#and to my understanding you would normally notice them pretty quickly - took me pissing blood 😭

[vamptastic]

Turns out I have a severe ear infection 👍

[ijwrsmff]

Yandere Loid with a brash reader, they never back away from a fight but they’re kind of a dumbass

For a tw; gun depictions but not usage, and slight violence at the very end.

I tried to incorporate both brash and dumbass XD I think it works. Always happy to write for my boy Loid :3

Word Count: 1,018

Here you were…thinking you could have just one normal day. How foolish of you. 

You were approached by a man in the grocery store, who said he was looking for a specific item, and hoping you could show him where it was. 

“Wha? I don’t work here.” You said and the man looked shocked. 

“Oh, no no, I was just hoping you could help me.” He was handsome for sure, but you had no idea where the item was as much as he knew. 

Though…he did in fact know. Loid simply wanted a way to get to know you. You were high up on the list of potential partners…but you did have some sticky situations in high school. It was the only reason he hadn’t approached you before now. 

But most of his higher-up partners were even more sketchy. Was it really that hard to find someone to marry on no-time notice? Apparently so. 

“Dude, I said I didn’t work here. Piss off.” You said once more before turning to leave. 

In doing so, you bumped into a little girl and she fell over. 

Loid nearly jumped at you for knocking his daughter over, but Anya smiled up at you and you knelt down to help her up. 

“I’m sorry hun!” You helped her stand and she seemed to look through you. 

“Anya’s sorry!” She looked at her father and smirked, before turning back to you. “You’re nice! Not a lot of people help an innocent girl that gets knocked over.” 

Loid realized Anya’s unwavering understanding of people seemed to be astray, because she looked as if she liked you already. She only just met you, how would she know if you’re a good person or not?

“Where’s your parents?” You looked around, looking for her family who was undoubtedly missing her. “I’ll help you find them!” 

Loid…smiled. Maybe you were a better candidate than he thought. You were all too ready to help Anya find her parents, so maybe you would be a good parent yourself. 

“You don’t need to find him! My Papa’s right here! I only have the one dad though, not another parent.” She pouted at her statement before running into her father’s arms. 

Loid let himself relax for a moment, before approaching you once again. “You seem good with children. I appreciate you offering to help my daughter.” 

You smiled at him, “No worries. Take it easy.” And you were on your way. 

However, a man stopped you in the parking lot. “Give everything you bought or it won’t be pretty for you.” And you saw him with a concealed gun in his belt. 

You…didn’t even realize what you were saying until you said it. “Of course it won’t be pretty, I’m having to look at you aren’t I?” 

He looked baffled at this, before turning angry and reaching for the gun. 

Thinking fast, you drove your cart into his stomach and ran back into the grocery store. You turned to the worker and quickly said “There’s a guy with a gun outside! I think he just stole my groceries!” 

Loid watched all of this unfold, and deadpanned. 

‘Is this person stupid?’ He thought and Anya giggled, not that he noticed. 

Loid approached you once more, and simply asked “Are you alright? Do you need an ambulance?” It seemed like the right time to ask but you took it the wrong way. 

“Do I LOOK like I need an ambulance?” Your blood was still pumping from the encounter, so you reeled back, “Sorry! Sorry. No. I don’t need an ambulance.” He seemed like he was just trying to help so you attempted to remedy the situation. 

Anya jumped down, “Papa! I want this person to be my tutor!” It seemed sudden and both you and Loid looked shocked. 

“This person…?” Loid questioned her. 

“Mhm! This person!” And she grabbed your hand, which you smiled at. 

Thinking you must look smart or something, you snickered, and said “What are you? Like five? I can tutor you. No sweat.” 

Loid grimaced and said “She’s six…” Completely at a loss for words. He WAS looking for a tutor, but he hadn’t even stopped to think before he said “Okay. They can be your tutor.” It would be a good chance to get closer to you and see if you were fit to be a parent for Anya. While his mission was priority, keeping Anya happy was his priority too. 

“I gotta go…” You said as you all heard sirens approaching from the distance. “I’ll get groceries another day.” And you went to walk away, but Loid stopped you. 

Once again…asking himself ‘Is this person stupid’? 

“Wait!” He stopped you, “I’ll give you our address.” He knew you had no actual criminal history, but he knew he was more than capable of handling himself if the situation got sticky. 

You rubbed the back of your neck, “Oh…yeah I guess I do need that.” 

And you parted ways. 

It was two days later that you had agreed to meet Loid and Anya at their house for her first studying session. You were sitting at the dining room table, a textbook in hand. 

“Damn this stuff looks hard.” You muttered to yourself. 

Anya didn’t seem shocked that you didn’t know the answers, and Loid had to come over and help the both of you. You were learning…although seemingly much slower than Anya. 

It was after Anya went to bed that Loid made his move. 

He liked you. He saw how good you were with Anya, and that mattered a lot to him. He had spent the past several hours teaching Anya AND you at different topics. He didn’t need a tutor anymore…but he did need a spouse. 

You were gathering your belongings that were scattered across the dining room, and completely unaware of what was about to happen to you. 

‘Y/n…you came to a stranger's house next to no notice.’ He thought to himself as he walked quietly behind you, bat in hand. 

For the last time before he swung, he thought to himself…

‘Is this person stupid?’ 

[luminnara]

God Damn, Shit Sucking Vampires | Poly lost boys x oc CH 9

(oops no gif because the ones i want won’t upload right now)

Just as a reminder, lost boys requests are OPEN!

Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10

Tags:  @americancowgirl19 @ilikechocolatemilkh

Warnings: Blood, gore, vampire things

Hearing a strange voice in her head nearly drove Vera into a panic. When she realized she was hearing Max, she nearly flew into a second panic, the sire’s strong, firm voice only reassuring her that all of her fears were correct and he wasn’t going to like her very much. 

As she walked along the beach, bare toes sinking into the sand, Dwayne at her side, Vera briefly wondered how hard it would be to kill Max if it came down to a struggle. Did she have a chance against him? Maybe, if she stooped low enough to cry for her own sire, he would come and take care of it—

“Hey, chill out,” Dwayne said, stopping and turning towards her slightly. “What’s wrong?”

She realized she had halted and was simply standing there, staring at nothing as her mind raced. He could probably feel how freaked out she was getting, and as she looked at him, she found a gentle, understanding expression on his face. 

“C’mere,” he said, his voice low and rumbly and comforting. 

He opened his arms in invitation and she dove right in, moving quickly and desperately enough that she knocked him right onto his ass. He landed in the sand with a laugh, situating the two of them so that she could sit in his lap and they could face the dark, never ending ocean. 

“Did Max freak you out?” Dwayne asked as Vera tucked her head under his chin. 

“...a little.” 

“Why?”

She sighed. Something about Dwayne made her feel so safe that she was actually considering talking with him about things she hadn’t even told David yet. “Because I’m not used to this. I’m used to vampires who want me out of their territory the second I even get close, and I can’t really blame them.”

“This is your territory, too.” He said. “You’re the one who’ll be kicking people out of it now.”

“I don’t think Max is going to like me.” She grumbled. 

“Why not?”

She was quiet for a moment, fiddling with the zipper of his jacket. “Because he’ll see me as a threat.”

“Max isn’t like that.”

“You’re just saying that now because he’s your sire.”

“No, I’m saying it because I mean it.” Dwayne rested his cheek on the top of her head, his hand absentmindedly rubbing circles on her back. “Max wants a family. Now you’re part of that family.”

He sounded so sure of his own words that Vera was actually feeling inclined to believe him for a moment. “Parents don’t tend to like me.”

“Anyone who can handle having Paul in their pack can handle you.”

She scoffed. “He isn’t that bad.”

“Maybe to you.” Dwayne chuckled. He tightened his arms around her when he realized that his jokes weren’t very reassuring. “Max is a good man. A good sire.”

“Why?” Vera asked. “What does he do that makes you like him so much?”

“Well,” Dwayne situated them a bit better, getting more comfortable. “He’s fair. He acts stern, but...he sees himself as our father.”

“Don’t they always?” Vera grumbled. 

“He calls David his prodigal son, but he always wanted a whole family. He ended up with the four of us.”

“So, what? He plucked you all up out of the gutter and that makes him a good guy?”

“Why are you so determined to hate him?”

“I’m not!” she protested. “I’m just...wary.”

“Max gave us new lives.” Dwayne sighed. “He found us back in San Francisco after we got ourselves in some trouble with another vampire.”

Vera had to snort in amusement at that. “Seriously? Who’d you pick a fight with? Dracula?”

“Well…”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

He flashed her a smile. “How were we supposed to know who he was?”

“Humans really have no self preservation instincts, do they?”

“Apparently not.” Dwayne chuckled, squeezing her. 

“How long ago was it?”

“1906, same year as that big earthquake. Tore the whole city apart...it was the perfect time for four vampires to start learning how to survive, with all that chaos. People were dead, more were missing...nobody noticed a few more disappearing here and there.”

“Is that why Max and, uh...Vlad were there?” Vera asked. 

“I imagine.” Dwayne shrugged. “We resisted at first. David was especially pissed off.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Vera laughed quietly. 

“But...we took to the lifestyle pretty quickly.”

“And that’s that?” Vera asked. 

“That’s that.” he shrugged. “Max wants to be a father figure. He turned David because he wanted a son, and he taught him everything he knew. Then, he decided David needed companions, and he happened to find me not long after. Then the others. Max isn’t a bad guy, Vera. You’ll see.”

“That’s what everybody says about their own sire.” she said, looking out at the black waves as they crashed against the sand just a few feet in front of her. “Everyone wants to talk their sires up, because without them, we’re nothing. Just because your own sire is nice to you doesn’t mean he’ll be nice to me.”

“What’s so bad about your own that you think ours is so awful?”

The question hung in the air for a moment, Vera’s mouth pressing into a thin line. “Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me.” Dwayne opened his eyes, rubbing his cheek over the top of her head affectionately. 

“I’m not.”

“I know that you are, though.”

Vera let out a frustrated noise, then heaved a sigh. Maybe talking about this could be good for her. Maybe verbalizing thoughts and fears that she’d been living with for centuries could finally help her get over them...and if anyone was a good listener, it would be Dwayne. 

“Okay, fine.” she said. “What’s so bad about my sire? Everything. Everything is what’s bad about him, literally.”

“Where’s he from?” Dwayne asked. 

“The old country. Like...the old old country.”

“Why are you so reluctant to talk about him?” Dwayne’s voice was low and gentle, barely audible over the sound of the waves. 

“Because he’s got a reputation.” she fiddled with the hem of her shorts. “Most older vampires know of him. You guys might not, and if we had a different situation, I’d say it should stay that way.”

“That serious, huh?”

“You have no idea.”

“Hmm.” Dwayne’s chest rumbled. “The others should hear about this, too.”

“Yeah, they should.” she sighed again, her voice small. She felt small in general, all curled up in Dwayne’s lap like that. Small and helpless. She wasn’t, though, and she didn’t want them to think that she was. So she cleared her throat, trying to muster as much confidence as she could, ignoring the mild twisting in her gut. “I’ll tell you guys everything tomorrow night.”

Dwayne made a small, impatient sound. 

“Max will want to hear, too.”

“That’s a good point,” he admitted. “You know, I still need to hunt for you…”

Vera perked up slightly. The thought of food made the tight feeling in her chest loosen up slightly, and she looked at Dwayne eagerly. “Yes, please.”

He laughed, wrapping his arms around her as he stood and set her back on her feet. “Then let’s go find some snacks, Princess.”

-0-

“You know, we don’t have to do this. We could just go back to the cave--”

“What happened to that tough attitude you had a few days ago?” David raised an eyebrow, looking amused as he pulled Vera off the back of his bike.

“I’m still tough,” she growled, knowing that he could very easily feel how nervous she was. 

“Come on, babe,” Paul parked his bike next to David’s and bounded over to her. “You’ll be fine.”

“We’d never let anything happen to ya,” Marko said, following Paul. 

Vera knew he was telling the truth, but it didn’t make her feel any better. She had barely slept the entire day, waking up restless and on edge as soon as the sun disappeared, and it had taken a good deal of coaxing from David to even get her to leave the roost. They took Star and Laddie to the boardwalk, dropped them off with some cash, and then headed off to Max’s house.

David told Vera along the way that Star and Laddie weren’t allowed to know where Max lived. They really weren’t allowed to know anything about him in general, in order to protect him, so when the pack walked up to the front gate of their sire’s home, it was only the four boys who accompanied Vera. She didn’t mind; having Star around would have only put her more on edge, probably, and she had been glad to leave the halfling behind. 

As she faced the gated bridge that led to Max’s completely normal-looking, Californian home, Vera did everything she could to act confident. She squared her shoulders, held her chin up, and pretended that she had nothing to worry about...but the boys could see right through the facade, and as they joined her, they all fell into a little formation. In moments, Vera was surrounded by them, David offering his arm while the others stepped into their spots behind. It made her feel better, knowing that they were all there to protect her...but at the same time, she still wished they were all out wandering the boardwalk. 

“So brave,” David sneered as she took his arm. 

“Shut up.” she growled, vaguely aware of Dwayne’s hand on her lower back. 

“Relax,” Marko purred. 

“Don’t you dare tell me to relax, Marko, I swear—“

The barking of a rapidly approaching dog interrupted her, the sound of paws thumping rhythmically against the wooden walkway drawing her attention away from the boys. A big white hellhound was barreling towards the gate, all teeth and rage, and although it looked like it wanted to tear her limbs off, the sight of such a beast made Vera temporarily forget why she was so anxious. Even as it barked and snarled and threw itself against the gate, she thought that it was absolutely adorable.

“Oh, look at you!” She squealed as the boys all jumped back. When she took a step forward, David tried to yank her towards him, but she slipped away easily, too focused on this hellhound to care. 

“You’re such a big handsome boy,” she said, in a voice that made Paul jealous. 

“No fair,” he grumbled, crossing his arms. “Why’s the dumb dog get all that?”

Marko glanced at the taller blond nervously. “Don’t call him dumb, you remember what happened last time?”

Paul groaned, rolling his eyes at the memory of nearly losing a hand. 

The dog stopped barking as Vera approached, falling silent as it sniffed the air around her. The vicious look on its face was gone, replaced by curiosity, and when Vera ignored David’s irritated warnings and reached over the gate to pet it, the animal whined. 

“You must be Thorn,” Vera cooed, scratching behind its ears. “What a big, brave, hell-y hellhound you are, yes you are!”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Paul said as he watched. 

“What?” Vera asked, looking over her shoulder at him. 

“Thorn doesn’t like any of us.” Marko huffed. “Why’s he like you so much?”

“Well...he can probably smell my sire on me,” Vera said. “Might remind him of home. Hellhounds usually like me because of that.”

“...Home?” Paul asked. 

“I’ll tell you later.”

“But I wanna know now!” he whined.

Thorn growled at him. 

“Thorn!” a male voice called from the other end of the little bridge. 

Vera immediately stiffened. The front door of the house had opened, and in it stood a man, wearing a very stylish suit and horn rimmed glasses. Thorn heeded his master’s call, giving Paul one last woof before trotting back towards Max. His departure freed the front gate, and David brushed past Vera to open it, taking her hand and leading the gang across the walkway. 

“Boys,” Max greeted as they approached him. He offered David a stern smile, one which David didn’t return, and when Max’s eyes fell upon Vera all tucked up against his side, his eyes narrowed slightly. “And you must be Vera.”

She didn’t like that he knew her name. It was inevitable that he’d find out what it was, but still...she kept clinging to the hope that maybe, he wouldn’t learn too much about her. The boys seemed so convinced that Max was just an annoying father, but as Vera took him in, she could see that behind the trendy, 80s-dad facade, there was an old, powerful vampire, and those were the kind she didn’t get along with very well. 

“Well, come in, everyone, before dinner gets cold. I made sure to get all your favorites, boys.” Max stepped to the side, inviting them over the threshold in a very courteous way, one that suggested he had nothing to fear from the boys or Vera.

“You shouldn’t have,” David sneered sarcastically as he walked in. 

“Would it kill you to be nice?” Vera hissed. 

He rolled his eyes.

Max noticed the exchange with a bemused expression on his face. “Go on in and sit down. The table’s already set.”

The house was nice. It wasn’t incredibly extravagant, by any means, but it was perfectly well decorated, modern art that Vera didn’t quite know how to appreciate hanging on the walls. Everything was clean and organized, not a speck of dust in sight, as opposed to the state of decay the boys kept their lair in. Max seemed to enjoy playing the role of a video store owner, and his home reflected that; if anyone came to visit, they wouldn’t see a single item out of place, nor would they have any reason to be suspicious of him. There were no torture devices, no loose vials of blood sitting around, no skulls or human skin nailed up. It looked so...normal. 

Vera almost stopped to wonder why exactly she was so nervous...and then she heard the whimpering.

“Geez, Max,” Paul remarked as they rounded the corner and entered the dining room, “you really shouldn’t have.”

“Well, fresh caught is always the best,” Max said. “Don’t you agree?”

“Hell yeah,” Marko growled, lips pulled back in a grin. 

The dining room table was covered in an array of meats, from a suckling pig in the center to a rack of ribs at the end. Six chairs surrounded the feast, plates and cutlery set out at each spot, with big glass goblets already half full of blood ready and waiting. Next to each chair stood a human, frozen due to both fear and Max’s vampire magic, a couple of them shaking and considerably more conscious than the others. 

Max walked to his place at the head of the table, Thorn at his side as he took his seat. David sat at the far end, facing him, his eyes dark and hungry as he held himself back. Dwayne sat at David’s left side, Vera at his right, while Paul and Marko took the remaining two chairs and tried not to completely lose their minds. They were shaking almost as much as the humans were, Paul looking at his blood donor eagerly while Marko held a little sneer on his face that suggested he was about ten seconds from ripping his apart.

“Dig in, everyone,” Max said, taking his cloth napkin and tucking it into his shirt collar. “But please try not to make a mess. There’s more than enough here for each of you.”

David immediately grabbed the arm of his meal, sinking his fangs in and taking a drink while Max preferred to drain his into the goblet he had set out for himself. Vera could only watch, stunned, as the carnage began, and before long, she was joining in. The human Max had caught for her was a middle aged clergyman, and she had to tear through his holy sleeve to get to his flesh. 

She didn’t mind, though; she very rarely ever got to eat members of the clergy. They were generally too much work to hunt down, and since she had an aversion to churches, well...like most vampires, she tended to leave them alone. It was hard to nab them without making a spectacle and letting the entire town know that something was amiss. So, all things considered, a little bit of extra work involving a mouthful of fabric was worth it. This was like a special treat for her, and she couldn’t help but drain him all in one go, still holding on even after he had collapsed in a bloodless heap on the floor. 

When she looked up, she realized that Max was watching her. 

“So,” he said, speaking over the hellish sounds of the others slurping up their meals, “I believe some congratulations are in order. Welcome to the family, Vera.”

She swallowed her last mouthful of blood and looked at him. “Uh...thanks. I-I mean, thank you.”

Max picked up his silverware, cutting a slice of ham for himself. “Where are you from, Vera?”

“I wander,” she said, following suit and stabbing her fork into a raw steak. 

“I’ve surmised that much,” Max chuckled good-naturedly. “I meant where are you from originally.”

“...oh.” She cleared her throat somewhat awkwardly. “Italy.”

“Italy!” Max exclaimed. “Such a lovely region. I haven’t visited The Mediterranean since I left the old country myself. If I didn’t have the shop here, perhaps I’d take a trip...have you been back recently?”

“No,” she crossed and uncrossed her legs, trying to act like she wasn’t fidgeting. She took a bite of her steak, focusing on the blood as it trickled down her throat. 

Max reached for his goblet, raising the blood to his lips and taking a drink. “And your sire, is he still in Europe?”

Vera almost choked on her food. 

By this point, the boys were all watching. Paul was licking blood off his lips while Marko still had his dinner’s forearm in his mouth, but David and Dwayne were both focused solely on the conversation at hand, their eyes narrowed slightly as they listened. 

When she realized that everyone was waiting, Vera coughed into her fist, clearing her throat. “Y-yes, he is.”

Max’s eyes darkened, despite the smile on his face. “You know you need to tell me about him, Vera.”

“There’s not much to tell,” she lied, turning back to her steak. “Just an ancient vampire, out there in the old country. Not very exciting.”

“Exciting or not, I’d still prefer to know who he is.” Max said. 

She shrugged, reaching for her glass to take a nervous drink. “I doubt you’d know him.”

“When you drink that blood, you’ll be joining our family.”

She froze, hand on the stem of the glass.

“I’m sure your sire will be able to feel it. I’d hate to be rude and not even know his name in the event he visits one day.”

Vera stared at the blood—Max’s blood—as her fingers tightened around the stem. “You don’t want him to visit.”

“Oh?” Max asked, appearing as relaxed as ever. “Why not?”

“Because of who he is.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “And what he can do.”

