#all he does is run around villages and steal nails out of buildings

[motobug]

oh god its been a month since ive posted here uhhh uhh ---

here's a new oc! His name is Archie (& the snakes are named Plague / Pestilence)

He's a chimera for our fantasy AU - he's got lion paws that will grow as he grows.

[monkeyparasite]

GORILLAZ MEMBERS REACTS TO . . . Y/N playing Minecraft! / Y/N plays Minecraft, while the other(s) watch!

relationship with members not specified, imagine the relationship how you please (self-shipper friendly, friendship friendly, yadada)

gender not specified y/n, pov is second person, no usage of any pronouns for the reader

includes: murdoc, 2d, russel, noodle, ace (in that order, actually! also you are included too already ehehehe)

triggers and or squicks: an unsanitary act for 2Ds (toe nail chewing heughgh 😟)

Murdy

- Whether you invited him to watch you play or he just caught you, expect him to be a handful at times

- Usually, he doesn't ask if he can watch you play, he just does. But when he does ask, no matter your answer, he's dropped whatever he was doing beforehand so he can watch you play this strange game of yours!

- He's back seat gaming, telling you to do stuff, "Run back there a minute! What was that..? Well then, what is that ugly bloke? Did, did it just make a noise at me..?!? Hit it. What do you mean no??"

- At first, he didnt like the villagers, but now he's grow accustomed to them. Will probably, cough cough definitely cough cough, take over the village and steal a villagers house if he plays

- Flips out when your close to dying in a cave, hes failing his arms around, screaming, wailing, making such a ruckus everyone else came to help, only to find Murdoc cursing out everyone of the monsters

2D

- Watching you play is a hit and miss, he answers truthfully though! If he doesn't want too, he says no, if he's doing something but he wants to watch you play anyways, he can take a break to watch you! [CUE NOODLE BARGING OUT OF THE RESTROOM AFTER 1 HOUR OF WAITING FOR 2D BECAUSE HE PROMISED TO HELP 😔]

- Asks if he can watch you game, but like Murdoc, no matter the answer, he's still going to watch you play. But with a twist, he actually tries to not make it visible, takes a moment at you screen, look away, take a look, look away, cycle repeats

- Is either also back seat gaming OR just sitting in silence, mouth gaping open. Is he in awe or just hypnotized? No idea

- He thinks the zombies are cool, but says their design is a little bland looking. Hates the baby zombies with a passion though, those little shits haunt his dreams

- Bro. If your about to die and its intense. Just die, he's chewed off all his finger nails and now he resorted to chewing off his fucking toenails, what is wrong with him??

Russel

- Hes honest and nice about it! If he doesn't want to, he just says so, then apologizes. If he does, he says yes! He will plop down beside you and depending on what console your playing on, he will nuzzle his head under your neck to watch OR just lean back and get comfy!

- Will ask, accepts whatever answer you give him. I love you Russel, I love you so much

- Doesn't talk much. Makes small comments and talks very little. But if you get out the note blocks or record player? He's giving you all sorts of tips, also might be dancing a lil. He's having fun!

- He says he doesn't have a favorite mob, but he does. Its the pig! Loves it when you ride a pig, because he thinks its adorable!

- During intense moments when your about to die, he's the one to be quiet. Man is holding his breath, his heart dropped down to his asshole when you realized you probably bit off more than you can chew with these mobs

Noodle

- Like 2D, she answers truthfully! However, if the answer is no, she always adds "maybe next time?", though!

- She won't admit it, but she'll watch you play over your shoulder, before deciding if its worth asking if she could watch you play

- Will and can be blunt, if you're doing an absolute ass job at building something, Noodle's making a small remark about that, suggesting you watch some tutorials so you can get better

- Enjoys the look of the iron golems, also the cats too, but mainly the iron golems! Who can blame her? They are pretty cool looking, also the way they fling the monsters up in the air like that will never cease to be funny to any of them

- Be prepared, because during tough fights, she is watching out for you but will be getting too into it, "BEAT ITS ASS GET IT GET IT!"

Ace

- He can't deny himself one of your good ol' gaming sessions! At this point, you probably already know his answer, and might I suggest, telling him to come here because your playing minecraft

- If you don't tell him your playing minecraft and he sees?!? HERE HE FUCKING COMES, "TOOTS WHY DIDNT YOU TELLL ME YOU WERE PLAYING?!?! SCOOT OVER", Bro is jump over the couch's top part, going into a roll mid jump, and landing on the fucking floor. He did not plan that very well, but dont worry he's okay, MINECRAFT TIME NOWW

- The first few times he watched you play, he was absolutely clueless and asking you questions about everything, he's commenting on everything and anything he sees. "Hey whats like in the distant? NO WAY IS THAT MURDOC?? What- Its a zombie? Whats the difference toots?"

He is still a bit clueless on somethings like the ores, the warden, everything in the nether, but the rest of it he understands fairly well! Still talks about everything he sees though! Cracking jokes and shit

- His favorite mob is the snow golems. If you let him play in creative, he will find a snowy biome, spawn a snow golem, and make it his pet or friend. Gives it a name and everything, you gotta help him with the name tag stuff tho

- Screams encouragements at you, "YEAHH GET EM TOOTS!!" and if its obvious your losing, he's flailing around, oh now he's deflating, nevermind he's back to flailing. Oh and during all of this he's fucking wailing and screaming like its happening to him in real life. Ace king please-

[the-broken-truth]

May I please request a third part for the story with Donna and her son? It's a fun read and I am curious as to what happens next!

Keep up the awesome and entertaining work! 💪😎💕

Broken Truth (Looks at the ask with my tail waving): Hm, no exact direction. Sweet - A Freebie For Me! What's next after your family tries stealing your son? VILLAGE GIRLS TRY STEALING YOUR SON! Let the words weave together!

[The Village]

Young Lord [Y/N] Benevieto hammered away at the loose nails of the board he was placing on the Flower Shop's Roof with 3 sets of eyes watching him. Those eyes belonged to the Flower Shop Owner, Her Father, and the Head of House Beneviento. With each swing of his hammer, [Y/N] remembered why he was doing this in the first place - One of his uncle's Lycans got loose in the village while [Y/N] and his mother were shopping for new flowers for the garden. The Son of House Beneviento sent him flying with a single punch but when gravity began working its magic, the beast went crashing into the flower shop's roof - it didn't break through but it was a dent in the roof that would let the rain through and that was no good. As a result, [Y/N] instantly went to the Lumber Yard and purchased some wood before running back to Beneviento Manor to get his tool belt - thanks to the Cadou, he was able to get everything in 8 minutes and returned to get to work.

"Ya know, Lady Beneviento, the lad didn't have to do this; I told the young lord I could have taken care of the roof." The old man - Mr. Seth - said to the veiled woman.

"That's just how my son is - if something happens that he was remotely responsible, he will do what he must to fix it, regardless of what anyone has to say." Donna said as she and Angie looked up at the young man fixing the roof.

"I hope he knows there are more ways of getting my daughter's attention than this." The old man said this made Donna raise her eyebrow.

"Excuse me? What makes you think my son is fixing your roof to get your daughter's attention?" She asked.

"It's obvious the boy has a crush on my girl - he is always at the shop to get small things that no one would bother with; why else would he be there if not for my girl?" The man asked.

"My son has sent the last few months building a greenhouse near home; he's not interested in your daughter." Donna deadpanned but the girl just chuckled.

"No need to be so modest, Lady Beneviento; it's obvious your son wants me and I don't blame him, I am quite the catch. Any man would love to have me on his arm." The girl - Sarah - said with a smirk.

"Young Lady, my son has no interest in you, so get that thought out of your head." Donna said.

"Sure he does. It will only be a matter of time before we're dating and engaged. We should plan the wedding, Lady Beneviento." Sarah said - her father just stood there with his arms folded and constantly nodding his head; as if the thought of his daughter marrying into the Beneviento Family was a good idea.

"I'm finished." [Y/N]'s voice made everyone look at him as he jumped off the roof and landed before them. He placed his hammer in his belt before speaking, "Once again, sorry about the roof; I didn't mean to throw him into your roof." He said.

"No need to worry, Lad; but I hope you know there are more ways of getting a lady's attention than throwing beasts in our roof." The old man smiled but the young lord just tilted his head in confusion.

"Excuse me?" He asked and was shocked when Sarah looped her arms around his and smiled at him.

"No need to play coy, darling; I know that you are always at the shop because you love looking at me!" She smiled.

"Um...no." He said.

"What?" She chuckled, "What do you mean 'no'?" She asked.

"I come to your shop because I'm working on a greenhouse and your shop happens to be the best one in the village. I'm not interested in you." [Y/N] explained as he pulled his arm away from her, making her and her father gasp.

"There - now you know my son isn't interested in you. Let's go home, [Y/N]." Donna said as she walked off.

"Coming, Mom!" He said with happiness in his voice as he followed his mother.

[Location Skip - When they returned to Beneviento Manor]

"The gall of that girl, thinking you were coming there to court her; it was disgusting," Donna said as she sipped her tea.

"Mother..." He started, "Would you be upset if I did like someone?" He asked.

Donna nearly spits out her tea at that.

"What?!" She asked.

"Now before you get mad - it's not the girl at the flower shop; she's too...Lei Interested for me." [Y/N] said with his hands raised in a defensive position.

Broken Truth: When he says 'Lei Interested', he means 'Money Hungry'.

"Okay, if you're not interested in her, who is it then?" Donna asked. The light blush on her son's face made her raise an eyebrow.

"Do you remember the family that recently moved into the village and opened up that Book & Antique Shop?" He asked.

"The Silverstreams?" Donna asked.

"Yes. They have an elder daughter named Stella; she's my age and...she's so amazing. She's smart and kind, not to mention compassionate and strong - I saw her level a guy to the ground when he demanded her Lei. She's amazing, Mother, and...I want to know that you would be alright with me attempting to court her." He said.

"Have you been spending time with her?" Donna asked.

"When I go to the shop, yes. We have a lot of the same hobbies and her mother is very nice to me but her Father and Younger brother think I might be one of those horrible men who would use and abuse her. I want to prove them wrong." [Y/N] said with determination in his eyes.

Donna exhaled and thought for a while.

"You're at that age where you would want a partner. I'll tell you what - you invite the family over for dinner and we shall all have a talk to see if the father and brother will all you two to court. I want them to know that you are not that kind of man." Donna said.

"Thank you, Madre (Mother)!" He said as he jumped up and hugged his mother tightly, rubbing his cheek against hers - her as he did when he was a child.

'Well, he still is a child; he's my child, even when he's not a small as he used to be.' Donna thought with a smile.

[End]

Broken Truth: Hm...just writing this, I might do one last part showing the dinner and to see if the relationship goes a planned. Every story needs a proper end, right?

[voidstilesplease]

stand and watch me burn

~•~

Life is hard for a street rat. It's easier to steal than beg; easier to run than find a decent paying job; better to be insolent than treated a low-life for circumstances that he has no control over - like being an orphan, having no one to turn to. So Theo grabs his food for the day while the baker's back is turned and runs for his life back into the hole where he hides. He knows the marketplace up, down, and sideways, and so he traces his shortcut and ducks, rolls, jumps, dashes like his every step a rehearsed practice.

He turns the corner of the bookshop that no one visits and unexpectedly crashes into someone walking out of the establishment, promptly sending them sprawling to the ground. Theo's stolen long bread flies from his hand, and he crawls immediately to retrieve it. Before he can stand, a hand catches the back of his shirt, halting his escape. 

"Ha!" The baker cries triumphantly. "You little rascal. I'm going to whip you fifty times for stealing my bread."

Theo tries to break free, but a crowd has already gathered, surrounding them and congratulating the baker for finally catching the pest. The baker is already hauling him away when someone places himself in front of them, blocking their way.

"Mr. Baker," the boy, around Theo's age but clean, freckled, and not dressed in rags, tells the baker. "There's no need to whip the boy."

The baker's face contorts, "He stole from me,"

The intercepting boy nods and fishes something out from his pocket. He opens his palm and reveals silver coins. "I'll pay for the bread,"

The baker scoffs, "This isn't the first bread he took from me. If anything, I should give him a hundred whips and make him clean my shoes for a whole year."

Theo sneers at this, sending a glare to the smug baker.

The boy's hand disappears once more inside his pocket and takes out more silver, a few bronzes, and one gold coin to offer them to the baker, "If this isn't enough, I promise to buy bread from you for the next month and pay an extra coin each time."

The baker considers the offer. With a huff, he releases Theo and accepts the coins from the boy, pocketing them. He agrees to the proposal, "I know your father. If you fail to follow up on your promise, I know where to collect." He gives Theo a once-over, shoves the long bread to his chest, spits to the side, and walks away.

When Theo turns to the boy, he's already walking in the other direction, picking up his book that fell upon their collision without another glance at Theo.

He doesn't want to feel indebted to anybody, so against his judgment, Theo runs.

But he runs to catch up with his savior.

•••

The boy's name is Stiles, he discovers, son of the mayor's newly-appointed head guard. He doesn't usually run errands to the market, but since his father got the job, Stiles is now in-charge of basically all of the house chores.

"What about your mother?"

His smile turns a little wistful, "She passed away."

"Oh," is all Theo can say in reply.

They walk in relative silence, following a path that Theo hasn't visited before. In some distance, a hut peeks into view. It's a little far from the village and also away from other neighboring households. It's peaceful.

"You didn't have to follow me," Stiles says when they reach the hut. "I don't expect anything in return."

"I owe you," Theo says determinedly. "Besides, I don't need to worry about food all day," he raises the bread pointedly. "So, I might as well use my time to pay my debt. Do you have a table I can fix, or a bed, a broken chair, or a stable to clean, or chickens to feed?"

Stiles gives a small laugh, shaking his head. "None of those,"

"Well, what can I do?" Theo insists. "I'm not leaving until I do something in return for you."

The boy's eyes soften. He glances around at the quiet space, then responds with a smile, "You can keep me company, perhaps."

Theo wants to protest at the unusual request, but he keeps quiet when Stiles lead them away. They go to the backyard where Stiles sits by a mound of soil, putting the book he got from the bookshop on a stone. He places an open palm on the ground, eyes slightly moist.

"What's this?"

Stiles doesn't look up, but he replies, caressing the lone marigold sitting on top of the small hill. "It's the tomb of my mother. She didn't want herself buried in the cemetery."

Theo is surprised by this, but he keeps his end of the bargain and stays with Stiles.

•••

Against Theo's judgment, he comes back the next day bearing flowers. He knocks and hands the bundle to Stiles when he comes to answer.

"I did not steal them," he says when Stiles looks down at the marigolds in suspicion. "I weeded a garden and got them for free."

Stiles is silent for a moment, staring alternatingly at Theo and the bundle in his hand. Then, slowly, the corners of his lips tilt upwards. He invites Theo inside and serves him bread with hot cocoa.

The next day, Theo comes back again. He gives the flowers to Stiles, and Stiles gives him homemade food.

And it continues for days, weeks, and when a month has passed, Theo brings flowers and now marigold seeds. They plant them by the tomb. Theo comes every day to water the plant, and Stiles always nurtures a smile on them, face breaking like the dawn, warmer than anything Theo knows.

•••

"What do you want to be, Theo?" Stiles asks one day, watching him pour water on their sprouting plants.

Theo thinks about it for a second, "A soldier," he declares. "My father was one. But he got injured in a war and never came home."

Stiles only gives him a nod of understanding.

"How about you?" Theo passes the question.

Stiles's answer is quick, sure. "A healer."

•••

Somehow, Stiles does become one. The marigold garden blooms and Stiles starts picking up the flowers and chopping, juicing, and mixing them into weird liquid concoctions.

He tells Theo that his mother used to talk to him about brewing with herbs and flowers, specifically the marigold, as bedtime tales. He has committed to memory every one of them and finally has the urge to try the procedures.

When Theo takes a sip of one of the brews, the scabbing wound in his hand from gardening smoothens right before their eyes.

When Theo catches the flu one time, he upends a vial of Stiles's marigold oil and quickly recovers before he can put the lid back on the empty bottle.

When Theo nails himself building a shelf for Stiles, they pour Stiles's recipe onto the open, bleeding wound, and it closes and disappears in an instant.

When there's an opening for training soldiers, Theo signs himself up and bathes in a tub of flowers and leaves, mesmerized at the way Stiles whispers to the water like a command. He watches the water respond, pulsing and glowing around him, and turn him feeling invincible.

Theo doesn't know how Stiles does what he does, but he's doing a better job than most healers in the village.

•••

But Theo finds out the reason many years later when he comes home revered as a hero, the one blessed by gods never to bleed or know defeat, to the one dear to his heart tied and burning alive in the pyre.

