#also so strange to force people to get tickets online | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

purplekiwis · 3 years ago

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𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 (𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟏)

Summary: An emergency admission to the hospital gives rise to a series of strange events in your life. By fate, when things take a dark turn, a unexplainable force leads you to Harry. The hospital's shy and perceptive botanist who will help you solve the frightening mystery that links the two of you together. Genre: Witch AU / Soulmates AU (Green wizard Harry x Seer witch Y/N) Warnings: Sexual Content (Sub-ish, soft Harry 🥺), Mild Cursing, Witchcraft and Demon Stuff (Nothing too crazy or disturbing, I promise) Words: 17k (thus far) Author's Note: BELIEVE IT OR NOT THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SMALL LITTLE BLURB BUT AS IT TURNS OUT, I CAN'T SUMMARIZE STORIES FOR SHIT 😩 SO NOW IT WILL BE A 3 PART STORY.

** Spending Midsummer's Day hospitalized at the Communion Life Hospital Center wasn't exactly how Y/N had planned to spend the most magical day of the year.

No. She had a ticket to go to the annual magic fair with her friend Margery. Where they would surely have a wonderful time stuffing their bellies with sugar cookies, chocolate mushrooms and pumpkin ale, embarrassing themselves a little on the floating roller rink and, above all, timidly ogling at all the cute foreign wizards and witches they were too shy to approach, let alone flirt with.

The fair would also provide them with the chance to get their grabby hands on a bunch of whimsical ingredients and souvenirs that they didn't normally have access to during the rest of the year.

Of course, these days it's perfectly possible for wizards to order most of their funky stuff online... but the ones like Y/N still prefer to pick their ingredients manually.

You see, Y/N is a Seer witch.

It's a valuable trait that usually keeps her from harm's way since it bounds her to be highly ruled by her instinct and particularly sensitive to the energy of the materials and people around her. It has lots of perks. For instance, Y/N almost never gets lost, since she can find her way to where she wants to go based on intuition alone. She can also usually avoid uncomfortable or dangerous situations, even if she never saw or heard about them. – Whether it's silly things akin to jinxed candy that will make her ears grow twice the size or more serious matters, like creepy vampire alleyways and cursed artifacts.

Having instinctive genes also meant that anytime Y/N stared at a conjunct of objects while shopping, such as pile of bird skulls, most times than not one of them would effortlessly entail her attention and overpower all the other ones... which can get a little annoying sometimes when another person steps in and picks what fate had destined to be hers, but luckily most times if she explains her situation, they'll be kind enough to offer to switch, since for most magic people that don't possess any soothsaying abilities, not having a connection with their ingredients doesn't really make a difference in their magic. However, as expected there are also times people will deny her request or proceed to look at her like she's crazy or a bratty little witch.

Which she's not.

She has tried to ignore or go against her instincts multiple times. And in all fairness, the result was usually never good, but Y/N is pretty positive it was never as bad as it was this time.

Her day had been terribly unlucky from the start, which is usually a sign from the universe asking her not to do something. It all started when she tripped in the shower and knocked down her new bottle of shampoo, then her Chartreux cat, Azura, slid down her leg with its nails sticking out and made a huge tear on her favorite pair of overalls that she had just put on. Right after that, as Y/N was about to place a washed cereal bowl to dry on the rack, all the dishes in there fell down the counter for no logical or explainable reason. Later, whilst brushing her teeth she managed to squeeze a blob of toothpaste straight onto the front of her t-shirt and finally, right as she shut the front door and stood on the porch of her little house, she was greeted by an extreme downpour that started right in front of her eyes.

But she simply let out a big sigh and pulled the umbrella out of her bag. She really wanted to go to the fair, therefore if the universe was against it, it was just going to have to suck it this time. Besides, the weather had been stormy and gloomy for a few days now, so the last sign probably didn't even mean a thing.

Y/N should have known better than to defy the fate of the universe.

Because if she hadn't, she probably wouldn't have woken up in the hospital 3 days later, feeling dizzy, having hot flashes, and with severe pain on her left arm.

But alas, she had decided on being a stubborn little witch.

The fair had started just like it always did every year. There was a music band playing, plenty of market stalls to see, with plants, books, trinkets, and foamy caldrons where elixirs and potions bubbled away. Mages performed showy magic tricks and stunts to entertain the groups of wizards walking around sharing rainbow colored funnel cakes and glittery cotton candy.

The rain was a bit of a mood killer, but a simple waterproofing spell was enough to keep Y/N, Margery and the rest of their friends dry as they roamed around the curious attractions. But then things took a turn for the worse. The skies darkened as if ink had been poured over them, prompting your head to lift. A deafening scream echoed through the scene. All the people around seemed to be getting swallowed up, blinded by the dark, bedeviled murk that spread through the air.

Y/N was staring wide-eyed at the cloud that kept rising and rising, when she felt a chilling pain in her upper arm. A succubus wasp's fangs clang onto her skin, its venom penetrating her flesh and leaving her head pulsing and groggy.

She passed out.

And now she was waking up, under a fluffy white quilt as daylight spears between her lashes, making her eyes squint from sensitivity. A comforting presence environs the room, enhanced by the spring scent of rosemary and citrus flowers. She inhales the perfume and lets herself to get swamped by the lulling stillness and the energy that warms her sore body.

It's nice, it's so nice that almost convinces her to fall asleep again.

But then her slumberous head recalls the rising cloud of darkness. It felt ominous, like a warning... and that screaming wail, that froze her insides and made her feel sick at heart. Had someone gotten hurt? What happened after she lost consciousness? She needed to talk to Margery. She needed to make sure everyone was alright.

Y/N opened her eyes completely and crawled up on the bed. There was someone else in the room. Someone who stiffed up like a broomstick as soon as he saw her move. He was attractive... and probably about the same age as her. Tall and bright-eyed, with fuzzy brown curls that fell over his shoulders and cheeks all pinked up and kissable. He wore a cream linen blouse, with a moss-colored garden apron over it. The front of his pocket, from where a few gardening tools poked out of, was lightly smeared with fresh mud. So was one of his cheekbones, right under his eye.

"Oh, hello." The witch said bunglingly once their eyes met, but his reaction was not what she expected. He jumped nervously and dashed out the door like a kid caught with his hand in a cookie jar. Not a word, not a smile, just hotfooted away and left her alone to wonder over what had just happened.

Y/N didn't have much time to mull over it, however. Because the next minute a senior woman came into the room, with a big smile stretching across her face like she was genuinely happy to see her awake. "Ah, I see that our sleeping beauty has finally awakened..." She joked, wandering around the bed to open the window and air out the room that suddenly no longer smelled of flowers and happiness, but more so of failing health and antiseptic. "How are you feeling miss Y/N?" The woman asked, taking her palm to the girl's forehead to check the temperature. "Your friends left a while ago... You missed them for a few hours, but they should be back tomorrow. I'm certain they'll be thrilled to find you awake this time."

"Are they okay? Is everyone's okay?" Y/N jumped to ask. "How long have I been asleep?"

"You've been here for the past 3 days... but we're going to have to keep you around for a bit longer. That was quite an allergic reaction you had... gave everyone a big scare." As she moved closer, Y/N could perceive the small tag stuck to her uniform's chest that read 'Angela Carrington', and in the line below 'Nurse'. - "I've seen a lot of things in my 25 years working at this hospital, but someone hallucinating after being stung by a sleep wasp...? That's a first."

"Hallucinating?"

She dismissed the alarmed question with a brief wave and a soft pop of her tongue. "It's nothing, don't worry about it." But Y/N's curious expression didn't budge, so the nurse carried on with the subject. "You talked in your drowse, about this big cloud of smoke in the sky and a screaming woman. We figured you were developing an allergic reaction to the venom, that made you feverish and therefore caused the hallucinations. We had to inject you with a calming potion... but you were out like a lamp after that."

The girl squinted slightly, shaking her head sternly. "No, but that was real. That- that happened before I got stung." Her eyes sought out Mrs. Carrington's, that were rounded and twinkled golden from the sunlight that poked through the window. "My friends... everyone that was there... they saw it too. It was huge and scary... they have got to have seen it, haven't they?"

The nurse pursed her lips sympathetically, patting the girl's head lightly. "Oh darling. That little head of yours is still all topsy-turvy, isn't it? It must've all happened so quick... didn't even feel it."

Ungrudgingly, Y/N allowed her body to slip under the quilt again. So it had all been a figment of her imagination... That gave her a bit more peace of mind, especially knowing that everyone she loved was safe, and not out there trying to survive a smokey apocalypse while she slept like a sloth. But at the same time, some things still didn't make much sense. She was so sure she had felt the sting after seeing the cloud... The memory was so clear that she could practically portray the whole scene inside her head.

But maybe it was all a hallucination after all.

"Dinner will be served in a little while, but for now I'll leave you to rest for a little longer." The nurse affirmed, after she was done inspecting Y/N's wound. "Your friends left a bag with your personal things on the couch. If you want to use the bathroom, it's this door right here." She explained, signaling the only door inside the room besides the main one. "For now it's all yours, but if someone else is admitted to the room you'll have to share." Y/N nodded, although she wasn't really asking. "If you need anything else, all you have to do is ring that bell and someone will come check on you. If you feel any discomfort or have more delusional episodes, it's best to let someone know. It could be a sign that the fever has returned." Y/N cringed at the words 'delusional episodes'. She was fairly used to receiving high signs and warnings from the unknown, but having visions and hallucinations was an entirely different level of looney... even for a witch. Divination was not a very common gift among wizards, in fact the more skeptic ones even considered it to be nothing but a business hoax to trick desperate people into believing something great awaited them. She knew for a fact that wasn't entirely true though. She had inherited the trait from her aunt Rowena, who still to that day worked as a fortune-teller in Las Vegas. She was very popular among the non-magic people for her correct predictions... so popular that she had once even gotten invited to record a show for the TLC channel. Naturally they had no idea she was a real witch, like a proper potion-making, spell-casting witch and believed she simply had the so called gift. Unlike aunt Rowena however, Y/N never aspired to take financial advantage of their shared genetic trait. Not because she found any faults in doing so, but because she found faults in her personal trait, specifically. There were stages in her life where her intuition seemed to shut down completely, and others where it was at a constant all-time high. And since Y/N is certain proper fortune-tellers should have a stable vision and not one that is fluctuating and unpredictable, she chooses to rely on it solely for her own safeness and satisfaction. Like a secret party trick that made her feel a little cooler than the other wizards around her sometimes. And honestly, despite aunt Rowena's unquestionable success, Y/N had never truly believed it once she claimed to have prophetic visions. How could she, when they shared the same intrinsic gene and she had never had that kind of mind-expanding experience herself? She only had what was usually referred to as an inner vision, or mystical intuition. Like an inner force that guided her into making right decisions... and yet, now her mind couldn't help but go back to the stories told by her aunt, that she had always believed to be nothing but a reaction to the modern drugs consumed in the non-magical world, at best.

But no, it couldn't be. If she really were to have a prophetic gift, wouldn't it have shown during her pre-teen years like the intuition did?

The doctors were right. Her head was still confused, and this was just a case of feverish hallucinations. But if that was so, could the cute boy she had seen earlier in her room also be a fantasy of her mind?

She really hoped not.

"I've also seen this, um... boy? Right before you walked in." Y/N started apprehensively, what made the nurse's head pop up off her patient record. "I don't know if I also imagined him or not, I was still half asleep when it happened..."

"What did he look like?" She pried, focusing her curious gaze on the girl's face, that was peeking at her stout figure from under the quilt.

"He was, um..." The girl stalled up her own words, trying to recollect a clearer image in her conscience. "Tall... longish hair... was wearing a uniform. A bit different than yours, like a gardening smock...? I don't know if that's what it's called."

"Oh." The older witch grinned in understanding. "That would be Harry. He's real, a bit peculiar but a sweetheart, nonetheless." Her smile widened when she saw the kraft paper wrapping perched on the room's nightstand. "I see he left you one of his little gifts..." She said, pointing to the item Y/N hadn't noticed yet.

The witch looked away from her for a moment and focused on the rough package. Had he left this here for her? Did he not want her to know it came from him? That would explain why he had left in such a hurry, but it still didn't explain why he hadn't responded to her greeting. "Is he um..." Y/N began to question, unable to push away the curiosity. "Does he talk?"

The nurse laughed mid sigh. "He can talk, but he's not very talkative, no."

She hummed understandingly. "Is he also staying at the hospital?"

"Not as a patient. He's our botanical specialist." The witch nurse clarified, what already answered a few other silly questions Y/N was planning to ask next, regarding the reasons why he was wearing an apron and why did he smell good like spring. "He was the one who made the ointment we've been coating your wound with." She also told, drawing Y/N's attention to her own upper arm that was still swollen and slightly greenish from the bite. "Crazy what some sprouts and fermented flower nectars can do, huh?"

It wasn't until way after dinnertime that Y/N finally gave in and unwrapped open the gift on her bedside table. She hadn’t forgotten about it… how could she? It wasn’t like there were any cute wizards with rosy cheeks and muddy clothes bringing her gifts every other day. As a matter of fact, she couldn't even remember the last time she had received a gift other than from Margery on her birthday. Y/N was thrilled. For that reason, ever since the nice nurse had left, she had been waging an inner battle between her logical brain and her jumpy, excited heart. Having picked up the present and given it a curious shake before quickly placing it back countless times. She really wanted to rip the wrapping open, but her brain was still partially convinced that the quiet wizard doctor had left whatever it was in her room by mistake and was going to come bursting through the door at any moment to get it back. But once the long hours passed and he still didn’t come, Y/N finally gave in to the temptation, sitting up on the bed and moving the package to her lap. She tried not to screw up the paper too much, but it was hard with the way her hands were moving with excitement. The first thing the girl saw was a round glass dome, what caused her fingers to rush to remove the rest of the paper. At first, she thought it to be a crystal ball, what would’ve been awful ironic and borderline scary after that whole fortune-telling plight, but then she noticed that there was a miniature myrtle tree inside, roughly the size of a human hand. Y/N let out a sigh of surprise once its flowers began to glow a faint shade of lavender with the contact, and its branches began to sway to the rhythm of an unintelligible current as she revolved the dome around in her hands. It was fascinating. Y/N had never seen anything like it. Which made her stomach go a little pudgy, because the more she thought about it, the more the certainty that this was not meant to be given to her settled in. It was too beautiful… Y/N doesn't get these lovely, thoughtful presents that leave her smiling silly like a fool. She gets other nice things, like adorable mittens and animal slippers, but not mini enchanted forests that react to the touch and glow purple in the dark. That's what witches who are loved, like downright adored by their partners get. Not witches who go on accidental head trips after being stung by sleep wasps. Y/N sighed wistfully and placed the dome back on the nightstand. She just hoped Harry would come back for it soon before she grew too attached to the little bottled landscape. Living, and breathing for its own will.

Y/N woke up a few hours later with a gasp, sitting up in bed like a zombie rising from the grave. She didn't have to wonder what was going on for long, a glance at the clock on the wall answered her question. It was 3 AM - The witching hour.

The witching hour is in some ways resembling of those spikes of energy and sudden urges that non-magic people have, to get up and do something productive at the most ungodly hours in the night. The difference being that wizards can't just lie in bed and plan to do it later like ordinary people do before they inevitably fall back asleep.

Wizards can't control it. It's like their occult abilities start circulating through their bodies, pressuring them to put them practice. Usually when Y/N is at home, what she does during her hocus-pocus hour is kneel by her altar and play a little with her magic candles, or flip through the pages of a witch magazine, to get in touch with the latest spells and rituals trends. If she's feeling particularly inspired, she'll try one or two right away… but that determination is hard to come by.

Now that she's stuck in a hospital room though, Y/N doesn't quite know what she's supposed to do with her time. Shouldn't they keep something around for the patients entertain themselves? Even if it was just a piece of rope to build a witch's ladder or yarn and needles to knit a nice winter scarf…

She got up to access her bag over the couch. The chances were slim, but maybe amidst their rush one of her friends had remembered the small ‘witching hour’ detail and stuffed something in her bag that she could work or entertain herself with for a whole hour every day. But her searching didn’t go too far past undoing the bag’s zipper and shuffling around a few pieces of clothing… because she started to hear joyous chattering and walking in the corridors, as if a religious pilgrimage was taking place outside her door.

The witch allowed her curiosity to lead her towards the entrance, opening a crack on the door and peering through. Groups of sorcerers entertained themselves with side conversations as they walked in pajamas and slippers, heading somewhere to the left. Y/N watched them with her eyebrows creased, before focusing on what was happening in the room right in front of her door. A nurse helped a grouchy old man move from his hospital bed onto a wheelchair. Y/N's heightened Seer senses tuned in on the one-sided conversation they were having. "Come on Mr. Hawk," the nurse encouraged. “We have a toffee pudding down the hall with your name on it… better hurry up before Miss Flores finds it first and leaves you nothing but the crumbs.”

Toffee pudding? He better watch out for Y/N because she might very well go and steal it from him first...

Okay, of course she's not actually planning to steal the old man's pudding but if everyone's leaving their rooms and going that way, she’s going after them. **

The dining hall looked like a big coven reunion. Sorcerers practiced activities and spells together, others conversed and played enchanted board games. Mostly Spinning Scrabble - that was just like normal scrabble, only every time someone built a word the square pieces rearranged themselves, apart from the already filled ones, as well as Lifelike Battleship, that came with a board of moving waves where ships floated at the surface. When hit wholly, the ships would collapse right in front of the players eyes and sink under the ensorcelled panel of foamy, undulating waters until completely gone from sight.

Some of the room’s dining tables were stuffed full of drinks and cakes. That was where the patients and staff who got the late night munchies gathered. There was a bit of everything! Warm milk and tea, pies, pastries, muffins, toast... the whole lot of foods anyone could ever wish to have before bed.

The atmosphere was homey and fantastic.

It reminded Y/N of the festive season back at her parents' house. Of those times all their relatives got up during the witching hour and gathered around the fireplace in the living room to form a circle of benign magic. The adults usually went back to their rooms after, whilst Y/N and her cousins stayed up the rest of night… playing these same spellbound board games and sharing jinxed sweets that had some quite unpredictable affects. She recalled that time an innocent looking candy cane turned her brain into actual mush and left her blankety-blank for hours.

Fun times… “Miss Y/N…” A vaguely familiar voice called from behind her, prompting her to turn her head back. Y/N smiled accommodatingly at the sight of the same senior nurse, Mrs. Carrington, who had come by her room earlier. “I stopped by your room just now to call you, but I see you've found your way by yourself… How are you feeling, darling? Good?” She responded positively, and without further ado the witch rested a hand in the middle of her back and started guiding her around the room for a brief introduction. “Okay well, this is our everyday witching hour station…” She started. “You don't have to come down here if you don't want to, but we usually encourage everyone to do so... After all it’s very fruitful for the soul to be around others like us during the most magical hour of the day, isn’t it?” Y/N didn't get to answer the question, since the nurse carried on talking right away, so she just smiled slightly and continued to follow her around the room. “Feel free to make yourself at home. You have games, food, people to talk to… there’s some books over there if you feel like reading… oh, and you can pray or practice magic too - as long as it’s not disturbing for the other patients - so no noisy rituals, no smelly potions, no bewitching other wizards and no summoning demons... is that clear?”

Y/N's eyes widened as she nodded her head eagerly. Summoning demons? Did Mrs. Carrington think she looked evil enough to be a black magic practitioner or was she just speaking out of protocol? If so… did that mean someone had ever tried it before? Y/N opened her mouth to ask, but the older witch spoke before she could. “Oh dear…” She purled, catching sight of the pendulum clock on the wall. “I would keep you company if I could, but it's almost time to give Mrs. Wolf her medication, and lord knows we don’t want her to go without it any time soon...” She patted Y/N's back sympathetically. “Oh! You should try the pumpkin spread toasts while I’m gone! They're truly something else…”

“Thank you.” Y/N smiled sheepishly with a brief nod. “I will.” Y/N still felt a little awkward collecting a plate from the pile and circling the tables by herself. Her eyes scanned the room, wishing to find someone her age or a kind looking grandma she felt comfortable enough going to sit next to, but unfortunately every witch and wizard around seemed to be settled in a group already… Y/N was the only one out, except for the half-baked witch coiled up in a corner next to Mrs. Carrington muttering nonsense under her breath. She tried to stop that aloof feeling from getting a hold of her bones, picking out a small carrot cake muffin and a toast slice spread with pumpkin butter. She still looked twice at the toffee pudding, but there were only two slices left, so she chose to leave them for her grouchy neighbor and miss Flores and walked to the drinks section instead, to pour herself a glass of cocoa milk.

She was trying to pour the milk with one hand and balance her plate of food in the other, but it turns out the milk frother was much heavier than she'd anticipated, causing her to let the plate accidentally skid from her hand for a millisecond. Y/N caught onto it quickly but not quick enough to stop her slice of toast from falling to the floor. Muttering a silent curse through her teeth, the young witch bent down in hopes to pick up the mess she’d made before anyone noticed. To Y/N’s shock however, by picking up the slice laying top down on the floor, she happened to reveal a symbol drawn in pumpkin butter.

Her knees jarred back by their own will once her gut identified it as an attacking serpent with menacing teeth and a slithery forked tongue. Her hand dropped the bread to her feet in favor of touching her temple. That woman's loud wailing was ringing beneath her skull again, just like it did at the magic fair. She felt an impulse to scream along with the voice, but her throat felt like it was knotted in an involuntary vow of silence.

With panicky beads forming in her eyes, Y/N glanced around the room. Everyone looked just as serene and unperturbed as before. With the wraith of distress still present in her features and goose bumps underneath her clothes, she reached for a napkin and wiped the stained floor hastily. What the hell was happening with her?

The next morning Y/N was surprised by a visit from her friends.

She had just finished assembling her breakfast in the tray the way she liked when they walked in the room, beaming from delight once they saw their friend conscious and smiling back at them. “Ohh…” Y/N cooed softly when she saw that Margery carried a plush toy and a 'get well soon' helium balloon under her forearm, of the kind they sell in stores around hospitals. “Stop it… is that a chubby narwhal?”

“Mm, I don’t know… Is that strawberry cream cheese?” The brown girl joked as she slumped on the chair closest to the bed and opened her mouth so that her friend would grant her a bite of her food. That day’s breakfast consisted of a wholegrain bagel with butter or strawberry cream cheese, a bowl of mixed fruit, and a mug of an instant barley drink that tasted okay but didn't provide Y/N with the energy she usually got from caffeine before starting her day.

But the wonder of seeing the familiar faces of her friends gave her all the spiritual boost she needed. Especially the frisky one of her best friend Margery.

She was a very affectionate sea witch, despite her rather dark aesthetic. She wore long blue dreadlocks, decorated with cowrie shells, beads and countless thin gold rings like the one that adorned the center of her lower lip. She preferred to dress in black or dark shades almost every day and always carried more than five pieces of jewelry on her – Most of them were crafted by her own hands, since she owned a small knickknack business. Y/N helped her with it at times, and in return Margery taught her how to make gemstone pendants from scratch and how to combine stones to improve their magical powers. It was a good dynamic that benefited both girls.

Then there was Axl, he was a couple years younger than the rest, despite being the tallest and broadest. He was a true potions master, and it turns out that his talent also extended to the kitchen. Axl always made the best soups and stews... full of flavors, colors, and mouthwatering aromas. Anything he served was always a real treat for the senses… well, except for that time he got distracted and welcomed his friends with a bowl of carrot flavored laxative potion that was meant to relieve his grandma’s intestinal gas instead of roasted vegetable soup and left everyone tutting all night long… That wasn’t a treat for anyone's olfactory sense, but they got through it together like good friends do.

And finally, there was Pam. A girl who would happily live in a cabin isolated from the rest of the magic world forever if she could. She did disappear off the map often. To go on lonely trips around the globe with no day of return planned. The only company she truly couldn’t do without was Dodger, her pet ferret which she always carried right over her shoulder or on a red sparkly leash. Y/N was slightly appalled that Pam had come into town just to visit her, since she always got quite squirmy in places with many people and usually always needed at least a month of isolation to recover after attending a big, crowded event like the fair, but she was happy to see her crotchety face anyway.

“Do you guys want to try some hospital breakfast as well?” Y/N asked Pam and Axl, who took the remaining empty seats on the couch. They didn’t seem too interested so she forked a grape from her fruit serving and took it to her mouth. “What about you Dodger baby? I bet you would love a little banana slice to chew on, wouldn’t you?” Y/N gave Pam that look. She normally never let anyone feed fruit to her pet because well, ferrets weren’t supposed to eat it… but the little guy loved bananas, and Y/N loved to watch him eat them.

“Fine…” Pam granted after a moment of silence. “Only because you're sick, otherwise I wouldn't let you spoil him…” Y/N flashed her a grin, finger picking a small piece out of the fruit box and throwing it over the seat for the ferret to catch.

“I'm not sick anymore I think… they just want me to stay for a couple more days to make sure I don’t have any other weird allergy symptoms.”

“I didn’t know people could get anaphylaxis from sleep wasps…” Axl mumbled under his breath, prompting the girls to flash him a chastising look. The kind that made it explicit that this wasn't the first time they'd discussed the topic. “What? It’s true… I went to Wiccapedia and it said that there is no known species of magical insect whose venom causes immediate fever. Much less high enough to cause hallucinations…”

“Last time I checked you weren't a doctor, besides Wiccapedia is not a reliable source of information, you should know by now…” Margery interrupted Axl’s commenting, raising her voice with annoyance. “If the doctors say that's what happened, it's because it was.” “Either that or they're not telling us the truth.” Axl spat, crossing his legs and his arms simultaneously. “If they were fully convinced the issue was just allergy fever, by now they would’ve sent her home with an antidote prescription…”

Y/N was sitting against the bedframe watching them argue like she was watching a ping pong tournament. With her head incessantly swiveling from side to side to try to keep up with what was going on. “Okay, enough!” She spat, once she was done listening to them bicker. “There’s something I need to tell you…” That made their discussion stop and their heads turn towards her expectantly. “…Remember my crazy aunt, Rowena? The Las Vegas fortune-teller?”

“Rowena…” Axl squinted as he tried to remember. “That name sounds vaguely familiar…”

“The milf one, with the nice rack.” Margery elucidated, making Y/N scowl although it seemed to do the trick for Axl’s memory. “What? It’s true. She has got a great rack… It's hard not to notice.”

