#and commence heart attack
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
afmis · 4 months ago
Text
Legit I always wish for a dsmp comeback in which they stream in the server again or play as the characters or just somehow pick it up and continue it again. But I think I’d genuinely have a heart attack if that ever happened 💀
23 notes · View notes
ninibeingdelulu · 5 months ago
Note
how would megumi confess or act towards the girl he’s secretly getting a crush on? ofc both itadori and kugisaki noticed it, thank uuu
How he act when he have a crush on you ft. megumi fushiguro
a/n: tyy anon for requesting, I love this idea so much >.< .I hope u like it
You've been part of the tight-knit quartet since day one at Jujutsu High, instantly bonding over all the intense craziness you were thrown into as first-years.
Megumi was a bit prickly and standoffish at first, but you were one of the few brave enough to playfully needle him until he cracked a smile.
Over time, Megumi began opening up more around you specifically. There was something innately reassuring about your warm, supportive presence that helped soothe the Fushiguro scion's lingering loneliness and guilt.
Itadori and Kugisaki don't fail to notice how Megumi's eyes linger fractionally longer whenever you laugh or gently tease him.
The faintest hints of pink dust his cheekbones as he drops his usual guarded frown into a rare soft smile reserved only for you.
The merciless teasing quickly commences - Kugisaki makes obnoxious kissy faces every time you enter the room, while Itadori not-so-discreetly shoves Megumi or elbows his ribs whenever you're nearby.
Megumi just grits his teeth, ears burning as he hisses at them to shut up already.
You, forever oblivious, just assume the three friends are goofing around as usual. Turning your bright, curious gaze onto them only makes Megumi's heart stutter harder while Itadori and Kugisaki’s cackles grow louder each time.
Any brief alone moments with Megumi are cherished - like when you grab his arm for balance scrambling out of the fissures after his technique backfires in training.
Your hands linger almost shyly yet still electrified by the contact.
Out of earshot, he vehemently denies everything to Kugisaki's ever-present smirk and Itadori's goading - "just freaking TELL her, dude! Stop being a punk!" But the mere thought of confessing makes Megumi seize up, gut roiling.
Until one day on a mission, a cursed spirit catches you completely off guard with a brutal attack as Megumi can only watch in paralyzed horror.
Moments from being skewered, his fear for your life overrides all restraint as he instinctively summons the full extent of his domain.
By the time Itadori and Kugisaki join him, the twisted creature has literally been crushed into dust.
You're clutched tightly against Megumi's heaving chest as he holds you like his life-force itself.
"Don't ever scare me like that," he growls into your hair, lavender eyes squeezing shut as if in excruciating pain. "I...can't lose you too..."
You freeze, finally realizing what your friends had been seeing all along through new senses electrified by his proximity.
Megumi's heart pounds double-time against his ribs pressed to yours.
Itadori and Kugisaki exchange a loaded look and quietly slip away to give you two some space.
Sure enough, Megumi tilts your chin up with shaking fingers, finally meeting your eyes unflinchingly as the words tumble out in a shaky exhale...
481 notes · View notes
ssahotchnerr · 1 year ago
Note
aaron hotch where she gets hurt during a fight with a unsub and she gets really clingy, and everyone at the bau noticed. and when coming in one morning she overhears someone making fun of her to aaron because of it. she hears him laugh and walks away, and begins avoiding him.
turns out it was a fake laugh and he yelled at the guy who was brave enough to make fun of her infront of him. and he didn’t mind her clingy-ness and was glad he made her feel safe.
unwilling to part
cw; fem!reader, no established relationship/mutual pining, officer makes a mildly misogynistic comment and is just an asshole overall, small angst to comfort wc; 1.4k
your injury had been mild - as mild as it could be within your job title. some bumps and bruises, a black eye was most likely in your future. the surprise of the attack had been the worst of it; leaving you spooked, especially when your gun tumbled out of your hand and slid across the floor away from you.
but that's what backup was for, and the situation had been resolved almost as quickly as it started. aaron had heard the fight commence from his position down the hall, the loud clatter of your weapon, and to your rescue just as fast as you could blink, pulling the unsub off you and slamming his front into the nearest wall, forcefully restraining him.
due to the shock numbing your mind and body, the next few minutes were a haze. you vaguely processed aaron crouching beside you, his concerned expression or his hands cupping your face, nor did you hear his repeated question if you were alright.
all you could do was hold onto him, and he let you.
the team and a few officers had crowded around, providing quite the audience. but aaron hadn't seemed to mind; allowing you to cling onto his side until you came back to the real world, your fingers clutching onto his fbi vest. one of his own arms had been around you, escorting you to the medic, to the waiting suv, up to your hotel room. he even relayed the instruction to please call him if you needed him at all throughout the night - he'd be at yours within the second.
the following morning you had been the last one ready, soreness delaying you. your muscles ached as they pulled in every direction - simply getting your shirt on had been a tedious, and painful, task.
the jet was scheduled to leave early afternoon, allowing the morning to be spent at the pd, settling what was needed before returning home.
you could hear ongoing conversation from inside the conference room the bau had been inhabiting the past few days, but before you entered, something in your gut told you to remain put and listen.
you heard aaron first, finishing his thought. "- to be put into evidence, and the rest can be sent over to our technical analyst in quantico."
"gotcha." someone answered, another officer you presumed as the voice wasn't familiar. there was a quick shuffle of papers, a quiet thud of something being put into a box, before he voiced his next thought. "they'll let anyone into the fbi these days, won't they?"
aaron's composed voice followed, "sorry?"
"that agent who got hurt last night." at the mention of yourself, your face immediately burned - his tone not setting up for a positive. "thought you all were 'posed to be tough. with the way she was attached to your hip," he laughed, "fuckin' annoying if you ask me, that was nothing. should've stuck to an desk job if that scared her."
aaron had the heart to chuckle, and your heart dropped right to your stomach, your feet moving to their own accord as you hurried away, not craving to hear more.
tears pinched at your eyes and your body swarmed with heat, full of embarrassment and most prominently, betrayal.
what made it more painful, you could recall on one hand instances where you have heard aaron laugh (a mild exaggeration, but the point still stood) and laughing at you, was now one of them. what also didn't make sense then, the entirety of last night. even as you parted ways at the hotel room, aaron's expression, had been unwilling to part. maybe you read into it wrong, but you could've sworn that's what those brown eyes of his you loved so much indicated.
so for the rest of the day you refused to make eye contact with him, moving swiftly away if he approached, choosing to sit as far away as possible on the jet. even when you all had entered the bullpen, you beelined straight for your desk, eager for the busyness to be your next excuse to avoid contact. but, it was only a matter of time until aaron had trailed down to check on you.
"hey."
you ignored him, acting like the paperwork in front of you was suddenly the most fascinating thing you've ever seen.
aaron's brows furrowed, his question low. he had been quick to notice your clear avoidance earlier in the day, yet another reason why he wanted - needed - to make sure you were okay. "are you alright?"
"yeah, i'm supposed to be, aren't i?" you stated bluntly as you looked up at him, your tone a bit more harsh as you intended.
aaron had the audacity to look perplexed, the confusion in his tone almost convincing if you hadn't known better. "no? someone twice your size blitzed you, disarmed you-"
you slammed your file shut - causing heads to lift and look in your direction. you got up from your seat, not wanting to remain in his presence. "don't bother. i'm better suited for a desk job anyway, right?"
"wait, no." aaron moved in front of you, stopping you from moving forward. he understood immediately, or so he thought. "you heard that?"
"a black eye doesn't affect my hearing, does it?" you snapped, tears brimming your waterline.
aaron sighed deeply, his eyes playing up the shame you're certain he felt. "i'm sorry he-"
you nearly let out a laugh at that, interrupting, "sure. that guy was a ass, but don't you dare apologize for him. what about you?"
aaron's eyes widened in surprise. "me?"
"you laughed." your anger immediately dissolved, hurt filling it's place instead. it was written all over your face, making aaron's heart plummet. "i thought... look, i didn't mean to embarrass you in front of everyone if that's what i did. and i know, in and out of the field we're supposed to be objective and i let my emotions or whatever that was get the best of me. but if i can't do that, then you shouldn't have let me depend on you like... that. despite popular belief, i am tough. i can take rejection."
aaron opened his mouth to respond, but paused, as in his peripheral he noticed all the heads still turned in your shared direction. it was probably best to do this in private. "come with me."
just as last night, his hand found the small of your back, leading you up into his office, closing the door behind him. you went willingly, but remained by the doorway as he walked a bit further inside, your arms crossed.
when aaron turned to you, his eyes were sad, but compassionate.
"i did laugh," more tears burned behind your eyes at his confession, until he provided clarification. "at his idiocy. you sadly missed the good part, i believe it's safe to say he's now highly appreciative of you and the work you've done. check your email, i'm sure a thank you, if it's not already there, will be in your inbox shortly." a small laugh came from his chest. "you can even ask prentiss, she can vouch he left with his tail in between his legs."
your defense dropped, hands falling to your sides in realization. in aaron's character, of course that made more sense.
"oh god i'm sorry," your hands rose to your face, momentarily hiding in humiliation. "i heard... so i thought-"
"exactly, you heard what you heard." aaron's hands grabbed yours gently, pulling them away from your face and allowing you to see his understanding, kind one. "and given what you did hear, i wouldn't expect any less of a reaction. i also would've given me the cold shoulder." a small, closed smile formed on his lips.
"no, i'm so stupid-" aaron shook his head, stopping you halfway.
"you aren't. and despite what we do, you're still only human. you reacted appropriately." his voice softened, rather adorably at that. "i wasn't embarrassed either. i'm glad - honored actually - you can depend on me when you're frightened or need further support. trust me, you can cling onto me all you want." a faint blush tinted his cheekbones. "and i'll never push you away."
his hands squeezed yours, swinging slightly with solid emphasis. the gesture, caused you to just now realize he was still clutching onto them, unwilling to part.
2K notes · View notes
beuxwhoyouare · 4 months ago
Text
Wondering
I don’t really remember much. I suppose that was always my biggest weakness. I’m part of a slug-like species of aliens known as Skreats. Our whole species thing is that they want to take over worlds by taking over the dominant species bodies and using their resources to conquer the universe. Blah blah blah I synthesized my whole life being taught that taking over hosts was my job and all I was supposed to do but what if I don’t want to?
I never payed much attention to all those logs and protocols about conquering. I just wanted to be free of Skreat expectations.
One day I left logging seminars and just hid inside my sectors pod shit hangar. I know I wasn’t supposed to but the ships are so comfortable so I just stay in there and hang for hours. Then all the alarms went off in the hangar, we were under attack but I didn’t want to get in trouble for being where I wasn’t supposed to be. I acted like I was supposed to be there and after a few more of us piled into the ship I commenced launch.
The ship was an escape pod automatically routed to vulnerable planets to conquer. We were headed to E Arth? As we tried to navigate through enemy lines we almost made it to our destination before being shot down in the planets atmosphere. I just fell and then it all went black.
When I came back to consciousness there was no ship near me just a hard cold black runway of some kind, I believe they’re known as roads. It was dark but sirens blared through the night heading towards a blaze in the distance. THE SHIP! I presumed the worst and tried to avoid being stomped on by these tall earthlings walking by me. I thought I found a good hiding place a lobby of some sort but that’s when I was spotted.
An earthling calling me and took me into the shelter of some clear glass container. He murmured words of snail and take care of. I think he’s under the assumption I’m one of these earth creatures.
For days he would give me earthy twigs and shreds of vegetables assuming that I would consume them. I admit I tried but they don’t necessarily make sense to me or my Skreat organs.
He invited other earthlings over some nights some he showed me to and others he got close to but before I could see what their interactions were he’d whisk him away to a private room away from me. But I did learn his name, Harrison.
I’d spend my days observing Harrison or the visuals he would put on his wall display of some sort. He called these things movies. So many of the ones we would watch had stories of love or adventure. It widened my desire to not conquer a world even more. Maybe that’s what I wanted to do. But I couldn’t, not stuck in my current tiny form.
I’m thankful Harrison saved me but I’ve got to level up. I decided to navigate my way out of the container, which I could’ve always done but I needed a plan first.
Tumblr media
He was cooking his sustenance after coming back home all wet from his human secretions. With his back turned to me I leaped from the counter onto his waistband.
I consider it a species specialty that we Skreats are very pliable. I flattened out to slip under and find my way into Harrison. As I slithered towards his rounded backside, I began infiltrating and my savior began tensing up. He began to moan, mixing between pleasure and panic as he realized this was not a moment of intimacy but something else.
He began to switch hard to panic as he tried to fight my ascent but it was too late. I hauled it through so many tunnels of organs and vasculature until I got to his core. I guess you call it a heart. I began inserting my tendrils into it and began spreading myself through his bloodstream.
Pulse pulse pulse. I could feel his heart pumping and eventually I synced up with it. We were becoming one, my life purpose was finally being achieved. I had other plans though.
After Harrison took his last gasp for air, I began using my new earthling lungs. It felt like I was breathing too hard, wheezing for air that felt so foreign to me. Reading brainwaves to figure out things like movement and basic terms.
I decided to calm down and slow down. I used my new extremities and flexed my fingers as they’re called. I used them to start feeling my corporal form. Harrison’s lower back arched into a muscular bubble of a butt. I used one hand to slowly caress each curve before squeezing the firm but malleable ass. My other hand roaming across Harrison’s inflated arms and chest. He spent time pushing and pulling plates of metal and cables to get all this as I scanned his brainwaves more.
I’m sure this looked erotic to human beings but I was truly using this moment to discover earthlings.
Tumblr media
I began to take off the coverings Harrison was wearing to see the anatomy it was hiding. So many curves and swerves I thought as I traced my host body with my hands. This body is feeling a nervous response called arousal I think.
Tumblr media
Something is growing down below on my front area. I place one hand under the blue restraining fabric.
Firm but not hard as metal, the appendage was warm and almost inviting me to grab ahold. I used my new hand and began examining but as I examined and moved it around it felt exciting to go back and forth with it in my muscular hand. I took my other hand and explored the hole I entered through. I slid one finger in before slipping another then another one in.
Unhh
A sound came out of my mouth that I did not intend for. Is this also another nervous response? I began to give into the automatic responses and sped up. My stroking because more rhythmic and hard as I slid my hand up the hole in my backside. And before I could examine the responses another one emerged. A moan and a secretion.
First one then another then the appendage kept spurting out pulse after pulse of white viscous liquids. I was out of breathe in my new lungs. But curiosity struck again as I approached the liquid on a nearby wall. I got close to investigate and touched the sticky goo.
Maybe it’s nutritious or maybe a safety response? Hmm the brainwaves for this haven’t hit me yet. Well instincts haven’t led me astray yet. I opened my new mouth and used my new tongue to lick the wall clean. I wonder if this is how all food is acquired. Hmm.
Tumblr media
367 notes · View notes
drabblesandimagines · 7 months ago
Text
Trunk
Leon Kennedy x female reader (BSAA) for this request Fluffy, bit of mild spice, bit of blood, mention of panic attack, swears
Tumblr media
It was meant to be straightforward surveillance ahead of the main op. Monitor the drop – the metal suitcase fitted with a tracking chip and three fake virus vials – note any observations about the pick-up, then inform the rest of the Wolf Hound Squad who would track the co-ordinates to find the terrorists’ base of operations.
You had pouted a little at being sidelined from the main action, but Chris needed someone stealthy to keep an eye over the drop and, with a squeeze to your shoulder, your track record meant you were the prime candidate.
You’d set yourself up in the eaves of the abandoned warehouse that served as the drop-off point, armed with a pair of binoculars, an ear piece and a couple of guns, as always, for if anything went south...
..which it did the moment you detected movement from the south-east corner. It took a few attempts to get them in focus, but your heart sank when you recognized the figure – one Leon S Kennedy of the DSO rolling between abandoned shipping containers, honing in on the one you’d placed the metal suitcase in a few hours previously.
What the hell is he doing here?
You press down on your earpiece and it beeps once, opening the line to transmit. “Alpha to Lupe. Got a problem. Over.”
Silence.
“Alpha to Lupe. Got a problem. Over.”
Nothing – again. Maybe your current position has poor signal, but there’s no time to troubleshoot when squealing tyres echo around the structure, alerting you to the two black cars swerving in and heading to the shipping container in question.
The cars stop, their engines remaining idle and five well-built and well-dressed men depart – three from one, two from another.
Through your binoculars, you see Leon head straight for them, gun raised.
Shit.
--
You are jolted back into consciousness when your crown smacks on something hard, before being ricocheted back down to your nose cracking against something firm, groaning as you come to.
“Finally awake, sleeping beauty?”
The voice is familiar and rumbles through your chest with the horrible realization that you’re lying on top of someone. You try and scoot back, whacking your head again and a sinking feeling as you feel plastic digging into your wrists, keeping them bound behind you.
It all comes flooding back.
Numerous gunshots go off as you slide down the ladder back to the ground floor, half expecting to find Leon bleeding out or even dead on the concrete. Instead, he’s being heaved up by his armpits, unconscious, and pushed into the trunk of one of the cars, half in, half out as one of the heavy-set men commences a search, confiscating a multitude of weapons with a scoff.
You can’t see any other bodies, which is strange. Is Kennedy getting slow in his old age?
At the other car, a man with a blonde pony-tail is bent down, talking through the window to someone you can’t see. “Go on ahead with the package.”
The driver seems to protest, but ponytail shakes his head.
“We’ll take the rat elsewhere, have some fun… We’ll join you back at base after. Go.” He thumps the top of the car with his fist to emphasize his point.
The idling car now hits the gas with gusto, the tyres burning against the concrete before it skids out of sight.
The heavy-set man seems to have concluded his search of the unconscious agent by then, finishing with what looks to be Leon’s phone. He considers it for a moment before he drops it to the floor and grinds it into the concrete with the heel of his shoe, the screen splintering and plastic cracking under his weight.
He then leans into the trunk before holding Leon’s arms behind his back and securing his wrists with what looks like a zip tie, before heaving up his legs and giving his ankles the same treatment.
You grit your teeth as you think – you don’t have much time. They’re not taking Leon to the HQ, so it’s not like you can catch up and let the rest of the squad know they’ve got a hostage.
The other car’s gone, one of the guys is distracted, if you just-
“Well, well…” There’s a gun pressed to the small of your back and your stomach sinks. You’d thought the two remaining were the ones you had in your eyesight, assuming three others had got back into the other car, but one seems to have been prowling. Fuck, you’re better than this usually. Are you and Kennedy both having an off day?
A thick forearm wraps around your throat in a headlock.
“Drop the gun.”
Before you can even think of how to get out of the hold, a knee is forced between your thighs, weakening your stance and preventing any sort of retaliation you might be able to achieve with your legs. The forearm tenses and cuts off all air, the order repeated and it is not until your grip on your gun goes limp, letting it drop to the floor that it relaxes, leaving you gasping for breath.
“We’ve already caught ourselves a rat this evening, suppose it makes sense we catch a mouse next.”
You try and throw your head back in desperation - if you break his nose he’ll definitely let go, but there’s not enough room and the arm around your throat squeezes again, but this time there is no relief, only a smug whisper in your ear.
“Sweet dreams, little mouse.”
 Everything went black.
You squint in the dark of what you assume is the car trunk – an eerie red glow emitting from the corners which you presume are the taillights – and your eyes slowly begin to adjust to find two icy blue ones staring up at you under familiar bangs. “Leon?” Your voice is a little hoarse, but it’s better than being dead.
“One and only. Gotta say, this is a surprise. Been a while.”
