#and after he died she had to simulate the warmth somehow. the empty bed was *too much* to deal with

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

I wanted to keep this headcanon for my fics, but if I don't share it with you all now I will explode, so:

Dorothy canonically snores.

Rose canonically talks in her sleep.

I'm willing to bet that Blanche is a cover hog. She goes to sleep and becomes a cover burrito in five minutes tops. Oh, you sleep with her? Hope you like being exposed to the cold and monsters the whole night through. The covers are hers.

[bexterbex]

A Soul to Mend His Own | Ch. 56

Warning, PLEASE CHECK TAGS IF YOU SEE SOMETHING YOU DON’T WANT TO READ THEN DON’T READ. Tag lists are closed

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Will tag as I go along, Will update tags, Slow Burn, Influenced by Star Trek and other Sci-Fi themes, References to We Happy Few, Tons of References and quotes to George Orwells 1984 see if you can find them all, The First Order is the new Big Brother,  but who is really surprised, Blatant Nazi Symbolism, Interrogation Themes, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Really just drawn out Slow Burn, Don’t repost without permission, Torture themes, Suggestive Themes, Execution themes, Disturbing Themes, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Verbal Abuse, Controlling Kylo Ren, Physical Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Kylo Ren is Not Nice, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, Possessive Kylo Ren, A character shamelessly based on Zelda

A Kylo Ren x Modern! Reader in a soulmate au with some canon divergence. —————————————SLOWBURN————————————–

He is already the Supreme leader, searching the universe to find you, his Empress. Your name on his wrist has been the only constant in his life, while you have doubts about his existence and his acceptance of you. He isn’t in the database and why did the name Kylo Ren cover Ben Solo?

MASTERLIST

Chapter 56: Broken

You were in Kylo’s arms for a few more moments as you waited for the others to arrive. Once they were there Kylo assisted you to stand and deposited you in your dressing room for Adlez and Olivia-Rose to fix you. 

You sat in front of the vanity as they fixed your makeup. You felt numb and rather unwhole inside as you sat there staring at your own living reflection. Your mind not wanting to process what had happened. Your brain felt like it was full of cotton, your body attached to strings like a meaningless puppet. 

You had no desire to really do anything at the moment but your ladies-in-waiting were attempting to distract you and cheer you up. Putting your hair into a beautiful elegant hairstyle, something fancier than you were used to, and putting you into the beautiful flowy dress that Adlez had planned for the formal dinner. It was still as beautiful when Olivia-Rose first recommended it to you when you had your shopping spree but you weren’t in the mood to look at it, let alone be all done up with nowhere to go. 

They then dressed you in a different dress from this morning. Something lighter, and happier. A silent hope to improve your mood. Once they were done dressing you down you went out to the patio to lay out in the simulated sun. Hoping that its warmth could not only warm your bones but warm the cold feeling that was plaguing you. 

When it came to lunch you ordered on the patio, something small as you didn’t think you could stomach anything more than that. You were silent the whole time, lost in your own non-existent thoughts. When it came time for your lesson the general came out to greet you on the patio, he stopped dead in his tracks after assessing the condition you were in. 

“M’lady it is time for your lesson.” You did nothing to show that you had heard him, you just continued to sit there. The general just stood and analyzed you before he sat down in the chair next to you. “If you would like I can have someone come down and talk to you about this morning.” His voice was soft and sincere. 

You turned to look at him, “I will take my lesson out here.” And you turned your head back to stare at the simulated horizon. 

“As you wish,” he then took the remote and started your lessons.  

Ch. 32: Etiquette in Business and Politics

Ch. 33 Part 1: Dress (para. 1-39)

Ch. 33 Part 2: Dress (para. 40-end)

“Today’s lesson was short, would you like to start on something new? I can make arrangements to have you start learning more diplomacy issues.” He waited for your answer that did not come. He shared a look with your ladies-in-waiting and the lieutenant. 

