#and next thing I see is a sharp little beak going straight into my eye

[superfluffychickens]

Got my 20 piece chicken nugget box from the post office yesterday and my god I love these curious little cotton balls so much already

Oh my god 🥺🥺🥺🥺😭😭😭😭

Those first few days are the best, especially the way they just fall asleep every 5 minutes. Mine are in their hyperactive tiny dinosaur stage, they’re creating a feathery tornado in their room as I type this and one of them is trying to peck my eyeballs. It’s worth it though, to see them growing up healthy and strong!

Good luck, hope they all thrive!

[acertainmoshke]

Snippet (Part 1): Reputation

Ok so it didn't end up really gory in any sense of the word. But I like it anyway. And there will be a little blood in the next part, at least. No real content warnings except mildly ableist language and nongraphic mentions of injuries.

Fuck. Fuck it all. None of my usual ways of subtly getting out of this were about to work. I’d knelt to check on Lynn’s arm—definitely broken, and she was shaking, her crossbow forgotten on the floor—and so the wildlings hadn’t seen me. If they did, at first glance I would pass for a young human of uncertain gender (that had taken a lot of practice). But they were still busy looking at the children. Why was it always children?

Well. I say children. None of them were young like Cassie. Some of them might have even been 20, which for some of them meant they were 40. When I was their age, I was braving beyond the veil and adopting a kid.

But I hadn’t been ready for any of that. And they looked so young. Most of them had lost their weapons and had mild cuts and bruises. They stared at our captors. Our captors stared back, everyone floating in the momentarily calm eye of the storm.

One of the children nearest me—a changeling with tentacles circling her waist like a skirt—sniffed, a tear sliding down her cheek.

Lynn stopped shaking, took a breath, and tried to reach for her crossbow. She barely got halfway there before falling back with a half-stifled groan. She was trembling again, and when I reached out an arm to steady her, her skin felt hot.

The children weren’t up to fighting five grown wildlings. I needed to get Lynn back, now.

Oh, damn it all.

I tried to remember how it had felt, back then. The power rushing just under my skin. The confidence in knowing I was the scariest thing here. The looks on their faces when they realized I wasn’t going to let them run away.

I stood up, flipped my hair back and let it fall messily around my ears. Let my glamour slide away. I felt naked now without it, just as if I had torn off my skirt and sweater, but it had the desired effect. Their eyes flicked to me. I had to step around the children, shorter than almost everyone there, but the swagger it was much too easy to fall back into made me feel taller.

Even when I walked right up to the nearest wildling, who was tall like a tall human with floppy ears and mean-looking claws. Even when I looked straight up, right into his eyes, letting the pain of our gazes fuel the scorn in my voice.

“So you all are still picking on kids, then?”

More than one child bristled behind me, but none of them said anything.

“You have a problem with that, changeling?”

If I miscalculated, if none of them knew who I was, we were in trouble. I didn’t have an ice explosion in me tonight, after everything else I’d done. But surely, surely someone remembered. I couldn’t look that different, only with a few more wrinkles and somewhat fatter. The teeth and eyes were the important parts, and those remained the same.

“I do, yeah,” I hadn’t even planned to change my voice, which was already hard enough, but the old roughness slipped back into it, a hint of an accent I’d long since lost.

I grabbed his faded sweatshirt for good measure and pushed him, letting go and stepping back too fast for him to retaliate. His eyes widened for a split second, then narrowed and he started for me. Fine, then. Not ideal, but I could fight.

“Wait!” It was one of the other wildlings. He was thinner, with half-wing arms and a beak. “Just leave it. Let’s go, this isn’t worth it.”

The first wildling snorted in disbelief. “As if we don’t take on changelings all the time—”

“No. Not that one.” I chanced a glance and was relieved to see his eyes wide with real fear. “That one’s crazy.”

I let myself revel in the memories for a moment, the strength in pouncing off a roof and feeling the crack of ribs under my knees, of getting close enough for them to smell me and realize what I would do to win. My smile was slow and sharp.

“I don’t feel like fighting. You get one chance to leave.”

And they did. Even the skeptical one. Without so much as drawing the switchblade in my back pocket.

Lynn didn’t seem to fully understand what was going on, hunched over her injured arm, but the children backed away as I passed. Yeah, I remembered that feeling, too. But I ignored them; I had gotten them out of a much worse fate, what they thought of me didn’t really matter. So I picked up Lynn’s crossbow with one hand and convinced her to lean on my good shoulder and we headed back down the tunnel towards camp.

Tag list: @stesierra @amielbjacobs @ettawritesnstudies

[mysteriousmaninthesmoke]

Start - Prev - Next - Latest

Why hello there. Welcome back to my idea of what would happen if the military was able to turn its soldiers into powerful beasts with HRT. But first, let's get to my little rant you can just skip if you want.

Now I wanted to rant about Undead Unluck but that seems off-topic. but you should really go read it because you will laugh, you cry, and you hate god by the middle of part one.

I mean just look at her transition.

Anyway, I want to talk about what I was first thinking about if I went through a creature hrt. Now I was thinking of going for a crow or raven as the transformation but the more and more I thought about the more grim the ideas got. The process of my teeth becoming a beak and pushing out of my mouth, my feet becoming razor-sharp talons, whether my arms would become wings or would they sprout out of my back. And then @prettiestplatypus had to remind me of my sensory issues with her comic (which also led me to the idea of using animal HRT for medical practices but we'll get to that later) and the idea of me scratching my skin hard as feathers came out. So I decided to drop it because I did not want to go grim and bloody. I might come back to but for now, let's continue with more

Project Chimera Part 3

"Extermination across our nation, the fires are burning brighter than the sun."

Dr. Thedore Hans Erian began to slowly regain consciousness as he heard someone sing to themselves. "What happened," he said groggily. He began to open his right eye but couldn't seem to open the left one, as it swelled with pain as he tried. He looked up to see he was still in his office and that a man dressed in all black was in front of him with a bucket. "Who the hell are-"

"Oh good you're waking up. Let me help you." The man threw the bucket at the doctor, fully drenching him with freezing cold water. "WHAT THE HELL!" Dr. Thedore yelled, now fully awake. The man just stood there as the doctor began to stand up. "Good, now we can have a proper talk about you and your patients." The man said. He wore a black trench coat and a fedora, with long straight black hair running down his back. The fedora covered the man's face with shadow, making it hard for Dr. Thedore to make out his features.

The man pulled a folder out of his coat that the doctor recognized as the folder where he kept all his patient details. "Where the hell did you get you get that? Who the hell are you and why are you here?" Dr. Thedore began slowly backing away and towards his desk. He slowly remembers being punched straight in the face by this man before falling unconscious as he touched his left eye and felt a sting of pain as he touched swelling the bruise that was forming there.

"Names Smoke, a private investigator of the normal and paranormal." The man said giving his name. "And like I said, I'm here to talk about you and your patients." Dr. Thedore finally reached his desk and reached under it to grab something, but to his surprise, nothing was there.

"As for where I found this folder, it was in your desk, where I also found these." Smoke pulled out a gun and syringe from his coat. "I think these are what you were looking for." Dr. Theodore was shocked to see the man casually holding his emergency gun and his special formula for situations just like this.

"Interesting thing you got here. According to your notes, in this syringe is an extreme hormone replacer that works in seconds, meant to transform yourself into a dinosaur, in case one of your patients came after you, unhappy with what you did to them. It also seems to have some heavy painkillers in it so you don't immediately go unconscious from the pain. I'm sure some of your patients would have loved to have that type of mix in their treatments." Smoke said this last part with what sounded like anger in his voice. He then threw the syringe to the ground, shattering and spilling the formula on the floor.

Dr. Theodore was shocked but slowly collected himself and sat at his desk. "What do you want?" He asked. "Like I said." Smoke said sternly "To talk about your patients. Let's begin with this one. Eris. Seems she is on dog hormones. Let's see what you given her to help her out. Huh nothing. Not even special glasses for her degrading eyesight."

"Well that is for them to-" Dr. Theodore began to say before being cut off by Smoke "Goldie. On fish hormones. Same as last time, nothing. From what I read from your notes scales can lead to bleeding and pain, but you have given her no prescription for pain meds or bandages. Hell, it even says that taking this hormone can lead to forgetfulness, yet you have not given her a prescription for any medicine that helps with memory and focus."

"It's just that-" Dr. Theodore was interrupted again. "Kayla! On bat hormones. Nothing for their increased hearing or loss of vision. No medical earplugs or glasses." Theodore was starting to get scared of the anger beginning to radiate off this man. "Fae. Human hormones."

The doctor could swear he heard Smoke mutter "Why would anyone want to be human. We are ugly creatures ruining this planet." Smoke cleared his throat before starting again. "You f*cking ripped her off. you gave her hope and then you made that hope despair. She was suffering, trapped in a body she did not want. For 2 years she thought you had the keys to let her out, yet you dangled them in front of her and gave her NOTHING!"

Smoke threw the documents to the ground. He grabbed the doctor by the coat and picked him up "You could have used this hormone replacement therapy for medical practice. Your patients experienced improved eyesight and hearing. You freaking have notes of a patient regrowing a lost finger when using lizard hormones. Yet you went down the most profitable path. You gave people the opportunity to become who they truly were, but you never helped them through the hardships they had to go through to get there.

"You sicken and disappoint me, doctor. The dragon hormones. The people who went through that process suffered, brains slowly breaking from the pain and anguish they experienced, becoming beasts that could only walk the road of rage, running on only animal instinct. You could have helped them. Give them medicine to help them through the pain. BUT NO! YOU LEFT THEM TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES!!!"

Smoke let go of the doctor, dropping him back into his seat. "You know I wish I was here to beat you up for how you treat your patients but I have other things to do. I want you to tell me what your deal is with the military." Dr. Theodore was shocked at the yelling and accusations he just went through. He went to put on his glasses only to realize they were on the floor by the door broken. He let a sigh and said, "I don't know what you are talking about."

To his shock, Smoke pulled out the doctor's gun and pointed it at him. "Don't you dare mess with me." Smoke reached into his jacket and pulled out military dog tags with the name Private Tompson on them. "I pulled these dog tags off a literal dog who attacked me while I was investigating one of my cases 2 days ago. After that, I looked into animal hrt and saw you were the main provider and creator of it. So let's try this once again. What is your deal with the milit-"

Smoke was cut off by banging and rattling coming from the vents. He looked up and asked, "Do you have a rat problem?" "I don't think so." Dr. Theodore was glad for the sudden interruption, but suddenly the vent cover on the ceiling fell to the ground and a humanoid rat creature jumped down from the vents, screeching "YOU DO NOW!"

Hope you enjoyed this part. Thank you to @nyxisart @deadeyedfae @kaylasartwork and @welldrawnfish for letting me mention their character. I am happy that I got to vent my anger about how @ayviedoesthings doctor treats their patients and how they could have gone down the medical path, not the most profitable one. Anyway, I hope to see you next time in part 4.

[thaliagrayce]

Jasico argument! About something really stupid , and their friends Takes Sides

i had SO MUCH FUN with this, the hardest thing about it was narrowing down which stupid argument they could be having. hope you like it!!! send me a number or drop a prompt in my ask box for a jasico drabble!

“You can’t be serious.”

Nico is staring straight ahead as they walk, doing his best to ignore Jason. Unfortunately for him, Jason can see the way one corner of his mouth is edging toward a smile.

“Nico! I have personally watched you go up against a hydra without stopping to plan! How would this be any different?”

Nico takes a sharp turn toward the beach volleyball courts, where it looks like a few of the other demigods are taking a water break. He tugs on the sleeve of Jason’s jacket even though he doesn’t need to. They both know Jason would follow him regardless.

“You’re wrong and I’m going to prove it, Grace.”

A smile threatens Jason’s Argument Face as they get closer to the others. He can remember a time not that long ago when Nico would have grumbled at the idea of getting an outside perspective on even a serious problem, and here he is, all but dragging Jason to their friends over what is likely the dumbest argument they have ever had.

Hazel is the first to notice them, as usual. She breaks out in a smile and waves them over as if they weren’t clearly on their way already. Piper looks up and grins, and Percy and Annabeth stop whatever discussion they’re having. Or is it an argument? Sometimes debate and flirting look the same for those two, Jason has given up telling them apart.

“Hey, guys. You wanna play?” Piper ducks under the net to get back to what is presumably her side. “We were just resting for a bit, but three on three would be fun.”

“No thanks, we’ve got plans for later,” Nico replies. Jason blinks. He had been unaware they had plans, but if Nico says so, he isn’t going to argue. “We’re just here to settle something.”

Percy stretches from his spot next to Hazel. “Shoot.”

Nico looks up to Jason, expectant. He can’t help the dumb grin he feels. So much for the Argument Face.

“Okay, would you rather fight a hundred duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck? No powers allowed.”

Annabeth raises an eyebrow. “Why are we fighting them?”

“Because they hate you. Which do you choose.” Nico looks around at their friends, who all appear to be giving it at least some level of thought.

Piper breaks first.

“The horses,” she says, grinning. “I might lose, though. Having a bunch of pissed off My Little Ponies after me could make me laugh myself to death.”

“But there are a hundred of them!” Jason interjects. “One hundred! And horses are pack animals, so they would probably have great teamwork. I trained with Lupa enough to know that I’d rather take on one creature on its own.”

“Wrong.” Jason rolls his eyes at Nico’s voice, but he’s smiling. “It’s not just any horse-sized animal, it’s a duck.”

“So?” says Annabeth. “I agree with Jason, we know how to fight solitary monsters. It would take a lot more time and effort to fight all the horses. I’ll take the duck.”

“It’s a duck, though,” Nico insists. “Waterfowl are assholes. You notice it more in swans and geese, but that’s just because they have a size advantage over ducks. This duck would be taller than me, and it would hate me.”

“The horses hate you, too,” Jason reminds him. “And you’ve met Arion. Horses can be mean, too.”

“What can they do, though,” Nico turns to face Jason more, “bite at my shins? They’re tiny, their teeth probably wouldn’t even be able to get through denim. That duck could decapitate me with its beak. You’re too tall to understand.”

“I would go with the horses, I’d just tell them to chill.”

Everybody turns to stare at Percy.

“Babe,” Annabeth finally says. “No powers. Normal people can’t talk to horses.”

“Right.” He squints at the volleyball in his hands. “I would still choose horses, though. I’ve always kinda wanted to punt one. Just to see what it was like, y’know?”

“Annabeth, can we switch partners?” Hazel calls out. “I don’t know if I trust him anymore.”

“Hey!”

She ignores him. “I would choose the duck, because I would never want to hurt a horse. Doesn’t matter how much the horse hates me. I trust it, it probably has its reasons.”

Jason leaves them to their squabbling as he leans down toward Nico. He lowers his voice so just the two of them will hear.

“That’s three on three. I don’t think you proved me wrong, here.”

Nico tries to shoot him a glare, but Jason can see a tiny bit of a blush creeping up his cheeks.

“Yeah, well. They’re wrong, too. Let’s go.”

The other four don’t even seem to notice them leave, absorbed in their own version of the argument. That’s alright with him. He leans down a bit, trails his hand to the edge of Nico’s jacket, and brushes Nico’s palm.

Nico stares straight ahead as they walk, but he interlaces their fingers. Jason grins.

They have plans, apparently.

[engie-ivy]

(Wolfstar Get-Together Fluff, for @wolfstarmicrofic)

27th: Malevolent

Sirius failed his best subject and cannot go to Hogsmeade, and Remus is a little hurt that he seems to care so little about their plans.

Bogus

“I’ve said I’m sorry!”

“And how does that help me?”

Sirius throws up his hands. “Well, I don’t know what else you want from me!”

Remus places his hands on his hips. “I don’t want you to think you can just screw up, say sorry, and then it’s all good again!”

“This isn’t fun for me either, Remus.”

Remus scoffs. “Then you should’ve thought about that sooner.”

To understand why Remus is so upset, you must know that Sirius is great with animals, uncannily great. Of course, he’s an Animagus, and being able to become an animal himself makes it easier to connect with them, especially with dogs. But Sirius has also bonded with all the cats in the Gryffindor tower, plus there’s a Kneazle living near Hogsmeade that Remus would swear sometimes does chores for him, although Sirius still denies this. Furthermore, while owls are excellent for sending letters and a pigeon can occasionally be convinced, Sirius can get any bird to deliver his mail. Remus still remembers the shock of suddenly seeing a bloody parrot in his windowsill (and still vividly remembers the sharpness of his beak, as he did not get along with the animal as well as Sirius). James will often joke that Sirius could probably even befriend a Hippogriff if he wanted, that’s how great he is with animals.

So, Sirius is the only one of the Marauders, and one of the few Hogwarts students in general, who’s taking Care of Magical Creatures at a NEWT level, to his parents’ great dismay, as according to them, it’s only a small step above Muggle Studies. Needless to say, Sirius excels in Care of Magical Creatures, though of course there’s little Sirius doesn’t excel at, but when it comes to Care of Magical Creatures, he’s a straight O student.

Until now, that is.

Sirius got a Dreadful on his latest essay, which means he failed so bad he needs to spend the weekend helping professor Kettleburn with chores for extra credit to make up for his poor performance.

Normally, Remus wouldn’t really care if Sirius is stupid enough to ruin his perfect record by bungling his work, but the thing is, this weekend is the last Hogsmeade weekend of the school year, and both James and Peter managed to get dates, so Remus and Sirius were supposed to go together, and Remus had really been excited for it.

Remus knows that someone as brilliant as Sirius, for whom everything always comes easy, would never fail an essay in his best subject unless he wasn’t really trying.

And that hurts.

“I know it sucks,” Sirius sighs. “But these things happen, Remus.”

It hurts that Sirius didn’t care that he and Remus had plans, that Remus had been counting on those plans, that Remus now has no one to go with. (And that Remus’ heart broke into a million pieces knowing that Sirius cares so little about something that meant so much to him, but Sirius can’t care about that, because he must never find out about that)

“Stop acting like you had no control over it,” Remus snaps. “You could’ve seen this coming, you could’ve avoided it, if you had really wanted.”

“Yes, okay, I screwed up, it’s all my fault!”

