#Wanna tag her as Twitch the Black Arms or Creature

[colorfulplasma]

Will bark; will bite

[catzula]

Bakugou isn’t afraid of bees

Request: Would Bakugou with an s/o the complete opposite of him be a better request? Like he has a partner whose shy, soft, doesn't curse, cute,etc?

A/N: soo, this is long overdue, and I'm really sorry for that! But I have a lot going on, family drama, school and I'm just going through a lot, and I love writing, it helps me cope with stress, but all these things happening just make me slower, I'm sorry for that :(

Thank you for requesting this, btw, I'm not tagging you because last time I tagged anyone I got shadowbanned 🤡 so I'm avoiding tagging people like the plague, but thank you so so much for requesting! Hope you like it 💕

Synopsis: going swimming with the Bakusquad seemed like a good idea, but it was always guaranteed to end with some kind of a disaster, also, Bakugou is afraid- ow, sorry! Bakugou dislikes bees.

Bakugou had told you, he had told you that it was a bad idea to go.

He knew it, they did, and even you did too, but you went anyway.

But it wasn't your fault that you just wanted to spice up your summer break, and going swimming with the Bakusquad seemed like a perfect idea!

And you knew Bakugou wouldn't make you go there alone, especially if you wore your go-to swimwear that you knew just looked good on you. The one he liked oh-so-much.

"No fucking way, Y/N." He told you the moment he saw you standing at the entrance of the room with your beach bag hanging from your shoulder.

"Oh, it's going to be fiiine," you told him with an innocent smile, emphasizing the last word. "Kami-kun told me that they found this small cliff we could jump from and- h-he told me its only 5 meters tops, not even a cliff, really!" You corrected yourself when you heard a growl you were a bit too familiar coming from him.

"Kami-kun?" He repeated. "Kami-kun's gonna be there, huh? And when you're wearing that?" 

"Well, yeah! He even told me they'll make camp if the weather allows it, if not, he told me not to worry cause he'll make a fire and have a drink of two, you know." You kept talking with an innocent smile he usually adored, but it only made him want to shake some sense into you at the moment.

"No," He told you through his teeth, voice dropping an octave and sending chills down your spine, his blood boiling with something he didn't want to name (jealousy), his right eye started to twitch as he thought of the many memories he had of lightweight Kaminari.

He started walking towards you, the look in his eyes reminding you of a wolf that was looking at its prey.

"Don’t fucking go there, especially without me." He was suddenly too close to you, well aware of the widening of your eyes as he hovered on your frame purposefully, making you feel small underneath him. He smiled when you inhaled a shaky breath when he smiled, his lips almost touching yours, but not quite.

"That's no good, I already told them I'm coming." You whispered with a smile, your eyes fixated on your hands, "Kami-kun was so happy to learn I was coming, though he did sadden a bit when he heard you couldn't." Bakugou was well aware of how your eyes widened when his hand touched your cheek, sliding down to your chin to tilt it towards his face. He knew you couldn't maintain eye contact when he looked at you like that and that caused a warm feeling to spread in his chest, Bakugou would never admit it, but he adored your shyness.

"Well then," he told you as he backed up just a bit, "tell him he doesn't have to be all that sad since I changed my mind."

***

To say that Bakugou was protective of you would be an understatement. His hand was attached to your waist, sometimes even sliding down just a bit to tease you every now and then, causing your face to heat up.

He didn't even let you go when Kirishima and Kaminari had hugged you to greet you, growling threateningly when he thought Kaminari hugged you a little too long.

Despite the act he had on of the threatening, scary boyfriend, though, you knew all he would do was glare and frown till you kissed him on the cheek and told him he was your one and only.

Still, you were grateful he actually came with you since you knew he wasn't a big fan of the sea and what came with it.

He especially despised mosquitoes, something he had named 'the curse', and he was right to do so, too, making it the most hilarious thing you had ever seen.

An 'unnatural phenomenon' as Kiri liked to call it, was that the mosquitoes loved Bakugou. Even though he always had a mosquito spray on him and renewed it almost every hour, it never worked, and he often got bitten at least 20 times a day. He did everything he could to try and stop them from biting him (except for killing them since he hated killing mosquitoes) Bakguou always had you applying cream to his bites he often turned into wounds because he couldn't help himself but itch them.

(Still, you had to admit that the curse came in handy time to time since whenever Bakugou was around, nobody else ever got bitten.)

He also hated sand, hated getting wet, was too pale, and usually got burned very easily, and most of all, he hated bees. He wasn't afraid of them, Bakugou Katsuki wasn't afraid of anything, but it was safe to say that he disliked the black-yellow striped creatures with every fiber in his body.

So even though he said he was just there because he didn't trust his dumbass friends, you knew it was because he could tell you wanted him there, and he came, despite hating almost everything. But he didn't hate you, and that was enough.

"Get the fuck away from me you little shit!" He screamed right next to your ear, making you wince and giggle. "Did you spray your-"

"Of course I fucking sprayed the bug repellant." He grumbled as he itched the newest bite, his voice was harsh and words hard, but you knew he wasn't mad at you and that it was unintentional.

"Don't itch it, Katsu." You told him, putting your hand on the bite to stop him from itching it anymore, and he could swear he felt the itch went away with your touch.

"I'll get back at you, you know, for forcing me to come here." He whispered into your ear, but you chose to play dumb and smile at him innocently. "But I didn't do anything, you said you wanted to come."

"Y/N, you know very well that-" His speech was interrupted by the joyful way your name was announced, a blonde skipping your way with a charming smile. "Y/N, hey, Y/N, come on, let's swim!" Kaminari cheered, holding you by the wrist and pulling you up to your feet, away from your fuming boyfriend.

"If you fucking touch her again-" He started to threaten but closed his mouth when he saw a frown forming on your lips. "Be careful, dumbass." He told you instead, trying and failing to suppress the smile that forced his lips upwards when you flashed him a cute smile.

"Don't' you wanna swim, too?" You asked sweetly, and he scoffed. "Of course, I don't wanna fucking swim." He muttered, playing with the grass he ripped from the ground. "Ah, the weather is so hot, a shame, Bakubro." Kaminari smiled and shrugged, but Bakugou noticed how his eyes widened when you took your beach clothes off and stood with your swimwear.

"Wh- Woah, Y/N, you look... really nice!" He told you, his cheeks turning into a rosy color, the interaction making the others turn to you, too. You felt your cheeks starting to heat up, not used to getting so much attention as you felt your boyfriend rise to his feet, his arm wrapping around your waist with a scoff.

"I thought you didn't want to swim." You told him with a giggle. "You seemed really opposed to the idea just then."

"I changed my mind, shitty woman." He growled. "Dunce face is right for once in his life, the weather is really fucking hot."

***

"Soo," Kaminari muttered, looking at his friends' faces. "Who's gonna jump first?"

He sighed when no one answered him. "Oh come on, you guys are no fun! Kiri? The manliest of our group, won't you be brave and-"

"Nope, sorry bro, I choose to live." He told him with an apologetic smile. "I'll go in second, though." He grinned cheekily, and Kaminari sighed. "How about you, Mina?" He tried his chance with the girl who avoided his eyes with all she had. "You're the most adventurous and the craziest, I'm sure only you can pull this off." He sent her a wink but was answered with another apologetic smile.

"Nope, same as Kiri here. I'll agree to jumping when I see somebody can survive."

"How about you, dunce face? Trying to force people to jump, but not brave enough to do it yourself?" Bakugou teased him, causing Kaminari's cheeks to take a red color. "I-it's not that I'm scared, but I just- just..." He looked at his friends for any kind of help, but they liked watching him squirm instead. You couldn't help but take note of just how close he stood near the edge, almost a push away. But, of course, you wouldn't push your boyfriend, would you?

"Huh, you have to be more clear, Kami-kun," he kept teasing. "Why won't you-"

"Ka-katsuki!" You suddenly interrupted the panic written on your face making his heartbeat to double. "Y/N, what's wrong?" He asked as he started to come towards you.

"N-no, don't move!" You told him, trying to ignore everyone looking at you like you lost your mind. "Katsuki, don't panic but there's a bee-" before you got to finished your sentence, Bakugou had already thrown himself off the cliff, a splash sound following it not long after.

Your friends watched you silently, trying to understand what the fuck just happened-except for Kirishima since he was well aware of Bakugou's dislike of bees-, it was your and Kirishima’s simultaneous laughs that caused Bakugou to understand you tricked him into jumping in.

"You know he's gonna get back at you for that, though, you know that right?" Kirishima asked with a mischievous smile and you bit your lip. "If he can get his hands on me, of course." You went near the edge, slightly leaning forward to take a peek at your boyfriend.

He looked so utterly annoyed, it was pure comedy for you, so you didn't notice Mina and Kirishima sneaking up on you as you kept teasing Bakugou. "And how is the water, Katsu?" You asked him with a teasing smile, though his answer was the last thing you heard before you were also wet.

"See for yourself!" He had cried out with a grin. The first thing you knew after you fell was the warm body of your boyfriend's. He had pulled you to himself almost immediately before you even got the chance to run away.

"So you think you can play with me like that and run away?" He asked, voice low on purpose to make you flushed. His face got closer to yours, his lips millimeters away from your trembling ones that didn't get used to the cold water yet. "Wh-what are you doing?" You exclaimed since you knew he hated PDA more than he did the sand, and he grinned, the kind of grin that caused your breath to hitch in your lungs. You combed back his heavy, spiky hair that fell on his face now instead.

"I'll-" you didn't get to hear what he was going to do since his little teasing game was interrupted by another loud splash that came from right next to you, making you scream with how close it was, Kaminari who had tried to jump right on top of you two. "That little shit-" Bakugou muttered as he swam towards him, his hands finding Denki's head the second he came out to surface, pushing him back in before he got the chance to breathe, and you felt bad for laughing at his screams that were coming from the underwater.

Thankfully, Kirishima didn't take long to jump and save the dumb blonde from your boyfriend's hands.

Mina was the last to jump, falling with a loud cry of victory, falling right on top of Kaminari, who was just rescued by Kirishima from Bakugou's hands, their odd friendship making you giggle and secretly long for something similar.

"So," Kaminari spoke when he was done coughing water, "who's ready for round two?"

***

"Ah, to have someone as adorable as her rub sunscreen to my back." Kaminari sighed loudly before he got Karate-chopped on the head. "Shut up if you don't want to get killed today." Kirishima told him, his eyes turning to the angry blonde that sat in front of you, taking a relieved breath when he realized Bakugou hadn't heard him.

Since Bakugou had jumped earlier than expected -thanks to you- he hadn't worn enough sunscreen, and it was your job to rub it on his skin and try and stop him from complaining about it the whole day.

"Ah, it fucking burns, dumbass." He hissed when your hand touched his bright red shoulders. "Oh, stop being a ba-" You bit your tongue before you got to finish that sentence when he glared at you. "I'm sorry, Katsu." You grinned cheekily, leaving the smallest peck on his shoulder. "There, feel better?"

He did, in fact, feel much better.

"Shut up." He told you, turning his face in front of him so you couldn't see his smile. He had the smile the whole time you rubbed soothing circles on his back and arms, smile turning to an immediate frown as you did his chest, but you knew how he was feeling, if not because you knew him well, his heartbeat gave it away.

He bit his lip, trying to suppress the sigh of relief as you massaged his muscles along with the sunscreen. "Okay, we're good to go." You told him when you finished, moving to stand up, but were held back when he got ahold of your wrist and pulled you back, making you fall on his lap.

"K-katsu, what are you doing?" You whispered, face burning with embarrassment. "I couldn't get my kiss back there." He told you with a smirk, his face getting closer to yours.

You held your breath, afraid his friends would see, but also longing for a kiss. You tilted your face upwards to receive his kiss, jumping in your place when you heard a loud whistle. "That's my boy!" Mina cheered, clapping, "get the girl!"

"For fucks sake, we can't even get a minute alone." He muttered angrily, standing up without kissing you. You held the hand he offered as you stood up, but he stopped you before you could even take a step.

"Watch where you're going, dumbass!" He told you angrily, his eyes locked on a shiny piece of glass right next to your foot. It wasn't the only one, either, big and small pieces of glass were scattered on the beach, some even being pushed back and forth by the waves.

"Don't swim anymore." He told you suddenly, eyes still on the pieces of glass. "Oh, I'll be fine!" You told him with an encouraging smile, but he didn't seem so persuaded. "I'll be careful, okay?" You told him one more time, knowing he couldn't resist your smile, and he gave in with a sigh not long after.

"It's getting dark already," he told you, "just one more jump."

You smiled with glee, running back to the water to tell them to go for another round of jumping.

What happened after that wasn't Bakugou's fault. He had told you not to go many times, but you did anyway, and now he had to deal with this.

You had jumped too close to the shore, the water wasn't as deep as it was supposed to. He could tell it wasn't the moment you touched the water and heard your muffled scream of pain. You surfaced the water with the look of pain on your face, and he hadn't missed a beat before he jumped down.

"What is happening? What happened?" He heard Mina's voices as he surfaced, his crimson eyes looking for your figure. "I think she hurt her leg." Kirishima answered, also getting ready to jump in. Bakugou spotted you trying to get back to the shore, holding your left leg as you pushed yourself with your arms and one leg.

He swam to you as fast as he could, his arms wrapping you and stopping your sloppy movements. You stilled as soon as you felt him pulling you to his chest, carrying you out of the water.

You were out of breath, and he could see the tears in the corner of your eyes. "What happened, baby?" He asked, concern laced in his voice when he saw the drops of blood dripping from your foot to the sand. "I- is it bleeding?" You asked, trying to hide the tremble in your voice. "I think I jumped on a piece of glass, or maybe a shell? I don't know."

"Okay, it's okay, don't worry about it, I'll take care of it." He soothed you, finding a good spot to put you. He felt your grip on him tightening when he tried to put you down. Thankfully, Kirishima had reached you as well, Bakugou nodded at him, receiving another nod from his best friend.

"I'll look at your leg now, okay?" Bakugou told you, and you nodded, biting your lip and trying not to cry. "Hey, Y/N?" Kirishima spoke, shielding your vision from seeing your leg. "Remember those brownies you made for us once? Did you know Mina tried to do them for us too, but ended up burning the kitchen?"

"Hey!" You heard Mina protesting as you laughed, she had also jumped and came to see what was happening. "You promised not to tell anyone!"

"Where's Kami?" You heard Kirishima whisper, and Mina smiled faintly. "You know he can't see blood."

"Should we go to a hospital?" Kirishima asked, and you whimpered. "No, no hospitals, I can't-"

Bakugou shook his head. "The cut's not that deep, we don't have to go to a hospital, but I have to clean and bandage this." Ksirihima finally moved away and you saw the cut on your leg. It was true, it wasn't very deep, but it still hurt a lot.

"We have to go back now," Bakugou told them as he swept you in his arms in bridal style and smirked at you. "'Im sorry," you told his friends, feeling bad about the fun ending because of you. "No, please don't say that!" Mina told you. "Yeah, we can do this again after you're well again!"

"Oh fuck no!" Bakugou growled, making you chuckle.

"Promise." Kirishima mouthed with a wink, and you chuckled again.

***

"You idiot." Bakugou muttered as he cleaned and finally wrapped the wound on your leg, pressing a kiss on your forehead. "I was fucking worried back there."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to jump on a glass." You told him with a pout, making him sigh. "Whatever, I’m just telling you to be fucking careful." He sat on the couch you were laying on, careful not to disturb you, the way he was acting as if you were a fragile doll making you roll your eyes.

"Can you get under the blanket already?"

"You're just trying to cuddle, you needy idiot." He told you grumpily, snickering when you didn't protest. "Yeah, I might be a needy idiot, but I'm a wounded needy idiot."

"Don't call yourself an idiot, dumbass." He told you with a light flick on the forehead and making you laugh, smiling when you laughed, doing as you said and getting under the blanket, his arms wrapping you and pulling you on top of his chest.

"How are you feeling?" He asked after a few minutes. You snuggled deeper into his chest, eyes already heavy with sleep. "It hurts a bit." You admitted, knowing he could tell if you lied.

You felt a soft peck on your lips.

"There," he muttered, recalling the way you soothed his burns earlier that day. "Any better?"

You grinned. "Much better."

[theravencawsatmidnight]

Pink Chains

Part Seven.

Kyotani owns a grunge /punk apparel shop after leaving the Sendai Frogs after a incident with the Black Jackals. He designs his own clothes and hires Oikawa & Iwaizumi as his employees. Everything goes smoothly for awhile, till you walk in; pink dress, big smile , and bubbly personality. His whole life stops in that moment. 

Tags. @galagcica @haikyuu-but-low-iq @mocha-babes @derpeedoo @kayisweird @kozushiki @lunebabie

The ride back into the city was quiet; the only sounds were the crying kitten on your lap and Kyotanis music. No one was saying anything and Kyotani did not have his hand on your thigh, you were staring down at the kitten watching it wobble around on your lap trying to balance itself out. It was a brown cat with a white creamy head and back. Looked to be male, too.

You tucked the kitten closer to you watching it shine under the street lights then go dark then go light again. Kyotani was focusing on driving, his knuckles hurt and he could feel the irritation in his lip where Bokuto punched him. He was so goddamn angry at everything right now; he just wanted to give you a nice day after the shitty morning and day at school you had, he just wanted to see that smile on your face that he loved so much, that happy look that was just for him. He was going to end the night at his house with you in his arms watching whatever movie you wanted…

But everything changed so fast… too fast. He hated himself. What would have happened if he punched you? If he did not see you come between him and Bokuto? How bad would he have hurt you? ...it all hurt him right in his heart…

*

Kyotani pulled up to your apartment and helped you bring the things in from the zoo. You sat down on the ground by Mohas cat hut looking in with the kitten on your lap.

“Mocha.. I .. brought you a friend..” you said, breath shaky.

Kyotani could only watch, he wanted to console you so bad. Tell you its okay now, but he was not sure if he should even go over to you, or say your name.

Mocha emerged from her hut to see you and the kitten, you set the scared animal down and pet Mocha. “His name is Machi, short for Macchiato , hes your new friend okay?”

Mocha sniffed Machi and lightly grabbed at its neck dragging the kitten inside it. You sighed, relieved, Mocha could take it from here.

You got up to see Kyotani sitting at your table with his hands in his hair, elbows on his knees staring at the ground.

“Kyo..”

He didn't move.

Slowly you dropped to your knees again to fit between his legs so you could see him.

