#ace: shoots a fireball right back

[moxie-girl]

still thinking abt the fact that both one piece and twisted wonderland have a pair of characters named ace and deuce… twst au where everything is exactly the same except ace+deuce are the one piece characters. yuu is suffering™️

[liviavanrouge]

Win(Livia vs Leona round)

Had to have high, high hopes for a living

Livia: *Trembles, walking out into the arena*

Leona: *Walks out across from her*

Livia: Oh...why did it have to be you...I'm never gonna reach Mal Mal now...

Leona: HEY!!

Livia: *Flinches*

Leona: Don't ever give up that quick, Little Hunter!

Livia: *Stares then nods, aiming her claws at him* Leona! Let's fight*

Shooting for the stars when I couldn't make a killing

Leona: *Takes out his staff and launches at Livia*

Livia: *Ducks underneath him, summoning her polearm, blocking the incoming staff*

Leona: *Doges a hit to the head and grabs Livia's arm, tossing her down*

Livia: *Bounces up, looking at him with narrowed eyes before charging forward*

Livia: *Grows a thorn vine to her arm, swinging around Leona's fire attack*

Leona: *Grins and runs after her, his hair flying behind him* You won't escape!!

Didn't have a dime but I always had a vision

Livia: *Flips and lands, her eyes wide as the staff collided with her side, sending her flying into the wall*

~~~~

Azul: OH!

Kalim: LIV!

Epel: This is a Student Brawl Tournament but even that was unexpected..

Lilia: *Watches Livia blankly*

~~~~

Always had high, high hopes

Leona: *Walks towards Livia* Give up?

Livia: *Slams her hand on the ground, windmill kicking Leona right in the chin, sending him stumbling back* NOT A CHANCE!!!!!

Livia: *Lands on her feet and rushes at him, aiming at his chest*

Livia: *Swings her polearm, cracking Leona right in the chest, sending him flying backwards*

Leona: *Lands on his feet and whistles, grabbing a broom that flew past him, circling Livia*

Livia: AH!

Livia: *Looks around her, trying to keep Leona in her sights*

Had to have high, high hopes for a living

Livia: *Narrows her eyes, listening intently for the sound of his broom*

Leona: *Lifts into the air then dives towards her, readying a fire spell*

Livia: *Whips around, sending thorns flying up from the ground* GOCTHA!!

Leona: *Gasps, falling off his broom as the thorns snagged it, sending him crashing to the ground*

Leona: *Stands up, grinning at her* Getting serious now, I see...

Livia: *Runs at Leona, readying her polearm*

Leona: *Leaps up over her attack, landing behind Livia and shoving her forward, immediately leaning back when she spun around to hit him again*

Didn't know how but I always had a feeling

Livia: *Dodges fireballs coming at her, leaping over and around them, throwing her polearm down and rushing at Leona*

Livia and Leona: *Leaps up, their legs colliding*

Livia: *Snarls and kicks the lion man right in the chest, sending him skidding backwards*

Leona: *Slides to a stop, blocking her incoming kicks, ducking under a windmill kick*

Leona: *Shoves Livia back using an open hand palm strike*

Livia: *Stares in shock, stumbling back and tripping over her polearm*

Leona: Alright, I win...

I was gonna be that one in a million

Livia: Not..yet...

Livia: *Grabs her polearm and swings it around, sending it smashing into Leona's throat, breaking it in two*

~~~~

Ruggie: WOAH!!!!

Jamil: That...was a strike...

Vil: That will leave a bruise...

Deuce: COME ON, LIVIA!!!

Ace:: COME ON!

~~~~

Livia: *Summons her Aura Rollerskates as Leona got up, skating around him full speed*

Leona: *Grins* KING'S ROAR!!!!

Always had high, high hopes

Livia: *Shrieks in alarm as the ground began to get uneven, sending her stumbling*

Leona: COME ON LITTLE HUNTER!! SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!!

Livia: ALRIGHT THEN!!! *Leaps up, her Aura roller skates, turning into a glowing Narwhal* MEET MY AURA ANIMAL!!

Livia: *Lands on the Narwhal's back standing up, riding it around Leona, easily managing to get around* TRY THIS!!

Livia: *Leaps up into the air, her Narwhal blasting a large force of water around*

Leona: *Runs towards the water and ducks down, sliding underneath it* Gonna take more than that!

Had to have high, high hopes for a living

Livia: *Lands on the narwhal's back, her hair flying behind her as she shot around Leona, dodging fireballs with ease*

Leona: *Grins* Fine then, look's like we need another KING'S ROAR!!

Livia: *Screams on shock, nearly getting impaled by a rock*

~~~~

Silver: LIV!

Sebek: M-Master Lilia! Call her out! Have her switch with me!!

Malleus: *Looks at Lilia* LIlia?

Lilia: *Shakes his head then smiles* I see what Leona is doing...he's

Sebek: H-Huh...

~~~~

Livia: *Narrows her eyes, managing to stay balanced on Narwhal as she navigated the destroyed field*

Shooting for the stars when I couldn't make a killing

Livia: *Looks around, searching for Leona* Where....where is he?!

Leona: *Leaps out before Livia, knocking her off the Aura Narwhal* HERE!

Leona: *Rushes after her, using the rocks to launch himself forward*

Livia: *Stares at Leona then quickly brings her feet down, copying how he was using the rocks to move around*

Livia: *Grabs a rock and swings herself around, launching up into the air*

Livia: *Grabs her Narwhal as she came down, landing on its back, standing up*

Didn't have a dime but I always had a vision

Leona: *Watches her closely, then launches off a rock*

Livia: *Turns around, gasping in shock as an electric attack struck her*

~~~~

Floyd: Catfish is done for...

Jade: I admire her bravery though..

Azul: SHUT. UP! BOTH OF YOU!

Kalim: OH LIV!!

Lilia: *Points forward* That's my girl..

Kalim: Huh!

~~~~

Livia: *Appears from the attack, charging up her Narwhal*

Leona: What...

Livia: THIS WIN IS MINE!!!! *Launches her Narwhal forward, her eyes narrowed*

Always had high, high hopes

Leona: *Turns to dodge, yelling when the Narwhal exploded, knocking him off balance*

Livia: *Appears in front of Leona, snagging his staff from his hands when he was distracted*

Livia: GO DOWN!!! *Spins and swings the staff, hitting Leona outside the head, knocking him into the wall*

Leona: *Slides down, sitting against the wall*

Livia: *Gasps, dropping the staff as she hurried over to him* LEONA!!

Leona: *Shakes his head, grinning* I'm fine...good hit..

Livia: You're hurt, i-it's my fault-

Leona: Shush...listen..

Livia: *Looks up, her eyes widening at the cheers* AH..

Malleus: *Smiles at Livia then turns and walks away, going to get prepared for the final round*

@queen-of-twisted @yukii0nna @zexal-club

[frootloopscos]

Welcome to the Villians' World (4)

Previously

"(Y/N) huh? Name's got an odd ring to it." Ace said crossing his arms. "I'm not anyone's hench-human Grim, but it's nice to meet you." (Y/N) said with a short bow. "So tell me Ace, is that Lion with the scar on its eye a famous ruler too?" Grim asked pointing to the Lion statue. Ace nods, "of course!" He said and began to explain the Lion and all the other statues to the unusual duo. "Pretty cool, huh? Not like some piddling weasel." (Y/N), who had been silent during the explanation set a hand on Grim and glared at Ace, "what was that?" They asked him as they reached back, putting a hand on one of their two larger swords.

Now

Ace began to laugh at the two, "I can't hold it back anymore!" He said wiping a fake tear from his eye. "Come on, you're the ones who tired orientation into such a fiasco, right? The one summoned by the Dark Mirror who can't even use magic, and the monster no one summoned at all. It took everything I had in my to not burst out laughing in the middle of the ceremony!" Grim growled, "hey! You don't gotta be a jerk about it!" Ace smirked, "so in the end, neither of you got admitted and now you're bodyguards? That's so lame!" He said, still laughing at them.

"Say it again Ace." The demon slayer said taking Grim off their shoulder and taking out their two large swords, designed after their pops. "Oh what? You gonna hurt me? You're both so clueless you don't even know who the Great Seven are. Not a single one! Maybe before you try getting into the academy again, you take a second crack at kindergarten?" He said in a childlike mocking voice to Grim before he burst out laughing again. Grim scowled and began to puff up, (Y/N) put their arm in front of him, "calm down Grim, let me handle this." They said but Ace just decided he needed to keep talking.

"I just thought I'd tease you two a bit, I'm glad I did. It's been a blast! Unlike you, I actually have classes to get to so I'll let you get back to "guarding" the school. Bye!" He began to walk away and (Y/N) once again attempted to get grim to calm down. Too late. He puffed up again and shot fire at the ginger. Ace deflected it with some sort of wind; and just like that they stared a full fight. (Y/N) began to notice the students starting to crowd around the three of them. "Not good," they mumbled to themself while watching the two. They needed to stop it before something bad happened.

But they couldn't, the next thing they knew they saw one of Grim's blue fireballs shooting towards one of the statues. "No!" They yelled running in front of it and attempting to deflect the blow, but it's not a breathing technique, so they got hit. (Y/N) was sent backwards, their back slamming into the stone. They yelled out in pain and anger as they felt the new throbbing from their chest and back. "Shit," Ace said seeing the enby on the ground. "This is your fault for trying to divert it! You shoulda just let it burn you to a crisp!" Grim said running over to (Y/N). "Who in their right mind would ever do that?!" Ace yelled while trying to look for a way out of the situation he was in.

Grim rubbed up against (Y/N)'s leg, "I'm sorry (Y/N) he said quietly." "What is going on here?!" A voice yelled, the three looked over to see Crowley, "oh no! The headmage!" Ace said knowing he was in for it now. Both he and Grim were wrapped up in Crowley's Lash of Love, "the likes of you will never flee from me! Did I not just warn you "no more incidents" now you've gone and injured our bodyguard. That means I'll have to pay for the medical bills...unless Crewel takes care of them." Crowley shook his head, "it's almost as though you want to be expelled!" He said with a glare. "No! Forgive me!" Ace yelled in anguish. "This will not do. And you! State your name and grade." He said looking at Ace.

"Ace Trappola... Freshman." Ace said in defeat, "then listen well, Trappola. You too Grim, as punishment for today's infractions; you are nearby ordered to wash a hundred windows!" Crowley said in a stern tone, the boys looked at him in shock. "You will meet in the cafeteria after classes, are we clear?" "Yes sir." Ace said and looked to (Y/N), "well what about them?" Crowley let the boy and the monster go, "(Y/N) will be tended to by Professior Crewel, they will be overseeing your punishment later." He said as he picked (Y/N) up, "now, off to class Trappola."

——————

Damn, this one is kinda short so I'm sorry. Next one we get to meet crewel yayyyy

Word count: 837

Published to Wattpad: Sep. 1st, 2023

Published to Tumblr: April 24th, 2024

Edited: n/a

[nyxnightshade1332]

Expectations When Expecting (Prologue)

Chapter 9

Chapter 10:

She glared at the boy who gave a cruel smirk at Grim, who simply stood in shock at the sudden change in Ace's friendly personality. The ginger cackled, bordering maniacally.

"I can't hold it back anymore!" He chortled. "Come on, you're the ones who turned orientation into such a fiasco, right?" Ace smirked, words overflowing with intent to hurt. "The one summoned by the Dark Mirror who can't even use magic, and the monster no one summoned at all."

Yuu considered ignoring him, but caught a glimpse of Grim's face. His eyes mirrored a hurt child, tears of anger and frustration threatening to flow. She began to seethe.

"It took everything I had not to burst into laughter right in the middle of the ceremony!" Ace exclaimed.

"H-hey! You don't gotta be a jerk about it!" Grim's voice was trembling.

Ace ignored the hurt in the monster's eyes, opting to continue his taunting. "So in the end, neither of you got admitted, and now you're janitors?" Yuu swung the broom, scraping the boy's face with the bristles.

"You have EXACTLY three seconds to leave, or I promise you that you'll end up with a mouthful of mud." She snarled.

Ace regarded her with indifference, glaring at her choice of a weapon. "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about this? 'S not like you can take me." She pushed her, and her eyes widened.

"Ah ha ha! You're both SO lame!" He sneered, closing in on her.

"What did you just call me?!" Snarled Grim from behind Ace.

"And you're both so clueless you don't even know who the Great Seven are. Not one of them! Maybe before you try getting into the academy again, you ought to take a second crack at kindergarten?" He teased the two.

Yuu narrowed her eyes, watching him laugh. She prepared herself to hit him over the head, with the broomstick this time. However, the sound of an increasingly pissed off, fire-breathing cat rumbled from behind the ginger.

"Shoot. Grim! No!" She yelped, ignoring whatever Ace just said.

"Myuh-uh! You ain't walkin' away from me! It's too late for that!" Grim snarled, his fur standing on end, attempting to make himself look bigger. He inhaled, and Yuu moved away from Ace.

Ace yelped, barely dodging a fireball. "What the hell?! Get your cat!" He told her, making Grim much angrier.

"Nah dude. I told your dumbass to leave a while ago. This is on you." She deadpanned, grabbing the bucket of water, and making her way behind the cat.

"No one makes fun of Grim, Master of Fire! I'm gonna make that explodey-head of yours explode all over again!" Grim smirked cockily.

"Explodey-head?!" Ace exclaimed, suddenly angry. "You wanna throw down with me, shorty? You got some guts. You wanna talk hair, huh? I'm gonna shave you like a toy poodle!" He pulled something that appeared to be a magic wand out of his breast pocket. Yuu sighed, deeming this impossible to stop, and moving herself out of harm's way.

Sorry Crowley...

.

.

.

The fight was much more terrifying than what she'd imagined. She ran back out, actually worried. "Hey! Stop! Take it down a notch, both of you!" She cried, distressed.

"Shut up!" Ace growled, sending a gust of wind at her that was strong enough to send her flying backwards. Her eyes widened in fear, heart sinking when her mind flashes to her unborn child. She says a silent prayer, praying that the child makes it as she braces for impact.

It is much softer than expected and she feels the tickle of feathers against her cheek. She hears someone familiar call her name and a gloved hand with cool metal rings attached to the tips pat against her face.

She opens her eyes to see someone who she never thought that she'd be relieved to see.

"Good to see you've returned to the land of the living, Miss Yuu." He gave her a quick, reassuring smile as he sat her down to breathe before looking up with a gasp. She followed the Headmage's gaze, only for her eyes to widen.

There, the first statue of the Queen of Hearts stood, charred and smoking. "Oh, schist." She muttered.

"Oh no! The headmage!" Ace yelped, spotting the terrifying demeanor of the Headmage. "Not more lashings of love! We gotta get outta here!" Grim cried as he attempted to scramble away, failing miserably.

Crowley prowled forward, an indignant snarl on his lips as he cracked his whip, smacking Ace and Grim on the head. Both yelped painfully enough that Yuu also flinched.

"As if the likes of you could ever flee from me!" Crowley began, breathing out in a weak attempt to calm the fires of his wrath. "Did I not just warn you, 'no more incidents'?" The headmage growled at Ace, who was shrinking into himself rapidly.

"And now you've charred one of my statues?! It's almost as though you WANT to be expelled!" Crowley shouted.

"No! Forgive me!" The trickster pleaded.

"And you, Yuu. You were specifically told to keep Grim under control!" He turned to her, a look of disappointment evident on his features.

"I'm sorry..." She looked down.

Crowley's eyes did not soften with her shame. "This will not do..." He sighed before returning his attention to Ace. "And you! State your name and grade." She heard the headmage crack the whip against his hand.

"Ace Trappola... Freshman." Ace stated meekly. For the first time since she'd seen him, he looked smaller.

