#am i late in wrapping up the event quests?

[hydrachea]

Paimon and Alhaitham have such a cute relationship.

First it was the way he kept sending books for her after her apparent interest in what he was reading in the Sumeru archon quest. His first birthday letter, and now his second one too.

He doesn't treat her with any kind of irony or condescendance when he suggests she reads more book - like everything else he does, it's very blunt but genuine.

And now, it looks like now she's starting to imitate him!

Their relationship is only sprinkled here and there, but it's really damn sweet.

[oliver-quick-ens-my-pulse]

Sign of the Times

Ominis Gaunt x Reader

Summary - Anon request for "ominis family kidnaps you and tortures u cause idk why maybe bc ur muggleborn or something"

Word Count - 2,130

Warnings - angst, violence

A/N - maybe room here for a more comforting type part 2? thoughts?

For Ominis, Hogwarts had been much more eventful than he had wished it to be. He thought it could help him escape from home, but with everything that had happened 5th year he didn't think it could possibly get worse.

The bright side was that it was also somehow the best year for him because he met you. He hadn't been looking for any kind of new relationship, but you fell right into his lap.

A lot of students avoided him altogether either because of his lineage or his blindness, but not you. You paraded in late to the sorting ceremony, knocked Sebastian on his ass although you were really just on your first year, then walked right up to him and introduced yourself.

You did everything you could to guide Sebastian the right way and when he wouldn't listen you would be there for Ominis. He would make himself sick with worry when Sebastian would lie to the both of you and go off to doomed quests.

His favorite thing was when you would nestle up with him and read muggle stories. He always got a laugh out of the more innocent fairytales for children with their fantasies of how magic worked. You were able to make him feel better and learn new things all at once.

It was year 6 when things came to fruition between the pair of you. Ominis was alone in the Undercroft again. He was sad beyond belief about the whole situation with the Sallows. He had come to realize he cared for you deeply, he was pretty sure he loved you, but you couldn't replace Sebastian. Some days it felt too much for him to bear, at least too much to do it alone.

You found him slumped against a wall, silent tears on his face. You could tell it was bad because he didn't even acknowledge that you had shown up. You sat down with your legs crisscrossed in front of him, wrapping your arms around his drawn up knees to rest your head.

For a few moments you just sat in silence together, Ominis treasured that you gave him moments like this; moments to not be alone, but to steal just a few more moments of peace before he had to face reality.

You spoke up first to take the burden off of him, "Ominis, I know no matter what I am to you, I'll never be any of them. I didn't grow up with you and have years to make innocent memories."

He traced patterns over the back of your hand as you continued, "I want to start, though. I want to put as much of these things behind us as we can. I'm happy to be your rock whenever you need, however often you need to talk about these things, but I do want to help you enjoy life again. I promise I won't ever leave you."

You were smiling at him softly with adoration, wishing nothing more than to erase all the bad things he'd endured in such a short time. He kept his eyes on you, deep in thought for several moments before slowly deciding to close the gap between the two of you, to finally cross that line.

He found your cheek with his palm and drew you close, pressing soft lips to yours, willing you to understand all the things he didn't have words for. He pulled away enough to speak, leaning his forward against yours and his voice was barely a whisper, "You really promise?"

Now, in your 7th year, nearing the end of your education, you both were looking forward to so much. Neither of you could wait to taste the freedom of making a home where nobody could find you, using magic as much or as little as you wanted, even going out into the muggle world because why not?

You met up during a free period in the court yard, enjoying the scents of Spring. He sat pressed into your side, never overly affection in public, but always being sure to touch you in some way.

"Which class are you going to miss skipping the most, Y/N?" You gave him a playful whack, shaking your head as he grinned at you.

"Thank you very much, I have been to all of my classes this year except for when I've been sick," you huffed, pretending to be angry.

"Besides, I've been keeping myself busy and surrounded to avoid any run-ins with your absolutely insane family."

Ominis felt a pit in his stomach at your words. He couldn't wait to run away with you, but for now you were just a sitting duck to their threats. He assumed other families must have told his, which he thought was ridiculous that any of them cared enough. He assumed their lives were just too boring.

His family had threatened Ominis with the idea of hurting you, torturing you as they loved to do with anyone who wasn't a pureblood. He stood his ground with them, though. He made it clear that if they dared to do anything, he would personally ensure consequences. It was one of the reasons he worked as hard as he did to be a good wizard; he had to protect you.

"I really think for now their threats are empty," he lied, "they just want me to be afraid and miserable and if they think I am that's really enough for them." He didn't want you to worry or know how much he kept an eye on you in secret.

You shuffled to grab your bag, sighing in annoyance before placing a chaste kiss on his lips, "Well, even if they aren't just promise you'll forgive me for whatever I have to do to them?"

You winked although he couldn't see it as you pushed back his hair. He grabbed your hips to pull you closer, nearly knocking you over before murmuring, "Maybe I can find a way to reward you instead?"

You playfully slapped his hands away before running off, "Ominis. I have a class that I don't attend to go to!"

He smiled in spite of himself as you left before a worried look came over his features. Every day you remained at Hogwarts felt like a day in a jail cell for Ominis.

You were on your way to Advanced Divination, guard down thinking about how cute Ominis was when he let himself open up to being silly. Then suddenly your lights were just out. Everything was dark for what seemed like seconds and then you came to at some place you didn't recognize.

You found yourself in a what seemed to be a cave. It wasn't well lit, but there were candles around. As you sat up from the cool floor, scanning the room with caution, you saw faces you didn't recognize. You didn't need to in order to understand what was going on. It was the Gaunts.

You felt quickly for your wand just to realize it was no longer on your person. You couldn't keep your mouth shut as you scanned over them; Mr. and Mrs. Gaunt at a makeshift table as if preparing to watch a show while Marvolo roused from his seat upon seeing you awake.

"So you're cowards? I'm so much lesser than you and yet I can't have my wand to prove otherwise?" You stood up tall, adrenaline pumping as you were determined to not show them weakness.

Marvolo practically snarled at you as his parents watched in amusement, "It would be a pitiful sight as much as it would be a disgrace," he spat at you as he walked closer.

You threw your hands in the air, slightly amused when all 3 of them flinched as they were aware you had this ancient magic nobody really knew about, "Well, that's fine. I know you can't kill me, there would be too many repercussions that I daresay you lot can't afford. Ominis and I will be long gone for you to never worry about again in a few months so give me your worst."

You swallowed thickly upon finishing your sentence, knowing you were stalling what was to come your way. All you could hope was that Ominis noticed you were gone quickly enough to keep your sanity.

The word crucio flew threw the air so fast that you could at least pretend you didn't hear it. The minute the sparks hit you a scream left your mouth, you fell to your knees. You could hear your heartbeat and your blood rushing through your veins, it all felt like it was boiling.

You clutched helpless at your face, your arms, any of your exposed skin, clawing at it as if tearing it of would make the pain go away. Every movement, every breath, every ounce of your existence was filled with searing agony. As you wriggled and clench your fingernails against the cave floors you just kept the shade of Ominis' eyes in your mind.

You couldn't think to form thoughts or daydreams, you couldn't commit to thinking about him and your future together, but you could remember the cloudy blue eyes that got you through the worst days of your life you'd yet to experience. And you just hoped the could get you threw this one too.

The Gaunts taunted you with words you couldn't even understand as Marvolo flung you about, every once of rage at your insults pouring into the spell.

Suddenly, things seemed a little bit quieter. Your body felt like every bone had snapped, like you had been forced to run a mile per second for hours, but you could hear your own sobs and labored breathing. You were still in the throes of pain and panic, but nothing was intensifying any longer.

You couldn't process your surroundings as Ominis lifted you carefully from the floor, murmuring your name hoping that any time would be the time you answer him back.

He had run into Garreth in the lavatory where he was immediately confused to be asked why you didn't make it; after you had bragged about your attendance all year.

Ominis rushed passed him, his wand ready to guide him wherever you were with the aid of a charmed locket he had given you. As badly as he wanted to rush to you, he barged into headmistress Weasley's office to tell her what was going. He knew where you were, what was happening, and he trusted her from your relationship to know she would spring into action when headmaster Black wouldn't.

He stormed in with a fury, knowing help would be on his tail. He disarmed his brother and flung them all to the floor. None of them had every seen violence from him, that hellfire in his eyes. They were really too curious to look away as several aurors filled the cavern, manhandling magic restraints onto them.

Ominis felt ready to pass out himself as he heard your continued whimpers and understood much too well what you were going through. He was scared out of his mind that you wouldn't come back to him.

Things went dark again for you, but it wasn't just black this time. You could hear Ominis' soothing voice reading to you. You could see him running his fingers over the braille pages, eyes closed as he read a story the two of you often joked about.

As your eyelids fluttered, you reached up a hand to rub them and found that Ominis really was there. He heard your movement and was immediately kneeling by your side on the sofa.

Your hand drooped across your face, you regretted the movement the second you had made it, "Son of a -"

"I know," he interrupted. He rested a hand carefully over yours, "I unfortunately do know."

He sounded so sad. As memories of everything that had happened flooded you all at once you let out a painful breath, "Ominis. It's not your fault."

You lulled your head to look at him, wishing you could move enough to embrace him. "I was only able to take it by having you to live for."

"It only happened to you because you have me." His voice was flat and dejected.

You knew it wasn't the time to be sad or cry or talk about the fear. It wouldn't help anyways since it was all done with except for the lingering pain.

You mustered every bit of strength you had left to bring a hand to his cheek, forcing his gaze towards you.

"You should have seen their faces when I called them poor." Ominis groaned at you and buried his face in your palm, but he knew you were beaming at him with pride.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 10/17/2023

started explaining why this one is a little lighter than last week's gallery wall behemoth bc of a uhhhh kind of dire week, personally and professionally speaking, but then realized when fic authors do that in front of chapters i don't actually care or require an excuse from them, im just delighted to have a new chapter.

listening

this is a deeply cheesy little folk song but the lyrics "man you name it and if we ain’t got it: we’ll get it" gave me a sensible chuckle.

now for a moment to expound upon houston: they truly have imported every possible food service establishment. the two chains i miss most from jersey, jersey mikes submarine sandwiches and 7-11 gas stations, are both here. i get that this is the fifth largest metro area in the US or whatever but both of these companies are SO niche. absolutely bonkers. spotify.

i think this started autoplaying after a playlist inspired by f/allout: new v/egas came on??

-

reading

i originally had a very mean-spirited graf about the utility of a pool in northwestern massachusetts and the kind of person who can comfortably lose $31k, but it is genuinely awful that there are no rules around zelle. that money goes into a black fucking hole and there's no way to get it back, which is not the case for any other kind of recognized money except cryptocurrency

Did we confront Gary Kruglitz [the pool contractor]? Yes we did. We marched right into his office and grilled him hard until he defeated us with a simple and probing question: What's a zelle? It defied belief, we quickly realized, that a man who had been trapped in technological amber since the Nixon era was running a cyberscam designed to come between us and our money out of an AOL account.

-

watching

Van Helsing (2004, dir. Sommers). this movie is horrible. this movie is terrific. i don't have anything to say about this movie bc i was distracted by equal opportunity tits and asses the entire time. the time of the “Kate Beckinsale in a corset” movie genre is long over but GOD. watched with my sister bc it's leaving tubi soon

playing

one week i will have the energy to try New Thing but until i do it’s genshin. there's a poetry event that has terribly boring minigames, but the story quest has finally tied a bow on a piece of folkore we came across in the very first release so that was fun!

wrapping up some stuff in sumeru bc im running out of map pins, this game has done one of the things i hate most: progress-locking one extremely long and tedious collectible hunt (the music gates) behind another extremely long and tedious collectible hunt (the robots locked in the vines). the next time i see one of those little fucking budget koroks i am going to drop kick it into the sun. what the fuck is the circumference of teyvat anyway. it feels like we have explored so little of this planet's surface

i have graphics turned down pretty low bc of performance issues on my elderly laptop and this is still such a remarkably pretty game. look at this big estuary leading off into the distance

-

making

i wildly overextended myself this week, partially bc im trying to take advantage of this brief post-covid heightened immunity. lot of dinners. lot of late nights. on top of that BOTH of my siblings were in town for unrelated professional reasons this week :) no overlap so we did not have a nice fambly dinner :( but did have pretty okay separate dinners :) if they could learn to fucking communicate their trave plans and the number of peope that will be showing up at my home that would also be pretty okay >:(

one of the party games i played this week asked the question “what could you give a 40-minute PowerPoint presentation on” and i started saying facts about the downfall of the penn central railroad and they very nicely let me continue saying facts about the downfall of the penn central railroad, the largest bankruptcy in US history until ENRON, until the round timer went off.

i have some thoughts about Train Guys and how it's very easy to fall into being a Train Guy, bc there's a very easy template to follow, and there's a lot of Train Guy content, and have i been doing this bc i actually like trains, or bc it's easy to listen to Well There's Your Problem on repeat bc it's familiar and comforting, or do i just really really really fucking hate flying?

who could possibly say.

mackintosh update: allowed herself to be scooped up by my brother (who she met at christmas and loves) but did NOT allow herself to be pet by the strangers in his company. did hang out in the middle of the floor observing tho. a regular little extroverted socialite!

[elvain]

MK's Moves: February Wrap-Up

hi all! here's a little check-in/update for my writing during the month of february. :) i had some huge things planned - some of them panned out and some of them didn't. but all the support i have received has been near and dear to my heart. thank you very much.

Chaptered Fics:

dream a little dream of me. 12/13 chapters. the famous cheating fic! i have been working super hard to get this fic done early in the year to make way for some others. it's got ONE chapter left to write/post and that's it!

At The Heart Of Time. 10/42 chapters. this is my "thorin dies 57 times trying to reclaim erebor" fic. my goal is to finish this story by the end of the year and i think i'm off to a strong start already!

Sweet Like Summer. 5/5 chapters. written for fotfics' valentine's bingo, this is just a sweet exploration of how frodo finally tells sam he loves him. dedicated to my dearest razz.

One-Shots:

Between Two Lungs. 2.7k words. another exercise for me in writing sweeter, fluffier fics. some braiding/dwarf culture and quiet moments on the quest.

My Lover's Eyes. 2.6k words. an exploration of grief in the wake of the hobbit with some insight into the "real" reason bilbo adopted frodo.

Angel With A Shotgun. 2.4k words. this is my first work in exploring alison blaire/jennifer walters as a romantic ship and i'm super happy with the way it turned out. it even inspired some larger works to come...

WORD COUNT (FEBRUARY): 31,933

Goals for March:

Forged In Amber - my fili/sigrid amnesia story, outlined at ~28 chapters. i'm really looking forward to getting this fic up and running! i am trying to bank a couple more chapters to get a good headstart, but expect it soon.

Far Beyond A Star - upcoming alison/jen fic, outlined at ~20 chapters. dimension hopping, curses, a gay little warlock, multiversal date nights. what more could you ask for?

Mutual In Divine Love - a new jan/wanda fic that explores the 8 different kinds of love. a little late, but originally meant to be for valentine's/femslash feb.

stand by the man that you call home - a one-shot i'm working on to explore the impact Iron Man Vol 1. #124-125 on tony's personal life.

At The Heart Of Time - i'm looking to get half of this fic underway by the end of the month. currently i'm sitting at chapter 14.

[REDACTED] - a secret/surprise project coming by the end of the month as a very special gift for a very special someone. :)

March Events:

Multiamory Month (March 1-31)

March of the Noldor (March 1-31)

Manwë Week (March 11-17)

C + C Week (March 17-24)

Feanorian Week (March 25-31)

Quicksilver Week (March 25-31)

as always, my askbox is open for any and all questions/comments about my writing. i would love the chance to open up some more about this stuff. :)

[nemo-of-house-hamartia]

ok, I finally found the time to properly sit down and reply to this. I wanted to give it my full attention, so I apologize for the delay.

OMGOMGOMGOMG A CHRISTMAS FIC. I personally adore Christmas and everything connected to the Winter festivities, SO BRING IT ON. BRING THEM ALL ON. (AND SELF-INDULGENCE IS PERFECTION. IT'S THE WAY. FOR EVERYTHING FANDOM RELATED :D)

I personally am a bit in a stagnant situation due to having to work a lot, so I am mentally drained and all the energies I have is for drawing. BUT. I do have a few artworks in the making for Genshin (tho they involve ocs as well, just a heads up), and I cannot wait to share them as well!

OMGOMGOMG.

yes. YES.

Mondstadt is HOME. Like, no matter where I am, I always spend a good part of my playing sessions roaming around Mondstadt because I just have such sense of peace: all those green hills and glens, the forests and the rivers and the lake….it's everything. Plus, the soundtrack that plays in the City is beautiful, changing throughout the day while maintaining the main theme. I just adore it all. It's home. Honestly, my biggest pet peeve is that we don't have all the characters roaming around normally, because if I were to see Kaeya or Diluc going about their day I would be like YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS.

Or even Venti sitting on the hands of his statue and enjoying the view, and depending on the time of the day, he is somewhere else entirely.

I think it would be so lovely! It was one of the things that I actually loved about this last Lantern Rite: after being done with the event, I was still able to see all the characters from Liyue hanging around and interact with them.

As for Sumeru, I have to say that I am yet to play the Archon Quest for it and while I did a bit of scouting around, I haven't truly explored as much as I wanted!!

(I am a little slow with the main story quests, I like to drag them out as long as possible to just enjoy this game throughout time and keep playing :D)

GODS, ZHONGLI AND THAT FREAKING OSMANTHUS WINE. Honestly, my husband listened to saying this I don't know how many times, and when I told him more about the lore behind him, he just answered me "maybe he repeats that so many times because he is old and a bit senile"! 😅but in all seriousness, it's kinda makes me sad because he has been alive for so long, and all he has left are memories, and that's truly heartbreaking.

