#and then the last guy was a garden demon who had no face | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

yumeaoka-chan · 3 months ago

Text

Mr. Crow Buster

Pairing: Hobie Brown x Reader/ Demon! Hobie x Reader

Word Count: 6.2k

Tags: night terrors, scarecrow hobie, slight body horror (I don't even know how to write that, ugh), chasing, corn maze, peer pressure (for a good reason, trust), scared reader, lovestruck hobie, pining, sparse use of Y/N (like three times really), lovestruck? reader("I'm liking this more than I should???" is basically r thought process), no physical description of reader(besides clothing), can be read as any gender really, cursing, (your friends being absolutely disgustingly cute, ew)

Summary: Humans getting lost in his corn maze happens quite often around this time of year. But none had a soul as shiny as yours.

A/N: Credits for the lovely banners go to @the-shroom-garden !!! Fourth entry for Octobie @the-kr8tor , let's go!!! Saw a video on TikTok that inspired this.💕 This is the next part to the last fic I wrote, but you don't need to read that one to understand this one.

Part 2 >>> Part 3

“I'm telling you guys. It's like, super big every year. Plus, it's free. We have to go.”

“You've lived down there before right, Riri?” Your friend nods beside you, letting out hum as she finishes swallowing the mouthful of fries. Riri narrows her eyes at you as you not so sneakily snatch a few of them with a smile on your face before looking over at Ned with a grin.

“That's right. I know all the good shops and I can show you lot around if we go.” Serenity plops down on the couch beside you and reaches over to snatch a few fries herself, Riri pulling her food away with a scrunched up face of indignation. Chuckling, she winks at her before poking at your side.

“If we're going, we should think about the costumes we're gonna wear. Any ideas?”

“I'm just going as the same thing I was last year”, you say while rolling your eyes at the way your friend groans in your ear. “You can't beat it, Reni. It's a classic.” Riri chuckles as the woman clicks her tongue and flings a fry at her. Serenity just sighs before batting her lashes up at Ned, who's all too ready to bend down and listen to her ‘woes’, fondness swirling in his eyes.

“Baby, our friends are borin’.” She pouts as she places her hands on his face, thumbs caressing his cheeks and the man before her all but melting at her touch. You bite back the giggle that threatens to escape you at Riri’s loud boos of disapproval, her yelling turning into fake gags. Ned shoots her a glare and flips her off before smiling sweetly at his girl, pressing a kiss to her palm. The sight makes you smile, your chest warm at seeing your friends happy with one another. Serenity and Ned have been together for as long as you've known the three, Serenity being the one to introduce you to Riri and her boyfriend. You've been friends with Reni for so long that you aren't sure when your friendship began. The four of you just somehow clicked, never without one another. A little frown forms on your face as you try to remember the exact day and circumstance that led to you befriending them. The details were rather fuzzy and hard to recall at the moment, which makes your frown deepen. Shaking your head free of the thought, you focus your attention back on Ned and Reni.

“It's alright, doll. Let's show ‘em how it's done and look better than them, yeah?” He mumbles softly before pressing a kiss to Reni’s lips. Rolling her eyes and sprawling her body across your lap, Riri pats your thigh and looks up at you.

“We can match themes, yeah? Who knows what those two got planned, though. Probably somethin’ all cute and couple-like.” She says with a feigned grimace of disgust, shuddering and shaking her head. It makes you giggle as you playfully tug at one of her curls.

“Sure thing, Riri.” Warmth fills your chest as you look on at your friends before the scene blurs before you. The sounds of laughter and the feeling of hands wrapping around your waist surround you as the memory bleeds into your reality. Something tickles your cheek, soft and warm as you lean into the arms around you. You blink and it's gone, your friends now gazing at you with concern. Ned looks at you with an unreadable expression on his face and you wave a hand in the air dismissively.

“Sorry, I… Just, um, another episode I think.” You say with a sheepish smile, cheeks warming at the sympathetic looks they gave you. This was nothing new, of course. You've been having these sensations of déjà vu lately, memories and dreams of a past life you know that you've never lived before. The memories would come at random and your friends have told you that they could tell when it happens. That you go quiet and glassy eyed, mouth slightly opened as you peer off into the distance. Even if you tried to reel in your expression at times, it was like they always just knew. Reni pats your arm and smiles at you softly.

“Why don't you rest early tonight, love? It's getting late and we need to catch the bus. We'll pick up this discussion tomorrow, yeah?” She says as she stands up and gathers her purse. Riri nods before sitting up from off of your lap.

“She's right. Especially since you didn't get much sleep last night. Don't lie to me, I can see the bags under your eyes.” Riri says with a chuckle, poking your cheek when you groan.

“I'm fine! Honest!” Ned is the one to shake his head at you, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

“We believe you. But as your friends, we also want you to take care of yourself. Get some rest, Y/N.” The caring look he gives you makes you slump further down on the couch, a deep sigh leaving your lips. Damn them for being so caring and being right. You did need sleep. Especially after the nightmares that plagued you all last night, keeping you wide awake to avoid having another. Walking to the door, you hug them goodbye as you see them out. And suddenly, you're left alone with your thoughts. Thoughts that drift back to the nightmares from last night. Of the sounds of children screaming and your own sobs as you look around blindly. Of the smell of fire and smoke, burning trees and wood. And the unmistakable shouts of fury from someone who isn't you.

“I'm gonna be thrown in the looney bin at this rate”, you mumble as you press a hand to your temple, eyes closing and letting out a tired sigh. Every time you had those dreams, those false memories, there would be a person you couldn't see. You could hear him, feel him, but never were you permitted to see his features. It unnerved you a little, seeing these images playing in your mind over and over. Its started to get worse in recent years, the dreams and fake memories coming more often than not nowadays. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, you clean up the small mess on the couch before heading off to bed. It doesn't take long for you to drift off, weariness seeping into your bones and making your eyelids heavy.

“Run! Get the children and get out of here!” The voice yells at you, frantic and in disarray. Hands push at your shoulders, forcing you to turn away.

“Not without you!” You sob desperately, trying hard to look at the source of your worry. Only for his hands to be firm in making you flee.

“I'll find you! Just leave, quickly!” Fire licks at your cheeks as the scene suddenly shifts, now with your arms around something, protecting something. A hand harshly yanks at your hair, pulling you away as you scream and kick, trying to get back to what you were protecting. Sounds of children crying and screaming fill your ears as you look up, heart shattering as you watch the cottage you built with love crumble to the ground, flowers crushing and burning under the lit wood.

“Get away from them!” The voice you know in your heart roars, all boiling rage and dripping despair. “Osborn! I'll rip you apart!” You can hear as he struggles, trying hard to get to you and the children that cry in the distance. A piercing scream rings through the air and now you're falling from up high, tears dripping from your eyes as you gasp. It feels like hundreds of hands are dragging you down, your deadly descent to the ground impending. You reach your hand towards the sky and…

Gasping and clawing at your chest, you shoot upright in your bed. Sweat drenches your sheets and makes your clothes stick to your skin as you choke and gasp for air. You can still feel the ash and smoke in your lungs, feel it cling to your cheeks like a layer of dirt. Your scalp stings, the feeling of hands restraining you still lingering on your skin. Shaking, you bring a trembling hand up to cover your mouth, muffle the wrecked sobs that wrack your frame. That dream just now was too vivid, too real. Tears, hot and thick, fall down your face as you squeeze your eyes shut. It would pass, as it always did. This feeling, these nightmares that you knew was your mind playing tricks on you. It takes several moments before your thundering heartbeat slows, until your body realizes there's no danger. Exhaustion clings to your very bones as the fright from your night terror dies down, leaving you sagging against your pillows once more. You can't even fight against sleep when it comes for you yet again, mind and heart too tired to stay up again. At least this time, you dream a dreamless sleep for once.

Days pass after that night, and you don't utter a word to your friends of the nightmare. You don't want to ruin this day, the idea of a festival making you perk up a bit. You needed some fun to rid you of the terrible screams that went off in your mind like a broken record. Looking in the mirror, you fix the lacy ruffles on your white shirt and fluff out the feathers on your faux white wings. Pinning the glowing halo headband onto your head, you smile at your reflection. Your angel outfit was nice, but it felt like something was missing. Pursing your lips, your eyes drifted down to your bare neck and you snapped your fingers before rummaging through your drawers.

“Come on. I know it's around here somewhere”, you mumble as your fingers blindly feel for the item you're looking for. Feeling the cold metal of the chain, you let out a triumphant huff and pull the necklace from the drawer. It was a long, dainty silver chain with a sparkling ruby in the shape of a tear. Putting it on, you feel a sense of familiarity come over you as you stare at the jewel in the mirror. You're not sure when you had gotten it nor how you obtained it. The only thing you knew was that it held weight over you, meant more to you than most of the other things you've gained in your life. Your gaze lingers on the gem a little longer as a wave of sadness washes over you before you shake your head, ridding yourself of those thoughts.

“No being sad today. Get it together.” You whisper quietly to yourself, your ears perking as you hear the sound of a car honking outside your apartment. Looking out the window, a grin lights up your face at the sight of your friends waving to you from inside the rental car. After grabbing your keys and wallet, you hurry outside, jumping into the back seat and letting out a low whistle at Riri’s costume. She's dressed as a demon with horns, impish wings and a tail. Red dress stopping at her thigh that's covered with her black fishnet tights, her black leather jacket is adorned with a plethora of pins and buttons. The buckles on her long black combat boots jingle and her black lipstick stained lips pull back in order to smile at you, flashing a pair of fangs.

“Look at you, Ri. Lookin’ hell-a fine.” Her smile drops just as fast as it had appeared.

“I love you, but don't ever do that again.” You laugh before patting her knee. Ned grins at you through the rear view mirror, large spartan helmet covering most of his face. You raise an eyebrow at him before looking at Reni, who's decked out in a white chiton with gold leaves wrapping around her torso. A crown of golden leaves sit on her head, braids wrapped up in a bun and adorned with little gold specks. She flashes you a smile, lips stained a wine red color. The costumes click in your mind and you look at them both with fondness.

“Ares and Aphrodite, hm? How cute.” Riri scoffs at your words before folding her arms, nose scrunched in feigned disgust.

“So cute that it makes me wanna vomit.”

“Oh, shut up, Ri. We look bloody fit and you're just a hater”, Ned says with a smirk as he leans over to press a kiss to Serenity's cheek. You chuckle as you watch Riri pretend to strangle herself, Reni sticking out her tongue at you both. The ride to Gloucestershire is filled with loud joking and sparky remarks, the lot of you eager to see what the Halloween festival has to offer. Once you get there, your eyes widen at just how big the festival actually is. There are dozens of people dressed in all kinds of costumes walking about, fairy lights strewn up on every post. Jack-o-lanterns with wicked smiles sitting on mounds of hay greet you as you walk down the cobblestone path to enter. There are multiple stands with games and food about the place, the prizes you see tempting you. There's a haunted house and a wagon for hayrides, horses waiting patiently. But, what really draws your attention is the giant corn maze way off in the corner.

The slight breeze rustles the stalks of corn, making them sway in the wind. There's no signs nor fancy lights set up in front of the opening, as if it was purposely ostracized. The sight makes you raise an eyebrow in question, your attention fully on the corn maze that seemed to beckon you under the light of the full moon. A hand on your shoulder snaps you out of your daze and you smile sheepishly at a confused Reni. She tilts her head and points a thumb over at the balloon popping stand.

“Let's go, mate. They've got this real cute spider plush I know you'll want”, she says in a sing-song voice, eyes shining with a knowing gleam in her eyes. Your eyes lighting up in apparent interest makes her giggle and she loops her arm in yours, leading you over to the stand. Something brushes along the back of your neck and you shiver, glancing over your shoulder back at the maze. Shaking your head, you focus your attention on your friends, determined not to let your episodes get the better of you tonight. Several rounds of balloon popping later, you're holding a giant black spider plush with a huge grin on your face. Your friends watch you with amused expressions and you lean your head on Riri’s shoulder.

“Thanks for winning me the plush, Ri”, you say with a sickening sweetness to your voice while batting your lashes up at her. Which in turn earns you a hand to the face, mushing you as she recoils.

“Ew, go be cute somewhere else”, Riri huffs playfully before pointing over to another stall. “Guys, I want candy corn! Let's go!” Ned gags as he walks beside you two, arm draped over Reni’s shoulder.

“I can't believe you eat that crap. It's so gross.” Riri glares at him and sticks out her tongue, blowing a raspberry at him.

“Whatever. It's not for you, innit. It's for me. Now shut up and pay for it, Neddy boy.” He grumbles under his breath but still relents and pays for it, forever a sap for his favorite people. It makes you smile. After a while of walking around and seeing what each stall has to offer, Ned is the one to pull your small group over to the corn maze you had seen earlier. Sweat drips down the back of your neck as you peer at the dense rows of corn stalks, a sudden feeling of nervousness washing over you. Grinning, he fixes the belt of his costume and gestures to the maze while wiggling his eyebrows.

“Wha’ do you lot say to a little race? Last one out has to buy drinks for everyone. Good?” Before any of you can utter a word, one of the locals that was running the pumpkin carving stand nearby shakes his head. His eyes are dark with an unreadable expression that seems to unsettle you. He waves a finger and points to the thick corn, his voice a dreaded calm.

“I wouldn't go there if I were you. Too many visitors go in every year. Very little come out of the bloody thing.” He lifts his hands then, wriggling his fingers and a deep grimace appearing on his lips. If he was trying to scare you, his little act was doing a poor job. “There's a legend. Of a demon prince who was banished to the mortal realm and forced to sit as a scarecrow for the rest of his days as a punishment. For what, nobody knows.” The man slams his hands down on the table then, eyes wide and startling the poor customers who were carving their pumpkins.

“They say if you go into his maze without a light source and make even the smallest of sounds, Mr. Crow Buster will come for you. And feast on your very soul.” The story makes you want to laugh but you bite back the giggle and smile at him. Your friends, however, burst out laughing and keel over. Reni holds onto your arm as she wheezes and the man glares at her, folding his arms and waiting for them to finish. You shake your head and look at him apologetically as you hold your friend up.

“Oh… Oh my days”, Ned heaves out as he tries to reign in the loud chortles of amusement. Taking a deep breath, he looks over at the man and nods his head.

“Alright, mate. That was a good one.” The man scowls and narrows his eyes at you four.

“It's true! There's been numerous disappearances every year whenever people go into that maze. But, be my guest. Don't say I didn't bloody warn you.” He grumbles before turning back to man his stand. His words make you a bit nervous, the idea of people going missing in the maze making you hesitant to go in. Even though you're already so very drawn to it, like something was coercing you into stepping inside. Riri shakes her head and rolls her eyes as she turns towards the maze.

“Some people are just bonkers”, she mumbles as she walks closer to the maze, peering into it with a twinkle in her eyes. You watch as your friends walk closer to the start of it, clearly very ready to race to the finish line. Anxiety gnaws at your stomach as you linger a few paces behind them, gazing into how the corn splits into five different paths. Hands fidgeting with the sleeve of your shirt, you clear your throat.

“Did you see the look in his eyes, though? He was serious when he said people have been disappearing…” You say quietly, pressing your face against Reni’s shoulder. Serenity chuckles and pats your cheek softly.

“Absolute rubbish. If there were disappearances, the festival wouldn't keep happenin’, right?” Reni says as she fixes the gold bracelet on her wrist. She had a point. Still, you couldn't shake this nagging feeling in the pit of your stomach. You step back away from them a bit and they all turn around to look at you with confusion.

“E-Even if that's the case, I think I'll just stay out here. Watch everyone's things, ya know?” You say with a sheepish smile, only for Riri and Ned to laugh. Riri folds her arms and raises an eyebrow at you, a teasing smirk on her lips.

“Seriously? Come now. I thought you were better than this, Y/N! Letting a silly rumor get the better of you…” Riri shakes her head and clicks her tongue in mock disappointment. It makes you furrow your eyebrows in confusion and slight irritation. Frowning, you place your hands on your hips and glare at her.

“I don't have to participate in this stupid race if I don't want to, Ri.” She holds up her hands in mock surrender and smirks at you, only furthering your growing irritation.

“Of course, of course. We understand if it's too much for you to handle, little dove”, Ned says, snickering as he leans against the wooden post outside the maze. You can feel your eye twitching at the nickname. They knew how much you absolutely loathe that name, the simple words always triggering your flight or fight sense for some odd reason. You shoot him a warning glare and open your mouth to speak before Reni pipes up, a giggle of words escaping her lips.

“Little dove, so quick to fly away when in front of a challenge. Don't worry. We understand.” Her soft words make you grit your teeth, anger swirling in your chest as you glare at them all. Without a word, you place your plush near the opening and grab one of the flashlights in a bin by the start of the maze. Flicking it on, you narrow your eyes at them all, scoffing at the accomplished look on their faces before silently trudging into the maze.

You each take different paths, separated from one another. As you stomp down the path, the feeling of unease comes back, washing away the fury that had been there before. It's silent, save for the whistling of the wind. And yet… Taking a deep breath to calm yourself down, you remember what the man at the stall had said. You'd be fine as long as you stayed quiet and had a light source, easy peasy. Unfortunately for you your flashlight begins to flicker, light blinking on and off. Alarms ring in your head as you shake the tool in your hands, hoping that it's only a loose battery or a short or something. You didn't know how flashlights worked, dammit. Only that if it flickered out, you'd be left in the dark with nothing but the moon as your guide. Your heart plummets when it slowly stops its blinking, light no longer shining down the path before you. You can feel your heart thundering in your ears as you slowly trudge on, eyes frantically moving about as the urban legend replays over and over in your mind.

“Shit!” You cry out loudly as you suddenly trip over something then, falling onto your knees on the dirt road. Scowling, you turn to see what had made you fall, only for your eyes to widen at seeing a lone gray sneaker. Your breath stills as you slowly get up, dirt clinging to your knees as you study the shoe. Why was there only one and where in the world was it's owner? Crows shoot up from the corn in the distance, cawing and flying high into the air. The sound startles you and you look up as they fly away. Sweat beads at your brow, knowing something had to frighten the birds for a flock of them to suddenly just up and leave. Rubbing at your arms, you continue walking, even as the air seems to grow colder around you. Growing fed up and nerves worsening the longer you spent trudging through this maze, you take a deep breath and cut through the tall stalks of corn.

You can feel as your shirt snags onto the stalks as you walk, the feathers of your faux wings falling onto the ground. Scowling, you mentally curse your friends for egging you on, then you curse yourself for entertaining their jabs in the first place. It feels like hours trudging through the leaves until you suddenly stumble upon a clearing, surrounded completely by stalks of corn. In the middle sits a lone scarecrow, hanging up by its hands and feet on a pole. Straw sticks out of its large hat, bundles of hay surrounding its hands and feet like the hem of clothing. You raise your eyebrow at it curiously before you inhale sharply, eyes widening and heart pounding so hard in your chest that you swear it aches. Because there's no way that it's looking straight at you, is there? But it is, it's head slowly turning to the side to fully look at you, long lanky arms falling limply at its sides as it continues to stare. You can't move, can't even blink as you stare back at the living scarecrow, terror and dread welling up inside your chest. You suddenly recall your earlier slip up, lips trembling with fear.

The scarecrow tilts its head which makes its entire weight lean forward. Slowly, it tumbles forward onto the ground, body rolling into itself as it sprawls on the dirt. It doesn't move for several heartbeats, minutes that seem like an eternity. Lanky limbs twitching and lifting up, its movements are lanky and erratic as it picks itself up, back now facing you. A whimper leaves your lips as it's head turns completely around to face you fully, the sound of creaking twigs snapping reminding you too much of wet bone. Its limbs whip around as it rights itself, turning to you correctly now, its head tilting as it takes a wobbly step forward. That's all it takes to send you sprinting, dashing and zipping through the dense stalks of corn.

Hot tears of terror streak down your cheeks and blur your vision a bit as you weave through the corn, breath coming out in harsh pants as you run from the creature. A loud roar pierces through the night, ringing in your ears and sounding close to a growl. You take the chance as quickly glance behind your shoulder, crying out in horror as you see the scarecrow hot on your trail, running at you on all fours with its head turned upside down. The painted face on it morphs then teeth turning razor sharp and blood seeping from its mouth. Eyes now gaping black holes, it cackles wickedly before lunging at you. You scream and duck just as it jumps at you, quickly running away in a different direction. Just when you think you're going to make it, your fake wings get stuck on a stalk of corn. You pull and pull with all your might, frightened tears dripping down your shirt as the scarecrow steadily draws near, now running at you on its legs. It moves like a ragdoll, limp and janky and no less terrifying. You finally manage to pull away from the plant, wing now damaged as you move to run again.

Hands roughly grab your arms and you scream as you're turned around to face the creature who opens its dripping, bloody maw. And as you peer up at the source of your demise, you're suddenly lying in a field of flowers, hands lovingly caressing your skin. Lips press against your cheek as you close your eyes, the scene once again shifting back to the creature before you. Clenching your eyes shut, you await death with a heavy heart. Only, confusion fills you as you continue to hear your heartbeat in your ears. Trembling, you wait for several more minutes that feel like an eternity, waiting for the painful sensation of teeth on your flesh or however it goes. Only to feel a warm hand pressing against your cheek gently. Flinching, you wrench your eyes open and feel your very breath being stolen from your lungs at the sight of the stranger.

Standing before you is a man so beautiful that you can't believe your eyes. He looks at you with wide golden eyes, surprise gleaming in them as he gazes down at you. Piercings that look like thumbtacks litter his face, hair in wicks that look like straw. He smells of hay and something else, like cashmeran. Something about his expression seems sad as he gazes at you and you suddenly feel more at ease than you have in months. His presence brings about a calming effect that would worry you if you weren't so lost in his golden gaze, liquid and warm as he stares at you. Taking a deep breath, you look him over slowly, breath hitching at the sight of his clothes, the same ones that the scarecrow was wearing. Lips trembling, you peer back up at him.

“Y-You're not gonna eat me…?” You whisper softly, still a little shaken up. The man chuckles softly and you feel your cheeks grow warm underneath his palm, heart fluttering at how deep and pleasant his voice sounded just from that alone.

“I was goin’ to, but 's not everyday I get such a gorgeous angel visiting my little place ‘ere.” His mumbled words almost make you swoon a bit, but you can't help the sudden snort that leaves you at his words. His eyebrow raises in question as you place a hand over your lips to muffle your chuckles, a grin flitting across his face as he watches you laugh. His fingers on your cheek tap at your skin as he looks at you.

“Somethin’ funny, darlin’?”

“Sorry, sorry. I just… You're a demon, right?” He nods his head, removing his hands from you to stuff them in his pockets. You don't dwell on how your heart flops a little in disappointment for some odd reason.

“And you're not eating my soul or whatnot because I'm dressed like an angel…?”

“Hey, I got morals, innit. Feastin’ on angels means I gotta go to the Hells and I ain't tryn’ to burn for eternity. Ya get me?” You can't help the laugh that leaves you at that and he chuckles as you hold your stomach. A demon with humor, who knew? You gaze up at him with a curious gleam in your eyes and you tilt your head.

“What's your name Mr. Demon with morals?” His lopsided grin as he lifts your hand to his lips makes your head spin, heart pounding in your chest as he places a tender kiss on the back of your hand.

“The name's Hobie, love. It's a pleasure to meet you.” Hobie leads you out of the corn maze after that, the two of you talking during the walk to the exit. His company is welcoming and not at all like the frightening terror he was earlier. And, even though he had been trying to devour your soul at first, you couldn't wipe the smile off of your lips the whole time you talked with him. He was funny and sweet and so very handsome. Perhaps it was strange how utterly safe you felt with him, how you wished his hand would grip yours as you walked. You couldn't help it, though. Hobie had this gentle air about him, an aura that nestled you in a blanket of warmth. The moon shined down brightly on you two as you neared the exit, disappointment coiling in your stomach. You wanted to talk with him more, learn more about the strange demon who seemed to captivate you. Stopping a ways ahead of the exit, Hobie turns to you and softly grips your hands in his, fingers intertwining with your own. It makes your breath hitch and your heart flutter as you gaze up at him. His golden eyes glitter like the stars above and you think you're imagining the adoration shining within those lipid pools of his.

“Come see me again, angel…?” He whispers softly, face leaning down until it was inches from your own. You bat your lashes up at him and bite your lip, nodding slowly.

“I-I can… I will. As long as you don't eat my soul.” He chuckles lowly and your eyes flutter shut as he presses a gentle kiss on your forehead, leaving you breathless. Hobie presses a hand against your cheek and you sigh as you nuzzle your face into his palm.

“You drive a hard bargain, love. I promise not to eat your very tasty, very scrumptious lookin’ soul. Till next time, darlin’.” The next time you open your eyes, he's nowhere to be found, nothing but the silence of the corn stalks greets you. Your eyes linger at the spot he was just at, wondering if it had been a dream, another one of your fake memories playing tricks on you. An arm wraps around your shoulders then and you startle as you look at the one who grabbed you. Reni looks over you with growing concern, her hands cupping your face.

“Oh my days, we're so sorry for pressuring you into goin’ in there! You look a right mess. What happened?” Ned and Riri crowd around you as well and you chuckle, pulling away from Serenity's hands.

“I'm okay, guys, really. Let's just enjoy the rest of the festival, okay?” They shared looks of concern before looking at you with a gleam in their eyes. Like they knew something happened. You just walk ahead of them to another stall with a huge smile on your face, waving a hand at them for them to hurry up. And when some random person comes up to you and tells you that they like your fallen angel costume, you feel something inside you click into place. Though you wouldn't figure that out until much later.

“Evening, your Highness.”

“Cut the bullshit, Ri. You never call me that.”

“You're right. Perhaps I should start saying your Majesty, with how well everything's been going.” Hobie rolls his eyes at the cambion grinning up at him, a smile playing on his lips despite himself. His thoughts drift to you, the feeling of seeing you again after all this time... After nearly a century of longing for you, he'd finally gotten to touch you again. And to think his soul starved mind was begging him to feast on that glittering soul of yours, a soul that shined way too bright for just a mere human. It all made sense when he saw your eyes, your exquisite face. It was no human, it was you. His love, his angel, the one who he'd take any number of punisments for regardless of the severity of them. Riri sighs and leans up against his post, checking her nails as her tail swishes back and forth. Her voice pulls him out of his musings.

“Bet you're excited at gettin’ your true form back. How's being a scarecrow been, by the way? Riveting?” A chuckle sounds to his left and he turns to glare at the Crow demon, Riri waving at the new arrivals. Ned looks up at his prince with an amused smirk, dark feathers rustling with his every movement.

