#and remember she wouldn’t revive me in the last minute and be like damn

[mirensiart]

You know what would be really funny to me about Miphas Grace:

The first time it happens Wilds off in the distance scouting or something while everyone else is setting up camp

Imagine , youre setting up camp when you and everyone around you scream. When it finally passes you look around seeing everyone with no wounds

You start running where you last saw Wild head-

Only to find Wild , no worse for wear , like "Hey Guys :D oh btw , Lone Lynel down south , already got i-" "A FUCKING LYNEL JUST ROAMING?!??!?!! WHATS NEXT , GLEEOKS!??!?" "Weeeellll...."

wild + mipha's grace is such a menace in regards to this au

Like if wild is anything to how I played botw he probably shrugs over dying if mipha's grace is fully charged and if dying is worth it to kill an enemy, like maybe a risky maneuver will give them the upper hand but the outcome is that he dies, he'll def take it

(Which I bet is why twilight has gray hairs already lol)

He def has to stop himself from overusing it and actually be careful in battle so scenarios as the one u just describe don't happen often for the sake of the chain lol

[she-karev]

Man’s Best Friend (Andrew DeLuca Gets a Dog Imagine)

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Man’s Best Friend (Andrew DeLuca Gets a Dog One Shot)

Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: Three of Three

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy/Station 19

Summary: Andrew DeLuca gets used to a dog in his apartment acting aloof until something happens and Jazz gets scared causing Andrew to step in as his new dog dad.

Words: 1189

April 10th 2020

Andrew stands in front of his stove tossing the al dente spaghetti over the hot pan tossing in cheese and black pepper to make cacio e pepe. He would normally be okay with ramen or freezer dinner boxes but since Italy has been declared a hot zone, he decided to follow Carina’s example and do things that remind him of the good parts of his home country. Cooking Italian cuisines from scratch is what keeps him from worrying about his manic father in a dying country most likely not following protocol. And while he does this he’s trying to get used to his roommate.

He is still on the fence with Jazz since he brought him into his home. So far, he chewed up two of his throw pillows, pooped on the rug and barks at Andrew when he tries to get him on a leash to go for a walk. If DeLuca didn’t first meet him in the pit after his owner fed him drugs, he would have taken the dog to the shelter and left him there. But he knows after everything jazz needs stability in his life after the hell he escaped. Plus, his conscience would nag him for the rest of his life as well as his sister.

DeLuca only wishes Jazz could see that instead of making it seem like he’s gonna bite Andrew if he even comes near him. This gruff attitude surprised Andrew because once he revived him Jazz was welcome to petting but he surmises that was the effects of the drugs in his system then. The only time Jazz has been affectionate so far was when Andrew is cooking and sits by the oven begging for a morsel. Like now Jazz hasn’t moved from his spot since Andrew started boiling the pasta.

He looks at the dog next to him and chuckles, “Forget it man, I’m not giving you a scrap. I just fed you and this is for me and me only. I’m not a vet so I don’t know what pasta, cheese and black pepper is gonna do to you. Or what will come out of you on my carpet this time.”

The dog whines to add effect that doesn’t phase DeLuca who focuses on making dinner, “That might have worked on me a year ago but a year ago I was with a woman who likes reptiles as pets. You probably wouldn’t even make it past the front door if I brought you when she was still living here.”

The dog pants letting his tongue out as he stares up at his new owner, “Now I am hardened due to recent tolls in my career, psyche and relationships. You acting all cute and innocent after the last couple of days of torn pillows and soiled rugs is not gonna work on me so just be happy with the expensive kibble I bought for you.”

The smoke alarm blares due to the smoke coming from the pasta pot causing Andrew to groan, “Damn it, hold on.” Andrew grabs a dish towel from the oven rack and waves it over the detector to fan the smoke away. He tries this for a minute before the alarm stops. Andrew relaxes and turns to go back to his meal until a sight stops him short. Instead of sitting by the oven begging for scraps, Jazz is curled up in his dog bed next to the couch whimpering and shaking.

The sudden change stops Andrew, and he wonders what happened that could have caused Jazz to retreat in fear. Andrew walks away from his pasta and kneels down to the dog bed where Jazz is still shaking.

“Hey what’s wrong buddy?” Andrew moves his hands to his knees that makes the dog whimper louder and start to cry, “What is it? It’s just me, the guy who refuses to feed you Italian.”

Andrew tries to think of what could have happened to spark this change and remembers him waving the dish towel around and seeing Jazz like this the next minute. He looks at the towel still in his hand over his knee and throws it behind his back. The dog shakes a little less, but he still whimpers in a way that breaks his new owner’s heart.

Andrew still remembers his last owner, Eddie, the junkie who fed his dog drugs. He remembers Vic coming in with a bruised jaw from Eddie elbowing her in the face and the small cut Warren had when Eddie pushed him into the counter.

If a guy like that can do that much damage to a couple of firefighters an hour into meeting them, Andrew can only imagine what else he did to this dog to make him be triggered by simple objects like dish towels. DeLuca can guess that Eddie and Gina probably smacked him with the dish towels and Jazz was scared of that happening again when he saw Andrew grab for one. The theory he has breaks his heart and his hesitation toward the tripod animal disappears once he sees that beneath the bark and bite is a dog who’s seen things that can make one reluctant to trust another human.

Andrew decides to make it a point to get this dog to see that he’s not like Eddie or any other piece of shit owner he had. He wants to earn Jazz’s trust and give him the love and patience he should have been given. Even though a dog wasn’t in his life plan that doesn’t mean DeLuca can’t have a furry roommate with him. If anything, they can help each other, DeLuca can help Jazz learn to trust again and Jazz can give DeLuca the company he has been missing since March.

He takes the first step on this road to trust by reaching his hand out slowly so Jazz can see it and not bite back. He places his hand on Jazz’s black back and makes a low shushing sound.

“It’s okay, It’s okay Jazz.” He lightly strokes his back and begins to calm Jazz as he’s still in his bed curled up, “I’m not Eddie or Gina, I am not gonna hurt you, you can trust me. You’re safe with me I promise, this is your home now. It’s our home.”

He keeps stroking Jazz’s back until the dog calms down completely and blinks up at Andrew with brown eyes. He grins at the dog seeing that he’s making an impact before standing up and tending to the burned pasta. As he does Jazz limps over slowly and stands a few feet away from him looking at the stove imploringly. Andrew grins amused before dropping a few noodles on the floor to please the dog who immediately eats the food off the floor.

Andrew chuckles, “I hope you like it burned and crispy.” Andrew continues to tend to his meal as Jazz comes up and sits to look up at his new owner to beg for more scraps. Andrew grins at the Jazz knowing it’s the first step to a good relationship between the two.

[citadelsushi]

Remember a couple posts ago when I said I was writing an original fic? Well, those characters wouldn't let me continue world building until I wrote something. And that something turned out to be some filthy smut. TW: enthusiastic consent but they're angry about it, fighting turns into something else that starts with f.

“You have no right to lecture me,” she spat, wiping at her mouth. Blood streaked the back of her hand.

            “I have every right.” Three quick strides closed the gap between them. “As your warden, as your better –”

            Amara scoffed and droplets of blood sprayed from her freshly split lip. “My better? Because you’ve ascended to Scholar?” She pointed a shaking finger in his face. “That doesn’t make you better than me, Kai. It makes you so” -she lowered her hand and jabbed that finger into his chest- “much” -jab- “worse.”

            He smacked her hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

            “Or what?” The flat of her palm connected with the solid plane of his chest. The force barely made him shift onto his heels. It wasn’t enough. She wanted to send him flying across the room. She wanted him to hurt. “You won’t do shit about it. You never do anything. You’re a damned coward.” Before she could land another hit, he struck, the movement so quick it barely registered. Fingers closed around her wrists, searing her flesh as she struggled against his grip.

            “Funny that you call me the coward when you have spend the last five years hiding.” He pulled her closer with a yank of her wrists. So close her balled fists pressed against his stomach. Rage rose from his body like steam. “I know you’re waiting for your opportunity to run. Don’t. I found you when the entire world thought you dead,” the rosemary on his breath infiltrated her senses as he leaned in, “I will most certainly find you again.”

            All struggling ceased at his threat. If not for the menacing tone with which he growled the words, it could have been a lover’s promise. Something like longing seized her stomach, made her blood heat and her head spin. Based on the slight furrow of his brow, the minute relaxation at the corners of his eyes, Kai felt it too. The weight of his words hung between them. For a moment, it was as if they were teenagers again, lovesick and making vows they could never keep. Before she blew that version of them to smithereens. Before they accepted each other’s deaths without any confirmation because it was so much easier than the truth.

An ache blossomed in her jaw from clenching her teeth so tightly. Bastard. How dare he say such a thing? How dare he revive that part of her heart that had withered for so long. He hadn’t been looking for her, he had stumbled across her home blindly while in pursuit of another. If she were to go missing again, he wouldn’t expend an iota of energy more than required by the Mage. There was nothing left between them but distrust and loathing, and he had the nerve to speak as if he would follow her to the ends of the Earth. To threaten her with a lifetime of confinement.

“You couldn’t possibly get so lucky twice,” she snarled.

Kai’s eyes widened, as if to flinch, in the split second before she wrenched her arms free from his grip. A crack split the air as her fist connected with his jaw. His head snapped to the side. Red hot pain shot through her knuckles and up her forearm. When he looked her way again, no sign of the lovesick man she used to know remained. In his place was a Scholar, a warrior without an ounce of compassion.

Fists flew at her face. Kicks targeted her chest, her abdomen, her legs. Blood roared in her ears as she desperately tried to deflect and dodge his blows. He had been taking it easy on her in training, letting her practice the motions of deflecting and landing a hit of her own. Now, he moved so quickly it was all she could do to avoid being pummeled. Air whooshed overhead, ruffling her hair, as she ducked a fist intended for her head. A blur of motion on her left sent her rolling right. If she didn’t know him miserably well, she’d suspect his magic increased his physical abilities. If she didn’t hate him so much, she’d be impressed by the way he moved. Every strike, every step so fluid it was as if his muscles acted of their own accord. His body and mind joined in the singular purpose of destroying their opponent, of destroying her.

A flurry of blows aimed at her face, and she shot her forearms up to block. All oxygen in her lungs was expelled at once as a vicious kick landed square in her stomach. Amara collapsed to the ground, folded in on herself, hand pressed to her abdomen.

From above, Kai glowered and stretched his jaw. “Don’t pick a fight you can’t win.”

Panting, she glared up at him. The bastard wasn’t even out of breath. A familiar hollow opened in her chest, a great chasm that pulled her ribcage apart at the sternum. Glacial cold crawled from the newly torn depths. Silver flames burst forth from her hands, dancing along the bruising flesh of her arms.

“Amara, don’t,” Kai warned. “Your magic will eat you alive.”

A chill spread through her bones, ice dusting her skin. “Not before it takes a bite out of you.”

Flames lunged through the air. A brilliant white dragon of power gave chase as Kai retreated, dodging and ducking as she had been moments before. Good. Run. She wanted his fear. She wanted to strike him in the heart and freeze it as solid as her own. Magic sang the same sadistic tune in her veins.  

Blackness leeched the edges of her vision and Amara knew her eyes had gone black. Soon she’d be overwhelmed by her own magic, and she couldn’t bring herself to care. Watching Kai run from her attacks was too satisfying. There was little he could do against her; it had always been that way. As strong as he was in his own power, hers were a living, breathing beast of its own.

Awareness tingled as her magic sensed movement to the right. A chair was flying in her direction, sent by Kai. She hadn’t noticed him pull it across the room. Her right hand shot up and her cold fire stretched out to meet it. Wood warped and shriveled mid-air, then combusted. Splinters rained. On her left, Kai was closing in. Encased in a shimmering blue shield, he was no longer running from her attack. Another stream of flame erupted from her hand, straight at him. Silver collided with the energy of his shield. Energy crackled and popped, reverberating through the room like the sound of ice breaking at the center of a frozen lake.

“Amara, stop!” Veins in his neck bulged as he strained to move through her fire.

She didn’t want to stop. As soon as she did, she’d be caged. The Mage would order an implant be placed to strip her of her magic. They would remove her from the small basic room that had become her only refuge and put her behind bars once again to rot. They’d never let her go. Not after an outburst like this. And that was all assuming she could stop. Her magic was starving and now it was so close to being sated for the first time in years, it was salivating. Desperate. It would devour them both, even if it was to be its last feast.

Kai collided with her and knocked her flat on her back. She barely felt the impact, but it was jarring enough – how had he reached her through the fire? - that the streams of power attacking him dissipated. Flames coated them both, freely licking up her flesh with a ghostly chill while trying to find a weakness in Kai’s shield. Magic crackled and sparked. Nothing before had ever withstood her flames. Years ago, even Kai’s shield had failed under the strain. Of course they had hardened over time. Kai had no weaknesses but his own ambition, that much hadn’t changed, and his control had improved immensely in her absence.

“Get off of me,” she ordered, her voice unrecognizably cold.

“Call back your magic,” he countered. She struggled fruitlessly beneath him. He straddled her waist, pinning her legs with his own, as they wrestled with each other’s arms. She managed to get a hand free long enough to slap him across the face. Whether it was the sting of the slap or the echo of flesh against flesh, the smack snapped something in them both. Nails dragged across his cheek as Kai caught her wrists in his hands, his grip mercilessly tight, and yanked them from his face to pin them overhead. “Damn it, Amara, stop!”

All at once, her magic retreated. Full color returned to her vision. Kai’s shield sputtered out and the blue energy that had been covering his body disappeared. The chasm in her chest sucked all the cold from the air, from her body, and she felt warm for the first time since calling to her magic. Entirely too warm. With his shield gone, Amara could suddenly feel everything. The solid weight of him pressing her into the floor. His touch scalding and calloused on the sensitive flesh of her inner wrists. Sweat gathered along her forehead and dripped between her breasts. A similar sheen coated his face and neck and made his shirt cling to his torso. Kai’s body was bowed over hers to keep her pinned, the ends of his hair skimmed her cheek, tickled her clavicle, as he panted over her.

It wasn’t fair of him to still look the same. Magic had taken its toll on her, but he still looked like the same man she once loved. Those deep brown eyes could still pierce her with such intensity she had to close her eyes to block him out. And still, she could feel them on her. Scrutinizing. Peeling her apart, flaying her alive. His weight shifted. Both of her arms were pinned by one of his while the other skimmed up the length of her arm to her shoulder, across her bare skin to her neck. Her skin flushed, goosebumps rising in the wake of his touch. And elsewhere, across her chest and down her abdomen, as if his gaze had dropped to touch her everywhere his hands did not.

Fingers wrapped around the column of her throat, not squeezing, but firmly resting. She opened her eyes to avoid the need to squirm and his shot up to meet her stare. She challenged, “you going to kill me now?”

Kai’s grip on her throat tightened infinitesimally. “I’m not the murderer here.”

Her eyes narrowed. If it wouldn’t fall back onto her own face, she would have spit at him. “I hate you.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

But as she shifted beneath him, her feet struggling for purchase so that she could regain some semblance of control, she felt his body’s betrayal press against her stomach. Air sucked between her teeth like she’d been struck, and he froze. It meant nothing. It was simply his body reacting to adrenaline from their fight and proximity. Just as it meant nothing when a jolt of heat rooted in her abdomen and branched lower. The skipping beat of her heart, the hitch in her breath, it was all meaningless. Physical reactions over which she had no control. The widening of his eyes, however, the stutter of his exhale as his gaze dropped to her heaving chest, that felt like something.

“It doesn’t feel mutual,” she muttered, suppressing a smirk. His eyes darted back to hers, expression dark, as she shifted her hips underneath him. Trapped as she was, she couldn’t really touch him, but the motion was enough to make her point. His erection bobbed, tapping her stomach.

A rumbling, scornful laugh split his lips. “You say that as if I wouldn’t find you soaking if I touched you right now.” Amara swallowed, hard. The roughness of his voice, his words, sent a jolt of lightning straight to her core and she felt a rush of arousal between her thighs. Kai leaned in closer, pressing against her throat, gripping her wrists tight enough to bruise. Hot, rosemary breath ghosted against her ear. “I can hate you and want to fuck you at the same time.”

That had certainly changed. When they’d met, Kai was a hopeless romantic dreaming of an everlasting love. They’d had partners before, they weren’t each other’s firsts, but each lover had had taken had been significant. When they had evolved from friendship to romance, he had been the one who wanted them to wait, to make sure it would be meaningful for both parties. Sex had been the deepest form of intimacy, not a means to an end. Now, he simply wanted to blow off some steam. She could feel it in the way he pinned her, the way his entire body shook imperceptibly as if he was a hair’s breadth from losing his carefully constructed control. Maybe he really did want to kill her, to wound her as deeply as she had wounded him but didn’t have her capacity for violence.

“I don’t believe you,” she whispered, lips brushing against his cheek.

Teeth closed on her earlobe and tugged the sensitive flesh, drawing a gasp from her before she could stifle it. Then his lips were on the scant amount of flesh exposed between his hand and her jaw, the sharp edge of his teeth poised to bite. “Are you asking me to prove it?”

The delicious threat of his teeth at her neck made her thighs clench. An invitation more dangerous than the Mage could ever provide. Prison would be safer. Being stripped of her magic and dropped into a pit of lions had better odds of survival. Yet her heart pounded at the prospect. That chasm in her chest hadn’t closed when her magic retreated, leaving her utterly hollow. And now it was she who was hungry, not her magic, for anything to fill the yawning crater where her heart once beat.

“Yes.”

Kai’s hand tightened on her throat once more, enough to make her lips part to draw more air. A warning. Or his last attempt to cling to his senses. And then they were moving so quickly her mind couldn’t keep up. There was nothing gentle, nothing romantic about how they came together. Suddenly her hands were free, Kai’s busy clawing at her clothing. Teeth scraped along her neck, her jaw, over the swell of her breasts. Her head fell back, baring her throat. She dug her nails into the meat of his shoulders, shifted beneath him until he was nestled between her spread thighs. She rolled her hips. A tortured moan rumbled in Kai’s throat as her core rubbed along his length. She did it again and again, breathless from the friction against her clit. Both of his hands gripped the collar of her blouse and tore. Amara gasped. Air rushed against her bare skin just long enough to know that he had split the fabric down to her abdomen before he was on her again. Callouses scraped against the tender flesh of her exposed breast. Lips skated across her jaw, burning a path to her mouth.

Amara turned her head at the last second, his lips landing on her cheek instead of on her own. Fingers gripped her chin and turned her to him. Eyes impossibly dark with lust latched on to her mouth and his tongue darted out to wet his lips.

She breathed, “don’t.”

Kai paused, something flickering in his gaze as his eyes met hers. It was gone with a blink. His face was flushed. Four angry red lines marked one of his cheeks and they wrinkled as nodded at her trousers and said, “take those off.”

They moved quickly, both aware that if they took too long the spell would be broken, and they would be left half naked and unsatisfied. He sat back on his heels and scrambled to undo his laces while she shimmied out of her trousers and undergarments. By the time he had his off, she was naked from the waist down, her ruined shirt clinging worthlessly to her torso, and she surged forward. Kai laid back, hands reflexively landing on her hips as she straddled him. Nothing separated them now and his length slipped easily through the wetness gathered along her slit.

“Gods you’re wet,” Kai moaned. He gripped her hips so tightly it hurt. She closed her eyes and rolled her hips, leaning into the pain, grinding against his length. At the end of each undulation, the head rubbed against her clit and she shivered. “Look at you,” his voice was broken and strained. “You’re fucked up for being so desperate for me.”

Amara braced her hands against his chest, curled her nails against him, and lifted her hips despite his hold. Her body screamed at the loss of contact. Kai’s grip tightened further, and they locked eyes. His hips rose to follow hers, chasing the same friction her body mourned, and he pulled her back down against him. She huffed a dark laugh, “Who’s the desperate one?”

One of his hands palmed her breast, pinching her nipple between his fingers, and he tugged. She let out a yelp, following the pressure until she was nearly flush against him. The new angle aligned his head perfectly at her entrance. She watched a retort die on his tongue as she instinctively pressed backward, the head of his cock spreading her lips, pressing against her entrance. Amara drank in his expression. The slight gape of his mouth, the heavy rise and fall of his chest. Nipple still caught between his fingers, he worked the sensitive flesh firmly, but almost absentmindedly. As if all his concentration focused on where his cock twitched against her opening. He looked awestruck. Broken. She wanted to memorize that expression. When this was over and they were at each other’s throats once more, she wanted to remember how utterly enraptured he was in this moment.