There's no judgment; he doesn't think. He just runs.

~•~

prompt link

[autisticsupervillain]

The Macabre Madame Megido

Here it is. My take on an Evil Aradia. Get cozy, it's a long one.

Oh, Aradia. Everyone's favorite chaos loving time goddess.

I'm going to have to take a different approach to Aradia then I did with John and Karkat. Out the three big bads I've created so far, Aradia has probably coped best with everything that has happened to her. She still has a lot of the same light in her eyes and she's able to accept her tragic past as a part of her. It certainly helps that the loved ones she's lost along the way came back to life, which is more than can be said about John and Karkat.

Simply digging open old wounds and then hammering in the nails in won't cut it this time. So, here's a different method...

After the creation of Earth C, Aradia distances herself from the rest of the cast somewhat. Not for any angsty reasons, mind you. It's just that, aside from Sollux, she isn't especially close to any of the people who made it to Earth C. Instead, she dedicates herself towards serving as a grim reaper of sorts. She seeks out the recently deceased in the dreambubbles and works to guide them through the afterlife, helping them come to grips with their death and work through their grief.

When she isn't doing that, she's hanging out with Sollux. Playing video games, talking shit, and making sure Sollux gets out of the house and doesn't waste away into his couch. It all settles into a nice little routine.

...Which she eventually gets bored of.

Aradia is an adventurer at heart. Yes, this happily ever after is nice. It's nice to finally live somewhere peaceful. It's nice to finally kick back and relax. It's so damn nice to not get yanked around by fate anymore. But, it's not in her nature to sit around and do nothing.

So, she grabs Sollux and drags him with her to the dreambubbles, intent on discovering her next adventure.

In time, she discovers it. Whispers echoing across Paradox Space of a mysterious artifact that reveals to its holder one absolute truth. That reveals one small part of how Paradox Space operates and puts its user one-step closer to absolute understanding of the nature of Paradox Space before vanishing to be found again by some other adventurer. They call it The Scroll of Secrets.

Aradia can't resist that challenge and Sollux knows damn well that he couldn't talk her down even if he wanted too.

Aradia and Sollux spend the next few years searching for this artifact. Investigating rumors, running into dead ends, and chasing desperate leads. In the end, it takes a bit of reasoning to figure out the truth. Aradia reasons that something that freely reveals cosmic secrets of that caliber would most likely belong to a Lord of Light, so they'd just have to find one and steal it from them. Sollux points out that stealing from someone who is both nigh-omniscient and nigh-omnipotent is likely to go horribly, but Aradia has an idea.

A Muse of Void would be the Masterclass that passively hides things. As such, even the barest influence of a Muse of Void should be enough to hide them from the Lord's sight, so long as he isn't actively looking for them. Just learning the name of a Muse should be influence enough to keep a Lord from seeing them and the only people who would know such a thing are the Horrorterrors. Lickily, Feferi is on good terms with the Horrorterrors and Sollux is on good terms with Feferi.

Aradia and Sollux track down Feferi in the dreambubbles and the three of them catch up. Aradia puts the whole quest thing on hold for awhile so they can catch up and spend some time together. Feferi admits to being weirdly nostalgic for questing with Sollux during their time in SGRUB and is quiet happy to help with their quest. Sollux and Aradia would also be happy to find a way to revive her afterwards, but Feferi asks them to hold on that idea. She's more useful to them dead then alive right now.

A few trolls against impossible odds, just like the good old days!

So, Feferi asks one of the Horrorterrors for the name of a Muse of Void and the three set of to steal from a Lord of Light. Sneak into the Lord's castle, steal the scroll, sneak out. Aradia had to stop herself from nabbing every ancient relic that wasn't nailed down.

The Scroll of Secrets shows the three a horrible truth.

Simply put, history is destined to repeat itself. There must always be a big bad. Some grand villain who will spread chaos across Paradox Space. A villain will rise, causes death and destruction, and will then be defeated by some underdog heroes.

As the scroll vanishes, Sollux grumbles about losing their hard earned happy ending. Feferi optimistically points out that they don't know when the next villain will rise. It could be long after they're all dead. Aradia suggests that they just look for some way to see into the future. That way they could see who the next villain was gonna be and plan accordingly.

While the Lord of Light would likely have something that would let them view the future, trying to steal from him again would be stupid. So, they instead decide to try their luck with his opposite. A Muse of Light would be able to grant them this level of precognition, the only issue was finding one. Luckily, Feferi had them covered. She just asked Horrorterrors to point them in the direction of the nearest Muse of Light.

The Muse is actually quite impressed that they managed to steal from a Lord of Light and finds Aradia to be quite the interesting conversational partner. She’s able to keep up with all the meta-narrative mumbo jumbo and her rebellious attitude provides a breath of fresh air for the Muse. So, the Muse agrees to give Aradia the future sight she needs.

Aradia looks into the future to find that she’s destined to be the next main villain.

She sees herself reclining in a large throne draped in shadow.

She sees herself floating in the sky as Earth C burns.

She sees herself staring down at the golden blood on her hands.

Aradia is taken aback briefly… but she quickly brushes it off. Aradia is used to being toyed with by fate by now and, more importantly, she has an out here.

Remember, John has Retcon Powers. He exists outside the typical rules of Paradox Space. If anyone could feasibly help them deny fate here, it’s him.

So, Aradia thanks the Muse for her time and she and Sollux head to visit John (Feferi can’t really join them, as she’s still dead and, thus, confined to the dreambubbles). They explain their situation and Aradia reveals her plan. Have John teleport her over to the Retcon Juju before John himself picked it up so she can collect it. The Retcon Powers would then allow Aradia to exist outside the laws of Paradox Space and keep her from turning evil per what fate had intended.

While that does sidestep the issue, Sollux cynically points out that now someone else would become the next villain. Aradia hadn’t so much solved the issue as she had handed off the “become the next villain” problem to someone else. They’re still likely to lose their happy ending.

So, Aradia, Sollux, and John meet back up with Feferi to discuss their next move. John brings up how Lord English seemed to be able to influence fate and the plot somewhat at the peak of his power, which he noticed while fighting him. Sollux cynically remarks that imitating Lord English is the very thing they were trying to avoid and Aradia kinda agrees. Aradia feels that she doesn’t really want to control the narrative. She wants to destroy it.

Think about it. Nothing suggests that they need a narrative to exist. Even if they were to operate under the assumption that they are fictional characters, they still wouldn’t need a narrative. Minecraft is a game with no narrative. No story. No plot. But characters still go about their lives within it. Villagers still live their daily lives, mobs still exist, and players still build things. All destroying the narrative would do is give them control over their lives.

John agrees with the idea, he felt he got dicked around by the plot a lot too before he got the Retcon Powers. Even Sollux admits that the idea would be pretty nice while Feferi just kinda goes along with it. She hasn’t really had the same experiences as the other three, but she trusts their judgement.

But, the same question remains. How are they gonna do it?

The four of them bat some ideas back and forth and this is the plan they come up with:

The Retcon Powers are the only known way to defy the plot and break the rules of the story. So, it makes sense that if they find a way to empower the Retcon Powers, they could be used as a means of destroying the narrative. They’d just need to find a way to do that. Aradia suggests asking a First Guardian, but John laments that Earth C doesn’t have one or, if it does, they haven’t found it yet. While they can time travel, none of them would be able to understand Becquerel and there’s no way they can trust Doc Scratch. Then, Feferi pipes up.

She’d been in the dreambubbles long enough to hear about Beforus and, logically speaking, Beforus would have a First Guardian. While they may not know where that First Guardian is, it’s likely Feferi's Beforus counterpart would. As the Empress, she’d have an interest in keeping tabs on an asset like that. So, the group teleports in to a Doomed Timeline Beforus and explain their situation. Her Everlasting Compassion specifically asks Feferi for proof. Aradia and John promptly demonstrate their God-Tier abilities, proving to the Compassionate that they are in fact Gods from another world.

In the ensuing conversation, HEC continues to only refer to and address Feferi, even occasionally speaking over the rest of the group. The group is quick to get annoyed and Feferi asks her to stop. HEC takes her younger self aside for a private chat, leaving her guards to “watch the lowbloods". Aradia is amused that she thinks the guards can do anything against two Gods and the strongest psionic on Alternia.

The Compassionate asks Feferi why she allows “her lowbloods" to be so mouthy. Feferi is very… put off by how the HEC sees it that way. She asserts that her companions deserve more respect. HEC dismisses this as a case of “agree to disagree" and changes the subject. The HEC promises that she’ll speak with her First Guardian and find a way to empower their Retcon Powers.

Her true intentions are a little more sinister however.

The next night, she has John and Aradia strap themselves into a machine she swears will enhance their powers and even makes a point of apologizing to them for last night. All Sollux has to do is start it up. All seems to be going well… until Sollux hears Aradia’s voice.

He hears Aradia’s voice in his head.

Sollux’s warning gives the two just enough time to escape the machine before it blows, although all three are highly injured.

Sollux doesn’t notice his injuries at first.

That's twice now he’s heard Aradia’s last words in his head. Twice that he knew that she was about to die. And this time he saved her life. He defied fate. He’d never felt so… free.

HEC orders the three be put into medical care faculties and consuls a distraught Feferi.

In truth, John and Aradia are being taken away to gave their powers studied and potentially extracted, while Sollux is chipped with a psionic dampener and taken to a daycare to be “re-educated so his needs can be met".

There, Sollux sees firsthand how lowbloods and mutants are treated on Beforus. They’re coddled. Handheld. They’re treated like children, well into adulthood, and have all their freedoms stripped away. Any showing of disobedience has them treated with shock therapy and, at worst, lobotomy .

HEC tries to guilt Feferi for this failure, implying that if she had taken “better care of her lowbloods” that this wouldn’t have happened. She’s trying to bring her counterpart around to her way of thinking.

In the HEC's mind, the highbloods protect and coddle the lowbloods from an uncaring world that they aren’t ready for. Lowbloods aren’t people her. They’re pets. Feferi, by contrast, has spent enough time with Aradia and Sollux to respect them and she finds the HEC's implications to be disturbing.

Luckily, Aradia and John prove to be difficult to contain. They easily escape their restraints, even with their injuries, and they team up to rescue Sollux.

The HEC sees this as another opportunity to try and make her point.

She has Feferi sent away to a separate location, knowing the three will first look for her at her palace. The HEC meets them there and, after feigning a fight, lies about Feferi’s location when defeated.

In truth, she sends them towards one of her daycares. The ensuing struggle with security inadvertently gets several bystanders killed.

While everyone is reeling from what they just did, the HEC spins the incident as “two lowbloods and a mutant" rejecting her “compassionate guidance”, resulting in massive casualties. She uses this to justify her policies to the public and tries to use this to convince Feferi that “her lowbloods" need her guidance and will only hurt themselves without her. Feferi almost believes her, but then questions what she could’ve done to stop them from screwing up like that.

John, Aradia, and Sollux regroup and teleport over to The Compassionate, overthrowing and killing her. Sollux finds and rescues Feferi, but he comes back to see Aradia staring blankly at the HEC's throne.

It’s the same throne Aradia saw in her vision.

It used to belong to HEC. From a certain point of view, Aradia inherited it.

Aradia notes this out loud and the three move to comfort her. Sollux brings up how, for the very first time, he was able to save someone who he heard die in his head. For the very first time, he defied fate, defied the inevitable, and saved her life. They clearly aren’t bound by inevitability anymore. Feferi, meanwhile, relates to where she’s coming from. HEC was… uncomfortably close to what she would probably be like if she hadn’t met any lowbloods growing up. If she hadn’t gotten to know Sollux and Aradia as people. Highbloods aren’t exactly raised to think of the needs of lowbloods very often, even in a comparatively peaceful setting.

Even still, Aradia is disturbed by the coincidence. Fate is an insidious thing. You tend to end up doing what it says, even when you think you’re ahead. So, Feferi comes up with an idea to ease Aradia’s conscience a bit.

Logically speaking, Beforus Feferi ending up the way that she die would be predestined to happen. She’d need to rule the way she did so that the Alpha Trolls would fail their session, allowing the Beta trolls to exist and so on. So, if they’re able to prevent Beforus Feferi from turning evil, that would prove that they’re still operating outside of the plot. John points out that that this is a Doomed Timeline, meaning they’re already outside of fate's boundaries anyways. Preventing Beforus Feferi from ending up like the HEC wouldn’t do anything. Feferi sheepishly admits to still not fully understanding how timelines work, as she has the least experience with all this meta narrative nonsense.

Regardless, Aradia agrees to go back with Feferi to prevent Beforus Feferi from becoming the tyrannical despot they had to deal with. Both Aradia and Sollux can kinda tell that this is affecting Feferi more than she lets on, even if they don’t say anything about it. Plus, it’ll help take Aradia’s mind off things, while Sollux and John stay in the present to find the First Guardian and get their advice.

Feferi and Aradia visit Beforus Feferi at various points in her life, giving her life advice and giving her the perspective Her Everlasting Compassion didn’t have. Meanwhile, John and Sollux are able to find where the First Guardian lives via the Beforus archives. The First Guardian tells them that, while this is slightly outside the realm of their omniscience, they do believe it could be possible to enhance the Retcon Powers with energy from the Green Sun.

The two teams meet up again in the dreambubbles afterwards and catch each other up on their little side adventures. Feferi wants to see how Beforus has changed now that they’ve fiddled the Beforus Feferi’s past.

When the group arrives on New Beforus, they find Her Imperious Benevolence waiting for them. They make polite conversation, getting HIB caught up on who John and Sollux are. HIB thanks Aradia, specifically, for all the advice she’d given over the sweeps and says she wants to thank her. So, as a gift, HIB gives her the throne of Beforus.

The same throne that Aradia saw in her vision.

All that existential dread that she’d been burying and avoiding all this time stabs through her all at once. No matter where she goes, no matter what she does, fate is still there. Mocking her. Taunting her. Controlling her. Just when she thinks she’s escaped it, something reminds her of that vision. Reminds her that she isn’t free.

As long as the narrative exists, she’s doomed to become the bad guy. That’s the only way she can interpret this. The only conclusion she can offer to the throne in her vision being outright handed to her.

Aradia maintains her composure and politely refuses. After Feferi talks HIB down and the group teleports back over to the First Guardian again. The First Guardian offers up a bit of their energy over to Aradia, explaining that she should be capable of absorbing it thanks to the Retcon Juju. Aradia takes the amount of energy offered, but then a thought occurs to her.

She’d get more energy if she absorbs more. And, with all the hints fate has been giving her, it’s entirely possible she’ll need it. She might still be on track to become the next villain, so she’ll need to destroy the narrative quickly. It should be fine, First Guardian’s are tough. She’ll just absorb a little bit more….

Next thing she knows, the First Guardian has dropped dead on the floor in front of her.

Everyone freaks out. Aradia quickly explains that it was an accident. She admits that she was likely still distracted by the throne earlier. She was still worried. Afraid that fate was hanging over her.

So, the group buries the First Guardian, show their respects, and leave.

As soon as she’s able, Feferi takes John and Sollux off to the side and expresses her concerns.

Between the throne cropping up twice now, and Aradia killing the First Guardian, maybe she’s still going to become the villain after all? Maybe they haven’t actually escaped fate at all. John and Sollux are still unconvinced. John maintains that he knows how the Retcon Powers work and Sollux knows he’s never been able to defy his precognition before. Feferi concedes but remains skeptical.

The team puts together a new plan. Now that they know Aradia can drain First Guardians until they’re just lifeless husks, they could farm them. More specifically, they could farm Doc Scratch. Scratch is a complete monster, so there’s no moral reservation to be had in doing so. So they farm versions of Scratch from Doomed Timelines and each time, Aradia meets an alternate version of the Handmaiden.

Each time, Aradia’ conversation with Handmaiden gets her thinking.

What makes you think you’ve escaped fate? Why aren’t you doing more to get more powerful, to destroy the narrative faster? Surely doing so would be in everyone’s best interest, right?

After a few stops, Aradia notes that she hasn’t really gotten all that stronger. Absorbing the Green Sun outright isn’t an option, absorbing that much power at once would likely kill her. But, maybe there are other power sources she could drain from? Aradia notes how Jade and Calliope are both stronger than Scratch, which gets John immediately protective. He makes it clear that Jade is off the list and Aradia backpedals. She didn’t mean anything by it. She was just thinking out loud. Still, she can’t help but notice the looks both John and Feferi are giving her now. Apparently Feferi’s concerns influenced John more than he realized.