Dwayne and David glanced at each other. 

When Max spoke again, his voice was softer, gentler than before. “What is your sire’s name, Vera?”

With a great deal of effort, she opened her eyes again, still staring into the blood rather than at any of them. 

“Asmodeus.” She said. “My sire is Asmodeus.”

[cozycryptidcorner]

The Mad Prince, Chapter 11 (sfw)

Chapter 10

“Are you sure?” You ask, gaping, and Clementine glares at you in response. You’re suddenly hyper-aware of how she has dedicated her entire life to identifying, hunting down, and killing driders, all while on the bloodied front lines of a war, so she is currently an expert on such a topic.

“Am I sure that the front line footage that some soldiers died to send back to base is somehow fabricated?” She asks, testily.

Your brain is buzzing like a thousand fireflies have crawled into your ears. “But that doesn’t make any sense, Clem.” 

“You’re absolutely correct,” she still sounds vaguely pissed, but that’s her default tone. “Which means that there’s more than meets the eye, and we now have to figure out what.”

 The keias values honesty, Elias’ words come back, unbidden, if you ask, he will answer.

 “We can’t go prodding around now, though, because that will throw a lot of weird suspicion on you.” You bite at the skin around your thumb, trying to figure out how to go about this in the most delicate way possible. 

After a moment of hard silence where you are almost too aware of how loud your breathing is, Clementine prods, “you and the prince or whatever he actually is weren’t acting too couple-y.”

Annoyance starts dripping into the hollow of your chest, and you feel a build of angry pressure beginning to rise. “He- he didn’t tell me he was engaged.” 

For the first time since her bubbly mask fell off, she shows some semblance of human emotion by almost choking on her spit. Quickly, she gets herself under control and shakes her head as though she might have expected such, then sighs.

 “I mean, and his fiance was assassinated. Elias told me she died of sudden heart failure, but like she was a drow and-”

“A drow?” She turns to you again, her eyes narrowed until they were almost slits, “as in, two legs and walking upright? Are you sure?”

“Y-yes,” the indignancy of being lied to by omission is still thrumming through your chest, “and he apparently really loved her.” 

“Obviously so, because it would have been rather illegal for him to marry outside of his species.” Clem sits back up from her lounging position, plucking a flower that grew right in front of her legs.

You don’t like all this new information being rained down upon so quickly, but you suck in your breath and try to take this one in stride. There’s a dull thudding in your head, like a distant drumbeat. “So there are race-based marriage laws?”

 “Of course, didn’t you know?”

No, you’re suddenly acutely aware of how unprepared you are. “The matchmakers didn’t make me aware of that.” You suppose it does explains a lot, like how stressed the prince is at you meeting the rest of his family, or how he doesn’t seem to want you to go out and explore on your own, and such. 

Clementine lets out a gruff sigh, you suppose from frustration at having to hold your hand like a toddler throughout a warzone. You try to not let that bother you. It’s… not really your fault, is it? You didn’t want this to happen, if you could go back to your completely shitfaced self as you were about to enter all pertinent information to Starward Matchmakers™ glowing neon booth, you would bludgeon the back of your head with a bat.

“Okay, so someone is trying to kill you,” she holds up one finger, “and we know from that assistant guy that they are very capable of doing so,” she adds another finger, “and you aren’t even in the good graces of your princely other half, assuming that drider is who he says he is.”

You swallow thickly, feeling positively ill, pressing your fingertips into the pressure points on your temples in the hopes your brain might untangle. “Clementine?”

“Yeah.”

“The Starward Matchmakers™ did match me with the prince, right? This isn’t some kind of weird mistake? Or like… or like what they were trying to do with you?”

“Do you know anyone with the budget of a large government’s military that can handle a bribe of such proportions who might think it’s funny to pull such a dangerously cosmic prank?”

 “No.” You look down at your hands as the last bit of hope that this might all be a nightmarish misunderstanding slips through your fingers.

Clementine softens, though only slightly, letting out another sigh and very awkwardly giving you a pat on the back, which is about the most she’ll ever offer in the way of sympathy. “Tough it out. Paint a pretty smile on that face of yours and maybe make out with him a little.”

 “Clementine!” You raise your voice, then look self consciously back at your guards as they assess whether or not you need their aid. “That’s not how this works.” 

“This is exactly how this works, kid, even if he’s an alien spider, he’s still a male.” She rolls her eyes. “And stop acting like a prude.” 

“Yeah, but he is,” another wave of frustration razes through your blood and right to your fingertips. “One time I kissed him, he thought it was essentially a marriage proposal.”

 Her face wrinkles into a grimace, but she seems to take in marginal good humor. “Okay, so he’s a virgin. That makes things easier, maybe just show him your ankle or something, he’d drool all over it.”

You’re going to say something snippy in response, maybe tell her that she should do the ankle-showing, but the mental image of the fucking drider prince of Lolth freezing as he stares at a bare leg and foot does have a level of absurdity to it that makes you choke your words down into a wry laugh. “I don’t know, maybe it will give him brain damage.”

“All the better to finish this war finally,” Clem stretches out her arms, “Anything else you’d like to fill me in on?”

“Heikka Nisesh, you know, the famous war criminal? He was supposed to be my first physician, but I threw a big enough fit that I ended up with a basic drow doctor.” 

She immediately tenses, her entire body going into an alert that is unique to a trained soldier. “Tell me you’re joking. Now.”

“I’m not.” 

There’s another expression in her eyes, now, one that you’re not at all familiar with. Panic, of which she’s obviously trying to settle so the guards don’t become suspicious and approach to get within hearing range. With a shuddering, tense breath, she shakes her head and tries to orient herself back into reality. With no small amount of room in her tone to be anything more than a command, she says, “know that they and I mustn’t ever meet, do you understand? We can’t cross paths, or this whole thing is going to dissolve.”

“Do you want to talk-”

“No.” She stands, glancing over at the guards. “I’d like a tour now.” 

Shakily, you agree, getting up so fast you almost faint. There’s a brief dizziness rattling around in your skull, but you manage to get everything under control enough to show her around.

Whenever you aren’t in the gardens, you have to be very, very careful of dancing around talking normally and not revealing too much. Because ‘girl talk’ is supposed to be about boy troubles and gossip, but having a whole conversation about the crown prince monarch’s shortcomings when there are an indeterminate amount of people listening and reporting back to him doesn’t hold any appeal.

So the present conversation immediately drops as you give her your very restricted-access tour, the long hallways of the floor she is on, all the while she disguises her memorization of all exits and entrances as admiration for the architecture and ornate doors. There’s an odd kind of pinch throbbing between your eyes, and you have to stop for a moment to give yourself a moment to breathe. 

“Are you alright?” For once, Clementine drops a shred of her false personality, her hand grabbing onto your arm almost tightly to hold you up if you faint.

 “I just- I think I need to sit down.” The edges of your eyes blur somewhat, the top of your brain fuzzing over like someone poured a soft drink into your skull.

 “Can you walk?” She asks, glaring at the guards when one of them steps forward, probably to carry you.

 “Yeah,” you lie, hoping that you can just will yourself to keep from passing out, “I think your room is close enough.”

When you wobble just a bit, Clementine wraps her arm around your waist and props you up with her hip, then quickly gives up the strain of one arm and trades it in to pick you up like a baby.

You protest, of course you do, but there’s little you can do to actually wriggle out of her grip. Shockingly, it’s not the first time she’s had to carry you because of an almost skull-splitting headache, though the last time it was because she side-swiped your legs out from under you and your forehead was the thing to take the brunt of the fall. She also wasn’t so nice about it, either, dragging you to the side of the room by the arm like a ragdoll to await a medic.

Now, you suppose with the guards eying you, she can’t yank your limp body back to her room, and you’d honestly rather let her carry you than one of the drow guards. Once you get inside her apartment, she almost unkindly tosses you onto the couch, mumbling something about an ice pack or blanket.

“Did you call for someone?” She asks, and it takes your brain a muddled moment to realize that she isn’t talking to you.

Quiet mumbling, all things you can’t catch. 

Almost impatiently, she yells, “are you both fucking daft? Call the assistant, what’s his face. The one with the white hair! Yes I mean the prince’s first servant, who else did you think I’m talking about?” Her words shift into a language you don’t understand as she walks over to the kitchen, but you’ve heard enough foreign swear words to know that she’s probably cussing them out of a job.

 It doesn’t take too long for Elias to arrive, or maybe it took a long time, and your brain is just so fried you didn’t notice.

“Why isn’t there any ice in the foodkeep?” Clementine’s already pounced, and you’re not sure if this is her ‘worried best friend’ character or her actual self about to dress someone down for putting one of her soldiers in danger.

“For what, exactly?” Elias sounds slightly taken aback by the show of aggression, something rattling in his hands.

“For her head, stupid, she’s almost burning up!” Again, her language dissolves into something unintelligible, though her tone gets the message across. Maybe she’s showing a bit of both sides for your sake.

 “I have some pills,” he almost sounds defensive, now, “it will help with the pressure, her head should-”

”Give me that,” Clem snaps, and you hear even more rattling as she looks over whatever he was about to give you. “What the hell are these?”

“Painkillers,” Elias takes her fury in stride, probably having dealt with much more significant threats in his day, “the best and highest dose for her human body. They were just imported from one of your human pharmaceutical companies, Bionova™, it’s what the matchmaker files suggested we get her.”

There’s another round of rattling, but then footsteps as Clementine sits herself on the couch, just in front of where your legs tug under a blanket she absentmindedly threw onto you earlier, and hands you the bottle.

Now you manage to sit up, despite the angry tightening in your skull, like each individual blood vessel in your brain is squeezing the gray matter down a size. Holding the pill bottle in one hand while scratching your arm nervously in the other, you ask Elias one more time. “You say these were imported?”

“Straight over the border,” Elias promises, “no one would want anything to happen to you.”

 I beg to differ, you think, but pop the lid open anyway. The dull thrumming in your head has you almost desperate to do anything to get yourself rid of it, so you put one of the pills on your tongue and swallow it dry. Clementine, at least, is already rummaging through her cabinets until she finds a glass to fill with water.

“The keias has been notified of her condition, and will come as soon as he is able.”

You try not to roll your eyes, to be entirely honest, even shifting your irises sends a sharp nail through your head. “Tell him not to rush on my behalf.” 

Again, Clementine sits by your side, handing a glass of water over and watches you gulp it down like a dehydrated animal. Elias, also, seems to watch you with a nervous regard in his eyes and dismisses the soldiers with nothing more than a couple of words. When the extra ears are out of the suite, he turns back over to you.

 “This doesn’t leave this room,” he starts, glaring over at Clementine, “but I want you to be aware that he can’t seem to have any weaknesses for you, which is why he isn’t rushing as quickly as I’m sure you’d like.”

Letting out a breath, the pain of the headache getting to you, you ask, “why are you telling me this?”

Elias looks at you, not with anger, with disappointment, and that’s the thing that makes you feel almost ashamed with how you have been treating the prince as of late. “So you do not feel abandoned, your grace.”

Oh, right, it’s back with your grace, Elias’ own way of giving you a super polite cold shoulder. “Thanks, I guess.”

“Also, just as a precaution, the prince will want your doctor to look over your state, but I believe that it would be pertinent to have a so-called house call instead of going down to the clinic in person.”

“Probably, yeah.” The aching throbbing between your eyes has reduced your language usage down to the basics, and it takes you a hot minute to process anything anyone else says. Clementine had been missing for a moment, but she suddenly returns with a damp cloth she places over your eyes. 

There’s a tense, but calm conversation, and as much as you’d like to try paying attention, you can only focus on the dull throbbing in the rear of your head. More talking. You curl up into a ball, the couch large enough so that your knees don’t hand off the back, and you try to dig your fingers into any pressure points of your skull in the hopes it might ease the tension.

Suddenly, a hand comes to rub the side of your arm. “Hey, princess,” Clementine whispers almost soothingly, “you’re going to wait for the doctor and spend the night here, okay?”

You mumble something in affirmation.

 The doctor comes, you hear her voice and feel her prodding touches, but you don’t feel like you’re capable of even offering a meager greeting. There’s a pinch of something in the crook of your elbow, and the feelings cease, slowly. You don’t remember the point in which you fell asleep. Only that you wake up with Clementine conked out in the chair opposite of the furniture arrangement. 

When you wake back up, it’s because your head feels like someone took an ax to your skull, it almost causes you to faint from the pain itself. All you can do is lay on the couch, arms wrapped around your head. It feels like every bone in your body is bruised or fractured, but your head takes the brunt of the pain.

Someone is talking again. You don’t have the ability to focus on them. 

You’re not sure if you can fucking survive this, but gentle hands help you sit up, and there’s yet another sharp, pinching pain in your arm. After a moment, there’s a softness washing over you, like a manifestation of light and comfort flows through your veins and eases the suffering. 

You’ve felt this way before. 

When you open your eyes, the room is washed in a kaleidoscope of colors you hadn’t noticed until now, and you’re surrounded by a bunch of people that you know, you think you know, but your brain takes its sweet time putting names to faces. “Oh. Hello.”

The big one puts a hand on your head, running it down the side of your face. You don’t think you mind so much, but the smaller one is watching him with the eyes of a predator. “How are you feeling?”

“Very fucking high.” You click your tongue against the roof of your mouth, just to make a noise.

“That’s completely normal, keias.” There’s a taller woman, her robes a pleasantly warm gray. “The drugs have overwhelmed her system, she will be more lucid in a few minutes.”

“Of course.” The big one turns to you again, and you look at his face. He’s… angular, alien, but beautiful nonetheless. You don’t think you’re afraid of him.

“What does that mean?” You ask, your lips heavy and difficult to move.

“What?” It’s the smaller one that speaks. 

“That word they just said. Keias.” You think you know what it means, but you want them to explain it to make sure. 

“It’s a royal title?” The big one stares at you, quizzically, as though trying to figure out a puzzle in front of him.

“A royal title?” You don’t think you’ve ever met actual royalty before, at least, you don’t think you have. There’s a lot you don’t remember about yourself. “Are you like a king?”

The smaller one snickers at this, then says, “babe, no. He’s a prince.”

“A prince?” You look at him again, your eyes wide. “You’re a prince?”

He doesn’t seem flattered, only oddly concerned. Turning to the female in robes, he says, “she didn’t possess memory loss when she was last dosed.”

“I gave her a different, faster-acting painkiller.” The woman taps on the screen of a datapad. “It works to block out different parts of the brain, but she is lucid enough to get on a starship, memories, or not.”

“So it’s not actually dulling the pain, it’s just telling the brain not to process it?” The smaller woman asks arms crossed over her chest. 

“Exactly, which is why it’s fast-acting and doesn’t lose effectiveness over time. The memories can be a side effect, but they should return when the drug filters out of her system.”

“You say ‘starship,’” the prince!!! observes, his many eyes narrowing slightly.

 “I did indeed, your grace.” The female is not intimidated. “I think it would be best if my patient spent some time in lower gravity conditions, which can be best produced in a starship while in space.”

 The prince stares at her for just a moment, as though he cannot believe she would suggest such a thing. “Nisesh says a drug can be produced to aid in here acclimation.”

 The female scoffs. “Nisesh believes they might become a god with enough drugs at their disposal. I mean no disrespect towards you, your grace, but sometimes the best cure is the most obvious one.”

 The prince is quiet for a long, tense moment, but the doctor doesn’t back down. It’s the smaller woman who speaks up, her voice almost laced with an underlying threat, “if that’s what’s best for her, then you need to get it done.”

 His eyes snap up, and he assesses the woman with a critical eye. Then he nods sharply, once. Turning back to the doctor, he says, “how long do you suggest she stay?”

 The doctor taps something onto her datapad. “I would have preferred she acclimate slowly, spending a longer time in orbit than she has, but since her body managed to stay together so well, I think you might find an improvement pain-wise within a day. So long as her body bounces back quickly, mind, because it might take longer for her to recover.”

 “You will join us, then, so you may monitor her condition.” It’s not a request, but an order.

 “Of course, keias,” the doctor bows at him, then steps away, tapping on the datapad.

 “I’m coming, too.” The way the smaller woman speaks leaves little room for arguments. There’s something almost… admirable, you think, about the way she stands up to the bigger one, even though he looks very capable of snapping her human body in half.

 “That is… acceptable,” the prince says.

 Without much thought, you reach over and touch the end of his hair nearest to where you sit, the strands soft and silky as you pull them closer. “Has anyone told you that you have really nice hair?”

 He stares. After a moment that consists of the woman snickering quietly, he says, “actually, yes. Yes, I have.”

 You must have blacked out again because when you wake up, you are not in Clementine’s room. In fact, you’re no longer on Lolth, because the sleek, brilliance of the space is nothing like the solid, ancient architecture that you had grown accustomed to. And just beyond the edge of the large bed you’ve been placed in is a window.

 There are no windows on Lolth, really, because there is nothing to gaze at when a society grows from the inside of their world, instead of the outside. As you sit up, you notice the echoes of a headache pulsing in the back of your skull, where the spine connects, and it feels like you had a rough fall. But when you place your feet onto the thickly threaded rug and stand, you find that you do it with some semblance of ease.

“You’re awake.”

 You almost jump out of your skin, because the prince is hiding so efficiently in the shadows of the room that you didn’t notice him until he spoke. “Y-yes.”

 A moment of awkward silence follows. You’re still wearing the same clothes as you were giving Clementine the tour- oh fuck, Clementine-

 “You were asleep for a day and a half.” His voice interrupts your hazy anxiety. “I was… concerned, but the doctor said your body was repairing itself.”

“I suppose so.” You wrinkle your forehead, realizing there is dryness choking your mouth, tongue something like sandpaper against the inside of your cheek. With little ceremony, you strip out of your outer shirt, your skin singing with no longer being suffocated by cloth, your camisole much more sheer and thin. “I need some water.”

 The prince rises to a stand, “allow me. Please.”

 You’re not sure what he means by that, but he opens one of the cabinets of what you’re now seeing is a starship cabin, then fills a glass to the brim with the tap. His movements are jerking, unfamiliar, as though he’s having his own issues with growing used to a different form of gravity. When he hands you the cup, you’re standing right by the window, staring out at the stars.

“God,” you say, after quietly thanking him, “I forgot how much I missed this view.”

 “They are beautiful,” he says, “it’s difficult to believe that they are each suns of magnificent strength from this distance. They all seem so… small. Insignificant.”

There’s a moment of quiet contemplation as you down the whole glass of water with minimal effort, then you remember what you wanted to ask him before. Looking at his reflection instead of actually making eye contact, you question, “where’s Clementine?”

 “In her own cabin, or perhaps roaming around.” He pauses, mulling something over in his head. “She is- has... character, isn’t she.”

 “You’ve got that right, believe me.” You let out a sigh, vaguely remembering her wordless glares, her face fuzzy in the more recent ones. Then, just for the purpose of watching his face flush dark, you say, “she thinks we should just fuck and make up.”

 “Is- is that how humans solve all their problems?” He asks, though you can see the question was a fight to release. There’s a tension in his shoulders when he talks about sex now, but thankfully, he is without the odd aversion he had before like he’s… like he’s trying.

 Still, the way he says it… you burst out laughing. “Oh, if sex could solve all your problems, then-” you abruptly stop yourself, realizing that this might have been a step too far outside of his comfort zone.

There’s an awkward moment of silence shared as the both of you stare out into the void, then the prince turns around and stares at you, hard, and you feel a trickle of fear thrumming up your spine. Finally, he says, “don’t. Don’t do that.”

You swallow thickly. “Don’t do what?”

“Pull away.” He stares back out to the stars, sharply, all eyes narrowing. “You show me the smallest part of yourself, and then you refuse to give me anything more. I don’t like it when you do that.”

You’re quiet for another moment, then, “well… you didn’t really approve, before.” 

“Didn’t… approve?” He echoes in the fashion of a question, glancing in your direction. “What do you mean?”

“You seemed uncomfortable when the subject of sex gets brought up.”

 “Ah.” He leans back slightly, his facial features relaxing slightly. “I see.”

“So I stopped.”

“There’s more than that, though.” He turns back to face you, his expression softer. “It was worse when that abomination was present. You would hide parts of yourself from me, especially when it was here.”

“The- oh.” You remember the Starward Matchmaker™ representative’s oppressive presence, and how you walked on eggshells around her. “Right. Yes. The company doesn’t want me to fuck anything up.” 

“A bit hypocritical of them, then,” the prince’s gaze goes back out towards the stars, “as their formula is supposedly infallible. If all parts of us are compatible with each other, then there should be no reason for you to keep some pieces of yourself hidden.”

You stop staring at his almost translucent reflection in the window and look at his face, his profile washed in the smattering of light easing in from billions of lightyears away. More to yourself than to him, you say, “I guess that’s true.”

“So you will stop trying to keep yourself from me?” He asks, firmly, looking over at you, too.

“I-” you swallow thickly, looking at the fingerprints you left on the otherwise flawless glass in your hands, “okay. Yes.”

