#a city where everyone you look up to is hiding dangerous secrets... probably not the best place to be

[insertsona]

a new project approaches .. but is this really the side of the universe you want to be on?

[sukeruton-san]

A Coffee Heart pt 3

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" Drake, why are you looking at a civilian's family history "

"The adults are Midwestern villains their secret hero son may be my long lost twin and they also have a daughter but she's mostly fine by herself. We might need to overthrow an entire government branch though"

"Excuse, me"

" You're excused"

After chatting with Danny for a while and getting more information without it sounding like an interrogation also making sure he'll be fine for couple of hours I went digging for the rest of the day.

And oh boy you won't believe what I found.

The Fenton's are fucking wild, after breaking through several firewalls just for the town and then even more for their security I found out 'the haunting world' really means haunted like ghost haunted. These people are the definition of mad scientists proudly stating that they built a portal to another dimension in their basement, and judging by the floor plan right below where Danny sleeps, said portal was letting dangerous ghosts out onto the city, but not all of the ghost are like that though.

The 'echoscientist' are heavily biased when it comes to ghost stating that they are 'nonsenseient' and 'don't feel pain' that they need to be a 'contained' 'experimented on' or even 'eradicated'' which is bullshit and horrifying. It's pretty obvious that there are several neutral and even some good ghosts appearing, most noteworthy being Phantom the hero of Amity Park (I know that majority is painting him as a villain but that is so far from the truth! there is an hour long video of him playing with children at the park helping everyone with daily tasks and more) also it seems pretty clear to me that Lazarus water and ectoplasm are similar in compounds which is frankly something I rather not think about right now.

The Fenton's cause so much property damage it's not even funny. they seem to not care for human lives and their excuse for doing so being 'dangerous ghost in the area' when it's clear that Phantom has it handled they don't even shoot at the attacking ghost they shoot at him which is so wrong on so many levels. the anti-ghost inventions they make seemed to even cause several attacks as well. Phantom already has enough on that his plate with the ghost attacks being 24/7.( Poor guy looks exhausted and burnt out) He doesn't need to have to hide/escape/be afraid from the people he's trying to protect. Hell even the red huntress(another vigilante) makes allies with him then shoots him in the back when the danger is over.

Looking closer at Phantom he has fluffy, soft, and thick white hair that seems to move like it's underwater; piercing, glowing, Lazarus green eyes; body type like Danny's but you can see more of the muscle and shape with his clothing being more skin tight, speaking of clothing he looks like he's wearing a hazmat suit with a symbol(a stylized D with a P in its negative space) postered on it and a utility belt. both the symbol and utility belt were added on later to the original suit which seems to resemble the ones the Fenton adults wear constantly

Actually Phantom looks a lot like Danny in general. . .

And Phantom has been called 'halfa' by some of his rouges. . .

No. . .

OH NO

Phantom and Danny looks so similar because they are the same person!?! after looking at Danny's school absences, tardys, and straight up running out of the class with the ghost attacks they line up

Danny seamlessly shows up with injuries that phanton has gained from Ghost attacks (but they're also injuries that seems to come from something else). Danny is apparently known to run from ghost attacks and as soon as that happens Phantom comes around the corner. Phantom uses Fenton tech that has been modified from the original, which probably he did, another similarity to add between us. . .

Wait I can add being a vigilante/hero as a similarity between us as well!

SHIT! Phantom is a ghost, dead, not living, did my twin brother die at some point!?! Cuz he sure as hell wasn't born like that!?! It must have been the day the portal was open. from what I was able to gather he was the only one home that day and the portal spontaneously worked after failing at first. And about a week later the first official ghost attack happened.

Also what is all this shit about the Anti-Echo Acts and the GIW!?!?! A whole government branch dedicated to the horrendous sayings of the Fenton adults!?!?! It looks like a lot of the Ghost attacks are dying down because it's became too dangerous for them to be out there.

We probably wouldn't have even noticed about all bullshittery with the government and this town in pacifically if if it wasn't for danny coming here.

. . . . .

Danny is here.

He is Phantom.

He said he was forced to be here.

He was forced into leaving his town.

The town that is attacking him at every corner.

With a support system that seems to be nonexistent.

And from looking at the old videos/photos he was learning everything from scratch.

With barely any appreciation for the things he does.

With the government trying to dissect him ( the fuck)

So logically after taking down the government and shutting down the portal if possible ( don't know if Danny needs it or if they environment has changed too much) Amity Park wouldn't need a hero if there's nothing to do there.

plus with their treatment of obvious heroes they could deal with their shit themselves, how does he deal with that I don't know.

They wouldn't mind if Phantom stays in Gotham would they? Probably not.

Oh well

He should probably start that welfare check now he'll do a more thorough investigation with the government later, twin brother priority right now.

" Drake, where are you going? You can't just say all of that and leave! Drake!!"

Yup welfare check

(think I'm getting better at writing shit!)

[one-green-frog]

Hellooooo

Hope you're having a good day :)

Platonic yandere batfam x male/gn reader who's trying to hie their powers and/or scars?

Frostbitten

Yan!Batfam x m!reader with ice powers, because i love iceman (x-men)

You were always good at hiding things. Even before all the training you received from the world's best detective. You lived a life of secrets even before you met your family, every day spent living as if the next moment your secret would be spilled. You learned to hide the scars, hide the accidents, you needed to, especially living in Gotham, the city where Batman ruled and one thing that Batman hated was metas

It is common knowledge that Batman hates them, hates their powers and hates them especially when they can't be controlled. So you hid them, never trying to learn how to control, just how to hide. Maybe that was your biggest mistake, but who could fault you, you just wanted to live a simple live in this god awful city.

And then you got adopted by Bruce Wayne, a dream come true. Suddenly you were thrust in this new life, filled with joy and laughter and a very loving family, you cherished every moment with them. But even more surprising was when they revealed their secret vigilante life. In that moment you didn't know whether to feel excited or scared. Sure, you looked up to Gotham’s vigilantes, almost everyone did, but you had a secret to hide, you had to keep it locked away and your biggest enemy is a family filled with detectives and a father that hates metas.

If you could hide your powers, hide the scars, then maybe everything would just be alright. Maybe they'd just dissappear and everything could be normal for once, a normal life with an almost normal family. They could never find out.

Because Bruce didn’t want those powers in Gotham. He never said it outright, not to your face, but he didn’t have to. You heard the way he talked about metas. Heard the tension in his voice when a case came in involving superhumans. How he preferred things predictable. Grounded. Human. Easy to controll

So you made yourself human.

Your family never asked why you always write long sleeves, even in some. Sure, the occasional "Aren't you hot? " was asked, but simply denying it sobbed that problem. Honestly you never were, you naturally run cold, probably because of you powers. The scars on your hands were a bit more difficult to hide, running around in gloves was just too obvious so when asked you simply told them it made you uncomfortable to talk about. Your family, every supportive and loving, stopped asking, not wanting to make you uneasy though their worried gazes never left you.

In all honesty, life was great, especially after you joined them on patrol. The training was hard, but worth it if it meant you could accompany them during the night. Everything was great.

Until it all fell apart.

It had been instinct, really.

The building was collapsing, a hostage still trapped inside, and you didn’t have time to wait. You didn’t even think. Just felt the fear spike in your chest—and then you were moving.

And freezing.

Everything in front of you exploded in jagged ice—brilliant, unnatural, alive. It lanced out from your arms, blooming outward, catching the falling beams, holding the wreckage suspended mid-air. You grabbed the girl, carried her out, felt her tremble in your arms—not from the danger, but from the cold that clung to your skin like a curse. You didn't even have time to feel relieved after exiting the flaming building, not when you saw the shocked faced of you family. In you adrenaline high you didn't think that they were just shocked, no, to you their faces obviously showed detestation. Especially Batman, clearly the guy with the no-meta-rule would absolutely loath you no matter if you are his kid or not.

You didn’t go home after that.

You couldn’t.

Not when you could still feel the way they looked at you.

Not angry. Not yet. But surprised. Confused. Like they didn’t know you anymore.

And if they didn’t know you—if they saw what you really were—what was stopping them from pushing you away?

You practically ripped the comms from you ear and ran. They could find you if they really wanted to, but you were hoping—praying—they wouldn’t.

Not until you could breathe again.

Not until the ice stopped crawling up your spine.

Not until the scars stopped burning.

---

You ended up in the park.

It was late. Empty.

Perfect since you wanted bo one to bother you.

You sat under the trees, hands shoved deep in your jacket, hood pulled low, hands shaking. You kept your gloves on, even though they were already half-frozen. They didn't protect you from anything, it was a way to hide the ice, hide it away so you couldn't see it. But you could feel the ache in your skin—those little jagged lines across your arms and hands, like old lightning strikes. Nerve damage, probably. But it wasn’t the nerves that hurt.

It was the memory.

Of growing up cold.

Of hurting people by accident.

Of locking yourself in closets to cry because your body didn’t know what to do with heat, and every time your emotions spiked, you left frostbite behind.

You used to think you’d grow out of it.

That was the lie that kept you going.

A nightmare that would someday finally end.

But now you were older. And it was worse than ever.

And now Bruce knew.

Your family knew.

And everything was ruined.

They were looking for you.

You should’ve expected that.

Dick was the first one you spotted—high above, on the buildings, doing that graceful acrobat silhouette thing he always did when he thought no one was watching. You could tell he was worried. He kept checking corners like he thought you'd vanish into shadows.

You pulled your hood lower.

Then you heard Red Hood.

Jason was stomping through the park like he’d kill the trees if they got in his way. Angry. Shaking. He was yelling your name now and then, but it wasn’t rage in his voice—it was panic. You’d never heard that tone from him before. Not even on the worst nights.

You turned away. Curled tighter. Pulled your knees to your chest and tried to stop the cold from spreading.

It was Tim who found you.

Of course it was.

He wasn’t loud. He wasn’t dramatic.

He just sat down beside you without a word. Quiet. Calm. Familiar.

You didn’t look at him.

Didn’t say anything.

But you felt the warmth of his presence, and you hated yourself for shivering closer to it.

He wrapped his cape, it did little to fight the cold.

Then he finally spoke

“Why didn’t you tell us?” he asked finally. Not accusing. Just soft. Tired.

You couldn’t answer.

You were too scared your voice would crack.

Too scared to speak the truth into the world.

Jason showed up next. Then Dick. Damian, sulking behind them, wrapped in one of Alfred’s scarves. They didn’t drag you home. They didn’t guilt you. They just sat. All around you. On the frozen grass. Wherever they could.

And Bruce came last.

Of course he did.

Silent. Steady.

You almost wanted him to yell. To be angry. To say you betrayed them. To banish you from the city.

It would’ve been easier.

But instead, he crouched in front of you, face unreadable.

“Do you want to come home?” he asked quietly.

That question shattered you.

Because you did.

God, you did.

But you didn’t think you deserved it.

They got you back to the manor somehow. You barely remember it.

Everything felt distant. Fuzzy. Like a dream you weren’t allowed to wake up from.

You ended up in your room, wrapped in three blankets and a hoodie you forgot you owned. Tim was fiddling with the thermostat. Dick was in the hallway talking to Alfred about heat pads, while Damian gathered all his pets to join you in bed.

Jason was closest.

He sat beside your bed, glaring at your hands like he wanted to fight them.

You didn’t mean to, but you flinched.

“I’m not mad,” he said, voice lower than usual. “Just… you’ve been hurting. For a long time. And you didn’t tell

The next day they finally saw you hands

They didn’t ask. But they were there when you woke up from a nightmare and ripped your gloves off in a panic. They saw the spiderweb of pale, cracked skin down your arms. The frostbitten patches. The places where the cold had eaten away at you from the inside.

You waited for them to recoil.

They didn’t.

Dick sat beside you and ran warm fingers along the worst lines, like they were battle scars, not damage, not a curse. He pressed his forehead to yours and said nothing.

Jason kissed the top of your head and told you that scars didn’t make you ugly.

Damian brought a salve that smelled like mint and helped rub it into your palms.

Tim found you a compression shirt designed for cryogenic trauma. Quietly handed it to you like it wasn’t a big deal.

Bruce didn’t say much.

He just held your hand one night when you were shaking too hard to sleep.

And didn’t let go.

That night you cried yourself to sleep, either from exhaustion or because of all the emotions going through you. That night you also realized that your family truly loved you. Bruce explained that he never could hate you or any meta, he was simply scared of what could happen to them or the people around them.

They loved you.

Not despite the cold—but including it.

The way the frost followed your footsteps. The way your tears came out as vapor in the air. The way you always wore gloves, even when it wasn’t needed.

They learned to warm your sheets before bed. Left heating pads in your seat at dinner. Gave you permission to feel—even when it made the walls frost over.

You were scared for so long.

But they never were.

You weren’t the monster.

Just a boy with ice in his blood, and too much fear in his heart.

And a family who would walk through a blizzard to bring you home.

Thank you for requesting, i absolutely loved writing this, i hope this is similar to how you imagined it! And sorry it took so long!

Taglist: @lilyalone

[starry-bi-sky]

more clone^2

snippet 21: Danny is Bruce Wayne's Clone and--

Star, with the rest of the A-List girls: alright ladies! it's time for our quarterly 'cutest boys' list! Now I'll get straight to the point, in our number one spot is--

All girls, in unison: Danny Fenton

Star, writing it down on a whiteboard: and for our number two spot--

---------- Snippet 22: clone meet clone

Ellie, dramatically: Danny!

Danny, equally dramatic: Ellie!

Ellie, pushing past him and looking around: where is he! i wanna see the little guy!

Damian, with a sword, brandishing it dangerously: *in arabic* don't come any closer, stay back!

Danny, wrapping an arm around Ellie's waist and pulling her back: woah, woah - he's still adjusting to everything

Danny, turning towards Damian with his google translate open: [please don't stab her. this is Ellie my clone.]

Damian, lowering his sword in disbelief: 'there's MORE of you?

-------------- Snippet 23: Ellie has the same epiphany as Danny

Ellie:...hey Danny

Danny, pouring over his arabic book: hm

Ellie: since I'm your clone, and you're a clone of Bruce Wayne, and Damian is a clone of Damian Wayne, does that technically mean I'm his mom - uh. dad-mom?

Danny:

Ellie:...its a fair question

Danny: .....*deep sigh* you're his cousin until further notice.

------------ Snippet 24: wait for me ii (hadestown, live vers.)

(i'm not sure of the context, but i've been thinking of Danny saying this to Damian during a serious moment for days. the snippet title is the song that the dialogue below is from)

Danny, fixing up Damian's wraith suit: the meanest dog you'll ever meet

Danny, zipping up damian's jacket: it ain't the hound dog in the street. he bares some teeth and tears some skin, but brother,

Danny, adjusting Damian's gloves, pausing to look him in the eye: that's the worst of him.

Danny, he holds a finger up to Damian's eyes and points it at him: the dog you really got to dread, is the one that howls inside your head

Danny, grabbing damian's mask and smoothing it over his eyes: it's him whose howling drives men mad, and a mind to its undoing

------------ Snippet 25: Danny is Bruce Wayne's clone-- (Battinson Vers*)

Ember, in the middle of a fight with Phantom + Wraith:

Ember, knocks off Phantom's mask for the first time: lets see what ugly mug you're really hiding under there, Phantom--

Phantom: *the wettest, most pathetic looking pretty boy on the planet*

Ember:

Phantom, dryly: what, did your mic die out or something? all that caterwauling finally make you lose your voice

Wraith, unsheathing his sword: *vibrating with baby brother rage bc he knows EXACTLy why Ember is silent*

----------- Snippet 26: Damian is finally starting to play nice :)

Dany: hey... guys.... whatcha doing

Damian, hanging out with Sam: Me and Manson are plotting ways to crush the Mayor's plan to cut budget funding for the city parks and cut down the native trees

Danny: oh, i see.... is this safe?

Sam: probably

Danny: hm.

------------- Snippet 27: digging up cold case

Danny: ....if Damian is out with Sam tonight with their plot against the mayor....

Danny, turning towards his desk: then that means I can work some more on Mrs. Witherbury's murder case that she asked me to solve without Dames guilt-tripping me into bed :)

Danny, settling down at his desk with a thermos full of coffee: i'm glad sam and damian are finally getting along

--------- Snippet 28: sparring

Damian, frowning: your reflexes are incredible but your combat is downright awful, brother. it's truly a miracle i didn't skewer you upon our first meeting

Danny, got his ass kicked by his 7yo brother: *groaning in pain* not everyone has super secret assassin training, Damian. And I don't really have time to actually practice anything.

Damian: Mrs. Fenton knows martial arts and her form is proficient enough, I'm sure she would be delighted to teach you if you asked. I will join since I need to keep my skills sharp and my training was unfinished when I arrived here.