Remus crosses his arms over his chest and looks away. “I had just really been looking forward to it, that’s all.”

Sirius averts his eyes. “Yeah,” he says softly. “Yeah, I know.”

When Remus wakes up the next morning, the Hogsmeade Saturday, he feels guilty. Maybe Sirius had a bad day, maybe he really did try, maybe he was already feeling like crap for failing, and then Remus had gone and made it worse.

Remus slept late, as he has nowhere to go today anyway. Sirius left early already for his extra credit work, which they refer to as detention, though professor Kettleburn has made it clear that it’s not a punishment, but an extra chance.

At breakfast, Remus decides that maybe later he’ll walk into Hogsmeade on his own, so that first he can go and ask Sirius if he can bring him anything, by means of a peace offering.

“Hello, professor.”

Professor Kettleburn turns around from where he was helping a young Knarl drink some milk. “Oh, hello. Mr Lupin, right?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Remus replies. “I was looking for Sirius Black?”

“Ah, I’m afraid you just missed him! I sent him to feed the Thestrals.” Professor Kettleburn smiles. “Shouldn’t you be in Hogsmeade with your classmates?”

“Ah, well, I was supposed to go with Sirius...”

“Right, of course.” Professor Kettleburn looks a bit embarrassed. “Sorry about that. I really wish I didn’t have to make him do this during his weekend. I even gave him some extra days to work on the assignment, hoping I could just let him pass. I mean, he’s the best student I ever had! To be honest, I think I can learn more from him than he from me, at this point,” he chuckles, but then he sighs deeply. “But he truly left me no choice.”

“His essay was that bad, huh?”

Professor Kettleburn huffs. “What he wrote cannot be called an essay.”

“What did he write then?” Remus asks, still curious how Sirius could’ve failed, despite himself.

“Bogus.”

Remus frowns. “What was so bogus about it?”

Professor Kettleburn shakes his head. “No, I mean that’s literally what he wrote. He handed in a piece of parchment with only the word ‘bogus’ written on it.”

Remus’ stomach sinks. So Sirius didn’t have a bad day, he actually didn’t even try. He really didn’t even think about their weekend. Or, a treacherous voice in the back of Remus’ mind whispers, maybe he was thinking about it, and purposely got himself detention so he wouldn’t have to go with you. Maybe he knows about your pathetic little crush and feels uncomfortable being alone with you.

“I mean,” professor Kettleburn continues, though Remus is so lost in thought he’s barely listening. “It’s not my favourite topic either, and granted, the literature in the matter is somewhat outdated, but it’s obligated material for the NEWTs, so it’s not like I can just allow him to skip it! Also, regardless of Mr Black’s thoughts on the matter, it’s still a prevalent belief that detaining Lycanthropes is the best way to-”

Remus snaps his head up. “Wait, what?”

“That was what the essay should’ve been about,” professor Kettleburn explains. “ ‘Preventative Detainment and Constrainment as Methods for Dealing with Malevolent Lycanthropes’. And even after handing in that single word parchment, I still gave him a three-day extension as a final chance to complete the assignment, but Mr Black just point blankly refused to write even a single word on the topic!” Professor Kettleburn shakes his head. “Truly such a shame. He had a perfect record before this. With that, he might’ve had a chance at an internship with Newt Scamander himself!”

Remus stares at him wide-eyed. “He got detention, ruined his perfect record, missed out on a rare opportunity... because he refused to write negatively on Lycanthropes?” He asks in a small voice.

Professor Kettleburn tilts his head. “Are you alright, Mr Lupin? You look a bit pale.”

“I’m fine,” Remus manages to say while his head is spinning. “I just... need a moment. Thank you, professor, you’ve been very helpful. Now, please excuse me.”

The moment Sirius steps into the dorm late in the day, looking tired and weary, Remus tackles him into a firm hug.

Sirius tenses up for a moment out of surprise, then he lets out a deep breath. “Ah, professor Kettleburn told you.”

“You should’ve told me!” Remus says, looking up at him.

Sirius gives him an apologetic look. “You know I don’t like you being confronted with those bogus things the world says about you.”

Remus huffs. “I’d rather be mad at the world than be mad at you. You’re more important.”

“More important than the world?” Sirius asks with a smile.

“Shut up,” Remus says, only hugging him tighter.

“I’m grateful,” Remus says, as he and Sirius are lying on Remus’ bed to talk, on their sides facing each other. “But really, you didn’t have to do all that.”

“Ah, yes,” Sirius sighs dramatically. “Not doing my homework was such a sacrifice for me.”

Remus chuckles and gives Sirius a playful shove. “Shut it. You didn’t get to go to Hogsmeade as well, and I know you missed out on a possible opportunity at an internship with Scamander himself.”

Sirius shrugs. “It was a long shot anyway. Though I am very sorry about missing our weekend.”

“There’ll be other weekends next year,” Remus replies, regretting how he had been trying to make Sirius feel guilty about it before.

“Yeah,” Sirius replies. “But since I heard that Prongs blew his nose in Madam Puddifoot’s antique thousand-year-old embroidered napkin, and she turned his hair pink and chased him out of her café, I doubt Prongs will have a date again next weekend, or well, ever.”

“Oh, Prongsie,” Remus groans, pressing his face against his pillow. “So next time we’ll probably won’t have a second chance at a Hogsmeade weekend with just the two of us?”

“Well, I was thinking,” Sirius says, reaching out and taking Remus’ hand in his. “If we want a do-over and go with just the two of us, we could tell the others that next time, we are having a date?”

Remus’ heart almost beats out of his chest, and his stomach flutters in anticipation. “Just telling them, or...?”

“Or we could make it an actual date?” Sirius asks, sounding a bit breathless. “If you’d like?”

“Yes,” Remus replies, squeezing Sirius’ hand. “Yes, I’d like that very much!”

(I've always liked Sirius as a Healer (to-be), but I also love the idea of him being super good with animals! I think it rather fits. Being an Animagus, his friendships with Crookshanks and Buckbeak (and Hippogriffs are notoriously difficult), and getting tropical birds to deliver his letters)

[r0-boat]

Happy Halloween!!!

The final part to the oc special

Blood Lust

Vampire!Sterling x Reader x plague/mad doctor Human!Zero

This is an OC x reader

Smut below

Cw: blood drinking,alittle bit of blood play, yandere, knife play, drugged/and drugging, aphrodisiac, syringe, needles, mentions of cutting you open, doctor/patient relationship, biting, name calling

Afab gn! Reader

any pronouns regarding the reader is they/them, anything that isn't, is a typo and not intended

" set t-em on t-e t-b-e,"

Your brain tries hard to focus as you slowly wake up, your head pounding, A figure above you and a blinding light was the only thing in your dizzying vision.

"mak- s-re the bin-ings -re tight, t-ey should be waking up soon, I'm almost finished with the concoction."

the man's voice felt familiar.... however it was so hard to think you couldn't place your finger on where you heard it before.

" Doctor, they're waking up." Another voice spoke.

You saw the man above you glowing green eyes framed with glasses and light brown hair. Your eyes met giving you a small smile. He also seems familiar but you can't remember where. It's so hard to think with whatever is in your system clouding your mind You struggled weakly against the binds but you were unable to move. Sterling couldn't help but chuckle at your attempt,

"Good, this means the injection wasn't to much."

The Voice's owner turned around to face you the man wore a black full-length lab coat, black gloves with a black beaked mask.

"Hello dear,"

He purrs making his way towards you. His gloved hands caress your cheek. Before grabbing your chin and tilting your head left and right. He was so close, Inspecting you as if you were under a microscope. The black of the mask made it difficult to see whoever was inside.

"My, what a wonderful specimen you are~ if I had it my way, you would be all mine too -."

" Focus doctor!" The man next to you snarled,

The masked man clicked his tongue in annoyance, that his 'playtime' got interrupted so prematurely. before going to retrieve something from the counter a syringe. No matter there will be plenty of times to play later. " Make sure they don't try anything this will keep them compliant, by the time the old drug wears off they will be too... "preoccupied."

Sterling makes you focus on him as the doctor holding your arm straight too disinfect the area and readying the needle.

" I missed you baby doll...The look of fear on your face... Mmm~ I can hear the blood pumping from your veins as your heart rate begins to pick up; I want to taste it," he whispered, pressing his lips on his lips felt weirdly soft. You found yourself slowly melting into the kiss as his tongue invaded your mouth, only to winch when fangs pierced your lip ever so gently you couldn't help but let out a small squeak. But Sterling immediately swallows any sound with his mouth, not wanting to be caught by the doctor. His fingers dig into your jaw as he laps up the red liquid.

Before he could do anymore he forces himself to pull away panting, pupils blown, your blood was sweet, oh how he dreamed of tasting you like this. He hungers for more but for now he must keep his composure.

"There we go~" the doctor heard before turning around noticing your bleeding lip. His words caught in his throat as pure rage began to bubble at the blemish that wasn't his on your lips; Sterling could only smirk.

" Couldn't even control yourself for a moment... Huh?... Fine... I'll let it that one slide" he growls as he begins to remove your clothing with a sharp tool.

Sterling could only roll his eyes.

Your clothes peel away carefully taking his time ripping at the cloth to get it fully off you. His eyes lighting up at the sight of your naked body.

That was when you fully realize that was happening struggling a little more trying to voice your discomfort.

"P-please... No"

The doctor presses his finger to your lips. "Shush, I'm doing this for you, for us. Be good"

He ran his thumb over your abused bloody lip affectionately before returning to his "work," feeling your body with his fingers gently tracing over every line, and every curve, cooing at every marking, big or small. He couldn't help but wonder how the inside of you would be like. Will your organs be just as pure and beautiful as the outside of you?

You shiver ever feeling the cold air against your skin and the colder leather touching your warm body.

Sterling couldn't keep his hands from you, fingers gliding through your locks of hair. He bends down to steal your attention once again; his green eyes shine in the dimly lit room as he puts your hair to his lips.

" you can't keep me from them for long doctor. Remember our agreement. I can just as easily take them from you, keep them all to myself" he smirked.

The doctor grips the scalpel in his hand; it was to be expected he can't have everything he wanted...

"Fine, but they will never love you as much as they love me"

Sterling purred pressing his lips against your neck giving you light kisses as the man at your waist begins removing your pants, murmuring to himself.

You feel a faint warmth every time their touch would leave your skin. It was intoxicating and left you wanting more, especially the way Sterling's tongue felt against your neck before sinking his fangs into your skin once again. Clawed hands entangled your hair holding you still as he feasts. He hungers for more, but if he takes too much, he can never forgive himself.

You flinch at the cold leather as the doctor rubs himself against your thigh slowly taking off the tattered remains of what once was your pants. He coos at the sight of your soaking panties.

" so good~, such a good patience; the drug is taking effect... does it feel good, my dear?" He purrs tracing a finger around your clothed entrance.

Sterling finally removed himself from your neck, losing himself in your sweet taste; however, he can't bear to part from your body as he goes for your chest.The vampire groans sinking his teeth into your skin once again... the drug in your body is starting to affect him as well; his ice-cold body starts to feel warmer, and his pants become uncomfortably tight.

Sterling goes in for another kiss instead of having more of your delicious blood. He tastes you. His tongue darts into your mouth, mingling with yours, with the metallic taste of blood on his tongue making you shudder as he kisses you again and again. you feel the warmth starting to pool in your core. "S-sir, p-please! You whimper against him feeling a sensation penetrating your even though your attention was fully on the vampire in front of you, you couldn't help but roll your hips. Sterling broke the kiss from your moment " remember dear, my name is Oliver, my dear; call me by my name when I make you mine." He says it just low enough for only you to hear

pressing your lips back against his and kissing him, moving with him. The doctor glare from a distance, why must he always steal your attention from him?! The vampire is tasting your lips while he plays with yours your mom's getting swallowed as you buck into his fingers...

... he could steal your attention with his tongue on you, fulfilling the desire he's always dreamed of...but his identity... If You escape he couldn't-

"Oliver~" your sweet moans of another man's name snap him to a decision

" oh to hell with this mask!" He says pulling it off revealing his black hair in a ponytail. Pulling off his glasses throwing them on the counter forgotten.

Zero lets out a dreamy chuckle before diving into your cunt. Tongue lulling out to taste as much of your cunt as possible

Your eyes roll back feeling Zero's aggressive licking and sucking. Everything felt like Liquid Fire on your skin you can help with buck your hips aggressively grinding your soaked cunt against his face

Zero swore he felt your cunt clench around his tongue when your eyes met his for Split Second before squeezing them shut.

Did you remember?? Did you realize that the man who kidnapped you was your doctor? Did you know how many times he came home just to fist his cock after so much just seeing you during a checkup??

Zero grips your thighs licking you more vigorously. Pulling away for only a moment to pull his glove off with his teeth. You moan, feeling Zero's tongue on your clit, pressing down and licking before sucking on the throbbing bud. Fingers slowly push you open once again.

"Dear, your so wet"

Oliver cusses under his breath, his hand sliding in his pants. He knows your squeals aren't for him, but he can't help himself. You sound so good, and you taste so good.

You probably don't remember..

Whatever it was that was in your system was strong even getting little bits of it from your blood is making him feel hot and bothered.

He could never forget the night he couldn't stop thinking about you. On that third day to everything so perfect. You felt so warm when you pressed your body against his when the two of you slow danced. He did most of the work while you followed along. It was hard to control himself smelling so sweet and mear centimeters in front of him. he'll forever regrets not taking you on his living room floor when it was just the two of you. Sterling couldn't wait he needed you now!

"Mm! Close! Please!" You cry. Zero moaned in response. Removing his mouth from your clit and returning to your pussy, picking up his pace, eager to taste your creaming cunt on his tongue. Using his fingers to spread your lips open wider for him to dive deeper, his nose bumping against your clit.

That did it. Sterling swallowed your squeals once again exploding on Zero's tongue. The doctor's eyebrows furrowed, eagerly lapping up all of your delicious juices.

When Zero finally pulled away, he looked down at his work, your hot body covered in sweat, Hearts practically in your eyes as you begged for him to come back on your cunt. No more fear, only lust and an eagerness to please. Yes, the aphrodisiac worked wonders... you have been so good, and you will continue to be good for now. And who is he not to reward good behavior? He caresses your legs, peppering your thighs with kisses. Soft lips tickled your skin, making his way up to your lower stomach. Zero nuzzles his face against your perfect thighs, looking at you with such love and pure obsession.

Zero grabs the key from his coat pocket, unlocking the cuffs that bound you to the table.

Sterling feeling his buzz, quickly takes off his pants. "Mine!" He snarls, picking you up with ease. You've already made them cum," I want to be inside of them, right. now!"

Sterling manhandes you until he has you exactly where he wants you helplessly over the table at his mercy. You could say nothing but babble; you move your hips against him, shuddering as you feel his bulge brush against your warm wet folds whimpering as you remember the feel of the doctor's tongue. You crave more.

"Please? Please, sir? I need it!" You look back at Sterling, looking so filthy with your cunt on display for him... Sterling should correct you on his name, but the way that word rolled off your tongue made him throb.

Sterling does not bear to wait for a second longer, practically his shirt ripping off with ease. Before doing the same fumbling with his pants

Zero Grits his teeth watching Sterling unbuckle himself.He will not stand by and hear you moan another mans name while he takes your pussy.

Zero pulled off his robes before stepping in front of you. He forced your mouth open with one hand, thumb pressing on your tongue " be my good patience and take my cock in your mouth."

His patient practically drooled, watching his cock Twitch in front of you; you did not hesitate. Taking his entire shaft in your mouth, savoring its taste swerving your tongue around the head. Zero grinds his hips matching the pace of your bobbing.

Sterling tries to be gentle with you, starting with slow and shallow thrusts. but the way you keep pressing your rear back into him. Eager to every vein of his cock sliding against your velvet walls, almost as if you wanted to be violently fucked while you hungrily gulp down Zero's cock.

And who is he to not give you what you want?

Sterling slowly pulls out just a slam himself back in. Your muffled squeals are music to his ears while it gets forced down your throat. Making you choke on cock. Zero's eyes roll back, hand gripping your hair as he starts to move. Enjoying the way your tight throat squeezes around his shaft. Sterling and Zero were big, but regardless they made you take every inch, using you for their own pleasure.

It wasn't before long until the lewd slapping of skin, your moans, and the rattling of the table filled the room. The vampire loses control of his animalistic desires. Wanting, no needing to cum inside as deep as he could to mark you as his on the inside.

Sterling moves to turn you on your side, one leg over his shoulders. Zero, not opposed to this new angle, followed suit, his hand on your neck to feel your throat bulge with his cock.

His brows furrow burying his head against your leg as he pounds into your poor cunt. He opens his mouth only to let out nothing.

Sterling grabs at your butt before smacking it hard, almost cumming right then and there when your walls clenched around him oh, you're so close, you're so close again. He could feel it; he was close too.

"Close! Gonna cum, be a good pet and cum "

You feel his fangs graze against your leg his eyes shine a vibrant green,

" cum with me! Tighten your slutty mortal cunt and milk me!"

The vampire let's out an inhuman noise sinking his fangs deep into your leg, his palm coming down on your cunt with a loud wet snacks making you shake as you cum all over him. His mouth fills with your delicious sweet blood one last time as he fills you with his vampiric seed.

"Good pet, such a good lover~"

Sterling's pants coming down from their high, slowly pulling his softening cock out of you.

Immediately Zero does the same taking his cock out of her mouth.

"Mine, finally mine!"

The doctor says, picking up your little body and laying it on the table as he crawls on top of you

" you've had your fill now vampire. Leave us..."

Sterling narrowed his eyes retrieving his glasses,he could never have enough of you... and besides he would never leave you alone with another person that desired you as much as he did.

" oh doctor I'm not done with them yet... I'll let you have your fun..."

He says laying on the counter watching the two of you intently.

Zero grid his teeth trying to ignore his new watcher.

" don't pay attention to him sweetheart, just focus on me only me"

He picks up a test tube filled with the same liquid he injected you with, download the glass before kissing you.

" I've spent months training the perfect aphrodisiac and it worked on you perfectly, you are so nice and obedience now it's my turn. scream for me my dear"

Your legs were folded over his shoulders coming down into you the metal table shaking as he loses control.