“What does it say about you,” she leaned down to whisper against the shell of his ear, “that you’re here fucking a convict?” She was torturing herself, prolonging it this way. Desire coiled tight in her abdomen. She needed release, soon.

“Shut up,” he panted weakly. His hips bucked, his hand on her hip tried to push her down onto him, but she resisted.

“Did you request to be my warden, Kai? In hopes that you could fuck me again?” She pressed back ever so slightly, the pressure of his head against her entrance delectably hot and hard. Her cunt ached, contracting around nothing, trying to draw him in.

“I said shut up,” he growled. His hand moved from her breast to her hair, fisting at the base of her neck and pulling tight. Sinfully sweet pain tickled her scalp. Head drawn back, her body arched. Doing so moved her entire body back and finally his cock breached her entrance. “Gods,” Kai sighed, his hips rising, “more. I need more.”

Amara fisted his shirt and breathed deep. The first inch alone was enough to wrack her with a full body shudder. She’d taken him before, but it had been some time since she’d had anything more than her own finger, and her body tensed against the intrusion. “Wait,” she said, her voice a strained whisper from the hold he had on her.

Kai stilled, his fingers tangled tightly in her hair, but he eased up enough that her forehead fell against his chest. Slowly, she worked herself on his cock. Up and down, inch by torturous inch, she sunk down onto him. Eyes closed, breath heavy, she focused on the stretch, on the glide of him inside of her as she rose up high enough to nearly remove him, then sunk down again. Warmth pooled in her core, desire already coiling tight. It nearly snapped as Kai pulled her hair, forcing her to arch, and took a breast into his mouth. Teeth latched on to her nipple and drew it tight. Amara released a breathless, gasping moan as she sank down onto him completely. Kai’s answering noise was long and deep and guttural, rumbling around her nipple. She gave herself but a second to adjust to his girth before she started to ride him in earnest. That band coiled in her abdomen was close to snapping. She had been so ready, so aching, that she wasn’t far from release. Eyes closed tight, she was only vaguely aware that it was Kai beneath her, Kai’s cock inside her stretching her so wonderfully full. His hands roaming her body, bruising her hips, pinching her nipples, pulling her hair.  Jolts of pleasure shot up and down her spin. She tilted her hips, changing the angle and – oh.

“Fuck…yes….” Pinpricks of pleasure exploded, her toes tingled, as his cock hit that spot inside of her. She slipped a hand between their bodies and rubbed her clit in firm circles. Her cunt clenched around him, a new rush of wetness coating his cock. She was going to come. “Gods, yes.”

Suddenly she was yanked back from the precipice of her climax. She nearly sobbed with frustration, her hand forced to leave her clit to catch herself, her body horribly empty and pulsing with need, as Kai withdrew and rolled her onto her back. He pulled her to him by her thighs, fingertips digging into her flesh.

“You don’t get to use me,” he snarled. Then he gripped himself in one hand and slapped his cock against her slit. She nearly cried, her clit thrilled for any contact, no matter how lewd.

Before she could catch her breath, he flipped her onto her front, pulled her hips up to meet his, and sheathed himself fully inside of her in one fluid movement. Cheek pressed against the floor, Amara cried out. Her mind fumbled, dizzy and disoriented. Kai palmed her ass, then smacked it, hard, and she yelped. He was relentless, not giving her time to catch her breath before he withdrew and slammed into her again. And again. And again. This was no frantic race to the end; this was a punishment. His thrusts were long and hard, as if each one served to prove a point.

I can hate you and want to fuck you at the same time.

The orgasm he had so crudely ripped from her flared to life. She reached between her legs for her clit, biting back a moan as she rubbed herself in circles. Drunk on lust, she pushed back against him. More, she needed more. Harder, faster, she wanted everything he could give. Muscles in her abdomen tightened. Her pleasure was coiled so tightly she was desperate to release. She brought a fist to her mouth and bit down, stifling her moans.

Kai’s hand wrapped around her throat. Another cupped her breast. He pulled her upright, back arching, the crown of her head nearly touching his chest. Her hands shot up to grab his arm to steady herself. “If you’re going to come,” he growled against her ear, “it’s going to be because I make you.” His hips snapped against her. This angle had him nestled so deep she ached. “And I want to hear it.”

“I hate you,” she panted.

Kai laughed, dark and low, against her ear, and thrust into her again. The feeling is mutual. But Gods if he didn’t feel so fucking good. The hand on her breast skimmed across her stomach, down to where their bodies joined. His fingers slid through her arousal, pausing to savor the feel of his cock stretching her wide as he pumped in and out. Amara shuddered. Feeling his fingers and cock at once felt so erotic, so salacious, she could scream. As if he could read her mind, he bit off another dark chuckle, and brought his fingers to her clit.

The last of his control gave way as he began to rub her clit in circles. Brutally capable fingers closed around her throat, not to constrict, but to restrain. He pounded into her. Thrust after thrust, there was nothing she could do but cling to him and feel. The scrape of his stubble against her cheek, the pinch of his teeth on shoulder, the slick delicious friction of his cock, the firm pressure of his fingers on her clit. Unable to hide her pleasure, her moans echoed throughout the room. She was vaguely aware of how breathless she sounded, how wanton and inarticulate. It felt too good to care.

“Oh Gods,” she choked, “don’t stop.” Every muscle was taut with need, with anticipation. She was so close. If he stopped her release again, she would die. Maybe that was his intention. To bring her to the brink of ecstasy and destroy her by denying it. The prospect nearly made her sob.

Kai groaned against her ear. “Let me feel you come, Amara.” One more circle of her clit, another hard thrust, and she was lost. With a strangled cry, Amara came hard. Tremors shook her entire body. Her cunt clenched and spasmed, a rush of liquid heat dripped down his cock. “Fuck, yes. That’s it.”  

He continued thrusting into her through her orgasm. She was near boneless, fully supported by his hand at her throat and her flesh so sensitive that each drive into her sent another shockwave through her body. The hand that had been circling her clit trailed up her body, leaving a damp trail across her skin, to her lips. Mindlessly, she parted her lips, taking his fingers into her mouth and sucking, tasting the sweet tang of her own cum. As she languidly swirled her tongue around the digits, Kai’s thrusts grew erratic, his rhythm lost to his oncoming release.

With a pained moan, he released her and withdrew. Amara collapsed onto her hands and knees. A hand grabbed one of her cheeks and spread her apart. Hot cum splattered across her ass, in the cleft between her cheeks, dripped down her slit.

Silence suddenly smothered the room. In the absence of skin slapping and their moans, awkwardness set in. Amara remained frozen, drawing deep breaths, listing to Kai’s own heavy breathing as he jerked himself through the last of his orgasm. Hells below, what did she do?

Kai’s hand slid from her ass, and she sat back on her heels, forced herself to look at the wreckage of their decision. He still worse his shirt, but hers was off her shoulders now, a tattered scrap of fabric around her waist. Their pants lie scattered, tangled together like a proclamation of their own. Their eyes met and it took every ounce of willpower she possessed not to let her gaze fall to the floor.

“Hand me my underwear,” she ordered, nodding to the discarded clothing nearest him. He obeyed wordlessly and remained silent, watching as if not really seeing, while she wiped herself clean. “We should go.”

Finally, Kai snapped to attention. He grabbed his pants and stood to dress. “You’re right. The Mage is expecting you today.”

Amara knotted the laces on her trousers and pinched her ruined shirt together. “What for?”

“I believe that depends on how you behave.” Kai’s expression was unreadable. His mouth set into a thin line, his jaw clenched, but his eyes looked troubled. “Let’s go.”

“Now?” She demanded. “Surely there’s time for me to put on a proper blouse first.”

“Your clothing is inconsequential.”

“You’re joking,” she laughed in disbelief. “Kai, I’m not going to stand before The Mage with my tits out.”

“I won’t keep The Mage waiting because you suddenly want to feign decency.”

Amara blinked at the insult. “And what of your decency? Is it common practice for wardens to fuck their captives into the ground?”

Kai whirled on her. “Don’t for one second think that you can question or make demands of me because of what we did. I am your warden because your magic is volatile, and you are too weak to harness it. You will submit to whatever The Mage requests or you will stay in a cell until all that remains of you is bones, and I will drag you there myself.”

Bile burned the back of her throat. If only it were acid she could spit. As she looked at him now, Amara tried to conjure the memory of his face slack with awe as they came together and found it impossible. It hurt to look at him. Something in her chest cracked. The icy crevasse that contained her power widened.

“The next time I collapse a tower,” she said, voice low with malice, “I promise you will be crushed among the rubble.”

[griffintail]

Here’s some sad juice lmao. So fundy ends up having to raise his kid sister that ghostbur adopted because Wilbur was revived and dosent have ghostburs memories

His Sister’s Keeper

Pairings: Fundy x Sister! Child! Reader

Past Ghostbur x Child! Reader

Warnings: Mentions of resurrection, Mentions of Death, Mild Angst

A/N: There’s references to Lost Ones but this is not Lost Ones storyline.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Phil had been successful, after many trials and finally, with no errors, he managed to bring Ghostbur back as Wilbur. When Phil was confident, fully confident, Ghostbur promised his little girl he’d be back to take care of his little blue. The ten-year-old had sat on the stairs at Techno’s house, humming to herself as Fundy paced and Friend grazed on some of the grass that managed to live close-by when the door opened and Phil was grinning widely.

        “It really worked…?” Fundy asked.

        “Yes, Wilbur’s back. He just woke up and getting used to…living again. But, you two can come in.”

        “Can Friend come? He misses daddy too.” (Y/N) stood up.

        Phil chuckled lightly. “Maybe later, come on.”

        (Y/N) gave a small pout before smiling again as she bounced slightly as she followed behind Fundy. Wilbur was stretching his arm out, getting used to the feeling of having a full form again, as the group walked in. He looked, grinning when he saw Fundy.

        “Fundy, my little champion.” Wilbur spread his arms.

        Fundy’s ears flattened but he gave a laugh as he smiled. “Hey, dad.”

        “You’ve grown quite a bit, haven’t you?” Wilbur came over, putting a hand on Fundy’s shoulder. “It’s been, how long you said Phil?”

        “Little over ten years.”

        “That seems short.” He muttered to himself before spotting the child tilting their head as they looked at the man before her. “And did you have a child?!”

        That’s when a heavyweight settled on Fundy and Phil as they shared a shocked look. No one considered if Wilbur would remember…

        “I uh…no dad that’s…” Fundy put a hand on his head.

        “You like a lot like my daddy, but he’s see-through.” (Y/N) piped up now. “My name’s (Y/N), what’s your name?”

        Wilbur frowned, looking at Phil. “Wait, is she saying…?”

        “Ghostbur took her in,” Phil told him. “I-I thought you’d have his memories.”

        “Hey…(Y/N), let’s go outside,” Fundy muttered to her.

        “Oh…but where’s daddy?” She asked him.

        “I…uh…I’ll tell you in a minute,” Fundy told her, showing her out. “Let’s go play with Friend.”

        “Friend loves to play!” She grinned before running to play with blue sheep, Fundy staying at the front door to watch her and listen to the conversation.

        “He took in a child?!” Wilbur exclaimed.

        “She was in a bad spot Wilbur. I’m sure even you would have done the same.”

        “At the time, maybe but now things need to be done, Phil! I need to be stronger, that’s why Casper wanted to be back right? I can’t do that while taking care of a child! I don’t even know her!”

        “Wilbur.” Phil tried to change his mind. “She’d not like other children, she’d going to need her father.”

        “You know her, you take care of her.”

        “Wilbur!”

        Fundy heard enough. He was fuming to himself. Even after being resurrected, still the same old dad. Fine, if the bastard wasn’t going to take care of her…

        “(Y/N), why don’t you and Friend come with me to my house?” He smiled gently at her as he came over.

        “But what about daddy? He said he’d be right back.”

        Fundy folded his ears back before crouching in front of her. “(Y/N), you know the man inside?”

        She nodded.

        “And you know how Ghostbur would talk about Alivebur?”

        “Yes, he talked about how he made L’Manberg a lot.” She smiled.

        “…Well, that is Alivebur, his real name is Wilbur. Which, was also Ghostbur’s name.”

        “I’m confused.” She muttered.

        “Ghostbur was Wilbur’s ghost and Phil brought Wilbur back. Which means, he put Ghostbur back into him.”

        “Then…Where’s daddy?” The little girl mumbled, scrunching up her eyebrows in confusion.

        “Wilbur is your dad but…he doesn’t remember…”

        “Oh, does he need some blue?” She asked.

        “No, I—” Fundy groaned into his hands before looking at her. “Ghostbur isn’t coming back (Y/N). Wilbur is Ghostbur and he can’t remember anything about being a ghost.”

        The poor girl was confused. How did her father forget her? He did forget a lot of things but he never forgot her! She was little blue. He also promised that he’d be right back.

        “He’ll come back though, he promised he would.” She wrung her hands together, the sheep nudging her side. “Friend and I are here! He wouldn’t leave us…”      

        Fundy sighed now, seeing her panic. “He thought Wilbur would remember, but that’s not the case. So, I think it’s best if you come with me. Alright? Maybe until Wilbur remembers!”

        He was lying through his teeth with the last sentence but he needed to say something. Anything to get her to come with him. That perked the little girl up before she nodded.

        “Ok. I’m sure he’ll remember. Maybe he just needs some blue.” She reasoned, before hugging the blue sheep. “We’re going with Fundy, Friend! You’ll like his house, there’s lots of grass.”

        Fundy didn’t know what he was in for, but he’d make sure she was alright. Especially if Wilbur didn’t give a damn about the poor child, he had called sister the past few years.

        …

        Fundy was not ready for how much energy the ten-year-old had. Phil knew that Fundy had taken the child and told him that Wilbur did indeed not place a current care on her. He offered Fundy help if he ever needed it and Fundy was sure he’d be fine because she shouldn’t be too bad, she’s Ghostbur’s kid.

        He was wrong.

        She was all over the place, running around or dancing as she giggled. She liked to spend a lot of time with the blue sheep and that was Fundy’s biggest assurance. If he needed to know where she was, look for the one blue sheep. When it came time to sleep came as well, she was extremely difficult about sleeping.

        He had woken up groggily in the middle of the night and she was standing there, hugging the fox plushy Ghostbur had given her forever ago.

        “I can’t sleep.” She muttered.

        “What do you need me to do?” Fundy yawned.

        “Can I sleep with you? I always slept with daddy.”

        Fundy’s ears folded back at the sad thought but he nodded, letting her into his bed. She cuddled against him and before he knew it, she was asleep. He tried other ways to get her to sleep, but every night, he was back in the same spot. She cuddled into him and she was out like a light and stayed like that as long as he kept her there.

        Her naivety also was problematic too.

        “Fundy! Look at the salmon!” She giggled as she leaned over the pier at the lake Fundy had taken her to, to catch some fish.

        He looked over and yelped, dashing over and catching her before she fell into the lake.

        “Wow, you’re fast Fundy.” She smiled as he folded his ears back with a frown.

        He was working the hardest with that.

        “Don’t. Wander off.” Fundy grabbed her hand with practiced ease as she got distracted on a simple walk to Church Prime.

        He wasn’t prepared for any of it. But, day by day, he learned the ins and outs of taking care of her. She would…sometimes ask if Wilbur remembered her and every time, he lied to her…but he was scared about how the girl would react knowing that Ghostbur would truly never come back.

        Today was a good day though, (Y/N) had stayed by his side and was talking to him about a book he had given her to read in order to calm her a bit. They were walking to Church Prime once again together when Fundy saw Wilbur walking down the path towards them. Fundy’s ears pointed back as he carefully took (Y/N)’s hand, pulling her closer to him. She barely noticed, just enjoying the warmth of his hand as she continued on.

        “Fundy, and…(Y/N) right?” Wilbur asked as he stopped in front of the two.

        “Yes sir!” She smiled widely. “You remember me?”

        “I remember you from Techno’s house, yes.” Wilbur nodded.

        “Oh.” She gave a small pout before smiling again, Wilbur raising an eyebrow.

        “Good talk, come on—” Fundy went to lightly pull the girl forward when Wilbur spoke.

        “So, you’re taking care of her?” Wilbur questioned his son.

        “Yeah, no one else would.” Fundy huffed. “She’s my sister anyways.”

        “Fundy’s the best brother.” (Y/N) nodded.

        “She’s not really your sister, Fundy. You could have left her with Phil.” Wilbur told him, (Y/N) turning confused.

        Fundy gripped her hand tighter. “No, she’s my sister. And right now, we’re going to church for the day.”

        “She’s not my child so she’s not—”

        “She was!” Fundy snapped, pulling (Y/N) behind him. “Just because you’re a bastard and refuse to know her, doesn’t mean she wasn’t yours! You could have easily done it! I didn’t know her and now I know how to take care of her just fine! And want to know why I did? Because she’s my fucking sister, whether you like it or not. I don’t care if you remember and probably never will. She’s my sister. So, leave it the hell alone.”

        With that, Fundy pulled (Y/N) along. He didn’t look at the girl for some time as they made their way to the church, but he did when he felt something go into his hand and his anger faded. Looking, he saw (Y/N) had slipped a piece of blue into his free hand and she was holding her own.

        Stopping his walk, he crouched in front of her.

        “Are you ok?” He asked her gently.

        “It was a bit scary that you yelled.” She muttered, looking at the blue in her hands. “But the blue is helping.”

        “Ok, well, you don’t need to use blue all the time ok? I’m here to talk to and you can talk to me about anything because I’m going to always be here to take care of you, alright little sis?”

        She paused before nodding, smiling at him. “Ok. He remembered my name, so hopefully, he’ll remember more soon.”

        Fundy sighed in his head but he put a smile on his face, nodding.

        “I’m sure. Come on, let’s go to Church Prime, and then maybe we’ll go home and take Friend on a walk.”

        She gasped excitedly as she nodded.

        He’d make sure she was always happy because he was now his sister’s keeper and he couldn’t imagine her any other way.

[enigmaticxbee]

✖️✖️ 11x06 Kitten

The one where... Mulder and Scully have to track down Skinner, who’s investigating the mind control experiments he and his fellow soldiers were exposed to during the Vietnam War.

Tagline: A War Is Never Over

Best: The conversation in the cabin at the end. To Scully’s worry that Skinner’s association with them may have tanked his career Skinner responds: If it wasn’t for you two, I wouldn’t be here right now. I’m not talking about the fact that you showed up here today… That experience in Vietnam with John, it - it put a dent in that blind faith I had in my government. It - it planted seeds of - of mistrust. I tried for years to - to suppress that mistrust, but it gnawed at me. Then you two… you two came along and you taught me not to hide from it, but to have the guts to shine a light directly into the darkest corners. And if given the choice between advancing my career by being blindly loyal to some faceless puppeteers pulling strings from the shadows or to throw in with you two, make no mistake about it, I’d make the same decision every single damn time. There’s the Skinner I know and love! They’re with him ❤️

Worst: The heavy handed voiceover at the end - not necessary, we get it!

✔️ Flashlights

✔️ Woods/Desert

❌ Slideshow

❌ Autopsy

❌ Evidence Disappears

❌ Scully Misses It

❌ Mulder Ditch

❌ Sunflower Seeds

✔️ Voiceover (flashbacks, ending VO)

❌ Catch Phrase

❌ Scully is a Medical Doctor

❌ Mulder is Spooky

❌ Scuuullllaaaaayy! Muullllderrrr!

❌ Fox/Dana

✔️ Inappropriate Touching (that I am here for)

❌ Casual Scully

✔️ Casual Mulder

✔️ Trench Coats

❌ Bad Tie Watch

❌ Glasses Watch

✔️ Taking! It! Personally!: Skinner

50 States: Kentucky (45/50)

Investigate: Together

Solve Rate: 75%

❌ Bechdel Test: The only other women in the episode are the Vietnamese women in the background of the opening scene.

MSR: 🐝🐝

Goriness: 👽👽👽

Creepiness: 👽👽👽

Humor: 👽👽

Rewatch Thoughts:

William check-in: Only a brief mention when they wonder if Skinner’s disappearance has something to do with William. Guess they decided not to pursue their 17 year old on the lam son even though they were probably 10 minutes behind him at that gas station last episode 🤷🏻‍♀️

Break-up check-in: No reference

It’s Skinner! Dun dun dun! I read that young Skinner is played by Mitch Pileggi’s nephew, I see the resemblance.