OMG I LOVE YOUR ROSTER!! I had Yanfei in my ranks until I pulled Diluc, but I still use her a lot, especially when I know Venti won't be effective (so I have Pyro Resonance with Diluc), and I just love her so so so so much.

OMG 83 WISHES????? WISHING YOU ALL THE BEST OF LUCK FOR EULA TO COME HOME!!!

MANIFESTING EULA FOR YOU!

And yes, I will try to pull for Hu Tao in this upcoming banner (I just adore her, she reminds me of myself sometimes lolol).

GUIZHONG AND PING THIS YEAR JUST KILLED ME, BECAUSE OH DEAR GODS, SO MUCH SADNESS. Like seriously, all these characters have gone through so much, and all I want is to just wrap them all up in a huge cocoon blanket and keep them safe and sound.

I personally feel extremely linked to characters from Mondstadt and Liyue the most, so their lore is the one that I focus the most on and the one that totally destroyed my heart.

Weinlesefest was adorable, but I was so sad for Razor. He is another one of my main, before I switch with Zhongli (I have used it for the better part of the last year and half), so I was happy that we got to know more about him! but it was so incredibly sad that I was relieved that he had the Traveler, Bennett and Klee and Diona there for him!

and I totally understand you. TOTALLY UNDERSTAND YOU.

I have been rewatching the cutscenes of all the events I missed because I started to play to late, and the ideas are just running rampant, tbh. But as you said, SO MANY IDEAS, SO MANY THAT WON'T BE WRITTEN (but please, do write yours because omg I need to read)!!

Morning morning!!

Coming in to bring something good to drinm and munch on!

Also, i saw that you are into Genshin???😁😁 me too!!! I just adore that game!!! 🤩Who is your favourite character, if you don't mind me asking??😁😁

Ohhhh thank you! Please have a piece of apple pie in return! Made it myself last night :D

Genshin is such a good game! I love the music, I love the exploring, I love the lore, I love te soundtrack! (And writing silly little fics about it all :D)

Favorite character is a hard question, hmmmm... aaaa there's so many good characters but I think Kaeya and Albedo :D I just love the way Kaeya talks and all the backstory that goes with his past. And if the leaks can be believed there will be even more about him in 3.5! And ngl, the hair and the fur scarf are just *happy sigh* And Albedo? Just look at him, so cute! And the voice? Damn, Khoi is talented. And his relationship with Klee and Alice. I have alchemy fam feels aaaaaaaaaaa :') oh, oh! I noticed last night that when Albedo walks, his clothes do this little metal clinking sound and I really like it!

I always get so happy talking about Genshin :D what about you? What's your favorite character? Any favorite events? :D

[anisette-blackwirth]

SAGAU: Meeting Heizou

summary: Heizou's thoughts on you as he feels your presence for the first time during his hangout quests.

spoiler warning: all Heizou hangout quest routes

content warning: Chosen Traveler is Aether. She/Her pronouns for reader because I am too lazy to pretend this isn't a blatant self-insert. This is set very late in the AU; reader and the characters have collectively managed to "break the shit out of the system", allowing more communication and leniency.

notes: "Oh, he's just a detective character. I'm sure he's fine I'm just not particularly intereste-" Hey past me, shut up, he's perfect?? Congrats to his birthday mail for convincing me to stop and do this hangout in the middle of Golden Apple Archipelago exploration.

This is probably terribly OOC since I'm not certain of his character yet. I'm also not happy with the lazy transitions here, but a re-write of the entire hangout quest would be too massive for one single post. That'd be a whole chaptered fic.... So I had to skip a lot of dialogue. Just, uh, shove it back in there in your head, please.

[Fic under the cut!]

Heizou's constellation had lit up during the recent star-showers, but he hadn't yet felt anything from you. It was disappointing to know that you’d been purely interested in Kazuha’s golden star and not his three purple ones, but not the end of the world. After all, he’d steered clear of the Traveler’s path during the entire Vision Hunt Decree and its aftermath. He’d wanted to avoid his superiors asking him to actually capture the guy, and that meant he hadn’t properly caught your attention when you were in Inazuma.  

Not that he was the only one being ignored, mind you! While wandering Watatsumi on his impromptu vacation he overheard soldiers chatting excitedly about their General's new constellation illuminating the night sky. Gorou’s life hadn’t visibly changed since the event. The difference, of course, was that General Gorou and the Traveler were known to be fast friends, and Gorou could presumably just ask to talk to you whenever he wanted. Heizou had his work cut out for him if he wanted to catch your attention starting from scratch.

So after sending a flirtatious letter in the Traveler’s direction inviting him to come by and chat sometime, Heizou takes off to the outskirts of Watatsumi to try and think of his next move. With luck, he’ll also figure out that weird dream of his by the end of his birthday! 

He isn't expecting you to show up with the Traveler just as he's starting to really irritate his captors into hopefully giving him the information he wants, but man alive he is not complaining!

“Well well, look who it is! I was wondering who could be valiant enough to wipe the floor with these guys so easily. Turns out it was the distinguished Traveler… and [y/n]. Really, I can’t thank the both of you enough!”

“Have we met?” says Aether with an amused smile. 

“Of course, I was aware of you long before you arrived in Inazuma…” Heizou can feel Aether’s amusement growing as he explains - or wait, no, that’s your amusement too. It’s bleeding through into Aether and Paimon’s grins as he introduces himself. He’s used to reading hidden meaning in people’s words, but this background presence will take some getting used to. He has three people enveloping him in amused looks at once! It’s making him a little loopy. 

“The Traveler from afar heroically rescues the weak and defenseless detective from the clutches of the ruthless Nobushi! Traveler, you’re so dreamy~" It’s a joke Heizou intends to immediately follow with a question about the Traveler’s commission, but he has to pause as he feels you laugh joyously from... wherever you are. 

“Oh, she likes you,” Aether says under his breath with a chuckle. His floating companion rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling too, with her little arms still wrapped around the commission scroll. Oh? Well, if flirtation is what you want, and these two don’t seem to mind, he can certainly oblige…

The conversation continues along lines Heizou had roughly predicted until he gets the opportunity to question Paimon directly. 

“A Vision is an external magical focus, right? Well, similarly, a Voice is an external voice box. I’ve heard that the Traveler is often the Voice for [y/n]. Then, given how chatty you are, you must be his Voice, right?” 

Paimon’s protests are vehement, leading to another wave of amusement, but Aether looks thoughtful. “Huh. Yeah, I guess I am her Voice,” he says while looking up at the clouds. He remains thoughtful while Heizou explains the dream that led him here. …Interesting. Had no one else mentioned Voices to the Traveler before?

Now, Heizou thinks, would be the perfect time to deliver on that flirtation again. “The dream contained only one message, an echo resounding from the depths of the earth that kept ringing in my ears, saying…” He walks right up to the Traveler as he speaks, gauging the man’s comfort levels. No point making your host uncomfortable, after all. Aether seems bemused but relaxed as he approaches, so Heizou continues with his gambit.

Heizou can feel both you and Aether freeze as he leans in to press his lips close to the blonde’s ear. “Something vital is missing on this island…” 

What Heizou feels from you, he can only describe as ‘flustered exclamation points’. He pulls back and continues his musings as Aether turns away, seemingly caught between laughter at your state and a blush of his own. Paimon rolls her eyes and ignores both you and Aether to suggest that the thing “missing” is the island’s food. Which… actually doesn’t feel wrong. It might be more insightful than he expected. Huh. Maybe not food exactly, but he’ll think about that one.

“So, since we’re already here, why don’t we just solve this puzzle together? Once everything is settled, I’ll gladly accompany you back to the Police Station, or anywhere else you’d like to go. What do you think?” 

“I’m curious about your dream, too. We’ll assist,” Aether says. Heizou gives a mental cheer for catching your attention and prepares to hold it as long as he possibly can.

The investigation is not without its hitches. Heizou can feel your mood welcoming the General when he appears, so it’s with trepidation that he leads Aether, Paimon, and you out of earshot to suggest that the man is hiding something. Aether and Gorou are friends, and Gorou is another one of your (potential) vessels, so you might take the accusation poorly …but you don’t seem to be offended. In fact, both you and Aether agree to continue the investigation readily. 

You trust Gorou’s character, but you don’t blindly trust everything he says. You want to get to the bottom of this mystery as much as he does. Man alive, you’re getting better by the minute, here! 

In fact, investigating with you is so much fun that it flies by in almost no time at all. As the case reaches its conclusion, it’s with a heavy heart that Heizou realizes he’ll have to stay on Watatsumi. At least for another few months. He’d like to avoid bringing attention to their… creative problem-solving while they wait for bureaucracy to catch up to their needs. And that means he won't be accompanying you on any journeys like he had hoped. Feeling the impending deadline, he grabs Aether’s wrist and leads him (and you) to the seashell cliff overlooking the main vortex waterfalls so he can wax poetic about the island's vitality and beauty. 

“Anyway, thanks again, Traveler, [y/n]. You know, even though we’ve just met, I wish you could be my partners all the time. Haha, call me greedy, I guess.” Heizou takes a deep breath of the sea air, then lets go of Aether’s wrist and stretches, preparing to say a formal goodbye. 

“So, ready for the next one?” Aether asks, interrupting his pre-planned speech. 

Heizou blinks. “What do you mean, ‘next o-’” 

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

“...Once everything is settled, I’ll gladly accompany you back to the Police Station, or anywhere else you’d like to go. What do you think?” 

"I'm curious about your dream, but I think we should head back," Aether says. He's grinning a knowing grin. Heizou… pauses.

He knows exactly what would have happened if you and Aether agreed to investigate his dream. He can remember every detail of that arc: from the discovery of the second confiscated shipment to the confrontation with Todoroki at the shrine. But that's not what's happening. What's happening is Aether is leading him to a waypoint so you can teleport the three of them back to Inazuma City and report to the Police Station. 

So. This is part of your power, then?

Well he’s certainly not about to protest more time with you. Especially when it turns out that this time, you'll be handling a complaint from his old partner regarding the Ryuuji case. It’s very convenient that this is resurfacing now with the Traveler here, but that's a perk of having your life planned by someone else, he supposes as he gathers the relevant documents from the file room.

“Just so you know, she’s wondering if you tampered with the records.” Aether whispers when Heizou returns, so the other doushin can’t hear. 

Heizou knows it’s a reasonable suspicion and tries not to be offended. There had been ample time for him to remove any files he wanted while you and Aether were talking to the guards outside. Even Sango’s suspicion is warranted… but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting. “Is she now? What about you, Traveler? Do you trust me?” 

Aether gives him a confused look. “Sure I do. She trusts you too, she just thinks you might be testing us to see if we can spot something missing.” 

Oh. 

There it is again, Heizou thinks as Aether wanders over to the records and starts poking around. The ability to trust someone without believing them. Maybe it’s more common in your world?

Heizou thinks it’s you directing Aether right now, so he watches as you read everything through with care. You look at the convictions twice and pause on the autopsy report for a long time. When Aether comes up to present your findings, you breeze through Heizou’s first question on motive. Wonderful! You’d picked up on the blackmail.

But when he asks about means, you stay silent. Aether stands and waits patiently as confusion swirls around him, but Heizou tilts his head in curiosity. 

“Something’s bothering her, and she can’t figure out how to ask about it with these options,” Aether explains. 

“So she has limitations too?” Heizou asks. 

“She says the options are sometimes… lacking. I can’t tell what the problem is right now, but - oh. Alright, she’s giving up.” Aether clears his throat. “The Autopsy Report, Shiroyama’s Testament, and the Toxicology report?” 

“Bingo!” Heizou explains the obvious conclusion that can be reached through those three documents and pretends to wrap things up. Your frustration murmurs in the background until it’s suddenly replaced with a sense of triumph. 

“Wait, I still have some questions,” Aether says, then asks in rapid-fire about the similar convictions and the missing pages. Heizou can’t help his smile as you correctly pick at the clues, though he tries to dismiss them as convincingly as possible. 

“She also says she didn’t quite figure this one out in time, but it’s part of what was bothering her: what about the poison? The Toxicology report mentioned it’s not sold in Inazuma, but Shiroyama said he bought it at the ITA.” 

“Maybe the report was wrong. It’s natural for there to be a couple missing records here or there,” Heizou brushes that one off too and feels you very clearly rolling your eyes at him. Haha, wow! He’s glad you don’t believe he’s that ignorant, but a bit offended that his best innocent act didn’t work! 

When you call him out, he leads the three of you away from the Police Station and reveals the truth. The satisfaction he feels coming from you is a perfect mirror to his own whenever he finally pieces together the clues to a case, but it’s underlain by a sense of unease. 

Huh. He’s getting better at sensing you. 

“Did I do the right thing? I couldn’t turn to anyone for help, and everyone around me thinks I’m so smart that I should just be able to handle every case on my own. But you’re different. Unlike them, you don’t have that kind of prejudice towards me. So, I’d like you to be the one to decide whether we should expose the truth or not.” 

You and Aether ultimately decide to reveal the truth. And Heizou is fine with whatever you decide, truly! But he’s also curious about your reasoning, so he asks. “What was the deciding factor in revealing the truth?”

Aether tilts his head, listening to you. “Partly… we didn’t want you to have to live a lie. Even if it’s safer, being hated for something you didn’t do can’t be easy for you.”

“Mmm.” Heizou’s face feels warm. “That was very thoughtful of you, thank you. And what’s the other part?” 

Aether listens a while longer, then pulls out a device that looks like a stone tablet with…. words appearing on it? 

“Sorry, this one is too complicated for me to hear…” he excuses as he reads the words going by. After a minute, his eyes go wide. “She wants to know how common sunsettia juice and fish-liver paste are in medicine.”

…Oh!

“‘If they’re common cold meds and health supplements then someone could take them together by accident, right? Do they need a warning label?’” Aether quotes off his device, then turns to meet Heizou’s eyes. “I agree. If this is a new discovery then doctors need to know about the interaction immediately.” 

Well, well. Looks like he’ll be making a visit to Kujou Sara first thing in the morning. 

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

As you get into what Aether says is "probably the last arc of his hangout", Heizou can feel your presence settling firmly around him. You had started the day hovering near Aether, enveloping him like a second aura. Now Heizou swears he’s starting to feel your arms draped around his shoulders and your chin resting on his head from behind. It's a warm and soothing feeling, constantly tinged with affection or amusement.

Even his brusque conversations with Etsu and Iba don't put you off. He knows his distaste for the situation is bleeding through, but you don’t seem to think less of him for it. In fact, he swears he can hear you laughing directly in his ear as he cuts Etsu’s community service reward short for trying to haggle with him. 

He restrains a shiver. Is this revenge for whispering to Aether earlier? Goodness, he hopes it is. 

He makes it through narrating the play twice (once for each ending, Aether says) despite having to cover for Itto’s ad-libs and the increasingly frequent phantom sensation of you embracing him almost possessively from behind. If he weren’t fantastic at his job, he’d have lost his composure already. It’s driving him to his wits’ end embarrassingly fast. 

His sigh as you pull back at the end of the second play is mingled relief and disappointment. You fade almost completely away and it gives him a chance to breathe, but he’s not going to pretend that being submerged in your attention was unpleasant. He only hopes that wasn’t the last he’d see of you. Aether bids farewell to Itto and then - mirroring this morning in Watatsumi - grabs Heizou’s wrist and leads him to a quieter area. 

“You alright?” Aether asks. 

Heizou nods, though he still feels giddy from your emotions. “Fine. Is that normal? Is she always that intense?” 

“No, no,” Aether laughs. “She really likes you. I think you surprised her.” 

"I'll count that among today’s wins, then,” Heizou says as he looks up at his own constellation above, two stars shining brighter than the rest. 

Aether tilts his head, listening to something beyond the noises of the city around them. “Ah, sounds like she wants to meet you in person. She probably wants to ask if she can add you to the team.” Heizou gapes at the Traveler. Paimon pops back into existence and asks with obvious sarcasm: ”So is now a good time?”

One thought sticks out in Heizou’s mind as he rushes to compose himself before you arrive in Teyvat: He won’t let you keep catching him off guard like this forever. It’s time to turn the tables. 

[asimovsideburns]

just realized that, in my hurry to post the last session summary, I neglected to number it! (it was 11, making this session summary number 12)

it’s been, looking at Foundry, 11 days and 11 hours since we started session 12, so I’d say it’s about time I wrote down what happened, wouldn’t you?

Don’t worry, I’ll schedule the post for sometime more reasonable than “4:55am and somehow I’m still awake oh god my sleep schedule is so irredeemably fucked, I have things scheduled what am I going to do”

This session was almost 100% improvised, definitely including mechanics that happened later on, and I’m really really proud of myself how well I did

So!!! When last we left our heroes, they had just wrapped up a, mm, frustrating day at Gnomengarde. Well, technically they had wrapped up that day and then treated themselves to a late start on the next day before talking to the gnomes again, at which point they 1) got some cool magic stuff, 2) ordered a custom wheelchair for Adva, and 3) dropped the fact that alternate timelines are provably real because they briefly met alternate-timeline-Eyeless-Cave-Shrimp a couple of days ago, which may have broken a couple of the researchers.

This time, we opened with the introduction of a new character! Who is definitely not Batman! 100% NOT Batman! Or Bruce Wayne!

On a completely unrelated note, I have once again resolved myself to get more information from players about their characters before they show up.

So, Wane (they/them), who is once again definitely not at all batman or a reference to batman, shows up. Their player does a voice, immediately bails on the voice, then decides to hard commit to a new voice. The new voice is a southern accent. We are repeatedly blindsided by the southern accent throughout the rest of the session because somehow we keep forgetting about it in between moments where Wane is talking.