"Then listen well, Trappola. You too, Grim and Yuu." His voice echoed off of the statues. "As punishment for today's infractions, you are hereby ordered to wash a hundred windows!"

Yuu stood up from her spot on the ground shakily. She bowed her head. "I understand." She spoke formally.

Grim, however, immediately turned to look at Ace, accusatory as if he hadn't been the one to continue the fight. "That's what you get for makin' fun of me! This is all your fault!" He hissed, eyes narrowed at the ginger who stared, flabbergasted at the idea that he was being punished.

"Whaaat? I have to do it too?!" He whined.

Crowley gave an authoritative sniff, looking down at Ace. "Of course you do. You will meet in the cafeteria after class. Are we clear?" He announced it to the group.

"Yes sir." Ace submitted, bowing his head.

Grim walked over to where Yuu was standing, grumbling. "Ugh, I just can't catch a break!"

Yuu narrowed her eyes at Grim. "I know that I semi encouraged it, but you did not need to throw more than three fireballs!" She scolded. "It's good that we're both okay, but please. Just stop putting us both in danger. The stress isn't good for me..." She didn't yell as she was still shaking from the shock of having literally been launched.

Grim seemed to notice this shaking, as he did not attempt to fight back. Instead, he jumped up into her arms and said, "Since yer so scared... I guess I'll let ya pet me."

Yuu's eyes widened, shakily placing her hand on Grim's head. She pat Grim, attempting to ground herself. Soon enough, the shadow of a tall man stood before her.

"Miss Yuu. Let us get you to the nurse's office." Crowley's voice said. It held a soft, almost fatherly tone. She gave a nod, allowing him to take the lead. 

Chapter 11

[vampire-caprisun]

Accidents

Hey everyone looks like I have a new hyperfixation. Im completely ruined by this man and I don't even own the game yet so forgive any inaccuracies for the time being. I went ahead and made a character anyway with some very noncanon elements for the sake of interesting storytelling. Hope you like my trash!

Character is a female Drow Ranger named Inala

Warnings for violence

__________________________________________

"Had enough arseholes!?" Karlach shouted as she cleaved her target in two with a single swing. Gale provided her more cover and Astarion had jumped out from the shadows to violently stab a gnoll in the chest from behind tossing the corpse to the floor with a blood lust filled grin as he licked his dagger. Inala was protecting Gale providing coverfire and a well placed hatchet to the face of anyone who got too close for comfort. "Shit" she cursed as a boulder headed straight for their position and all she could think was to grab the wizard at her back and roll causing him to yelp in surprise. The drow was sitting on top of him and fired off another round of flaming arrows at the attacking gnolls who had saw an opportunity to lunge. The position looked rather compromising to anyone outside looking in but the ranger wasn't about to lose their magic user to being uncomfortable. 

"Are you crazy! If I had been casting a fireball you'd be burning right now!" Gale shouted from below as she held off a particularly big opponent with a volley of arrows till Karlach could come in and engage.

"A thank you for not letting me die would have also worked!" Inala shouted back and rolled off him burying her hatchet into her enemies leg and tripping him to the ground. Adrenaline surged through the ranger's veins as she pivoted again to protect their wizard sending arrows through eyes and chests as more angry gnolls descended upon them. Inala yanked Gale up by the arm who was standing way too close to him for comfort. Gale sniffed and cocked an eyebrow. "Are you wearing perfume?!" He asked her absolutely baffled as to why she smelled like death and lavender at the same time. "Mind your business especially in the middle of a fucking gnoll camp. But yes I am." She spun around and shot another attacker once in the foot to pin them then slashed at their middle with her hatchet the sickening thud of organs splattered into the dirt. "Oh thats just delightful" the wizard gagged and conjured a blast of fire to clear the surge of enemies that had charged them. "Im just doing what you pay me for!" Inala laughed and swept her cloak to parry a blow, landing an ac blow to the side of the assailant's head. "No one is paying you! You're just being violent for the hell of it!"

"So I have fun on the job! Big deal!" 

"Thats my fuckin girl!" Karlach shouted "What smell are ya wearin!?" 

"I'll tell you the brand after, Karlach darling!" Astarion had suddenly appeared to protect their wizard's flank catching him off guard as Inala took her chance to vanish into shadows.

"Aww thanks fangs!" The teifling teased him and the vampire gave her a cute grin and rested his cheek on one of his daggers before maiming someone else. 

"You're buying her perfume now?" Gale raised an eyebrow 

"What's that supposed to mean? I am capable of being nice you know. Besides she did me a….*ahem*… favor." Astarion wiggled his eyebrows as he plunged his daggers backwards into an attacker. 

"Oh yes we all know about the favors you're not exactly quiet about it." 

"I told you everyone was going to fucking talk about this!" A voice in the shadows called out as a storm of arrows rained down upon the group. 

"Who wants to bet she's blushin in the dark!" Karlach shouted.

"I'm going to fucking shoot you Karlach!" The trees rustled and branches snapped in the direction of the voice. 

Astarion grabbed a fallen shield to block a spear turning his attention back to Gale. 

"Jealous?" He tutted. "My my Gale what would Mystra think?" He let out a giggle half out of breath, dropping the shield and standing up licking blood off his arm. 

"I don't need to be having this conversation right now in the middle of a literal fight." He scowled at the vampire. "Besides, at least Mystra cared about me." Gale said lowly. Astarion glared back at him and blocked another spear sailing towards the wizard, he twisted around and pulled a dagger to his companion's back. 

"Remember Gale, to keep your hands to yourself when she rolls you to safety." He hissed and the wizard stared at him shocked at the off color display from Astarion of all people. 

"Now whos the jealous one, vampire." The wizard spat but both kept professional. 

What the fuck was that. Inala thought as she watched the exchange looking to pick off whoever was leading this large camp of gnolls. But that display she just witnessed had her palms sweaty and her entire face was probably flushed. She saw an attacker go for Karlach and fumbled, her arrow dropped to the ground pathetically. Astarion took notice and gave her a curious but mischievous half grin, the gears already turning in his head. "Oh I fucking hate him." The drow muttered to herself knowing his vampiric hearing probably picked it up. Astarion chuckled darkly and faced down another assailant. 

Inala quickly took aim again, in his little moment Astarion had allowed two more gnolls to slip by them and he hadn't seen the second one yet that was approaching from behind, she took her shot and missed. Instead, the arrow grazed her paramour in the ass. The vampire let out a strangled yelp and turned to see what hit him, grateful he could even still stand. He saw the crow feathers sticking out from the arrow hanging in his left cheek and immediately knew the source. 

 He yelled at the trees absolutely furious "You fucking shot me! You said you don't miss!" 

Inala immediately dropped from her perch, luckily Karlach had stepped in and the remaining gnoll were retreating. The vampire stalked towards his prey nearly running.

"I'm in danger-" Inala was able to breathe as his hand reached her. She was in his grasp before she could get a word in and their other two companions protested their ranger being dragged off when reinforcements could arrive at any minute but the wounded vampire was too heated to care. 

Astarion had her slammed up against the tree she had been sitting in and a moment later his icy breath was prickling her skin through angry pants. "What the FUCK Inala!" He all but hissed at her. The drow fought back "What do you mean what the fuck? How about what the fuck was that with Gale!"

"You shot me!" He growled again.

"Oh great now they're having a lovers tiff on the battlefield!" Gale sighed. "Next time Inala wants to steal an powerful item from an entire fucking gnoll pack dont invite me if he's involved." The wizard groaned. 

"Well she did shoot him in the arse." Karlach said matter of factly. And they both turned to search for more attacking gnoll.

Meanwhile their leader and the vampire of her affections continued to quarrel. Astarion pulled the arrow out and threw it to the side not even wincing when he did so.  

"I've seen you hit butterflies midair how the fuck do you hit my ass!?" He continued to yell.

"Why would you think I'd want to hit your ass! I love your ass!" Inala yelled back 

The silver tongued rogue attempted to spin a comeback but felt his white locks rustle with the breath of something large behind him. The ranger in his grasp went completely still. 

"Oh shit" Inala whimpered. "F-found their leader." the huge gnoll behind them snarled at them and Astarion quickly pulled the both of them to the ground as the beast swung her axe. The force nearly took the tree down as the two assassins rolled away. Karlach and Gale had already begun to rush to their aide. 

"Need a boost please!" Inala called out as she got up to run the giant gnoll had now freed her ax and turned her attention back to the pair. 

"Fine just don't shoot me again!" Astarion yelled at her and hoisted her into the tree branch she was headed for the creature was almost upon them. The drow dropped on top of it then fired three arrows into the gnoll's head as it was nearly on top of Astarion. The beast dropped to the ground Inala sliding up to him with it. 

"See didn't shoot you!" She panted 

"You're going to be the death of me woman!" Astarion could do nothing but groan a sigh of relief. 

_______________________________________

Wellp hope you all enjoyed my garbage I'll be working on more stuff with these two as I learn more about the game. No hate to Gale I just love to poke fun at him.

[daxwritesstories]

High School AU Snippets 2

[A/N]: This AU has almost zero plot, so you don't need context anyway.

Cyra glares at Roman and walks up to him, closing the space between them.

CYRA: You can’t be weird around her, okay? She might be a lesbian and I don’t wanna scare her off.

Roman puts his hands up defensively.

ROMAN: Wasn’t planning on it.

Cyra glares even harder, leaning in close to Roman’s face. 

CYRA: You have to promise me.

ROMAN: Okay, I promise.

~

ROMAN: Cyra was gushing about you the other day.

CYRA: Hey!

ACE: She kept saying you’re pretty.

CYRA: What the fuck? I said that in confidence.

ROMAN: Well, that was your first mistake.

Celia laughs.

CELIA: It’s okay. I know I’m pretty.

~

Cyra climbs on the kitchen counter and opens the cabinet. She reaches into the back and pulls out a bottle of Fireball.

CYRA: This is Roman’s, but he’ll probably forgive me.

RIKKI: Probably?

Cyra hands the bottle to Rikki so she can climb down.

CYRA: Well he can’t be mad at me for trying to cheer you up.

RIKKI: I guess so…

Cyra manages to climb down without falling.

RIKKI: Where are the shot glasses?

CYRA: Ah shit!

Cyra turns around and starts climbing on the counter again. Rikki laughs at her.

RIKKI: Dumbass.

~

ACE: How much did you two drink?

RIKKI: Probably too much.

Rikki crouches down on the couch and does a somersault on it.

RIKKI: Woo!

CYRA: I don’t remember how full the bottle was when we started.

ROMAN (from outside): Ace! Are we smoking or what?!

ACE: Change of plans!

Roman walks into the house.

ACE: We’ve got two drunk teenagers.

Roman looks pissed when he sees what Ace is holding. He stomps over to him and grabs the bottle.

ROMAN: Goddammit, Cyra! This is mine!

CYRA: It’s mine now!

Roman takes a few threatening steps towards Cyra. She screams and runs away. Roman chases her around the island a few times before he stops.

CYRA: You can’t catch me, bitch!

~

JAYCE: Wanna hear something funny?

ENZO: What?

JAYCE: Cyra was drunk-texting me last night.

Enzo laughs.

ENZO: Didn’t you reject her?

JAYCE: Yeah, but she doesn’t really give up. You know how she is.

ENZO: No, I don’t, actually.

JAYCE: Come on. She flirts with everyone.

ENZO: Not with me.

JAYCE: Just wait. She’ll get to you eventually.

~

ENZO: Why don’t you just hit? It’s not like Cyra’s asking you to date her.

JAYCE: Because I want to date someone. And besides, I kind of already did, if you count that one time.

ENZO: You didn’t like it?

Jayce sighs and starts packing the bowl.

JAYCE: It was just weird. Cyra’s fucking weird. It felt like she was just using me for her own amusement.

ENZO: I don’t see a problem with that.

Jayce rolls his eyes and Enzo laughs.

~

Cyra is standing in front of her open locker. She’s staring at the multiple pictures of Ace that she has taped to the inside of the door. She’s also holding a sheet of stickers.

She glances down at the sticker sheet and starts peeling off one that says “Queen” in pink letters. She then sticks it above one of the pictures of Ace, carefully making sure it’s in the perfect spot.

ENZO: Hey, Cyra!

CYRA: Ah!

Cyra flinches and drops the sticker sheet on the floor.

ENZO: Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.

Cyra bends down to pick up the stickers.

CYRA: All good. I just wasn’t paying attention.

As Cyra stands up again, Enzo tries to look inside her locker.

ENZO: What are you doing?

Cyra slams her locker shut before Enzo can see the pictures.

~

ENZO: You’re bi, right?

CYRA: Oh. Yeah.

ENZO: How did you, like, know?

Cyra looks at Enzo like she just realized something. She smiles deviously.

CYRA: Why are you asking?

Enzo groans in annoyance.

~

ROMAN: What do you want?

CYRA (through the phone): This guy I know is asking me a question and I don’t know the answer so I’m phoning a friend. 

ROMAN: Shoot. 

INT. School hallway - Morning

CYRA: How did you figure out that you wanted to fuck guys?

We hear Roman sigh on the phone. 

INT. Cyra’s house - Morning

ROMAN: You know I don’t normally wanna fuck guys, right?

CYRA (through the phone): But you do sometimes. 

Roman rolls his eyes. 

ROMAN: I guess. 

~

CYRA (through the phone): This is my friend Enzo! He has a crush on Jayce.

INT. School hallway - Morning

ENZO: Hey!

CYRA: What?

We hear Roman laugh through the phone.

INT. Cyra’s house - Morning

ROMAN: You mean that kid who was at our house the other day? Come on, man, you can do better than that.

~

Cyra raises an eyebrow at Enzo.

CYRA: Does that help?

Enzo sighs.

ENZO: Not really…

CYRA: Well… Thanks anyway, Roman.

ROMAN (through the phone): No problem, jailba–

Cyra hangs up before Roman can finish the word.

CYRA: Sorry I couldn’t be more help.

~

CYRA: Hi, Ara!

ARABELLA: I changed my mind. Just use my full name.

CYRA: Aw, but it’s such a mouthful.

Arabella sits down.

ARABELLA: I’ll show you a mouthful.

~

ARABELLA: I just ran into the hottest goth girl in the bathroom.

CYRA: A goth girl?

RIKKI: I didn’t know goths still existed.

CYRA: Says the emo girl.

RIKKI: You’re literally still in your scene phase in high school.

~

BUCK: Sup?

SETH: Hey, man.

Max rolls his eyes and starts looking through his binder.

SETH: So, do you guys wanna just divide up the work again?

BUCK: Yeah, it’s easier that way.

MAX (flatly): Sure, whatever.

We cut back to Cyra, Arabella, and Rikki. Cyra nods toward the boys.

CYRA: The gay boys are fighting.

~

ARABELLA: Huh. Hey, is this assignment due tomorrow or Wednesday?

CYRA: Um…

Rikki’s eyes widen.

RIKKI: Fuck, it’s due tomorrow.

CYRA: Seth!

Seth turns around again, looking annoyed.

SETH: What?

CYRA: When is the assignment due?

SETH: Tomorrow.

CYRA: Shit!

MR. LI: Cyra, language!

CYRA: Sorry!

~

Cyra throws the front door open and marches into the house, followed by Rikki and Arabella.

CYRA: What’s up, fuckers?!

Roman, who is sitting on the couch watching TV, looks over his shoulder at the girls.

ROMAN (sarcastically): Oh yay, the fireball bandits are back.

CYRA: Yo, that would be a sick band name.

RIKKI: Oh my god, let’s start a band.

~

Roman eyes Arabella as the girls walk toward the kitchen.

ROMAN: Who are you?

ARABELLA: Your worst nightmare.

~

Arabella walks to the living room and stands directly in front of the TV. She bends forward and furrows her brow, examining Roman.

ARABELLA: How old are you?

ROMAN: Thirty-two. You’re blocking the TV.

