#anyways I get there and it's just tall white men as far as the eye can see

[pinolitas]

Orville peck on tour but if I've learned anything about gays and this specific venue it's that I am not gonna see SHIT

[blackamethyst2004]

𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕊𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕠𝕣

After the Kingdom Of Beasts (Coming Soon?)

Princess!MCxDragon!Sylus

Warnings: Smut, VirginxExperienced, biting, marking, oral!femrecieving, tail play kind of, pet names, jealousy, praise, over protectiveness, kidnapping (Not By Sylus), Violence, murder, stalking,degradation, some fluff at the end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~18+ Minors DNI~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn’t know what happened at first, it was a normal day in the kingdom, I had snuck out of the castle before, I just wanted to pick some flowers. It was boring at the castle anyways. Of course I had foremen caught before. So father sent a few guards with me that day. My father had always been understanding. But today felt different. It was my 19th birthday. Father was planning a ball this year. Much like every year. Except this time a few more higher ranking nobles were invited other than the overwhelming array of family members. I was simply in the town garden. Plucking roses because they looked good today. When I saw him. He looked like a Knight so I didn’t pay much attention, until he started getting closer. He didn’t look familiar, so I started a conversation.

“Hello, you must be a new Knight.”

*I said respectfully. The man’s gaze darkened as he grabbed my arm pulling me into his armor, a blade poking at my neck. My eyes widened.*

“Don’t say a word Princess. If you do both you and your father will be carved into new decorations…”

The man said darkly, as he pulled me along my legs were scraping against the floor. I tried to move trying to break free only for 6 more men to grab me from the bushes. I began to panic, where were my guards. I frantically looked around and noticed that they were on the ground in a pile. It was so silent how did these guys beat my guards up so fast. My eyes shifted to the Crests on the men’s armor. They were from a different kingdom, and they weren’t just any guards. They were apart of the dragon slayer guild. This guild only had an obsession with me for a mainly one, My kingdom played a large part in stopping the Dragon Lords rampage and blocked off the kingdom of beasts. almost 100 years ago. The kingdom of beasts was a kingdom ran by a dragon lord, and his lover. They built a sanctuary for none-humans, beasts even. Since there is a rumor that the dragon lord is still alive, and will return to wipe out the rest of the kingdoms, many kingdoms apart of the Dragon Slayers want to make deals with my father. Yet, my father doesn’t want anything to do with murdering a dragon who hasn’t done anything wrong. I let out a groan as the group shoved me into a carriage putting a sack over my head. All I could do was think.

Before the carriage could even get far. I heard the sound of panic, something heavy was hitting around the carriage rocking it. Then I felt the wind hit me from the now open door. Where I was grabbed once more. I began to thrash my body, only for my legs to touch the dirt road. Pulling the sack off my face I was met with bright crimson eyes. Long silver hair, half of his face covered by a white and gold mask. He was very tall, well, he was very large. I stepped back nearly falling at his body type, it was like a chiseled wall of white skin with dark assets. He was wearing a black suit, with a suit jacket, that hung off his shoulders. He placed his hand on his hip and look down at me. Two large dragon horns poked out of his white mullet. I let out a slight fearful whimper.

“You’re actually pathetic, you look like a shaking kitten.”

The man said his voice deep and rough in a way that his words slid past my ears like honey.

“Well how am I supposed to react! I’m surrounded by kidnappers that-“

I said. Looking around to see the kidnappers were all laid out like discarded props. Passed out.

“Hmm…did you do that?”

I asked. My eyes shifting to him. He crossed his arms. Giving me a look as if he thought I was the dumbest person alive.

“No, the wind did it.”

The man said sarcastically, he reached down and rippled off the crest of someone’s uniform, before he turned away, sending a half hearted wave.

“I figure you’re smart enough to find your way home.”

The man said. Disappearing into the distance. That was the first time I met him, it had been two years since that day, and He had saved me countless times. It got to the point where we started writing each other letters. This time it was different, the letter I wrote him was an invitation to this year’s ball for my birthday. Since this was a public event. I hoped he’d come, perhaps in the years he kept saving me and writing letters back to me I had developed a slight feeling for him. How could someone be so blunt and annoyed with my letters, the. Proceed to write me back.

As I anxiously let the maids dress me, they had me wearing a ruffled punk dress, and some pink heels that had straps spiraling up my leg. With a white feather masquerade mask. After adding all the unnecessary jewelry I was ready for the ball. The night drew long. No sign of him. What was worse was my father neglected to inform me that this was a. All to get all the princes a chance to fall in love with me. All night, princes, high ranking nobles, and even townsfolk were passing me around in dances. I was exhausted to say the least. I stepped away from the party, hugging the wall as I adjusted my heels, the pain in my feet was nearly unbearable. I sighed as I quickly snuck my way out into the garden, I just needed to breath, I let out a groan, and tried to remove my heels.

“Torture these things are.”

I said to myself. I let out a tired huff and leaned back, looking up at the sky that was covered in dark clouds. Thunder struck as rain began to fall. Of course why wouldn’t this happen, with a grunt, I prepared to get soaked as an umbrella covered me. I turned and looked up at the person holding.

“You have a knack for getting into trouble….don’t you…”

He said. Of course it was him. I let out a frantic sigh.

“My masked savior strikes again….”

I exclaimed. He sat down beside me holding the umbrella up. He looked at me through the mask, as I sighed.

“I’m surprised your actually came to the ball…I was worried for a sec.”

When I spoke he just looked at me. As if taking in every word. I’ve never had someone listen as intently. That night I talked to him for hours that night, and several nights after. I had finally found out his name, Sylus. One day after a long night of sneaking out to dance with some towns folk, I was exhausted. It was snowing and I couldn’t get over the wall. I shivered, snow sticking to my clothes and hair, I heard a twig snap and instantly knew who it was.

“Evening my lord…”

I said gently, as Sylus walked to me, kneeling down to my level, he gave me a look, I sighed, and wrapped my arms around his neck, as he slid on hand under my legs and picked me up bridal style, with a quick leap he was on my balcony, slowly opening the door and setting me down on the bed.

“If you keep being reckless like this, I won’t be able to save you…”

Sylus said. I looked down at him, the last few months have been a mess. I was exhausted really. Too many incidents that I needed to be saved from. I needed to be more careful. He knelt down, his hands brushing against my leg, as he began to unfasten my heels. Gently pulling them off and setting them aside. He always helped me with my shoes, he then stood up and walked towards my bathroom running a warm bath.

“That’s not needed my lord I’ll warm up just by the fire…achoo.”

With my sneeze he rose a brow, before he turned on the water, I looked at him and sighed.

“Do dragons get cold.”

I asked. He looked up at me again, a smirk forming on his lips.

“Only in rare accusations.”

He answered. I had learned a lot about Sylus. He was a dragon, and not just any dragon, the dragon lord everyone was afraid of. Other than that he wouldn’t tell me if the fairytale was true about him and his past lover, though I didn’t pry. When the bath was ready. Sylus head to the window. Climbing out, he never stayed longer than this anymore. As I began to undo my dress. The lace on my corset got stuck. I let out an annoyed groan.

“Why now?”

I complained tugging at knot that only seemed to make it worse, the longer I did it the more frustrated I got. Until I heard the floor creak. And felt a shadow over me. I sighed yet another moment that Sylus saved me. I looked in the mirror, seeing his towering form behind me. He worked so fast at untying the not, his fingers glided over my skin as a shiver ran down my spine. Sylus stopped peaking at me in the mirror as my body trembled under his touch, before he looked back down and finished untying the knot.

“How old are you anyways Sylus…”

I asked.

“128.”

He said bluntly. Not paying much of a mind to me.

“So you’ve undone a lot of dresses in your time…”

I said. He rose a brow, stopping what he was doing holding my corset in his hands

“Must you ask so many silly questions.”

He said. I pouted, turning to him when he was halfway done untying the back of my dress. He moved his hands for a moment. Looking at me concerned. A spark of mischief formed in my eyes. As I reached up my fingers almost brushing against his horns, he quickly stepped back.

“Don’t.”

“What? I only wanted to touch them, I’m curious on how they feel…”

I replied stepping closer, he looked down at me, with a slight glare.

“Your bath is going to get cold.”

He projected. I stopped and let out a sigh walking into the bathroom and closing the door, I finished undressing. And stepped into the warm bath. Hearing a scoff from the other room. I expected Sylus was going to leave without saying goodbye, yet I didn’t hear the door open, after my bath I stepped out in my nightgown. Seeing him sitting on the ground his arms crossed as he seemingly fell asleep on my floor, he didn’t look to a scary when he was sleeping. My eyes flicked to his horns again. As I snuck to him, slowly reaching my hand out to touch his horns. The first touch didn’t do anything. Until my finger slid to the base of his horn, with a slight growl. He grabbed my wrist, holding it tightly as he looked at me.

“Stop…you’re going to-“

He said before my other hand gripped his horn, he let out a beastly growl, his breath hitched as I felt his body warm up erratically. His hand on my wrist loosened as I rubbing the base of his horns with my thumb, his breathing picked up, as I moved my other hand to his horns. He slightly rubbed his horns against my hands, his breaths turning into labored pants. He looked up at me with dark eyes his chest rising and falling as frantic as his breaths. Before I felt something wrap around my ankle and thigh, I looked own and looked at his tail, it was covered in sharp scales, one of my hands moved from his horns as it caressed his tail. His face began to burn. As he wrapped his tail fully around me pulling me to the ground under him. His hands grabbed my wrists and pinning them above my head.

“You’re too curious sweetie.”

He retorted. His large form trapping me against the floor. His tail snapped up. He looked down at me. With a growl he moved closer, his teeth brushing against my neck, my face burned red. I could feel his breath on my skin, was he going to bite me. Before he bit down on my skin he scoffed, planting a gentle kiss on my neck.

“You make it harder and harder to keep myself in control…”

He said. I gasped. My body beginning to heat up. His hand slid down my wrist and arm, before it moved to my hip, tracing down my thigh. His tail wrapped around one of my legs adjusting it towards his hip. I looked at him my eyes full of shock, my body begging for his touch, before he let me god with a breath.

“I shouldn’t.”

He said to himself. Beginning to move away. Without thinking I swiftly wrapped my legs around his waist, my arms pulling him down.

“Wait…don’t go…”

I pleaded. He looked at me with eyes full of attitude. As he slid his hand up my leg, lifting my knee, as he placed a gentle kiss on my knee.

“You want me to stay….”

He asked. What a stupid question, I always wanted him to stay. I nodded, pulling him closer.

“Yes.”

I managed to say, with a slight chuckle, he leaned down, planting more kisses on my knee and thigh, my body trembled as I let out a gasp, he worked his way to my inner thigh. He gently nipped my inner thigh, before soothing the bite with his tongue.

“Do you want it sweetie….”

He asked. Looking up at me, I looked down at him, and nodded.

“Use your words.”

He corrected.

“Yes…”

I stuttered. He smirked, his tail wrapped around my hip, moving my hip up as he grabbed my thigh. Moving it over his shoulder as he began to kiss and bite at my inner thigh his breath gently hovered over my arousal, he hooked his finger against the center pulling it away from my glistening folds. I let out a nervous noise, his eye flicked up at me.

“Don’t worry…I’ll be gentle…for now…”

He warned. He kissed around my core, before I felt his tongue slide in between my folds. I let out a moan, covering my mouth as his tongue circled the walls of my most sensitive area. As he tasted my folds. His thumb traced circled around my clit, through pants I looked down, my hand sliding into his silver hair, gripping his horns, which seemed to cause him to get a bit rough, he grabbed my hip pulling me closer as his tongue hit my most sensitive part, my moans turned into labored whimpers.

“S-Sylus…”

I whimpered, he slid his other hand up my body, under my night gown as his hand cupped one of my breasts, my back arched as my pebbled nipples felt his rough hands. My walls clenched, as I let out a cry arching my back before covering his mouth with my climax. I panted, as he moved from between my legs. His lips glistened with my essence, he looked at me his eyes dark almost animalistic as he licked his lips and fangs cleaning up my extra arousal. He leaned up, his hands moved to his belt, tugging it loose, freeing his erection from the confines of his pants, he looked at me like a beast in heat, his tail pulling me closer, before he grabbed my hips.

“Are you sure you want it kitten…”

He said. Almost entranced by him, I looked at him, and nodded.

“Yes…please.”

I answered. The moment I said that. His demeanor shifted, he roughly grabbed my pulling me against his chest, my arms wrapping around his shoulders as he pulled me into a kiss, his tongue exploring my mouth, the sweetness of my taste mixed with his desire. As he slowly slid his head against my folds, slowly pushing his large length into my lending folds, my eyes watered as the sheer size split open my folds with little resistance. I leaned my head against his chest planting heavy when he filled me.

“Relax. You can take it.”

He said. As he began to suck on my neck before he slowly thrusted into me. Pained moans filled the room as he moved my hips up and down, panting heavily as I squeezed his cock. The more he thrusted the more he stretched my pussy out. It wasn’t long before my walls clenched around him. His thrusts got sloppy, when I came on his cock he let out a grunt, his hand covering my mouth muffling my loud euphoric moan, with a few more thrusts, he pulled out of me, painting my stomach with his warm seed, for a moment I just held onto him tightly, as we struggled to catch our breath for a while. My legs trembled, as I fell against him, he looked at me.

“I didn’t hurt you too much did I…”

He asked moving sweaty hair from my face. I shook my head. He wrapped his arms around me holding me close for a while.

AN: I started writing this over 12 hours ago and kept getting distracted so I had to hurry up and finish before I forgot about it. Maybe in the future I’ll rewrite it.

[col0rlord]

Pool table 🎱

Jake Seresin x reader!

Summary: You like playing pool? Someone you know does too. This challenge might be a win, win for you either way you play.

~🎱🍒🍺🐆~

It was a typical Thursday at the Hard Deck around 7:30ish. Maybe a little later. You placed the pool balls in the rack, with the 8 ball right in the middle. A little warm up before the crowd came shuffling in.

There were a few older men sitting at the bar nursing their drinks. Too busy talking to one another before it was too loud to even hear the balls clinking off each other. They seemed like they were catching up and talking about the latest news in their life.

Regulars you have seen before.

Never got their names, but they know yours from Penny yelling it across the bar for you to retrieve the drink you get every time. A blue moon glass bottle.

Taking the rack away from the balls and hitting the first shot straight to the middle watching as the balls landed in their placement like popping open confetti on January 1st when the clock hit midnight. Feeling the heat from the heater roll of your neck after taking your hair and putting it in a ponytail.

Not playing anyone just practicing the hits and warming up when someone does come up and ask to play.

Warming up the little tricks you had. Put on a show for the people. They liked it. Sitting on the table and shooting from behind your back was the crowd favorite. Skipping the ball over the other and getting it in was a good one too. When you put the two together there was always someone coming up to you asking how you did that in the first place.

Slowly the bar became more alive and you weren't even halfway done with your drink yet. Downing the rest before people came over to watch you and some random play for money or anything really.

Walking to the bar to get a refill Penny looked you up and down as she was wiping a glass with a white rag she then flipped on her shoulder to rest for later use. “Y/n, those moves are going to get you in trouble one of these days.” She said as she grabbed my glass bottle, throwing it away and opening another one for me.

Shrugging at the idea of a man throwing a fit over losing to you in a game of 8 ball. “Maybe we will make the big bucks tonight. People love to see me as they try and win. I’m just too good at this shit. Nights like this seem to be busier anyways, so I came tonight instead of tomorrow night,” You told her as she placed the drink in front of you winking as you grinning knowing you are right.

“Watch out Y/n. We got some Aviators walking in soon. Might have a bit of a challenge up for you there.” She spoke out as you were walking away back to the table to finish what was going on, on the spread of balls.

Later on, around 8:30 now, you had some guy walking up to you wanting to play. This poor guy came in almost every night trying to win against you. You even went a little easy on him a few times. Trying to offer help but he always turned it down saying he ‘Could win against you without a female's help.’

We moved past that as I kept winning, he never said anything else about it after those first 4 times of me winning.

“That's game Logan.” you said bent the table over looking at him through your lashes as you hit the 8 ball into the far right pocket all the way from the other corner. Smirking as you watch it roll into the pocket. Looking back at the older ladies smoking a cigarette as they all high-fived me. Taking a swig of my beer. Feeling the condensation roll down my hands and between my fingers.

He rolled his eyes and placed the pool cue on the end of the table and walked off. The cue rolled over the edge and onto the ground with a loud clanking sound, as it tottered from the tip to the end about 3 times. The noise ended abruptly. Whipping your head around fast to watch who stopped it. You see this tall man in an Aviator uniform. Brown hair and green eyes. Face was sharp and square. Tan, buff. easy to look at. I could go on and on

“Y/n Y/l/n. heard of the name but never met in person. Saw your picture on the wall back there. I’m Lieutenant Jake Seresin. Pleasure is mine.’” Reaching his hand out for me to take it after he moved the toothpick in his mouth. Looking at you with a wink and a smirk plastered on his face. You placed your hand in his. You both shook as a greeting.

