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eleni-cherie · 2 years ago

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among thieves ✨ || bts • pjm

- chapter 0.5

"what even am I to you? your rival, your lover, an obstacle or am I supposed to be your coffin?"

about two thieves who can't live with nor without each other. and a joint past that comes back to threaten them.

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masterlist: here

— genre: thief au, gangster comedy, adventure, romcom, humour, angst, fluff, very flirty jimin, friends/rivals/exes to lovers f2l e2l ex2l

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. CHARACTERS NOT NECESSARILY LIKE THE REAL PERSONS. ALSO VERY UNREALISTIC PLOT LOL - JUST PRETEND READING A MANGA/COMIC OR WATCHING A FILM, REALLY.

SUGGESTIVE THEMES. MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE & BLOOD (BUT NOTHING TOO GRAPHIC, IT'S STILL A COMEDY!)

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"Arabella."

"Taehyung."

A quick nod was exchanged between them, a sign of aknowledging the other's presence but nothing more. The cold shift in the atmosphere made Jimin shiver and he ushered Arabella to go further inside their hideout, a small apartment rented under a fake name.

He sighed when seeing them both exchange an annoyed glare, shaking his head. Well, at least they weren't on each other's necks. Yet.

Arabella took a seat on the armchair opposite of Taehyung who categorically ignored her and rather put all his focus on cleaning his magnum.

Crossing her legs, she sunk into the seat more and decided to ignore him as well. "And where's Yoongi? Did he dump you again?" Her question made both of them stifle a chuckle. She was referring to Yoongi occasionally disappearing for a month or more in irregular intervals, going to the mountains or sea to 'meditate' and 'perfect his swort art' - as he himself explained it. A true artist.

"No, he went to get some food," Taehyung replied monotonously, not taking his eyes off of his dear gun. And he earned a surprised raise of her brow. So he wasn't totally, ignoring her after all.

"Well, well, well," Jimin sang brightly, clapping his hands together and taking a seat beside her. "What's with the grim mood?" He tried lightening the persistingly tight atmosphere, but Arabella and Taehyung kept silent. Making him humph. "Fine, I know what will get you two to smile again," he said then He pulled out something from his jacket, placing it on the coffee table in front of them.

At this, both finally perked up and shifted their attention to the two objects.

It was the document they had obtained in Vienna along with the sapphire they got in Tokyo.

"What's this good for?" the dyed-blonde wondered out and pointed at Jimin as he started gliding the gem over the piece of paper.

With furrowed brows, Taehyung let let out a dry laugh before going back to cleaning his gun. "You don't know?"

Arabella arched a brow. "No, am I supposed to?"

"You did try getting that piece of paper as well after all.."

"Yeah, but it was just for a job. I didn't do it for myself."

Taehyung glanced at her with a hum, before focusing back on cleaning.

"Jimin, you think it's good to let her know?"

Of course Taehyung wouldn't keep himself from provoking her for too long. Even though both of Jimin's friends didn't like her - and vice versa - at least Yoongi still obtained some basic level of politeness, which she appreciated a lot hence why she preferred the swordsman over that childish gunman.

Huffing, she folded her arms in front of her chest. " don't even wanna know anyway. Why would I care?" she retorted.

"Nah, nah, guys. Please behave," Jimin urged them with a chuckle. He didn't plan to reveal to her just yet what this was about. First, he only wanted to observe her reaction when seeing those objects together. Clarifying she indeed didn't know the gem was making certain words disappear when reading the old document through it. An old trick, caused by the use of different kind of inks to hide secret messages.

However, a different question arose then and his fingers paused, looking at her inquiringly.

"Who were these guys who hired you back then?"

However, she could only offer him a shrug. "You know we don't ask questions in this business."

"True, but I also know you always do your background checks," he smirked and he could see her bite back a smug smile.

It was both, flattering and utterly bothersome, how well he knew her. Behind the sweet face laying a sharp mind she always knew not to underestimate. Even if his charming, friendly - perhaps sometimes immature - nature could fool anyone and sometimes even make her forget about it. A byeffect of his personality she knew he used to his advantage.

"I didn't find out too much though," she explained then, "Just some rich contractor. Seemed like he had some debts to pay back."

"And he didn't hire you to get both, the document and sapphire?"

She frowned, shaking her head. "No. However, he did say that he'd also be in contact with someone else regarding a different job."

Jimin hummed, a deep crease setting between his brows. "Maybe that other person was hired for the jewel then.."

It was perhaps farfetched to assume it had anything to do with them getting into a hail of bullets in Japan, but in this kind of business the least things were mere coincidences. And it wasn't unusual for someone to hire different people for different jobs, so they'd know as little as possible and not make any connections.

The front door opened the, revealing Yoongi's return with bags of take-out food in both his hands. Jimin and Taehyung's eyes immediately lighting up at their sight. However, the older guy stopped in his tracks when spotting their female acquaintance sitting with his friends.

"Why didn't you tell me to bring more food?" he simply said then, walking up to them to put the bags down on the table. He neither sounded mad nor surprised and Arabella had to keep herself from laughing out loud. Stoic and composed as she remembered him around her.

"It's okay, don't bother," Arabella eventuallx sighed and stood up, attempting to leave. "I knew it'd be a bad idea to stay here anyway."

"No, Bella, please sit down," Jimin whined playfully as he grabbed her wrist. Tugging at it until she sat back down. "Let's just eat first." He could already feel his stomach rumbing and he didn't need anyone of them to be hangry.

While they shoved the food inside their mouth - Yoongi having somehow managed to find the only korean restaurant in Mexico City - Jimin explained his theory. The theory he had come up in the past three minutes.

"It might be a wild guess.." he began and shoved a mandu into his mouth. Munching on it. "But I believe the other one getting hired by that business man are our old friends from the organisation." Arabella almost chocking on her food, looking up at him with a serious glare which he recicopated. "I'm sorry, darling, but it's a possibility we can't ignore."

"It'd surely explain why they showed up after the heist," Yoongi nodded, slurping on his cold bean noodles. "They were pissed we got the sapphire before them."

Taehyung nodded while picking up another mandu. "And why they'd be after both of you again so many years later.."

"But if they're just mad you got the jewel before them, then we ain't sure they're after me, too," Arabella mumbled. Trying her best to suppress those memories that were threatening to break free from the back of her mind. "Maybe they're only after you three then."

"Possible, but we can't risk it," Jimin said then with a stern voice. Glancing at her. A hint of worry in his eyes. Making her gulp. She appreciated it. She really did, but he could be blowing things out of proportion. At least so she hoped so. That was what she wanted to believe.

"What -" Taehyung interrupted himself, chewing the mandu before swallowing it. "What if this business guy hears that we got both objects now?"

Jimin shrugged. "Perhaps hire those idiots to get them both back from us?"

"See, this has nothing to do with me," Arabella tried reasoning.

"Yeah, but you failed getting him one object, too. And you're known to have connections to us," Yoongi pointed out, finishing off his noodles, "Pretty sure he might think it was on purpose to help us. So.."

"Fck," she groaned, "I knew hanging out with you guys would be trouble."

A purposely loud and sarcastic laugh erupted from Taehyung then, gaining everyone's attention. "That's quite ironic coming from you," he grinned, "The personification of trouble."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

His grin widened into a grimace as he leaned in. "You know exactly what it means. It means wherever you go, you cause chaos. Beginning from this guy here." He pointed at Jimin, who was stuffing another mandu between his lips, eyes growing wild at Taehyung's accusations. "You got this idiot wrapped around your finger and you know it."

"That's not true," she countered with a knowing smirk, pretending like she wouldn't know what he was talking about. She leaned intentionally into Jimin's side then, facing him with a sweet smile. "Jiminie, is that true? Do I have you wrapped around my finger?" She pouted and batted her long eyelashes as her finger made a circling motion.

The thief only gulped, glancing between her and his friends. "You guys seriously need to stop acting like kids," he simply mumbled unamused and continued eating to avoid an answer.

Of course she had him wrapped around his finger. It was an open secret. Not even a secret, rather a well-known fact. He usually didn't even try to hide it. But he didn't feel like adding fuel to the ongoing fire right now by admitting it like that. It'd only cause more tension and he just wanted to eat in peace.

"Fine, don't say anything," Arabella sat back then, taking a spoonful of ramen.

Of course she knew Taehyung was right. She had taken advantage of it more than enough in the past when it came to snatching a treasure or loot from them. That was how she was trained to by her upbringing, to only focus on herself and her mission, without the slightest guilt.

However, sometimes Jimin was an exception to the rule. Not always, but often at least as he was the only person she conceived an affection for. She was just better in hiding it, contrary to him. And it wasn't like he'd never taken advantage of this either.

Like the one time he fake-married that stupid little italian heiress to get her family jewels, without telling Arabella it was all just a farce and even having the nerve to invite her to the fake-wedding. Knowing exactly how much it'd irk her on the inside, even is she feigned indifference. She was sure he'd done it on purpose, to coax a reaction out of her and it had almost worked back then.

The memory of this still getting her fuming.

She never acted on her jealousy, it was below her to give into Jimin's little games. Not even when he flirted with other women left and right. It annoyed her, but it was alright. After all, she was going much further with a guy if needed to get a job done, obtain information or to get close to the object of desire.

Then again, in her case it was never personal but strictly business. In his case, however, it was out of enjoyment and liking. And god, that drove her mad. Even if she'd rather die than admitting that.

After all, no one else was allowed to know of her weak spot for the masterthief.

Weakness was an unnecessary, even dangerous, accessoiry in their business. Especially for a woman.

No, she'd never admit how much his flirts actually hurt her. She was rather getting passive-aggressive and ignored him for weeks.

- Except that one time, when they'd happened to all be at the same gala - including that stupid little italian girlie - and Arabella, out of frustration, had got drunk so she wouldn't gag over that girl clinging onto him all evening.

So essentially, both were wrapped around each other's finger and it was a constant game between the two, to see who'd be outwitting who this time. Arabella was just the better player.

"By the way," Yoongi spoke up again, interrupting the silence filled with eating noises between them. A sly grin on his lips as he peeked at Jimin and Arabella. "How will we solve the sleeping situation?"

"What do you mean?"

"Simple math. There's three beds and four of us."

The remaining three exchanged glances.

"Obviously I, as a lady, will take the single bedroom," Arabella instantly said then, pointing at the open door that revealed a bed, "You can't expect me to sleep in a room with any of you."

"Aw, why not?" Jimin smirked, wiggling his brows. He scooted closer to her then, wrapping an arm around her shoulder to draw her closer to him, "I could use some company."

She only rolled her eyes annoyed though and shoved him away. "Nope."

"Well, you could always take the couch," Taehyung suggested with a shrug, before flashing her an innocent grin. Causing her to throw him an annoyed glare back before hugging out a laugh.

"Where are your gentleman manners?"

"Probably where that gold bar is you took with you back in Macao."

At this, she pursed her lips and looked away, deciding to ignore that remindef. "Either way, I'm not sleeping on the couch."

"Alright guys," Jimin said, glancing at his two friends, "Let's just play rock-paper-scissors to decide who's gonna take it."

However, none of them attempted to move. All eyes dtaring on Jimin, who could only blink in confusion until sventually getting the message. And he dragged out a tired breath.

"Fine, I'm sleeping on the couch then."

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The night was dark and tranquil, only the occasional sound of a passing car or motorbike being heard outside. Everyone was sleeping, but not everyone was sleeping peacefully.

Arabella had been tossing and turning in her restless sleep. They said you progressed the past day in your dreams, but the past day had only brought back unpleasent memories to her. Long forgotten ones that filled her sleep with nightmares of the past.

"Where are my parents?"

"You don't have any."

"Of course I do. Where are they?"

The woman gave her an evil glare, seemingly fed up with her rebellious attitude. Going back to the files she was holding.

"Stop the whining. There are far better ways to get what you want than that. And we'll teach you which ones. So forget about your useless parents. From now on, you only have us."

Little Arabella began to cry silent tears as the woman walked away to the next children in line.

She suddenly felt a tug on her sleeve from the girl behind her and she turned around with red eyes. The girl was maybe 7 years old and taller than Arabella who was only 5.

"Don't cry, Arabella Valentine," she read from the name tag.

"That's not my name!" she frowned, shaking her head frantically.

"Your name ain't Arabella? But that bracelet says so, too." The girl pointed at the silver bracelet that was way too big for her tiny wrist.

"No, that.. that is my name," Arabella sobbed then6, the tears dying down. "But not Valentine."

"Well, it is now."

Abrubtly, she jolted up in cold sweat and turned on the bedside lamp. For a moment she was desoriented and uncertain of where she was and where the other children had been, until eventually realisin it'd all been a mere dream. Her hand was clutching her pillow and she slowly sunk back to it. Her eyes then falling to her bracelet in front of them, shining under the faint light coming from the window. Reading the engraved 'Arabella' on it caused tears welling up in her eyes.

It was the only thing left from her 'first life', as she called it.

The bracelet she remembered receiving as a gift from her mother. She couldn't remember anything else, not when she got it nor why, not even her parents' faces. For most part of her life, she'd forgotten she even had parents like every other human being.

That little silver bracelet on her wrist was the only evidence left of it. And she buried her face into the pillow as the tears threatened to fall.

Meanwhile, in the other room, someone else had trouble to sleep as well, for entirely other reasons.

Jimin kept waking and falling asleep in a vicious circle due to the uncomfortable couch. Finally accepting that he wasn't going to fall asleep again, he sat up with a frustrated groan. Noticing light coming from underneath the door of Arabella's room.

Curiousity sparked in him and he reasoned it could be the perfect opportunity for some alone-time with her, if she was also awake. So he quietly walked over, licking his dry lips as he contemplated whether to knock and possibly earn a smack from her or just go back to sleep.

He awkwardly stood there for a moment longer and exhaled deeply. She'd probably only get annoyed with him again, he thought and was ready to return to the stone-hard couch when a faint noise made him him stop in his tracks.

For a second he hesitated, unsure of whether he had imagined the sound or not. He assumed it had been his imagination after all and he was about to go back to sleep when he heard it again.

He listened closely.

A.. a sob? Was she crying?

He froze.

When was the last time he'd seen Arabella cry? He couldn't remember, it was quite rare after all. She was usually good in having a poker face and hiding her true intentions and feelings from the world. Usually that came with this business.

However, Jimin knew that wasn't the only thing that caused her to hide her vulnerable side. With such a rough upbringing it was a miracle she hadn't become a straight up villain.

He concluded their earlier discussion must've triggered her bottled up emotions and memories. And now she was crying there in her room all alone because she'd never want to show this side to anyone or admit being 'weak'. And it broke his heart, especially since he was unable to comfort her directly. So he had to come up with a subtle approach.

With a deep inhale, he knocked. "Bella-baby, are you still up?" he asked in a cheery voice, pretending being oblivious to what was going on. He heard sniffing and shifting, then silence before the door swung open, revealing Arabella in her nightgown that was way shorter than expected. Her waves were tied in a ponytail and there was no evidence of her crying besides the red skin un6dern6eath her eyes.

She sighed tired, looking away. "What Jimin?"

He could tell by her breaking voice how heavy-hearted she was.

He pursed his lips, shrugging nonchalantly. "You know, this couch is killing me. Can't sleep," he began, "And seems you can't either. So why don't we do something productive instead?"

She laughed under her breath, shaking her head. "Like what?"

"Hm, whatever you like or, you know, I could think of a thing or two," he smirked and took a step closer. Closing his eyes and puckering his full lips playfully, only to hear Araballe laugh out.

"You're like a hormon-driven teenager, you know that?" She flickered her finger on his forehead and he winced, opening his eyes in pain. "That hurt," he whined.

"Good!" she giggled, pushing his chest lightly, "Now go to sleep."

"I can't sleep alone though," he pouted and she sighed at his late-night-attics. He was unbelievable. The way she wanted to punch and kiss him at the same time was unbelievable.

"You're a big boy, I think you can," she giggled and started shoving him out of the room, making him stumble backwards with a wide grin.

"You know, I'm glad you're smiling again."

And with that he turned around and walked back to his personal hell.

Arabella's lips parted as she watched him disappear from the light of her room, being speachless.

Had that act been on purpose? To distract her from the dark thoughts?

Her jaw clenched briefly before she began making her way through the dark living room.

"Jiminie," she whispered when she saw him laying on the couch. His brows furrowed at the unexpected sound of her voice. She never called him by that nickname unless she was acting purposely sweet and cute to ask him a favour or lure information out of him. So it made him suspicious now.

"Yeah?" he whispered back.

For a moment it was silent and he thought she'd returned to her room until he heard her again, patting around in the dark until her cold, delicate fingers eventually found his cheeks and cupped them from where she was leaning over the armrest above his head.

He didn't say anything, only held his breath as he let her squeaze them lightly. And next thing he felt were her velvety lips gently pressing on his and her hair falling onto his chest.

His body floated on water, then clouds as her mouthed moved against his in an opposite placement. Only when she retreated again, leaving nothing but a cool spot and her sweet taste on his wet lips, he returned to his senses.

"Thank you," she breathed against his flushed skin. And that was all she said before tiptoeing back to her room. Shutting the door behind her.

He hadn't even realised he was smiling. Not until his cheeks began hurting while he dreamingly stared into the dark nothing.

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next chapter: 0.6 here

Don't forget to like, reblog & leave feedback!♡ It motivates me to keep writing :)

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benefits1986 · 4 months ago

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Sleepyheadzzz

Sleep or perish.

Tuned in again to DOAC and I was cradled into a solid siesta. When I woke up, the topic was about how low the chances of getting babies are when aging. Yas. Hello, perimenopause, I guess? Obviously, I shifted gears because that was but a suggested content, anyway. Kaloka. Sunday na Sunday, 'di ba po? Andami pang labada, kung anu-anong sinasabi.

So, let's tackle something more practical and sensible. This female sleep doctor fleshed out how sleep is essential in the performance of athletes, students, founders, and the like. I can't help but laugh because I used to talk about sleep ages ago for a brand I handled. Sleep. It's something I enjoy, however, aging seems to be a bitch gone bitchier. There'd be days when I try to pay back my sleep debt, but, we're kinda clunky. The sleep doctor herself shared that since she has a baby, she has her demerits, too. I find this amazing and crazy. Career women moms are the legit heroines, after all, ain't they?

I also remember one film that was recommended to me which is The Science of Sleep. The one who recommended it was an insomniac himself. GAH. Tawang-tawa ako nung ni-recommend niya with feelings. Jusq. I told him that he needed to shape up or perish. He added Amelie, of course. And syempre, chugadoog na naman siya. LOL. Kidding aside, oks naman both films. Oks lang. Ganern. Pa-deep. Pa-visual delight. Pa-eme...lie. LOL. ULOL. Hahahaha. Syempre, nagpa-come back tayo ng What Dreams May Come. TABI. Hahahaha. Finish na. Next.

And so, how's my sleep this H2? Way better. Though I rarely get 8 hours of sheer delight with my eyes shut, it's definitely more relaxing. While I usually wake up around 3 AM because KD (my third kiddo) has this weird way of telling me he pooped again, it's totally fine. There were even ungodly hours when I checked the mirror to see if Mother Dragon sent her warm regards. Sadly, all I see these days is her haircut and color staring back at me. I still don't believe that we look alike that much.

My small win for this arena is I get to sleep longer and deeper na! I tried sleeping in a super dark room earlier this year and it led me to a deeper and darker spiral. LOL. Siguro, I hate sleeping in the dark because my imagination is overactive. While the sleep doctor shared that sleeping in a dark room and setting the mood to get high-quality shut-eye, not for me talaga.

How can I say that my sleep quality is better? I can sleep while the lights are on. I can also sleep with the sound of the TV or speakers, even. I can also sleep in a cinema even when Wolverine is ripping. I can also sleep like a baby na ulit. HUHUHUHU. Galing 'di ba? So, I think, I can safely share that indeed, I'm shaping up na ulit. Unti-unti. Tuloy-tuloy lang. SANA. EMS. What I realize is I can't sleep because I don't feel safe. Ganun lang. By safe, I mean, my safe space. Period.

Side Note: I was able to sleep a few hours after mom expired back in 2012. I didn't feel unsafe, then. And, that's how much I value sleep din. I told mom pa nga, paki lang na patulugin ako kasi nga, para maggawa ko lahat ng bilin niya sa mga sumunod sa araw, linggo, buwan, taon, at dekada ng mga utos niya. So, that's my benchmark when I saw "safe space" talaga ang root cause ng nakaraang sabak.

