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avaritia-apotheosis · 3 years ago

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Phantom Children Ch. 8

What's this? An update! Massive thanks to my betas for helping me get through this chapter <3

In Which: A few answers are given to the family and Danny is rudely awoken

[Side note: If you wanna know the general ages of the batfam, its listed in the AO3 version. I also talk about katanas in the end notes ^-^]

AO3 | Prologue | 7 | [ 8 ] | 9 DAMIAN INFORMED TODD—and Drake when he arrived on his bike sometime later on—that the boy whose face is plastered across the monitor was neither a picture of himself nor of Father.

Drake took one glance at the monitor and sighed, pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose. “Just when I thought this day was getting better.”

“What, did that café on 5th finally let customers supersize their drink?”

“God that would be the dream, wouldn’t it?” Drake sighed wistfully. “Nah, but I did get a lead on where some of that stolen Cadmus tech might’ve ended up. I was gonna spend the night following up on it, but I guess we have to deal with,” he gestured to the monitor, “whatever this is.”

Todd leaned against the edge of the computer, arms crossed over the red bat insignia on his chest. “What are we dealing with this time, brat? A clone? An alternate universe counterpart? Magic shenanigans?”

Maybe. Perhaps. All of those were perfectly valid conclusions for the enigma that was Daniel James Fenton. (Why Fenton and not al Ghul? Or even Wayne?)

Damian, too, was a genetic experiment; a ‘test tube baby’ as Drake put it at times. Damian was born for greatness, created to be perfect. The perfect soldier. The perfect assassin. The perfect heir. Was this boy—Daniel—like him as well?

A failed one, then. Perhaps the precursor to Damian’s own existence. But that would not explain why the boy was allowed to exist for so long. His grandfather demanded perfection, especially from those of his own blood. If the boy was a failure, he would have been eliminated immediately, not sent to live with some eccentric scientists in the Midwest.

Damian was not naïve enough to think that his mother and grandfather did not keep secrets from him. On the contrary, he expected it. The League of Shadows dealt in secrets as often as it did in death. Certain information was worth its weight in gold, whether it was given or buried away.

But he could not help the sharp pang in his chest. A lightning strike, quick and electrifying at the notion that they kept secrets about their family from him.

His father’s face flashed in his mind. The shock turned into a slow, dawning horror. That flicker of light, of recognition, as he scrutinized the contents of the flash drive and cross-referenced it with a public database.

And grief.

Damian recognized the grief.

Alfred, too, nearly dropped his tray of fresh-baked cookies when he stepped in front of the monitor. His usual unflappable demeanor was momentarily broken at his father’s whispered “Sixteen years. Alfred— he’s sixteen years old.”

His father knew of the boy. He was allowed to know of Daniel when he was not allowed to know about Damian.

------

Grayson returned to the cave with a distinct lack of energy in his step. His mask dangled off the tips of his fingers, chin angled downwards and covered largely by his hand. For a split second, their eyes met. Grayson shifted his gaze away, scratching the back of his neck. Father told him, then. Damian wondered how much Father revealed to his favorite son.

Damian clucked his tongue and buried himself deeper into the chair, arms crossed and pointedly looking away. If it was not for his accursed ankle, he’d have headed out to the training ring to take his frustrations out on the dummies.

“Oh, thank god you’re here, Dickface. Damian’s completely out of it.”

Damian shot him a look. “Shut up, Todd.”

“Leave him alone, Jay. Is Tim back yet?”

Drake emerged from the changing room in a dark green shirt, a fresh cup of coffee in hand. He took one long sip before exhaling. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“O-kay…” He pressed his hands together, mouth thinned into a grim line. “Uh, hey Tim, glad to see you back safe. Bruce is coming down soon to explain some things.” He let out a deep sigh, carding a hand through his hair. “This kind of thing would probably be better with the girls around, but I—god, I don’t know.”

Todd raised an eyebrow. “Don’t know whether to call Steph and Cass in Hong Kong, or don’t know what’s going on?”

“Yes.”

------

When Father arrived, Pennyworth following dutifully behind him, it was with an aching slowness in his gait. His steps measured and precise, preternaturally quiet as he made his way to stand by Damian’s chair. Damian sat up straighter, shoulders squared and back an inch away from the backrest. The rest, even Todd, stood at attention; an ingrained habit among Robins and an amusing instinct even among the senior heroes of the Justice League when it came to facing the Batman.

His father kept a steady hand on Damian’s shoulder, and Damian, shamefully, leaned into the touch; his head inclined towards his father’s hand so much so that he could feel the ends of his hair being pushed up slightly as he brushed against his father’s forearm.

He spoke with his usual monotone, as if he was heading a Justice League meeting as opposed to unveiling the secrets surrounding that boy. He brought forward the few photos they obtained from the flash drive. “A few weeks ago, we were alerted of suspicious movement from the League of Shadows in Amity Park, Illinois. Their objectives are, as of now, unclear, though it appears to be tied to the death of Amity Park resident, Daniel Fenton.”

One photo was a standard ID picture people get for their driver’s license, the lighting deliberately horrible so that any attempt to look decent would always end in failure. Another photo was a little better; a candid scene of him chatting with two others his age, a Caucasian girl in gothic-style clothes and an African-American holding a sleek, but still very outdated PDA. His blue eyes crinkled at the corners, hand reaching up to his face to stifle a laugh. There were other photos like this, some candid, others posed. At the forefront of each, a boy that looked too much like his father, too much like Damian.

His father glanced at the photos. He shut his eyes and when he opened them again, he fixed them on some distant stalactite in the Cave. “Around six months ago, Daniel was pronounced dead in a vehicular accident. A body was present, but according to police reports, he was identified via his driver’s license as opposed to any kind of DNA profiling.” He leaned over Damian’s chair to pull up a profile of Masters. “Our source—Vladimir Masters, mayor of Amity and a friend of the Fenton family—indicated his belief that Daniel is actually alive. I am inclined to agree.”

“He’s your son, isn’t he,” Drake said, more of a statement than a question.

Father gave a curt nod. “I cannot say for certain until I can perform a DNA test, but I highly suspect that to be the case.”

“First the demon spawn, now this. Great.” Todd made a hand motion towards the screen. “You know, Bruce, not knowing you have a kid once might be a coincidence, but twice? How do you do that?”

“As of three hours ago, I was still under the impression that my son never made it to term.”

“What?”

“Over sixteen years ago I was involved in a mission that put Ra’s and I on the same side. During that time, Talia and I entered a relationship that resulted in a pregnancy. Though initially ecstatic, she eventually led me to believe she miscarried the child and pushed me away. For what ends, I do not know, but trust me Jason, if I knew—” He paused, the hand that was not on Damian’s shoulder curled into a tight fist.

Father pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why she hid it from me then doesn’t matter. Why Talia wants him back now is important. Judging from Daniel’s records, he was adopted into the Fenton family as an infant and has since lived a seemingly normal life as a civilian. His adoptive parents, Jack and Maddie Fenton, are brilliant scientists and engineers focused on the field of paranormal studies. Eccentricities aside, they have zero connections to the League of Assassins or any other concerning parties.”

“So why now?” Dick asked, shifting his concerned gaze from Bruce to the static picture of Danny’s tired smile. “Why, after all this time, decide that now would be the best time to recover him?”

------

Danny’s experienced plenty of rude awakenings before, but waking up at the ass-crack of dawn to avoid his kidnapper-slash-assassin-slash-biological-mom launching a surprise attack takes the fucking cake. He can’t believe he’s saying this, but thank god for all those late night ghost attacks that conditioned him to be a light sleeper. And, of course, the League’s insistence that everyone be in optimal condition regardless of how little sleep you actually got.

Danny kicked Talia off of him, ripping his blanket away before scrambling to his feet. Seriously, if the universe decided to spontaneously give him powers again, he’d really like an upgrade to his ghost senses, please and thank you. Something that works on humans and not just ghosts. Like spidey-senses. He’d really, really like some spidey-senses.

“Your reaction times have improved considerably,” Talia said.

He eyed the katana sheathed beside his bedroll. “Thanks. Who could have guessed that constantly challenging someone to a spar in the unholy hours of morning would make them paranoid to sleep too much? Really, how am I supposed to grow taller at this rate? ” If he could just get it--

She smiled, taking a step forward. “Prepare yourself.”

“Heh.” Danny stepped further away from Talia, keeping his back to the mouth of the cave. One hand stretched in front of him and the other, coated in a green light, was kept hidden behind his back. “Am I actually gonna get some answers today?”

“Let us make it interesting. Last 10 minutes against me and I shall tell you more about your brother.” Talia twirled her blade. “If you happen to draw blood, you may ask any one thing of me.”

“Anything?”

“Within reason.”

His face caught between a grimace and a smile. He’d rather be sleeping right now, but if he had to be awake, then he’d better make the most of it. “Deal.”

Talia’s smile dropped. She veered her body to the right, barely dodging the streak of bright green that whizzed from behind her. The ectoplasmic energy that surrounded the katana bled away as the handle connected with Danny’s outstretched hand.

She quickly glanced back at Danny’s bedding. Beside it lay an empty sheath. “You have telekinesis?”

He shrugged. “It comes and goes.” Yeah, no way was Danny gonna admit that seven-out-of-ten-times he forgot that he had telekinesis. Besides, that shit was hard to do when he wasn’t Phantom.

“A surprise attack from behind is a sound strategy, Daniel. Though it’ll take a lot more than that to harm me.”

Danny pointed to the side of his cheek. “Are you sure about that?”

Talia frowned. She reached up to her face. Her fingers brushed against her cheek and came away with a thin streak of blood.

Danny grinned, pointing his blade at his opponent. “First blood goes to me.”

------

Fact: most fights don’t last long. An average street fight could last anywhere between 25 to 40 seconds, and sword fights rarely last over a minute. Like Talia said, the goal of a fight was to end it with as few injuries to oneself as possible. Humans, even the most skilled ones, can rarely last long in a fight. Prolonged combat is suicide; it makes you tired, makes your muscles heavy. It’s nothing like what Hollywood would have you believe.

Even with Danny’s own enhanced stamina and Talia holding back, he couldn’t last a full ten-minute spar. If Talia didn’t finish him within twenty-five seconds, then he’d fall by his own human limitations.

But the goal wasn’t to spar continuously for ten minutes.

He only had to last that long.

Danny sprinted out of the cave. The sun barely peeked out of the horizon, a thin line of deep orange breaking apart the wide expanse of blue-black sky above. He couldn’t see shit; great news since that meant there’s a good chance Talia couldn’t either, but that doesn’t fix the fact that he can’t see.

Nearly stumbling on the ice, Danny veered to the left. The edges of the lake stopped at towering rocks twice Danny’s height, leaving little room for cover. Though if he remembered correctly, there should be a few crevices here and there to hide in.

“You’ll have to be faster than that, Daniel.”

Shit—

Danny stopped. He brought his sword up to parry Talia’s strike and twisted away, putting distance between them.

Well, so much for just avoiding her for 10 minutes.

He adjusted his grip, keeping his sword steady and eyes trained on Talia as they circled each other. Danny lunged with an overhead strike. Talia used one hand to block the downswing by gripping his wrists. She thrust her sword forward, the tip harshly poking Danny’s abdomen.

“Less than three minutes.” Talia let his wrist go, Danny’s arms slumping to his sides.

He sighed as he sheathed his sword. “Damn, I thought I’d last longer than that.”

“You made a good effort,” Talia assured him. “Putting as much distance between us at the beginning was a good strategy. You recognized the win conditions immediately and attempted a battle of attrition.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “I am very proud of you habibi, especially as you managed to draw first blood.”

A warmth grew in Danny’s stomach at the words, heating his cheeks. Sheepishly, he scratched the back of his head. “I wasn’t entirely sure that would work, honestly.”

“It was clever; half a second later and you might have even killed me. You are an al Ghul through and through” She brushed his hair out of his face. “What would you like as your prize, then?”

Danny’s heart clenched. He frowned, dropping his arm to his side. If I was such an al Ghul, then why didn’t you keep me? The question lodged itself in his throat, stifling his thoughts. It was something he’d been wondering for a while, actually, in the moments of solitude he had at the compound. Talia, during their training, would always remark at his potential. How talented he was, how adaptable he was, how much greater he would have been if he had been trained at a younger age.

Well then, why wasn’t he? Why did she give him up?

But each time he tried to ask, his tongue would turn to lead and the moment would pass, the question still left unsaid and simmering at the back of his mind. A Pandora’s Box that held none of the world’s evil but all of Danny’s possible shortcomings.

He could ask the question now.

He could.

He didn’t.

“Why did you take me?”

Talia tilted her head. “It is because you’re my son.”

“No. Not that. It has to be something more than that. You had sixteen years to come back for me—or, hell, you could have just never left me.” His breath hitched, fingers mussing his hair and hiding his eyes. “Why else did you take me?”

“It is true that there was more than one reason why we decided to retrieve you from Amity Park. One of which is because you are my son and an heir of the Demon’s Head.” Talia stilled. The dark skies of dawn made it impossible for him to read her. “The second reason was to protect you.”

“You kidnapped me…to protect me?”

“Knowledge of the ghosts of Amity have spread through the more insidious parts of the world. There are many out there who would pay exorbitant fees to study one of you or to use you.”

Use him? What did she mean by—

Oh.

Ghosts—Amity Park’s brand of ghosts—were a new element that the world had to contend with. Amity Park might have a crime rate of zero but that wasn’t the case everywhere else. Theft, assault, murder; the world was rampant with crimes and criminals clawing their way to the very top. Having ghosts, even ones with the most basic powerset, would be a huge advantage.

“There’s no way that would work,” Danny insisted. “Most ghosts just want to be left alone, and the ones that want to wreak havoc would never work with humans. The only reason they even work with halfas like me at times is because they still consider us as ghosts.”

“If my sources are to be believed, ghosts might not even get a choice.”

Danny’s blood curdled in his veins.

No.

Someone’s found a way to control ghosts.

#danny phantom #batman #danny phantom x batman crossover #dp fic #phantom children.txt

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glassprism · 4 years ago

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Here's a neat hypothetical I've never seen asked before, what you do think would have played out if Madam Giry followed Raoul all the way down to the lair instead of just partway? AKA how do you think the Phantom would react? I kinda wanna also ask "what do you think would happen if Carlotta followed Raoul down instead" just for comical reasons but the first one if my more serious question!

I think to some extent it depends on the portrayal and the version? I mean, clearly we’re talking about the musical here (I can’t see Leroux’s Madame Giry following Raoul; for one thing, she’s not the one with info to the Phantom’s lair), but even within that, we get some startling variations.

If we go with solely the musical’s Madame Giry, the little we know of her is that she seems to be aiding the Phantom more out of fear than any loyalty (”And there have been too many accidents!”). She did see the Phantom on display, but she didn’t aid him, nor does she have a particularly strong, motherly bond with Christine compared to other versions (more on that later). Musical Madame Giry seems to be a fairly observant woman who keeps a lot of information to herself (”Then help us!” “I wish I could!”), possibly because she fears that the Phantom will do even worse, until even she has felt he’s gone too far. So I’m not sure she’s the type of person who’d even join Raoul... but if she did, I also don’t know that the Phantom will react that strongly to her, again because we don’t see much of a positive relationship between them. I feel like at most, the Phantom will see her and go, “You! Betrayed me too, huh? Well get out of the way, I have bigger issues right now - like Punjabing this Vicomte!”

It’s a different case with 2004 film Madame Giry and, heck, Phantom of Manhattan Madame Giry. I conflated the two because they both have similar relationships to the Phantom - both helped him escape from the freak show, both helped him hide in the opera house, both seem to be aiding him out of a mixture of pity for his circumstances and respect for his genius. Both also have a stronger motivation for joining Raoul compared to musical Madame Giry - 2004’s Giry has helped raise Christine since she was orphaned while Phantom of Manhattan Giry has strong affection for Raoul, calling him one of her “boys”.

So what would her presence change? IMO it could end up going either way - the Phantom might see her and feel an even stronger sense of betrayal, sending him spiraling further downwards. Or perhaps, between her and Christine, they can get him to calm down and the ‘Final Lair’ will end sooner? But this also depends on them placating Raoul, who might be confused as to why everyone seems intent on treating this murderer and kidnapper of his girlfriend with kid gloves, and whose presence alone might piss off the Phantom more... So I tend to lean towards the first scenario. And while it’s funny to think about and has been the subject of many a joke, I don’t think Madame Giry would actually give the Phantom a motherly smack and go, “Bad Phantom! Bad Opera Ghost! Apologize to the young lady this instance and stop this nonsense!” and end the ‘Final Lair’ in fifteen seconds.

And finally, we might as well discuss Love Never Dies Madame Giry. Oh, LND Giry, what do we do with you? Ostensibly the same character as musical Giry, she’s so different in the sequel that it’s hard to envision a scenario where she’s in the ‘Final Lair’, as we’re extrapolating her character ten years back and trying to make her fit with musical Giry’s actions. Oh, and that’s not taking into account rewrites of her character. But from what we do see, LND Giry seems to care very little about Raoul and Christine and even the Phantom, at least compared to her own interests, though she seems to feel she’s done enough that she deserves more consideration from the Phantom (”We stayed with him. Loved and idolized him!”). On the other hand, she doesn’t exactly do anything other than complain and, you know, tell Meg and send her spiraling into a breakdown, so one wonders just how much action she would take.