“Lieutenant?” you asked him up and down taking in the uniform and how it fitted him. Then moved your head to the side to look at the other uniformed people behind him. One wore glasses. One with his arms crossed and a shaved head, and a lady with a slick back bun.

He chuckled and looked to the right of him at the table. Then right back at you letting go of my hand walking around the table. “Want to go a round or two?” He asked, walking to the table and placing the balls back in the rack. Moving the rack around staring right in your eyes.

“Are we playing for anything or are you just testing the waters first?” You asked, walking back to the table you placed your cue to lean against the table and grabbing the blue chalk. The ego needed to be checked on this one and you were the one that was sweating to do so. Leaning it back against the pool table to spread your hands out to lean over and watch his moves at the other end.

He chuckled again pulling out his wallet. You raised an eyebrow watching his moves and he walked over to the table right next to him. “Oh Y/l/n. how I was praying you would be here tonight. Just! So I could get this opportunity to play against you. 200.” He said bending his knees and squeezing his eyes shut at the word ‘just’ pulling out four 50 dollar bills and placing them down with a hard smack.

“But for me. All I am asking for is one date.” He said walking back to the other side of the table.

You looked up from the green fabric table and up at him, smirking. Tapping your foot as you thought about it. He wasn't ugly. Like you said, easy to look at. You rolled your lips together and walked over to him placing a hand on his shoulder and leaned closely into his ear so he could feel your breath on his neck. A little teasing wouldn’t hurt, would it?

“You’re on Lieutenant Seresin” You whispered into his neck. He clenched his jaw and closed his eyes as he swallowed hard. Then stepped back as he got ready to take his shot right down the middle.

[odditycircus-2002]

Since your requests are open: could you do a fic about MK11 Fujin hearing the reader sing and he thinks it’s absolutely beautiful, so the reader does a mini concert with just him watching?

If you need certain songs to put into this, I got you:

A/N: Thank you for the songs and for my first fic request that doesn't involve my usual Mortal Kombat men! I hope I do Fujinn justice, as he seems like a chill dude. Oh! And for the song in this fic, I went with "The Voice" by Celtic Woman. I'd thought it would be fitting with its elemental lyrics. I'll also try to keep these requests as gender-neutral as possible unless specified otherwise.

The Voice

Being the god of the Wind came with many perks. Not only is Fujin granted with divine power, but also the ability to fly and ride on the winds to wherever he desires. Currently, the wind god has no specific location where he desires to reach. Fujin is currently content with riding the winds on a rare peaceful day in Earthrealm, with no sign of an upcoming attack from Outworld's inhabitants. That is until the demi-god caught wisps of a melody within his breeze. The melody carried soft notes with an almost haunting quality to it. Fujin eases his winds to a halt within a forest, waiting to hear more of the melody.

His patience is rewarded when he hears it dancing on the breeze again. Fujin judges by the volume of the music, its source isn't too far from him. With footsteps light as the wind he commands, the demi-god treks through the woods, the music becoming louder and clearer with each step he takes. Eventually, his search takes him to a clearing with some mostly smooth boulders in the center. On top of those boulders sat a young adult Earthrealmer plucking at the strings off a worn but loved fiddle. They occasionally would play some notes before following them by singing in possibly the most beautiful voice he's ever heard in all of his existence.

"I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain. I am the voice of your hunger and..."

The earthrealmer trails off before letting a huff of frustration which is when Fujin decided to make his presence known.

"Why did you stop?"

"Gah!"

You let out a shout in surprise, fumbling with your fiddle and bow as they almost fell from your arms. Fujin holds up his hands in a placating manner as he takes another step into the clearing with a soft expression on his face.

"Forgive me, I didn't mean to startle you,"

"Are you blind?"

You cut off the strange looking newcomer, taking in his bright pale eyes and long silver braid.

"Pardon?"

"Your eyes. They're really white as if you're blind. Are you?"

Fujin gives an amused grin.

"No and I am glad. Otherwise, I'd never get to see you sing err..."

"Y/N, the name's Y/N. Do you have one too, stranger?"

You are quick to ask as you turn your head away from the tall and handsome newcomer, hoping he doesn't see your flustered expression.

"My name is Fujin."

The demi-god decides to leave it at that, for now, not wanting to further surprise you and possibly drive you away by revealing his role as one of Earthrealm's divine protectors and god of the wind.

"So Fujin, you caught me at a bit of a bad time,"

"And why is that?"

Fujin gently asks. You look around at anything but the newcomer, while running your fingers along your bow.

"Well, I'm supposed to be composing a song. I have the notes but I don't quite have all the words."

"If it helps, your singing is very beautiful."

"Oh uhhh, thank you."

You blush as you start to absentmindedly pluck a few notes of your fiddle. Fujin is now just a few feet away from you, close but with respectable distance between you.

"I would like to listen to more of your work, if you'll allow it."

"Sure! Uh- I mean- I mean, sure. That would be wonderful. I could use a muse anyways."

You then stand up on your feet, realizing how you're only just slightly taller than Fujin with the platform beneath you. You dust yourself off, you then hop onto a higher boulder. After making a few adjustments with your fiddle's strings, you start to sing.

Fujin was fortunate enough to snatch snippets of your singing while he was riding the winds, but those pale in comparison to hearing you right in front of him. Your voice is strong and proud. It is ethereal and eerie. It is as if listening to the Elder gods sing themselves.

When you start to play your fiddle for the musical segment of your song, you jump down from your boulder to start skipping around the clearing. You almost appear to be floating on air, and actually do at one point, but you hardly notice as you're too engulfed by the music. Around you and Fujin, the wind starts to blow and picking up the fallen leaves, filling the clearing with a myriad of warm colors.

"I am the Voice of the past that will always be filled with my sorrows and blood in my fields!

I am the Voice of the future! Bring me your peace... Bring me your peace and my wounds... They will heal."

Throughout your mini concert, Fujin's gaze never wavered from your form as if trying to commit every move and gesture to memory. As you paint a rhapsody with your body but write a requiem with your song. At last, it comes to a stop and so the Demi-god does the only thing he could think to do and claps.

You give a beaming smile at Fujin before taking a pantomime bow.

"Thank you, thanks for being such a great audience and muse."

You then blow him a kiss, which Fujin playfully pretends to grab before stuffing it in his pocket.

For a while afterward, you and Fujin sat together on a warm day, discussing anything and everything that came to mind, including hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Fujin reciprocated, to the best of his abilities, without outright telling you his divine nature, as he told you about his brother and travels. You weren't typically one for conversation, but something about the odd stranger made you feel at ease as if you knew him forever rather than for a few hours. Unfortunately, your time with Fujin was cut at the sound of a ringing bell calling you away, which you found yourself reluctant to answer. Your new friend notices this and gives you an encouraging smile.

"Go, your audience awaits."

"B-b-but they're not you. What if they don't like the song? What if I get up on stage and mess everything up? What if-"

Fujin rests a hand on your shoulder, while giving you an encouraging smile.

"You'll do wonderful, take it from me. I have heard many songs on the wind throughout my travels, but no song contain's your voice's passion and talent."

You blush as you flexed your fingers against your fiddle.

"T-thank you, Fujin."

You bite at your lip as you look between your fiddle's case and your new friend, brows furrowed in thought. Ultimately, it's now or never since it's not often a handsome stranger randomly shows up to act as a muse for your music and then decides to befriend lil ol' you.

"Maybe you can come see my performance sometime?"

You then add frantically as you feel the back of your neck heat up.

"Only if you want though! I know you and your brother are often with travels and everything, and I don't want to be a hindrance to either of you!"

Fujin gives a chuckle before softly replying, his eyelids hooded.

"I would love nothing more; for future reference, you're never a hindrance."

You abruptly stood up and started to make your way toward town, trying your best to hide how giddy your new friend's words made you.

'Don't blow this out of proportion! He's just being nice! He just likes your music, nothing more!'

But you didn't speak any of your thoughts; instead, you said a little too quickly as you bid Fujin goodbye.

"I'll see you later then! My village is only a few minutes walk south from here! I'll be performing in the square, it's a raised stage so you can't miss it, see you soon!"

"I'll see you then."

Fujin replies as he watches you go, before leaving shortly after.

On your way to the village, you found it to be windier than earlier, yet it wasn't unpleasant as it blew through your hair and cooled your body under the warm sun.

[onenerdtwonagas]

Pale Eyes

(A Gotham AU lit piece)

(Trigger warning for gun violence)

Of all nights for someone to break into the institute, it just had to be the one he had a date. Not that any night was good for a break in, but Uriah had the sense this was some of the universe’s dark humor at work. And seeing as he had nothing else to do, being tied up in the back of a van after being caught by surprise, he might as well muse over the horrible irony of the situation.

Kenneth promised me reservations at that upscale Italian bistro downtown, damnit. He’s gonna think I stood him up. Unless this is on the news, if he watches the news…

“Hey, you!”

Uriah rolled his eyes to the metal screen that separated his compartment from the front of the vehicle. One of the masked men glared back.

“Yeah?” he snapped back.

“You’re one of those specialists, yeah?”

Uriah deadpanned. “What, the ‘doctor’ on my nametag didn’t give you enough of a hint?”

“Oh, great, you picked a smartass. Good job,” the driver complained.

“You said to grab somebody that looked important, I nabbed the first white coat I found!”

“Did you even go over the staff list the boss gave us? He had names circled!”

“I’m sure this one’s on the list!”

“How sure?”

“Girls, please, you’re both pretty,” Uriah drawled.

“Shuddup! Just check his nametag again when we get there, you idiot. Something tells me he’s gonna be uncooperative as hell,” the driver barked.

Uriah huffed, and tested the binds on his wrists. Rope of some kind. A shame he didn’t see or feel anything sharp enough to try and cut with. He’d have to keep his eyes open for something when he got to…wherever this van was driving.

“Dare I ask why I’m even here? I mean, who needs someone from a herpetology unit for criminal activity?”

“You’ll be told only what you need to know when you need to know it, and you’ll keep quiet otherwise if you know what’s good for you.”

Metal clanked, and Uriah caught the barrel of a gun tapping the grate between himself and his captors. Ah. Great. Well, that sobered him up a degree. He’d have to be very alert and mind his attitude until he saw an out. Uriah let his head fall back and rest against the side of the van with a resigned sigh. Maybe, if he got lucky, somebody already had the police working on this incident. Kenneth had money, and his own ‘special skill set’. Surely having a friend in high places would come in handy, this time.

As much as he would’ve loved to hear sirens, the drive remained quiet. He was eventually pulled into some dark garage, and manhandled out of the van and through heavy double doors. Uriah glanced around. An industrial complex? Medical testing facility? He couldn’t tell. Just something far more intimidating than the empty warehouse he’d expected. Eventually he was thrust into an amphitheater of sorts, shoved forward roughly. Uriah fell onto his knees, feeling the end of a gun pressed between his shoulders.

“Gentlemen! Is that anyway to treat a man of science? Let him up.”

Blinking in the harsh blue light of the room, Uriah looked up. He didn’t recognize the smug man before him, either, or any of the other seemingly captive people he now noticed. He was yanked up by the collar, and he pulled away with a glare over his shoulder.

“Quit manhandling! I get the picture!”

“And your name? Let’s see…” His badge was tilted up to be read more clearly. “‘Doctor Hoffman.’ Good, very good. You’ll do.”

“Do for what? Who are you?”

“That information is given out on a need to know basis. And you, Doctor, don’t need to know,” the man said. There was a threat behind his smile. Uriah understood.

“You need me for something, though.”

“I suspect your talents may come in handy for our…latest acquisition, shall we say. My people pulled you up on a list of potential helpful individuals. Care to see your latest specimen, Doctor?”

When the man stood aside, Uriah winced from further exposure to the cold, bright light source of the room. A massive cylindrical chamber stood tall at the center of the amphitheater, pipes and tubing connected at its top and base. It took some time to adjust to the light, but Uriah felt the back of his neck prickle and his blood run cold once he made out what was contained within. What at first seemed to be mechanical tubing turned out to be coils, with a more or less humanoid torso attached. A mask supplying oxygen was secured over the being’s face, and several IV’s were connected to its four arms. It appeared vaguely like Kenneth, when he let his human facade slip, but this…this was something unearthly.

“What in God’s name…?”

“That is precisely what we believe you can help us sort out, Doctor. You and our handpicked specialists.”

“Look, I study snakes, I don’t study…that!”

“Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear. Doctor Hoffman, there are two possible answers you can give me. One is an enthusiastic, ‘Yes sir!’ The other, well. My associates can walk you through our termination procedure.”

Uriah scowled.

“Tick tock, Doctor. I won’t wait all day.”

“…Fine.”

“Escort Doctor Hoffman to his new colleagues, will you? And he’ll need his hands. We can keep close enough watch from here.”

His wrists were cut loose, and he was taken by the arm to a row of uneasy individuals, all seemingly taken in situations similar to his. How had he not heard of lab break ins across the city? Then again, bad news was the norm for Gotham. Perhaps he’d tuned it out, as he often did. Served him right, in this case. Once they were left with some space, the woman to his right nudged his elbow.

“Where did they take you from?”

“Gotham Herpetology Institute. You?”

“A distant NASA branch outside the city limits. You wouldn’t know it. Classified. What’s your specialty?”

“Biologic diagnostics and conservation.”

“Smart man. I’m sorry you’re lumped in here.”

Uriah glanced from the specimen, as it were, and up to the higher levels. Thugs with guns in hand were stationed along industrial catwalks near the ceiling and double doors he’d been forced through. Tight security, unfortunately, but too brutish to be something official.

“What do they want?”

“Judging by the mix of specialties they brought in already, they’re hoping we can confirm this…thing…can be used as a sort of bioweapon. They keep us fed and it’s sanitary, at least, but it can’t be anything good. I’m just hoping they don’t off us when they get what they want.”

Uriah nodded to show he understood. “How long have you been here?”

“Two days. First specialists they brought in might’ve been here a week. It hasn’t been long. Somebody said they managed to pick this being up from a crash site. How they beat the government to it, I’ll never know. Feds keep this kind of thing on tighter lockdown than nuclear launch codes, as far as I know.”

Well, shit… Suddenly, Uriah didn’t feel so confident that Kenneth’s connections or abilities would be doing him any good at the moment. Or anytime soon. It seemed he was on borrowed time, only allowed to keep living so long as he was useful.

“Your best bet is to keep your head low and work slow,” someone a few seats over whispered. “You said you’re good for diagnostics, right? Whatever samples they give you, take your time. Fudge numbers if you have to.”

“…Can’t they tell?” Uriah nodded upwards, indicating their overseers.

“The thugs, no. Can’t tell about the big guy in charge. But if he could sort things out himself, what would he need us for?”

A good point. Uriah swallowed. So they all were playing at the same game, then. Better to be on the same team than working solo, he supposed.

“Do they let any of you up close to it? The…specimen?”

“Yeah, I guess, but it freaks me out, personally. I mean, it’s obviously not from Earth.”

“Certainly defies our understanding of the kingdoms,” someone sighed. He had to have been there a few days, based off of the stubble forming on his face.

Uriah didn’t fancy the idea of being kept locked up like this, either. He didn’t know if they’d be let go, but clearly the authorities hadn’t caught on to where several scientists, even ones working for classified offices, had disappeared to. This might be a situation they’d have to collectively finesse their way out of.

For now, though, he looked to the being in the tank. Uriah rose slowly, looking to make sure no one was going to come after him. When none of the guards approached, and neither of the other captive scientists made a sudden move, he slowly descended the stairs to the platform the tank was based on. Uriah stood before it, looking up at the captive being, and felt a twinge of sympathy mixed in with sheer awe. Perhaps knowing Kenneth had dulled him to its anatomy, to a degree—save for the arms and odd color. Maybe it was the light, but the being looked greyish-blue, and the scales on the serpentine tail appeared to shift slowly. There were glowing specks, stars almost.

…Friend?

Uriah froze. He glanced over his shoulder. No one had spoken to him.

Here.

Wait… He was hearing it inside his head. Uriah held his breath, looking up at the being, wondering…

Yes. Here. Friend?

It could hear his thoughts. It was projecting? What did it mean?

Me? Are you asking me?

Yes. Help?

I…Don’t know.

The voice of the being sounded disjointed. Uriah was surprised it could communicate with him at all. Or maybe he was hallucinating?

If…friend…help…

They’ll kill me.

Please.

That nagging sympathy attacked his conscience. Uriah wanted out. This being wanted out. He didn’t know what it was, what it could do, but…it asked for help, in what few words it could probably use.

…I’ll try. Give me time.

Ti…me…?

Damn language barrier. He could speak English, Spanish, and Latin, but he couldn’t speak a language of a being that he didn’t even know. Uriah wracked his brain for a way to get the message across. Perhaps if he only used the words the being had, and with the right intention.

