#and the sky is dark and stars are peeking out and he carries u on his back if ur too sleepy to walk . and the air is cold but hes so warm.

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

is any man as late night grocery store run date coded as satoru gojo

[driaswrld]

apocalypse — gojo satoru and geto suguru.

wc : 1.5k

summary : suguru comes back from a mission, with more hurt than he left with. reader and satoru pull him out of the abyss he's headed to.

part of : the star paradox collection.

notes : the beginning before the beginning. really, this is how it all started in terms of how the trio branch off into their new life taking caring of the kids, starting off with the twins first and rlly just how suguru felt during it all. IM SORRY U WILL GET MORE FLUFF SOON !! this is more hurt/comfort than angst though.

other : fem!reader but no prns rlly stated, star plasma incident spoilers!! dating but not dating stsg x reader, mentions of blood, death, nothing too dramatic dw

current cassete : cry - cigarettes after sex

September 2007.

You woke up in Suguru’s dorm that night, the spot beside you where Satoru should’ve been lying empty, pillow cold and hanging off the side of the bed.

Something feels wrong.

Suguru had left for a mission earlier in the day, you tied his bun tight while Satoru helped him get dressed, the fluid routine you’ve developed becoming nothing but second nature, a simple promise of – you carry me and i’ll carry you and we’ll figure it out through crumpled sheets and eyebags and too many syrupy pancakes.

But something felt wrong the moment you rolled over to your side and the clock on the bedside table read 2:18 am.

Barefoot and dressed in one of the boy’s shirts, hands stuffed in your pajama pockets to ease the chill of your fingertips, you stalk through the darkened corridors, past empty dorm rooms, searching for any sign of where Satoru disappeared to, or any sign that Suguru had come back safe.

It’s been a month since Haibara’s death.

A little over a year since Riko’s.

The pieces haven’t been put together. You know deep down that maybe, there’s no recovering from this. Everytime the three of you weather one storm, another appears, and you’re back where you started.

��...Suguru.” A breath leaves you, something between a gasp in relief and a sigh of exhaustion. The door to the infirmary is ajar, and you lean against the door frame, Suguru locks eyes with you from where he stands next to the examination table, the curtain behind him drawn, a tuft of Shoko’s brown hair peeking out.

“Name—” Satoru peers around the corner, your eyes never leave Suguru’s. He has his arms around himself, a coping mechanism — he doesn’t want to be touched.

“What’s going on?” You ask, just as Satoru rounds to stand in front of you, hair tousled and eyes heavy with sleep, there’s a soft jingle in his pocket everytime he moves.

Keys.

He went to pick up Suguru.

But—

“It’s okay, everything is—” Satoru begins to say, but you ignore him, stepping forward to get a good look at Suguru, the dark haired boy tensing under your gaze, screwing his eyes shut. He doesn’t look the same as he left. Something’s wrong, you can feel it. “Tell me,” you whisper, and a soft clink comes from behind the curtain, and it’s pulled aside by Shoko.

Two little girls, no older than five years old, peer up at you from the examination table.

Shoko looks at you, and before you can say anything, or ask more questions, Suguru’s hand is holding onto your arm. Even now, he’s still the most rational, says so much without even speaking.

Not here, not in front of these two, whatever happened to them must be too much to even question right now. You close your mouth — Suguru’s hand is cold, and when you look to Satoru, he has his head down.

And there’s the tinge of a familiar metallic smell, crimson against your elbow.

“Suguru… why are your hands bloody?”

The sun rises, and you’re sitting in the stairwell opposite the infirmary.

Suguru sits to your left, between you and Satoru, his breathing soft, yet heavy, almost pained.

In the silence of the orange sky, autumn air finally beginning to take, you and Satoru have your arms wrapped around Suguru’s shoulders.

“What… do you need me to do?” Satoru whispers, and Suguru’s head falls limp on your shoulder, a shaky breath leaving his lips.

It’s different, it makes your heart feel heavy, you’re scared even.

If Satoru is an empty map, and you the pencil freehanding lines of latitude and longitude, Suguru is the coordinate. Always guiding you two, always the voice in the back of your heads that you consult.

Satoru doesn’t trust his own instinct, you don’t trust your own emotions.

You both trust Suguru’s heart.

But now, the moral compass you two depend on, points nowhere.

“I don’t need you to do anything.” Suguru whispers, and he looks at you from the corner of his eye. “I need to—” He moves, as if to get up, as if to walk away again, like the three of you have been doing too much this past year. But you grab his arm.

His hands are still cold. A little wet from you and Satoru scrubbing the blood off them.

Suguru remembers the first time he met Satoru, the first time he met you. His hair was shorter then, things were simpler, he didn't feel like a parasite in his own body back then.

“We.” You say, firm.

Satoru looks like he wants to cry, and Suguru’s gaze is turned away from you. How can you say that so simply? Suguru doesn't even know what he's feeling right now. It's something akin to a blade twisting inside his gut and bile collecting in the back of his throat.

We. Together. Not as the strongest, not as sorcerers, but as friends. As...

“We need to and what we will do.” Your voice goes soft, and here it goes to weathering another storm. But this time, not with syrupy pancakes or crumpled sheets or eyebags. “We’ll carry each other — just…”

Just don’t walk away from us, Suguru.

Suguru has always prided himself on his level headed abilities, his attentiveness. The way he can see beyond Satoru's limitless and through the gaps in the keyholes of your heart. But now, he feels naked.

Is this what it feels like to be seen?

“You called.” Satoru smiles a little, and he tugs you and Suguru close to his side, your face in the crook of Suguru’s neck and his pressed against Satoru’s chest. “I’m sorry,” Suguru whispers, and for the first time in a long time, he cries.

“No, don’t say sorry for that.” Your breath goes inaudible against Suguru. How long? How long have the three of you been ignoring this hurt? “Don’t ever think we wouldn’t answer you if you called out.”

Maybe things have changed.

Satoru keeps a roll of bandages in his uniform pockets now instead of sweets. Suguru doesn’t sleep, doesn’t eat, there's a stranger where his reflection used to be. You can’t look at them without seeing the strength you failed to have, the end of everything you once knew.

He shouldn’t be sorry for hurting. He shouldn’t be sorry for feeling trapped.

He should never be sorry for feeling so alone.

Because you and Satoru feel it too. Maybe you were just cowards for not saying it out loud.

“I should’ve heard you two sooner,” It leaves Satoru’s mouth like a confession, an admittance of failure, and your heart clenches. “I should’ve known.”

“We’ll figure it out…” You whisper, and Suguru thinks his whole body has gone numb, he doesn’t think he can feel anything right now.

For once, just this once, he’ll let you and Satoru do it for him.

He doesn’t want you two to let him go, because if you do, he’ll disappear into a corner of his mind he didn’t even know existed til tonight.

Or maybe it was last month. Or a year ago. He doesn’t know. He’s just tired. So tired.

“Sleep… I want… I need to…” How does a person ask for help? Suguru cries. The ugliness of everything in this world bubbles beneath his skin like acid. “Please.”

Who said the word please for you to hate it so much, Suguru?

I did.

“—mhm! It’s so pretty!” Mimiko is clutching the strawberry colored doll to her chest, giving it a few happy squeezes. Sure, it was a little torn when she first came with it a few days ago, but now, it’s all stitched up and good as new. “Yeah? I’m really glad you like it, Mimi” You grin at the dark haired little girl, your head tilted to the side.

Across the vacant classroom, Suguru is hyper focused on trimming Nanako’s hair, his fingers measuring at the strands, not so subtly eavesdropping on your conversation with the other twin, the softest sliver of a smile twitching on his lips.

It's been three days since the twins came. Three days since your lives flipped on its axis again. The girls live at the dorms now, taking Suguru's old room instead of moving into a new one.

It's new, it's scary. But you'll find your footing bit by bit. Sometimes it helps to remember that you're not alone. That none of you were ever really alone.

Because between the bad things, there's always good. Always.

“I’m hungry!” Satoru groans from where he’s laid atop two desks pushed together, sunglasses dangling from his hair — You all ignore him for a beat, as Nanako tosses crumpled paper balls towards him, infinity bouncing it off and making the blonde girl giggle. “You’re just mad ‘cause you’re not getting a cool haircut.” You ruffle Mimiko’s hair, and her eyes go a little glossy, no doubt still entranced by Satoru’s antics, and dopey from being next in line to get her hair cut by Suguru.

“Bleh.” Satoru grumbles.

Suguru makes a face, his nose scrunching up. “I want my hair all white like Gojo-san’s!” Nanako says to Suguru and for a moment, it almost looks like Suguru’s considering it, with the way he pulls the scissors away and tilts his head in thought.

“You want your hair all messed up like that idiot?” Shoko slides the door open and enters, white plastic bag rustling in one hand and a lollipop in her mouth. “It’ll all fall off soon, you know?”

Satoru winces. “Women like my hair just as it is!”

God forbid someone tells him that the messy playboy hairdo is not what he has.

“I want my hair like Geto-san’s…” Mimiko whispers to you. “I think it’s prettier.” You nod and lean over to her, “Girls like Suguru’s hair better, you know?”

“Don’t lie to children, name!”

And Suguru bellows a laugh. A loud one — just like he used to.

It’s just that, in this world,

I couldn’t laugh from the bottom of my heart.

“Suguru…” You look up at him, and his eyes are shut, laughter rattling his chest, shoulders trembling. You’re in awe of him.

Laugh more, Suguru. Never stop letting us make you laugh in this twisted world.

Satoru looks over to you and then to Suguru, and he can’t help but laugh too. Shoko rolls her eyes and you chuckle, Mimiko and Nanako covering their mouths in between soft giggles.

Maybe everything has changed. Maybe Satoru will continue covering his eyes more, maybe Suguru will never just see himself anymore - the person that he used to be, maybe you'll never truly be strong enough.

But, if change is unstoppable force, you three are immovable object.

“What’re you laughing at mop head?”

“Huh!? We were having a moment, Suguru!”

“So sappy, ‘toru.”

“You two tryin’ to fight!?”

September 2007. The new beginning.

[wildestdreamsblog]

Latibule: II

Pairing: Min Yoongi x Reader (Mafia/Detective AU)

Summary: In which you didn’t know who he truly was- until it was too late. Or in which he found heaven in you.

Warnings: Secret Identity, Yandere behavior, Obsessiveness, Possessiveness, Manipulative behavior, Violence, Mention of death, Disability, Sexual themes, If you’re not 18+ please, PLEASE, do not interact. Be mindful of the warnings. Let me know if I miss anything.

A/N: don’t do tag list my loves. Thank u for showing love to this fic, and also! Leave a comment and reblog

Masterlist, Latibule I

“Who’s that handsome man, dear?” Your elderly neighbor asked you as she peeked over your shoulder to look at the man who just wouldn’t tell you his name. He was trailing behind you, his face showing his apparent displeasure at having to wake up early in the morning. He detested the sun and he glared at the sky like it did him dirty. Who the fuck was sane enough to wake up at five in the morning?

Definitely not him.

You crinkled your nose at your neighbor. Handsome? Sure he was. But his grumpy attitude annoyed you and it did outweigh his good looks. You didn’t even know why you agreed on him staying- not that he asked. Yet when you inquired if he was in danger and he nodded his head, you agreed without another thought.

You wouldn’t turn away someone who was seeking solace.

You knew what it was like.

Additionally, it was as though you didn’t even have a roommate. What you seemed to have acquired was your very own shadow who just wouldn’t leave you alone. In his defense though, he was trying to have a read on you. It didn’t make sense to him that you were living alone. Yoongi wasn’t blind. He could see that you were an attractive woman who somehow had peculiar habits.

Like walking at night in the dark. Or looking at the stars every night without fail. Or the fact that you hadn’t kicked him out despite his unpleasant attitude.

Which you were seriously considering right now.

The man looked at you with brows raised as though anticipating how you would explain his existence in your life to which you merely rolled your eyes and smiled at him with contempt.

“That’s-“ you started as you gestured at him with your arms full of groceries that he never even offered to lift himself, “That’s a full-time problem and the human form of nuisance.”

You offered her a kind smile as she blinked in confusion at what you said. Meanwhile, he looked affronted by what you said.

Him? A nuisance? A full-time problem?

His enemies had insulted him less than you did and they all ended up getting tortured. Yet you had the audacity and courage to call him names that belonged to kindergarten.

Your neighbor frowned, confusion glinting in her eyes. “I’m sorry, dear. I’m afraid I heard you incorrectly.”

“Oh, I said he’s an extremely problemati-“

“Hi, ahjumma,” he walked closer to the two of you, his face painted with a charming smile as he extended his hand to her. Suddenly, he was a different person. This two-faced asshole, you thought to yourself. “I’m her-“

“-problem,” you whispered behind him.

“-her cousi-“

“-her nuisance,” you mumbled behind him once again.

“I’m her first love and I’m here to marry her,” he said with a grin so wide you could see his adorable gummy smile.

Wait. What?

Adorable?

First love?

Marry????

You turned your head so abruptly that your hair whipped on his face as soon as the two of you arrived at your home. You got into his space, your now empty hands pushing him against the door. He couldn’t even defend himself because you forced him to carry the groceries because he should be a good as fuck boyfriend. Yoongi gulped when he met your eyes filled with storm. And strangely, he felt his heart skipped a beat. It never did that- not when he was staring at the barrel of his enemies’ gun, not when he was looking at the chief of police, not when he was literally dying outside your house. Never.

But now that he was looking at your eyes, it strangely skipped a beat. It wasn’t as though he didn’t spend majority of his time observing you, or watching you wander in the dark at night, or following you out in the shadows when you took your evening walks. However, he never really spent time really looking into your eyes. It was only now that he realized your forehead had little sparse of faded wounds.

He tilted his head in perplexity. You were hurt. You were hurt so deep it left a scar…like his.

“What the fuck was that?!” You hissed at the nameless man. You looked up to glare at him only to find him putting the carrot in between the two of you as though in defense. “Did you hit your head during the accident? No, right? So why then did you spew out the worst lie ever known to mankind?!”

He gulped when you stepped closer to him. For someone so small, you sure did have a lot of anger in you. “I merely adjusted to what happened accordingly because what you were about to say would sound suspicious!” He replied in defense, the pack of sugar joining the raised carrot as an added barricade to your anger.

“I was about to say you were my cousin!”

“No. I clearly heard you said I am your problem.”

You nodded, seeing no issue in that. “That, too. A cousin and a problem!”

“Well, now I’m your boyfriend.”

“Fake.”

“Yup,” he agreed with a pop before smiling at you innocently. “Telling her that I’m merely a cousin will be a complication that I do not fucking need. For starters, I look nothing like you.”

You squinted your eyes at him, “Is that an insult?”

He nodded without hesitating. “Yes. Obviously. For starters, I’m prettier than you. Have you seen your skin? Have you seen how white and smooth my skin is?”

Taking the deepest breath known to mankind, you sighed before going straight to your kitchen. “Yes, fine,” you shouted in a deadpanned voice, having enough of this man’s incredulous statement. “You have a good skin. White skin. In fact, your skin is too fair that your name is now Suga.”

His face darkened as soon as you renamed him. He was stalking to the kitchen without any thought ready to fight you. “You will not call me Suga! You do not-“

“Shut your mouth and slice these carrots!”

Yoongi couldn’t sleep. He had always been a light sleeper. Or maybe, he just suffered from insomnia that he was used to staying up all night. Or also, maybe it was because the littlest sound could set him off just like now. These were all why he found it peculiar how he was able to sleep peacefully, albeit injured and fighting for his goddamn life, in your bed a few weeks back. God, he missed sleeping in your bed. The sofa sucked. And he hated it with a vengeance.

He watched you from the sofa he had made his bed. You were walking in the dark once again. Seriously, how difficult was it to turn on the light? Were you that considerate to walk around blindly in the dark just to not wake him up?

He watched you with his feline eyes, following your every movement. You made it seemed that you already memorized every turns in this house, and maybe you did. Yet what you didn’t anticipate was the chair he failed to return at the rightful place and with that, you fell to the ground.

“Fuck,” you whispered as you rubbed you forearm that took the most and painful hit. You almost jumped when light flooded the small living room with Yoongi looking unimpressed as he stood near the switch, his dark hair swept back from his face. From the looks of it, it did not seem like you disturbed his sleep.

“You do know we have electricity, right?” His deep voice asked in a mocking tone. “You know how to turn this on, right? If not I can teach you. You just press this gently or not, depends on your mood, really,” he explained like you were a child, even going so far as conducting a demonstration.

You glared up at him so hard from your position on the floor, wishing that your irritation at him could somehow turn into weapon and disintegrate him. “I know we have electricity because I pay for it!”

He smiled indulgently at you as he nodded his head, “And I thank you for your service. Now,” he trailed off as he walked to you, crouching down and resting his arms on his spread knees. “Does it hurt?”

“Nothing hurts more than looking at you,” you snapped back as he inspected your forearm without asking.

He hummed in agreement. He raised his dark brow when he saw the redness forming on your skin, “I know. It’s because my beauty shines too bright.”

You looked heavenward and groaned at his audacity. You were starting to question what you did wrong in this lifetime that you were burdened with this full-time problem. “What are you doing up at this hour, angel?”

“I was thirsty.”

He rolled his eyes before he unceremoniously pulled you up with him. But then…he was too close. He was so close that your front brushed up against his. So close that you could feel the heat emitting from his body. You spent the first week trying to keep him alive and after that, you spent it regretting your choice.

You really hadn’t looked at him for quite some time now. But now, this close and you could see him- all his perfections and imperfections. This close and you could see how he could looked so menacing, could see the lingering madness in his eyes and the swirling darkness in him.

And then you wondered how he came to be who he was. You wondered what made a man such as him to keep so much anger in him.

And while you were busy analyzing him, he was consumed by you. Notwithstanding his unparalleled intelligence, he did not, for the life of him, take his time to analyze why having you in his proximity calmed the demons in him.

He didn’t take his time to wonder why touching you calmed him. And instead, he opened his mouth to spew out another nonsense to you.

“You’re looking at me like you wish I’m your real fiancée,” he stated in a teasing way. His hand snaked on the small of your back, pulling you abruptly closer to his front. He was smirking as he leaned in, his hot breath tickling your ear. “You wish I was yours, don’t you?”

To which, you kicked his shin and stalked to your room, uncaring of his pained hiss. You locked the door for good measure.

It wasn’t much of a surprise that you woke up hours later with parched throat. Sighing, you opened your bedside lamp only to find a glass of water.

D-did that asshole put it there?

Latibule III

[justanobsessedfangirl]

Once Bitten, Twice Shy -  Chapter 5 - The Maze Runner Newt Fic

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Once Bitten, Twice Shy Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Author’s Note: Okay, so I’ve learned I don’t really like schedules. Sorry this is out so late! I really appreciate all of the support for this fic. Thank you so much for reading! Shoot me a message if you want to be added to the tag list! Or if you just want to chat :)

Word Count: 2.0k

The woods were dark. You paced around endlessly, waiting for day, praying for a happy ending, terrified of what would lay beyond the open Maze doors when the sun finally rose.

Your stomach was in knots. New blisters were forming on your feet and thin scratches lined your arms, remnants of a tree branch’s caresses. You felt sick. You felt disgusted with yourself. You felt guilty.

I’m Minho’s partner!

Every footstep pounded the word further into your head. Partner, partner, partner. Left him, left him, left him.

He needed you, Alby needed you, and you didn’t help them. And now Thomas was in there, a Greenie with less than a week in the Glade under his belt.

Newt’s fault, Newt’s fault, Newt’s fault. Step, step step.

Your chest burned with rage. Part of you understood why Newt had held you down and prevented you from helping. Staying in the Maze overnight was, historically, a death sentence.

But that was where Newt had made a mistake. You knew it was dangerous. 

And you accepted it. 

If staying in the Maze was what you had to do to help Minho and Alby, you would do it, no hesitation. That was your choice to make. Not Newt’s. 

You felt like tearing your hair out as you remembered pushing Newt to the ground and pinning all of the blame on him. Just once, why couldn’t you have taken a breath? Calmed down and told him what you were thinking?

Pace, pace, pace. Monster, monster, monster. 

Instead, you ran from him. You always ran.

Coward, coward, coward.

You stopped in your tracks and picked up a branch. Using all of your rage and fear and guilt, you whipped it at a tree trunk and watched it splinter into pieces. Then you took a deep breath in, a deep breath out, and turned around and walked to the Glade.

Leaving the shadowy coverage of the trees, you made your way to the doors where you’d last seen your friends. A figure sat slumped against the wall. You were too far away to make out any features, but you knew who it was. The way Newt carried himself was engraved in your mind.

Your steps grew more timid as you neared him. Newt had one leg outstretched, the other bent at the knee. His hands were resting in his lap and his head was tilted back. You couldn't see if his eyes were open or not. 

As you drew closer, Newt stirred.

You cleared your throat. “Can I sit down?”

For a second, you didn’t think he was going to respond. His eyes weren’t closed, you saw; he was looking up at the sky, searching for answers among the stars. Then his gaze flicked over to you and he nodded. “Of course, lo-” He frowned and looked back up. “Of course.”

Love.

You sat down a few feet away from him, your back against the wall. The cold stone against your skin should have given relief from the warm night, but it made your skin crawl to touch the Maze. You moved forward and sat up straighter.

The silence that fell over the two of you was unfamiliar. There hadn’t been a time in your relationship where quiet had felt so stifling. Usually, if Newt wasn’t talking or listening, you could glance over at him and find that he was already looking at you, his eyes soft, his smile warm.

You looked over at him. He was staring at the sky.

You followed his gaze up. Overheard, stars twinkled against a pitch-black sky. The moon reigned supreme over them all, full and bright. You wondered if Minho was looking at the moon. Was Thomas searching for a shooting star? Did Alby imagine he could see the hint of a sunrise in the east?

You’d wanted to apologize to Newt, but the words wouldn’t come out. In your heart, you were a coward. The muscles in your legs were already tense, ready for you to run. You had to say something, you had to keep yourself there. You said the first thing you could think of. “Do you think they’ll make it out?”

Newt kept staring at the sky. “We both know what it’s like in there.”

Then, before you could stop yourself, “You should have let me go.”

Now Newt did turn to you, and in his eyes you saw pain and fear and guilt, rage and bitterness and sorrow. You saw a lifetime of suffering in the eyes of a teenager. “How could I let you go in when I know what it’s like?”

The question hung in the air like a noose.

“I couldn’t...I don’t want anyone to be in there, but I couldn’t live with myself if you were.” His voice was thick with emotion.

Your throat felt so constricted you couldn’t talk. Your hands fell to the dirt. You needed something stable, you needed something normal. “You can’t keep doing this,” you said weakly. You gained strength as you found more words. “I need to be able to make my own decisions. You can’t keep treating me like you love me.”

“I do love you.”

“Stop.”

“Love, I can’t. I know you want me to, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to. Y/N, I-”

“Newt.” He went quiet at his name. His eyes were so big, so hopeful, so tired. “I can’t be with you.”

“I know-” Newt began, his voice gravelly.

“No,” you cut him off, “you don’t know. And that’s fine. I don’t need you to know. I just need you to...” He’d already given you space. More space than you wanted. Everything had been so hard without him. You would have run yourself into your own grave, because that’s what you did instead of solving problems. You ran. How were you supposed to solve this?

“Whatever you need me to do, love, Y/N, I’ll do it.”

You couldn’t look at him. You traced shapes in the dirt. Subconsciously, your fingers carved an “N.” You slashed a line through it.

“I need you to be my friend,” you said. Looking up, you saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Did it shrink when you said that? Was it seconds away from dying out? “I need a friend right now. And I think you do too.”

Newt slowly nodded. “I’d love to be your friend, Y/N.”

For the first time in weeks, you smiled at Newt. The smile he returned was a little sad, a little glad, and very, very tired. The bags under his eyes had been growing for the past month.

“Minho told me a funny joke the other day.” You sank back against the wall, head tilted up.

Next to you, Newt was sitting the same way. “What was it?” he asked.

“Well, he told me he had a joke about construction, but he's still working on it."

A few seconds passed before Newt let out an amused huff. “That’s awful.”

“Yeah, Minho needs to work on his material.” Your lips twitched into a small grin, remembering the countless days spent running with your partner by your side. You refused to think of him without you, or you without him.

“Chuck pranked Gally again,” Newt said.

You laughed, Newt joining in a second later. It filled the air around you. “What’d he do this time?”

Newt launched into the tale of how Chuck, with an unassuming Thomas in tow, managed to scare Gally out of the bathroom.

When he finished, you brought up your favorite Minho story, one you’d never told Newt. It was one of your first days as a Runner, one of your first weeks in the Glade. Minho was cordial enough, if a little distant, especially once you started running.

Soon enough, though, it turned into a race. He couldn’t have you even a few feet ahead of him. “Which was a problem, really, because everyone knows I’m faster than him!”

You’d come back to the Glade sweaty and panting and with Minho’s respect. And more strained muscles than you could count.

Newt talked about Alby. He told you about the rare times Alby smiled, the even rarer times when he laughed. “He’s a good bloke. He’s got a lot of pressure on him.”

You stopped yourself from asking how much pressure Newt put on himself. The serious topics could hold off. For now, you were waiting for the sun to come up.

And, slowly, slowly, slowly, you saw the darkness beginning to creep away. Your conversation, filled with all of the events of the past month that you hadn't been able to share, drifted away as the cold fingers of anxiety crept up your stomach. Chuck joined the two of you, then Frypan, and soon your duo had turned into a group.

You rose as the sun peeked over the horizon. Offering a hand to Newt, you helped him up, then stood side by side and faced the doors.

The seconds ticked by slow as an eternity. Your hand never left Newt’s. Chuck lingered on your other side, shifting back and forth. Resting a hand on his shoulder, you kept him still as the Maze began to rumble.

You were so close to the Maze that the sound of stone scraping against stone was all you could hear. As the noise faded, your heartbeat grew louder. 

Dread. Dread so thick you could taste it. It sat heavy on your tongue, sour and rancid and acidic.

The doors opened fully. The corridor was empty.

Your heart twisted. You gritted your teeth, forced tears back into your body, swallowed. Newt squeezed your hand. You stared straight forward, not moving, not even breathing.

And then you saw a shoe round the corner.

You broke away from Newt and Chuck, calling to Minho and Thomas and Alby. The boys behind you took up the cry, but none were Runners, so you sprinted into the Maze alone.

Minho and Thomas were supporting Alby, whose feet seemed to scrape the floor instead of step.

Minho’s legs were visibly trembling. His face looked like it had aged years, worn from the exhaustion of a full day and night of running in the Maze. When you reached them, you gave Minho a light push and replaced him under Alby’s arm. Together, you and Thomas carried Alby to the door, Minho trudging along next to you. And although you were full of adrenaline and you were anxious and scared and overjoyed, your heart was beating normally again. A wave of calmness had settled over you once Minho was by your side.

