. written by jan van gouden.
The hunter Genjirou liked to fancy himself a bit of a local celebrity, as he brought in the majority of the food for the village– fat pheasants, meaty rabbits, even sometimes a wild boar. The village was one that did not so much pride itself on its inhabitants’ individualism as it did their sense of community. They didn’t care to have the claim to fame of any famous actor born there, nor any famous samurai… they cared for one another deeply, & silently agreed not to get caught up in any selfish ambition. The artists of Passions collaborated & worked on elaborate projects together, the children always played together, the hunters often hunted together.
Despite his self-assurance, Genjirou was actually quite unpopular amongst the villagers, & considered rude for hunting individually. They did not care for his talent, and while they ate his food, they did not do it with so much enjoyment, perhaps finding it soured by his individualism. Nobody in Passions liked to gossip, but if they did, there would certainly be some cruel words exchanged about the hunter behind his back, especially from the other hunters, who were deep-down jealous of the considerable stock he seemed to always bring back every time he hunted.
Genjirou did not pay these sentiments any mind, even as he was intimately aware they were abrew. He’d grown up parent-less and knew he at least had some of the village’s sympathy over at least that fact, & that they presumed he was so stand-offish because he felt he was alone in the world. Sometimes a pretty young maiden, Fuku, sought him out and offered him lilies from her garden, but he rejected her kindness. He did not do so cruelly, only smiling and asking if she didn’t have anybody more handsome to tend her attentions to, that a pretty girl like her shouldn’t worry over a guy like him…
This only spurred Fuku’s interest in him, & she’d secretly follow him on hunts sometimes, watching with intense interest as he played his game. Fish, deer, wild boar, & even a bear once! Over the course of a few weeks, her friends finally convinced her to stop following him & offering lilies, & she did, although deep in her heart she still loved him.
“Look at that Genjirou, there’s a storm brewing on his face,” a village elder murmured to her husband, fanning herself as the two sat on a bench outside a small store. “He’s probably realising he can’t stop pushing the world away, but is in denial,” her husband chuckled, as he knit away at what looked like a baby sweater. “He’s young, isn’t he, only twenty-two? He’s probably going through a phase… not too long ago, he used to be quite social.”
They chuckled quietly but averted their gaze when Genjirou stomped by, pale, rushing into the store. The store owner couldn’t help but to giggle when he walked in, propping her arm up on the counter. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she remarked, choosing to busy herself with dusting off some vases.
“Why did nobody tell me a man was murdered in the woods?” Genjirou exclaimed, staring at her like she was a monster. He had come across a corpse earlier that day, already purplish from decay, bloated beyond recognition, & on full display in the middle of the grounds where he usually hunted. “You would have known if you hunted with the others,” she scolded him, flicking her feather duster towards him. Genjirou grit his teeth. Sometimes the people of Passions worked on his nerves insatiably– he was introverted by nature, shy, & didn’t like to constantly associate with others like everyone else seemed to, & it always seemed to blow up in his face. Namely, everybody always knew “the scoop” on everything, while he was left blind as a bat on any news, & had to practically beg.
He already knew the shopkeeper knew the story behind the corpse. His demeanor suddenly grew much more meek, and sheepish, as he asked, “What is the story behind him? It’s odd a body just lies so disgracefully in the middle of a clearing like that.”
She pursed her lips. “I’m afraid you’ll have to ask the hunters; they told me not to tell you the story… as for why he was there…” A hum; she wrinkled her nose in disapproval and lowered her voice. “That was a mean prank; they were messing with you because you never hunt with them… I don’t like to gossip, but I think it was very rude, not to mention disrespectful to the deceased, that they did that… I think they’ll be lucky if they’re not haunted on their next hunts.”
A glint of curiosity shone in her eyes. “What did you do when you saw the body? I think I would have passed out, tee hee.”
“I buried it,” Genjirou said simply. He found it disgraceful already how the disfigured corpse was laid out in the middle of the grass, even if it was clothed in burial robes, but he found it even more disgraceful somebody had placed it there on purpose.
“You buried it!” she gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. “That’s even more scary… what if it wants a grave? What if it haunts the whole village? Oh, oh….” She paused. “...one more thing… please don’t tell the hunters I told you about what they did when you get with them. I have a bit of a big mouth, if I’m being honest. But, you weren’t supposed to know they moved the corpse. Only ask about the corpse itself, ok?”
Genjirou felt his mood entirely ruined, but, grumbling, he agreed, then left the store to find the hunters.
He found them easily, like they were hoping to be found, outside a building exchanging words & laughing. When Genjirou approached them, they fell silent, and the humour in their eyes turned a reproachful coldness. They wore their hair in prim and trim top-knots, as was customary, while Genjirou wore his uncut & loose, only inviting more scorn from the villagers. Scorn, scorn, scorn. He sometimes just wanted to go wild, feeling like no matter what he did, it wouldn’t matter; he wouldn’t be accepted anyways!
“Good afternoon, Genjirou,” one spoke up, putting a hand up to him. “How was the hunt?”
“What was with the corpse in the woods?”
The hunters exchanged a few odd looks with one another. “Oh, you saw it, too? Wasn’t that scary? He wasn’t someone from our village, we know that for sure.”
Genjirou wanted to ask them to cut the bullshit, but he was too polite. Still, a wrinkle in his brow conveyed his frustration. “What’s his story? Who was he? Why was he just out in the open like that?”
After a long silence, one finally said, “Choyakoshi. We’re guessing that’s his name, anyways, since the characters were crudely written in ink on his kimono somewhere.” Choyakoshi had worn a slightly tattered, dirtied white kimono. It was folded right-over-left, meaning he must have been buried in it. “Why wasn’t he buried?” Genjirou repeated his question, but worded it differently.
The hunters exchanged glances with each other, & ultimately shrugged. “We don’t know, either. We’re sending one of the morticians to the mountain tomorrow to see what he can figure out.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Genjirou said hesitantly, drawing questioning glances. “I already buried him.”
“You buried him!” one of the hunters exclaimed. “What if he isn’t happy with the burial, & he haunts our village because of it?!”
“Then let him!” Genjirou spat. “I’ll be happier with that!”
He stormed off, blocking out the commotion the other hunters caused in his trail.
Did you hear that? I know Genjirou isn’t very social, but I think he totally hates us!
How dare he! We haven’t done anything to him, & now he’s practically wishing some ghost would come haunt us?
What nerve! What if this Choyakoshi is a cruel and vengeful spirit?
Genjirou didn’t let their words get to him– he knew that no matter what he did, they’d find some reason to dislike him. Same old same old.
At least, he thought their words didn’t get to him. That evening, nobody touched a lick of the considerably-smaller-than-usual bit of food he’d brought to the village dinner, and not even Fuku attempted to say a word to him, averting her gaze when he pleadingly looked over at her. She giggled instead with her friend, ignoring him as he stared emptily at his plate.
In times of good weather, the village always insisted every dinner be shared, outside, and the village leader would make a big deal about having a vast space cleared out, and every person who could cook or hunt or farm bringing something to the great potluck. Genjirou attended because he felt obligated to more than anything, but after quietly finishing his food, his sense of obligation disappeared, along with him, as he receded to his house.
It was considered very rude to leave before everybody had finished eating, and of course, there was a tiny uproar and a string of murmurs as Genjirou left. He’s so cold; what’s his problem?
It’s bad enough that he already hunts alone… does he really have to make such a point out of being an outcast?
I wish he would just be friends with us already. Can’t he see how hard we’re trying to help him fit in?
Parents or no parents, you’d think that after twenty-two years of living here, he’d know how to behave. Tsk.
Genjirou felt immensely weak and pitiful as he brushed tears from his eyes that night, silently sobbing himself to sleep. He didn’t get out of bed the following morning to hunt as he usually did, finding he couldn’t work up the energy nor the passion to. In fact, he slept until about noon, and even when he officially woke up, he just lay there, contemplating if in fact he was very rude and dislikable, and whether he should work on his personality. He self-consciously fretted, melting into a puddle of his own thoughts, and crying, for a good two hours, unable to piece together just why he was feeling so miserable.
He was fairly well-off from what money he did make selling furs & other homemade goods from the leftovers of his prey to other villages & sometimes the villagers. He was very fit, & had someone who he knew had a crush on him, even if he wasn’t interested, so he couldn’t be ugly. He didn’t feel particularly sad, so why was he still crying? If nothing else, he was very thankful no one from the village could see him in such a pitiful state.
Right as he thought this, a knock sounded at the door and he stifled a yelp, quickly wiping as much from his eyes as he could. The knock sounded again, more urgently, and he squinted as he opened the door, the sun glaring at him from up above. “Genjirou, I don’t want to sound accusatory, but–” It was the shopkeeper, Toyo, rapidly fanning herself. “–have you been hunting today?”
“I just woke up,” Genjirou said so earnestly she knew he wasn’t lying. “Oh, it’s just terrible… the hunters sent me to come get you; they want you to come to my shop…”
“Why didn’t they come get me themselves?” Genjirou asked, irritated. Toyo fanned herself, hiding the lower half of her face, eyes shifting to the side. Genjirou didn’t ask again. “Fine. May I at least know what happened?”
“They wanted to tell you themselves… don’t tell them I told you already, but the hunter Hideto died today… he’d been pierced by an arrow! Please follow me… they’re trying to blame you for it; they’re very sore right now.”