Honestly, I don’t even know. Technically, if she went to the lair with Raoul, it should be a similar scenario to musical Giry’s arrival. But LND plasters on completely different motivations for her, and sure, it might be that she’s thinking all these things as justification for spending ten years with the Phantom and not because she actually believed it at the time. But part of me is very amused at having LND Giry in the ‘Final Lair’ and her just, I dunno, shouting at Christine (to the tune of ‘Ten Long Years’), “Don’t choose Raoul! Do not make a new start! Don’t pick beauty and youth over genius and art!” etc.

Now if Carlotta went down with Raoul, full of vengeance for her dead lover Piangi, well, that’s a scenario where the ‘Final Lair’ would definitely be over in five seconds flat. Especially if she goes full Glocklotta.

#Anonymous #GP gets asks

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404gendernotfound · 4 years ago

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Come back to me (Dabi x Reader)

Summary: After an accident you are brought to the hospital by Keigo to see how Dabi was doing. Since he was hit by a wave that send him into a sleeping state Keigo thinks that using your quirk on him might be the only chance to save him.

Contains: little bit of angst, fluff

Warnings: none

Wordcount: 5,5 K

Enjoy!

________________________________________________________________

Living with a quirk was a dream for a lot of people since they were a child. The thought of becoming a hero and helping people was mesmerizing and a lot of quirkless people were getting jealous of their abilities. While others dreamed of such a life, I hoped to get rid of my quirk. They called me “Dreamer” since I was able to use my quirk to enter peoples dreams and interpret them. Other than that I could also control my own dreams which was kind of cool but didn’t really make me a hero since I wasn’t really able to help people. For a long time I thought those were the only abilities I had until an accident had happened that changed my life for the worse. Villains had attacked me and my best friend which made my quirk reacted to one of the attacks sending a wave towards my friend that I couldn’t really understand. I had never happened before and it scared me. My best friend fell into an uncurable coma and passed away not even a month after the attack. After that had happened I tried everything to get rid of my quirk for good but nothing worked. I stumbled upon two guys that felt just as miserable as I and we started to become friends. My feathered friend Hawks and the ex member of the league of Villains Dabi helped me find a way to at least weaken my quirk. Someone had developed a quirk dampener that thankfully worked on me. Even since then I kept wearing them every day so that I would never hurt anyone ever again.

It was a normal and boring day as I left my apartment. While I was walking down the street I suddenly heard the sound of wings flapping above me and my name being called before I was lifted up in the air. I looked up at my friendly kidnapper and shook my head.

“Keigo…How many times do I have to tell you that you should stop just picking me up from the street whenever you feel like it?”, I asked and suddenly noticed the serious look on his face.

“What’s going on?”, I asked now more serious since I could see that something was going on.

“No time to complain now. I need you to help me”, he said and kept looking forward.

“Where are you taking me? And how in gods name am I supposed to help you?”, I asked totally confused.

“There’s no time to explain. You’ll see soon”, he said before he picked up the pace.

We landed on a balcony of one of the rooms at the hospital.

“Why are we here?”, I asked still confused.

“Look into the room.”

I opened the door to the room and stepped inside. As I saw who the person laying in one of the beds was, I quickly walked over and sat down next to the bed. I grabbed his hand and then looked back at Keigo.

“What happened to him?”, I asked him while grabbing one of Dabis hand and softly caressed it.

“We were outside the city when someone attacked us out of nowhere. I still have no idea who they were but some kind of wave hit Dabi and ever since then he hasn’t woken up. The doctors said he is in a pretty bad condition and if he doesn’t wake up soon he might die.”, he explained and sat down next to me.

As soon as he had said those words, I felt like I was brought back to that day when I watched my friend die laying in one of these hospital beds. My body began to shake and tears started to build in my eyes threatening to flow any second. Keigo grabbed my free hand and softly stroked it.

“I know you don’t use your quirk anymore ever since that accident happened but I think you might be able to wake him up again.”, Keigo said with hope in his voice.

“I…I can’t…I’m sorry Keigo. I can’t help him. I don’t even know if my quirk still works. I don’t want to hurt him”

I started to cry in frustration. I couldn’t just use him as guinea pig and maybe fail in the end. I couldn’t forgive myself for being the reason why I lost another person I loved. Keigo placed his hand on my shoulder and softly stroked it.

“I’m sure you can do it. You can enter peoples dreams and since this burned chicken nugget is currently in some kind of sleeping state you might be able to get to him. I will be here by your side and if something happens we’ll stop right away.”

I had to laugh at his ridiculous nickname for Dabi but maybe he was right. If I didn’t do anything he might just not make it. I wasn’t able to save my best friend but maybe I would be able to save him. I wiped away my tears and looked at Keigo.

“Promise me to wake me up if anything happens”, I said and he nodded.

“I promise”

I was afraid that I would fuck this up but maybe I was Dabis only chance to ever wake up again. I held my hands out for Keigo to take off the dampeners since he was the only person who had the passcode to take them off. As they were gone from my wrists I felt really weird. I rubbed the places they had been and looked at Keigo. He smiled at me encouraging and gave me a little nod. I then grabbed Dabis hand again and grabbed Keigos with my other hand. He squeezed it reassuring that he was there and I wasn’t alone which made me calm down a little bit again. I took one deep breath before I closed my eyes and concentrated on Dabis hand. It was weird that it almost felt as if I was being pulled into Dabis dream as my quirk worked its magic.

As I entered his dream I looked around to locate where I was.

“Y/n are you ok?”, I heard Keigos voice from very far away.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry”, I said and felt my hand being squeezed.

I looked down at myself to see that there was nothing. I was glad that I was still able to separate the real and the dream world even though this world was really strange. Something was definitely wrong with this dream and I really needed to find Dabi as soon as possible. I started walking around the place trying to figure out where I was. It looked so familiar, but I couldn’t really point my finger at it. As I ran along one of the streets the dream suddenly changed. I wasn’t on the street anymore but right in front of my apartment. That was definitely weird. I wanted to open the door when I noticed that I couldn’t touch the handle.

“Oh no”, I said and reached out to touch the door.

Instead of feeling the surface of the cold metal door my hand just moved through it as if there was no door. The feeling of stepping through the door – literally – was extremely weird. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I normally could touch everything when I entered someone’s dream but it was almost like I was a ghost. This would make getting in touch with Dabi even harder if I really was a ghost in his dream. As I walked past the mirror in the corridor I looked at myself. At least I could still see myself in the mirror which was a good sign. I walked through the apartment just to see that there was nobody here.

“Why the hell did this dream bring me here?”, I thought out loud.

Just after these words left my mouth, I heard keys being turned in the lock and the door opened. Since I didn’t know if others could see me I decided to hide and see who was coming in.

“So what do you wanna eat for lunch?”

“Whatever you make is fine, my love”

These voices were so damn familiar, but I somehow couldn’t recognize them until I had them in my vision. My jaw almost literally dropped to the floor when I saw who these voices belonged too. I was looking at Dabi and another version of…me…and they were kissing. What the hell was going on? As I noticed that Dabi was about to walk towards me I hid again. He passed me without noticing that I was there and walked into the kitchen. I quickly moved from my hiding spot to the living room where the other me was currently sitting on the couch. Since I wasn’t sure if she would be able to hear me with just me calling out I walked towards the couch and stood in front of her. As her eyes landed on me she stared at me in shock.

“You are me”, she said and stood up to take a better look at me.

“I know. But I don’t know why you are here. What is this?”, I asked her.

“What do you mean what is this? This is our home. Mine and Dabis”, she answered and looked at me confused.

“Yeah I see that, but that’s wrong. This is not real”, I said and she began to laugh.

“You mean you are not real”, she said towards me and tried to touch me just to reach right through me.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?”, she asked now a little bit angry about me intruding her home.

“Little mouse, who are you talking to?”, Dabi suddenly said and already approached the room.

It was weird to hear him call the person in front of me such a nickname. As he arrived just next to us he looked at her confused.

“I’m talking with her”, she said and pointed at me.

It looked like he was looking right through me. Wait? Couldn’t he see me? He turned back to the other me with concern on his face.

“There is no one. What are you talking about?”, he asked and she looked at me again.

“He can’t see me”, I stated and she nodded in agreement.

Dabi looked back in my direction before he turned back to her. He must be thinking she was loosing her mind.

“You should sit down on the couch. You probably just imagined something. It was a long day after all. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me”, he said and softly kissed her lips before he left.

“This is bad. This is very bad. Keigo can you hear me?”, I called out walking around the room like I was lost since I needed to think of something.

“What are you-“, she said before she was cut off by another voice.

“Yes I can. What’s going on?”, Keigo asked just like a whisper in my ear.

“How-“

“There is another me here and she seems to have a relationship with Dabi. But apparently she’s the only one who can hear and see me. How am I supposed to get Dabi out of here if he can’t see me?”

The closer I got to the end of my rambling the more I started to panic. This was all wrong. Nothing was working the way it was supposed to be.

“Shit. Calm down. There has to be a way to get to him. You’re intelligent. You and the other you will find a way.”, Keigo tried to encourage me.

“The other me doesn’t really seem cooperative.”

“HEY. I CAN HEAR YOU”, she protested and Keigo laughed.

“That really sounds like you”, Keigo laughed and I rolled my eyes.

I stopped to walk around aimlessly and looked at myself.

“We need to find a way for me to communicate with him”, I said towards her and she shook her head.

“No. I’m not gonna let you take him away.”, she said and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“If I don’t take him with me he will die. I can’t let him die. He is my family together with Keigo”

She looked as if she was thinking about my words. She then sat back down on the couch.

“You find your way. I’m not gonna help you”

I should have known better that I couldn’t count on myself.

“Fine. Then I’ll have to figure it out myself.”, I said and stormed off to the kitchen to see what Dabi was doing.

He was currently cooking as I arrived at the door. Seeing the expression on his face he looked really happy. I had never seen him smile like this before. I had to think back at how he had kissed the other me and suddenly started to feel bad.

“I don’t wanna take her away from you but I can’t lose you. This is not our world or reality. This is wrong”, I mumbled and continued to watch him.

As he moved the steaming pot from the stove to the side and the window over it steamed up I had an idea. I moved to the window and tried to write into the fogged-up part. I had to concentrate a lot but it actually worked. I wrote “This is not real” onto the window just before he looked towards the pot.

“Come on. Look up before it’s gone”, I said and finally watched him look at the window.

“That’s…weird”, Dabi said before he watched the letters disappear again.

I moved to the window again and looked around. As I caught my reflection in the window I was reminded of the mirror again. If I could see myself in the mirror, maybe he could too. He kept looking at the window every few seconds. He must be feeling that something was up. I started to write onto the window again as he looked there.

“What the”, he said and watched the letters appear out of nowhere.

“Go to the mirror, Dabi” I had written, and he looked around to see if someone was pulling a prank on him or if he really was going crazy.

“I’m losing my mind”, he said and continued to cook.

“Come on Dabi. Don’t make me spell it out for you”, I mumbled before I started to write “mirror” onto the window again and again.

“I’m going, alright?”, he said as he saw it and turned off the stove before walking off.

I followed him and stepped into vision as he looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes widened and he looked next to him where I was standing in the mirror but he couldn’t see me.

“How?”, he asked and I slightly smiled at him.

“Hey Dabi”, I said hoping that he could maybe hear me.

“Your voice…it sounds like her. You look like her. What are you?”, Dabi said and I sighed happy knowing that he was now able to hear me.

“It’s me, Y/n. I’m sorry it took me so long to figure out how to talk to you. My other me wasn’t really cooperative. It’s hard to figure out a world that’s not real”, I explained to him and watched his confused face.

“Wait. So the Y/n with me isn’t real?”

I nodded and his face looked even more confused.

“What’s going on? How is this not real?”, he asked his hand searching the air next to him for me but he couldn’t grab anything.

“When you and Keigo were outside the city you were attacked and send into some kind of sleeping state. He brought me to the hospital to use my powers so I could enter the dream you are trapped in and bring you back. I know it’s a lot but please just trust me”

“How am I supposed to trust someone who is not even here?”, he asked, his voice had changed from confusion to slight anger.

“You are not”, I suddenly heard behind me and turned around to see her standing there watching us.

“Y/n”, he said towards her and she walked to him, putting her arms around him.

“I am real. She is just trying to take you away from me. Can’t you see that”, she whispered and he nodded.

Dabi hugged her tight and then looked back in the mirror but his eyes suddenly filled with horror. I followed his gaze just to see that the me he was currently holding looked nothing like me. There were no human features to be seen only a black figure. He pushed her away and looked back at my reflection.

“You are right. This is not real. How do we get out of here?”, he asked me and I looked back at her who was now laying on the floor looking at us angry.

“You need to somehow take my hand. But you can’t see me”, I said while my eyes started to fill with tears as I tried to reach for him just to grab right through him.

“The mirror”, he said and then stepped forward putting his hand on the cold surface.

Dabi was right. Through the mirror he was able to hear and see me so maybe if I placed my hand on it too, he might be able to feel me. I stepped closer to the mirror and then placed my hand on it. To my surprise it stayed there and my body was flooded with warmth.

“You are here”, I heard next to me and as soon as I turned to Dabi I was already embraced by him.

“Finally”, I sighed and buried my face in his chest.

I’ve never been this glad to feel the warmth of another human beeing. I could finally break through this weird dreams’ boarders. As great as staying in Dabis arms was, we really had to get out of here as soon as possible. We separated from the hug and he looked down at me.

“Let’s get the hell out of here”, he said smiling and grabbed my hands.

I looked around one last time to see if I had missed something before I closed my eyes and concentrated on getting us out of the dream. A sudden cold flooded my body as we were pushed out of the dream back into reality.

I woke from the dream abruptly and instantly looked around to see that we were in the hospital again. I sighed loudly and looked at Keigo who still sat next to me.

“Are you ok? What happened in there?”, he asked curious.

“I’m fine, I guess. Everything was a little bit weird and scary but I broke through. It took some time to get to him, but it should be fine now. I hope”, I said and grabbed Dabis hand with both of mine.

He should be waking up any minute. I was getting really nervous as he kept sleeping for some more. Did I mess something up? I couldn’t have. This was my only chance. Maybe he was just still exhausted from the attack and the dream must have been stressful for him too. I lifted his hand to my face and leaned my forehead against it.

“Come back to me, please”, I whispered and closed my eyes.

I felt Keigos hand softly stroke my back as my eyes started to fill with tears. I couldn’t have messed up. I would never be able to forgive myself if I lost him. It was quiet in the room for some time and the silence almost felt painful.

“Hey! Hands off my little mouse, birdie”, I suddenly heard and instantly lifted my head.

“Dabi”, I almost screamed and instantly jumped into his arms.

“Whoa, whoa. Easy there. You’re gonna kill me”, he laughed and hugged me tighter, burying his face in the crook of my neck.

“You saved me.”, he whispered and moved so that he could take a look at me.

The expression on his face was soft and loving as he saw some tears slowly run down my cheeks. My heart was suddenly beating really fast. I was so damn glad I got him back. I could have lost another dear person in the blink of an eye and I really didn’t want to go through that pain again.

“Don’t cry. You’re my hero”, Dabi added as he softly brushed away some tears with his thumbs before he suddenly pressed his lips to mine without a warning.

“Hey”, I said and slightly pushed him away just to see his smiling face.

“I just needed to make sure you are real”, he said grinning while my cheeks started to burn from embarrassment.

“I feel like I shouldn’t be here”, I heard Keigo laugh next to us.

Oh god, I had totally forgotten that he was here too. I blushed even more and watched Dabi grin even brighter as he saw my embarrassed face.

“I’m glad you’re back, man”, Keigo said and pat Dabis shoulder as he stood up from his seat.

“Me too”, he answered and looked back at me.

“I’ll leave you two alone. You look like you have a lot to talk about”

Keigo left the room and took off shortly after he had entered the balcony. Now it was just me and Dabi and even though we usually got along quite well then we were alone it somehow felt a little awkward. As I turned my face towards him again I noticed that his expression wasn’t as happy anymore as before. I reached out to grab his hand and watched his mouth curve into a slight smile.

“You’re thinking about the dream again, right?”, I asked and watched him nod.

“Yeah. I should have noticed that it wasn’t real. It was too good to be true”, he mumbled slightly laughing and looked at my hand that he was holding.

He looked like he wished to be back in his dream world. I felt guilty for pulling him out of his own paradise but if this was what I had to endure just to keep him alive I would gladly take that.

“How long were you in that dream? Like it was a few hours in the real world, but it must have been a lot more for you”

“6 Months”, he just said and my jaw dropped.