These days, I try my best to bed rot without feeling super guilty about it. Funny how I used to abhor bed rotting because weekends meant being out and about, always. However, when I realized that rest is essential, for real, here I am making amends to my homebody body. I no longer resent being cloistered at the house where Mom expired. OPAK. LAKAS. Hahahaha. The 12-year wait is now panning out better and a bit brighter, I guess.

However, I really need to hack my sleep because this noona is gonna bike outside MNL with not one, but two alpha kiddos. Ganun na lang muna even when there are times when I imagine myself just dying because of lack of decent rest. Don't get wrong. Stay with me as a share that while SI is still rocking and rolling, I am finding my way back into hope. Yep, hope. That's the word I'd like to revisit and give another chance to. Let's hope that I keep trusting the process. AMOR FATI as they say. Pa-deep. Let's keep hoping that one day, this too shall pass all for the greater good.

And while I don't really have the fucks to give these two alpha kiddos, the thing is that these babies are super ingrained in my insides. I raised their dads while I was pretty much learning how to ride a BMX bike ages ago. While I don't like kids, spending limited time with them makes me see a different perspective no matter how much I invalidate it. Maybe, that's the Ate in me that I can never CTRL + ALT + DEL. Maybe, just maybe, those are my inner children telling and reassuring me to heal this shitshow because I can be a decent Ate and Noona naman talaga kahit ayokong aminin. LOL. SHEMAY KAAAA. Monday na tapos ganyan ka pa mag-isip?

Also, McQueen thingamajigs are calling for my taga-sideline. Again, sideliner lang me sa paganaps with him because we're learning the ropes of healthy boundaries. Since I'm a recovering avoidant who is sadly a give na give giver (UGHHHH), I really need to manage my expectation and realities. McQueen and I are yet to sit down and "talk" like adults. So let's see! Abangan!

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kelsywrites · 2 years ago

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Chapter 13

“Where are we going?”

Scotty grinned at Eddi, “Suspense!” He gave her jazz fingers.

“I still think we should have stayed in and watched scary movies. It’s Friday the 13th people are always weird, but now they have an excuse to be extra trippy.”

“Don’t worry it’ll just be us…and maybe some spooky spirits.” He was still grinning with childlike excitement.

“Spooky spirits?” Terry glanced at the two of them before looking up at the moon. “Scotty, what are you tripping on and why didn’t you share?”

“Broski, this is best done with a sober mind. That way we know the spirits are real and not something made up or manufactured.”

“He had too many brownies before we met up with you.” Eddi kicked at a rock as they crossed through a field. Streetlights faded in the distance, the moon lighting their way.

“What’s she put in those anyways?”

“It’s called a secret recipe for a reason Terry.” Scotty stepped up to a tall chain link fence and launched his skateboard over before pulling himself up onto it. “Come on scaredy cats. Time to face our demons.”

Terry shook his head and followed him and Eddi over the fence ignoring the no-trespassing sign.

They made their way through the field, the warehouse in the distance slowly growing into a menacing fortress. Scotty rattled on about the haunted history of the place. As they got closer the white radiance of the moon seemed to get swallowed by the dark shadows of the old building.

“Looks like a place for bad deals and murders.” Eddi shifted her skateboard as she peeked through a broken window.

“If these walls could talk.” Scotty set his stuff down and headed to a ladder 15 yards off to the right.

Terry glanced at it and noticed a couple of the rungs were missing. “That looks like a death trap.”

That didn’t stop Scott he was already at the top Eddi following behind. “Come on TJ you gotta see this.”

“I can see you fall to your death just fine from down here.”

“Less chance of brain matter splattering on you from up here.”

“Eww, Scotty do you have to talk like that?” Eddi’s eyes scanned the expanse, lights from the distant city glowing orange on the horizon off to the left, to the right dark shadows cast by a grove of trees. She could hear echoes of dogs barking and a train off in the distance.

Terry made it to the top and sat on the ledge, not wanting to chance walking over the rusted and rotting iron grate. His eyes stared at the space between them and the ground before looking around. You could see the length of the warehouse and the scattered buildings in the yard. Gaping holes in parts of the roof, dark leaves growing up the sides of some buildings, rubble at other parts. Broken pavement where road and a parking lot used to be, spotted now with swampy puddles. Scotty was right this place did have a haunting yet captivating feel to it.

They sat quietly in their own thoughts for a while before Scotty broke the silence, “feel like if you sit here long enough you’re almost transported back to it all. Everything that happened here, everyone that worked or walked in this yard…it looks like it’s lost in time but it’s still here in the shadows, the silence…it echoes through time.”

“You’re so weird.” Eddi smirked her eyes smiling at him under the silver shimmer of the moon light, “What are we really doing here? This seems like a place where we’d sneak off to get high and drunk and do stupid shit.”

“Stupid shit.” Scotty repeated softly almost a sudden change of mood before he smiled back at her and responded, “Life’s too short to miss out on shit like this. And you don’t have to be high to do stupid shit.”

Terry glanced from Scotty to Eddi wondering if she had noticed the tone in Scotty’s voice. Was he worrying about Owen? He hadn’t mentioned his brother in a few days. The thought of Owen getting severely injured or dying sauntered through his mind. His gaze shifted back to Scotty as he wondered what that would do to his best friend before he forced it out and shifted his gaze to the stars. He felt his throat tighten as he remembered staring at the stars with his dad. For a moment he felt the air get trapped in his lungs as he wrestled with the emotions warring within him. It must have been the thought of Scotty losing Owen that opened him to being vulnerable to these memories and feelings.

“Want one?”

Terry glanced at Eddi handing him a black and mild. Normally, he’d turn it down, but now he was thankful for the distraction. He took it and lit it. The orange glow at the tip had a subtle contrast against the black backdrop and he focused on it as he inhaled and slowly exhaled.

“Where’d your mind go off to?” Eddi asked blowing smoke out as she studied Terry’s face.

He shook his head in response.

They sat quietly for a moment. “Can you hear the echoes?” Scotty broke the silence again, “Laughter and arguments. One man ribbing another maybe cutting too deep with his jabs. Another arguing with the foreman. The sweet voice of a secretary, or a wife dropping off lunch.”

“Fuck, Scotty you’re so weird.” Eddi shifted her weight to get more comfortable as she glanced down at the yard, she couldn’t help but imagine everything he was describing.

“What?” he asked in response glancing at the two of them, “I like to think that they still live on in the echoes of time.”

“You keep saying echo. I don’t think you know what that word means.”

“Sure, I do. And you know what I’m talking about.” His gaze shifted from Eddi to Terrence, “Terry just heard an echo of his father.”

Fear gripped TJ as his eyes met Scotty’s. Was he that obvious? Did they have to go there?

“What did you hear man?”

Terry took another puff as he shook his head.

“Come on man. You can’t keep shutting him out, shutting us out. It’s like you’re still choosing your vices over your true friends when you do that. Over what really matters, what really counts.” Scotty glanced back over at the warehouse and studied it for a moment, “I heard my gramps talk about using words instead of fists, the importance of laughter and honesty and hard work. What did you hear Terry? Don’t let the echo die with you.”

“Scott if you say echo one more time…”

“What Eddi you’ll show me what it really means?” Scotty was smiling big at her.

Terry’s gaze shifted from them to his feet dangling over the edge. He chewed on his lip mulling over the idea that it would stop with him if he didn’t say something. Clearing his throat he felt them both pause with their bickering and teasing and look at him. “He used to talk about how stars’ lights still shine on for years after they burn out, said some shit about how they each have a story or song or something.”

Eddi was positive this was the first time she really heard Terry talk about his father. It was strange and yet it was nice that he was opening up, inviting them in. He always seemed like he was too good for them, but now she could see that he was just always wrestling with something on the inside. She watched him blow out a shaky breath before taking another hit of the black and mild and then flicking it to the ground.

Silence followed his sentiment and he felt oddly lighter but also terribly exposed. He swallowed hard and stood to his feet. Without a word he carefully climbed back down the ladder.

Scotty got up and followed and then Eddi. They began to explore the abandoned warehouse in silence. In one room they found an old desk, a broken rotary phone, and some waterlogged files. Edison opened a drawer and found some pictures taken around the yard capturing people and machinery. She could almost imagine them talking, the sounds of the machinery, her mind wandered over their life stories as she studied the pictures and then glanced at Scotty. Maybe he wasn’t so crazy. She smiled softly at him shaking her head, “you’re weirdness is rubbing off.”

He laughed at her, “Come on I wanna show you something.”

They followed him with their skateboards and found a big open area with a few makeshift ramps and a burn pile.

“How’d you find this place?” Eddi asked in wonder as she flashed her light around.

“I was talking to one of those gypsy kids passing through town and he mentioned coming here.”

“Scotty this is badass!”

Terry and Scott worked on getting a fire going while Eddi put some music on. They skated and joked for what felt like hours.

Scott skidded to a stop in front of the fire. He watched the flames lick the pile of wood, sticks, and random trash they had thrown in. Colors of green, blue, yellow, and orange danced about releasing a grey smoke that swayed its way above them finding an escape through a hole in the ceiling. He sat down on his skateboard his gaze not leaving the fire.

Terry skated to a stop and watched Scott for a moment before glancing over at Eddi who was switching up the music. Landslide by Fleetwood Mac came on and he watched her go sit next to Scotty and pull out another black and mild.

“What’s eating at your pretty mind?” He heard Eddi ask Scott and then heard Scott chuckle. Terrence picked up his skateboard and walked over and sat down on the opposite side of Scotty.

“You worrying about Owen?”

Scotty sighed. “No…no more than ordinarily. Been thinking about death and life a lot lately. Guess it’s all the talk about having a 4 or 5 or 10-year plan at school and what we are going to do when we graduate and all that shit.”

Eddi’s brow scrunched together as she laughed, “What…that’s what makes you think about death?”

“Yeah, I mean why not? It’s not like we know when it’s going to happen. And all these teachers asking me what I want to do when I graduate when I can’t even decide what I want for lunch. Then I just feel like an idiot in the headlights.” Scotty took the black and mild from her mouth and took a hit still staring at the fire. “I can’t forward think. Or whatever they call it. Every time I try, I start thinking about death and wondering when I’m going to die or you and Terry or my mom and dad, and then I’m like if I knew when…that would change my plans.”

“You’re not supposed to live like that.”

“No duh dummy.”

Terrence heard the uncharacteristic agitation in Scott’s voice and watched him hand the black and mild back to her before shifting his gaze back to the fire. “I wasn’t thinking like that until they started asking me those stupid questions. Then all I could think about was what I wanted to do before I die.”

“What do you want to do before you die?” Terry asked.

Scotty glanced at the two of them and then shrugged with a sad smile. “I don’t want to go to college. I want to spend as much time with you guys as I can. I want to look up at the stars and hear them sing or whatever your dad was talking about. I want to experience life so much that when I die, I go out with a bang that echoes so loudly through the world, that says something like life matters, my life mattered. I just feel like school has been such a waste and all this planning and talk of plans…all the plans they suggest seem like a waste. Shit, I know some people go on and do some shit that’s epic. Like Mira, or Owen…” he paused and took a heavy breath shaking his head, “It’s not the planning. That’s just a lame excuse. I mean sure I don’t have a plan and don’t want or need one. I’m good at figuring stuff out on the fly, finding my groove.” He got silent.

Eddi stared at him wondering what he was getting at and caught off guard by the heaviness that seemed to come out of nowhere.

“What is it?” Terry probed.

Scotty stared into Terry’s eyes for a long moment, “You think we’re like stars? Sometimes I get this weird feeling that I had all this light and life but it’s fading out. Then I wonder if it’s cause I’m doing something wrong, or not doing something I should be doing.”

“Are you sure you didn’t smoke something before coming here?”

Scotty laughed but it sounded sad, and he shook his head, “Fuck…maybe I should have.”

“Scott, what’s going on?” Eddi asked and Terry could hear the full weight of her concern.

“This is my demon. And I came here to fight it.” He mumbled staring back at the fire. Scotty started laughing, it became uncontrollable, and tears began to stream down his face.

“Shit what the fuck is wrong with you?” Eddi asked swatting at him. His laughter was eerie but contagious.

“Fuck if I know.” He responded between his laughter and rubbed his face. “I don’t know maybe I just need to think differently. Maybe I just need to think like a star. What would my song or story or whatever be?” he let his laughter die down and swallowed glancing at Terry, “What would yours be? What was your dad’s?”

Terry’s gaze turned to the fire. The warmth of it caused his eyes to burn…or were those tears?

“Wait I know Eddi’s!” Scotty exclaimed and then jumped up and started dancing and singing, “Cheri Cheri lady going through a motion love is where you find it listen to your heart.”

“No! No!” Eddi jumped up and tackled Scotty, “Fuck you!”

Scotty was laughing uncontrollably again.

“I don’t get it.” Terry watched as Eddi struggled to pin the squirming Scotty.

“Tell him Cheri.”

“Stop it! Drop it!”

“Wait, is your name Cheri?” Terry started laughing, “Cheri is the perfect family name.”

“I see you brought me here so I could murder and burn you both.” Eddi glared from Scotty to Terry.

“What’s wrong with Cheri?” TJ asked trying to fight back the laughter as he pictured her as a Cheri.

She turned her gaze like daggers to Scotty.

He stared back, his gaze soft, “He’s part of the pact Eddi. We came here to fight our demons.”

“Fuck you, Scott. You may have come here to fight a demon. But I didn’t.”

His eyes held hers, as she held him pinned. “Please Eddi…” he swallowed hard.

“What’s your deal O’Malley?”

“My deal? I care about you. I worry about you.”

She shook her head disgusted. “I can take care of myself.”

Scotty struggled to get up from under her. Then stared into her eyes their noses inches apart. “Sure, you can. I’m not saying you can’t. I’m saying I don’t want you to be alone.”

Eddi scoffed.

He got to his feet and stepped closer to the fire. After a moment he spoke, his voice gruff, “Mine would be Jumper by Third Eye Blind.”

The two of them stared at the back of his head stunned in silence.

“I’ve always had this darkness, this voice in my head. Death…lingering there. Sometimes feel captive to it. It’s not really a fear. But something that possesses me, that trips me up from feeling alive. I found fighting or doing shit that taunted death made me feel most alive, like the closer I was to death the more alive I was. Cover it up by calling myself an adrenalin junkie. Fight the darkness back with laughter, making others laugh.” He snickered. “Sometimes I think if people really knew how dark my mind was, they wouldn’t laugh at my jokes. Owen’s the only one I trusted with the darkest parts of me, he didn’t treat me different. Still laughed at my jokes and fought with me without constantly checking on my mental status or acting like I was a fragile basket case.”

They stared at him paralyzed in an uncomfortable quiet. He let that sink in and then turned and studied them cautiously. “But you’re my pack so you should know. I always feel like death is just one or two steps behind me. And maybe as a kid I was afraid of it. Timid. But then I began to hate myself for it.” He smiled sadly. “It’s my demon. I’m not afraid of it anymore. Haven’t been for a while, fight it almost daily. The thing that scares me now is what happens to those I leave behind.”

“Are you thinking…” Eddi’s voice was a hesitant whisper.

Scotty chuckled, softly, almost to himself, “Suicidal? Me? No…” He met her gaze and held it steady, “Used to be…maybe…got exhausted at times. But I’m a fighter. Kind of gotten addicted to fighting it.” He shifted his weight glancing between the two of them, “you two knuckleheads keep me grounded. Owen is my punching bag and sounding board, but he can’t always be there so as much as I don’t like sharing my darkness…just want to be the weird kid that is a bright spot in your life…but we are family…dark parts and light spots. I need you to laugh at my jokes even when they’re dark, especially when I’m in the darkness.”

He sat back down sighing. “I’m so familiar with darkness I can see it in you guys and I want to know you have each other as much as you have me. I want to know we’re not alone. You’re not alone. Eddi it bothers me how you act like Terry’s not here sometimes. I know you don’t like people, but we made a pact, and Terry cares about you just as much as I do.” His eyes turned from the ground back to hers. “When you were in the hospital you told me not to tell him, just say you were sick or whatever. Asked me to lie. So, I did… and you know what Terry did? He made you soup and asked me to go with him to drop it off.” He paused and glanced at Terry, “And you fool. You can give up drinking and smoking and all your vices but as long as you allow yourself to be locked up in your mind, you’re going to be alone and look like a pretentious bastard, like you don’t need anyone when you do…otherwise you wouldn’t be here right now.”

The uncomfortable weight that he just put on them caused them to avert their gazes back to the fire. They watched the tinder burning. Scotty was right and they knew it. Why was it so scary to let others in? How could they know him so well yet be completely blind to his darkness, was it because they were so consumed by their own?

Terry shifted his gaze to Eddi thinking about all that had transpired, “Why do you go by Edison?”

She swallowed staring hard at the fire before meeting his gaze. It was the first time she allowed herself to see the concern in his. “Cheri…Brings back bad memories.”

He nodded. “I don’t like being called Terrence. Don’t want to think about how people leave.”

Scotty moved his skateboard and laid back on the cement staring up at the decaying ceiling. “He didn’t leave you.”

“He’s gone.”

They sat quietly lost in their own thoughts, but somehow bonded on another level. They weren’t alone…or didn’t have to be.

“What if all our stars sang the same song?” Scott mumbled in a hopeful resonance.

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i-cant-sing · 3 years ago

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When will you bless us with more surgeon dabi 🥺

All AUs of Dabi I've ever created (and some that I haven't posted yet) always live in my mind rent free. So here's my most recent thoughts on Yandere Surgeon Dabi.

I'm imagining Dabi being in a bit of a good mood for once but that's flushed down the drain the moment he sees you laughing at a joke your colleague told you. Your male colleague. The opposite gender. The gender you're attracted to-

Anyways, it pisses him off and he decides to rain on everyone's parade, including yours. He gives the whole floor more patients and more grunt work, and you? You're given a verbal bitch slap for "goofing around" instead of doing your work. You try to defend yourself "Dabi (only you are allowed to refer to him with his first name) I was just laughing at a joke Simon told-" and Dabi just glares at you and says "oh yeah? Well, I don't really see what you're laughing about when your patients have been dying left and right. That's funny, isn't it? You fucking up general patient care and causing someone's loved one to die. Haha, love that my resident is truly shining." And he ignores the way your face fells and tears start forming in your eyes. "Get your fucking act together, Y/n."

Dabi went on with his hissy fit for over 2 weeks. He gave you dead end patients, signed you up for double shifts at the trauma ward, made you work overtime, had you assist him during surgeries even when you were on the verge of passing out from exhaustion, berated you in front of others even if you didn't do anything wrong and he still never forgot to bring up how your mistakes cost patients lives.

It was starting to get to you. Your body needed a break from the physical workload and mental beating Dabi was making you endure. At some point, you think you even lost your balance and ended up hitting your head against the sharp edge of a table. It hurt like hell and your friends suggested you to at least get a CT scan to make sure everything is okay. However when you went to the elevator to go down to CT, Dabi was already inside the elevator and asked why you were leaving his floor. When you said you were going to CT, he just blasted off again and asked you why you thought you could leave his patients in someone else's care when he put you in charge. So then you returned back to the wards and continued working.

Your body was getting tired and your eyes had even started twitching- a clear sign of your lack of sleep. You knew your body was close to shutting down and you also knew what Dabi's answer would be when you asked him to let you go home for the night.

He scoffed. "You need a break? I just finished up a 10 hour operation on your patient. The least you could do is monitor her until she wakes up. Or I can't you trust you not to mess up this time either?"

So you stayed the night, drank way too much coffee and energy drinks and kept a close eye on the patient. She woke up the next morning, and you had the nurses check in on her after you left. But you were far too tired to drive home, so you decided to sleep in the staff room. Only your head had just hit the pillow when your pager beeped.

"OT 3- STAT!"

You rushed off to the operation theatre because you knew that's the one Dabi was in charge of. And you didn't need him giving you trouble for not showing up.

You scrubbed in as fast as you could but the moment you stepped in, Dabi began scolding you for wasting precious time. Then he yelled at you to get your ass over here and start helping him instead of standing there idly.

The surgery went on for 10 hours and everything went fine until it was time to close him up. The patient suddenly went into cardiac arrest and no amount of drug Dabi injected him was helping. Just as Dabi was ready announce the time of death, you suddenly broke the patient's ribs and grabbed his heart and began giving it a cardiac massage. Everyone was in shock at what you'd done, and Dabi was ready to give it to you when suddenly they heard a pulse.