“Kyo i wanna go to your house….”

You blinked when his tears hit your face, his lip was fumbling and his nails were digging into his hair. You laid your head on his thigh talking very calmly.

“I enjoyed my day with you so much, ive never seen a lion before. They are so fluffy huh? I bet its fun to brush the males crazy hair. The wolves liked you too huh? Did you notice that?” you rubbed his leg soothingly feeling it twitch under you. “I bet they will remember you, especially the one who stared at you. I really liked the red pandas. I still cant believe you set that up. Just for me. Did you see them flop around? They are such silly creatures.”

Kyotanis left hand fell to weave itself into your hair to hold your head.

“I had a very nice day with you Kyo. What happened does not change that. Promise. You said yourself you wanna talk it out with Bokuto. When you do youll be friends. I know you can do it. Your my Kyo you can do anything.”

Kyotani choked out a heavy breath, it felt like he was holding everything in just to listen and focus on you. He pulled you up to press his forehead against yours. He had a very shaky and nervous voice.

“I-i-i-i… i kno-ow,, Sweetie.”

*

Kyo had indeed brought you to his house and you were very happy to be there, you were curious about this surprise he had mentioned and Kyo refused to say anything more on it.

It was a very nice big house. A fenced in yard with a even bigger garage.

You got out of the car watching the gate close behind you and Kyotani pulled you in for a hug from behind burying his nose in your neck holding you for a minute. Just taking it in, you were so special to him. You were the one for him, he knew it. And he was never letting go.

“Ready sweetie?”

“Yes yes !!!” you turned to give him a kiss and he sighed wiping the blood off your lips.

“Sweetie let me wash up first” he told you, taking your hand and going into home from the garage, the door sliding down on its own sealing the garage up.

“Be quick ab-”

A lot.. Of barking could be heard, a lot..

You hugged Kyotanis arm, squeezing it. “Puppies?!!!”

“Oi quiet down its 9 at night!!! King stop it!!!”

“Is that iwaizumi?” you asked him.

“Yep.” he took you up the stairs and opened the door to his living room.

A large all black german shepherd was barreling towards you barking its head off, it was deafening. Behind him was a yellow Shiba inu trying to bark equally as loud but he was not as big, next was a skinny tan pit bull barking low, his little tail wagging very fast.

“ BABIES!!!!” instantly you dropped down and the dogs tackled you with kisses and wagging tails. Your laughing was music to Kyotanis ears, god it helped so much.

Kyotani stepped over his dogs to go see Iwaizumi who was holding a white pomeranian. He pet it and instantly Iwaizumi could tell his friend had gotten in a fight. He did not say anything, just gave his rough looking friend a look. Kyotani shook his head looking back at you, you were standing now and petting all the dogs with a excited face.

“The big one is King, the shepherd. The Inu is Rex, the skinny one is Chicken Legs, hes a rescue,” he told you.

“And this is Mango! My lil baby” Iwaizimi said, holding the happy dog up .

“More babies!!” you gave each dog a nose kiss and hurried over to greet the happy snowball of a dog in Iwais arms. “So cute! All so cute!”

“Sweetie, my room is upstairs, go find something to change into okay? Ill be up in a minute”

“Kay! Iwaizumi Kyo has something hes gotta tell you!” you told him, all huffy.

“Oh yeah?” he teased putting the dog down .

All four dogs followed you up the stairs and Kyo shook his head knowing he would have to kick them out after he got up there.

As soon as they hear the door shut Iwai crossed his arms over his chest dipping his head at his friend taking in his cut lip and bloody knuckles. Kyotani sat down after grabbing a wet cloth and explained while he cleaned up.

“Seriously? “

“I dont even care that he showed up, i almost fuckin hit her.”

“Punched, is the correct word” his friend said sitting down with him. “What happened next?”

Kyotani shrugged, squeezing the towel for a second. “I broke down, i had accepted im a monster and that she was gonna run off leaving me. But instead she got on that dirty ground with me to yell at me and give me a talking to.” he wiped his knuckles, one by one. “She thought i started it but Bokuto spoke up, i told him to get in touch with Yahaba and then we left..”

“Christ..”

“Iwaizumi i dont know how shes still with me”

“I dont either. But shes special Kyotani, thats more than obvious now.”

“I want to move on from that day, that tourney. Everything, and start a life with her.”

“Well Yahaba will want this cleared up pretty soon so expect that in the morning, you know how he operates”

“Mhm,” Kyotani got up rubbing his face with the towel. “Ill see you tomorrow Iwaizumi, Oikawa is opening right?”

“Yep, lets hope he remembers how”

“God..”

*

Kyotani went up the stairs to see you in one of his old jerseys with no pants on with all the dogs sitting with you on the floor wagging their tails. You were petting each one and telling each one something special about them.

Kyotani put his hands on his hips whistling, alerting the dogs.

“Cmon now.” he motioned for the stairs.

The dogs pouted and you giggled getting up to sit on the bed criss cross. All the dogs went to Kyotani and he moved to the side. “Out, out out, “ he told them walking behind them. Each dog flopped down the steps except for Chicken Legs, he was whimpering and giving Kyotani a nervous look.

“Scared to go down still?” he crouched down picking up the dog. “ okay okay,” Kyotani brought the dog downstairs and gave it a gentle hug. “Go get some sleep, she will be here in the morning.” He made sure Chicken Legs made it into the dogs room before going back upstairs, closing his door with a sigh. Kyos room was full of posters, trophies, and jerseys. He had a desk with an expensive laptop sitting on it and a little picture bored next to it with pictures of him and lal of his volleyball friends. His bed was very big, a King size maybe. It was across from a big screen tv that sat next to the wall.

“Kyo…”

He looked up after ditching his pants and shirt to see you waiting for him to join you.

You looked so perfect in that jersey to him. He made his way over spotting you clothes on his floor along with a pink bra. He crawled in the bed pulling you on his lap facing him giving you a a really long deep kiss.

[aethelar]

For a comment on this piece asking if Graves and Newt ever argue, in which Graves tags along on Newt’s adventures and parts of it go, um, less than optimally:

I wanna see Newt convincing Graves to go with him. I doubt he'd just drop everything and go.

Nope. Not in the slightest. It went like this:

Newt lasted all of, what eight months in New York? Nine months? He'd somehow ended up working for MACUSA as a consultant to help them fix the outdated beast laws, which basically meant that he spent five days a week bothering Graves at work and the remaining two days a week bothering Graves at home. As far as desk jobs went it wasn't bad, per se, it was just... a desk job. At a desk. Four walls - sometimes more, some of the meeting rooms were hexagonal for some unknown reason - ceilings, windows that looked out at other sky scrapers instead of the sky. Even when he was outside he wasn't really outside, New York too built up and closed in to feel like anything except a cage.

Magizoologists don't do well in cages.

But Graves did, and for Graves, Newt tried. He honestly did. Plus, fixing the beast laws was good, and if was going to be done then Newt would rather it was done right. So, eight months, maybe nine, he did his best.

Then there was the MACUSA annual party. It was horrific. Horrendous. Horrible. How many other words starting horr and meaning stupendously undesirable are there, because the annual party was all of them. They'd hired a motivational speaker. People were talking about ten year plans. Even the buffet had been carefully designed to promote productivity and networking opportunities. Newt stared down the barrel of an endless monotony of working lunches and complaining about management at the water cooler, and on the way home from the party he stopped by the harbour and bought himself a one way ticket to Rio de Janeiro.

(The fact that it was half past midnight and none of the ticket offices were open is not something you should be focusing on)

"Graves," he said when he got home, staring at it in somewhat confused bafflement, "I'm going to Brazil on Saturday. Do you want to come?"

"What, on a business trip?" Graves asked, wrinkling his nose and measuring out a hangover cure with the careful precision of the truly tipsy. (He didn't like office parties any more than Newt did, he just had slightly less extravagant coping mechanisms). "I didn't think we did business trips. Why are you going on a business trip?"

"I'm not," Newt answered.

"Oh," Graves said. "That's ok then."

"So are you coming?"

He held up his novelty wampus mug and squinted at the purple liquid inside. "Yeah. Sure. Does this look exactly four sevenths full to you?"

And that was that, until approximately eleven thirty the following morning when Tina stopped by his office and asked, with the somewhat despairing resignation of someone who's too old for this shit and too young to have this many stress lines, who he was going to leave in charge when he'd gone.

"What."

"Not that I think it's not a great idea, and if I'm honest it'll be a relief to get some things done without Newt constantly underfoot - I love him but he's awful when he's cooped up for too long - but couldn't you have given us a bit more than a week's notice before you went to find yourself on a beach in Bahia?"

"Before I what to what myself on what."

She squinted. "In a jungle then." And, when he just stared blankly at her, she sighed and toed the door closed behind her. "Graves, it'll be good for you," she said with more seriousness than she usually showed. "I know you've been doing your best since Grin - since everything, we all know. And we appreciate it. But I'm glad to see you putting yourself first as well, you know? We'll be fine. You'll get your time away to sort everything out, and in the future... who knows." She smiled reassuringly, and that more than anything threw Graves for a loop. "We'll still be here," she promised. "I'll sort everything out this end. You just... focus on you."

And with that disturbingly cryptic last line, she slipped out his office, presumably to sort everything out while Graves focused on Graves.

"What," he repeated in bewilderment. His empty office failed to provide clarification, and he went back to sorting paperwork with the vague unease of someone who suspects they're missing something but doesn't know what.

The feeling followed him throughout the day as various coworkers stop to express their well wishes, tell him they support his choices, and insist that they'll keep his coffee machine alive for him even though it's an arcane demon that spits black tar at anyone who comes near.

"I think," he said to Newt that evening when they were halfway through chopping onions (Graves) and stripped blood-root bark (Newt, but thankfully that was for the griphorns to eat and not for them), "I think I've been fired."

"Out of what?" Newt asked.

"Fired. Let go. My employment has been terminated. Delgado gave me his abuela's address in Mexico and made me promise to go to her if I needed anything, so there may also have been an order put out for my arrest."

Newt blinked and tipped his head in confusion. "That seems a bit of an extreme reaction," he said. "Everyone I talked to was really supportive of our trip. Maybe I misread them."

At this point Graves' auror instincts, the ones that had kept him alive and - mostly - sane for the last twenty years and that had been carefully honed through countless hours of training and a gut feeling that could blare like a klaxon when it needed to, those auror instincts, they informed him that something was Up and Newt was Part Of It.

He put the knife down on the chopping board. "Newt," he said with as much calm as he could muster. "What did you do."

And Newt, with his magizoologist instincts that told him when a creature was playing and when a creature was genuinely about to rip his arm off, froze. "Ah," he said, gripping the blood-root bark. "Ah?"

"Newt."

"I, um. I got you... a present?"

And as Graves listened with mounting horror and trepidation, he realised that he'd been so successfully outmanoeuvred and outplayed - by accident, the shame of it - that he had no other choice. He couldn't walk into work in the morning and tell everyone there'd been a misunderstanding. Not after even Picquery had been Understanding and Supportive and holy fuck, Abernathy gave him an awkward hug, is Brazil going to be far enough? Graves may need to go further. He may need Australia.

"So," Newt finished, shifting nervously from foot to foot. "That's the plan. You don't have to come if you don't want to, but, I got you a ticket today so if you do...?"

Graves resumed chopping his onion. The steady thunk thunk of the knife was a soothing background rhythm, and the way it made Newt twitch was objectively hilarious.

"If I come with you," he said, because just because he knew he'd already capitulated didn't mean that he could let it look like he'd agreed so easily, "Then you have to come with me afterwards."

"Ok," Newt said hesitantly. "Um, come with you where?"

"Anywhere. Haven't decided yet. But I get to lead for... the rest of our lives."

"Until we're eighty."

"Ninety."

"Eighty nine."

"Deal. And we're not staying in the suitcase."

"What? Why not, I've got a whole cabin set up down there. The suitcase is perfect for staying in."

"The suitcase is a death trap with insufficient wards or protection. What if someone picks it up while you're inside?"

"We could put a label on it asking them not to?"

"Newt."

"We could get Addie to guard it?"

"Newt."

[iamtheempress]

A Vegeta x OC Fan Fiction (part 6)¤ ¤ ¤

The walk back took almost the entire night, and she gladly gave Vegeta what he asked for. Silence. Cold complete silence. She is still in this vice grip as well as Vegeta’s grip… The thrill and fun of being in the Great Ape Princes grip had long passed before he even held her. SHe was pissed. Like a pouty child who didn’t get their way. Rightfully so.. 

The sun crested the horizon and just started to dip away from view just like the moons despite the consistent  fact of her being held like this, the scene was really pretty. Evenings that were reminiscent of beautiful purple, blues and pinks, splashed with bright bands of stars and asteroids that would hurtle over head from the closest belt.. Absolutely gorgeous. If only she could voice it without being chastised like a child.

Finally the base was within view. “I ought to thank you for being so considerate and quiet for me.. For once you actually listen.” His voice remained flat in his booming voice. He unwrapped her from the icy cold grip of the To-Rotian Zombie, like a banana. Where she dusted her arms off and jumped from his palm without a word or a thanks. Calamatta coldly entered the code to get into the ship and disappeared before Vegeta could even begin to shrink.

Vegeta watched this unfold, only becoming more and more annoyed, utter disrespect and cold. “Ungrateful little..” He muttered returning to size and walking right into the ship, his fist clenched tight and jaw stiff. This girl was in for it. “Hey! Woman!! Is this the thanks i get for saving your life so graciously.” Calamatta walked to the holomap and opened it up again to see the newly updated map, a map that was constantly updated by the mother ship, the barren city was now wiped from the map. Vegeta seethed and stood point blank behind her. "I am speaking to you, Calamatta. look at me, thats an order." Vegeta tapped his fingers on his bicep, impatient. he flipped his bangs abit out of his face and stared through the back of her head.

Calamatta took a breath and turned. "You wanted a thank you.. for what… yelling at me when i was following orders? Or for me getting caught by that much bigger fucking monstrocity." She furrowed her brows, the annoyance from her voice was palpable and her one cute c shaped tail hung low close to the ground.

 "If you paid attention a bit you wouldn't have gotten caught." Vegeta was cold and direct, as a more experienced Saiyan he had every right to be more arrogant but this is her second mission out. "Well so-rry Vegeta this is still my 2nd goddamn mission, didnt think youd make this such a big freakin 'deal." She went to turn around and was promptly grabbed by the wrist and jerked back around to meet the prince's sharp black eyes and finger pointing at her face.

 She twitched. "It's a 'big-freakin-deal' when im pulling the weight between the both of us. Each time we've seen those things you're grabbed making you the weakest link of the both of us" Calamatta's teeth grit and a vein formed in her forehead. She got closer to him making it apparent who the taller saiyan was. "Get your damn finger out of my face and stop talking down to me, i'm getting fed up with it"

 Vegeta felt a twinge in his gut. He didn't know if it was guilt or blatant aggravation for this whole situation. If he weren't in his Great Ape form he would have been as good as dead as well as her and that much was obvious. "Next time you do anything foolish, don't expect me to save your ass. Are we clear?" 

She closed her eyes and gulped.. there's that heartache again. Her tail thumped to the floor and her eyes went back to the map. "Yes, Vegeta…" she responded obediently. Vegeta turned and made his way to the bathroom to wash up and breathe before he snapped. First disrobing his gloves. "Frieza was right…" her voice cracked, eyes glued shut as she turned from him. Vegeta heard it loud and clear. It made him stop in his tracks. What is he right about? Does she know something he doesn't? He turns halfway. 

"Calamatta." She darts her eyes up from her unwrapping her hands from her tight hand wraps and offers a hum as a response, looking over her shoulder. "Make dinner for us when i get back out." She huffed a sigh as he closed and locked the shower door, sighing heavily. 

Calamatta did as she was told. She made dinner fit for two saiyans. Frozen meat that was still delicious and bloody, noodles, potatoes, an enormous crustacean creature with enough meat to share some alcohol and water. They turned off the holomap and she lain out the food on the table waiting for him. She disrobed the armor and let it clunk to the ground. Taking sips of some of the previous crew unopened stash. 

Vegeta showered himself off of the blood and sweat from the carnage he set forth, his face looking up at the shower head. His brain was although elsewhere: Calamatta and how he can utilize her.. He is here for her after all. Though their lifelong friendship was amicable its recently become aggressive… he excused that for simply her being under-utilized as a Saiyan. That doesnt excuse her natural strength though; her under-utilized strength was still absolutely on par with his own. How can he see himself how strong she is without wasting another moment of time terraforming. It hit him as he grinned and stopped the shower. 

He can fight her.

Vegeta exited the bathroom in his clothing but no armor his freshly washed hair hung in his face and he had a smug little shit earing grin on his face. “Whats with the smile? Its freaking me out.” He seated himself opposite the Saiyan and pulled some to his side to eat and started chowing down. “Eat. Then afterwards were going to fight” “What? Why? Isnt that a waste of time?” She asked scarfing down food voraciously. As if shes never eaten a day in her life. “Not entirely. You want to prove your worth to me then you will fight me and win. That is if you can even lay a hand on me.” She rolls her eyes and flicks her tail back and forth. Vegeta did something he rarely did. He let his tail relax. 

It curled into an s shape behind him and the tip remained stagnant. “Fine, dont bitch when i beat you though, wouldnt want to see the prince cry.” Her infectious bravado came out once again, her eyes narrowing at the prince before her. Vegeta growled and tore meat from bone. “Ill make you eat those words, Cala…” “Im going to comb those stupid bangs out of your face, im tired of talking to a curtain of hair.” Vegeta pounded his chest, swallowing potatoes quickly. “Your not going anywhere near my face with anything.” She chuckles and clears plates off with ease, guzzling down water and sharing alcohol with the prince who put the liqour away with ease.