Kersh comes in hot 16 years after helping Mulder escape from prison in the original series finale - and Mulder and Scully are just calmly like so… you’re looking for Skinner then? I watched Greys Anatomy in the years between the original run and the revival and I remember the revelation that the Chief who I loved was Kersh??

I still don’t really get why Mulder isn’t giving Skinner the benefit of the doubt after everything - but it does make his Skinner, we’re with you at the end more impactful.

Ok, the mask in the closet suddenly moving was creepy

Skinner’s surprise at Scully’s appearance - Mulder came looking for you, do you really think Scully’s far from his side?

The way she pulls Mulder’s out of the hole and then just leaves Skinner 😂

Were we really supposed to ever think that Skinner was swayed to CSM’s side? Because I didn’t, and this episode makes it clear that whatever he’s doing he’s trying to help them. I don’t get why he still hasn’t told them anything though, especially at this point.

All the teeth falling out, just no, shudder

This the first episode of the revival and third episode of the series directed by a woman (out of 213 🤪)

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Dream SMP Recap (July 7/2021) - Trip to Kinoko

Purpled begins to build a new UFO in Las Nevadas.

Tommy catches up with Sapnap and asks to visit Kinoko Kingdom, where he tries to make a new home.

---

VOD LINKS:

Ponk

Purpled

Tommyinnit

Captain Puffy

---

- Ponk, Purpled and Sam log on. Sam only has ten minutes to speak with Ponk

- Sam gives Ponk some advice and tells Ponk all about how people really like piston doors, like in the prison. Ponk asks Sam to tell him about the prison and Sam starts speedrunning explaining the story, talking incredibly quickly

Ponk: “What’s the prison? Tell me more about the prison.”

Sam: “Dreams in there. Dream’s there. He’s locked up, he’s in the prison. He’s in the prison. He’s in the jail. He’s in the jail, and I’m the Warden. And I watch the prison. I watch the prison. Yeah, yeah, and this one guy, he stole keycards in the prison because he wanted to be the Warden, and then I chopped his arm off and then I stole the keycards back and then I threatened his life after I’d already killed him once, but you see, he got to revive because everyone has three lives and that’s the rules, because if everyone dies, then the story ends, so we all have three lives, right? ‘Cause that’s the rules, and so he, I took one of them, so that guy only had -- then the story’s over, it’s a never-ending story until the last person dies for the third time, okay?”

Ponk: “Damn. So nothing lasts forever?”

Sam: “Nothing lasts forever, no -- nobody wan -- you know like, that kinda thing, so anyways, so this guy, so anyways, I had to take one of his full lives so now he only has two, and then he still had keycards and he still wouldn’t give them to me so then I had to take off his arm and then after I cut off his arm, bing badabing badaboom, it had the keycard in it, right? So I cut off his arm, now I had the keycard and then badabing badaboom, we’re all good now, everything’s good, and then -- I dunno, I dunno if he’s still upset about it, but that’s basically what went down with the prison. Dream--”

Ponk: “I’d be pretty upset if someone took my arm.”

Sam: “Yeah, yeah. I mean, he did steal those keycards though, and like, that’s on him that he stole those, so that’s not really--”

Ponk: “How if they didn’t even work! How if they didn’t even work, Sam!”

- Sam continues to talk at rapid speed explaining the prison keycard system mechanics. They still have several minutes left. Sam covered a lot of ground

- Next, Ponk asks Sam to tell him all about the start of the SMP, and Sam starts telling the story about how the first members joined and how they went fishing, and Alyssa caught the first nametag, how he took a break and came back after a long time

- After Sam’s meeting, Ponk is going to speak with Sam about lore. They have some cool ideas

- Ponk tells Sam about the failed TNT cannon

- Ponk starts running back to attempt Prison Break 2 before their time runs out. Sam waits at the prison to kill him again

- Sam comes to the summer home and Ponk starts stabbing him. Ponk chases Sam, then Sam chases Ponk, then their time runs out and Sam starts rushing back with Ponk chasing him again

- Sam logs off midair and Ponk returns to working on his project

- Later, Ponk starts taking down the casino

- On the one-year anniversary of Purpled joining the server (along with Tubbo, Fundy and Punz), Purpled gathers resources and begins to rebuild his old UFO at Las Nevadas

- Tommy sees the mini L’Targay Puffy made for him. Sapnap arrives and Tommy takes down the rainbow decorations

- Tommy tears down the dirt roof as well. Sapnap remembers when he, Tommy and Tubbo fought Dream there

- Sapnap hands Tommy some mushrooms from his kingdom

- As they search for Puffy’s house, Tommy asks Sapnap where they stand. Sapnap supposes they’re friends

- Tommy asks Sapnap to take him to Kinoko Kingdom. Sapnap tells him that’s where George lives

- Tommy finds Foolish’s letter to Eret and reads it. They walk to Kinoko while reminiscing on how they first spoke

- Sapnap steps on a landmine and they trade some wet

- They make it to Kinoko Kingdom and Sapnap teaches Tommy about shrooms

- Tommy sees “Dream” running around in the barn and is confused. He insists to Sapnap that he isn’t on shrooms. Sapnap tells him that Kinoko gives secondhand shroom effects. Sapnap thinks Karl’s memory issues are from the shrooms

- They keep walking around and Dream’s face appears and disappears out of nowhere

- Tommy has decided he could do with a retreat. They look over the ledge and Tommy sees Wilbur’s face staring back at him from the ground

- Tommy claims an area as his new home. Sapnap doesn’t want to allow it

- Tommy copyrights sunsets. Sapnap pays the diamonds to watch it

Tommy: “Sapnap? We may have had a bad history, but we can have a good future, alright?”

- He asks to stay here for as long as he wants since someone griefed his home

- Sapnap considers it. Then he robs Tommy and announces it while Tommy makes a new bench on the roof

- Foolish joins the call and asks if they’re looking to buy this place. Tommy says he is. Foolish says nobody has actually paid for the place yet, but Sapnap doesn’t want Tommy to live here

- Sapnap isn’t very experienced in mugging, but he took Tommy’s things. He aims a bow at Tommy and tells him to leave

Sapnap: “Tommy, I don’t wanna have to take away your -- how many canon lives do you have?”

Tommy: “Don’t make me think about my revival, man, don’t make me think about my death.”

Sapnap: “You’re gonna have one less, that’s all I know, if you don’t get out of here.”

- Sapnap says Tommy is friends with the guy who “blows up shit” (Wilbur) and he can’t have that here

Tommy: “There’s a difference between looking out for someone in a brotherly -- borderline paternal re -- that’s different, man. You can’t hold that against me, man, you gotta let me make -- fuck you!”

- Technoblade knocks on the fourth wall, impatient for Monopoly

Tommy: “In my time of need, you just kill me! In my time of need, you just shoot me up!”

Sapnap: “You’re a dick! You -- you know, you just act like you just fucking own the place!”

Tommy: “I didn’t act -- I act like you don’t own the place, which is true!”

Sapnap: “You haven’t changed.”

- Sapnap has the Nintendo Voucher. He shouts at Tommy to get out of here and never come back

- Tommy walks back to his house as Sapnap brags that he will spend the Nintendo Voucher 

- He leaves to go play a fun game of Monopoly!

- Puffy sees that Tommy took down the mini L’Targay and is disappointed

- She goes to Sam’s base to see Fran until she realizes Sam is watching the stream

- She comes back later with a cat and puts the cat where Fran was. She hides Fran offscreen

- Puffy also rebuilds Tommy’s house into red white and blue colors using diorite, Netherrack and blue wool. On the roof she puts a picture of the Queen

---

Upcoming events remain the same.

[mrspillow]

Sorry (Jellal Fernandes x Reader)

"Hmm... strawberry cake..."

Suppressing a small laugh you turned your head to Erza, your best friend of childhood days that never seemed to miss the opportunity of shoving cake into her mouth.

You had seen the amounts of baked goods the redhead could swallow within minutes, not even speaking of hours, but when it came to strawberry cakes, it turned ridiculous.

"I do not know how you aren't fat already, Erza", you mused and put your chin onto your palm, still watching that food orgy of hers "But I guess that's okay, Ichiya likes your body just the way you are."

Even though she was wearing armor, you could see the shivers running down her spine and her face growing blue as she choked on that cake.

"Stop that", she didn't like being teased with a matter as serious as Ichiya, not even by you "You know exactly he gives me the chills every time."

You shrugged and turned back to the field inside of the Domus Flau arena in Krokus, watching the pair of wizards fight it out. Although you were no part of a guild, you were busy cheering on for Fairy Tail whenever they entered the field.

Yeah, sure, there were shouts of boos and the mocking of the other guilds but with Erza alone, they couldn't be any worse than the best.

You just knew it.

Even when the both of you were just kids and surely no force to reckon with, she wasn't just a surprisingly powerful mage but also kind and caring for those in her family. She was everything that made you change minds back then and you couldn't have been more grateful. It was only then that you realized just what exactly it was that you were doing and you felt so dirty the moment it became clear as day.

You snapped out of your stupor before it became obvious you were lightyears away and focused on the matches ahead of you.

Snatching the list from Gray's hands (who was too absorbed into fighting off Juvia - as always) to take a glimpse at the letters, you let out a sigh of defeat.

"Can I have a piece too?"

Just as you felt your eyes sliding shut, Natsu bumped into you, nearly making you fall over the handrails but at least, you were awake now.

"Is it finally over?" you leaned back and let out a yawn "Thank God!"

After all, you weren't that much into stuff like tournaments, Fairy Tail was basically the only reason for you to come into this cave of pent-up masses.

Nobody answered you, either tired as well or already on their way through the door and out of the arena, back to their sweet sweet home. You got up quickly and grabbed Erza (still next to you but with a very empty plate - you could only guess Mira had sacrificed her even more cakes) to get out.

It was just then that you noticed how far the sun has gone westwards making you suppress another yawn that made its way up. You got to go to bed soon enough anyway so no need to rush.

The way back out was surprisingly swift and without running into any hostile guilds (lucky you). So you were out before Natsu broke something or bumped into somebody.

"Let's go grab something to eat, (Y/N)? You coming?", you heard Gray's voice from behind you, making you turn around and give him a bright smile - only to decline.

"I'd love to, really, but there is that thing I need to get done yet. Don't worry, I'll be back soon, just start without me.", your voice was sweet enough that you nearly even betrayed yourself, if it hadn't been for that tiny tiny voice in your head.

Why don't you just tell them?

But you brushed it off without a second thought, no need to worry your friends about your self-made worries and troubles.

"Okay...", Erza didn't seem as convinced as you would've liked "You sure?"

A simple nod was enough to soothe her and so, you made your way back into town, taking a stroll through the streets devoid of people or friends. You were alone with your thoughts and the memories that came with them.

You sighed making eye contact with the horizon to take in the way the sun was drowning beneath these parts of bustling streets and places.

You hadn't missed the silence that came with the night for you had heard it over and over again in those sleepless nights.

It shamed you to this day that you hadn't noticed the way he was using you, cocooning you in soft and sweet words to make your finger bleed from hard work and your skin shining from the sweat and tears spilled for him. The worst part of it all was that damned silent voice within you, asking again and again if what you were doing was right.

How could you build weapons of mass destruction meant for thousands with a straight face?

How dared you think sacrificing people to a black wizard could be a way to achieve paradise?

How did you fail to notice that you would never be able to sleep after you were so willing to make these sacrifices more for him than for Zeref after all?

Who knew.

Did I know?

You wondered for years if maybe, just maybe, you had known what you were doing. You probably weren't even able to throw the cloak of ignorance over your shoulders to save yourself from the cold feeling of guilt.

Shame, shame on you.

You hated the way he made you feel so far away from everything like he had built a place away from the wars and the screams of the world, simply made for the two of you.

And again, you failed to notice how it was only the mist caught in between your fingers.

"(Y/N)?"

At first, you thought it was only the back of your mind, playing tricks on you by reviving past days and voices. But after some seconds, you had noticed the silhouette nearby and wondered if you had heard his voice.

Maybe you were going crazy.

At first, you noticed the dark blue hair, sticking out to spite the cloak it was put under, then that tattoo you would notice everywhere.

Jellal Fernandes.

Surprisingly enough, your panicking mind took it upon itself to react, stumping you with the bright - borderline hysterical - laugh that came out of your mouth.

You just couldn't help it. The way he appeared after decades with nothing to say but your name just about the moment you had wallowed in self-hate and guilt was just ridiculous.

Jellal stood quiet, not even his face gave away whatever irritated look he might have had, giving your laugh an untimely end. And that was just about what you needed to come back to your right set of mind.

"What are you doing here?" You didn't bother the biting hate in your voice or the way his shoulders slumped from your tone.

"I came because Erza told me you would be here.", he started when he had straightened again "She said it wouldn't be a good idea but I came because I wanted to speak to you."

You didn't trust the way this man looked so sad. You couldn't.

Not even enough to sit next to him when he scuffled over to the next bench and gestured for you to take a seat.

Not ever, not in a thousand years would you take that seat.

So you stood like a tree, unmoving and unwavering in your place, staring at him and ready to defend yourself by any means.

Would he try anything funny?

From the way, you knew him back then? Definitely.

Surprisingly though, he didn't try to press you into sitting down, instead starting to talk about whatever it was that lead him back to you.

"It took me a very long time to properly realize what had happened in the Tower of Heaven" he started "I did things in there that I never remembered to have said or done, horrible things. And when I remembered, it was like watching through the glass as someone else moved my body."

For the blink of an eye, his hand hovered over his head before he opted to pull down his hood and revealed the dark blue hair. Jellal sighed before he put his face in his hands for a few moments as if he was trying to get ahold of his last pieces of sanity.

"And when I understood what I had done, I felt so, so guilty. I tried to sacrifice hundreds - no, thousands of people, I manipulated you, Milliana, and the others to work for my cause. The worst of it all was the way I led you to believe in the lies I told you over and over again. I remember that look of adoration in your eyes and I misused it for these terrifying things."

The way he spoke of these sins the two of you committed so easily made you relive the shame of it over and over again. It was like your mind couldn't stop.

"I need to atone for these sins, for the things I did to you, and I wanted to start by telling you how sorry I am for the way I treated you and led you into believing these tales.

I do not ask for you to forgive me or to see beyond that, I came here to apologize because that is what you deserve."

For the first time since he started talking, he looked into your eyes as if waiting for your response and your mind came to an abrupt halt.

What exactly was it what you were feeling?

Hate?

Sadness?

Anger?

...No.

For the first time in forever, you could sympathize with him - that person who you had thought of as a monster for much longer than you wanted to admit. He had been taken advantage of and used to do whatever malicious things asked of him. He did not have a choice.

What did he feel like when he discovered how many people had been suffering under him? Was it sorrow? Betrayal? Shock? Or even anger?

And only when you were ready to answer was it that you too were looking into these dark eyes.

"I remember every damn word you spoke whenever you looked at me so fondly and I remember how you laughed at me for even believing in your farce. " you didn't try to cover up the bitterness sneaking in when you recalled your heart break into pieces just like that.

"And now that you are sitting in front of me, asking for forgiveness, I don't even feel the hate anymore." it had stilled to numbness in your heart, always there, but only with that hollow feeling, never leaving.

"I cannot forget", you further explained feeling unshed tears prick in your eyes "My memories have become a part of me and they will never leave again. A Sorry won't fix everything."

By then, two or three tears escaped over your face before you could wipe them away, not escaping Jellals gaze.

He turned to look at the ground for a few seconds, then he moved off the bench and cast a sad smile at you, only to walk away from you as if that was his clue to disappear back into the night.

Only when you understood where he going, you set into motion, reaching out for his hand.

"But..."

The blue-haired male revolved when he felt your hand in his, soft as in those memories he still held close. His eyes became wide at the side of your tearing and red eyes, paired with that tiny, hopeful smile directed at him.

"But... I won't give up on you."

His mouth carved up to mirror your smile as he squeezed your hand just like sunlight kissing your skin.

[liquid-luck-00]

Space Between 1

Ao3 *** Part 2

@maribatmarch-2k21 Day 2: First Time

~~~~~~~~~~

The first time Marinette died she was six. She had been walking along the sieve with her papa when she was pushed and fell into the river. She doesn't remember how long it was until the doctors started her heart again after having drowned. Her parents told her it was the scariest 10 minutes of their lives but she doesn't remember that.

What she remembers is the garden. A ring of flowers circled the garden, a small pond in the center surrounded by lush soft grass. A willow tree with two swings hang from its branches on one side of the pond. On the other a long bench with a podium next to it. She went over and on the podium were two stone tablets, one was blank. The other had Marinette written in elegant script, a single line was the only thing on the tablet with her name.

That was when she blinked and her eyes fluttered open.

"She's back. We got her back." she heard but it seemed like she had cotton in her ears.

---

The next time she was in the garden she was now 14. It was during Desperada that she died again, and again, and again. The kept being time missing but that was thanks to the snake miraculous. At one point she just stood or sat at the podium when she would arrive. At roughly every 2,000 deaths she would remember them all. When her number hit 34,559 and the other stayed blank she was ready to scream.

She has now died 34,559 times and 34,558 of those times were because of Adrien. The count had changed from tallies to just a number at some point.

She was going to say something when she appeared in front of Adrien for the up tenth time but he beat her.

"Sass, scales rest." The poor Kwamii nearly fell from the air in pure exhaustion. "It's been 4 months."

She cut him off. "I know?”

"Wait!!! How do you know."

"34, 558 times you rewound." Both Adrien and Sass stared at her.

"You are a Gray-Soul.” Sass exclaimed, “When did you get the memories."

"Around every 2,000 and about 17 times so I don't remember the last 500 of them." Adrien seemed to sigh in relief.

"Give it a week," Sass spoke, Adrien paled but that was a problem for future her.

She nodded. "Okay, but we need to deal with Desperada."

With Luka's help they finally were able to defeat Desperada. Okay sure she was bitter toward Chat during that fight, he hadn’t shown up earlier, but it was understandable. Okay she did die again with Luka but that was only once. She begrudgingly fist bumped them both in the end, but she was tired.

"M' lady are you alright?"

"Huh. Ya, Ya I'm good." she waved him off and left soon after.

A week later unfortunately, during yet another attack did her memories return.

"LB are you okay!" Chat asked her. Her gaze became steely and that akuma didn't stand a chance.

"Meet me at the tower in 15 minutes." Mari's voice was cold and serious. She gritted out attempting to process before swinging away.

"So Kitty anything you want to confess to or should I just tell you what I remember."

"Um... I'm.. I'm sorry," he was crestfallen.

"I'm not mad at you Adrien." she consoled. "It was a shock and I'm processing."

"I knew you didn't want to reveal and I'm sorry." He blurted, tears brimmed his eyes as he shrunk on himself.

"Hey, hey look at me." she placed her hands on his shoulders. "Would you believe me if I told you I used to have the biggest crush on you."

"You what?!"

"Ya but I just found out what a dork you are," she grinned flicking his nose.

"Am not!" he pouted.

"Are too Agreste."

"Fine, will you tell me who you are since you know me?

"Marinette. I'm Marinette, Adrien." she chuckled.

"Will you go on a date with me?" He looked hopeful.

'Sigh' "I'm sorry but no Adrien." he was going to protest but she stopped him. "Yes, I used to have a crush on you, but that kind of died after my 8,000 the death." he winced and she chuckled. "Adrien you are my best friend, no matter what Alya thinks. Your my partner and I trust you with my life, just not with the snake again," This time they both laughed.

"But the Ladybug and Black Cat are soulmates."

"Maybe we are. Just not romantically." she laughed at the confusion clear on his face. "there is more than one type of soulmates. I think we are more Platonic or even sibling soulmates."

"So you are like my sister, or should I say my soul sister."

"I guess you can see it that way."

"Hey soul sister." He had begun to sing.

"No don't!"

"Ain’t that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo, the way you move ain't fair you know." he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Definitely my brother, no romance." she deadpanned.

---

Of all of those on the Miraculous team she is the only gray-soul. Everyone on the miraculous team has died at least a handful of times, but who hasn't in Paris. They asked her about it but it was always the same. Just her number rose each time.

A year later she and Adrien had swapped miraculous to practice with the other's power. Unfortunately she was hit before Vipereon was on the scene.

She was in the garden and she noticed him. "Oh!" she startled as did the boy. He was taller than her, black hair and ocean blue eyes. "Is it your first time?" She walked over to the podium.

"First time for what?" he asked.

"Here, dying." She shrugged. 34,999 she read a note that now appeared on her tablet. STOP DYING ALREADY!!! She chuckled at that.

"How are you so god damn calm about this! We're dead!" he screamed.

She gave him a bored look and pointed at the podium. He moved over to see what she was pointing at.

"What the Fuck! Okay so that explains how your so calm." On one side was Marinette her death total and her note, on the other side was the name Jason in elegant script and a single tally.

"So here's a run down. We are called Gray-souls this is the Go-Between or limbo. You can only die and revive once or ya know some 36 thousand times."

"You've actually died and revived that many times."

"Unfortunately." she gave him an eye roll and a small push.

"Want to tell me about it?"

"It's a long story and I don't know if I could finish it."

"Why wouldn't you, we have as much time as we want right now?"

"Once the cure is cast I'll be revived and that will be max 30 minutes."

"Fine, but you will tell me when we both get out of here."

"Okay!" She nodded and went to shake his hand.

"I'm Jason Peter Todd."

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng. How will we you know, know it's the other person?"

Jason's tablet seemed to answer as it glowed drawing their attention.

Look among the Bats and the Birds for,

the Ladybug among the Menagerie.

They both stared at those words recognizing which part meant them. Marinette was about to say something but felt the all too familiar pull.

"Until next time, Jason, or should I say Gray." she nudged him with her elbow.

"Smell ya later Marinette Gray." he nudged her back with a smirk.

She waved and vanished from the garden. She never told anyone what happened that time, but those words were a constant whisper in her head.

Next

~~~~~~~~~~

Permanent Taglist: @itsmeevie01 @miraculouspenta @adrestar @vixen-uchiha

[regina-del-cielo]

I was thinking about Copley’s Murder Conspirancy Board (mostly to deal with the absolute rage that the scene with Andy Copley and Booker gives me because ‘UGH THESE MEN ARE SO S T U P I D’), and... I may have a Theory about it - which mostly delves into how much Booker and Copley were in actual contact with each other before the events of the movie.