The versions of the Handmaiden Aradia meets now note the distrust most of the team holds towards her. If they can’t trust you, how can you trust yourself?

One Handmaiden claims she has a way to get the power Aradia craves faster. Aradia says she’ll think about it.

The cycle continues for a few days. Eventually, Aradia comes to Sollux in the middle of the night, asking him to come with her. She wants to have his opinion on hand, to keep her from doing something stupid. The two approach the Handmaiden and Aradia asks about her offer.

The Handmaiden takes them to a timeline where the Condescension won. The heroes were destroyed, the Earth belongs to Condy forevermore… and a Grimbark Jade will be forced to serve the Condescension for eternity.

Surely, it would be more merciful to put her out of her misery.

Sollux immediately tries to veto this idea.

Killing a version of John’s sister behind his back like this, even one that’s nothing but a mindless drone now, is unbelievably cruel.

Aradia looks at Sollux and then she looks down at her hands. She remembers the golden blood dripping from them. Sollux’s blood.

She decides she can’t take that risk.

So, Aradia sucks the life out of the Grimbark Jade.

Sollux tells the others what happened when they get back and the three confront her about it.

Aradia begs for them to understand it from her perspective. She just did what she had to do. It was a mercy kill. She wouldn’t have stooped that low if she had a choice.

The group wants to pull out of this plan. Get Aradia locked up until the narrative can be destroyed. For everyone’s safety.

Aradia teleports away. Since her Retcon Powers are now far stronger than John’s, he can’t keep up with her.

Aradia hides in a dark corner of Paradox Space, trying to keep herself together.

She’s gone to far now. She has to destroy the narrative and fast. It’s the only way she can fix this. It’s the only way she can keep everyone alive.

Part of her even believes it’s the only way she can get her friends back.

So, as John, Sollux, and Feferi teleport back to Earth C to get everyone caught up and prepared for war, Aradia does some preparations of her own.

She creates a horde of her time duplicates and sends the all across Paradox Space. They bring First Guardians and God-Tiered Space Players to her for her to suck the life out of, fueling up the “main" version of herself to be as strong as possible. Her end goal is to become strong enough to absorb the Green Sun. And if that didn’t make her strong enough, she’d invade Earth C as a Plan B. Overpower everyone and absorb Calliope's life force. Then, she'll be powerful enough to destroy the narrative.

She'll free herself. She'll free everyone. Even if she has to fight her closest friends.

As her body count rises, her reputation spreads. Every Space Player knows now to run when a horde of Aradias appear outside your door.

They know none survive getting dragged before Madame Megido.

[writeyouin]

Swerve X Reader – Changes - Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – The Arena

A/N – I finally came back to this, my poor abandoned baby.  As usual, a special thanks to @rocksinmuffin​​ without whom, this story wouldn’t exist.

Warnings – Minor suicide mention.

Rating – T

“That is the cruellest thing I have ever seen you do,” Swerve glowered at you.

“It had to be done. There was nothing else for it,” You replied nonchalantly.

“RODNEY DID NOTHING WRONG.”

“He existed.”

“SO YOU JUST KICKED HIM OUT FOR EXISTING?”

“Look, you get to choose your Animal Crossing villagers, and I get to choose mine.”

“Abuse them, more like,” Swerve pouted.

“Fine, do you want to play on the switch and adopt an ugly-ass hamster who does nothing but bitch all day?” You asked, holding the console out to Swerve.

He took it from you, placing it on the tallest shelf in the hab-suite, “You can have this back when you learn kindness, you monster.”

“… That’s just mean,” You said, looking despondently at the shelf which was labelled No Man’s land. Beside the switch was a copy of Harry Potter which had been removed from you until you could read it without yelling at Snape every time you saw his name, and several pictures of Getaway which you had scrawled insults on; Swerve wasn’t punishing you for those, he just liked admiring them every now and then while you worked on new insults to scribble.

“Okay, fine, you can have it back right now, if you say that hamsters are cute,” Swerve grinned.

“Clearly, you’ve never seen one in real life. They work for the devil and steal people’s souls. I’m ninety percent sure that they also have armies ready to-”

Pain wracked your body and you woke up screaming to find your captors prodding you with weapons akin to cattle prods but much larger and stronger. It was the same creatures that had captured you.

“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?” You yelled through the pain.

The humanoids didn’t reply, staying eerily silent; you wondered whether they were even capable of communication in a way that you might understand.

“All right, that’s enough… For now,” A human called, stepping forward, looking completely out of place among the others.

Your captors backed away, leaving you alone with the human on the opposite side of the cell. You glared at the woman, who couldn’t have been older than thirty. She wore acidic green armour that bore a symbol of a decapitated robotic head with wires and cables sticking out from the neck; the ensemble made you nervous.

“So… You’re our newest contestant. How dull,” She commented boredly, examining you.

“Contestant? What do you mean?” You asked fearfully.

Once again, you were left without a reply as the woman pulled out a dictation machine and began talking into it as if you weren’t there. “Subject is of questionable build. A Minibot. No definable insignia – probably a NAIL. Presumably no fighting skill of which to speak. No weapon attachments that can be seen. One noticeable draw to the crowds is that it’s a female – a rarity in itself.”

“Oh my God, are you- Fuck, are you putting me in the hunger games?” You demanded incredulously.

“The bot uses organic terms in communication. It’s possible that it has spent much of its time around organic communities rather than with its own kind.”

Although you knew you could argue that you weren’t originally a Cybertronian, you decided that it probably wouldn’t get you very far with your captor; she was clearly only interested in her job, whatever that was. You doubted that you would get anywhere talking to her.

“So that’s it? You’re going to put me into an arena to fight? Did I get it right? Hey! HEY, I’M TALKING TO YOU. YEAH, BITCH WITH THE BAD HAIR, YOU!”

The childish attempt at an insult earned you a bemused glance, and the woman paused the dictation machine.

“You ought to mind your manners, or you’ll be in a much worse condition before the fight, and that will only bore the spectators,” She warned you.

“I’ll behave, if you at least tell me your name. I’d like to know who I’m insulting.”

Your roguish attitude earned a sadistic smile; it wasn’t every-day that your captor met a Cybertronian with any spirit left, “Lady Ouida.”

“Stupid name,” You murmured, mostly to hide your fear. “So I’m right about this being a colosseum of sorts?”

“Yes. You are to fight in the arena.”

“And if I win, I go free?”

“No. If you win, we kill you anyway. The people are out for Cybertronian blood after all.”

“Wow… That’s so fucking stupid. Like for real, did you take this out of a book? It’s not very creative is it? How many movies have you seen where the hero is thrown into a death ring to battle? Plus, there’s not going to be much of a fight. I mean, look at me. My arms are all fucked up from your bodyguards, I’m clearly not a fighter, and I’m like only three feet taller than you. Factor in multiple opponents and you get a five-minute fight, tops which will mostly be me running for my life.”

“You don’t seem too concerned with your fate.”

“Bitch, I am terrified, but I’ve seen death and been dragged back from it. I have defined the meaning of an out of body experience. Right now, I am competing with forces that you cannot even imagine in a brain that was not meant for me. In other words, there is nothing you can do that is worse than what I’ve been dealing with for the last forty-eight hours so GET FUCKED.”

The words PERSONALITY MALFUNCTION appeared on your visor, and you knew they were true. In your human form, you tended to avoid confrontation where you could. However, faced with the prospect of unavoidable death, it didn’t seem to matter anymore. There were only two options left for you anyway. Die in an arena, or wait for the Lost Light to come to your rescue. As you stared into the grinning face of Lady Ouida who had developed a sudden interest in you, you hoped it was the latter.

Chromedome sat miserably in the brig, having been put there for attempting to forcibly alter Swerve’s memory banks with mnemosurgery. He had lost count of how many times he had been in that exact scenario, where mnemosurgery was the only way forward, but nobody else would see it that way. How many times had Rewind refused to talk to him because of it? How often had he been forced to alter Rewind’s memory afterwards so he wouldn’t leave him? Chromedome held his head in his servos, thinking of Rewind. He wouldn’t believe it if Chromedome said it was all for Swerve. So what if mnemosurgery felt good, as long as it helped people it wasn’t that bad. Sure there were risks, but there were risks to all sorts of things that people did anyway.

With nothing else to do but think of his failure, Chromedome waited despondently in his cell, with the faintest of hopes that Rewind might deign to visit him, even if it was just to yell.

Ultra Magnus watched the security footage stoically from the computer panel in his office. As well as Chromedome, he was also watching Swerve, who had been restrained for his own safety and was sobbing loudly, screaming your name, and Whirl who was in the med-bay, awaiting yet another energon transfusion. Of the three, Whirl worried Ultra Magnus the most; he was not taking well to Ratchet’s surgery. He had damaged one of his internal components beyond repair and it was now up to Perceptor to create a suitable replacement. The replacement would undoubtedly need constant maintenance for the rest of Whirl’s life if he survived, but it was the only way forward.

Ultra Magnus looked up as the door flew open, and Rodimus came barging in.

“THIS IS A DISASTER!” Rodimus roared.

For once, Ultra Magnus didn’t have the spark to placate Rodimus; he was right, everything was going disastrously.

“WHIRL IS DYING. CHROMEDOME IS ALL KINDS OF MESSED UP. REWIND BLAMES ME FOR WHATEVER REASON. SWERVE IS SUICIDAL AND (Y/N) IS MISSING. Please tell me you have something that might help fix this mess?”

“I do not,” Ultra Magnus replied quietly. He had never felt like such a failure. Under his watch, everything had gone wrong. The Magnus armour was getting heavier every day; he didn’t deserve to wear it.

“FRAG! WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO? SHE COULD BE IN DANGER. THE ROD POD’S TRACKING SYSTEM IS FRAGGED. THE CREW ARE FURIOUS. THEY HAVEN’T BEEN THIS MAD SINCE-”

“OUT OF THE WAY, COMING THROUGH,” Nightbeat’s voice called in the corridor as he weaved through the few bots out there and made his way into the office with Megatron close behind him.

“Rodimus. Ultra Magnus,” Megatron greeted professionally, before gesturing for Nightbeat to take over.

“I FOUND (Y/N),” Nightbeat began ecstatically, completely missing the sombre atmosphere.

“What? How?” Rodimus asked, dumbfounded.

“I watched the Rod-Pod’s ejection from the bay and followed it through the security cameras. After that, it was simply a matter of predicting several plausible trajectory’s considering that (Y/N) isn’t a pilot-”

Rodimus waved his arms, “Forget I asked. Just tell me where she is.”

Nightbeat ignored his disappointment that the big reveal had been ruined; it had taken a lot of work for him to covertly listen to all the radio stations where you might have landed and then locate you from that. “She’s on a privately owned planet called The Arena.”

“The… The Arena?”

Megatron nodded solemnly, “Yes. My research tells me that they capture stray Cybertronians and-”

“Don’t tell me. They put them in the arena ‘cos they think that’s creative… Primus, that’s annoying. All right, plan time. We change course, go to The Arena, break in, rescue (Y/N) and make everything go back to normal. Any questions?”

Megatron took a moment to consider the plan, “How-”

“No? Great. Then let’s go. We’ve got work to do.” Rodimus transformed and drove out of the office to head to Brainstorm’s lab. He had brushed it off with his usual casual demeanour but just like everyone else, he was furious that anyone would want to hurt you. If he was going to rescue you, he would need weapons; the morally-grey kind that Brainstorm made.

Swerve sniffled, feeling pathetic as coolant that he couldn’t wipe away under his constraints dripped down his front. Yet another failed suicide attempt to go on his record; he couldn’t even do that right. He remembered the last time he had done something so drastic, when you had come to save him from himself; you had probably only married him out of pity. Despite the depressing thought, Swerve found himself unable to believe it. You had married him because for some reason that he didn’t understand, you loved him. The two of you had spent one year married and it had been the best year of Swerve’s life. When you brought up the idea of sparklings on your anniversary, Swerve couldn’t believe that life could be any better, and now after all of that you were gone.

Although Swerve longed to wallow in self-pity, he couldn’t help thinking of Chromedome. It seemed that his last conversation was finally sinking into Swerve’s processor. What was it he had said exactly? Swerve vented air through his systems, calming himself so he could isolate the memory file.

“YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT (Y/N)!”

While it was true that Chromedome could have just said that to stop Swerve from ending his life, there was also a slim possibility that Chromedome really did have new information about you.

Swerve kept replaying the memory’s audio, listening for the truth. As a bartender, he liked to believe he was good at separating lies from the truth, but when the other bots were sober, he wasn’t very good at it.

“(Y/N)…” Swerve whispered your name, wondering what he might not know about you as of that moment.

What if you had come back and he was wallowing in his cell, too wrapped up in himself to know about it? It wasn’t possible. If you were back, it didn’t matter what state Swerve was in; he would have been taken to you. Unless…

Swerve struggled to sit up, his processor racing with endless possibilities pertaining to your fate. What if he hadn’t been taken to you because your new body was failing? What if you were dying and Swerve wasn’t there? What if he was the only one that could help you?

Unbalanced as he was, Swerve managed to stand up. He started kicking at the door, yelling as loud as he could.

“HEY! GET ME OUT OF HERE! TAKE ME TO MY WIFE! TELL ME WHERE (Y/N) IS!”

Swerve didn’t pay much heed to what he was saying. All he cared about was getting to you, no matter what it took.

Like my work? Buy me a coffee and earn preview of the next fic, or commission me on the commissions page.

[sanders-sides-fic]

Hey, purple demon!

Royal Council-AU masterpost: here 

He was shaking, and surely not from the cold. He may have been able to fool someone in the harshness of winter, but not right now. Not in summer, not even when his cloak had holes in it. No, this wasn’t cold, and his face betrayed that it wasn’t anger either.

Slowly, Virgil dared to look up. Not into his face, he wasn’t stupid enough for that, but enough to see what was going on. Just enough to see where the glittery black sleeves made way for a set of large hands. And the weapon lazily held in one of those hands. A sliver morning star. Virgil didn’t want to know what the boy… the man? The royal. What the royal would be capable of doing to him with that.

“Huh~”, a melodic voice sang way to happily for a situation like this. Another shiver went down Virgil’s spine. He swallowed hard, cursing the gods in his mind for not only being dragged strait in front of the prince, but also in front of this prince. He’d heard the stories, after all. He knew what this prince did to criminals.

Why him? Why now? Next month the two princes would celebrate their birthday and this one would move away to become a duke in a far-off castle, as rumor had it. Then again, Virgil knew better than to trust rumors…

“So let me get this right. This little cutie is a demon-kin?”, the voice asked, just as cheerily. Virgil flinched, the guard next to him gave a confirmative nod.

“And he used his powers to burn down a village?” Still with that same, creepy delight in the voice. Virgil winched at both the voice as well as the accusation against him. Yeah, things weren’t looking too peachy right now…

“And no one survived?” Why the fuck did he sound so god damn happy about this?! If he thought he’d survive it, he would have told him how inappropriate that was and that he should just stop with it already. But this was prince Remus, that’d be suicidal. So Virgil kept his mouth shut.

When the guard confirmed again, everything was silent, and suddenly the creepiness of the prince’s humor wasn’t that bad anymore. It was better than this long silence, at least. Anything was better than kneeling here, bound up, listening to his silence as he probably decided on all the ways he would torture Virgil and what experiments they would do to him and, god, they would execute him wouldn’t they? And they would put up his corpse for decoration as a warning or something and everyone would point and stare at his dead body and he would be dead and-

“So what do you want me to do about that?”

…

What?

“What…?”, the guard asked with just as much confusion as Virgil had thought it, though a lot sharper as well.

“…do you want me to do about that, yes.”, the prince continued on, still sounding so carefree, as if the guard had intended for him to finish the sentence. What the hell was wrong with this guy? Not that Virgil was complaining, at least he didn’t seem to think about any weird experiments or new ways of torture or something, and maybe he would even let Virgil live.

Maybe.

Possibly.

Probably not.

“Your highness, he has to be punished for that! He killed an entire village!”, the guard protested, probably not believing what was happening any more than Virgil did right now. The prince only chuckled darkly, though.

“Well, the way I see it, those people are dead. Nothing much I can do to change that. Does he know how to revive people? Do you? No? Didn’t think so. And, look, I’m not the one who was gonna reign over all those fuckers anyways. Wrong twin. I don’t really care. Frankly, I’m just sad I missed that. I bet that must have been so fun to watch. Now they died and no one even enjoyed it. What a waste, am I right?! But it’s too late to change now anyways. Besides, I don’t appreciate you telling me how to do my job. It’s my job, I get to decide, you don’t. Now, why don’t you go away before I grab that spear of yours and shove up your-”

Judging by the sound of the door slamming shut, the guard hadn’t stayed around to figure out where his spear would be shoved if he didn’t. And Virgil was pretty relieved he didn’t have to find out either, but at the same time he wasn’t really happy about being in a room alone with the crazy royal.