Vegeta stood and gestured with his head. “Cmon, one round of me putting you in your place then off to sleep..” She springs to her feet and slips on her white boots. “I cannot wait for your to eat your damn words.” She chuckles and presses the button on the wall, he stops her, noticing shes not putting her armor on. “No armor?” “Nope! I wanna kick your ass and make you look at mine…” Vegeta scoffed and watched the saiyan leave the safety of the base with her arms crossed and tail flicking behind her as she took to the sky, only illuminated by the light of the waning gibbous. “If i win, Im combing your stupid hair back.” She promises cracking her knuckles mid air. Eyes narrowed and ready to brawl. “Pff… If i win you do as i say no questions asked, if so im going to give a negative report to frieza.” She gasps meeting eyes with the saiyan prince and a twinge of fear in her eyes. “What! You wouldnt dare!" Vegeta sneered and grinned menacingly, with a competitive look in his eye. "Try me, cmon. Show me what your made of"

¤¤¤

Tags: @dragonblobz @lizardhipsdontlie @lilhemmo @dragonballcollector @msgreenverse @hierophantblue @thotful-writing @supremeleadershitlord @dragonball-hcs-or-sum-shit @memevember

[helloemptyset]

descriptions and most of story under cut

31 Day Horror House : Day 28 + 29 : Anything you want! and The Head of the Household

(Collen wrote you what she called a 'summons', though as you skim through the annotated paper, you notice that her writing seems... less than professional. She tells you that it doesn't matter how professional it reads, the house will read it as what it is. Hard to lie to a house, so she doesn't bother with the fancy text.)

(You go outside again, handing your summons to Reach's bird friend. She hops down the length of their arm to put she summons in the mailbox. She tells you that there's no good way for this to go, but wishes you the best anyways.)

(The ballroom is dark, and you set your first step in there. The walls are lined with rib-like collumns, the chandelier above swinging loosely. The floor's pattern looks like checkered teeth. A wind blows through along the ground, chilling your ankles.)

(You think over what to say. You only know that Warren was alone, and apparently only wants to be alone, but is too polite to say so to his housemates’ faces. He has family he never asked for, given to him by a house that only wants the best for him. If you can't talk him into accepting that he doesn't have to be alone anymore, that there are people here now to help him and take care of him...

Then the house will only fracture further, no matter how many people you introduce to each other. The thing keeping them apart is Warren's unwillingness to communicate.)

(You think that he's right, in a way. It isn't fair that he was suddenly saddled with family he didn't want. It isn't fair that his wishes to be alone aren't respected.)

(But... Does the house feel something that Warren isn't saying? Does the house think that Warren is forcing himself to be alone, and is trying to help him?)

(... What does Warren really want?)

-

The chandeliers light one candle at a time, quickly making a spiral of burning light above you. The eerie yellow of the wallpaper and ivory of the columns make you feel small and alone in the light. You stand in the middle of the ballroom, feet set in the middle of a black sun, surrounded by teeth.

The door you came in through opened slowly, and you could see the small silhoette of Warren Beek standing on his too-thin legs, the hallway somehow brighter than the sickly yellow room you were in.

"I see... Nobody's called me before." He says. His voice is barely audible in the large room but his footsteps echo and disappear as he walks in. The doors close behind him, clicking with a lock you didn't know was there.

"I don't know why you don't just leave..." He begins, approaching you with slow, wobbly steps that sound too competent for what you're seeing. "If you just walked down the road, you'll find where you got lost. I'm sure someone would find you, then. Someone like you."

You tell him that there's something horrible at work. That the whole house is in danger, himself included.

"Do you think I care about that!?" He spits, stopping in his tracks. His swollen eyes blink away tears. "I haven't cared what's happened to me since the first 'guest' showed up. My Happy Home was all I had, and then you all took that too!"

You tell him that it isn't the guest's faults. The house wanted them.

"Oh, really? You know, I tried to help you creatures the first five or so times you showed up." He wobbles, fixing his stature. "You creatures are so stubborn, so ready to throw yourselves into this 'nothingness' to escape your own tortures. Never thought how intrusive you all were."

You tell him that you almost completely forgot your name and face because of the house. You needed help from one of the housemates to find your wallet to remember.

"It's not my fault you forgot what you look like! And that means nothing anyway. You haven't forgotten, right?" He takes another step, head tilted up menacingly, "Why stay here, even if there's some horrible event in our horizon? Why not just leave us to our fates, returning to your safe world?"

You say that you could never leave anybody to suffer if you could do something about it.

He stops. Something twitches in his eyelid.

You continue, saying that the house is sick. That his house is sick, because it wants to help him. It keeps calling more and more people because of that, trying to fill that void he keeps pushing back open. You ask him if he actually wants to be alone, or if it's all he's known.

His voice croaks out a sickly groan in response, lower than you'd ever heard it. His eyes twist in their sockets, and he lifts his little wings up, stretching them high behind him. He stands high on his tip-toes, and the lights above you go out with a ghastly scream. In the darkness you can only hear the twisting and stretching of bone and muscle, the ripping of clothing, the whimpering cries of something growing far too fast.

You back away, tripping on your heels and falling to the ground, twisting your arm. You aren't able to recover from the darkness before the lights come back on.

Where Warren Beek was, there was something... Bigger. Much, much bigger than you. His head looked as if his bone structure had grown out without letting his skin grow any feathers or release from his beak, red teeth jutting painfully out from the tip of his beak and his hair curling up from the nape of his bent neck. Deep brown fur wrapped around his 'torso', and his once bare wings are now filled with dirty grey feathers, stretching and ending in the air. His 'torso' ends at what looks like the back end of a skinned rabbit, sitting flat on the ground with his unclothed legs pulled up under him. the tail is covered in skin tags to simulate the softness of a rabbit's tail, instead looking diseased. his skin goes from the soft yellow-orange of his previous form, shading down to a sickly purple, as if all the blood had settled in his rabbity legs and rump.

His wings flutter in a jittery manner, and his large red eye, the pupil now lined with yellow, swints down at you with a disgust only a child could muster.

"I said I wanna be alone! Why won't you ugly things listen to me? I don't know why you think you can just come and live in my house! I found it first, it's my house!" Warren inhales loudly, chest puffing out and fur sticking on end. "I left the nest fair and square all on my own fresh out of the egg and I found this house first and it loves me the most and it'll never love any of you nearly as much and it's mine and I live here and you'll never be able to take it from me!"

You get up, holding your arm. You tell him that nobody is trying to take anything from him. You tell him that there are others here that love him too, other than the house.

He spits, making an attempt to stand on his legs and falling back down onto his tail.

You tell him that Rubedo still considers himself a brother to him, even if Warren won't admit it. You tell him that the architect still cares enough to tell you to warn him. You ask him to think it over, think back to any interaction he'd had with the housemates.

"They're..." He closes his eyes and mouth tight, pulling his wings in. "They don't actually care... They're just parasites..."

His body bends, arching as he sets his torso on the cold marble of the ballroom floor.

"They're making it up." He says.

They're not, you say. Maybe that's why they didn't want to leave. The house brought them here... But maybe some of them wanted to stay on their own. Like you do.

"Why would you wanna stay?" His chin sits on the marble, eyes now half-lidded and tired. "You hated it here. I showed you your car with Mister Bulliam to scare you out. The house tried to steal you away, you said it yourself."

You approach slowly, letting your hurt arm fall. It doesn't hurt as much now. Kneeling on the ground in front of Warren's much, much larger form, you smile.

You say that you care about the people here, and would like to know more about them. You'd like to meet them, if you could, and you'd like to help them come together.

"What would that even change?" Warren asks. His eyes blink heavily. "Why would that be better than being alone?"

You say that it could make a family.

-

[ image one: A large, three story house with two main chunks of the house and the large connective line between them, partially obscured by a hedge growing in the empty bits between the main chunks of house. the right said has large, thin arches holding up the front of it, inside showing a balcony, above a 'front' door. the other side's door is obscured by a stack of buckets and large plants, hiding under an un-fenced off balcony with a large door. atop the middle rooftops are two sets of three pipes coming out of a chimney, pushing out grey-yellow smoke. the rest of the house is a gradient to orange and purple, the gradient used from here: link

image two: warren beek's 'adult' form. he looks like a bird's body attached to the back end of a rabbit, most of it lacking fur. his beak is longer, red teeth jutting out of the front of his beek, and his eye is larger, red with a yellow lined pupil. dark brown fur coats the top of his 'torso', and his once bare wings are dirty grey and stretching out. he sneers, obviously very upset. ]

[the-real-anywolf]

Destiel Advent Calendar 2019

Title: My Black Cat Brings All the Boys to the Yard

Tags: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Benadryl Makes an Appearance, Curses, Movie References, Cutesy pet names, multiple POVs, You're Welcome For The Earworm, Happy Friday 13th

Summary: When a cute black cat turns up at the bunker, the Winchesters realize it isn't quite as it seems. Also, despite it triggering Dean's allergies, he can't help liking the little furball. It's a shame he can't keep him.

Written by: @eyesofatragedy67​ (Eyes_of_a_Tragedy) & @punk-is-notdead​ (tfw_cas)

Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21775495

Day 13:  My Black Cat Brings All the Boys to the Yard

Dean was walking through the door of the bunker when a dark blur ran in front of him and down the stairs. What the hell?

"Sammy! Something's headed your way!"

Sam looked startled as the blur shot towards him, and brushed against his legs. He looked down at it and his features softened. “It’s a cat. What’s it doing in here?”

Eyes watering, Dean started heading toward the bathroom. "Hell if I know. Be right back. I'm gonna grab some Benadryl."

He rushed down the hall, nose already starting to run. Crap, he needed to nip this in the bud. Rifling through the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, he swallowed two of the little pink pills dry and shoved some tissue up his nose.

When he got back to the library, Sam had the furry menace on the table and was lightly petting its head. “Where’d you come from, huh?” he asked curiously.

"Dude, don't get attached. You know we can't keep it," Dean mentioned, somewhat regretfully, as he passed through on his way to grab a bottle of water from the kitchen.

“Shame,” Sam said sadly. “He’s a friendly little thing. And look at his eyes… they’re blue!”

Dean poked his head out the kitchen door. "Blue?"

“Yeah, bright blue. I’ve never seen them on a cat before.”

Water in hand, Dean stepped into the room, took a swig out of the bottle, and wandered closer. He was about ten feet away from Sam and the cat when he started sneezing, completely dislodging the tissues. "Man, I hope this stuff kicks in quick."

“Don’t worry, I’ll put him back outside soon. I just wanna give him some water first. Maybe some bacon.”

Dean moved close enough to pass Sam his water bottle. He had to wipe the tears from his eyes to do it, though. "I didn't think cats were supposed to eat bacon. I don't want you to make him sick." He paused, "Wait, how do you know the cat's male?"

Sam scrunched up his nose, and thought for a moment. “I… don’t know. I just got this feeling, you know? I could just tell.” He shrugged for emphasis.

"You could just tell," Dean repeated with a mocking quirk of his eyebrow. "Okay, Dr. Doolittle. Well, since you're so in tune, why don't you find out if the little guy has a home? I'm sure someone's missing him."

Sam rolled his eyes and shot Dean one of his best bitchfaces. “How the hell am I supposed to do that? I don’t have a microchip scanner, and I can’t exactly ask him… her.”

The cat hissed, and Dean said, "Uh, think maybe you had it right the first time, Sammy." Whereupon, the cat meowed then plopped his butt down on one of the books on the table. "Huh…"

“It’s about curses and how to remove them.” Sam peered closely at the book and some of his hair draped onto the cat. Dean could have sworn that the cat gave a look of distaste before it got up and moved away from the dangling locks.

"What if this is like The Colonel?" Dean asked. "I'm not drinking the fur, dude. It's your turn to take one for the team."

Sam didn’t look too pleased at that suggestion. “I don’t think anyone will have to drink any potions, Dean. This isn’t Hogwarts. But I do think it’s trying to communicate with us.”

Damn, Dean was kinda looking forward to seeing Sam chase bugs. "It'd be easier if you drank the potion, just sayin'."

“Not if I don’t have to,” Sam muttered, then spoke directly to the cat. “What are you trying to tell us, little buddy?”

"Yeah, little guy, did Timmy fall down the well?" He could swear he saw the cat roll its eyes.

“Very funny,” Sam said, and he definitely did roll his eyes. “Can we be serious now, and not piss him off?”

Dean looked away from the furball and over to his brother. "What? You're the one who refuses to drink the drink so I don't have to die." And he promptly started sneezing again.

Sam sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair. “You sure are set on me drinking that potion, aren’t ya? Let me just try something first, okay?”

"Fine, but if it doesn't work, you suck it up and chug, 'k?" He glanced over just in time to see the cat bat the bottle of water off the table.

“Sure,” Sam huffed. “Nothing I want more than to talk ‘cat’.”

"So, what's your idea?" Dean hollered, grabbing a dish towel from the kitchen to mop up the spilled water.

“Observe and report,” Sam replied. “Before one of us goes off half-cocked, let’s see if he can communicate in his own way.”

"I don't know about you, but I always go off fully-cocked. You know, they make pills for that now, Sam." Dean draped the towel over the back of a chair and turned to see the cat twirling around Sam's legs. "Sounds like the little guy likes your idea, though."

“Your jokes aren’t getting any funnier, Dean,” Sam said, reaching down and scooping up the cat. “What do you think, cat?”

The cat purred, then gave Dean a disapproving look - at least that’s what it looked like, anyway.

“Let’s give it twenty four hours, and if we can’t figure out what he’s trying to tell us, then I’ll drink the potion. Deal?” Sam added.

"Fine. Whatever," Dean muttered. He walked past them, but couldn't resist scratching the cat behind the ears as he passed. His eyes started watering as he left the room.

***

Later that night, Dean walked into the kitchen to find Sam there with the cat. He was sitting at the table, placing random types of food in front of the feline. Dean watched with fascination as the cat repeatedly turned his nose up at the different options.

With a sniffle, Dean turned to the fridge and started pulling out ingredients to make hamburgers. He washed his hands thoroughly before unwrapping the beef and adding some seasonings. He was shaping it into patties when he heard a plaintive yowl at his feet. Looking down, he saw a pair of electric blue eyes staring up at him.

"Hey, cat," Dean started, only to be interrupted by the animal leaping onto the counter next to him. "Hey! You can't be up here, fuzzball."

The cat did what cats do: ignored him. Instead, it stared intensely at Dean's hands and the raw meat he was working into a thick ball to be squished flat.

"Mrow," the cat trilled, head tilting to the side.

"Sorry, little guy. No hamburger for you."

The cat pawed at the package of sliced cheddar and looked back up at him with wide eyes.

"Not gonna work on me, fluffy. I've been on the receiving end of puppy eyes the likes of which you'll never know."

With a tail twitch of disgust, Dean watched as the cat hopped back off the counter and moved back to Sam. His brother scooped the cat up in his arms and sat him down in his lap.

Dean continued cooking his burgers, listening as Sam had a one-sided conversation with his new friend.

“It’s no use looking longingly at Dean’s burgers. I know they look delicious - and they are - but they’re not cat food. You’re supposed to eat fish, or chicken, or… what the hell do cats eat? Not gonna tell me, huh?”

Sam sighed, and shook his head. “You must be hungry by now. Just try some of this tuna? Mmmm… tasty,” He said, unconvincingly.

Dean put a burger on the table for Sam and said, "Dammit, Sam, don't feed him that. What if he's like one of those gremlin things from the movie and you're not supposed to feed him after midnight?"

“This is real life, not a movie.” Sam rolled his eyes (one of these days he was going to get stuck like that), as he picked up the burger and took a bite. He and the cat stared at each other for a moment, and Sam wagged his finger at the feline. “Sorry, dude, this is mine.”

The cat hissed and hopped off Sam's lap, trotting over to Dean.

"Don't look at me, Gizmo. I'm not the pushover in this household."

“Yeah, sure you’re not,” Sam laughed. “A pretty bartender just has to call you handsome, and you’re like putty in her hands.”

The cat appeared to be particularly pissed at Sam’s remark; he skulked over to the corner and sat, apparently ignoring them both.

"I had an idea. I mean, it seems like he understands us, so what if we try some kind of written communication?" Dean asked, shooting the cat a questioning look.

“A pencil and a piece of paper?” Sam asked with a grin. “Yeah, I can make dumb jokes too.”

The cat raised its head and looked over at them, but stayed where it was.

“Do you mean something like laying letters out and asking him to pick the right ones?” Sam asked.

"Sure, like Scrabble tiles, or a ouija board… hell, even just drawing letters on a sheet of paper for him to point at," he shrugged and looked over at the cat. "What do you think, Gizmo?"

“That’s actually a pretty good suggestion.” Sam looked impressed. “I don’t think drawing letters on the paper would work though, unless we cut them out. They need to be spaced out so that it’s clear which ones he picks.”

"I'm going to go see if I can find the Scrabble game, maybe the ouija board. I'm pretty sure they're in a closet in the hall."

“Okay, I’ll take him outside, in case he wants to do his business,” Sam said, picking Gizmo up and carrying him in the direction of the stairs. The cat struggled in his arms, and Dean was pretty sure Sam got a couple of scratches at least, with the way he cursed at the creature.

The first closet he tried was full of boxes of Sam's books. Nerd. Digging through the second closet, Dean found the stash of board games, revealing Scrabble and the ouija board. He grabbed them both, just in case, and returned to the war room.

Sam was descending the stairs, looking pretty pissed, as Gizmo ran in front of him. “I thought we were friends, but the little fucker sure has some vicious claws. I hope he doesn’t feel the same way about word games.”

Dean pulled the ouija board out of its box. "I thought we could try this first, since it has 'yes' and 'no' options. Figured maybe we could try asking some questions first." He looked down at the cat, "How's that sound, fuzzball?"

The cat didn’t look too interested either way; for some reason he seemed to be trying to stick his tongue in Dean’s coffee. That was just weird… cats didn’t drink coffee, did they?

“What are we gonna ask him?” Sam asked, picking up Dean’s cup and taking it to the sink. “Is there anything you like eating other than burgers?”

The cat jumped up on the table and put his paw down on 'yes'. "Huh," Dean pulled his henley up over his nose and called out to Sam, "Looks like it's working!"

“Huh,” Sam remarked. “Wish I could work out what it was. Got any other ideas for yes or no questions?”

"Uh, hmm…" Dean made some serious eye contact with the cat. Quirking a brow, he continued, "Okay, so is it safe to assume you're cursed?"

Without hesitation, the cat placed his paw on ‘yes’ again.

“Good one,” Sam said. “Er… I don’t suppose you know how we can break the curse?”

The cat insistently tapped the 'yes' and looked up at them.

"Well, okay, then," Dean replied with genuine curiosity. "How complex should these questions get, Sam?"

“Hmmm, good question. He seems to understand everything we say, so I think we can go with quite complex. What do you say we try with the Scrabble tiles now, so we don’t have to stick with yes or no?”

Dean opened the box and grabbed the purple Crown Royal bag they kept the tiles in. Emptying it onto the table, he started flipping all of them face up. "Let's give it a shot."