You try and roll off his chest entirely but it’s awkward and cramped. The trunk is not large enough to be accommodating two adults, let alone one as muscular as Leon. You manage to shift most of your weight off him, though your legs are somewhat still entangled, ankles crisscrossed together with the same zip tie treatment. You cough, trying to relieve the tightness in your throat. “What are you doing here? This is a BSAA op.”
“DSO had intel of a terrorist cell being supplied with virus samples.” He tries to shuffle back a little, take in your face after you lying atop of him unconscious for however long.
“It’s a fake – it’s our drop.”
“What?”
“I was doing surveillance to confirm they accepted the suitcase with the tracker – the rest of the pack is gonna intercept their base once co-ordinates are confirmed.”
You see him raise his eyebrow in the dim light. “Pack? Redfield still going by that wolf crap?”
 “Oh, because birds are so cool, right?” You retort, though you’re more annoyed at your situation than him.
“How’d they get you?”
“Does it matter?” You avoid the question, not wanting to tell him the real reason you’d got caught was because you’d been concerned seeing him being shoved into the trunk.
“We’ve gotta get out of these restraints. I can try and…” You trail off, your breath catching in your throat. You pull fruitlessly at the plastic holding your wrists, ignoring the sharp pain, and try and bring your knees up to your chest.
“Already tried, there’s not enough space.” Leon interjects. “Maybe if I was here solo…”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” you mean to sound sarcastic, but with how you’re breathing it sounds more like a genuine apology. “I just thought it looked so fun when I saw you being kidnapped so I had to join in, you know?”
You’re breathing too heavy now, but it’s not getting down into your lungs. You’re not sure if it’s because your windpipe was crushed earlier, or that you’re on your side in an awkward position, or the fact that you’re stuffed in the trunk of a car with potentially limited oxygen.
Fuck.
“Hey.” Leon’s voice sounds foggy.
You shuffle as best you can, hoping a change in position might open up your airways, but it feels like as if the trunk is closing in around you.
“Hey. You good?”
“I…”
“You need to breathe deeper than that, okay?”
Deep down, in your logical mind, you know you do, but in the panic it’s just not happening, and your breaths grow only shallower. Your throat is too tight, the zip tie around your wrist and ankles is too tight, the space in here is too tight. Leon tenses his forearms behind his back for the umpteenth time, willing the plastic to break as he sees you falling further and further into distress. His words aren't getting through and he can't really touch you either, can't grab your hand or your shoulder and try and ground you for a moment to catch your breath. “I’m so sorry.” Leon throws his head forward and kisses you – not square on the lips, more at the corner of your open mouth, messy and awkward - but it’s enough to knock you out of hyperventilating as your scalp tingles.
“Breathe.” He orders, pulling back.
“You just-”
“Breathe. There’s plenty of oxygen in here – it’s not airtight. Breathe.”
You close your eyes and mouth and take a deep inhale through your nose, spluttering a little as you try to hold it. It takes a few cycles, Leon keeping silent as you gather your bearings, but eventually it steadies.
“Sorry.” You mumble, embarrassed.
“I’m sorry – I shouldn’t have kissed you, I just couldn’t think of how else to divert your focus.”
“No, it’s okay. Definitely worked.”
There’s an awkward silence before Leon shuffles ever so slightly.
“Promise you won’t tell Redfield? I’d rather not have my neck snapped.”
“Why would he do that?”
“You... You two aren’t a thing?”
“No.” Your brow furrows. “He’s my captain. My life’s already complicated enough fighting bioweapons without throwing in dating my superior.”
“Oh. I thought…” He shrugs as best as he can before you can see the infamous cocky grin. “Well, how about you and I grab dinner after this?”
“If there is an after this.” You try and swallow down the anxious feeling that’s crawling up from your stomach once more. “Being moved to a second location against your will is nev- Ugh!”
The car drives over a pothole but, thankfully, your head doesn’t collide with the top of the trunk. Leon groans as the impact threw him over onto his front before he mutters under his breath and starts to grind his hips.
“Holy shit.”
“What?”
“I think they missed a weapon.”
“Really?” Your voice perks up. “What?”
“A knife.”
“How’d they miss a knife?”
“Is that a complaint?” Leon scoffs.
“No, just seems a bit amateur hour. Can you reach it?”
“Not a chance, but, er…”, he clears his throat, “you might. We’re gonna have to try and adjust positions first, I’ll need your back to my chest.”
“Okay. Erm…” You scooch yourself forward with your hip and heel of your boot - easier said than done as the trunk grows narrower the further you go down, your knees bunching up towards your chest. “Like that?”
“Gimme a sec.” He responds through gritted teeth, trying to roll over again. Whatever make car this is, it’s not American – the trunk space is abysmal. Eventually, he manages it, shuffling himself forward until your fingers are pressed up against what feels like his chest.
“Hey!” He snaps with a poorly concealed laugh as your fingers twitch against the fabric. “That tickles.”
“Sorry – reflex. Where is it?”
“Well, put simply, my crotch.”
You give yourself a moment to let the words sink in.
“You keep a knife in your crotch? How have you not cut off your-?”
“It’s more a scalpel than a knife,” he cuts you off. “And it’s hidden away in the lining – in-built sheath – near the fly. Think you can find it?”
You close your eyes tight, thinking it might help you focus. Your thumb brushes up against something firm and you feel Leon tense behind you.
“Is that…?”
 “My jockstrap, thank you.” He clears his throat again. “Higher than that and more to the left.”
You try to follow his instructions, but it’s impossible to go any higher, unable to bend your elbows. “I don’t think I can. Can you shuffle down any?”
“Er…” He tries, shifting down an inch or so, his knees pressing into the back of yours in a spoon, his breath tickling your ear as he settles back down. “There. Bit to the left again.”
You close your eyes again, feeling the zip with your thumb and head to the left until you feel what feels like a thin tube.
“That?”
“Yep. Now, just try and bring it up and out. The blade’s at the bottom.”
That’s easier said than done as you press your thumbs either side of it and feel it move ever so slightly up. It’s a slow and steady process, not helped with the fact of how sweaty your palms are now getting with Leon pressed right up against you. “I think it’s nearly there. If the blade’s at the bottom, can you shuffle back? I don’t wanna slice you open.”
“You got a good grip?”
You swear you can hear the grin in his voice with that one.
“As good as I ever will.”
He scoots back a little, not as far as possible, but enough room so you can pull the scalpel implement up and twirl it around carefully in your grip so you can start to saw against the zip-tie.
“Got it.”
“Does it feel like it’s working?”
“Yeah. Just kinda awkwa-" There’s a stinging pain in your palm as the knife slices through and you hiss.
“What?”
“Got my palm.”
“Bad?”
“Had worse.” You bite your lip at the pain then, eyes squeezed shut again, trying to visualize what might be going on behind your back. Your movements are miniscule, a concern that that if you went any faster you’d slip in your enthusiasm and stab Leon.
It feels like hours when you finally feel the tension give and your wrists are free of the horrid plastic.  
“Got it. Just…” Mindful of your bleeding palm, you roll over with your good hand and lean up, pushing Leon face down so you can set to work on his wrists. It only takes a few confident saws, despite how slick your palm is with blood, before the agent groans and pulls his arms in front of him.
You pull your knees up to your chest and quickly slice through the restraints around your ankles, before handing the scalpel to Leon to do the same. His fingers pinch your other wrist instead, bringing your bleeding palm up close to his face to analyze in the dim light.
“Shit, that’s deep.”
“It’s fine,” you try and shake off his hold, but his grip remains firm.
“That’ll be the blood loss talking. Hold on.” He pulls up his shirt with his free hand and rips at the hem with his teeth, tearing off a rough strip, before he begins to wrap it around your palm in an attempt to stem the bleeding.
“There.” He announces, tying it off with a tight knot. “Not ideal, but it’ll have to do for now.”
“Thanks.” You cradle it back against your stomach and hand him over the blade so he can finally cut through the zip-tie around his ankles. It seems just in time too, as the car begins to slow.
“How do you want to play this?”
“You sit tight, I deal with whoever opens the trunk… then we go for dinner.”
“You know I am not a sit tight kinda gal, right?”
“We’ve only got one knife.”
“One scalpel.” You correct.
“Exactly.” The car stops.
“Roll over, face the back.” He orders, taking control. “I’ll go the other way – they won’t be able to see our hands. When they lean in to haul me out…”
The dulled sound of the car doors opening leaves you with no choice but to turn away as instructed and your hand brushes up against Leon’s as you tuck them back behind your back. With the hand that’s not holding the scalpel, he grabs hold of your uninjured hand and squeezes your fingers in reassurance.
The trunk opens.
Leon is peering through his lashes, bangs over his eyes, as his captor comes into view, gun raised. He nudges Leon’s shoulder with the barrel, watching the agent’s head lull back before holstering his weapon and preparing to heave Leon out of the trunk.
And that’s when he takes his chance, scalpel in hand, straight into the jugular, his other hand nabbing the gun out of the holster as he twists himself up and out of the trunk before the man can hit the ground.
Before you can get up to join him, he slams the trunk back down. You curse, hearing back and forth gunshots before the trunk opens again a few minutes later, Leon stood there with an apologetic smile.
“Coast is clear. We’re down at the docks – I can’t believe I let myself get caught by these amateurs.”
“Well, I can’t believe you shut the trunk on me!” You shuffle forward using your good hand, relieved to be sitting upright at last, legs dangling out from the trunk.
“I’m sorry - I know most guys bring their dates flowers,” he pulls another confiscated gun out of his back pocket – must be his prize from the other guy – and offers it out to you, “but something tells me you’d accept this instead?”
You take it with a smirk and a retort too good to pass up on. “You’re really gunning for this dinner date, huh, Kennedy?”
He leans forward and pushes you back into the trunk with a kiss.
--
This is so, so silly but I had fun x
Masterlist . Requests welcome . Commissions/Ko-Fi
328 notes · View notes
sseastar · 11 months ago
Text
✶ small things ; wang yixiang.
info. nicholas x reader. fluff. can be established relationship or friends to lovers. description. nico and his habits towards you in your friendship / relationship. just nico being a cutie and a menace. a cute menace. warnings. play fighting. physical touch. listen to. love 119 by riize
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
accidentally tickling you + the need to keep doing it.
you know that clip of nico just touching the exposed skin through fuma’s ripped jeans? and fuma getting ticklish because of it and stopping nicholas’s hands, but nico’s hand keeps gravitating back to it? i feel like nico would do this with you. initially, it’s usually just him gently grazing the skin on your arm or neck or knees with his nails or fingertips. the moment you squirm away, something in nico’s brain tells him that he needs to keep touching that same spot unless you really tell him to stop (you usually don’t). he also squeezes your leg or thigh just to make you jump. and then commences the game of you trying to catch nico’s hands before they can touch you again but still playing along because of course you will. you always have.
playful attacks when you’re teasing him.
there’s a video of nico just like, fake tickle attacking gaku during one of the &audition episodes that i just saw recently and my first thought was just nicholas going for your waist whenever you tease him for something. you tease him a lot whenever you get the chance because he, of course, does the exact same to you. so it’s no surprise to you anymore when you just kind of quickly scoot away after teasing him because you know what’s coming, and sure enough, nico’s hands just shoot quickly towards your waist after you like, talk about an embarrassing moment he had.
it used to just be something he had to decide to do (he knew whatever you were saying was a joke so that was his choice to retaliate) but at some point it just became second nature for him to start wiggling his fingers towards your sides. is it because he’s just gotten used to it? or is it because his hands know his need to hear your laugh? you may never know. nico also finds joy when he just brings his hands relatively near you and your giggles just fall out of your laugh without him even touching you.
feeding you.
with nico looking as if he would be a tsundere, the way he holds out food to the members without looking is so characteristic of that. there’s a couple of clips of him feeding harua by just holding out ice cream or tanghulu to his mouth without even looking. something about that melts my heart because it’s like he wants people not to make a big deal but he’s just too caring for me to ignore.
nico does the same thing to you. just holding his drink up to your lips if he knows you like his drink better than your own. holding up food combinations he wants you to try (like when he fed harua the seaweed) and patiently waiting for your opinion. if you can’t decide which dish you want to order, he would order both and let you pick which one you would like better. and of course, cooking you sausage wherever and whenever you want.
poking your cheek + tapping your chin.
i’ve seen nico do this a lot to euijoo and taki (especially in the scent of you behind). it seems to be his way of teasing but with affection, because he had done it after reviewing their scenes in the mv. i think it’s his way of saying you did well, i’m proud of you, and i think you’re absolutely adorable, but i’m gonna do this little cat scratch thing because i’m too shy to actually tell you (so lino-coded i love this).
nico will just randomly tap underneath your chin or poke your cheek, usually when it comes to times when you’re being complimented or getting flustered. he thinks you’re adorable with the way you suddenly can’t make eye contact and can only let out a stuttering ‘thank you’ and so he just has the sudden urge to make it worse by doing the whole underside of the chin gentle tap with his fingertip or knuckle.
making random sounds to get your attention.
i’m sure we mostly all know about nico’s “ooh sexy joo” clip, and if you don’t, you’ll probably find out soon. but something tells me that the way he hypes up euijoo and the sounds he makes along with it translates to you as well. a lot of times, when he’s bored and you’re not paying attention to him he just starts making those ‘oooooo’ sounds that he was making during their photoshoot behind. it’s kind of difficult to ignore the fake ghost sounds your best friend is making but it’s come to the point that if he isn’t making these sounds when he wants your attention, then something’s wrong and he’s probably jealous of someone grabbing your attention instead of him.
it’s not rare for you to be trying to finish an assignment at your desk with nico just sprawled out on your bed, limbs hanging off the sides of your mattress. when he senses you’re almost done, nico starts to make these sounds or just starts to hum your favorite song unconsciously, reaching over to you to play with your free arm or your hair, hoping that it’ll help speed up your progress on your work. spoiler alert: it doesn’t, but you don’t have the heart to tell him otherwise.
his tired clinginess in the morning.
just blank nico in the morning. tired baby will just go up to wherever you are, cooking, getting ready, brushing your teeth, whatever. he would just go up to you and cling close as he’s waking up, not with arms around you or anything but just standing with his chest pressed to the back of one of your shoulders as he watches what you’re doing, eyes unfocused and head slightly dipped towards you - he might not be a morning person but being around you makes it better.
sometimes you get surprised despite getting used to this habit because one moment, you’re in the kitchen pouring milk into your cereal. when your turn back from the fridge after putting the carton away, nico’s just standing silently behind you, not reacting to the little laugh you let out at your surprise like he usually would (he loves your laugh). instead, you simply take a spoon and drop it into your bowl as nicholas just brings his body close to yours and lightly presses his chest against your back. he watches you eat over your shoulder, simply opening his mouth when you bring up the spoon to it, and nuzzles his head into your neck as he chews, basking in the little pats you give to the side of his head and face.
hiding his face from or behind you.
as intimidating as our lovely boy can look, nico is just a shy baby when it comes to being teased or excessively complimented. you love how he gets when this happens and so sometimes you purposely praise him over and over again just to get him flustered. at these times, nicholas just hides his face from you so that you can only see his eyes (like in the ‘our diary - acrobatic’ video when k said it was his turn to do the last challenge and he hid his face behind the mats). the giggle that leaves your mouth only causes his heart to stir even more, and he tries his best not to giggle back as much as he feels like he needs to. he has a dark image to protect lol.
if someone else makes him shy and you’re near him, he goes immediately to take your arm and hide his face behind it with the cute high pitched nico laugh we love. more often, nico just steps behind you and plants half his face on your shoulder, again only leaving his eyes to be shown. euijoo had once said that nicholas one of the most important people in his life so casually, and the next moment, nicholas had already left your side and had his face hidden behind your shoulder. so cute.
Tumblr media
⌕. author’s note ; did i disappear again? yes i did and i’m so sorry! i did have a lot of motivation to write over break but never had the time because of family plans, but! i am still working on current wips and starting to work on &team works! thank you for waiting!!
as always, please leave feedback and reblog with tags as it’s the most important thing when it comes to motivating writers on here! without feedback, i have less motivation to keep writing so pls pls pls do not just like and empty reblog! it gets very draining and unmotivating to see when that happens!
⌕. taglist ; @enhacolor @soobin-chois @koishua @chrysbibi
611 notes · View notes
bones4thecats · 11 months ago
Note
Dear Author-chan, can I request for ROR Hades, Poseidon, Thor and Heracles
It's how the husband fall in love and married to S/o who isekai in ROR. How it happen, is up to you author-chan
Type of Writing: Request Characters: Hades, Poseidon, Heracles, and Thor Name: {Character} During Ragnarok with their Isekai-ed! Reader Requester: Anonymous
A/N: I honestly loved writing this, just making the most fun dynamic and putting in an Isekai-ed! Reader with some of the most serious characters in the show was amazing! I hope you enjoy, lil bubble🫧!
✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅
Tumblr media
✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅
💀 When Hades first met you, you were being held by the rest of the Gods as a possible invader, since you appeared out of nowhere and they didn't know what your intentions were, especially when you said you knew where you were, despite being, well, alive-seeming
💀 Hades sat beside his brother, Poseidon, and looked down at you before smirking, thinking of how pathetic-minded his fellow Gods were, you were no threat to them, after all
💀 When the trial ended with you being let go, under the condition of being watched over by a God, Hades offered you to stay in one of his nearby guestrooms in his palace
💀 You knew what was going to happen to him in the future, and when you warned him about that when Ragnarok commenced, he urged Poseidon to not fight, to no avail
💀 Hades looked at you, and you knew that he wanted to fight to protect his brother's honor, but, he knew how much it would hurt you, despite being married for eons
💀 Watching you hold yourself back from warning him not to do anything, he shocked you by sitting down and not declaring himself the next fighter, instead, he commented how sad it was that his younger brother died without any real sendoff
💀 To which you and him stayed seated, and that night, you thanked him and hugged him super close
💀 While he was wondering how you could've possibly known what would happen in every round of Ragnarok, he just smirked, pushing the thought away for another time
✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅
Tumblr media
✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅
🔱 You and Poseidon did not start off on the best foot, since you just appeared out of nowhere and fell onto Adamas, prompting him to try attacking you, with you just running to hide behind Hades, who protected you from the oncoming attack
🔱 Poseidon would sit beside you as you both read, normally, it'd just be silent, but, on the rarest occasion, he would spark a small conversation, or just indulge your own, which started his long train-ride of pining for you
🔱 When Brunhilde declared Ragnarok, you had to hold your husband back from straight-up attacking her then, since she offended him by claiming they were all weak, they were Gods! The most perfect beings in the universe!
🔱 Your husband did not offer himself to be a fighter, rather, Zeus chose him to be one, because his attacks were so ruthless and cold-hearted, much like himself
🔱 You held his hand during the second round, that being Zeus vs. Adam, the father of the Cosmos against the Father of Humanity, it really was a fight for the ages
🔱 Much like with Hades, you warned Poseidon about what was going to happen if he were to fight. While normally, he would turn down your concerns and dismiss you by saying you were crazy to believe a human could kill him, a God, he listened to you
🔱 He saw how heartbroken you looked, and you did say Ragnarok would happen, and that Thor would win and wield Mjolnir without his gloves and that Adam would die standing, so, he couldn't help but look at you when Sasaki Kojiro, his opponent, stood before him with a determined look
🔱 But, forfeiting was not an option anymore, but, thankfully, Sasaki knocked him out and gave you a thumbs up. Thank goodness you spoke to him...
✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅
Tumblr media
✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅
💪 While training with Ares one day, he heard the sound of guards yelling while a scream pierced his and Ares' ears, causing them to pause and look as you ran towards them and away from the guards
💪 Ares ordered them to leave and return to their posts as Heracles spoke to you on how you got here, since you were a human and very much alive, and Valhalla was full of Gods, and the technical dead
💪 You and Heracles became very close friends after that experience, and eventually, after a long while, Heracles married you and began a life of things that most romance movies contain
💪 Zeus had chosen Heracles as a fighter in the fourth round of Ragnarok, but, as you knew what was to occur in the round, you opposed the decision when Heracles told you about it
💪 Heracles had immediately asked why you were opposing to his father's decision, to which you used his love for Humanity card, but he only used it against you with the solid question of how you knew he wanted Humanity alive and not dead like his fellow Gods
💪 Your husband knew you better than anyone, and he could detect when someone lies or was upset easily, so seeing your eyes swell over with hidden pain, he asked once again what was going on
" Heracles- please don't think of me as crazy for saying this. But, if you fight, you'll die. And I, I cannot strain the fact that I cannot afford to lose you... please, just please don't fight... "
💪 He looked down at you and smiled lightly, before asking the question you wanted to hear for years
" How about we head to Brunhilde and Göll? I'm sure Humanity needs their biggest supporters beside them. "
✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅
Tumblr media
✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋆⋄✧⋄⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅
🌩️ Thor was not amused when Loki flew into his home carrying you by the foot as you tried your best not to scream, he had threatened you that if you screamed, he'd break your leg, and let's be honest here, we want to not be able to walk for another reason
🌩️ He watched as you tried to free Loki's grip on your ankle and he just looked at you with a happy yet sadistic smile, making Thor's eyebrows furrow
🌩️ Eventually, he sent a bolt of lightning that went between Loki's hand and your ankle, making the God of Mischief drop you onto the ground as Thor grabbed you and carried you away
🌩️ It took a while, but Thor started to seek you out at your new home that was located just outside Asgard that he got for you as a place, since you said you didn't have a home, quite often
🌩️ Your friendship grew into romantic interest after a while, and he began to court you until he proposed a few months later in the same spot you both met
🌩️ While Ragnarok approach fast, Thor was training far more often, which caused your heart to ache a bit, knowing what was going to happen to the one he'd eventually find common ground with in the midst of battle
🌩️ Thor came inside the day before the first round of Ragnarok and sat down to eat diner with you, despite being a God which didn't need much food to survive, he found value and solace in eating a meal with you, it made your lives feel more domestic then ever
🌩️ He noticed how down you looked while one of the workers asked how you both thought Ragnarok would go, and he asked for a minute alone with you, which he got
" My S/O, why are you so down when Ragnarok is mentioned? " " It's just that- well... "
🌩️ After explaining everything to him, Thor was second-guessing what you were saying, but he took the words to heart, maybe the human was stronger than he thinks
🌩️ Nowadays, he and Lü Bu are practically best friends, while you are known as the reason the two strongest people in Valhalla are good friends
672 notes · View notes
kana-daydreams · 8 months ago
Text
𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 || 𝐆𝐨𝐣𝐨
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
summary: Satoru comes home to see you wearing his blindfold. genre: fluff cw: none? Just some affectionate smooching. wc: 1.8k
Tumblr media
With arms and legs sprawled out like a lifeless starfish across the plush cream carpet of Satoru’s bedroom, an audible sigh sounds past your lips at a pestering memory that has been swimming through your mind for the last couple of days.
“You guys have been dating for how long now?”
Outside at a frequented cafe front, shaded under its thick green awning from the heat of the summer sun, you peered across at Shoko who sat in the seat opposite your own with a cigarette tucked between her fingers. 
Both of you were on a short lunch break, relieving yourselves of the taxing demands of your jobs as Jujutsu High’s only two proficient healers. 
 “…a month.” Your answer came out in a  timid reply and sounded more like a question as you hid your embarrassed expression behind your extra large cup of iced coffee.
Shoko hummed and you watched as she took a long drag of her cigarette that burned away inches near the butt, a puff of smoke exhaling past her lips. 
“Known each other for five years—been dating for a month,” she muses. “And still, he hasn’t made a move?”
You winced at her words. “No. He hasn’t.” You averted your eyes, confirming the disappointing reality that you and your boyfriend, Satoru Gojo, were yet to explore any forms of romantic intimacy beyond that of  hugs and chaste kisses.
“You’re going over to his place this weekend, right?” 
You direct your attention back at Shoko. “Yeah…”
“Then shoot your shot.” Shoko stubbed out her cigarette in an ashtray in front of her.
Your brows wrinkled at her words. “Huh?”
“Make the first move.” She clarified and was not surprised when she watched you with tired eyes instantly blurted out the words “Impossible! Never! No!” in one breath, loud enough to garner the attention of the cafe’s other patrons around you.
The embarrassing moment as you recall it, makes your face warm, especially at your friend’s suggestion — ‘Make the first move.’
An action you didn’t think yourself capable of doing unless you were willing to die from a massive heart attack. 
But still.
You wanted to know what it would feel like to kiss your boyfriend. 
What it would feel like to have Satoru’s lips pressed against yours.
And what he would taste like.  
Sweet, maybe?
You trace the tip of a finger absentmindedly along your lower lip, and when you realise you’re acting like a perverted old man (well woman in your case), you release a frustrated kind of cry.
You pull yourself to sit up, shaking your head to stop yourself from thinking too much about your dilemma. And decide to distract yourself until Satoru gets back from the short-noticed mission he’d left your cuddle session to attend to.
Momentarily, your endeavour leads you to seek interest near a dresser tucked away near one corner of the room. 
The large mirror above it captures the reflection of a woman attired in an oversized Tee and pyjama pants donning a strip of black cloth tied loosely around the upper half of her face, while her swagger-like poses mirrors your own. 
Snap!
Snap!
Your phone snaps a few times and after a couple more snaps, you raise the blindfold you adorn a bit to look at your work. “I can’t wait to send these to Toru.” You scroll through the ton of pictures you’ve just taken, giggling at the reaction Satoru would pull when he sees them.
“Maybe I should do a video?” You muse before acting on the thought as you reattach your phone to the tripod on the dresser, tap the record button, and pull down your—Satoru’s blindfold.
You then arrange your body in a pose dripping with arrogance and confidence—and of course a lot of rizz. And commence your act when the timer runs down.
 “I. am. the strongest!” You attempt to say in a deep voice but fail.
You stop the video and clear your throat. You do a few voice checks then repeat the filming process. 
“Don’t worry baby boo, sugar lumps, my apple pie.” You give the camera a smug look , biting down seductively on your lips and say in a deep, gruff voice. “You know who I am?” You glance at the camera head-to-toe. “Well baby girl, I’m the strongest.” 
“Hey! I do not sound like that.”
You freeze, startled at the real masculine voice that suddenly comes from behind you. And you slowly pivot your body around, raising the right side of the blindfold an inch to see none other than a tall figure with snow-white hair and a black blindfold that matches your own, standing at the entrance of the room with furrowed brows and cheeks puffed from a playful pout.
“Toru, you’re home!” You can’t help but giggle at your boyfriend’s childish reaction before, pausing the video, crossing the room in a few strides and throwing your arms around him in a tight embrace.
Satoru wraps his arms around your smaller frame being careful not to ruin the pink sparkly gift bag you were yet to notice in his hand containing a gift he’d gotten you during his mission. He then leans down to your height, touching a soft kiss to your forehead. “I see my baby’s missed me.” He smiles.
“Of course I did.” Your words are muffled against his broad chest, a satisfied smile gracing your face from the gentle feel of his kiss. 
“Here. I’ve got you something.”
You unwillingly pull away from Satoru and fully tug  the blindfold down to see the gift bag he holds towards you.
You retrieve it from his hands, peering into it to see brown doe eyes staring back at you. 
“Toru, it’s so cute!” You squeal as you free the fluffy stuffed toy from its sparkly confines, cuddling it against your chest. “I love it!”
Satoru’s face beams at your response, the corners of his lips stretching into a somewhat bashful smile. “I’m so happy my baby likes it.” He says before his attention  shifts to his spare blindfold that hangs around your neck, remembering that a moment ago he’d walked in on you rizzing up his mirror. “So what’s with the blindfold?” 
“Oh, this?” Your fingers find themselves fiddling with the piece of said fabric. “I was just messing around.” You wave a hand dismissively at him, leaving his side to lay the toy against a plush pillow on the bed further across the room.
“You were that bored, huh?” Satoru chuckles as he trails behind you, before a teasing smirk winds its way onto his face. “How needy. I didn’t know my pretty girl would be so lonely without me. Maybe next time I’ll give you a body pillow with my face on it.”
Your face steams at his words, and you whirl around to meet his shadowed gaze. “I am not needy. I was simply bored, okay.” You cross your arms and jut out your lips—your plump and very, very kissable lips—Satoru thinks, finding it hard to peel his gaze off them. But reluctantly does when a thought clicks to mind. 
“I’m sorry babe. You’re not that needy.” Satoru apologises and gently takes one of your hands, raising it to his lips before pressing a tender kiss on the back of your palm. “By the way, I’ve got another surprise for you. Do…you want it?” 
“I won't be bribed, Toru.” 
“C’mon baby. I think you’ll really like it.” He releases your hand to clasp his together and says in a sing-song voice, “And besides,  I really, really would like to give it to you.”
“Is it food? Money?”
Satoru chuckles at your words. “You’ll see, but…” he drawls. “You’ve gotta put the blindfold back on.”
You arch a sceptical brow at that.“Why?”
You know Satoru. 
And you know he’s probably scheming something—you can see it in the way the corners of his mouth curve up into an I’m-up-to-something smile.
“‘Cause…” He drags. “It's a gift I can’t give you unless you put the blindfold back on.”
His words don't make much–any– sense to you, but eventually, you relent after losing  a minute–long staring competition between his translucent ocean-blue eyes and your own, persuaded by the pleading expression of your strikingly handsome and adorable Toru. 
You sigh in defeat when Satoru finishes securing his blindfold with a loose knot across your eyes.“Now what?”
Your question is answered by Satoru's large hands reeling you in by your hips with gentle care, drawing you close and into his firm body.
The feeling of his strong arms circling your waist follows, leaving you to settle the palms of your hands against his chest. And with the little space left between your bodies, the soothing scent of him and a hint of his masculine cologne wraps itself around you, cloaking your senses like a fuzzy blanket.
“Don’t tell me this is the surprise?”
“So what if it is. My hugs are the best.” He says rather smugly and you can’t help but chuckle lightly at that. 
“Yeah, they are.” You lean in closer to his soothing warmth.
A kiss to your forehead follows your boyfriend’s loving and comforting embrace, and a pleased hum leaves you at the affectionate gesture—you’ve always adored his forehead kisses.
Another kiss, equally as loving and tender is pressed to your blindfolded eyes, one at a time and your face scrunches slightly when he next, unexpectedly, plops a wet one to your nose. 
“Toru!” You giggle, giggling some more when he kisses your nose again before moving to pepper feather-light kisses to your cheeks. Though your jubilant laughter abruptly cuts short when his lips start to slowly trail soft kisses along your jawline. One of the many parts of your body that has never been touched by his lips.
Heat rises up your neck and settles at your cheeks when his kisses continue to trace along your sensitive skin, burning more furiously when you feel his warm breath caress the right corner of your mouth.
He gives it a peck which makes your heart stutter.
“T-Toru?”
“Hm?” Satoru hums in response, and you feel the sensation of it vibrate against your skin.
“Is…Is this the surprise?” You question a second time, your voice a bit shaky as you do.
 Satoru presses a kiss, this time to the left corner of your mouth. “Nope.”
“Then…what’s the sur—”
Your words are muffled when Satoru’s soft lips connect to yours. And your heart leaps, your face burning as both your lips meld together in a slow and tender kiss. A pleasant sensation for both you and Satoru short-lived when he pulls away, the deep blush that colours almost his entire face, obscured from your view by the black blindfold on your own.
His forehead presses gently against yours. “That is.” He says almost breathless, referring to your unfinished question, before capturing your lips in another and this time, much longer, deeper—and addictively sweeter kiss.
Tumblr media
© 2024 kana-daydreams
Tumblr media
270 notes · View notes
unloneliest · 1 year ago
Text
i was being very generous when i said month. i'm amending this to week
something very cool is going to happen in my brain with some of my as of yet not very explored OCs in the next month at the most. i think. i can feel them starting to rumble around in there
5 notes · View notes
nariism · 1 year ago
Text
my brother's best friend
pair. miya osamu x gn!reader
content: fluff, attempts at humour, miya atsumu is a little shit, first loves, mutual pining
synopsis. miya osamu takes pride in the fact that he’s the smarter of the twins. he, in fact, is not (especially when it comes to you).
wc. 3.1k
a/n: om nom nom nom nom brother's best friend trope nom nom nom... ok i have to come clean about this fic i literally wrote the first draft for this in 2021 on WATTPAD and it's been sitting dormant forever up until recently. enjoy 🫶
Tumblr media
‎oh my god, how did i end up here?
it’s the only thought repeating over and over again in osamu’s head as he sits there staring at you. you’re too preoccupied with the menu in your hands to notice his unwavering gaze, scanning through it and muttering to yourself indecisively about what to order.
of course, the question of how he ended up here on a date with you could be summarized in one simple sentence:
miya atsumu is the world’s biggest idiot.
if kita or aran were here they would surely be poking fun at him right now, lecturing him about how his dna is a perfect carbon copy of atsumu’s. and while they would be right, osamu is convinced his brother has at least 70% less brain cell capacity.
the thought makes him feel a little smug. (he’s in the class under atsumu.)
you were friends. at least as far as how often you saw each other, he considered you good friends. maybe. not that he knew all that much about you other than the fact that you were constantly... around. if he didn’t know that atsumu was the biggest knucklehead on planet earth, he would have assumed you were dating. but he knew his brother was too invested in volleyball to be seeing anyone seriously, and you didn’t didn’t seem like the type to mess around with guys like him anyways.
you were way too level-headed for that despite the raunchy, head-turning jokes you liked to tell, which honestly might be the reason why atsumu keeps you around.
whenever you came to their house, you would stick to lounging in atsumu’s room or the living room. you typically avoided disturbing osamu and the rest of their family — not like they minded having you around. no, in fact, their mother had a strange soft spot for you. you were quiet and well mannered, until it was just the three of you and suddenly an onslaught of fierce attacks on poor atsumu would commence.
for the majority of your friendship, you have stayed out of his way and he stays out of yours. you only talk to each other when deemed necessary, like when walking home from school or when you shyly greet him at the door because atsumu is on the toilet. he does, however, rejoice in the fact that there is another person on the atsumu hate train, and appreciates that you’re at least colourful with your insults. it’s impressive, really.
(he would never admit it. never. never ever. but it warms his heart a little that there’s someone out there just like him, expressing their love for miya atsumu in less conventional ways.)
you were quick witted and funny. a free source of entertainment when he would grow bored of his brother’s shenanigans. and it was a two way street, because when you needed a break from atsumu, osamu was always right there. 
you were noticeably gentler with the younger of the miya twins: asking him how school was, and if he needed help with his chemistry homework, and what he had for lunch. menial little things, but sometimes he found himself thinking that it was the highlight of his day.
otherwise, your presence in his life is, as osamu considers it, indifferent.
sure, he likes to look at you. and sometimes, maybe, he wishes you and atsumu would invite him around more often. it also doesn’t help his heart when you’re so nice to him, like when you’re all having dinner together and you pretend you don’t want the last dumpling on your plate and shovel it onto his. he likes that. or when you invite yourself into their freezer for ice cream, you always make sure to grab an extra one for him. there have been multiple occasions in which you’ve wordlessly slid him your notes to copy, too.
you were good at that; knowing what others wanted and being more selfless than the average person. you’re a people pleaser, and though he and atsumu used to make fun of your type when they were kids, your charm is undeniable.
unfortunately, actually making any sort of move on you is out of the question. not only would it potentially complicate things between you and him, it would also risk putting a strain on your friendship with atsumu. making his brother’s life a living hell is what miya osamu was born into this world to do, but for some reason his stomach turns at the thought of ruining your friendship.
you were just atsumu’s cute best friend. nothing less, nothing more. and he would very much like to beat the “i fell in love with my brother’s best friend” allegations, thank you.
he realizes he’s still looking at you intently with his arms crossed over his chest. he watches as your nose scrunches a little in thought, trying to decide between their two best sellers. he sighs in relief when you get up to order for yourself, tucking a stray hair under his cap before going back to sulking with his thoughts.
atsumu had a lot of bad ideas. so many that if they sat down and listed them all out they might be there for a couple days. but this? this is his worst one yet. and how osamu managed to get roped (bribed) into this, he will never know. but here he is, and here you are, and here atsumu is not.
he really should get better at saying no to atsumu.
(“c’mon, ‘samu! please? for me?!”
“what the hell? no. that’s a shitty thing to do. just tell them ya can’t go.”
“but it’s their birthday! they were lookin’ forward to this. they’ll hate me forever if i bailed!”
“and? why would i help you? ‘specially with somethin’ so stupid. it’s your fault you didn’t plan better.”
“don’t be like that, y’know it was a last minute thing!”
a beat of silence.
“pretty please? it’s their birthday… you guys are friends too, right?”
osamu can’t believe he’s entertaining this stupid idea for even a second. you’re not an idiot. you’d know it’s him with a single glance.
“this is an all time low, even for you. they’ll notice it’s me right away. are ya crazy, ‘tsumu? hit your head or somethin’?”
“it’s just this one time! i’ll never ask ya for anythin’ ever again. never ever ever ever, i swear it.”
“...’tsumu…”
“don’t sound so tired with me! do this for your big brother. have i mentioned it’s their birthday?”
big brother? osamu scoffs loudly.
“you actually mentioned it three times. and yer only a couple minutes older than me. but... fine.”
“don’t be such a jacka- wait, what?”
“i said fine. but you owe me lunch for the next two weeks.”
“deal!”
“... are ya sure they won’t know it’s me? i mean, i really think you should reconsider-”
“oh shut up, ‘samu, we’re identical!”
“just know that i won’t hesitate to throw ya under the bus if shit hits the fan.”)
what a terrible plan. pretending to be atsumu was proving to be harder than he initially anticipated. he would have thought that spending every agonizing, waking, living hour with his brother would have trained him well enough, but atsumu is so no-chill that it’s somehow making this already horrible idea even worse with every passing second.
surprisingly, you haven’t said anything. you haven’t acknowledged the massive elephant in the room. this could only mean one of three things:
1. you’ve noticed, but you’re desperately trying to spare atsumu’s feelings and osamu’s embarrassment by not bringing it up.
2. you’re dumber than he thought. dumber than a rock, actually, if you didn’t take one look at osamu and know it was him.
3. you are a cruel, wicked, evil, deranged human being who finds osamu’s situation entirely hilarious and wants this to go on for as long as possible.
judging by your casual banter, he’s willing to bet it’s either option one or two. you’re twirling a lanyard around your finger when you finally return with your drink of choice in tow. next destination: the local aquarium. atsumu put a surprising amount of effort into planning the day.
it’s a shame he hadn’t accounted for planning himself into it.
Tumblr media
‎he shouldn’t have agreed to come here.
spending time alone with you like this was bound to stir up feelings he’d long ago buried in the hollows of his heart. of the miya twins, osamu was always better at keeping his emotions under wraps. there were rare occasions in which he lost his cool, in which he was actually somehow worse than atsumu, but in general he was as level-headed as you were.
you’re ruining him and his plans to never acknowledge his feelings for you.
it’s unfair, really, how his heart seemingly gets lodged in his throat when you cling to his arm so tightly, laughing and pointing out all the funny-looking fish. and when you point at something called a vampire squid, raving about how long it took you to find one in animal crossing, he nearly crumbles to his knees and puts his head in his hands.
