#and probably stab myself with the nearest object because WHY

[nineinchnailsonchalkboard]

.

[myuselessartandstories]

Story #23

Pain

Every day I feel more tired. My body feels heavier, yet lighter. I feel weak, but my limbs are so easy to move. I’ve been losing weight. No matter how much I eat, what little I’ve been eating lately, I can’t gain weight. Yet, I’m getting no thinner.

I can’t feel when I hit my hand on anything. I can’t feel when something sharp breaks my skin. I can’t feel when the temperature outside changes anymore. I only feel nothing. That’s the only way I can describe it. I’m alive, I can feel happy and sad, but it’s like my nerves aren’t working anymore.

I can feel it when I move. I’m still aware of where my limbs are and what I’m doing with them. I just can’t feel when something else interacts with me. It’s like I'm numb to the world around me. I can still taste and hear and see and all that, but I just can’t feel.

I’ve seen doctors about this. They say they’ve seen nothing exactly like what I have. I’ve been told I’m probably just getting older. Maybe I’m developing a disease. The doctors have no clue what they’re talking about. Every time I go to them, it’s always a different excuse for not actually wanting to see what’s wrong with me. Now, I can’t afford to go to a doctor anymore.

I was too scared to go into work, so I was fired. Now I have no source of income. I’m running low on everything. I have to live off of barely any food, which is why I’m kind of thankful for the lessening appetite. My internet has been turned off and I’m about to lose my electricity. 

I’ve been turning to methods of calming myself that I used to look down upon. Now, my arms are like a piece of wood, lines carved into it, almost looking like a pattern if you look hard enough. Yet, I still can’t feel any of it. I only feel the lightheadedness that comes with the blood loss.

However, lately I’ve been feeling lightheaded all the time. It feels like I’m always bleeding, even when I know I’m not. There’s no open wounds anywhere,  yet I feel like I’m running out of blood. 

My electricity did eventually get turned off, and I feel like I lost some of my sanity in that moment. I took the nearest object, my pen as I was writing this, and stabbed it into my leg. No pain, no blood. I get angrier. I slide the blade down my leg, creating a large gash as it cuts my skin apart, splitting like ripping a leaf apart.

I pull the knife away and sigh. Only a few drops of blood drip from the gash. I look closer. There’s white inside my leg. It should be red, but it’s white. I dig my finger into the gash, gripping at whatever the hell is in my leg. I can see my fingers have grabbed it, so I pull.

A white cloth-like material is slowly pulled out of my leg. It looks like a long rag. I keep pulling and pulling and it keeps coming. One end of it comes out, coming from the end of the gash leading to my foot. It’s then that the blood starts to come. It rushes up through the gash, pouring from my leg and dripping onto the floor, making a large puddle beneath my chair.

I can feel it now. The immense pain of the gash. I can finally feel! I pull harder on the cloth, starting to pull it from the other side. Blood streams out of the side as well as I continue to pull the cloth. I notice that some of the blood is soaked up by the cloth, but it remains a pristine white.

I can feel the pain returning to my body slowly. It crawls up my leg, going through my lower section and reaching down my other leg. Shit. It hurts. It really fucking hurts. But I missed this pain. I keep going. I keep pulling. More blood spills out. I move my foot on the floor and it slips, making me fall out of my chair onto my back.

I lay in the blood, still pulling on the rag. I could feel myself hit the floor. I wish I could keep falling and hitting the floor. I missed feeling this. Feeling absolutely anything. I pull and pull. Blood keeps spilling onto the floor, but I don’t care. I’m only still moving my hands and ignoring the pain because I can’t focus past the lightheadedness.

I start losing focus. My head is pounding. It hurts. It hurts a lot. But I don’t care. I can feel something again. I don’t know what this cloth was doing inside of me, but I’m glad I got it out. But, now I can’t see the cloth. I can only see the darkness coming in through the edges of my vision. I don’t feel myself breathing anymore. I can’t feel the blood pooling below me. I can’t feel... anything. I can’t feel anything again. Damn it.

(my entire idea I had written down for this story for about 2 months was "person stuffed with paper towels.")

[tonystarktogo]

Last part of the time travel crack ‘verse for now (and sorry for making you all worry about the scepter, I didn’t mean it that way, it just seemed like a good cut-off point tbh):

"The scepter! Did anyone keep an eye on the scepter?"

"I assure you," Agent Agent, who looks a little singed and has a bandage wrapped around one ear, yet continues to rock the personality-free drawl that tricks people into thinking he’s not worth paying attention to, speaks up, "that the scepter is still safely in SHIELD custody, Dr. Banner."

Banner scoffs.

Rogers grimaces.

Barton winces.

And oh, all other issues aside, the vindication of this moment is glorious. Tony feels fully justified in the doubtful look he aims at the screen. You know your show sucks balls when even your own operative doesn’t buy what you’re selling.

"That’s great," Banner says in a painfully droll voice. "But I’ll feel a lot better when we hand it over to our resident Asgardian prince for safekeeping rather than put it into a secret high-security facility and hope for the best. Like the one you stored the Tesseract in took Loki what, five minutes to take over?"

Woah, talk about burn. Tony doesn’t bother muffling his snicker. Who’d have thought Banner has it in him?

[continues under the cut]

"Hang on, wouldn’t it be better—" Rogers interrupts before Fury or Coulson can come up with an excuse, which judging by their sour-slash-carefully-blank expressions isn’t as easy as they’d like it to be.

Banner raises one hand. It shouldn’t be a power move on part with his green counterpart squashing a car in his fist, isn’t even particularly aggressive but for some reason Rogers shuts up. Immediately. The bright, eerily green eyes might have something to do with it. 

"If you’re going where I think you’re going, I advise you to reconsider," Banner growls, the vocals deep enough that Romanoff reaches for the nearest weapon. "Even setting my personal issues aside, it’s not worth the risk."

Barton sighs with what sounds less like exhaustion and more like sad resignation. "Hate to say it, Cap, but he’s right. Sending the scepter off-Earth with the Tesseract is probably the safest course of action we can take right now. We can’t count on being that lucky again."

"Agent Barton," Agent Agent’s words drip with such a pointedly polite friendliness, it’s a wonder he doesn’t spear his own tongue on it. "Please desist in trying to hand off objects that pose an immediate threat to global security to an unvetted alien who, while a valued ally, is in line for the throne of a foreign world."

And wow. Tony’s not gonna win a prize for his sensitivity any time soon, but there’s some things you just don’t say to a guy who got brainwashed into doing an alien’s bidding less than forty-eight hours ago. Going by the way Romanoff has gone rigid, she agrees.

Luckily for everyone present, Barton doesn’t bat an eye at the dig. He leans forward instead, elbows placed on his tights, the picture of relaxation. As long as you ignore the expression on his face that could possibly pass for a smile. If you catch sight of it out of the corner of your eye. Through a dirty mirror. 

"Not that I’m not glad to see you alive and well, Phil, because I am. But getting my head rolled once was already one time too many and if the Tesseract is powerful enough to draw fucking aliens to it then it’s too fucking powerful for us to protect." Barton’s voice becomes progressively lower as he continues his little not-having-any-of-your-shit rant. "More people are gonna get killed over that thing. Good people. Because we don’t have the damn resources to keep it safe. So if we gotta bet on Asgard for this, then that’s what we’re gonna fucking do because to be frank with you sir I’d rather lead the hostile aliens to a world ready for interstellar warfare than my own."

Thor straightens from where he’s been fixated on Loki for the past hour or so, trying to crawl into his brother’s skull through willpower alone by the looks of it, and dips his head in Barton’s direction. "Thank you for your faith," he says gravely, as though Barton hasn’t straight up told everyone in this room he wants to use Asgard as a shield-slash-sacrificial-offering. "I hope my people will prove worthy of it."

"Should be fine." Banner shrugs with a nonchalance Tony envies. "’s long as we take care of your murderous sibling first."

Thor winces. Loki’s face loses whatever expressiveness it had left and it already was at state zero: emotions not welcome here to begin with. 

But. Tony tilts his head. Why not just call Loki by his name? Unless, of course, Banner isn’t referring to him. But how would the infamous Hulk-slash-brilliant-scientist have gotten himself wrapped up in alien family drama? And is there a form Tony can sign? Because he hates being kept out of the loop.

"Avengers!" Fury snaps before things can get any more awkward. Which, good for him, but in Tony’s fine opinion he should have taken the win and be done with it. There’s just no winning against whatever type of madness — not to mention feelings — these people are so inconsiderately spreading inside his walls. "You’re not bartering off our best chance to defend ourselves against alien invaders, have I made myself clear? That’s an order."

Rogers scoffs at the screen and damn it, Tony’s determined not to like the guy but the way he just smirks humorlessly as he stares Fury down, all aww shucks did you want the pretty, glowy thing too and well too damn bad for you makes it hard. Especially when Rogers goes that little extra mile and asks with a plain as day air of who fucking cares: "Whatever gave you the impression that this is a negotiation, Director Fury?"

It’s just too great a line to resist and Tony is only human. He makes a sharp gesture with his hand and JARVIS disconnects the call before they witness Fury pop a blood vessel. Let that be Agent’s problem for the time being.

"So," Tony states after a moment. "Besides all but declaring war on SHIELD, the organization two people in this room are officially employed by, for the record, and dealing with Reindeer Games over there, what’s the plan?"

Nervous shuffling. Awkward grins. Badly-hidden glances going back and forth. 

Perhaps most notably, nobody protests the declaring-war-on-SHIELD part. Tony would ask but frankly he’s still on his first glass of scotch — meaning way too fucking sober for whatever madness the answer to that question will undoubtedly raise. It’s a sad, sad day in the history of mankind when Tony is the voice of reason in a room filled with one-person-armies.

"What about Shawarma?" Rogers, apparently the most uncomfortable with the pressing silence, blurts out.

Tony gives that pitiful attempt to change the subject the nice try, have to admit I didn’t see that coming but you’re gonna have to give me more than that look it deserves. As it turns out though, he may have been overestimating his present company’s average ability to read a room.

"I could go for a bite," Barton pipes up, earning himself a soul-shriveling, dead-eyed, where the fuck did I go wrong with you and how have I not killed you yet stare, courtesy of Romanoff that he brushes off with admirable ease. Still not moving an inch away from her either and if Tony’s noticed the way her hand’s been edging ever closer to the knife strapped to her calf, there’s no way Barton hasn’t.

"Sounds good," Banner chimes in with a twisted amusement that makes Tony want to scratch his eyes out. "I know just to the place."

*

They do eat Shawarma together. [All of them, even Loki, because Thor insists his brother is far too thin. Considering Barton doesn’t protest and the only person Loki tries to stab with his salad fork is Thor himself, nobody comments on it.]

As if to add insult to a very long list of injuries that Tony is dying to poke and prod at, the food tastes delicious.

*

Okay so the whole antagonizing SHIELD thing wasn’t planned, but I figured in this AU there was no drawn out battle and no bomb and so there was no ‘thank fuck we’re even alive right now’ relief to take the edge of. Instead everyone is pissed off and frustrated (if for very different reasons) and not outright attacking the helicarrier right now is about all the diplomacy Steve has the patience for at this point.

[for-a-muse-of-fire]

chivalry fell on its sword

the wench and the witcher

“chivalry fell on its sword”

Fandom: The Witcher (2019)

Paring: Geralt of Rivia x Fem!POC Reader

Summary: Geralt witnesses one of the many perils involved in your profession. It rattles him enough to try and do something about it.

Warnings: Mentions of blood and violence. Geralt and reader continue to be foul-mouthed little darlings.

A/N: Holy crap, guys, I wrote something that wasn’t smut. “You know what that is? Growth.” Full disclosure, there is no real, actual plan for where I’m going with this series, thing. I’m just here to write shit.

@coconutxraikage​ ; @pantrashtic​ ; @kingniazx​ ; @onyour-right​

“Geralt, is this really necessary?”

“Yes.”

You eye the dirk in your hand. “I cook with these, I don’t fight with them - I’ll fucking stab myself.”

“And that’s why we’re here – so I can show you how not to fucking stab yourself.”

You glare at him. ‘Here’ happens to be the courtyard behind your tavern. The witcher has been with you for three days, warming your bed and keeping you company – even your regulars have started to get used to him. Well, mostly. At the very least, they’ve graduated from ‘outright hostility’ to ‘passive distrust’.

Baby steps.

Your only problem with Geralt’s extended visitation is the fact that he’s become annoyingly protective. He mostly keeps out of the way, doesn’t expect you to change anything about your daily routine to suit him, but having a very large, somewhat menacing companion at your back takes some getting used to. No, you’re not exactly what most people would term as ‘threatening’, but you’ve managed the damn place for near-on five years. Belligerent drunks are simply a hazard of the job. You have a very particular way of managing people when they get out of hand at your establishment, and while it does work – most of the time, kind of – the previous evening was a wholly different story.

_-_-_-_-_-_

“I think you need to leave, friend!“

How the bastard had managed to get this drunk on your watch was beyond you. You were going to have a talk with the staff about over-serving. Right now, you’re more about getting the sod’s hands off the barmaid – he’s ignoring you in favor of trying to drag the poor girl into his lap. “Hey,” you bark again. “I’m talking to you – “

Your hand grabs his shoulder and yanks. The girl he’s pawing manages to worm free as the drunk reels about with a shout of indignation, “Get yer fuckin’ hands off me, daft bitch!”

You have to laugh at that, “I may be a daft bitch, but I’m the one who’s name is on the lease here. You’re harassing my waitstaff, now get the fuck out.”

The bastard scoffs at you and has the unmitigated gall to turn his back on you; you see red. Somewhere behind you, you here the rumble of your name – Geralt, trying to tell you to stand down. You ignore him, obviously, because who’s going to take you seriously if you can’t deal with one drunken shithead? With an irritated growl, you grab said shithead by the back of the collar.

“That’s it – “

“Get off, you fucking slut!”

CRACK. Your vision flashes white for a second, like a firecracker has gone off next to your face. The impact of the back of the drunk’s hand sends you stumbling into the nearest table, bell thoroughly rung. You manage to catch the end of the table before you go spinning to the floor.

Geralt shouts your name. Behind you, your assailant gloats, “Come on, girlie. More where that came from.”

There’s blood in your mouth. You spit, grimace, and grab the nearest heavy object you can find; one of your solid clay pitchers.

It’s makes a satisfying “thunk” when it cracks the drunk across the face.

“Fuck you, prick,” you gasp.

_-_-_-_-_-_

 You’d woken up this morning with an impressive shiner, but that son of a bitch had been dragged off with a shattered jaw, according to the gossip. By your standards, everything had been taken care of, but Geralt didn’t seem to be of the same mind. He’d grumbled something about men and fragile egos - ‘reprisals’, blah blah blah- then hurried you through breakfast, and promptly dragged you out of doors.

So, here you were. Staring at a knife. “Geralt, come on – “

“No, you need to be able to protect yourself – “

“ – I’ve managed just fine for most of my life, thank you very much – “

“You have a black eye – “

“ – and I caved that other guy’s face in!”

“That was a lucky shot and you know it!”

You startle so violently that you almost drop the blade on your foot; you don’t think Geralt’s every actually shouted at you before. He’s glaring at you while a muscle in his jaw ticks and you feel you’re your own temper start to bubble – he can’t just yell at you, and you’ve a mind to rip him a new asshole, because fuck him your goddamn face hurts and you don’t have time for this, but then he’s marching up to you and you give a small grunt of surprise when he grabs you by the shoulders.

“You can’t…” He growls, obviously frustrated, before he continues. “You can’t just hope for the best, sweetheart. You’re tough, and smart, I’ll give you that much, but if someone bigger comes along and decides you’ve got something they want…”

He trails off, lets you go, and paces away. You open your mouth to argue, but then he turns and pins you with those pretty golden eyes – oh.

Oh.

He’s worried.

It’s… unexpected? Yes, that’s the word.

But not unwelcome.

You drop Geralt’s gaze and look at the thin blade in your hand. It’s quite nice, actually – small and light enough to palm against your wrist. Hell, you could probably slide it down the front of your dress, if you ever needed to.

“… So I don’t just jab them with the pointy end?” you finally ask with a weak smile.

The witcher blinks, narrows his eyes, and finally exhales on a chuckle. You tamp down on your smile and do your best to keep your sarcasm in check with he begins instruction. He helps you find the balance point on the dirk, shows you how to hold it underhand, then overhand, followed by a breakdown of how to easily switch your grip.

Next is vital points on human anatomy. You learn that the fastest way to drop a man is to stab him through the neck and let him bleed to death. Stabbing for the heart his more difficult; if your blade glances off a rib, it can get stuck. Same thing with the kidneys in the back – hard to get to, but effective if you can manage it. Geralt shows you on his own torso. You stand in front of him while he guides your hand, keeping the sharp point of the dagger tucked to your wrist and away from his vital parts.

“Aim for the middle, if worse comes to worse,” Geralt tells you. “Stab the bastard and get the fuck out of there – he’s not going to be moving very quickly with a blade in his gut.”

With that, he draws a small-ish knife from his boot and moves to stand beside you. He slowly walks you through defensive stances, watching you like a hawk to correct anything he sees as a potential opening. Each movement is numbered and he has you drill through each one, first in order, and then in random patterns of his choosing. You only realize how long you’ve been at it when your arms start to ache. Tending bar can be hard work, but this is a different sort of practice – you’re a little winded, and a little sweaty, but you grin and shake your head when Geralt asks if you want to stop.

“No,” you tell him. “No, I think I’m getting it. Give me more.”