Sam and Dean spent the next couple of minutes spreading the tiles over the table’s surface, removing the blank ones, as they worked. Dean couldn’t help spelling out a couple of naughty words, but he quickly shuffled the tiles around again, hoping Sam hadn’t noticed.

“Okay, what are we going to ask first?” Sam asked, addressing Dean, before staring inquisitively at the cat.

"What's your name?" Dean had jokingly been calling the cat Gizmo, but if he had a real name...

The cat began walking amongst the tiles, obviously looking for a particular letter. He stopped when he found it, and tapped his paw on it as he’d done with the ouija board.

“C,” said Sam, excitedly.

They watched as the cat began searching again, then indicated another letter.

"A," Dean added, then looked over. "We know you're a cat, dude. How about we just stick with Gizmo for now." He glanced at Sam and wondered out loud, "I wonder how he got cursed?"

The cat pushed an 'I' to the center of the table, then found a 'D'...

"Dude, I think he's calling us idiots," Dean scoffed.

“No, I’m sure he isn’t doing that. Especially as we’re trying to help him.”

The cat carried on, finding an ‘I’, and a ‘T’.

“I think you might be right.” Sam frowned down at the cat and its growing collection of letters.

Dean sat in one of the chairs, sneezing into his sleeve. "Bobby? Is that you?"

The cat meowed and put his paw on his head in what looked like exasperation, then touched an 'M'.

“M,” Sam said, peering at it as if he was trying to calculate pi in his head. “Mom? No? Er… my name is…? Are you Crowley and you’re calling us morons?” He turned to Dean and sighed. “This isn’t working out so well, is it? So far we’ve got a C-A-D-I-T, and an M. What the hell is that supposed to spell?”

Dean sniffled and said, "Man, I wish Cas was here. He could just interrogate you to get the answers."

The cat yowled and walked over to him. "Dude, back off a bit. I'm allergic to you."

The cat didn't listen, though, and sat back on his haunches and reached up to tap Dean on the forehead.

“He might understand what we’re saying, but he’s kinda heedless when it comes to personal space, isn’t he?” Sam chuckled. “You’re gonna make Dean sick if you keep getting in his face, buddy.” He leaned over to move the cat away from Dean, and got a scratch on his arm for his troubles.

Dean reached out and grabbed the cat, picking him up so they were on eye level. "Hey, you. No hurting Sam. He's trying to help you, you know."

He started coughing and passed the cat off to his brother. "I've gotta get out of here. Sorry. Good luck with this."

Dean left the room, trudging to the bathroom to pop some more meds before going to his bedroom to grab a change of clothes. He needed a shower asap.

***

Sam rested his elbows on the table and huffed in frustration. He felt bad for Dean - his allergies were a real pain - but at the same time, he hadn’t exactly made the situation any better. Despite his protestations that he only went off fully-cocked, his attempt at working out the cat’s message seemed to annoy it more, and now he was left alone to try to decipher what he was trying to tell them.

“Hey, cat,” he said in what he hoped was a placating tone of voice. “What did you want to tell us? I promise I won’t interrupt you any further.”

The cat paced around amongst the tiles once more, this time finding an ‘S’. It pushed the tile towards the others, then sat itself on the table and looked up at Sam.

“C-A-D-I-T-M-S… Nope, that’s not a word. Is it an anagram?” Sam wondered out loud.

Sam didn’t think it was possible for the cat to roll its eyes, but somehow it did.

“You’re gonna have to help me out here. I’m not getting it.” Sam gave the cat his best puppy dog eyes, and hoped that would work on the feline.

The cat stood up again, and began pushing the tiles around. When it had finished, Sam looked at what it had given him, hoping it was a better clue.

“A-C-S. It still didn’t mean anything.

Wait !

“C-A-S… are you telling me you’re Cas?” Sam felt like a prize idiot… of course it was Cas. All the pieces of the puzzle suddenly fell into place, and he beamed at his friend before scratching behind his ear.

“Dude, I’m so sorry for not realising sooner. No wonder you didn’t want me to take you outside for your business… awkward. But what happened to you? How can we undo the curse?”

Sam stopped talking and slapped his own forehead. “I’m gonna go tell Dean right now. He needs to know.”

He took off towards the bedrooms, with Cas hot on his heels. However, bursting into Dean’s room with the news, Sam saw that his brother was fast asleep.

This could wait until morning, and in the meantime, he and Cas could work on the cure. Maybe he would even be back to himself by then.

Unfortunately, Cas’s skills at letting Sam know how to cure him using Scrabble tiles were severely limited. After about an hour of frustrating attempts at trying, Sam felt his energy sapping and he laid his head on the table for a couple of minutes. That was all he needed… just a few minutes...

***

Dean woke up from a Benedryl-induced sleep and glanced over at his clock. It read 4:01. There was a warm weight on his chest, and he looked down to see Gizmo curled up on top of him.

He carefully reached over to the bedside table and grabbed a couple tissues. Shoving them in his nose, he gave in to temptation and stroked down the cat's back. His fur was so soft, and Dean could feel the rumble of purring with each pass of his hand.

"You sure are a cute little guy. I hope Sam had some luck figuring out how to help you."

The cat woke up at his voice, and stretched full-body before standing up and leaning over to nuzzle Dean's cheek.

Dean gripped him tight as he suddenly sneezed. "Okay, bud, I think it's time for another dose of allergy meds for me. What do you say we go grab some food, too?"

The feline headbutted him and licked his cheek. Taking that as an affirmative, Dean got up and carried Gizmo with him into the bathroom. He snagged the meds and continued on toward the kitchen.

Due to the watery eyes, he could barely make out Sam passed out at the table, Scrabble pieces scattered around his head.

In the kitchen, he set the cat down on the counter and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. He washed his hands in the sink, then grabbed a loaf of bread and the peanut butter out of the pantry. It was some organic, hippie brand that Sam insisted on buying, and Dean would never admit it to him, but it tasted better than the Peter Pan that had been his preferred choice.

He looked in the fridge for the jelly, but looked like they were out. There wasn't any in the pantry either. Dean shrugged and spread peanut butter on both slices of bread.

He was going to just slap them together and take his pills, but Gizmo knocked over Cas's bottle of honey. "Guess that could work." After drizzling a little on the slices, he put them together and took a bite. "Mmm, that's pretty tasty," Dean said with a full mouth. "Thanks for the suggestion, buddy."

Setting the sandwich down on the counter, Dean uncapped his water and swallowed down two more pills. When he reached for the pb&h, Gizmo swatted at his hand and quickly took a bite.

Dean was about to object to the sneak attack on his sandwich, when there was a sudden flash of light which prevented him from seeing anything for a few seconds. When his vision was clear again he could no longer see the cat, but Cas was standing there instead.

Where did he come from ?

"Cas?" He looked around, searching for Gizmo. Maybe… "Did you see a black cat?"

“Dean, do the letters I-D-I-O-T mean anything to you?” Cas asked. He stared into Dean’s eyes, but didn’t say anything more.

"Yeeeaaaaah," Dean drawled, looking at his friend who seemed to be covered in black hairs.

“That’s a fancy looking gizmo you’ve got there,” Cas stated drily, pointing at the waffle iron. He really seemed to be speaking in riddles today.

Dean was starting to put some pieces together when Sam burst through the door. His hair was a mess, and there was a Scrabble tile stuck to the side of his face. “Cas!! You’re back… how? How did you…?” He pulled Cas into a bro-hug and slapped him on the back.

Dean poked Sam in his tile and said, "You knew?"

“I worked it out last night,” Sam said, letting go of Cas, and pulling the tile from his face.

Cas coughed and gave him a pointed look.

“Oh, er… Cas helped me to understand last night,” Sam corrected himself. “I was gonna tell you, but you were asleep and I didn’t want to disturb you.”

"Thanks, I guess," Dean responded, half bitchiness, half honesty. "I still don't understand what broke the curse, though."

“I had to eat something after midnight. I understand the irony, as you made me watch Gremlins, and I think the witch that cursed me did too.” Cas gave a little laugh.

Dean stared, mouth hanging open. "You mean, this whole time it was a bad movie reference?"

“It would seem that way, yes. Some people love movies as much as you do, apparently,” Cas replied.

Sam slapped his hand over his mouth and chuckled. “Dude, that’s a whole new level of nerd.”

"Shut up, Sam." Dean shot him his own bitch face, then turned to Cas and sneezed. "You're covered in fur. Unless you want me to look like a walking plague victim, you'll go take a shower."

“Yes, that is a disgusting image you’ve painted for me, Dean. I’ll take a shower now.” Cas started towards the door, when Dean suddenly put his hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"It's good to have you back, Gizmo," Dean snarked, then pulled Cas into a hug. Whispering in the angel's ear, he asked, "Mind if I join you? Somebody slept on top of me last night and got me dirty."

“If you’re really good, I’ll let you tickle my belly,” Cas growled back into Dean’s ear.

“I know what you’re doing, by the way,” Sam complained. “You guys are gross.”

Dean looked over at his brother and grinned. "Then this won't come as a shock."

He grabbed Cas's ass and stroked a hand up his back. Cas rubbed against his cheek, and Dean couldn't help but dive in for a kiss. It was kinda gross, given his current state of sniffles, but Cas responded with enthusiasm.

"C'mon, kitten, it's bath time."

“Rawr,” Cas purred.

The End

[whumpywhumper]

Leaf--Part 2

See part one: here 

Edit: Falling; Leaf Part 3

Thank you @0idril0 for always listening to me bitch! Go check out her latest installment in the Nico Series: Before 7-Sleep It’s awesome!

Gonna go ahead and tag the people who appeared interested in a continuation. Let me know if you wanna be removed for future parts cause there’s gonna be more, I’m loving Leaf 🍃

@castielamigos  @whumping-every-day  @graniteswhump

*******

“Em! EM!” Annabelle and Marie’s feet pattered into the house at a clumsy run, their slippers slapping against the wooden floor. 

“What have I told you two about running in the house?” she called, not bothering to leave her workstation. The children didn’t slow down, and she rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to straining her tinctures. 

The children took seconds to make it to Emilia’s apothecary room, Annabelle stumbling into the room in front of their littlest sister, tossing her brown hair out of her face. Emilia raised her eyebrow at the flustered look on her youthful features. 

“Em! I need your help!” 

Annabelle cradled something in one of her small hands, the other hovering over it, keeping her little sister from touching it. “Emmie! Make her let me see!” Marie tugged at her sleeve with the full pout to her lips that she only got when she was being truly obstinate. 

“No! Em, he’s hurt! She was making it worse!” Annabelle wrenched her arm out of her sister’s grasp, making the younger child stumble to the floor and land with a thump on her buttocks.  “Stop it, Marie!” 

Emilia suppressed the urge to roll her eyes but it was beyond even God’s power to stop the sigh that escaped when baby Marie started bawling. “Oh, the joys of sisterhood,” she thought. 

She abandoned her work, knowing that she wouldn’t get anything done until she’d satisfied them. “What do you have Annabelle? Bring it here.” Her middle sister was always bringing small animals to her, a sparrow with a broken wing, a field mouse with a wounded tail. Once, she brought a bobcat kit that’s paw had been snapped in a hunter’s trap. That had been an experience. 

The girl shuffled over, very careful with her hands, shooting suspicious glances at the still bawling toddler. “I found him down by the creek. The poor teeny thing is really hurt, Em.” She lifted her hand free to reveal her newest rescue, and Emilia gasped, eyes widening, eyebrows shooting to her hairline. 

A sprite lay along the length of her hand, no bigger than a large maple leaf. One of its arms hung between her forefinger and thumb, its cheek resting against the thick pad of her palm.  Its dappled wings were held at an awkward angle, trembling, like they wanted to curl over its body but were too hurt to do so. Dark, smears covered the exposed pale skin from the rents in its ruined clothing, minuscule feet sticking out of the ragged end of its trousers. Unthinkingly, she reached forward to touch her fingers to the dark head, only stopping when her little sister drew it back, covering it with her hand again. “Careful, Em! He’s really delicate.” 

She looked up at her sister’s intense brown eyes, making sure that she saw how serious she was about her words. “I understand, Annie, but I need to see him to help, okay?” 

Annabelle pursed her lips, forehead wrinkling, but nodded, holding the sprite out again. “Okay, just don’t let Marie touch him. She already hurt him earlier.” 

The toddler behind her gave an indignant wail, throwing herself backward and drumming her feet on the floor. “Did not!!!!! Didnotdidnotdidnot!!” They ignored her, Emilia moving to scooping up the tiny sprite with dexterous fingers. 

“Careful,” Annabelle murmured, as they transferred it, “I think his arm and wing might be broken.” 

Emilia was cautious as she let the limp body rest in her hand, on its side, attentive about not putting any of the sprite’s weight on its wings or the arm that was clearly broken. She felt a flame of protectiveness flicker to life as its tiny rib cage expanded against the sensitive pads of her fingers. She could crush the little creature without any effort, its entire body almost weightless and unbelievably fragile in the palm of her hand. 

“It’s so small,” she whispered as she brought the sprite closer to her face. Upon closer examination, Emilia saw that the sprite’s face was lax in unconsciousness, short black hair plastered to its forehead, bruises darkening the pale skin around its eyes and high cheekbones. Its gray shirt was torn and revealed a sluggishly bleeding wound to its stomach. Hopefully that wasn’t very deep, she didn’t think she would be able to stitch something this small. 

“Do you think you can help him, Em?” Annabelle asked, her voice tremulous. Annabelle always cried when her charges died, too hurt and beyond help when she found them. She always seemed to blame herself.  

“I hope so, Annie-girl.” Emilia turned, cradling the sprite in her hand, close to her body, as she started gathering materials. “Why don’t you take Marie outside and find her some fireflies?” It was at the cusp dusk, they would be out in droves at the wood line, and it would keep Marie out of her hair while she worked. 

“Okay, Em.” 

Emilia barely heard her little sisters leave the room, Marie’s sniveling sobs fading as they went back down the hallway. She pulled a basket from the floor, the thick and firm cushion from her chair going into the middle so that she could lay the sprite down in a safe place. She brushed the hair back from its forehead when she lay it down on its side, careful of its wings and broken arm, hoping to give a bit of comfort. The little creature stirred at her touch, a small sound rising up to meet her ears, but he didn’t do more than shift in its sleep. “I’ll do what I can for you, little one,” she promised, softly. 

The sprite shivered, wings trembling, so she pulled the scarf from the back of her chair, soft and thick, to cover the sprite and keep it warm.  Its breaths were rapid, and, when she placed the lightest pressure against its chest, its heartbeat felt like the rapid thrum of a hummingbird.  The sprite whimpered at her touch, drawing back away from her, its wings trembling under the scarf. She winced in sympathy, thinking that it probably had broken ribs, but there wasn’t very much she could do other than wrap them. 

Lifting the scarf, trying to tuck it around its neck and back to contain any heat, she examined its wings. They were delicate and articulated like a bat’s, the bones as complex and intricate as a human hand, the thin membranes inbetween dappled white and gray like a birch tree. She hissed at the way the long bones on the left one were bent, broken, and the horrible rent through the skin between them. Blood caked into the folds of the thin skin, flaking and dusting with the wing’s movement. She would have to splint them, maybe glue the skin together, to preserve any of his flying ability.  The right seemed mostly fine, one of the longest bones broken, but nothing like the other. 

Recovering the wings with the scarf as gently as possible, she revealed its poor arm and felt of it as well as she could through its long-sleeved shirt. The sprite cried out when her fingers met its bicep, its eyelids flyings open as it jerked away from her. “Oh!” 

Her tiny patient scrambled to move as far as possible from her touch. A heartbreaking, high pitched cry piercing through the air as he tried to crawl away from her. The scarf fluttered when it tried to flare its wings out, and it screamed before collapsing. She could see it’s little ribs expanding under its shirt in huge gasps, it’s unearthly green eyes open and glazed with pain.  

Hands hovering, afraid to touch and set it off again, she whispered to it. “I’m so sorry, I know it hurts. I’m just trying to help, shhhh, don’t move.” 

The sprite didn’t seem to hear or understand her, curling forward and pulling its legs up into a ball while it shuddered. Emilia debated her options, grimacing. She could try and splint the bones in its wings while it was awake and hope it passed out quickly to allow her to work on the rest of it, but that posed a serious problem. She couldn’t set any of those delicate bones with only one hand while the other held it down to prevent more damage. The other option was trying to dose it with something to make the pain bearable, but dosing something that small would be absolute hell. The sprite couldn’t weigh more than a few ounces at most, and anything she had would probably kill it.  

She needed another set of hands. 

Nodding, she tucked the scarf back around the sprite, suppressing her reaction to the wrecked noise her touch elicited. “Rest now, okay? I’ll be right back.”  

*** 

Leaf woke up to screaming, the cry of pain sharp and penetrating, not realizing at first that the sound was coming from his own mouth. He tried to propel himself away from whatever was hurting him,  brain not quite catching up to what was happening. Blurry eyesight didn’t give him an avenue of escape but panic was quick to flush through his body when he realized that his left arm was unresponsive, the tendons straining with an agonizing warning not to move it. Instinct took over, he had to get away, but when he lifted his wings to catapult himself forward his entire body rebelled. This scream of pain came from the bottom of his gut and, like cutting strings holding a banner, he fell to whatever he was laying on. He broke out into a cold sweat as he tried to gasp in precious oxygen. It hurt, forest and fire, it hurt. 

Every minuscule twitch of his muscles was like a ripping hook through his abdomen, accompanying lines of lightning shooting through his limp limbs. Any surrounding noise was lost to the echoing roar of his heartbeat in his ears, and he sobbed deep in his throat, as he curled up. Leaf couldn’t help the hollow wail, overwhelmed and desperate when something heavy came to rest over him and his wings. Pitchy whimpers poured out of his mouth like the newborn mewls of a fox cub. Every breath was agony. Why did he hurt? Where was he?

He tried to open his eyes as the pain settled, weakness boiling through him, making his extremities tingle with shaking numbness. Leaf didn’t know what to make of his surroundings, tears blurring the objects together into odd clumps. It was so quiet. No shifting, swaying of tree branches or rustle of leaves. The light around him had a weird flickering ambiance, no sunlight shone overhead, no steady moonlight to guide his way.  He strained for some recollection of what happened, only remembering plans for a brief flight. He’d been diving. Then. Nothing. Nothing but pain and movement, someone talking to him. Yelling. 

