#ajay shut up

[year-of-the-rabid-dog]

Ajay u fuckin nerd

[whoopsyeahokay]

October Sun

summary: you hadn't been sure what to feel after demanding Ajay bring the others. bring everyone. it'd been reckless, stupid. Wally you had figured had been fine, perhaps even Ajay too, but everyone? it had either been the dumbest thing you'd ever done or the smartest. thankfully, you'd learned enough about the others to know what topics to avoid and which to use to your advantage...

pairing: Wally Clark x fem!reader

warnings: eventual smutty smut smut. and mad spoilers. and obvious Canon divergence. very involved, very dense plot.

bon reading, frens

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OCTOBER SUN pt.22

You sat in the dining room, the French doors closed for privacy. Your family was in various positions around you as they helped you study the pile of file folders your mother had exhumed from the enormous wooden chest in the basement.

The dining room itself was large yet cozy, eclectic, lived in; it was where your mother brought her clients for readings and spiritual counsel. A round table took up the middle of the room; a tea tray and plates of finger foods were placed in the center where a hokey crystal ball normally sat. Shelves along the back wall were stuffed with books from the Barnes & Noble witchcraft section, boasting titles like, "A Witch's Guide to Garden Magick," and, "Spells & Incantations for a Better Life."

The plum-colored ceiling was decorated in constellations that Andrew had painted the week before your mother began marketing herself, and the wood floor was covered in a layer of Persian rugs thrown here and there that had absorbed the heavy musk of the incense your mother burned during sessions.

It was a beautiful room, to be sure, and you hated every inch of it. All the frivolous bits and bobs that encouraged people to believe a lie mocking you from their perches. Portraits of people who meant nothing to your family; taxidermized crows and owls and foxes. A mounted stag's head, because why not? It added to the rustic, sorcerous atmosphere.

"What about Rhonda Botezatu?" Ginny inquired around the stem of her cigarette holder. She was done up in a silk kimono, purple hair peeking out from beneath a bronze turban. An homage to Old Hollywood starlets who'd aged into roles they'd rather die than assume. Her thin fingers and wrists were bedazzled with chunky costume jewelry, but her neck remained bare. Apart, of course, from the delicate silver pendant she rarely removed.

You couldn't help smiling at her. She was absolutely marvelous.

"Rhonda..." You began, trying not to peer down at the notes. "Died April 1964. Murdered by Alfons Manfredo, the guidance counselor. She was really into Beatnik Culture and was going to study Engineering at UC Berkeley." You wilted, looking down at the yearbook photo paperclipped to Rhonda Botezatu's dossier. Rhonda stared up at you, the hint of a smile on her lips, clever eyes bright beneath layers of eyeliner and mascara. Your heart lurched.

"I used to watch her and her younger sister, Daria, when she was a child. Her parents were neighbors." Ginny divulged, using her cigarette holder to point out the window as if to indicate the exact house. "Her older sister, Yetta, was a pain. Refused to babysit; too busy husband-hunting, but Rhonda was a hoot. Questioned everything." Ginny chuckled, rolling her eyes, "Pecked at me all day, asking this and that. Couldn't shut her up unless I put on a record and let her dance out all that energy." Her eyes went distant, a fond expression settling into her features. "Precocious. Would've changed the world if she'd been given the chance."

Your mother huffed, hovering over you as she rifled through the mound of documentation. "You skipped Janet Hamilton."

"Ooh, that idiot," Ginny slumped forward dramatically, an impression of being utterly disgusted by something. Your mother cleared her throat with intention, eyes narrowed in distaste. Ginny sighed and rolled her hand regally in your direction, "Alright, chicken, tell us what you know about her."

You stifled a giggle into the back of your hand, sharing a fond look with Andrew at Ginny's antics. "Okay, Janet. She died in 1960, but...I didn't see how...did I miss that?" You asked, scanning the sheet of paper you'd pulled from the dossier.

"No, sweetheart," Nanna assured, "There's no record of it that I ever found. Of course, by the time I started gathering information, a lot of time had passed." You could tell she was trying very hard to search her memory. Unfortunately, however, it seemed she kept finding only blank spaces.

"It was an accident of some sort," Ginny piped up. "Broke her neck somehow. Falling down the stairs, I think."

Nanna frowned, shaking her head at herself, "I vaguely recall some mention of it...honestly, you'd think I'd remember." The laugh that bubbled out of her was strained, tinged with disbelief. "She was my math tutor." A glance at Ginny to confirm, "I could've sworn it happened right before I started middle school."

"Don't look at me," Ginny scoffed, "Maybe you should scribble it down before you forget to again." She looked at Andrew, roping him into the joke, "You need to get your mother checked out, Drew, before she starts forgetting your birthday."

Positioning her reading glasses just above the tip of her nose, Nanna plucked the paper from your hand, adding, in beautiful cursive, a note about Janet's death. "You did forget his birthday last year..."

Ginny took a quick sip of her sherry, rushing to defend, "Oh pish, I did not. I told you, the gift was delayed." And then, as a side note, "Poor Reggie really is losing his mind," though she didn't sound worried about her old friend cum antique dealer. Rather, it was a pitying statement of fact, said in the manner most elderly people use when discussing each other's senility. She put her sifter down and whipped a taunting stare at Nanna, "You know, Babbigail, had either of you listened when I suggested you try the Sudoku, you wouldn't be losing your marbles quite so early."

"Oh, baldercrap," Nanna retaliated, "I'm just as sharp as I've always been!" She narrowed her eyes, mock-accusing, and presented to the room, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were cheating."

"Cheating?"

"I wouldn't put it past you to use spells all willy-nilly for your benefit."

Nanna winked at you when Ginny scoffed, outraged, straightening her spine and puffing out her chest, "Oh, how very dare you! My own sister!? Implying I would ever turn my back on the Circle!" She lifted the back of her bejeweled wrist to her brow, "Judas!"

You and Andrew dissolved into fits of laughter at the theatrics. Ginny and Nanna bickered often, always making a show of it for everyone's entertainment. It was one of many reasons that you were glad you were all under the same roof, even when it got crowded sometimes.

Behind you, your mother wasn't as amused by the performance, scoffing as she patted your head, reminding you to, "Focus, sweetheart, you only have two days to memorize all of this." She flashed an annoyed look between Nanna and Ginny, "If you two are finished, maybe we could get back to it?"

Ginny sagged sideways against the back of the chaise longue, waving dismissively with her cigarette holder, "No need to get worked up, Alice. The girl has plenty of time to sort all this out." Still, she gestured for you to move on to the next student.

Bernadette King, died in 1969 after tragically falling from a height in the old gymnasium. Then Dawn Burton, died in 1972 by accidental electrocution. Next was Yuri Vyarheychyk, a transplanted Belarussian boy who'd somehow fallen head-first into a kiln during a pottery lesson in 1978, succumbing to severe burns before the ambulance had arrived.

"Are you guys sure I should go there?" You asked, face twisted in concern as you absorbed the seemingly endless pile of information on the table, evidence that too many awful things had transpired at Split River High before now. "It sounds kinda dangerous."

"You'll be just fine," Ginny said, "You're too important. The Awen won't let anything happen to you." It sounded like something a great-aunt was obligated to say, those reassurances that you were the 'most specialist of special children.' In a world where you'd witnessed something profoundly horrific take someone you'd considered more special than yourself, your great-aunt's statement was of little comfort.

Nanna reached across the table and petted your hand affectionately, tacking on, "You have nothing to worry about. We've all attended and we're just fine. Your sister actually really enjoyed herself."

You gave her a tight smile, "If you say so," then accepted the next dossier Andrew pulled out of the pile.

"We're getting into the 80s, now." He informed, eyes twinkling as he stared over your head at your mother. "Starting with the totally hunky football star—"

"Don't start," Your mother warned. You could feel the look on her face, something eye-twitchy and vexed.

Andrew snickered, rising to the challenge, and tapped his finger on the photo clipped to the front of the folder. It drew your attention down to a face that—your breath caught, an unusual warmth blossoming within you as you took in the young man grinning up at you from the photo. The print in the top right corner said his name was 'Walker Clark'. He was...hot. Like center-of-the-sun hot. Soulful, brown eyes, kissable lips, hair swept back in a perfect 80s poof.

Andrew whistled, long and punctuating, forcing a blush to rise on the arches of your cheeks. "I think girly's got a crush," He ruffled your hair obnoxiously, "Aurora had the same reaction when we put her through the paces. 'He's so hot, oh my god,'" He mimicked in a high falsetto, "'If I could see ghosts, I'd literally ask him out, I don't care.'"

"Rory had to do this too?" You wondered, eyes never wavering from Wally's handsome face.

"Of course she did, chicken. Everyone has to. Even your grandmother had to and she can't see ghosts." Ginny explained.

"But why? If Nanna and Rory can't see ghosts, what does it matter?"

Nanna smiled sweetly at you, "Understand, dear, abilities don't always manifest fully at an early age like yours did. Before Aurora entered high school, her empathy was very subtle. Then, in her junior year, out of the blue, she could identify each ghost without batting an eye. If the Ciorcal of the Craft allowed it, I bet she would've had whole conversations with them without needing to see or hear them."

You knew Aurora's empathy was acute, how she could wield it like a weapon or a gift depending on her mood. You'd never tell her, but you found it pretty remarkable. Almost envied her for it. Your life would be much easier if you couldn't see the dead.

"That's why we do this, chicken. It's a contingency, just in case our powers manifest late or they mature faster than we have time to do something about it." Ginny elaborated and it made sense. Similar to Aurora and Nana, Andrew hadn't had any indication that he would develop Connectedness until much later, but now he gleaned incredible things from objects on command.

You didn't realize you'd been staring at Wally's photo the whole time, not once looking up to acknowledge those around you, until Nanna leaned over and voiced, "He was very handsome, wasn't he," obviously having been observing your predicament, "And so respectful. His mother and I were in a book club together with some of the other moms from the school." Suddenly, her tone shifted, turning solemn, "Bea was hard on him, though. Drove him to be the best." She sighed, "I really felt for him."

You listened with half an ear, more interested in pondering what Wally had felt about the pressure his mother supposedly put on him. Had he been equally as motivated? Or had he buckled under the weight of expectation? A tiny sliver of your soul yearned to have the chance to ask him, ignoring for the moment the Rule that your whole family lived by.

"Come on, sweetheart," Your mother's voice interrupted your thoughts, "we have a lot to go through and 2004 is going to be tricky." She flipped open Wally's folder, thus forcefully removing his face from your line of sight, doing for you what you hadn't been able to do for yourself. You exhaled a shivery breath, swallowing thickly as you accepted the first of three typewriter-typed pages. Your mother pointed to the third line of the second paragraph, "Alright, let's start here..."

‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗

Ajay had smuggled you into the school and up to the roof, managing to keep you from being caught. There had been one close call when Barry had treaded around a corner, flashlight up, demanding to know if anyone was there when your sneaker had squeaked against the linoleum. You'd watched in fascination as Ajay had manipulated his ghostliness to his advantage. He'd marched right up to Barry who, as a living person, had been unconsciously driven to avoid the invisible obstacle, his brain having fed him some rationalization or excuse that had sent him on his way. Piece of cake.

Presently, you stood near the roof's edge, fidgeting nervously as Ajay helped two people over the raised side of the portal, one after the other. You gulped, your heart beating faster and your palms clammy as you took in who they were. Rhonda Botezatu and Charley Morino. Fuck...shit... Instantly, you regretted telling Ajay to bring everyone. God, could you get more stupid!? This was such a bad idea, your mother's voice reverberating inside your skull threats of squalls and storms and ill-fated summonings. Despite the desire to stand your ground and do this for Simon, your soul trembled in despair, unable to shake the feeling of failure after years and years of being told not to let them know you can see.

You squirmed under Rhonda and Charley's attention, your eyes flicking up to their faces and then back down to your shoes as your nerves began to fray. God, Simon, you fretted, I hope it's worth it. 'It' being all the possible repercussions you could face should anyone discover what you'd done. And the more who knew what you could do, the more it was likely that someone would find out.

As you contemplated your friend, a shadow flickered over Rhonda's shoulder. A there-and-gone impression of movement that had wobbled like hot air rising from a desert road. You squeezed your eyes shut and opened them again, seeing nothing to indicate what you'd witnessed had ever occurred.