Materlist || Ko-Fi || Patreon

[chandelier-s-notebook]

Chapter 8

Let me know if you wanna get tagged when I post new chapters in “These Streets Are Made For Walking”. @sleepysnails.

Ao3 Link

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It’s the next Wednesday when the Foster Bitch climbed the stairs up to Techno’s room. Knocking on the doorframe twice, she entered without waiting for an answer.

“Tommy hasn’t been to school all week, and the school called about unexcused absences.” She frowned at him. “You share a room with him, and don’t you drive him to school? Where is he?”

Techno threw his earbuds on his bedside table. “No idea Ma’am. I haven’t seen him since you sent him to pick me up from the station last Thursday. He woke up early and took the bus. I figured he was mad at me and at Tubbo’s. Dream’s been suspended for the incident, so I couldn’t exactly ask him.”

“Don’t you have his number?” she asked in an accusatory tone.

“Yes. But you confiscated his phone two weeks ago.”

“Oh.” She seemed to be taken aback for a second. “Shouldn’t you have Dream’s?”

“That’s for work. Like I said, I thought Tommy was at Tubbo’s. I didn’t think anything was wrong.”

“Mr. Richmon is in the kitchen.”

Ranboo’s dad. “Oh fuck.” Techno rolled out of his bed. He honestly would rather stay on his phone, but she was clearly offloading this on him, and Techno was going to make sure Tommy still had friends. Going to Ranboo’s was the best dinner Tommy ever gets. He doesn’t eat that much when he’s over, because he’ll just vomit it up, but the leftovers he takes back last the two of them a good week. Tommy may not want to be a bother and use up their resources, but Techno knows that he thinks of those leftovers as paying Techno back for everything he does.

Techno rushed down the stairs, jumping two at a time. The old stairs creaked as his feet hit their tops, the planks bending under his weight. In a moment of hesitation Techno stopped suddenly, sliding a little on his socks. He took a moment to collect himself, before making his way into the kitchen.

“Mr. Richmon,” greeted the Foster Bitch appearing next to him. “This is Techno, he’s probably the closest person to your son as Tommy hasn’t been around lately.”

“We’ve crossed paths,” Techno said, straightening his tee-shirt collar.

“Parent teacher interviews, was it?” Mr. Richmon asked, sending a little glare to the Foster Bitch and offering Techno his hand.

His grip was firm, but Techno’s was comparable. “What brings you here?”

“I haven’t seen my son since Friday.”

“Oh.”

“I’ve been calling him in absent for a prolonged family issue, but I am well aware of the company he keeps.” Mr. Richmon kept his tone light, but the accusation is heard loud and clear as he pulls out a chair for himself.

Techno tips his head in understanding. “His friends aren’t that bad,” he defends. “But I understand your concern with Tubbo and Purpled’s brothers.”

Mr. Richmon gestures to Techno, “And Tommy’s.”

“I’m not Tommy’s brother. This is a group home. We aren’t related,” he dismissed immediately. “The other guys are blood though.”

Both the Foster Bitch and Mr. Richmon gave him weird looks at his comment.

Techno took them in stride. So what? He knows he’s lying to himself more than he’s trying to convince them. “I can ask Dream and Punz if they know anything,” Techno suggested. “I assume you don’t want to be seen with them?”

Mr. Richmon nodded. “Of course not. This place is dingy enough.”

The Foster Bitch looks affronted, but Techno shushed her with a look. “I’ll try to find your son, but might I recommend going to the police.”

“The less the police know the better,” Mr. Richmon said like it was a mantra of his.

Techno nodded, already trying to figure out how he was going to deal with this. He was the getaway driver who did his homework. Sure he knew a few things, but he didn’t have any street skills. He remembered the purple hoodie at the gas station; he might have wanted to stay oblivious, but he knew who he saw.

Techno and Mr. Richmon left the house at the same time. They got into their respective cars and they drove in opposite directions. Techno headed to Punz’s place--might as well check if they were there. Techno honestly doesn’t know why he had Punz’s key on his lanyard, but due to it he didn’t bother needing to knock.

“Techno’s here!” he shouted; can’t ever be too careful at the mercenary’s house. He doesn’t hear anything back, and since anyone who could possibly be here would shout back in greeting, he assumed that the place was empty. But it doesn’t hurt to check around.

The thing about Punz and his profession is that he had to keep tabs on his targets, and the way he practiced and kept his skills sharp was by keeping tabs on his close associates. Therefore, he normally knows when people plan to stop by.

Techno walked into the living room and found a sticky note on the family computer. “Initiation collateral. Alive,” he reads.

Techno moved the mouse and the screen opened up to an article on one of the dark web sites. “New Las Nevadas Member: Merc. Punz’s Baby Bro.” He quickly scrolled down to the cover photo: open white van doors with Purpled and Tommy grappling on the ground, Ranboo and Tubbo nowhere to be seen. “Shit.”

As he skims the article he pulls out his phone and calls Dream.

He picked up on the second ring. “Hello?”

“Tommy’s for sure not sleeping at your place is he?” he asked, concern evident in his voice.

“For sure? Is everything okay?”

“No. Is Tommy there?” Techno pressed.

“No, and Tubbo hasn’t checked in with me for a while.”

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Techno lifted his shoulder, trapping the phone there so that both of his hands were free. He scrolled back up to see the picture again, confirmation that it was, in fact, real. He let out an unsteady breath, and shook out his hands.

“Why? What happened?” Dream’s voice picked up anxiously. “Did you hear something?”

“Yeah. So did Punz.” Techno took a deep breath. “Did he tell you anything?”

“I haven’t spoken to Punz in about a month,” Dream said.

“Mr. Richmon came by the home asking for his son.”

“The kids aren’t at Ranboo’s?” Dream asked, concern hardening his tone.

“Nope. Purpled’s on the news. The way that you’re on the news.”

The line was silent. “Fuck.” The sound of something breaking echoed down the line. “That’s. Bad.”

“Hope its ransom.”

There was a rustle on Dream’s end of the line, as if he was moving something. “Fuck. I’ll look into it. What did Purp get into?”

“Las Nevadas.”

“Fuck. Purpled. Why? What did Mr. Richmon say?”

“That Ranboo was missing and that he came to me because you and Punz live in too much of a shithole for him to visit.”

“I don’t live in a shithole!”

“This place is dingy enough, were his exact words.”

“Ouch.”

It’s been a week. Tubbo, Ranboo, and Tommy were thrown into the same room. It’s objectively a nice room, but a prison is still a prison no matter how lavish the cell. The beds were really comfortable, but it was barren besides them.

They don’t see Purpled again, instead Fundy Soot is the one to bring them their three meals a day. You’d think that one could never get sick of pizza, but eventually--especially with the mood so sour--there comes a breaking point.

“Did someone order a meat-lovers?” The door opens and Fundy is inside the room with three cardboard plates, two slices on each. “Your dinner is here.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Tommy said digging into his slices.

“No, I don’t think I will.” Fundy smiles vindictively. Sue him, he hates babysitting duty. “Who’s gonna shut me up? Your brother?” he asks, looking at Tubbo. “That little amateur couldn’t do anything. Petty thieving is the highest form of sin you know?” Fundy said like he was reciting something.

“Shut the fuck up,” Tommy repeated, noticing how Tubbo froze.

“You too? What’s your brother going to do? He’s just the fucking getaway driver. He can’t help you. Big Brother Techno Blade isn’t as strong as you think he is, little Tommy.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Tommy shouted. “Techno may be friends with Dream, but he’s not doing that shit.”

“Didn’t you pick him up from the station? You’re lying to yourself. You know that Techno is in with Dream.”

“No he’s not! And don’t you have something better to do with your time? College or some shit?”

Fundy chuckled humourlessly. “The faster you eat, the faster I’m out of your room.”

Tommy glared and shoved a whole slice into his mouth.

“No one’s coming to save you,” he taunted.

“Shut up.”

“Don’t speak with your mouth full. We sent the ransom video,” he said moving onwards. “Instead Mr. Richmon hired Techno and Dream for free. Seems Daddy doesn’t care about his son enough to save you immediately.”

That’s the point that Tubbo broke. Tubbo could take a verbal bashing; Tommy would be pissed if he attacked on his behalf; but Ranboo? Ranboo was the most innocent here and didn’t need familial jabs.

Tubbo lurched from his bed and swung at Fundy Soot, sending him down to the floor. “Where the fuck is your big brother? He fucking failed you if you had to get dragged in the life style to survive.” Tubbo punched Fundy again after he was down. “Where is he huh? At least my brother managed to keep me out of this shit.”

Tommy rushes over to pull Tubbo back. “Shh. Shh. We can’t afford this. He's top dog here.”

Fundy laid on the floor, arms out and protecting his face.

“We’re done eating,” Tommy growls. “Get out.”

Ranboo, thoroughly shaken, picks up the plates and puts them in Fundy’s hands, standing in between the two groups so Fundy couldn’t retaliate. If any of them needed to come out of this looking pretty it’s him: the rich boy.

[blaxkrosethorn]

A Rose With Thorns.

Haytham Kenway x OC.

Chapter 1. (Based off of ‘A Christmas Impersonation’ by @ragingbookdragon)

Summary: during a mission with Shay Cormac, French Assassin; Obedience L’Hona meets Grandmaster Haytham Kenway, but before anything happens she has to run.

Warnings: Language, sexual humor, mentions of violence and blood.

Rating: R. (For suggestive themes, Adult like scenes, mentions of loosing ones virginity, gore, smoking, and alcoholism.)

“This…is a bad idea, Shay.” She whimpered, grip on the Irish man’s overcoat deathly tight as she contemplates pulling him back towards the Morrigan. The man simply chuckled at the shorter woman’s antics.

“Relax, lass. We’ve got this, we always do.” He says as he leads her up the stairs. “Seriously, Shay. My nerves are a mess we’re going to fucking get caught.” She exclaims, chocolate brown hues wide with anticipation. “Obbi. Take a breather.” Shay coaxes and she rolls her eyes before doing as she’s told. Once she’s moderately calm, Shay gently guides her the rest of the way up the steps, and presents an invitation to the Red Coat standing guard outside of the mansion’s doors. He smiles at them, but the smile screams ‘I hate myself and I most definitely hate you.’

“Lord and Lady Shamus Williams?” He asked skeptically. “Yes, me and my wife have been traveling, this is our first gathering in about a month.” Shay says smoothly, and the Red Coat nods before smiling at Obedience and allowing the two to glide into the mansion and easily blend in.

As soon as they were out of the Red Coat’s earshot, both breathed sighs of relief. “That was close..” Shay muttered. “I thought you had it..” Obedience glowered. “Irish bastard..” she mutters. “Is this what upper-class parties are like?” Shay mutters.

She huffed. “This place is boring compared to Callaghan’s on a Friday night.”

 Shay snorted. “Agreed. It seems the people who govern us little ones don’t know how to party.”

A servant walked passed holding a tray of Champaign. Shay grabbed two, handing one to Obedience. “For you, Lady Williams.”

She took the drink. “Thank you, Lord Williams.” Raising her glass to his, she warned, “Now remember, the whole point of tonight isn’t to get piss drunk. We’re here to—”

She narrowed her gaze as he started drinking. “You’re not even listening to me, are you?”

 Shay eyed her. “I heard, ‘get piss drunk’, and decided to follow the instructions.”

           “You’re a dipshit, Shay.” Obedience griped, taking a sip of her own. Her face scrunched up and she inconspicuously spat the champagne back into the glass. A shiver ran through her and she gagged. “Ugh.”

He chuckled. “It’s surprising that you don’t like that, considering the fact that you drink whiskey.”

She smacked her lips awkwardly, trying to get the taste out of her mouth. “Yeah, but whiskey actually tastes good.” Obedience glared into the shot. “In the wise words of your dearly departed father, this tastes like horse piss.”

At that, Shay had to fake a cough to cover up the bark of laughter. “He would be proud.” And then they lapsed back into silence as they strolled around the venue.

Eventually, they stopped by one of the giant windows, and Obedience took to scrutinizing the men at the party.

A nudge to her side, followed by a whisper caught her attention. “Lady Williams, you’re supposed to be a married woman. Are you searching for a lover?”

 Obedience rolled her eyes and looked at him. “Well, someone has to satisfy a woman’s needs and you’re not.”

Shay actually seemed offended by that one, placing a hand to his chest. “That hurt.”

 “You’ll live,” she retorted, eyes following the men until she landed on one talking to an older woman. He was handsome, strong facial features, broad shoulders, definitely fit under all those layers, and his eyes. Oh, his eyes were drop dead striking, like gunmetal. And she wanted to know them. Badly.

She tapped repeatedly on Shay’s arm. “That one, I want that one!” She whispers, and Shay directs his eye sight towards the man Obedience had taken a liking to.

“You mean the one that screams I’m a pretentious arsehole with a stick shoved up my arse, that one?” Shay inquired, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah..” Obedience replied hazily, practically drooling at the sight of the dark haired man. Shay sighs at his best friend’s behavior. “I want to climb that man like the village tree..”

At that, Shay gagged. “Gross!”

 “Are you kidding me, Shay?” she questioned, nodding at the man who’d begun to look around. “Look at his hands. And his thighs. And his really…firm…body. That is a man who knows what a woman wants and how to give it to her.”

 “I’m really glad you’ve finally found someone to break your celibacy vow, but please, please, please, understand that I am not as interested in men as you are.”

Obedience whirled around to face him, humorous glint in her eyes as she challenged him. “From what I’ve seen in Portugal, your a damn liar.” She said, accent getting thicker with every word spoken.

Shay’s already pale white face got even paler, if even possible. “I thought we agreed not to speak of that again!?” Shay scowled, cheeks beginning to redden in embarrassment.

“No,” she begins. “You said never to speak of it again and I nodded.” Obedience says as if it were the most obvious thing. “Exactly, you agreed.” Shay growled lowly. “Shay, you should know by now that I have to give verbal words of agreement, not a small simple nod of my pretty little head.” Obedience smirks, and Shay moves to argue with her when they hear someone clear their throat. Both slap smiles onto their faces and face the person whom demanded their attention, only to find the man Obedience had been previously drooling over.

The man offered a smile. “Good evening.” He greeted.

“Good evening.” Obedience greeted back, Shay quickly following her lead.

“Haytham Kenway, pleased to meet you.” The man introduced himself, and Obedience felt like his steel gray eyes were boring into her brown ones.

“Shay-!” Obedience nudged Shay’s foot. “Shamus Williams, the pleasure is mine. This, is my wife;” Shay says, and Obedience introduces her alias. “Maya Williams, pleasure.” She says, placing her hand in Haytham’s as she expects him to shake it. She’s pleasantly surprised when he raises it to his lips, placing a chaste kiss on her knuckle. “The pleasure is mine.” Haytham says, the undertone of a flirt filling his voice, though his eyes held a pinch of suspicion.

“I’m normally good at recognizing the regulars of a party, but I don’t believe I’ve ever met you two.” Haytham says. “What is it you two do?” He asks.

Shay quickly fills in the metaphorical gap. “We work for a business man, unfortunately he became sick so he gave the invitations to me and my wife to represent him and his wife.” He says, and Haytham quickly nods.

Shay rested his hand in the small of Obedience’s back. She nearly hurled.

“My drink is empty, I’ll be back. Until I get back, why don’t you and Mr. Kenway converse?” Shay asks, smiling at Obedience. She lets out an unladylike snort, raising an eyebrow. “Your glass is full, Shamus.” Obedience says, but Shay quickly downs his glass before handing it to Obedience and sending her a mischievous wink. “Now, it’s empty.” He says and although she grins she lets out a wheeze. “I hate you.” She says, he simply grins and disappears into the crowd. Obedience shakes her head exasperatedly.

Haytham laughs, taking both glasses from Obedience. “I wasn’t—” Obedience begins but Haytham cuts her off. “You didn’t like it anyways.” He says, and she blushes in embarrassment.

“You uh-..” she clears her throat. “You saw that..?” She mutters, looking down bashfully and trying to hide behind her dark black hair.

Haytham chuckles. “Only the ones who were paying attention noticed.” He says, brushing her hair behind her ear.

“Paying attention to a married woman?” She teased, giving him a small smirk.

Haytham ignores her question with a small chuckle. “Dance with me?” He asked, holding out an arm. “Mr. Kenway, I really shouldn’t..” Obedience says, trying to keep her act up. “Your not married.” Haytham says, and Obedience feels a bullet of shock rush through her, and she hesitantly places her hand in his.

Haytham pulls Obedience into a dance, but she doesn’t get a chance to enjoy it, a few Redcoats spotting her and beginning to advance.

“That, would unfortunately be my queue to run.” Obedience says before running away from the ballroom, trying to find Shay so they could escape the building.

She checks room after room, finally finding Shay in a large room with a desk. A desk that Shay was perched on, a woman on top of him.

“Shay!” Obedience yells, startling him and the woman. “Hey! Who the hell do you think you are?!” The woman yells at Obedience. “His best friend and the one saving his life, now get lost bitch!” Obedience snarls and the woman quickly dressed before doing so.

Shay quickly dresses himself and they make their way towards the window. “I can’t jump in this damn dress!” Obedience yelps. “Then cut it off if you can’t undo the lacings, woman!” Shay says, opening the window. “I can’t reach my damn knife!” She yelps, and Shay rolls his eyes before dropping to his knees in front of her, and reaching his hand up her dress.

“Don’t you dare get any funny ideas, Cormac!” Obedience growls lowly. “Wouldn’t be the first time, lass.” Shay jokes, earning a smack to the back of his head. He’s just about to grasp the handle of her knife when the door to the room is thrown open, revealing Haytham.

“I swear to God this is not what it looks like..” Obedience swears, growling at a frozen in place Shay. “You sure?” Haytham asks amusedly. “Quite.” Obedience says. Shay gets the hint and backs away. “I almost had your knife, until stick-arse showed up.” Shay growled, approaching the window. “Here,” Haytham says, cutting the lace in the back of Obedience’s dress. The dress itself falls to her ankles, leaving her in her corset and a black and blue skirt that went to her knees.

Shay jumped and Obedience turned to Haytham. She grabbed him by the neck and tugged him down to her level, kissing him passionately. He just barely got to kiss back before she pulled away and climbed the window sill, winking at him. “Later, Haytham.”

And then, both her and Shay were gone.

[chibsytelford]

A Lovely Accident

*** GIF credit to @samcroimagine ***

My dear friend @everyhowlmarksthedead requested: DING, DING, DING, REQUEST ✨ What about Chibs being run over by the reader (not hard, I mean, take it easy lol), so reader takes him to the hospital and well, Chibs asking her for a date like I don't give a fuck that you almost killed me, lass. I. NEED. IT. DO. IT. I love you 💘 Keep fucking writing, you do an amazing job. (P.s- I love you too and thanks for the support❤).

Word Count = 1413.

Warning - some swearing.

taglist - @agirllovespasta​ @everyhowlmarksthedead​ 

You had just finished a 10 hour shift and were heading home. You put your Spotify 'driving' playlist on and turned it up ' All Star' by Smash Mouth came on first and you turned your radio up as loud as it went.

Your 10 hour shift flew passed quite quickly. You worked as a waitress in a restaurant whilst you studied to become a marine biologist. You were at university during the week, and worked in the restaurant at the weekends to help pay for your university course, and also your small flat.

You headed out from the restaurant car park and turned left. It was 12 minutes past midnight so it was dark, except for the street lights that illuminates the road in front of you every few seconds.

You knew the drive home like the back of your hand so you relaxed a little, and took one hand off the steering wheel to take your bobble out of your long wavy hair. You swear you only took your eyes of the road for 3 seconds at the most.

BANG! 

You suddenly pressed the brake and clutch at the same time, doing a swift emergency stop. The bang sounded like you clipped the kerb, but you didn't hear any strange noises coming from the car, and nothing fell off. You put your hazards on, and stopped your car at the side of the road. Grabbing your phone to use a torch, you slowly opened your car door and walked back a few steps, to where the bang occurred.

Sitting at the side of the road was a tall man, with dark hair speckled with some grey. You noticed he looked a little worn and dishevelled but still handsome none the less. What is wrong with me? You scolded yourself. You're drooling over a random man at quarter past midnight like that's a normal thing to be doing.

"Hey!" You shouted. You didn't want to sneak up on him, so figured shouting wouldn't give him as much of a fright. He slowly looked up at you, and that's when you noticed he was holding his leg, which was covered in blood. "Oh fuck" you whispered, "what happened to you?"

The random man laughed a deep and sarcastic laugh and looked at you incredulously. "You taking the piss? You've just whacked me with yer car and you're gonna ask what happened to me?".

Now you were standing fully in front of this man. He had rolled his jeans up, and was inspecting his leg. It didn't actually look as bad as you thought, just a lot of blood coming from his shin. "What are you doing walking on a road like this at this time of night?" You knelt down to look into his eyes and you noticed they softened when he looked back at you.