The heart began beating again and the patient survived. You grabbed the tools from Dabi and began closing him up quietly. And in that moment, Dabi really did admire you as a medical professional.

However, Dabi wanted to view you as more than a workplace buddy, that's why he was still mad at you.

"Y/n!" He yelled when you were washing your hands. "What the hell was that?! You don't get to make decisions like that without asking me first! That patient could've died on the table and I would've ended up with long paperwork to cover your ass-" Dabi stopped talking when he noticed you weren't moving. Face blank, body still, Dabi called your name over and over again before reaching over to nudge you. But that small poke had you tipping over and falling to the ground.

"Y/n!" Dabi immeadiately rushed to your side. He turned you over, trying to wake you up while checking your vitals. The commotion had some nurses rushing in. As soon as Dabi caught them, he pointed at them and yelled at them. "Get a fucking gurney here NOW!"

Turns out you'd passed out because of hypovolumic shock. But to get hypovolumic shock, you'd either have to lose a lot of blood or have internal bleeding when you're seriously injured.

After Dabi had stabilised you, he'd begun interrogating the few friends he'd allowed you to have on his floor and that's how he found out about your head hitting injury.

Now, Dabi will never admit it, but he feels slightly guilty for not letting you get the CT scan that day. In his defense, he didn't know it was for you. He thought that was just your excuse to get away from him for a while. Then again, you wouldn't need a brain scan if your tired body didn't fell in the first place.

Did I go too far? Dabi wondered. He knows how fragile you are, that's why he never lets you assist him on orthopaedic surgeries but still.

Anyways, Dabi had ordered a full bod my cheek work for you, including blood work. Your reports were pretty normal except for your Vitamin D and ferritin (iron) levels.

Dabi rolled his eyes. Explains why you're always so goddamn tired and lethargic.

He leaned back in his chair and watched over your sleeping form before writing down a prescription for nutritional supplements. He then opened up your brain scans and began looking through them.

Everything looks normal and he was about to put the scans away when he saw it. A small opacity.

A tumor.

Dabi stopped breathing. Did you- did you know? No, you couldn't. You wouldn't have hid something like this from him.

Although, this was a small tumor, it's location in your brain was more concerning. It was pressing upon areas of the brain that were integral to formation of memories and performing skills.

The more Dabi looked at the white area on the scan, the more his heart sank. This may be small, but it might be growing at a rapid rate. If only you'd just gotten a scan earlier-

"I'm going to get a CT scan for-"

"No."

Shit. Dabi remembered how he told you not to get a CT scan because he thought you were trying to leave him. If he'd allowed you, you would've seen the tumor earlier and asked him for help and not die-

Dabi grabbed your hand. He won't let you die, he won't. He'll perform the surgery himself, remove your tumor and then the two of you can laugh about it later when you're in his bed, hands resting on your baby bump.

For now, all he can do is pray that the tumor isn't cancerous.

Dabi pulled out his phone and shot a text to the oncologist.

"Dad, I need a favour."

Enji Todoroki, the head of the hospital and the number 1 oncologist in the country.

Reader in the hospital bathroom when Dabi told her to clean herself up and look "presentable" in front of the patients but won't let her go home to get some sleep and shower:

#yandere bnha #bnha headcanons #yandere mha #bnha imagines #yandere dabi #yandere doctor dabi #yandere bnha doctors #yandere enji todoroki

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morimakesfanart · 2 years ago

Text

Sindria's Prophet #28

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [Intermission] [25] [26] [27]

[AO3] [wattpad]

~POV Mori~ This time when I entered the White Capricorn Tower I wasn't nervous so I could actually pay attention to where I was going. Most of the political work happened here, including meetings, and audiences with King Sinbad. The people at the front desk weren't surprised to see me and one of them guided me to the where the others were waiting. We passed by many people that were exiting from the morning assemblies. After my official Announcement as the Prophet, I'd probably be attending them too. When we reached the meeting room, my guide opened the door, revealing King Sinbad and the 7 Generals. Some of them were still finding their seats having just exited the assemblies as well.

Ja'far was the first to greet me. "Lady Mori, good morning."

I returned his greeting with a smile. "Good morning." Since Ja'far had made a big deal about rumors I wanted to show off my outfit to him first anyway. Some of my new clothes and shoes were delivered just after breakfast so I had plenty of time to pick this out. I chose a white tie collar blouse, mint green vest, gold silk tie belt, and indigo high water pants -there wasn't any purple on me to spread more rumors.

He gave my outfit a cursory glance and froze. "Why are you wearing purple?"

"I'm not." Was he color blind or something?

"You're pants are dark purple." He looked shocked -not upset.

Please no. "This is indigo, not purple." I pull on my pants with one hand. This wasn't the first time I'd had to defend the color as being neither blue nor purple. "I'd guess these were originally violet or something and then were dyed over with blue -making them indigo..." I didn't want to be the source of rumors or cause problems!

The General's eyes glazed over for a moment as if he was calculating something. His gaze turned towards the King standing at the table in the middle of the room.

His silence was making me nervous. "If you think this is also a problem then I'll stop wearing this color too."

"It's fine." Ja'far responded to me with a positive tone. "The rumors started spreading before you started wearing purple. Eventually everyone will see if they are true or not. Besides, there are more important things than Palace gossip, aren't there?" ((This is a man who has accepted his Fate lol))

Then why did he make such a big deal of it the previous day???

After his last statement I couldn't continue the conversation. I followed Ja'far in joining the rest of the group at the table, and exchanged pleasantries with the others. --- His Majesty was the one to start the meeting. "Yesterday, Mori told us more about the war that will lead to the 1st Calamity." The mood in the room shifted. "The growing tensions between the Riem and Kou Empires will finally reach a breaking point when both attack the same country." The older Generals exchanged a look that was different than the shock of the others. "Mori did tell us which country they will use as their battle ground, however it's very possible that a different country could be chosen in this version of Fate." What was he saying?? Magnostadt being antagonistic was why both Empires chose to attack it independently! Sinbad gestured with one of his hands. "I don't want the Alliance to treat that country any differently than it does now, so I've chosen to withhold which it is unless it becomes clear we really are on the same path."

Sinbad was hiding Magnostadt's involvement? Why? It couldn't be because of the reason he said. Was he hiding it from Yam? She would obviously advocate to prevent the war from happening there. The waves made me feel like I was on the right track, but I could tell I was missing something. Why did Sinbad want the war to happen in Magnostadt? I didn't have time to figure it out in the middle of the meeting. Besides, if he was hiding Magnostadt's involvement then I had to change how I was going to talk about this. I had practiced the scripts I made for myself yesterday until it was too dark to see. And now they were mostly useless.

"Mori," Sinbad turned everyone's attention to me, "would you explain what we're up against?" How could he smile like that after making such a big change?? Sure, Magnostadt wasn't the one to declare war at first, but it was still at the center of the conflict!

Damnit! I require structure, and prior warnings to function at my best. The only reason I hadn't made a fool of myself so far was because I knew the original manga, and anime, and a bunch of the supplementary material, so I knew what to expect from the plot and characters! Getting upset and throwing a tantrum wasn't going to help me. I needed to break things down, and start with whatever was the simplest to explain. I gripped the silk coming from the knot at my waist. I would just state the facts in chronological order like I had practiced while leaving out the Magnostadt parts.

I took a slow breath to ground myself. "I'd like to start with a quick clarification for something I said yesterday, along with a summary of the events. I said yesterday that the 3rd country was not the one to declare war, but technically they were." That piqued Sinbad and Ja'far's interest. "A year from now, the Kou Empire will give them time to decide to join them willing. Because of an internal issue the Kou Empire won't make good on their threat until a year later. At that time the Reim Empire will give the 3rd country the same ultimatum, except they will not give them time to decide. The 3rd country chooses war over peaceful surrender."

The two I talked to yesterday gained a look of understanding.

I continued, "Once the war is under way, Riem will send out their Fanalis Corp. Captain Muu Alexius will be the one in charge. He is a Dungeon Capturer, but his tenacity and strength along with the rest of the Fanalis Corp. is a much bigger issue than his Djinn." Should I explain Riem's weapons or the Kou first? I flipped a coin in my head. "The troops from the Kou Empire will be lead by the young prince Ren Kouha. He will later receive backup from Ren Kouen." I caught the attention of a few of them at the mention of Kouen -unsurprising since he was considered Sinbad's biggest competition. It also meant that all of the 3 biggest forces (including the Alliance) were going to be in one place at one time, for the first time.

Ja'far raised his palm and called my name to get my attention. "Will Lord Kouen arrive before or after Riem uses the flying machines you told us about?"

"'Flying machines?'" A few of the Generals asked some variety of the same question.

Yam perked up "Oh! Is this why you brought that scroll to the Black Libra Tower yesterday?"

I answered, "Yes." Someone requested an explanation, only this time Yam was the one to do most of the explaining while I narrowed down which type of flying machines would be used in the war. I continued with, "From their blimps, they drop explosives that rival fire magic."

This time Drakon cut in. "They made these advancements without magic?"

"That's right," I confirmed. Yam asked for how the explosives could be so powerful to compare to magic, so I explained about the combining of elements that were similar to fireworks, but with deadly purpose. I also explained that although I know which chemical elements are involved in many explosives, it's not something I know to any level of depth, so there isn't much I can do to help there.

"Hold on a second." Sharkkan had his arms crossed. "What does any of this have to do with the 1st Calamity? It just sounds like a war, you know?" Some of the other Generals agreed with his question.

King Sinbad explained before I could. "It is that 3rd country's involvement that leads to the 1st Calamity. Keeping it out of the conversation will lower the risks of bringing up the taboo." He shot me a smile as he said it.

Was that why he was hiding Magnostadt's involvement? If it wasn't, it was a very convenient coverup. I supposed it could at least be part of the reason.

Sinbad, Ja'far and the two older Generals led the next bit of the conversation. There was a time when I hyperfixated on the history of war tactics, but I was completely out of my depth here. Magic and metal vessels changed a lot. I answered any questions I could without bringing up Magnostadt -including the response of the Seven Sea's Alliance. Everyone agreed that we would not mention the 1st Calamity so there would be no risk of mentioning the existence of the taboo. The meeting seemed to be coming to an end, then Sinbad shifted the conversation in another direction. Sinbad watched me as he asked, "Aside from the war and the 1st Calamity, are there any other topics that would risk touching upon the taboo information? You mentioned yesterday that the people of Sassan have a higher risk."

The rest of the room looked at Spartos who looked at me.

It wasn't what I had planned to talk about for this meeting, but I would do my best. We were going to have to talk about this sooner rather than later anyway. "All of the World's leaders are currently in a race to research the past through the people of Toran and the writing from the Dungeons. You should have noticed that every country, religion, and legend in this world traces back to the Kingdom King Solomon ruled over." Sinbad and a few of the Generals gave confirmation. "I know that forgotten past from the Fate I've read, but a lot of the parts that have been lost to time involve the taboo. Because the information is being sought after as part of the race for global supremacy, it will be a lot harder for someone to ask me questions about it without King Sinbad's permission. It's only because of Sassan's religion that I might be asked about it anyway. It isn't known as fact yet that King Solomon is the first Knight King in their legends." I hesitated about how to continue. I knew what I wanted to say, but not how I should say it.

Spartos’ eyes were the size of dinner plates. "King Solomon is the first Knight King??" The normally reserved red head looked like he was struggling to stay in his seat. "There are many who thought that could be the case. But you're saying it's true??"

I figured this could be shocking to him -at least it wasn't going poorly. "Yes. That's why I'm so worried. Questions about King Solomon will probably be unavoidable with your people." As nervous as I was that I might say something I shouldn't, I was a bit excited to be talking about this with someone.

King Sinbad asked a question that cooled the hype I had just started building. "What parts of King Solomon's life involve the taboo?" He was probably trying to figure out when they could and couldn't ask about. Still, the question made me nervous. Sinbad was smart.

I answered, giving as little information as possible. "It occurred towards the end of his life." --- ~POV Sinbad~ The waves rose from Mori's words and crashed into King Sinbad. These were the same waves that hit him the other night when he had dinner with her, and then discussed Fate with Ja'far afterwards. The taboo was definitely tied to the fall of King Solomon's kingdom -he could feel it. Mori didn't have to stay it directly. When they captured Zepar's Dungeon, the Djinn admitted that his Master -King Solomon- was betrayed by his own people, but didn't say why he was betrayed. No one alive knew what caused that Kingdom to end, the reason seemed to be missing from every record, and the Djinn were tight lipped whenever they talked about King Solomon -let alone his downfall. Learning that the taboo happened at the same time was the final piece Sinbad was missing. King Solomon stood on top of the world, used the taboo, and his citizens killed him for it.

Sinbad's blood was cold and his stomach tied in knots, although he kept his composure on the outside. Mori had said that they would originally learn the taboo after the 1st Calamity, and 3 years later someone would use it and Sinbad would die. He had hoped he was wrong, but this new information only proved the theory more. In 5 years, Sinbad was going to repeat Solomon's path because he thought he was protected by Fate and couldn't possibly suffer the same consequences, only to be killed for it just the same. The King's candidate sighed. He was still accepting that he wasn't a chosen one. Continuing to think so would lead him to decisions that would hurt the very people he was trying to protect, and he would die before he could make it up to them.

King Sinbad may have been the one to call this meeting but his thoughts fixated on this new information. He was barely following the rest of the conversation. The Generals continued asking the Prophet questions about King Solomon's time only to be given mostly non-answers anyway. Then they started talking about customs from the different countries in the Alliance that would help Mori understand their people better.

Ja'far started wrapping up the meeting. "It seems like we have everything figured out." He looked around the table, "There's two more days before the Announcement, and Mori is introduced to the Alliance, so you have until then to think of anything we might have missed."

"Um..." Mori started nervously. "I actually have something else I'd like to talk about..."

Ja'far asked, "What is it?"

Mori flailed her hands as she answered. "Well, I had a new vision yesterday-"

"You had a new vision??" "What did you see??" "Didn't you say you can't read the Fate of a world you are in?"

The Prophet jolted. "That's true, but I can still read the Fate of versions of this world that I'm not in."

Sharrkan put a hand on his head.

After Mori's statement had enough time to sink in, Sinbad encouraged her to continue. "What happened in your vision?" He had thought she wouldn't be able to have any more visions. His mind focused. What was it that she wanted to bring it up during this meeting? Was it about the future war?

((The next 2 paragraphs summarize the side comic for those that haven't read it))

The Prophet started gesturing while she explained. "So, Sharrkan got bored with his job and asked Spartos to switch with him sometimes." Everyone looked to the 2 in question. "But Spartos refused because it wouldn't work with Sharrkan's fighting style, and Spartos isn't very good at talking to people because of all of the religious doctrines he follows. Sharrkan accepted that and then talked with Pisti about it.

"They both felt bad for him and wanted to help him get more comfortable with socializing. Sharrkan said it would be wrong for them to force Spartos to go against his religion." Sharrkan mumbled something in agreement with his vision-self. Mori's face started to turn red as she continued the story and failed to make eye contact with anyone. "So Pisit found a work around and prepared a special shop for Spartos that only had courtesans that were neither men nor women." Sinbad could easily see how Pisti would come to that conclusion given how she wanted to play with Spartos during Maharagon and other festivals. But what did this have to do with the Calamities, or the Alliance? "Spartos was really confused because he'd never known about such people before, but after a little coxing he tried talking to them." It had taken Sinbad a bit to understand those people, but in the end he realized they were just people and the world was more interesting for having them in it. "It was the first time I'd seen any people like that in this world in any of my visions before too, so I was really surprised! I had seen several gender nonconforming people in this world, but none that were explicitly outside the binary." Mori finished the story and started rambling.

"Hold on a second." Ja'far stopped Mori's rant. "The fact that you are still getting visions is important, but what does this have to do with today's meeting?"

"Oh! um well." Mori looked around the room before closing her eyes. When she opened them she kept her gaze on the table and spoke with a controlled tone. "I wanted help representing myself in a way that would have my gender more easily recognized... and advice for how I should present myself to be respected by the Alliance because... Even though I look like this I am neither a man nor woman too."

Everyone around the table frozen as they watched the Prophet. 'Oh!'

--- ~POV Mori~ I hid my hands under the table, and gripped my silk sash to stim in an attempt to stay grounded.

"AH" Pisti slapped the table with both hands and jumped up from her seat. "THAT'S WHY YOU PICKED CLOTHES FROM EVERY SECTION!" She stared daggers at me that stabbed straight into my heart. "Why didn't you tell me??"

My voice was weak when I answered. "I didn't know people like me were recognized in this world. I often present myself as a woman because I know I can pull it off well and I enjoy doing it, so was going to go along with tha-"

"AUGH Fine! But you have to go out with me again so you can get better clothes!"

'What?' She wanted to go shopping with me again when she kept complaining about me going into the men's section? 'Oh.' It was because she didn't know. Since Pisti was the one to put that shop together, she was bound to be an ally in my fanfiction. The anxiety that had started coiling in me released. Pisti may have set me up for a lot of rumors with the purple clothes she had picked out for me, but she was the first to accept me. I was willing to give her another chance for that. "Okay." I could feel my face heating up. I held back the emotion starting to build; I'd have time cry in relief later.

Ja'far was the next to speak up. "Should I stop calling you 'Lady Prophet?'" His eyebrows were creased with worry.

"Oh! No. That's fine since I know it's coming from a place of respect and not from the intent of gendering me." I gave myself a moment to find the right words. "I generally prefer they/them pronouns and other gender neutral terms like the prefix 'Mx.' But I actually don't mind and even enjoy being called 'Lady' or 'Sir' and gendered pronouns like "she/her" as long as they aren't being used to hold me to a gendered standard. Gender is all performance for me and those terms are like a part of the performance."

"Wait!" Ja'far turned to Sinbad startled. "Sin, your book! You wrote that Mori is a woman. It will be harder to explain to readers later if you don't fix it now."

Sinbad jumped up. "You're right! They only started production a couple of days ago, so there won't be too many wasted copies."

The King waved a hand at everyone at the table. "This meeting is over for now." His serious expression turned to me. "Mori, come with me to fix this. I want to make sure I don't miss something."

'He's going to make sure that I'm represented properly in his book.' My heart swelled as I stood up to join him. "Yes!"

I normally don't come out to people I know in person unless I already know their opinion of LGBT and nonbinary. Both men and women have been offended by me not identifying as a woman because I have a body type and face idealized for women, but I didn't choose this body nor was I the cause of society glorifying this type of appearance for women. Even though I had that vision of NB being recognized in Sindria, and know this is a fanfiction I was writing, there was still so much that could go wrong. True self indulgence was clearly writing your favorite characters affirming your gender (and sexuality soon enough). I'd be fine.

((Now that the other characters know, the pronouns they use for Mori will switch around from this point on to fit the mood. I will also use whatever pronoun makes more clear who's who in a scene. Please let me know if this gets confusing at points; this is my first time writing a nonbinary character like this in written form so I am still learning. Also, I do use the neo pronouns e/em/er. Me and my sibling have been using those pronouns since before we learned the term 'non-binary' and about neo pronouns. I totally get how they can be confusing to adapt to. I'm fine with they/she.

In other news: I will be adding Sindria's Prophet art to my Patreon. I did a poll over there and so far everyone is fine with it so here's how it will work in case anyone is interested:

-Tier $1 would get the finished art for each chapter as I finish each image. -Tier$2 would get the same as Tier$1 + my concept art. ((I don't often have sketches when I'm done the full illustrations since I don't have any editors for it, and just keep refining the image until it's done. If I do end up having an under sketch for an image I would post it.))

Anyone who joins will also get the same things for my og comics. Any NSFW art will not appear on my Patreon because it's connected to my KO-fi which doesn't allow that stuff. BTW I have seen that people left comments and messages that I haven't responded to yet! I will get to them soon, I promise!))

#magi prophet fanfic #king sinbad #sinbad magi #sinbad x oc #sinbadxoc #magi fanart #magi fanfiction #magi sinbad

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belphies-wife · 4 years ago

Text

What Naps Are Like With Them (Everyone)

In celebration of my first post kinda blowing up, I wrote a little something for all the characters, including Luke! (platonically for him, of course)

Again, thank you guys for all the love on my Satan Reacting to Montero fic <3 I’ll be working on requests after this.