He got up from the lounge chair and walked away. You watched your entourage leave with him. You were left alone for a few minutes before a silver figure came into view. You were rather surprised to see her here, you shifted in the chair to allow her to sit on your lounge chair. 

She took off her helmet, but you both remained silent for a while until you couldn’t take it anymore, “They died because of me,” your voice sounded foreign to your ears. 

“But m’lady its more than that, they betrayed the First Order. It had to be done.” Her voice was even and firm, but still gentle in many ways.  

“If I were just some random officer’s match and the same thing happened would they have lost their lives?” You could feel the tears fall from your face. 

She was silent for a moment before she responded, assessing your emotions.”No, but they would have if there was someone else in your shoes, it is your position that they acted against. You mustn’t blame yourself, they would have slipped up someplace else, prolonging the inevitable.” 

But that wasn’t good enough. “But they didn’t have to die. If they would have messed up doing something else they would have just been reprimanded and not killed.  I am the reason that they are dead don’t you see.” They were killed because of you, and you did nothing to stop it, nothing that mattered anyway. 

“We are at war ma’am, you might have just given them a more merciful death.” With that, she stood and walked away. You were confused for a moment before Kylo replaced her. 

“You said you would make the dread and pain go away,” you looked at him, meeting his cautious assessment of your condition.  

“Is that what you want Kitten? I can still do that.” His hand was in your hair. That is what you want, you wanted all of this nothingness gone. You wanted it gone. 

His hand moved to caress your forehead, you started to feel yourself become more numb, but in a different way. Your consciousness was separating itself from your being. 

“My old master once said ‘Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.’ This might hurt Kitten.” 

But it didn’t all you felt was nothingness before your vision faded to black, but before you became fully unconscious you heard him once more say, “You will be hollow. I shall squeeze you empty, and then I shall fill you with myself.”

The blackness took over. You were fully out now and stayed like that before the dreams took over. 

The woman was there again, this time joined by a lot of people you did not recognize. Two men, one woman, a golden figure, a tall hairy tree, and a white barrel. You couldn’t see them exactly. They were staring off in the distance over a cliff and you were facing the cliff but too far away to make out any more details. Black smoke swirled through the dream and shifted to something else entirely. 

You saw yourself, or what looked to be you sitting on a large throne. Chained up next to you was a large black dog, with black eyes. Its hair was shaggy and the chain that was around its neck was thick. The dog moved to put its head in your lap, your other self petted it. Stroking its long black fur. You took a step closer to yourself. The dog shifted and growled as you approached yourself. You could now see the scar that graced its face, jagged and red. 

Your other self laughed as you stepped back in fear of the dog. A haunting laugh that chilled you to the bone. You paused. You tried to speak to yourself but no sound came out of your mouth, your lips moved but you were silent. The other you just laughed and sat forward. Your other self’s eyes glimmered with a sense of malicious intent. Before anything more could happen the dream shifted once more. 

You were on a desert planet. Miles and miles of sand and nothing. As far as the eye could see. In the distance, you could see him. Kylo his back was to you and another woman was at his side. Not the older woman who you had seen before many times, but a younger one. A brunette that was a half a head shorter than him. As you approached them you could hear laughter, his and hers. His arm was behind her back as hers was to him. She kissed his cheek and you felt the earth collapse under you. 

You were sinking into quicksand, rapidly. You struggled as it pulled you down. The earth was swallowing you whole. To never release you again. You blacked out in your own dream. 

You woke up to a similar scene to the one before. You were on a grassy planet now. Miles and miles of grass and wildflowers. Kylo had his back to you, but he was alone. You looked around you to see if you could see her, the other woman, but you couldn’t. You started to run towards him. As you reached him you held out your hand. When you touched his shoulder to turn him to face you felt a familiar pressure behind your ear.

You woke up. 

Gasping for air, you jerked awake. Flailing for a few moments before you heard his voice, “Kitten, Kitten it’s alright. I am here. Nothing can hurt you now.” His hand combed through your hair. 