Wane is a gadgeteer arcane trickster rogue vigilante who is strongly anti-killing, but is also pro-incredible violence, which makes them a pretty decent fit for the current mindset of the group (Adva is slowly moving towards the no-killing side and Nim is slowly moving towards the incredible-violence side. They’re gonna find an equilibrium somewhere. Eventually.).

After an absolutely harrowing social situation on both sides which the collective group manages to somehow salvage, Wane joins the party! (cue final fantasy music here)

Suffice it to say that the conversation included such bits as “catch and neuter the dragon” (a Wane plan that is immediately shot down) and “first goround of boywagon” (as the party explains the recent boywagoning events during their adventure recap)

Also at this point, Wane has said “I am danger” enough times that Adva asks to wrestle them, which they say yes to. Wane wrestles badly but *does* manage a slight of hand check to pickpocket her with an invisible mage hand to show off their skills before she turns into a wolf and they call off the match on account of wolf.

They end up heading back to town to turn in their quest (the mayor does buy the wizard hat they got off of them because it looks stylish, and they get to keep the rest of their gear, which is nice because none of them are wizards so they couldn’t use the magical properties of the wizard hat anyway) and run some errands!

First stop, the Sending office! Adva waits outside, but everybody else goes in to send and receive mail. Mason gets a letter and a package in response to a letter she sent (and all the details of both are just between me and her player right now), Shrimp gets exciting news from home, and Nim gets told that someone they’re expecting arrived just last night and is waiting for them at the tavern, prompting much speculation from the other players.

Everyone but Adva, who is outside, learns the following: the person Nim is going to meet is their husband, and also that their husband is not Aalin, as Adva had assumed and then conveyed to Shrimp. They ask to be allowed to visit him privately, and the party acquiesces. As Nim leaves, Adva stops him and (with persistent questioning) gets a little of the same information, but not as much—just that Nim is going to meet their husband and wants to do so alone.

Adva decides to wildshape into a mouse and follow them, but the others exit the Sending office just in time for Mason to spot her and let her know that the husband in question is NOT Aalin. The group huddles up and decides that, although they are realizing that Nim knows a lot about them and they know exceedingly little about Nim, they should trust him—after all, Mason says, “Nim isn’t going to tell anybody about any of our shit.” (Remember This)

They go to get Shrimp some armor while Nim talks with their husband.

As Nim enters the tavern, they see their husband, Sennin, sitting by the fire, obviously exhausted from riding as fast as possible to reach Mountainsgate. He sees them, and rushes over, crushing them in a hug. They do not hug him back.

They go sit down, and, although Nim makes some token gestures towards affection (specifically, an extremely cold single-hand-hold over the table and nothing else), they make it clear this is a business meeting. They have something that they need Sennin to take and get to someone who can release the information: a journal, containing the events of their adventures so far, meticulously copied over the course of several long, lonely four-hour watches.

As the group returns from Shrimp’s armor fitting, they see Sennin leaving, and catch a glimpse of a familiar journal under his arm. They confront Nim, who is agonizingly cryptic, and the party’s tenuous, newly-forged bonds fracture… quite possibly beyond repair. Adva and Mason go to catch Sennin while Shrimp and Wane remain to try to get Nim to tell them what’s going on.

Shrimp and Wane talk with Nim, trying to figure out what they’ve done and why. Nim answers vaguely, always telling them to ask more specific questions. What they get, in the end, is this: they gave Sennin a journal, which contains the account of their adventures thus far, including the fight with Falcon and the murder of Corwin. Shrimp is devastated. Have they not seen how hard Shrimp has tried to atone for that? How much the party has changed since then? How hard they’ve worked to find another way, every time? Only a day ago, Shrimp said, “we’re family.” This is a betrayal that he may not be able to forgive.

Adva and Mason corner Sennin in the stables as he packs his horse. They start a conversation, but are unable to contain their palpable aura of threat and, as the situation goes extremely south, he knocks over a lantern as he mounts his horse and rides as fast as he can out of town.

Here’s the situation: Nim, Wane, and Shrimp are in the tavern, about 200 feet away from the stables. Adva and Mason are in the stables, with Mason ten feet closer to where Sennin was standing (having closed the distance during their conversation). Sennin is mounted and 120 feet away from Mason, riding hard into the night. The stable, wood and dry straw, is about to go up in flames. Seven horses, including the party’s, are trapped inside, and the blaze risks spreading to other building if left uncontrolled.

It’s time to roll initiative.

And if this was an actual play, that’s where we would have ended our session, just to keep everybody on pins and needles and hanging from a cliff, but it’s home game, so of course we weren’t going to wait two weeks to see what happened next! We already knew we’d be skipping a week between sessions, and there was no way we weren’t going to do this encounter tonight, homework due by midnight be damned (it was my homework, also it was fine I still got it in on time)

So! Here’s how it works: the fire starts at a d8. I roll that d8, then I add the number to 5, and the result is the DC of the constitution save you need to make versus smoke inhalation. Not so bad, right? Well, except for the fact that if you don’t fight the fire, the die goes up to a d10, and then a d12, and each new round has the roll added to the previous total, not to 5. That con save is going to get real hard, real fast, and a failure means a level of exhaustion, which is no fucking joke.

The good news is, you can fight the fire—one effective firefighting action keeps the die size from increasing, and any more after that can decrease the die size. Get the die down to a d0 and you’ve fully put it out.

Seems simple enough, right? The catch is, the only people close enough to fight the fire right away are also the only people close enough to have a decent chance at catching Sennin, who (lest we forget) is carrying a journal containing information about a murder they did, with instructions to get that information out into the world. A dilemma, to be sure.

The other catch? I’m very much coming up with these mechanics on the fly, which means they are happening entirely behind the scenes—the players only know that there’s a fleeing person they need to catch and a fire that looks like it’s about to spread, probably fast.

Adva wildshapes into a horse and goes after Sennin, closing 60 of the 120 feet between them. Mason decides to free the horses before dealing with the fire, using an object interaction and an action to free two horses per turn—first up, Chantry (the horse, not the PC) and Potato (“If Timothee Chalamet dies in a fire, he dies” is a quote in the discord, although I cannot remember for sure who said it). The fact that Mason is using her time to save lives instead of attempting to, well, if not end one, then at least beat it senseless, shows a remarkable amount of character growth.

She also, crucially, yells “fire!”, alerting the townsfolk (and the other PCs) to the danger

Shrimp and Wane, having left the tavern to go find Sennin and try to talk to him, begin rushing over, with Wane scooping Shrimp to get her closer to the stable before doubling back on their next turn to grab a bucket of water from the well. Nin heads straight for the well, but without a bonus action dash he won’t make it to the stable until next turn, either.

On their turn, Shrimp is able to move, dash, and misty step to get the rest of the way to the stable, where Mason explains what happened with Sennin. Mason then scoops her and dashes over to horse!Adva to deposit him on her back so that they can benefit from Adva’s riding horse speed.

(Mason also passes a charisma check, which means that nobody sees her running away from the fire in the opposite direction from the well and thinks she started it)

Sennin has moved, action dashed, and bonus action dashed away, and is now 250 feet away from Adva, who uses her turn to dash closer, bringing them to 130 feet away—just close enough for Shrimp to dismount and still have enough movement to get in range for a Command spell, a risky move that pays off when Sennin rolls a natural 2 on his wisdom save. He wastes his next turn without moving at all.

Meanwhile, Mason and the horses left inside the stable have to make constitution saves against smoke inhalation. Mason passes, but two of the remaining five horses don’t—and the fire, left unchecked, grows.

Wane and Nim reach the stable, and pour their buckets on the fire, stopping the fire from spreading this turn and reducing the die size by one, but now have to rush back to the well to get more water.

Adva rushes forward with her riding horse speed, able to close the distance now that Sennin has wasted his turn on Shrimp’s Command, drops wildshape as a bonus action, and fires off a Guiding Bolt that deals 11 damage—they’ve specifically avoided damaging him so far, and they aren’t trying to kill him, but they need to stop him, and Adva’s gambling that she can knock him out without doing enough damage to kill him outright before they can stabilize him.

11 damage is not enough to knock him out, but it’s a significant amount of his health.

Shrimp, going next, closes the distance and throws one of Adva’s magic stones (a cantrip she cast earlier), hitting for 11 more damage… only to see that he’s still standing. As a bonus action, they cast Compelled Duel, hoping to prevent him from moving away.

Now here is where we run into a mechanics question: does the wisdom save from compelled duel cause you to be unable to move away for your whole turn if failed, or can you attempt to move multiple times?

What we land on is this: Sennin has a movement, an action he can use to dash, and a bonus action he can use to dash. Each will count as an attempt to move, triggering a wisdom save. However, Shrimp can impose disadvantage on one save, after it’s rolled, by triggering a roil magic surge.

The first save: natural one.

The second save: natural three.

The third save: natural twenty.

Shrimp surges.

Out of a clear sky, with not a cloud in sight, the very heavens weep and rain begins to fall upon the town of Mountainsgate.

With disadvantage, Sennin’s third save is a natural five.

Already 30 feet away from Shrimp, he cannot continue to flee.

Sennin surrenders, Mason finishes freeing the horses, and between the rain, the players, and a citizens’ bucket brigade summoned by Mason and Shrimp’s calls of “fire!”, the blaze is contained and extinguished with no damage to other buildings and no injuries other than some minor smoke inhalation, which Young Gwynndolyn, the town healer, is more than capable of treating

As most of the party convenes around Sennin, I ask them where they are focused. Wane is still by the stables, focused on making sure the fire is well and truly extinguished. Nim is focused on Sennin, eyes only on him. Adva is looking at Shrimp, trying to focus on them instead of her anger. Shrimp is looking back at the town, seeing the rain their surge brought help to contain a disaster that could have destroyed the whole town if not for the group’s quick action.

And Mason, facing the forest as she rushes towards the others, just barely sees a man sitting atop a horse among the trees, strung longbow resting across his saddle, turn and ride away.

And that’s where we ended out session.

[cardansriddle]

Draco Malfoy x Granger!Reader- Forbidden Fruit

A/N: This was requested. I am trying to write all of your requests, thank you for sending them in! Some are taking longer to write because of the difficult context, so my apologies for those who are waiting.

Warnings: Torture, sad, semi-happy ending.

Summary: The reader is on a run with the Golden Trio when they stumble upon Snatchers who take them to the Malfoy Manor. Things get heated when Lucious recognizes the girl who has been on Draco’s mind while the Dark Lord was performing Lgeilimency on him. 

Being on a run with the Golden Trio was probably not the brightest idea. But being Hermione Granger's little sister put me in danger, so after an emotional debate, we came to the conclusion that I would join her and the boys in the quest of defeating Voldemort. I knew going back to Hogwarts was not an option, since I was a muggleborn, but the reality of accepting the truth terrified me. All of this brought me to the situation I am in right now, arguing with the trio.

"I'm telling you this is a stupid idea! We will get caught as soon as we step a foot in there!" I yell, waving my hands around angrily. Hermione sides with me on this one, understanding the risk and the disadvantages of Harry Potter's ridiculously stupid plan.

"Do you have any other ideas? I saw this in my dream, we need to go there!" He shouts back at me and I try to refrain myself from punching his face.

"Merlin, you're dafter than Crabbe and Goyle! You-know-who will expect you to be there." I chuckle bitterly. Hermione puts a hand on my shoulder to calm me down, but I brush it off.

"Harry, she has a point, it's extremely risky..." Hermione trails off and I sense a 'but' coming, "But I can't lie, I was also thinking about going to the Godric's hollow," She says and I feel my blood boil once again. Harry's eyes light up and he looks at me hopefully. I shake my head in disapproval and he groans, running his hand through his hair. He looks at Ron, but he avoids his eyes, making it obvious he agrees with me rather than with his best friend.

I grin triumphantly. For the first time in his life, Ron made a sensible decision.

"Then Hermione and I will go, you two can stay here." He huffs before climbing in his bed.

"Absolutely not!" Both Ron and I object. Harry grins and I roll my eyes once I realize he knew we would not stay here.

Fuck him and his stupid scar that got us in this mess in the first place.

"Ok, off to bed all of you. Tomorrow we'll discuss this." Hermione sighs tiredly before kissing my forehead affectionately. I pull back and glare at her disappointedly, before laying down on my bed and facing away from her. I try not to overthink about the possibilities of tomorrow's events and drift off into a deep slumber.

I leave the Slytherin common room in a hurry, checking my wristwatch only to groan at the time. I am late to the D.A. meeting. Again.

Lost in my thoughts, I bump into a hard chest causing me to lose my balance. Before I can hit the ground, a hand wraps around my waist and pulls me back up. Once I regain my balance I look up to thank my saviour, but the words die on my tongue once my eyes land on the familiar face of Draco Malfoy. He pulls his hands away immediately once he realizes he caught me, and sneers.

"Watch where you're going, Granger." He spits and I roll my eyes in annoyance.

"Just move before I lose my patience and hex you, git," I reply and try to push past him, but he blocks my way. I look up at him in expectance, hoping he would get it over with so I could go. "Yes, Malfoy? I already know what you're going to say. That I am a stupid mudblood who doesn't deserve to be in Slytherin, bla bla bla. Let's not waste our time here." I put my hand on his chest and push him back harshly. He doesn't budge.

"Are you going to Potty's secret meeting?" He asks suspiciously. I furrow my eyebrows in fake confusion.

"I think you had too many Butterbeers." I say with an overly sweet smile and move past him successfully. I turn around to make sure he is not following me and grin triumphantly once I realize he left me alone. I slip into the Room of Requirements and am immediately greeted by the friendly faces of my friends. I avoid their questions about my whereabouts and start training.

As I fire a spell at Hermione, who dodges it easily, the room starts shaking. I glance at her in confusion and her face mirrors my expression. We all gather around the whall which is where the sound is coming from. Harry steps closer to the wall in order to peek at the other side.

I realize what is happening and immediately slip out of the room and make sure no one sees me. Dumbledore's Army is getting caught. If Umbridge would see me, a Slytherin there, things would get ugly, so I start sprinting towards my common room.

Before I can round around a corner, a hand reaches out and grips my arm before pulling me into an abandoned classroom. I try to scream but the other hand covers my mouth so my scream would be muffled.

"Be quiet, Granger, or do you want Umbridge to find you?" A familiar voice whispers in my ear and I turn around to see Malfoy standing in front of me with his signature sneer. "If you would turn around that corner, Parkinson would happily greet you with a hex." He drawls.

"So what? Am I supposed to thank you? Why did you pull me in here?" I ask and his muscles tens visibly. He clears his throat and avoids my eyes.

"I did not want your stupidity making us lose house points." He says and I scoff. Of course. Why else would he save my arse from Parkinson? I cursed the hopeful part of my brain which thought he did it for me. How naive of me.

I wake up to the voice of Hermione trying to wake me up. I assure her I am now wide awake and sit up groggily. I try to push the dream (which was actually a memory) I just had back.

While changing I cannot help but let my mind drift away to Draco. I know that he is on the side of Death Eaters, fighting amongst them against us, but a part of me keeps telling that it is involuntarily. The state that he was in the sixth year made it obvious. I remember how he isolated himself from everyone and barely threw insults my way. His mind was always somewhere else and he would constantly skip meals and disappear for hours. Hell, he even missed classes, which was unusual, since he was one of the best students. I remember my urge to approach him, comfort him, offer a shoulder to lean upon, but the status of my blood and the surname I was born with would always come in the way. I knew he would never let me close to him. He was the forbidden fruit I could never have.

After we pack everything we leave the tent. However, we stop in our tracks once we notice a group of men dressed in filthy clothes moving past us. I silently hope that they wouldn't notice us, but the leader does and raises his hands so the others would halt, and glances at us curiously.

"Run," Hermione whispers loud enough for us to hear, and we do not hesitate before breaking into a sprint. I dodge branches and the spells the men are casting my way while running, glancing back once in a while to check if any of them were close enough to catch me. I run like my life depends on it because it actually does. I realise I cannot see the trio and I start panicking slightly. I look around frantically trying to locate one of my friends, but my distraction causes me to stumble upon a fallen tree and I crash face-first into the ground. Before I can get up, the man behind me fires a spell and I feel ropes tightening around my ankles causing me to scream in frustration.

Two of the men pull me into a standing position as the leader approaches me, and only then I notice my friends being dragged behind him. I try to squirm out of their hold but they only tighten their grip. I kick one of the man's knee as hard as I can, and a small smile makes its way onto my lips when I hear his yelp as he falls on one knee.

"Fiesty." The leader who is now too close for my liking chuckles as his eyes dance over my features. His fingers trace over my cheekbones and I turn my face away from him.

"Go to hell." I hiss, but he only smiles in return.

"We're taking them back to Malfoy Manor. Who knows, maybe they'll be worth some galleons." He says and the others nod in agreement. I try not to let panic show on my face as my eyes connect with Hermione's and she seems to be thinking the same thing as I am.

Without a warning, they apparate us, and we are in front of the dark Manor which is enormous. A crazed looking woman with dishevelled hair opens the gate and I recognize her from the posters all around the place. Bellatrix Lestrange. Goosebumps rise on my skin as I recall the story of Neville's parents and try to shove the fear down. The man whispers something to her and her eyes fall upon us, observing each individual. Her eyes seem to linger on me for a moment too long before she smirks and lets us inside.

We are brought to the living room, where I see Lucius Malfoy and her wife standing in the corner, observing the situation. Then my eyes fall upon the familiar figure and my breath catches in my throat.

Draco.