ARABELLA: Watching TV is bad for you.

ROMAN: Don’t care, bitch. Move.

CYRA: Don’t be fucking rude, Roman!

Arabella puts her hands on her hips defiantly.

ARABELLA: You can’t tell me what to do.

ROMAN: Yes I can. I don’t care if you’re a kid, I’ll kick your ass.

Roman’s threat doesn’t faze Arabella.

ARABELLA: Tell that to my steel-toed boots.

Roman laughs and Arabella frowns.

ARABELLA: What’s so funny?

ROMAN: I like her, Cyra!

CYRA: No!

~

CYRA: Ace is a crossdresser. A really hot one.

Arabella smiles.

ARABELLA: You like crossdressers?

CYRA: Yes, but that’s not why I like him.

Roman laughs and Cyra points at him.

CYRA: Shut up!

~

CYRA: This is fuckin’ rigged.

Arabella laughs.

ARABELLA: I didn’t take you for a sore loser, Cyra.

Ace gives Arabella a confused look.

ACE: Really?

~

Rikki doesn’t respond, just huffs. Roman finishes rolling the joint and hands it to her.

ROMAN: You need to talk about it eventually.

Rikki snatches the joint from Roman’s hand.

RIKKI: Or I could just keep ignoring it and then one day I’ll die.

~

RIKKI: I was already telling Cyra that I don’t have anyone to move out with. And I’m not living alone.

ROMAN: You could always move in with us.

Rikki smirks.

RIKKI: No thanks. These past few days have already been bad enough.

~

CYRA: Did you sleep?

VIR: I did for a couple hours. But, I mean, who needs sleep anyway?

CYRA: I feel that! Just give me a few hours every couple of nights and I’ll be fine.

VIR: We’re both gonna die young.

~

VIR: What did you do last night?

Cyra smiles deviously at Vir.

VIR: What? What?

CYRA: You have to guess.

Vir thinks for a moment.

VIR: Hm… Was it something bad?

CYRA: Yes.

Vir thinks again.

VIR: Shit, that doesn’t really narrow it down.

~

CYRA: Are you seeing what I’m seeing?

Vir looks around. We see a quick pan shot of the tables. Prince and Hayden are sitting together and chatting. A table away from them, Jayce and Enzo are eating together. Jayce is glaring daggers at Hayden.

VIR: You mean Jayce being thirsty and mad?

~

Cyra walks into the house.

CYRA: I’m home early!

There’s no response.

CYRA: Hello! I skipped school! Someone come yell at me!

~

ROMAN: Look, Cyra, I’ll make you a deal. You let me play my game in peace and I won’t tell Ace that you ditched class.

Cyra rolls her eyes.

CYRA: Okay, fine.

Cyra leaves the room and Roman puts his headphones back on.

~

Cyra is lying on the couch, looking at Social Bunny on her phone. We see her phone screen as she scrolls through the posts.

JAYCE (post): Whoever named frogs was so right. Those sure are frogs.

Cyra laughs at Jayce’s post and types out a comment.

CYRA (comment): Your mind is really something else, kiddo.

~

RIKKI: Who you texting?

CYRA: I’m cyberbullying Jayce on Social Bunny.

Rikki laughs.

RIKKI: Not again!

CYRA: I can’t help it!

~

CYRA: I got to see this side of him that I’ve never seen before. It was like he was daring me to try and impress him. It was… intimidating.

VIR: And, let me guess, it made you love him even more?

CYRA: Exactly!

~

CYRA: Did you ever have anyone like that? Someone who changed your entire perspective on life? In a good way, I mean.

ACE: You’re asking if I’ve ever been in love?

CYRA: Yeah!

Ace thinks for a moment.

ACE: No. No, I haven’t. I’m kinda heartless. I tried to warn you.

~

CONNOR: My brother and I moved here when I was fifteen, so I’ve been living with him ever since. He’s cool with parties as long as we don’t get too crazy.

Celia giggles.

CELIA: What’s “too crazy”?

CONNOR: No idea. I guess we’ll find out.

~

CYRA: But you have ulterior motives.

ROMAN: No I don’t.

Cyra frowns at Roman. He just shakes his head at her.

ROMAN: You’re not that hot.

~

ARABELLA: Is that it?

CELESTE: There’s more, but I’d like to hear your first impressions.

ARABELLA: Well…

Arabella thinks for a moment, trying to come up with something that will impress.

ARABELLA: I’m getting both cosmic and eldritch horror vibes.

CELESTE: Hm… If by “vibes” you mean atmosphere and theme, then yes, I agree.

~

Cyra is sitting on the kitchen counter, next to the fridge. She opens the fridge for a girl who walks up to it. The girl giggles and Cyra smiles at her. The girl takes a cooler from the fridge and raises it to Cyra before, leaving. Cyra closes the fridge and watches as the girl walks away.

A guy with dyed-blonde hair, wearing balloon pants and a crop top, walks into the kitchen.

CYRA: Want a drink?

TONY: No thanks. I don’t drink.

Cyra nods.

CYRA: Good on you. My roommate always tells me to never drink.

TONY: That’s good advice. 

Tony glances at the fridge. 

TONY: I don’t remember Connor telling me that he hired a fridge bouncer.

~

Cyra smiles and looks Tony up and down. He notices the flirty look in her eyes right away.

TONY: Oh, I’m too old for you.

CYRA: That’s never bothered me.

TONY: I’m also aro-ace.

~

TONY: I’m twenty-three.

Cyra nods.

CYRA: Ah.

TONY: And you?

CYRA: Fifteen.

TONY: And how old is your roommate?

Cyra smiles.

CYRA: I have two.

TONY: The one who tells you not to drink.

Cyra glances around.

CYRA (casually): I wanna go dance.

[insomuse]

- ̗̀May I have some TWST boys with their GN!S/O who treats Grim like their baby (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠) you can choose whoever characters you wanna put! I don't mind!

My baby, our baby.

     ▸SFW.          ▸GN! Reader .          ▸Req?: Si~

៶𖥨. He knew you and Grim were close. But not as close for a parent-child bond?

៶𖥨. Albeit it just made him fall even more in love with you by how attentive and caring you are for the feline. He’s always in a daze when he Watches you and Grim interact.

៶𖥨. He even gives you tips and tricks that he has used on the others he’s raised, and it works like a charm!

Grim’s stubborn and not listening?

Lure him in with bribery and that he won’t get it until he listens fufu~

៶𖥨.Although this Fae doesn’t mind how parently you are to Grim, he does suggest that you two get alone time too.

You can literally go a day without Grim and vice versa. Please, you’ll both live! Ace and Deuce will take him- totally- he didn’t blackmail them or anything…

៶𖥨. But other than that, he does love playing family with you two~ it gives him an excuse to prep family dinners more often!.. Just- pray. Believer or not… pray and write a will while you’re at it..

⌁. Doesn’t like the sharing of attention… well, it was okay at first. But then it got to be too much.

He treats it like a competition.

And yes, you do give him plenty of attention, he’s just stubborn and greedy. He needs to understand that Grim is your baby and that’s final.

⌁. Grim is also a bit against your relationship with Floyd— that eel keeps tricking and getting him trouble!

⌁. Step dad and step child going head to head type beat.

⌁. Floyd is subtle when you’re not looking with his threats to that cat, but said cat is loud with it and points out what he’s doing only for you to turn and see Floyd busy with something and quirk a brow at Grim.

Floyd shoots a quick grin in Grim’s direction and then go back yo feigning innocence.

It don’t stop there!

⌁. Grim is laying on your lap being petted? He wants to take over.

You’re feeding Grim by hand? That’s his spot now. And in his words; sharing is caring and you agreed much to Grim’s dismay.

Bathing Grim? He tried to replace when you weren’t looking, but he just got bashed in the face with a Loofah while you sported a glowing blush and a hissing Grim blasting fireballs instead..

⌁. That was not a good idea…. This only resorted in you giving Grim more attention in comforting after what he witnessed.

Those innocent feline eyes are forever tainted.

⌁. Jade teases him about this attempt. Jade knows he could do better than this. I guess it is true that love makes you stupid.

Bah! Jade is the stupid one, he don’t know what he’s talking about.. well— maybe- just a tad?

𒀭He finds it amusing and joins in as treating Grim as his own once the two of you are official.

𒀭 He loves how caring you are to the talking feline!

𒀭 He dotes and spoils Grim like no tomorrow.

𒀭 You can’t afford the Mostro sea fish special? Did you forget who you’re married to?? Yes, you heard that right. He tells and brags to everyone about his apparent spouse and child. But Jamil is right behind him to explain that he has yet to actually get married when people look confused and panicked about missing some wedding— especially Kalim’s!

𒀭 Grim is baffled by how far Kalim takes it but has no complaints since he has an unlimited amount of tuna, new collars and anything else he could ever wantbecause of it.

𒀭 And you; absolutely embarrassed but yet, glowing in pride and happiness at your newfound title.

[aquz]

too lazy to write a fic so here's like a drabble/thought::

imagine after fighting grim's overblot, ace and deuce come to look for you. you're laying on the ground, breathing hard and shaking with your back towards the duo. "oi, prefect, get up. we've gotta make sure grim's okay." is all ace says, making deuce look at him with shock. how could somebody be so... uncaring? "a-ah,, right.." your breath shakes as your arms wobble under your weight. pushing yourself up with upper body strength, you whine in pain. "hurry it up, i'm in a bad mood and i want to get back to my dorm." ace says once more and you wheeze in response. 

"what the hell, ace? can't you see they're physically hurt?" deuce says, walking over to help you up; finally unfrozen from his panic upon seeing you. "they just got the wind knocked out of them." ace responds. you finally get up to a sitting position and lean on deuce's legs for support. when you turn around, ace's eyes don't miss the gash in your side. he examines your ripped uniform and bloody nose, your eyes tired and tears forming. you shake terribly as you feel his gaze roam your figure, and his eyes stop at the charred pants you wear. ace suddenly feels sick as he thinks about how badly you did this overblot compared to others. grim hit you, and he hit hard. a thick, gross taste invades ace's mouth as he turns to the side and throws up all his concern.

deuce can't do much except help you up, helping wipe off the blood from your nose and he takes off his blazer to wrap around your waist, hoping it's enough to stop the bleeding. he leaves ace behind as he puts you on his back and runs you to the nurse; and ace doesn't realize until your coughs have suddenly quieted. ace feels sick again as he thinks more about what could've happened. while he was fending off grim's fireballs from deuce who was shooting spells, you were all alone elsewhere. he could've stopped this from happening, and he could've saved you.

[sanyu-thewitch05]

Love Potion Apocalypse Part 2

Part 1

"After her, or else it is off with your heads!" Riddle screams, holding his injured head.

The Heartslabyul dorm runs after their queen, who is currently trying to figure out her way through the maze.

"Grim, can you figure out which way to go?" Yuu asks, hearing a couple of footsteps running behind her.

"I can try and use my inner cat senses. Mm...ok...take a left, then after that take a right!" Grim says, jumping out of Yuu's arms and leading her to the supposed correct path.

"Queenie! You shouldn't be running away from your simps!" Cater yells, running behind Yuu with his copies following him.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!

One of Cater's copies lunges at Yuu and hits the roses as she ducks.

"Grim, tell me you know where to go next?!" Yuu asks, picking up speed to outrun the Caters.

"Yeah! Follow me!" Grim replies, turning around to throw a fireball at the Caters.

Yuu follows Grim as the morning turns into noon. Grim and Yuu take a sharp right turn and end up right in a dead end.

"Grim! I thought you said you could guide me out!" Yuu exclaims, backing up against the wall of rose bushes.

"I thought I could!" Grim replies, jumping into Yuu's arms.

The voices of Riddle, Trey, Ace, Cater, and Deuce grow near as Yuu starts to hyperventilate. Their shadows begin to line up on the maze's thorny walls.

"I think I can hear our queen breathing...she must be in this dead end," Deuce says, his breath burning hot at the thought of Yuu.

Yuu hears the bushes move behind her, and she takes a wary look behind her. A pair of arms pop out and hold Grim and Yuu's mouths shut.

"Don't make a sound," A boy with purple hair and cat ears says as he turns himself invisible.

Grim and Yuu nod and do as he says. Yuu calms her breathing, and the five Heartslabyul boys show up.

"Cater! I thought you said she would be here!" Riddle yells, looking directly at the invisible Yuu.

"I heard her! I thought she was here!" Cater yells back.

Yuu motions for the purple cat boy to get them out of here, and he obliges. Yuu and Grim appear outside Heartslabyul and take a giant sigh of relief.

"What is going on here?" The purple cat boy asks, looking worried as he sees Yuu's semi-unbuttoned shirt.

"I don't know...something weird. All I know is they started acting like this after a potion exploded and covered the whole school. By the way, what's your name? I feel like I've seen you before," Yuu replies, petting Grim to relieve her stress.

"Che'nya. My name's Che'nya. You saw me briefly during the Unbirthday party. I go to Royal Sword Academy," Che'nya explains. "If you don't get this issue resolved, you can always come to Royal Sword Academy for help."

"Thanks. We'll take your advice if things don't work out well. I'm going to find my other friend to see if he can help. Bye, and btw my name's Yuu!"

Yuu runs to the hall of mirrors as she tries to get as far as the maze as humanly possible. After 20 minutes of running, she begins to feel tired, stopping to take a breather. Everything is quiet to the point that not even the flamingos squawk. Grim rests on Yuu's chest and begins to fall asleep. A bush rustles near the trees, and Yuu doesn't waste any time getting up to continue her journey.

Yuu walks into the hall of mirrors where not even a single person is there. She walks up to Savanaclaw's mirror, and just as she's about to touch it, a Cater kisses her cheek.

"There you are. A queen shouldn't go anywhere without her bodyguards. What if those nasty savages desecrate our queen?" Cater says as he kisses Yuu's ear.

Yuu slowly turns around and sees most of Heartslabyul in the hall of mirrors.

"Come back with us. We can have a nice tea party. Plus, Trey cooked chocolate tarts just for you!" Riddle says, getting closer to Yuu.

Grim wakes up and shoots out multiple fireballs setting some people on fire.

Yuu doesn't waste the chance and touches Savanaclaw's mirror. Just as she's about to be in Savanaclaw, Deuce grabs her hand and pleads with her.

"Please. Don't go. I love you. Don't leave me!" Deuce pleads, tears falling from his eyes.

Grim bites Deuce's hand, and Yuu is safely transported to Savanaclaw.

"Welcome to the Lions Den, Grim," Yuu says.

Part 3

Tag list:

@hipsterteller @lizzileth @justarandomhumaninthisworld @shi-mel @wheresmyfuzzysocks @iwant2dienow @nai17 @nerdy-diamonds @naughtybodypillow @kingfargas @felfei @tinnyflute @leabbmao

[chenziee]

Dine and Dash (chapter 1)

[Read on AO3 or under the cut]

Can you believe it's been 11 years since Ace was saved from Marineford? Yeah, me neither. Still feels like fucking yesterday. So happy they managed save him in the end :) #ForeverInDenial

I took the opportinity of the anniversary of chapter 574 being published to finally write the obligatory Everybody is alive and nothing hurts AU that we all deserve, especially a certain beautiful, precious fire boy <3 (And yes, I know the anniversary was yesterday, I fucked up but shhh)

----------

Relationships: ASL brothers, Law/Luffy

Rating: Teen and Up

Words: 1894

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Everybody Lives, Nothing Hurts, Portgas D. Ace Lives, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, lawlu being cute, Protective Sabo (One Piece), Protective Portgas D. Ace, best big bros protective of their innocent baby bro, ASL Brothers, what else uhhh, i might add more as i go, Donquixote "Corazon" Rosinante Lives

Summary: When the three brothers who had once terrorized the Grey Terminal as well as the Goa Capital come together, nothing good can come of it. Even though they're not children anymore. Or maybe especially since they're not children anymore.