“Six months? That’s a long time to be trapped in a dream. Now I understand why you didn’t believe me at first”

We both stayed in silence for a little bit. It seemed to be hard for the both of us to talk about what had happened in the dream. I had to think back at what I had learned about the magic of dreams and how they manifested. I remembered what I once read. “In situations that make us anxious and scared our dreams tend to send us to a place the heart most desires.” It had said in one of the countless books I had read about dreams. I looked back at Dabi and thought about the dream again. He seemed to have been in a happy relationship with the other me. Does that mean that his heart desired me? He must have notices that I was bothered by something since he squeezed my hand to get my attention.

“If there’s something you want to talk about because of the dream just say it”, he said in a rather cold tone.

“I’m still confused about why you were with…me…like the other me. Why did the dream pair you with me? And why did the dream instantly bring me to you when I entered it?”, I mumbled and watched Dabi frown.

He looked at our joined hands before he pulled me onto the bed and placed me with my back against his chest before he wrapped his arms around my waist to pull me closer.

“Dabi…”

“Just listen to me, alright?”

I nodded and waited for him to speak. He seemed to gather some more courage to tell me what he had on his mind since he took a few deep breaths before he started to speak and placed his head on my shoulder.

“I’m sure you have already figured out the ‘dreaming what the heart desires’ part so I don’t need to spell that out for you anymore. But I do need to tell you why I couldn’t believe you and couldn’t fight the dream. When that wave hit me, I woke up in that dream, but I didn’t know it wasn’t real until you had taken care of me and approached me romantically. You would have never done that in the real world. I figured I needed to find a way out but the thought of having a chance to be with you even just for a short time was too tempting. After I had gotten used to waking up to you every morning and being able to kiss and touch you to my heart content, I must have completely forgotten that all of it wasn’t real. So when I saw the you I remembered from the real world in the mirror I was confused. I knew that the current world wasn’t supposed to exist and that the you that I always thought of wasn’t the one I had been spending my time with but you. It just all felt so real. I’m sorry for not instantly believing you”

I was a little bit overwhelmed by all the information he had shared with me. This all felt like a big confession coming from his side and my heart could barely handle it. I grabbed one of Dabis hands and placed it on my heart so he could feel my heartbeat.

“You know…I was really scared to lose you when Keigo brought me here. I thought I might never be able to spend time with you again. To make stupid jokes, tease each other or just sit in silence and watch a movie. But most importantly…I was scared that I might never be able to tell you how much you mean to me”, I whispered and noticed how he buried his face in my neck while his hand still rested on my heart.

“You really know how to make a man fall for you all over again”, he mumbled against my neck before he placed a soft kiss there.

I noticed my heart stop for a second before it continued to beat even faster than before. I can’t believe I never noticed the tension between us before but now that I knew how Dabi felt about me it was way too obvious how we both longed for the other all this time. I carefully removed Dabis hands from around me and turned towards him. As our eyes met, I automatically reached out to cup his cheeks with my hands and softly stroked them with my thumbs. He closed his eyes and leaned into my touch.

“I feel like I’m still dreaming”, he whispered and opened his eyes again.

“You are not. This is real”, I whispered back and moved closer so I could lean my forehead against his.

Dabi grabbed my hands from his face and moved them so he could intertwine his fingers with mine. I had to smile as I saw the slight blush on his cheeks. We stayed like this for some time until I playfully nuzzled my nose against his before we separated.

“I’ll go get a doctor to check up on you and then we’ll get you home, alright?”, I suggested and he nodded still smiling.

Even a blind could see how happy he was right now. I quickly kissed his cheek before I got up from the bed to search for a doctor. After Dabis vitals had been checked, the doctor told us that he could go home, but he would have to rest for a few more days before he could jump back into action. We thanked the doctor as he left the room and Dabi got up from the bed.

“Should I call Keigo to get you home?”, I asked and he shook his head.

“No, As long as you accompany me, I’m fine”, he said and instantly grabbed one of my hands.

I smiled at his new unusual behavior and lightly squeezed his hand. We left the hospital and walked all the way to Dabis apartment which thankfully wasn’t that far away. The way there felt like an eternity since none of us said a word the entire walk. As we arrived there Dabi opened the door and pulled me into the apartment with him. He released my hand and turned towards me.

“Wait here”, he said and then walked further into the apartment.

It took some time until he came back with a bag in his hands.

“Dabi…”, I sighed already knowing where this was going to go.

He looked down at me and sighed too. As he opened his mouth, but no words dared to slip from his lips, he just grabbed one of my hands and looked deep into my eyes.

“Please”, he pleaded in a quiet voice.

I didn’t know if it was a good idea to take him back to my apartment, especially because of the dream but he seemed so desperate and sad that I couldn’t say no.

“Alright. Come”, I said and we left the apartment again.

I was exhausted as we arrived back at my place. After I had opened the door Dabi had already vanished somewhere in the apartment before I could even take off my shoes. It was weird to have him here since he barely ever came over before but for him it must be like coming home. I shook my head to get these thoughts of the dream out of my head and then walked into the corridor. I walked past the living room to my bedroom, seeing that the door was open. Dabi let himself fall onto the mattress and buried his face in my pillow.

“Are you ok?”, I asked and walked over to the bed, sitting down at the edge to look at him.

“Yeah. I’m home now”, he whispered and continued to drown in my pillow.

As he realized what he had said he looked up at me with a slightly hurt expression.

“Sorry…I keep bringing it up”, he mumbled and looked to the floor in embarrassment.

I reached out with my hand to softly pet his head before slightly smiling.

“It’s alright. It will take some time for you to adjust to the real world again. Take your time. If you need anything I’ll be in the living room”, I said before I stood up and wanted to leave the room.

“Wait!”, he called out for me as I was about to walk out the door.

“Yeah?”

“Can you…I mean…nevermind”, he said and turned his head away.

I stepped back into the room and closed the door behind me before walking over to the bed again.

“Scoot over”

He looked up at me as if he had seen a ghost just now. The expression on his face changed from surprise to a somehow even sadder one than before.

“You don’t have to…”, he began but I didn’t let him finish the sentence.

“Scoot over already”, I emphasized again.

This time he listened to me and moved over on the bed. I laid down right next to him and pulled to covers over the both of us. Dabi still looked at me like a puppy that had been abandoned. I sighed and pulled him towards me. I almost had to force him to put his arms around me. I buried one of my hands in his hair and placed the other one on his back drawing random patterns on it with my fingers.

“Is this what you wanted?”, I whispered and watched him nod slowly.

“Was it so hard to ask?”, I continued to ask and he nodded again.

I softly placed a kiss on his head before I looked at him again. He tightened the grip on my waist and cuddled closer before he looked up at me.

“Tell me if I’m being too much”, he whispered.

“I will”, I answered before I leaned forward to place a kiss on his forehead.

He closed his eyes and smiled. I was glad he seemed to feel better now. After some time of complete silence he began to speak again.

“It still doesn’t feel real somehow. Being able to hold you like this in my arms and not having to worry about you pushing me away. It feels so strange…but in a good way. I like this”, he mumbled against my chest and snuggled even closer.

“I never thought you would ever lay in my bed, cuddled against me and so close to me that I can feel your breath on my skin. I’m really happy right now”, I whispered back and watched him turn his face towards me again.

“Me too”

#bnha dabi #dabi my hero academia #dabi x reader #touya todoroki #bnha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia

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crystalstar8 · 4 years ago

Text

Knights of the Night (ch. 4)

Chapter 4

Ch 1, ch 2, ch 3, ch 4, ch 5

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29139240/chapters/71536491

pairing: Jungkook x oc

genre: vampire au, college au, twilight, romance

word count: 3,100

warnings: blood (obviously), kidnapping, child kidnapping, needles, France

notes: vampires, vampire au, college, college au, so many twilight references, blood, needles, kidnapping, children, homelessness, dance, ballet, flashbacks, romance, slow burn, probably no smut, idk yet tho, France, French things, attempted genocide, inaccurate French history, bisexual main character, @strawberriewithchocolate-blog @mozy-j @daechwitad-2

summary: Catalina starts college in a small town all the way across the country. She doesn’t know anyone and isn’t exactly looking for friends. She just wants to focus on dance. But when she meets fellow dance major, Jimin, and adventurous, fellow freshman, Jungkook, Catalina ends up discovering a whole new side to the small college town; one that is dangerous but oh so enticing...

“Jungkook, please don’t,” Catalina said from behind the counter. Jungkook was reaching for the unwrapped Kit Kat on the ground under a rack of “St. Briggs Lodge” sweatshirts.

“Three second rule!” he said.

“You found it there! You didn’t drop it!” said Catalina. She watched in horror as he picked it up and bit into it.

“It’s fine. It’s not even old,” he said. Catalina groaned and put her head in her hands. The bell above the door rang as a customer walked in. Jungkook ran to join Catalina behind the counter as he stuffed the rest of the Kit Kat into his mouth. They tried to look busy folding the t-shirts in the box behind the counter. Catalina peeked at whoever it was that came in. Two people were browsing the ceramic fairy and dragon figurines. Two guys, one slightly taller than the other. Catalina couldn’t see their faces from where she was, but they looked like they might be hot.

“Potential hottie alert,” Catalina whispered. Jungkook looked up and tried to catch a glimpse of them. The two men were chatting with each other quietly. One of them turned around. He was wearing sunglasses, but Catalina could tell he was definitely a hottie. When he came more into view, Catalina eyed him over more. His shoulders looked strong and his chest was muscular, she could tell even in his sweater…

“Thighs,” Jungkook whispered. Catalina looked down at the tight jeans that hugged the man’s thighs perfectly.

“Thighs,” Catalina agreed. The other man was just as beautiful; soft hair, lanky but strong looking figure, sharp jawline. This guy wore sunglasses too, red tinted aviators. “Who the hell are these guys?”

Jungkook shrugged.

“Thank you!” the red sunglasses guy said as the two men made their way out of the store.

“Wow, what a treat,” Catalina said as soon as the door fell shut.

“It’s not even winter yet,” said Jungkook. “And we’re already getting the hot tourists.”

“Are the winter tourists usually hot?” asked Catalina.

“A lot of the surfers from down south come up here in the winter to stay at the lodge, and they’re all these tanned, hot people from Los Angeles. It’s fun,” said Jungkook.

“I’m sure. They didn’t really look like tourists though,” said Catalina.

“No not really,” said Jungkook.

“Hey, so I’ve been thinking,” said Catalina.

“About?”

“About that story you told at the bonfire,” said Catalina.

“I think we’re thinking the same thing,” said Jungkook. “Okay, on three, let’s say what we’re thinking. One, two, three, let’s break into the house.”

“I wanna see the house.”

They looked at each other before laughing.

“Well, I don’t wanna break in if someone’s living there, but I definitely want to see it,” said Catalina. “I had a dream about it last night.”

“Did my scary story give you nightmares? That’s awesome,” said Jungkook.

“I don’t know, I’ve been having the same dream for a few weeks now. But this time it was the house you described in your story,” said Catalina.

“What are your dreams about?” asked Jungkook.

“I don’t usually remember most of it, but I’m always being chased by this group of people who are supernaturally faster and stronger than me.”

“That’s crazy. Maybe it means ghosts are real and your dreams are telling us we need to go ghost hunting in that house,” said Jungkook.

“I don’t know how you got to that conclusion,” said Catalina. “But sure. Let’s do it.”

“Oh my god, yes! I’m so excited. I have this camera that can do night vision, I’ve always wanted to do like a ghost hunting documentary,” said Jungkook. “We’ll come up with code names for the documentary. I’ll be JK Booker, a veteran ghost hunter who’s coming out of retirement for the job of a lifetime. You can be Claire Valdivant, a clairvoyant who can talk to spirits.”

Catalina laughed until her stomach hurt.

“How long have you thought about this?” she wheezed.

“I just came up with it-“

“Bullshit!”

“I’ve been wanting to do this my whole life! Just let me live my dream!” he said.

Catalina wiped a tear from her eye and said, “No, I’m totally in. Let’s do it. Hopefully, no one lives there, I really wanna make this documentary now.”

“We can invite Jimin, since you guys are friends now,” said Jungkook. “I’ll have to come up with a character for him.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m Sergeant Vic, a former detective who quit the police force after witnessing a ghostly murder. Now I spend my days searching for the truth about the paranormal,” Jimin said. “You can call me Sarge.”

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting you to be so into this,” said Catalina. The three of them were in Jungkook’s garage. He was packing his trunk with camera and sound equipment, along with rope, flares and flashlights. Catalina figured they wouldn’t need much else other than the flashlights, but she wasn’t about to say anything to ruin the fun. She was definitely ready for her role. She had wanted to get into character as much as she could so she wore a low riding skirt with a crocheted crop top. She even had a pair of round sunglasses resting on top of her head. Jimin had arrived in slacks, suspenders, a fedora, and a beige trench coat.

“I like your fedora,” said Jungkook.

“Thanks. It’s my brother’s. He went through a phase in high school,” said Jimin.

“I thought that was you,” said Jungkook.

“No, I had the muscle shirt phase,” said Jimin. “Equally as bad.”

“Right. Well, I think we have everything we need,” said Jungkook. “We’ll park at the souvenir store and then walk from there. It shouldn’t be too far.”

“Shotgun!” Catalina yelled as she ran for the passenger seat. Jimin sighed and went to the backseat.

The forest flew past them as Jungkook drove them up into the mountains. They parked in the tiny parking lot next to the store, which was closed at this hour of the night. In the parking lot, before they started their hike, Jungkook attached lavaliers to their collars.

“Protect these things with your life. They’re expensive,” said Jungkook.

The sun was just about to set. They’d be doing their hike back in the dark. Catalina didn’t know how she felt about that, especially because of that kidnapper on the loose. But she had pepper spray in her fanny pack and Jungkook had a huge knife strapped to his utility vest, so she figured they’d be fine.

The hike wasn’t too long. They managed to find the rocky crag Jungkook had described in his story, which looked intimidating, but Jungkook led the way through an easy path to the top. The trail led them to the cobblestone driveway and a gated property.

“This is it?” asked Catalina.

“This is it,” said Jungkook. “Holy shit, this is crazy. It looks exactly the same! Well, no, there’s flowers in the front now. It was all overgrown back then.”

“There’s definitely someone living here,” said Catalina.

“Let’s look for a side door,” said Jimin.

Catalina sighed. “If we get arrested tonight, I am absolutely throwing you guys under the bus.”

“Well, that’s rude. I wouldn’t do that to you,” said Jungkook. “I thought we were ride or die?”

“Yeah, wait a second. Are we resorting to every man for himself if we get caught?” asked Jimin. “I don’t want to get arrested.”

“We won’t get arrested. I don’t think there’s anyone living here. It still looks overgrown and abandoned,” said Jungkook. “We should probably figure this out before we go in. Ride or die? Or every man for himself?”

“Ride or die,” said Catalina. “I trust you guys.”

“Ride or die,” said Jimin.

“Ride or die,” said Jungkook. “Let’s get it.”

Jungkook pulled out his camera and started recording.

“This is JK Booker here with Clair and Sarge,” Jungkook said, making his voice sound deep and gravelly. He turned the camera to Catalina and Jimin. “We’re here at the mountain mansion, famous for holding ancient spirits. Tonight, the three of us are going to talk to those spirits.”

Catalina led the way as they walked to the side of the massive mansion, searching for a side door. Jungkook brought up the rear, in order to catch everything on camera. They came upon a cracked, overgrown patio which led to the glass door of what used to be a conservatory. The steps up to the patio were crumbled, so they had to climb up the side. The glass door opened easily. The three of them crept into the glass room, eyeing the broken and overturned pots spilling dusty soil across the tiled floor. At the other end of the conservatory was another door, presumably leading into the house.

They entered into a kitchen. It was dark and there were cobwebs above the cupboards. It didn’t look like it had been abandoned for long. Maybe a year or two. Catalina wasn’t sure. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest. This was much more adventure than she’s ever had before. They went further into the house.

“Here we are,” Jungkook whispered. “In the belly of the beast. Guys, keep your eyes peeled for any suspicious sounds or voices.”

“Got it,” said Catalina. “Wait, I feel…a presence.”

“Who is it, Claire?” asked Jimin. “Is it a spirit?”

“It is a spirit,” said Catalina. She closed her eyes and held out her hands. “Someone is nearby. They have a strong energy. An angry energy.”

“We’ll proceed with caution then. I’ve had my fair share of violent spirits,” said Jungkook.

“Tell me about it,” said Jimin. “The things I’ve seen-“

“Tae Tae, is that you?” a voice asked from somewhere up ahead. The three friends froze. A man came around the corner and saw them, immediately tripping and falling back, screaming at the top of his lungs. Catalina, Jimin and Jungkook also screamed at the top of their lungs. The man scrambled to his feet and ran away, screaming, “There’s people in the house and one of them has a huge knife!”

“We need to get out of here,” said Jimin. Catalina looked at him and saw that his face was sheet white, eyes like saucers.

Before they could get far though, the man came back, flicking on a light switch in the kitchen. He saw them and screamed again, flinging the IPhone from his hand, his back hitting the wall.

“We’re not gonna hurt you!” said Catalina. “We’re sorry we broke in, we didn’t know someone lived here.”