-------- Snippet 29: daytime surprise

Phantom, fighting Skulker in broad daylight: *under his breath* at least Lancer's english test will get canceled for this...

Phantom, dodging a blast from Skulker: *in ASL, furious* don't you have anything better to do, you fuck!?

Skulker: foolish ghost child, speak! I know you're capable of it - speak before you lose the ability to

Phantom: *flips him off instead*

Wraith, sending back a ecto-blast with his sword: please pay attention, phantom

Phantom, doubletaking: *in a hissed whisper* what are you doing here!? it's a school day, you should be at school!

Wraith: Tt. If the boot fits.

------------ Snippet 30: guilt

Danny with his head on his desk, his elbows propped up as he massages his hands: hn

Damian, lurking to the side with a guilty look on his face:

Damian: can i....

Danny, silently holding his hand out to Damian: hrm

Damian, immediately taking it and doing the massages + finger exercises: ...im sorry

Danny: hm... I forgive you

[dyns33]

The Big Nice Punisher

I never gave love to Frank and Frank only in a story so I decided to change that

Y/N should have gotten used to it, now that she was friends with Matt, Foggy and Karen.

It had happened several times that the devil of Hell's Kitchen had knocked on her window to ask for a medical kit since she knew his secret, even if the fool preferred to die in a trash rather than ask his friends for help.

It had taken everyone's intervention to force him to admit that he had a problem, and that he could count on them if he wasn't being chased by an army of ninjas.

More than stubborn, his priority was above all to ensure that he did not bring any danger into their home.

Karen wasn't Matt.

She didn't want her friends to be in danger either, but her moral compass was visibly broader, and allowed her to do more things.

Like coming to Y/N with the Punisher losing a lot of blood, asking if she could hide him for a few days and make sure he was still breathing.

Y/N had followed Frank Castle's trial on television, like the whole city. She had heard about all the people he had killed, but also the people he had saved. She had heard what happened to his wife and children. And above all, she had read in all the newspapers that he was dead.

“Can you explain to me or are you going to tell me it’s better if I know as little as possible ?” she asked as she helped Karen place him on her couch.

"Actually, I don't know. I found him like this when I came home from work. Your apartment was closer, excuse me. He doesn't want a hospital, for obvious reasons, and I was afraid he wouldn't manage to get to my place."

"Okay. Just promise me he won't jump on me when he wakes up."

“Frank is very nice, don’t worry.”

'Nice' probably wouldn't have been the first word Y/N, or anyone, would have used when talking about the Punisher, but Karen was pretty good at judging people, and that was out of the question to leave him to die anyway.

Even if she managed to see the good in him, it still seemed a bit exaggerated and even very optimistic that Karen would decide to leave Frank Castle unconscious in a stranger's house. She took the time to write a little note, telling Y/N that she could show him if he didn't trust her, but repeating that everything would be fine.

If he didn't have a reason to hurt her, he wouldn't hurt her. Really very reassuring.

Sure enough, the Punisher woke up in a panic as Y/N was making dinner, looking around with wary eyes and grimacing when he saw her. His first instinct was not to attack her but to try to flee, but his injury did not allow him to reach the door, his path ending in the middle of the living room.

“Karen warned me this would happen.” Y/N sighed, hesitating to put down her knife.

"Who are you ? Where am I ? Where is Karen ?"

“In order, I'm Y/N, you're at my house, and Karen had a job emergency so I'm babysitting for her.”

“I don’t need a fucking babysitter.” he groaned, holding his leg.

"Look, you don't want to be here, I'm not really happy about it either, but if you let me help you, you can leave quickly."

"I'm leaving now."

"Oh, no way ! I promised Karen I wouldn't let you die and I feel like you're just as stupid as Matt, so you're going to rest your ass on the couch, you're going to eat, then I'll see if you haven't reopened your wound !'

"… Yes Ma'am."

The terrible Punisher then began to look like a little lost dog, speaking little and accepting the plate that Y/N offered him, thanking her with a nod, his big black eyes following her as soon as she moved in the room.

He insisted that he could take care of his leg, but just one look made him shut up again, letting Y/N do what she wanted, since he obviously had no choice.

"I'm not a doctor, but between your broken ribs, the bullet that was in your leg, and the other marks on your body, I will say that it would be best for you to rest for a few days before you start punishing people again."

“No time to wait.”

"That wasn't a suggestion, doctor's orders."

“You just said you’re not a doctor.” he said with a smirk.

“I’ll tie you to the bed if I have to.”

“I’d love to see you try.”

In the end, his leg was causing him too much pain and Karen had forbidden him to move over the phone, it was decided that Frank Castle would stay with Y/N ​​for at least a week. He seemed to be the most annoyed by the situation.

Both women were right about him : he was nice, and he was like Matt. He didn't like asking for help, and he was afraid of putting innocent people in danger by his mere presence.

Yes, he had tried to find Karen when he was injured, but Karen knew how to defend herself, and he would have found a way to convince her to let him go. He didn’t know Y/N. He didn't like the idea of ​​intruding into her home, into her life, into her world, even if Red wasn't far away.

"I also know how to defend myself if necessary, Mr. Castle."

"Of course Miss. And it's Frank."

“I can do the dishes by myself too, Frank.”

“I have no doubt about that, but I’m squatting on your couch, it’s the least I can do.”

A week might not seem like much, but aside from her colleagues and the trio, Y/N didn't see many people. This daily proximity to Frank made the atmosphere strange.

He always spoke little, almost never about himself, hiding his wounds like a proud animal, but being interested in her, not missing an opportunity to help her around the apartment as a sign of gratitude, and listening to her talk about her days with patience and sympathy.

It was almost difficult when his condition allowed him to leave. They had gotten used to each other and the separation gave them as much pleasure as their meeting.

Still looking like a puppy who didn't know how to behave, Frank gave her his number, just in case, taking hers if he needed to check on her. He wouldn't call her for a favor, it wasn't like him.

Obviously, his style was to stop giving any news at all and to completely disappear from people's lives.

Y/N could try to understand. He was dead in the eyes of society, he had a complicated past, his main occupation was murdering criminals… But all the same, a little message from time to time wasn't complicated.

The worst part was that he was in contact with Karen. Her friend seemed surprised that he hadn't contacted her. According to her, Frank loved her very much.

"He's shy, that stupid man. I'll tell him to call you."

"No, that's not necessary. I'm glad to know he's okay."

"Don't be ridiculous, you want to talk. He also asked me about you, I should have known he would do that."

Y/N probably should have too, but because in hindsight she didn't see why someone like Frank Castle would want to keep in touch with her. She had been useful, nothing more. Next to Karen, beautiful, intelligent Karen who he had known for a long time, Y/N didn't stand a chance.

There was also his family, for whom he had sacrificed everything. If he was only "friends" with Karen, there had to be a reason and that was because he refused to betray his dead wife.

This enchanted parenthesis of a week had been nothing other than a parenthesis.

It was stupid to be so sad for a man she had only seen for a week. And yet, Y/N was sad. So sad that she didn't pay attention to the time while having a drink at Josie's.

No doubt she forgot that despite the presence of Daredevil, Hell's Kitchen remained a dangerous place. Matt couldn't be everywhere.

So it wouldn't have been a surprise when she was followed by two guys, who cornered her in an alley and threatened her with a knife so that she would give them her bag. Then one of them looked at her with a funny look and licked his lips, and she tried to run away.

Before they could touch her, the first one had his head smashed against the wall. The other screamed, trying to defend himself with his knife, but the weapon ended up in his leg, and he was knocked out with a punch.

Slowly so as not to frighten her further, Frank helped her up, checking her for injuries and returning her things.

"Are you alright ?"

"Yes. I was careless."

“Not your fault, sweetheart.”

"I guess we're even now." she tried to joke, while sobbing. Y/N hoped he would think it was because of the shock, and not because she thought she wouldn't see him again afterwards.

This didn't make him laugh. He looked at her with his sad, worried eyes, shyly rubbing her shoulder as he listened to her breathing, waiting for her to calm down.

Then still without a word, he took out his coat to put it on her shoulders before walking her home.

There, he only left her when she was sitting on the sofa, to go get her a glass of water, letting go of it when he was sure she was holding it well, and remaining kneeling on the floor right next to her.

"… Karen said you were angry. Because I didn't call." he whispered, his eyes stopping from staring at her for a second.

"Karen is talking nonsense. I'm a big girl, and you owed me nothing. Nothing at all. I was happy to help you, and stupid to think that… Thanks for saving me. You don't have to stay."

Silence returned, but Frank didn't move. He stayed until she finished her glass, then until she was done shaking and crying, his hand never leaving hers.

But he still didn't move. And in that moment, Y/N wondered if he too had been disappointed when their week together was over.

Maybe Karen was right, he was shy, and he didn't want to put her in danger by staying in contact with her. As stubborn and insufferable as Matthew. And also nice. Why else would he have been there to protect her ?

"It's not a good idea." he suddenly muttered, closing his eyes.

"What ?"

Frank sighed, seeing that she might cry again. He could have left right away, because he didn't think his presence was a good idea, and probably he was right. No doubt it was ridiculous to love the Punisher.

But continuing to mutter, he stood up slightly, pressing his forehead against hers. Now he held both hers hands, looking desperate, opening pleading eyes.

He couldn't stay, but that didn't mean he didn't want to more than anything in the world.

"It's not a good idea." he repeated, however, as if to force himself to move, to remember his course of action, and he was quickly on his feet, ready to leave.

“Frank…”

"No."

“Frank…”

The door was closed as quickly as it had been opened and in an instant Frank was there again, kissing her like a thirsty man who had just found an oasis in the middle of the desert.

But the moment was furtive, almost a mirage, because the soldier quickly shook his head, swearing and saying again that it really wasn't a good idea, before fleeing the apartment.

Y/N could have been mad at him for that. But she was too busy touching hers lips, thinking that if he had kissed her against his principles, maybe Frank Castle loved her enough to come back.

This idea stayed with her, after she received a message just before going to sleep. Simple message, which made her smile.

"I was happy too. You're not stupid. Good night."

Yes, they would probably see each other again. In secret, at times when she wouldn't expect to find him in her apartment. But she was a bit used to Matt, Foggy and Karen. This wouldn't be a problem at all.

[arwenschepers]

The Secret of the Gallery

Elodie sneaks into the famed gallery of the emperor. It has been a project for months, where a group of people with magical abilities has been working on. She tries to find a way to get an advantage out of it, something she can use in her business.

Word count: 1755 TW: none, I think. Let me know if I am wrong

-------------------------------------------------

It was the gallery of the empress. Elodie had heard the stories, the rumours through out the city. How she had teams working on this feat. The living paintings, coming only alive at night. It was claimed that that was because of the decadence, the construction of the spell. Elodie wondered if it was not also a matter of skill, that the spells had to be structured that way to work rather than a choice they made. Still, Elodie was curious for the paintings. There were some things, uses really, coming to mind, depending on what the spells were actually capable of.

Celine, the empress lady-in-waiting, had been eager to help her out. A nice benefit from dating her. She was easily impressed by the risks that Elodie took. The danger, as Celine perceived it. She liked flirting with it and that worked in Elodie’s favour. Still she had to mindful not to push it to far or cracks in Celine’s loyalty would no doubt appear. And it wasn’t clear yet where the tear in the loyalty would appear. To her or the empress.

Given the fact that she had crossed most of the palace and no guards had been looking for her, told Elodie that for now she was still in the clear. Then again, the secret passages that she used to visit Celine helped her out now as well. The last part however, to the gallery, she would have to walk through the halls. She wouldn’t use magic to hide herself or deflect the attention. The emperor had enforced most of the known prevention methods and probably also some that Elodie didn’t know of. It felt better to take the risk of being seen.

Elodie slipped through the door, small streak of light pouring through the doors, slimming as she closed the doors to the gallery behind her. The night outside was brighter than the dark room. Still, there wasn’t enough light to illuminate the gallery. The room was too dark to see. Elodie used a simple spell to light one of the candles in the room, taking it off the chandelier. It would’ve been easy enough to light all of them, but the light would no doubt be visible to the guards outside. It would be like a beacon, telling everyone where she was.

Her heels were tapping on the marble floor, a soft echo in the big hollow chamber. Elodie slowly turned into a circle. There were paintings lining all the walls. Different sizes, most of them portraits, but a few landscapes as well. State portraits and women with their dogs. Surely not all of them could be spelled.

‘Are you looking for someone in particular?��

Elodie’s muscles stiffened for a second, then she slowly turned. In her head she was running several escape plans and excuses, as well as wondering how she hadn’t heard anyone else come in. When she turned, she saw that the reason she hadn’t anyone come in, was because there wasn’t anyone there. It had been a painting. A man was pushing himself out of the frame. Man was a generous description. It was a painted man. As he moved of the canvas, the paint was glistening. It appeared wet. His hands prints left paint stains.

‘You are not what I expected.’ Elodie murmured, studying the painting standing before her. The rest of the paint on the canvas was dry, only the painted man was wet. Elodie was curious if it would feel like paint as well. Knowing that a lot of spells could have loopholes, she decided against it.

The painted man stood up straighter, placing his hands on his waist. The paint was blending together, creating a weird stain where they connected. ‘What was it that you expected?’

‘For you took look less painted. Or to step out of the frame.’ Elodie was barely focused on the conversation. She was studying the man. There wasn’t enough light to be sure what she was looking at. If it was an illusion or if they actually managed to make it possible for them to get out of the frame. She had thought that they would be able to move in their frames, talk to them. This was more than she had thought was possible.

‘Is there something amiss?’ The painting asked, as he was trying to look at himself. Bending, turning and twisting. The paint layers smudging.

‘You don’t seem solid.’ Elodie remarked.

The painting held up his arms. ‘You can’t see through me.’ He said, sounding surprised.

‘I mean, that you can stand here, but the paint seems to be wet.’

‘Of course.’ He exclaimed, as if it was the most normal thing. ‘They tried to keep us the way we are in the paintings, but it didn’t work.’ He explained. ‘We were not flexible enough, several paintings were ruined in the process. Portraits crumbling when they tried to speak, the paint not allowing for their faces to move.’

Elodie hadn’t even considered that yet. It also raised another question. ‘How do they get out of the frames? The portraits.’

‘They can’t, they’re stuck inside.’

‘They can’t get out at all?’ Elodie asked, her eyes wandering along the walls again. The majority of the paintings did not depict the full body, mostly upper body. In a lucky case the upper legs.

‘A part of them can, the part that’s painted.’

Elodie started to walk along the walls of the room. ‘Do you do it often, getting out of the painting?’ She was getting several stares from the paintings as she walked past them. Still most of them stayed put, some just speaking to each other. ‘It doesn’t look like on of you fellow paintings is eager to step out.’

The painting caught up to her, staying a few steps behind her. ‘That is because the hassle of fixing the paint is hardly ever worth it.’

She saw what he meant with the paint. There was a clear trail of where the painting had been. From his footprints to the little drips of paint that fell off of him whenever he moved, pushing the wet paint out of one of the creases.

‘It is not included in the spell that makes you… live?’

The painted man shook his head. ‘No, someone comes in and fixes it the next day.’

‘Always in the morning?’ Elodie asked.

‘Yes, we only come to live at night.’ He said it so casually, like this information Elodie would know. Everything he said, it had been so careless, almost child like. Yet the painted man was older than that, he looked older than she was.

But then, who said that they paintings were the age as which they were painted. Energy, the power for magic, it had to come from somewhere. There was a thought itching at the back of her mind, that she couldn’t quite reach.

The painting was still rambling on and she only caught the end of the sentence, ‘because that is when they sleep.’

‘That is when who sleeps?’

‘The children.’ The painting said it in a way that it was supposed to be obvious, he most likely said it not a moment ago.

‘The children.’ Elodie murmured. There was something with children, someone mentioned it the other day when they came to her. The madness. That was it, the thought hat was in her head. In the poorer areas Paris, there were children going mad. Or they appeared to be mad. They all had a magic ability and all of them were losing it. It seemed that Elodie had just found the reason why.

‘Who are you then?’ Elodie asked the painting, wondering if she would know the child.

The painted man stopped, straightened his spine as he placed his hand right under his throat. ‘I am ‘Shepherd on mountain’.’

It was the name of the painting. He was the painting. But still. It was a weird combination of who the painting was supposed to be and who the child he was tied to really was. The painted man seemed to be his own person well enough, but he felt flat as a person. He wasn’t a fully a person, but he felt one-dimensional. Elodie wasn’t sure if that was due to the ties to the child or because of the spell.

It was starting to feel like an inquisition, but Elodie wanted to know more. ‘Do you remember any of this, when you go back into the frame.’

He frowned at her question. Or that is what Elodie made of it with the moving paint.

‘I do. I might know some parts of the day even, though i am never sure if that is actually the day or a dream I have.If I can dream. The scientists were not clear about it. They seemed to be unsure of lot themselves.’