Genjirou didn’t bother cleaning up, & garnered some odd looks as he followed Toyo through town, still wearing his sleeping robes, hair disheveled and eyes heavy. It was clear that, at two o’clock in the afternoon, he had just gotten out of bed. For the villagers, who usually operated on a clock from eight A.M to nine P.M, this was very unusual. At the store, Genjirou was immediately confronted by the remaining seven of the eight hunters. “Were you out hunting today, Genjirou?” one spit accusingly, jabbing a finger against his chest. “I was not!” Genjirou immediately defended himself, covering his chest, half to protect it, and half self-consciously, as he realised it was mostly bare.
Toyo pretended to be busy in the background, feverishly organising some trinkets on a high shelf in order from small to large and then back to large to small. The hunters glared at him suspiciously, but like Toyo, they had no reason not to believe the man who looked like he’d just woken up. Good thing I wasn’t, he thought to himself, thinking back on his profound moment of sadness. As awful as it had been, it saved him from getting tangled up in these accusations. “Hideto died,” another hunter lamented, fiddling with an arrow from his satchel. “He was shot by an arrow, like this one… but it wasn’t any of ours.”
The men all suddenly seemed very sheepish, and looked downwards, realising how pointless it was to question the man. They knew he made an easy scapegoat, and they knew they were accusing him for no reason. Not all seemed to let the matter go so easily, however, as one suddenly spoke up, “It must be that Choyakoshi ghost! He’s probably furious he wasn’t given a proper burial!”
The other hunters were quick to agree with him, and again, Genjirou was put in the negative spotlight, this time blamed for the hypothetical haunting. Now he was the one hanging his head low, not having the energy to argue with them. Instead, he quietly trudged out of the store back to his house. The hunters took this as a victory and yelled behind him, but this time he truly paid them no mind, only wanting to sleep again. At least when he was asleep, he didn’t have to deal with any of the villagers’ drama. When he returned, he noticed a trampled bunch of chrysanthemums scattered in front of his house. He paid them no mind.
The following morning, he woke up with a splitting head and stomach ache, and remembered he hadn’t eaten, let alone drank, a thing the day before. He pulled on a proper robe and fixed his hair, hoping to be able to make it through the village unbothered. He left his bow and arrow and his swords at home, still not having the energy to hunt, and also not wanting to risk any more serious accusations. On his doorstep, he found a fresh bundle of pure white chrysanthemums, bound by a silk ribbon that smelled of lilac.
Smiling and suddenly feeling much better, he picked up the bouquet and carefully set it in a long-empty stone vase atop his dresser. He made a mental note to thank Fuku for the kind gesture later.
He purchased a bowl of soup, a lamb chop, and some water from Passions’s inn and restaurant. The shopkeeper had a sort of sad look in his eye as he watched Genjirou eat, and Genjirou avoided looking at him at all– he knew well what his reputation was in the village by now, and this man, like the rest of them, surely either pitied or hated him. He wanted to associate with neither sentiment. After he finished eating, he set out to find Fuku, walking a few rounds around the village in hopes of catching her outside. He found her, but when he did, she avoided his gaze and acted like she hadn’t heard him after he called out for her, instead turning to her friend and murmuring something. The two giggled and Genjirou froze, not daring to approach them anymore. He hated how timid he was sometimes, but decided it was better to be the dog with its tail between its legs than the lamb on the cutting board.
Still, it was perplexing. Why would she leave him flowers, then not even acknowledge him? Complicated feelings, maybe, or her friend didn’t like him. Whatever. He already had more than enough stressing him out as it stood; he certainly didn’t want to trifle with yet another thing.
As soon as he got home and was about to close the door behind him, a sandaled foot wedged itself in the doorway. Toyo! “Genjirou– I really hate to bother you again, but you-know-who is asking for your presence again in my humble shop.” She muttered, “Why don’t they do this stuff in one of their own places, anyways? I’m seriously about to ban them from entering more than one at a time.”
“Let me guess,” Genjirou huffed. “Someone else died?”
“Actually, yes.”
He immediately went pale, biting his lip. “Why do they keep bothering me about it?! I’m very sorry this is happening, but at the rate things are going, I might not even want to attend their funeral!”
“Oh, don’t say that,” Toyo hissed, fanning at the air as though she were combatting mini-ghosts. Her kimono was a brilliant white, decorated with koi and tangerine trees. The white reminded Genjirou of the corpse’s burial clothes, & he wondered if maybe this really was a haunting, & if he really was to blame. He suddenly blushed and apologised for his rudeness. “There’s no need to apologise; I don’t think they’re ghosts, yet… I say, you can do or say whatever you want as long as you know you won’t suffer any consequences. That’s why I’m very careful with my words.”
Right, Genjirou thought. How many secrets had she let loose in her lifetime?
“Anyways, please come with me… as you can imagine, they’re very bitter, and I’m sure it’s better you meet them in my store, which at least I know they don’t want to burn down.” She laughed nervously, looking the house in front of her up and down.
And so, Genjirou once again trudged to Toyo’s store, and he was once again chewed out. “I saw the ghost!” one hunter declared, putting up an arm high above himself. “He was this tall, but was definitely the corpse from the other day… he was armed with a bow and arrow surely laced with evil energy, and shot down poor Genta…”
Again, a finger was jabbed against Genjirou’s chest, with such force it knocked the younger man back a few steps. “...this is your doing, Genjirou!! If you hadn’t buried him… what did you do, just dig into the dirt a little and toss his body in there?!” Genjirou flushed a deep shade of crimson. That was exactly what he had done. “It’s better than letting his body rot out in the open!” he half-heartedly asserted, knowing there was no way he’d win this argument. “Tell that to Genta and Hideto!” the hunter sneered. The remaining six of the eight hunters seemed very self-assured they wouldn’t be the ones to die next, all their noses stuck in the air with a sort of pretentious air as they confronted Genjirou.
Deep in his mind, Genjirou couldn’t help but to ponder if anyone had even died at all, or if this was all just some twisted scheme to get back at him for hunting alone. The hunters didn’t seem particularly fazed beyond rage at their friends’ deaths; then again, they rarely ever showed any real emotion, and liked to poke fun at men who did, insulting them by calling them womanly. Genjirou always wondered if they were at all self-conscious of how insulting it was to find womanhood a “bad” trait, and if they were, if they cared.
Having no comeback, Genjirou dared himself to quietly retreat. Seeing that the hunters made no effort to stop him, he ran back to his house, not caring that they saw him as a total coward. Let the negatives stack up. A coward, a traitor, a bringer of evil, an asshole… what difference does it make if there is another bad thing said about me, when there is already so much? Genjirou, rolled up inside his blanket, found himself sobbing again, unable to control it. He had always felt at least tolerated in Passions, but now he felt outright disliked. The only pleasant thought he had as he drifted yet again into sleep, having nothing else to occupy himself with, came with the whiff of his chrysanthemums’ scent drifting by, evoking images of Fuku, who he felt was his only possible friend in the village.
He woke up very early in the morning, and found, yet again, by his doorstep, a fresh bundle of white chrysanthemums, tied with a silk ribbon. He managed to squeeze them next to the other bundle in the vase, and added some water. It was six in the morning; nobody in the village was awake yet. Feeling emboldened by this striking solitude, Genjirou retreated to put on his hunting clothes and grab his bow and arrow, deciding that he’d either confront the ghost or do what he enjoyed, hunting, without letting himself be dragged down by his fears & insecurities.
& so, with only the light of the barely-rising sun, he set out to go hunt, secretly hoping he wouldn’t encounter anyone in the woods, let alone this allegedly fearsome, murderous spirit. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like a ruse. Genta and Hideto were probably hiding out somewhere in the village to throw a scare into Genjirou, & maybe even to keep him away from the mountains, since the hunters were always jealous of how much he brought in by himself.
The dew of the grass brushed against his sandaled feet and the air smelled crisp and fresh. He drank some water from a river to refresh himself, then hunted marvelously as ever, carrying, two hours later, four pheasants and a boar. He found the site where he’d buried the corpse and leaned by it, frowning as he dug down a foot or so, revealing the rotting face. I really did bury him poorly… I hope he isn’t actually insulted, Genjirou thought, deciding then & there to dig a deeper hole. He shuddered a bit, feeling as though somebody was watching him… he shook the feeling off.
This time, he carefully placed the body in, taking care to fold the arms over the chest and neatly adjust the burial clothing. Satisfied, he placed a pheasant atop the body, then carefully covered it in dirt again. He’d taken a chrysanthemum with him to put on top of the grave, which he hoped was this time less crude. He said a quick blessing, then found a nice spot next to the river to enjoy the spoils of his hunt alone. He knew this was an area of the woods the other hunters rarely visited, so he felt confident starting a fire to roast a pheasant there, until he heard a clamour in the distance, coming closer.
Genjirou scrambled to put out the fire and panicked when he saw the silhouettes of the hunters in the distance. Unable to find anywhere to hide, he dove into the river behind a rock, breathing only when he was certain they couldn’t see him. He cursed that his pheasants and boar had been left behind, knowing that the hunters would surely take it as their own. It was unlikely they expected him to have regained his confidence so much as to go hunting, let alone dare to to begin with given the recent events. Genjirou vigilantly listened. He heard some laughs, as they engaged in idle chatter, and some excitement as they stumbled upon what was supposed to have been his breakfast, lunch, dinner, and then some. He then heard shouting.
Looking behind the rock, his eyes locked with one of the hunters. Terrified he’d been seen, he submerged himself in the river, holding his breath for his dear life. Even through the water, he could hear the shouting on land had gotten louder, and cursed himself for being alive. Why? Why’d they just have to come out hunting so soon? Why couldn’t I have finished my meal in peace?