“Okay well, forget about her tits for a moment.” Y/N sighed, holding her eyes shut for a second. “The point is I'm starting to think she's not so crazy after all…”

She told them there - about the screaming woman and cloud of smoke she'd witnessed at the fair, about aunt Rowena's telltale of hallucinating experiences, how she was beginning to think they might have that unusual flair in common, and even about the serpent omen that she'd seen the day prior during the witching hour. “Wow, that’s crazy… I thought the common omens for Seers were crows and clouds... and feelings…” Axl said in awe. “Have you told that to anyone in here? They must totally think you have bats in the belfry if you did so…”

“I don’t have bats in the belfry! I’m not crazy…” Y/N stood up for her sanity. “And no, I haven’t told anyone! I know it sounds mental, but that's not even what’s worrying me the most… These are abnormal omens, you know? The feeling I get while it’s happening is… dark, and cold, it's horrible.”

“Are you sure that what you saw was a serpent and not a snake?” Pam asked, her eyes fixed on the magic themed website she was consulting on her phone. “It says here they're quite different...” She started reading the words aloud. “A snake can be linked to healing, birth, fertility… it’s a good omen generally. I mean, unless this is your way of finding out you're carrying a rando’s baby... I’m sure that would be somewhat disconcerting.”

“She’s not carrying a baby.” Margery heaved on the defensive, before her face turned to Y/N's for confirmation. “You’re not, right?”

“Unless I have a slutty sleepwalking side, or can now get pregnant through my imagination, I would say no.”

“Well then, is there any chance someone close to you might be?”

Y/N shook her head earnestly. The word that surged in her subconscious right as her eyes caught sight of that symbol was serpent. Not snake, not cobra - serpent. “What does it say about the other symbol?” The witch asked inquisitively, dismissing any more pregnancy questions.

Pam cleared her throat as she focused back on the article. “It says that… that the serpent is one of the oldest and most widespread mythological symbols.” Y/N breathed in relief at the news. At least it was common. “Throughout the years, this symbol has been linked to the Devil or Satan that leads the whole world astray. Chaos, corruption, and darkness are some of its most common interpretations. It is also believed that if a serpent omen crosses your path, an enemy is nearby.”

When Pam looked up from the phone, she was being stared at by livid and appalled faces. “What? You’re not all genuinely afraid of a symbol now, are you?”

Y/N is not really afraid of the symbol per se, but she has to admit it’s quite disconcerting that she keeps seeing it everywhere. So much that often times she finds herself questioning if it's a mere suggestion of fear or if it really could be happening. Like when she stares out the window to watch the stormy weather through the glass before bed and the wind blows over the willow tree planted outside in the hospital garden, causing its branches to form a snake-like pattern. Or later, by the end of the witching hour, when she finishes a mug of cocoa milk and the dregs of chocolate at the end form a drawing similar to a coiled serpent that covers practically the full bottom of the mug. The presages always make Y/N’s spine waggle a little beyond control, but after the third day they don’t surprise her that much anymore… At least not as much as when she decides to go for a walk without destination around the hospital to stimulate the circulation in her legs and is suddenly faced with an entrance to a tiny greenhouse. She looks up at the ceiling, marveling at the pyramidal glass structure that is covered in layers upon layers of green plants and kaleidoscopic flowers of all shapes and sizes. There are wood and stone structures inside, to which vines curl around like leafy swirls. The mossy shelves and gardening tables are burdened by pots of bulbous flowers, earthy herbs and mushroom species Y/N had never seen before. Like a miniature garden of Eden shielded behind tall, translucent walls. But it's when she starts hearing a lively voice talking inside, that Y/N can't curb her own curiosity… poking her head through the entrance for a quick overlook. What she saw caused her to hold her breath for what seemed like an interminable amount of time. The quiet botanical wizard was standing in front of a scaled-down wooden cottage made from the roots of a wild tree. Just like the first time she'd seen him, he had on his cute little gardening attire… but this time there was also a crown made from pansies and lavender perched over his head, that looked far too perfect to have been braided by human fingers. He was spiritedly reciting fairy tale lines from the pages of a book held in between his hands to a thumb-sized, elfin audience. The groups of fairy creatures sat over the roof of their verdant hut, perching up their hairy heads over flimsy arms or bent knees. Their skin glowed a soft shade of yellow, by virtue of their luminous wings. Their ears and noses were pointy and delicate, providing their mischievous features with certain feline characteristics. They listened attentively to the different dialogues recited by the boy, who read them a story with as much dedication as that of a father reading to his children.

Y/N couldn't not stand quietly by the door watching him spiel. The boy before her was wonderful - from the flowers in his hair to his soft spoken voice. His features seemed to have been outlined by the gods, a perfect balance between tender and sharp. Masculine and feminine. His irises were as dazzling as amazonite beads. Bright and tinged in a deep shade of iceberg green, and if that didn’t make him attractive enough, he looked so… gentle and lovable. Of course Y/N never spoke to him, so her opinions are utterly romanticized but there is no way a wizard who reads sleep stories to fairies isn’t an absolute sweetheart. Y/N is completely taken by him, so sucked in on his appearance that it takes her more time than it should have to register that his lips have fallen silent, and he is now looking back at her, cheeks burning scarlet and body as stiff as a corpse. Harry shudders slightly when the girl steps inside the greenhouse, what ends up scaring off his fairies who rush to go hide inside their hut. “Oh no. I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to upset them...” She apologizes sincerely, pacing back outside. The last thing she wanted was to disturb the fairies or make him upset. She just wanted to talk to him. “What’s your name?” She asked softly and tentatively, despite already knowing the answer. “It’s um… H-Harry.” He stuttered a little, still intensely staring at her. “Hi Harry.” Y/N beamed at him, leaning against the entryway. “I’m Y/N.” “Hello.” Harry smiled back, albeit very shyly. “I was enjoying hearing you read… you have a beautiful voice.” She commended, because for some reason it was easy to show fondness when he was so flustered. She just wanted to make him feel loved and appreciated from the inside out for no motive other than the fact that he was cute and skittish like a stray kitten. Harry didn't reply, just looked down and smiled unsurely. “Okay, I'll leave you alone now. I hope I haven't upset you or your little friends too much…” Y/N voiced lowly, waving softly with her hand. “Bye Harry.” “Did you... did you like your magic tree?” He still asked before she could leave. Y/N's heart jumped happily at the realization that she had been mistaken. He hadn’t been planning on getting his tree back after all. “Oh! I loved it. So, so much! I play with it before bed everyday, it helps me relax and sleep better.” The wizard struggled to hide a blushing smile, nodding once at the revelation. There was something so endearing about Harry… Y/N couldn’t quite pinpoint exactly what but he just carried such an appeasing aura around him. Strong enough to cloak the negative feeling that seemed to have been haunting her surroundings as of lately. She won’t lie and say she wouldn’t like it better if Harry was more open to conversation, but the fact that he wasn’t very talkative didn't change his appeal to her - he could be completely mute and her desire to spend time together with him would still hold up. Not only that but she had an inkling that he mostly kept to himself and didn’t talk to many people in or outside the hospital (other than the absolute necessary) and although maybe he did like things to be that way, he didn’t seem entirely put off by her effort to socialize… just a tad nervous. Y/N is thinking that perhaps he is just someone who needs a bit more time to unwind, and the prospect that other people might not have even gave him a chance to makes her a bit sad... because his presence was so pleasing and his eyes so expressive that even though he didn’t speak, it felt like no words were amiss. Forasmuch, Y/N resolves that as long as Harry doesn’t show to be bothered by her attempts, she will continue to try and become friends with him. ** And when she goes to sleep that night under the soft purply glow of her magic tree dome, Y/N holds on tightly to her new narwhal plushy… just the same as she does to the limns of a certain peculiar wizard swimming around her subconscious. Maybe Y/N has got a bit of crush on him… A teensy-weensy bit of a crush.

Being in such a good sleep, the last thing Y/N expected was to be woken up from her peaceful slumber by a blaring alarm echoing throughout the hospital in the middle of the night. Her confused head perks up, eyes going wide despite still burning from sleep. The room is still dark so she can make out the red blinking flashes glowing under the door breach closest to the floor.

What was happening? Was there a fire? Her sluggish legs slither off the bed as fast as they can and head towards the couch in the dark, where she hurriedly put on her robe to top her summer pajama set that barely covered any skin before heading towards the door. She winced when the blinding lights of the hospital corridor and the noisy alarm ring clashed all her senses, making her feel rather disoriented.

There were several other disheveled heads like hers peeking out of their rooms, and this time there were two nurses in the front room, helping Mr. Hawk onto his wheelchair with much more urgency than last time she’d seen it happening.

“What happened?” A witch with greyish hair and an unfriendly face questioned from her assigned room at the end of the hallway. “Should we just head back to bed or what? I have better things to do than to stand here waiting for answers.”

“We want everyone out of their rooms.” One of the nurses clarified, looking rather shaken. “There has been an attack, someone got injured. Please follow to the night station. Do it orderly please - you'll be safe there.” He added, before turning his back and hurrying to disappear behind the fire doors.

Y/N's face hardened in fear as she, along with everyone else, stepped out of the room and did as the man had instructed.

Something felt odd though.

There was this pulling, like a tugging sensation she felt in her gut, pressing her into taking another direction than the one the nurse had told them to go in. This sensation was also leaving her quite uneasy and overall worried over something – what was it?

Her head kept wondering, until she noticed something that caused each hair on her body to stand to the tips with stress - Harry wasn’t in between the people occupying the night station. Where was he? Was he okay? Y/N didn’t know - and for some reason that was making her heart drop and rush frightened at the same time. To the point where all she could do was squeeze the fabric of her shirt over her chest and feel afflicted, like someone might have just sliced her heart into pieces like an apple.

She really shouldn't let that affliction get a hold of her better judgement, but that was easier said than done when the esoteric part of her core kept screaming that something was wrong, and her mind kept taking her back to the greenhouse where she had last seen him – Had anyone known he was there in the first place? Had anyone remembered to go check?

An invisible connective string prompted Y/N to move away from her place and begin to break through the crowd, and before she could question your own actions, she was already back on the way towards the greenhouse. Double checking every corridor and doorway she came across this time, partly because she was searching for Harry, but mostly because she was rather spooked that everything felt a little too close to a horror movie. And the worst part was that if this was indeed a horror movie Y/N was watching and there was a character doing exactly what she was doing - walking around a hospital in the dark knowing damn well there has been an attack a little while ago - she’d be rolling her eyes at the screen, knowing the dumb little person was about to die. And when they did, she wouldn’t even feel sorry for them, because they had it coming all along by acting so fucking stupid!

And all because of a boy she hasn’t even had a proper conversation with.

Y/N must have gone real sick in the head.

That would be the only explanation really.

Because fine, she might have thought Harry to be unbelievably cute and handsome but that alone couldn't be reason enough for her to be putting herself in danger for him, could it? No. This anguish was illogical - and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t come up with a single commonsensical justification for why she would feel the need to go roaming a hospital in the dead of the night just to make sure he wasn’t the person who had gotten injured, or worse... one other person who had gotten injured and hadn’t been found yet.

But the closer Y/N got to the greenhouse the more it made sense, because she could feel this burdensome, painful energy steaming in the air. It wasn't as strong as what she had felt at the magic fair, but it somewhat reminiscent of that darkness that seeped through her pores and ate away any positive feelings she could have. That unconsciously made her quicken her step until she spotted the familiar bedroom-sized glass structure. The fact that the place was now in complete debris flew right over her head as soon as her eyes caught upon the fact that Harry was standing there alone - so far looking to be in good health.

“Thank goodness! You’re here!” The young witch exclaimed in relief, loping towards him and wrapping his body in what was probably a very startling, uncomfortable hug for him. “I was so scared! The nurse said someone had gotten injured and that we had to go the night station… and I noticed everyone else was there, but you weren’t and I thought… I thought…” Her voice dispersed into nothing when she realized Harry was hugging her back, but now his chest was shaking and there were hot spurts falling directly from the tips of his lashes onto the skin of her cheekbones. “What’s wrong?”

“The fairies…” He spoke arduously in between sniffles. “They’ve been cursed. All of them.”

“Cursed?” Y/N asked, pulling away but letting her hands continue to have a hold of his arms. “How do you mean?”

“I don’t know, I- I casted a protective charm to keep them shielded from goblins and other evil creatures that could try to harm them...” He sputtered, trying his hardest to swallow the snivels. “This never happened before… and now suddenly that Beldam witch is gone and-”

“There was a Beldam witch staying at the hospital?” Y/N interrupted, staring at him in shock. Beldam witches were what people commonly referred to as wicked witches. Known for their practice of black magic and misdeeds and their desire to always do harm through their magic. For that reason, they didn’t usually come around places with many people, let alone hospitals where they would have to be around other wizards and witches.

Harry nodded his head weakly. “We’re a community hospital so there’s all kinds of patients here…” He explained, hastily wiping his face clean and swallowing around a sorrowful hiccup. “She hurt Mrs. Carrington... the Beldam witch who was hospitalized here, I mean. Her name is Lucinda Wolf. She’s known to be associated with some sinister stuff – like, black magic stuff.”

Y/N could feel his mournful energy making her chest tighten, in a similar way than it did that time Azura the cat mysteriously disappeared during her heat cycle, and she spent 4 days wondering if she was ever going to make it home again. “What happened to Mrs. Carrington?” The girl questioned apprehensively. “Has she been put under a curse too?”

Harry nodded his head and pawed at his eyes. “I'm not too worried about Mrs. Carrington, We've already medicated her and she’s reacting well to the treatments. I’m positive she’ll recover quickly, but the fairies... they’re so small and this magic is so powerful… It makes me scared I’ll never be able to revive them.” He admitted wistfully as he stared out the window at the rainy nightscape that seemed to wail with grief along with him.

Although Y/N's knowledge on fae and eerie creatures is limited, she knows fairies can't be killed by force. They are one of the few magical entities that can only die of old age. However, alike all living beings, they aren’t immune to getting bewitched against their will or tortured with wicked magic beyond remedy. That was the worst-case scenario that Harry feared. It was all he could think of, and although she too condemned any kind of harm done towards such pure and innocent creatures, her inductive mind was more preoccupied trying to join the dots.

The dark cloud, the continuous rainstorms, the serpent omens and now a hospital attack... It couldn't all be a big coincidence.

“The fairy dust,” Y/N asked softly. “What can it be used for?”

“So many things. I can't even list all of them, but when used for its healing powers, it can improve almost any remedy. That's why I keep them around the hospital. They love to help with the medications...” Harry explained slowly, his eyes fixed on the copper-colored sticky potion flowing from the broken flasks on the floor. “It is also useful in transformation and reversing spells, power negation… It can nullify the power of magical objects and beings, including ours.” Y/N's lips parted in astonishment and concern. “It’s extremely powerful, and when used to commit the havoc, it can be disastrous...”

“You mentioned that she was into dark stuff… do you think whatever reason that's behind her actions could be… not human?” Harry nodded his head, taking another brief glance around the ravaged greenhouse. Then he squinted, noticing a fresh splatter of something on the floor that wasn’t there before the attack. He crouched by it, took a broken branch and stuck it in the liquid, pulling it out to see the sticky texture that stretched with the movement of his arm. Slimy and glowing blue - Kelpie blood. Judging by the look in Harry's face, it was also his first time seeing it other than in books or internet articles. Kelpies were ghostly horse-like creatures. They are difficult to find since they inhabit mostly in secluded areas with shallow waters. In present times in the magic world, their blood could only be acquired through illegal trade due to threat of extinction of the sea hybrids species. For that reason, it was extremely rare and pricey, and often associated with the practice of black magic – and more specifically, summoning rituals.

That's a fact both Y/N and Harry are aware of, what made them exchange a knowing, slightly aghast look. “Something was summoned here...” Harry stated lowly, although he knew his company had already reached the same conclusion. “I should have seen it coming. I should have known she was planning something. The bad weather, those spine-curdling feelings… Malicious magic always leaves a trail behind... a bad aura.”

“Wait – a bad aura? Does that mean you’ve felt it too?”

“I thought I was the only one…”

“Have you been seeing things also?” Harry’s eyebrows furrowed at the odd question before he replied by apprehensively shaking his head. “Sorry, that -that probably made me sound like an absolute crazy… it’s just… there's some weird things I've been seeing, but it’s frustrating because I don't know how to interpret them”

“I don’t think you’re crazy.” He sooths her worriment. “I haven’t seen anything weird myself, but I think I’ve witnessed something who did…”

“What was it?”

“A week ago I went to the lake because I needed algae to make a remedy for marsh-leech bites and- there were some mushroom frog-fairies feeding by the water's edge... I was trying to be very quiet not to upset them,” Harry’s telling made Y/N's heart swell slightly. He seemed so sweet and caring over all the little beings… she couldn’t even begin to imagine how bad he must be hurting over what happened – Y/N would never leave his side again if she could, and maybe that’s a weird thing to think about a practical stranger but it’s honestly how she feels regards Harry. Not out of pity might she add, just because his presence feels makes her feel better for reasons unknown to her. “And then, suddenly I felt as if something evil was looming over my head. I couldn’t see it, but when I peered at the fairies - they looked terrified. Jumping from their mushrooms and hiding underwater. They’re very discerning of these types of evil things, much more than us anyway… we tend to be a lot more unmindful and skeptic - can't see what you won't believe, right?”

“That's the scariest part, I think…” Y/N visibly shivered. “It's making me feel all icky just thinking about it. That it could be right next to us and we still can't see it.”

“But you’ve seen it, right?” He asked. She nodded fleetingly. “So then… does that mean you’re like… a psychic or something?”

Y/N huffed, shaking her head. “I mean… maybe technically but – this never happened to me before. I’ve always had sort of better intuition than most and if I receive any signs from the universe, they’re small… and personal, if that makes sense. But ever since Midsummer’s Day I’ve been seeing and hearing things that other people can’t and coming across some… scary omens.”

Harry scrunches his nose. “Scary omens?”

“Yeah, um…” Y/N hesitated, remembering her friends’ suggestion not to tell any of the people working at the hospital, but she didn’t reckon Harry would be the most likely to question her sanity. His interest seemed genuine, and so did the soft gleam in his eyes. “Ever since I came here, I’ve been seeing… a serpent symbol almost every night. My friends and I were researching about it and supposedly it is associated with darkness and um… evil witchcraft, I guess?”

“During the witching hour?” He questions her, looking rather stunned once she nodded affirmatively. “That makes sense… it’s supposed to be the best hour for bidding evil things, isn’t it? The thing is… Lucinda was being put under magic cancelling medicine every night during the witching hour, so-”

Y/N gasped as a memory from the first time she visited the hospital’s witching hour station came back to her. “So that was her? That kooky witch Mrs. Carrington was medicating at the night station…?” Harry looked at her, not knowing how to answer since he wasn’t there to see it. “She kept mumbling odd words to herself… I thought it was just crazy people gibberish but - what if she was already trying to do something back then? That was the first time I saw the serpent!”

Harry took a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking. “She was probably trying to make it stronger...” He said, prompting Y/N's brows to dip. “Allegedly, you can’t summon a demon into our world without performing a physical ritual with the blood offerings and all that… however, the demon can still hear the calling of a conjuring spell… and it makes it stronger supposedly - something about showing devotion and whatnot.” Harry rumpled his lips, dumping his head just so he could stare down. “But how? Lucinda was under that canceller… how could she get back enough power to perform a demon-summoning ritual?”

“The fairies!” Y/N exclaimed, calling Harry’s attention, whose eyes jumped to bore into her face. “That’s why she needed them! Didn’t you say fairy dust could be used to reverse spells? Well, is it also strong enough to reverse a magic canceller?”

“Oh my God…” Harry gasped at the realization, his body recoiling towards the floor as he buried his face in his hands. “This is all my fault! There’s a demon out there and it’s my fault! I should’ve never let the fairies stay at the hospital…” He mumbled, crushing his face deeper against his palms. “I thought- I thought I was doing something good because they were happy - and they loved their little house - and now…” His voice broke into a shaky breath, right before he sucked in a wobbly sniffle.

“Harry, no...” Y/N cooed sadly as she took a seat next to him on the floor. “You did nothing wrong. None of this is your fault. We’ll fix it, okay? Curses can be undone, we’ll just have to find the right antidote and, as far as the demon goes… well, I don’t know about that part yet but I’m sure we’ll start figuring it out as we go.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” His question startled her a little, mostly because she hadn’t been expecting him to be concerned with all those whys and wherefores that she couldn’t even understand herself, let alone explain to him. “I appreciate it, I just don’t understand- like, why you’re offering to help when you could simply… look the other way?“

“I don’t know.” Y/N answered sincerely. “But I don’t think I have much of a choice when the universe keeps sending me these signs and demanding that I don’t ignore them. Besides, I’ve always loved a good mystery... and when it comes to those, two heads always work better than one, right?”

Y/N and Harry spend all their time together now.

Commonly her mornings now consisted of waking up, having breakfast, doing her hygiene and going to meet Harry at the greenhouse. She liked to keep him company because well, he’s very nice and has lots of interesting books laying around but also because she knew he got upset having to work at the greenhouse now – since it was a constant reminder that his little creature friends were currently debilitated. The two of them had moved the fairy cottage onto the back and covered up its old spot in blooming stargazer lilies for the time being, in a conscious effort into try and trick Harry’s brain into not remembering so often. It made it a little better but on more than one occasion, when Y/N glanced up from the books of shadows she was reading (looking to find useful clues to unravel the mystery) she still found him with tears wallowing in his eyes.

Later they usually go to the cafeteria for lunch, which Y/N likes way better than eating alone in her room because she enjoys having (his) company and getting to choose the dish option she wants. Besides, there's always vanilla pudding! Her and Harry try the others sometimes but so far, that one remains both their favorite.

On the days Harry stays at the hospital until later, they have dinner together too. Now that Y/N is thinking about it, the only times they aren't in each other’s company is when Harry is at home or doing errands outside the hospital – like going to the garden center or gathering his own plants. It’s to the point that she gets stressed sometimes thinking she's overwhelming him, but then she remembers the one time she tried to leave him alone for a whole day, he appeared by her bedroom at twilight looking like an abandoned puppy asking if she was upset or didn’t want to be friends anymore.

“I was talking to my doctor today and he said that supposedly I will be going back home in two days.” Y/N told him, doing a little happy dance in her seat. “I miss my cat so much! I can’t wait to see her. Only I bet no one remembered to change her litter box while I was here so... more likely than not I'll be walking inside and finding cat poo all over my rugs…” The corners of Harry’s lips upturned in a soft smile at her happy demeanor, but his face fell down towards his lap soon after. “What’s wrong?” She asked, leaning forwards.

“It’s nothing.” He tilted his head up slightly, but quickly dropped it again. “I guess I just… I almost forgot you were going to have to leave at some point…”

“You going to miss me?” Y/N asked, making him nod joylessly. “I'm going to miss our days together too, but I was um... hoping you'd want to keep seeing each other outside the hospital?” She giggled when he perked up his face all frenzied just so he could look at her. “You can come to my house whenever you want, even after we figure what's up with this black magic thing.”

“Really? You would like me to come to your house?”

“Yeah? I mean… if you’re comfortable, of course. If you’re not, we can always arrange to meet somewhere else. I could also come here to visit sometimes if you’d like me to.”

“I would like that a lot. I just thought that maybe you only wanted to be my friend because you were staying here…” Harry said sincerely. “‘cause I’m sure you have other friends out there that should be more fun to spend time with, I guess.”

“Why would you even think that? I love spending time with you.” Y/N replied, a bit whiny because really does enjoy every single moment she spends with Harry. He’s very special to her… perhaps even more than he should be, taken the fact she’s only known him for less than a week, but she sort of feels like they’ve bonded abnormally well - not only over the situation they’re stuck in together but also over the little things that make them different from others their kind.

Y/N has secretly always felt a bit like an oddball due to her unusual abilities, but when she's with Harry she never feels that way… He has always been nothing but accepting and motivating of her being the way she is. On top of that, his personality is so likeable and engaging once you get past that brick wall of shyness… He has also got a sly tendency for accidental innuendos. Y/N knows they are accidental because of the way he stares at her when she starts laughing out of the blue at something he said. Then he mentally rolls back the tape and realizes, what usually ends in a shake of his head and the sputtering of something like “The naughty little bugs never catch a break in that mind of yours, do they?” What never fails to make her laugh harder, despite it always leaving her cheeks tingly and warm.

“I like spending time with you too.” Harry said, smiling widely.

“Okay, that’s good to know because I was actually planning on asking you to join me on something a bit… bizarre.” Y/N's words made him frown curiously, but he seemed eager enough. “Have you ever been to the normal part of Las Vegas?”

To put a long story short, that was how Y/N found herself trading the hospital pajamas for a top, cropped jeans, a leather jacket, and riding a bus a few miles across the country with Harry the following weekend. Who had also ditched his gardening apron for a pair of corduroy pants and a vintage hoodie whose color matched the mustard yellow of his skater shoes. Y/N was surprised to find that his casual clothes made him look even more endearing than his work attire in her eyes – something she didn’t think to be possible, until he showed up at the bus station looking like that – all cozy and folksy with his duffle bag perched over his shoulder.

It was a slow trip. Therefore, Y/N had been falling in and out of sleep throughout the second-half of it… until she finally woke up to surroundings of bright and colorful Vegas light signs, imposing casino and resort buildings with illuminated fountains upfront and promises of paranormal, mind-blowing shows at nearly every corner. She practically climbed over Harry's lap to get to the window, purposefully stirring him awake as well just so he could see it too.

The rest of the drive was made with both of them staring outside in awe and finger pointing the most compelling signboards and buildings, with big smiles painted on their faces as they began to discern the hurried reflexes of the city’s exciting nightlife and luxurious looking architecture they’d only ever seen on TV.

It was nice to get the chance to engage in typical tourist behavior and forget about the dark reality they had come for during the couple of minutes left inside the bus, and then the taxi that drove them up hills of palm trees and exclusive neighborhoods until they were reaching the entrance to the extravagant community aunt Rowena lived in. The houses were fit for kings and queens... with stone veneers, polished terraces, and glossy swimming pools.

The Monterey style villa in front of which the taxi stopped stood out of the many other giant houses. Built in the heart of a small forest of yucca plants and towering single trunk palm trees, it was painted in a pale shade of pink that contrasted greatly with the inviting turquoise pool flooring. Above the house's double entry doors, was an intriguing arched window - complemented by a round balcony with nature-inspired balustrades and a flower vase on each end. Y/N would’ve believed she had gotten the wrong address from the white pages, if not for the mesmerizing figure of her aunt soon appearing from behind the front doors like she’d been expecting a visit. A sly smile decorated her red-painted lips as she elegantly descended the stone steps of the front porch. The baggy pants of her white suit hugged her defined legs with every step she took, as did the fitted blazer she also wore. Unsurprisingly, Rowena had forgone the bra for the day, leaving her bare chest almost fully exposed, and only masked by the long, waved strands of black hair that fell towards her navel.