The serum affected him immediately as he mated with you like an animal. Balls slapping hard against your ass, trying to go faster and deeper, wanting more and more with each thrust.

Your doctor spowded everything mindlessly, babbling about all his urges, the times he snuck into your house, and how much he came before and after seeing you because he was just so excited to. How long he planned this kidnapping and how much cum he's been saving just to dump it all into you.

You are too fuck drunk to register anything just focusing on the way his dick kissed your G-spot over and over.

"Y-you like that? I spent so long trying to laugh out your body and finding ways to give you the best pleasure you where soo cute sleeping on the examination table!"

He fucked you with Reckless abandon as he got closer and closer. Your cunt tightens around him as you cum again finally; Zero leaves down, silencing your lips into a deep, devouring kisses.

Nothing matters anymore! It doesn't matter if he tells you your his now. He already has you in his basement that you're here; he could finally turn this into a livable home for you. Oh-!

it's all for you. it's all for you. it's all for you!

His whole body Shakes his orgasm hits him hard. But he couldn't compel himself to stop still fucking you through his orgasm.

These men were hardly done the night was still young after all.

With aphrodisiac still in his veins the doctor shamelessly rubbed himself against your thigh cooing for more of your affection. Sterling eyes relit with Hunger makes his way to you.

The vampire wasn't going to let you go so easily he wouldn't let the doctor have you even after his agreement. But for now he will play nice...

Maybe you should have never gone out this Halloween.

[jinkicake]

Sigh, back at it again😔 okay so hear me out; my fav thing is to like subvert popular fandom tropes bc everyone is wrong and I’m right. Like no Venti isn’t your uwu little blushy bottom boy he’s a god who can and will fuck you in his church on the altar and nobody will stop him🥰 so the chaotic switch Venti has grabbed me by the neck and will it let go and I’m just imagining everyone else, back to my (toxic) ex boyfriend Xiao propaganda I imagine like in your head your like “ lmao this man has not had ass in like 4 centuries imma Rock his world” and like 20 mins in you have to tap out and ask for a water beak and he’s like 🙄 is that all? Like you gotta train like your training for a marathon to fuck Xiao like even when he’s not all rough and animalistic, he’s just attacking all your weak spots at once, truly feel like he could have you suck his dick while he does like paperwork (in a modern Au) and he wouldn’t flinch like he has the best poker face ever so you gotta throw him off his rhythm 👀 itto I actually hc as bad at sex and it’s funny asf bc someone made like a tweet about it that and I’m like??? Your absolutely right!! He cums so quick but bc oni blood he can do it as many times until your satisfied and he tries rly hard to please you so it’s fun to tease him and his dick is huge so by default he’s already better than most, only time I will allow him to destroy someone’s insides is when he’s in heat and can’t think straight, gorou my beloved; he’s a whole war general like he’s killed people and seen his friends die same as kazuha there’s no way this man don’t know about sex.. HES A DOG! Like he in my eyes is a switch leaning bottom bc hehe funny god man have sensitive ears but if you tease him too much he will have to put you in your place, starts talking all sharp and serious likes he giving orders to his recruits and it’s a lil scary, and next to him kazuha , idk what I want from him exactly bc I do like mr steal yo girl I can make you cum without even using more than 2 fingers but also would like to tie him op🤔 he to me feels like a bag of tricks like he’s always a surprise, like he seems like a calm quiet poetry boy but he’s literally so unhinged like in the last summer event w everyone he body slams a delusional man to get him to come to his senses and every one is like😰 and done even get me started in his mirage,,,,, yeah that is not a good boy for even when we meet him in the quest he such a little shit!! “ you fight well” and telling the dude who stole the dead vision that he was gunna break his fingers???? Even paimon was like?? Ayo why we going so fucking fast??😭 he just be saying shit to throw people off!! Like him and Beido always got this “ flirting but not really but we have a secret that we can’t tell you but we gon talk about you infront of you” vibe going on like the way they speak?? Yeah I would not be surprised if you ended up in some back room on the ship at night w both of them bc they always scheming 😒 albedo my beloved melanin challenged man💕 he’s just like his twin so I feel like whole he wants to act all soft and romantic he will get scary if you test him or if he gets stressed enough, def the type to hit sore spots when you argue that’s like okay see I wanted to fuck you bc your hot when mad but imma punch you now🔪 definitely does everything w passion and romancing in mind. Would not be surprised in the slightest if he read books on flirting like noelle did in her hangout thing💀 mf is in that lab watching romcoms!! When I frost got into the game I was like he is never beating the weirdo allegations bc I always see him and trying to do some kind of experiment on someone like??? You can literally ask me like lmao I’m down you don’t gotta be sneaky unless it’s crazy

no, i agree that everything you say is right, nothing can prove that wrong!!!!!

but yes.... people always soften venti and it's like,,,,, come on.... come on!!! are we talking about the same venti? it's all a front he puts on to fool and distract everyone! i know he is crazy!!!! (.... i like crazy and reckless venti, hes the fucking free archon like?!)

AND I NEED YOU TO SPEAK LOUDER ON XIAO BECAUSE EXACTLY, EXACTLY. He's sometimes written as someone who doesn't know shit about pleasing a bitch and it's like LOOK AT HIM... LOOK AT HIM!!! Xiao knows exactly what to do and he can go for DAYS while doing it.... my heart is racing just thinking about it!!! I love toxic ex bf xiao!

itto is a himbo (that is my one cliche trope idc idc) so yes he cums in two seconds but can go for hours on end... I agree i agree!!! speaking of gorou,,, i love a good itto gorou ship,,, there i said it!

also yes kazuha would be insane bc it's always the quiet ones that surpise you the most!! the mention of beidou and kazuha just reminded me of how i literally ship anyone w everyone like itto sara the whole enemies to lovers is fun and theyre hot together- i could ship xiao w a fucking rock if i thought they were fun together omg

albedo.... i could do a thinkpiece on him truly- i just love the quiet psychos!!!! not that he's really a psycho but he could be! like his unleashed power that's supposed to destroy ****** ,,, wow..... just wow! but about his experiments.... i wouldnt hate them HAH YEAH I would read some good yandere albedo performing experiments on the reader..... it sounds fUN

[sugar-quilled]

when stars align

a/n: this is fluff wrapped in unnecessary plot. my bad.

summary: star gazing date

genre: fluff

word count: 1.8k

pronouns: she/her

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

Spring came very suddenly this year. Many students had feared that there wouldn't be sunny weather to look forward to after exams ended, but the clouds parted on the last day, and there was a great hurrying to the castle grounds and enjoy a well deserved break. Quite a few students had taken to soaring around the Quidditch pitch, throwing around a Quaffle and chatting about summer plans. As you made your way out to the courtyard, absolutely determined to forget about the entirety of your Astrology exam, a very handsome owl came swooping down from a tree nearby to land on your shoulder. You quickly accepted the very small square of parchment clamped in its beak, and recognized it as Draco's eagle owl. You smiled at the bird, gave it a quick pet on the head, and turned the parchment piece around. In very tidy writing, it read:

Meet me at the courtyard? 8 pm. Send an answer back - Draco

"Date night?" a voice behind you said. You swung around to see Daphne Evergreen's eyes peering over your unoccupied shoulder and grinned.

"Seems like you know the answer to that question already, Daph."

"Sure do. Will you let me do your hair? I saw a Ravenclaw with a really beautiful half up half down kind of look and it'll really be gorgeous on you. Pity I could never pull it off."

"Don't lie to yourself," you said, swinging your bag off your shoulder, "bangs do grow out you know. And yes, absolutely." The owl readjusted its footing and tugged on your hair, as if telling you that it didn't have all day to listen to two girls talk. You walked quickly off the path, said goodbye to Daphne with the promise of meeting her in the dormitory in a few minutes, and dug around your school bag for a quill and ink. Unscrewing the bottle, you sat down on the grass and wrote back,

Answer is yes, pretty boy.

Draco's owl immediately snatched the parchment out of your hand, and took off towards the owlery.

time skip to 7:50

"Daphne you're brushing too hard," you muttered as she tugged forcefully on your hair. You two had been planning your outfit for about 4 hours now, taking a 30 minute break at 5 to shovel down perhaps the fastest dinner you had ever eaten and running right back up to the dormitory.

"I've never ever seen your hair with this many knots. Have you been crawling around some underbrush? There's a twig in here. How could you have possibly gotten a twig in your hair?"

"I don't know? Maybe it was Draco's ow- OW! Daphne, please, my head's attached to the other end of those strands! Couldn't you just use some Sleekeazy's? There should be a bottle in my drawer."

"NO! It'll ruin your natural waves!" she cried, frantic. "It's 7:52 already! You're due in 8 minutes! And we've still got earrings to choose and you didn't say which shoes yet!"

"I'll do without earrings! And I thought I said the oxfords were fine!" you answered, tears welling up in the corners of your eyes as Daphne tugged harder still.

"Hang on, just give me one second, I'm nearly there, you've just got this big lump that I've been trying to get through this past half hour."

With the hardest tug yet, Daphne undid the knot, pulling out quite a few hairs in the process, and let out a very tired cheer. You stood up straight and turned back at her.

"Okay, well you've got your top," she said, dropping the brush and moving forward to tuck the black scoop neck into your jeans, "jeans, necklace looks fine, hair looks gorgeous, and do you want to borrow my purse? It'll fit th-"

"Daphne I'm just going to the courtyard! What do I need a bloody purse for?" You half-yelled, massaging a very sore spot on the back of your head.

"You're right, you're right," Daphne said as you stepped into your oxfords, "well then off you go! It's 7:56, you've got plenty of time. Tell me all about it when you get back!"

"Yes, of course. Bye, Daphne!" You shouted, already half-way out the door.

The trip out to the courtyard seemingly took less than a minute, but in your hurried state, there was no way you counted the seconds properly. It was almost completely empty, with only two or three pairs of students still playing gobstones. You spotted Draco, and immediately felt a rosy color creep over your cheeks.

Draco was wearing a white button down and some neatly pressed black pants, an attire that looked suspiciously like his school uniform without a cloak. No complaints were had though, as he looked impossibly handsome.

A large, grayish green picnic blanket had been set down on the floor. Several puffy pillows had been layered down on top of it, alongside a very big, very fluffy blanket.

He turned around, a very expensive looking bouquet of flowers in hand, and gave you a quick smile before striding towards you, wrapping his arms around your waist, and pressing a tender kiss to your forehead.

You blushed and placed a kiss below his jawline before entwining your hand in his. He gestured towards the blanket—"after you, dear"—and the two of you sat down.

"This set up looks lovely, Draco" you said, readjusting to face him.

"I'm glad you're impressed by my effort" he replied, handing you the bouquet. It was a darling little thing of daisies, baby's breath, and lavender. Pixie dust sparkled on each flower. "I'm sure you want to know what I have planned for today?"

You leaned closer to him, and answered mockingly, "What is it dear Draco? Do tell me!"

"Star gazing."

You leaned back and and noticed a small telescope placed beside a pillow to your right. Knowing his absolute disdain for Astrology, you smiled. "Why the sudden change in interest?"

He rolled his eyes. "It's supposed to be romantic. And anyways, stars are pretty when they aren't for analyzing. Come here, the sun's about to set." He pulled you fully onto his lap, facing away from him, and wrapped his arms around your shoulders.

The sky was indeed dimming, brilliant strokes of orange turned pink, then purple, and finally gave way to an inky night sky. You had settled very comfortably, head against his chest, as his chin rested on the top of your head. The big blanket covered you both, and as you sat up, reaching towards the telescope to get a closer look at what seemed to be Scorpius, a very sharp "Malfoy!" startled the both of you. Professor McGonagall was storming towards you.

"What do you two think you're doing? It's nearly a quarter past ten and I feel the need to remind you that that is past your curfew. 5 points from Slytherin, and you best both be hurrying back to your dormitories."

Completely abandoning the picnic things and apologizing briefly to McGonagall, you two ran back towards the Slytherin common room, slowing only when you reached a familiar stone wall.

"Serpentine," you muttered to the wall, which then rumbled and shifted so that a corridor that lead to the common room appeared. As you walked down the passage, you thanked Draco for the flowers and date.

"It did get cut short, but it was very enjoyable. Thank you for planning it." You gave him a smile, a peck on the cheek, and made to turn for the girls' dormitories, but Draco grabbed your hand and was dragging you towards the boys'.

"Dray, what are you doing?" You hissed, "Goyle, Crabbe, Theo, and Blaise are probably sleeping by now."

Draco looked back at you with a signature smirk and continued to drag you up the stairs, leaving you with no choice but to follow.

He opened the door to his dormitory to show it completely empty.

"They've got detention today. Convenient."

"Draco! You gave them detention?"

"Well, I didn't really give them detention, I just gave them the opportunity to be given det-"

"Alright, alright," you muttered, coming to the conclusion that one nights' worth of detention for the boys couldn't be that bad. You drew open the curtains next to Draco's bed, revealing a tall, arched window and the starry night sky, framed like a painting behind the glass.

"This view is incredible," you breathed, snuggling into Draco's bed, which smelt like cologne and mint, resting your head against the headboard, and watching Draco rest himself beside you and lay his head on your chest. He turned so that you both were facing the window, and then wrapped his arms securely around you. One hand tangled in his hair, the other resting on his lower back, you turned to look at the stars with him.

Each was dotted with precision into the inky background, looking nothing like a nature of the universe and everything like a craftsman's work of art. You'd heard so many people marvel at those that shone brighter, more captivating to the eye, but to you, it was the small little specks that were worth more. They filled the gaps that the larger ones couldn't, and made the skies irregular and breathtakingly beautiful. Stars move, so that no night sky is ever the same as the previous, and maybe it was that Draco was by your side, but no combination of stars had ever presented such a beautiful picture before.

"Draco, you see those four stars? How they're in a line?"

Draco looked up sleepily at the window, muttering "pretty" before slumping down again.

"Prettier than me?" You laughed, pushing a few strands of hair off his forehead.

"Nothing's prettier than you, baby, you know that." He muttered drowsily, rolling onto his back so that he could look straight up at you.

You leaned over and brushed the tip of your nose against his. He hummed softly in response and wrapped two arms around your neck, bringing you into a kiss.

"I love you," you whispered after breaking away, shifting yourself out from under Draco so that you two were now eye to eye.

He pulled you onto his chest. "I love you too baby. And I'll get you another bouquet tomorrow since todays' is probably wilting as we speak."

You giggled softly, and with the promise of, you both promptly fell asleep.

pov switch

When Goyle, Crabbe, Theo, and Blaise entered their dormitory after two hours worth of scrubbing the floor, they found Draco entwined with a certain girl, her hand in his hair, his wrapping her close and snug against his chest. The curtains next to Draco's bed were still drawn open, so that the uncountable stars winked down at the couple. The boys knew better than to wake them up, so Goyle drew the drapes around the four poster closed, and they headed off to bed.

[helena-thessaloniki]

Eren, and that f*cking white bird

Okaaaaay so, here’s an absolutely nonsensical, self-indulgent crack fic alternate scene for you all. Inspired by this comment from Slutty Pennywise @a-slut-for-smut​ that made me scream, fall out of my chair, and laugh for five! minutes! straight.

Babes, you’re a genius and despite what you say, I think you’d make an excellent writer. This comment is proof of it. Hope you enjoy this nonsense. 🖤

Lord, please forgive me. Eremika sympathizers, do not read this. Rated T. Unedited. Content Warning: description of thoughts on animal abuse/cruelty and foul language. Without further ado:

Levi lifts his chin, ignoring the hammering of his pulse, the desperate need to take a deeper breath.  “You don’t like it.”

Her lids flutter, surprised, but then Levi watches the defensive arching of her taut shoulders, the half-curl of her free hand forming into a fist. The hand holding the necklace grips tighter, her knuckles turning white. 

“That’s not it,” Mikasa says carefully, chewing her bottom lip. Her tepidness is dissolved by the time she releases it. “I love it, Levi. It’s perfect. Growing up, I… I imagined a house— a home— like this one. And by the end of the war, after everything we went through; a place like this, this freedom, this peace… it’s all I wanted.”

He can tell she means every word that she says, the same as he can tell there’s still more she is reluctant to say. Mikasa takes in the vaulted pine ceilings, the grand open floor plan, the oil-painting worthy view of the coast from the front windows. It’s not that she’s been unseeing, Levi realizes. It’s that she’s seeing something he cannot. Like she’s seeing ghosts. 

Mikasa turns back to him, openly distraught. “It’s everything I’ve wanted, but it’s… it’s not—...” 

Her words are wrecked with grief. Her watery, washed-out gray irises are drenched with it. A grief viscously different but no less despondent than others he’s witnessed from her. 

It’s not… 

Waiting for the rest of her words is like standing next in line at the gallows. Levi waits, the quicksand no longer just beneath his feet, but filling into all four chambers of his heart. 

Mikasa tries and fails to finish the sentiment. She looks everywhere around the room, at her boxes, at the enormous front windows, at the fireplace in the adjacent living room, at the staircase leading to the upstairs rooms, but not to him. She looks everywhere except to him. 

There’s only silence between them, a horrible, throbbing sort of silence. It stretches on, tense and endless, until a seagull cries in the distance. A sharp, abrasive shriek that instantly spikes Levi’s agitation. 

Retired or not, soldiers’ instincts kick in. Both Levi and Mikasa turn toward the avian cry, intently focused on the interruption. The window they search appears empty at first, but the second Levi blinks, planning to turn away from it, the gull comes into view. 

No ordinary gull, the bird is a large, white creature, its plume of feathers spread out so majestically, Levi has to blink twice to be sure he’s seeing it right. The bird all but floats down onto the windowsill, it’s tail feathers arched toward them to bow down. 

What a pompous, stupid-ass little fucker bird, Levi thinks first. 

But when he glances at Mikasa, her distraught eyes widened by recognition, another thought registers. Eren. 

A cold, heavy reality settles over Levi. When the understanding comes to him, it's the noose tightened around his neck. It isn’t ghosts that Mikasa is seeing; it’s a Ghost. 