Unbeknownst to Genjirou, Fuku had followed him into the woods as she’d done in her lovesick days– however, her motive wasn’t as sweet as it once had been. Gento had been Fuku’s cousin, & following his death and the rumours in the village, she’d grown awfully cold and suspicious towards Genjirou, & secretly followed him to see if he was up to anything suspicious. So far, her surveillance had been futile, but that day, as she followed him into the woods, she was certain she’d catch him in the act of killing, confirming her, & the villagers’ suspicions.
She got more than she bargained for, however, as she had to put her hands over her mouth to stifle a scream when an arrow pierced through one of the hunters’ shoulders out of seemingly nowhere. Scrambling to find the source without giving away her position, her eyes went backwards from where the arrow had landed, resting upon an awful-looking creature hidden behind a tree like she was. Its aim was off; it seemed to have been distracted by something in the water. It drew another arrow from its bow and aimed steadily at the same hunter. Fuku wanted so badly to call out to the hunters, but she didn’t allow herself to, and before the next arrow could hit, the six of them had already started to run out of the woods, screaming and cussing and hollering.
Ghost!! They quickly told the villagers, running around like mad. The hunter whose shoulder had been pierced barely even paid it any mind, too thankful he was alive, and too frightened, to do so. It’s an awful, evil, vengeful ghost in the woods of the mountain... it’s going to kill anybody who enters them! Once is a coincidence, twice is revenge, but three times…. It’s evil! It’s an evil spirit that won’t rest until every one of our villagers is dead!!
In those very woods of the mountain, Fuku was still standing behind the tree, hands over her mouth, doing everything in her power not to scream as she watched the ghost emerge from behind the tree. She found it horrifying– its skin was a sickly, corpse-ish grey with tinges of purple, and it had long, wavy, unkempt black hair, which it tossed over its shoulders with its hand as it strode forth, picking up the prey the hunters had dropped. It wore a flowing, tattered white kimono, burial clothes. Moving more quickly, it waded into the river, grabbing an object… Genjirou!!
In the heat of the moment, Fuku had totally forgotten the entire reason she’d come up the mountain in the first place! She wanted to cover her eyes, terrified to watch the surely gruesome scene that was sure to come unfold, but couldn’t, hands glued to her mouth and eyes to the ghost. To her surprise, no gruesome scene came– the ghost carefully lay Genjirou upon the ground, pressing firmly on his chest. Genjirou sputtered water. Water, water, and more water… he would have surely drowned if the ghost hadn’t pulled him out.
The ghost disappeared for a minute and Fuku’s heart dropped, certain it had sensed her and was going to kill her. Maybe Genjirou was controlling this cruel mountain spirit? No… she immediately shook the thought out of her head. She was bitter over her cousin dying, certainly, but she wouldn’t so quickly assign blame now that she had no proof. Besides, this was the man who she still secretly loved… she knew him, to an extent, and she knew he was a very simple person, absolutely incapable of something as sinister as the dark arts. Revenge on the hunters for talking badly about him was so silly, anyways. She felt embarrassed for having taken part in his ostracisation, knowing that more than anything, he needed at least a friend, if not a romantic partner.
She reminded herself to be more friendly to him.
When the ghost returned, she’d expected it to come maybe with a knife, or a sword, wanting to kill Genjirou personally and watch the life drain out of his eyes… but all it returned with was a handful of chrysanthemums. It shyly placed one in his hair, and then one on his chest, scattering the rest around his body as it played with his hair, running the long black strands through its scraggly, ashen fingers. Fuku couldn’t believe her eyes.
A short while later, Genjirou’s brow furrowed and he coughed. As quickly as it had come, the ghost ran away, leaving Genjirou alone. Determining the scene was safe, Fuku ran out from behind her cover to Genjirou’s side, placing a hand on his cheek. He grabbed the hand and flared his nostrils, recognising her by the scent of lilies. “Fuku?” he mumbled, managing to pry his eyes open. “Yes, Genjirou!” Fuku breathed, beaming. “Are you alright? You almost drowned…”
Genjirou promptly sat up, wide-eyed. “The hunters! I… I saw them earlier; it’s why I…. oh, it’s a long story. Are they alright? The ghost didn’t come again, did it?”
In her gut, Fuku felt even worse for doubting Genjirou. He was stand-offish, but not a selfish person, & even after nearly dying himself, was more worried about what became of the hunters. She couldn’t help but to nervously laugh. “The hunters are alright… Genjirou, I– I’m really sorry about how the villagers have been treating you, including me. I’ll be honest, I came up here because I saw you leaving to hunt, and wanted to see if I had any basis for my suspicions… I didn’t.” She stood up, and bowed deeply. “I’m very sorry.”
Genjirou wanted to stand, as well, but didn’t have the strength to. “It’s alright; I’m sorry, too…” He also laughed a bit. “I really am too stand-offish, to be honest, I’m not good at socialising at all!” Fuku elegantly sunk to her knees again. From the crisp condition of her kimono, you would never have guessed she’d been running around in the woods. “Then let’s be friends!” she suddenly declared, holding a hand to her chest. “I saw everything… the ghost, it did appear, but… it missed; it only shot one of their shoulders.”
“That’s very good… say, Fuku. May I ask two questions?”
Fuku nodded.
“One–” Genjirou picked up a chrysanthemum, spinning it between his fingers. “Are you the one who’s been leaving these flowers at my doorstep the past few days?” Fuku bit her lip. She knew none of the women in the village grew or sold white chrysanthemums; in fact, up until that day, she had never seen anybody who had them. She hated lying, but this was too good a moment to let pass. “Yes, I am,” she said shyly.
“Two, are you the one who saved me from the river?” Fuku prayed internally the ghost wouldn’t come to her house personally and beat her upside the head. Please forgive me, ghost, but this is the man I really love!! She couldn’t even verbalise the lie, this time just nodding, blushing more. Genjirou thought it was because she was shy, but really, it was because she couldn’t stand to lie! Genjirou smiled, gently touching her hand. She allowed him to hold it. “Then may I ask you a third question, Fuku?” She nodded again.
“May I kiss you?”
Wide-eyed and blushing profusely, she turned to him. She’d been waiting to hear that question her whole twenty years of life! “Yes! You may!” Genjirou delicately pinned her to the ground, his wet, but soft, long hair falling over her kimono as he kissed her, placing a hand tenderly behind her neck. Fuku blushed even more profusely, hugging him. She wanted to kiss him forever and ever, but she eventually let go, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and looking up at him in awe and disbelief.
“You’re wonderful!” she felt awkward as she blurted this, and immediately put a hand over her mouth. “Have you ever had a girlfriend before?”
It was a silly question, for she’d known him his entire life, but still felt the need to ask to be sure. “I haven’t,” Genjirou affirmed her knowledge, and she embraced him again. “Could I be yours?” she asked suddenly, letting the heat of the moment spur her on. “You may!”
She kissed Genjirou again, and the two walked down the mountain to the village. Fuku braced herself, anticipating all the while that an arrow would be lodged into her back, but no such thing came, and she let herself relax as the couple strode into the village safely. “Genjirou is innocent!” she declared, attracting the attention of some people sitting outside. “He is innocent, and he is mine! The ghost haunting the woods is beyond any of our control, & is ungrateful for the beautiful burial Genjirou gave him!”
She needed to say no more. Faithful to their tradition, the people of Passions spread the news around like wildfire, and within that single day, Genjirou’s reputation was restored & renewed, & he was even met with praise, for pairing with such a fine woman as Fuku. That evening, after the village dinner, they were wished well as they went arm-in-arm to Genjirou’s house, where they engaged in passionate affairs until they fell asleep, content in one another’s embrace. While Genjirou slept peacefully and deeply, his troubles seemingly behind him, Fuku slept lightly, certain she heard a weeping outside, but not daring to look.
She took care to rise much earlier than Genjirou– at four in the morning, she crept outside, and found outside his door a bouquet of fresh white chrysanthemums, tied tightly by a silk ribbon. She snuck to a farmer’s house and discarded the flowers in a pig pen, a pang of guilt coursing through her as she did so. She shook the feeling off. What business would a ghost have with a human? It would be better for the both of them if he just passed peacefully and left him alone!
Still, as the weeks went on, her guilt only grew stronger every time she had to throw away the chrysanthemums, or pretend she’d gotten them for him, making up some tale about someone from another village who grew them just for her. One day, she couldn’t stand it anymore, and while Genjirou slept, she snuck into the mountains, surrounding herself with the most positive energy possible, hoping she wouldn’t be torn into shreds by the ghost. She hadn’t dared bring a hunter with her as the ghost seemed to carry a special vengeance for them, but as she ventured further and further, she felt dumber and dumber she hadn’t even brought some sort of a spiritual weapon.
“Ghost?” she called out, clinging onto a chrysanthemum she’d brought with her as she stood by the side of the river. Her face was painted ghost-white with crimson red eyeshadow and lipstick, and she wore her finest clothes, hoping that by putting such extra care into her appearance, she did not insult him by appearing in any way unsightly. One could mistake her for a geisha, but that she was most definitely not.