Y/N glanced at Harry, who’s cheeks had turned scarlet, and neck was visibly gulping at the startling sight. The way most people got when they met the iconic Las Vegas fortune-teller. She was a very good-looking woman for her age - that was kept undisclosed for most, but Y/N knew she must've been approaching her 60’s by comparison to her mom’s age. The TV star looks weren’t all she got going for her though… even the way she carried herself demanded admiration and deference, her aura was invincible, sensual, and powerful. A true power-house she was.

“Goodness me! Look at you!” The witch came to greet her niece with open arms and a wide smile. “Looking more and more like your mother every time I see you!” She enveloped Y/N's body in a hug, before turning her attention to the boy standing beside her. “And you're partnered up already, I see...”

“Oh! Harry and I are not… we’re just friends.” Y/N laughed a little, trying to ignore the way her cheeks now felt warmer. Rowena’s eyebrows shot up her forehead. “Well then…” Her mischievous eyes jumped between the two. “I’m certain the stars will do their trick when the right moment comes.” She stated conclusively, before moving on with the subject like she was completely oblivious to the way their lips pursed and their eyes widened in panic. “Shall we go inside then? You should’ve let me know what time you were coming; I could’ve sent one of my drivers to pick you up…” “You knew we were coming?” Y/N asked surprised.

“Oh dear, of course I did…” The women said, like it was something to be expected. “My finest guest room has been ready for days now...” She added as she welcomed the pair into her large living room, that truly didn’t look like it was much lived in at all. - It was very Victorian styled… the furniture had ornate wooden carved embellishments, finished in gold leaf. The sofas were the color of blushing red, velvety and decorated with countless damask pillows, each with a different floral pattern. The central coffee table was marble topped, but its feet were adorned with the same golden wood present in the rest of the room’s furnishing. Made from the same marble stone was the cornered fireplace, that happened to come alive with graceful, temperate flames with a mere flick of Rowena’s hand as she walked through the door. The weather was too hot for any extra warmth to be seemly, but there was no denying that the sizzling background noise and the dim luminosity always felt rather nice.

“Oh! We were actually planning on staying at this cheap motel we saw, thought we should spare you the trouble of-“ Y/N timidly explained. It wasn’t that the thought of spending the night at a luxurious mansion for free wasn’t way more appealing than spending it at a “not so cheap” cheap motel room, on an overused bunk bed she might have to share with other strangers… it was that despite being family, she didn't really have enough trust with aunt Rowena to make herself a guest in spending the night at her house without prior invitation. She didn’t even have her phone number! – And if her mansion hadn’t once been part of one of those weird celebrity home tours, Y/N would've probably never found her aunt's address.

“Nonsense darling, it’s my pleasure to have you.” Rowena smiled as she sat in one of the armchairs, gesturing for her guests to take the sofa seats. “You are more than welcome to stay for as long as you’d like… I mean, look around…! I own such a big mansion, it’s a shame there’s usually no one around to enjoy it with me… aside from the occasional pool boy of course…” She winked at Harry, noticing his bashful demeanor upon hearing her suggestive revelation. Y/N opened her mouth to say the motel had already been booked, but Rowena stopped her. “Don’t worry about your bookings, I’ll make sure they are taken care of… it’s the least I can do. And I can also assure you any room in this house is far nicer than the finest hotel room this city has to offer.” The witch informed, gracefully crossing her legs and lacing her manicured hands over the top knee, what brought Y/N to notice that the nail polish covering her long, rounded nails matched the scarlet shade of her lipstick. “… besides, I’d love to spend some more time with you. I’m aware you came to me for guidance, but I can’t help but to wish to deepen our connection.” Rowena leaned forward, taking her niece's hands in hers. “It’s nice not to feel so… disparate inside my own family for once.”

Y/N nodded her head in understanding, looking away for a moment to check on Harry. She wanted to make sure he was also at rest with the sudden change of plans. “Would you like to stay, or would you prefer to keep to the original plan? Either is all right with me... I just want you to be comfortable.”

She could almost feel the nervous sweat that began to boil underneath his skin as soon as Rowena’s attention focused on him. The poor thing used to fear speaking to her, who in terms of scare worthy, could probably compare to a fluffy pink teddy bear or something harmless like that… and, although Rowena was nothing like a scary swamp hag, she looked a bit intimidating for anyone as it was for being such a mighty, beautiful witch. Therefore, Y/N figured Harry should probably be feeling quite mortified having to speak in front of her. But he did. “I’m okay staying if you want to.” He spoke. It was low and almost incomprehensible, but both witches understood.

“That settles it then.” The aunt chimed resolutely, slotting her fingers together blithely. “Just one more thing just so we can get this topic out of the way... my housekeeper only left one room prepared. The bed is double and quite spacious, but if you’d prefer separate rooms, that can also be arranged…”

Y/N's face felt like it was on fire as she span it to face Harry, but surprisingly he seemed rather unphased over having to share a bed. He even seemed... relieved? sort of - which she guessed wasn’t so weird, after all if it were her in his shoes, she would certainly also prefer that over sleeping alone inside a huge house she didn’t know. So, the real question was, why was she getting all hot and bothered over it?

It wasn't like she genuinely thought something was going to happen just because they were sharing a bed. They weren’t horny teenagers, besides Harry was so… soft and innocent and genuinely good-hearted, that it was practically unthinkable that he would ever even think of looking at her in any way other than respectfully, let alone actually go and try anything... which was a little frustrating because Y/N kind of wished he would. She feels rather dirty and filthy for thinking of such a sweet human so inappropriately sometimes - for wondering what his body looks like underneath his clothes and wanting to explore his softest (and hardest) spots in a hands-on type of way. She shouldn’t be thinking about it… and she definitely shouldn’t be getting horny whilst sitting on her aunt’s expensive Victorian couch neither, but oh well.

“I’m guessing your visit is related to your power progression, correct?” Rowena’s question felt startling, prompting Y/N to jump a little in her seat before managing a brisk nod. “I see… I figured it was bound to happen soon. I was also in my twenties when my vision expanded. Pyramid Field, 1982… what a great psychedelic time that was…” The witch sighed at the considerably aged memory. “But you’ve always been a clever girl… so I’m predicting your trigger was nothing like a trip on hallucinogens, was it?”

“No.” The younger witch chuckled, shaking her head. “It was last week, at the local magic fair.” Rowena nodded once, waiting for her niece to continue. “I’ve been coming across some omens… and I was hoping maybe, you could help me figure what they mean because…” She glanced at Harry for a moment. “Strange things have been happening back at home lately, and I was hoping maybe if I could learn how to interpret the signs, I would know what to do to prevent said things from happening… or how to fix them.”

“Very well…” The older witch rose, bringing her hands to her garment in a fluid motion to straighten it. “Follow me, then.”

Y/N promptly stood up after her, reaching behind for Harry so he knew she was expecting him to come along. He had gone a little wide-eyed in the meantime, as if second guessing if he was supposed to stay behind or not. To Y/N's surprise, he grabbed her hand. Gently cupping his fingers around her palm and not dropping even after he was standing next to her. Her back straightened from the unexpected contact - but she held onto his grip tighter.

“Interpreting omens is a lot more complicated than it seems at first sight… and learning how to do it requires a lot of patience and attention. I’m sure you’ve heard some of the folkloric classics - black cats, broken mirrors and suchlike things…” Y/N spat a quick yes, desperately trying to focus on her aunt's words and not on Harry’s hand holding hers as they followed Rowena through the endless corridors of her mansion. “Well then, you can rejoice on the fact that those are anything but accurate. There is a distinctive energy to an omen, it’s weighty and almost… demanding of attention. It will speak directly to your soul. Bounding you to not only see it, but perceive it.”

Rowena led them into a room Y/N quickly assumed to be the one where she conducted her home-divination sessions. The room was bathed in a dark reddish light, which gave it a warm and mystical atmosphere. A sun-shaped structure decorated the center of the dark blue ceiling, surrounded by stars and plaster designs. In the corner, there was a lotus-shaped burner that scented the room with hints of spice and floral notes. The walls were crammed with bookshelves and open cupboards to keep crystal balls, charts for arithmancy and numerology, in between other items Y/N believed were there mostly to wow the non-magic costumers who frequented the room.

“Omens may come in billions of varieties, so it’s important to stay in touch with nature and seasonal changes, just so that you can identify behaviors that are out of the ordinary more easily.” Rowena grabbed a leather-bound book from one of her bookcases and carefully spread it open over her divination table. “And then there are the specific symbols, of course…” She explained, as she flicked through the pages. “A couple hundreds of them… but fairly easy to memorize with time.”

“Just to be sure… that is a serpent symbol right there, isn’t it?” Y/N questioned, signaling the undulating, almost symmetrical symbol that stood out among the others to her.

“Have you seen it recently?” Rowena's posture was observant and concerned, which frightened Y/N more because it meant that the meaning Pam had found on the internet was probably not as far from being true as she would've liked it to be. A brief glance at the small-lettered description proved that fact – The same words: Chaos, corruption and darkness were printed in black smudgy ink. Tarnishing the white paper page just as that smoky gloom had tarnished the skies on that peculiar summer day of last week.

“Is black smoke an omen – like, as a thick dark mass that spreads but doesn’t dissipate like normal smoke as it ascends? And also… a scream… of a woman, that makes it feel like your eardrums are going to burst?” Y/N was plenty aware that she was avoiding all answers and bombarding her aunt with more questions that probably only left her more confused and worried, but she needed to know… and Rowena was the only person she thought could provide her some clarification.

“When you see dark, more high-tightly compact smoke – a black shadow, so to say, it is usually a sign that there is a strong energy mass looming in the space around you. Usually, a non-human entity.” Y/N turned to look at Harry, noting his head had also lifted from the symbols of the Fortunes & Dreams bookpaper that he looked to be fascinated with to listen. She found it cute that he was interested in the symbols, despite the whole thing probably being quite bizarre and unbelieving from his outside perspective. There was no denying that the signs were adding up though… Sure, that non-human entity could have just been a vampire on the hunt. Their energy was similar in some ways to that of demons, but truly, with how close to the hospital was to the magic fair it was no less likely that the black shadow had something to do with Lucinda Wolf’s summoning attempts.

“… And the screaming?”

“That should be a banshee wail.” Oh boy, Y/N already didn’t like the sound of that. “It’s usually heard when someone is about to enter a dangerous situation where it is unlikely they will come out unscarred. Like the serpent symbol, it is a predictor of destruction and often… death.” A heavy silence settled itself in the room after the utterance of that word – how could it not? “ Y/N, you know I’m not usually nosy but I fear I have no choice but to ask - have you been messing with anything you shouldn't? Perhaps with the wrong people or playing one of those foolish games to contact the afterlife?”

Y/N's head shook pressingly. “No. I haven’t. I swear! I know this all sounds worrying, but please... don’t go to my mom about it.” Rowena pursed her lips, like she had already been contemplating on that idea ahead of mention. “I'm old enough to take care of myself, and so is Harry. We are plenty aware it's going to be dangerous to follow these signs, and that they’re most likely connected to dark stuff, but we can’t just look the other way... not when beings are getting hurt and my ability keeps asking me to do something about it as well.” Y/N paused in conversation. “Speaking of… you don’t happen to know any good demonologists, do you?” She asked asudden, hoping that by giving Rowena something to mull over, she would divert her mind away from all the burdensome things said before.

That was the good thing about aunt Rowena...

She was a bit scatty.

“Demonologists…” The woman squinted slightly as she thought it over. “I believe I have a close friend who’s considered an expert in the matter.” She said, leaving the room and wandering around the house in search for something.

Y/N was surprised that it worked, to be honest. Mainly because if it had been her mother in her place, she would’ve unquestionably wanted to know exactly what happened, to whom, where, why and how – and most of all, why was her loving, good-hearted daughter suddenly getting involved in such dark matters of magic. Y/N always had a feeling that her aunt was less restrictive in the sense of believing there is good magic and forbidden magic, so perhaps she didn’t really see anything wrong with demonology work – besides, even if her and Harry were going to have to dab a bit into black magic when it came to banishing Lucinda Wolf’s demon back to hell, it wasn’t like they were suddenly going to turn evil and start craving to open portals and invite demons into the world, was it?

Y/N and Harry followed behind the older witch in silence, pausing at the entrance of what they assumed to be the house’s master bedroom, where Rowena was picking up an object from one of the bedside tables. An old fashioned address book. “He goes by the stage name of Lord Darkmore here in Las Vegas, but his first name is Bellamy - make sure to refer to him as such when you approach him…” She spoke from the interior of the room as she scrambled through the pages of the book in her hand. She was out of their line of sight now, but Y/N could hear her tearing up a clean sheet of paper and scribbling down with a pen before she walked to the door and handed it to them. “Don’t forget to tell him it was Rowena who sent you, otherwise he might take you as imposters and morph you into a pair of three-legged toads.” She smirked at their mortified expressions. “The curse would only last for a couple of hours, of course…”

Their faces went a little open-mouthed, not knowing if she was joking or not, but too afraid to ask further. “Now if you’ll excuse me, my darlings… I would love keep you company, but it’s way past my bedtime...” The witch said, although it wasn’t later than 10pm. “Make yourselves comfortable while I’m gone. If you need anything, for the love of God, don’t stir me awake to ask – help yourselves to whatever you want. There is plenty of food and drinks in the kitchen and different bedding options in your room. Enjoy the outdoor bar, the pool, and the hot tub if you’d like. If you break anything just throw it away, I truly couldn’t care less… in fact, there’s only one crucial thing I ask of you,” She paused, gathering two inquisitive gazes. “Please make use of the recycling bins. It’s good for the environment – Goodnight. See you in the witching hour.”

Before their mouths could form a reply, the double doors of the master bedroom clinked shut and Rowena’s figure was closed off behind them, leaving Y/N and Harry speechlessly staring at one another. “So…” Y/N started invitingly. “Do you want to go play bartender and swim in the pool before we get turned into toads?” She proposed blindly, guessing that despite everything going on, Harry too wouldn’t want to skip the opportunity of enjoying the refreshing, chlorinated water of a private pool on a torrid summers night, apace with a fancy bar drink.

"Are you scared about what my aunt said?"

"Dunno." Harry shrugged as he fiddled with the bow strings of his swimwear. He had kept the t-shirt he was wearing earlier but changed his pants for a pair of yellow swim trunks. They were a little shorter than the most common, ending mid-thigh and rising even higher whenever he sat down – a fact that certainly didn't go unappreciated inside Y/N's head. "I'm okay now... a bit nervous about tomorrow just 'cause we don't know how that's gonna go. I think part of me is scared the demonologist's going to say there's nothing we can do about the demon..."

Y/N has half the heart to scold him for being so pessimistic, but she would be acting like a hypocrite if she pretended that exact same fear hadn't crossed her mind at least half a dozen times already. It makes her curse at herself for being so uninformed over evil spirit matters. Because if she knew how summoning circles worked, maybe both wouldn't be stressing so much about it now. Of course, she had heard about demons and dark magic before, but it had admittedly always been a very shushed topic inside her household... and if she ever did ask about it, the only explanations she got came in very brief descriptions, that were immediately followed by the judging questions: "Why are you asking?", "Why do you wanna know?" – All that to say that her knowledge in the matter is lacking – probably in the same way most people's knowledge in hacking computers and bitcoin is – everyone's heard about it and knows it happens but have little to no idea of how it's done or how it actually works.

"I'm sorry." Harry rumbled deep in his chest, glancing up from his cup with a sympathetic smile.

"What are you saying sorry for silly?" The witch asked amidst a giggle, persuading one out of Harry as well. "Anyway... enough with the bad stuff. How's my concoction ranking so far - Is it good?"

"Mm, it's okay... still not as good as the one before though." He simpered, referring to the frozen strawberry daiquiris Y/N had made roughly 20 minutes prior. They had been dangerously easy to drink despite the amount of booze in them, tasting and looking just like a slushy – served in a fancy martini glass.

The girl scoffed, taking a test sip of her most-recent pineapple gin invention. "That's because you don't like the actual beverages - you just like the sugar in them." She added as she stepped from behind the bar with her drink in hand and walked back to the poolside, so that she could sit down next to Harry on the deck and dip her feet into the ripped water. Like she had been doing before he started making eyes at her and asking if she wanted to go make more drinks.

"Maybe..." He spoke between nibbles on the paper straw. "The pineapple tang in this one is good though. I like the way it feels when it rubs against my tongue – makes it throb but at the same time, I keep wanting to come back for more." Y/N choked on her drink, tittering between coughs that left Harry puzzlingly staring at her. "What?"

God – him and his bloody innuendos! Y/N doesn't have a purity kink but geez, does she want to corrupt his innocent mind a little sometimes...

"Nothing. It's nothing." Y/N shook her head, clearing her throat and carefully placing the cocktail glass on the floor. "Alright, I'm gonna go in." She said, getting up and hastily removing the beach dress she had thrown on over her swimsuit. It was nothing too sensual or revealing – a simple but flattering one piece in the color of deep sea green, with contrast stitching, and a keyhole back. She caught Harry eyeballing her as it came into view, but his eyes fled off as quick as they came in turn for taking another slurp at the drink in his hand.

Y/N chose to enter the pool through the Baja shelf, making use of her cupped hands to spritz her upper body as she gradually descended the steps until her feet were touching the pool floor. The water didn't sting as cold as she had been expecting it to, but it was still chilly enough to provoke goosebumps on her arms and legs in juxtaposition to the pleasant temperature outside. Soon enough she had fully soaked beneath the moon bathed waters, ducking under them only to emerge right next to Harry's swaying legs. The tipsy child in her had been aiming to jump him, but that didn't work, so she rested her chin over one of his knees and started plaguing him to join her instead. "Come swim with me..." She asked, sticking her lip out a little.

His reply came with a nose scrunch. "Mm... the water might be too cold for me, I think."

"It's not! I thought so too but it feels really nice after you're in." She swore, pushing her feet on the wall space between their bodies to propel herself backwards to the center of the pool. "Please?! I feel very lonely here without you!"

"But I'm right here?!" Harry chuckles and sucks on his straw again, before resenting to place his glass down next to hers to get back on his feet. "If you've lied to me about the water, I'm going to be very upset..." He joshes upon noticing his friend's pout had morphed into a triumphant grin as soon as she realized she had managed to persuade him – right as she witnessed him pull his shirt over his head and throw it on one of the sunbeds.

His torso being spangled in permanent ink was a surprise - that managed to take her breath away for a moment or two. Maybe she should've seen it coming since he had practically a full sleeve of tattoos in him... but he had never mentioned having more. Not even that time she asked if she could run her finger over one of the newer ones to feel the little scar bumps. Y/N had always enjoyed doing that to Axl's and Margery's tattoos, but the skin on Harry's arm felt so much softer and reactive – with the hairs in it rising above the surface by their own in response to the gentle brushes of her fingertip. The delicate motifs of his tattoos made sense in his body - flora and fauna themed pieces scattered evenly across the skin. Her favorite had to be the large butterfly on his stomach, or the ferns that spread out like wings across his hips - those were naughty.

"I'm even gonna go for a plunge, just cause I trust you so much." Harry snickered, hollowing out his cheeks and swaying his body before throwing himself into the pool. Y/N let out a petite squawk over the impact, that splashed her face and chest with an array of unlooked-for splurs of water. Once Harry came up from the dive, he looked like a gorgeous merman - with viscous locks clinging to his neck and shoulders and drizzly skin that scintillated under the landscape lighting like it was covered in rhinestones.

At least, until he stood on his feet and his body began to shiver from chilliness.

Then he was back to being her Harry again.

"Cannonballing was not a sensible move." He grumbled between jittery teeth, enclosing himself in his own arms. "Nor was listening to you! It's freezing in here..."

Y/N couldn't not laugh at his grumbling as she swam over to him. "Come here." She called, grabbing his hands, and pulling both of them towards the deeper end of the pool. "Oh! I'm about to be out of my depth, I think..." She whooped as she began to feel her body sinking further – now having to stand on her tippy toes to keep her head above water.

"Hold on to me until we get to the edge then."

Now, Y/N was completely aware that "hold on to me" is not the same thing as "koala bear hug me" but that last option was what she ended up doing anyway. Her hands clasped onto his shoulders as she submerged vertically. Then she kicked up her legs and bundled them around his waist. Harry was visibly taken by surprise by this but he took the intrusion nicely... using his arms to keep the Y/N flush against his chest as he carried her towards the pool's edge.

The air was imbued with laughter and rippling sounds caused by the agitation that broke through the calm water flow. Ultimately, Y/N felt her back graze against the unpolished edge of the pool, letting her know she had reached her ultimate destination. "There you are... totally safe from drowning now." Harry smiled assuredly, clamping one of his hands on the border, while his other still lingered securely around her waist, waiting for her to slide off his lap.

She didn't want to though.

And now her heart was hammering inside her chest at the realization of just how close he was - how sea foamy and dazzling his eyes looked – and how pink, curvy, and entrancing his mouth was.

She could tell she had been staring longingly at his face for a while, but he was staring at hers just the same. Surprisingly, it wasn't weird at all though. It was quite a beautiful moment, being honest – with the sweeping water burbling around their bodies and the starry sky subsisting above their heads.

"Can I kiss you?" Y/N asked, nuzzling Harry's face and combing his damp locks back at the same time, just so they weren't covering his beautiful eyes. His lips parted, like he was about to ask her to repeat that, but the way she was grinning giddily and running her thumbs over his cheeks spoke louder than words. "I've been wanting to for a while... but I get nervous. Can never muster the courage to ask."

"Are you really serious?" He asked incredulous. She nodded. "I-um... wow - this feels like a dream." Harry's eyelids went a little droopy, but the smile in his face was stretching beyond his control. Wider and brighter than Y/N could ever predict it would be able to go. "Like the best dream ever."

"It's not a dream..." She shook her head, presenting him with a big grin that he returned easily. There were splattering water beads still running down his face, and the particular one that her eyes had been keeping track of had just slid over his cupid's bow and evanesced right bellow his upper lip. "I really want to kiss you..." She muttered, feeling rather short-winded as she brought her pointer finger to his pillowy mouth and patted it lightly. "Can I?"

"I want to kiss you so bad... it's just- I've never – um..." Harry enlightened shyly, unthinkingly trying to hide his face like he was embarrassed to admit it. "Will you tell me if I'm not doing it right? I probably won't be like... very good at kissing, I think."

His doubting paired with his eagerness made Y/N giggle a little. "You're silly, did you know that?" She smiled, stroking her thumb across his jaw a couple of times, hoping it would help calm his nerves. She parted her lips to comfort him with a few words of assurance, but at the end decided to save her breath for something better.

Slowly, she bowed forwards just so her lips gently collided with Harry's. Her fingers still cradling his jaw, petting the skin near his ear reassuringly as her mouth pulled back only to come back for more. This was, hands down, the best kiss Y/N had ever experienced - no need tongue, spit-exchanging, lip biting or any of those things that usually make for the most unforgettable kisses. Those things are great, yes, but the frenzied sensations that lodged in Y/N's chest the second her mouth touched Harry's only made it even clearer that anything she could ever do with him would always be beyond question unmatchable. It didn't matter that his kissing ways were simpler than others she'd felt before, his mouth felt so much better. She wanted to have him forever. No one else would ever suffice that craving inside her chest, only Harry.

Once her lips parted from his mouth, it was with a wet gasp. But she didn't move away, she continued to stare at his face and touch it lovingly. His eyes were glossy, his lips had silken and gone ruddier from the contact, what only made her want to kiss them more. "Did you like that?" She probed, just to make sure.

"It was... amazing." The boy admitted, attempting to hide his flushed face against her shoulder. "Can we do it again?"

Y/N chuckled at the question. "Anytime you want to."

"Anytime for tonight or...?"

"Tonight... tomorrow... the day after..." Her lips started travelling up his jaw, dropping the softest kisses in their wake until they held themselves just before his own. "Do you want to kiss me more?"

"Please?" ** Showering before bed was forgotten somewhere in their subconscious - as the two fell asleep on top of the bed linen with their dampish swimsuits still on, limbs pleasantly entwined and the silliest suppressed smiles on both their faces.

PART 2

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translations-by-aiimee · 2 years ago

Text

Dig a Grave to Dig Out a Ghost - Chapter 45

Original Title: 挖坟挖出鬼

Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Yaoi

This translation is the product of my limited knowledge of Chinese characters as I attempt to learn the language. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 45

Taking Xiao Yu out of the duty-free shop, just as he was about to find a restaurant for dinner, Lin Yan suddenly froze. Two people stood opposite him waving at him, one wearing dirty jeans and a striped T-shirt, the other wearing a blue cloth robe with a pale calf showing at the hem. Lin Yan opened his mouth in surprise. It was Yin Zhou and A-Yan. Why were they here?

"You're leaving too, what a coincidence. Where are you going?" Yin Zhou grinned preemptively.

"Stop pretending. How did you guys know I'm leaving today?" Lin Yan guessed what he wanted to do when he saw the stern expression on his face.

Yin Zhou's face was fake: "So self-absorbed. Who said we're here to see you? You should have asked what we were going to do."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Travelling."

"Look for my master."

Lin Yan's face was cold and disbelieving. The two looked at each other and continued innocently: "Accompanying him on his travels."

"Accompanying him to find his master."

He wasn't taking any of these excuses. The two people who came here without permission acted in an extremely silent manner. They quickly found a seat and threw their bags down. They shared some fried chicken wings while deliberately talking loudly. No matter what he asked, they looked at the ceiling as though they hadn't heard him.

Lin Yan was left to one side, a little moved.

He wasn't confident that he could go deep into enemy territory alone, but he thought it was a personal matter between him and Xiao Yu, so he hadn't told anyone when he was leaving except his parents. Yin Zhou knew Lin Yan's habit of keeping everything negative to himself all too well. After hearing the news of the temple master, he didn't even discuss anything with Lin Yan. He went directly online using his special skills to find the booking records, then he got the young Daoist and the two bought the tickets for the same flight.

"Your firewall sucks. There's a bunch of Trojans. I also cleaned up the system junk for you after I was done." Yin Zhou patted Lin Yan's shoulder earnestly. "Don't feel embarrassed to bother us. Multiple hands, multiple helpers. I'm done with all the projects I've been working on. I'm an idle person with money to spare, so it's good to get out and about."