It’s not who she wanted, Levi suddenly understands. That’s what she meant to say: It’s everything I wanted, but it’s not who I wanted it to be with.

Levi glares at the pompous, stupid-ass little fucker bird, and the pompous, stupid-ass little fucker bird glares right back. It’s black, beady eyes are eerily reminiscent of a flash of green during youthful cries for vengeance. Eren’s ghost lingers beneath those white plumes. And Levi knows, in that moment, Mikasa isn’t the only one being haunted. 

He stands there, stone-still, not at a desperate loss, but with a dismal certainty. Even from the grave, Eren has managed to cockblock him. 

The gull cries out again, a shrill, stomach-curdling wail, and Levi can almost hear it’s demands. For Titans to be destroyed, all of them wiped out from their world. I’ll kill all of them, the bird shrieks. Every last one of them!

If only the loud-mouthed brat had been half as passionate about the woman who loved him. 

Levi can’t help but wonder. Can he roundhouse kick the little fucker bird off the windowsill just like he did to Jaeger in the courtroom? While he fantasizes, Mikasa sighs, forcing her teary-eyed gaze from the white bird. 

She looks as though she’s about to speak, but before she does, Levi interrupts. 

“Alright,” he says, carefully if not coldly. “I see.” 

Mikasa’s owlish blink is more than just weary, but he doesn’t have the ability to focus on it. 

Levi looks at her like she’s a collapsing house of cards. A deck he shuffled and a hand he dealt to himself. The precarious arrangement made possible by his stubborn refusal to acknowledge its inevitable outcome: they were built to fold inward and fall apart.

“See what?” Her confusion is laced with an edge of warning, a question as much as a threat. 

Levi plans to ignore her warning. The harsh words are about to fly out, but then the seagull cries, once, twice, thrice. It wails, repeatedly, and every muscle in Levi’s body twitches with the impulsive need to launch forward and snap the little fucker bird’s neck.

“What the fu…,” Mikasa mutters, shock quickly turning into agitation. “What is wrong with that thing?”

Levi huffs. “Tch.”

What wasn’t wrong with Eren? He’s about to answer, a bitter retort on the tip of his tongue, when the little fucker bird cranes its neck all the way to the side, appraising him. Levi narrows his eyes, bracing himself for whatever it does next. His battle-scarred hands clench into fists, itching to get a hold of the avian cockblocker. 

Mikasa takes a hesitant step toward it. “Maybe it’s hurt?”

“Maybe it’s stupi--” 

The gull launches itself face first into the window, its frantic beak darting against the glass pane with wild impatience. Despite connecting with the glass, it continues to throw itself forward, squalling again. Its cries become so viciously, obnoxiously loud, Levi has to push his fists into his side to stop from covering his ears. 

“I’m going to throttle it,” he announces, projecting over the whining gull.  

Mikasa takes a hurried step forward. “No, no, you can’t.”

“Why not?” Levi throws another lethal glare at the bird, unwilling to sympathize with it. “The little fucker is just going to kill itself first.”

Mikasa tries to approach the bird on the window, but it's cries become more despondent, it’s thrashing more haphazard. The white bird squalls so loudly at her nearing approach, she has to jump back. 

“Walls,” Mikasa swears, frowning. “Well..., maybe we should put it out of its misery.”

Levi almost sighs aloud in relief. “Yes, we should.” 

The words are barely out of his mouth before she’s brandishing a knife, pulling the weapon out from God-knows-where with God-like speed. 

She is Godlike. Strong and perfect, beautiful and fierce. Her dark hair falls in messy, sensual waves, her clothes still half-wet from her recent swim. They cling onto her figure, displaying every curve, and he’s reminded of what’s beneath them. How she feels when his hands take violent hold of her, how she arches while he glides his tongue up, over, and in her. The glint of steel flashes at her side, an expert hold on the knife between her anything-but-delicate hands, hands that have pushed through his hair, roamed over his chest, took confident hold of his coc—

“Levi,” she says, amused. 

He looks up to her face, surprised at the dark glimmer of mischief and lust in her eyes. Only a moment before, she’d been upset. 

“What?” he asks. Realizing how hoarse he sounds, he subtly clears his throat. 

She gestures to his waist, with a feline grin and mewl of breathless laughter that tells him exactly what he’ll find before he even looks down to check.

Watching Mikasa Ackerman pull a knife out on the bird in Eren’s image has given him a hard-on.

“Hmm. This turns you on,” Mikasa acknowledges slowly, smiling wickedly. 

Levi is shameless. He reaches down to readjust himself better in his pants, unblinking while he meets her gaze. “Yes. Yes, it does.”

She tightens her hold on the knife, lips parting, and drops her focus onto his hand’s familiar hold on the bulge beneath his pants. She’d rather be holding him.

“Oh,” she breathes. If the gull is still shrieking, neither of them hear it. “Well then. What do you want me to do about it?” 

Mikasa lifts the knife, twirling it deliberately with one hand, and waits for his reply. 

Levi decides not to remove his hand now that he’s finished readjusting. Instead, he grips himself harder. 

“I want,” Levi starts, low and guttural, “... I want you to kill that pompous, stupid-ass little fucker bird.”

Mikasa hums briefly, a moan of approval, and bites down onto her bottom lip. “Gladly.” 

[remmushound]

Toddler Mutant Ninja Turtles, chapter 1; Hall of Science! @brightlotusmoon @selfindulgenz @scentedcandlecryptid

They were running. Silent feet pounding on stone and impressive forms guiding them over the gaps between rooftops fast enough to disappear between blinks. Like shadows, completely unseen, the brothers raced to the location of their next mission.

“Can I get another runthrough, Don?” Raphael called to his brother as they glided side by side, looking to each other mid-jump.

Donatello didn't need to pay attention to where he was going; his body was so used to the nightly activity that his feet guided him even as his mind was focused on other subjects. He tapped the band on his wrist to bring up a map of New York that immediately settled on his location and the path they would have to take to arrive at their destination; naturally, being the only one with such tech, and as second oldest, he took point with Raphael.

“There’s been a recent string of robberies in every major museum and science building in a hundred block radius. Just the normal stuff: jewels, gems, priceless artifacts, experimental technology—anything worth a pretty penny really.”

“And we’re sure this is our kinda thing?” Leonardo asked; for stamina, the turtle was not built, so already he was panting and coated in a heavy layer of sweat. Still, he was able to keep up quite easily with his brothers. “We do mutants and we do Foot Clan, we don’t do petty robbers.”

“With their MO, I am 99.8 percent certain this is a new mutant.” Donatello reported.

“And what MO would that be?” Raphael questioned.

Donatello cleared his throat and closed his eyes, sticking a finger in the air to annunciate himself as he spoke. “They break in without any clear entry or exit points, door and windows locked and intact, and no security cams or security sensors can seem to pick up on when the attacks occurred. And, most incriminating, they leave behind nothing but a water trail.”

Michelangelo whistled. “Did Piebald go all dark side? Can’t she do all that?”

“I don’t know Michael.” Donatello admitted, “But we’re about to find out. I’ve figured out a pattern in the places they’re targeting and I have a pretty good idea of where we can catch them in the act.”

Raphael nodded and gave an approving grunt. “Then let’s put a hustle on it!”

The journey was an easy and short one. They came onto the roof of the museum and, while they split up at Raphael’s order to find a way into the building, Leonardo took the chance to read the sign.

“New York Hall of Science?�� Leonardo scrunched up his beak.

Michelangelo hummed and put his hand on his hip; he had just found a way in through the vent shaft. “Are you sure this is a mission and not just a Donnie field trip?”

Donatello’s lips curled down and he put a hand to his chest. “I reel at the actuation! Gasp! I, the respectable and beloved green mutant lad I am, would never ever do anything like that, never in a million years!” Wild hand gestures enunciated his dramatics. “This is purely professional!”

Michelangelo rolled his eyes. “I found a way in!” He pointed to the vent shaft and was easily able to pry the cover, tossing it aside and going to climb in.

Raphael was there before Michelangelo could do much more than put a foot in, grabbing his baby brother by the shell to pull him out and plop him back down on the safety of the roof.

“Leader goes first!” Raphael declared proudly. Then he immediately melted into soft coos and kneeled beside Michelangelo, pinching the box turtle's cheeks and rubbing his head, “I can’t have my baby brother getting hurt can I?”

He stood up again and gave the seething Michelangelo a final pat on the shoulder before jumping into the vents without a care as to where they led. Michelangelo tried to follow after, but he was forced back by sharp nudges from Leonardo and Donatello as they side-checked him before ducking inside. Michelangelo was the last one in the vents and the last one out.

The brothers fell one by one from the vent shaft, landing with solid, yet muffled thumps as the stealth mode drilled into them took over. The building was completely dark, but that was expected given the fact it was long after hours and the security guards and workers had all gone home for the night.

“Nice.” Leonardo whistled, eyes going white as they scanned across the dark room. “Now this is more my style!”

The museum, despite its namesake, didn't much resemble a museum as it did an indoor playground. There were several exhibits quartered off with rope and chains; a rocket ride that resembled a better, cooler version of a coin-operated horse, a trampoline with a harness attached to a bungee cord, several displays showing off depictions of the solar system or sand dollars you could dig for in a sand pit or a small chemical set for little experiments. It was like something straight out of a child's imagination! Michelangelo had to rub his eyes several times just to be sure he was actually seeing it.

Donatello stepped in front of the awed group and gave a bow before motioning widely to the room. “Welcome, dear brothers, to the greatest place on earth if you happen to be a science child! Ohhh I’ve always wanted to come here!” Donatello practically melted, his eyes shimmering with the child-like wonder as he leaned his full weight on his bo staff. He sucked in a shaky gasp and one of his spider arms deployed to offer him a tissue. “It’s so beautiful.”

“I guess.” Raphael laughed, smiling at the sight of his brother happy as could be. “But I don’t really see how this fits our thief's MO…”

“Allow me to elaborate!” Donatello declared, spinning on his heels to face his brothers again as he threw purple sparkles into the air, “This museum of wonder and extravagance will be displaying the illusive and highly controversial trillion-sided die in their Math-mania exhibit this Saturday eve! School children from all over with come to marvel as this beautiful piece of scientific—“

“Woah woah woah, trillion-sided die?” Leonardo interrupted, fixing Donatello with his ‘I don’t believe you’ eyes, “That sounds totally made up!”

Donatello gasped as if Leonardo’s words were a personal affront. “I assure you the trillion-sided die is a hundred percent, genuine marvel of the world—“

“How could there be a trillion sides?” Leonardo asked, “Who counted all them sides!”

“T...they clearly had a highly advanced expert to prove—“

“Another question,” Leonardo raised his hand, “How big is the die? It’s gotta be pretty big to have a trillion sides.”

“I… It’s a… it’s just a regular sized die!”

“Then are the sides all like… really small or… or how did they do that?” Leonardo leaned against a wall and smirked.

Michelangelo was quickly growling bored with the argument and his eyes began to wander, searching for some movement or stimulation to keep his mind happy. What he found instead was a wet spot on the floor, and once he saw it, it was impossible to unsee it. It was like someone had been carrying a bucket full of water with the bottom full of holes, dripping it all the way through the walkway and then around a bend and out of sight.

“Guys—!” Michelangelo tried to get their attention. He was met with a finger pressed to his lips to silence him.

“Shush, Angelo. Big boys are talking!”

Michelangelo’s hands became fists and he growled. If he had been in a cartoon, steam would have poured out of his ears! But before he could try again to call their attention, Leonardo had jumped forward, leaning his entire weight on Michelangelo’s head to point.

“Hey look! A water trail!”

Raphael came over grinning. “Good job Leo! Great find!”

“Oh come on!” Michelangelo groaned loudly.

[dancingthesambaa]

The Smell of Plum Blossom Tea Ch 8

Summary: Just like a butterfly wing, a single act of kindness can change the course of the future, it certainly did for MK as a black-furred monkey put out a hand towards him

Rating: Teen and up

Chapter 8: One By One

It’s been over a few weeks since the whole Bull King invasion and things have been pretty peaceful. The city has slowly begun to rebuild itself and people have steadily begun to go back to their day to day lives.

If there's one thing he can appreciate about society is that they always will keep going even when everything around them has been destroyed.

Macaque's own workload has finally eased up, the hospital didn’t anticipate that many wounded in that short span and wasn’t able to gather the materials. So, he has gotten calls from both Yanyu and some of the higher ups in the field for his assistance.

“This has been a pain in the ass,” he grumbled as he sat down on the couch with his cup of tea. “I really shouldn’t have let them off so easily for the fuckton of work they put on me.” His was then twitched as he heard a familiar/strange set of feet dashing their way towards him.

“Dad!” He sees his son, who had his jacket tied around his waist and staff nowhere in sight, smiles widely as he leaps to him and gives him a big hug, “it’s been so long!”

“Hey kiddo,” he was taken momentarily off guard by the hug, but smiled down at him as he petted his hair. “How was work?”

“Oh I didn’t go, someone is taking care of that,” he happily stated as he still held on tight.

Macaque blinked for a moment before he gave a small chuckle, “oh, is that so, well I was about to read and relax, you want to join?”

“Can you read out loud?” He cheerfully asked as he got himself comfortable on the couch as he laid down.

“Of course.”

“Yay!”

So Macaque began to tell the story of a blind girl and how she stood strong in the face of adversity and ridicule. He was in the middle of the part where the girl denies the deity gift of giving her sight when he heard the door slam open wide.

“Stay away from my Dad!/Don't worry old man, we're here!” MK and Mei respectively shouted out as they both held staff and sword out to fight the battle ahead, only to falter as they took in the scene of Mac sitting quite comfortably on the couch, while another MK laid on his lap with a content smile. “Uhhhh.”

“Took you long enough,” he said with amusement, “I was almost about to send a clone out to you myself.”

“Huh?”

“What? You don’t think I can’t tell a clone apart from my son?” He smirked as he patted the clone ahead, the only response was cuddling closer to him.

“You know?!” MK yelled out as he walked forward, still a bit cautious after his encounters with the rest of his clones.

He only raised an eyebrow as he showed off his shadow clone.

“Oooh, yeah that makes sense.”

“How come he didn’t attack you!” Mei threw her hands up in frustration. “I mean, come on! I had to deal with Portay MK and you have Mr. Cuddle Bug?!”

“Attack, Pfft yeah that's what usually happens during the first duplicate trials,” he said as he laid his book down.

“I’m sorry what?” MK has put away the staff at this point as he tried to sit next to his Dad, only to forget that the space was currently occupied by another him. He stared down at the clone laying in his spot then the clone looked up at him and just turned around and faced away from him.

“No,” was all he said as the next moment the clone disappeared and there sat the real MK with a wide grin, “so what was that about the trials?”

The six eared monkey raised an eyebrow at his son's actions as Mei wheezed in the background, “well usually when someone is learning the clone technique most of the time the clones would try to attack the user to prove their authority or their sense of identity.”

“That is actually terrifying,” he deadpanned.

“I thought you already knew this?” He questioned his son, who suddenly blushed.

“Well I may have accidentally learned I can do this,” he scratched the back of his neck as he laid on his Dad's lap.

“And you decided to test it out despite not knowing the consequences,” he sighed as he examined his son hair which was now sporting some very uneven ends and patches, “you even messed up your hair cause of this, I thought I taught you to not mess with magic unless you have me or someone competent in the arts.”

“I know, I know, but I just wanted some sleep and quiet!” He moaned out as he let the furry hands caress the knots and tangles in his hair, “I didn’t think it would lead up to this.”

“That’s how they all start,” he snorted as he felt Mei sit on his other side and lay on his shoulder, “so why don’t you tell me how this all began and tell me a bit more about your training with Wukong. I haven’t heard back on how that’s been going.”

“Training with the Monkey King is amazing!” He lit up as he talked all about his sessions.

Macaque silently listened to his son ramble on about his training sessions with Wukong and boy did that still send him reeling.

He still can’t believe that this is happening, that in all of these strange currents of events, Wukong actually made his son his successor. He still doesn't know how to feel about that cause, on one hand, damn straight his child can lift the staff no one has ever been able to before, he is so proud that he accomplished the impossible that mere words still can’t explain it. But on the other hand, Wukong recklessly decided to choose his son to be his successor despite his many enemies, does that idiot not comprehend the target he just placed on his back.

‘I swear I have half the mind to go up there and knock him silly for his complete ignorance…though how everything goes after that is the only thing that’s stopping me,’ Mac internally thought. ‘Who knows how he would react if I show up unannounced…probably would be just the sequel of our last fight,’ he bitterly thought. He has long accepted that his former friend probably wanted nothing to do with him anymore if they ever saw each other again.

“And then he goes on about how one must never- are you even paying attention?!” MK's voice broke out of his thoughts.

“Yeah I am, you were just talking about how your swings are easily blockable.”

“They are not that bad,” he huffed.

“You swing too wide comet/You hit like it’s a baseball bat,” both demon and teenager said.

“Okay, I may have a small issue.”

“And that’s why you're training,” he said as he took his hands out of his hair when he began to yawn.

“Yeah I know,” he sleepily said as he closed his eyes.

‘At least he is enjoying himself,’ he then focused his attention on Mei, who was also dozing off and began to groom her hair as well.

“Is that the best you got flame brain,” Daiyu cackled out as she flew higher in the air and dodged the fireball, “I met imps who were stronger than that-shit!” She felt a sharp pain explode from her back.

“Don’t you dare think you can outmatch me, little bird!” Red Son cockily stated as he twisted one of her wings and the two began to a downward spiral. “I have fought monsters thrice the size of you and remained victorious!”

“Not today's string bean!” She squawked out as she flips on her back as the two were falling so that the fire demon could break her fall.

It was a tense stand off as neither side gave in even when they were free falling, it was only when they were ten feet away from the ground did he jump off her. He hoped that this would have worked and broken a few of her bones, but alas it didn’t as she caught herself just before and stopped herself.

“Tch,” he clicked his tongue in agitation as he went in for another strike for her wings, only to get batted off.

“Ha, ain’t fooling me again Flicker! Or maybe that candle on your head is finally reaching its end!” She went for his neck only to get buffed by his hand grabbing her beak.