“Misses… or, erm, Mister… Ghost?” she called again, fidgeting with the chrysanthemum, pulling on a petal. She froze as she felt a firm hand over hers just as she was about to pull. “Mister Ghost,” said a voice that was too pleasant to be able to belong to that terrifying being she’d seen in the woods, and Fuku yelped, staggering forward a bit, almost falling face-first into the river. The ghost grabbed her and steadied her, and she slowly turned to face him, doe-brown eyes locking with his, bloodshot and ebony. Up-close, he was almost handsome, but the fear factor still won out in her mind, not allowing her to appreciate any aestheticism. “Have you come to return these to me?” he murmured, gently taking the chrysanthemum from her.
“Are you the one who has been leaving them at Genjirou’s doorstep?” she asked, her voice wavering even as she tried to make it as firm as possible. “I am,” the ghost admitted, staring at it distantly. “Do they smell good?” Fuku gathered all her resolve and nodded. “They’re very nice… where do you find white chrysanthemums?”
“I used to grow them,” he sighed, handing the flower back to Fuku. “I thought ghosts couldn’t touch things,” she suddenly blurted, then immediately felt embarrassed. Her fear made her speak her thoughts out loud. The ghost laughed a bit. “I can if I want to, just like I can make myself seen if I want to. As for the white chrysanthemums– I grow them in a village on the other side of the mountain, where the weather’s much better for them.”
“I’m sorry, but I’ve been throwing them away,” Fuku almost whispered, pulling at the petals again. “I came here to tell you that… I won’t say I’m sorry because it won’t do anything; I have been acting out of selfish desire & will accept it if you kill me like you killed those hunters if it will let you rest in peace.” She kneeled, head lowered. Fuku was very spiritual, and believed, more than anything, in the importance of a peaceful death, & felt she had disrupted this somehow.
The ghost’s expression suddenly darkened. “Get up,” he said in a voice so commanding Fuku didn’t dare object, shakily getting back up on her feet. In the background, leaves gently fell from the looming trees of the dark woods. His hair, ivory black and long, shone slightly in the moonlight, & his white burial clothes, for as dirty as they were, had an eerie glow to them. The odd, off-putting kindness from before had somewhat dissipated, and Fuku was met with a slap across the face– it wasn’t hard enough to be disrespectful, or hateful, but it was firm enough to sting slightly, and cause her to pay very close attention. “Genjirou loves you, doesn’t he?” the ghost asked coldly, glaring down at her. Fuku pondered this, then felt silly for doing so, & nodded. “I think he does, yes.”
“Then how dare you offer your life so lightly!” the ghost wailed, and Fuku noticed he was sobbing, odd, white streams of a heavy gaseous substance oozing from his eyes. “How miserable would Genjirou be not to be loved? You must cherish him more deeply! You must think more heavily before making such rash decisions! To be in love with him, you must tie your heart to his with an iron chain that will cause both to burst if it is severed! Do you understand?”
Fuku seldom considered the somewhat taboo fact that men could fall in love with other men, but she considered it deeply as the ghost spoke to her. It suddenly struck her that the chrysanthemums likely symbolised more than respect or an innocent friendship, and her face flushed a bit, hidden under the heavy makeup. She hadn’t known she’d acted so rashly she’d snatched away another person’s love, even if he was a ghost! “I understand,” she breathed, aghast.
“Then return to him– love him like no other, and remind him of how much he means to you every day… spoil him not with gifts, but with words, and raise his self esteem, so that your relationship may be meaningful like no other! Kiss him every day and linger so that he knows you do not wish to part ways, and hold his hand so that he knows he is not alone… drown him in sweet nothings that grow to be somethings, so that in old age he can look back on all these moments and say, I was a loved man!”
The guilt Fuku felt was so great she almost wished the ghost had just killed her the second he saw her, but she took his words to heart, just nodding along, still holding the chrysanthemum. She wondered why a ghost was so attached to Genjirou…. had they known one another in a different life? No, it couldn’t be; she would have surely seen him. Everybody knew everybody in Passions. Still, she ventured to ask, “Before I leave, Mister Ghost… may I ask your name?”
The ghost hesitated, before he answered, “Chikayoshi, although that name has not been spoken in years.”
She had no desire to ask how he died, nor why he killed the hunters, deciding she’d probably done enough damage, and that she should definitely head back. As she turned around to leave, the ghost implored of her one final thing, “Please do not mention this name to Genjirou… he will be tortured, & I could never forgive myself.”
She said nothing, unable to lie and say she wouldn’t, & quietly left, ultimately leaving the chrysanthemum with Chikayoshi. She couldn’t put the thought out of her mind– she never quite understood the concept of a man falling for another man, but if it were indeed true that this happened… oh, how cruel she was, how heartless she’d been, throwing away all those chrysanthemums & taking credit for the rescue, forcing Chikayoshi to watch as she did just that! She had never ventured before to think it was anything like that! She slid back into bed– it was only four in the morning, but she couldn’t sleep, haunted, quite literally, by Chikayoshi’s words & the expression he’d made when she offered herself to him.
Chikayoshi. Chikayoshi. She held onto the name like a prayer, determined not to forget it. After Genjirou woke up, things proceeded like normal– she was met with an array of kisses, the two went out to get breakfast, then lazily hung around the village. Nobody dared go into the woods for the time being, and the village leader was making arrangements with a self-proclaimed “expert of spirits and the supernatural” from another village to get rid of the ghost. Of course, this news spread around town like a wildfire, and the second it hit the couple, Fuku absolutely had to ask.
“Genjirou,” she whispered, as the two flipped lazily through texts in the library. “Could we go home? There’s something I really want to tell you.”
Genjirou raised a brow but put up no objection, and the two returned to his house. “Have you ever had any friends I haven’t known about?” she asked, biting her lip. She didn’t dare to ask boyfriend, the word not seeming right on her tongue, let alone seeming terribly informal. “Not that I can think of, no,” he replied earnestly, pouring himself a cup of tea from what remained in the teapot from that morning, placing a cup in front of Fuku as well. She ignored it, shifting uncomfortably on the mat. “Do you know the name Chikayoshi?”
Genjirou nearly spat out his tea, his eyes turning a terrible dark Kufu had never seen before. She immediately regretted the question, but it was too late now. “Why do you know this name?” His voice was calm, but some deep-rooted emotion was masked behind it, threatening to come out like a storm from a drizzle.
“It’s…..” she whispered, staring blankly down at her tea. “I– please promise you won’t be mad when I say this, Genjirou…” She also regretted saying this, knowing it was an infamously useless phrase. Genjirou only nodded. If he was going to get mad, he would get mad. She was prepared to handle the consequences. “I… I wasn’t the one who rescued you from the river, and I’m not the one who’s been leaving you chrysanthemums… that was Chikayoshi.”
“He’s back?!” Genjirou exclaimed, something wild about his expression. Fuku shook her head. “No, that’s – he's... the ghost on the mountain. Please don’t take this the wrong way, or think that our relationship is built on a lie, but I only took the credit because I thought it would be better for the dead not to interfere with the living…. I didn’t want to shock you.” And I was being selfish, she thought but did not say, leaving Genjirou to make that determination. There was a terrible period of silence, and when Fuku dared look up, she saw that Genjirou was sobbing silently, streams of tears pouring from his eyes as he wrung his hands aggressively, knuckles turning white from the pressure.
With a long sigh, he responded, “I haven’t taken it the wrong way, and I appreciate the sentiment…” He seemed to be mulling over his words, choosing each one very deliberately. “I don’t think you’re a liar, Fuku.” His eyes were filled with an indescribable sort of sadness, as he looked over at the vase of chrysanthemums. They were old, as Fuku had thrown away the ones from the past few days, and their petals fell to the surface of the dresser. “I have… I had… a friend you didn’t know about.”
THREE YEARS EARLIER
Chikayoshi struggled to catch his breath as he and Genjirou rolled and rolled and rolled in their special corner of the mountain, the exact center of the walking distance from the village of Passions to the village of Water’s Blessings. Genjirou placed kisses up and down Chikayoshi’s torso, who in return curled his toes in pleasure, wrapping his legs around the other’s hips. The two had met a year earlier during a hunt, or, in Chikayoshi’s case, a scouring-of-the-mountainside for flowers. They’d hit it off and become wonderful friends, only realising it was something more when Chikayoshi had sprained his ankle while Genjirou chased him. Once Genjirou caught up to him, he carefully tended to the wound, kissing it jokingly afterwards. When smiling at Chikayoshi, he was met by a cold, terrified gaze, & recognised it as longing. Daring himself, he moved his face closer– & closer– until he was finally met by a trepid, evolving into passionate, kiss, and the two realised their friendship was no more.
They made careful sure to not be seen by anyone else– Chikayoshi’s parents wanted so badly for their son to have a loving wife and have children, and Genjirou’s village wasn’t known as the most tolerant, infamously once having had kicked out an esteemed samurai after he flirted brashly with a male shopkeeper. Just as Chikayoshi was halfway through undoing Genjirou’s robes and the two felt daring enough to take the next “step” in their relationship, they froze as they heard the crackling of branches not too far away. Chikayoshi rapidly withdrew and Genjirou pretended to be busy with some mushroom, but it was too late; the two had been spotted by a hunter from Genjirou’s village who’d ventured further into the woods than his peers, and was met with quite the shock as he saw one of his fellow hunters arms-up with a strange man in the woods. Convinced his friend was of the female persuasion and that this was an assailant, he swooped in, throwing Genjirou as far as he could, sending him tumbling down a bit before he landed against a tree, and passed out immediately from the blunt trauma.
Unbeknownst to him, the other hunter had already drawn his bow and arrow, but too late– Chikayoshi took off like a mad dog into the woods, and the hunter chased after him, calling to his peers to help. They searched, and searched, and searched, all convinced Genjirou had been violated and that this man must die, but could not find him anywhere.