Leaf let out a small tonal call, the chirping screech holding all of the distress he felt. He waited a moment, letting his head rest against the soft surface under his cheek, and a plummeting sensation fell through his stomach when there was no answering call. It had to have been his colony that found him, right? He called again, louder than before, adding a note of fear. No answer. His ribs protested at the way his breathing picked up, but the foul tasing fear in his mouth gave him a little bit of clarity and focus. 

Shuddering at the way every movement sent a wave of pain through him, he raised his head on a tense neck to try and see more of his surroundings. He was covered by something thick and heavy of a deep autumnal ochre and he was laying in . . . a basket? He blinked, exhaustion and pain addled mind taking an extra moment to let that sink in.  It was a basket, and it was huge. A deep dread simmered under his skin and a suspicion started to tickle the back of his neck. His ribs screamed at the way he was near hyperventilating and his eyes swam as his heart rapidly pushed blood through his injured body. Mountain roots and tree bones, he was in trouble. 

Leaf grit his teeth and tried to push the blanket off of him with his good arm, muscles shaking with fatigue. Black spots swam in front of his eyes, and a solid chill struck at the gap in the blanket and his body. Shivering and groaning, he allowing himself to sink back down and the blanket to fall back over him. He sucked in a wet breath, swallowing the thick nob of tears in his throat. He wanted to go home. A choked trill echoed from the hollow of his chest, seeking a listening ear. 

Giving up wasn’t an option though, especially if he wasn’t with his colony. If he was right then he needed to get away, now. Screwing his face up in determination, grabbing his broken arm with the other to hold it in place, he dug his feet into the soft, giving surface below him and tried to slide himself out from under the heavy blanket. Leaf gagged when the fabric caught on his wing, white jagged sparks overwhelming everything for a few seconds. 

His eyelids fluttered open as a low moan pulled free of his mouth, and he swallowed the bile that covered his tongue, surprised he didn’t actually throw up. Nausea swirled in his belly and pulsed in time with the rapid thrum of his heartbeat. He checked his progress, suppressing the trembling in his wings, and found that he had been able to shift himself partway out from under the blanket. Shivering at the onset of cold, he hissed, and clutched at his innate stubbornness. He wanted out. Growling, angry clicks echoing against the wall of the basket, he pushed with his feet again and again. A raw note of hurt zinged through the air but Leaf was able to get onto his knees, cradling his broken arm to his belly. He noted the ragged and blood soaked rents in his clothing, but anything beyond his broken wing and arm was a distant and far away pain. 

On shaking legs, Leaf climbed to his feet, biting his lip to keep keening trills from leaving his mouth. His wings hung behind him, the weak sprite unable to lift them from the floor as he shuffled to the edge of the basket. Each step threw an echoing agony throughout his body, and he panted on air, trying to stay conscious. Everything grayed at the edges, and he swayed, clutching at the willow rim. The basket wall was waist high but, when he looked over the edge, his eyesight swam in and out of focus making the surface below look alternatively too close and too far away. Leaf swallowed, leaning heavily on the basket for support.  He blinked over the edge of the basket, and blinked again, hoping that it would settle into focus. 

Something metal jostled in the distance and Leaf tensed, entire body shaking, when it squealed, accompanied by echoing thunder and rhythmic rumbling. Leaf whimpered, spurred into action, and leveraged his body over the lip of the basket. He spread his right wing out as much as he could, ignoring the bright stinging pain, and let himself fall. A weak cry stuck in his throat when the wing caught the air. 

Without the left wing for balance, the right side of his body pulled up, away, so he couldn’t catch himself with his good arm. When he met the wooden surface, his left arm and wing crashed against the wood first, and Leaf gagged on the scream that tried to pour out of him. Stomach bile gushed up his throat, burning his esophagus and nose as he spluttered. 

Leaf felt his entire body shaking, engulfed with a consuming pain. He couldn’t move anymore, not willingly, and every jagged inhale swallowed more of his consciousness. His eyes tracked the room in a hazy daze, fear not allowing him to let go of consciousness completely. 

“Did you hear that?” A feminine voice reached his ears as something big moved into his line of sight. Leaf knew that he was in the shadow of the basket, the wide lip hanging over and sheltering him from the higher eyes, so he swallowed his clicking trill of fear, not wanting to be found.

Another figure moved, “No. I didn’t.” The voice was tired and irritated. Masculine.  “Can you just tell me what you need my help with so that I can go get some sleep?” 

“Yeah, I left it in the basket when I went to get you. Here—“ the first figure moved closer, and Leaf closed his eyes, wanting to hide, “—Oh no!” 

“What?” 

“It’s gone!” The basket scraped against the wood, and Leaf bit his cheek at the way he jumped, pain making him lose time. 

“—was in there?” 

“It was a sprite!” 

The masculine voice scoffed, “Seriously? Em, I have to get some sleep, not help you track down fairy tales.” 

“It was here! I swear! Annabelle brought it in, you know how she is.” The basket skidded against the table, and Leaf felt the soft fabric of the blanket brush against the back of his head. 

“What, do you think it crawled under the cushion?” The man groaned. “Em, it's  if it is a sprite, and if he’s out of the basket now, then how injured do you think he was? He could have just magicked himself away.” 

“Nate, he was really hurt. He was practically unconscious. I don’t think he would be able to get far.” The blanket landed over him in a heap as the basket was picked up. Leaf couldn’t help the anguished cry that was pulled out of him as the heavy weight enveloped him and jostled his broken bones. “Oh my god!” 

The blanket vanished and Leaf opened his eyes, shuddering, fresh tears dripping from his eyes and down the side of his face, over the bridge of his nose. Something hovered over him and a clicking shriek of fear thrummed in his chest when he realized it was a face. Humans. He tried to push himself up. Nononono. 

“Sshhhhh, easy there, little one,” the female voice whispered. Her hands came down over him, and Leaf trilled, huffing in has much air as he could, his wings trembling with the need to fly. “I’m not going to hurt you,” she said as she scooped him up, ignoring his miserable crying. “Easy there, I know it hurts. Just be still, okay?”  

Leaf grabbed her finger in one arm as she swung him up and over the ground, his stomach lurching at the vertigo inducing feeling of flying without wings, and his eyesight fuzzed out to indistinct shapes. Her hand was as big as he was, able to crush him into so many broken parts and rip his wings from his body. And he couldn’t get away. He couldn’t get away. His throat hurt, and Leaf realized that he was emitting a continuous keening sound of pure terror from the bottom of his chest. 

“Oh my god,” Nate murmured, closer to them, “Oh my god, it’s actually a sprite.” 

The woman continued to shush Leaf, “Shhhh, I know you’re scared, but we want to help you, okay? Can you understand us? We’re not going to hurt you, I promise.” 

The panicked sprite couldn’t help the sounds of fear that continued to fall out of his mouth but exhaustion was quickly over taking him. He could feel his heart thudding hollowly against the broken bones in his rib cage and the creeping weakness in his limbs. Her finger brushing against his hair in a soothing stroke, and Leaf let his eyes close, holding on to consciousness with the barest of tenacious grips. Leaf drifted, and the human’s voices echoed to him in a rumble. 

“Em’, oh my god, Em’, it’s an actual sprite.” 

“I know, Nate. I need you to hold him, okay? I need to get some things ready to patch it up. This might take a while, do you want to help?” 

“Do I want to help? Of course I want to help! It’s a fucking sprite!” 

“Language! Annabelle and Marie could be back any minute.” 

There was a rustle, and the wind shifted through the air. “Sorry, I’m just excited. How do you want me to hold it?” 

“Like this,” Leaf whimpered when they started to move him, pain echoing throughout his body in a wave, but the hands didn’t stop. “Easy does it, be careful of that arm.” Strong calloused fingers found purchase under his little body, and he was cupped in a large palm. “There you go,” she murmured, “Go get comfortable at the table, okay?” 

The man’s hands were warmer than the woman’s and he shivered all over as the man walked, the breeze stealing what little warmth his body had gained. Something brushed against the membrane of his right wing as it moved, and Leaf trilled, trying to pull himself away. His eyes fluttered open, and he could see a large bearded face leaning over him. “Sorry, sorry about that little fella. Your wings are just really interesting.” He raised his hand and Leaf tensed. “Easy there, easy, I’m not going to hurt you either.” The ochre blanket reappeared in the periphery of Leaf’s vision, “I’m going to cover you up, okay? You’re probably really cold.” The man was careful of his injuries as the blanket settled over him again, and Leaf couldn’t fight his eyelids anymore as they slipped closed. 

A humming rumble lulled him to sleep in time with the gentle stroking of the man’s finger over his hair. 

[lentaska]

Syzygy

Jake Crist/OC/Dave Crist A/N: disfigured oc, third POV, part of an ongoing project This is a work of fan fiction using characters from wrestling, I do not claim any ownership over them. Just tagging people who may wanna have a look... @monstersmaid @thecristsandcallihanmadness @earl-01 @morie-leigh @ohcristimhookedonhavocimsodunne

They saw the creature.

It was carrying a spade, the arms were covered by bandage and branches, black claws took where the hands were. The most horrific part was, it had a head of deer skull with blood dripping down from the two empty eye sockets.

They lowered their bodies and held their breathes, but the smell of fear sold them out.

In the harsh sound of rusty metal, the figure twitched its head to their direction. The forest trembled as all plants started to grow rapidly. When they realized the tree branches were chasing after them like soldiers under order.

They were tied to a giant tree in a posture of sacrifice, the deer-headed creature walked towards them, they were shocked to see it had human’s feet - covered in soil but tiny. A pair of shackles locked around its ankles, with silver chain extended out from woods behind.

“The Crist...” Its garbled growl was mixed with whistle of wind, slow and sharp, “why are you in my forest... again?”

“I-It’s not your forest!” The elder Crist plucked up his courage and argued back with chills running in his blood and spine. Parents had told him countless times about the responsibility of being the elder one, he wanted to protect his little brother.

The creature laughed in a humanoid way, somehow its voice became less strident and disturbing.

“The forest disagrees.” Its tone softened.

Its body sunk into soil. The forest fell into silence.

 When the Dave and Jake are free from their wrestling profession, they spend hours and even days on road trips. They have driven on the road of Valley of Fire, visited the Grand Canyon, and camped on Ross Lake. But today is their first time to spend night in a forest. Nervousness and excitement tangled in them. They have prepared well and act cautiously, forest, after all, can be lethal.

The night falls upon them soon after they set tent up. They light campfire, a disturbing noise starts to echo, it sounds like mixture of growl of thousands of beasts and whistle of wind, both Jake and Dave recognize it.

“The monster...” Dave gnashes, “It’s here.”

Jake takes out a pack of bullets, says, “that’s why we prepared for this trip. We need to terminate this nightmare.”

Loading his hunting gun, Dave nods in agreement.

They have lived in nightmare for years. Every time they were close to forest or woodland, the creature’s unique sound echoes by their ears, they’re tired of such torment, so they decided to hunt the the initiator of agony down.

The creature’s spade has no comparison to gunpowder. But when the bullet goes through its shoulder, things go beyond the Crist brothers’ expectation - what the creature makes is dismal whine, rather than beastly roar.

“I don’t feel right.” Jake mumbles, brushing through trees to follow track of blood left behind.

Dave snaps at his words, “the whole thing with that creature is not right.”

At the end of their hunting journey, a figure huddles up in mess, trembling and hissing. The creature crawls back on the ground, mugwort and white bryony grow to surround it, the Crist brothers know this is its self-defense mechanism.

They break the twigs and move forward, every time they are close, more plants burst out of soil. Behind leaves are the creature’s eyes, for the first time, they see green, rather than the empty and blood-dripping eye sockets. It has bewitching green eyes.

- And humanoid.

Eventually, nothing can block their way to the ultimate aim of this trip, Dave and Jake break down the last obstacle, the culprit who brought nightmares is right in front of them, glowing in moonlight with the eerie head of deer skull slightly down, tiny white birch leaves are growing out of the wound on its shoulder. Its figure has never been so clear yet hallucinatory, Dave and Jake are no longer certain about where they are - in reality or a world of dreams. They just stand quietly, as if they are waiting for a prophecy from a superior presence beyond their comprehension. They wished to seek revenge for the trauma, to blame it for all the misfortune and adversity has become their normality even though the majority was not its doing. On the other hand, they never thought they would face it like victors.

“What do we do?” Dave whispers to Jake, hoping he has a clue, unfortunately, the reply is only a hesitated head-shaking.

“I don’t know what is real now. If we tell Sami and Fulton about everything happened, they’re gonna book us a vacation to Cuba for releasing pressure.”

“Sounds nice. Is this the plan now?”

Jake sighs. They take few steps towards the creature, which stands still, the distance is so short that they can hear its gasping. Something in their minds urges them to touch it, to verify its existence, so they stretch out arms.

They hear wind whistling through thickets and branches, rainstorm falls upon lush vegetation, water merges into streams and drips down at the edge of leaves. Crows and swallows skim over lake in front of them, lightning cuts through the sky and illuminates the forest, yet nothing that they just experienced is real. The Crist brothers look into the creature’s green eyes, dizziness drags them down into abyss.

******

A slim figure sits on a log above the lake, bare feet slightly waggling, the heavy shackles on its ankles clang in rhythm. It seems to be holding a peculiar object in arms, when Jake and Dave walks closer, they recognize it as a deer skull - THE deer skull, to be accurate - but this time, no fear rise in them.

“What is this place... Damnit, my head hurts...” Moaning, Dave Crist sits down on one side of the figure, while Jake takes the other side.

Black veil hides the appearance under, but they can tell it’s female. “A dream,” she explains, “mine, yours, doesn’t matter, we share it now.”

“I have been wondering what that thing is since we first met.” Jake points at the shackles on her ankles, the other end of the silver chain hides in bushes.

“A contract between me and forests.”

“What are you looking at?”

She points at a direction afar, “birches were planted over there, where your ancestor lumbered and burned down acres of woodlands.”

Although not sure what she is talking about, Jake craves to continue the conversation, “did they sprout?”

She nods. “They will soon. After twenty years, when you have enough of the exhausting life, take your offspring, walk with then among trees.”

“Hopefully I still can wrestle at 50...” Dave sighs, trying to form that scene in his mind.

A tiny chuckle slips out between her lips, it’s so soft that both Dave and Jake think they have paracusia.

“Walking in woods with children... I can’t imagine that.” Says Jake, “will you scare our offspring like what you did to us?”

“No. The scars of the forest healed.”

Pouts and sulks, Dave starts another round of grumble, “for all the years, we suffered and you didn’t even say sorry...”

“But meanwhile I have become your excuse for obstacle, failure and everything unfortunate.”

The discernment of hers makes the Crist brothers speechless, they sit in silence, until muffled roar reverberates in background. They turn around, the forest is vanishing like a piece of paper burning to ashes. They are about to wake up soon.

“I wanna see your face.” Jake puts the unexpected request on the table, “just in case we forget what happened.”

“You don’t want to.” She sounds downhearted, “I look... scary.”

But Jake insists, so does Dave - the elder Crist even sneers “nothing is scarier than that deer skull”. She takes off the veil, there is one malformed scar snakes its way from hairline and crosses the right side of her face, with burn mark right under her left eye.

“Hey you lied,” Dave pretends to be deceived, “you’re not scary.”

Jake agrees with him, “not at all. You’re a regular girl.”

The last part of this dream collapses in her tearful smile.

******

Dave and Jake sit up and gasp heavily, they are back to the reality. A slim female huddles on the ground in front of them, head resting on the deer skull in her arms, chest slightly rising and falling with even breaths. Despite the scar and burn mark which disfigure her beauty, her soft profile is appealing. When she opens her green eyes, she is surprised to see hands offered by the two Crists.

“Come with us.” Says Jake. “We’re not gonna leave you here.”

“Better to keep an eye on you.” Dave chuckles, “so you won’t scare us again.”

She only hesitates for a moment before taking their hands. The shackles and silver chain break into pieces, she looks back, the tremendous infinity of the forest is illuminated by the first sunshine of dawn, and among grass and dew are few buds.

The birches sprouted.

[cruentusscarlet]

SENSES & OTHER SPECIFIC HEADCANONS.

what does your muse smell like?    Perfume, mainly- flower scented perfumes. There’s a hint of blood to creatures with a high sense of smell, though.

what do your muse’s hands feel like?      The palms are actually not the softest thing in the world even if the back of her hands are. Her surface skin is usually alright in general if just because she’s a vampire.

what does your muse usually eat in a day?    Breakfast, blood, lunch, blood, blood, dinner, blood, blood, blood...I mean, she has the usual meals through the night, but in-between it’s not just tea time; she has to consume a lot of blood through the day between the bigger meals because her digestion works fast and she doesn’t feel like falling for bloodthirst.

does your muse have a good singing voice?      She kind of does! But she rarely sings anymore. She used to sing to Flandre more at first, before she left her in the basement. Nowadays the most you will do is catch her humming something.

does your muse have any bad habits or nervous tics?    For nervous tics, sometimes her wings twitch, or she crosses her arms and starts tapping the floor with one of her feet. Playing with her hair is one that can come up too but it doesn’t happen that much.

Bad habits tho? Yes, definitely. Like lashing out at the humans when she’s in a bad mood and, you know...torturing and killing them.

Now she rarely does it, she still hides her own depression pretty well, but at times she will bite her own hands as a way of small self-harm. Still, she doesn’t do that too much nowadays.

what does your muse usually look like/wear?    Dresses of a simplified victorian fashion is what she wears most- she doesn’t go out of that kind of fashion too much if she can avoid it, and the colors she wears most are either white, or black.

Appearance-like she always makes sure to have her curly hair well brushed and she likes to be clean- for an undead the most she looks is pale.

is your muse affectionate?  how much?  how so?   She’s as cold as her dead heart. Harsh, cruel, direct, and lacks a lot of empathy most of the time.

Even with the people she loves, she has a hard time to show affection or her good side sometimes, but she shows her affection in her own way...in the softest of times she likes to hug, but it’s been something mainly shown with Flandre.

Playful teasing and jokes is also something that goes with her when she’s around people she loves.