‘But tomorrow night you would know that I was here the night before.’

‘I might not be sure about the date. We don’t always come alive. It depends on the child’s sleep if there is room for us to share it’s conscious.’

Elodie was still watching him.

‘They were talking a lot when they were trying to create us.’ The painting explained. He turned, walking back to his frame.

‘Where are you going?’ Elodie asked.

He pointed behind him. ‘Back inside.’

That much was clear, but what wasn’t was the sudden need he had. ‘Why now?’

‘Because the longer we stay out, the more chance there is something goes wrong.’ He was already holding on to the frame and pulling himself back inside, leaving Elodie on her own in the gallery, surrounded by wet paint.

The gallery was a frivolity. An expense frivolity, that played with people’s lives. Elodie had hoped to find another way to spy inside the palace, but she got something much more valuable. She had the information she needed to either blackmail the emperor or start a riot in the city. Regardless, it was useful knowledge to have. Now it was the matter making sure that no one else found out. Given the fact that the paintings were operating on children’s brains, she could not trust them. Perhaps if she mentioned something to Celine, she could talk to the empress. Some excuse about the paintings embarrassing the empress, or the risk that they would repeat secrets. For this was a secret, a piece of information, that Elodie intended to use when the right time was there. 

Tags:

@thepeculiarbird @cwritesfiction @byjillianmaria @yourpenpaldee @revenantlore

[random-bi-writer]

Trying to give Becky (and also Bob since he's involved) a full backstory.

Okay, in canon, she used to live in Lexicon until she snuck into a ship as a baby and scared Bob, causing them to crash into Earth and they both get adopted by the Botsfords.

And then she befriended Dr. Two Brains when he was Steven.

I know this is a kid's show but I wish they have a Lexicon episode because Bob is definitely hiding something.

This is probably going to be tedious, so buckle up.

Becky "knows" that she's adopted, but Tim doesn't remember it.

And we know Becky isn't lying since the spaceship is there.

If we could look back to a previous invention of Dr. Two Brains-

He canonically has a memory eraser machine.

So it's really possible for Tim to forget adopting Becky.

Now for the culprit. Becky knows about this machine but can't be the culprit because she has no reason to use it.

The only prime suspects are, Dr. Two Brains, because it's his invention, and Bob, who could have used it before Steven got fused with Squeaky.

Bob is more likely since he panicked when Becky tells Tim and Tj that she's Wordgirl.

The most probable conclusion is that Bob had seen another hero tell their identity and it went horribly wrong.

If that was the case, who was the hero? The clue is the spaceship.

The fact that the spaceship has a book called "Super Advanced Secret Battle Moves of The Planet Lexicon" and it's hidden in the library can only mean two different things. And it's probably one of the most popular theories in this fandom (I think, I'm new here)

Lexicon is at war

Lexiconians are endangared

Either way, judging from the looks of the library, the people of Lexicon are superpowered beings and there are other planets either scared of them or want to use them.

And both options puts Lexicon in danger.

So let's think about this for a moment.

Becky knows that Bob crashed the ship, but the only way for her to know that is that Bob told her.

And right now, we can't trust everything that monkey says.

Lexicon is in danger and Bob just decided to leave it for a quick flight without realizing that a baby was there.

Wouldn't it make more sense, if...Becky's biological parents were in that ship as well if they want to be safe from the war.

Because let's be real here,

Lexicon has its cities bubbled and the spaceship is outside.

Judging from this picture, the only reason you could be outside is for you to prepare for an expedition or war.

It's clearly not a place for toddlers to wander around.

So it makes more sense if Becky's biological parents were with her and Bob as well when they crashed.

And considering that library has a superhero theme, this brings to the next part of Becky's backstory.

When Dr. Two Brains was Steven, he wrote a book about how to be a superhero.

And in an episode, he had implied that he physically help Becky when she's Wordgirl.

So Steven needs to have experience on that and who better than Becky's Lexiconian parents?

Besides, how would Steven and Wordgirl meet? I know that the lab and the art class are in the same building and Becky could have just wandered and met Steven and bonded with him but she wouldn't just randomly barge into the lab just to ask for help.

It's kind of possible that Bob just told Becky where to go.

I think Bob and Steven were good friends so I don't think Steven was evil and betrayed said parents.

And considering where this post is going, Becky's bio parents are dead. Sorry.

Dang, can you imagine? You, your best friends, and their daughter try to escape from war and crashed into Earth. Your best friends decided to be superheroes and you help them with Steven. And then they just die. With no explanation. And now you're alone with their kid who won't be able to remember them.

I think Bob just- erased everyone's memories of them as a desperate attempt to keep Becky safe.

And that's the tragic backstory of Becky and Bob.

[tobiasdrake]

Man, Halara's great. Anyways, back to it. We were....

RIGHT. We're in danger. I wish Halara was here. I always feel safer with them around.

That's okay. If they aren't here, then they might be at the secret lab being tortured to death by homunculus experiments choking the shit out of Makoto for thinking he could contain that much raw awesomeness. Even Yomi ran shrieking for his life once Halara hit the field. They are, without exception, the baddest ass in Kanai Ward. Top-tier unpleasant glutes.

Corroborating what Kurumi was telling us. This place was a village once, but then a toxic gas leak from a nearby mine prompted an evacuation from the village. At least, that's the official story.

I know better than to trust the official explanation for "Everyone needs to get the fuck out because rich people have decided that they own the land now." Maybe it's an eco-disaster or maybe it's gentrification. Or both! Capitalists are opportunists, after all.

Yep. Nobody can enter here, not even Peacekeepers, on account of how deadly the gas is supposed to be. The obvious place to hide a secret lab.

The presence of the nearby "zombies" means something's obviously going on here, but that's not what toxic gas typically does to people. My kneejerk reaction is that the homunculus project is responsible for... Whatever's happening in their eyes, and subsequently the rest of them.

What you would consider to be a corpse, a homunculus researcher may look at as viable resources.

That's what I was thinking. Occam's Razor says the toxic gas did that to those people, but my money's on the lab. I don't think those are actually zombies, so much as they are failed homunculi.

But we should still keep in mind the possibility that it's as simple as "gas victims".

SHIT, I guess they are aggressive. These three broke down the door and--

Wait, are those three wearing Aetheria Academy uniforms under their raincoats? Oh. Oh. Oh god no. I know who they are.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

It is NOT toxic gas. I repeat, it is NOT toxic gas. These three are our victims. We murdered them and sent them here.

These three have been haunting me since the day we killed them but I didn't expect them to do so literally. We are in Silent Hill! This is the ghost of my past trauma manifesting corporeally! I DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT, I SWEAR. T_T

Okay. Less hysterical. I take this as confirmation that these are failed homunculi. After they died, the Theater Girls' bodies were shipped to the secret lab, where they were used for homunculus experiments. Now they want to eat our brains. And they're entitled to it because we murdered them.

No, not going to think like that. We have to run.

AND NOW SOMEONE'S SHOOTING ARROWS. Have we killed any archers? I don't think we've killed any archers. Wait, there's a note. This was probably fired by a human. Do we know any archers?

Good on you, Kurumi, for grabbing that note.

Didn't expect that to be confirmed so quickly. We're moving along at a rapid pace.

Y'know, I tinkered with both "KANAI WARD SIGNATURE MEAT BUNS are cannibalism" and "Everyone in Kanai Ward is homunculus" as spitballs at various points while I was here. Maybe it's both.

Wild-ass speculation theory: The meat buns are made with human meat, which helps keep the homunculi sane and reasonable. This meat comes from the kidnapped people Number One was talking about; They're trafficked into the city and butchered to make meat buns.

When someone dies publicly, their body is brought here and basically dumped to keep up the appearance of an immortal being's "death". Separated from the sanity-granting meat buns, they degrade into the zombies we're encountering now.

That's the reason why Amaterasu always moves extremely quickly to remove a dead body from a crime scene - something that's come up a few times. The official explanation is that the Forever Rain causes the body to rot too quickly, but they do this when bodies are indoors too. In reality, they need to traffic the "dead" homunculus out of the city before everyone sees them wake up.

Maybe we weren't brought here to, like... be killed by homunculi or experimented on or whatever. Maybe we're here for the same reason all the other homunculi are. We're here because we're "dead". We know Kurumi's a native; If this theory is right, she's likely a homunculus too. We know nothing about Yuma. And none of the confirmed-outsider Master Detectives have been found to be here yet.

Everyone who's died in Kanai Ward is probably here somewhere.

...including Yakou.

Okay, so I wasn't wrong before when I said those others seemed to be lulling around dormant. Homunculi become steadily more feral, the longer they're deprived of human flesh. The Theater Girls are starving, while those others were simply hungry.

I wonder if we can "unkill" the homunculi by getting them something to eat? This would be a good reason to invest in human cloning. See how they do with lab-grown human arms and stuff.

...y'know, if my theory is true, then Icardi was screwed from the start. If his plan had worked, he would have escaped Kanai Ward and fled to the outside, then gone slowly insane from a lack of understanding for how to feed himself.

Makoto, what did you do to this city? What even makes people turn homunculus? Is it something in the rain? Is it... Is the rain altering our genetic code or something?

Is that why you wear the mask? To shield your face from whatever is happening in people's eyes that makes them change?

Is that how we survived the sinking of the sub? We were inside it when it went down. Did we die, but Makoto fished our corpse out of the river and then waited for us to wake up again?

Is that why Yomi was going to execute Martina by having her mashed in an industrial-strength presser? I thought he was just being barbarically cruel, but if the Peacekeepers are extricating corpses before they can wake back up then he'd have to know what's up, right? Crushing someone into paste might be one of the only ways to kill a homunculus.

Hey, man. Sorry about that whole surprise-murder thing. On a scale of 1 to Brains, how hungry are you right now? Do you have the emotional capacity for a chat?

I mean, you died before the Theater Girls so probably not but you had the emotional capacity to make your way to what is clearly a religious shrine, so you must have had some reasoning and comprehension skills when you first woke up.

BRAINS IT IS. THE ANSWER IS BRAINS.

There's Shachi and Icardi. Also Worshipper. If we're going to find allyship, we need a fresher-dead homunculus than Chapter 3. So. Yakou and Huesca are the only potential candidates, then.

Come on, Yakou, you gotta be around here somewhere.

How did you think "Restricted Area" was enforced? Honestly, I was expecting a huge concrete wall. We could climb that shit.

...those black and yellow warning panels look suspect. Maybe throw a stick at it or something. Might be electrified. Not that it matters if we're both unkillable immortals but being electrocuted to "death" would still hurt like hell.

After all, it would need to be strong enough to deter homunculi from doing exactly what I said: Trying to climb it.

Yep. Even better than a stick, we had a random homunculus to walk his dumb ass into it and demonstrate. Thanks, rando.

Oh, more randos. We should see if they walk into the fence too. If we pile up enough homunculi, maybe we could - No, human bodies are electricity conductors. That wouldn't work.

It's okay, it's just the Theater Girls again. I know exactly how to repel theater kids. Ahem. "Good luck on your performance of Macbeth tonight."

Can't run any further, Yuma! Do something! Anything!

ANYTHING ELSE BUT THAT, OH MY GOD.

Be fair, Shinigami. There's a reasonable chance that Yuma died again, not passed out.

Oh, that is much more of a "Secret Lab" than what Makoto showed us. I think we hit jackpot.

Can you? Hmm. Just picked up a Solution Key that says homunculi are attracted to sound. So that's interesting.

[robynqueenofstuff]

"I am not drunk"

loosely. seldom do they truly mean it.

60 - 40

drawing. he didn't really have any art utensils so he'd use rock and sand when his masters weren't around.

nope. he tries very hard not to cry. it ended badly in the past.

Piano Music.

Let's just say they can't use his name to attract attention so when he's drunk ALE!

Never. he never says I love you

generally he's a gentle love because he tries not to be tough love as it's messed up in his head because of past reasons.

Over time, he gets more and more excited about the magic he learns and tells EVERYONE

to offer him ale. if he rejects it. they'd know.

every time that Luvena corrects the pronunciation of something that someone in the city or the citadel [usually wealthy airheads] gets wrong. he likes the look on her face.

he actually doesn't fake smile. can't bring himself to.

licks his finger. it's just what he's used to.

as a slave, he was obedient and silent, with friends he was more snarky and hyperfocused on what was before him, when he's training he's a little more laid back and helpful, when it's him with a certain someone it could be all of the above but if he likes you it'll be warmer.

EVERYONE. his former masters, his friends, his opponents, himself,

the dark circles under his eyes. most people just notice the tall good-looking guy but later on, there's a certain feature that always grabs the attention.

Spoiler

this scenario actually happens and he nearly grinds his teeth off

Masato. cool guy but still a murderous bounty hunter.

pretending to be gracious about someone they don't like

they practice fighting with weapons for fun. he can't quite shake the feeling of danger

probably his standoffish nature when he met several of them

yep and it was a triple chocolate

cooking. and what rocks are easier to climb

coolly but accepting

was less a gift and more a torment by his masters. he just thanked them and shoved it in the corner of his cell

initially keeps all that to himself, but it starts to change as well - he wants to be free, he wants answers, he wants to protect the group,

makes it clear they're irritating him and sticks to his guns

yes but if the professional affects the personnel he will feel really bad

when they have upset someone or feel they have, tends to make overtures of apology until he realizes they've forgiven him or was never that pissed with him.

disruption. probably trying to break up a fight only to get stuck in

civilly. he'll be polite but his tone will usually be poison

he refers to them by their name casually

what he did when he was enslaved plus some of the secrets he has to hide weigh heavily on him.

Masato. the guy did try to kill him and the group after all. and he knows the man is in it for the bounty.

he doesn't mention the dreams he has that could be prophetic.

reading. he never got the hang of doing it in front of others

excluded.

don't think anything of it. it's pretty common.

in the town where he would do errands for his masters. he'd pick up slang and such from the people

closing your eyes is B******t and you know it

not as much acts of kindness as that is what got him through his childhood but kindness when one wants something is treated cautiously

I have no idea

pretending to enjoy yourself. what is the point?

He's a listener and he's actually a good talker though he wouldn't believe it.

it is the slaver who sold him

he'd probably make an excuse

he actually would as it's wasteful

fight and flight. he's not the most stealthy and he's not really open to many alternatives

why? not questioningly but more an exasperated "Why"

he tries to get the facts but that only really develops later on

Galton

used to freeze a lot now it's fight or flight

manual labour. he does it but he doesn't like it

Luvena or Valla, he'll talk to Galton once he's calmed down.

probably, basic conversation. he's either "sir yes sir or yes madame" or way too coarse or blunt.

not that many, it's more to occupy himself from the grim reality.

I make him sound really boring but I am trying to make him multi-dimensional

WEIRDLY SPECIFIC BUT HELPFUL CHARACTER BUILDING QUESTIONS

What’s the lie your character says most often?

How loosely or strictly do they use the word ‘friend’?

How often do they show their genuine emotions to others versus just the audience knowing?

What’s a hobby they used to have that they miss?

Can they cry on command? If so, what do they think about to make it happen?

What’s their favorite [insert anything] that they’ve never recommended to anyone before?

What would you (mun) yell in the middle of a crowd to find them? What would their best friend and/or romantic partner yell?

How loose is their use of the phrase ‘I love you’?

Do they give tough love or gentle love most often? Which do they prefer to receive?

What fact do they excitedly tell everyone about at every opportunity?

If someone was impersonating them, what would friends / family ask or do to tell the difference?

What’s something that makes them laugh every single time? Be specific!

When do they fake a smile? How often?

How do they put out a candle?

What’s the most obvious difference between their behavior at home, at work, at school, with friends, and when they’re alone?

What kinds of people do they have arguments with in their head?

What do they notice first in the mirror versus what most people first notice looking at them?

Who do they love truly, 100% unconditionally (if anyone)?

What would they do if stuck in a room with the person they’ve been avoiding?

Who do they like as a person but hate their work? Vice versa, whose work do they like but don’t like the person?

What common etiquette do they disagree with? Do they still follow it?

What simple activity that most people do / can do scares your character?

What do they feel guilty for that the other person(s) doesn’t / don’t even remember?

Did they take a cookie from the cookie jar? What kind of cookie was it?

What subject / topic do they know a lot about that’s completely useless to the direct plot?

How would they respond to being fired by a good boss?

What’s the worst gift they ever received? How did they respond?

What do they tell people they want? What do they actually want?

How do they respond when someone doesn’t believe them?

When they make a mistake and feel bad, does the guilt differ when it’s personal versus when it’s professional?

When do they feel the most guilt? How do they respond to it?

If they committed one petty crime / misdemeanor, what would it be? Why?

How do they greet someone they dislike / hate?

How do they greet someone they like / love?