He tensed when the royal in question hummed again, now sounding a lot less annoyed or angry than just a few seconds before, and started to circle Virgil. “So, you’re a demon-kin, huh? I’ve never met one in person before.”, he said.

Virgil wasn’t surprised.

It was usual for his kind to stay hidden if possible. No one would hire or house a demon-kin, so they lived out on the streets, with the rare exception of the few that had built a life for themselves deep in the woods. Virgil didn’t belong to the lucky few. He’d been one of the many raised in dark allies and abandoned buildings, buildings that were nearly crumbling under their own weight. If he wanted clothes to wear or something to eat, he had to steal. Honestly, if the prince had ever meet someone like him before, that would have been a scandal. He would have known about that already.

“Not a man of many words, huh?”, prince Remus sighed, before chuckling again: “I wonder if you’ll even know if I cut your tongue off…” If he what?! Virgil had to muster up all the courage he had to stop himself from trying to run away. He knew he wouldn’t come very far and judging by the reaction he’d had towards his guard just now, Virgil feared what the futile attempt would get him into.

“Ha! I like that look. Don’t worry, though. I don’t really plan on doing that. Cutting off body parts is just for interrogations. It’s become boring way too long ago to use it for anything else.”, Remus sighed. Virgil felt as though he might puke. If cutting off body parts had become boring, just what would he actually do to Virgil?

“Well, that can wait anyways. So… What’s now? Uh… Right! Right, you get to tell me what happened! So? What do you have to say?”

Huh? Was that a trap? The guard had already told him about everything. What did the prince expect him to say now? Virgil opened and closed his mouth a few times before he finally managed to say something, though it was barely above a soft whisper: “I don’t… I don’t think I understand, your highness… I, uh, I’m sorry, but… Tell you… Tell you what? Uh, your highness!”

“Okay, so first of all, don’t ever call me that again.” The voice had suddenly become so cold that it made Virgil flinch and shiver at the same time. “That title is my father’s and don’t you go call me ‘prince’ either, got it? That’s Roman. I’m Remus, just Remus. And if you ever forget that, I’ll personally carve it into your body somewhere where you’ll always see it. Or maybe just all over your body.” Virgil swallowed dry again. That really didn’t sound so good, and it didn’t sound like an empty threat either. He started to feel light headed again.

“Secondly… Just, tell what happened. I don’t trust that guy, he’s way to prideful and a suck-up at that. So? What actually happened? Or don’t you have anything to say for yourself?” And how could Remus’ voice change the tone back that quickly? How did he continue as though nothing had happened at all?

But at least Virgil knew what to do now. So the prince wanted him to defend himself. Explain why he did what he did, give him a chance to redeem himself. Yeah, he could work with that. Though he knew that this was obviously dangerous as well. Anything you say or do can and will be used against you, right? Still, better than being sentenced without a chance to say anything at all, and honestly more than he’d expected to get.

So Virgil took a deep breath and nodded once. “Yes, of cause. It, um… It happened mostly like the guard told you. I, uhm, lost control and… The fire spread too fast for me to do anything.” He closed his eyes, remembering how he’d desperately tried to take back the flames but had only made everything worse. The screams and cries… He shook his head to disperse the memories. “I tried to, but it didn’t work. But I didn’t mean to! Please, you have to believe me, I didn’t-” Virgil cut himself off as his eyes meet glowing green ones, looking back down as fast as he could and mumbling an apology.

“Aha. And do you loose control often? Or what happened there?”

…

This prince didn’t know anything about how this was supposed to go either, did he? At least judging from his tone of voice. Great, just awesome…

“No, I usually don’t.”, Virgil answered nevertheless, “They had been trowing stones at me and things like that. I’m used to it but, uh…” Should he really say this? The prince would probably use that. Then again, what other choice did he have, really? “They had started to talk about tearing my wings off and… I just…”

“Acted on instinct? Got it.” The prince hummed in thought. “Well… I really, really don’t care about what you did there. And they honestly sound like a bunch of assholes anyways. Like, good job. Could have made it more painful, though…”

What the hell? What the actual hell? Okay, that had to be a trick. He just couldn’t be serious about that. And then he felt a finger underneath his chin, tilting up his head. His eyes lifted again to see the pale face with the glowing green eyes, a mustache growing on the upper lip. The prince had his lips pierced as his eyes looked Virgil up and down. “Heh. You’re kind of purple, aren’t you?”

Virgil flushed. What? He wasn’t that purple. Most people didn’t even notice his skin was slightly off-colour. The vibrant purple streaks in his otherwise black hair or the violet color of his eyes, sure, but not his skin. Or maybe they just hadn’t commented anything about it because they’d been too concerned with the black of his nails and lips or the bat-like wings sprouting from his back? Still, he wasn’t that purple.

“You’re cute, though. Not hot, but cute. And you’re fun to mess with. So easy to scare and that whimper you let out when he try to hide your reaction or the way you bite your lip when yo try to stop shaking!” The prince looked really happy as he laughed quietly to himself. “Yeah, I think I’m gonna keep you around. I wanna see you much, much more scared than that! And I’m curious to see your other reactions, too~”

The prince stood up abruptly, not saying anything else as he walked out of the door. What the hell was that? Virgil wasn’t too sure about what he was supposed to do, but he guessed he was supposed to stay put? Slowly, Virgil looked around. The throne room was empty. There were enough windows to his side. If he was quick about it, maybe he would be able to escape whatever was awaiting him once the prince came back.

“I would advice against that.”, a cool voice cut through his thoughts, making Virgil yelp and jump. What…? He looked over to the side where that sentence had come from. A young man with brown hair stood there, a dark blue suit hugging his frame. That looked expensive, and Virgil vaguely remembered the emblem on his jacket. So a noble. A noble had figured out he’d thought about escape, huh? Virgil swallowed again, biting his lips. He really hoped he hadn’t just added on to his sentence. Technically he hadn’t done anything yet, had he?

“Salutations. You are the demon-kin Remus talked about, I assume?”, the man asked. Virgil flinched, but gave a shaky nod. The man nodded back, a quick and sharp motion. He then walked over to Virgil, slowly as though not to frighten him, and wasn’t that just the weirdest thought? Someone being aware of Virgil’s feelings? “My name is Logan Night, and I shall bring you to the location you will be staying at until the prince has decided what to do with you. May I inquire your name?”

“…Virgil.”, he mumbled. The man hesitated for a moment, before he asked for a last name. Should he make something up? No, that probably wouldn’t do him much good. So he just bit his lip and shook his head.

“So just Virgil? I see.” Logan nodded again. “I will cut those robes now. Don’t be alarmed, I have orders to ensure no harm shall come to you.” Virgil nodded, though he was a little confused. Why would the prince give any such orders? That wouldn’t make any sense. He would be tortured and/or killed anyways, wouldn’t he? Then again, maybe the prince just wanted to do all of that himself? He had just talked about cutting off body parts as something he used to find entertaining, after all. Virgil shuddered again.

He barely registered the ropes falling to the floor over his thoughts, but when they did, his wings gave a flutter he hadn’t intended. Thankfully Logan didn’t say anything about it. Instead, the taller man only signed for him to stand up and follow him. Of cause Virgil did. Even though it looked pretty easy to escape right now, he didn’t dare test his luck.

They walked in silence and Virgil held his head down, not only to hide behind his bangs but also to avoid seeing the people point and stare. He hated when they did that. It was only when Logan led him up a flight of stairs instead of down that his head shot up again. And really, Logan nodded up. So he wouldn’t be staying in the dungeon? That was odd…

Suspiciously he walked up, followed the man with the dark blue eyes and light dust of freckles until the very top and into a cozy looking room. It had a bed, a few chairs, cushions, a chimney, a table, one window. The window was nailed shut, though. Probably so he couldn’t escape by flying out of here. But other than that, the room generally didn’t look as though a prisoner would be held here.

Virgil eyes Logan suspiciously as the other closed the door. The man gestured for him to sit down, and Virgil did. Even though he felt as though his very presence would ruin the room. It was just so… clean. And Virgil was so obviously living on the streets.

Logan sat down as well, offering the beginnings of a smile. “There we are. I’m afraid I won’t be able to tell you how long this will take. Prince Remus usually doesn’t concern himself with issues like this. But I would assume that he has a plan already and only needs to prepare or make sure of some things.”

Oh, how very comforting! Virgil took a shaky breath. At least the guy talked to him normally. Maybe he could ask him a few questions about what would happen? He hated the dread in his stomach.

“I, uhm… What… What usually happens?”, he asked silently, not daring to be any louder. Logan looked at him thoughtfully. “Hm, I don’t think you should take ‘usually’ as a measurement when it’s about Remus. He is quite… incalculably impulsive. He is smart, in his own way, but he doesn’t concern himself with rules or norms much.” Logan chuckled lightly. “If he wasn’t born a prince, I don’t doubt he would have been executed by now. And he takes great pride in this fact.”

“Ah. I see…” Virgil bit his lip, looking out of the window. So no clue what would happen next still. He wished he could just give in to his instincts and fight everyone and run away. But he didn’t dare to. Not in this situation. They’d find him, and any chance of survival would be gone then.

“He doesn’t hate the demon-kin, you know?”, Logan’s voice cut through his thoughts. Virgil looked back at him. What? “Remus. He doesn’t hate the demon-kin. Or anyone with magic running through their veins. And if he would have wanted to kill or torture you, he would have done so already. I may not know what he’s planing, but he doesn’t plan on either of those. Unless he changes his mind, that is.”

“Does he often change his mind about stuff like that?”, Virgil heard himself asking. To his surprise, Logan actually answered: “Oh, yes. Sometimes even in the middle of doing something. But how he feels about something or someone doesn’t change that easily. His heart may be the only consistent thing about him.”

Silence came back and Virgil looked back down at his hands. That hadn’t helped him much. There was still a lot of different scenarios playing through his head, and not one of them did he want to live through. Apparently Logan had noticed, because after a few minutes in silence that made his panic grow stronger and stronger the man asked: “Would you like a distraction? I could offer telling you about a book I’ve been reading. It may keep your fear at bay.”

Virgil looked at him silently. Why would he do that for him though?

“I am to stay here anyways, so I might as well. Besides, I was ordered to prevent you being harmed for now. Mental harm is just as dangerous as physical harm, you know? Though I doubt the prince actually meant that as well…”

Was Virgil just really obvious or was this guy really good at reading him? But Virgil nodded nonetheless. As Logan had said: Might as well.

And Logan was good at it, too. He presented historical facts with such a passion that it as hard not to be drawn in to it, even though Virgil had no clue what half the things were he mentioned as reference. And historical facts soon changed to be political, and political became astrology, and astrology became astronomy and astronomy mythology. Virgil only noticed how long he’d listened to Logan’s soothing voice when the door was pushed open suddenly and he jumped. Was it really sundown already?! Wait, not the time.

In the door stood a smiling prince with sparkling green eyes. “Hey, purple demon! I’m gonna take Lo from you real quick. Ice-knight! I need your opinion on something! Come here!”

Logan sighed, and smiled almost compassionately at Virgil. No. Yes? No, he probably imagined that.

Virgil watched as Logan stood up and bowed swiftly before the prince before stepping out of the room. And… Did Remus just wink at Virgil?! What? That prince confused him more and more every time he did anything.

The door was closed and immediately he could hear hushed voices talking. Probably about him. And all the fear he’d put off hit him at once now. He could barely even breath. No, wait, scratch that. He couldn’t breath anymore.

No, no, no, no, no! He didn’t want to die, he didn’t want to be cut up in tiny pieces, didn’t want to be tortured or poisoned or…

His lunges felt like they were exploding any second now, and he could feel himself shaking. Was he having a heart attack or something? No. No, this was just the panic. He knew that, that happened every now and again. He had to breath. If only his lunges would cooperate! Match that song’s rhythm his older brother had taught him before he’d died, that usually helped. What was it? Hm-hm-hm-hm,  la-lada-lada-lada, na-na, na-na, na-na, la-na. Right.

It took a little while, but finally he managed to calm his breathing down, and somehow that got him to breath down as well. It always did. Just in time too, it seemed. The door was sent flying open again, just as he had dried up his tears.

“Alright, Virgil, the decision has been made! As your prince I hereby sentence you, for the hilarious crime of turning a village into a torch, to be… my court magician once I leave the castle next week!”

Virgil couldn’t do anything but stare at the smiling prince for a few moments. That was a joke. That had to be a joke. But he looked serious?

“Isn’t your court supposed to be just nobles, though?”, he slowly asked finally. And out of all the questions in his head it just had to be that one, didn’t it? But the prince barely seemed to be bothered by it. “Nope! The magician is the exception from that rule.”

Virgil shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. “But I can’t control-”

“Relax! You’ll get time to practice. And I’ll give you all the books you need for that.” He waved his hand as though to disperse the thought.

“I can’t read, th-”

“Janus will teach you that.” His grin intensified.

“Won’t people be-”

“So what? Let them talk! They won’t do anything anyways. Wouldn’t dare.” Remus shrugged.

“But how can you trust me with-”

“I don’t trust you, don’t be rediculous! Nope!” Remus chuckled again. “One wrong move and you’ll be really in for it. But you can earn my trust, if you try. Plus, this nerd here vouches for you. That’s good enough for now.”

Virgil looked at Logan in shock, who only shrugged with a smile in response. He then looked back at Remus, who had a surprisingly soft look in his eyes. “Look, I get that that’s weird. And you probably aren’t thrilled by working for me. But you’ll have a place to stay and you’ll get payed. No more streets and idiots throwing stones.” Then the soft look vanished into thin air. “Well, not like you got a choice anyways. It’s either that or death, so… yeah.”

Virgil looked at him for a little bit longer, before he suspiciously asked: “Why?”

“Honestly? I wanna know more about demon-kin and your reactions to stuff are fun. That’s about it. Besides, you have the magic, that’s basically the only qualification, and you have more of it than any normal human with magical talents will ever have. So… eh.” The prince shrugged.

Virgil stared a few more moments. No one, absolutely no one, would ever employ a demon-kin. One would have to be crazy and anarchistic to even consider that. But it looked as though he just found that crazy anarchist…

So, knowing full well that he’d absolutely regret it sooner rather than later, he nodded. “Thank you. I’d… I’d really love to, if you’ll let me.”

And it was true: He absolutely did regret it, almost every hour of every day. Still, it was whatever. Better than what he had before, at least. Well, most of the time.