The young Daoist interrupted: "I-I don't trust you to go alone. Anyway, if you want to find Master, I'll follow you there."

Lin Yan wanted to say something, but the two came prepared. They opened their backpacks and unveiled a map, a compass, water bottles, commonly used medicines, a change of clothes, cash, flashlights, and even a walkie-talkie and cables. A-Yan's had even more strange things. A variety of exorcism tools, not to mention a peach wood sword and compass wrapped in the middle of a thick pile of yellow talismans. In contrast, Lin Yan came empty-handed and looked more like a tourist wandering around the airport.

"Holy shit, you guys know this isn't wilderness survival training, right?" Lin Yan took out a small pig-shaped hand-cranked generator from his bag and weighed it, then took out the sleeve of a sweater. "Hey, why did you bring so many black clothes in this heat?"

Yin Zhou snatched the clothes and bag back, and the little Daoist said: "H-He said it's night clothes so that no one can see us when we go out at night."

Lin Yan was in a state of confusion. He suddenly realized that the lack of secrecy was a big and serious mistake.

Yin Zhou was disdainful. He fastened the buckle with a click and lectured: "There's also a checked bag filled with equipment. I brought a kitchen knife and a hammer. Who knows where the forces of evil are waiting for us. This is called being prepared." He said proudly, patting the hiking bag: "For the sake of being so interesting, I'll house next month and leave the cleaning to you."

"I suddenly had a sense of mission to maintain peace and justice in the world." Yin Zhou hugged the bag and sighed.

"I also have a faint sense of sadness about walking with a fool." Lin Yan gritted his teeth, but his heart felt warm. His talk was just that: all talk. He had no idea what would happen after that. Now that there are two more people, his anxiety had been temporarily dispelled. Lin Yan stuffed the last piece of chicken into his mouth and grasped Yin Zhou's shoulder hard: "Thanks. It's on me when we get there."

The big screen at the boarding gate showed that there was still half an hour before departure. There were very few people in the lounge. There were a few men in business suits, each tapping something on their laptop's keyboard. The air was filled with the creamy scent of baked cheese from a western restaurant.

Lin Yan told the two about the situation after Xiao Yu left and the strange events that happened in the past few days. Hearing that the ghost had returned, Yin Zhou nodded with a complicated expression. When it became clear that he had decided to send Xiao Yu away, the young Daoist priest stared keenly into Lin Yan's eyes: "You made up your mind?"

Lin Yan crossed his fingers on his forehead, bowed his head and said nothing.

Professor Chen sent the latest information on the ancient tomb, saying that the local area is planning to build a cultural tourism spot. The burial chamber and some of the burial objects are being cleaned and will soon be open to visitors. The silk and other easily oxidized cultural relics are specially sealed. He can say hello to the person in charge to let them in if needed.

The ancient tomb is located at the northern foot of Zhongtiao Mountain in the southwest corner of the province, adjacent to Shanxi Province, with high mountains in the south and a basin in the north, with year-round shade and no sunlight. The nearest landing point is a small town called Liumu Town, which belongs to Xia County and is more than four hours away from Wusu Airport.

After looking at the map, the three of them decided to rent a car that night and find a place to stay in town. The conditions were simple but easy to get back and forth. Lin Yan used the airport's wireless network to book a hotel. However, after checking around, there was not a single hotel in town that had been registered online, as if completely isolated from modern society.

"We are going to the mountains and the countryside this time, and it'll take a few days of hard work." Lin Yan sighed while staring at his phone. "I wonder how long it will take to make progress."

"Life is a hard journey, and the meaning of the universe is to search for it in life." Yin Zhou nodded in a mock deep voice.

Soon after boarding the plane, Lin Yan changed seats with an older man who had a vacant seat next to him and leaned against the window. After the plane took off, he kept looking out of the window. The cabin was as quiet and dry as ever, and the people were being baked by the warm afternoon sun. The boundless sea of clouds was like a large flock of running white sheep, their eyes dazzling with a bright light.

It was hard to associate such good weather with ghosts.

Every story has an opportunity to happen. It may be a specific time or a specific place, but as soon as the person in question steps in, the story would start quietly before there was any change around. To Lin Yan, Xiao Yu's tomb was such a place; terrifying, cold, depressing. It was the fork between the world and the underworld. Everyone was working silently, no one answered his questions, and no one told him that the coffin was hiding a ferocious ghost in it.

Recalling this part, he felt faint heart palpitations. The clouds sped past the plane window. The ancient tomb, where some mysterious force wanted him and the place where love Xiao Yu gave him had begun was also the only point of intersection that was getting closer and closer.

People inside and outside the event usually have two different views of it. The insiders believe that only by constantly approaching the center can they see the truth, while outsiders feel that the so-called quest is nothing more than a mosquito in a spider's web of death struggle. The more you wave your arms and legs, the tighter your body will stick.

The bright sky's dazzling eyes pricked his eyes with moisture. Xiao Yu tugged on his arm. Lin Yan leaned back in the chair. He turned his head to fix his eyes on that handsome face, and suddenly it was a little hard to bear.

"We haven't gone far yet but I'm already starting to get homesick." Lin Yan whispered. "I want to do nothing all day long but watch TV in bed with you, the corniest and vulgar things."

"I brought you out the first time. This time, I don't know if I'll be left alone when I leave."

A couple of lovers across the corridor were touching their heads and playing a game of lovingly tapping each other. Their intimacy was enviable. Lin Yan held Xiao Yu's hand and stroked it along his knuckles. He felt as if there were many things he wanted to say to him, but he couldn't get a single word out. He opened his mouth several times, and finally, let out a long sigh.

When they arrived at Wusu Airport, it was in the evening. There was a tinge of red in the western sky, and there was a faint coolness in the wind. Lin Yan dragged a trolley and stood in the square to look around. The nearby tour group was taking a head count. The old man in the red hat was in high spirits, the children were joyful, and their faces were full of anticipation and curiosity.

Everyone who travelled had their own purpose, and he was probably the only one, holding the hand of his lover, walking towards his grave step by step.

There was a row of taxis waiting for customers in the airport parking lot. The drivers gathered in groups of three or five to brag. When they saw Lin Yan and a few walking by, they swarmed them like chickens. But when they heard that they were going to Liumu Town, they all shook their hands and scattered. In the end, there was only a dark and thin middle-aged man left. After thinking for a long time, he snuffed his cigarette and said four hundred, four hundred and he'll go.

"No way! Four hundred, that's highway robbery!" Yin Zhou shouted.

"It's too expensive to go to the east end by bus, but I can tell you that the place is very remote. In the middle of the night, forget a taxi, you won't even find a cattle cart. You decide." The driver impatiently patted the roof of the car. "It's my loss when I go there. I'll be coming back on an empty tank. I won't check the meter. Three hundred dollars so you either go or don't."

In order to get there quickly, the three still got into his car and sped off into the sunset. As the driver said, after driving out of the airport, the four fields became more and more desolate. First the chaotic and bustling towns, and then it turned into the countryside. They passed by large fields of corn and sorghum. From time to time, a group of children dressed in red and green flashed by the roadside, curiously staring back at their car.

As the car bumped along, the sky gradually darkened, and the mountains in the distance appeared like black giants lying down. Soon the last ray of sunset was gone. The moon came up and the winding mountain road was covered with a thin layer of silver moonlight.

"I'm so hungry." Yin Zhou complained. "I don't know if there'll be anything to eat in that hellhole."

Lin Yan didn't answer. The mountain road was no better than the city. The moonlight outside the window didn't enter the car, and the darkness was so suffocating. Yin Zhou felt bored. He took out his mobile phone and turned it on. The blue light cast on his face, unspeakably eerie.

"Turn it off. We're not there yet. Save some electricity." Lin Yan said.

"Either way, there's no signal. It's the same with or without electricity." Yin Zhou muttered. "It was a good idea to bring a walkie-talkie."

A-Yan took out two prepared little wooden figures from his schoolbag and handed them to Lin Yan and Yin Zhou, each with a yellow talisman paper with their date of birth written on it. He said that these were body doubles. If something evil rushes them in the mountain, the double will first fall on the road, thus leaving time for the living to fight back.

Probably because being a Daoist priest was such an ancient profession, he was much more comfortable in primitive and dark places than in the city. The driver, who had been watching the young men in the car with his rearview mirror, could not help but curiously strike up a conversation: "You kids sure are superstitious."

"In a place like this, any kind of natural force is stronger than humans." Lin Yan remembered the little girl who had been staring at him with an unnatural expression, "Master, drive slowly. The road isn't good."

"Are you going to Liumu to see relatives?"

"To travel." Lin Yan smiled.

The driver was a little surprised: "What's so interesting there? It's a place where even birds don't go to shit."

"We came to climb the mountain. I heard the scenery is very good."

"Ah, what's that called, ALICE*. I know you guys, with the big cameras on your back. You pick out the remote places to experience life whenever you have time, right?"

*(T/N: 驴友 - a Chinese term for people who like to travel together. Basically refers to someone who likes to hike, camp, or mountaineer with others)

Lin Yan didn't answer, but instead asked: "Master, do you know about an ancient tomb nearby? I heard that it'll be developed into a tourist area recently."

The driver said: "I heard about it. Some time ago, an archaeological team came, and it was in the newspaper."

Lin Yan said: "Then you know that more than twenty years ago there was a death?"

The driver seemed to think the topic of dead people was unlucky, and his face in the rearview mirror that just revealed a slight smile tightened immediately.

"I don't know, I'm not from that place. You can find out for yourself when you get there."

Afterwards, no matter what the three discussed, the driver didn't take the initiative to speak. The asphalt road got narrower and narrower. A dark cloud covered the moon, and even the road couldn't be seen clearly. The car turned one corner after another, and after going up a slope, there was a new slope, and the night wind was blowing in. Soon, even Yin Zhou, the chatterbox, grew quiet. Several people were silent, staring at the passing trees and the dark mountains outside the window in a daze.

The repetitive scene seemed hypnotic. Lin Yan was a little sleepy. He yawned and rubbed against Xiao Yu's shoulder. The ghost leaned over and thoughtfully let him rest on his shoulder.

A little dim light appeared in the distance. One, two, sparse small yellow lights broke the suffocating darkness. The driver, fearing they would fall asleep, coughed and said he was almost there.

Lin Yan straightened up and looked out the car window. He didn't know if it was because of the night. The place was even more desolate than he thought, and it didn't even look like a town at all. It was only when passing an area of small two-story buildings linked together that the similarities with a town became vaguely visible. The tallest building in the town was no more than four floors, the cinder road had no street lights and the mountains were the background to the streets.

"You guys stayed here last time you came too?" Yin Zhou was also a little surprised, "It's so old."

"Last time there was a bus to pick me up. After leaving the airport, we went straight to the temporary triple-slab house next to the tomb. I've never been here before." Lin Yan smiled bitterly, "I told you that someone deliberately arranged that time. I didn't even know where to go before I was taken into the tomb."

The driver stopped the car and smoked while carrying out the luggage. Lin Yan paid the fare and asked him to find out the location of the hotel. The driver pointed at the opposite side of the road, "Well, that's it, the biggest one in town."

Following the direction of his hand, a two-story building was divided into two adjacent shops. The one on the left was called "Youyi Supermarket" while the one on the right was called "Jiajia Hotel." There was a hair salon not far away. It had no name and the black and white cylinder in front of the door keeps spinning.

The taxi quickly drove away, and there were only three young men with luggage left on the dark street. The night wind was very strong, whirling and blowing the hem of their clothes. They were surrounded by desolate grass and trees. and occasionally a dog barked. For a while, it sounded to the east, and then it seemed to change direction. It reminded Lin Yan of when he was a child, when he returned to his hometown for New Year, there seemed to be only one dog in the village, which sounded everywhere but never appeared.

It was as if it only wanted to remind others that dogs existed here.

"Let's go." Lin Yan took a deep breath and led the way towards the opposite side of the road.

The glass door of the hotel had a yellow light on. The door was very old. The glass was covered with oil stains and fingerprints. No one wanted to wipe it. The two red plastic words "Jiajia" were pasted on the door. The second "Jia" had started to vertically fall off. Lin Yan stared at it, feeling a little unlucky.

The storefront was actually much bigger than it looked from the outside. When you enter the door and turn right, there was a restaurant. There were no customers. In front of the old solid wood counter, a waiter in a black suit was dozing off with her cheek resting in her hand. Her face was round, coated with a thick powder. Her bangs were too little to cover her forehead, and a small piece of her forehead was exposed when she shook her head.

The counter was decorated with some drinks with tacky packaging, their names illegible. There was a whiteboard on the wall with the menu written on it. Probably because of how late it was, the names of the top dishes were crossed with black bars.

The store was extremely quiet and the plump waiter was startled by the sound of pushing the door. She grunted reluctantly, "Accommodation or food?"

"Accommodation." Lin Yan said, "Food as well."

The waiter came to her senses. Her swollen eyes were covered with water vapour from drowsiness. She was actually not very old, but she looked old because of her bulging face and thin eyebrows. After snapping back and sizing up the customer in front of her, her eyes suddenly stopped when she landed on Lin Yan's face and unconsciously gathered the hair behind her ears.

"How many days? The chef is off work and can only make dumplings, rice and noodles. What would you like?"

Lin Yan hesitated: "Let's stay for three nights first. We need two rooms, one standard room, and one. . . um, with a queen bed."

"Just three of you? Do you want a triple room? A big room with two wardrobes." The girl was very attentive.

Yin Zhou threw the bag on the ground and suddenly regained his spirit: "We have three people, three people, we can play games online at night. Lin, it's been a while since we've had an all-nighter."

Lin Yan was a little embarrassed, and pointed behind him: "I also brought another one."

Yin Zhou disagreed: "Doesn't he just float around all day? You let him guard the door outside. There's no one in this place. It's creepy to stay here."

The waiter was curious and looked behind Lin Yan. Lin Yan was afraid that Yin Zhou would rashly tell her about the ghost and scare her. He was just about to nod his head and make do with it for the night when Xiao Yu came up from behind him. Without saying a word, he hooped his arms around his waist, all the way to the chest. A soft tongue started playing with his earlobe.

Lin Yan didn't dare to move. The muscles all over his body were tense. The ghost rubbed his lower body through the jeans, and his breathing became urgent. Lin Yan's hand was propped up on the counter and replied in a breathless muted voice: "Mmm. . . no, no, no, no, no need for three rooms. Two, make it two."

"Are you okay?" Yin Zhou asked with concern.

"Sleep well tonight. We have to get up early tomorrow." After speaking, he couldn't help but gasp. He grabbed Xiao Yu's wrist to warn him not to move.

The girl didn't notice the difference. She took out a large disc full of keys from under the counter. She took out two strings and slapped them on the table, and then registered each of the ID numbers. A-Yan turned his head in disgust. He found an empty table with his bag on his back and sat down, staring out the window.

"Stop it." Lin Yan glanced back at Xiao Yu while the girl was writing.

The three ordered two plates of beef dumplings and chatted while waiting for the dishes to be served. The hotel was too small and the chef had already finished and gotten off work. The waiter went to the kitchen to cook dumplings. Afraid that these few people would be bored, she put a cassette into the tape recorder. It turned out to be Dick and Cowboy. Outside, the street was pitch-black, with no streetlights, and a tractor drove by slowly, a puff of black smoke rising from the rear of the machine.

There was a faint smell of oil in the room.

"It's really cold here." Yin Zhou frowned and fiddled with his mobile phone. "I can't even open a web page since the signal is so poor. Staying here for three days will make me die of boredom. I wonder if there's an Internet cafe in town."

"Do you think we're back in the late 1980s? Tomorrow, go to the barber store to get a middle part, buy a pair of flared pants, and carry a guitar while walking and singing." It'll be so chic." Yin Zhou exclaimed.

This sentence made Lin Yan feel uncomfortable.

"It won't take more than three days. When the girl comes over, let's ask her about the tomb. The ancient tomb is very close to here. The locals should know best what happened before."

Yin Zhou kicked Lin Yan's suitcase: "Why did you bring so much stuff?"

Lin Yan smiled bitterly: "My young master is difficult to serve."

Yin Zhou was silent for a while, then suddenly turned his head and said, "Lin, do you know that you are like a young bride now. I almost don't recognize you anymore."

Lin Yan was startled when he heard these words. The spoon in his hand slammed against the porcelain bowl with a crisp ding sound. He said softly, "Are you disappointed?"

Yin Zhou shook his head and sighed from his nose: "No, I just want to say, don't hide anything. We're buddies no matter what, nothing will change that."

Lin Yan was stunned, his throat a little sore. He hesitated for a while, then nodded.

When the dumplings were served, they were steaming hot. The taste was very good, with an authentic farmhouse flavour. The beef was fresh, the peppers were fragrant, and the most powerful thing was the vinegar. The acid had a mellow flavour of the grain. The hunger of those people that had endured the bumpy cab ride here was quickly swept away. The girl in the store was cheerful and sat behind the counter chatting with the three of them. Hearing that they were inquiring about the ancient tomb, she was a little surprised, with a mysterious expression like she was about to tell a ghost story.

"I know where it is. I heard from my grandmother before that the land is evil. The front is the mountain and the water is behind. The sun can't shine, and the crops don't last long. The children nearby are not willing to play. The cold wind blows and it's terrifying. People here always make up stories about that place. One of them I heard when I was a child. I remember it very clearly. It's said that outsiders had moved there before, and the house had just been built. Suddenly one day, no one knew what happened, but the whole family was hanged to death. Later, people passed by the house in the middle of the night and saw the lights in the broken house, and a shadow appeared on the window, staggeringly hanging on the beam, scaring people to death! "

Lin Yan was drinking dumpling broth. He took a big sip, but he couldn't hold it all in and some dripped down. His hot face contorted.

Xiao Yu sat on the empty chair next to him and shook his head innocently.

#dig a grave to dig out a ghost translation #dig a grave to dig out a ghost #bl novel #chinese novel #english translation #chinese bl #danmei #danmei novel #yaoi novel #yaoi #yaoi smut

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myvividreams · 4 years ago

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[Maribat] Hamilton the Musical AU

When @fsketchart started screaming about a Hamilton AU in the discord server, I screamed back with a Hamilton the Musical AU and now it’s a thing. Feel free to scream back to me about it!

First of all, yes, this is Jasonette

At the start of this AU, Jason is two years older than Mari, recovering from Pit Madness, reconciling with the Batfam, attending therapy with the rest of the fam, and recently declared legally alive.

When Jason’s therapist tells him he has to find more hobbies outside of hero-ing, some genii in the batfam decided to ‘help’ by arranging the entire production of a play since, you know, Jason in this AU is very much a thespian in addition to being a literature nerd. Alfred is very proud

Said play is Hamilton the Musical. It’s a charity production funded by the Martha Wayne Foundation, and all proceeds will go towards fixing up and providing aid to the residents of Park Row (which is half of what sold Jason on the plan).

Mari, having just finished her second year of college, is brought in by Tim as MDC to design and create the stage costumes.

On her way to the theater for her first meeting with the cast and crew of the play, Mari is caught in a villain attack---a minor one, as far as Gotham is concerned---that is resolved without needing any sort of intervention from her. It’s Red Robin and Red Hood who resolve it (since Tim and Jason were nearby and on their way to the same meeting as Mari).

Mari negotiated for a workroom in the theater so that she doesn’t have to keep lugging costume parts and cloth around. One night, she stays in a little late and Jason catches her singing to the Hamilton soundtrack while working. He asks her if she’d help him practice. She agrees.

It’s dark out though, and Mari still has to head home. Jason offers to walk her home bc Gotham is dangerous. She agrees. Which is a good thing because they’re held up by some thugs. When they attack, Jason takes down most of them only to turn and find that Mari is a BAMF who took down two of them herself. He’s impressed.

One of the batkids catch them practicing and snitch on them to Alfred who tells Jason to invite Mari over for dinner.

Mari helps Jason practice for a bit and then ropes the other batkids into helping him. Dick has video evidence of Jasonette practicing which he accidentally on purpose posts online. Social media goes wild.

Who is this girl with the second Wayne son?? They’re so cute??

By the way, the Justice League isn’t a thing yet in this AU. For a future JL meets the Batfam trope! (Plus Mari)

A few weeks into rehearsals, Eliza’s actress calls in sick after an encounter with Scarecrow, and Mari is roped into playing Eliza’s part for the day. Mari’s good at it, to the cast’s surprise, and the chemistry between Mari and Jason is great. Mari ends up being cast as Eliza’s understudy.

Meanwhile, Damian is forced into being the Burr understudy after he and Titus repeatedly disrupted rehearsals and destroyed stage props they were still making. Bruce (aka Alfred) hopes it will teach him to appreciate the work the cast and crew are doing.

Damian needs a lot of help. So Mari pitches in and then ropes Jason in, and then they both rope in the rest of the batfam one by one. Soon Mari is visiting the manor regularly to help them practice.

It starts with Steph. She volunteers to play Philip for the chance to play dead and dying again.

They’re singing Stay Alive (reprise) when Bruce walks in wondering what’s happening. Is someone hurt?? Was there an attack he doesn’t know about?? He spies them in the middle of the living room with Stephon the coffee table while Mari and Jason are sobbing over her dramatically. He walks out. He’s done.

At some point, they convince Bruce to do Washington’s parts and are blown away. Washington’s lines resonate a little too well with the batfam, and it makes things awkward for a while. These emotionally constipated bois

Dick is King George. He relishes the opportunity to trash talk Bruce. Jason is annoyed he can’t join him and breaks character one time to gang up on Bruce

Imagine Dick singing da-dadada-DADAAA while swinging on the chandeliers

Tim sings/raps Jefferson’s parts. What Did I Miss and the Cabinet Battles are amazing to watch. Except Jason and Tim are uber competitive, and they make additional (historically accurate!) rap lines to keep the cabinet battles going.

Cass is still mostly non-verbal, so she helps out by handing the others props or figuring out a way to add special effects (like using a flashlight as a spotlight). She also signals if the acting of the Actual Actors in the batfam is accurate/passable or not.

...Cass is also The Bullet. It’s a very respectable role, what are you talking about!

The family therapist starts wondering why the batfam’s progress suddenly jumped. It’s because they’re working through their issues vicariously through the characters in Hamilton

Dick, Steph, and Tim post videos of the fam and Mari practicing on social media. They start trending.

They also coo over Jasonette singing It’s Quiet Uptown while walking through the manor gardens, dancing on the dining table, and basically serenading each other with broadway songs all around the house. And Gotham.

They have video evidence.

(The production crew create a blooper reel of all their cast and crew’s shenanigans which they later sell on DVDs as part of the charity. Batfam and Mari take up 80% of all the bloopers on the DVD)

After social media realizes that most of the batfam aren’t in fact part of the charity show cast, people start a petition for a show with all the Waynes acting in it.

They cut it too close to the dates of the charity show for it to be possible, but their therapist mentioned to Alfred once that having the family work on a fun (non-violent) project/activity together would be good for them.

So, Alfred convinced Bruce and mentioned it to Mari who convinced Jason who helped convince the rest of the fam, and they agree to hold a concert ala the 25th Anniversary Les Mis concert in place of the final show they had initially planned. Tickets sold out in the first hour.

Damian, seeing the petition’s success, creates his own petition---for Alfred the Cat to be part of the production. Everyone votes for it.

The director tries to talk him out of it but Damian is a stubborn brat. The director finally puts his foot down and says he’ll allow it but only for the concert with the rest of the batfam. Damian agrees.

The director approaches Mari for help in mitigating the “damage” by making the cat a costume. Just in case.

(She does, and it works for about half the song before someone notices that baby Theodosia is strangely mobile. Then the baby meows, Damian coos at it during the instrumental, and the audience slowly catches onto the fact that baby Theodosia is actually a cat.)

(Alfred the Cat goes viral.)

The charity shows go live on the weekend of Jason’s birthday. Opening night is Aug 14, then they have two shows each day on the weekend. The main actor for Burr and Eliza step down on Aug 16, Jason’s birthday, to give Mari and Dami the chance to perform---and so that Jasonette can act together.

They get a standing ovation.

Unlike the full production of the original charity shows, (Mari and) the batfam’s concert was entirely meme worthy.

It had all the wackiness of the blooper reels but cranked up to eleven

Damian’s rendition of Dear Theodosia becomes a meme. Someone was able to get a hold of a video of him singing it with and without Alfred the Cat as baby Theodosia. The difference is like night and day.

Bruce half regrets that he allowed it to be immortalized on film/DVD and sold with the bloopers.

#maribat #jasonette #maribat au #hamilton the musical au #go ahead and ask me for snippets #i have lots of feelings for this au #there's also a soulmate au version of this au which i have p l a n s for #ask me about it i'm begging you #this au needs to be shared

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yandere-ac · 4 years ago

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Hey buddy, do you know a channel named Etce? It's a guy that makes gameplays of Animal Crossing, and his favorite is Maple. It's so funny how he sounds low-key like a yandere for her, with made me imagine what it would be if we, the darlings were villagers, and maybe the yandere villagers played the role of humans trying desperately to cage us in their islands lol (like Audie being human and trying to take you with her) sorry, it's just so shitpost idea I hoped it made you laugh a bit tho :D

Yandere Human Audie x Villager Reader x Yandere Human Raymond

Rescue me

Another day in hell. That’s pretty much how life was for you nowadays. Each day you wished it would be your last and everyday just got worse and worse. Even if you wanted it all to end, you couldn’t. But let’s start from the beginning shall we? Your name is Y/N. You are a F/A villager who, unbeknownst to you, was a REALLY popular villager. People had online groups talking about just how badly they wanted you, people drew tons of art of you, some really cute, other a bit...questionable. Some people were even selling you for millions of bells. Of course, it all started small. So when a moderately big group of people on the internet started to talk about how cute you were and how they wanted you, you didn’t put much thought into it. You were very flattered at their compliments and left it at that.

However, once it came out that you would be signing up for the nook inc island getaway package, all hell broke loose. It was the day before the move when you decided that, why not check out the little fan group you had. As much as you hated to admit it, you did get a small boost in confidence from all the nice people who seemingly liked you. And right now you were pretty nervous about the whole move. So you quickly typed in your name into your phone and searched up. Your eyes widened at what you saw once you hit search.