(in other words, he’s totally whipped. he’s not beating those allegations.)
osamu thought he could get used to looking at anyone’s face. he always found people boring — he grew up being the other half of his brother, after all. the miya twins are many things, but boring is not one of them, and to entertain them you have to be someone with a special brand of humour.
but now, as he looks at you with the soft blue glow from the tank shining against your face, he can’t help the thought that crosses his mind:
i could never get tired of this.
“... hailing from the depths of tropical and subtropical waters, the vampire squid feeds on marine snow.”
he blinks back into reality, eyes drifting from you to the sea creature you’re admiring, then back to you. “marine snow? sounds gross.”
“it’s the debris that falls to the lower levels of the ocean. lots of deep sea creatures feed that way since it saves them the energy of needing to go hunt.”
osamu seems skeptical. “they really just eat anythin’ like that?”
your head turns to look at him. there’s a little smile playing on your face, like you seem amused by what he just said. “sounds like someone i know.”
he makes a strange expression in response. were you talking about him? did you often bring him up when you were alone with atsumu? the soft and fond look in your eyes doesn’t help his racing heart. the idea that you and atsumu talk about him in private so sweetly makes his face burn slightly in embarrassment.
he shakes his head to get the thought out of his brain before stuffing his hands into his pockets.
your arm finds his again, locking together. it’s an oddly intimate action, even if you think he really is atsumu. he doesn’t know you to be the most touchy person on earth, though he supposes he can’t see what you’re like behind the closed doors of his brother’s bedroom. his blood boils for some reason.
you stop at the next tank, the one situated in the centre of the room filled high with kelp and schools of tiny fish. you’re looking at them with wide eyes, light shimmering in them. he could cry right now. you look like an angel bathed in the shadows of dancing fish as your gaze carefully follows a school circling around the top of the aquarium.
there’s a feeling swimming inside of him, unfamiliar and oh so dreadful. he can feel it in raging in every part of him — in his heart, in the fiery pits of his stomach, in his throat — and he knows exactly which word comes to mind.
miya osamu may be in the lowest class in his year, and he might share a single brain cell with his brother, but he’s read enough books to describe this feeling. he’s listened to enough love songs to know this ache in him.
if you asked him ten years from now, he’d tell you exactly the same thing as he would right now; that your first love is always petrifying.
“pretty, aren’t they?”
“yeah. real pretty.”
but he hasn’t looked at them even once. how could he when there’s a living, breathing angel standing next to him?
Tumblr media
‎osamu delivers you to your doorstep that night.
it feels like a dream, the whole day and having the privilege of holding your hand and feeling your body against his.
maybe it was just the greedy monster in him speaking. the laws of the universe dictate that if it’s you and osamu, atsumu needs to be there, too. the miya twins have always come in a package. a duo. there is no just atsumu or just osamu, at least there wasn’t until you came along.
suddenly it was you and atsumu. it was atsumu and osamu, and you. but there was never just you and osamu. it didn’t work that way.
well, screw the universe and its laws. osamu never believed in that astrology shit anyways.
he’s fully prepared to keep this day an untarnished memory — something to cherish when life goes back to normal and he’s unable to stand shoulder to shoulder like this with you again.
when you lean in to kiss him, there is only one thought repeating in his mind like a mantra:
it’s just once. just one day. one last perfect memory.
you’re so close that he can feel your breath filling his lungs. his heart hammers where it rests in his chest, so loud that he can hear it thundering in his ears. it’s then that he realizes this is wrong. all of it is wrong.
he recoils back with lightning speed, and his heart aches at the sight of your disappointed and puzzled expression. but it’s not fair to you, and it’s not fair to atsumu either.
he cares about both of you too much to be selfish right now.
how could he possibly risk hurting two of the people he cared most about in the world? he couldn’t be that self-centred, to be able to steal a kiss from you just to keep his memories of this day perfect.
perfect doesn’t exist if none of it is real.
“i’m not… i’m not who you think i am.”
he slides the hat off his head with shame burning in his cheeks, avoiding your eyes like a child who got caught with his hand in a cookie jar. it was time for him to be honest, both with you and himself.
“look, yer really cool. and i– crap, it’s complicated, ‘kay? i might like you. like– like you, like you. i wasn’t thinkin’ straight. 'm really sorry, i know it was wrong to string you along, i was just havin’ so much fun today that–”
his mouth suddenly comes to a halt as you reach forward and capture his cheeks between your fingers, squishing them together so he’ll stop rambling.
you look at him with a confused but amused smile. “um, ‘samu? i like you, too.”
“what?” he sputters out as much as he can with his face still held in place. his brows furrow, but all rational thoughts have stopped flowing in his mind. he’s staring at you like a flabbergasted idiot, so you continue.
“why else would i agree to go on a date with you on my birthday?”
“but– i– huh?”
your head tilts. “this was a date, wasn’t it?”
it dawns on him then. it had never occurred to osamu that there was another explanation for your strange lack of acknowledgment that he is painfully easy to see through:
4. you like him and simply thought this was a date. you like him as much as he likes you, which is a stupid amount. after all, he likes you enough to go through with an infinite number of atsumu’s terrible ideas just to make you happy.
of course you weren’t that dense. of course he was found out the second you laid eyes on him. of course he had misread the entire situation because he was blinded by his brother’s boisterous claims that they were indistinguishable.
“this is ridiculous. i can’t believe you–… atsumu somehow always pulls through even when he doesn’t mean to.”
“what do you mean?”
“whadd’ya mean, what do i mean?”
“about atsumu?”
“oh, he was freakin’ out about missin’ today and wanted me to go through this whole thing pretendin' i’m him so ya wouldn’t be mad at him.”
“but he already told me he couldn’t make it today? you really didn’t have to do… all this,” you gesture to his whole body with a flick of your wrist.
at your words osamu finally crumbles to his knees in pure agony. he looks up to the sky, to whatever god has forsaken him by making atsumu his other half, and sighs with the weight of the world on his shoulders. he can just imagine the shit-eating grin his brother has right now.
“i’m…” he pauses, carefully selecting his next words, “going to smother him with a pillow.”
you blink at him for a moment before all the pieces fall into place.
all the times you’d gushed to atsumu about your massive crush on his twin and the way he’d complain to no end about neither of you making a move, forcing him to watch on with mild disgust as his best friend and brother made goo goo eyes at each other. all the times he would “forget” his shoes at the gym and need to run back to grab them, pushing you into small talk with osamu. all the times he would suffer through your teasing just to see the two of you walking side-by-side sharing proud little smiles.
atsumu’s resume looks something like this: world’s biggest idiot, volleyball player, third-wheel, and tired wingman.
you’ll have to thank him later.
“no wonder you’ve been acting so weird all day! i thought you were just one of those guys who gets nervous on first dates!” accompanied by this statement is a laugh that makes osamu weak.
he grumbles. “what’s so funny?”
“say what you want, but you’re as dumb as ‘tsumu.”
“no… please… don’t compare me to that nitwit… i might have a heart attack at this rate.”
you snicker quietly as you help osamu back onto his feet, eyes shimmering with joy as you let his confession sink in.
“you’re right, he is an idiot.”
“dumbass.”
“moron.”
“he’s gonna hate us even more from now on,” osamu smiles uncontrollably, inching closer to you again.
“yeah?” your lips brush against his daringly, “i can live with that.”
Tumblr media
EXTRA:
Tumblr media
© ALABOADOA 2023 — please do not translate or post my works to other platforms.
🏷️ @hyomagiri (im dead like actually dead)
736 notes · View notes
willalove75 · 9 months ago
Text
Alcina's New Maid Pt. 24 Lady Dimitrescu x Reader
Summary: The interrogation of the prisoner begins and tensions rise as the truth unfolds.
Warnings: 18+ minors DNI.
Tags: Some canon violence, angst that melts into sweet fluff.
Notes: Part 24! I'm so sorry this look literally forever! I don't know why, but I had such a hard time getting through this chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! The next few chapters will be more light-hearted and fun and I'm excited to finally be able to get to them!
Click here for the rest of the series
Tumblr media
Gif source
Alcina runs her gloved fingers through your hair before she steps out of the shadows towards the prisoner, leaving you out of sight but within earshot. The girls had dragged him out of his cell and seated him in an old wooden chair.
Bela, Cassandra and Daniela are taunting the prisoner, unaware of their mother's presence. The moment sound of Alcina's heels hit the stone floor with a "CRACK" the girls immediately fall in line.
The prisoner looks up with a terror in his eyes that grows as he takes in the sight before him. The small space of the dungeon makes Alcina look even taller, more imposing, more terrifying. She confidently and unapologetically takes up the space she occupies which makes her all the more intimidating. Never in his short life has the prisoner felt smaller, weaker and as helpless as he does in this moment.
"Well, well. If it isn't our little hunter." Alcina says, her grin widening as she leans into the prisoners space. "Daughters, has he given you any useful information?"
"Not yet mother." Bela says.
"We were just about to start playing with him." Cassandra says with a sadistic smile.
"There will be plenty of time to play with him later girls. Until then, let the interrogation commence." She says as she stands to her full height and raises her arms, signaling for the girls to take over before stepping off to the side. Alcina takes a seat in a larger chair and crosses her legs. She pulls out a lighter and lights the cigarette sitting at the end of her quellazaire before taking a deep inhale. The smoke dances around her as she exhales, curling almost beautifully as it glides through the air.
"We're going to start off with an easy question." Bela says with a sickly sweet tone of voice. "What's your name, little one?"
The prisoner stares at Bela with a blank look on his face, too terrified to respond.
"It will do you well to participate." Alcina says. "I make no promises that my daughters won't do all that they can to extract an answer from you."
The casual tone of her voice is unsettling. Cassandra steps in front of him, gently dragging her sickle down the side of his face but doesn't break skin.
"Or you can keep that mouth of yours shut. I do love being able to dig the answers out of our prisoners."
She presses the sickle harder into his face and a trickle of blood begins to run down his dirty skin.
"Cassandra." Alcina warns.
Cassandra pulls away with a dissatisfied grunt and returns to her spot next to Daniela.
"Shall we try again?" Bela asks, spinning her sickle in her hand. "What's your name?"
"D-dorin."
"See how easy that was?" Bela says with a wide, bloody smile. "Now, how far away was the base from where mother found you?"
"Less than a quarter mile."
Bela walks over to one of the tables with a book sitting on it and writes something down.
"Wonderful. Did they attack mother as soon as they found her?"
"N-no." He says, his eyes shifting from Bela to Alcina. "They noticed her following two of the members and led her away from the base before attacking."
Bela writes in the book and turns to Cassandra, nodding for her to take over.
Cassandra circles Dorin for a few moments before stopping behind him and leaning into his ear.
"BOO!"
Dorin yelped, jumping in his seat as Cassandra laughed at him; Bela and Daniela joining in on the laughter. Alcina even chuckled as she took another drag from her cigarette.
She rounded the chair and leaned in, her face becoming uncomfortably close with his, enough so that he winced and pulled back a little.
"Tell me, what were you all planning?"
"Th-they want to attack the four lords."
"When?" Cassandra growled.
"I don't know, they didn't say-"
Cassandra presses her sickle against his neck.
"Do not lie to me."
"I'm not! I promise! I really don't know when, they never told me a date! I wasn't a high enough rank to know things like that. All I knew was that they wanted to attack all four of the lords at once, I swear!" He says as tears run down his cheeks.
Cassandra withdraws her sickle and circles the chair again.
"And just how many of there are you?"
"Well, there were maybe fifty of us, but at least half of them were killed."
"Fifty? That's all?"
"They were recruiting more."
"How many more?"
"Hundreds."
"How?"
"From nearby villages and other countries. Sixty of them were coming in next week."
Cassandra grills him for the next few minutes on exactly where the hunters were coming from, what weapons they were supposed to be bringing and an overall layout of the base. When she was finished she stood next to Bela and Daniela.
"Daniela, darling, do you have any questions for the prisoner?" Alcina asks.
Daniela walks up to him and circles him a few times. She brushes his messy hair out of his face and squishes his cheeks between her hands.
"No, he's cute though, mother!" She says with an excited smile.
Alcina raises an eyebrow towards her daughter and with a huff, Daniela walks away and stands next to her sisters. The sound of heels on the stone floor fill the dungeon once more as Alcina walks up towards the prisoner.
"Was that all of the information you know?" She asks.
Dorin swallows hard and nods his head.
"Yes."
Alcina growls and leans in towards him.
"It would be in your very best interest not to lie to me."
"I-I'm not. I swear! That's it!"
"I will give you one more chance. I know you are not telling me everything." Alcina hears his heartrate grow faster and faster, not only is he lying through his teeth, he's more terrified than he was before. "What more information are you keeping from me?"
In the shadows you can feel your heart beating out of your chest. "Just tell them you idiot!" You scream in your head.
"Nothing. I've told you everything I know."
In that moment you knew he sealed his fate, but a tiny bit of you held out hope that he's either just too stupid or too scared to say the rest. He's just a kid after all, isn't he?
"LIAR!" Alcina screams in his face, causing him to flinch. "If there is one thing in this world that I detest most, it is a liar. And I will make sure you spill every ounce of truth." She says as she elongates her claws.
"I swear! That's everything! Please!"
Alcina retracts her claws and stands back up. She puts out the cigarette at the end of her quellazaire and lays it down on the table.
"Would you like to know how I know you are not being truthful?" Dorin doesn't respond, he just stares at her. "Because a little fly told me you had a visitor yesterday, one you poured your pathetic little heart out to."
Alcina walks over towards you and places a hand on your shoulder, guiding you out from the shadows. If Dorin had any color left in his face, it would have drained right then and there.
"You- you told them?" He asks in disbelief.
"I told you to tell them everything!" You say, as you walk towards him.
"You promised-"
"Enough!" Alcina says. "I know you are leaving out a very important piece of information. She told me everything."
You see something inside Dorin snap.
"You fucking bitch!!" He screams.
He lunges forward at you and you notice the glint of something sharp in his hand. Alcina quickly grabs your arm and pulls you backwards with such force you nearly fall over. You can feel the rush of air pass by as the object in Dorin's hand just misses you as you're pulled away. Cassandra jumps forward and sinks her sickle into his shoulder and pulls him back down into his seat. Dorin cries out in pain and you hear the sound of something hitting the ground. Alcina catches you before you fall and in an instant she's on her knees in front of you patting you down, checking for injuries.
"Draga, draga mea are you alright? Are you hurt?" She asks as her eyes scan every inch of you.
"No, no I'm okay, I promise. He didn't get me." Looking over her shoulder, you see a jagged piece of scrap metal laying on the floor. He must have found it in his cell and kept it up his sleeve as a makeshift weapon.
Alcina exhales a breath of relief before fury takes over her eyes. Her head snaps in Dorin's direction, all of her rage pointed directly at him.
"How DARE you try and lay a hand on what is MINE."
A look of confusion crosses Dorin's face until he registers that Alcina now has a protective arm around you and the interaction the two of you just had.
"I knew I never should have trusted you!" He screams at you. "You lying fucking bitch! You tricked me!"
"No! I didn't! I promise I was trying to help you!" You say as Alcina's grip around you tightens ever so slightly when she hears your voice shake.
"You told them everything! About the base, the hunters, about their cold weakness!" The three girls freeze in place when they hear him say that, their eyes go wide as they look over at Alcina and you. Each girl had a different look in their eyes. Cassandra was absolutely furious, Bela was shocked and Daniela was fearful. All three of them shared a look of disappointment and maybe even a hint of betrayal when they realized you both kept this information from them. "I bet you even told them about my mother and sisters in the village you traitor!" Dorin screams.
Alcina's head slowly turns to look at you, her eyes wide. With her still kneeling next to you she's much closer. So much so that you can see the flecks of grey and a small ring of red around the iris of her eyes.
"His what?" She hisses.
As you look up into her eyes tears begin to roll down your cheek. Alcina's eyes are filled with rage and disbelief. Looking back towards Dorin his eyes are wide as saucers.
"I didn't tell them that." You say softly, defeated.
"Well girls, it seems a little trip down to the village is in order." Alcina says with such ice in her voice it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
"No!" Both you and Dorin cry out.
Alcina's gaze snaps down to you.
"Al-" Her gaze at you hardens. "M-my lady, please, please don't, they're innocent in all of this."
"They had nothing to do with this! It was all my dad and brothers and you already killed them!" He yells.
Alcina looks over to Dorin and stands back up. She runs her fingers through your hair as she steps away from you, a subtle hint of comfort as she walks closer to him.
"You see, all of this could have been avoided if only you were honest from the beginning. Your carelessness, your selfishness is going to be the cause of the rest of your family's demise."
"Please! I'm sorry! Please don't hurt them!" He cries as he tries to stand up but Cassandra sinks her sickle deeper into his clavicle, causing him to yelp in pain as she pulls him back down.
"I'm sure the women in your family will make a nice vintage for next season." She says all too casually before letting out a deep, dark chuckle.
"You're all fucking monsters! All of you! You're all going to burn in hell!"
The laugh Alcina lets out is chilling. She leans in towards Dorin and says with a sickly-sweet smile, "you're already here." Before standing up to her full height and laughing out loud once more.
"Daughters, I believe we've heard enough from our prisoner. You're free to do what you want with the man-thing." The smile on the girls' faces grow wide, sending shivers down your spine. Alcina turns and stares down at you. "And you, you are coming with me. You and I must have a conversation."
She begins to guide you away from Dorin and you hear him yell out "I hope she fucking kills you!"
You stop and turn back towards him, his eyes are filled with hate and they're directed right at you. Alcina places her hand on your shoulder and continues to guide you out of the dungeon.
The moment the door shuts you hear the girl's laughter and the sound of Dorin screaming in pain. The sound of a sickle slicing through him makes it to your ears and you freeze as your stomach twists violently. He starts to gurgle on his screams and you feel the blood drain from your face.
Alcina looks down at you and sees you frozen in horror. The tears flow down your cheeks faster and you begin to tremble as the girls' laughter gets louder and louder.
"Come, draga." She says, putting a hand on the back of your shoulder and begins to guide you away from the dungeon.
It felt like you and Alcina were walking for an eternity. The screams from behind the door seemed to follow you as far as possible. As the awful sounds ring in your ears the memory of Alcina's claws punching through Stefana's body resurface. At the time you were too dazed to register any noises but your mind put the sound you heard just after the door closed to that visual and you begin to tremble more. Alcina kept a firm hand against your back - it was the only thing keeping you grounded. Every so often her thumb would rub against your shirt, providing a silent comfort while the two of you made your way out of the basement.
It wasn't until you began to walk up the stairs did the horrible sounds finally begin to fade out completely. When the two of you emerged from the basement a few maids stopped and stared at your disheveled state. Mixed looks of fear, pity, and disgust crossed their faces for a brief moment before the low growl Alcina let out sent them scurrying from the room.
With a large hand still resting on your shoulder, Alcina led you up the stairs towards her chambers. As you walked through the halls you looked up to steal a glance of Alcina's face. Her chin was held high as usual but you noticed the slight furrow in her brows and that her jaw was clenched tight. She seemed focused on where the two of you were going but you could tell at the same time she was deep in thought. Quickly you averted your eyes before she caught you looking at her.
Upon reaching her chambers, Alcina led you into the room before shutting the door behind her and guided you towards the chaise lounge in the corner. Once you were settled she walked over to her vanity and opened one of the drawers, taking out a case of cigarettes and a lighter. Neither one of you have uttered a word since the dungeon and you weren't about to be the one to break the silence.
Luckily, you stopped trembling. Only your hands had a slight shake to them as you tried your hardest to forget about the noises and thoughts plaguing your mind.
Alcina took a deep drag of her cigarette, her shoulders dropping some of the stress sitting on them as she exhaled. After a few more silent drags she stubbed the cigarette out in the ashtray and made her way across the room, taking the spot next to you on the lounge.