There’s a fierce kind of pride behind his eyes when he nods. Flipping the grip on his blade, he turns to face you and raises an eyebrow. He attacks with slow, even movements and you counter just as slowly. It’s like dancing. When you stumble or misstep, he stops, and the dance begins again.

You only make it through two sequences, at first, but then it’s three.

Then four.

Then five.

And then you realize that Geralt hasn’t stopped to correct your form in some time. He’s gained speed, as well, and you’re able to keep up. You find yourself watching not just the glint of his blade in the sunlight, but the tension and flexion of his arm, or the way he twists at the waist – all of it gives you a clue as to where he might go next. The dance flows back and forth over the cobblestone courtyard, accompanied by the whispering of your blades when then slide together and deflect. Geralt’s smooth, flowing steps push you back towards a wall, but you find an opening, spinning under his arm and back to the center of the courtyard. The witcher is hot on your heels, sweeping a wide arch that you duck under.

Then Geralt missteps. You swipe forward without thinking and leave a thin line of blood on his forearm. He swears and hops back.

Shit – you drop your blade immediately, let it clatter onto the stones below. “Geralt,” you gasp. “Fuck it, I’m sor – hmph!”

Geralt sweeps you up, careful of his unsheathed weapon, and kisses you quite thoroughly. You’re startled for a moment, but it doesn’t take long for you to relax; you melt into his touch and wind an arm around his neck. When he finally draws back, you’re more than a little breathless, and it’s not just from the training.

“Good,” he murmurs. Honey-gold eyes stare down at you, and he lifts one hand to gently push your sweaty curls away from your face. “You did good, sweetheart.”

You’re only a little sorry when he lets you go and picks up your knife, holding it handle-out for you to take. “Find a place to keep that,” he says lowly. “Your bodice, your boot, your garter – doesn’t matter, long you can reach it without fumbling. Understood?”

You smirk. “Understood,” you confirm.

Geralt gives you one of his almost-smiles, offers you one more brief kiss, and turns back for the tavern. “Just think how good you’ll get when we have you working at this every day,” he calls over his shoulder.

You blanche. Every…

Shit. “Son of a bitch,” you mutter as you follow the witcher inside.

[ladyninjaa]

Simmer (2)

Imagine: You settled in with the League of Villains; but during a mission, the warehouse gets raided!

Part One

Living with the League of Villains went a lot more smoothly than you thought; it felt like the worst was behind you now. Kai was imprisoned for the rest of his life and could never hurt anyone anymore with his quirk. The warehouse where the League of currently hiding out in wasn’t fancy or anything great but it was clean and warm. Tomura gave you a large enough room with a few windows, he didn’t want to risk giving you the room with the most windows in case there would be snipers up if they were cornered. 

Surprisingly, everyone was accepting and friendly though Dabi and Tomura had to repeatedly threaten Himiko not to be around you with sharp objects. Himiko enjoyed feeling your swollen belly and ramble about her little dark thoughts and strangely enough, it was oddly comforting. Being isolated for so long made you appreciate any human contact and you trusted Himiko enough to never harm you or the baby. 

Though, the person you became closest to was Dabi. 

It was a strange friendship but Dabi would always shadow you whenever Tomura didn’t have him running around on scouting missions. Dabi was a source of comfort to not only your baby but to you too; you didn’t think you feel ever feel that because of Kai, to be honest. 

Dabi would always ask questions about your time in captivity but rarely answered your own questions about your past; it didn’t bother you though. As for care for the baby, Tomura hired a villain doctor to come by every day to check up on you and the baby; it was too risky leaving the warehouse. 

The police and heroes were on high alert and searching for the League of Villains and much to your shock, you. 

“Why would they care about me?” You remember asking Tomura with fear. You had seen the news and immediately went to Tomura for answers. 

Tomura, who had been in the middle of planning a mission with Dabi, didn’t seem bothered by your intrusion, “The baby inside your stomach.” Tomura spoke quietly and both villains watched as you flinched at his answer and went to cradle your belly. “They probably want to imprison you and take away your baby because his father is a villain.” 

“But I was his victim!” You cried in horror, “So is my baby! They didn’t do anything!” You remember feeling fear; they would condemn an innocent child? After everything Kai did to the both of you? 

“They don’t care,” Dabi interjected softly as you looked at him with fear-induced tears in your eyes, “In their eyes, you’re a villain due to association of Kai and your baby is just as guilty as their father.” 

Tomura saw your body tremble and gently ushered you into sitting down, “You don’t have anything to worry about,” Tomura reassured confidently, “I told you we would protect you and your baby, didn’t I?” He questioned firmly. 

You nod quickly in response and sniffle. 

Tomura sits down across from you, “Then trust in our capability in keeping you both safe, okay? We have escape plans in place in case they find us, we have our next hideout scouted and cleared, and we’re getting ready for your little one. You don’t have anything to worry about except delivering that little baby into this world, you got that?” 

You smiled faintly; that conversation had only been a week ago. 

“I have your food,” Dabi’s grim and smooth voice snapped you out of your thoughts, “Tomura wants you to know that most of us will be gone for a few hours on a mission,” Dabi spoke indifferently as he walked towards you; Spinner had been kind enough to acquire a rocking chair for you a few days ago, “Here.” He plopped your meal on the little table you had nearby. 

“Did you get anything for yourself?” You asked getting up and waddling over to the food, “You know I hate eating alone.” You mused as Dabi handed you your udon curry. 

Dabi rolled his eyes, “You hate being alone in general.” 

You chuckled, “I only wonder why that is,” Dabi pinned you with a cold look; any mentions of Kai in front of Dabi would result in a nasty look. It was safe to say that if anyone hated Kai almost as much as Tomura did, it was Dabi. “Sorry,” You sighed as Dabi brought out his meal, “Oh, what did you get?” You asked with raised eyebrows. 

“Pork cutlet bowl with curry, do you want a bite?” Dabi asked offering his bowl. 

You shook your head, “Thank you, but no. I only ever see you eat when you decide to join me for my meals.” You said lifting the lid of the container for your udon curry, “Oh, it smells so good!” You moaned in delight and felt your baby kick and grunted, “Okay, okay, hold your horses.” You rubbed your stomach with a slight wince. 

Dabi chuckled quietly, “She’s kicking more and more with each day, huh?” Ah, yes, since you wanted to keep the gender a surprise until birth, the gang had taken to placing bets on what the sex of the baby would be. Dabi, very obviously, betted on a girl. 

“She wants to get out already,” You giggle, “I can’t wait to meet her.” 

“I think everyone is excited to meet her, too.” Dabi muses settling himself in a chair and beginning to dig into his bowl. “Tomura wants to move to the new place as soon as you’re able to after birth,” Dabi says. 

“Oh, yeah?” You asked since this was the first time you were hearing about this.

“We’re moving further out; somewhere remote,” Dabi munched on his food thoughtfully, “A dingy warehouse isn’t suitable for a newborn, ya know? Tomura wants to move somewhere where we can stretch our legs and get fresh air.” 

“How thoughtful,” You smile softly, “I hope I can repay you guys for giving me a home and a family.” You speak gently. 

“You don’t have to repay us anything,” Dabi tells you firmly, “You just focus on your baby and we’ll do our best to protect both of you.” It warmed your heart and you stared at Dabi with dewy eyes, “Please don’t start crying again.” Dabi sighed though there was amusement in his grim voice. 

You sniffled and wiped at your eyes, “Shut up, I’m allowed to be emotional, okay?” You joked weakly. 

The two of you slipped into a comfortable silence as both of you ate; you were getting drowsy and it was getting late in the evening. The food and Dabi had been gone for maybe an hour or two; he needed to secure the area before the group left for their mission. 

“Y/N,” Tomura’s voice caught your attention, “Did Dabi tell you we were leaving tonight for a mission?” You blinked sleepily and wiped at your eyes but nodded, “Good, you’ll probably be asleep the entire time,” Tomura mused and beckoned you, “Come on, we set up a bed in the escape room.”

“Oh, yeah,” You yawned grabbing the soft blanket that Himiko gave you a few days prior, “I forgot that’s where I stay when no one else is here with me.” You waddled over to Tomura who took your arm and began guiding you down to the lower level of the warehouse, “I’m kinda nervous,” You admitted quietly, “This is the first time I’ll be alone.”

“I know,” Tomura responded kindly, “I know you don’t like being alone but you’ll be to hear everything we’re saying through the portable radio we’ll be leaving here,” You watched as Tomura helped you waddle down the stairs as the gang got suited up and ready for their mission.

“Looks like an important mission,” You say with wide eyes. 

“Y/N!” Himiko squealed; geared up in her usual attire, “Ugh, you look ready to pop! I don’t know how I feel about leaving her on her own for the night, Tomura!” Himiko whined loudly. 

You gently patted Himiko’s hair; a gesture that Himiko secretly loved, “I’ll be fine, Himiko, you worry about taking care of the boys.” You tell her. 

Himiko perked and crowed, “You hear that? Y/N has put me in charge of watching out for you losers!” 

“Losers?!” Twice shrieked, “We are losers,” Twice grumbled and added just as quickly, “I’ll stab you, Toga.” 

“Twice, shut up,” Dabi muttered with annoyance. 

“Y/N, do you want us to bring you something?” Himiko asked excitedly as she bounced up and down following as Tomura guided you to the escape room.

“Anything but a dead body or body parts, Himiko,” You gently muse. 

Himiko squealed, “Oh my god, I have a perfect idea!” 

“Toga,” Tomura spoke plainly, “Go finish your last task.” 

Himiko pouted but nodded, “Whatever, bye, Y/N, we’ll be back before you know it!” Himiko said with a wide grin. 

“You guys be safe, okay?” You say loud enough for the others to hear, “And come back home in one piece.” You were rewarded with positive responses as Tomura led you into the escape room. Typically, this was basically the war room but Tomura had added in a bed in the corner and a little fridge beside it.

“You should be asleep the entire time,” Tomura spoke, “But just in case, we left some food in the fridge for you in case the kid gets hungry. The radio is right here,” Tomura pointed to the portable talkie, “You’ll hear everything going on and be able to talk to us. You remember where the secret door is?” Tomura asked you patiently. 

You nodded, “Yes,”

“And the code to open it?” He pressed.

You nodded again, “Yeah.”

“In case anything goes wrong, the map to the nearest safe house is right here in the drawer,” Tomura taps the nightstand next to the bed, “It isn’t far from here; you should be able to get there safely if we are to be raided.” Deep down, Tomura was riddled with anxiety and so was the rest of the gang; leaving a heavily pregnant woman on her own for even a few hours was a high risk. Kurogiri was halfway across the country at the moment on a secret mission for Tomura, so, they were making due at the moment. 

“Got it.” You said with a determined nod. 

Dabi came into the escape room, “We’re ready.”

Tomura nodded and patted the top of your head, “Go to sleep if you can, we’ll be back before you know it.” He reassured before heading out of the room; Dabi lingered behind and you smiled at him. 

“Worried?” You teased softly. 

Dabi frowned, “Yes.”

You pursued your lips, “We’ll be fine, Dabi.” You say confidently, “I can handle myself if anything happens.” 

“I want you to respond when we ask for you, okay?” Dabi orders.

“You know I will,” You say as you put down the blanket that Himiko gave you on the bed, “I’ll probably be asleep after a while though,” You say with a yawn and sat down on the bed, “Be safe, okay?” You say softly. 

Dabi pinned you with a look and you laughed softly as you looked down at your swollen belly, “I can’t help but to worry, ya know? Apart of me wants to go with you guys and help.” 

“Your only job--”

“Is to focus on the well-being of my baby, I know.” You cut him off with a smile. 

When you looked up, Dabi was walking towards you. As he reached you, he bent over to look into your eyes squarely, “You need to focus on your well-being, too.” He says quietly and all you could think of was how mesmerizing his eyes were. The color was such a deep, intense blue. 

“Y/N,” Dabi mused noticing your staring, “Enjoying the view?” He teased very quietly; you almost didn’t hear it. 

You stared up at him, “Yes,” You answered honestly. 

Dabi’s stare seems to intensify and almost deepen in color, “Hmm,” He says thoughtfully before leaning away from you, “I’ll see you in a few hours, try not to burn the place down.” Dabi says with a snort. 

You blink a few times unsure of what to make of the situation; was that flirting? Did he flirt? Did you just flirt back? Your head spun as Dabi turned to look at you with a smoldering look as Tomura came over and began closing the heavy, thick vault door, “Remember the plan, Y/N.” Tomura reminds you.

You nod and Tomura locks you in. 

The radio started buzzing a few minutes after Tomura locks in you in the war room/escape room. You listen intently as you lay down and wait for sleep to take you; it didn’t take long for one the members to ask if you were still awake. You responded drowsily and it was enough for Tomura to be reassured for the last time before telling the rest of the gang to no longer talk to you. 

You mumbled a soft ‘Be safe’ and ended up falling asleep unaware of the chaos about to ensue soon. 

There was an explosion; it shook the ground and walls. 

You blinked groggily and lifted your head up; there was another explosion and yelling outside. You looked at the radio and only heard radio silence. You got up and cried out when a sudden pain struck through you and when you looked down, you paled in horror. Your water had broke during your sleep and you hadn’t even felt. You grabbed the radio and said, “H-Hello? Are you guys here? I hear stuff going on outside.” 

It was silent for a few seconds before Tomura’s voice sent chills down your spine, “Get out of there now.” Tomura snarled. 

“Um,” Your heart began to hammer and a panicky feeling began to grow in your chest, “My water broke…” You whispered. 

“Are you serious!?” Twice’s voice was shrill. 

“I fucking knew it was risky leaving her on her own!” Dabi’s growled angrily. 

“Tomura, we need to retreat!” Spinner snapped. 

“No!” You cried out and groaned when a contraction rolled through you, “Finish the mission! I can handle this!” You were getting up and getting the map out of the drawer, “I’ll be at the safe-house!”

“Y/N, the safe-house wasn’t intended to be the birthplace of your kid!” Atsuhiro aka Mr. Compress sounded horrified at the idea. 

“I should be fine! My contractions are still far apart!” You say through gritted teeth as you grabbed your blanket, shoes, the radio, and the map and began making way towards the hidden door, “Don’t jeopardize the mission for me, I’ll be fine.” 

“Tomura!” Dabi hissed. 

Their voices meshed together but as you were waddling through the hidden door and closing it behind you; Tomura spoke in a grave voice, “We can’t risk leaving and those bastards following us,” Tomura heaved a sigh, “Y/N, keep us updated. Keep talking.” 

You spoke quietly, “I’m heading down the tunnel right now,” You breathed in and out noisily, “I feel light-headed and unsteady,” You admitted and held onto your swollen belly as Dabi began cursing to the High Heavens.

“The safe-house might be too far for her to walk to in her condition, Tomura.” Spinner spoke gravely. 

“I can use my quirk but it might give me away,” You suggested. 

“We don’t have eyes on the warehouse; they knocked out all the cameras.” Twice responded angrily, “Don’t they know how expensive those were!?” 

The gang bickered but Dabi finally told everyone to shut up, “You guys aren’t helping Y/N so, shut the fuck up.” 

“Kurogiri might be too far away for his warp gate to work,” Spinner inputted, “Tomura?” 

“I’m calling him right now,’ Tomura snapped, “This was a fucking bad idea.”

“Y/N, stay where you’re at,” Dabi ordered and in the background, you could hear Tomura speaking furiously to Kurogiri. 

“He’s on the way, Y/N,” Tomura quickly said, “Just hang on for a few minutes, what do you hear?” Tomura demanded. 

“I hear a lot of yelling,” You mumbled, “Even from in the tunnel, I can feel their footsteps shaking the ground,” You leaned down and touched the ground and activated your quirk; the whole tunnel became engulfed in a red mist, “I count about forty or fifty policemen and several heroes.” You say. 

“Are they at the vault door?” Tomura asked starting to get calm again. 

“Yes,” You answered and felt the ground shake terribly, “They’re trying to take it down right now.” 

“We can’t risk her getting out of the tunnel and someone spotting her,” Himiko shrieked loudly, “I’ll fucking stab anyone who touches you, Y/N!” 

“Toga, relax,” Tomura ordered strictly. 

You leaned against the wall and began breathing exercises that the doctor showed you earlier this week, “This is a shitshow and I’m sorry,” You apologized weakly. 

“Do not apologize, you brat,” Dabi snapped.

You smiled gently.

“Dabi, that is no way to speak to a pregnant woman.” Atsuhiro scolded Dabi sounding insulted. 

“They got through the vault door,” You whispered and whimpered when another contraction rolled through you, “Oh god,” You mumbled, “I feel her moving inside of me!” 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Dabi repeated. 

“The baby’s coming!” Twice sang/shouted in a horrified manner, “Oh, shit, the baby’s fucking coming.” 

“I wanted to see all the blood…” Himiko gloomily sighed. 

“Y/N,” Kurogiri’s voice sounded behind you and you saw him standing in front of his warp gate, “How are you faring?” He asked reaching out for your hand. 

You groaned, “She’s coming soon, Kuro.”

“Tomura has the doctor on standby, come,” Kurogiri guided her through the warp gate right as the police and heroes managed to find the tunnel but by the time they got to the end, you and Kurogiri were long gone; but they knew you were with the League of Villains because of the blood trail you left behind. 

Kurogiri was informing the gang that he had gotten you safely to the doctor who had been preparing the room for the birth; he had two nurses with him and they were guiding you to the bed. “How are you feeling?” The doctor asked as they heaved you on the bed and he immediately checked you. 

“Overwhelmed,” You answered meekly.