Chuck’s voice was loudest as you exited the Maze. “Yeah!” he cheered, bouncing up and down, punching the air. 

You and Thomas laid Alby on the ground. His head lolled to the side, his body limp and unresponsive. 

“Where are Clint and Jeff?” You knelt by Alby, scanning the crowd. You stopped on Newt, who nodded and switched into leader mode, giving out orders to the surrounding boys. A few of them took off running.

All of your attention turned to Alby. Pressing your fingers to the side of his neck, you searched for a pulse. Nearby, you heard Thomas and Minho slump onto the grass.

Did they ever have a chance to rest? Were they on their feet the whole night? What did they see? 

What did they do?

The faint beating beneath your fingers gave you hope. Alby was alive. Barely. But alive.

Once more, Chuck’s voice rose above the rest. “Did you see a Griever?” Chuck looked too excited. Behind him, someone was rushing up to the group. The crowd parted. Red hair flashed in the sun.

Margaret dropped to her knees beside you, setting a canvas bag on the ground. Struck dumb, you watched motionless as she pulled up Alby's shirt. There, beneath the fabric, surrounded by darkened veins, was a puncture wound the size of your thumb, leaking bloody pus. Margaret moved as if she dealt with this every day. She pulled bandages and clean towels out of the bag, starting to clean the wound. 

The Griever sting.

“Yeah. I saw a Griever." Thomas sounded like he was in shock. He was breathless, from running or adrenaline or both.

“He didn’t just see it,” Minho said between pants. “He killed it.”

Tag List:

@anyasthoughts @mara-twins @anapocalypseinmymind @maddeleinegrace @xmberkxm @dreamerinthesun

[sailingintothenight]

“DARLING,YOU.”

FutureDad!Tom Holland x actress!reader.

Summary: On a rainy day, (Y/N) broke up with Tom and never looked back. The reason is still a mystery, a secret you never told anyone. But after 4 years and a hopeless night, you and Tom must face the next 9 months together while you two decide whether you can pick up your life where you left off or the resentment will be too much to forgive and forget.

But how easy can it be when there is a new girl in his life and a possible new love in your own?

A/N: Hello everyone. I'm done accepting that my older brother deleted my story "A poem called you," from my laptop while he was fixing it, which I started a few months ago. While I rewrite it, I wanted to be brave and start this story after a crazy dream I had last night hehehe, also, I always wanted to write about dad!Tom, or in this case, future dad after having written HAPPY, (Part 1) &  (Part 2) I really hope you all like this story. Thank u♥

Just a peek of what's coming...

Tom supposed that love was like that, stupid, senseless at times, irrational. 

He was all that and more, a loser for still wanting her, for being aware that every anxious look they cross is forbidden, like biting the Forbidden fruit every minute that his eyes meet hers in a purposeless war, as if he and she were synchronized, because despite all the pain - and resentment -, his desire for her is fire inside him, and she, the only women he once loved in his young life.

But the light of their love that once shone like a star faded away and trapped them in the shadows of a cold and endless night, running in circles far from each other without knowing where they were going, drift like a lost ship and in complete darkness. Perhaps and that was what destroyed the trust that he once held in her, because he did believed in her, blindly, because he wanted to, because he had faith, because what Tom had felt for you, he didn't feel for anyone else, not even after you left.

In silence, Tom sits on one of the wooden steps of her front porch, next to her glass, leaving his by his side to watch the sky that has nothing to say, just like her.

"You still love me?"

His question takes the air out of her body, and for a second, (y/n) feels so lost in her reality. 

She purses her lips tightly, trying to take prisoner the words she doesn't dare to say out loud. No again, she promised. Because if she says yes, he would ask why she left, and if she said no...

"That's not a fair question, Tom..." (Y/N) licks her dry lips. "If I say yes, would you ask me why I left?"

Tom looks at her seriously.

"Yes."

"What if I say no?"

"I don't want to hear your answer, then."

And that is when the laughter dies down and the silence overwhelms them, forcing them to look into each other's eyes to wonder, without words, why they did what they did and what they didn't, why she left 4 years ago and why he didn't go after her, why didn't they fight for each other harder, why they agreed to work together if it would hurt them, why they continue to have feelings for each other despite the damage inflicted on their fragile hearts.

"I don't trust you anymore, (y/n)." Tom whispers, and his eyes crystallized from the alcohol in his blood and the sadness in his heart mix in his brown eyes, the saddest look in his young life. "I started living well without you and you come back now... just when I finally got to look at someone other than you."

(Y/N) smiles sadly, slightly because she no longer has the strength, because her body is numb from alcohol and because it seems that the world is constantly leaning to one side, but she also smiles because Tom still has an adorable face, a tender eyes and a funny eyebrow that, in those days, she used to fix by sliding her thumb over it.

(Y/N) smiles sadly because now, he has someone else to play with his eyebrow while she laughs at it.

"Well done, Tom. Cheers for that."

She takes her glass with a shaking hand and Tom does the same, listening the glasses crash before taking all the contents, down to the last drop in one single gulp: because to do something stupidly brave, some need some drug that runs freely in their veins to look for some courage to act.

It can be any drug: love, resentment, revenge, any euphoric feeling that gives you the impulse of a false courage that will be fleeting.

And so, their glasses hit the wooden floor when their hands are replaced by the smooth skin of their faces, feeling the softness of their lips in a hard kiss. With eyes closed, Tom is an expert, he always was. His callused hands hold her face firmly as if (Y/N) were a piece of glass, the most precious in the world.

"I don't know what to do now." Tom admits on an exhale, still stuck to her lips, wishing deep down that (y/n) would agree to continue with what they started. "But I miss you, I miss your body so much, I miss everything about you right now."

(Y/N) takes a deep breath, her head spinning as she thinks the only two possibilities that exist in the world right now: let it go or continue. Walk away so you don't carry any problems or follow the danger, and deal with the consequences later.

So then, foolishly because (y/n) is a fool, she picks the option that will possibly hurt one of the two but what, at this very moment, feels like winning her world back.

[alolowrites]

Snow Globe Wonderland

Summary: On his way home from work, Tamaki stumbles upon a two things—a mysterious snow globe and you, a dancer who shows him a magical time.  

Song Inspiration: “Carol of the Bells” by Lindsey Stirling

Author’s Note: So this story idea was hopping around in my head for the longest time. It came to me after listening to Lindsey Stirling’s song so many times. Please enjoy my last fic for 2020!!

Word Count: 1.1K+

Far, far away on the city's outskirts lies a small and quiet town winding down for the evening. Every single street is empty that not a single car drives by nor a person idles insight. Only the beautiful full moon hangs high in the sky and vividly shines all through the night.

It keeps Tamaki company, following wherever he goes. The pro hero continues walking until a snow globe mysteriously sits in his path. With hesitant hands, he picks it up and thinks, Did someone accidentally drop it? His eyes look around the street that is fast asleep, the wind snoring quietly into his ears.

However, one store is wide awake. Tamaki glances on his right and sees an orange glow peering through the glass windows. There isn’t a single person wandering inside, yet the small fireplace is still on. Tamaki frowns and inspects the snow globe with cautious eyes; no odd wires or hidden explosives anywhere, just an extravagant silver base that weighs as heavy as his crippling social anxiety.

There are two figures inside, but a frosty coat covers the entire glass, making it hard to see anything. Tamaki’s trembling fingers swipe across, yelping when the snow globe slips from his grasp. The man lurches forward like a bumbling fool in hopes he would catch it. Sadly, Tamaki is too late as he hears the glass shatter on the ground, possibly loud enough to wake everyone from their deep slumber.

A wave of guilt drowns his poor soul for ruining the precious snow globe; he’s supposed to be a hero, yet he committed a crime. Tamaki clutches his chest as though a dagger stabbed him, but stills when he feels another hand gently tap his shoulder. Timid eyes dare to peek through his indigo hair only to stare at someone.

And that someone is you.

Tamaki suddenly forgets about the mess, his attention firmly on you and your captivating beauty that outshines the moon itself. As you step back, Tamaki notices the myriad of crystals lining down your short, flowy dress, each one sparkling like tiny stars in the night sky. You beckon him with a finger, and the hero stumbles to his feet to follow you like an obedient soldier.

But he blinks when you start dancing away.

“H-Hey! W-Wait up!”

Tamaki rushes after you just as you turn the corner. He doesn’t lose sight of you even when you spring toward a forest. Tamaki has never seen this place before—in fact, he’s sure it doesn’t exist in real life. The hero is speechless when the trees sparkle in gold, lighting up a path that runs deeper into nowhere. As Tamaki stumbles upon the sticks and leaves, you effortlessly twirl in between the trees with such grace and tranquility. The hero nearly trips when you send a friendly smile his way, making his delicate heart flutter nonstop. You laugh, but there’s no malicious intent behind it. Instead, your laughter is sweet and innocent, like a bell chime.

He follows the sound until the very end, staggering through the magical forest that fell straight out of a child’s fairy tale story. His footsteps falter against the grass, lost for words when he gazes around the area. A frozen pond glistens under the moonlight, the bluish tint stretching across the clear ice that remains untouched. You stand by the edge, encouraging Tamaki to come closer despite seeing the hesitation running through his eyes.

He quivers, “W-We shouldn’t.”

You smile faintly and reach for his clammy hands. Tamaki yelps as you guide him toward the frozen pond, the surface glowing with each step on the icy stage. His legs slip like a newborn fawn learning how to walk. One wrong move and the ice could crack. Tamaki clings to you for dear life, shutting his eyes in fear.

But he opens them when your hand tenderly cups his cheek. With a soft squeeze, you let go and glide across the ice. You look free, twirling around as the ice glimmers beneath your feather-like steps. Tamaki watches in fascination as you spin so quickly in the center yet perform with such grace that leaves him breathless.

You stop and peek over your shoulders with a playful grin. Tamaki flails his arms as you glide toward him; he sputters every excuse in the book, but it’s no use—you overpower him with your charm and invite the hero for a lovely dance.

Oh, no, no, no! Sheer panic rains down on Tamaki once he realizes how close you two are. The hero could barely look at anyone in the eye for longer than five seconds. Yet, here he is with a front-row seat to gaze at your marvelous face. He worries you could hear his heart pounding against his chest like a jackhammer, especially when your fingers intertwine with his.

Then, you both move. It starts slow, gentle even, to help coax Tamaki’s nerves. Not once does Tamaki avert his eyes from yours. They carry so much warmth and compassion that they melt his heart into a pile of goo. Eventually, he feels himself relax and grows comfortable with each sway along the ice. A faint smile tugs the corner of his lips as he spins you around, careful not to let go.

And Tamaki hopes he never has to after tonight’s magical dance.

Except, everything begins fading away like he’s waking up from a dream. Soon, he stands once again in the empty street, all alone and cold. Tamaki glances at the antique shop that is now dark; a gleam below, however, catches his attention. Wait a minute. The hero confusedly blinks as he picks up the snow globe; it’s not broken at all.

There’s still a frosty layer covering the glass, and Tamaki tries wiping it off. A wave of deja vu hits him as the snow globe slips from his grasp, falling slowly to the ground. He’s not quick enough to reach it and clenches his eyes shut for the inevitable crash—but nothing shatters.

“Caught ya’!” Tamaki snaps his head up, stunned beyond words, when his eyes land on you. The hero forgets to breathe as he watches you clean the glass with your coat’s sleeve. Giggling, you hand it back to him. “That was a close one!”

“I-I, u-um—”

“Take good care of it, okay?” A coy smile lingers on your face. You lean close to his ear, feeling him shake when you whisper, “Where else are we supposed to dance if it’s broken, Tamaki?”

The hero lets your words sink in as you walk away. His eyes glance down at the snow globe, choking down a gasp. It’s him and you, dancing on the frozen pond hidden amongst the magical forest. The trees twinkle in gold, and the ice radiates with life, just like how Tamaki envisioned it.

A warm but familiar feeling grows inside his heart. Tamaki gently brings the snow globe closer and whips around, mouth slightly open to call after you. An empty street greets him instead. The hero glances back at his hand and smiles.

As long as he keeps the snow globe safe, he knows exactly where to find you.

As always, thanks for reading!

[chilling-seavey]

OH MY GOSH OKAY SINCE WE'RE DOING THE CHRISTMAS WRITING PARTY CAN U WRITE ONE FOR PASSCHENDAELE WHERE IT'S THE FIRST CHRISTMAS AFTER THE WAR OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT? OR OR OR THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE

Love the idea of the Christmas Truce and I forgot I actually had this one planned since the beginning! For those of you who don’t know, The Christmas Truce of 1914 was a true event that happened, where British and German soldiers left their trenches on Christmas Day and celebrated together in peace. 

Get your tissues ready.

Also thank you to @janav21 for helping me with some German translations xx

T/W Mentions of war violence, death, the honest truth the deep down all humans are good, and the first seeds of what would later stem into PTSD

December 24, 1914

“Post for you, Lance Corporal Seavey.”

Through the darkness of the night, Christian raised his head from the side of the trench to look up at the man standing in front of him and holding out a brown paper wrapped package. With shivering hands in gloves that didn’t do much to keep in the heat, Christian reached up to take it from him, the men sharing stiff nods as thanks and acknowledgment before the man continued down the lines.

It was a particularly cold night and the ground was frozen with fresh fallen snow, stained red in places from battles and brown in places from upturned soil made from shells but the light flurries that fell through the silent night made it feel somewhat peaceful. Christian pulled at the string and opened his package, the first thing on the top being an old family photograph of his parents and his younger brother and younger sister and him from years earlier when they were small. He smiled warmly at the memory, missing them more than ever on Christmas Eve. Normally they would be sitting by their Christmas tree and singing carols and drinking warm mugs of tea around the fire but instead, he was sat all alone in frozen stiff soil trenches in the middle of Belgium. The next item was a letter tucked on top of a small bar of chocolate. Christian smiled at the gift and unwrapped the corner of it to take a bite.

The crack of the cold coca from his teeth seemed to nearly echo through the barren wasteland the British army found themselves in, but Christian smiled bashfully to himself as he let the sweet flavour melt in his mouth. As he ate his treat, he unfolded his letter from his mother to read her near weekly correspondence.

My Darling Christian,

Christmas is not the same without you. Anna and Daniel and I decorated the tree together last week and there was no one to put the star on top. Daniel took your job instead but he had to stand on a chair and nearly toppled right off! You would have had such a laugh with us. I couldn’t resist a year without at least giving you something small so I hope this chocolate bar suffices – we are not allowed to send anything larger. I hope next Christmas I will see you home again as I miss you terribly. The world over here seems so much darker without you around, my sunshine, but I am sure you are bringing your bright spirits wherever you go. Please write me and let me know how Christmas is celebrated in Belgium (although I know you are most likely already writing an essay for me!). Your weekly letters make me miss you more but they let me know that you are well and safe.

I love you, my sweet angel. Happy Christmas.

Mum xx

Christian sniffled and folded the letter to tuck it back into his inside breast pocket along with the photograph of his family. With one more bite of chocolate, he folded it back up and tucked it in his pack before letting his eyes close and his head rest back against the wall of the trench, light snowflakes falling against his face that took a while to melt with the chill that coated his pale skin. He would reply to his mother later as it was getting late, and the usual waiting game was sending Christian into a restful state.

It wasn’t long before a noise could be heard in the distance and a few of the British men quickly snapped to attention to see what was happening out in the darkness of No Mans Land. Christian sat up too, locking in on the soft tune that was drifting through the nighttime air. The words were incomprehensible but the tune was more than familiar.

“What the bloody hell is that?” one of the men whispered.

“It…It’s Silent Night, sir.” Christian answered quietly.

The higher ups turned to the Lance Corporal as if forgetting the young man could even speak. A small group had gathered in their section of the trenches, all the men bundled up in their jackets and gloves as they listened to the German soldiers singing Christmas carols from a few many yards away.

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht!

Alles schläft, einsam wacht

Nur das traute, hochheilige Paar.

Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,

Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh,

Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh.

The British soldiers stood in silence as they listened, a few humming quietly to themselves as if afraid to make their presence aware to the enemy. Finally, one of the newer men sang first, his curly hair falling from under his cap and his glasses slightly fogged up from his warm breath through the cold night, joining right in along side the Germans,

Silent night, holy night!

Shepherds quake at the sight!

A few more men joined in, Christian included,

Glories stream from heaven afar;

Heavenly hosts sing Al-le-lu-ia!

And soon everyone was singing together in harmony,

Christ the Savior is born! / Christ, der Retter ist da!

Christ the Savior is born! / Christ, der Retter ist da!

By the final verse, both sides of the front lines were singing loudly together, their voices carrying across the vast expanse of fields and raising high into the night sky. Half in English and half in German, they sang in one choir,

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht! / Silent night, holy night

Gottes Sohn, o wie lacht / Son of God, oh, love's pure light

Lieb aus deinem göttlichen Mund, / Radiant beams from Thy holy face

Da uns schlägt die rettende Stund, / With the dawn of redeeming grace

Christ, in deiner Geburt, / Jesus, Lord at Thy birth

Christ, in deiner Geburt. / Jesus, Lord at Thy birth

When the song concluded, silence fell once again over the battlefields, the snow falling steadily around them. Christian smiled a little to himself at the momentary peace and tucked in for the night with his family photograph held right against his heart.

December 25, 1914

As the sun rose on Christmas morning, the British soldiers wished each other ‘Happy Christmas’ as they started their usual breakfasts or morning duties. It wasn’t long before one of the higher ups was ordering a rise to arms and Christian snatched up his rifle with the rest of the men to get into position.

“There’s a man over there.” the soldier said, peering through the viewfinder out across No Mans Land. “He’s holding his hands up in their trenches.”

The British cocked their rifles.

“Don’t fire!”

“He’s unarmed.”

Christian peeked up over the edge of the parapet and someone grabbed his shoulder to pull him back down to safety. He shrugged him off and leaned back up again, watching the German man walk shakily and slowly out of his trench and onto the fresh fallen snow of the battlefield, hands raised and any weaponry missing.

Christian was a man who had too much trust in people – at least up to the end of 1914 – and he didn’t think twice before dropping his rifle to the floor of the trench as well as his pack of grenades and bullets and stood up on the fire step with his own hands raised.

“Lace Corporal Seavey, what the hell are you doing?” his Lieutenant snapped.

“Must be a trap! You’re gonna get bloody well blown up!” another added from farther down.

But Christian climbed carefully out of the safety of the trench, his heart hammering in his chest as he touched the crisp white snow of the Belgian field and shakily got to his feet to face the enemy. A few more German men climbed out of their trenches followed by a few British and soon the two sides were meeting in the middle. It was silent except for the chilly winter wind that whistled across the land and the crunching of snow under military boots. Christian fell to a stop in front of the young man opposite him, the German’s face looking just as hesitant as Christian’s himself. He had the nicest grey eyes Christian had ever seen and he offered out his hand with a nervous smile tugging at his lips. Christian looked down at his outstretched hand before taking his handshake.

“My name is Christian.” he spoke slowly.

“My…name…is Heinrich.” the man replied.

“Pleased to meet you, Heinrich.” Christian said.

“Freut mich, dich kennenzulernen.”

The enemies seemed to group up and well wishes of Merry Christmas is English and German moulded as one and chatter rose across the Belgian fields. Handshakes were shared and photographs were taken and tensions felt like they had vanished. Christian pulled out his unfinished chocolate bar and offered a piece to his new friend.

Heinrich grinned and nodded, taking a small square with icy hands and a warm, “Danke.”

They ate together for a moment in calm silence, both a little shy but their bashful smiles were mirrored with near relief.

“Wie alt bist du??”

“Sorry?” Christian looked over at him.

“Uhm…” Heinrich thought for a moment before pointing to his watch and then gesturing up. “Years? You?”

“Oh. I am twenty-four.” Christian answered, showing the numbers with his fingers. “You?”

“Dreiundzwanzig.” Heinrich did the same, showing a two and then a three with his hand.

They shared smiles, cheeks a rosy red in the winter air and the tip of Christian’s nose was turning pink too. He offered Heinrich another piece of chocolate before taking out his photograph from his pocket and stepping closer to show him.

“This is my family.” Christian told him with pride and he pointed to each of his family members, “Father-”

“Vater.”

Christian glanced up at his new friend and nodded in agreement, “Yes. My Vater.” He continued on, “My Mother-”

“Mutter.”

“Sister and brother.”

“Schwester und bruder.”

“Yes. Anna and Daniel.”

“Anna?” Heinrich questioned, looking at Christian with wide shining eyes.

“Yes. My sister.”

Heinrich reached into his own jacket pocket and rummaged around a moment before pulling out his own photograph and held it out to show Christian, the blonde woman sitting graciously in the frame.

“Anneliese. Meine frau.”

“Frau? Wife.” Christian said. “Anna.”

“Yes, my…Anna.”

The young men shared excited grins and another piece of chocolate as a few men around them started singing more carols. Food rations were shared and a few drinks were poured and German and British men were arm in arm and singing loudly together. Heinrich and Christian stuck together, joining in for a few photographs taken by their officers and the group shared a good laugh when one of the German generals slipped on a path of ice and fell on his behind.

Soon, with the heat of the excitement and festivities, jackets were being tossed back into designated trenches and someone brought out a soccer ball, earning cheers from both sides. Small teams were divided up – British against Germans of course – and they played together most of the day, using jackets and canteens as makeshift goal posts as the watching soldiers stood in lines around their little made field. Christian pulled an impressive dive to catch the ball before he was scored on and loud excited cheers erupted from both sides at the move. Heinrich pulled him up from the snowy ground with an offered hand and Christian thanked him with a smile as he brushed himself off.

By the time the sun was starting to set, everyone was taken by surprise; the day had gone by so fast. Newly formed friendship groups said their goodbyes and Christian and Heinrich shared a friendly embrace as well.

“Happy Christmas.”

“Fröhe Weihnachten.” Heinrich held out a ration of cigarettes towards him with a friendly smile. “For…the schokolade.”

Christian didn’t smoke but the gesture was beautiful and he took the small pack within their final handshake, “Thank you.”

“Hope…you see…your Anna soon.” Heinrich spoke slowly through his broken English.

“You too.” Christian said as they dropped hands.

They shared one final nod, as if trying to piece together the incredible goings on of that day and the fact that they had just wholeheartedly trusted the enemy. Both sides were bordering on treason after spending such a day together but they returned to their trenches without another word or a single shot fired. Christian got himself settled with the sun setting and leaving the trenches in darkness, feeling more at peace than he had in a while. He was too tired to write to his mother that night, fading into a sleep stemmed from exhaustion from the day’s unique festivities. Even still, everyone was wondering what the next day would hold and if the truce was a turning point for the beginning of the end of the war.

With daybreak came another attempt of peace, and Christian found himself beaming with excitement as Heinrich and a few German men were making their way over the battlefield again after breakfast. Christian was stood beside the British Lieutenant-Colonel as they had their rifles at the ready out of habit but Christian didn’t even have his finger on the trigger.

One of the German officers who was walking over spoke first from the halfway mark between their front lines, “You still got the armistice?”

Christian started to stand up to join them but the ringing of a single shot rang through the barren fields before he could move. He watched as Heinrich fell backwards, shot right through the head until his blood was staining the fresh white snow and his grey eyes staring lifeless into the sky. The cold face of the British Lieutenant-Colonel was unphased as they were propelled into another battle by that single shot.

Another battle where they were forced to kill those they just celebrated with a mere day before, with whom each side shared stories and photographs and treats. Now, both sides were forced back into the usual way of the war under orders of their stern officers who claimed the only way to win was to gain their ground. Christian sat alone that night, a blank parchment on one knee, the pack of German cigarettes on his other, and the vision of Heinrich’s lifeless eyes in his mind. He sat there for nearly an hour trying to figure out what to say to his mother, only getting as far as her name scribbled shakily in the top left corner.

Christian didn’t smoke but that night he pulled one of the cigarettes from the German ration and borrowed a light from another soldier and he let himself sit against the side of the trench and mourn the loss of a friend. He felt guilty and shameful and disgusted with himself and with the war and with the concept of even being there at all, how each time he pulled the trigger he was killing one of his momentary friends. Good men who were friends and brothers and sons and husbands.

Christian couldn’t get himself to return a letter to his mother. He no longer felt like his mother’s angel that she called him so often. And he never would be again.

[sapphire-strikes]

How do you think Kamal and Boris would react to fk being scared of the dark?

So sorry again for the late reply and thank you for the request! I had alot of fun with this and may have gotten a bit carried away.

(Also, like I always say; this is meant to be considered platonic/familial)

•Kamal probaby already knew just by watching you. He's a pretty perceptive guy but also isn't the kind of person to care much about the stuff he figures out. Sure it's kind of a silly fear, but hey, he's afraid of stairwells so who's he to judge.

• Boris on the other hand is pretty oblivious and that plays to your detriment at first.

• One day Boris had gotten a new shipment of seeds and had been working non-stop to get them planted. He had a late night but you waited up to walk him home like you usually did, despite the growing unease in your gut as the sky got darker.

• By the time he had finally finished up the moon was out and the street lights were aglow. You had fallen alseep in the back room and were awoken by him gently shaking you, "Wakey wakey, sleepyhead, sorry for the wait. It's time to head home!"

• As soon as the two of you stepped out the door your breath hitched and you backed into him. He quickly raised his hands to catch you, gently holding you by your shoulders and lightly shepherding you onto the street for a couple steps before letting go.

• The only light that was offered came from the street lamps above, creating ominous looking paths down the sidewalks on either side of you. It was almost more unnerving than complete darkness.

• He didn't seem to notice your discomfort at all but did comment on how late it. He even asked if you just wanted to head back to your place instead of staying out any longer and walking him home.

• You're quick to object, almost frantically grabbing his hand when he began to step away. No way were you walking home alone, or at least you'd try to avoid it as long as you could.

• Boris jumps in surprise when you cling to his hand so suddenly and looks down at you with concern. When you realise what you're doing you quickly apologize and attempt to back away only for him to grab your hand in return and begin walking happily. "Okee! Let's get going then, shall we? Kamal's going to be worried if we take to much longer."

• If he had thought anything about your little freak out it seemed to have already left his mind.

• Despite the darkness that surrounded you, you had to admit having Boris there was quite the comfort. You were walking slower than usual as you cautiously took in your surroundings and Boris adjusted his speed accordingly.

• He hadn't let go of your hand since you started walking and he seemed to quite enjoy the activity, even attempting to intertwine your fingers at one point but couldn't do it comfortably with the size difference. He instead just opted to wrapping his thumb around your wrist while his fourfingers easily encompassed the rest of your hand.