"Aye that's it, blame the poor man with the bleeding leg for walking on a road like this, not the lass that decided to hit the poor man with her bloody car". He wasn't shouting, but he wasn't talking quietly either. He was from Scotland. You could recognize that accent anywhere.

"Can you stand up?" You questioned him.

"Well, I could before I got hit in the leg with a car" was his sarcastic reply.

You offered the man your hand and he grabbed it. With a big pull you managed to get him up and standing. "Well, what now then?" He asked you as he awkwardly held onto your shoulders.

"Well, now, we go to the hospital, or I mean that's what any normal person does when they're bleeding like that". If he was going to be sarcastic, so were you.

"Eh, if you just take me back to ma house, there is a doctor there who can fix me up, or even better I can just fix maself up".

You laughed out loud at his comment. "I'd rather take you to the hospital, seen as it is my fault you're in this mess.

"Aye ok then, but only cause you stopped fur me".

You helped him into your car, and gave him your jacket to put over his wound. "It's an old jacket, so it doesn't matter about the blood you're going to get on it, just put it on and press down, and we will get to the hospital in about 20 minutes".

"I'm Filip by the way, or Chibs, whatever you prefer" the Scotsman said.

"I'm Y/N, and I'd shake your hand but I'd rather not get blood on me" you laughed lightly.

The drive to the hospital actually only took you 15 minutes, and you found yourself being disappointed. You figured you'd take him into the reception and leave him with one of the nurses, and head home.

"Can you come in wi me please? And wait?" he shyly asked. "I mean, if yer no busy, but you don't have ti…"

You cut him off. "Of course, it's the least I could do". You went around to his side and opened the door for him, and gently helped him out. Together, with arms around each other for support, you headed into the hospital.

He didn't look like the type of man who was shy, or needed or wanted help. So to see him embarrassed and rambling on was a surprise to you.

He was quickly helped to a bed in the accident and emergency department, and the nurse looked at his wound. "Not you again" she scolded him. "What happened this time?". Chibs told her he fell off his bicycle.

Now that's a funny thought. A strong burly man like him riding a bicycle. The thought made you laugh and he turned to face you with a questioning look.

"Sorry, I just remembered something that made me laugh". You sat down on the chair beside his bed and awkwardly twiddled your thumbs.

"A never did ask ye, what were ye dain driving so late?" He seemed genuinely interested.

"I just finished work, and was headed home for the night, well, morning". You found yourself wanting to tell him everything about you. His brown eyes were so soft and kind but also very sceptical. His eyes had a lot of sadness in them, as well as happiness, and you knew he had been hurt bad in the past.

The nurse came back in from getting wipes and bandages and fixed him up in no time. She gave him some co-codamol tablets and told him to rest up for a few days and he would be right as rain in no time. She finished of the conversation by reprimanding him. "Don't let me see you in here again".

Chibs was able to walk out by himself, albeit struggling slightly. You missed his warmth and closeness which surprised you. "Can I give you a lift back to your house?" You questioned as you stood outside the hospital.

"If you deh mind lass, it isn't far from here". Chibs gave you directions and 5 minutes later you pulled up to a garage called "Teller Morrow".

"This is your house?" You asked as you again went around to his side of the car to help him out.

"Well, more like a clubhouse a suppose, but all my brothers are inside and we just hang out here and drink mainly, I do actually have a room here too". He started heading towards the clubhouse when he stopped suddenly and came back. "Call me daft lass, but I want te take you oot for a meal, mainly te say thank you for helping mi, but also because you're stunning, and your music taste is pretty gid judging by how loud ye were blasting Smash Mouth, and ye can understand what am saying" he chuckled.

Now it was your turn to be embarrassed and shy.

"Okay sure, but I'm paying. It's my way of apologizing and making it up to you". You got your phone out and opened up the contacts. "What's your number?"

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever ye say". He took your phone and typed his number into it, and handed it back. "I'll wait on ye texting me then lass" and he walked, successfully this time, into his 'house'.

You got into your car and headed home. Hopefully this time without hitting any other strangers with your car. But you knew that no stranger could ever be as good as the one you just met.

[rainy-tree-bird]

Cruel Fate// Villain Midoriya x Reader

A/N: I’ve never written any fanfics with Midoriya in them(as the main focus), especially a villain Midoriya, so I hope this will do!

Warnings: Angst, slight Bakugou x Reader (Platonic), Swearing, Knives are present, breakup, villain Midoriya

-----

You were in a seemingly perfect relationship and in your eyes it was, you loved Izuku! He was everything you could ask for, but then one day he just disappeared. As if he just disappeared into thin air, his phone, clothes even shoes were still there in your shared apartment. The both of you were successful pro heroes, especially Izuku, he was quickly rising in the hero ranks and then one day, gone.

This broke you, the love of your life nowhere to be seen. You stopped working, just staying at home, not talking to anyone, barely eating and just drowning in your sorrows especially when the pro heroes and police stopped searching for him.

He had now been missing for two years and you had just gotten worse and worse. Your family and friends had now a full schedule to check on you and make sure that you actually ate and took care of the necessities you needed to survive. No matter who it was or what they did, they couldn't get you to stop the never-ending cycle of depression and need for your sweetheart.

You missed him badly. From the way, he held you in his strong arms every night as if he was protecting you from the dangers of the world to the way he would give you morning kisses on your forehead. You had practically used every piece of clothing that was his to just be able to smell him but now it all had disappeared since you had been slowly but surely worn each clothing item so it now smelled like you instead.

-

On the day that marked the third year since his disappearance, you were lying on the bed in your apartment, you just laid there not wanting to do anything. Hiding under the covers, clutching your pillow tightly. As you were doing this you heard your front door slam open and loud incoherent shouting. You ignored it just assuming it was Bakugou's turn to make sure you had eaten and that he was just in a pissy mood. Well, you had assumed wrong. (Partially at least)

Suddenly the covers on your bed disappeared exposing yourself to the cold apartment and at the foot of the bed was Bakugou. He looked pissed, to a point that you felt that he could kill you just by staring at you with those angry eyes.

-That's fucking enough you sad ass. You gotta get over him! Its been THREE FUCKING YEARS!

Bakugou screamed at you, his face red.

-I fucking understand that you miss him, hell even I miss Deku. But what the fuck are YOU ACCOMPLISHING hollowing up in your apartment!?

He continued screaming, tears now rolling down your face. Not because of the fact that he was screaming at you but because you knew that you were not accomplishing anything by just sitting around being sad and missing him, but you refused to listen to him. He walked up closer to you now standing beside you.

-Y/n you look like shit, what the fuck would Deku think if he saw you like this? Your not fucking alone, he was my-

Bakugou choked on his words, no longer screaming but speaking very sternly. You looked up at his face, tears were streaming down his face too.

-Even if I wouldn't admit it in front of that idiot... but he was one of my close friends, and I sure as hell know that he wouldn't want to see you like this. So quit your moping and come back, hell maybe if you came back and started working as a pro hero again you might even find that damn idiot...

This shocked you, how come you never thought of this? Bakugou had a point, you had to get your shit together...

-Fine, I'll get my shit together... I'll- ... I'll find him.

You mumbled. Bakugou fell silent, he wiped his tears.

-Damn fucking time and... thanks I guess.

He gave you a small smiled. He really has changed since high school and you appreciated the fact that he knocked some sense into you. Giving you that final push to stop moping.

And that's exactly what happened, after a year and a half you were back to working as a pro hero, going outside, being with friends and family. Sure you would never heal from the pain of Izuku disappearing but you were refuelled with new energy and you were going to find out what happened to the love of your life.  

-

One day you were out on patrol, a normal day or it was until you heard multiple explosions. You headed to see what happened and where you could help. The explosion and smoke lead you to a mall, the mall had exploded. You instantly ran inside the mall to find any survivors. You run around looking for people, debris everywhere, pieces of the building was falling onto the ground. Everything was destroyed.

As you turned a corner you fell backwards. Weight on your stomach, almost as if someone was sitting on you. And you were correct, on you was a female with blond hair put up in two messy buns, yellow eyes almost piercing your soul, a cruel, sadistic smile on her lips. You identified the female sitting on you as Toga from the League of Villians. One of her arms lifted holding a knife above your chest.

-Ooooh, won't you look here! You are so cute! But you would look SOOO much better with blood on you!

She exclaimed with a cheery voice. You looked around, you couldn't get her off you. Your quirk was not going to help you in this situation, she was also sitting on you in a position that you couldn't get out of. As you look at her with shock, without hesitation she moves her arm indicating that she's about to plunge the knife in her hand right into your chest. You close your eyes awaiting the pain of a stab.

Yet the pain never arrives, as you open your eyes you see Toga's knife only a few centimetres from your chest. A hand wrapped around her wrist, stopping her from plunging the knife into your chest. You look towards the direction of the arm stopping her. You didn't believe your eyes, it couldn't be possible. Right beside you, the person stopping you from being killed by this villain is none other than Izuku Midoriya, the love of your life, who had suddenly disappeared four and a half years ago.

-Leave Toga. I'll take care of them.

He says monotonously. Said female whines but gets off of you and runs off into another direction, probably to find a different victim. Izuku reaches a hand in front of you to try and help you up. Though you don't take his hand and stand up yourself. You are still in shock not believing that it's him but he looks like your Izuku and sounds like your Izuku. You observe how he looks like, whilst tears start to stream down your face.

He is wearing a white dress up shirt paired with a black vest and a black tie. Black trousers and shoes, plus a pair of black gloves. You blink multiple times, it looks like your Izuku but at the same time he doesn't, he seems more... Sinister.

-Y/n...

He eventually says with a soft smile. Multiple thoughts and feelings run through your brain and heart. You feel happy and relieved to know that he's alive and seemingly healthy and he's there, your Izuku. But at the same time, you feel angry and sad. If he's ok then where has he been this whole time and was he with Toga? It seemed like it...

-Where the fuck have you been this whole time?

You manage to choke out. You don't wait for an answer and continue to speak.

-Like you just disappeared one day. Without anything, no message... And now you're here, what the fuck Izuku?

All your feelings that you've had during the past five(ish) years now all came and turned into pent up anger, pent up rage. Izuku's silent but he eventually starts to speak.

-I left to become a villain, love. I realized that the hero society was awful. The heroes are a bunch of scumbags only there for the money and fame... It was better to become a villain. You understand right? Why don't you join me and we will be villains together? Come on, baby.

He states, his hand stretched out to take yours so you can join him. You look at him with shock and sadness, but it soon turns into disgust, fully visible on your face.

-Izu, what are you're talking about? I would never become a villain! What happened to you? Wheres MY Izuku!? The Izuku who wanted to become the number one HERO and bring peace to the world?! Not DESTRUCTION!

You pretty much scream. Izuku is silent for a second but then replies.

-This is just how it turned out after I found out the truth about the heroes. Come on, baby, please!

He says as he tries to get closer to you, you back away.

-You are not my Izuku...

You say quietly but loud enough so that he can hear what you said. He looks at you with slight shock. You try to walk away, just get away from here before you fully breakdown. You know that there are probably people out there that need saving, you can't just stand here talking to Izuku. But Izuku manages to grab your wrist and get you to stay. You recoil your arm not wanting to touch him due to the things he just told you.

-Come on Y/n. I'm sorry for disappearing like that, I really am. But we can start over, we can become a happy couple again! I never stopped loving you!

He says desperately as he tries to stop you from leaving. Your cheeks are now very wet and your eyes are starting to get puffy. You suddenly get a memory from when Izuku and you were in high school. You start to laugh through your tears. Izuku notices this and his facial expression is visible that he is wondering why you are laughing.

-Remember in UA when we first started our relationship and you said that you'd always be by my side?

Your facial expression showing clear pain as you ask Izuku this question. Your legs slowly getting weak. He looks first at you shocked, but he then smiles at the memory.

-Of course, I do and I will continue doing that, we'll always be with each other. Especially if you come with me, love!

He states, desperately wanting you to be with him.

-Yeah? Well, you disappeared for almost five YEARS Izuku! YEARS! You could've called, texted, hell even sent a letter but no! NOTHING!

You were now screaming at the top of your lungs, you couldn't contain the anger and sadness anymore. Izuku was silent.

-I've missed you so damn much and just wanted to be in your arms...

You said and it was true, that was something you had been wanting to do for the past few years. Your heart could barely take anymore. You were clenching your hero costume around the place where your heart was. Tears flowing down your face like rivers. Your whole body was shaking. Izuku was looking down at the ground in shame, his fists clenched in how disappointed he was in himself for leaving you for this long...

-And we c- ... we can do that again, I've missed you so much too! I'm ashamed of the fact that I left you and I realise now that I should've contacted you.

He said. He was extremely mad with himself. How could he be so blind and hurt you like this? Tears had started to form around his eyes.

-But- but now... I'm not so sure if I want to be in your arms anymore... Now that I know that you had all the possibilities in the world for you to contact me yet you didn't...

You were violently shaking from being this distraught and angry. You really weren't sure if you loved this man anymore. Izuku was once again looking at the ground in shame. You took a deep breath.

-I really didn't think that I'd say this after getting to see you for the first time in years but... due to the circumstances and the outcome that's happened... and I honestly thought that I would get to love you again. But I don't want to ever see you again.

You said in the coldest voice you could muster, tears now halting the flow. That was the breaking point for Izuku. He fell down to his knees, tears streaming down his face instead. His facial expression showing a mixture of shock, heartbreak and disappointment.

You took another deep breath and took the chance of leaving now that Izuku was in his own thoughts. You never thought this is what was going to happen but fate has cruel ways to mess with you...

[hecohansen31]

Could you pretty please my love use number 21 from the prompt list 5 with Roman?

WARNINGS: Unwanted Pregnancy, Mention of Abortion, Fear of Pregnancy, Discussion of Post-Partum Syndrome.

Pregnancy had been a strange fear of yours since you had become a young adult.

At first you had just blamed it on some kind of disinterest in babies, and an interest in enjoying more the wild life of not having children under your legs, clutching at them.

And when Nadia and Roman had entered in your life, the fear of pregnancy you had always had, had disappeared completely, since you hadn’t thought it was something that would happen soon.

But life had a strange way of fucking you all up.

A few months ago, due to an health scare and some problematic reactions of your body, you had had to stop your birth control, switching to another but leaving uncovered an entire week, in which Roman had ‘suffered’ the penance of ‘condoms’.

You hadn’t noticed any broken ones, but apparently either some had been leaking or your new birth control was ineffective, because you had, that morning, discovered that you were pregnant.

Pryce had been running some tests after the health scare you had received a few months ago, under Roman’s orders and a percentage from the blood exams had appeared extremely high and although it wasn’t anything horridly dangerous, the doctor had run a few more tests, comprehended a pregnancy one.

That had turned out positive.

And now all your fears were coming back to the surface.

You had tried to get Pryce to tell you the abortion costs and dangers, but the man had completely avoided the subject, suggesting you spoke with ‘the boss’, Roman.

‘I wouldn’t want to be blamed for any misunderstanding without him’ and you had called him ‘a fucking misogynist’ he had simply replied that it was procedure and that Roman was his boss, and he couldn’t do much without his word.

So, you had been waiting for your husband to come back home, as a good-willing wife, having left Nadia at Peter’s, since you didn’t want your bad humor to destroy her infectious good mood, and when she had hugged you goodbye for the night, you had almost ruined everything because you had felt then and there like crying.

Part of you wanted to give her a little brother or a little sister, since she had been asking for one, but part of you was damnably scared.

And it wasn’t simply the fact that you were scared of the entire pregnancy aspect and the giving birth part, remembering the risks that it could bring to you.

But it was much more complex.

Starting from the fear for your body changing and never coming back to its own, something that might have seemed superficial, even more when you knew that Roman wouldn’t have minded in the slightest, but still… it hurt you.

And then all the post-partum consequences…

They gave you a headache at overthinking everything.

And then Roman came home.

You saw the car pull up in the driveaway and Roman staying a bit in the car to calm himself, as he always did to avoid bringing his own problems at home, mostly for Nadia, since you could handle your good amount of Godfrey’s rage, but you were glad he had been trying his best to avoid outbursts in front of you and your little girl.

He then got out, prancing towards the door, unlocking it quickly and screaming your name and Nadia’s, waiting for a minute to come to greet him, at least the little girl, but you simply stood next to the kitchen window, breathing out a deep breath, as you got yourself in a chair.

Then Roman walked in, leaving the suitcase in the threshold, something that drove you nuts, but you allowed him, because part of you wanted him desperately in front of you, in order to be able to talk with him, properly.

But another part just wanted yourself to become little little and disappear.

“… what did I do wrong?” Roman immediately asked when he came in, knowing that if both the women of his life were pissed at him, at the same time, he was thoroughly fucked “… I swear that if this is because of the computer, it wasn’t completely my fault, but Peter and I were playing…”.

“You told me it was Nadia playing around with her…” you stopped yourself from diverging form the true discourse “… I am pissed about that and I want a new computer, but this isn’t about that”.

And your eyes said enough that he moved to your liquor cabinet, pulling out two drinks, till you told him to take just one.

His eyes shot you an interrogative question and for a moment you almost wanted to down a good amount of bourbon to have the ability of speaking without choking on the words you needed to say.

But you couldn’t.

Although you didn’t know whether you wanted to keep the baby or not.

“… you should sit” you suggested Roman, who tried to come closer to you, but you pushed back seeing immediately hurt flash in Roman’s eyes, but he kept the distance “… this morning I found out that I am pregnant”.

“The fuck?” Roman’s voice broke through the two words, and before you knew the words flowed almost easily out of your mouth.

“… I went to Pryce for the check-up, nothing showed up in my blood exams, but a percentage seemed strange and the doctor wanted more tests…” you nervously bit your lips, as you pronounced the words that were so desperately on your tongue, and yet you wanted to swallow them back “… and it turns out I am pregnant”.

“It isn’t fucking possible” he commented tightly, hissing through his teeth “… I used condoms, and then you were back on your birth control”.

“Pryce said that the birth control might have been ineffective since it was a smaller dosage…” you replied “… the previous one acted too actively on my hormones, so he had to switch to another one, which might have in turn… been too little for contraception”.

“I swear that fucking man…” Roman was now up the chair and turned to you, as he punched a stove that was on the kitchen counter, making you shudder lightly as you tried to calm your breathing to avoid tears “… I’ll fucking fire that incompetent”.

“Roman” you tried to call him “… I have been thinking about getting an abortion”.

He turned to you immediately, open-eyed, although understanding settled on his face.

“… I do think that it is your body and it is your choice, and all that shit… and I know that this is… surprising but… are you sure that it is the best choice?”.

You took a deep breath, trying not to make it a fault against Roman, knowing that he meant well.

To him more children wouldn’t have been problematic, except for the set up.

You had both the money and the energy for one more children, and he had actually been aching for one more, although he had never asked you, since he was waiting for you to bring it up, not wanting to push anything onto you.

But now he didn’t understand why you didn’t want it, when you were a natural nurturer with Nadia.

You hadn’t ever talked with him about your fears for this pregnancy, since you had thought it was almost silly to explain to him what you truly thought about having children, how the sole thought scared you.

But you had to now.

“I am scared… of…” it felt silly to confess such a thing, but Roman’s eyes held no judgement as he encouraged to say more “… pregnancy and childbirth”.

Roman looked at you surprised before realization shone on his face and he muttered silently:

“Letha”.

You knew it all too well what he meant and although the ghost of a bloodied Letha had haunted your dreams, your fears regarding that had started much before her death, so you gently rushed to Roman’s side, although this time he was the one who pushed you away.

“…. I didn’t realize that you are having a monster in your stomach” he spoke, although his voice trembled lightly and this time you pushed away the hands that hands that held you back “… you are doing the right thing killing that abomination”.

“I am not doing it for that and you know it” you spoke, grabbing harshly his hands, as you softened your grip till it become more tender, meanwhile Roman’s eyes became more languid, and emotional, open to you as they had been from the moment your soul had met his “… I would love nothing more than to bear you a child, but there is this fear in me… there has always been… of not surviving, of seeing my body change and never come back to normal…”.

Roman seemed to understand as his eyes softly turned to yours.

“… it scares you… truly?” he asked softly, as his hands settled himself to raise your head lightly so that you could be eye-to-eye.

“I just…” you didn’t know what to say “… is it selfish of me to act this way?”.

“It is your body” Roman simply reminded as he brought you even closer, laying a soft kiss on your forehead “… and I don’t think that anybody can choose anything for you, or judge you for what you decide to do with it”.

You nodded, lowering your head, as you slowly broke a bit away from Roman, although you kept your hands closer.

“… I’ll think about it, but…” you bit your lips, feeling the tears finally coming down your cheeks, as Roman gently gripped your hand “But I…I can’t do this without you”.

And Roman moved you quickly in his laps, feeling you breaking apart.