Friend, he thought, hoping his sincerity came through. Will help.

“I’m seeing brain activity,” Uriah heard a scientist speak up. “Maybe it’s dreaming?”

“Is it waking up?” Their captor spoke up, elbows perched on a catwalk railing.

“No, sir, you…you have it too sedated for that,” he replied meekly.

“Well, figure out what it’s doing! I want results, and soon!”

——

One day passed, then two. Uriah could track the hours by the rotation of the guards, roughly. He’d only get to double-check himself when he had access to the monitors showing the being’s vitals, seeing the counter for how long the computers and systems had been going. The team was only alert with their tasks, or at least appearing to be, thanks to being held at gunpoint under constant supervision. To make matters worse, no one had any idea how they’d get themselves out alive. Uriah hadn’t even gotten much of a look at the facility to know which corridor led where. They could’ve been one short hallway away from the outside, and none of them would’ve known. The most he could do was cast quick glances whenever he was escorted—again, by some thug with a loaded gun—to use the facilities. Nothing looked promising.

And whenever he was close to the being’s containment chamber, he felt an odd buzz at the back of his neck. Sometimes he swore it was trying to reach out again, or preparing to, before someone else would approach or verbally speak to him. It wasn’t until the middle of the third day that Uriah finally heard that voice again.

Help. Out.

I don’t know how.

Uriah drug a hand down his face and sat back, staring at the monitors in front of him. He had made himself useful in the most minimal way possible, confirming, when asked, that the being’s blood samples had contained no known pathogens or toxins. The matrix of its DNA was entirely foreign, of course, so that could’ve been entirely useless information in the long run. But at least he was still kept alive to work on that puzzle, or pretend to.

He heard the door at the back click, and one of the thugs’ voices as he spoke to the others.

“Hey, Callaghan, Dobbs, come down. Boss needs something done.”

“Who’s covering? We’re watching the brains for another two hours.”

“It’s a five minute job. What’re these ones gonna get up to? Not like they can get out, anyway. Sealed all the doors in the complex.”

Shit. Uriah growled beneath his breath. If they’d sealed all the doors, then none of them would be able to get out without whatever security measures were being put in place.

…None of the humans, anyway.

He slowly raised his head, turning just enough to watch from the corner of his eye. A bit more chatter, a threat to keep working, and the doors closed. No guns. No surveillance.

Five minutes was plenty of time for a system failure.

One of the other captive scientists looked up as Uriah moved towards the main controls. The access was password protected, so he’d need somebody with hacking abilities.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying something crazy,” Uriah huffed. He looked around at them all. “Who here is good at breaking into computers?”

“You’re messing with the system? They’ll kill you!”

“Not before the next five minutes is up. C’mon, one of you has to have logged in to somebody else’s account at least once in your lives, yeah?”

Somebody stood up, a man not much older than himself, coming to the controls. Uriah stood back to let him work.

“Not proud of it, but I did manage to break into a few multiplayer systems back in the day. Why pay for limited edition skins when you can hack the game and get em for free, yeah?”

“Whatever works,” Uriah muttered. He eyed the counters on the monitors tracking the being’s pulse. Four minutes and ten seconds…four and five…three and fifty-five…

“We’re gonna run out of time,” someone muttered.

“No, no, I think I got it—Fuck yes! I got it!”

“Move!” Uriah moved in, eyes scanning the screen, shifting through the various data windows open at once. One of them had to have the main system operations.

Three minutes and twenty seconds.

“What are you looking for?”

“Some way to shut this whole thing down.”

“Are you crazy? Just find a way to shut down the security system!”

“What do you think they’d rather spend time looking for, us or their specimen?” Uriah growled, glaring at the screen. “…Fuck it!”

He began pressing whatever ‘shut down’ buttons he could find. About five clicks in, and the bright blue lighting of the room shifted to pulsing red. Something attached to the specimen’s chamber began hissing. A computer system began speaking over the intercom.

“Warning: life-support system failure. Repeat: life-support system failure. Stasis cannot be maintained. Warning—“

“Shit, they’re going to hear that!”

Uriah looked up to the catwalk around the top of the room. Looked like their best shot.

“The rest of you, go! I’ll see what else I can do to slow them down!”

“What about you?”

A few more clicks. He flinched as unstable pressure caused a bolt to be forced loose, and a crack to form along the specimen’s chamber. Someone grabbed the back of his collar.

“Wait—“

Before he could react further, another scientist swung a chair right into the monitor. Sparks flew and its electricity choked out. A new addition of alarms added to the din already caused by the system failure.

“We’ve got the doors barricaded! Everybody go, now!”

“C’mon, brainiac!”

Nodding, Uriah scrambled back to his feet to follow. They had a potential thirty seconds to make it to the maze of hallways in the complex before someone broke down the door. He’d reached the catwalk just as he heard the first of the guards banging on it. Uriah spared only a second to look back through the smoke-filled room at the chamber, a massive crack spreading up the side.

Whatever you are—whoever you are—good luck.

He bolted as he heard the doors rattle again, following the rest down the closest hall. The more distance they could put between themself and that room, the better, even if they didn’t know the way out. And about five hallways later, they came to the conclusion that time wasn’t on their side, not if they kept in one group.

“At least one of us needs to make it out,” an engineer panted, peeking nervously around a corner. “If one of us can get out, we can get help. If they find all of us in one place, we’re all dead.”

“And I’d rather at least one out of all of us makes it out rather than none,” another replied in a hushed voice.

Uriah looked to the rest. From where they were now, there were three other hallways they could take, aside from going back the way they’d come. And that was out of the question.

“One third of us goes left, another third goes center, the rest go right,” he reasoned. “We keep splitting up until we can’t. Whatever you do, stay low, stay quiet, and don’t stop until you find a way out.”

Some frowned, others nodded. The young man who’d hacked the computer system clapped him on the shoulder as he split off to the right. “Godspeed, brainiac.”

“You, too. See you on the outside.” Uriah swallowed as he watched them go, following his cluster down the center hall. “…Hopefully.”

Whatever kind of facility this was, it made no sense to Uriah. The blaring sirens and flashing lights certainly didn’t help. He had no means to measure time properly, but it felt like at least half an hour had passed since the original group had split. His cluster had gone from ten, to five, to three, eventually down to just him on his own. And heaven help him, despite trying his best, he’d only just recently found a stairwell. Stairwells were risky; they were confined, and they magnified sound, but as long as he went up, he was bound to find a roof, or a way to it. That was better than wandering aimlessly in the middle of the complex, or getting trapped in a basement. If the chaos he’d kicked off in that chamber led to a fire, he stood a chance of waving down whatever emergency services showed up. His odds were better there than anywhere else.

Uriah paused to catch his breath mid-flight, looking up to try and gauge how many more steps he’d have to climb. It felt like a miracle when the emergency lighting gleamed off of a sign on the wall: Floor 10, Continue to 11 and Roof. Almost. Thank God.

Somewhere down below, a door flew open and slammed against a wall. Uriah clasped a hand over his mouth to keep himself from making a sound, not even wanting his breathing to give him away.

“One of ‘em went this way; they caught him on the cameras before they went down!”

“Which one?”

“The scrawny bastard with the glasses!”

“How d’you wanna do this?”

“…You go down. I’ll head up.”

Uriah got moving again once he heard their own footsteps; it would help hide his own. Two more flights. Just two more. Then maybe a fire escape or some other crazy way out of this hellscape. Floor eleven…there, the door to the roof. He’d heard another door open, and waited as footsteps continued upward. They sounded five—no, four floors down.

C’mon, go in another door. Just any other fucking door.

A door creaked. He held his breath. It closed. Good. Uriah finally wrenched the door to the roof open, bursting out into the frigid air. Wherever they were, it was nighttime outside, a breeze blowing the scent of old weather-worn metal, damp concrete, and smoke. He must’ve started a fire, after all. Uriah scrambled away from the door he’d come from, almost tripping over himself to get to the edge of the building. He had to get his bearings, figure out where they were. Could he see anything important, any signs, landmarks…? The lights made it impossible to find any stars. In the distance, though, he saw the glow of Gotham, and a mess of hills and woods along the way.

Maybe if there’s a direct way off the roof, I could just follow the roads, use the trees as cover…

A muffled boom caught his attention. The far corner of the massive building was up in smoke. Sirens in the distance indicated a fire team had been alerted, but he wouldn’t have time to wait for them. Uriah frantically looked along the ledge he was closest to. No railings, no fire escapes. That couldn’t have been OSHA approved… But there was a catwalk to a detached smokestack, and a ladder built into the brick. A way out was a way out. He’d he exposed the whole time, but he had to try.

Uriah bolted—

A bang sounded behind him, and he only just dodged the bullet that flew past him, ricocheting off of the metal guard rail of the catwalk before rolling to a stop. A second grazed his leg, forcing him to stop as a sharp twinge in his ankle slowed him into a limp. Uriah panted breathlessly, turning to see the corrupt head of operations glaring at him across the roof.

“Well, well, Doctor Hoffman, you’re a bit of a troublemaker, eh? Normally, I admire that trait in a man. Unfortunately for you, in this instance, it just pissed me off.”

Uriah swallowed, his throat suddenly tight and dry. His eyes were fixed on the gun at first, flickering to the billowing smoke overtaking the far end of the building behind his assailant, and then back to the weapon. As the man took slow, confident steps forward, Uriah answered with equally measured steps back, wincing from the pain in his right leg. He was on to the catwalk now, but it wouldn’t do him any good. He knew it, and the man—whose identity he still hadn’t ever figured out—knew it, as well.

“You think you’re getting out of this, Doctor?” he laughed. Cold, full of malice. “I told you, there was one way out of here. Perhaps you just wanted me to handle your termination personally?”

“You’re not getting away with this,” Uriah finally spat back. If he was going to die, he’d at least go out with some spite. “You’ve lost your specimen, yeah? Kidnapped how many people? Gotta imagine you’ve got a long list of folks who want you behind bars!”

“In quite a few countries, but they’ll never get their hands on me. By the time those EMS boys arrive, this place will be one big bonfire, and you and all your little science fair buddies will just be bits of ash in the heap. I’ll be set up somewhere nice and cozy by the time they put the flames out.”

Another explosion sounded, and the entire building’s structure trembled. Uriah lost his balance, slipping and grasping onto the guard rail as the metal groaned and creaked. Whatever was happening, it was going to take the whole place down.

“Looks like we’re out of time, Doctor. Any final words? Maybe if you beg nice enough, I’ll let you live long enough to make all this up to me on the next project. I do hate to waste a perfectly good resource.”

Uriah glared at him. “Go to hell!”

“Have it your way.”

Something surged from the smoke. The man let out a yell as he pulled the trigger. Uriah heard the gunshot, and moments later felt his left shoulder burn with an intensity he’d never felt before. He couldn’t see through the swirl of smoke that the wind had blown through, raising his arm to try and cover his mouth and nose with his sleeve, but he could hear two more gunshots, a yelp, and a wet, snapping, splintering sound. Then, a dull thud before the gun came skittering past him, bouncing off of a pole on the guard rail before falling to the ground far below. Uriah gasped, teeth grit against the pain in his left shoulder, and squinted into the smoke. There was a red glow from the increasing inferno, now, and he could barely make out a figure through it. Uriah backpedaled as it began looming closer, his right hand grasping over his opposite shoulder to try and stop the blood that was seeping through his sleeve. His head pounded, and his vision began to blur, whether it was from his injuries or his adrenaline wearing off, he couldn’t tell.

Two pale blue lights came out of the smoke. Like…eyes. Uriah froze, unable to move any further. He didn’t have it in him. A cough forced its way out of his lungs as smoke began to overwhelm the air. Uriah looked up as the metal creaked again, seeing an eerily familiar silhouette looming over him. Not all human, almost serpentine… His head felt fuzzy, and his vision took a moment to focus, but when it did, he was looking up at the being he’d seen in the stasis chamber. Uriah didn’t have the energy to be shocked or afraid, or any other sensible emotion; he stared up and simply accepted whatever would happen next.

The being leaned close, looking to his bleeding shoulder, then to Uriah’s face.

Friend. Help.

Uriah coughed again. “Y-Yeah? Great.”

The sirens were closer. The building shuddered again. Bricks began falling loose. Glass in windows exploded from the building heat inside. Uriah winced as the catwalk shifted again, forcing him to hold on a little tighter with his good arm. The being adjusted its lengthy tail in return, looking around wildly for an explanation before turning its pale gaze back to Uriah. Before Uriah could even think to ask, the being bent and took him into one set of its arms, initially turning back towards the building but pausing once it saw the roof beginning to collapse at the edge of the smoke. Uriah groaned as his shoulder throbbed again, and he could feel his sleeve growing heavy and damp. How much blood had he lost? How much more could he afford to lose? Did it even matter anymore…?

His blurry vision fixed on the being’s face. It was the last conscious memory he had.

——

Warm. Quiet. Those were the first things his senses picked up on. Uriah’s eyes cracked open to dim light.

“Uriah?”

He blinked, unusually tired, and forced his head to turn toward the sound of his own name. His eyes almost forced themselves closed once more, but Uriah fought it. Someone was leaning over him, but there were no blue glowing eyes this time. They were brown, instead, and his vision steadied enough to make out the entirety of the face watching him.

“…Kenneth…?”

“Hey, Doc,” came the soft reply. Uriah exhaled heavily as a hand brushed through his hair. “Easy, now, easy.”

“Where…?”

“You’re in the hospital,” Kenneth explained. “I’ve got extra security outside your door. The police want a statement from you, but I’ve set up an attorney to keep them away until you’ve recovered fully.”

Uriah nodded slowly, then groaned. He shifted his head to look down at his left shoulder, seeing stitches just above the collar of the hospital gown he’d been put in to. He wagered he had similar treatment for his leg injury, even if he couldn’t see it.

With a heavy sigh, Kenneth sat on the edge of Uriah’s bed and frowned. “What in the world happened, Uriah?”

“You’re gonna think I’m crazy,” he said, swallowing thickly.

“No.” Kenneth reached over to the bedside table, uncapping a bottle of water and holding it up for him. “Here, drink.”

A few sips helped the roughness in his throat. Uriah nodded his thanks before trying to answer the question.

“Some assholes broke into the herpetology institute and grabbed me. Next thing I knew, I was in a van, then some messed-up facility, and now…here, I guess.”

“But why? Not because you know me, I hope?”

“No, no,” Uriah reassured, shaking his head slowly. Even that made him a little dizzy. He held his eyes shut until the sensation stopped. “Some…really messed up science project.”

“Like what? A weapon or something? I know Gotham’s got its characters, but you wouldn’t fit into any of their schemes.”

Uriah sighed, eyes searching the ceiling before landing on Kenneth’s face again. “They had a…a thing. A being, really. It looked kinda like you.”

He saw a seriousness on Kenneth’s face that he hadn’t before. A mix of bafflement and concern.

“What do you mean, like me?”

“Not a clone or anything, but…the bottom half looked a lot like a snake tail. Top half…kinda human, I guess, but…four arms. Some other weird stuff. They wanted me to check its vitals and all that shit.”

He watched Kenneth nod, processing.

“…How’d you find me?”

“I didn’t,” Kenneth answered. “EMS did, when they got there. Reports said they found you near a smokestack, just before the eastern side of the building went down. When you didn’t show up for our date and I couldn’t get a hold of you, and then seeing the news about the break-in and you being missing, I had feelers put out, but didn’t know anything until your identity was confirmed through police scanners and the hospital.”

“And they just let you in?”

Uriah saw his expression fall into a sort of helpless smile for a moment, before a softer-than-usual smirk took over. “C’mon, it’s me. You know the kind of charm I have.”

He chuckled, the sound still rough. “Thank you, for all you did.”

“I got ahold of your mother, too. Found her number through the emergency contact form you gave my office. She’ll be in soon; I paid for her flight. I figured she’d be the one person you’d really want to see, after everything.”

His mother… God. Uriah felt his chest swell and his throat tighten, damp heat reaching his eyes. A clumsy hand rose up to wipe at his cheek as the emotion hit him all at once. Kenneth shifted closer and held his other hand.

“I-I almost died, Kenneth.”

“I know. And I’m sorry.”

“Do you know about the others?”

“The scientists, you mean?” Kenneth’s expression fell a degree. “They…didn’t all make it, hon’. I think I saw they lost about seven of them, last time I caught a glimpse of the news. A bunch are here like you, in different phases of recovery.”

Tears spilled over. Had it been the astronomer? The young guy who broke into the computer? What about the engineer who he’d overhear whispering prayers about their kids? None of it was fair. And then for the survivors, for him, how were they supposed to get back to normal?

“What—W-What do I even do? Just…go back to work like nothing happened?” he sniffed, swiping his hand beneath his eye.

“I could always take you onto my payroll full time. No extra strings attached, no questions asked.”