"Isn't that the chick Wally was hung up on a couple of years ago?" You heard Rhonda ask Charley as they approached. Strangely, they moved as if they intended to make room for someone else between them, but, as you checked on Ajay's progress at the portal, you didn't see anyone else emerge.

"I'm not sure..." Charley answered her, openly studying you through slitted eyes; suspicious, cautious, clearly unsure what he thought about you. Still, he emanated a warmer, more welcoming aura than Rhonda who was all attitude and cool eyes. "If it is, we owe him a massive apology."

Rhonda didn't seem to agree, "She'd better make it up to him. Took him forever to stop sulking."

You were both pleased that Wally's friends had his back and cowed at the reminder that you'd basically gaslighted him in sophomore year, and Rhonda seemed keen to hold that against you. Surreptitiously, you kept peeking behind Rhonda and Charley, willing the universe to be kind and deliver Wally's fortifying presence to you. With him beside you, you felt you could handle Rhonda's cutting remarks and Charley's weighted stare.

As if on cue, the connection began to rumble and roll inside you, rising with more interest as you felt Wally get closer, and your heart started to pound for an entirely different reason.

"So," Rhonda started as she stopped two feet in front of you, arms crossed and expression tightly controlled, "You can see us."

You didn't know what else to say apart from, "Yep," wincing as it fell out of your mouth.

Rhonda's glare turned lethal, "And you didn't think that maybe you should try and help us?"

"I—"

"Oh, no, wait, that's right, you decided to help Ajay and leave the rest of us to rot, is that it?"

Charley reached out and touched her arm, sending her an expression of warning before returning his attention to you. "I am curious about why you decided now was a good time for a big reveal?" He asked in a roundabout way, tone sprinkled lightly with denigration.

That, at least, was a simple answer. "Simon's in trouble and I want to help get him out of it."

"Right," Charley looked at Rhonda, briefly seeming to cast behind her, then looked back at you, "The o t h e r living person who can see ghosts. Are you guys part of the same coven or...?"

As sarcastic as he sounded, you sensed his genuine interest and decided to expand on—wait, "Simon can what?"

Ajay's words from earlier flew out of the ether and into your head: "Everyone just got over Charley keeping Simon a secret." Well, fuck me sideways. At the time, you'd been too distracted by the fact that Ajay knew about you and Wally. Then that, of course, had been eclipsed by Ajay's purported friendship with Aurora that she'd never bothered to disclose. With all those thoughts vying for attention, your brain had swiftly filled in the blanks about Charley and Simon with something that made enough sense to keep you from poking at it. Charley, you'd guessed, had kept Simon a secret like most teenagers keep their crush a secret from their friend group. To avoid getting teased.

Thinking about it now, you realized that was the second-most idiotic thing you'd ever come up with after encouraging Ajay to give you an audience with a bunch of ghosts you were supposed to avoid like the plague.

"Are. you. fucking. k i d d i n g. me!?" You dropped into a crouch, top half folded over your knees as you dug your fingers into the back of your head, wholly and utterly defeated by the endless siege of fuckery that had been unleashed since last Friday.

"We'll take that as a 'no'," Rhonda remarked, sounding as though she was checking her cuticles. "So, what are you? A necromancer or something?"

"No," You said miserably into your knees. You rose, rubbing your temples as you tried to process everything while simultaneously explaining, "And I'm not a witch, either, so you can forget about that coven bullshit."

You were getting riled up, angry, confused; Simon could see ghosts, too? Seriously? That could have made the conversation you and he had had on the swings a helluva lot easier, dammit. But, nooo, he'd kept that to himself. And, honestly, fuck Aurora, too, because you'd spent the last three years of your life on edge and constantly alert when you could've, maybe, given fewer shits?!

Another odd, shadowy flicker distorted the air almost directly in front of you but you ignored it, your frustration gaining momentum because, fine, yeah, you hadn't said anything to Simon either, but what the fuck anyway—!

Just as you were about to scream into the void, a warm, calming sensation swept over you, the familiar scent of Wally's cologne and the pomade he used in his hair curling under your nose like a cartoon wafteron. You tilted your head up, eyes immediately locking on his, and the tension seeped out of your muscles. Wally's steps were measured, his jaw tight, shoulders squared as if he was fighting to control himself from jumping on you.

Right. Ajay had insisted that you and Wally act as if you'd never interacted. Earlier, it'd been easy to agree, the connection subtle and at ease; now, you weren't so sure. The syrupy-slick sensation lulled you into a dreamlike fog, transfixed by Wally's closeness. You watched Wally's throat bob when he swallowed, eyes drifting to his lips before slowly tracking back up to meet his heavy-lidded gaze.

"Hi..." You said, voice catching as Wally neared.

The others observed with assorted expressions of confusion and intrigue, Rhonda asking, "Whaaat the hell is happening?" to which Charley replied, "I have no idea..."

Ajay explained on your behalf, tone entirely put-upon, "It's the cRaZiEsT tHiNg. I noticed it before. Like they have some kind of mYsTeRiOuS cOnNeCtiOn drawing them together..." Glimpsing at him, you saw Ajay's features had flattened, his demeanor projecting exactly how done with everything he was, yet you couldn't find it within yourself to care. Wally was right there, gazing at you with soft eyes and a lopsided smile.

The flicker appeared again, though, unlike before, an almost physical energy came with it, arcing outward from its source into your front, forcing you back a step. A look of alarm spooked Wally's face. He lurched forward a step, simultaneously bringing his hand up as if to place it on something.

What happened next happened so quickly that you almost didn't catch it. As soon as Wally's hand made contact, a featureless silhouette popped into existence. You couldn't make out who they were, could hardly register anything as you stumbled backward another step in surprise, the back of your leg hitting the low ledge that lined the roof. From there, gravity took over, pulling you down as you teetered precariously over the wrong side of the ledge. Everyone reacted at once, Rhonda and Charley reaching out, Ajay yelling and grabbing the silhouette, and Wally—

"No!" Wally shouted as he leapt forward, grabbed you by the front of your sweater, and hauled you tightly against him before you plummeted several meters down onto the concrete below. He whirled around, planting himself between you and the ledge, his nose in your hair, heart hammering under your palm, panting from the adrenaline rush. His embrace was viselike, keeping you together as a jolt of fear shot through you.

"Are you okay?" He asked, eyes the size of saucers as he cradled your face in his big hands.

You peeked helplessly up at him, a lump in your throat and pressure behind your eyes, Jesus Christ, you'd almost joined them in the afterlife...but that wasn't the thought that blared in your head like an air raid siren.

"Do it again." You commanded, breathless, gripping Wally's arms and encouraging him to turn around. "Touch whatever you just touched again."

He blinked at you, dumbfounded, obviously not understanding what the hell you were on about.

"Whatever you just did," You instructed, "do it again," placing your hand on his shoulder to show him what you meant. Although he continued to stare at you like you'd grown a second head, he released you and moved back. You marveled as he stepped forward a few feet, picked his hand up, and then placed it down seemingly in midair. Except it wasn't midair. It was a shoulder that became visible under the weight of Wally's hand.

He shot you a peculiar expression, eyebrows drawn in doubt, "Uh...like this?" And then he stepped aside.

You gasped, going very, very still as your mouth fell open and your eyes bulged, a single, quivering utterance tumbling out of you. "Holy shit."

Everyone, including Wally, watched you in wonder, completely oblivious to the miracle that had just occurred. Everyone including—

"Maddie!?"

💀___________________________

PART TWENTY-ONE - PART TWENTY-THREE

also available on AO3!

MASTERLIST

[crazy-fandom-madness]

Just a little Revenant x Reader cuz yes

This is my first time writing so sorry if there is any mistakes it anything enjoy

Summary: you decide to relax while the other legends talk amongst themselves and Revenant try’s his best to show he cares

Words 1.1k+

SFW/ Gender Neutral/ Fluff Rev/ Established Relationship

It was a normal day on the drop ship and Lifeline, Bangalore, Gibraltar, Octane, Mirage and Wattson where sitting and playing a card game, Newcastle and Wraith were watching listening to Mirage brag about how good he was. Of course Octane had to one up him at this point they where the only ones playing. You where laying down in the same room tired from the last match but the sound of Elliott and Octavio stopped you from sleeping. Though the Nessie Wattson gave you helped and Ajay’s light drumming on D.O.C. was also calming but it couldn’t distract from the eyes on you. Revenant, just in the corner watching not threatening just observing. You were always interested in the simulacrum and you knew he was somewhat nice to you well as nice as he could be, he tried his best.

“Ya sure you don’t want to join us?” Ajay stopped tapping D.O.C. to ask. “I bet you could get Mirage you shut up.” Wraith added with a smirk earning a look from Eliott. “They look tired let’s leave them alone.” Natalie said making everyone go back to what they were doing. A loud laugh came from Octane as he won the match. “Sorry amigo looks like I win again!” Elliot wasn’t even paying attention to him. “Well maybe if that murder bot wasn’t standing so menacingly I would have played better.” Renee rolled her eyes. “Come on brudda no need to watch join us.” They all looked over to Revenant he just let out a grunt and left. “Typical.” Anita and Renee said in unison turning back to the game, you wondered where he was going looking over the couch you were on. He went into his room unable to see him you lay back down, closing your eyes finally falling asleep.

Waking up noticing your alone at least you thought but you have a blanket it was soft. One of Revenant’s you smile looking around for anyone. “Finally, you where out for a while.” A familiar robot voice filled the room looking over there he was. Starting to walk over to you he just looked at you so you spoke. “Were you just watching me? Oh and thanks for the blanket you could have just carried me to bed.” You giggled while getting up, he let out a grunt as a response. “You can walk yourself can’t you?” Collecting all your things you head back to your room with Revenant. He usually stands in the doorway just watching you sleep making sure your safe, but today he got into bed with you. As you got comfortable laying against him just listening to his robotic parts work. It was times like this that he wished he was human but he would never admit it. “I brought you some water so you don’t have to get up.” Looking over at the table there was indeed water, small thing like this is what made you happy. Sure he wasn’t great at showing love but he did it in his own way. You give him a small thanks before taking a sip of the water. Putting it back down on the table. You wanted to see if this time he would actually sleep or if he would just watch you like always.

He has a rest mode but he never used it he didn’t like to sleep, he didn’t need to so why use it? He didn’t trust anyone enough to use it in the first place. You knew he would use it in due time, when he was ready. “Well I’m going to go to sleep feel free to move me if you want to leave.” You giggle knowing he will stay there all night. As you rest your head on his chest you hear the parts start to slow down, getting more calm the faint glow from his eyes light the room. You tiredly say you love him and you start to doze off. Smiling when he says it back, playing with your hair just a little, things he would only do in private. You wake up to the sound of Octane and Mirage again knowing you won’t be able to fall back asleep you get up. But not before noticing Revenant, asleep well in resting mode it brought a smile to your face, he is comfortable enough to do this. You lay back down and cuddle him whispering sweet nothings to him. Holding his hand and rubbing it, he often picked at the paint on his hands hating Hammond Robotics for making him this killing machine. Of course you understand this hatred he had, but remind him to be nice to himself.

His LED eyes start to light back up, gears inside him start up again. “Morning, did you rest well?” You ask as he starts back up. “I guess it’s not like it does me any use.” He sits up and watches you get ready. “Well I’m just happy your comfortable with me to do that I know it’s hard for you.” It was, he’s trying for you but it’s still hard for him to show it. “Small steps at a time.” You add all he said was a soft yeah. As you where about to leave the room he stopped you. “Thank you, for making me feel human.” He hugged you it was unusual for him to do this but you let him. “I try my best, honestly forget your not sometimes.” With a soft giggle you let go of him and smile. If he could he would be too, you place a soft kiss where his lips would be and leave.