What is the smallest, morally questionable choice they’ve made?

Who do they keep in their life for professional gain? Is it for malicious intent?

What’s a secret they haven’t told serious romantic partners and don’t plan to tell?

What hobby are they good at in private, but bad at in front of others? Why?

Would they rather be invited to an event to feel included or be excluded from an event if they were not genuinely wanted there?

How do they respond to a loose handshake? What goes through their head?

What phrases, pronunciations, or mannerisms did they pick up from someone / somewhere else?

If invited to a TED Talk, what topic would they present on? What would the title of their presentation be?

What do they commonly misinterpret because of their own upbringing / environment / biases? How do they respond when realizing the misunderstanding?

What language would be easiest for them to learn? Why?

What’s something unimportant / frivolous that they hate passionately?

Are they a listener or a talker? If they’re a listener, what makes them talk? If they’re a talker, what makes them listen?

Who have they forgotten about that remembers them very well?

Who would they say ‘yes’ to if invited to do something they abhorred / strongly didn’t want to do?

Would they eat something they find gross to be polite?

What belief / moral / personality trait do they stand by that you (mun) personally don’t agree with?

What’s a phrase they say a lot?

Do they act on their immediate emotions, or do they wait for the facts before acting?

Who would / do they believe without question?

What’s their instinct in a fight / flight / freeze / fawn situation?

What’s something they’re expected to enjoy based on their hobbies / profession that they actually dislike / hate?

If they’re scared, who do they want comfort from? Does this answer change depending on the type of fear?

What’s a simple daily activity / motion that they mess up often?

How many hobbies have they attempted to have over their lifetime? Is there a common theme?

[iamapoopmuffin]

Teen Titans Episodes Explained Badly

Divide And Conquer: Aight, first thing to establish here, you take any one Titan out of the equation and the entire team is fucked, thank you and goodnight.

Sisters: If you ever wanted to get your sibling arrested, here’s a handy dandy guide on how!

Final Exam: “Did you order a crack team of ace assassins?” “No.” “Great, here you go!”

Forces Of Nature: Some old dude convinces two teenagers who have never heard of stranger danger to start some fires

The Sum Of His Parts: Reject humanity return to robot

Nevermore: Journey to the centre of Raven’s brain

Switched: Anatomically accurate puppets give way to your classic body switch storyline

Deep Six: Beast Boy vs a hot guy. The Titans get wet.

Masks: A secret identity within a secret identity

Mad Mod: A cheerful reminder that school sucks and is full of creepy people. Also never trust British people.

Car Trouble: I steal your car I steal your car I steal your car I steal your car I st

Apprentice - Part 1: Slade, a bitter divorced father, hasn’t seen his children in a long time so he steals one of Batman’s children.

Apprentice - Part 2: Robin does not want to be Slade’s son

How Long Is Forever?: Back to the future

Every Dog Has His Day: I heard you like dogs so I traded your dog for a dog. Also if it’s green, it will love annoying Raven.

Terra: The Titans let a homeless girl crash on their couch and she tracks mud everywhere

Only Human: Atlas’ entire life is this one video game and he probably lives in his mother’s basement

Fear Itself: Have your nightmares ever come alive and tried to kill everyone you care about? W̶̢̧̖͚͎̙̗̰̦̹̏͗̽͊̒̊̂͐̏̏͒̌͠ͅỏ̸̢̥̻̑̌͑́̏̓̈͐͜͝ų̷̭̫͙̘͕̣̏̑͂̍̈̋̽̍l̸͖̙̭̩̘̩͇̱͎͑̌d̶̡̧̡̛͎̪̳̰͉͖̠͈̗̽̃̎̏͑̈́͊̚͝ ̶͖̞̅̂͌̅̏y̶̖̯̮̩͈̻̹̣͆o̶̙̰̽͆̆̔̿̂͠u̵̡̫̩̹̅̄́̅̈́͆̾̉̀̐̌̂̚ ̶̨̢̛̥̺͍͙͎̥̣̼͇̲̞̳̄́̂̇̉ͅl̵̮̿i̵̢̢̛̹̞͕̲͐̈́͜k̵̡̺̏̊͌̿͊͆́̅̍̂͑̕͘͝ͅe̵̛͇̕ ̶̧̧̨̟̺͍̞̤̱̗̲̦̺̹̌͂̏̀̌͌̚ţ̶̫̞̣̬̣̜̙͛̓̂̋̀̍̀̏͐̇͒ͅh̴̢̧̡̭̭̱̙͙̼̊͌̅̋̎͊̉̓̓̚͜͝e̴̥̩̩͔̰̫͆̇̇̐̂͛̊́̀m̴̡͇̀̊ ̷̦͚̖̯̌͛́̄̔̄t̶̢̤̫̰̲̖͚̗̜͔̫̫̖͚̿̓̑ͅo̴̳̹͎̗͍̜͂̆̅͛͐̈̐̈́͒̽͘͠?̶̨͖̲͈̩̲͎͍̪͇̤̺͑̾̇͂̆̾̈̈́̅̅

Date With Destiny: Sexual harassment ft. moths

Transformation: Puberty. That’s it, that’s the episode.

Titan Rising: Homeless girl joins team and doesn’t track as much mud around the house this time.

Winner Take All: Overgrown furry gremlin thing makes kids fight each other then shoves them inside a necklace

Betrayal: Bitter divorced dad ruins teenagers’ date

Fractured: Being from another dimension appears and accidentally turns the world into a crayon drawing

Aftershock - Part 1: Terra is evil? Terra is unyielding? I’m packing my little rucksack-

Aftershock - Part 2: You thought everyone was dead but no, they’re fine...wait, a volcano is erupting-

Deception: Cyborg goes back to school but it’s evil school

X: When your evil alter ego suddenly becomes a person in its own right.

Betrothed: Never let your sister plan your wedding

Crash: Get sick, eat everything.

Haunted: Robin gets poisoned and hallucinates vividly.

Spellbound: The dangers of getting way too attached to a character in one of your books

Revolution: History lesson on crack

Wavelength: Evil Academy 2 Electric Boogaloo.

The Beast Within: Reject humanity return to Bigfoot.

Can I Keep Him?: Please do not feed your silk worms mysterious alien goo.

Bunny Raven...Or...How To Make A Titanimal Disappear: “Hey kid, you wanna see a magic trick?”

Titans East - Part 1: A new Titans team but Brother Blood wants to make it Evil Academy 3 Steel City Drift

Titans East - Part 2: Hypnotism and violence. I hope you kids like the threat of death!

Episode 257-494: Fat nerd escapes into TV and becomes James Bond

The Quest: Robin gets advice from some talking animals

Birthmark: Slade is never getting invited to another birthday party.

Cyborg The Barbarian: Back To The Future but it’s the film where they end up way in the past. Cyborg falls for a dead girl. This boy is really not lucky in love.

Employee Of The Month: Beast Boy gets a job working for a talking cube.

Troq: The Titans help an intergalactic racist and don’t question it when he states they need to commit mass genocide for the good of the universe.

The Prophecy: Oh yeah also the world is about to end lol

Stranded: “Well thank fuck this planet happens to have an atmosphere we can all survive in.”

Overdrive: “I’ve started a gang. The current members are me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me and me.”

Mother Mae-Eye: Overbearing parent simulator

The End - Part 1: Satan comes to visit his daughter and burn everything.

The End - Part 2: Everything is on fire.

The End - Part 3: Raven tells her dad to fuck off.

Homecoming - Part 1: Meet The Parents, Beast Boy edition

Homecoming - Part 2: What would you give up to chase down a team led by a homosexual brain in a jar and his monkey boyfriend?

Trust: Madame Rouge melts in direct sunlight.

For Real: You ordered the Teen Titans, but we didn’t have it in stock. We’ve substituted and price matched Titans East, now without hypnotism.

Snowblind: Starfire helps Captain Russia™ face his radioactive personal demons

Kole: Jurassic Park but nobody gets eaten

Hide And Seek: Would you rather fight a giant gorilla or babysit children? Quickly now, we don’t have much time.

Lightspeed: No Teen Titans here, just bad guys and even worse flirting.

Revved Up: Basically Wacky Races.

Go!: “This is the story of how we met. Except I tell it better than Robin does, my version has pirates!” “God damn it, Beast Boy-”

Calling All Titans!: “Here’s every single hero we could get the rights to for this. We sure hope no-one’s got any evil plans for all of them...”

Titans Together: Oops, evil won. SIKE!

Things Change: Beast Boy harasses the fuck out of a girl who looks like his ex.

The Lost Episode: I hope you like music, ft. don’t trust British people 2 electric boogaloo.

[m-r-levine]

Oof. So uh that’s a long list. Looks like 27 28*… unless I’m forgetting stuff. Brain move too fast for typing. WIPs perpetually spawning plotbunnies. Piles of outlines, some of which are probably too ambitious to be one book.

Send help.

*ETA: 28, I forgot one of the side fics

Dark Tapestry world (original):

Spun Shadows (Keris story 2, leveling up with the Trinae and weathering a major civil disturbance in Libertalia. B-plots involving conflict of duty and yearning for companionship despite all the dangers that entails)

Threadcutter (Sy story in his alias as Finn Chieragh. The gods are not as dead as we thought and they are making that everyone’s problem. Keris is enthralled by a possessed blade and Rokoval’s efforts to divide her from it are less than completely successful. Sy and Rokoval’s rivalry blossoms into full-on hatred, but they are forced to work together to keep the godbotherers and abominations in check. Battle of Xiphos)

Dark Tides (Urg’tak origin story, alternate “start” line overlapping Darkly Woven/ Keris 1. Piracy in a post-apocalyptic fantasy setting with queer protagonists, cultural conflict, political power struggles, and what do you do when you fall in love with someone who forgets you every time they get knocked unconscious yet fate keeps crossing your threads anyway?)

Unspoken (Keris story number??? In which she now leads the Trinae. Cieron was lost on pilgrimage centuries ago, but strangers with magic beyond anything known since before the Rending show up at the Xiphos gates to return his personal effects and beg the Trinae to mediate ongoing faction struggles in their home country. Bonus round, lost city under the sands rumored to hold an ever-dying god and the secret of true immortality somewhere behind the ranks of lots and lots of revenants B plot forbidden romance with her oggish second-in-command which really wants to a series of graphic novels where the plot priorities reverse and escalate to PWP )

Binding Darkness (Keris story for when the conflict of duty and longing eventually win - but her curse won’t let her pass on. Minx and Rokoval discover her and each blame each other when they realize she is a haunt and no longer a tangible living person. Their dispute eventually brings the situation to Sy’s knowledge, and he tracks down her remains, determined to unravel the pattern he blames himself for. Polyamorous disaster beans. Came Back Wrong. Discovering the roots of the long torrid drama. No matter how far you go there you are.)

Seeds (Keris pre-Rending, wildly unprintable og/elf shenanigans. Main plot is oggish struggle for independence and self-determination against the backdrop of a centuries-long war between the major moonborn powers. B plots involve polyamorous attraction crossing cultural boundaries and challenging assumed power diferencial and also Magical Science)

Just A Little Taste (late-era supporting character Chrysoprase and sude character Baarca go on an adventure and fall in lust then accidentally take on an elder dragon who collects mortals like a “rescue” animal hoarder and spark an international incident)

Wager (short story, Keris x Minx origins, delightfully toxic stabby!bard/warriormage femmeslash. Potential to expand into novel concept Bright Thread)

Lesson (graphic novel series, kinky PWP, late era Keris alias shenanigans with new playmates learning their prejudice and bias must die for them to find fulfilling roles in life and their relationships)

Honorable Burden (late era supporting character Chrysopraze runs away from home and is captured to be sold at a private market in the City of Mirrors. The first bidder is a decorated Indigo Faction captain who was invited for politics and manners and to perhaps buy servants or gladiators, not the prize jewel. When his money is politely refused, he massacres the auctioneers and audience and takes her by force. They flee to Libertalia, hiding under assumed names while they both try to figure out what comes next. Fake dating trope with extra peril and kink)

Dark Fairytales

Obsidian Slipper (novella, genderqueered cinderella type)

Exile Cycle (wondertale, origin story for the first king of the exiled moonborn and just-so stories surrounding the Quatrain Festival)

Near Earth fantasy

Malados (Sequel to La Mala Suerte, Teca follows the mad demon hunter Vishan West™️ even though he is profoundly unwell after the event of book 1. Shenanigans ensue. Angst with only one bed, shared peril, enemies to lovers to enemies to friends)

Golden Sails (outlined novel, Man of Science Aiden Ó Faoláin signs on to an expedition for the Royal Academy and en route to the place they’re studying his ship is captured and survivors held ransom by Khalif Isidoros Reis. His ransom is set so high the crown mistakes him for someone Important™️ in disguise and sends Admiral Diana Seshat Attebury to steal him back. Shenanigans ensue.)

Well Met (short story, pre-LMS, a young Dan Seward struggling with his crush on Eleanor Knight and realizing it’s both much more than a crush and it’s hopeless)

And then there’s the @studiorat fics

King of Shadows (LoZ, pre-Twlight. Novella.) currently fleshing out the rough draft into chapter 4 of 8. Mature but clean Zelgan)

Spirit Winds (LoZ, pre-Twilight, falls between Flower of Twilight and King of Shadows. Zelda seeks their Name in the Geld’o tradition and comes out the other side of the Trials a true sovereign)

Sun’s Heart (LoZ, pre-Twilight, collab novella with @folodu set after Cruelty of Gods and concurrent with the Twilight Princess canonical execution. Gerudo delegation comes to claim the body of their king before Hyruke can burn it and the newly-elevated Sun’s Heart Nabooru gets drunk and falls into bed with Zelda. Chaos ensues, decades of intrigue come to boil, and in the middle of it the Arbiters attempt to invoke the judgment of the gods on the real Ganondorf. Currently rewriting chapter 12. Mature but clean.)

Day Arising (LoZ, OoT/Majora alternate timeline. Novel currently developing the second of five acts . Intended to be a novella and we see how well that went. Angsty and complicated with exceptionally raunchy kinky bits integral to the developing relationship and the meta-plot of the Sins series. Polyamorous Gan/OCs with a heavy side of starcrossed GanLink)

Brief Minutes Tell (LoZ, post BotW AU based on the TotK trailer and going in a wildly different direction. Clean but dark and experimental triforce trio novella. Roughly halfway into the outlined plot, i don’t know why i can’t convert it to words.)

East Wind (LoZ, OoT/Majora. Smutty GanLink PWP developed complex military and political intrigue and in Act 4 veers into a dysfunctional but ultimately intriguing trio dynamic. Rewriting the early portion of the act while still aiming for the same core beats later. This is a trilogy length drama in a queer and tragic hat)

Shade of My Enemy (LoZ Twilight Princess era graphic novel AND prose adaptation because I am ridiculous. Mature and dark but clean gothic canon-compatible Zelgan with potential for post-canon trio)

To Draw New Mischief On (LoZ OoT/Majora. Rated for violence and dark themes. Capstone accidentally epic novel for the Branches and Fate cycle. Platonic Link & Ganondorf: the hero stole the destined prince of darkness from the birthing room and hid both him and his magic from the whole world.m, hoping to save everyone this time. This mostly works… right up until he meets Zelda and she refuses to trust him unless he brings her the kokiri emerald, which sets Destiny in motion again. Polyamorous with a side of Zelgan, but the romantic elements are C plot at best.)

Monstrous Depravity (LoZ, Twilight Princess) A canon-compatible smutty AU of SoME. A side project started with the explicit intent of torturing my cast until they give me words again for their main projects damnit. Currently converting outline to prose in chapter 12 of 20 but I have 20 finished and 19 almost finished because my brain is just not accepting linear storytelling right now for Reasons which no doubt contributed to us being in this place to begin with. Zelgan focused polyamorous orgy with Size difference, monsterfucking, extended RACK play, angst and drop and suicidal ideation, hurt/comfort, persuasion, sex drugs, temporary character death, love confessions, like… the kitchen sink would be in there if I find a way to shoehorn it

Fall Eternal (OFMD fix-it Izzy oneshot)

Unnamed Voltron fixit I have no business still prodding at the outline for

Garden (LoZ, Twilight Princess, SoME-compliant) Another collab with @folodu , loosely sequel to Entanglements. Zelgan PWP though the “plot” in question is rather small and almost domestic, overlapping with and expanding on the relationship arcs in SoME

Foreman to a Hero (LoZ, spinoff of Mischief) Follows a minor side character who works for Link in his guise as an architect and follows him is small, slice-of-life moments traveling in tandem with the events of Mischief. Teen at most for dark themes and swearing

How many writing projects do you have?

(If anything, I don't just mean ideas, I mean full-blown projects-when you already have a plot, have characters, and just need to finalize the details and write the whole thing.)