“I-I’ve put so much of my life into that place… And my mom. Hell, she’s got to be scared out of her mind.”

Kenneth nodded. “How about for now, you just focus on getting yourself patched up? I figured I’d stick around, make sure your mother got in, and then when they’re ready to discharge you, I could take you home. Or, if you’d feel better about it, you can come to my place. Plenty of security. Nobody’s getting to you there, I promise. I’ve even got space your mother could stay there, too. Whatever makes this easier for you.”

Uriah inhaled shakily, and Kenneth handed him several tissues from the bedside table. He accepted them with a tearful mutter of thanks, wiping the dampness from beneath his eyes as best as he could.

“M-Maybe. I don’t know. I’ll ask her,” he said. Kenneth nodded and leaned in to kiss his forehead.

“I’m gonna go grab a coffee. Remember, extra security at the door. You’re safe, alright? I’ve got you, Doc.”

Uriah nodded, watching Kenneth move to the door. “Thank you again, Kenny. For everything. For trying to find me.”

Kenneth smiled over his shoulder. “Always, Uriah. Be right back.”

Uriah slumped back against the pillow and raked a hand through his hair. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the past few days, let alone his last memories before he’d passed out. He supposed the next step would be setting himself up with a good therapist. But…would a therapist be able to handle the full truth of the situation? Kenneth could, but Kenneth was a unique circumstance. Maybe he could still get the help he needed with little white lies.

He turned his head and stared out the window. The sun would be coming up in about an hour, so long as the clock in the room was accurate. Uriah’s eyes slowly roamed over the familiar Gotham skyline.

What he didn’t know, was that a pair of pale eyes was staring right back, keeping watch in the distance. The events within the facility were merely a catalyst. The doctor just didn’t know it yet.

[sukunastits]

Weaponized Incompetence

Weaponized Incompetence 2/?

John ‘Soap’ MacTavish x Reader

Warnings: none? other than my near endless supply of stupid shit that can be said to make men think you’re stupid. Sfw

Part 1

You were entirely blameless for the next incident. Truly, you had been minding your business, avoiding responsibilities like any good non-commissioned officer. Secluded in one of the far off storage rooms on the west side of the complex, counting boxes of paper towels - far enough out of the way that Sgt. MacTavish had to have come looking for you, specifically. Adorable man, you thought giddily, watching him situate himself in the metal fold out chair next to you. 

He wasn’t a tall man, maybe the shorter end of average, but you figured he made up for it by being the general size of a wide-load tractor trailer. Which was to say, when he slid the chair - legs scraping against the concrete ground - closer to you, he invaded like the tide. “Listen, lass,” he started, like you couldn’t smell his cologne over the stale, dusty air. Tobacco and vanilla, maybe. A little slutty, combined with the eyes and the facial hair and the accent. 

Maybe you were just projecting. 

“Ah get that you come from tae city,” he continued, phone in one hand while he braced the other one on the back of your chair. A part of you wondered if you should be worried; cornered in a far off room by a commanding officer wasn't the best start to happily ever after, but whatever. You were here to drive him up a metaphorical wall, not a white picket fence. “And ye probably never had tae deal with farm animals, but ye can’t go ‘roond spoutin’ nonsense like the other day.” 

Was he still on that? You had hit him with that well before the weekend, and he hadn’t wasted time with cornering you. It was Monday. God, you thought, I am blessed to live rent free in the Scottish Highlands. 

He wiggled the phone entreatingly. 

Staring back from the screen was Google, “are eggs dairy” typed into the search bar. Pressing your lips together, you slanted a sideways glance at him. He looked back, expectant. 

The nice thing would be to let him win this, you knew. A little tee hee, so sorry sergeant, let it die down before you hit him with some other out of pocket shit. But you hadn’t gotten this far in life by letting men win, even pretty ones. 

Especially the pretty ones. 

“Ohh,” you breathed, nodding to yourself like you’d had a world breaking - egg cracking, even - revelation. Sgt. MacTavish smiled, broad shoulders relaxing as he leant back, dipping back out of your personal space. “I get it now.”

“An easy mistake,” he placated. You both knew it wasn’t. 

“No, yeah. You still think birds are real.”

An atom bombed dropped slower than his smile did; there one moment, gone the next. Total annihilation. You would have to play this one carefully. Not laughing hysterically would be a herculean effort, but so worth it. 

“What tae fu -”

“No let me explain,” you cut in, flapping your hand at the wrist. It annoyed men, for some reason, a floppy wrist. Like a weak handshake, it triggered their little neanderthal brain. “I get that it sounds weird out of context. But like, okay. So in the, like, 1970s, in America? They had this President, right, Ronald Reagan?” Wrong. “And he, like, hated birds. So he formed the CIA,” made even funnier by the Task Force tangentially being CIA controlled, “And had them capture and kill all the wild birds, right? Except obviously people would have noticed if all the birds just disappeared, so he had them replaced with robots.” 

You stared at him for a moment, waiting to see if he was keeping up. He stared back, lips pressed together and nostrils flared. “Or androids? I don’t really know. Are they different? I think they’re synonymous. Anyways, he had robot birds made so that he could spy on the American people during the Cold War. And, like. He couldn’t do it with domesticated food birds, so he had them sterilized. And cows evolved to make eggs because birds couldn’t.” 

You nodded, and smiled, empty. Vacant. Not a thought in this head. “So I guess you used to be right,” you finished, patting his arm like it was a consolation. 

MacTavish opened his mouth, closed it. Let out a breath through his nose like an angry bull. For a moment, you wondered if this was it. Was this really all it took? The Birds Aren’t Real Conspiracy? You had so many more. GMOs. Bananas. You could be a very convincing Flat Earther. Buffalos. God, you loved the buffalo bit. 

“Who,” he stopped. Started again. “Who told ye that?” 

“My Governments teacher,” you answered immediately. “Mr. Schumacher. I loved his class, he taught us soo much.” 

“He lied.” MacTavished butted in, voice low. You bet he sounded like a blender in the morning, all gravely bass. You wanted to coo at him, at how cute he was, all ruffled. Instead, you did your best sure, Jan and shrugged. 

“I mean, I think a teacher would know better than the internet, but if you say so, sergeant,” you agreed placidly.

Stressed, he rubbed a hand over his mohawk. And then, phone still in hand, he pointed at you, and left. 

You watched him go, agreeable with the way his jeans sat on his ass. You wondered if he ever wore those bedazzled Buckle jeans. You wondered if you could ever get him into a pair either way. The door slammed behind him, shaking a layer of dust off the ceiling tiles. After a moment, when you were sure he wouldn’t be coming back, you tossed your package of paper towels into the nearest box. 

You needed a new hiding spot. 

[littlespacereader]

Could I request a fic with Caregiver!Layla (Scarlet Scarab) with little reader???

Of course I can!!! As a HUGE Moon Knight fan I can’t begin to tell you how excited I was to write this! I hope you don’t mind that I had Marc/Steven pop in for a little cameo:) I couldn’t resist! If you want another Moon Knight fic feel free to send a request in!! Anyway I hope you enjoy this fic!!

The Goddess of Caregiving (SFW)

Caregiver!Layla El-Faouly & GN Little!Reader

Tags: mentions violence and knifes (not detailed), hurt and comfort, stuffie, taking care of injuries, thumb sucking, story time, low-key Marc and Steven cgs

Nicknames: Sweet one, little one, sweetheart and darling

Yelling. It was everywhere. People yelling and running away. The city was under attack by some wear guy with a light up cane! He and his goons were attacking the city and its people.

I just started running. Running as fast as my feet could take me away from the scene. Apparently there was a guy in all white fighting them but I didn’t get a good glance.

I was just watching cartoons on the tv with my stuffed animal bunny when I heard all the commotion outside. People started screaming to runway as a group of criminal started to hurt those around.

So Fluffy and I started running. There were a couple of people around me running as well. Where we were running to, no one knows. Just away from whatever is happening. My little side just wanted to stop and cry but I couldn’t, not just yet, I had to get to safety first.

But the group of bad guys caught up to us. Most of the people took a left and ran down the alleyway. I took a right and ran down the road. Little did I know this road was a dead end alley.

I ran as far as I could, falling once onto my knees but quickly recovering and running again. But suddenly I came across a wall infront of me. My heart was beating out of my chest. There was no where to run now. I clutched Fluffy to my chest and turned around.

Two tall men stood in front of me, both holding knives in their hands.

“Awwwww! Look what we got here, a Regressor.” One said.

“Took a wrong turn little one?” The other mocked.

Tears started to roll down my face as I started to cry. As they approached I just started to back up until my back was against the wall. I curled in on myself, dropping to the ground and brining my knees to my chest to covering my face.

Suddenly I heard fighting. I jumped thinking they were about to hurt me but then I heard them yelling and gasping in pain. Then two thuds! The two fall to the ground unconscious.

“Are you hurt little one?” A feminine voice asked me.

I was shaking. Maybe this was a trick! Maybe she worked with them?!

“It’s okay sweet one. Those bad men are not going to hurt you anymore. I made sure of it. Take your time, but when you untangle yourself I want to check and make sure you didn’t get hurt.”

Maybe this wasn’t a trick. She seemed nice and she said she took care of those scary men. So with all the bravery I could muster, I decided to look up.

With teary eyes I looked at the woman who was talking to me. She was heavenly. She truly looked like angel sent to protect. She wore a white and gold outfit with golden wings at her sides. She looked sweet, looking at me with caring eyes.

“There you are. Hello darling. What’s your name?” She was kneeling next to me, close enough to reach out and hold my hand but distant enough to give me space just in case.

“I’m…I’m Y/N.” I said with a shaken voice.

“It’s nice to meet you Y/N. I’m Layla.” She smiled. “Who’s your little friend there?” She pointed to my stuffie.

“Fluffy. Fluffy the rabbit.” I lifted Fluffy to see her.

“What a cute rabbit! It’s nice to meet you as well Fluffy.”

“Are….are you a goddess?” I asked unsure if she was even real.

She smiled and nodded. “I’m the avatar of the goddess Taweret, but I’m still getting used to it.” She said gesturing to her outfit.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry these terrible men scared you. Are you alone or did you get parted from your Caregiver?” She asked looking around.

“I’m by myself with Fluffy. I heard the bad men and I started to run.” I explained.

“That was very brave of you. But it isn’t safe for you to be alone tonight. Plus you need someone to take care of your injuries.” She looked worried as she started to figured out what to do.

“Injuries?”

I got hurt? I looked down at myself and saw it. My fall caused my knees to get scraped. Now my knees were bleeding down my legs. It was as if my adrenaline had hid the pain until I saw it with my own eyes.

I let out a sob I didn’t know I was holding. I started to cry, holding Fluffy as tight as I possibly could to myself.

“It’s okay darling, it’s just a little scrape. Nothing we can’t fix.” Layla placed a gentle hand on my back and started to rub comfortingly.

“Here, come over to me darling,” she held her arms out to me, silently offering to hold me.

She didn’t have to say much. Between the painful scrapes on my knees and how little I’m feeling, all I wanted was comfort. So when she opened her arms I immediately took the opportunity to get some comfort.

She brought me close and picked me up off the ground, careful of my knees. She held me on her hip, one arm supporting my bottom and the other holding onto my back. I leaned forward and started to cry on her shoulder.

She continued to rub my back and bounce my on her hip. “It’s okay sweetheart. It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

Layla was just so comforting. Crying a bit in her arms felt like such a relief. After everything that happened today I needed to just let go and be upset. After a while my tears has stopped and I was more exhausted than anything else. Finally my adrenaline went down and I felt safe enough to be tired.

“Alright sweetheart we need to get you taken care of,” Layla started to say.

“Layla!” A voice said down the alley way.

I frozen in Layla’s arms and buried my head in her shoulder. I started to shake in fear.

She looked at me and tried to comfort me, “It’s alright. He’s a friend of ours. He’s a good man.”

I didn’t look up but I heard the man run over to the two of us. “Harrow is taken care of. The city should be safe now.” There was a pause, probably when the guy realized I was in Layla’s arms. Then suddenly guy’s voice changed to a British accent out of no where, “Who’s this little one?”

“Steven, this is Y/N and the rabbit is Fluffy. They were fighting these two bad guys over here when I arrived. Didn’t even have to lift a finger to help.” Layla said, trying to lift the little one’s spirits with her story.

“Wow Y/N! That was very brave of you! You should be very proud of yourself!” The man added.

With all the compliments and praise I started to come out of my shell a bit. I lifted my head and looked at the man. He was wearing a white suit and had curly black hair. His face lit up the moment we caught eyes.

“Thank you,” I said to his compliment.

“You are so welcome darling. Oh my gosh you are just the cutest. Are you out here all by yourself?” He asked and I nodded. “We gotta get you checked out.”

I held onto Layla tighter hearing that. But Layla was already two steps ahead of Steven, having already figured out a plan for me.

“I’m going to take Y/N back to the apartment.” She explained to Steven.

Then she looks at me. “It’s not too far from here. I don’t want you going to a clinic or hospital alone with how regressed you are. But we need to take care of your injuries. So if you want we can go to my apartment and I can bandage you up. Sound good?” She asked me.

I looked at Layla and nodded. I didn’t want to be away from her for a second. She felt so safe. Plus she was going to take care of me!

“I know Marc is going to want to do one last sweep of the area to make sure we haven’t missed anything.” Steven added. He looked back at me and Fluffy, patting our heads. “I’ll see you three laters gators.”

And then he was off. Leaving it back to just Layla and myself.

“Alright, now I haven’t flown with someone in my arms before so it might be a rocky flight. You just hold on tightly to me okay?”

Wait we’re flying to her apartment?! Before I had a chance to question it we took off in the air and were soaring! I wrapped my arms around Layla’s neck and held on tightly. It was such a sight to see the city from that high up! Wow!!

We landed down in front of this small apartment door. Layla unlocked the door and we entered the apartment. It was such a cute apartment! It was spacious and cozy.

A fire place sat in the middle of the living room with a comfy looking couch infront of it. Next to the couch looked like the entrance to a terrace. Right off to the left of the front door was the kitchen and to the right looked like a hallway to the bedrooms. All over her walls and shelves were artifacts of different kinds and books with pages bookmarked.

She walked into the kitchen with me and sat me down on the countertop. I immediately started to whine. I’m happier in her arms!

My whine must’ve told her everything I was thinking because she just turned around and smiled. “I’ll happily hold you again sweetheart but first we gotta get your knees takes care of.”

With that she started searching her kitchen cabinets for the first aid kit. “It’s around here somewhere….ah! There it is!” She pulled it out from under the kitchen sink.

She set it beside me and started pulling out the supplies she needed. “You know, I’ve had to use this kit on Marc on numerous occasion.”

“Who’s Marc?” I asked curious. The only other person I knew besides her was Steven. But Steven mentioned a Marc also…

“Oh, ummm, I meant to say Steven. But you’ll come to find they’re one and the same.” She winked.

“Okay, first I’m going to wash your cuts with hydrogen peroxide. Then we’re going to clean it up, and put a nice colorful bandaid on it.” She said carefully explains everything to me. I nodded my head, holding onto Fluffy tightly.

With that she started to wash one of my knees with the hydrogen peroxide. But it hurt!!

“Ahhh!! It burns! It hurts!!” I started to cry and hold my knee away from the burning solution.

“I promise it’s just a little burn and then it’s okay. It helps get all the germs out of your cuts.” She tried to explain but my little mind just recognized the pain along with it.

“Nooo!!” I held my knee away from her and the terrible peroxide! Tears started to roll down my cheeks again.

Layla stood back and started to think of a good solution to this problem. She looked over at her bookshelves and an idea popped into her head.

“Y/N, have you read this book?” She walked over and grabbed a book on Egyptian gods and goddess of the shelf.

“No.” I said, looking over at her as she brought the book over. She handed it to me to look through. Once it was in my hands she wiped a few tears away off my cheek.

“There you are. It’s okay. Why don’t you take a look at the different pages.”

I looked at her, then the book, and started flipping pages. I wanted to find the goddess she was the avatar of. She was talking about that earlier. Finally I found the right page.

“Taweret!!” I turned the book and showed her happily.

“Well done darling! You’re right! That’s the goddess I��m the avatar of.” She smiled.

“Can you talk to her?” I asked.

“Yeah, she sort of talks to me inside my head and I can answer her back.”

“Wow!” I looked at her amazed. “What is she saying?”

Layla smiled at my wonder. “She absolutely adores you. She’s been screaming about how cute you are since I first spotted you.”

“Really?!” I couldn’t help but smiled and giggle.

“Oh yeah. She has not stopped talking about you. I can’t blame her.” She reached up and pinched my cheeks playfully. I giggled again before pulling away.

I flipped through the book some more before stumbling across another god. This one looked scary though…

“Who’s Khonshu?” I asked turning the book around to Layla.