You were greeted by Bangalore and Gibraltar they were talking about the schedule. “Bonjour, did you sleep well I hope we didn’t wake you?” Natalie asked while she watched Ajay work on D.O.C. “Not at all Wattson, so what’s the plan for today?” Looking over at Anita. She took a sip of coffee as she explained everything. She soon left to grab some more coffee and Ajay’s light tapping with her shock sticks could be heard as you felt eyes on you. Revenant walked over to you sitting next to you, he put his arm around you. But quickly moved it as Bangalore walked back in. He didn’t pull away when you grabbed his hand rubbing where the Hammond Robotics logo was. Small steps you say to your self. After a few minutes of sitting with each other the announcement for the next match could be heard. Letting go of his hand getting ready he stops you, and puts a light kiss on your hand before going to his spot. The progress might be slow he might not even get past this stage but you didn’t mind. You would always love him no matter what and you knew he felt the same. Smiling while looking at him you start to drop. He looked at you as you both got ready to jump sharing a look before everyone jumped. Sure you loved him but this is a blood sport and you didn't come to lose. Giving him one last look knowing it will be over soon and you can go back to holding him. And with that let the games begin.

[kuruka1559s]

The SP duo’s first mission

I was way too lazy to do a comic of it so���

I decided to write it!

I’m not great at writing but… I hope you’ll like it!

The mains are Smile and Ajay, why Ajay?

Heh, you’ll find out.

So, um… if you liked the story I would like you to reblog it, just so… more people can see it, you know?

Ajay, Paintscroll and Hazy belong to the cool @lazy-skullz

Smile belongs to me!

The story is under the cut!

Smiletale.

Rieti, Saint Hippolytus.

In that small empty village, as always, there was Smile, sleeping on her hammock surrounded by the nature of her garden.

Suddenly, a voice: “SMIIIIIIIIILEEEEE!!!!”

It was Paintscroll, yelling like a child that was on the swing, swinging fast and high.

He throws himself on the hammock with the sleepy body of Smile, that just woke up from a nap that lasted four days.

She groans and opens slightly her eyes, glancing down at Paintscroll annoyed.

“What is it P…?”

She grumbles annoyed, Paintscroll chuckles at her grumbling, she didn’t seem to be in a good mood.

“CHEER UP SMILE!”

Said happily Paintscroll, he seemed to have enthusiastic news to give her.

“What is it…?”

Groans Smile, clearly tired and confused.

Paintscroll helps her to sit up and he immediately sits on her lap.

“Why on my lap…?”

“Because you’re comfy and soft like a teddy bear.”

Answers strictly Paintscroll while smiling. Smile, on the other hand, groans and puts her arms around his waist, embracing him in a bear hug.

If you were there, you could notice how small Paintscroll is compared to her.

“So, Smile, I came here because…”

Says Paintscroll, after a small pause he yells happily: “WE ARE HAVING OUR FIRST MISSION!”

Smile grins softly and hums, after she mumbles lowly: “wow…”

“Oh stop being sarcastic! That’s awesome!”

“Really P…? Saving people who are suffering for you is awesome…?”

“Well, no, i’m sorry for them but i mean that- WE HAVE THE CHANCE TO SEE OTHER TIMELINES!”

Exclaims Paintscroll happily, he seemed excited, and a lot.

Smile started reading the mission that got them gave in a tired manner, she clearly just wanted to sleep.

“So…. We have to save some people that live in the prairie of the omega timeline from monsters made of goop.”

Paintscroll immediately turns around to look at her, his face darkens immediately.

“Ajay and… Hazy live there.”

Mumbles Paintscroll. He suddenly gets up and grabs smile’s s sleeve, he gets her up.

“I’m never going to get used to your height.”

Mumbles Paintscroll, and then he teleports both of them in a praire, of course, it was of the omega timeline.

“I rescue Hazy you go to Ajay.”

“Want to rescue your boyfriend like a prince?”

Comments Smile after Paintscroll’s order.

His cheeks suddenly turn of a light blue and he suddenly stutters a small “shut up” under his breath.

“So?! We’re splitting up, and tomorrow we’ll take care of the monsters, you bring Ajay to your timeline and I bring Hazy to mine! Got it!?”

Exclaims Paintscroll in a mix of embarrassment and frustration, Smile nods.

Paintscroll hums and then immediately runs away.

Smile just… stands there, looking at the sky, like he was asking to her own creator what she did wrong to deserve this, after all, she just wanted to sleep.

She starts to walk in the prairie, looking around, searching for any monsters.

There was nothing, only tall grass.

She smiles while feeling the grass slipping from her hand while she was walking around, it was comforting.

Then, she stops.

Here they are.

There were tons of monsters, moving in groups towards something, or someone.

She suddenly starts running and immediately goes to the guy that they were trying to hurt so bad.

He had a fluffy hood and… a tail, just like Paintscroll. She immediately gets to the skeleton’s side.

“Ajay?”

Mumbles Smile to the skeleton, while her blue tentacles were doing they’re job, and that means that they were crushing and tearing the monsters’ souls apart.

The skeleton nods.

“Then Ajay, i’m Smile Myers. Smile is ok.”

She stated with a calm tone, not caring about the fact that she could die all of a sudden.

One of the monsters got through the tentacles and she suddenly made the tentacles disappear, when she suddenly pulled out of her jacket a… knife? Not a normal one, a knife that the butchers use to cut the meat in pieces.

She suddenly turns around and ordered to Ajay: “move. I got this.”

Ajay immediately steps back, leaving her space to attack, he already did his best in keeping them away from him and now, he was kinda tired. On the other hand, there was Smile, and she didn’t seem to be tired at all.

She was laughing like a maniac while destroying skulls and splitting the bodies of the monsters in half.

In less than 5 minutes she was done, she exclaims satisfied: “ah, a lot of time sure passed since the first time i had to do such a massacre.”

Ajay steps back, kinda unsettled by how much she enjoyed to kill those monsters, though, the fact that she did it so fast was really cool.

“What is it? Cat got your tongue?”

Asks Smile, Ajay flinches at that question and immediately starts rummaging through the pockets of the sweatshirt and pants, looking for something.

After a couple of minutes, on Ajay’s right eye suddenly forms a sentence: “fuck where is it!?”

Smile chuckles under her breath, amused from his behaviour. After some minutes, Smile asks amused:

“Wait- oh. I understand now. You’re mute, are you?”

Ajay nods and on his right eye forms the word “yes”.

“Ah, then when we get to my timeline i’ll find you a notebook and a pencil where you can write everything. Oh and about what happened i will explain it right when we get there.”

She affirms, Ajay seemed rather confused, but he still nodded anyway, he trusted her, not much, but a little.

Smile smiles, and grabs Ajay’s arm, teleporting him in her timeline, the Smiletale.

She looks at Ajay, he was… looking at her back, and then, he looks at her.

She looks at him with a questioning face.

“Your back.. you got hurt.”

This sentence got formed on his right eye.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

She affirmed. Ajay looks at her with a skeptical look, on his right eye forms the word: “bullshit.”

She groans and lets him go, she gets into one of the houses and gets out one of those with a notebook and pencil in her hand, she hands them to Ajay.

“Here.”

She groans. Ajay nods and grabs the notebook and pencil.

He immediately starts writing, while Smile just goes to her hammock and seats there.

After a couple of minutes Ajay goes up to her and hands her the notebook.

“Stop acting tough, you’re not good at acting like that.”

That’s what there was written.

Smile flinches and looks at him.

“Really funny, Ajay. No wonder Paintscroll asked me to save you. He wanted me to have ‘new friends’, ha! Like it’s possible for me to have new friends.”

Comments Smile sarcastically.

Ajay immediately grabs the notebook again and writes something more and after he was done, he hands it to Smile again.

“Hey, that’s not true! Everyone can make new friends.”

That was wrote. Smile chuckles.

“Really huh? That’s what you think? You don’t even know me.”

She answers.

Ajay sits down, close to her.

“But I would like to know you, you seem very cool and nice!”

That’s what he wrote.

“I’m not cool.”

Mumbles Smile. Ajay immediately shakes his head, indicating that is not true at all.

He grabs the notebook and wrote something else.

“Shut up and accept it, you are cool.”

Ajay smiles.

Smile was surprised, she actually liked spending time with her…? Not that much time has passed and he already liked it…?

“Really?”

Ajay nods eagerly, he writes: “and your fighting style kills! I love it!”

Smile smiles softly.

“Thanks.”

She mumbles.

They kept talking for more time, and when night came, Smile immediately brought him close to the St Hippolytus’ lake, she made him lie down on the grass and to just chill.

“Try! It’s refreshing! And maybe, if you want it can tell you more about here! And one of the coolest things is that every night you can see clearly the stars! Sometimes you can even see the falling ones!”

She exclaimed eagerly, she made do this also to Paintscroll so, she thought he would enjoy it too.

Ajay nodded and lied down.

She was right, it was beautiful, the sky was beautiful.

The word “wow” forms on his right eye, Smile chuckles.

“Told you.”

She commented and lied down right aside him.

They both felled asleep there.

[sapphic-woes]

Lmao so I did it and I will not take any criticism. Vantage supremacy.

Vantage hunts you down. (Literally!)

You had been played for a fool. Or more accurately, you had blissfully ignored the signs.

A gunshot shatters through the silent forest, ripping out a chunk of the earth by your feet. The force makes your desperate pace falter, but you know one slip up is all it takes to be over.

Mara wouldn't hesitate. She'll pull the trigger.

Idiot. You're a fucking idiot! This was the Apex games. No one was harmless. But when she beamed down at you and spoke about the modern world with such curiosity, you couldn't help but adore her. She was young and trying to free her mother via participating in a bloodsport. Who wouldn't take pity on the kid?

A bullet grazes your thigh. You bite by a cry of agony. Apparently, those who were easily bamboozled did.

"Mara can watch out fuh herself, doncha worry." Ajay snorted as you told her about your efforts to help Vantage get comfortable with the games.

"Yeah but–I mean she's so young! She should be idle, without a care in the world, be innocent, or at least naive–you know?" Ajay raised an eyebrow at you, shaking her head.

"Yuh the only one who thinks that. Cuz Mara's got yuh wrapped around her finger." D.O.C. beeped as though to agree. You didn't understand, and at your confused stare Ajay only fixed you with a pitiful look.

"Poor thing. Don't yuh ever notice her starin'? Like she's watchin' a rabbit at the end of her scope. And you's the rabbit."

Back then, you hadn't understood. Now?

You slammed the door shut, fumbling to push some random deathbox in front of it. Frantically, you searched for syringes–nearly crying in relief to find a pack. You winced as you injected yourself with health, feeling the oh-so-expensive serum relieve some pain in your body.

Was she always this...terrifying? You'd only even been on teams with Vantage before, never at the end of her barrel. Ever since you took it upon yourself to help the FNG get comfortable with the games, the public had been obsessed, and the demand to see you two interact was overwhelming.

They loved your caring nature and the "big sister" vibes you gave off where it concerned Mara. You praised her when she managed to mark her "prey" down, backed her up to rush when she felt confident, and offered her supplies whenever you could. Bad fights only got soothing revives from you, and you never left her banner behind.

Your sales had rocketed due to this display, and very quickly fans warmed up to Vantage as well. However, your agent had suggested a match where you guys would be enemies...just to test the waters.

But you doubt she thought it would come to this.

There was a heavy thud. Startled, you jolted, clutching your empty R-301 like it was your lifeline. God, Lifeline. She had been on your team, and things had been going great, that was until...

...a bullet plunges into her skull mid sentence, causing the gruesome image of blood splattering everywhere. There's a beat of frightening terror as Ajay falls to the ground, completely knocked down. Oh my God. Before you can even find the culprit, another shot takes Ajay right out of the game. With only one other squad left, at best, it was 1 v 1 now. But at the worst?

Another shot rings out. Even though you stood still, it didn't find it's mark–but it did make you break into a frantic run–hyper aware that only one person was capable of killing someone in two shots.

Mara–no, Vantage–was hunting you down like prey, and you were running out of places to hide. You swallowed as you peeked out the window, watching Mara dust dirt from her landing with a hum. Her upbeat attitude sent prickles up your spine. Before you'd found it endearing, but now it made your heart pound with dread.

She's enjoying this. Her sharp eyes brightly glanced around, steps perfectly quiet and precise. Mara paused with a tilt in her head, and you held your breath as she spoke.

"I know you're here, y/n. I can smell you." Wait, seriously? That's not just a tidbit she says for the show? She couldn't actually do that, right? Vantage may have been a seasoned hunter, but she was still totally human...right?