“Gotta say, Hobes. The scarecrow look is good for you. Fits with you being so skinny and lanky. You like it, don't you boss man?” He says as Serenity giggles beside him, the succubus wrapping her tail around Ned's leg.

“Not sure. How'd you like my foot up your ass, hm?” Hobie sneers down at him. Ned winces and shakes his head, eyes gleaming with mischief.

“Sounds awful. For you, I mean. It's just gonna break right off into a pile of straw, innit?”

“Oh wow. You havin’ a laugh? Good. Cause if you don't have my intel, you're not gonna be laughin’ in a second.” Hobie huffs as he glares down at his crew of misfits, his words just an empty threat. As much as his friends like to joke with him, they were his family and always did right by him. Serenity rolls her eyes and sits on top of Ned's shoulder, fingers fiddling in his hair.

“Osborn is getting weaker by the day and the other rebel archangels sent word that they're ready to dethrone him in three months' time. Seeing as your angel's memories are coming more often than before, I'd say it's a perfect time to return home.” Serenity looks up at their prince with a wicked grin on her face, fangs on full display. Nodding his head, he looks over at Riri, eyebrow raised and golden eyes slowly turning to slits.

“The location of my children?”

“In your father's realm deep beneath his palace, locked up and frozen in time still. Ready and waiting. Along with our rebel army ready to fight under your name. What say you, your Majesty…?” She says, lips curling into a smile. Rolling his neck, joints popping and golden eyes bleeding into the darkest of crimson, Hobie grins wickedly. His fangs elongate, sharp nails clawing at his wooden post as he molts out of his straw body. Spider legs unfurl from his back, black as night and deadly sharp, glinting under the light of the moon above. On his neck shines a tear shaped sapphire, dangling on a silver chain.

“First”, he snarls as a portal to the Hells opens up in front of the four, “we take over my father's domain. I get my Angel, I get my kids, and I fucking devour that bitch Osborn. Any questions?” They all shake their heads as they excitedly pull out their weapons. Riri pulls out the twin daggers strapped to her hips, Ned brandishing his flaming metal staff and Serenity's fingernails elongating into claws. The smell of fire and brimstone hits their noses as the four walk towards the portal, eyes raging with a furious storm.

“Then let's go kill ourselves a devil.”

#octobie #hobie brown x reader #octobie'24 #hobie brown #fanfic #octobie halloween #demon hobie #angel reader #scarecrow

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gloomy-kitty · 1 year ago

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𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 | 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐮 𝐠𝐨𝐣𝐨 𝐱 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

warnings : super long word count almost 8k, mildly suggestive content, power dynamics, toxic, little ooc, as alway not really proofread because I work in corporate america.

notes : you guys ever played those samurai otomoe games? yeah this is that. this is most definitely not historically accurate lmao and i don't intend it to be. and this is a weird mixture of sengoku period mixed with jjk's whole magic/curse system type of fantasy au. also reader is given a last name just to make it easier!! demons = cursed spirits.

synopsis : satoru gojo is a samurai warlord, he has an abundance of women wrapped around his fingers but none interest him as much as a certain servant girl who cares for the Fushiguro's. her innocent nature and lack of interest in him drives satoru crazy. he wants nothing more than to make this servant girl fall for him like every other woman who was crossed his path. but eventually he realizes his feelings for her are different; it wasn't a game anymore. satoru had fallen in love with her.

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Satoru Gojo a well respected and feared warlord, tales that he was the strongest samurai and curse user to ever live followed in his wake. But he was also known as a womanizer, anyone woman would dream to get his attention even if for a few moments. But to you, he was Lord Gojo your employer you couldn't even fathom ever receiving his a glance from him so you chose to not pay attention to those types of things. You had been working as a servant—maid at the Gojo castle ever since you were nine years old; sold to pay off your family's debt despite you being an orphan from the countless battles that always raged on. But you didn't mind, the castle was nice the Gojo clan treated their staff well so you didn't mind living here after all this was really the only place you've ever known. You sat on the indoor patio overlooking the garden, humming softly to yourself embroidering a dress that you had been working on for a few months now. It was when you heard a commotion and out came from around the corner an older servant lady she looked angered, "I'm over that child !______! You take care of him. He has no manners unlike his sister!" She shouted storming towards you. You raised a brow, "Huh Miss Yoko...what are you talking about?" You asked eying her curiously. "Fushiguro—Megumi. He's ill-behaved I refuse to take care of him anymore plus he seems to like you more. I'm going to talk to Lady Ieiri, go see if you can handle him." She ordered as she stomped away. You sighed standing to your feet, leaving your dress folded away in the corner.

You walked down the bustling hallways of the castle towards the young lord's room. "Lord Fushiguro." You called out knocking on the paper door. "What?! Leave me alone." The young boy grumbled. You rolled your eyes, "I'm not here to lecture you just to just to talk." You said. The door slammed open revealing the short raven hair child, his brows were furrowed and he was pouting. You smiled softly leaning down to meet his eye level, resting your hands on your knees. "Fushiguro. What did you do to make Miss Yoko mad?" You asked. He clicked his tongue in annoyance crossing his arms avoiding your gaze. Reaching out to poked his cheek, "Aw come on don't treat me that way. Tell me." You asked once again this time poking his side. Finally Megumi cracked a smile swatting your hand away. "Old hag—" he began. "Fushiguro!" You gasped playfully slapping his hand for his bad language. He continued not paying much attention to your dramatic gasp, "...was getting on my nerves. She was ranting about how I don't deserve to be in the Gojo clan because apparently I'm a bad kid. I need to be more like Tsumiki. Well I told her to fu—" you cut him off by cupping a hand over his mouth wagging a finger in his face. "Fushi! No! Bad!" You scolded. God this child had a mouth on him. Where did he learn it from? You thought standing to your feet. You crossed your arms tapping your foot against the wooden floor, "You really can't talk like that. It does look bad for the clan." You reminded him. "Well that freak Gojo talks casually and he sleeps with everyone woman he looks at!" Megumi retorted. Sighing you ruffled his hair, "Stop it. It's almost time for dinner and I have to go help with the kitchen duties. Go find your sister and stop talking like that." You said placing a hand on his back giving him a light shove to send him on his way to find his sister.

You watched as his little body ran off down the halls before you made your way towards the kitchen. For some reason you had been assigned to help care for the Fushiguro children that had been adopted into the Gojo clan but Megumi had taken a specific liking to you which in turn made you one of the few people who he would listen to—tolerate.

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Dinner went by without any problems and now you were walking back towards your shared room. The sun had long set by now another day full of chores was complete all you wanted to do was sleep before it was time to repeat the cycle again tomorrow. The halls were quiet most had already retired to their rooms for the nights. Yawning you rubbed your eyes lazily dragging your feet against the floor. "Hey." A voice called out causing you to stop. You fanned your hand in front of your face as you finished your yawning, tears pricked the corner of your eyes as your vision focused on the man standing in front of you. "Yes?" You asked. "This yours?" The man asked handing you a bundle of cloth. Your eyes widened as you quickly took it from him, it was your dress you had been seeing earlier. You looked up too see non other than Satoru Gojo, quickly you bowed your head. "I'm so sorry milord for leaving my garbage out. Please forgive me." You said. Gojo stood there for a few moments before laughing, "It's obviously not garbage. I was walking with Megumi and had found it, think it fell in the garden. He said it was probably yours." He explained. You slowly looked up at him, "You know who I am?" You asked.

The white haired lord nodded, "Duh. Megumi talks about you a lot. Think you remind him of his mom or something." Gojo said nonchalantly. You were shocked that Megumi talked so highly of you especially to the head of the clan. It was even more surprising Gojo was even speaking to you, this was the first time he had ever even exchanged words with you—despite all your years working here. "O-oh I see. I suppose that's a good thing?" You shrugged a shoulder looking at him confused. Gojo looked at your for few more moments as you squirmed awkwardly under his intense gaze. "W...well I should be going now. Have a good night milord." You bowed dismissing yourself before scurrying away. Gojo watched as you ran off, he groaned rubbing the back of his head, "Fucked that up didn't I?" He muttered to himself.

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You had soon forgotten your encounter with Satoru Gojo as other things preoccupied your mind. The next time you encountered the man was a couple weeks later when you were cleaning the hallways where his chambers resided. You scrubbed on your knees, the brush sliding back and forth along the wooden floor. Your kimono sleeves were rolled up and your dress was pulled up higher than usual as to not get it wet. "I prefer my women to be more modest." A voice said from behind you. You jumped in surprise sending the brush flying across the hallway, groaning in frustration you sat up looking to see had spoken to you. "Why does it matter what you prefer?" You began voice clearly laced with annoyance and frustration. It was non other than Lord Gojo hovering above you a lazy smirk plastered on his pale face. As usual his kimono was half opened exposing his muscular chest, his hand limply slipped inside the fabric. "It matters because I'm the Lord of this castle." He replied back his voice was playful. You weren't in the mood to play games as you had been painstakingly hand washing the floors of this offensively large castle. "I'm sorry I'm not up your standards Lord Gojo. I'm cleaning the last thing I was worried about was my modesty." You apologized half heartedly waiting for him to hurry up and go to his room at the end of the hall.

Gojo leaned against the wall watching you intensely, "How come I've never noticed how cute you were before ______— can I call you that? I like it more than Hachisu." He asked seemingly to ignore your previous comment. You were taken aback by his casualness on calling you by your first name, "I suppose you can call me whatever you'd like my lord. As for your previous question...probably because I'm a servant." You said looking at him with a blank expression. "That's a shame. I guess I should of paid more attention to the servants if you were amongst them. Care to join me in my room for a cup of sake?" He asked. You hummed in reply, "Mmm...I'd rather not. I'm awfully busy today. Thank you for the generous offer though." You tried to politely decline his request as you were not in the mood for meaningless chit chat. Gojo sighed shrugging his shoulders a look of defeat on his face, "You're missing out but the offer is always there ______ my room is always open to you~" he said before walking into his room shutting the doors behind him. Shaking your head you went back to work rewashing the spots he had just walked on.

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You sat on the tatami floor with Megumi sitting in between your legs as your brushed his wet hair. He had just taken a bath and you made it your goal to tame his wild hair. You sang softly under your breath as you ran the comb though his hair. "Master Gojo always keeps bugging me with questions about you all of sudden." Megumi said. You stopped singing and brushing his hair, "Why's that?" You asked curiously. The boy shrugged, "Dunno. You've been taking care of me for the past two years don't know why he's suddenly interested in you. Did you do something?" He asked. You raised a brow shaking your head, "No don't think so. Didn't think he'd care about a servant girl enough to ask questions." You replied. It was strange but you figured you were his newest interest and soon he'd be bored of you moving onto to the next girl. You patted Megumi's shoulder, "Up. Go lay down so I can tuck you in. You've got a big day tomorrow after all, you'll be training with Lord Geto." You smiled moving on from the topic. Megumi mumbled under his breath slowly crawling towards his futon. He slipped under the covers and reached for a book beside him, "Can you help me read this tonight ______?" He asked waving the book in your face. You took it from him as you began to flip through the pages a frown slowly replacing your warm smile. "I..I'm sorry Megumi. I can't read this it's too advanced for me. I'll ask Miss Ieiri if she knows someone who can read this." You said embarrassedly. Megumi took the book from you laying it beside him, "It's fine ______. I'll just go to bed." He said disappointedly rolling to face the other way. You sighed tucking him in, "Sleep well young lord." You said softly before standing up to blow out the candles and leaving his room. Before you slid the door shut Megumi called out to you quietly, "You're more than a servant to me ______. Don't let that weirdo make you feel otherwise." He mumbled. "Thank you Megumi." You smiled sliding the door shut.

You walked down the hall as tears threatened to spill, that was the kindest words that had ever been said to you before from a noble and it came from a child. The tears slowly ran down your cheeks as you wiped your eyes with the fabric of your sleeve. "Why are you crying?" Gojo's voice asked, "Megumi say something rude?" He asked snapping you out of your self pity party. You looked up at the man blinking away the tears, "No. I'm not crying just got something in my eye." You quickly said. Gojo clicked his tongue in annoyance, "You're bad a lying." He smirked. "It's really none of your concern Lord Gojo." You snapped trying to walk past him but he grabbed your wrists pinning you against the bamboo wall. He hovered above you with your hands pinned above your head, his face close to yours. "I order you to talk to me ______. Don't disobey your master now." His voice was low. His crystal blue eyes peered into your own eyes. You stared at him shock, your heart was beating loudly and quickly. "Go ahead speak." He smirked. Suddenly rage gripped you and you squirmed out of his strong grip pushing him with all your might, "Fine if you really want to know my lord! I'm an idiot I can't read above a young child's level. Not that that would be something that ever cross your noble mind." You shouted. Candles flickered on from the rooms that lined the hallways but you could care less. Gojo looked at you his eyes widened in shock, he stepped towards you. But you reached out slapping him across the face before storming off; right now you didn't care about the consequences of your actions. You could care less that you slapped the most feared lord in all of the Japan across the face.

"You want me to get her Satoru?" Suguru Geto stepped out his room. "Huh why are you grinning like an idiot?" Out came Shoko Ieiri yawning. Gojo stood there with a grin on his face he shook his head, "No leave her be." He waved his hand dismissively at the two before walking off. The raven haired man exchanged a look of confusion with the brunette beside him. "He turned off his infinity almost like he wanted to be slapped. What a freak." Shoko smirked before shrugging it off heading back into her room. Geto soon following after her, returning back to his room. Sometimes Satoru was impossible to read.

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When morning came the whole castle knew about you slapping Gojo across the face. The women you shared with a room with scolded you all morning long about just how awful you were. So as an unofficial punishment for daring to lay a hand on the beautiful warlord who had so graciously turned off his infinity for you, you were put to work outside. You breathed heavily as you carried large bags of rice from a supply cart all the way into the kitchen. This work was typically left to the men so you were completely unfit for the job. As you began to stumble losing your balance you felt the weight lifted off, you collapsed to the ground catching your breath. "Jealous old maids sending you to do men's work they should be ashamed of themselves." A familiar voice said clicking his tongue. You looked up seeing white hair glistening under the sunlight, the bags of rice you were carrying were slung over his shoulder, you hung your head low sighing. "It's my punishment for laying a hand on you. I won't apologize so just deal with me as you see fit Lord Gojo." You mumbled as you looked at the grass. Gojo laughed, "I don't expect you to apologize I've come here to tell you something. Stand up." He said. Slowly you stood to your feet still avoiding eye contact with him.

Gojo raised a brow, he wasn't used to seeing you mope around. "I've decided I'll give you reading and writing lessons. Every night after your dinner come see me in my room." He said. You looked up at him, he smiled warmly at you it seemed so genuine like he wasn't mocking or taking pity on you. "Are you serious?" You asked is disbelief. He nodded, "One hundred percent serious ______. Also take the rest of the day off, I'll handle the rest of your workload." Gojo said. You just stared at him you were certainly expecting him to kick you out of the castle onto the streets yet here he was offering you lessons. "Well go on." He smirked shooing you way. Without another word you bowed your head before scrambling off.

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You could hardly stomach your dinner, the other servants were now completely avoiding you gossiping. "How dare she let Lord Gojo do her chores?" One whispered rather loudly while glaring at you. "She's not even that cute yet Lord Gojo let her get away with slapping him and now she's invited to his quarters?" Another one said. You prayed dinner would be over soon so you could escape from their harsh words.

As soon as dinner was done you quickly cleaned up your mess before rushing up the stairs to the top floor where Lord Gojo's room was. You paced impatiently up and down the hall biting your fingernails. "Oh you're early. Someone's a little eager." Gojo's voice echoed through the quiet halls that same devilish smirk playing on his lips. You nodded, "I couldn't get away fast enough. Thanks to you taking over my chores today the other women won't stop talking badly about me. I wouldn't be surprised if they threw out my things out when I return for bed." You snapped. Gojo slowly nodded, "Ah I see. Fine I'll make arrangements. You can sleep in one of the guest rooms on this floor." He said before walking past you into his room motioning for you to follow. "Sit ______." He ordered pointing at a cushion on the floor in front of his desk. You nodded getting to your knees your hands folded in your lap nervously. You watched as Gojo rummaged through a bookshelf but he pulled a thin book. He sat down beside you sliding the book at you, "Open it and read as much as you can. Just so I can gauge where you're at." He said.

Your hands were shaking as you slowly opened the book, your eyes scanning over the characters on the page. Gulping you looked at him he nodded in encouragement. Your index finger slowly began to trace along the word as you tried sounding out the syllables, "As..I..tu..turn my gaze...up...up.." you came to a bump you looked at Gojo for help. "Just keep going skip what you don't know." He encouraged. You nodded, "As I turn my gaze up...and see the...moon...i am...of the...of the...woman...i...see.." you concluded looking at him with a defeated expression. Gojo only smiled warmly at you, "Not bad for your first time reading poetry. Here let me help you." He said leaning over placing his hand on top of yours, his index finger resting on top of yours as he traced under the words. You felt your face heat up by how close he was but you focused on the words in front of you. "As I turn my gaze upward...and I see the crescent moon...I am reminded...of the trailing eyebrows of the woman I saw but once." He finished though he didn't let go of your hand and his chest was still pressed against your arm. "What does that even mean?" You asked not really getting the poem. Gojo let go of your hand and shrugged, "Dunno some sappy love poem. Seems to be the only thing people want to write these days. Anyways let do another." He suggested flipping the page never moving away from you, not that you minded.

You spent all night reading and writing you weren't sure when you fell asleep but Gojo had noticed you nodding off as he was writing something for you to read. When he looked up from his brush he saw you sitting up still, eyes closed as you breathed softly you were asleep. He chuckled standing up scooping you in his arms before placing you on his own futon being sure to tuck you in. That night Gojo opted to sleep on the tatami floor making sure to keep a comfortable distance away from you.

When you awoke you were in an unfamiliar room and a very comfortable bed. You rubbed your eyes as you adjusted to the lightening. You were still in Gojo's room you quickly scrambled out of bed looking around for the white haired warlord but he was nowhere to be seen. Running a hand through your hair you huffed, "I have to sneak out of here." You muttered. The last thing you wanted was more rumors going on about you. You listened for footsteps and when the coast seemed cleared you sneaked out and downstairs just in time for breakfast.

No one seemed to notice your absence but you couldn't help but notice Gojo was nowhere to be seen. As you began washing yourself up after breakfast you then walked to Megumi's room to get him ready for his training with Lord Geto. Tsumiki was also in the room as she brushed through her brother's hair. "______!" Megumi shouted when he spotted you. Tsumiki held him still as she continued to comb his hair, "Good morning Miss ______." She greeted flashing you a smile. You bowed at the two walking over, "Here I'll finish up Lady Tsumiki. You should go get ready for your day." You smiled she nodded leaving you two alone. It didn't take until you finished dressing Megumi and sending him on his way to find Geto. The rest of your day you spent doing chores.

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When night came you went to Gojo's bedroom and continued on with your lessons it was apart of your daily routine and had been for nearly a month now. Though you were still stuck in the servant quarters the other had begun to just ignore you which you thought was better than getting gossiped about. You were becoming more comfortable around Gojo and you realized he wasn't all too bad, beneath the surface level of his womanizer playful personality, was someone who was an intellect and kind. It seemed like he just wanted company more than anything. As you fished wrapping up your lessons for the night Gojo stopped you grabbing your wrist, "Sit with me for a moment ______." He said taking a sip of sake. You obliged, "What is it my lord?" You asked tilting your head curiously.

Gojo's face looked unsure and it was completely serious for once, his brows furrowed. "______, take care of Megumi and Tsumiki for me while I'm away. You see...Megumi comes from the Zenin clan I made a promise with his father to protect him. He trusts you I can tell." He said. You frowned, "What's this all about is something happening to you?" You asked. Gojo shook his head white strands of hair falling in front of his ocean blue eyes, "Nah I'll just be away for a while starting tomorrow. So our lessons will be postponed. Strong Demons are lurking near the Northern territories along with people who wish to overthrow me. I'll be taking the army to handle any plot of rebellion. I expect when I get back you'll be able to write your own poem." He smirked letting go of your wrist. Things had been so peaceful lately it was only a matter of time before the men would be going back to war. "Okay I promise to take care of Megumi and Tsumiki, not like I haven't been anyways. And I promise to have a poem written for you upon your arrival." You grinned and with that you two wished one another a good night.

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A month had passed before Gojo's army returned in the middle of the night. The men were wounded but yet they were in high spirits; the battle was victorious despite their injuries. The castle was in utter disarray as the servant women ran about clearing rooms to make makeshift infirmaries for all the wounded. Shoko was running about to mend the soldiers wounds. And for you, You sat in a storage room that was turned into a makeshift infirmary. placing a warm damp rag onto of the man's forehead you tried to comfort him as a another woman stitched his cut together, "You'll feel better soon. Just relax." You said as you cleaned his body of dried blood. You weren't a medic so you felt useless, "______, go fetch some clean rags." The older woman ordered. You nodded standing up leaving the room to search for any remaining clean cloths. As you searched the halls you were stopped by Geto, "______, go see Lord Gojo in his chambers." He said. You looked at the raven haired man, he looked fine for the most part a few cuts and bruises but otherwise well. "I will once I find some cloth—" you began but was cut off. "No I'll go fetch some. Who was needing it?" Geto asked. "Miss Yoko..she's in the storage shed." You said. Geto nodded motioning with his hand for you to go to Gojo. You bowed before quickly climbing the stairs up to Gojo's room.

The commotion from downstairs did not make its way up the top floor where Gojo resided. It was quiet not a single candle was lit, the hallway was dark it was eerie. You slowly walked down the hall finally coming to a stop in front the paper sliding doors of Gojo's room. "Lord Gojo..you called for me?" You called out awaiting his response. But when you didn't hear anything after a couple minutes you took it upon yourself to enter the room. Slowly you slid the door open being sure to slide it back shut once you stepped into the room. It was much like the hallway, dark and quiet but upon listening you heard the sound of running water.

"_______, is that you?" Gojo's voice called out from behind another door. "Y-yes milord!" You replied following the sound of his voice. He must of been in the bath but why he was asking for you was unbeknownst to you. "Come here." Gojo ordered but his voice sounded weaker than usual less playful. Taking a deep breath you slid the door open a wave of steam hitting your face. You closed your eyes as you followed along the wall, "Okay I'm here. What did you need?" You asked. "Open your eyes ______, I need your help. Don't worry I'm decent." He said. Pulling your hands to cover your eyes you peaked through your fingers just to be sure that Gojo was decent. He sat on the ledge of wooden bathtub, his legs were half in the water, a towel wrapped around his waist. His head was hung low as his wet white hair clung to his pale skin. It was then you noticed his body was littered in deep bloody gashes. You gasped in shock, Gojo only chuckled, "Yeah I got the worse of it. I just need your help dressing the wounds and applying the medicinal treatment." He said motioning for you to come over, "There I laid out all the things. I'll walk you through it." He said.

You shook your head, "Wouldn't Miss Ieiri be more suitable for this? I can't heal wounds with a touch like she can." You tried to reason. You had no medical knowledge you were just a simple girl from a small village. Gojo clicked his tongue in annoyance, "I know but she needs to focus on the others plus I don't want to worry anyone, you know. if the men see their leader injured might ruin morale, might cause people to see me as weak. Just grab that rag ______ and apply that cream then bandaged the cut." He said pointing his finger at each item. Sighing nervously you picked up clean rag and placed the cream on it as ordered and gently began to dab the gash on his shoulder. He winced hissing through his teeth, you paused afraid you were doing something wrong. "It's fine keep going." He hissed. After what felt like hours you were finally done taking a step back you now got a full view of just how injured Gojo had gotten. His body was covered in bandages some already beginning to turn a pale red as the blood seeped through. "All done my lord. What else can I get you?" You asked beginning to clean up the area.

Gojo stood to his feet, his towel hanging loosely on his waist. "My clothes. I'm going to bed." He ordered walking past you out of the bath room and into his room. You nodded and quickly rummaged through his closet before finally pulling out a robe handing it to him. He thanked you turning around and dropping his towel. You let out a surprised yelp as you covered your eyes. Gojo didn't say anything else as he laid down onto his futon closing his eyes. You took it as your queue to leave him be as you quietly made your way out of his room you heard his soft voice call out. "Thank you ______. You're a good girl." He said. You raised your brows shaking your head, "Goodnight Lord Gojo." You whispered in reply leaving his room and returning back to the infirmary to help out you had a long night ahead of you.

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Your nightly routine of lessons with Gojo were postponed replaced by nightly sessions of you mending his wounds, he was healing incredibly slow and refused to ask for Shoko's aid. tonight was like the previous ones before. Gojo sat on the tatami floors of his chambers, his robe pulled down to waist as you gently cleaned and rebandaged his wounds. You had learned of what exactly transpired that night which caused more than half the army to be injured in some way. They were ambushed on their way back to the capital by demons and amongst those demons were people who seemed to have tamed them. Gojo ordered the army back to the capital in fear that the castle had been invaded while he stayed back to finish them off which he to no one's surprise. When he had caught up with the army Geto was waiting and quickly brought Gojo to his chambers to avoid the other men from seeing just how injured he was. Gojo then asked for your assistance only. Which brought you to your current question, "Lord Gojo...why did you ask for me and not one of the other servants who have more medical knowledge?" You asked softly as you tightened the bandage around his bicep.

Gojo sipped on a cup of sake and shrugged, "You're the only one I felt I could trust. You treat me like an actual human unlike a lot of the other women around here. I wasn't in the mood for meaningless praise and pity while I was patched up. I knew you wouldn't do that so I asked for you." He answered nonchalantly. You looked up at him, the side profile of his face was illuminated by the dim candle light and the moon's glow. He looked surreal—ethereal it was no wonder why woman threw themselves at him and his flirtatious personality certainly didn't help. You'd be lying if you said you didn't find Gojo attractive, but you didn't throw yourself at him because you felt like he would use you despite how close you two had been getting. You were from a poor household, an orphan. You were a servant girl made to serve someone with a higher status than you for the rest of your life so why would you waste your time on even imagining anything with someone of Satoru Gojo's status?