Also, no beta we die like Lilith.

»»————-　♔　————-««

Lucifer

➼ Never sleeps, e v e r

➼ His brothers would destroy the House of Lamentation in his sleep

➼Took a while to convince him to take a nap with you because of this

➼ His brothers listen to you more than they listen to their older brother, so you begged them to behave for a few hours so that their older brother can rest for once

➼ You will use your pact if you have to, just please let this man sleep

➼ You made sure to pick a day where you know Lucifer hadn’t slept the night before due to his workload

➼ Seriously, you had to talk to Diavolo about that

➼ You both got into your comfiest pajamas and played some soft classical music for ultimate relaxation

➼ You thought about taking a picture of hm while he slept

➼ He saw it coming and had you sleep facing away from him with his arms wrapped around you so you couldn’t turn around

➼ Smart bastard

➼ If you complain about it he’ll laugh at you

➼ Hey, at least you get cuddles

➼ Luci here looks so calm and peaceful while he sleeps, it’s adorable

➼ No wonder everyone tries to take a picture of him sleeping

➼ He’s a heavy sleeper, so you end up having to wake him up after a few hours

➼ He thanks you

➼ He’s well-rested and in a good mood for the rest of the day

➼ His brothers obviously take advantage of that

»»————-　♔　————-««

Mammon

➼ Unlike most of his brothers, he actually has a decent sleep schedule (most of the time)

➼ However, if you wanted to take a nap with him, he wouldn’t say no

➼ Well, he’d say no, but then say yes immediately after

➼ “Whaddya mean you wanna take a nap with me? Do I look like Belphie!?”

➼ Blushing like crazy while complaining, as usual

➼ “Fine, I’ll go nap with him, then.”

➼ “Oi! Come back here! I changed my mind, I wanna take a nap!”

➼ Tsundere baby

➼ Obviously, you tease him about it

➼ “Jealous, huh? I thought that was Levi’s thing.”

“Shut up! Are we gonna cuddle or not?”

“I said nap, not cuddle.”

➼ Cue the pout

➼ The definition of the 🥺 face

➼ Please love this child

➼ “I’m kidding, of course we’re gonna cuddle.”

➼ Usually a little spoon

➼ Unless he’s in a jealous mood

➼ If he is, he will hold on to you like his life depends on it.

➼ More teasing, obviously

➼ If you think about it, Greed and Envy are very similar

➼ Poor baby wants love

➼ New drinking game: take a shot every time I call Mammon a baby

➼ I shot of water, I know you’re dehydrated

➼ Anyways, naps with Mammon = cuddles

➼ Either you’re holding him to you or he’s holding you to him

➼ f o r e h e a d k i s s e s

➼ Mammon gets nightmares about what happened with Belphie sometimes, so lots of comfort cuddles

»»————-　♔　————-««

Leviathan

➼ “Levi, did you sleep at all last night?”

➼ Obviously not

➼ He was up all night binge watching the latest season of “The Magical Ruri Hanai: Demo Girl”’s spin-off series

➼ Why would you even ask?

➼ “Levi, did you stay up all night?”

➼ He looked away, a little embarrassed. “Uh, yeah.”

➼ “Levi, honey. You need to sleep. It’s not good for your health to be staying up so late.”

➼ Leviathan.exe has stopped working

➼ You’re worrying about him?????

➼ And you’re calling him honey?????

➼ Are you trying to kill him?????

➼ “You must be exhausted. Wanna take a nap?”

“Oh, uh. Yeah. I guess I could use a nap.”

“Alright. We should go to my room, since there’s more room on my bed than in your tub.”

➼ Wait you meant a nap together????

➼ You’re really trying to kill him.

➼ Usually, he’d make fun of you and call you a normie.

➼ But he was currently too busy dying.

➼ If somehow you managed to resurrect him and get him to your room to nap, then you’d know this shy boi is a little spoon.

➼ Does this really come as a surprise to anyone? It shouldn’t.

➼ He’s blushing like crazy the whole time.

➼ “Levi, if you can't sleep with me here, I can leave.”

“No!”

➼ He does sleep eventually.

➼ Sweet baby cuddles you in his sleep.

➼ Wholesome af

»»————-　♔　————-««

Satan

➼ As the most responsible one in the family, he has a pretty good sleep schedule, so he doesn’t normally take naps.

➼ However, if you ask him to, he’ll agree.

➼ If it makes you happy he’ll do it <3

➼ He’s not really touchy-feely and won’t initiate any cuddling.

➼ Dude that you asked to nap because you were tired and wanted to sleep.

➼ Nah bro, you just want cuddles.

➼ While he won’t initiate any cuddles, if you make it more obvious that you want some, he’ll give them to you.

➼ Big spoon

➼ If you want him to be the small spoon, he will, but he’ll be flustered af.

»»————-　♔　————-««

Asmodeus

➼ “Asmo, wanna sleep together?”

➼ Could you have made a poorer word choice?

➼ No, you could not.

➼ This boy literally made the lenny face.

➼ “Asmo, I meant a nap.”

“Well, I suppose that’ll satisfy me for now.”

➼ You then proceeded to smack him with a pillow.

“Hey! Don’t mess up my hair!”

➼ You had to wait for him to take off his makeup and change his clothes and stuff.

➼ It’s a process.

➼ Cuddle’s tf out of you.

➼ He’ll be the big spoon or the little spoon. It doesn’t matter to him, so you can decide.

»»————-　♔　————-««

Beelzebub

➼ Takes naps with Belphie a lot and thought it was cute that you also wanted to nap.

➼ Pre-nap snack first, though.

➼ Then he’s ready.

➼ Sweet boi will enjoy the nap whether he’s a big spoon or little spoon.

➼ If you’re happy, he’s happy <3

➼ You kiss his face a lot.

➼ He thinks you’re the cutest little human ever when you do that.

➼ I’d say soft Beel, but when is he ever not soft?

➼ Not counting the custard incident

➼ He Likes to kiss the top of your head while you sleep.

➼ He definitely snores.

➼ It takes some getting used to, but you’re not gonna let keep you from cuddling your big boi.

➼ It honestly feels really safe and comforting to just be wrapped up in his arms.

➼ Equally comforting to have his head resting against you.

➼ Overall just really soft.

»»————-　♔　————-««

Belphegor

➼ You don’t even need to ask. He’s the king of naps.

➼ Being around Belphie for an extended period of time makes you sleepy.

➼ You’re not sure if it’s because he’s sleep or if it’s because he has some sort of sleep-power.

➼ Any time you cuddle you end up taking a nap.

➼ Do I even have to say it?

➼ S m a l l s p o o n

➼ The smallest spoon.

➼ As the youngest, he’s the most spoiled, so he’s really really clingy and just expects you to drop whatever you’re doing at any given time to nap with him.

➼ I mean, you’d probably do it even if he didn’t expect you to.

➼ He does this adorable thing when he’s sleepy and he sees you nearby where he’ll go up to you and wrap his arms around you and rest his head against your shoulder and just say “Sleep, please.”

➼ You will stop whatever you’re doing no matter what and go up to the attic to nap with him.

➼ Not an exaggeration. It’s happened while Lucifer was talking to you before he he was p i s s e d.

➼ It was obviously intentional

➼ But how can you say no to his cute face?

➼ He seems to be able to keep you from having nightmares and you sleep 100x better with him than on your own

➼ Softest boi

»»————-　♔　————-««

Simeon

➼ While he may dress like a stripper, this man is an angel and is pure™

➼ Anything you want, you’ll get. How can he ever deny you a thing?

➼ He can’t.

➼ You want naps? You get naps.

➼ You want cuddles? You get cuddles.

➼ You want sleepy kisses? You get sleepy kisses.

➼ Hotel? Trivago.

➼ But seriously, sleepy kisses are definitely a thing.

➼ Especially forehead kisses.

➼ Big spoon. He likes to hold you.

➼ Sweet boy loves you so much 🥺

»»————-　♔　————-««

Luke (Platonically)

➼ Purgatory Hall has weekly movie nights, and they invite you over a lot to join them.

➼ You and Solomon have a very long list of human world movies you want Simeon to watch, but the poor man can’t figure out how Devilflix works for the life of him, so group movie nights are the only way.

➼ Not that any of you mind, of course.

➼ Luke begged Simeon to let him join you guys (he has a pretty strict bedtime)

➼ Simeon lets him occasionally if the movie is appropriate.

➼ Luke insisted on sitting next to you and sharing any treats he made that day.

➼ Poor baby ended up falling asleep not even halfway through the movie.

➼ Solomon obviously made fun of him.

➼ “Looks like it’s naptime for the little chihuahua.”

“Don’t tease him!” You say, defending Luke.

➼ At some point, Luke shifts so that he’s leaning against you in his sleep.

➼ You coo at how cute the ‘lil cherub looks.

➼ Aaaand then you proceed to fall asleep as well.

➼ You woke up the next day still on the couch. You were pretty confused since Simeon usually carries anyone who falls asleep to their bed (or the guest room, in your case).

➼ Then you realize Luke still asleep and wrapped around you.

➼ HE IS THE MOST PRECIOUS BABY EVER

➼ You assumed Simeon didn’t want to attempt moving one of you and risk waking the other so he just left you too

➼ Whatever it was, you went back to sleep with the little cherub snuggling you

»»————-　♔　————-««

Solomon

➼ Purgatory Hall sleepover!

➼ Everyone had already fallen asleep, so you asked Solomon if he’d be alright with you two sleeping together.

➼ Not a good idea.

➼ You’re both settled in his bed and you’re about to drift off to sleep when this silly little sorcerer decided to tickle you.

➼ You s h r e i k

➼ “Solomon!”

➼ “Keep your voice down, dear. You wouldn’t want Simeon hearing and getting the wrong idea, now. Would you?”

➼ The s m a c c you gave him though-

➼ “Can I sleep now, or are you gonna keep bothering me?”

“You know you love me.” He grinned.

“Well, duh. But I also love sleep.”

➼ He does let you sleep after that.

➼ You fall asleep first, and one look at your sleeping face and he falls in love with you all over again.

➼ You’re so p r e c i o u s.

➼ He held you close to him as you slept, pressing soft, featherlight kisses against our forehead and nose, careful not to wake you.

➼ He’s a bitch until you fall asleep, pretty much.

»»————-　♔　————-««

Diavolo

➼ It wasn’t intentional for you to fall asleep, really.

➼ You’d had a long day, and you had been sitting with the demon prince at his palace as he told you about his day over a cup of tea.

➼ It wasn’t like what he was saying was boring.

➼ No, it’s just that you were so tired, and the sofa you were sitting on was so comfy, and Diavolo was talking so much.

➼ It didn’t help that the tea that Barbatos had prepared was especially soothing.

➼ You couldn’t help yourself. You dozed off.

➼ Diavolo continued talking, and probably would’ve gone on for a long while without even noticing if Barbatos hadn’t cleared his throat and gestured towards your sleeping form.

➼ If it had been anyone else, he would have deemed it disrespectful.

➼ But it was you, and he had realized a long time ago that he was incapable of being upset with you.

➼ “It seems they’ve had a tiring day, my Lord. I suggest you let them rest.” Said Barbatos.

“Of course. I wouldn’t dream of disturbing them.” Carefully, he made his way over to you and pried the teacup from our hands so that you didn’t move and break it in your sleep.

➼ Then, he removed his suit jacket and draped it over you like a blanket.

➼ Not gonna lie, even Barbatos was a bit shooketh.

➼ He didn’t say anything, though.

➼ Diavolo kissed your forehead lightly and had Barbatos bring him the last of his paperwork for the day, which he finished quickly while remaining by your side.

➼ After that he picked up our still sleeping form and brought you to his room where he tucked you in.

➼ He sent Lucifer a text saying that you would be staying the night at the palace then went to sleep after answering a few emails.

➼ He snores loudly, but you somehow managed to sleep through it.

»»————-　♔　————-««

Barbatos

➼ Diavolo set up another palace retreat (because I said so)

➼ You had been assigned a room with Luke and Beelzebub that time.

➼ It went good at first, and everyone was sent off to sleep at around 10 p.m.

➼ At some point in the middle of the night, you awoke from a particularly nasty nightmare.

➼ You were more scared than usual when you woke up, since the room you were in was not your room at the House of Lamentation.

➼ It took a while for you to realize where you were and calm down, but even then you were to afraid to sleep.

➼ Slowly, you exited the room, careful not to disturb Luke and Beel.

➼ You made your way to Barbatos’ room and knocked softly.

➼ Briefly, you wondered if he was asleep, but then he opened the door.

➼ You silently panicked when you realized your hair was a mess and your clothing was rumpled from sleep, but your disheveled appearance didn’t seem to faze him.

➼ “Hello. I was just about to prepare for bed. Is something the matter?”

➼ Suddenly, you felt very, very silly to come to such an ancient, powerful being for help with a little nightmare.

➼ “Sorry, it’s nothing. I apologize for bothering you. I’ll leave.” You said, your cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

“You never bother me, my dear. Would you like to come in?” He asked, opening the door wider and stepping aside.

“Yes. I would like that.”

“Is something bothering you?”

You blushed. “I had a nightmare. I couldn’t go back to sleep after that. I know, it’s silly.”

“Of course it isn’t.”

“Can I... Can I stay here with you tonight?”

“If it would make you feel better, you may.”

➼ Barbatos tucked you in then sat next to you, gently running his hands through your hair. He began singing an old song in some ancient, forgotten language. His voice was soft and soothing as he sang, and you found yourself unable to stay awake even if you tried.

➼ “Goodnight, my dear.” He whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

»»————-　♔　————-««

Thank you so much for reading!

Request a Fic/Headcanon || Obey Me Masterlist

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sleeping-on-cracking-ice · 4 years ago

Note

Hey! Can you write something with Chishiya and Y/N when she almost died in game beacuse of Niragi but didn't tell anyone about this (he tripped her on purpouse or smth). Chishiya finds her up on the roof few days later really anxious+crying beacuse her visa is ending and she is scared that Niragi will come and play the same game as her and will try to do something bad. Chishiya becames really protective over her especially when he sees her bruised knees.

Here you go!

Comfort Zone | Shuntaro Chishiya

{Alice In Borderland Masterlist}

Character(s): Chishiya (ft. Niragi, OC’s, Hatter)

Summary: You came close to dying due to being attacked by Niragi, and you fear it will happen again during the next game. Chishiya notices your anxiety and tries his best to prevent it from happening.

Warnings: mention of murder, swearing, blood, violence (punching)

Word Count: 3.9k

*reader is female

“Just my luck,” you groaned out, lifting yourself to your feet by using a chair nearby for leverage. “Not only am I clumsy as fuck, I’m also stuck with a group of murderers.”

Hatter had suggested you go with a few of the militants for the next game, as he wished for them to test you to see if you were capable enough to join them.

It was a hearts game called Capture The Flag. It was very self explanatory. You had to capture the opposite team’s flag and bring it back to your base without getting killed by them. The game would continue until a flag was captured, and the losing team would have their small bomb strapped to their chest explode as soon as the flag was returned to the team’s base. So theoretically, you could die at any second. And if that wasn’t stressful enough, everyone carried weapons, ranging from machete’s to revolvers, so you were on high alert.

You were on the same team as a muscular militant woman named Ren and a much younger kid (he looked around fifteen years old) called Minato. But of course, Niragi had to be placed on your team, bringing you nothing but more trouble.

The room you stood in was dark and ominous. You managed to trip over a few shards of glass and impact on the ground heavily, causing your hip to throb in pain as you attempt to recover from the fall.

You had been separated from your group. You managed to sneak off without them noticing, just rather being on your own than with others. You thought you had a better chance by yourself anyway, as no one was there to betray you.

In the Borderland, you didn’t know who to trust, so you kept to yourself.

The brightness of your game phone flashed a light green, reminding you of what colour team you were on. You had to search for a base that was illuminated by a blue light and take the flag that was supposedly meant to be there. But so far, you hadn’t seen any indication of the other team. You hadn’t even seen any of the other players now that you thought about it.

You made your way out of the empty room you had just checked, peeking around the corner down the hall before stepping out of the doorframe. The small bomb strapped to your chest over your shirt felt heavy on your frame, especially knowing that it held your life in its hands.

You sighed loudly and rubbed your hands together to relieve the tension in your muscles slightly. You had to be close, surely. You had been walking around the abandoned hospital for ages, as if you hadn’t at least walked past the enemy’s base and missed it somehow.

Just as you were about to turn the corner to the main corridor, a whispered grunt made you stop in your tracks. You held your breath and pressed yourself against the cold wall next to you, trying to listen to any movements they make.

The sounds of rustling met your ears, making you frown. It sounded like someone was trying to find something in their pocket, moving around the objects until they’ve found what they need.

You slowly peeked one eye around the corner, making sure not to accidentally hit the wall or fall forwards in fear of the person being an enemy player. Good news, it wasn’t. But seeing someone on your team wasn’t much reassurance either, as all three of them seemed to be clinically insane.

Niragi was crouching over a dead body. A game phone was thrown to the side on the ground a few feet away, emitting a bright blue light. The dead person must have been on the blue team.

The blood pooled around the body, Niragi’s boot being in one of the puddles.

‘Why didn’t I hear the gunshots?’ you asked yourself, watching as Niragi rummaged through the pockets of the guy’s jacket. He was probably looking for another weapon or perhaps something to assist him in the game.

Your eyebrows furrowed when you noticed a slight blue tinge on the fabric of Niragi’s shirt. You turned your head the other way down the hall, eyes lighting up at the sight of a bright fluorescent blue light coming from around the corner. That must’ve been the enemies base.

You glanced back quickly to Niragi, noting he was busy with the corpse, still searching through their pockets. Perhaps you could make it if you were quiet enough.

You slowly lifted a foot while keeping your eyes pinned to the man down the hall, ready to dive back behind the wall if he decided to turn around. When your whole body had left the comfort of the darkened hallway you came from, you turned and quickly shuffled down the hall towards the light, looking over your shoulder every now and then.

When you had turned the corner, you let out a sigh in relief. “Fuck,” you rasped out, wiping your sweating brow with the back of your wrist. “If only I came with Chishiya, I wouldn’t be so cautious.”

You entered a room a few steps in front of you that had a door slightly ajar with the blue light pushing through. You squinted your eyes as you opened the door at the brightness of the light, covering your eyes and hissing lightly.

When your eyes adjusted, you felt a euphoric feeling fill your body when you caught sight of the blue flag resting against the wall. You immediately scrambled over and gripped the wood, feeling the sweet ecstasy of victory and being able to live another few days.

You walked out of the room flag in hand. But as soon as you exited the door, your game phone rang loudly, making you freeze in your spot.

“Green Team has now obtained Blue Flag.”

Your breath became lodged in your throat and you felt your fist tighten on the flag pole. If the game announced it to the rest of the players, they were going to come after you.

Your fear was proven correct when you heard loud footsteps down the hall, making its way to your position. You knew it was Niragi, but the fact that he was on your team gave you slight reassurance. He wouldn’t hurt someone he’s meant to be working with, right?

You couldn’t be so sure, so you pulled out the fairly sized knife that you had sneaked into your pocket before leaving for the game. There was nowhere you could run. Down the hall was the only exit you had.

Before you knew it, the angered face of Niragi turned the corner and you locked eyes. He glanced down at the large knife you held at your side, then at the flag. A smirk painted on his face and he chuckled cockily.

“You think you can defend yourself with that piece of shit?” he asked you, taking a few threatening steps towards your frame. Your feet remained planted on the ground, trying not to appear as panicked as you actually were. “Everyone’s going to come here, and you’re going to fend them off with a kitchen knife?”

You felt belittled from his mocking, eyebrows furrowing in frustration. “The fuck else am I supposed to do?” you asked, pointing the tip of the knife in his direction.

Silence filled the air as you and Niragi had a stare down. The grip he held on his rifle tightened whenever you shifted, never failing to make your heart skip a fearful beat.

“Princess,” he started with a sickening pet name, “why don’t you give the flag to me? I’ll protect you.” His sudden change in mood gave you whiplash and you took a step back in confusion, still holding your weapon towards him.

“What?” you muttered out, a bamboozled expression on your face. “I said, pass the flag to me. I’ll make sure we’ll be okay,” he answered while slinging his gun to his side a bit too casually for your comfort.