“It’ll be over soon,” He reassured confidently, “The baby’s on her way, are you ready to meet your kid?” The doctor smiled and despite of the long scar on his face; you felt excited and comfortable in his care. 

“Yes.” You replied with confidence. 

Sorry for any errors! I kinda forgot about Kurogiri, so, I had to re-write half of the imagine, haha. Sorry, if it seems sloppy! 

[secret-engima]

You’ve said that in Galahd, wearing yellow and pink together will get you stabbed on sight. What do those colors mean together? I know yellow is love (of varying kinds) and pink is poison/betrayal, so do they mean one who kills/killed or betrayed their friends/Clan? Or that they are essentially a snake in the grass, befriending someone and then stabbing them in the back? (Has any Galahdian EVER worn pink voluntarily, given its meaning?)

a-world-in-grey said: Also thinking of the other color combos with pink and whooo boy, none of them are anything but nasty. (I could see Titus being associated with red and pink.) Like, pink with blue or purple seems like it would get you a similar reaction to pink and yellow, while pink with black or white is a similar screaming fury to red and black/white (and probs has everyone reaching for the nearest pointy thing and eyeing you Just In Case.)

a-world-in-grey said: AND (wow my brain won’t shut up about this) white is such a SAD color. (Or terrifying. Or both.) Like, white and orange could mean freedom, but specifically the freedom of HAVING NOTHING LEFT. (Cue all galahdians going *must adopt*?) on the other hand, red and white is ‘I am so mad I will burn you out of existence and dance on the ashes.’ And then black and white is terrifying because ‘I will not stop until you (or I) are ash’ possibly because said person has nothing left to lose. So also sad.

a-world-in-grey said: I... am going to go make a table for the paired color meanings... (so my brain doesn’t fry itself trying to keep track of everything)

Me: If you make a paired color meanings chart feel free to tag me and share because I get a little confused too.

To answer! Pink is poison/betrayal but when mixed with other colors, it tends to take on the meaning of “grudge” as well, specifically “grudge associated with other color’s topic”. Another way of putting it is that Pink mixed with another color means “I consider myself betrayed by X value”. Sorry I didn’t make the betrayal thing clear earlier. It doesn’t mean necessarily “I have betrayed” but more like “I consider myself betrayed and thus no longer hold myself to the laws of courtesy”. That or “I have been poisoned in my soul”. That sort of thing. if that makes more sense? There is a sub context of “I will do to others what has been done to me” so in that sense it is a declaration of being poisonous/traitorous just as much as being poisoned/betrayed.

Anyway wearing Pink and Yellow is basically the Galahdian equivalent of wandering around covered in blood, giggling to yourself with a giant neon YANDERE ON THE WARPATH sign. Aka, someone who is IN LOVE but has been rejected by the object of it, thus considering themselves betrayed or their love poisoned. If you are announcing this via colors, it means you hold a grudge and intend to get revenge. Probably on both the object of affection and any perceived “rivals”, which is why people will preemptively stab on sight.

Yes, some Galahdians wear pink voluntarily, but those are extenuating circumstances and ... basically is a more focused and scarier version of wearing Red. Red is Wrath, Red is Anger and War and to some extent Righteous Vengeance. You know what to expect from Red and that is a lot of stabbing and probably a lot of shouting, but when it’s over it’s over and the Red is put away. But to wear Pink ... that means you go beyond stabbing. That means you have been betrayed or INTEND to betray someone you believe has crossed an uncrossable line and so you are, by wearing Pink, essentially saying “I will not be held responsible by any laws for what I do in the course of my revenge and I will Not Stop”.

There have been times in Galahd history where someone considered untouchable by the Clan (because Kin, possibly even Chieftain Blood Kin) crossed a line, but because they were Kin, they could not be killed or harmed (usually these circumstances are the answers to the question of What Happens When A Clan Chief Turns Tyrant/Corrupt). In those instances, SOMEONE very brave would don Pink and Purple (or possibly Pink and a mix of both black and white) and would kill that person. By wearing the Pink they are announcing their intent to become a Kinslayer because they have been betrayed and the family tie between them and the other person “poisoned”. According to Clan law, those who wear Pink for such purpose had to be exiled because law was law, but they were still honored in the history for doing the necessary thing and were allowed to live on Clan lands and even receive medical aid, even if they couldn’t be talked to or really interacted with outside emergencies.

Moving on to the other color combos, most have similar meanings to Pink and Yellow and all are considered screaming warning signs basically. Pink and Blue can easily mean either “the one who swore to protect me has betrayed me and so I’m going to horribly murder them” OR, if you’re not a sane person, can also mean “the one I PROTECTED has betrayed me and now I’m going to kill them” with an optional side dish of “I hate someone so much I’m going to specifically target the people they protect”.

Pink and Purple is one of the few acceptable combos because that one always and specifically means “I am loyal to someone/something who has been betrayed beyond all forgiveness, so I will go to any means to avenge them”. This isn’t a nice meaning, and people will still be very leery of interacting, but you are far less likely to be stabbed on sight than Pink and Yellow or Pink and Blue.

Pink mixed with Black is basically a shining sign going “I have lost my mind, stay away or suffer” and Pink and White is “I have lost everything so I will make someone ELSE lose everything”

White/Orange does actually mean that yes! And the Clans do tend to court and adopt people wearing those colors. Those are also the traditional colors for if you are the last of your Clan. Red and White is terrifying because it means “I am so angry I will Destroy Everything” but Black and White is HORRIFYING because it means “I will Destroy Everything and Not Stop Until I’m Dead, No Matter What”.

I hope this helps!

[modreduscycle]

Green Knight Pt. 4

“I’ll see you both before sunset!” Bertilak bade, leaning down to kiss his wife goodbye. Once their lips parted, the lord grabbed Gawain’s hand and kissed it. “And I have not forgotten our game.”

Oh dear sweet lord. Adultery is bad, adultery is bad, and would probably not be made better by committing it with both parties in a marriage. Besides, Bertilak was just being polite and chivalrous. He meant nothing by it. Gawain forced a smile. “Neither have I, although I still don’t think I’ll have anything to give you.”

“We’ll see! Farewell!” With a loud bang and a rush of cold air, the door slammed shut behind him and Gawain was left alone with Ragnelle.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and glanced over to see Ragnelle smiling at him. “Come with me, there’s something I’d like to show you.”

She took his hand and led him into another room of the castle. Inside, the walls were covered with paintings and the furniture was covered in thick furs, many of which were splattered with paint. Easels stood up around the room, canvases upon many of them. There was a shelf in the corner with more canvases, these blank, along with jars of paint. There were also several potted plants, healthy, green, and some in full bloom despite being midwinter. Now that he thought about it, the castle seemed to have as many plants as furs, and they had a lot of furs decorating the place. Even Ragnelle herself always had flowers in her hair.

Ragnelle rubbed the back of her neck. “What do you think?”

“It’s amazing, you paint in here?” Gawain asked.

“Obviously. Bertilak sometimes joins me, but I think he gets embarrassed a bit. He doesn’t have as much practice as I do, so there’s a difference in skill,” Ragnelle explained, sinking into a fur-covered couch in front of two easels. Gawain noticed the canvases on them were both blank. Ragnelle picked up a brush and held it between her fingers like a pen. She cast him an alluring look. “Would you like to try your hand at a brush?”

“I haven’t really painted before,” Gawain muttered, trying to fight a blush.

“Then I can teach you, come here,” she bid. He sat down next to her and she angled the nearest easel toward him. “What do you want to paint?”

“I don’t know… Gringolet, maybe?” he suggested, picking up the brush and dipping it into paint.

“Who’s that?” asked Ragnelle.

“Oh, that’s my horse’s name. The one I rode in on.”

“Oh! Him!” Her eyes brightened in sudden understanding. “He’s a nice horse, I went down to the stables to visit him last night. He’s very spirited.”

“Right?” Gawain exclaimed. “Everyone else seems to think he’s a monster or something.”

“I mean, he was trying to bite the stablehand when I walked in, so I do see where they’re coming from,” Ragnelle admitted. She grabbed his hand and helped guide his strokes, sidling closer to him in the process.

“He’s just not a huge fan of men, myself excluded,” Gawain explained. “He has good reason to be, too.” His eyes narrowed. “I almost killed his previous owner because of how he treated him. Gaheris had to stop me.”

“Abusive son of a bitch?” Ragnelle asked. He could feel her hot breath on his neck.

“Yeah. I had to nurse him back to health for months before he was even fit to ride for a short period of time. It took a long time to get him to eat anything other than apples.”

Gawain felt Ragnelle’s hand tighten around his wrist. “Almost wish you did kill his previous owner, or at least caused serious injury.”

“Well… I did sort of hit him…” Gawain muttered. “Gaheris described it as me, ‘bitch-slapping him with my shield.’ He flew about three feet and slammed into the wall. Didn’t put up much of a fight about me taking his horse.”

“Wonder why,” Ragnelle quipped. She fell silent. “I know what it’s like for someone to hurt you like that, but I never had anyone like you to come and save me.”

Gawain stared at her with wide eyes. “Is it Bertilak or…?” He thought he was a pretty good judge of character, and her husband certainly hadn’t set off any alarms, but if he laid a hand on her, they were having words.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Ragnelle quickly denied. “Bertilak has never been anything but kind. I’m not even certain he has it in him to hurt anyone outside of a fight.” She sighed and looked away. “I just didn’t have a great family.”

Gawain bit his lip. “My mother’s pretty awful, too.”

“What’d she do?” Ragnelle asked.

“I know I don’t know everything, but…” He wondered how much he should say. Accusing a queen of such things, regardless of circumstance, was a bit scandalous and probably not something a knight should do, but on the other hand, she was his mother. “Well, my youngest brother was born because she raped someone, just to give you a general picture of the kind of person she is.”

“Oh, wow.” Ragnelle’s eyes widened.

“She always made it perfectly clear her opinions on my siblings and I range from indifference to outright hatred,” Gawain muttered. “She threatened to murder my youngest brother if my aunt didn’t take him and I’m not certain, but I’m pretty sure she physically abused one of my other brothers but he clams up everytime I try to ask.”

“My mother is perhaps the only family member who I maybe could stand,” Ragnelle explained. Her brush strokes became furious and harsh. “I say ‘maybe’ because she disappeared when I was a baby. My father remarried and my stepmother is the the biggest bitch I’ve ever known. My half-brother’s a son of a bitch, and that’s an insult against both of them. My father either did nothing or was on their side.” She wrapped her fingers around a strand of hair with several blue flowers in it, even more than there had been a few minutes ago.

“That’s awful…” Gawain muttered. He grabbed her hand and squeezed. “They’re awful.”

She smiled over at him. “Yeah, took me a good portion of my life to fully realize it wasn’t me. When I did, I stuck around one more year before running away. I was sixteen.”

“That’s about how old I was when I left for Camelot,” Gawain replied. There was an awkward moment of silence. “So which one of your parents were fey?”

“Huh?” She jerked around and looked at him with eyes wide.

“Your flowers,” Gawain pointed to his own hair. “It’s a trait of nature fey, right? Plants growing in your hair.”

She stared at him for a few more seconds. “...both of them, actually. My stepmother is human, though.”

“I’m only a… I think it’s sixteenth myself? My grandfather was a fourth light fey,” Gawain mused. “So basically it’s barely worth mentioning.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard, I just didn’t know you were still familiar with the fey,” Ragnelle replied.

“My aunt is Morgana le Fay and I live in Camelot, how could I not be— wait, where did you hear that?” he asked suspiciously.

Her eyes widened, like she’d been caught at something. “I… well, you’re not exactly an unknown knight, Sir Gawain of Orkney.”

“So my reputation proceeds me,” he muttered.

“Parts of it, yes, but reputations and people are two different things. Just take it for granted that I might know a few more things about you than you do about me,” she explained.

“Being in the limelight sucks,” mumbled Gawain.

Ragnelle sighed and wrapped her arm around his neck, making eye contact. “I’m sure it does, but you know what?”

“W- what?”

“You’re so much better in person than any stories of your heroic deeds could ever make you out to be.” Before he even realized what was happening, she closed the short distance between them and kissed him. He couldn’t stop himself before he kissed back.

She was the first to pull away, smiling shyly afterward. Gawain knew his face was beet red, and he was trying to quell both the smile on his face and the giddiness he was feeling. “That… that shouldn’t have happened.”

“It’s fine, Gawain.”

“No, you’re a married woman and I—”

“Don’t want to commit adultery, I understand.”

“I… oh God, do I tell Bertilak?”

“You can, he’ll understand.”

“Will he?!”

Ragnelle rolled her eyes. “Yes.”

He stared at her. “Really?”

With a sigh, Ragnelle pushed a strand of red hair out of her face. “I know my husband better than you do. Trust me, he would not have a problem if we did it right here on the couch.”

“I feel like you’re screwing with me. Also, no!” Gawain added, objecting to the suggestion. He ran his fingers through his hair. “What do I do?”

She glanced over at him. “You know, you got that kiss.”

“I noticed that, what do you…” His eyes widened. “Wait… are you telling me to…”

“It’s a good way to tell him,” Ragnelle replied with a grin.

“It’s also a good way to get stabbed.”

“He won’t stab you.”

Gawain fell silent and thought for a moment. “Well, I’ll be dead soon anyway, what’s a few days earlier?”

“That’s not the spirit, but I’ll take it.”

They spent the rest of the day painting. Gawain’s didn’t turn out great, even with Ragnelle’s help, but he was proud of it. Ragnelle argued since he made it and didn’t receive it that it didn’t count by the rules of the bet, but he still gave it to her as a gift. After all, what use did he have for it?

When Bertilak arrived back, Gawain internally screamed while the large man took his coat and armor off. This was a bad idea, all previous experience told him this was a very, very bad idea. But it also tempted him, and he made a promise…

His thoughts were broken off when Bertilak clapped his shoulder and pointed to the game, laid out on a table. “That’s all yours. Is there any you want the cooks to serve for dinner tonight?”

“U- um, the boar looks pretty good,” Gawain stuttered, a little distracted.

“Excellent!” Bertilak boomed. “I thought so too! Now, do you have anything for me?”

“Actually, yes,” Gawain admitted. Before he could change his mind or lose his nerve, he got up on his tiptoes and pulled Bertilak into a deep kiss. The man really had a nice beard, he had to admit. It wasn’t scratchy, just soft and fluffy. If it wasn’t for the fact that this was bordering on adultery, he would have kept going but instead he broke away after a few seconds. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ragnelle hiding a smile while Bertilak looked pleasantly surprised.

“...and I thought I got the better catch today,” he muttered. “You are a very good kisser.”

“I’ve had some practice,” Gawain muttered.

“I’m sure you have,” Bertilak agreed, blushing. “Oh, and I know we can’t exactly request things from the other person, but if you’d like to get that again tomorrow from wherever you received it, I’d be most grateful.”

…there was no way they were both flirting with him. No way. He was either in heaven or hell right now and he didn’t know which one.

[mandowh0re]

Devil’s Advocate

Chapter 1

Summary: After a violent breakup with her now ex-boyfriend, Liza is ready to give up on relationships. In an attempt for safety, she moves to a city across the country. That’s where she finds herself now. In her new apartment, staring into the eyes of the devil, who claims to be in love with her. Also, since when is the devil a woman?

Word Count: 2186

A/N: Wassup my lovely fucks! I am in quarantine and have decided to show myself once again! This is a story that is NOT marvel related but I’m working on stories outside of fanfiction to practice writing my own characters. This will be an 18+ story. I really like this one so far, so even if you followed me for marvel content, please give it a try?

P.S. I am not a doctor so this will be filled with medical inaccuracies, sorry.

Warnings: domestic abuse, descriptions of injury, scene with a violent fight (I will warn when the scene starts and ends)

Happy reading!

“... Twenty-four year old female… multiple….”

“... C.T. is ready…”

“... We need to…”

“... Liza? We need you to…”

(!!!)

“Where are you going?”

Liza nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Luke’s voice. He was supposed to be at work for another three hours, and she needed all the time she could to pack her things. 

Slowly, Liza turned around to see Luke standing in the entryway of the living room. He looked mad. He always looked mad. 

“Hey honey, you’re home early.” Liza replied, not answering his question and fighting to keep her voice even. If she showed fear this would be even worse. 

“You weren’t answering my calls.”

Shit. 

“I’m sorry, I was cleaning and I guess I didn’t hear my phone-“

“You’re lying. Don’t lie to me. Where are you going?”

Liza’s eyes flickered from Luke to the nearest exit. She knew in her bones this wasn’t going to end well for her. 

The closest exit was past Luke, but there were multiple objects she could use as a weapon. The wine bottle at the bar seemed the best. 

“I was headed to Jess’. She’s really sick and needs someone over there-“

“You see,” Luke interrupted as he stepped closer, his hands in his pockets and his eyes trained on Liza, “I gave you a chance to tell me the truth, and I warned you not to lie to me. I stopped by the hospital, Jess was there. Said you felt sick so you stayed home today.”

Liza could feel her heart in her throat. She couldn’t very well argue with him. Jess, bless her, had tried to cover for her. Because the reality of it was that she had quit. She had planned on leaving an hour before Luke got home. She needed to leave him or he would quite literally be the death of her. 

In a last minute attempt to save herself, Liza bolted towards the bar, but was stopped short when Luke grabbed her wrist. 

He spun her back to face him, and punched her square in the face. 

“You thought you could leave me? After everything we’ve been through?” Luke asked, as he backhanded Liza and threw her against the wall, “I did everything for you. I was so good to you. I loved you! And this is how you repay me?”