The man took a deep breath and looked at them again. Catalina thought he looked familiar, but she couldn’t place it.

“I’m sorry, the knife is really making me nervous,” the man said. He was trying to make his voice sound brave but he was still cowering against the wall. “Put it on the ground and explain yourselves.”

Jungkook hurried to take the knife off of his vest and set it on the ground. The man gulped and stood up straight.

“My name is Catalina,” Catalina said in what she hoped was a calm voice. “This is Jungkook and Jimin. We thought this house was abandoned and haunted. We’re just some dumb college students who wanted to check it out. We’re really sorry for breaking in and scaring you.”

“Why are you dressed like that?” the man asked.

“We were making a ghost hunting documentary,” said Jungkook.

The man sighed and said, “Oh, well the show must go on. I can go upstairs and bump around a bit for your movie. Maybe make some spooky voices. I’m good at voice acting.”

“What’s happening right now?” Jimin whispered.

Another set of footsteps could be heard running towards the kitchen. They stopped at the entrance and a head peeked in.

“Hobi? What’s going on? Why were you screaming?” the new stranger asked. He looked over at the three friends who were still standing in the kitchen, terrified. “Oh, hello! I didn’t know we had guests.”

He stepped into the kitchen and said, “My name is Kim Taehyung, this is Jung Hoseok.”

Taehyung was probably one of the most beautiful people Catalina had ever seen. He had fluffy black hair, big eyes with a beauty mark under the left one, and full lips. He looked a little bit like a god maybe. The man who had first found them, who was picking his phone up off the ground, was also stunning. He had dark golden skin, a sharp jawline, pretty face, and silky parted hair. However, only for a moment did their beauty distract Catalina from noticing their eyes. Their eyes were red. Blood red.

“They were making a ghost hunting documentary,” Hoseok explained. “They didn’t know people lived here.”

“Oh! How fun! Can we help you finish your film?” Taehyung asked.

“Uh, actually, we should probably just get going,” said Jimin. “We shouldn’t be out too late, we have classes early in the morning.”

“Oh,” Taehyung’s face fell. “Well, we won’t keep you then.”

“Actually, I guess we could-“ Jungkook started.

“Jungkook!” Jimin slapped a hand over Jungkook’s mouth. “Can we have a moment to talk real fast?”

“Sure! Just let us know if you need anything,” said Hoseok. “We have water and I think soda. And if you’re hungry-“

“Okay, thank you,” said Catalina, grabbing Jimin and Jungkook’s arms to drag them away. “We’re okay for now.”

Hoseok and Taehyung stepped out of the kitchen and Catalina turned to look at the boys. Jimin still looked pale.

“I say we let them help us make the doc,” said Jungkook.

“Are you crazy?” asked Jimin. “Did you not see the way they were acting? They’re weird! This is weird!”

“Sure, they’re a little creepy and their eyes are red, but maybe they’re just goth,” said Jungkook. “You never know.”

“Hoseok was wearing a pastel windbreaker. No goth would ever touch that with a ten foot pole,” said Catalina.

“True…But Taehyung looked so sad when we said we were leaving,” Jungkook said with a pout.

“Yeah, I bet he wants us to stay because they’re serial killers or something. They want to trap us in the house,” said Jimin. Then he grabbed his hair and gasped. “Oh god, we’re gonna die in here. We didn’t even tell anyone where we were going.”

“It’s fine guys, we’re not gonna die,” said Jungkook. “My knife is still within reach and Cat, you have pepper spray, right?”

“Yeah, I do,” said Catalina. “It’ll be extra painful with their contacts.”

“Exactly. I say, we just let them help us make the doc and then we can leave, potentially with new friends,” said Jungkook.

“Oh Gukkie, you sweet baby,” said Catalina, shaking her head. “But…I suppose we could try.”

“Well, I can’t act when I’m nervous, so I’m not gonna be playing Sergeant Vic anymore. You’re just gonna have to work with nervous Jimin,” said Jimin. “I hope you’re happy.”

“I am!” said Jungkook, clapping his hands. “Taehyung, Hoseok, you can come back in!”

They came back into the room with hopeful smiles on their faces.

“You can help us make the video,” said Jungkook.

“But no murdering us,” said Jimin, pointing his finger at them.

“Yeah, no funny business,” said Catalina. “Because pepper spray is gonna be way more uncomfortable in those contacts of yours, and that’s all I gotta say about that.”

“I don’t understand any of that,” said Taehyung with a huge smile on his face. “Oh, I’m so excited! I promise on my mother’s grave that there will be no murdering or funny business. Now, what do you want me to do for your film?”

Jungkook directed everyone from there. They ended up getting some cool shots of Hoseok bumping around behind closed doors and standing creepily at the end of halls. They got an interview with Taehyung, who was acting as the scared owner of the house. Catalina staged a séance and Hoseok threw a chair into the wall from off screen.

“I think that’s a wrap, guys!” said Jungkook.

“I can’t believe I did that,” said Hoseok, eyeing the dent in the wall where the chair hit. “Why did I do that? We’re gonna have to fix this and repaint. We’ll have to repaint everything, we can’t get this wallpaper anywhere.”

“Wow, that was actually really fun!” said Catalina. “Taehyung, you were a pretty good actor!”

“Thank you,” said Taehyung. “I’ve always wanted to try acting. Maybe this film can be my debut.”

As Jungkook started packing up his film equipment and Hoseok continued to fret over the mess of the broken chair and dented wall, Catalina watched Jimin. He didn’t seem scared anymore. He was happily chatting with Taehyung, joking and answering questions about his classes. Catalina didn’t feel nervous anymore either, despite how strange this whole situation was. Taehyung and Hoseok were both so friendly, and Hoseok was such a scaredy cat all throughout filming, Catalina really had no reason to be afraid of these guys.

“Send me the link when you post this,” said Hoseok, handing his phone over to Jungkook, who put his number into the phone and handed it back. “Do you edit these yourself?”

“Yeah, I just use Final Cut, it’s pretty easy, but it doesn’t have a lot of effects,” said Jungkook. “That’s okay though, I prefer using practical effects anyway. They always look better. Also, I can’t afford any of those effects programs right now.”

“Are you in school right now for film?” asked Hoseok. Jungkook nodded. “Are you a student at the university too?” Hoseok asked Catalina.

“Yeah, I’m majoring in dance,” she said. Hoseok’s entire face lit up. “So is Jimin.”

“No way! I was also majoring in dance!” he said. “I miss it so much!”

“You stopped dancing after college?” asked Catalina.

“I didn’t have a choice,” Hoseok shrugged. “Bad circumstances and all that. I never even got to finish my degree.”

“Come to the studio with us one of these days,” said Catalina. “We can put on a playlist and just mess around.”

Hoseok actually looked like he might cry. “I would love that. That sounds awesome.”

He and Catalina exchanged numbers and Catalina put them in a group chat with Jimin, calling it “Dance Crew”.

“I wonder if Namjoon is around,” said Taehyung. “He would love to meet you guys.”

“Who is that?” asked Catalina.

“He’s our other roommate,” said Hoseok. Then he ran to the stairs and hopped up a few before shouting, “Namjoon-ah!!!”

“What?” a voice answered from upstairs.

“Come downstairs and meet our new friends!” said Hoseok.

21 notes · View notes

wxsuthorn · 5 years ago

Text

Yes, I am that person who spams the groupchat about BL.

I was watching A Round Trip To Love for the first time and here’s what i spammed my group chat:

omg what the im like one minute in and someone already got shot

ten minutes in and someone’s about to get topped

oh my god they are so cute look at that

oof he don’t wanna do the do

oh my god literally just get married

the rings i cannot

this is so frigging oh my god i love it

wait no omg they were found

NO DONT HIT MY SON SCREW YOU

ugh homophobes

now everything’s fricking sad

hong kong?

hey i used to live there

for 7 years

cool

omg the ringggggg

omg the letters

omg this is so sad what

what

jejskskjskdkxndndkkd no stop my heart is dying

NO WHAT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT I WAS NOT READY WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT OMG HIS BROTHER IS GAY TOO OH MY GOD WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIY WAIT HIS BROTHER HIS BROTHER HIS BROTHER HIS BROTHER BEN GAY KRUB AKMSNSKSNND

omg wait

this movie is so fast pace wait what

OMG WAIT

HE IS

THE CEO

OF THE COMPANY

AND HE STILL HAS THE RING

WHAT THE FRIIIIIIIIDGE

HOLY

MOTHER OF GOD

GOD

HE SEES THAT HE NO LONGER WEARS THE RING

HOLY FRICK

oh my god

omg wait he’s giving him noodles

omg peak asian boyfriend material

omg wait that’s so fucking cute what uwu

oh my god

he said it

holy

LIAR

WHAT

WAIT THE RING

AND THE LETTERS

OMG THERE ARE SO MANY IM GONNA CRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

IT WAS HIS MOM’S FAULTH

DMEKKDKD

YES BOY RUN TO UR MANS

omg the mom is so homophobic that she’s asking to die instead of have a gay don

son*

what a great parent

HE LEFT

WHAT

HE LEFT

WHY WOULD HE DO THAT

WAIT NO

HE SENT A TEXT

wait

okay

oh wow

he threw his phone

omg

holy shit

oh my god noooooo fucking what the shit MY RICH SON I KNOW SHIT IS HARD BUT IT DO BE LIKE THAT SOME TIMES NOW STOP HITTING YOUR BOYFRIEND’S BROTHER’S BOYFRIEND

OH MY GOD NOOOO HE HIT HIS BACK ON THE CORNER OF THE TABLE WTFFF

THAT SHIT HURTSS

OMG NOOO

omg

holy shit

HE WAS PARALYSED

wait

oh my god

OH MY GOD NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

oh my god

omg stop fighting my children holy shit stoopooOooOoooppp

ugh

the friggin sound cut off

oh my god poor baby

xiao chen is just a baby

oh no

the mom

oh my god

she’s gonna die

i swear she’s gonna die by the end of this

aahhhh this is bad now the mom wil hate mr. lu even more

omggggg

太可怜

为什么jakkskskksksk我会哭死了kssmndkx他们为什么要打架????

omg is she gonna kill herself

no wait

okay

i think we’re safe

damn i feel so bad for her

even tho she homophobic she’s still got some shit going on

HOLY SHIT SHE

DIED

WHAT

wait

she died

wait no waht

what

你为什么要答应她?makajskqkns

Istg if he runs over him im gonna loose my fricking marbles

Asdlkfjalsdjfsljkdf he stopped lets go

NO WHAT

DONT YOU DARE

FRICK

ALKDLKJDFLKJSFLJD

Omg he literally just did that

He just

Holy

NOEEEEEE

WHAT THE HELL WHY TF WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THAT THIS WAS GONNA BE ANGSTY

PEOPLE JUST SAID IT WAS EXPLICIT

BUT THEY DIDNT WARN ME ABOUT THIS

WHAT

WHAT THE FRGGIN FRACK

WHAT

THE

HELL

WHAT

I JUST WANTED A BREAK FROM MAKE IT RIGHT BEFORE I STARTED SEASON TWO

NOT A BREAK IN MY FRIGGIN HEART SLKJDFLDSJFLKDSJ

Istg ill shove those flowers down the dad’s throat

I hate BL parents

I only like Pete’s dad, Kao’s mom, like a few other people who I can’t exactly think of at the moment, but other than that parents are disgusting creatures of beastiality

Oh my god

The ring drop

I will literally die

Watch me

Im dead

Im now ghost writing this

LKFJDL:SJDFL:JDSF:LKJLDFN

Omg the symbolism.

He drops the ring

Tries so hard to pick it back up again

But then someone stops him, before he could hurt himself.

Ring represents his love with xiao chen

I literally

What the hell

This is art

But it’s angsty and sad and idk what to do other than cryyyyyyyyLSJF

OMG WAIT SHE PICKS IT UP FOR HIM LETS GO.

Wait what if she symbolizes like the universe or nature or fate and its just like: relax i get that for you hold up a sec tho

Lu Feng is so strong. Like mentally

He has to suffer with the guilt of the death of xiao chen’s mom and the guilt of his brother being paralyzed

He is also heartbroken and his father literally is so oppressive and just terrible to him

He willingly got hit by a car just so that xiao chen would be happy

Not to get back together, but for him to be happy

Im frigging soft dont touch me

Goddamn he came back

periodt

Oh wow

Lovers to enemies

Okay then

Please dont hurt him anymore than you already have

For both him and yourself

And me

It’s painful to watch

HE HAS A KID

I REPEAT

HE HAS

SACK OF GERMS

WITH HAIR

HOLDING HIS HAND

AND A FEMALE WIFE

HE IS LITERALLY A BOTTOM

Welp we stan a bicon i guess

Or just a man refusing to accept his sexuality

hE CAN WALK

YAYAYAYAYAYAY

Chills

Literal chills

Damn this is a good movie

This man has the audacity to drug my son

This is kinda uncomfy man idk how i feel about this

Omg wait he pulls him in

Okay consent?

Yes?

Oh what

Okay

“I’m not interested in you” he said

Well damn

The bottom energy radiating from this man is impeccable

I feel bad for the bathtub

I am so conflicted

Why couldn’t they just be happy uwu babies that share noodles in a cozy little apartment

Ughhhhhh i hate that i still have an attachment to lu feng even though i should hate him cuz he’s crazy and a kidnapper and he literally raped xiao chen

ON THE BOAT

REALLY

They’re in a pool now

Damn that ring has been going through a lot

HE LOOKS FOR IT

XIAO CHEN LOOKS FOR THE RING OH MY GOD

Idk what to believe now this is crazy

Omg he’s drowning

As the police arrive

Oh my god is this where he gets shot

Holy crap

Im literally crying so hard right now i can’t

This hug

This mf hug

WHAT DO I DO AKJLSKDFJ DO I SHIP IT OR DO I DISAPPROVE BECAUSE LIKE RAPE?

HELLO????

Idk lu feng was so messed up

OMG THE BROTHER SHOT IT

YI CHEN

SHOT

XIAO CHEN

OMG

But he was aiming for lu feng sdlfjalskdjfla

This movie

Oh my dear god

程亦辰，我错了，我爱你

OH MY FRIGGING GOD I DONT WANNA FORGIVE HIM BUT I HAVE TO

Wait no

I don’t forgive him

I just give him a second chance

Cuz he went through shit

But xiao chen went through more shit and dealt with it better cuz of his sort of “cowardly” and “content” personality sal;djflsadkjfas;lkd

The flashbacks of his past self

Man this hits hard

Oh my god he’s waking up while lu feng is abou to fricking die

Oh my god please dont die

He’s dead

He’s fricking dead

That ending

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THAT THERE IS NO HAPPY ENDING

WHY WOULD ASJFLSDKFJ:LDJSF WHAT THE HELL IM GOING TO DIE

IM CRYING

IM LITERALLY CRYING SO HARD RIGHT NOW IT’S NOT EVEN FUNNY

His last words were xiao chen

Omg the cinematography in this movie was brilliant

All of the symbolism and all of the frigging flashbacks and back and forth and just everything.

Oh my god this was so so so so so sooooo good. I’m literally at a loss for words

Oh my fricking god

And when he was like reaching for lu feng at the end

Saying the there was a deeper feeling within the hate

I lost it

#bl drama #a round trip to love #groupchat #im so annoying #i feel bad for my friends

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h4lcyonism · 5 years ago

Text

Opening Up

Note: It’s been forever since I wrote anything (the last thing I wrote was for Arianna Appreciation Month last year) so sorry if this is kinda shabby. But the premiere gave me so much writing inspo.

Summary: Rapunzel’s finally ready to open up to Eugene about Cassandra’s betrayal. Aka, the full conversation at the end of Rapunzel’s Return.

“At first, I felt so betrayed. After all, Cass is my best friend and I still love her.” Rapunzel admitted, fidgeting with her fingers as she finally let all the feelings she’d been hiding since returning from the Dark Kingdom rose to the surface.

Rapunzel was never one to dig a hole inside her heart and hide her feelings there. She’d always felt like she was good with expressing her emotions, both good and bad. But Cassandra’s betrayal was, for the first time since leaving the tower for the last time, one of the times when reflecting on how hurt she was by the chain of events was harder than putting on a happy facade and pretending everything was okay.

Cass was her best friend. Is still her best friend, even after everything. And Rapunzel had a feeling that no matter what Cass did, no matter what she would do from here now that she had the moonstone, she would still consider Cassandra her best friend.

But that didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt by the fact that her best friend took her destiny from her and then blamed her for her mother abandoning her.

“I get it. I really do. I spent the first 18 years of my life with Gothel. I was raised by her, and was hurt by her just like Cassandra was.” Rapunzel tucked a stray strand of golden hair behind her ear, flinching at it with memories of Gothel flooding her mind.

She had been getting better at controlling the trauma that her kidnapper-mother had caused her, but now it seemed like finding out she was Cassandra’s mom was causing her to take steps backwards.

Steps back towards being the naïve, insecure girl who left the tower the day after her 18th birthday.