Or; the obligatory Everybody Is Alive And Nothing Hurts AU

---------

When Ace jumped from his raft up onto the railing of Luffy’s ship, he honestly didn’t expect someone to be standing right where he landed. He couldn’t blame Nami for screaming like she did in favor of a normal greeting, and it was also no surprise when Luffy’s voice came only a second later, asking what was wrong in a voice full of alarm. What was surprising, however, was when Luffy’s head popped out from behind what looked like a large polar bear sleeping right on the deck of the Thousand Sunny. Seriously, Luffy and his tendency to pick up the weirdest things.

"Hey, Luffy," Ace greeted, waving at his brother.

A bright smile appeared on Luffy's face when he realized just who the intruder was, scrambling to his feet and immediately falling over, nearly landing face first onto the lawn. Ace just had to laugh at the sight, but his amusement soon died down. Instead, he had to frown at the pained groan and cursing in a voice that was decidedly not Luffy's, and neither did it seem to have come from the polar bear who was still snoozing away without care.

"Sorry, Torao," Luffy apologized with a sheepish smile directed at the person he had apparently tripped over.

Who the hell was ‘Torao?’ Who was the person Ace could only assume his baby brother was napping with? Seemed like an interrogation was in order. Later though, there were arrangements to be made first. After all, having back up on this couldn't hurt and he had the best back up just waiting for him on the next island.

Picking himself up and running over, Luffy nearly crashed into Nami in his hurry this time, but his navigator managed to side step him at the last second, probably expecting something like this to happen. Luffy only shot her a crooked smile and a half-hearted apology, prompting her to shake her head at him, crossing her arms over her chest in a scolding manner.“Honestly, how is your entire family like this? One of you is going to give me a heart attack one day.”

“Sorry,” Ace and Luffy apologized in unison, the both of them bowing to her for good measure. After all, they both knew all too well that Nami’s wrath was scarier than anything they had ever witnessed on the Grand Line so far.

Nami huffed, shooting one last unhappy glare at them before she turned around and said, “We should be arriving at the next island in a few hours, I’m going to check what we need and get things ready.”

Ace sighed in relief; it seemed like they had somehow managed to avoid the worst.

"Ace, what are you doing here?" Luffy asked as soon as Nami walked away.

Ace grinned, finally jumping off of the railing he had been perching on. “Can’t I just come visit my favourite baby bro?”

“Of course you can,” Luffy said, sticking his tongue out at him. “I just didn’t expect you. Weren’t you going to Wano to see Tama?”

“Yeah, but there was a change of plans. Sabo’s actually on the island you’re heading to so I took a detour,” Ace explained with a shrug.

The reaction was immediate. Just as Ace expected, Luffy perked up even more, his smile going impossibly wide and Ace could swear there were stars in his eyes. He was also basically vibrating in place and Ace had to chuckle at the sight. He understood Luffy’s excitement, neither of them got to see the revolutionary nearly as often as they would have liked for obvious reasons, but Luffy was just too cute when he got like this. How he even did the… bright all over thing was something beyond Ace’s understanding but he loved seeing it every single time regardless.

“Sabo’s there?! Why didn’t he tell me?” Luffy cried out, grabbing onto Ace’s arm in his eagerness.

Before Ace could reply, the other person who had been hidden behind the polar bear until then stood up, muttering seemingly to himself, but loud enough for both Ace and Luffy to hear, “Oh great, there’s going to be three of them.”

“Torao~,” Luffy whined, turning to look at the grumpy man with a pout. “Don’t say it as if it’s a bad thing,” he finished, bouncing away from Ace to stand in front of the other man instead.

Ace scowled at the sight of Luffy peeking up at ‘Torao,’ who only stared back impassively as if he wasn’t bothered in the least by Luffy’s puppy eyes. Ace didn’t think that was even possible. Not to mention they were standing way too close to each other for Ace’s tastes.

“It is a bad thing. There’s way too much energy just with you, Luffy-ya. I don’t need more of it around me,” Torao told him, finishing with a light flick to Luffy’s forehad. An action that nearly had Ace toss a fireball at him if only Luffy didn’t start giggling over it.

Suddenly, Luffy stepped even closer to the man, wrapping his arms around his waist and grinning up at him. “You love it,” he announced, sounding all too proud of himself.

“In very small doses,” Torao admitted before leaning down and kissing the top of Luffy’s head.  

Oh, Sabo was so hearing about this.

Ace cleared his throat loudly, raising his hand to make sure the fire crackling threateningly in his palm was the first thing Torao would see when he looked in his direction.

“Nice to see you again, too, Fire Fist-ya,” the man said flatly, one eyebrow raised.

Ace smiled at him, making sure it look as fake as he could make it. “Trafalgar Law. What do you think you’re doing to my little brother?”

“What does it look like?” Law shot back, showing a smirk that only managed to irk Ace further. If Luffy wasn’t standing right there, he would really have thrown that fireball at him.

“Ace?” Luffy asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion as he looked at the fire dancing angrily under Ace’s command.

Ace sighed at that, reluctantly putting the flames out. That asshole was seriously so lucky Luffy was there. He and Sabo would have to corner him later and threaten him when Luffy wasn’t looking. “Anyway, as I was saying—” Ace shook his head, trying to make himself focus on the matter at hand— “I don’t think Sabo knew you were this close to the island. He said he only had one afternoon free and absolutely needed to see me for some reason. So, Luffy. Want to come with us to get something to eat?” he asked, even though he knew the answer. As if Luffy would ever say no to that.  

“Let’s get meat!” Luffy exclaimed loudly, full of enthusiasm and throwing both arms in the air. He nearly punched Law in the face.

Sadly, it really was only nearly but Ace still took great pleasure in returning the smirk Law had given him earlier. He quickly turned back to Luffy, however, and replied, “Well, Sabo seemed like he had something in mind already so let’s just go and see.”

Luffy nodded at his words, a bright, happy smile that looked just the same as it did all those years ago at Mt. Colubo on his face, and Ace felt his previous smirk melt into a fond smile in return. There was warmth in his chest at the sight, the knowledge that his little brother was still the same even after everything that had happened over the years making him incredibly happy.

Without even realizing, Ace’s hand came to touch his own exposed chest, his fingers tracing the rough, large burn scar that Akainu had left there during the war four years ago. It was honestly a miracle he was even alive. He had fully accepted death back on the execution scaffold but then Luffy crashed in, just as loud, just as unexpected as always, bringing so much chaos with him that it changed the entire course of the whole ordeal. And then he accepted it once more when he threw himself in Akainu’s way to protect Luffy.

But now here they were, both of them miraculously alive—thanks to Jinbe, Marco, Vista, and, as much as it pained him to admit it given the very recent circumstances, mostly thanks to Trafalgar Law’s incredible timing and medical skill—and both bearing lava burn scars on their chests as a reminder of what could have happened; what was so incredibly close to happening. It was incredible how much the experience had changed them, yet somehow, how they were still the same as they used to be when playing pirates in their little tree house base.

And when Sabo had appeared in front of them again, with tears and apologies and so very alive, it felt almost inevitable.

Ace shook his head at his own thoughts. This was no time to get all sentimental. “Okay, Sabo’s waiting. Are you ready to go? Striker isn’t really a two person boat but it should be okay,” Ace said, gesturing towards his fire powered raft.

“Yes!” Luffy shouted like he had just won something. “Your boat always seems so fun to play with,” he sang, running over to look down at the slim, sleek raft that was gently swaying along the Sunny.

“Glad you’re so excited,” Ace chuckled.

He went to jump back down on Striker immediately, but Luffy stopped him when he spoke up next, “Oh wait. Do you think we could take the Mini Merry? Torao is meeting his dad on the island, too.”

Ace paused, looking at Luffy with a slight frown. What the hell was a ‘mini merry?’ But more importantly, did they really have to take Trafalgar with them?

Thankfully, Law had saved Ace from having to deal with either of those questions when he spoke up instead, “Thanks but I’ll stay here, Cora-san won’t be there until evening anyway. Plus, I’m not going to risk your brother drowning me on the way.” He shot Ace another one of those smirks when he finished and Ace almost wanted to burn it off of his face but…

“Fair point,” he admitted instead, surprised at the laughter that bubbled out of his chest. He shuddered in horror at the idea of this asshole growing on him.  

“I have no idea what you two are talking about,” Luffy mumbled in annoyance, but perked back up a second later when he announced he was going to let the crew know he was going on ahead.

Ace and Law looked at each other, Ace trying to convey with his eyes the threat of bodily harm that he was thinking in regards to the man standing in front of him. He could only assume he had succeeded when the corners of Law’s mouth twitched up slightly, followed by the surgeon flipping Ace off before he turned around and walked off, sitting down and making himself comfortable with his back resting against the somehow still asleep polar bear.

He was seriously pissing Ace off.

He did have to give it to him, though; if nothing else, this asshole had guts. Reluctantly, Ace had to admit that was probably the most important qualification to pass as Luffy’s boyfriend. He was still not getting out of that interrogation though.

---------

[chapter 2 coming...... as soon as I can finish it]

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #179

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re building the other half of Team Tyrannical Shooting Star, Artoria (Rider Alter)! This version of Artoria is totally a maid, and as such she’s a Battle Master Fighter to coach other servants while wielding sniper rifles and swords, a Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer so she can fight in a swimsuit, and a Zeal Cleric to clean up the battlefield through sheer force of will.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: Team Satisfaction H∴T∴E!

Race and Background

Artoria’s still human, but she’s a copy of a copy, so that’s pretty Variant if you ask me. This gives her +1 Dexterity and Charisma, the Insight skill for better... maiding? She also gets the Sharpshooter feat, which lets you ignore disadvantage from long range shots so you can sniper with your rifle, ignore all but full cover, and you can take a -5 penalty to hit with a ranged weapon to deal an extra 10 damage. Basically: boom, headshot.

You’re also a variant Noble for your background, grabbing proficiency with History and swapping out Persuasion for Intimidation. We’ve played this song and dance before.

Ability Scores

In case you couldn’t tell from the feat, we’re investing heavily in Dexterity this time around. Turns out, firing a sniper rifle from the back of a moving motorcycle requires good balance. You also have pretty good Wisdom- you can’t hit a target before you see it, and you can’t clean a mess before you find it either. Third is Charisma, you’re pretty intimidating, and you’ve got to know how to conduct yourself to be a proper maid. Your Constitution isn’t terrible, riding on waves isn’t easy. Your Strength isn’t that high, we just don’t need it, but we’re dumping Intelligence. Your skills in maidery come from persistence, not know-how.

Class Levels

1. Fighter 1: Staring off as a fighter gives you plenty of goodies right off the bat; proficiency with Strength and Constitution saves, as well as Acrobatics and Perception for the aforementioned sniping off a motorcycle, the Archery fighting style for more accurate shots, and Second Wind to heal yourself as a bonus action. Knowing when to sharpen your axe is half the battle of chopping down a tree.

2. Fighter 2: Second level fighters get an Action Surge once per short rest, giving you an extra action for a turn. Maids need to be able to handle a thousand tasks at once, after all.

3. Cleric 1: Bouncing over to Zeal Cleric now makes you a Priest of Zeal right away, letting you attack as a bonus action after you attack with your action Wisdom Modifier times per long rest. You can now (to a limited capacity) dual wield a gun and a sword. You also learn some Spells that use your Wisdom to cast and prepare. Included in the zeal package is Searing and Thunderous Smite in case you wanted to feel like a paladin again.

You also get Guidance to coach your allies, Mending to mend things, and Light to light your master’s way at night since your dumb human eyes don’t work at night. For other spells, Detect Poison and Disease will alert you to areas of filth, and Purify Food and Drink will let you dust a 5′ radius sphere of food to remove it. That is the purpose of dusting, right?

4. Sorcerer 1: We aren’t staying here long, but I wanted to pick up your Draconic Bloodline for your Draconic Resilience, giving you an extra hit point and an AC of 13 + your dexterity modifier while not wearing armor. You also get Draconic Ancestry to double your proficiency bonus against dragons.

You also get another set of Spells, this time using your Charisma to cast. Grab Booming Blade, True Strike, and Magic Missile for more combat focused spells, Friends to make your intimidation checks even easier, Mage Hand to swap weapons more easily, and Expeditious Retreat to speed yourself up. You’re relying on Nero for your bike, but it wouldn’t hurt to be good at running either.

5. Fighter 3: Bouncing back to fighter now for your martial archetype; the Battle Master! When you become a battle master you become a Student of War, giving you proficiency with one type of artisan’s tools. Unfortunately they forgot to make cleaning supplies and option, but you can always go with Cook’s Utensils for the added bonus of getting to feed yourself.

You also get Combat Superiority, four d8s that recharge on short rest. You can spend one die per attack (or in another way, depending on the maneuver) to switch up how your attack works, adding extra effects.

Commander’s Strike forgoes your own attack to give another ally the chance to attack as a reaction, and they add the d8 to their damage. Your Commanding Presence gives you a bonus to your intimidation checks (among others). You also get a Maneuvering Attack, adding the die to your damage and letting an ally move as a reaction without provoking attacks from the target you just hit. If you really want them to move, you can always shoot them instead.

6. Fighter 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to become a Crossbow Expert. This lets you ignore loading on crossbows so you can use Priest of Zeal on your sniper rifle, ignore disadvantage on ranged attacks while enemies are within 5′ of you, and you can officially dual wield a crossbow with your excalibur without needing Priest of Zeal, opening it up for that snipering I was talking about a few clauses back.

7. Fighter 5: Fifth level fighters get an Extra Attack, giving you two attacks per action, three per turn while dual-wielding, or 4-5 with your action surge. Get more done faster, the essence of maiding.

8. Cleric 2: At second level, clerics can Channel Divinity once per short rest in one of two ways. Saying you can Turn Undead is a bit of a stretch, but a lot of ghosts are casters, so I doubt they’d be happy to see you. Alternatively, your Consuming Fervor lets you maximize the damage of one thunder or fire effect for more effective grenades. Only the best; this attention to detail is why you’re a professional.

9. Cleric 3: Third level clerics get second level spells, like your freebies Magic Weapon and Shatter for a better excalibur and a stun grenade. You can also use Enhance Ability for more coaching, and Lesser Restoration to fix up old cars. Wait, that’s not what that spell does?

10. Cleric 4: Use this ASI to bump up your Wisdom for better maidliness and stronger spells.

11. Cleric 5: Fifth level clerics see their turn undead become Destroy Undead, instantly killing any zombies or the like of CR 1/2 or lower who fail their wisdom save.

You also get third level spells this level, like Fireball for a bigger grenade and Haste to turn whatever nonsense Nero builds into a proper racing machine. Speaking of, you’ve got to get your motorcycle seaworthy for your noble phantasm, so pick up Water Walk so it won’t sink.

12. Cleric 6: At sixth level you can Channel Divinity twice per rest, and as a zeal cleric you also get a Resounding Strike when dealing thunder damage to creatures, pushing them up to 10 feet away. You’re a maid, it would just be weird if you couldn’t sweep people off the battlefield.

13. Fighter 6: Use this ASI to become more Alert, to give yourself a +5 initiative bonus, immunity to surprise, and to prevent hidden creatures from attacking with advantage. A maid’s job is never done.

14. Fighter 7: As a seventh level battle master, you Know Your Enemy, letting you spend 1 minute to figure out two characteristics of your enemy. You find out if it is better than, worse than, or equal to you in the following: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, AC, current HP, Total class levels, and fighter class levels. You also get a 5th die each short rest.

You also get two more maneuvers. Pushing Attack continues that sweeping theme from last time by dealing more damage and pushing the enemy away if they fail a strength save (dc 8+proficiency+dexterity modifier), and Tactical Assessment adds the die to your Investigation, History, or Insight check.