947 619 results in 0,8921 seconds. What the hell?! Why did your name have so many results?! This...this had to be some weird coincidence, I mean, maybe you just shared a name with a popular actor who just blew up. Yeah that’s probably it. But all rational thought left you head once you saw that the little group was now the top result, and the little group wasn’t so little anymore. No, quite the opposite. It had gone from maybe about 5000 people to around 230 000 people. Each and every one of them, praising you, talking about how much they loved you. Some of them even wrote out detailed descriptions of what they would do with you if they found you, things that made your face flush scarlet red, why in the world would someone write that?! What reason did they have?! You felt disgust and discomfort flow throughout your body. Now feeling even worse than how you felt before! Should you even move?! What if you encountered one of these weirdos?!

Yet, you still went. You couldn’t exactly cancel your flight now could you? You’ve already sold your home and you couldn’t buy it back. You just hoped that you didn’t get paired up with a crazy person. And still, it would seem like luck wasn’t on your side.

Knock knock knock

Oh god.

“Y/N! Good morning my sweetheart!” And so, it began. You turned to look at the human in front of you, trying to push down your instincts to whimper and tremble. You had found it easier when she believed you weren’t horrified of her. Last time you shook in her presence she came very close to you and asked what was wrong. When you told her she was scaring you she simply picked you up and carried you to her house. There she spent the next 3 hours spooning and cuddling you, whispering various things in your ears all while you quivered in her arms, terrified of what she would do. Who was this woman? Why it was the island representative, Audie. The girl had long orange hair that went down to her waist and blonde bangs. On her head rested a pair of white sunglasses with purple glass, she never really used them for sun protection so you guessed it was for the aesthetic. She had yellow eyeshadow and winged eyeliner, bringing out her intense blue eyes. Eyes that would strike fear and dread throughout your entire body once they made contact with yours. She was wearing the same tropical muumuu that she always wore. Audie was looking at you with a big smile on her face. You would be lying if you didn’t say that she was a very beautiful girl. But all that beauty was overshadowed by a possessive and clingy nature. She was crazy, she saw you as hers and would make sure you belonged to her and her only. She seemed normal enough when you, her and a third islander moved to the island together. A little strange but still very bubbly and happy to be around you. You probably should’ve realised that she was one of your fans sooner than you did.

She would get annoyed when you hung out with the other resident, Kevin, a yellow bird. Soon you started to see her hitting him with a net, telling him to get out of the island along with other horrible things. And you realised that the more you tried to comfort and hang out with him the more Audie would hit him. You didn’t know what to do. You would report this behaviour to Isabelle but she told you that there was nothing she could do since Audie was the island rep. She was untouchable, and so, you could only helplessly stand back as Kevin was being harassed. You knew if you tried to intervene, Audie might do something more drastic. The whole situation was bad and apparently even Tom Nook has privately told Kevin that it might be for the best if he moved out.

All of the abuse led to Kevin finally moving out. You felt bad for the poor guy. But you were even more scared of Audie. What was truly scary was the fact that Audie had acted nothing but sweet around you. Giving you cute outfits and accessories and furniture. In a way it scared you more than if she would be hitting you as well. Because she was honestly terrifying when she acted nice around you. She would be unaware of how strongly she came off while near you. As a result she would usually be oblivious to your fear of her, which would result in very little personal space and a lot of touching. Not anything inappropriate, no, touching your shoulder, twiddling with your hair, stroking your arm, even giving big hugs that would shake you to your core. She was so much bigger than you, so to have her overpower you like that, you felt completely helpless in her strong grip. She could do anything and you would be powerless to stop it. And that’s why she was so much scarier when nice. She would practically drown you in affection that you did not want. Yet she either didn’t care or didn’t notice.

Going back to present day however. Audie was now walking towards you and you could feel yourself Yelp as she grabbed your hand and kissed you on the cheek. “H-Hello sweetheart...” you didn’t want to call her that, it’s literally that you couldn’t NOT say that. She changed your catchphrase to “Honey” and your nickname for her to “sweetheart”. So you had no choice but to call her that. You could feel your hands start to shake slightly and you tried to make it stop, but that only made you tense up in your whole body as trying to calm your nerves only made them worse. Audie was quick to notice this. “Oh? Why Y/N, your shaking. Is something wrong?” What do you say what do you say? “N-No I’m fine! I uh...I’m just a little cold that’s all...” you probably should have said something else as once she heard this, Audies eyes lit up and instantly you knew you weren’t gonna like this. “Awe you poor thing. Here let me help you!” And so, she lifted you up in her arms and carried you to your bed, where she proceeded to spoon you. At this point you figured you might as well not hold back, as long as she thought you were just cold and not afraid. And so, your whole body started to tremble. No matter how many times she did this, it would never be any less scary. “Oh my. Your shaking very bad. You must be absolutely freezing! Looks like we’ll be here for a while.” Shit.

But this sort of suffocating intimacy was not even the worst part of Audie. As island representative, she was the only one who could build and terraform the island. And she used that for bad things. The first thing she did when she found out she could move houses was to move yours next to her. After that, she completely surrounded both of your houses with a fence. Audie could exit the “yard” anytime, all she needed to do was pick up a part of the fence and put it down. But you, you were stuck. You could not get out and could only watch the island from inside your little “enclosure”. She also started to decide what you should wear. Sometimes she would give you cute clothing, things that you actually enjoyed wearing and felt comfortable with. Other times...other times she would give you skimpy outfits that barely covered you and made you feel very uncomfortable. At times like that you felt grateful no one else could see you. It was only you and Audie. But that didn’t exactly make you feel good. Anytime you wore them, Audie would squeal and blush and inspect you. She would walk circles around you, like a wolf circling a terrified bunny. Just waiting to pounce on it and sink it’s teeth into the poor critter. Luckily, Audie has never done anything...like that to you. She at least respected you enough to not force you to do anything. And that was at least a comfort for you. It was one of the very few comfort you had.

However, you weren’t ALWAYS trapped. Sometimes, Audie would hold a strange sort of...event? It’s very weird. She would open the fence and let you wonder around but shortly after you could see people arriving through the airport and drop off hundreds of Nook mile tickets. It would be insane to see how much they would give Audie. And at first you didn’t know why, you were aware of the fact that some people sold their villagers, but from what you knew, Audie didn’t do that. It was only later that you realised why they were here. They were here for you. They would pay up to 200 nmt just so they could get an hour of talking with you. You thought that was really weird, but to be honest, you didn’t mind it at all. It was the only time you could walk around the island and you could even talk to other people. Those other people being the paying humans of course. But it was nice, you enjoyed talking to some of them. You didn’t particularly like the humans that would only gush about you, telling you how much they loved you, and only asking you about stuff over and over again. It was just tiresome and very annoying. But every now and again there would be the humans that would talk to you like a normal person. Those were your favourites. Out of everyone, three humans stood out to you.

The first one was a girl. She was pretty short, maybe a few inches taller than you. She had light brown skin with freckles and blond hair. Her eyes were big and said hair was tied up in two pigtails. She was wearing a beige layered tank dress that looked very cute. Her name was Coco. She used to see you all the time. She was a frequent costumer, but then one day she just...stopped coming. Maybe she ran out of tickets, maybe she just lost interest, or maybe she found or bought her own Y/N. Yeah, that was a concept that made you really freaked out. The fact that there was apparently a bunch of copies of you out there. It happens to everyone who buys the nook inc getaway package. Either way, it didn’t matter. She stopped showing up, and you never saw her again.

The second one was a tall chubby man with yellow curly hair and a brown moustache. His skin tone was a bright shade of yellow. His eyes were kinda narrow but you could still see his very prominent blue eyes. He was always wearing a red ringmasters coat, always wearing it with such pride, you thought it was very cute. His name was Chops. Chops was always very nice to you. He would treat you well and act like a gentleman, sometimes it would come off as a bit weird but you knew his intentions were good. But after one visit where he asked if you would ever like to see his island, you never saw him again. And you were really excited as well...you thought that you could get away from this place but...apparently not. You didn’t believe that he just stopped going here like Audie said. By now you were smart enough to know that Audie wouldn’t let ANYTHING like that fly. You see, she kept a close eye anytime someone was there to visit. It was all part of the deal. They would get to come and hang out with you just as long as she was there with you. She would of course stand back a little, giving you and the customer some space. But never the less, she would be there, watching.

And the third person was a tall skinny guy named Raymond. Out of all three, Raymond was probably your favourite. He was around the same age as you, maybe a year or two older. He was very pale, you got the impression that he wasn’t exactly the type of person to tan. He would wear a grey waistcoat with a blue tie. His hair was blond and very neatly kept, he was very adamant about being precise. He wasn’t a neat freak per say. But he wanted things to stay orderly. But one of the most captivating things about him was his eyes. He had heterochromia, his right eye was brown and his left eye was green. On top of his eyes were a pair of glasses. And although he himself had said that he didn’t like his eyes, you thought they were beautiful. And anytime you would say that, you could see his face heat up as he muttered a thank you. You really liked Raymond, and you got the feeling he liked you as well. You liked him a lot more than Audie and you hoped she didn’t figure that out. Because once that happened, Raymond would probably get thrown out and not be allowed to see you.

Luckily, you don’t think she suspected anything. She seemed to trust Raymond since she left you two alone when he was over for no extra charge. It was amazing really, you don’t know how he did it but he apparently got her to trust him. And you were grateful for that. Because you and Raymonds conversations were usually the most genuine out of all your interactions.

“Hey Raymond? Could I ask you something?” You asked the guy sitting next to you. The two of you were sitting under a cherry tree near by the beach. He looked at you with a smirk. “Of course you can! You can tell me anything my dear Y/N.” As he said this, you could feel a smile form on your lips. He was always so sincere with you. “Okay so...how many tickets have you spent visiting me? A lot right? Why wouldn’t you just save up those tickets to buy or go for a villager hunt to find a copy of me? Wouldn’t that be easier than spending so much just to get an hour of speaking time with me?” This so something that had bugged you for a while. You didn’t understand this man. Why would he spend so much just to talk to you? Raymond let out a deep chuckle at this, pushing up his glasses on the bridge of his nose slightly before looking at you.

“It’s because, my dear Y/N. I don’t want a “copy of you”. I want to hang out with the real you, you who are living on this island. You mean a lot to me, and to see you not remember me...well it wouldn’t feel right...” he said. You could feel tears prickle your eyes. Did he really mean that? Did he care so much about you? “Woah woah what’s wrong?! Was it something I sa-“ before he could finish that sentence, he could feel two small arms wrap around his waist. You were now crying into his chest, with him awkwardly trying to comfort you by patting your back. “Hey now, don’t cry. It’s okay-“ “No no it’s not! You don’t understand!” But as you said this, Raymond pulled you out from his chest, grabbing your shoulders as he stroked one of your cheeks with his hand. “But I wanna understand! Please Y/N! If there’s something going on, I want to know so I can help! Just...please...tell me what’s going on? I care about you Y/N...” as he said that you could feel your heart skip a beat. Should you....

And so, you told Raymond about the whole thing. You told him about Audie, about Kevin, about the strict rules. About everything. You tried to keep your breath steady but it was hard as all your emotions spilled out. Once you were done it was easy to see the disgust that lingered on Raymond’s face. You didn’t blame him. It wasn’t exactly the lightest thing to process. But after a few minutes of silence, Raymond grabbed your shoulder and looked at you with a serious yet sad look. “Y/N I-.....I’m so sorry....I didn’t know how bad Audie was and I-....I’ve been supporting her...I’ve been paying her nmt just so I could see you. I’ve been giving her the satisfaction and encouraged by directly contributing to-“ before he could continue you grabbed his hands. Raymond looked down at you and got the message. Right now there were more important things to dissolve rather than blaming someone. “Okay okay...you’re right. Well what can I do? Do you need anything?” He asked you. You didn’t know. Should you...yes. “Take me away from here.” You said short and simply. “What?” Raymond responded, making sure what he heard was real and not something he imagined. “Take me away from this hellhole! I don’t wanna live here! To Audie, I’m just some toy for her enjoyment. I don’t want to live here! I don’t want to live here! I don’t-“ Raymond quickly pulled you in for another hug. Both to comfort you, and to silence you. He didn’t want Audie to hear... “Okay okay. Shhh, it’s okay. I’m here Y/N....” Raymond got quiet for a few seconds, almost like he’s considering something. “Come to my island. You’ll be safe there and I’m sure my residents would love you.” He told you, gently stroking your cheek. “Thank you Raymond. Thank you so much!” “Of course Y/N. I promise you. I WILL get you out of here...”

And so, the two of you started planning. Planning on what to do, planning on how you’d do it. There was barely any time left for Raymond’s visits so he agreed to come back the next day. You and Audie waved goodbye to him as he entered the airplane and left the island. Audie grabbed your hand as she looked down at you. “Did you guys have fun? What did you guys talk about?” She was acting and talking very sweetly but you knew what that question meant. It wasn’t “I’m interested in what you discussed” it was “I’m paranoid and need to know what you were doing without me.” But by now you were used to these questions and knew how to get around them. “Oh you know, just life in general. He talked a little about how his island is going and I talked about my life. I told him about the delicious peach pie you made last week.” Any and all suspicion that Audie had melted away once you aged her a compliment. You knew that if you ever wanted to change the subject or get away with something, you needed to sprinkle in a compliment. And just like always, Audie let all of her guard down. “Aww! That’s so sweet of you! I love you so much!!!” And just like most times, she wrapped you up in a big hug. You tried to steady your breathing as you responded to her. “I love you to...” and you stayed like that for a couple of minutes before Audie released you. “Well I just wanted to say, this was the last visit! I’ve got so many Nook mile tickets now that I don’t even need any more! So you don’t have to interact with these weirdos anymore! And guess what? The first thing I’m gonna do is fix up our home. Maybe I can convince good old Tom Nook to give us that big Villa so we can live in the same house! Imagine it, we could hare the bed, I could hold you every night. We would eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together! I could spend my mornings and nights with you! Oh just thinking about it is making me all giddy!”

As she said this, you could feel your whole body tense up. Your eyes went wide and you felt all the air escape your lungs. You wanted to cry, to scream, to yell out for help. But only meekly whimpers came out of your throat. “Oh darling, you’re so happy you can hardly breathe! Well don’t you worry dear. There’ll be plenty of celebration time later!” “N-N-NONONO! H-Hold up i-why...why can’t we celebrate a little tonight? W-why don’t I...sleep at your house tonight? I-I mean if we’re gonna sleep together, we might as well start getting more accustomed to it...” as you said this, you could see Audies face turn into a shade of dark red. It seemed the two of you had very different ideas of what you would be doing once you shared a bed. Of course, nothing happened later that night, just you asleep in Audies arms. Her grip on you was very strong. To get out, you had to slither your way away from her, it took about 30 minutes to do this as any time you made a slight movement, Audie started groaning and moving. You had to be careful, if she woke up it was game over. Once you were free of her grip, you carefully searched the whole room for her phone, making sure not to step on any creaking floor boards in the process. After about 3 minutes, you found it lying on the nightstand next to Audie. So carefully, you approached it and picked it up from the table. Now walking out of the room, preparing to rummage through it. You entered all messaging apps and looked through them all to find Raymond. Finally you found a conversation between Audie and Raymond on an app called “Discord”. You wasted no time, quickly typing in a message for him. You just hoped he would be awake at this time...

“Raymond? Is this you? It’s Y/N. I’ve taken Audies phone. She’s planning on stopping the visits and she’s gonna limit my freedom even further. Please I need your help.” As you sent this you felt even more panic rush over you. The reality of the situation hasn’t quite settled in yet but now? Now you truly realised what could happen if Raymond didn’t help you. Your hands started to shake and your eyes filled with tears, it was getting harder and harder to breathe quietly. You needed to get out of the house before Audie heard you! But just as you opened the door you could feel the phone vibrate. It was Raymond! Before you opened the text, you quickly went out of the house, making sure to carefully close the door. After that you ran towards the big fence, it was higher than your entire body. But you couldn’t stay here. Looking around you saw a tree stump with a sharp golden axe lodged into it. Should you? You have no other choice! So you ran towards the axe, picking it up with struggle. And then, with all your might, all the pent up fear and anger, you struck the fence with force. After maybe two swings you had broken up a small part that you could fit through. And so, you ran, you ran to the beach near dodo airlines. Picking up the phone to look at the new message.

“Y/N?”

“Okay calm down, we’ll figure this out...I made a promise to help you and I’ll be damned if I don’t keep that promise.”

“What if I double the amount of nmt to see you? Would that work?”

You thought about it. But no. Audie wouldn’t care. “No, that’s not gonna work, Audie probably has ten thousands of tickets by now...” And after about 20 seconds you got a reply. “I’ve got it! Why don’t you go to the dodo airport, open the gates and tell me the dodo code!” This....this could actually work! You wiped your tears away and quickly replied. “Yes! I’ll go do it right now!” And with that, you quickly ran into the dodo airlines. You asked Orville to open the gates and that you wanted visitors, and after a quick weird look he complied, telling you the dodo code. He was probably not used to villagers wanting to go but it wasn’t exactly any rules against it. You pulled out your phone to text Raymond, he had left a message to you. “Alright! Let me go to the airport!” You smiled to yourself as you read this. Is this it? Are you really gonna escape? You texted him back. “The dodo code is B2GT7.” And now you just had to wait. You sat down on one of the stools in the airport, twiddling your thumbs as you waited. But then. Something awful happened.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?” You quickly turned around in shock to see the person you wanted to see the least. It was Audie, standing in the doorway. Her hair was disheveled and she looked this close to snapping. Your whole body started to shake more violently then it had ever done. “A-A-Audie?! I-I-I ca-an exp-plain!” You couldn’t keep your voice steady as you hastily backed up against Orvilles desk. Orville was looking at the both of you, very concerned but mostly scared. “YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE OUT HERE!!! ESPECIALLY AT THE DODO AIRLINES! WERE YOU GONNA FLY AWAY AND LEAVE ME!!!!” Audie was now approaching you at a rapid pace. It didn’t take long before she was towering above you. “I really thought I could trust you Y/N! But it seems I’ve been giving you to much freedom. Until we get the shared house, you’re gonna be locked inside my house!” As she said this, she grabbed a hold of your arm and started dragging you

away, you were punching and trying to pry off her hand but it wouldn’t budge. Once you were outside of the airport Audie continued. “Maybe I’ll have to put the new basement to use. Yeah, until we get the shared house, you’ll be chained up in my basement. I can’t trust you on the main floors, they have windows and I wouldn’t want you to escape again!” Once you heard this, adrenaline kicked in to the max. You used all your strength to kick Audie in the shin. She instantly released you to grab her leg. Letting out strings of grunts and curse words. You tried to run back to the airport again but Audie tripped you and grabbed your legs. Now dragging you back to the house. You tried to grab onto anything, digging your nails into the ground. But nothing slowed her down, she was determined to take you with her. So you cried out for help. Hoping that someone, ANYONE would hear.

And just then you could hear footsteps approaching and Audie letting out a grunt. Suddenly, her grip on your feet released and you could hear a big thud. Turning around, looking back, you could see Raymond. He was leaning over Audie, two hands pressed against her throat. He was strangling her! You quickly ran up to him and tried to pry him off. “Raymond no! Stop! Please stop!” He looked at you, hate in his eyes, yet none of that hate directed at you. You gave him a pleading look. And so, Raymond stood up. Taking his hands off her throat. Audie immediately started to cough, desperately trying to get air back into her lungs after it being forced out. Raymond wasted no time however. Grabbing your hand and running off to the airport. He slammed his hands onto the desk that’s Orville say by. “TAKE US AWAY FROM HERE! NOW!!!”

The flight home was very quiet. Neither of you wanted to bring up what happened before you left. Raymond felt ashamed over himself. He decided to try to break the silence. “Listen I-“ “you tried to kill her...” He didn’t know how to respond in a way that wouldn’t make him sound like a psycho. “...yeah...I did...I’m...im sorry Y/N. I tried to stop myself, but right then, that moment. When I saw how horrified you looked...I guess the adrenaline took over...a-and I know that’s not a valuable excuse! I know that! What I did was inexcusable! But...I don’t know, I guess I just lost control...” as he said this, you leaned your head against his shoulder. “I don’t care what happens to Audie. I care about what COULD have happened to you. What if she got loose and attacked you?! What if someone saw it and called reinforcement!? Do you really think I’m worth going to jail for!?” You turned around to look at him as you said this. There were tears flowing through your eyes. Raymond cupped your cheeks with his hands, using his thumbs to wipe away your tears. He looked into your eyes and leaned closer, kissing your forehead. “You’re worth dying for Y/N...”

After maybe 2 minutes of flying you finally arrived at Raymonds island. Salamacis. You always liked that name and this would be the first time you ever visited Salamacis. The island was still very bright. It appeared to be around 5pm at the island when you arrived, and as the plane flew closer to the ground you could see the decor of Salamacis. It was beautiful, the entire island was decorated in a very classical manner. The ground was covered with stone paths except for the flower gardens full of white and black flowers. There were full of zen gardens everywhere, In fact the whole place screamed of “Zen”. It was very nice. You could also see the occasional islander running around. Some of them saw the plane and waived, some of them even ran after the plane. And sure enough, as you and Raymond walked out of the airplane, A small group of villagers had gathered around you. They all looked curiously at you. Your grip on Raymond’s hand tightened, but Raymond stroked it gently with his thumb, trying to calm you down. He let go as he walked toward them all, with you following behind him. “Everyone! This is my friend Y/N! She’s going to be living here from now on! I want you all to treat her with respect and kindness. As she is a new addition to the family.” Everyone was quiet for a few seconds before a small rabbit ran up to you. She was black with a few white spots here and there and had a black tuff of hair on her head right between her ears. She was wearing a black box skirt uniform and a black beret. “Hello! I’m Mari! Welcome to Salamacis! You’re Y/N huh? We’ve heard so much about you! If you want we can give you an island tour!” “Yeah! Let’s give them a tour!” “Follow us!” They all said as they ran away, you felt much easier as you ran after them. But you stopped midway and ran to Raymond. “Thank you Raymond. Thank you for everything.” And with that, you gave him a quick pick on the cheek and ran after the others. You got a feeling that you were gonna enjoy it here. Meanwhile, Raymond was standing by the airport wide eyed and blushing like crazy.

“So we don’t actually have an open plot for you to live in...so you’re gonna have to sleep in my house.” Raymond said as he led you up the stairs to the bedroom. “I know that it sucks that you just got out of the Audie situation and now still have to share house with someone, but don’t worry! I’m gonna sleep downstairs on the couch!” As he said this, you two arrived in the main bedroom. Just the mere sight of it made you let out a small “woah” to which Raymond laughed slightly. He thought your amazement was adorable. The room had a king sized bed in the middle, with a big fluffy rug under it. You went up to it and sat on the bed. The blanket was made with a soft material and the mattress was so comfortable that you practically fell into it once you sat down on it. You immediately laid down, basking in the comfortable material as you stretched. “So, again, if you need anything, and I mean ANYTHING, feel free to come down and ask. Alright? Goodnight Y/N.” And so, as you got down under the blanket, Raymond turned to walk down the stairs. “A-Actually Raymond? There is one thing I wanted to ask...” as you said this, Raymond made a total 180 and looked at you. “Yeah?” “Would you...would you sleep with me tonight?” Once you asked this, Raymond’s eyes went wide, it looked like there was about a thousand thoughts going through his head. “Y-yeah! Of course!” And so, he walked up to you. Lifting up the blanket and laid next to you. You crawled up to him, embracing him. And he did the same, he was wearing a silk rope with some imperial print. It felt very comfortable. You rubbed your face against him, feeling yourself drift off to sleep. “Goodnight Raymond....I love you...” and just like that. You were out like a candle. Raymond felt his heart beat faster. You...loved him?

“...hhhehheh....hehehe, oh Y/N...” Raymond laughed quietly to himself. He had you, he finally had you! After months of searching! After thousands of Nook mile tickets! At first, he just wanted one of you. But when he found out that you were the original you! That made him interested in you specifically. And that interest only grew and grew until it became a monster-like obsession. He wanted you, he needed you. He was gonna do everything it took to get you. When he attacked Audie, he went in full intention to murder her. Such a disgusting individual! How dare she treat you like nothing but a mere pet! Raymond felt ashamed for what he did, not because he regretted it, but because he did it in front of you. You should never have had to see that side of him. But not to worry, you would never ever HAVE to see him like that again! Now that you lived here with him there was nothing that could come between you and him! He was gonna treat you so much better than Audie did. You would be allowed to walk around freely! Talk to anyone you wanted! Dress in any way you wished! If he found you at the Ables sisters and you wanted the 1 000 000 bell crown? He would buy it! No questions asked! He would even let YOU decide where to place your house once you got it! ...but there’s no rush. If he could have you like this, next to him, for a few more weeks...maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing...he knew that he would eventually have to let you move out into your own home. After all, he just said that he wouldn’t be like Audie. But maybe a little bit more time with you wouldn’t hurt. You wouldn’t mind! The proof was right in his arms. He didn’t even suggest that he slept next to you, yet you still asked for it! And you said you loved him! Oh you were gonna be so happy here! He was gonna make sure of that. He’s your friend. Your saviour. The one who’ll always be there. The one who’ll always have time for you.

The one who rescued you.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Oh was this a shitpost idea? How about I turn it into a 6 0 0 0 W O R D F I C ? No but for real. This is probably one of my favorite ones. It was such an interesting idea and like...I got so much inspiration. Also sorry to the anon that wanted a wholesome happy ending. It’s more of a bittersweet ending. But if you feel bad for Y/N, I don’t think Raymond is gonna do anything since Y/N is pretty much in love with him. There. Happy ending! So yeah...more Raymond :D wooo! Hope y’all are hungry because I am serving some food! This time featuring friends as the villagers beck didn’t want to come up with villagers myself!

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losille2000 · 4 years ago

Text

Mister America, Prologue: Massachusetts

CHAPTER NUMBER: 1/? CHARACTERS: President!Chris Evans/OFC (see notes) GENRE: Romance/Drama FIC SUMMARY: After a massive social media write-in campaign organized by others, Chris finds himself thrust into a spotlight that he is unprepared to handle. His campaign managers suggest that a political marriage might help him weather the storm and help his image during the campaign... just so long as it isn’t the one woman Chris really wants. RATING: M WARNINGS: Nothing. AUTHORS NOTES: This story is AU in the fact that this is the 2020 presidential race, and Chris is a candidate. But everything in the past is still the same with him being an actor. Also, COVID-19 is not a part of this story. I needed to play in a land where COVID didn’t exist and “Captain America,” in his alter ego, punched out a Nazi in a metaphorical(?) way. For more on the story, go here.

This first part is prologue-y.