“I’ll show you who's reaching their end once I burn you into a fiery crisp that not even your brethren would want to feast upon!” He tried to keep her in his hold as he lit up, but she managed to kick free of his grasp.

“Ha! I like to see you try! My shithead brothers and sisters would eat everything and I’m not even counting the chicks that just hatched!” She flew up high and prepared for a dive bomb.

“Let’s find out!” His entire body began to lit up in flames as his eyes bore into her.

“They seem to be having fun,” Bohai said as he lazily watched them.

“Two people who like the thrill of the battle going at it, of course, they like this shit,” Minsheng scoffed as they laid down, “at least they're not doing battles to the death anymore, that usually gets bloody way too fast.”

“And leaves me having to deal with their injured asses,” Macaque grumbled as he petted the infant monkey's head.

“Your friends,” the jellyfish pointed out.

“I was forced into this,” he stated.

“And we’re still here,” the rabbit demon grinned.

“Unfortunately.”

MK and Mei, on the other hand, still couldn’t believe their eyes as they continued to see the arrogant demon that was trying to kill them happily fighting. Well the fight part not really, but the happy thing was a bit out of left field. They had walked into the sounds of fighting and, while still being very cautious as they remembered Mac and Ahmed's last fight, quietly tried to investigate what was happening. So to see this scene was a little jarring once they realized that the two were simply sparring with each other.

“Huh, I have to say this is the quickest redemption arc I have ever seen,” Mei mused, “not even a month ago he was trying to kill us and now he is all buddy buddy with Dad and his friends.”

“To be fair, I think they mentioned him before,” MK said.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” the said monkey popped in, “I have. I actually have known him longer than the both of you. His family sometimes would stop by for some items from time to time.”

“Huh, well that’s honestly not that big of a shock,” Mei pouted as they watched Red Son finally pin the vulture demon down.

“I told you, you can’t beat me! For I am Red Son, prince to the esteemed Demon Bull King and the mighty Princess Iron Fan!” He maniacally laughed.

“You're a prince!” He was startled out of it when two voices reached over to him.

“Indeed I am! Who dares step forward and-,” he stops himself mid sentence when he sees noodle boy and biker girl familiar faces. His face drops, “oh it’s you two.”

“Like I knew DBK was your dad and all, but it never occurred to me that you would be a prince with, well you know,” Mei hummed out.

“With what?” He growled the last bit out.

“With you being a reckless, two-bit side character that likes to leap before they walk,” she bluntly said.

“I am no mere Side Character!” He bowled out as his hair flame intensified.

“Aren’t you though?”

“I’m not”

“But you can be, like how I can totally be one as well.”

“I am no mere side character,” he spat out, “I am the antagonist that stands against the hero path! I am the flame of destruction that threatens to consume all! I am the prince of the feared and mighty who takes pride in oneself and all that they do!”

“…okay but aren’t some villains side characters?” She couldn’t help it, she was having way too much fun at this point.

“I AM NOT A SIDE CHARACTER!”

“I feel like we have gotten meta somewhere,” MK muttered out and then walked forward before Mei could say anything that would trigger the raging flame demon anymore. “Hi! I know we didn’t really introduce ourselves after…that, but I’m MK and she's Mei.”

“…Red Son,” he eyed the smiling boy in front of him, “and I already knew who you are, your father talks much about the two of you.”

“Awwww, fluffy head does,” Mei cooed as she turned to face Macaque, who was resolutely not looking in their direction.

“Wait, if you knew who we were, why did you attack?” The Monkie Kid couldn’t help but ask.

Surprising the both of them, the prince blushed a bit out of embarrassment as he muttered out, “I didn’t know it was the two of you in the first place.”

“How?!” Mei sputtered out. “Like we were probably screaming each other's names so many times?!”

“No! You peasants were just screaming! Nothing short of a name has ever come up in the middle of it all!”

“Wait-so that’s why you called me Noodle boy?”

“Noodle boy?” She snorted.

“Your biker girl,” he hissed out.

“Biker girl…hmm not that bad actually,” she put her hand under her chin, “though did you seriously just come up with that because of what we were doing?”

“Yes,” the demon unashamedly said.

Both humans looked at one another before they both laughed wildly.

“Hahaha! Holy shit, you are such a dork,” the dragon girl clutched her stomach.

“By the Gods, that is kinda adorable,” the monkey's successor was pounding his fist on the ground.

“I am neither a dork nor adorable!” The Bull prince roared out as he marched over to them in fury. “Take that back!”

“NEVER!”

“And thus the start of a beautiful friendship,” Macaque couldn’t help but say as the demon began to chase the two around.

“Yeah, I worked my back off for it,” Daiyu grumbled as she finally got off the ground from where Red Son was pinning her down. “That whole time I just wanted to throttle him at them just so I could feel my wings again.”

“Don’t worry, your wings have some use finally,” Minsheng couldn’t help but say.

Daiyu promptly smacked her wings against their head.

“What do you mean disappeared?” Mei asked MK when he rushed inside their super secret base.

“All I know is that they were shopping and now I can’t contact nor find either one of them!” MK freaked out as he gripped his staff. “What if they're in trouble?”

“Take a deep breath MK,” Sandy rubbed the human back, “we don’t know that, their phones could simply be out of batteries or they got lost talking to each other.”

“Even though they’ll never admit it,” he said.

“Exactly, but the shop isn’t open!”

That drew out sharp gasps as now they began to panic.

“He has never not opened his store before!” Sandy shouted as he gripped his hair.

“I think he’s been kidnapped!” MK screamed in agreement.

“I immediately fear the worst!”

Mei rushed over to one of the screens and began to type in a few things and up on the screen appeared both people talking to a lady.

“They haven’t been carted away to treacherous territories,” the giant sighed in relief.

“Oh thank god they're still shopping,” MK sagged in relief as he saw this, “wait Mei what is this?”

“I had cameras placed on all of you and you said this was creepy,” she has already lost her brother once, that was not about to happen again.

“That still is.”

“Oh look now they're following that nice lady, see they're just fine,” Sandy inputted as they watched the two slowly follow the woman shrouded in black when suddenly there was a trap that opened underneath them, “AH! I was wrong! I was wrong! This is bad! This is very bad!”

“Nightmare hole!” The twenty year old screamed out as Mei's eyes widened in shock, “what happened?”

“It looks like?” She began to enhance and zoom into the blurred picture and when it became clear it showed an eight legged spider lady standing above them all.

“A spider demon! Come on! No! Ew! Yuck! I do not want to mess with spiders of any kind! I hate spiders! Hate, hate, hate spiders! With their beady eyes and their creepy wiggly legs and their gross butt!”

“MK, right now that spider demon has our friends so you know what that means,” Sandy pumped them up. “It’s Operation save Pigsy and Tang from the Nightmare Hole!”

“Yeah!” Both teens pumped their fists in the air along with the cat.

“Should we call Macaque for backup,” Sandy asked as he started up the engine.

“Nope!” MK quickly said before Mei could, “we can do this on our own!”

MK slowly began to back away as the Spider demon loomed over him menacingly. She had managed to capture Sandy and Mei as well and only he was the last one standing. “I regret everything I said.”

“Aww, don’t tell me you're scared of spiders!” She said as she stepped into the light then that faint tickling in the back of his head finally eased up at the full reveal.

“Wait? I know you!” His jaw dropped as he saw just exactly who was standing in front of him.

“What?” They all shouted even Spider Queen who was stunned out of sheer confusion.

“No wonder you look familiar! Daiyu talks about you all the time,” MK stated as he lost some of his fear at the relief of finally knowing why she seemed so familiar.

Though as his fear was momentarily suppressed the Spider Queen was not as she blanched at the name, “you know Daiyu!”

“Oh yeah, she has a bone to pick with you after you ripped her off, she said something about wanting to pluck the meat off of your corpse after she gets done beating you to a pulp or something like that.”

“I am now concerned by that statement,” Pigsy said.

“Oh don’t worry, she’s a vulture demon,” Mei happily responded.

“That does not make it better.”

“Does for me sweetheart,” Tang smiled, “it makes sense for a vulture to go for a corpse because they are cartoons. It’s actually quite fascinating-,”

“Tang I love you, but please don’t say that as we’re currently being tied up like a lamb ready for the slaughter,” Pigsy begged.

“…what?”

The pig and human eyes widened at what both said, but luckily they didn’t have to say anything as the Spider Queen roared in rage.

“I may be a slicker, but I ain’t no sham when it comes to my silk! Tell that chicken legged, deep fried coward that I will personally send her down under if she even instigates that I would do that!” She roared in rage as she stood tall in MK, who promptly got scared once more as he realized what he just said.

“MK run!” Pigsy yelled out.

“Don’t need to tell me twice!” MK slid between the Spider Queen legs and he began to book it.

“Get back here little monkey boy!”

“I feel like I should tell Daiyu where Spider Queen has been hiding,” MK mused as they floated along the ocean.

“As long as I’m there, I really want to see her explode in fury before the bloodbath happens,” Mei snorted as she laid across the top.

“You know, I sometimes worry about you,” Pigsy looked at the young lady at that statement.

“Fuzz butt says that too.”

“Shouldn’t you listen to your doctor?”

“Shouldn’t you listen to what you said back at the cave, don’t you think just because we were tied up doesn’t mean I don’t have ears,” she teased as Sandy nodded.

“Wait, what happened?” MK looked at both of them in confusion.

Sandy leaned over and whispered what happened and the boy's eyes widened and sparkled with glee. “Ohohoho!”

“It was the slip of a tongue,” Tang said as he pushed up his glasses in nervousness. “Nothing more.”

“Yeah, what he said, just a slip of the tongue,” Pigsy twisted his hands.

“Some slip, some would say that it almost sounded like,” the twenty year old girl leaned in with a mischievous glint in her eyes, “an old married couple would say to one another.”

“WE ARE NOT A COUPLE!” They both shouted and they shared glances at each other only to catch a view of their red faces and promptly turn to face away from them.

“If you say so,” she backed off with her hands up.

“And we say so,” the pig crossed his arms.

“Very much so,” Tang copied.

Both Sandy and MK were in the background holding back their laughs as they could barely keep it together.

MK woke up to the shake of an earthquake and his whole world feeling off balance.

At first, he wrote this off as the aftermath of the earthquake as he quickly got ready for work as he prayed Pigsy doesn’t fire him. But as he walked down the street with his drink in hand he still couldn't help, but felt his whole world was just off balance, like everything was just missing a beat or so, it was the weirdest feeling.

“Maybe I just banged my head too hard, should probably ask Dad to check in case,” he muttered in his straw as he was about to yell out when he saw Mei standing in the middle of the road. “Mei, I’m glad you’re here!”

“Yes I am right here,” she grinned widely, “and what’s this about calling your Dad?”

“I don’t know if I have a concussion or something else, but something seems really off and I can’t put my finger on what,” he groaned.

“It’s nothing, just relax. Today is all about you.”

“Aren’t you usually the one who usually tells me to call him if things are getting too sticky to handle?” MK questioned as that off balance feeling was coming in full force.

“I am?” He could almost see her face contort for a brief moment before going back to her previous creepy grin, “I mean I am! But he’s probably busy doing stuff sweetie.”

“Sweetie,” he looked at her in pure disgust.

“I mean dear friend,” he never thought someone could grin that wide.

“Even when he’s in the middle of making medicine he always answers,” at this point he has begun to back up from Mei. He did not like just how off this whole thing was and it wasn’t helping that the crowd was just watching them.

“Don’t worry,” she ominously said, “I’m sure…”

“Macaque,” he supplied as he quickly got into position to bolt out of there as soon as he had the chance. This was definitely not Mei!

“Right Macaque will be just-!” Not just Mei, but the entire crowd of people's heads snapped towards MK.

“Did you just say Macaque!” They all yelled out.

“Yeah?!?” He was now more than freaking out as he looked for possible exits, he was not about to stay here a moment longer if he could. But then his whole world began to fade away as he saw the people just shake their heads and arms as they seem to glitch out.

“Nope, nuh uh, F this! Plan is officially done! Do not collect after Go! Finish!” He blinked his eyes as he saw that he was now in a shack and standing in front of him was a blue and orange demon. The blue one was just holding a jar of some kind, while the orange one was speaking.

“Done! Capital D.O.N.E! Done!”

“I think he gets it Jin,” the blue demon said.

“Well excuse me for being freaked out about this! Why aren’t you freaking out about this?!”

“Oh I am, one moment,” he said as he carefully put down the jar, “there we go….We freaking messed up so bad!” The demon began to panic, “like this is going to the top thirty bad.”

“Fucckkk!” Jin said as he gripped his hair.

“What is going on?!” MK yelled out his frustration as he collected the staff and kept a tight grip on it. “Who are you?!”

The two demons paused their freak out as they both dramatically posed.

“I am Jin!” The orange demon jumped up.

“And I am Yin!” The blue demon bowed low.

“And together,” they both said in sync as Jin landed on top of Yin back, “we are the Gold/Silver and Silver/Gold demons!”

There was a silence as both parties looked at each other before both brothers then began to fight over the name.

“It’s Gold and Silver nitwit!”

“No, it's Silver and Gold half bake!”

“Seriously, what is going on and why am I here?” He reiterated his point as that got the two to stop fighting.

“We heard about the great Monkie kid and knew he would be a worthy adversary,” Yin stated as he crossed his arms.

“Yes, so after our cunning plan we called out to you and you foolishly,” they both pointed to him, “answered.”

“…I was delivering noodles of course I was gonna answer,” his eyes twitched at the sheer ridiculousness of this.

“But you still answered and fell right into our plan to use you for our nefarious purposes!” Gin dramatically laughed.

“Until we knew that you were the Six Eared Macaque kid,” Yin added.

“Yeah before that,” he stopped his laughter, “we know we’re certifiably insane, but we ain’t stupid.”

“Yeah, we know better than to try to mess with what’s Macaque, I heard the last demon who tried that was tormented by him for a hundred days,” the blue demon shivered.

“I heard he once pulled the inside out of another demon just because he was having a bad day.”

“Well I heard he took on and defeated an entire army so that he could pass by.”

“I heard that he can suck some demon body and soul into a cursed item and make them fight for him.”

“Oh that one’s true,” MK butted in as at this point he sat down as he realized that they were not even a threat, just very amusing.

Both of them shivered as they looked at him in horror, “wait really!?”

“Yep!”

“Check that rumor off as being real,” Jin groaned as Yin held out a rather large book.

“Already on it.”

“What’s that?” MK asked.

“Oh it’s just a book with basically any rumors we happen to come across,” Yin proudly showed off, “most of them are probably not true, but it is amusing to hear. Like this one, it’s rumored that the Demon Bull King lost his horn after he insulted a deity and it broke off from sheer embarrassment after she had slapped him silly for a couple of hours.”

“Snrk!” He let out a sputter at the sheer ridiculousness.

“The Celestial Heavens is actually a conspiracy used to hide the good alcohol, cause if that shit was freely given the whole world would be gone.”

“Pffffft!”

“That we are actually all standing on a hand right now, but we just can’t see it.”

“Hahahaha!” MK let it out as he clutched his stomach. “These sound so stupid!”

“I know right!” Jin grinned, “that’s why we record them, cause they sound just so dumb!”

“They really do,” the Monkie kid said as he got his laughter back in control and sat back up, “so you're not gonna try to capture me again?”

“Like we said before, Monkey King is one thing, but we ain’t messing with Macaque. If you think Monkey King has a grudge, you should see that trickster when he really has time to think and plan on revenge,” the orange demon said.

“Ain’t nobody gonna get in his way,” the blue demon finished.

“Good!” He should probably ask about all his Dad’s revenge stories sometimes, he knows they would be good ones then a thought occurred to him as he scrunched up his nose. “So, why did you have Mei call me sweetie?”

“Ask Jin,” he pointed to his brother.

“Well, I thought since you guys are childhood friends and all you have feelings for one another, you know, like in the books and all that,” he shrugged his shoulders.

“Crush?! On Mei?! Grosss!” He yelled out as he can almost feel himself puke at the thought, “Yuck! No! God no! She is basically my sister!”

“I told ya.”

“You didn’t tell me shit.”

“Don’t fucking cuss around kids,” Yin hissed out.

“Well you should shut your damn trap!” Jin snarled back.

“Least threatening villains ever,” MK muttered to himself, “Wait? Did you seriously try to invoke the childhood friends trope? Like in romance novels?”

“Yeah!” Jin proudly stated.

“You read romance books?”

“You don’t? They are the best kinds of books with all the drama that surrounds them, the clashing of emotions, the tightly packed metaphors that can be placed in one paragraph to describe someone’s eyes. It's simply awesome! Have you read them?”

“Not really,” he admitted.

“I can give you some recommendations! Then we can-”

“Nope,” Yin drew his brother back, “we are not about to have a repeat of last time. Remember how you burned down the bookstore?”

“They deserve it for saying Ballad of the Desert was overrated,” he growled out.

“True, but we were supposed to be on the down low after nicking off with some bastard goods, I did not like having to run around with the gang on our asses, so we are leaving,” he deadpanned.

“Fineee!” He groaned out as the two suddenly stood upright and raised their hands. “We will meet again one day, Monkie Kid!” Then they threw down what was in their hands and a plume of smoke appeared in their spots.

“Bleh,” he waved the air around him as he heard a laugh and turned around to see them in the street.

“Hahaha! We’re the greatest tricksters!” Gin said with his arms crossed once more.

“Ever! Also please don’t tell Macaque about us trying to capture you! Thank you, bye!” Yin finished as the two disappeared in a flash of smoke for the final time.

MK could only stare at the empty space in pure shock as he tried to process just what happened.

“…I’m just gonna go back to the shop,” he gave up as he begrudgingly walked back to his car.

[a-simple-imagine]

Griffy

Synopsis: Charlie has a surprise for you

Pairing: Charlie Weasley x fem!reader

Words: 1.8k

A/N - Another story featuring my favourite dragon boi!! It’s just fluff but I enjoyed writing it.

Warnings - mentions of danger

The sun beamed brightly in the clear blue sky casting a brilliant warm glow over the two of you. Your eyes hidden behind Charlie Weasley's hands as he leads you forward as carefully as possible; you'd almost fallen many times but you appreciated that he had managed to save you each time. "Where are we going?" You request. The sound of leaves and twigs crunch under your feet, giving away your location.