• His grip was firm but gentle and during moments of silence he would hum softly. For a little while you completely forgot about your fear and just took in his presence as he walked with a smile.

• You're snapped back into reality when your hand was released so Boris could begin fiddling with his keys. You had finally arrived back at Kamal's place and once it was unlocked, he held the door open for you to step inside.

• The two of you are greeted by a tired looking Kamal as he lethagically mulled over some paperwork.

• After a bit of conversation and Boris explaining why you got back so late, Kamal stands, stretches and turns to you. "It is pretty late ain't it? Maybe it would be best for you to crash here for the night, pal? No point in sending you out by yourself at this hour and I think I'm a little too tired to drive right now."

• Before you can respond Borsi stands up excitedly and clapped his hand together.

"We can have a sleepover!"

"Yeah sure, that." Kamal snickers and looks to you sympathetically, "You up for it, little buddy?"

Thinking it over for a second you nodded happily, "I think I'll take you up on that, thank you, Kamal."

• Boris squeals excitedly and lifts you off the ground for a second before his face flashes with an idea and he quickly puts you down. "I'm gonna go make snacks! Don't go anywhere! Okee?" You can tell he's joking about that last part but he still peeks back around the corner after heading to the kitchen, pretending to make sure you're still there.

• You and Kamal share a look and he wordlessly points down the hall with both hands. You get the message and give him a wave goodnight that he returns before heading to bed.

• If it's really late, Boris won't keep you up for long. Just long enough for the two of you to eat and watch some tv.

• After that, he'll offer to let you stay in his bed while he sleeps on the couch. You firmly deny his offer, insisting that you couldn't do that but you appreciate the thought, he really was a sweetheart. After a small back and forth Boris eventually relents when you insisting you'll be fine.

• Boy were you wrong. It hadn't even occurred to you until now that you didn't have your usual set up. Would it be rude to keep their living room light on all night? It was bright enough to be seen on from both of their rooms, even from under the doors. You eventually settle on leaving the tv running. It's not quite bright enough to comfort you but it's better than nothing.

• You spent the next two hours curled up on the couch, trying to keep your gaze focused on the tv. Normally the sight of Kamal's house brought you comfort, but right now it felt like you were floating in some sort of void with the dim light of the tv that illuminated the couch acting as your lifeboat.

• A few more minutes passed and you were spooked out of you already anxious trance by the sound of footsteps. "Flower, still watching teevee? It's no good for u this late you kno!" When you turned around you saw Boris standing at the end of the hall rubbing sleep from his eyes. He was also slurring his words a bit, something he did when he was angry, upset or tired. He walked up to the couch and leaned over you to grab the remote. "U can watch all u want in the morning I promisee".

• You panicked and grabbed it before he could, holding it tight to you chest, "N-no! I-I mean, just let me finish this episode, it's getting really good--I'll get some sleep right after!" Boris glanced at the tv then back at you with an eyebrow raised. You looked back to the tv and finally remembered what you had been watching for the last hour...the shopping channel. "There's...there's uh...a really good deal for...nonstick skillets coming up.."

• Your strange behavior seems to have woken him up a bit and and he looks down at you sadly, "Is everything okay, y/n? Was...was the sleepover too much?"

• You're quick to sit up and assure him that that isnt the problem, everything would be fine it's just that, well...

• "Oooh, so you do not like the dark?". You nodded, looking down in shame, it was such a stupid fear. "Well that makes sense! I--!" Before he even finishes speaking a look of realization crosses his face and he scrambles over the couch to the other side of the living room to flick the light on. As soon as he does he turns to you with worry, "Is--is that better? I'm sorry for turning it off :-("

• You stand up and assure him that it wasn't his fault There's no way he could have known and even if he did, it'd be silly of you to expect him to keep all his lights on just so you can sleep. You laugh a little bit, "I do miss my night light though."

He tilts his head in confusion, "Night-light?"

"Yeah, you know. Those little lights you plug into a wall socket. Not bright enough to bother you but enough to see in the dark. They're...usually used for little kids". You rub the back of your neck in embarrassment.

Boris's face light up, "Oh, I know what you are talking about! C'mere!" He grabs you by the hand, pulling you up off the couch and leading you down the hall to a door adorned in art of flowers and smiles. You can only assume it's his bedroom.

• He looks at you expectantly, motioning to his door and you take that as your queue to open it. When you do, you're met with what looks a bit like a kids bedroom, in the colorfullnes of it at least. The lights are off but there is a warm glow that leaves everything clearly visible.

• His bed is huuuge, but that's to be expected. To the right of it on the wall he has two night lights, one of a smiling tooth and one of a flower. On the left side of his bed was a night stand with a dimly lit lamp. Not only that, but looking up at the ceiling he had to have at least two-hundred of those glow in the dark stars.

"I do not mind the dark, but I like to read at night." You're once again snapped out of a trance and you look at him a bit baffled but smile anyway.

"Your room's pretty cool, Boris."

He seems pleased by your approval, "Thank you! It can be your room for tonight too!" Before you can protest, he shushes you. "It'll be like a real sleepover this time! I'm gonna pick out a bedtime story to help you fall alseep, go get comfy."

• You don't get another chance to protest since he's already looking through the large bookshelf that's sitting up against the wall to the left. You don't move from your spot near the door but you can make out some of the book titles that rest in it. Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and even a few by H.P Lovecraft. He wasn't a fan of horror persay, not horror movies at least, but he enjoyed the older novels. There were also quite a few books on flowers and even some on farming odly enough. It was all very Boris.

• After pulling out what he thought was an acceptable choice, he walked over to his bed and climbed in. His smiles at you expectantly again and patted the spot beside him, signaling you to come sit with him.

• After a moment of hesitation as you process the silliness of this situation, you relent and climb in beside him.

• He pulls the blanket up over the two of you and takes extra care to tuck you both in properly. It really seemed like he knew what he was doing as he went through the motions with a determined look on his face. This earns a laugh from you and a confused look from Boris. After he was satisfied with his work, he setted back down in his spot and began to read out loud.

• You forgot how nice it was to just listen to someone read as you drifted off, or maybe you never new in the first place. Either way, you were out like a light in less than thirty minutes.

[silent-scythe]

Broken Love

Hello! My name is Scythe, this is my very first time posting on tumblr, I really don’t know how to lmao. This is a story that I wrote on AO3 a few months ago, but I’ll be posting it here too. Really sorry if the formatting is wonky, I don’t know how to use this lol

TRIGGER WARNING FOR: alcohol abuse, self hate, semi-descriptive mention of sexual assault, and slight sexual content. Please read at your own risk. 

༺༻

“What, do you think your mother even bothered to think about you while she was worked to death?” 

Nesta regretted it the moment those hateful words left her mouth. A part of her wanted to take back the venom she spat out, yet dignity trampled it down, keeping her spine straight and her head held high. She refused to acknowledge the pain that creeped upon her heart, instead curling her hands into fists as that maelstrom in her eyes swirled angrily. 

Her eyes were a force to behold; oh, such rage filled those cunning blue-gray eyes, like that of a wrathful thunderstorm. 

She watched, not a flicker of emotion showing, as the fire in Cassian’s eyes died out, reduced to ashes. 

She wanted, ached for him to spit back at her, to argue and quarrel. 

But she knew she went too far with that remark. 

Yet pride, insufferable pride, refused to let her apologize. 

༺༻

Cassian felt his breath still at the sneering insult she had flung back at him. They bickered endlessly, yet it was an unspoken rule between them to never bring relatives into it.

Never.

Especially when they were dead- have been dead for five hundred years. 

Thousands of retorts came to mind, an endless collection of insults he could hurl back, yet they all died on the tip of his tongue.

Cassian could feel nothing, hear nothing, as he closed the door quietly behind him and walked out of Nesta’s apartment in deafening, roaring silence, wings tucked in tight. He did not know where he was going, and he definitely was not in the mood to fly back to the House of Wind. So he let his steps carry him to the ends of the earth. 

And he couldn’t help but think back to what Nesta had said. 

Do you think your mother even bothered to think about you while she was worked to death?

Somewhere inside him, uncertainty crept along his bones. He knew that his mother cared for him, even as he was abandoned at an Illyrian camp with nothing but himself. But what if he was wrong? Five centuries later, his only recollection of his mother was a hazy, warm face. 

Oh, and the screams and body-wracking sobs that she had let out as he was taken away. 

His mother had left him with an amulet, a necklace of ruby the same brilliant carmine color as his seven siphons. He chose to give it to Nesta. Yet that was at the bottom of the Sidra, thrown in there after she refused to accept it, telling him that she wanted nothing from him and leaving.

Oh, how he loathed himself. 

༺༻

Nesta stood there, fists clenching and unclenching, as she processed what just happened, replaying the events over and over again. 

She should have never said that. She had never hurt Cassian so deep before, so thoroughly that he had left, just left. Without firing some stinging retort back at her. 

And what killed her the most? He was a good male. In her heart, she knew that he was worth everything in the world. Gods, he had even closed the door quietly, not slamming it like she would’ve undoubtedly done. 

She finally shook herself out of her stance, pacing around her messy, drab-gray apartment, dirty clothes flung everywhere, cobwebs on the corners of the walls.

And so, Nesta resorted to the only option at hand.

The only way she knew how to cope.

Oh, how she loathed herself. 

༺༻

Cassian’s steps eventually led him to the Sidra, his unkempt hair blowing in the harsh breeze. The biting cold chilled his fingertips, but he paid it no mind as he stared across the river, waves lapping gently at the sand that he stood on.

From besides him, he could feel shadows wreath him, swirling around the secluded beach, twirling in the air. 

“Not now, Azriel,” he spoke, responding to the silent shadows. “I want to be alone.”

The shadows seemed to stop, hesitating, as if saying, ‘are you sure, brother?’ before eventually blowing away, returning to their master.

The Illyrian Commander stared out across the Sidra, his gaze unfocused, eyes on the horizon. Though he did not see the point where water met land. 

No, the only thing he could see were smoldering eyes of stormy blue. 

༺༻

Nesta cringed inwardly at the cheap alcohol that went down her throat, rough and burning. She took another massive gulp.And she kept this up, until only the last dregs remained.

And then she asked for another drink.

And another.

And another.

She drank, and drank, and drank, welcoming the oblivion and the lack of emotion that accompanied this. Nesta kept at it, until her head was fuzzy and dizzy and she could not hear nor see a single thing clearly. Empty bottles lined the table she sat at.

You are worthless, a voice in her head hissed. Worthless. You do not deserve him, you do not deserve Feyre and Elain’s kindness. You should continue to waste away, until you are completely gone.

Nesta wholeheartedly agreed with whatever spoke in her mind. 

She hated herself, hated her walls of thorns, hated that she was like a plague, spreading hatred and sadness to everyone around her. 

She wished she could change. And when she realized she couldn’t change, wouldn’t change, she wished she was gone. 

A male approached her, sitting down next to her. A cruel smile slashed across his face, displaying a handsome face with striking blue eyes and cropped, dirty blond hair. Pointed ears and sharp canines added to his features. 

High Fae, then, Nesta thought. 

She could practically smell the lust and whiskey on the male.

She welcomed it. 

Nesta did not mind as a phantom hand of his grazed her leg, inching up to her thigh. She smirked at him, an invitation and a taunt. 

Soon enough, she grabbed his hand harshly, and they were in her bedroom within minutes. 

This was the only way she could find freedom, through sex and alcohol. Perhaps she indeed was wasting away, a useless pile of garbage. Once upon a time, she would bristle at such a comparison. Now, she could only agree. 

The male entered her, and an image of Tomas Mandray crossed her mind. The foreign touch, the mortal man who had torn her clothes to pieces and pinned her on the wall, until she had screamed her throat raw and clawed her way out of his grip. She still shuddered at the memory, but she shoved it down in her brain, all the way to the back of her mind, where all these other emotions and memories and feelings and happiness were, repressed and behind a gate that Nesta would never open. 

She rode him deep into the twilight, though she did not see the male Fae.

No, the only thing she could see were fiery eyes of warm hazel.

༺༻

Cassian stayed by the riverbank until dusk, the rays of twilight sun warming him. Occasionally, he stretched his wings out, extending them and flapping once before he tucked them in tight again. Other than that, he stayed still, letting the waves lull him as he combed through memories and thoughts. 

They always seemed to rebel, to go to that one day he didn’t want to think of. The day where his wings were broken, shredded to pieces, wounds dotting his body like stars in the night sky as he laid on that battlefield, with Nesta covering him. 

I have no regrets in my life, but this. That we did not have time. That I did not have time with you, Nesta. I will find you again in the next world- and we will have that time, I promise.

Those words he had spoken echoed in his mind, and he remembered the way Nesta had shielded his body with her own. 

And right before that- as Nesta had shouted, roaring his name, as he had avoided that blast of magic that would have killed him within milliseconds. 

Did he deserve that?

Nightmares still plagued his mind during the night, where he watched as his soldiers, men he grew up with, died on the battlegrounds. 

Where they had lain their lives for the war. 

Where they died, and he didn’t. 

Guilt still ate at him, reprimanding and lashing at himself for surviving when he should have died, was supposed to die with those people. He had been grateful for Elain and Nesta, who killed Hybern, yet oftentimes he still went back to that day, wondering why he was still alive when he shouldn’t be.

Cassian’s slumbering siphons flared brightly as thoughts invaded his mind. 

He watched as the sun sank into the sky, the last rays of crimson and gold died with the sun, falling below the horizon. For a moment, the atmosphere turned the same, dark shade of vermillion as his siphons.

Gradually, the sky grew dark, as night fell and stars peeked out from behind their blanket of darkness. 

Cassian lowered his head. 

Purpose sang in his body, purpose to live. If he was granted with life, he would live it to the fullest. He would pull Nesta out of that dark, dark place, no matter how long it would take. No matter how much it would hurt himself, no matter how bleak some days might be. He made a promise to himself, vowing to never admit defeat and stop trying.

Because he loved her. Truly. 

And love, unending love, refused to let him give up.

༺༻

Yeah that’s it! Leave any comments down below (are they called comments on tumblr? I think they’re like,, notes or smth? Also, prompts r nice, gimme prompts for Nessian if you want :)) love them sm. Hope u enjoyed!! I have other fanfic oneshots, which i’ll post probably after i figure out how Tumblr works

- Scythe 

[moonlightsolo]

bête noire

summary: It’s time to get your own lightsaber. Rey thinks you’re ready but you’re not so sure. You’re still thinking about letting Kylo Ren secretly visit you on the new base but you don’t know if you should trust him. While searching for your kyber crystal, you run into some trouble...

pairing: kylo ren x female reader

warnings: LIES, ACTION, DRAMA!!!!

wc: 4k

note: hi i hope u like this. i pulled some of the lightsaber stuff out of my ass so if it isn't accurate don’t come for me thx. ps: doesn't he look FIIIIINE as hell in this gif? damn, i’d climb him like a tree.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Sweat drips down your forehead as your hands fumble over the metal pieces in front of you. One hand is holding a tool to connect them, the other is steadying the pieces so they don’t roll away.

“Rey, am I doing this right?” You sigh, the sun is beating down on your back. Rey peeks at your work then looks at the book with the instructions written on the pages.

“It looks right to me.” She shrugs and continues working on the droid sitting in front of her.

Constructing a Lightsaber seems much easier than it actually is.

Rey doesn’t want to make her own lightsaber yet since she doesn’t feel ready. Although she thinks you’re ready, which is a bit confusing since you’re not as skilled as her.

You connect all the pieces until you get to where the crystal goes. You leave some pieces unassembled so you can gently slip the kyber crystal inside the power cell. It will either successfully turn on or explode if you did the hardwiring incorrectly.

“So we’re going tonight to get a crystal right?” You ask as you gently put the piece away in your bag.

“Yeah, there used to be a Jedi on a planet called Ilum. There was a cave full of them before it was turned into the Death Star. We’ll have to search for one. Remember, the Force will guide you to your crystal. You’ll feel it.” She smiles and notices you packing up, “You done for the day?” She asks and lays her tools down.

The droid in front of her beeps manically, “Calm down. I’m almost done fixing you up anyways.”

You laugh at their conversation, “Yeah. I’m gonna get cleaned up and ready for tonight. Spend time with my munchkins and read.” You tap the cover of the large Jedi book.

“Sounds great. See ya.” She smiles and leans into a hug which you gladly return quickly. You grab ahold of the book and hold it close to your chest, the bag hangs off your shoulder. With every step back towards the base, metal clangs together.

Everything goes silent, you sigh when you realize who it is. “Are you still thinking about it?” His deep voices ask behind you.

You continue down the path, not turning your head. “Yes. I’m still thinking about it, Kylo. You know, it’s a big decision. I could give you my coordinates and you might just send troops here instead.” You grumble.

“Or you could trust that I wouldn’t and allow me to come to see you and meet our children.” His voice drops.

Those words made your heart drop and you felt a rush of sadness overcome you. “I know, I know. Just... give me till tomorrow. I’ll have an answer for you.” You stop in your tracks to turn around and he’s gone.

You sigh loudly, your head falls back to look into the sky but you can barely see it through the trees. “Why does he have to be so complicated.” You groan, taking a moment to breathe and calm yourself before continuing back towards the base.

When you emerge from the trees, some people passing by a glance at you then continue whatever they’re doing. You walk towards the cave then someone taps you on your back. You expect it to be Kylo, your shoulders drop and you turn around ready to scold him but it’s Poe.

“Don’t look so excited to see me.” He laughs and pulls you into a hug. You laugh and close your eyes as you let out a relieved sigh. “I’m actually really glad it was you. I thought it was gonna be someone else.” You mumble into his shirt.

You haven’t seen him in a few days because Leia sent him on a mission for supplies. “Someone else? Rey gettin’ on your nerves today?” He says jokingly and pulls away to look down at you.

“Nah, it’s not Rey today.” You giggle, keeping an arm around his waist as you start to walk towards the base again. “How long have you been back?” You ask, glancing up at him for a moment. “Just a few hours. I haven’t seen Rey either. Was she with you in your spot?” He asks.

“Yeah, she is there. She’s working on a droid.” You sigh as you get close to the command center. “Come to my room tonight. I missed you.” He lands a soft kiss on your forehead then walks over to Leia. He doesn’t know that you’re not going to be here tonight.

You walk away from them, going into the ship to your room. You drop the bag onto the bed, smiling at them in their little baskets. Soon, they’re gonna outgrow them, they can almost sit up by themselves too!

“Let’s take you guys outside today.” You glance at the droid for help. You pick up Ellie, balancing her small body on your hip as you put the book in your other arm so you can read. The droid grabs a blanket so they don’t lay directly on the itchy grass.

You waddle past the command center and out of the cave and towards the little trail that leads to the landing pad. There’s a small patch of grass shaded by the canopy of trees. The droid lays out the large blanket so you could sit on it with the kiddos.

You lay Ellie down on the fabric and the book too. The droid lays Anakin next to his sister and they coo at each other which makes you smile. Ellie rolls over onto her belly, holding her head up as she looks around.

You open the book to the marked page, looking over the words that talk about the crystals and how to handle lightsabers correctly. You keep your eyes on both the book and the kids. The droid keeps Ani entertained by dangling a homemade rattle above his head. He smiles and reaches out for it.

Sometimes you can’t believe that you had twins. It feels like it happened just yesterday but they’ve grown up so much already.

The wind blows your hair and you take a deep breath of fresh air through your nose. You take in the sounds around you; — the rumbling of ships engines and the sounds of leaves rustling above you. It’s so refreshing.

Ellie’s head plops face down against the blanket which makes you chuckle but, of course, you turn her back over so she wasn’t face down. “There ya go, girly.” You soothingly scratch her belly over her clothing.

You get fully immersed in your reading, still taking care of the twins at the same time. You pick your head up and notice the sky turning beautiful bright shades as it grows darker outside, how much time has gone by already?

You mark the page you made it to and close the book. You scoop up Ellie and the book, the droid does the same with Ani and the blanket.

You make your way back to your room, smiling at Poe then disappearing in the ship. You change both of the baby's diapers and put them into pajamas, making sure to feed them as well.

You’ve gotten a hang of feeding them at the same time. You cradle one of them in your arm while the other lays on your legs. They both slowly start to fall asleep on you so you put them both into their little cradles.

“You got them tonight right?” You whisper to the droid who’s folding clean baby clothes. “Yes, I’ll make sure to care for them.” She says in her robotic voice.

“Thank you.” You smile as you slip the book into the bag with your saber supplies. You begin to change into an outfit Rey gave you. It consists of tight black pants, a form-fitted dark gray tunic undershirt, a hooded cloak, and arm warmers. You slip yourself into the new outfit and your worn boots, securing the front pieces of your hair back so they’ll stop dangling in your face.

You have a pack full of things to take on the mission, like extra clothes and materials.

You sling the pack onto your back and your saber bag your shoulder while your staff hangs off your other shoulder. You look back at your sleeping babies, watching their little bellies rise and fall as they breathe. “Thanks again.” You say to the droid before leaving the room.

In the cave, you can see Rey’s little area is lit up and so is the command center. You walk towards Rey’s area but someone grabs your arm and pulls you into a dark spot in the cave. Your eyes go wide, ready to fight but you realize it’s Poe. You push yourself away from him, “What are you doing?!” You whisper-yell at him.

“I was just about to come to see you. I thought you were gonna come to me tonight.” He sounds a little disappointed. Your head drops, “I’m sorry. I forgot. Rey and I... we need to uh... practice... like a train... tonight.” You stutter over your words as you try to come up with a lie.

Leia told you to keep it between Rey and her that you were getting a lightsaber. She knows that Poe would be upset that you and she are going on a mission by yourselves. He would argue that Chewy at least has to go if he couldn’t tag along.

“Wow... You’re a terrible liar.” He laughs, shaking his head. “You’re in this fancy outfit and you’re carrying a lot of stuff. Where are you guys going?” He questions which makes you sweat.

You can see Rey making her way over to you two. Thank the stars.

“Ask her.” You blurt out when she gets closer, “Ask me what?” One of her eyebrows raises slightly.

“What are you guys doing? Why is she carrying all this... stuff?” Poe looks over the bags you’re holding.

“Well, honestly, we’re leaving.” Rey says nonchalantly, “But we’ll be back. It’s important we do this together and alone.” She enunciates the last word to make it clear to him.

“Leaving?! Alone?! Why didn’t Leia say anything to me about this?” He throws his hands up, “I’m coming with you guys. What if you get found by the First Order?”

“I’m pretty sure we can handle ourselves, Poe. Plus, it’s classified. That’s why Leia didn’t say anything.” Rey puts her hands on her hips. You can tell she’s already getting annoyed by him. He looks at you and back at her.

“What about Chewy? Can’t he go with you? He’s just a Wookiee.” His face is furrowed in frustration. You knew he’d ask that.

“Poe, we’ll be fine. I promise. It’s just a quick jump and then we’ll be back. We won’t run into any trouble.” You look at him reassuringly. You can feel the anxiety radiating off of his body, he’s nervous.

His shoulders drop when he realizes you nor Rey won’t budge. “Fine. Transmit to me whenever you get there and leave. I need to make sure you guys are okay.” He grabs your hand to pull you into an awkward hug since there’s too much stuff on your body. He gives Rey a quick hug too then she walks away to collect her things.

“Whenever you get back, we can just do what we had planned then.” He smiles at you and you return one back. “Sounds like a plan.” You mumble. He looks down at his blaster then pulls it out of his holster, “Take it. I want to make sure you’re safe. I know you both have your powers or whatever but just an extra layer of protection. And... It’ll keep me sane.” He leans forward, catching your lips with his.

Your hands instantly go to his face, running your fingers over his scruff as you kiss him gently. “I’ll be back. Don’t worry.” You breathe out into the kiss. It’s obvious you’ve gotten much closer to Poe in the last week or so. Your hand slips his blaster into the holster on your belt as you pull away. 

“Let’s go.” Rey almost laughs at you and Poe. You smile at Poe once more before turning around to follow Rey to the landing pad.

She opens the entrance of the Falcon, you both climb into the ship. She closes the ramp then puts all her supplies in a cabinet so it wouldn’t roll around while she flies. “You can put yours in here with mine.” She opens it back up for you so you can slip your staff and your two bags into the cabinet.

Excitement floods your veins when you realize you’ll have your own saber soon. It’s a big responsibility but you trained and worked so hard for this moment.

You lock up the cabinet then join Rey in the cockpit. You buckle in, flipping on some buttons she orders you to touch. “That one.” Your hands hover over the button you think she’s pointing at, “No, that one. The blue one. Yes. That’s the one.” You laugh and press the button.

Rey begins to lift the ship up into the air, moving above the large expanse of trees. It’s just forest for miles and miles. Her hand moves on the power lever, making the ship move forward quickly towards space.

“Ready?” She looks at you and smiles. You nod as you look out the window, she hits some buttons then the ship jolts and goes into hyperspace.

You can never get used to the view of the blue colors swirling together. It’s so fascinating.

“We’ll be on Tatooine soon. It’s not too far. Hopefully, we can find a crystal there.” The mention of Tatooine makes you feel hot and itchy. Ugh, the sand and the heat. So gross.

You take your cloak off your shoulders to hang on the back of the co-pilots seat you’re sitting in. “I hope so too. I don’t want to be there too long.”

-

Rey gathers her things after she lands the ship successfully, “So, we’re gonna go through the town which will hopefully keep us away from the Tusken Raiders.” She moves her hands quickly to swing her backpack over her shoulders.

You grab your staff, stuffing the bag with your saber materials inside into your own backpack. Only so you didn’t have to carry so much.

“Tusken Raiders?” Your eyes go wide at the sound of them. Hopefully, you don’t run into them before you get your saber.

“Yep. They’re indigenous to Tatooine and quite hostile to everyone else.” She clips Luke’s saber onto her belt. “Ready?” She asks with a confident smile.

“Ready than ever.”

Rey and you trek along the sandy hills, making your way to the town in the distance. Your eyes dart around, seeing a dome-like run-down hut that’s quite far from the town. There’s energy pulling you towards it. “That was Luke’s home when he was a child. The Lars family cared for him when he was separated from his mother at birth.” Rey cures your curiosity thankfully.

When you get closer, you start to grow nervous. The town seems like it’s abandoned. You notice that there are still some species and people are living here but they’re elderly or scavengers.

Rey motions with her hand to keep following her through the maze of the town. When you turn a corner, you instantly notice the small cut-de-sac of residential huts. It feels like you’ve been here before but you don’t understand how.

“Oh my god.” You gasp out loud, you stop in your tracks. Rey turns around, her face furrows in confusion. “What?” She looks around.

“My vision. When I saw Anakin, I was here.” Your brain begins to retrace your steps, your feet bring you to each memory. Where you appeared on the ground, he helped you up and brought you into his hut. You duck as you go inside, your face falls when you see the shape it’s in.