15. Fighter 8: Use this ASI to bump up your Dexterity for more accurate shots and more powerful pushes.

16. Fighter 9: Nine levels of fighter make you Indomitable, letting you re-roll a failed save once per long rest.

17. Fighter 10: Your Improved Combat Superiority makes all your maneuvers more deadly, by turning your superiority dice into d10s.

On top of that, you get one more round of maneuvers. Grab a Precision Attack to add the die to your attack roll rather than the damage for super sniping and Sweeping Attack mostly for the name. It lets you attack a second creature with the same roll as the first, dealing the superiority die in damage.

18. Fighter 11: Eleventh level fighters get another Extra Attack each action, and this one does stack with the original, giving you 3 attacks with one action, 4 with your bonus action added in, and up to 7 when you use your action surge.

19. Fighter 12: Use your last ASI for more Wisdom, giving you stronger spells and more Priest of Zeal activations.

20. Fighter 13: Your capstone level gives you a second use of Indomitable each long rest. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s extra protection, which is never a bad thing.

Pros:

Thanks to sharpshooter you have a massive range of combat, and thanks to spells like haste and Nero’s vehicles you’ll have plenty of speed to make the most use of them.

You can deal pretty consistent damage thanks to your bevy of attacks and the sharpshooter feat helping you put holes in heads from hundreds of feet away.

Despite your distance from the rest of the party, maneuvers only have a range based on sight and hearing, so you can freely support the party by giving them extra attacks, and helping them get out of sticky situations with maneuvering strikes, resounding strikes, and pushing attacks. You’re also pretty helpful outside of combat with healing and spells like Enhance Ability to help with skill challenges.

Cons:

While not terrible, your health isn’t great thanks to that dip into cleric and sorcerer. I wouldn’t call it bad necessarily, just try extra hard not to get cornered.

Even with Tactical Assessment helping out a bit, you’ve still got a low intelligence, which might make the more intellectual parts of maiding a bit harder than they need to be.

While your physical attacks are super long range, you’ve still got normal spell ranges, meaning you can’t take full advantage of the sharpshooter feat if you want to chuck grenades as well.

[draconica]

Oooo, for the writing prompt, a little 7+4+1? Or just one, I might be a little greedy 😖🤣

7: Engagement sex 4: Petnames 1: Spicing things up in the bedroom

I made it work, anon   ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I also headcanon Ellis can be a powerbottom so enjoy that

When Ellis returned home from the shop one warm evening, he was humming softly to himself. There was a sly smile to his features as he gently jostled the plastic bag he had brought home. There was no groceries or anything that mundane inside. No, there was something very special inside of this particular carrier.

“Niiick?” he crooned in the hope that his boyfriend was home, and in the mood. Now, he was home, but as Ellis turned the corner into the living room he was met with a sight he wasn't quite expecting to see.

Nick was stood in a black suit - a proper, swanky, three-piece number – and holding a red rose. A soft song was playing on their stereo system, and the lights were turned down low. He had definitely been stood here for some time, waiting for Ellis to return home, and Ellis dropped his smile briefly. The gambler was smooth as silk at the best of times, but this was unexpected.

“Welcome home, sweet peach,” Nick led with, making Ellis blush – that damn pet name of his. “You good?”

Ellis scratched the back of his neck. “Uh, I'm jus' fine,” he smiled, setting down his bag for now, and gesturing to Nick as he took a step towards him. “What's this for?”

In a second, Nick's smile slipped a little, arching his brow. “...You forgot, didn't you?” He rolled his eyes, but that smile soon came right back as he stepped forward also, closing the gap between them and offering him the rose. “July 12th? The day we got out of quarantine?” Nick chuckled, leaning in closer and making it more personal. “The day we moved in together, made the new place official?”

A million thoughts swarmed Ellis's head at that point, taking the rose and knowing he was absolutely overcome with blushes. “O-oh… damn, I guess I did forget,” he giggled, tilting his head a little as his boyfriend leered closer. Even now, Nick was still the most damn attractive man he'd ever met, let alone dated. “M'sorry, darlin', just had a lot on my mind, I guess?” he shrugged.

Nick seemed to understand, nodding once before pulling Ellis in for a kiss. “It's all good, sport. You can make it up to me later. But for now...” he turned and clicked a remote in love control, turning down the music a touch, before his hand returned to where it belonged – holding his lover's.

“Ellis,” he began, looking down at his thumb caressing the back of El's hand. “It's been a hell of a ride to get here, huh? Fighting for our lives every day in the apocalypse, a year of quarantine, and now three years of living together. Before the Green Flu, I was at my lowest point. I… well, wouldn't be alive if I hadn't met you. The zombies were a distraction, but you were a reason to live. You mean the Goddamn world to me, Fireball, and I want to spend every day by your side. So… I have one question for you.” Ellis watched on, mouth dropping, as his boyfriend got down on one knee and produced a velvet box containing a thick silver ring. In the center, there was set a dark blue gemstone. “Ellis, mi tesoro, will you marry me?”

Needless to say, Ellis had not been expecting this today, and that was obvious given the absolute astonishment on his face at that moment. It almost made Nick want to laugh, but he was slightly too nervous for that.

Thankfully, Ellis broke into his lop-sided, brilliant Southern smile. “You sly sumbitch,” he chuckled. “Hell yeah, I'll marry ya!”

The gambler got to his feet, immediately bringing his lover closer into his arms with an unbreakable smile. The ring was a perfect fit onto Ellis's fourth finger, something else that Nick had been worried about, but seeing how snugly it sat made the older man's heart swell. “I love you, Overalls.”

“Love you, too, darlin',” Ellis responded as he brought Nick's face in for a kiss... and then another... and then his arms were around Nick's neck. Any distance between them was suddenly gone.

It wasn't unusual for their kisses to get out of hand, certainly in their earlier days where it seemed like sex was on the table every day (not literally, except for a few times Ellis can remember where they'd gotten adventurous…). That's when Ellis remembered what was in the bag he had brought home. Well, now he had no choice but to surprise his lover with its contents.

By now, Nick's kisses had moved to the mechanic's neck, and Ellis couldn't suppress a shiver as he found his favorite spot just below his ear. Many a hickey had been placed there before, and it was near-enough a certainty that he'd be getting a new one tonight.

“Nick,” he whispered, shifting his hand through the hustler's hair and smiling when he caught sight of the shiny new engagement ring on his finger. “Take me to the bedroom.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Nick chuckled before tightening his grip around Ellis's waist and hoisting him up, causing the younger man to gasp against his lips. “You don't have to tell me twice.”

Of course, Nick couldn't possibly carry Ellis up a whole staircase and into said bedroom. He wasn't a young man anymore, after all. Not that Ellis minded – it actually gave him a chance to grab the bag he'd brought home. Nick gave him an odd look as he did so, but his young fiancé had simply smiled, told him not to worry about it with a pat to the cheek.

Once they both stepped into the bedroom together, Ellis set the bag down once more and brought Nick into more kisses, having missed them in the thirty seconds they had stopped.

“How long were ya plannin' that for?” asked Ellis curiously as he slipped the black tie from Nick's neck, smiling at him.

Nick shrugged a little. “Few months,” he admitted. “Knew I wanted to marry you someday, seemed like the anniversary of getting out of that Goddamn pandemic was a good time.”

Ellis was now working on those pesky shirt buttons, granting him access to that chest hair he loved so much on Nick. “Romantic as usual,” he mused. “Gotta be honest… I was plannin' a lil' somethin' for us tonight, too. Nothin' big like askin' ya to marry me, so kinda puts my gesture in the shade.”

“Don't be modest, sweet peach,” Nick chuckled, allowing Ellis to remove his suit jacket and leave it on the floor – something he usually gets very picky about.

“Well...” Ellis slipped Nick's belt from his pants, and was pleased at the choice his lover had made – a black leather strap. Yes, this'll do nicely. “I know you like bein' in control 'n all, but I wanna show ya how we ride in the South.”

That piqued the gambler's interest, not in the least because Ellis was looping the belt around his hand, pulling it taught for Nick to see, and something about the sight was enough to set his erection at full mast.

“Ace...” he paused, needing to wet his lips when he found his mouth suddenly dry. “Do I get a say in this?”

“You certainly get to pick the safe word,” mused the mechanic, shifting his weight slightly on his hips as he played with the leather strap some more.

Nick must've been mad, or at least deeply in love, as he decided to shift control over to his little fiancé for the night. “All right,” he conceded, stepping out of his pants which, with lack of support, had pooled onto the floor. “Where do you want me, sugar?”

The mechanic's grin spread further up his cheeks. He led Nick over to their king-sized bed and sat him down. “Now, you go ahead and make yourself comfortable, mister gamblin' man, and I'll go slip outta these here greasy clothes.” With a little canter to his steps, he grabbed the bag once more and headed to their en-suite bathroom, shooting a look over his shoulder. “Recommend losing those there briefs, too. Won't be needin' them at the rodeo.” And with that, he disappeared into the next room, door shutting slowly behind him.

Nick had always been good at following instructions, and Ellis's were about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face. So, as he stripped himself down completely and got comfortable, he took the time while Ellis was gone to think about some of the more memorable trysts in their relationship.

There was the very first time which had been during the apocalypse. It had been rough and hurried, considering they had just escaped death by the skin of their teeth, and it was more a carnal desire of the most basic of human instincts. Ellis had almost alerted a horde with how loud he'd been.

There was another time, during quarantine, where love had for the first time been entered into the equation. Namely, the first time they had said 'I love you' to each other. Nick had topped then, too. And he wasn't a picky partner by any means – after all, Ellis was young and full of testosterone, and sometimes he needed to fuck just as much as anyone else. Nick had come to enjoy bottoming, absolutely, but he was more or less the one in charge on most nights. Ellis never complained; quite the opposite, in fact. Nick was still lost in thought when suddenly the bathroom door opened at last, revealing Ellis in his attire for the evening: Nothing but a cowboy hat (and one engagement ring).

“Howdy,” he drawled as he leant against the door frame, still playing with Nick's belt in his hands. “Heard there was a no-good city slicker that I needed to take good care of. Assumin' that's you, handsome?”

Nick couldn't' help but smirk up at him, raising an eyebrow. Ellis was unbelievably adorable, especially whenever he was making effort to please him. That included… this. “Goddamn it, Ace,” he shook his head. “Didn't think this was how my night was gonna go.”

Ellis shot him an amused look, then slipped right back into character. “I'm the best darn rodeo rider this side'a Georgia,” he boasted, sauntering closer to the bed. “Ain't no wild stallion I can't tame. So, reck'n you'll be my best ride yet.” The mechanic reached into the bedside drawer to fetch the lube, and took a moment to stand beside the bed, looking over his naked lover. “Safe word?” he asked.

Nick nodded up at him. “Witch.”

Ellis frowned. “Damn, Nick, really? All the words in the entire American language and you had to pick one that reminds me of the time you almost got yourself killed?”

“You almost got me killed,” retorted the hustler, squinting at him. “You're the one who spooked the bitch.” But he shook his head, letting a smile return to his red face. “Fine. Safe word is 'wedding'.”

With a roll of his eyes, Ellis blushed a little as he set the lube down on the table for now. “Good 'nough for me.” Slipping back into character once more, the Southerner crawled his way onto the bed and straddled his lover, halfway up his chest, at one point his erection bobbing near Nick's face. The gambler just watched on with hungry eyes. “Now then… one thing I know about tamin' the wilder beasts is that they need to be trained, sometimes with force.” Ellis looped the leather belt around Nick's neck gently, watching the older's green eyes for any signs of discomfort or fear. There was nothing but trust, and a lot of hunger.

Ellis cinched the belt, not tightly, but enough for Nick to feel the presence of his around his throat. With a twist of his hand, Ellis curled the leather around his wrist and tested the length. There was plenty to work with, and he grinned. “Damn, look at'chu, city boy.” Ellis backed up his hips, grinding himself backwards onto Nick's cock, and watching in triumph as Nick's eyelids fluttered slightly. “I think I'm gonna really enjoy ridin' you.”

The helpless gambler chuckled as he rested his hands on Ellis's thighs, watching those hips move back and forth and craning his neck back a little. A moan almost made it's way out of his mouth, but not quite. Ellis had to try harder. “You're getting more into the kinky sex, Overalls,” he smiled, throwing in a wink. “I'll take credit for that.”

With a tilt of his head, Ellis's hand pulled back, tightening the belt a little like pulling on the leash of a disobedient dog. Nick gasped beneath him, moaning in the afterthought, which made the cowboy grin. “You speak outta turn like that again and you'll be in the doghouse,” he threatened. Reaching over to the nightstand, he took the open tube of lubricant and squirted the thick liquid onto two fingers. The look in his baby blue eyes was so very kinky, and Nick could feel his cock give a twitch in appreciation as he pictured what Ellis was about to do with those fingers.

Picking up the belt once more with his clean hand, those fingers then went behind Ellis, slipped between his cheeks and found his pucker. The younger man was a dab hand at prepping himself, and knew his own body inside and out. While he worked his magic, he moaned aloud and reintroduced his bucking hips back into the mix. The sight was amazingly erotic, and Nick couldn't resist reaching over to play with Ellis's neglected dick. Ellis, for the most part, seemed to allow it, even bucking up again into the gambler's grasp.

“You're thinkin' about it now, aren't ya, city boy?” Ellis chuckled with an open-mouthed grin. “Thinkin' about me ridin' ya real good, getting' ya all hot 'n bothered...” He leant in slightly, pulling once more on Nick's restraint until the man was a little closer. “Thinkin' about how fuckin' good I'm gonna feel around your cock once I'm wet n' ready?”

That accent was so thick, deep with lust, and it was driving Nick crazy. The gambler gave a groan, just as the belt loosened again and allowed him is breath back. His head fell back to the pillow, already seeing a black fuzz around his vision. “God… sweet peach…”

“Yes, my darlin'?” Ellis crooned, by now with three fingers knuckle deep inside of himself.

“Ple…” Nick panted as he closed his eyes. “Please.”

That was all Ellis needed to hear. With another lop-sided smile, the mechanic shifted until he was kneeling and scooted back a little on Nick's body. He kept a keen eye on his fiancé's face, even as he reached behind, took Nick's cock in hand, and slipped himself down onto it like he'd done it a hundred times before.

The card shark grunted and turned his head a little, and Ellis could hear a shift behind him as Nick moved his legs. His feet was planting themselves onto the mattress and knees bending up, in order to provide him with the leverage he needed. Ellis leant back, slipping down further onto Nick's cock while at the same time resting against Nick's thighs like a back rest. He was grateful for that.

“How about that?” Ellis nearly sang as he shifted on Nicolas's lap. “You're bein' a good boy after all.”

Nick said nothing, just looked up at his Southern lover with a smile on his face, throwing in a wink for good measure. Ellis chuckled and wrapped the belt once more around his wrist for another harsh tug, at the same time, lifting his hips and slamming back down in a harsh bounce. The leather crackled in his grip, and Nick drew another breath. His face was getting redder. “El,” he managed, grinding out the noise, and Ellis was careful to make sure he had enough air to speak, should his next breath utter the safe word.

“Giddy up,” purred the cowboy, reaching up to hold his hat before beginning his ride. Putting all his power to his thighs, up and down Ellis's hips went as he bounced away. The sweetest moans left his throat – couldn't rightly help it, as Nick had always been the best lay of his life.

Nick's hands found their way to Ellis's hips, gripping him there and guiding him on and off his dick. In no time at all, Ellis was fully into the sex, letting go of his hat to reach back and steady himself on Nick's knee as he continued to ride him hard.

“Fuck yeah,” Nick murmured to himself as he gazed up at the scene Ellis was blessing him with. He groaned soon afterwards, craning his neck, and smiled up at his lover. “The belt… please… fuck...”