On the other hand, when it comes to romantic affection, she likes the small things, like hand holding, spending time together and alone, and can get cuddly to sleep, specially because she wants to be the big spoon. There’s also teasing on her side- being seductive when she feels like it, and kisses, specially on the neck.

what position does your muse sleep in?    Either on her side when in a bed or on her back when she’s in a coffin, with wrapped wings around her own body like a burrito.

could you hear your muse in the hallway from another room?   Depends if she wants you to hear her or not. If she flies or floats? She’s actually really silent. If she walks, you could hear her shoes because the base of her shoes tend to be hard and noisy. If she turns into mist, you’re not even gonna see her.

tagged by: @clock-corpse​ tagging: @uncorruptedchampion​ & STEAL IT IF YOU WANNA DO IT, IDK WHAT PEOPLE WAS TAGGED ALREADY

[hidden-treasures21]

Shoot Your Shot

Pairing: Sam Wilson x Black!Reader

Summary: You meet Sam Wilson during a crazy battle in New York.

Warnings: Minor Character Death, Mentions of blood and gore

A/N: Hey y’all, I know it’s been a long time since I’ve posted any writing whatsoever. This literally hit me because I finally watched Infinity War, and I wanted to honor my fallen baby daddy (one of them, anyway) Sam Wilson. So here y’all go, a headcanon for him!

———————MGST———————

— You were walking down the a busy street in Brooklyn, head in the clouds and minding your own business

— Suddenly some people start running ahead of you

— So of course, being the black person you were and knowing to run when you see others run, you booked it down the street.

— At your back you could hear explosions and screams, one cry rising above the rest and causing you to skid to a halt.

— “Mommy!” It was a little baby girl, no older than five. She was shaking her mother frantically, screaming “Get up, mommy, please!”

— Your heart broke as you ran back to the pair, seeing the mother’s chest ripped wide open. She was gasping, trying to push her daughter along. All you could hear was a weak and thready voice saying, “Go on, baby. Go on home like we drilled.”

— You kneeled down across from the baby, talking in a soothing voice, “Hey, sweetheart. Listen, what’s your name?” She sniffled, murmuring “Angie.”

—“Okay, Angie baby, we’re gonna have to go, okay? It’s dangerous out here.” You held out a hand to her, begging her with your eyes to come on (because you knew you weren’t leaving her behind)

— Angie cried, “What about mommy? Is she okay?”

— Your heart shattered a bit more as you shakily replied, “She’s gonna be just fine, sweetie pie. Now come on, let’s get you safe and I’ll come back for her.”

— Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Angie grabbed your hand and you scooped her up. You heard her mother whisper a grateful “thank you” as you walked briskly away, wiping tears the entire time.

— You glanced back before you turned a street corner, seeing numerous 4-armed beasts swarm the mother’s corpse. One last shriek pierced your ears as they descended and tore her apart.

— You shielded Angie’s eyes, not wanting her to witness the madness. You ran for damn near 3 miles, watching New York fall into chaos as the monsters were unable to be contained.

— Just as you turned onto your block, a beast fell down in front of you. Angie screamed, drawing its beady eyes to y’all.

— You shifted Angie to your right arm, reaching with your left for the gun in your waistband.

— It lept, baring its teeth as it reached for you both. You drew and fired, shooting it three times in the eyes. It fell to your feet, twitching before you shot it one more time.

— You heard a thud behind you, swirling with your gun and Angie tight in your grip. It was a handsome black man, with red goggles covering his eyes and wings coming from a backpack on his back.

— “Cap, I just saw a civvie take down these things with bullets to its eyes. Tell Nat and everyone else their eyes are its weak spots.” He talked into an earpiece, ending the connection with a click.

— “Are you alright, ma’am? Where are you headed?” He shouted to be heard over the sirens and explosions.

— “My apartment is just up the block, I’ve got more ammo there.” You gestured with your chin behind you, lowering the gun as it was clear he wasn’t a threat.

—“I’ll cover you until you get home, it’s no place for civilians to be out right now.” The man smiled, gesturing with an arm for you to go ahead.

— You clutched Angie closer as you heard the chittering of the beasts. Two turned the corner, screeching as they saw their fallen companion.

— They bum rushed you both, the man and you firing simultaneously. Yours hit spot-on, while his shots were touch and go. Finally they were both dead, but you knew you needed to move. More were on the way.

— “Come on, follow me.” You gestured the man along, starting a brisk jog to your building. You heard his footfalls behind you, so you knew you were safe. However, you kept your gun in hand, just in case.

— “What’s your name, gorgeous?” He asked. You looked back sharply, only to laugh quietly at his cheeky smile.

— “I don’t think now is the best time for a meet-n-greet, love.” You smiled briefly, shouting, “On your left!” as another one jumped from a rooftop.

— He barked out, “Two coming in hot behind you!” He shot it four times, the last bullet for good measure as it still tried crawling to y’all. He heard the click of your gun as you released the last bullets into the approaching two.

— He reached into his back pocket, about to hand you a spare gun of his, when he saw you set the girl down and pull out a clip from your purse. You changed them quickly, picking the baby up once you got a bullet in the chamber.

— Y’all walked ahead, shooting creatures left and right until you sighed in relief at the sight of your apartment in Brooklyn. You climbed the stoop steps, setting Angie down briefly to get your key out.

— “My name is Y/N,” you said as you unlocked the door. “Now, before I head inside, what’s yours?”

— He smiled again, gap-tooth on display as he said, “Sam Wilson, AKA the Falcon. Just in case you wanna get any of my merch.”

— “I’ll keep that in mind,” you teased. You felt Angie tug on your hand, so you glanced down to see her bouncing back and forth. Her brown face was scrunched up, tears in the corner of her eyes as she said “I gotta go potty!”

— “Well, that’s my cue,” you said. Sam smiled again, letting his wings unfold from his back as he prepared for takeoff.

— The words burst out from him as he said, “If you and baby girl ever need anything, come by the Avengers Tower. I’ll be there.”

— With a quick wink, you replied, “Even if that thing is a date?” He nodded his head so fast at that, making you giggle as you said, “Good luck with the fight, Mr. Wilson. I’ll see you soon.”

— The door closed behind you, locks clicking in place as you led Angie upstairs to your apartment. You heard Sam fly away, an excited whoop! reaching your ears, and you laughed again before setting about getting Angie fed and comfortable.

— Miles away, Sam dove back into the fray, clips emptying into the beasts with vigour. Sam left a trail of bloodshed behind him as he shot left and right.

— Over the comm, Steve says with a snort, “I can’t believe you got a date in the middle of a battle. Figures it’d make you fight better.”

— As the others laughed, Sam couldn’t say anything but “Shut up, Steve” and smile at the thought of seeing you once more.

———————MGST———————

E/N: Hope y’all enjoyed! And just an FYI, I have been working on A Punishing Tease back and forth, but I just can’t get one part right 🙄 Thanks again! To be honest, I’m just tagging people who might enjoy this, but please let me know if you’d like to not be tagged.

Tag List: @madhatterhelsing @wawakanda-btch @chaneajoyyy @wakanda-inspired @kissmyafropuff @vikkidc @curls-and-crosses @inlovewithmakeupcomicsanimelove @thedelightfulone @theunsweetenedtruth

[iamvegorott]

Undercover Love Ch. 43

Wanna help me and give me some support? |Donate To My PayPal|

Inky Heart

“Gross, gross, gross, gross!” JJ signed when they came up into a large room.

“That felt like we went through an intestine.” Wilford covered his face with his hands.

“Looks like it was just everyone in the living room that was sent over,” Chase said as he looked around. “Where’s Jackie?”

“Jackie was in the room, right?” Marvin asked.

“Alice! Alice, where are you!?” Mare called out.

“Any idea where we are?” Anti asked Dark.

“We’re at Alice’s basement,” Phantom said. “It’s under our headquarters.”

“So Alice did the weird ink shit?” Anti asked, getting a head nod. “Chase, we have a problem.”

“I don’t like being down here,” Blank said in a whisper to Mare, who just placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Alice! Come out, right now!” Mare kept shouting.

“What if it’s not the same Alice?” Chase said to Dark and Anti.

“How could it not be?” Anti asked back.

“It’s not likely that they’re different women,” Dark added.

“Alice Angel! I swear I will ground you!” Mare went up to a wall and started pounding on it. “Alice!”

“The angel.” All of them but Mad, Mare, Phantom, and Blank said in unison.

“That was creepy,” Phantom muttered.

“Something’s wrong.” Mad pressed his fingers to his temples. “Something is very, very wrong.”

“What’s going on?” Mare asked.

“There’s love in the air,” Mad said.

“We’re married, they’re dating and they’re trying to date,” Marvin said, pointing at Wilford and JJ first and then to Dark and Anti.

“Trying?” Anti and Dark said together.

“That’s not what I’m talking about. What you guys have is easy to push aside because it’s obvious and pure but this love it’s been...corrupted. Like someone’s using it.” Mad made a face like he’s tasted something bad. “It’s sour.”

“Why do you guys know Alice? Why did hearing her last name made you guys go all weird?” Mare asked.

“Jackie’s girlfriend is named Alice,” Anti said. “We found out about her when we went to the library looking for Jackie.”

“Alice has been going to the library to stock up on ink,” Phantom said. “She never said anything about having a boyfriend.”

“She’s been getting testy lately and questioning every order I make.” Mare looked at Blank before nudging him towards Anti. “Keep him safe, I don’t think we’re done fighting.”

“Done fighting what-the-fuck is that!?” Chase shouted when the ink came back, but it formed into a creature with only a head and two arms that ended in stumps.

“Shit!” Mare lifted a leg and kicked the head off of the creature. “You have to be kidding me!” Wilford grabbed JJ and lifted him up, firing off several rounds of his gun into the head of creatures that kept forming and forming, soon surrounding all of them.

“Enough with the gun!” Mad screamed, hands over his ears. “It’s not working!”

“Now it’s dripping!” Marvin groaned when some ink landed on his head. They all shouted when something fell from the ceiling, landing on the ground and when the ink moved away from it, they saw red.

“Jackie?” Chase said as Jackie stood up, staring at him with pure black eyes.

“You guys really made him sad.” A voice giggled and what looked like a chair formed out of the wall, Alice sitting in it. “He saw me at your place and was so distraught and confused about everything. He was just so lost and I just had to help him.”

“Alice, stop this, now!” Mare demanded. “It’s over!”

“It’s not over!” Alice snapped. “Just because you’re willing to give up so easily for your little Blank, doesn’t mean I have to! The world will drown in ink and I will be its queen!” Alice snapped her fingers and Jackie went stiff.

“Oh, fuck.” Chase cursed right before Jackie slid to him and punched him in the stomach, sending him flying into a wall.

“Chase!” Marvin could barely turn before Jackie grabbed his arm and threw him over his shoulder, slamming him into the ground and forcing a loud, pain-filled gasp to come out of him. Jackie stopped and stared at Marvin for a moment, head twitching a little.

“Got him!” Wilford shouted after jumping on Jackie’s back. “Not gonna hurt ya, just gonna-” Wilford as cut off by Jackie leaping back and slamming into the wall behind him, crushing Wilford with it. Jackie spun on his heel and pressed his hand to Wilford’s throat, pinning him to the wall. Jackie’s head twitched some more as he looked at Wilford, hearing him gasp out caused a black tear to roll down his cheek. He dropped Wilford and caught JJ’s hand when he tried to lash out. JJ only looked Jackie in the eyes, shaking his head as if pleading for him to stop hurting Wilford. Jackie released JJ and started to cough.

“Jackie! Fight them!” Alice ordered. Jackie bent over before rolling back up and running heading straight for Blank but stopping in his tracks when Anti jumped in front of him.

“Wake up!” Anti screamed. “Wake up!” Anti slapped Jackie across the face, sending a shock down his spine. Mare grabbed Jackie by the back of his sweater and threw him across the room, making him slid on the ink and hitting the wall as well. Jackie lifted his head and more tears could be seen rolling down his cheeks. He was in pain. What he was doing was tearing him up on the inside.

“Too much?” Mare said.

“He’s had worse.” Anti pushed Black to a corner of the room and blocked him with his body.

“Jackie! What are you doing!?” Alice stood up.

“Stay back.” Mad held an arm in front of Phantom when he was going to jump in.

“But-”

“He’s breaking.” Mad explained in a whisper. “He’s crying, he’s fighting back.”

“How are you so calm?” Phantom asked.

“I’m ready to fucking throw myself out a window but that can wait.” Mad took a step back when he saw that Dark was going up to Jackie. Dark just stood and waited as Jackie slowly got up, having to use the wall to support him. Jackie panted, barely able to stay up and Dark only nodded before walking away.

“What is happening!?” Alice stomped over to Jackie. “You’re mine, you’re supposed to do what I say!” Alice grabbed Jackie by the front of his sweater. “You need to go out there and take care of them! Don’t you love-” Alice stopped. There was a silence as Jackie stood there, one hand on Alice’s arm and the other holding a knife that had gone through her chest. “J-Jackie? Jackie...why?” Alice lifted her own hand and placed it on Jackie’s cheek. “I thought you loved me?”

“So did I.” Jackie croaked out, taking Alice’s hand off of him. “But I was wrong.” Jackie yanked the knife out, causing Alice to collapse. Alice’s body melted away into a puddle of ink and soon it and the rest of the ink seeped back down into the ground. Jackie’s tears were now clear as they washed away the black that was left on his face, eyes back to normal. He dropped the knife and started to walk away from where he was. Mad was the closest and when Jackie got near, he fell over himself, forcing Mad to catch him.

“Uh...help?” Mad said. “Help, there’s a man on me.”

——————– ——————– ——————–

Requests are CLOSED Commissions are OPEN Tag List: @wisevoidpastacash @takethepainawaybae@superdltpurplerage@superarrowholockian @always-in-a-fandom@wolfbear135@cutecatwhiskersstuff@blueyeswhitedragon16@allimeraine@hey-wow-thats-me @pixelenchanter@queenbrandon @aviana-felsari@lavenderamy@northicckque @rainymae523@timeless-gris @allthespaceboo@virge-of-death @crystal-fridge @demons-jim@blackkttn13@derpytoez@bartonisamess @fandom-guy@hypercat360@sodabeet @cookieface678@plutonic-5 @wilford-motherluvin-warfstache @thegaysalt@burningpeachdelusionofchaos @mei-li-de-tou-fu@anightmarefan@it-squishy-here @prince-ryker @ninjasversuslife @phanimapala67@doodledaf@acidbab-y @spaceykidd0@shamelesscollectorpiratesstuff@spookyparkster@dploverness@classy-birb@crookedlyaddictedtodark@tmblr-a-binch@sirkawaiipotato @little-frying-pan@quotesnerd@medusadoggo@madallice329@rudenesssarcasmlackingenthusiasm @tessytaartje @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch@thetrashspace@thesinginggal@mad-men-inc@sealover89@bobberino98 @ king-explosion-murderrr@succos-tacos@positive-potato @coogwoog  @ninja-girl2846 @lala121415

[pintofteaforthesoul]

Stuck In My Head Part 3

So this is a lot and you’re all gonna hate me for it. But fear not!! For it is not the end. Lemme know if you wanna be tagged!!!

(EDIT: I did decide to split this into another part, so part 4 is coming soon since most of it is already written.)

Tagging: @lordlorcanlochan, @mis-lil-red, @lets-hufflepuff-this-shit, @1800-fight-me, @idaolsson11, @ofstarsanddreams, @10divergentmockingjays, @gently-say-aha

~~~

The fall semester was going by way too quickly for Elide’s taste. It was already Halloween weekend, she was stressed out of her mind, and had hardly left her dorm room except to shower, go to class, and eat. Commons food was already turning bland and Elide swore if she didn’t do something besides study, she would lose her god-damned MIND. So when Aelin strutted in fresh out of the shower in her cute robe with a full face of make-up, Elide asked, “Are you going somewhere special tonight?”

Aelin grinned, rummaging through her drawers until she pulled out a pair of black tights. “Yeah, my sorority is hosting a Halloween Bash at this club downtown.”

Elide glanced up from her place on her stomach on her top bunk. “You going with your boyfriend?”

Aelin flashed her an amused look. “Of course. Why, did you want to come?” She did her infamous eyebrow wiggle.

Elide blushed. “No,” she said unconvincingly, “I don’t have a costume or anything anyway.” She waved her hand, but Aelin’s knowing eyes were sharp.

“You and my best friend are close to the same size. She’s not bringing a date anyway, so you’re more than welcome to be her plus one. But… if you don’t want to…” Aelin turned back to the closet and Elide was practically falling out of the bed with desperation.

~~~

A quick call to Lysandra, 40 minutes of group hair and makeup, and an uber ride later, Elide was standing in the middle of a crowded club- the bass vibrating through her body as she danced in a little triangle with the other girls. Elide’s face hurt from smiling too much and she was having honestly the time of her life.

She’d been scandalized when Lysandra had showed up to the dorm holding the tiny dress she now wore, but now she was grateful as she burned under the colored lights. It was stereotypical witch costume with a short poufy skirt overlaid with emerald green tulle and a tight, bedazzled black corset top that had her struggling to breathe. There was tiny witch hat on a headband in her dark hair and fishnets up her legs. Elide had to admit she looked damn good, but compared to Aelin’s vampire and Lysandra’s nurse Elide still felt inadequate.

Pushing those feelings from her mind, Elide tried her best to focus on the music and keep her movements supple. She wasn’t graceful by any means and any jostle would send her to the floor. The three girls twirled together, giggling as they sipped from drinks they hadn’t paid for. Aelin’s boyfriend, Rowan she’d called him, hadn’t arrived yet- Aelin grumbled something about his friends slowing him down.

Elide had asked how his friends would get in, but Aelin had just laughed. They coaxed some poor sister into being their date. Lysandra hollered at that, obviously smug that she had not been one.

It was nearing eleven when Rowan finally showed, appearing behind Aelin like a shadow and making them all jump as he crushed Aelin to his chest. Aelin merely giggled at something Rowan whispered in her ear and Elide couldn’t explain why but seeing the two of them together made her blush.

“Where’s Fen and Lorcan?” Aelin shouted to be heard over the music. Elide froze, immediately getting bumped into from behind. No one noticed her change in body language.

Rowan certainly didn’t, only having eyes for Aelin as he took in her short skirt and low top. “They’re around here somewhere.” He didn’t even give a glance around, but Elide certainly did. Her shoulders were now chilled, dread blooming in her stomach making her nauseous. Lorcan was here. They’d avoided each other at all costs- well Elide had. Lorcan delighted in making sure she was called on in class, answering questions she had no reason to know. It was driving her more insane than studying, but she’d be damned if he caught her unaware like the first time.

Professor Ashryver had a reputation of never deviating from his precise schedule. 1 hour and fifteen minutes of lecture- no more and no less. That is, however, until mid-September when he announced, “I’m going to try something different, if you’ll bear with me.” The younger professor of 40 gazed out at the large class over his wire glasses. There were small bursts of panicked whispering that ceased the moment Lorcan stood up from his place in the first row.