Taglist: @gattonero17

[gaamagirl565]

Matters of the heart S2 ep 14

Matters of the heart Season 2 Episode 14 Family never forgets

{OPENING CREDITS} {open to night in the dark kingdom; Isaiah shuffles around the alleyway packing items into a sack; Gaia gets up and walks over to him and tries to lick him and mess with the bag} Isaiah: AUGH! Gaia nooo! Shh! Let go you’re gonna- Benny: ‘saiah? {both turn around and look at a sleepy benny rubbing her eyes} Isaiah: Now look what you did. {he snatches the bag back} Benny: what are you doing? The moons still out...i’m sleepy.. Isaiah: Sorry I woke you.  but I'm packing. we need to get on the road as soon as we can if we're going to make good time. {She gets up from her place on the ground and stretches then when she looks at Isaiah she cringes} Isaiah: What? Benny: you look dead. Isaiah:  gee thanks… Benny:  no I'm serious!  you look pale and you got dark circles under your eyes did you even sleep? Isaiah: of course I slept! Benny: then you're not very good at it! Isaiah:  I didn't realize sleeping was a skill set.  anyway, now that you're up and we're all packed we might as well get moving. we could probably make some good distance from the dark Kingdom by sun up. Benny:  do we have to? can we actually wait for sun up? Isaiah:  sorry Benny but we have to get going my family is probably really worried about me if they don't already think I'm dead. Benny:  they probably do think you're dead. I mean just considering you. Isaiah: aren't you just a ray of sunshine in the mornings? Benny: Well come on if we really are leaving... we can probably stop by the forest and fill up our goatskins in the river. Isaiah:  good idea… {Benny stops and looks back at the town before fully exiting the alleyway} Isaiah:  you okay? {Benny clutches her necklace} Benny: yeah!  let's go! { Benny runs off towards the gate with Gaia; Isaiah shakes his head and smirks before coughing into his hand;  when he pulls his hand away it has droplets of a black liquid that is now dripping from his mouth; he also looks startled at the condition of his fingers which have now turned a blackish purple with long black nails growing out of them} Benny: ‘Saiah!! Come onnn!! { Isaiah wipes the black liquid from his mouth and runs off towards her; cut to Zapada sitting in the kitchen sewing something with a cup of tea next to her; Noremoth walks into the room} Noremoth: ahem… {Zapada looks up and looks uncomfortable before going back to her sewing} Noremoth: Oh come on! you can't just pretend that you didn't see me! Zapada:  if you had eyes you would notice that I had acknowledged you I just choose not to speak to you. Noremoth: you and about every other woman here… Zapada: hmph! Noremoth: Do you know where Varian went? Zapada:  you mean Varian my husband?  of course I know where he went he went to the fields.  even with everything going on there is still a village to run. Noremoth: ... hey ummm.. your... you're a female right? Zapada:... if I wasn't I'd be concerned as to why I'm pregnant… Noremoth: sorry dumb question.  Anyway,  how can I get a woman to speak to me if they're angry I've never really dealt with any of this. Zapada:  let me guess you're used to using your charm in a problem that involves a woman yes? Noremoth:  kind of, yeah.  I just want to talk to Catalina but I can't even get her to look at me. Zapada:  you're completely hopeless.  she wants you to recognize what you did was wrong.  if you start with that she should be able to listen. Noremoth:  everyone keeps saying this was my fault I wasn't even near Isaiah when he died! Zapada:  it doesn't matter if you were near him what matters is you were part of the group that caused it!  Poor Catalina probably feels hurt and used!  she doesn't just want you to say sorry she wants you to show that you're sorry! Noremoth:  how do I do that!?  is not just saying it enough? Zapada:  how you do it is up to you but- Augh! {Zapada clutches her stomach} Noremoth:...uhhhh...Should I go get someone? you okay? that thing isn’t going to go pop goes the weasel on me right now is it? Zapada:..shut...up… {Noremoth stares at her for a moment before she relaxes} Zapada: phew...Well that was...something... stop looking at me like that I'm perfectly fine. Noremoth: Y- you're sure? seriously I could go get someone. Zapada:  I said I am fine... why don't you looking for my husband. Noremoth: R-right...umm.. thanks... for everything... I think. {He turns to leave and zapada rolls her eyes; cut to isaiah walking on the side of the road holding the map; he looks disturbed by the sunlight and tries to shield himself} Isaiah: Is it hot to you? Benny: nope!  actually it's kind of nice today. Isaiah:  of course it is… Benny: seriously you okay? Isaiah:  I'm fine really… Benny:  you don't look okay... you still look pale. actually you look like you're about to fall over and die. Isaiah: aren't you blunt.. {Peering off to the side we see Vergus and two cult members hiding in the brush with their wagon} Cult member 1: honestly why did we steal all this stuff if you're only going to hide in the brush every 5 minutes on the road? Cult member 2:  she's right you know we do have enough money to buy stuff… we don't exactly have to steal. Vergus:  honestly where's the fun in that? think of it as a tax for all that Society has done to us. also that's not the reason we're hiding. Cult member 2:  then why are we hiding, Vergus!? Vergus: Shut it! Look! {He points over to Benny and Isaiah walking by} Cult member 1:  it's just some kids…  should we know something about them? Vergus: I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't seeing it right now...that's the child that holds some of the vessel's power. Cult member 2:  what?  well let's get him then? honestly, what are we waiting for!? Vergus:  patience!  we're on a busy road. people are constantly riding past. if we just run up and grab two children on a busy road people will see us as nothing more than kidnappers. Cult member 2: Fair point.. but then what are we supposed to do we can't just let them go and I thought Larkspur said this kid was dead! Vergus: To be honest we thought he was... the kid fell off the side of a cliff. but that doesn't matter now look at the state of him. the magic is finally overthrowing his system he won't be able to hold out much longer.  even if he collapses during the day would be too dangerous to grab them in daylight. will wait till the cover of darkness. I'm sure Larkspur will be quite pleased. {They slink back into the brush; cut to an ax coming down on a log; pan over to Varian cutting wood and Noremoth walking over} Noremoth: There you are! Varian: what? Noremoth: I've been looking all over for you and-... what are you doing? Varian:  chopping wood, what are you doing? Noremoth:  no need to be hostile.  I'm just confused. Varian:  honestly how can you be confused by the concept of chopping wood!? Noremoth: well... because you're doing it. Varian:... I feel like I should take that as an insult but I am not sure… Noremoth:  does everyone here take everything as an insult!? Cat:  no just when it comes from you. {Noremoth screams girlishly and jumps back around} Noremoth:...DON’T DO THAT! Kiera: sorry not sorry… {they fist bump} Noremoth:.. as I was saying.  the reason I'm confused is Varian is the leader why is he working as well shouldn't he just be supervising his followers? {They all stare at him puzzled} Noremoth:  what? Cat: you're not serious... are you? Varian:  that's not really how being the leader of the village works. Kiera:  I don't normally get into this but even I know that's not how being a leader works. Cat:  everyone pulls their weight.  being a leader doesn't mean you get some sort of free pass from doing work. Varian: look… {Varian points out all the villagers doing their Fair Share of work} Varian:  we all work together to survive. For example, the baker provides food s,  Carpenters repair homes and build new ones, and the Millers provide flour and lumber for them, We all work together. Cat: its a cycle… {Cat and Noremoth share eye contact before she turns away} Varian: I'm doing my part. I'm helping supply wood for the village this is my job for now. Noremoth:  for now? Varian:  I still have to oversee Crop Production and make sure that the borders are safe.  then I have to write a letter of my findings On the Border to the king. Noremoth:  you do all of this for your village? Varian:  everyone pulls their weight. Noremoth:  what if... what if someone gets hurt? or sick? Varian:  then we find someone to take their job for them. Noremoth:  oh... so they're done away with. Varian: WHAT!? Kiera: what the hell… Noremoth:  you just said that there were placed! Varian:  until they're better!  we don't just do away with them! we have a physician that nurses them back to health!  we don't just leave a person behind because they get hurt or sick! Cat:  is that what your people do? Noremoth:... yes… {They all look mildly shocked} Noremoth:  minor injuries are no problem, the same with minor illnesses as well.  as long as you're able to get on your feet you're fine.  but if you're seriously hurt or ill... Larkspur orders us to… {catalina walks away with her hands up} Noremoth: Cat! wait I-! Varian:  Let Her Go... that's pretty messed up to hear. Noremoth: …. as much as I still believe in our cause... perhaps it's time to accept that we're going about it the wrong way. {Varian drops his ax} Varian:  what are you saying? Noremoth: our cause was to bring about a new form of society for those trampled by it.  you already know that. at first I thought it was the right thing to do.  but lately things have been changing.  as time goes on we care less and less about the people who join us.  we don't care who we hurt. what we have to do. Varian:  let me guess, your great leader doesn't agree with your view of things? Noremoth: not even in the slightest. it's going to be the death of us. Varian:  your idea is a good one. build a community in which you all work together and which those were down on their luck come to you to join a community of people who are just like them. but like you said the way you're going about it is incredibly wrong. A new Zhan tiri won’t help.  it won't bring about a new Authority. it'll make things ten times worse. Noremoth:  I think you're right... I hate to admit that and those words feel like they're burning my mouth. but I definitely think you're right. Larkspur has to be stopped. Varian: And Corona can help you stop her... we weren't there for you then let us be there for you now. {Varian unrolls a map onto a stump and hands Noremoth a quill} Varian:  but you need to help me in return. {Noremoth looks seriously at him before taking the quill; cut to Varian slamming open the door to the house and running in and past a clearly distressed Zapada} Zapada: I-Iubirea mea? {Cat and Keira walk in with noremoth} Varian: not now Zapada...I have to write a message to the king… Keira: um, V? Varian: I finally have The Hideout that the cult is currently staying at!  I need to write a letter to the king saying that I'm heading out immediately. Zapada: CE!? Catalina: Say what now!? Noremoth: this is not what I agreed to! Varian:  you finally gave me their location I can't turn this opportunity down now!  I'm going to send the letter to the king and he'll have reinforcements right behind me is I'm heading up there. {Zapada whilst clutching her stomach grabs his arm} Zapada: have you gone mad!?  you've seen what they can do with a group of their own!  you're only one man!  they're dealing with one bee and then there's dealing with the whole hive! {Varian yanks his arm away} Varian:  you don't understand what they've done to me! to my family! Zapada: AM I NOT ALSO YOUR FAMILY!? Varian: YOU KNOW YOU ARE! Zapada: Yet recently you treat me as if i’m not! Varian: YOU KNOW I CARE FOR YOU! Zapada: it would not kill you to show it! Varian: I’M DOING THIS FOR YOU! Zapada: no! you're doing this because you're filled with hatred! Varian: YOU KNOW WHAT!?  I am filled with hatred!  I am so filled with hatred for these people you don't even understand!  they killed my father,  my wife, and my son!  there is no way in this world or the next someone like you could ever understand! Zapada: C-Couldn’t I!? Varian: No not in a million years! Zapada: AUGH! {Zapada grabs her stomach and doubles over; Cat and Kiera run over to her; Varian’s look of anger is replaced with shock} Varian: Z-Zapada? Zapada: ...it will cease in a few moments… Catalina: Zapada... have you been dealing with this all day? Zapada: Y-yes…and they get stronger... Catalina: Zapada...I-I think your in labour! {Zapada screams yet again and grips Keira’s arm} Keira: ow Ow OW! Noremoth: w-what do we do!? Catalina: uhh..umm… {Keira smacks Varian} Keira: HEY! Varian! Wife having baby here! Varian: R-right..sorry! Catalina: Come on! Lets get her to a bed! Noremoth: wait I want to help! What can I do!? Zapada: AUUGH! Catalina: Varian, take her up to your room! {Varian picks her up and carries her upstairs with Keira in tow} Catalina: Noremoth, we need towels! And hot water! Also, get some string and something sharp! {Noremoth salutes} Noremoth: Got it! {Cat runs up the stairs and to the room; when she opens the door, Zapada is laying on the bed with Varian holding her hand} Varian: i-it’s gonna be okay! I promise! Zapada: Ngghh!! I’m having trouble believing that! {Noremoth runs in with hot water and other supplies} Noremoth: I got it! Catalina: Thanks, now out! Noremoth: R-right sorry! {He runs out and Varian goes to follow him; Zapada grabs onto his arm} Varian: huh!? Zapada: Please no...i’m still...angry at you...but I’m frightened..please… {Varian hesitates for a moment before propping her up and sitting behind her, letting her rest against him} Catalina: Varian!? Varian: i’m not leaving! Look at her, she’s terrified. Catalina: but- Varian: I’m not asking permission. Catalina:...fine… Varian: it’s gonna be okay… I’m not going anywhere. {Zapada weakly smiles but it quickly fades and she screams again; cut to the countryside; Isaiah slowly tags along behind Benny} Benny: you okay ‘saiah? {Isaiah doesn’t answer; his vision looks blurry; suddenly The whites of his eyes turned pink and his irises turn a bright neon green; he collapses} Benny: ‘SAIAH! {She runs over to him} Isaiah: *in a deep evil voice* DON’T TOUCH ME! {she jumps back; he struggles to get up but only collapses and pants exhausted} Isaiah: grr...my body is weak… {more black liquid pours from his mouth; his eyes flicker in colour and his body twitches; he groans in pain; cult members watch from the thick brush; eventually, he passes out} Benny: Isaiah!? {she whimpers and checks his breathing then sighs in relief; she slowly drags him off the road and into the soft grass; she goes into their bag and takes out a small soup pot and starts setting up a fire; she then looks over at the forest} Benny: I'll be back... that’s a promise. {she walks into the forest and starts looking around; she looks over and sees a small stream; A turtle sits on by it; Benny picks up a rock} Benny:...sorry mister turtle… {She throws the rock; cut to Zapada letting out a scream of pain} Catalina: You’re almost there, Zapada! Varian: i-is she okay? Catalina: she’s fine Varian. This isn’t exactly a pleasant feeling. Keira: I can attest to that from what i’m seeing… {Zapada shouts and Noremoth flinches outside the room} Catalina: You’re almost done! Just one more time! I swear! {Varian wipes her forehead and kisses her temple before giving her a reassuring smile; Zapada’s lip quivers and she tightly shuts her eyes as she yells out one last time before flumping back against Varian’s chest; a cry fills the room} Catalina: YOU DID IT! You did it Zapada! It’s a boy! {she holds up the black-haired infant and Zapada lets out a half cry half chuckle; Varian smiles and laughs with her; Catalina wraps the baby and hands him over to them} Zapada: ei, bine ai venit, baietelul meu.. {Varian tears up and caresses his son’s face; Cat pulls Keira out of the room} Varian: he’s perfect… Zapada: he has your hair… Varian: and your nose. What a day...Zapada? Zapada: hmm? Varian: I’m sorry...i’m so sorry for..everything… {she kisses him} Zapada: I have already forgiven you. let us not focus on that…look at this beautiful boy that we've just brought into the world.  what should we call you? Varian:  oh man you're right we never really did decide on a name. Zapada:  think I might have an idea... Sterling. Varian:   Sterling? like sterling sil-... it's perfect… {Cut to Cat washing her hands downstairs; Noremoth walks in the room} Noremoth: ... nice work today. Cat: thanks… Noremoth:  no really... none of us had any idea what to do. you took the helm and you steered us out of the storm. {Cat turns to walk away but Noremoth grabs her hand} Noremoth: Catalina I am trying.  I know you hate me for what I did.  you have every right to be angry with me. please realize that I am trying. damn it, I'm not going to stop trying. I know what I did was bad. and maybe I don't deserve it but all I'm asking is that you give me the chance to prove myself. Catalina:... fine... maybe I am being a bit unfair. but you can't really blame me. I thought you were my friend. I trusted you. even if you weren't the direct cause of it, somebody died because I trusted you! I should have warned the king that you were there. Noremoth:  I never meant for him to die.  it was never the plan.  I thought I was doing what was right. I truly did.  I'm going to be honest right now. I really do like you and the last thing on earth I wanted to do was hurt you. I'm just hoping that even if you are still mad at me can we start over?  or is it too late for me to apologize to you? {Catalina looks over at him} Catalina:  you know this might just be the adrenaline of me having just delivered a baby talking... but alright... but I want you to know it's going to be a long time before I can ever trust you. but I'll give you the chance to prove yourself in the time being. Noremoth:  that's all I'm asking. {he pulls her into a hug; she hesitantly hugs back; cut to Benny stirring a pot of stew} Benny: I got everything from the forest!  I'm sure you're going to love it!  everyone loves Turtles stew!... I think... never really cooked before. {isaiah groans and rolls over to face her} Isaiah:  I'm sure it will be great..sorry... crappy time to decide to get sick huh? Benny: yep pretty much… Isaiah: umm... Benny? what is even in that?

Benny: ummm.. a turtle... some tubers that I found... Wild Onion... also a bit of wild garlic. Isaiah:...better than nothing. {Benny continues stirring the pot but then looks up and gasps} Benny: ‘Saiah!!! {Isaiah turns around to Vergus grabbing him and the screen goes black} {END CREDITS}

[critical-ramblings]

Mind’s Eye (5/n)

Also on AO3!

“Ich weiss, Mutti!” A boy, about eight or ten years old, came racing down the village path with a book wrapped in his arms. He’d turned back to call to someone out of view, and by the time he was looking forward again he was nearly on top of them.

Fjord tried to get out of the way, but the kid tripped over his own feet and ended up sprawled on his face right in front of them. And it was recognizably Caleb, from the freckles to the pale ginger of his hair. Besides, Nott would know that voice anywhere, even as a child. She stood frozen while Jester rushed forward to help him up...and steal his book.

“Oh, is this in Zemnian?” she asked, crestfallen as she flipped through the pages.

“Ja, and it’s mine!” Little Caleb reached up to grab it, staring around at all of them with none of the fear she’d grown so used to seeing in him. “I have to go to lessons, Herr Gruss makes me do lines if I’m late!”

“What’re you taking lessons for, then?” Fjord asked, crouching down so he was eye level with the boy.

“Just regular stuff. Reading in Common and history and things. Are you an orc?” He reached out to touch Fjord’s face, curious as a cat. Fjord jerked away, scowling for just a second before he modulated the expression.

“Half-orc,” he said, very shortly. Caleb was unswayed.

“Does that mean you’re bandits?” He stood on tiptoe to peer at Yasha’s face more closely, then rounded on Nott. “You look like bandits.”

“We’re, ah, we’re not bandits,” Nott said, resisting the impulse to shrink back into her hood. “We’re...” but she couldn’t think of what they were, really.