“That’s the god of the Moon.” She began to explain. “Steven is his avatar.”

“Oh.” It all started to make sense…I guess. “Are you superhero and sidekick?” I asked.

She laughed, “Yes he’s my sidekick.” She joked to herself.

“Alright! Your knees are all taken care of. Would you like a green, tan or purple bandaid for your knees?”

Wait what?!

I closed the book and looked down at my knees. There was no more blood. Just a mild scrape. While I was reading the book she must’ve cleaned my knees up. I looked up at her in amazement. I didn’t feel any pain or really anything! She just smiled back at me.

“That’s not a goddess power, that’s a Caregiver’s power.” She winked. “Which bandaid color would you like?”

I picked out a bandaid and she put it on my knees. “Now all we need is a little kiss to make it better.” She leaned forward and kissed each knee. “There! All better!”

I looked down at my knees and smiled up at her. “Thank you!!”

“You’re so welcome.” She lifted me back into her arms and walked into the living room.

“Now I sadly am not prepared for a Little like yourself so I don’t have much in the way of toys. But I do have a couple of book I think you’d be interested in.” She grabbed a couple of book and put them on the coffee table.

Then she took a seat on the couch with me sitting in her lap. She reach forward and grabbed a book. I curled into her side, resting my head on her shoulder, thumb in my mouth and my eyes scanning the pages as Layla began to read.

~~~

“Layla?” Marc said stepping into the apartment sometime later.

He was greeted by shushing. “Over here,” Layla whispered.

Marc made his way into the living room and found an adorable sight. The Little he had seen earlier was sound asleep wrapping tightly in Layla’s arms. Their head rested on her shoulder, their thumb was in their mouth and their stuffed animal was in their lap.

“I guess we have a new member of the family.” Marc smirked.

Layla smiled as well. She leaned forward and placed a kiss to Y/N’s head. “You guessed right.”

[smilesrobotlover]

Whumptober day 17- collar, touch aversion, leave me alone

Smiles using all three in the prompt? Rare! Anyways I… I don’t even know how to describe this one BDMSBSKSBMS . SO REMEMBEE THAT DREAM I HAD ABOUT YUGA AND LINEBECK YES I TURNED IT INTO A PROMPT I NEEDED IDEASDBSKSBKSBSAKABK. I need y’all to bear with me here cuz this is nothing but pure chaos. Basically Linebeck meets the villain squad. There’s yuga, Ghirahim, Vaati, zant, Astor, Kogha, and Linebeck in this fic and… it’s crazy. Genuinely can’t tell if it’s actually cringey or if I’m just mean to myself 💀💀💀 so uh, yeah, it’s a long one and ends weirdly but whatevs

Warnings: kidnapping, possessive attitude, nonconsensual touching (it’s nothing serious Ghirahim and Yuga are just a little creepy) and yeah

~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a normal day for Linebeck. He woke up, pissed off Leon, pissed off everyone else, and took a walk through the woods while they all calmed down. He kept close to camp so that if something happened, Linebeck would be close enough to them. But apparently it didn’t matter, because in the end, he was grabbed and pulled into a portal, held against his will by some… colorful characters.

Linebeck paced his cage when they left him alone, occasionally leaning up against the bars hopelessly. There was no way he was getting out of this, and there was no way that the others would even know where to find him. The people holding him hostage were weird, but they were scary. Having sharp teeth, powerful magic, and all were freakishly tall (except for two). One was a creature that he’d never seen before, having round yellow eyes, fair blue skin, and markings along his nose. Linebeck was a coward at heart, and these people did not want to make him feel brave.

Linebeck tugged at the collar that they put on him. It was to “block his ability to use magic”, but it was nothing more than a nuisance to Linebeck since he didn’t have any magic. It rubbed painfully against his neck and it occasionally felt like he was being choked. Linebeck groaned and fiddled with the collar more until the men who abducted him barged into the room, arguing about something.

“How could you screw up that bad?” A taller man with white hair that covered one eye yelled. “Open a portal to the castle, that's all you had to do!”

“Portals are a finicky magic! Only a powerful magician can safely open up a portal without any issues!” A smaller purple man who also had hair covering one eye yelled back.

“Oh! Well it seems like you’re not a very powerful magician then, Vaati!”

“Shut up Ghirahim! You know nothing about magic!”

“Can you two stop it with the yelling.” A pale man with a hood over his eyes came in, holding a strange contraption in his hand. “My head hurts.”

“Well Vaati screwed up my plan!” The one Linebeck assumed was Ghirahim practically screamed. The taller creature with the beady yellow eyes came by.

“I don’t understand why you didn’t come to me for help, I open up portals all the time!”

“You were gone with Yuga, Zant! And I needed this mission done now!”

“What is Loria’s name were you trying to do?” A tall man with thick, curly red hair leaned against the bars, and a little too close to Linebeck for comfort.

“I needed Vaati to open up a portal so we could kidnap the King! He was left unsupervised and it would’ve been a perfect opportunity! Just… who even is that?” Ghirahim pointed at Linebeck, which caused the others to look at him. Linebeck stood up straight and backed away from the bars, but Ghirahim got closer. “Who are you?”

Linebeck chuckled nervously and pressed his back against the back wall of his cage, as far away from them as possible. Ghirahim scoffed and snapped his fingers, vanishing in a cloud of diamonds. Linebeck yelped when he suddenly appeared inches from his face. He grabbed his shirt and pinned him against the wall, looking down at him with murder in his eyes. Linebeck felt like he was gonna pass out right then and there, but he swallowed his nerves down and tried to glare back at him.

“I said, who are you?” Ghirahim repeated, fury in his voice.

“A—uh— I—I’m uh…” Linebeck stuttered, unable to say his own name. Ghirahim groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Well he’s completely useless to us,” Ghirahim snapped his fingers and a dagger appeared in his hand. “Might as well get rid of him.”

“W-wait! Wait!” Linebeck tried to stop him, but sudden movement at his side caused him to scream and jerk away from it. Yuga appeared and held Ghirahim’s hand that had the dagger in it.

“Let’s not be too hasty, there’s no reason to kill him.”

Ghirahim rolled his eyes at him. “Let me guess, he’s too beautiful to die?”

“Yes!” Yuga dragged Linebeck away from Ghirahim, and he found himself pressed up against Yuga’s chest. “I mean look at him, beauty like this must be preserved.” His hand gently stroked against Linebeck’s cheek which made him physically recoil.

“Don’t touch me!” Linebeck swatted his hand at Yuga, but it was grabbed effortlessly by the large man.

“So feisty too, I’d like to keep him for my collection.”

“Yuga no. You let that one doctor live, and look where that got us!”

“Oh come on! I won’t let him walk around freely,” Yuga’s fingers dug possessively into Linebeck’s shoulder causing him to squirm. “I’ll just turn him into a painting and keep him in my hall, that’s all!”

Linebeck’s heart stopped. “Wh— turn me into a painting?”

“Well of course. Only the most beautiful and powerful ones are hung up on my wall. You should consider yourself lucky,” Yuga got close to his face and Linebeck leaned back.

“Kinda hard to consider myself lucky when I’ll have to look at your ugly face for the rest of my life!”

Yuga gasped and the others snorted in response.

“Oh I think I like him actually,” the hooded man said with a chuckle.

“Oh you— shut up, Astor!” Yuga yelled, his grip on Linebeck tightening in rage. “That was a petty insult, it sure does dampen your natural beauty.”

“Yeah well at least I have natural beauty unlike you, who needs all that crap all over your face just to be bearable to look at!”

Yuga gasped more loudly and he let go of Linebeck. Ghirahim started laughing like a maniac and he grabbed onto Linebeck.

“I have to agree with Astor, I think I like him as well.”

Linebeck squirmed in his hold, trying to get away. “Yeah well the feeling’s not mutual. Get off of me!”

Ghirahim’s grip tightened around him, and Linebeck groaned. He couldn’t move.

“Well we don’t need him alive so just kill him now Ghirahim,” Yuga grumbled, suddenly turning into a painting and slipping through the bars. Linebeck watched in awe as he popped out of the wall, returning to his true self. Yuga smirked at his reaction. “Still think that I’m nothing to look at?”

“Tch, you still look like a moblin’s rear end to me.”

Yuga glared daggers into Linebeck while the others laughed hysterically.

“Oh I definitely like you,” Ghirahim wheezed, patting him on the shoulder. “Sorry Yuga but I don’t want to kill him anymore, he… amuses me.”

Yuga grumbled as Ghirahim finally let go of Linebeck and left the cell.

“Uh… w-what are you guys going to do to me?” He couldn’t help but ask even though he knew that any answer would be a bad answer.

“Don’t know yet, you weren’t our original target,” Ghirahim answered, looking upset again. Vaati leaned against the bars next to Linebeck.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head over the specifics of your fate, we’ll take care of that for you,” he said.

“Yeah that’s kind of why this pretty little head of mine is worrying,” Linebeck rebutted. “Can you at least take off this collar? I don’t have any magic so it’s completely useless.”

“We’re not taking any chances with you,” Astor said in a low voice.

“Besides, if you ever escape, then people will know that you belong to us,” Vaati said with a grin.

Linebeck gulped and the group left the room, leaving him alone once again. He let out a big sigh and sunk to the floor, hoping that they wouldn’t return any time soon. Though he wanted to escape, the memory of Ghirahim and Yuga holding onto him so strongly made his skin crawl. Even if he could escape, he was not strong enough to fight against them. Ghirahim’s teleportation, Yuga’s weird painting magic, he didn’t even want to think about what the others were able to do. Not to mention, they all seemed so… sadistic. And that was what scared Linebeck the most.

Linebeck rested his head against hands, suddenly feeling very exhausted. He prayed that by some miracle, the others would find him. He just didn’t know how.

~~~~~~~~~

Linebeck jolted awake at the sound of crashing and yelling. He looked over at the door beyond his cage, his heart beating a mile a minute. The yelling continued, sounding like it was getting louder. Linebeck stood up and backed up in a corner, watching the door with dread.

“Just get what they stole from me, alright?” He heard someone shout from the other side. “We’ll be in and out before they even know we’re here!”

“Sure thing.”

There was inaudible grumbling and shifting around, with one proud cheer after a while of shuffling. Eventually the noises were right outside the door, and Linebeck held his breath. A regular looking Hylian in a red jumpsuit peaked his head into the room, and he locked eyes with Linebeck.

“Uh, Kogha?” The Hylian yelled out.

“What?” A gruff sounding man yelled back.

“There’s a guy here.”

“Huh? What?”

Another Hylian poked his head through, and then a tall, heavy man with a weird eye mask appeared. Linebeck pressed himself further into the corner, glaring at the three.

“Listen, unless you’re here to break me out, leave me alone!” He shouted with as much strength as he could.

The men all glanced at each others confused.

“Are you a hostage?” The first Hylian asked.

“I’m in a cage, of course I’m a hostage!”

The tallest one who Linebeck assumed was Kogha entered the room arrogantly.

“Well it’s your lucky day, sir. We’re gonna break you out.”

Linebeck raised an eyebrow. “And why should I trust you?”

Kogha leaned against the bars, gesturing to the whole room. “You know the guys that I assumed abducted you?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Yes, well, we don’t get along. One of them tried to sacrifice me to his malice god. Can you believe that? Sacrifice me?”

“I don’t care.”

“Yeah well, the yiga clan don’t take kindly to sacrificing me. So anytime we can piss them off or inconvenience them, I’ll take it.”

Linebeck narrowed his eyes. “Yiga clan? You wouldn’t happen to be connected to that Yuga guy would you?”

Kogha scoffed. “Just because our names are similar doesn’t mean that we’re connected.”

Linebeck narrowed his eyes even more, and Kogha shrugged.

“Oh whatever, boys, come tear down this door for me.”

Linebeck gasped as the two Hylians grabbed the cage door and pried it open with their weapons. Kogha gestured for Linebeck to join them.

“C’mon, let’s get you home.”

Linebeck looked down. “I don’t think you can get me home.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…. I… I’m not from here—“

There was a loud banging sound, and the Hylians snapped their heads at something behind him.

“Ok well you can explain later, now come on,” Kogha sputtered, trying to grab Linebeck.

“Hey, don’t touch me! I still don’t know if I trust you or not—“

A loud shout came from beyond the door. “Kogha we need to leave now!” The second Hylian yelled, and Kogha grabbed Linebeck and threw him over his shoulder.

“Ah— HEY!” Linebeck yelled, but he was carried away as the three ran for it. Linebeck watched behind the three, seeing Astor and Zant appear. “Ah! Kogha!” Linebeck yelled as they noticed the group running away. Kogha slightly turned around and groaned.

“Ugh! Not that guy!” Kogha set down Linebeck while running, causing him to nearly fall over. “Make sure he gets out safely.”

“Wait, what are you doing, Kogha?” the first hylian asked.

“Buyin’ you some time,” Kogha said with a grin in his voice. Astor held up the strange contraption in his hand, and a red substance poured out of it, heading straight to the group. Linebeck gasped when it came close, but it was stopped by a strange blue shield put up by Kogha. Someone grabbed Linebeck’s hand and he was pulled along, which he quickly tried to pull away.

“I can run on my own! Let go!” He shouted, and the hylian holding his hand grumbled, letting go. The three ran for a long while after they made it outside, and when they were far enough, they all collapsed. Linebeck leaned against a tree and sighed with relief. Well at least actual escape wasn’t an issue anymore... Except this stupid collar was still on him.

“Kogha…” One of the hylians muttered, staring at the building they just escaped from.

“Did he make it out?” The other one asked, and they both watched intently. But there was nothing.

“I knew we shouldn’t have left him alone! They might’ve gotten to him this time!” The first Hylian said frantically, “they probably captured him, and now he’s gonna die! And the yiga clan will be without their leader!”

Linebeck felt guilt creep up on him. It didn’t matter what he thought about the men that saved him, they saved him. And Kogha… he must’ve given up everything just for them… just for him…

“Oh goddesses,” he mumbled, “he saved my life, and I didn’t even get to say thank you… heck I didn’t even show that I was grateful…. Goddesses… he didn’t deserve this.”

“Aw, how nice of you to care about me.”

Linebeck flinched at the sudden presence of another person next to him, and he nearly tripped into the other Hylians who stared at Kogha in awe.

“Kogha!”

“You’re ok!”

Kogha puffed out his chest and pointed at them dramatically. “Of course I’m alright! I may not be able to beat those lunatics down there, but I sure as heck can escape them!”

The Hylians both gave relieved sighs while Linebeck caught his breath. If one more person snuck up on him like that one more time…

“Oh come on now,” Kogha leaned towards Linebeck, “where’s that gratitude you wanted to show me?”

Linebeck groaned and stood up straight. “Thanks or… whatever,” he mumbled.

“Well, that was better than nothing I suppose,” Kogha scoffed, and the Hylians stood beside Kogha who had his finger resting on the chin of his mask. “I suppose I’m not done rescuing you yet, where’s your home? I can take you there.”

“Uh–” Linebeck looked down, gnawing his lower lip. There was no way that Kogha was going to get him out of here, he doubted he was in the same era that he was in before. Kogha tilted his head at him when he didn’t say anything.

“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”

Linebeck glared at him. “No. I just… I don’t think you can get me home. Unless you can open up a portal across eras–”

“Wait– you’re from a different era?” One of the Hylians stepped up, looking surprised. Linebeck sighed.

“Yes, I am, and I need to get back to where I was,” though Linebeck could return to his beloved ship, he didn’t want to. He couldn’t abandon his friends, and he couldn’t abandon Link. Kogha let out a laugh and relaxed his posture.

“Hey buddy, I can open up a portal across eras,” Kogha wrapped his arm around Linebeck, making him squirm. “Though it’s not easy to do. I’ve been alive for so long that I was able to learn how to do it but Sheikah magic can’t normally do portals, and it’s just super hard to do in general–”

“Well for it being hard to do, it sure does happen a lot!” Linebeck yelled, and Kogha backed up with his hands up defensively.

“Calm down, let me just see where you once were and I can send you back.” Kogha leaned forward and stared at Linebeck for much longer than he’d like. Finally, Kogha hummed and stepped back. “I see,” he said softly, amused.

“What?”

“Once I open up the portal I want you to waste no time getting in, alright? I can’t keep it open for a long time.”

“Wait, you know where to take me? How?”

“Oh, uh, Sheikah magic, now get ready!” Kogha lightly shoved Linebeck, then got low, swinging his arms in a weird pattern, and right behind Linebeck, a portal opened up.

“Woah!” He stared at the red portal in front of him, trying to see if he could see the other side.

“Linebeck!”

Linebeck swung around at Kogha, surprised at how he knew his name, and he saw the Hylians gather around their leader.

“Tell Ammon I said hi, alright?” Kogha said in a strained voice, and Linebeck blinked. Did he… know Ammon? Kogha gestured to Linebeck with his head and the Hylians stepped forward, pushing Linebeck into the portal.