You watched as he fiddled with the bullet compartments of his rifle. He seemed to have been checking the ammo, making you realise what he was intending.

You shook your head, trying to sound normal, but the slight shakiness in your voice made you quite obvious. “It’s fine Niragi,” you insisted, “I can get it to our base myself.”

He glanced up at your frame as he closed the bullet compartment to his rifle. His serious expression made your adrenaline kick in and your hands began to shake, becoming obvious from the way the tip of the knife was quivering.

“Fine,” he muttered out, basically snarling at you. “I’ll do this the hard way.”

His words made your expression drop and before you could even think, Niragi swung the butt of his rifle and socked you across the side of your head, making you fall to the ground abruptly and drop the blue flag. You groaned in pain, and yet you didn’t even get a second to recover before Niragi blew another hit to your shoulder, kicking you harshly in the stomach at the same time.

You suffocated on nothing, becoming winded from his kick. Gasping for air, you attempted to crawl away from the violent man, shuffling on your hands and knees. Another hit to your lower back brought you to your stomach and you gagged at the sudden feeling.

Luckily, Niragi had quit abusing you and reached down next to your bruised body to pick up the blue flag. “Maybe next time, be careful what you say to me,” he hissed into your ear before standing up and walking away from you.

You laid on the floor for a short moment, trying to compose yourself and control your breathing once again. When you finally came to your senses, you lifted yourself up from the ground while groaning in pain. You had to find a hiding spot, otherwise the Blue Team would find you at their base and kill you.

You used the wall for support as you stood up, bones cracking and blood dripping down the side of your face. You lifted your hand and pressed against your throbbing head, wincing as the pain rocketed from your action.

‘At least he didn’t kill me,’ you thought to yourself. A bright shimmer caught your eye and you turned your head to see your weapon laying on the ground. A grumble left your body as you leant down to pick it up, admiring the way the blue light reflected off it.

You leant against the wall and slowly made your way down the hall, searching for a small cabinet or anywhere that you could hide for the next ten minutes or so. You got a wave of relief when you spotted a cleaner’s cupboard just down the corridor, stumbling towards it.

When you pulled yourself inside the dark cupboard and closed the door, you allowed yourself to slide down against the cold wall, feeling a few tears slip from your eyes.

All you had to do was wait for Niragi to get the flag back to the Green Base and you would be fine, hopefully.

***************

You dragged your exhausted body towards your hotel room, your legs throbbing in pain at every step you climbed. You had decided against going back to the hotel in the car with the other militants, as you didn’t want to deal with the tension of sitting next to the man who almost killed you. Plus, the car would hold half the amount of people it left the hotel with, probably making the atmosphere more eerie.

The door of your hotel room felt heavy as you pushed it open, stumbling into the cold room. You groaned in frustration at your past self. Why didn’t you leave your heater on before you left?

You let out a deep sigh before falling backwards onto your bed, spreading your arms out wide to feel the comforting blankets underneath you. Your eyes closed in content, trying so hard to ignore the pain on the side of your head and your knees.

The blankets shifted underneath your tired frame as you rolled over, pulling the duvet over yourself in the process. You didn’t even have the energy to turn your body so you could place your head on the pillow, so you simply slipped into unconsciousness in the position you laid in, hoping for a better day to come tomorrow.

Whilst you travelled to dreamland in your mind, a short blonde man stood outside your door, knocking lightly on the wood. When Chishiya received no response, he lightly turned the silver door knob and peaked his head into the room. A soft sigh of relief left him when you saw you safe and sound, asleep on your bed. He had been worried from how you were acting as you slumped to your room, noticing that you seemed more tired than usual.

Chishiya walked into the room and quickly shut the door behind him, holding the doorknob until it was completely shut to avoid the clicking noise. He tip-toed towards your frame and admired your sleeping self, his lips curling up at the sight.

“Get some sleep love,” he whispered, running the back of his hand softly down your cheek to sooth you. “You need it.”

Before Chishiya left the room, he tucked the blanket tighter around your body so you stayed warm and gave you a soft peck on your forehead. He glanced back once more before stepping out of the room. He headed back to his own hotel room to get some sleep, feeling content that the person he cares for most was okay.

**************

As the days of your visa grew fewer, your dread grew bigger. Thoughts from your last game bounced around your head, continuing to come back to you in the most random of times. Sometimes you would feel an imaginary harsh kick to your back in your dreams, causing you to wake up abruptly, covered in sweat. You couldn’t escape the fear of Niragi attempting to kill you again. If you managed to run into him again like in the last game, it would be a guarantee that he wouldn’t let you off the hook again.

Just the thought of Niragi blasting a few bullets from his sniper through your head brought you the irrational belief that that was your future. No matter how hard you attempted to shake it, it found its way back into your mind.

The stars shone in the sky, glistening against the endless ceiling of darkness and winking at you from above. It felt foreign to see such sights in the world you lived in, where everything seemed to hold some kind of darkness behind it. Even the label of ‘Utopia’ on The Beach was a complete lie.

You huffed in a stressful tone, hanging your head low and rubbing your eyes with your hands as you leaned your elbows on the railing. The minutes before the next game were becoming less and less. If only you had one more day on your visa, you could potentially avoid all the bullshit that Niragi brought with him everywhere he went.

Hatter had informed you that Niragi was taking you to another game, as he didn’t get to properly assess your skills last time. He was making you go because that night was the night your visa ended. You didn’t have a choice.

Before you knew it, small droplets of tears escaped your eyes, cascading down your face and dripping off your chin. You felt helpless and scared. You could do nothing but wait for the fire alarms to ring to indicate Hatter’s speech before everyone left for their own games. It felt like your time on the roof was lasting forever, so you tried to drag out your time there as long as you could.

You closed your eyes and lifted your head high, letting the cold air swim around your face and bring you comfort. “This isn’t fucking fair,” you stated bluntly to yourself.

It wasn’t. Why did the world think you deserved this kind of stress? You never asked to be in the Borderland. You never asked to be involved with these people. Why did you have to be thrown into this mess?

The sound of light footsteps ripped you from your thoughts, causing you to whip your head around and lock eyes with Chishiya, who froze a few metres away. Your face visibly relaxed at the sight of your boyfriend, smiling weakly as he lifted his hands in defence from your paranoid actions.

“Hey Chishiya,” you greeted him, turning your back and wiping your tears from your eyes. “Sorry, I’ll be down soon. Just give me a minute.”

Chishiya frowned at your shaky voice, approaching your frame and placing a soft hand on your shoulder. “Y/N? What’s wrong?”

You turned your face to him and his eyes displayed concern as soon as they met with your teary ones. “Wait, baby why are you crying?” he asked, placing a hand on the small of your back and another cupping your cheek to make you look at him.

You shook your head and gave a fake smile, not wanting to tell Chishiya what had happened. “It’s fine. I’m just getting a bit stressed for tonight.”

Chishiya eyebrows furrowed at your answer, noticing how you bit your lip after your sentence. You only ever did that when you were lying.

His eyes glanced up towards the small gash on the side of your head. “How did this happen?” he questioned you, lifted his hand to run a gentle thumb over the injury. You glanced at him nervously as he waited for an answer.

“Oh that? It’s nothing. I just managed to trip over and smack my head on the wall during the last game. You know me, such a clumsy idiot,” you tried to laugh it off.

Chishiya didn’t buy it for a second. He moved his gaze to the rest of your body, searching for any more injuries. He had had enough of your lying when he saw your bruised knees, dried blood around the edges of small cuts from earlier when you accidentally reopened them.

“Y/N, what happened the other day? Who did this to you?” Chishiya asked in a serious tone, wrapping his hands around your neck and holding you protectively. “These look bad Y/N. I’ll have to treat them for you.”

You nodded, looking down at the ground. Chishiya lifted your chin with his finger to make you have eye contact. “You going to tell me what happened?”

You let out a big sigh, accepting the fact that you can’t hide literally anything from Chishiya. He knew you too well.

“Look, it’s fine Chishiya. Niragi just got mad at me during a game. You know how he is. I’m honestly glad that he didn’t do anything else,” you explained, watching as Chishiya’s face contorted into anger at your confession.

He fell silent, making you more tense. You knew Chishiya was really aggravated when he went completely silent.

“Niragi did this to you?” he asked scarily calmly, running a soft hand over the gash on your head again. You nodded, leaning against his touch.

“Alright. You stay with me tonight. I don’t care what Hatter has asked from you. You stick by my side and don’t let go of my hand,” Chishiya demanded you, pulling you into a comforting hug. You tucked your face into his neck, breathing in his scent.

“I love you,” he whispered out, giving you a soft smooch on your cheek. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to protect you.”

You shook your head in denial. “Don’t be baby. You’re here now. That’s all that matters.”

Chishiya smiled happily at your words, pulling back from the hug and giving you a loving kiss on your lips. You both held each other close, moving your mouths against one another’s intimately.

You felt safe in Chishiya’s arms and he felt safe in yours. And that’s where both of you were intending to stay as long as possible.

****************

You sat on Chishiya’s small bed, admiring as the young man wiped carefully over the dried blood on your knees. He was being so careful, holding you by the underneath of your knee and making sure not to press too hard on your bruises.

You had returned from the game you attended with Chishiya. Before the game commenced, you both hid on the roof so Niragi or Hatter wouldn’t come looking for you, wanting to take you to the game. You waited until most cars had left before making your way down to the bottom floor, climbing into the last car together that only held two other people you didn’t know.

Chishiya made sure to keep you by his side the entire game, not letting go of your hand once. At some point you were afraid he was going to sacrifice himself for you, as he wasn’t acting too far from it. His protective side had kicked in and he wasn’t taking your situation lightly.

At some point you both had to hide from an attacker. Chishiya had shoved you both into the corner of a small room, shielding your entire body with his with both of his hands against the walls, keeping you trapped in and hidden. The action alone was enough to make you realise how much Chishiya actually cared, how afraid he actually was of losing you.

“All done,” the blonde announced, breaking you from your thoughts. You grinned as he glanced up at you, giving you a cheeky wink. He shifted up the bed and leant against the headboard beside you. “Are you okay?” he asked once again, his fingers lightly running along your thigh soothingly. You nodded, leaning your head on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about Niragi,” Chishiya reassured you after a short moment of silence. You looked up at him from his shoulder. “Why not?” you asked.

Chishiya gave a cocky smirk and ruffled your hair playfully. “I’ll make sure to give him a piece of my mind,” he said in a monotone voice as usual.

You chuckled at his words before placing a soft kiss to the underside of his jaw. “I’m sure you will,” you laughed.

Chishiya smiled happily and turned his body. He picked you up slightly and made you lie down before placing himself next to your frame. You rolled over to face him, not even getting a chance to breath before his lips were on yours.

His kiss was passionate, running his tongue along your lips to ask for you to open them. You obliged, letting him have his way with you. You ran your fingers up underneath his shirt, feeling his warm skin shiver underneath you touch. He groaned at the feeling, pushing himself closer to you and placing one hand on the back of your neck while the other dragged lazy patterns along your bare hip.

You two held each other close, getting lost and drunk on the thoughts and feelings of one another. No one could make each of you feel the way you made each other feel. In Chishiya’s arms you felt safe and content, making all the terrible things around you disappear. And for Chishiya, you made him feel sane again. You made him remember that he was human, he was allowed to have human emotions and make mistakes.

You brought a sense of comfort to one another, and clearly Chishiya wasn’t willing to let anything come between you both.

639 notes · View notes

ncssian · 4 years ago

Text

A Favor: Part Twenty

Nessian Modern AU

Masterlist

a/n: sorry for the wait yall this month really kicked my ass,, but also we reached part 20!!

tw infertility discussion

***

Gwyn: isn’t he beautiful <3

In the freezing February air outside the tea house, Nesta clicks on the picture attached to Gwyn’s text. It’s a distant shot of a man in his mid-thirties hunched over a library desk while working, unaware that there’s a camera on him. She’ll give it to Gwyn, though—he is a little handsome.

Emerie: the stalker levels are through the roof, gwyneth. seek help.

Gwyn: no i’m gonna marry him

Nesta doesn’t know whether to laugh or be concerned, but she types out a brief response before her thumbs fall off from the cold: Will give my opinion on him later. Got to go.

Gwyn’s crush will have to wait, Nesta thinks as she finally puts her phone away and pushes her way inside the exquisite tea house. Immediately, blasting heat thaws her frozen fingers and toes, and farther inside she spots the table she reserved for three. Right now, only one person sits at it.

Nesta grits her teeth and approaches the round table, heels clicking softly on the parquet floors. Elain doesn’t look up from the menu she’s reading. “This place would be nicer to visit in the spring,” is her only acknowledgment of Nesta.

“I like the winter,” Nesta answers simply, taking her seat across from Elain. She likes how the ice creeps over the garden outside until everything looks frozen in time, and she likes how the colorful flowers and trees become dulled by white snow. Not that her sister would understand or care.

“Of course you do,” Elain mutters, setting down the menu with all the careful elegance of a debutante. “I’m only here for Feyre, anyway.”

It almost saddens Nesta that she doesn’t feel hurt or offense at the words. She thought she would care more about Elain’s opinion than she actually does. “Where is Feyre, then?” she says, looking pointedly at the empty seat between them. “I thought she was coming with you.”

“I’m right here,” a breathless voice says, accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps. Feyre appears, looking flushed from exertion and the cold. She sets her bag down and joins them at the table, scooting her seat all the way in. “Sorry I’m late. What did I miss?”

“Nothing,” Nesta bites. “I was just about to order.”

“So was I.” Elain smiles breezily.

Feyre glances between the two of them, clear concern on her face, but she covers it up and says, “I’m so glad we’re doing this.”

It was Feyre’s idea, of course. After Nesta told her off for never being interested in what she wanted to do, Feyre actually listened. She asked if Nesta wanted to hang out, and then let Nesta fill in the rest of the details on her own terms.

Which brings them to the tea house. Unfortunately for her sisters, however, Nesta doesn’t really know where to go from ordering tea and biscuits.

“How is school going?” Feyre asks her after their drinks arrive.

Nesta sips from her tea, already bored. “It’s been fifteen minutes and you have yet to say anything of substance, Feyre. It makes me miss being alone with Elain and her mood.”

Feyre looks taken aback, and Elain levels a glare at Nesta. An unsurprised, of course you have to ruin everything like this glare.

So Nesta clarifies, “That wasn’t an attack. I just hoped that after driving out here, I would get something better than shallow small talk.”

“And how do you know it was shallow?” Elain steps in harshly. “How do you know she isn’t actually interested in how you’re doing at school?”

Nesta slides blunt blue eyes to Feyre. “If that’s the case, then I commend you. Personally, I wouldn’t give a shit if I was in your position.”

To her surprise, Feyre snorts. She looks resigned when she says, “No, you’re right. I don’t care about what’s going on at school, not if you don’t. What would you rather we talk about then, Nesta?”

Without hesitation, Nesta says, “Ask me something you really care to hear the answer to.”

Elain shuts her mouth and sits back at that. Feyre twists her lips, thinking her next words over carefully. “How is your therapy going?” she finally asks in a cautious tone. “What do you talk about there?”

Remembering that she’s in a formal setting, Nesta stops herself from crossing her arms. She settles on wrapping her fingers delicately around her teacup instead. “We talk about whatever I feel like talking about,” she answers honestly. Although lately her conversations with Lana feel more restrained than usual.

“And what’s that?” Feyre urges.

Nesta shrugs, fitting apathy onto her face like an old mask. “Recently? Childbearing.” But it isn’t her favorite topic of discussion, not at all.

“You’re pregnant?” Elain jumps in, leading Nesta to throw her an unamused look.

“No, idiot,” she says. “My therapist just has the idea that if I end up being infertile it’ll screw me up, mentally and emotionally and whatever. She thinks I should deal with that baggage now instead of saving it for later.” She rolls her eyes thinking about it. How many times does she have to repeat that she doesn’t care about her body’s reproductive abilities until Lana gets it?

Feyre chuckles, confused. “Why would you be infertile?”

Nesta forgot—she didn’t want her sisters knowing anything that has to do with her health. She even made Cassian keep her doctor visits secret from Feyre. But that was months ago, and the sisters are… not exactly in a better place now, but looking for the way there. Nesta thinks she can tell them without any severe regrets. “I have endometriosis.”

When she’s met with silence, she adds, “You know, with the tissue growing on my ovaries and stuff. It might affect all the babies I don’t care to have in the future.”

Elain is the first to speak. “You always wanted to be a mother.” Her voice is soft, almost mourning. It irritates the hell out of Nesta.

“No, I didn’t,” she snaps back.

“You did,” Elain insists. Feyre still hasn’t said anything. “You took care of our cat, Mittens, until the day she died. You taught Feyre her alphabet. You raised me when Mama and Papa were too busy to do it. You never carried dolls around in strollers or anything, but you loved being a mother.”

“I don’t remember any of this,” Feyre says, blinking. “I’m sorry, can we go back to the endometriosis part?”

Nesta sips from her tea, the bitter taste a welcome distraction from Elain’s words. “What about it?”

“How long have you known?” Feyre demands.

“It isn’t cancer. And I’m getting treated, obviously. I’m fine.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

Nesta sighs, setting her cup down. “October. Cassian made me go to the doctor because he was worried about my periods, we had a big fight about health insurance, and now I use my salary from your boyfriend to afford medication so I don’t feel like dying every month. Is that everything you wanted to hear?”

Feyre only stares at her, for once revealing no emotion. “I keep forgetting,” she says finally, “that we’re not at a place to share things like that with each other. I keep being surprised every time I realize how much of your life you keep from us.”

“I don’t,” Elain huffs under her breath while she tears a croissant in half.

Nesta is still watching Feyre. “You remember how bad my cycles were? I would cry loud enough at night to wake the house.”

Feyre flinches at the memory, and Elain goes still.

“But no one ever woke up,” Nesta says. They never talked about it before, and she has no desire to keep speaking about it now. If they start to tally all the hurts they’ve dealt to each other, Nesta fears they’ll be here for hours. Worse, she fears she will lose.

She reaches for a lavender macaron and delicately pulls it apart, studying the cream filling inside. “Did you know they make these using the lavender flowers from the garden outside?”

“I hate lavender,” Elain says.

Spying her chance to shift the subject off herself, Nesta goes for it. “Because Azriel smells like lavender?” She pushes one half of the dainty cookie past her lips, chewing. “It’s an interesting cologne choice, I agree.”

“Wait, what are we talking about now?” Feyre looks around, unaware that they’ve moved onto another topic.

Elain’s innocent brown eyes turn into daggers pointed at Nesta, betrayal written across her face. Nesta feels no pity for her—especially not if they’re going to sit around judging each other for keeping secrets.

Feyre’s eyes widen and she turns to Elain. “Is it about your,” she lowers her voice and whispers, “crush?”

Nesta raises a skeptical brow. She doubts whatever Az and Elain have stops at just a crush.

“No, it’s not,” Elain answers determinedly. “God, do you have to bring men into everything, Nesta?”

“I think you’re projecting.”

“Quit it,” Feyre snaps at the both of them. “Or I’ll grab my things and leave.”

Do it, Nesta almost dares. But she has a feeling that Feyre means it, that she won’t submit to being taunted, so Nesta reins the words back from the tip of her tongue. After all, this tea is expensive.

The sisters take a moment to settle, and Feyre is the one to restart the conversation. “Either way,” she tells Nesta, “it looks like counseling is going really well for you. I’m glad.”

“Yeah, it really gives your skin a certain glow,” Elain drawls.

Nesta doesn’t rise to meet her sarcasm. In all seriousness, Elain and Feyre could probably use a therapist themselves. It might make Nesta’s interactions with them less headache-inducing.

“You should visit one day,” she throws the suggestion out without thinking.

“What, like a therapy session?” Feyre says.

Realizing the implications of her terrible idea, Nesta forces herself not to backpedal. “Yes,” she makes herself grit out. “If you’re interested, that is.”

Elain and Feyre share a glance of hesitation and concern. It’s a glance that grates on Nesta’s nerves, but she keeps her mouth shut and waits for a response.

Feyre answers first: “We’ll do it.”

Elain looks more doubtful, but seems to realize that refusing to go would paint her in a negative light. We can’t have that, can we? Nesta thinks wryly. She reaches for some macarons and starts stuffing them into her purse. “Sounds good. Great.” It is not at all great. Having her sisters in the same room as her and Lana might just be terrible enough to ruin Nesta’s next month or two.