I'll go first. I have 22 projects at the moment, one of which I'm very actively working on.

[versadies]

general + lantern rite with scaramouche hc (gn!reader, 400 follows special)

penpal: it’s finally here!!! thank you guys sm for the follows and the support. i enjoy writing hcs and i’m happy that a lot of you like it! a few of you also requested me for a scaramouche general hc so hope this lives up to your expectations. happy readings! - ver.

warning/s: ooc!scaramouche

sypnosis: what it’s like to date scaramouche + hang out with him in lantern rite festival

note: i was actually supposed to make this toxic given that scaramouche is... scaramouche but my heart can’t take it so i decided to just go wild on this one.

-> i salute to you for dating this man.

-> scaramouche is scary and is probably not even the type to be interested in having romantic relationships. the fact that he fell in love with you though is shocking to the fatui if they even find out about it. hell, even the man himself is surprised.

-> he’s going to be not so affectionate at first (just subtle affection here and there but no kisses or long cuddling) since he’s not an affectionate type of guy but as time goes by, he’ll eventually start to give you lots of affection.

-> pda is a no for scaramouche. the two of you have to agree in keeping this relationship a secret due to not only the danger you could be in but also the fact that he doesn’t want anyone to know about your relationship with him.

-> don’t get him wrong— it’s not that he’s ashamed of dating you. he knows that almost everyone in teyvat hates the fatui, so the fact that the potential harassment given to you from others is a possibility, he doesn’t want you to be in that situation.

-> the way he acts around you is unpredictable. i think he’d be both cold yet affectionate if that’s even possible. don’t worry, his mean demeanor is different to you than how he acts around everyone else— it’s less harsh and harmless, to which you understand that he’s not serious. feel free to bicker back at him, he won’t kill you.

-> your family would’ve thought he forced you into this if they found out of your relationship with the man. it will take you a lot of reassurance to them that you weren’t forced and the fact that you love him as much as he to you.

-> dates with him are to be private. i’d think he’d pull on a reservation on a restaurant and make sure that everyone around you knows that this date is “private affairs on your debt” (even though you never had a debt in the first place). even if these “private affairs” happens a bit too often than normal, people would be too scared to even confront scaramouche.

-> i honestly see this guy as a classy man. he’ll pull classy dinners, walking around the city hand-in-hand at 3am when everyone is asleep, go somewhere private outside + get a picnic date + star-gazing, etc.

-> i can already imagine this man telling you all of his theories on the skies and on teyvat during your picnic-stargazing dates while you listen and eat an inazuma dish. (his line about the sky being fake really do be sus to me to this day 👀👀👀)

-> during dates where you two aren’t living together yet and when scaramouche always has to escort you to your dates, he’ll definitely not hesitate to throw a pebble against your bedroom window if you’re not going to answer the door after countless of pounding against it. he’ll throw every pebble he can get from the ground until it either breaks or you finally answered lol

-> like childe, scaramouche is hella busy. unless you’re in either snezhnaya or inazuma— then you two can be able to spend time. however if you live in other nations that isn’t one of the two, you’d have to get used to a long distance relationship. however if you’re not the kind to like a long distance relationship, then sorry to break it to you, that relationship might not work unless you and scaramouche are able to find a way.

-> breaks for him are rare, he’s a hardworking man and wants to live up to the tsaritsa’s expectations (even if he dislikes the archon). when he does go home to you, he makes sure that he’ll spend time with you every single moment and that they’re all precious memories.

-> he is lowkey caring but he will deny it will all of his life if you even mention it. oh you fell asleep on the couch while waiting for him to go home? wow would you look at that, the wind is so kind for putting a blanket over you and he somehow wasn’t there! oh my gosh you’re getting a cold and is coughing a lot? la signora is so nice for making some people from the fatui to offer medicine and it’s def not him, who has the upper hand in ordering them to do it!

-> don’t get me started on him spoiling you. he always writes letters to you and every letter he sent always has a small gift or a package sent with a scared-looking fatui member who just wants to go home. the gifts are either souvenirs from his travels or something that reminds him of you. either way, it’s always what you like.

-> you can’t convince me that not all of his letters are 60% him complaining about how his subordinates have some audacity to give him headaches and how he just wants to lowkey go home to you because of it (in reality, the both of you know he just misses you).

-> ik a lot of scaramouche simps really wanna try his hat out and i can already imagine you finding ways to get your hands on his hat without him noticing or not wearing it. if you somehow managed to get the prize, he’ll def try to get it from you and won’t hesitate to throw (harmless) threats until you finally give in and give it to him.

-> fighting with scaramouche is kind of rare given that he’s mostly away but when it does happen, it’s related to him being too harsh or his sudden announcement that he has to leave. your arguments never includes long distance relationship since it’s something you and scaramouche expected and are ready for. of course, scaramouche will treat it as if you’re the one making a big deal out of it— which is something that angers you and a disadvantage of dating him.

-> during those arguments, the way he acts depends on how serious it is. by the time you leave the room to get some space, he’ll give you all the space you need— though he couldn’t help but not ignore the harsh pangs he’s feeling from his chest.

-> scaramouche will def be the first to apologize because he feels guilty (the feeling of not being satisfied is strong whenever you leave and he hates it) and doesn’t want you to be mad anymore. unless the fight is truly your fault, he’ll wait till you apologize.

-> his favorite moments are always when he’s allowed to take you with him to his travels for a mission. he won’t admit, he’s very looking forward to show you around places privately and his ego will rise if you praise him for his intelligence on the land. though, those who try to interrupt his private moments with you just to tell scaramouche about something related to the fatui— they’ll face an even harsher treatment than normal.

-> nights with scaramouche are quiet. the moment scaramouche lays down on the bed and closes his eyes for a moment, he’s asleep. can’t blame him, he’s always exhausted from the fatui so he needs it. however, he does make sure you yourself get some sleep as well. he’ll make sure that you’re always beside him before he sleeps.

-> mornings with him are short. he’ll wake up first and immediately get ready for work while you’re on your bed still sleeping. scaramouche won’t be able to eat breakfast in your home and always buy food on his way there since he doesn’t have time to wait (and partially doesn’t wanna make you wake up just to cook for him). he makes sure to kiss your forehead and leave.

-> don’t ever bring up about his goodbye kisses, he will straight up take that secret to his grave. the moment you mention it, he’ll act like you killed someone. “me? kissing you on the forehead? are you sure you’re not dreaming at that time?” he would say while hiding his light reddened cheeks with his hat.

-> if you’re the type to wake up very early though, he’d definitely try to wake up at the same time as you and run with you in the morning if you do. though if you’re not the type to do morning runs, you’ll either cook for his lunch or get ready for work as well. he won’t admit it... but he likes your cooking. expect yourself to be the one to ask for a goodbye kiss cuz man’s going to act like he doesn’t want to do it.

-> as for fatui when you date scaramouche... they’ll probably find out fast. if you don’t work for the fatui, scaramouche will make sure you will never be involved with them. he knows how the fatui can be and will be mad if he finds out you came across to one of the harbingers.

-> overall, dating him is just wild.

-> scaramouche has to admit, liyue has outdone themselves on this one.

-> the two of you decided to attend the festival as your one year anniversary date and you did not regret trying to convince your man to come with you to liyue for the festival 24/7 ever since you heard childe talking about it to you.

-> while you were taking your sweet time by admiring the decorations around the harbor, scaramouche makes sure no one is following or planning to bother you two at the moment. thank goodness he didn’t have to worry about the millelith, given that they act like they don’t know him at all.

-> he makes sure that you’re having a great time. he’ll let you go buy whatever you want if you wish, it’s his gift i suppose. i’d think he’ll get way too competitive on theater mechanicus and will expect you to praise him whenever he wins.

-> scaramouche will take you to the most fanciest restaurant of the harbor, but if you want to go for another option— he’ll reluctantly accept that and let you buy food for the both of you. given that he mostly resides in inazuma, he’s definitely a skilled chopsticks user (unlike childe).

-> when it comes to making lanterns, it will take scaramouche to try and make a few lanterns before he finally does it right. he’ll gladly help you out if you still couldn’t get a hang of it (he’ll teach you in an “annoyed” way, but he means well).

-> i feel like he’ll take you somewhere not so crowded. man’s probably gonna make sure the whole pearl galley is just the two of you (and the staff) with the help of his mora and let you watch the lanterns from there. however should you not want to ruin someone’s night and force scaramouche somewhere that does not require any mora and is not crowded, then he’s fine with that too.

-> i think he’ll lowkey be interested in the stories presented by the storytellers around the harbor. he’s not invested but just earned enough of his attention to actually listen.

-> by the time the mingxiao lantern is about to be released, you two immediately head to your designated area and started writing your wishes.

-> his wish will probably be something related to successfulness.

-> when the lanterns are released with the mingxiao lantern, the two of you’d just watch in silence. you’d be pretty speechless from the beautiful scenery while scaramouche just watches in slight amusement.

-> the moment scaramouche glances at you, he’ll be surprised by you immediately hugging him and thanking him for taking you to the festival when you have the chance. man’s probably going to try and deny your hug for a moment until giving in and hug you back.

-> he might consider thanking childe when he comes back to snezhnaya.

[river-bottom-nightmare]

bruce wayne week day 2: gala rated T, no archive warnings apply, tagged: past bruce wayne/harvey dent, implied/referenced violence, brief suicide mention

how was it, bruce thought to himself, that he could withstand torture both physcial and mental without any lasting damage, but the one thing that had him trembling and ready to crawl out of his own skin was an itchy suit?

he’d grown out of them, was the thing. when he was young, alfred had ensured that he’d always dressed properly for any occasion, be that a wedding or charity event or board meeting. before that, his parents—well. they had made sure bruce was presentable enough for their friends to pinch bruce's cheeks instead of awkwardly patting his shoulder.

but now, newly returned to gotham with a thousand new scars and a hardened grip, bruce realized he had lost his tolerance for finely pressed and ironed fabric. none of his old suits had come remotely close to fitting him, and alfred had manhandled him in front of a mirror to take measurements, sending them off to his favourite tailor. bruce thought he'd cried out all the tears his body had left to give the day he came home, hugging alfred's frail body far too tight, but his eyes still managed to get all hot and uncomfortable when alfred's fingers hesitantly mapped the broad expanse of his shoulders, trying so hard to ignore the slashes, the stabs, the burn marks, the brands.

his shoes were too loose, the pointed style apparently a new trend in the gotham elite. bruce and alfred had worked on a pair of dress shoes together, ones that wouldn't fall off the minute bruce moved at anything more intense than a brisk walk, but bruce still longed for the comfort of his thick-soled boots.

those same shoes were tapping on the ground, making far too much noise, but bruce forced himself to take a breath and let the flower-scented artificial spray calm him down. logically, it made no sense at all, but bruce had always placed gotham on pause in his mind. he'd expected to come back older and harder and fiercer to find gotham exactly the same, waiting patiently just for him.

instead, bella revero had cut her hair and dyed it blonde, and was wearing a long, flowing, glittering pantsuit instead of a long, flowing, glittering gown. tom thompson's hair was a healthy salt and pepper when bruce left, but now the man was two tufts away from being completely bald. thicky-applied makeup somehow accentuated wrinkles instead of hiding them, no manner of well-cut suits could hide a growing potbelly, none of the waiters that had given bruce snacks and orange juice were working anymore, and most everyone bruce remembered being roughly his age had moved far, far away from this wretched hole of a city.

there were times when bruce slapped himself upside the head for the absolutely moronic decision to come back to gotham and announce ta-daaa! not dead! he should have just been batman and let bruce wayne's useless name and dishonored legacy be swallowed up by gotham.

footsteps behind him. bruce had tuned out most of his training, knowing that it would only hinder him as brucie wayne, only make him look suspicious. but he'd kept a basic background awareness, unable to turn that off, and these thuds were heading right for him. bruce tensed, his false smile probably turning brittle, two seconds away from whirling around and grabbing his attacker's arm so hard, the bone would shatter.

a heavy hand slammed down onto his shoulder, but right before bruce made a move, a voice spoke right next to his ear, smooth and low and capable of making his entire body relax without any input from him whatsoever.

"what the actual hell are you doing here, you motherfucker?"

"harvey," bruce sighed, turning around to give the man a relieved smile. "thank god. i thought i'd have to go through this all by myself. you didn't tell me you were coming?"

harvey's mouth pulled into a painful grin, one that didn't look the least bit friendly, and there was a bulging vein on his temple, a nervous tick that bruce knew he didn't have before.

"you alright there, harv? you're looking a little—," bruce gestured vaguely to harvey's face, "—red."

harvey's grip on bruce's shoulder tightened, fingers digging into muscle and sending painful twinges up bruce's shoulder, and bruce tried not to show his surprise. he was two seconds from shoving off harvey's hand himself, but just decided to grit and bear it. harvey wouldn't ever hurt him.

"you have been gone," harvey said, enunciating every word, "for years. i didn't know where you were. i didn't know if you were ever coming back. then i hear that you're home from a goddamn newspaper, and you just showed up to this party without telling anyone."

"i was on the guest list," bruce pointed out, automatically putting up a simplified version of his brucie wayne facade. he widened his eyes, putting a little cluelessness into the fluttering of his eyelashes, just enough to keep his cover in case anyone was recording him, just enough so harvey believes him.

"what the fuck are you doing with your eyes," harvey said flatly.

so apparently harvey knew him better than he thought.

"look, harv, i was gonna call you, i really was—"

"i thought you were dead," harvey hissed, and his best friends eyes have more lines on them than bruce remembered and he doesn't have to tip his head up just to see harvey laugh anymore and there's too much broken love in harvey's voice for them to be standing in between a gilded trash can and a spiked bowl of punch.

"harvey,,," bruce started, not knowing exactly where to go from there. he'd taught himself to prepare for any possible attack, any possible conspiracy or unmasking or targeted hit, but he'd completely forgot about his own friend. he'd forgotten he had a friend.

luckily or unluckily, harvey interrupted him before he had the chance to fumble his words. "i thought you were dead, i thought my best friend had finally fucking followed through with what i tried so hard for years to stop."

it hit bruce like a punch to the gut. he wasn't aware harvey had ever been trying.

"and now,,, what? you're just fine? you're dressed like a poser and your hair's all neat and trimmed and you're smiling at people like the only thing you care about is getting into their pants. plus, that's the fourth glass you've had tonight."

"we're already an hour in," bruce replied automatically.

"we're only an hour in," harvey said.

there was a pause. not an uncomfortable one, because it had been years since him and harvey were ever uncomfortable with each other. it was like harvey couldn't decide whether or not to reach out and strangle bruce for worrying him or break down for hurting him or hug him for coming back home.

bruce couldn't tell him. harvey worked too closely with commissioner gordon; daring bruce to steal mary jane from the principal's stash and shotgunning it out of his mouth was leagues away from keeping the secret that bruce was a dangerous, trained vigilante from everyone he knew.

"it's okay, harvey," bruce said, his voice completely sincere for the first time this night. "i found other ways to cope."

"i don't like those other ways," harvey sneered, eyes the glass in bruce's hand.

"other ways," bruce said. "you don't have to worry. i'm fine."

the photographer for the gotham gazette had snapped a picture of him entering, and no one would notice if he left now. bruce wayne couldn't be beating up pedophiles in the narrows if bruce wayne was getting drunk at a high-class gala. he'd planned to leave three hours in, a respectable amount of time, but meeting harvey had thrown him off balance.

he brushed past harvey, heading towards the butler's exit in the back of the ballroom. "enjoy the party!" he called behind him as he left, eyes wide again, clueless and fluttering and oh-so blind to the devastated way harvey watched him leave.

tag list: @woahjaybird @birdy-bat-writes @anothertimdrakestan @subtleappreciation @screennamealreadyused @catxsnow @pricetagofficial @bikoncon @maplumebleue-blog-blog @sundownridge @thatsthewhump @xatanna-troy @red-hood-redemption @capricorn-stark @batshit-birds @comics-observer @buticaaba @brucewayneweek

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

Soulmate AU part 2; Things drastically change for the better:

Arthur and Merlin’s relationship develops, Uther becomes increasingly annoyed at his failed attempts to control them, Leon continues to have heart palpitations over trying to protect them, and Morgana thinks the whole thing is hilarious.

Part 1   Part 3 Part 4

So that conversation... happens.

To say it was awkward would be a MASSIVE understatement.

Arthur and Morgana spend the whole time answering Uther’s questions, so much so that Merlin barely speaks (he wasn’t great at keeping secrets, so he wasn’t too mad at them for answering for him) and Uther spends the whole time trying and failing to assert his dominance over his two dumbass kids (but they aren’t having it).