Elide groaned, sinking in her seat, but his eyes still found hers. Easy to do when she sat in the same place every class- too much of a creature of habit to move. Lorcan grinned, a dark expression that filled her with foreboding.

But Professor Ashryver was speaking again. “I’ve been persuaded to allow twenty minutes at the end of my lecture one class a week for a discussion led by our TA, Lorcan Salvaterre.” There were sighs by some in the crowd and Elide rolled her eyes, fully aware that Lorcan’s attention was still on hers. He merely cocked his head to the side, his expression gloating. “You have the floor.” The older man said, stepping to the side and sitting in the chair behind the desk.

“Let’s begin.” Even Lorcan’s voice sent a thrum of female desire through the room.

Elide shook the memory off, cringing. Aelin was looking at her oddly as Lysandra was saying with an eye-roll, “They’ve probably already abandoned their dates.”

At that, Elide snorted. Figures. She’d seen Lorcan flirt with countless girls in class right in front of her and hadn’t batted an eye. Hypocrite. Rage burned low in Elide’s gut. The others had started talking again, but Elide shouted at them, “I’m getting another drink.” Lysandra waved her off with a wink.

Elide slowly made her way to the packed bar, self-conscious with how much of her cleavage was showing. Though she and Lysandra had a similar figure, Elide’s chest was- well bigger, so the corset had her breasts practically bulging. She’d noticed many gazes directed towards it and had tried her best to ignore them.

She leaned against the bar, but the bartenders were down the line. Elide huffed, a pout coming to her lips, when a voice came from behind her. “If I say you’ve bewitched me, does that help or hinder my chances of buying you a drink?”

Elide couldn’t help her snort, turning the face the owner of the voice. He was tall, broad, and golden. Dressed as a Spartan warrior, his chest was left bare and his blonde curly hair hidden under a gawdy helmet. She cocked her head at him. “And if I said it helped?”

The man grinned, broad wide teeth a spectacular white. He was absolutely gorgeous and the complete opposite to Lorcan’s brooding. “Then I am properly bewitched by you.”

Elide smiled back at him, amused despite herself. He was quite charming and it was actually refreshing. “I suppose you should buy me a drink then.”

The golden man winked and it sent a thrill through Elide’s body. “Yes, ma’am.” He moved closer to her, joining her beside the bar. With the packed space, Elide could feel the heat coming off of him. “What would you like?” His hot breath tickled her nose, closer to her height when he leaned against the counter.

“Anything is fine.” Elide murmured.

The man’s eyes sparkled. “And what name should I put it under?”

“Elide.” She breathed, eyes darting over his exquisite features. “Elide Lochan.”

Elide stuck her hand and Fenrys took it, but instead of shaking it, he brought her knuckles to his lips and kissed. Butterflies erupted in Elide’s stomach and she fought her nervous giggle at the heat in Fenrys’s eyes. “I’m Fenrys.”

~~~

Lorcan was seeing red. He hadn’t expected Elide to be here when he’d convinced the raven-haired sorority girl to bring to the Halloween Bash. And he certainly hadn’t expected her to be dressed like that- like a gods-damned goddess. Lorcan had watched her dance, hands twitching from the effort not to go over and put his hands on those tantalizing hips of hers.

He tried to tune back into the conversation the blonde had dragged him into. Lorcan gave a nod when it was necessary, tracking Elide’s movements in his periphery. It wasn’t that the girl in front of him wasn’t hot- she was. Her midnight hair looked almost purple against her pale skin, but she was no Elide.

A laugh sounded from across the bar and somehow Lorcan knew what he would see when he turned his head. Indeed- there was Fenrys at the bar… standing so close to Elide they might as well have been kissing. They were holding drinks Fenrys had obviously just bought and the smile on Elide’s face… damn.

Elide whispered something in Fen’s ear that made the man actually blush and it was a testament to Lorcan’s willpower that he didn’t shatter the glass in his hand. His entire body was tense, coiled so tight it might break. 

“So what are you supposed to be dressed as?” One of the girl’s friends asked him, placing a hand on his arm despite the girl- whatever her name was- giving her a death glare.

Lorcan glanced at her, a little bit of madness creeping into his eyes. “Death.” He said simply. Lorcan chose to be all in black, not really giving a shit about some costume. Fenrys had teased endlessly, but he was the one who enjoyed dressing up. Even Rowan had dressed up tonight though- to impress his hot new girlfriend, Aelin.

The girls around him giggled and Lorcan fought an eye roll. There really was nothing wrong with them. Three months ago he would’ve eagerly taken one home and showed her a good time before forgetting her the next day. But now he couldn’t seem to muster up the motivation to flirt, well unless it was in front of Elide and he got to see the furious jealousy blush her cheeks.

Lorcan drained his glass and grinned at them. “I need to go get another drink.” He made no promise of coming back. If things went his way he’d be buried balls deep in Elide by midnight, eager to sate the craving and hopefully be done with it. No, he couldn’t stand seeing Fenrys next to her any longer, chatting her up in his cavalier style that made every girl week in the knees.

Lorcan shoved his way through the crowd, murder in every line of his face. As if she could feel him, Elide looked up- and paled.

~~~

No, Elide’s mind screamed, but even as she thought the word Lorcan was getting closer to them. Now only a couple feet away, Lorcan called out with a fake grin on his face, “Elide.  Fancy meeting you here. I didn’t know you were a Phi Rho.”

Fenrys glanced at their new conversation partner while Elide gritted her teeth. “I’m not. I was invited.”

“How’s your date, Lorcan?” Fenrys murmured, clearly feeling the tension between the other two and happily picking Elide based on the undertone to his words.

Lorcan’s jaw tensed, a muscle jumping in his throat as he turned eyes to Fenrys. “How’s yours?”

“Wait,” Elide said, stepping a little away with narrowed eyes. “You two know each other?”

Fenrys grinned, going to clasp Elide’s hand and she was too in shock to drop it. Lorcan’s eyes fixated on it and he glowered. “We’re brothers, technically. Right, Lorcan?”

Lorcan’s eyes flicked back up. “Of course, but it seems one of us missed the lesson on not taking what doesn’t belong to you.”

A soft, dangerous laugh. “I at least got the lesson on not treating women like objects.” Fenrys pulled Elide closer as she scowled at Lorcan.

Lorcan’s eyes only narrowed to onyx slits, head tilted to the side. “Did you?”

Now Elide scoffed. “He’s treated me far better than you did.” She looked up at Fenrys, making sure her eyes were large and innocent. “Can we go?”

Fenrys set his drink down. “Of course, sweetheart. Where would you like to go?”

Elide faced him fully, running a finger down his sculpted chest. In a low purr that Lorcan could still hear, she said, “Anywhere with you.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lorcan go purple. Fenrys dipped in a short bow before looping their arms and starting off. Over her shoulder, Elide called, “Tell Aelin where I’m going, will you?”

[pinejayy]

Venomous Love

Part 2

Part 1 [x]

Summary: Eddie explains himself about Venom, and why did he keep it a secret from you. Venom and reader bond a bit.

Rating: T (swearing/cuss words/Venom licking the reader )

Tags: @capitanostella @nightshade7117 @seachelle-the-tideborn @outofbluecomesgreen @denisethestrange

"Okay explain yourself Brock" you said, with your arms crossed waiting for a response from your monster boyfriend.

Eddie looked at you and sighed. "Look don't get mad, don't scream because Venom will get mad and try to hurt you okay.." You looked at him and gasped as you saw a black gooey blob appear out of Eddie's shoulder. You backed up and look at the thing.

"Don't start fereaking out because I will bite your head off Princess" 

You look at that thing, your breathing got faster, you didn't know what this thing was capable of doing, you only knew it kills innocent people. You close your eyes and spoke up. "I just wanna see and speak to Eddie, please just leave us alone so we can talk.."

Venom narrowed his eyes at you, you started to get nervous. Those white eyes staring at you. He then disappeared in Eddie's shoulder. Eddie sighed and grabbed your hands.

"Look he's a symbiote, an alien and he needs a host to survive so yeah..." He said "But this doesn't change anything right, I love you princess...I love you so much"

"Why did you keep it a secret from me? Why didn't you tell me your girlfriend?" You said holding onto his hands. He sighed and spoke up. "I didn't want to scare you away, I didn't want you to think I'm some kind of freak".

You look at your boyfriend and you pulled your hands away, Eddie looking at you, looks like he was trying to hold back his tears. He was about to speak again until you interrupted him.

"So let me ask you something" you began to speak again holding a finger up, shushing him. "So every time we kissed, cuddled...uh had sex he was there, watching!"

"You bet babe"

You jumped as the symbiote appeared again in Eddie's shoulder, looking at you. God even though Venom was a blob he still was very intimidating, with the sharp teeth that could lot of damage if it bit you.

"Please Venom isn't so bad, you two could get along, please.." Eddie said. "Just give him a chance.

You look at him, your left eye twitched a bit. You loved Eddie but this creature scared the hell out of you, how where you two supposed to get along.

"You...w-want me to g-get along w-with him?" You stutter. Eddie nodded "Yes look Venom will take control of my body so you two can speak or something...and Venom don't hurt her"

You nodded and slowly you see your boyfriend's body being covered by the black goo. "Don't worry Eddie I won't hurt what's also mine" Looking up you see him. He looked more scary up close, he was probably three times your size, and his body is huge. He could probably kill you in a second. Crush you like if you were a toothpick.

"Are you gonna speak or what, I'm not going to hurt you babe"

You jump, you were lost in your thoughts but cringe as he called you babe or when he called you his. "First of all I'm not your babe or yours okay so don't fucking call me yours" you hissed at him crossing your arms.

Venom chuckled and leaned in. You backed up a bit but he still was leaning in and he grabbed you by the shoulder holding you still. He whispered in your ear. "I'm apart of Eddie what's his is also mine" Venom tongue slowly came out, he licked your face and the side of your neck.

You gasp and try to push him back but of course he's stronger than you. So you just stayed in place, if you didn't he probably won't hurt you or get angry at you. Venom continued to laugh lick you neck and face. "Mmm you taste sweet, I can practically taste the fear out of you...I wonder how you really taste like"

Thinking what he just said, you instantly started to blush. Venom laughed and moved away from you giving you your personal space. "Maybe some other time"

You bite your lip, your breathing became normal. Looking at him "why do you hurt people?"

"Oh? Well Eddie said I can only hurt bad people..so it's not so bad, don't worry I won't hurt you unless you're into that"

Quickly shaking your head and hands. "Just don't do it front of me or anything"

Venom smiled widely, his razor like teeth showing giving you chills. He titled his head "But trust me I will protect you okay, anyone hurts you I will pay them a vist"

You smile a bit and nodded, after an hour or so you two speak, tell each other your likes and dislikes, he told you how he's a loser in his planet like Eddie here which made you crack up. He wasn't bad afterall, still a little scary tho. After an hour or so of you and Venom speaking, he disappeared back into Eddie's body. Eddie looked at you, you smile at him.

"He isn't so bad..still a little scary but not bad" you said, Eddie smiled and hugged you tightly. "Don't worry my love we will protect you, okay"

You smile and hug back just nodding.

//

(Well that probably sucked, but are you guys up for a part three??)

[imdoingathingmom]

What Is It Like?

| Next |

Characters: Mantis x Reader, Other GOTG members Word Count: 1628 Warnings: Angst? Slight Cursing, Summary: The newest member of the Guardians of the Galaxy gets caught by inhabitants of a foreign planet. Her absence begins to stir some emotions Mantis never thought she would feel and suddenly it's a race against the clock to save her before it's too late.

A/n: A bolas (plural: bolas or bolases; from Spanish bola, "ball", also known as boleadoras) is a type of throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, used to capture animals by entangling their legs. Hope you guys like this. It's my first time writing for Mantis, I never meant for it to become a series but life happens. I also didn't mean for it to become like a hostage kinda story, like it was supposed to be sweet fluff, but the idea popped into my head and I couldn't stop typing. Anyway, enjoy and remember, feedback is always appreciated!

"What is it like?" "Hm?" "What is it like? Being in love?" Mantis' antenna were glowing as she squeezed your hand. You drew your gaze from the bright pink and orange hues of the sunrise and looked down at her. "Um, well can't you tell?" You sent her a tired smiled and looked back at the sky. "You are touching me after all." "I can feel what you feel but I am not sure I have actually experienced it for myself." Mantis slid her hand away from yours and looked down at the ground with a slight frown on her face. The blades of grass swayed as a breeze rolled through the clearing. "I've only ever been around Ego before I met you guys and I never really liked him." You sent a sad smile in her direction. Of course she never knew love there was no room for it in her old life. She was just a pawn in Ego's mission for universal domination. "Well you already know I love you," Mantis nodded and swung her legs out in front of her, "and I'm not mad that you don't love me. It's okay." 

"But why?" She glanced up with her wide eyes, face full of confusion. "That's just how love is. Love is such a powerful emotion and sometimes it makes people act foolishly. Sometimes people make sacrifices for love. Sometimes love hurts but most of the time it doesn't. Love is like-" you sucked in a deep breath and glanced down at Mantis "- when I look at you I get this warm fuzzy feeling in my chest and it spreads all over, infecting my whole body.” You grabbed her hands again and rubbed circles into them with your thumbs. "Whenever you smile my heart races and when you laugh I feel so happy I find myself laughing too, even if nothing was funny. I love you so much Mantis I'd do anything for you. Anything and I only want the best for you. And I know that-" you sniffle "-even if you never end up feeling love or if you do but end up loving someone else I'll be okay, because as long as you're happy that's all that matters. I'm content with just being your friend so that way you're still in my life. Love is complicated but I don't regret loving someone as amazing and as strong as you." You pulled your hands away and wiped at the tears that had fallen down your cheeks. Mantis just stared up at you, tears glistening in her own eyes. She turned her head and watched a strange bird that had flown into the clearing. You could practically see the cogs turn in her head, her brows furrowed once more. The bird flapped its bright green wings and took flight, and not long after that Mantis stood and left the clearing, heading in the direction the ship was settled. You watched her go as a new batch of tears tried to escape but you swallowed down the lump in your throat and wiped your eyes. You slipped off the raised branch you guys had been sitting on and brushed the back of your jeans clean. Taking another breath you pulled your hair up into a bun and followed the path back to the ship. Rocket was sat on a log next to the ship when you got back, Drax was across from him on another log, and Groot was on his shoulder. Rocket looked up from the piece of technology he had been fiddling with, "You guys were up pretty early.” You just shrugged and sat next to him. "What's her problem?" His whiskers twitched as he nodded towards the ship where Mantis had retreated to. You shrugged again earning a stare from the raccoon before he turned his attention back to his technology. Drax leaned towards you, his hands on his knees. "I thought she was ugly before, have you seen her cry? She's hideous." You narrowed your eyes at him. "That's not nice Drax. Mantis is a beautiful person." He shot you a disgusted look. "The truth is never nice." You rolled your eyes at that. Drax obviously didn't know what an opinion was.

The next couple of days were hell. You had been on this foreign planet for a week now. You were surprised you hadn't seen any signs of intelligent lifeforms yet. Maybe the planet was uninhabited. The ship was still down as Rocket was having trouble with it. Drax was insufferably annoying, Mantis hadn't spoken with you since the conversation in the clearing which was four days ago, and to make matters worse Peter and Gamora must have finally accepted that they both loved one another, because they wouldn't stop displaying their affection. You never had a problem with PDA until now. The only bright side to this whole mess was that you had Groot to keep you company, even if you could hardly understand him. You knew a couple of  words here and there, since Peter was teaching you, so you could piece together what Groot was saying.

Groot was currently on your shoulder, hand clutched in your hair, telling you a story about how the Guardians broke out of the Klyn Prison. You've heard the story multiple times before but you weren't going to interrupt him, that would be cruel. You guys were hiking through the woods of the unknown planet, looking for berries and other edible plants.

You weren't around then you had only joined the crew after Thanos was slain and the Guardians had attended a celebratory party that Tony threw. Apparently the battle with Thanos lasted quite awhile and caused Groot to be reverted back to baby form, which from what you heard has already happened once before. Anyway, you were a S.H.I.E.L.D agent at the time and they took a liking to you, so after dangerous amounts of alcohol and lots of convincing you retired from S.H.I.E.L.D that night and left earth. Did you regret your choice? No. Did you miss Earth? Yeah, but these people were your home now and you could always visit.

Suddenly Groot stopped talking and you didn't really noticed until he pulled hard on your hair, drawing a yelp from you. “What the fuck Groot?”

“Groot”

“What do you mean don't move?” You went to take another step and he pulled on your hair again, slightly harder this time. You hissed under your breath and went to flick his head when the snap of a branch made you freeze.

“Groot!”

The second the word was out of his mouth you turned sharply on your heel, the pebbles and dirt beneath your boots crunching, dropping the sack of berries you held you bolted, pumping your arms and legs as fast as you could while Groot held onto your locks for dear life. Sweat began to bead on your forehead and you swore you heard a growl behind you. As curious as you were you refused to look behind you, this wasn't a horror movie after all. Suddenly, an arrow zoomed past your left ear and a lump of dread embedded itself into the lining off your gut. You pumped your limbs harder as more arrows zoomed past. Your breathing came out in short pants and your limbs burned from exhaustion. To be really fucking honest, you didn't even know which way you were going anymore. All that mattered was that you found a way out, back to the clearing. You kept running, sometimes turning and weaving through the trees to dodge the onslaught of arrows. You were sure you were almost to the clearing when an arrow embedded itself into the back of your shoulder, knocking you off balance. You fell with a thud, scraping your skin on jagged rocks that emerged from the earth, and Groot lost his grip, falling several feet in front of you. You tried standing up as you gripped your shoulder, only to fall back down, and noticed your legs were tangled up in a bolas. You looked up at Groot as the sound of hoofs and growls grew near.

“Groot go!” He stood there for a minute as in he was unsure of himself. You picked up a nearby rock and threw it at him, purposely missing by an inch. “Go, get the fuck away from here!” He glanced behind you before he turned and ran off, soon disappearing beneath a bush. You laid there, eyes closed and panting, as your captors stopped a few feet away. You looked up and standing before you was a small group of what you assumed to be hunters.