“I’ll text you the details whenever I feel like it,” she tells Feyre and Elain as she rises out of her seat. Likely not for as long as possible.

“Where are you going?” Elain demands.

“I’m leaving.” Nesta pointedly drapes her coat over her shoulders, picking up her purse. “I have plans for the rest of the day, sorry.” Plans to get home and rate Gwyn’s work crush on a scale of one to ten. Maybe she’ll rewatch a sitcom if she has time.

“But it’s only been an hour,” Feyre protests.

Did Feyre think they would be spending the whole day together? Nesta wants to shudder at the mere idea of it, but she somehow… feels bad for her sister. “Maybe another time,” she promises vaguely. To provide some sort of reassurance, she adds, “I had fun today. Thanks for pulling this together.” The words are hollow, fake, and she’s probably a hypocrite for not being able to return the same sincerity she demanded from Feyre. But honesty isn’t going to get Nesta very far today, so this false politeness is the best she can manage.

Elain looks somewhat relieved, and Feyre looks disappointed but unsurprised. “Alright.” The girls nod at her. “Get home safe.”

She turns and leaves as soon as she’s given the green light.

A stale scent greets Nesta when she enters her apartment, reminding her that she hasn’t been around in days. In her defense, the winter months are easier to bear in Cassian’s heated cabin than in a poorly insulated basement.

Flicking the lights on, Nesta books it to the thermostat, her teeth nearly chattering out of her body. After turning the heat as high as it can go, she climbs beneath the covers of her bed without bothering to take her coat off. She doesn’t take out her phone to text the groupchat like she promised she would. She doesn’t even get her laptop to turn Netflix on. Rather, her focus is caught on the framed picture of her and Cassian sitting atop the dresser.

Everything was okay as she stepped out of the tea house. It wasn’t until she was inside her car that it came upon her: the whirlwind of emotions that had stayed so carefully hidden while she chatted with her sisters. All throughout the drive home, her mind kept returning to that one topic. Children.

Elain said that Nesta used to genuinely enjoy playing substitute mother when they were children, and she was right. But that was all fun and games, like playing teacher. What Elain left out was what happened after their actual mother died and their father went into debt, leaving all three girls in need of a parent figure. Nesta wasn’t a mother then—or at least, not a good one.

Now, she stares at the picture full of smiley cheeks and windblown hair, remembering the night that she realized she wanted to hold Cassian’s hand in hers.

She can’t imagine Cassian not wanting kids. They’ve never discussed it, but it’s so obvious to anyone who’s ever met him: he has too much love to give away to not one day end up with a whole brood of children. The thought makes Nesta’s stomach churn.

***

“Thanks again, guys.” Cassian shakes hands with his team as they file out of the conference room, all of them dressed professionally while he lingers in his hoodie. As soon as the last worker is out the door, he pulls out his phone, ready to shoot Nesta a message. She met up with her sisters alone today for the first time in a year, and he can’t wait any longer to find out if their brunch ended in a fight or not.

He clicks on his phone to find two texts from his brother, sent not too long ago.

Rhys: You’re in the office today for the monthly check-in, right?

Rhys: Don’t leave after the meeting is over. I’ll be there in an hour to introduce you to the new guy heading the Milan project.

Cassian frowns, confused. Rhys and the new guy are coming all the way up here to meet him? He didn’t know he was that important to the project.

While he waits for his unexpected guests, Cassian texts Nesta twice, and only receives a single short response saying she got home safe. Resolving to call and have a real conversation with her later, he gets up to change into the spare buttondown and pressed slacks he keeps in a locker in his office. If Rhys wants him to play the part of company boss, then he might as well look the part.

He’s adjusting the cuffs of his dark-colored shirt when the door to his office opens without warning, and Rhysand strides in followed by a stiff-looking young man.

Cassian eyes the stranger up and down first, trying to get a read on him the way he’s seen Nesta and Rhys read others. He doesn’t come up with a single thing, as usual, but he hopes he achieved his goal of looking intimidating.

“Cass,” Rhys greets him with a subdued nod, in full CEO mode. “This is our new hire, Keith O’Connell. I snagged him from right under Vanserra & Co.’s noses.” His near-violet eyes gleam with pride. “He’s going to be working out of Milan for us starting this summer.”

“Sounds good to me.” Cassian smiles lazily, and this is something he doesn’t need to fake—confidence. He reaches out to shake Keith’s hand. “Hi. I’m Cassian Madani.”

“Good to meet you.” The other man shakes back, but his grip is too tight, like he’s trying to break Cassian’s hand. Try-hard, a voice that sounds like Nesta tells him. Uses arrogance to cover up his insecurity.

Cassian takes it all into account as he pulls his hand away, seeing Keith through clearer eyes. His dark brown hair is slicked back with copious amounts of hair product, and a shrewd black gaze takes in every detail of the office. He stands like he’s attempting to seem taller than he actually is.

A typical white-collar worker looking for a way up the corporate ladder, Cassian concludes. Nothing he hasn’t seen before, but there must be a reason Rhys is so excited about him.

“Keith is starting here at your branch next week,” Rhys is saying when Cassian refocuses.

He blinks, unsure if he heard correctly. “What, all the way out here?” Away from Velaris in this modest mountain town?

“We agreed it was best if you two work together as closely as possible while preparing for the summer launch. Since you can’t come to Velaris, that means Keith comes here.”

Cassian looks at Rhys in astonishment. He thought that once he rejected the Milan position, he’d cleaned his hands of the job for good. Clearly he was wrong. “Just how involved am I going to be on this project?”

Rhys grins back at him. “You’ll lead from home base, of course.”

Cassian glares. Rhys responds with a look that says they’ll talk about this later.

Keith seems to find the idea of working alongside another person as distasteful as Cassian finds it unexpected, but he says anyway, “I can’t wait to start working together. I have a lot of ideas for the Italian outpost that I think you’ll appreciate.”

“I’m sure I will,” Cassian hums. “When do you start again?”

“Next Monday.”

“Then we should talk then.” Cassian gestures out the door. Keith looks taken aback, likely having expected more out of this meeting. But Cassian can’t meet with this guy until he gets a hold of what the fuck is going on. After shepherding Keith out of the office and shutting the door after him, he turns to Rhys with a raised brow.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Rhys warns. “Your role in this project is serious.”

“This project isn’t even part of my job description. What am I supposed to know about international business conductions?”

“You know enough to keep an eye on that O’Connell kid for me.” Rhys leans against Cassian’s desk as if it’s his own and crosses his feet. “He’s an asset to the company, but he also worked for our competitors up to a couple of months ago. I can’t trust him to manage this thing on his own, and I don’t have the time or resources right now to watch over him myself. That’s why the duty falls to you.”

“I manage security,” Cassian states, in case it wasn’t obvious. “What about Az?”

“Az has his own things to handle.” Rhys waves him off. “Just do what I tell you to, will you? Pay attention to O’Connell for the duration of the Italy venture and make sure he doesn’t steer our ship off course. You’ll get paid triple for the extra hours.”

“I don’t need triple,” Cassian grumbles, but Rhys is no longer listening. He’s typing on his phone and already heading for the door.

“Feyre and I are having dinner here before heading back home,” he calls over his shoulder. “See you later; I believe in you!” The door shuts after him, leaving Cassian alone.

“Yeah, yeah,” he replies to the empty room.

Cassian leaves not long after Rhysand does, having no excuse to linger. Outside, he’s greeted with a surprise leaning against the hood of his truck.

Nesta pushes off the hood as soon as he catches notice of her. “Long day?” she asks.

He laughs for the first time all afternoon, the sound surprised and genuine. “I was just thinking about you.”

“That’s why I’m here. I heard your thoughts.” There’s a light in her pale eyes that only burns whenever she looks at him. It’s the same light that powers her ability to make jokes and let her guard down around him in a way she can’t with most others, and Cassian is especially grateful for it today.

Nesta reaches out and takes his hand into hers. He watches the way their palms fit together in endless fascination, his brown fingers a stark contrast against her white ones. He squeezes once and looks back up at her. “How did meeting your sisters go? You never told me.”

The light flickers so briefly Cassian wonders if it’s a trick of his eyes. But then Nesta is there again, at full brightness. She squeezes his hand back. “Take me home. I’ll tell you all about it.”

***

a/n: i love writing stuff related to cassian’s job i’ll just be throwing random words in there and calling it business jargon

tagging: @hellasblessed @sjm-things @thewayshedreamed @drielecarla @valkyriewarriors @superspiritfestival @aliveahaahahafuck @cupcakey00 @sayosdreams @rainbowcheetah512 @claralady @thebluemartini @nessiantho @missing-merlin @duskandstarlight @lucy617 @sleeping-and-books @everything-that-i-love @cassianscool @swankii-art-teacher @wannawriteyouabook @awesomelena555 @julemmaes @wickedqueenoffantasy @poisonous-bloom @observationanxioustheorist @gisellefigue08 @courtofjurdan @theoverlyenthusiasticwriter @wolfiixxx @cass-nes @seashade @royaltykxx @illyrianundercover @queenestarcheron @monstrousloves-explodinggalaxies @humanexile @that-golden-lyre @agentsofsheilds @mercy-is-alive @cassiansbigwingspan @laylaameer01 @verypaleninja @maastrash @bow-dawn @perseusannabeth @dead-on-the-inside666 @jlinez @hungryreadingaddict @anidealiveson @planet-faerie @shallowhighwaters @ghostlyrose2 @chosenfamily-valkyriequeens @rarephloxes @readiajin @nessiantrashh @live-the-fangirl-life @ifinallygavein @xoblivisci @sjmships @jungtaekwoonie-is-life @lysandra-tiara @lanyjoy-13 @frosted-crackers @post-it-notes33 @loosingdreams @fromthelibraryofemilyj @18moneytoad @dontgetsalmonella @champanheandluxxury @togreblog

#a favor #ncssianwrites #nesta archeron #nessian #cassian #nessian fic #nessian au

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ye-local-simp · 2 years ago

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hii! congrats on 400+ followers! if it’s okay, i’d like to request a match up ^^

i’m 5’1 and i have dark brown hair that’s partially dyed purple with bangs. i’m a scorpio and an INFP.

even though i’m an introvert, i try my best to socialize with other people (even though i feel super awkward about it). i’d say i’m an open minded and understanding person. i’m also kinda the therapist of the friend group, so my friends usually come to me if they’re dealing with something. however, i find it very hard to talk about how i feel and my mood shifts drastically if someone says something that rubs me the wrong way. but, i’m trying to improve myself and i strive to be a better person.

i like to explore new hobbies often, my main ones being gaming, writing, fashion, and collecting rilakkuma items. weirdly enough, i like anything horror (movies, games, etc.) and i’ve recently developed an interest in ARG’s. usually, i find it hard to stay motivated unless it’s something that really piques my interest. i like going to the arcade and trying to win the prizes from the claw machines, but sometimes i’ll try the dance machines there!

my love languages (giving and receiving) are physical touch and words of affirmation. i love cuddling and getting reassurance and encouragement from my friends makes me feel happy!

one random fact about me is i don’t really like coffee, i hate the way it makes my heart rate skyrocket ;w;

i tried my best to write a lot… i hope this was enough, thank you in advance!

I am going to pair you up with...

Azul!!!

-Also a very understanding guy when it comes to people.Like, if you are an introvert, he woukd try to push back the more lively people away from you if it makes you happier.For example, Floyd. He understands how playful Floyd is, so he would request Floyd to be a bit more easier on you.

-Anyways, Azul would try to make himself as much free time as possible to have some time with you. Like he would try to get you to join the board game club and join you in finding new hobbies. Anything is fine except for mushrooms , he has had enough of Jade already.

-At the times he can not join you, he would give you some money if you need it to enjoy yourself at the arcade

#twisted wonderland matchup event #twisted wonderland matchup #twst match up event #twst matchup #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst #twst x reader #twisted wonderland fluff #twst fluff #twst scenarios #twst headcanons

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realcube · 4 years ago

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haikyuu!! boys when you come out to them as bisexual 🏳️‍🌈

characters: yamaguchi, tsukishima & kenma

part two!!

tw// fem!reader, fluff, coming out,

Tadashi Yamaguchi

ok so hot-take but i think yamaguchi is straight

(or maybe bi but with a heavy preference for females)

but rn he identifies as straight

but like..he’s so supportive of the lgbtq+ community

like tsukishima gives off ‘gay but homophobic’ energy

but yamaguchi has ‘straight but a strong ally’ energy

and this is hugely bc while tsukishima fell down the alt-right pipeline, yamaguchi was going through that ‘women 😍🤩💕’ phase which i think every WLW has went through at one point

like while tsukishima was watching ‘sjw get rekt compliation #125′ , yamaguchi was watching those heart-wrenching lgbtq+ short films on youtube

and on tiktok his fyp was probably originally cottagecore (bc it’s his ideal lifestyle ofc) and somehow he is now kinda on sapphic cottagecore tiktok

like not to fetishize them or anything, just bc he’s awed by how in love they are and that’s kinda what he wants for himself

(also he uses them as date inspo for you and him DFBZVAYUL)

anyway this was just my lengthened explanation as to why - unbeknownst to you or anyone - he was an ally to the lgbtq+ community (if not apart of it)

you didn’t really expect him to be disgusted or unsupportive of it tbh - i mean, it’s tadashi ffs! 💞 you know he’d never break up with you or judge you for something like that, but that didn’t stop you from being slightly nervous

but he was ten times more nervous when you texted him, asking for him to meet you by the local park’s fountain bc you had something important to tell him

mans thought you were dying ngl

he almost burst out crying on the walk to the park bc he imagined a whole scenario where he was sitting next to your fkn death-bed

but you seemed healthy enough so his next assumption was that you were going to break-up with him

so when he approached you by the water fountain and you noticed that his eyes were glossy and his hair was damp with sweat, you were quite worried for him now

‘tadashi! are you okay?! your eyes are all puffy and red! do you have hay fever?’

yamaguchi rapidly shook his head, hastily escorting you to a nearby park bench so you could sit down beside him, ‘it’s nothing; what is it that you want to tell me?’

‘oh’ you choked, quickly averting your gaze from his kind, damp eyes. ‘it’s- um, i don’t-’ you cut yourself off, mentally cursing at yourself as you had practised what you were going to say to him hundreds of times before he arrived yet you still couldn’t stammer it out

yamaguchi was hanging on each word you uttered, but once he noticed that you were struggling, he placed his hands upon yours and shot you a reassuring smile

you let out a sigh in hopes to relieve your nerves while rehearsing what you were gonna say one more time in your head before blurting it out,

‘babe, erm, i’ve been questioning for a while and i’ve concluded that i’m bi - as in bisexual; and i just thought i’d tell you bec--’

you genuinely thought that you might have to explain to yamaguchi what bisexual means so IMAGINE your surprise when he simply replies, ‘you’re bisexual? is that all you wanted to tell me?’ and once you hum in agreement, he lets out a heave of euphoric relief

‘(y/n), please don’t make fun of me but on the way here, i was almost gonna cry because i thought you were going to tell me something horrible.’ he clutched his chest, breathing heavily - usually he’d never admit to something like that but right now, he felt that it was appropriate

you snickered at his rather exaggerated actions, ‘awh, baby. i’m sorry.’ a pout formed on your lips as you soothingly rubbed his back.

yamaguchi rapidly shook his head before turning the tables and rubbing your back instead, ‘nonono, it’s fine! i’m fine!- and i’m glad you’re fine too.’ he stumbled, hastily placing a kiss on your cheek before whispering in your ear, ‘i’m so proud of you. congratulations!’

although you couldn’t see his face, you could tell from his light voice that he was beaming

after that, he buried his nose into the crook of you neck and snaked his arms around your waist to pull you into a hug, which you both stayed in for a good 5 minutes

Kei Tsukishima

let’s be honest, tsukki’s definitely part of the lgbtq+ community but in deep denial

like if you ask him, he’s not even questioning his gender or sexuality, he’s just ✨straight ✨

so when you just randomly joked one day ‘oi, four-eyes, turn this shit off. she’s too much for my lil’ bi heart to handle.’ while y’all were watching a movie and you instinctively made an off-hand comment about how gorgeous the female lead was

upon realising what you just said, you turned to him with the most awkward grin plastered on your face, ‘tsukki, i’m bisexual, by the way.’

‘no shit, sherlock.’ he hissed at your use of that little nickname

you turned your head to look at him as you blinked rapidly, finally mentally processing his response

while he did the exact same thing simultaneously, dramatically turning his head to meet your gaze before muttering, ‘was that you coming out?’

your eyes widened as you realised, then nodded slowly

tsukishima smirked, shifting his attention back onto the movie, ‘congrats.’ he spoke in a mellow voice, a slight sense of amiability laced into his tone

‘thanks-’

‘have you told your parents yet?’ he quirked a brow, his eyes remaining glued to the screen

you hesitated before shaking your head, ‘no.’

‘what about your friends?’

‘yeah, i came out to my friend group a few months ago - along with yamaguchi.’

tsukishima couldn’t help but frown at the fact you came out to yamaguchi before him but honestly, he couldn’t blame you - he was aware that his bitchy exterior probably discouraged you from telling him sooner, so he was just glad that you had the confidence to tell him eventually

‘so how long have you known that you’re, like, y’know, bi?’ he inquired further

‘a while.’ you hummed, biting your bottom lip, internally so relieved that he wasn’t being too awkward or weird about it

‘good for you.’ he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, not a hint of sarcasm or irony detected in his voice for a change, ‘oh, and good luck with coming out to your parents’

‘thank you.’ you murmur, happily shifting your attention back onto the movie

tsukishima honestly doesn’t mind/care tbh

like he’s supportive and will beat a bitch up if they don’t accept you - but in general, he thinks that it’s none of his business who you love

as long as it is him (ಥ _ ಥ)

Kenma Kuzome

ok so fun story

you were both chilling in his room on a saturday, he was playing on his nintendo switch as always and you were on your phone

you had been meaning to come out to him for a while now but every time you tried, it seemed as though something happened to prevent you from doing so

for example, you tried to come out to him while y’all were chilling at the park but then a bunch of geese started terrorizing y’all and it completely ruined the mood

so you thought that now you were in his room - where there was less of an abundance of geese - it’d be a better time than any to just lift the burden that had been weighing on your chest

you were as nervous as any one would be but you kept on trying to reassure yourself that kenma would be supportive

however, he had never discussed any lgbtq+ related issues with you so you had no idea where he stood with that sort of stuff but tbh, he doesn’t give off homophobic vibes

after a while of staring at the wall and working up the courage, you finally spoke up, ‘hey, kenma. i think i might be bi.’

you mentally cursed at yourself as you didn’t ‘think’ that you are bi but rather you knew that you are bi, yet you felt the need to add that filler just in case things went sour

he perked up upon hearing this and turned to look at you, a small smile gracing his lips, ‘okay, that’s cool. congratulations.’

you couldn’t help but beam back at him, ‘thanks, babe.’ you almost whispered, gladly going back to whatever you were doing on your phone

honestly, you were happy to leave the interaction at that - i mean, his brief and calm response was satisfying beyond expected, as it was probably the least awkward way that could’ve possibly gone down

however, what happened next filled you with endless amounts of euphoria

‘oh, and (y/n).’ kenma said to grab your attention, ‘i’m bisexual.’

you did a double-take

your instincts told you to throw yourself into his arms and rave on about how proud you are that he had the courage to come out but after a moment of reflection, you had a better idea

‘okay, that’s cool. congratulations.’

kenma automatically pouted at how you used his own words against him when he was clearly expecting a hug, ‘(y/n)..’ he whined lowly, shifting his gaze back onto his game

but you were weak so ofc you pulled him into a hug as you both muttered sweet, reassuring things into each other’s ears

‘i love you so much, (y/n) no matter what.’

‘i know.’ you snickered.

‘bitch-’

‘i love you too. and i’m so proud of you for coming out - you’re so brave.’

‘aw, thanks. so are you, babe.’

‘i know’

kenma playfully nibbled at your neck for being such a clown during a sentimental moment

but anyway, you helped kenma come out so- yeah :))

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the-final-sif · 5 years ago

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Update for the fake quarantine dating au, which has now become the “fuyumi is fucking done after like 20 years of this shit and is now just going feral” au:

To recap, Hawks and Dabi got stuck in quarantine together for several weeks because both of them are high risk. Dabi was on the background of one of Hawks’ video calls, causing Hawks to have to lie about having a boyfriend, information which was then leaked to the public.