Another punch, this time to her stomach. Then another. And another. 

Liza coughed, and blood dripped from her mouth. She knew the only way she would get out of this alive was if she called for help now. 

Luke was currently going on a rant, so while he was distracted she quickly tumbled towards the couch and grabbed her phone from her bag. She unlocked it, found the app that Jess had made her download weeks ago, and pressed the panic button multiple times before a wad of her hair was grabbed and she was tossed across the room. 

“You fucking bitch! You listen when I talk to you! Are you leaving me for another guy? Huh? Is that it you slut!” He added emphasis on ‘slut’ as he reared his foot back and kicked her ribs, “I bet it’s that fucker, Dennis? The one at the coffee shop you like so much?” Another kick to the ribs, “I’ll fucking kill him!”

Luke dropped down on top of Liza, grabbed her hair and slammed her head into the floor several times before adding another punch to the face. 

Liza was wheezing and coughing, trying to keep awake and from choking on her own blood. Tears stung her eyes and she felt herself slipping. She faintly heard the sound of sirens, but they were too late. She saw the metal glint in Luke’s hands. 

She was dead. 

Luke leaned down so that his face was right next to her head. 

“I’ll kill him,” he whispered, “Right after I kill you.”

At first there was pain, and then, there was nothing. 

***(!!!)

Sounds. Sounds came back first. 

The first thing she heard was beeping. Then as she began to come out of her sleep she could make out the faint sounds of voices. 

Next was smell. 

Wherever she was, it smelled clean. And oddly familiar.

Suddenly, like a train, all of her senses crashed into her at once as she realized where she was and why she was there. 

Her eyes flew open, as much as they could, and then there was a loud alarm next to her. 

She knew that alarm. She needed to get her heart rate down. 

But it didn’t matter. Because Luke could come find her at any time and she had to hide.

She threw the blankets off of her and went to stand, but fell to the ground, bringing her IV drip with her. 

Several nurses suddenly burst in the door, as well as a security officer. 

“Ma’am, you need to stay in bed,” One nurse tried telling her as the other nurses tried to get her back on her bed. 

“No, he’s going to find me!” Liza shrieked, fighting against the nurses, throwing weak punches where she could. She vaguely registered someone yelling out for a sedative.

“No! No you can’t do that! He’ll find me and he’ll finish what he started and-“

“Liza,” 

That voice. She knew that voice. She opened her eyes, which she hadn’t realized were closed, and saw a blurry image of her friend in front of her.

When had she started crying?

“Jess?”

“Hey girlie. I need you to calm down okay?”

Liza’s chest heaved as she forced in a breath. Jess was here. Jess always kept her safe. 

“But… But Luke-“

“Is in jail.” Jess said with a certain finality to her voice, “The police found him when they got to your house. At first they thought…” Jess swallowed the lump in her throat and Liza was vaguely aware of the other nurses inserting new IVs. 

“But they rushed you into the ER. They paged me saying there was a critical Jane Doe. But I knew, I knew it was you. When I saw you I- It took everything in me not to go and kill him myself.”

“So… He’s... gone?” Liza asked, her voice shaking. 

Jess nodded, “Yeah. He isn’t going to hurt you again. So could you please lay your stubborn ass down so I’m not constantly on the verge of a heart attack, please?”

Liza smiled, or tried to, it probably looked like a grimace. She laid back down with the help of the other nurses. 

Now that she was up and the IV had unhooked for a few minutes, her brain fog had cleared enough to let her understand the situation. 

“How bad?” She asked. 

Jess placed a hand on the shoulder of another nurse, who Liza recognized as Rhonda. She was always nice to her. She always looked out for Liza.

“I’ve got this,” Jess spoke quietly. Rhonda nodded and finished the IV she was placing before leaving the two friends alone.

It was quiet for a moment before Liza asked again, “Jess?”

“You won’t remember anything I tell you right now. They’ve got you on some pretty strong stuff. Go to sleep, I’ll be here when you wake up and I’ll tell you.”

She wanted to fight, but Liza felt the medication pulling her under and she just didn’t have the energy. So she let the darkness wrap around her once again.

***

Jess was sitting in a chair next to her bed. Liza was finally moved out of the ICU and demanded that her friend tell her what all Luke had done.

“... Contusions everywhere. Ruptured spleen. And a stab wound to the abdomen that pierced multiple organs,” Jess sniffled and wiped a tear off her cheek, “They lost you twice in the first surgery. They wouldn’t let me in the room, said I was too close to the case. Honestly, everyone was shocked you made it out alive.

“You were in critical care for the first several days. On a ventilator for the first four. God, when you started breathing on your own I actually threw up, you know. I was so nervous.”

It was silent for a few minutes, Liza soaking up all of the information she had just been given. 

“How long was I out?” She asked. 

“Almost a week and a half. After you woke up the first time they put you into a coma so it wouldn’t happen again.”

It was quiet between the two for several minutes before Jess sniffed and swiped at her tears again, “You need to rest.”

Liza nodded and leaned back onto the bed once more, and attempted another smile when Jess squeezed her hand before leaving the room. 

***

“So I was thinking we could find you a new apartment, one of the fancy ones with extra security. Then when you’re feeling better you could come back to work-“

“I’m still leaving.” Liza cut off Jess’ thoughts, “I mean, I don’t want to. But I also do. I don’t feel safe here. I want to restart. Somewhere where nobody knows me.” Liza was poking at her food with her fork. Suddenly, she had no appetite. 

“Oh, okay. Yeah. I get that. I just, I guess I thought it would be easier… But you’re right,”

“Jess, I’m sorry.”

“Hey, no need to be sorry,” Jess sniffled and gave a watery smile, “You need to do what’s best for you. I’m just going to miss my best friend, is all.”

“I know. I’m gonna miss you too. But you’re gonna come out to visit me as soon as possible, right?” 

“Duh,” Jess gently pushed Liza’s shoulder and the two of them giggled, “Jack and I are coming out as soon as I have enough vacation saved up.”

A pang of guilt hit Liza. Jess had used up most of her vacation time while Liza was in the hospital, a majority used after she had woken up the first time. 

A feat that the doctors couldn’t figure out how it had happened, she learned, since she hadn't been weaned off the sedatives yet. 

Liza barely remembered that. Jess had to tell her what had happened. Though she supposed it was a good thing she didn’t remember most of that incident. Apparently she had nearly gone berserk. 

“Hey,” Jess’ voice stirred Liza from her train of thought, “You okay?”

Liza cleared her throat, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired.”

“Yeah, of course. You should rest. I’ll come see you later.” Jess got up and pulled the small table Liza had been eating on to the side of the bed and pulled the blankets up to cover her. 

Grabbing the food tray, Jess snuck out of the room and headed to the nursing station, dropping the food tray on the cart as she passed. 

“Hey, she sleeping?” Lynne, one of Liza’s nurses, asked. 

“I don’t know if she’s sleeping. But she’s resting.” Jess said as she slid into one of the empty chairs. 

“That’s better than nothing,” Lynne looked back up from her paperwork, “Why do you look constipated?”

Jess shot a look at her friend before pinching the bridge of her nose, “She still wants to move. And I get it, I do, but I can’t keep her safe if she’s all the way across the country!” 

Lynne sighed, “Jess. Honey, she was half way across town and was very nearly killed. I know you feel responsible. But you were doing everything you could. From what she told us, you were helping her get out,”

“I should have given her a way to defend herself.”

“You can’t dwell on the past. Not anymore. Because that’s all she’s going to do, and you need to be strong for her. You need to be that beacon of hope, even if you’re clear across the country.”

“How do I keep her from finding someone like him again?” Jess didn’t dare speak his name. It was like poison. And she didn’t want it on her tongue, “Because, Lynne, if someone lays a hand on her one more time, I might actually go to jail. No, scratch that. I definitely will go to jail. I would have that night if Doctor Tiruneh didn’t physically pull me into a supply closet and refuse to let me leave until I calmed down.”

Lynne blew out some air, running a hand down her face, “You can’t guarantee she won’t find someone like him again. In fact, it’s entirely possible she will. Some people end up in a cycle they can’t break, some people can break it after one relationship gone bad. Hopefully, this was enough for her to break that cycle. All you can do is be there for her and try to guide her.”

“I should have called the cops when I saw the bruises the first time,”

“That wasn’t your call to make,”

“Yeah, well, look where it got us.”

“She’s alive. That’s all that matters,”

Jess sat there for a few more minutes before she stood abruptly and headed out. She needed fresh air to think.

------

Permanent Tag List:  @a-place-to-blog-marvel-stuff​ @yes-iamironman-blog​ @paradoxicalblueberry​ @the-regal-warrior​ @transparentparadiseglitterzombie​ @marvelgem​ @propertyofmarvel​ @avngrsinitiative​ @my-leg-is-not-a-chew-toy​ @lyricalstella​ @just-the-daydreamer​

[kittymaverick]

MCF Moths to a Flame commentary part 2...

I really heavily underestimated how much jumping I was gonna do watching the gameplay alone... So, Eipex, good job on making me scared for the MD’s life... MD: LEMME OUT. If this weren’t so entertaining, I would honestly be screaming the same still...

1. Pazu: I remember these people Who doesn’t? MD: I wish I don’t! 2. Oh, THEY MOVED THE ENTIRE DOOR HERE??? MD: ...Okay, next time, I’m not just bringing a lighter. I’m bringing lighter, and gasoline, and kerosene, and napalm, AND A TONNE OF TNT JUST TO BE SURE NOTHING OF THAT MANOR EVER SURVIVES AGAIN. 3. MD: this room, it’s like all the Ravenhearst cases in one-- I’m gonna go pass out in the corner. Eipex, when I asked for Ravenhearst, I don’t think I meant like... give the MD a full room of it... Or maybe I did... MD: I knew this case was bad before we started whyyyyyyyyy did I come whyyyyyyyyyyy *sobbing* 4. There’s even a shrine-- wait, why does Gwen’s nest have... eggs... MD, which one of the twins was it that survived? MD: Um, let me check your posts... Okay, apparently, it was Charlotte. ...Are we absolutely, 100%ly, without any doubt whatsoever, certainty beyond all reasonable speculations that Gwen LEGIT DIED WHEN ALISTAIR STABBED HER? MD: ...Look, I checked her body, OKAY? RANSACKED IT EVEN. THE DALIMARS DON’T EXACTLY STAY DEAD THOUGH IF YOU HAVEN’T EXACTLY NOTICED. (Meanwhile, probably elsewhere in this museum, maybe... Dalimars: The Master Detective sure likes arguing with themselves nowadays... they’re never going to get to the end of this game at this rate...) 5. MD: I probably shouldn’t go into a fireplace that just showed up, but... I’m too curious-- Oh, good to know you’re just like a cat like me! Which life are you on now? MD: ...Considering Ankou gave me the feather, negative 2? 6. Complex puzzles actually seem doable and logical this time! Though it is hella creepy. 7. “All the cases are too easy! I’m gonna look into some of the Master Detective cases next. Maybe there’ll be a challenge in there.“ MD: I’m second hand embarrassed about this man’s ego. And other than the security breach your agency has, can I say... Your cases don’t so much have challenges in them as so much as loose ends that never tie up... MD: Look, I REALLY try with the fire, okay??? 8. Shoot all the evil ducks. If you shoot a wrong one, you’ll have to start again! MD: THIS IS THE NEW WHACK-A-TROLL I SWEAR. Pazu: I got this. *100% it* MD: See, in the hands of a good player, I still got it. ...First, how dare you diss me. Second, You do realize your adversary now know your shooting skills, right? MD: Shut up and let me have my small victories will you? 9. Hm, Raven badge, crystal badge... wonder if the last one is going to be death badge.... MD: If the Dalimars and that Scottish guy teamed up, I’m as good as dead... 10. ...is that... is that? MD: ...ISIS??? PLEASE LET US KEEP HER AS A PET. MD: Wait, HOW DID YOU GET CAUGHT? YOU’RE BASICALLY A GHOST CAT. Isis: *innocent kitty eyes* 11. Gargoyle chest with... Madame Fate’s Crystal Ball. MD: Please tell me that’s not the real thing because if it is, I’m breaking it right here and now. I think the pieces are under lock and key because they have Charles’ soul fragments in them right now, right? MD: EXACTLY MY POINT. 12. Video guy assumes you’re a guy. MD: I’m glad as least one part of my identity has been kept secret more than anything else... (Note: MD’s voice acting in this game suggests they are feminine) 13. And the final badge is revealed to be... the cog badge? Wha? (Even Pazu is confused lol.) ((I also just realized, we’re still in the Beta segment of the videos...I’m gonna cry in act 2 and 3, aren’t I?)) 14. MD: Should I be scared or honored that someone made rooms out of my old cases? Do you really want me to answer the obvious? MD: ...Okay, VERY SCARED. FREAKED OUT SCARED. ...BUT THEN YOU KEEP ON DOING THOSE PUZZLES. MD: I CAN’T HELP IT OKAY IT’S MY OCCUPATIONAL HABIT AT THIS POINT. 15. Cheating with weights on the hammer, MD? MD: Look, I walk around a lot solving cases, but that doesn’t exactly leave me time to work out, okay? 16. Oh, so MAC... was constructed by this guy-- MD: ARE YOU SAYING MY BADGE LITERALLY BETRAYED ME??? Well... MD: I CAN’T BELIEVE IT I CAN’T EVEN TRUST MY BADGE IN THIS WORLD ANYMORE. WHERE IS THE NEAREST CLIFF I’M GONNA YEET MYSELF OFF OF IT. (...I did say they were gonna give us a companion cube just to take it away, didn’t I?...) 17. MD, considering how well you know the queen... um, why didn’t you check before coming here whether it was fake or not? MD: ... Well? MD: Look, UK’s going through Brexit right now okay, I don’t think she wants to be disturbed when her country is in a crisis. 18. Okay, past the spire staircases! And behind door number three is-- OH NO. MD: OH THANK GOD THEY ARE ALIVE. NO THAT’S NOT GOOD WE HAVE HOSTAGES. REPEAT WE HAVE HOSTAGES! 19. Chloe: Thanks for freeing me-- MD: Okay, can I first say, how could you fall for this? Um, pot calling the kettle black here? MD: ...OKAY OKAY I’LL RESCUE YOU THREE THEN WE’LL REEVALUATE OUR METHODS, TOGETHER. Aiden: Make that Archivist pay for what he did to us! Blake: ...No pressure? MD: *sobbing* 20. MD: OKAY I GOT EVERYTHING, AND THIS IS... an apprentice badge? Archivist: Yo. Wassup? *Springs trap* MD: I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT WE KNEW IT WE KNEW IT WE KNEW IT Other detectives: Um, oops, sorry? Archivist: Really, though, how could you fall for that? And you call yourself a Master-- MD: I AM GOING TO GET OUT OF HERE AND HURT YOU SO BAD YOU WILL WISH YOU WERE DUMBER. Archivist: Um... that wasn’t... on the script-- Me and MD: SHUT UP WE HAVE A LOT OF FRUSTRATIONS AND PARANOIA BUILT UP OVER THE YEARS TO VENT OKAY. MD: And YOU just happen to be on the receiving end of it. Archivist: *drops trap several stories down* MD: DAMN YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-- [Here endith the Beta section!] 21. Hey, we awake? MD: Yeah... awake, ish. OW. Need, to, break, out, somehow. How convenient this guy left sharp objects in the cabinet here for us to use... MD: ...How did the glass not break from the fall? ...Hey, I’m supposed to be playing captain obvious here, not you! MD: Oh right, sorry. Anyway, to vandalism! 22. Archivist: You’re sloppy, aren’t you? MD: Says the guy who left sharp objects for me to break out of here with. Probably because he WANTS you to break out. Archivist: Remember Broken Hours, detective? Tick tock-- MD: I can’t believe I preferred the Dalimars as the villains. Me neither. At least they had some competence in their madness, minus Victor. 23. Blake: Take this Detective! Quick, I’m almost out of time-- OKAY WE ACTUALLY HAVE A HOSTAGE SITUATION HURRY UP! MD: If we take back the incompetence comment, will you give us more time? Archivist: No, of course not. MD: I thought so, you incompetent bastard. Archivist: You little...! Um, PUZZLES AND LIVES TO SAVE PLEASE??? 24. MD: Solving books puzzles gives me more books? Really now, that’s real creative-- Um... is that what I think it is? MD: It’s... It’s nitroglycerin. I’m... I’m so moved. Finally someone understands me. *sobs* Might I remind you this guy has your colleagues HOSTAGE??? 25. There are literally so many references to past games that I’m like overwhelmed with joy. MD: And I’m overwhelmed with HORROR. 26. Pazu: He’s going to get squashed. THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING. MD: Nah, he’s gonna be fine. I hope. I wish. I mean, I usually turn out fine, right? Right??? ...I’m starting to think your agency is so broke because of all the health bills you guys need to get reimbursed afterwards. 27. Archivist: You fall into my traps again and again-- Let’s be honest, that’s just an MD thing, okay? The rest of the MCF crew-- well, actually... Okay, you know what MD, the Archivist is kind of right here. It’s like you guys are literally DRAWN to traps. MD: I’m sorry for being a bad role model and starting the trend? 28. Huh, this room, looks REALLY familiar. MD: I GET IT. THIS GUY, HE’S A COPYCAT. LITERALLY NONE OF HIS THINGS ORIGINATE FROM HIM. HE’S BEEN STEALING THEM FROM EVERYWHERE AND FRANKENSTEINING THEM TOGETHER. It’s almost kind of impressive in a very disturbing way... 29. MD: Oh hey, Parker, coming with? ...I think the reason why you didn’t get a partner for this mission now is because... they all got kidnapped. MD: Yeah, I’m starting to see that now. We REALLY need better security... 30. MD: Found the center of the mechanism! Now to stop it-- WAIT, THINK, THIS IS A TRAP? MD: Gosh I hate that I have to do that for everything now... 31. Pazu: what is this obsession with badges? Someone clearly didn’t get one and is salty. MD: Gods, all four of us agents are going to need new badges after this, aren’t we. Oh gods that’s gonna come out of our pay too, I’m sure... Speaking of badges, look! You get an agent badge! MD: Can’t believe I’m saying this but I really, really, really, much prefer solving the case involving STAIN as well as about the Hope Diamond to get my qualifications than this... massive puzzle tower... Wasn’t Huntsville how you got start on the whole MD path to begin with? And solving the Hope Diamond got the queen asking you to go to Ravenhearst? MD: ...*sighs* yes, this is a trip down memory lane in the worst way possible, I swear... 32. Um, someone’s calling. You gonna pick up? MD: You know, the least you could do is fix broken things after bringing them over, Archivist? Archivist: But if I did that, where’s the SURPRISE? MD: The last group of people that tried to surprise me got their asses kicked, you know. 33. MD: Draining people of their mind force, huh? I believe the Dalimars have officially been outranked on delusions of grandeur. If this note doesn’t scream trap, I don’t know WHAT does. MD: Honestly, considering how dumbly I fall into traps... I’ll like to see the guy try to drain my brain and see what he gets out of it. 34. Is that... THE PATH TO RAVENHEARST MANOR REPLICATED INDOORS? MD: I’m both impressed, and also feeling Charles’ jealousy emitting from whereever he is sealed. Let’s just hope this guy doesn’t propose at the end too. You have all of our blessings to defenestrate him if he does. 35. Awwww he didn’t have time to finish the rest of the manor. Only got up to the gate. MD: It’s like watching someone give up half way on their ambitious project. HEY GUY, AT LEAST ALISTER AND CHARLES FINISHED THEIR PROJECTS. DID YOU? Archivist: Did they build traps like these? *Trap Chloe* MD: ....You are rising up my shit list with record speed and that doesn’t happen often. ALSO CHLOE SERIOUSLY! 36. Archivist: Too bad for your companion, she paid the price. MD: ...I KNEW I should have kept some of that nitroglycerin! Oh hey look he even has a cable car ride for you! Don’t think we’ve seen that since Return or Escape from Ravenhearst? Archivist: If you want to get to the end of the ride, take a seat, NOW. MD: Oh I’ll seat, but only because I WANT TO. Also, your chair aren’t even replicas. 37. MD: Okay the box now... let’s open it-- Oh come ON! IT’S WHACK-A-TROLL!!!!!!! 8D MD: *Smash emergency exit button* Now ladies and gentlemen, please exit the ride into the next insane area. We hope you’ve enjoy the trip BECAUSE I SURE HAVE NOT-- Really? AN AMUSEMENT PARK NEXT? You did say you weren’t having fun... 38. Aiden: HEEEEEELP! MD: ...as much as I feel sorry for the old guy, I’m also glad I’m not the one stuck in that rocket ride... 40. Oh hey, it’s whack-a... detective. AND IT’S MORE FRUSTRATING THAN WHACK-A-TROLL. REALLY EIPEX? REALLY??? MD: ...Can’t believe this, but now, I miss Whack-a-troll. 41. Archivist: Can’t believe you made it this far without realizing I was one of the missing people? MD: ... Actually... Me: That makes sense, like, I was expecting it, honestly. There WERE four missing posters and we only found three. I was wondering WHEN that was going to come up. MD: See, some of the players don’t go through 19 cases and NOT develop SOME sense of paranoia that you’re going to be betrayed. 42. Archivist: Why don’t you step through the door to claim your prize? Me: How about, no? MD: No here as well. Aiden: Also no here. LET ME GO THROUGH INSTEAD! Archivist: WAIT NO THAT’S NOT HOW IT’S SUPPOSED TO GO-- Me: ...Aaaand we’re out of the illusion. I KNEW IT! WHEN EVERYTHING WENT MISTY I KNEW SOMETHING WENT WRONG! MD: Okay, instead of celebrating you seeing this coming HOW ABOUT YOU GET ME OUT OF THIS CONTRAPTION THANK YOU. 43. Hey, you got your badge back. MD: I know. And it’s stabby. MD: I KNOW. YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS? MD: IT’S VANDALISM TIME! 44. Chloe: Hello? Anyone there? Blake: Um, same here? Aiden: AHA! Knew there was something fishy. MD: Okay, since we’re all awake, let’s do what we Master Detectives are great at doing. MDs: solving freakishly complicated puzzle panels. *sighs collectively* 45. Archivist: TOO MUCH BRAIN POWER! NOOOOO *Poofs* MD: THAT’S WHAT YOU GET FOR PLAYING GAMES WITH US-- Um, who, is, that? Basically everyone who remembers the sole survivor of the Dalimars: CHARLOTTE! [To be continue!]