Somehow you had gotten changed and were now back in your bed. Something that Kylo must have asked Adlez and Olivia-Rose to help him with. At least you hoped he did. 

His lips were against yours, his tongue winding its way into your mouth, just before he pulled away. “How are you feeling this morning?”

It was a simple question, but you didn’t know how to answer. You didn’t feel like yourself that’s for sure. You felt foreign. But not in the way you did previously, it was a new foreign now. “I don’t know.”

A hand came to caress your face, “That’s ok, it might take a few days to fully feel better. But I promise you will.” Another kiss graced your lips. “I promise Kitten.” 

His arms were under you as he carried you into your dressing room, leaving you with Adlez and Olivia-Rose with one final kiss. “I shall be back for lunch, but you should like the surprise I have for you this morning.” And with that, he was gone. 

Adlez spoke first, “How are you feeling m’lady?” She was cautious as she started on your hair. Her fingers have a lighter touch than normal. 

Like answering Kylo before her you did not have an answer, “I don’t know. Not like me and also myself. I don’t know how I feel, how I am supposed to feel.” You watched as both of them exchanged worried glances. A sort of silent communication that they were starting to form. 

You just sat there while they got you ready, your outfit this time was athleisure. You wondered if it had anything to do with Kylo’s surprise, but you knew that you would be told when they wanted you to know. When you were finished you walked up the stairs to the lofted lounge. Finding a spot in front of the fireplace to have your breakfast. Something that shocked the two women, but they followed nonetheless. The lieutenant eventually joined you as you all sat in silence listening to the flames crackle and pop. 

Eventually, your food came but you still ate that in silence. Knowing that small talk was rather useless at this point. Nothing about being in the confines of the First Order made small talk feel normal. You all knew the same news that was broadcasted out, you were together most of the time, and there was no weather aboard a starship. Small talk felt pointless. 

When you were finished the lieutenant announced that you were to follow him. And you did. Out the door and down the never-ending hallways. Feeling numb to your surroundings and the faces and lack of faces you saw along the way.  He led you to a large door. 

To your excitement beyond the door was a training facility and waiting was the chrome gilded Amazon herself. “M’lady it would be an honor to teach you how to shoot.” 

Your body filled with glee as you followed her to the target range, a small blaster in her hand. “It is rather simple. Line up the sights, undo the safety and pull the trigger.” She moved your body into a wide stepped position. One hand placed under the butt of the blaster while the other held it. “Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. And only then do you fire.” 

She stood next to you as you fired at the target, narrowly missing your aimed position, but still hitting the target.

“Adjust your shoulders a bit and relax your arms. You want to be firm but not too rigid. Inhale as you aim, exhale as you fire.”

This time your shots were perfectly on the mark. A female figure appeared before the target as your next shots hit. The woman from the desert planet. Right to the heart. A kill shot. 

[dork-empress]

A Nightmare’s Nightmare

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: M/M

Fandom: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)

Relationship: Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone)

Characters: Kravitz (The Adventure Zone), Taako (The Adventure Zone)

Additional Tags: Nightmares, simulation of dying

Kravitz hasn't seen the need to sleep in centuries. When Taako convinces him to, it isn't as relaxing as Taako makes it seem.

Kravitz wasn’t just sitting around doing nothing but work before he met Taako, despite what Taako seemed to think.

The Raven Queen wasn’t a hard boss. He had earned time off occasionally. He went into some new town and enjoyed some of the culture, to see how time had changed things. Obviously he was most interested in any music and how it had developed. He loved going to concerts, and had strong opinions on how music had changed (In the Raven Queen’s name, he was so glad they moved past Baroque. All that extra flourishes for absolutely no reason just to prove they could. Where was the heart to it? The emotion? He...may have annoyed some of his fellow reapers with this line of thinking.)

The point was, while he wasn’t as in touch with the living world as he was recently, he wasn’t exactly living under a rock either.