Finally you replied, "Ah I see that makes sense. Well I'm glad I can be of some use to you." You smiled weakly as you pulled Gojo's robe back up to cover him from the cold breeze. He eyed your from the side watching as you began to clean up stacking bloodied rags onto a tray. "Are you leaving?" He asked. You nodded, "Yes, I'll be back in the morning." You smiled at him. He sat the cup of sake down and grabbed your hand, "Stay with me tonight. I'm tired of sleeping alone." He pleaded his voice was uncharacteristically soft. You gazed into his eyes for some time trying to guess his intentions but you gave in sitting the tray down on the table. "Very well. Here let me fix your bed. I can tell you've drank too much." You scolded gently. As you changed the sheets into new ones you patted the pillow, "Come on Lord Gojo. Let's go to sleep." You motioned for him to come over. As he downed the last of his sake he made his way over to the bed promptly falling down and pulling the covers over him. As you began to make your own bed beside him he grabbed your hand pulling you onto the bed. Wrapping his arms around your waist he nuzzled against your neck, his warm breath against your ear. "Stop calling my Lord Gojo..aren't we close enough yet you can call me Satoru? I call you ______ after all." He slurred in his half asleep and awake drunken state.

You felt butterflies in your stomach as you tried to control your nerves. Your hand was placed instinctively on top of strong forearms. Satoru held onto you like he was afraid you'd disappear, his body was pressed against your back. "O-okay Satoru." You stammered it felt so odd to refer to him so casually, it felt wrong in a way. Here you were a peasant girl laying in the same bed with the most important man in all of Japan. "I like that. Makes me feel good to hear you say my name." He purred. His hands slowly left your waist as one began to trail up your body and the other hand down your body. You let out a gasp as your felt his hand brush against your thigh, "L-lord gojo!" You hissed. He squeezed your thigh, "Saaatoooruuuu." He reminded, "I dreamt about sleeping next to you when I was away ______. Don't you know I'm in loovvve with you. I haven't even slept with any woman in months because of you." He slurred. Your eyes widened, "Satoru you're drunk don't say such things." You whispered grabbing his exploring hands and placing them back on your waist. He whined, "I'm being serious ______. Have you not realized I never have my Infinity on when I'm around you." He poured. You laid with him in silence and you realized he had fallen asleep. You felt like it was impossible to sleep after what had just happened but eventually you drifted away.

｡ °✩｡ °✩｡ °✩

Morning came and when you had awoken you were still being held by Satoru. You stirred letting out a yawn. He was warm and you felt safe in his arms. "______, you're awake?" His groggy voice asked. You felt his grip tighten around you, "Just lay with me for a bit." He pleaded. You nodded, "Of course." More silence passed before he spoke again. "I was always adored because of who I was. From the day I was born I was told I would unite Japan. I've been treated like a king since the day I was born. It's tiresome dealing with the constant praise and yes men around me. I have been with countless women, spoke to so many but none of them ever treated me like you have. You're different, you're special _______. I was afraid to admit it at first but I think I've fallen in love with you. You treat me as an equal and see me for who I am." Satoru said softly his fists clenched as he balled up the fabric of your dress. You couldn't believe the words that were just said to you, Satoru Gojo was in love with you?! You pried yourself from his grip sitting up, he followed suit. "You think I'm lying don't you? That I just want to sleep with you?" He asked. You slowly nodded, "Y-yes I don't see any other reason why you'd say you were in love with me." You replied.

Satoru leaned forward, brushing your bangs out of your face with his slender fingers, "I'm being serious. I don't know what I have to do to prove it." He frowned. You shook your head, "I'm not sure. Please give me some time to think this through." You said quickly getting to your feet and rushing out of the room.

You don't know how long you walked for until you finally collapsed to your knees near a stream. You sighed placing your hand over your chest. This was overwhelming, Satoru seemed so genuine in the way he spoke you really didn't think he was lying trying to manipulate you. You couldn't figure out why you weren't happy, you had come to look forward to his company so now when he was confessing his love for you why were you running away? You sighed, you knew why—you were trying to save his reputation. It would look awful on the Gojo clan for their head to be in love with a servant girl. It was awful—it wasn't fair. You sat at the waters edge skipping stones. the noise of cicadas chirping and the sound of flowing water was all you could hear. You weren't even sure how far you had wandered away from the castle, you just kept walking until your feet ached.

As the sun began to slowly set you watched as the skies turned shades of pink, orange, and blue. You'd have to get back soon it wasn't safe to wander in the woods after dark especially for someone like you with no cursed abilities. Slipping back on your sandals you began walking began to head back the sound of crickets beginning to chirp. It was strange one moment the sun was still out albeit it was setting and then next it was pitch black only the light of fireflies guiding your way. The woods were terrifying in the dark, sounds of rustling all around you frightened you. The path was hard to see, you we're beginning to think you were lost. As your body began to shake you leaned against a tree of support; maybe it was best to stay in one place for tonight and try again tomorrow. You don't know how long you sat against the tree, your knees pulled tightly against your chest as your eyes darted back and forth wildly. It was then you saw a faint glow from a lantern far up ahead, getting to your feet you began to hurriedly make your way towards the light. "Hello! Hello!" You called out picking up the pace. Then suddenly you froze, the sound of crunchy twigs coming from behind you. Something or someone had been following you, too afraid to turn around you began to run as fast as you could. The thing following you also chasing close behind you.

Then you fell, the combination of the uneven terrain and your sandals causing you to twist your ankle falling onto the ground, your knees and palms taking the full force of your weight. You let out a help and hurriedly tried to get back to your feet but suddenly you felt a weight on your back pin you to the ground. An animalistic grunting coming from the thing on your back. It clawed at you as you screamed in pain and fear trying to flip it off of you. Then a purple light illuminated the forest it sent the demon off you. "______! Are you okay?" A familiar voice shouted as they ran to your side. You recognized that voice from anywhere, it was Satoru Gojo. You cried out his name as he fell to his knees embracing you in his arms. Following close behind a group of soldiers. You winced when Satoru's arms touched your back and you pulled away from him. "Satoru. I'm so sorry for running away." You cried as your tears fell to the forest floor.

Satoru's eyes widened when the light from the lanterns had hit your back. Your kimono half shredded exposing you, bloodied claw marks littered your back. He slipped off shawl using it to cover your body. Shouting a few orders you didn't hear before you fainted from blood loss. The white haired lord picked you up in his arms being gentle as to not touch your back.

｡ °✩｡ °✩｡ °✩

When you had awoken you were in a room unfamiliar but that was the least of your worries. Pain coursed through your body nearly knocking the breath out of you. "How are you feeling?" Satoru's soft voice asked as he sat aside the book he was reading to tend to you. When you opened your eyes once again you met his crystal blue orbs gazing worriedly into yours. He had saved you from a demon without hesitation. You felt a strange fuzzy feeling in your stomach, "Satoru...thank you." You said quietly. He smiled, "Of course. I was worried about you _______. You had wandered off pretty from the castle I was worried you had run away or even worse a demon had gotten you. If I hadn't been there...I don't even think about what could happen." Satoru said his voice trailing off at the end. "Anyways Shoko healed your wounds. There's some faint scarring but you'll be fine. You'll be sore for a few days." He explained. You nodded, "I see. I'll have to thank Miss Ieiri later then." You mumbled. You picked at your fingernails awkwardly avoiding his gaze. Patting his knees he stood up to leave, "I'll leave you alone. By the way this is your room now, I had your belongings brought up here. Last thing we need is the others gossiping about you. My room is down the hall." He grinned before leaving the room sliding the paper door shut.

You sat awkwardly in your bed for a long while thinking. It seemed like you were in fact in love with Satoru Gojo and his feelings seemed genuine. Slowly sliding the bed sheets off of your body you stood to your feet wincing making your way out the door. The halls were so quiet up here it was peaceful despite it almost nearing dinner time. You made your way towards the lord of the castle's chambers knocking on the door. "Come in." Satoru's voice called out. You slid open the door stepping inside. He sat in his usual position, kimono half opened, him lazily flipping through a book. Though when he saw you his expression brightened, "______! How you feeling?" He asked quickly getting to his feet walking towards you. You flashed him a weak smile, "I feel better now. I came to talk to you." You began. You could feel your face heating up and heart beating faster. Satoru looked at you curiously urging you to go on. Taking a deep breath you spoke, "I...love you too Satoru. I'm sorry for not saying it before." You said.

His eyes widened and a faint red dusted his cheeks, then in one swift motion he reached forward cupping your face in his hands. He pressed his soft lips against yours. Your hands reached up bawling at the fabric of his robe. It was obvious you were inexperienced; you had never kissed anyone before. But Satoru didn't mind the innocence but just as you began feeling more comfortable he pulled away, he pressed his forward against yours. A smug smirk plastered on his face, "I knew it. I love you too ______." He said voice low. Satoru pressed his lips against yours once again this time he slowly backed you against the wall. You hadn't even realized you were pinned too focused on trying to wrap your mind around what was happening. Satoru's kisses were heated—experienced he bit your lip causing you to gasp and when you did he slipped tongue in. A strange feeling began to emerge in your body as you let out a whimper when his hands left your face and began to move slowly down your throat then onto your collarbones, then finally his strong hands landed on your kimono that was sloppily tied. Slender fingers pawed at the collar of your dress as he worked the fabric off your shoulders. Slowly it began to slip exposing cleavage but he didn't rush yanking the fabric down. He wanted to take his time with you, your hands shook nervously as you continued holding onto the fabric of his top. You

Satoru's lips left yours and moved onto to nipping at your neck then he shoved one leg between yours. You felt something hard—no him against your thigh. You moaned against him. Then just like nothing he pulled away from you letting go of you and backing away. His intense eyes seemed to be examining you; a smug look on his face. He was proud of his work, "We'll have to continue later ______. I hear footsteps coming from the stairs. Probably someone coming to tell us it's dinner time." He said cooly. And he was correct only moments later Geto slid the door open, "Sato—oh shit am I interrupting?" He said as his eyes darted between you and Gojo. Your face was flushed, your top almost pulled off, and you were breathing heavily and on the other hand Satoru's face was slightly flushed but he so smug. Geto got what was happening. Satoru waved his hand dismissively, "Nah. We'll be down there in a minute. ______, will be sitting beside me. Let everyone know this is my fiancé and she'll be treated with respect." He ordered. Geto nodded bowing his head and leaving the room.

Your eyes were wide as you looked at the snow haired lord, "Wha..?" You stammered. He smirked, "Oh thought you would assume I'd make you my wife." He shrugged nonchalantly. Walking towards you he pulled back up your kimono tying it securely before holding out his hand, "Let's go downstairs. I'm starving ______." He said. You took his hand in a daze. You went from an orphaned servant girl to the most important man in Japan's wife; you couldn't necessarily complain about that though.

BONUS :

Megumi glared daggers at Satoru as he ate. Tsumiki nudged her brother's side, "Megumi enough." She scolded quietly. Satoru met the raven haired boy's gaze, "Megumi don't worry. ______, still cares for you." He smiled. You nodded, "I'll still come visit you every morning and evening like always. Promise." You smiled reassuringly at him. Megumi clicked his tongue in annoyance stabbing a carrot with his chop stick, "______, why are you getting married to that weirdo anyways? Master Geto I feel like would be better." He muttered. Satoru and Geto laughed as Tsumiki hung her head in embarrassment. While you looked on fondly, this was your new family and you couldn't be happier.

#writings #fanfic #gojo x y/n #gojo x reader #gojou satoru x reader #jujutsu kaisen fanfic #jujitsu kaisen #jjk fic #satoru gojo #au #jujutsu gojo #fluff #romance

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scenteddelusion5 · 11 months ago

Note

can you write a zestial x reader where the reader is an angel and they have a secret relationship but the seraphim found out and b an ned her from heaven

A Daring Creature -Part 1

Zestial x angel fem reader

Note: AHHH!!! I LOVE this!! Also why don't we have yellow text colours! I also had to take a LOT of liberties writing Zestial because we don't know much about him.

Warning: inacurate middle English

Word count: 1880

PART 1 - PART 2 - PART 3 - PART 4

Zestial was more than 400 years old, he lost the real count a LONG time ago. What he would never lose count of was how long he'd known her. To be fair it wasn't all THAT long ago, only 42 years ago, but he swore to himself he'd never forget that day.

He was hiding out in his mansion on his territory during extermination day when he heard a loud pang outside. Something must've hit the ground very hard, if it was a sinner they would probably already be dead by this point and if it was an exterminator, he didn't want to cross paths with them. So instead he hid deeper, in the basement of his mansion.

The day went on without a hitch and Zestial could leave his manor again to check what happened. While he was exploring his garden, he found a strange creature had crashed into the path, having destroyed the beautiful tiles. She had giant white wings and a yellow halo above her head. small wounds and bruises adorned her body with golden blood flowing out of them, they were, however, healing quickly. She wasn't dead.

Was this angel an exterminator? No, she didn't wear their uniform nor did she hold a black hallow like her military sisters, then why was she here. Zestial had many questions, but first he had to decide. Was it worth bringing in this angel to gain their favour even though she could become a threat later on?

She didn't seem to have any angelic weapons on her, she wouldn't be able to kill him... Zestial decided to bring her in and laid her down on a bed in one of his guest rooms. He designated one of his demon contracts to take care of her and warn him when she wakes up.

Y/n woke up with a headache, the last thing she remembered was falling face first into the ground and now she was in a bed? How did she get here. She slowly sat up, looking around the room, it was decorated with red, black and greenish yellow decor. Did this mean she made it to hell? Another look over her eyes landed on a man standing in the corner, he was short, wore a butler-like uniform and had a web in his hair. What she assumed to be a demon, had red skin and black horns.

"H-hello," she spoke but the demon stayed quiet. "Where am I?"

The demon looked at his watch. "Please put on this attire and wait here. I'll be informing master that you're awake." And with that the demon left without answering her question.

On the chair laid a simple black dress, nothing fancy but it also wasn't a rag. She slowly got out of bed, being careful with her headache, and changed out of her very badly damaged angel attire.

Who was this guy's master? The demon who lived there seemed to be very well of and thus powerful. What kind of mess did she get herself in now?

A knock came from the door, "lady, if you're finished changing please come out."

When she walked out, she saw the same demon waiting on her in the hallway.

"Follow me."

Looking around the hallways, the building looked like it was decorated by someone from th 17th century. Besides all the luxury paintings and dressers, what really stood out were the strange spiderweb motives all around the building, from the wallpapers to the candle chandeliers.

They ended up in front of a pair of doors that were at least 3 meters (10 feet) tall. The tops were arched and the handles looked like spiders.

The demon knocked on the giant doors. "She's here, sir."

"Thee can enter!"

The demon didn't react, so Y/n opened the door just enough to walk through. Inside was an office. The wooden walls as well as the furniture had flowery carvings in them, the fabric used for the cushiony parts of the furniture had web patterns in them and the candle light glowed green instead of yellow.

On the armchair behind the desk sat a tall figure, he had four green glowing eyes, a dark black cloak wrapped around his body, spider held the place of where his bowtie was supposed to be and a hat sat upon his head making his already tall figure even taller.

"Please, sitteth down." The man conjured up two cups of thee, one of which he took a sip from. "Now, wherefore is there an angel down here? Thee aren't an exterminator."

"I was just really curious about hell and kind off... Snuck down." Y/n awkwardly looked around the room avoiding eye contact with the demon in front of her. "What is an exterminator?"

Zestial choked on his tea hearing her question. "Does thou not knoweth?"

"No," she answered.

"Alloweth me to proposeth a deal." He got her attention again after she started to search around the room again. "I shall bid thee about the exterminations and hell, in turneth thee bid me in detaileth about how thee did get here." Zestial held out his hand, it became surrounded by glowing webs.

"Uhm sure, but we don't have to do the hand thingy." She laughed it off. "So when I first arrived in heaven three years ago, I started to wonder what hell was like. Nobody could give me a concrete answer, not even the seraphim. I made it my mission to find out what's it like. After two years, I realised a group of angels went down every year..."

"Hey lute!" Y/n ran up to the older angel. "Where were you yesterday?" "Work." "For a whole twenty four hours?" She asked. "Yes," Lute sighed, "what do you want Y/n?" "I was just curious." "Too curious, it's none of your business where and how I work."

"I knew I just had to follow them, so the next time they gathered, I snuck through the gates and jumped after them. On the way down, I had a bit of an accident, my wing got caught on the metal tip of a strange tower and it ripped through me. And that's how I ended up falling into the ground."

"I supposeth I shouldst hold up my own endeth. Every year, the heavens sendeth down an army of exterminators." As Zestial was telling her this Y/n's eyes widened. "Thy sisters cometh down to slaught'r."

"I... I know Lute and the others aren't model angels, but I doubt they would-"

"T's the thruth." Zestial stood up from his desk. "Anon, t's better thee leaveth. I wanteth not beest the targeteth of thy sisters."

He was about to snap his fingers when Y/n yelled, "WAIT!"

He stopped.

"How about another deal? No one of the angels know I'm here and I have a strong alibi. You seem like a powerful demon and I probably wouldn't survive the streets of hell. So, I stay with you for a year, you show me around and I'll give you... Whatever you want...?" Even though she talked a million miles a minute, he still understood her.

"I aught to want?" He considered it for a few seconds. "Dealeth." Zestial held out his hand and the glowing webs were back.

"You haven't said what yet..." But y/n didn't get an answer. "Fine, ONE thing you want."

Zestial nodded his head.

"Deal."

She shook his hand and for a slight second, his whole appearance seemed to change. The man became even taller, spiders crawled around his body and webs covered their intertwined hands. And then it was gone again, like it never happened.

"Edward shall be in chargeth of thy careth. I expecteth thee to never grise foor of these grounds unless thee has't mine own permission to doth so. Thee may taketh thy leave now." He shoed her away.

Y/n walked out of her office finally realising the gravity of the situation. She just gave a DEMON to make her do or get anything he wanted from her without any limits, except that he could only do so once of course. How stupid could she be? At least now she had a safe place to stay and a very intimidating tour guide.

A week went by and Y/n hadn't been able to explore hell at all. She was stuck in the manor, barely even allowed into the garden. At least she grew closer to the demon butler Edward.

At first the man was distant and cold but he slowly opened up to her. His wife and kids had gone to heaven while he was cast down for protecting them. Zestial had offered the safe and comfortable job as his butler and Edward accepted.

She also learned he was a lot more of a joker than he made himself out to be. When Y/n was helping him prepare dinner for only them two, which they decided was going to be pizza, she had tried to spin the dough and toss it in the air. It went horribly wrong, the dough landing on top of her face. Edward laughed so hard he started crying, after a while the man decided to try it too, only to end up in the same predicament.

Zestial was aware the two had grown closer, he didn’t mind, however. It meant that she wouldn’t bother him and go to Edward for everything. What he wasn't aware of was for the fact that Y/n had made it her mission to create fun activities in an otherwise boring mansion.

One day, Zestial was walking down the corridor to go and ask Ed to pick up an important package for him, only to find the strangest display in the hallway.

"This is going to go horribly wrong," the butler stated.

"It'll be fine, loosen up!" She laughed.

Edward sighed, "If you get hurt, I'm not patching up your wounds."

"I'll take that risk."

What Zestial saw was that the angel had tied sponges to her shoes and tried to skate around on the wet and soapy marble floor. He was just about to speak up when she slipped and fell back. Her back hit his waist, he quickly caught her.

"What art thee doing, î̷̟n̷̰͆͜s̴̢͍͒o̷̖͐l̷̟͇̂͠é̷͖n̶̙̫̑t̶̲̘̅͝ angel?" The overlord was glaring at her.

"I'm sorry sir, uh... Zestial sir." Y/n looked down at her soapy boots. "But you haven't showed me around all the fun stuff in hell, so I decided to make the fun!"

"I can't even but now," he explained, "Everything in doth timeth."

"Then I'll keep finding fun things to do."

Zestial sighed. Maybe this angel was more work than she was worth. "Fine, I shall taketh thee out tomorrow morning." He caved. "Doth not maketh me regreth it."

"YES!"

That nights Zestial was pondering about his angel guest while looking for a big robe. She was quite bothersome but then again, he had made the deal to show Y/n around. Although, the manor had been much more livelier in the week she had been there. Almost every day, he would walk through the hallways and hear laughter, which was a stark difference from before. The manor used to be eerily quiet, maybe she wasn't too bad after all.

Part 2

Masterlist/request guidelines

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel requests #reader insert #reader requests #hazbin hotel zestial #zestial x reader #zestial x you #x reader #x yn #yn

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imnotsimpingyouare · 2 years ago

Text

ENAMORED (II)

Modern Hantengu clones X Reader

Featuring:

"Pissed Cubicle Worker" Sekido

"Depressed Programmer" Aizetsu

"That Guy in the Alley" Karaku

"Unfunny YouTube Prankster" Urogi

"Disappointed Grandpa" Hantengu

"Delinquent Middle Schooler" Zohakuten

"Possibly a Criminal" Akaza

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

You will NOT be shipped with Zohakuten or Hantengu because:

A.) One is an old man

B.) One is a young boy

Ty for your time 😌

fem!Y/N goes for her last job with Murata's Service Emporium 😢 but gets an interesting offer due to her *OUTSTANDING* work.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Hantengu.

You've heard of that household. They order some sort of cleaning service every month or so. Only, it's never been you that has gone before, so how exactly do you know about their service requests?

BECAUSE APPARENTLY THEY'RE FUCKING INSANE.

Some of the other employees have literally returned from the job crying.

WHICH INCLUDES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO TERRY THE GARDENER! A TALL, BUFF MAN!

WHAT DEMON IN THAT HOUSE IS MAKING A GROWN MAN CRY LIKE THAT? WHY DOES YOUR BOSS HATE YOU? WHY CAN'T YOU JUST CURL UP IN A BALL AND FOSSILIZE.

You sigh. A big sigh. A really, really long sigh.

If you had the heart to, you would've quit the moment your boss revealed he was going to fire you, only.. you knew it was like him to try and withhold your paycheck for the week if you did. Obviously, he can't do that if you've done your job on schedule for any amount of time, but you're not gonna jump through flaming hoops just to stick it to the guy.

Easier to just get this over with.

You grab your supplies and load your car.

Yes, they make you use your own transport for this job. No, they don't pay for gas.

Maybe losing this job won't be so bad after all.

Starting up the map on your phone, you type in the adress of this demon house and get ready to be very fucking miserable for however long you spend there.

The clouds are grey this morning, as they are every morning, but this morning is different. Maybe it's because you fell down two flights of stairs. Maybe it's because you held some handsome guy's hand this morning when he helped you up. Maybe it's because you literally just got fired like 10 minutes ago. But something is different.

○○○○○

Unbeknownst to you, in the opposite lane of traffic, Sekido is screaming at the cars infront of him.

Nevermind, it's not just Sekido. In some strange sort of... brotherly bonding ritual, both Sekido and Zohakuten are screaming at the car infront of them (which is going the speed limit).

"WHY WON'T YOU PRESS YOUR DAMN GAS? THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT HERE WITH JOBS AND SHITHEADS WITH SCHOOL! 20 ABOVE THE LIMIT NEVER KILLED ANYBODY!"

"...Sekido, I think 20 above the limit has killed people. BUT THOSE PEOPLE WERE GOING TOO DAMN SLOW!"

Sekido's grey minivan pulled up to the school. Zohakuten grabbed his bag and opened the door, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"...Zohakuten."

Red eyes met his, and he felt slightly uncomfortable at how calm Sekido was managing to be.

"....what."

"....one day."

"wha–"

"One day without doing some stupid shit to get sent home or to the principal's office. If you do, I'll... I don't fucking know, have the gods come down and kiss you on the nose one by one. Just be good. Ok?" He said, almost in a... defeated tone.

Zohakuten, for a moment, was dumbfounded. Had Aizetsu taken over Sekido's body? Was this some sort or trick? Who did he think he was? It's not his fault he'll never use this crap again. Nor is it his fault that some of the kids are little shitheads.

Instead of saying all this, out of respect for Sekido's effort to be *nice*

(Literally, beads of sweat were beginning to form on Sekido's face, and he looked constipated)

....he nodded.

"Okay. I want ice cream after school."

And shut the car door.

Sekido was left by himself, face immediately breaking back into that scowl he wore so well.

"Fucking ice cream. I might as well get him a horse and a spaceship while I'm servicing His Majesty. Seriously, how hard is it not to throw desks?"

○○○○○

Your car stopped infront of a mansion.

Maybe not a mansion, but.. it was something.

A three story house with 2 vehicles in front (AND A MOTORCYCLE?). However, the only decorations in front were a little knome and a set of windchimes. You could also faintly hear "Barbie Girl" playing from somewhere in the home.

At the very least, it was... a flattering home. The outside didn't look too bad, but you were at least slightly concerned about the inside.

You knocked on the door, cleaning supplies in hand.

"Murata's Service Emporium!"

The door creaked open slightly, before opening to reveal a rather handsome, dark-skinned man in nothing but a towel and.... a face mask and hair curlers.

His eyes were a deep emerald green, a complete contrast from his skin that you were HERE FOR.

He looked you up and down, before turning his attention back into the house. "Aizetsu! Your escort is here!"

Immediately your face turned red. "Wha- did you not hear what I said when I knocked!?"

He raised a brow at you.

"Service Emporium?"

Oh.

That actually sounds pretty bad when taken out of context.

"...okay, but why would I be holding all of these cleaning supplies?"

He looked down at you again.

"I don't know what freaky stuff Aizetsu's into, okay? Are you coming in or not?" He huffed.

You reluctantly waddled in and set your things down.

Oh my.

It was a disaster.

The dishes were piled sky-high, the floor SEVERELY UN-VACUUMED... you had work to do.

Another man, almost identical to the one who opened the door, approached you in a rush. His eyes, though, were blue, and significantly more lifeless than the guy before him.

"I'm sorry.. I am Aizetsu. As you can see, our house is a disaster... sorry."

And he walked away.

THAT WAS ALL HE HAD TO SAY?

WAS HE EVEN GOING TO PAY YOU?

HE'S JUST GONNA LEAVE?

You were starting to understand the struggle.

○○○○○

The camera lens was clean. The audio was crisp. In his browser "solt jasz musuc backgriund" was playing.

Everything was perfect.

And now, out of his room once again, was the legendary, the one and only, greatest failed theater kid of all time..

Urogi!

And he was ready. Ready to bamboozle this busy, strangely attractive woman that wandered her way into his home. Ready. But she wasn't.

Which is what made it good content.

And good content -> motorcycle upgrades.

Which he wanted.

Very badly.

So there he was, creeping up behind you, four cans of silly string in one hand, a camera in the other.

You, on the other hand, were almost finished up here. You cleaned in and out, over and under, anywhere you could. The dishes were dried and put away, and everything was soon to be in order. The only task you had left was to sweep the kitchen. A relatively easy job. After that, you could get out of here, and... you didn't have a job to go to.

Hadn't thought of that in a while.

But there wasn't any time to think about it when you heard something being set on the counter behind you. You turned around, only to be met with a man leaping at you.

Naturally, you dodged out of the way, dropping the broom and hooking your attacker around the neck, locking him in a chokehold. All was well until a flurry of colors came flying toward you into your hair and eyes.