"It's a surprise," he says ever so softly into your ear. You don't like surprises; not from Charlie anyway they were always... a little too much.

"This doesn't have anything to do with dragons does it?" An uneasy groan emits from your throat as you slow to a halt. You had a very bad feeling about this.

Are you ready?" No, but you nod anyway just wanting to get this over with. "Are you sure-"

Taking hold of his wrists, you remove his hands bringing you face to face with a terrible size. With wide eyes, you scramble backwards only to fall into Charlie. He always seemed to be there to catch you. "That's a..." It had the front legs, wings, and head of an eagle paired with the hind legs and tail of a horse. It was mahogany brown and very big. You swallow hard, you've never been too good with animals. You've read many books about them but they could never prepare you for the real thing. "A Hippogriff."

"So what do you think?" Charlie runs a reassuring hand up and down your arm in a slow but steady rhythm. "Pretty cool right? His name is Griffy the Hippogriff."

"Griffy?"

Charlie chuckles lowly, "don't judge- I let Ginny pick the name."

"Ah," it was only now, you realised you were still in his warm embrace and heat immediately rushed to your cheeks. Standing up a little straighter, you brush yourself off. "I... I don't know what to say."

"Do you wanna pet him?"

You shake your head rapidly. He was joking, right? "Absolutely not! I'm not going anywhere near that beast."

"He's really quite gentle."

Your eyes drift to the razor-sharp talons on its front legs; they could definitely do some major damage and you wanted absolutely nothing to do with them. "That thing could kill me." You turn to look at him as his smile begins to fade. Well now you felt kind of bad; he seemed so excited before. With a heavy sigh, you turn back to the Hippogriff.  "So what do I have to do?"

"Hmm?"

"I wanna pet him," it was rather hard to ignore the claws though. "I just don't want to offend him."

With a giddy smile on full display, he strides over to the half-bird creature. "I'll show you okay? It's really simple and he likes me." He declares proudly. Charlie may be obsessed with Dragons but he was also good with other animals too. You found his charming smile and passionate personality rather easy to warm up to so you don't find it difficult to imagine that animals are drawn to him. "Hippogriffs are very proud-"

"Charlie, I've read books. I know all this just show me." You urge. Hippogriffs were very proud creatures and easily offended. You didn't want to get on the bad side of one for obvious reasons. It was also considered polite to let the Hippogriff make the first move.

"You just bow like so," his right arm rested against his stomach and he bowed towards the creature. It seemed rather silly but he knew more than you did. "If he bows back then you can pet him. If not? well, then I'll fix you right up. I know a lot of healing spells."

That didn't instil a lot of confidence. "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course."

The redhead stepped aside to give you some space. With a deep breath, you walk a little closer. It was huge and all your confidence drained out of your body as you mind wandered to the deep golden beak and the talons. It also had massive wings that could knock you over. And powerful back legs to kick you with. Charlie gives you a thumbs up as you look to him and then back. Lips curling into an unsure smile, you very slowly lower your head and bow towards the creature. It wasn't the most comfortable of positions and if you were being honest, it felt ridiculous to do but now you were almost too scared to move. It feels like you've been bowing forever but that could just be your nerves. You sneak a peak sharply, startling Griffy into a buck. He had looked big before but now he was like ten times worse. A high pitched screech filled the clearing. "Back away- now." But you remain completely frozen still bowing. The large thump of its front legs returning to the ground was a good sign, right? It had not attacked you. You find yourself too anxious to look up again until you hear Charlie's voice. "He can be a little grumpy."

"So he likes me?" Stealing a glance, the animal had now lowered its head in an elegant bow; one leg lifted into the air. He truly was a magnificent creature but still very intimidating. Standing up straight, you smile softly as you look to Charlie who is smiling ear to ear.

"You can stroke him now."

With shaky hands, you reach out cautiously until you feel soft feathers against your skin. It looked so small compared to the beast who now nuzzled against your palm. "He feels soft." You glance towards the boy that was now beside you, he offered a warm smile. The lightest shade of pink dusting his freckled cheeks as he looked upon you.

"They like to keep themselves well-groomed," He explains, brushing his hand through the feathers; accidentally bumping into you, he pulls his hand away. "So... he uh... should be willing to let you ride him now."

"What? No." You back away a little with wide eyes. "I think this is close enough."

"Come on, it'll be fun." His expression softened as he met your Y/E/C eyes. There was. Puppy dog charm to each of the Weasley's but Charlie had a way of just looking at you until you gave in.

"Charlie," You groan; attention returned to the hippogriff so you didn't have to look into those big pleading eyes anymore. "It's- I- cant! What if something happens?"

"Nothing will happen," His attempt to calm your nerves fell on death ears. This was insane. Charlie was insane. He climbs onto the back of the hippogriff, careful not to hit his massive wings; one hand held out just for you. "I promise." You hated the fact you were considering this but you want to keep him happy. You want to see his cheesy smile. Taking his hand, he helps you up onto the back of the animal. "Just hold on tight to me, okay? Griffy will not be happy if you pull out any of his feathers."

It wasn't so bad up here once you realised it was relatively safe. You didn't know exactly where to place your hands, it felt awkward grabbing onto him. The half-bird stepped forward and all awkwardness was thrown out the window as you latch onto the boy. "Maybe we shouldn't do this? It's safer on the ground."

"It'll be fine,"

Wings spread out wide startling you as it flaps a few times before beginning to run. You tighten your grip. The wind picks up; feeling brisk against your face which you bury into his shoulder. The running had stopped, that much you could tell and the sound of flapping wings indicated you were in the air however, you couldn't bring yourself to look. "I don't like this," it's a whisper to yourself more than anyone else.

"Open your eyes,"

You shake your head against him. "They're open. It's great. Can... we land now?"

"No, they're not," How could he possibly know that? "Just trust me, okay?" 

"Trust you," you repeat slowly. With a deep breath, you slowly open your eyes and your mouth drops. You were so high up that if you fell, you'd not be getting can up but it was spectacular. You dared not to let go of Charlie but you looked around yourself admiring the lush green fields and rolling hills. Massive lakes of water that shone a deep blue against the sunlight. You felt both sick with glee and fear of an untimely demise.

"This is... beautiful," you mumble quietly, grip tightening around Charlie as the Hippogriff turned sharply. "Utterly breathtaking."

"I told you," The happiness laced in his voice was pleasing to the ear. "I can take us back down if you still want to?"

"No," You reply sharply, your smile growing at the tiny buildings you spot below. "Can we stay up here a little longer."

"Of course," His laughter drifting with the wind.

"Do you do this a lot?" You wonder, finally relaxing around him; there was a hint of embarrassment behind your actions. Your grip must have felt like a vice.

"Not too often," He muses. "But it's not my first time. It's kinda like riding a broom."

It was nothing like riding a broom at least not in your experience then again you didn't like flying on a broom either.

"Explains why your head is always up in the clouds," You tease. You'd ruffle his hair if you weren't terrified of letting go. "It's... cute."

"Cute?"

"Mhmm," You hum. "We should head back,"

"Alright," The Hippogriffs wings stretch up and the next thing you know, your stomach drops as Griffy dives straight down. It almost felt like you were about to throw up and it's instinct to grab onto Charlie; hiding your embarrassment and fear literally behind his back. It felt like forever before you realised you'd finally returned to land and you couldn't get down fast enough. It felt so good to be on solid ground again even if you were feeling a little wobbly.

"Did you like my surprise?" Charlie asks as he slides down off Griffy's back.

"You're something else Charlie Weasley," It had been unexpected, you had to give the boy points for trying. It was a very unique surprise and in the end, it had been rather interesting. "but yeah it was pretty cool."

"I knew you'd like it," He takes your hand in his and while his next words had been spoken with as much confidence as he could muster, you couldn't help but notice he was blushing. "let's go eat- I'm starving."

Squeezing his hand gently, you nod a little. "Let's."

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs, “Animal Planet Hungry.”

You guys liked the last stuff, so here is some more.

“We have just had the opportunity to meet a real life alpha human in their den. Led by doctor krill, we have been able to touch one of these fascinating creatures and interact with him on some level, and now we are following him through his lair as he seems to have heard something. Look, he seems to have stopped.”

The camera crew pulls to a halt, and the group nearly trips over each other trying not to get to close to the human who begins to tilt his head this way and that as if listening to some sound. Dr krill moves forward to stand next to the human who grunts and hoots at him in the strange primitive language.

A moment later they begin walking again, and suddenly they can hear the sound of distant noises. It echoes badly in the microphone of their recording equipment, so it is difficult to tell what it actually is, but the closer they get, the more it sounds like human vocalizations, chaotic and loud, much louder than those that the human had made so far. Nervously they shift hiding behind the doctor and the alpha human who walks, relaxed at the front of the group.

The camera zooms in on his back highlighting the powerful way in which his shoulders move to match his body, and the surprising grace with which he balances upright as he moves down the hallway.

“Now doctor, can you tell us a little bit about the strange covering that human wears. I mean besides the Rundi and a few members of my own species who have adopted the style, they seem to be the only one who cover their bodies.”

Krill turned to look at them with a dark expression, “Well…. That is a status symbol. It has been tradition, since great antiquity of the humans, to wear ...” He leaned in close, “the skin of those animals they have hunted.”

There was a gasp around the circle as they stepped back staring at the human in shock and disgust.

“What is the human wearing now.” One of them squeaked pointing towards the fabric covering the human’s legs.

The doctor looked back at them, “Oh that, that is…. A Denim!” 

The camera crew recoiled in horror staring at the poor denim which had been fashioned into pants for the human to wear, “But that’s ot it.” That, “he pointed at the heavy brown material covering the human’s shoulders, that is a Polyurethane.” More quiet sniveling, whatever the creature HAD been, it must have been large and frightening o have a skin that thick, “And what is worse, the humans save the most savage for last, the greatest disonor to poor poor…. Cotton.”

“A cotton, what is a cotton.”

“It is used primarily as under-clothing next to their most unsanitary bits.” 

A chorus of ewing 

The human turned his head at the sound. The corners of his mouth pulled down in the direction of the doctor who looked back at him with a shrug. The human made a hissing noise at Krill who just waved him off, “Oh behave yourself, human.”

The little furry lines above the human's eyes raised, and then he did something most unsettling, he flashed the white’s of his eyes at Krill before rolling the colored part of the orb back into place. The group of them flinched at the expression, “What was that?”

“He is trying to communicate dominance to me, it is not working.”

The human let off a sharp burst of air from his nose and turned away with a strange shaking of his head.

They continued down the hallway, and the noises grew louder. It was definitely the sound of other humans, and there were more than one of them, which meant there was a group, and that thought was absolutely terrifying for most of the crew members who began to fall back behind afraid of what they were about to see.

The noise was close by now just ahead and around the corner. 

Ahead of them, the alpha was just about to step into the hallway, when a sudden eruption of whirling limbs and glittering white teeth roared around the corner. The human leaped back with incredible speed nearly tripping over the doctor who dodged out of the way. The crew members squealed in fright as the two humans went rolling past them locked together by their powerful limbs, both trying to pin the other to the floor.

leg s flailed and feet kicked nearly knocking a camera from someone’s hand.

The crew members  ran back up the hall in absolute terror.

“HEY BOTH OF YOU KNOCK IT OFF!” There was a sudden pause in the group as they turned.

“Get this on camera Damn it!” Mendex ordered from where he was hiding behind one of his cameramen. The camera is fumbled around for a bit and the screen shows mostly the floor and then a wild spinning as the hallway flies past and then is brought back into focus.

On the other end Krill stands between the two humans having pushed them apart.

The aliens watch in fascination as the humans stagger to their feet opposite each other with the doctor standing in the middle.

“Are you alright doctor!” Medex called, “Is everything ok. Are we safe?”

Dr. Krill looks up at them, “You are safe now. I have subdued the humans, though that was only their play fighting. If they were actually fighting I wouldn't have had such luck.”

“That was their play fighting.”

The two new humans looked down the hall at them one with hazel eyes and the other with a sort of honeyd amber. They hooted in confusion and looked over at the alpha. What ensued was a strange gibbering between the three of them punctuated by wild articulations of the arms and the face.

Teeth were flashed seemingly at every other second.

The speed at which they communicated nonverbally was fascinating.

Krill motioned them forward, “Now, come here come here. With the alpha protecting us, we should have no problem with the rest of the pack. This time he is only able to get the aliens halfway up the hall before completely giving up and allowing them to wait there.

“How did you do that.” One of the breathless cameramen asks.

“How did I do what?”

“How did you break them up…. Wasn’t that super dangerous.”

The doctor stand sup rather straight patting one of the humans on the leg. The two humans exchange a strange expression before going back to staring at krill, “That is for one simple reason, and that reason being the human social hierarchy. As i have said before, that over there is the alpha.” The human in question raised his head almost as if he was interested in what they had to say, “The alpha is the most important human on the crew and tells everyone else what to do, however there is a structure below him. I am what might be considered a beta in this category. The only human I let boss me around is the captain.”

One of the humans made a hooting noise, and the other three burst into fits of that strange revving noise showing their teeth at each other. The doctor looked over to glower at them, “Better keep your mouth shut, or I will make sure to order you another physical.” The humans stopped the noise they were making 

“If one of you had tried this, you likely would have been torn apart.”

More strange noises from the humans which was quickly silenced by a growl from the alpha.

“What were they doing Like why were they fighting, was it just play fighting, or was it something specific.”

The doctor stood there smiling, “Oh probably fighting each other for mating rights or something similar.”

The humans gurgled something towards the doctor crossing their upper limbs over their chests. 

Krill ignored them, “yes, it is often that the less desirable humans fight each other for dominance. In this case, these humans are very ugly, and so need to show their prowess through combat.” The chattering grew louder, and the alpha started up on that strange revving noise again.

One of the humans loomed over Krill form the side.

The crew shrunk back in concern, “Dr…..”

“Don't worry, they won’t hurt me. I am too valuable and high up in the social hierarchy to allow it.” The humans eventually backed off beginning with a deep rumbling in the back of their throats.

“Are there any times in which you find yourself worried for your safety, doctor?”

The little creature shrugged patting one of the humans on the leg. There was a short little back and forth between the alpha and the omegas, but eventually the creature lowered itself to allow the doctor access to it’s short spiky fur. He made a strange humming sound as Krill patted the top of it’s head.

Oh I am worried for myself every day…. “Mostly when the humans get hungry.” 

The alpha had moved a bit closer kneeling on the floor with Krill and the other human. The third joined suit so now Krill stood in a semi circle of humans patting one of them while he continued to speak. He prodded one of the humans, “Open your mouth.” The human made a strange expression at him, but he did it again until the human complied. The group of them stepped back a bit in disgust as the slimy interior was opened up to them.

“You of course now what teeth are. However, generally in the intergalactic community, teeth are made a different way, usually out of some sort of hard deposit built up in the mouth. Other species have beaks and use rough areas in their mouth to grind up their food. Humans on the other hand have a special set of bones in their skull, that is specifically designed to rip their way through the inside of the mouth and poke out. These white things right here, these teeth, are-”

“Bones!” Someone stammered, “They…. They rip their prey apart with sharpened bone… that grows in their mouths.”

“Thats…. That's hideously fascinating.” mendex said, from where he had ended up, still lurking behind his camera crew unintentionally, or perhaps very intentionally in the safest place in the group if the humans were to suddenly attack.

“And what is that?” Someone asked pointing back towards the human.

“Oh that, yeah that is a tentacle. Humans only have one in their mouth and it allows them to manipulate their food and make the strange vocalizations they have.”

“I wasn't aware that humans had tentacles.”

“Not tentacles A TENTACLE. The human mouth must remain wet at all times in order to digest their food. While most species start the digestion process in the stomach, if they do possess such an organ, humans begin the digestion process in the mouth with enzymes which begin the breakdown process, makes it easier for them to digest greater amounts of food, and food that is generally harder for other species to eat.”

“Wait, hold on…. You said you get worried when the humans are hungry…. Why is that?” 

The camera zoomed in on the humans. The alpha licks his lips wetting the skin with a layer of digestive slime. His eyes focus on the camera crew who can’t help but back away in a measure of concern.

The other humans look between each other and then turn their heads towards the crew. Their eyes are very still and very focused. Together the three of them fall into a sort of low crouch hungrily staring at the group of cowering aliens.

Krill glowers at the humans just as another one was licking their lips, “Well, Case in point. Now would probably be a good time to feed them.”

“What…. W-what do humans eat?” Cme a trembling voice from the back.

Doctor Krill patted his hungry humans on the leg, “Oh, I think the better question is…. What don’t they eat.”

Shuffling and nervous swallowing.

“Some humans will eat anything plants, fungus, non food items, but their most popular item of food, is o take another creature, skin it, dismember it, chop it into little pieces, and then light it on fire.” 

It was almost surprising that the camera crew didn’t pee themselves upon hearing that. 

As if to punctuate the point the final human licked their lips as if hungry for what the doctor was talking about. The other two humans were making some sort of ace at each other though it was hard to determine what it all meant. Out of all the species in the galaxy, humans have the most complex system of nonverbal cues. Facial expressions, while common in other species, are more prevalent in human society.

“Y-you have to be joking.” Someone peeped.

“He’s a Vrul they don’t joke.” Someone else whispered from behind 

Krill remained stoic, “Well what did you expect when you showed up here. Humans are known for being entirely insane, so why wouldn't they eat fiery dismembered corpses?’

[saferemercer]

Worthy

June 26th, Late Evening, After the Queen’s Gala

"There ya go lass, she's all set for yeh!" 

Safere glanced at the dwarf gryphon master, still holding the winning ticket in her hand. To the right of her, stood Snowbeak, the majestic, white Wildhammer gryphon she had just won in a high society raffle. The beast was immaculate; feathers shining in the moonlight, beak seemingly polished to a mirror sheen and talons sharp as adamantine steel. She was straight out of a storybook. 