“That doesn’t excuse what she did, Sunshine.” Eugene chimes in from the seat by her window, his eyes narrowing. Rapunzel was well aware of the fact that Eugene had very different feelings about Cass’s betrayal than she did, but her relationship with Cass was also very different from Eugene’s.

“She had absolutely no right to blame you for being kidnapped as a baby by that old hag. Unfortunate circumstance led said old hag to being Cassandra’s mother. That ironically tragic part is not her fault, granted, but it’s not yours either.”

“I know, I know.” The princess assured him, sighing as she rubbed her eyes. She hadn’t gotten a lick of sleep since coming back from the Dark Kingdom. It was unhealthy, she knew, but anytime she closed her eyes, the looming image of Cassandra with the Shadowblade tormented her mind.

“I just wish she had told me what she saw in the House of Yesterday’s Tomorrow right after we left. We could’ve figured things out! We could’ve talked it out and bonded over the fact that we were both hurt by the same woman. That could’ve brought us closer together. Instead, it drew us apart.”

“Have you ever considered the absurdity of what she saw, Blondie?” Eugene spoke up again, crossing his arms over his chest. Even after everything with Demanitus, Eugene still held onto a bit of his cynical tendencies and suspicions of most things magical. “Some weird ghost child knew her name and took her to a house and for whatever reason decided to show her what she did? Besides, wasn’t that witch ancient by the time you were born? How could she possibly have had a 4 year old daughter?”

Rapunzel chewed on her lip. She’d spent the little free time she’d had since coming back home deliberating the same questions Eugene asked. Should anything in the House of Yesterday’s Tomorrow really be seen as real?

After all, that was the house that gave Rapunzel her fantasy world and snatched it away from her just as quickly. Was what Cassandra saw maybe some cruel vision meant to manipulate her into taking the moonstone?

“I don’t know, Eugene.” She sighed in defeat, sitting back down next to him. She felt his warm hand intertwine with hers, and a soft smile spread across her face. “There’s nothing we can do now. Cassandra saw that and, whether it’s real or not, believed it, and now she has the moonstone.”

Rapunzel had no idea where to go from here. Her best friend was the moonstone and had control over the black rocks, she was out there and she had no idea what she was planning to do next. The black rocks were still a threat, though they were growing slower than they did before. Her parents had amnesia, leaving her the temporary queen of Corona.

As if sensing her despair, Eugene enveloped her in a warm hug. Rapunzel sunk into it with a happy sigh, burying her face in his neck. She hasn’t realized how much she needed this. To be held and listened to and just to get everything she’d been feeling out.

“You’ll figure it out, Rapunzel.” The man wrapped around her assured her, softly pressing his lips to her temple. “You always do. I have faith in you and, as much as I really do not wanna say it right now, I have faith in Cassandra too. If anyone can get through to her and bring her out of the darkness, it’s you.”

“Thanks, Eugene. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Rapunzel gushes, finally letting herself relax in his arms. He pulled away from her slowly, his hand coming up to cradle her face. His thumb rubbed her cheek softly, his amber eyes full of love. “I’ll let you get some rest, you’ve had an exhausting day. I’ll have someone bring your dinner up to you.”

“Okay.” She nodded. She could feel the adrenaline she’d been running on all day slowly wearing off, and she finally began to realize just how tired she was. “Goodnight, Eugene.”

The man chuckled as she yawned tiredly, stepping back towards the door to her bedroom. “Goodnight, Rapunzel.” He said quietly, his lips quirked up into a soft smile he deserved only for her.

He shuffled out of the room and shut the door behind her. And as Rapunzel stared out at the beautiful sunset on the horizon, she couldn’t help but wonder where Cassandra was now, and what it was she was planning on doing with the moonstone.

#This is so bad oh god #I kind of lost it at the end #Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure #Tangled the Series #TTS spoilers

20 notes · View notes

lord-explosion-baku · 6 years ago

Text

Villain!Bakugou x hero!reader

Warnings: swearing, violence

A/N: This was shorter than I’d like it to be. But still fun to write! As a writer it’s hard to read though. I’ve actually started reading my writing before posting it and IDK I WAS PERFECTLY CONTENT NOT DOING THAT AND NOW I GOTTA CRINGE AT MYSELF like can I go back to blindly posting shit without a second thought? Also, HELLO I’m a hopeless romantic stupid stinky girl and so i threw in some fluff bc I could. I’d like to be a spicy edgelord but snag daggit I sure love love. ALSO I did really wanna do this justice pero I rushed it. I don’t know where the race is. I’m in pain. I’m so sorry lmfao.

“Tsk, it took you long enough.” His voice called from quite a ways away but of course he could hear you coming.

You mentally cursed at yourself for not being quieter as you approached your target but the theatre you saw him enter echoed and you were wearing heels. The reason you didn’t kick them off the moment you were in pursuit of the infamous Katsuki Bakugou was beyond you.

You poked your head around a stage curtain and saw him, lounging in a theatre chairs with his arms draped around the seats beside him.

He smirked up at you. “Well?” He said, “we don’t have all damn day.”

To hell with trying to be sneaky. You already knew where this was going to lead you. You strutted out to the center of the stage and crossed you arms. “Why a theater?”

His grin widened as he stood up and walked towards the stage. He wore a white dress shirt with a skinny red tie that fit neatly in his black vest. He leaned against the thrust, resting his arms against the stage and cast a lasting stare at your legs. You shifted your weight to your right. You thought the dress you wore had been too short and the way Bakugou was looking at you now had confirmed your suspicion.

He snickered, “I was hoping you’d put on a show for me.”

“I don’t have time for games Bakugou. Where is she?”

“She? She who? There’s nobody here except me and you, sweetheart.”

You scanned the the auditorium. All empty seats, no sign that anyone had been anywhere near here for at least a couple hours. You shook your head and turned on your heel and started marching away from the blonde. Kiyomi Sakamata had to be somewhere else in the building.

A blast rang and echoed throughout the theater. You tensed and closed your eyes. Here we go.

A hand grabbed the back of your arm and pulled you around. You ducked and slid under him, trying to kick him down but he tucked and rolled back to his feet. You faced each other.

It had been Kugo Sakamata’s niece’s wedding and since you had formed a pretty tight bond with him and his family while working under him for a few years, you had been invited to witness two people form an eternal bond. Halfway through the reception, there had been an explosive ruckus and Kiyomi Sakamata had been taken. You didn’t get a great look at him but you were sure you saw then kidnapper wielding the same grenade gauntlets as the man standing before you usually carried with him.

Taking in his current appearance you laughed. “You dressed up? For me?”

Rolling up his sleeves he chuckled and shook his head. “I had to blend in somehow, didn’t I?” You did a double take on his vest. He was sporting the same look as the other servers in the reception hall. So he had been there. That was smart of him. Gluttonous celebrators never looked twice at people providing service to them if they were doing their jobs right, especially if they were serving food or champagne.

“Damn it, Bakugou,” you moved towards him, kicking upwards towards his face. He ducked and towered over you. You pushed him against one of the stage props and grabbed him by his tie, pulling his face down to level with your own. “Where. Is. She?”

His smug eyes looked at you and then to your lips. There was a complacent grin stuck to his face. “I don’t have her and I never did. She’s back at the reception hall enjoying her time with her significant other. I just needed a way to get you here.”

That didn’t make sense. You saw someone take her and had been at the reception.

He laughed at your puzzled expression. “You just took off so fast, didn’t you? Eager to see me? So what are you going to do now that you have me all to yourself, huh?” His hands were on your wrist and he pushed you off of him. You stumbled back, catching yourself before you could fall.

“Oh, give me a break. You conducted all this just to spend time with me? Was I not giving the poor little boy enough attention?”

“Don’t act like I don’t see right through you L/N,” Bakugou began loosening the tie that hung around his neck, “You saw me walk in here alone. You knew she wasn’t with me and yet here you are. Pretending to fight me. Admit it, you’ve missed me.”

You swung a fist through the air and he dodged it. He was laughing. Every time you swiped he was always evading. You finally managed to grab on to a fist full of his collar and he grabbed your arm. Struggling to break away from his hold, your hand quickly sliced down his chest, the buttons of his shirt popped off and danced across the floor. Droplets of his own blood fell from the cut you left him.

“Oh so now we’re undressing each other are we?” He grinned.

Your eyes slid down his exposed chest and onto his abdomen. You hated the blush the creeped into your cheeks and you hated yourself even more for wanting your run your hands down his stupid ripped body.

“Ha! Remember that time in our second year when you accidentally walked in on me changing after a hero drill? How you squealed out an excuse for your intrusion and you couldn’t even look me in the eyes?” You did remember. It wasn’t like you hadn’t ever seen him shirtless before that day but just the fact that you could have been walking in on him at any point of his routine was what got you flustered. You rolled your eyes. It was always reminiscing with him. You moved your hand to cross check him but he easily dodged it and grabbed your arm to twist you around so you face away from him. He spoke into your ear, “Do you remember what we did after that happened?”

You slammed your elbow into his jaw, knocking him back. “You’ve always been an arrogant prick,” you jeered.

He was cupping his face. He spat onto the stage and you could see a spot of blood on his mouth. “And you’ve always been a shitty girl,” he growled.

He ran towards you. Before you could even react he had you spun around and pushed up against him. “Always so easy to read. Hey, why don’t you do yourself a favor and admit to me what this actually is, yeah?” You thrashed in his arms but he only pulled you closer proving there was no manner of escaping. “Admit that you get a thrill whenever you find me up to my not so conventional schemes. Admit that you love having me up against you like this,” he pushed his sharp chin on your shoulder. “Hell, we both know what this is, I’m sure. You haven’t even used your quirk all night long.”

“You’re one to talk,” you spat. “This has all just been a game to you for a while now. You haven’t actually done anything bad in weeks.”

“Ohh but I could do something bad right now,” he purred in your ear, “I could do lots of bad things to you.” He loosened his grip and placed a hand on your hips, squeezing lightly.

“I hate you.”

“I’m sure you wish that were true,” he soughed and began kissing your neck. You let out a slight sigh and moved your neck, allowing his kiss to deepen. His hands trailed down to your dress and he pulled on the him, hiking it up, and he placed his calloused fingers between your thighs, sending shivers through your body.

You felt him harden against your butt as he pressed against you. Fuck.

You swatted his hands away and faced him. He had his signature shit-eating grin on, the one that you remember him doing as kids.

You pulled your dress down and adjusted your now messy hair. You pursed your lips at him, admiring your handy work. You drew his blood and there was hardly a scratch on you. He never did really hurt you, did he?

You shook your head. “I have a wedding reception to get to,” you said.

He out his hands up and chuckled, “I’m not keeping you.” There was a hint of disappointment in his eyes.

“Then what the fuck are you doing?” He didn’t answer. Ignoring the thrum of your heart, you began to walk off the stage.

“It’s funny,” he called and you stopped walking. “The wedding, I mean. The concept of forever.” You glanced back at him and he was smirking. “It makes me wonder how long we can keep this up. Do you think it’ll be forever?”

You narrowed your eyes. “Is that some kind of proposal, Bakugou?”

He laughed. “All I’m saying is... I wouldn’t mind. If we did this.. forever.” His smirk had softened into something that seemed to be a normal smile. He wasn’t putting on an act to get you flustered.

You turned your face to hide your smile. “You’re a sap, you know that?” You could hear that dumb snicker.

“Hey, you put on a good show, sweetheart, but make sure next time you stick to your character, hero.”

You heard a blast to signal his exit. You made the same promise to yourself that you’ve made the last dozen times you saw him. Next time... next time you’ll get him.

Little did you know that Bakugou was making a similar promise to himself as he watched you walk down the street, back to the wedding reception.

Tags for EVERYTHING: @yandere-inamorata @doriichii @miitaart @dessiedawnwritesfanfiction @kido-is-not-a-ghost @wickedlewicked @chickennuggetsarequestionable @nevermorelanore @kpanime @jetblackjessie @ayeputita @captain-sin-allmight-queen @diisasterbii @iceformer @meganofmars @colagirl5 @colorbookshd @grimmjadeskye @sm0kingcrack @sarcastictextstuck @zellllyyyy @psionicsnow @mynahx3 @andie-in-tumblland @iamthe-leaf @midnightfeline666 @bungou-stray-alies-tales-of-aly @rubyred-28 @bokunoheroes-stories

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flying-guinea-pig · 5 years ago

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A friend like this (complete)

A/N: finally finished that Avarice AU ficlet! You know, that one where Stan became a demon instead of Dipper, and how that would influence the demonology gang’s story? I’ve started clearing out my draft folder. This one was closest to finished, but expect other drabbles to appear soon...

On AO3: A friend like this chapter 3

A friend like this

Poker Night had become a regular occurrence, pretty much since the first day of classes, when Lee spotted them at lunchtime.

"What are you playing for?" he'd asked.

Maria had shrugged. "Just points. Brad doesn't want to play for money."

"Not against you, you witch. Hi, I'm Brad by the way. I've seen you in class, I think?"

"Yep, he's the guy who slept all through Demonology 101," Maria had said. "Evergreen, isn't it? Deal you in?"

"Call me Lee. And yes." He'd taken a seat and turned to the table behind him, where another student had been sitting all by himself. "Hey, wanna be our fourth?"

The other kid had looked up. "Really? I mean - sure!"

He'd hurriedly changed seats and beamed at them. "My name is Eduardo. How does this game go?"

"I'll explain," Brad had promised. "Nice to meet you Eduardo."

"Such a mouthful," Maria had teased. "Can I call you Eddy instead?"

"Er, sure."

Lee had grinned and given him a playful punch to his shoulder. It was clearly meant as playful - it also left a slight bruise.

"Nah," he'd said. "I think you look more like a Soos."

It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

---

Of course Lee was odd. No one could deny that.

It was a lot of things, but one of them was how he never seemed to study. Often he didn't even show up for class, coming back the next day - or next week - in the grumpiest mood ever. And yet his marks were the highest of their year, whenever he bothered to go. Higher even than those of the resident nerds, Adams and Strange.

"How do you do it, dude?" Eddy had asked once, struggling with an essay about low-level binding wards. "Are you some kind of genius or something?"

Lee had paused at that, a weird look crossing his face for a second. Then the smile returned. "I'm no genius, buddy. I just know some stuff. Do you need help with that essay?"

"Does a Multibear poop in the woods?"

"Let's see it then."

---

Lee spent so much time with the three of them, that all those oddities really started to stack up. Eventually even they had to figure it out.

"Let's play for something other than points or candy tonight," Maria said, shuffling the cards one Poker Night.

"Oh?" Lee asked. He sipped his beer and burped. "We're finally playing for money then? Your funeral! Hey Brad, how rich did you say your parents were again?"

"You're a real hoot," Brad said. "But no. We're playing for answers today."

"Answers? Ugh."

"Yep," Maria said. "Whoever loses has to answer a question truthfully from the winner. No evasions, no lies. Like playing truth-or-dare!"

"Last time we played truth or dare Eddy got stuck in a skylight for three hours."

"Yeah, we're not doing that again," Eddy added. "Please. It was so cold..."

"Well, how about it?" Maria said, her poker face already in place, a slight smile curling her lips. "Are you in or not, Lee?"

"What the hell, sure," Lee said, and met her eyes with a poker face of his own. "Bring it on."

Eddy was decent at poker - Brad was a disaster, either raising too much and scaring everyone off, or trying to bluff with a lousy hand. Usually the winnings went to either Lee or Maria, depending on which one of them got caught cheating the most.

Not tonight. Tonight Eddy and Brad flanked Maria, blatantly sitting close enough for her to peak at their cards before they folded. The first time could have been coincidence. The other times, not so much.

Lee cocked an eyebrow. "Are you three ganging up on me?"

"This isn't cheating," Maria said. "It's cooperative play."

"Don't bother, I've got a bad hand anyway. You win." He threw down his cards on the table and sat back, arms folded in front of him. "What's your question? Is it how many girls I've dated? What my most embarrassing memory is? It's something like that, right?"

"While I do wonder about some of those things..." She shook her head and met his eyes. "Are you the demon Mercuriat?"

Lee blinked. If they hadn't been watching so closely, they would have missed the momentary expression that slid over his face before being replaced by 'honest' surprise.

"What?" he said, sounding flabbergasted. "No, of course not. Heh, why would you even think such a thing! It's ridiculous. Why would a demon - a handsome, clever and powerful demon he is, sure - waste his time like this? Makes no sense. None at all. Heh, I won't even count this one as a question, ask another. Go on, ask another question."

"Not before I get a truthful answer to my first one," Maria said. "Nice try though. And why we think you're Mercuriat, well..."

"Your disappearances tend to coincide with news about Mercuriat destroying some evil cult," Brad said. "It, eh, was Eddy who pointed that out first, I'll admit. I first thought you just made a deal for knowledge with Mercuriat, which would be a lot less terrifying."

"You sometimes talk about the past as if you were there," Maria said. "Things that happened centuries ago. And you know things. Like that time you mentioned how demons have a bar in the Mindscape? How the hell would a human know that?"