[celestewritesoccasionally]

The Day My Life Got Interesting

I wrote this story last spring and I finally got around to editing it. Hope you enjoy! Reblogs and comments mean the world to me!

Helena Keenan is on her way home from work when she gets wrapped up in a sci-fi style adventure.

Word count: 1387

The elevator opened with a pleasant ding, ensuring certain death. I took a step backward, as the monsters emerged. I wasn’t sure what they were, but they seemed dangerous. They were humanoid and looked zombie-ish. They shuffled forward, and I drew the pocket knife I always kept with me. It wouldn’t help much, and I think I knew that, but I wasn’t going to let these things hurt anyone.

I took a second to observe my surroundings. I was in an office building, complete with dull fluorescent lighting and fake plants. I realized that the building was full of regular office workers, who were now hiding behind their desks. They were probably scared out of their minds.

So there I was, facing down a horde of monsters, holding nothing but a pocket knife. The situation was ridiculously hopeless, but I promised myself that I wouldn’t lose. The nearest monster advanced, and I plunged the knife into its wrist. I watched in awe, as it started to disintegrate. My knife wasn’t made out of anything special, it was just low-quality steel. I stabbed the next one, and it fell too. I went kind of crazy, and soon, zombie dust littered the office floor. I glanced down. There was a large gash in my arm. It didn’t hurt; I wasn’t sure whether that was a side effect of some venom that the monsters excreted, or simply shock.

One of the office workers, a woman in her late twenties, wearing a sunshine yellow blouse and black slacks pushed forward.

I started to feel dizzy, slumping against the wall. Definitely venom. My thoughts were hazy as the woman helped me to a sitting position.

“They must of followed me here.” Her voice sounded shaky and urgent. “Here.” She pulled my arm towards her. “This isn’t good,” she murmured. She proceeded to spread a goopy purple substance over the wound, before wrapping it in a silvery bandage. When she was done, she looked at me, and I noticed that her eyes were a brilliant, almost impossible shade of emerald green, the same color as an exit sign. The green ones, not the red ones, because her eyes were green, not red.

“How do you feel? I think you’ll be okay.”

“You think?” I managed. “What were those things? Who are you?”

She faltered. “It’s complicated. You go first. Tell me about you.”

“I’m Helena Keenan. I’m 27, I was born in Denver, Colorado. I moved here after college. Now you explain.”

She sighed. “Where to start…I guess I’ll just jump right in. I’m Alexa. I’m from the year 2150. I stole a time machine and went back to medieval Europe. I found those...things. I tried to figure out what they were, but they attacked me. I came to this time period hoping to escape them. What I don’t get is why your knife killed them. None of my weapons worked.”

“I don’t know either. I got it for ten dollars at harbor freight. I don’t think it’s special.”

“Can I see it?”

“Sure.” I handed it over.

She pulled an advanced looking smart phone out of her pocket and used it to scan the knife.

“Why are you here, working at an insurance company?”

“I got here a few months ago. I didn’t see the creatures anywhere, so I assumed I was safe. I got a job here to help blend in, in case somebody came looking for me. It turns out insurance is pretty easy once you’ve figured out how to build a time machine.”

“Who would be looking for you?”

“I worked for this company that was developing a time machine. They were planning to use it for evil. I snuck in one night and wiped the database, and stole the prototype, and went back to the dark ages. They might have put some sort of tracking device in it, so if they develop another time machine, they could come after me.”

“Oh.”

Her scanner beeped and displayed something. “Here. It says the blade has trace amounts of silicone and acrylate polymer, as well as pieces of plastic film. What’s that from?”

“Probably packing tape. I moved last week and was cutting open boxes.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “Since the creatures were from medieval Europe, it’s entirely possible that their systems weren’t used to the—” She made air quotes with her fingers “—‘modern’ material.”

The office workers around us started to come out of their daze.

“They’ll ask too many questions. We should get out of here.”

I nodded. She helped me to my feet, then pressed the call button on the elevator. After a frustratingly long wait (it had gone back to ground level already?), the doors opened. We stepped inside.

Alexa looked at me. “So, how did you run into those things?”

“I was walking home from work when I saw them. I wondered what they were, and I tried to follow them. They led me here. They got in the elevator, so I took the stairs, hoping to give the people on the office floors some warning. They must have tracked you.”

“That’s not good. If they could find me, that means the government definitely can. We need to destroy the time machine.”

“Where is it?”

The elevator doors slid open, revealing a boring lobby.

“Here.” Alexa opened the door to a supply closet and reached up to get something off the top shelf. “I present to you…my time machine!” She held it up in triumph. It was a simple round disc, about an inch thick, and as big as a dinner plate. It was bright silver, with a black screen displaying today’s date.

The guy at the front desk gave us a strange look, wondering what we were up to.

“We should go.”

We stood on the sidewalk, watching the cars go by.

“How are you going to destroy it?”

“I’m still figuring that out. We made it near indestructible, not wanting to get stranded at a certain point in time.”

“Everything has a weakness. We just need to find it. You thought those zombie things couldn’t be killed. But…” I spread my hands in demonstration.

“Okay.”

“Its metal. If we got it hot enough, it might melt.”

“You’re pretty smart.”

I blushed a little at the compliment. “What kind of metal is it? How much heat would we need?”

“It’s titanium. It should melt at 1,700℃.”

“They don’t teach us the metric system here.”

“They should. It’s around…let’s see…3,100℉.”

“I have a pretty hefty blow torch at home. It might work.”

“We can try it. Where do you live?”

“Two blocks South.”

“Let’s go.”

“Here we are.” I displayed my blow torch. “Let’s give this a shot.”

“We should put it on something. I don’t want to ruin your countertop.”

I pulled a ceramic plate from the cupboard. “Will this melt?”

“The glaze might. Let’s hope not.” She placed the disc of metal on the plate.

“Okay then. Here goes nothing.” I set the blow torch to high and watched with bated breath as the metal began to soften. It was actually working! The time machine popped and hissed as the circuitry started to fry.

“I think it’s dead enough.” Alexa declared.

“Alright.” I turned the blowtorch off and set it to the side. I examined the plate, which had fused to the titanium. I slid it towards her. “There you go. One order of melted time machine.”

“Thanks. I guess I’m stuck here now.” She fished around in her satchel and produced a business card. “Call me if you run into anything else weird.”

“I will,” I promised.

“I should go. Can I take this?” She gestured to the melted lump of metal. “I want to study what’s left of it, see if I can find anything interesting.”

“It’s your time machine.”

She nodded and gingerly placed the object into her satchel. “Goodbye.”

“Bye!”

She left my apartment, giving me time to think over the odd events of the day. They seemed like they belonged in some sort of sci-fi novel. That gave me an idea. I had been trying to establish myself as a writer for years. These events seemed like a godsend, a perfect starting point. With this in mind, I sat down at my desk and began to write.

[writevswrong]

Eris Fanfic * When The Last Ember Falls * Chapter Two (Full)

Sorry for the delay friends! I will be posting on both Wattpad and Tumblr moving forward :):) Enjoy!

When The Last Ember Falls by L.J. LaFleur 

Eris:

To walk in the throne room or to winnow? Reminding my brother of my authority or showing him my weakness? Obviously, I would winnow. Just not yet. No, no, no…I would make him wait. This would remind him that he holds no position of authority, no power.

I took a detour to my private chambers, winnowing as often as I did was starting to wear me down. Burned out either way; I had to remind myself I hadn’t slept in days. Since the war, I sat beside Nesta every day, watching her with unwavering hope.

If I wasn’t guarding her at the Night Court then I was here. At first it was to visit the victims of war whether it was the hoard of injured soldiers or the devastated families. Then came the dozens of advisors—meeting after meeting of how to rebuild a fallen Court.  

Constantly busy, endlessly trying. I only wanted to do what was right but even then, it didn’t feel like enough. I am not enough.  

The pain in my knee continues to be a persistent bastard. Every step feels as if I’m being torn apart again. Instead of trying to hide my pain—my flaw, I kept walking. Up the steps, through the long halls and into my bedchamber. Falling within seconds of shutting the door, I grunted as my hands caught my full weight. “Gods-damn it,” I growled, throwing the nearest object, a thin novel, across the room.

I turned to lay on my back, letting the cold stones penetrate my clothing then bones. I released my held breath, dropping my guard for only a moment. I tried to stand but I couldn’t; even the slightest adjustment struck me still. I needed to get up, to keep moving—I needed to focus on something other than the sorrow that had built in my chest.

Too late. Memories of Nesta choked the breath from my lips. The stabbing pain in my knee echoed until I would focus on the past. “No…” I uttered, feeling entirely lost in time.

When the healers demanded I rest, I ignored them. When Bea brought me food, offering her kind words of advice, I ignored her too. I would only leave when it was Cassian’s shift. Not a word was exchanged between us as I winnowed back to the Autumn Court at sunset.

It wasn’t until the day Rhysand entered the room that I looked away from her—or should I say he held my mind and forced me to acknowledge him. Giving him a once over, I nearly rolled my eyes. I swear the man only wore black; probably to enhance his violet eyes—ridiculous.

Rhysand smirked, “you know I can read your mind, right?” When I didn’t answer, he continued, “and yes, obsidian does make my eyes pop.”    

“What is it?” I muttered, my own burning with exhaustion.

His smirk faded as he closed the door behind him, those violet eyes flashing to Nesta then to me. “You saved her—them,” he whispered, his words barely reaching me as he moved through his own timeline of events.  

“You hold my mind,” I replied, “go on, see for yourself.”

I watched as Rhysand’s face gave nothing away, or attempted not to. I saw a slight twitch of his right eye, the smallest sign of emotion as he witnessed Nesta’s entire duration in the Autumn Court. I may not have the same gifts as him and Feyre, but I’ve lived long enough to catch what others might miss.  

Rhysand released me, the sudden willpower resurfacing as I built up my walls. “What did you expect to see?” I grunted as I adjusted in my seat.  

Tilting his head, he again glanced between me and Nesta. “Was she your redemption after Mor?” he asked, his brows slightly drawing together.

“No,” I responded with a steady voice. My focus faltered as I stole another look at Nesta.  

“Then why?”

Bullshit. He knows, I’m sure they all do. They had to. I raised my brows as I studied him, “you’re telling me the most powerful High Lord in all of Prythian couldn’t see it?”

Rhysand stilled, there was a sense of understanding lingering beneath his careful stare, “no, I’m just waiting for you to say it out loud.”

I hesitated, my eyes dropping from his to rest on the beauty laying before me. I studied the curve of her lips then examined the high cheek bones that were no longer bruised. “I love her,�� I replied, feeling a sensation, I had never felt before. A rush of colliding emotions exploded within.

Rhysand dug his hands into his pockets, “and what will you say to her when she wakes up?”

“Nothing,” I didn’t hesitate in my reply. It didn’t matter that I had practiced the words in my head for weeks. That I had gone over every scenario, mulling every word to form a proper sentence when she wakes.

“Are you sure that’s wise?”

Astonished, I did not hold back. “Cassian is your brother and her mate,” I barked at him.

He nodded, his voice drifting towards me, “yes.”

“So, you want me to go against him? To fight for Nesta’s heart? Is that it, Rhysand?”

“No. I want you to be honest. Not only with yourself but with her.”

“Tamlin loved Feyre,” I watched as I struck a deep-seeded chord within him. “He loved her…and what did you do? You took her. And luckily you two were mates, you fell in love—together. But what of Tamlin? What of the beast who could not love, who did not deserve her love in return?” I held his violent stare, “sometimes it’s best if us monster’s do not end up with the beauty in the end. No matter how badly we want to.”

Rhysand’s jaw relaxed, the crushing weight of my words settled into the room. “Monsters are made, not born—Nesta had said that about herself once. That means a monster’s ending can be rewritten if they so choose.”

I didn’t know how to respond, what I could possibly say to debunk that.  

“I’ll see you around, Vanserra.”

“No, you won’t.”

“You think I would release you on the Autumn Court without checking in?” he laughed, brushing his fingers through his hair.

I flashed my teeth, creating a ball of fire in my hand to throw at him, “prick.”

“Not the first or last time I will hear that.” Rhysand’s laugh ceased, his voice echoing through the room, “be honest, Eris.”

Before I could reply he turned to smoke and shadows, warmth retreating from Nesta’s bedchambers. I carefully raised the covers to shield her bare shoulders. Gently, I rested my hand against Nesta’s forehead, her temperature had decreased suddenly. Whatever she’s fighting, wherever she was lost—it was freezing.

I released a flame from my fingertips, watching as the seed of fire danced into her skin. Once I felt her temperature rise to a decent level, I dropped my hand to hers. Though a blanket separated us, I still held onto her. It was the only affection I dared to show.  