The one thing he hadn’t done in a long, long while was sleep. There didn’t seem much point to it. It didn’t change or develop with culture, like music or the arts. He didn’t really need it. It just seemed like a waste to spend 8 or so of his precious free hours doing….nothing.

Taako didn’t need sleep either, but he loved it. Kravitz initially mocked him for being too lazy to meditate, but he did seem genuinely more refreshed after a long sleep session. And a refreshed Taako was a happy Taako, so Kravitz was happy too.

It wasn’t an ISSUE really. Kravitz loved cuddling with Taako, and Taako apparently loved balancing the cold from Kravitz skin with the warmth of his overly fluffy blanket, “Thermal equilibrium, babee,” Taako yawned at him one day, moving his head around Kravitz chest to find the optimal pillow placement.

Kravitz was happy to have Taako curled up beside him, but it left him with very little to do. He didn’t want to move, and disrupt Taako’s sleep. Looking and admiring Taako’s sleepy face was nice…..for a couple minutes, and then he was bored out of his skull. Which was impressive as he WAS a skull.

It couldn’t hurt, he thought, to doze a bit. Maybe Taako was onto something, maybe the best thing to refresh was nothing at all. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. How was he supposed to do this again? Was there a switch in his brain he could flip to just….send him off? Could he even sleep? What if he was incapable of it? What was he supposed to do with all this time and--

Taako was snoring. Very, very lightly. It was so damn cute, the little rumble in his throat vibrating against his chest.

Kravitz calmed down, breathing in sync with Taako, and letting himself just listen to those snores like he was a concert of one.

Kravitz had his violin clutched in his hands as he ran through the halls. Where was the damn orchestra hall? He was late, he was running SO late, and he couldn’t remember where he was going.

He tried to follow the signs, but he couldn’t read them. Who put signs up in infernal? He was really going to get it now. “Hey babe,” Taako said, walking down the other way with him, “Where’s the fire?”

“Not now,” Kravitz said, “I’m late for rehearsal, and I can’t find the practice hall.”

“It’s right behind you, dingus,” Taako said, “Have fun!”

Kravitz turned around. He hadn’t even seen the door before. He opened it, facing a million eyes.

The Raven Queen towered over the room, “Late again, Kravitz,” she said, “You’ll get a failing grade if this keeps up.”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he said, going for an empty seat. As soon as he sat, he realized he didn’t have his violin, “I...I think I left my instrument in the hallway,” he said, “I need to...to go and…”

“No,” the Raven Queen said, “You must conduct the orchestra.”

Kravitz nodded. He always wanted to do this, but he thought he’d have more time to prepare. He stepped up, taking the conductor’s baton. As he stood, facing the awaiting crowd, he realized he didn’t know what song they were playing. 4/4 seemed like a safe bet...but what tempo…

He raised his arms and the band took a breath. As he started the beat, a horrendous noise shuddered around him, a roar of a thousand beasts. He covered his ears. The roar faded, into pleas, a hundred, maybe a thousand people, begging for their lives, for the lives of their loved ones. Begging for peace. It echoed, turning his brain to sludge. He knew these voices, every one of them, melded together. He’d killed them.

“You took my child from me,” a woman’s voice broke through, “I had her in my arms again and you took her!”

“I would have given you anything,” a man, this time, “It was just a little necromancy, I wasn’t hurting anybody.”

“You killed us,” “You MURDERED us,” “We were innocent” “You’re a monster” “You’re not even alive either,”

“You’re not even human.”

Kravitz fell to his knees, clutching at his ears, but it did nothing to counteract the voices. He tried closing his eyes too, but he could still somehow see their gaunt faces.

His legs felt wet and he looked down. The bandroom was gone, everything was gone. He was sitting on top of an endless plane of black sludge.

And he was sinking.

“No, no!” He shouted, trying to stand up and crawl out of it. But there was no solid surface on which to stand. There was nowhere to go and get out of it.

The sludge rose like sickly hands, grabbing at him, pulling him under. He tried to fight it, but they just held on. It was inevitable.