TL;DR: the Murder Conspirancy Board was built with a contribution of Booker’s information, and Copley was Very Confused on the workings of the Guard’s immortality

(the Essay(TM) is under the cut)

This excellent post expounds on how these two Grieving Dumbasses Definitely Did Not Think Their Plan Through, but still what little they did plan was not done in two days. And I would like to think that Booker would have required more than One (1) Persuasive Speech to get him to potentially get his family outed and put in danger for the (tiny) chance of getting a cure for their immortality.

So they’d been in contact for a while, possibly for almost the whole ‘break year’. Copley has lost his wife two years before the movie, so when he and Booker met again he’s one year into mourning. If Andy needed a break from their jobs, I can’t imagine in what mental state Booker must have been.

Copley probably started looking into the Guard because man, that Surabaya mission was a masterpiece, and how come these guys aren’t mercenary superstars? But they’re like ghosts, and the IDs don’t really match their supposed ages... and dealing with his wife’s death made him go into a Nerd Spiral. And then he finds Booker.

So this is how I think it went: they meet again. They talk. Copley is a grieving widower, Booker goes ‘man don’t I relate’. Booker is probably drunk a lot of the time (maybe so is Copley, misery loves company and all that). They enter a positive feedback loop of sharing grief over lost loved ones. Copley probably spills that he knows something, that they’ve done great things and they have a gift obviously. Booker probably answers along the lines of ‘fuck the gift, it sucks. Didn’t save my children when they needed it’. Copley goes ‘well, medicine is much better today. What if you could do it now?’ And the rest is history.

A) Booker ‘helped’ with the Murder Conspirancy Board

We know for a fact that the Conspirancy Board contains information about the Guard ‘from the last 150 years’ which is, approximately, the time photography’s been around. And it makes sense - photos are pretty easily accessible, and Copley knows their faces. He probably scanned them from one of those fake IDs and then used a facial recognition software to find them in historical photographic archives. But we know (and by the end of the movie so does he) that the last 150 years is a nothing in their lifespan. And while going backwards Copley may have found Booker’s original birth and/or marriage records, nothing of the sort would exist for Joe, Nicky and Andy.

Despite how much we joke about the Guard’s faces being Everywhere in museums and art galleries around the world, we can assume that they wouldn’t leave so many traces of them behind. The two known art pieces representing Andy in an obviously recognizable manner, her portrait with Achilles and the Rodin, are in the cave in Val d’Argent. I don’t believe Nicky and Joe wouldn’t have similar storage places, especially for Joe’s own art. Without photographic evidence and before newspapers, trying to pinpoint the three of them across history would be harder than finding a specific needle in a haystack of needles... unless someone tells you where to look. 

When Andy enters Copley’s living room, he calls her ‘Andromache the Scythian, the eternal warrior’. But how could Copley have known that Andy’s “real” name was Andromache? It’s not on her IDs, and it’s not the top choice for a full name that has Andy as a nickname. It’s a literary name, of course it would appear through history in poems or plays or novels. And how could he have associated Nicky and Joe precisely to the Crusades with what he knows of them from the last 150 years alone? For all he knew, they could have been as old as the Punic Wars, or as young as the Battle of Lepanto. Assuming he’d actually caught on on them being together together.

Well, I think Booker told him. Maybe just a thing here or there, while Commiserating on How It Sucks being an Immortal, like ‘Andy’s been around for so long she doesn’t even remember her true age, that’s exhausting’ or ‘Joe and Nicky are ridiculous for two people whose first meeting consisted of killing each other during the fucking Crusades’. And Copley fell into another Nerd Spiral that brought him to understand that holy shit these people are much older than I thought what the fuck.

B) Copley is Very Confused on How Immortality Actually Works

Copley talks to Andy by calling her ‘eternal warrior’ and talking of her immortality as if it was some kind of gift that can somehow be transferred from one body to another (debatable, but... ok). But he’s also flabbergasted by her not healing from Booker’s shot, and later with Nile he says ‘but then why would the immortality leave?’, which is... well, it makes it sound like he thinks the immortals are some sort of Chosen Ones.

Which means that Copley knows nothing about Lykon. He had no idea that at some point the Guard will stop healing.

But why would he not know, since I just conjectured that Booker told him enough about immortality for him to pinpoint the origins of the eldest members of the Guard? Why would Booker not have told him such a central detail of their “power”? (Booker obviously knows about Lykon. We see Andy telling Nile, and you can bet that ‘is this thing permanent?’ is probably the third question Booker ever asked when he met the others. He can’t not know)

I think it’s because despite having bonded over their grief, they are approaching this ‘discovering what the fuck is up with immortality’ from two extremely different sides. 

Copley wants to know if there is some biological aspect to their immortality that may be ‘transferred’ or ‘activated’ in any random human being. He’s gotten into his head that their regenerative powers can end all diseases. Which. I could probably write another entire separate post on how this is far-fetched at best. Point being, Copley never thought his endeavour as taking the immortality from the Guard to give it to someone else. He thinks Andy and the others are going to live forever and ever.

Booker knows their immortality is not forever and ever, theoretically. He knows that at some point, in the future, he’s going to stop healing and die. But he Wants to Talk to the Manager about it, damn it. He wants his death to be a certainty he can quantify, not something that may happen in another five thousand years based on the data he’s got at his disposal. He wants to have the choice to end it tomorrow or in fifty years - if discovering what causes his immortality saves other people, well that’s an undeniable bonus, but it’s not the focus of his motivation.

Just like Booker and Copley didn’t cover all the potential ways in which Their Plan Could Go Wrong (and honestly, has Booker not learned yet just how fast they revive on average? He tells Nile that ‘big wounds take longer’, and still he revived from the grenade in three/four minutes!), I think they also didn’t Delve into their motivations for seeking that knowledge. Booker probably thought that Copley knowing of their immortality being relative was irrelevant, because of course the doctors will find something (the thing that makes them stop healing), and then he’ll die anyway, so who cares? 

And Copley... Copley was probably Convinced that the Guard was a group of superheroes that just needed to be suggested a new investment plan for using their powers, because saving individuals during wars and natural disasters is very noble and good, but come on, it’s inefficient as hell, they can do much better!

(It absolutely sends me that Copley saw the kind of accomplishments reached by the people that the Guard saved, or by their direct descendants, and STILL it didn’t occur to him that there was a pretty decent chance that sometime in the future they would save someone that would find the cure for ALS and/or other shitty diseases! HE’S LITERALLY HINDERING THEM!!!) 

[biggest-stupidhead]

Bad Timing (Levi x Reader) Part 8

Summary: how do you tell your friends that you’re falling for your big brothers’ best friend?

Word Count: 4.8K

__

You woke up late the next morning, having forgotten to plug in your phone which also functioned as your alarm. Instead Hange had busted into your room and ripped the blankets off of you, exposing you to the chilly air. You yelped and reached blindly for the covers, your mind too foggy with sleep to comprehend how late you were.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty." Hange sang as she jostled your shoulder.

"Wha..."

"School starts in like thirty minutes come on bust a move." That woke you up. You tossed your legs over the edge and stumbled around your room, pulling on a pair of joggers and a large t shirt. Hange had left once she was sure that you were awake, leaving you alone to get ready. You didn't bother with make up, not that you ever really did. You double checked that you had all of your supplies for school before zipping up your bag and meandered down the steps. Erwin and Hange were already pulling on their shoes by the door, Erwin was wrapping one of his scarves around Hange's neck. You scrunched your nose in disgust at their outright display of affection and shoved your feet into a pair of old sneakers.

The three of you exited the house, and made a beeline for Erwin's minivan which had been heating up to melt off the frost and snow. The drive was slow and cold, the van was dated so no matter how early Erwin woke up to heat up the car for you, it would always be colder than the Arctic. Erwin also drove like a god damn grandpa in the winter due to the icy roads which didn't help. Finally you made it to school with only five minutes before the bell rang, you bolted into the building, you were in such a hurry that you didn't bother to stomp the snow off your feet as you entered. Which was a mistake because in your hast you lost your footing on the already slick floor, you yelped as you fell flat on your ass. You blinked as you tried to comprehend what had just happened, you were brought back to the present by the sound of boisterous laughter. You turned to glare at Connie and Sasha who where standing to the left munching on a bag of hot cheetos.

"You should've seen the look on your face!" Connie howled as he slapped his thigh. Sasha giggled and nodded as she wiped cheeto dust on Connie's white shirt while he wasn't watching. You rolled your eyes as you picked yourself up off the floor, you ignored them and pushed forward down the hall. Sasha and Connie trailed after you since they had the same first class as you, making jokes as they went.

"You know they really should put out those yellow signs, you know the ones with the person falling?" Sasha joked loudly.

"Yeah I know what you mean, then we could print out a picture of (Y/n)'s face and then stick it on the sign." Connie quipped which lead to the two of them dissolving into another fit of laughter. You ducked into the class room as the minute bell rang weaving through the desks to get to your seat. Armin watched you with wide eyes as you pulled your things out for chem, after your desk was covered in notebooks and pens you topped it off with your phone, which was still dead. The bell rang and then Sasha and Connie staggered in, your teacher shook her head and marked them tardy once again.

"Did you get my text last night?" Armin asked, eyeing your phone on your desk.

"Aw no Armin I'm sorry, I didn't charge it last night so it's dead." you apologized as you attempted to organize your cluttered desk. Armin smiled sweetly and nodded,

"It's all good! I was just wondering what your schedule for this week was and if you wanted to study together again?" Armin explained as he pushed his pencil across his desktop.

"I'd love to study, Geometry is kicking my ass right now." you moaned, the thought of your math class made your stomach heavy with dread.

"I can help you with that if you can help me with poem for English." Armin said softly, his blue eyes sparkling with a playful glint. You rolled your eyes you knew that Armin wouldn't need your help with any of his classes, he was just trying to make you feel smarter.

"Whatever you want baby doll." Armin's face flushed at the pet name that you used for him, you had recently started calling him the nickname due to his doll like features. He averted his gaze to the board where the teacher had written a warm up question on the board to get class started. Instead of working on the problem like a good student, you decided to use the first five minutes of class time to revive your dead phone. You plugged your charger into your laptop and then plugged your phone into the charger, once you saw the tiny lightning bolt you turned your attention to the board.

__

Chemistry went by uncharacteristically fast, the teacher kept the class busy with a lecture as well as a rowdy game of kahoot in preparation for your midterm. You had no time to check your phone, so it wasn't until you were walking through the hallway with Mikasa and Sasha that you noticed that Levi had responded. According to your phone, he had responded only fifteen minutes after you sent the initial message.

"My bathroom schedule is none of your concern."

You smiled at your phone, it may not seem like he was pleased with your text but you knew better. You had come to appreciate Levi's own weird way of showing that he cared, it had been no small feat either. So you decided to interpret his response as "don't worry I'm fine." you shoved your phone back into your pocket and continued to push through the throng of students in the hall. Sasha walked a few paces in front of Mikasa and you, swinging her lunchbox and humming along to whatever song was playing through her ear buds. Mikasa tugged her scarf up over her nose as you passed Eren who waved vaguely in your direction. Your eyes roamed over Mikasa's form, she had recently switched her aesthetic a bit, changing her wardrobe to a more soft goth mixed with grunge.

Today she wore a green plaid skirt with a belt cinched tightly around her thin waist. She had selected a black turtleneck that clung to her curves with a thick silver necklace with a heart pendant. And of course she wore her red scarf around her neck. You had to admit that it suited her, she looked hot as hell. Sasha on the other hand often dressed in a more causal manner. Today the brunette wore a pair of baggy jeans that hung off her hips, only staying in place because of the shoe lace that she had tied around her waist to function as a belt. Despite the cold weather Sasha wore a tiny pink cami with cute little strawberries on it, she also wore a light pink cardigan over the cami, presumably to prevent herself from being dress coded. Seeing how cute your friends had dressed made you feel embarrassed, you frowned down at your sweatpants and your t shirt that had an ugly bleach stain on the front. You'd do better tomorrow, you thought to yourself as you and Mikasa followed Sasha to your next class, which was World History.

The three of you arrived just in time, not that it mattered anyway. The history teachers always took their time on Mondays, spending a minimum of at least twenty minutes in the hall chatting about sports. You took your seats in the back of the room, surprisingly Connie and Jean were already seated and arguing quietly.

"-I don't know that's a bit sus but hey I won't judge." Connie retorted, crossing his arms and averting his gaze while Jean glared at him.

"What are you guys talking about?" Sasha interrupted as she dropped into her seat next to Connie. Jean's cheeks flushed as he hardened his glare on Connie who waved Sasha off.

"Oh nothing" Connie winked at Jean who eyed the pair suspiciously, knowing that neither one could keep a secret.

"Aw ok then." Sasha looked a bit disappointed as she dropped her huge lunchbox down on the desk.

"Got anything good in there?" Jean sighed, eager to change the subject.

"Duh you dummy." Sasha scoffed as she opened the bag and began pawing through it's contents.

"Let me rephrase that: Got anything to spare? I have practice tonight and I didn't pack any snacks." Jean exasperated as he pointed to the lung box. Sasha paused and pursed her lips in thought while Connie poorly covered his laughter.

"Hmmm what's in it for me?" Sasha hummed thoughtfully as she pulled out a variety of granola bars and fanned them in front of her face tauntingly.

"I'm giving you the chance to be a good friend that should be enough!" Jean fumed with his eyes locked on the bars. You watched the pair go back in forth as they bartered for the snacks until they finally settled that Jean would be the designated driver for the party this weekend. You watched as Jean stuffed a handful of granola bars in his soccer bag and Sasha opened up another bag of hot cheetos. You giggled and turned to gauge Mikasa's reaction, she had a small smile on her full lips as she jotted down some notes.

"Speaking of parties, where is the party this weekend?" You asked as you pulled your own notebook out to take some notes. Connie cocked his head, his thin eyebrows furrowing as he stared at you.

"Your house I thought." Connie remarked as he drummed his pencil against the desk.

"Oh, I wasn't really planning on hosting but..."

"No Connie it's at Marco's remember?" Jean stated as he rolled his eyes.

"My bad." Connie chuckled.

"Well still I don't think I was invited so I wouldn't want to impose." you admitted.

"Nonsense! Marco would love to have you over." Sasha assured you as she once again wiped her hand on Connie's sleeve.

"Yeah Marco wouldn't mind if you tagged along." Connie shrugged, not even noticing that Sasha had left a bright red stain on his sleeve from the cheeto dust. You noticed that Jean looked a bit uncomfortable, the tips of his ears turning a bit pink. Strange, maybe something happened between the two of them.

"I don't know guys, I really wouldn't want to take advantage of the guy, he seems really nice and I wouldn't want him to think badly of me." you sighed, thinking about the sweet freckled barista.

"I'll ask him, don't worry about it!" Connie waved you off before he turned back to his work. You nodded, deciding to throw in the towel with this argument.

____

After history, you went your separate ways with your friends and went to your next class. English was easy enough, your teacher was an older woman who also doubled as the theater director. This meant that she would often assign some busy work at the beginning of the period and turn you loose so she could make preparations for the next production. So once you finished the assignment for today's class you allowed yourself some time on your phone. Levi's message remained unanswered as you ran through all the possible replies. Everything that you thought of didn't seem to fit so you decided to leave it unanswered until you could think of something good.

__

Levi tapped his foot impatiently as he watched Farlan and Isabel fumbled around the small flat. Farlan was rooting through a bin filled with shoes searching for his loafers. Isabel was standing in front of a small mirror holding up two different pairs of earrings up to her head to see which best matched her outfit. Finally they both found what they were looking for, Farlan slid on his brown loafters and Isabel fastened her hoops to her ears and then they were off. The streets of Paris were dusted in about a foot of snow, which Farlan bitched about due to his poor choice of footwear.

"Can we please call an uber? My toes are going to fall off!" Farlan complained as he shook snow out of his shoes. Isabel giggled and tossed her scarf over her shoulder.

"I like the snow." her green eyes sparkled playfully as she teased the older boy.

"So do I but that doesn't mean I want it between my god damn toes." Farlan hissed as he lifted his other foot to shake out more snow. Levi watched the pair bicker with a certain fondness in his gaze. They had been his first friends and for a time his only family. After his mother died, he was sent to live in an orphanage where he met the odd pair. Even if he was only in the orphanage for two years, he still had come to love the idiots. Thankfully they never lost touch, Farlan had turned 18 in July so he now had custody of Isabel and rented a flat for the both of them. Isabel was still only 16 so technically Farlan was her legal guardian, and so far he seemed to be doing a good job.

"What do you think Levi, should we call an uber?" Isabel asked, bumping her shoulder into Levi's to grab his attention.

"We're already almost there." Levi deadpanned as the three of them meandered down the sidewalk. The city was surprisingly busy for a Monday evening, couples walked with arms linked, families were window shopping, and students sat perched on barstools as they drank coffee while they typed away on laptops. Levi couldn't remember much about Paris, at least not this side of the city. He had grown up in the north-eastern district, which was known to be poorer than the central district or southern district. Farlan had managed to get a job at a law firm as an assistant which had allowed him to move himself and Isabel to the central district. Of course Kenny sent Farlan and Isabel a monthly allowance to keep their heads above water, but it was mostly Farlan who had scrounged the money together to move the pair.

"Then it's settled! We'll walk!" Isabel whooped as she skipped ahead of the two boys. Farlan groaned and shot Levi a disappointed look.

"Don't look at me like that, you're the idiot that wore loafers." Levi scolded.

"I hate how you're always right." Farlan chuckled. The trio walked the rest of the way to the restaurant in relative silence. Thankfully the walk wasn't too long, they sat themselves in a booth. A waiter came and took their orders, Levi was slightly taken aback when Farlan ordered a bottle of wine, but he quickly remembered that the legal drinking age in France was 18. The waiter left them to put in their order, Levi took the moment of peace to check his phone. A hand full of texts from Hange, a meme from Erwin, and.... no response from you.

He frowned as he stared at his own response, looking back at it he wasn't sure how she could respond to that. He mentally kicked himself, for the first time in your odd relationship you showed an interest in him and all he was doing was pushing you away. Levi was so deeply engrossed in his thoughts that he failed to notice that the waiter had already brought them their drinks. Isabel tapped her straw on the table a few times to rip the paper, once the tip of the straw was exposed she lifted the straw to her lips and blew. The paper shot off the straw and hit Levi square in the chin. Farlan snorted and spat his wine back into his glass so he could laugh at Levi's exasperated expression. Isabel howled with laughter, she banged her hand on the table dramatically as Levi frowned at the two of them unimpressed.