There were a few tense moments where you weren't sure if you were going receive the brunt of Alcina's anger and frustrations or if she was going to be the soft, caring woman you've grown to love. It seemed that Alcina contemplated that thought herself before sighing and tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.
Hesitantly, you turned towards her and met her gaze. In her eyes you could see the frustration, but more than that, you saw the concern she had for you.
Alcina cupped your face and wiped away the tear streaks with her thumb.
"Are you alright?" She asks.
"Mhm." You say, nodding into her hand. "The noises brought me back to when I fell down the stairs and, I don't know I just-" you trail off as your anxiety begins to build again.
Alcina immediately picks up on it and wraps her arm around you, pulling you close. Her lips meet your temple and she places a light kiss against your hairline. Instead of pulling away, you feel Alcina lean her head against yours.
"Shh, it's alright draga. We don't need to revisit that day. It's over." You nod against her and she moves to rest her chin on top of your head. "I did instruct the girls to wait until we were much further away before they began... playing with our prisoner. However, I think hearing him discuss their cold weakness set them off. I was half expecting Cassandra to go after him right then and there."
"I'm surprised she didn't, she was so mad." Fresh tears begin to prick at your eyes. "They all looked so hurt that we didn't tell them. I hate that that's how they found out. I told him to tell you everything, I told him!"
Alcina pulls you into her lap as you start to cry again, gently shushing you.
"You did everything you could draga. There was nothing more you were able to do. You risked your life to help a stranger and he repaid you by lying and then trying to kill you. Everything that happened to him after that was deserved."
"Is it naïve of me to think he only reacted like that because he's a kid and that he was just terrified?"
Alcina exhales from above you before lifting her head and bringing a gloved finger underneath your chin. She lifts your gaze to meet hers and tilts her head, a knowing look in her eyes.
"Do you truly need me to answer that question?"
"No."
"Draga, he tried to kill you. If I didn't pull you back, if I took just a second longer to react he would have-" Alcina's grip on you tightens and she shakes her head. "I don't even want to think of what could have happened." She says softly.
"Thank you for saving me." You say, burying your face into the soft fabric of her dress.
"I will always protect you, iubirea mea. Always."
The two of you sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before feeling a shift in the air. Stealing another look up at Alcina you notice her staring off into the distance, a pensive look on her face. Her eyes drift down and lock onto yours for a moment before she looks ahead once more.
"Are you mad at me?" You ask.
Alcina lets out an almost exaggerated exhale and looks down at you. She steels her expression in a way that makes her completely unreadable and you feel your heart sink in your chest. Alcina leans down and places a kiss to the top of your head before shifting you off of her lap and onto the chaise lounge.
"No." She says as she stands up and makes her way over to her vanity. "But that does not mean that I am happy with you."
You drop your gaze down to your lap, nodding in understanding as you fiddle with your hands. Off to the side you hear the metal cigarette case snap shut and the sound of the lighter flicking a few times before it lights. The faint crackle of the end of her cigarette is the only sound that fills the room until she exhales a cloud of smoke into the air.
"You do understand why I am not happy with you at the moment, yes?" She asks as she turns towards you.
"Yes, I think so." Alcina tilts her head at you, silently telling you to continue. "Because I didn't tell you about his family in the village?"
"Yes. Precisely." She says before taking another drag. "What I cannot seem to wrap my mind around is the fact that we spoke just last night about being completely honest with one another. Again. And again, you were not honest with me. Can you tell me why that is? Because I am having quite a difficult time understanding why you lied to me, again."
Peeling your eyes away from hers, you look down at your hands in your lap while you squirm under her gaze.
"I - I didn't think it was important." You say quietly before looking up at her again.
You can see the anger that flashes in her eyes, it almost makes you wince but stop yourself from reacting.
"That is not for you to decide." The iciness of her voice sends a shiver down your spine that you try to suppress. "You do not get to deem whether or not the information my prisoner gives you is important. Unless you've forgotten your place? In case you have, let me remind you. Just because we are in a relationship in no way means that your word outweighs mine. This is still my castle, my domain. It is my word that is law here, not yours. If he told you as little as when he last sneezed, I expect you to relay that information to me because it is not your place to decide what is and what is not important. As deeply as I care for you, you are still my maiden. I am your countess, your mistress and you will obey the rules I have in place. Do I make myself clear?"
Part of you wished she would have just yelled at you because the steady, controlled tone of her voice was far more intimidating than when she yells. You know she's angry and you can see under her hardened exterior that deep down she's scared, but her words cut into you and make you feel incredibly small. All you can do in response is nod, not trusting your voice to crack or for the tears that were building to not fall.
"Speak." She commands.
"Yes ma'am. I understand." You say with a shaking voice.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"I - I'm sorry."
Looking down into your lap you see the tears fall onto your dress. Never before have you felt so small, so insignificant. Her words felt like a sharp slap across the face. Was that how she looks at you? As something that belongs to her? Will she ever consider you an equal? Were you just looking at your relationship through rose colored glasses this whole time?
"Is that all?" You ask. Alcina pauses mid-drag and looks over at you with an unsure look on her face but you don't look up at her. "I apologize for overstepping my lady. I will make sure it never happens again. If that's all, I would like to retire to my chambers now."
It took Alcina by surprise hearing you call her "my lady" and speaking to her like every other maid in the castle. Before she could register the words coming out of her mouth she heard herself say "y-yes, that's all."
She watched you in near disbelief as you walked out of her chambers with tears streaming down your cheeks and your eyes trained on the ground. Her eyes closed as you shut the door behind you and she felt tears roll down her cheeks, the gravity of her words finally settling in.
The harsh words she spoke were out of fear. Fear for her daughters, for you, for her staff. Who knows what the prisoners family knows or how involved they really were in the hunters group. For all she knew they were regrouping in the days the prisoner has been sitting in the dungeon, getting a head start on their plans. It hurt her finding out that even after the conversation you had last night that you didn't tell her everything he said. Of course it meant a great deal to her that you told her all of the most crucial details, but such a small detail such as his family in the village going under the radar could end up being a much bigger issue in the future.
But how could you possibly know that? Alcina crushed the cigarette in her hands as she put herself in your shoes. You have no experience with groups such as these, you have no idea the true danger that they could impose if not dealt with properly. In your mind, the women in the village were just innocent lives you were trying to spare - just as you were trying so hard to spare the life of the prisoner. Alcina curses herself for being so cold towards you, for making you feel like you were her property. Like you were so far below her. Meanwhile in reality, your thoughts and opinions meant so very much to her.
She snaps out of her thoughts when she hears you crying in your bedroom. Her heart breaks once more knowing how deeply she's hurt you. She debated for a moment whether or not she should go and comfort you or give you space; but last time she did that you barely left your room. For the first time in decades Alcina feels nervous, unsure of what to do. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she questions whether or not she'll be able to look herself in the eye if she left you in such a state again. Would she be able to forgive herself if she didn't go and try to right her wrong right this minute? Before she could even finish the thought she knows what her answer is.
Alcina removes her gloves, setting them down next to her hat and stands up, making her way out of her chambers and to your door. She debates on knocking but forgoes it and slowly opens your bedroom door. Seeing you curled up in your bed in tears breaks her heart and she makes her way to the edge of it before removing her heels and lays down behind you, wrapping herself around your tiny figure.
The sound of your door opening pulls you from your thoughts but the tears continue to fall. Soft clicks of Alcina's heels on the wood floor reach your ears before she stops at the edge of your bed. A few moments later the bed dips behind you and you feel her lay down, wrapping her arm around you and curling her knees up, cuddling you in her embrace.
Laying here in her arms feels like the complete opposite of the harsh words she spoke to you just a few minutes ago. The push and pull of emotion is almost too much to bear and you cry harder as she comforts you.
"What am I to you?" You ask through tears. "Am I just your property? Just something for you to control?"
"No." Alcina says with a heavy exhale. "You are everything to me my love."
"Then why? Why did you say those things? Will I ever be enough for you?" Alcina's grip around you tightens at your words.
"Oh, draga. You are, you are more than enough. I fear I will never be enough for you. I am so sorry for being so cold, so unloving towards you." She sniffles behind you and nuzzles into the back of your neck, inhaling your scent. "I was scared when I said those things."
There was a vulnerability to her voice that you're not sure you've ever heard before. It was like you could feel her walls crumbling as she laid behind you.
"What scared you?"
"All I could think of was that that man-things family has been continuing to plan their attack the days he was in the dungeon. That they are more involved than he said. That my girls could be in real danger. That you could be in real danger."
"But he said -"
"Darling," Alcina breathes. "One of my favorite things about you, one of the things I love most about you is that you always, always try to see the best in people. Even if it's just the smallest piece. For so many years I only ever looked at how awful, how horrible the world is. I forgot to look for the beauty, for the positive things even if they weren't the most obvious. My world has blossomed in front of me because you showed me that there is beauty everywhere, that there is always a bright side, even when it's dim."
Alcina nuzzles into the back of your neck, placing a kiss behind your ear before continuing.
"But my love, you cannot believe everything that you hear, even though you may desperately want to. I know he said they weren't involved but what if he lied? What if they were involved and play a vital hand in this attack they're planning? Maybe they weren't involved but now that half of their family has been slaughtered they decide to join in? I know you wanted to protect them, because in your world they are just innocent bystanders. That if they aren't involved then they're not a liability. When I said those things I did not take your perspective into consideration, and I am so sorry for that. But you have to know that in my world, in this world that you're in now, there are rarely such things as innocent bystanders. There are so many variables and even the smallest, most innocuous detail may seem irrelevant but could end up being a large threat to all of us.
I realize that there are so many things you don't know about what really goes on in our world and it was not fair of me to be angry with you for not knowing things you could never have possibly known. I promise that I will do better and that I will teach you more about this world we are in. But my love, I need you, from here on out, to be completely honest with me, especially about things like this. Our lives could very well depend on it."
She exhales and pulls you tighter against her chest, almost as if she's afraid that if she doesn't hold you close, you'll slip through her arms and never return.
"I may be your countess and mistress, but I am also your partner, your lover. Yes I have the final word but your thoughts and opinions hold more weight than you know. I love you so much draga mea, so, so much. And I am so sorry for hurting you again." She says as a few tears roll down her cheeks.
"I never thought of those things." You say quietly.
"I know, my love. I never should have expected you to know. After decades of dealing with these issues I forgot that not everyone that comes into this castle sees things the same way that we do."
"I'm sorry, Alcina."
Hearing her name fall from your lips brought a smile to Alcina's face. Part of her worried that her words set back so much of the progress the two of you had made. Hearing you call her "my lady" before terrified her, thinking that her harsh words broke the trust the two of you recently regain in one another.
"There is nothing for you to be sorry for, draga mea. It is I who should be apologizing to you. I am so sorry." Alcina kisses behind your ear and nuzzles into your hair again. "Will you ever be able to forgive me?" She asks quietly.
There's a hint of fear in her voice, fear that she's pushed you too far and that you won't be able to forgive her again.
Turning in her embrace, you look into her golden eyes. It surprised you to see that they were tinted red from her crying and to see the dried tears and mascara tracks down her cheeks. You wipe away the smeared makeup and place your hand on her cheek. Alcina covers your small hand with her much larger one and closes her eyes for a moment, feeling the warmth of your skin. When her eyes open again there's a hint of apprehension.
"I can't stay mad at you, even if I wanted to." You say, echoing her words from last night.
A beautiful smile crosses her face as her eyes fill with tears once more. She wraps her arms around you and pulls you into her before pressing her lips into yours and you happily kiss her back.
The two of you laid together for the rest of the day, cuddling and talking. Alcina kept her promise and talked about how even the smallest things could lead to potential disaster. She used Dorin's family as an example frequently, explaining how much of a threat they could truly possess to the castle. It surprised you just how important even the smallest details could be, especially after Alcina told you about the hunters that successfully breached the castle walls not long after she was infected with the cadou and what she had learned from each experience. The whole conversation was truly eye-opening and you understood why she was so scared when she found out about his family. By the time the conversation wrapped up you realized how truly dangerous they could be, although you still held so much guilt knowing nothing was going to stop Alcina and the girls from "taking care" of the problem.
The best thing to come out of that conversation, however, was the fact that you felt more like her equal, like the two of you were in it together rather than her ruling over you as if you were any other maid. When you expressed that thought to her, Alcina smiled and kissed you deeply, holding you close to her.
"I promise draga, one day you will be my equal. I look forward to the day you and I can rule over the castle together. It's going to take time, but I have no doubts in my mind that you are going to be more than capable of it and I know you are going to do a wonderful job."
She kissed you deeply once more, grazing her tongue across your bottom lip. You couldn't help but smile as her large tongue slipped between your lips as she poured all of the words she didn't know how to say into the kiss.
When you parted she rested her chin on your head and ran her long fingers through your hair.
"When are you going into the village?" You ask.
"Tomorrow night, most likely."
"What if there are children in the house? You won't, would you?" You ask, afraid of the answer she's going to give.
"If there are young children in the house, no. I won't bring harm to children if it can be avoided. Children are rarely a liability because they are so small and useless."
You let out a breath of relief. It would take a lot now to look at Alcina as a monster, but you would find it almost impossible to deal with knowing she would hurt an innocent child like that.
"What's going to happen to the rest of them?"
"Well it depends, if they put up a fight, which I expect them to, we will do what we have to to handle it. However, I try to keep the bloodshed to a minimum if possible so we can get a better harvest once we bring them back to the castle."
"Will you bring them back alive?"
"Perhaps, it depends on how it all happens."
"I know I'm in no position to ask for favors, but can you just try not to make them suffer?"
Alcina gives a lighthearted chuckle, shaking her head at how big and tender your heart still is.
"I promise I will do what I can to not make them suffer, draga mea. Alright?"
"Thank you." You say, cuddling into her.
"Of course, iubirea mea."
The two of you lay together, Alcina tracing the features of your face with a gentle touch, combing her fingers through your hair as the two of you sit in a comfortable silence. Just enjoying being together.
The dinner bell rings and Alcina lifts her head and looks towards the door and back to you. You look up at her golden eyes as they crinkle at the corners when she smiles down at you. Leaning down, Alcina places a kiss to your lips before you both start to get up. Alcina puts her heels back on and the two of you make your way downstairs.
The girls swarm into their seats as you walk into the dining room and you're more than a little relieved that they changed clothes and washed their faces before dinner.
"Good evening daughters. Did you enjoy the rest of your day?" Alcina asks as she takes her seat.
All three girls reply with a "yes" and start talking over each other, saying how much they enjoyed themselves. Your stomach churns when they start to talk about what they did to Dorin but Alcina cleared her throat and eyed the girls.
"Girls, I appreciate your excitement, and I am very glad that you all enjoyed yourselves, but can we please forego details?"
"Yes mother." They say in unison accompanied by apologies aimed at you.
"You know, the man-thing did say something interesting while we were tor- playing with him." Daniela says.
"And what was that draga?" Alcina says.
"He said something about how he's not going to see his youngest sister grow up and how her birthday was soon. But it got me thinking," she says, looking at you now. "when is your birthday?"
"Mine?" You ask.
"Yeah!" Daniela says.
"Uh, it's next month."
"REALLY?!" Daniela yells.
"Yeah, why? When are your birthdays?"
"We don't celebrate our birthdays." Bela says.
"Really?"
"Yeah, well none of us except for mother remember our lives before the cadou so we don't know when our birthdays are." Cassandra says.
"We have 'rebirthdays', the day that we were reborn, but we don't celebrate them." Bela says.
"Why not?"
"When you're immortal and don't age, birthdays kinda lose their excitement." Cassandra replies.
"That's fair I guess."
"But you're not immortal!" Daniela says.
"That is correct, I am not."
"So it would be so much fun to celebrate your birthday!!" Daniela says, looking over at her mother, buzzing with excitement. "Mother can we throw y/n a birthday party?! Pleaseeeee?!"
"Oh! Yes! We haven't had a proper party here in decades!" Bela says.
"That would be so much fun! Please mother?" Cassandra asks.
"I don't know girls, it's been a very long time since we've had a celebration." The girls respond with a disappointed whine and Alcina looks over at you. "It also depends on whether or not she wants us to throw her a birthday party."
"Can we?! Pleaseeeee?!" Daniela asks, giving you puppy dog eyes.
"I don't know guys," the girls groan. "I don't think I've had a birthday party since my parents were alive."
"Why not?" Bela asks.
"Because my aunt and uncle never threw me one, after a while my birthday became just another day I guess."
"That's bullshit." Cassandra grumbles and Alcina is quick to reprimand her. "Sorry, but it's true!"
"Pleaseeeee let us throw you a birthday party?! We promise it'll be the best most fun birthday party you'll ever have!" Daniela exclaims.
"I mean," you look over at Alcina who smiles back at you.
"If you are alright with the girls and I throwing you a party draga mea, I will allow it."
Looking back at the girls they look at you with excitement in their eyes. It melts your heart seeing them like this, you don't think you've ever seen them this excited before. They said they haven't thrown a party in decades and they seem so excited to have a reason to have one. Who are you to disappoint them?
"Sure, if you want to throw me a party you can. But you don't have to!"
"YEAH!!!" The girls cheer.
"Oh! Should we pick a theme?!" Daniela says.
"Themes are for children's parties!" Cassandra says.
"They are not!" Daniela argues.
"We can finally use the ballroom again!" Bela says.
"Fine if we can't do a theme can we at least do a color theme?!" Daniela asks.
"As long as it's not a stupid color like pink." Cassandra says.
"Why not?! Pink is SO pretty!"
"Pink is a terrible color theme for a party!"
"It is not!"
"Is too!"
"Oh! We also need a guest list!" Bela says. "Y/n, can you give us a list of your friends you want invited?"
"Oh, you're inviting people from the village?"
"Of course we are! It's a party!"
"Alright, alright. I didn't have a lot of friends so it'll be a small list anyway."
"The color should be black!" Cassandra says.
"Black is so dark and boring!" Daniela argues.
"Not if it's a black tie party, idiot!"
"I'm not an idiot!"
"Then stop acting like one!"
Before the argument between the girls can escalate any further, Alcina puts an end to it, telling the girls that they can all come up with ideas together, but since it is her castle, she will get the final say on everything.
"Oh here we go." Cassandra says.
"What?" You ask.
"Mother is going to take the whole thing over."
"I will not, I just want to make sure this party will reflect well on House Dimitrescu. It will be the first time in over fifty years that we will be having such an event and I will not allow it to reflect poorly on us." Alcina says.
"So she's going to take the whole thing over." Cassandra grumbles.
Alcina shoots her a look while she drinks her wine and the conversation surrounding the party continues as the girls throw out theme ideas, who will attend, what foods will be served and so-on.
Even though you haven't been a big fan of your birthday since your parents death, you have a feeling that this party is going to change that, at least for this year. Part of you hopes the girls will get it out of their system so you're not the center of attention every year for the rest of your life, especially in front of such a big crowd since the girls seem hellbent on inviting nearly everyone from the village.
As the whirlwind of the day winds down, you look forward to curling up with Alcina in bed and falling fast asleep. Much to your pleasant surprise when you walk into her chambers, Alcina is already in bed with a book in her hand. Quickly you get yourself ready for bed and climb in next to her. She puts her book down, turns off the light and pulls you into her.
"Goodnight draga mea. Te iubesc atat de mult." (I love you so much).
The purr from her chest quickly lulls you to sleep and you can barely mumble out "I love you too." before you're fast asleep in her arms.