His eyes find mine and I see an emotion flicker behind his cold eyes before he masks it and it's back to looking indifferent. I block the argument between the adults out as I stare at him. His eyes never leave mine as he grips his wand tighter, causing his knuckles to whiten.

"Isn't this the girl...the Dark Lord was talking about? The girl that was distracting Draco's thoughts?" Lucious asks, causing my head to snap in his direction. His eyes stay on me as he observes me with a sneer.

"The mudblood?" Bellatrix chuckles. "Is it true Draco? Did the Dark Lord see her in your thoughts?" His aunt asks him while her gaze stays glued to me. He gulps nervously before responding.

"Why would I care about a filthy mudblood?" He replies, venom dripping from his every word and I try not to flinch at his words.

"Are you quite sure, Draco?" His aunt taunts, "Let's put that to the test, shall we?" She smiles evilly before raising her wand. "Crucio!"

I drop to the ground in a second, excruciating pain spreading over my body like wildfire. I do not register the screams of my friends as I myself scream in agony. I shut my eyes close and pray to whatever higher power there is to end this nightmare. I feel like my bones are cracking everywhere, and at that moment, I wish for death to come and envelope me, for it would be better to die rather than go through this torture for another second.

"Enough." I hear a female voice say who I assume it's Narcissa. Bellatrix looks back in surprise at whoever dared to interrupt her and I physically do not have the strength to open my eyes or listen to the commotion around me. Before I know it, someone scoops into their arms and I'm being carried away. I cannot control the tears staining my cheeks, and try to muffle a sob.

"It's okay, I've got you." A familiar voice whispers and I lean my head on his chest, clutching my hand around his black suit. He gently places me on the hard ground, and I open my eyes to make sure I am not imagining it. "I'm sorry." He whispers as he starts muttering healing charms under his breath.

Suddenly an ear-deafening scream echoes through the Manor, and it takes me a second to realize it's my sister. I sit up quickly, immediately regretting doing so as I feel my ribs hurt from the sudden movement. My sister is being tortured...and I have no power to stop it. The thought burdens my mind and I force back the tears threatening to spill from my eyes.

I hear the metal bars opening before they close shut, and I look to see Harry and Ron laying on the ground. They both look very angry and upset as they look around helplessly before their eyes settle on me and the hunched figure next to me. Draco looks back at them and points his wand towards my friends.

"Move and I'll hex you." He threatens. Harry looks at me worriedly but I shake my head, silently begging him to not intervene. After all, Draco was healing me. They do not step towards me but stay put and continue watching as Draco turns back and focuses on me.

"Thank you," I whisper but he shakes his head.

"Don't thank me. This happened to you because of me." He snaps back and I can tell he is frustrated with himself.

"What did they mean when they said I was in your thoughts when Voldemort was invading your head?" I ask after a moment of silence. He sighs and runs his hand through his platinum blonde hair.

"Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to, Granger," Draco says and I scoff. He smiles at the action before running his fingers through my hair and my eyes closed involuntarily at the gentle and soothing action.

"Will she be ok?" Harry's soft voice echoes in the large basement and Draco looks up in surprise. He nods before resting his gaze on me and smiles. It feels like Harry and Draco form an unspoken truce after this brief interaction and Harry pulls a hesitant Ron away from us and they sit down and start whispering amongst themselves, undoubtedly planning an escape.

I raise my hand hesitantly and trace Draco's defined jawline and sculptured cheekbones as he leans into my touch. My palm cups his cheek and he hesitates before leaning in and capturing my lips in a gentle kiss. I kiss back immediately and despite being tortured moments ago, I feel like I'm on cloud nine as he embraces me.

"Draco!" Someone calls and he pulls back. He sighs tiredly and releases his hold on me.

"I'll see you soon, I promise. Try to stay alive, yeah?" He smiles sadly and pecks my lips one more time before standing up. He casts a lingering look my way before disappearing from my sight. I sigh at the emptiness I feel after he leaves and pray to Merlin that this would not be the last time I see him.

I just got my hands on the forbidden fruit, I could not bear losing him after years of hiding my love for the boy who had no choice.

[mangolover]

Can i request prompt #20 with Venti, please?

Have a good day/night!

Hey, thank You so much for the request!

I honestly love this man and see him as another one of my comofrt characters, hehe. Anyways, I hope you will enjoy this and I hope you will have a great day or night!🥰

So here is your request! Enjoy!

50 Followers Drabble Event, prompt #20 with Venti

If you wish to check out the offical “50 Followers Drabble Event”, press here

Title: Raise You Up!

Prompt: “Don’t let go.”

Fandom: Genshin Impact

Pairing: Venti x gn! reader

Genre: Angst to Fluff

Warnings: Some darker themes are explored a bit, like passing of time and one’s worth, also a death metaphor, but it’s nothing too serious, it’s all only briefly mentioned. Still proceed with caution.

Spoilers: none I believe

Word Count: 1000 (I just love this man, mkay?)

Description: Lately you have been thinking about the difference of yours and Venti’s life span and because of that you couldn’t concentrate on your adventures, putting yourself at risk. So when your boyfriend finds you crying one night, he decideds to take you on an adventure in the sky until the sunrise.

Honestly Venti is one of my top 3 characters, if only I had him in the game.

Am I the only one that broke down into tears while doing his story quest?

Also I am aware that drabble is supposed to be under 100 words, but I consider it to be under 1000 words

Raise You Up!

You were feeling down lately, nothing seemed to go right. Your last few adventures didn’t end up with a fabulous treasure, instead you would most likely end up with major injuries or even almost got your wind permanently knocked out of your lungs. You were just distracted for some reason, but you could never figure out by what, like you weren’t even the one in control of your mind anymore. Was it because you started questioning the meaning of your life? How much time you have left before you turn in just another wisp of wind? But that just comes when you’re dating an immortal Archon, right?

But no matter how much either you, your friends or even Venti himself have tried to reassure you, those thoughts just lived in the back of your mind like some virus, slowly attaching themselves to your every thought and soon locking you out of them completely.

It was night time and you sat next to the Statue of The Seven in Windrise, admiring the crystalflies dancing and illuminating the night sky. You hugged your knees to your chest and pressed your back against the statue. You felt so alone and lost. Just what should you do? You can’t continue with adventuring if you can’t concentrate, you’re just putting your life and lives of the others at risk. But you also can’t just quit, without going on adventures you would lose your last purpose. You placed your head on your knees and sobbed quietly, tears spilling from your eyes, tears of frustration, confusion and sadness.

Your boyfriend Venti has noticed how you’ve been acting lately and he was worried, but you always put on a fake smile and reassured him that you were alright and that you were just tired, that’s all. But when you haven’t showed up to the tavern to see his performances for the past week, he got a bad feeling ad decided to follow you. You clearly weren’t alright and he was ready to change that. Only he didn’t expect to see you cry while he was hiding behind a nearby tree, his chest was clenching tighter and tighter with every sob, his heart breaking more and more with every tear that slid down your beautiful cheeks. He had to snap out of it, he couldn’t just stay and do nothing, he loves you, he needs to help you. He finally commanded his legs to move and they took him to you slowly, he called out to you softly so he wouldn’t startle you, but you still flinched and shot your head up to him, only to quickly turn it to the side and desperately try to wipe away your tears.

Venti just sat next to you, making no effort of touching you any more than he already is. He stared up at the sky, his hands resting on his knees, letting out a long sigh. You stared at him, still trying to stop the tears, your lower lip was slightly trembling, so you bit it. After minutes of silence, Venti finally turned to you and placed his hands around you, pulling you in a tight embrace and burying his face in the crook of your neck. You stiffened under his touch, but soon relaxed as you wrapped your hands in return.

“What’s wrong y/n?” he whispered against your skin and you pulled away from his hot breath. His eyes were filled with thousand of years of sadness and you had to avert your gaze because of the sudden guilt you felt.

“It’s nothing really” you closed your eyes and gave him your best smile, only if it was real.

“Okay, but you know you can always talk to me, right?”  You didn’t answer. You knew that, but you decided to ignore that fact and rather struggle with your demons on your own.

“You know what, let me raise you up, maybe that will rise your spirits as well!” Venti happily exclaimed as he quickly got to his feet and extended his hand to you with a big smile on his face.

“W-what?” You were confused, but still took his hand, only for him to pull you to your feet. He pulled out his bow and soon made a wind current before wrapping his arms around your waist.

“Don’t let go.”

“Okay.” He smiled at your words as you wrapped your arms around him in return.

“And up we go, haha!” Venti giggled as he jumped into the wind current with you in his tight embrace. He might not be the strongest Archon, but you surely felt safe in his arms. He spread open his wind glider and soon you two were off on an adventure through the sky surrounding Mondstadt. The city lights and the shine from fireflies was beautiful, at one point you two even went up so high, you could touch the clouds and soon you were smiling and laughing along with Venti, your worries finally forgotten after so long. When you two saw sun slowly making its way up, you finally landed in the hands of the statue of Barbatos next to the cathedral. There Venti slowly put you two down and smiled at you. “I hope you enjoyed our little adventure! If you did, please tip your tour guide with a kiss.”

You put your lips softly against Venti’s and hugged him tightly. “Thank you, Venti. Maybe I don’t have as much time left as you do, but if it will be filled with beautiful memories like this, it doesn’t really matter.”

Venti was moved by your statement. He could only guess you had been troubled by the fact he was immortal, but he never thought it was this bad. Still, he wrapped his arms around you, returning your embrace. You finally got rid of your demons as you two enjoyed each other’s presence, sunrise illuminating your forms.

There was no need to exchange any more words, this moment’s a beautiful memory like it is.

[bangchanstudio]

Never Have I Ever | Changbin (2/?)

pairing: seo changbin x fem! reader

genre: university au, awkward friends to ? something more?, smut, mild angst, dom!changbin tendencies?, oral (giving)

tw: sex..ish

word count: 4.6k

ch.one // ch.three

synopsis: you couldn’t for the life of you remember what the fuck happened at the party that made Changbin avoid you like the plague. your friends clearly succeed in their quest to get you drunk, but now you’re left wondering what happened after you went into that room with Changbin. It bothered you so much that you ended up at his door step in the middle of the night looking for clarity, instead you found yourself in other shit.

note: again, i don’t know what the fuck i’m doing, but i hope you like it! I’m going to start a taglist for this, if you want to be added let me know in the tags or send me a message!

“What the hell was that?” No one would look at you.

Seungmin was sipping on his iced peach tea looking rather interested in his nails, Jinnie was clearing his throat and touching up his face in his little compact mirror, Felix was playing god knows what on his phone and Jisung was just straight up staring at the ceiling.

“Hello?” You said, snapping your fingers in everyone’s face. “Is no one going to answer?”

Seungmin looked at Jinnie, who in turn looked at Felix who just shrugged before saying, “She’ll find out eventually.”

“What will she find out eventually? That my friends are all backstabbing assholes? Well, she already knows that!” You massaged your temple remembering the events of the night before. Never have I ever, admitting your secrets, sitting on Changbin’s lap, and then worse: getting locked in the bedroom with him watching explicit videos before being allowed freedom. There was something else… but your mind was too fuzzy to remember exactly what.

Frustrated you reached for your phone that was face down on the cafe table, mumbling about how unfair all of this was.

Jisung sighed before wrapping his arms around your shoulders, snuggling his cheek to yours, “Don’t be upset, (Y/N). We were just trying to have a little fun.”

Out of all of your friends, the one you couldn’t ever be mad at was Jisung. There was just something about him that made you want to protect him, he was funny and sweet. He was always the first one to notice when you were upset and made it his personal life goal to make you smile. While, you had never been mad at him before, you were pretty close to being mad at him now.

“Fun at the expense of my sanity?” You pouted accepting Ji’s hug and snuggled into the crook of his neck. Your eyes locked on Hyunjin’s who was seated across from you, his beautiful chocolate brown eyes that looked lighter today. They were loud and calculating. You could tell he was, for once, thinking of what he should say.

“Yes, because your sanity is exactly what I plan on destroying.” He smirked his mean girl smile before excusing himself for his next class.

One by one everyone left until it was just you and your laptop. There was an empty word document pulled up on half the screen and the other half was displaying the most recent chapter of Freaking Romance webtoon. Studying wasn’t your strong suit and neither was focusing on a single task for more than a few minutes at a time.

“What an asshole,” You mumbled to your screen, clicking your pen ferociously.

“Oi,” Chan greeted before dumping a textbook on the table startling you and causing the pen you were beating to fall to the floor.

Reaching over to grab it another hand beat you to it. You looked up and came face to face with Changbin.

“Shit,” you said. You tried sitting up straight too quickly and bumped heads with him on the way up, “I’m so sorry.”

Idiot! Why are you being so jumpy? You scolded yourself, rubbing the top of your head that clashed with Changbin’s. Your cheeks turned red as the memory of you sitting on his lap last night came rushing back. The way his eyebrow raised when you drank to kissing a girl, the way his eyes fixated on yours as you drank to “Never have I ever thought of someone else while having sex”, the way his hands clenched in his jacket pockets up on the rooftop, to following him into the bedroom to watch p*rn, to… what else happened? Your memory was still too fuzzy to recall anything other than his back as you followed him into the bedroom. The feeling of a memory being just out of reach annoyed you.

“I just came to give this back,” Chan said placing the book he borrowed next to your laptop. It was Hermann Hesse’s “Demian”, you let Chan borrow it at the start of summer, you honestly thought he had lost it or threw it away.

“It took you six months to read one book? I thought you threw it away or something.” You laughed, flipping through your old book remembering when you had read it for the very first time. Now, it smelled like Chan’s room. “Anyways, what happened last night? I don’t remember much just waking up on the couch, but no one was home.”

Under normal circumstances and to normal friend groups that might not have been the weirdest thing, but to your friends that was abnormal. Everyone knew the passcode to your apartment and you often found one or multiple of the guys there unexpectedly. When you had your get togethers everyone stayed over, always, at least until noon the following day or whenever you had classes. This morning was the first time you woke up after a party to an empty place.

“Oh, we just-“ Chan started before being interrupted by Changbin dragging him away by his backpack. You weren’t sure, since his cap was hiding his face like usual, but you could have sworn his face was… red.

“Sorry (Y/N) we’re late for something and I gotta steal this guy.” Changbin shouted before rushing out the door, Chan practically fell over in the process.

Well, that was weird.

—

Changbin was avoiding you, again. This time you knew for sure he was avoiding you. It had been 2 weeks since your get together and anytime he so much as spotted you within a 20-foot radius he would turn on his heels and disappear. No matter how hard you pushed for someone to tell you something, no one budged. Everyone insisted that you both went into the room, watched one video and that was the end of that. If that were true then why was Changbin avoiding you like the plague?

Was he really that freaked out over watching some vanilla p*rn?

“(Y/N), can I ask you something?” Chan was cooking breakfast in the kitchen while you finished citing your sources for Lit.

“Mm?”

“You know Changbin likes you, right?”

Your fingers stopped typing, eyes snapping over to Chan from the table, “He what?”

Chan came around placing a small plate of eggs and toast in front of you before taking a seat. “Changbin likes you.”

Maybe smoking really was bad for you after all. “I’m sorry, what did you say? I thought I heard you say that Changbin likes me.”

A nervous laughed left your lips as you sipped at your morning coffee. The warmth soothing your building nerves.

Chan was giving you that look again. The one where he lets you see the honesty in his eyes and on his face. He was really handsome, like really handsome. Even though you started out having a crush on him, that quickly faded into pure platonic love for him after the first few months of being friends. He was too kind and pure for you after all. Chan was good; you doubted you were. No matter how much you searched his face, his eyes, his lips for a twitch or some kind of giveaway that he was lying, anything.

There was nothing. 
He was telling the truth.

“Seo Changbin, likes you.” Chan said, emphasizing every single word as if to get it through your thick skull.

You squeezed your eyes shut, shaking your head, “If that were true, then why is he avoiding me?” You didn’t mean to sound so annoyed, especially when it wasn’t even Chan whom you were annoyed with, you couldn’t help it. Part of you felt like this whole party had been a set up just to embarrass you.

Chan raked his hands through his hair in mild annoyance, but he usually wasn’t one to get annoyed in the first place so any time he displayed any type of annoyance it made you flinch. “I don’t know, (Y/N), why don’t you just ask him?”

That was a lie.

The blinking of the line where you left off typing was your only source of distraction. You didn’t want to look up. Why am I like this?, you thought, just talk to Changbin. Stop making things awkward.

—

It was late probably close to midnight. Your whole day was spent contemplating Chan’s words, flipping them around and upside down. Picking them apart and putting them back together to form “Changbin likes you.” Before you realized what you were doing you found yourself outside of Changbin’s apartment. He transferred a week into the semester which is why he wasn’t placed with one of the guys.

“Can I help you?” You jumped as a tall guy appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He had a backpack slung over his shoulder and textbooks in the other.

“Oh, s-sorry, I was just looking for a friend.” You stuttered waving to the door.

“Does this friend have a name?”

“Changbin.”

The guy nodded telling you to follow him inside the apartment. He said something about it not being wise to leave a girl out in the cold. After you stepped into the warm apartment you were grateful. Your thoughts had consumed you to the point of not even grabbing a jacket when you left your place. He said his name was Sam and that he was going to be gone that night, so to feel free to stay over. You blushed and told him he was mistaking the situation. Sam seemed nice enough.

He called out for Changbin as he walked into his room.

“I’m in the shower!” You heard Changbin call out.

“There’s someone here to see you!” Sam called back.

“Be out in a sec!”

Sam gave you kind smile, “Make yourself at home, I just came to get change of clothes.”