"How old are you?" Levi ridiculed as he stooped to pick up the scrap piece of paper. He balled the trash up and set it down on the table top. Farlan sighed as he finally managed to quell his laughter.

"Someone has to keep you humble Levi." Farlan teased as he took another sip of wine. Levi reached for the bottle and poured himself a glass, Isabel was drinking a root beer loudly through her straw. Levi sat his phone down on the table as he gave his friends his undivided attention. Isabel told him about her job at a doggy day care where she cleaned kennels and watched dogs. Farlan told him about his superiors and how they told him he would make a good lawyer one day. Levi felt a huge sense of relief as he listened to his friends, he was glad that the two of them were finally making a living for themselves. Levi was politely listening to Farlan rant about one of his annoying coworkers when he noticed that Isabel had grown uncharacteristically quiet. His heart dropped when he saw that Isabel had his phone and was frowning at the screen. Farlan followed his gaze and grew quiet as well.

"Isabel what do you think you are doing?" Levi enunciated each word, his tone dripping with venom. Isabel looked up at him, her cheeks tinged pink when she realized that she had been caught.

"Your phone was open and I saw her text..." Isabel trailed off as she turned to show Farlan. Levi slapped his palm over his face and sighed deeply. Farlan whistled lowly as he read the text.

"Shot her down real quick didn't you Levi." Farlan chuckled as he took another sip of wine. Levi frowned, another wave of guilt washing over him.

"Didn't mean to." he mumbled as he lifted his glass to his lips. Isabel had already set his phone down and favored her own phone, her eyes were scanning over the screen quickly as she scrolled through her phone. A few minutes of silence passed before Isabel showed Levi her screen, she had pulled up your instagram.

"This her?" she questioned, Levi only gave her a curt nod as he finished off the wine in his glass.

"Aw Levi's she's adorable!" Isabel gushed as she scrolled through your page, pausing on one of your more popular posts. A series of pictures of you on a beach towel wearing large sunglasses and a huge sun hat, the quality was amazing. He was sure that Armin took the photo, the kid had a knack for photography.

"Damn if you don't want her I'll take her." Farlan hummed as he looked over Isabels shoulder. Levi shot Farlan a disapproving glare.

"What's her number?" Farlan pressed, Isabel choked on her drink as she burst out laughing.

"Forget about it." Levi hissed as he snatched his phone off the table top.

"I'm just teasing you Levi." Farlan waved his hand dismissively as he poured another glass of wine. Levi rolled his eyes and let out a grunt, his own version of acknowledging Farlan's good natured jokes.

"You should call her." Isabel mused as she chewed on her food. Levi furrowed his brows, what would he even say to you? It's not like the two of you casually conversed, he usually only called you if Erwin couldn't reach you, which rarely happened. He glanced at his watch and frowned, if it was eight o'clock here that meant it was about two back home. Therefore you were still in school so he would have to wait until later.

"That's a dumb idea." Levi monotoned, Isabel rolled her eyes dramatically.

"No it's not, even if you're just her friend I'm sure she would like to know that she's on your mind!" Isabel insisted enthusiastically, Farlan nodded in agreement as he shoveled a forkful of pasta into his mouth.

"She's right you know-" Farlan paused as he swallowed his mouthful of food, "not everyone can handle your cold demeanor as well as others." Farlan chided as he lifted another bite to his lips.

"Fine I'll call her." Levi caved in as he stabbed his fork into his salad. Isabel squealed in excitement.

"This is great Big-bro! I'm so proud of you!" she gushed, her eyes glimmering with adoration. Levi couldn't resist reaching across the table and ruffling her hair affectionately. Dinner ended without any more noteworthy events, Farlan and Levi split the check and then bundled back up to walk back to the flat.

___

You sat at your dining room table staring hopelessly at your geometry homework. A bowl of cold soup sat untouched, you had been too stressed to eat dinner, a habit that you had recently picked up. Erwin and Hange had made dinner so you could get straight to work, which had been very sweet, but you felt guilty because truthfully you had barely made a dent in your assignment. You thought about calling Armin, he would help you. No you couldn't bother him, he was probably doing work of his own.

So you suffered in silence, the shapes and numbers spinning in your brain the longer you stared at the page. With a frustrated sigh you flipped the page only to see more blank problems that needed to be done. You stood up intending to stretch your legs and take a brain break. After you'd walked around the island in your kitchen three times you came back to the table and dropped down into the chair. You cracked your knuckles before clutching your pencil in a death grip and began to attempt one of the questions. As you scribbled on the page, attempting to make sense of the numbers and letters, you pressed too hard on your pencil and snapped the lead. You watched the tiny piece of lead roll across the page, out of spite you swiped your hand over the page to wipe the lead off.

Your eyes widened at the large smudge that now marred your paper. It all started with a single tear, it rolled down your cheek and splashed onto your paper. Before you could really understand why, you were absolutely bawling your eyes out at the dining room table. Was it because you were frustrated with school? Yeah that was definitely part of the reason. Before you could spiral into a dark pit of self deprecation, you were rudely interrupted by your phone ringing. You squinted through your bleary eyes to see that it was already 10:30 pm. You sighed, not really caring who was on the other end of the line you answered the phone.

"What" you blurted, not really in the mood to talk.

"..."

"Well? I'm kind of in the middle of something right now." your voice quivered as you fought back tears .

"Is...this a bad time?" your heart dropped at the sound of Levi's smooth voice.

"Uh" you sniffled and wiped your eyes.

"No it's not I can talk, what's the matter Levi?" you asked as you continued to wipe your eyes.

"Are you sure?" Levi probed, you nodded despite the fact that he couldn't see you. You stood up and began to pace around the kitchen once more.

"Y-Yeah-" you hiccuped and cringed, Levi sighed on the other end of the line.

"(Y/n) be honest with me....are you drunk?" Levi interrogated, you gasped it was a Monday night! Did he really think that you were that much of an alcoholic?

"No! I just...."

"Hm? What is it?" Levi quipped clearly enjoying your frazzled state.

"If you must know, I was in the middle of a mental break down." you admitted with a heavy sigh. Levi went silent on the other line, you were beginning to regret your honesty.

"It's only Monday." Levi cringed at his less than empathetic response.

"Yeah you're telling me." you chuckled, Levi immediately relaxed at the sound of your laughter even if it wasn't as bubbly as it usually was.

"What's bothering you?" Levi asked, surprisingly softly. You furrowed your brows surely he didn't call you just to hear about your day? He was probably just being nice.

"Oh uh... just school I guess." you paused your pacing to drop onto the sofa and kick your feet up onto the coffee table.

"I see." Levi mused as he reclined in the armchair he was seated in.

"Anyway, enough about me, why did you call me? Is there something you need?" you asked, you were sure that he didn't want to hear you complain about geometry.

"It's fine, tell me about your day." Levi grimaced, tell me about your day? Who was he your mother?

"O-Okay. Well I guess it was fine up until I tried to do this stupid geometry." you grumbled, the mere thought of your homework making your stomach sick with dread.

"Geometry?" Levi hummed, crossing his leg so his ankle was over his knee.

"Yeah." you sighed dejectedly, waiting for his scathing remark about how stupid you were.

"That one can be tough." Levi huffed, you could hear him re-situate so you waited to respond. Once you were sure he was settled you inhaled sharply to prepare yourself.

"It's just not clicking for me." you groaned, Levi snorted and once again you could hear some shuffling.

"Want some help?" he asked. You blinked slowly, not fully processing his words.

"Help?"

"Take it or leave it."

"I would be an idiot to decline."

______

"That wasn't so bad was it?" Levi asked, a playful glint in his grey eyes.

"It was awful, but I'm grateful for the help." you sighed, resting your head on the table. You'd been on the phone with Levi for almost two hours now. After he had offered to lend you a hand you had switched to facetime so he could see the problems. Levi tapped his pen on the counter top he was sitting at. Yeah you heard that right, Levi does math with a fucking pen like a psychopath.

"Anytime." his lip twitched upwards ever so slightly.

"God, I'm sorry that all we talked about was fucking math." you apologized.

"It's fine really. " Levi shrugged once again tapping his pen on the counter.

"Tell me about Paris? How are things on the other side of the pond?" you joked, finally able to genuinely smile now that the stress of your homework was lessened.

"First off, never say 'pond' again. Second, it's cold as a witch's tit over here." Levi enunciated each point by tapping the pen against the counter.

"Really? Is there snow over there?" You asked, suddenly very invested in the weather in France.

"Yeah there's a fuck ton." Levi stood up and brought his phone with him to a window. You could tell that he was on a high floor, you could see the lights of the city through the flurries of snow.

"Woah, it's so pretty!" you gushed as you admired Levi's view.

"Tch, I guess." Levi clicked his tongue as he flipped the camera back onto his face.

"Hey what time is it there?" you yawned.

"Six am." Levi deadpanned.

"What!! Why did you let me keep you up so late Levi! My god go to bed." you huffed incredulously. Levi rolled his eyes as he listened to you lecture him on the importance of a good nights rest.

"I mean seriously Levi no wonder why you're always so grumpy." you finished your rant as you closed your bedroom door and began pulling out a pair of flannel pj pants and a large hoodie since your room seemed to be particularly chilly. You dropped your phone onto your bed (camera down obviously) and began to change into your pjs.

"Don't worry about it sweetheart." Levi drawled, his voice a bit muffled by your comforter. Once you picked up the phone you dropped down onto your bed and sighed.

"Seriously, I'm just adjusting to the time change." Levi shrugged, he was now in his own room, also laying on the bed a pale morning glow seeping into the room.

"Uh huh sure." you teased, a smile spreading across your lips. After a moment of silence you decided that it was time to call it a night.

"Well, unlike you I need my beauty sleep." you said groggily.

"Good luck with that." Levi scoffed, his own voice a bit scratchy.

"Thanks again Levi. Goodnight or erm, Good morning I guess." you giggled as you watched Levi try to cover up a yawn.

"Yeah yeah whatever." He scoffed, you waved as you hung up. You rolled over and plugged your phone in, having learned from your past mistake. You sighed contently as you snuggled beneath the covers, your head filled with thoughts of geometry and Levi.

[the-golden-ghost]

Things you said prompt number 17? Feeling like reading a bit of Jigoe angst 😁

17. Things you said that I wish you hadn’t

A lot could change in two months.

Jigen had been living wild since Lupin’s last supposed death (drowning, no body discovered, all of them far too jaded with him now to believe he was truly gone). In Jigen’s case, he probably wouldn’t have believed it even with a body. He knew how conniving Lupin could be. But there’d been no word from him, nothing but rumors of his continued existence on the mortal plane, and now they’d been summoned to one of their most secluded hideouts - not by him, but by Fujiko.

Jigen damn well hoped she knew something he didn’t, because he wasn’t going to work for her. But because she really might know something - and because Jigen was a damned idiot who didn’t know what was good for him - he was here.

It was one of their nicest places, too. Small, on a lakeside, hidden behind some big grassy hills and surrounded for miles by woods. A good place to rest. When they’d been up here together last, Goemon had hung wind chimes and the four of them had planted a garden which was now, as Jigen could see, overrun with weeds, but the chimes were still singing.

He parked his car and sat for a minute. No idea who’d be inside. There were no other vehicles he could see but that didn’t mean the house was empty. He just wasn’t sure he was ready to face any of them.

~

Two months ago Jigen had gotten the news and buried his grief because at this point he was numb to it. Lupin liked to screw around like this - he was magnificent and selfish and saw his own life as a stageplay that the world watched with baited breath. When he died - truly died, he’d assured Jigen long ago - it would be spectacular, the kind of death that shook the world to its core and that people would immortalize in song and story for centuries upon centuries to come.

Drowning wasn’t it, so Lupin was coming back. Probably. Either way that wound had cauterized itself long ago, for Jigen. It wouldn’t do any good to grab Lupin by the throat and demand what he couldn’t give. It didn’t seem to matter that Jigen got shaken to the core every single fucking time but Jigen was just one man, and he didn’t know how to write stories. So on it went.

Goemon was different. After the news came they’d stood together with their bags packed, ready to separate for an uncertain amount of time, and Jigen, shaken, had turned to the one man he loved who he was certain was still breathing and offered himself. What did a samurai need with a partner? Apparently nothing, because Goemon had refused his service and left. And it was that simple refusal that had been grating on Jigen since they’d seen each other last, because somehow, in his infinite stupidity, he’d thought Goemon cared enough about him to want to stick together. Somehow he’d made that mistake.

But no. Jigen was a man who faltered without someone to ride beside, but Goemon worked just fine alone.

~

After two months living city to city in and out of dives and the seediest motels money could buy, it was strange to be in a place with wind chimes. It felt like a waking dream, like none of this was quite real, or maybe it was just the scotch messing with his head. Didn’t matter. The door was unlocked and Jigen walked in with a rush of apprehension.

Nobody. The place was clean and empty and abandoned.

“Fujiko?” he asked to no one. She’d called them, so she should be here. But apparently not. “Lupin?” he called, more hesistant now. If Lupin were to truly just show up like this, casually, as if Jigen’s life were just an intermission he could stroll into whenever he felt like it - Jigen would probably shoot him dead right there and just get the inevitable over with. But he was still gone.

“Goemon?” He wasn’t here either. That made it easier. He shuffled off to the kitchen to get himself another drink and then slumped on the couch for a nap. The drive up here had been way too long.

~

Jigen awoke with a start in the early evening to find that he was no longer alone, that there was a shadow hovering by the window. He scrambled up; taking in through his dazed and blurry vision who it was. “Goemon?” he asked.

“It’s me.”

In spite of the rage and bitterness that he’d been clinging to for the past two months in a desperate bid to keep from collapsing, Jigen’s heart still pulled towards Goemon. Soft as he was, he would have forgiven Goemon for that abandonment. He would have forgiven him for anything.

Anything except for what he did a moment later, which was to recoil when Jigen approached him. “Jigen? Where have you been living?”

“Around,” Jigen said, taken aback by the reaction, his anger slowly rising. Damn him, he didn’t even want to go through a proper greeting? Even now? “Why? Do you care?”

Goemon studied Jigen for a long moment before looking away. “You look terrible. I would not doubt you haven’t even been trying to take care of yourself. Why didn’t stay in one of the safe houses? Lupin would not have denied you that.”

In truth, Jigen hadn’t stayed because it would have been hell on earth. Living day to day, alone in one of those empty half-homes with way too many memories per square inch but no people in sight. He couldn’t take it. Jigen needed cites; that impersonal human contact where no one knew you from Adam and didn’t give a shit in hell about you but where you were never isolated, never cut off from the world. There was security in living like a rat in a wall.

He didn’t say any of that to Goemon, though. Instead he decided to opt for something much nastier. “Maybe I just like living in filth. Guess we can’t all be as honorable and perfect as you, can we? Where were you? Wait - I can guess - training yourself up so you can get a better gig and stop associating with mangy dogs like me.”

Goemon’s gaze flickered angrily but he kept calm. “I have been training,” he said coolly. “And you are drunk by the sound of it. Not that I’m surprised.”

Jigen’s rage flared up again, in full force. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean? You’re not surprised? What, you want to fight me? I’ll show you how fucking drunk I am.”

Goemon didn’t move, nor did he make a motion to draw his sword. “I did not come here to fight anyone, least of all you. I came here because Fujiko sent for me.”

“Yeah? Well fuck Fujiko. Fuck her and fuck you. I’m out.”

He made it twenty miles back towards where he’d come from before he realized he hadn’t put gas in the car, ran out, toyed briefly with sleeping in the ditch on the side of the road, thought better of it, and began the long hike back to the house. He made it in by 1 am and collapsed onto the couch, too exhausted for words.

~

In the morning Jigen wasn’t mad anymore. Mostly because he felt like he’d been run over by a truck. Just didn’t have the energy, but more than that, he felt guilty about taking his losses out on Goemon. It wasn’t Goemon’s fault Jigen couldn’t survive two measly months flying solo without having a complete breakdown. Goemon had tucked himself away in the bedroom and wasn’t coming out. Fujiko was nowhere to be seen, still, and Lupin... who knew.

Jigen sat around for a while and smoked and wished he hadn’t come. But he had come, and he’d screwed things up, so. Over to the bedroom door he went, and knocked.

“Hey,” he asked hoarsely, opening the door a little. “You still mad?”

There was no reply, which meant the answer was probably yes.

“Cause... look, man, I’m sorry. I’m sorry about every stupid half-assed thing I said to you last night. And I didn’t mean a word of it. I just wanted to fight somebody and you were the only one here.”

Still silence.

“But that doesn’t make it right.”

No response.

“I’m comin’ in,” Jigen said finally. He wasn’t immediately sliced in half, so that was a good sign at least. Goemon was sitting on the bed, facing away from the door, deathly still and silent. “Goemon? Please look at me.”

Goemon did not. For all that, Jigen might have been invisible.

He took a step closer. “Look, I don’t care what you say to me,” he said between shaking breaths. “I don’t friggin’ care, Goemon. You can cuss me out if you want. You can say whatever you want to me - you can call me the lowest, dirtiest, most pathetic damn bastard you’ve ever met in your entire life. I don’t give a shit, I know what I am, I just - “ he broke off, pleading. “Just hold me, Goemon, for fuck’s sake I just need you right now, and -”

The words struck home. Goemon turned, looking startled, and reached out to Jigen. For a long while they clung to each other, squeezing tight, Jigen burying his face against Goemon’s neck, twining his fingers through his hair, and Goemon gripping Jigen around the waist and running a hand down his back, over and over.

“Did I hurt you? Bad?” Jigen asked finally, settling down on the bed next to Goemon, who, by some miracle, didn’t pull away, even when Jigen leaned against his shoulder.

“Nothing that I cannot survive. I’ve been training, remember,” Goemon said softly. “And you’re sure you’re all right? You don’t look well.”

“I feel like shit, but it’s just part of the territory. I’ll get better,” Jigen said.

“Good. I was worried about you, you know. While I was alone I was able to improve myself - I hope to be strong enough now to keep you and Fujiko safe at all costs. But I knew that the price was that I had to leave you alone for that time.”

“Well, I’ve been alone before,” Jigen said nonchalantly. “It’s okay. I’m used to it. It was kind of fun not having to do the dishes or listen to Lupin’s chatter.”

“I miss Lupin’s chatter,” Goemon replied.

“Yeah,” Jigen said sadly. “I do too.” They sat for a moment, united in loss. “Hey, Goemon?” Jigen asked after a minute. “Can we forget about yesterday? I’d rather just start over.”

Goemon sighed. “Yes, I think that would be best.”

The rest could come later. Fujiko’s plan, Lupin’s revival. For now, the two of them simply rested, side by side, for the remainder of the morning. They had a lot of catching up to do.

[rainbowbutterfrosting]

The Revived - Chapter 8: Miscommunications

This is chapter 8 of the Dream SMP multichapter fic @rainbowbutterfrosting​ and I wrote together! I hope you’ll enjoy! Discord link here.

AO3

Read in order (on Tumblr)

Characters in this chapter: Wilbur, Ghostbur, Niki

Word count: 3,534

Content Warnings: kidnapping, being tied up, being blindfolded, threats of starvation, violence (punching), yelling, threatening in general, pain, panic attacks, chasing, mentions of begging

Fic summary: Wilbur was alive, and it was such a magnificent feeling, that made his mind spark with anticipation. It didn’t take long, however, for Wilbur to realize that this new breath of life, was not just his own. An echo-y voice hides in the back of his mind, and before he knows it, the transparent version of him he saw at the endless train station, is a lot more ingrained than he’d expected him to be.

And Wilbur really shouldn’t care. Because he’d be damned, if he spent the life he’d awaited for so long, babysitting a lost cause of a ghost, stuck in the very same limbo Wilbur spent so long in. It was an even exchange, and one Wilbur wasn’t going to mess with. Why exactly he ends up setting out to get the ghost out of his mind, in order to save the both of them, however, is beyond him. And perhaps Wilbur’s past isn’t as easy to leave behind, as he’d hoped it would be.