It seems like someone or something has gone through the place like a tornado. The furniture is broken, glass crunches under your boots as you move about the small space.

Rey follows your steps as you look around and pick things up from the ground. The Force is telling you to keep searching but you don’t know what for. Rey doesn’t say a word, she just follows you quietly like a mouse.

“Rey. There’s something here. I can feel it. It’s making me itch. I need to find it.” You groan loudly as you start to frantically go through everything. You walk back into the kitchen area, looking at the table you sat at with him. Your hands grip the wood as you lift the broken table up from the ground. There’s nothing. Just more rubble.

You grumble under your breath as you continue to search until the ground under your foot creaks. You pick your head up to look back at Rey. You drop to your knees to brush the mess off of the ground, seeing that there’s a wooden slab in the ground.

You lift it up slowly to see a hole and sitting inside is a small chest. Your fingers tingle as you make contact with it to pull it out. You set it to the side then you cover the hole up again with the wood.

The small chest has Sith and Jedi language inscribed into the wood.

“Open it. What are you waiting for?” Rey bends down next to you, her head peeking forward to look at the wooden box as you lift up the latch to open it.

There’s a tiny drawstring bag inside, some sand made its way into the box too. You gently pick it up, opening it to dump the contents into your hand. A crystal falls out into your hand, it makes you lose your breath.

Gentle whispers of Anakin's voice replay in your head, he came to you with good intent. To show you that you can begin to go down your own path. You had to start where he started.

You bring it closer to your face to admire the beauty of it. It’s opaque, not colored like you thought it would be. This is your stone. “Rey, this is it.”

Your eyes take in the look on her face, it’s not good. She seems angry but also scared. “I don’t know if it is. I know I said you’ll feel it but a stone from Darth Vader? There’s Sith writing on the outside of the box.” She stands to her feet quickly, “Why would the Force lead us to here?” She sighs out of frustration.

“There’s also Jedi writing too. I think it’s telling me to accept the dark side but also stay bonded with the light too. I need to be balanced, Rey...” You keep the crystal tight in your fist so you wouldn’t drop it when you stand up. The crystal warms up against your skin as it bonds with you through the Force.

She still doesn’t buy it, she’s worried. “You always knew that I couldn’t stay with one side. I need to be balanced between both. I mean, for crying out loud, I had children with Kylo Ren. And they’re going to be balanced too because they have me to guide them and him too.” Her face softens slightly at the mention of Ani and Ellie.

“It does make sense. I just don’t want you to go down the wrong path again.” She breathes out and before you can answer she continues, “Let’s put it in your saber to see if it works.”

You nod and begin clearing off a crate so you could lay your things on a flat surface. You open the book so you could follow the instructions. You take your tool to open up a few places.

It’s important not to accidentally invert the emitter matrix if you did the power grid would backfire and blow up. You connect the crystal to the activator that sits inside of the hilt. You gently screw on the last plate needed to finish the saber.

Your fingers run over the button that activates the hilt, thankfully only Force-sensitives are able to activate it. It will help out when the twins are old enough to grab things.

“You ready?” You ask Rey. She’s just as nervous as you but she nods and moves back a little bit.

Your arm extends far away from your body, just in case if it would blow up your arm would be the only thing missing.

Your eyes squeeze shut and you tense up as you click the saber on. The loud vibration sounds and buzzes in your ears. You can see a bright light from behind your eyelids.

Rey says your name, “Open your eyes...” Her voice is quiet and timid. You slowly peek, opening one eye first then both when you see the bright glow coming from the saber.

“What does that even mean?!” You exclaim loudly when you see the odd color shining in front of you.

It’s orange but it’s dark orange. It’s not like anything you’ve ever seen.

Kylo’s is red because of his dark personality but why would yours become orange? 

A loud explosion echoes from outside the hut. “I’ll go see what's going on.” She stands up from being next to you and walks outside.

Your eyes follow her movements, seeing her peek her head through the doorway then run back to you frantically. “We need to go now.” Her voice is stern as she grabs her belongings.

With a click of a button your lightsaber extinguishes, you scramble to your feet and put your things back into your bag. You hook your saber onto your belt on the opposite side of Poe’s blaster.

Rey and you walk out into the circle of huts, there’s a thick black smoke cloud coming from the center of the town. Then that’s when you hear the screech of a tie fighter fly above you. “Run!” You yelp and grab Rey’s hand to lunge forward as it shoots a blast. The hut behind you explodes, sand flies everywhere like a blanket that washes over your bodies.

All you can feel is sand. Your mouth is full of sand, your skin and clothes are covered in it too. Your ears are ringing from the blast being so close. You swear you’re going to lose hearing from this happening so much.

How are you and Rey going to get out of this mess? You refuse to be captured by the First Order again. It’ll be worse this time around. You know Kylo wouldn’t go easy on Rey either.

You feel Rey reach out blindly in the cloud of sand to grab your hand, you hold onto her tightly. You can still hear the fighters circling around in the air. Rey’s voice is muffled by the ringing in your ears, “We need to get out of here!” She screams.

Yes, she’s right. You really do.

tags: @officiallpeterparker @funnysadshit @ymariejp @attorneyl @fangirl570 @trinityrud20 @kylos-sassy-cousin @delicatelyherdreams @fizzywoohoo @savvy7392 @angelias134 @that-girl-named-alex @cas-backwards-tie @glimmering-darling-dolly @glitterypinkkitty @blxkstar @his-snow-white-queen @elsasshole @smiithys @nanocoool @deathbyarabbit @alex-skr @theholycakehole  @averillian  @crazynocturnalkiki @arcanebabe @tinydancer40 @superduckypower  @thomasscresswell @butterfly-writes @thatintrovertedbisexual @fangirlanotherjust @somekindofroger  @nicci442 @little-girl-who-dream-too-much​ @wildest-dream- @silverlambcaptain​ @cliffordmess​ @xkylorxn​ @lowkeyofsassguard @nickangel13​ @carol-twinklefists-danvers​ @oopsiedoopsie23​ @fandomshit6000​ @baba-eina @cosmichellfire​ @ravngers​

[sulfurousdreamscapes]

There was a man in Harbridgeton who carried three long sticks with him. The sticks had reflective glass coloured red, green, and orange and every night, the man would raise the sticks in the air. He could hold up a stick for hours, and sometimes he did, too.

Motorists rarely stop at Harbridgeton. There's nothing of value in the town, with the houses occupied by the ghosts and the soon-to-be ghosts. If you were driving down the A606 past Nottingham, you'd have found that strip of red, or green, or orange. Nobody stopped in the town.

I slowed down, though. The engine fell quiet, and the car glided along in the dark. The grass and the trees around the road were supposed to be green, I reminded myself. They looked right in their silver-blue garb. Finally, I braked and made a U-turn.

When I stopped the car near the man, I got out of the car and thought I'd watch him. Instead, he ran towards me, really hustling like he was trying to get out of a rain I couldn't see. I'll admit I was a little scared.

"Danger ahead, mate?" I asked.

He shook his head. His face was flushed red, like he was drunk. Come to think of it, his lips looked slick.

"What's with the sticks?"

He looked at the sticks in his hands like he was wondering how they got there. Then he took off the strap that was around his shoulder, and he threw it to the ground. The sticks clattered, spreading out like a keyring.

"Are you alright?" I had half a mind to get in and dash, but there was a chance the man was in danger. Then again, there was a chance the man was danger.

"There's no traffic light in this place, have you noticed?" he asked me. His speech sounded unusually clear and eloquent for someone who looked plastered.

"No?" I made a show of looking around. "I guess not. You filling in, then?"

"There's a lot of traffic lights," he said, and pointed up at the sky, where the stars still dared to peek. "Up there. Crystals of traffic lights, entire geodes that they chip at and take the lights out of."

I opened the car door. "Do you need to get somewhere?" I asked.

The man pushed me aside and got into my car, all in one sudden move. With the car door shut, he twisted the key and pressed on the accelerator.

"This was it," I thought to myself. "This was the mystery of the man at the intersection. He was a car thief. That's disappointing."

The car zoomed off into the night, its own red reflective glass looking at me like cats' eyes for a while, until it was gone past a bend.

I started walking, because what else was I going to do? I figured there might be a bus somewhere, along the way.

As I walked, I heard the sound of my car engine again, growing louder and louder. I turned around and found a familiar pair of headlights. I hailed them with both hands. Then I put my hands down when I realised that the headlights were far above ground, and rising upwards, upwards.

The car swooped over my head, flying into the sky. Soon, its headlights went out, too, and it became one with the sky, just another star that dares to peek.

[dynamicduoau]

Episode 1: The Piolet

Summary: After being sent to the middle of nowhere for their winter break, Virgil Sanders finds a mysterious journal in the woods.  This isn't the only problem as his brother, Patton, might be going a little boy crazy.

Words: 6955

Relationships: Platonic Moxiety, one-sided Logicality

Notes: Find original story here https://archiveofourown.org/works/20170951/chapters/47790076.  

Snow covered the ground as Virgil Sanders looked out the window.  Snowflakes fell from the sky and landed onto the ground in a thick sheet of snow.  It was cold in the old bus.

Honestly, the things should have been scrapped years ago.  His was doing nothing for his anxiety.  The roads were frozen here in Oregon, the bus could slip at any moment and kill them all.  Though he preferred this to flying.  They had been in the air just a couple of hours ago and Virgil had been freaking out.

A bubbly boy that look nearly identical to him kicked his legs back and forth in his seat.  Patton Sanders was Virgil's identical twin brother.  The boy pushed back a brown curl from his forehead as he turned to Virgil.

“What do you think Uncle Emile is like?” Patton asked.

“A serial killer,” Virgil stated, dead serious.

Patton frowned at him and gave him a stern look, “Virgil.”

“We could only be so lucky,” Virgil sighed.  “We met him when we were two, Pop Star.  From what I can remember, which isn’t much, he spent most of his time watching SpongeBob with us.”

The twins might be identical, but you could tell them apart quiet easily.

Virgil had straight hair that covered one eye.  The color was a mix of both brown and purple.  He was paler and looked even more pale with the black eyeshadow that was applied under his eyes.  Virgil tended to wear the same thing every day: a pair of ripped black jeans with dark purple tights underneath, a black T-shirt, his large purple and black flannel patched work jacket, and black and purple combat boots with purple socks peeking out.

Patton had curly brown hair with a single ringlet hanging perfectly on his forehead.  He had light peach colored skin.  A pair of black glasses were perched on his nose.  He wore a light blue shirt with a large white heart in the center.  Long white sleeves went down his arms, but he tended to change the color each day.  His cat hoodie was tied around his shoulders instead of on him.  He wore a pair of light beige skinny jeans with converse that were the same color as his shirt.  His white socks pecked out the tops of his shoes.

They both shared many similarities, though.  They had the same brown eyes.  Both had a splash of freckles covering their cheeks and nose.  Both had the same face shape.  Their hair was the same shade of brown.  They even had the same mole on their left cheek.

“This is our very first trip away from mom and dad,” Patton slapped his hands on both of his cheeks.  “They’re on the other side of the country.  All the way in Florida!”

“And only one call away.  We should just call them now and go home,” Virgil grabbed the phone from his jacket pocket.

It was snagged from his hand and held away from him, “Bro, this is the purrfect opportunity to show them we are cat-able of taking care of ourselves.  Besides, do you really want to get on a plane again?”

Virgil sighed, and placed his hands on his lap.  He did have a point though.  Planes were the worst.

They passed a sign that said now entering Gravity Falls.

“I’m so excited!” the older twin squealed.

Virgil just zipped up his hoodie and grabbed his backpack.  He only had that and a suitcase.  Patton was the one who was carrying about ten different things with him.

The bus soon stopped, and the driver screeched at them, “Gravity Falls!”

The emo twin ran off, he hated that driver.  Patton on the other hand smiled and told the driver goodbye before stepping of the bus.  It did a U-turn and left the twins in the cold snow.

The town had a strange feeling here.  Something that was foreign but comforting.  Virgil shivered in his spot from the cold weather.  He was spending his winter break in the middle of nowhere.

“Where is he?” Virgil looked around for their uncle.

Emile Sanders ran a museum in the middle of the forest that surrounded Gravity Falls.

“Maybe he got held up in traffic,” Patton suggested.

That was unlikely.  There were no cars in sight, and the heavy snow falling down made sure that no one would be driving today.

A car pulled up to them.  He could hardly see the red paint with all the stickers that covered it.

The window was pulled slightly while someone began to sing Da Dadadada Dum song from SpongeBob.  Once they finished they were out of breath, but they could finally see the person.

He had blond curly hair.  His hazel eyes were framed with a pair of brown glasses.  He was wearing a white dress shirt with a pink tie.  On top of that was a brown cardigan, and on top of that was a white coat.

"You're Patton and Virgil, right?” he asked.

Virgil had moved behind his brother, peeking from behind the luggage.  Virgil wasn’t a people person.  It was Patton’s job to do the socializing.

“That’s us!  I love your car!” Patton smiled as he looked at the colorful stickers.

“Thank you,” Emile said as he got out of the car to help the twins place their things in the back.

Now that he was out Virgil could see him better.  He was about 5'10''.  The man wore a pair of regular jeans and brown loafers.

"Hi, well I'm you're Uncle Emile, but you can just call me Emile," he said.

Virgil waved, but kept himself behind his brother.

“My Dark Strange Son is shy,” Patton stated.  “But it’s okay, because I talk enough for the both of us.”

Their uncle smiled at him, “Are you two a pair?  Aren’t you cold?”

“Nope,” Patton replied.  “It’s nice here.  There’s not a snowball chance of it snowing in Florida.”

Emile got into his seat and turned the key.

“I work at the Mystery Museum which is also my home," Emile told them.  "You two will be living there too while you're in Gravity Falls."

“Mystery?” Virgil asked, perking up.

The man nodded, “It belonged to friend of mine.  I’m just running it until they come back.”

Virgil always loved mysteries.  He’d stays up all night to watch conspiracies online.  He' loved it.

Soon they were at large building.  The front read Mystery Museum, though the second M looked like it was about to fall off.  Virgil was quick to grab his stuff from the trunk and make his way inside the museum.  Patton was a few feet behind him.

“Thomas!” Emile called out through the building.  “My nephews are here!”

Soon enough, a teen appeared from the back room.  He had a slightly lighter shade of hair then theirs but had the same brown eyes.  He wore a shirt that looked a lot like Steven Universe’s shirt along with a black and white jacket.  He wore a pair of black skinny jeans with a pair of fuzzy looking snow boots.

“Thomas is my cousin,” Emile replied.

“Hi,” Thomas waved.  “Patton and Virgil?”

Virgil was back to being behind his brother.  He didn’t like the multiple eyes on him.  He really just wanted to get to his room.

“I’m Patton,” Patton stated.  “And he’s Virgil.”

Virgil’s eyes scanned the room around him.  There were statues of creatures like werewolves, vampires, zombies, etc.  He wondered if any of them were real or not.  He wanted to ask questions, to see what his uncle knew, but that feeling inside of him wouldn’t let him talk.

Luckily, his brother asked the question that Virgil really wanted to ask.

“So, is this all real?” Patton asked as he looked at the statues.

Emile shook his head, “No.”

Virgil deflated a bit.  It would be awesome if at least one thing was real.

Thomas must have noticed because he was quick to say, “There are a lot of strange rumors around here that seem pretty paranormal to me.”

“Those are just rumors,” Emile sighed.  “As fake as Robo-Krabs.”

Virgil looked back down at his feet.

Patton gave his hand a small squeeze before turning back to the older two.

“Hey,” Patton started.  “Why did the old man fall in the well?”

Thomas shrugged.

“He couldn’t see that well,” Patton finished, grinning like a maniac.

He laughed at that, and so did Emile.  Virgil even gave an awkward chuckle.  He knew just how to cheer him up.

Patton started up a conversation with Thomas.  Talking was always easy for Patton.  All the friends that Virgil had back home were friends with Patton.  

“So if your Emile’s cousin,” Patton placed a hand on his chin.  “And we're Emile’s nephews.  What does that make us?”

Thomas thought for a second, “I think you’re my first cousin once removed.”

Patton grabbed the hood of his hoodie placed it over his head, “PAWsome!”

Thomas looked at him grinning, “Cat believe you just said that!”

It was then that the great cat pun epidemic of 2019 began.

Virgil started to feel a little bit more uncomfortable.  While his brother continued to make puns, he felt himself being excluded from the conversation.  Virgil wished that he could talk, but something with in him stopped him from saying anything.  What if he said the wrong thing?

After ten minutes of cat puns being thrown around, Emile took them up to their knew room.  The only one that was free was the attic, so they were both sharing a room.  It didn't really mattered since they've always shared a room.

There were two beds already up here and a table in between them.  Behind the table was a bay window with a triangle pattern.  A closet was on one side, and a dresser was on the other.

Virgil took the left and Patton took the right of the attic.  He got the dresser and Patton got the closet.

The emo began place large band shirts, purple tights, purple socks, and ripped jeans in the dresser.  He set a stack of books in one corner and his artist set in the other.  Then he began to place band posters up on the wall.

“I forgot my tape at home,” Patton said.  “Can I borrow yours when you finish?  I won’t tell anyone, my lips are sealed.”

“Yeah,” Virgil snorted as he put up another Evanesce poster.

“Woah!”

There was the sound of slipping, but a crash never came.  Virgil had turned, hands coming out, stopping his brother from falling even though they were five feet apart.  Hair had moved away from his covered eye revealing a purple glowing eye.  His brother was about three inches from falling face first onto the floor.

“Thanks Virgil,” Patton said sheepishly.  “I- “

His face connected with the floor before he could do anything.

“Sorry,” Virgil got off his new bed and went to his brother.  “I thought I could hold it for longer.”

Patton got on his elbows and blinked a few times, “It’s fine.  Would have hurt a lot more if you didn't stop me.”

Virgil didn’t know how he got them.  They’ve always been there.  He’s always possessed these powers.  Telepathy, telekinesis, and time stopping.  Though he barely used them because he didn’t know how to use them.  Every time he used them it was a spur of the moment.  They sort of just happened.

Telepathy was the only power he could use constantly.  That was the problem though, because he couldn’t stop using it.  That’s why he used his bangs to cover his eye.

His purple eye possessed the powers.  His brown eye was normal.

Virgil slipped his hands under his brother pulling him up from the ground.

“I need to try and keep that on the down low,” Virgil mumbled.  “They’ll just tell mom and dad, and that will just make everything worse.”

“Or they will help you.  The museum is filled with supernatural things,” Patton countered.

“It’s all fake,” Virgil replied.

He wasn’t going to risk it.  He was never going to risk it.  The only one that knew about his powers was Patton.

They never really were able to hide anything from each other.

_________

It was the next day.  Virgil was sitting on a counter at the gift shop, reading a hard-cover book.  Patton was staring from behind the counter at a boy that was in there with them.

He looked to be about the twin's age, maybe a little older.  He seemed to be prepared for the winter weather outside with his brown trench coat.  It was opened revealing a blue sweater vest and black polo.  He wore jeans that were pretty faded and a pair of snow boots.  His black hair was slicked back with hair gel.  The boy's blue eyes were framed in a pair of black glasses.

“Thomas,” Patton whispered.  “Who is that?”

The teen looked up from the register, “Oh, that's Logan Crofters.  He lives in the woods with his parents.  He comes in every day for his daily human interaction.”

Virgil didn’t even look up from his book, “Pop Star, you’re in boarder-line stalker mode.”

The boy walked up to them, “Salutations, Thomas,” his head cocked to the side at Virgil.  “I have not seen you before.  I am Logan Crofters.”

When Patton didn’t make a response, Virgil mumbled out, “Virgil.  My brother and me are new here.”

The boy squinted his eyes like that would help him hear Virgil better.

Thomas saved him, “They’re Emile’s nephews.  And technically, mine too, I research it last night.  They're spending their winter break here.”

Logan nodded, “Where is the other one?”

“Being gay behind the counter,” Virgil whispered, so that only Patton could heat him.

There was a gasp and Patton shot up hitting his brother in the back of the head.  He was quick to turn around to the boy.

“Hi, I’m Patton,” the bubbly twin smiled as the emo one rubbed the back of his head.

He looked at Patton with a cocked head.  He then looked away immediately when he saw the book in Virgil’s hands.  Interest shown in Logan's eyes.  In the corner of his eye, Virgil saw his brother deflate.

“What novel are you reading?” he asked.

“A Tale of Two Cities,” he mumbled, hoping to someone that the boy will focus on anything else other than him.

Logan nodded, “A great read.  I read it last summer.”

Patton seemed to like Logan.  Probably, forming a small crush on the boy.  Virgil tried to find a way out of the conversation.

His prayers were answered when Emile walked through the gift shop door, “I need someone to hang up these signs in the forest.”

“I’ll do it!” Virgil replied, jumping up and grabbing the stuff from his uncle.  His book, now forgotten, sat on the counter.

He pulled his gloves out of his pocket pulling them on.  He zipped his jacket up, tightening it around him and pulled his hood up.  After that, he went out into the cold.

It was no longer snowing outside, but there was a pretty deep layer of snow on the ground.  It didn’t go above his boots.  This is why he wore tights and socks.  Though back in Florida he was sweat all day long for his fashion choices.  He trudged through and made it to the first tree, nailing the sign to it.  Each footstep crunched into the snow.  When he had gotten to the next tree, he nailed in another sign.

He had gotten about halfway down with the signs, when he muttered, “Why is it so cold?”

It was never this cold in Florida.

He sighed as he began to tap in another nail, but a hollow metal noise echoed through the woods.  Virgil looked at the tree and tapped it again with the hammer.  It gave another hollow echo.  Virgil dropped the signs and tighten his grip on the hammer in his hands.  If something popped out, he’d just throw it whatever was attacking him.  The fake tree was cold as he dragged a gloved hand along the surface.  Dust rubbed onto his glove.  He found an unnatural line and pulled at it.

It squeaked as it fought to stay closed, but Virgil managed to open the door.  Cobwebs stretched and spiders crawled out.  A good thing Patton wasn’t here right now.  Inside was some sort of machine.  He tightened his grip on the hammer as he flipped the two little switches.  The first on did nothing, but when he hit the second on, he heard another noise from behind him.  He tightened his grip on the hammer and turned.

There was a hole.

He walked over; it was now filled with snow.  He pushed his hand into the snow, searching and hoping there wasn’t a murder ready to pull him in.  His hand brushed against something and it moved.  Virgil was quick to dig it out.

A book was in his hand.  Virgil brushed away the snow revealing to reveal the cover.  It was a maroon color with a golden figure on the front.  If he had to guess, Virgil would say that it was a coffee mug.  In the center that was a 3.  He opened it up to the first page.  It had a note stuck to it and it read Property of, but the name had been ripped off.  Virgil felt a little frustrated at that.  Who would try to hide their book?  Could it hold secret that were too great to know?  Was it written by an alien?  Could it be a bomb?

He moved an eyeglass before reading, “It’s hard to believe it’s been six years since I began studying the strange and wondrous secrets of Gravity Falls.”

Virgil smiled at this.  As he flipped through the pages, he felt his heartbeat pick up.  Pictures of gnomes, gargoyles, creatures of the night, sightings, and evidence was drawn and written into the pages.  Each was excellently recorded.  Beautiful drawings were on each page.  All of them done in ink.

He flipped to another page before being to read again, “Unfortunately, my suspicions have been confirmed.  I’m being watched!”

Virgil found himself looking around the forest.  His anxiety might be getting the best of him right now.

“I must hide this book before he finds it,” Virgil felt himself begin to sweat even though it was extremely cold.  “Remember: In Gravity Falls, there is no one you can trust.”

To his right a twig snapped.  He shut the book and held it to his chest, beginning to back up.  A small growl came from within the woods and he took off back to the museum.

The book was pulled to his chest.  He tightened his grip on it as he ran through the woods.  Once he was in the yard he stopped and began to puff.  White breath filled the air.  He turned around, looking at the woods.  It looked like whatever it was didn’t follow him.

“Hello!” a voice yelled behind him.

Virgil jumped turning, just seeing Patton.

“Oh hi,” he breathed out.

Patton squinted his eyes, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he replied.

Suddenly his twin’s eyes were on the book, “What’s that?”

“Um…” Virgil looked around.  “Let’s take this inside.”

Virgil made sure that no one was in the living room except Patton and him.  He sat down on the coffee table skimming through the book.

“It says that all of these creatures live here in Gravity Falls,” Virgil said, excitement filled his voice as he showed Patton the journal’s pages.  “Whatever Emile said about the rumors being fake, he was wrong.”

Virgil has always loved the unknown since a young age.  He found that he could relate to it.  Having these unnatural abilities that he’s had to keep hidden for his whole life.  Virgil felt that he wasn’t that weird.

“It looks like whoever it was just stopped,” Virgil looked through.  “Like something happened to him.”

Patton grinned, “That’s awesome!  I mean the supernatural thing, not the author going missing.”

He heard the doorbell ring and he tilted his head to the side, “Who’s that?”

Patton smiled, “That’s my date.”

Virgil blinked, “You asked out that Logan dude.”

“No,” Patton frowned for a second, before smiling again, “This other guy came in later after Logan left.  We talked and he asked me out.”

With that Patton left to get the door, leaving Virgil to read the book.

“What’s that?” Emile appeared in the door, drinking a soda.

He didn’t want to show him yet.  What if he took it?

Quickly, he placed the book behind a pillow and grabbed a stack of papers that were stapled together.

“Um…the entire script to Steven Universe,” Virgil mumbled, trying to keep his face from flushing too much.

“Oh, that’s where I put it,” his uncle smiled to himself as he took a sip of his soda.

“Family, this is Norman!” Patton appeared with a teenager.

Virgil didn’t like him one bit from the sight of him.  First, he looked like a plainer version of Virgil, with the brown hair over eye, pale skin, and black hoodie.  He had a twig stuck in his hood and there were many dirty stains covering him.  Though what really set Virgil off was the mysterious red stain on his cheek.

"Sup," the teen waved at them.

Virgil squinted, his anxiety melted into suspicion, “Hi.”

Emile gave a smile, “Hey.”

“Is that blood, Norman?” Virgil pointed to his cheek.

“It’s…JAM!” his voice was gravelly and forced.

Virgil didn’t trust this guy for a second.  Patton could be too trusting sometimes.  It was Virgil’s job to make sure that he didn’t end up with someone that could hurt him.  He wanted to get a reading on the guy, but he’d have to uncover his hair for that.  Patton would tell and get upset.  He’d have to wait.

“I love jam!” he grabbed the man’s arm, squeezing it.  “Got some muscle there…that’s nice.”

Emile smiled at them, “They’re such a cute fusion.”