“Way too well dressed to be bandits,” Beau chimed in, pulling at the loose silk of her pants like a little curtsy.

At the same time Jester said, “We’re a traveling circus!” in that bright, loud voice of hers.

“Eh, hold on,” Beau made a cutting gesture with one hand, shaking her head. Fjord laughed outright. Caduceus frowned, but thoughtfully. Yasha looked startled and pleased, like she was happy to step back to that part of her life.

Not was horrified. “No, no, absolutely not--” But Little Caleb was already clapping, his smile a laugh that threw his head back. He jumped up and down with Jester, dancing along when she held out her hands.

“I’ve never seen a circus before!” he said, staring around at all of them again. Any thought of lessons was forgotten at once, Nott could see, though he did wrap both arms around his book when Jester handed it back. “What do you do? In a circus, I mean. Are there lions and bears and cockatrices? Do you--” he paused to take a deep, awestruck breath and went on in a whisper, “Do you do any magic in the circus?”

“We sure do,” Jester sang, and then looked around the open street, deprived of her usual introductory trick.

“Hey, Ca--kid,” Nott pulled a piece of wire out of her pouch. “Watch this!” She twiddled her fingers over the bent wire, muttered the same words as always, and said directly into his ear, “Lots of us can do magic, but this trick is yours and mine. You can reply to this message.”

Little Caleb stood there with his mouth hanging open for a second, before launching into a torrent of words that overwhelmed the message spell.

“Does that mean you’ll teach me the spell? Can you hear me right now? Is it like the Farspeech spell they use in the fairytales? Can you hear me even if I go away? Can you reply to my message?”

He took a break for air and Nott rocked back on her heels. “Uhh,” she said, glancing around frantically at the others.

“Here, Jester, throw me up in the air,” Beau said suddenly, very loudly.

“Yeah, okay!” Jester turned and held out her cupped hands without hesitation, though she did look pretty confused about it. Between her lift and Beau’s natural springy abilities, they launched Beau at least ten feet into the air. There was a moment, so quick that Nott almost missed it, where Beau’s flip and spin should have put her flat on her face. It just...didn’t. Out of everything that might have been dreamlike here, Nott hadn’t expected the weirdest thing to be slightly above-average flipping gymnastics.

Then again, this was Caleb’s dream. With a mind like his, maybe crazy dreams like Jester’d talked about weren’t a thing. Nott wished Yeza were here; he was much smarter than her and would have been able to keep up with all this. She missed Luc, who would have been instant best friends with Little Caleb, she was sure. She missed Caleb most of all, her Caleb, even though he was pretty fucked up. Even though she’d never seen him laugh like Little Caleb laughed, putting all of his body into it. Her Caleb had Little Caleb’s curisosity, still, and his intelligence and his humor. Her Caleb had been just as excited to learn message as Little Caleb, he’d just been quieter about it. Mostly, her Caleb had always known what to say when she needed him to say it, and Little Caleb just looked at her, with those big blue eyes and too much trust.

She watched him pester Jester for more information on the carnival (“Will there be big white horses that can walk on their back feet? Will there be dancing bears?”) and fiddled with her bit of wire, wishing she knew what to say to wake him up.

It was Caduceus that heard it first. His ears twitched, and then his long slouch started to straighten. 

“Ducey? You hear something?” Fjord asked, to distract them from Little Caleb’s insistence on seeing his sword-swallowing trick.

“Yeah,” Caduceus said, and then Nott heard it too. A low roaring sound, coming from the direction Caleb had run from. Little Caleb moaned and covered his head with his hands, curling into himself.

“Cal--Bren, what’s wrong?” Jester was the first to put her hands on his shoulders, though everyone else was also instantly on alert.

“He’s doing it again,” Little Caleb muttered, more to himself than to them. He tucked his head beneath his arms and sobbed, a heart-breaking sound that made Nott want to kill whatever had dared to hurt him. “He’s doing it wrong,” Little Caleb continued, but before Jester could do more than look at Nott in anguish, the fire swept into view. It towered as high as the sky, a raging inferno that ate up the road and the buildings to either side. Even from more than fifty feet away, Nott could feel the heat on her face. Over the hungry snap of the flames, she could hear Little Caleb start to scream.

“What the fuck?” Beau had her staff out and was using it to gesture at the swiftly approaching wall of fire. “How do I punch that?”

“Run,” Fjord said, and Nott thought that was a very good idea. She pushed Little Caleb in Jester’s direction (“I can’t carry him, he’s as big as I am!”) and turned to flee...into more fire. What had been the village green was engulfed in unnatural flames, burning without fuel. It looked so much like Caleb’s wall of fire that...

“Fjord!” Nott shouted to be heard over the flames. “I want you to hit Caleb!”

“You want what?!” Not just Fjord but also Jester and Beau shouted back. Caduceus said something, but Nott couldn’t quite make it out over the fire.

“You’re the least likely to hurt him!” Nott grinned manaically, knowing it showed her snaggled teeth. She felt crazy, she felt drunk. She was right, she knew it. “Caleb!” She shouted right in his hear, almost eye level with him from where Jester had him wrapped in her arms. “Caleb, snap out of it!”

“No, no, no, no, no,” Little Caleb didnt’ react to her words at all, just kept muttering the same word over and over. Nott gave Fjord her best beady-eyed goblin glare.

He and Jester exchanged insultingly dubious looks, but the fire was getting awfully close now, and eventually Jester shifted her arms around so Fjord could slap a child. It didn’t do any damage, as Nott had predicted. What she had not predicted, however, was Little Caleb escalating his muttering to the high-pitched scream that only children could manage. The fire rose with him, making Nott back away from the burning heat.

She remembered the intense pain that came with burning, the furious anger at the fire for hurting Caleb, and then. Nothing.

***

Bren walked down the dirt road, Eodwulf on his right side and Astrid on his left. The dead were behind them, but his childhood home loomed out of the evening night, and the work was not yet done. They had each chosen how they would deal with their traitors, and he had been the one to choose fire. Even in the past year it had become his trademark, the magic that came best to his fingertips. That he loved most. And he stoked his heart carefully tonight, hoping the righteous fury would burn away his fear. His parents were only traitors, and deserved to burn.

Still, when he aimed the fireball, he tried to hit their room. It would at least be quick.

Only it wasn’t. The explosion took out a good quarter of the roof, leaving streamers of flame in its wake. After a moment in which he felt a sickening relief, he heard his mother start to scream. It was an awful, gut-wrenching sound that he had never heard her make. Still, he knew it was her. He stood rooted to the spot while, a moment later, the door shook. And he knew what had happened: His father suffered insomnia, some nights. It have been getting more frequent, last time Bren had come home. And his Mutti liked to stay up with him, finishing some small task by the light of a lantern in the kitchen. The kitchen, which had only experienced a corner of the blast. Bren dug his nails into the meat of his palms, feeling blood drip down his fingers as he listened to his parents scream. He would not break, they were traitors, nothing but--

The cart rattled as his father threw his weight against the burning door. Bren flinched, and somehow that involuntary twitch broke him free of his paralysis. He took one stumbling step towards the weakening voices of his parents, his Mutti and Vater, who loved him.

Astrid grabbed at his arm, but missed. Her fingers only scraped across his sleeve, not that it mattered. Bren was capable only of collapsing to his knees, still twenty feet from the house. Because the screams had stopped already. Black smoke that stank of charred meat rose up and swallowed him, choking him. Gratefully, Bren surrendered to the darkness.

[mercurytail]

Glide

^u^ Happy Halloween everybody! This is a little mini-Mchanzo fic I wrote up for the holiday! With help, excerpts, musing, and support from my friends: @the-hallowed-lady @captainneedsnosleep @drizzerey @Nobodysangel1980

You can also click the link to read it on Ao3 <3 Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

a slight gore warning since this is a Wendigo fic - its nothing intense, so no worries. Also, Its not a super happy fic, but it has a happy ending! (No he does not eat Hanzo)

Glide (down the throat)

How would it feel? To be so hungry...so in need and yet there is nothing to eat? 

Yet, there is 'food' all around you...but, nothing you CAN eat. 

Like putting a feast in front of a starving man and tying his hands.

How would that feel?

Would you break?

It started off so small. A finger here, an ear there, little things that could staunch the hunger inside him. Things easily explained that could be missing from a body. So small, so easy. He almost didn’t notice when he started devouring hands, organs, hearts, and still the hunger grew. It seemed like every time he ate, his stomach demanded more. The curse demanded more. IT demanded more.

He refused to tell Gabe about the hallucinations. The monstrous creature that stalked him on missions, the lanky, skeletal form that would crouch in the corner of his bunk, antlers scraping the ceiling. There were never any marks in the morning. He could see it even now, grinning away at him, wrapping those long, inhumanly long hands around his stomach, pressing inside and Scratching. Tearing. Demanding more, more, more…

He couldn’t tell when deer and boar and bear and whatever else he could shoot down didn’t cut it anymore. When it finally tasted too rotten, too ashy to swallow down without gagging…The day he realised he’s eaten over half the corpse he’d shot down, he almost threw it all back up again. But the monster wouldn’t let him do that. What a waste of food.

At least the cemetery helped…The monster always demanded more, but at least it didn’t care if it was dead or alive.

Sometimes, late at night when the fire in his tiny shack couldn’t quite chase the cold from his bones, when the monster was pacing through his home on silent hooves, growling and dragging its long hands over the ground. Sunken eyes staring him down from across the fire, and jagged teeth stretched wide in its grotesque face as it listened to how Jesse’s stomach growled and groaned for food, he remembered his mother’s old stories –

“The Wendigo are cursed beings, Jesse, but as long as you never consume a person’s soul – have enough restraint that they may have one piece of them left to carry that spirit over, then a wendigo will be trapped to its human. Never let it consume everything, and you can keep it bound.” 

~ the-hallowed-lady

Jesse McCree, a victim to a 'hunger curse', The 'Wendigo's Curse' . He craves human flesh/blood/bone.

When his hunger takes hold of him he transforms into a Wendigo like creature with horns, mangled teeth, sharp claws, and strange swirling eyes.

In Native American mythology, the Wendigo was a creature that came into being when a human consumed the flesh of their own kind. His grandmother had told him the story and many others. She had seen it. 

In Deadlock, they told him to shoot a young man who had been running drugs for them and was skimming off the top. Jesse refused, ‘it wasn’t right’ he said and tried to get the target out of there - He was caught, locked up, beaten and starved...

...until one day they gave him a huge roasted piece of meat. Told him if he ate it all, he'd be forgiven.

He lunged for it. The grease squelched through his fingers as he took it in his hands tearing into it. The first bite so satisfying, so juicy. Like eating chicken off the bone but amplified by the month of starvation. Its flavor so salty sweet on his tongue, he rolled each bite in his mouth wanting to savor it, the fear it was a trick prominent in his mind. Taking a bite, then another and another, the skin of it crisp and breaking just so under his teeth. The bone came into sight too soon, his stomach still growled...almost as if it hadn’t been fed at all.

...it was only afterwards he found out where it had come from.

The curse set in after that...planting its roots deep. Binding him to the creature he was cursed to become if he gave in.

The nightmares came every night, he dreams of a stag-like creature hunting him down, waiting to consume him just as he consumed human flesh, to take over him, to be free in the mortal world - to eat and eat and eat because it is here now and it is here to stay.

He’s still himself. The curse had not taken him yet. But, it was so tempting in Deadlock. He killed everyday...the bodies were so fresh and supple.

Blackwatch came and they took him. “Raw talent” they said. At least it was a home. He’d say it was his first. Gabe treated him like a son. They helped him curb his appetite, fed it and kept it under control. Genji was his only friend. The only true friend he’d ever had.

Moira grew him flesh from human stem cells.

But, after Blackwatch It got worse. On the run, food was harder to get and "burying the dead...well, that's just a waste of food." He’d told himself.

He began to get desperate. He wanted to stay somewhere familiar but, that brought too many bodies. Too many opportunities to eat and consume. “Can’t eat it all” he reminded himself, chanting it to himself as he gnawed on the assassin’s exposed liver. Trying to keep that last bit of himself human. ‘Leave a finger, that’ll be enough’.

Swallowing, he came to, the taste still thick in his mouth. He screamed throwing the piece of…whatever it was away and falling back scraping against the dirt. The moon was high in the sky and full lighting the body at his feet. Blood was thick on his hands, under his nails...claws and his head ached from the split skin on his forehead, the horns having receded. He didn’t remember...he didn’t remember coming out here or chasing after this…’food’. He curls in on himself, shivering in the cold night air...crying. 

But the Hunger became too much and he ran. He ran north.

He moves into a estranged deep forest...lives in a cabin alone. Near a small village, and a cemetery.

He sustains himself off of deer and wild game he kills. Whether with his gun or his claws when the hunger and hallucinations cloud his judgement.

The urge to consume human flesh is always there, and sometimes he gets so ravenous for it he digs up fresh corpses or steals body parts from the morgue.

Hanzo comes into his life after a short while.

He is simply running away as well...someone who murdered their own brother. It's why he likes the church yard so much. He lives there for the peace, and because when you are surrounded by the dead, it's easier not to feel judged for your actions.

They fit too well, every bit of banter, late night talk over coffee at the diner, the hunts. It was all too natural. Hanzo was getting too close and McCree craved him. He craved for his words, his touch, his time...and the beast craved him too.

And Hanzo was too curious for his own good. They strike up a small friendship and the closer they got. The harder McCree tried to push him away.

McCree tried to get Hanzo to leave.

“Hanzo, I just need you to understand it ain’t safe out here for you. They’ll find you too easy. I should know! You got to leave and keep moving.” McCree slumps against the wall, hands in his pockets; hiding. They’d had this talk before.

“I am fully aware of my surroundings and my clan will never find me here. You as a fellow criminal would know. You are hiding here, are you not? Why shouldn’t I? Especially, since we go so well together. We could fight them together...live here together.” the last bit of his sentence is but a mumble not quite making it to McCree’s ear.

McCree finds one night he’s too short on meat - much too short and winter is setting in. He goes out into the light snow for a final hunt, hoping for a bear or moose.

Hanzo finds him out there, cold and unlucky. Hanzo has been around way too much. It puts him on edge.

When a surprise snow storm hits McCree is forced to stay the night in Hanzo's home.

His hunger starts to gnaw at him, scratching, clawing at his insides; out of control. Even though Hanzo had just share his hardy venison stew...three servings of it.

The grotesque beast looms over Hanzo; caging him as he sits in front of the fire, reading. It salivates and begins to whisper in his ear. ‘Just one bite. The taste will be worth it. It will feel so good, so delicious gliding down.’

McCree licks his lips, fighting back the drool building in his mouth. He leans forward in the leather chair rubbing and worrying his hands; one over the other. Staring at the oblivious man across from him.

‘It would be so easy...just a bite. It wouldn’t hurt. It wouldn’t even kill him.’ the skull of the creature caress Hanzo’s shoulder. Its black abyssal eyes like fire on his soul.

McCree cringes, cradling his head and crushing his eyes closed, “SHUT UP!” His heart feels like its leaping from his chest. His breathing is ragged, drool slipping from his mouth as he cries. He tastes the salt.

It's quiet, he feels warm, happy, ‘just chew...it’ll be alright...just eat.’ Freedom is at his fingertips he thinks. Then...

Before he realizes, McCree has changed. His small horns, claws, and teeth have peeled free of his skin and his eyes are a wild black and silver. Hanzo steps back in horror.

Half manic, McCree stalks the room, trying to run or hide. But as time passes He finally pins Hanzo when the hunger clouds his mind.

And Hanzo just gives in. Accepts his fate. ‘It’s what he deserves.’

This Snaps McCree out of his haze. He pulls himself back, eyes becoming clear and he shrinks into the corner of the room just whimpering in an inhuman voice, "food"...”so hungry.”

So, Hanzo goes outside. He takes the remains of an Elk carcass from the snow and brings it in for him. Laying it at his feet. It's a sickening sight, as the horned man leans in drooling and finally shredding into the decaying remains, moaning...

McCree changes back soon, wiping his mouth of the gore and Hanzo faints, the shock too much for his body.

When he wakes, McCree explains everything and after a shared silence Hanzo nods and agrees to help him. To McCree’s great disbelief. However, He accepts the offer...just tired of being alone.

Hanzo knows a thing or two about curses after all, from his family and his past.

They travel in search of a shaman to remove the curse. McCree had never thought of it. Of asking for help of breaking the hold on him.

It takes almost a year but they find the shaman. Hidden away deep in the tropics of mexico. However, they find that it would kill McCree to revoke the curse or change him entirely.