"Sweet...reeking with fear. Gosh it almost makes me feel bad. Afraid I'm gonna eat you alive? Don't worry y/n–I don't bite too much." Vantage chuckled to herself, stalking around in search of you.

"You're always so reliable and confident with me, but your panicked face when I "miss" a shot? Precious."

She missed on purpose? You didn't understand why. It looked like she was the last of her squad too, so if she had hit you she would have won. What did Vantage gain from stretching out this game of cat and mouse...

Oh.

"Echo thinks it's hilarious...but I dunno. It's kinda cute."

You couldn't believe what she was saying, face growing bright red. She'd made you run for ages, freaking out when gunshot after gunshot barely missed your form–because she thought you were cute?

She did remember this was broadcast live right? She did remember everyone was watching her do...whatever this was to you right now.

A voice echoed above you both, and you winced. The final ring was going to close soon, and you were out of heat shields. You doubted Vantage didn't have a pair, since you always nagged her to pick them up.

Which meant you'd have to face her head on.

Shit.

"Are you gonna hide in there all day? Didn't take you to be the type to cower. Guess I'll have to uh, what do they call it?" Mara's voice at the other side of the door you'd blocked made you squeak, and you swore she giggled at the sound. It would have been like bells in your ears if not for what she did next.

Bang. Mara kicked the blocked door with a loud crack, and you flinched as the door started to shatter.

Bang. Frantic, you glanced around as she busted her way in, grabbing a thermite grenade and aiming it at her.

Bang. You chucked it once the door finally shattered, sharply turning to run up the stairs. You could hear the sound of her surprise, followed by a chilling, hysterical laugh–and the growl she released as she spoke.

"Smart. I do love a good chase..." The words sent a shiver down your spine. You had never seen Mara like this. Her heartwarming smile was replaced with a smirk, sly as she followed the sound of you panicked footsteps. There was no ammo, no syringes–god this place has been completely cleaned out–and things only grew worse when a voice boomed overheard.

The final ring was closing, and it was going to force you to come back the way you came.

Click.

The sound of her sniper was painfully familiar. You froze, turning slowly to look at Mara. Sure enough, her trademark gun was out, ready to fire, and you were at the end of her scope.

"...Take what's yours? Claim what you want? I dunno, Loba says it I want it, I should have it. Something like that. Just..." You stayed still as Mara walked closer. Her gaze was sharp, demeaning–and somehow you felt stripped bare under it, legs growing weak. The end of her sniper rested against the bottom of your chin, forcing you to look up and keep her gaze.

"It's only natural to hunt down what you're hungry for, right?" Her voice dipped into a husky tone, and you nervously licked your lips, unsure if she meant simple survival instincts or something else.

"Are–uh, Ma-I mean, Vantage–" You stuttered fruitlessly, sucking in a breath when Mara came closer.

"Mhm?" God. Her hum was sweet yet awfully intimidating, making you shiver when calloused hands brushed against your side.

"Why did–you're acting different–I mean just–does, d-does that mean you...uh, to me..." The mess of questions in your head jumbled up into one measly whisper. The sniper grinned, leaning down to let her soft lips brush over your forehead.

"I like you, y/n. You're a little dense, super naive, but all cute, weak prey are. That's what makes chasing them down and marking them so satisfying." As she speaks, you suddenly feel the cool end of a wingman pressed against your skull, and your stomach sinks as Vantage sweetly smiles

"So good luck trying to escape my grasp. I never let go of the things I like."

Bang.

[livelaughlovechai]

Daily achievement-

Be me

Play roblox car trip while listening to desi songs

Start to sing their lyrics for fun

Some bitch tells me to shut up w “curry“ language

Tell her “Teri maa ki bsdk“

She leaves

I continue listening to desi songs.

I slayed.

The elite ass songs in question-

[lover-also-fighter-also]

…to shut them up.

…in secrecy.

Kiss prompts you pick pair 💕

…to shut them up

This is post the events of The Elementalists, 2 years after Anitha and Griffin get married. Griffin returns home after a week-long disaster relief program, to find Anitha home much earlier than he expected from her field study.

Griffin (pulling her into a one-armed hug): Hey sunshine, you're back early.

Anitha: Yeah…I was feeling a bit off, so I came back

Griffin (checking her forehead for temperature) : Are you okay? You are not sick, are you?

Anitha: Im better than okay, in fact I have some big news…

(She pulls Griffin towards her and whispers in his ear)

Anitha: Sweetheart…you are going to be a dad

Griffin gets shocked, momentarily speechless for a moment, then his face morphs into a huge smile

Griffin (covering his mouth): Oh..Oh my! I can't believe it..I don't know what to say..(wordlessly he pulls Anitha for a huge hug)

Anitha squeals with happiness, covering her face in Griffin's shoulder

Griffin: Oh my god, there is a lot we should do, we need to tell your parents, my parents, our friends…wait I should start baby-proofing the house, Oh and we should start thinking about names…WAIT wait, shouldn't you be lying down…

(Anitha shuts him up with a kiss)

Anitha (cupping his face) : Slow down, love. We will get to all of it. Lets just, enjoy this moment

(she guides Griffin's hand onto her stomach, and puts her hand on top of his)

Anitha: We can do this.

Griffin: Together

…in secrecy

Im going to be writing this fic for Mila (My CA MC) and Skye. A sweet mini fic of during their rehearsal time

During theatre rehearsals for the Spotlite festival, Ajay had the actors and the techs working rigorously. Finding a moment's time to take a breather was a great comfort. Mila, after finishing her scene, goes backstage to search for her girlfriend. The lights were a little bit dimmed, and Mila was taken aback for a moment when a flash of red pulls her away to a more darker area backstage.

Mila: Woah.

(her voice was muffled by a small hand, covering her mouth)

Skye (whispering): Shh..be quiet.

Mila (whispering): Why are we here?

Skye (sighing): I need a break from all of this.

Mila (giving a small smile): Funny, you had to mention that, cause I had a few ideas in mind

Skye (smirking): Care to let me in on those "few ideas?"

Mila kisses Skye on her forehead

Mila: First, it starts off like this…(then proceeds to kiss her on her nose), and then it goes here…(gives Skye a light peck on her cheek)

Skye (pulling Mila closer): And what is the final result?

(Mila gives Skye a kiss on her lips, slowly biting it)

Mila: Does that answer it?

Skye (pulling Mila back for another kiss): I think it can be made better.

[halfbakedspuds]

Thanks so much to @honeybewrites for the tag! (Also, I must apologise for being made of stupid, I posted this a few days ago already and ended up putting down the wrong URL for the tagger. Very much am stupid, sorry)

Proud of tag

Rules: post an excerpt you are proud of.

I don't have any non-spoilery extracts like this for Echoes of Shadows and writing for the Tempest Prince is basically non-existent (despite it being my oldest and most well thought out WIP), so I think we'll go with Children of the Stars for this one.

I know this scene is short, but I like it because it's one of the first where you can see the usual tin-soldier demeanour of Adrian slip a little, and it was one of the first 'downtime' scenes I wrote that I liked. It's also the first scene where we can see just how well Lyanni has come to know her human housemate

The front door slammed shut. That was Lyanni's first cue that something was wrong, because not once in almost a year of living with the human had Adrian shown frustration in any capacity.

Bearing that in mind, and at least a bit curious as to what could have driven him to a break in Imperial decorum, she marked the spot she was at in her book and placed it down on the table. However, she chose to remain lounging on the couch for the time being, stretching out all seven feet of her and turning to watch the hallway.

It did not take long for Adrian to show his face, and what a sorry sight it was. His snow-white hair was ruffled, and noticeable dark sackd hung under his eyes. Even his usual stolid demeanour was gone: replaced by the slouched and tired posture of someone who had just gone through hell. He reminded her of a soldier who'd spent years besieged, and she wonder if this had been his constant look a mere three years prior.

He stopped by the rack to look at her, slowly peeling off his soiled coat to hang it up

"Fuck,"

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

He paused for a moment to rub his tear ducts. Clearly, what he wanted more than anything was sleep, and despite his silence on the matter he showed incredible trust in her by allowing himself even such a minor lapse in his usual manner.

A long, silent moment passed before he said, "I am going to go take a shower and calm down before I forsake my dignity further. Then I'll let you in on the shitshow that has been the last few days,"

"Sounds like we've both had it equally bad," Lyanni said, gracefully drawing her body up and onto it's feet, stretching as she strode to the kitchen, "I'll get coffee,"

His body immediately tensed up as he asked, "What happened here, then?"

Lyanni smirked. Zero to machine in point-three seconds. Classic Ajay

She shrugged non-chalantly to indicate that he had nothing to worry about, "Nobles, a hole, and a servitor uprising,"

"Ah," He said and relaxed, as though he actually gleaned something of note from her words, and continued up the stairs.

What's the bet this time?, she thought switching on the biosynthesizer and ordering two cups of coffee: one Levo and one Dextro, Give him three... two... one...

As if on cue, she heard him pause about halfway up the stairs, before backtracking slightly. She turned around just in time to watch him lean over the railing with an embarrassed smile plastered on his face.

"Sorry," He apologized sheepishly, "Hello, Lya,"

She smiled. Adrian, always so mindful of manners, "Heya,"

No pressure tag for @orion-lacroix, @illarian-rambling and anyone else who wants in

[thoughtsofthegirlwiththecurl]

Watching The Lost World again. (A) of all, Roland and Ajay were totally married. (B) of all, my eternal favorite plot hole in movie history: how did the T Rex kill everyone on the ship, including all the crew in that tiny cabin it super definitely couldn't fit in, and then get back in the hold? I will buy that it got out on deck and killed people and they somehow lured it back in the hold and shut it before succumbing to their injuries. But that still doesn't explain how pieces of the crew ended up all over the cabin. (C) of all, I love that this movie is just like "Time, what a concept. Let's ignore it." (D) of all, I love parent!T-Rex; the dad's just like "now kid, you're going to learn to kill on this horrible capitalist."

[koko-heads]

kidnapper: i have your partner

ajay: which one i have four

kidnapper: the loud, annoying, rowdy one who never shuts up

ajay: which one i have four

[sassygirl579]

Finally thought of a good Writing Prompt Game idea!

The Armorer & Paz meet and/or decide to take in Ragnar either in TLGF or canon.

Wow--how did you know I've had this thought multiple times? 😮

TLGF-verse--but not sure how much will actually end up being canon 😊 Don't have an exact timeline, but this would be a few months after our current chapter.

Rated VFK for Vizsla Family Chaos (as usual 🤣)

***********************************************************************

"Buir, why are we having a family meeting--I wanna play Lothball with with Emi!" Eyra said as Bryn led her children down the hall, with Paz bringing up the rear.

"I promise it will be brief--but it's very important, and your father and I want all of you to be well informed," Bryn answered as she keyed open the door to their apartment.

The twins raced for the couch, followed by Kyri, Ajay, and Nima, who quickly overtook their little sister to get the favored spots.

"Buir, that's not fair!" Kyri complained, angrily pulling off her helmet and throwing it down on the floor. She was overtired and desperately in need of a nap.

"Come sit with me, Ky," Jos said, plopping down on a floor cushion and patting her knees.

Kyri turned and made a face at her older siblings before curling up in her eldest sister's lap, thumb in her mouth.

"So.....what's important?" Jerem asked, once he'd settled on his own cushion.

Bryn sat down on her own cushion next to Paz, and he took his hand in hers.

"Wait a minute--the last time this happened, we found out Kyri was on the way!" Ajay replied.

"We're gonna have another baby?" Evet asked excitedly.

"No, di'kut--Buir can't have more babies!" Nima exclaimed.

"How come?" Eyra asked.

Nima opened her mouth to explain, and Bryn decided she'd best clear up any misconceptions.......quickly.

"I'm not pregnant--but our family will be growing."

"You and Ammon are getting married?" Miri squealed, turning to look at Jos.

"No--now shut up and listen and maybe we'll all find out what's going on!"

Bryn shook her head, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to settle her thoughts against the chaos surrounding her. "This afternoon, while your father and I were gathering information from the Foundlings who arrived today, we made an interesting discovery. One of them, a twelve-year-old boy, is from Clan Vizsla--and he's one of your first cousins."

"Like Grogu?" Kyri asked, then put her thumb back in her mouth, eyelids already drooping as Jos rocked her back and forth.