There were five of them and they all looked human except for the fact that they had pointed ears, like elves, and their skin was a light purple. Two were female, at least you thought they were, while the others were male. The women wore simple tunics that stopped before their knees and the men wore nothing but pants. They sat on top of horse like creatures and they all had their bows draw in your direction. The one in the middle withdrew his bow and hopped off his creature. Slowly and with caution he crept close, knees bent and eyes unwavering. He stopped right in front of you, crouching near, and his hand slowly reached out, brushing your hair across your shoulder. Your heart hammered in your chest, eyes wide, seeing your chance you pulled out a knife from your jeans and lunged forward. The man blocked it right away, knocking the knife from your hands, before his head collided with yours, and you fell back as everything went black.

Whaddaya know? Seems the planet had intelligent inhabitants after all.

Mantis Tag: lemme know if you wanna be added

@wanderlustingandwandering @depressedcoffeebean

[umbrahighpriestofgiratina]

Rude Awakening, Chapter 1

Aaand, after some delays preventing me from getting it here, here’s a chapterfic. It’s a crossover of Pokemon and Fire Emblem Awakening, and has ties to not only the Yangverse but some RP shenanigans of mine involving both franchises. Knowledge of Fire Emblem is nice but not strictly required due to the characters explaining stuff along the way. Anyway, to start off, Chapter 1, where Palkia gets some weird vacation ideas.

Chapter 1: Off The Clock You'd expect picking a vacation spot would be easier for the goddess of space, Palkia thought. Unfortunately, it wasn't, for the vacation spots were ones a bit out of her comfort zone in that regard: Alternate universes, ones mostly heavily displaced from the ones she sometimes casually visited. It didn't help the guide to said multiverse she was reading had various terrible jokes and memes scrawled in it by a certain brother of hers. She groaned and looked up to gaze around said brother's home dimension, looking among the black and purple haze and the chunks of off-looking earth with off-looking plant life until she spotted Giratina in his Origin forme, idly hovering and levitating a Nintendo 3DS he was playing before him. Knowing her space-bending powers would probably be affected by the nature of the place, Palkia spread her wings and summoned a jet of water to propel her to a chunk of the off-looking earth near where her brother was idly floating to wave the book at him, scowling. "Hey! Giratina! You agreed to help here!" Giratina turned his attention away from the video game to address his sister. "Ooh, right, the vacation! What's it for again?" Palkia sighed and shook her head. "We're trying to cheer Dialga up!" "Isn't bro too stuffy and busy for a vaycay most of the time?" Palkia paused, then looked away. "It... Hasn't been that long since... What happened with Cyrus. I see him more than you do. As much as he tries to hide it he's still really upset over it." She turned back to him with a still-despondent look."And... Well, we both already owe you, that kid, and Cynthia big time for stopping him... But you know the multiverse better than I do, so I wanted you to help me pick a fun spot. So we could both cheer him up." Giratina paused, then nodded somberly himself. "Good point... We could all try to find a place to chill after that..." He then promptly turned back to his game. "Just let me get to a spot where I can save..." "Alright, then-" She took a closer look at the game he's playing and scowled. "Hey, wait a minute!" She snatched the game and system from him. "That's my copy of the latest-" She paused, stared at the game for a few seconds, then snapped two of her claws together and grinned. "That's it! We give Dialga one hell of a theme vacation!" Giratina stared at her in confusion. "Why would we want to take him video game shopping?" Palkia smirked. "A bit deeper than that, dear brother." She gestured to the eldritch space around them. "Your little... abode ties into all sorts of other worlds! Now, not even we know exactly how many are out there, but likely millions, trillions, quite possibly an infinite number of 'em! And if there are that many, well, some might just very well be kinda familiar..." She points to the 3DS's screens. "...But that's more your department. Can you find out if there's a universe anything like the thirteenth and newest installment of my favorite strategy game series?" Giratina blinked and stared a good while before responding. "Um... Lemmie try something." He soared off further into his realm until he was a speck in the distance, leaving Palkia to stand impatiently and cross her arms to stare after him a while. Eventually, Giratina returned levitating a small rectangular device in front of him, using the points of the tentacle-like structures on his back to tap it carefully. Palkia eyed the device quizzically. "Is that… A Sliphpad?" "Yup! State of the art. Use it for keeping track of all the really out there universes as well as the closer-to-home ones." Palkia glanced at the book she was holding then at Giratina irritably. "Why'd you give me the musty guide with all your doodles in it then?" "Hey, don't diss my modern art." Palkia flung the book at Giratina's head. He didn't notice as it bounced off of one of his facial plates, but he did notice something on the screen he quickly tapped a tentacle to and levitated toward Palkia for her to look at. "Is this it, sis?" Palkia grumbled as she took the Sliphpad, expecting Giratina to have found a world closer to Dragonite Quest or Last Legend or, if she was lucky, a previous game in the same series as the one she wanted, only for her own eyes to light up upon seeing she was wrong. "This… This is it! It's pretty much it! I can't believe I'm saying this, Giratina, but you're a genius! Thank you so much!" She embraced her more serpentine brother, who reciprocated with his three sets of tentacles. After the hug was broken, she bounced up and down excitedly on her large feet, her claws clenched and her long tail thumping the ground in excitement. "This is gonna be great! We're gonna take Dialga on vacation there and all have a blast, and he's gonna be so much happier and we just need to think up some good disguises and get access to -" She froze in place mid-sentence, then scowled, tapping her foot. "Great. I just realized there's one particular obstacle to getting the resources." Giratina gave her a puzzled look. "...Um, we're Legendaries? We can just get 'em however?" Palkia sighed and put a claw to her forehead. "...Problem is that "however" involves one particular other Legendary." ---------------- "So... let me get this straight, space babe." Palkia's eye twitched at that particular moniker from the small, grey-and-pink creature with gold hoops before her and Giratina within a quiet forest grove, but allowed him to continue. "You want to take your bro on vacation to a fancy swords 'n sorcery universe to cheer him up after that Cyrus guy tried to push the reset button on the universe, and honestly, I don't blame ya!" said Hoopa. "Some asshole trying to do that has gotta rub you guys the wrong way." He then raised an eyebrow. "That said, why do top-tier deity Legendaries like you guys need into... The Stash?" Palkia sighed. "Hoopa. Everymon knows you are the ultimate hoarder. Your pocket dimensions are filled to the brim with the sorts of things we need for this fantasyland vacation we can have easy access to anytime, so we're gonna need you to tag along." "Plus, if I screw with your pocket dimensions enough I can let us get to the wifi and stuff back home!" said Giratina. "Can't forget the essentials." "...What he said too," said Palkia. Hoopa tapped one of his mitt-like hands to his chin in thought for a bit before looking to the other two Legendaries and nodding. "...Alright then. You guys are the bosses. Plus, If you wanna cheer your bro up that bad that's a hell of a nice thing to do. I guess I can let you in on The Stash for this little trip of yours." He then smirked a bit. "...On three conditions." Palkia scowled. "Figured. What do you want, you greedy little djinn?" Hoopa's smirk grew wider. "First, all use of the Stash is under my supervision." "Okay, that's fair enough. Next?" "Second, I actually want in on this vacation, not just to be some sort of luggage carrier. And if it helps on your end I'll at least try to help cheer your brother up." "Also fair enough, what's the thi-" Hoopa made a gesturing motion with one of his hands as his smirk morphed into an outright mischievous grin. "...Bottle." Palkia's scowl likewise grew more intense. "You know full we-" "Deal's a deal." "Just roll with the dude, sis," said Giratina. "...Fine," said Palkia, "but keep an eye on him." A rift in space opened, which she quickly dashed through. ------------ In a Hoenn Pokemart winding down for the evening, a lone employee stood idly lost in thought as he waited for his manager to bring his paycheck, only to hear a voice in front of him. "Yo!" He blinked and turned to see a young, pink-haired, red-eyed woman in pink and white clothing - he noted her t-shirt had characters from the TV show Valiant Knight Skarmory on it - giving him a doe-eyed look that to the worker seemed a tad too innocent. "Hi there! Let me guess, you were working the night shift one night some time ago?' "Erm, yea-" "And this crazy old man came in and robbed the place?" "...Y-yeah?" "And then he gave you this bottle and made all these oh-so-creepy mutterings about this Hoopa Pokemon whose power would be unsealed for three days if you opened it but when you did nothing happened and it was all like, to use the phrasing of one of my brothers, two spoopy four you?" "H-how-" "And you've just been oh so dearly hoping you can find some passerby you can feasibly pawn it off to so you don't have to deal with it anymore?" "U-um..." The woman extended a hand. "Gimmie." The man quickly pulled out a strange purple-grey-and-gold bottle and plopped it into her palm. "Thank you sir, have a nice day!" A rift in space opened next to her, which she darted through just before it closed and vanished. The man simply stared blankly a good while after. "...I need a raise." ---------------- Palkia quickly emerged back in the grove where her brother and Hoopa were, her more natural form and scowl quickly returning. "Found it." Giratina blinked. "How'd you find it so fa-" "The 'pay a guy to act like a creepy hobo and pawn it to some nobody' trick is losing its luster, Giratina." Giratina fell silent as Palkia grumbled and popped open the bottle. Immediately a sparking haze of black energy emerged and swirled around Hoopa, and he laughed maniacally as he grew and grew until the haze dispersed to reveal a towering, six-armed, monstrous version of himself. "Yes! My true power! And I know just what i'm going to do with it first!" He created six portals from his hoops and reached through them with all six arms to pull out countless boxes of donuts of various brands. "Hey!" Said Palkia. "You're supposed to help us with-" "Aye, space babe, hold up! Getting my true form back works up an appetite!" He promptly used all six arms to shovel the donuts into his toothy maw and toss the boxes away, let out a resounding belch, then turned back to the two dragons before him. "Alright, appetite sated, I'm ready. What are we gonna need from The Stash for this little renaissance affair?" Palkia's expression became more passive as she put a claw to her chin. "Hmmm..." -------------- In a dimension dominated by an omnipresent blue haze and teal, diamond-like, crystals of various sizes floating through it, Dialga was peaceably reading a book - a long one, he needed it to keep his mind on it for long. He flipped to one page, blinked at something scrawled in the corner, and groaned. "Giratina, must you leave your mortal innuendoes and cultural crude jokes everywhere?" It was right then he heard a voice from behind him."Bigger question, bro, you ready for us to rock your world?" Dialga stiffened with an annoyed expression and turned around. "Please tell me you weren't stupid enough to replicate a certain-" He blinked to find not only Giratina, but Palkia and Unbound Hoopa standing together before him, standing under a banner that said "VACATION TIME!" With a strange teardrop-shaped sigil Dialga didn't recognise below it. "...Alright, what are you three up to?" "We're up to cheering you up by going on a multiversal vacation!" Said Palkia. "Sis got a crazy idea for the theme," said Giratina. "And it only took just under three days for us to get most of the stuff read-" said Hoopa. Suddenly a mass of black energy dispersed from him and entered someplace on Palkia's person, reverting him to the form of a small, poltergeist-like creature. "...Scratch that, exactly three days," said the now-Confined Hoopa. He made another beckoning gesture to Palkia, who wagged a claw back in a scolding fashion. "Ah ah. You're gonna need to be small and innocuous-looking for part of this." "And what exactly are the fine details of "this"?" said Dialga, scanning the other three skeptically. "Well," said Palkia, "You - and really, all of us - could use a load off after... the Cyrus incident..." Everyone grew silent. Dialga stiffened a bit but allowed Palkia to continue. "...But me and the others found a good way to do so!" Said Palkia. "Go on a theme vacation to an out-of-the-way universe and have fun incognito with the locals to let off steam better than Volcanion does!" "Erm," whispered Hoopa, "Knowing Volcanion personally, if you take what you just said metaphorically it totally works,but more literally not so much since she can get kinda-" "I know, stick to the script!" Palkia whispered back. Dialga just stared awkwardly until hesitantly continuing. "...Go on?" "Well," said Palkia, "Giratina and I found a universe just like the thirteenth, newest game in my favorite strategy game series! And Hoopa here's gonna join the ride and let us all have access to local niceties while we're at it!" *"We'll go incognito, chill with the locals, relax, have a good time," said Giratina. "It'll be perfect!" "And I've got all we need to keep access to conveniences back home!" said Hoopa. "It's a win-win situation!" Dialga looked at them all, conflicted, before sighing. "All of you, I appreciate the effort and" - he paused - "concern. But this sounds rather risky, especially given things have gotten iffy via Palkia getting me too deeply into her interests in a less literal fashion. Remember when you tried to get me to read that Home-whatsit comic, sister? I had to drown my sorrows in Giratina's alcohol over all the convoluted meddling with time in its narrative!" Palkia frowned and raised a claw. "Okay, that was an exceptional case, yet I get why you're wary. But me and Giratina found a spacetime coordinate in this universe that'll be totally fine." "How?" said Dialga. "Doesn't that strategy game involve war? We can't barge in on another universe and commit wanton murder on the locals!" "That sweet spot Palkia mentioned is an era of peace, bro, just long enough for a good cooldown," said Giratina. "...Era of peace?" said Dialga. He turned his head away and thought a bit before turning back and nodding. "...That does, in fact, sound nice." He frowned again. "But abandoning our posts here might cause complications, especially so soon after a disruption..." "Well first," said Palkia; "we're not Legendaries from some human fantasy novel that go poof if no one is around to clap their hands and believe, You know we're made of tougher metaphysical stuff than that. We can leave and come right back in a spacetime sense just fine. And just to make sure, Hoopa can help us keep an eye on things back home." Dialga paused, then lowered his head and closed his eyes a bit before looking up and smiling. "...Very well. This vacation could be just what we all need." Palkia pumped her claws. "Yes! Thank you, Dialga, you're going to love this! We're going to love this!" "Alrighty then!" said Hoopa. "Now the multiversal getaway is a thing, we gotta get the disguises ready!" Dialga eyed him oddly. "Disguises?" Hoopa grinned. "Newsflash, Timeasaur! Me and your sis teamed up on the filthy cosplaying and LARPing bit!' ---------- The four Legendaries, all but Hoopa having assumed human forms, were gathered around four of the latter's pocket dimension hoops, all going over a book together with Palkia. "OK, to start I think I'll demonstrate what we're going for..." said Palkia. She hopped into the hoop-portal and emerged a few minutes later wearing a distinctly flamboyant dress-like outfit themed around her more natural dragon form, complete with a long staff that had the Lustrous Orb embedded atop it. "Ta-da!" Dialga raised an eyebrow. "I thought this was a universe stuck in the medieval period, not one of your human magical girl shows." Palkia huffed and waved her staff at Dialga. "Not so fast. I'm a Valkrye, I've got a balance of healing and offense magic. Granted, latter for self-defense, but still." Dialga tilted his head. "So this is one of those character class things?" Palkia smirked. "Exactly." "Ooh!" said Giratina, balling his fists excitedly, "What do I get to be?" Palkia grinned. "Found a perfect one for you, Giratina..." She flipped the book to a new page and presented it to him. "Dark Knight!" "Ooh!" he said again, his red eyes giving a rather off-looking sparkle, "Is this like that one Gligarman movie?" He struck a dramatic pose. "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the vil-" Palkia quickly frowned. "Not quite right either, you've got a lot of both physical and magical power and can still take a hit." Giratina blinked. "Oh, that's cool too! Lemmie get mine on..." He ducked into his own portal and emerged in plate armor themed around his own natural form, complemented with a sword adorned with a Griseous Orb on its hilt. "Ready to kick ***!" <OK, wait, if you guys are all putting on human suits for the locals, how do I get in on that?> said Hoopa. Palkia raised an eyebrow. "You likely have something in that "stash" of yours... " Hoopa placed a mitt-like hand to his chin and thought a bit before his eyes widened. <Wait! There's that one armband doohickey, hold on!> He jumped into his hoop portal and emerged shortly after as a scrawny, bronze-skinned youth, more teenager-ish in looks than his fellows, with pink hair tied back in a ponytail. "Geez, I dunno how you guys are so used to the whole funny looking monkey gig, such weird spindly legs..." He shuddered, then turned to Palkia. "But I'll live with it for this. Speaking of which, what do I go as for this whole LARPing session?" Palkia smirked and turned the pages of the book to a page she held up for Hoopa to see. "Trickster." Hoopa looked and grinned. "That's my style." He lept through his portal again and emerged wearing clothes themed around his confined form that seemed a paradoxical combination of jestery and roguelike. "Ready to role!" He turned to Dialga. "Your turn, vacation boy." Dialga put a hand to his chin and thought, then turned to Palkia. "May I see the book?" Palkia handed it over, with Dialga immediately flipping through it until he came upon a particular page and grinned. "Perfect! This "Manakete" class suits me nicely." Palkia raised an eyebrow. "The dragon one?" "Yes! It'll let me assume my natural form while still blending in!" Palkia scowled. "Hey! You may be vacation boy, but no cheating!" She smiled and flipped to another page in the book. "How about a Taguel? Turns you into a critter other than a dragon, good for variety, huh?" Dialga looked a bit before nodding. "Acceptable." "Great! Can I have your Adamant Orb?" Dialga hesitantly handed it over before Palkia and Hoopa whispered to each other, she dived into his hoop, and emerged with the Adamant Orb emitting a strange glow. "Here you go!" Dialga warily took the orb back and gasped and shuddered a bit as his human ears grew much longer and floppier in shape and excess blue hair sprouted in several places on his body. "What just-" "I tweaked it a bit to let it serve as your Beaststone. It'll let you shift between what you are now and your more beastial form. Though for this form you should get that armor you saw in the book on." Dialga blinked, but hopped into his own hoop anyway, and hopped out in armor that was, like his fellows, themed around his more natural form, but in his case form-fitted around his upper arms, lower legs, waist, and chest with no noticeable weapon. "I... believe I am ready." "OK!" said Palkia. "I think our usual human monikers will work here." "Valentina for you, Howard for Giratina, and Quentin for Dialga, right?" said Hoopa. Palkia smiled. "Yep." Hoopa smiled back. "Call me Bartimaeus then." "Fine by me. Everything we need packed in The Stash already?" Hoopa nodded. "Yep." Palkia turned to Giratina and grinned. "Gratina? Rev up that portal." Giratina grinned back to spread his hands in front of him and summon a large, distorted portal with a bright light emerging from within. "So we're going?" "Ayep!" said Hoopa. "You bet," said Palkia. "But Giratina?" "Yeah sis?" "No flirting with the locals." Giratina raised a finger to object before Palkia cut him off. "Of any gender or species." Giratina grumbled, and crossed his arms as he followed the others into the portal. ***