Immediately you were overpowered, your key sense being obstructed. You were pushed over near the sofa, being sprayed relentlessly with some sort of squishy string-like material.

You were quick to recover, and reached up to what you assumed to be the sofa, taking off one of the pillows and swinging wildly at your attacker. Terrifying laughter was heard from above you, and you overturned them until you had them in prime suffocating position. Moments into your retaliation, you pulled some of the strange material off of your face, only to see the face of both people you met earlier. Except this one had yellow eyes.

You paused in your struggle with him, both of you huffing and puffing like you were about to blow someone's house away.

He stared up at you, and you stared down at him, before your gaze flickered up to the counter, only to see a camera placed there and aimed directly at the two of you.

Footsteps distracted you from this realization.

"Aizetsu? Your escort got loose. I think she got confused. Did you not tell her about being a quad?" It was the green-eyed man, back with his bunny slippers and some actual clothes, but no hair curlers or face masks.

"IM NOT A PROSTITUTE!" You snapped at him, smacking the man under you again with the pillow for good measure.

"Why the hell is there a woman on top of Urogi? Why are you just watching, Karaku? You sick fuck.."

Another voice was heard, deeper and more gruff than the rest. You looked up, and saw another man identical to all three of the others! Unlike his counterparts, this one had blood-red eyes.

"What's going on? Are you all siblings?" You said, before mentally face-pamling. Of course they're all siblings. What else would they be?

"Of course we're siblings. What else would we be? Idiot." The red-eyed man growled, before hanging his keys and stomping off to who knows where.

The man under you tapped on your forehead.

"...can I get up?"

You rolled your eyes at him, delivering another smack with the pillow before getting off of him. "You don't just sneak up on some unsuspecting person like that!" You scolded, but he didn't listen. He was already busy fiddling with his camera.

You pinched the bridge of your nose, mumbling a slew of curses before going to pick up the broom.

"So clean, so clean! It looks like this house is brand new! Where are they? The cleaner? Where are they?" A labored, weak voice sounded from the hallway. An old man appeared, and hobbled toward you. You tried backing away, but it was no use, as he grabbed your face to examine you.

"Lovely girl, lovely girl! Cleaned up everything perfectly! You're the angel who cleans up my grandsons' mess every month, are you? Lovely girl!" His voice was trembling, as were his hands.

He must be talking about the company. But before you have time to explain, he cuts you off.

"I wish to hire you, lovely girl! Lovely girl! You can live in my home, in the spare room! You can clean up and teach my grandsons how to behave! Will you? Don't leave an old man like me helpless. Their mother isn't around to teach them to behave, will you? Lovely girl?"

Your eyes widened at the offer. "..hire? Like, for money?"

The old man laughed. Well, he tried, but it came out as a cough. "For housing? Food? Anything you'd like?"

"....and for money?"

"...yes, I'll pay you weekly."

You needed time to recollect your thoughts! Living here, with unknown people? Cleaning! More cleaning!

But at least you'd have a roof over your head, and food, and 'whatever you'd like' whatever that was. And you'd even have your own money on the side. Maybe you could save for a house? To go back to school?

At that point, only Karaku and the old man were left in the room, eyes trained on you. Karaku's lips broke into a smile. He knew what your answer was going to be.

"..I'll do it."

249 notes · View notes

stardustbarbarians · 4 months ago

Text

The Devil Knows My Name

A Daniel Wagner / Samuel Kiszka fic

Summary: Sam and Danny travel the world together hunting ghosts. And Danny has a secret.

Tags: ghost hunting au, humor, horror elements, demonic elements, getting together, this is low key a buzzfeed unsolved au

Trigger Warnings: mentioned child abuse (explained in A/N)

Words: 8.8 k

A/N: Right off that bat: one of the locations Sam and Danny investigate is a real abandoned orphanage that had rumors of child abuse tied to it. Unfortunately, all of the claims mentioned about the place in the fic are real allegations. If that makes you uncomfortable, do not feel like you have to read that section as you won't miss any plot points. Outside of that, this fic is very lighthearted. I wrote it as a part of @hearts-hunger GVF Halloween Event, which I was not expecting to finish this soon (I picked prompt 15!). It was super fun to write and I hope you all enjoy! As usual, this fic is dedicated to @ofthecaravel. Title taken from The Garden by the Crane Wives.

+++

“I was reading the comments on our last video-”

“A wonderful thing for your mental health, I’m sure.”

“-and I couldn’t help but laugh.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Everyone seems to agree. They think you’re a demon.”

+++

Daniel had known Sam for, like, ever. They went through grade school together, graduated together, even went through a failed band together, too. In fact, it seemed they did everything together. Mostly, it was on purpose; truly at this point it felt wrong to be somewhere without Sam at his side. But, becoming famous ghost hunters? That was an accident. Really, if Danny had known that ghost hunting would be their future careers, he never would have accepted that dare.

“Come onnnnn! Ghosts aren’t real, anyway!” Josh lamented, attempting to shove his baby brother out the door of their house.

“Yeah, you chicken,” Jake tacked on at the end, a knowing smile barely contained on his lips.

“I am not a chicken!!” Sam roared, slapping Josh’s hands away from his back. There was a deep frown on his face that was somehow halfway to a pout.

“We’re even letting you take Danny! Honestly, we’re being very generous about this whole ordeal,” the oldest brother continued, fighting off a laugh of his own at seeing Sam acting tough. Acting, being the key word.

“Sure. And what are you gonna tell mom and dad when we end up shanked by some drifters protecting their territory??” Sam squawked, trying to get back into the house. But Jake and Josh had blocked the entrance, standing shoulder to shoulder in the doorframe. Sammy might have towered over the twins, but it was clear who was stronger out of the three of them.

“Oh, please. There’s no vagrants at the Garnet house, just a bunch of teenagers doing drugs and shit there.”

“And, I mean, you don’t have to take the dare…” Jake offered. A fake olive branch if there ever was one. The devious smile on his face betrayed his caring tone.

“Yeah, and do your guys’ chores for a month?? I don’t think so,” Sam snipped, ripping the family movie camera out of Jake’s extended palm.

“Uh, don’t I get a say in this?” Danny finally pipped up, watching in silence while the three Kiszkas bickered.

“NO,” all three barked in unison. Danny shut his mouth so fast, his teeth clicked.

“Like Sam would go anywhere without you,” Jake muttered under his breath. Sam shot him a fierce glare that only succeeded in causing the twins to implode into laughter.

“You guys are the WORST!” Sam exclaimed before turning on his heel and stomping down the porch into the backyard. Danny was quick to follow, scrambling after his best friend and clicking on the flashlight he was given.

Sam didn’t talk to Danny for a solid minute after his altercation with his older brothers. He was too busy cursing them under his breath and indulging in his temper tantrum.

“This is the worst sleepover ever. Why did we even let them join in the first place??” Sam whined, the first words he spoke that weren’t muttered. That was how Danny knew he was talking to him.

“Oh, c’mon. We were having fun with them before this dare,” Danny offered, his eyes watching the leaf-covered terrain for any rogue branches he could trip over. They were not exactly quiet as they trudged through the dried autumn leaves, each step sounding like static.

Sam shot him a look that was halfway annoyed and halfway resigned. “Yeah, whatever. But they took it too far like they always do.”

“Gee, I don’t know, Sam. Maybe if you hadn’t boasted very loudly about how ‘ghost hunters aren’t shit’, ‘they’re a bunch of pussies’, and ‘I could do that’, maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Danny countered. It was all lighthearted, of course. Danny could never truly be annoyed at Sam. He did choose Sam, after all.

“That’s because they are! They’re all acting for the camera and it just makes them look like a bunch of wimps!!” Sam had finally turned to face Danny, his pale face illuminated by the flashlight as he turned his expression to a caricature of the host of the ghost hunting show they just watched. “Huh! A creak in an old house that hasn’t seen maintenance since ‘Nam! Must be a g-g-g-ghost!!!”

Danny couldn’t help his snort of laughter as Sam mocked the ghost hunters. He himself didn’t believe in ghosts, either. Especially the tv shows that claimed to always find ground-breaking “real” evidence every episode. If they had something to gain monetarily, Danny didn’t trust them.

“Then why are you so scared to do this dare?” Danny baited, knowing it would get a reaction out of Sam. Sometimes he just couldn’t help but rile him up; it was easy and fun.

“Ok, first, I’m not scared. I am rightfully cautious. Not only will we be trespassing, but we will be filming our crime,” Sam held up the camcorder in his hand and waved it a little, “and we don’t know if it will be empty. For all we know, there could be squatters in there who are a little too stab-happy!”

“Says the one with the arrest record,” Daniel muttered under his breath, loud enough that Sam could hear.

“Hey!”

+++

“Are you rolling?”

“For the hundredth time: yes, Sam,” Danny exasperatedly replied, adjusting his hand holding the camera. The hand strap was digging into his skin and he really just wanted to get this over with. He hadn’t felt good since they came upon the house when the woods cleared.

“Alright, snippy, no need for the attitude,” Sam shot back, giving Danny a look as he adjusted his long hair.

Danny just rolled his eyes, signaling with a wave of his hand for Sam to hurry it up. They both had a few drinks before walking out there and Danny was starting to feel them. The last dare he got was to shotgun a beer and he wished he had chosen truth instead.

“We’re standing in front of the Garnet house where it is said that William Garnet murdered his wife, Sylvia, back in 1956-”

“God, everyone knows that’s just some stupid urban legend. There’s literally no proof anyone was killed here,” Danny lamented, tired of hearing about William and Sylvia Garnet. He’d looked into the real story himself.

“Are you the host, or am I?” Sam snapped, an annoyed pinch in his face. “Start over.”

“Nope. Keep going.”

With a pointed, heavy sigh, Danny could see in the small LCD screen as Sam rolled his eyes. But, he continued anyway. “Because of that, the house has been abandoned since that bloody day.”

“Because they moved out and couldn’t sell the house because of the location. Do you see how far away from a road we are?” Daniel had panned away from Sam to show the lengths of woods surrounding them.

“You’re no fun, Daniel,” Sam whined, sounding like a child. Danny even heard his foot stomp into the cold dirt with his boot. “Let’s just… go inside.”

Danny didn’t stop recording as they trudged around the house, looking for an opening they could slither through. He probably should’ve been less focused on filming Sam looking for an entrance and more so on helping him, but oh well. Someone had to hold the flashlight and also, it was a cool shot getting Sam tracing his fingers along the crumbling brick of the old house, looking up at the windows. His profile was perfectly illuminated by the light, making his jawline look sharper than usual. His misting breath was also being caught in the flashlight beam, looking like an apparition in its own right.

They ended up having to climb into a window, Danny boosting Sam in. With a grunt of exertion, Sam was able to hoist Danny in. However, his foot slipped out from underneath him just as Danny’s torso passed the windowsill. So, instead of the graceful landing Daniel was hoping to pull off, he instead found himself on all fours in the dust of the dilapidated flooring. The abrupt change in position as well as the scraping of his stomach against the windowsill did nothing to help his alcohol-induced nausea.

“Are you alright?” Danny asked, having to swallow thickly to keep his bile down.

Sam groaned from underneath him, something that Danny hadn’t even realized until that moment. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Danny got up as quickly as his spinning head would allow him, offering a hand out to Sam as soon as he was stable on two legs. They both tried to brush the grime off of them, knowing that they would need to wash their clothes to truly be rid of all of it.

“Alright, let’s be quick. If there’s anyone here, they would have heard that.” For the first time that night, there was a slight tremor to Sam’s voice. That was all the indicator Danny needed to know that Sam was more scared than he was letting on. That, and the way Sam’s hand had trembled in his own as he helped him up.

“No arguments here,” Danny commented, scanning the floor with his flashlight to find his dropped video camera. Luckily, it was unharmed and still rolling, capturing the embarrassing moment of them falling to the ground, despite being about ten years old. But that was good old early 2000s technology for you. Once he’d found the camera, Danny passed the flashlight to Sam. It made more sense for him to hold it as he led them through the house.

“Let’s just find the bedroom, ask a few questions, and leave. That should be enough to satisfy the twins’ stupid dare.” Sam seemed half distracted as he scanned the dark rooms around him. And, to be fair, the place was rather ghoulish and imposing. The walls showed exposed wooden slats behind the crumbling drywall, cracks formed all around the ceiling, graffiti stained the walls, and the odd trashed piece of furniture that you’re sure was a person in the corner of your eye decorated the space.

In order to lighten the mood, Daniel quickly thought of a way to make Sam laugh. Though, “quickly” was relative as his head was still spinning a little.

“The bedroom? Sam, you should at least take me out to dinner first.” The teasing tone Danny used just caused Sam to let out an abrupt bark of laughter and nudge his best friend with his elbow.

“We both know you wouldn’t even need dinner first,” Sam jested back, a sly smile pulling at the corner of his lips. This was far from the first time their teasing had toed a line. They both silently acknowledged that line existed, and also acknowledged that it wasn’t weird to cross it with one foot from time to time.

Danny had gotten the urge to shove Sam in the shoulder, but they were climbing the stairs. They were rickety and treacherous enough as it was; no need to add another risk.

“Who’s body count is higher?”

“Like it’s a bad thing-”

Knock!

Both boys froze in their tracks. They were about halfway up the staircase when it sounded like knuckles rapped against some wood.

“Did you hear that?” Sam’s eyes were huge as he turned to look down at Daniel who was one step below.

“Yeah. Sounded like it came from upstairs,” Danny truthfully answered.

Sam let out another groan, his bottom lip finding itself worried between his teeth. It was a bad habit Sam had when he got nervous. “I really hope that’s a ghost and not some addict.”

“You and me both.”

Taking a steadying breath, Sam worked up the courage to continue up the steps. He was climbing them slower than usual, but that was to be expected. But, that did not help the very loud squealing of said steps. It really only made the squeaking worse and drew out the sound.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, they reached the top floor and were greeted with a liminal hallway. A dusty chandelier cried broken crystals and cobwebs, more graffiti scored the walls, the floor was littered with joint cones and cigarette butts, and the doors along the walls were all closed, but not shut entirely. All of them stood ajar which, for some reason, was more unnerving than if they were completely shut or completely open.

“Let’s see what’s behind door number one, shall we?” Danny prompted, realizing Sam was frozen in fear next to him. Despite the flippant tone he was employing, Danny was feeling awful. His head hadn’t stopped spinning since he stepped onto the property and his stomach was still churning. He felt cold but couldn’t blame it on the late October weather.

With a shaky smile and a nod, Sam reached for the door handle on his right and gingerly pushed it open. It revealed a similar decrepit state as the rest of the house, the LED light from their flashlight casting it in an eerie glow. It seemed they had found the bedroom, a four poster bed frame pushed against the wall with the whole thing covered in carved initials and names. More graffiti coated the walls, but it all seemed to have a theme.

“Talk about sympathy for the devil,” Sam joked, tepidly entering the room and illuminating all the 666s and reversed crosses on the walls.

“Please allow me to introduce myself,” Danny quoted, attempting his best Mick Jagger impression. That got him a laugh from Sam, even if it was just from how shitty the impersonation was.

“Mick Jagger is rolling in his grave for that one.”

“Mick Jagger is dead? Has anyone checked the news??”

Once again, Sam elbowed Danny in the side. A huge grin was on his face as he did it, so Danny counted that as a win. However, it was a short-lived victory. Just as Danny had found himself in the center of the room, he doubled over in pain.

“Daniel? What’s wrong??” There was genuine concern in Sam’s words as he raced over to his best friend’s side.

“I… I don’t…” he dropped the camera to the ground as he clutched at his stomach. It was as if he had just been punched in the gut by Mike Tyson as his nausea came at him with full force.

Sam had grabbed the camera off the ground, a decision that would solidify their fates. Now armed with both the flashlight and the camera, Sam became the cameraman as he documented Danny’s sudden distress.

He didn’t even know what caused him to look up. But regardless, as he tilted his head backwards, Daniel noticed a pentagram on the ceiling in black spray paint.

“What’s going on?” Sam’s voice was shaky. And if Danny wasn’t trying his best to vomit all over the scuffed and dirty floor, he might’ve noticed the way the house seemed to shake around them.

The footage of this moment would be shaky and just slightly out of focus. It was something Danny, as well as the rest of their audience, would clown him for for years to come. However, that was about the only funny thing about it. At the time, as Sam filmed Danny being doubled over and the house rattling around them, it was no laughing matter. You see, as Sam illuminated Daniel so that he could be seen, a dark shadow was cast behind him. One that seemed to slowly seep out of the shadow that Danny cast against the wall. Sam was petrified for a moment as fear gripped his mind and forced his muscles to turn to stone. But, as the shadow grew what looked to be claws, that’s when his concern for Daniel leaped into overdrive.

His shriek of terror was the last thing the video they uploaded of that night would show. However, there was about ten more minutes of footage that only Jake, Josh, and Sam and Danny would see. It recorded the floor as Sam grabbed Danny’s wrist and bolted out of the house. It recorded the rustling leaves and their labored breath as they sprinted away from the house and back towards Sam’s. It also captured the sound of Danny’s misery as he threw up in the bushes, Sam frantically trying to soothe him but also get them to safety. But none of that made it into the video.

+++

Their success happened seemingly overnight. It was a few weeks before their video got views over the double digits. But then, a famous reaction channel had used their video and suddenly, people flocked to it. Most people just commented on whether or not they thought it was fake, others commented on how hot they thought Sam and Danny were. But a good chunk of them, including the youtuber, were clamoring for more from them. It seemed a lot of people found them highly entertaining and wanted to see more of them.

It was a complete accident that they became famous internet ghost hunters. That’s what made their job seem so surreal. Not only were they able to travel the country searching for ghosts and ghouls, but the world as well. They would get recognized on the street or in stores, being asked if they could take pictures with a wide variety of people. Suddenly, not just friends or family followed them, but complete strangers. Hundreds of thousands of people. Frankly, it was a little overwhelming. Daniel, and Sam, was just glad he had his best friend with him the whole time.

“When is this video going out?” Daniel asked Sam with a sniffle, the two of them getting ready in their shared hotel room.

“It should be posted in about a month,” Sam responded, staring into the mirror of the bathroom trying to get his hair to de-frizz. He had never really put that much effort into his appearance before, but they were now being scrutinized by hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people. So, Daniel stopped brushing out his curls and actually had a multi-step hair routine.

“I was reading the comments on our last video-”

“A wonderful thing for your mental health, I’m sure.” Danny interrupted, a crooked smile on his face before he blew his nose into a tissue.

“-and I couldn’t help but laugh.” Sam had finally emerged out of the bathroom and started to lace his boots. They were an old pair of Doc Martens that he’d owned forever and usually only wore for ghost hunting.

“Oh? Why is that?” Danny was pouring himself out a dose of DayQuil, throwing it back as if it were a shot. He would have plugged his nose if it weren’t already stuffed. He hated the taste of both DayQuil and NyQuil vehemently, always making him gag despite how effective they were.

“Everyone seems to agree. They think you’re a demon.”

Daniel had stopped himself short of pouring out another dose of DayQuil, the bottle still in his hand poised to pour. After realizing he was frozen, Danny forced himself to set the bottle down and face his best friend. He was sitting on the edge of Danny’s bed (it was closer to the door), struggling to pull his boot onto his foot. He really hadn’t seemed to notice Danny’s reaction to the accusation, too focused on cursing the tight boots that he stubbornly refused to loosen the laces on.

“Oh yeah? And why do they think that?” The amusement in Danny’s tone was not manufactured, nor was the smile pulling at one corner of his lips.

“Well,” Sam started with a grunt, letting out a satisfied sigh at finally getting his boots over his feet, “they seem to think that because you’re hardly scared in any of the places we go into that you must be a demon.”

“Oh, so, because I’m not afraid of non-existent ghosts, I myself am a supernatural entity?” Daniel dryly questioned, shaking his head and returning to his previous task.

“I mean, there is also that shadow creature that emerged out of you our first investigation. Should you be taking that much?”

“I need a higher dose or else it won’t work,” Daniel flippantly answered, waving his hand in a dismissive manner before throwing back his second full dosage of the medicine. That one he could taste in full, the bitterness making him hiss in disgust. “That ‘shadow creature’ was just my shadow.”

Sam handed Danny a bottle of water, watching the man down it before going to brush his teeth in the bathroom. “There was also that time you got a nosebleed the second you walked into a church. And we got it on camera,” Sam persisted, not one to lose an argument so easily. He had followed Danny to the entrance of the bathroom, leaning against the door jamb with his arms crossed.

“Eh wa thuh ead uh winer, am,” Danny rebutted, toothpaste foaming in his mouth and hindering his speech. Sam managed to understand him: It was the dead of winter, Sam. Danny spit out his toothpaste, brushing his tongue a little before going back to continue his argument. “It was drier than the Sahara in that old building.”

“Ok, then how do you explain the fact that you were the only one who had their eyes roll into the back of their head when they were touched by that exorcist?” Sam shot back, kind of impressed at himself for remembering all of these instances off the top of his head.

Danny rolled his eyes at that, a smile pulling at his lips as he shooed Sam out of the way so he could put his shoes on. “I thought it would be funny! What’s with the third degree, anyway? You’re picking on a sick and weak man.”

“Yeah, those arms are just for show,” Sam countered, flicking him in the bicep. As a reaction to that comment, Daniel, on a whim, ducked down, grabbed Sam by the waist, and hauled the man over his shoulder. Sam started giggling and squealing at the act.

“Still think they’re just for show?” Danny casually asked, pacing around while holding Sam as if he weighed nothing. He could not keep the smile off his face as he did so, enjoying Sam’s own laughter.

“No! Now, put me down, you menace!!” Sam had managed between giggles, his hands lightly beating into Danny’s back. Truthfully, Danny hadn’t known why he thought to pick Sam up. It just crossed his mind and Danny decided to go for it. That usually seemed to happen when he took cold medicine and he hoped it wouldn’t bite him in the ass later.

Instead of placing him back down on the ground, Danny threw him gently onto the mattress. Sam bounced as the springs took on his weight, and then Danny’s as he climbed onto Sam. They both continued to giggle, Sammy throwing his arms around Daniel’s neck as they came face to face with one another.

“Hi,” Daniel breathed with a honeyed tone.

“Hi there,” Sam responded, his tone equally as candied. They both wore matching grins as they searched one another’s eyes. But that was where they stayed. This was a fairly recent development in their dynamic, starting back about two or three months ago. They already spent a lot of time together back when they still lived in Frankenmuth, but doing this job was drastically different. Instead of hanging out for 12 hours out of the day, now they saw each other 24 hours out of the day. It was not hyperbole in the slightest to say that they saw each other the most out of any other human on earth. And that kind of time spent together, well it draws people closer. So, this development seemed… natural. But, neither of them wanted to make the first move for equally valid reasons. So, this purgatory-state they were in (comfortable enough to hold one another as they slept but scared to even think about kissing the other) was where they stood now.

And people noticed.

Sam let out a short, nervous laugh. “We oughtta get down there. The rest of the crew is waiting.” He relinquished his grip around Danny’s neck, patted him twice on the shoulder, and then slipped out from under him to go stand by the door.

Danny sighed, disappointed in himself as he watched Sam fidget with his hands out of the corner of his eye as he put on his own boots. He wanted to take that plunge with Sam so badly, but he also knew that there were too many risks involved. For one, their job depended on their dynamic. Part of their appeal was the way they so effortlessly bounced off one another comedically. And the other: if they went south - which Danny had a feeling they would because of him - not only would their jobs suffer, but they would too. They had been best friends for life and Daniel did not want to risk losing Sam because he couldn’t keep it in his pants.

Danny knew he had to do something. They couldn’t go into the shoot this way. So, as they walked out of their hotel room, Danny tapped Sam on the arm with the back of his hand and chirped “you’re it” before bolting towards the stairwell. Danny didn’t have to turn around to know Sam was racing after him, he could hear Sam’s laugh following him.

+++

“Greetings Travelers!” Danny started their intro with a wave of his hand. Ever since they had started taking this job seriously, Danny no longer had to be behind the camera. Instead, it seemed his presence was demanded in front of the lens alongside Sammy.

“And welcome to the Old Holy Family Orphanage in Marquette, Michigan,” Sam finished for Danny. They were standing shoulder to shoulder with the building to their backs, the structure illuminated behind them and looking just as imposing as it felt.

“This one is right in our backyard!” Danny smiled over at Sam, never having to fake a single one for the camera if Sam was there with him.

“Give or take a few miles.”

“Like… 400.”

“That’s a pretty big backyard!”

The two of them broke out into laughter, despite the joke not really being that funny. But, that was their dynamic. No matter what, they would always laugh.

“Alright, Dan the Man. Shall we get into the depressing history?” Sam had slung an arm around Danny’s shoulders, the touch making Danny feel all warm and fuzzy. It was a welcome feeling considering the cold darkness that seemed to seep out of the building behind them.

With a smile that bordered on sad, Danny poised his pointer finger in the air and swirled it around, just as he did every episode. “Roll the tape.” In the final cut, this is the part where they would cut away to a voiceover of Danny with b-roll of the place they were investigating behind it.

Danny slid his phone out of his pocket, the script he wrote containing his research saved there. No matter how large their audience would grow, Danny refused to let anyone else research the history of their locations. Not only did he want to make sure that he was respecting the lives of those who perished at these locations, but he also did not want anyone to weaponize and abuse the history just to make it seem like ghosts existed for their gain. Sam was the only one who didn’t seem to think he acted prissy over the whole thing.

“So, the place was built in 1915 and funded by the Catholic church. Their idea was to take in only white kids and give them to white families-”

“Racist bastards,” Sam cut in, his breath tickling Danny’s cheek as the man leaned in to see Danny’s phone. Daniel tried extremely hard not to think about how close Sam’s lips were to his skin. (He failed miserably, his blunder displayed in the form of a pink blush dusting his cheeks for all to see)

“Oh, it gets worse. Now, that’s where all the documented information ends on this place. So, we’re slapping a very general ‘allegedly’ on everything from here on out.” Danny made the mistake of looking up from his phone and into Sam’s eyes, their faces barely inches apart, his breath catching in his throat.

“They don’t even have proper sources,” Sam commented in a theatrical disapproving tone, his eyes never leaving Danny’s. Danny could feel rather than see the easy smile on Sam’s lips.

“Th-They - uh,” Danny cleared his throat before tearing his eyes away and back to his phone. “There are claims that Native children from the surrounding areas were ripped away from their families as babies and then ‘Americanized’ before being adopted to white families. They wouldn’t find out the truth of their heritage until well into adulthood.” God I hope they don’t include me being so flustered in the final cut

“You mean this was a residential school??” Sam seemed genuinely outraged at the news, his outburst causing Danny’s ear to ring.