“… don’t worry, little one” he breathed in your hair, as he softly rubbed comforting circles on your back “… I have got you, no matter what happens”.

---

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[hockeytrashgoblin]

Ice Cold ~Part 17

A/N: Sorry for the wait I’ve been so crazy busy. Enjoy!

We got back to the house just in time for the boys to go to practice. I changed into dry comfy clothes and went out ready to find Morgan and Mitchy. It didn't take much now that I could hear everything. I knocked on the door to Morgan's office and came in when he told me to.

"Hello."

"(Y/n) I'm so happy to see you awake! Mitch has been telling me about your day. How are you feeling?"

"I'm good! I can't even explain how incredible I feel right now. I am kind of thirsty though. Will said that I could have some more when it started to hurt?"

"Yes of course. Mitch will you go prepare a cup for her?"

"Of course. I'll be back in a bit. Give you guys a chance to talk and pretend I can't hear it."

"Thanks Mitchy." He nodded and left leaving me and Morgan.

"I understand you have some questions for me?"

"Morgan I'm pregnant. Or I was? I don't know anymore since I kind of died and I don't know how any of this works. I don't want to tell William until I know a little more."

"Well congratulations. It's not a guarantee that the pregnancy is terminated. There's a pretty high chance that the baby could have been a vampire. You becoming a vampire would be the best thing for it."

"Is there any way I can find out if it was a vampire or not?"

"How far along would you be?"

"Only a couple weeks. Like maybe 4?"

"If you lost the baby your body would expel it like a normal pregnancy. You still bleed as a vampire. You won't have a normal cycle at all but the reproductive system works pretty much the same for children and length of child bearing years. Now if children happen there's no chance of a human baby."

"How is it even possible?"

"It has to do with lineage. William's family are among the few original vampires. He and his siblings can have children. Who turned you also has to do with it although if it wasn't with William it would be very rare."

"Oh okay. That makes sense I suppose."

"You don't need to do most of the prenatal things that mothers usually do now. Your baby will get everything it needs from the blood."

"What do I do to keep up with it?"

"I would be the primary physician. As long as you're comfortable with that of course. I have experience in the medical field. I delivered William and all his siblings."

"I would probably be most comfortable with that actually."

"I'm glad. If you want to be sure about whether the baby is still there you could take another test. It's been long enough since your passing that the hormones would be gone by now if the pregnancy was over."

"Okay I might do that then. Can I go to the store and get one or is it like, not allowed?"

"Do you feel confident that you won't hurt anyone?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright then. I'd like you to go with Mitch if that's alright? It's not that I don't trust you, it's just-"

"Morgan it's okay I get it. I haven't been around people like this."

"He should be ready with your blood now. Go ahead and leave once you feel the burn leave your throat."

"Okay. Thanks Morgan. For everything."

"You're welcome." He gave me a warm smile and I left for the kitchen.

"Goin on a field trip huh? Willy would not like that."

"Why not?"

"Because being around people isn't easy. If he had it his way he'd wait for like a year."

"Well I'm not fucking doing that. Gimme my cup." I took it from him and took a long sip. "That's so much better than it should be."

"I know. You'll get used to it quickly. The eating animals part is hard to get used to but you probably won't have to do that for a while. New vampires don't usually take too well to it until a year or so after changing."

"That's fair I suppose.  I hope it's not too bad of a change when the time comes."

We were quiet while I drank but the drive to the store was full of chatter. He was telling me all about his first few weeks as a vampire and I was telling him about how much I never noticed before that I can now.

"How are you feeling right now with more people around?" He asked as we got closer to the city.

"I feel fine. It's weird being able to smell everyone. I don't think I like that too much. It's a little overwhelming."

"You'll get used to it quick enough.just don't breathe, that helps."

"Mitch how do I just stop breathing? It's such a habit."

"Just stop. You'll still be able to talk and do everything you just won't get as many smells." 

"Oh this is weird." I said trying it out. "Better smell wise but so weird."

"You'll get used to it."

"That's what everyone keeps saying."

"Hey you're already doing a million times better than me. I had already drank from someone and got locked in the cell by this point."

"Mitch I've only been awake for 7 hours!"

"I was wilder than you."

"You're wilder than everyone." I teased laughing with him.

"Alright we're here. Are you ready to go in?"

"Yeah I guess. You're coming too right?"

"Of course. If I see anything that makes me nervous we'll leave. It'll be okay."

"Alright let's go then." I got out of the car and was hit with no many gross smells.

"You're hilarious." Mitch said reading my thoughts.

"Okay well it smells like piss Mitchell what do you want me to say?"

"Nothing let's just go. Put sunglasses on. Your eyes are red."

"Oh shit okay." I took them from him and put them on quickly.

"Don't move so fast. Not very human looking." He whispered as we walked.

We got into the store and out without much trouble. I didn't really worry about picking the best pregnancy test. At this point a dollar store test should be able to tell if I was or not. No one recognized us either which was also good. We got back to the car and back to Morgan's pretty fast. Mitch was definitely speeding. 

"Okay give me some privacy please." I said going into the bathroom.

"Oh come on why?"

"Mitch!"

"It's not like I haven't accidentally seen everything in William's mind already."

"What?!"

"William thinks about you naked all the time. Sometimes it's impossible not to see."

"Well whatever I don't care, I want privacy."

"Ugh fiiiiiine." He walked away and I waited until I heard him go to Morgan's office and start talking to do my thing.

While I waited for the test I couldn't help but hope that it would be positive again. The thought of a little William or little me was just too much for me to handle. A little vampire just so small and precious. I wouldn't be able to really bring my kid around friends until it was older. Wouldn't want them to get bit or anything. But it would really be the most incredible thing to have a little baby right now. I realized I'd just been standing there for a while and flipped the test over. Very strong second line. It was positive. Suddenly the door burst open and Mitch was holding me.

"I'm so happy for you! Congratulations!"

"Thank you Mitchy. I'm so happy." I wiped tears from my eyes. "I really thought that the whole changing thing would've ended the pregnancy but this means the baby was already vampire.. how interesting. Oh God I have to tell Willy!"

"Yeah that would definitely be smart." He said rolling his eyes.

"Shut up." I smacked his arm. "You and Morgan don't tell him anything when you see him. I want to tell him."

"We won't (y/n). You have my word." Morgan said from the doorway.

"Thank you. I appreciate that." 

"We will leave you to yourself for a little while. We have to get going for the game. Will you be okay on your own? Tessa should be home in about 2 hours."

"Yeah I feel okay. Can I have another drink before you guys leave?"

"Oh course. We'll prepare two. One you can have right now and the other in a few hours when your throat starts burning again. You'll need more blood than normal because of the fetus."

"Okay that makes sense. Thank you." 

"You're welcome. We'll leave you be and put the two cups in the fridge. See you later."

"Bye Morgan, Bye Mitchy. Good luck tonight."

"Thanks (y/n) see ya later." Mitch said following Morgan through the house.

I cried a little bit once they left before going down to get a drink. It was a really nice day so I went back out to sit on the ground to sip away. I could feel the wind again like it was buzzing under my skin. The sun felt so good on my face. I picked up an old dead leaf off the ground and twirled it's stem in my fingers. I let it go and it stayed in the air in front of me. I blinked and shook my head and it fluttered to the ground.

This was pretty curious I thought. I tried it again and it happened again. I moved my finger around over top of it and it started to twirl. I decided I had to try with more. I got a few in a pile and concentrated really hard. It was really difficult. I'd only get one or two up at a time. I was getting frustrated. I had been out for a long time trying to make these leaves dance to no avail. I took a frustrated breath and tried again. I got a lot of them to raise but the twirling didn't really work, they just moved in the wind a little bit.

"What are you doing?" Tessa asked breaking my focus, making me drop the leaves again.

"I don't actually know. I could make one twirl so I've just been sitting here trying to do more. That was the first time I got more than two off the ground."

"You're gifted." She said matter-of-factly.

"I am?"

"Well I mean look at yourself, you're manipulating something to keep the leaves up. Morgan said he had a feeling you would be very gifted. I don't know if he saw anything specific though."

"Darn, not very helpful."

"Maybe it's telekinesis? Can you move anything else? I don't know I was just doing the leaves."

"Try to lift up your cup?"

"Okay sure, good idea." I tried my best but it just would not go at all. "Tess, there's no way. I don't feel the vibrations with the cup."

"Well then it must be something else. I'm sure we'll figure it out. Would you like to watch the game with me? It'll give you a mental break and you can think about how you're going to tell William your big news."

"You know?"

"Yes honey Mo told me a long time ago that you would be having a little one soon."

"Oh. Does anyone else know?"

"William has no idea if that's what you're asking." She said sitting on the couch beside me. "You know Mitch so Auston probably knows but he'd never take this away from you."

"I hope you're right. I really want his genuine reaction, not the one after he's processed it, ya know?"

"Yeah I totally get that. You deserve that."

We were quiet most of the game. It was something I really loved about Tessa was that I could just be quiet with her or should I say not say words. I still cheered all the time but it wasn't a conversation at all. After the game was done she got up and stretched, letting out a yawn. With a goodnight, she left for upstairs. I followed not long after. I sat in William's room with the big window open, just sitting and breathing in nature. I heard them talking long before they got to the house. I just stayed put and waited for William up there.

"Hi darling. What are you doing up here?" He asked, sitting down behind me. I held onto his arm that slipped around me.

"Waiting for you."

"Morgan tells me you have some news for me?"

"Yeah I do. Pretty big news actually." I turned sideways in his arms to look at him.

"Tell me then (y/n). Don't leave me waiting in this suspense." He teased kissing me.

"William.. I'm pregnant."

"You're what? Wait really? You are? We are?" He asked, his eyes lighting up as it sunk in. His smile was blinding and so contagious.

"Yeah we are. We're going to have a little baby." 

"I love you so much." He said before giving me a million kisses.

"I love you too. I'm so excited to expand our family."

"Me too. I hope it's a little girl that looks just like you."

"I also want a girl but I want her to have your blue eyes and blonde hair. She'd be so pretty. Or having a little boy that looks just like you would be incredible. I don't care what they are or look like. I'm just so excited."

"You're going to be the best mom in the world." He said, pulling me up towards him.

"You're going to be an incredible dad."

[snowdice]

Road Trips and Missing Persons (Part 2)

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Patton & Virgil, Virgil & Deceit (more to be added)

Characters: Patton, Virgil, Deceit, Remus, Roman (more to be added)

Summary: Patton was just getting groceries. The next thing he knew, there was a knife at his throat and he was an unwilling uber driver. Virgil’s on the run after the murder of his dad, and it’s not just his paranoia that’s telling him he’s being chased down. He has to get somewhere safe, somewhere he can trust, and all he has is a couple of stories from his dad and a name: “Green Bellow Foods and Dispensary.”

Notes: Secret Agents AU, knives, carjacking, kidnapping, murder mentioned, guns mentioned, pepper spray, blood mentioned (more to be added)

This is a fic I’ve been writing on study breaks that you have probably all already seen at this point. I’ve affectionately named it the Goblin Brain Fic because it’s helping my brain actually get motivated for studying. I’ve slightly edited it for wording and grammar, but not for content from my previous posts. Feel free to send in asks to direct it because I’m not 100% sure where this is going and you can help decide if you feel so inclined! You can see the process I went through to build this at this link.

Part 1

It had always been a quaint little house that his little brother and the boy’s father had lived in. It was a little thing with two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a kitchen that faded into the living room/dining room situated in a little neighborhood with a small park and a medium sized grocery store. At one point in his life, Janus had wondered why his brother preferred to live in such a small space rather than in their mother’s much grander house that edged on a mansion, but as he’d grown, he’d come to understand.

Mom was a bitch.

And even more of one than he’d thought apparently. Really? The father of your child? The father of your 15-year-old child? He knew there wasn’t exactly any love between the two of them, but he’d hoped there was at least enough respect not to murder the man.

God. Virgil was going to be crushed when he found out.

He shook off the thought. There was no time for emotions. First thing first. He needed to get Virgil out of here before mother deigned to remember his existence. Then he’d deal with the emotional fallout.

“Virgil!” he called into the house. There was no answer.

Janus frowned. It’s fine. He was probably just listening to his music like the angsty teenager he was, right? Except… Janus was pretty good at picking up when something was amiss given his current career and something… seemed… amiss, though he couldn’t place what.

That in mind, he paused to listen. He couldn’t hear any sounds in the house, so he started to walk forward a bit. He ducked his head into the kitchen and froze. The window above the dinning room table had been broken, leaving glass shattered across the floor. Fuck.

Had mom remembered Virgil’s existence. He hadn’t thought she’d outright send someone to kill the boy, but what if she had?

Janus took a breath and then quickly set about investigating the rest of the house. Other than the broken window, most of the house looked normal until he got to the only room in the house with the lights still on: Virgil’s room. The purple and black spiderweb comforter usually on his bed had been flung to the floor across the room and both of his lamps had been knocked over along with some decorations. Also, there was some radio like device on the floor and a bottle of pepper spray which, judging by the smell, had recently been used.

There was also still drying blood on the carpet, though thankfully not enough to indicate there’d been a murder. Janus swallowed. Okay.

Maybe mom had sent someone after him, but that didn’t mean he was dead. He smoothed his face out even though no one was there to see it and took out his cell phone. He found his mother’s contact in his phone and pushed the call button.

“Yes?” she answered on the third ring, her tone already bordering on annoyed.

“Good evening mother,” Janus spoke smoothly even though he could feel the blood rushing in his ears. “I heard about the tragic,” he made a point to subtly color his tone with sarcasm, something he’d learned from her, “death of Remington Gates about half an hour ago.”

He could hear the single eyebrow raise even from over the phone. “Yes,” she replied, “and?”

“Well I was just wondering if I needed to clean out my room at the house or if there would be another solution for the man’s son?”

“Ah yes, well,” she said, “that has been a… frustration.”

“Frustration?” Janus asked. Curious tone. Not scared. Curious, not scared.

“I had sent one of my men over to pick him up and bring him to me shortly after Mr. Gates’ death. However, he apparently resisted going with a stranger.”

Janus shivered at the thought of what one of his mother’s people would do to a kid who fought him when he was trying to follow her orders, but at least he (probably) wasn’t dead. “So, he’s been taken by your man and is on his way to your house now?”

“No.”

“No?” and as much as he tried, just a bit of panic seeped into his tone. He wasn’t sure if she noticed.

“No,” she confirmed, with an angry tsk. “Honestly, I know he’s my blood, but one would think Kinsley could handle a 15-year-old child.”

“Wait… then, where is he?”

“That is the million-dollar question,” she scoffed, “The last I knew Kinsley was whining about washing pepper spray out of his eyes before he could track him down.”

“So… he’s on the run?” Janus asked. On one hand, good for Virgil. On the other hand… where the fuck was his baby brother?

“Unfortunately, yes.” The way she said ‘unfortunately’ made it clear that she was far more unhappy about her orders not being fulfilled immediately than worried about the fact that her teenage son was missing.

“Perhaps,” Janus hedged, keeping his voice level. “You should send someone more competent. I would be willing to step in if you believe it’s necessary. Not to mention, he knows me.”

“You’re volunteering?” she asked.

“If it would be of help to you,” he said smoothly.

“Very well,” mother said. “I’ll send you Kinsley’s information. You can work with him.”

Shit. “Must I?” he asked in a bored tone. “It sounds as though he is quite incompetent.” He waited with his breath held.

“At least meet up with him to get the information he has but then you can send him back or shoot him for all I care. He’s proven himself to be useless.”

“I will do as you instruct,” Janus replied, relieved.

“I know you will,” and then she hung up.

Janus collapsed on Virgil’s bed when he was sure the call was actually disconnected with a groan to wait for the information on Kinsley to come through. While he waited, he pulled out his second phone. He considered it, knee bouncing up and down and then opened the text app.

‘Virgil is missing. Help?’ he texted and sent his location before stuffing it into his pocket again.

A few second later, details about Kinsley popped up including his current location using the tracker on his phone. He was in the park down the street.

Janus didn’t know if he was following Virgil or guessing but getting him out of the way would be a good starting point either way.

He pushed himself to his feet and after a moment’s thought, grabbed the stuffed spider Remy had given Virgil when he was eight off the boy’s bed. He’d… probably want that wherever he ended up.

He shoved it into the inner pocket of his coat and then left the little quaint house behind to head to the park down the road.

He glanced at his phone and brought up a picture of Kinsley. In theory he could just text the man and ask where he was as he’d likely been informed someone else was coming to find him, but it would be much more satisfying to surprise bash his face in.

He needn’t have bothered looking at the picture though as Kinsley was fairly easy to spot seeing as he was the only grown man crying with his head in a water fountain.

Janus could help but let his lips curl in amusement. Serves the bastard right. He walked straight up to him and grabbed him by the back of the hair. He squealed as he was pulled back and tried to fight back blindly.

“I’m your replacement,” Janus said coolly, and the man froze at his tone. “Where’s the kid?”

“Fuck. I don’t know man. He ran off. I’ve been trying to check the park, but my eyes,” he whined.

“Oh, boo-hoo,” Janus growled. “Maybe you shouldn’t have let a 15-year old pepper spray you.”

“He was prepared somehow, alright. Already knew his daddy was dead and was ready to fight.” How the hell had he… didn’t matter right now.

“Tell me exactly what happened,” Janus demanded, yanking on his hair harder.

He made a pained sound. “I broke through the window and found the kid in the bedroom. He refused to go with me and said screw his mom because she killed his dad. I smacked him good to get him to cooperate, but that just seemed to piss the little bastard off because the next thing I knew he was pepper spraying me.”

“And then?” Janus asked calmly.

“Then he ran. I don’t know where. I’ve been trying to find him. Assumed he ran to the park. Kids like parks.”

“I see,” Janus said and then slammed his face into the edge of the water fountain. “You know,” he informed the unconscious body. “I was given the option to shoot you.”

“Before you do that,” a voice said casually. There was the unmistakable sound of a gun’s safety clicking off. “I’d like to have a word.”

Janus turned slowly to look in the direction of the voice and, at first, thought he recognized the man, but then realized he didn’t have a stupid mustache and also the man he was thinking of probably would have (maybe) had enough sense not to point a gun a Janus when his brother was missing.)

Great. It seemed the other side also sent people looking for his brother. He’d thank Logan, but actually, screw Logan. He eyed the man pointing a gun at him idly. “Do you even know how to use that thing?” he scoffed. The moment indignation flashed across his face, Janus ducked down and charged at him, twisting his arm behind his back and kicking the gun away when it fell.

Yet, as soon as the element of surprise was gone, it became clear that Janus was physically outmatched as they grappled with each other for an edge. He was brought to the ground but rolled out of the way and kicked him in the stomach. Yet that didn’t deter him. Instead he kept coming at Janus, grabbing his arm and twisting it. Janus clocked him in the face and drew blood.

“Fucker!” the man spat but didn’t retreat at all. They continued to wrestle on the ground a bit when they were interrupted by another voice.

“Ooo! A fight! I wanna join!” Then another body slammed into both of them knocking the wind out of Janus as Remus threw Roman off of him only to pin him himself. “Hi JJ!”

“Remus, get off of me!” Janus said, shoving.

Remus did not seem inclined to oblige. “Hey, Ro.”

“You two know each other?” Roman asked, wiping off the blood coming from the side of his mouth.

“We’re double secret partners,” Remus replied with a wink.

“Oh…” Roman said seeming to get what he was implying.

“Great,” Janus said. “Now will you get the fuck off of me?”

“I don’t know,” Remus said in a sing-song tone.

“Remus,” Janus said lowly.

Remus blinked at the sudden darkness of his tone and then his eyes widened as he remembered what was happening. He was off him in seconds. “Right,” Remus said. “Jay, this is Roman. Ro, this is Janus. His brother’s missing.”

Want to read more? Click below!

AO3 Part 3 My Master Post

[myheroacademiashorts]

Heartbreak - Part 3

Prompt: Part 3 of “Heartbreak”... Pretty much just a confrontation from Mina and Bakugou after finding out that you’ve been dating Shinso. (Requested by @hains-j )

Rating: Fluff, Little Angst, and Scary Reader >:o

Word Count: 3,349

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

Of course, after his confession, you and Shinso began dating immediately. You were scared to tell too many people, and your new boyfriend didn’t mind keeping your relationship on the down-low; you confided in Midoriya and Ochaco, but that was all. And it was already normal for you to cling yourself to Shinso while walking through the school hallways, or hang out in each other’s rooms… Neither of you were obsessed with PDA, so that was easy to avoid as well. You were only able to stay hidden under the radar for a week, however; then, the news spread like wildfire.

The one who realized the two of you had started dating was Kaminari, who easily noticed how Shinso tensed up whenever the electric blonde shamelessly shot pickup lines in your direction, or how your eyes always drifted to Shinso’s lips whenever he spoke. That’s what he had told you, anyways, but you had the sneaking suspicion that Midoriya had accidentally let something slip; although he was a great friend, he was absolutely terrible with keeping secrets. Not that you were too angry… You knew the truth would come out sooner or later, but a part of you wanted Shinso all to yourself. Now you’d have to share him with your curious friends. Not to mention a certain hot-head would be finding out, and his reaction to the news would be unpredictable even to you.