“W-wait! The collar–” was all Linebeck was able to say before he was pushed into the portal, and he landed on his back harshly in tall grass. He laid there for a moment, thinking about everything that happened to him when he heard yelling from far away.

“Linebeck! Come on, I’m sorry I yelled at you!” He heard Ammon shout.

“I swear if that man is in danger and we have to save him I will throw him into the lake!” He heard Leon grumble, and Linebeck couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Classic Leon.

“Hey, we’re supposed to be looking for him to make sure he’s alright, not threatening him,” Rusl spoke up, and Linebeck heard Leon groan. He would’ve called for them, but after being pushed into that portal, he was feeling pretty dizzy, and his ribs hurt from falling onto the ground. The three were silent for a while, until Linebeck heard their footsteps right next to him, and Leon accidentally kicked his head as he tripped over him.

“OW!” Linebeck sat up and rubbed his temple painfully as Leon laid sprawled out on the ground. “Watch where you’re going, Leon!”

Leon scrambled to his feet and glared at Linebeck. “You– You watch where you’re laying!” He retorted and Linebeck heard the other two groan.

“Leon for Din’s sake,” Ammon muttered, and he kneeled down next to Linebeck. “Are you alright? We got pretty worried about you.”

“Yeah, what’s that on your neck?” Rusl pointed at the collar that stayed around Linebeck’s neck.

“Oh, you know, I got abducted by a bunch of weirdos and they put this stupid collar on me so I wouldn’t use magic or whatever,” Linebeck said nonchalantly. The others gasped.

“You got kidnapped?”

“Who took you?”

“Are they still near?”

Linebeck shook his head. “No, they were from a different era. I’m lucky this weird red guy was able to open up a portal for me to return.”

“Goddesses Linebeck,” Leon groaned, “how do you always get yourself into these situations?”

“I don’t know but I do,” Linebeck looked over at Ammon and pursed his lips. “Um, the red guy…. His name was Kogha and he told me to tell you hi, for some reason.”

Ammon’s eyes widened in surprise. “K-Kogha? You saw him? I–” He looked down, a smile teasing the corners of his mouth, but it quickly went away. “Were you in my era?”

“I don’t know, do you normally deal with the weirdos called Yuga, Ghirahim, Astor, Zant, Vaati–”

“Astor?”

“Zant?”

“Vaati…”

Linebeck stared at the others in surprise. So they all knew them? Or at least some of them. Ammon looked confused, Rusl looked shocked, while Leon looked furious.

“Well, seems like I have a lot to tell you guys,” Linebeck said with an awkward chuckle. He tugged at the collar and stood up. “You think you could get this stupid thing off of me while I tell you the details?”

The three of them snapped out of their reactions and nodded, standing up as well.

“Don’t worry Linebeck,” Rusl started, wrapping his arm around his shoulder, “I have the right tools to get that off of you.”

“But I am very curious about your encounter with Kogha and Astor. You know Astor died in the calamity a long time ago.”

Linebeck shrugged. “Ok, well I did see him and all the others together. But uh, I wouldn’t recommend meeting them.” The others chuckled, and they all escorted the sailor back to camp.

[maccreadysbaby]

Project: Killcode Origins — Varian

tw: neglect / mentioned abuse

wanna read the extended story? here’s the table of contents!

⚠️ THIS IS NOT THE NEXT CHAPTER OF PROJECT KILLCODE, THIS IS BACKGROUND FOR VARIAN.

two years prior to the beginning of project: killcode

VARIAN WAS DYING.

He had to be. 

It was freezing. Absolutely freezing, and the broken space heater he was given, though the hot coils were nearly pressed against his back, was doing extremely little to stave off the cold that was seeping into him from the stone he was laying on. 

The obnoxious, intensely loud drilling and banging that was echoing through the mine around him didn’t much help the throbbing headache he’d been sporting for three whole days, either. He was curled into just about the tiniest ball he could muster against the little space heater. He was shaking like a leaf anyways, but also sweating profusely, and he was pretty sure that if he as much as thought about food — the only real driving factor in his life — he would puke up all the nothing inside of him. He only felt this bad when his number was really, really low. He felt like he’d caught a case of the terrible flu that had gone around the mines a few years ago and left the whole place desolate.

His left foot (sockless and shoeless, because socks and shoes and jackets and the like were only for real workers.) touched the freezing cold metal of the new five-by-five tungsten cage he’d been in for the past two and a half months, and the shock of the cold alone was enough to make a sad little noise escape him.

He was so extremely tired; but he wasn’t allowed to sleep when they had men on duty.

The mine — lit by these huge lamps and massive work lights — was almost empty. They were still harvesting some of the few day-old purple crystals (ten feet tall in size, five in width and three deep, because that’s the size they liked.) from the ceiling there, but there were only a few left. Maybe forty-five minutes work.

Varian wasn’t sure he could summon anymore.

He hadn’t eaten in three days — by far the longest he’d gone, which he thought his master’s men knew wasn’t good for a kid like him. The third shift guys were mean; they didn’t give him what his master portioned out just because they wanted to taunt him with it instead.

They didn’t realize that it could literally kill him.

Or they didn’t care.

Varian trembled violently. His white t-shirt and joggers weren’t enough to even begin to ward off the subzero temperatures that were seeping in from the surface. He’d never really been outside the cave, but he knew that wherever he was couldn’t have been a happy place — it didn’t seem to get above freezing ever. He’d even heard the workers say it was warmer in the mines than it was outside.

He couldn’t imagine that.

He coiled himself up tighter, tucking his knees up and wrapping his arms tightly around himself. If he could just make it to first shift, his master would be back and maybe he’d notice Varian didn’t feel well.

How much longer did third shift last?

He was violently pried from his thoughts by the shrill sound of metal banging against metal, over and over. He couldn’t see. When had he closed his eyes?

He peeled his heavy eyelids open and caught sight of the third shift manager staring at him through the bars, which he had been beating with a metal clamping tool. (Varian couldn’t remember his name on a good day, but right now, it was hopeless.)

“Nam nuzhno bol'she kristallov,”

God, his internal translator wasn’t working anymore, and trying to think about it only made his head hurt worse. How he wished everyone spoke English.

Well, for now, the only word in that sentence he could manage was crystal.

“I can’t,” He mumbled hoarsely, so quiet it was more like he was talking to the floor. He gave saying it in the worker’s language a valiant attempt, but he literally couldn’t get his cottony brain to work up what he was trying to say. 

The man’s face, long and round and angry, twisted into a detestable frown. “Tebe luchshe, ili ty budesh' nakazan.”

Varian, again, only caught one word: punished.

He couldn’t be punished again. Last time it’d ended with him unconsious for four days straight, and a fired (aka killed) second shift manager. What if he didn’t wake up this time?

With a shaky exhale, he pushed himself as upright as he could. His arms were shaky and weak and he was so, so tired. As soon as he began to move, the room spun, and he whimpered at the intense and stabbing pain it caused in his head. The spinning also invited in a nice old wave of nausea.

There was a loud bang of the man hitting his tool against the cage again, which made Varian wince at the reverberating pain it shot through his skull. “Khvatit nyt' i sdelay eti kristally, mal'chik.”

He caught two words, that time: Whining; Crystals.

Varian lifted his right hand out toward the rest of the mine, pushing his headache and the fact that he was pretty sure he was dying away as best he could, focusing on the rocks.

Small crystals began to sprout among the large stones, but he could feel his energy draining like there was a hole in the tank. Making so many crystals for these guys on a normal day usually left him fatigued enough for a lifetime, but right now…

The crystals only got to about an inch or two in size before black dots began dancing in his vision, and he had to put his hand back on the floor to keep from literally falling over. 

“I can’t,” He muttered. “My number.”

The man’s face twisted into an expression of pure anger and annoyance as he and the other workers looked out at the minuscule little crystals Varian had made.

With a loud huff of frustration, the man stalked away from the cage.

That could only mean one thing.

Varian laid back down rather ungracefully and coiled his arms up around himself as tight as he could manage, the backs of his eyes burning like they were on fire. His head hurt and his stomach hurt and his body hurt and everything hurt and he wanted to go home.

If he had one, that is.

Varian had never seen a house in his life; not that he could remember, anyway. Beyond his imagination, he had no idea what it would be like to be in a house with parents and siblings. From what the workers talked about, it sounded heavenly.

And Varian had spent his whole eleven years in a cage in a mine.

He only barely managed to keep the tears from falling as the footsteps returned — he would only get punished more if he cried.

The sickening crack crack of an electric baton filled the air, and Varian curled up tighter, eyes burning spectacularly more than they already were. He got his feet and head away from the metal, making himself as small as he could.

It was okay. As long as he stayed conscious, he’d be fine. As long as he didn’t pass out like last time, he’d be fine.

Don’t pass out when he shocks you.

Don’t pass out when he shocks you.

Don’t pass out when he shocks you.

“Dominik, uberi etu chertovu dubinku ot moyey malen'koy igrushki!” He knew that voice. He knew that word. Only one person ever said it: moyey malen'koy igrushki — my little toy.

Varian did actually start crying with a strange relief when he heard the voice of his Master — he wasn’t supposed to be there before first shift, but by some saving grace, he was.

Varian barely saw the shape of Ivan — his master — approach the cage through his tears. He was older, way older than the other workers, and had this weird happiness and nonchalance about him even though he was the one behind keeping a child in a cage for years with no remorse.

“Good morning, moya malen'kaya igrushka,” He said, his accent thick but somehow comforting in a way Varian knew it shouldn’t be. His master crouched down in front of the cage. “Why are you crying?”

Varian exhaled shakily, his hands unwilling to move to wipe away his tears. They were too cold; he was too tired. 

“My number,” He whispered.

Ivan looked back at the third shift manager like a man with murder on his mind. He reached into his toolbelt and retracted a small, long device, fiddling with the end of it for a moment.

“Give me your hand, moya malen'kaya igrushka,” Ivan ordered, gently, and Varian didn’t dare disobey. He carefully slid his hand through the two nearest bars, and Ivan grabbed his middle finger, way gentler than normal, and pricked it with the small machine.

After a moment, the screen displayed the number 38.

“You deny him rations,” Ivan said lowly, with a huff, his dangerous looking blue eyes flicking up to the other man. “You know this number can kill him.”

Ivan dropped the little machine on the stone, whirling on the other man like some kind of angry animal. “Vy ponimayete, chego mne budet stoit' poterya etogo aktiva?! i ty izbil yego, kogda menya ne bylo na smene!”

Varian watched through blurry, bleary eyes as Ivan ripped something else from his belt — something that, when he saw it, hit Varian like a ton of bricks.

The pistol only shined in the lamplight for a moment before: “You are a disgrace to my operation.”

BOOM!

The bang was nearly deafening in the cave, bouncing along the walls and tunnels for several seconds before it fell eerily quiet.

A body thudded next to Varian’s cage. Their heads were close, both pairs of eyes wide, one unseeing and the other full of tears. Part of his head was blown off. There was blood everywhere.

Varian, unable to keep much of a hold on any part of his terrified and terrible-feeling self, threw up whatever tiny bit of anything was left inside of him on the stone near his head. 

His whole body was being wracked by the soft but violent sobs that were ripping their way up his throat. He closed his eyes and kept them shut tight, trying his hardest to ignore the smell of blood and puke.

Two people were going to die in the mines tonight.

“There, there, moya malen'kaya igrushka,” Ivan cooed strangely, and Varian heard him holster his pistol. “Do not worry. I will get you IV bag. We will give you fluid and you will continue working, yes? We will not have to punish you this time, yes?”

Varian had never been happier to hear the words IV bag and not punish in his life.

Ivan walked off, and Varian thought that maybe, maybe if he got that IV bag, he could make it through today.

(To do it over… and over… and over…)

But then, more noises came. 

Fighting noises?

Within ten seconds, the mine erupted into sound and action. There were figures moving here and there, and while Varian couldn’t see much thanks to his tears and progressively worsening tunnel vision, he saw blurs of color moving around him and more gunshots started ringing out.

Chaos. That’s what it was, chaos that Varian couldn’t see, loud chaos. He squeezed his eyes shut and willed the loud noises to pass, to give him a break.

And then someone was fiddling with the lock on his cage.

He peeled his gluey eyes open at the sound of the lock rattling. Someone was messing with it.

Someone… black and blue?

The cage door opened after a moment of their fiddling, and Varian only cried harder when the black and blue person with a weird mask came inside the cage with him. What was this? A new form of scary punishment? Was he getting a new master? Why was everything so loud?

“Hey there, kiddo. It’s alright. You’re going to be okay,” 

Varian never thought he’d be so relieved and simultaneously confused to hear a voice in his life — he didn’t know the voice, but he did know the accent. Completely and utterly, unmistakably American.

The only American he’d ever known had been killed for trying to release him.

Maybe this American would be the same.

“Hey, buddy, can you hear me?” The black and blue guy put his hand on Varian’s forehead, which felt so good, because it was so warm and Varian was so not. Despite that, he forced himself to flinch away and squeeze his eyes shut.

He was not weak. He wouldn’t fail another test. He failed the last test where Ivan had tricked him into thinking a worker would let him out — he got punished hard that day.

The guy breathed in, only a little, and very quietly. “It’s okay; it’s alright. We’re not going to hurt you, I promise. My name is Nightwing. I… bet you aren’t feeling too well, huh?” The guy asked, picking up the little machine from the stone next to the cage and cringing at the number on it. “We’re here to help you — we’re going to get you out of here. What’s your name?”

Varian was wracked by another wave of sobs and trembles at the same time, so he didn’t reply.

Nightwing frowned. “Can I pick you up?”

“No,” Varian forced out. (Wow, his brain was literally malfunctioning. How did he say what he was trying to say? Why couldn’t he remember English?) “Ostav' menya v pokoye.”

Leave me alone.

Nightwing looked off to the side for a minute, the wheels in his brain turning. “Privet, priyatel'. YA znayu, eto strashno, no my zdes', chtoby spasti tebya.”

He spoke the words like he knew them by heart, but his American accent on top of Ivan’s language was atrocious.

Varian let his eyes drift to the other parts of the mine, where people in equally as bright uniforms were beating up Ivan’s men and leaving them on the ground. One in particular, a large one with a red metal helmet, had Ivan against the wall with a gun in his face.

If this was a test, if these were Ivan’s men in disguise, they wouldn’t hurt him, would they?

The guy with the red helmet bashed Ivan in the head with the butt of the pistol, and Varian’s master hit the stone floor.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. After all, Ivan was the only consistent thing he had throughout his entire life. Varian knew it was really screwed up of him to be attached to the man that kidnapped him, put him in a cage, and electrocuted him as punishment when he did wrong, but what else did Varian have to be attached to?

Instead of replying, he made himself tighter (if he even could) and cried there.

He kind of just wanted to pass out. Maybe he was hallucinating.

“Hey; buddy,” Nightwing tried again in English. “I’m gonna pick you up, okay?”

“No!” Varian replied, but it wasn’t like he had much (or any) fight in him when the guy started scooping him up, anyways.

He’d never, ever, ever felt anything near as blissful as the warm guy gathering him up off of the stone. He didn’t think he’d ever felt something so warm in his life.

“There we go. Wow, you’re freezing,” The guy muttered, mostly to himself. “Red, can I borrow your cape?”

A moment passed and then Varian was being moved around, and a thick, nearly insulated feeling fabric was wrapped around him. “There you go, you’re going to be okay. Oracle, I have the boy — around little B’s age, I think. Looks malnourished, and possibly diabetic. There’s a blood tester on the floor and the last test is only reading at thirty-six. He’s lethargic. The temperature down here is close to freezing and he’s only wearing a t-shirt and pants.”

A female voice came, quieter, like it was through a phone, but Varian couldn’t hear what it was saying. He was more enamored by how warm this guy was. He tried to press into it, because he was absolutely freezing and he’d never felt anything quite that warm and comfortable before, which prompted the guy to start gently rubbing his shoulder. 

This wasn’t a test?

Was he really about to leave this place?

Was he going to see what was outside of the cave?

Varian hid his face away in Nightwing’s shoulder and sobbed weakly, something strange like hope burning in his chest. 

“I know, I know, buddy,” He said softly, a gentler voice than Varian had every heard in his life. Nightwing’s hand came up and rested on his head, combing gently through his hair. “We’ve got you now — you’re safe. We’re going to help you feel better and get you back to America where you belong. To your parents. They’ve been waiting for you to come home for a long time.”

His… his… 

…parents? 

But… but he couldn’t even remember them…

“Yeah. I’m heading back up to the jet with him now — I’ll see if he’s willing to tell me anything after I get him some warmth and sugar,” Nightwing said, holding Varian closer as he began to move.

“You’re going to be okay, buddy. Everything’s going to be okay,”

That was the last thing Varian heard before he started slipping into unconsciousness, Nightwing’s hand combing through his hair. 

He was going home.