And he was alone.

He raised his head to the surface, trying to savor air while he had it. It was hard, the sludge crushing in on his chest, and his throat.

The sludge wasn’t sludge anymore, but simple water, frozen and still clutching at him like the hands had.

He reached up, trying to grab hold of the icy surface he’d fallen through, but he couldn’t get a grip. The icy water shot through him like a thousand swords.

He saw something just before his face went under the surface. A figure standing above him. It was Taako. He tried to yell for help, but the water filled his mouth, silencing him.

Taako looked down at him and smiled. The last thought Kravitz had was that he was going to die.

“Kravitz?”

Kravitz jumped to standing. All he knew for a moment was that he was in darkness, and standing on something soft.

Another second and he realized he was in a bedroom. After another, he knew it was Taako’s. He was standing on the bed, Taako still laying below him, looking up at him shocked.

“Y’all right there, buddy?” Taako asked, tone more relaxed than he was, “‘Cause you know I love the bones but they ain’t exactly cuddle material.”

Only then did Kravitz realize he was in his skeletal form, holding his scythe. He switched back to his body and sat back down, trying to piece together his memories and get his thoughts back in order. “It was just a dream,” he said, to himself and Taako.”

“Some damn dream,” Taako said, leaning on his elbow. His hair was untied as he leaned into Kravitz. “You wanna talk about it?”

Kravitz clenched his teeth, “It didn’t make a lot of sense,” he said instead of answering.

“Because dreams usually have great literary arcs.” Taako chuckled, resting his head on Kravitz’ thigh. “What’s goin on, what freaked you out?”

Kravitz shrugged, “I mean it, it didn’t.” he said, “I just….I think I was dreaming about how I died.”

Taako blinked, his elven eyes reflective in the dark. “Well shit. As someone with some expertise in that field, dying is definitely nightmare fuel.”

Kravitz took a deep breath. He didn’t really have lungs, it was just sort of...moving air around, but it felt better to do so. “How do you handle it?”

Taako stretched, sitting up to better hug Kravitz. “Cry a lot, ain’t gonna lie. Taako ain’t got time for that toxic masculinity shit.” He won a smile from Kravitz as he reached up, covering Taako’s hand in his own, “Eventually you remember it’s just a dream and can’t really hurt you. Even if it happened, it’s in the past. It’s just a dream.”

Kravitz rocked a little in Taako’s arms. “I haven’t had any dreams in a long time,” he said, “I don’t remember them being this unpleasant.”

“Eh, mostly they’re just fucking weird,” Taako said, pulling Kravitz closer. Kravitz lay his head on Taako’s chest now, listening to his strange elven heart beat. There were three pumps to it. Weird. “I was dreaming about these like, giraffe things? But they had teacups for heads and I was trying to see if they had any tea inside.” Kravitz chuckled, “And then, the bitch looked down at me, and spilled the goddamn tea all over me! My clothes were RUINED!”

Kravitz finally managed a laugh, clutching Taako all the closer. “Why do you like sleeping, then?”

Taako rested his head on Kravitz’ locks. “I dunno. Sometimes its nice to have something that doesn’t make sense. To not have stuff to do or logic to follow. Just….exist in this weird new world.” Kravitz could feel him smirking, “Plus going back to sleep in the morning is dope.”

Kravitz smiled. “You want to go back to sleep now, don’t you?”

Taako yawned, “Kinda,” he said, “But I can stay up. I think I got enough in to cover meditation.”

His ears were twitching, and Kravitz couldn’t help it. “Go back to sleep,” he told him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Maybe I’ll get a better luck of the draw with dreams this time.”

“Are you sure?” Taako asked, but he was already falling back into his bed. “Alright, come here, then. I’m gonna snuggle those nightmares out so hard, they won’t know what hit ‘em.”

Kravitz chuckled again, letting Taako wrap him up. He fought back the fear of what his unconscious mind would bring him this time….