So, with a heavy heart and tears streaming down his cheeks McCree accepts his life. They decide to just live with it and Hanzo says as he holds his lovers face in his hands, he will stay by his side.

The flaming wood cracks as it settles in the fireplace. The orange glow lighting the room. Snow drifts down softly outside the window. Each gust of wind causes the cabin to creak, the room quiet and yet not silent; the sounds of home.

The two men lay together on the sofa, swaddled close in warm wool blankets. Hanzo nuzzles into his neck humming a song neither know the words to.

“Are you hungry my love?” Hanzo asks.

Jesse swallows taking in the flames as they dance. He kisses the top of Hanzo’s head, “No, You keep me full Darlin’.”

[obannthepunished]

This weeks notes Mostly transcription this week i think, i tried my best for nott’s scene. as usual ignore the asterisks because theyre just notes to myself.

peace

Molly is Nervous (tm) abiut sticking around, or going to the gentleman

theres a fight in the evening nip, beau is fucking excited its thedd (halfling from sewers) and lewis (one of the ones that had run from the research facility)

N: "I got three gold on Thedd" M: Seems a bit late for a wager at this point N: Just you and me! M:.... fair. I'm in.

Thedd wins by standing on lewis' throat til he passes out holy shit M: (drops coins into Nott's hand) N, smug: Thank you :)

oh now Nott and Beau are fighting jesus christ. C: "I cast Haste on Beauregard." Laura: YOU PIECE OF SHIT **

J: Inflict Wounds (17 dmg) ((Fjord, changing his voice: "I GOT 5 GOLD ON THE HORNY ONE)) B: WHAT THE FUCK JESTER, Stunning Strike, (7dmg, jes fails con save (6), she is stunned, extra attack from haste, 6dmg) J: (is stunned for this round, until the end of beaus turn) B: Beaus the shit outta her ( 12dmg, 6dmg) ((MOLLY blinds her)) B: still goin, but misses 2 of em, hits on the third (12dmg) J: (goes down)

caleb: goes for the low five, and Beau just.... ignores him unintentionally bless.

Frumpkin is sent to lick the blood off of jesters face, Beau cleans her up <33

They are called to the gentleman's side

offered a forward of 500gp and a pot of 4500g to travel to Shady Creek Run, the criminals town, and free and bring back Ophelia... something, who corresponds often with the gentleman

the tldr of the second (250 adv, 1750 pot) is that the swamps are dangerous for the gentlemans safehouse which has gone dark.

theyre promised resources for missions from the gentleman

Jester: "IS HE MOIST"(re the gentleman)

they take on both, starting with the swamps. The Gentleman advises they travel the 70 miles above ground.

Fjord is so fuckin smooth talky wtf. they get greater heling potion(s)?? + cure disease? Caleb's gettin some ink + paper, but its not good for spells 8(

Nott keeps making water puns. im counting 4. and a hankie.

Jester wand of smiles Kutha again, poor kutha 8(

Caleb + beau ( + assumedly nott) go to pumat's

have they paid their inn tab??

Cay buys incense for rituals, probably find familiar lbh. he also gets his magical ink+parchment.

Beau is interested in the bracers of defence. Theyre like 1200gp tho arent they??? B: how much PS: 1200 gold B:HOLY SHIT PUMAT. [snip] B: HOLY SHIT PUMAT(S).

C: (tells beau he cast haste) B: YOU SLIP SOMETHIN IN MY DRINK CALEB??? WHAT THE FUCK MAN

they have 6 horses, 2 pulling, 6 solo. Jes is driving thr cart.

Caleb: (brings up the feywild) Jester: oh the traveller has told me about that!!

Frumpkin is (one of) the first cats yasha has seen 8'O shes fuckin loving it **

lots of fucking soldiers heading to war. hundreds, if not thousands.

night falls as they reach the origin of the. road. they cant find a campground because tal rolled SHIT even with advantage.

Jester + Fjord take first watch. (13. Nothing) Yasha + Beau on second watch. (14. Also Nothing.) B: We should huddle together for warmth??? Y: Fr- Frumpkin is keeping me. very warm. are you cold??? do you want my, my cloak? B: No, no my, my (jacket??? cant remember what she said) is fine, its htin, but its warm Then they talk about Yasha ands this is the furthest shes ever been. Y: "i like this stuff. Grass, and, things. you know." B: You appreciate grass?

B: What was your favourite part of xorhas? Y: I... dont know if i HAD a favourite part

this was the CUTEST shit

third watch is Nott + Molly (10, nothing happens) taliesin trying a jester voice makes me the heart eyes emoji

goblins canonically steal children what THE FUCK. And EAT them. But Nott, apparently, has not eaten a child. "My clan, we STOLE from people. money and clothing and things. And when things got tough, we'd steal the people too." Goblins dont do family. "I do not have an urge to kill and eat children" "i have cravings for... rats... cats-" (Caleb snaps) Frumpkin goes back to the feywild Yasha: =(

taliesin taking watch after rolling shit cmon. he gets 16. Noon, broken cloud cover, a tiny distant curl of smoke. oh not again. its a mile away tho so like

the smoke is coming from a small shack.

"For you, Fjord, I will make Frumpkin a bird." He doesn't though but its the sentiment.

Yasha gets shoulder frumpkin back!

The shack door opens to "an elderly fullblood orc" with hair and beard and all that shit.

for 1 (one) gp a month, you TOO can bother a whole old man orc. Jesus christ he had a battleaxe. puts it down, invites yasha and molly in. THIS IS SO UNNECESSARY Molly buys hide armor + 2lb of meat for 16gp. M: Perception check 10. Matt: "Okay." There is sOMETHING SUS about this.

and theyre off again, i am glad for this. i do not like elderly orc man.

yasha and molly double up on that goof "we totally killed him, three times." its very good

M + Y: What kind of meat is this? (fuck their rolls) its meat! its good meat!

M+Y take first watch, its 12. Nothing happens. Yasha collects some flowers to press awww. N+C Second watch, they roll w advantage lmao. 22. something is going to happen. "you hear the snapping of a twig. you see a shifting of shadow. a few things" Cay casts mage armor

Two arrows for Caleb. con saving throw. probably poison. 10. its poison. he is poisoned. fucks frickin sake. is it gnolls?? is it goblins??? hyenas??? furred barking things. wolves.

two ogres, a cluster of wolves, and goblin-like creatures

initiative order:

Beau: Nat20, 24 Goblins Caleb: 18 Fjord, Molly: 16 Ogres Nott: 15 Yasha, Jester: 6 Wolves

B: Jester, puppies!!

Yasha and Jester shrug off poison of those that hit them.

Caleb casts slow on one ogre. unrelated liam is so good???

oh yeah eldritch blast gets two beams of eldritch blast at lv3

Molly radiants once scimitar and cuts RIGHT through one of em. misses the second.

Caleb hit with a javelin, 4-5 inches into his stomach, holding itself upright. Caleb keeps the spell going.

Nott pretends shes one of them and aims for Caleb, hits the book instead. and nails it.

Jester (traumatised): CALEB!!! cure wounds 2nd level. but he is pretty fucked so its ok. he heals to full its ok its ok. Jester cares so much

Yasha pulls necrotic shroud! which as someone who cant watch TM, this is a reveal for me! :D

J: (to cale) Youre alive! How did- C: (monotonous) haha! funny, joke.

Fjord explodes a goblin Molly cuts one in half, vertically

Molly curses the ogre attacking beau

Nott shoots the ogre, and then the goblin next to her... but misses and is fucked

Yash gets the hdywtdt on one of the ogres

Beau @ necrotic shroud!yasha: you look... dope. You look FUCKIN HOT LETS GO.

cay has magic missile!

fjord gets the second hdywtdt w eldritch blast.

cay n molly go to retrieve stolen goods from goblin but apparently just Molly

Yasha necrotic shrouds when shes startled awake. F: Can you fly? Y: ...no J: Have you tried? Y:... yeah.

Yasha n Caleb have a conversation in celestial C: No really, are you an angel? Y: of sorts, i guess [snip] C: You will have to explain this now, or later. do you want to explain this now, or later? Y: i- ill explain it, just, maybe we should clean up first!

i have no idea whats going on but i heard marisha say "bad dragon" and im gonna die

J: Nott, are you okay? Was it weird to fight other goblins? N: it was... rewarding. I'm only sad that... one got away. B: Nott, do you share the same hatred in yourself? [snip] N: Do... do I hate myself? No. I'm... I'm cool. F: You seem excited to hurt your own kind. N: I know, I'm a goblin, for as long as I've been alive I haven't felt comfortable in, in there. I havent felt comfortable in my skin. It feels like I shouldnt be, i dont fit in with them. I feel, this feels WRONG, like I should be in a different body. The way they act, the way they are, it's not ME. They do horrible things to people, and they seem fine with it. I never felt the same with them. It's not that I don't like myself or anything, I think I'm okay, I just don't like how I feel when I see my hands, or my feet. They just feel wrong. I just want to be... different. C: Was there anyone you were close to? N: Not in my clan, but there was... someone. They tried me on different jobs but I was not a soldier, i was not a good cook, not good at sweing, or building, they stuck me with the torturer. I was the torturers assistant. there was a halfling village not far away and they captured someone from the village, they wanted me to kill him, but instead, I was kind to him. And he started talking, and my... fellow gobbies didn't like that, but they allowed it, because i was getting valuable information. [about halflings resources] I became friends with him. He was nice. J: What happened to him? N: I hope he got away J: Did you leave before him? N: We left together [snip J: Did you love him? N: .... I don't know. The halfling taught her how to speak in halfling, taught her about alchemy, when he has taught her everything, the goblins said to kill him. And she didnt want to. so she got REAL drunk, and shot another goblin in the ass. N: I hope he got away. We ran off in separate directions. I've been running ever since.

+1 to the quest log, find Nott's friend.

Beaus trying to be nice i love her.

C: I do not care. I know who you are now. (<333)

B: I think we're all a little bit of island of misfits.

F: You showed a lot of bravery tonight B: Nott, The brave. J: Maybe there is a comma.

Y: Nott, I'm sorry we made fun of you eating children N: I HAVE NOT EATEN CHILDREN

B: What got you locked up with this guy? (Caleb) N: Being me. Stealing food? C: You told me it was cherry wine. N: OKAY IT WAS BOOZE.

it is now raining.

M: Well, I'm sleeping underneath the cart! if anyone wants to join me... J: We wont all fit! M: We'll snuggle. *

Molly + Jester are under the cart.

"i tasted a baby once. ONCE. they were handing around a bowl, I didn't know-" -N Liam takes Sam's flask and takes a swig so i assume caleb does the same in canon C: "Who am I to judge?"

[swampy-taint-witch]

Here are 70 reasons why KakaVege is totally a thing

•Vegeta had to have chose to be naked when showing up in Gokus dreams after he died. No one takes your clothes when you die. Either that or Goku hallucinated Vegeta as naked. •Vegeta somehow pieces together that Goku is Kakarot and immediately holds off a giant fight to wait for him. •In Super, they hold hands when instant transmitting, when Vegeta could've easily put his hand on Gokus shoulder. •After instant transmitting Vegeta avoids eye contact with literally everyone and looks extremely embarrassed. •Whenever an evil saiyan comes to earth and calls Goku Kakarot he gets angry, but when Vegeta does it's okay because it's Vegeta's name for him. Like almost a pet name.

•After spending a year with Goku at Beerus' planet, Vegeta chooses to sit next to Goku instead of his wife that he hasn't seen in a year •Goku didn't immediately use kaioken on Nappa so he could show off to Vegeta •Vegeta killed Nappa for embarrassing him in front of Goku (and killing Piccolo but whatever)

•Goku sat with his arm slung around Vegeta's shoulders •Vegeta caught Goku bridal style •They prank each other very subtly • "Just wait, you'll find your match in Goku." ~Piccolo (to Vegeta) DBZ episode 25, 20:24 •During the Buu saga Vegeta restrains Goku against a mountain and smacks him around. It seems a bit kinky. •During his restraint, Goku could've gotten out the whole time. He either stayed because he liked it or he knew Vegeta liked it. Either way it's gay. •Vegeta makes Goku chase him around. Seemingly to show him his ass. •Piccolo refuses to go into the time chamber with the two of them because he knows. •Goku begged for Krillin to spare Vegeta even though there was more danger to it than not. •Both times they fight they end up holding hands. •They slept in the same room on Beerus' planet. BEERUS IS A GOD. BEERUS HAS MORE THAN ONE GUEST BEDROOM. •Goku buries Vegeta after he dies, even though he didn't bury Yamcha, Tien, or Piccolo • "Wow, my body's so weak I can barely stand up." ~Goku  (indirectly to Vegeta) DBZ episode 32, 18:55 • "I guess that means you can't run from me anymore now." ~Vegeta (to Goku) DBZ episode 32 20:25 •In Super, Goku is the only one consistently cheering Vegeta on while he's fighting Magetta •When asking Krillin to spare Vegeta, Goku sounded extremely desperate to have him survive •As Vegeta is leaving in his pod, Goku smiles up at it almost sadly •After instant transmitting, neither of them let go of the others hand immediately. But both of them are 'disgusted' with it. •Vegeta keeps Goku from dying during nearly every fight that they fight together. GOOD LUCK KILLING GOKU WHEN VEGETAS AROUND. •Vegeta insists on fighting Frost when he has literally no reason to other than because he poisoned Goku during a fight •As Goku is falling into Vegetas arms, Vegeta looks horrifically concerned about Gokus safety •As soon as Vegeta wakes up on Frieza planet 79 the first thing he says is "Kakarot" •While recuperating from the fight, Goku uses the words that Vegeta said to him as motivation. •When sacrificing himself to Buu, Vegeta says Trunks' name before Bulmas, implying that Trunks being his son came before Bulma being his implied wife. He also addressed Goku last, and his name was the last proper name he says before he tells Buu he is going to kill himself. •When Roshi told Goku that Vegeta was on Namek he was incredulous, but he didn't even react learning that there was an even stronger being there too. •In Super, Goku has a smile and is laughing nervously when he sees how pissed off Vegeta is after nearly losing but being saved by a rule. •In Dokkan Battle, the following is said by Vegeta: "Kakarot is mine! Don't lay a finger on him!" "It'll be inconvenient for me as well if you don't give Kakarot his body back." For obvious reasons this leads us to believe that Vegeta had 'other' uses for Gokus body. •In episode 44 of Super, Goku uses one of Vegeta's attacks during training. •"Come, Kakarot!" ~ Superhuman Water Vegeta, DBS episode 45. • In the history of Trunks movie at the beginning, when Goku dies, it exclusively only shows Vegeta's reaction. "Ka..karot. No.." •In episode 46 of super, Vegeta is struggling to decide if he should root for Goku or his clone. We all know Vegeta loves himself quite a bit. •In the first Broly movie, once Vegeta returns from looking for the legendary super saiyan, he sees Goku sitting in a windowsill. They have a short encounter, and at first Vegeta is smiling once Goku addresses him. •Additionally, Goku smiles dumbly while watching Vegeta walk away. •"Vegeta? Vegeta, are you in here? I'm tired of waiting for you. Plus I haven't eaten breakfast yet. Yoowho!" What was Goku waiting for Vegeta for, huh? •After Broly nails Goku in the face the screen breaks apart, revealing Vegeta, who is standing on a building that starts breaking apart. It cuts to Vegeta, and not Gohan? Gokus first son? •When Goku is getting his ass handed to him, after every hit it cuts to Vegeta, pleading for Goku to give up.. the only thing that would stop is Gokus pain. Does Vegeta care? •Really, in all of the times Vegeta and Goku have gotten their heads rammed together, theres a very slim chance that their lips havent touched. At least a little. •After Vegeta catches Goku, he pauses for a second and looks him in the eyes. And when it cuts to Gokus face, you see Vegetas fingers a little bit too relaxed looking against his neck. •In Super, after spending a year in the hyperbolic time chamber, Goku and Vegeta came out with beards. In one shot, Vegeta is standing behind Goku, one hand on the others shoulder. • In Fusion Reborn, Goku flies into a pile of needle balls to save Vegeta. Goku is terrified of needles of normal sizes, let alone ones the size of his body. • "Somewhere, out in the darkness, Vegeta is waiting for me." Goku, episode 47, 16:01 • While talking to Dodoria, Vegeta admits that his fight with Goku was and 'enlightening experience', but he pauses, a bit awkward. It's during the fight that he realizes he's gay. • After killing Dodoria, Vegeta is gloating about how he's breaking his own expectations, then he randomly mentions that he wishes Goku and his friends were there to see his power. • The dragon ball that Vegeta steals from the namekian village is the four star. The same number of stars in the ball Goku had as a kid. • "If I keep this up, I should be ready for Vegeta." Goku- ep 53 8:20. He's completely ignoring the fact that Frieza even exists while Vegeta is around. He then looks happily off into the ceiling. • After Gohan steals the dragon ball from the lake and runs into Vegeta, he calls Gohan the 'son of Kakarot'. Instead of going 'oh, there's Gohan', he goes, 'oh, there's the son of the man I think about probably way too much'. • While talking to Gohan, Vegeta asks him suddenly if Goku is on Namek too. • At Guru's house, Dende mentions that there is a high power level approaching them. Krillin thinks out loud that it might be Goku, and Vegeta cuts him off screaming 'KAKAROT?!' While looking into the air. He's a little too excited. • After saving Krillin, Goku asks why Vegeta is fighting with them, all the while staring at him from afar. • When Recoome attacks Goku and he pretty much teleports behind Jeice and Burter, Vegeta is the only one who was able to keep an eye on him. • Vegeta is quote, "the only one who understands Goku." Seems pretty gay • When it looks like Jeice annihilated Goku with Ki blasts, the camera cuts to Vegeta and he looks fucking devastated. • Goku explicitly says he was hoping Vegeta changed for the better so they could team up after Vegeta finished Burter and Recoome off. • There is an attraction phenomenon called imitation, where the two tend to copy the others movement. While speaking about the namekian dragon balls with Gohan and Krillin, there is a shot showing all four of them, Goku and Vegeta in the exact same position. • Goku says he was hoping he could join forces with Vegeta, fight with him side by side. Vegeta nearly killed Goku, yet Goku still wants to have Vegeta be a part of his life. Not only that, but Vegeta is totally up for it until he flies off. • The imitation phenomenon is also shown between when Goku goes ssj3 in front of Buu, and when Majin Vegeta sacrifices himself, and in ep. 67 of super. • Goku and Vegeta's sacrifices were very similar, in an explosion, and neither of them succeeded in killing the villian. • Vegeta asks Piccolo if he'll see Goku in the afterlife. He doesn't even mention them trying to wish him back. •While Goku is healing, Vegeta chooses to sit down right next to him and nap when he could've gone anywhere else • In episode 67 of Super, Goku and Vegeta are sitting right next to each other and no where near their wives You know, even after they almost died 5 times • The term 'grass' can mean 'homosexual love' and the two cut grass every day for Whis as training. There's also a moment when Vegeta throws a handful of grass into the air.