Mina had been avoiding you like the plague ever since you’d broken up with Bakugou, shrinking away whenever you rose your voice and avoiding your eyes. She still clung to Bakugou, much to his annoyance, and their friend group still accepted her. You had asked them to. While you were pissed with her, that didn’t mean that everyone else had to hate her too. That wouldn’t be fair. And even then, it wasn’t like you and her were best friends to begin with; the only reason you had begun talking to her was because of Bakugou, but since that had ended, you had no good reason to keep contact with her. Especially after what she had done.

You walked into class the next day, Shinso already on his way to his own room as you slid into your desk, not noticing the pointed looks from the classmates that had already gathered there. Ochaco was the first to approach you, face pale. “(Y/N), I’m so sorry, I swear I didn’t tell anyone!” She murmured, and you knew what she was talking about before she could explain. You sighed, glancing over the others in the room, before turning back to her with a smile. “It’s fine. Kaminari found out, so he’s probably the one who blabbed.”

Tsuyu was close behind your friend, and she sat on top of the desk beside yours. “So when did you and Shinso start dating, ribbit?”

“So it’s true?”

“Woah, (Y/N) is dating Shinso?”

“That’s so cute!”

“When can we meet him? I wanna talk to your new lover!”

The questions and comments quickly flooded in, and soon you were surrounded. “Only a week ago, it’s true, and soon. I wanted to keep it quiet for a bit longer, but…” You shot a playful glare to Kaminari, who grinned in reply. Your phone dinged, and you glanced down to it, smiling when you see who’s sent it.

“Oooo, is that him?” Jirou teased, and you lightly shoved her shoulder away as she leaned towards your phone to get a closer look. Before you could reply, the door swung open with a thundering bang, and everyone’s attention moved from you to it. Bakugou looked more pissed than usual, but avoided eye contact as he stomped into the room, dropping into his seat and glaring at the whiteboard. Ochaco leaned closer to you. “Jeez, who rubbed him the wrong way this morning?” She whispered, and you cracked a small smile.

“Alright, alright. Everyone get into your seats.” Aizawa slinked into the room, his yellow sleeping bag already wrapped around his frame. “(Y/N), congrats on moving forward with your life, so forth and so forth. Everyone come up and grab a worksheet, make sure to turn it in by the end of class. And yes, you can work with others on this.” Momo’s hand dropped back to her side, and before she could formulate another question, the tired teacher had zipped up his bag and was fast asleep on the floor. Ochaco smiled, pumping a fist in the air. “Nice! Midoriya, can you grab us the sheets from the front?” She smiled sweetly at the stuttering boy, and he turned even more red when she thanked him with a brush of her hand against his. Man, he’s hopeless you thought to yourself, shaking your head with a grin as you started on the worksheet.

You worked contently for a few minutes with Midoriya, Ochaco, Tenya, and a few other friends before someone to your right pointedly cleared their throat. Reluctantly, you shifted your attention, frowning when you made eye contact with a familiar pink-skinned girl. She tried smiling at you, but it looked more like a grimace. “Hey, can we talk outside real quick?” She whispered. It had been the first time she had reached out to you, and while a part of you wanted to throat punch her, a small voice in your head urged you to hear her out. You bit your lip.

“Sure, let’s go.” Quietly, you stood from your seat and shot your friends a tired smile before following Mina out of the room. She led you around the corner of the hallway, far enough from reaching ears, before taking a deep breath. “So, uh… How have you been?” She sounded stiff and awkward. You snorted.

“That’s what you wanted to ask me? Spit it out so I can go back to class.” The harsh tone felt strange on your tongue, but you used it nonetheless as you glared at the girl in front of you. Her eyes scrunched up, and she innocently scuffled her shoe on the floor, despite you and her both knowing that she was anything but.

“I… I just wanted to say that I’m sorry.”

“A little late for an apology, don’t you think?”

You weren’t making this easy for her, and you knew it. You enjoyed it. She looked like she was on the verge of crying, which only made you angrier. How dare she try to reach out for forgiveness now? You were stronger than that, not as soft as Ochaco, who forgave the girl easily out of pity. “I’m sorry! I wasn’t sure what to say, how to-”

“-explain to me that you’re a homewrecker? Hmm, I wonder? Maybe you should’ve written me a note? I like notes, those are nice… Dear (Y/N), sorry for sucking off your boyfriend! See you in class! XOXO!” You toss your hands up, staring at Mina in mock surprise. “But waiting over a month for you to grow the balls? Man, that was sure a surprise! Yay me!”

Mina’s eyes finally narrowed at you, patience wearing thin. “What’s wrong with you? I’m trying to apologize, and you’re not being very nice about it.”

You scoffed. “I’m acting as I should in front of the girl who, may I repeat, came onto a guy who was already in a relationship. One that you knew about very clearly, might I add.”

“It’s not like he was stopping me!”

You paused at that; she was right, it wasn’t just her fault. But you held them both at the same level of guilt, and her trying to pin the majority of it on your ex only made your blood boil more. “I know that. I’m not telling you that I blame you more than him, but that doesn’t justify your actions. Stop trying to play innocent when you were acting like such a… a…” You couldn’t bring yourself to say the word, yet Mina seemed to understand it even unspoken as her hands balled into fists.

“I liked him long before you did!” Her voice was bitter, and her shoulders sagged slightly as the truth began to flow from her lips. “I liked him within the first week of school, before you were even here! But no.” Her eyes became slitted. “You transferred here while we were all happy, and you ruined everything. All of a sudden, it was all about you, the new girl who had caught the infamous Bakugou Katsuki’s eye. You came waltzing into our lives and took the one thing I wanted the most in my life, other than to be a hero; you stole the boy I loved.”

“... That’s the reason you did it? Are you kidding me?”

Now you were really pissed, to the point that your quirk had begun to manifest around your body; black inky tendrils appearing from behind your back like hellish wings, dark smoke drifting from them and gathering by your feet. Mina glanced at them for a moment, unaffected, before pursuing the topic further. “Pretty much, yeah! I wanted him, and I took him from you. It worked, didn’t it?”

“From what it looks like, he treats you like a slice of moldy bread.” The comparison would’ve made you laugh in another situation, but not in that one. But it had been true; Bakugou had been unnaturally rude to Mina lately, icing her out of conversations and ignoring her advances towards him. The worst of it had been during training when, unknown to him, All Might had paired the two together, and Mina had left on a stretcher with multiple broken bones and bruises. Their fight had lasted only a few minutes, and the only reason she hadn’t been in worse shape was because Kiri had pulled Bakugou away from plummeting her further into the dirt.

“But at least I tried! You didn’t fight for him after what I did. You let him go! You didn’t really love him like I do!” Her voice was getting shrill.

One tendril shot out to Mina, wrapping itself around her throat and shoving her against the brick wall. Two more followed in suit, puncturing themselves on either side of her head. Bits of concrete fell on her shoulders, but you doubted that she notices as she clawed at the tentacle around her neck, eyes wide. It wasn’t tight enough to cut off her airways; just tight enough to cause a little panic. To show her you weren’t to be messed with, and that you were tired of the conversation. You leaned closer to her, adding a little more pressure to her throat as you smiled with false kindness. “Never question my feelings ever again. I did love him. That’s why it hurt when he cheated, why it hurt so much to let him go. But once a cheater, always a cheater; and I’m not easily tricked twice.” She was gasping slightly now, but a large part of you didn’t care. Instead, you had begun to like hearing her struggle. The smile turned darker. You knew you should’ve stopped a long time ago, since your quirk wasn’t just what it looked like. If you kept going, you would’ve most likely turned more bloodthirsty, and the thought made you-

“That’s enough.” The tendrils disappeared into thin air, and as they did so Mina inhaled loudly. You glanced towards your voice, wincing slightly as you met the red-eyed gaze of your teacher as he stalked down the hallway, hair rising as he pursed his lips. When he noticed the threat had subsided, he returned to his bored expression, yet anger still lingered. “Mina. Back to class, now.” She didn’t question him, and immediately high-tailed it back to her desk. When she had disappeared behind the corner, Aizawa looked back to you. The anger had simmered, but now there was something more that made your stomach churn; disappointment.

The teacher sighed. “I’m not going to ask for details, and I doubt Mina will push for them. But you’re going to have to face punishment for using your quirk on school grounds without permission.” He paused, gauging your reaction, and glanced at the two punctures on the brick wall before continuing. “One week of detention, and you’ve got to handle all of the chores within the dorm during that time as well.” You made sure to keep your lips sealed, knowing he could’ve given you a much worse punishment, and nodded. “Good. Head back to the classroom. I’ll be there in a minute.”

As soon as you had returned to the room, Ochaco had pounced on you like a cat on a mouse. Guilt was clear on her face, and her eyes darted from Mina to you. “I’m sorry, are you okay? I was worried when you didn’t come back after a few minutes, and sort of sent Aizawa-Sensei to find you.” She puffed out her cheeks, and you laughed.

“It’s fine; I’ve got some detention, and I’ve gotta handle the dorm’s messes for a week. So I guess we’ll have to raincheck on hanging out at that new cafe, huh?”

“Don’t even worry about that! I’m just glad it wasn’t worse!”

You felt a burning gaze on the back of your neck, but chose to ignore it. Mina could go kiss your ass, for all you cared. “Me too. Could you help me with the worksheet? I need to play catch-up now…” You sighed dramatically, and your close friend giggled as she led you back to your desk.

What you didn’t know at the time, however, was that it wasn’t Mina glaring at you, but the blonde boy who had somehow stolen her heart and broken his own.

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

“Thank god it’s finally lunch! I’m starving!” You moaned, and Shinso smiled at your theatrics. After the incident with Mina that morning, you were happy to finally get the day over with. Or at least the school part of it. “What sounds good right now? Chicken katsu or pork ramen?”

“Considering you’ve had ramen twice already this week…”

You playfully glared at your boyfriend, but couldn’t keep the grin from sliding onto your lips. “Third time’s a charm, right?” You said, and the low chuckle he emitted made your chest warm. He pressed a chaste kiss to your forehead; now that your relationship was out in the open, he had become more easy-going with touches and short pecks. “Grab us our usual seats, and I’ll bring food to you.” He said, and shoved you forward slightly to your friend’s table before heading to the growing lunch line.

You shook your head, your smile still framed on your lips as you sat beside Tsuyu at your usual table. Midoriya, Ochaco, and Tenya sat across from you, all of them bringing their own handmade bento boxes. You groaned. “Geez, your guys’ food makes me feel lazy for not making my own.” Tsuyu turned to you - she was munching on a yogurt - when her eyes skittered to something behind your head. You turned, and groaned again; but this time, it was in annoyance.

“Can we talk?” His voice was as gruff as usual, his hands tucked loosely in his pockets and a slouch tainting his frame. Bakugou’s attention drifted to your friends for a moment, before returning to you promptly.

“(Y/N)-” You raised a hand, stopping Tenya in his tracks before he could begin his monologue. “It’s fine, guys. I’ll be back in a quick minute, okay?” You stood up, mentally preparing yourself for the second unfortunate face-to-face talk you’d have that day, and took a deep breath. Both you and Bakugou stayed silent as you followed him from the cafeteria to outside. The sakura blossoms were just beginning to fully boom, some of them already drifting to the grass by the pull of the wind. The blonde halted his walking, staring at the trees for a moment before sliding his vermillion gaze to you. You hoped you wouldn’t need to use your quirk again. Two weeks of detention didn’t sound fun, and one week of chores was already enough for you to turn a new leaf to be a straight-A student. Your own teasing made the corner of your lip quirk up slightly.

“When did you start dating that purple-haired freak.” He muttered, hands still deep in his pockets. He was staring at you, unblinking, but his lips had drawn into a fine line and his brows were furrowed. You crossed your arms over your chest.

“His name is Shinsou.” You ignored his question and instead tilted your head. “What do you want, Bakugou? To try apologizing like Mina did? I wouldn’t bother.”

He growled. “Fuck no. I already tried that, and I know that shit doesn’t work with you.”

“... So then why am I out here?”

“I don’t…” He pushed a breath out from his nose, his face looking more frustrated. “I don’t like you with him.”

“Tough luck, buttercup.”

He glared at you, but smiled slightly. Not a smirk, but a rare smile. “I used to hate those stupid nicknames you made up.” He reminisced, glancing back to the blossoms. He bit his bottom lip, thinking, and turned back to you. “Are you always going to hate me?”

You tensed. You had expected some yelling or screaming, maybe him threatening to blow Shinsou up a few times, but you weren't prepared for vulnerable Bakugou. You let your shoulders relax slightly. “I don’t know. Probably not.” You mused, looking at the flowers as his head shot to you. You ignored his questioning gaze.

“Do I still have a chance, then?”

“No.”

From the corner of your eye, you could see his shoulders deflate a bit at that. “I really am sorry.” He murmured, and out of all his past apologies, this one sounded genuine. You looked at him, his eyes staring at the ground and a crestfallen expression glued to his face. A part of you pitied him.

“I know. But I still can’t forgive you. Not yet, at least, and not completely.” You were surprised at how calm you were being; after ignoring him for weeks, you were talking to him as if he were familiar. Maybe not as familiar as he was, but definitely not like a stranger. Was this growth? Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to be nice.

“... If he ever hurts you, I’ll beat his ass into the ground, ya know.”

“I can do that myself if the time comes, thanks.”

He laughed, once, but it startled you. A sad smile was on his lips, and you realized you had never seen Bakugou so open before, dropping his tough-guy act entirely. Before he could open his mouth to speak, however, someone cleared their throat, and his expression went blank. For the second time that day you turned to the noise, but instead of seeing Aizawa, his student intern stood there. Shinso didn’t look upset, face devoid of any emotion as he raised one eyebrow in your direction. “Ready to eat? Food’s getting cold.”

You smiled warmly at him, stepping forward to entangle one of his hands in your own. He was tense, but at your touch he immediately relaxed. “Yup! Let’s go… I’ll see you later, Bakugou?” You left it up as a question, not wanting to push him as you extended an olive branch. Not forgiving, but learning to. The blonde nodded slowly, and you accepted the answer with a growing grin before pulling Shin back into the cafeteria building, leaving Bakugou alone to collect his thoughts.

“You okay?” Your boyfriend asked, squeezing you hand slightly to gain your attention. You slowed slightly, looking over at him, taking in all of his features carefully; from the wild mess of lavender hair, down to his eyes and to the small pout beginning to form on his lips. You stepped up onto your tip-toes, giving him a short but effective peck that melted away his pout almost immediately. “I’m okay. C’mon, I’m starving.”

And you were okay; you had a feeling that everything was going to start being better than okay.

[lunariasilver]

The Virtuoso: Chapter 1

Masterlist

Previous / Next

Despite my better judgement, I decided to let the woman who attacked me live. She told me her name was Zara. I thought that was a stupid name.

I told her that, too.

She wasn't pleased, but what could she do about it? I had already made it pretty clear that the only reason she was alive was because of...I don't know, some sense of whimsy. Regardless, I was sure that I wouldn't see much of her in the future. It wasn't like I seemed like the type to run a gang, so she had no reason to bother me in the future with some strange desire to suck up to me.

Or at least I hoped not. The concept seemed like a lot of effort.

Now I was regretting not killing her. Those thoughts weighing heavily on me, I set about figuring out exactly how Meteor City worked in the first place.

It didn't take long for me to make a name for myself. Zara helped, actually. Immediately after I let her go she started spreading rumors about some "demon child."

I took a great deal of offense to that nickname.

I was 15 years old. I wasn't a child.

Meteor City was awful. Practically lawless. Dangerous. And yet...aside from a few big names I had to avoid, I found myself flourishing there.

Old habits died hard. Soon after my arrival people started coming to me to 'take care of' their problems. It seemed I was an assassin wherever I went. I had almost the finest amenities that Meteor City had to offer, which was admittedly not much.

We had no plumbing. Disease ran rampant. I threw an excrement bucket on someone's head for fun. There were some water sources, of course. But...well. They weren't exactly filtered.

I set myself up a decent base by one such water source. I threw the previous occupants out back.

I was starting to get settled into my new life of misery when I woke up one morning to find my violin missing.

My violin.

The only gift my grandfather ever gave me.

The only thing that brought me an ounce of comfort.

My most cherished possession.

The only thing that was keeping me sane in this hellhole.

I had to find it.

-

-

-

I had left a trail of blood behind me. Finally I stood in front of one of the only places I had actively avoided in Meteor City. It was a large building by Meteor City standards, but it was still pretty small.

HQ of the so called Spiders. They were an up and coming gang that was already gaining some sway in the City due to their strength. The trail of bodies led me here. I hesitated for only a moment before barging into their HQ. I needed my violin.

Desperately.

"Where is it." I called out in a monotonous tone.

"Where's what?" Some guy in a dark outfit responded. He was currently lounging on a beat up couch, reading a book. He barely spared me a second glance.

"My violin." I deadpanned. Now he looked at me. Both of us seemed to have the same dead-eyed expression.

"I don't have it."

"Bullshit."

"Tch." He then turned his attention back to his book. I narrowed my eyes at him, my mind running a million miles a minute. He wasn't the only one here, that much I knew. It would be stupid for me to attack him, even if I could beat him in a one on one fight, which I wasn't even certain I could do.

"Where's your boss?" I asked.

"Upstairs." He responded, turning a page.

I pursed my lips at him before turning away and quickly finding a stairwell.

'I can tell we'll never get along. I hate that boy.'

I remained alert as I trekked up the stairs. Who knew what they would try to throw at me-

I dodged out of the way of what I could only assume was a giant. "What the hell?!" I exclaimed before quickly reschooling my expression.

"Ha!!! You're fast" Some insane man with an afro exclaimed, grinning at me. It looked like he was wearing fur? For pants?

"Um-" I started, furrowing my eyebrows at him.

"Less talking!" And with that, he ran at me again. I managed to move out of his way again, despite being in a stairwell.

"Why are we fighting?!" I exclaimed, frantically dodging.

"Why aren't you fighting!?!" The man exclaimed. He looked fucking feral!

"I'm not in the habit of fighting animals!" I retorted before narrowing my eyes. 'I'm not in the habit of dying, either.' With that thought in mind, I reached over my shoulder and pulled a ridiculously decorated dagger out of thin air.

'Killua's dagger.' I thought, unable to stop the flash of bitterness, or the shame that came immediately after.

Somehow his grin became even more feral as he charged at me again. I would really prefer to come at him from a distance, but I was in close quarters. I didn't have much of a choice.

This time I met his swing with my dagger, which extended in length a bit. I managed to deflect his blow so that my dagger was now pushing into his forearm. Strangely enough, it didn't cut him. It didn't take long to realize that I wouldn't be able to meet him blow for blow. His own brute strength far outweighed my own.

I pushed myself off of him and pivoted to the side, leaving him to crash into the wall as I took off up the rest of the stairs.

"Hey, get back here!" He shouted.

"No! You're like 40 years old, I'm not fighting you!" I shouted back. He actually only looked about 19, 20 at the most. I didn't know why I said that.

My eyes were wide as I kept running. Somewhere in the back of my mind I registered that my father would be ashamed of me for showing fear, so I schooled my expression.

"HEY YOU BRAT!" I heard him shout. I entered a hall and kept running straight ahead before crashing through the door. In hindsight I could have just opened it, but it looked like I could just break it, so why not. There was a man with dark hair and dark eyes sitting at a desk calmly.

He had a disarming smile on his face as he regarded me. His hair was straight and free of fly aways, but he had shaggy bangs. It led me to believe that he put a bit of care into his appearance, despite the fact that we lived somewhere that modern amenities were practically non-existent. I quickly drew my eyes away from his face to the top of his desk. Sitting there, in plain sight, was my violin case.

My mouth twitched towards a scowl before stilling as I marched up to the desk. "That belongs to me."

His expression didn't change from the very vision of tranquility that it was. "It didn't take you long to get here."

I snatched the case and narrowed my eyes at him. "Never take my things."

"I gave it back." He replied. It was pissing me off that he looked so nonplussed about all of this.

I closed my eyes for a second, my eyebrows twitching. "I took it back."

"If I wanted to keep it, I could have."

I kept my eyes closed. I was well aware of the fact that I was in danger. I couldn't take on all of these people.

I couldn't see them all, sure, but I was well aware of their presence. Yet another reason for me to keep my expression as still as possible.

"I believe that." I opened my eyes and met his gaze. "So what do you want?"

"Just to say hello." He responded.

I inhaled sharply. "Hello."

I hate him.

-

-

-

That wasn't the last time I saw Chrollo Lucilfer, as I later learned was his name. It wasn't the last time I saw any of the three members I had seen that day.