—

dedicated to @sassenashsworld ❤️

—

tag list! (If you want me to remove or add you, ask in comments!)

@fleur-alise @sarcopterygiian @flyrobinflyy @skylathescholar @gayboss-too-close-to-the-sun @xiaonothere @beatyoutothatusernameloser

[chronicallyonlinewriter]

Bright Fire, if you please

Bright Fire is fun. I started writing it, but it just never ended up going anywhere. Basically, Ellie and Joel make it to Bill and Frank's compound, but Bill and Frank are still there. Not much has changed - Frank is still sick, but because they're still alive they (they = Frank) insist they stay for a night, and rest up before continuing out west.

Joel considers pawning Ellie off on Bill, but it's very apparent he won't leave Frank, who doesn't have a lot of time left. There is angst about Tess, of course, who was a friend to Bill, and a dear friend to Frank.

It pretty much means everything to Ellie, meeting two queer men happily in love at the end of the world.

Small snip:

“Stay there.”

For once, Ellie didn’t need to be told twice. Joel approached the fence alone, the DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE sign zip-tied to the chain-link already enough of a warning to curb any spark of defiance. She could hear it, anyway; the low hum resonating through the air, audible over the breeze and the twills of birds in the nearby trees – and this was far from the first electric fence she’d been around, so she knew better than to get too close to it.

She watched, instead, a knot of apprehension tightening in her stomach; observed him shift on his feet slightly, hesitating for only a moment before he reached out, his hand still swollen, his knuckles scabbed and puffy. His thumb tapped a keypad quickly, six beeps stinging at her ears before a deeper hum groaned from the fence, a button on the keypad gleaming green. She didn’t miss the slight sigh of relief that pushed out of his lungs when the gate unlatched itself and swung open just a few inches, or the way he rounded his shoulders before he turned to face her again.

“Listen to me,” he said, and there was just enough gruffness in his voice to draw her gaze up to him. His jaw was set, his mouth a hard line. “You stay close. Don’t talk to ‘em, don’t answer any questions they ask you – I’ll handle everything. You keep that –” he gestured vaguely to her arm, neither her bite marks nor her bandages visible under her jacket sleeve, “covered the whole time. Y’hear me?”

“Sure thing,” she responded, somewhat dully. “You got a muzzle you want me to wear, while we’re at it?”

He didn’t answer; only huffed impatiently without bothering to rise to the bait, and she scowled even as he gestured for her to walk ahead of him. The gate groaned shut behind them, the latch snapping with a finality that severed the world outside, even if she could still see it between the metal links. That persistent hum immediately returned, prickling the hairs on Ellie's neck and setting her teeth on edge.

They walked together down a wide street now, her eyes sweeping across every building that they passed. She hadn’t known quite what to expect from Bill and Frank’s, but it certainly wasn’t this – what amounted to a whole town contained within electrified metal, the houses and other buildings comprised of peeling paint and sagging siding, but still whole, standing tall. Fall gnawed at the edges of summer here, and what the trees hadn’t managed to hold onto now blew across her feet, colorful leaves swirling in the wind and catching against the curbs. Ellie had never been in a place like this before; still filled with the remnants of Before, while so open, smelling of fresh air and crisp leaves. “How many people live here?” she asked, finally noticing that she’d begun to lag behind his much longer strides, and jogging to catch up.

“Just Bill and Frank,” he replied, though his mind seemed to be elsewhere, his gaze focused on a large white house looming on their left. 

It was by far the largest one on the street, the paint a little less faded, the grass more neatly shorn. There were colorful flowers set into two large clay pots at either side of a white-painted wooden gate at the edge of the yard, and Ellie paused in front of one of them, bending down to sniff at the bright orange blossoms experimentally. “Don’t touch anything,” he called over his shoulder. Ellie, sure he wasn't looking, quickly squeezed a petal between her fingers. It gave away quickly, darkening and becoming slick against her skin, and she wiped her hand off against her jeans just as he paused, turning to look at her with an expectant expression. “C’mon.”

They didn’t even manage to make it halfway down the walkway before the door to the house burst open. “Oh, shit,” Ellie breathed, and it was instinct that made her duck behind Joel. A broad figure, his scruffy face contorted in a mask of fury, stormed down the porch steps, a shotgun clutched tight in his hands and the muzzle aimed right at them. She shot a panicked glance at Joel, expecting some decisive action, a whispered instruction, maybe even a mirror image of the weapon currently pointed at them. But he only grunted slightly, his fingers twisting over the pistol still holstered at his side but not drawing it free.

“Seriously?” he asked, clearly unimpressed. 

“The hell you think you’re doing?” the man practically barked, his eyes still squinting down the barrel of his gun. “You just show up, don’t even radio ahead –”

“Didn’t have time, Bill,” said Joel impatiently. “Put the damn gun down.”

“Who is that?” Bill demanded, the shotgun dipping momentarily towards Ellie's direction as she peered around Joel’s back. Before she could react, Joel, with unexpected swiftness, moved a step sideways, placing himself squarely between her and the barrel of the gun – and this surprised her more than she would have liked it to. “Easy, there,” said Joel, his voice edged with warning. “We’re just passin’ through. Headin’ west, figured we’d stop here for supplies. You owe me after that last run, Bill –”

“I owe you – what, is this a damn joke–”

“Bill!” Another voice echoed from within the house, laced with exasperation. The shotgun dipped momentarily, Bill's jaw clenching like a vise. He didn't relax, eyes still narrowed at them, but his shoulders slumped, his righteous fury simmering down to a grudging suspicion. “For god’s sake, Bill, will you put that thing down?” The door to the house still stood wide open behind him, and there was a heavy thud from somewhere inside.

“Frank!” Bill turned on his heel, disappearing into the house without another glance at them. They could hear him inside of the house; more thumps following a string of muffled cursing.

“Dude.” Ellie took a step back from Joel. “What the fuck. I thought these were, like…friends of yours.”

“Just…stay here,” Joel huffed, shaking his head – and then he left her, too, disappearing into the house, his hand drifting away from his pistol with every step. 

[thatwasntverycashmoneyofme]

𝖻𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝖾𝗌𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗉𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗌𝗎𝗋𝖾

❥𝗌𝗇𝗂𝗉𝗉𝖾𝗍 : 𝗎𝗇𝖽𝖾𝗋𝖼𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗋!𝖻𝖺𝗃𝗂 𝗐𝗁𝗈 𝗍𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗌 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗋𝖾𝗏𝖾𝖺𝗅 𝗁𝗂𝗆𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖿 𝗈𝗋 𝗀𝖾𝗍 𝗍𝗈𝗈 𝖽𝗂𝗌𝗍𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝖻𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗁𝗎𝖻𝖻𝗒, 𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗍𝗍𝗒 𝖻𝗋𝗈𝗐𝗇 𝗌𝗍𝗋𝗂𝗉𝗉𝖾𝗋, 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖼𝖺𝗎𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖾𝗒𝖾.

{ 𝗐𝖺𝗋𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌 — 𝖻𝗅𝖺𝖼𝗄 𝖼𝗈𝖽𝖾𝖽 𝖿𝖾𝗆𝖺𝗅𝖾 𝗋𝖾���𝖽𝖾𝗋, 𝗇𝗈𝗇𝖾. }

・❥・

Dressed in a baby blue glittery two piece that shined beautifully, captivating him. A voice in his ear warns him of getting distracted, telling him to ‘Focus on the mission.’ He glances off to the side catching a glimpse of his now black haired partner mumbling an “Of course… I’m just trying to blend in.”

Eyes once again glued to you as your back faces the pole, arm above your head wrapped around it as you whine your hips sensually, making eye contact with him urging him closer with your finger. The nagging ‘Be on the lookout!’ coming through his earpiece not being heard through the trance you put him in.

Light purple led lights on your dark skin accentuated your figure, he could hear nothing. Not the shouting and catcalls of the men that begged for your attention, the complaining of his partner, nor the sound of his own heartbeat, everything faded to white noise.

The money rained down on you in slow motion, making you look like a goddess—one that stopped time or something else his brain couldn’t come up with for an on par ethereal comparison in the moment. He watched you walk down from the stage signaling one of the buff men that stood by your platform, not too close but not too far, to collect your money.

You approached leisurely circling him, your tall clear heels clacking with your every footstep, you trail your hand across his waist, giving him shivers that he wouldn’t let have the satisfaction of pushing through as you stood in front of him. Black stiletto nails caressed his collarbone sliding down his silk shirt stopping at his belt buckle, you fluttered your mink lashes looking into his brown eyes, a cheesy smile displayed on your lips from seeing him starstruck.

“So I seen you been eyeing me all night, is it too bold of me to assume you’d want a private dance baby~” Your slight accent had him throwing all caution to the wind as he smirked back, canines gleaming under the low lights. “Course not sweetheart ‘s the only thing I been looking forward to since I got here.”

You chuckle at his charm. “That so?” “Definitely.” Your hand held his as you smile. “Then let’s go.” You lead the way to your private room when he finally hears his partner in his head. “Get your head in the game! We have a job to do Intel said that he’s only here tonight. This is the last chance we have to catch the Bandit here tonight before he moves again.”

He turns his head towards the crowded area, faking like he was looking around before speaking softly. “I am Chifuyu just gimme five minutes I’ve got extra business to handle.” He hears the sarcastic scoff of a “Yea right.” focusing his attention on you leading him, his eyes follow the switch of your hips which has him biting his lips imagining inappropriate things.

You approach a door, the name ‘BABY’ in bold f/c letters adorning it, a tall caramel skinned slim man with dreads, arms folded under his pecs planted near, watching you and the male walk up. “Applejacks you can go imma be a few minutes.”

You watch him size the guy beside you, eyes scrunched in uncertainty. “You sure Baby?” You waved him off, a hand on your jutted out hip as you rolled your eyes. “‘Course I’m good don’t you got other business to deal with anyways?” He sighed coming off of the wall. “Yea right. Call if you need anything.” You giggle opening your door pushing in the sandy beige skinned, black haired dude you’ve yet to ask the name of. “..And no interruptions please and thank you.”

You blew a kiss at Applejacks before closing the door leading your sexy stranger to sit in the seat in the middle of the room, a different more lax song played through the speakers, you caress your body in front of him before taking a seat in his lap as your beau began to speak.

“So…Baby? That’s your name? What’s it really?” You let out a soft hum grinding your ass to his pelvis. “Nah that’s just my nickname. I can’t give my name out to my customers sorry boo~ What’s yours?”

He wished he could feel your smooth skin through his slacks, to rub on you and do inexplicable things and have you in unspoken positions, but he settled for his hands on your hips guiding your movements he still has to focus on his job after all.

“Uggh~ My friends call me Eddy.” You pleasantly exhale grabbing one of his hands leading it to your breast squeezing his hand on top of yours making him get the memo. You leaned back, lips on his neck under his ear, softly kissing it making him groan as you pull away from his lap slowly, his long hair tickling your face causing him to chase after you before you pressed your hand on his chest, lightly pushing him back into the seat.

You stand behind him one hand gliding your sharp nails up his chest the other slid around his neck as you press on kisses, the sound of your voice speaking to him bring him back down from cloud 9, his eyes fluttering back as he groans. “So what brought you to the club? Business or pleasure?”

You laugh at the look of bliss on his face before continuing. “I’m pretty sure I know which one it is cuz you ain’t give me a bill yet.” He blinked realizing he hasn’t. “Yea sorry bout that Sweetface. I came here strictly for business-”

He pauses grabbing your hand from his shoulder pulling you around to him, sitting you on his lap. “But I don’t mind a lil pleasure neither.” He smiles at your giggle before you speak again making his ears ring.

“Yea you’re supposed to be here looking for the Bandit? Right?” He opened his mouth to say a code word or anything but he was frozen, chills going through his spine. “Don’t worry about bothering that partner of yours, I don’t wanna have to mess up his face too bad..he’s too pretty.”

He stutters completely shocked getting ready to push you off of him before he felt a cool object on his neck that could only be described as a steel blade. ‘Where’d you even get it from?’ pedals through his brain riddled with frustration .

“Aht aht aht cooperate or my boys won’t hold back. Your partner’s pretty but he’s not that pretty.” The brunet stuttered out ‘What’s’ and ‘How’s’ before you interrupted his ongoing crisis. “Why does everyone automatically assume ‘the Bandit’ is male huh?”

You took his earpiece out wiping it on his shirt before putting it in your ear tapping it twice before hearing a little feedback. You smile at the shocked Eddy, fixing his hair, a stiletto pushing a few strands behind his ear tapping his cheek with the tips of your fingers, he could feel the subtle sharp pokes of your nails.

“Apple? You there?” You hear a ‘Yea’ coming from the other end as you got off of the stunned man who held his balled up fist at his side, heading towards the only dresser in room.

“You touch me and one word’ll have your buddy surrounded with slow singing and flower bringing over a closed casket.” You opened the draw pulling out your custom baby blue glock checking the clip making sure it’s loaded before reassembling it taking the safety off scoffing as you continue your rant from earlier.

“Like men will find any and every way.. it’s ridiculous.” You look at the man in the chair. “Before it was ‘the Bandit’ it was Baby Bandit. Did you know that Agent Keisuke? Probably not huh?” You watch his eyes widen in surprise of you knowing his name and the new information, he’s a little ashamed of himself for still wanting you.

You gasp sarcastically your glock covering your mouth. “Oh you didn’t know huh? That you’re in my club? You think someone wouldn’t notice pigs in their own club? You tracked in mud the second your foot stepped through my threshold.”

You walk towards him sitting on his lap once again, flipping your weave from your face, the hand holding your gun slung across his shoulder as he tensed under you, your head tilted to the side a little, unwavering smile still pulling him in. “Soo we’re here now… What did you want with me?”

He opens his mouth to speak before you put your gun to his lips silencing him, your finger coming to your own lips in the shushing motion, he could hear the static coming from his earpiece. “Aight tell Zoe and Pablo help you load up the car…” You glance at the man who’s lap you’re on, your playful grin taunting him.

“Take the pretty boy with you, he better be in tip-top shape too.” You pull out a zip tie you also got from the dresser banding his hands together as you got up pulling him with you.

“No sudden movements or noise. You already know the consequences. You and your little g-man is coming with me we’re gonna have a lot of fun…” He followed you towards the door noticing a cute coat that you were putting on tucking the gun inside a pocket that ended just above your knees, finally able to really look you in your eyes, a beautiful brown that he could tell was mocking him making his lip curl.

“…Cuz I got a lil preposition for you… We’ll mix business and pleasure.” You kiss his cheek the imprint of your gloss showing as you dragged him out the door heading towards the back exit a wicked smile on your face.

・❥・

𝗌𝗉𝖺𝗆 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾𝗌, 𝗋𝖾𝖻𝗅𝗈𝗀𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗌. 𝖣𝖮𝖭𝖳 𝗌𝗍𝖾𝖺𝗅, 𝖼𝗈𝗉𝗒 𝗈𝗋 𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗍 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝖾𝗅𝗌𝖾. ©𝖼𝗂𝗍𝗒𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝖺𝗅

[fl0ppy-fries]

Pre serum Steve Rogers x Tall!Reader

“Come on! He’s cute!” Your best friend Dot try’s to convince you for the third time that evening to go on a blind date with a guy she knew. “I already told you Dot! I’m not going on a date with a stranger!” You explain for the third time as you go through Dots clothes trying to find any that you could wear.

You had always been unusually tall and built for some reason. At first you hated it, you hated how people would point and laugh, how that would call you names, how you could never find romance, but eventually you accepted it. It wasn’t your bodies fault you were this way and so what if you didn’t have a boyfriend, you didn’t need one anyways.

“Besides, we both know that as soon as he sees me he will freak and call me some name” you explain as you finally find a button up shirt that will fit you. “He’s different I swear!” Dot continues to beg as you start to change shirts. “I’ll go, but only if you offer me something” you explain making quicky work of buttoning up the crisp white shirt.

“alright, how about I get you a Duke Ellington record?” She offers with a small smile to which you smirk. “Make it two plus Billie Holiday” she sighs but agrees much to your excitement. “But first we have to get you some new clothes” she eyes your suspended pants and button up shirt. It wasn’t you clothes if you were being honest, the shot was dots which was to tight and the pants were her older brothers which were far to big.

*♡∞:｡.｡*♡∞:｡.｡

As you and Dot enter the diner her eyes scan over the crowds of couples as you adjust your skirt. Dot had given you a brown waist whirl away skirt, a white yolk blouse, and an Americana jacket . She even made you wear her heels. ‘Why did I agree to this’ you think as Dot drags you over to a booth. you only see one face and start to wonder your date is a no show. Actually no you were hoping he was a no show, it’d be much easier to leave that way. Unluckily for you he did show up.

As you get closer to the booth you realize there’s a man there but he’s tiny. To be fair everyone looked small to you but most men weren’t this short. “Hi, I’m Y/n, you’re Steve right?” You hold out your hand to shake as you take in his look.