"Yes. He was your Ba'vodu Lina's youngest--just a toddler when the Purge happened."

"He's been alone all this time?" Nima asked, and Bryn's heart broke, remembering the tiny girl with big brown eyes who'd been without her mother for three weeks when Paz had found her in the halls of the Covert, hidden away while Ajay went searching for food.

No, darling," Bryn replied, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "His father was killed in the Purge, but his mother was alive until a few weeks ago. He's been staying with a neighbor since then."

"But if 'family is more than blood', why is he coming here?" Ajay asked.

"Because he wants to stay with his own Clan," Paz answered.

"Is he gonna sleep in the empty bunk in our room?" Evet asked.

"I'm keeping my top bunk!" Ajay added.

Bryn took another deep breath. "Yes, he wil be taking the empty bunk--but we'll figure out all the details later. Now, are you ready to meet him?"

"Do we have to put our helmets on?" Evet asked.

"Not unless you want to," Bryn assured him. The younger children were still getting used to not having to keep their faces covered, and would occasionally ask about helmets for various circumstances. However, all of them chose to remain without this time.

"Okay, we're ready," Paz said into his comm.

"Sending him over now," Cara replied, and a few moments later, there was a knock at the door.

Paz pushed the button on his vambrace to reveal the soon-to-be newest member of their branch of Clan Vizsla.

"I'm his big sister?" Kyri asked, now wide awake.

"No--you're still the youngest," Ajay told her, rolling his eyes.

"But I wanted a baby brother!" Kyri replied, her words turning into a wail as she dissolved into tears.

"Great," Ragnar, said, watching as Jos carried her little sister into their bedroom.

"She's not always like that--she just needs a nap really bad," Jerem explained, holding out a hand to grasp, giving his cousin a small smile.

Ragnar gave him a similar smile back, and sat down on the cushion next to him--the one Jos had just vacated.

"Everyone, this is Ragnar--as I said earlier, he's twelve. Ragnar, these are our children, minus the two who just left--Joselin, who's eighteen and Kyri, who's three. I would like each of you to introduce yourselves, and tell Ragnar how old you are, starting with Miri," Bryn said.

Once they'd done that, Ragnar tried to recall each of the children's names and ages, instantly retaining some while others he forgot multiple times. However, the six of them--seven when Jos rejoined them--were having a good time, cheering when their soon-to-be brother got one right, and laughing when he purposefully started getting them wrong.

"I think this is gonna work," Paz said softly, giving Bryn's hand a squeeze.

Bryn squeezed back, giving her husband a smile. "So do I."

****

When Kyri awoke, Bryn and Paz spoke the adoption vow, making Ragnar an official part of their Clan. They spent the remainder of the afternoon getting the boy settled, and his meager posessions put away. Jerem used his datapad to reconfigure the chore chart, and Miri used hers to readjust the quantities of food they would need to buy to accommodate another growing child.

That night, after they themselves were ready for bed, they made their nightly rounds. Bryn smiled, her heart full, as the dim light from the hall revealed all four boys piled on three mattresses on the floor, with Ragnar snuggled in the middle.

*********************************************************************

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Taxi Driver: Final Part

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.2k

Warnings: canon angst and violence

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. Any and all comments on these are appreciated.

Dean wanted Kevin to wake up to food cooking, so you two got up earlier than normal to head back to Garth's houseboat. Dean started making eggs for everyone, and Joanna is on a step stool, helping him cook.

"There you go, sweetheart. Just stir it around like that. Hey, Kevin! Come in here and grab some of these eggs."

"You can't hide in there forever," you say when he doesn't come out. Kevin doesn't come out of the closet, but instead, he walks back into the houseboat as if he left in the first place. "Where the hell were you? What happened to being scared?"

"I am scared. So, I made a preemptive move."

"What did you do?" you sigh.

"I can't sit here with the tablet like a sitting duck, and Crowley breathing down my ass. Getting rid of the tablet just takes off some of the pressure."

"You didn't," you groan.

"Temporarily. I hid it."

"Where?"

"If I tell you where, it's not hidden, is it?"

"Kevin, tell me where the damn tablet is, or I swear I'll--"

"You'll what, Dean?" Kevin sasses back, going back into his hole.

"Well, he's not really scared of us anymore."

"Kids." You look behind you to see a woman in a suit. You didn't hear her come in, so you can only assume she is an angel. "So cute when they're little. Then, they turn into teenagers, and the party's over. We haven't been formally introduced, Dean and Y/N. My name is Naomi."

"Get the hell out of here. We know who you are and what you did to Castiel after he got out of Purgatory," you growl.

You stand up and step in front of your kids so she'll have to go through you to get to them. She sees how protective you are, and she raises her hands in defense.

"I won't hurt them. I'm not here for them."

"You screwed with Cas' head and had him spy on us," Dean accuses.

"Well, it is true that I have spoken with Castiel many times to help him. Dean, you must have noticed how Purgatory changed him. I mean, he's been unstable in the past, but I was shocked at how damaged he is now."

"No, you don't get to do this. You told him to kill us. He threatened my family because of you," you glare.

"Yes, I suppose that is how you would hear it. When I learned of the Angel tablet, I did tell Castiel to get it at any cost. My job is to protect heaven. I'm a warrior, just as you two are. What would you expect? Now Castiel is in the wind with a hydrogen bomb in his pocket, and I'm scared for all of us."

"Save it. See, we don't trust Angels, which means we don't trust you."

"Yet you haven't warded this place against us. I know. You're hoping Castiel will return to you two. I admire your loyalty. I only wish he felt the same way. I know you two don't want to believe it, but we're on the same side. We both want to shut the Gates of Hell and bring Castiel in from the cold. Take a moment. Think about what I've said." She turns to leave but pauses when she's thought of something else to say. "I know you've been doing business with Ajay. He did mention, didn't he, that his way into Hell is through Purgatory? I knew you'd want to know. You see, we can be of help to each other."

In the next second, she is gone.

"Sam's in Purgatory? We have to help him," you say.

"Kevin! We'll be back!" Dean yells to the prophet, but he doesn't answer back.

You two grab the kids, and you rush to where Ajay was last seen. You believe he should be working the same street, and when you see his taxi car hasn't moved from the spot you left it in, you know he is around here somewhere.

Ajay is sitting behind the wheel, but he doesn't make a move to acknowledge you when you approach him.

"Ajay?" You open the door, but the minute you see him, you know he is dead. "He's dead. My guess is Crowley got to him before we could."

"Shit," Dean sighs. "He's the only person who can get Sam out."

"Not the only person. Benny knows how." You hate even bringing it up, but Benny is the only one who can get Sam and your dad out of there safely. "He'd be able to show him how we got out."

Without a word, Dean takes out his phone and calls Benny, and the vampire answers thinking it's good news.

"Hey, it's me. Y/N is here with me."

"It's so good to hear your voice, Dean. I mean that."

"How have you been?" you ask.

"Oh, you know, I get by."

"I guess I let you down, huh?" Dean sighs.

"Look, I'm just happy as hell to hear from you two. How's the babies doing? Have you had them yet?"

"Yeah, I did," you say, not wanting to go over that with him right now.

"Promise me I'll meet them one day."

"That day might come sooner than you think," you sigh.

"Why? What do you mean?"

"Benny, we gotta ask you a favor. It's a big one."

"What is it?"

"Sam's in Purgatory with my dad. Our guy died, and the only person who knows their way out of there is you."

"You need me to go back."

"I'm sorry," you say and step back from this conversation because Benny doesn't deserve this.

"Where can we meet up?"

Dean tells him where and when to meet, and you waste no time getting to that meeting spot. Benny shows up five minutes after you, and he understands by the look on your face that this isn't good.

"Before I go, where's the babies?" he asks with a smile. You reach into the car and pick up Maryann who coos in your arms. "Weren't there two of them?"

"Robert didn't make it," you say quietly.

"Shit, I'm sorry." He leans into Maryann and grabs her hand gently. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"If you want nothing to do with this, I completely understand," Dean says, bringing him back on track. "Benny, sending you back there is the last thing I ever wanted to do, but my little brother is stuck down there."

"This would be the little brother who wants to kill me, right?"

"You got access to the place."

"You mean getting beheaded."

"I can't watch this," you cry a bit at the future loss of your friend. "You protected me and my babies when we needed you, and here we are, not protecting you."

"Don't cry, Y/N. You know I love a challenge. He's your brother. I say let's do this."

"I owe you."

"You don't owe me anything. Truth is, I could use a break from all this."

"Has it really been that tough?" you ask.

"I'm not a good fit, Y/N. Not with vampires and, for sure, not with the humans. I don't belong, and after a while, that starts to wear on you. Right? Like you two need to listen to this."

"Well, when you get back up here, we're gonna fix all that, okay?"

"When I get back?"

"Sam will do for you what Dean did for you. As soon as we send you back there, we're going to Maine and waiting for you to come back. Please come back."

"Yeah. That sounds like a plan, chief. Let's get on with it."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Not my first rodeo, man."

Dean pulls a machete from the trunk of the Impala, and this is where you remove yourself from the situation. Joanna is sleeping in the car, but you turn and shield Maryann away from this violence. Violence at a young age can be detrimental for babies, but you're hoping your magic will protect her of that.

There is fifteen seconds of silence before you hear the slice of the machete and the thump of Benny's head. You flinch at the sound, but you don't turn around. Dean quickly cleans up the mess so you don't have to see it. While he does that, you put Maryann back into her car seat because you have a long drive to Maine.

You turn to get in the car when you spot the pool of blood on the ground. Without another word, you get into the car.

Dean had to park on the side of the road since he can't drive his car through the woods. He is carrying Maryann while Joanna is walking by his side. You don't know the exact spot where Sam will pop up, but you know the general vicinity.

Suddenly, there is a flash of bright light, and Sam is here. He climbs the small hill and makes his way over to you and Dean. He brings you both into a hug, careful of Maryann.

"Well, now you know what Purgatory is like," you chuckle.

"Did you get him out?" Dean asks.

"Only Bobby. A bunch of vamps showed up, and Benny used himself as bait. I get the feeling that even if that didn't happen, he didn't want to come back, you know? I'm sorry."

"Is my dad in here?" you ask and grab Sam's arm which is glowing red.

"Yeah," he whispers.

Tears spring to your eyes, and you let them fall willingly. Your magic flows through your body into Sam's arm where your dad is.

"I want him to know I'm here," you sniffle.

"He knows. He's sorry about Robert." Your eyes snap to Sam's. He's the last one to see your dad and to talk to him, so he must have caught him up on how you were doing. "He wishes he could bring him back to you, but he says he'll make sure he's ready for you when you get to Heaven."

The tears don't stop coming, and you pull away from Sam to cry.

"Did you tell him I love him?"

"I did. He knows."

"Come on, we need to get him to where he belongs," Dean says softly, handing Maryann over to you.

Sam pulls out the demon knife and cuts his arm where your dad is. Sam says the spell, and your dad is ejected from his arm and into the air. His soul is blueish, white that starts to rise up into the sky. You pick Joanna up and place her on your hip with Maryann on your other hand.

"That's your grandpa, baby. Say bye to him."

"Bye bye," she waves.

You have a feeling your dad is waving back. Suddenly, the white light turns into a cloudy mix of red and black.

"What the hell?"

"Hello boys, Y/N," Crowley says from behind you. "Bobby Singer... I'd know you anywhere."

"Let him go, Crowley," you growl. "He doesn't belong in Hell."

"He does if I say he does. He's inflicted untold damage on my kind. From where I sit, actually, Hell's too good for him."

Sam and Dean rush at him to attack, but the King of Hell isn't having it. He flings them back against the trees behind them, keeping them there. Crowley turns to you, but you use your magic to put up a forcefield with the use of your hands. You can do that with just a thought... What else can you do?

Before you can test that out, your dad's soul has white lights shining out of the darkness, and that seems to piss Crowley off.

"Oh, come on!"

"Let me see if I've interpreted the situation correctly. The Winchesters have freed an innocent from Hell, to which you are wrongfully trying to return it," Naomi says.

This is the one time you're glad she's here.

"Siding with them, Naomi? You don't know those three. Before they're done, we'll both be locked away."

"I'm just hoping they lock you away, dear. The rest I'll figure out."