243 notes · View notes
faebaex · 10 months ago
Text
Tangled in Wonderland - Cornered
author note: Hiii next chapter! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed the twist, it makes me so happy! This might not be the chapter you expected, as it focuses more on the aftermath, but rest assured more is to come! ʚ(。˃ ᵕ ˂ )ɞ Please make sure you read the warning underneath before proceeding to read this chapter. Thank you!!
characters: Rook Hunt x GN!Reader
Warning: This chapter deals heavily with mental health, with a description of a panic attack from the outset and descriptions of depression early on in the chapter. This chapter also mentions stalking. Please do not read if these topics make you feel uncomfortable in anyway.
Tumblr media
“… Vital signs… Erratic…”
“… scan of… quickly!”
“… Bioscan…”
You felt disorientated. A ringing in your ears, accompanied by different, distinctive sound, drowned out most of the sounds you could hear. It took you a moment to realise that the other distinctive sound was the thumping of your own heartbeat in your ears.
“… Complete… Pref… signs… attack…”
Your entire body felt rigid, as if encased in ice, yet your skin felt like it was on fire. There was a deep dread, which felt like it was simultaneously seeping out of your pores and clawing up your throat, threatening to close it in it’s merciless grasp. You couldn’t breathe. Were you going to die? Can’t breathe, can’t breathe, can’t—
“P-prefect!”
The feeling of hands on your shoulders suddenly brought your awareness back, and you realised that you were still in Idia’s dorm room. But something wasn’t right… What was happening…? What is that noise…?
“Prefect, I need you to breath.” Idia told you, his voice not stuttering despite the frantic look on his face.
What is he talking about? Is that sound… You?
It took your brain a moment to process that you were hyperventilating, your breathing coming out in short, terrified gasps. You were shaking violently, and it felt like Idia’s hands on your shoulders were the only thing keeping you grounded.
“I-I can’t!” You managed to wheeze out, your voice high-pitched and laced with distress. Your eyes darted around the room wildly, as if you were looking for somewhere to go but finding no way out.
“Yes you can,” Idia instructed firmly, “focus on me, and I’ll help you.”
Your eyes snapped onto Idia’s golden ones, and you held onto his gaze like it was your only lifeline, because in that moment, it felt like it was. Slowly, he coached you through how to breath, counting steadily up to five when you breathed in, and down from five as you breathed out, his hands on your shoulders the entire time.
“Commencing bioscan of target…”
You closed your eyes, blocking out Ortho as you focused solely on your breathing. Breathe in for five, breathe out for five, breathe in for five… Breathe out for five…
“… Panic symptoms receding… Heart rate slowly lowering back to base line…”
It felt excruciating, but eventually the ringing in your ears faded away and the thumping of your heart grew steadier. The dread was still there, curled deep in your stomach like a heavy weight, but the fear was no longer clawing at your insides, constricting your throat like a noose. You kept your eyes closed as you continued breathing deeply, until you felt a squeeze on your shoulders. It was light, almost feeling shy, but it was definitely there.
“… A-are you okay?”
Your eyes snapped open, and you finally took in your surroundings properly.
You were still in Idia’s dorm room, sitting on his bed, but now Idia was awkwardly crouched in front of you, his hands on your shoulders, and Ortho was floating beside you. They both looked very concerned, but Idia seemed to notice that they were crowding you a little and let go of your shoulders, sheepishly taking a step back and slowly sitting back in his desk chair. Ortho remained at your side however, head tilted as he studied you.
“… Prefect?” Ortho verbally nudged, and you swallowed. You were frightened to speak. Frightened that your voice would crack and betray your inner turmoil.
“I-i…” You began, and your voice got stuck in your throat. Ortho zoomed to the side, rummaging through one of the boxes you had brought back to the dorm together earlier and returned to you, coaxing a bottle of sports drink into your hand.
“Sip this, you need the electrolytes.” Ortho advised, and your shaky hands struggled with the sealed cap before Ortho pinged it off with one well timed flick. You’d have been amused in a different situation. You slowly sipped at the sports drink, absently noting its berry flavour, as you tried your hardest not to think. You really didn’t want to think right now. Not about that.
“I-I have to go…” You stuttered out. You prayed that your legs would be able to hold your weight as you attempted to stand, and thankfully they were, despite how badly you were shaking.
“Prefect, wait—” Ortho began, but you didn’t listen, heading straight for Idia’s door.
“Let them go, Ortho.” Idia said quietly, slumping down in his chair as he watched you leave.
Your shoulders were hunched and you kept your head low as you walked back to Ramshackle, internally begging whatever cruel fate was out there not to allow you to run into anyone. Thankfully, you didn’t, and you have never been more grateful that Ramshackle was fairly close to the Hall of Mirrors than you were today.
In another positive turn of fate, Ramshackle was empty when you arrived. That must mean you had been in Ignihyde all morning, and the NRC Tribe had already left for their afternoon training in the Pomefiore ballroom. You headed straight for your room, securing the door closed and drawing your curtains, descending your bedroom into darkness. You didn’t even bother changing out of your clothes, immediately seeking refuge in your bed, curled up in the foetal position with your head under the covers. You didn’t want to know. You didn’t want to think. You just wanted the darkness to swallow you up.
You stayed like that for three days.
The first day was a Sunday, so whilst your absence was seen as laziness by your more judgmental peers, it drew no particular concern. But the second day was a Monday – a school day. Grim had tried to drag you out of bed, coaxing and complaining that if you didn’t get up now, you’d both be late. But you didn’t move, and slowly it started to dawn on Grim that something wasn’t right with you. Eventually, and rather reluctantly, he left for school, casting a worried glance at you before he closed the door.
When he returned at lunchtime, he noticed that you had barely moved, and his worry swelled. He had brought you a sandwich he had snagged from the cafeteria, placing it on your pillow as if that would somehow coax you to eat it. He joked that you had to eat, because he needed his henchhuman on top form to be able to carry out all his deeds for him. When you didn’t crack a smile and just stared blankly at him – through him – his fur puffed up, stricken with concern over your state. He spent the rest of his lunchbreak running around Ramshackle, gathering things that he thought could help. He placed a glass of water on your bedside table, and tugged another blanket out of your wardrobe and laid it haphazardly over your curled up form. He even swiped a diffuser from who knows where and placed it on the fireplace by the mirror, the scent of lavender slowly filling the bedroom.
Grim soon had to leave again to return to the main building for afternoon classes, and you were once again left alone. Your eyes were tired but whenever you slept, you kept seeing that picture. Like it had been seared onto the inside of your eyelids and burnt into your brain. You didn’t want to see it. You didn’t want to think about it. So you stayed awake, huddled up in bed and away from the world.
Grim returned immediately after classes ended, his face showing how anxious he was as he opened your bedroom door and hopped on your bed to check on you. He noticed that the sandwich he brought you at lunch was untouched and, in a fit of desperation, he disappeared downstairs only to return with a can of his premium tuna. He placed in by the sandwich and tried to talk to you, only to receive no response again. Ultimately, he gave up, but instead of leaving he dove under the covers and curled up by your side, not moving for the remainder of the evening and night.
The third day mimicked the second, with Grim bringing you another sandwich from the school cafeteria in hopes that it would entice your appetite. He was glum when he left, feeling like he was getting nowhere. But it was that afternoon when he returned from classes that he finally snapped, the anxiety too much to bear. He dove under the covers once again but this time he pressed his face close to yours, his big blue eyes looking straight into yours. You could see the worry and concern swirling in them, a faint glimmer of tears starting to threaten the surface.
“Henchhuman, you gotta eat!” Grim implored, the desperation clear in his voice, “you haven’t moved in days. Should we go to the infirmary? … Tell me what to do!” He begged, wanting nothing more than some guidance on how to deal with this situation, guidance on how he could help you. His desperation only grew as you said nothing.
“Is the food not good enough? Tell me what you want, I’ll get you anything! I’ll even work a shift at the Mostro Lounge to get you the good stuff! J-just tell me what I can do!” It was the sound of Grim’s voice cracking that broke through your somber reverie, like a chisel through ice. Your limbs still felt heavy and your mind clouded by fog, but something inside you had changed. You had been blind to how your behaviour had been affecting Grim, and now guilt started to well up in your heart. You blinked, and slowly you shifted in the bed. Your body felt stiff, your muscles tensing and screaming out at the slightest motion but you persisted until you were leaned against the headboard. With shaky hands from malnutrition, you managed to unwrap the packaging of one of the sandwiches that Grim had brought you, taking a small bite out of one before recoiling and immediately reaching for the glass of water on your bedside instead and quickly sipping some. Your mouth was so dry that it made the sandwich taste like cardboard, and the water turning the sandwich to mush wasn’t exactly any more pleasant but at least you weren’t at risk of choking.
Grim had crawled out from under the covers, watching you with hesitant eyes. You tried to give him a small smile to reassure him but with your lips so dry, it only caused the skin there to crack painfully, so you stopped. “I’m sorry Grim…” You managed to murmur, your voice hoarse, “I’ll come with you to class tomorrow, I promise…”
Grim stared at you for a long moment, worry still shining in his eyes before he shook out his fur and clambered onto your lap, pushing the hand the held the glass of water softly, urging you to drink again. “Y-you better, henchhuman! Crewel has really been on my case, y’know! He said we’d have to do double homework to make up for it if you missed any more classes!” Grim nagged, and it was clear he was trying to encourage you in his own little way, refusing to mention how he had been watching you lifeless in bed for the last few days.
You ate the sandwich in silence, having to force the last quarter down but doing so because you knew your stomach needed the food. The whole time you stroked Grim’s head with your free hand as he laid in your lap. Usually he’d make a fuss if you treated him like this, but today he sat quietly, letting you brush your fingers through his fur.
You took one last sip of water and slowly lowered yourself back down into the bed, forcing yourself to resist curling up in foetal position and give your limbs some much needed stretch. You promised Grim again that you’d definitely go to class with him tomorrow and you closed your eyes, cuddling him into your side.
The next morning was hell. You woke up earlier than you’d usually do, knowing that you’d need the extra time to prepare physically and emotionally to leave your bedroom. You left Grim snoring away in bed as you walked into your bathroom, grimacing as you caught sight of yourself in the mirror. The circles under your eyes were awful, and you didn’t want to imagine the snark that Vil would have in store for you if he caught sight of them. This was going to take a lot of work. You stared at your reflection in the mirror, your dull eyes staring back at you. Mentally, you tried to give yourself a pep talk. There was no point getting so distressed over what you had discovered at Ignihyde, you told yourself. You had no leads at the moment, so any lead was a good lead, right…? You felt despair start to curl in your heart when you thought that home might not be what you think it is. Desperately, you reached up and pinched your cheek hard to snap yourself out of those thoughts. Ow.
Thankfully you were up early enough that the hot water hadn’t been used up yet by the rest of your little house guests, so you could at least enjoy a hot shower. By the time you had finally made yourself look presentable enough, it was almost time to leave, so you had to make use of one of the sandwiches that Grim had brought you for you, splitting half with him. Throwing on a face mask for good measure, you turned to pick up your phone from your bedside table and froze. Your hand hung in the air for a moment but then you let it drop, staring at your phone conflicted. Eventually, you picked up Grim and finally left your bedroom.
You walked to classes with Ace and Deuce, who both shared concern over your sudden illness. It seemed that Grim had told people that you weren’t feeling well, and Ace and Deuce hadn’t been able to check on you because Vil was concerned you could be contagious. He wasn’t letting anything ruin their chances at the SDC, especially not the common cold. You assured them both that you were fine and instead asked them about their competition training, successfully filling up the conversation until you reached classes.
The day of classes was dull, and you understood almost none of it considering the past few days that you had missed. Thankfully, you didn’t catch an earful from Crewel. He had taken one look at you before ominously tapping his pointer to his gloved palm a few times before warning you to make sure you caught up on the subjects you had missed. Despite how boring your classes were today, you wished they wouldn’t come to an end. Because you knew when they came to an end, you’d have no choice but to confront the inevitable.
But sooner than you would have liked, you were exiting your final class of the day and splitting off from Ace and Deuce as they went to continue their training at the Pomefiore ballroom, and Grim mumbled an excuse and took off without telling you where he was going. That was never good, but considering Grim had sat painstakingly by your side for the last few days, you could turn a blind eye to any of his troublesome activities for a while.
Muscle memory took you to the library, but as you sat yourself at your usual desk, you found yourself just staring into space. You hadn’t even opened any of the books on your pile. With a deep sigh you pushed yourself away from the desk and took your leave. You knew you had to confront what had been plaguing you these last few days, and even as bile rose up in your throat just at the thought, you needed to rip off the band aid and be done with it.
You had just made it out of the school building and were starting the long walk back to Ramshackle when a voice called out behind you. It wasn’t a voice you wanted to hear, your shoulders tensing just at the sound of it.
“Prefect, bonjour!”
Of all times, now was not when you wanted to have to deal with Rook Hunt.
You sighed as you turned your head, seeing Rook waving at you grandly as he approached you. “Are you walking back to Ramshackle? Then I shall accompany you! I foolishly left my stretching bands, and Vil will be very displeased if I turned up to practice without them.”
“We can’t have a displeased Vil…” You muttered dryly, and Rook nodded in agreement with his usual eccentric smile. “I do hate disappointing beautiful Vil, so let us walk together.”
You knew better than to walk in silence with Rook, even if that is what you would have actually preferred, so you initiated some small talk about how the preparation for the SDC was going. As usual, Rook was eager to sing the praises of the NRC Tribe’s members; he spoke of how much Ace and Deuce had improved with their footwork in leaps and bounds, and how Epel was blossoming into his beauty. How Kalim’s smile shone through even the darkest of practices, and how Jamil was starting to break out of his shell and fill the stage with his presence. And of course, he sang about Vil’s leadership and tenacity to shape even the roughest of stones into beautiful gems.
“Ah, but I digress! I would love to hear about you, prefect! Where have you been these last three days?” Rook inquired, his unreadable eyes fixed on you. His gushing about the NRC Tribe had only taken you halfway to Ramshackle, and there was no point trying to outrun a hunter. That would probably just excite him.
“Oh, I wasn’t feeling too well so I took a couple of days to rest in bed.” You responded. It wasn’t necessarily a lie, but Rook’s eyes narrowed on you all the same before a small smile played on his lips.
“Really? Because I associate the behaviour you are displaying more with fear than fatigue from illness.” He said nonchalantly and you whipped your head around to stare at him before you could stop yourself. He had that infuriating little smirk on his lips as he watched you, studied you, taking in every little detail of your reactions.
“I thought the beastman students were more your vibe.” You snarked at him, not bothering to hide the hostility in your tone, he’d detect it either way. Rook only shook his head, maintaining his smug smile.
“Non, non, non, sweet Trickster! I observe those who interest me, and you are very interesting.” He informed you, taking a step closer to you which made you immediately sidestep away with a frown. Rook didn’t look offended or perturbed, he simply kept speaking. “Your heart rate is higher than usual, your pupils are dilated and your hands are shaking. Your complexion is paler than the norm, and you are wearing concealer to hide some rather unsightly dark circles beneath your eyes.”
Rook watched you as he delivered his analysis but you said nothing, keeping your eyes away from him and staring at the floor instead. Rook was silent for a moment before he delivered his final judgment.
“Those aren’t the symptoms of someone suffering from fatigue, sweet Trickster. Non, those are the symptom of someone who is very scared. What happened to you when you went into Ignihyde?”
You grit your teeth, feeling an odd sense of outrage fill you. It shouldn’t be surprising to you that Rook knew you went to Ignihyde that day, he stalks everyone that he finds interesting, and he already let you know he finds you very intriguing. But no matter how you tried to rationalise it, the knowledge that he had been stalking you had you brimming with resentment.
“If I complained to our beautiful Vil that you have been stalking me, you could lose your position as Pomefiore’s vice housewarden.” You stated cooly, “I might be magicless, but I am the Prefect of Ramshackle Dorm. An allegation from me would have to be taken seriously.” You hid none of the animosity from your expression as you turned your head to glare at him.
… But his expression surprised you. He had his hands raised in surrender at your threat, but instead of the smug smile he usually wore on his face when he was goading his prey, he looked concerned. Like he was worried about you.
“Forgive me, sweetest Trickster. Usually, I abide by Roi du Poison’s words not to interfere with other dorms’ affairs, but after seeing you look akin to a terrified lamb marked for slaughter, I felt so uneasy that I couldn’t help but check in with you.” Rook told you gently, and you pursed your lips. You didn’t know whether to feel annoyed or thankful for his concern, to be honest. Would he even be concerned over you if you weren’t an interesting little prey for him to toy with?
“You went back to Ignihyde with Monsieur Doll after running into him at the Mystery Shop, even assisting him with his shopping. A kind act from our sweet Trickster. But then you took to your room for days and began behaving like a frightened dove upon contact. Monsieur Doll doesn’t seem like the type to behave untowardly…” Rook continued, watching your expression for even the smallest micro-expressions, no doubt.
You could finally see Ramshackle coming into sight and you had to stop yourself breathing a sigh of relief. Rook wouldn’t be able to bother you for much longer whether he liked it or not – he’d need to get to the Pomefiore ballroom before Vil noticed he had been absent for too long. But considering he knew that you had gone to Ignihyde, you didn’t want him to start snooping around there to see what had happened. What if he found out? Found out that you’re…
Your tone was sharp as you addressed Rook.
“It’s none of your business why I went to Ignihyde. And for the record, Ortho was a very gracious host. You’re doing him a disservice by assuming any different. The fact of the matter is that I got sick. I got sick in a place where I have no family or connections, where I have nothing, so sue me if I got a little shaken up about the experience. Again, not that it is any of your business.”
It was a weak excuse, one that you had thought up on the fly and you were certain that Rook wouldn’t believe it at all. But that didn’t matter. All that mattered what making sure that he didn’t go meddling around Ignihyde and finding out anything. Ortho might be able to hold his own, but you weren’t sure how well Idia would fare against the enigmatic Rook.
You were a little worried that he wouldn’t let it go, but Rook simply nodded. The unreadable glint in his eye was back, so you had no idea what he was thinking. You could only hope that it was something about leaving you alone.
You walked the rest of the short distance to Ramshackle in tense silence, but the ever-eccentric Rook still opened the Ramshackle main door for you with a dramatic flourish, as if he wasn’t affected by the tense atmosphere at all. Of course he wasn’t. Being the root cause of many tense situations must give you some resistance.
You were given no reprieve from Rook yet, considering you both walked up Ramshackle’s staircase for different reasons. You to hole yourself up in your bedroom, and him to collect his forgotten stretching equipment. Now you were wondering if it was even truly forgotten, or if this was just a convenient excuse for him to ambush you. This school was truly turning you into a cynic.
“Trickster, if I may…” Rook began as you began to part at the top of the stairs, ready to turn in different directions for your respective rooms. You stopped reluctantly, but only half turned toward him, showing that you very much considered your previous conversation over.
“This may seem a little ingenuine now, but should you ever feel yourself floating adrift without aid, I will happily be your paddle. You need only let me know.” Rook imparted, and his tone seemed pure, despite how flowery he had come across.
The promise didn’t fill you with any warmth or security, nor did it make you feel bad for the animosity you had shown him, but it did soothe the burn you were feeling from having your privacy invaded somewhat. You didn’t smile, but simply nodded at him. “I’ll keep that in mind.” You responded diplomatically.
Rook’s cheerful smile was back on his face, as if your hostile conversation had never occurred. “Now I must hurry back to my tribe! To think such beautiful moments are happening without me catching sight! A tragedy! Adieu, sweet Trickster, until we meet again!”
You rolled your eyes as you turned away and continued back to your own room. Hopefully that meant that you were free from Rook’s sights for a while. You knew you’d need to be extra careful going forward, as its not like you can tell when Rook is watching you.
You entered your room and closed your door with a heavy sigh, as if you were breathing out all the interactions you had sat through that day. You pulled off your face mask and flung it to the side, taking a heavy seat on your bed. Like it or not, it was time.