I have also curated a soundtrack for all 50 states, and then some. You can listen on Spotify right now, may eventually put it on Youtube. There will be 50 chapters (I’m hoping), but many of them will be shorter.

Also on AO3!

Boston, MA Evans for President Campaign Headquarters November 3rd, 2020 30 Minutes Before First Polls Close

Stage fright is no joke.

When it hits, it hits like a semi truck going seventy on an icy Massachusetts road. In the blink of an eye, you’re completely obliterated. Except this is on stage and you’re not dead, even though you wish you were. In fact, you’re very much alive. Alive enough to feel the force of the impact, followed by the squeezing in your chest and choking on your breathless words. Paralysis takes over. Cold clammy sweat slicks your palms and also trickles down your back to that one spot between your shoulder blades you can’t reach, but causes your costume to uncomfortably stick to your skin.

There’s no escape. You know what’s coming. You worry you’ll forget your lines, or trip on your cue, or make a complete and utter fool of yourself. You feel like an imposter, questioning why you’re here, in this role, when that dude, JD, from your acting class years ago was a million times more talented than you, and you’re the one that got that teen movie deal. You’re the one who became one of America's most beloved superheroes for a decade.

You’re also the one who has a very real chance of winning the 2020 presidential election, despite no college education, limited understanding of what elected officials in DC actually do on a day to day basis, and the closest thing you have to experience as a “boss” or “commander in chief” of anything was a movie set or two where you were director and executive producer.

Nope.

What I, Chris Evans, have is a dedicated online fan base who took the time to write my name into ballots when they discovered I had filed for ballot access in every state of the union. I didn’t do the filing on a whim; we sat around late one night talking about the interviews I had been conducting in DC for a website about party positions on important issues. My business partners and I came up with the idea that a long form documentary about campaigning would be interesting, and we determined the best way to understand the process was to become a “candidate” myself. Meaning, we only planned to use the credentials to be on the front line of the campaigning process. I was never going to create signs and make speeches or debate with others.

I never intended to run a legitimate campaign.

But, as I mentioned, something strange happened during the Democratic primaries. People started to vote for me, a trickle of rain in a hurricane.

I won a few primary delegates.

Without even trying.

Not enough to win the Democratic ticket, but enough to make pollsters sit up and take notice.

My loyal fans stepped in again, undaunted, and ignited a storm. They dubbed it “Operation America’s Ass” and created a grassroots campaign across the country with GoFundMe donations and a lot of pluck. I thought it was a joke. A part of me still does think it’s a joke. I mean, what other explanation is there for this mess? For the red, white and blue bunting hanging on the walls with the “Chris Evans for President” sign plastered underneath it? For the staffers who stop briefly to see if I need anything...‘Would you like a drink, sir?’... or, upon seeing how pale I look, give me a vote of confidence… ‘Are you ready for your acceptance speech?’ There’s absolutely no good explanation as to why there are twenty or thirty people buzzing around the hotel suite waiting for results. They’re so energized with hope for a better future.

Hope that I can be everything they ever wanted in a president.

An Independent president, free from party oversight.

A president with class.

A president for the people.

A president who can bring the United States back from the brink of destruction at the hands of previous leaders.

I wish I had their confidence.

When they asked me on career day in school what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said artist. When I was older, in high school, I knew I was going to be an actor. Never president. The job never entered my mind as being a possibility, not even when I used to work for my uncle’s congressional campaigns. Or when I started filming those interviews.

Why does anyone think I, a straight white momma’s boy from Boston should be president in 2020? Just because I made a few popular Tweets about the current president’s lack of leadership?

It has to be a joke. A cosmic one. I’m a punchline. I am convinced they’ll jump out from behind a doorway and yell “You’ve been PUNK’D! We really got you this time, now here, Bernie, you’re the better candidate.”

And yet…

What if they see in me something I do not?

I place a lot of stock in being in the moment. I’ve also put a lot of work into accepting the twists and turns of life instead of allowing all the “what ifs” and “what should I dos” to eat away at me. I told everybody after I was done with Marvel and financially secure enough to only work on projects I really wanted to, I’d take life as it came at me.

Well, it came after me.

To be fair, I originally chose to get into politics, even in a tiny way, because I wanted to be informed about my choices. I created a website so others could learn, as well. As time went on, I became more involved on Capitol Hill. I even did some lobbying for a few causes dear to my heart. And, yes, I did file the ballot access paperwork.

Had I unintentionally set my path in this direction? Was it inevitable for me to become a contender for the presidency?

Fortunately, I learned early on in the process that a lot of being a presidential candidate is being a convincing showman. An actor. The world's a stage, after all, and I am but a player. You have to have some solid ideas and convictions to back up the image, but a lot of the governing comes from other members of the executive branch. Should I win, I’d only be signing off on everything.

Of course, that “everything” affects the lives of more than 300 million souls. I wouldn’t trust me with a kitchen knife, much less nuclear launch codes and people's livelihoods and education and health and…

My hands shake with nerves just thinking about it.

Let it be said, once I do make it out onto the stage--be it as an actor or presidential candidate--I rise to the challenge. The energy from the audience buoys me. Makes me feel alive. But I am not, by nature, someone who likes to sign away so much personal freedom in exchange for the weight of carrying an albatross around my neck. I thought signing for Captain America would be tough; the human toll of running for president even moreso.

Actually being President? I can’t even wrap my mind around that.

It would be easy to call it quits, even now when the votes are already cast. I could have done it a long time ago, when the reality of the situation hit me the first time. I didn’t. Something told me to hold back, play it out. I persevered. Why? Somewhere, along the line, I began to believe I could do this. I could make a positive difference in the lives of Americans.

I certainly want to do right by all my supporters--and my detractors. I want to be a leader for all Americans.

But can I, really, while knowing my incredible deficiencies?

Maybe I can’t, but I can be the team leader. A brand ambassador, if you will. A good leader delegates. And I intend, should I win, to surround myself with the best and brightest. I will accept no less. I will do ‘Whatever It Takes,’ as our slogan boasts. I am American, first and foremost, and I care deeply about this country.

A real Captain America, if you will. Maybe not as strong or powerful as others, but I sure as hell can give a great speech and will defend my country from bullies until my last breath, whether they be purple… or orange.

Except, I suppose if I’m elected, I won’t be Captain America anymore. They’ll call me Mr. President.

Or, horror of horrors, what if the new name my nearest and dearest coined makes it out into the public. They tease me with it just to see my visceral revulsion and get a laugh. But if I have learned anything about the internet--and pop culture--is that if something is catchy, it sticks around for a long time.

Maybe I ought to get used to the idea of being a punchline.

So, I suppose I have a question for you.

Won’t you consider a vote for Mr. America?

#chris evans #captain america #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans fan fiction #chris evans fanfic #chris evans fan fic #mister america #president!chris evans #president

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qrovidcore · 4 years ago

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hey what’s up tumblr i’ve now seen hbo’s watchmen all the way through Three Fucking Times and i very well may go for a fourth if given an excuse whoops and apparently i can’t stop thinking about Laurie’s joke in She Was Killed By Space Junk, no i’m not the first person to analyze this and i’m sure i won’t be the last but i sure do have some Thoughts^TM, so here’s some meta let’s go.

major spoilers ahead for the entire series:

Hey, it’s me again. I’ve got a joke. Stop me if you’ve heard this one. There’s this guy, he’s a bricklayer. He’s really good at it. He’s a real master of his craft. Because he’s precise. Every brick has its place. Anyway this guy has a daughter and he’s gonna teach her to be a bricklayer because after all, all a man has is his legacy. So dad decides to build a barbecue in the backyard. He does the math. He figures out exactly what he needs and he shows the daughter how to do everything. Step by step. And when he finishes, it’s a beauty. It’s a perfect barbecue. Just the way he drew it in blueprints. Only one problem. There’s a brick left over. One single brick. The guy freaks out. He must have done something wrong. He’s gonna have to start all over again. So he picks up his sledgehammer to knock the thing to pieces and his daughter suddenly says ‘daddy wait! I have an idea.’ She picks up the orphan brick and throws it up into the air as high as she can. And then…shit. Messed it up.

Okay forget that joke. Can I tell you another one?

As I said, I’m not the first to break down that Laurie is referring to specific people who have an influence on the story, there’s plenty of meta posts online that’ll say the same thing. I just think this is a Really Clever way to introduce us to her, to the major players in this story, and to the events from the comic that are going to end up being referenced. Anyhow, the bricklayer here is The Comedian. Laurie’s father. I’ll get back to this and how it connects later, but given that one of Watchmen’s major themes is the concept of legacy - who carries it and how, and what happens when that legacy is painful - this is a neat little hook into that idea. Laurie’s dad’s legacy. What she’s done with it, what she’s going to do with it, how she feels about it. Again, coming back to that.

Okay. Forget the brick. New joke. Three heroes die and they all show up at the pearly gates. God’s there and he’s going to decide what their eternal fate shall be: heaven or hell. Our first hero is dressed up like a big owl. God says to him “I gifted you the ability to make fantastic inventions. What did you do with this amazing talent?” Owl guy says “I made this really awesome flying ship and lots of cool outfits and weapons so I could bring peace to the city.” God asks, “So how many people did you kill?” Owl guy seems offended. He says “Zero. I didn’t take a single life.” God frowns. “Sorry owl guy, your heart’s in the right place but you’re just too soft.” God snaps his fingers and the hero goes to hell.

I'm not super into the comic so it took me a while to get that she's referencing Nite Owl. I think this is strange since he doesn't appear in the show himself, whereas everyone else she talks about does, but I suppose it gives a more rounded-out view of the different approaches to heroism, and what exactly constitutes it, and also ties in another one of the original Minutemen. They did cut this over her arrest of Mr. Shadow in the bank, which makes me wonder about his role and why he appeared, and I still find it strange that this part of the joke wasn't about someone who had more of a presence in the show. (Though that being said, DC making fun of Batman, their own big-ticket character? 10/10 thank you for this).

Where was I? The pearly gates await our next hero in line for Almighty judgment. Our hero number two is confident he can game this out because that’s his God-given talent: smarts. Some might even say he’s the smartest man in the world. “So what did you do with that big brain I gave you?” asks God. “As a matter of fact, I saved humanity, ”says Smarty Pants. “Well how’d you do that,” asks God.” “Well I dropped a giant alien squid on New York and everybody was so afraid of it they stopped being afraid of each other.” “OK,” says God. “How many people did you kill?” Smarty Pants smiles. “Three million, give or take. But you can’t make an omelet without breaking a couple of eggs. “Christ,” God says. “You’re a fucking monster.” “Am not,” says Smarty Pants. God snaps his fingers and our hero goes to hell.

GOD YES PLEASE DRAG OZYMANDIAS. GET THIS FUCKER’S ASS. Though the line that’s sticking out to me here is “You can’t make an omelet without breaking a couple of eggs.” Watchmen’s got an egg motif - and that’s an entire post on its own - and wow this is a place to drop it. I find it interesting that it’s given to Adrien here. Especially since it comes back later, when Will tells Angela that that’s what Jon said in justification of giving his life to stop the 7th K/Cyclops and Trieu. Eggs are used for a lot of things, but this line ties the motif solidly to a value of life here - how Adrien is the way he is because he refuses to value other peoples’, and maybe how Jon is the way he is because, when you can see the future laid out before you and live knowing how you’re going to die, how do you learn to value your own?

Okay. We’re down to the nitty gritty now. One hero left. God cracks his knuckles ready to administer the final reckoning. Now Hero Number 3 is pretty much a god himself. So for the sake of telling them apart, he’s blue and he likes to stroll around with his dick hanging out. He can teleport, he can see into the future, he blows shit up. He’s got actual superpowers. Regular God asks Blue God what have you done with these gifts?” Blue God says “I fell in love with a woman, I walked across the sun, and then I fell in love with another woman. I won the Vietnam War. But mostly I just stopped giving a shit about humanity.” God sighs. “Do I even need to ask how many people you’ve killed?” Blue guy shrugs. “A live body and a dead body have the same number of particles so it doesn’t matter. And it doesn’t matter how I answer your question because I know you’re sending me to hell.” “How do you know that?” asks God. Blue God sounds very sad when he softly says “Because I’m already there.” And so, a mere piston in the inevitable of time and space God does what he did and will do. He snaps his fingers and the hero goes to hell.

And now, we’ve got Jon. Dr. Manhattan. It's a neat moment of insight into his actions, motives, and how those are perceived by others (namely Laurie), and it's a nice thread of introduction to his previous actions to drop for audiences who haven't read the comics (actually, I can make this point about Adrien’s part of the joke too). Especially because most of what we get of Jon in-show is his relationship with Angela, his entire character arc really revolves around her and we don't see him portrayed as the contentious, unfeeling figure the world sees him as. So this sort of contrast between him as a figure and him as a person is very telling, doubly so coming from someone who it's clear knew him. And I really appreciate that there’s just as much stiffness as there is warmth to the Jon we the audience see - he’s kind, he’s loving, but he’s also very matter-of-fact and deterministic, and that bit of characterization really spans the gap between these two versions of him.

And so it’s been a long day at the pearly gates. All the heroes have gone to hell. His work done, God’s packing up to go home and then he notices someone waiting. But it’s not a hero, it’s just a woman. “Where did you come from?” asks God. “Oh I was just standing behind those other guys the whole time, you just didn’t see me.” “Did I give you a talent,” God asks. “No, none to speak of,” says the woman. God gives her a good long look. “I’m so sorry. I’m embarrassed. Seriously, this almost never happens but I don’t know who you are.” And the woman looks at God and she quietly says “I’m the little girl who threw the brick in the air.” And a sound from above, something falling: the brick. God looks up but it’s too late. He never saw it coming. It hits him so hard, his brains shoot out his nose. Game over. He’s dead. And where does God go when he dies? He goes to hell.

Into some Thoughts^TM that I haven’t seen anyone theorize yet(?): I think God is meant to be Lady Trieu, and even if Laurie wouldn’t know this yet that’s some brilliant fucking foreshadowing. It's not as exact, but enough parallels are there that I think they're purposeful. It makes Trieu out as the ultimate judge of everyone - and in a way, she is. She sees herself as the most deserving of power of everyone, and it's her who kills Dr. Manhattan - sends him to hell, you could say, and he knows she's going to do it. It also hints at how she's going to die too, crushed by her machine falling from the sky like the brick, because she didn't expect anyone would be capable of stopping her. And where does God go when he dies? He goes to hell. Trieu isn't ultimately above the others, and she's subject to their justice as they are to hers.

Fitting too that Laurie is involved with the plan to stop Trieu, since, as I said I’d come back to, the girl who threw the brick is Laurie herself. Her depiction of herself in this way is representative, perhaps, of Laure's own feelings on vigilantism and what justice is, and that she's the force that's going to bring down these overblown personalities and their many incorrect uses of their abilities. Given this, it's interesting to think how the "failed" joke at the beginning connects, given that Laurie's dad is the bricklayer, and he's definitely... not a good person, or at least not in this continuity. But I wonder if it's indicative of what Laurie mentions about her parents training her up to do vigilante stuff (especially since she’s based in part(?) on a member of the Minutemen from the comic), and how she feels about her father and his work. If the brick is symbolic of his work as a vigilante, is Laurie throwing the brick in the air, and ultimately taking down the threat at the top, meant to indicate how she sees herself using what she learned from him, or - maybe and - a disrespect for his work based on her justified hatred of him?

Roll on snare drum. Curtains. Good joke.

#god hi i guess i'm watchmen posting now #i am so sorry #i doubt watchmen is a thing that needs my thoughts but unfortunately i am hyperfixing and i have way too many of them #am i posting this because i want to draw something based on this with trieu as god? mayhaps but it's way too fucking long so we'll see #i may also be posting this for my partner despite his not being on this hellsite #bc i was trying to explain this to him at like 3 in the morning last night while actively falling asleep so #aaaaaanyhow #hbo watchmen #the paranoid android speaks!

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kirliancamera1 · 4 years ago

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Rede Vamp Brazil (https://redevampirica.com) interviews Elena Alice Fossi of Kirlian Camera (English text attached hereunder) 🔥🔥🔥

Question 1: Be very welcome to AcessoRedeVamp, it's a true honor to realize this interview with you Elena Alice! You are a great singer and more every time we see you on stage your performance transmits great emotion and this electrifies all of us! You tell a real story with your performance and this is amazing and rare these days! At the same time, we perceive an expressive revolt against an old world and its stagnant postures. How have you handled 2020?

*** EAF – First of all, I wanna thank you for your words. Being able to communicate with the people who follow us is the most important thing to me. Singing becomes ephemeral if doesn't convey a message. Also for this reason I consider that the stage is the base of a musician, so you can imagine how I miss it. In this sense, it can be said that the category we belong to is very unlucky, not only because it's forced not to work, but rather 'cause concerts are pure lifeblood for a musician's soul. In any case, both Angelo and I can't stand self-pity people, so we immediately jumped into new musical projects, putting top concentration on composition. At any rate, we couldn't be simple observers of an event on this scale, so right from the beginning we tried to dig deep, looking for, and comparing news, data, statistics, whether they came from mainstream channels or from alternative sources. In Italy, for example, the economy has been torn to pieces and furthermore, the same politicians who mourn the dead on TV... cut so many funds for health facilities for a long time, so they may be considered taking part in such a mess. This situation has created a real drama, especially for families who have lost their loved ones without even having a chance to say goodbye one last time. But, it's also true that the worldwide exploitation of this pandemic has given us, we citizens, an opportunity to wake up. No need to use words such as anarchy or rebellion to understand that the old world is showing all kinds of holes. "Divide et impera" is the motto of several governments, so we citizens must not fall into the trap of making war on each other, each nonsense comes up! This is the time to show ourselves united. And, most of all, it’s time not to turn ourselves into servile dogs of a “Power” becoming more and more antidemocratic.

Question 2: Do you feel that the marks left by the year 2020 will bring some effective changes to this "abstraction" called humanity? Will there be a "new normal" or will we just return to an average 2019 when this whole pandemic passes?

*** EAF - If I’d been told about what we have experienced for almost one year, I’d have thought it was a joke, bullshit. But unluckily this is not the case. Such an event has brought much grief and is ruining the economic system of many nations, as already said. But in addition to the injury, here it comes the insult from the absurd and chaotic dictates imposed on us. I'll give you some examples of what's happening here in Italy. “Don't go out after 10 pm”. While people keep on getting sick or even dying, here comes the policeman with a ticket 'cause you left home for a goddam moment. I have this picture on my mind, of a person in pajamas, carrying the garbage bag full of stinking mussel shells at less than one hundred meters from home in a totally deserted night. At that point a flash on him. It’s the police who writes a ticket to that dangerous criminal. And then, for everyone's sake, the Christmas mass was moved from the usual midnight to 8 pm. How the hell can you think it's not a mockery? And... the last “gag”! Before Christmas, our Minister of technological innovation made an appeal to telephone companies so that video calls were free on Christmas days... But what year does she live in? But... is she not able to understand that in Italy almost everyone has either unlimited gigas or wifi? Nothing changes if the telephone companies for a couple of days give us video calls because we already use free services such as Whatsapp, Skype, Zoom, Telegram, and so on and so forth... Ok, in a vain attempt to avoid death, they are putting us in an induced coma! Seriously, all this offends our intelligence! And, when you realize you are inside a joke, you don't like to discover you're the main character, do you?! So, to answer your question, I couldn't foresee how a post-covid society will be reshaped, but the severe weakening that now is burdening us will have some major impact, no doubt. Currently, most folks are obsessed with fear, so are unable to reflect on the consequences of unconstitutional actions such as those foolishly propagated by many States. Furthermore, the pharma companies, the giants of the online shopping industry and many other powerful satanic puppet masters who are used to appear as philanthropists are ready to get their hands on everything, well pleased with the next “big reset”. So, after the pandemic, things will change a lot! For sure, from a human point of view, the feelings will be devitalized.

Question 3: Hologram Moon is a great name! Evokes conspirations like what really is the moon and this strangeness opens a vast creative field to find answers or even new questions... please tell us a bit more about this album, his name, songs...

*** EAF - "Fake is your face" is one of the phrases that most resonate in me when I sing "Holograms", or when in “Lost Islands” the old world said “Goodbye”! It's as if you had to face a new reset, as if you discovered everything you've always believed is swept away in an instant. There's the awareness that in the face of a new and suffocating truth, when the sky collapses, only true love can resist and guide you. In this sense, the final track of the album, “Travellers’ Testament” is a real stone on my heart, as it describes a fantastic journey to a planet. The astronaut is now impatient to fulfill his dream, but he will never arrive on that planet. The landing will take place on a space station. The moon landing's been questioned over and over again and certain evidence of the fact's inconsistency eventually seems credible. But we cannot say what reality is in any scientific way, especially when we're already prepared to believe a reassuring source. This is a simple starting point to embark on our history. More than finding answers, our sacred duty is to open the door to new questions, ask doubts, not take anything for granted. “Hologram Moon” is a purely poetic vision, but also a way to question everything. The mind can atrophy very easily. Habit, for example, can be complicit in this and the so-called comfort zone can be just complicit as well. The hypnosis that we suffer every day without realizing it, also grinding so many and bad TV shows, and so on... So, let's remain thinking and dreaming! This is a message from us.

Question 4: How was the experience of working with Covenant's Eskil Simonsson on the beautiful "Sky Collapse"?

*** EAF - We had come across Covenant several times before doing this collaboration; on festival occasions, in the dressing rooms... But it was a chaotic situation, so... we gave each other a fleeting smile, a kind greeting, but nothing more. Then, when Angelo and I wrote “Sky Collapse”, we immediately thought that a deep and sincere voice like Eskil's would add something precious to the song. Even before recording the two-voice song, we met at a charity festival. We had called him as a guest just to sing this song together, which was yet unreleased. He made himself available immediately. It was a nice gift for us and when the moment came, I think that on stage you could feel my strong emotion all the way down the hall!

Question 5: Well, I think now we will have our fan moment! Let's talk about some Kirlian Camera songs that our DJs and the audience of the REDE VAMP love it? Do I speak the name and may you tell a little about the meanings, influences, or a curious story?

*** EAF ***

>>> NIGHTGLORY. It refers to the triumph of the night, perhaps as a momentary spiritual retreat. I'm talking about that precious moment that regenerates your very existence into yourself. The music of this song was born in a symphonic form, very different from how Nightglory was then arranged. This is a song and an album that has been appreciated by many people only after some time, partly because of a promotion that described the album as the most commercial in our history, which is absolutely harmful and misleading. Invisible Front and Eclipse were even more listenable, for example... Sometimes words spoil your work. It would be better to listen to music only, ignoring its promotional presentation. Fortunately, Nightglory has recovered over time till becoming one of the most requested live songs of ours.

>>> BLACK AUGUST. In this song there are various hints coming out from a dark moment in my life, I mean a period that risked devouring me. Wounds that take time to heal. Sky Collapse can be considered the final act of that period, even if the music of the two songs sounds very different, as you know. Black August blends various stylistic dimensions in a single “body of music”, so many didn't know how to label it at the time, as it effectively goes running free, out of the box. A very atypical song that has gained some actual success despite its distinction, which has also brought us closer to fans of dark metal and so-called electronica.

>>> HELLFIRE. I chose this piece to add an echo to the dark period I was talking about above, in order to exorcise all that negativity, so we went to deal with a theme showing gospel traits but containing some demonic references in the lyrics. Then I didn't know THE 8th PRESIDENT was waiting for us at the SCARLET GATE OF TOXIC DAYBREAK, with his COLD PILLS! A wordplay whoever is following us will understand!

>>> K-PAX. I wrote this piece in a night when everything seemed dreamy and I almost didn't realize where I was anymore. No, I wasn't under the influence of drugs or alcohol, but all my memories were mixing in tremendous chaos that needed to reinvent itself and turn into an immaterial fog, in a light but lost dream. Angelo literally translated the music and melodies I had written on the staff, giving both them and my voice the perfect terms to guide the journey. In fact, it's not a complete and static text, but a sequence of dreamy and painful phrases at the same time. I felt that Angelo listened to me attentively since he knew how to translate my notes so perfectly into written sentences as if he were sending me back into my music. It was magical and at K-Pax Angelo and I discovered the other life of ourselves, bringing to light so many breathtaking emotions and it was just the departure, after the suffocating mists of Still Air, an album we love, and the crepuscular decadence of Stalingrad Valkyrie.

Question 6: There is a cover of Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd from Kirlian Camera that is a true work of art. The Mad World cover performed by Spectra Paris is fascinating. Are there more covers from other bands that you would like to record?

*** EAF - Well yes, there are ideas, but we prefer to evaluate which are the best. Meanwhile, I tried to produce a version of a Johnny Cash song and I made Angelo interpret it: I really like the result. It may be used by Stalingrad Valkyrie.

Question 7: I love your lyrics! What can't Elena be missing when creating new lyrics or musical arrangements? Are there any poetry, films, books, comic books, or other influences?

*** EAF - Mostly everything happens unconsciously. You don't know how many times I realize why I wrote a certain phrase only after a song was released! But I can say that my imagination works mostly by processing images. So, the movies are very helpful in this. Similarly, Angelo and I tap into imagery that could be part of the quantum physics new era, where multiverse and multidimensionality are both playing an important role. This world appears like a really tiny thing when compared to everything else.

Question 8: Elena, I read in an older interview about a "Young Ladies Homicide Club" I found an undeniable reference to the films Noir and the figure of the characters called "Vamp" and all the charm and spectral magnetism ... but I was a little curious. .. what is this "Young Ladies Homicide Club"?

*** EAF - Let's say I imagined an unreal club created by apparently dead or so to say "disappeared" models in order to get rid of fashion people who were acting a bit too naughty! The work to clean up that world wouldn't be lacking, as, after all, it happens in all professional areas. As for myself goes, I gladly opted in a flash and without second thoughts for singing and making music, leaving everything behind, buying a couple of synths and a decent microphone, which I then enriched with various electronic devilry, kicking away possible easy money, foolish nights, cocaine, heroin, stereotyped relationships, and absurdly worshipped wines! Every so often I like to play with the ridiculous and grotesque ghosts of some fashion designers, photographers, and evil spirits, then going to recreate noir stories in which everything happens. I also drew some digital comics with a noir-glam flavor, a few years ago... It was a fun pastime, while with Kirlian Camera I'd been exploring deeper and more fundamental universes.

Question 9: Is there more news on the way for the incredible Spectra Paris and also for Stalingrad Valkyrie? May you talk a bit more about them?