"Bureaucrat. You're fighting outside your weight class."

"Don't call me a bureaucrat," she says angrily. She extends her hand which is shining with her angelic powers, but Crowley disappears. Sam and Dean are released from the trees, and you lower your force field cautiously. Your dad's soul shines white, and Naomi sends him straight to Heaven. "I told you two could trust me."

"What the hell was that about?" Sam asks when your dad and Naomi disappear.

"I'll tell you later. Let's get this trial done."

Sam takes out the paper that has the spell on it, and he says it slowly. Instantly, he falls to his knees in pain. It looks like he is in pain, but you and Dean don't have a clue as to what's happening with him.

"Sam? What?! Talk to me! What?!" Dean rushes to him.

"It's okay! It's okay! It's okay. I'm fine. It's done. It's done."

You set Joanna down and kneel next to Sam, placing your hand on his cheek. You let your magic do its thing, but it only heals part of his pain. He appreciates the effort though, so he smiles weakly at you.

"Are you okay?" you ask and help him up.

"Yeah, I'll live."

"I buried Benny, but I didn't burn his bones. After he said he'd try to get you out of there, it just didn't seem right. I know you got no use for him, but--"

"You know what? I get it. I do. He's a little different from what I thought. So, go ahead and leave the door open if you want," Sam cuts his brother off.

"We should check in on Kevin and see how he's doing. He stashed the tablet, so let's get it back."

It's a long drive to Kevin from Maine, but when you get there, something doesn't feel right. Sam and Dean rush inside, and you finally see why.

Everything is gone.

All the papers are gone, there is nothing on the desks, the windows are intact, and the only thing left behind are the sigils you drew when he got there.

He's just gone.

"I saw this coming," Dean says. "He finally freaked. The little geek made a run for it."

"But where?" you ask.

x

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[tragedytells-tales]

Artificial Avatar | Misery Gets

Company

Notes - No MC, Heavy angst, Obey Me AU, hint of DiaLuci if you sqint, Himiko belongs to @/absolutepokemontrash, Feat: Tanda, Ajay, Barbatos, Diavolo, Lucifer, and Himiko

Summary - A break in takes place and an Avatar gets named.

Warnings - Abandonment, manipulation, speed proofread

Tw - Passive suicidal ideation, mentions of starving

[ Prolog ] - [ PT.1 ] - [ PT.2 ] - [ PT. 2.5 ] - [ PT.3 ]

The student council hall was silent. Every question had been asked yet no one had an answer. The burst of magic that night had been enough to shake even Lucifer to his knees, and yet no one knew where it came from or who had caused it.

A fight had been suspected, but there was no sign of damage that large to any location in the devildom.

Any magic that had been passed through the air had disappeared nearly without a trace, It was almost as if it never happened in the first place.

Whatever happened that night wasn't something natural. Yet it was something dangerous.

Eight years later...

"The mission is simple. We break into the castle, examine the defense, and get out. Preferably without alerting too many guards."

Ajay looked up at the map that hovered over them with an analytical eye. It was a map of the castle with figures of guards and two larger circles that seemed to be Barbatos and Diavolo. They frowned for a moment before turning to their guardian.

Tanda had begun tying her hair into a ponytail while jotting down something that Ajay couldn’t see onto her notepad. The blue haired demon was dressed in a shoulderless black top and long black pants, her glasses were pushed up to her nose and pale skin almost reflected the blue lights hanging overhead.

She didn't look particularly dressed for a break in, especially for the castle of all places.

"Are we sure this is a good idea? Safe is absolutely out of the question, but the castle's security is nothing to be scoffed at." Ajay shot the map a neutral stare and crossed their arms, "They likely have charms and alarms on every corner on and around the castle. Plus-"

"Ajay, quiet."

Ajays mouth clamped shut the moment the order left Tanda's mouth, the mark on the back of their neck burned and the feeling of molten pressing down on their tongue wasn’t comfortable no matter how many times it happened.

The blue haired demon glanced at them from the side of her eye before scanning over her notes one more time, "I wouldn’t be bringing you on this mission if I didn't believe you could handle it. We won't be stealing anything and we won't be harming anyone who isn't in our way. It's simple."

Before Ajay could respond, Tanda pocketed her notes and turned on her heel towards the door, waving a hand as a signal for the child to follow.

Ajay sometimes forgot just how... big the circle was outside of their home in the laboratory. It was dark for the average eye, even Tanda had trouble seeing sometimes, yet Ajay could almost feel their pupils dilate as they took in what little light they could get.

The sound of feet against brimstone mixed with the low sound of flames and hollow souls to make white noise. The pride circle was normally quiet and orderly, so there wasn't a lot of noise.

"Tanda? What are you doing out this late?"

Ajay flinched and looked away from the river of souls, their gaze landing on their guardian who seemed to be caught in conversation.

"Just going for a walk." Tanda shrugged. The little D nodded and scampered away, presumably to go tend to a task.

Ajay scooted back to let the little D run off and disappear into the darkness of the circle. A childish curiosity to go and find out where it ran off almost had their feet leading them, that was until their guardian called them.

"Come on Ajay." Tanda snapped. Her eyes narrowed on them and Ajay quickly chased after their guardian.

The walk through the circles was surprisingly uneventful. Most demons just left the two alone with a few lust demons making small conversation, some even attempting to fuss over Ajay, which they didn't exactly... not like.

Tanda eventually started walking ahead of Ajay with the black haired teen keeping pace to trail behind their guardian perfectly. The half-demon sometimes cast curious glances around the circles as they walked, one was somehow both bright and desolate with many lakes scattered about, while another had bountiful food that seemed never-ending yet looked haunted in a way.

"Lady Tanda?"

"Yes?"

"Who do the castles belong to?"

Tanda went quiet for a moment before she stopped right in front of the portal that would take them to the castle.

"The seven rulers of hell, although there are currently eight." She explained, turning to face Ajay fully, "seven of the rulers have circles. The eighth has a place in the running of the circles. The lords and lady, from eldest to youngest, go Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Belphegor, and Himiko."

Before Ajay could ask any more questions, the portal snapped open and revealed the gate to the demon lord's castle. Tanda briskly walked forward, leaving Ajay to stumble behind to catch up.

The gate was large, almost three times Ajays height, and moonlight reflected off of its golden surface. Towers that were lit with a purple light, likely with watchers, loomed over the two. Intricate designs could be seen along the gate, but so could the magical charms that were set to go off if someone entered without permission.

Tanda side glanced at Ajay and snapped, causing them to stand up straight and go rigid.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" She urged. Ajay swallowed as they felt nerves crawl up their spine. They stretched out their metallic hand and a spike of yellow shot through their eye. They felt greed, fully and whole, course through them before shooting straight onto their arm and into their hand.

Ajays other hand grabbed onto Tandas, and their robotic hand grabbed onto the hands that were held together. Ajay felt their soul bend and twist to become something unnaturally different, yet they didn’t seem fazed. Tanda, however, barely suppressed the urge to kneel over from the need to hurl as Ajays magic dug uncomfortably deep to change her very core.

The blue haired demoness shoved down the nausea as she straightened herself, shaking off the uncomfortable stirring in her gut with a sneer. Ajay removed both of their hands from their guardian and took silent steps forward, stopping just before the gate to turn and see Tanda rapidly writing in her notes before nodding her head.

Ajay stepped forward first, their eyes scanned the scenery and they hummed. The castle grounds almost seemed... empty. There were barely any guards aside from the two they could see at the door. They would assume that guards would be on every corner of the castle, but maybe the most powerful demon didn't exactly need protecting.

Tanda watched Ajay think for a few moments before narrowing their eyes on the half demon, "Go, Ajay." She grumbled with a roll of her eyes.

Ajays gaze moved away from their guardian as they took a step forward. There was no way they were going through that front entrance, so alternate path it was. They ducked into one of the inner walls surrounding the castle and listened behind them for their guardian who followed in tow.

The inside of the wall was dark, damp, and barely lit by the candles along the wall. The sounds of their footsteps bounced off of the walls and echoed in a way that unnerved Ajay.

"Do you hear that?"

A guard, one that wasn’t alone if the barely heard reply was enough to go off of.

The sound of rushing footsteps rang in Ajays ears, their eyes bounced around the hallway for a door or something to duck into but came up empty. The only thing in the hallway were brick walls as far as they could see.

"Ajay."

Ajay glanced behind them and watched their guardian raise an impatient brow, the sounds of the footsteps drew closer, and just as the guards rounded the corner a strike of orange that shifted into pink and purple coursed through their eye and they grabbed their guardians hand.

...

....

.....

"I told you you were just hearin' shit."

"There was someone here!"

"Uh huh, should we check the magical signature? Because if we go off of that then there are three other people here as well."

"Huh..." Tanda watched the guards stride toward her without a care in the world. She glanced at Ajay, who sighed in relief and looked up at the lack of a ceiling. The next thing she knew a hand tugged her upwards and metal claws dug into the cement of the wall ledge.

Ajay grit their teeth and tugged Tanda upwards, careful to keep their grip on the wall steady.

As soon as Tanda found her balance, Ajay turned to look at the two guards, shifted their gaze to their mechanical hand, looked back at the guards, and snapped. The pink and purple in their eye faded and one of the guards stood rigid in their place, the other fell to ground in what Ajay assumed was terror if the clattering and shaking was anything to go by.

Tanda hummed with a tilt of her head as she looked down at the guards. She took out her note book and wrote something quicker than Ajay could blink before hopping off of the wall and striding over to a different entrance to the castle with Ajay right behind her.

The half demon kept watch as they walked, despite there not being much to watch. The walk to the door had been surprisingly easy, including actually opening the thing.

...Which Ajay was sure wasn't supposed to happen.

But they'd rather not oppose their guardian.

The castle walls were dim and lined with stone, a purple carpet padded their feet as they followed behind their guardian. Paintings lined the walls, Ajay didn’t know who any of them were, but they must have been royals of some kind.

Tanda silently led Ajay down the winding halls of the castle. Of course she expected it to be quiet, it was the middle of the night, but something was off. There were no guards, there were no staff, there were no servants, there was... nothing. Nothing aside from dark and desolate hallways.

At least, for Tanda it was.

For Ajay, the halls looked somewhat lively for how late it was. The shadows moved and shifted in ways that would probably unnerve someone if they hadn't been used to it. Souls of different shapes and sizes bustled about the ceiling, along the walls, in and out of the floors, it was quite the sight.

Ajay hurried along behind their guardian to keep up with the quickening pace. A certain painting caught Ajays attention out of the corner of their eye, a painting of three people. One had tan skin and fluffy white hair with blue and yellow eyes, the woman next to him had perfect pale skin and black hair with the same black eyes. They both held a baby in their hands and were looking down at them with an emotion Ajay couldn’t place nor recognize.

The longer Ajay looked, the shadows started to whisper, it looked something like-

"Ajay, stop your dwaddling and hurry up."

Something Ajay didn't have time to think about.

Tanda kept her attention forward and didn't slow down when Ajay stumbled to keep up with her before finding their footing.

The further into the castle Ajay got, the more Ajays mind wandered. Who were the people in that painting, why was the castle so empty, what was their guardian doing?

Ajay kept their eyes to the floor despite their ears picking up on nothing besides white noise that was occasionally broken by the sounds of guards or wildlife. From the sound of it, the prince himself didn't even seem to be in the castle.

Ajay sighed and looked up to see the back of their guardian, who was... running her hand along the walls. Her nails were digging into the stone without making any noise nor leaving any marks from what Ajay could see.

At least until Tanda stopped and opened a door that led to a giant moonlit field with tall bushes decorated with colorful roses. The garden floor was patterned with golden circles surrounding the largest one, which seemed to be a sitting area if the grass was anything to go by.

Ajay frowned and tilted their head as they stepped to their guardians side. Tanda didn't blink, instead quickly writing down something in her notebook, glancing over to Ajay, and then staring neutrally ahead. The moonlight cast a glare over her glasses but it was clear to Ajay that she seemed to be waiting for something to come around the bushes.

"Ajay."

Tanda placed a hand on Ajay's shoulder, causing Ajay to flinch and their eyes to snap away from the bushes. She cast them a glance just as the shadow of someone tall with skeletal horns slowly grew along the floor. And Tanda simply hummed.