Virgil glared at the teen as he left.  There was something off about him, something that Virgil didn’t like at all.  He needed to find out.

So, he went to the attic and read through the pages.

He stared at one page.

“None for their pale skin and bad attitude, these creatures are often mistaken for teenager!” his eyes widened.  “Beware Gravity Falls' nefarious…zombie!”

He turned to see his brother and Norman.  He grabbed one of the headbands on the table and pushed back his bangs.  He opened the window to get a clearer reading.

He focused on the man.

Mine all mine.

Pretty.  Pretty.

Want to hold.

Never let go.

AAAHHH!

He fell to the ground with a large thump.

That voice in your head is always at the same volume.  It was that all those voices were going off at once that scarred him.  Why were there so many?  Did zombie’s have multiple voices in their head?

He ripped the band off his hair and got back up.

“What happened?” Thomas asked as he ran in.  “I heard something fall.”

“It was my shirt,” Virgil replied in a whisper, he doubted he even knew what he was talking about

Thomas only smiled at that, “Sound heavier than a shirt.”

“I was in it,” he replied, a slight grin formed on his face.

Should he ask Thomas for help?  He seemed like a cool guy and he seemed to believe in the paranormal.  It probably wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“Can I get your opinion on something?” he mumbled.

Thomas nodded, moving to the bay window and sat next to him.

“Would it be crazy if I thought Patton's new boyfriend was a zombie?” he mumbled.

Now it was out in the open.  Thomas probably thought he was crazy now.

Thomas shook his head, “Honestly, that would not be the craziest thing I’ve seen in this town.  Like I’m pretty sure that the mailman is a werewolf.  But you need evidence, or else everyone will just think you’re crazy.  And if you really think that guy your brother is dating is a zombie, do what you can to protect him.”

“Thanks Thomas,” Virgil nodded.

The older boy ruffed his hair before leaving the attic.

Virgil looked around before grabbing his phone and the journal.  He placed the book in an inner pocket of his hoodie and his phone in his front pocket.  He looked around for anything that he could use as a weapon, only to come out short-handed.  In the end, Virgil hoped that he could use his powers if needed.

He spent the day following his brother and his new boyfriend.  The man showed many signs of being the undead.  For example, instead of using a doorknob he punched the window out and opened the door from the other side.  He also, got hit by a swing showing no sign of physical pain and had a very late delayed response to the pain.  And he fell into a grave and crawled out of the dirty.

That was all it took to set Virgil over the edge.

So, Virgil sat waiting for Patton in their room.

When the boy finally returned Virgil was hugging the journal to his chest, “Patton."

His brother removed his heart shirt and white undershirt grabbing a dark blue undershirt and putting the heart shirt back on.  He turned towards Virgil and the younger twin screamed when he saw the giant red welt on his cheek.

“Did you see the smooch mark Norman gave me?” he grabbed his cat hoodie and tied it around his shoulders.  “Nay, it was just an accident with the leaf blower.”

“I need to talk about Norman,” Virgil looked up.

“Isn’t he the best?” Patton began brushing his hair.

“I don’t think he’s what he thinks he is,” Virgil replied.  “I saw that he was acting weird and videoed him doing some creepy stuff.”

Patton turned, “You were stalking him?”

“No, I think he’s a zombie," Virgil showed his brother the page.  “The groaning, the pale skin, he never blinks!”

“Son, you match all of those things too, and maybe he's blinking when you're blinking,” Patton replied.  “Now I have a date.”

Virgil shook his head, “Patton, I read his thoughts.  They’re all jumbled and multiple thoughts that no human can have.  I don’t trust him.”

Patton frowned, “I thought you were keeping you’re powers on the down low.  Can you trust me at least?”

“You know I trust you,” Virgil replied.  “I’m trying to protect you.  Norman is bad news.”

“I don’t need your protection, Virgil!  Stop getting in the middle of everything!  Now I’m going on my date with Norman and that the end of the story!” with that Patton left.

Patton never yelled at him.  What did Virgil do wrong?  He must have done something to make his only brother yell at him.  Tears formed in his eyes.

Virgil placed a hand on his face and felt tears pouring down his face, ruining the eyeshadow he was wearing.  With that he walked over to the bed and curled up.  The journal was pushed into his chest.

He curled up in on himself when he felt a breeze fill the room.

“I’m just being stupid,” he mumbled.

He looked as his phone at the videos.

“I have no real proof.”

Suddenly, he blinked rewinding the video.  It was Norman and Patton looking off at a pretty view. His hand was wrapped around Patton’s shoulders.  Suddenly, Norman’s hand fell off and he tried to cover it up.  He looked around before placing his hand back where it belonged.

“Patton!” Virgil screamed, throwing his phone onto the bed and running.

His brother was already gone.  He went running outside.  He didn’t know where Emile was.  More tears fell down his face.  He placed the journal in his jacket pocket.

He used the sleeves to wipe away his tears, though that probably made his eye shadow worse.

Find Patton.

His brother was in danger and he couldn’t just stand he and cry.

He found Thomas at the golf cart.  The teen was stepping out, holding the keys in his hand.

“Thomas, I need the golf cart keys to save my brother from a zombie,” Virgil stated.

The man smiled before throwing him the keys, “Don’t hit any pedestrians.  Wait!”

Before he could leave the man grabbed a shovel and gave it to him, “This is for the zombie.”

“Thanks,” Virgil reverse and went into the woods in search of his brother.

_________

Patton smiled as he and Norman walked through the woods.  He was his first boyfriend.  Norman was kind and sweet.  He didn’t even care that Patton was only twelve years old.

“Patton,” the man sighed.  “I need to tell you something.”

Patton placed a hand on the man’s shoulder, “You can tell me anything.”

He tried to forget about earlier.  His little twin was trying to protect him.  He didn’t need protecting though.  But Virgil’s always been there for him.  Virgil was scared of people, but if he saw his brother getting hurt, he’d get up and stand up for him.

His mind went to earlier, though. The fact that Logan didn’t show any interest in him and rather talked to his brother.  It was stupid because he didn’t even know the guy.  He got a date with another cute guy that walked into the museum.  Then when Virgil had mentioned his suspicions, Patton lost it.  In his mind, he saw his brother keeping him away from two guys that he liked.  Then he went and took his anger out on his little brother.  He needed to apologies.  Patton made a vow to himself that he would next time he saw Virgil he's apologize.

“Just don’t freak out,” slowly Norman unzipped his jacket.

There were five tiny men.  The one on top looked to be the youngest as he pushed his hair back behind him.  Patton stared at the little men.

“Is this weird?” the top one asked.  “Okay, I’m Jeff, this is Carson, Steve, Jason, and … sorry I forgot your name.”

“Shebulock!” the last one yelled.

“Shebulock,” he smiled.  “Anyway, we’ve been looking for a queen for a while…most of the girls here are…well, self-absorbed.  Then you come in, you’re sweet, kind, and big enough to scare off predators.  So?”

The gnomes knelt down on one knee and pulled out a ring, “Patton, will you join us in holy matrignomey…matrimony…can’t talk today.”

Patton shook his head, “I’m sorry, Jeff, but I can’t.  I’m a human and you are gnomes and it’ll be like what.”

Jeff nodded, “We understand.  We’ll never going to forget you.  Because we’re going to kidnap you.”

“What!” suddenly Jeff launched himself at Patton’s face.

They surrounded him trying to get their hands on the boy.  Patton continued to fight them off.  Kicking at the swarm.

He screamed.

Why didn’t he listen to Virgil?

Virgil…his little brother was probably crying in his room.  He needed to get to him.  Find him and make sure he was okay.  Virgil would take something think that to heart.

He was so lost in his thoughts, that he needed notice what the gnomes were planning.

Suddenly, the gnomes managed to knock him down and they began to tie him to the ground.

“What the fuck is going on here?!”

A shovel was pointed at Jeff as a very pissed off Virgil appeared behind him.  His one visible eye glared at them.

“Hey, your brother isn’t in any danger,” Jeff smiled.  “He’s just going to marry all 1000 of us and live with us for all eternity.”

“Nope, not going to happen,” Virgil glared.

Patton knew that look.  It was look that Virgil got whenever kids bullied Patton for not being smart.  It never ended well for the receiving end.

“You think you can stop us boy,” Jeff glared.  “The gnomes are a powerful- “

Virgil wacked the gnome away before cutting his brother free with the shovel.

Patton pushed his way away from them and ran to his brother.  He grabbed his extended hand and went to the golf cart.  After the two were strapped in Virgil booked it.

“Are they following us?” Virgil asked.

“With their little legs?” Patton raised an eyebrow.

Suddenly, stomping was heard so Patton turned to see them all joined together into what looked like a giant gnome.  Jeff was at the top of it, controlling the whole creature.

“Um…what do we do if they become Voltron?” Patton asked.

“What?” Virgil turned behind him.  “FUCK!  Patton grab the Journal and see if there is any way to stop them!”

He grabbed the journal from his brothers jacket and flipped through it until he got to the page, “Weakness: Unknown.  Come on!”

Knowing the book wouldn't be any help he put it back in his brother's pocket.

“Come back with our Queen!” Jeff yelled.

Suddenly, he launched a group of gnomes at them.  They grabbed at the golf cart, not letting go.

Patton elbowed one off the cart while Virgil grabbed another and slammed them against the stirring wheel.

Another one grabbed onto Virgil’s hair ripping at it to get him to stop.

“OW!” his purple eye was revealed as he tried to shake it off.

“I got it!” Patton grabbed the gnome and started ripping him off Virgil, though it was putting up a fight.

“OWWW!” he screamed.

The little thing wasn’t letting go.

Virgil’s eye glowed and the gnomes froze in place

Patton was quick to rip off the frozen gnome of off Virgil’s hair and throwing it off the golf cart.

“You froze it,” Patton said.

“Shit,” Virgil mumbled.

“How long do we have?” Patton asked.

A roar was heard behind them.

Patton turned in his seat eyes widened as he saw the gnomes behind him threw a tree at them.  Luckily, it went over them.  Unluckily, it landed in the middle of the road.

The twins screamed.  Virgil slammed on the breaks, but Patton knew that they weren’t going to stop in time.  By some chance, they manage to go under the tree instead of crashing into it.

They spun out of control and the cart landed on it's side.  The two pulled themselves from the ground.  The snow seeped into their clothing.  That was going to leave a bruise or two.  They had landed back at the Mystery Museum.  Neither could feel relieved as the monster walked up to them.

As the two back up, Virgil grabbed the shovel.  Soon they were pressed up against the side of the building.

“Just stay away from us!” Virgil yelled, throwing the shovel at them.  They only punched it into the ground.

Patton looked around.  There had to be something he could do.

His eyes landed on Virgil.

Virgil was too pale.  His hair had been forced away from his face, revealing his purple eye.  His eyes were right on the monster in front of them.  It took Patton a second to realize why.  All of the gnomes’ thoughts were going through his head right now.  Too many thoughts to comprehend.  His forehead was covered in little scratches, some had blood while others were just little red marks.

But what really got Patton, was his eyeshadow.  It streaked his face like he had been crying.  He had been crying.  Most definitely at the argument they had earlier.

How could he do that to his brother over a couple of guys?

Patton forced himself in front of his brother.  Pushing them both into the wall.  Virgil’s arms had circled around his arm.

He needed to act.

“I’ll marry you, Jeff,” Patton stated.  “Just leave my brother alone.”

“Patton, no,” Virgil was hugging his arm tighter.  “Please don’t.”

The older twin faced him, “Please, just trust me, Virgil.”

I know what I’m doing.

Virgil nodded slowly and let go of his brother’s arm.  Patton was quick to place his hair back over the purple eye.

Patton walked up to the monster as Jeff made his way down.  Once he had gotten there, Patton knelt down so that he was closer to the gnome’s height, but he still towered over the little man.  He held out a ring before slipping the ring onto Patton’s presented finger.  While Patton was looking at the ring, Jeff turned around.

“Let’s get you back to the woods, honey,” he said.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Patton stated, as his hand gripped onto the leaf blower behind him.  “You get to kiss me now.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” the gnome said.

As Patton leaned down, he pulled the tool closer to him.

Once Jeff was close enough, Patton pulled the leaf blower in front of him.

“This is for lying to me,” he yelled as he sucked the tiny man up. “This is for breaking my heart,” he tightened the nob as hard as he could.  “And this is for hurting my brother.”

He aimed the leaf blower at the monster.  It gasped and began to back up a bit, but without a person controlling it, it couldn’t do anything.

“What to do the honors?” Patton asked turning to his brother.

“On three,” Virgil smiled.

"One, two, three!”

Virgil hit the release and the gnome went flying into the monster.  Just like that all the gnomes began to fall to the ground like it was raining gnomes.

“I’ll get you for this!” Jeff yelled as he was launched into the woods.

“Orders I need orders.”

“My arms hurt.”

Patton began using the leaf blower to scare them away.

“Does anyone else want some of this?” the two yelled out at the now retreating army.

Once they all disappeared, Patton turned towards his brother.  Before either could say anything, Patton pulled Virgil into a tight hug.  Slowly, Virgil awkwardly placed his arms around him too.

“I’m sorry!” Patton cried into his shoulder.  “I should have believed you.  I can’t believe Norman turned into a bunch of gnomes.”

“Wait that was Norman?” Virgil asked.  “I guess I was wrong about the zombie thing.”

Patton nodded, “I didn’t mean what I said.  You were just trying to look out for me.  And I got anger over the fact that Logan showed more interest in you, then when you started the whole zombie thing, I lost it.”

Virgil tightened his hold, “Hey, you saved us back there.  And I’m sorry too.  I was just being stupid and should have talked to you instead.  And if Logan can’t see the…pawsome person that you are he’s not worth it.”

“YOU MADE A CAT PUN!” his brother squealed.

They pulled away smiling at each other.  Patton knew they both looked like a mess.  He could feel the dampness in his clothing and there were probably twigs stuck in his hair.  He saw them in Virgil’s hair anyway.

They walked inside, seeing Emile counting today’s earnings.  He looked at them as Virgil used his foot to close the door behind them.  Patton felt Virgil’s hand tighten on his arm.

“Did you two get hit by a bus?” he asked as he put the money in the register.

Patton began leading Virgil back to there room where they could change out of their wet clothing.  Virgil brought a sleeve to his face and began to wipe at his messed-up eyeshadow.

“Wait!” Emile looked at his register for a second before looking back at the two.  “I um…overstocked.  Each of you take something on the house.”

“Really?” Virgil asked.

The man nodded, so the kids looked around.

Virgil looked at a purple shirt with a storm cloud in the middle.  He took a large since he liked his clothing being on the big size.

Patton continued to rummage through boxes until he found the greatest thing ever.

“And I will have,” Patton twirled around smiling.  “A grappling hook!”

“Wouldn’t you rather have a toy or something?” Emile tilted his head.

“GRAPPLING HOOK!” he used it raising himself off the ground on one of the ceiling beams.

______________

In their room, Virgil and Patton had gotten ready for bed.  Virgil had pulled on a large black Evanesces shirt and a pair of purple boxers for his pajamas.  He was currently curled up in his blankets writing in the journal.

Patton was next to him jumping in his bed, wearing a cat onesie.  In his hand was his new grappling hook.

“This journal told me there was no one in Gravity Falls that you could trust.  But when you battle a hundred gnomes side-by-side with someone, you realize that they probably always have you’re back.”

Next to him Patton used his hook to grab a stuffed lion.  The boy grinned to at his brother when he succeeds.

“Hey, Pop Star,” Virgil placed the book under his pillow.  “Can you get the light?”

Patton took aim with his grappling hook, grinning, “I’m on it.”

He released the hook and it hit the lamp, breaking it along with the window behind them.

The two of them began laughing at it.

“Our uncle told us there was nothing strange about this town.  But look at me, and what I can do?  Who knows what other secrets are waiting to be unlocked?” 

_______

Emile looked around him.  Thomas had left hours ago, and the kids were asleep.  They were all the way upstairs too, so they wouldn’t be able to hear him.  He walked over to the vending machine and typed in the code to get in.

Before he closed it, he made sure that no one was watching.

He then closed the machine’s door.

[willowwzz]

𝕺𝖚𝖗 𝕾𝖜𝖊𝖊𝖙 𝕻𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖎𝖚𝖒 ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 2

                                             𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝟤

"You didn’t eat much did you?" James questioned as he walked thru the door. Closing the book, you walked past him and headed over to the fridge, grabbing an apple out. Taking a big bite, you held the apple in front of him. "I’m eating now arnt I?" you snapped, walking over to the back door and taking a seat on the old wooden bench that you had found at a junk shop and couldn’t resist buying. "Just worried about you that’s all" James replied, his back towards you. Quickly you shoved your feet into your boots and headed off down to the stables. The last thing you felt like doing was getting into yet another fight with James. Throwing your apple over the fence to one of the horses you quickened your pace as you realised it was getting a lot colder, and darker. Switching the stable lights on and grabbing a jacket, you threw it on as you walked into the feed room. One by one you fed all the horses that were in work, 12 in total, and loaded up the trailer with hay for the rest. You loved this time of the day, even though it took nearly an hour and a half just to fed everyone, but the enjoyment you got from sitting on the deck after a long day with a glass of wine watching the horses munch away happily, nice and warm, made it all worthwhile. "There girl" you whispered to Munchie, as you did the straps on her neck rug up, giving her a pat before placing her feed and hay down in front of her. Munch was the first horse you ever owned and she meant the world to you. So much so that you sold everything you owned and paid a small fortune to bring her over with you from New Zealand. Reaching old age now, Munchie was definitely the most spoilt horse on the property. Climbing the fence you were just about to hop back on the bike and head back up to the stables when you thought you saw a faint light coming from down in the gully. Walking slowly down the path you realised that the light was coming from the first cabin. The curtains were pulled and soft smoke was flowing freely from the chimney. Thinking nothing more of it, you jumped on the bike and within minutes were back at the stables. After locking up you made your way back to the house laughing as you were greeted by an excited Goldie, jumping and bounding like she was 2yrs old instead of 12! Her excitement meant one thing...you had a visitor.

"Bloody hell!" you screamed as you were scared half to death by Sam jumping out from behind the back door. "Surprise! Mwah haha I rang from in town, you weren’t expecting me this early were you!" she laughed, grabbing you in a bear hug. Wrapping your arms around her waist, you rested your head on her shoulder and squeezed your eyes shut. "I stopped at the grocery store and got all your favourite things, oh and some of mine too. Didn’t know how much wine you had so I brought a carton!" Sam laughed as she still hugged you. “And I also got some...." Sam was saying when she stopped suddenly, dropping her arms and turning you to face her. "Hey what’s wrong?” You couldn’t even bring yourself to look her in the eye. "Long story" you managed to whisper, fighting back the tears. "Oh no here's trouble" James laughed, walking into the kitchen after shaking his boots off at the door. Sam gave you one last glance before turning to James. "Don’t you know it buddy!" she laughed, heading over to James and giving him a hug. "So how long are you staying? Hope you’re not going to be too much of a bad influence on my girl" he smiled walking over to the fridge and giving you a kiss on the forehead as he passed. "Unfortunately only a few days, then I have to head home, but...." she said as she rummaged thru her bag, finally pulling out a bottle of wine, "...I do have a few weeks off in a month or so, and will definitely be out then". You walked over to the cabinet and pulled out 2 wine glasses. "Plus...” Sam continued, "I might even let this one...” she pointed to you, "...talk me into riding one of those smelly brown things out in the paddock!" she laughed, pulling out a seat at the breakfast bar. "I’m going to hold you to that!" you smiled, thinking of the first time you had talked Sam into going for a ride. You were laughing so hard you thought you were going to fall off the horse! "Well I'll let you girls catch up. I’m heading to bed, got an early start" James said, leaning in to give a kiss. You felt him tense as you turned away so instead he had to give you a kiss on the cheek. "Night" he smiled to Sam as he headed up the stairs. "Wow" Sam gasped, filling your wine glass up again. "What’s up with you guys?” You took a deep breath and followed her out onto the deck, grabbing a blanket as you passed. 3 hours and 4 bottles of wine later you were exhausted. You had, laughed, talked nonstop and were now rather drunk, listening intently to Sam as she filled you in on her latest boyfriend. "If only my life could be that easy" you sighed, pulling the blanket up around you. It was nearly 3am and the valley was so still you could hear the odd bird call and the soft sound of horses munching away in the closest paddock. "It can be Hun, and it will be" Sam said, kissing you on top of the head as she stood up. "But for now...I’m off to bed". "Hey Sam?" you called out, just as she was heading in the door. "Mmm?" she said, turning to face you. "Thank you for everything" you smiled. Sam blew you a kiss and turned, closing the door behind her. You sat for a moment, with your eyes closed. Your mind swirled, thoughts racing at a million miles an hour and you wished you hadn’t had so much to drink. You thought about Sam and you thought about James. It wasn’t fair to him that you carried on with this relationship and as Sam made you realise tonight, it wasn’t fair on you either. Standing, you slipped your boots on, nearly falling over in the process, and threw the blanket around your shoulders, holding it in front of you. Even though it was pitch black you knew this place better than anyone and made your way slowly down to the bottom paddock. Taking a short cut thru the bush, you stepped over logs and branches, trying your hardest not to fall into the creek that ran beside the path. You heard the familiar nicker of Munchie as you walked up to her, throwing your arms around her. She grazed quietly as you freely and openly sobbed into her neck until you couldn’t cry anymore...

You didn’t know how long you had been outside, but you knew you were cold. Laying for what seemed like forever in the soft damp grass, you watched Munchie in what light the moon reflected thru the trees, eating away happily, her life so simple and carefree. Rolling over onto your back you stared up at the sky, the stars visible thru a clearing in the trees. You knew it was going to be hard. Probably one of the hardest things you were ever going to have to do but it had to be done. 'I can’t go on like this' you thought. 'It’s killing me'. Your mind was made up; there was no way around it. You were going to leave James. 'Shit...I’m going to do it' you told yourself. "I’m actually going to do it" you made yourself say aloud. Guilt overwhelmed you as you thought how horrible you were being. That you were actually happy, almost proud that you were going to break someone’s heart. No matter what, you had made up your mind. If James loved you, he would understand, wouldn’t he? "Ahh...excuse me?" someone spoke. You jumped up suddenly, almost pushing the person over as you clambered to your feet. Spinning around you saw a dark figure with long brown hair peeking out from under a black woolen hat. Stepping backwards slowly you didn’t know wither to punch him, or run away screaming. "I'm sorry..." he spoke again.”I didn’t mean to scare you...but when I saw you walking into the forest awhile ago, I was worried that you were lost or hurt". He stepped closer to you as you held your breath, not sure what to say or do. From under his hat as he got closer, you could see the most intense, yet softest, green eyes you had ever seen. "Are you ok?" he asked again. Nodding, you picked up your blanket and started to make your way back up to the house, not saying a word. You couldnt say a word. A combination of drinking, being freezing and just getting the fright of your life, you could only just manage to breathe let alone talk and you didnt even care that a random stranger was walking on your property, you just had to leave. You turned just as you were leaving the forest to see the man walking back down towards the cabin and disappearing into the darkness...  

'Oh god my head hurts' you groaned as you rolled over. Opening one eye you noticed that the curtains were open and dark grey clouds loomed overhead, threatening to downpour at any second. 'Shit...need to put rugs on'. Sitting up and brushing your hair out of your face you managed to drag yourself into the bathroom. Tying your hair up, you threw on yesterday's dirty clothes. 'No point putting on clean clothes if you are just going to get drenched' you thought. Slowly you made your way downstairs, the smell of the cooked breakfast made your stomach churn. It was nearly half ten so you knew James would be at work. Walking over to get a glass of water you noticed a note from Sam saying... 'Gone into town, not sure how long I’ll be but have my cell if you want anything. Love u x x'. You grabbed a glass of orange juice, carrying it out onto the deck. You had only just reached down to pull your boots on when you felt the first faint drips of rain blowing onto your face. By the time you got to the stables the rain was pouring down. Watching from the stable doors you waited a moment to see if the rain would pass. 'Damn it' you muttered as you made a run to the bike shed throwing your jacket on as you went. About half an hour had passed by the time you had loaded rugs and the feed's you had made onto the trailer and were on your way around the paddocks putting rugs on certain horses and feeding the others. Finally you arrived at your beloved horses paddock and were greeted, as usual, by her nicker, excited at the sight of her breakfast. The sky was getting darker making it seem more like nearly dusk instead of 10am. Quickly jumping the fence you placed her feed bin in front of her which made her stand still while you threw her rug on. The wind had started to pick up as you reached back to do the back straps up. As you walked around behind her to do the other side, the cottage down in the gully came into view. You noticed smoke still coming from the chimney and just as you were doing the front straps up you saw the front door of the cottage open. Sheltering behind Munchie to block the wind, you could see thru the blowing trees as someone walked out onto the small deck and stretch their arms above their head. Slowly last night’s events crept back as you remembered what had happened. You thought that you had imagined it or maybe even dreamed it. Jumping the fence and climbing back onto the bike you made your way back to the stables glad that this morning’s chores were over and you could finally have a coffee. Pulling the stable doors closed and switching off the lights you were on your way back up to the house, glad that the wind was finally starting to ease, as a truck pulled into the drive. With everything that was going on with James, and with Sam arriving you had completely forgotten that you had a client’s young horse arriving. 'Great...just great' you thought as you motioned for the truck to back into your round pen. The client who owned the horse, Susan, as you often thought of her, a bitch. One of those people that had more money than sense. Yes she had top quality horses that were on the competition scene and earning top money, but horses to her were like a machine instead of an animal, with real emotions and feelings. You had worked many of her horses that were on their last chance or had problems, so she had always sent them to you. As much as you didn’t like dealing with her, you couldn’t stand it if any of her horses went elsewhere and plus she paid well. Pulling the truck door down, you were nearly knocked off your feet as a black blur flew past you, smashing straight into the side of the round pen. "Whoa...easy" you soothed as the horse tried to run back past you and out the door. The truck driver quickly shut the round pen door behind you and climbed up on the viewing step that went around the outside of the pen. "Got a good one on ya hands this time!" the driver laughed. "You should have seen us trying to get the bloody thing on the truck! Talk about dangerous. Might just be the one you can’t beat!" he smirked before jumping back in his truck and leaving. You had abit of a reputation on the horse scene for trouble horses and when you had moved into the area, you weren’t entirely welcome. A lot of the older horse breakers where not impressed that someone was moving in on their territory and taking their business, let alone a woman. Watching as the horse ran in panic around you, you could tell by the look in his eye that this was indeed going to be a hard one. Looking at your watch, your stomach started rumbling as you saw that it had just turned 12. Slowly you edged your way to the door, squeezing out as soon as the horse went past. You could hear the horse instantly slow down when he realised any possible threat had gone. 'Poor thing' you thought to yourself as you made your way back up to the house to be greeted by Sam on the deck, two coffees in her hands.