*** EAF - Stalingrad Valkyrie is a project I am very fond of, in a special way. So I insisted on getting it back to life after a period of hibernation which lasted too much in my opinion. "Martyrium Europae", the most recent album, proved me right, even if it’s not a commercial project. Well, it seems our listeners have appreciated the attempt to combine different musical sources in a unique style, certainly linked to the more symphonic and dramatic Kirlian Camera pages, but also quite free to express itself on his own, trying to avoid the most standard patterns of neofolk, progressive and industrial, without on the other hand completely ignoring their now distant origins. So, in its small way, the new album turned out to be a success and I'd really like this project to keep on living with further fresh ideas. We're currently working on a new chapter that will be released on vinyl and some digitals, which contains previously unreleased songs and versions.

Question 10: Elena, our Rede Vamp is a platform about Cultural Vamp and Vampires production ... and there is a question that our interviewees never escape. Is there a character or perhaps a vampire story that you never forgot?

*** EAF - Needless to say the vampire who most impressed me over time can't be anyone other than... Angelo Bergamini!!! Not many know that Angelo was the leading actor in a short film entitled "Himre Bakai", shot in the late nineties or so, directed by Antonio Bocchi, the later owner of the dark-electronic project Lux Anodyca and author of detective books. I don't think the film is regularly available or downloadable at the moment, but I know it was also screened at the time in various festivals and reviews, also getting some good feedback! Angelo (Himre) and Antonio told me that one day the film "will see the light ”, but at the moment... he lies in the dark, by the book, of course!!!

Question 11: Elena, thank you so much for your time and generosity! You and Kirlian Camera have many fans on our events and radio shows, please leave a special message for our audience! Are there plans for a new gig in Brazil after all this pandemic?

*** EAF - While it's true that we've never been able to play in Brazil so far, I'm sure your Land is actually right for us, 'cause I can feel that's full of feeling and passion, so we'd love to perform for you very much, 'cause in spite of the fact it's so far away, I feel a deep affinity and a certain familiarity with your world. And while we wait, confident that sooner or later we'll succeed in our aim, I wanna greet all those who had the kindness to listen to me, with a quote from the American scientist and politician Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

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damienhaasbaybee · 4 years ago

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Figured it out 😂 for the let's get personal, can I request that you do them all?

I DID IT BAYBEEEEEEE.

* 1: 6 of the songs you listen to most?

I’ll Be There For You and Bad Medicine by Bon Jovi, In My Head by Ariana Grande, I Believe by Jonas Brothers, Air Force Ones by Nelly, and Chasing Pavements by Adele

* 2: If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

Harry Styles or Damien Haas so they can fall in love with me.

* 3: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17.

“me that it was a sometimes temporary paralysis that causes damage”

* 4: What do you think about most? the fact that I have nothing to really work towards

* 5: What does your latest text message from someone else say?

“I’m tireddd”

* 6: Do you sleep with or without clothes on?

without most of the time

* 7: What’s your strangest talent?

number and address recall 🙄 its embarrassing sometimes lol

* 8: Girls… (finish the sentence); Boys… (finish the sentence)

girls go to college to get more knowledge boys go to jupiter to get more stupider

* 9: Ever had a poem or song written about you?

fuck no lol

* 10: When is the last time you played the air guitar?

um... today.. in the car

* 11: Do you have any strange phobias?

raw chicken.

* 12: Ever stuck a foreign object up your nose?

a piece of ice so i could pierce my nose.

* 13: What’s your religion?

christian

* 14: If you are outside, what are you most likely doing?

um... if its for pleasure... swimming.

* 15: Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

behind lol

* 16: Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band?

of all time... linkin park or one direction

* 17: What was the last lie you told?

that I’m fine lol

* 18: Do you believe in karma?

v much so

* 19: What does your URL mean?

um... i am damien haas’ baybee and he is also my baybee

* 20: What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?

weakness, helping people until I die strength, i am honest

* 21: Who is your celebrity crush ?

james marsden, david dobrik, zac efron, miles teller, damien haas...

* 22: Have you ever gone skinny dipping?

* 23: How do you vent your anger?

i sing real fucking loud

* 24: Do you have a collection of anything?

one direction memorabilia lol

* 25: Do you prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online?

either works with me tbh

* 26: Are you happy with the person you’ve become?

yes.

* 27: What’s a sound you hate; sound you love?

sound I hate: hearing others talk on the phone, sound I love: rubbing clean hands on a clean table

* 28: What’s your biggest “what if”?

what if I’m just crazy and none of this is real

* 29: Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

yes and yes. anything is possible.

* 30: Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm.

my comforter both times lol

* 31: Smell the air. What do you smell?

a clean house lol

* 32: What’s the worst place you have ever been to?

uhhhh Louisville

* 33: Choose: East Coast or West Coast?

west coast because i have never been

* 34: Most attractive singer of your opposite gender?

Harry Styles

* 35: To you, what is the meaning of life?

to leave the earth better than I found it

* 36: Define Art.

art is everything and nothing that a person wants it to be

* 37: Do you believe in luck?

I do. circumstances create luck.

* 38: What’s the weather like right now?

pretty clear

* 39: What time is it?

10:08pm

* 40: Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?

yes and yes! I won’t say what it was but it hit ME.

* 41: What was the last book you read?

I tried reading Girl Wash Your Face but couldn’t get into it.

* 42: Do you like the smell of gasoline?

Yes

* 43: Do you have any nicknames?

yes I do... you can call me queen tho.

* 44: What was the last film you saw?

Legally Blonde

* 45: What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?

several ankles sprained severely on each side.

* 46: Have you ever caught a butterfly?

* 47: Do you have any obsessions right now?

yes. damien haas.

* 48: What’s your sexual orientation?

bisexual, demisexual, pansexual????

* 49: Ever had a rumour spread about you?

yes. I was pregnant.

* 50: Do you believe in magic?

no.

* 51: Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?

yes, unfortunately.

* 52: What is your astrological sign?

cancer

* 53: Do you save money or spend it?

both!

* 54: What’s the last thing you purchased?

a carwash for my dads truck

* 55: Love or lust?

both

* 56: In a relationship?

somewhat

* 57: How many relationships have you had?

two

* 58: Can you touch your nose with your tongue?

* 59: Where were you yesterday?

home

* 60: Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?

yes, my water bottle

* 61: Are you wearing socks right now?

no, never

* 62: What’s your favourite animal?

polar bear

* 63: What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?

my hospitality (including dis mouf)

* 64: Where is your best friend?

idk, at home?

* 65: Give me your top 5 favourite blogs on Tumblr.

oooooo bisquett, thebasketcase101, persistence-ofmemories, creativegoof, and zanesgirlfriend

* 66: What is your heritage?

I am part native american and european as far as i know. i want to do a 23andme so I can find out. My skin tans realllllly dark even with tons fo sunscreen on so that makes me think I have more Native American than I thought.

* 67: What were you doing last night at 12AM?

I was definitely watching New Girl

* 68: What do you think is Satan’s last name?

idk... Jones?

* 69: Be honest. Ever gotten yourself off?

biiiiitch of course I have.

* 70: Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend?

Yes. I may suck but I am loyal as hell and I’ll do anything for my friends.

* 71: You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?

save the dog, fuck that job.

* 72: You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?

a) yes b) spend it with family and write a book c) fuck yes. i am terrified of death all the time.

* 73: You can only have one of these things; trust or love.

trust. love is nothing without being able to trust.

* 74: What’s a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?

It’s A Great Day to Be Alive by Travis Tritt

* 75: What are the last four digits in your cell phone number?

1389.. not in that order.

* 76: In your opinion, what makes a great relationship?

honesty and communication.

* 77: How can I win your heart?

buy me food and show me that I can trust you with my heart. I sturggle to trust people. I also NEED to be called pet names.

* 78: Can insanity bring on more creativity?

Yes.

* 79: What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?

Quitting my toxic ass job.

* 80: What size shoes do you wear?

9.5

* 81: What would you want to be written on your tombstone?

She did her best, even when odds were against her.

* 82: What is your favourite word?

I dont have a favorite but my least favorite is “creamy”.

* 83: Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart.

Love.

* 84: What is a saying you say a lot?

“ooooo bitch”

* 85: What’s the last song you listened to?

Always You, Louis Tomlinson

* 86: Basic question; what’s your favourite colour/colours?

darkkk red and black

* 87: What is your current desktop picture?

bitch I aint been on there in so long, I have no clue.

* 88: If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be?

Donald Trump

* 89: What would be a question you’d be afraid to tell the truth on?

depends on who is asking, if its my family... asking my sexuality.

* 90: One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren’t really doing anything, they’re just standing around your bed. What do you do?

Fucking scream and run.

* 91: You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power?

Mind reading.

* 92: You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?

Seeing my dads face when I walked across the stage at graduation or him telling me how I looked in my junior prom dress.

* 93: You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

Watching my dad die.

* 94: You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who would it be?

Harry Styles.

* 95: You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

The beach, pronto.

* 96: Do you have any relatives in jail?

Not anymore

* 97: Have you ever thrown up in the car?

* 98: Ever been on a plane?

Yes. I loved it.

* 99: If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say?

Love others like you would like to be loved and see where that gets you.

#not smosh #whippt for haas #thank u em #she got her 99 smooches

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honeyhan-123 · 5 years ago

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Say Thank You II

Series Summary: After saving your life, Steve decides to teach you some manners.

Chapter Summary: Steve makes a dark promise to himself.

Warnings: masturbation, hints of non-con aspects, dark!Steve, PTSD.

Series Masterlist:

My Master List:

I. New York

II. Madrid

The next time he saw you was in Madrid.

A few months after the battle of New York, you were still having nightmares of being trapped under that car, chitauri surrounding you. Every night you would wake up in a cold sweat, heart racing erratically as you tried to reassure yourself that you were safe now, they were gone, the Avengers had saved the day. But it never worked and eventually you just became afraid to fall asleep, so afraid of the ever present night terrors that you would try to stay awake for days at a time.

Of course when you had bags so dark underneath your eyes that it hurt to rub them, your eyesight occasionally going blurry from lack of sleep, you finally had to give in, only to wake up mere hours later in an even worse state.

In the beginning your friends had tried to be there for you, sharing similar horror stories of that day, but they didn’t seem nearly as affected as you were. They could still go out at night, walk down the street without constantly looking over their shoulders, you couldn’t. After the first month of having to endure your constant state of panic, they started drifting, so slowly that you hadn’t really realised until one by one they had left you all alone, with no one but the Chitauri to keep you company.

You finally realised that you needed help when the sound of a car backfiring outside the cafe you worked at had made you cower in fear, shattering a stack of glasses in the process. The table which you had hidden under protected you from the external horrors, the heavy wood above your head, although littered with marks from its many years of service still held strong, little rainbows dancing along the underside, reflecting off of the glass shards that dug into you.

That night you had gone online and booked a one way plane ticket, maybe if you ran far enough your nightmares wouldn’t be able to find you.

Madrid would be your new home.

Steve had been undercover at a cantina, waiting for the mark to come by when he saw you again. To say he was shocked to see you here, in Madrid of all places, would be an understatement. It was only his first day here, he had joined Bucky and Nat on the stakeout last night and neither of them would have recognised you but he did. He remembered.

He remembered the way your body had felt in his arms, your perfect curves that had been hidden by too many layers, your pink lips that had been screaming to be kissed. He also remembered your ingratitude.

At first it had just served as a reminder to Steve that times had changed while he was in the ice. This world was so different to the one he had known; once people had to work for their dreams and had proper manners. Now however, they just expected everything to be handed to them on a silver platter. Yours wasn’t the first case of it that he had noticed, but it was the one that stuck to him, plaguing his mind.

The way you had just shrugged him off made him feel like he was back in the 1930’s, still the skinny kid from Brooklyn whom dames always passed over, always preferring his sole friend, Bucky. He had thought that after getting the serum his days of being ignored and treated like scum were over, but apparently not.

In the weeks after the battle instead of focussing on the clean-up of the city, his thoughts had been completely occupied by you and your indifference to him. During the nights his obsession never let up as he dreamt of finding you, of teaching you some manners.

Initially he had been ashamed, horrified even. Never in a million years had he ever thought of treating a dame in such a way but as the nights continued, weeks turning into months, so did the dreams that were growing increasingly hard to resist.

Many times as he awoke too soon to blame his stained sheets on purely just his dream. On those occasions his hand you make their way down his body, into the waistband of his boxers as if on their own accord, freeing him of the constricting material. One hand would wrap around his painfully hard cock, the other would start tugging at his balls as he chased the fleeing memories of his dream.

As he worked his hand up and down his length his mind shifted between ideas of how he would force some manners into you; sometimes he would simply imagine bringing you the brink of an orgasm, continually denying you until you were a mess, begging for him, pleading him to let you come, promising him anything. On his darker days however, he would imagine you tied up, hands and legs bound, spread eagle on his bed as he ravished your body, just as helpless as you had been stuck under that car, completely at his mercy. Maybe that would teach you some manners.

As time had passed he had become increasingly obsessed with you, obsessed with what he would do to you if he ever saw you again and now here you were, so close that he could reach his hand out and grab your ass if he wanted to.

Steve watched as you made your way around the tables, taking people’s orders in both English and Spanish so easily that he wondered if you had always been able to speak it. His palms rubbed against the rough denim of his jeans as you neared his table, he still couldn’t believe you were here, so tantalizingly close to him.

He knew that he couldn’t be recognised, it would blow the whole recon mission so he pulled his dark blue baseball cap pulled low, further over his brow even though Nat had said the full beard he was now sporting was disguise enough. It pained him to avert his eyes from you as you stopped, standing at his table, ready to take his order, but he knew he needed to. There would be time enough for watching you after the mission was finished.

Five years had now passed since the battle of New York and Madrid was still your home. At first it has been hard, living in a new place, trying to find work with the handful of Spanish you had picked up from here and there. Eventually you found your saving grace, Mariana, an older woman who owned a cantina near the hotel you had been staying at. She hired you despite your complete lack of Spanish and over time you helped each other, you taught her English while she gave you work and a place to stay at a small cost.

As the months turned into years, your nightmares started fading away. Not all at once and definitely not completely, but they no longer took ahold of you every night or occupied your every waking thought. Instead they settled, taking up residence in a back corner of your mind, occasionally stirring every now and then. But it was manageable now, far away in Madrid, protected by the great mass of water separating you and fifth avenue.

It was a slow day today at the cantina. Barely any tables had patrons sitting in them but that was just as well though, you hated when it was packed, reminding you of the crowded streets of New York. as you flittered between tables, taking orders and bringing out dishes you noticed a man had taken up one of the empty tables.

Immediately you knew he was American, his baseball cap practically screamed as much. You had never realised until you had come to Europe just how painfully obvious Americans always were when they travelled.

‘Good afternoon, here’s our menu but can I get you anything to drink while you decide?’ You asked, passing over the laminated paper, shivering as his fingers brushed over yours.

‘Just an Americano thank you.’ You smiled and nodded and went to walk away. There was something oddly familiar about him but you couldn’t put your fingers on it, you felt like you had seen him before but where you had no idea. He definitely hadn’t come into the cantina before, that you were sure of.

Rounding the countertop by the coffee machine you glanced back over your shoulder, trying to place the strange man only to be caught in the act, his eyes already on you, watching you intently. Something about the way his eyes stayed fixed on your body as you made his coffee had you squirming inside, you didn’t want his eyes following your every movement, practically undressing you in his mind.

Putting on a brave face you returned to him, trying to hide the way your hand shook holding the ceramic mug. ‘Here you go, anything else I can do for you?’

A photo album of ideas sprung to Steve’s mind at your question. There were a lot of things you could do for him, with him, but he bit down the words, he could do them all later.

‘Yes but I’m good for now.’ He didn’t miss the confusion that crossed over your face as you turned away, but he didn’t pay any attention to it, the mark had just walked through the door and Steve smiled to himself. The quicker the mission is completed, the quicker he would have you as his.

He waited, sipping his coffee as the mark, Alejandro Garcia, ordered his own to go, spending far too much time talking to you in the process for Steve’s liking. His anger grew as he watched you laugh at something Alejandro had said. If only you knew what he had done. Who this man obviously flirting with you really was. Clearly you weren’t very good at making your own choices but Steve was reassured that soon that freedom would be taken away and you would be safe, from yourself and from others. He just had to wait.

When Alejandro finally left, Steve followed soon after, chucking a twenty on the table and glancing back at you as he neared the door.

His last sight was of you joking around with a new customer, a smile on your face, blissfully unaware of the dark promise Steve was making to himself.

III. The Apartment

My Masterlist

Series Masterlist:

-Tags will be added in a reblog

#saythankyou #honeyhanwrites #honeyhan #marvel #mcu #mcuseries #darksteve #Dark!Steve #Steve Rogers #Steve Rogers x Reader #captain america #smut #mcu smut #ptsd #steve x reader #steve rodgers imagine #steve rodgers x reader #dark steve rogers #captain america x reader

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tigerlilyhasablog · 5 years ago

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Life During the Apocalypse

Hello darlings! Hope everyone is doing well… Hope you all are safe, healthy and not going too crazy if you are in self isolation. Since I’m stuck in the house with quite a bit of extra time, I’d like to try to blog a bit more than usual. I thought it would be kind of fun to share with you what I have been up to at home, so enjoy: The Day in the Life of a Quarantined Teen.🙃

Remote school

First for the dull stuff. My university moved to remote learning the week of March 6th, and while they originally said it would be “until further notice”, they have since announced that it will be like this for the rest of the semester. It’s definitely more boring than going to class, and I miss going to school and seeing people, but I don’t mind it that much. It’s kinda funny, ’cause I was homeschooled for most of my life, up until college, so doing this is like going back to the old days of being homeschooled. 🙂 Right now I’m actually on Spring Break, so this week I’m mainly just chillin’.

What I’ve been watching

I’ve been meaning to get Disney+ for eons now, but never got around to it. My sister and I decided that hey, what better time than now? The very first thing that we watched was High School Musical… Don’t judge me.😂 Somehow I had gone through life never having watched this iconic piece of pop culture, but I decided it was time to amend that. What can I say: it is equal amounts completely terrible and utterly amazing.

Finally watched The Mandalorian as well, which is really, genuinely good. I feel so-so about most Star Wars stuff – I don’t dislike it, but I don’t love it – but damn, I got into this show immediately. The way that they’ve made it like a Western? So good. The characters, the visuals, the storyline… 👌🏻 And yes, I would die for Baby Yoda.

Once we finished that season, we began on Agent Carter, and we just finished the first season last night. I felt so-so about it for like, the first two episodes, but after that I got really into it and like, damn, it’s really good! Two thumbs up from me.

Other than Disney, the only other thing that I’ve watched recently is The Miseducation of Cameron Post. It’s been on my want-to-watch list for a while now, and the other day my school gave me access to a site with a bunch of free films on it, one of which was this movie, which I was really excited about. Fuck, it was good. Really hit hard, Chloe Grace Moretz was incredible, as was the rest of the cast, just a really powerful story of course. I liked the indie feel of the whole thing… Sometimes you can just tell, you know? The 90s aesthetic was also great.

What I’ve been listening to

Being stuck in the house has giving me lots of opportunity to listen to music basically all of the time, so let me share some of the stuff I have been loving right now:

Conan Gray’s Kid Krow – I am really loving this album. It is packed with bops, as well as some fantastic sad-boi songs. I’ve liked Conan’s stuff for a bit now, but in a rather passive way… Now I would say that my fan-ness (not a word, I know) has been solidified.

Ed Sheeran – let me introduce you to the little underground indie artist I’ve recently discovered. Haha. It’s kinda funny that I’ve gotten so into Ed lately, cuz I mean, of course I’ve listened to his stuff for a while now. But like, I guess I’ve never delved very deep into his discography? But lately I’ve been listening to the entirety of each of his albums, and I’m a little obsessed. Guess I should have believed the hype sooner, huh?

Alec Benjamin – someone else who I’ve been into for quite a while, but who I’ve been listening to even more lately. His songs have made their way onto “Music of the Month” a couple times already, and I’ll tell you right now that he’s on there this month, too. 🙂 I don’t think he has a single bad song. I have tickets to see him in May, provided corona doesn’t fuck that up, and I’m really excited!

Lauv’s Modern Loneliness – bops. bops. bops. What else can I say? Bops.

Foster the People – ok, this band has such nostalgia for me. Torches was like, all that I listened to in like 2012/13. I hadn’t really listened to them lately, and hadn’t really explored their more recent stuff. But the other day I put on their Spotify playlist and had a dance party to them all afternoon and it made me so fucking happy.

What else I’ve been up to

Spending way too much time on the internet – gotta go ahead and get this one out of the way. I’d love to say that I’ve been super productive and learned a ton of new things and been really creative, but if I’m entirely honest, what I’ve really done is wasted a ton of time on YouTube/Tumblr/TikTok.😬

Drawing – I have gotten some stuff done though! I haven’t used this time for art as much as I’d like, but I’ve been sketching some, and also been playing around with a drawing app… I’ve always been a pencil-and-paper person, but doing it digitally is kinda fun!

My latest project? A vine compilation, of course.😂 Here is the beginnings of it:

Making music – again, not as much as I should be, but I’ve been playing the guitar and singing quite a bit. I’ve been doing it in a very relaxed, just-singing-what-i-want-to kind of way, which is nice. I guess I’ll use this opportunity to plug my Soundcloud (which I rarely post on, oops.)

Working out – I always exercise pretty regularly, but I’ve decided that this is the perfect opportunity to ramp it up a bit. My family and I have been going on walks every day, since that’s the only way we can get out, and I’ve been doing the Chloe Ting 2 Week Shred Challenge. It’s fucking tough, but I’m very excited about getting in shape.

Texting for the Bernie Sanders team – this has been fun! It’s a super-easy way to get involved in a campaign… I’d love to say I could make calls, and I hope to eventually, but it makes me really nervous. But texting is something anyone can do! Basically all campaigns have moved online, so if you have some extra time on your hands, get involved from home, either in a political campaign or something on the activism side of things! You can text, call, do stuff with social media… do it!

Catching up with friends – this one is smaller in terms of how much I’ve been doing it, but I’d just like to remind you that this is a great time to text or call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while. I know I often feel weird about just contacting someone out of the blue, but in a strange time such as this I think it is the perfect opportunity to check in with someone and see how they are holding up. Even though we can’t see each other in person, we’ve got to stick together in this tough time and keep up our relationships in a long-distance fashion.

Final thoughts

Okay, that’s all for now! It’s looking like this whole situation is gonna last for a while, so maybe I’ll make another one of these in a few weeks and let you know what else I’ve been up to! I’d just like to end with a little thought: if you are stuck at home and bored and going a little stir-crazy, please remember that we are privileged to be in this situation. There are some people for whom this means that they are out of work, desperate, scared. There are others who are older or immunocompromised who know that getting the virus could be a matter of life or death. Others are not able to work from home and have no choice but to go out every day and risk getting infected. And others have been forced to go home and be quarantined with abusive family members. Even though this is tough for everyone, if your main problem is that you are bored, make sure you put it into perspective and be grateful that that is your biggest worry.

I hope that didn’t sound preachy, but I just think we have to remember that it could be a lot worse. Now, stay safe, stay healthy, and for fuck sake, don’t go out unless you have to. ❤️

#personal #blogging #self isolation #coronavirus #quarantine #my life #disney #the mandalorian #agent carter #high school musical #conan gray #ed sheeran #alec benjamin #lauv #foster the people #bernie #bernie2020 #bernie sanders

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nelllraiser · 5 years ago

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alligator tears | nic & nell

TIMING: the day after squidward was revealed. LOCATION: the white crest...zoo ? PARTIES: @nelllraiser and @bountybossier SUMMARY: nic and nell come clean to one another about a few things, and absolutely no one cries. (including the muns)

The last place Nicodemus thought he'd be in less than 24 hours after ritualistically murdering someone was folded into the clown car sized sidecar of Nell's motorcycle. His truck was out of the question. August Trudeau's blood was all over the passenger seat and he was going to need a lot more bleach than what he had on hand and he couldn't even bear to fucking consider what they had done. He was crushing it down deep inside himself, into one of those dark corners where everything else too weak and too palpable went. So, Nell's sidecar it was. At least the helmet was of human proportion. Even if small pieces of dog hair kept fluttering up from somewhere, tickling his nose and compelling him to sneeze. He looked up at her and raised his voice over the wind. "When did you get a dog? You always had one?"

Nell really didn’t understand how Nic had ended up in her sidecar that was meant for Greg rather than...in his truck or something but- if this was what he wanted to do...she wasn’t going to say no. Nevertheless, she was a little amused as the sneezes kept coming, though she felt somewhat bad she hadn’t had time to clean up all the dog hair. “Oh- yeah- I don’t know- I got him a few months ago. His name is Greg! He’s really cute, though.” For a moment she paused, wondering if this was a good time to tell him about the other three demon dogs that she often had around in the form of hellhounds, but figured that might be a bit too much. After all, the zoo was meant to help him relax after he’d experienced all the stuff that was in his worrying online messages. “But enough about dogs. Are you ready for...gators?” she yelled back with a grin as she pulled into the parking lot of the zoo.

“Your dog has a person name,” Nicodemus mused, loud and slightly entertained. As entertained as a man in the process of numbing everything inside him could be. “Sounds like a fuckin’ dog accountant.” He tried to shuffle in the sidecar but the slight fear of accidentally dislodging himself entirely kept him immobile. The promise of alligators did work to soothe him some. He hated home and just about everything there, except for the alligators. They couldn’t be bothered to give a damn unless bothered. An existence worth envying. When they pulled into the parking lot and he saw the sign, he brightened some. When he first met Nell, nearly busting up one of his bounties, he didn’t expect...this. Meeting Nell was a good thing, in the same way meeting Alain or Erin was. Most folks in town, really. And it terrified an unknown part of him. A ghost of a smile came and went as he pried himself out of the sidecar with maximum effort and minimal grunting. “You better fuckin’ believe it,” he muttered as he straightened himself out, aches and all. Although his eyes were on the sign, he spoke to Nell. “...Thanks for this. Before I forget to say it.”