He was in and out of his room in seconds, leaving you alone in the quiet apartment, the only sound coming from the shower. Changbin had music playing in the bathroom and you sat nervously on the couch, scolding yourself for coming here in the first place.

It’s not like you planned to confess your feelings for him. Maybe you just wanted things to go back to the way they were, back to those long afternoons in your high school hideout where everyone laughed and cried together. Where you fought and made up. Where you did homework and tried cheap drugs together. Back to when you didn’t fear holding onto Changbin, in that dark forest, because you trusted him with your life.

The click of the bathroom door opening broke through your thoughts.

“Oh, it’s you.” Changbin was shirtless, with only joggers and a towel wrapped around his shoulders. You tried to avert your gaze as fast as possible, biting your lip to keep yourself from squealing, your face flushed. How could he be so hot? His arms looked bigger than Chan’s now, and his chest could no undoubtedly be dubbed the eighth wonder of the world. “What are you doing here?”

“I just… came to see you.” Great response. There was no way you could stay here, “Maybe I should come back later, I didn’t realize it was this late. Honestly, I’m not even sure how I ended up here…”
 “No, it’s okay. You can stay.” Changbin said stepping closer before realizing he was still half naked. He lifted his towel from around his shoulders to dry his hair, “Wait here, I’m just going to grab a shirt.”

When he came back he offered you a glass of water, apologizing for not having anything better like tea or coffee.

“It was my roommates turn to do the grocery shopping but he’s pre-med and forgets shit easily.” He said from the opposite side of the couch.

You sat cross legged facing him from your side. Just being this close to him gave you those annoying butterflies in your tummy. Changbin mindlessly flipped through the channels of the TV before deciding on a horror movie.

“So… why are you really here?” You were expecting the question from the moment you stepped foot into the apartment, but still hadn’t worked out a decent answer. Changbin turned to face you straight on for the first time that night.

His face was unreadable, the way it usually was. Damp hair, dark eyes, fresh skin.

“I came to ask… if I did something wrong at the party?” The surprise was clear on his face, he wasn’t expecting that. “I don’t really remember anything after we walked into the room other than what we were suppose to do. And well, I feel like you’ve sort of been avoiding me since then. I know we don’t really talk anymore, but it just seemed like you were actively avoiding me these days… I just thought maybe there was a reason.. ?”

Changbin searched your face before looking down and smirking. “You really don’t remember anything? Like.. at all?”

You shook your head, the worry in your chest building. What if you said something pervy or worse, tried to seduce him? The thought made you visibly shake.

“Nope, nothing.”

He shrugged, “We watched porn. You chose. It was a pretty good video. After that I left and you stayed.”

Something still felt off, there was still something missing. While, you didn’t know Changbin’s tells as well as you did Chan’s, you still felt as if he was holding something back, “Really? That’s what Seungmin told me but I just feel like there’s something missing.”

You squinted, and spaced out before bring the glass of water up to your teeth and tapping it slightly against them.

The only memories that seemed to comeback were feelings of heat and something grabbing your jaw…

“Oh my fuck!” You shouted as a blood curling scream echoed from the movie scaring you half way to death. The mostly full glass of water you just had was now empty in your lap, your white t-shirt and jeans soaked. “Shit, I’m so sorry.”

Changbin laughed as he got up and helped you, taking the glass off of your lap and placing it on the side table.

“Why are you apologizing to me? You’re the one who’s drenched. Come here, I’ll let you borrow some clothes.” You followed Changbin into his room. It was painted a dark grey and decorated with the basics: a bed, desk, recording equipment — of course — and a laptop. There was something else on his desk that caught your attention.

It was your high school Photo ID card, senior year.

“You still have this?” You asked smiling and turning to show him the card. It was customary for friends to trade Photo ID cards at the end of school years, usually middle schoolers and high schoolers did so. There was no particular reason why you gave yours to Changbin other than the fact that he was the first one to ask you for it. Jisung pouted for days afterwards, but you reminded him he had your junior year ID card. He still didn’t give it up easily.

Changbin’s cheeks turned a light pink, “Oh, yeah. It’s cute.”

“Didn’t really take you for the sentimental type.” You mumbled bitterly before placing the card back on his desk.

“What is that suppose to mean?” There was hurt in his voice.

When did he step closer?

“I just figured you weren’t that sentimental…” You trailed off distracting yourself with looking around his room, anywhere but at him. “You didn’t seem to care.”

The words slipped out before you could swallow them. You squeezed your eyes shut, exhaling. “Maybe I should just go. Coming here was a bad idea.”

You tried brushing past him but he caught your wrist with a tight grip. He didn’t pull you back, but he didn’t let you go either.

“I’m sorry… for leaving.”

Your eyes widened in shock.

The truth was, it wasn’t all his parents fault. He could have stayed if he wanted to, but he didn’t. You didn’t find that out until later though, one night when Jinnie was too drunk for his own good and was scolding you for not trying to move on. He called it the worst break up to never exist. Whatever that was suppose to mean. There was no hiding your true feelings from your friends, they all knew you were in love with Changbin, even if you were too stubborn to admit it to yourself. It was stupid, you were nothing to Changbin, he didn’t have a reason to stay in the first place.

“The truth is, I was scared of falling in love with you… so I ran away.” His grip tightened around your wrist, you wondered if maybe he’d cut your circulation.

His words made your heart sink.

“Am I really that terrible, that you’d rather leave than want me?” Your voice was small, the tears you were trying so desperately to keep at bay were blurring your vision. Your fists were clenched tight, you could feel your nails leaving moon marks on your palms.

“I was scared of hurting you, (Y/N). That’s why. There are things about me that you don’t know, things I’ve never shared with anyone. Things I’ve done that I’m not proud of. Things that could have hurt you, things that could have put you in danger. Not only you but everyone else too.” His voice was so full of pain, all you wanted to do was take it away.

You turned to face him, he was breathing a little heavier, and his voice was shaking. In that moment it was as if you were scared teenagers again.

“You didn’t have to push us away like that, Changbin. We could have helped you, we could have come up with a plan or—“ You weren’t sure what he meant by putting you all in danger but you knew if you were all together, there was nothing that could stop you. “Why didn’t you let us in?”

The tears spilled over, running down your cheeks, your voice was weak. You covered your mouth with your freehand closing your eyes trying to center yourself again, trying desperately to get a hold of yourself. There was nothing worse than letting people see you cry.

“I didn’t realize..” Changbin didn’t finish his sentence, instead he pulled you to his chest wrapping his arms around your waist and burying his face in the crook of your neck, “I’m so sorry for hurting you.”

He was warm.. he always was. You could feel his heartbeat racing, and his breathing hitch as if he was trying to hold back his feelings too.

You hid your face in his chest, sobs escaping your lips, fists clenched on the hem of his t-shirt. Minutes passed; it felt like hours. Neither of you spoke a word, instead the room was echoed with your small sniffles. The sound of Changbin’s heartbeat returned to normal after awhile and you felt like you could sleep for days after that long cry.

“Sorry for crying,” It took you a minute to find your voice, “I think I’m going crazy.”

Changbin brushed your hair to the side, “Stop apologizing. It’s okay. I’m the one who is sorry.”

You looked up at him, still with his arms around you. His eyes were soft and mesmerizing, they reminded you of home. His lips were also pretty and plump, you wanted so desperately to feel them against your own. Just once…

Before you could stop yourself you reached on your tip-toes to meet Changbin’s lips. They were softer than you imagined, like silk or cream. He tensed under your touch before you felt him relax and close his eyes. His hands at the small of your back pushed your body closer to his, your still wet t-shirt making you shiver.

Or was it his touch that made you tremble?

You brought your hands up to his hair, fluffy and soft from being air dried. What started out as a sweet and small kiss soon turned into a deeper and hungrier affair. Your were starting to moan slightly into his mouth when he pulled back.

“I didn’t realize this is what kissing you would feel like.” He breathed, pupils dilated, his breathing was shallow. “Can we keep doing this?”

You nodded pulling him back into your lips, teeth teasing his bottom lip, you felt him smile. Changbin walked you both backwards before finding the edge of his mattress and sitting on it, back to the headboard.

The wet of your clothes was making you shake so you unzipped your pants and pulled them down, kicking them to the side. There was a tshirt folded up on Changbin’s night stand that you grabbed pulling it over your head and on top of your wet one. Then you pulled your arms into your wet one taking it off without revealing yourself to him any more than you already had.

“Nice trick,” Changbin laughed as you discard the wet t-shirt. His fit you big like a mini dress, you felt cute in it brushing your hair behind your ear. “Come here.”

He grabbed your hand, pulling you onto his lap. His body was warm and strong. You felt shy straddling him and couldn’t help burying your face in his shoulder and squealing.

“What are we doing?” You whined making Changbin laugh, the vibrations of his chest running through your hands.

“Whatever you want, baby.” He chimed.

You straighten immediately, “Baby? Since when am I baby?”

“Ever since you made your way onto my lap.” He was so cocky, it turned you on.

His lips crashed on yours with more fever than before, his hands gripping your cold thighs before making their way up and squeezing your ass. He moaned at the feeling of his hands on your skin, the sound was sweet and filled your ears with pleasure. His tongue teased your lips before you granted him access to meet yours, teasing him with your tongue before letting him dominate. You giggled at the sensation, making him laugh too.

“What?” He asked his voice getting lower and raspier, you could hear the smirk in it. “Do you like it when I win?”

“Maybe.” You confessed. You weren’t exactly a full dom, but for Changbin all you wanted was to be a sub. You laid your head on his shoulder, catching your breath. He grabbed your jaw forcing you look him in the eyes.

“What do you want me to do, baby?” His fingers were rough against the skin of your jaw, your eyes wide at the motion. His eyes were so dark, so lusty, so hungry for you. “If you tell me to stop—.”

You shook your head viciously, “No, it’s okay. I wa—“ You stopped yourself from sounding so desperate, what the hell was wrong with you.

“What do you want, baby, come on.. don’t be shy.” Fuck, his voice was so sexy saying those words.

You closed your eyes trying to control your lust.

Bad move. Changbin squeezed your jaw harder with his hand. “Look at me when I talk to you.”

Look at me when I talk to you.

Suddenly, your memory came rushing back from the night of the party. You remembered watching the video, getting hot. Changbin saying how pretty your lips would look around his cock. The way he slipped his fingers in your mouth and your tongue wrapping around them. The way he held your jaw in place as he threatened to dominate you.

How badly you wanted to taste him.

You opened your eyes with new hunger pouring out of them.

“Didn’t you say something about wanting to see my pretty lips around your cock back at the party?” You asked knowingly. Changbin looked at you in shock, his jaw opening before composing himself.

“Did my hand bring back your memory?” He asked cooly.

You nodded biting your lip. “Do you want me show you?”

His bulge had been growing since the moment he saw you in your wet white t-shirt.

“I’ll take whatever you give.” Changbin said making himself comfortable against his pillows.

You moved off of his lap and wasted no time in pushing his joggers and boxers down his thighs, exposing his hard, warm cock. You tried hiding the surprise on your face but nothing got past Changbin.

“What? Like what you see?” He asked raising an eyebrow.

“It’s nice.” You admitted before taking him in your hand, testing the waters. He was bigger than you thought, thicker and longer. You were confident in your skills at sucking someone off but you actually wondered if you could even take all of him in your mouth.

Guess there was only one way to find out.

“Fuck, baby that feels so good.” Changbin hummed, his hand taking a fistful of your hair trying to guide you. He definitely did not fit in your mouth, but what didn’t fit was compensated by your hands. You hollowed your cheeks, always mindful of your teeth. Your tongue swirled around the tip before taking as much of him in as you could. You looked up to find Changbin watching you, making eye contacted just made you wet your panties even more so than they already were. His hips bucked into your mouth making you gag. The sensation causing Changbin to throw his head back, releasing a string of curses under his breath and mentions of how pretty you looked.

You took him out of your mouth with a pop to take a breath, but kept the pace with your hands.

“Do my lips look as pretty as you imagined?” You asked, innocently batting your eyelashes. The move was slutty but it made you feel sexy.

“So much better than I could have imagined.” He groaned in pleasure as you took him in again, deep, gagging, “Fuck, you really are good at this.”

“Mmm.” You mused, the vibrations making him buck his hips into your mouth again.

You could taste his sweet precum start to spill out the sides of your mouth, and your jaw started to ache but that didn’t stop you from sucking and licking his length. You could tell he was getting close to his peak by the way his breathing started to shallow out, the way his hips seemed to buck more frequently. His moans coming faster and louder.

Before he could break, he yanked you off of him by your hair, the pain rushing through you.

“Fuck! Changbin, what the hell was that for?” You shouted rubbing your scalp. 
 “I was about to spill in your mouth,” He said as if he was doing you a favor.

“You could have just said so!”

“Shh!!” Changbin said covering your mouth with the hand that was previously tied up in your hair. You squinted your eyes at him, but then you heard the front door click and footsteps approaching Changbin’s open door.

“Hey Changbin, sorry for stopping by so late but could you do me a fav— holy shit!” Chan shouted covering his eyes and turning around. “Shit I— I’m so sorry!”

It would have been easy to hid what you were doing if it wasn’t for your face being so close to Changbin’s lap still and his dick hanging out.

“Chan, what the fuck!” You shouted throwing a pillow at him.

“What?! How was I suppose to know you were here?” He asked defensively, flinching from the pillow but still facing the opposite direction.

“Get out!”

“Yeah sorry, oh my god. I’m leaving, fuck this. You guys are crazy. You avoid each other like the plague one minute then I walk in on this.” Chan muttered to himself all the way to the front door.

You and Changbin stared at each other processing what the hell just happened. Well, what the hell just happened in it’s entirety.

“What the fuck..” Changbin said, cracking in to a smile first and laughing.

“What the fuck.” You echoed laughing harder, still in shock of your best friend walking in on you sucking a guy off.

But not just any guy,

You just sucked off Seo Changbin.

[daydream-believin]

The Never-Ending Roadtrip (new beginnings)

Summary: Reader joins Douxie in the quest for Nari’s safety. He’ll need company won’t he? - Also, a talk about Merlin and grief. It’s big feelings time. (part two)

Warnings: Swearing, theres like three bad puns and at least one meme im sorry

Word Count: 2713

A/N: inspired by the fact that i recently moved states and it was the most tedious trip ever. It took the entire day. i was bored out of my mind. So i decided to write about going on a long boring roadtrip with Douxie instead. also, i have a black cat myself and i can attest that they are little domesticated demons. she didn’t like the long trip either.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” Douxie deadpanned when he saw (Name) run up to join him on the ship, perching on the edge. “Well I’m coming with you, obviously.” Douxie had known the young woman long enough to know that there would not be a point in arguing. They would just go round and round for hours before she ultimately won. She fought dirty, puppy dog eyes and all. He didn’t have time for this.

After making sure that Archie and Nari were secure, Doux turned back to (Name), “You’re absolutely sure about this decision, love? Once we take off there’s no going back. We could even be running for the rest of our lives. You really should stay with the others,” he warned.

She looked annoyed. “Yes, Doux. I am absolutely sure. I wouldn’t want you to do this alone. And besides, you’ll need me.”

He blushed for a second before realizing she meant he would need her as in extra backup and not that he needed her needed her. Trying not to show the slight disappointment that was written on his face, he chuckled and covered his cheek with his palm, “Of course.”

They set off into the early morning sky. After waving goodbye to the rest of the gang, (Name) clung to the golden railing, looking out over California in amazement. It was like she was in a movie. This was her life changing magic carpet ride. Of course, a lot about her life had seemed to be out of a movie lately. Ever since she discovered her gift for sorcery. Ever since she got mixed up in all this Arcadian mess. Ever since she met Douxie.

Surprisingly, Douxie was really talkative for the first few hours of the trip. (Name) had expected him to be a bit more closed off, considering the week they had just gone through. He was really gushy too, with his heart on his sleeve even more so than usual, and that’s saying something for Douxie. Maybe momentary death was good for unclogging heart pipes.  (Name) was loving it. Not the momentary death thing. That had almost stopped her heart. No, it was so nice to be having such lighthearted conversation with her friends. Kept her from dwelling on things. Once night got closer, though, she couldn’t help it. What could she say, the pink splattered purple sunset made her sentimental. She and Douxie had slipped into a little talk about Arcadia, about the kids, about what had happened, and about what was next for them. Despite her gushing about how happy she was to be here with him, Douxie still felt really guilty that he put her through all this. She made the mistake of telling him how much it scared her, everything that happened earlier. She made a bigger mistake telling him how she cried over his body, refusing to accept that he was gone. He wasn’t of course, but she didn’t know that.

He suddenly got quiet after that. The conversation lulled. Even Nari and Archie seemed to sense that something was off and kept quiet. After watching the stars roll by in silence for a few hours, (Name) started to feel the tug of sleep. She tried to find a cozy spot, but failed, because she was on a ship. A pretty basic little vessel. There were no seats or anything even kind of cushiony. She contemplated using Archie as a pillow, but that probably wouldn’t fly well with him. Pun intended.

Douxie was still as statue, staring out straight ahead into the clouds. Like a grizzled old sea captain. The bags under his eyes were getting worse than usual, but (Name) decided to not to say anything to him and let it be. He looked like he was enjoying the silence. She didn’t think he’d sleep tonight. How could he? She mused. (Name) herself hadn’t even begun to truly process all that had happened. She wished she knew what to say. Anything to comfort him, to let him know she’s be there. But (Name) was no use now, in her sleepy state. She might make it worse. She’d try talking to him in the morning. If he even wanted to talk.