Rhysand’s parting words stung, mostly because I knew he was right—and I knew exactly what to say.

The pain in my leg increased, ripping me from the past even as memories threatened to break through. Flickering images of mine and Nesta’s exchange tore me apart.  

“It’s not that bad, I promise.”

“You’re a liar.”

“A damn good one until you came around.”

“…you prick…”

“Maybe not in this life and maybe not the next…”

“…you’ll always be my dear friend, Eris. The lord of fire and delayed wit…”

“Until then King Slayer.”

“Until then, Eris.”

[myuselessartandstories]

Story #9

Feel

Every day I feel more tired. My body feels heavier, yet lighter. I feel weak, but my limbs are so easy to move. I’ve been losing weight. No matter how much I eat, what little I’ve been eating lately, I can’t gain weight. Yet, I’m getting no thinner.

I can’t feel when I hit my hand on anything. I can’t feel when something sharp breaks my skin. I can’t feel when the temperature outside changes anymore. I only feel nothing. That’s the only way I can describe it. I’m alive, I can feel happy and sad, but it’s like my nerves aren’t working anymore.

I can feel it when I move. I’m still aware of where my limbs are and what I’m doing with them. I just can’t feel when something else interacts with me. It’s like I'm numb to the world around me. I can still taste and hear and see and all that, but I just can’t feel.

I’ve seen doctors about this. They say they’ve seen nothing exactly like what I have. I’ve been told I’m probably just getting older. Maybe I’m developing a disease. The doctors have no clue what they’re talking about. Every time I go to them, it’s always a different excuse for not actually wanting to see what’s wrong with me. Now, I can’t afford to go to a doctor anymore.

I was too scared to go into work, so I was fired. Now I have no source of income. I’m running low on everything. I have to live off of barely any food, which is why I’m kind of thankful for the lessening appetite. My internet has been turned off and I’m about to lose my electricity. 

I’ve been turning to methods of calming myself that I used to look down upon. Now, my arms are like a piece of wood, lines carved into it, almost looking like a pattern if you look hard enough. Yet, I still can’t feel any of it. I only feel the lightheadedness that comes with the blood loss.

However, lately I’ve been feeling lightheaded all the time. It feels like I’m always bleeding, even when I know I’m not. There’s no open wounds anywhere,  yet I feel like I’m running out of blood. 

My electricity did eventually get turned off, and I feel like I lost some of my sanity in that moment. I took the nearest object, my pen as I was writing this, and stabbed it into my leg. No pain, no blood. I get angrier. I slide the blade down my leg, creating a large gash as it cuts my skin apart, splitting like ripping a leaf apart.

I pull the knife away and sigh. Only a few drops of blood drip from the gash. I look closer. There’s white inside my leg. It should be red, but it’s white. I dig my finger into the gash, gripping at whatever the hell is in my leg. I can see my fingers have grabbed it, so I pull.

A white cloth-like material is slowly pulled out of my leg. It looks like a long rag. I keep pulling and pulling and it keeps coming. One end of it comes out, coming from the end of the gash leading to my foot. It’s then that the blood starts to come. It rushes up through the gash, pouring from my leg and dripping onto the floor, making a large puddle beneath my chair.

I can feel it now. The immense pain of the gash. I can finally feel! I pull harder on the cloth, starting to pull it from the other side. Blood streams out of the side as well as I continue to pull the cloth. I notice that some of the blood is soaked up by the cloth, but it remains a pristine white.

I can feel the pain returning to my body slowly. It crawls up my leg, going through my lower section and reaching down my other leg. Shit. It hurts. It really fucking hurts. But I missed this pain. I keep going. I keep pulling. More blood spills out. I move my foot on the floor and it slips, making me fall out of my chair onto my back.

I lay in the blood, still pulling on the rag. I could feel myself hit the floor. I wish I could keep falling and hitting the floor. I missed feeling this. Feeling absolutely anything. I pull and pull. Blood keeps spilling onto the floor, but I don’t care. I’m only still moving my hands and ignoring the pain because I can’t focus past the lightheadedness.

I start losing focus. My head is pounding. It hurts. It hurts a lot. But I don’t care. I can feel something again. I don’t know what this cloth was doing inside of me, but I’m glad I got it out. But, now I can’t see the cloth. I can only see the darkness coming in through the edges of my vision. I don’t feel myself breathing anymore. I can’t feel the blood pooling below me. I can’t feel... anything. I can’t feel anything again. Damn it.

(I wrote this cause I wanted to write about someone not being able to feel anything. This one was really fun to write.)

[bettycoopergal]

Facing the Demons, Part II

Betty, still grieving her breakup with Jughead, finds out about his hookup with Toni and gets kissed by Archie. But she's done being sad. Now, she's angry.

Post-2.08 fix-it fic with a happy ending, in two acts.

Read on Ao3 | Read Part I

Part II

Jughead leans his head through the gap between the door and the frame. “It’s just me,” he says.

Betty nods, unable to form actual words. She was so wound up earlier that her body now doesn’t know what to do with the tension. She fights the urge to clench her fists and straightens her posture so much that it hurts. Jughead takes the hint from her silence and walks into the room, closing the door behind him.

For a second, they just stare at each other. Betty feels the fight in her completely evaporate as she thinks about just how much has changed between them. Her body slackens, and her shoulders sag. For the first time, she feels completely resigned—maybe she should have given up a long time ago. If she had known that it would hurt this much just to see him, that it would end in this much pain, would she still have fought for him? Would she still have given him so much of herself? Would she still have let herself love him?

Of course, the answer is still yes.

“Betts—.”

“Don’t,” Betty cuts him off. “Don’t call me that, please.” She averts her eyes to the ground and wills away the tears that are re-forming.

Jughead is staring at her, and she can feel the hurt in his gaze, even if she can’t bring herself to see it. “Okay,” he says quietly.

He walks over to her and hands her a small, neatly-wrapped present that she didn’t notice he was holding before. Betty glances up at him now and has to stop herself from reaching out to him when she sees how anxious he looks. “It’s that dress you said you loved,” Jughead tells her. “You never buy stuff like that for yourself, so I bought it for you. And I still wanted to give it to you, even though…” he trails off, and an awkward silence settles over them.

When she doesn’t respond, he turns to walk toward the door. But as he places his hand on the handle, he stops and turns around. “Betty?” he asks, his voice unsure.

“Yeah?” she manages to choke out.

Jughead looks at her and swallows once, clearly wrestling with his words. “Why did you sound so mad earlier, when you thought I was Archie?”

Betty blinks, completely shocked. After everything they’ve been through, this is the one thing he chooses to say to her? She doesn’t know why, but this—this simple question—is what does it. In a matter of seconds, the anger comes flooding back, and she clenches her fists so hard that she’s sure blood will be dripping down her hands in no time. Jughead’s eyes immediately dart downward at the movement, and his expression is so pained that it physically hurts Betty’s heart. But she ignores the stab in her chest, because she’s not letting him off the hook.

“You want to know why, Jughead?” she snaps. He dips his head backward ever so slightly, clearly taken aback by her sudden change in demeanor. “You want to know why I’m mad at Archie?” she presses on. “I’ll tell you why. Because he kissed me, tried to tell me that he wanted us to have a real shot together.”

The color completely drains from Jughead’s face. He looks so fragile in that moment, and all Betty wants to do is look away, but she can’t back down now. She stares at him, her jaw clenched and her fists burrowed in her crossed arms.

After a moment, the hurt in his eyes turns a shade darker, and color returns to his features in full force. “I’m glad you two finally found each other, then,” he spits out. His gaze is steely, and it brings her right back to the way he looked at her when she was up on stage at the Whyte Wyrm. Then, it made her feel small, like she was a child being reprimanded. But now, it fuels her anger so much that she wants to find another object to throw at the wall.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” she says in a venomously quiet tone. The darkness in Jughead’s eyes fades a little, replaced by surprise. But then it returns in full force, and he crosses his arms to mimic hers as if to say he’s ready for a fight.

“No, Betty, why would I be kidding?” he yells. “You were only pining after him forever before we got together, and you fucking sent him to break up with me for Christ’s sake! What am I supposed to think?”

Betty laughs, shaking her head back and forth. “Oh, that’s rich. So we’re going there, are we?” she says, pulling up a chair from behind her and slamming herself into it. “Well, come on then, let’s go there. You want to bring up the Black Hood now, hold it over my head when you actually broke up with me for real two weeks ago? Sure, yeah, let’s do that.”

Jughead glares at her, but she keeps going. “I sent Archie to break up with you because I was completely wrecked, Jughead! I was so distraught that if I even thought about you for more than two seconds, I would dig my nails into my palms so hard that blood would stain my clothes. I thought the Black Hood was going to kill you. I couldn’t take the chance of coming to see you when I knew you’d see right through me!”

He responds as soon as she’s finished, shouting just as loudly. “That doesn’t negate the fact that it fucking hurt, Betty! Archie said that you’d been considering dumping me for weeks, how was I supposed to feel? You knew I felt insecure about him when it came to you. You knew that!” he breathes heavily for a few beats, calming himself down. “And now look,” he says quietly. “I was right, wasn’t I? The all-American boy and the girl next door finally get their shot.”

Betty wants to wipe the bitter smirk he gives her right off his face. “If you think for one second that I would ever consider him, consider anyone for that matter, when I’ve told you time and time again that all I wanted was you, then wow. You must think I’m a pretty terrible person,” she barks.

She thinks about Toni then, and she feels a pain deep in her side that makes her want to lie down and give up.

To his credit, Jughead immediately uncrosses his arms and pulls the nearest chair toward him, sinking into it. The tension drains from his body, along with the anger. He discards his beanie onto the floor, drops his head into his hands, and runs his fingers through his hair. “Betts,” he says, his voice muffled.

“What did I say about calling me that?” she asks sharply, although some of the bite has dissipated from her tone.

Jughead doesn’t respond, and Betty thinks for a second that maybe he’s not actually going to say anything. But then he looks up at her, and she feels a jolt run through her body as she sees the tears in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” is all he says. She can’t tell what exactly he’s apologizing for—if it’s for Toni, if it’s for assuming the worst about her and Archie, or if it’s just for everything in general. But she knows he’s being sincere.

Jughead looks as though he’s about to say more, but for some reason Betty suddenly can’t bear the thought of him continuing. If he apologizes for the things he’s done, if he tells her what happened with Toni, then it will all become too real. She’ll finally have to accept that the damage is done, that maybe there are too many obstacles to overcome.

“I’m mad, Jughead,” she whispers, cutting off whatever he was about to say. Her body is shaking now, and her chest is tight. For the first time in weeks, Betty feels like she has an opportunity to be honest—to release everything she’s been bottling up.

So she speaks, the words flowing out of her mouth so quickly that she doesn’t even have time to process them. “I’m mad that you told me to go home that night, that I put myself out there for you and you cut me off, not even telling me why.” As she talks, her voice grows stronger and louder. “I’m mad that you stopped talking to me, that you started avoiding me, like the second I got up on that stage you suddenly couldn’t look at me anymore.” She knows that her words probably sting. And, on some level, she knows that her insecurities about the Whyte Wyrm incident are just that—insecurities. But she needs him to know, because she’s bent on being completely honest right now, that it’s something she’s been struggling with ever since she left that night.

“I’m mad at how selfish and self-destructive Archie was when he kissed me, how he single-handedly ruined the only real friendship I had left standing. I’m mad because I had to push him away, just like Veronica pushed me away in her pain, just like you pushed me away…” She pauses, the tears flowing freely now. She swallows and tries to regain her composure.

“I’m mad,” she says much more calmly after a minute, “because I had to hear about your ‘meaningless hookup’ with Toni from her and not you, because I trusted you with my darkness and you… you lied to me.” For the first time, Betty breaks eye contact with Jughead and looks to the floor. She feels so vulnerable, and it reminds her of that night at Pop’s when she showed him her scars.

Jughead is crying now too, she knows, because she can see him wiping his face out of her peripheral vision. But, as much as she wants to stop, Betty knows she can’t. She has to get it off her chest, and she has to do it now. “I’m mad that no matter how hard I try, no matter how many times I keep picturing you two together just to punish myself…” She chokes on the last word a little, and she hears Jughead whisper her name in desperation. “…I can’t stop myself from loving you.”

The room is silent. Betty finally looks up at him and feels another stab of pain shoot through her as she sees the tears openly rolling down his cheeks.

“Betty, I…” he says, his voice cracking on her name. “I’m so fucking sorry. For all of it.”

Now she’s unabashedly crying, the anger completely gone and replaced with aching. He lets her break down, doesn’t reach out to comfort her probably because he knows it’s not his place right now. He waits until she’s calmed down and the tears have stopped flowing before he keeps going.

“With Toni, it... It didn’t mean anything,” he says, “except for that I’m a complete idiot.”

Betty chuckles a little through her tears despite herself. It’s a glimpse of the Jughead she used to know. The corners of his mouth lift slightly at her laugh, but they quickly turn downward again. “I was so numb, Betty. I just wanted to feel something. It’s a sorry excuse, but it’s what happened. I hated myself for it, too. I’ve been hating myself for it ever since.”

After a beat of silence, Betty stands up and drags her chair across the room to place it next to Jughead’s. She sits, resting a hand on his shoulder. He tenses a little under her touch, but then he relaxes, and she feels more relief than she has in weeks. “Is that why you lied about it, Jug?” she asks.

He meets her eyes, and the look on his face is tender, like she’s given him something meaningful by calling him by his shortened name. “I hated myself so much that I couldn’t imagine you wouldn’t hate me too, if you knew. And I was selfish. I didn’t want to give you up. You loving me has been the only thing keeping me afloat for a long time now, Betty.”

Forgiveness floods through her body, and all she wants to do is hold him close to her and tell him how amazing he really is. But Betty knows that there’s more they need to talk about, so she settles for something simpler. “I could never hate you,” she says. "And I'm sorry if I ever made you feel that way."

Jughead gives her that look again, like she’s given him everything. But, as much as she wants to melt into him, they’re still technically broken up. They haven’t even addressed the main reason they’re in this situation in the first place. “We need to talk about what happened at the Whyte Wyrm, Jug,” she says softly, moving her hand from his shoulder to his leg and giving it a gentle squeeze.

He sighs, and Betty suddenly feels anxious. If Jughead still wants her to stay away from him, then this will be their last conversation before they go their separate ways. She will finally have to accept that it’s over.

“My dad…” Jughead starts, looking past her to a spot on the wall. Betty doesn’t know what she expected him to say, but it certainly wasn’t this. She reaches up to touch his face, pulling his gaze back to her. She nods, encouraging him.

“At the retirement party, when my dad said he wasn’t quitting the Serpents? Well, it wasn’t because he had a sudden change of heart. He’d learned some… new information… and was trying to protect me.” Betty tries to keep the shock out of her features. She doesn’t want to disrupt his sudden honesty.

“What new information?” she asks, prompting him to continue.

“Look Betty, I screwed up. Bad,” he says, and Betty can feel tears threatening to spill over again.

“Just tell me, Juggie,” she says, the nickname slipping out before she has the chance to stop it. He lets out a small gasp that’s laced with pain and… something else.

“I made a deal with the devil to get my dad out of jail, and it came back to bite me,” he says. “I’m being blackmailed, Betts.” She doesn’t correct him at the name this time.

“With what?” she asks, afraid to know the answer.

He swallows and slowly lifts a hand to place it over hers on his cheek. “You,” he whispers.

Suddenly, everything makes sense to Betty—the way Jughead reacted to her at the bar, how worried he looked when he was telling her to go home. She should have realized. It’s the same thing that she did when the Black Hood was threatening her. He wanted to protect her, and this was the only way he knew how.

“No,” she says much more loudly than she intended. Jughead jumps in his seat a little, surprised. She pulls her hand from his face and reaches out to grab both of his. “No,” she says again, firmly. “We’re not doing this anymore, Jug. This town is dangerous—there’s a killer on the loose, there’s a civil war going on—, but it’s not going to stop being dangerous just because we’re broken up. Being apart isn’t going to protect either of us from Riverdale’s problems, Juggie. The only thing it’s going to do is make us miserable.” All the pain and sadness she’s been feeling the past few weeks is now replaced with sheer determination. Betty is done playing games.

“But I did some things I’m not proud of Betty, and they have evidence of that too. I’m on a bad road right now. I don’t want to drag you down with me,” Jughead says, gripping her hands.

“Juggie,” she says, a soft smile on her lips. “I love you, but you need to shut up.”

His mouth falls open, and he can’t seem to find the words to respond. She giggles.

“I love you,” she says, pouring her entire soul into the words this time. “I want to be with you, even if it means trouble, even if it means yelling at each other sometimes, even if it means we make mistakes. I don’t want to face any of this without you anymore.”

The look Jughead gives her is the same one he wore the night they visited FP’s trailer for the first time and she told him she believed in him. It’s pure adoration, and it makes Betty’s heart flutter in a way that she hasn’t felt in a long time.

“Betty Cooper,” he says, fighting a smile. “I love you so damn much, you know that?”

It’s all she needs. She crashes her lips into his, running her fingers through the hair that she’s missed so much. His hands go instinctively to her waist, and she’s jumped from her chair to his lap before she knows what’s happening.

It’s beautiful and raw and real, and Betty can hardly believe that it’s happening. Her heart swells.

Suddenly, Jughead pulls back to look at her. “You’re crying,” he says, clearly concerned. Betty reaches a hand to her cheek and feels the wetness there, surprised.

“Oh,” she says. “I guess I’m just… really happy.”