"Ha! You look how I feel!" Sam laughed, handing you your coffee. "I haven’t drunk that much since, well last weekend!” "You’re such a bad influence" you smiled, sitting down on the deck beside's her and dangling your legs over the edge. Listening to Sam talk about everything from when she was in college to what she had to do when she got home, she were startled by banging coming from your round pen. "What the hell is that?" Sam asked. "Yet another of Susan's stuff up's" you murmed, making a mental note to call her. "Oh dear, just don’t get hurt please" Sam said, concern in her voice. "Mmm don’t plan on it" you replied. You were just about to head in doors to ring Susan when you heard James truck pull into the drive. Taking a deep breath you grabbed the phone and headed into the office. Flicking thru your address book, you found Susan's number as James walked into the office. Dialling quickly you prayed that Susan would answer so you wouldn’t have to talk to James. Instead you got her answer phone. After leaving a brief message, you quickly headed back towards the kitchen, hoping not to run into him. You knew you had to talk to him, but at that moment, you couldn’t face him let alone tell him what you had decided, what you had to do... "Hey Morg, making a sandwich, you want anything?" James yelled from across the room. "Ah no thanks, going outside for a few hours" you replied, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge as you walked past. You had just reached the back door when James spoke. "Hey.." he said. "Mmm?" you asked, turning back to face him. "I won’t be home till late but..ah.. I need to talk to you about something, but later though, ok?" he asked, not looking at you. "Sure, ok" you said, wondering what was up. James didn’t seem his normal, laid back self. Even though you knew things could never continue between you two, it didn’t mean that you didn’t care about him, or wished him any harm. Sam had gone upstairs to make a few phone calls and answer some emails and you heard James leave again just as you were heading out to the stables. You had grabbed a halter, lead rope, jacket and a book. You loved this part of dealing with horses, gaining his confidence and trust for the first time. You were heading out the door when the stables phone rang. "Hello" you answered breathlessly. "Hi, it's Susan, has the horse arrived?" she said, emotionless. "He has" you said, again thinking to yourself 'why did you deal with this woman'? "Look, I'll put this bluntly, I don’t like the horse, but it has potential. He hasn’t been handled much and what handling he has had is, well let’s just say, that you need to be careful around him. He has a month, if he isn’t up to scratch by then, then he has to go, and I mean go" she said. "Ok, I'll see what I can do" you replied. As you were about to ask her his name, she cut you off. "He doesn’t have a name, don’t care what you do with him, just fix it" she said before hanging up on you. 'Ok good to talk to you too, bye' you muttered sarcastically. Finally getting to the round pen, you looked thru the viewing hole in the side of it. The horse was standing at the far side, sweating and shaking. 'What has she done to you?' you thought opening the door and stepping in. Instantly the horse started to pace, facing away from you to avoid any eye contact. Walking out into the middle of the round pen, you laid your book, halter and lead rope down and put your jacket on. All the while the horse still kept walking, every now and then when you made a sudden move he would pick up the pace and start trotting. 'And so it begins' you thought as you sat down on the sand and opened your book. As much as you tried to concentrate on your book, you couldn’t. Your mind kept wondering back to James, Sam and the mysterious man staying in the cottage. All you could remember was his voice, so deep and soothing and his eyes. You had never seen eyes that colour. Your attention was brought back by the black horse snorting. Slowly he had calmed down but his breathing deepened as he edged closer and closer to you. Ignoring him, you turned your back to him, looking down at your book. Behind you, you could hear him edge a little bit at a time closer to you and every time he came around your side to face you, you again turned your back on him. This continued for over an hour until eventually the horse was less than a metre away from you. Just as he put his head down to sniff you; you held your hand out. At the sight of your hand the horse reared, before spinning and again running manic around the pen. 'Definitely been beaten' you sighed turning to your book again. Eventually he settled, but this time watched you from a distance, too fearful to approach you again. After looking at your watch and realising that you had been in there for over 4 hours, you slowly made your way out of the round pen. Filling his water bin and putting in a hay net and a feed, you peaked thru the viewing hole as the horse sniffed at his food, then walked back to the far end, dropping his head and trying to rest, visibly exhausted. 'That explains a little' you thought as you headed back to the stables. 'Obviously the horse has been bribed with food before, as hungry as he is, he doesn’t even have enough trust to eat'. Feeding the other horses and putting rugs back on, you checked the horse again on your way back up to the house. He had picked a little at the hay but hadn’t touched his hard feed. 'At least it was something' you thought as you walked in the front door to be greeted by a beaming Sam. "Guess what, guess what, guess what!" she squealed, taking your hands and spinning you around the kitchen. "Mmm I don’t know..." you laughed, "but it must be good!"... "Guess who is the new regional manager with a big, fat pay cheque to match?" she laughed, dancing around the room. "Oh I don’t know?" you smiled "Tell me?” "Ha Ha" Sam laughed, playfully punching your arm. "Yay...congrats!!" you replied, pulling her into a huge bear hug. You knew how hard she had fought for that job and to finally be put in that position must have felt amazing. "What a perfect excuse to open a bottle of wine" you said as you walked over to the fridge. "Oh come on!" Sam laughed, grabbing two glasses from the cupboard. "You know I only drink on special occasion's...oh and any day of the week that end's in Y!” You couldn’t help but laugh at Sam, happy that she was happy. "But..." Sam continued, a sad look spreading over her face. "Mean's I have to leave earlier....like tonight". "Never mind" you lied, trying not to let your disappointment spoil her good news. "You never know..." you continued as you walked out onto the deck with Sam following behind you, "...maybe it will be me secretly surprising you next time". "I hope that's a promise!" Sam laughed, sitting down beside you on the deck. For awhile you both sat in silence, sipping your wine, watching the horses and listening to the birds wildly going about their business as the sun started to set, taking any last morsels of food back to their young one's before dark overwhelmed them. "Isn’t life funny?" Sam asked, turning towards you as she pulled her legs up to her chest. "What? As in you spend the day with gorgeous men in suits and I spend the day covered in hair and shit?" you laughed, sculling the last of your wine before Sam topped your glass up. "Exactly!" she laughed, wrapping her arm around your shoulder. "But..." she smiled, giving you a peck on the cheek, "But...I wouldn’t have it any other way!" you replied, giving her one back. "Amen to that!!" she laughed as she raised her glass in the air.

An hour and 2 bottles of wine later, Sam was packed and ready to go. Standing on the deck, you felt guilty that you wanted Sam to stay, but also knew that no matter what, she would always be there for you and you would no doubt need her in the weeks to come. "Please please PLEASE promise me one thing?" Sam asked hugging you as her taxi pulled up. "Anything" you said, carrying her bags down the stairs. "Do what your heart tells you" she almost whispered, giving you one last hug. Fighting back the tears, you closed her door as she wound the window down. "Will call you tomorrow and also tell James I said bye" she yelled as the taxi went down the drive. Running up to the deck you just managed to see her wave as the taxi disappeared out of view. Instantly, as soon as you realised Sam had gone, the tears started...and you didn’t think they would stop.

Walking back into the kitchen you headed straight over to the fridge. You were glad you had run out of alcohol, choosing water instead. As you were about to head upstairs, you saw a note on the table.

"Hey babe....Dry those bloody eyes and harden up!! Love u, miss u all ready, will call u first thing :) Sam x x x".

God she made you smile! You headed up to your bathroom this time noticing a card sitting on your pillow. 'Sam!' you smiled again to yourself as you opened the card. Instantly your heart dropped when you realised it wasn’t Sam's writing, but James'.

"M, please don’t worry but I'm staying at George's tonight. Lately I've sensed that things have been abit off between us, and wanted to give you, and myself, some time out. I have my cell on me, and George's number is in the office so please call if you need anything...or me. J". Lying down on the bed, you held James' card to your chest and squeezed your eyes shut tight.  'So he does know what's going on' you thought to yourself as you rolled onto your side and pulled your pillow under your head. Knowing that gave you some sort of relief amongst the guilt. At least it wouldn’t just come out of the blue, like blurting out one day at the dinner table 'So hunny how was your day?...Oh good, mm mm yes me too oh by the way...I’m leaving you, can you pass the salt please?'. Ha if only it could be that easy! Tomorrow night, defiantly tomorrow night you decided. Walking back downstairs, you pottered around for an hour or so before lighting the fire. It wasn’t until you realised you had spent nearly 40 mins watching the flames that you forced yourself to get up. You were exhausted. Physical and emotionally. Back in your bedroom you ran a bath and poured way too much bath gel in, nearly causing bubbles to spill over the edge. Removing your clothes you slipped slowly into the hot water, feeling your skin tingle at the sudden heat. After what seemed like hours, and several refills of hot water, the tiredness had started to kick in as you slowly drifted in and out of sleep, when you were woken up by knocking. Not sure if you were just hearing things you ignored it as you rested your leg on the edge of the bath. There it was again, there was someone definitely knocking on the door. 'Damn it' you muttered, deciding to ignore it before reality kicked in. 'What if it was an emergency? What if the horses were out?’ 'Grr' you groaned as you pulled yourself out of the bath, wrapping a towel around you. Your wet hair, still clinging to your face and neck, covered your shoulders and was still full of bubbles. The person knocked again. "All right, all right, I’m coming" you yelled as you got to the front door and opened it. Gasping at what you saw, you felt like your legs were going to crumble as your heart leapt in your chest. Standing in front of you was possible the most beautiful person you had ever seen in your life. Wearing a navy beanie, his dark hair curled out from underneath, swirling it's way over his intense green eyes and down around his neck, sitting on his black hoody that was pulled up around him. "Um....hi" was all you were able to say. "I'm sorry..." the man apologised, "Didn't mean to interrupt...” he smiled nervously, motioning to your towel. You had been so mesmerized by this man that you had totally forgotten that you were standing there practically naked. Blushing, you instinctively wrapped your arms around you, holding the towel firmly. "Can I help you with anything?" you asked, suddenly shy. "Oh sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were ok?" the man replied, staring you straight in the eyes. 'What?' you thought to yourself as he spoke again. "I saw you the other night...was worried that you were lost or hurt" he continued as it all came flooding back. 'He was the man in the forest' you remembered. 'The man with the eyes'. "Mmm I'm fine!" you laughed. "I had a date with Mr Beam that night....Mr Jim Beam". The man laughed a deep, throaty, yet cheerful laugh. "Oh I've met him too!" he replied. "Many...many times!!". You both laughed, followed by an awkward silence. "Ah would you like to come in?" you asked. You don’t know why you had asked him, but secretly hoped he would say yes. "No no, I'll let you get back to your bath" he replied, motioning to your wet feet. Turning to walk down the stairs. "Might be able to sleep tonight now that I know your ok" he said quietly. "Thank you" you managed to whisper as he turned away. You stood in the doorway momentarily as you watched him disappear into the darkness. Closing the door you bolted upstairs to get changed. Quickly throwing on your pj's you were pulling back the duvet on your bed when you suddenly stopped. Staring at your reflection in the mirror opposite your bed, you were slightly shocked. You hadn’t realised it......but you were smiling.

That night was possibly the first night that you had slept peacefully in a long time and when you woke that morning, instead of groaning and rolling over to sleep some more, you were up and out of bed in a flash. You had no idea why you all of a sudden had an energy burst, but wanted to use it to your full advantage. After showering, you actually felt like eating for once and wolfed down a bowl of cereal before feeding Goldie and headed down to the stables. Within the hour you had feed out and taken rugs off, finishing at your beloved Munch. As you walked down to the far end of her paddock to get her feed bin that had blown under the tree's, you noticed the front door of the cottage down below open and you instantly thought of the man that was staying there. The man that had visited you last night. The man who's eyes you couldn’t forget. Smiling to yourself, you headed back up the hill, climbed on the motorbike and made your way back to the stables. After bringing in a few horses to work you let them settle in the yards with a fed and a hay net each before checking the horse of Susan's that had spent the night in the round pen. Looking thru the viewing hole you could see that he had eating his hay net but not touched his hard feed or water. You grabbed your gear, a halter, lead rope and book and slowly opened the round pen door. The horse stiffened his body as soon as you entered and watched your every move. Still not making eye contact you kept your back to him, slowly edging your way into the middle of the pen. As much as you enjoyed this part of dealing with horses, you also knew how dangerous it was. Many times you had been kicked, run down and knocked out by horses in the same situation as this one. But for some reason, this one was different. 'So far so good' you thought as the horse still stood still, not yet fearful enough to run from you. After ten mins or so, you heard the horse move as he edged closer and closer to you until you could feel his breath on the back of your head. "What a good boy" you murmed softly. The sound of your voice made the horse snort as he backed off a few steps. "Must think of a name for you aye boy?" you told him, still not turning to face him. "What about Black Beauty?" you laughed at your stupid remark. "I know...I know...not very original for a black horse is it?” After awhile of blabbering about nothing in particular, the horse had become more and more comfortable with your voice, and was even standing beside you, sniffing your hair, your folded legs and spreading his slobbery lips all over the pages of your book. "Oh thanks for that!' you laughed as you folded up the book, placing it under your jacket away from his prying lips. Slowly you stood up, standing right beside the horse’s head, the closest you had been to him yet. As you gently held out your hand, the horse took one quick sniff before backing up and again you turned your back on him. This time you walked a few steps away, and as expected, curiosity got the better of him until you could walk a whole lap of the round pen with the horse following behind. After filling his feed bin you walked with it in your hand before stopping and placing it at your feet and again turned your back on him. Within seconds the horse was happily munching away. Silently you left the round pen and peaked thru the viewing hole and watched as he stood contently, head in his feed bin. "I don’t know much, well anything, about horses, but he is a beautiful" someone said behind you. Startled, you jumped around. It was him. "He is" you whispered, turning back to face the horse so you wouldn’t have to look at him. You didn’t know what it was, but around him you felt odd, intense, as if time stood still. "Is he yours?" he asked, this time standing closer to you to look thru the hole as well. "No sadly, a clients horse" you replied, turning to pick your gear up. You started to head down towards the stables, and turned the corner into the yards as you looked over your shoulder back at him. He stood watching the horse for a moment before turning and walking back towards the cottage. 'What a dick!' you told yourself. 'Why the hell did you just freaking walk off? God imagine what he thinks of you now?' you thought as you started to tidy up, banging the buckets together in frustration. Grabbing the two horses from out of the yards, you were walking them back down to their paddocks when you noticed him patting Munchie over the fence. "Sorry for just heading off like that" you apologised as you were letting the horses go. "Not a problem" he replied, picking some grass for Munch. "I can see you are busy". "As always" you smiled as you jumped the fence. It had started to get warm so you decided to take her rug off. "Ville" he said suddenly, catching you off guard as he placed his hand out. "I’m sorry?" you asked him. He started laughing. 'That laugh' you thought, causing you to slightly smile. "Ville, my name's Ville" he said again. "Morgan" you replied, placing your hand in his. Your fingers tingled as your hand touched his. As if you were placing them in a hot bath again. "Pleased to meet you Morgan" he smiled. "I didn’t recognise you with your clothes on!” You couldn’t help but laugh, your cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "Ha very funny!" you smiled as you were climbing over the fence. Right at that moment, your foot got caught in the wire, causing you to trip. Suddenly you felt Ville's arms around you, saving you from completely falling. You stood up catching your breath. Looking up, your face was so close to Ville's that you could feel his soft breath on your face. "Ahh...thanks" you whispered as you felt his arms still around you. A small smile spread across his face. The curl in his lips was almost unbearable not to kiss. As you leant closer you could see the surprise in his eyes, yet also the urgency for you to kiss him. What the hell were you doing! You scolded yourself, but you just couldnt stop.Your heart beat quickened and you felt Ville's arms tighten around you as he pulled you closer towards him. Just as your lips were about to touch, you were both startled by the sound of a truck pulling into the drive. James' truck. "Damn it" you muttered as Ville's arm's left your side. "Umm better go" you said, stepping away from him. "Another time" he replied as he bowed, turned and left. You watched as he walked towards the cottage and once you felt like you could walk, you took a deep breath and made your way up to the house. 'Here goes nothing'...

Walking into the cold house, you switched the jug on and pulled two mugs out of the cupboard. "Not for me thanks, all ready got one" James said as he walked into the kitchen. You sat down as you waited for the jug to boil. There was an awkward silence as you watched James finish his coffee and rinse his mug in the sink. He turned to you, resting against the bench. For a moment he looked at the ground, shifting on his feet. It wasn’t until he looked you in the eyes that the tears started to flow. And once they started, you didn’t think they were ever going to stop. James walked over to the table and sat down opposite you. "I love you" he said reaching out to take your hands in his. "I love you too" you replied. And it was true, you did love James. "But..." he asked, taking a deep breath. "I'm not IN love with you" you whispered. James sighed, his hands tensed around yours for a brief second before he dropped them and sat back in his chair. "I'm sorry" you sobbed, wiping the tears from your face. You could hear James' breathing deepen and forced yourself to look up at him. Silently you cried as he held his face in his hands, his elbows resting on the table. You heard him sniff every now and then, eventually standing up. "I'm glad you finally decided to tell me the truth" he said, a slight hint of anger in his voice. "I don’t know why you couldn’t have trusted me enough to tell me earlier". "I thought I could have made it work, I really, really did" you replied. James walked over to the bench grabbed the tissue's and placed them in front of you. "Drink?" he asked. You nodded yes, watching him as he poured you a large coke. You’re favourite. That was James, knew all you quirk's and habit's, like's and dislike's, and even though you had just broken his heart he still made you his first priority. "So what happens now?" he asked, getting himself a beer out the fridge. You shrugged your shoulders. What did happen now? "No matter what...” James continued, "...this place is yours, I'm not taking your dream away from you". "Thank you" you murmed. You both sat in silence for a moment when James stood up. You watched as he headed upstairs. He returned a few minutes later with a couple of bags. "You don’t have to go...” you said quickly, standing up. James smiled as he placed his bags on the deck. "Yes I do" he replied, turning to face you. "I'll be back at some stage to get the rest of my things and sort stuff out". The tears started falling again as you squeezed your eyes tight trying to fight them back. You felt James step closer towards and wrap his arms around you. "I'm sorry...” you wept again into his shoulder. "I know...” James replied before letting you go. You watched as James threw his stuff into the back of his truck and climb in. He gave a simple wave before heading off down the drive. You don’t know how long you sat on the step that night, Goldie by your side. But once the tears finally stopped and your body couldn’t take the cold anymore, you dragged yourself to your bed, not bothering to change and fell instantly asleep.

[andrmvdas]

rain on dark windowpanes, the heavy sweetness of red wine, ink-stained fingers. dark curls escaping from pins, cold coffee dregs and burnt out matches from a guilty cigarette. holy places long since abandoned, the simmering wildness of a bird caged, and the ancient ache for freedom. ┊ if  you’re  looking  for  ANDROMEDA  BLACK,  you’ll  probably  find  HER  in  the  SLYTHERIN  dorm  with  the  rest  of  the  SIXTH  years.  they’re  the  TWENTY  year  old  PUREBLOOD  who  looks  kind  of  like  KATIE  DOUGLAS.  they  seem  SELF-RELIANT,  INQUISITIVE,  ELOQUENT  to  me,  but  apparently  they’re  also  CONTRARY,  CYNICAL,  HAUGHTY.  maybe  that’s  why  their  patronus  is  A  RAVEN.

PINTEREST  !!

(  rain  on  dark  windowpanes,  the  heavy  sweetness  of  red  wine,  ink-stained  fingers,  greyish  purple  of  dawn,  cold  bones,  fastening  the  clasp  of  a  silver  necklace.  dark  curls  escaping  from  pins,  starched  white  shirts  under  wool  coats,  cold  coffee  dregs  and  burnt  out  matches  from  a  guilty  cigarette.  fog  over  the  scottish  moor,  the  soft  tick  of  a  grandfather  clock,  stars  peeking  through  an  overcast  sky,  the  stark  echo  of  a  single  violin.  the  pages  of  a  book  turning  in  a  library  past  midnight.  holy  places  long  since  abandoned,  the  simmering  wildness  of  a  bird  caged,  and  the  ancient  ache  for  freedom.  a  tempest  barely  contained  within  a  girl.  )

PRE-HOGWARTS  !!

andromeda  &  her  mother  have  what  u  can  call  a  strained  relationship.  from  her  moment  of  birth,  druella  saw  everything  andromeda  did  as  an  act  of  rebellion,  whether  it  was  a  childish  question  asked  in  the  wrong  place  at  the  wrong  time,  or  getting  so  absorbed  in  a  book  she  forgot  to  come  down  for  dinner,  or  a  bit  of  accidental  wandless  magic  born  out  of  a  moment  of  frustration.  every  day  was  a  trial  against  andromeda,  with  her  parents  acting  as  the  judge,  jury  and  executioner,  &  over  and  over  again  she  was  found  GUILTY.

andromeda  never  meant  to  defy  her  mother,  at  first,  but  no  matter  how  hard  she  tried  to  please  druella,  nothing  she  ever  did  was  quite  good  enough.  there  was  always  some  fault,  whether  it  was  a  lock  of  hair  tumbling  free  from  its  pin,  a  corset  come  unlaced,  posture  ruined  from  hunching  over  a  book.  her  wrists  were  too  bony,  her  lips  were  too  thin,  her  skin  too  easily  flushed.

[  ABUSE  TW  ]   it  didn’t  escape  andromeda’s  notice  that  every  flaw  her  mother  criticized  was  one  druella  shared  as  well,  and  when  she  grew  older  she  realized  her  mother’s  dissatisfaction  with  andromeda  was  merely  a  product  of  her  own  dissatisfaction  with  herself.  but  that  didn’t  feed  her  the  nights  she  was  denied  dinner  for  her  ‘ misbehaviour ’.  it  didn’t  take  back  the  days  andromeda  went  unable  to  speak  thanks  to  a  punitive  silencio,  and  it  didn’t  grant  andromeda’s  wish  to  have  a  real  mother  who  loved  her.  [  END  TW  ]

did  druella  love  her  children  ? who  knows.  maybe  she  did,  in  her  own  twisted  way.  but   druella  was  first  and  foremost  a  business  woman,  and  her  main  trade  was  her  daughters.  andromeda  grew  up  listening  to  endless  warnings  that  her  mother  would  “ never  be  able  to  find  andromeda  a  husband  if  … ”  and  then  came  whichever  grievance  she’d  chosen  to  focus  on  that  day.

it  cannot  come  as  a  surprise  that  andromeda  learned  to  live  in  the  shadows,  away  from  her  mother’s  disapproving  glare;  that  she  learned  to  rely  on  herself  and  herself  only,  that  she  learned  to  watch  &  observe  &  test  the  waters,  to  think  before  acting.  (  of  course,  druella  did  not  approve  of  this  either,  and  informed  andromeda  that  no  man  would  want  a  girl  who  was  so  serious  all  the  time.  )

her  parents  often  dragged  her  and  her  sisters  to  various  pureblood  functions,  where  andromeda  stood  off  to  the  side  in  uncomfortably  starched  dresses,  disappearing  like  smoke  any  time  someone  looked  like  they  were  heading  over  to  strike  up  conversation.  she  would  explore  the  pureblood  manors,  all  silent  footsteps  &  watchful  eyes,  making  observations  on  how  the  wizarding  world’s  elite  lived  their  lives,  noting  separate  beds  in  the  master  bedrooms  &  half-empty  whiskey  bottles  in  the  washrooms.  it  seemed  like  everyone  was  only  looking  out  for  themselves  in  this  world,  trying  to  further  their  own  social  status  and  wealth.

at  home,  she  would  escape  to  the  roof  with  a  book,  whether  it  was  a  history  of  warlocks  or  the  kind  of  torrid  romance  novel  druella  pretended  she  didn’t  read,  dark  eyes  hardly  looking  up  as  the  sun  sank  lower  in  the  sky,  fingers  blackened  with  ink  by  the  time  she  closed  her  book  and  descended  into  the  house  to  face  her  mother’s  wrath  that  she  missed  her  piano  lessons.

is  it  strange  that  such  a  cynical  girl  could  have  such  a  yearning  for  beautiful  things  ?  or  would  that  merely  be  a  side  effect  of  cynicism,  to  long  for  something  to  thaw  a  hardened  heart  ?  andromeda  loved  beautiful  things,  perhaps  a  bit  too  much,  but  she  did  not  trust  them.  nothing  beautiful  was  made  to  last,  and  if  it  was,  it  wasn’t  truly  beautiful.  sunsets  faded  to  darkness,  books  ended,  lovers  grew  apart.  the  inherent  transience  of  beauty  made  andromeda  crave  it  all  the  more.  