“Allegedly,” Danny responded, using his free hand to rub at the affected ear.

“I say again: ‘Racist bastards!’”

“I’m pretty sure calling nuns ‘bastards’ gets you sent to hell.”

“Fine! That means I’ll get to fist fight ‘em while I’m down there!”

Danny shook his head, laughing at his co-host and best friend’s theatrics. “You’re something else, Sam.”

“And by ‘something’ do you mean charming, handsome, and funny?” Sam batted his lashes while preening, tossing his long hair over his shoulder.

“Sure… we’ll go with that.”

Sam let out an offended squawk, causing Danny to giggle. He shot Sam a wink before continuing on with his script.

“Once again, there’s not a whole lot more on this place besides a lot of stories with no real sources. However, a lot of adults who lived in the orphanage as children would report terrible living conditions and mistreatment by the nuns. One report claimed that a little girl who was staying in the orphanage got caught in a huge blizzard, then died of pneumonia after she returned to the nuns. And instead of burying her right away, they put her body on display in the lobby as an example for the other kids.”

“Jesus Christ almighty. Like, dude, I’m genuinely so fucking mad that I can’t even think of a joke,” Sam fumed, his grip on Danny’s shoulder tightening.

“Well, these are all alleged-”

“I don’t care. Usually I feel bad annoying the ghosts we visit. But tonight? I fucking hope I piss these bitches off!”

“If ghost nuns even exist,” Danny countered.

Sam didn’t respond verbally. Rather, he shot Danny a long-suffering look that really told Daniel how thrilled he was over that particular bit of input from the man. Danny just laughed, tilting his head a little so that it was resting against Sam’s. Sammy still had yet to let his arm drop from around Danny’s shoulders.

“Is that everything?”

“One last little thing, and then we’re all clear to go in. We’re actually pretty lucky to get in here when we did. We’re the last group of ghost hunters allowed to investigate this place before they start renovations.”

“Pfffff, why? From the pictures I saw online, it’s beyond saving,” Sam looked over his shoulder at the aforementioned building. Just the exterior of the place was in bad shape: the brick was covered in crawling ivy, spray painted tags providing the only color to the faded orange brick, and practically every window was shattered or boarded up with plywood.

“The previous owner was bought out. Another company, who graciously agreed to let us go through with this investigation before they started construction, is gonna turn this place into an apartment complex,” Danny explained, slipping his phone into his pocket once more.

Sammy’s mouth fell open, a knit in his brow that showed just how much he was in disbelief from that claim. And that was when he slid his arm off of Danny. Quick to follow the void of the affectionate warmth of Sam’s touch was the frigid and sinister grope of the orphanage. Daniel never before put stock into Sam’s bullshit “energy” of the locations they visited, but this one felt different.

“Hope those renters don’t mind having demonic nuns as their roommates,” Sam jested, his light-hearted tone simply a ruse for him still reeling over the fact that people are going to live in the building that has rumors of child abuse attached to it.

Daniel could not help the wheeze of laughter that squeezed out of his lungs. “Damnit, Sister Mary! I told you not to leave the light on at night!” Danny played along, hoping that his joking around with Sam would ease the dread beating in his heart. As unsettling as it was, that unease seeping into Daniel’s bones felt familiar.

“I’m gonna start making you pay rent!!” Sam continued with a laugh, his smile brighter than the floodlight pointed at them for the camera.

“Would you rather have a demonic nun or a creepy ghost child as your roommate?” Danny asked as they began to walk up to the entrance of the old orphanage.

Sam hummed in consideration, his fingers tapping on his chin. “Honestly? The nun.”

“Really?” That was not the answer Danny was expecting. Sam had a long documented history of not liking demons in the slightest. He was the most afraid of the “demonic” locations they visited.

“Well, 9 times out of 10, the ghost kid is actually a demon in disguise, right? So, rather than having the stress of having to guess whether or not it’s an actual kid, I’d rather have a demonic nun lady who’s honest about her identity.” Sam enthusiastically waved his hands as he spoke.

“So… you’d pick a demon?” Danny’s hopeful tone surprised even himself.

Rather than listen to Sam’s response, Daniel was instantly hit with a ringing in his ears that tuned him out the second he crossed the threshold into the abandoned building. He felt as if the world was moving in slow motion, his senses all zeroing in on the dark energy permeating out of the very walls of the place. Darkness charred the edges of his vision as they focused in on something at the end of the hall, something that was watching them from behind a corner. It was insane, but Danny felt as if he knew this presence, as if they were someone he was familiar with in passing, but was not closely acquainted with. And that wasn’t even the craziest part. Danny felt as if this… thing’s… attention was squarely on Sam and Sam alone.

“-aniel?”

With a touch of his hand to his shoulder, Sam yanked Danny out of whatever state he was just in. Like he emerged from a body of water, suddenly Daniel’s hearing was back to full capacity and his vision was fully intact. As he turned his head to look into Sam’s rich, amber eyes, time was restored to the correct speed.

Glancing back down the hallway once more, Daniel found nothing but a dark, liminal space with fallen plaster and wood pieces littering it. He shook his head to clear it, his curls hitting his cheeks. However, he was still left with the feeling of his brain being waterlogged.

“Are you ok?” Sam’s words dripped with concern, his eyes even glittering with it. With Sammy’s focus on him, Danny felt better. As long as he was next to Sam, nothing bad would happen. He vowed his life.

“I think you're right, I shouldn’t have taken that much DayQuil,” Danny joked, hoping it would distract a little from what just happened.

“Do we need to stop? You don’t have to do this tonight if you’re not-”

“I’m alright, Sammy, I promise.” Danny flashed his most charming smile towards his best friend. He knew it was manipulative, but he also knew that it was justified. What Danny had stopped Sammy from suggesting was the man doing the whole episode by himself. If Danny wasn’t there, Sam would most definitely get into trouble. Life-threatening trouble.

With an uncertain sigh, Sam gave Danny a comforting squeeze of his shoulder. That translated to him that Sam didn’t agree with Danny, but he was dropping the subject anyway.

“Alright. Let’s go into the nursery first. Apparently more than a few people have gotten voices on the Ovilus in there,” Sam dictated, pulling a flashlight from his pocket and clicking it on. The beam of cold LED light illuminated a flurry of dust particles that made Daniel want to sneeze just looking at them. Please let there be no asbestos in here

“And where is that?”

Daniel’s blood turned to ice in his veins as Sam pointed his flashlight beam down the hallway Daniel had just been staring down. “Somewhere down there. To the left, I think.”

The side that Thing was hiding

Daniel had to roll his eyes at himself. There wasn’t anything actually down there. It was probably just too much cold medicine making his brain weird.

“Ready for a baby, Sammy boy?” Danny jested, a crooked smile pulling at the left corner of his lips. He fumbled into the pocket of his own jacket, clicking on the flashlight as soon as he got a good grip on it.

“Only if it’s yours,” Sam replied, not missing a beat. Stunned, Danny turned his head to see Sam bounce his eyebrows at Daniel before trudging down the hall. For the second time in five minutes, Daniel found himself having to shake his head to clear it. Sam was going to be his demise, that he was sure of.

+++

“One more time. If you want to talk to us, please say one of our names back to us! My name is Sam,” Sam paused.

“And I’m Danny,” Daniel finished without missing a beat. He was used to having to introduce himself to empty rooms. But this time, he could not shake the feeling he was being watched. And it couldn’t be blamed on the cameras pointed at them.

“Da-an,” the electronic voice of the Ovilus device coughed out. That thing, allegedly, picked up on ghosts and spirits manipulating the environment and formed sounds in what was called “phonetic mode”. Most of the time it just sounded like a robot with a bad cough, but sometimes it would form some words that even Danny couldn’t deny.

“Oh, that’s a first. It wants to talk to you, Daniel,” Sam taunted, a shit-eating smirk on his lips as he held the device out to Danny. With a roll of his eyes, Danny took the thing from Sam’s hand and entertained the “ghost” trying to talk to him.

“You’ve reached Danny,” the man droned in an unenthusiastic tone. He tucked his arm around his middle and rested his arm holding the equipment on it.

“Hello… bro-o-ther.” That same chilling feeling that had been rattling his bones since Danny stepped onto the property slammed into him in full force, as if Lake Superior herself had sent a titanic wave to drown him. He wasn’t aware of the way his eyes widened nor the way he froze in place as if Medusa glanced his way.

With a weak smile, Danny tried to recover. “Josie? What are you doing all the way over here? Last I knew, you were still alive.”

“In-n-n-fernal.”

All of the moisture left Danny’s mouth.

“Uh-oh.”

If Danny didn’t know any better, he would’ve said the thing was laughing at him.

“What do you want?” Daniel’s tone was cold yet sturdy, like a predator growling out a warning.

Before the response came, Sam yipped in surprise, jumping about three feet in the air. He bolted over to Danny’s side from his spot across the room, tucking in against Danny’s arm. “Something just grabbed me.” His voice trembled on his tongue.

“Sam.” Out of instinct, Daniel wrapped a possessive arm around his best friend and pulled him tight against his side.

“What do you want from me?” Sam was attempting to be brave, but the way his voice wavered betrayed how scared he was.

“Everything.” With each word it spoke, the Ovilus became clearer and clearer. It still maintained its robotic tone, but the thing was not spouting words clear as day.

Perhaps it was the cold he was suffering from or too much DayQuil. But, no matter what you wanted to blame, the outcome remained: Danny slipped up. Again.

“Like hell you are,” Daniel growled. At the same time the Ovilus did.

“Daniel?” Sam’s meek voice squeaked out to his right.

“Scared. Tasty.”

Daniel pulled Sammy closer to his side out of a surge of protectiveness. His eyes were now rapidly scanning the darkness surrounding for any signs of danger or threats.

“Demons feast off fear…” Sam whispered. Because he was so close to Danny, the man could feel his best friend shaking.

That was when the Ovilus started to spew words in a different robotic tone. It sounded crazy, but it was as if the voice setting was changed on the device to make it sound higher-pitched.

“MINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINE-”

“Sam,” Daniel interrupted, his eyes locked onto the doorway to the room they all stood in. The Ovilus was still repeating itself in Danny’s hand.

“W-What?” Sammy’s tone quivered as it escaped his lungs. Danny didn’t have to look over at him to know his face was drained of blood and his eyes were as big as the moon. He’d been in enough places that scared the shit out of Sam to have that expression of his permanently etched into his mind.

“I need you and the crew to get out.” It was a demand that left no room for argument.

But, of course, Sam was the exception to that rule.

“What?? No! I’m not leaving-”

“Damn it, Sam! I’m trying to save your life! So for once in your fucking life, do as I say!” He snapped his head over to Sam’s direction as he screamed at his best friend. There was a large pang of guilt that stabbed him through the heart as he realized he’d made Sam cry.

“Your… your eyes…” Sam trembled out, a quaking finger pointing at Danny’s face.

With a guilty sigh, Daniel kissed Sam on the forehead as he forced himself to soften his tone. “Please. Take everyone and get as far away from here as possible. I’ll meet up with you as soon as this is over; that’s a promise.”

With a few rapid blinks, Sam nodded his head shallowly. Daniel, reluctantly, let go of Sam before the co-host grabbed their cameraman by the arm and bolted out of the door. He spared Danny one last frightened glance before completely disappearing into the darkness. Daniel prayed (the irony was not lost on him) that seeing his love in such a terrified way was not the last way he’d ever gaze upon him.

“In love. Disgusting.”

Daniel just scoffed. There was no way in hell he was going to be ashamed of what he felt for Sam.

“Attach. Sam. Still.”

“I sent him out of range, you brainless bastard,” Daniel hissed, his eyes back on the doorway. It was the spot in the room where he felt that frigid darkness in the highest volume. He would be able to see it if he weren’t in this form.

“Sam. Frightened. You,” it taunted. Daniel knew it was just trying to get in his head, but, fuck, if it wasn’t true. He’d seen that look of terror on Sammy’s face as he’d yelled at him.

“I’ll take that over him being dead.” Daniel growled out, his jaw clenching so hard it could have shattered his teeth.

With a clench of his fist, the Ovilus shattered into thousands of pieces in his hand. He paid no mind to the stinging pain he experienced as his skin dripped with the blood of his fresh wounds.

“Enough chatter. Let’s dance, gingerbread.”

+++

Daniel had found Sam pacing on the crumbling street in front of the orphanage. While he was a little miffed that Sam decided to stay that close to the building, he could hardly stay mad. He watched for a moment as Sammy plowed his fingers through his silky locks, or chewed on the skin of his thumb, or shoved his hands into his pockets. It wasn’t until Danny approached Sam (more like limped towards him) that the man even noticed him.

Instead of the bone-crushing hug he was expecting from his best friend, Daniel was greeted with a face full of scalding, searing, divine, holy water.

“Fucking SHIT!” Danny wailed, clutching his face with his hands as he doubled over in pain, his knees hitting the dewy grass beneath him.

“YOU’RE A DEMON?!”

Sam’s screaming accusation echoed off the surrounding houses and trees, a flock of poor, unsuspecting birds taking flight into the twinkling sky.

Daniel, feverishly wiping the blessed water off his burning skin with the sleeve of his jacket, winced at the thundering volume Sam employed. Once he got as much of the water off of his face as he could, he looked up at Sam only to be met once more with a dousing of angelic H2O.

“Mother- Could you quit it with the holy water, please?!” Daniel begged, more than a little desperation in his tone as he pawed at his scorching skin. He was convinced that his face was going to be bubbling with blisters.

“You’re a demon.” It was a statement. A law of nature. What goes up, must come down; Daniel Wagner is a dirty fucking demon.

“Yes,” Daniel sighed in resignation. There was no denying it now. Not only was Danny very visibly adverse to holy water, but he was pretty sure in the heat of the moment, he had fucked up and flashed Sam his true eyes.

“Where the fuck is my best friend?” Sam growled through gritted teeth, his hand holding the holy water lifting up as if ready to strike again.

“Right here! Right here,” Danny rushed out, shielding himself with his arms.

“LIAR!!”

“No, please! Sammy! Sammy,” Danny begged again, dropping his arms so that he could look Sam in the eyes. “It’s me. It’s always been me. I swear.”

Danny wasn’t sure what it was, but Sam lowered the holy water. A breath of relief punched out of his chest, but the demon knew that this was far from over. There was still a righteous fury burning in his eyes and a set in his jaw that would have been extremely sexy if Danny weren’t so scared of losing Sam.

“Prove it.”

For a moment, Daniel didn’t know what to do. His mind floundered for a way to prove that the person Sam had always known as Danny was a demon. As he fumbled around his head, Sam deemed that he was taking too long and lifted up the holy water again.

“WAIT wait!! Shit- the first time we ever had a sleepover! It was at your house, and- and- we stayed in your shared bedroom with the twins at first, but then we snuck down to the basement to play Clue at 1 am. We got caught because we played that Carole King record too loud and woke up your mom.” Daniel was talking a mile a minute, feverishly attempting to pour his soul, or, the demon equivalent, into his words in the desperate hope Sam would believe him.

Sam thought for a second. But it was only for a second.

“Not good enough-”

“NO! God, Sam, please! I swear it’s me. I-I don’t know what else I can do to convince you. But I swear on my life, I’ve always been this way. And, yes, I did trick you and lie to you the whole time, I don’t deny that. But, that guy who you travel the world with and laugh with and spend all your hours with? That’s me.” Daniel didn’t know when he started crying, but he frankly didn’t care. He was too focused on searching Sam’s face for any indication that he was getting through to Sam.

His face was as impassible as stone.

“Fuck,” Danny whimpered under his breath, hanging his head as sobs wracked his body.

He was losing Sam.

“I know you don’t believe me. Hell, I don’t deserve to be believed. But, please just… please just try. You’re… You’re my best friend. You’re the reason I trapeze around the world looking for ghosts, why I shower in cold water because you take yours so scalding it nearly burns off your skin, so I let you go first. You’re the reason I know all the words to Layla by Eric Clapton and why I learned guitar. You’re the reason I get up in the mornings… the reason I breathe, Sam; so that I have enough air in my lungs to crack a joke on the off-chance I get to hear your laugh. I…” The words caught in Danny’s throat as it closed in on himself, painful sobs hiccupping out of his mouth that he tried to stifle with the press of his hand. “I love you, Sam. And… And I’d rather be tortured by Satan himself than lose you. But, I know that I hurt you. And I know that you’re afraid of me. So… if you le-” He couldn’t even form the words, even thinking them too painful of a fate. “But if you turned around and never came back, well… that’s more than I deserve.”

The night was perfectly silent, save for Daniel’s lamenting that echoed around him, as if taunting him. He was the worst demon ever forged in hellfire. Instead of feasting off of Sam’s soul and turning him towards hell like he’d been assigned to do, Daniel went and fell in love with the bastard. And there he was now, crying like a wimp because he thought he was going to lose Sam forever.

He was coming up with plans on how to get himself exorcized by some priest when he felt a pair of hands grab his wrists and pull them away from his face. Before Danny could even process what was happening, a pair of soft lips crashed into his own. They were so, so warm. In fact, they felt like sunshine as they chased away all of the storm clouds thundering inside of Danny.

Before he could really even savor them, the lips were gone from Danny’s. He’s ashamed to admit it, but the demon whimpered at their loss.

“You’re Daniel.” Despite being spoken as a statement, Danny heard the question in Sam’s words as he rested their foreheads together.

Danny didn’t trust his voice. Instead, he nodded in confirmation. That was all Sam needed.

“I’m so fucking pissed off at you. And I will be for a very, very, long time.”

Daniel could not control his cry of relief as it slipped out of his mouth. A fresh set of tears flowed from his eyes, these ones warm as they streamed down his cheeks. Once again, Daniel was able to read between the lines of Sam’s words better than anyone else; Sam wasn’t going anywhere.

“Thank you,” he managed to breathe out. He wanted so badly to pull Sam into a crushing hug, but he also did not want to test his luck.

“I have about a million questions for you that I expect answers for. Every. Single. One. Is that understood?” Sam’s tone was still steely, but Danny could hear his resolve start to crack.

“Anything you want. I promise.”

Finally, Sam let go of Danny’s wrists and wrapped his arms around him. That was all Daniel needed before he copied Sam and lunged at him with so much force, Sam was sent to the ground, landing on his back. He let out a grunt as he collided with the grass, but did nothing to remove his grip on Danny. The two of them stayed there for a length of time, god only knows how long.

“I love you, too,” Sam whispered into Danny’s ear. Overwhelmed by that confession, Daniel burst into tears all over again. Sam said nothing, just stroked Danny’s back in a soothing manner as Daniel released all of his worries over Sam rejecting him.

After he ceased crying, Daniel helped Sam up out of the grass. Despite it being July, the night was still cold. And Danny was still sick, something Sam would make fun of him for later on when he realized it.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to film anymore tonight,” Sam posited, his hand finding Danny’s and lacing their fingers together. Daniel felt his heart leap into his chest at the action, a smile so wide on his lips it made his cheeks hurt.

“Good thing we have access to it tomorrow night as well,” Danny reminded, swinging their interlocked hands as they walked back towards the car they drove there from the hotel.

“So… if demons exist… does that mean…?”

Despite his head tilting back in exasperation, Sam’s question only made Danny’s smile grow impossibly larger.

“Yes, Sam.”

“I KNEW GHOSTS WERE REAL!!!”

+++

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captainremmington-13 · 10 months ago

Text

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖆𝖚𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖔𝖋 𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖊

show!Luke Castellan x daughter of thanatos!reader

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own the image above or any of Rick Riordan’s characters/world-building.

⚠️Warnings⚠️: swearing, injuries, jealousy, mentions of nausea and blood

A/N: i hope you guys enjoy this chapter, i had a bit of trouble writing it but i hope it turned out ok!

“Angel, wake up. We’re here.”

You groaned, instinctively covering your face with the jacket Luke had draped over you to keep you warm. “Five more minutes…”

You heard him chuckle under his breath. He lifted the coat off of your resting figure, making you whine. You were fully aware that you had to get up and face the deadly challenge ahead. A couple more moments of rest would’ve made you feel at least a little better.

Luke reached over and unbuckled your seatbelt. He got out of the Mercedes-Benz and walked around to open your door. “You were asleep for almost three hours, baby. I think it’s time to wake up so we can get this over with, don’t you?”

You clumsily clambered out of the car, gripping onto Luke’s shoulders so you didn’t face-plant into the ground. Looking around, you realized that you were parked in the middle of a field. The sun was setting in the distance, casting an warm orange glow on everything its light touched.

You would’ve stopped to admire the scenery if you weren’t so worried about getting mutilated by a dragon.

Luke grabbed both of your backpacks and closed the car door. Slinging one over each shoulder, he unsheathed the sword attached to his belt. “Ready?”

You nodded, adjusting your posture to appear more confident than you really were. You headed towards the dirt path in the grass, which undoubtedly lead to the Garden.

“How far do you think we need to walk?”

“Not too far, the tree should only be about a half-mile from here.”

“Flying would make the journey a lot faster,” you pointed out. You still weren’t a fan of using your wings, but you didn’t mind it if they would make tasks easier or safer.

“No.” Luke immediately shut the idea down. “You need to conserve your energy.”

You gave him an over-exaggerated pout. “You’re so bossy.”

“And you’re a brat,” he said, but you knew he was just teasing. He called you that all the time, knowing he was the only one who could get away with it and remain unharmed.

Besides, it wasn’t exactly untrue. You enjoyed giving your boyfriend a bit of attitude at times, just to get him riled up. After all, he looked even more attractive that way.

You would’ve continued playfully pushing his buttons if not for the sense of dread that was creeping up on you. Each step you took towards The Garden of Hesperides strengthened the feeling. The paranoia started overwhelming your mind, making your hands shake slightly.

What if this was the last time you and Luke went a peaceful walk together? What if one of you didn’t make it out alive?

You swallowed, pushing the nagging questions aside. You would do everything in your power to keep you both alive.

And if your father decided to take his soul away from you, you would fight like the most vicious of demons to get him back.

________________________________________________

Words couldn’t describe the beauty of The Garden of Hesperides.

The colors were almost too overwhelming for your eyes to process. You’d never seen such radiant flowers, or such vibrant grass. It felt like you had stepped into a painting, rather than a real place.

The most stunning feature of the Garden, of course, was the apple tree. It was ginormous, at least five times as large as a normal one. You were no botanical expert, but it looked extremely healthy, especially for being as ancient as it was.

The Hesperides, who laid peacefully in the soft grass, were almost as gorgeous as the magical plant. They looked nearly identical, but each of them were easily more beautiful than almost all of the people you knew. They wore traditional white chitons, enhancing their dark eyes and shiny black hair.

If a mortal had somehow stumbled across this place, they would assume it was a safe haven. That is, of course, until they spotted the hundred-headed dragon wrapped around the trunk of the tree

You and Luke were ducked behind a hill about a hundred yards away from the Hesperides and Ladon the dragon. Even from afar, their presences made you feel uneasy. Ladon was much larger than you’d expected him to be, and you had a feeling the Hesperides could be vicious if they wanted to be.

“So, what’s our plan of action?” Luke whispered, keeping one hand on his sword’s hilt.

You sucked in a breath. You’d been brainstorming strategies during the walk to the Garden, and had finally come up with one that seemed feasible. You didn’t like it, but it made the most sense.

“The Hesperides are known to like men more than women. They never get to leave the Garden, you see, so when they have male company they get…more excited. They’re more likely to let their guard down if you approach them and spark a conversation. They may be wary of you at first, but if you pretend to be a traveling demigod who simply wanted to admire the tree’s beauty, they should fall for it.”

“Okay,” Luke said slowly. “Then what will you do?”

“I’ll turn invisible and slowly approach the tree. When the time is right, I’ll fly upwards to grab an apple, which will undoubtedly alert Ladon. Then, I’ll fly over to you and we’ll make a run for it.”

You could immediately tell that Luke didn’t like this. Before he could protest, you said, “If I approach the Hesperides, they’ll immediately be suspicious and send Ladon to attack me. The only way to try and avoid a fight is by having me pick the apple.”

Luke opened his mouth to protest, but nothing came out. After a second, he sighed.

“I don’t like it, but it does seem like our best bet. Just…please, please put yourself before the quest. Don’t sacrifice your life for a stupid magical fruit. It’s not worth it.”

You nodded. “I understand. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Luke gave you a nervous smile. “Okay. I’ll be as careful as I can, but if I need to, I’ll fight my way out.”

You tried not to wince. You hated the idea of Luke facing Ladon alone. But you knew he’d fight any monster, matter how large, to protect you and himself.

Gently, you pulled Luke in for a passionate kiss. You tried to ignore the fear that this was the last one you’d ever share.

When you pulled away, you gave his a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll see you soon.”

With that, you closed your eyes, and willed yourself to become invisible. You broke into a sprint, heading towards the backside of the enchanted tree.

You were tempted to pray to the gods for protection, but realized it was pointless. After all, the tree belonged to the king and queen of Olympus.

And they never really listened to demigods anyway.

You would’ve been much more upset about Luke being surrounded by beautiful, immortal women if not for the beast slumbering a handful of feet away from you.

Luke had always been a smooth talker, even when he was still in his “awkward teen” phase. It was one of the many skills he’d inherited from Hermes. He could talk his way out of trouble, even in the tightest of situations.

With that ability and his good looks, he could easily get whatever he wanted from most people.

He was sitting on a carved stone bench, telling a winding story to the Hesperides, who seemed very interested. Clearly, it had been awhile since they’d had male company.

You crept closer to the trunk of the tree, being careful to stay as quiet as possible. Ladon undoubtedly had an enhanced sense of hearing, as he literally had one hundred heads.

You gripped the hilt of your weapon, prepared to fight at any moment. If the dragon attacked Luke, you wouldn’t hesitate to step in.

You stood still for a few moments, observing Ladon’s body language. He seemed to be deep in slumber, his many eyes closed tightly and his breathing slow and steady.

Concentrating intensely to ensure you stayed invisible, you willed your wings to appear. The familiar cold feeling of them sprouting from your shoulder blades made you shudder ever-so slightly, but the effect quickly faded.

Jumping into the air, you hovered for a minute, trying to decide which apple would be easiest to pick. The further into the branches you went, the more noise you’d make, undoubtedly alerting the dragon that there was an intruder.

You decided on one that was dangling at the very end of a branch, a good distance away from any of Ladon’s heads. You took a deep breath, and rose higher.

Then, like a hawk targeting a field mouse, you swooped down, snatching the golden fruit from the tree.

Unfortunately, the snap that elicited from you picking the apple was enough to wake the beast below you.