Just as how in the future, Genjirou hid from those very hunters in a river, Chikayoshi hid as well, but waded too deep into the water, and, unequipped with the ability of swimming, drowned. His corpse resurfaced soon enough that the hunters found it, and they buried it gracelessly in a ditch, leaving it to rot.
Chikayoshi’s body did rot, and his bones were taken away by wild animals. His spirit was very weak, and it took him three years of constant wishes for vengeance to manifest in a way that he could take on a physical form. He immediately sought out Genjirou, and also, his revenge, stealing a random corpse and marking it as his own– however, he was not at all well-written, & did not realise he had misspelled his name.
In the meantime in those three years, Genjirou distanced himself from his peers. The hunters agreed not to speak of what had happened to him in the mountains, finding it too shameful, and Genjirou could not stand to hunt alongside them anymore, choosing to hunt alone, hoping all along he’d encounter Chikayoshi, though he never did, & drearily presumed he’d been chased away by the others. The villagers started to grow cold towards Genjirou as they realised that he less and less interacted with them, let alone the fact that he so arrogantly hunted by himself– at least, they found it arrogant, as they did not know the true reason the hunters left him alone.
PRESENT
Fuku pursed her lips as Genjirou had only told her what he knew, personally– that he & Chikayoshi had once been involved in an affair, only to never see one another again after the incident on the mountain. Neither of the two had a clue as to how he’d died, but they didn’t want to think about it, knowing deep in their hearts it had to do with the hunters. “You must think I’m very silly,” she finally sighed, slightly laughing. “That I would so persistently chase after you even when your heart belonged to somebody else…” she blushed a bit. “I really do feel very foolish.”
“Don’t feel foolish,” Genjirou said pointedly, holding her hand in his. “Women should never feel foolish for trying to make their feelings known to a man… it shouldn’t be something to be embarrassed about, & I do appreciate you wholeheartedly for your support.” Fuku’s gaze was a bit empty, & that word was written across her brow: FOOLISH. “Please don’t think I’ve used you in any way,” he added, tightening his grip slightly. “You were not just a body for me to cling to, a soul for me to pour all that missing love into. Your friendship was always meaningful to me, and I always appreciated your reaching out to me where others wouldn’t, and our relationship was wonderful. You’re an amazing person, Fuku, and I wish nothing but the best for you.”
Fuku’s grip tightened in his. “We’re over, aren’t we?” she whispered. She had a gut feeling, even before she knew exactly how close Chikayoshi had been to Genjirou– she had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to love her anymore, knowing what he did. “Please don’t find me superficial,” Genjirou pleaded, searching her eyes. Fuku smiled wryly, reading his every facial feature. “I don’t,” she responded quietly. “I think in another life we would have paired quite nicely.”
“I think so, too,” Genjirou whispered, then stood up, taking the tea cups. He disappeared that same day, not offering Fuku a good-bye, as he knew it needed not be said. He did leave Fuku his house and possessions, and with that, she knew he would never return. She wished to have a love so powerful it could bring her back to life… she eventually got her wish, as, a couple years later, she met a beautiful, kind man from another village, who showered her every day in his affections and never failed to remind her how much she meant to him, even in the hard times, or when they argued. They never fought, making them a couple rather envied by a large sum of the villagers, who couldn’t seem to go a few days without fighting with their spouse.
The two married, and after their marriage, Fuku found a magnificent bouquet of chrysanthemums by her doorstep, wrapped in a silk ribbon….
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Caught in the Act
Plot: The reader catches Jasper and Alice making out and he starts avoiding them cause he's way to embarrassed to deal with that. Note: the reader doesn't know they're vampires
You, in general, didn't really fit into any of those neat little groups the school divided itself into. You weren't sporty enough to be a jock, you didn't wear enough black to be a got, and you weren't popular enough to be, well, one of the popular kids. You were just Y/N L/N, some high school Senior that kept his head down. The universe had no plan for you, you were merely wandering this earth as a bystander.
But that didn't mean you didn't want to be part of a clique, because it gave people a deeper sense of belonging, a reason to act the way you want to, dress the way you like, do things you enjoy, all with likeminded individuals! But it was too much stress, you preferred to just bounce between interests- sports, art, history, books -without having to be tied to one forever.
And with all that running around your head you started to shove your books and pencil case into your bag, barely even letting the bell ring before you stood up to go to lunch. Nothing fancy in your bag today, just some leftovers from last night's dinner and a bag of candy you had been slowly working through all day.
Despite not being in a clique, you didn't sit alone; you sat with Angela, Mike, Eric, and Jessica. Bella use to sit with you guys too, before she started to sit with the Cullens, now her relationship to the group was more a see-eachother-in-the-corridor-and-smile sort of deal.
That wasn't so big of a concern for you, though, in fact the first time you saw her sit at the table you knew she wouldn't be sat with you all for long, she had one of those popular looks about her, so when she was hand selected to join the five person moping party that was the Cullen table you weren't too surprised.
In some other timeline maybe she would have gone on to joint the nerds in the back table near the stage, or maybe she would have taken to the goth table that was in the corner near the fire exit. And maybe there was even alternate universe where she stayed at this table, but that would be something you may never find out.
Not, at least, with Mike Newton pulling you back to real life with little care for your ears.
"Y/N! Are you even listening?!" Mike dragged you out of your train of thought by waving a hand in front of your face and screeching at you. That was surprisingly subtly by his standards, though.
"Mike, leave him alone, he just got out of maths. He's recovering, aren't you, Y/N?" Jessica came to your defence with an elbow in Mike's ribs and a soft sort of grin for you, and you thanked her with a small smile before you spoke.
"It's okay, Jess, but thanks. I was just thinking about existence and how absolutely infinite it is" you shrugged.
"That much, huh? Deep, L/N, deep." Mike seemed stunned, or maybe he just regretted prompting you to talk, but either way he didn't try to drag you into the conversation again, and you took the opportunity to fall back to your thoughts gratefully.
When you all parted ways for the last five or so minutes of lunch everyone waved, some hugged, and Mike and Jess walked off attached at the hip. They were together again, though who knows how long it will last at this point. You and Angela were talking the other day, and agreed that they were probably so on-and-off because they were lonely and the other was close enough to fix that for a bit.
You shook your head and huffed quietly, rounding one corner after another and then climbing a set of stairs only to realise you left your coat in your last classroom, and with a great deal of frustration you turned on your heels and took a brisk walk back. You were hoping, no praying, that the room would still be unlocked, because the teacher would have left by now and the room won't be used until tomorrow.
By some streak of luck it was, but when you pushed the door open and made a grab for your coat- laid out on the teachers desk, predictably -the shuffling of other people's clothes made you look up so fast you hurt your neck.
Stood in the back of the room were Jasper Hale and Alice Cullen, both very disheveled and looking rather like deers caught in headlights. Even from as far away as you were, you could see that Jasper's shirt was almost completely open and the straps of Alice's bra and vest top were a mess around her forearms, more of her chest on show than usual.
As they rushed to correct it and called out for you to wait, though being vague as opposed to a name-you heard a very light "h-hey, you with the coat, wait!" as you made a break for it.
You decided in that moment that you would have to move schools, because the most they did was hold hands when other people were around and there was no way you could face them after seeing that, so you spent the next three days avoiding them as much as possible.
The next day you barely dodged Alice in the hallway, narrowly avoided Jasper in the bathroom, and didn't go to lunch at all for fear of them cornering you as you entered the hall. The day after that it was sunny enough for their mum and dad to yank them out of school. The third was more perilous, you had History and sat a seat in front of Jasper, but you managed to talk the guy in front of you into switching, and you made a show of hanging behind to talk to the teacher until everyone else had left.
But the fourth day it was all over. You thought that maybe they had just dropped it, because when you sat to eat and glanced over at the table with as discrete of a gaze as you could manage, Alice caught your eyes and just looked away.
You were actually just leaving as you were bumped out of the stream of teenagers and then grabbed by what you would maybe describe as the ice cold grip of death himself, but looking down you saw it was just Alice. Little Alice with the big eyes and pretty lips, lips that right now were pressed into a thin, terrifying smile.
She dragged you into a classroom, where Jasper was sat on a table, hands clasped together in his lap and shoulders stiff.
You were actually terrified, because in the few seconds between being grabbed and then getting pushed into this room you had convinced yourself that you were going to get murdered.
"You know, my family is gonna worry when I-I'm not home by four, so killing me w-would be a real bad idea" your mouth ran despite your better judgement telling you to keep it shut, though your fear died in your chest when Jasper snorted.
"What?" Alice let you go and raised an eyebrow, looking at you like you'd grown a second head. "Y/N, we're not going to kill you, where did you even get that idea from?"
"W-well, I walked in on you two the other day, a-and you've been ch-chasing me down ever since" tripping over your words, you were scratching the back of your head as though it would wake you up, because that would be really good right now.
"Only 'cause you've been running away." Jasper spoke this time, and you looked over to see him staring at you much in the same way Alice was.
"We just wanted to apologise, because the way you found us was kind of..."
"Unbecoming" where Alice trailed off, Jasper picked up, and you found yourself rushing to speak.
"Oh! Oh- no it's fine, I've walked into worse. This is a high school, freshmen are practically feeling eachother up in the halls every day. I just, well you two don't even hug around other people, s-so I assumed you would be super annoyed that I walked in"
Jasper shrugged and Alice shook her head, laughing softly.