Because they were bored gay disasters, Hawks and Dabi played into this and Dabi did makeup so he could do a livestream for Hawks’ fans. Hawks was a flustered mess the entire time, and it was actually going fine until Fuyumi and Natsuo saw and recognized their long lost brother.

Dabi, being a fucking mess of a human being, faked his death a second time, only this time it was Hawks’ fake boyfriend who died, since he doesn’t want to deal with his emotions. Only, Fuyumi has the Todoroki conspiracy gene, and refuses to believe it. She ends up stalking Hawks, recruiting Miruko (who has a crush on her, and also doesn’t know who she is), finding out about the league of villains, and then accidentally joining the league of villains with the help of Twice, as she’s looking for her long lost brother.

So here we are, in this insane situation. Hawks and Dabi are the only two people who know that 1) Fuyumi is a Todoroki. 2) She’s looking for Dabi, who she hasn’t recognized as Touya yet. The rest of the league knows she’s looking for her brother, but don’t know who she is or who her brother is.

Fuyumi, as it turns out, is actually good at being a villain. She starts out rather hesitant, but obviously still has to play her part. Her strategy is basically ‘fake it till you make it’ and by god is it effective. Not only is she smart, knowledgeable about heroes, and a good planner, but she’s also really good with getting the villains to actually stick to said plans. Turns out years of working with children pay off after all.

The more she settles in, the bolder she gets, and the more she realizes that Shigaraki isn’t actually that committed to being a villain, and like, is fairly open to suggestions. As such, she starts slowly pivoting the league from pure destructive activities, to more constructive attacks.

Fuyumi: “Okay, hear me out on this, what if instead of attacking the same group of school children minding their own business a fifteenth time, we target corrupt government officials instead?”

Shigaraki, hesitant but intrigued: “... I dunno, I swear someone said that attacking a singular group of school children was the best way to be a villain.”

Fuyumi, using her Teacher Voice: “How about this, why don’t we try the government officials, and if you decide you don’t like it, then we can go back to the other plan?”

Shigaraki: “... Okay fine, I guess we can try it your way.”

The heroes are incredibly confused about what’s going on, because it seems like the league of villains suddenly shifted goals, competency levels, general moral codes, and nobody knows why.

Hawks, is having a fucking time, because he’s morally torn on a number of levels. Some of the ‘corrupt government officials’ being targeted included people who were involved in his own raising, and people who assigned him to this mission. Dabi has been slowly cuing him in on how fucked up his situation is, but Hawks still feels conflicted on the people who made him a hero. Not only that, but now that he’s dating Dabi and trying to protect Fuyumi, he has to lie to those same people about some parts of the league to keep them safe.

It doesn’t help that the league is steadily becoming less morally objectionable to him under Fuyumi’s guidance.

Also, it really doesn’t help that during this time, Hawks has started working side by side with Endeavor.

While dating his son, who Endeavor believes is dead.

While Endeavor’s daughter, who Endeavor believes to be a kindergarten teacher, is someone that Hawks sees regularly during fucking league of villains meetings.

Hawks avoids Shouto like the plague because he’s terrified of what will happen if another Todoroki child gets wrapped up in this.

Also at some point there’s a hero conference to discuss the changes happening within the LOV/PLF and Endeavor is leading it, while Hawks has to sit right next to him for several hours and not say shit while everyone around him speculates wildly.

Hawks is having about 3 mental breakdowns at once and the only reason he makes it through that meeting alive is because Miruko keeps jumping in to bail him out and pull attention away from him.

Actually, Miruko has been just amazing recently, buying his excuses without a second thought, offering him alibis, and defending his weird behavior. It’s weird though, she’s been acting a bit funny too. Maybe she’s seeing someone? Hawks thinks that must be what’s putting her in such a good mood.

Miruko is also dying inside, although a lot less than Hawks is because she still has no idea that she’s currently dating Endeavor’s daughter, who she helped infiltrate the league of villains. All she knows is her girlfriend is amazing and is single handedly saving thousands of lives, and Miruko has only been dating her for like two months but she may or may not be already trying to guess her ring size.

Dabi is just trying so hard to come up with excuses to not be around Fuyumi, all while trying to also keep her safe, get her to give up on searching for him/being a villain, keep Hawks’ cover from being blown, and then everything else going on his life.

Shigaraki by this point has 100% figured out that Hawks is/was a double agent, but doesn’t actually care because he makes Dabi happy. That doesn’t mean he isn’t going to pretend to be suspicious anyways, because fucking with Dabi and Hawks is fun and honestly he doesn’t much else going on his life.

Alright, that’s not entirely true, he actually does have the whole ‘being a villain’ thing going on, and also Fuyumi and Toga have been encouraging him to put a bit more effort into his appearance, so he’s been learning how to dress nicely and do hair. When he’s all cleaned up, he hardly even looks like the same person. But besides that he doesn’t have a lot going on in his life.

Or at least, he doesn’t until one day Fuyumi’s younger brother, a very dashing young man by the name of Natsuo shows up looking to check in on his sister. He has no idea who Tomura is, but is very polite and friendly, and even a bit flirty because unlike his brothers, Natsuo is a functional gay and can ask a guy out without needing to pine and dance around him for 4-8 business weeks.

Tomura may or may not have panicked and introduced himself as ‘Tenko’. He also may or may not have panicked and said yes when the guy asked him out. Agreeing to a second, third and fourth date were all conscious choices, just bad ones.

Fuck.

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makeste · 4 years ago

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BnHA Chapter 290: It’s Touya Time

Previously on BnHA: Iida and Hadou showed up like a couple of Pennsylvanias and Georgias to bail Shouto out at the last minute. Ochako and Toga had an exceptionally strange fight which consisted of Toga being all “guess what Ochako, I used your quirk to murder someone, how do you feel about that”, and Ochako being all “I do not like that”, to which Toga was all “:(”. There was some doll-stealing and some bookcase-yeeting, and then Toga left in tears because Ochako was all adamant that murder has consequences. Anyway so I have absolutely no idea what Toga is thinking now, but I guess we’ll have some time to stew on it, because we ended the chapter by cutting back to the Iida+Hadou+Shouto VS Afomura battle, which was interrupted by Gigantomachia and the LoV showing up like a bunch of Floridas to ruin everyone’s nice day.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi hands the mic over to Dabi and is all “take it away, kid.” Over in Room 315 of Musutafu General, Rei is all “may I please watch some TV” and the hospital staff is all “sure”, and so she tunes in just in time to catch Todoroki Touya’s Peabody Award-winning documentary “Number One Hero, Number One Fraud: The Todoroki Enji Story”, which is being broadcast nationwide courtesy of Skeptic and his magic laptop. Meanwhile in Jakku, Dabi is all “I’M TOUYA, BITCHES”, and Shouto and Enji are all, “(゜◇゜ )”, and Dabi is all, “anyway so just to sum it all up, because of how much of a jerk Endeavor was, I am now Evil.” Everyone continues to be all “(ﾟoﾟ)” except for Dabi, who is all “└(˘▾˘┌ )≡ ( ┐˘▾˘)┘≡┗( ˘▾˘)┛≡┏( ˘▾˘)┓≡┗( ˘▾˘)┛” for pretty much the rest of the chapter. Idk. Just let the man have his fun, guys. He’s waited a long time for this.

y’all I have a confession to make. I am technically not spoiled for this chapter thanks to my robustly paranoid system of spoiler-tag-filtering, which is extensive enough that it pretty much will catch whenever someone so much as breathes something even remotely new-chapter-related. that being said, I like to think that I am capable of making basic logical inferences! and so the fact that for the past 36 hours, my dashboard has pretty much nonstop consisted almost entirely of this...

...has led me to conclude that MAYBE, POSSIBLY, PROBABLY, BUT ALSO DEFINITELY, a certain someone is finally going to reveal his ~secret identity~ woop woop. lmao

anyway so everyone, please remember to act surprised though, as we would not want Dabi’s feelings to be hurt at all. he has been planning this moment for the last decade or so and I wouldn’t want him to feel like all of that effort was for naught. so just play along, okay. OH MY, IF IT ISN’T THE LEAGUE OF VILLAINS’ MYSTERIOUS DABI. WHATEVER COULD HIS ARRIVAL POSSIBLY BE HERALDING, I JUST DON’T KNOW

“Dabi’s Dance” lmao. I’m sticking with Touya Time myself. ngl I had this recap title planned out for at least the past year or so. just waiting for that day to finally come

anyway so some people in some building somewhere are all “TURN OFF THE TV IN ROOM 315” and idk. I’m guessing the LoV is hacking the airwaves to livestream the reveal, as predicted

-- oh shit. UHHHHHHHH

did she always have this TV or did she get it just recently?? jfc of all the times for the hospital staff to finally loosen up

um... so that’s... (・＿・；)

well but I mean, she was gonna find out one way or the other at some point though. like you can’t really just keep her locked up and isolated from all news of the outside world forever and ever and ever. granted, this isn’t exactly the ideal way for her to learn this particular bit of information, but it’s not really ideal for anybody else either! EXCEPT DABI, THAT IS. have yourself a day you funky little terrorist

oh shit what is this?? it’s not live???

over in Jakku, a red-faced, sputtering Dabi makes a frantic grab for Skeptic’s laptop. “WAIT, NO, JESUS, NOT THAT TAPE!”

lol. but seriously Dabi are you even wearing a shirt. like I’m not one to slutshame anyone bro, but it’s just, exactly what type of mood were you looking to set here??

anyway so we really are cutting back to Jakku now, and Gigantomachia is all, “MASTERS”! which, I wonder if he really did use the plural? that’s right Machia, both of them in one place now! that sure is convenient for you huh

lol what is this with all this AFO monologuing. you’re really gonna make me read through this when I’m sitting here all sleep-deprived from election week. JUST GET TO THE TOUYAS. WE WERE PROMISED TOUYAS!!

sigh

“tee hee it’s fucking hilarious how goddamn powerful I am now lol”

alas, in spite of myself I do have two serious takeaways from this. one is that AFO is still controlling most of Tomura’s body behind the scenes, which both does and doesn’t bode well for Tomura (like, at least he’s not dying, but the long-term implications of this for his free will and such certainly are not Good). and two is that this confirms that Ujiko did give Tomura at least one powerful mutant quirk, which explains why he was still so deadly and indestructible even when Aizawa was using Erasure on him (since Erasure doesn’t work on mutant quirks, just emitter and transformation ones)

MEANWHILE ON TODAY’S EPISODE OF “TODOROKI SHOUTO’S TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD LIFE”

I like how he doesn’t actually say that he can’t take on Gigantomachia. just that he can’t take on him and Afomura at the same time. that’s confidence, baby. that right there is why you always draft Todoroki Shouto in the first round for your fantasy team

HADOU!!!!

OOOH, TOMURA’S ALL “MAN, THIS GIRL’S WAVE POWERS AND THIS KID’S ICE POWERS ARE A SUPER-STRONG COMBO DAGNABBIT.” YESSS I LIKE THAT, TELL ME MORE ABOUT HOW COOL AND POWERFUL THEY ARE

HOT DAMN LOOK AT THAT

um but not to take away from this exceptionally cool moment or anything, but why is Endeavor dying and shouting “RUN” down there in the corner um

excuse me. not to take away from How Bad This All Is, but!!

just a little, smol, IidaBaku for everyone. Iida, who apparently doesn’t know a damn thing about first aid and is all, “hmm that’s a pretty bad-looking puncture wound he has in his left shoulder there, I think I’ll just let his arm dangle freely like that and I won’t bother taking off his heavy gauntlets either. I mean. he’ll be fine, probably.” smh. at least Shouto probably cauterized the wounds

EXCUSE ME WHAT

TIME FOR MORE OF THAT GOOD OLD FASHIONED SHOUNEN RIDICULOUSNESS I GUESS LMAO. KACCHAN YOU HAVE A HOLE IN YOUR TORSO. THERE IS A HOLE IN YOUR TORSO, AND YOU LOST LIKE FOUR GALLONS OF BLOOD, BUT SURE. “PUT ME DOWN” HE SAYS. FIRST OF ALL, PUTTING ASIDE THE FACT THAT YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT BE CONSCIOUS, THE FUCK ARE YOU EVEN GOING TO DO, LIE DOWN AT THEM?? LISTEN, YOU SWEET IDIOT. TAKE HEED, BELOVED DUMBASS!!

ah well. I guess he gets to watch the Touya Show now too then lol

LMAOOOO now Machia’s lifting Tomura carefully in his palm like a broken action figure and Spinner is all “THE FUCK, YOU LOOK LIKE DEATH WARMED OVER”

“oh hey there Spinner. well let’s see, I woke up from my three-month coma and destroyed a city, had my body incinerated, and am currently being possessed by a diabolically evil potato. but please, tell me more about everything you've been through”

AW YISS AND THE FOCUS NOW SHIFTS TO THE TODOROKIS. EVERYTHING IS PROCEEDING EXACTLY AS WE HAVE FORESEEN

Endeavor my dude. it’s as if you want to die here. also holy shit, that bit about his lungs definitely does not bode well for him either

MOTHERFUCKER

GO AHEAD AND SIGN YOUR OWN DEATH CERTIFICATE, WHY DON’T YOU!! FLAGS UPON FLAGS. JESUS CHRIST

meanwhile Dabi’s just waving at ‘em

lmaoooo please oh please Caleb please keep this ‘EYYYYYYY’, it’s fucking perfect kdlshk;hg

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

(ETA: so as you will see very shortly, I completely missed this detail in my first read-through because I was so anxious to get to the reveal page, but THIS MOTHERFUCKER LITERALLY DOUSED HIMSELF WITH INSTANT HAIR DYE REMOVER THAT HE’S JUST BEEN CARRYING AROUND IN A LITTLE HIP POUCH APPRENTLY SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME. MOTHERFUCKER. I HAVE NO WORDS.)

IS THIS THE TIME. IS THIS THE MOMENT?! HERE IT COMES SLKFHS BRACE YERSELVES LADS

EYYYYYYYYYYYY

OKAY EVERYONE JUST LIKE WE PRACTICED!! SURPRISED FACES ON THREE! ONE... TWO... (•̪ o •̪) !! okay how was that

LMAO ENDEAVOR

at least Shouto looks properly stunned. Enji just looks like endeavor.exe just straight up stopped working

meanwhile Deku’s out here trying to do the math on this latest surprise family reveal! first Tomura is related to Nana, and now this. what’s next. who are you related to, Spinner. he rips off his boots to reveal engine legs and declares himself Iida’s long-lost uncle

oh shit Touya

it’s as if a million fanworks suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly jossed. who knew that all this time he was secretly sporting a crop top scar

also, THIRTY?! holy shit son you been busy

la la la two-page spread of Touya casually driving the dagger into Endeavor’s hero career and rocking the foundations of hero society as we know it la la la

la la la!!!

OH IS THAT THE END OF THE STORY THEN

almost got confused for a sec. there’s two monologues happening at once here. Endeavor doesn’t even know that his dirty laundry is being aired out nation-wide as we speak ffffff

btw while I appreciate the close-ups of Enji and Shouto here for sure, ngl I would also really love to see everyone else’s reactions right now. SHOW ME BAKUGOU AND THE LOV YOU COWARDS

is his hair actually turning white all of a sudden?? your hair dye just reacts on command??

(ETA: in all seriousness though, the hell kind of hair dye was he using? all he has to do is pour a bottle of that stuff and not even lather it in and it’s just gone just like that?? what the fuck would have have done if it ever rained lmao.

and this motherfucker just goes and leaves the dye remover in afterwards, too. I have never dyed my hair in my life and even I can tell you that’s probably not a good idea, Dabi.)

is this it. is this the legendary Dabi Dance in action. lmfao

oh hey what the fuck

so you figured you’d just murder your innocent younger brother to get revenge on dad, huh. well that’s nice

is that really all there is to the origin story though?? feels like we’re still missing a huge chunk of it. what was it that finally sent him over the edge? or was the trauma of being created as Endeavor’s perfect little hero tool and then being subsequently rejected by him enough on its own? because I’m still kind of confused on the part where he goes from “abused and discarded by his father” to “killed thirty people and was plotting the murder of his own brother” to tell you the truth

(ETA: lmao the initial fandom reaction to this did not disappoint. listen guys. people can be traumatized and shaped by awful circumstances that are completely out of their control, and grow up to be people they wouldn’t have grown up to be if things had been better, and all of that absolutely sucks, but. it doesn’t mean they get a get-out-of-jail-free card for all of their future actions, either! the tragedy of this situation is that terrible things happened to Touya, and he then went on to do terrible things himself. the tragedy of it is that this is exactly how the cycle of abuse keeps repeating itself on and on and on. maybe one of the people Dabi killed had a child who will now grow up traumatized themselves, and potentially go on to pay it forward themselves when they grow up. the tragedy is that the eye-for-an-eye justice that Touya is seeking out won’t actually make anything better in the end. the tragedy is that we understand why Touya is so angry, but that anger has basically warped him into the gleefully sadistic dancing figure we see in this chapter who has stopped caring about anyone else’s pain or suffering and just wants his own revenge.

anyway. basically what I’m trying to say is that it’s possible for the concepts of “Todoroki Touya was an innocent child and a victim of abuse” and “Dabi is a grown-ass motherfucking adult who killed thirty people and PROBABLY NEEDS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THAT” to coexist lol. like, y’all wanted your moral grey, well HERE YOU GO lmao, eat up.)

lol but LOOK AT THAT BOY DANCE HIS LITTLE HEART OUT though

Todoroki Touya confirmed not a fan of the Endeavor redemption arc huh. well we all saw this coming lols

anyways here’s a sexy Touya for y’all

you really are the most theatrical bitch I s2g lmao

also for real though, what is happening with his hair? anime team in shambles here. they’re probably just gonna double down and keep it red. too bad though cuz this is a surprisingly good look on him

SO MANY CLOSE-UPS OF THE TODOROKI FACES

friendly reminder that Dabi without a doubt REHEARSED this speech like a thousand fucking times. LET US FALL TOGETHER!! COME DANCE WITH YOUR SON IN HELL. apparently if you fake your own death in middle school you will never mentally age past that point and will remain a permanent chuuni

OH LMAO THAT’S THE END

we really just gonna end on “DANCE WITH YOUR SON IN HELL”, huh. very well then. you know what song to play, Horikoshi. one, two... YOU ARE MY DAD. YOU’RE MY DAD!! BOOGIE WOOGIE WOOGIE

#bnha 290 #dabi #todoroki touya #todoroki enji #todoroki shouto #todoroki rei #bakugou katsuki #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha

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ask-fantasy-sanders-sides · 4 years ago

Note

What is Ro thinking right now? -𓆙

Virgil had just gotten done brushing his hair when they heard the commotion outside the Manor.

Ainsliee squeaks in surprise. She turns to Virgil, boiling over with excitement, gleefully translating the message he had already guessed;

“Daddy’s back! He’s calling for us!!”

She grins and rushes over to Virgil, pulling his wrist and dragging him up from his seat. Virgil huffs in annoyance — not at her, of course, but at the bear’s continued barking — and waves his hand,

“Go on to him, then. But be careful, he’s still dangerous!”

Without a word of response, Annie dashes away. He doesn’t even think she was listening.

Virgil sighs, shaking his head. He trusts the Beast spirit not to hurt her, even with it’s unreasonable strength; After how careful the bear had been with him about an hour before, there’s no way he won’t show the same gentleness with his own cub…

The more cautious parts of Virgil can still imagine her rushing him too quickly and getting crushed on accident, though, so he knows he can’t linger long.

Virgil stands up to get dressed, still not excited to see his friends again. His stomach churns at the possibilities as he meanders towards a closet, silently hoping Lolth would just strike him down right now so he wouldn’t have to talk to them.

He just knows they’ll be angry, he feels it in his bones — and even if they aren’t, it will certainly be awkward, and that’s just as bad!

(Better to be the first to anger, so you might lead the conversation, Virgil reminds himself as he wallows in dread. He won’t even have to fake his ire if any of them come back injured, which he already knows is unavoidable. Aside from his desire to keep them all unharmed, he really doesn’t want to be owing any more favors…)

(And even more besides, if he could be petty, Virgil doesn’t want to go back outside. It’s cold and windy tonight, his hair is still damp, his limbs are still sore, his mom has his armor, and he doesn't want to put clothes back on, damnit.)