Eventually Merlin did speak up, quietly saying:

“I, um... I’m really sorry to interrupt Sire, My Lord... uh... Your Majesty Sir-”

Morgana smirks slightly and covers her mouth with her hand, Arthur rolls his eyes and squeezes Merlin’s hand, and Uther looks upon the whole scene with barely concealed bewilderment:

“-uh... my mum is waiting for me, and I’m usually not gone for this long so... could I... I mean would you mind if I... went?”

Uther looked even more taken aback at that. As much as this whole conversation had been based on Merlin, he hadn’t actually processed the fact that he was a whole person who would have family and places to be and a life outside of being The Prince’s soulmate.

He nods his head slightly and purses his lips:

“Right. Of course. Arthur said that you lived outside of Camelot?-”

He doesn’t wait for an answer before continuing:

“-Well I’m afraid that that is unacceptable. You are the soulmate of the Prince of this kingdom, inform your family that you are to move here as soon as possible, preferably before the month is out.-”

At Merlin’s wide eyes and Arthur and Morgana’s scornful faces, he waved his hand:

“-Don’t worry, housing and anything else that you will require will be provided by the Crown.”

Merlin still looks a bit dazed and surprised at his demand, so Arthur replies instead:

“Father, Merlin and his mother have a life in their village, you can not just demand that they pack up and leave everything behind to live here.”

Uther looks annoyed at this, but patiently (or as patiently as Uther is able) retorts with:

“Well he was going have to move eventually. The two of you are only a few years from being of age, and you can not possibly live in separate kingdoms when that happens, especially as you are Crown Prince. I’m allowing this... bond... to continue, but we are still royalty, and rules must be followed.”

Morgana goes to argue this time, but Merlin tugs her sleeve slightly and says quietly:

“It’s alright ‘Gana, he is right, I was going to have to move here eventually anyway. This way you finally get to meet my mum, and we’ll get to see each other more often. Mum won’t like it, but I know she’s missed Gaius, so it won’t be too bad, and I’ve always sort of wanted to explore the city.”

Morgana and Arthur stare at him for a few moments whilst he looks between them. Arthur sighs before replying:

“Fine, but only if you’re sure. And take your time, don’t pressure your mum into leaving right away, OK?”

Merlin nods, and everyone at the table stands, stepping back.

Uther mutters that they are dismissed, but watches as they say goodbye to each other. He furrows his eyebrows in interest as Morgana hugs Merlin, mentally noting that he doesn’t think he’s ever seen her smile that widely before.

When Arthur embraces Merlin, much tighter, and for much longer, a hand cradling the back of the peasant’s-... of Merlin’s head, and a soft, but powerful smile on his face, Uther forgets for a moment the distastefulness of the situation, and revels in the feeling of pride and happiness; his son had found his life partner. 

The King sweeps any thoughts of his late-wife from his mind, and drops the small smile gracing his face, but not before Morgana spies it and tilts her head at him, giving him a teasing smirk.

The boys whisper something that Uther can’t hear, and Merlin steps back, giving him a quick bow and an awkward wave, before disappearing into thin air. A familiar pop echoes around the hall, and a few gold sparks fall silently to the floor.

Arthur and Morgana bow to him very briefly, before turning and leaving the room without another word, arm in arm.

Uther stands alone in the room for a moment, sighing before muttering to himself:

“This is going to be a bloody nightmare. Public announcement. Before that I have to tell the council. And I have to figure out how I can legally make these people nobles, to justify everything-”

He looks to the ceiling, sighing once again as he says:

“-Gods give me strength.” Before turning and sweeping out the room.

~

The moment Arthur and Morgana leave the room, they turn to each other and burst into slightly hysterical laughter, sputtering about “the look on his face” and “oh my gods, *sire my lord your majesty sir* ” between breaths. 

The whole situation was unexpected, but to be perfectly honest, they didn’t regret it; they knew that the longer they waited before telling Uther, the bigger the problem would be.

Morgana straightens up after a moment, wiping tears from her eyes, before whipping her head around to Arthur in sudden panic:

“Oh my Gods, Arthur. Leon.”

Arthur’s eyes widen, and he curses suddenly before taking Morgana’s hand and running towards his chambers. They almost ran into multiple people, Nobles who tutted, and castle staff who jumped out of the way, not even having time to bow before the two teenagers were out of sight again.

They loudly burst into Arthur’s chambers, out of breath, to see Leon pacing a groove into the floor:

They stand with their hands on their knees, panting, but before they can say anything, Leon rushes to speak:

“Where on earth have you been?? A guard said you were in a meeting with the King all afternoon, what happened? Is Merlin ok?? They wouldn’t let me in, so I came back here to wait but-”

Arthur held up a hand to stop him rambling, and gave him a comforting smile. The Prince straightened up, and took one last deep breath before saying:

“Sorry, for worrying you Leon. But you are not going to believe what just happened...”

Morgana starts laughing again, and with that, the two of them shut the door behind them and explain in great detail what had happened, how Merlin had just appeared and Uther had freaked, and Gaius and Geoffrey had to be called, and how funny the look on his face was when they’d explained. 

Arthur had wanted to skip it out, but Morgana gleefully insisted on recounting just how much she and Arthur had ordered Uther around, and how he’d just taken it.

By the end of their explanation, Leon had collapsed in a chair, looking very pale, and a lot like he’d aged twenty years.

He holds his head in his hands, fingers messing up his curls, and stares at the floor as Arthur and Morgana glance to each other, trying not to laugh at the poor man.

After what seems to be hours, Leon straightens up, and looks to the two of them with a stricken expression:

“I can’t believe that... well I suppose he had to find out eventually but... dear Lord I can’t decide if I’m grateful I wasn’t there or not... oh my Gods I’m going to be demoted, disowned, banished.”

Arthur laughs at that and Morgana rolls her eyes at the man’s panic:

“Nothing’s going to happen to you Sir Leon, don’t panic. We didn’t mention you, as far as my father is concerned, the only ones who knew were us.”

Leon finally smiles briefly at that, muttering a quiet thank you, before standing up suddenly, looking panicked once again:

“Wait... you said he’d be moving here?? What about his... gift?? He can’t live in Camelot it’s dangerous. You may have protected him from the King for now but... if he finds out nothing will stop him from... nothing will stop him.”

The two of them sighed at that. They had been mentally considering it, but they were just taking it one victory at a time. Arthur replied moments later:

“We’ll just have to be careful. He has to be careful in Ealdor anyway, he’s already a bastard, he had to hide magic from the other villagers because it probably would’ve been fatal for him to give them a second reason to hate him. We can set ground rules when he actually moves here and... we just have to be careful. It’ll be a new life for him and his mother, we can be careful.” 

He says the last bit with a decisive nod, and Morgana and Leon relax slightly. Arthur was right, they’d been fine so far, they could keep it up.

He would never say it out loud, but if his father found out... if he tried to hurt Merlin, Arthur knows without a doubt in his mind that he would give up his inheritance, take Merlin’s hand, and run. Without hesitation.

He would love nothing more than to turn his kingdom into a place where Merlin could be free and happy one day, but until then, he would do anything to keep him safe, even if it meant leaving everything behind.

~

The next few weeks rush by.

Uther had tried to limit the number of visits between Merlin and Arthur, but neither of them were having it, and if anything, they were seeing each other more with the upcoming move.

Hunith did in fact freak out at Uther’s demand of her and Merlin moving to Camelot. For several reasons.

First off, she had a life here. It was difficult, but simple, honest work. The winters were hard, but the summers made up for it. The villagers may have started of being a little cruel to her and Merlin, but they warmed to them when the dark haired boy was nothing but sweet and kind to everyone.

Second off, her son was magical. Both naturally and unnaturally magical. Essetir was dangerous, yes, but Camelot? Camelot was so much worse.

She supposes it had to happen eventually. She didn’t like to think of it often, didn’t want to tempt fate, but her son was the Crown Prince’s soulmate. That meant that one day... he would be married to the King. He couldn’t exactly do that whilst living in Essetir, least of all because the Essetir Crown would throw a world ending fit.

In the end, she agreed to the move rather quickly, at least she would be close to her brother, and she could finally meet Leon and Morgana.

As much as Merlin and Arthur urged her not to rush, she really had nothing to do but say goodbye before they made the journey to Camelot, and the three of them were leaving the village behind them within the month, just like Uther wanted.

Though he definitely hadn’t wanted Arthur to pop away one morning, a full travel pack and a sword on his person, intending to make the journey with them. But in the end, Arthur ended the argument by rolling his eyes (much to Morgana’s amusement) and disappearing before The King could get another word in.

No public announcements had been made (they decided to wait until Arthur came of age), but the council had been informed. They were NOT happy. 

Uther would never admit it, but he did feel a swell of pride when Arthur slammed his hand on the table, and firmly told them that this was happening whether they liked it or not, and if they dared complain instead of help, they would find themselves without a chair at the table, and severely lacking in titles and land.

Uther was relieved when he found out that Hunith was Gaius’ younger sister. Gaius wasn’t a noble, but he was a life-long, close friend of the King, and a trusted advisor. Hopefully that would make it easier. 

The Court Physician wasn’t a title that came with land, or nobility, BUT it was the most respected position in the royal household, below actual nobles.

If Gaius could take Merlin on as his apprentice... then he would be an almost fully trained physician by the time he came of age, and that would be respected. Then at least he would have a role outside of being the Prince’s Soulmate.

It was all coming together in Uther’s mind. Of course it wasn’t perfect. The absolute ideal outcome would’ve been if Arthur’s soulmate had been foreign royalty (if only anyone knew about Merlin’s father...), but he could make do with this. He would have to, if he didn’t want to lose his son and his ward.

~

The day of Hunith, Arthur, and Merlin’s arrival finally comes.

Uther didn’t greet them in the courtyard (it would be unsightly for a King to greet two commoners, even if The Prince was with them) but Gaius, Morgana, and Leon did.

Everyone breaks into wide smiles when the castle gates are opened, Arthur and Merlin rushing forward to meet Morgana and Leon in a big hug, and Hunith rushing forward to meet her brother, whom she hadn’t seen in several years.

There is laughter and hugs all around before Merlin finally steps back and takes his mother’s hand, realising he should probably give actual introductions:

“Mum, this is The Lady Morgana, ward of the King-”

Morgana gives Hunith a wide smile and curtsy, before stepping forward and giving her a brief hug. Morgana was very touch averse with everyone but Merlin, Arthur, and Leon, but in her books, any woman who raised Merlin into the young man he had become, was a woman who deserved her trust. And a hug:

“-and this is Sir Leon, Knight of the King.”

Leon took Hunith’s hand, placing a brief kiss on her knuckles before stepping back respectfully. Hunith quickly followed him, and to his great surprise, wrapped the taller man in a tight hug. He wraps his arms around her after a few moments in shock, when she whispers in his ear:

“Thank you for keeping my boys safe.”

He steps back, a wide smile on his face and his hands on her shoulders. He replies quietly so that only she would hear him:

“It has been my genuine pleasure, and I plan to continue to do so for the remainder of my service.”

Hunith gives him an even wider smile, and pats his hand, before the two of them step back. The others watch on in adoration, before Leon clears his throat and addresses the group:

“I have been instructed to show the two of you to your new residence, before you are to meet with the King.”

Arthur steps back before saying regretfully:

“Unfortunately, Gaius and I should go and meet with my father immediately. Leon, you lead the way, we shall remain with him until you return and we can get this over with.”

He says the last bit with a grimace, and Morgana gives him a sympathetic smile as Merlin squeezes his hand. 

The group separates, Arthur and Gaius heading up the castle steps, and Leon leading the rest of them back out the gates.

Hunith and Merlin had been gifted a small house in the upper city, close to the castle, but not within it’s walls. Arthur had argued endlessly against that, saying they deserved chambers inside the castle, but Hunith was the one who refused.

She wasn’t nobility, and she enjoyed her simple life. She had already given up her farming and livestock, she refused to be cooped up in a giant stone castle where she would have nothing to do, and didn’t understand how anything worked.

Arthur finally saw the sense in that, he can understand that it would be difficult for Merlin and Hunith to live in the castle. He hated to admit it, but they would certainly be looked down on, and Arthur was almost of age, he didn’t have the time to spend all day entertaining Merlin, even if he wanted nothing more than to spend all day every day with him.

The house was small, but still three times the size of their place back in Ealdor. They had separate bedrooms, a large kitchen/dining area, a small storage room, and an extra room for relaxing (”City folk call them living rooms apparently.”). There was a small, fenced off grass area out the front, which Hunith was particularly excited about; she wouldn’t have to give up growing things after all.

The home came fully furnished, and Hunith was speechless at the large, comfortable beds, the soft chairs, and the abundance of cooking equipment. The living room also had a large hearth, and two ceiling-high bookshelves, though they were empty.

Once Hunith had had a good look around (the others had already seen it, and Arthur had been checking with Merlin at every step to see if he approved), Morgana excitedly grabs her hand and drags her back to the slightly larger of the two bedrooms.

Merlin follows confusedly, but Leon follows with a small smile on his face, he had seen what Morgana was planning, despite her best attempts to keep it secret.

Morgana finally stands Hunith in front of the wardrobe and gestures for her to open it. The older woman opens the doors with a little hesitation, before stepping back and gasping, her hands over her mouth.

Morgana grins proudly before speaking to a speechless Hunith:

“My gift to you. I organised a few things for Merlin as well. Of course they’ll all have to be adjusted because I could only pass on to the tailor Arthur and Merlin’s descriptions of you. I thought that could be something nice you and me could do at some point in the next few days, after you’ve settled.”

Merlin steps around Leon to try and see what’s got everyone so wound up, and takes in a quiet gasp at what he sees. The wardrobe is filled with new, tailor made dresses, a few thick cloaks, and two pairs of good quality shoes. Two of the dresses were incredibly nice, royal-gala kind of nice, and the others were a mix of practical, casual, smart. 

He smiles widely, tears in his eyes at what Morgana had done for his mum. He’s always felt a little guilty at being the soulmate of royalty, but not being able to provide her with more than she had, but that changed, starting now.

Hunith finally rips her gaze from the new clothes, staring at Morgana:

“I can’t possibly...-”

Morgana’s tilted head and raised eyebrow forces Hunith to change tracks. The boys have told her how stubborn Morgana was, she has a feeling she wouldn’t be able to return the gifts:

“-I don’t know how to thank you, My Lady.”

Morgana rolls her eyes fondly, and brings her into a hug before stepping back:

“Oh none of that “My Lady” shit, and you don’t have to thank me, you and Merlin are part of the family now.”

Merlin gives her a grateful smile over his mum’s shoulder, which she returns, before Leon speaks up:

“I’m sure you can find time to get them all properly fitted in the coming days Morgana, for now we should get back up to the castle. I imagine The King and The Prince are waiting for us.”

Morgana nods, and Hunith subtly wipes her eyes, before allowing The King’s ward to intertwine their arms. Merlin smiles at the sight (he knew they would get along) before turning and following Leon out the house, and back up towards the castle.

Merlin was only a little nervous, he’d met the King multiple times now, and whilst the man was always painfully polite, it was clear that it was only because the whole situation bewildered him a little. But he’d never met his mother yet, and this next meeting would make the rest of his life go very smoothly, or very difficultly.

Leon pauses a moment outside the door to the throne room, glancing back at Merlin, who takes a deep breath before standing straight and nodding.

Leon smiles encouragingly at him, before pushing the doors open and walking into the room.

Arthur, Uther, and Gaius were stood in front of the thrones quietly discussing something, but look up when they hear the doors open.

Arthur smiles widely and walks forward, giving Merlin a brief hug (which Morgana lovingly rolls her eyes at, they’ve only been apart for half an hour) and Uther straightens his back, before walking forwards regally, a practiced blank look on his face. Gaius gives his sister a reassuring smile, but stays back.

Leon and Merlin bow (Leon deeply, before stepping aside, and Merlin briefly and shallowly) and Hunith curtsied as best she could with Morgana protectively gripping her arm.

Arthur and Merlin stand next to the girls, hand in hand (Uther’s mind bounces between wanting to smile fondly, and wanting to grimace at the PDA), and Uther stops just in front of Hunith:

“Welcome to Camelot, your swift arrival was pleasing.”

Hunith nods, a polite, but strained smile on her face:

“Thank you, My Lord. Anything to make the boys lives easier.”

Uther clenches his jaw, and Morgana has to hide a smirk at the implication that she’d only moved to help out the boys, and not because Uther had ordered it.

“Of course. I hope your new home was to your liking?”

Hunith nodding in reply, the smile on her face a little brighter this time:

“Yes, My Lord, it’s wonderful, I can not thank you enough for providing it. I look forward to exploring your city.”

Uther nods slightly before saying:

“Yes, yes, it’s rather lovely this time of year. The Crown will provide a small allowance for a time, until you can get yourself on your feet. I’ve already discussed it with Gaius, and arrangements have been made for Merlin to become the physician’s apprentice, at Gaius’ earliest convenience.”