Despite Wilbur’s looming fear from the last trip to the nether, it went a lot more smoothly

this time around. Maybe it was the armor that made him look threatening or the fact that it was more familiar to him. Ghostbur worried about his safety, but Wilbur made sure to give him frequent updates. The ghost relaxed slightly but seemed to still not like the fiery place very much. Wilbur agreed and promised to make his future trips a little quicker. 

He came out to the other side just fine. His bandages felt noticeably uncomfortable from the previous heat when Ghostbur’s voice chimed in, “When can we get these things off? I don’t like them that much.”

“Not yet, probably in a few days though.” Wilbur wasn’t sure how strong the potion Technoblade gave him was. 

“In your world or my world?” 

“A few days in my world,” Wilbur’s voice lowered to a whisper once he realized that someone might see him talking to himself. Yet the second he said the words, he realized the exact weight of them. He remembered screaming, crying, and Ghostbur begging for Wilbur to make it stop. It was strange to speak of it now, as if it was something as simple as a different timezone, and not the cause of so much suffering.

How long had Ghostbur really been crying with pain?

“Ah, alright,” Ghostbur said, sounding mildly disappointed, which stood in contrast to the grim thoughts suddenly plaguing Wilbur’s mind.

Wilbur didn’t focus on the trail ahead as he looked at the sky. A sky Ghostbur couldn’t see. “This will probably sound stupid, but do you want me to describe stuff? Like how I did when I was eating steak.”

Ghostbur immediately seemed more cheerful, “Yeah, that would be really helpful!”

Wilbur smiled, “It’s pretty dark out.” He took a deep breath in, trying to fully notice the details for Ghostbur. “The torches light up the area a bit, but I can still see some skeletons in the distance. The moon looks nice tonight. I mean, it’s… I should’ve paid more attention in high school. It’s the phase of the moon where it sorta looks like a C. I’m not sure if it’s first crescent or third crescent. I’ve heard of both of them though.” Wilbur felt a passive sadness when he couldn’t depict it, but Ghostbur didn’t seem to mind.

“Don’t worry, I don’t know what it’s called either! But I still know what you’re talking about… are there any stars out?”

Wilbur hummed in agreement, “I wouldn’t say there’s lots, but there are quite a few.” Wilbur sighed, “The sky’s got this gradient. It’s not too noticeable unless you look for a while. It’s black to a slightly lighter black. Not exactly a gray, but just a slightly lighter bla-” Wilbur sharply cut himself off when he heard a bird chirp. He turned his head towards the sound and walked closer to it.

“Is everythin’ okay?” Ghostbur’s worried tone reminded Wilbur that he was supposed to describe things to him.

“Yeah yeah, it’s all good. I just thought I heard a bird.”

“Ooh!” Ghostbur exclaimed excitedly, “I love birds! They have such cute little beaks.”

Wilbur laughed lightly, though the sound had still made him a little wary, and he walked a little more cautiously. “We’re in a forest. We shouldn’t be too far from L’Manberg, I think…” Wilbur said, hoping he could count on Ghostbur’s sense of direction in the nether, or on his own vague memories. His head was still a muffled mess. “It’s mostly oak trees.” he heard another chirp, and looked around for the source, but before he found it, he heard another sound that hit him with a great deal more force.

“Meowth! Get back here!” someone yelled, followed by the sound of frantic running. Wilbur froze on the spot. 

“Ooh, who is that? I could barely hear it but someone was speaking. It kind of sounded like-” Ghostbur was cut off, by a relieved sigh from the same voice as before.

“There you are. You can’t keep flying off like this.”

“Niki! It’s Niki! I remember her from your memories. She is so nice and sweet and-”

Wilbur spotted her too, as Ghostbur kept talking, standing behind the trees. Niki, who was holding a red parrot, and who looked so alone and unbothered, completely unaware of Wilbur’s presence. A million thoughts burst through Wilbur’s head. All the memories of L’Manberg, what had led to it, and what it had led to. And as Wilbur listened to her talk, it was at once familiar, and different. As if the voice was tinted with something shakier. Something exhausted. Though Wilbur was tired too, so perhaps his mind was playing tricks on him.

Had Niki been told that Wilbur was back? Perhaps it wouldn’t matter much to her. While Wilbur mostly held fond memories of her, he was uncertain what Niki would make of him now. What Wilbur’s actions had led her to think of him, and whether she even considered him a companion in the first place.

Wilbur stood there, frozen in silence, as he debated whether to hide his presence more or to let it be known. Before he had the chance to make a decision, Niki turned her head, and the silence turned a great deal more deafening and suffocating.

Niki was looking at Wilbur, her face going pale in less than a second, and her mouth gaping. Wilbur noticed that there were bags under her eyes. Her hands loosened from the bird, the bird promptly flapping its wings to land on her shoulder. She didn’t move an inch to show that such a thing had happened.

“What’s happening?” Ghostbur asked confusedly, “Why aren’t you saying hi? You must’ve missed each other so much!”

Perhaps Wilbur would’ve spoken, but the way Niki was looking at him, made the words twist into knots in his throat.

Then, came Niki’s words, quiet and broken, “I thought it stopped.” she said, and she rubbed her eyes, her breathing becoming faster. “It was destroyed. The memories were supposed to be gone, I wasn’t- I’m not supposed to-” she didn’t finish her sentence, instead blinking and shaking her head vigorously.

Wilbur was finally able to speak, “Hey.” The words were quiet, but they were loud enough to fill the silence between them.

Niki turned away muttering a mantra as she walked further into the forest, “You’re real, he isn’t, you’re real, he isn’t.” Her whole body shook as she left.

As she was walking away, Wilbur realized that he needed to go to her. At least clarify that he was back and not Ghostbur instead. He made long steps as he gently called out, “Niki, how have you been?” Though instead of a response, she simply walked quicker, almost quick enough to be a jog. 

Wilbur frowned and called out, slightly louder this time, “Niki, wait up.” He jogged up to where he was only a few steps behind her. She looked back, a startling fear clear in her eyes as she burst into a sprint away from Wilbur.

“Niki!” Wilbur shouted as he ran after her. They both ran between trees, hopping over tree stumps and large sticks. The wind flew by as Wilbur quickly gained ground. The two ran for a few minutes, their lungs and legs burning, but not stopping. Wilbur tried shouting her name again, but he figured it was just a waste of time. 

Niki ran to the left, which Wilbur spotted was an entrance that was decorated with stone bricks and spruce logs. As Niki ran down she missed one of the stairs and tumbled down the rest. Wilbur saw this as a chance to finally catch up and ran down. Niki heard his steps as she tried getting up, her legs shaking to the point where she could barely stand. 

Both of them gasped for air as Niki refused to look in Wilbur’s direction, instead viewing the stone wall in front of her. 

“Niki…” Wilbur breathed out, leaning onto the wall behind him for a moment before he held his hand out to Niki. It took him a few moments to realize Niki wouldn’t even see it unless she looked over. 

“Niki… you need some help getting up?” The only response he received was Niki’s gasps for air. Wilbur knelt down next to her. “Hey I uh…” Wilbur’s mind was blank once again as he searched desperately in his mind for anything he could say. “You come around here often?” That probably wasn’t Wilbur’s best, but he needed something to get them started. 

Niki laughed- or sobbed? Wilbur couldn’t tell, but he hoped it was the former. He placed a hand on Niki’s back, but when she flinched he immediately pulled back. Wilbur put his hands in his lap, unsure of what to exactly do with them. He waited moments with Niki, watching her shaking frame as she tried to get her breath back. It must’ve been from fear rather than exercise.

Was Niki afraid of him? He didn’t think he was that bad of a ruler of L’Manberg, but he supposed so if she thought of him as a monster to run away from. Maybe he was a monster- no, he couldn’t go down that path now. Niki needed him. But what for? The only time she looked at him was out of fear and she couldn’t even look at him now.

Instead, he focused on her bird. Well- at least he assumed it was hers. “I always thought birds were nice. Their wings are soft.” Wilbur forced a chuckle at the end, trying to bring in a light joyful atmosphere that didn’t exist anywhere around them. Sure, the torches brought a warm glow to the stairway, but it didn’t remove the tense air around them.

Niki covered her ears, bending further over in a way that looked like she was hiding from Wilbur, despite him being only a few inches away. Wilbur clearly heard that Niki was sobbing. He looked sympathetically at her but knew she wouldn’t be able to see it. He supposed he would have to wait this out with her.

“Niki sounds sorta like you did earlier, is she okay?” He was apparently waiting this out with Ghostbur as well.

“Are you oka-” Wilbur cut himself off when he realized that Niki probably didn’t even want to hear him. He sighed as he sat back against the wall, the smooth stone supporting him. 

Was Wilbur making things worse for Niki? He wasn’t an idiot, he knew she was scared of him. Yet, he hoped that she was like Tommy, who behind his spite and anger still talked to Wilbur for at least a few hours. But she was her own person. A person so different than the one peacefully baking a pie for when Wilbur and everyone else returned back home. Or when it was someone’s birthday and she would make them a small cake of their favorite flavor. She seemed full of this fear that made Wilbur feel something that resembled pity. 

Wilbur sighed quietly to himself. Not out of annoyance, but the willingness of patience. Despite being recently revived, he hadn’t spent many moments in the quiet. He told himself it would only remind him of limbo, but it was really quite the opposite. It just depended on his surroundings. He tensed when he remembered the stone walls around him were similar to the ones in limbo, but he focused on Niki. He didn’t want her to be hunched over, sobbing and shaking, after running away from Wilbur, but he appreciated her presence nonetheless. 

He pulled his legs to his chest and rested his head onto them. He closed his eyes, but all that filled his mind was Niki’s sobbing next to him. He was never the friend that made everyone happy or wiped away all their tears. But he knew he would be there for Niki when she was ready.

Wilbur opened his eyes, yet the darkness that he saw seconds ago still remained. It took him moments before he figured out that there was some kind of cloth over his eyes. He tried to move his hand, but he found an odd kind of resistance when he did so. The odd feeling of rope around his hands made him realize it was around his ankles as well. They were spread apart about half a foot, each of them tied to something Wilbur couldn’t identify. He shifted against whatever he was sitting on, but his abdomen also felt the familiar pressure around his hands and ankles. 

“Oh, are you awake now?” The echoing voice of Ghostbur was slightly quieter than normal, but Wilbur chose not to focus on it.

“What? I didn’t even fall asleep.” Wilbur tried to squint into the darkness, but it was of no use.

“Oh, I thought you did. You stopped responding for… a week? Probably not in your time though, just my ghost time.” 

“I-” Wilbur’s voice wavered, he didn’t remember falling asleep, he supposed that he was so exhausted that he didn’t feel the passage of time through a dream. “Sorry for leaving you hanging.”

“It’s alright! Someone else was with me for a little bit. That was nice.”

Wilbur sat up slightly, the implications of someone else in Wilbur’s- well Ghostbur’s now as well- limbo were much more frightening than Ghostbur realized. “Who did you see?” Wilbur cleared his throat.

“Didn’t see them. It was sorta muffled? I could’ve sworn that they were in another room but they were talking about you!”

“What were they saying?” Wilbur’s voice returned to being skeptical. 

“I-”

Ghostbur was interrupted by Niki’s voice. “You’re awake.” Her voice was sharp with edges that seemed to cut into Wilbur. 

He slightly frowned before forcing a smile, “Niki! Glad to see you again.” Wilbur awkwardly laughed, “Well, I guess see isn’t the right word. It’s good to hear you though.” Wilbur didn’t know if warmness naturally welcomed itself into Wilbur’s voice or if he forced it to maintain some kind of control over his circumstances.

However, control was desperately out of his hands as he felt the collision of something hitting his face. He could barely process it before the pain stung his cheek. “What the fuck!?” The words came out before Wilbur processed them, but he frankly didn’t mind.

“What’s wrong, what’s wrong, what’s wrong,” Ghostbur’s worried voice spoke quickly to the point where Wilbur wouldn’t be able to catch what he was saying if it was something different.

“Who are you,” Niki growled at Wilbur. The words made Wilbur’s breath catch in his throat.

“Wilbur, my name is Wilbur- what’s going on?” Panic flew into his voice by mistake. Did Niki not remember who he was? He supposed that would make sense as to why she was so scared earlier, but he wasn’t gone that long. After thirteen and a half years, he still remembered her clear as day. 

“Don’t start fucking with me,” another punch came from the other direction. Wilbur hissed in pain along with Ghostbur. “Who the hell are you?” Niki’s normally high voice lowered in a way that made Wilbur subconsciously shiver.

“I- I’m Wilbur Soot. Ex-leader of L’Manberg, uh- son of Phil. Father of Fundy. I-” Wilbur was cut off by another collision to his bottom jaw. Wilbur winced from the pain as it hit a burn that was somehow uncovered. Ghostbur’s mantra of apologizing slipped into Wilbur’s speech, “I’m sorry.”

Niki laughed, “Oh, so now you have the audacity to feel sorry? You come all the way out here, dressed in something he would wear, claim to be him, and you expect me to be nice to you? Oh, perhaps I’ll bake you a pastry and wish you a farewell. Hm, that sounds nice right?” 

Before Wilbur could speak, Niki punched his jaw. “Look, look, please stop, I'm sorry. I just wanted to talk.” While he feared for his own safety, he also worried about the pain Ghostbur was in as well.

“Talk about what?” Niki hissed out.

Wilbur flinched as he expected to be hit again, but found after a few moments that nothing came. “I just saw you and figured we could- I honestly didn’t think it through. I- I saw your bird. Uh… he was red! He was chirping and I followed him into the forest because getting revived still didn’t revive the brain cells I’ve lost over the years. And, and…” Wilbur tried to think about what details were relevant. He didn’t want to get too off-track and upset Niki, but at the same time, if he was too vague he might receive the same consequence. “I saw you, you talked to him… I can’t remember what, but you saw me! And I saw you, and we ran through the forest. I honestly think I chased you.” Wilbur awkwardly laughed, waiting a moment for Niki to respond.

Although it wasn’t with a punch, the way she grabbed the front of his shirt frightened him all the same. “Why are you dressed like him? Sounding exactly like him. Acting like him, even.” The shirt slightly coming off of his chest made him realize he didn’t have his armor on. He hoped Niki didn’t destroy it.

“A-acting like who?” He prepared himself for the impact, but he wasn’t ready for it to happen, hoping she would not hit him again, as he still winced from the impact.

“You fucking know who!” Niki yelled.

Ghostbur’s apologizing interrupted any clear-thinking he would have had. “Please, just shut up and this will stop happening,” he whispered before realizing Niki could still hear him.

“Don’t you dare tell me to shut up, I have control over everything that happens here. I have control over if you’ll eat today or in two weeks. I have several favors from Technoblade that I’ll gladly redeem.  I can make your life here a living hell. Don’t fucking test me.” 

She let go of Wilbur’s shirt, and the chair slightly toppled as she was apparently pulling him up the whole time. He heard the footsteps echo away slowly as he quietly spoke, “Fuck.”

Ghostbur’s murmur waved into his mind. He heard Niki walk away previously and took that as a sign that he could talk. “I- I’m sorry for cursing and shit- wait- I’m sorry for cursing and stuff.” He hoped the slip-up would have made Ghostbur laugh, but he barely got anything as a response.

The still present sting on his cheek reminded him of why. He was about to apologize, but he didn’t know what for. About going to where Niki was? For scaring her? For getting punched? He should probably say something about the last one, but it wasn’t his fault at all. He was tied down and blindfolded, there wasn’t much he could honestly do. He tried to reason with her, but she apparently thought he was someone else.

Instead, he sighed as he shifted slightly. The ropes were still just as tight as before.

“Why did she do that? She knows I’m me right? I told her, but she just didn’t understand somehow.”

Ghostbur thought for a moment, “Maybe… Maybe she doesn’t believe you? I- I’m sorry, I know it’s stupid.” Ghostbur’s voice trailed off as he felt he was already being dismissed.

“Oh,” realization struck Wilbur harder than Niki punched. “No no no no, when is she coming back?” He knew Ghostbur didn’t know the answer, but he sought relief regardless.

“I… I think she said tomorrow or two weeks? Sorry, it’s sort of hard to remember.” 

Fear panged through Wilbur’s chest as he shouted, “Niki? Niki, I need to tell you something.” The silence of air filled his ears. “Niki!” Was Niki really going to leave him down here? After all they’d been through, she was going to toss him aside like garbage? No- garbage wasn’t tied down to a chair. Garbage was at least allowed to be outside. 

“Nix! I admit that I’m not Wilbur,”  the lie wouldn’t take him far, but if Niki was in denial it was possible it could get him out of here. After seconds of silence, Wilbur was greeted by quiet steps. They slowly walked closer as Wilbur almost grinned from getting Niki’s attention. Niki moved the cloth around Wilbur’s eyes and took it off. 

He squinted at the sudden brightness and saw that Niki had tears in her eyes. “Niki, what’s wrong?” He tensed thinking he was going to get hurt or perhaps taunted, but Niki collapsed in front of Wilbur, looping her arms around Wilbur’s abdomen. A sob erupted from her throat as Wilbur felt familiar pity in his chest.

“Um- it’s alright, it’s okay?” Wilbur didn’t know how to comfort her, but he still wanted to do something. Niki only sobbed harder, clinging to Wilbur for dear life. “I’m not really sure what you want me to say. How about deep breaths? Just go in one two three four, good, now hold one two three four.” Wilbur continued counting for Niki and felt her trembling slowly decrease. “Nix, are you okay?”

Niki hesitantly stopped holding Wilbur, only to pull a hand over her mouth as she started crying again. She slowly took her hand off to slowly admit, “Wi- Wilbur… it’s-” Niki cut herself off as she awkwardly hugged Wilbur’s neck. Wilbur sat still in the chair, unable to move due to the bonds around him.

Warm tears dripped onto Wilbur’s neck, “Wilbur you’re alive.”

[vicarfelix]

Authority Figure

__

Vicar Max x Fem. Captain

Warnings: Language. Emetophobia. Mentions of cannibalism.

A/N: Of course, some of this dialogue is straight from the game :) Let’s see how this goes...

Word Count: 2,886

“Will you stay with me tonight?”

__

It took a lot to shake you up. You were tough, fierce, and independent all at once which enabled you to have thick skin against anything thrown your way. You had fought off marauders, murderous outlaws, blood hungry raptidons, you name it. You had seen your fair share of horrifying. This had been very, very different than anything you had ever encountered. 

It seemed like an easy mission. You were searching for a man by the name of Braxton and a tip had led you to this home. From the moment you stepped foot into the Mather’s household, you knew something wasn’t right. There was an uneasy feeling...and scent in the air that made your stomach queasy. For starters, it was odd that the front door had locked behind you as you entered with Max and Nyoka. It was unusual for someone to lock their door after a trio of strangers entered their home. 

Secondly, the Mather family was way too inviting and friendly towards a group of people they didn’t know. This was in the middle of Monarch, outside of Stellar Bay. You could’ve been disguised marauders for all they knew. So they ask you and your companions to stay for dinner? It just wasn’t normal in any way. This family was hiding something.

Max wasn’t bothered by this at first. He found it rather uplifting that this seemingly normal family was offering three extra seats at their table. Nyoka, on the other hand, was definitely on edge.

Mr. Mather gleefully let you roam about his family’s home while his wife prepared dinner. You took him up on his offer, thinking you could find something pertaining to Braxton’s whereabouts. You found what you were looking for...just under terrifying circumstances. You stumbled back a foot or so upon being met with the most putrid smell that ever did fill your nostrils after getting into one of the upper rooms. You were met with a gruesome sight. A steadily decaying corpse that was missing limbs and a head. 

“These sulfur-sodden assholes. Ain’t enough that the rapts eat everyone...now people are doing it too?” Nyoka cursed, holding the back of her hand to her nose.

While there wasn’t any outside proof of identification, you did muster enough courage to check in the pockets of the body. You found an ID card belonging none other than to the man you had been searching for.

“I thought I’d seen the worst of humanity before. ” Max stated after observing for a moment or two.

In the shock of finding Braxton dead, the more important issue didn’t immediately register with you. You were in a house full of murderers. That’s when you remembered what you had been told when you first entered Stellar Bay. 

Not only were you in a house with murderers, you were in a house of cannibals.

For the first time since being revived, a surge of real panic flooded through your blood. Fear and alarm was very clear on your face as you gripped Max’s shoulder for stability at what was happening;

“Captain, are you alright?” He asked furrowing his brows.