"Get me out of here."

The sound of a low rumble almost rocked the floor beneath Ajays feet. It was low, demonic, gut-churning, and Ajay felt a spark of pure panic shoot through them as the figure approached, even as Tanda stood completely calm.

"I must admit, you are quite the curious one." The figure took another step forward, but not close enough for Ajay to see more than teal eyes and a thrashing tail.

"Not many souls are brave enough to break into the castle, but no one has survived as long as you two-"

Just as the teal eyed demon reached forward, Ajays eye flooded with yellow. Teal eyes widened as one of Ajays hands grabbed onto their guardian and their other slammed onto the floor, releasing a cloud of thick fog into the air and blocking the teal eyed demons vision.

The demon hummed and Ajay wasted no time in dragging Tanda deeper into the bushes to their left. Tanda stumbled for a moment and Ajay sped up at the sound of several other pairs of footsteps following them.

"Where did the guards come from-"

"Focus Ajay!"

The half demon hit a corner and darted, still dragging their guardian behind them. The yellow in their eye receded and over the sound of rushing footsteps they heard the mechanical whirring of their robotic arm firing up.

A shout came from ahead and the teal eyed demon from before rounded the corner and blocked the way with an exasperated yet curious glare. Ajay halted to a stop, their hold on their guardian kept Tanda standing, and narrowed their eyes.

Ajay blinked and half of their vision clouded with blue, their metal hand began to spark and Tanda glanced down with a raised brow.

The demons eyes widened ever so slightly and he lunged for the two. Ajay shoved their guardian away, content that they had already spread their magic, and Tanda barely stumbled away from the teal eyed demon.

The sound of multiple pairs of rushing footsteps alerted Ajay to other guards and they moved to grab onto their guardian as the sparks spread up her arm and over her body. The teal eyed demon quickly recovered and grabbed onto Tanda first as Ajay slammed their heel into the floor.

The sparks grew quicker and Tandas eyes snapped over to Ajay and they froze.

Tanda let out a low hum as the teal eyed demons grip grew tighter, and she mumbled one simple word. "Stay."

A paralyzing sharp pain shot up their legs and arm causing them to freeze in place with a yelp. Their eyes widened as they watched their guardian teleport away in a flash of sparks, leaving behind nothing but blue magic that fizzled out into nothing.

The teal eyed demon stared at the spot for a moment before turning to look at the half demon that fell to the floor. He cast Ajay a curious glare that they didn't meet.

Guards that quickly caught up tugged Ajay to their feet, they didn’t resist, instead they simply stood there, staring at the spot where their guardian had just been as the blue slowly changed to white.

A guard jostled Ajay into a standing position and Ajay barely registered the strain of their legs as they were forced to stand. They stood silently and kept wide eyes locked onto the spot where their guardian just was. They knew their guardians didn't particularly like them, they never really had, but to abandon them...

That hurt.

"What should we do with them, Mr Barbatos?"

The demon, Barbatos, dusted off his glove and stared down at Ajay for a silent moment.

"Take them to Lord Daivolo."

""Place them in the dungeons until I decide what to do with them" is a weird way to put "You're being sentenced to execution for trespassing on castle grounds and committing treason against the crown.""

Ajay sat back against the wall and kicked a stray stone to the otherside of the room, casting a glance to the chain that jingled from the kick. Their arms were chained too, although those had enough leeway for them to at least cross their arms.

They had a strange bracelet on their wrist as well, something that Barbatos had given them two days ago when he first brought them into the dungeons. They still weren't entirely sure what it did, maybe something to stop their magic, but whatever it was they didn't feel a difference.

The cell was dark and damp, but there wasn't anyone inside with them. Even the cell across from them only had skeletons in them, and from what they could hear the same could be said for the cells around them.

It was silent, leaving them with nothing but their thoughts.

This wasn't exactly new, there wasn't a lot of noise in the lab aside from the mechanics and lights that buzzed. There was the occasional conversation from their guardians, chatty souls that sometimes stopped by, and other people that Ajay could hear from the lab. But it was mostly silent.

And yet this silence was different for a reason Ajay couldn’t place. This silence was darker, almost suffocating, reaching into Ajays heart and squeezing until they couldn’t breath. The shadows in the corners moved and stretched in a way that sent a shiver up their nerves and their vision started to blur.

"Stay."

That's what their guardian said. The pain was bearable as long as they didn't move, but despite whatever the red headed demon, Lord Daivolo if Ajay remembered correctly, did they still felt a weird ache in their chest that threatened to swallow them whole.

Ajay cared for their guardians, sure they didn't love them like those kids in the books they read, but they were loyal to their guardians since they raised them. But here they were, left behind to rot in a cell while awaiting an execution because their guardian just... left.

She left them behind like they were nothing.

Ajay brought their legs to their chest and squeezed into a ball. A knot built in their throat and an emotion that Ajay couldn’t place nestled itself into their chest and stabbed its claws into them. Their vision darkened and half of their sight was blocked by a thick inky black. They felt tears crawl down their cheeks and a small whimper threatened to pull its way from their lips.

They felt like they were drowning and a few souls from nearby laughed while others started to whisper in pity.

It wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t fair that they got left behind.

It wasn’t fair that their guardian just abandoned them.

It wasn’t fair that they were the one getting punished for something they never wanted to do.

The silence rang in Ajays ears for a moment, the urge to scream, shout, kick, and harm something overwhelmed them and their hands curled into fists.

Ajay took a deep breath in before sighing. Every rush of emotion they felt slowly faded away into a blank nothingness. They felt numb and hollow, even with half of their vision the only thing they could see was the walls of their cell. After all, it would've been useless even if they did do something, wouldn't it?

Despite it all, they at least wanted a chance to change something before getting executed, but there was no use in hoping for something as useless as that.

Ajay dug their face into their knees and tried to ignore the pain from the chains digging into their wrists. Decidedly ignoring the sudden chill in the room and the way the shadows stretched and coiled into a figure of a woman with horns and hair that floated behind her as she stepped as though she was wading through water.

"Of all the places I've been summoned, I can't say the dungeons have been one of them."

Ajay looked up from their legs with a flinch and a tilt of their head as the demoness stepped forward, casting a glance down at them.

"So, what are you in here for?"

"I broke into the castle."

The demoness stopped for a moment and blinked. Once, twice, then stepped further into the candlelight where Ajay could see her. She was the woman from the painting earlier, perfect pale skin, onyx eyes, and fluffy hair.

The lady raised a brow and kneeled down to Ajays level, eyeing the chains that tied down their arms and legs. "Really now? Someone as young as you broke into the castle you say? Was it a bad dare, do I need to call your parents?" She questioned.

Ajay glanced off to the side, they frowned as they felt the feeling of needles prick on their tongue the second they thought of mentioning their guardian. They shrugged and curled back up, causing the demoness to stand up with a stretch and sigh.

"Fine then, if you're not going to talk because you're embarrassed, I'll just ask Diavolo."

"No point, I'm getting executed anyway. And if not then my guardians are going to kill me if they find out I survived."

The demoness shot her gaze over to Ajay and frowned, "Executed- how old are you?"

Ajay looked up from their knees and tilted their head, "I'm fourteen?"

"...fourteen." The demoness mumbled, a small smile grew on her face and with a snap of her fingers the chains fell to the floor with a loud rattle. "Come on," she opened the cell door and beckoned Ajay to follow, "I need to have a little talk with Diavolo."

Lucifer would have expected any one of his brothers to barge in on his date. Mammon, Satan, Asmodeus, any of them. But the last person he expected to burst through the door was-

"Oh! Hello Himiko! I see you've met Ajay!"

Himiko, with a black haired child in hand.

Himiko placed Ajay down on ground and pointed to the spot next to her before firing Diavolo an unamused glare, "So you must know why I'm here then?"

Diavolo cast a glance over to Ajay, who started to mess around with their mechanical hand, before nodding at Himiko and placing down his tea. He turned to Lucifer with a smile, "I hope you don't mind some extra company for a bit."

Lucifer raised a brow and looked over to Himiko, who had her arms crossed and her gaze set on a glare. He nodded and stood wordlessly before Diavolo gestured for him to sit back down.

"I believe this is a conversation for all of us." Diavolo said, gesturing for Himiko to sit as well.

Ajay stood still as they watched Himiko pull out a chair and seat herself. Everyone eventually turned to the half demon with varying looks of confusion, although Daivolo just stared at them knowingly. With a simple blink, he gestured over to the chair closest to him before waving to Barbatos.

"Barbatos, could you bring us some tea?"

"Of course, young master." Barbatos nodded and quickly walked off to somewhere further in the castle, not without giving Ajay one last subtle glare before he left.

"So," Diavolo turned to Lucifer and Himiko who both raised a brow, "I'm sure you have some questions?"

"Yes, my first being, why are you executing a child?" Himiko shot, gesturing over to the half demon in the seat next to the ginger.

Lucifer's eyes widened as did Diavolos. They both looked over Ajay, who was rubbing the bruises on their left wrist from the chains, before looking at each other and then at Himiko. The demoness tapped an impatient heel to the floor and nodded for Diavolo to answer.

"Well, they broke into the castle as I'm sure you know-"

That caused Lucifer to shoot a glare at Ajay, who shrunk back into their seat and kept their eyes locked on their wrist.

"-and since they're a bit of a magical anomaly, I had no choice but to lock them away and wait for them to summon you."

Himiko frowned as she thought back to the chains on Ajays arms and legs, "And how long did that take?"

"Counting today, three days."

Before Himiko could reply, Barbatos set down a tray of tea and cakes in the center of the table and passed around the cups and plates to everyone at the table. Himiko looked down at her cake before picking it up and placing the cake in front of Ajay, who only had tea in front of them.

"How exactly did they break into the castle?" Lucifer asked. He took a glance at the child with a raised brow, they were young, chubby cheeked, and flinched whenever someone so much as looked at them.

"That's the thing," Diavolo looked down at the teen next to him with a frozen over stare, "They used multiple sins and magical signatures to do it. The only reason they got caught was because their accomplice set off an alarm with her magic."

Himiko crossed her arms with a frown, "but aren't demons only born with one sin?"

"Yes, typically. And it's the same for half demons as well, yet they were able to manipulate multiple sins and magical signatures. They used greed, lust, sloth, envy, and pride alone when they originally broke in. Recently there have been high levels of despair coming from the dungeons as well."

Lucifer watched Ajay shrink back into their seat while poking at the cake in front of them, "And the accomplice?"

"Disappeared, seemed to have teleported away. She was a demon of envy, but that's all we have on her. Ajay won't tell us anything about her."

The table went silent for a moment and Himiko caught a glance of Ajays, now white, eye. When she first saw them they were doused in despair, as was everyone who had summoned her, but now that it had faded there was nothing left behind. Normally the original sin would be found somewhere underneath, yet there was nothing on the child that would even indicate they could use magic.

And half demons normally carried the eye color of their demon parent, yet this one only had brown and white.

Lucifer glared the child down and leaned forward, watching them flinch when they cautiously cast a glance upwards. A sharp sense of pride cut through the air and a light blue tint swirled in the originally white eye.

Himiko set down her tea and flicked Lucifer, forcing him back into his seat. "Well," she hummed, "what are you going to do with them? You can't execute a child."

Diavolo side glanced at Ajay, watching the blue recede from their eye, and frowned. He knew Himiko was right, not that he had any plans on executing them anyway. But he couldn't just let them run rampant around the Devildom, and they did still commit treason.

So there was only one thing he could do.

"They will be named the Avatar of Vengeance as a pardon for now and placed under house arrest."

Lucifer turned to Diavolo and raised a brow as the suspicion settled in.

"And whose house will that be?"

Diavolo turned towards the two demons, gave them a small smile, and crossed his arms. "Well, the castle is too big for me or Barbatos to keep an eye on them at all times and we don't exactly know where their house is. So, they're going to be staying with you two for the time being."

Lucifer frowned with bewilderment and Ajay glanced between the two with wide eyes. The half demon nearly asked why he was letting them go, but a look from the butler nearby shut them up.

Himiko stared Diavolo down and blinked, "...what?"

The prince gestured between the two demons and nodded firmly, affirming it as an order instead of a request. "Himiko can watch over them on the weekends and Lucifer can watch over them on the weekdays while taking them to RAD."