Ellis grinned and slowed his thrusts down a little in order to tug the belt once more, harsher and tighter than previously. Nick's knuckles went white around Ellis's hips.

“Look at ya… enjoyin' yourself so much,” Ellis praised and drove his hips down once more, grinding back on Nick's length. “C'mon, city boy, you know you wanna come inside'a me...”

Nick could hear the blood rushing around his head, fell the pleasure begin to whirlpool around his cock, and did the only thing he knew he could do. He moved a hand to Ellis's dancing erection and gave him a tight sleeve to fuck into, watching with watering eyes. The Southerner groaned and dropped the leather strap in favor of bracing both hands on Nick's legs, rocking himself like crazy. The gambler drew a gasp of air, Ellis threw his head back, and then it all went white.

“NICK!” Ellis broke character at the last minute to shout his fiancé's name in orgasm. He spilled semen all up Nick's chest and some managed to hit his chin. The sight was erotic enough to send the older man tumbling off the precipice himself, filling Ellis up until he was overflowing. Ellis moaned and lifted himself off for the last time, feeling warm liquid seep down the insides of his thighs.

With a sigh, Ellis leant forward and braced his hands on Nick's shoulders to prevent himself from falling atop him. The cowboy hat fell from his head and onto the floor beside the blunt end of the belt. The mechanic looked up at last, seeing Nick with his eyes closed and drawing in large breaths. He blushed as he reached up to carefully removed the leather from his neck, letting it clatter to the carpet.

“Darlin'?” Ellis whispered as he lifted himself off of Nick, in the process grabbing some tissues in order to clear them both up. “Nick.”

Nick opened his eyes at last, letting them fall onto his cute young lover as he grinned. “Even after all these years...” He reached out to cup El's cheek, rubbing his thumb there. “...you still surprise me, Overalls.”

Once the necessary clean-up had been finished, Ellis crawled back onto the bed and cuddled right up to his gambler, running his hand through his fine chest hair. “Glad you enjoyed the show, Nick.” He looked down, admired the ring still snugly on his finger. “Yeah, not quite how you pictured your night goin', huh?”

“No, sir,” agreed Nick and moved his hand up to lace their fingers together. “But if this is how the rest of my life is gonna go, I think I'm okay with that.”

With a short laugh, Ellis reached up to kiss him, rubbing his thumb along Nick's jaw. “Love you, city boy.”

[softsillytwsted]

Study Time!

Two weeks into the school year and Crewel has decided to quiz the class on a quarter of the 100 medicines and poisons they are required to know.

Thus began an impromptu study session at the library with a freaked-out Deuce, a miserable Ace who would rather be anywhere but here, a delusional Grim who thinks he’s above studying, and of course you - who’s more worried about Grim tanking your grade than your own performance.

You all managed to find an empty study room to hole up in. This was rather fortunate, because the noises Deuce was making as he clutched his head and stared with wide, bloodshot eyes at the textbook were disruptive. 

“AaAAaaAaAa!” came his pterodactyl shriek.

“Oh Great Seven, shut the fuck up!” was heard, followed by Ace’s textbook hitting Deuce on the head.

“That was uncalled for Ace!” the textbook was flung back.

Irritated, Ace’s lips twisted into a mocking smirk before taking his deck of cards that he was playing with instead of studying and flipped the entire deck right in front of Deuce’s face. Caught off guard by the bridge of cards flying towards him, Deuce sputtered backwards before rising in his seat to tower over Ace. The ginger mirrored Deuce’s actions, ready to throw down.

On the other side of the table, you let out an exasperated sigh before taking Grim out of the study room. “Let’s go see if we can find any study guides.” You were doubtful, but you didn’t want to get yourself, and more importantly Grim, involved in an ADeuce squabble. 

The two of you headed towards the potions section first. 14 Potions to Steal a Heart, 666 Diabolical Potions, Potions for Dummies... You paused at the last book, but before you could take it out, you felt something heavy collapse on top of you. You fell painfully to the floor and the entire side of your body closest to the bookshelf was trapped under a mass of muscle.

What the fuck? Why does this always happen to you?

“Fgnnah!” Grim yelped and managed to squeeze out of the sandwich of shoulders you and the mystery person made. “Hey what gives? ...Huh? he’s sleeping!”

You tried to look at his face but could only see his silver hair. Faintly, you could hear him snoring. “It doesn’t matter,” you wheezed. “Help get him off of me!”

At first you both tried to shake him awake and hiss in his ear, but that didn’t work. Pulling yourself out from under him or pushing him away was also ineffective and earned you a smack of his temple to your cheek. 

“Huff huff... That’s it!” Grim was all but ready to shoot a fireball at him, but you managed to squeeze his mouth shut.

“Oh no you don’t! You could burn all the books here! Just go get Ace and Deuce!” you hissed.

Slightly disappointed that he can’t fry your captor into a crisp, Grim harrumphed before running away with a “You owe me one!”

Yeah sure. Already done with life at the ripe age of 16, you laid your head down and stared blankly at the library ceiling.

“Kyaaa! Y/n get a room!” was Ace’s response once he saw your predicament. You could tell from the crack in his voice that he was trying hard not to laugh.

Your free hand shot up like a rocket to give Ace the bird. “Like the one you and Deuce were in?”

“Ohoh? Was our little Prefect jealous? If you were lonely, Deuce and I are more than happy to mess with you. Right Deuce?” Ace shot back.

“Sh-shut up! Shut up both of you!” Deuce sputtered. The poor boy was flustered over not only the scandalous scene in front of him, but the things you and Ace were implying.

Impatient, Grim stood on his hind legs and put his front paws on his hips. “Just hurry up and get Y/n out of there you two!”

“Yeah yeah,” Ace drawled and positioned himself in front of you. “Chocolate croissant.” 

“Iced latte,” added Deuce who took a more strategic position to lift the man off of you.

“Tuna can,” chirped Grim, intending to not help at all.

“Alright fine! Now hurry up!” and with that, your Heartslabyul friends hoisted the silver haired man off of you and into a sitting position, leaning against the bookshelf.

“Fucking finally!” you huffed and scratched your head.

It was then, after all the trouble you went through, that the man woke up.

“Ah! ...Huh? Did I fall asleep again?” he asked while slowly looking around him. The four of you deadpanned at the man and you decided to lay out your grievances to him. His furrowed brows, which you quickly realized to be part of his default expression, slowly rose up in surprise. “Oh, I must have troubled you. Sorry.”

No shit!

“Well... Uh, we’ll be on our way now,” you muttered before grabbing the Potions for Dummies book and heading back to the study room. Once you were there, Grim takes a seat on a table next to his notebook while the rest of you occupy the remaining four chairs.

“...”

“Wait a minute why are you here!?” Ace exclaimed while wildly pointing at the silver haired man. You honestly would rather get back to studying, but Deuce, despite his genuine efforts to study, takes the distraction like a fish to bait.

He crossed his arms and tilted his head. “Do you need something from us... um?”

“My name is Silver. A second year from the Diasomnia dorm.” 

“Okay Silver-senpai, why are you here?” you sighed.

Silver nodded at you before explaining that he won’t feel right until he makes it up to you for crashing into you. “It’s strange. I sleep often, but I usually wake up easily. I wonder if it’s because of the old man’s cooking...”

“Um Silver-senpai,” began Deuce. “We’re actually studying for our first Potions quiz. Do you have any tips for us?” Despite their first meeting, Silver’s stern countenance, integrity, and most of all his athletic muscles made Deuce view his senior with respect. Silver glanced to the side and grabbed his chin in thought, causing Deuce to lean in closer.

“... ... ... Hmm...” The silver haired man straightened up and looked at you all. “Read the text book.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“NO SHIT!” Ace screamed and flipped his book in outrage.

Grim huffed and quirked an eyebrow at Silver. “If you’re gonna be a nuisance, you might as well leave!”

Surprised, Silver responded, “Was that not good enough?” He crossed his arms and looked down with a troubled frown on his lips. “Let me try again. I won’t leave until I make it up to you.”

Deuce, who was shaken from having his image of a manly senpai shattered, hesitantly asked, “Then do you remember the Potions quiz? Do you know what was on it?”

“Ah,” he nodded. “I do.” 

Everyone leaned in, hope filling their eyes. Silver straightened up again and took his time to stare at everyone in the eyes.

“Unfortunately, I fell asleep during the test. I don’t remember anything.”

Cue everyone falling face down on the table. After a beat, Deuce slumps in his chair, crestfallen and you’re trying your hardest to prevent Ace and Grim from jumping Silver. Before anyone can say anything, however, the door bursts open and in comes Sebek yelling, “Silver! There you are you lowly human! You’re late for guarding the Young Master!!”

“Oh, it’s that time already?” Silver responded and followed Sebek out of the study room. Before Silver fully exited the room, he turns around to face you. “If you need anymore help, you are welcome to find me in the Diasomnia dorm.”

The scene before him is one of carnage. You’re tightly holding Grim by the mouth, which was emitting gray smoke, and desperately putting out a fire with your free hand. Deuce has Ace in a headlock, before the ginger managed to flip Deuce over the table.

Silver takes one look around the room, before calmly leaving. His mind now focused on protecting his master.

[meadow-roses]

Luxu, on the top bunk: "MoM! There's a monster under my bed! It's the most hideous creature I've ever seen!"

Gula on the bottom bunk: "Why do you hate me?"

Luxu, comforter wrapped around his shoulders dragging behind him as he enters the Master's bedroom: "MoM? I had a Nightmare."

Master, half asleep: "eat it."

Gula was the worst about staying in his bed.

"I need a drink."

"it's in your room."

"I need to go potty."

"you just did five minutes ago."

"um, I had a bad dream?"

"Gula you haven't even gone to sleep yet."

"oh."

Ira needs a nightlight, and hates being teased over it. So they snicker behind his back.

Aced likes his room pitch black, and so hangs blankets all around his bed to block out the light. Luxu, Gula, and Ava refer to it as his "den"

Invi's room is spotless at all times, while Ava is the messiest of them all.

"Ava, what is this?"

"oh that's my dirty laundry pile."

"but your hamper is right there."

"I know." 😊

Luxu can literally sleep anywhere. Like really. Also he can do it on command.

MoM: "Hey guys watch this. Luxu go to sleep."

Luxu promptly closes his eyes and goes to sleep, half eaten sandwich now his pillow.

MoM: "Ava what is this?"

"I like cabbages."

"Yes, but what is it."

"Cabbage soup?"

Ava finishes boiling the cabbage water, takes the pot outside and pours it out onto the lawn. "There," she sighs in contentment, folding her hands in front of her, "I've fed the snails! Because," glancing at the bemused Master, "snails like cabbages, so I cooked them some!"

"Poor things, boiled to death in their own soup." The Master says, leaving Ava to stare in silent horror at her handiwork. Gula found her later sobbing in the laundry bin.

Master giving Invi a magic lesson. "Good, good, now you just need a target to shoot those fireballs at." Invi smiles brightly at the praise as the Master raises his hands to his mouth. "LUXU!!" Upon arrival the boy is informed it's time for him to practice his dodging. Invi's smile dissapears.

MoM helping Aced with his spelling. Gula streaks past laughing like a maniac. MoM: "hold on I'll be right back"

MoM, after catching up: "Gula, what are you so happy about?

Gula, entirely sober now: "what are you talking about?"

MoM: *sweats*

Whenever the Master leaves for the day he assigns Aced as babysitter. None of them know why because Invi always ends up taking charge when Gula is swinging from the chandelier and Ira's the only one not screaming.

MoM hands Luxu and Gula a couple knives and tells them to go outside and play nice. They decide to practice catching them and the other can practice throwing them. MoM says this is an excellent opportunity for Ava to practice her Cure since she's been having trouble casting it.

"Hu!" Gula says, "Who knew you could make a living poking frogs!"

Ira: "It's called SCIENCE."

Aced: "Why are you crouching behind the couch?"

Gula, abruptly rising to his feet: "I'm innocent!!"

Gula: "Luxu why are you hanging upside down from the ceiling?'

Luxu shrugging: "Beats me."

Aced: "what was that word again?"

Ava, mouth parting in distress: "I don't know! I must have forgotten too!"

Gula: "do you even know what he's talking about?"

Gula: "Hey Luxu I stayed up 15 minutes past my bedtime last night."

Luxu: "woah. You are so edgy. How'd you get past the Master?"

Gula smirks: "I didn't. I stayed up in my bed."

Luxu is impressed.

Gula, being dragged by the back of his shirt by Invi past the Master's chair.

Gula: "help me."

MoM: "hey, I'm staying out of this."

Little baby Ava: "Master, Master! I cut my hair all by myself! Do you like it?"

MoM: "Well it certainly is interesting."

Ira, floundering in deep water. "Master help me! I can't swim!!"

Master walking away, "Man, now would be a good time to learn!"

He was later found sniffing in a chair by the fireplace, wrapping in a blanket, little Ava gently petting his shoulder chanting: "poor, poor, Iwa"

Gula: "wait, if I fall off the roof I'll die?"

MoM: "you wanna test that theory?"

Gula: "okay,"

Ira has claimed an entire tower of the castle, and daily pleads with Gula to just leave him alone and stop doing gymnastics in the rafters.

"There is an entire castle out there. Do you have to do this in here???"

"Yes. Because you asked me not to."

Gula: "mmmmmm the sweet taste of victory."

Luxu: "I don't taste anything."

Gula scornfully: "That's because it's my victory, not yours."

MoM: "Aced. How many times have I told you not to do specifically that."

Aced: "uh....."

MoM: "Oh, yes. I hadn't gotten around to that yet."

[paperanddice]

Tears of the Crocodile God Part 4

Statues in Stasis

My alternate setup for area 6 is more standard to the immediate suspicion of the room, but means that more of the shields are likely to come into play, and that’s to simply have the statues animate and wield the shields themselves. Some of the shields would need some change to their effect to ensure that they always target the attacker instead of the wielder, but putting those on the monsters means that there’s a higher chance of them activating.

The next issue comes from making sure that the characters can’t just snipe the monsters from outside the room before they activate, and prevent them from just huddling in the doorway. A mechanism for that is to put the statues into a form of stasis until a creature spends a full minute in the room, at which point a number of them activate depending on how many creatures are present. Keeps the challenge properly in line with the number of players, and means that it’s highly unlikely that they’ll be able to easily huddle in a single doorway behind the highest AC members. While in stasis the monsters don’t take any damage from attacks, so shooting and fireballing them doesn’t do anything.

5th Edition

For a 5e version, my two runs used slightly different monster setups. The first was a small number of helmed horrors, the second a large number of slightly boosted animated armor. I feel like a better version would be a combination of the two, using the animated armors to hem in characters while a smaller number of elite helmed horrors use flight to get to vulnerable targets. Both may be a little low leveled compared to the party, but the effects of the shields will help change the tides of the fight a bit, as every missed attack against them has the potential for serious consequences. Give the animated armor +2 AC as long as they keep their shield, and reflavor the helmed horrors’ attacks as a slam instead of a longsword, and there isn’t even a visible difference between them until some start flying and are revealed to have resistances and better hp. Or be fairer and have some kind of distinction the players can recognize once they activate, like the horrors glowing or something. That’s really the better option unless you’re very close with your players and they trust you when you pull some tricks like that, but letting them waste a powerful and limited ability on an animated armor they think has helmed horror stats could be quite frustrating.

13th Age

I don’t know of any really conveniently leveled statues I could really easily slot in to this encounter, and adding some of the spellshatter shield effects to a monster built to function without them could bump up the difficulty a bit more than intended, so I’ll have to customize a few for it.