“Fuck,” you murmured under your breath. Ladon began stirring, and then his many eyes shot open.

You had been caught.

There was no point in staying hidden, the dragon could use its sense of smell to detect your exact location. As soon as your invisibility faded away, you screamed, “Luke!”

You saw his focus immediately switch from the Hesperides to you. His eyes widened, and he unsheathed his sword, charging towards where the dragon was getting ready to attack you.

You landed on the ground next to him and readied your sword. Ladon’s many heads were glaring down at you both, teeth gnashing together violently.

He lifted a gigantic claw and swung at you. You threw Luke out of the way just in time, but ended up feeling the full force of the blow. The apple flew out of your hand, landing somewhere in the meadow. You were thrown at least ten feet, hitting the ground with a painful thud.

You howled in agony, feeling your ribs crack painfully. Somehow, you got up, staggering to your feet. You glanced around wildly, searching for Luke. Your vision swam, but you were able to make out his figure in the distance. He was slashing at the beast, swiftly avoiding its foot-long talons. Somehow, he was able to detach one of Ladon’s claws, making the monster cry out in agony.

You stumbled towards him, using your long weapon as a cane. You no longer cared about the stupid apple. You just needed to get him out of here.

Your heart dropped into your stomach as you saw one of Ladon’s claws make contact with Luke’s face.

He screamed, reaching up to cover the gash, which was starting to drip with blood.

Ignoring the searing pain in your torso, you ran towards him, stepping between him and Ladon. The dragon snarled at you, its hot breath fanning your face and making you even more terrified. Still, you leveled your weapon, prepared to keep it away from Luke, no matter what it cost.

You rose up into the air, until you were at face-level with Ladon. Before the dragon could lunge, you used your sword to slash through the eyes of one of his larger heads. The shriek he let out was deafening, and almost made you drop your weapon.

Quickly heading back towards the ground, you grabbed Luke and tried to get him to his feet. But he was clearly in an overwhelming amount of pain, and was in no shape to move, let alone run.

As you saw Ladon heading towards you both with a murderous glint in his eyes, you knew there was only one way to make it out alive.

Wrapping your arms around Luke, you closed your eyes and thought of Camp Half-Blood. You pictured yourself appearing at the border, right next to Thalia’s tree.

A sudden gust of icy wind swirled around you both, making you gasp. You held on tighter to the injured boy, afraid that if you loosened your grip, he would be lost forever. You felt dizzy and nauseous, and you were sure that if it lasted any longer, you were going to die.

Then, the feeling stopped.

You opened your eyes tentatively, and that saw the trunk of a large pine tree was mere feet away.

You had successfully teleported all the way from California to Long Island Sound.

You’d made it home.

Dragging Luke towards the border, it took all of your energy not to pass out. Luke was barely conscious, still gripping Ladon’s severed claw in his hands and carrying both of your backpacks on his shoulders.

As soon as you had made it past the magical barrier, you screamed, “Help! Someone, please!”

Because it was already nighttime, you couldn’t make out exactly who was rushing towards you and Luke. You were barely able to hear what they were saying, but you could tell they were panicked and confused.

Finally, your legs gave out, and you hit the ground. Luke groaned as he practically fell on top of you, clutching at the deep wound on his face.

The last thing you heard before losing consciousness was Luke whispering your name.

taglist: @orionspaperwork, @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy, @marvelescvpe, @lovingjasontoddmakemewanttocry, @louweasleymalfoy, @stars4birdie, @stargurl-battleship, @daughterofthemoons-stuff, @have-a-nice-day-k

Thank you for reading! Pls let me know what you think in the comments!!!

The tone of the story is going to shift beginning in the next chapter, it’s going to get more mature in a multitude of ways…

Let me know in the comments if you want to be added to the taglist!

#luke castellan #luke castellan x reader #luke castellan series #luke castellan x you #luke castellan imagine #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo tv show #pjo series #pjo fandom #rick riordan #demigods #thanatos

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lyranova · 4 months ago

Text

Chapter 20: Planting Seeds

Hiya guys! I’m sorry this chapter took a while, I’ve been very busy with IRL 😅. But we’re only 2 chapters away from the end of the series now, and I’m both excited yet anxious about it! But I hope you all enjoy~!

Helena belongs to @kalolasfantasyworld ! Solara, Josele, and Briar (who are briefly mentioned) belong to @thoughtfullyrainynightmare @loosesodamarble and @koneko-pi

Word Count: 7,109

Warnings: Steam, Fade to Black, Lots of innuendo’s, horny thoughts, mentions of pregnancy, pregnancy

————

3 Months Later

After William, Zera, Yuno, and Neva returned from Spade, the remaining Golden Dawn members were full of happiness and relief at seeing the four of them return safely, especially their Captain.

But their happiness and relief was short-lived.

Shortly after the defeat of the Dark Triad and their Captain’s return, the remaining members of the Golden Dawn decided to hold a proper memorial for their fallen members.

But during the memorial, both Yuno and Neva disappeared. When the memorial was over and everyone returned to the still being repaired Golden Dawn base they found the area in front of the base destroyed; trees were ripped up, there were holes in the ground, it was like a battle had taken place there…

And lying in the middle of the destruction was Yuno.

When asked by the others what happened, Yuno just responded with a quiet “Gone… She’s gone.” leading everyone to be confused, until William noted that Neva was missing.

The “She” that was gone, was Neva.

But before the squad could dwell on her disappearance or even go look for her, William was contacted by Marx and told to come to an urgent Captain’s meeting. And when he arrived at the meeting, he got even more bad news…

Julius Novachrono, his mentor and the current Wizard King, was missing along with Damnatio Kira.

But that wasn’t the only bad news Marx decided to drop on the Captain’s…

Demons that had escaped from the underworld during the Ritual were roaming the forsaken realm of Clover and were beginning to spread into the Common realm as well. So starting on the next day, the Magic Knights would team up and begin to send the Devil's back to the underworld.

And for the next three months, that’s what the Magic Knights did; they teamed up and worked together to go all around Clover and get rid of the escaped Devils.

However, for the last week the Golden Dawn have been given a slight reprieve from chasing Devils, and the squad was going to take full advantage of that.

Including the Captain.

William watched his wife from afar with an amused glint in his eyes. Zera was crouched down, tending to the large garden she had created at the newly fixed Golden Dawn base. She had her usually messy ash-blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, and her ice blue eyes were keenly focused on the task at hand. So much so that she didn’t seem to notice that her hands, face, and clothes were covered in dirt and leaves.

He chuckled, whenever she was “in the zone” as she liked to call it, she seemed to tune everything else around her out.

It was cute, but sometimes it was also concerning.

He recalled one time when she was in such a state that she didn’t even notice a big fight between a few Golden Dawn members happening directly behind her. She only noticed when a rogue spell flew past her head and set one of her “poor babies” on fire…

William shuddered, he had never seen Zera look so angry before. If he hadn’t stepped in and calmed her down when he did, he feared she might put all of them six feet under!

He watched as his wife slowly stood up and began stretching her legs before moving over and crouching down again. He silently wondered why she didn’t use her plant magic to create a small stool for her to sit on while she gardened. Surely doing that would be a lot easier and less tiring than crouching down and getting up over and over again?

A hum left his lips, since she wouldn’t make one for herself, maybe he should make one for her instead?

A mischievous grin appeared on his face as she stood up again to stretch her legs.

Quietly, William used his World Tree Magic to create a stump beneath her. It grew taller and taller until it was even with her backside, and when she went to crouch down again, her butt connected with the stump.

“ What the-?!” Zera exclaimed in surprise as she suddenly found herself sitting on a makeshift chair.

She began to look around to see who had done this and noticed her husband sauntering up to her with a teasing smile on his face and a mischievous glint in his eyes. As he came up to her he positioned himself between her legs and placed his hands on either side of her thighs. He rested his head against her shoulder for a moment before speaking.

“ You know, I think you look much, much better up close than from a distance.” He muttered softly, his warm breath hitting against her skin, causing her to shiver before his lips began to move up her jaw.

“ Hey, who said you could steal my lines?” Zera asked with a grin as she tilted her head a bit to the side, allowing William more access to her neck. She could feel his lips curl up into a smile against her skin.

“ What’s yours is mine, isn’t it? Since you seem to have so much fun teasing me, I thought I would just borrow your technique for a moment in order to give you a taste of your own medicine.” He muttered teasingly as he placed another kiss against her jaw.

“ Oh? If that’s the case, then shouldn’t I ‘borrow’ something of yours as well?” She asked, her tone curious and her eyes slowly glancing down towards her husband.

William hummed in thought as he pulled away from Zera. After a moment, he snapped his fingers, reached up to grab his helmet, and then purposefully placed it askew onto her head.

Confusion suddenly appeared on her face, but then an adorable pout took its place.

“ Hey! This isn't what I meant!”

“ But it looks cute on you.”

“ It does not! You just-!” Zera began to argue, but before she could finish her sentence, a soft moan escaped her as William suddenly leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers in a warm, passionate kiss.

The kiss was slow, romantic, and filled with love and passion as though their lips were dancing a sultry tango together.

Soon, William broke the kiss and his lips moved across her jawline and to her neck where he wrapped his lips around that sweet spot on her neck and sucked, causing a surprised gasp to escape Zera.

His lips continued to move up and down her neck where he sucked, nipped, and kissed against the warm and soft flesh, making her gasp and moan in response, which made him smirk.

“ You’re so cute, and so, so beautiful…” He murmured hotly against her skin, making her shiver.

Suddenly, William felt something nip against his ear, causing him to jump.

“ And you, my darling, have turned into quite the tease. Who on earth did you learn this from?” Zera whispered into his ear with a sly grin on her lips before she gently nipped his ear again.

“ Hm, I wonder.” He chuckled before he moved away from her neck and captured her lips in another steamy kiss.

Zera wrapped her arms tightly around her husband's neck as his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. He pulled her off the tree stump and into his lap before pulling her close to him, so their bodies were pressed firmly against each other.

As they kissed, she suddenly felt the ground beneath them begin to shake. She cracked one of her eyes open just enough to see various tree limbs spring from the ground and tangle with each other to form a sphere like dome over the two so they could have some privacy.

Zera broke the kiss for a moment to smirk at her husband and rest her forehead against his.

“ My Sweet William, are you planning on doing some gardening of your own?” She asked playfully as she glanced over to the dome he had created with his magic.

William smirked, and a low chuckle escaped him.

“ Maybe,” He told her warmly before placing a soft, sweet kiss against her lips.

“ Ooh, so you’re planning on finally planting some seeds in my garden, huh?” She asked playfully as she leaned her head to the side as he began to kiss down her neck again.

William hummed against her skin for a moment.

“ Well, that depends,” He began as he trailed hot kisses down her neck and to her clavicle. “ Did you take a contraception potion?”

Zera hummed in thought as her eyes closed slowly.

“ Not yet, but the one I took last month should still be in effect.” She told him softly, and she felt him hum again against her collar bone.

“ I see,” He muttered before he placed another kiss against her skin. “ How about you don’t take the potion this month?”

Zera’s eyes immediately snapped open at his words, and she placed a hand on his chest and pushed him back a bit.

“ Wait, what did you just say?” She asked in surprise, her ears not believing what they just heard.

“ I said I don’t want you to take a contraception potion this month, or next month, or the months after that.”

A long pause settled over the two as they stared at each other; Zera’s eyes were wide in surprise, while William’s purple ones were as calm and serious as she had ever seen them.

“ Are you sure? I mean, I thought we said we would wait until things were a little more…settled?” She asked with a small tilt of her head.

After she and William had gotten married, the two talked about starting a family. But both had agreed that with everything going on with the Spade Kingdom, they would wait until everything was said and done before they even considered having children.

So for him to suddenly be suggesting that they start a family now with still so many things uncertain, such as Neva and Julius still being missing, made her curious…

“ I’m sure,” William told her with a confident nod. “ I think things are starting to become a little more settled now.”

He chuckled as his wife gave him a confused look.

“ Yuno called on the communication device, he found Neva,”

Zera’s eyes widened, and a surprised gasp escaped her.

“ He found her? Where was she? When are they coming home?” She began to ask quickly, making her husband chuckle again as he raised his hand.

“ Yes, he found her. She…was where I thought she would be,” William responded vaguely, making his wife narrow her eyes sternly at him. “ And she and Yuno will be home tomorrow morning.”

Zera’s stern gaze softened, and a bright smile appeared on her face as she clapped her hands excitedly.

“ I’m so happy, my babies are coming home tomorrow!” She said happily, making William smile softly as he watched her.

“ I had a feeling you would,” He said before leaning forward and placing kisses against her neck again.

A small giggle and soft hum escaped her as he trailed the kisses down her neck, to her clavicle, and towards her chest.

“ If things are starting to become more settled, does that mean Marx heard from Julius?” Zera asked softly as she leaned back again to allow William more access to her neck and chest.

William was silent for a moment as his forehead rested against her chest.

“ No, he still hasn’t heard from Julius,” He muttered softly as he slowly closed his eyes. “ And there’s currently talks about installing a new Wizard King to replace him.”

Zera stared down at the back of her husband's head as he spoke; his voice sounded so quiet, worried, and even a little sad. He had told her before that he saw Julius as a role model and even a father figure as a young child and teenager, so for him to suddenly disappear without saying a word…it had really hurt William.

She slowly reached up and gently placed one hand around his shoulder and the other hand gently against the back of his head.

“ Where did you go, Julius?” He quietly muttered; and he suddenly felt his wife entangle her fingers in his hair and gently massage his scalp in order to comfort him.

“ He’ll come back,” Zera suddenly announced confidently, causing her husband’s eyes to snap open and his head to shoot up in surprise.

“ What?”

“ I said Julius will come back,” She repeated, her bright smile returning to her face as she stared at William’s surprised expression.

“ How can you be so sure?” He asked with a bit of a frown, and he heard her hum softly as she looked at the roof of the wooden dome in thought.

“ I don’t know, I guess because he always comes back, even when he’s been away for a while,” She told him as her eyes slowly drifted back down to William. “ It may not be tomorrow, or next week, or even next month. But he always comes back.”

“ So, don’t worry, okay?”

He stared up at his wife and looked at her confident gaze; she had a point, Julius had gone on many adventures like this many times before, and he always came back a few days or weeks later. So this time would be no different, right?

So there was no need to worry, just like she said.

“ Alright, I won’t worry about Julius anymore,” He told her as a small smile appeared on his face.

“ Good, because you have a lot more important things to be worry about at the moment,” She told him as a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes and her bright smile turned into an impish smirk.

William raised his brow curiously.

“ Oh? Such as?” He asked, his tone feigning confusion and curiosity.

“ Such as getting me pregnant as soon as possible.”

He chuckled warmly as he leaned up and hovered his lips just inches away from hers.

“ You’re right, that is a more urgent matter.” He agreed, his voice warm and his tone laced in lust and desire.

Zera chuckled as she leaned forward, bringing her lips even closer to his.

“ It is a very urgent matter,” She agreed, her voice sounding drenched in desire as her other hand slipped up from his shoulder and to the back of his head. “ And one that I think you must attend to quickly.”

William didn’t need to be told twice.

—----

Two Months Later

Zera cheerfully walked down the street of Kikka, a small spring in her step as she did.

As William had said, things were slowly but surely beginning to look up. Neva had returned to the Golden Dawn, albeit with a very different look; her long, platinum blonde hair was cut very short, which shocked Zera, William, and the rest of the Golden Dawn. But she also looked…lighter; it was like a heavy weight were lifted off of her. She was smiling and laughing more, and it seemed like her real personality was beginning to shine through.

It really made Zera happy, but that wasn’t the only thing that made her happy to see:

When Yuno and Neva returned, she saw them holding hands and stealing small, shy glances from one another. And she knew right then and there that they had finally admitted their feelings for one another and were dating…even if they hadn’t officially told anyone yet.

She let out a small giggle as she recalled how surprised the two were when she confronted them about it in front of William; their faces turned bright red, and they both tried to deny it until Zera started pointing out how different they seemed since they got back.

Eventually, they both admitted it to her and William, but they made them promise not to tell the other Golden Dawn members, which they agreed to.

“ I’m so glad they’re finally dating, I’ve been waiting ages!” Zera thought cheerfully as she walked around the small crowd of people that were on the street.

“ Now that Neva’s finally home, all we need is for Julius to return and then everything will be alrig-!” Zera suddenly lost her train of thought as the most dreadful and horrible smell filled her nostrils.

She quickly covered her nose and mouth as the smell began to make her more and more nauseous. Who on earth left their garbage out to rot for weeks? Surely the city of Kikka would have picked it up and taken it away since it smelled this bad! Her eyes quickly looked around the area, trying to find the source of the odor, and when she found it her eyes widened in shock:

It was coffee…the foul odor that she had thought to be trash was coffee!

Was the coffee brewed improperly? Had the beans gone bad, or were they possibly burned? These thoughts ran through her head as her stomach bubbled and churned uncomfortably; normally, she loved the smell of coffee, even though she rarely drank it. But the smell of this particular coffee was just awful!

“ Oh my, this coffee tastes simply divine, doesn’t it?” A woman asked as she held a small cup of coffee in her hands.

“ It truly does! And the smell is absolutely amazing as well!” The woman beside her replied gleefully, making Zera frown in confusion.

“ ‘Divine’? ‘Amazing’? What on earth are these people saying?! That coffee smells awf-!” Her train of thought was once again interrupted as her stomach began to bubble and churn more and more…

“ Oh no…no, dear gods NO!” Her mind frantically screamed as she began to desperately look for a trash can.

Finally, her eyes caught a glimpse of one right beside an alley. She quickly rushed over, and luckily she made it there just in time.

“ Well, there goes my breakfast…” She groaned as she saw the contents of what she had eaten that morning in the bottom of the trash can.

“ Zera, is that you?” A familiar voice asked behind her, causing the other woman to freeze as her head hung just over the trash can.

Oh, no…by the god's no!

The blonde haired woman slowly turned around to see her friend, Helena Drazel, standing there with a confused yet concerned look in her eyes.

Helena was an average-sized woman with beautiful golden skin, kind dark brown eyes, and long, wavy chocolate colored hair. She and Zera had met by chance in the Magic Knights castle when she was delivering some flowers to the infirmary nearly a year ago, and the two hit it off instantly and became good friends by the end of the day!

Which was why Zera was now mortified to be seen like this, the last thing she wanted was for her friends to see her vomiting into a trash can!

“ Helena, it’s good to see you,” She began as she stood up straight and turned her back towards the garbage can. “ What are you doing here?”

“ I came out to get some lunch,” Helena explained as a small frown appeared on her face. “ But, the more important question here is, are you alright?”

Zera quickly nodded.

“ Of course, I’m totally fi-!” She began before the smell of that coffee filled her senses once again; making the woman stop mid-sentence, turn around on her heel, and retch into the trash again.

“ Zera!” Helena quickly exclaimed as she rushed over to her friend and held her hair back away from her face. “ Are you sick, amiga?”

She quickly shook her head.

“ No, I felt fine this morning before I left.” She said as she turned to look at her friend.

Helena let out a curious hum as she began to try to think of why her friend could suddenly be sick.

“ I think we should go to the infirmary and have you checked out.” She suggested as she patted her friends back.

Zera quickly shook her head and waved away Helena’s concern.

“ There’s no need to do that, I’m totally fine!” She told her with a forced smile.

Helena gave her a very disbelieving look.

“ Yeah, and I’m the Queen of Clover,” She replied with a slight roll of her eyes.

Zera tilted her head.

“ I mean…you are a princess of the Diamond kingdom-.” She pointed out.

“ Zera…”

“ Look, I’m fine, it’s probably just something I ate this morning! So there’s no reason for me to go to the infirmary!” She said as she turned around to fully face her friend, her bright yet forced smile still on her face as her stomach tried to churn again.

Helena’s eyes held a skeptical gaze in them as she looked her up and down.

“ Well, I can’t force you to come to the infirmary with me,” She began as she crossed her arms. “ but I know of a bunch of other people who can; our friends and your husband to be more exact.” She added with a small, knowing smirk on her face.

Zera stared at her friend for a moment, not quite believing that her friend would go that far in trying to get her to the infirmary; but then again, Helena was very serious when it came to people’s health, especially when those people were her friends.

As she opened her mouth to reply, she suddenly got a ridiculous mental image of her husband and her friends, particularly Solara, Josele, and Briar dragging her to the infirmary with Helena leading the way.

“ I don’t know, I think that would be kind of entertaining to be honest.” She told her friend with a giggle, making Helena sigh in exasperation.

“ Zera!”

“ Fine, fine~! I’ll go to the infirmary with you and have some tests done, even though it’s a waste of time!” She finally conceded as she held up her hands in defeat.

Helena smiled triumphantly before grabbing her friend's arm and quickly leading her towards the hospital tower.

“ I would rather waste time doing a bunch of tests and you be completely fine, then not do the tests at all and something be seriously wrong.” She told Zera softly yet seriously as the pair walked down the street and maneuvered around the various people.

Zera sighed; she had a point, but surely there wasn’t anything seriously wrong with her, right?

————

The Infirmary inside the Hospital Tower

Zera’s hands began to fidget and twist the edge of her sweater between her fingers as she waited for Helena to return with her test results.

When she and Helena walked into the infirmary, and even as she began her tests, Zera didn’t feel anxious at all. But now that she was waiting in the silent patient room, she began to feel more and more anxious as the clock on the wall ticked on and on.

What if it wasn’t just ‘bad food’ that made her sick? What if it was some virus or serious illness? And if it was, what if she had accidentally given it to William or the members of the Golden Dawn?!

Suddenly, the door to the patient room opened, causing Zera to jump in surprise and snap out of her thoughts.

“ Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Helena said with a small giggle.

Zera sighed in relief and also let out a quiet giggle.

“ It’s okay, I was just getting lost in my thoughts!” She told her as she reached up and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

Helena nodded in understanding as she closed the door behind her and walked over to the chair across from Zera and sat down.

Zera could feel her heart beating anxiously against her ribcage as she watched her friend's eyes scan over the papers in her hands; Helena was in serious ‘healer’ mode.

And it made her even more anxious about her results.

“ Well, am I dying?” She asked, trying to lighten the mood, and Helena glanced up at her and shook her head.

“ No, you’re not dying,” She replied with a small smile. “ But I do have a question that I need to ask you,”

“ When was your last period?”

Zera blinked in surprise at Helena’s question, but she hummed in thought as she tried to remember.

“ About 7 or 8 weeks ago, I think.” She finally said after a moment.

Helena nodded as she looked back down at her papers again.

“ And would it be safe to assume that you and William have been…active during that time?” She asked, and watched as Zera began to laugh sheepishly and rub the back of her neck again.

To say she and William had been ‘active’ would be an understatement.

Ever since he told her that he wanted to start trying to have a baby they had been going at it like a pair of rabbits in the middle of spring. Every moment the pair was alone together either began with, or ended with, the two naked and between the sheets, or on the couch, or on William’s desk…

“ Zera,” Helena’s voice snapped the plant mage out of her thoughts. “ Did you hear my question?”

“ Y-Yeah I did,” She admitted with another laugh. “ Yes it would be very safe to assume William and I have been active.”

Helena nodded before looking at her papers again.

“ And have you been using protection all that time?”

Zera’s brows knitted together in a confused frown, what was with all these weird questions?

“ I mean…not really,” She admitted as her gaze shifted to the side. “ I took a potion a few months ago, but I haven’t taken one since.”

“ And you haven’t used any other form of protection?”

“ No..?”

Helena nodded before looking at her papers again briefly before looking back up at Zera.

“ I see. Well, I think it’s pretty obvious what’s going on and why you’re suddenly sick,” Helena said as a gentle smile worked its way onto her face.

“ You’re pregnant hermana.”

The patient room suddenly became very, very quiet. Zera’s ice blue eyes were wide, and her mouth was partially open in surprise, and the only sounds that could be heard were the ticking of the clock on the wall and the sounds of their breathing.

Pregnant…she was pregnant?! How…how did that happen? Well, she knew how it happened but still…!

“ H-How far along?” She asked softly, and Helena hummed in thought.

“ About 8 weeks.”

Zera’s mind began to race as she tried to think of when and where this could have happened, but the only time she could think of was that day in the garden…

That day in the garden was when it happened!

“ But, the potion should have still been effective 8 weeks ago, right? So, how-?” Zera began, and Helena shrugged slightly.

“ The potions are only 99% effective at the most, and over time they can begin to lose their efficacy,” Helena explained. “ Or, maybe William’s sperm is just that potent?” She lightly joked, and frowned a bit when Zera scoffed.

“ That wouldn’t surprise me,” Helena’s frown deepened and she tilted her head in confusion.

“ Isn’t this what you wanted? I thought you would be happier at this news,” She asked kindly, and she watched Zera’s shoulders slump forward as she bit her bottom lip in thought.

“ I am happy…and it is what I wanted; but, I wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon…I thought I would have enough time to be ready,” She admitted softly as she played with the trim on her sweater nervously.

“ No matter how much time you have, I don’t think this is something anyone is ever truly ready for,” Helena said with a gentle smile, her ‘doctor mode’ slipping away and being replaced with her ‘regular mode’.

“ You can prepare and prepare all you want for this and it can still catch you off guard,” She continued as she reached out and held Zera’s hand comfortingly. “ And to be honest, I’m pretty sure you’re not the only person who’s felt this way before.”

Zera nodded, and the room fell silent again.

“ Amiga, are you okay?” Helena asked, and she watched her friend quickly nod again before forcing a bright smile onto her face.

“ I’m fine! I’m just…trying to figure out how to tell William,” Zera said with a small laugh. “ But I’m okay, really!”

Helena gave her a look before nodding and giving her hand another squeeze.

“ Alright, I have some other patients I need to see, but you can just take your time, okay?” She said as she gave Zera’s hand another gentle squeeze before standing up.

“ Okay, thanks Helena, for everything!”

Zera watched her friend nod before walking out of the room, and as she closed the door behind her she leaned back against her chair and took a deep breath.

She was happy about this, and the more the news sank in the happier she was; however, she felt this strange sense of shock and disbelief at the thought that she was actually pregnant…

If she felt this way, she could only imagine how William was going to feel when she told him the news.

————

Later that evening at the Golden Dawn base

“ Get some rest everyone, because tomorrow will be a busy day since we’ll be lending the Silver Eagles a hand in hunting down the devil near our border.” William announced as the meeting with the Golden Dawn members came to an end.

They all saluted him before walking away, and when he turned to do the same he saw Yuno still standing there.

“ You should get some rest as well, since you’ll be leading the squad's mission tomorrow.” He said as he walked up to him.

Yuno nodded before giving a quick salute.