Your eyes fell to your phone, that sat cold and discarded on your bedside table. Your only lead, perhaps the answer to everything, was housed inside that phone.
But why was it so terrifying?
You sat there, just staring at your phone for a long moment, trying to build up the courage to simply pick it up and hold it in your hands. You knew you needed to act, you had no idea what time Grim was going to be back home – perhaps early if he was going to check up on you – and you didn’t want to give him any more cause for concern.
You swallowed hard… and reached out for the phone. It was time.
196 notes · View notes
sepublic · 2 years ago
Text
The Owl House Timeline
-Millennia Ago; The Archivists encounter the Demon Realm and send the Collector to play with the young Titans; The Collector meets the Titan known as the Boiling Isles, and comes across King’s egg; The Archivists commence a war against the Titans, who resist their attempts to turn every living thing into scrolls; Due to Titan magic countering their own, the Archivists enlist the help of the local demons, Bill among them, and create the Titan Trappers; An Archivist transforms the Owl Beast into a scroll, only to lose it in the ocean; The Boiling Isles Titan hides King on a remote island, shielded from the view of Archivists, and appoints Jean-Luc as the guardian. 
-The Collector is imprisoned in the in-between by the Boiling Isles, who is the last Titan alive; Hooty comes into existence after this during a hunt; The Archivists disappear from the isles; The Titan blows out Bill’s eardrums in a final battle against the Titan Trappers; The Titan escapes to the other side of the planet and ‘dies’, but due to her heart still beating, lingers as a ghost watching from the in-between; Bill communicates with the Collector using one of the moon discs, worshipping them as the Grand Huntsman, only to lose contact when the disc is broken; The Titan Trappers find the Boiling Isles, but are unable to locate King’s egg to free the Collector; Bill’s generation eventually dies out until he is the only one left, leading new generations of wannabe Titan Trappers; Hooty leaves the Boiling Isles’ eye.
-Hecktaceous Period; A Stonesleeper is transported to the Titan’s skull and placed as guardian; Luz Noceda briefly visits through a time pool.
-Witches and demons evolve from the Titan’s corpse; They initially learn glyphs by communicating with the Titan’s spirit on her knee, but eventually rely on their bile sacs instead.
-Thousands of Years Ago; The Bat Queen is carved and abandoned by her owner, a giant, after being wounded; She begins looking after other mistreated palismen in solidarity.
-Circa 1600s; The Deadwardian Era begins.
-1613; Young orphans Philip and Caleb Wittebane arrive in Old Gravesfield.
-Evelyn Clawthorne and Flapjack enter the human realm using an archway powered by Titan’s blood, and befriend a teenage Caleb; Evelyn and Caleb communicate using hidden rebuses, and a vial of Titan’s blood is buried outside the archway in Gravesfield.
-As an adult, Caleb moves to the Boiling Isles’ right arm with Evelyn permanently, marrying her. Philip enters the Boiling Isles through Eclipse Lake, emerging at the Knee, and discovers the Ice glyph.
-Circa May 21st, 16XX; Philip begins writing a journal documenting his journey in the Demon Realm.
-Five years after his arrival, Philip returns to Eclipse Lake and retrieves Titan’s Blood to build a Portal back home, emerging the only survivor; Philip absorbs Palismen essence to gain an advantage over witches, beginning his curse and slowing his aging; Philip reunites with Caleb, killing him and being chased off by a pregnant Evelyn; Philip discovers the Plant and Fire glyphs.
-1635; New Gravesfield is founded, replacing the town’s older layout.
-1660-70; Years after entering the Demon Realm, Philip Wittebane encounters Luz Noceda and Lilith Clawthorne, who travel from the future to meet him; Luz teaches Philip the last glyph, Light; Philip meets the Collector, and encounters the Stonesleeper he will use to create his first Grimwalker of Caleb; A Portal is made using the Titan’s eye that leads to Philip and Caleb’s childhood home, but ends up buried next to Evelyn’s archway.
-1693; “Witches eating babies” -Eda
-Philip creates his first Grimwalker of Caleb; Philip assumes the identity of Belos and claims to speak on behalf of the Titan, espousing the coven system; Belos and his Grimwalkers stage false flag attacks in order to scare the populace into believing them; A city on the Knee is abandoned as a result of one of these incidents. 
-A teenage Hieronymous Bump destroys a rival school resembling Glandus with his fellow students; Hexside is built atop the ruins.
-Circa 1972; Belos becomes Emperor of the Boiling Isles.
-1970-75; Caleb and Evelyn’s descendant Lilith Clawthorne is born; Two years later, her younger sister Edalyn Clawthorne is born.
-Eda, Lilith, Alador, Odalia, Darius Deamonne, and Perry Porter attend Hexside, with Principal Faust in charge; Despite or because of his role in Hexside’s founding, Bump is Vice Principal; Faust breaks up with Terra Snapdragon, who takes their home, forcing Faust to live at Hexside.
-1990s; Cosmic Frontier is published.
-Circa 1992; Eda meets Raine Whispers and Terra at IFWOT; Raine transfers to Hexside; Bump replaces Faust as Principal of Hexside; Eda is cursed by Lilith using the Archivist’s Owl Beast scroll; Lilith joins the Emperor’s Coven, and Eda discovers the Portal, emerging in the Wittebane house at Gravesfield; Eda watches Dragonclaw Z in the human world; Petrifications ‘officially’ end as a means of capital punishment.
-Darius is mentored by the Golden Guard; Darius has a falling out with Alador and Odalia; Alador wins the Bonesborough Brawl; Coven sigils are introduced and mandated; Raine and Eda break up; Raine joins the Bard Coven, only to realize the system’s corruption, and begins a campaign against it from within; The Golden Guard dies, and Lilith is appointed as the Head Witch of the Emperor’s Coven when Belos realizes she will travel to the past to meet him; Alador and Odalia marry and found Blight Industries together.
-Circa 2006; Emira and Edric Blight are born.
-Circa 2007; Skara is born, followed by Willow Park; Vee is the fifth basilisk to be cloned by Belos.
-Circa 2008; Luz Noceda and Amity Blight are born.
-Circa 2010; Augustus Porter is born.
-King Clawthorne finally hatches from his egg.
-Circa 2014; King is found and adopted by Eda.
-The Nocedas move to Gravesfield.
-August 22nd, 20XX; Manny Noceda succumbs to his illness and dies, leaving Luz the first book in The Good Witch Azura series.
-Luz becomes obsessed with The Good Witch Azura.
-Amity is forced to sever ties with Willow during her birthday.
-Circa 2017; Alador has his last weekend off before Odalia forces him to work overtime.
-Willow meets and befriends Augustus Porter.
-Circa 2021; Tibbles finds The Good Witch Azura books washed ashore the Boiling Isles, and sells them to the Book Nook; Amity is the only one who buys them and becomes obsessed.
-Eda begins selling human garbage at Bonesborough as a side gig.
-Amity leaves the Hexside Banshees, quitting Grudgby entirely; Vee and Numbers Three and Four escape the Conformatorium.
-Summer 2022; Luz Noceda enters the Boiling Isles, while Vee enters the human world.
-Mason is promoted to Head Witch of the Construction Coven after the yearly Covention, in time for Luz to attend her first day at Hexside.
-Hunter is appointed the new Golden Guard by Belos.
-Scooter Crane retires; Raine Whispers is appointed as the new Head Witch of the Bard Coven; Tarak sees King’s video while visiting the Boiling Isles and mistakes him for another Titan Trapper’s estranged son, dropping off an invitation letter.
-Luz and Lilith travel through a time pool and encounter Philip Wittebane in the year 1660-70.
-August 22nd, 2022; Reaching Out takes place.
-The Day of Unity occurs; The Collector is freed by King and stops the draining spell; Luz and her friends (and Belos) are stranded in Gravesfield after the Portal is destroyed; The Collector turns the population into puppets, and builds a palace out of the Titan’s skull.
-October 29th, 2022; The Hexsquad discovers the rebus left behind by Caleb.
-October 30th, 2022; The Hexsquad locates Evelyn’s vial of Titan’s Blood; Belos infects Hunter’s body.
-October 31st, 2022; Belos kills Flapjack, and Luz and her friends return to the Boiling Isles.
-November 1st, 2022; For the Future takes place.
-November 2nd, 2022; Luz befriends the Collector and destroys Belos once and for all; The Titan passes on.
-2026; Luz graduates from high school and has her 18th birthday.
558 notes · View notes
yorutsuki · 10 months ago
Text
「 ✦ Isekaied Reversed ✦ 」
{ Xiao x Reader }
↳ Pulling on Xiao's silly little banner wishing desperately for him to finally come home!....Wait, you didn't mean actually...right?
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
You were 47 pulls into Xiao's banner. You desperately needed him after doing his quest. You've watched his trailer at least 19 times now, each time your derive of needing him only increased—his appearance, his stature, his voice, his gameplay, his personality—the list could be turned into a book! Everything about him tugged at your heart.
With one pull left, you quickly exited the wishing screen before commencing a summoning ritual with your built team he'd be on. You watched as each team member died with only one standing as they stood at the foot of Zhongli.
Entering the wishing screen you looked upon the amount of fates left—only one. You inhaled a breath before clicking the single pull...
You watched as the stars danced as you prayed one would turn into your beloved Xiao.
Watching with anticipation, your eyes lit up at the rainbow hue and golden star shining as it neared your screen.
As the variety of three star weapons popped up, one after the other, you held your breath with anticipation hoping it wasn't any other than your teal haired-self proclaimed 'boyfriend'.
The last star was around the corner. You clicked your mouse with excitement, your heart racing as your thoughts were nothing but on the present. When it finally changed screens you had squint your eyes in disappointment with major confusion as you were met with a blank screen.
"The f-"
You jumped, hearing a loud thud from behind you. Gulping, you tried turning around but only your eyes managed to turn before being met with a pointy Jade Spear.
As you tried turning around to meet the attacker, you felt the blade press against your neck firmly—not enough to draw blood yet enough to signal you to stay in your place.
"Move, and i'll purge you where you sit, demon."
....
> Part 2
..... [ Masterlist ]
130 notes · View notes
etherealeowyn · 6 days ago
Text
"My heart has and always will be yours" - Haldir x Fem Reader
Y/n saves Haldir amid the Battle of Helm's Deep.
This is mostly angst, but there's a little fluff too!
Word Count: 1,754
My requests are always open, so feel free to message me if you have an idea! I'll write for any character from The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Rings of Power!
This is a request for @arrowlina! I hope you like what I have written!
Tumblr media
The moon and scattered torches were the only light that shone upon the legions of men from Rohan who courageously stood their ground at The Hornburg, located at the mouth of the gorge known as Helm’s Deep. Though they fought with their all, the masses of Uruk Hai marched towards them with only the goal of taking the position, their only fear was being defeated.
Knowing just how important this location was, Galadriel and Celeborn sent reinforcements from their lands to stop Saruman’s forces from taking control. The elves who marched to provide help knew just how dangerous their participation would be; however, the fight was understood to be more important than any of them.
Y/n bowed her head at the men she had passed, noticing the hope that had returned to their eyes as she and Haldir led the other elves from Lothlorien into the fortress. Their presence was reassuring, yet Y/n knew it was going to take much more than just them being there to secure a victory.
Haldir hardly paid any mind to the men who surrounded him. Y/n watched as his eyes remained forward, most likely running through any last-minute strategies that had hit him. He did not appear to be nervous; quite frankly, there was a content expression that laced his features.
After they met up with the other leaders, it was time for them to take their positions, for there were only mere moments until the battle would commence.
“Haldir,” Y/n started turning to the blonde elf beside her, “You must know that whatever happens during this battle, my heart has and always will be yours.”
He raised his hand slowly, caressing her face before speaking, “As is mine, I look forward to rejoicing with you when the fight is over my love.”
The pair broke up at the sound of arrows whistling through the dense night air, immediately jumping into action. Each of their actions was calculated as they shouted orders at the elven troops, maintaining a fighting style that would ensure their supplies could last for the entirety of the battle.
They were aware that a massive number of orcs would march upon Helm’s Deep, however, the sheer magnitude of their attempt to break down the walls was frightening. Images of defeat flashed through Y/n’s mind, and although she tried to push those thoughts away, fear was rising within her. But she had no time to delve into it.
When the elves' support proved useless in guarding the wall, Y/n sprinted out behind Aragorn and the others, ditching her bow for a sword, and cutting orcs down as they attempted to attack her. They came at her from every direction, causing her to duck and dodge blows aimed at her. She had no time to think about anything other than the fight at hand, for she knew even the smallest of distractions could cause her untimely death.
Though Haldir had his troubles to focus on, he maintained a close eye on his elven bride, ensuring he could get to her if need be. Not that he doubted her abilities to defend herself against the Uruk Hai, but he was aware that one could easily get overwhelmed in times like this.
Fatigue had begun to fall over the soldiers, their bodies completely and utterly drained by the immense number of orcs, and Haldir was no exception. An orc that appeared to be larger than the rest approached him, and even though Haldir tried his absolute best to attack him, he found himself relying more on defense. He held up his blade, trying to shove the orc’s weapon away from him, but despite his best efforts the orc swiftly knocked it onto the ground, leaving Haldir defenseless.
His eyes slightly widened, but he refused to let the Uruk Hai see his fear. The orc lunged forward, puncturing the elf in his abdomen, and though he was in complete and utter pain, he only let a small grunt escape his lips.
As the orc reveled in the elf’s defeat, he failed to notice Y/n who was charging at him, and in one swift movement, she jumped and lodged her sword through its heart. With anger flowing through her veins, she twisted the blade further in, staring into its eyes as she watched any sign of life drain.
Turning her attention back to Haldir, she ran over to him, and somehow, the adrenaline coursing through her body allowed her to pick him up and carry him over to an area hidden away from the rest of the battle. His head was resting in her lap as her palm pressed firmly on the wound, preventing any blood from escaping.
“I-I’m scared,” he whispered, letting a tear spill from his dark blue eyes.
“There is no need to fear anything, my love, I’m here with you now, and I won’t let anything happen to you,” Y/n spoke, masking her fear with a façade of confident reassurance.
“We can’t stay here,” Haldir noted, gesturing to where the clanking of swords and crashing of armor could be heard.
“You’re right, I need to get you out of here,” Y/n replied, thinking for a moment before her ears perked at the sound of hooves pounding against the earth.
“They’ve arrived!” a voice sounded in the distance.
“The Riders of Rohan are here!” another yelled.
“I need a horse,” she muttered to herself realizing that she would have to leave Haldir alone for a moment, even in his terrible condition.
“Haldir, I must leave you here briefly, but I promise I’ll be back. I need to get a horse so I can take you somewhere safe. There’s no way we could make it anywhere on foot,” she told him, taking the pad of her thumb and wiping away his tears.
He nodded at her with a small smile, “Be safe,” were the only words he said before she jumped up and ran back into battle, with her sword in front of her.
Y/n scanned the area, her eyes locking onto a horse not too far away, its rider slain by the treacherous creatures. Sprinting to it, she grabbed onto its reins and started to lead it to the corner where Haldir was situated.
Seething in pain, she watched as an arrow grazed her bicep, though she couldn’t focus on the pain, for there was a greater task that needed to be completed. Disregarding everything around her Y/n kept pushing along, each step forward feeling like an eternity.
“Darling I’m back,” Y/n stated before looking down at Haldir whose eyes were shut, sweat beading on his face.
Immediately running towards him, she placed her fingers against his throat, checking for a pulse, and she let out a sigh of relief when his heart was still pumping blood throughout his body.
Snaking her arms underneath his, she dragged him to the horse but struggled to pull him onto the saddle. Beginning to panic, she tried to think of another way to help him up, but she was stumped.
“Let me help,” a voice sounded, and Y/n turned her head, watching as Aragorn sprinted over.
He told her to get onto the horse first, and she did without hesitation. While he pushed Haldir up onto the horse, Y/n helped to lift him; both working together to get him situated in front of her. Y/n wrapped her arms around Haldir’s waist, grabbing the reins as his head dropped forward, maintaining his unconsciousness.
“Thank you, Aragorn, I will surely find a way to repay you for your kindness,” Y/n stated, bowing her head at the man before flicking the reins with her wrists and quickly maneuvering through the crowds of orcs, elves, and men.
The sun had begun to rise in the east, the light cutting through the haze of fog that had fallen over the lands. Y/n was thankful for the horse she had borrowed, noting that it was faster than she imagined it to be, making their return to camp quicker than expected.
When she saw the healing tent in the middle of the camp, she immediately stopped the horse, gesturing for people to come and help her bring him inside. Though they were whisking him away almost quicker than she could move, Y/n refused to leave his side, desperately needing to be there with him.
Watching as they removed his armor, she noticed just how bad the wound was, she had to turn around, for it was too painful to watch. She sat in a chair nearby, watching as the healers swiftly moved around providing the help he desperately needed.
Sitting there, Y/n felt exhaustion begin to take hold of her body, and she fought her heavy eyelids from closing, though eventually she succumbed to their weight.
“Y/n,” a quiet yet hoarse said, yet Y/n didn’t wake up, she only shifted slightly in the uncomfortable chair.
“Y/n,” the voice spoke again, this time louder, making the female elves quickly open, confusion lacing her features, forgetting where she had fallen asleep.
When her eyes fell upon Haldir’s form that was lying in bed, she jumped up when she noticed that his blue eyes were open and alert.
“My love, you’re okay!” she exclaimed, kneeling on the ground next to his bed, before grabbing his hand and gently kissing it.
“All thanks to you,” Haldir said, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, making Y/n’s heart practically melt within her chest.
“I was only doing what you would’ve done for me,” Y/n started, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, “For a while there, I thought I was going to lose you.”
Haldir looked at Y/n, his throat tightening as he realized how much pain he must’ve caused her in those terrifying moments. He couldn’t possibly imagine what that would’ve felt like.
“My dear, I’m sorry for the pain I must’ve caused you, but you must know that you cannot get rid of me that easily. I’m stubborn in that regard,” he replied, cupping her cheek with his hand, ignoring the soreness that had overtaken his body.
“Do not apologize, it was not your fault Haldir,” she responded, wiping away the sadness from her eyes.
“Ah yes, I should’ve remembered your stubbornness,” Y/n continued, letting a small laugh escape her lips.
“Please, for your own sake, do your best not to forget it,” Haldir smirked, pushing himself up in bed, just enough for Y/n to gently wrap her arms around him, and give him a tender hug.