At that, Jughead smiles—a true, genuine smile that she knows he only reserves for her. He grips her arms and looks into her eyes. “Can we make a pact, Betts?” he asks.

“Sure Juggie.” She grins at the humorous twinkle in his eyes.

“Let’s never break up to protect each other ever again.”

Betty laughs, pulling him into a hug. When he embraces her, she can feel his breath through her hair, and it’s the most comforting thing she could ever hope for.

“I can do you one better,” she whispers. She can feel his heart beating against her chest. “How about we don’t break up for anything ever again?”

She can feel him smile against her hair.

“I think that can be arranged.”

[bromosapiens]

How much would you hate me if I told you to do every fuckin' one on that ask meme.

a lot

1) Sexuality? 

if you need to ask you obviously havent spent more than five minutes on my blog

2) If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be? 

snoop dogg i think we covered this

3) Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17. 

“...de ses plus belles trouvailles. Il semble que certaines réalités...”

4) What do you think about most? 

how fucking insane it is that in america annotating and analysing six essays in the span of an hour constitutes an education

5) What does your latest text message from someone else say? 

“like damn”

6) Do you sleep with or without clothes on? 

mmm usually without cest la vie here in texas

7) What's your strangest talent? 

i can rap all of lose yourself backwards to the tune of the backyardigans theme song

8) Girls.... (finish the sentence); Boys.... (finish the sentence) 

girls are scary and powerfulboys are also scary and powerful but sometimes its hot

9) Ever had a poem or song written about you? 

if you count shitass stoned rambles sure

10) When is the last time you played the air guitar? 

like yesterday

11) Do you have any strange phobias? 

freezing to death

12) Ever stuck a foreign object up your nose? 

sure who doesnt

13) What's your religion? 

im a karkatstian

15) Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it? 

in front of it bitchbut back in my photography phase both were applicable because all i took pictures of was myself and likerocks

16) Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band? 

crywank rn i just feel em in my soul

18) Do you believe in karma? 

ironically sure but not really

19) What does your URL mean? 

take a wild fucking guess

20) What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength? 

my inability to comprehend literally anything; my mario skills

21) Who is your celebrity crush? 

probably darren criss or pete wentz but only because i still have his dick pics saved on my laptop

22) Have you ever gone skinny dipping? 

hells fucking yes

23) How do you vent your anger? 

ask karkat

24) Do you have a collection of anything? 

swords knives lighters pipes and bandaids with designs on themwhat else do ya need

25) Do you prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online? 

on the phone because video chat is just awkward af

26) Are you happy with the person you've become? 

could be better idk

27) What's a sound you hate; sound you love? 

nails against a wall; incoherent whispering

29) Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens? 

im not so sure about aliens but i can reassure you right now that ghosts are real and they are dicksi have first hand experience

30) Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm. 

i almost knocked over my coffee thanks

with my right id have to reach behind me a bit but the side of the futonbelow my left arm is navy

31) Smell the air. What do you smell? 

coffee and sweatwelcome to my home

32) What's the worst place you have ever been to? 

new york city

33) Choose East Coast or West Coast? 

east coast west coast seems really white

34) Most attractive singer of your opposite gender? 

janelle monae

35) To you, what is the meaning of life? 

taco bell dicks out

36) Define Art. 

art: when people do things so that other people can enjoy those things

37) Do you believe in luck? 

i dont really think so nahreminds me of an old friend though

38) What's the weather like right now? 

its kinda chilly actually and clouds are rollin ingood thing im inside and not outside

39) What time is it? 

about 8

40) Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed? 

i do and i have but i wasnt the one that crashed iti was in a crash though

41) What was the last book you read? 

the one im reading rn is A l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs but its for class so im not sure that counts

42) Do you like the smell of gasoline? 

yeah actually

43) Do you have any nicknames? 

avi / asshat / furry / birdfucker / the weird strider / oh him again / god that hurts my eyes / is he okay

44) What was the last movie you saw? 

im pretty sure it was some documentary on bbc

45) What's the worst injury you've ever had? 

uhhhhhhhh i havent really broken any bones or anything but i was stabbed once*multiple timesi was grazed by a bullet once too

46) Have you ever caught a butterfly? 

nah i wish

47) Do you have any obsessions right now? 

ive been playing my horse prince

49) Ever had a rumor spread about you? 

uhhh i dont think so unless any of yall wanna fess upwell there is the birdfucker thing

50) Do you believe in magic? 

listen do you know who i live with

51) Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong? 

not really nookay maybe a bit

52) What is your astrological sign? 

i have no clue im gonna take a wild guess and say sagittarius

53) Do you save money or spend it? 

spend it

54) What's the last thing you purchased? 

...a collar

55) Love or lust? 

why not both

56) In a relationship? 

hells yeah

57) How many relationships have you had? 

five or six i think

58) Can you touch your nose with your tongue? 

nah i wish

59) Where were you yesterday? 

god that sounds so threateningi was at work

60) Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you? 

yeah my fuzzy socks

61) Are you wearing socks right now? 

see above

62) What's your favorite animal? 

birds are rad as hell

64) Where is your best friend? 

in nyc probably at home grading papers or doin homework or smth

65) Spit or swallow?(; 

swallow i aint a fuckin wimp

66) What is your heritage? 

white probablynah uhhh my moms actually half black but bros as white texan as it gets so all i inherited was some vague facial structure and borderline full albinismro got a bit more that i thinkand then roxs dad is black so we dont really look alikei dont know anything past my parents so dont ask

67) What were you doing last night at 12 AM? 

god do you really have to aski think i was uhtalking to karkat

68) What do you think is Satan's last name? 

strider

69) Be honest. Ever gotten yourself off? 

if anyone answers no to this i will be very concerned

70) Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend? 

hell yeah life of the party

71) You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do? 

im already getting fired save the damn dogif i wasnt though id leave iti aint no hero aight

74) What's a song that always makes you happy when you hear it? 

any fucking song from grease

75) What are the last four digits in your cell phone number? 

0747 try and guess that one bitch

76) In your opinion, what makes a great relationship? 

god i have no clue this is my first

77) How can I win your heart? 

if you have to ask youve already won it

78) Can insanity bring on more creativity? 

i sure hope so cos thats where im headed

79) What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far? 

proposing to hex

80) What size shoes do you wear? 

9 1/2

81) What would you want to be written on your tombstone? 

“cest la vie on this bitch of an earth”

82) What is your favorite word? 

bussy

83) Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart. 

aardvark

84) What is a saying you say a lot? 

...cest la vie on this bitch of an earth

85) What's the last song you listened to? 

skateboard p (elijah who)

86) Basic question; what's your favorite color/colors? 

fuck uhhhhhhhhhhh idk red

87) What is your current desktop picture? 

88) If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be? 

derrek j fucking strider

90) One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren't really doing anything, they're just standing around your bed. What do you do? 

“so whos going first”

91) You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what's even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power? 

probably time travel idk just seems cool

93) You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be? 

can we just trim my timeline up to about a year ago

94) You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who would it be? 

kevin abstract seems like hed be good in bed tbh

95) You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go? 

the bermuda triangle

96) Do you have any relatives in jail? 

i have no clueif dirks in jail no one told me

97) Have you ever thrown up in the car? 

sure fucking have

98) Ever been on a plane? 

sure fucking have

99) If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say? 

dont fucking waittime runs out

[a-decoy-soul]

Monster You Made Me (H2ONogla) - Vampire/Vampire Hunter - Chapter 1 - Underdog

Underdog, just look at the mess you made

It's such a shame, a shame

We had to find out this way

Revenge loves company, three makes it a crowd

So wash your mouth, sit this one out

.

    July 5th

I remember it like it yesterday.

I was 18 years old and my hunter graduation ceremony was soon.

My father was actually smiling at me for once. My older brother's and my sister's teased and joked but I knew they too couldn't be more excited about my transition into a true vampire hunter.

They all were so happy.

To send me away.

I wasn't working for them at the family headquarters here in Ireland, they were sending me over seas to America.

The only one upset that day was my mother and the family dog Brandy.

It seemed like they were always the only ones to care about me, I was the youngest of the triplets and the troublesome outcast to the others and nothing more than that.

The celebration of my departure- um graduation, was bittersweet to me. I was leaving the things and people I loved and the place I grew up but I was also leaving the people who blamed me for everything and pushed me away, maybe I would find a better life in America. Besides their headquarters looked a lot fancier than ours, maybe because they had a lot more vampires over there and needed a bigger base...or they're really rich and cool. Maybe I'll become rich and cool too. I guess I have that going for me.

The party was nothing special, Just friends of the family and of my siblings hanging out and talking about me, I assume that it wasn't positive because of the way their eyes immediately looked away when I noticed them staring. I simply sighed and walked inside the house where it was empty and quiet. The only people inside was my mother and Brandy. I saddened as I saw her crying and looking at our family album, her hand caressing a younger David that was trapped in time. Brandy was at her side, laying her head next to another photo of me, whining as she looked up at my weeping mother.

I felt tears stream down my own eyes at the sight of my dear mother sobbing over my father's desicion to send me away. I walked over quietly and hugged her tight as I began to cry as well.

As we cried and the others celebrated, someone unexpected decided to join our party.

I pulled away from my mom as both of our crying came to a slow halt and we wiped each other's tears away.

"I'll visit mam I promise. I'll even call ya or video chat with ya. Just please don't cry fer me. " I whispered as I tried my hardest to muster a smile.

"David Nagle, you are my son and I love you with all my heart. If I didn't cry for you, what kind of mother would I be?"

I felt a smile creep onto my face, this one was genuine unlike the other I had forced upon myself.

"I love you too mam."

Then it happened. The thing that changed my life.

The glass door shattered as a blurry of peach and black sped into the room snarling as it pounced on the closest target. My mother. The figure, obviously a vampire began tearing her to shreds as she screamed in agony. The music outside was too loud for anyone to hear which is probably why the vampire went tothis place, no one would hear it's victims screams.

I was caught by surprise but my adrenaline immediately kicked in, I grabbed the nearest object and made it a weapon, sadly this object was simply a kitchen knife and not any ofour actual equipment. I stabbed the vampire in the back of the neck over and over until finally it released my mother....and focused on me.

It spoke,"Well well you've got a bit of spunk for a newby. What? You don't think I heard about you from your loud guests outside? Sheesh bunch a loud mouths, you think since they're hunters they'd be a bit quieter and secretive. Amateurs. " His Irish accent wasn't as thick as mine but it still showed that he wasn't a tourist.

"Don't like it then fock off, bloodsucker." I kept a defensive stance and glares at the monster in front of me.

"Why do that when I've got two walking meals right in front of me. I just couldn't refuse this delicious offer. But if you want to resist instead of simply dying, who am I to turn down a challenge?"

As the seconds passed I knew my mom was running out of time and needed help immediately, I'd been taught in training how to treat victims of a vampire attack but with him in the way, just getting near her could end up killing us both.

I only had one option, fight him. I would make him come to me so he was away from my mother and couldn't use her against me or harm her further.

"If you want a challenge then come get it you overgrown mosquito!"

With that he smirked and with the force of a moving truck he slammed his body into me, sending me flying into the wall, my weapon falling out of my hand. I was exposed and unarmed as he pounced on me, snapping his jaws in my face as I used all of my adrenaline strength to hold him back. I moved my leg trying to retrieve my weapon with my foot. His saliva dripping on me causing me to almost puke due to it being filled with my mother's blood.

He smirked and snatched up the knife I was trying so desperately to grab and raised it over me and slashed. I tried my best to push it away put instead I only made it less deep. I helped and growled as blood started to seep from my wound, making the vampire go crazy. He threw the knife and tried his best to pin me so he could get a quick meal.

Suddenly I heard a voice, it was my dad. The vampire smirked and simply spoke one word which I assume was his name, he then ran off back to where he came from. All I heard was yelling...my mom was dead. They were yelling at me....blaming me. They were right, if anyone of them were in my position the vampire would be on the ground dead within the first minute. As their yelling continued everything got blurry, I fell deep into a pool of darkness and went unconscious.

Terroriser

[lyssala]

Time

Pairing: Terra/Aqua (and lots of brot3), Kingdom Hearts

Setting: Post KH III

Words: 5169

Rating: K

Notes: Okay so I never intended to post any of this haha I usually like to dabble in new fandoms to get the grip of it before I publish anything but I felt as though others might be in the same boat as me. The I’m so desperate for new material I’m just gonna damn well do it myself lmao So this was a prompt suggested by a friend for Ven plotting to get Terra and Aqua some time together. I’ve written a few little one shots from their perspectives (which are unpublished so far haha) so it was interesting to take a stab at it from Ven’s perspective. It was also nice to explore their interactions in everyday situations since really we’ve only seen them interact under stress or distress. So lots of headcanons went into this to build off how I saw the characters. It was fun! I might do it again haha Also please forgive me if I get anything story wise wrong. I tried to remember/research as best I could but man, there’s so much to this series lmao 

AO3

Ven didn’t understand. Okay, he got the exams were coming up and he knew a lot of weight was riding on that for both Terra and Aqua, that they were probably under a lot of stress. At the same time though he didn’t understand why they were flat out avoiding each other. It wasn’t a competition. It’s not like one would pass and the other wouldn’t. Yet for the past few weeks Terra and Aqua who were usually inseparable where barely in the same room as each other unless they had to be.

Ven didn’t like it at all and not just because it meant he was left alone, sitting on the couch, with his chin in his hands staring at absolutely nothing. Yeah, it was boring, but he felt like his best friends were fighting and he didn’t like that. Sure, Terra and Aqua bickered but they never stayed mad and really they weren’t even mad that Ven could tell. They were just…distant. They were like the best friends Ven ever knew, they weren’t supposed to act like this. It was weird honestly.

That was when he knew he had to do something. It was close to midnight when he left the living room, knowing full well if he was caught he’d be sent right back to bed. He was careful sneaking into the kitchen and carrying out all the snack foods he could fit in his arms (chocolate chip cookies for Aqua, chips for Terra, and the rest of the cake for himself…or you know if the others wanted any too). He laid out all the food on the small table in front of the couch and set out to drag his friends in so they could spent some stress free time together. If they could just relax maybe things would go back to being normal.

Aqua was on the training grounds, only a few lanterns and the moon shining down on her as she moved gracefully for through her routine. She was like the moonlight, just a flash of silver and blue. It was so different watching her than watching Terra; he was grounded, firm, and powerful but Aqua almost danced through her moves, always graceful and never missing her mark.  

Ven waited until she paused before he called out to her. “Aqua!”

She quickly turned her head to him, a frown on her lips. She only made her keyblade disappear when he waved at her. “Ven?” she asked as she walked closer to him. “What are you doing out here? Is something wrong?” Aqua looked concerned, like she was about to reach for his forehead.

Ven only then realized he was standing outside at near midnight in his pajamas. “Oh! Oh, yeah everything is totally fine.”

She looked like she was waiting for another explanation.

“Um, totally fine, but would you mind coming with me? Back inside?”

“Ven…” Aqua glanced back at the training ground before looking to him. “I…”

“Please? I have something for you.”

That seemed to do it. She gave him that smile she had whenever she caved. She reached up to brush some of his hair from his face. “Okay, whatever you’d like.”

Ven grinned and grabbed her hand leading her back to the castle and back into the room where all the snacks still laid out on the table. “Ta-da,” he said. “I thought you might be hungry.”

“Oh, Ven,” she chuckled; even if she wasn’t hungry at all she was still humoring him. “You’re too sweet.”

“Okay, sit down, I’ll be right back.” Before she had a chance to object he was out the door.

If Aqua was in the training grounds then Terra must be in the library. Or already asleep in his room, or asleep in the library. It was one of them.

Thankfully for Ven, since waking up Terra was a nightmare he could sleep through anything, he was sitting at one of the tables at the center of the library with one lantern guiding his reading. The last thing Ven wanted to do was scare the older boy, so Ven stood in the doorway, door open behind him. Terra looked like he was reading intently but his eyes didn’t look focused. It looked more like he was zoned out, thinking about anything but what he was doing.

“Terra?” he said as quietly as he could.

Terra glanced up but he didn’t seem too surprised; he must’ve heard Ven coming. “Yeah, buddy, what’s up?”

“Will you come downstairs with me?”

Terra gave Ven a look similar to Aqua though Terra scrunched his forehead much more than she did. “Is something wrong?”

“No, just thought you’d need a break.”

Terra hesitated but Ven gave his biggest grin and the brunette was already closing his book. “Alright. My eyes were starting to blur lines anyways.”

Ven didn’t wait; he already started to head back down the stairs and hallways, though he kept track of Terra’s footsteps knowing he was still following.

When Ven walked back into the living room, Aqua was sitting on the couch though she didn’t touch any of the food. She looked up when he walked in and if she was surprised to see Terra come in the room she didn’t show it at all.

“There,” Ven said, plopping down on the ground in front of the table while Terra sat at the other end of the couch. “Now we’re all together.”

He didn’t have to read their minds to see the guilt in Terra and Aqua’s eyes. They glanced briefly at each other before looking off in other directions.

“It’s okay, I know you’re busy,” Ven said, trying to imply best that he wasn’t upset with how they treated him but how they were treating each other. “I just thought you guys might need a break. Together.” Okay, maybe he hadn’t mastered subtlety yet.

Aqua opened her mouth to say something but Terra leaned forward, clapping his hands together. “Well, thanks, Ven, that was kind of you.” He gestured to the table. “Let me guess, cookies are for Aqua, you grabbed my favorite chips, but the cake?”

“Oh, you know,” Ven shrugged, tracing his finger over the cover of the cake. “For…for us all.”