“ Yes, Captain.”

William smiled and before he passed Yuno, he stopped and stood beside him.

“ I hear there’s supposed to be a meteor shower tonight, why don't you go up to the roof with Neva and watch it together?” He suggested.

An amused chuckle escaped his as his Vice Captain’s face turned a bright shade of pink.

“ Understood, Captain.”

William chuckled again before giving him another pat on the shoulder before walking away towards his living quarters.

Zera was right; it is fun to tease people!

As he walked towards his and his wife’s living quarters he couldn’t help but wonder if she was home, and if she was waiting for him. He glanced out the nearest window; the sun was just beginning to set, meaning that it was around five or six o’clock.

Zera always came home around then, so it was very likely that was home and waiting for him, and he couldn’t help but wonder how she would be waiting for him…

Would she be waiting by the fire like she normally did? Or at the dining table with a cup of tea in her hands? Or maybe watering her plants on the balcony?

Or would she be waiting for him in a more alluring way?

Would she be waiting in their bed wearing nothing except lingerie? Or perhaps in the shower waiting for him to join her? Or maybe, just maybe, she might be waiting for him on their dining table; her naked body covered in whipped cream, and her voice saying “I thought we would skip dinner and go right to dessert” as her eyes stared at him lustfully.

William’s face turned bright red at the thought and he instantly slapped his hands onto the sides of his face to snap himself out of those thoughts.

“ Look at you; you’re turning into your wife with these salacious thoughts!” His mind screamed at him as his face burned hotter and hotter.

But wait a second, he thought with a tilt of his head. If anyone was allowed to have those kinds of thoughts about his wife, it should be him right?

He quickly shook his head as he saw the door to their living quarters come into view, and he quickly cleared his throat to compose himself before he opened the door. And what he saw on the other side made him frown in confusion.

His wife…wasn’t there?

She wasn’t in the living area, the kitchen, or on their main balcony.

“ Zera? Are you here?” He called out as he closed the door behind him and walked further into the room.

He walked towards their bedroom and saw that the door was closed, maybe she was taking a nap?

William softly knocked on the bedroom door, and when he heard no reply he opened it. He looked around but didn’t see Zera anywhere, which was odd considering he could sense her mana.

He walked further into the room and looked towards his right and saw the small balcony doors were open, which meant that she was outside watering her ‘babies’.

And as he stepped out onto the balcony, he saw that he was right. Standing there, watering her babies, was Zera with her back turned toward him.

“ Here you are,” William started softly and with a gentle smile on his face.

But a quick frown appeared on his brow as his wife jumped and spun around quickly, causing water to spill from her watering can and onto the floor.

“ I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He quickly apologized as he walked up to her, and Zera quickly waved his apology away.

“ It’s okay, I was just distracted so I didn’t hear you come in,” Zera told him with a small smile. “ And besides, the stone floor could use a bit of watering itself too.”

William continued to stare at her in concern, she was never this jumpy, even when she was lost in thought.

“ Anyway, how was work? Are the ‘kids’ ready for their mission tomorrow?” She asked as she leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. William smiled and, reciprocated her kiss before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

“ The ‘kids’ are very ready for their mission,” He told her. “ They’ll be with Nozel and Yuno should anything go wrong, however I doubt anything. Oh, and I told Yuno about the meteor shower tonight just like you told me, so I expect he and Neva will be on the roof watching it tonight.” He added with a chuckle.

Zera nodded before suddenly turning away from him and moving out of his arms, which only made William’s frown return to his face.

“ That’s good, I hope they have fun.” She replied before going back to watering her plants.

This was strange; she wasn’t joking, teasing, or giggling happily that Yuno and Neva were going out on a date? That wasn’t like her at all…

Who was this person and what had that done with his wife?!

“ I believe that covers my day, how was yours?” He asked as he watched her over water one plant and then another.

“ Oh it was fine,” She replied, her tone suddenly turning shaky and nervous, which only made his concern grow even more.

“ I just found out that I’m pregnant, that’s all.” She told him with a small laugh as she suddenly turned to face him, her watering can still angled down, causing water to once again pour onto the floor.

William blinked in surprise at her for a moment as his mind tried to wrap around what she had just said; she was pregnant, and this was how she decided to tell him? Bluntly? But the more important question in his mind was that She was pregnant?!

Zera was a very blunt person and tended to, as the saying goes, ‘rip off the band aid’ when it came to certain things; however, this kind of news was something he felt he should have been eased into!

He stared at his wife for a moment; she held her bottom lip between her teeth, and her ice blue eyes were full of fear, nervousness, and expectation.

He frowned, expectation? Why was that emotion in her eyes? As he continued to stare at her, he noticed it was like she was waiting for him to say something…

Oh wait, she was waiting for him to say something; he was just staring at her without saying anything this entire time!

And when he opened his mouth, a very different sentence came out than what either of them were expecting:

“ Zera, the floor!”

“ What?” She asked as she blinked repeatedly at her husband.

Her gaze shifted to the ground where she saw that she was steadily pouring water onto the floor. With a small gasp and quiet apology she raised the watering can and set it down onto the ground.

The air around them became quiet again for a moment before William spoke again.

“ You’re pregnant?” He asked slowly, his voice soft yet sounding dry. When Zera nodded he walked over to the small table they had outside and sat down as the news began to sink in.

Zera came over to stand in front of him and she crouched down, grabbed his hands, and held them gently in hers as she let him process his emotions.

William felt a wave of different emotions crash over him all at once; shock, joy, fear, eagerness, nervousness, excitement. But he couldn’t decipher which emotion was more prominent at the moment…

This was what he wanted right? To have a baby with Zera? So…why was he thinking about so many awful possibilities and feeling so many conflicting emotions right now instead of just happiness?

“ Will, what are you thinking right now?” Zera asked softly as she raised her hand and gently rested it against his cheek.

He looked at her for a moment before a soft sigh escaped him.

“ I’m thinking about forty or fifty different things right now,” William admitted as his gaze shifted to the ground.

“ I’m thinking; ‘what if I somehow pass my curse onto our child’? ‘What if our child is scared of my scars’? ‘What if something happens during the pregnancy and I lose you or the baby, or even both’? ‘What if…you get ill and you don’t…’?” William stopped himself mid sentence.

He couldn’t, no, wouldn’t finish that last thought.

Zera suddenly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“ And those fears are valid, and are very understandable,” She said with a small smile. “ And to be honest, I can’t say those thoughts haven’t run through my mind either.”

“ But now, I want you to tell me about the positive things you’re thinking about right now?”

William frowned in thought for a moment as he tried to gather his thoughts.

“ I’m thinking; ‘This child will have the most adorable smile’, ‘This child will be spoiled rotten’, ‘This child will grow up to be an amazing man or woman’, ‘They’ll be a kind and gentle person’.” He admitted quietly as his gaze slowly shifted back up towards Zera, who’s eyes silently encouraged him to keep going.

“ I’m thinking ‘They’ll have your smile, your laugh, your love of plants’, ‘They’ll hopefully have a love of birds and of nature’, ‘They’ll become the greatest person they can be’.” William finished with a soft smile that matched the one his wife was wearing now.

“ See? The good outweighs the bad,” She told him.

“ Sure all of those fears are true and valid, but they may also not come true; however, all those sweet and kind things? I’m sure most, if not all, of those things will come true.” She continued firmly as her soft gaze held a firmness to it.

“ Listen to me, William; I know you’re afraid, and to be honest so am I, but I think it's all going to be okay.” She finished with a confident nod and a true bright smile.

William stayed silent as he listened to her words.

“ You’re right,” William softly admitted, causing his wife to smirk.

“ Aren’t I always?” Zera asked playfully, causing him to chuckle in response.

Zera let out a surprised squeak as William suddenly reached down, wrapped his arms around her, and suddenly pulled her up into his lap where he held her close to him.

The couple sat peacefully on their balcony and watched as the sun began to set, they were so happy to be welcoming a new bundle of joy into their lives. Were they nervous and fearful? Yes, any new parent would be. But were they also excited and hopeful? Yes, yes they were.

“ Y’know, this may be a bit pre-emptive, but I think you and I are going to be excellent parents.” William told her with a soft chuckle, and he watched as Zera pulled back a bit to look at him.

“ ‘Excellent’? I think you and I are going to be the best parents ever,” She told him with a confident grin.

“ Isn’t that right, little one?” She softly cooed before placing a gentle hand onto her still flat stomach.

William watched her curiously before she reached out, grabbed his hand, and placed it onto her stomach next to hers.

“ Helena said it’s still too early to feel anything; but I’d like to think he can at least sense our presence or something.”

William looked up at her with a small frown.

“ ‘He’? You think it’s going to be a boy?” He asked curiously as his thumb gently glided over her abdomen.

When she nodded in reply, he quickly shook his head in disagreement.

“ I think it’s going to be a girl.” He told her firmly, making her giggle.

“ Really? Would you like to bet on that Lord Vangeance?” Zera asked him playfully.

“ No I would rather not, with my luck I would lose terribly.” He laughed and shook his head.

“ But truth be told, I don’t care what our baby's gender is, as long as they’re happy and healthy… that’s all that matters to me.”

“ I agree wholeheartedly.” She replied cheerfully before placing a small kiss onto his lips, then onto the top of his head before wrapping her arms around his neck.

As the two quietly watched the sun set, Zera suddenly realized something.

“ Hey William? Who are you going to tell first?”

William frowned for a moment and a quiet hum escaped his lips.

“ I think I’m going to tell the squad first, then Yami and the other Captains.” William suddenly let out a small chuckle. “ I wonder how Yami will react when he finds out I’m having a family before him.”

“ He’ll probably say; ‘So, you finally put some inches in her, huh?’ and walk away.” Zera replied with a laugh, causing her husband to take a deep breath as his face turned a bright shade of red.

“ You really will be the death of me at this rate, won’t you?”

————

Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

#black clover #black clover fanfiction #black clover oc #black clover oc fanfiction #oc; zera #william vangeance #oc; helena #dandelion wishes

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happy-mokka · 1 year ago

Text

Hi there.

I'd like to start with a warning first: Beware!

I'm rather new to tumblr, so if what will come next turns out to be total bs, I hope you all get out of this unscathed, forget we ever crossed paths and will be able to go on with your beautiful lives.

If you're still here, you'll about to hear the nice and accurate story of a guy that stumbled naively into a Good Omens binge watching weekend and came out forever changed.

Roughly 4 weeks ago I was asking friends what they were watching currently. I needed new material to turn to.

That's when it happened.

One of them casually brought up Good Omens on Prime.

I should give it a try.

Angels, demons. Terry Pratchett. Neil Gaiman.

Ok. I like fantasy. I like good story telling. I have an odd sense of bad humour.

I decided to give it a try.

To my eternal shame I have to confess, that until lately I hadn't read a single line written by both Pratchett and Gaiman.

I've read thousands of books. My love for them is so widely spread over all genres, that it simply did never happen. There was always some other book and author that came next.

Oh, how blind and ignorant I have been. I now clearly see the grave error of my ways.

If you can't forgive me, that's ok. I'm having a hard time myself doing so.

Be that as it may, I'm currently reading Good Omens and won't stop there. I promise.

Update notice 2024-06-03 I am now 6 books into Neil Gaimans works, last one was this...

Update notice 2024-08-02

It's been now a few weeks since the allegations on sexual abuse by Neil Gaiman came to light. As a fan of his work I am devastated. As a decent human being I absolutely stand with the victims. Will I continue reading or watching his work? Well, I still have some books on my to-do shelf stack that I already bought and would not want to waste them. So I will read them at some point. Won't buy new ones, however.

As for shows he's involved with, I will continue watching them, if with the given circumstances anything new comes out at all... Too many good people are involved and invested in the works, that don't deserve punishment for his doings.

Good Omens was nothing short than life changing for me. I will never stop cherishing it and the person who brought it into my life (and I certainly don't mean Gaiman by this).

So, where was I?

Right.

Binge watch session of Good Omens season 1.

Saturday evening. Around 9:30pm.

Episode 1 wasn't even running for 5 minutes and I was already sucked right into it.

Frances McDormand's God intro and the garden eden scenes.

I was instantly in love.

Michael Sheen had already been one of my favorites. His first minutes as Aziraphale directly hit home.

David Tennant was familiar but I also hadn't been into Doctor Who, so it took another 5 minutes to also fall for Crowley...

The path was set and I started to deep dive in.

6 hours, 6 episodes, 1 Antichrist and 1 almost Armageddon later I crawled into bed on early Sunday morning to get at least a few hours of sleep. I fell asleep with an almost idiotic grin on my face and a feeling of deep content.

Only 5 hours later, technically still Sunday morning, I woke up, prepared a coffee infusion and switched the TV back on.

There were important deeds to be done. Episodes to be watched.

I could sleep later.

Narrator: No, he would NOT sleep later...

I again immediately fell for the 2 celestials.

The slightly different arc, no dramatic catastrophe on the horizon, instead beautifully written side characters and wonderful new details on the two main protagonists...an evolving love story that had already been clearly visible in season 1...

And god, or Satan, HOW I LOVED JON HAMM as Jimbriel...

I again ended up binge watching the whole season, only interrupted by a few coffee and bathroom breaks.

6 hours later. The end credits were already over for like an eternity and I hadn't moved. Just sitting there, all goosebumps and teared-up.

I ate something. Had to. Don't really remember tasting anything or remembering what I actually had.

I was dumbstruck.

The friend that had suggested to start watching GOs, hadn't let out much more detail, so I hadn't been prepared in the least, for the emotional train wrecked state it had pushed me into.

Hours later I finally fell into an uneasy sleep.

The next morning before work I just sent Tori Amos' Nightingale in Berkeley Park to my GOs friend followed by a ❤️, as a signal that I had watched it all and let her know that there was no need anymore to hold back with talking out of fear to spoiler me.

We had lunch together and spent the whole time rambling on our GOs induced emergency emotional state and the whole beauty of especially Gaiman's season 2.

The next days we kept randomly talking about GO before she pinpointed me to tumblr, in case I wanted to dare a real deep dive into GO fandom.

So here I am now. A week's passed. I've spent hours of reading so many amazing posts around here. So many eye-opening moments.

I'm not only speaking of all those perfect interpretations of GO and it's characters.

What impressed me so much more is the fabulous energy especially radiating from the queer community.

Not being queer, only having a few queer friends, I hadn't really realized, just how big a thing GO in general and season 2 in particular was for you.

Update notice - 2024/04/10

Attention! This installation of base module "Sexuality" is currently being updated to a more flexible one...work in progress...

Update notice - 2024/07/03

At an age where my eyeglasses turned bifocal, I finally came to the realization, that not only my eyes celebrate the duality of life. In fact my whole being did it for as long as I can think back. It is astonishing, how efficiently one can get used to ignore feelings, that society considers unseemly. So, finally, this is me here, bi and queer🌈.

I was raised to walk earth open-minded, to respect everyone, no matter of religion, gender, nationality and sexual orientation. This is so deep a part of my DNA and personality, that GO for me was just a beautiful story about the blind following of religion, the meaning of life and, most of all, love.

Both protagonists are played by male actors and apparently being in an ages long repressed gay relationship? I didn't even consider this unusual or anything else than normal.

2 immortals fall deeply in love, first into humanity, life on earth and then finally into one another, while trying to overcome all the madness of belonging to two opposing sides of the same medal.

A great parable on the pursuit of happiness. Skillfully written for the screen and perfectly casted and played.

Well that was then.

Now I see you and I have to thank you, for opening my mind even further.

For giving so much joy so generously, although every day is still a fight for your rights.

For giving me a space here among you and the chance to delve some more in beautiful minds and fanfiction.

So, if you're still here and reading this, maybe it was not all bs. Maybe it gave you some minutes of entertainment and distraction from every day's stress and problems.

It sure was for me.

I'll end this with some favorite Shakespeare quotes, although now I'm not so sure any more, if not some red haired demon might have actually written this...

"If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber’d here While these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream, Gentles, do not reprehend: if you pardon, we will mend: And, as I am an honest Puck, If we have unearned luck Now to ‘scape the serpent’s tongue, We will make amends ere long; Else the Puck a liar call; So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends."

☘️

A Midsummer Night's Dream - William Shakespeare

🔻🔻🔻

More personal middle aged ramblings:

👉🏻 birthday meldown 2024 🔥

👉🏻 my year in books 📚

👉🏻 1 year anniversary of Good Omens 😇😈

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jinxtoyerekko · 1 year ago

Text

Billy Hargrove x gn!reader

Minors kindly DNI

Warning: make out, shitload of flirting, no emotional bond, drinking, swearing

Summary: Reader meets Billy at one of plenty parties and realizes he's pretty hot, can't go further than a makeout, though

Feel free to request:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Fuck, this tastes horrendous. Who bought this?" You asked your friend, Carol, as you looked over at her. She let out a small laugh as she took a sip. "Tommy did. He swore it's good, but I told him you wouldn't like it. "

You set down your cup and made a small gag noise. "God, I think I'll stay with the vodka for this."

Carol nodded. "Alright. I'll be back in a second. I wanna check where Tommy is."

You nodded softly and filled your cup up once more before pushing yourself through the crowd of people and onto the garden. There stood a group of people, surrounding a boy you've never seen on these parties before. But you rarely even went on parties so that wasn't a surprise.

He was upside down on top of a keg, seemingly drinking from it. It looks weird and a little stupid but you could see what was fun about it.

Your eyes scanned the group. They all counted as the boy kept going on and on. Once they reached the number 23, the boy got down and stood normally as he spit out the last bit of beer that was in his mouth.

Everyone cheered for him, clapping and whistling while also yelling his name through the garden.

Billy

It sounded interesting. But also so weirdly familiar.

You watched as a smile formed of your face, downing the drink in your cup happily.

Suddenly, some guy grabbed you by the shoulders and pushed you towards the keg. "(Y/n) should totally try it too!!"

You looked at the male behind you with a frown. You recognized him, but you couldn't seem to remember his name. "Fuck no, I'm not drinking that shit. I'm already dying from whatever shit Tommy-"

You couldn't even finish since everyone started cheering for you, which put some pressure on you. Said pressure got worse when that boy, Billy, smirked at you and spoke up. "Are you scared?"

And that was all it took.

You tossed aside your empty cup and took hold of the keg as you bit onto the hose, which would lead the beer into your mouth.

You raised yourself up onto the keg and started drinking.

Right now you were really fucking thankful that your parents insisted on you taking part in athletics.

And that you usually drank a lot during the day. Not necessarily alcohol but just anything in general.

Otherwise this moment would've gotten really fucking embarrassing now.

And the fact that you were pretty good at holding your breath for a long time also helped with making this much easier.

And again everyone started cheering and chanting your name as if they were trying to summon you like they would a demon.

It felt funny to you. You weren't even a party person. You weren't very popular either. And yet here you were, on your way to become the new keg king without even planning on it.

Billy probably didn't like this at all, but you genuinely couldn't care less. You had a chance to prove yourself. You weren't gonna embarrass yourself in front of so many people, especially if one of them was so fucking handsome in your opinion.

24!!

You let the hose out of your mouth and got off of the keg, stumbling back a little, though some people caught you and held you up as everyone kept cheering like they had for Billy.

You panted as some leftover beer dripped from your lips and down your chin. You looked up just to be met with the icy blue eyes. What you didn't expect was for Billy to look so.... interested. He looked like he wanted to know more about you.

You pushed yourself off of the many people before making your way to stumble inside. The alcohol was rushing to your middle while the blood that had gathered in your head was going down into your feet again.

You weren't aware that Billy followed you until you had sat yourself in the bathroom and he closed the door.

You looked over at him and fought back a smile since you didn't want to seem like you were making fun of him. Though internally you kind of were.

"I'm impressed." He said, not sounding very genuine, but you weren't gonna argue over a compliment. Instead, you smiled as you let your head fall back just slightly as you could breath. "Thanks."

"Anyone else would've choked."

You looked at him again and smirked. "I'm not anyone else. I'm (Y/n). (Y/n) (L/n), actually." You explained to which Billy nodded.

"Billy Hargrove." He said measly. You nodded softly. And then the realization hit you as to why the name sounded so familiar.

"Mm I've heard a few things about you."

To that, Billy raised a brow and smirked. "Oh yeah? And what kind of things have you heard about me?"

You raised your hand and held up one finger slowly. "That you like to fight." You raised another. "That you're fucking angry all the time." And then your raised your third finger. "And that you're a really good kisser."

Billy laughed loudly at the last one. "And who the fuck told you that?"

You pointed your finger at him as you opened your mouth, wanting to reply. But you were so drunk from the keg and the vodka that you genuinely forgot. "I... don't remember."

You lowered your hand slowly and sighed softly. "God I hate alcohol."

Billy smiled and got a little closer to you, looking directly into your eyes. "Wanna test if that last rumor is true?"

Your heart skipped a beat as you looked down at him. Your lips suddenly felt so dry that you simply had to wet them with your tongue a little.

Billy laughed and raised a hand to put it behind your head, pulling you in to kiss your lips roughly, not holding back at all.

You closed your eyes as a soft hum escaped you. Moments later, you grabbed onto his shirt and let yourself fall into his arms. This only made him pull you closer, his hand cupping your ass.

One moment, you were just kissing, and the next, you suddenly had his tongue basically down your throat, though you weren't really complaining. It felt good. Really good.

You felt Billys hands travel up slowly, his hand sneaking under your shirt slowly. Suddenly, you grabbed his hand and pulled away. "S-Stop! Don't-"

Billy let his hand fall back onto your ass and pulled you closer again. "Relax. Only make out it is." He whispered before he went back to kissing you, his tongue meeting yours once again.

You continued this for about 10 minutes until a knock was heard on the door and you jumped off of Billy right before it opened and Carol peeked in.

"(Y/n)? Oh- Hi Billy! Are you two alright? I heard (Y/n) tried the keg thing and ran off to the bathroom afterward." She explained, to which Billy nodded.

"That's true. Beat my ass big time in it. And now the little thing isn't feeling all too well."

Right as he said this, your stomach twisted in a way that made you jump up and hang your head over the toilet, emptying your stomach out into it like your life depended on it.

<><><><><><><><><><>

Masterlist:

#my stories #stranger things #billy hargrove #x reader #billy hargrove x reader

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things-arent-what-they-seem66 · 5 months ago

Note

Ok here it is, a thing I always liked to think in Garden Centre AU.

I cut off some of the describings and big moments because I go too far once I start. Also its shitty because I wrote it at around 3 am here you were warned.

*Charlie and Vaggie had finally gotten to the big Garden Center everyone told them to go for the garden Charlie wanted for the hotel, and now one was looking at the greenhouse-like shop with complete awe in her eyes while the other was suspicious as usual.*

Charlie: It looks like a plant itself…

Vaggie: Yeah.

She didn’t know what she should get from a type of sinner who would put this much effort on his business in Hell. Closest came the Vees but their building was just full of neons so that people would be attracted like flies, not like a forest that seemed like it could swallow you if you wandered in too far.

Charlie: Come on, isn’t it beautiful?

But even she couldn’t deny that..

Vaggie: Yeah, it is. Kind of.

Charlie took her hand: Come on!

*They went inside and was baffled by how it was even bigger and wilder on the inside, an employee approached them as they were just standing there unable to shift their gaze away*

Polly: Could I help you, miss?

Charlie: Oh! Yes, please.

Vaggie: We were wondering if we could meet Mr Kadmon for our special request. We had talked about meeting some time today.

Polly: Ohh..

She stiffened a little but it went unrecognized by both the sapphics.

There were they.

Polly: Charlotte Morningstar and Vaggie no last name?

Vaggie: Yes.

Charlie: Is he available??

Polly: Let me… Ask.

*She left quickly through a “Staff Only” door, and Charlie and Vaggie had to wait for about 15 minutes until she came back.*

Polly: Yes he is, follow me misses

*They went deeper into the building with the lady, and even though they were going to more office like parts there were still a ton of plants in pots and vines on the walls*

Polly: Here it is!

Charlie: Thank you! She led both Vaggie and herself to the door only to be stopped by the employee*

Vaggie: What now?

Polly: I’m sorry, but he accepts one guest at one time.

Charlie: Oh.. Why??

Vaggie: Yeah, why?

Polly: After an accident, please, he expects respect for that.

Charlie: Of course we have that!

Vaggie: Mhm..

Charlie: You or me then?

Vaggie: Maybe I can try this time. This is a businessman in Hell after all, so you need to be more firm than nice.

Charlie: I can be that…

Vaggie: Babe..

Charlie: Okay, okay. You go.

*She left with Polly offering her to show her the rest of the shop*

*Vaggie opened the door, and was greeted by a dark room, there were almost no furniture, she couldn’t even see where it ended or where the certain demon was.*

Vaggie, stepping inside: Uh, hello? Is there-

*She heard the sharp exhale of a cigarette and saw the smoke come off from not so far immediately, then she saw three glowing orange-red eyes at the end.*

She didn’t trust this guy already.

Just what they needed, another one of those edgelords who thought they were mysterious, great.

Vaggie: Ahem-

Suddenly the lights came on with the sound of a little button press, and now it was kind of overwhelming instead. She had to narrow her eyes and bring her hand to her face to get used to it.

Vaggie: .. Thanks.

She eyed the room, and shit was it full of vines again. Seriously, did this guy have anything else than fucking plants?

*Then she finally got to take a proper look at the certain overlord, he had two lamb ears and two huge horns coming from his head, followed by expected orange and red eyes although not glowing and two fangs sticking out of his mouth. He had two black wings sprouting from his back and as she could see he had blackened claws as hands too. He was looking at her unimpressed as heck*

Vaggie: Oh. There you ar-

Adam: Be fucking careful where you step, you’re on Macy right now. -

Should I write part 2 idk.

YES YOU SHOULD WRITE PART 2 !! AHHH THANK-YOU I LOVE THIS!!! Mind if I-

Vaggies eyes went wide, even though this sinner overlord looked different she knew that fucking voice anywhere.

Vaggie: Adam!?!

Adam grinned as he took another haul off of his cigarette and blew out the smoke.

Adam: Vagina. Have a seat.

Vaggie: You're the owner!? I thought you were dead!

Adam: Yeah well, obviously not.

She took one step towards him and a small squeak could be heard, Vaggie looked down to see that she had stepped on a plant.

Adam glared at her: Get your foot off my Macy bitch!

#adamsapple #hazbin hotel adam #ask #Garden Centre Au

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grandma-susan · 2 months ago

Note

*A letter for Susan arrives with the morning mail*

Dear Auntie Susan,

It’s been too long since I wrote or showed up at your house, and for that, I owe ya an apology.

Life’s been...well, let’s just say, complicated.