Child Statue 4th level troop [construct] Initiative +4 Heavy punch +9 vs. AC - 13 damage [special trigger] Spellshatter shield - Make ONE spellshatter shield attack. The statue’s shield disintegrates and it takes a -2 penalty to AC and PD. Limited use: 1/battle, as a free action when an enemy misses the statue with a melee attack and rolls a natural odd attack roll. Collect shield: As a quick action, the statue can equip an unused shield, recharging its spellshatter shield attack and gaining a +2 bonus to AC and PD. AC 21 PD 19 MD 14 HP 55

Empowered Child Statue 5th level blocker [construct] Initiative: +5 Shockingly heavy punch +10 vs. AC - 10 damage plus 5 lightning damage [special trigger] Shatterspell shield - Make ONE shatterspell shield attack. The statue’s shield disintegrates and it takes a -2 penalty to AC and PD. Limited use: 1/battle, as a free action when an enemy misses the statue with a melee attack and rolls a natural odd attack roll or when the statue uses intercept strike. Intercept strike: If a creature engaged with the statue hits another creature with a melee attack, the statue can negate all damage and effects of that attack and immediately make a shatterspell shield attack against the attacking creature as a free action. Collect shield: As a quick action, the statue can equip an unused shield, recharging its spellshatter shield attack and gaining a +2 bonus to AC and PD. AC 22 PD 20 MD 15 HP 75

Teenager Statue 7th level leader [construct] Initiative: +7 Shatterspell punch +12 vs. AC - 25 damage and all nearby statues have +2 to spellshatter shield attacks until the end of the statue’s next turn. Natural 16+: One nearby child statue’s shield reforms if it has been used. The statue recharges its spellshatter shield attack and gains +2 AC and PD. [Special trigger] Spellshatter shield - Make ONE spellshatter shield attack. The statue’s shield disintegrates and it takes a -2 penalty to AC and PD. Limited use: 1/battle, as a free action when an enemy misses the statue with a melee attack and rolls a natural odd attack roll. Collect shield: As a quick action, the statue can equip an unused shield, recharging its spellshatter shield attack and gaining a +2 bonus to AC and PD. AC 24 PD 22 MD 17 HP 110

Hag’s Lair

Statting up Old Beshebra and her sons shouldn’t be too significant of an issue in either system. Beshebra is a modification of one of the standard hag stat blocks, just designed to be a bit filthier and to tie her to her sons a bit more, and the sons themselves are a bunch of big brutes.

5th Edition

None of the released hags in the Monster Manual or Volo’s Guide fit perfectly with Beshebra, but given her shapeshifting and focus on claws the green hag is a good starting point. I used a night hag in my runs just to save time, but that really meant her primary action in both combats was to magic missile from a mud pit rather than actually engage the party, so I’ll level up a green hag, add some gross effects and the son related powers, and we’ve got our filth hag.

Old Beshebra Medium fey, neutral evil Armor Class 18 (natural armor) Hit Points 110 (13d8 + 52) Speed 30 ft. Str 24 (+7) Dex 20 (+5) Con 19 (+4) Int 15 (+2) Wis 13 (+1) Cha 17 (+3) Skills Deception +6, Stealth +8 Senses passive Perception 11 Languages Common, Draconic, Sylvan Challenge 6 (2300 XP) Devour Offspring. As a bonus action, Old Beshebra deals 15 damage to one of her sons within 25 feet of her. She regains 10 hit points. Earth Walk. Difficult terrain composed of rock, mud or similar surfaces doesn't cost Old Beshebra extra movement. Stench. Any creature that starts its turn within 5 feet of Old Beshebra must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the start of its next turn. On a successful saving throw, the creature is immune to Old Beshebra's Stench for 24 hours. Actions Filthy Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d8+7) slashing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or contract a disease. Until the disease is cured, the target can't regain hit points except by magical means, and the target's hit point maximum decreases by 10 (3d6) every 24 hours. If the target's hit point maximum drops to 0 as a result of this disease, the target dies. Change Shape. Old Beshebra magically polymorphs into a Small or Medium female humanoid, or back into her true form. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. She reverts to her true form if she dies. Goad Son. Old Beshebra targets one filth hag son she can see within 30 feet of her. If the target can see or hear her, the target can use its reaction to make one melee attack roll with advantage.

As for the sons, a slightly modified shambling mound was the quick and effective solution. Just describe them as including crocodile and human bones and parts within them and you’ve got a filth hag son. Give the hag son the following additional abilities.

The son can understand Old Beshebra but can’t speak. New ability: Son’s Ire. If Old Beshebra is below 55 hit points, and the son can see or hear her within 100 feet, the son has advantage on all attack rolls. New reaction: Silent Fury (Recharge 5-6). If a hostile creature within 20 feet of the son hits Old Beshebra with an attack, the son can move up to its speed and make a slam attack against the triggering creature.

13th Age

The Bestiary has hags in it, and by great fortune they’re at just the right level for our adventure. The main thing is just to pick out the appropriate hag abilities and death curse to inflict upon the party. It may be a bit more work, but I’m actually inclined to give Beshebra a slightly different loadout of abilities depending on how the party encounters her. As a default, weakening touch seems appropriate. Disease, filth, and a deadly touch. If they’re slow and Syere falls victim to the hag, then the Annis skin ability is entirely appropriate, but otherwise she’s not going to be luring them in at all. In that case something like foul-touched may be a good second choice, reflecting what living in a literal pit of toxic mud does to a person. It’s not good. As for the death curse, how about something like, “You came to me and spilled my blood, your boots will always fill with mud.” Frustrating, weird, but not necessarily damaging. Seems to fit the bill.

As an extra skill, the hag could get the following ability: Devour offspring: As a quick action, Old Beshebra deals 20 damage to a nearby filth hag son and regains 15 hit points.

This keeps Beshebra in the fight a little bit longer, but doesn’t extend the length of the entire fight, since the total damage dealt goes up. Of course the hag would be fine with sacrificing her minions.

The sons are best done with a fully customized monster, as nothing in the SRD I’ve found fits for what I’d want. There’s no immediately obvious shambling mound analogue, and most of the monsters around the same level don’t quite fit. The Flowers of Unlife from 13 True Ways were an idea I had, but I don’t think they quite fit.

Filth Hag Son 6th level blocker [plant] Initiative: +5 Putrid Slam +10 vs. AC - 10 damage and 10 poison damage Natural 16+: The target is stuck and hampered (save ends both). [Special trigger] C: Furious tackle +10 vs. PD (one nearby enemy) - The target pops free of any creatures it is engaged with, is engaged with the son, and is stuck and hampered (save ends both). Limited use: 1/round, as an interrupt action when a nearby enemy hits Old Beshebra with an attack. The son can either make a disengage check to try to move to attack the enemy, or move to attack the enemy and only take half damage from opportunity attacks. AC 23 PD 21 MD 14 HP 90

That’s it for the monster discussion for these encounters. Next time I’ll discuss the Mold King’s Crown, the Chained Hydra, and the Mimic’s Parlor. One of those will be relatively easy, the other two much less so. Mold King’s Crown will be one of the most work intensive encounters in the adventure, with the number of hazards and mechanics around the monsters within it. Fortunately, half of that will come in a different post so I can focus on one part at a time.

[multifandomfanficss]

Benny x OC

My Babysitter’s a Vampire

You’re Special

Prompt: This is based on the episode Independence Daze. My OC Liz is thrown into her own alternate fear pocket universe along with Benny, Ethan, and Sarah. While the others deal with more Supernatural fears Liz has some more realistic problems to deal with. This leads her to find out a lot more about herself as a person and what she is capable of.

Warnings: Abusive father, panic attack

A/N: I wrote this as an OC because I feel like it’s too specific to write as a reader insert. Also during part of the story it will switch to 3rd person point of view, but it will be labeled. I really enjoyed writing this one. It could turn into a multi-chapter. Tell me what you guys think!

I was sitting in Ethan’s kitchen eating cookies with Sarah and Benny. Benny started making cookie sandwiches while Sarah called him out for being disgusting. Although he’s making a mess honestly I think it’s kinda cute when he’s being childish. Let’s face it. I just think everything Benny does is cute. He’s my best friend, but I’ve had a crush on him for years. “Hello!” “Oh hi Evelyn come on in!” I turn around to see Ethan’s mom invite Benny’s Grandma into the house. I love her. She’s honestly such an incredible woman. She’s a badass even for her age. I constantly wish she was my Grandma. “What brings you here?” Ethan’s mom asks. “Well I just wanted to make sure Benny isn’t making a mess” She says as she magically flips his glass of milk over and onto the floor. My jaw drops. Then she sends Ethan’s mom on a mission for napkins. “Grandma!” Benny yells in a hushed tone. I start to giggle a little. I just can’t keep from laughing. Benny turns his head to give me a death glare. Benny’s Grandma then goes on to lecture Benny because this idiot tried to conjure a troll a couple hours ago. He did it because Sarah didn’t believe in trolls and Ethan bet him that he couldn’t do it. I was just kinda in it to see the chaos unfold so this was pretty entertaining. This would have probably ended badly if it had even gone to plan, but instead he conjured a toll in the middle of his living room and his Grandma had to pay to get to Ethan’s house. “Here we go…” Ethan’s mom says approaching with paper towels. That’s when the cookie plate hits the floor. “Benny!” His Grandma exclaims. Benny gives another defensive look as Ethan’s mom runs to get the vacuum. “Well at least I conjured a toll booth. Can one of you three do that?” Benny asked us. “No, all I do is fight everything while you hide” Sarah responds. Then Ethan had to put in his two cents about how he’s the most important because his genius plans are always so perfect and suddenly everyone was fighting. I decided to stay out out of this one. I know I’m not the most important. I’m the only one without powers. I’m just kind of along for the ride. I was friends with the boys before all of this happened and I’m friends with them after. Sometimes I just wish I was special. I just wish they could see that they all matter. “Could you guys just stop fighting?!” I beg. “Liz, is right! You four are a team!” Benny’s Grandma reminds us. “I sense a coming darkness. A force so powerful, so evil that none of you stand a chance alone. You have to work together-“ She pauses. I look around to see everyone else is on their phones. “You have to work together” She says again. “Yeah…” Benny says half listening. I know they’re all annoyed with each other after the fight, but this is important.

Just like that as quickly as she had come, Benny’s Grandma was out the door again. I followed her out. “Wait!” I say trying to catch her attention. “I gave you kids a chance. If you’re not going to listen then there isn’t much more I can do” She tells me. “I’m sorry if they weren’t listening, but I was, I care. I just wish I could do something to stop it” I tell her. “Oh, but you can!” She tells me. “How? I don’t have magic like Benny or visions like Ethan or super human abilities like Sarah. I’m just me. I’m not special” I tell her. “Oh, Liz, you are capable of so much more than you think” She says climbing the stairs to her front porch. “What that’s supposed to mean?” I ask. “You’ll find out in due time, My Dear. Let’s just hope it’s not too late” She says before closing the door. “Okay…thanks…” I say to a closed door. I love that woman, but she is always so cryptic. I looked down at my phone to check the time. It was getting pretty late and it was a school night so I decided to head home before my parents killed me for breaking curfew.

I woke up the next day to nothing feeling right. My stomach felt uneasy so I decided it would be best to stay home from school. “Mom?!” I call throughout the house. She’s nowhere to be found. I try to call her, but she doesn’t pick up. She probably already left for work. I know my dad is already gone. Against my better judgement I decide to stay home. I probably shouldn’t skip, but I feel like I’m about to vomit any second. I shoot my mom a text to tell her. Then I pick up my phone to try to call Benny, but he doesn’t pick up. That’s weird. He usually always answers me. He’s probably running late for school. I decide to shoot him a text too saying I’m not going to school and asking him to get my homework and come over after school to drop it off.

A couple hours pass and Benny still hasn’t answered my text. That’s weird. Usually Benny responds right away. On top of that, my mom hasn’t answered me either. Where is everybody? I’m standing in my kitchen making lunch when I hear the door open and slam shut. In walks my father. His booming voice starts to scream as I feel my hands begin to shake a little bit. “You skipped school?!” He screams. This is not going to be good.

3RD PERSON POV

While Liz was trapped in her own personal fear dimension Sarah was running from the evil version of herself, Benny was running from a robot dentist, and Ethan was figuring out how to communicate with Benny and Sarah through objects they had emotional connections to. That’s when Ethan saw the cloaked man throwing fireballs. Ethan was able to use Benny’s gym shorts and Sarah’s makeup compact to pull them into Ethan’s universe. Now they just had to find Liz. “Where’s Liz?” Benny asks. “I couldn’t get into her locker” Ethan tells them. “Good thing I know her combination!” He says as they race to her locker. Benny quickly puts in the combination and opens the locker. Sarah reaches in immediately knowing which object is the most important to Liz. “It’s obviously her necklace. She wears it everyday” Sarah tells the boys. The necklace was small and had a pendant of a TARDIS on it. It was from Liz’s favorite show. Benny grabs the necklace and he can barley hear Liz. “I got this for her for her birthday last year…I guess she liked it…” Benny says with a small smile. He could barley hear Liz’s crying from the other end. “Liz? Can you hear me?” He asks while holding the necklace. There’s no response. “The connection isn’t very strong. I don’t think she can hear me” He tells Sarah and Ethan. “Why was the connection stronger with you?” Ethan asks Benny. “Well we weren’t that far apart“ Benny reminds him. “That’s it! The connection is weak with Liz because she isn’t by the school” Ethan figures it out. “She could be anywhere!” Sarah exclaims. “I know exactly where she is” Benny tells her as he starts to walk out of the school. Sarah and Ethan follow quickly behind. “Where are we going?” Ethan asks. “Liz’s can’t be at school because her worst fear wouldn’t be at the school” He tells them. “Well your stupid robot dentist wouldn’t be at the school either!” Sarah exclaims. “First of all, Cyberdontist isn’t stupid. He’s terrifying. Second of all, you have to trust me. Liz’s fear is definitely at her house” He tells her. As they get closer to Liz’s house the connection through the necklace grows stronger.

When they finally get to her house they walk in to see her ghost like form pressed against the wall shaking in fear. She was crying quietly as tears streamed down her face. Her dad was standing in front of her screaming at her. She was stuttering out different variations of “No, Sir” and “Yes, Sir” and “I’m sorry”. She looked terrified. “Who is that?” Sarah asks. “That’s her dad” Ethan explains. “I’ve never even met him...” Sarah trails off. “That’s because she didn’t want you to meet him” Benny says. “She hates her dad” He adds. He was uncomfortable to see Liz in so much pain. “I have to get her out of here” Benny says taking a step closer.

LIZ’S POV

I was finding it harder and harder to breathe as my dad kept screaming at me. “Are you kidding me?! You are such a joke! Way to go Ace! You really messed that on up didn’t you?! Didn’t you?!” He screams. “Yes, Sir” I say quietly. I back up only to hit the wall. “Liz! Can you hear me? It’s Benny” I hear a voice say. I can’t look away from my dad. “Liz! I need you to look at me!” I hear his voice again. “Liz, we’re stuck in our own fear dimensions. If you want to get out of here you need to listen to me” I look past my dad to see Benny, Ethan, and Sarah. They look like ghosts. Benny reaches out his hands. He’s holding my necklace. I’m a little confused because I’m wearing my necklace. “Liz, I can get you out of this, but you need to take my hands” Benny tells me. “Look at me when I’m talking to you!” My dad screams. I look back to him quickly. Benny comes closer. “Liz, everything is going to be okay if you just take my hands” Benny promises. “I-I can’t” I say as I let out a sob. “Are you even listening to me?!” My dad screams. He gets more in my face. Benny gets closer. “Liz, I know your scared. I promise I can get you out of here. Just take my hands” Benny reaches out again. I take his hands. He squeezes mine tight and I feel a little bit of relief. My dad grabs my arm. “You aren’t going anywhere!” He yells at me. The entire house starts to shake. I start to hyperventilate. I can’t breathe. “Benny, you need to hurry!” Sarah begs. “Liz, you can do this. Just hold on tight, okay?” He says. I nod. He pulls me through into his arms and my dad disappears.