In the end, (Name) wound up leaning against the corner, using her balled up over-shirt as a pillow. It was a bit colder now, but with Nari snuggled up in her lap and Archie stretched out over her legs, she’d be just fine. They might as well had been heaters. Doux wouldn’t join them, insisting that they needed to fly through the entire night to put as much distance between them and Arcadia as possible. He assured them that he’d wake them up if something was the matter. Of course, they were sleeping on an open deck floor. Any sort of trouble would wake them up immediately anyway, but it was a nice thought. (Name) snuggled into her makeshift pillow. She took one last look at Douxie, brooding at the helm, before slipping off to dreamland. It was a mediocre dream.

The morning sun came sooner than (Name) wanted. The cheeky bugger. There was no use trying to go back to sleep. The sun was too big and bright. so, so bright. Nari also stirred when the sun beam hit her face. She blinked blearily and let out a cute yawn. Or at least it would have been cute, had it not been directly into (Name)’s face. (Name) had to give it to Nari though, her morning breath actually didn’t smell bad. It was earthy, floral even. Damn nature spirits. Despite (Name) and Nari being awake, the sun’s rays seemed to have little to no effect on Archie. He could sleep through anything, on anything, at any time. Damn cats.

Douxie looked like the dead. His raven hair was a mess, lips chapped from the wind. Those eyebags had somehow gotten even worse. Douxie gave Tim Burton characters a run for their money. (Name) decided it might be better to wait until she was a bit more awake and articulate to try and talk to him more about… the, ah, events from yesterday. Yet, she was fully aware that if she kept procrastinating, the conversation was just going to get worse and worse. But the timing’s not right. Yes, the timing’s just not right. The stars, they’re not in position. In fact it might be easier if she got him to take a nap first. Yeah, no need to cause sleep deprived Douxie to have an unnecessary breakdown.

It took some convincing, but (Name) finally got him to agree to let her take the helm and get that well deserved rest. Not that Douxie thought he deserved it. He wasn’t too happy about leaving (Name) and Nari alone, figuratively, while he was unconscious and unable to protect them. He wasn’t too happy about a lot of things, really. He especially didn’t care to be alone with his subconscious. But with the worried look (Name) gave him, he couldn’t help but comply with her demands. Her and her bloody puppy dog eyes.

He woke up to the sound of (Name)’s singing. She probably hadn’t meant to wake him up, with her soft voice hushed, but nonetheless he was awake. Douxie was a light sleeper. He had to be, after all his troublesome years. She was singing a sweet little love song. He felt a drumming in his chest as he listened. Speaking of his chest, there seemed to be a bit of pressure on it. A familiar pressure. It started to purr, sending the comforting vibrations through his ribcage. He gave Arch a good scritch behind the ears before sitting up.

“Your voice is so lovely, you know. I cannot imagine why you’re always hiding it.”

Name startled. “Did I wake you?” she asked, concerned since he hadn’t been out but for a few hours.

“Yes, you had,” He began gently, “But, I’m glad.”

“You’re glad?”

“Of course, I got to hear that beautiful singing voice of yours. Quite the rarity, innit?”

(Name) flushed. She wasn’t sure if she was flattered by his compliments or embarrassed that he had caught her singing once again. Still, she tried to refute his words but all that came out was a flustered sputter. Thankfully, Nari came to the rescue. Unintentionally, but a rescue all the same.

“Hisirdoux, now that you are awake, may I ask where it is that we are going?” the small goddess asked.

“Oh, uh, about that,” Doux wrapped his arms behind his back and sucked some air through his teeth, “I actually didn’t have a set place in mind. I think we’ll just wing it. On our winged boat.”

(Name) whipped her head towards him so fast she’d get whiplash. She didn’t even acknowledge the terrible joke. “I’m terribly sorry, but you what.”

“I just thought we’d head northeast for now. Once we run out of land, we’ll pick a new direction. It’s not like we’d be able to stay too long in a place, after all. It’s safer to be constantly moving.” He tried not to sound to unsure in this rambling. He did have a plan, just not one that looked too solid on a piece of paper. It’ll be fine. They’ll be fine.

“I- okay.” She didn’t sound too panicked, which Douxie counted as a win. Still, he didn’t want her to be too stressed about the uncertainties. He figured he might as well just pick a place to ease her fears a bit. She couldn’t worry herself raw, that was his job.

“How about New York City? That can be our first official destination on the Never-Ending Roadtrip.”

“Yeah, yeah okay. New York City, that sounds nice.” Victory.

***

“Ugh, we’ve been flying over basically the same damn thing forever! Can’t this thing go any faster?” (Name) whined as she leaned over the edge like a wilted flower. Her wind-mussed hair hung over her face. It took everything in Douxie not to flinch whenever she got to close to where she might fall out. Sure, she would most likely be able to break her fall with magic, not coming out with too many scratches, but it still scared him just the same. (Name) was gonna give him a heart attack one of these days.

“It’s a fucking magical flying boat, (Name). It goes eighty miles per hour tops. Do you know how advanced that was in the twelfth century? It was a fucking miracle of technology, (Name). It’s not the boat’s fault we’re currently travelling through Kansas.” Doux huffed. He quickly felt guilty for snapping at her and apologized. He felt a bit on edge lately. Their conversation last night kind of freaked him out. He wanted to be a little more protective of her now since she told him about how scared she was, but snapping at her would just accomplish the opposite of getting across how much he cared.

Name sighed. Looking around the ship, she noticed that Nari and Archie were just napping in the sun, completely unbothered by her and Douxie’s loud outbursts. She looked back out into the seemingly infinite grass field again.

“Well, I guess now is a pretty good time,” She said cryptically, “Hisirdoux, we need to talk.”

It was like she just injected ice water into his veins. He didn’t like her tone, plus, those words were never proceeded by something good. Never. “To talk?” he asked with a nervous tinge in his voice, hoping if she elaborated it wouldn’t be as bad as the conclusions he was jumping to.

“Yeah. Talk. About your feelings.” Well now he was panicking. She said that so solemnly. How did she know? Fuzzbuckets, she was about to reject him, on this boat they were stuck on, in the middle of Kansas. Rip out his heart and throw it into the grassy void.

“To talk, about my feelings?” he repeated her again, incredulously. He put on his best fake smile.

“Yes, Doux.” She sat down on the railing near him and crossed her legs. “I just- I think it’s time we had a proper conversation about stuff. Like say, I don’t know, how you’re handling your grief over a certain mentor.”

Douxie quickly let go of the breath, he wasn’t sure when he started holding, in a loud sigh of relief. Oh thank Merlin, he thought this was going to be bad. That’s what she wanted to talk about? Okay, not the problem he was expecting, but one he could deal with. He’s already had a couple of good cries. He spent most of last night mulling over not just Merlin but the whole concept of death. He could talk about the weight of grief hanging over his heart, no big deal.

“I believe I am handling it well, thank you for your concern, Love.” He tried to sound nonchalant.

“Hisirdoux Casperan, you stared out into the distance with unblinking glassy eyes for hours last night and barely spoke to any of us. Hell, you fucking died yesterday, Doux. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about that. You’re not fine. And you’re not weaseling your way out of this conversation either.” She said sternly. They entered an unspoken staring contest.

“Alright, Love, fine. I am fine. Okay?” She quirked her brow. “I am, truly. I’m at peace. He lived a good life and I’ll continue his legacy with honour. Of course I’m still sad about it, but I’ve got other things to focus on right now. Sure, my chest is still heavy, but it’s not crushing like it was when the wound was fresh,” he rubbed the back of his neck, “And I did get my last goodbye talk with him when I was dead,” He chuckled to try and lighten that last bit up, but name still winced at his words.

“Douxie, I just- I know what it’s like, ya know. To suddenly no longer have that father figure in your life. Someone you looked up to for so long. It’s hard Doux, I get that.” She sympathized. She tipped her head down towards the deck floor.

“Well, in a way, he’s already been gone for about, say, nine centuries. I’ve had my time away from him, so I know that I can do it. It’s the knowing that now he’s gone gone that’s the real kicker.” He glanced across the boat over to the sleeping pile of fur and greenery. Nari was curled up into a ball while Archie mirrored the same, but on top of her. They were like a couple of stacked buns. Douxie smiled at the sight. “And yet, do you know what makes it all feel better?” Name looked back up at him and furrowed her brows.

“You. And Archie. And Zoe. And Claire. And my bandmates and my coworkers and the rest of the Arcadia gang. I’ve got plenty of people in the world now. I know I’ve got all kinds of love.”  He hung his arm over her shoulders. He had made up his mind, he was going to open his heart to her soon. Almost dying really puts one’s priorities in view. “Recently, a great man, well, a great dragon, told me that family is not just who you have, it’s also who you’re with. If one thing I’ve learned in this nightmare week, it’s that you’ve got to enjoy people while you can. Because once they’re gone, they’re gone. You can’t dwell on past love, you’ve got to soak in the love you’ve got now, or you’ll miss it.”

“I guess I understand that.” (Name) said softly. She took in his words. Focus on the now love, huh. She could use to do that too. She felt his hand move from her shoulder to the small of her back.

“Oh hey look at that, we’re coming up on Missouri. How about we stop for brunch, Love?”

“Oh I’m starving,” Archie butt into the conversation and flew over to rest on (Name)’s shoulder. He did one of those black cat yawns where they turn their entire faces inside out and they become nothing more than a black hole with teeth, “I could really go for a bagel with extra lox right now.”

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Today in Tolkien - February 17th

This is the Fellowship’s first full day of travel down the River Anduin.

Frodo was roused by Sam. He found that he was lying, well wrapped, under tall grey-skinned trees in a quiet corner of the woodland on the west bank of the Great River, Anduin. He had slept the night away, and the grey of morning was dim among the bare branches. Gimli was busy with a small fire near at hand.

They started again before they day was broad. Not that most of the Company were eager to hurry southwards...they let the River bear them on at its own pace, having no desire to hasten towards the perils that lay beyond. Aragorn let them drift with the stream as they wished, husbanding their strength against weariness to come. But he insisted that at least they should start early each day and journey on far into the evening; for he felt in his heart that time was pressing, and he feared that the Dark Lord had not been idle while they lingered in Lórien. Nonetheless they saw no sign of an enemy that day.

This is also the day Gwaihir finds Gandalf and carries him to Lothlórien: they just miss each other. And it’s probably not an accident that they do:

From Gandalf’s account in The Two Towers:

And so at the last Gwaihir the Windlord found me again, and he took me up and bore me away.

“Ever am I fated to be your burden, friend at need,” I said.

“A burden you have been,” he answered, “but not so now. Light as a swan’s feather in my claw you are. The Sun shines through you. Indeed I do not think you need me any more: were I to let you fall, you would float upon the wind.”

“Do not let me fall!” I gasped, for I felt life in me again. “Bear me to Lothlórien!”

“That indeed is the command of the Lady Galadriel who sent me to look for you,” he answered.

Thus it was that I came to Caras Galadhon and found you but lately gone. I tarried there in the ageless time of that land where days bring healing not decay. Healing I found, and I was clothed in white. Counsel I gave and counsel took.

But how did Galadriel know to tell Gwaihir to look for Gandalf? The Fellowship had told her he had died; and indeed, he did die, though not until several days after the Fellowship told Galadriel and Celeborn of the balrog and of Gandalf’s fall from the bridge. And during that conversation with the Fellowship Galadriel said, “I cannot see [Gandalf] from afar, unless he cones within the fences of Lothlórien; a grey mist is about him, and the ways of his feet and of his mind are hidden from me.”

So what changed? Why would Galadriel except Gwaihir to find Gandalf alive? It’s possible that something had changed since her earlier statement, and she either saw Gandalf in her mirror, or she perceived his mind when he returned to life. They do know each other well enough to speak together without words, after the manner of elves with close friends, as we see in the “Many Partings” chapter of The Return of the King. Or she may have extrapolated from the disturbance in the Dimrill Dale.

But since Gandalf returned to life on the 14th, which was also the day Frodo looked in the Mirror of Galadriel, it gives us a very interesting possible chain of events. The very day after Gandalf returns to life, Galadriel and Celeborn tell the Fellowship - suddenly, after a month - okay, you need to leave now. Part of that may be Galadriel trying to rapidly remove temptation from herself after Frodo offers her the ring, but since she sends Gwaihir to look for Gandalf and bring him to Lothlorien, it seems like she knew he was alive at the time of the Fellowship’s departure, and deliberately arranged for him and the Fellowship to miss each other. (It certainly would not be hard to send swift rowers from Lothlórien to tell the Fellowship the news - they were only a day ahead and only moving at the speed of Anduin’s flow.) She sees and interprets a lot, past, present, and future; maybe she understood that this was the way things needed to be.

Beause - aside from the fact that Gandalf is in no shape to be moving on immediately, and the Fellowship cannot afford to lose any more time - Gandalf can’t go with Frodo to Mordor. He would be far too easily noticed by Sauron. But Gandalf deliberately sending Frodo and Sam alone would be too hard, and I don’t think he would be able to do it. So perhaps this is the only way the Quest can succeed, if Gandalf isn’t with them at the moment of the Breaking of the Fellowship.

[bruh-haikyuu]

REQUEST: Can you do a scenario where lev meets his s/o because she playing the piano or singing. Thank you. Love your writing.❤️

A/N: Thank you for requesting!! Ok Sasha storytime 😳😳 I used to be in a piano class since I was 5 (I quit, but I still play just for fun). And I joined this competition when I was 9 and got selected as one of the finalists - and I was so fucking surprised bc jesus, I play averagely for all I can say... I’m not the best, but I’m definitely not the worst. But there was this messed up system where more familiar faces/winners would definitely be chosen. And despite some other kids messing up a lot, the MCs removed me first bc “Sorry, no one knows you around here. You played better than some others, but maybe if you talked more, you could win. No one really wants a winner they’re not familiar with.” I couldn’t really say anything. I knew they were right. So I left with a Certificate of Participation and not even proof that the judges chose me as a finalist. THIS particular event got me so fucked up for so long that I tried to get myself sick/injured so that I wouldn’t have to go to my piano classes for 4 weeks straight. Eventually, I pulled out after my exam and started playing for myself, with the songs that I enjoy, whenever I want. So,,, fuck those MCs and my teacher, I’m a bad bitch you can’t kill me 😎 *plays Superbass by Nicki Minaj* FEM!READER BELOW

duende. | haiba lev

summary: in which lev has no sense of direction, but finds a lone sugarplum fairy along the way.

word count: 2438

warnings: none

(n.) the feeling of profound awe experienced when viewing a piece of art, watching a performance or listening to music that has deeply moved a person

It’s difficult to tell precisely... but Lev was definitely lost.

It wasn’t his fault the school had to be so large! What’s the point of having so much staircases when they weren’t going to lead to one conjoined hallway? It was like a maze, except Lev knew he wasn’t getting anywhere near a familiar area.

Crap! he cursed, pawing nervously at his empty pant pocket. I left my phone in the clubroom.

Light was already fading from the west-side window and he hadn’t come across anyone for the past 15 minutes. He recalled something Taketora said about a part of the school being dead deserted. Was this that place? He couldn’t tell.

He was getting impatient. If Lev didn’t hurry up and submit his additional worksheets to Sakamatsu-sensei before sundown, it was over. Goodbye to the club’s training camp. Goodbye to becoming the greatest ace Nekoma has ever had. Goodbye to everything he ever cared about.

Instinct taking over, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him and called out to the empty hallways for someone. Anyone. “Hello?! Sakamatsu-sensei...?!”

And when the vacant corridors replied back to him, Lev stilled, frozen.

“...Piano?”

Alisa had told him something about ghosts once. It was right after she’d gone out to watch some horror movie with her friends. Lev couldn’t remember exactly her words, but his sister had “slept” with her eyes open that night and he wondered if he should be taking her advice seriously.

But this didn’t sound like a ghost. Something that sounded so beautiful wouldn’t have any murderous intention behind it... right?

The melody reminded Lev of those old ballets his grandmother would play on TV when she visited. Every glissando a delicate spin by one of the performers, and every perky note a tiny leap. He could almost see them, those beautiful dancers, and Lev wondered—if he were to trace the music to its source, would he find a charming sugarplum fairy waiting for him?

His feet were already ahead of his thoughts. Lev couldn’t even tell where he was in the gallery of clubrooms. His senses of direction numbed, he relied on his ears and the sweet, sweet melody of the piano that was getting warmer. And warmer. Warmer.

Hot.

“Or...chestra Club?” he read out, the placard’s kanji wrapping itself around his head. Peering through the rectangular window of the doors, Lev zeroed in on the bareness of the room, save for the large grand piano settled in the center.

This is the place... right? he thought, retreating slowly. No one’s here.

Looking around for good measure, Lev scratched his head. Ah, geez, I don’t even know where I am anymore. He reconsidered throwing away his curiosity and return to his quest for the third year’s Teacher’s Room before his Biology teacher could scold him for his incompetence. But the little fluff of hair peeking out from behind the piano swayed him over and he didn’t even stop to think when he barged through the doors.

“Fairy!”

The girl who squeaked in shock really did convince Lev for a millisecond that she was a fairy. Straight out of that stage his TV had replayed for him. Tiny in stature, eyes shining like morning dewdrops and fingers pressed again the white keys, thin and graceful as if you were producing magic. All excluding the lack of a pair of shimmering wings sprouted on her back, you were an enigma in this barren universe.

“I’m human,” you said, voice like air. Breezing and pushing like wind.

Lev approached the center of the room, speculating if your glamour would disappear if he were to come closer. “T-That song you played. That was from a ballet, right?”

“It’s Tchaikovsky,” you replied bluntly, grinning. “I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before, can’t recall... We’re not too familiar, but you’re awfully rude for a first year, aren’t you? At least address me with the proper suffixes if you’re going to assume my species like that, Giant-kun.”