You looked between Nyoka and Max, your voice having more urgency than it had ever before;

“We need to get out of here now.” 

Within milliseconds, the three of you bolted down the stairs like a hungry pack of mantipillars. Even Nyoka’s usually strong stomach did a flip at the thought of possibly becoming dinner. Your plan was to book it down the stairs and bust through the door, to run all the way back to the ship and forget whatever the hell you had to do in Monarch. You realized it wouldn’t be so simple when you were confronted on the lower level...as well as the front door being locked from the outside. Edgar rose from his chair, brows raised;

“But what’s this? You’re tracking blood into the kitchen,” He stated. You swear his eyes went completely dark when he knew you had found the body; “Oh, dear. You’ve been nosy, haven’t you?”

His words echoed in your ears. Your flight response fizzled away as you noted you’d have to kill this family. It was the only way you’d make it out alive. Truth be told, you were shaking in your boots. This was the most scared you had been in a long time. However, you stood your ground and snarled at the man;

“The murdering cannibal accuses me of being nosy?” 

Your heartbeat was loud in your head, his wife saying something about the meat spoiling and that you were agitated. Before you knew it, you were firing away at this family, shooting bullets mercilessly into their frames. You were not going to die this way. In an adrenaline flooded blur of events, the Mather family was dead and scattered across the floor. After a few moments, your heart rate returned to normal and your nausea returned.

“Damn cannibals. I knew something wasn’t right...nobody outside the walls are that fucking nice.” Nyoka said taking Mr. Mather’s key off of him and unlocking the front door before returning back to the kitchen.

“It’s clear that Mr. and Mrs. Mather had brainwashed their children. That explains their peculiar behavior when we arrived.” Max added.

You approached the stove where Mrs. Mather had been cooking, the pot atop was still steaming. You peered into it and felt your stomach take an overwhelming lurch into your throat. The uneasy smell that you originally had noticed had indeed been coming from what she was cooking. You could only assume that Braxton’s remains were floating around in there...amongst other things. You were trembling something awful, a disgusted mix of a gag and a groan erupting from your diaphragm. This could’ve been much worse if you hadn’t listened to your intuition. What kind of family was this? Even on Earth cannibalism wasn’t that common. The thought of what they had done sickened you. You’d have nightmares for the next week.

Nyoka watched as your expression morphed into something she had never seen in her entire life;

“Cap?” She asked in a concerned tone.

You shook your head in disbelief, your eyes wide and voice quaky.

“I think I’m gonna be sick.” You declared, pushing past her and Max.

You retched and hurled the contents of your stomach once you made it outside. You couldn’t get the images out of your head. The sight of Braxton’s mutilated body. The smell of his flesh being prepared on the stove. And to think that would’ve been you if you had waited a few moments longer. You felt the presence of someone kneeling next to you. In your peripheral vision, you saw Max at your aid. Nyoka stood a ways back, keeping an eye out for any raptidons in the area.

Max’s soothing voice was comforting as you continued to upchuck whatever was left of your breakfast from earlier in the day;

“I know. Let it all out.” He persuaded as another gag and heave sounded through the air.

His other hand rubbed circles on your back once your convulsing slowed a bit. It took a few minutes before you finally stopped throwing up. You felt better physically, but mentally you were worse. The sky was almost dark now, the temperature was dropping quickly signaling that it was time to trek back to The Unreliable. You leaned back onto your heels, relieved that your sickness had ceased. 

“Captain, love, are you feeling better?” He spoke in a hushed tone to ensure Nyoka didn’t hear his endearment. When you nodded, he continued; “I think it would be best to head back to the ship.”

Nyoka rushed over to your other side, grabbing one of your arms while Max grabbed the other. They helped bring you to your feet, only letting go once they were assured that you wouldn’t fall over on your face. They had never seen you so rattled before. Max was especially worried. He was protective over you and he often feared how stable your mental state really was. You had a lot of pressure on you and a lot of traumatizing things getting in the way.

The walk back to the ship was long and you felt like it was miles away. Your entire body felt filthy. Between the vomiting and touching Braxton’s dead body, you felt like there was a thick layer of germs on your skin. You just wanted to get clean and go to bed. You even thought about getting SAM to sanitize you down. 

When you finally entered the ship, you felt a subtle sense of calmness. This ship was your safe place, even after the hardest missions. While you felt a little more at ease, there was no amount of familiarity would rid you of what you saw today. It take a day or two to bounce back and shake it off. It was so late by the time that you returned that everybody else had gone to their respective rooms for the night. Well, except for Felix who was more than likely watching the new episode of his favorite Tuesday night aetherwave serial. Normally, you’d be a little disappointed to not be able to speak with your crew, but tonight it was a relief. You really didn’t feel like talking to anybody.

Nyoka put her armor away in one of the lockers by the entrance of the ship as you silently approached the terminal. She glanced around the side of the doorway before turning to Max, who was also putting his gear away;

“Shit. I’ve never seen her so quiet,” She stated; “Make sure you take extra care of her tonight.”

A hard blush crept onto his face. In the beginning of your relationship with Max, you both agreed that it’d be best to keep it on the down low for awhile. It wasn’t that the rest of the crew didn’t deserve to know, it was just that you weren’t sure how kindly they’d take to Max dating their captain. The last thing you wanted was anybody thinking that you cared for anyone any more or less. You just cared about Max in a different way. 

However, now it seemed that at least Nyoka knew of your relationship. Honestly, of all the crew she’s probably the one you’d trust the most to keep it a secret. It was probably a little foolish thinking that she wouldn’t notice such a thing. She had always been the most observant. Max nodded with a hint of a smile at her. Maybe he didn’t always agree with the way she handled things, but Nyoka was a damn loyal friend.

Now it was Max’s turn to peer into the room once Nyoka trudged up the stairs. Even though he could only see the back of you, he could tell just by your posture that you were upset. Your shoulders were tense and your movements were much slower.

You stood at the navigation terminal, inputting for ADA to fly the ship to Groundbreaker where they’d dock until in the morning. Once your route was in place, you could finally finish off your day. You knew one thing for sure. 

You didn’t want to be alone tonight.

“Max.” You called quietly as you exited the terminal room.

His gaze was already on you. His entire demeanor was different. He knew you had been affected greatly by what had happened today. He could see it. He could sense it. 

“Will you stay with me tonight?” You asked rather pitifully.

His heart skipped a beat at how you had asked such a simple question in such a fragile way. He never wanted to see you so down and so broken, because that wasn’t who you were. 

“Of course. Always,” He accepted graciously; “How about you get washed up and I’ll be waiting upstairs.” 

He turned to walk away, but was stopped when you abruptly grabbed his hand;

“No,” You said desperately; “Please, don’t leave me.”

He breathed out a sympathetic huff. He wanted to take care of you. To alleviate you. He followed you into the shower (the only one on the ship), stripping you of your clothes as well as his. His fingers danced and traced over your skin, the feel of his touch feeling heavenly. He lathered you with soap, littering your newly fresh skin with kisses. You basically clung to him the entire time, feeling like he’d just float away if you let go. He washed your hair, massaging your scalp, and tenderly rubbing your head. He let your hands roam his body wherever they pleased. Although, he would’ve let you do that under any circumstances.

Once you were both clean and changed, you finally were off to your room with Max in tow, hand in hand. The second the doors whirred shut, you were in his arms and the sobs came out. You buried your face in his chest as your body shook with your cries;

“Oh, darling...” He hushed tenderly; “What’s the matter?”

You weren’t ready to talk yet. You had been holding it together to seem strong in front of Nyoka, but now in the safety of your dear Vicar Max, you lost it. He was warm and cozy as he rested his chin on the top of your head, rubbing your back and giving you time to gather yourself.

Your voice was muffled from being pressed against his shirt, your tears staining the material;

“Max, I messed up so bad today. I almost got us all killed,” You quivered; “I failed as a captain.” 

Max was immediate with his answer;

“No, you certainly did not fail. You are a damn great captain,” He said; “You assessed the situation and ordered us back to safety.”

You shook your head, pulling away from him to finally look at him. It was heartbreaking to watch the tears stream your delicate face that was usually so full of determination and happiness. This just wasn’t you.

“I shouldn’t have put us in that situation to begin with. I was moving too fast and I didn’t take the time to judge what was happening. If I had been just a little bit later, we could’ve ended up as their main course,” You said taking in a shaky breath; “I knew what everyone said about people living outside the walls. My irresponsibility almost got us killed.

Max wiped your tears with his thumbs and looked into your watery, glazed eyes;

“I will not hear another word of this. You are a responsible captain. Part of being a captain is being able to get your team out of potentially threatening situations. That’s exactly what you did today,” He said sternly; “If you had put us in any unnecessary danger, I assure you that Ms. Nyoka would’ve let you hear about it.”

You chuckled half-heartedly at his joke. He did have a point. Maybe this was all just the result of the stress finally catching up to you. Thankfully, you had the love of your life to guide you through it. 

“Max, I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.” You sniffed.

“Nonsense. Today was challenging. You’ve taken numerous hits recently. You deserve to let it out,” He said kissing your forehead; “I’ll be here for you always.”

You nodded, hugging him again before he led you to your bed and let you snuggle up next to him. You decided to take it easy the next couple of days and let yourself and the crew recoup. You weren’t as worried anymore.

“Speaking of Ms. Nyoka...” He said recalling his interaction just a few moments before.

You looked up at him;

“Uh-oh. What?” You asked, getting a sense of what he was talking about.

He sheepishly laughed, scratching the back of his head;

“I’m sure you’ve noticed, but she has a very keen sense of observation-”

“Does she know?” You asked, slightly amused.

He rambled on;

“We’re both aware that not many details get by her and perhaps we weren’t as discreet as we-”

“She knows.” You said holding down a laugh. 

You figured as much. You knew it was only a matter of time before somebody caught on. Truthfully, you thought it would be Felix or Parvati who found out first. Parvati was usually the first one awake in the mornings, even before ADA’s morning alarm. You always suspected she’d catch Max leaving your room in the early hours as he usually did. Felix had a tendency to forget to knock before entering. It was a wonder he hadn’t walked in on the two of you yet.

“Yes,” He replied meekly; “I neither confirmed nor denied.”

Your laughter finally bubbled out of you at his words. It wasn’t a big deal. You didn’t really care if she knew at this point. 

“It was only a matter of time,” You admitted; “I’m just glad you’ve stuck around this long.”

He smiled, kissing your head;

“Oh, I’m not going anywhere...as long as you’ll have me.”

And that was really the end of your night. That was not the first and definitely wouldn’t be the last bad day you’d ever have in your life. You had plenty of unfortunate days to come. But with the support you had, you could easily get through them.

Especially with Max by your side.

[purplebass]

Dark Light Ch. 4 // Blackdale

Couple/Characters: Blackdale, Lucie Herondale and Jesse Blackthorn Rating: T

✨  You can also find it on AO3 ✨

Chapter 1 // Chapter 2 // Chapter 3

4.

“I thought I locked this door.”

Jesse’s reflexes had been sharp, unlike hers. He had pulled her down to the floor just in time for the door to open, and Tatiana got in. She knew it was her. No one else lived there. Lucie wondered if she had heard their steps, but then she remembered that she had traced a stealth rune on Jesse. They had been silent. She was just doing her routine nightly rounds.

Tatiana’s steps were closer. They were heavy, but calculated. She was taking her sweet time. Lucie was curious to know how she spent her time, but this wasn’t the right moment to wonder about that. She could feel Jesse’s hand on her wrist. He hadn’t let her go, and she was grateful. She was impulsive at times, and she might have acted without thinking. 

The lights were still off, but Lucie could see a flickering orange color moving with the steps. Tatiana was holding a candle, she believed. Jesse tugged her closer in the small opening under the desk. She tried not to gasp when her shoulder bumped him. Her heart raced. She wasn’t sure whether the reason was this sudden touch or the fear that his mother might catch them there. Her brain was already trying to make up excuses, which meant her brain hadn’t gone in full emergency mode.

Tatiana went closer to the shelves where Lucie had just placed the Black Volume, but it was short lived. She walked out and closed the door behind her, leaving the room in the dark.

Lucie finally breathed, but Jesse shushed her. “Still not safe,” he murmured. “Let’s wait five minutes.”

She nodded, but she bumped her head on the back of the desk. “Ouch,” she lamented.

“Careful,” he warned her. He came out of the hiding place first, and offered her a hand. “Mind the desk.”

Lucie wanted to laugh hysterically at her clumsiness - she wasn’t usually clumsy - but held her tongue. At least, he couldn’t see her blushing cheeks in the unlit room. She accepted the hand with glee, and they were out of the door.

She followed him, since the panic of being discovered had messed up her reasoning a little. When they were out of the servant’s door they had used, she stopped to take a breath. 

“We need to leave at once,” Jesse said, stopping in his tracks when he saw that she hadn’t moved from the exit. “Are you good?” he asked.

Lucie dropped the hand she had put on her chest by her side. She hoped he hadn’t seen her. She managed a smile and walked briskly towards him. “Yes, I’m fine.”

“Let’s find the carriage.”

…

“Lucie. Lucie, wake up,” a voice said, and Lucie opened her eyes abruptly.

She was in the carriage, and it was still dark outside. That much, at least, she remembered. But she couldn’t remember falling asleep during the trip back to the Institute. 

She put a hand on her throbbing forehead. “What happened?”

“You fell asleep,” Jesse said, adjusting himself in his seat. “We’ve just arrived.”

Lucie cleared her voice and opened the door. “Let’s hope we don’t have to run to my room,” she joked, and got out of the carriage. 

Jesse went out shortly after her, and they walked in silence towards the Institute. 

...

Lucie was already up and running the morning after. She was calm, happy even, and she had several reasons to feel like that. They had safely returned the Black Volume of the Dead the night before, and there was no more proof that she could have used it. What made Lucie cheerful was the event that would happen in the evening: her parabatai ceremony with Cordelia. 

She had last seen her friend the day after she revived Jesse. Cordelia had come to the Institute other times, but it was to meet with James and discuss their sham marriage. Lucie was grateful that she had to take care of those matters when she visited, because she wouldn’t have had the time to be with her, as much as she wanted to. 

She was still keeping Jesse hidden from the world, and even though Cordelia was a trustworthy friend, she didn’t want to tell her about him. Revealing Jesse to Cordelia would raise questions she wasn’t sure she wanted to answer. She wasn’t sure which answers she would give herself, either. 

No one had been around when they got back the night before. The drawing room was in the dark, and Lucie suspected that James might have been asleep or at the Devil’s Tavern with the others. In any case, she internally thanked him for not being there. She had already been shaken by the close encounter with Tatiana, and she didn’t want another, although meeting James wouldn’t have been as bad, would it? He would have asked questions, Lucie thought. It was better to wait before introducing Jesse to more people. 

“So, you’re getting a parabatai today?” Jesse asked from her desk. He had taken residence in her room, and he had spent the last few hours reading. It wasn’t a leisure reading. Lucie had tasked him with finding information about his current state, and if they could do something about his lost memories. She believed he would oppose, but he accepted the job with a smile, claiming that he also wanted to find out more about his death and the killer. To do that, he must regain his memory first.

“You don’t ‘get’ a parabatai,” Lucie pursed her lips. She had been checking herself in the mirror in the last few minutes. “A parabatai is like a brother, or a sister. It’s a vow as important as marriage,” she underlined. 

He nodded and made a face. “As long as it makes you happy,” he commented, and she could see he was watching her. 

She could see his expression in the mirror, but he couldn’t see hers. She smirked. “It makes me immensely happy to become Cordelia’s parabatai,” she said. “It will make us tighter, although I think we already are tight.”

“Yet, you didn’t tell her about me,” Jesse remarked. 

Lucie huffed audibly. Damn. She schooled her expression before she replied. “I trust Cordelia with my life,” she said. “This is why I want us to become parabatai.”

“But?”

Lucie bit her lip. What was the reason? “I’m not ready,” she admitted. 

“Ready for what?” he wondered. “Wait. You don’t have to tell me. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“I’m just -” she began, unable to find the words. “I’m just not ready, that is all.”

“I understand,” he said, and the conversation died. 

It was then that Lucie realized what was stopping her from telling Cordelia about Jesse. If her friend would find out about Jesse, Lucie wouldn’t be able to stop herself from revealing her true feelings about him to her. She just knew it. She would rather hide him until he was safe than face her heart. Was it love, though? Or simple affection? She wished she knew the difference.

Lucie’s carriage left the Institute after the sun had set. Her family was with her, and the vehicle seemed smaller than usual. It wasn’t usually crowded. She was on edge, and she was content to travel to the Silent City with her brother and her parents. They offered her the diversion she needed.

“You must be excited,” Tessa told Lucie. Her mother had probably seen her twist her hands into her lap for the umpteenth time.

“Of course, she is,” Will interjected, grinning at his daughter. “She’s about to be bonded to her dear friend, who will also become our dear daughter-in-law.” Lucie stayed silent, while James cleared his voice.

“You seem more eager than her, though,” his wife commented. “We don’t know if he’ll be there, Will,” she said, and Lucie knew they were talking about uncle Jem.

Will snorted. “He wouldn’t lose it for the world,” he declared with confidence. 

“At least, this time you won’t have to make up an excuse to see him, papa,” James affirmed, and everyone laughed.  

Will and Tessa exchanged a knowing smile, and Lucie had to look away. 

She thought about Jesse, alone in her room. Alone in the Institute. Well, probably not completely alone, since Bridget would be there. She was sure Jessamine would also come to take a look at him. She hadn’t seen her for days. 

Lucie told him that she would be back by night. She didn’t have to warn him not to wander around the building. She presumed that everyone of her friends and parents would be at the Silent City, but she couldn’t be entirely sure if a visitor could turn up on the Institute’s steps.

Once they arrived and the carriage stopped, Lucie ran out to find Cordelia. She found her friend by the corridor of the hall where the ceremony would take place. A little crowd had formed and she greeted some of her uncles and aunts before hugging Cordelia.

“I can’t believe this day has finally come,” Cordelia said, taking Lucie’s hands in hers. She was brimming with excitement. “We’ve waited too long for this.”

“We did,” Lucie agreed. Her hands started trembling, and she let go of Cordelia. 

“Are you okay?” her friend asked, her voice filled with worry and apprehension. “You look very pale.”

Lucie tried to smile, but she sighed. “I’m nervous,” she admitted. “We’ll be under everyone’s scrutiny tonight, and what if something goes wrong?” she wondered out loud, shocking herself. She was rarely a pessimist, but it wasn’t a secret she had been preoccupied these days. She thought she was managing it well, but the feeling that something could ruin this moment wasn’t leaving her. She had been feeling nauseous after they took off the Institute.

“I’m nervous too, Lucie,” Cordelia reassured her. “I couldn’t sleep last night, thinking about this.”

“You couldn’t?”

“No,” she said. “Something was bothering me other than this.” Cordelia looked away for a moment, as if embarrassed.

“Oh,” Lucie replied, but she couldn’t ask what had bothered Cordelia, because they were asked to prepare. 

The crowd started entering the hall. The last people who stayed behind were Lucie’s and Cordelia’s families. Cordelia’s mother touched her daughter’s arm before disappearing inside with Tessa, who also smiled kindly at Lucie. Sona was pregnant, and Tessa had waited to get in so she could get to their spots together. They were to become in laws soon, even though Cordelia’s marriage to James was not a marriage based on love. Sadly, because they would make a nice couple, Lucie thought.

The last one to enter was her father, whom she had seen talking to uncle Jem. Of course, she rolled her eyes. But it was cute. She hoped that she and Cordelia would be like them, twenty and more years from then. She thought she had seen uncle Jem smile at her. Although he was a Silent Brother, she knew he probably did. 

The ceremony is about to begin, Jem told them. Please, arrange.

Cordelia squeezed Lucie’s hand, and they stepped in the room. James and Alastair followed them. To Lucie, this was another sign that they had to be parabatai. They had both chosen their brothers as witnesses. 

Everyone took their place. Lucie stood in the ring of fire and Cordelia smiled at her, probably trying to give her strength. The fire became taller, and they started to say their vows.

Entreat me not to leave thee,

Or return from following after thee—

The shriek of a door opening in the furthest side of the hall, made Lucie stop. It must have been someone who was late, she told herself, and prompted herself to continue with her vows. 

“Stop this charade!” someone said, and Lucie looked up to see Tatiana Blackthorn approach them from above. Everyone turned at once. She was descending the stairs like a madwoman, and perhaps she was truly mad. Or angry. “Stop, you.” Lucie’s heart skipped a beat when her eyes met Tatiana’s. 