"No! We were just really ashamed that you had to see that, especially Jazz." as Alice spoke, Jasper nodded along, and spoke only when she had finished.
"I hope this has not altered the way you see us, Y/N, though perhaps we can build a friendship from this experience."
Lost for words, you nodded, and something inside of you starting to warm up at the idea. Perhaps the universe, in all its vast and unpredictable glory, had a plan for you after all?
#twilight#jasper hale#alice cullen#male reader#twilight x reader#twilight x male reader#jasper whitlock hale#male reader insert#my writing#this got way longer than i thought it would
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the secret history live blogged
forever mad that i got spoilered so much on this book.
anyway hello! and welcome to this … shit fest of the secret history by donna tartt aka the biggest letdown of my life
enjoy! i didn’t
ok whaatttt the fuck. he was walked over?? he was packed and squished under ice?? WHAT DID THIS BUNNY GUY DO TO MAKE Y’ALL SO MAD????? istg what the fuck. cruel cruel fate
four against one, i knew y’all were assholes. you sounded like assholes before i even knew what your names were.
i have to say, i’m not a very big fan on the beginning: hello, my name is richard, i am 28, this is my story. makes it sound like he’s in an AA meeting, but i’ll let this one slide.
years at home dispensable like a plastic cup? fictional history and upbringing tales? [*clears throat in relatable*]
my father was mean, my house ugly, my mum didn’t give me attention, must kill someone to cope and serve the aesthetic™ of rejected, unloved child, brooding and mad at the world. got it.
if richard, plain and poor is the one who kills the rich asshole bc he’s a rich asshole, i might relate to him more than i thought.
[*slams book shut*] okay. okay. am i gonna have to google every other phrase in this godforsaken history book or is donna gonna go easy on my ass?
sounds like a university i would love to go to. oh, pardon me, CoLlEgE.
wait, they’d pay him back for the plane if he GOT IN??? and if he didn’t well then what, soz dude, tough luck , such is life, see ya never? makes a lot of sense. should pay him back regardless imo but hey, i had to pay £50 six times to audition at universities who, all six times, rejected me, so.
three days on a bus and arrival at six in the morning? i cannot fathom a worse scenario.
this prof conducts his selection on a personal level rather than on an academic one, said with a note of sarcasm? is he … you know … ?
ahhhh these saucy saucy tea spilling french people, gotta love em. ‘listen, i know i’ve only met you three minutes ago, but i’m bout to spill some serious tea which i must ask you to keep to yourself and never mention for i have some formidable enemies in the literature division, yes, my very own department, but we all actually love each other. you know, in a very shakespearian ‘i shall murder you at the end of the play but for now, let’s make sweet love under the stars as a witch friend of mine who will later murder you watches’ way. all very platonic. but don’t say a word of it.’
who do you think was with morrow when richard came to see him in the lyceum and what were they talking about? GODDAMN IT, this french bastard put me in a gossipy mood.
bunny — short for edmund…….

god, i love a redhead.
richard and me being whipped by francis and his long, flapping black coats, love to see it.
‘pseudo-intellects and teenage decadents abounded and black clouting was de rigueur’ can I enrol ~now~????
francis talks to cats and bunny yells from his window down at the incest twins to stop snogging in the garden. i can’t wait to see which one am I at the end of the book
henry and julian driving off together? do i smell something…. gay?
THEY WRITE WITH FOUNTAIN PENS????? [*flashbacks from my childhood intensify*].
i do not understand most of these references or sentences and if the whole book is like this, i will throw myself out the window in attempted suicide even though i live on the ground floor.
i have absolutely no idea what they’re on about.
hwhat
francis in black cashmere and cigarette smoke brushed past him and almost touched his arm. how bloody delicious is this??
‘give him some flowers and he’ll enrol you.’ ok, julian is definitely the gay prof everyone falls for.
at this stage, i would rater have voted we kill henry, not bunny, but we’ll see.
‘i was tired of being poor.’ [*buys a tie with pictures of men hunting deer on it*] ‘that’s better.’
‘i believe that it is better to know one book intimately than a hundred superficially.’ donna tartt gave me the book and the reason both.
constantly chuckling at the way richard is so completely mesmerised and intimidated by francis to the point that he’ll duck into a doorway to let him pass even though they’re going to the same lesson.
I don’t know how a ‘bostonian voice’ is supposed to sound like so francis will be slightly british in my mind for the rest of the book.
cubitum eamus? cubitum. eamus? CUBITUM?? EAMUS????? OH! GOD! HELP ME! THE SWEET SWEET HOMOEROTIC FORESHADOWING OF IT ALL!!! throwback to when, in a much too similar vein, boris, upon being asked by theo to say something in russian for him, he said ‘fuck you up the ass’. my heart is racing with yearn. i can’t fucking believe i just read this. it’s time to bust out the annotation tabs again.
oh my gooooddd whAt is henry’s problem????? he reminds me slightly of number one from the umbrella academy, but in a meaner, more show-offy, bastardish way that’s supposed to showcase his superior intelligence over all mortals like fuck you, go read harry potter and chill.
‘meke (s.p.) you Wear it’? i take it meke is actually make but what on earth is (s.p.)? google gave me 238 possible definitions for that acronym and, needless to say, i didn’t bother.
i love how donna’s main characters are funny essentially bc they’re bitches towards other people they deem inferior to them in their internal monologues.
if you were drunk and ‘slam-dancing’ at a party, i don’t have to be stuck up or elitist to judge you and hate on you. even less so if you throw your beer in my face.
‘love that jacket, silk, isn’t it?’ ‘yep, my grandfather’s. totally not from that annoying girl in my dorm whose mate your mates beat up at a party last term for shoving camilla and throwing a beer in her face and who probably only gave me the jacket because she wants to fuck me, nope.’
‘let me get that door for you.’ that’s it, that’s the tweet.
when bunny said they should round up the ‘officious fags and burn them at the stake’ i yelled the loudest what the fuck i’ve ever yelled at a book. i can see now why they killed him. and i bet that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
okay, his true colours are starting to show. it’s even more unnerving when i think about the fact that like half of this stuff is supposed to be true.
called it, they’re boning.
i can’t wait until francis locks lips with richard. i am simply tingling for it. i hope he and camilla have a threesome with richard at this country house. oh wait no, they’re all here. eh, maybe another time.
oh, we finally get some juicy inside gossip
if francis and richard don’t fuck in that gorgeous immense library, i will riot.
okay, what’s henry’s deal? he’s nice now? and he’s oddly … interested in/caring towards richard? like who the fuck says ‘i hope you slept well’ without at least a little affection towards them.
AHAHAHAAHA, NOW I GET ALL THOSE MOON LANDING QUESTIONS ON THE TSH RELATED UQIZZES I STUPIDLY TOOK. I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS REAL. imagine them lot in present day completely bewildered and confused at the fact that the whole world is in lockdown for some weird fucking reason. this is the funniest shit ever, swear to god.
dogs get heart attacks?
wow they’re being dicks. that shady shit they’re doing’s so fucking rude aajksdhfkfh and to think i had initially thought richard was the ‘leader’ of their group...
okay, they’re either all into bdsm or they’re some odd breed of late vampires who don’t have much of the traits/qualities of ‘classic’ vampires as they have possibly diminished over the centuries as the species was becoming extinct. maybe witches. hm. or occultists. I REALLY DON’T KNOW!!
richard be like ‘what should I tell you?’ well—and this is merely a suggestion—, how about you start with what they’re actually doing when they’re not hanging out with you?????
i can’t wait for bunny to figure/find out richard’s not actually rich and be a dick about it.
two months??? what kind of bonkers winter vacation between terms is that???
is being constantly cold part of the dark academia aestehtic? cos it certainly seems to be.
what the fuck are these (sp)s bunny keeps putting in his letters??
i hope somebody (henry, or maybe francis? as something that would bring them together?) is fake rich too.
ouuuuu here comes the dark, mental stuff.
richard dropped out of drama to study the classics. if we were villains is a group of people studying shakespeare. coincidence? i think not. it is with dread that i think at the possibility that i might like the other more because so far, i can’t say i’m heavily impressed with tsh.
now i’m all for weird, fancy names, but marchbanks is really an odd one. who the fuck looks at their newborn baby and goes ben? nah. tom? no. MARCHBANKS! perfect.
henry winter saves richard from a piping cold winter. ah, don’t bother, i’ll do it myself [*jumps out the window*]
henry dislikes electric lights? smokes cigarettes without filter? reads milton translated into latin ‘just to see if a language with no noun cases could possibly support the structural order he attempts to impose’? can this dude be any more pretentious?
BUNNY! IT’S BUNNY! HE’S FAKE RICH THE BASTARD! ALL THAT ‘oops, forgot my wallet’ BULLSHIT, I THOUGHT IT WAS A TEST FOR RICHARD OR JUST RICH PEOPLE LEECHING OFF OTHERS (why spend yours when you can spend theirs?) BUT NOOOO, HE’S BROOOOKE! AND AN ASSHOLE! WHAT AN ASSHOLE!!! serves him right, the asshole (that gay people being burnt at the stake comment really bothered me despite the fact that i laughed). and not only is he broke and leeching off of henry, he leeches in the most shameless, greedy, extravagant and ignorant way, ordering the most expensive thing on the menu fuck out of here.
ha! he got fat the bastard. found some sugar daddy to sustain you during your last month in italy or what?
this rabbit dude sure has some big balls for a broke ass bitch.