“Thank you, I’m sure it won’t be long before I can find work, in such a bustling city.”

Uther nods tersely, before turning back towards Gaius. He waves his hand dismissively over his shoulder as he says:

“I have other matters to attend to for the rest of the afternoon. Sir Leon, Arthur and Morgana, you have the rest of the day off to show our new... residents, around. You’re all dismissed.-”

Leon is the only one who bothers bowing to Uther’s back, and Morgana raises an eyebrow at him, before rolling her eyes and turning to leave, dragging Hunith with her, closely followed by the boys.

Just before Leon can exit the room, Uther turns around hurriedly:

“-Before I forget, Sir Leon, I would like a word.”

Leon turns around after wiping the panic from his face. He shuts the door after the others, who look at him worriedly, before turning around to face The King:

“My Lord?”

Uther settles an assessing gaze on the knight, and Leon has to stop himself from gulping in response. Uther sighs, and speaks after a moment:

“After paying a little more attention to the relationships between yourself, the boys, and Morgana, I have realised something. You obviously knew of this... relationship, long before I did. Do no deny it.-”

Leon does gulp at that, but before he can defend himself, Uther asks:

“Can I trust that it would have been brought to my attention had anything problematic started?”

Leon widens his eyes in shock, before gathering his thoughts and replying, injecting as much confidence in his voice as possible:

“Of course, My Lord. I kept a close eye on them myself, and made sure that the Prince’s safety was my highest priority at all times. Had anything worrying happened, I would have come to you immediately. I am loyal to the throne, My Lord.”

(A big fat lie considering the whole “Merlin is a sorcerer” thing, but the King certainly doesn’t need to know that.)

Uther nods thoughtfully, before meeting Leon’s gaze again:

“Good. I am glad that Arthur has someone looking out for him. I trust you will continue this?”

Leon nods:

“Of course, My Lord.”

Uther nods once again:

“Excellent. Make sure none of... this, interferes with his studies. You are dismissed.”

Leon bows deeply, before leaving the room. He shuts the door behind him, leaning on it and taking a deep breath, before looking up to meet the worried gazes of the others, who had waited for him. He smiles shakily:

“Nothing bad, I’ll tell you later. Come on, let’s show these two around the upper-town.”

Arthur fixes him with a scrutinizing gaze, but Leon meets it (Arthur has yet to win a staring contest against Leon, in fact, Morgana was the only one who ever came close), and after a moment, Morgana shakes her head, and begins to walk down the corridor, the boys trailing after her and Hunith.

They spend the rest of the afternoon showing Merlin and Hunith around the upper-town. The tour leads them around the market, the town square (where the well is) and other important fixtures of the town, such as the tailor, blacksmith’s, and some of Morgana’s favourite shops (Uther hated it, but Morgana and Arthur regularly sneak out of the castle to spend time in the city).

By the time the sun sets, the group is relaxed and getting on well. Merlin knew Morgana and Leon would love his mum, but it was still nerve-wracking, and he was overjoyed by how well it was going.

The kitchen of Hunith and Merlin’s new home had yet to be stocked, so they stopped off at some street vendors before heading back to the house. Hunith tried to argue when Arthur insisted on paying, but she was shut down pretty quickly when Arthur reminded her that he was The Prince, he could more than afford it, and anyway, “I like contributing to the local businesses, I wouldn’t be a Prince if I didn’t have my people around me, I like to give back where I can.”

Leon and Morgana smiled proudly at that, but the smiles on Hunith and Merlin’s face were more fond. 

(Morgana quietly thinks about how differently he would’ve been without Merlin to ground him. With a father like Uther, Arthur easily could’ve turned into an absolute prat.)

They stay together long into the evening, talking and laughing, before Leon finally says it’s time to go. Morgana, Hunith, and Merlin may have tomorrow free, but Leon and Arthur had training early, followed by a day full of meetings.

Morgana smirked at Arthur’s grumbling, but dutifully stood up. The three of them give Hunith and Merlin tight hugs, before leaving them alone, heading back to the castle.

Hunith and Merlin sit in comfortable silence, wide smiles on their faces, before Merlin breaks the silence:

“So what do you think? I know Uther is a bit of a prat, but he’ll want to see as little of us as possible, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Do you... like it here?”

Hunith smiles at him fondly, and runs her hands through his hair when he rests his head on her lap:

“You’ve really made a life for yourself here, haven’t you Merlin? I’m proud of you. Lady Morgana and Sir Leon are exactly how I expected them to be. The house is far more than I expected, but I’m grateful, and I’m sure it won’t take me long to find a job. I’ll always miss our rural village, but nothing is stopping us from visiting every once in a while, to get away from the city, and we have a nice little garden here.-”

Merlin closes his eyes, soothed by his mother’s fingers in his hair, and hums thoughtfully before Hunith continues:

“-You know, I had always considered sending you here to apprentice under Gaius when you were older anyway. Funny, how things turn out. Though perhaps I should’ve realised that nothing was going to go to plan when the little blond boy that appeared in my kitchen all those years ago turned out to be foreign royalty.” 

Merlin huffs out a laugh from when he laid, and responded sleepily:

“Yeah. You know I don’t even think of him as royalty, most of the time. He’s just... Arthur.”

Hunith smiles gently down at him, and takes a few minutes to respond:

“I know what you mean. I’m glad you found your person... or more accurately, I’m glad your person found you.-”

She chuckles, before adding the next bit on quietly:

“-Your father would be proud of you.”

Merlin opens his eyes, and looks up at her blearily:

“You think?”

Hunith’s smile widens, and the both of them politely ignore the tears gathering in her eyes:

“I know.”

~

Time passes quickly. The next day, Merlin, Hunith, and Morgana spend the whole day shopping and stocking up on food and other necessities (the small allowance Uther had provided for them actually turned out to be quite a lot, especially compared to the amount of money Hunith was used to having around).

At some point over the next week, like Morgana had suggested, her and Hunith spent a day in the tailor’s, having all of her new clothes adjusted properly. 

Hunith was also ecstatic to get a job off the back of that. She may not be at quite the professional level yet, but she was the one most of the locals would go to, to fix and patch and re-sew old clothes back in Ealdor.

Merlin started his apprenticeship with Gaius, which meant the days being near, but not with Arthur, were less boring, and slightly more bearable.

He picked up healing quickly (after seeing all the various injuries Arthur and Leon had sustained over the years during training, he was eager to learn how to help them), and he soon became known around town as Gaius’ Boy.

His cheerful demeanour and wide smile endeared him to all of his patients, and he made a point to try and be polite to everyone he came across. Suddenly living in a bustling city, and having what was basically a full time job, was a little overwhelming, but being here meant being with Arthur, so he was determined to make the most of it.

The boys spent the evenings together whenever they could (and still slept in the same bed most nights, out of habit. Merlin’s nightmares had made a brief reappearance after his first meeting with Uther, but they stopped again fairly soon.), and Arthur would often pop out of the castle to share meals with Merlin and Hunith, Morgana and Leon joining them when they had the time.

This did however, involve a few instances of Merlin or Arthur appearing at inopportune times. 

An emergency patient coming in meant Arthur appearing in the physician’s chambers, instead of Merlin’s home, like he had expected. 

Luckily the patient was unconscious at the time. 

(Uther had informed them that the council members and guards who worked in the castle had been informed of the situation (so that Hunith and Merlin wouldn’t be bothered), but the public wasn’t to know at all, at least until Arthur came of age.)

A council meeting overrunning meant Merlin appearing just behind the Prince’s seat, and turning wide-eyed and red-faced before squeaking out a quick apology and disappearing again.

The meeting was side-tracked for a good five minutes as Arthur tried to cover a smirk, Morgana (who insisted she be involved in important meetings when Arthur was) openly laughed, and Uther held his head in his hands, rubbing his tired eyes and muttering something about “stupid kids” and “stupid soul-bonds”.

They tried to be more careful after that incident, and they got better at exploring the bond. With some focus and practice, the boys got fairly good at sensing where the other was, and sometimes, if they were with other people (though that particular sense wasn’t as reliable).

About a month after they moved to Camelot, Merlin was introduced to a lovely girl called Guinevere. Her mother had served Leon’s family, and once she was old enough to have a job herself, Leon swung her a position in the castle as Morgana’s maidservant.

Arthur was oblivious at first (until an amused Merlin explained it to him later on), but Merlin and Leon definitely noticed the... bond, between the two girls, though all four would deny it to anyone who asked, in order to preserve their privacy.

Guinevere, or Gwen, as her friends call her, quickly joined the group. Morgana was grateful for another female presence, and Leon was most certainly grateful for the addition of someone who cared about safety and being careful.

He loved his kids, (”Oh my Gods... I’m a father... how do I... Gaius I know nothing about teenagers, what do I do?? I’m not ready to be a father!”), and Hunith was a good influence, but they couldn’t be around all of the time, and the boys had a bad habit of making trouble, especially with Morgana egging them on. 

He stressed a little less when he knew that Gwen was with them.

~

Shortly after Gwen’s appearance, the group (unfortunately without Leon, he had a patrol:( ) went exploring in the woods beyond the city. Uther was stuck in meetings all day, but Arthur and Morgana had a free day, and after much begging, Gaius let Merlin off as well. 

Morgana having a free day, meant that Gwen had a free day as well (not that Morgana ever made her do many chores anyway, only enough to keep up the pretence that they were Lady and Servant and not... something else).

They put together a picnic, took some horses from the stables, and headed off at first light. It was a warm, summers day, and they planned to spend the day in the sun, Arthur didn’t have to worry about duties, Merlin didn’t have to worry about memorising herb lists and symptoms, Morgana didn’t have to worry about being a Lady, and Gwen didn’t have to mind her place as a servant.

It was planned to be the perfect day, and it almost was. 

After a couple hours journey, they found a beautiful lake, and they spent the morning splashing around in the water, playing and laughing and messing around. 

They spent the middle of the day drying in the sun and snacking on all the sweet meats and fruit that Arthur had snuck from the kitchens. 

They spent the afternoon playing stupid games, and relaxing in the shade, holding hands with no worries, and even sneaking the occasional kiss, revelling in the freedom of being alone.

They were sad to have to leave, but it became an agreement that at least once a month, whilst the weather held out, they would come to their spot by the lake, and relax with each other. No responsibilities, no obligations, no “My Lord”s or “My Lady”s, just four friends, hopelessly happy and in love.

It was on the way home that things went a little wrong.

Usually this stretch of the woods was completely safe and bandit free, but the group was not so lucky as to have an eventless journey home.

When they were about halfway home, Merlin halted his horse suddenly and sat up straight, letting go of Arthur’s hand and tilting his head, eyes closed, listening to the woods around him with a frown on his face.

Arthur looks back and frowns, before calling to the girls, a few metres ahead of them, to wait for a minute.

He looks to Merlin, still with a frown on his face:

“Merls? What is it?”

Merlin waves his hand in Arthur’s direction, gesturing at him to be quiet. He is silent for another few moments, before he opens his eyes wide, and speaks in a low, but rushed voice:

“Gwen, ride ahead with ‘Gana, everyone get your swords out, we’re being watched.”

Arthur tenses at that, and he and Merlin pull their swords out (Leon had insisted that Merlin learn, he wasn’t nearly as good as the others yet, but he could hold his own. Leon was also the one who insisted they be armed when he learnt of their plan for the day.), quickly followed by Gwen and Morgana. 

Instead of riding ahead, Morgana speaks up quickly:

“Gwen can fight just as well as me, I’ve been training her, we should stay together.”

Arthur looks worried, but Gwen just rolled her eyes before adding quietly:

“I’m also the daughter of a blacksmith you know, I’ve been handling swords since before I could walk.”

Arthur sighs and nods, before looking back to Merlin, and quietly, so that only Merlin can hear him:

“How many, and where from?”

Merlin tilts his head away from Gwen, so she can’t see the gold of his eyes, before flexing his hand slightly, and responding:

“Six or seven, I think from the South.”

Arthur nods once more, before turning his horse to be facing South, and he peers into the trees. It wasn’t quite dark out, but it was dimming, and the forest was so thick, the underbrush so overgrown, that it was difficult to see much beyond the edge of the path.

The girls urge their horses back the way they came, to be close to the boys, and stay alert, swords raised, feet braced and ready for action.

Merlin clenches his hands and gasps slightly, before murmuring, loud enough for everyone to hear him this time:

“Twenty seconds.”

Gwen goes to question how he knew that, but a quick look from Morgana, and a shaken head meaning “Later” stops her, and she instead focuses her gaze on where the others were looking into the trees.

Like Merlin had said, twenty seconds later, the treeline breaks, and seven men burst through yelling, and brandishing swords, the shock of which sends the horses scarpering, and the four of them have to jump off and let them go.

Battle broke out immediately, the teenagers aiming to incapacitate or injure, but the bandits not being so kind with their attacks.

The battle is intense, Merlin using little bits of subtle magic here and there to trip or confuse various attackers, Arthur and Morgana slowly but surely taking down men, one by one, and Gwen easily enough holding her own.

But, four, mostly inexperienced (Arthur had only had to actually fight for his life once or twice at this point, and before, he was surrounded by fully trained knights whose top priority was keeping him safe, even to their own detriment) teenagers, aged 15, 16, and 17, were no match for seven seasoned attackers.

In the end, it’s the four of them left (each with bruises and cuts, but nothing serious) vs three remaining attackers, but the battle quickly stops when Merlin turns around (a gut feeling) to see one of the men silently raise a sword, readying to bring it down on to Gwen’s turned back.

He instinctively raises his empty hand towards them, and yells:

“NO!”

He sends the man flying back, head hitting the tree behind him with a thwack.

Gwen stares at him (or more accurately, the golden glow of his eyes) in astonishment, and Morgana and Arthur use the momentary distraction to deal with the last two attackers, giving them swift knocks to the head.

Morgana rushes forward to Gwen and tugs at her shoulder, trying to get her attention to see if she’s ok, but she ignores her just staring at Merlin.

Merlin drops his hand, and his face morphs from anger to shock to fear, the gold in his eyes fading back to blue as Arthur reaches his side and takes his hand. 

Gwen finally stutters out a:

“What... you’re... but Uther?-” before wiping the shock off her face, and setting it in grim determination, clenching her jaw.

Merlin’s eyes widen at her expression, and he takes a fearful step back, Arthur steps in front of him and Morgana tries to grab Gwen’s arm as she begins to stalk quickly forwards, but it slips from her grip.

Arthur holds his hands out, and begins to speak, seemingly trying to talk her out of hurting Merlin, but she ignores him, and pushes him to the side with surprising strength.

Merlin gasps and tries to take another step back, tears in his eyes, but she grabs his shoulders and, before anyone can say anything more, pulls him into a crushing hug.

Merlin takes a few moments to respond, clearly not expecting such an affectionate reaction to being discovered as an evil sorcerer, but hugs back at Gwen’s watery “Thank you.” whispered in his ear.

Arthur lets out a breath, and he and Morgana smile, not really sure why they were so surprised at Gwen’s acceptance. I guess that’s what happens when you grow up in Camelot, expecting hatred and violence and fear in response to magic is ingrained in you.

Gwen finally pulls back, and takes Merlin’s hands, the both of them have tears on their faces, and Gwen sniffs before quietly saying:

“I’m sorry that you have to live in fear, and I’m sorry I wasn’t clear enough in my adoration for you that you felt you had to be scared of my reaction. I promise to keep you safe, to the best of my ability.-”

She fondly punches him in the arm, before continuing with a smile:

“Next time, you can just do that right at the beginning, and save us all the trouble, yeah?”

Merlin nods slowly, before pulling Gwen into another tight hug. He buries his face in her neck, and she runs her hands through his hair and they both quietly weep.

Arthur and Morgana both feel the strong urge to step in, and comfort their own soulmates, but they resist, and instead give them a moment of privacy as they round up the horses, and search the bandits.

After a few minutes, Gwen and Merlin pull back, and walk towards the other two, holding each other’s hand comfortingly. 

Whilst searching their unconscious bodies, Arthur hadn’t found anything identifying, but had found a length of rope in one of their discarded bags, hidden in the underbrush.

He cuts the rope into separate pieces and ties the bandits up, to individual trees, before looking back to the group:

“This won’t hold them long at all, but we don’t have the means to transport them back to the city. I can get my father to send a search party to look for them, but by the time we get back to the City, and the Knights get out here, they’ll probably be long gone.”

Morgana raises an eyebrow and replies:

“I thought you Knights were excellent trackers. They won’t wake up for a while, and they’ll be dazed, so it’ll take them a while to get out of the rope, if your knots are any good-”

Arthur goes to retort, but Gwen quickly interrupts him:

“That’s not the point. What if one of them remembers what Merlin did? And accuses him? Uther probably wouldn’t take their word against all of ours, but it would attract unwanted attention, wouldn’t it? And, no offense Merlin, but he’s already not exactly fond of you.”