28 notes · View notes
mulders-too-large-shirt · 3 months ago
Text
s3 episode 23 thoughts
the previous episode was SO good. but, it is true, i was distracted by the dog. it was SUCH!! a perfect episode. EXCEPT for that one thing. so i hope that today, i can face this episode with a clear head, free of judgement based on the fate of little dogs.
well, boy, i did face this episode with a clear mind, and wow. wowza. another AMAZING ep... and i will keep the angst from this episode in my heart forever and bottle it and take a nice long swig when i need my msr feels, which is basically always. wow. an exclamation point doesn't even feel APPROPRIATE, it just needs to hang in the air for a bit. (wiping tears away) wow....
let us go back to yesterday's notes, which shall commence below:
reading the episode description... so this one features murders linked to a device that alters television signals… huh. man, too many people i know don’t even have cable anymore. this simply would not work in the modern era. imagine if hulu or tubi or something made you kill people though lmao that would be silly to imagine.
we open with a guy digging a hole in the woods. always a promising start. seems he’s in an orchard of some sort? and the music is very very creepy. 
okay, so just as you suspect, this dude is burying a dead guy. sometimes your gut instinct is correct and tropes are not meant to be subverted. but the dude who is burying him says “your killing days are OVER” so is this actually a justice arc??? hmm. it is not clear. man, it would be hard to dig a hole like that.
shovel murder man is at home washing the blood off. but then someone else approaches him and he kills THAT GUY TOO WITH THE SHOVEL?? huh? what is going on. 
police at da guy’s house. everyone has the same face as the dude he just killed??? so they tase him. and then the faces go back to their REAL faces. now what is going on here!!!!!!!!!!
as the real faces return, the man realizes he killed someone named sarah!!! and he seems sooo upset by the fact that he killed sarah!!!! poor sarah :(
so does the tv make you see other people’s faces on the bodies of random people….? omg that’s insidious...
we now shift to a different scene, one where mulder is sitting in his car at 2 am. doing what???? waiting for some guy!!! he was waiting TWO HOURS for this guy!!! who is this guy...? it's giving blind date/drug deal.
the man who enters his car gives him a newspaper clipping about the murders we just saw. and mulder came here after getting AN ANONYMOUS EMAIL in the middle of the night??? this is crazy because literally so many people want him dead and this would have been a very easy way to accomplish that goal. wow. seriously, no self-preservation instincts on this guy.
mystery man says he has no obligation to explain what is going on, but if mulder walks away from it, more people will die. so no pressure!! xx
cutscene to a hospital, where mulder is watching our murderer through glass, while scully comes in saying that she is sorry she is late, but “the beltway was a parking lot”. beltway refers to interstate 495! thank you wikipedia i love your services!
murderer is named joseph. and he claims to have been killing the same guy over and over again, and that he wouldn’t die. which seems pretty awful.
OH! and the week before, in the same town, a babysitter attacked the kids she was watching because she thought they were WOLVES??? omg that is horrific??
they’re talking to the physician, dr. stroman, who says perhaps this was provoked by amphetamine abuse. then joseph starts SCREAMING. he sees a guy on the TV- miriskovic- sorry y’all idk my post-soviet history 💔 (update: i googled it, i don't even think that guy was real because all the results are links to wikis on this specific episode... reveals how little i truly know)
anyway, seeing that guy's face on the TV seems to have triggered the screaming situation. does he have trauma from the country he used to live in and seeing references to it makes these things happen…? that would be a wild episode. put me in the writer's room and let me cook.
scully quickly picks up on the fact that this case is Weird, and mulder admits it came from some random guy, which makes her suspicious. but they go to the crime scene, and, like always, he lifts the crime scene tape up over her head, and it’s very charming despite the lack of sensibility in going down this whole rabbit hole.
the minute they get in, they hear screaming and a gunshot! but it’s just some kids watching TV??? eating popcorn in a crime scene??? LMAO WHAT?
mulder kicks them out and scruffs one of the boy’s heads... ohhhh he needs to be a father so bad huh... like i have been saying this since s1 he just has a Need to tease and spoil children. well, we can unpack that another time. there's crime afoot.
so he watches the tv and it starts to go all static-y because a guy outside is fixing the wires. scully finds a TON of tapes and they’re just shelves and shelves of cable TV shows!!!
“there must be hundreds of videos here”, she says, to which he asks “anything good?” <- idk why this made me giggle. it sounded like he was gonna put one in and chill for a bit lmao
scully starts to wonder if seeing the cable news, like joseph had recorded, was what triggered his episode back at the hospital. ooooh! a theory!!! 
cut to mulder watching a tape in the bed of his motel, making an absolute pile of sunflower seeds- this dude is gonna attract mice or something someday omfg- and also he has a cola which is peak american culture. LMAOOOO he has a HUGE pile of tapes on the floor i’m crying... my type A self could NOT deal with him!
he says he watched 36 hours of bernard shaw and bobbi batista and is now also ready to kill someone as scully welcomes him into her room, which also has cola but is much more nicely organized! she found something weird on the tapes from late april, each a night when he committed a murder 
AND WHY DID MULDER GET ALL COZIED UP ON HER COUCH?????? hooooooly fuck i have never seen such a baby girl of a man
OMFG??? all the reports from the murder nights feature that miriskovic guy!!!
so did seeing violence make him violent? mulder says no, and that theory assumes that “americans are just empty vessels, ready to be filled with any idea or image that’s fed to them like a bunch of pavlov dogs, and go out and act on it” oh if only this man could see the news lately……… insert ben affleck smoking a cigarette image here to describe the things we see in our current age. mulder you would not believe.
he’s really bashing her theory, but she’s saying maybe he was high and seeing these things sent him on a spiral- makes sense to me
he is leaving to go get some sleep (after admitting he can’t explain what is going on!!! which always endears me) but scully says she is going to watch the rest of the tapes… a herculean task for our girl
middle of the night and it’s still tape time for scully, but she hears the phone ringing. she hears mulder having a conversation. and he says “no, she doesn’t” which is weird… that is suspicious… what doesn't she...
scully chews her ice which is so funny because me too sometimes. she has chewed all of her ice and must fetch more. and get a cola ofc!!! nothing more american than a cold soda iktr!
but she sees mulder in his car??? lighting up with cig man???? HUH??? and handing over a tape? omfg this is crazy. i assume she is hallucinating though, because no way….
cutscene to a lady named helene watching “the price is nice” (lmaooo) and washing some dishes. but the soap in the dishes starts to look funny- and everything is glitching around her!!! she sees a man outside in a hammock… kissing a woman!!! and oh, she is furious!! she gets her SHOTGUN?? this has escalated very fast. and we hear some shooting!!!
scully is still very visibly disturbed. mulder is reporting the murder, but she seems like a shell of herself. she checks the ash tray in the car, and there is no ash… she notices the car has been moved and he says he got a paper…. why do you ask…. “nothing. it’s nothing” OHHH THIS IS JUICY
so the crime scene has a very bloody hammock. and a dead man, who the wife claims he saw in the hammock with a blonde. but the only other creature at the scene was a dog!!!
OH!!! the hammock man wasn’t even helene's HUSBAND??? this really is LAYERED!! she killed the NEIGHBOR thinking it was her husband, who wasn’t even in town!!!!!! how do you mess this up so badly?
despite the fact that scully is clearly suspicious of mulder, she is sharing the umbrella with him in their usual fashion, and the sense of tension this produces is delicious 
they go to investigate the crime scene and mulder finds some sort of bike and immediately climbs upon it while proclaiming that television does NOT cause violence (LMAOOO HE IS SO WEIRD i need him.) 
they find a bunch more tapes and AGAIN the same guy is messing with the cables outside while they're investigating!!!! mulder is in chase mode!!!! but he cannot chase this dude in the van!!! no man, even a track star such as him, can outrun a van carrying secrets!
scully is trying to fast forward the TV and she looks out to see mulder climbing the pole…. average day for a man like him. he finds a weird cable scrambler in there. she wants to send it to the crime lab, but he says he’ll do the analysis, and she should go interview helene the murderer. OH... she is so suspicious, she just wants to go home…. scully :((( mulder is deeply confused as to why she is being so weird 
so he takes the thingy to the lone gunmen, who say it looks like it’s used for blocking premium cable channels, which i didn’t even know was a thing, you learn so much with this show. but it doesn’t block anything!!! HOWEVER, if you compare a tv with the machine and one without it, the one with the machine is slightly different. hmm...
“you know how television works?” “yeah, you click it on, you have a picture” <- the man who said that line went to oxford btw
it seems that this cable blocker thingy is adding some sort of frequency, but they can’t tell what… hmm.
mulder on the road. scully calls and only asks “where are you” in this very flat and creepy tone and OH i’m scared!!!!
he tries to explain that there is some sort of signal being introduced to the tv- he even says she might be right about the tv inducing violence theory! but she isn’t answering… she hears a clicking, like they're being listened to, and she says he never went to the detective…. let’s wait and talk on a landline, he says.
despite being in his car many miles away, he can tell that there is something very wrong with scully. he says don’t go anywhere, he’ll be right there, and redials after she hangs up. it's very much echoing when she said something similar to him in his crazed gargoyle quest.
but she is so scared, she rips the phone out of the wall and takes it apart!!!! and then the lamp too, and the table. she is checking everything for any sort of bugs!
holy hell, we have never seen her like this before... but i’m actually gagged because she is usually relatively stoic and seeing her paranoid is so different, but it also feels very natural??? she is acting her ass off here as she rips up everything in this motel room. big shoutout to GA, i love your work.
and the static that set in helene's vision earlier is setting in hers now!!! she hears a car pull up and drops to the floor…. she hears a man say “she’s in here” and a pounding on the door. 
OMFG someone tries to open the door and she FIRES 4 SHOTS RIGHT AWAY??? but it’s mulder!!!!
(author's note: i was thinking after i finished the episode, and we know that she is a good shot- remember how she hit just the right angle to knock mulder out but not kill him at the end of s2? so she is either SO out of it that she cannot even aim straight, or there is a tiny tiny tiny part of her that still thinks that mulder isn't worth killing. please mull over which option brings you greater angst)
he’s coming in with his gun and his hair is blowing in the wind and he can’t FIND HER!!!!! it was really very dramatic. hair blowing in the wind has this effect.
cutscene to scully’s mom’s house, and we see a picture of young scully on the table... AWW stop she’s so cuuuute and one of missy as well 😭😭😭
OH! it’s mulder on the phone calling mrs. scully in the middle of the night!!! NOOOO he has to tell her that he doesn’t know where she is :( NOOOO poor mrs. scully has gone through too much. he feels SO bad breaking this news, that he even apologizes for hanging up right away, something he never ever does. he must be in deeeep distress to do such a thing.
and why does he hang up?? because SKINNER IS HERE!!! he’s leading a manhunt for scully, and mulder is saying she shouldn’t be hunted like a convict… but skinner says dude SHE FIRED FOUR ROUNDS AT YOU AND SOME RANDOM GUY last night!!!!
despite this, mulder insists that he can get her to listen to him if they just keep her safe; she’s suffering from some sort of paranoid psychosis. skinner is being quite patient as he tries to explain that the video tapes made her do it. skinner says well... you better find her before these guys do.
GASP!!! he’s putting up the x on his window! and doing that thing where he bounces his basketball because he cannot relax!!! stop i'm emotional!!!!!
the lone gunmen call to say they found something on the tape…. and it induces electrical activity…. MIND CONTROL???
but why wasn’t he effected?
! MULDER LORE REVEAL ! HE’S RED-GREEN COLORBLIND???? THIS IS AN INSANE LORE DROP TO GIVE NEARLY 4 SEASONS IN??????
wait, is this just for plot purposes, or is DD actually colorblind and they decided to roll with it? because now i’m gonna be looking at all the red-ish things we see on screen (like his tie he is grabbing to emphasize his point) and wonder, can he see that? how does this impact his tie selection process....
okay that really threw me off guard. man, i was getting to think we'd never get another lore reveal, which is a shame because i quite like formatting those facts in that way. good to know we could get more at anytime!
he gets a phone call from maryland state police. the lone gunmen ask if she’s okay and he says no, he has to go and ID the body. WHAT!!!! WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!! he is trying to keep composed. holy fuck………..
(heavy breathing as i grab your shoulder and squeeze) hey man. hey. he was trying so hard to be strong.
so he pulls up to the morgue and stops before he gets out of the car, and holds his head above the wheel STOP I’LL CRY???? i’ll cry… what are they putting him through??? losing her again……..
(i mean i have SEEN gifs of scully in seasons past this one, so i know she's gonna pull through, but HE doesn't know that, and must be reliving the worst days of his life AGAIN, and aughhhhh!)
but the mystery guy from the start of the episode that give him the info on the muders pulls up and says get in right now!!!!!! mulder is furious, he says he’s busy. in a shocking display of insensitivity, mystery man says he does not give a fuck. mulder is yelling that this is all his fault. mystery man says “they” are destroying the evidence, and they’ll finish it by tomorrow if he keeps searching for her, but he kicks the door shut and ignores him.
(omg…. he loves her enough to break him out of his bloodhound mode… the dogged ahab-like quest for answers and revenge… i’m getting flashbacks to his conversation with missy in one breath…….. realizing he needs to put the ones he loves before his need for revenge sometimes..... wow)
so he walks into the morgue, and the dude in there says they found a body nude and shot in the forehead.
he closes his eyes to try and brace himself before taking a peek, to prepare to see her lifeless, probably reliving those many hours by her bedside when she was in the hospital, trying to imagine her shot in the forehead, the scully he knows and loves with her dry humor and her teasing smile and caffeine dependency, the her that is so full of life, lifeless…
but it isn’t her. PHEW!
despite this being good news that he has to share- she's not dead! her mother isn’t answering her phone…. so he goes to her house. and i'm thinking, oh my gosh, did she do something rash in her grief?
but mrs. scully answers the door and claims dana isn’t here. he bursts in and says he needs to see her right now. omg, he saw right through her lies.
(also, it always feels weird to refer to her as dana, but moving on)
NO!!!! she has him at gunpoint and says he’s here to kill him!!! poor guy looks so flabbergasted… and her mom is trying to get her to please put down the gun, and he’s trying to explain what is going on!!! he is so singularly locked into her…. 
“he’s lied to me from the beginning. he’s never trusted me” “scully, you are the only one i trust” AUGHHHHH (rips my clothes off of my body in biblical levels of grief) 
“you’re one of the people who abducted me” AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (rips off not only my clothing but also my hair as i experience emotions that rival what job from the bible went through)
she’s CRYING, and saying he killed her sister while her mom gets between him and the gun… and she’s saying she knows she’s safe here, that’s why she came here, and to put the gun down. and she falls into her mother’s arms sobbing. 
WHAAAAAAAAT. and he had to watch all that… oh my scully oh my goodness my poor scully…
timeskip a little bit. he shows up to the hospital where scully is with her mother, and mockingly puts his hands up in surrender, because he is so STUPID and he always has to make a joke, and i love him so terribly, so so so terribly, because he loves HER.
she's laying in the bed, and he shuts off the tv and asks how she’s feeling. she says she is ASHAMED- as if being a victim of mind control was a personal failing. scully, i want to yell, you have NO REASON to be ashamed, let me take all the shame from you and carry it elsewhere. she says it was like the world was turned upside down.
and he makes ANOTHER stupid joke about the world being out to get him, and now she knows how he feels-
before leaning in and explaining how joseph, the first murderer on this case, became convinced he was killing the bosnian war criminal who people called “the modern hitler”, which was especially important to him because both of his parents survived the holocaust. hence his line about the killing days being over!!!
and helene was scared her husband would cheat on her. so somehow the TV signal turned their worst fears into a living nightmare. 
OHHHH HER WORST NIGHTMARE IS HIM BETRAYING HER. HIM BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR HER GOING MISSING AND LOSING HER AUTONOMY AND MEMORIES... wails into my shirt. 
(this reminds me of that episode in s2- irresistible- when we learn her biggest fear is that humans are capable of terrible horrific things and grasping to trust despite that knowledge. we’re seeing that again right here. how uncertainty seeps in)
THEY CALL HIM THE CANCER MAN!!! wow very official canon recognition of the name (yeah it’s happened before but it happened again so that is cool) anyway she says she saw him giving cancer man the tapes and reporting.
he says that maybe cancer man was behind this, but then he whispers “why don’t you try and get some rest?” and there is something in me that melts so entirely as he leaves her to sleep.
(perhaps it is the fact that hurt/comfort and whump are my favorite tropes. because is there anything more intimate than letting someone see you at your most vulnerable, and them choosing to love you at it? is there any feeling more cutting than seeing your loved one suffer and knowing you’d stop the world for an instant of their relief? the terrible desperation of both parties, the wordless connection upon recovery, someone being the last thing you see before everything fades to black and then the first person you see when you return... yeah. it’s cathartic. but also it makes me want to yell and cry. pls give me all the hurt/comfort content)
so the doctor found high serotonin levels in her that maybe can be associated with mania, but now they’re back to normal. he asks if someone in her situation would be diagnosed with amphetamine abuse, and she says no. then he quickly calls the hospital where joseph is staying… what is he cooking in there…
he wants to talk to joseph's doctor, dr. stroman, who left behind only a number from the motel…. and he had JUST checked out…. so he’s going through his stuff. and asking about his calls. and he DOES find a cigarette in his room but a lot of people smoke so… try not to jump to conclusions juni… but the cigarettes mean one thing in this show!!! was this innocent-looking doctor behind such a cruel experiment?!
he calls and has the last number the doctor called get checked from the folks at the lab… so he goes to visit the place of residence and creepy music is playing. the dude from the cable company we saw before rolls up!!! he walks right inside the house, so mulder peeks inside. it seems the people in the house set up a trap of some sort, as they are talking about “him” showing up at 7.
he bursts in after hearing gunshots and both of the men in there are dead!!! shot in the head!!!!
who is there... but X???? X says he HAD to kill those men- he just hoped mulder would get them first. and oh, mulder is YELLING AT X!!! he is letting him HAVE IT!!! he says he is a coward, he was too scared to unveil the situation with the mind control TV murders himself….. he says X NEVER risks his own life, but he sure does make him risk mulder and scully’s.
OH! he is holding X at gunpoint. all X is saying is that he failed, and that mulder needs him. so he walks out, confident he won't pull the trigger. and he doesn't. 
WHAT! i need to kind of just let that sit for a second. i need to figure out this X fellow, but i get the sense i never will…. he failed… because he chose to try and save scully…….
cutscene to skinner’s office, where mulder is giving him a report. and scully walks in and says that dr. stroman DIED IN 1978!!! when skinner asks about the killer, mulder jumps in and says he remains unknown… oh, skinner is def gonna pick up on that….
so now we see X in a random back alley. getting into a car…. WITH CANCER MAN?????? X REPORTS TO CANCER MAN??? he asks if he has completed his work, and X reports that he has cleaned out all the personnel, everything is removed, but mulder still has a device. and mulder’s source has been eliminated. but the source’s source remains unknown. oh, he’s def lying through his teeth.
OOOOOOH this episode was SO good.
oh man, my brain is racing in a bunch of different directions. scully breaking down and sobbing into her mother’s arms…. scully convinced that mulder is a traitor, that he did those terrible things to her…. mulder so scared that she was gone, bouncing his basketball, getting a call from the police department that he had to go identify her… choosing her, even in what he thought was death, over following the Truth… the sick and twisted relationship he has with X, and X with Cancer Man, and Cancer Man with the world… it’s making me think of how mulder broke into his house that one time, was going to kill him over what he did to scully, and cancer man had the nerve to say he liked mulder… OOOH my brain is just racing racing racing. 
poor scully… how scared she was, how horrified afterward… 
other things that are on my mind, in no particular order: the bond between scully and her mother; mulder being all babygirl on that couch; mulder hopping on that bicycle and picking up some random doll from the murder victim's house; how haunting scully's voice was when she asked him over the phone where he was; their cola drinking; mrs. scully trusting mulder no matter what; how he tried to cover the grief in his voice when he told the lone gunmen he had to go identify her body; how he kicked the door shut of the mystery man, damning the investigation to pay his respects; how his head hovered above the wheel of the car before he got out to do that; how X uses and uses him to no clear end, and what is HE doing reporting to cig man, and what was that random doctor doing conducted fucked up experiments on random people; and scully's miraculously bad aim; mulder's conviction he could talk sense into her (spoiler: he could not); her shame at being convinced he had been the one who abducted her; how terrifying that must have been; and his stupid jokes when he walked into her hospital room, with the sincerity he tries so hard to outrun and outfox breaking through in his whispered why don't you get some rest?
so needless to say, i see why this one is a fan-favorite. this is certainly one i will be revisiting in the future when i need something strong. i have a million things to think over that will stick with me Forever, and i am in no rush to move on from this. in fact, i took these notes yesterday, but in the process of editing them tonight, i have decided i am not ready for the season finale and will have to save it for tomorrow because i'm still feeling So Many Things. so stay tuned to see how that goes, because whew!
36 notes · View notes