Safere looked down at her rented tuxedo; a crab meat stain on her collar, one cufflink gone and her shoes having stepped in something grey and slimy. She didn’t want to think about that too much. All in all, she felt pretty damn foolish standing in front of this paragon of gryphon-kind, ready to take her as a mount. 

“So uh...you have any tips for how to...uh, care for her?” she asked. “I mean...I have another gryphon, but he’s older and kinda half-blind…”

The dwarf chuckled, unlatching the gryphon’s chains. “Oh, Snowbeak is ah’ feisty young lass, she’s gonna want ta’ fly around prettah’ often. You’ve got ah’ roost fer her, yeah?” 

Safere rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah...definitely,” she hoped. 

“Good, good. She needs tha’ best of care! You gala types can manage that, ah’m sure. You ah’ knight or ah’ cleric of some kind?” 

Safere rubbed her head, harder. “I’m...a...uh, protector.” 

“Protector! Ha, tha’ sounds good! Yeah, Snowbeak is fit fer the grandest of adventures. The soarin’ clouds, the tallest mountains, the greatest-” 

“I get it, I get it,” Safere said, through gritted teeth. “I’m...sure we’ll have a wonderful time together.” 

The dwarf shrugged and gave Snowbeak a final pat on the snout, before he opened the gate and led her out of the pen. Safere walked up to her, trembling just a little. She raised a hand and brought it down to touch her beak. The gryphon stared into her eyes, as she was touched. Safere swore she could sense a subtle disappointment in those eyes. She sighed. 

“I know, Snowbeak...we’ll...make this work,” Safere said, now starting to regret ever taking a raffle ticket. 

July 20th, Mid Evening, Crowsfield.

Snowbeak was screaming at her. Well, squawking might have been more accurate, but it sure felt like screaming to Safere. If the beast could speak common, she had an idea of the level of vitriol she’d be experiencing right now. 

“I know, I get it, you’re angry!” Safere grumbled, trying to clean her feathers with an old brush. “We don’t...we don’t fly as often as you’d like...and I wish I could fix that, but I just...don’t travel as often as some people. Ok?! Buddy doesn’t mind, do ya pal?” 

She turned to the black gryphon in the pen next to her. The cross-eyed, older gryphon was chewing on a large ferret he had caught earlier that day, but in the same way a tired farmer might sip on a tall glass of sweet tea. He was in no rush. 

As if Snowbeak could understand Safere’s words (she was almost certain she could, some days), the majestic gryphon snorted at her, in seeming disgust. 

Safere sighed. “Yeah, I know, you don’t like being compared to Buddy. But he’s the only gryphon I’ve ever really known before, so maybe we can just-” 

Snowbeak raised her legs and flapped her wings right in Safere’s face, knocking her to the ground, landing flat on her ass in the dirt.

“Oh, fine!” Safere shouted, lying down in defeat. “Have it your way! I’ll just let you-” 

“Might I be of assistance, Miss Mercer?” 

She looked up to see a man in copper colored armor, standing above her, offering a hand. She turned around and gripped his palm, rising back to her feet. She recognized the man immediately. He was the only one she knew who would wear a fully enclosed helm in such sweltering weather. 

“Mordecai, right?” Safere asked, despite knowing she was right. She just..hadn’t spoken to him that much. 

He nodded. “Indeed, Miss Mercer. Mordecai Sharpe, at your service.” He sounded calm and helpful, even if his expression was entirely unreadable. That copper-colored mask he wore always bore the same neutral, placid expression. His eyes were the only thing that could be seen. Kind brown orbs, blinking every so often. 

Safere sighed, dusting off her trousers. “Well, uh, have you got any experience with gryphons? At least more than I do?” 

Mordecai nodded once more. “I rode one for nearly a decade. Back when I was a more...active member of The Silver Hand. She was a gorgeous creature, fair and swift...but I didn’t appreciate her at the time.” 

Safere blinked. “What do you mean?” 

“I mean that I...neglected her,” he began to say. “Not in the sense of health or feeding, I assure you. I always kept her well fed, clean and cared for. Until the day she died, she never missed a meal, nor was she abused. But…” 

The man’s shoulders fell, for but a moment. “I didn’t truly appreciate her. I never even named her. Not really. Whenever a fellow knight would ask me, I would say something like...Silverwing or Judgment. But it was a hollow excuse for a title. I simply didn’t care. She was a beast to be used for glory. Much like a sword or a shield. Cared for, certainly. But never loved. Never seen as more than a tool.” 

Mordecai turned to look at the gryphons. “Do I have your leave to approach her?” 

“Sure,” Safere replied, shrugging. “Just be ready, because she’s in a mood.” 

He walked up to Snowbeak, slowly reaching into a pouch on his waist and retrieving a handful of wildberries. Once he reached the gryphon, he held out his palm and let her eat from it. She did so with some trepidation, but soon enough, had cleaned his gauntlet entirely. She then leaned her head against his arm, as he stroked her gently. 

“A beautiful lady...you should be very-” 

“HELP!” 

Mordecai and Safere turned around to see a young woman running toward them, a distraught expression on her face. The paladin ran forward to meet her halfway. 

"Miss, what is wrong?!" 

"Please, they took my brother, please they took him into the forest-" 

He laid a hand on her shoulder...and she seemed to calm down, enough to explain more clearly, at least. By then, Safere had joined Mordecai by his side and was listening closely. 

"She took Theodore, the...some witch, I saw her snatch him from his bedroom window and take him into the moor! I tried to run after her, but these...skeletons rose up from the dirt! Undead monsters! Out in the Bleakmoor! Please sir, miss…please help my brother…” the girl wailed, tears welling in her brown eyes. 

“We have no time to lose. Miss, return to your home and wait for us there. We will find him. Safere,” Mordecai said, turning to face her. “Might we-” 

She nodded, already running back to Buddy. “Come on!” she called back. Fiddling with her ebon gryphon’s chain, Safere mounted him and pulled the reins. He may have been an older gent, but Buddy knew when it was time to get serious. Years of getting Safere out of sticky situations had given him a kind of sixth sense. He rose to his feet and flapped his wings, ready to burst off. 

Mordecai was running up now, while the young woman returned to her homestead.  He looked at Buddy and Safere. “I...don’t know if I’ll be able to fit on there with you. Or if your gryphon can carry my extra bulk,” he said, gesturing to his mix of chain and plate mail. “Perhaps if-” 

Safere shook her head. “You’re taking Snowbeak!” 

The paladin shook his head. “No, miss Safere, she is yo-” 

“This is not the time to argue, pal! Get to it!” Safere shouted. 

Mordecai nodded and ran to the ivory bird, expertly climbing upon her saddle without even a wayward twitch from the proud beast. She shrieked out a battle-squawk and took to the air almost immediately, leaving Safere and Buddy to catch up. 

They were soaring above the hills now, keeping low enough to spot any figures...if it wasn’t so bloody dark. 

“I can’t see a damn thing down there!” Safere shouted, the wind coursing through her hair. 

“Let us remedy that,” Mordecai roared back. “Cover your eyes, Mercer! For just a moment!” 

Safere did as she was told, bringing her wrist back across her eyes, just as the night turned to sunrise in front of her. Her peripheral vision was a holy inferno, but it soon faded enough until she felt comfortable to gaze openly again. Mordecai was still glowing, casting a net of light across the hilly moor below. 

“There!” he said, pointing down. Sure enough, no longer shrouded beneath a barrow-hill, Safere could spot a crowd of figures. Over a dozen skeletal warriors, covered still in the dirt and grime of their former resting places. Most gripped broken hatchets and rusted blades. A couple held ancient shortbows. These two decrepit snipers took aim as Safere and Mordecai came down upon them. With surprising dexterity, an arrow was loosed, aimed right at Snowbeak’s chest. 

But the gryphon saw it coming, swiping the missile away with a talon. The other shot toward Safere and Buddy; its aim was less true, allowing them to dodge the projectile with a quick turn. By then, the two of them were landing. Hard. 

Snowbeak smashed into the center of the undead, scattering two of the boney bastards into splinters. Mordecai pulled his great morningstar from his shoulders, the flanged head gleaming with golden fire, as he slammed it into the rotting ribcage of another, crushing the sternum and wasting the foul creature away. 

Safere came down less glamorously, but no less effective. Her cutlass in one hand, silver edged and shining, slicing through the skull of the axe wielding monster nearest to her. The foolish archer she had landed by, tried to swat Buddy with his bow, only for the elder gryphon to grab him in his beak and snap his spine. 

“Interlopers!” A shrill voice screamed. Safere turned to see a wretched old hag, twisted and deformed, holding a young boy by the scruff of his pajamas. The child was wailing, kicking at his captor, to seemingly no avail. “You will not stop the sacrifice to Gorak Tul!” 

“Gorak Tul is vanquished, fiend! Killed in his own realm of shadow and failure!” Mordecai growled, shattering the knees of an approaching skeleton. “You will accomplish nothing!” 

“Yeah, you suck!” Safere helpfully added, stabbing another undead. 

“Fools! Gorak Tul’s spirit lingers, forever! And I will be his new bride!” the witch shrieked, raising a twisted dagger to the child’s throat. “The boy’s blood will show me the way!” 

Safere grit her teeth, looking around for any options. There were still a half dozen skeletons advancing. Buddy was fighting off one more to her left. Snowbeak...was gone. Where had she-

Mordecai let loose a sharp whistle. The gryphon moved so fast, she was more of a blur of white upon the wind, than any discernible form. Just as the witch had barely begun to look behind her, she was rammed by the Wildhammer gryphon, sending her gangling form flying forward, her loose grip on the boy’s shirt going slack, as he fell a few feet to the ground. 

Safere ran over to him, making sure he was unharmed. Aside from some dirt stains and a bruise on his shoulder, he seemed to be fine, if still wailing and terrified. Within that handful of moments, Mordecai, Buddy and Snowbeak had dispatched the handful of remaining skeletons, their bones scattered and unmoving. The witch...lay in a defeated pile nearby, groaning like a sickly weasel. 

“You are beaten, monster. Submit and be judged!” Mordecai commanded, his aura pulsing like wildfire. He stood above the subdued wretch, morningstar at her throat. 

The witch mewled and raised her elongated arms, in a show of surrender. “I...yes, I am defeated! Oh, brave and powerful paladin! I...submit to your mercy! Please!” Her yellow eyes wide and pleading. 

“Mercy! How could a villain such as you deserve-” Mordecai began to say...before stopping and sighing. “Very well, witch. You will come with me, bound and subdued...to be judged by the people of Autumnhearth! And see what mercy they lay upon you!”  

The paladin barely shifted his gaze, but for a mere moment, he did glance at his belt, to retrieve a length of rope...only for Safere to watch as the hag began to channel a pale blue energy in her palm. 

A Ruinous Bolt! Safere thought to herself. She had been researching just last night. In a flash, she drew her Gnomish pepperbox from the back of her trousers and fired. One, two, three, four…

Her aim did not fail her. Each silver shot ripping into the hag’s flesh, with the last metal ball landing right between her sour yolk-yellow eyes...which made the spell in her palm fade away and the witch slump back onto the ground, as dead as her would to be husband. 

Mordecai looked back at the shot riddled body and exhaled. “My thanks, Miss Mercer.” 

She nodded, sweat dripping down her forehead. In her arm, the young boy blinked and wiped away tears. “That was...so loud!” he squeaked. 

“Ah yeah...sorry about that, Theodore,” Safere said, grimacing. “But it’s over, your sister is waiting for you.” 

The boy nodded and hugged her, still crying, but less feverishly. Mordecai came over to him, kneeling down and offering a hand. 

“How would you like to fly on a gryphon, master Theodore?” he asked. 

For likely the first time that night, the boy smiled. 

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

The reunion with Theodore’s sister (Charlotte, they learned) was full of more tears and smiles alike, but the boy was soon returned to his own bed, with a small number of local farmers promising to watch over the house until morning. Mordecai would join them, sitting down by the front fence with Safere. Snowbeak and Buddy waited nearby. 

“That was...an exciting evening, wouldn’t you say, Miss Mercer?” Mordecai said, having removed his mask, among the two of them. Safere had seen his burned visage before and grown accustomed to it. The permanent half grin across his partial lips and exposed cheek, were little more than a beauty mark to her by now. 

“Hell of a lot more...fighting than I expected, that’s for damn sure,” she said, sipping from a glass of fresh milk. Supplied by Theodore's grateful farming family, after the two of them had refused the meager amount of silver they had scraped together as a reward. “But this is good cow juice.” 

Mordecai sipped from his tin straw and nodded. “Indeed. Regardless, you fought well. Thank you again for your expert shooting.” 

Safere chugged the last half of her moo-juice and stood up, brushing off her pants. “Don’t mention it, Mordo. Last thing I needed tonight was having to tell Wes that her Warden took a Ruinous Bolt to the chest.” 

He chuckled and stood with her. “You recognized the spell? How impressive.” 

“Yeah, all that reading paid off, just like Mere said it would,” Safere replied, smiling. 

“You make the steward proud, I’m sure,” Mordecai said, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Are you returning to Easthollow with your gryphons, then? They’ve had a busy evening too.” 

“One of them, yeah,” Safere said. 

“Good, I hope they-” 

The paladin turned to look at her, confusion in his eyes. “One of them?” 

“I’m leaving Snowbeak with you, Mordo. You made an incredible team. And I’ll be damned if I’m gonna break that up.” 

Mordecai shook his head, raising a hand in disagreement. “No, Miss Mercer, I couldn’t accept such a-” 

“First off, call me Safere. Or Saf, even,” Safere said, making sure her cutlasses were properly attached to her belt. “Secondly, I’m not gonna hear any arguments on this. Snowbeak deserves someone like you. Someone brave and worthy of her. Someone who can make the best use of her skills. And that ain’t me.” 

The man was silent for a moment. “You are worthy of more than you think, Mi...Safere. And you are as brave as any champion of the Hand that I’ve ever known. You joined me in the search for Theodore without a second thought. Lent me your steed, without hesitation. Charged into the mass of undead and stood by my side.” 

He whistled, causing Snowbeak to trot over. Mordecai rubbed her neck and watched as she nuzzled back. “If this is your desire...your command, I will do so. I will care for and love Snowbeak, as I failed to do for my former steed. But never believe it is because you are unworthy. Promise me this.” 

Safere sighed and smiled, looking down at her boots for a second or two. Before returning his gaze and nodding. “I promise.”

He nodded back. “Good. Also, I ask that you bring Buddy along to visit every so often. The two are quite...attached.” 

She blinked and looked from Snowbeak to Buddy. The white gryphon was looking back at him, softly cooing. Buddy in turn was waving his wings slowly and...prancing? 

“Buddy, you scoundrel!” Safere exclaimed, laughing. “Have you been laying down some moves behind my back?!” 

Buddy squaked, shaking his wings and hopping up and down. Snowbeak scraped her talons in the dirt and squawked back. 

“Best warn your gryphon master of the possibility of eggs, in the future, eh?” Mordecai cautioned, chuckling along with her.

Safere gave him a thumbs up. “You bet. Keep safe out there, Mordo! See you soon!” She left with a spring in her steps, mounting her flirtatious bird and soaring off toward Easthallow. The wind in her hair felt like energy flowing through her. She let out a loud “woooooooooo!” and grinned. 

It had been quite a night to fly. 

[vetlan]

Summary: There's a certain thrill to this, her feathers bristling as a chill runs through her. It almost takes her back to her youth. Almost. Neither of them is a young duck, but from the sharp glint in the masked mallard's eye, she can tell they're sharing the same thought: age has only brought them closer to their prime, not further from it.

Notes: See, I wish I could explain this, but all I have is the flint inside my head and also "haha wouldn't it be funny if" mindset. My writing style can be best described as "I don't know where this is going but I like it". Is the ending totally rushed? Yes. I sat down to write this all in one go but then work called and said I had to be in there in the morning, and I do like my sleep.

Characters: Launchpad McQuack, Bentina Beakley, Jim Starling, Drake Mallard, Your Suspension of Disbelief Please I Beg You

---

Although she wouldn't say that she and Launchpad were the closest of friends, she had still developed a soft spot for the chauffeur and how he brightened the kid's days, and so his presence was genuinely missed the more and more time he spent in St. Canard.

The stories he told when he came back, however, almost made it worthwhile.

It all started with a movie set.

Needing to confide in the loss of an idol, but not wanting to burden the kids with the heavy subject, he jumped on the chance to talk to her, Mrs. Beakley offering her ear upon seeing the pensive look on the usually jovial duck. Everything that happened that day, he let out in a nervous and even slightly guilty ramble that at first, she didn't understand… until he got to the part with the breaking and entering into Scrooge's movie studio.

But he assured her that things worked out! So she let him continue, her glare only slightly disappointed… until it softened into a sympathetic furrow of her brows.

It was a bittersweet story, admittedly, wherein Launchpad got to meet with a childhood idol only to learn that sometimes, meeting your heroes only shows you their flaws, and how you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped. Yet, through that, he managed to find a genuine friend in the shape of one such Drake Mallard, and she couldn't help but poke fun at the young man, ever one to get a crush on every passing pretty face -- let alone one that shared his niche interests. He bumbled through his words, assuring her it wasn't like that, and they shared a comfortable laugh, the weight off his shoulders now.

And just like that, this story was tucked into a mental manila folder, dated and put away in the tidy office that she imagined her mindscape to be.

A corner of it stuck out, wouldn't let her close the drawer.

Bentina picked at it from time to time, trying to find what wouldn't let her put it to rest, a crossroads puzzle drawn out when she already knew the words. 

(Declared missing, assumed dead, never found.)

She let it be. It wasn't her story to unfold.

The next one came as filler to a bigger story, but it captivated her nonetheless. Launchpad rattled off excitedly about fighting villains side by side with Darkwing Duck, about how scared he'd been but yet how cool it all was, and Bentina was almost jealous, but she's had enough excitement to last her a lifetime. No, what got her attention was the mention of a child in the middle of all of this, and eventually, under her prying, he confessed to all the things she had already figured out. Yes, yes, Drake was Darkwing Duck. 

What she cared about was that his friend Drake had taken a young girl under his literal and metaphorical wing until the girl's grandfather could be found. It was nice and all but was he equipped to care for a child.