HOGWARTS  !!

hogwarts  was  a  breath  of  fresh  air  for  andromeda,  the  chance  to  experience  life  outside  her  parents’  regime.  to  her  inquisitive,  probing  nature,  an  ancient,  magical  castle  full  of  history  &  secrets  was  paradise,  let  alone  all  the  classes  it  housed.  and  the  people  —  andromeda  had  never  seen  so  many  people  in  her  lifetime.  hundreds  &  hundreds  of  students  filled  the  castle,  all  with  their  own  thoughts  and  lives  and  desires.  

an  introvert  by  nature,  she  didn’t  interact,  merely  observed.  she  made  best  friends  with  the  library  &  the  constellations,  sneaking  out  of  the  dorm  to  sit  with  her  legs  dangling  over  the  fifty-foot  drop  of  the  astronomy  tower,  eyes  finding  her  constellation,  andromeda,  and  wondering  if  her  fate  was  written  in  the  stars  too;  drunk  on  the  beauty  of  an  untamed  scottish  night.

the  unidentifiable  yearning  she’d  always  kept  tucked  inside  a  corner  of  her  heart  ballooned  until  she  could  hardly  stand  it.  it  was  a  yearning  to  be  something  more than  the  perfect  pureblood  wife  her mother  was  trying  to  groom  her  to  be,  a  thirst  to  prove  herself  in  some  way  she  didn’t  even  understand  yet,  and  it  was  this  ambition  &  drive  that  got  her  sorted  into  slytherin.

if  druella  &  cygnus  had  thought  andromeda  was  unmanageable  before  hogwarts ,  when  she  wasn’t  even  trying  to  be,  she  was  downright  wild  when  she  returned  for  winter  break  in  first  year.  now  that  she  knew  life  could  be  better  than  what  she  was  currently  living  at  home,  she  buzzed  with  a  restless  energy  that  alarmed  her  parents.  andromeda  may  have  been  troublesome  before,  but  this  was  bordering  on  dangerous.  druella  made  the  decision  that  andromeda  would  not  be  returning  to  hogwarts.  [  ABUSE  TW  ]  this  sparked  one  of  the  worst  fights  they’d  ever  had,  and  culminated  in  a  rare  but  unforgiving  physical  beating.  [  END  TW  ]  

eventually  druella  conceded,  and  andromeda  was  allowed  to  return,  but  she  was  much  more  cautious  now.  she  only  made  friends  who  her  parents  would  approve  of,  she  kept  her  nose  clean,  and  at  home,  she  played  the  part  of  the  dutiful  daughter.  there  were  still  small  rebellions,  though  —  long  curls  cut  short  with  a  silver  flash  of  the  kitchen  scissors;  a  nicked  pack  of  her  father’s  cigarettes  smoked  cross-legged  on  the  roof,  coughing  into  her  fist  so  nobody  would  hear.  as  she  got  older,  she  paired  the  cigarettes  &  book  with  red  wine ,  the  finest  she  dared  steal  without  risk  of  being  caught.  this  was  her  escape,  her  small  patch  of  beauty  in  an  ugly  world.

andromeda  keeps  to  herself  at  hogwarts  as  much  as  she  can.  the  only  people  she  spent  time  with  were  those  her  parents  approved  of,  and  she  didn’t  like  most  of  them.  she  threw  herself  into  her  schoolwork  instead,  easily  landing  herself  a  spot  among  the  top  students.  

but  she  loves  hogwarts,  loves  it  with  all  her  heart,  as  so  many  abused  children  do  –  it’s  a  safe  haven,  a  place  where  she  can  at  least  pretend  she’s  free.  she  loves  learning  everything  that  she  can  (  in  fact,  she  was  very  nearly  sorted  into  ravenclaw  ).  her  favourite  place  to  be  is  the  astronomy  tower,  and  she  still  escapes  there  whenever  she’s ��feeling  a  bit  too  claustrophobic.

she  was  chosen  to  be  a  slytherin  prefect  for  her  year  and  although  she  thought  she  wouldn’t  like  it,  she’s  grown  to  enjoy  the  position.  not  for  the  power  it  gives  her  over  her  fellow  students,  but  for  the  escape  it  brings.  she  can  associate  with  people  she  would  normally  never  talk  to,  and  roam  the  castle  freely  past  curfew.  and  andromeda  isn’t  a  naturally  nurturing  person,  but  she’s  found  that  she  enjoys  talking  to  and  helping  the  younger  years.  she  sees  their  wonder  at  hogwarts  in  their  eyes,  the  same  wonder  that  she  felt,  and  has  grown  quite  protective  over  quite  a  few  of  them.

she’s technically in slug club, due to her prowess in potions and her illustrious family name, although she hardly ever goes – she does not like slughorn at all, nor most of the people he’s selected to be in his little club. other than that, however, andromeda doesn’t make a habit of joining clubs or teams or anything that would involve her being forced to interact with people.

PERSONALITY  !!

those  who  don’t  know  andromeda  might  say  she’s  aloof,  proud,  detached,  all  flint  eyes  &  sharp  edges.  and  they  wouldn’t  be  wrong.  andromeda’s  habit  of  keeping  to  the  shadows  has  carried  on  into  her  hogwarts  years,  and  as  an  introvert,  her  solitary  nature  can  sometimes  come  off  as  downright  anti-social.  she’s  naturally  pensive,  and  her  pensive  face  just  so  happens  to  look  pissed  off.  

she  finds  it  hard  to  trust  people.  she’s  so  used  to  a  world  shaped  by  selfishness  that  she  rarely  meets  someone  she  doesn’t  suspect  of  having  ulterior  motives.  after  all ,  beautiful  people,  like  beautiful  things,  are  temporary.  everyone  turns  ugly  sooner  or  later;  everyone’s  claws  are  eventually  revealed.

andromeda  carries  an  unmistakable  air  of  wealth  that,  although  entirely  unintentional,  can  rub  people  the  wrong  way.  she  has  a  taste  for  the  finer  things  in  life  —  an  aged  wine,  a  silken  scarf  —  and  sees  no  reason  why  she  shouldn’t  enjoy  them.  she’s  well  read  &  well  bred,  and  has  a  vocabulary  and  accent  that  can  seem  pretentious  to  some.

do  not  confuse  eloquence  with  smoothness,  though  —  just  because  she  knows  more  four-syllable  words  than  most  doesn’t  mean  she  knows  how  to  use  them.  awkwardness  comes  off  as  aloofness  and  snobbery.  think  mr  fitzwilliam  darcy.  

but  those  who  do  know  andromeda,  those  precious,  precious  few,  know  of  her  vivacity,  her  independent  streak,  her  love  of  learning,  her  dry  humour,  the  dimples  that  appear  with  every  mischievous  smile.  they  know  the  fire  she’s  kept  hidden  in  her  heart  for  so  long,  and  the  proud,  apathetic  mask  she  slips  on  so  easily  whenever  she’s  hurting.

OTHER  !!

gender / sexuality:  cis  female / bisexual

birthday / zodiac:  jan  11 / capricorn

mbti:  intj

moral  alignment:  chaotic  neutral

temperament:  melancholic

patronus:  raven

amortentia:  dried  ink,  pine,  petrichor,  dark  chocolate

[allstarsstorymode867]

All-Stars -Story Mode- [Chapter 14] Part 4

Part 3 -You are here- Part 5

As promised, it does took a ready to finish up Part 4 and I am now left with Part 5 of this and I hope it will be final part of this chapter. I hope all of you enjoy. ;)

-Back to Miss Pauling-

Miss Pauling carefully looked at the samurai captain with ease, he is like Scout but with Spy into the mix of a mixing bowl and he came out someone else. When Spy first called her to know where she is and told what had happened earlier along with no memory of how they got here.

He hadn’t forgot to mention that there are four more men on broad with them as they are in the middle of a post-zombie pandemic. In the middle of an unknown world that was all too new with so much untold dangers waiting to be found and be avoided.

He is not the way that Spy described, he is an World War II version of himself and he is being quite silent than Spy as he looked around the area, being on guard for the enemy soldiers that might be nearby.

“You looked differ-”

Takeo held his hand up as he had looked at the shadows from around the corner just Miss Pauling was beginning to say something, backing to the wall as Helghan soldiers had rounded the corner while she whispers “Ah Shi-!!”

They stood against the wall, silent as he they watched them go by in the dark. They weren’t aware that they are there or acknowledge that they are from the corner of their eyes. They watched them go by as they peeked their heads out of the shadows just a little to see them, making sure that they had left.

Takeo then moved cautiously away from the wall with easy light steps, looking at them as they go to their left and vanished from view as they cloaked.

The samurai then continued on, his hand on handle of the sword, ready to be unsheathed  and ushering Miss Pauling to come out as well but to still aware of the soldiers that had passed by. He turned his head to left then to the right…

“Why are you-?”

Takeo quickly shushed her before turning back to his stance as he turned his head to look, he took two steps ahead with further caution. Senses someone on his left as he turned to look at the area where it came from.

*U!Takeo senses the Helghan Soldier on his left.

Takeo then slowly unsheathes his sword out as the light glimmers in the sunlight through the clouds, as he stood in the stance ready to fight whatever is here with them. Then he hears it, senses it to his right as the sound is unified as a footstep.

He quickly attacked whoever’s cloaked, the figure revealed to be what he had first thought: one of the Helghan Soldiers, raised a bowie knife in the hand and intended to bring it down to the Captain’s back but now caught in the act and uncloaked.

He’s stronger than Takeo would’ve thought, he got three punches to the stomach and a punch to the face and it sends him onto the ground. He isn’t going to give up without a fight so he kicked his leg, tripping him to the ground as well and rolled to get his sword back while the soldier is getting back on his feet.

The soldier then looked at Pauling and aimed his gun at her but before anything else could happened, he felt something pierced through him as pain suddenly shot through as his vision was blurred for a moment. He looked to his chest to see what had cause the pain to be injected and saw what had been caused; a katana sword, plunged through his armor and through his chest cavity as blood is gently being poured out of it.

The Helghan Soldier stumbled a little bit as he kept his eyes on the blade, then it suddenly pulled out as he watched it sank back into his chest cavity as blood spurted out of the wound as he groaned in agonized pain.

His vision was blurred with red and white to symbolized that pain he’s experienced as he dropped the gun to the ground, something in his mind told him to turn around to see what had plunged the sword into him so he did and saw that U!Takeo had did it. The last thing he saw was the warrior’s emotionless glare while he raised his sword up high as he reared back and with one quick swift move, he swings the sword to his neck and everything went black.

*U!Takeo won! *14 Gold is added. *LOVE has increased.

U!Takeo groaned as he felt it; his strength and his LV had increased, a familiar feeling of the thrill to kill more has grown. He shook his head to shrug it off, looking at the body then to Miss Pauling and finally said “There are too many battles I have fought but nothing aren’t never like this.”

“Yeah, I get it.” she replied, they looked around as other explosions followed and looked at each other. “I better find the RED Team before anything else happens.” she continued, “Is that your men?” Takeo questioned.

“Yeah? The Reliable Excavation Demolition Team, they are also known as RED team for short. But there’s also another team who are rival team,” Pauling answered, “They are Builders League United Team, BLU Team for short.”

“Why rivals?” he questioned more, “It’s classified, Mr. Masaki.” she quickly answered, seemly nervous about the question as the Captain raised an eyebrow towards this. “And why is it classified?”

“Uh…” she began but they soon heard a whistling from up above their heads, they were curious yet confused to what was making those noises but when they turned their heads to see what was making it and saw to their shock there were rockets that been launched and heading their way as Miss Pauling shouted “Hey, what the fu-??!” before a wall of vines popped out of nowhere just before the rockets would make contact.

KA-BOOOOM!

Everything was a blur, she could hardly hear his voice when she grabbed her glasses that had survived with her as she steadily gets back on her feet, putting her glasses back and she saw everything that had happened; the vines that had saved her is now on fire and cut off from the Captain as she can now hear his voice on the other side of the wall made out of vines.

“Miss!” He screamed from the other side of the wall of fire, he grunted in pain as Pauling yelled from the other side “I’m okay, Tak!” as he weakly got back on his feet before yelling “Go forward, I will meet you up ahead!”

“Okay!” Pauling yelled as she harringly pulled out Shortstop, a modeled version of COP .357 Derringer gun while she stumbled around a bit as another rocket came from above as other Helghan troops are coming in closer as both her and U!Takeo can hear them from the wall that been ignited into a barricade of inferno.

Miss Pauling ran into the corner where the soldiers came from and U!Takeo ran into the opposite direction of that, running as fast as his legs can carry him. He ran around the wooden pillar and hid behind it as the troops ran to a stop and looking around to see where he had gone to.

Takeo grunts his teeth as he felt it; pain. It wasn’t good but he knew he had saved them both as black veins are visible on his neck and to his cheek, he knew that vines he used are in pain as they burned, it was how he is feeling too; to feel their pain like they were a part of him.

He really wasn’t like this, one moment in his universe, he’s human and a victim to 935’s experiment as a test subject but he was pulled into this one; he’s now someone different. Been given a power to control and command plants as well to feel what they feel.

He wasn’t sure when this power will leave him but he swore if he is defenseless and helpless; he’ll use it at will but it does gonna take time to practice and learn how to control them first. He then heard one of them barking out “Find him! Find him and and bring him to the cell block!”

Thunder capped from above and soon, he felt a drop of water landed on his cheek from the graying skies and soon the sky begins to rain down on the samurai. He then felt relief when he felt the fire being put out as the rain had also poured onto the burning vines, he had let out a sigh quietly as the burning pain he had felt had gone away along with the blackened veins.

*That was refreshing.

He took a few deep breaths, he peeked from the pillar and sees eight troopers armed and scanning the area that made him reared his head back as he continued to hear their footsteps getting closer. He then hears a radio go off and one of them answered it,

“Yes sir?” their leader said as he heard Radec’s voice on the other side of the line receiver saying “There is no time finding one of our enemies, we have a reason to believe that their spy will gather intel about our mission and weaknesses as we’d unknowingly waste time on others. Find him and end him.” as the trooper leader had listened to him, “As you wish, Colonel Radec.” he answered before ending the call with that, he then turned to his men and said “Men, there is a spy amongst us and he’s more a threat than the ones we have faced. Go with the others.”

The Helghast Troops nodded before hurryingly off in a different direction as he then added “But if you do see the Spy; you know what to do.” as he looked at the pillar before jogging away to catch up.

Soon as they’re gone, Takeo stepped out from behind the wooden pillar as he got his hand on the sword in case one or two of them comes back. He can sense someone behind and quickly turned around to face whoever it was behind with the sword drawn from it’s saya but when he sae who it was, a familiar rough voice said “Whoa! Tak, take it easy! It’s just me.” as the samurai was dumbfounded to see him.

“Dempsey,” he scolded, “I could’ve killed you!” as the marine corporal walks up to his teammate with caulton yet little at ease. “If I was one of them, ya’ll would.” Dempsey assented as he placed his hand on his shoulder but he noticed the remaining black veins are disappearing from his cheek back like it wasn’t there in the first place.

“You did it again?” he mumbled, then Takeo nodded before looking away. Dempsey raised an eyebrow at him, “I don’t understand you these days Takeo,” he sighed, “But try to remember what Knight-or-whatever said; If ya end up using too much of it, you’ll-”

“Reach the point of no return, transformed into a demon, a beast and a monster. I know.” Takeo added, much to U!Dempsey’s annoyance and concern for his well being and his ability to control plants around him. “I do remember that you aren’t always like this when we woke up, Tak.” Dempsey said finally after a short period of silence, “Things is just crazy and now it’s even more crazier when two people I haven’t met had already know me.”

“How crazy, Dempsey?” Takeo asked thoughtfully as he sheathed his sword back to it’s saya, Dempsey only scratches the back of his head as he shrugged before answering “An African Scottish Demolitions expert and a pyromaniac.”

Takeo looked at him with surprise yet curious thoughts in his head, “Really now?” he said, “Something similar happened to me but with a woman, she had known who I am as well by name. She is rather an.. Odd lady in a middle of an honorable battle we are in.”

“A woman?” Dempsey perked up, interested within his voice as Takeo can sensed it. “Is she hot?” Dempsey asked rather early as Takeo glared at him.

“Tank, focus.” he remained, the marine raised his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender as he smiled like he didn’t mean to do something. “I was asking Tak,” he chuckled softly, “But yeah, I guess we are on the same boat here Tak; Three people who knows us already in one day.”

“Indeed, Dempsey.” Takeo agreed, “Now that we know about this yet I had a feeling that something else here at play besides the undead,” he added as Dempsey listens to this as his head is tilted to the left for a moment. “To know more, we need to find her.”

“Alright, where is she then?”

“I do remember that we were separated when I had used my power to put up a wall to protect us from the projectiles.” Takeo recounted, “If we head back there then there will be tracks of her that she had left behind.” then runs off back to where he came. “Tak- Takeo! Wait up!” Corporal called at as he jogged behind to catch up. Unaware that someone had been here but in invisible. The figure uncloaks himself to reveal that he is indeed: a RED Spy.

“Intéressant,” He whispered, “Like us, they had their own counterparts but with sight changes from what I can recognize.” as he dragged another drag of the cigarette he had got out of his case. “Such a Second World War they are from, without a doubt. I better question the First World War Richtofen about this and eventually get answers from this situation.” He continued before hearing someone running from above him and then two other people soon followed after. Curious, Spy decided to listen in what was going on; another answer had came quickly than he thought.

“¡Déjame! I am not who you are looking for!”

“Halt right there, Enemy Spy!”

Spy can hear it all going on above his head as he looked up, a sigh left him quickly as he least expected it. Putting his case away back in his coat’s hidden back before getting out a revolver, unloads its empty bullet shells and reloads with new ones. “If this day would get better than it was.” he whispered to himself.

-Meanwhile with Diego Necalli-

He ran as quickly as a jackrabbit trying to get away from a pack of raving wolves, Diego panted as his lungs are begging to stop but he was relentless as he looked at a broken ramp that is pointing towards one of the broken window of a police station.

“Broken ramp could kill me,” he thought as he kept his eyes on the ramp, he tripped but he had kept running steadily before thinking “but it’s the best route I could have!” and begins to dash towards it. His feet soon hits the wood and metal below him as they both collide each other as the sound of creaking and clanking had began to rise up without fail.

It’s no denial that the ramp is breaking more with more sounds of crash and clash but he persisted as he jumped while the ramp breaks apart into a useless pile of iron and wood.

The Mexican had soared through the air onto the window, he began to slip from it but he managed to grabbed hold of the edge as two Helghast soldiers had seen him jumped off the crate and climbed onto the wall, “Surrender now, Double Agent!” shouted one of them before adding “Or we will shoot.”

Diego, however, isn’t going to give up that easily as he tried to use both his feet to climb but he was struggling to do so as he heard guns being reloaded. They are persistent to ensure that the Mexican Spy isn’t going to live that easily, Diego had been through this with Alistair Rhodes when the Chaos Order are after them both but he had never seen anything more than other worldly soldiers who are out to kill.

Just when Diego was ready to give up when all sudden; gunfire, glass breaking and screams filled the air that made Diego think they had opened fire but soon realized that he haven’t felt bullets shooting through him and turned around to see that Scarlett, Bruno and Shaw had came just in the neck of time to save Diego, that easily explained what had happened.

“Hurry now Diego! we need to get to Radec!” Shaw said as he ran inside with Bruno and Scarlett while he dangles on the edge of the window a little bit.

“Si, si…” Diego muttered as he had managed to successfully climbed onto the window but something hard and metallic had meet his nose, he looked what it was he’d hit while he rubbed his nose but his eyes went wide as he saw it was a sniper aimed right at him. “You should’ve stayed on the ground while you’d had the chance.” Helghan sniper said as he hold Diego in gunpoint, “Such low intelligence you humans are, never thought to do so as to run-” he continued to say until he screamed as he felt a knife dig deep into his back then falls forward while Spy stood behind looking at him fell down.

Then, the Frenchman looked at the Mexican before extending his hand to him and saying “After you.”

Diego looked confused but had to take his hand before being pulled into the window with Spy’s help, he then dusts himself off afterwards as the Hispanic man soon placed his hands on his knees to even his breathing. Spy studied this man before him as he closed his butterfly knife and then putting it back in his coat.

“Gracias.” he muttered between his crazy panting as Spy smiled a little, “You’re welcome.” he replied as he clearly see that he’s a spy, like him but more of a 1910’s version.

“I’d take that they have mistaken you for me?” he questioned, that made Diego look at him with a surprised look that Spy knew all too well. “How do you know Amigo?” asked Diego very quickly.

“I happened to over heard what was going from the enemy about me, and from what I had heard next above my head is you running away from them, screaming for help.” Spy said next, that quickly gets his attention as he managed to catch his breath finally.

“You are a spy?”

“The Spy,” he said, “Like you, my friend.”

Diego was puzzled to hear that coming from the Frenchman who is now coming to be his rival, he stood up with a glaze of an annoyed sparrow and said “And you think you can do better at what I do at?”

Spy smiled softly, a challenge is beginning to seem like one of those challenges to see who can be better than the other. “So see if you can do it better than me then, oui.” he agreed. The Hispanic man blinked a little then smiled with confidence with this, before nodding.

“Alright then my friend,” said Diego with confidence, “Consider this a challenge then.”

Spy nodded with a smile, without doubt he is going to like this challenge and already he felt like a good winner in his book. “If this ends quickly than we expected it, I will explain what had been going on.”

“You had yourself a deal, amigo. I am Diego Necalli by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Diego.” Spy greeted back with a smile before ushering Diego with a revolver to be the one to go first and saying “Now go!”

With a nod from Diego, he took off first before Spy jog into the building with a thought that came from his mind. He softly muttered his thought “Je peux dire que ce sera amusant.”

                                       ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

                                                -An hour later-

Spy had gotten at least 6 kills so far, he is quite a charming, globetrotting rogue, lady killer (metaphorically) and mankiller (for real to be honest). Diego only got 4 so far but is struggling to keep up, Spy was confident that he will be winner in this challenge but he couldn’t but feel… tired of all sudden??

He had never been tired before or during the battle before and he is pretty sure that he had gotten some sleep last night before today but this was pretty different; He felt like he’s going to pass out as Diego had much took noticed at Spy’s situation, “Are you tired, Spy?” the Hispanic man jokingly asked the Frenchman but soon turned to concerned when Spy had placed his right shoulder against the concrete wall.

“Spy, are you feeling alright, Amigo?” he asked again but this time with concern and worry in his mind, Spy looked over to him with tired eyes and muttered “I am fine, mon ami. I am only tired but…” he then rubbed his eye with his gloved hand as he yawned “Mind doing a flavor, as much I do not usually ask anyone for requests before.”

“Si, what is it?” asked Diego with a rose eyebrow, walking over to the man who is on the verge of going into unconscious. Spy knew he had to act fast before he could pass out, looking around for anything comfortable to lay on when he spotted a break room for officers, it’s not much but he knew that would have to do for now.

“Take to that room in fount of us,” Spy said, “Put me on that couch over there and lay me down on it.” as he pointed at the room ahead of them while Diego looked.

“Alright then, amigo.” he said as he carried him with his arm over his shoulder while Spy is getting more and more tired by the minute that had gone after passing by. Diego is worried that he is slowly passing out, the last thing Spy seen was Diego putting him on the couch as he could see shapes and shadows and then… Everything went black. In the black void of nothing, he couldn’t hear, see or do anything during his time there. It was pitch-black as the dark night all around him as he is trying to wrap his mind around about what was going on now.

It felt like an eternity to him after time had ticked and tocked with increasing impatience, Spy wanted to know why he is here as he could clearly hear a familiar sound of the clock with its gears cranking and the banging coming from it.

He had first heard of it when he first entered the void of nothing as he could clearly identify the sound it makes. “This is taking forever,” he sneered with anger of waiting forever and he was getting very impatient, “He would wake up or better yet Scout yelling at me to wake up back into the reality and let this be a bad dream-”

He was then interrupted by a dog barking and then he felt a tongue licking his face, he groaned in disgust as he saw to his shock really is a dog he had never seen or heard of before, a Goberian dog, a golden retriever husky mix, right in front of him.

Spy then looked around as he realized that he’s laying his back against a chain-linked fence, sitting on a freshly cut grass, even smelled like a freshly cut grass as well. He then noticed he is in a park with trees along with flowers blooming, it must’ve been springtime as he stood up and brushing himself of the cutted grass that had got on his $10,000 custom-tailored Louis Crabbemarché jacket when he was sitting down.

“My $10,000 custom-tailored Louis Crabbemarché jacket,” he began, “now has grass on it.” as the Goberian sat down while it waiting for the Frenchman to adjust himself to the new world around him. He then looked at the breed back and then using both his hands to usher it to leave as he said “Go away please.” fully expecting it to be a trained dog like many others he had encountered but it didn’t.

It’d didn’t listened, instead it stayed, tail wagging and tongue out, Spy raised an eyebrow when he reach into his hidden coat pocket as he had expecting his gun to be there but was dumbfounded to find out; he felt nothing instead of a revolver, a knife or even a disguise kit.

“Where is it??” he muttered, he undid his jacket to see if he had did placed them all there but he saw that they had disappeared from there places. Dejected, defeated, he then mumbled “Oh, merde.”

He turned over to the golden retriever husky mix with a look of defeat but then noticed a stick on the ground, he bends down and picked it up to examine it. Immediately, the dog got excited, wagging its tail quickly as it lay down with its behind in the tail as Spy looked at him then at the stick once again then an idea formed in his head.

*You had picked up a stick from the ground. *Dog is looking at you with joy and excitement in his eyes. *Want to throw the stick?

>[Yes]                            [No]

>[Yes]<

“You want the stick?” he asked, he received a bark as a reply from the dog. So with one quick move he had mustered, he tosses the stick as hard as he could throw it, it soared through the air and over the fence to an open field with two baseball fields and with four soccer goals that are near an elementary school.

*That did the trick! *The dog barked and ran after the stick, going through an open doorway of the chain-linked fence. *You watched on with victory now the dog is away.

“I hope you’ll like the stick, you dirty crossbreed mutt.” smiled the Spy as he watched on in his moment of victory, but it was soon interrupted by a female voice yelling “H-hey! I need that sketch book-!!”

“You don’t need it when someone’s a mentally retarded like you!” another voice interrupted with a sneer and soon a sound of pages being ripped out of the book as the female’s voice shrieked “No- Wait please-!!”

Spy turned his head to see what is going on and saw a woman being held back by the arms by two boys while their ringleader is ripping the pages out of a sketchbook as she watched helplessly while she struggled and turn violently to break free. “S-Stop! My older brother had gotten that sketchbook-!!”

“Well looks like he’s just gonna have to buy you another one!” the ringleader snapped, “Or better yet, he would just move out like a normal guy and us!” as he kept ripping the pages out of the book that he is holding by panel of it.

Page after page filled with drawings, doodies and drafts are gently landing down the ground as the three boys laughed at her distress, Spy was livid to see this act of cruelty being performed on a lady and seeing what is happening is just sickening as he knows that he has to act quick.

“Stop!” he yelled as he ran over to her side, that caught the boys off guard to see him with shock. Spy knew that they must’ve thought they were in the park alone with her, “Why can’t you mind your own business, bank robber?” one of them said with annoyance as they looked over to him,

“I only wanted to but not after you three happened to mistreated a poor lady like this.” he cleared his throat with a calm demeanor as he adjusted his tie, “Besides, I want to be clear with you boys before I would buy myself a chance to humiliate you all three.”

“Too bad,” their ringleader maintained as two boys threw the poor girl onto the ground with her pages and now ruined sketchbook with a squeal and a thud, “You’re gotta buy yourself some painkillers after we beaten you senseless.” threaten the ringleader as he got out a bat and then lets it lands on the palm of his hand.

Spy huffed and cautioned “Talking to a group of absent-minded simpletons is already giving me a headache.” as he readies himself for what he felt like is going to be a fight. “How about we give a brief lesson for you then maybe you’ll get back to a fancy pants club with a few wrinkles and lots of dots of blood on your stupid suit.” ringleader said with ruthless tone with a hint of merciless.

“Yeah, unless you want it to be quick if you give money.” one of them suggested with a pocket knife opened and ready for use.

“Yeah, tough guy, got any money?” another said with joy in his voice as he cracked his knuckles with a smirk.

*Just one against three of brutes, *Odds are never likely be this. *Fight!

Their leader had been the first one to attack Spy but he stepped out of the bats way as he vanished as the boys were in shock when they saw him disappeared into thin air as one of them fearfully yelled out “A g-ghost! He’s a ghost-!”

“Shut it or I’ll shut it for you!” the boy with the bat yelled at him, “He is nothing more than a cheap ghost!”