Speak for yourself! he thought, becoming more and more amused by this fanciful person. “I mean, you don’t look like a high school student either—”

You, completely ignoring him, returned your attention the piano, playing another song. This one faster, more fluid. Seeing your hands up-close, Lev eyed the muted details of your hand. A gentle blush on its skin, illuminated by the sunlight from the large window sitting ajar. His sister would kill to have a hint at your manicure routine.

So this is what a pianist’s hands looks like.

“Oh, I remember now,” hands coming to a rest on your skirt, the fairy girl turned to him, as elegant as ever. Now that the room was silent, there was a nervousness that lingered in the air. “You’re one of Kuroo’s boys, aren’t you?”

Hearing the familiar name of the no-nonsense captain of the Volleyball Club, Lev perked up, “You know Kuroo-san?”

“Of course, we’re in the same class after all.”

Same class. That would mean—no way!

“Y-you’re older than me?!”

You gave him a bright smile. Added to your fairy-like personage, Lev couldn’t help but to notice that this upperclassman of his was aware of his existence. There was actually a girl—who was awfully cute and just his type if he thought about it—in this godforsaken school who knew about Nekoma’s ‘ace’, Haiba Lev.

This was a dream, right? No, he shouldn’t be saying such a thing. In fact, Lev had gotten so engrossed in this reality that he didn’t realize how much he was staring into your beautiful face before you piped up again.

“Oh, it’s almost time for me to lock up. I forgot to ask, did you need anything when you came in here?”

Wait, what time is it?!

Lev let out a strangled noise between a dying boar and a tearful sob. Collapsing on the floor before his worried senpai, he squeezed the papers in his hand. Oh, it was over now. Over, over, over. Hello wretched make-up exam, goodbye glorious training camp...

Kneeling down next to him, you peeked at his wincing face. “H-hey, are you okay? Is there anything I can do to help?”

Raising his head to look into your swirling eyes, Lev pursed his lips. Damn, you were totally going to think he was uncool after this. Grabbing you by the shoulders, he lowered his head in a bow.

“Senpai, could you show me the way to the third year’s teacher’s room? I’ve got an assignment to submit before 5 pm and I don’t know where I am! Please, senpai, I need to—”

No more words were exchanged when you grabbed Lev’s collosal hands in your delicate ones and dragged him through the door. You sped and hurtled down the corridors, bringing him along with you in this strange joyride. It was a funny sensation, similar to being towed around a park by a wild dog on a leash—except you weren’t a dog, but simply a shorter person whose size reminded him a bit of Yaku-san...

“S-Senpai—?!” he wheezed out, long legs pedalling in front of him. For someone nearly half his height, you were really fast; he wondered if you should’ve went for the Track and Field Club instead of the Orchestra Club.

Just as he had thought of letting go before you became a physical hazard to him, you skid to a halt in front of a door. Panting, you smiled up at him. “Here we are. Y-You’re not late, right?”

Eyes darting between the doors to the teacher’s office and you, the burning intention of a hug fuzzed out Lev’s brain—unfortunately, that would have to wait until later. Shoving the door open, he dashed inside the near-empty office and handed over his pile of crumpled assignments to the jaded Sakamatsu-sensei, face red.

Filing through the papers, the Biology teacher griped. “Well, all the assignments I asked for you to do are here... I’ll inform the Volleyball Club supervisor that you’ll be able to join the training camp this weekend.”

Saved. He was saved.

Exiting the office, he bowed before you—his fairy godmother—and murmured. “Thank you, senpai! You saved my life... ”

“Y-You’re welcome,” you said. “But I don’t think I went as far as “saving your life”, um... what was your name?”

“Haiba! Haiba Lev. Thank you so much!”

When you giggled, Lev heard the choirs of angels fill his head. God, he really wanted to hug you, stuff you in his pocket and bring you home with him to coo at and cuddle.

“The pleasure is mine, Haiba-kun. You’re an interesting person, you know? I’m glad we met.”

Lev really felt like he’d won the lottery. Was this finally his chance? Was he going to get a super cute, older girlfriend before his intolerable seniors? Unthinkable! Yet here he was, indulging in the soft smile of Nekoma’s resident sugarplum fairy, as if his entire gag reel of clumsy flukes never existed.

“Ah! I forgot to lock the doors to the clubroom!” you yelped. Even in panic, Lev thought you looked cute. “It was nice getting to know you, Haiba-kun. The main staircase is right over there, so you’ll be able to get back without getting lost. Be safe!”

Before he could offer his hand in accompanying you—at least being next to you for as long as possible—you had already sped off into an indistinct corner, the amber light of sundown fading with your shadow. And once again, Lev was alone.

Damn. He didn’t even ask for your name.

══════ ⋆★⋆ ══════

“You’re asking me... if I know a girl in my class called ‘Fairy-senpai’?”

The gaze in Lev’s green eyes were resolute. “Yes.”

Kuroo sighed, wiping off his sweat with a towel. Day by day, he swore, the first-years were getting more and more difficult to deal with. “Someone named Fairy who hangs around in that derelict part of the third floor sounds shady as hell. And what club did you say she was from?”

“Orchestra Club.”

“We have an Orchestra Club?”

Lev was getting nowhere with the rooster-headed captain; it was either that, or Kuroo was intentionally leading him to a dead-end out of sheer mischief. Anything could happen with him.

It had been a total of 18 hours since he’d last seen you, and Lev’s head had never felt any emptier. He’d startled his parents and Alisa enough by playing one of his grandmother’s ballet DVDs once he’d arrived home. But it wasn’t the same. Even the visual movements of the ballerinas and the skill of the ensemble didn’t amount to your solo rendition.

Yours was more natural, more sturdy. Something he could feel and see without opening his eyes or reaching out to it. Smitten with your performance, Lev slept that night, head filled with the thought of seeing you again, his little sugarplum fairy in the maze of doors and desolation. And maybe, he’d even get your number this time.

“She’s really good at the piano and has a twinkly smile. Fairy-senpai is a bit short too, really tiny,” Lev hesitated to continue, looking around for safety “... A bit like Yaku-san’s height.”

“What’s this I hear about my height? Hey, Lev! Why aren’t you practicing your digging receives?!”

Wincing at the stinging kick thrown at his back, Lev pouted miserably. Watching the poor behemoth being dragged away by the demonic upperclassman, an implausible feeling of pity struck through Kuroo, and he called out for the libero.

“A cute girl who looks like a fairy, can play the piano and is in the Orchestra Club? In our class?” Yaku repeated after Lev and Kuroo’s explanation. Tapping his chin in deep thought, he replied dubiously. “Doesn’t that sound a bit like L/N-san to you?”

“Ehh? L/N-chan can play the piano? I never knew that.”

Yaku clicked his tongue indignantly. “That’s because you barely talk to her. Maybe if you attended cleaning duty properly, you would’ve realized that when you’re paired up with her.”

The sound of his seniors bickering was already white noise to him. L/N. Repeating the syllables on his tongue, Lev tasted a sugary relish linger in his mouth. What a beautiful name. A fitting name, and suddenly, he already sensed that your first name would be just as wonderful.

“Though I’m impressed that you managed to get a full conversation out of L/N-san. Did you scare her or something?” Yaku snickered at Lev’s unappreciative scowl. “It’s just that L/N-san only says something when she’s required to. Otherwise... she’s really quiet. I’ve only heard her say ‘thank you’, ‘I’m sorry’, ‘yes’ and ‘no’ for the past three years, everything else we know about her comes from gossip.”

Lev’s chest swelled up and he smirked. “Maybe she likes younger guys like me.”

“I think she likes you because you’ve got nothing going on in your head at all,” the team captain scoffed attracting the giggles of his surrounding teammates. “You are right though, Lev. L/N-chan is a really cute person... I might get interested one of these days.”

“H-Huh?! C’mon, Kuroo-san! I’ve got dibs on her first!”

Nearly there, the captain thought. Lev’s ears were already burning red, a clear sign of his impulsive outburst. And when the timing was right, the Volleyball Club loved to use his recklessness for profit.

Crossing his arms in faux doubt, Kuroo shrugged. “I don’t know... I highly doubt you’ll attract her attention if you’re not even a regular on the team...”

Furrowing his brows deeply, Lev snatched a ball from the ground and stared deeply into the captain’s lacklustre eyes. “I-I’ll show you! I’ll become a regular on the team and the ace! That’s why I’m going to go practice right now, right, Yaku-san?!”

Even Yaku, completely amused and alarmed, had to do a double take. “R-Right... Do your best then.”

“I will!”

Chuckling at Lev’s shrinking back, Kuroo patted himself on the back for a job well done. Kenma, who had watched the entire nasty exchange go down, was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Weakly punching his childhood friend on his shoulder, he grumbled. “Great... Now that he’s fired up about some girl, he’ll keep asking me for more tosses. Kuroo, if I pass out because of your ‘encouragement’, you’re paying for my health insurance.”

Lev couldn’t hear the new conversation happening between the team’s setter and the captain, but that didn’t matter right now. He was going to practice, become better, then the best. Then ask you out, his sugarplum fairy in the third floor’s Orchestra Club clubroom. Lev felt invincible.

[pens-swords-stuff]

Hi undine!! I’m watching e3 this weekend (an event where games get announced if you don’t know) and trying to squeeze in time to write still!! I can’t remember where I was at the last time I talked to you, but I finished the first draft of my main wip a week ago and am working on my side gay undercover spy wip while I let it rest! Would you like to ramble about the ATB characters? How has your summer been so far? Anything new or fun in your life or near Future plans? Thanks for doing this ❤️

Hey Lila!

Congrats on finishing your first draft, that's awesome!!! I'm so impressed, I swear you've been pulling out so many amazing milestones and achievements lately — or at least it definitely seems like it. You're so amazing, I'm in awe of you! And excuse me gay undercover spy WIP sounds amazing please tell me more????

My summer has been pretty chill. I'm actually wrapping up my internship this week. I've been asked to stay on temporarily as a paid volunteer to help make the transition process smoother as new interns come in, and I am officially handing over the baton on Thursday. It's kind of bittersweet! Besides that, I don't really have any summer plans. Besides writing with my writing partner and hanging out with friends! Now that things are slowly opening back up, I've been reaching out to some old high school friends that I haven't talked to in forever and that's been really nice.

What about you? I hope your summer is fantastic!

This post is already super long, so I'll ramble abotu ATB characters in a different post I think. Thanks so much for asking! I've been struggling to figure out how to talk about it and I really appreciate it.

Putting my E3 thoughts under the read more because wow it is a lot of words.

I've been watching bits and pieces of E3. I've never been one to watch it and I usually just caught up with all the news afterwards, but my partner is much more into it than I am so we've been watching some together when we can! I watched the Bethesda and Square Enix showcase yesterday and boy howdy let me tell ya, I was so disappointed! Square Enix makes some of my absolute favorite games and I was really excited for it. I was hoping for some Dragon Quest XII news, or maybe something more about Project Triangle Strategy but all I got was an entire half an hour on the Guardians of the Galaxy game, and then another additional Avengers thing. As someone who is definitely not into the MCU and is super frustrated that all the big movie releases are all MCU movies, I was very unhappy. Everything else in that was also super rushed and not well organized at all. I was pretty disappointed with Life is Strange: True Colors in it too despite being super excited for the game because it just feels like it was all stuff I already knew.

That being said, I did say "I'm going to kill Chaos!" with my partner all day yesterday so it wasn't a complete bust.

I was also hoping for a new Ace Attorney game from Capcom but all we got was the Great Ace Attorney again :c. I'm glad it's coming to the West and all but as a Japanese person I definitely don't need it as much as Americans do sooooo

Now that Square Enix and Capcom have not been it for me, I'm really looking forward to the Nintendo Direct tomorrow. I don't have big hopes, I'm just hoping to be pleasantly surprised since Nintendo has been pretty dry lately too. All I want is an Animal Crossing update that actually adds stuff, something more substantial for Zelda's 35th anniversary than what we've got so far, and maybe some more news on some games I've been anticipating like Baldo and again, Project Triangle Strategy, maybe an Octopath Traveler sequel or a follow up to FE3H but I'm not expecting any of that to actually happen. My partner is also dying for a Metroid thing. I think he's resigned to not hearing anything about Metro Prime 4, so he's just crossing his fingers for some of the older games to make its way over onto the Switch. As always I'm keeping my hopes super low, but it'd be nice to get excited about a game again.

I hope it's more than just the rumored Switch Pro!

(My biggest wildcard wish is for a new Katamari Damacy to be announced. Warioware too but that one is seeming a bit more promising!)

I also just started playing Hades for the first time yesterday and so if it's super disappointing I'm just going to channel it all into that because I am obsessed.

[kamilah-is-queen]

Great ! but i have to warn you it’s gonna be a LONG one as i have written all the ideas but i can’t write the scenario without it being VERY cheesy. plus I’d appreciate it if you didn’t include smut in my request which i’ll post after this one but maybe just some fluff and “indicators” of following smut but not actually writing any 😂 (ps. you don’t have to reply to this ask neither the following ask in which i’ll put the whole fic idea)

I was informed that @rocketscientist07 had written a similar piece on AO3, so just to clarify I don’t mean to copy their work and ideas. Credit for this idea goes to the anon that requested this. The beginning of the story is changed slightly from the end scene from Bloodbound, due to an easier plot style.

Link to The Darker Side

Tagging: @wisebananapatrol, @kamilahtopme, @vonda-b-real, @iamsimpforpoppy, @millasayeed, @clan-sayeed-fic, @queenkamilah



Rheya outstretched a blood soaked hand towards the Bloodkeeper, an evil smirk rising to her face. “Come with me, Amy. Learn what true power feels like..” A glow of orange light blossoming out of her hand as she guided it towards the Bloodkeeper. “..These puny creatures living in my shadow can’t give you the power, the strength, the potential to rule the world and have you as it’s Queen Amy.”

The young vampire in an attempt to satisfy her curiosity, reached her fingers towards the bright glow from Rheya’s hand. A bolt of energy burst through her body, the pain replaced by strength, her insecurities replaced with a new found confidence.

She lifted off the stage, the same beam of light emitting from her eyes as Rheya’s voice echoed inside the Bloodkeeper’s head. “These mortals don’t deserve to live Amy,” she said, gesturing to the dumbfounded group of humans in their seats, “kill every last one of them.” The First commanded.

Amy closed her eyes as the power grew, Jax, Lily and Adrian watched in horror before Kamilah sprang to the place beneath Amy. “Amy, wait!” The youngest vampire bowed her head to meet Kamilah’s eyes, her voice deeper than a crack of thunder. “It’s too late, Kamilah.

The Egyptian didn’t attempt to stop the tears that slid from her eyes, her heart breaking into a thousand pieces all over again. “No, Amy no, it isn’t too late. You can fight this, I know you can, my love.” Her voice cracked, fear and anxiousness rising in her voice.

“You're stronger than anyone I’ve ever known, even stronger than I thought...than I thought you could’ve been Amy. We’ve been through so much, all of us,  don’t give up now..”

“We defeated Gauis together, traveled to Japan and worked with the Five. Crashed down on that island where Demetrieus’s tree was living. If you weren’t strong or powerful, none of us would be here today Amy. None of us.”

Amy watched intently, before turning her head away. “I’m not who you think I am, not anymore.” She raised her hands toward the sky and closed her fists, the mortal crowd screaming in agony before one by one, the blood pooled out of their bodies and towards Amy.

The tears fell furiously as Kamilah sunk to her knees, sobbing into her hands. “My my, what a pity.” Rheya cackled into the night sky, extending her hand to Amy once more. With a final look towards her friends, towards everything she ever knew, she met Kamilah’s gaze.

Amy saw fear. She saw the memories of them flash through Kamilah’s eyes. Memories of them sharing the warmest of cuddles and the softest of kisses. Memories of the two laughing into the night sky, and some of when the night was more passionate like in the Cabin. The moment when Kamilah confessed her love as Amy slipped away from the world, all of them meaning nothing in that split second.

Amy relived the moments where she broke down Kamilah’s steel walls, especially the walls of her heart. She had to make a decision. Would she stay with Kamilah and enjoy the safety and security of the Egyptian? Or, would she choose Rheya and her promise of power and control over the world. To rule as a true queen, with no boundaries to constrict here.

The voice in Amy’s head screamed at her to choose Kamilah, but if she did, one of her friends wouldn’t make it. She knew that one of them wouldn’t, and she couldn’t risk it. After everything she’d been through, they were family. And it was wrong to turn your back on family, but it was for the greater good. Only, the gang didn’t see it as that.

“I’m sorry..” Amy’s voice barely a whisper, before she took Rheya’s hand and they disappeared into the night sky.

“No! No, no, no, no!” Kamilah slammed her fist into the stage of the opera house, her vision blurred with the tears streaming down her cheeks. She punched the stage again, and again, and again until her hands were completely soaked in blood and the skin on her knuckles ripped as Adrian attempted to calm her.

He wrapped his arms around her, a strong grip holding Kamilah in place as she shrieked with the heartache. Kamilah eventually tired out, the events of the past few weeks catching up to her. The plane crash with Gauis, the trip to Japan, all the moments with Amy, they all came crashing and burning in her heart.

“It’s okay Kamilah, she’s made her decision. It’s okay, we’ll find a way to get her back.” He slowly rocked the older vampire in his arms, his heartbeat a comforting rhythm as Kamilah relaxed.

“What if she doesn’t..want to come back Adrian?” Kamilah’s voice thick with grief, feeling a sense of instability for the first time in her life. Adrian took a deep breath, steeling himself, “I promise, she will. She can’t leave you, leave us like this without reason sister. Love will bring her back to you”

“She betrayed us.” With enough agony for the day, Kamilah passed out into Adrain’s arms. Her heart weighing in her chest like an anvil, an anvil broken into thousands of heavy little pieces.