Chrollo I found lounging by one of the cleanest water sources we had, reading a book that I recognized from a glance. It was one of my absolute favorites. Before I realized was I was doing, I was approaching him and taking a seat next to him.

"Hello Ivela." He greeted, turning a page.

"Do you like that book?" I asked, not bothering to return his greeting.

"I wouldn't be reading it if I didn't."

I bristled, but calmed myself. It was a fair answer.

I kept sitting there in silence for a moment, trying to think of what to say. On one hand, I wasn't here to make friends. On the other, I had never seen anybody else reading that book, and my family certainly never discussed literature with me.

Chrollo, to his credit, didn't push me to either carry on the conversation or leave him alone. He just kept reading his book, either unbothered by my presence or patiently waiting for me to say something else.

"It's one of my favorites." I finally spoke, breaking the silence. The water was suddenly extremely interesting to me as I ran my hands through the dirt. "Have you finished it yet?"

"Yes. I'm rereading it." He replied. I felt his gaze finally land on me. "I'm curious, what did you think of-"

We talked about that book for hours that day. The two of us had, apparently, lost track of time. I stared after his retreating form with narrowed eyes and furrowed eyebrows for a moment, before deciding that he wasn't bad company to keep after all.

I found the bad mannered guy when I followed the sound of blood curdling screams coming from somewhere nearby. Normally I wouldn't care about screams, but this one seemed somehow worse than usual.

When I found the source of the screams, it turned out to be the bad mannered guy from the Phantom Troupe building torturing someone who I didn't recognize.

I turned to walk away, deciding it was none of my business, when I noticed where he was cutting.

"It'll hurt more if you cut about an inch to the right." I stated. My expression remained neutral.

He said nothing, but, out of curiosity perhaps, did as I recommended. He was rewarded with louder screams.

The dead-eyed guy turned to look at me. Years of reading the members of my own family's expressions made it child's play to understand his unspoken question.

"You were just shy of hitting a group of nerve endings." I explained.

He regarded me for a moment. "I'm Feitan."

I nodded in response. "Ivela."

As it turned out, he knew some things about torture that I was unfamiliar with. We spent the day swapping techniques.

The barbarian actually found me. I was walking, scavenging for food when he chucked a beer can at my head. I caught it, of course. It took a second to register that he wasn't attacking me.

"Ivela! Have a drink with us!" The barbarian offered. He was accompanied by a tall man with a sword at his side.

I blinked. "I'm underage."

They laughed. "There's no laws here! Come on!" It was the tall one who spoke.

"Didn't you try to kill me?" I asked, still staring at the can.

"Pfffft. I wasn't tryna kill you!" The barbarian defended.

"Whatever." I said with a sigh. After a moment's debate, I popped open the can and chugged it down.

"Yeah! She's not a wuss!" One of them cheered.

The side of my mouth twitched. "It would take a lot more than that to get me drunk." Or even buzzed.

"Oh, I like this one. Come on, let's go drink some more!"

I found out the barbarian's name was Uvogin, and the tall one's name was Nobunaga. They were both incredibly irresponsible....but kind of fun to be around. I didn't mind drinking with them.

Apparently I was destined to keep running into members of the phantom troupe. The next one to approach me was a blonde woman with an odd nose in smart business attire. Something about her put me at ease. For a second.

I berated myself and raised my guard back up. Anyone who immediately makes you feel safe is probably out to kill you.

"Do you want something?" I asked her.

"I'm Pakunoda." She introduced. "I'm a member of the Phantom Troupe."

"Another one of you?" I muttered. "Are you all following me around for any particular reason?"

"We all have our own reasons." She deflected. "Mine is that I'm a fan of classical music."

I narrowed my eyes at her. I couldn't tell if she was lying or not.

"I'm not lying. Would you play something for me?" She requested.

I opened my mouth to tell her to get lost before I shut it. Had anyone ever asked me to play for them before?

I wasn't sure. I didn't think so. Why would she be interested in my music. Was she plotting something?

She had to be.

"Not today." I muttered, before walking away.

Pakunoda was persistent. She seemed to really want to hear me play. Or she was determined to kill me. I honestly wasn't sure which. Eventually, I caved and played for her. She didn't try anything, but I still didn't trust her.

It wasn't the last time she asked me to play for her. She seemed oddly fond of my music. I found myself looking forward to her asking me to play. It felt right to perform.

The last member I met was a girl about my age. Machi. She approached me out of the blue one day and started talking to me about random nonsense. I wasn't sure about her. But, I did find her easy to talk to. We seemed to have a lot in common. Probably because of our age. And our less than orthodox upbringings, respectively.

I stared at her one day. "Do you think I should dye my hair pink?" I wasn't sure what had made me want to do it, but I was tempted.

"What? Why?" She asked incredulously. She had been mid sentence when I interrupted her.

I shrugged in response.

"Also were you even listening to me?!"

I smirked sardonically at her in response.

-

-

-

Some time passes with me spending more and more time with the Troupe members. I didn't like them, of course, and they weren't my friends. I was just passing the time. Using them for entertainment. And because they were strong, it helped to be known as a friend of theirs's.

As I pondered on the fact that none of them were my friends and I wasn't fond of any of them, it occurred to me that I hadn't talked to Nobunaga in a while. That wouldn't do.

So I set off to go find him.

I was a pretty good tracker, so it didn't take me much time to find him. He seemed to be practicing his swordplay by himself.

"I could spar with you." I heard myself offer.

He stilled and regarded me with a hardened expression. "Do you even know anything about swords?"

"I know plenty." I responded. I was at least proficient with most weapons due to my upbringing. An assassin needs to know how to use any weapon available to them.

"Well then. Here!" And just like that, he tossed an unsheathed blade at me. I had no idea where he got it from, but I didn't have time to question it. No sooner had I caught it then he charged at me.

I blocked his swing, and we spent some time dancing around each other, steel clashing against steel. It was surprisingly fun.

I was holding my own just fine, but it was clear he was more talented with a blade than I was. I was constantly on the defensive. I managed to attack a few times, sure, but goddamn he was on a different level with his sword. It was honestly quite impressive.

I wondered how we would fare against each other in a nen battle. I almost wanted to try.

When the fight ended, it was because I was on my ass.

He was laughing. He was laughing at me.

I felt my face redden as my hands clenched into fists.

"Hey, don't be angry! You're great! Who taught you?" He asked as I stood up.

I was stunned. "You were laughing...because you were impressed?" That didn't make any sense.

"Yeah!" He replied.

"Uh." I was at a loss. "My...father and grandfather mostly handled my training." None of this made any sense. He was praising me for losing?

"They must be good." Nobunaga said. "I'd love to fight them."

I shifted my weight back and forth between my feet. "I think you'd die?" I told him. "They're, uh, assassins."

"You're an assassin?!" He exclaimed. I nodded at him, my hands fidgeting. He calmed down and paused. "Hm. That explains a lot."

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding. I wasn't sure why I felt relieved. "Yeah. That's why I've had so much training."

"You and I should fight again sometime. Go ahead and keep that sword!" He offered with a disarming smile.

I tilted my head to the side slightly. "It's...a gift?"

"Yeah! Make sure to use it!"

I looked down at the sword in my hands, unable to comprehend him giving me a gift. I didn't expect to ever get any more gifts after being banished. I would make good use of it.

I always made good use of gifts.

A/N

Buckle up guys, we're gonna be in Meteor City for a while.

[apollo-writes-random-shit]

“Don’t pass out on me! Please! Don’t pass out!”

Fun fact! I didn’t even have to think about a topic for this one for once lol. This is actually based off part of an rp I have with @kakerunotanurse! The two chunks of dialogue in the ‘flashback’ is torn straight from the rp lmao. I played Spot, Hotshot and the twins while he played Race and Splasher. Naturally, I’ve changed a lot to fit the prompt a little more plus I wanted to add more angst lol

Now, a bit of backstory for this (well mainly two of the characters). Viper and Jumper are two of my ocs and they’re asshole twins:

Viper: Older by a few minutes and the most dangerous of the pair. He’s known for manipulating anyone he could and waiting for the right moment to strike, hence his nickname. His favorite target is Jumper, who he’s convinced that he has to listen to/do everything he says because he’s the elder of the two and the only family he has left. He’ll drop Jumper the second he could if it meant he’d get an advantage. 

Jumper: The younger of the two and easily manipulated. He doesn’t like what he does but does whatever Viper orders him to. He’s the one who will ‘jump’ into a fight and do the dirty work needed. 

The two got kicked out for a range of things including beating up the little kids and trying to overthrow Spot and Hotshot. Due to their behavior and threats, Spot sent runners to the other boroughs to warn them about the pair and each borough decided to blacklist them both. After being kicked out, Viper got super pissed and decided the best thing to do would be to oh you know attempt to fucking kill Spot and overtake Brooklyn like that. After a while, the two started working at the refuge (something else Jumper hated) but Viper got even more pissed after the strike because it got shut down and ignored Jumper’s urges to get a job somewhere else. 

Jumper has slightly redeemed himself. He got so tired of everything and decided to stand up for himself. How? He just dragged Viper to a police offer and turned them in so they’re now behind bars!

Anyway, onto the story! 

Tw: Attempted murder via gunshot, implied sexual content.

Race shivered slightly as he hugged himself tighter, wondering what he was going to say to Spot. Now that he had time to think about it, he knew he had overreacted this morning during the argument but he hated laying in the bedroom, all alone in the lodging house as everyone else was out selling and having fun...But he could understand why Spot was worried about him. Newsies couldn't afford to be sick and Spot was protective of his boys and that included him.

Shaking his head, he sighed softly, empty pape bag lightly bouncing against his leg, he decided to say whatever popped into his head when he was standing face to face with his boyfriend. Looking up from his feet, he froze, blood running cold as he noticed a small crowd gathered by the pier. Before he even registered it, he found himself shoving his way through the startled crowd, freezing once more when he spotted what was going on, brain both running a thousand miles an hour yet blank and empty at the same time, eyes darting between Spot, looking calm as ever on this makeshift 'throne' at the pier and the set of twins, one with pure rage on his face while the other shifted from foot to foot, fingers clenching and releasing around the handle of the old wooden bat that rested in his hands, his eyes too darting between the Brooklyn leader and his angry twin, eyes pausing when they noticed Race frozen on the other side of the dock.

He swallowed, tearing his eyes away from the blond as Spot spoke voice level and calm as he looked down at the twins, unaware that his boyfriend was in the crowd. "Viper, you need ta clear out. Hotshot 'nd I gave you three chances and you ruined them all. Now take ya brudder get out."

"We ain't fuckin' leaving Conlon! We fucking lost our jobs causea you damn newsies! You blacklisted us from all the fuckin' boroughs!"

The newsie leader sighed and jumped down from his post. "You did it to yaselves. You 'nd Jumper were the ones beatin' on littles and pickin' fights with us older ones. This shit right here is why ya got your asses kicked out. We don't keep toxic assholes around! Same goes for every other groups out there. No one wants some punk coming in and pickin' fights as well as tryin' ta overthrow anyone more powerful than you. So I'ma tell you once more. Get the fuck outta my turf before I throw you out myself."

A soft click of two fingers was the only warning Spot got before Jumper was rushing him, quickly slamming the bat down on his shoulder roughly before stumbling back, pale in the face at the grunt. He knew they shouldn't have come back but his brother was insistent that they needed revenge and Viper was older by a few minutes plus he was the only family he had left so he had to obey whatever he said....right?

"Viper. Put. The. Gun. Down." Spot ignored the pain screaming through his shoulder as he stared down the former newsie in front of him. Part of him felt sorry for Jumper, knowing full well the teen was being manipulated every second of the day, forced to do things he clearly didn't want to but still did in hopes of making his brother proud. "Just turn around 'nd walk away. I ain't changing my mind, nor am I giving up my role as leader and handing it to you of all people."

He knew he shouldn't but Spot took a step closer, not even feeling the pain as five bullets tore into his skin, nor did he hear the startled noises of the onlookers as the twins bolted. No...All that mattered was the blond dumbass that had bolted over and taken a bullet for him. "Race? Ya okay?"

Stumbling over, he did his best to appear strong, keeping the fear out of his voice as he looked at the blond on the ground, blood spreading across the Manhattan's shirt slowly from a small wound located on the side of his stomach. "We gotta get ya back to lodging okay?"

Shaking his head, the blond patted a hand on the ground next to him, a silent urge for him to sit down, one which Spot gladly fulfilled, praying that it would at least relieve some of the pain flowing through his body like a tidal wave. "We can't stay here for long okay? We gotta head back and I'll send one o' the fellas over Jack ta let him know what happened." Carefully, he wrapped an arm around the blond, allowing him to sob and shake against him. Spot would cry later, once he was out of the public eye and safe in his tiny bedroom.

"‘m so sorry spot..I didn’t mean what I said this morning..ya ain’t controllin..i’ll try ta not be so annoyin...an’ I'll keep my mouth shut if ya really want me to.”

"Hey...I know ya didn't mean it. We'se were both frustrated and said stuff we didn't mean. I never meant ta make you feel like you were annoyin' or that you needed ta shut up." He carefully rubbed his arm, matching the soft tone his crying lover was using. "I didn't mean ta go off at you like that."

In the haze of his pain, he remembered the fight from the morning, harsh words thrown back and forth over whether Race should spend one extra day or sell that morning which lead with him storming out and running back to Manhattan.

"I can tell ya holding back coughs n shit! Sides, I'se gonna be telling them all ta sell in pairs n if they'se got a problem wit it, they can take the day off! Ya can wait one more day fa fucks sake so shut up and get back in bed!"

“Spot I sell with Rai almost everyday goddammit! if anything I could use bein sick ta sell more damn papes but you won’t let me cause ya gotta be so damn controlling with shit like this! god, Spot! it’s my job to be a damn newsie so let me damn be one for crying out loud! You tryin ta keep me from doin my damn job just cause’a some cold is getting on my damn nerves!”

"We both meant none o' that and you know it, Pretty Boy...We're fine." Spot forced himself not to smile and kiss the blond's forehead when no one was looking at the sight of a watery smile, one much weaker than the ones that he normally got when he called his boyfriend by his favorite pet name.

He sighed, laying down a bit before closing his eyes to take a few deep breaths and calm himself down, knowing that the twins were long gone by now. Viper may be cocky but even he would stick around after shooting someone with so many witnesses.

Closing his eyes was the wrong thing to do in this situation as Race's breathing instantly picked up, thin hands carefully shaking him. "Don’t pass out on me! Please! Don’t pass out! Spot please!"

"M fine." He smiled weakly, opening his eyes again. "Sun just hit me in the eyes is all." He hummed lightly, tuning everything other than Race out. "It's okay. We're okay."

Finally zoning back into the world around them, he noticed Hotshot running towards the two, closely followed by his own boyfriend, Splasher.

"Shit...The hell happened ta you two?"

"The demon twins is what happened. Assholes got their hands on a gun 'nd thought it'd be fun ta come here and act like smartasses. Well, Viper did. Jumper just did the normal shifting thing 'fore followin' orders."

Hotshot just sighed as he watched Splasher carefully pull Race to his feet before he himself leaned down to help his leader up, fighting back a wince at the look in Spot's eyes. "Good fa you nerds, we ain't too far away from lodging." With a nod to his boyfriend, the two started supporting the others back to the lodging house. Well, more like Spasher supported Race while Hotshot was forced to walk normally with Spot being too stubborn to actually accept help despite the fact he looked ready to collapse.

"Honestly ya moron. Just take the help, Sean. Ain't no one gonna judge."

"Alexander. I'se dunno if the assholes are still hangin' round. Can't let them know they'se got ta me so much."

"You are *fucking* hopeless." He shook his head, gently punching his brother's arm after making sure there were no wounds. Falling silent, the two walked, keeping an eye on not only their boyfriends walking ahead. He couldn't help but worry about the short boy next to him who's breathing seemed to be more and more laboured with each step. If he could, he'd scoop him up and bolt to the lodging house to fix him up, knowing full well that the short one would refuse. He couldn't help but let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when he saw the lodging house down the street.

Hotshot couldn't help but seed up slightly, urging the injured boy alongside him to match the pace. Without looking, he knew people were staring, well, more like staring at the dark stain spreading across Race and Spot's shirts.  

He could tell that Spot was afraid but if it was for himself or Race, he couldn't tell. All he knew was that he had to hurry both of them upstairs so he could carefully pull the bullets out of them and stitch them up. He wasn't as good as their 'medic' but damn it, there wasn't enough time to sprint to the other side of Brooklyn to find the lanky boy and drag him back. No. It was up to him and Splasher right now to save their friends.

Biting his lip, he dragged Spot upstairs as carefully as he could, glad Splasher had already gotten Race into Spots room, the tiny medkit the Brooklyn newsies owned resting on the bed next to the blond.

Hotshot honestly wasn't surprised to see Race stumble to his feet, frantically telling him to work on Spot first, despite the shorter boy's protests that he was okay.

Giving up, Hotshot just gently shoved Spot onto the bed, holding back a wince at how his brother looked. Spot may be a force to be reckoned with, but seeing him lying in bed, pale and shivering while doing his best to appear strong just reminded everyone how young he was...How young all of them were.

Shaking his head roughly he carefully stripped his leader, ignoring all the scars and the hickies on the other, instead focusing on carefully pulling out the bullets from his chest, doing his best not to twitch whenever he slipped the pair of tweezers into each small hole until he felt the bullet, carefully pulling it out before dropping it on the bed, only to go back for another one.

Swallowing after he had pulled out all bullets, he pretended not to hear Race struggle to hold back tears as he watched his boyfriend being worked on, watched as Hotshot's hands shook ever so faintly as he carefully stitched up each tiny hole after cleaning each wound.

"Right Higgins. Lay ya twink ass down on your side so I can take the damn bullet out of you. Don't worry, you'se'll get a small scar so you can still pull off ya bullshit 'look how cool I am, look at the scar fuckers' thing."

"Yeah yeah okay." Casting a worried look at Spot who had shuffled closer to the window to make room for him. Sighing, the blond carefully lay down  on his side after pulling his shirt off, unable to hold back a wince as his skin pulled slightly at the small movements. Subtly, he clenched the thin sheet below him as he felt cool metal slowly entering the burning wound on his side. It seemed like forever before the tweezers were removed from his body, a soft clink ringing through the room as the newsie above him allowed the bullet to fall into the pile with the others.

After stitching up Race's side, Hotshot nodded to himself and stood up. "Right. I'll leave you two alone fa now. Pull those stitches and you'll be hearin' from me. You don't want that, trust me." He tossed the two clean shirts. "Put those on 'nd leave the dirty ones to me. Now relax 'nd shit. No dirty stuff either! I don't want ta hear you fucking!"

Spot just chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Like we don't hear you two goin' at it all the time. Fuck off 'nd get outta my room." Gently, he wrapped an arm around Race, carefully pulling him closer. "That was 'nd order Alexander."

"Yeah yeah Sean. Just no sex until everythin' has healed ya morons." With that, he pulled his own boyfriend out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Smiling, Spot kissed Race's cheek, doing his best to calm his tense lover down. "We're alright Tony. I promise."

[mickmarstookmyheart]

Trust pt 2

Here is Part One!

(to John)

Summary: John was pretty pissed off. You had a big fight at home.

Warning: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE!

"Look, John, I'm so sorry." You cried and followed John.

"In the car, now!" He yelled. You bit down your lip knowing what will happen. If he was jealous, he was really jealous. Mick grabbed your wrist.

"Just let me go, please."

"He is out of his mind. He will hurt you. Can't you see it?" He literally screamed in your face.

"Please, Mick. I will be okay, I promise. Just go home and relax, alright?"

"(Y/N)!" Your husband was furious as hell. He was shouting from the window of the car from the driver's seat. You bowed your head and prepared yourself. This will be a pretty good evening.

∆

"John, please not in front of her." You asked your husband who was ranting and throwing things at you. Zoe was crying on the couch but you didn't dare to approach her.

"Why? Cause she will realize she had a bitch mother?"

"Please wait until I put her to bed." To your surprise, he sightly nodded and sat down on the couch beside her daughter. You picked Zoe up and rushed to her room crying. You hold your daughter for dear life and didn't let her go until she drifted away. You were sitting on the floor with her in your arms.

"Mommy, why is daddy so angry?" She asked wiping away your tears. You closed your eyes and felt her little chubby hand running on your face.

"I did something wrong. That's why he is angry." You mumbled.

"But I drew on one of his papers and he wasn't that angry." She said while hugging you.

"I know, baby girl. I just did something worse, something I shouldn't have." You sniffed smelling her scent. She gave you the strength to deal with John. "Now, I have to talk to daddy. Go to sleep and then we will give you a goodnight kiss, okay?" You placed a kiss on her cheek and put her in her bed.

"I love you, mommy." She mumbled before snuggling to her toy.