Spy’s voice suddenly declared “Of course” then reappeared in front of him as their leader was surprised but swings the bat quickly and almost immediately. Spy took a step back to avoid it then another to avoid the bat’s second attack as he had remembered when he had taken down the BLU team’s sniper during his mission to get their intelligence.

He finally grabbed the bat just as he swings it again, the boy attempted to throw a punch at him but the Frenchman quickly raised his arm to deflect it and then lets his arm seater under the boy’s before locking onto it, breaking it as he holds him while he hissed in pain.

He then lets him go with a smug smirk, “How disappointing, people I have fought are better than that.” he sighed with a chuckle escaping his lips, ringleader glared at him while he holds his broken arm before yelling at his lackies “What are ya waiting for?! Get him!”

“But he-”

“I DON’T CARE!” he shouted at him who is still holding the knife, “Just get him!!”

“Alright, alright!” he finally agreed before running towards him with the pocket knife raised in the air along with a battle cry but Spy is well ready for that attack as he sidestepped out of his way and do what bullies like them do best:

the old sticking his foot out and making the boy tripped over with a knife flying into the air, as his face hits face first onto a black concrete ground of a basketball court, Spy was looking up at a knife, focused as it comes down from above and safety yet carefully catches it by the handle while three looked at him in shock yet impressed looks.

“Wow!” the fallen boy exclaimed after he wipes the blood off of his nose as Spy flickers it threateningly while he looked at the three tormentors with sinister expression. Ringleader was lost in words along with the remaining boy who hasn’t fought the French double agent as fear had quickly replaced anger and bravery that had once sided with ignorance.

*You had easily overpowered the three ignorant bullies with no problem at all. *They were all scared of you after they had witnessed your performance. *Time to end this fight but… *What do you want to end it with…?

>[Kill them]                [Threaten them]

*..... *..... *..... >[Threaten them]<

“Leave her alone for now on,” Spy threatened them as he skillfully closes the knife then tosses it to the boy who is still on the ground. He seamlessly catches it so fruitlessly as he scrambles to get back on his feet before running but he was caught by the arm when he was going to jog pass Spy. His grip wasn’t hurtful but it is firm enough to hold him in place.

“If I happened to see you doing it again when I am here,” he said before adding the last word to it and that would be “Run.”

“Got it.” Ringmaster babbled with thrill and fear rushing down his spine before running away, then soon with a boy who had stood with him had screamed before running after him. He finally lets him go to run with them before dusting himself off and clearing his throat.

Victory!

You’ve won 30 GOLD and 0 EXP

Spy watched as the girl’s tormentors are running out of the park and into a neighborhood until they had disappeared around the corner, a sniff is what he heard next. He turned around and see that she is trying to pick the ripped pages and had already picked up a ruined sketchbook.

“Oh, I’ve almost forgotten that had happened as well.” he said as he walked over to her and then begins to picked up a few pages and noticed she had drawn pictures in a anime-like but cartoon style with two familiar people on a few of them: Cuphead and Mugman but with milk-like hair, adventurous clothing and even a demonic versions of themselves.

He then sees another cup but this one is different, it’s a golden-yellow cup girl along with ghost version of her with a straw above her head acting as a halo, with names above them “Mrs. Chalice” and “The Legendary Chalice.”

“Fine artwork,” he commented in a polite manner as the young woman’s tears are clearly visible now.

Mistreatment

Alright, he may be a cold-blooded emotionless killer of a double agent but he knew that he had felt horrible for what had happened to her. “Oh yeah… They are R-REAL good.” she replied bitterly finally. “Yet, was this the reason they had mistreat you for?”

“N-no…���

“Was it for who you are, Mon cher?”

“Y-yes…”

He looked at her carefully, she is wearing an army green field jacket, red-striped long sleeve shirt, dark blue cargo pants and light brown round toe low platform heel over the knee fashion sneakers boots. She does have a little pale skin with a freckles and to go along with them are her green eyes and her messy yet clean brown state hair. Finally, a thought had just appeared in his head that made him asked “Are you disabled?”

The girl then soon looked at him with anger now that it had replaced her sadness, “Is Autism one of those?”  she bitterly answered. Now Spy understood why one of them had said it and now understood why they had did that to her.

“These boys are just stupid imbeciles,” he said upon adjusting his tie before holding his hand out to them, “I am sure that there are people who will enjoy your comic drawings.”

“Except there are no one, you mean…!” she said, that took him by surprise, “I can’t no one is picking on you for being normal, I don’t want your pity like I was normal too. I know that you don’t want me to be around you.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked.

“You don’t have to pretend to be like a person who cares is what I am talking about, I know that that boy had paid you to be like you care about me despite being different.”

“Are you talking about that boy who was tearing your book?” he questioned, “If it is, he did not paid me.”

“Yeah, he did.” she splat back.

“No, he did not.”

“Yeah, he did so because you’d hate me too.”

“No he didn’t! I swear on my life that I do not know him!” he rebuked as he raised his gloved hands so she would see that they aren’t crossed, “I do swear that I do not know him nor met him until now.”

The Young Lady raised her hands defensively before using her right arm to wipe her tears as she apologized “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. He REALLY didn’t talk to you?”

“Young lady!”

“Alright, I’m sorry, really.”

“You should be,” he scolded, “I was often been accused of being a backstabbing slithering, limbless reptile by my tea- Friends for things I didn’t do but being accused for something like this is not I am most fond off.”

“I’m very sorry that I-I got like that.” she relented as she had picked up the rest of the ripped-out pages on the ground, “Mind telling me first of why you had got like that, ma’am?” he asked as of right now, he really need a smoke.

“Promise you won’t tell to anyone?”  she asked.

Spy raised an eyebrow towards this question then agreed “I promise.”

As it turns out, one of her best friends had joined in with those guys who taunted and shamed her as he had said some pretty hurtful things behind her back, which it does explained her attitude towards him.

She then got up on her feet again as she held his hand to pull her up on as she said “I have no idea that you had seen what had happened.”  and Spy handed her to the other ripped pages back to her. “I happened to be nearby when it happened, I just had to do something about it.” he said as she gently brushed her hair over her ear as she replied “And yet you did, thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome.” he said as he watched her walked away as e  v   e   r    y     t      h      i       n    g       w         e          n         t             w               h               i               t               e…… “Spy!” a familiar voice called out just as Spy finally woken up from a dream after it had been done, the first person he saw before him was Medic, three other are Sniper, Diego and P!Nikolai as the field medic had yelled at him again “Vake up!”

The Frenchman blinked as he was flabbergasted when he remembered what had happened before he passed out. “About time ‘ou woke up, Spook.” Sniper is the first one to welcomed him back to reality as he sat upright once again. “I am grateful to see myself back in reality as well, bushman.”

“Not very much to each other, huh my Russian friend?” Diego raised an eyebrow at this odd friendship between Spy and Sniper as Nikolai looked at him. “Of course.” he nodded, “I believe that they were like when they first met before we had.”

“Shut it Nikolai,” Spy said as he stands up from the couch to stretch his arms with a yawn, then he looked over to Medic and asked “What happened while I was knocked out, Doctor?”

“Vell, let’s see…” Medic recounted, “After you’d fell asleep, Diego wouldn’t want to leave you behind so he had to stay behind und vait for his team to find him but instead it vas only Nikolai und Sniper who happened to bumped into him. He had to relaid what happened to you to zhem und Sniper lead me here. As much as I cannot zhink vhat had happened but I had seen zhem killed some of zhe Helghans vhile he vas coming to get me.” concluded Medic.

“I had to missed out the whole bloody thing,” Sniper complained, “but I was concerned about you and that’s all.”

Spy looked at him, looking over to Diego and asked “How many kills did you got?”

“About 23, Spy but you are still at 6 before you fell asleep, amigo.” Diego smiled trumpthly, despite the fact that Spy is in shock in his moment of defeat. All of this happened while he’s asleep??

“I… lost?” he finally said, Diego nodded still with a smiled a winning smile, Sniper is also smiling too knowing that his teammate had been bested by a Mexican Spy from the late 1910’s and it’s something that is a moment worth while.

Spy blinked a couple times before smiled and said “Well now…” as he stands back up on his feet once again, dusted himself off as Diego asked “As you promised, do mind telling me what is happening?”

“A man of my word I will be,” Spy said as he checked his hidden coat pocket and much to his relief; his knife, revolver and disguise kit are right there where he had left them. “You need to know what is happening Diego?” Nikolai said his thought out loud as he looked over to him.

“Si.” he nodded as Sniper looked out of the window to see the view, then soon out of the blue Sniper yelled “Incoming!” and ducking down, they didn’t have time to ask him because bullets soared through the shattered window as they ducked down to avoid them.

"Sacrebleu." he muttered as he watched those bullets flew across the air and into the wall till eventually they stopped and they heard them saying “Radec is after them now, for now we must hold them off until he finds the children.”

“Merde…” Spy had cursed under his breath, he had forgotten the rescue while he’s competing with Diego. “What are they saying?” he asked him, Nikolai soon answered “They had captured two children and now we have to rescue them!”

“They had-”

“If that’s not insane of them, they wanted to use them as weapons! As bloody weapons, mate!” Sniper quickly concluded to him as he gets out his sniper rifle while he peeks the window.

“They would do what?!” the Mexican said in shock, “Have they lost their minds?! They were only children!”

“And that is why we are here to rescue them, Mr. Necalli.” Spy replied as he searched through his coat once more and got out his revolver, “And one more thing Nikolai;” he said, looking over to him thoughtfully with questions. “Do you know where Dr. Richtofen is?”

“He is with Scout and Dempsey now, Spy,” he answered, confused by this question, “Why do you ask that?”

“I was only curious Nikolai.” Spy quickly answered, looking over to Diego and saying “It appears that I will the others explain, this situation is already getting too strange for me to deal with.” before disappearing into the crisps of gray and red smoke.

His footsteps are quickly heard leaving the room where they are, Medic looked over to Diego and said “Already met him?”

“Si.”

Medic shrugged and asked him “Vhat else does zhe Diego Necalli vant to know?” as he readies his bone saw. “Everything that is going,” Diego quickly demanded, “And…”

“Und, vhat?”

“Do you think that it’s dangerous for a field medic such as yourself?” Diego asked the Medic with concerned tone. Medic smiled like a mad man who had a face-to-face with war before and answered “Ja but don’t be afraid, I am a Doctor after all und I’ve known how to fight back if it’d could get dangerous.”

[starchained-blog]

whats  up  my  dudes  !!!   i  am  bee,  i’m  19  &  i  never  fuckin  learned  how  to  stop  using  this  exact  vine  reference  in  all  my  intro  posts  !!  i  will  be  playing  my  Babe  andromeda  black.  but  first  a  lil  bit  about  me  b4  i  start  2  ramble  about  andromeda:  i’m  always  a  slut  for  the  Aesthetic,  i’m  a  math  Nerd  aaaand  im  probably ??  way  too  in  love  w  fitzwilliam  darcy.  also  i  will  Always  want  to  plot  so  if  u  do  too  please  hmu  !!  nyways  u  can  find  out  more  abt  my  daughter  andromeda  under  the  cut  !!

- ̗̀✰ • 【  XU  JIAQI,  CISFEMALE,  SHE/HER  】 ❝  did  you  see  ANDROMEDA  BLACK  on  the  train  back  to  hogwarts  ?  they’re  a  PUREBLOOD  in  their  THIRD  year  as  a  TWENTY-year-old  SLYTHERIN.  apparently  they’re  the  RECUSANT  around  the  grounds;  most  likely  because  they  give  off  an  aura  of  rain  on  dark  windows,  the  heavy  sweetness  of  red  wine,  ink-stained  fingers,  a  tempest  barely  contained  within  a  girl.  of  all  the  social  media  platforms,  they’re  definitely  most  obsessed  with  their  INSTAGRAM;  probably  because  they’re  SELF-RELIANT,  but  also  INTROSPECTIVE.  however,  on  the  new  manifest  app  in  mr.  carlos’  english  class,  they’ve  already  managed  to  anonymously  steal  the  username:  NIMUE.  ❞ ┊ 「  bee,  19,  est,  she/her.  」

PINTEREST  !!

rec·u·sant  (  noun.  )   a  person  who  refuses  to  submit  to  an  authority  or  to  comply  with  a  regulation.

aka  just  a  fancy  way  of  saying  rebel  !

(  rain  on  dark  windowpanes,  the  heavy  sweetness  of  red  wine,  ink-stained  fingers,  greyish  purple  of  dawn,  cold  bones,  fastening  the  clasp  of  a  silver  necklace.  dark  curls  escaping  from  pins,  starched  white  shirts  under  wool  coats,  cold  coffee  dregs  and  burnt  out  matches  from  a  guilty  cigarette.  fog  over  the  scottish  moor,  the  soft  tick  of  a  grandfather  clock,  stars  peeking  through  an  overcast  sky,  the  stark  echo  of  a  single  violin.  the  pages  of  a  book  turning  in  a  library  past  midnight.  holy  places  long  since  abandoned,  the  simmering  wildness  of  a  bird  caged,  and  the  ancient  ache  for  freedom.  a  tempest  barely  contained  within  a  girl.  )

PRE-HOGWARTS  !!

andromeda  &  her  mother  have  what  u  can  call  a  strained  relationship.  from  her  moment  of  birth,  druella  saw  everything  andromeda  did  as  an  act  of  rebellion,  whether  it  was  a  childish  question  asked  in  the  wrong  place  at  the  wrong  time,  or  getting  so  absorbed  in  a  book  she  forgot  to  come  down  for  dinner,  or  a  bit  of  accidental  wandless  magic  born  out  of  a  moment  of  frustration.  every  day  was  a  trial  against  andromeda,  with  her  parents  acting  as  the  judge,  jury  and  executioner,  &  over  and  over  again  she  was  found  GUILTY.

andromeda  never  meant  to  defy  her  mother,  at  first,  but  no  matter  how  hard  she  tried  to  please  druella,  nothing  she  ever  did  was  quite  good  enough.  there  was  always  some  fault,  whether  it  was  a  lock  of  hair  tumbling  free  from  its  pin,  a  corset  come  unlaced,  posture  ruined  from  hunching  over  a  book.  her  wrists  were  too  bony,  her  lips  were  too  thin,  her  skin  too  easily  flushed. 

[  TW  ABUSE  ]   it  didn’t  escape  andromeda’s  notice  that  every  flaw  her  mother  criticized  was  one  druella  shared  as  well,  and  when  she  grew  older  she  realized  her  mother’s  dissatisfaction  with  andromeda  was  merely  a  product  of  her  own  dissatisfaction  with  herself.  but  that  didn’t  feed  her  the  nights  she  was  denied  dinner  for  her  ‘ misbehaviour ’.  it  didn’t  take  back  the  days  andromeda  went  unable  to  speak  thanks  to  a  punitive  silencio,  and  it  didn’t  grant  andromeda’s  wish  to  have  a  real  mother  who  loved  her.   [  END  TW  ]

did  druella  love  her  children  ? who  knows.  maybe  she  did,  in  her  own  twisted  way.  but   druella  was  first  and  foremost  a  business  woman,  and  her  main  trade  was  her  daughters.  andromeda  grew  up  listening  to  endless  warnings  that  her  mother  would  “ never  be  able  to  find  andromeda  a  husband  if  … ”  and  then  came  whichever  grievance  she’d  chosen  to  focus  on  that  day.

it  cannot  come  as  a  surprise  that  andromeda  learned  to  live  in  the  shadows,  away  from  her  mother’s  disapproving  glare;  that  she  learned  to  rely  on  herself  and  herself  only,  that  she  learned  to  watch  &  observe  &  test  the  waters,  to  think  before  acting.  (  of  course,  druella  did  not  approve  of  this  either,  and  informed  andromeda  that  no  man  would  want  a  girl  who  was  so  serious  all  the  time.  )

her  parents  often  dragged  her  and  her  sisters  to  various  pureblood  functions,  where  andromeda  stood  off  to  the  side  in  uncomfortably  starched  dresses,  disappearing  like  smoke  any  time  someone  looked  like  they  were  heading  over  to  strike  up  conversation.  she  would  explore  the  pureblood  manors,  all  silent  footsteps  &  watchful  eyes,  making  observations  on  how  the  wizarding  world’s  elite  lived  their  lives,  noting  separate  beds  in  the  master  bedrooms  &  half-empty  whiskey  bottles  in  the  washrooms.  it  seemed  like  everyone  was  only  looking  out  for  themselves  in  this  world,  trying  to  further  their  own  social  status  and  wealth.

at  home,  she  would  escape  to  the  roof  with  a  book,  whether  it  was  a  history  of  warlocks  or  the  kind  of  torrid  romance  novel  druella  pretended  she  didn’t  read,  dark  eyes  hardly  looking  up  as  the  sun  sank  lower  in  the  sky,  fingers  blackened  with  ink  by  the  time  she  closed  her  book  and  descended  into  the  house  to  face  her  mother’s  wrath  that  she  missed  her  piano  lessons.

is  it  strange  that  such  a  cynical  girl  could  have  such  a  yearning  for  beautiful  things  ?  or  would  that  merely  be  a  side  effect  of  cynicism,  to  long  for  something  to  thaw  a  hardened  heart  ?  andromeda  loved  beautiful  things,  perhaps  a  bit  too  much,  but  she  did  not  trust  them.  nothing  beautiful  was  made  to  last,  and  if  it  was,  it  wasn’t  truly  beautiful.  sunsets  faded  to  darkness,  books  ended,  lovers  grew  apart.  the  inherent  transience  of  beauty  made  andromeda  crave  it  all  the  more.  

HOGWARTS  !!

hogwarts  was  a  breath  of  fresh  air  for  andromeda,  the  chance  to  experience  life  outside  her  parents’  regime.  to  her  inquisitive,  probing  nature,  an  ancient,  magical  castle  full  of  history  &  secrets  was  paradise,  let  alone  all  the  classes  it  housed.  and  the  people  —  andromeda  had  never  seen  so  many  people  in  her  lifetime.  hundreds  &  hundreds  of  students  filled  the  castle,  all  with  their  own  thoughts  and  lives  and  desires.  an  introvert  by  nature,  she  didn’t  interact,  merely  observed.  she  made  best  friends  with  the  library  &  the  constellations,  sneaking  out  of  the  dorm  to  sit  with  her  legs  dangling  over  the  fifty-foot  drop  of  the  astronomy  tower,  eyes  finding  her  constellation,  andromeda,  and  wondering  if  her  fate  was  written  in  the  stars  too;  drunk  on  the  beauty  of  an  untamed  scottish  night.

the  unidentifiable  yearning  she’d  always  kept  tucked  inside  a  corner  of  her  heart  ballooned  until  she  could  hardly  stand  it.  it  was  a  yearning  to  be  something  more  than  the  perfect  pureblood  wife  her mother  was  trying  to  groom  her  to  be,  a  thirst  to  prove  herself  in  some  way  she  didn’t  even  understand  yet,  and  it  was  this  ambition  &  drive  that  got  her  sorted  into  slytherin.

if  druella  &  cygnus  had  thought  andromeda  was  unmanageable  before  hogwarts ,  when  she  wasn’t  even  trying  to  be,  she  was  downright  wild  when  she  returned  for  winter  break  in  first  year.  now  that  she  knew  life  could  be  better  than  what  she  was  currently  living  at  home,  she  buzzed  with  a  restless  energy  that  alarmed  her  parents.  andromeda  may  have  been  troublesome  before,  but  this  was  bordering  on  dangerous.  druella  made  the  decision  that  andromeda  would  not  be  returning  to  hogwarts.  [  ABUSE  TW  ]  this  sparked  one  of  the  worst  fights  they’d  ever  had,  and  culminated  in  a  rare  but  unforgiving  physical  beating.  [  END  TW  ]  

eventually  druella  conceded,  and  andromeda  was  allowed  to  return,  but  she  was  much  more  cautious  now.  she  only  made  friends  who  her  parents  would  approve  of,  she  kept  her  nose  clean,  and  at  home,  she  played  the  part  of  the  dutiful  daughter.  there  were  still  small  rebellions,  though  —  long  curls  cut  short  with  a  silver  flash  of  the  kitchen  scissors;  a  nicked  pack  of  her  father’s  cigarettes  smoked  cross-legged  on  the  roof,  coughing  into  her  fist  so  nobody  would  hear.  as  she  got  older,  she  paired  the  cigarettes  &  book  with  red  wine ,  the  finest  she  dared  steal  without  risk  of  being  caught.  this  was  her  escape,  her  small  patch  of  beauty  in  an  ugly  world.

andromeda  keeps  to  herself  at  hogwarts  as  much  as  she  can.  the  only  people  she  spent  time  with  were  those  her  parents  approved  of,  and  she  didn’t  like  most  of  them.  she  threw  herself  into  her  schoolwork  instead,  easily  landing  herself  a  spot  among  the  top  students.  

but  she  loves  hogwarts,  loves  it  with  all  her  heart,  as  so  many  abused  children  do  –  it’s  a  safe  haven,  a  place  where  she  can  at  least  pretend  she’s  free.  she  loves  learning  everything  that  she  can  (  in  fact,  she  was  very  nearly  sorted  into  ravenclaw  ).  her  favourite  place  to  be  is  the  astronomy  tower,  and  she  still  escapes  there  whenever  she’s  feeling  a  bit  too  claustrophobic.

she  was  chosen  to  be  a  slytherin  prefect  for  her  year  and  although  she  thought  she  wouldn’t  like  it,  she’s  grown  to  enjoy  the  position.  not  for  the  power  it  gives  her  over  her  fellow  students,  but  for  the  escape  it  brings.  she  can  associate  with  people  she  would  normally  never  talk  to,  and  roam  the  castle  freely  past  curfew.  and  andromeda  isn’t  a  naturally  nurturing  person,  but  she’s  found  that  she  enjoys  talking  to  and  helping  the  younger  years.  she  sees  their  wonder  at  hogwarts  in  their  eyes,  the  same  wonder  that  she  felt,  and  has  grown  quite  protective  over  quite  a  few  of  them.

she’s technically in slug club, due to her prowess in potions and her illustrious family name, although she hardly ever goes – she does not like slughorn at all, nor most of the people he’s selected to be in his little club. other than that, however, andromeda doesn’t make a habit of joining clubs or teams or anything that would involve her being forced to interact with people.

PERSONALITY  !!

those  who  don’t  know  andromeda  might  say  she’s  aloof,  proud,  detached,  all  flint  eyes  &  sharp  edges.  and  they  wouldn’t  be  wrong.  andromeda’s  habit  of  keeping  to  the  shadows  has  carried  on  into  her  hogwarts  years,  and  as  an  introvert,  her  solitary  nature  can  sometimes  come  off  as  downright  anti-social.  she’s  naturally  pensive,  and  her  pensive  face  just  so  happens  to  look  pissed  off.  

she  finds  it  hard  to  trust  people.  she’s  so  used  to  a  world  shaped  by  selfishness  that  she  rarely  meets  someone  she  doesn’t  suspect  of  having  ulterior  motives.  after  all ,  beautiful  people,  like  beautiful  things,  are  temporary.  everyone  turns  ugly  sooner  or  later;  everyone’s  claws  are  eventually  revealed. 

andromeda  carries  an  unmistakable  air  of  wealth  that,  although  entirely  unintentional,  can  rub  people  the  wrong  way.  she  has  a  taste  for  the  finer  things  in  life  —  an  aged  wine,  a  silken  scarf  —  and  sees  no  reason  why  she  shouldn’t  enjoy  them.  she’s  well  read  &  well  bred,  and  has  a  vocabulary  and  accent  that  can  seem  pretentious  to  some.

but  those  who  do  know  andromeda,  those  precious,  precious  few,  know  of  her  vivacity,  her  independent  streak,  her  love  of  learning,  her  dry  humour,  the  dimples  that  appear  with  every  mischievous  smile.  they  know  the  fire  she’s  kept  hidden  in  her  heart  for  so  long,  and  the  proud,  apathetic  mask  she  slips  on  so  easily  whenever  she’s  hurting.

MODERNISMS  !!

listen  as  much  as  i  love  the  idea  of  andromeda  in  a  modern  age,  it’s  mostly  just  bc  of  the  wealth  of  information  that’s  available  to  her  ?  like  staying  up  ages  watching  random  ass  videos  &  falling  into  a  black  hole  of  wikipedia  articles  &  having  12  languages  on  duolingo  and  a  streak  on  khan  academy.  fuckn  nerd  ass

but  social  media  ?  not  for  this  bitch  !!  i  really  have  Tried  to  get  her  to  use  social  media  so  i  can  do  fun  sc  threads  &  such  but  she  wont  listen  to  me  smh.  u  know  when  u  meet  someone  cute  &  you’re  trying  to  stalk  them  online  but  they  either  dont  have  any  social  media  or  it’s  just  like  an  empty  acct  with  no  posts  ?  shes  that  bitch.  she’ll  text  people  but  she  hates  the  like  ….  publicity  of  social  media.  doesnt  trust  fb  at  all  (  and  she  shouldnt  !!  zuck  shes  onto  u  )  and  probably  has  a  snapchat  someone  made  her  get  but  she  consistently  replies  like  3  days  late,  breaks  streaks,  has  a  snapscore  of  like  304.  what  a  mess.  shes  a  grandma.  understands  &  enjoys  memes  but  never  uses  them  or  references  them.  if  andromeda  black  references  a  meme  around  u  then  u  know  she  trusts  u  implicitly

she’s  wary  but  intrigued  by  this  new  english  class.  she  dreads  to  think  of  the  reaction  it’s  getting  from  pureblood  families  like  hers,  but  she  recognizes  this  for  what  it  is:  an  escape.  an  opportunity.  

she  chose  her  username  nimue  after  the  famed  lady  of  the  lake  from  the  stories  of  king  arthur  and  the  round  table.  she’d  loved  those  stories  as  a  child,  and  was  especially  drawn  to  the  mysterious  witch,  half-good  and  half-bad,  who  trapped  the  kingdom’s  most  powerful  wizard  inside  a  tree  to  gain  her  independence,  who  gifted  the  king  with  his  famed  sword,  who  was  there  when  the  great  golden  age  of  the  kingdom  rose  and  who  was  there  when  it  fell.

OTHER  !!

gender / sexuality:  cis  female / bisexual

birthday / zodiac:  jan  11 / capricorn

mbti:  intj

moral  alignment:  chaotic  neutral

temperament:  melancholic

patronus:  raven

amortentia:  dried  ink,  pine,  petrichor,  dark  chocolate

that  was  ???  ridic  long  so  bless  u  if  you  read  all  of  that  mess.  im  Too  Lazy  to  list  wanted  connections  rn,  maybe  i’ll  do  that  later  who  knows.  but  anyways  pls  plot  w  me  &  let  me  love  u  down