The house won’t stop shaking. I still can’t breathe. I start to sob uncontrollably. Nothing feels right. My entire body is shaking and I’m covered in sweat. Benny sits me down on the couch. “Liz, everything is going to be just fine” Benny says to me calmly. I don’t answer him. I keep my eyes focused on the floor. Sarah and Ethan approach with worried looks on their faces. Benny tells them to back up and give me some space. I gasp for air between sobs. “Sarah, can you go get Liz a glass of water?” Benny asks. “Yeah I’ve got it” Sarah says before rushing to the kitchen. “Liz, listen to me, you’re having a panic attack” Benny tells me. I nod because it’s all I can do. “Hey, look at me, okay?” Benny starts. Suddenly my dad’s words pop into my head ‘Look at me when I’m talking to you!” I hear him scream. The house shakes violently. “What’s happening?” Sarah asks when she gets back with the water. She places it down on the table. “I think Liz’s emotions are somehow connected to the shaking” Ethan tells her as he sits down in a chair so he doesn’t fall. Things start to fall off the shelves so Ethan and Sarah take shelter in the doorway. Benny stays on the couch with Liz. “Liz, it’s okay. I’m here. Your dad can’t hurt you right now. You’re safe with me” He promises. I still can’t breathe. He picks up my hand and puts it on his chest so I can feel his heartbeat. I look at him. “That’s a little better. Can you breathe with me?” He asks. I give him a small nod. We lock eyes and we take a big over exaggerated breath together. In and out. In and out. “You’re doing so good” He tells me. In and out. “I’m so proud of you” He says. In and out. “I know this is scary, but you’re strong” He tells me. In and out. “I’m here. You’re safe” He promises. In and out. Slowly the house stops shaking. Benny pulls me into his arms and I lay my head against his chest listening to his heartbeat. “You did so good, Liz. I’m so proud of you” He tells me. I don’t respond. I just sit there listening to his calming heartbeat. He holds me tightly and places a kiss to the top of my head. I can’t respond. He doesn’t need a response. He knows how grateful I am. He offers me the water and I gladly take it. “How did Benny know how to do that?” Sarah asks. “This isn’t the first time Liz has had a panic attack. It’s just been a while. It’s never made the house shake before though” Ethan responds. I suddenly realize that the house shaking wasn’t all in my mind. “Benny?” I get his attention. “Yeah?” He looks down at me and asks. “C-can we get out of here? Please?” I ask. My voice almost feels foreign to me. “Of course” He tells me. He stands up and takes my hands in his, helping me up. My body is still a little shaken. My legs almost give out, but Benny holds me up. “Got it?” He asks. “Y-Yeah. I’m just a little tired” I tell him. I stand up and try to walk on my own, but after his protests I take Benny’s arm for support. If I’m being honest I don’t mind.

We walk out the door with Sarah and Ethan behind us and start down the street. We head towards the school. Our answer is probably there. “Do any of you guys know what’s happening?” I ask. “We all woke up in our separate dimensions where we were alone with our worst fears. I was able to pull Benny and Sarah into my dimension using emotionally charged objects and then Benny pulled you into my dimension” Ethan explains. “I saw a guy in a cloak throwing fireballs” He says. “I saw Cyberdontist” Benny adds. “And I saw myself- Well the evil version of myself” Sarah finishes. “And I saw my dad...” I trail off. “I’m really sorry, Liz. I didn’t know-“ I cut Sarah off. “Yeah. Can’t pick your family I guess” I say sadly. Benny looks down at me and squeezes my hand. We exchange sad smiles. At least I’ll always have my friends. “Anyway, how did we get here and how do we get out?” I ask. “I have no idea” Ethan confesses. “Great...” I say quietly. “We’re going to get out of this” Benny promises.

Once we get to the school we try to figure out the best solution. “There has to be someway to get out of here” I start. Then I look up to see Cyberdontist, Evil Sarah, and Cloak Guy in the doorway. “Guys...” I start. A figure comes up behind them. It’s my dad. “Holy crap....” I trail off as Benny grabs my hand and pulls me into the hall. We run into a random classroom and shove the door shut. I can see Cyberdontist through the window as he tries to open the door. We stay pressed against the wall and Ethan keeps his hand on the door knob keeping it shut. I can feel Benny’s breathing get heavier. I hold his hand. Although Sarah keeps cracking jokes about Cyberdontist that isn’t gonna make Benny any less afraid of him. I start rubbing circles on the back of his hand with my thumb. “It’s okay” I whisper. “You promised me. We’re gonna get out of here” I smile. He smiles back down at me and takes a deep breath. “So we’re just gonna stand here and wait?” Sarah asks. “We’re not waiting. We’re hiding. That’s a much better plan” Benny answers her. “I should just go out there and-“ Benny cuts Sarah off. “And do what? Get roughed up by yourself?” He asks. “Hey, you can’t even magic yourself out of a dentist appointment” She says in defense. Benny gives her a look. “Guys this isn’t helping” Ethan interjects. “Well why don’t you go out there and touch Hoody McFire Hands and get a vision!” Benny exclaims. “Spoiler alert: he’ll cook me!” Ethan responds. The room shakes a little again, but I’m so annoyed I barely notice. “Listen, everybody is afraid of something and everybody’s fears are valid. You guys need to stop fighting. I’m sick and tired of your fighting. You guys are my best friends and I don’t wanna be in the middle of it anymore!” I confess. They all apologize to me. “We didn’t realize it bothered you so much” Ethan confesses. “Of course it bothers me” I tell them. “You guys are always arguing over who’s better and who’s more important when I feel like I’m the least important of us all” I say. “Don’t say that” Benny interjects. “It’s true. All of you guys are important to me and I’m just lucky to be friends with you, but it breaks my heart when you guys fight like this” I tell them. “You will always be important to me” Benny tells me. I smile. “I’m not special” I tell him. “Not like you guys” I add. “Never think for one second that you aren’t special” He tells me. “We care about you, Liz” Ethan adds. “Yeah Liz, you’re one of my best friends” Sarah adds. I smile. “You know, I always felt like I didn’t have very much of a family because of my dad. I was wrong. You guys are my family” I say before Benny pulls me into a hug. Ethan and Sarah join. We almost forget about our worst fears behind the classroom door.

After a few minutes of brainstorming Ethan realizes the only way to get out of this is to confront our fears together. We decide to go after Evil Sarah first. Benny and Ethan decide to be bait for Evil Sarah. “I ran so much track today...My blood is pumping like crazy...” Benny says pretty unconvincingly. I have to hold back a laugh. Benny and Ethan collapse to the floor and unconvincingly beg Evil Sarah not to eat them. Then the real Sarah comes up behind her and drives a steak through her heart. It was pretty badass.

Next was Benny’s fear. Cyberdontist. Since magic doesn’t work on robots we decided logic was the best approach, or rather breaking logic. We cornered Cyberdontist while Sarah held him back and Ethan yelled illogical things at him. I grabbed Benny’s hand. He squeezes it tightly. He would never ask, but I know he needs me right now. “Why do you drive in a parkway and park in a driveway?” Ethan asks. “Your mission is not to accept this mission. Do you accept?” He adds. Cyberdontist starts to short out and I can see a small smile appear on Benny’s lips. “Why do you have to put coffee inside a coffee maker? Doesn’t it make the coffee?” Ethan asks. “You can do it, Benny” I tell him. “Once I ate a whole half a pizza” He says. I smile. “A whole half!” He repeats. Cyberdontist now has smoke coming out his ears. He collapses when Sarah finds the off button. Sarah and Ethan race off while Benny and I stay behind for a second. “I wonder if I could play videos games on this thing” He says. I laugh. He starts to touch the robot and it jolts for a second. He jumps away. “Never mind...” he trails off. “Come on” I smile. He smiles back and we meet up at the classroom again with Sarah and Ethan. “So what’s next?” I ask. I am so ready to fry Fire Guy’s butt. “Liz...” Ethan starts. Then I realize. My heart sinks. “No...” I feel my legs starting to give out again. The building shakes a little. Benny helps me to a chair. “No, I can’t do this. I can’t-“ Benny cuts me off. “It’s okay. We’ll find a way around him” Benny says. I start to cry a little. “You guys don’t understand!” I start. “When I leave here I have to go home to him and I-“ I start to sob again. The room shakes harder. “What is going on?!” Sarah asks as she gets under a table with Ethan. “Shhhhh it’s okay. We’ll find a way out of here. I won’t let him hurt you” Benny promises. He pulls me into his arms. I breathe with him. In and out. I’m okay. He stops me from having another panic attack. The room stops shaking and I wipe my tears.

We can’t defeat my dad and we can’t defeat Fire Guy so we decide the best way to get out of this is to find an emotionally charged object from Rory so he can pull us through into our dimension. We get to his locker and Sarah breaks off the lock. We grab his Vampire Sasquatch and sure enough, that’s it. It takes a minute for him to figure it out, but eventually Rory understands the situation. That’s when we see Fire Guy approaching with my dad closely behind him. I quickly grab onto Benny. Benny grabs Vampire Sasquatch. “We are being chased by Liz’s dad and a walking flame thrower! You have to get us out of here!” He yells into the doll. The room starts to shake again. “I’ll only help you if Sarah agrees to sign my council application” Erica says. “Wasn’t that due like a month I ago?!” Sarah questions. I feel like the room is closing in on me as they get closer. I close my eyes tightly as I try to keep the panic down and I cling to Benny. He holds me tightly. “I have been hanging out with Rory and his stupid doll all day for nothing?!” Erica yells. I don’t know what that’s all about and I don’t care. “Just meet us in front of the school right now!” Ethan tells them as we start to run. I can barley open my eyes. My dad and the cloak dude are getting closer.

When we get to the front of the school we see Rory and Erica approaching in their weird ghost looking form. I don’t pay much attention as I stare down the hall at my dad. “Elizabeth look at me when I’m talking to you!” He yells. Benny grabs my arm and puts a hand on my back. “Come on. It’s time to go” He tells me. “Elizabeth!” My dad yells. The whole school shakes violently. Ethan almost loses his balance and falls to the ground. Benny pulls me to Erica and Rory. “Hold on to me tightly, okay?” He says. I nod and grab onto Benny. Sarah and Ethan grab his shoulders while I wrap my arms around his waist. Rory and Erica pull us through. Once we get to our dimension I immediately collapse on the ground. The room won’t stop shaking. “Shouldn’t this have stopped when we left?!” Ethan exclaims. “What’s going on?!” Erica yells. “Benny, do something!” Sarah cries. Principal Hicks gets on the loud speaker and announces that all students must take cover because we’re having an earthquake. Why won’t the shaking stop?! “Liz, it’s okay. He’s gone now” Benny tells me. He kneels in front of me and takes my hands in his. “Why won’t it stop?!” I ask. “I don’t know, but you have to calm down” He tells me. He puts his hands on my shoulders. “You can stop this. You’re safe. You just need to breathe with me okay?” He reminds me. “I can’t control it!” I cry. “You’re strong. You can do this” He reminds me. He takes a big breath with me. In and out. “You’re special” He tells me. In and out. “You’re important” He says. In and out. “You’re doing so good. I’m so proud of you” He says. In and out. Finally the room stops shaking. He pulls me into a hug as I let out a few tears. “I’m so proud of you. I love you” He tells me. I blush a little as he places a kiss on the top of my head.

After school we sat in Benny’s kitchen drinking tea and explained the whole day to his Grandma. “Well I’m glad you learned your lesson. Even if it took flinging you into three private dimensions” Benny’s Grandma said. “What?!” We all say in unison. Suddenly my cup on the kitchen counter starts to boil and it shatters out of nowhere. “Oh, relax. You were never in any real danger...Although that is knew...” She walks over to me with a towel. “So you’re telling me that you trapped me in a room with that monster at his angriest, gave me panic attacks, and now all of this is happening just to learn a lesson?!” I ask. The teapot starts to whistle. It isn’t even on the stove. “Believe me, I couldn’t be sure that this would happen” She says. “But you knew it could...and the chances of it going away are pretty slim?” I question her. “I’m afraid once you’ve unlocked it, it can’t be undone” She tells me. The house starts to shake again. It isn’t much this time, but enough to notice. Benny grabs my hand and it stops. “I didn’t want to say anything unless I could be sure. I’m afraid putting you in that situation was the only way to find out. But you don’t have to be afraid if your powers. They come from the Earth! They’re good!” She promises. “They don’t feel very good” I admit. “Your powers are connected to your emotions. In time you’ll learn to control them” She tells me. “What exactly are my powers?” I ask. “You can manipulate the four elements; earth, water, fire, and air. That’s why you and Benny have always been so connected. Your powers are drawn to each other because they both come from the Earth” She explains. I look down at our hands and I blush a little. “I have something for you” She remembers. She leaves the room and quickly comes back with a bracelet. “I was hoping I would be able to give this to you someday. It’s like a set of training wheels. It will keep every little emotion you have from setting off your powers. It won’t keep out every emotion, but it will help” She explains. “Thank you” I say before taking it and putting it on my wrist.

A couple hours pass by and I don’t want to leave Benny’s house. Sarah and Ethan have already gone home, but I can’t bring myself to go there. Not right now. I know I have to. Benny and I stand at the front door as I put on my shoes. “I don’t want to go home” I tell him. He pulls me into his arms. “I know, but he’ll be angrier if you break curfew” Benny reminds me. Benny and I share a long goodbye hug. “I’m really scared of him” I say. “I know, but it’s okay. You can call me as soon as you get home. I’ll stay up with you all night if I have to” He promises. He holds on a little longer and then I open the door to leave. The door is magically pushed closed again. “Did you really think I’d let you go home, My Dear?” Benny’s Grandma asks who had been eavesdropping at the top of the stairs. “My parents are expecting me” I tell her. “I called your mother and told her that you and Benny were cramming to finish a science project and that you might need all night” She smiles. “Benny get the guest room ready” She instructs him. I jump back into Benny’s arms in relief and run to the top of the stairs to hug his Grandma. “Thank you” I say as I hug her tightly. “Anytime” She smiles.

I turn onto my side and look at the clock. It’s late and I can’t sleep so I decide to get a glass of water and go back to bed. When I sneak downstairs I see Benny on the couch watching TV. “You couldn’t sleep either?” I ask. “I just keep thinking about that stupid drill” He admits as he makes a drilling motion with his hands. I sit down next to him on the couch and curl up into him. He wraps his arm around me. “Thank you” I say. “For what?” He asks. “For everything” I start. “You held me together today. You kept me grounded and comforted me. You didn’t have to do that. You had your own fear to deal with” I tell him. “Liz, caring about you is easy” He tells me. I smile. “I would do anything for you” He continues. “Liz, when I said I loved you earlier I meant it” He finishes. I start to blush. Things grow quiet. “I love you too” I respond. There is silence again, but it’s a comfortable silence. Next thing I know his lips are on mine. My heart skips a beat and I can feel a million butterflies in my stomach. Then I hear the pipes in the sink explode. Water goes everywhere. “Oh my God!” I say looking at the sink. “Benny!” I hear Benny’s Grandma yell. She comes down stairs as quickly as she can. “Actually that was me...I’m so sorry!” I say feeling terrible. “Remember...not every emotion is blocked by that bracelet. The strongest emotions can still break through” She reminds me. With the wave of her hand the sink is fixed. “Now get some sleep you two” She orders us. “Thank you” I tell her. “Anytime, My Dear” She says before heading up the stairs again. As soon as we hear her door shut Benny and I start to laugh. We kiss again and then we turn back to the TV. He lays a blanket over me before hitting play on the next episode of Doctor Who. I fall asleep in his arms to the sound of the TARDIS. I’m finally safe.