Another resounding roar thunders through the night air, and then Virgil feels the entire tree-tower tremble with vibrations.

Fully realizing that this dire bear is willing to climb the place and rip it open to find him, Virgil grabs the nearest warm-looking robe. He hastily slips it on over his bandages (and quiver belt, which he had already been wearing) as he makes his way out of the Manor.

~~~

Logan watches Roman pace back and forth around the trees, in front of the spiraling stairway that leads up into the complex. He’s been incessantly huffing and stomping around like a petulant child, and Logan has no idea what to say to make him stop; He's been trying ever since the city was in sight.

Janus and Remus are very pointedly not helping, with Janus giving Logan a meaner side-eye the longer the wailing continues, and Remus yelling back at Roman for no other reason than to join in being loud.

Patton has less fear of the gigantic, angry animal, approaching the groaning beast and patting a hand on his paw,

“Aww, c’mon now, Roman. We just got here! Give them a minute to come down,” Patton soothes in a soft voice, “Not everyone is as fast as a giant bear!”

Roman looks down at him, acknowledging his presence, but he either didn’t understand Patton’s words or wholeheartedly doesn’t care. He softly shakes his paw to scoot Patton away, then rears up on his back legs, raises his arms, then lurches all of his body weight forward and slams into the trunk of the massive tree.

It doesn’t visibly shudder at his attack — even at his size, these great home-trees of the Faewild are many times wider around than a direbear, and won’t be knocked down so easily — but the intent is clear, and Logan worries someone as sensitive to vibrations as Virgil would be quite frightened. So, Logan quickly steps in, using a more stern tone this time (and his Universal Speech,)

“That’s enough! You are being impatient,” Logan scolds, “They will come down soon enough. One of them is injured. They can take their time if they wish to.”

An angry whine interrupts his last few words, but still, Roman backs away from the complex. He keeps growling and barking, but at least he’s not trying to break the damn thing down.

Right on queue, a little blue girl comes flying down the stairs like a missile, grinning wildly.

Logan sighs in relief, happy to see her in good spirits after how they had left off. Roman seems to feel the same, finally quieting down his complaints. He drops his head down to meet her when she approaches, sniffing her as she reaches up to hug his muzzle. She squeezes him as best she can from there, giggling when he pushes down a little to nuzzle her.

Practically tripping over herself with energy, Annie quickly pops up to bowl Patton over in a hug as well, giving Logan a wide grin over his shoulder as Patton squishes her close to his chest. Logan couldn’t suppress a smile in return, even if he wanted to.

Virgil appears at the staircase then, looking comically ethereal. His long, re-dyed hair and wide-sleeved elven robe blow in the wind, his expression soft and quietly observant; He looks much more like the picture of a dark-elven noble you would find in a storybook than the grizzled soldier they’ve been travelling with. Even his eyes have changed color, with his sclera turned black and his pupils reflecting pale moonlight.

Virgil spots Patton and Annie embracing, and relaxes at the sight of them. Then he turns his gaze on the rest of the team, and his usual scowl returns, eyes glowing red to match. Logan is almost comforted by the familiarity.

“Olath ilhar, You’re hurt!” Virgil growls, rushing down to meet them.

Logan grumbles to himself over the hypocrisy of that statement, looking over the bandages absolutely covering Virgil’s arms, legs and abdomen.

Roman shuffles his weight on his paws when he sees Virgil approach, but Virgil holds a hand out to him, scolding,

“Oh don’t you even start! You will sit and wait your turn!”

To Logan’s amazement, Roman whines and sits down on the grass, looking thoroughly reprimanded.

(Well that is just not fair.)

Virgil looks over each of them in turn, searching for wounds. He circles Patton first, alarmed by the bandages across his middle. The careful prodding of his hands remains in stark contrast to the snarl in his voice,

“I wouldn’t have let you go if I knew you were going to be so reckless!”

“You hardly let us go at all. And, only two of us are injured.” Logan corrects as if he can’t help it, not taking Virgil’s returning glare so seriously.

“Three of you! Roman is barely standing. And that’s more than half of your party, yutrit'zarreth!” Virgil hisses back. He moves over to Logan and stalks around him, searching him as well.

“I’m fine, Virgil, I didn’t even get near the battle.” Logan protests, shrugging off Virgil’s patchwork cloak in order to return it.

Virgil bares his teeth, still unconvinced. Logan sighs and sits through his examination, though he can’t help but complain to himself about how unfair Virgil is being.

Reminding himself of Virgil’s wounds, Logan uses their proximity to examine his bandages. They seem fairly well-wrapped, but it’s clear he hasn’t had any magical healing since they saw him last, and the bags under his eyes are dark even for Virgil. Every day it seems Virgil is stretching the limits of what levels of pain a person can ignore — by all accounts, he shouldn’t be conscious right now, much less standing.

The last few battles, Logan had tried not to think too much about why Virgil does this, and even less about how he became able to. But, at this point, it’s become obvious that he has a very serious problem. Logan’s going to have to do something if he doesn’t want Virgil to drive himself into the grave...

While he lets himself worry, Logan also notices the belt of Virgil’s quiver is strapped right over his bandages.

“Are you wearing that against your bare skin?” Logan scolds before he can stop himself, “What about the wound on your back?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Virgil grumbles, though bringing it up seems to have scared him off. He snatches his cloak from Logan’s hands, pulling it in under his robe and fastening it so it lies between the robe and his skin, then slinks away, glowering. Logan can’t help but think he’s misstepped, somehow.

Virgil has already moved on to look over Janus, who also tries to shoos the archer away, insisting he’s unharmed. Virgil hisses at him, too, but quickly moves on to Remus anyway.

“Get inside and rest, all of you!” Virgil orders as he prowls around him, examining the bruises on his sides and back with gentle touches, “We’ve already lost too much travel time as it is, at this rate we’ll never make it to the Capital.”

“What about Roman? I doubt he can fit inside, are we just going to leave him out here??” Patton whines. Virgil snaps a short, sharp laugh and glares at the bear,

“Yeah, for all I care.”

Roman groans at him, and Virgil snaps something back in Drowic. Logan doesn’t know if he can actually understand Virgil’s words or just the tone in which he’s saying them, but Roman is certainly respecting his orders more than he did Logan’s.

(Logan quickly reminds himself that Virgil had once claimed to be a Ranger, and answers his own questions on the matter.)

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Logan advises carefully, taking note of Virgil’s mood. He keeps his tone as soothing as possible as he explains,

“This is his first time shifting, we should stay to make sure he doesn’t do anything reckless. Besides, specifically as a bear, he will grow distressed if we leave his sight.”

“You’re just saying that because you want to study him.” Janus supplies unhelpfully, apparently living to annoy him. Virgil doesn’t respond, though, and Logan can tell that his reasoning got through to him.

Remus rolls his eyes, quickly growing bored of their debate,

“Well, I’m certainly staying with Brother Bear over here, and the three of us have a long overdue heart-to-heart scheduled for, ehhh, right about now~!”

Virgil pretends not to hear him while he studies the bruise on Remus’s back. Remus frowns at being ignored, turning on his heel and grabbing Virgil’s shoulders to stop him in his tracks,

“Let’s have a little chat~! You aren’t getting out of this, slick.”

Virgil glares holes into Remus’s chest, then turns away from him, hissing his discomfort the entire way. Janus looks similarly displeased, leveling an unfriendly look at Remus before taking his hand and following along.

Logan and Patton follow the three of them, Annie holding Patton’s hand and instructing Roman to follow behind.

Virgil leads them to a vacated barn, instructing Roman to lie down and wait. Annie nestles in next to his side, and Logan and Patton join her, watching Virgil lead Remus and Janus back out. Virgil keeps himself several paces ahead of them, looking like he might lose his nerve and bolt at any minute.

Logan and Patton share an uneasy look, only able to speculate about what happened between Virgil and the odd duo…

Janus doesn’t say a word, worried about getting himself in trouble before they even start the conversation. Virgil already seems tense, and Janus doesn’t ignore the way he positions himself closer to the Manor complex than to the barn.

Once he’s satisfied they’re far enough away that Logan can’t eavesdrop, he very rigidly turns to face his two old friends, waiting for someone else to start.

Janus and Virgil just glare in each other’s directions, both refusing to be the first to get vulnerable. (At least Virgil’s eyes are glowing faintly red, so Janus knows where they’re pointed, and where the hell Virgil is.)

Remus stands with his hands on his hips and glances between them impassively, knowing it’s only a matter of time until one of them cracks.

Despising the awkward silence more than anything else, Janus finally smirks,

“Well, you look terrible.”

“What are you doing here?” Virgil growls, shifting his gaze between the two. He still hasn’t looked either of them in the eye, just glaring at the grass by their feet like it’s done something to offend him; something it took many years to get Virgil to stop doing.

“Oh, you know I just love the Faewild,” Janus grumbles, folding his arms defensively, “But, this time, I must confess we were mainly looking for you.”

“Why?” Virgil growls even lower, his eyes turning even brighter red. Janus rolls his eyes at the aggressive display, 80% certain Virgil is simulating it this time.

“What do you mean ‘why?’” Janus scoffs, quickly growing annoyed, “It’s been so long, I was starting to wonder if you’d gotten lost!”

Janus expected the cold reception, of course, but he’s never exactly been lauded for his temper. Remus steps in, knowing a spat is imminent if he doesn’t. He chuckles,

“You fucked off in quite a rush, but you did say you were coming home eventually.”

Virgil’s jaw drops.

He quickly shakes himself out of it and resumes his defensive posture, but the damage was done; The same shocked look spreads to the other two. The three just stare each other down, all of them growing more confused by the minute.

Virgil breaks first, looking away at a suddenly very interesting rock as he mumbles,

“…You expected me to come back?”

Janus can immediately read the implication under the words; the question Virgil is afraid to ask. He feels his chest constrict a little at the thought, too winded to keep up his usual snark. In all of the visions he had seen to prepare for this moment, Virgil had never reacted like this. Usually he ran, and often he was angry at them or scared of them, but never…dejected.

“Darling, of course! How could you assume anything else?”

“I don’t know,” Virgil huffs, shoulders raising up to his ears, “Maybe it was the huge fucking fight we had seconds before I ran off for two fucking years— Aren’t you mad?!”

“No!” Janus and Remus shout at the same time, with varying levels of surprise and distress. Virgil’s still on the offensive, glaring at them.

“Fuck off! I almost took your whole arm off, and then you leased that dweomer, and Remus lost it—”

“That’s not the first time we each went a little crazy, Virgil.” Janus shakes his head, subtly motioning down to his ankle,

“That’s part of the reason we’ve stuck together for so long, remember?”

Virgil smiles a little at the reference, an inside joke between the three of them he thankfully hasn’t forgotten. Still, he seems reluctant.

He turns a bit towards them now, though he’s started picking at his nails, like he does when he’s really nervous. His eyes are wide and startled, but he still won’t look up,

“That time was… different. Something happened. I think I…” He shakes his head, steadying his voice before he continues,

“No, I know it this time. I’m not going crazy, something cursed me in that cave! All I remember is us knocking over some altar with a crystal on it, and now I can do magic on the surface?! And I got all paranoid about every little move, and I tried to run off for good!”

“It wasn’t a curse. At least, I don’t think so.” Janus sighs, looking down at his hand, which is now covered in dragon-like scales under his glove. “And it wasn’t just you, either.”

Remus grins, focusing on drawing forward that strange energy he now houses. He holds out his hand, letting Virgil watch as he conjures the usual smoke effects he’s always been able to summon, now along with some unusual yellow lightning flashing within.

“Me and Deedee also got some cool new powers~! And some other weird stuff, too!”

Virgil slowly creeps forward to get a better look, still apparently deciding whether he should be afraid or angry. Very slowly, he reaches up and lays one of his hands on Remus’s, then raises the other. Janus and Remus watch as Virgil’s eyes glow blue, and a cluster of lightning grows out of his skin, dancing around his fingers. A moment later, both magic effects fizzle out with a sharp crackling sound.

“Where did you learn that?” Janus hums, mildly impressed, though he already knows the answer. Virgil shrugs, looking back towards the barn,

“Logan’s been teaching me how to control it. I’m still not great at it yet, but I haven’t accidentally killed anyone in several days.” Virgil sighs. He looks around at his friends, finally looking them in the eyes, though he still looks a bit like a frightened animal. Slowly, he adds,

“I still don’t know how I feel about this,” He admits, then sends a short glance at Remus, “But, you and your brother have to do something together in town, right? So… We’re all going in the same direction, anyway.”

“And you’re set on these new guys?” Janus sighs, trying not to sound disappointed. Virgil shrugs.

“I don’t think I can leave them yet. I’m making progress, but I still need Logan’s help…” Virgil looks back at the barn, an annoyed grumble returning to his tone,

“And, these three are kind of pathetic. I really don’t think they’ll make it in one piece without us, anyway.”

Janus chuckles in agreement, not at all surprised. Remus flips his hair with a smile,

“Oh, so there’s an ‘us’ now~?”

Before Virgil can even blush at the slip, Remus is laughing again,

“Well then, it can’t be helped~ Looks like the three of us are coming with them!”

“Of course.” Janus nods, “As much as it pains me to waste my time with such irksome people, it would be convenient for us to travel together. And, according to Logan, you need a sorcerer’s help with the whole ‘training’ thing.”

(Janus avoids adding a snarky remark about how “that also proves that you never should have left to begin with,” though it is difficult.)

“I’d rather it be you then some other high class know-it-all I haven’t met. One is enough.” Virgil admits, though he can’t resist rolling his eyes at Janus’s snark.

Now, a bit of a smirk has returned to Virgil’s face. He looks between the two again, blushing slightly and fiddling with his hands again to distract from his brain. Virgil himself is unsure whether he’s more afraid or hopeful. Not that he would ever admit to the latter.

“So… you really aren’t mad?”

“No, dear. If any of us have a right to be, it’s you.” Janus sighs. Virgil whines in complaint,

“But— Two years is a long time for you, you can’t just let me get away with that!”

“I was busy with something, anyway, so it’s no big deal~” Janus sighs, not quite willing to admit to himself whether or not it’s a lie. To silence Virgil’s arguing he holds one hand out to Virgil, and focuses on melting away just that little section of his glamour.

Green and yellow scales are revealed all along his hand and wrist, and Virgil gasps for a moment, reaching over to touch them. The look he gives Janus then is devastating, the last of the fear easing out of his shoulders as the memory of that night washes over him.

“This is what I was scared of?” Virgil frowns, sounding more than a little disappointed in himself, “Your scales are spreading?”

“There’s much more to it than that,” Janus quickly corrects him, letting the phrase carry a lot of weight for him, “But we can get into that when you’re awake enough to process a more detailed conversation.”

“I thought you were just born with them. Are you supposed to grow more?”

“No, I’m not. Like Remus said, you aren’t the only one who was affected.” Janus shrugs, “We both have physical mutations, though not quite like your scars. Remus already mentioned what happened to his wings, didn’t he?”

Virgil turns to him expectantly. Remus holds his hands behind his back and grins,

“Ooooh no, I’m saving that surprise for something special. After all, now Roman’s here to see ‘em too, and you know I can’t resist dramatic timing~”

“Before you keep insisting you’re too dangerous to congregate around,” Janus muses lightly before Virgil can say another word, “You’re not the only one with new temporal magic.”

Janus takes a tiny amount of pleasure in the momentary horror on Virgil’s face. As a treat.

“Oh, don’t get all worked up, my love~” Janus teases, patting Virgil’s arm, “I’m not able to affect time in any real sense, I can only predict the future. That’s how we were able to track you somewhat reliably.”

“That’s terrifying.” Virgil grumbles, “Are you guys having bursts like mine??”

“Nope. Aside from the visions, which can sneak up on me at times, I’m perfectly in control of my magic.” Janus smirks, “Remus has been having a similar problem to yours, when he gets excited. Not nearly as large-scale, though it can occasionally be dangerous.”

“And I revel in the chaos of it, so no skin off my back~!” Remus grins.

They fall into silence again, though it’s a bit more comfortable now. Virgil shuffles from foot to foot, not quite sure how to end the conversation, or disperse the lingering doubts and awkwardness hanging between them.

(As much as Virgil can try and dismiss his old feelings as “part of the Madness Roman cured,” there’s still a lot about that night that still doesn’t feel right in Virgil’s gut, and he doesn’t know how long he wants to wait for a longer explanation.)

(And, though their parting altercation has been mostly dismissed, it’s still been two years since he saw them last. Virgil knows how much non-elves can change in that time. What if even now, with everything said and done, they still can’t go back to the way they were before? What if they’re different now, and they don’t get along as well as they used to? Should he really want to, anyway??)

Sensing his worries and eager to put them to rest, Janus peels his other glove off as well and steps forward, very gently taking Virgil’s hands.

“Are you angry?” He asks, softly and genuinely.

“You can be upset, Virgil. A lot has happened, it’s okay if you need time.” Janus sends a glance in Remus’s direction, prodding him to help. Remus gives Virgil one of his ‘dazzling’ grins, trying to reassure him that they don’t hold any grudges.

Virgil relishes the familiar feeling of Janus’s hand, shoving aside his remaining worries. He’ll deal with his lingering doubts later.

(Their arrival has added an incredible number of new problems to his plate, but he’s frazzled and exhausted. His best friends are back, and they don’t hate him. At least for tonight, that will be enough; God knows he has enough to worry about right now, anyway.)

Virgil shakes his head, voice still sore from earlier that day, and nearly boneless with exhaustion. Janus and Remus share a knowing look, well aware Virgil is hiding something but too overwhelmed to get into it now.

“Let’s just head back in and rest for tonight.” Virgil sighs, brushing his hair behind his ear. He turns to Janus, frowning,

“In the morning, you’re going to have to tell them about the sorcery thing. And, probably also about being a snake. Logan never leaves it be at one question.”

“Ugh! You people won’t let me keep any of my secrets!” Janus complains, folding his arms. He already knew he would need to come clean, but that doesn’t mean he has to enjoy it. He tilts his chin up in an expression of faux-contempt, tone mocking,

“Fine, but only if you promise to actually sleep tonight. I wasn’t kidding earlier, you look like shit.”

“That’s not fair, someone has to keep watch!”

“We have a twenty-foot bear in there, who is going to sneak up on that? You’re being ridiculous.”

“But what about when Roman changes back in the morning? Someone has to be awake to help him!”

“I will, then!” Remus scoffs, “I’m his brother, he’s not gonna want anyone else to see him naked. Besides, we all know damn well you’re going to wake up the second anyone moves, hypersensitive ass.”

“Oh, shit.” Virgil hums, “We should pick him up some clothes before we head back in…”

“Ooooh, can I pick them out~?” Remus grins evilly. Virgil slaps his arm, trying not to laugh,

“No, leave him alone! He’s probably gonna be scared at first. You can bully him later.”

“You’re such a buzzkill! I don’t remember you being this lame.”

“Say that again when I have the energy to kick your ass.”

They playfully shove and bat at each other the whole way up the stairs, being careful of each other’s wounds while threatening to throw the other off the balcony. At the same time, they move slowly, considerate of Janus’s leg and eyesight.

Janus watches them and suppresses a fond smile, his cold heart warming at how quickly they’ve started to ease back into their usual dynamic...

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Ask 119 (( @zozomind , @renee-niles ))

Game Start

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Rules

Most Recent Recap, in case you feel like you missed something!

Available for questions: Logan, Patton, Remus, Janus, Annie, Virgil, and…Roman?

You have reached the end of Level 2!

Begin Level 3: The Past is Never Dead

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You can now save your first File in Level 3 with the Game Menu!

Save Files:

File A.1: Communication ?

File B.2: The Heart of the Matter ?

File B.3: Angel’s Epithet ?

File B.4: Pack Tactics ?

File B.5: Lay Bear the Breast ?

File B.6: Lay Bare the Beast ?

File B.7: Moonlight Dancers ?

[ !!! WARNING: Save File Limit Breached! ]

[ Which file will you DELETE? ]

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…What a curious title. I wonder what it could mean…

...And it looks like you’ve unlocked something new in the Game Menu!

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(( UPDATED: If you missed the Patreon/Kofi announcement! ))

#please tell me if i need to tag anything else!#lets roll #save point #ttrpgau art #ask rpg sanders sides #asks open #sanders sides rpg au #Roman the Werebear #long post #long answer #game menu #renee-niles #zozomind

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