No, Launchpad didn't have much of a choice in the matter, he was going to take her to Darkwing Duck, and she was gonna give everyone there a masterclass on childcare and welfare. They might be well-meaning, but a diet of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches paired with hamburgers and fries isn't a diet a child should grow on, and from her past experiences with free agents, they aren't the perfect role models for self-care.

She tried not to acknowledge the thankful sag of Darkwing's shoulders as a smile threatened to tickle her beak, just as she tried not to see another little girl in Gosalyn's place, and how she doesn't want another to repeat her mistakes. 

To protect, but not to smother. To teach, but not to scar.

(She was all too familiar with taking on parenthood unprepared.)

This memory, too, is filed away fondly, even if the bulk of its annexes means that again, her drawer won't close shut. Old habits die hard, she was a director once, and with the sight of someone so positively green with nothing but bravado and want to do good propelling them forward she couldn't stop herself from looking over his shoulder, pointing him in the right direction.

And she alone understood the strain in his voice once he finally relents and lets her in, calls her one late Duckburd night. He knew it was true, but he couldn't be the one to say it and with a tired sigh, Beakley accepted the burden of connecting a name to the gruesome crimes that had been popping up in St. Cannard.

Jim Starling, now seen clad in a mismatched parody of his old costume, seemingly set on doing his best to tear down Darkwing Duck's reputation.

(A masked mallard has been causing havoc, and civilians only know the one.)

And just like that, the stubborn folders she'd been fascinated with for months now are pulled out and inspected, and she tells herself not to get dragged into this -- she had a mansion and multiple children to take care of, she retired. But as Launchpad himself witnessed, Bentina Beakley had to see things through.

Loose ends and open-ended questions were unacceptable.

Where has he been all this time? How was he managing to get away with his crimes? How long has he been planning this? Does he have help? What will he do after this?

But just as he resurfaced, back under the surface he went, and Bentina tried her best to swallow down her frustration when Darking was the one on the line, now left with nothing but vague footage of a lookalike in a different costume to clear his name.

(It did nothing, but he didn't give up on the city, and that too felt bittersweet.)

There was one thing, however, that she had on Darkwing Duck. Contacts. A considerable amount of them, and she wouldn't lie and say she wasn't considering sharing them if Darkwing Duck proved his worth. And learned to play nice with others.

St. Canard might have gone silent, but a caped duck dressed in yellow maiming people as he goes on a massive crime spree across various cities is very hard to miss. But where before Jim did everything in his powers to make people think he was Darkwing Duck, now he seemed almost offended by the comparison. 

You are to call him one thing if you know what's good for you: Negaduck.

A mouthful, in her opinion.

Still, there was a pattern to it, and in the morning after news would always come to find that something has been stolen by F.O.W.L. while Negaduck positively demanded their attention. There was no confirmation on if he worked for them directly, but whatever the case was, there was a connection there and she… admittedly saw it as an excuse to look into it with Scrooge's permission. 

Alone.

Much like Darkwing Duck, her hesitation stemmed not from putting herself in danger, but the precious people in her life -- a blood racing adventure is one thing, a bloodthirsty ego-maniac with a chainsaw is another. If she had her way, Negaduck would never as much as step foot in Duckburg.

But first, she'd have to find him, and all it took was following the pattern he blazed through the map, trailing right to the next city over. It was more of a sense of when he'd strike, but Bentina had a hunch for that too -- all it took was remembering who was behind the mask.

What day of the week has the biggest pay-off? At what hour is the bank full? When would it be most dramatic? Jim Starling is a showman to his core, and he can't perform without an audience.

Well, hopefully, he wouldn't mind a fan of his cutting in line.

Armed to the teeth, he looked almost cartoonishly evil, and she's not a single second off in ruining his entrance, dropkicking him away from the bank's beautiful skylights, hopefully, they could manage their fight without ruining -- ah, shots immediately fire in her direction, shattering the skylight behind her and sending the people on the inside of the bank into a panic as glass rains on them. That's a shame.

The shots don't stop, however, and the other duck's aim hones in on her as he gets back up, a pure snarl on his beak at having his big entrance ruined, and he unloads an entire clip into the wall behind which Beakley was hiding behind just to make sure she knew that he was a little upset. This doesn't calm down the screaming inside.

"You! Ruined! My! Entrance!" With every word, he sprays the wall with more bullets, storming his way over to where he saw the other duck hide, but when he turns the corner with his gun at the ready, there's no one there -- not in front of him, at least. 

A fist from behind him is headed straight for the side of his head, but the feeling of the brim of his hat brushing against something tipped him off and so he dodges down, causing Beakley to instead whiff her punch and slam her fist into the wall, but any pain from that she's quickly distracted from when the bottom of his automatic is slammed into her beak, the bigger duck stumbling back. Reactively, her hand reaches for it as she sucks a tense breath in through her pained teeth. She's had worse, and the hard glare sent his way definitely let him know so.

It seemed to frustrate him. Good.

"I would hope that an actor of your seniority would know how to improvise."

And that seemed to infuriate him. Even better.

"If you're looking for autographs, granny, I can't seem to find a pen…" There's a theatrical apologetic show of patting himself down, but Beakley predicts his attack from the saccharine grin on his face, a dagger brought out from his inner jacket in a sweeping arc that she pushes to the side, yet it still manages to cut the very tips of a couple of hairs loose. "But I can CARVE one right into you!"

After that, the gun he had been shooting at her with is tossed to the ground in favor of being more aggressive with his melee attacks, quick jabs that she has to doubly focus on as to not get stabbed and not cut herself while redirecting, looking for any opening to wrestle the dagger away from him.

"Flattered for the offer," she starts before ultimately kicking Negaduck back just so that she can catch her breath for a precious few moments, well aware it could mean he draws another weapon on her, "but I'll have to say no. I'm afraid I can't say I'm the biggest fan of your more recent works."

"Bah! Everyone's a critic these days!" He almost barks a laugh at that, slowly unholstering the shotgun from his back, relishing the wide-eyed look Beakley gives him as she's the one that closes the distance between them now, fists in a flurry to keep him from being able to actually use it. Both hands on the shotgun, he pushes against her, only to then pull it back towards himself when she tries to wrangle it out of his hands, patronizingly close for just a couple of seconds. "Everyone's been telling me to let go, try something new!"

There are sirens in the distance.

"Well, here I am!"

He lets go, and Beakley stumbles half a step back, not quite as much as he'd hoped, but he still tries his luck with a jumping kick to her already bruised beak -- instead, he gets the butt of the shotgun slammed into his stomach before his foot makes contact, and his years of stunt work have him performing a perfect roll as he recovers, but not without a hand at his bruised midsection, a grin still on his expression.

"I can assure you, this is not what they meant." It falters, however, when Beakley doesn't break eye contact as she tosses the shotgun off the rooftop, the masked mallard looking as if she'd tossed away one of his toys.

The sirens grow louder.

Negaduck straightens up, then, making a show of stretching his limbs and taking a little too much pleasure in how his back cracked as if reading up for a second round. Even Beakley couldn't help but roll her shoulders and wrists at that, feeling the tension pent up inside her.

The knife is back in his hands, and he's tossing it up nonchalantly in one hand, trying to read the bigger duck in front of him, gather any clues at all about who she was a person.. and coming up absolutely blank. He hasn't even seen her hanging with that actor kid, so what were her stakes? Why bother talking and entertaining him with a fight?

"What's it to you, anyway?"

(Questions. Answers.)

"You will not step foot in Duckburg."

He brings the tip of the blade to his beak, pouting with it at his lips as if deep in thought before giving her a look that let her know exactly what he was about to say.

"Or what?"

The sirens are deafening.

She throws herself at the other duck, and he has the gall to laugh, even when his own brand of martial arts blended with stuntwork starts to lag behind her skills, honed over a lifetime. There's a certain thrill to this, her feathers bristling as a chill runs through her. It almost takes her back to her youth. Almost. Neither of them is a young duck, but from the sharp glint in the masked mallard's eye, she can tell they're sharing the same thought: age has only brought them closer to their prime, not further from it.

But neither can afford to stay on the roof much louder, a helicopter approaching in the distance, law enforcement speaking on a megaphone from the bottom of the street.

Her thoughts stray for a second, and a smoke bomb is deployed. She loses sight of him --

There's a sharp cut on her feathery cheek, and she can feel them getting damp from the cut, and Beakley turns around in an instant, her hand clasping anything she can get a hold of. His cape -- 

But as when she reaches to restrain him, as the smoke dissipates, he is nowhere to be seen.

The signs of their fight are as clear as day, his discarded weapons are where they were left, yet the only thing left of him was the damned cape. A shaking fist clenches in the fabric, before ultimately Beakley forces herself to relax, and find her own means of escaping attention. She did what she set to do:

Interrupt Negaduck, interrupt F.O.W.L. 

Leave a message.

She would get her selfish answers some other time.

[nicriverswriting]

Yesterday’s Gone (Oneshot)

Pairing: Kyojuro Rengoku x Hanako Fukushima [OC]

Words: 1,843

Warnings: angst, spoilers for the Mugen Train movie

Notes: Hello! This is my first oneshot I’m posting on here -- it’s based on lyrics from Yesterday’s Gone by Straight Line Stitch. Hanako is my Demon Slayer OC, and she means so much to me. This oneshot is also part of an upcoming book of oneshots about Hanako I have coming out called Beyond the Wisteria Trees. I hope you all enjoy! -

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You lifted me up and fueled my dreams, now yesterday’s gone

The sign of Hanako’s beautiful, obsidian-colored crow flying to her usually meant information for another mission or a letter from a peer -- sometimes even Oyakata himself. Even though Arisu always closely followed Hanako, there were times when the crow would need to deliver and receive messages for the Flower Pillar. Though, the message that Arisu brought her on this particular blue-skied morning was nothing but devastating. 

Hanako was at her mansion -- a large and beautiful home surrounded by several wisteria trees, with a variety of different flowers adorning the soft grass -- doing a bit of gardening. Kyojuro had told her before leaving to board Mugen Train that he would return here after the mission was finished. So, as long as there were no other missions or tasks to complete, Hanako was going to do just that -- wait for her love to return home, safe and sound in her arms. 

A distant caw broke Hanako out of her thoughts about Kyojuro. She looked to the sky, seeing that Arisu was flying overhead, swooping down to greet her. A scroll of parchment was hanging from her beak, and Hanako knew this was one of two things -- it was time for another mission, or simply just a letter from a friend. She sighed, hoping it was the latter.

Arisu landed in front of where Hanako was kneeling on the ground over some sakura flowers. She looked at her crow, seeing that she had a sad look etched upon her little face. After years of being with her, Hanako could easily read her crow’s emotions. Instantly, Hanako felt a twinge of anxiety hit her gut.

Taking the note from Arisu, she unrolled it with nimble fingers. The message laid upon the parchment were the words that Hanako always feared she’d read one day. 

Rengoku Kyojuro, the Flame Pillar, has died.

He was killed in battle against Upper Moon Three.

May his soul find peace in the afterlife.

Hanako had to read the note over several times to grasp exactly what she was reading. Kyojuro... dead? There was no way. Kyojuro was smart, he was strong -- but Upper Moon Three must have been stronger. 

A sob escaped Hanako, the note dropping to the ground as she covered her face with shaking hands. Arisu, seeing her human friend in anguish, let out a soft coo, looking to the ground. 

“It can’t be true,” Hanako sniffled out to no one in particular. “He can’t be gone.”

When I breathe I whisper your name in memory, ‘cause yesterday’s gone

She heard Arisu let out another coo before flapping her wings, setting off towards the sky. Hanako understood -- Arisu had orders and other things to do than sit there and watch her cry. Though, she wished more than ever that there was someone to console her. How would the other Pillars react? Would they feel the same? Or would they only think about it in passing, knowing that this was something they all had signed up for?

Tengen, Mitsuri and Shinobu were always so kind to Kyojuro -- she would see it when they shared meals together at the Corps Mansion. Even the normally quiet Giyu would crack a smile at his optimism every now and then. Hell, everyone loved Kyojuro. There was no way you couldn’t be drawn to someone that resembled sunshine. 

Hanako guessed that she should’ve been thinking that way, too. That was their job as Demon Slayers -- protect those who can’t protect themselves, and die for the cause if necessary. She couldn’t remember exactly how many Demon Slayers (and Pillars in particular) had lost their lives since she joined the Corps. 

Though, for whatever stupid reason she had created in her mind, Hanako never thought that Kyojuro would be one of those to join the number of people killed by demons. The thought only made her cry harder, the tears now coming in a never-ending stream. Tiny tears hit the soil below her, her once beautiful garden becoming melancholy.

With a sniffle and a hand wiping tears away, Hanako looked at the flowers surrounding her -- there were flame azaleas planted in large quantities around her mansion. Hanako kept a large stock of them growing because Kyojuro had told her that it was the flower he liked the best. She fondly remembered the memory of the first spring when she had grown them at her mansion.

It had been a few months after she was officially made a Pillar. Kyojuro was watching her plant flowers, helping out whenever she grew frustrated with something -- like he always did.

“Hanako, what are these?” Kyojuro asked, pointing to a bunch of flaming orange-yellow flowers. “And why do you have so many of them?”

She smiled at him, seeing that the ones he was pointing to were her favorites. “Those are flame azaleas. I like them because they remind me of you.”

He cracked a grin at her words, making Hanako’s heart flutter in happiness. “How so?”

“Well,” she moved over to where a flower had fallen from the stem, picking it up. “It reminds me…” Hanako padded over to where he was sitting. She held the flower up to the side of his face, tucking the short stem that held the petals behind his ear. “...of your hair.”

Kyojuro gently plucked the flower free, bringing it in front of his face and closely examining it. With his free hand, he grabbed a tuft of his bright red-and-yellow hair, bringing it next to the flower and comparing the two colors. Hanako giggled at the close proximity of the flower to Kyojuro’s face. 

“And they’re bright and beautiful. So, I guess… they just make me think of you,” Hanako finished, voice soft and laced with shyness. 

After a few seconds, he pulled the flower away, one his hugely adorable smiles painting his face. A barely noticeable blush had popped up onto his face, as well. “I think this one is my favorite, too.”

The memory of Kyojuro’s wide, toothy grin made more tears surface. After that day, he would always comment on the flame azaleas around her mansion when he visited. Hanako even brought him a bouquet of them once, making that same cute blush spread across his face as he accepted them. 

But I know I can move on from that cold December rain

Another memory surfaced in Hanako’s mind as she finally got up, brushing away the dirt on her knees. Her hand immediately rested on her sword’s hilt, making her think back to tsuguko training. 

Being his tsuguko, Kyojuro was the one who taught Hanako how to properly fight with her nichirin sword. If she was being honest, Hanako survived the Final Selection out of pure luck -- the trainer she had before Kyojuro did jackshit in training her how to defend herself. Though, she only had to kill two measly demons during her seven days on the mountain. Thank the gods.

Her tsuguko training with Kyojuro was progressing smoothly up until one day -- she was growing frustrated due to the fact that she couldn’t master a technique that he wanted her to get down. 

“I can’t do this!” Hanako exclaimed, agitated beyond belief. The other breathing techniques that Kyojuro had taught her were easy enough, but for whatever reason, this particular one was a pain in the ass. Usually, she wouldn’t be so whiny about not getting a technique down perfectly the first time, but she wanted to impress Kyojuro. 

He stood in front of Hanako with crossed arms, watching his tsuguko grow more and more frustrated. “What do you not understand? Let’s work through it together.”

Hanako looked up at him, and nearly choked, wishing she hadn’t -- he had shed his flame-decorated haori, leaving him in his Demon Slayer uniform. His strong, muscular arms could be seen through the greyish-black fabric. His bright hair was completely pulled back, leaving his sharp jawline open to Hanako’s wandering eyes. 

Damn it. He’s too pretty for me to concentrate.

“I just don’t know why I can’t get this form right,” she explained, running a hand through her hair and looking away from him. I can’t be distracted by you, Kyojuro. “All of the other ones you’ve been teaching me have been simple enough.”

There was a pregnant silence. Hanako could hear the laughter of Gyomei and Sanemi in the background, the soft breeze blowing through wind chimes, and the rustle of the wisteria trees as she stared at the ground. Kyojuro had suggested he train her at the Demon Slayer Corp mansion, wanting her to become familiar with their way of life.

After what felt like an eternity -- but was probably only a few seconds -- Kyojuro let out a deep and hearty laugh. “But that’s the thing, Hanako…”

He began to move behind her, making Hanako wonder exactly what the hell he was doing. Though, when Kyojuro moved behind her, showing her the correct way to hold the nichirin sword, she thanked the gods and Buddha that she was in this moment.

His strong arms were holding hers, placing her hands in the correct position. She felt his chest at her back, his steady breaths tickling the top of her head. Kyojuro was wrapped around her in a hug -- except, they were training, not sharing a fond touch. 

“You don’t have to get it right on the first try,” he finally finished, showing her the proper way to execute the technique she was trying to master. 

“You’ll do great either way. You’ve already impressed me thus far. Just keep at it.”

Hanako knew, in this moment, that she truly loved Kyojuro. He was not just her savior and teacher anymore, no; he was her everything.

Regret filled Hanako at the memory, realizing that she had never properly expressed her feelings for him. Sure, they had discussed having a “talk” after he came back from his mission, but did he really know what she had meant?

Did Kyojuro know that Hanako loved him?

She was positive that everyone else already knew; with the way she looked at him like he was the best, most precious thing this world had to offer, she had been teased relentlessly by Shinobu and Tengen (making Hanako hastily hush them, saying “He might hear you!”).

Hanako glared at the ground, clenching her fists. Easy for you to say, Tengen. You have three wives.

Though, it made Hanako realize something; she could either live her life in regret, knowing that Kyojuro may have never felt the same way…

Or, she could continue to live out his legacy, and hunt down and kill Upper Moon Three. Upon thinking for a few minutes, she nodded to herself in conclusion. It’s what he would’ve wanted. 

Wiping the remaining tears from her face, Hanako composed herself. She looked up to the azure sky.

I’m going to avenge you, my love. Even if it’s the last thing I’ll ever do.

Straight from my heart I wish you could see how I’ve changed