You must leave at once, Tatiana Blackthorn, Jem ordered her. You are interrupting a significant ceremony. 

“I don’t care,” she replied harshly, placing herself not too far from Lucie and Cordelia. “You’ll call off this ceremony when you’ll hear about what these teeangers did,” she pointed her finger at her, and then at James.

Lucie’s blood turned cold. This was it. Everyone would know about what she did. She wanted to run, but she couldn’t. She was still in the ring of fire, and it would be suspicious if she did. She had to keep calm. 

Jem glanced at her for a moment, then he casted a severe glance at Tatiana. The fire around her and Cordelia vanished, leaving her exposed and unprotected.

“What are you trying to accomplish, Tatiana?” asked her father. “You have no business being here.”

“You,” she said, ignoring Will and setting her eyes on Lucie. “And you,” she glanced in James’ direction. Lucie could feel her brother’s presence by her side. It somewhat comforted her, but she didn’t know why Tatiana was calling him out. “You were on my property last night,” she said coldly.

Lucie paled, because she knew it was true.

“With all due respect,” James began, “I think you’re mistaken, Mrs. Blackthorn,” he said with confidence. “I haven’t left the Institute at all, and my family can attest to that.”

Tatiana raised an eyebrow. “I clearly saw you, though. The both of you,” she insisted.

“Then you saw wrong,” Will said from his spot. 

“I believe your children know how to talk,” she admonished him with venom. “I know what I saw. I clearly spotted a girl with brown hair and a boy with midnight hair running away from my house. My property.”

“And you believe it was me and my sister?” James wondered with a chuckle. “Tell her, Lucie. Tell her that it wasn’t us.”

Lucie couldn’t move. She had to talk, unless she wanted Tatiana to be more suspicious. “It wasn’t us,” she drawled the words out, her voice low and trembling. “I assure you, it wasn’t us,” she repeated.

“Then why are you wearing my family heirloom, little girl?” Tatiana smirked, and advanced towards her. “And also... The Black Volume of the Dead, something that has been in the Blackthorn family for centuries, suddenly reappeared last night. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

Lucie gasped, and her hand tightened around her necklace. “Someone gave it to me,” she confessed. “I didn’t steal it.” It was an answer that could fit both questions, but Lucie only responded to the first one. She needed to save herself. She never thought...

“This was around my son’s neck,” Tatiana said, her face didn’t betray any emotion. “Around the neck of my son whose body is not where it used to be anymore,” she sneered, almost with annoyance. She looked like someone who had just burnt an egg, rather than a mother who grieved her son. 

“Tatiana, I think you should stop,” uncle Gabriel said from his spot. “This is not the place, nor the occasion -”

“It is the perfect occasion!” she cried out. “These two brats invaded my property and disposed of my son’s body on purpose!”

“Wait, wait,” Will interrupted again. “How dare you make such unfounded accusations against my children, Tatiana? You have no evidence to justify your claims.”

“He is right, you have no proof,” a new voice said from the back of the room. Everyone turned in the direction of the newcomer. Someone gasped.

[boneswriteswords]

The Lost Boys - Reincarnated Mate

 A/N:This was a selfish thing. Its unbeta’d because we die like men here. I hate my writing like always and I struggled but I tried my best.

I head canon that no two vampire mate-bonds are the same and that they exist even if they aren’t vampires. They just can’t be sensed outside of the vampirism. I gave each boy a different way that they sense the mate-bond and their mate based loosely off soulmate AUS that I am obsessed with.

Enjoy.

~~~~

David:

It was early in the night when he felt it. The pull - the tight and incessant pull from inside him - was active for the first time in ages, jerking him from his phantom state of being.

David fled the cave, following the pull, allowing it wash over him. The moon winked at him as he made his way to the boardwalk. If he had a heart, it would be thumping. He could feel his boys following him, their concern palpable, but he paid them no mind, determined to wrap his arms around you again.

He remembers the last time he saw you, before Max decided you weren’t welcome in the family. He had fed from you, his teeth sinking in your neck as he thrust inside of you, your blood the strongest aphrodisiac. You had arched so prettily, squeezing around his cock like a vice as he drank you down. He had licked at your wound, sliding his arms under your back to pull you that much closer as he dragged his lips up to meet yours. 

David hadn’t been able to stop himself, murmuring words of love into your mouth. The mortifying ordeal of being known had long passed. He threatened forever. You were his. He was yours. Mates, meant to be, tied in this life and the next, and he would turn you. Twisted wedding vows that dripped like honey. 

You had kissed along his face and promised that you loved him, wanted him always. 

David shivered as he remembered how you drank from him. How he sliced his arms and chest to give you his blood and how you didn’t waste a drop. You had smiled like the sun was coming out from behind your eyes, his blood on your lips and dripping down your neck and he remembers how he had never seen something so beautiful. His mate. His.

He had planned to take you hunting the following night to complete your transformation. He bundled you up in the room where he and his brothers slept and then fell into the sun-sleep with a smile. 

You were gone when he woke up. He felt hollow, the mate-bond fizzling under his skin. He knew you were dead. Paul had found your body and Dwayne had held him down when Max came by to scold him for falling in love with his food. He remembers starving, unable to hunt through his grief. Marko spent months bringing food back to their dwelling, dripping the blood over his mouth so he could be sustained. Time passed. He had gotten stronger. He had overcome. He missed you every single night, a soul deep tiredness that he couldn’t shake settling on the slope of his shoulders. He had waited for a sign that it wasn’t over. That you would be back. Max had once said that reincarnation happened sometimes, especially with the supernatural so he had never lost the hope that you and he would be together again. 

And seeing you on the boardwalk, looking more stunning than he remembers, he feels like he’s come home. 

Almost as if you can feel the pull too, you turned to him as he approached and smiled at him. 

He couldn’t help but smile back. 

~~~~

Marko:

Marko would forever be grateful to David. He had brought him into the life, had found him frozen in the alley between nameless streets clutching a bottle of medicine he had swiped, and had given him a chance to survive. He gave him a taste of a life that was beyond starvation and fighting for territory. 

David had offered the same for you, once he felt you along the lines of Marko’s thoughts. The power residing inside you and Marko was strong and he knew that Max would be annoyed. Max didn’t like when David made friends.

Especially if those friends were a bonded pair that would not be influenced by him. 

But you had been too weak to drink. In the pitiful, run-down shack you and Marko called home, David watched as his new brother pleaded with you.

“See baby doll? We were always meant to be. We need to go back and show them that they were wrong about us. You can’t leave me now. Please don’t leave me now.” Marko had begged as he held you to him, the cold of your skin matching his in the most frightening of ways. “You’re my mate. Please.” 

Smiling sadly, you had whispered that you loved him and succumbed to the cold and illness that ravaged your malnourished body. Even the strongest of vampire blood wouldn’t have been able to save you. 

David arranged for you to have a proper burial and Marko spent the next few decades rampaging to dull the pain. Time doesn’t heal wounds, it just lessens the impact of them. He could never properly thank David for the surprising amount of respect he paid to you but he did his best. 

When David walked into the cave, telling him that he spotted you on the boardwalk, Marko knew that he’d be thanking him for a long time. 

He could hear his brothers hollering as he transformed, unable to stop himself. He needed to find you before you disappeared. People came and went through Santa Carla daily, he couldn’t let you slip away now. Not when he finally had a chance to give you everything you deserved. 

And oh. You were still so lovely. Even more so now, eyes devoid of the hardships you endured to be with him and a layer of fat hiding your bones. Emotion bubbled to the surface as you turned to look at him, as if you could feel him close by. There was a look of confusion, then apprehension, then joy and Marko knew you remembered him. His newly revived thrum jumped under his skin. 

Oh yeah, he’d be thanking David for eternity. 

~~~~

Paul:

Paul relives the day you drowned on the nights where he can’t be bothered to drink the memories away. The day was bright - sunny, the kind of days he loved. You had been radiant. You always were but on that particular day, you were even more so. 

He remembers that he took you to the beach to celebrate your anniversary. You had stuck with him for 3 years, something people had joked as being a miracle, proof that God existed, and you loved the beach. He was indifferent but you had agreed to let him pick dinner if you spent the day at the beach.

Compromise.

You had been in the cutest little swim outfit, the space between your shoulder blades riddled with suggestion as he smoothed sunscreen across your skin. He could admit that he spent a little too long rubbing it into your skin. Its not like he could stop himself. Paul desired you above everything else, an addiction, and he would be damned before he’d restrained himself. 

He doesn’t remember how it happened - between the drugs and alcohol he consumed nightly and his own unwillingness to remember - but he knows you were pulled under a riptide. You disappeared for long minutes. There had been screaming and people diving in to pull you out. He hadn’t been able to find you in the waves. 

But another girl had and she pulled you to shore with the help of her group of friends. A flurry of motion, a rush as CPR was performed, as an ambulance was called, as medics pronounced you dead. 

You had been concussed when you went under. A brain bleed. You died in the water.

When he was turned - a decision made to escape the cotton candy skies you loved, Max told him that he should feel something - a pull, a thrum, some sort of guidance - and it would lead him to his mate. Paul told him that he didn’t have one anymore

His was dead. He wasn’t sure how he knew it was you but everything inside of him felt it. 

He was prepared to spend an eternity with the throbbing in his chest.

At least, he was until he heard your voice. It was an echo inside his head, compelling and soft, and he followed it, pushing through throngs of people. He could feel his brothers watching him, smirking with all-knowing grins and eyes glinting with mischief but he paid them no mind. All his emotions got together to overreact at the possibility of you and he was determined to see where it had come from.

The sound faded and he tried to focus, tried to concentrate to bring it back to him. The vibrations trickled to a stop, replaced with the harsh, cacophonous sounds of large gatherings of people. It felt like a hand clasping his throat and squeezing. He growled in irritation, ignoring the taste of his own broken heart and deciding that he’d take his frustrations out on the next group of victims he and his brothers herded to the beach. 

So he turned around to head back.

And ran right into you. 

It took everything inside of him to not fall into your arms and weep but, from the tears gathering in your eyes, you wouldn’t have minded it too much. 

~~~~

Dwayne:

A whiff of your perfume was enough to stop him in his tracks, his body tensing as he scanned the boardwalk. It was faint but he’d know it anywhere. Without a word, he nodded to David and walked away from his brothers. The wind was almost nonexistent but it was enough for him to follow the scent. 

It was a unique smell, one that you had crafted yourself. He watched you make in your kitchen enough times to know it by heart. You had told him that the formulas for other perfumes were too synthetic for you to handle. They blistered your skin or gave you migraines. It was cheaper to make your own instead of spending countless dollars buying store-brand perfumes that you weren’t sure were going to work for you. 

You also like to be ecological. Use all of it or use nothing at all.

Down the line, you ended up making him his own scent too and he still has an untouched bottle of it hidden in one of the cave’s alcoves. The bottle he has open is used sparingly, only on the nights where the edges of his memories of you shift like clouds of smoke. 

He knows he can make more - it was incredibly simple to make - but these were the last bottles you had made for him and he knew he’d never be able to replicate the importance of it. It had been those bottles that made him realize he loved you. 

He never had a chance to tell you how important it was to him. You had died before he could. Dwayne had wanted to kill the animal that gored you but he knew you wouldn’t have wanted that. You had gone out of your way to free the creature from the traps poachers had set up and you would not have wanted the animal punished for attacking. 

“They don’t know any better,” he could hear you say, “If they get caught, they are likely hurt. They won’t know if you are a friend or a foe. They’re going to lash out. I keep tranqs on me but sometimes that isn’t enough to subdue them.”

The regret settled like acid in his stomach. Your mother had given him a scarf you made because she knew he’d want something to remember you buy. It had your scent on it and he can admit that he spent endless nights breathing it in.

The smell had long since faded but he had sewed the scarf into the lining of his jacket to keep it close to him.

He didn’t think he’d ever smell it again.

The more he walked, the more potent the smell got. It wafted around him, embracing him tightly, and the anticipation of what that could mean thrummed inside his chest. 

And just like that, he turned his head and he found you, sitting on a bench. Waiting. He pauses, taking you in, alive and beautiful and whole. 

Something causes you to jolt and you turn to look at him. You meet his eyes. 

A pause.

A smile spreads across your face as you launch yourself at him. He meets you halfway. 

~~~~

End

~~~~

[chyrstis]

FC5 GFH Tag!

@sharky-broshaw​ and @shellibisshe​​ were lovely enough to tag me to see what my Dep would say as a formal FC5 Gun For Hire, and after spending most of the day thinking this over instead of writing, I think I’ve mostly nailed her down! ;)

Deputy Hana Vao

With Fangs for Hire

Boomer: “Whoa there, buddy! Aren’t you a sweetheart? God, I...I really wish Rae-Rae were here to say hi to you too, and see how good of a boy you’re being.”

Peaches: “I’m a cat person. I’m not a hundred percent sure it extends to being a big cat person, but I’m willing to try.” / *in a ridiculous voice while sneaking through the brush* “Who’s an adorable murder machine, yes, you are!”

Cheeseburger: “Whoever decided it’d be entirely possible and plausible for me to spend my free time hanging out with a bear, I’d like to give the biggest high-five to, because this? This is really fucking awesome.” / “I’ve always wondered if I���d have the chance to meet a local celebrity, and now I’ve met two! What are the odds of that?”

With other Guns for Hire

Sharky

*after inviting him* “Oh, now it’s a party.”

“So, apparently karaoke night at the Spread Eagle used to be a thing. You’ve been holding out on me! *both start trading stories about signature songs they used to pick, until they both settle on one and start singing along to it* *some of it’s good, most of it isn’t*

*after a fight* “That was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Do it again.” / “Hey, Shark? How about you dial it back a little next time? It kind of got a little too close for comfort there.”

“You know what they say about any big bads, right?” *along with Sharky* “If it bleeds, we can kill it! *laughs* God, you’re the best.”

Grace

“Hey, Grace? I know you mentioned last time that I really need to work on the whole sneaking, and being quiet, and-” “Not throwing a block of C4 at every problem you see?” “...Shit. I knew I might’ve forgotten something. Let me get back to you on that.”

“Grace? If I offered you twenty dollars to shoot [a hat off of a scarecrow, a can off of a fence, the helmet off of a Peggie, etc]. Would you do it?” *Grace asks if she’s that willing to go broke* “Maybe. I still think that would be pretty cool to see.”

Hurk

*calls Hana Ms. V* “Hurk! I thought we agreed not to go with that one!” *he throws out a slew of nicknames each one more absurd than the last* “...Um, okay. Maybe that one’s not so bad after all.”

“Hey, I have to ask. What’s with the chimps?”

*calls Hana Depu-Vee and pretends to relay a top-secret message* Hurk, hon. We’re face to face. I’m looking right at you. We don’t need codenames right now.

Adelaide

“I...that’s definitely a description I never thought I’d ever hear. Or visualize.”

“Okay, so I’m only going to say this once, but...” *speaks at a mile a minute* “Fuck John, Marry Faith, and Kill Jacob, and there’s nothing left for Joseph, so just fuck him in general. Done and done.”

Nick

“I swear to God, if you ever ask me to fly Carmina again I’m going to crash her. Not on purpose, I’m just that damn bad at it, so please. I beg of you, don’t.”

“How’s Kim doing? If you two need anything at all, don’t hesitate to give me a call.”

Jess

“Jesus, you’re a hell of a shot. Shooting an apple off of someone’s head would probably be nothing, huh?” *Jess asks if she’s volunteering* “It’s not that you aren’t a badass, because you totally are, but you know how some ideas look fun at first pass, but are probably a disaster in the making? That? That would be one of them.”

In Combat

Seeing an enemy: “You got eyes on them?”

Sneaking:*snaps a twig* “Shit! ...Um, shit. Sorry.”

Killing an enemy: "Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!” / *if you score the hit* “Holy shit, that was a shot!”

Reviving: “It’s okay, I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” / “Hold on! Can’t have you dying on me now.”

Hurt: “Ow, motherfucker!” / “Jesus, walk it off. Just walk it off.” / *flamethrower, or Sharky* Shit! Nearly singed my hair...

Downed: “Really, really pissed that they made me bleed my own blood here.” / “Keep moving! Don’t worry about me! *pained sound* “Fuck!”

Driving

If asked to drive: “You sure? Well, buckle up and hold on tight. I promise I’ll try and be gentle.” / “God, this is really making me miss my bike.”

Reckless driving: “Jesus, now I know how Grace feels.” / “And here I thought you’d leave the stunt driving to old Clutch. I’m game if you are.”

Changing radio stations: *starts singing along if Barracuda’s playing* / *’if Oh John’ starts playing* “...Fucking asshole.” *sings an off-key, ‘bold and brave’ before making a sound of disgust*

Idle

“Hey, hon. How’re you holding up? Better than me, I hope, because I could really go for a cigarette. Might have to bum one off of Sharky the next time I see him.”

“You know, I’m not from around here. I’m from Detroit. Moved around a lot when I was young, so I don’t remember it well to begin with, but my mom took a lot of photos of it. Kept them all in a photo album for me to look at when I was older, and always told me we’d head back there someday to check them out again ourselves. ....Well, I’m about 95 percent certain that when the cult burned my apartment down, it might’ve taken that album with it. Pictures of those places. Of her. All of it up in smoke, just like that. So, here’s hoping there’ll be a Detroit left after all of this, depending on whether or not Joseph’s talking shit, or actually right. Because I’d really like to have a second chance to see all of that. And have a chance to honor her too.”

“I’m a city girl, so the silence out here is...it’s a little overwhelming. But I’d gladly take it over the sound of gunfire. This place is beautiful, and the kind of peaceful you don't really appreciate until it’s gone.”

Hard to believe I wouldn’t have ended up here at all if the Sheriff hadn’t taken a chance on me. He’ll say differently, but there’s a reason why Staci called me-calls me Rook, and why Joey always took the time to answer every single silly question I had. I didn’t have a whole lot of experience before heading here, and...they made it all worth the risk on my end too. Made me feel welcome when anyone else would’ve just shown me the door, and I’ll do damn near anything to get them back.

Location-Specific:

By any body of water: *voice pitched higher than normal* “Hey, you’re not-that’s looking pretty deep. Think I’ll um, hang close to the shore just in case.” *wanders around it, but never enters it*

At the Spread Eagle: *hanging close to either Mary May by the bar* *Mary May jokes about Hana spending more time talking to her than drinking* “Hey, I’m sparing you both the bad dancing and the bad flirting! Trust me, you don’t want to see either.” / *if by the jukebox in the back, can be found swaying to whatever’s playing*

After liberating the Radio Towers: “I really need to talk to Wheaty about getting Queen on the radio here, because we’re suffering from a real lack of that. Tell me you wouldn’t be ready and willing to kick all kinds of ass after listening to them for a bit.” / *near a Wolf Beacon while it’s blaring* “Jesus, Jacob really took a page out of every horror movie here, didn’t he? Note to self, stay far, far away from these at night.”

In the Henbane: “You want to trust your eyes. You also want to trust your ears, and every last bit of sense you’ve got, but here? You can't. And that honestly scares the shit out of me.” / “You see Faith too, don’t you? Right at the corner of your vision before you blink and she’s gone? Word of advice? Don’t approach her or talk to her. You’ll like what she has to say at first, but...not so much the wolverine taking a piece out of you afterwards.”

At Seed Ranch by the Boat Launch: *if present when Sharky drops the dingus line, she starts giggling until she snorts*

In Holland Valley: “Can you do me a favor? If you ever decide to do a little redecorating - like, say, make modifications to a giant, white three-letter sign up in the mountains - take me with you. Because pissing John off’s really what keeps me going, and lighting that ‘Yes’ sign up would be a thing of beauty.” / *later when John calls post-destruction she mouths, ‘Oh shit’ while 100% making this face:

Tagging: @amistrio @ma-sulevin @shallow-gravy​ @foofygoldfish @guileandgall​ @ofravensandgenesis​ @fadedjacket​ @seedlingsinner @teamhawkeye​ @redroci​ @risenlucifer​ @tomexraider​ @finefeatheredgamer​ @narcis-the-monk​ @scarlettkat86 @hawkfurze @raisinghellinotherworlds @fromathelastoveritaserum @shelliechen and anyone else that’s interested! I’d love to see your GFHs, so totally tag me if you do!