"Also, your eyes glow a bit when Maria beats you at poker," Eddy added. "So... that was a big hint, dude. Might want to watch out for that."

Lee - Mercuriat - stared at them.

"I... may have let down my guard a bit," he admitted. "This doesn't bother you?"

"We study demonology, bro," Brad said. "Bit dumb if we were scared of demons. And you're alright. But I'd just like to know one thing..."

Lee sighed, and snapped his fingers. Another beer popped into existence in his hand. "I was bored. That's why I pretend to be a student."

"We figured that, you're known for stuff like that - but not what I was going to ask. I just want to know... why a mullet?"

"Hey now!" Lee sputtered. "Mullets come back into style every few centuries. I figured it was time for them again. Someone has to set the trend."

Eddy patted his shoulder. "You tried."

"It's time to give up. Let it go," Brad said.

Maria got up. "I'll get the scissors!"

---

Thomas liked the small library in the demonology building. Access was restricted to second years and up, so even on its busy days there weren't more than a handful of students there. It was a good place to go and study in peace.

Usually.

Not today, though. Dewitt and her friends were doing some assignment at the other end of the room. He could see their reflection in the big silver mirror that hung between the bookshelves. They were talking quietly enough but occassionally erupted into laughter, which didn't really help Thomas' concentration.

Elisabeth had given up in disgust already and gone home. Maybe he should follow her example...

He idly tapped his pen on the table, still deep in thought, when he noticed Evergreen coming over. His arms were full of books, which he put on the return tray. Oh, good. Looked like he and his friends were leaving.

Evergreen paused in front of the mirror, probably to admire himself. Thomas made a face. It's not that he actively disliked Evergreen, it was just... high school had instilled a natural distrust towards sporty types who looked like they could break him in half with one hand.

But Evergreen wasn't preening and flexing his muscles, like Thomas had expected him to do. No - he seemed to freeze at his own reflection.

Thomas couldn't find anything odd about it. It was just a mirror after all, not even an enchanted one. Good for trapping ghosts but not anything special. And Evergreen looked normal. His hair was still poofy, but anything was better than that mullet he used to have.

"Heh," Evergreen muttered. He put his hands against the mirror. His reflection's smile was bitter. "Don't know what all the fuss was about. This college thing is easy."

Then he licked his fingers and the weird, tense moment was broken as Evergreen used his spit to style his hair into short spikes. Thomas cringed. Yeargh.

---

A gloomy basement, plastic zip ties around their wrists, a group of cold-faced kidnappers with guns trained on them...

Thomas would have like to spend his Friday night a bit differently. Watching a movie, maybe. Or visiting the boardgame club, they usually met in the Mangy Dog on Fridays. Stars, even a dentist appointment would have been fine - anything was better than being kidnapped and forced to summon a demon.

At least he wasn't alone. Did that make it better? Not if they were going to die, of course - though dying all alone would suck - but maybe together they would come up with some idea to survive this thing. Elisabeth had a gift for banishing circles and Thomas was pretty good with figuring out loopholes, so together they maybe had a chance...

He wasn't sure what Evergreen could add to their escape attempt though. Really, he didn't seem inclined to help much. He'd taken a look at the crate with summoning supplies their kidnappers had left them with, shrugged, and sat back against the wall.

"Evergreen, you look up the regular summoning they want," Elisabeth whispered, as she and Thomas put their heads together. "Then the two of us can focus on getting out of here alive. We should be able to sneak something into the wording of the deal -"

"Nah," Evergreen said. "I'm going to take a nap for a while. Just relax, kid - things will be fine."

"Don't call me kid, we're the same age," Elisabeth said.

Evergreen snickered. "Sure we are, kid. But seriously, take a seat and relax. I've got this."

"Excuse me if I'm not eager to put my trust in you," she said. "Why are you even here, Evergreen? I can understand why they kidnapped Thomas and me. But you? You spend all class playing cards with Dewitt instead of paying attention."

"Odd how Hicks never says anything about that," Thomas mused. It wasn't like Evergreen and Dewitt were subtle about it. Not to mention the armpit concerts they held during last Contract Negotiation class.

"Suit yourself," Evergreen shrugged, sliding the hood of his jacket back over his head. "Wake me up if something happens."

"If something happens? We're going to get killed and you don't care! What is wrong with you?"

"Hey, you there!" One of their guards called out. He gestured at Elisabeth with the hand that still held his gun. "Stop shouting and get to work!"

"Come on," Thomas muttered to Elisabeth, who looked ready to explode. "Time is ticking."

---

"Alright," Thomas said. "What do we know?"

"We made the preparations correctly," Elisabeth said. She tapped her fingers on the table, deep in thought. In the background her aquarium made soothing bubbling sounds. "I'm sure of it. That circle should have summoned Gubal the Thousand-Eyed."

"But it wasn't Gubal who showed up," Thomas pointed out.

"You don't have to remind me." Elisabeth shuddered. He couldn't blame her - he had nightmares too, about everything that happened in that basement. Being threathened with guns had been bad enough, but when the sacrifice had been dragged out and their kidnappers started the summoning...

The wording had been tricky. They'd worked really hard on it, and Thomas still wasn't sure it would have been enough to save them.

In the end it hadn't been necessary. It wasn't Gubal who answered the summons. Instead, of all things, a three feet tall, winged, fire-breathing goat showed up. In the smoke and confusion it must have escaped the binding circle somehow, because through stinging eyes Thomas saw it make a beeline for their kidnappers and then... then...

Crunch.

Goats eat everything, after all.

When the smoke cleared their kidnappers were reduced to bloody smears on the floor. The demon goat had disappeared again. And Lee Evergreen was cutting through the plastic strips binding the other captive with a knife he'd pulled out of nowhere. He'd paused long enough to give them both a shit-eating grin.

"We have to face the facts," Elisabeth said. "He must be some kind of supernatural entity. My money is on demon."

They looked at the list Thomas had been working on, detailing all the strange occurrences and weird habits they'd noticed in the past three years. They had only really started to pay attention after the kidnapping, but the list was still pretty long. Long enough for Thomas to wonder how the hell he'd ever missed this.

Well. He knew why. He'd been too busy with the whole university experience. Studying, the boardgaming club, homework sessions with Elisabeth... He'd ignored the, let's say, less academically inclined part of their class. They weren clever enough - he couldn't remember Evergreen ever getting a question wrong, in fact - but they didn't seem to take things seriously. Evergreen and his buddies were always goofing off, especially Dewitt. Sometimes loud enough to disturb the entire class, which was more than annoying.

"Do you think they know?" Thomas said. "They spend a lot of time with him."

"His friends? Probably. Maybe he's starting a cult, who knows." Elisabeth took a deep breath. "We have to tell Hicks."

Let the professional handle it. That seemed like a good idea. On the other hand...

Getting Hicks involved could have big consequences. And maybe it wasn't necessery? Evergreen - whatever else he was -hadn't done anything wrong, as far as they knew... On the contrary. They probably would be dead if not for him.

Elisabeth with a mission was difficult to reason with, though. Especially since Thomas wasn't quite sure about his own arguments to let 'Evergreen' be. It would be smart to tell Hicks, it would, but...

But he remembered a mirror, reflecting eyes that seemed too old and too human in their loneliness.

He needed to think. And derail Elisabeth, at least for a while. "Maybe we should wait until we have some kind of proof."

"Thomas, really? Are we going to waste time with - don't give me that look, fine. But if he eats our souls I'm blaming you."

He smiled. "I can live with that."

Stars, he really hoped he wasn't making a big mistake.

---

"You think too much," Lee said, baring his teeth in a grin. "You need to act, not think."

"That's easy for you to say." Brad massaged his fist. Lee was teaching him to box, which was harder than it seemed. Of course Lee had freakishly good reflexes, being a demon and all, but still. He'd toned it down for their little brawl and Brad still couldn't manage to land a punch.

Well, he'd managed to hit the wall. Unfortunately. He just wasn't cut out for this stuff.

"Are you calling me stupid?" Lee teased. "Come on, punch me! As hard as you can. Don't be a sissy."

"Why do you even want to learn this?" Eddy asked, from his cosy corner of the couch, where he was playing a videogame with Maria.

"Just in case I ever need to defend myself," Brad said.

"There are easier ways to defend yourself," Maria said, idly killing Eddy's character when he was distracted. "Like a gun."

"I was thinking about something less lethal and more close-range," Brad said.

"Or there's magic. Not everyone has Mercuriat on speed-dial, you know. That's quite an ace in the hole."

"Less lethal, Maria. I think calling a demon on some poor robbers is a bit much."

"Yeah, and I'm not your bodyguard," Lee said. "So, are you punching me or not?"

-------

It had taken a while to track them down. Evergreen didn't have an adress Thomas could find, but apparently he hung around Dewitt's apartment a lot.

He knew who Evergreen was, now. And sure, technically he could just summon him and tell him that way, but...

But it was still freaking Mercuriat, biggest and baddest demon around, and if he had to face him, he preferred to do it when Mercuriat was surrounded by people he probably didn't want to physically or mentally scar.

Probably being the key word there.

This was all such a huge mistake.

Still, he steeled himself and rang the doorbell, before he could chicken out. Maybe he was lucky. Maybe only Dewitt was here - she could give 'Lee Evergreen' the message and with a bit of luck he'd never need to see Evergreen again.

Damn it. The door was opened by Hallman, which didn't bode well on the odds of Dewitts other friends being absent. The smell of pizza wasn’t promising either.

"Strange?" Hallman said, clearly confused. "Hello."

"Good evening," Thomas said. He took a deep breath. How to say this...? "Listen. I need to talk to you - and your friends. I know Evergreen is actually Mercuriat -"

There was a gasp and then a burst of pain as Hallmans fist made contact with his face.

Through the haze of pain and watery eyes he could hear voices.

"Whoa! Is that Strange?"

"Did you punch him?"

"I'm sorry! He said he knew about Lee - I reacted by instinct, really, I didn't mean too!"

"You punched Strange!" The voice sounded way too amused about it. Thomas blinked away the tears and recognised Dewitt, flanked by both Evergreen and Noguerra. "That's kind of impressive, Brad."

"Yoo bwoke my noze," Thomas groaned. "Whad de hell!"

"I'm sorry, you startled me!" Hallman protested.

Evergreen gave Hallman a pat on the back. "Looks like those boxing lessons weren't a waste of time after all, heh?"

"Let's clean up your mess, Brad," Dewitt said. She took out a knife, and Thomas hurriedly backed away until his back touched the wood of the door. Someone must have closed it behind him.

"Whad?" he said, pronunciation still mangled by his swollen nose. "Yoo goin' do kill me now?"

"Don't be a baby," Dewitt said, and cut into her own finger. "Hey Lee, wanna make a deal?"

"Shh, we have company," Noguerra said.

Dewitt made a face. "Don't give me that look, he knows already. So, Lee - what about it?"

Thomas stared in horror as Dewitt and Evergreen high-fived, and blue flames covered their hands for a second.

His nose healed itself in the blink of an eye, leaving him free to sputter: "That isn't even close to how you make a safe deal! No laying down the terms? And we have nice, sterile needles for a blood sacrifice - why the hell would you use a knife like that!?"

"Because it's cooler," Dewitt shrugged.

"She's right," Evergreen added. "So, smart guy. Why exactly are you here again?"

Right. He was here for a reason. He wanted to help these crazy people.

"We know who you are," he said, focusing on Evergreen. "Or, well. What you are, actually. You're Mercuriat."

Evergreen seemed to freeze, just staring at him. It didn't escape Thomas' notice that Dewitt, Noguerra and Hallman all seemed to draw closer to him in some kind of protective move.

"You seem really sure of yourself," Dewitt said. "Why?"

"Does it matter? Listen, I'm here to warn you. Elisabeth and I, we figured it out after... what happened in that basement. I tried to stop her but she still went to Hicks, and apparently he'd figured it out himself already. He's been calling some experts. Don't know for sure when they'll arrive, but I thought... I should warn you." He avoided their eyes and shrugged. "I kind of owe my life to you, so... There."

There was a long silence.

"Alright," Evergreen said. "Seems like I have some cleaning up to do."

"Uh," Thomas said. "You're not going to hurt Elisabeth or Hicks, are you?"

"A word of advice, Strange," Dewitt said, not really unfriendly. "If a high-level demon says he's going to do some cleaning up, it's better to not ask too many questions."

"I can't let you hurt anyone."

"I'm not going to hurt them, kid," Evergreen said, sounding exasperated. "I'll probably trick them into loosing their memories about this. It wouldn't be the first time."

"Wait, what?"

"What did you expect me to do?"

"Well, I don't know... I kinda thought you would just... leave? I mean, why would you stay? You've been found out."

Evergreen paused. "So you came to warn me... just to throw me out?"

“Er. Well…” He flinched when Evergreen threw an arm around his shoulders and squeezed. Sofly, but with a definite hint of a threat.

“I’m not going a̡̜̰͎̭̗n̲̣̤̯͙͓y͔w͉̦̠͉he̬r̭̲͈̝͘e͖̦̮̲͍̙͜,” the demon said.

“Not until graduation, at least,” Dewitt added, with a rather unsettling grin. “It’s going to be epic.”

“Great,” Thomas said, weakly. “So this is a cult then.”

“No, dude, it’s so much better.” Noguerra waved his slice of pizza around in a grand gesture. “It’s friendship.”

“Oh boy.”

He glanced around the room, hoping to glean some sign of whatever nefarious thing they were planning. The room was a nightmare. It looked like an arts and crafts room and a library melded together and exploded. The table was covered in sheets of paper, pictures, empty pizza boxes and, for some reason, underwear.

Thomas almost didn’t dare to ask. But his curiosity got the better of him. One day that would get him killed, for sure… “Why do you have piles of men’s underwear lying around?”

“Right, that,” Hallman said, sheepishly. “We can explain that.”

Evergreen moved to the table and showed Thomas one of the pictures with a dramatic flourish.

It looked like the cover for a book.

‘Mercuriat, Gentleman Demon’ the title proclaimed, with a picture underneath of Mercuriat in full demon shape, his face turned away but the pose rather provocative.

Thomas took another picture from the pile. It was even worse. ‘Mercuriat and the Quest for Gold’. Sheesh.

"Alright. So this isn't a cult," he said. He leafed through the pages, reading. "This is worse."

"This is making money!" Dewitt grinned. She high-fived Evergreen again, who seemed entirely too pleased with himself. "Mercuriat? More like Mercuri-HOT!"

Thomas cringed. Hallman did too. “We’re not using that as a slogan, Maria.”

“We’ll see.”

“But why?” Thomas had to ask. He waved at the table with the pictures, the lopsided stacks of what he now realised were supposed to be freshly-written novels. “Just… why?”

Evergreen shrugged. “You know that movie that’s supposedly based on me?”

“Er…” He’d come across it in the past, when looking up demons in pop culture. It was a cult classic, wasn’t it? Rather old though. “Might have heard of it.”

“We’re cashing in,” Dewitt grinned. “Turns out, writing a bestseller isn’t that hard when you have some demonic assistance. We’re going to be filthy rich!”

“Mystery! Adventure! Romance! Gentleman Demon has got it all,” Noguerra added. “Maria writes, and Brad and me are working on merchandise.”

Hallman seemed less enthusiastic. “I still don’t think autographed underwear is ever going to sell.”

Thomas stared. At them. At the room, with the ridiculous pictures and everything. And at Mercuriat, the literal demon, who just stood there with a sly smile.

“What?” Evergreen shrugged. “It’s free advertising.”

Silence.

“So… you mentioned something about losing memories? Because I would be fine if I never heard about this.”

Evergreen laughed, and surprised him with another one-armed hug. “You remind me of someone I used to know, kid. Get that stick out of your ass and we’ll get along fine, you’ll see.”

#avarice au #mercuriat #the demonology gang #thomas strange #a friend like this

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bisexualstokes-archive · 6 years ago

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Lights Out

Rating: Teen+ Characters: Nick Stokes, Warrick Brown Word Count: 2626 Summary: He never would have thought that it was his co-workers...his friends...his family that were unknowingly robbing him of air, of time. They were the ones who drove him to the brink of insanity, though they couldn’t have known that just by watching him. They were the ones who broke him. Set after Grave Danger, Warrick is the one to tell Nick about the webcam feed. A friendship fic, but can be viewed in a romantic way. Notes: Mentions of guns in people's faces, some swearing, and lots of emotion. Enjoy. @brilliantrosetyler this is partially your fault ;)

Read on A03

Nick Stokes never thought he’d be grateful for a few moments to himself after being thrown into a solitary confinement for over a day, but the constant attention from nurses, doctors, his family, his friends was starting to get to him a little. Exhaustion was settling in his body, replacing the adrenaline he felt from the joy of freedom. The shock of everything was finally fading away, and his body was beginning to feel normal...well, minus the welts all over his skin from the ant bites, which he didn’t realize were so bad until now, his first trip to the bathroom in over a day.