Lucifer pinched his temples with a long and heavy sigh, "And I take it we don't have a choice in this?"

"Well, Ajay?" Diavolo turned to the half demon who had locked eyes down on their lap and shrugged. They chewed on their lip for a bit before casting a careful glance upwards.

"It's better than dying..."

On the edge of their peripheral Ajay caught Himiko wincing at the statement while Lucifer went back to crossing his arms, a set frown on his face. The demoness stared the child down with a raised brow.

"Shouldn't we call their parents first?"

"It's best not to let anyone else know about this for now."

Lucifer grumbled before setting his expression into a neutral stare, "Yes Diavolo."

Diavolo looked around the table and stood with a clap of his hands, startling Ajay into standing as well. "Now then, since that's settled, it's currently Friday so Himiko will be the one to take them home."

Barbatos stepped forward with a small bow and a neutral smile, "If you would follow me, I will see you out."

The walk back to Himikos house was uneventful. The streets were mostly empty and low chatter could be heard from demons they had passed.

Ajay kept their eyes to the floor. They rarely ever left the lab and had never left the circle of pride before, the stone streets were new and the lights from the stores were bright. The low sound of metal locking and unlocking filled the silence between the two as Ajay screwed and unscrewed their fingers.

"You don't seem like the type to break into a castle."

"Hm..?"

Himiko glanced at Ajay as they finally looked up, locking their finger in place.

"You're very quiet and nervous, not really break into a castle material." Himiko fully turned to face Ajay without stopping, this time catching a glimpse of a necklace that hung around Ajays neck.

"Oh, yeah. I guess so." Ajay slowly looked back down at their fingers, this time messing around with the claw mechanic in their pointer finger.

The demoness tilted her head and continued forward, leading Ajay to her home. The walk fell silent again, as they left the busy street and started for Himikos house the white noise fell away.

"So, do your parents always let you go out and commit treason on your own?"

The sound of clicking stopped for a moment and Ajay tilted their head, "Do you mean my guardians?"

"Are they your primary caretakers?"

"I think so..."

"Then yes."

"...no, this was the first time."

Himiko turned to Ajay to ask more questions, but the far away look on their face cut her off. A small feeling of despair welled inside her and she watched as a deep gray settled itself in Ajays eye, slowly growing darker and darker until it was pitch black.

She looked away from the teen, turning towards the elevator that led to her house with a grim nod, "...I see."

The bed was fluffier than anything Ajay had felt before, and surprisingly wasn't made out of metal. Himiko had left them with a separate pair of clothes to change into for bed and socks to cover their feet after demanding they take off their shoes.

The window outside was also new, as were the stars in the sky and the moon that loomed over them.

It was strange, it was their first time outside without their guardians, their first time outside of the circle of pride, and their first time laying in a bed that felt like a cloud that would swallow them whole.

"Tomorrow my child is coming home from school, so that's who you're going to hear when you wake up." Was what Himiko had told them before pointing them to the bathroom and telling them goodnight.

It took a bit to get settled in, their nerves were high-strung and they felt uneasy in this new environment. They almost debated hiding underneath the bed in case the demoness changed her mind last minute and decided to kill them after all.

And yet they felt the draw of sleep tug on their consciousness the second their head hit the pillow and the warmth of the covers envelop them completely. They didn’t last long in the fight against their sleep and had one last thought before falling asleep.

They were happy to have some company, at least.

Taglist - @absolutepokemontrash

AN - This was surprisingly longer than I expected it to be. My apologies if I mischaraterized Diavolo, he is a hard one to write 😔

[harmonyckrs]

Give Me Back My Wife, Grim Reaper - Part 3

*BEEP BEEP. RING.*

“Hi. Is Lazlo there? I need to talk to him…Lazlo. Get to the roof. I really need your help, and it’s important nobody else knows about this. Make sure your brothers aren’t around.

There’s a green person in my yard. Not, like, alien green, but like a completely different species entirely. I’d take care of this myself, but he seems really withdrawn. Are you free to come over right now? You’re a lot better at getting people to open up than I am…”

As I woke up the next day, free from my unusual vision, I came to the realization of something truly terrible.

Crystal and Lazlo met Aktu. They've talked to him. They have more recent information on his whereabouts that we don't.

And that also meant Aktu was here.

Harper: (I can't tell Zoya about this. She won't believe me.)

Harper: (I'm going to need to get in contact with that woman that Crystal mentioned yesterday...Erin).

Harper: (Where did Crystal say she lived again?)

*DING DONG*

Erin: OMG! Hi! It's so nice to finally meet another fellow psychic! Lazlo told me all about you.

Harper: Same here. Can I come in?

Erin: Sure! The bunker's a bit of a mess, though. I'm so sorry about that. My roommate Chloe refuses to clean.

Chloe: Oh, shut up. At least I don't hog all of the room space with my so-called magic equipment. None of that shit even works!

Erin: Ugh, ignore her. She's a massive bitch.

Harper: (Think this is the first time meeting a real alien...let's not think about that at the moment. We've got more important things to focus on here.)

Harper: It's alright, Erin. Maybe we can just talk in the dining room, if that's alright.

Erin: Sure!

Lola: Neither of his roommates show any major signs of distress. I believe they think it's simply a long alien abduction...or perhaps they could be covering a murder.

Ajay: Either way, continue to keep an eye on them.

Lola: Will do.

Erin: Hey! Whatcha two talking about?

Lola: Important business you wouldn't understand. Why don't you go outside and play soccer with Kristen?...and who's that guy?

Erin: Oh, this is Harper! He's a psychic, like me!

Lola: Oh, interesting. Well, you two have fun. Ajay and I were just about to leave.

Harper: Wait.

Harper: I overheard you two talking about a murder. Is this about Vincent?

Lola: Vincent?

Erin: I think he means Vidcund. And also, like, if it was a murder, I really don't think one of his brothers did it. I bet you it was that creepy old lady, Olive!

Lola: Olive has an alibi. She was celebrating Ophelia's birthday at her house. For the time being, we're keeping an eye on Pascal and Lazlo. And this is NOT the type of information that we're freely sharing with civilians like you.

Erin: Okay, well, don't blame me when we see his name carved in her newest tombstone.

Erin: Ugh, so sorry about her too. Lola's a total sweetie when you get to know her, but she takes her job way too seriously. It's like, scary. So what did you want to talk about?

Harper: I want to exchange visions. Do you recall having any visions about new people entering town? Or about either Crystal or Lazlo?

Erin: I foresaw the arrival of this plant guy, who mostly stayed in Crystal's house. When I tried to ask Lazlo about it, he changed the topic and refused to answer any questions I asked about him.

Harper: Yes, him! Was there anything about him?

Erin: Let me think...

"I'm sorry. But I have to go. I know you two are going to be upset about it, but this is the only way I can clear my consciousness.

Celeste is in danger because of me. And my friends are all still under the control of the Divine Harpist. I have to go fight her in order to free them...and I have to do it alone, or else I'm just going to get more people possessed.

I'll return here if I make it alive. But if not...thank you for everything. I'll remember the two of you fondly as my soul rests in the Netherworld."

[playermagic23]

Koffee With Karan 8: Ajay Devgn speaks on handling Ranveer Singh’s energy; says, “I shut him up or I shut my ears”

In the latest episode of Koffee With Karan season 8, Rohit Shetty and Ajay Devgn graced the couch.

Dropping new episodes of Koffee With Karan Season 8 every Thursday exclusively on Disney+ Hotstar, viewers are on a whirlwind journey of getting up close and personal with celebrities. Needlessly to say, in the latest episode, the director-actor duo, Rohit Shetty and Ajay Devgn graced the couch and spoke about their friendship and much more. Interstingly, Ajay also revealed how he handles the high energy of Ranveer Singh.

For the unversed, Ajay Devgn did a cameo in Ranveer's film Simmba, which was directed by Rohit Shetty. Later, the duo revived their respective cop characters for another Rohit Shetty directorial venture, Sooryavanshi. In addition to this, they will be reuniting as Singham and Simmba for the third instalment of Singham. In fact, they have already started shooting for it.

Ajay Devgn has a completely different personality in comparison to his wife Kajol and his cop-verse co-star Ranveer Singh. Talking about it, Ajay Devgn said, "I shut him up or I shut my ears. In 5 minutes he realizes that I am not listening to him."

Karan Johar asked, "Does that happen with your wife sometimes?" Ajay Devgn responded, "Most of the time. That's where I learnt this. It's an art."

Besides this, during the segment of rapid-fire, Karan Johar asked, "Ajay is not spotted at parties because?" Ajay Devgn replied, "I am not called anymore!" "Never papped at the airport because?" Karan Johar added. Ajay Devgn said, "I don't call them." Karan asked about his sworn enemy in the industry, and Ajay replied, "Once upon a time, you!" The episode is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

[indiamedicaltourism]

Best Heart Valve Replacement Surgery Hospitals in India

Your heart has a total of four valves, and heart valve surgery can either treat or substitute all or some of them. Your heart's four main chambers have been divided by your valves, which maintain the blood pumping smoothly. When valves are functioning properly, blood is supposed to pass through the heart's chambers in only one direction with every heartbeat.

With every heartbeat, valves serve as doors which slide open and shut, allowing blood to flow through and out from the chambers. Some blood can come back to the chamber or space it just left when a valve is dysfunctional. Sometimes a valve could possibly narrow, which may hinder blood from flowing ahead. As a result, the heart is unable to function properly, which is a concern.

The heart has four valves, which are as follows:

Tricuspid: Enables the passage of blood that lacks oxygen from your right atrium (upper chamber) to the right ventricle (lower chamber).

Pulmonary: Allows blood that lacks oxygen transport from the right ventricle (lower chamber) to the pulmonary arteries, thereby transporting blood to the lungs to receive oxygen.

Mitral: Allows blood with lots of oxygen flowing through the lungs to circulate from the left atrium (upper chamber) to the left ventricle (lower chamber) through the mitral valve.

Aortic: Allows blood with lots of oxygen from the left ventricle (lower chamber) to get through the aorta, which transports blood throughout the body.

Heart Valve Replacement Surgery cost in India

Heart Valve Replacement Surgery price in India gets started at INR 130000. The price of Heart Valve Replacement Surgery in India often varies across hospitals and treatment places based on a number of variables. The average cost of replacing a heart valve is INR 2,15, 000, yet the range may be as much as INR 3,00,000. The cost of Heart Valve Replacement Surgery in India varies based on a number of considerations including the hospital, the physicians' skills, the kind of valve implemented (tissue or mechanical), and the durability of the implant used. It is important to remember that costs may change based on the specific needs of each patient.

Best Heart Valve Replacement Surgery hospitals in India

Since there are several best Heart Valve Replacement Surgery hospitals in India which have even added their names to the database of hospitals that serve patients from every corner of the nation. The hospital staff's determination and teamwork enable patients to get optimal care with affordable surgery choices. Some of the best hospitals for Heart Valve Replacement in India are Apollo Hospital, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, and The Wockhardt Hospital.

Best Heart Valve Replacement Surgery Doctor in India

Only a skilled surgeon is the greatest alternative for you if you want the most excellent effects. In order to help you with up-to-date procedures and a less disruptive strategy for treatment of heart valve disease, we present you the top cardiologists in India for Heart Valve Replacement Surgery in India. Dr. Ashok Seth, Dr.Naresh Trehan and Dr. Ajay Kaul are among the Best Heart Valve Replacement Surgery doctors in India.

Al AfiyaMedi Tour is one of the best medical tourism companies in India. It offers medical tours from all the countries of the world to India. Some of the main countries are Bangladesh, Zambia, Namibia, Iraq, Kenya, Nigeria and so on. We provide free assistance for TURP surgery cost, lung cancer treatment, best kidney hospital in India, stomach cancer treatment in India, liver transplant cost, best hospital for heart valve replacement, bone marrow transplant, arthroscopic surgery, best liver transplant hospital, brain tumor surgery cost in India, best bone marrow hospital etc.  If you are looking for free medical and healthcare consulting to find the best hospital and top specialist doctor for any treatment in India then to alafiyameditour.com.

Source:https://alafiyameditour1.blogspot.com/2023/09/skin-cancer-treatment-cost-in-india_27.html