That’s what I have as far as the things I’ve noticed and written down! Feel free to add to this list if I missed something!

[kuraiamore]

MadaKaka ficlet, vigil for the night bloom, part 2

@madakaka

Err, yeah, so I wrote a part 2 of Madara+Kakashi’s forearms as well, partially out of procrastination, partially because Madara is surprisingly very fun to write, and partially because everyone was so welcoming and nice and just amazingly enthusiastic about this tiny flyaway thing I wrote, like wow. So yeah, in lieu of sending you all hugs, I am sending you more MadaKaka >.<

Hopefully it’s as good as the first part?

The moonlight makes the roofs of Konoha shimmer with a blue-grey tinge, long shadows stretching out a haphazard path for Madara as he leaps over the eclectic sprawl of buildings and infrastructure that make up the village’s thriving hive. Every vaulted step sends him cutting through the still night air, swift and sure as a kunai thrown by well-trained hands (and pale forearms taut with sinewy muscle. If Madara lands a few centimetres off his mark with only his shinobi skill to catch himself gracefully before an awkward trip, no one is there to tell.) At his speed, he stirs the wind and it whips about him in greeting, whistling in his ears and pressing cold palms and scratching nails into his cheeks. Yet despite its chilly touch, the roiling heat that had flared up when he had had Kakashi pinned against the fence continues to thrum through his blood, a maelstrom of agitation churning relentlessly beneath his skin.

A crow of laughter, raucous and warm-bellied, jars him, and he realises with a huff of annoyance that he’s approaching the village centre,  cool tones beginning to give way to dappled spots of muted gold and orange radiating from lampposts and restaurant lights and lanterns. Mid-leap, he flares out his senses, mapping out the tens of thousands dots of chakra flickering within the village radius around him, searching for a gap between the clusters…  and realises that he feels nothing of the usual electric tingle that comes from picking up Kakashi’s unique signature.

There is an odd, weightless second where he floats, hanging in the air; where bewilderment creeps up like a rising tide and extinguishes the heated itch running mad beneath his skin; where the feeling of lack aches as keen and devastating as he has only ever felt once before, the night Konohagakure was founded and he stole away into the deepest corner of the Uchiha compound, held a mirror to his eyes and whispered apologies to an unseeing ghost.

It hits him—really hits him—almost like a blow to the head: the sound of Kakashi’s weighted voice rasping out his name; the sensation of Kakashi’s tense body readying itself for combat; the sight of Kakashi looking at him with guarded apprehension and apathetic deliberation, and he lets himself feel the rush of the fall before skidding across concrete slabs to a stop, toeing the very edge of the rooftop he lands on.

Crude oil seeps thick and black where the heat once blazed and smouldered, and it’s not until his thoughts hiss viciously of absence, of no more, of stay away, that he recognises the feeling for what it is: a swirling cesspit of guilt and shame and regret bubbling away into angry misery.

Stupid, stupid, stupidstupidstupidstupid

Another burst of laughter rings out, riding the air to echo in his ears. Madara clenches his fists, closes his eyes, takes several deep breaths and tells himself that there is no way the plebeians below him could know of his presence unless he allowed it (for even with 99.98% of his chakra sealed away under rune and ink and blood—20 years, and though he had agreed of his own accord, the sentence for his crimes still chimes bitterly in his ears—Uchiha Madara is a force beyond nature, an artist wielding chakra for his paints and subduing the world to his woes and whims). Therefore, sure as the sky was blue and his name was Uchiha Madara, it was in no way possible for the laughter to be directed at him.

He tells himself this very firmly, repeatedly, and yet the urge to destroy whoever dared laugh in during his rare moment of introspection neither subsides nor changes. An involuntary growl emits from his throat. Almost comforted by the familiar flutter of irritation, Madara moves into a crouch, bending his knees in preparation to spring back into the skies when he feels it: the spark of Kakashi’s chakra signature, flickering approximately two kilometres from him and rapidly moving closer.

The intensity of the relief that wells up inside him at the knowledge that Kakashi is nearby stuns him; his breath comes out in a stutter and he finds himself simply staying in his awkward crouch, blinking like an idiot. It’s a long moment, in which he stands half bent, alternately perplexed and angry at himself, and then even more angry at the whole ordeal, before he hears the soft tap of a body landing behind him, Kakashi’s chakra flaring pure and bright before dwindling back to its usual low, almost imperceptible hum.

It’s nice of Kakashi, Madara thinks, slightly dazed, to give him such clear warning of his oncoming presence, and even the chance to escape if he so desired. Slowly, he straightens up and, against the screaming alarm bells that suddenly sound in his head, turns around.

Kakashi had taken the time to take off his Hokage robe, standing in his preferred armoured vest, jounin slacks, shirt and mask. The moonlight is still shining, bathing the village leader in an ethereal white glow and making the silver of his hair glint like polished blades. Madara’s eyes are drawn down the length of Kakashi’s long, willowy body, tracing the slightly shadowy outline of his shoulders, down his arms to where his hands are tucked casually into his pants pockets, hip cocked slightly to the side.

Those damnable forearms peek out, two tiny patches of skin between swathes of loose-fitting fabric.

There’s a reflexive swallow; Madara finds that his throat is dry, and something is tangled and writhing in his chest. He must be making some kind of terrific expression because Kakashi quirks an eyebrow and he suddenly has the inexplicable urge to rip off the stupid mask and smash Kakashi’s face with his own and—oh.

Ohhh.

That explains the heat, and the burn, and the warmth. That explains the way his mouth itches; the way his gut roils; the way his eyes insist on following after whenever he catches sight of silver-grey hair, of a long, indelible scar cutting through one of a pair of perceptive dark eyes, of a smooth, lean body whose every contour he has studied and committed to memory over the last four years, seven months since he returned to the place he now begrudgingly calls home.

(A home built between the towering piles of paper in the Hokage office; between the trees of the village training grounds where a certain shinobi steals away to take naps and play fetch with oddly indulgent ninken; between the cramped apartment walls that the very same shinobi refuses to give up despite getting the keys to the most prestigious building in the village.)

To think he had risked that in a moment of utter madness.

A whirl of dizziness washes over him.

Only half aware of what he’s doing, Madara takes slow steps towards the man standing before him, keeping his hands well apart and in clear view, until they’re back to almost where they started: standing too close, hardly a foot apart, his breath too hot and loud in his ears.

Loud enough to drown out the restless, clashing mix of anxiety and offence to his stubborn Uchiha pride, the clamour of alarms screaming in his head quietening in the face of Kakashi’s impassive stare.

He sinks to his knees.

“Woah-woah, hey!”

Kakashi hits the ground almost as soon as he does, arms extended as if to catch him, and suddenly those forearms that had started the whole mess are back in his reach, as mesmerising and infuriating as they had been before he had fled in a burst of possibly misplaced self-preservation.

He can’t name what compels him to stretch out his own hands and take hold of those lines of skin. There’s an intake of breath above him, but Kakashi holds still, just like before, and Madara takes it as permission to explore. He trails his fingertips lightly across the pale expanses, and Kakashi shivers, almost unnoticeable but for their proximity to each other.

Maddening, Madara thinks, and does it again, this time pressing harder so he can feel the raised wrinkle of old scars against the pads of his fingers.  

He keeps going, gliding up and down and back again, marvelling at the difference in texture between scar and skin, only half aware that his strokes could be considered caresses. He dips as far as he can under the cuff of Kakashi’s sleeves, until the tip of his middle finger hits the bend of Kakashi’s inner elbow, then slides back out with a gentle scratch. He thumbs over veins where he can see them, until he finds himself simply holding Kakashi’s wrists in his hands, the edges of his gloves digging slightly into his palms.

He doesn’t know how long they kneel there, his entire world narrowed down to two strips of luminous white.

Kakashi tugs softly with his right hand, and it is with some strangely forlorn helplessness that Madara loosens his fingers just enough to let Kakashi slip it out of his grip.

“Maa, I don’t really know what’s going on,” Kakashi says, and there’s a nervous chuckle in his voice, the hand that had escaped Madara’s grasp reaching up to ruffle the back of silver hair, “but have you calmed down now?”

It’s a second before his brain processes the words, and then Madara wants to scoff, to flick his hair in Kakashi’s face and tell him no, he is not calm, he is currently the furthest thing from calm and really, this is all Kakashi’s fault, because how dare he reduce Madara to this… this pathetically heated, wanting, mawkish thing of a man—except he realises that Kakashi hasn’t taken away his other arm, that it’s still resting in Madara’s grip.

He doesn’t want to let go.

So instead he nods and hopes that Kakashi will let him hold on, for just a little longer.

But Kakashi just lets out what sounds like a breath of relief, eyes curving in his trademark smile, and stands up, his hand sliding away with the motion. Madara’s fingers twitch.

“Well then!” Kakashi chirps, back to his usual blasé attitude as if Madara hadn’t been holding him by the throat not thirty minutes ago. “How about some sushi? I heard that they’ve added some new items to the menu at Hotaru’s, and I’ve been wanting to check it out.”

Madara is at a loss to Kakashi’s intentions; surely it couldn’t be that simple, whatever Kakashi’s personal carefree inclinations were. After all, Madara was still officially a criminal under patrol, who had outright attacked the most important man in the village regardless of his reasons and intentions. He had broken the one of the strictest conditions of his contract with the village, which was enough grounds of have a whole squad of ANBU  chasing after him and—Madara realises with a start that absolutely no one had approached them while he had Kaksahi pinned to the fence, and where the fuck had the ANBU guard been, the Hokage could have been hurt—

“Madara.”

Madara looks up to see Kakashi holding out an open palm, and Madara cannot tell if the softness he sees in grey eyes is real or some desperate imaginary hallucination.

That awful squirming in his gut is back, but he is Uchiha Madara, and he will lose to no one, not even himself.

Kakashi’s hand is warm.

A Rather, Very Long, Very Indulgent Author’s Note:

So I originally considered ending this with MadaKaka smut (because I love smut and I especially love smut with Kakashi, particularly a submissive/bottom!Kakashi (incidentally how I found myself interested in MadaKaka in the first place actually, cause I feel that there really aren’t that many characters who he would realistically let hold him down, also your MadaKaka headcanons were just A+)), but I just could not figure out a good segueway that didn’t seem entirely unnatural to either of the Madara and Kakashi I had pictured in my mind, so I relented to Madara’s emotional rollercoaster and started looking for other avenues to go down.

(That said, if you haven’t seen it already, I wrote the smut!)

My first thought was this: “If Madara’s already freaking out so much about Kakashi’s forearms, what if I let him be fixated on a slightly more intimate body part? Cause variety.” (because apparently I enjoy turning Kakashi into a Romantic-style Victoria maiden whose every patch of exposed skin is grounds to fall into a spiral of brain mush that can articulate nothing more than omg fuck hot hot omg this man *ahem, not projecting at all, I swear, it’s all Madara, ahem*).

Anyway, so with that thought in mind, I started on the idea of Madara getting even more worked up about Kakashi’s neck until I remembered that Kakashi’s mask covers his neck as well.

Me at this point: all good, we just need to think a little outside the box. How about somewhere a little lower that isn’t quite right below the belt?

So now we move on to Madara freaking out over Kakashi’s lower calves, the area between sandals and pants legs. But because I like to research for anything I write and ensure as much canon compliancy as possible, I decided to double check that Kakashi’s outfit/s really did expose a part of his legs.

…if you haven’t guessed it already, they do not. In his jounin outfit, there is a gap between shoes and pants, but the legs there are wrapped up in bandages, and in his Hokage day wear, he’s got these new knee-high sandals.

So now I’m getting just a little miffed, but thinking, “it’s okay, we can still work with this. Naruto-style ninja sandals are pretty exposed; there’s usually a cut at the back, so let’s have Madara be all stupid about Kakashi’s heels. I mean, I have no idea what position they’ll be in for Madara to be staring at Kakashi’s heels, but at least it’ll be something different.”

Kakashi’s new knee-high, Hokage boot-sandals do not have an exposed cut at the back of them.

(I was in half a mind to make Madara mildly obsessed with Kakashi’s toes, cause at least his toes are exposed, but then I was like, “yeah, nah, not really into that”).

So basically we were back to forearms, and maybe fingers, except fingers without a hand/palm is kinda weird (why don’t you just take his gloves you, you ask? (Or anything else for that matter? ;) ) Oh god I was tempted, but the flow just didn’t seem right, so I didn’t), and that’s how I ended up with what you read up there ^^^

This is all to say that Kakashi is actually a Romantic-style Victorian maiden—the type who would start a reading club in a secret parlour, delight in defying societal stereotypes and expectations, and use the system to absolutely destroy the fuck out of any idiot who would dare question his competence and ability for sure, but gosh, can you just imagine him demurely and breezily delivering underhanded insults to anyone who so much as looks at him the wrong way with a coquettish smirk and a tease of skin?

(I imagine maiden!Kakashi in a dark blue evening gown, either three-quarter sleeves and wrist gloves or off-the-shoulder and satin gloves running all the way up to the upper arm, and strings of pearls gleaming across their neck and collar, perhaps small fang-shaped earrings forged of some precious silver metal hanging just above the curve of their jawline. Their face is hidden behind either a delicate silk scarf or a lace fan, silver-white hair the colour of morning mist** flowing down their back in choppy waves (think long-hair Sakumo with hair unbound). The scar across their eye the souvenir of a fencing competition because the Hatake Household is on that shit and every Hatake lord and lady learns to fight to protect what they hold dear. I dunno how genderbent(?), Victorian maiden!Kakashi became a thing in my head but there you go xD )

(And Madara’s just fuming in the corner while anxiously trying to figure out a way to successfully court this exquisite creature, meanwhile promising to kill anyone with even the slightest of dishonourable intentions to his chosen desire.)

Honestly, what are you guys doing to me that I’m beginning to find this crack pairing actually adorable? xD

Aaaaand I think that is all I have to say.

Thanks for reading this stupidly long note til the end, and I hope you have an amazing day/night wherever you are<3

**I waste hours trying to decide what shade of grey I want to make Kakashi’s hair at any one particular time. Seriously, do a basic google image search of the man, and is it light grey? dark grey? silver tones? blue tones? lavender tones? should I go get my eyes checked? *throws hands up in frustration*