He takes a deep breath as he splashes some cold water in his face, wishing it would just wipe away the red spots that remind him of the biting, the burning, the itching. He stares at his reflection in the mirror, his heart pounds as he struggles to connect the image of the reflection to himself. The man in the mirror is a stranger, scarred by events that were out of his control. The face in the mirror is covered with welts, with reddened cheeks and puffiness near the eyes. The hair is disorganized, sticking up in all different directions from a mother’s hands brushing through it. The eyes are dark, tearful. Broken.

This stranger cannot be Nick Stokes, because he is not broken. He endured. He survived. He’s alive.

He tries to smile at the broken man in the reflection, to try and impart some of that strength to the mirror, but the corners of his mouth twitch as his lips begin to quiver. He takes a sharp breath and turns back towards the hospital room, he had just finished crying he wasn’t going to start again.

He thinks about turning the light in the room off and taking a quick nap, but as he exits the bathroom he finds another visitor, though the visitor is not an unwelcome one.

Warrick Brown was sitting, waiting, fiddling with something in his hands before bolting up at the sight of Nick stumbling back towards the hospital bed. Though he tried to hide it with a big smile on his face, Nick could still sense the concern that plagued Warrick’s eyes.

“Hey, there he is! Heard you were finally awake,” Warrick puts his arm around Nick, helping him back towards the bed. Nick hasn’t quite gotten the hang of walking again, his legs still feel light and shaky. “How you feeling?”

“Feelin' like we shoulda done two outta three after all,” Nick wheezes, conscious of the fact that his throat is still dry, his voice is barely present. He gulps down an entire cup of water, but it still doesn’t seem to help.

“Speaking of which, here you go.”

Warrick opens Nick’s hand and places something small, cold. Nick looks at it, it’s the coin they flipped.

“I think we got all the bad luck we could handle for now.”

Nick laughs, a smile spreading across his face. It isn’t long before Warrick starts chuckling as well, and soon the two are laughing together, at the absolute absurdity of the past twenty-four hours. They talk about everything and nothing for a few minutes, cracking jokes at each other, and for once Nick finds comfort in the fact that Warrick doesn’t seem to be walking on eggshells like everyone else has around him. But he can’t shake off the feeling that they are both dancing around the questions that throb in Nick’s head. He knew he could find his sense of humor again with Warrick, but he hopes he can also find some answers.

“Listen, Rick, I gotta know, and Grissom didn’t wanna tell me after I woke up...how’d you guys find me?”

The smile slides right off of Warrick’s face, and his eyes seem to darken.

“We don’t gotta talk about that now, bro--”

“That’s exactly what Grissom said. Spill it, man. Who did this?”

“Hey, you hungry at all? I could go grab something better than the shitty hospital food--”

Warrick begins to stand up, as if he were going to leave.

No no no don’t leave me again...

He feels a sense of déjà vu as a desperate sob escapes his body, an echo of the broken man he saw in the mirror just minutes ago. Just hours ago, he was lying on his back, grabbing Warrick’s hand, longing for a human connection, pleading for release from his prison cell.

And now here he is, still on his back, finding that his lips are quivering again, that Warrick is looking at him with tears in his own eyes, feeling like he’s still surrounded by glass walls and the hundreds of ghost ants still crawl across his skin…

“Please,” he begs, a shiver creeping down his body, he says it in the exact same tone as he did hours ago.

Warrick takes a deep breath and hooks a stool closer to him to sit on.

“Okay. We were able to track down your location from a couple different things...but really, it was the...fire ants that helped us narrow down your location,” Warrick speaks slowly, letting the words settle in the air, carefully choosing his words. “You were buri--You were at a tree nursery, one that the kidnapper’s daughter worked at.”

“Did you catch the...the guy that-that did this?”

“He’s dead. Grissom can tell you that part of the story.”

A pause, Nick tries to empty his mind, shoving the rage and sadness and fear as far away as he can, just like he does at the more horrific crime scenes he investigates. He’s bracing himself for the confirmation of a theory he had while in the box, for the answer that he did and didn’t want to hear quite yet, but he knows the question will eat away at him just like the ants did...

“How...how did you guys know about the ants?”

Another pause, Warrick stares at his friend, his mouth hanging open. His lips begin to move, a slow, deep breath blows out of his body. He’s bracing himself, too, for an impact that he wishes he wasn’t the one to deliver.

“We received a ransom note on a flash drive. It gave us twelve hours to deliver one million dollars, or else…”

Twelve hours? Nick thinks to himself. But I was in there for twice that…

“It...it also gave us a-a button to press. To let us…”

Warrick fell silent again, looking away, suddenly interested in the floor. His hand falls out of Nick’s, and goosebumps begin to rise all over Nick’s body, the realization of how the button may have been a trigger for something...like a light switch...

“To let you what, Warrick?” Tears sting Nick’s eyes, his voice is shaky, but firm.

“Every time we pressed the button, we’d be sent to a live feed...that showed us--showed us you.” Warrick’s eyes were still looking at the floor, and Nick’s eyes were now looking at nothing in particular. His body began to float, he feels like he’s falling backwards. The lights turn off, and he’s engulfed in darkness. Before he could shout in surprise, the light turns on again...only the light is at his feet.

On some level, he knew that someone had to be watching him. That someone was controlling the light that would turn on every two minutes, and stay off for varying amounts of time, no longer than a minute or so.

Nick had nearly forgotten just how annoying the light was, turning on and off and on and off. How painful it was, to be given air to breathe, to keep him alive, only for it to be taken away every time the light turned on. How intense the brightness was, flooding the box with light, allowing him to see every individual grain of dirt packed against the glass walls surrounding him. How hot the box became, so hot that his skin became glued to the glass from the sticky sweat that emitted from his dehydrating body.

He thought it was just his kidnapper, adding another layer to the hell Nick was trapped in. He thought it was some sick form of interrogation, that maybe the kidnapper wanted Nick to confess to something that he knew nothing about. He thought, maybe, the person who put him in here was just a sick, deranged asshole who wanted to see Nick suffer just because he could.

He never would have thought that it was his co-workers...his friends...his family that were unknowingly robbing him of air, of time. They were the ones who drove him to the brink of insanity, though they couldn’t have known that just by watching him.

They were the ones who broke him.

Warrick startles him when he finally speaks again, and Nick finds himself back in the hospital room, after taking a trip back into an overly-lit glass prison cell. His vision focuses on his friend, who seemed to have taken a similar trip to his own personal hell.

“The feed would last--”

“Two minutes,” Nick finishes, nodding his head towards the watch laying on the bedside table. “I kept track.”

“Nicky, we...we didn’t know that the fan…” Warrick’s voice is soft, strangled. A tear slides down his cheek, and Nick grabs onto his friend’s hand once more.

“It’s okay, Rick. You guys couldn’t have known.”

Warrick nods, shutting his eyes, sandwiching Nick’s hand in between both of his own.

“Besides, if I didn’t shoot it out, then the box wouldn’t have...and the ants wouldn’t have…”

Nick gulps, nausea swirling in the bottom of his stomach. He tries to keep his focus on his friend, which doesn’t help at all. He hasn’t seen Warrick so distraught, not since his grandmother passed. He tries to think of something to say, some sort of quip to lighten up the mood.

“Hey, good thing I’m such a good shot, huh? 260 outta 300, remember?”

He forces a chuckle, but Warrick remains silent. He tries to think of something else to say, to tease his friend, get him to crack a smile because the darkness inside of him is bad enough, he can’t bear to see it spread to his friend as well. Warrick releases his hands from Nick’s and rubs his red, watery eyes. Nick shifts uncomfortably in the bed, trying to distract himself from crying as well.

He’s about to open his mouth and make some joke about Grissom enjoying watching the ants when Warrick speaks again, his voice is deep, hoarse, exhausted.

“I...I watched you do it.”

“Do what?”

“Shoot that damn light,” Warrick growls.

Nick’s heart stops for a second, remembering how briefly--very briefly, he had pointed the gun at himself before aiming it at the light and firing in the same second. The image floats in his mind of his face, projected on all the computers in the lab, gun nuzzled against his chin, and can only imagine what that must have felt like for anyone watching.

“I thought you--” Warrick spats out. “You scared the hell out of me, Nick.”

Blood begins to boil under Nick’s skin, why is he so pissed off? He knew Warrick wasn’t angry with him but it sure as hell felt like it.

“Yeah, well, didn’t really have a choice, did I?” Nick mutters, unable to mask the disgust in his voice.

“We just wanted to make sure you were okay!”

“Then why did it take you so fucking long to find me?” His voice cracks as he shouts it, snapping Warrick out of his anger as Nick allows the floodgates to open, and the water burns out his eyes.

“You s-s-said the ransom note guh-gave you twel-twelve hours,” he sobbed. The air suddenly feels thin, like it did in the box. “I shot...that-that fucking light after fourteen!”

He could feel Warrick place a hand on a shoulder, his fingers gripping Nick’s hospital gown. The pressure doesn’t offer any comfort to Nick, his own fingers can’t seem to find Warrick’s, he grasp on that connection they shared in the hole is slipping away. Instead his fingers find the red welts on his arms, he struggles to fight the urge to scratch them.

“I almost...almost did it. Fuh-First when I was gonna shoot the light and then...right before you…You found me…”

“I know, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Warrick soothes him, speaking in that same, low, soft voice he had in the hole. He stands up, pulling Nick’s body closer to him, reminding Nick that he’s allowed to sit up, unlike a few hours ago. They cling to each other in a tight embrace, and Nick finally feels the comfort he was seeking.

Nick takes a sharp inhale of breath in an attempt to calm down, tries to slowly exhale but the air gets stuck in his throat. His body heaves as he tries to take control of the air, for a moment, the air is gone.

“Breathe, man, it’s okay,”

He nods and they release from their hug as he catches his breath. His sobs begin to fade, but tears still slide down his cheeks, avoiding the welts on his skin, like a twisted version of pachniko. The air clears, and he takes a few steady, deep breaths.

“I would have done it,” Warrick says, haunted by the memory that he and Nick share of Nick covered in ants, pointing the gun at his chin when the dirt was removed from the lid of the box.

Nick looks at Warrick, shaking his friend to maintain eye contact. The sadness he was feeling subsided, in its place, anger was boiling back to the surface.

“Don’t say that,” he spits out.

“It’s true, man, I woulda...Long before you--”

“Nah, you wouldn’t have. You’re way stronger than me, bro. Smarter, too, you probably would have figured out the fan thing sooner than I did, and then we could have found you faster…”

Nick’s voice trails off. Warrick nods at him, having finished Nick’s train of thought for him.

“He told me to do it, Warrick.”

“Who did? Do what?”

“The guy...guy on the tape. The guy who...he, uh, left me this-this tape. Told me I was gonna...die...in that box. Told me to just--” He gestures the motion with his hand, and then falls silent.

“But you didn’t. You’re stronger than that. At this point, you’re basically bulletproof, like Superman or somethin’.”

“Does that make you Louis Lane?”

Warrick laughs, harder than he did before and Nick can’t help but laugh with him. He’s glad their conversation ended on a high note, because as their laughter died down, a red-headed nurse came in to inform Nick and his friend that visiting hours were over. Warrick stays until the nurse grabs him by the shoulder as she’s on her way out after making sure Nick had everything he needs for the night ahead.

“Aight, see you later, Supes. I’ll be back tomorrow with some food.”

“Bring a beer, too, Ms. Lane, I could really use one.”

“I heard that!” the nurse calls out. “Lights out in five, Mr. Stokes.”

“You-You can call me Nick!” Nick blurts out. Warrick turns his head, smirking at his friend’s feeble attempts at flirting.

Nick shakes his head and smiles before heading to the bathroom one final time, finding himself looking once again at the reflection of a broken man in the mirror.

But this time, he is able to recognize the broken man, it’s him . Nick Stokes. He is broken, sure, but that’s okay. He’ll survive, he’ll endure, just as he always does.

After all, he is bulletproof.

#csi cbs #csi fan fiction #nick stokes #warrick brown #nick x warrick #csi #my fic #this is why i've been so quiet for the past three hours lol #my first of hopefully many fics this year

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prompt-master · 6 years ago

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@raptorattax asked: Soooo, I have a DBH prompt. Say there's some kind of engineer out there that develops a sensor for pain, and kidnaps Connor to implant them. I just kinda wanna see where you take it from there... maybe have him wake up confused and disoriented on hanks doorstep, or in the middle of nowhere. Maybe the dude keeps Connor to test it out. Just be sure to make him feel it 😊.... sorry if it's kind of vague or not interesting, I've had this thought in my head for a while!!

Connor booted up knowing something was wrong, but he just couldn't remember what. He tried to remember what he was doing before hand, but all he knew was he had shut down suddenly.

When Connor had opened his eyes he found himself completely unable to move. His arms were stuck by his sides, he was kneeling on the floor of a cold basement. He couldn't move anything but his eyes, but from what he could tell he was in some sort of basement lab. There was a wooden work bench with tools lined up. Along the ceiling were hung up android parts and tools. There was a minifridge with a clear door, full of bags of thirium from all sorts of models. He tried to move again, but something was disconnected.

RUNNING SELF-DIAGNOSIS

MOTOR FUNCTIONS DISCONNECTED

ISSUE DETECTED: FAULTY WIRING.

Connor then tried to call Hank, but that wasn't working either. Whoever brought Connor down here must have fucked with his wiring, and even worse they definitely knew what they were doing. He could hear footsteps upstairs, he either had to figure out how to get out of this situation or wait until they checked on him.

But he couldn't move...there wasn't much he could do besides try to remember.

Whatever his captor did to knock him out stopped some memory from being saved. But he could try to fill in the blanks. He wasn't with Hank at the time, he knew that because Hank was at a doctor's appointment. He remembers being at home with Sumo, when he registered a strange noise.

There was the sound of a door opening, followed by thuds against wooden stairs.

"Have you finished rebooting already?" The voice said, quickly nearing closer to him Connor chose not to reply.

The second Connor could see his kidnapper he ran a facial recognition scan. He recognized the man almost instantly, he was Derek Gillings, a robotics engineer he had arrested a while ago.

That was the thing about this line of work, you made a lot of enemies.

"Oh you're awake" Derek made way to his work bench, checking out his collection of android parts, "how are you doing, RX800, or 'Connor' as they call you."

"How did you get out of prison? I thought you still had a year left."

"Well if you play nice you can get out early on good behavior, a lot of the brutes in there can't handle themselves long enough to understand that. But I'm not like them, RX800, that's why I don't belong there"

"You killed a man, Gillings, I'd say you belong there."

"I didn't just kill a man" he rolled his eyes, taking a chip into his hand and rolling it between his fingers, "I was trying to make things better for everyone. If you hadn't stopped me, we humans could live forever on robotic hearts."

Connor cringed at the memory of investigating Gillings house. They'd found a man dead on a hospital like bed, after a failed surgery. It was gruesome to say the least.

"But I'm not here because of that. And neither are you. You see I couldn't stop thinking about how you managed to catch me. I almost got away, didn't I? You remember, right?" He turned to Connor expectantly, screwdriver in hand.

Connor frowned, "...Yes. You I had restrained you after you stabbed my hand."

Derek nodded three times precisely, and put his hands together, "Yes yes that's correct. But I can't stop thinking about what you said. Do you remember that part? How you said 'sorry, but androids don't feel pain'"

He knelt down behind Connor, feeling the back of his neck. Connor felt more scared then he liked to admit, but he held up his neutral expression. Hank would come looking for him, he just had to hold out.

"Luckily, I think I've figured out the answer to that"

He hated the feeling of those calloused hands ghosted over the back of his neck. Then he opened up a panel, Connor wanted to shiver when he tapped the inside of it.

"You're a deviant, yes Connor? Well don't most deviants want to be as human as possible?"

Connor didn't respond, even when he took out the chip that handled all of his sensory input related to feeling. Suddenly Connor couldn't feel the sharp cold of the basement, couldn't feel the man's fingers on him. It was a blessing and a curse. He got a break from the sensations he hated, but now he had no idea what he was doing.

"In a way, you should be thanking me for this"

The fear that struck him at that sentence had him speaking again, "What are you doing to me?" Simple and tense.

"Oh you'll see." He plugged another chip, the one he was holding earlier.

Connor shuddered when feelings slammed back into place, the cold not welcomed back in the slightest.

"Well?" Derek stepped in front of Connor, tilting his head, "how do you feel?"

Connor took a moment to run self diagnosis. He was...so confused. Nothing felt wrong. Nothing was going to hell. He worried his answer wouldn't be satisfactory and cause the man to make the situation worse, but what other choice did he have but to cooperate.

"...fine."

Derek kneeled down, grabbing Connor's chin, "fine huh?" He smiled, digging in his nails into his cheeks.

Connor's eyes widened at the new unpleasant sensation he felt. The nails digging it..it was sharp, he wanted to get away from it. It...it hurt. It was painful. Connor had never felt pain before but he already knew he didn't like it.

Connor looked into Derek's eyes and in a shaky voice said, "stop"

Connor didn't know how much pain he was supposed to feel. He didn't know what small pain was what bad pain was. It was like a kid scrapping their knee. This was the end of the world to Connor and it felt awful.

"How cute. You think this is bad?" Derek took the screw driver and smacked Connor across the face with the handle of it.