"I love you, too." You said closing the door behind yourself. You walked to the living room where John was still sitting on the couch. You cautiously sat down beside him and put your hand on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry. It was a big mistake. And I...I don't know what happened. I love you the most, John. You and Zoe are my everything." You apologized. He turned to you and slapped you in the face. You felt your mouth bleeding but didn't say a word. You gulped and was already planning. You will not bear this anymore.

"I'm glad. Now that you understand my view go to the bed. Please." He placed his fingers under your chin making you look into his eyes. He leaned closer and pecked your lips. "Clean yourself up. You look like a mess." You nodded and went to the bathroom. You put a wet towel on the corner of your mouth and cleaned all the blood. You will have a bruise on your cheeks but you didn't care. You just had to wait.

That night, you got laid with John, he showed you how much he worth and that he is better than men. When you heard him snoring you got out of bed and headed to your daughter's room.

"Honey, please wake up." You whispered to her while caressing her cheeks. She opened her eyes and flinched.

"Mommy, is it already morning?"

"Shhh, darling. Just stay quiet okay? We are going to visit some friends. New funny friends. You will like them."

"Okay, mommy." She closed back her eyes while you picked her up and went to the hall to took on your clothes. You quietly opened the door and closed it after yourself. You felt a stone to fall from your heart when you closed it. You put Zoe in her seat and when you fasten her seatbelts you heard the door crack.

"(Y/N), what are you doing? You can't go away with Zoe. You two belong to me." He was approaching you, but you quickly got in the car and closed it from inside so he couldn't open it. He was knocking on the window hard waking Zoe up. You started the engine and set off with screeching tires.

"Mommy, was daddy still angry?" She asked sleepily.

"No, darling. He was just tired, you know. He couldn't sleep. Just go back  to sleep, honey."

"Alright, mommy." When you heard her snoring you let out a long breath. You couldn't believe John slapped you. He had never done it before, but deep inside you felt he was gonna do it. You gripped the wheels tightly and was hoping they still lived in that house. After an hour driving, you took Zoe from the seat and knocked on the door. Then you rang the bell until the door was opened. You were still in shock and you feared your husband followed you.

"(Y/N)? What the hell?" Vinnie opened the door rubbing his eyes.

∆

"So that freak slapped you?" Vince asked walking around in the living room. "I'm gonna kill him." You smiled being with the guys again. Though you hoped you would meet in other circumstances.

"He did, but it's not a big deal." You touched your swollen lip and flinched.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital, it looks pretty bad!?" Nikki asked observing your face.

"No, I'm okay. And sorry for bothering you, but I didn't know where else to go. My mother-in-law would immediately call him since she hates me so I came here. This is the only location he doesn't know about." You were gazing at the floor and you hugged your knees.

"Don't be. It's awesome meeting you again. We missed you." Tommy pulled you in a sideways hug before Mick came back to the living room.

"She is sleeping like the dead." He declared while bending down to you. "She will be okay, (Y/N). So do you want to talk about it?" You only shook your head and hid your face being your knee and started to cry. You let out everything. All the tears you had been hiding since you met John. You let out all the fear. You knew you were in good hands now.

The next morning when you woke up you felt your head pounding and your eyes hurting. You went into the attaching bathroom and checked yourself. You indeed looked like a mess, you hardly sleep anything during the night. You had dried blood on your lips and you already had a bruise under your eye. Zoe wasn't in the room so you headed towards the kitchen, you simply had to follow the voice of your daughter. You leaned on the wall and crossed your arms when you got there.

"It's an airplane, Zoe. Wooosh. See it's yummy." Tommy was feeding Zoe who was just looking at him with an odd look.

"Tommy, she is three years old. She can eat alone and she doesn't fall in airplane mode anymore." You said before walking to her and hugging her strongly. "Good morning, baby." You snuggled into her hair and smiled. She was the only person you loved more than anything. You would sacrifice yourself for her without hesitation.

"Good morning, mommy." She said when you started to tickle her. At least she was happy.

"So what are we doing today, Uncle Mickey?" Zoe asked making you laugh at the name.

"You already started to call them uncle? You learn fast." You said looking at them.

"She knows what's up, (Y/N)." Vince took a look at your daughter before eating from the pancake Mick was making.

"We are gonna go to the amusement park and have some fun." Mick said casually. He placed a plate in front of you and Zoe, too. She was eagerly waiting for it and after a couple of minutes, her mouth was full of pancakes and her face was covered with maple syrup. When Mick said the news she almost spitted out the food.

"Hurray! Amusement park, amusement park!" She was scanting along with Tommy.

"You know, Tommy, you didn't change a thing." You said.

"Sadly, he didn't." Mick agreed while taking a seat in front of you and you all started your breakfast.

∆

"Just easy, Nikki. Please, she is just 3 years old!" You yelled at the bass player who was laughing in one of the huge swings with Zoe in his lap. She was smiling from ear-to-ear and was clapping her hands happily.

"So what are you gonna do, now?" Mick asked standing next to you with an ice cream in his hand.

"I guess, I will have a talk with John. Maybe I can confront him somehow and things can be back to normal, again."

"What? No way you are going to live him again, (Y/N)! He hurt you, physically for the fuck's sake. You should sue him!" He snapped. He promised that he would never let you near to that sick man again. A man who hurt a woman is no man. Just a coward jerk.

"I don't know. He has connections and I'm afraid he will take Zoe away." You glanced at her. "I can't let that happen, Mick. I wouldn't survive that." You sniffed. Mick hugged you tightly and was rubbing your back. You hugged him back and placed your face in the crook of his neck.

"We won't let that happen. We are here for you, (Y/N). We will help you through this. I promise." He placed a kiss on the top of your head.

"Your dude sucks, (Y/N)." Tommy stated which made you eye-roll. He was being busy with his huge blue candy-floss.

"Thanks, Tommy. You are truly helpful." You mumbled. Mick just hit the drummer's head making him rub it. You laughed at how goofy Tommy could be.

"You deserved it, man." Vince snickered while licking his ice cream.

"It was a hell of a ride, right, little girl?" Nikki asked Zoe who was sitting on his shoulders.

"Again, again. Please, Uncle Nikki."

"Later, you monkey." He said before taking her down off his shoulders and started to drop her in the air. She was screaming from the top of his lungs but in a good way. She was giggling when Nikki was dropping her farther.

"Does she notice anything from the things happening around her?" Mick asked.

"Luckily, she doesn't." You sighed.

"She is a badass, girl. I will keep her." Nikki stated still dealing with Zoe.

"Put me down, please." She told Nikki and he did as told. She ran to you and climbed on your lap. You started bouncing your legs so she was jumping. She leaned closer to your ear.

"Mommy, I have to pee." She giggled.

"Alright, let's go. We are going to the restroom. Be right back." You told the boys and left. When Zoe was ready you told her to wait outside. You washed your hands and exited the room when you felt a hand on your mouth. You were gasping for air and you saw John. He pushed you back and closed the door behind himself.

"Are you out of your mind? She is alone out there. You will scare her." You snapped. He put his arms beside your head forming a cage. He leaned closer but you turned your head sideways.

"What is your problem? You told me you love the most, didn't you? But now you are hanging out with that filthy bastard..."

"Don't dare to say anything about him."

"Or what? You will hit me?" He asked, not believing you. You took the chance and kicked him in the balls and ran out of the facility. You immediately searched for Zoe who was in Vince's arm, now. All of them were standing there waiting for you and John.

"Did he hurt you?" Mick asked worryingly.

"No."

"How nice that you all gathered here. It's quite a day to spend it at the amusement park, right? Right, Zoe?"

"Don't dare to talk to her." You snapped.

"She is my daughter. I call her anytime I feel like. So, Zoe, you don't want to come with me? We can go to the cinema and watch that movie you were talking about." He started. You knew what he was playing. Vince held Zoe tightly, not letting her go. Not that she moved.

"You hurt, mommy." She said showing him her fist.

"That's my girl," Vince said giving her a high-five. After that, she hugged Vince's neck and showed her tongue to her daddy. You relieved that he can't take your daughter from you.

"That wasn't nice, Zoe." He stood closer to you but you stepped back. "Are you afraid of me or what?"

"Leave her alone." Mick said in his usual threatening voice. "And if you ever lay a hand on her again, or on Zoe, I will kill you."

"Are you threatening me?" John stepped closer and his face was inches away from Mick's.

"Not just him. Each of us will kick you to death if you hurt her again." Tommy said.

"We will kick you in the ass, man." Nikki added.

"You got yourself some friends as I see, (Y/N). But you exactly know I also have some connections. So, see you at the court." He said while taking a final glance at you and on Zoe. When he left you walked to Vinnie and took your daughter in your arms.

"Was I good, mommy?" She asked.

"You were the best." You kissed her cheek. "I love you."

∆

"I'm so sorry, Doc, for ditching you like this. I was mad and couldn't think properly." Doc came over after the boys called him about you.

"No problems, (Y/N). You already did almost everything then so I barely had anything to do." He put your hand into his and gripped it. "And I'm happy to see you."

"I'm glad, too."

"So where is this little troublemaker I heard a lot about?" He asked looking around for Zoe.

"She is sleeping. We had quite a day." You sighed rubbing your arm.

"I heard your so-called 'husband' appeared there. What did he want?"

"He wanted to take away Zoe. He knows what she means to me and he wants to take away everything that makes me happy. I guess, he will somehow sabotage my company, too."

"What a dick," Doc said. "Anyway, I still had that job if you want. You can come back and continue our journey with those bastards." You smiled from the thought of being back on the road and bringing your daughter with you.

"Thanks, Doc. It would be a dream."

At the court

"Full custody is exercised by the mother. " The judge declared. At least three months passed since the amusement park but you did it. You and with Doc's help you managed to beat down your husband who was by the way was sent to prison for months for hurting you. You were smiling and the tears were running down your cheeks from happiness. You stood up and hugged Doc.

"Thank you, Doc." You said while looking back at the boys who were grinning while sending death glares towards John. You didn't even glance at him. You wanted to lock him out of your life, even if you knew that he will revenge it sometime.

Months later

"Uncle Tommy, can you do that again with the sticks?"

"Sure, little one." He was grinning and spun the stick between his fingers for like thousands of times. You were preparing for the concert to start backstage. After the court, you sold your company to a friend and accepted the job as a co-manager with Doc.

"Look, Uncle Mickey, Uncle Tommy is doing it again." Zoe giggled admiring the drummer.

"I see it, kid." Mick leaned closer and whispered in your ear. "When will I upgrade from Uncle Mickey to daddy?"

"You just proposed or what?" You asked looking at him wide-eyed.

"Maybe." He grinned and kissed you passionately, already knowing your answer.

Next Part!

Tag: @leatherandheels

[harcourtholmesii]

Unintended Purpose (Part II)

Pairings: As Of Yet; Unknown

Warnings: - Swearing - Slavery (Whether Characters Realise It Or Not) - Mentions of Violence

Words: 2110

Enjoy!

The ride to breakfast was a strange one. ‘Connor’ had taken a seat in front, staring ahead and with back ramrod straight. Hank had been worried the thing had broken the moment they had entered the car, but he was relieved to see it turn its head as he switched on his music.

 In the backseat, Cole was excitedly asking about what working as a police officer was like, and even if the android was about to answer, Cole was quick to ask something else. Hank watched the android with some suspicion, a little frustrated that it had not even attempted to answer Cole’s questions or humour the kid even a little. He had to keep reminding himself that this was not your standard model. Fucking thing probably didn’t understand the concept of ‘small talk’.

 Hank pulled up to Chicken Feed, Cole dashing out of the car with a wave at ‘Connor’, barely waiting for Hank to stretch his legs. He turned, opening his mouth to order the android to stay behind, but decided against it when the damned thing didn’t even turn its head to acknowledge him. It reminded him of some pompous blue blood from the higher ranks in the force; some cock-sure asshole who ordered officers around from the safety of his desk.

 He met Cole by the food truck, lifting him up so that he might have a proper view of the menu. Gary was a close acquaintance, always willing to shirk some dollars off the bill in return for Hank not taking him in. Not that Hank would. The Chicken Feed truck served only the best burgers in Detroit, and he wasn’t going to let the police force take it away.

 With their food in greasy paper bags, Cole and Hank returned to the car. And to ‘Connor’. It confused Hank why, of all times, did the android wait until they had left to turn its head and acknowledge them. Warm, brown eyes peered at the bags in their hands, and for a moment, the LED blinked a bright yellow.

 As they took a seat in the car, ‘Connor’ finally spoke.

 ‘Lieutenant.’ Hank nearly jumped in his seat, glaring at the android beside him. How the fuck did he know about his rank? ‘I would not recommend eating what food you have purchased. The food has been prepared in an unsanitary environment, as the owner, Gary Keyes, has a criminal record of violating hygiene regulations.’

 Hank just stared.

 Cole just gaped.

 ‘The food may not be toxic to the human body, but the calories are twice the amount recommended for a man of your age, and may cause indigestion for Cole Anderson. I understand that you have a history of minor egg allergy, suggesting that you may have passed the condition onto your son. The condiment, mayonnaise, has egg as its base ingredient, and may cause illness if either of you should ingest it.’

 ‘Connor’ reached across and grabbed the paper bags from Hank’s hands, the man too stunned to say anything. The android returned them just as quickly, running leftover grease from the bags between his fingers and licking it from his synthetic skin. Hank felt a little sick.

 ‘It appears that Gary Keyes had been drinking before-hand. He has also left traces of blood in the grease from an open wound, presumably from a cut on his hands.’ The android’s mouth snapped shut, as it tilted its head to look at Hank, almost innocently. ‘Perhaps you should arrest Gary Keyes, as he is still operating the establishment without a license.’

 Silence.

 The android returned to peering straight ahead, Hank just completely astounded by what he had heard. Yes, he was familiar with the conditions the Chicken Feed worked with, but he never knew so much detail. In fact, he still didn’t understand how the Hell this fucking android knew half of what he did. He shouldn’t have access to those kind of files.

 Cole was suddenly pushing himself half into the front seat, babbling on at a hundred miles a minute.

 ‘How did you do that?! That was so cool! How did you know my dad works with the police?! Did you work with him?! Can you tell me about the criminals you busted?! Did you use a gun?! Can you do that again?! What do you know about me?! What do you know about Dad?!’

 ‘Cole!’

 Hank felt a little guilty when Cole shut his mouth, and slowly slipped back into the backseat. Hank would apologise later, but he just wanted to get the android’s attention and work out what the fuck had just happened.

 ‘Hey!’ No answer.

 ‘Connor!’ Those eyes turned onto him. They seemed so emotionless; cold. It unnerved Hank. He didn’t trust this thing. Not even a little bit, and normally Hank’s gut was pretty good to trust. ‘What the Hell did you just do?’

 ‘Are you referring to what I said, lieutenant?’

 ‘What else?’ The android tilted its head once more, seemingly confused by the response. ‘Yeah, what you said. What was that?’

 ‘I simply relayed to you the details of what I scanned of the premises and the staff. It is my duty as your assisting android to aid you in what ways I can; including preventing you from causing potential harm to yourself and your son, or potential endangerment of your career.’

 Hank couldn’t believe this. This fucking robot thought that a couple of burgers were practically poison and that ignoring this one man was going to get him fired from his job? That was rather insulting. Hank may no longer have been as popular or as young as he used to be; he had gotten a bit lazy as to who he would bother to bring in, but that didn’t mean he was about to get fired over something minor.

 ‘Do you scan everyone you see?’

 ‘Of course. If there is the potential that someone is a threat to you or your son, lieutenant, I must be ready to act. If I fail to search for threats and you are placed into danger, I will have failed my purpose, once again.’

 Hank had forgotten about that. If the thing was human, he wouldn’t have been surprised if failure scared it. A human failing once was not often the end of the world. Normally it meant something minor, such as answering a question on a test incorrectly, or mistaking how many steps in an apartment stairwell, causing them to trip. But for an android, failure often meant deactivation, and being torn down for parts.

 ‘Can you scan me?’ Cole asked, peering up at ‘Connor’.

 ‘I already have. If you wish me to relay to you what data I found; you are nursing a slight limp in your left leg. Still recovering from a minor shock and minding what pain is there. Perhaps you tripped. Your hands have traces of isopropyl alcohol, and minor stains to your fingernails would suggest you were using a colouring book, specifically, a paper-back book. Fine hairs on your clothes, primarily white, bare the DNA samples of a St Bernard, and from the wear on your trousers, one that is small and excitable. A puppy.’

 Holy shit.

 ‘I am correct?’ It sounded more like a statement than a question, but Hank nodded slowly all the same. Instead of bursting into another round of uncontrollable questions, Cole simply sat there, mouth agape as Hank pulled off the curb.

 The drive was a slow one, almost drawn out by the silence in the vehicle. Hank really wasn’t sure what to think. On the one hand, this android was far more advanced than the ones that worked at the precinct; able to gather such in-depth information with a single glance. It was beyond impressive, and Hank would have given most anything to have that power.

 On the other hand, he was pissed. The android hadn’t spoken a word since he introduced himself and then he was suddenly telling Hank that he was putting his son in danger?! Well, whilst it had not been specifically stated, it seemed implied. Could androids even imply things? Either way, Hank wasn’t sure how he felt about an android being able to ‘scan’ Cole or himself.

 When they finally pulled onto Michigan Drive and then up the driveway, Cole rushed out of the car and practically pulled Connor out with him. Silence broken, he started babbling like mad about how ‘mom’s gonna love you’. Hank doubted it.

 Entering into the house, Hank was thankful for the smell of crispy bacon and the sweeter scent of pancakes. He hurriedly tossed out the paper bags full of burgers, and let Cole run over to the kitchen to greet Renee. Cole practically dragged her out by the hem of her skirt, until she was facing Hank. And ‘Connor’.

 ‘H-Hank…’ Oh, fuck. He knew that tone. It was one of some disappointment. ‘W-What’s this?’ She crossed her arms, indignant at the sight of their new android. Before Hank could answer, ‘Connor’ had stepped forward.

 ‘Renee Anderson née Tuppens. I’m the RK800 android as made by CyberLife. Intended purpose; a failure. New purpose; home assistance. May my work be satisfactory to you.’

 One dark brow arched, red lips pursing as she all but glared at ‘Connor’. Her lips stretched to accommodate a strained smile as she gestured Cole to the kitchen table and then took a step forward, around ‘Connor’ and over to Hank.

 ‘It’s ‘intended purpose’? And what exactly was that?’ Hank should have known she would latch onto that. It was why he had hoped to speak first. Perhaps, knowing from him that the android was once a police detective, she would have considered it another layer of protection, or some shit. But then the idiot bucket of bolts had to open its mouth.

 ‘It… It was a police android.’

 ‘A police detective; a prototype for the new RK900 models due for release in December.’

 ‘Oh?’ Renee turned her angered gaze onto ‘Connor’, and Hank cringed for him. ‘And, how exactly did you fail your original purpose?’

 Hank, admittedly, was just as curious. But he didn’t want it to become another argument between himself and Renee. The last thing he wanted was for her to stress for Cole’s safety because the android had failed some multiple choice quiz.

 Both pairs of eyes on ‘Connor’ took notice of how the LED ring lit up almost immediately neon yellow, and then briefly flashed red. Hank knew that was never a good sign. He raised one hand to rest it on Renee’s arm as if to pull her behind him. Of course, she just shrugged it off, too pissed to care.

 Sumo, though excited to greet them at first, had slunk away, and was hiding beneath the kitchen table and Cole’s dangling feet. Cole was watching the confrontation, mouth half stuffed with pancakes looking between the three of them.

 ‘How did you fail your original programming?’ Hank asked, resting one hand over his jacket where his holster would have been.

 A moment of silence.

 ‘It was my first mission; I was supposed to capture a deviant android for questioning and eventual deactivation.’ Hank knew about deviants; very few people didn’t. Androids that ‘broke the bonds of their masters’, or just ‘completely snapped’. Most deviants turned violent, triggered by something that would be traumatic for a human, and sometimes killed their owners.

 ‘I found them. However, I made a mistake when I confronted them.’ Deviants were often unpredictable, and had the power to turn the tables of a confrontation or the ability to blend in once the LED was removed. Perhaps, an android that was not turned deviant would struggle to predict most courses of action, even one as advanced as ‘Connor’.

 ‘There had been a human officer that was injured in the crossfire. Though the deviants were incapacitated and eventually destroyed, it was determined that it was a miscalculation on my part.’ Hank didn’t like where this was going. Suddenly, Renee was clinging tightly to his arm, when before she had been so willing to ignore it.

 ‘I had shot him in the shoulder. He was in critical condition when they shut me down to be wiped of my programming.’

 ‘Oh my God.’

 ‘I do not know if I killed him. But I did cause him damage, and as an android, I was fortunate not to be scrapped immediately.’

 The LED was bright red.

 ‘Thank you for allowing me into your home.’ By the way Renee’s fingers tightened, and how her nails dug into his skin even through the jacket, Hank knew he had fucked up.