‘let me see your head wound.’ vs ‘your arm.’
‘that sort of tension which i, being rather more disinclined that way than not, am quick to pick up on. i had caught a strong breath of it from francis, a whiff of it at times from julian (…)’ sounds like we got another one boys, a straight dude with the best gaydar in the world. that being said, julian is the fakest bitch in the book so far.
this secrecy is killing the ever-loving shit out of me. argentina one way?? whY
lol if you’re gonna steal his book with the intention of having him come back to the apartment and see all that shit, at least don’t put it in such an obvious place where he couldn’t have possibly missed it. for such a smart guy, you sure are dumb, dude.
francis’ mother be like ‘give that bad boy a kiss from me’ and i’m like HE BETTER.
richard the worst liar. just say your mum called for fuck’s sake! you could get your boyfriend in trouble!
cheesecake cover: ‘please do not steal this, i am on financial aid.’ bunny: [*steals it*] the cheesecake: [*sucks*] me: serves you fucking right, pig.
THINKING ABOUT HIS HANDICAP. I’M YELLING. funniest thing donna tartt ever wrote.
i bet they’re all there sat at the table like nothing happened and weren’t supposed to leave anywhere at all.
called it! motherfuckers.
what the hell is going on. are they a gang of assassins or something?
richard: ‘you killed somebody, didn’t you?’ henry: [*laughs as if it was the most ridiculous idea in the world and how could you possibly suggest such a thing*] yep
bunny: gays are weirdly obsessed with food, don’t you think? also bunny: [*gets excluded from the bacchanal because he couldn’t stop eating*]
okay. i can see now why this book started the whole dark academia aesthetic
aight, that’s all good and great (far from it) but WHERE IS MY FRANCIS CONTENT????
going through the motions of hating and liking henry every other chapter.
everybody: [*burning clothes, cleaning the car, running this way and that to get rid of evidence*] francis: aight y’all imma take a power nap real quick cool? cool
there is hardly anything in the world i hate more than loose-of-tongues. bunny and that bitch ass hely from the little friend. god, i want to sock each and every single one of them in their stupid bloody loud mouths.
i want to know, i really want to know if there are any bunny apologists or … s…. s… [*grits teeth*] stans out there. don’t worry, nothing will happen to you, i just wanna talk.
if it’s henry and richard and not francis and richard,,,,, i will riot.
boy this henry guy smokes a lot…. more than me in my prime.
as if this dude reenacted the murder he wasn’t even present at in the lobby of a hotel just to torture henry. i can’t believe this character is still alive and has been for so long.
FINALLY! one francis moment that indicated there will be no more francis moments…. .
funny that, reading the secret history put something into perspective about the goldfinch for me.
i love how richard just casually throws it in there whenever he happens to mention camilla that he loves her and wants to kiss her and that she’s so beautiful and blah blah blah and then it’s never brought up again ever because he’s constantly going on and on about henry.
wait, don’t tell me it’s happening now, in the middle of the book! that would be most unexpected as there’s a whole entire book following.
henry is such a stone cold bitch, i wonder where they put his heart when they made him, in his ass?
don’t tell me henry went boxer dogs on JULIAN?!?!?! he wouldn’t. … would he?
i don’t know. i get it, obviously, the gravity of the situation, but going as far as killing him to silence him is a bit … extreme in my opinion.
thank you, charles, for being the only voice of reason in this madness.
okay, i understand it’s in richard’s best interest not to be involved, but they called him there to what, make him listen to all this and then send him on his merry way?
charles: well, if you wake up intending to murder someone at two o’clock, you hardly think of what you’re going to feed the copse for dinner. [*crickets*] francis: hey, how about asparagus?
henry: someone’s coming. quick! act normal! richard: [*turns to inspect the trunk of a tree*] [*footsteps approach*] richard: [*inspection of tree intensifies!!*]
you’re a bit late, bunny, just saying.
and now what the fuck is the rest of the book about? what do we do, let’s run, let’s stay, let’s go to the police, what do we do with him?
i love how richard describes himself as part of the process: we dwelt on it, we convinced ourselves, we devised plans when in reality, he was only there as an attaché, he wasn’t included much, almost at all in the actual planning process of it other than to give his insight on the poison route because henry thought it was his area of expertise so to speak when, really, it wasn’t and then was told about the other plan because they simply thought he should know. even then henry tells him ‘you can go now, if you like’ because there wasn’t anything they sort of needed him for anymore since he wasn’t going to be there, he was just a pair of ears. i like to think he was there in hopes to maybe dissuade them, try to stop them, tell them how mad it is, tell them there’s another way, but he didn’t do much of that either (not that I think he would’ve succeeded anyway, had he tried, henry’s one stubborn motherfucker). he didn’t come up with shit, he wasn’t supposed to even be there, i think, much less contribute in any way. had bunny not told him about the bacchanal, richard would have probably found out about it after it was already done, he was only included for the fucks of it and yet, he talks as if he was right there in the room with them, brainstorming ideas how to kill him. and i get how it only comes from a sense of obvious guilt because he knew about it, he was there and didn’t do anything to stop it, but he’s by far not one to have agreed to the whole thing or condoned it in any way from what he’s told us in book one. he himself says in the very same paragraph that he only watched. he’s very much a dark academia nick carraway type of character and i hate it. because i like him. he deserves better.
i’m pretty sure that the reason that serial killer autobiography you picked up in an airport was bereft of details is because no publishing house would allow such lurid specifications that might shock, disgust, enrage or give ideas to the reader in their book, not because the author is shy, richard, but ok, let’s move on. actually no, let’s not. you can’t expect the autobiography of a killer to only tell you about the murders, especially since in this particular instance, he was caught and went to prison. of course he’s going to tell you more about that than the killings, have you any idea what prison life is like? how much it eats away at your soul? how it crushes your spirit if you have one and how hard it is to get over? the time he spent in jail is going to haunt him forever and after such a long time in there, however long it was, you hardly think about your crime as anything but a huge mistake that was not worth the torment if you’re not a downright psychopath which, since he came out and wrote a book about it, doesn’t seem to be the case here but i guess you’ll find out all about it soon enough.
OH! a francis moment???? could this be it? please dear god may this be it.
it wasn’t, but there’s another one!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
‘it’s fun, i promise you.’ [*dies*]
if this is it, if that’s all, i am not forgiving this book.
‘i tried to pull him out but it was no good; his head lolled back uselessly’ YEAH. BECAUSE HE’S DEAD, RICHARD. [*scoffs*] ‘uselessly’
i wish i held any of my teachers and professors in at least half the high regard henry holds julian. i also wish they were half as competent and passionate about teaching as julian.
I DON’T BELIEVE ‘HE WAS JUST THERE’. IT’S BORIS AND THEO AT 6 AM IN THAT NEW YORK BAR ALL OVER AGAIN. HE’S ONLY SAYING THAT BECAUSE RICHARD WENT ALL ‘YOU’RE NOT HOT’ ON HIS ASS AND I REFUSE TO BELIEVE OTHERWISE. if they don’t kiss again—
i can’t help but admire the way they communicate sensitive information to each other in ancient greek, they sound like characters from jane austen novels while talking about drugs and saving face from tabloids and gossip, it’s rather amazing.
quite pointless to go through all that trouble to hide the cigarettes and deny having been smoking when the smell will be there no matter what and she’ll know for sure. i swear, all these seemingly smart ass people are actually idiots
my question is why would anyone, drunk or not, for any reason, leave the top down in the rain? why? what possible pleasure could one get from driving in the middle of the rain with rain actually pouring down on them?
isn’t linoleum a bit tacky for a house that looks like it’s been in architectural digest?
why is charles so on edge? why are they all always hiding??? camilla and her late night 3 am phone calls, her secret phone code with henry, charles mysteriously going out for cigarettes so brusquely without a word in the middle of the night and refusing to talk about it, what are they all always hiding?! nobody trusts one another with anything, it’s very annoying, to be honest. aren’t they supposed to be super best friends? you’d think that after a bacchanal and a double homicide, you wouldn’t keep secrets from one another, but i guess not.
ah, shame. was kind of hoping for some sneaky richard/francis basement action, but alas. what’s their ship name anyway, richis?
i just spoilered myself again, twice, by going through the tsh tag on tumblr and then looking for francis/richard fanfics on ao3 and finding out that francis marries? gets with? a girl who’s apparently called fucking priscilla. donna tartt really has a knack for weird fancy names, huh? i’m here for it tbh
richard you fucking snitch! you had one job!!!!!!
why the fuck are they still keeping him in the dark about shit? henry and charles quarrelled and charles is in jail and henry still won’t tell him what’s so bad about it and why he wants richard to handle all this shit instead of him and why bunny’s murder still matters and why why just why are they still using him as their pawn??
seriously, this exchange was about the worst they’ve had so far. he himself knows it: ‘there was a silence during which I felt acutely the hopelessness of ever trying to get to the bottom of anything with henry. he was like a propagandist, routinely withholding information, leaking it only when it served his purposes.’ THEN WALK AWAY. SAY NO. PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN. FUCKING—UGH!!!!!!!
they’re all so shamelessly using him… i can’t read. it’ll kill him, one way or another.
these ungrateful little shits i swear to god. richard bails him out, he’s all thankful and sweet when he wants him to do ‘this one little favour’ of taking him to his francis’ house so he can break in and when richard’s like i don’t have a car, he immediately turns sour and passive aggressive like you know what?! richard hasn’t slept all night and all morning waiting for your ass to go to court cos you were a drunken idiot and decided YET AGAIN that driving in that state is a great idea so he can bail you out and when you are finally out, you start being fussy and then it’s all ‘right. thanks a lot’??? richard doesn’t fucking need this shit! y’all are horrible friends. he’s not your bloody servant. how about you take that stick and privilege out of your asses and start treating him a bit more kindly, huh???