Connor gasped at the pain spreading across his cheek. If it wasn't for the fact that he couldn't move at all, he'd be trembling. He thought it had hurt before but this? This had to be the worse. It wouldn't fade either, his face felt sore.

"Please stop... I'm sorry I arrested you."

"You think an apology can fix this? Oh no no, I wanna see how much you can feel. How human you can be." He dug the screw driver into Connor's shoulder, and Connor SCREAMED.

Connor couldn't even speak after that one. He could feel the pain up and down the wound. It sent a spark across his shoulder blade, somehow even hurting the area around it. Pain was too much. This had to be the worst, it couldn't get any worse-

Another stab. Another. A punch. He was on his side now getting kicked over and over and over and over-

With tears in his eyes, a strange gasping noise from his mouth, Connor quickly realized pain could keep building up. Oh god how could humans live like this, so fragile? Connor let out a sob, his shoulders a bloody mess of thirium. His stomach so beated there were dents in the metal.

It only got worse when he broke one of Connor's fingers. The android screamed again, resorting to begging. He was so fucking scared. None of this was normal, he couldn't do this. This was too much too soon, he couldn't get used to it or handle it, he just wanted to pass out.

"Please...please oh god no more...please..."

Gillings stepped back, admiring the sobbing mess he made Connor into. "It seems successful...but how do I know you're not just successful mimicking human behavior?"

"W-what....?"

"Sure you're reacting like it hurt, but I can't really tell if you're actually hurt"

"I-i am. It hurts. It's hurts a lot dammit!"

He shrugged, "I guess I'll just have to keep you here longer. You won't mind that, right?"

Connor glared at him, "you're going to be stopped. You took the DPD top detective, they'll find me and-"

Connor was kicked right in the eye. That one hurt a hell of a lot. It was so sharp, it went straight to the back of his head. His vision flooded with static. Connor thought his eye was gonna fall out.

"Quiet. They aren't gonna find you, and even if they did you'll be scrap metal by then. So let's just enjoy out time together" he smiled, grabbing a band saw off the work bench.

Connor closed his eyes shut, trying to think of anywhere but here. Oh god, Hank, please save him.

#dbh #detroit become human #connor dbh #connor whump #torture #kidnapping #captivity #fanfic

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gaiabamman · 8 years ago

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Linked, chapter two!

Thank you so much for all the feedback, guys, you rock! Based on your feedback I did change chapter one a bit. Nala is now eighteen (not sixteen) and I did explain a couple of things better <3 ( @hazelwritesbooks still working on the blurb, thanks so much for your comment ^_^)

Read chapter 1 here

Reblog, reply, or message me with comments, criticism, and suggestions <3

Warning: not proofed yet! Feel free to point out typos, but there will be a few :(

This material is copyrighted! Feel free to reblog but abstain from other naughty things ;)

The banging on the door resumes. I jump to close the pantry, while Ma wipes her hands on her simple orange dress. The only window in the shop faces the street, right beside the door. I jump to my cot and close the cupboard.

I hear Ma opening the door, and a kind male voice stating, “Ma’am, I need the girl in the cupboard.”

The cupboard opens, but I know no one touched it because Ghost, the Ghost, the Master of the Capital’s Cursoi unit, is at the door, and Ma and Seria are facing him. I am in fetal position clutching what’s left of Gray’s Anatomy to my chest, when Lethal and Drama walk in after Ghost. Beside Lethal is Zera, tall and gorgeous with her green eyes and smooth blond hair up in a ponytail. If the gossip has it right, she’s the one that erased the crowd’s memory at the parade.

Oh. My. Lars.

Seria squeals, hands to her bright red face. She cannot be happy. Can she? It’s almost as if she sucked all the life from Ma, who backs one step, her arms on her sides, and a determined look on her face, as if she could protect me from the four Cursoi who just invaded our home.

I make no sound. I don’t move. Ghost’s blue eyes take in Ma. He smiles, tilting his head and speaks, “We mean no harm. We are here to help.”

I know he means the words for me as much as Ma.

Seria moves closer to Lethal, who stays motionless, like a bonking ancient statue of perfection. It’s almost as if Lethal and Zera are paused, waiting for instructions. I’ve never heard an order spoken to Cursoi. How the Merc do they operate?

Ghost steps forward, causing Seria to stumble backward and fall on her ass. She doesn’t move, and he adds, “Nala, you are one of us. You belong with us. Come.”

“Bonk you!” I answer. How does he even know my name?

My retort gets everyone’s attention. Zera’s green gaze moves to me with what could be mistaken for interest. Lethal has the biggest hazel eyes I have ever seen, and I’m pretty sure he just concluded I’m dumb.

Who wouldn’t want to discover they’re Cursoi? Me. Right here. Bonk them all. Kill me now. I want to change the world. I want to start a revolution! I’m no loyal soldier!

Drama says, his voice deep and rich, “You might be able to do whatever it is you wanna do, but with us. A million times better.”

If only he knew. But maybe he has a point. Could I infiltrate the Cursoi?

Ma says, “You could be a curer, Nala!”

Ghost’s pale blue eyes study me. “Don’t be afraid. We mean—”

“I don’t want to become Cursoi,” I interrupt. Lethal scoffs, the son of a nymph. Seria and Ma are frozen in place.

Ghost answers, “Nala, you are Cursoi. You don’t become one.”

“And work for Crash? Thank you, but no thank you.”

Lethal rolls his eyes, and I hate him a bit more. I guess the expressionless facade is only for parades. Contempt wafts off him in spiteful waves. Instead, did I just catch a smirk play on Drama’s gorgeous lips? Bonk, he’s hot up close.

His smirk opens in an ill-concealed smile.

What the Merc? What’s so funny?

Ghost says, without any less kindness, “Well, this is not playing out the way I thought it would, Nala, but you either come with us, or we’ll have to terminate you, which would be a real loss for everyone.” He gestures at Ma and Seria, but I know he means the whole planet. Cursoi are sacred.

My eyes lock with Lethal who, no doubt, would do the honors. Not one ounce of pity crosses his bonking angel face, not dread, not annoyance. He’s here to do a job, and he will.

I close my eyes, pretending my eighteenth birthday never happened. I reopen them and look at the Cursoi staring at me. I feel ridiculous, crouched in my cupboard.

Tears are streaming down Ma’s face. Seria is still with her ass on the floor, one hand on her unscathed knee, mouth open, eyes on Lethal. I scoot out of the cupboard, and jump to the floor, ready to infiltrate the bonking Cursoi.

“Fine,” I say, without shedding a tear.

“Do you need to pack?” Ghost asks, the ignorant, tactless jerk. I shake my head. I’m wearing the only clothes I own, and clutching Grey’s Anatomy, my only possession. Ghost adds, “Leave the book, Nala. Anything you’ve ever wanted to learn will be at your disposal back home.”

Back.

Home.

The words don’t make any sense. I swallow my tears, and leave my life behind. I don’t laugh just because I am too busy trying not to cry. I step out of Ma’s lab and Zera lingers inside, likely erasing any memory my family ever had of me.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. At least they didn’t arrest Ma. At least Ma won’t miss me.

Two more Cursoi are waiting in the alley, leaning against the mossy wall: Kino, dark as night, who likely opened the cupboard I was hiding in through telekinesis , and Dime. I have no idea what Dime’s skill might be, and his nickname is a bit cryptic. His blue hair stands up at all angles and several flat gold rings are pressed around the ridge of his right ear. His skin is incredibly white, making his eyes seem almost black and completely unfocused.

Ghost nods at him and we are gone.

***

One second I was outside Ma’s lab, and the next I’m in the biggest foyer I have ever seen. It’s a huge room with cream-colored walls and an imposing fireplace off to the left, burning logs. Why in the world would they burn wood? And where did they find it? My spite reaches record highs. I have still no bonking idea how we got here.

A gigantic wooden staircase covered in red velvet starts in the center of the room and splits half way to meet again on the first floor hallway, where many doors, all side by side, face the balustrade. The banister is the same rich mahogany of the stairs and the mantle. There is only one door downstairs, opposite the fireplace, and it’s closed. The floor is pink marble.

Selling the materials in this room would grant my family food for life. Trad-food for life.

It seems strange that despite the lavishness of my surroundings there is no personal touch, no ancient paintings, no holo-pics or projections. The place is completely anonymous.

Drama murmurs right behind me, “It’s okay to ask questions.”

Really? No one spoke to me yet. No one paid me any mind. I wipe my eyes, and shake off the shiver his murmur caused me. It seems quite inappropriate given the circumstances. I remind myself that I do not like him. I hate Cursoi.

Lethal, Dime, Kino, and Zera file up the stairs utterly ignoring me, but Ghost calls, “Dime! You stay, remember?”

The guy musses his blue hair, nodding as if he had just recalled something. “Oh, right, right, right.” He walks back down while the others disappear behind three of the many doors facing the stairs. Ghost and Drama are still beside me.

“Um, okay,” I reply. “How did we get here?”

“Dimensional travel,” Ghost answers. “It’s Dime’s skill. He blinked us here. Dime is short for dimension.”

Dime turns when he hears his name and smiles, but honestly he’s kinda spacey, whistling, hands behind his back.

I nod as if what Ghost said made sense, but Drama’s amused smile tells me he’s onto me.

“Why is this guy still here?” I ask, nodding at Drama, who grins apologetically.

“You need him and Dime to—”

“And where is here?” I interrupt him, more and more unnerved.

“Nowhere,” Ghost answers with a deep sigh. “It would be too dangerous to have all Cursoi in one place: too easy of a target. Dime created this parallel dimension for us.”

Again, Dime grins, moving his head to music only he can hear. I cannot believe he was still at the parade. He looked so hot on the holo-pics, but in real life he’s a bit goofy.

Ghost adds, “Only Cursoi can access this dimension. You’re safe here.”

I was safe home too.

I’m positive I did not speak my thought out loud, yet Drama says, “You wouldn’t have been safe at home for long, Nala. You healed your sister today. It would have been a matter of time for you to become a very easy target.”

How does he know that?

Ghost nods. “You would have been abducted, likely experimented on, and ultimately—” He stops when Drama shakes his head, eyes wide. Ghost puts a hand on my shoulder and I jump, terrified. “Calm down. Let’s get you to your place. You need to rest and start training as soon as possible. You have a lot to catch up, and I want to see what you can do.” I nod, feeling lonely and hopeless. “Drama, Dime: take over. Do you mind?”

Drama answers, “Not at all.”

Dime is lost in thought, staring blankly ahead, frozen. Ghost calls, “Dime. Dime!”

Dime starts. “Oh, yeah. What?”

Ghost shakes his head, and Dime’s gaze focuses as if he had heard something only his ears could capture. At least he’s not threatening like Lethal or…confusing like Drama. I hate how self-assured my hot kidnapper looks. His eyes are constantly on me.

Dime and Drama move, and I follow them up the stairs, Ghost behind me. The hallway ends against the wall on both left and right. The only thing up here are about thirty doors. Ghost disappears into one of them, and Drama, walking ahead of me, says, “Nala, don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”

Says the kidnapper and pillager.

Drama rolls his eyes. “We did not kidnap you, you should have been here all along, and the materials you see were not pillaged from Earth. Dime conjured them. They cannot leave this dimension.”

“Wait a second!” I yell.

He turns, and I almost walk into his chest. Almost. He smells like the sea, which completely evaporated centuries ago. Yet, I’ve been at several beaches through virtual reality at the museum.

His broad smile makes me feel…like nothing bad could ever happen. I force my brain back into my skull and ask, “Drama, how the Merc do you know what I think or feel?”

Drama shrugs. “It’s my skill. I’m an empath. Do you know what’s an empath?”

“Yes, Drama. I’m poor, not stupid.”

My mind is racing with all the information he could have gathered from my unaware brain. Did he figure out I want to infiltrate Cursoi? Does he know I think he’s the hottest thing on Earth? Dime leans against a wall, waiting, lost in his own world.

Drama says, “Don’t be angry. It’s common for less, uh, affluent people to lack time and money for education.”

“I’m self-taught. And what do you know about less affluent people anyway?” I’m standing in the middle of the hallway, legs apart, hands on my sides, feeling like I might just unleash all of my unhappiness on the closest empath.

“Point taken. I apologize. Anyway, this will be your place.” He waves at a door, and I stare at it.

All the doors are right beside each other. Are Cursoi stowed in coffins when not in use?

Drama must sense my perplexity, because he adds, “Dime and I will make you a place, uh, Dime?” Dime, who had walked down the hallway stops and turns around. Drama adds, “We’ll make you the place you don’t even know you needed. Are you ready?”

I shake my head, staring in his huge brown eyes. I swallow. “Uh, just how much do you feel of my emotions?”

“Ah, it might get pretty specific,” he answers, embarrassed, running a hand in his long disheveled, black, tight curls.

My mouth dries. “How specific?”

He says, “Well, you think Lethal is a piece of dung, which is refreshing. You hate soldiers, and have very original ideas on how you will spend your time here.”

I blanch, outraged. I don’t know if I’m more appalled by the fact he knew I’d kill them all if I could, or the fact he does not seem alarmed in the least.

Drama adds, “Also, you, uh, find me very attractive.”

Flustered, furious, appalled. I think I might just have discovered that my skill is disappearing into steam, but apparently I am still here because Drama adds, “You’ll get used to it. I mean, not my looks, I hope.” He looks away. “If it makes you feel better, I think you’re pretty attractive too.” He smiles.

Really? How’s that even possible? Now I might have dispersed completely.

Drama calls, “Dime? Dime, you there?”

Dime turns to us, “Oh, hey, yeah.” He looks at my face, which still feels on fire, and asks, “What happened to her? Did Lethal get in her pants, already?”

“Oh, bonk you!” I answer.

“Huh?” Dime tilts his head with a playful glint in his black eyes. “I like her already.”

Actually, I like him too. Much easier to deal with him than any of the Cursoi I met so far. Drama leans in to whisper in my ear. “You like him. You find him less intimidating than—”

“Stop it!” I hiss, trying to shake him off.

Dime stares at us, while Drama shrugs and replies, “I know you liked it, the whispering, I mean.”

Dime arches a blue eyebrow and asks, “Are you two done? Nala, if you want to merge with Drama, I don’t even need to make you a place.”

Merge? What the Merc is he talking about? “Oh, shut it,” I reply, opening my door, the eleventh on the right from the staircase, as I just counted.

At first I think I’m staring at a white room, but when I step in, Drama catches me from behind and I realize I would have fallen into…nothing. I am very aware of his arm, tight around my waist, and I am delighted I went to the common baths last night. My heart is spasming.

When he doesn’t release me, I pry his arm off me. “Do you file for sexual harassment in this place?”

Dime laughs out loud, then pauses. “Oh, wait. You were serious?”

Drama chukles too. “I guess you don’t know much about Cursoi. Do you?Can’t wait to teach you.” He says it in a way that should have totally creeped me out yet somehow thrilled me and pissed me off at the same time.

I do my best not to stare at him.“Right. So, what do we do?”

Dime offers me his hand. “One hand to me, one to Drama.”

“Are you serious?”

The corners of Drama’s mouth twitch in amusement. “Yes, but that would have been a great idea. In fact, before you give us your hands, why don’t you take your clothes off?”

“Niiiice,” Dime says.

Their one-track mind should set off all sort of red flags, but it just feels natural to joke about sex with them. I almost kick Drama, when one door opens and Lethal walks out in nothing but a white towel around his waist. His hair hits his shoulders and we are left staring at his muscular back.

Drama sighs. “And there I thought you didn’t like him.”

“Hey, he’s eye-candy.” A pang of longing for Seria makes a hole in my heart.

“He sure is.” Dime sighs.

I continue, “But that’s only one more reason to hate him. I’m more of an underdog type of person.”

“I don’t know if I should be flattered or offended,” Drama replies.

Dime rubs his face in his hands and says through his fingers, “All right, guys, work first, then merge.”

“Merge?” I ask. The two stare at me, clearly at a loss. “Nevermind. So, do I take my clothes off?” I lift the hem of my threadbare tunic, then peek at them. Both Dime and Drama are staring at me with bathed breath, and I burst out laughing. Who knew. I’m a natural at dirty banter.

Drama shakes his head. “I knew you were joking! I should have known!”

Dime offers a hand. “Yeah, I betcha all the blood left your brain to go other places. Come on.”

I do my best to keep up my nonchalant face when I put my hands into theirs, but there is something comforting in knowing that no matter how much I pretend, Drama knows exactly what I’m feeling. There’s no need to hide. He winks at me, likely agreeing.

I’ll get used to it, one day.

“Close your eyes,” Dime says.

“No more pranks,” I chide.

“Well, there’s no need really, it’s more for the surprise factor.”

And so, I do.

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Stay tuned for chapter 3! If all goes well, I’ll post it on Saturday ^_^

#read #write #writing #amwriting #Tumblr critique #tumblr writers group #Writerlr #writblr #fiction #fantasy #serialized fiction #serialized novel #paranormal romance #political fiction #empathy #sci fi #sci fi & fantasy

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