After we found out Coronis was pregnant, things got messy fast.

Her family wouldn’t have let us be happy, let alone let the babies live.

She's the half sister (she ain't her father's child) of Marquis Andrealphus and Stella, Prince Stolas's bitchy ex-wife, so y'know... petty, dangerous assholes.

They would’ve taken them from us or worse, and locked her away.

We couldn’t let that happen.

So, we ran.

We eloped and left our old lives behind to start fresh.

I wanted to share some news and let ya know how we’re doin' out here in Wrath.

Now, we’ve got a little slice of peace out here. I’m running a hellhorse ranch—Featherscale Ranch—and, believe it or not, Lucifer himself gave me a royal pardon.

Yeah, the big guy upstairs (well, metaphorically speaking) gave me a shot at an honest life.

Cori is still scared, though.

Her family’s cruelty ain't somethin' you just shake off overnight, and I’d never risk her feelin' unsafe.

That’s why we haven’t been able to visit.

But I’d love for you to meet the kids, Auntie. They’re everythin' good in this world, and they deserve to know the woman who made sure I never completely lost myself.

Inside this letter you’ll find a photo of me, Coronis, and the little ones, Match and Walker.

Ain't they cute?

They’ve got my ivory hair and stubborn streak (no surprise there), but ya can see Cori in them, too: the feathers along their tails and the way their eyes light up, just like hers.

I hope we can see ya soon, once Cori feels ready. You’ll love her, I know it. And the little ones... they’d melt your heart.

Take care of yourself, and write back if you can. I’ll be looking out for your letter.

With love,

Striker

@helluvaoutlaw

Rubbish. Rubbish. 99.9% of her mail was rubbish. Except today. A clean envelope with her name handwritten on it, and a faint scent of smoke, musty hay and a familiar musk she had come to know too well. The rest of the mail smoldered into ash as she dropped them into the garden but brought the singular one and the newspaper inside.

She poured herself a cup of tea and moved towards back of her home here back sunroom and porch were. It was getting too cold for the porch but the sunroom was still enjoyable. It had been a while since he had last called her, even longer from the last time he visited. Over the years he had hardened herself to the idea that one day that slithering cocky bastard might never return, but she could not help but feel relieved when she caught wind of his antics while reading the news. She tore open the envelope and sat down with the massively and uncharacteristically long letter. Though....if she thought about it. She bounced the leaves of paper in her hand, "Hm. It would equate to one of his long winded stories."

She adjusted her glasses and started reading through his lizard scratch. The further she made it down the page, the tighter her brow knitted. "WHAT?! OOOH!" She exclaimed loudly, slamming her cup down onto its saucer. "I SHOULD HAVE DOCKED HIS STUPID TAIL! C-Coronis?! THE LITTLE NERVOUS TWITTER BIRD?!" The letter lowered for a moment and her nose wrinkled and her eyes narrowed. How? How? Was this the reason why he has been MIA for all these months?! He knocked up demon royalty?!?! "Oh my brimming with brimstone Lilith in Hell!" She groaned as she continued to read more. Pregnancy, elopement, the Ice Bird, the Screech Owl, Stolas, Wrath AND LUCIFER?!"

He was exhausting her. There was no level of carrion he could send to her to make this mental and emotional exhaustion away. She continued on, flicked the next page to back of the stack and came face to face with a photo.

"You really can't stay away from them can you?" She lifted the photograph and looked at the family he had formed. "Stupid cowboy. Whatever happened to damning demon nobles and royalty? You started one job and you just sank deeper and deeper into their affairs." She sat back and continued to look at the picture. "Well, if you have the protection of Lucifer. I suppose its alright." She paused and looked into her home and for a moment reimagined a bustling dining room. "They're cute, Beanpole. I don't know how you fell for the greasy sweaty soot covered assassin, Coronis, but I hope he treating you and the children well." She paused and smiled.

"Well....I take that back I know he probably is doing it to the best as he can. Family was basically a pipe dream for most of these years. He's capable and.....stupid."

A set of paws and claws came scampering into the room and hopped up onto the nearby chair to sniff at the mail, Zilber's black tail wagging. "Here you go Zilber." She said handing the fox the letter and photo. You know what to do with it." The fox shuffled the papers under its two front paws and let out a loud bark, as the letters seemed to burn away into nothing. Safely stored away for no one to see or find.

Susan took her cup back up to her lips. "You better remember how to dodge when you visit, Beanpole. I'm going to ask Lambchop to stock up on all the decorative vases and saucers from Bee's parties for me." And petted Zilber, who panted happily, imagining the fun time it would be to run and dash with Striker as Susan hurled pottery and glassware at him.

#ic #ask #helluvaoutlaw

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mariana-oconnor · 1 year ago

Text

The Devil's Foot pt 2

I have been contemplating this one a bit. And so far the only person who has given us any information about this is Mortimer. We only have his word what happened that night. We only have his word that he and his siblings had resolved their financial differences. He was still living in lodgings when they had the family property, it seems.

And it seems like it was all his friend's idea to get Holmes involved.

So maybe I should be more suspicious of him.

But he did agree to come to Holmes, although it would be really difficult to say no at that point.

So absorbed was he in his thoughts, I remember, that he stumbled over the watering-pot, upset its contents, and deluged both our feet and the garden path.

Was this deliberate, or is it just flavour text? I'm not sure what he could get from spilling the watering can. Unless he thinks the water is poisoned and he wants to see what effect the spilled water has on the plants around it. Like, if they die, definitely poison.

Good thing the guy from the last story isn't around to start kissing floors and licking boots again.

Her employers had all been in excellent spirits lately, and she had never known them more cheerful and prosperous.

This absolutely sounds like them being lulled into a false sense of security. Or a reason for jealousy.

She had, when she recovered, thrown open the window to let the morning air in.

So if the poison was airborne, she would have dissipated it, then.

(It's in the candles)

Fish candles, the Discworld fan in me wants to say.

“I think, Watson, that I shall resume that course of tobacco-poisoning which you have so often and so justly condemned,” said he.

The repeated and consistent acknowledgement in these stories that smoking is bad for you kind of blows my mind every time. Even though I know.

“Let us get a firm grip of the very little which we do know, so that when fresh facts arise we may be ready to fit them into their places. I take it, in the first place, that neither of us is prepared to admit diabolical intrusions into the affairs of men."

What, no devils or demons? And I was getting my hopes up.

"That is firm ground. Now, when did this occur? Evidently, assuming his narrative to be true, it was immediately after Mr. Mortimer Tregennis had left the room."

This does rather contradict my idea of a slow-acting aerosolised poison released by the burning of the candles, certainly. Because Mortimer was in there for at least some of the evening, so you'd expect him to have had some kind of a dose, or he would have had to swap out the candles before he left and then the new poison candles would have to act very quickly.

It's more likely to not be in the candles, then. I guess.

Something only the other three imbibed or ate or touched. But even then how does it work so quickly. Maybe he pours them something to drink as a toast before he goes and laces it with something (or someone else comes and does that).

"Knowing my methods as you do, you were, of course, conscious of the somewhat clumsy water-pot expedient by which I obtained a clearer impress of his foot than might otherwise have been possible."

Ah, okay. That makes sense. No poison water.

"It is difficult to imagine, then, how an outsider could have made so terrible an impression upon the company, nor have we found any possible motive for so strange and elaborate an attempt."

Glass notoriously reflects things. How sure are you that the thing he was seeing was outside?

Perhaps the face is coming from inside the house. Or perhaps there was no face and his brother just thought of something unpleasant and then tried to cover it up.

Or perhaps this is all a mere fabrication of Mortimer's to throw people off the scent.

"Neither of us needed to be told who that visitor was. The huge body, the craggy and deeply seamed face with the fierce eyes and hawk-like nose, the grizzled hair which nearly brushed our cottage ceiling, the beard—golden at the fringes and white near the lips, save for the nicotine stain from his perpetual cigar—all these were as well known in London as in Africa, and could only be associated with the tremendous personality of Dr. Leon Sterndale, the great lion-hunter and explorer."

Whomst?

"My only claim to being taken into your confidence is that during my many residences here I have come to know this family of Tregennis very well—indeed, upon my Cornish mother's side I could call them cousins—and their strange fate has naturally been a great shock to me."

A suspect? A new suspect?

So Holmes naturally interrogates him to find out if he was in the area at the time and how he knows about any of this.

The vicar really likes to talk, it seems. Although I suppose passing on news of the death of a relative and the sudden illness? of two others might be considered reasonable.

“He is deeply interested.”

Who inherits the property now? Lion man or Mortimer?

Follow the money. If in doubt always follow the money.

"Cheer up, Watson, for I am very sure that our material has not yet all come to hand. When it does we may soon leave our difficulties behind us.” Little did I think how soon the words of Holmes would be realized, or how strange and sinister would be that new development which opened up an entirely fresh line of investigation.

So someone else is dead then. But who? Mortimer? Lion man? The Babbling Vicar? The housekeeper?

Not the vicar, clearly as he is doing his narrative duty of gossip by bringing the news.

“Mr. Mortimer Tregennis died during the night, and with exactly the same symptoms as the rest of his family.”

Alas, poor Mortimer, I'm sorry I suspected you.

My guess is that Lion man left poison candles/cards/brandy around when he visited them so he could be far away when they died and have an alibi, but he wasn't expecting to have to get Mortmer separately. (Maybe Mortimer wasn't drinking? Or maybe he just left before the effects could set in).

This might partly be due to the fact that a lamp stood flaring and smoking on the centre table.

Look, Watson keeps drawing attention to the light sources in these places. I'm not going crazy. It's in the candles and the oil lamp.

In the bedroom he made a rapid cast around and ended by throwing open the window...

And people keep opening windows. Airborne poison.

Then he rushed down the stair, out through the open window, threw himself upon his face on the lawn...

Every detective needs their allotted floor time. It is imperative.

He had bought a lamp which was the duplicate of the one which had burned in the room of Mortimer Tregennis on the morning of the tragedy.

I leave this here without further comment.

"In each case there is evidence of a poisonous atmosphere. In each case, also, there is combustion going on in the room—in the one case a fire, in the other a lamp."

I'll be over here thanking Sir Terry Pratchett for (I assume) using this as his inspiration. GNU.

"The result seems to indicate that it was so, since in the first case only the woman, who had presumably the more sensitive organism, was killed, the others exhibiting that temporary or permanent lunacy which is evidently the first effect of the drug."

✨Sensitive organism✨

...

If by that you mean she probably had a lower body mass, as women do tend to on average, and therefore the threshold for a lethal dosage was also lower? Then sure, I guess.

Sensitive organism.

Sensitive organism

Oh, I can't do my work today, I'm a sensitive organism.

And fine, it was the fire, not the candles. I was a little off on the method.

"Now, Watson, we will light our lamp; we will, however, take the precaution to open our window to avoid the premature decease of two deserving members of society, and you will seat yourself near that open window in an armchair unless, like a sensible man, you determine to have nothing to do with the affair."

Glad to have absolute acknowledgment here that Watson is Not a sensible man. We already knew this. But it's nice to have it canonised.

This can only go well. I foresee no bad effects.

Isn't Holmes out there for his health?

It was that vision which gave me an instant of sanity and of strength.

Pulled back from the edge of death by the fact that Holmes is also dying.

"Upon my word, Watson!" said Holmes at last with an unsteady voice, "I owe you both my thanks and an apology. It was an unjustifiable experiment even for one's self, and doubly so for a friend. I am really very sorry."

Got to be bad if even Holmes is admitting it was a dumb idea and apologising for it.

But yeah, be sorry. Although I've got to say, guy fully consented to this circus.

"You know," I answered with some emotion, for I have never seen so much of Holmes's heart before, "that it is my greatest joy and privilege to help you."

Such drama. Such emotion.

I mean... it's undercut a little by the fact that they only needed the drama and the emotion because they were absolute idiots.

You acknowledged yourself that it must be fast-acting Holmes, both because the first people were still sitting exactly where Mortimer left them and yet he was fine and had noticed nothing wrong, and also because of how little oil had been used in the lamp at the second crime scene.

And you didn't even just use a bit of the scrapings, you used them all... Sure you left the door and window open, but... my guy. My guy. If you had died today it would not have been undeserved. For a smart person, you can be unbearably foolish

But still, very moving. I understand why people were really excited about this one. Much shipping.

#Letters from Watson #The Devil's Foot #(which I assume is the name of the drug?)#Sherlock Holmes #long post

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roseofithaca · 9 months ago

Text

Minific request filled for @idiotwithanipad , featuring her OC Amy (brief cameo of my own OC Silver).

Emotional hurt/comfort, Humphrey POV, featuring Robin. Hope it’s what you were after, hun.

The front reception desk was one of the better spots to be dumped at, Humphrey had quickly realised since the hotel had opened. It was the best place to people watch most of the guests, get a good look above shoe-level at the new faces coming in, and he always got the best gossip between the staff muttering about people while thinking there was no one in earshot. It also gave him a good view of the computer and he would be the first to spot whenever Alison’s name was added to a future booking.

It would get a bit boring, usually during lunch and especially after eleven when they’d lock up for the night. But lately he’d been forgotten there less often after their most recently added member of their dead family.

Strange. He usually spotted those large boots thumping down the stairs in the corner of his vision by now. He’d seen all the others pass him at least once or twice, he’d watched Kitty rush excitedly to the aerobics club, he’d had a quick gossip with Fanny about some drama that had happened between a rich couple and the man’s mistress the night before and he’d seen Thomas swoon over his latest infatuation, a bellhop girl with hair very similar to Isabelle’s and Alison’s.

No Amy yet? Maybe she didn’t feel like leaving her room today, whichever empty one she had claimed for the night.

“‘Ey! Hey, Robin!” He called when he saw the caveman walking through the wall, stretching his neck and rubbing his joints, probably having just come out of Zumba. “You seen Amy today?”

“Stompy?” His oldest friend replied; “No.”

“Was she with you guys in the room last night?”

‘The Room’ was technically Kitty’s room, as she always had first dibs on the bed and had been named after her, but had become a sort of common room for all of them, especially as it Alison’s usual room. Kitty had made it clear they were all welcome to sleep over, though most of them crashed on the sofa or the floor.

“No. Pat invite her for Music Club but she say she no come, wanted quiet, so we not get pushy.” A thoughtful look came over Robin’s face; “She seem quiet already. Odd because she laugh with me just couple hour before when we watch guy get mad his club stuck in ground and he get all red face.”

“You dunno why her mood changed then?”

Robin shook his head; “Me assumed she tired?”

“The girl is ninety percent caffeine! She’s hardly ever tired. Unless she’s crashed out…” It wasn’t as if the girl was incapable of sleep, his head had laid in her arms during some sleepover nights, “I’d like to just check on her. I mean even if it’s just to make sure she hasn’t…y’know. Whoosh, and all that.” Not that he wouldn’t be thrilled for her, but given that she’d been the most to spend much time with him lately, he would miss her. “Can you sniff her out or something?”

“Me not hound!” He replied, offended, then flared his nostrils; “Wait…can pick up of trail of icky demon drink.”

“Monster.”

“That what I said!”

Humphrey rolled his eyes as Robin lifted him up off the desk and followed his nose to hopefully find where Amy had disappeared to. He grew concerned when Robin started to head towards the gardens rather than upstairs.

“None of you saw her leave a room?” He asked.

“Many rooms, many guests, can’t keep track of all, especially when we walk through walls!” The great furball defended; “Big nosy head watch all who come and go, you not see either.”

True, but he’d assumed she’d come down the other staircase, the same one where Annie had met her yeasty end all those years ago.

Venturing out onto the golf course, they dodged a few balls swung across their path before they reached the wood. Humphrey grew more curious as to what she would be doing all the way out here on her own, almost at the boarder.

Finally, he spots that familiar black hoodie on a figure sat beside what appeared to be a small mound next to a collapsed old grotto. A gap in the trees above allowed a beam of sunlight to enter down and rest atop the mound, where unseen to any living eyes lay the body of a young woman in early two thousands alternate clothing and a fringe of pink hair against the black. A contented smile remained on her face as she slept, a necklace with a five-pointed star resting atop her clavicle.

Amy was sat in the dirt with her knees to her chest, her back against the natural resting place of the sleeping Neo-Pagan ghost.

“Hey, Poppet. Everything all right?” Humphrey ventured.

The girl sprang up in surprise. They hadn’t exactly crept up on her, but it wasn’t as if ghosts footsteps made a sound.

“How did you find me?” She asked, sniffling and rubbing her face with the bulky sleeve of her hoodie.

Had she been crying?

“You easier to track than deer with giant hole in belly.” Robin said, “Remind me to teach you to hide that.”

Humphrey wasn’t sure ghost odours were something that could be covered up. Or maybe Robin made a conscious effort to smell that way.

“Did you just wanna come visit Silver? You know she only wakes a few days a month on the full moon, right?” He asked, gently.

“Yeah, Moonah only waxing, still got fortnight.”

“I know that! Just…wanted to be near her for a moment, that’s all.” Amy scuffled her heavy boot against the ground, “No offence to the rest of you but she’s the closest thing I have to a mate, you know. A girl mate.”

“You and her mates? Oh, me not know, congrat-.”

“NO! Not like that! Just friends. I just needed someone to talk to who gets me, you know. About things I’m not comfortable talking to men about. Kinda hoped that even if she’s asleep she can still hear me a little and would want me to rant to her.”

Humphrey could respect that, though he felt a little guilty that there were things she didn’t felt comfortable confiding to him about. That shouldn’t sting all that much, he had known the girl less than six months, but he couldn’t help but feel oddly protective of her.

“You don’t wanna talk to Kitty or…?” The other female option sounded unlikely before he’d even said her name.

“Kitty’s sweet but she’s really naïve. Can’t really talk to her about any….difficult stuff. She still thinks babies are made by pressing ears together. As for Lady B, she’d probably say it was my fault for showing too much ankle or something.”

“What your fault?” Asked Robin.

Amy’s lips pinched together as if she’d been caught out.

“N-nothing.” Her hand reached up to adjust the now defunct headphones permanently attached to her head.

He exchanged a look with Robin. They might not have much women’s intuition but they had eyes. There was something a lot more introverted about the way Amy was acting, in everything from her body language to not making eye contact with them.

“Amy, sweetheart, did something happen?” He asked, cautiously.

“No! Like what?” She snapped back like a defensive animal.

“Someone…say bad thing or…try bad touch?” Robin asked, awkwardly; “Was it Julian? Because me had words with him already, if he say more disgusting thing then me will rip his-.”

“Stop! Stop! Julian didn’t do or say anything to me.” She got to her feet before them; “He’s actually been on good behaviour lately. Though he did say hashtag-me-too in the wrong context the other day. But at least he’s trying.”

“Someone else though?”

That the young woman didn’t deny, just continued to rub her arms and look away.

“Other ghost?” Robin asked, “Thomas not always take no for-.”

“Not Thomas either. Or Captain or Pat or even the Spa ghosts.”

She sat atop one of the fallen logs, turning her eyes back to her sleeping friend.

Humphrey and Robin shared a look before taking a seat beside her, Humphrey still held in Robin’s lap.

“A living then? Wasn’t a guy who brings a load of dogs with him?”

“They my friends. The dogs, not the guy, he sucks.” Clarified Robin.

“I know who you mean and not that guy. You don’t know him. He booked in yesterday, him and his wife.” Amy began to explain, “He used to live down the street from my house growing up. When I’d walk to school, he’d always be out in his front garden, working on something. It started with him just telling me to have a good day, not work too hard, all that stuff…Thought he was just being friendly. Mum and his wife were good friends.”

Already Humphrey didn’t like the direction this was heading in. He wished he had his body so he could put an arm around the girl.

“Then, when I began Secondary, he started giving me compliments…first on my hair, then my bag, then my…my skirt. It made me really uncomfortable when he kept saying I was ‘maturing nicely’. I started wearing trousers instead and he said it was a shame for me to hide such a…’great set of pins’. I told Mum and she just said that he was an old fashioned guy and I shouldn’t take it the wrong way.” She squirmed in her seat, “S’my fault. I should have just asked him to not say things like that.”

“Shouldn’t need asking. Why grown man care what young girl look like? Especially when he have wife, monogamy being scam or no. It his fault.” Robin defended.

“He’s right, Poppet.” Humphrey assured; “He didn’t…do anything else, did he?”

She gulped, looking down at her hands.

“One time my mum asked me to go round and fetch a strimmer that his wife had narrowed. She weren’t home but he was…I said I was happy to wait outside while he fetched it but he insisted I come in.” She explained, voice shaking; “He said I could sit in his garden if I wanted, take my hoodie off, get a tan because I was ‘far too pale’. I kept saying I had to get back home to do my homework. I refused to sit, refused to accept anything to drink.”

Sensible girl, he thought.

“Getting fed up I think, he went and got the strimmer and handed it to me. Then he stroked his fingers over my leggings and picked at the hole there. I stepped back and he was laughing like ‘Oh sorry, just wanted to see how they felt! You should get that rip stitched up.’” She shuddered, as if he were there right now with his filthy hand on her, “I took the strimmer and ran back home, told Mum I was gonna walk the longer way around to school and didn’t wanna be near him again.”

“You told her what happened?”

Amy nodded; “Think she had a word with his wife. They moved house within a few months. She must have divorced him because the wife he came with today was a different woman.”

Humphrey cleared his throat and looked Robin, gesturing with his eyebrows. Having been able to form something of their own language whenever he was headless over the past four hundred years, Robin got the hint and passed Humphrey into Amy’s arms.

She seemed hesitant at first, then wrapped her arms around him, hugging him to her belly.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come find you today.” She mumbled, voice breaking.

“That’s all right, poppet. You were clearly going through something. I’m sorry you didn’t think we’d be much help. I know we’re just blokes but we do care about you and wanna listen when you’re upset.”

Robin grunted in agreement and reached to put his paw around her shoulder, squeezing it a little.

“What is strimmer?”

“That thing they use to cut the grass, the big stick with the spinning blades.” Humphrey tried to explain.

“Oh. Should have used to cut off his balls.” He said, jovially; “But guess might not be best decision. Stompy very brave not letting him touch and telling mother truth. Otherwise might have gotten worse.” He tried to praise her.

Amy ran her hands through Humphrey’s hair.

“He might have just harassed some other poor girl in their new neighbourhood.” She said, as if it had been playing on her mind for a long while.

“Fingers crossed he’s never taken it that far. There’s nothing more that could be done, much as I think we’d all prefer blokes like him to have their hands cut off and be castrated.” He reassured.

“Hmm. That eerily close to punishment for touching girls without consent in my tribe. We throw genitals onto fire as sacrifice to Earth Mother.”

“Guess you savages were more enlightened than us lot in some ways.” Humphrey chuckled.

Amy clearly wasn’t in the mood for jokes, her face creasing after having revealed something so personal.

“There, there, Poppet, you’re all right now, you’re safe with us. You don’t have to go anywhere near him while he’s there.” He comforted.

Robin gently tugged her close to curl against his furs, she brought her knees up a little, almost cocooning her body around Humphrey as she shed a few tears. Humphrey could understand why Silver would probably be better equipped to talk to about this, the stoner Wiccan would probably be fuelled with enough rage to cast some sort of curse upon the bastard, or make him choke on the scent of sage.

“Thanks, guys. For listening…” Amy mumbled after a while, thumb stroking against Humphrey’s cheek.

“Not problem. You sure you no want me to try give him shock? Maybe burst his lamp when he try to read at night?” Robin offered, smiling with his chin atop her head.

Amy managed a small laugh; “Thanks but, don’t want any risk of him dying and staying here with us. Think he’s just here for the weekend.”

“We can stay and camp out here with you if you wanna stay near Silver?” It would be far better than being left anywhere alone.

“No…You’re right, she can’t wake up, so it’s pointless. She wouldn’t want me moping out here like he’d forced me to be away from my home.”

Home. It was the first time Humphrey had heard the girl call it that. It made his estranged heart feel warm.

Robin released the girl and jumped to his feet, like he’d suddenly had an idea.

“Think me go find Julian. We can make plan for guy with bad hands.” He said, mischievously.

“Robin, I said I didn’t-.”

“No, no shocky shocky, me promise.” The caveman assured; “But maybe we annoy him by ruining his golf game and making drink spill in lap. Will not share Amy story, just say that he asshole. Julian never need much excuse. Little bit of karma, yes?”

“Oh let him, Poppet, he just wants to do something to feel better after what you just told us.” Humphrey whispered from her arms.

He know because he felt exactly the same, unfortunately he lacked any ability to haunt, or else he’d also be on his way to make the man’s stay here a misery until he got fed up and decided to leave early.

Amy smiled and nodded, dismissing the caveman who jogged off in both excitement but also a thirst for vengeance.

“Listen, love,” Humphrey said, seriously, “It really isn’t any of your fault, what he did or said to you. You know that right?”

She shrugged; “I guess but…doesn’t take any of it away. Nearly forgot it till I saw him again and it all came back.”

“I know. Trust me, even though we’re the dead ones, we still manage to get haunted as much as livings. You don’t have to rush back there, we can go for a walk around the woods and to the boarder if you want? You can tell me more about those music bands you were into, that you miss playing on that ear armour of yours.”

The fact that he referred to them as that always amused her.

“But you have no idea who I’m on about when I mention them!” She laughed.

“Doesn’t matter. Still more interesting than listening to Cap talk about that time he won a game of Risk.”

He was happy to see a slight glow reappear on Amy’s cheeks as she stood. She wished a brief goodbye to the sleeping Silver, promising to come back on the full moon, before slowly walking away, telling Humphrey about the first concert she ever went to. In return he told her about the time he went to watch one of Shakespear’s plays performed for the first time at the Globe, which he fell asleep during.

They barely made it out of the woods before a bumbling shape moved across from them and they both let out a cry of surprise before recognising who it was.

“Oh, where the ‘ell have you been? It’s been a week!” He chided his own corpse; “Amy, sweetheart, do you mind?”

Amy leaned up on her tiptoes and placed his head upon the stump.

He clicked his neck, feeling it connect like a loose hinge. He grinned, giving her a thumbs up.

“Ah, thank you! If I hadn’t needed to come find you out here, I might not have come across him for who knows how long.” He smiled.

Amy then surprised him further by throwing herself forward, wrapping her arms around his torso, hands clinging to his robes. This time he was able to truly feel his heart swell at the contact. He put his arms around her, one hand patting her head. He couldn’t explain the connection he felt to the girl, despite the hundreds of generations that separated them, despite not having a clue about half the things she talked to him about. Even in her darker moments, she had a way of lighting up his existence.

#bbc ghosts fanfic #humphrey bone #robin the caveman #original character #tw: sa

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