Arthur nods at that, and Morgana hums thoughtfully, whilst Merlin just stares at her in shock. He speaks up after a moment:

“We could loosen the knots, and wake them up a little before leaving? That way they’ll have plenty of time to escape before the knights get here? But we have to report it. The types of men to attack four teenagers, none in armour, and two of whom are women, need to be warned about.”

Arthur and Gwen look troubled at that, and Arthur speaks up first:

“Morgana is right though, the Knights are brilliant at tracking, what if they find them anyway? I won’t risk one of them remembering what you did.”

Merlin looks annoyed, always the one to sacrifice himself, and Morgana furrows her brows before looking up, and speaking slowly:

“You could... over exaggerate how violent they were? Request a kill on sight order? That way, none of them make it back to testify, but they’re also no longer a problem for travellers.”

Arthur tilts his head in surprise, and Gwen widens her eyes at the suggestion.

Arthur looks like he’s genuinely considering it, when Merlin gasps:

“Oh!! Wait! The other day, I read about a spell. It’s like a memory charm, I can make them forget the last ten minutes or so, if it works, and we time it right, they’ll remember attacking us, but not how the fight ended!”

He has a grin on his face, but Morgana and Gwen look doubtful, whilst Arthur looks thoughtful, before speaking:

“Have you tried it before? Do you know it would work?”

Merlin turns a little pink, before looking to the floor, and saying:

“Well... do you remember agreeing to let me try it on you last week?”

Morgana grins as she realises the implication of the question, and Gwen gasps as Arthur’s eyes grow wide, and he shakes his head slowly:

“...No.”

Merlin finally meets his eyes, with a nervous smile on his face as he says:

“Then yeah, I’ve tried it before and it worked fine.”

Morgana and Gwen start laughing as Merlin bites his lip and Arthur blinks a few times, before speaking again:

“...Ok, you cast the charm or whatever, I’ll make sure the ropes are done tightly, then we’ll wait for one of them to wake up, to check that it worked, then we’ll leave, and send a patrol back to arrest them.”

With the girls still laughing in the background, Merlin goes to the three attackers who had witnessed him perform magic and cast the spell, whilst Arthur double checked all of the bindings.

The group only has to splash cold water on the face of one of the attackers for him to cough himself awake. He looks around, clearly bewildered, and yells:

“What?? How the fuck... what did... how hard do you hit, kid? Jeez, how the fuck did I-”

He’s cut off by Arthur hitting him in the head again with the hilt of his sword, before he steps back and says:

“Ok. It worked. I think it’d be best if we got home as quickly as possible, we’re already going to be late.”

With that, the group takes one last cursory glance (and fill with pride at the idea that they’d managed to fight off a group of thieving murderous bandits all on their own) at the bound bandits, before mounting their horses, and urging them into a gallop towards Camelot.

The report to Uther was definitely intense, The King was furious that a group of violent criminals were attacking citizens, especially women (though Arthur made sure to point out that Morgana fought just as well as him, and Gwen held her own just fine) so close to the city.

He immediately sent out a large patrol to scour the woods, focussed especially around the path they used, and to not come back until the seasons changed, or the criminals were found.

Arthur was right, the ropes hadn’t held them for long, but he was also right in saying that Camelot Knights were excellent trackers, and they were hunted down within a week, and brought back to Camelot for sentencing.

Arthur and Morgana tried to speak against it, at Merlin and Gwen’s request, but Uther ultimately sentenced the offenders to execution, for crimes against the Crown and Citizens of Camelot, and didn’t question why they couldn’t even remember half the fight.

In fact, that actually had Uther praising the group for fighting well, and he begrudgingly admitted that Morgana’s sword lessons (which she had been ruthlessly demanding since she was a child) and Guinevere’s subsequent training, had paid off well.

~

THE END OF PART 2

Wow so I finished this way quicker than I was expecting, I just really love this concept, thanks anon, for requesting :)

Anyway, hope you enjoy gang

[squishneedsahero]

Getting The Family Together

Awesomest of Them All 2.0

Part 12 of 13

Word Count: 1550

Batman x Batmom!Reader

You know what the bat family needs? Someone to pull them together and give them all the love they deserve. Who better to do that than you? An author rising to stardom in Gotham who catches the eye of a billionaire with your standoffish attitude at a huge social gathering. You are yourself and never pretend to be more or less than that. Plus you're the most stubborn person in the world, refusing to let good things go without reason.

This is a rewrite of my story Awesomest of Them All, I wanted to see how much I've improved over 3 years.

You're in an amazingly good mood when you arrive home that evening after seeing Jason. Your other children, official and unofficial, notice along with your husband but none of them ask, assuming that the GCPD charity ball had just gone better than expected. It isn't until a few days after you had seen Jason that Bruce brings up your persistent good mood. You had successfully pulled him away from all of his work, yet again, just to cuddle him on the couch. You were in your usual spot on his lap with your fingers playing with the hair on the back of his head when he brings it up, "what has you in such a good mood? I know you well enough that it wasn't the GCPD charity ball."

You lean your head back against his shoulder so you can look up at him, "well, I sure hope you would know that, Love. But whats different about my mood?" Your question is genuine in the moment, but the second after you ask it you realize of course you wouldn't be able to hide the fact that you were happy about seeing and holding your Jaybear in your arms once again.

"Well, since you left that evening you've been in a-" he pauses, wanting to choose the correct words since he knows if he were to say 'better mood' you would relentlessly bug him about it for the next week or so, "you've been in a good mood far too long for it to have just been due to you being tipsy from the party."

You laugh gently, "good catch," you say in reference to his pause, "you know me so well." You take a pause of your own, absentmindedly tilting your head to press a kiss to his jaw. "I saw Jason," you eventually answer and open your mouth to continue but get interrupted.

"I know, I won't ask you where he is," Bruce says as the both of you know he had been trying to track Jason down for months at this point. At first it had been to stop him but as soon as he learned it was Jason his motivation had changed to helping Jason get off the seemingly destructive path he was currently on. His arms tighten around you, "I'm glad you got to see him." His hand brushes your hair out of your face, "I know that you missed him."

You smile at the man holding you, grateful yet again for the many arguments you had gone through with him, convincing him that you weren't scared of the potential dangers. "I know you did too, eventually he'll be ready to come home again and we can have our family together once more."

You can do nothing but glare at the man standing in your face. He was ugly, before you had broken his nose with your fist and without the black eye that was quickly forming. In all honesty you were surprised that it had taken this long for you to get kidnapped for the second time in your life, the first time since officially meeting Bruce. "Now, you're going to behave yourself while we call your husband and get him to send us the ransom money if he wants to see you alive again."

"Okay," you respond as it takes everything in you to not just sit there and taunt the man. They had you duck-taped to a chair, preventing you from causing further damage to their faces. And sure maybe you should be acting scared but still your reaction to danger is to laugh in it's face, even if you know that as soon as that phone call was made you would be out of this place in the hour.

The brutish looking man growls in frustration and slaps you across the face before yelling at his friends to keep an eye on you while he makes a phone call.

Tears sting your eyes at the slap on the face but you bite your tongue and look at the other two men who were now standing in front of you. There were maybe 20 others scattered through the building, they had clearly thought all of this through, but were a little underprepared for the fact that every single hero or vigilante in the city would take your kidnapping personally.

The man who had slapped you comes back, bragging about how scared Bruce had sounded on the phone and how willingly he was ready to hand over the money he had demanded. He barely makes it back into the room, when there is a moment of static over their walkie-talkies and then as scream and some loud banging off in the distance.

"Ooh, that doesn't sound very good," you say, clenching your teeth in false sympathy for them. "You guys might want to get that checked out." You can see that the man wants to slap you again for your big mouth but there is another shout and he begins directing the men to group together to try and protect the merchandise.

Eventually, you notice him first, Jason sneaks into the room in his Redhood gear. You were a little surprised to see him out of everyone since there had not been a single gunshot fired and that was kind of his thing. It didn't take the men around you long to notice Jason, since he was moving through the open now.

As they approach Jason, after realizing he isn't shooting everyone on sight, the men's confidence gets shattered as an actual child jumps from the rafters and knocks 3 of them down in one go. They begin firing their guns, shooting at anything that moves. You see their recklessness and know you should get out of there since as soon as they realize they're outmatched they're going to threaten you in the hopes of gaining an advantage.

You unsteadily stand, still duck-taped to the chair, and begin to waddle towards the nearest doorway. You get interrupted by your oldest son catching you, "hey, need some help?" Dick asks, clearly teasing you for this predicament you had gotten into.

"No thanks, Nightwing, I've heard that it improves your running speed if you're tied to a chair."

You see the flash of a smile cross his face as he just cuts the tape and helps you out of it. He then goes to help you out of the room but you stop him and say, "I can manage, you help your brothers."

You can see him hesitate for a moment before going with it, you then take off towards the door, only to be interrupted once again, but this time by the man who had slapped you, pointing his gun in your face. Your three sons who had come to your rescue, clearly trying to keep some sort of secret identities by the fact that everyone wasn't here, are all busy in the moment. You stop short at the sight of the gun, but once again you're impulsive, kicking the man square in the balls before bolting to the door.

You make it to the door and pull it open, stepping through it just for a shooting pain to go through your thigh. It's as you fall to the ground that you hear the gunshot and realize that the bastard had shot you. You do what you can to close the door behind you, just in time since another bullet hits the door. You then scoot across the grimy floor, to a spot where you can hide since you won't be moving far, and look at the blood trail you had left. You take a breath and collect your thoughts, remembering the sports bra you had worn and ripping your shirt off for a makeshift bandage/tourniquet for your leg.

You get it wrapped well enough to stop some of the bleeding and begin putting pressure on the wound, despite the fact that doing so nearly caused you to black out. Not long after that the fighting in the other room stops and Jason is the first one through the closed door.

"Mama?" He takes the hood off as he lands on his knees beside you.

"I'm fine," you say, motherly instinct taking over and you wanting to protect him despite the fact that he had just taken out at least 7 guys on his own moments before.

"Bull," he says and moves your hands so that he can evaluate things, not that he didn't trust you knew what you were doing but knowing that your mind was probably a bit all over the place.

"I'm fine, enough, Jaybear," you say and lean your head against the wall behind you.

Hours later you're relaxing on the couch with Bruce and three of your boys, holding them all as well as you can with a leg cast. The bullet had fractured your femur so it made everything a bit more complicated but at least now you knew how it felt to be shot so you could write better descriptions in your books.

But it's as you're sitting there with Bruce, Dick, Tim and Damian that the doorbell rings and a few minutes later Alfred enters the room. You look up to see Jason standing beside him, "Hey."

[llamabird-writes]

Inspired by this prompt post from @screnwriter

***

The hero had come to the balcony to be alone, to take a deep breath away from the prying eyes of... well everyone. It had been a month since they revealed their identity to the world and every day since then they wished they could go back in time, or erase everyone's memories or do something to just make the people forget.

The sound of laughter broke the hero from their thoughts. They looked down to see their friends leaving the main ballroom, seemingly to get fresh air as they themself were. They hadn’t told their friends about how they were feeling. Their friends had never understood why they had kept it a secret at all.

‘All the adoring fans.’ ‘People would line the streets to see you.’ ‘You could get anyone in the entire city, hell probably the world.’

They wouldn’t, couldn’t understand. The hero didn’t want just anybody in the world.

They let out a sigh, watching their friends laughing below, wondering how they felt more comfortable up here alone then they ever did when they were in the group.

‘Looking for some company?’

The hero whirled around at the voice. So much for being a hero if they couldn’t even hear someone approaching them from behind. The hero’s eyes landed on the owner of the voice and – they laughed.

‘Of course you’d be here. Not like you to miss out on an elegant event is it.’

The villain smiled. ‘Not when we’re celebrating our favourite hero. Having fun, I see.’ They gestured to the empty balcony, far away from all the guests.

‘I’ve had more fun, I’ll be honest.’ The hero had long ago allowed themselves to ignore how easy it was to tell the villain the truth.

‘You regret telling the world who you are. It's interesting, most people would revel in that glory.’

‘Yeah well, I’m not everyone am I.’ The hero turned to face back out to the grounds below them.

Soft footsteps sounded behind them.

‘If you’re not having fun, dear, why not just leave?’ The villain's voice was a whisper, sounded right next to the hero’s ear. A shiver ran the length of their body, their heart quickening. They willed for their heartbeat to not be too loud.

The villain brushed their hand along the side of the hero’s face, barely touching yet leaving a hot, tingling trail behind. ‘Come on, we can leave together. I won’t tell anyone, promise.’

As the villain said it, they pressed a soft kiss to the hero’s neck. The hero grabbed onto the railing, sure that their legs would give out on them.

‘What dangerous plan are you hatching, hmm. Trying to kidnap me at my own event.’ Their voice was not as steady as they would have liked.

‘It’s not kidnap if you leave by your own free will. Besides, we both know you’re too obsessed with me for me to actually have to kidnap you. You’d come just for the curiosity of it.’

‘I’m not obsessed with you.’ They weren’t, not really, well... dammit, obsessed was the wrong word.

‘Is that so.’ The villain had begun to kiss up the hero’s neck to their jaw. ‘Then why is your heart beating a hundred miles an hour.’

The hero felt the villain’s smirk against their skin as they said it. They scowled, glancing up at the sky to try compose themself.

The hero turned – to push the villain away, to save themself from their treacherous heart – but they hadn’t expected the villain to be so close. Barely an inch from their lips, the lips that had left the hero’s neck prickling, the lips that the hero had dreamed about so often, too often. The hero swallowed, and the villain, picking up on the hero’s sudden nervousness, grinned.

‘Do I make you nervous, dear?’

The hero watched the villain’s mouth as it formed the words. They barely heard the question over their rising pulse. They forced their eyes up.

The villain leaned in then, to whisper in their ear. ‘You should learn how to hide your emotions better.’

The villain pulled away, stepping past the hero to lean on the balcony rails. ‘You never answered my question. Why not leave?’

The hero gave a low laugh. ‘It’d be so easy for you wouldn’t it.’ They moved to stand next to them. ‘Believe it or not being a hero is a lot bigger than what I want. The people need me.’ But even as they said it the words didn’t feel true.

‘If the people are so important,’ the villain said as they turned their body to face to hero, ‘then why aren’t you down there with them? Why aren’t you celebrating with your friends? No, you're up here, talking to the enemy.’

The villains voice had gone soft, quiet, almost caring. They were trying to trick the hero, lure them into a false sense of security. The hero knew this. But the damned words were working. The hero didn’t enjoy their life. They had lost their anonymity, their freedom. The hero felt like a pawn, to be called upon at will. It’s not that the hero didn’t want to save people anymore. Of course they did. They weren’t about to run off and become a villain. Though by the look at the villain standing across from them, it was exactly what they wanted.

‘It’s not the same,’ the hero began, ‘being a hero when you’re known to the world. Everyone expects you to be there all the time, ready to go, when they’re able to reach you, able to find you. I just,’ the hero looked up to meet the villain’s eyes, ‘My motives for doing it... they’re not the motives that a hero should have, not anymore.’

A flutter of laughter rose to the balcony, bringing attention back to the hero’s friends below.

‘Do your friends know how you feel?’

‘God no. They never understood my desire to be unknown. They never understood me. There isn’t really reason for us to be friends.’ The hero went quiet, looking down at the people they should have been having this conversation with. When they looked back to the villain, they had a dangerous smile on their face.

‘Well,’ the villain said, ‘let’s show them that you don’t need them.’

The villain stepped forward, grabbing the hero’s waist and pulled them in, crashing their lips together. The hero froze for a moment, but when the villain moved their lips – impossibly soft, yet impossibly rough – against their own, the hero unfroze, hands raising to the villain's neck, their hair. The hero kissed back forcefully, the desire they felt overwhelming their body and they held onto the villain tighter, pressed closer to their body. The villain’s lips felt so much better than they had in their dreams, and the hero marveled in the way the hands on their body burned with each tight grab. The hero’s grip in the villain’s hair tightened, causing a moan from their lips. The villain bit the hero’s lip in response.

The hero pulled back slightly, licking the blood from their lip. The villain looked disheveled and the thought that it was the hero who had caused it sent a wave of pleasure through them. The villain leaned in to close the gap once more but, for just a split second, the hero glanced down to the grounds below them. To where their friends had been standing. The hero’s eyes met six. They pulled away from the villain and stared down at the shocked expressions on their friend’s faces. Except it wasn’t just shock, but anger, betrayal. Because all they saw was the city’s hero making out with the villain. The hero quickly shut down the part of their brain that tried to question what else it was than that.

The hero turned to the villain, grabbed their hand, ‘We need to leave. Now.’

***

Part two here