‘henry made me swear not to tell.’ WHAT. WHAT. BITCH, GET THE FUCK OUT.
this is by far the most toxic friendship i’ve ever heard of.
oh wow that kiss was hot. i thought it was just a speculation that they were incestuous with each other, but i-i guess not.
FINALLY it gets interesting. Mr Abernathy spilling some piping hot tea mmm
he literally just said i’d sleep with you if you got drunk enough to let me. oh dear god help me.
oh fuck it got sad. It’s patrick and brad all over again ugh always happens to the best of gays
finally richard my boy starts hating them, as he should. except francis, you’re a dick in that respect. he’s only joking for fuck’s sake, don’t get all butthurt, jesus. sensitive much?
uuuuuu tunts Tunts TUNTS! shit is hitting the fan. henry, henry, henry, our ‘golden boy’. nothing but a crook himself, the motherfucker. i’ve been waiting for this reveal since the beginning of the fucking book. if they gang up on him and kill him, i will never stop laughing.
it’s as if he’s begging to be excluded and hated, i swear. why is he being such a prick? does he love her? is that it? then there are a BILLION other ways to go about it, he doesn’t have to be such a shady bitch!! besides, wasn’t he in cahoots with julian?
‘i was depressed, i thought if i slept here it might make me feel better.’ that’s so precious tho….. funny, but precious. such child-like innocence in this grown ass intoxicated man, i melt.
clever, luring him out of the playground under the false pretext of a drink when he’s had plenty. think like a drunk
the only consistent, recurring and ever-present elements in donna tartt’s books are the hors d’oeuvres.
it’s so cute how charles needs him, i—
girls be like: watching a film, listening to a podcast, talking on the phone, having dinner, figure painting, filing nails, writing an essay and doing their makeup all at the same time
this so called love he feels for camilla is so unfounded and feeble and just … it seems so out of the fucking blue every single time he mentions it, i can’t read this shit. IT’S SO SEE-THROUGH!!
okay WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK DID I JUST READ. WHAT. THE ACTUAL. MOTHERFUCKING. FUCK. one second he’s ‘i love her so much’ the next he wants to strangle and rape her?????????????? i have zero goddamn words. i am fucking speechless. i don’t think i have ever been this confused at something since i watched the turning. i don’t think you realise quite how done i am with this fucking book at this point.
i think i do hate henry more than bunny and i’m afraid i’ll like if we were villains better.
richard: [*takes sleeping pills*] also richard: [*surprised he can’t keep up with the film he started watching after taking sleeping pills*]
‘look,’ said francis. ‘let’s just go, if we leave now we can be in montreal by dark. nobody will ever find us.’ vs ‘well, i’m not going,’ said boris serenely. ‘fuck that, i’m running away. do you want to come?’
this henry bitch is the most difficult piece of shit i’ve ever fucking encountered. ‘you mean, it’s something you need to tell me in private?’ oh FUCK OFF AND STEP OUTSIDE, FOR FUCK’S SAKE. IT’S ONE THING I ASK OF YOU, YOU TWAT.
huh, i thought he was doing this shit on purpose, leaving the page face down on the table so that julian could see it, i thought it was some sick twisted plan of his.
lmao called it. everybody saw through julian’s façade except richard and the others and i completely understand. in a fashion much like julian’s, i think he knew that, he saw it, but just chose to ignore it because the image he posed and richard himself constructed of him in his mind was much more favourable to what he really was. i mean, fuck, who the fuck says ‘i hope we are all ready to leave the phenomenal world and enter into the sublime’ with their whole chest and mean it?
if you think he’s not coming, why sit in silence staring out the window, ignoring everyone and wasting everybody’s time instead of telling them from the very start this piece of information you have on hand that could save everybody a lot of trouble, time and overthinking? why be all mysterious and enigmatic about it? just tell them from the start, you’re not in a film for fuck’s sake……..
charles, one of the four of them (henry, camilla, julian and himself) might be the one i despise the least, almost like had he not been so brutal towards camilla,,,, but i don’t know if i can trust her, that whole scene seemed … staged somehow. i don’t know. i don’t know
didn’t expect henry would turn on julian too though. first real thing he’s done all book.
agatha
christie
writes
good
mysteries.
richard does seem like the type of fellow who would grow up in a household where his dad would strike his mum for no fucking reason.
okay so did henry punch him for that comment or not? what was all that father beating mother bit for?
#boysweekendinthecountry! 🤪 #partytime! #ignoringourproblems! #woooo!!!
oh my fucking god chARLES!!!
yes, henry, great, brilliant, fucking splendid idea to antagonise the man pointing a gun at you.
MY PAUL SMITH SHIRT!!!!!!!!! AHAHAHASFSHDGFDK
i love how absolutely nobody noticed fucking richard BLEEDING RIGHT NEXT TO THEM
‘expected everyone to stop and look at me. no one did.’ and they never will. that’s your whole friendship summed up in two lines. you don’t matter to them, you never did, you’re absolutely unimportant. just a tool, a pawn, a nobody. sorry you had to get shot to realise that.
‘’he shot me.’ somehow, this remark did not elicit the dramatic response i expected. before i had the chance to elaborate—’ ELABORATE WHAT? ELABORATE WHAT?! THAT’S ALL YOU NEED TO SAY!! GOD, this hurts to read. this angers me beyond words, but it also fucking hurts so bad…
nothing, not even getting shot can make richard lose his wit
disGUSTING henry and camilla moment. I HATE THEM
oh shit. did not see that coming. well, glad that’s over.
ugh, time to read how francis got hetero married :\
[*chokes*] DUE TO THE VERY EXCELLENT EXCUSE OF HAVING A GUNSHOT WOUND IN THE STOMACH I DIDN’T TAKE MY FRENCH EXAM YAY!!! god, i fucking love Richard.
the thing is, right, i read that line, ‘i managed to get out of taking my french exams the next week’ about three or four times and somehow, the following line or even the words ‘gunshot wound’ never made it to my eyes! i don’t understand how! but i’m completely happy about that given the fact that i spoiler myself on every single book i read by reading ahead like an idiot..
how much do you want to bet that it was the inn keep who called the ambulance and not those fuckers? because of course henry, dead henry’s more important than slowly dying, almost dead but not quite richard.
despite everything, it sounds like he had a nice summer in brooklyn. good for him. god knows he deserved it, the poor guy.
yeah no, fuck henry’s post-mortem hero narrrative.
lol, at least he got a nice car out of it. this book shows me once again that things happen just the way they should happen.
OH MY FUCKING GOD NO. NO. NO. NO. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I CANNOT READ. I DO NOT SEE. I REFUSE TO COMPREHEND THIS PIECE OF INFORMATION.
i will not say a WORD on this, much less his letter. i am hurt, i am wounded, i am grieving, my head is full of thots and i cannot speak. i died on this bed.
ugh [*rolls eyes*] this fucking guy again with his sudden, out of my ass declarations of love towards camilla. JUST GIVE IT UP ALREADYYYYYYYY!!! TELL IT TO SOMEONE WHO CARES!!! (francis) i wouldn’t be surprised if she was married or engaged and just didn’t bother to mention it ‘because he never asked’ or some bullshit excuse like that.
I HATE HENRY I HATE HENRY I HATE HENRY I HATE HENRY [*deep breath*] I FUCKING HATE HENRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
he’s telling me about all these people and where they ended up after graduation but not only do i not give a single solitary fuck, i actually don’t know who the fuck he’s talking about?? like who the fuck is bram guernesnesnica? rooney wayne? what the fuck do i care what jack jud and frank did?
the only people i do remotely care about are the professors (the saucy french teacher and the boring, senile dude who wouldn’t shut up and who kept referring to richard as ‘jerry’ in his grad school recommendations letter ahahah that is the content i signed up for, not dumb and dumber’s bar or whatever) and the cat charles left at francis’ country house who lives in a ten fucking room apartment in boston.
love how ionic the whole marion storyline turned out to be. marred another corcoran who looked just like bunny and had a daughter who, despite having her and his mother’s name ended up being nicknamed also bunny. i’m sorry, i just—i have to laugh.
[*slams fists on the table*] THE AGENTS??? YOU’RE GONNA TELL ME ABOUT THE BLOODY FBI AGENTS???!!!!!! CAN THIS BOOK PLEASE JUST FUCKING END ALREADY??????!!!!!!!!
a dream. a dream. if it’s a dream of henry i will personally shoot you and make sure i aim a little higher than your abdomen this time.
[*shoots the book*]
oh, you died and suddenly you have a sense of humour?
‘that information is classified’ [*shoots a torpedo at the book*]
‘are you happy?’ / ‘not very.’ vs ‘are you happy here?’ / ‘not particularly.’
okay. so. final thoughts: fuck this book.
good night
#jaden reads tsh#and probably never will again#my expectations were too high i think that's my problem#but even so this book was a whole ass mess#i WANTED to like it#i wanted to like it so bad!!!!#but i'm sorry no#it's just not happening#jaden talks shit#tsh#the secret history#donna tartt#long post#not tgf#richard papen#francis abernathy#charles macaulay#camilla macaulay#bunny corcoran#henry winter
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