5 years later…

The roaring noise of the thunder and lightning filled the night sky as Amy walked through the streets of Japan. She gripped the fabric of her clothes, the material drenched in the rain but that didn’t stop her from continuing forward.

The lasting words of her previous conversation rang through Amy’s head…

“Demetrius, if we wish to obtain the type of power we seek, then we mustn’t stand idle. What are we waiting for? One move and the superpowers of the world will be beneath us, begging for mercy.”

Rheya clenched her fist and raised it to the sky, her eyes glimmering with hope yet dark with longing. The four were placed at the dinner table, Rheya at the head and Demetrius, Lola, Gauis and Amy positioned nearby.

When Amy had agreed to join Rheya in her hungry quest for power, she had also unknowingly agreed to be an anchor to the other side. With a lack of support, Rheya brought both Lola and Demetrius back to life. Not only for emotional support, but for advice in their conquest.

Unfortunately, this only worsened Amy’s condition. As if being away from anyone she’s ever known was difficult enough, the burden of being the link between the living and the dead was also placed upon her shoulders.

As Amy listened on to the conversation, rage filled in her chest. All the innocent lives of mortals to be lost, at the cost of one of her friends was unbearable to think about. The anger consumed her, filling her body and she didn’t attempt to cease it.

“While you may be right, Rheya...we’re still lacking the resources to pull something like this off. I think we should wait, hold off as long as possible and strike when least expected.” Amy stood from the table, excusing herself as she prayed her tactics had worked.

“Amy wait…” Gauis stood and immediately rushed after her. “I know something’s off, you’ve never acted like this before.” He gently cupped Amy’s face with a hand, Amy leaning into the touch before pulling away slowly. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind, that’s all.” She replied with a small smile.

Gauis had been there through it all. From the very first night she spent with the First and her crew up until that point. In some ways, they had grown close. When Amy needed security and a sense of tranquility, Gauis was the first to be at her side. Through all his hardened and almost non existent emotions, he felt sorry for the girl. She was a mere child, thrown into a whirlpool of danger and excitement and he felt it was his place to keep her safe.

They’d spent many nights together, Gauis not knowing whether Amy truly felt for him the way he did for her, or if it was an escape to a land of peace and calm.

With a small sigh, Gauis pulled his hand back. “Perhaps a stroll will clear your mind. Allow me to join you, my Queen?”

“I think it’ll be best if I took this one alone.” Amy encouragingly squeezing his hand before strolling out through the castle’s gates.

Now, as she walked aimlessly through the brightly lit streets, there was only one person on her mind...Kamilah. She’d overheard conversations about the gang relocating to Japan, to strengthen their base and form a stronger alliance with the Five. Of course that was Rheya’s first plan, to wipe them out but with quick thinking, Amy was able to hold her off.

But it wouldn’t last for long, and that’s why Amy was going to take Rheya, Demetrius and Lola out. But only with the help of her family.

Amy strode in through the doors of the famous club, the club where Amy had first seen Aiko. As she looked around, the familiar faces brought a warm sensation to heart. They were safe, her family was alive.

Small murmurs pulled Amy out of her thoughts, her gaze falling to each and every person in the room. Adrian was seated on a bar stool beside Lily, the pair speaking in hushed whispers as they gazed at Amy. Jax was sipping a glass of whiskey, Akeyo, Henry, Kano and The Evolved beside him.

Then, there was Kamilah. Seated comfortably in one of the cream sofas, Aiko nestled on her lap with a glass of wine in hand.

Amy felt a lump rise in her throat, her eyes threatening to give way to tears as she looked on. Kamilah hadn’t noticed Amy’s presence for she was too indulged in covering Aiko in gentle kisses. Kisses that only Amy was allowed to have, touches that Kamilah swore would only be placed upon Amy, now onto a new partner.

“Hello love, did you miss me?” Amy said with a smug smirk across her face, her gaze directed at Kamilah. The vampires looked up from their previous conversation, Kamilah’s eyes widening in disbelief. “I know I’m the last person you want to be speaking to, but I don’t care. I need your help and you guys are family, I know you wouldn’t give up on me.” She said, her head bowed slightly.

When Amy lifted her head, Kamilah was standing before her. The Egyptian’s features hadn’t differed from their usual breathtaking appearance. Her eyes never wavering from Amy’s as the two fell into a trance.

“It’s you...it’s really you Amy.” Kamilah hesitantly took a step forward before her arm was snatched back by Aiko.

“Why would we help you, traitor?” Aiko practically spitting out the words with a scowl across her face. Amy took in the remarks before replying, “I don’t think a useless mutt like you could have the brain capacity to help anyways.” She said while checking her fingernails.

Kamilah held Aiko back as the vampire lunged towards Amy, “You little bitch I swear I’ll get you one day!”

“Enough Aiko!” Kamilah’s eyes flashed a threatening maroon colour, forcing Aiko to back down and regain her composure.

“Fine, but this rotten piece of shit…” Aiko whispered harshly with her finger pointed at Amy’s face, “should’ve never shown her face here.”

As the Five assisted in dragging Aiko away, Kamilah refocused her attention back on Amy. “Let’s talk somewhere more private, shall we?” Lily led the four towards the back room, everyone standing at a distance from each other as an awkward silence filled the room.

Adrian was the first to speak as he set his glass down on the table…”Amy, you know we’d never turn our back on you but you have to understand, what you did 5 years ago isn’t something to be taken lightly.” His face was oddly calm and nonchalant, something that didn’t happen often with the CEO.

“You...you betrayed us…” Lily bowed her head as her voice cracked. Tears filled the vampire’s eyes as they slid down her cheeks.

“No, that’s what I’m trying to say. All this time, I’ve been with Rheya for the gang’s protection. It seems crazy, and twisted but..it’s not I swear.” Amy’s eyes pleaded innocently as she looked around the room.

“Everything you’ve ever known, all the memories you had and every single moment of tranquility, safety and warmth was left behind the second you agreed to join her Amy.” Kamilah spoke through gritted teeth. She swirled the wine in her glass, staring at the deep red liquid sloshing from side to side.

“Kamilah…” Amy felt the coldness in her heart melt away the moment she saw the pained expression on her lovers face. Kamilah’s deep, brown eyes glossed over as their memories washed over her, clear signs of pain reaking from the older CEO.

With a flick of her gaze, Kamilah stood and turned her attention to Amy. “If you’ll excuse us.” Jax, Adrian and Lily bowed their heads respectfully, leaving the two alone in silence.

“You’re not the same Amy I knew, not the Amy I fell in love with those years ago.” Kamilah took Amy’s hands into her own, holding them gently. “But, I can’t see you in this state. Not when Rheya’s controlling you like this, no. I’ll do everything in my power to help you Amy, whether you want me to or not.”

Kamilah searched Amy’s eyes looking for something, anything. Amy simply stood frozen like a statue, her gaze flicking between her lover’s deep brown orbs. With a sigh, the CEO withdrew her hands and tucked them away in her pockets. “The truth is...I still love you. All this time, I’ve still loved you. And perhaps you don’t feel the same Amy but, I’m willing to wait for you. Be it years, or centuries...I’ll always be there to support you.”

And with that, Kamilah left without another word leaving Amy to her thoughts.

“I don’t see why you have to help her.” Aiko speaking through a tense jaw, her arms folded as she paced around their bedroom. “Because she was once mine, Aiko. I can’t sit by and watch her deteriorate like this.” Kamilah said as she gazed through the window up at the bright moon in the sky.

Aiko huffed, gripping Kamilah’s collar as her gaze fell to the CEO’s lips. “I think I need to remind you of who you’re with now, no?” Her voice dropped an octave, Aiko’s tongue licking a path across Kamilah’s lower lip.

“No, not tonight Aiko.” Kamilah gently, but firmly pushed Aiko off with a sigh. “You still love her, don’t you?” Aiko’s eyes flashed with hurt as Kamilah nodded quietly.

“How could I not love her? I know that we were together before but...this can’t go on. Not anymore.” Kamilah offered a small smile, kissing Aiko’s knuckles ever so softly.

“Ugh, fine. Whatever.” Aiko scoffed before storming out of the room, mumbling curses under her breath. “I’ll get that little weasel, she’s gone.” Aiko harshly whispered before rushing out of the club.

Four weeks later….

Amy, Jax, Adrian and Kamilah all gathered round in the club, a stage brightly lit in the front with a microphone on a stand.

Amy jumped up the stage, excitedly gripping the mic and tapping the tip. “Testing, testing.” Her voice rang through the room, the other three gazing up at the woman on stage.

Without warning, music started blaring through the speakers, the floor pounding with the bass. Amy gripped the mic tighter and closed her eyes. A smooth, deep voice rang through the speakers and set the gang into a trance.

“What a badass.” Lily chuckled as she sipped the beer in her hand.

“You’re saying that to a woman whose come from a small town in Massachusetts, making it big in NYC and successfully taking down the biggest threat the shadow world has ever faced. I’d say that’s quite badass.” Kamilah smirked behind her glass, watching Amy with rapt attention.

Adrian laughed and fixed the liquor behind it’s replacing place on the shelf, “Nothing less than remarkable, if you ask me. She’s made such a big difference to so many people. To us, especially.”

They all nodded in agreement before Jax spoke up. “She’s sacrificed everything for us. Love, her family, her friends...let alone the only humanity inside her. All because that psycho Rheya can’t give up her lust for power.”

Just as Amy had started the song, she closed it on a high note as the bass from the speakers started to cease. She opened her eyes to see the gang gazing intensely at her, studying her as if she was a display in a museum.

“Well, this has been fun but...I’m ready to hit the hay.” Lily yawned and outstretched her arms, Jax laughing and slinging an arm around her shoulders. “Right behind ya.”

With Adrian and Kamilah not far on their heels, Amy felt her voice rising from her throat again. She had nothing on her mind but the lyrics spinning through her head, Kamilah the source behind them.

“My head's under water, but I'm breathing fine.

You're crazy and I'm out of my mind…”

Kamilah lingered at the threshold of the door, her ears peeking up as she listened to Amy’s strong voice.

“Cause all of me,

Loves all of you,

Love your curves and all your edges,

All your perfect imperfections.”

Amy poured her heart out into the words as her chest pounded with desire and longing for her lover and partner. She imagined Kamilah standing before her, her graceful smile and endless chestnut eyes staring right back into hers.

Kamilah flicked her gaze back to Amy once before walking away, a small smile spreading across her face as she hummed the lyrics. “Perhaps, she does still love me…” She whispered to herself quietly.

A few days later, Amy found herself in the terrace pool, her arms leaning back on the glass as she gazed at Kamilah in front of her. Those deep eyes gazed right through Amy, Amy so lost in them that she didn’t realize when Kamilah had gotten closer.

Kamilah’s breath tickled her neck, before the CEO lifted her head, purposely brushing her lips to Amy’s. “Will...you allow me to kiss you, Amy?” A hopeful look shone in her eyes, the same way the moonlight reflected off the pool and into her orbs.

Amy didn’t bother to respond, because she cupped Kamilah’s face...kissing her with every ounce of longing inside her body. Their lips crashed, Kamilah’s hands exploring Amy’s body as their tongues swirled around one another’s. They found a familiar rhythm, the moment feeling as if it was meant to be.

Not long after, Kamilah lifted the younger vampire out of the pool, wrapping Amy’s legs around her hips before she carried them inside for a well needed night full of passion, and desire.

—————————————-—

“It’s time.” Amy strapped her weapons to her hips before looking around at the rest of the group. “We either destroy Rheya and her crew now, or we live forever under her reign.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, finalizing the last of their plans and securing their weapons. Kamilah took Amy’s hands, resting her forehead to her own. “No matter what happens, I love you Amy.”

They both knew what happened last time those words were spoken, when everyone mourned Amy after her ‘death’. “I love you too Kamilah, I’ll always love you.” With a soft smile, Amy pecked Kamilah’s lips and turned to lead the way to Rheya’s mansion.

“Amy, you’ve retur-“ Rheya was thrown back against the wall, the plaster beneath her breaking and crumbling. Rheya cackled into the night before lifting herself into the air.

“Do you really think you and your pathetic crew can defeat me? The First?” As if on command, Gauis led a small army of ferals towards the four. “They’re not just my crew, they’re my family!” Amy lunged for Rheya, honing her senses and channeling her energy into the First’s mind.

Kamilah was one of the first to spring into action, instinctively toward Gaius. Their daggers clashed together, their faces inches apart as Kamilah wore a harsh frown, whereas Gaius had a smirk. “So we meet again, my Queen.” The sound of metal on metal filled the room as the battle continued, before Kamilah swept out his feet from underneath him. “I’m not your Queen, Gaius.” Her daggers hovered over his throat, “But, I will be the death of you.” Without hesitation, she slashed her daggers across his neck, beheading him instantly.

After that, the battle seemed to cease except for Amy and Rheya. “You took everything from me! My friends, my emotions, my humanity!”

Amy plunged her hand deep into Rheya’s chest, Rheya gasping through unable to move because of Amy’s control. She yanked the beating heart out of the vampires chest, blood dripping down her wrist. “And now I’ll take everything from you.”

Rheya lay lifeless, before crumbling to ash the same way Gaius had. Ferals ash covered the floors of the manor as the group reeled back from the attacks.

“Amy, you're alright…” The younger vampire collided with Kamilah, latching on for dear life. Kamilah tightened her hold and exhaled the breath she didn’t realize she was holding.

“I love you Kamilah…”

“I love you too, My Queen.”

[astonishinglegends]

Ep 205: Terry Carnation's "Dark Air" and Rich Hatem

“Imagine the universe, compressed on the head of a pin…”

– Scott’s remembrance of a Carl Sagan quote, which, turns out, probably originates from a parody impression of Carl Sagan

Description:

We have a very special guest joining us tonight, metaphysical "astralnaut," philosopher of the liminal, "Pope of the Paranormal," and host of the AM Radio talk show Dark Air, Terry Carnation. Terry first got his start in the paranormal radio genre when unexpectedly thrust into taking over for another show. While working as a late-night rock n' roll Disc Jockey for an FM station in Buffalo, NY, in 1992, Reginald Wilcox, the host of the paranormal call-in show that aired after Terry's slot was mysteriously murdered while Terry was in the bathroom... or so he claims. In his unflappable sense of duty, apparently stronger than his sense of legal obligation, Terry immediately took over the role of consigliere for listeners stupefied by the supernatural. And in Terry's words, "that's how a legend was created." Now, after a three-year hiatus, Terry Carnation returns with a new podcast, also called Dark Air, available starting April 1, 2021, wherever podcasts are given away for free. While you may not have heard of him, there will be something uneasily familiar about his voice and visage. And the audience will come to know his strange power for tearing off the head of disbelief and reaching down deep into our souls to yank out the viscera of our darkest fears and mysteries. Wrapped around our interview with Terry, our good buddy Rich Hatem joins us once again to discuss his latest adventures and projects. We'll also con him into playing our version of a game show, in the spirit of America's NPR radio program Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! and Britain's Would I Lie to You? We'll tell Rich three outrageous paranormal stories, and he has to guess which one is fake. Please join us for an episode of inscrutable levity.

Reference Links:

Terry Carnation’s website, TerryCarnation.com

Terry Carnation and Dark Air on Audioboom, where you can subscribe to the platform of your choice

Dark Air with Terry Carnation on Apple Podcasts

Follow Terry Carnation on Instagram

Follow Terry Carnation on Twitter

Terry Carnation on Facebook

Where to stream DC Titans

“TERRIBLE FLYING JELLY BAGS aka DOMSTEN BLOBS: (SWEDEN)” by Rob Morphy on cryptopia.us

National Public Radio’s Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!

The BBC One panel show involving true and false tales, Would I Lie To You?

“The Story Behind The Haunted Donkey Lady Bridge In Texas Will Send Chills Down Your Spine” from OnlyInYourState.com

“South Texas Haunted Folklore: The Tale of the Converse Werewolf” from KSAT.com

On a totally unrelated subject…

Rainn Wilson is best known for playing the role of Dwight Schrute on NBC's The Office. Additional film and television credits include Galaxy Quest, Almost Famous, The Rocker, Super, Six Feet Under, Juno, Backstrom, Star Trek Discovery, Thom Pain, The Meg, Mom, Don't Tell a Soul and Utopia.  He will also be appearing in the forthcoming podcast Dark Air with Terry Carnation. Wilson co-founded SoulPancake, a digital media company, and the Lide Foundation, an educational initiative in rural Haiti that empowers at-risk women and girls through the arts.

Dark Air with Terry Carnation was created by Rainn Wilson and Aaron Lee and is produced by Thom Harp and Chris Kelly. Dark Air with Terry Carnation is a production of Imperial Mammoth, Audioboom and Kelly&Kelly. Theme music by Marcos Moscat

This episode features the voice talents of Jinous Khjadivian and Dana Davis as the two audience callers.

Please help out our good friend Stan Gordon, by purchasing his books on Amazon and Barnes & Noble – you’re gonna love ‘em!

At Barnes & Noble:

Silent Invasion: The Pennsylvania UFO-Bigfoot Casebook

Astonishing Encounters: Pennsylvania’s Unknown Creatures, Casebook 3

Really Mysterious Pennsylvania: UFOs, Bigfoot, and Other Weird Encounters, Casebook 1

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Credits:

Episode 205: Terry Carnation’s “Dark Air“ and Rich Hatem. Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess; Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel. Sound Design by Ryan McCullough; Tess Pfeifle, Producer, and Lead Researcher; Research Support from the astonishing League of Astonishing Researchers, a.k.a. The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2021 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.