Terra laughed lightly. “Have at it.”

“You’ll never sleep if you eat that whole thing,” Aqua said, always the voice of reason.

 “Let him enjoy it. He can just fake sick in the morning and sleep in.”

“That’s what you used to do,” Aqua’s voice was a little stern but there was a smile pulling at her lips. “Whenever you snuck too many snacks from the kitchen in the middle of the night.”

“And it worked didn’t it?”

“Until Master caught on and made you train anyways.”

It was working. They were smiling. This was so much better. Ven went to uncover the cake when he quickly realized he forgot drinks. “Oh! I’ll be right back!”

Neither of them bothered to stop him as he ran out, heading back to the kitchen to grab cups and the nearest drink he could grab. Well, the second one; the first one was a sweet soda he knew Terra didn’t like. Juggling his newest addition to their small feast, he hurried back into the living room.

“Okay, now we have…” Ven trailed off the moment he walked in front of the couch.

Terra was sitting on his end of the couch, his head leaning back against the pillow and long legs sprawled out in front of him. Aqua was curled up on the cushions, the top of her head touching his leg. When Ven first came here, plagued with his own nightmares he snuck into their rooms enough times in the middle of the night to know sleeping near each other brought them some form of comfort. Maybe that’s what they needed right now.

With a smile, he placed down some of the cups, and headed back up to his room (but not without grabbing the cake first).

Ven knew everything had changed. The world was a very different place than it was before, though that wasn’t all a bad thing. He was back home; well, what was left of his home. It wasn’t exactly the bright world he remembered but Aqua and Terra were with him. They were all alive and they were home together.

It was a little strange knowing over ten years passed. Even now, as he sat at the dining room table, watching Terra cut up vegetables to cook for dinner, Aqua doing some of the dishes behind him, it was like nothing changed. None of them even aged a day while they were all apart; not physically at least.

Ven didn’t really remember his time…away so it was hard to say how it impacted him. Terra said he didn’t remember much either but Ven had a feeling that was a lie to spare their feelings. He saw the tentative glances, the uncertainty in Terra’s step, how his smile didn’t always reach his eyes, and how careful he was not to be too close to either of them. Also, he was terrible at lying.

Aqua on the other hand was an incredibly good liar. Ven never really knew when she was being honest with him or when she was just trying to make him feel better. He supposed it was because she was so sincere about everything even when she lied a little, she still only had their best interests at heart. She usually didn’t lie too often though. She told them what she remembered of her time in the Realm of Darkness; if anything she simply left the things out she didn’t wanna share which he understood. Even if things were upsetting her, she always put on a smile and did whatever it was she needed to do to get the job done in a way only she could do.

But Ven knew she wasn’t sleeping well, if it all. Aqua had these dark circles lingering under her eyes for weeks now, thinner than he remembered her being, and even though she tried to hide it her physical strength was weaker. Not by a lot, but enough for him to notice and if he noticed then Terra definitely noticed; which probably made him feel worse, like it was his fault. Even though by now he had been told a million times it wasn’t. Ven knew it didn’t matter what people said, sometimes it was only what you could believe. But it would only make Terra more cautious and more distant, which Aqua would then notice and make herself worry more but not be able to tell him for fear of making it worse.

It was a never ending circle with them sometimes; that at least didn’t seem to change. If anything, they still knew how to dance around each other just right; except it was almost worse now. When they were younger one of them would break, they’d fight, one would make the other laugh, and they’d be fine again until next time. Now they were almost even too afraid to fight with each other, like if they said the wrong thing the other would just vanish. Ven could understand the feeling after all they all went through, but at the same time he sometimes wished just to hear Terra’s annoyed outburst and see Aqua get that stern look on her face. Then at least things would seem more normal.

Ven sighed and looked down at the book he had opened on the table. He was pretty sure he read the last line about five times already. 

He supposed for himself, the first real shock of it was when they did finally get to go home. Their world looked like it aged for ten long years with no one to take care of it. What used to be a clean and beautiful land was overgrown with weeds, rubble littering all areas; it was dried and worn out. At least the castle reverted back to what it used to, the sun shining high in the sky again, but even then it lacked the brightness it used to hold. They all set to work to get it looking back like the place they used to live, for people to come visit or even stay, train, whatever they’d like. It was hard work every day but they were together, all three of them were together again.

Ven wasn’t unhappy, he really wasn’t. The world was different, sure, but it was better now. There was no immediate lingering threat anymore. They were safe to lead the lives they always wanted but things were different now. Their home was a little emptier, and little quieter. It wasn’t just the presence of their Master or the people who used to visit either.

Ven looked up from his book that he had now given up reading to look at his friends still lingering in the kitchen. They weren’t paying too much attention to him or each other, Terra choosing to focus on whatever he cutting up now and Aqua humming lightly to herself as she slowly cleaned a pan from last night’s dinner. Despite the fact Ven saw the tension that lay between them ever since they returned, times like this it was easy to watch them fall into an easy rhythm of working around each other. Terra would look up to see where the bowl he needed was and she was already handing to him, or he’d hold out a knife he didn’t need any more and her slightly soapy hand would be there to take it from him. They were partners for so long now that even doing the smallest tasks together was usually effortless.

A smile pulled at Ven’s lips as he watched a cup covered in water and soap slip out of Aqua’s careful grip only to have Terra catch it before it fell to the ground. He passed it back to her without a word, though even Ven could see the teasing glint in Terra’s eyes like he wanted to comment about his reflexes being better than hers. It didn’t need the words apparently cause she reached up to hit her hand against his shoulder, though not without trying to hide her own amused smile, to push him back over to the counter. It left a wet mark on his sleeve as her hand lingered just a little longer than a playful push would, his eyes watching her before they both went back to their own tasks.

Ven admittedly didn’t always know. He was young when he came to live here, and really that’s how they had always been; teasing and bickering but a special sort of devotion and loyalty. Ven didn’t give it too much of a second thought. He loved them and they loved him; that was all that really mattered. It wasn’t until they finally got Terra back, when he was the same person he always was before, that Ven really knew. Terra had been quickly tackled to the ground by the two of them, and through the mix of laughter and tears Ven realized that Terra and Aqua looked at each other very differently then they looked at him.

He felt a little stupid afterwards cause looking back it was so obvious to everyone except maybe the two of them. He kinda thought that would be it cause that’s what happens when you realize you’re in love with someone; they’d come home and he’d have to remember to knock before he went in any door. Instead he found them battling their own demons and pushing each other out. Ven didn’t get it, but he had never been in love like that either so it was probably way more complicated than any book he read made it out to be.

“Do you need any help?” Aqua asked, drying her hands with a hand towel as she looked over to what Terra was doing.

“Absolutely not,” he snorted in response.

“Excuse me.” She tossed the towel on the counter before placing her hands on her hips, though the action was lacking any real anger. “I used to cook dinner for you all the time.”

“Yeah.” Terra side eyed her, a little bit of a smug smile on his lips. “And every time it was your night to cook Master promised he’d bring me food later if I pretended to eat it and make you happy.”

“You’re such a dirty liar, Terra.” She reached up like she was gonna hit him again as he was already laughing as he poured the cut up vegetables in the nearby bowl.

Sometimes it was still like this, reminding Ven of the way their home used to be. He reached a hand up to his mouth to try and stifle his own laugh. It didn’t work as the both of them looked over at him. He knew they didn’t necessarily forget he was there, but they kinda forget he was there. It never bothered him; he really only wanted them to be carefree like that all the time. 

“You’re on my side, right, Ven?” Aqua said. Her tone was normal but her eyes were pleading with him a little bit. She really didn’t like to lose anything.

Terra was making a face at Ven, like the thought alone was gross. Terra could tease all he wanted but Ven knew if she put food she made on the table they’d both eat it with little complaint just to make her smile.

“You make the best cookies.” Ven settled on not lying but also making her feel good too.

She watched him for a second, like she was trying to figure out if that was a win or not. “I’ll take it,” she said with her usual smile.

“It’s fine.” Terra had his back to them, pouring whatever he had in the bowl into the pot on the stove. “Just about done anyways. We’ll have a little time while it cooks if you guys have anything you wanna do while you wait.”

That’s usually what happened so Ven knew Aqua would probably go off to the library and Terra would hang around the kitchen watching the food and snacking on what he could find. Ven would choose one to stay with depending on how he felt but the thought made his stomach sink a little. It’s not like they didn’t do things together, they spent all day fixing up various parts of their home usually together and they ate together but their down time was just different. Mainly cause he got the feeling Terra and Aqua avoided each other when they had nothing to distract them.

A memory lingered in the back of Ven’s mind, from back before. It wasn’t the first time he got that feeling. Ven really didn’t know why at the time but it was easy to recognize now for what it was. Even then he knew something was wrong. Sure her and Terra fought sometimes, they were rivals in their training but it was never aggressive; just always trying to push each other to be their best. At least, that’s what Ven saw when he watched them. When training was done Terra would tease her and Aqua would pretend to be mad at him but they’d go off with Ven and spend their down time together either outside watching the stars, or playing games, just having fun.

Something changed the older they got, the closer the exam started to loom. It was kinda like it was now; Terra noticeably distanced himself which hurt Aqua’s feelings but she didn’t know how to approach him so she just let it happen. To be fair, then or now, Ven didn’t know how to approach either of them about it too. Back then he just thought they were stressing themselves out to much, that maybe they just needed a break to relax some.

“Well, I guess I’ll go to the library then,” Aqua said, pushing some of her bangs from her face. “Just call me whenever it’s ready.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t read that whole place by now,” Terra snorted, wiping his hands on a towel.

Judging by the numerous talks Ven hated at the time that Master gave him about growing up, and his friend’s ages at the time, Ven realized they probably felt their relationship start to change and neither knew what to do about it; kinda like right now too he supposed. Even though the exam happened shortly after that night, they seemed a little better after Ven forced them in the same room so maybe…

“Who says I haven’t?” she waved her hand at Terra as she started to head for the door.

He was still watching her though he made no move to stop her. So it was up to Ven, right? But he was pretty sure luring them with snacks wasn’t gonna work this time so what was he supposed to offer?

She already had the door open.

“Uh, wait!” he sputtered.

 Both Terra and Aqua stopped what they were doing immediately. She quickly moved back into the room, a concerned look on her face. Oh, whoops. He didn’t mean to make them worry.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, looking almost like she was gonna come try and feel his forehead or something.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” he said, trying to give her a smile.

Terra had moved to lean his elbows on the counter as he watched; his forehead furrowed like it did when he was concerned over something. “Then what’s up?”

Aqua was still standing near the door waiting for his answer too.

Well, crap. He didn’t really have an answer. He should’ve thought this through better. “I, well, you know, just thought we could do something together.”

“Of course,” Terra said. “What did you have in mind?”

Crap. Crap. Crap. “Um… we could…” Ven really wished he thought this through. He tried to quickly scan through his memory for everything they used to do together that didn’t involve training. Inside so Terra could hear the alarm go off on the stove, all three of them, somewhere nearby… “We could play a game!”

“A game?” Aqua asked. “Like a card game?”

Oh, that was a good idea. “Exactly,” Ven nodded, like he always knew what he was talking about. “I’m sure there’s some we used to play in the library. Will you, both of you?”

This time it was Aqua who caved first. “Absolutely we will,” she said with a kind smile.

Terra gestured to the door. “Lead the way, Ven.”

Did he mention they rarely said no to him? He left his book on the table and left the kitchen to take them to wherever he wanted really. The first floor of the castle was pretty much finished; the upper floors still were getting worked on so he figured the same room they used to play in seemed fitting. It wasn’t too far away from the kitchen and had places to sit and a small table to play on, though Ven didn’t quite plan on getting that far.

Terra was the first one who flopped down on the couch, breathing a sigh of relief as he stretched his legs out in front of him.

“Don’t fall asleep, old man,” Ven said. “I have to go find a game first.”

“Need I remind you again, I’m not that much older than you.”

“Yeah, but I don’t fall asleep in the middle of the day.”

Aqua covered her mouth to hide her laughter, especially when Terra arched an eyebrow at her. “What? He’s not wrong.”

Terra kicked his legs up on the couch. “Yeah, see if I make any room for you.”

That was a lie. The moment she sat down to swat at him, he moved them for her. Ven almost rolled his eyes. And people though he was naïve. “Okay, I’ll be right back. I’ll see what I can find.”

“Do you want any help?” Aqua said, probably already standing up to follow him but he was already halfway out the door.

“I got it,” Ven called back. “It’ll only take a minute.” Maybe he had gotten better at lying himself cause neither gave any opposition.

Okay, so he felt a little bad lying to his best friends but at the same time it was for them. Maybe if they could just talk about whatever was bothering them, they’d see what Ven saw. Granted, that wasn’t a strong point for either of them. Terra was never big on words especially regarding his feelings, and Aqua tended to like to hide how she was feeling so she could always seem like she had it under control. But maybe if they could just talk, they’d be happy too.

Ven slid to the ground outside the doorway. It was so quiet in there he couldn’t tell if he was too far away to hear anything or if they just weren’t speaking. Maybe he felt a little bad at eavesdropping too but he had to know if it was gonna work or if he’d need to try something different next time; maybe plan a little farther ahead too.

“Terra, if you lay down you really will fall asleep before Ven even comes back.”

There was Aqua, so Ven supposed he wasn’t too far away.

“Yeah, well, maybe you should give it a try sometime too.”

There was silence for a moment. Well, that was fast. Ven didn’t quite expect one of them to bring something up like that after a second of being alone. It kinda made him wonder how much they really put on appearances for his sake.

It sounded like she started to say something but she didn’t get very far.

“Don’t give me any of your excuses, I know you. I know how you operate.” Terra paused for a moment. “What is it? Nightmares?”

“Sometimes,” she said, though her voice quieter than before. “Sometimes I just don’t want to.”

He sighed; not really exasperated, just tired. “It’s the dark isn’t it?”

Her silence seemed to be her answer. “I just…what if I go to sleep and wake up and this is the dream. What if I’m still there?”

“Aqua, you’re not.” His voice was firm but it was also gentle, soothing. “This is our world. Ven’s here, I’m here. You’re home.”

“But I’ve dreamt of all that before, of here, of you.” She must’ve realized her mistake because she didn’t go on after that.

“Oh?” Terra asked, and Ven could hear the amusement in Terra’s voice. “Did you now?”

“Shut up, you know what I meant.” She didn’t sound mad but she did sound a little flustered; clearly she didn’t mean to let that bit of information slip.  

“Tell me, please, what was I like in your dreams?”

“Annoying, just like the real you is.”

Ven heard Terra laugh probably because Aqua was hitting at him somehow. Ven tried not to smile, even though he knew no one could see him. It was just, this was like how it used to be. He really just wanted them to be happy, whatever that meant to them.

“It’s okay to be afraid, you know,” Terra said, his voice sounding a little more normal. “You don’t always have to tough it out. Just don’t let it run your life.”

“Ah,” she breathed. “Takes one to know one I suppose.”

“What?”

“You. That’s why you’ve been keeping Ven and me at an arms distance away. You’re afraid too.”

It was Terra’s turn to be quiet. “It’s different.”

“It’s not. You were deceived and manipulated. That wasn’t you. This is you, laying on the couch and teasing me, waiting to play a game with Ven even though you’re exhausted.”

He gave some kinda grunt, clearly wanting the conversation to be over. That was Terra, more than willing to help his friends but never wanting to accept the same for himself.

“Are you afraid you’ll hurt us?” And that was Aqua, who always finished what she started.

He laughed, but it was sharp and bitter almost, disdainful. “I already did, haven’t I?”

“No, not aside from pushing us away.” There was some kinda shuffling on the couch but Ven couldn’t tell due to what. “Our Terra would never hurt us.”

“You’re such a sap,” he mumbled.

“Maybe, but it’s true.”

There was a pause.

“Alright, come on.”

There was more movement and then silence again. Well, at least if they were still talking Ven couldn’t hear them. He waited a moment longer but still nothing. He supposed maybe he should at least pretend to finish what he was doing. He did feel a little guilty for listening when they didn’t know he was there, but really it was for everyone’s own good. They did talk, maybe Aqua would be able to sleep better now and maybe Terra would realize neither of them was scared of him. Ven knew it probably wouldn’t be that easy, but it was a start.

Ven walked back into the room ready to announce he couldn’t find anything but if they wanted he’d try harder, which wasn’t a lie. When he rounded the corner around the couch he found he really didn’t have to say anything.

Much like when they were younger, he came back to find them both passed out on the couch. Terra didn’t quite fit anymore, one foot draped over the arm rest while the other was tucked up under Aqua’s legs. She was sleeping beside him, her back to his chest, and one arm hanging over the edge of the couch. Terra had one arm was tucked under his head and the other resting over her waist, hanging with hers over the side.

Ven was admittedly a little surprised, though he shouldn’t have been. Aqua probably hadn’t gotten a full night’s sleep since they got back, and it would be naïve to assume Terra could sleep through the night too. They probably just felt an ounce of comfort and passed right out from exhaustion.

Well, he had to think with a knowing smile, at least his plan worked somewhat once again. Man, he was actually kinda good at this; though he realized it was probably just because he knew them like he knew the back of his own hand. Ven even betted that they’d sleep a whole lot better if they stayed together like he knew they used to as kids. Ah well, that was a plan for another day.

For now he left the room, making his way back to the kitchen. The timer Terra set was still ticking away as Ven sat back down at the table. He knew when it went off he’d just turn the stove off and move the food over till they woke up. He flipped the page in his book as he settled in to read. After all, they had all the time in the world now.