Nell chuckled a bit herself, glad to see that he at least seemed somewhat more grounded than he had online. At least...for now. “Hey! Greg is a very successful accountant. I’ll have you know he found a piece of wood in the yard the other day, and now he’s been promoted to assistant branch manager.” Nell waited for her horrible joke to land as if she were a dog waiting for a ball to be thrown, eager to please. It was better left unacknowledged, but she’d certainly fallen into the old trap of latching onto someone in hopes she might be able to gain their approval. But even beyond that- she liked Nic, and she wanted to help him through whatever it was that was going on. “Also- I didn’t name him. I’m much better at naming dogs.” She was pretty sure Scooby, Scrappy, and Shaggy were proof of that. Another, somewhat snarkier smile took her as he unfolded himself from the sidecar, glad she had already snapped a picture of him looking ridiculous in it. But it morphed once again into a more genuine one, and she glowed under his appreciation. “Don’t even mention it. It’s just a trip to the zoo. And I’m- well- I mean-” As always, she was shit when it came to baring her own emotions to the light of day. “I want to um- help. You know?” As she headed for the entrance, she took out her phone, having already bought the tickets online. “I’m glad the sun came out for it, though.”

The hunter’s eyes slid over to look at her, the life nearly gone from them. Nicodemus couldn’t find it in himself to complain. A bad joke was better than listening to ocean song and torn flesh. By quite a few fucking miles. “Bet he bought himself a fancy fuckin’ tie for that promotion,” he said slowly, as if trying to acclimate his tongue to speaking anything other than praises for what the hell was in the water at the lake. “Took himself to a five-star restaurant and got the best damn kibble they could offer.” It felt...normal. Whatever this was that they were doing. Almost too normal for him and he wondered if when he blinked, the sun might die again and Nell would be gone. He’d be back at the water, chanting words he didn’t understand and surrounded by strangers. He had been keen to throw himself back into the fire, even if it meant carrying in the dull butter knife he felt like he currently existed as. As soon as he pulled back into the Traveler, he had tried to pick up the knife he had tossed onto his passenger seat. But he couldn’t. Could barely wrap his fingers around it. Then, standing between Nell and the zoo, they hurt from where he had punched a crater into the drywall of his hotel room hours earlier. “Figured. You’d probably name a dog somethin’ like Rot Gut, right?” He shook his head and followed behind her. He had never been to a zoo before. He knew werewolves and ahuizotls before he even knew that things such as normal dogs and river otters existed. “I get it and you...are. Helpin’.” He said, recognizing enough how difficult the more...emotive side of things could be. As their tickets were scanned and they were waved in, he took in a deep breath. The place was large. Or, he thought it was. He didn’t have zoo standards to measure by. “...I don’t know where to start.”

Nell’s smile dropped a fraction of an inch when she saw that emptiness behind his eyes, having seen...something similar in another’s gaze before, and it lit a fire of worry in her stomach. Maybe she’d have to keep a closer eye on Nic. After all, she’d kept Evan’s ghost around for a reason, right? To make sure she didn’t lose any more people she cared about. To make sure to remind herself not to let them get hurt. Nevertheless, she carried on with their banter, wondering if it might ease things. “Oh no- he went all out with the surf and turf. Kibble? That’s for peasants. I do have a picture of him in a tie, though…” she said, half asking if he wanted to see it without actually saying so much as that. Something about Nic continued to seem far off, like the world was slightly out of focus for him. Then again, it very well might be if his sleep patterns had still been struggling, and he’d been ending up in strange places after his sleepwalks. She wanted to ask about them, but wasn’t today also supposed to be an escape from all that? So for now, she stayed silent on the matter. “What? No! I’d name it Nic,” she shot back in her teasing tone. “Because he’s hairy, and likes to chase anything that moves.” She swore her heart grew three sizes that day as Nic did his best to return an semi-emotional phrase, and just like that her smile was back in full force. “Then I’m...glad.” Her eagerness was also quick to return as she bounced a little on her heels, watching his expression and reaction to the zoo. “Well do you wanna go straight to gators- or explore first? Do you have any other favorite animals?”

The sun hovered over them and he couldn’t quite bring himself to look at it. His night vision had been so attuned to the lack of light for days on end that the sudden reappearance of the sun had him squinting. Nicodemus reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out the lone Excedrin he had tucked away. It wasn’t Nell’s potion but it was something to get him through the day. The hunter rolled it between his fingers before he dry swallowed it. “Sounds like one of those fancy dogs that got standards now. Need that high quality dirt or they won’t even raise a leg,” he said as he expelled air through his nose. “Is the tie from before or after his promotion? I wanna see.” The back of his hand still burned something fierce and he made sure to tighten the white bandage around it, looking like a boxer half-ready for a fight. The thought almost made him laugh. If he hadn’t looked ready for a fight before, he sure as hell did now. He didn’t think that he and Nell would find any bounties at the zoo. Even if they did, he wasn’t in the mood. Both of them were fighters. A few hours of rest might not kill them. Just for a few minutes, they could just talk and walk and not think about tomorrow’s bruises. He rasped a laugh at the idea of having a dog named after him. “You’d do a dog dirty like that? Hell, be better off stickin’ with Rot Gut or Greg.” As tired and rundown as he was, as much as the skin around his bones felt stretched beyond limits, he pushed through it to smile for Nell. No matter how small. He didn’t have to look hard to know that she was worried about him. That made exactly one of them and she didn’t need that weight on her. Something like care urged him to prevent that and he nodded. He mulled over her question as he continued to walk in no particular direction. “Y’know...Guess I saw so many gators that I just kinda stuck to them, but...they got any, uh, red pandas here? Or somethin’. Always hear about ‘em…”

Nell was very much a night crawler, just as her sisters were, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t also happy to see the sun. Mostly because of her garden. Sure— she didn’t entirely know what she was going to do with the possibly ridiculous amount of UV lamps she’d bought during the darkness, but at least her plants would be happier with the natural light. Watching as the little pill passed his mouth, she bit the inside of her cheek. Did he not want to take the potion? He had said he hadn’t tried it yet. Was there something wrong with it? “Did the potion uh- not work?” She didn’t want to be overbearing, but she also didn’t want him feeling like there was a man pounding an anvil inside his head during all hours of the day. Despite that, she pulled her phone out perhaps a bit too quickly as she retrieved the picture of Greg, holding it up for his consideration, the new grin also showing a hint of pride in its depths. “This is him! And it’s after his promotion, of course. Directly after. He has a name plaque and everything, now.” Nell made a mental note to remind herself that the picture she’d shown Nic had been of Greg as a Golden Retriever. Greg often liked to switch dog breeds which...would obviously raise some questions with people who didn’t know he was a demon if she didn’t keep up appearances. “I like to think Rot Gut and Nic have a pretty similar ring to them,” she offered with a shrug of her shoulders, a glint of amusement in her eye as she looked up to him. At least he smiled, though. That was something, right? The next time she spoke, it was with a seriousness that was so extreme, it almost made her words comical. “Red pandas are, quite literally, some of the cutest creatures in the world. We’re going to see them now,” she finished before reaching out to grab his forearm in an attempt to drag him towards the appropriate exhibit.

Nicodemus glanced over at Nell, the pill leaving a bad aftertaste in his mouth. He considered whether or not he should have stayed back. But he’d promised Nell and he didn’t want to be alone. A thought that rang alarm in the hollow of his chest. “No. It ain’t that. There’s nothin’ wrong with it,” he said with a shake of his head. The fact that he hadn’t tried it yet seemed to bother her. “It’s like, uh, I’ve been runnin’ on instinct the last few days. It’s, uh, instinct to go for the pills…” He trailed off as she pulled up a picture of the dog with a person name and leaned forward to look. “I’ll drink it when I get back. Y’know, that dog looks more fuckin’ professional than I ever have. Good on him for gettin’ a job and shit,” he muttered, almost grumbly. He wasn’t a dog person. Wasn’t much of any kind of animal person, save for the critters he spent time with in the swamps. But if Greg was Nell’s dog, maybe he wasn’t so bad. “Probably gonna get you to start doin’ his taxes, you know.” It was easier to talk about dog taxes and not the way the sun made his eyes hurt or the pain that still seared the back of his hand. Or maybe it was the memory of it that seared. He felt like his insides were rotting out. Either due to lack of any proper nutrition or because his body had been puppeteered by a goddamn squid. It was a toss up. He huffed. “Yeah, you ain’t wrong.” Then she was deadly serious and he was being pulled full force, animals and exhibits just sideline blurs. Cute wasn’t a word he would use to describe anything in a serious manner. Facetiously, yes, absolutely. But then there was a red panda tumbling off a log less than five feet in front of him and his eyes started to get watery, his throat tight. “Yeah, they’re...alright,” he said, voice light as he finally found it and looked between Nell and the pandas. “They’re bigger than I thought they’d be...”

Nell nodded along with his words, as if trying to also convince herself that there was nothing wrong with the potion. Instinct made sense, right? “Is that ‘cause of the uh- troubled sleep and stuff?” She’d never been all that accomplished at more emotional talks, but...she wanted to help, even if she was shit at it. Seeing Nic so downtrodden- it was like watching your father cry for the first time, realizing that a man you built up to be unbreakable and ever-strong was only human in the way everyone else was. Today was meant to be happy but— maybe they needed to work past all the heavier things in order to break through to the lighter times. Thankfully, it seemed they still had managed to hold onto a smidgen of the silly talk. “He’s already making more money than me which- is not exactly something to sneeze at, thank you. I’m thinking I’ll ask him to set me up with a trust fund, soon. Then I can just live off that for the rest of my life.” Did Nell know how trust funds worked? No. Did she particularly care? Absolutely not. The red pandas, as always, were utterly adorable, and Nell watched them with a growing smile of her own. How was it that such a silly little creature could make her mind go silent for a few, long moments? Make her forget everything that was going wrong in White Crest, her life, her family. Parts of it were quick to come crashing back as she picked up on the change in Nic’s tone, concern gripping her features once again. “I- they are, aren’t they? I wish I could- pick one up and put it in my pocket.” What the hell was she saying? No doubt these words were spurred on by her uncertainty when it came to what emotion was entering his voice.

His gaze cut sideways at Nell and he nodded. “Yeah,” he said slowly. He wasn’t much for words but he couldn’t weigh the benefits of trusting anything else over his mouth. Trust didn’t come easy to Nicodemus or most people like him. But trusting Nell, in that moment, did. “I, uh, get these headaches. Hunters got these...senses, y’know? Mine ain’t all...really right. Haven’t been since I left home. And then all this other shit…” He raised a hand vaguely before it fell to his side again. Being in White Crest had pulled more words out of him than most other places. So used to the cut and dry exchange of just pure business. Talking to Nell was like pulling something not yet dead out of the dirt. Dusting it off. Showing it the sun again. He tried to warm up but he couldn’t. It would take time. It would take work. One of which was never guaranteed. What was guaranteed was that he could laugh, even just a breath of one, at dog nonsense. It was something slim, just enough to grab onto. “Gonna be a trust fund kid, huh? Start wearing cardigans and boat shoes when you ain’t even got a yacht?” His voice was coming back to him. It didn’t sound like a stranger’s the more he spoke. The red pandas tumbled over each other. Stretched out lazily in the newly returned sun. Unbothered. Unfettered to the world and its issues. They didn’t care how the sun came back, just that it did. He reckoned most of the town was the same way. And if he hadn’t been compelled, he might have been the same way. But he did care and that care caught like a fish hook in his neck. He would pull it out. One day. Maybe soon. He looked over at Nell with a slow blink. Met her concerned eyes with his bloodshot ones. Cracked but not broken. “What’s stoppin’ you? Greg could use a business partner.” He glanced at the map, blinked the slight glaze from his eyes. “D’you wanna go to the, uh, gators? I’ll tell you what happened.”

Nell nodded with Nic’s words before saying, “No, yeah I just-” The answer he’d given wasn’t really the one she’d been looking for, having told her mom about the Hunter headaches when she’d made the little potion. But she didn’t want to push Nic just yet as she decided to bite her tongue. “Yeah,” she simply finished, wanting to let him have this moment before the rain clouds that seemed to be gathering over their conversation decided to pour down. Though the sun was still bright about them, she couldn't help but feel a shadow had still been cast, though it was unseen to them, only felt in their words and movements. Greg was much easier to talk about anyway. “That’s the plan. He won’t want for a single thing in his entire life. I’m planning on getting him a nice couple of polos as soon as I get home. The yacht’s in the mail.” she said wryly, faking indignance at the exposure of her obvious lack of boat. The red pandas were too cute to ignore for long, and Nell turned back to them with a softer grin, watching them carelessly move about their enclosure. Sure, some might consider them to be held within a cage, but at least it kept them safe....didn’t it? There were times Nell wished she could put her own friends in safe places such as this, even though she abhorred whenever anyone tried to do it to her. The small smile grew as Nic spoke of a potential red panda escapade. “I don’t know— wouldn’t you rather have one of the gators? I feel like they’d notice if we took two animals.” With that she led the way to the alligators exhibit, glad to find them sunning themselves in the new sun. “You don’t- you know you don’t have to tell me,” she said, not wanting him to feel pressured. “But I just- if you want to...I’m glad to be...here for it...for you.”

“I’ll take it when I get back,” Nicodemus said as he shifted on his feet. His eyes felt both dry and wet, his muscles ached beyond anything, but he kept standing. Kept awake and breathing. “Promise, Nell.” As much of a side-eye as he gave most magic and their sometimes loose or deliberate connection with demons, he trusted Nell. If she wanted to kill him through some kind of witchcraft or wizardry, she would have done it. The conversation shifted back to the dog and he cracked a smile, let the light come through for even a moment. “Hell, gonna pay his way into Harvard and everythin’? That’s the real American, y’know,” he chuckled, just as amused as he had been when she first showed him the dog. “Can’t believe a fuckin’ dog’s gonna have a yacht before I do…” His voice devolved into a messy, grumbled garble of disgruntled sound. She looked happy, looking at the pandas and the simplicity they had. They had been through a hell of a lot over the last couple months, hadn’t they? Shit from the sea, town madness, the usual violence. She had quite literally forced her way into his self, headfirst into a dumpster of all things, but he hadn’t shut it on her. And he was...glad for it. More than that, but he didn’t have the word for it and hell if he’d say it. “You got a point. Don’t know shit about raisin’ a panda,” he admitted. “But gators? Reckon we got a better chance with that one. Get ‘em a tie too.” He scoffed and walked by her. Adjusted the bandage he had wrapped around his hand. The skin felt tender but he didn’t wince as it rubbed against wounded skin. When they came to the front of the gator exhibit, he breathed easier. It was such a strange thing to be comforted by creatures that inspired little to no comfort in others. But he did. They had been there for him at a time when nothing was. And now Nell was there, with him, and that hit him square in the chest. “Nah, want to,” he said as he looked at her. “Not wantin’ to keep it up here.” He tapped at his head. Now that it was his again, he would do as he wanted. Hell, they were both bad at this, weren’t they? He about started laughing, if only to keep from crying. It didn’t last long and he took in a heavy, shaking breath. “I wasn’t, uh, myself, y’know? Somethin’ crawled up inside my head and just took over. Somethin’ with the lake and the sun, fuck if I know. It’s gone now,” he said quietly. Didn’t acknowledge the strange hole it left. “But it--I hurt people, Nell. I didn’t want to. But I’m me now and that shit don’t just...leave.” He paused and took a moment to settle into the bench. He looked at the ground. “It’s me now though. It is. And I’m...Glad. That you’re here.” He wound his hands together, looked at her. “That, uh, we’re here. It’s a lot to put on you, I get that, but I can’t...just keep it locked up top. Much as I want to.”

Nell was more than content with the promise, even though she was trying her best not to be like Bea in moments like these. She knew how infuriating someone looking over your shoulder could be, but this was different...right? Either way, she was glad to hear the words come from Nic, and she simply nodded in return, giving him a small, “Thank you.” It would help put her at least a portion of her mind at rest, one less thing to worry about when it came to those she cared for...even if she didn’t remember making the active decision to care for Nic. Yes, she’d wanted his approval, his time, his lessons, but everything else that had come along with those? The little thread that seemed to connect her to him just as it connected her to other people she’d met after moving back to White Crest? It was there, and she knew it. Somewhere along the way he’d gone from fascination and prestige to becoming fleshed out into a real person, not just something for her to seek the attention of, but someone she wanted to give to in return. She played with dropping the conversation of Greg once more, but decided to keep it. Maybe it’d bring balance to this, and a sense of normalcy when everything was decidedly...abnormal. “Any Ivy League will do. But I know Harvard has definitely been eyeing him. You know he’d be a legacy there. After all, I graduated from there back in ‘78. He’s just a red-blooded, American lad.” Her smile was still present while she continued on. “A tie to match Greg’s. Business partners, indeed.” Watching as he fixed the bandage, she told herself not to nag anymore, knowing he was a grown man and could most likely take care of himself, even if she wanted to offer some sort of healing salve from her mom. Then it was time for silence to fall over her, not wanting to interrupt as Nic went on with whatever it was he needed to tell her. If he needed to get it out, she was going to let him do it unimpeded. As each word fell, her heart sank, knowing perhaps a little too well the feeling of having a hand in pain you wanted no part of. Of course, it had never been against her will. “It...possessed you?” was the first thing she asked, her natural curiosity and need to help already trying to figure everything out. If she really wanted to help Nic, she first had to understand. And whoever it was that had put Nic through this would certainly pay, whether it be with their blood, life, or both. “It wasn’t you,” was her next, reflexive response. “You didn’t choose that. You know that, right?” She didn’t hesitate to sit herself next to him face etched with concern as she watched. “It sucks, though.” What else could she say? Sorry? Nell knew from experience that the empty words didn’t do shit to erase anything, to make the thoughts do away. “It fucking sucks, and you don’t deserve it. To have to think about it- to be saddled with...the knowledge. The memories.” He was glad she was here? Already she could feel a warmth blossoming in her heart despite the heavy topic, wondering when he’d become such an important figure in her life. “I’m glad, too. That I’m here...with you.” Her head shook without hesitation. “No- that’s what...friends are for, isn’t it?” Were they friends now? It didn’t feel like exactly the right word, but what else would they be? “That’s what I’m for. To be here with you or for you or...whatever you might need. You know- if it helps...keeping busy always made me feel better. And- and-” she teetered on the edge of her next words, uncertain whether she should reveal all her to Nic just yet. But she trusted him, that much she knew. Perhaps more than she’d come to realize. “I could maybe help. Make sure it doesn’t come after you again.”

He had given her his word and didn’t say much after it. It would be enough. Giving his word meant something different in White Crest. Nicodemus didn’t give it away freely or easily, never quite had before. It wasn’t weighted in money or reward. There wasn’t a price point that needed to be reached before he gave it. Words like that didn’t apply to promising Nell. It was weighted in blood and for once, for him, blood meant something. It was a struggle to acknowledge it and his hands wound, calloused fingers caged together. A fear rose up in him, fingers wrapped around bone as it settled against his spine. Rested its head on his weary shoulders and waited. Everything meant something different in White Crest. He was a stranger in a strangeland. Or he had been. He wasn’t anymore. He couldn’t call himself that when he made a simple promise to Penelope Vural. Strangers didn’t do that. Flitting across the state lines, chasing after creatures from dusk until dawn. More a phantom than a man. People knew his name, knew him enough to tell when things weren’t right. Being made tangible was painful. Regrowing flesh and blood and bone to become solid again. Such things exhausted but also revealed. Sitting by Nell, speaking with her, laughing about dogs in ties. It was as human as human could be. As human as he likely had ever been in forty years of existence. “‘78, huh? Dog’ll write one hell of a tell-all book about this.” His eyes traced the grooves in the cemented pathway underneath his boots. A worm was making its way along, inch by inch. Nicodemus traced the lines of his uncovered palm absently, face neutral and eyes half-open. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “It did. Didn’t sleep, woke up in weird fuckin’ places. Time was...I dunno, it just wasn’t.” He picked his head up by a fraction and looked at her as she spoke. He knew it wasn’t him, but what he was made it a hell of a lot easier for the...squid, demon, whatever the fuck, to get the job started. It was what it was but he didn’t make anything feel...less than what it did. He made room for her as she sat, his side pressed against the armrest. “I do, yeah. Wouldn’t have done any of it otherwise.” Except for killing Karen when Jeff came near under fire. That he still would have done. Most likely. He huffed a laugh through his nose. If it had been Nell, he would have done it too. “Yeah, shit fuckin’ sucks, but it’s, uh, done now,” he said as he sat back up and looked at the gators that floated in the murky water. “Just gotta...fuckin’ carry it now. All I can do, y’know?” Carry it. Find a space atop everything else and strap it in. Keep walking. Keep running. He couldn’t help the deep furrowing of his brow or the confusion that came in at his eyes. Out of some nervous reaction or complete social uncertainty, he started to laugh. A quiet, faint sound. Strained. “Partners ain’t cuttin’ it anymore, huh? We friends now?” His voice trembled in the hollows. Echoed louder in his ears than it should have. “You, uh, too. Here for you and all that shit.” The hunter leaned forward and turned his head away slightly, eyes obscured. His chest compressed. The movements of his fingers against his palm increased until he finally clenched them together. He shook his head. Glanced up. His vision watered down. He took in a heavy breath before he looked at her again. “How’d you mean, Nell?”

Nell should know that a Hunter didn’t make promises lightly, after all she didn’t these days, either— not with all the fae running around White Crest. But beyond that it meant even more coming from Nic, a man she hadn’t even known a few months ago, a guiding force in the form of a person she hadn’t even known she’d been looking for, even if the craving for it had been there. And it had been long for her as well, hadn’t it? Travelling the world didn’t exactly make for long term friendships. She’d barely been in places more than a week before having to set off again. Even before that, people had been few and far between, not many willing to stick around for the storm that was Penelope Vural. So even though she wasn't entirely sure when or where it had come from, she wasn’t going to let this go. “I hope he does,” she added in a softer tone, emotion unexpectedly gripping the funnier portion of their conversation as well, apparently taking no prisoners today. “It’ll just add even more onto the money pile.” One of the gators lumbered into the water, as if taking a break from the heat of the sun for a moment piling against another of the large reptiles, blissfully unaware of the unfolding conversation happening outside its exhibit. “Yeah. Yeah,” she echoed almost to herself, knowing that the only way out was forward. “At least you don’t...have to carry it alone though, right?” The words were tentative, hoping she wasn’t overstepping her bounds as she offered to shoulder some of the burden, to make sure he didn’t get crushed beneath the weight of it all. In the quietness of the moment, her self-conscious nature when it came to friends and the like was quick to find her, the usual fire that colored her words dimmed by the gravity of this all, making it impossible for it to outshine some of her insecurities. “I mean- I just- if you want to be friends,” she seemed to backtrack for a moment, as if worried she was about to be denied or rejected. For a beautiful minute the fears were wiped aside in the confirmation that they’d have one another in the coming weeks, months, maybe even years if she was so incredibly lucky. However just as quickly as it had come, it departed, and her eyes fell to her hands, now restless in her lap as that same fear of abandonment began to metastasize, wondering whether he’d accept the proposal of friendship, but toss it aside in the next breath once she revealed her actual nature. “I can help because- well- you might have already suspected-” she started, as if gearing herself up. Why could she face down a Pricolici without so much as blinking an eye, but it was things like this that made her feel small and helpless? “I’m um- you know- well- magic. I can do magic.” And then, a little quieter, “A witch.”

“Nah, I ‘spose I don’t.” Nicodemus said, confusion twined loosely around his voice. He had resigned himself to going it alone. Any legacy he made would be his own. No family name attached. No burdens. Wishful thinking. That shit didn’t leave. He could leave, wander, but that never did. But it didn’t have to be heavy. He had to be realistic about these kinda things. The slightest step above nihilism. What was that? Progress? Hell, there must have been something in White Crest’s water. He looked out at the alligators. “Sure I do,” he muttered quickly, as if it were the easiest thing. Comparatively, it was. “Ain’t sayin’ no.” The hesitation from Nell kept his eyes forward. Didn’t want to risk her cutting herself off. Whatever it was, he understood. It was never easy to gut yourself and show it. Easier to gut others than take honesty to yourself. Magic. His brow twitched. “Huh.” Was all he said for a moment. It made sense. The stake that had conveniently appeared when they dealt with Lugosi. The karkinoid she had...yeeted herself through, in her words. It wasn’t something he personally liked to deal with. Superstition, or maybe just that thin line between magic and something demonic. Habitual thinking that he couldn’t quite shake. While the ‘demons’ his grandfather had him gift a quick death to hadn’t all been demons as the books knew them, the thought still hovered over him. He couldn’t stop that slight lurch in his gut. The hunter stopped looking at the alligators. Instead, he looked at Nell. “A witch,” he repeated. And she was telling him, a hunter, that. The gravity wasn’t lost on him. It pressed down. She trusted him. Him. Not even when he hardly trusted himself. “Yeah...Yeah, that makes a hell of a lot of sense. I’d appreciate it.” A cold wind passed over, through the spaces between his fingers. He shifted slightly. Angled himself toward Nell, his expression serious. “I can help you too. If anyone--” He paused to take in a breath. It shook. Goddamn it. That blood shiver from before returned. His gaze hardened. Caring was new to him, but if he could liken it to something... “If anyone tries to hurt you, Nell.” Anyone like me. He huffed out a breath and looked away. He started to fidget. “New to this fuckin’ shit,” he said, not elaborating on what this fuckin’ shit was. She was important to him. It was simple as that. “But I wanna try.”

The confusion in Nic’s voice tugged painfully at Nell’s heartstrings, recognizing that tone of voice when she herself had used it on occasions. Just how isolated did Nic feel if the concept of people being there for him was so foreign? But maybe his acceptance of her words was hope blossoming before her very eyes. Next was his confirmation of being friends, and a grin nearly as bright as the recently reappeared sun broke over her face. To think that not only she’d gained a friend, but he had as well. Even though the road might have been lonely, it didn’t mean one had to be utterly alone on it. “Friends it is, then.” Nell released the breath she’d been holding, waiting for Nic to say something about her revelation when it came to being a witch. Relief was quick to wash over when he seemed to accept the news with little fanfare or condemnation, honestly relieved that his reaction seemed at least neutral. That was much better than negative. “Perfect,” she simply said, glad to hear that she’d get to help protect her friend. “We can get started right after the zoo. They won’t come near you again if I can help it.” What she hadn’t been expecting was Nic’s nearly echoing words, offering her shelter and safety should she need it, too. And so in that moment, the realization that he cared enough to offer her such a gift was overwhelming, her throat tightening as it was her turn to focus on the alligators, and try not to be embarrassingly emotional. “Thank you, Nic.” They were simple words, but the only ones she could think to say. “Seriously...thank you.” But perhaps the words on their own were more effective than any others that could have been flowery or polished. After all, the two little words held what she most wanted to convey to Nic in those moments. Gratitude for all he was offering her, and all he’d already given her. “We’ve got each other, now. And we can figure it out together.”

#chatzy #ch:Nicodemus #alligator tears #wickedswriting

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