He has dirty blonde hair, a sharp jaw line, icy blue eyes, and a pair of the softest looking lips. “Hi, that’s yeah, that’s me” a light blush dusts over his cheeks and giggle. It was cute how flustered he got.

Steve was awkward about it the whole date but in an endearing way. “Did you know pandas only mate once a year?” He blurted out once causing you to choke on your water. “I’m sorry what?” You giggle and he looks down at his burger. “Sorry” he whispers a little bit but you quickly make him shut up. “No, I just meant it was random, a good random thought.” You smile and he looks up at you smiling back.

Bucky and Dot almost immediately left you guys after they finished eating. “I don’t understand how Dot can dance all the time” you tuck a strand of hair behind your ear and turn to Steve who was staring but looks away as he notices your glance.

“Bucky too, he goes dancing every other night I seriously don’t understand how he could do that.” Steve laughs, it’s a warm laugh that makes your stomach do summersaults. “Do you want to get out of here?” You ask and he looks up at you nodding softly.

You take his hand and lead him out of the diner. “I’ll walk you home alright?” You offer still holding his hand as the two of you walk down the street, the cold air hits you but you were used to it as you didn’t get cold that easily, Steve on the other hand did.

You could feel him shivering and hear his teeth chattering. “Are you alright Steve?” You ask concerned while rubbing his hand. “Ye-yeah I’m alr-alright,” he says not very convincing. Letting go of his hand you slip off your jacket and wrap it around him. “Don’t lie, I can hear your teeth chattering.” “Sorry” he mumbles looking down but you ruffle his hair with a chuckle. “You’re fine, just take care of yourself more yeah?” You check on him and he agrees. “Okay…thank you.”

The two of you continue to talk the whole way to his house. “I couldn’t even come home because Bucky and Dot were going at it like bunny’s for hours I had to sleep at a motel that night.” Steve chuckles as you approach his house. “Well this is my stop,” he says not wanting the night to end. You walk him to the door and turns towards you.

“I hope I can see you again” Steve smiles hopeful “me too, I can’t wait.” You smile and walk away to head home. You turn on your heel and run back “Steve wait!” You yell out running to him. “Wha-” he gets cut out by you kissing him. His lips are soft and warm like him. pulling away you chuckle “I will see you soon.” You giggle while Steve’s face turns red as a tomato and he nods.

As soon as Steve shuts the door you register what you did. You immediately rush home your face redder that a tomato. ‘What the hell is wrong with me?!’ You question yourself as you walk into yours and Dots shared apartment. “Hey Y/n how was- ooo~” Dot smiles at you and you wave her off. “Shut up! I’m going to bed” you rush to your bed but end up staying up thinking about Steve all night

Bonus:

As Bucky gets home he snickers seeing Steve’s face. “Looks like you had a good time” he refers to his lips with smudged red lipstick. “Shut up!” He says covering his lips while Bucky laughs at him. “Well, at least you had a good date” he smiles thinking about the kiss.

[konohamaru-sensei]

similarities

Merry Christmas @qettleqorn!! I am so happy that last year (also around christmas!) I randomly decided to VC with you and we just talked for hours that day and got a long so great! You've become one of my closes people here, someone I share a lot with (Even when I'm embarrassed) and someone I really love talking to. Thank you for everything this year and wish you all the best for the next!

--

Nanami X Oc / Also Sukuna x OC

Courtesan JJK Au with special appearance of @fireflylitsky's Izumi

sorry that it ends so suddenly I had no idea for an end so its just there! :D

--

There was a commotion outside of the doors, some yelling and something dropped something that sounded like a pan with a loud clang on the ground. Kin opened her eyes and blinked into the half light coming from the windows. “I’m sorry, my lady,” the man beside her said. “They should be more considerate of you.”

“It’s alright, Kento,” she yawned. After all, it was rather unlikely that a guest stayed over long into the next day. If she came back late, it would just cause too much chatter anyway. 

She pushed herself up and shook out the locks of her hair. “Next time you just have to come to me”, she said with a wink. “Then we can remain undisturbed as long as we like.” 

Kento smiled friendly: “I understand that the permanent place on your side is already filled by another.” He said it so sweetly, as if he was not trying to accuse her of anything, but she’d met him often enough to hear the slight wind of envy. It was true though, if Kin ordered Kento to come to the palace she would have to lend Sukuna out to someone else to make space for him and Sukuna quite liked his high position at court.

“Well maybe you could share then,” she winked back and though she had told him often enough to be honest with her, he just lowered his head a little as if to say “As you wish.” He really was very good at this. That’s why she kept coming back and kept paying the rising fees that he was worth.

She had tried, of course, to get Kento to move to the palace with her to keep him from being bought out by anyone else but her, but Kin had to learn that he very much enjoyed the work he was doing and liked the freedom that the red light district offered him. At least in comparison to the shut in feeling of palace walls. She couldn’t fault him for that, no matter how much she might have wanted to.

It was not like Kin wasn’t satisfied with the men that were brought to her. Sukuna had been such a promising courtesan that she had paid a good sum to get him to stay and though Kenjaku had left to pursue his own things, he had been more than serviceable. But she had been feeling out for something new, maybe someone younger and this house had a good line up of young shining stars. So she had come by to look for herself.

The white haired boy, Satoru, was the talk of the town, his slightly smaller but no less handsome companion Suguru had the women in the palace swooning and their friend Mei Mei was the dream that many women and men at court were too poor to afford, but Kin had immediately taken to Kento. 

He wasn’t as tall as Satoru, as conventionally handsome as Suguru or as bold as Mei Mei. He was soft, his voice was deep, his hands were warm and Kin had wanted to steal him away instantly. Without success, at least so far.

So she had no choice but to come back out here regularly to see him and his fee went up with every visit she did to see him. “Can other people even afford you still?” she had asked him jokingly one time as they were sitting in a hot bathtub together. He had smiled as friendly as always and his answer “Some” had annoyed her more than she wanted to admit.

If only Sukuna wasn’t so territorial, then maybe she could just bring him around. Sure, both men would agree to it because it was their job, but Sukuna really liked to take charge himself. Over the many years he had served Kin he really had developed a feeling of superiority over her other partners. As if he was the best person and nobody else would ever be able to satisfy her as he did.

“My lady,” Kento said and pressed a soft kiss to her naked shoulder. “I think it's about time for you to make your way.” He didn’t say it, but Kin knew he meant that he needed time to get ready for the next clients in the evening.

She was about to put his hair out of his eyes and agree with him that it was time to go when the door flew open. A boy was in the doorway and at first glance Kin could feel her heart stop for a second. The cherry blossom hair and the jawline looked way too similar to someone she knew very well.

“Itadori-kun”, Kento said and sat up. “You should not come in here at this time. Especially not without knocking.”

The boy flushed instantly: “I’m sorry Nanamin.” He was stuttering. “I just saw that you didn’t get breakfast yet and…”

A scream was audible behind the boy and then two arms reached for him. “Yuuji!” It was the voice of the woman that Kin knew as being head of the maids in the place. “What the hell are you doing?”  A head with black hair stuck their head into the room. “Uh, excuse the boy’s behaviour, madam, eh, please enjoy your time.” Then she pulled the boy and pushed the door closed.

Kin had rarely noticed what had happened, she was too fixated on the appearance of the boy. “Who is he?” She asked Kento.

“Itadori Yuuji. He was growing up around here as an orphan. Uchiha-san, the head of maids, took him in. She was the one who disciplined him just now.”

Kin nodded. “Do you know where he is from?”

Kento raised a brow as if he was curious why she wanted to know that. “Many of us people around here have no real family. He is training in this establishment to earn some money. As far as I know Master Yaga never asks for background as long as people work hard.”

So they had no idea who was among them. Kin’s heart was beating against her ribcage. It seemed impossible to think that this boy had found his way back so close to his family, with how big the world and the country was, but she would have recognised that hair colour anywhere. He had grown to look a lot like his father.

Kento seemed suspicious when Kin hurried to get dressed next to him, but etiquette told him not to ask what was on her mind. Instead he made himself presentable and walked her down the large staircase to the exit of the building as always. “When are you planning on letting me see you again?” he asked as always in this overly polite manner to not imply he was begging or trying to get her money.

“Soon,” Kin replied exactly as always. She always sent notice ahead of time for him to clear his schedule, but she never did longer than 24 h ahead. 

No kiss goodbye, they were now in public after all, but she took his hand and squeezed it before the door to the carriage opened and she slipped inside. There was a much smaller woman already sitting inside, a purple kimono matching her dark hair. She was Kin’s closest attendant and cousin, royal enough to be dressed in riches but not nearly royal enough to be of importance. They were always together.

“Did you wait long?” Kin asked, because she didn’t want to lead with her news fist.

Izumi shrugged: “You take your time with this one, I know you might be late.” She was referring to Kento. Kin had suggested Izumi go meet him too, mostly because they often shared such things with one another, but her cousin had lately been focused on her actual marriage instead of looking for fun outside of it.

“I have news,” Kin couldn’t keep it in anymore. “Incredibly big news. Izumi, my dear, I found one of them.”

The other woman turned her head: “One of what?”

“Kids.” Kin reached over to take her hand. “I found one of your kids.”

The carriage wheels wobbled forward over the cobblestone, pushing both women from left to right as the wood kept creaking under their weight. And though there was so much noise around them, the silence that fell between the two friends was almost as audible. Izumi first went white and then her cheeks coloured red.

“You’re joking”, she said as if it was a matter of fact.

Kin grabbed her hand closer: “No, I would never joke about such a thing.”

Izumi stared into her lap: “You found one of my kids? In the whorehouse?”

“Yes.” Kin knew that's not what she wanted to hear, but it was the truth.

“Which one?”

“Yuuji.” Kin was amazed that the name had stuck, even though he’d probably grown up mostly on his own.

“Yuuji..” Izumi’s eyes blurred and it looked like she was lost in memories.

“He is training there,” Kin explained. “Apparently an apprentice.”

Izumi looked up. “So we can still stop him from working! If I could just go to see -”

“You can’t.” Kin cut her off before she could finish her thought. “Remember, you can’t talk to him.”

“Right,” Izumi’s eyes fell to her hands again. “That was what I promised when I gave them away.” That was the trouble of being royal, but not royal enough. You had power to choose your high profile courtesans, but children out of marriage had to be given away. It was cruel, but it was the law.

“Will you tell him?” Izumi asked without looking at her friend. “That you found his son, I mean?”

Kin laughed a little: “I don’t think he’d care.”

“Suppose not,” Izumi agreed.

They sat side by side like this for a while, as the walls of the palace closed behind them. Kin kept holding Izumi’s hand tightly to offer her support. They’d done so much together all their lives and Kin hated that she was put in the position to give up two sons in the first place. 

After a while Izumi turned to the other woman. “Do you think I can at least look at him? See him?”

Kin didn’t know how she could summon the child without making it look suspicious, especially with Kento already having noticed something was odd, but she didn’t like it when her friend looked so defeated. “Definitely. I will make sure you will.”

[braveclementine]

Chapter 19/20

Warnings: None (anyone can read this story)

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. I do not condone any copying of this.

𝓣𝓗𝓔 men called Loki and Thor were coming today.

I was curled up in the corner with a stuffed animal, cuddling it. It was white like me, with several different black spots on it. Bucky called it a panda bear. I thought it just looked like an oreo with eyes.

It didn't taste like an oreo though.

Not that I was supposed to know what oreos tasted like anyways.

But it was Sams fault for leaving them out.

Even though half of them freaked and took me down to Bruce to see if I was going to die from chocolate poisoning.

But I didn't.

So I think I should be allowed to eat more.

Bruce wasn't here at the moment, not wanting to greet Loki when he came in. Apparently Loki had done bad things to Bruce, so they weren't on good terms.

Actually, none of them seemed to be on good terms with this Loki person. Wanda and Vision had taken Billy and Tommy away too, far across the country and once Pepper found out, she said she wasn't coming back to Stark Tower with Morgan until Loki was gone.

So I assumed that Loki was a bad person.

Bucky and Steve sat together at the table while they waited. They were in a heated discussion about cake. I liked cake, especially with vanilla icing.

I wasn't allowed to eat it though.

Tony on the other hand was sitting next to me, petting me. He seemed extremely stressed about the whole Loki situation so I gave him lots of kisses to try and cheer him up. It seemed to work for the most part.

Nat on the other hand, looked utterly bored. She was sitting up on the table, cleaning the dirt from under her nails with a blade.

Road was standing near Tony, arms crossed over his chest. He wasn't talking to anyone, just staring out the window.

Meanwhile, Fury was on the far other side of the room with a woman named Maria. I hissed at him whenever he came within ten feet of me.

He never came within ten feet of me.

Sam and Clint were having a loud conversation about pop tarts, and whether we had enough in the Tower for Thor. I wondered what a pop tart was and if I could eat it.

I was hungry.

"Can I have food?" I asked Tony, rolling over onto my back.

Tony smiled, rubbing my belly. "You're adorable Blizzard."

"No, I'm hungry." I whined, rolling back onto my stomach to bat at his legs. "Give me food!"

Suddenly, there was a loud crash of loud noise and I looked up just in time to see a roaring rainbow rushing down from the sky.

Interesting.

But the loud noise also made me run under the table and slink down.

"Aww, come here Blizz." Tony said softly, reaching under the table to pull me out. "It's just thunder." He looked up at Road, "Did he do it on the lawn again?"

"Nope, he used the helipad like you asked him to." Road replied, turning away from the window.

It didn't take long for two men to walk through the doors. Everyone straightened up, standing if they had been sitting- including Tony who left me on the floor by his feet.

I pounced back on the oreo, rolling around with it, before I settled down to get a good look at the men.

One had brown, spiky hair, looking like he was trying to copy that one vampires hairdo from that one TV show. . . Elijah, I think? He was very buff, with large arms and two different coloured eyes. He had a larger axe hammer thing in one hand and was wearing silver armor with a red cape.

He grinned widely, and said, "Hello again my friends!"

"Hello Thor." Nat said sweetly. "Welcome back."

I turned my attention to the second man, who looked extremely uncomfortable. He had long black hair that was curly. His eyes were blue and shimmery. His face was pale and smooth, much unlike his brothers, which had the trimmings of a beard. He was tall and thin, and any muscles he might have were hidden under his green clothing.

It was as though I had been hit with a lightning bolt.

I got to my feet, slowly padding over to where the man in green- Loki- was standing.

"Blizzard come here." Tony called quickly, but I didn't listen.

I padded straight up to the God of Mischief, and batted his shoes.

"Pick me up." I demanded.

Loki bent down, picking me up in his hands.

We stared at each other curiously before his eyes shifted down to my paws. Specifically the back paw where my only black mark was. His eyes widened, staring back at me.

"Y/N. . . " He whispered so softly I could barely hear him so I knew the others could not.

"Daddy." I cried.

He set me back down on the floor, squatting down with me. I put my paws on his knee. "Help me!"

"Blizzard, come here girl." Bucky pleaded. He sounded nervous and I wondered why. Why were they so scared of him?

I remembered everything now. My entire life. Every moment.

Loki stood back up and turned to Thor, "Give me your cloak."

Thor raised an eyebrow- I remembered him too now- but swung the red cloak over to Loki.

Loki put a hand over me and I could feel the magic tingling in my bones. I could feel it changing me, helping me grow, until I was no longer a kitten, but a human.

"What the fuck?" Bucky, Steve, and Tony all asked together.

I sat there with my E/C eyes still on my father. My long H/C hair flowed down my shoulders, covering my entire back and my father bent down, wrapping my naked body in my Uncle's cloak.

I could feel the strange tattoos on my arms tingling and everything now made sense. If I looked down, I could see the crown shaped birthmark on my hip. The one that had looked almost like a black tattoo on my paw.

"Holy shit." Bucky cursed again.

I turned to face them, keeping close to my father, afraid of their reactions.

Bucky's face was the one I saw first. His blue eyes were wide, his face slack with shock. He had taken a few steps towards me from when I had padded over to my father as a kitten. Steve was next, still frozen where he had been before, his blue eyes full of suspicion and uncertainty.

Tony looked completely taken aback, having sat down in a chair, a hand covering his mouth as he rested his elbow on his leg.

"Can someone just explain what happened?" Sam finally asked.

Loki glared at all of them, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "This is Y/N Lokidottir. And if the name doesn't give it away, she is my daughter."

"I didn't know you had a daughter." Nat said. "Thor never told us-"

"She went missing a long time ago." Thor interrupted. He gave me a loving glance. "Before New York, before all of that. Before you even knew of us."

"Then. . . how. . . what. . ." Tony seemed absolutely shocked.

"I was kidnapped during one of the invasions." I whispered. Bucky and Steve both jerked upon hearing my voice, their hands flying to where the last soulmate tattoo was. "There was a witch with them, who turned me into a cat and hid me in her pocket. When Odin banished her to Midgard, I was taken with her. I stayed with her for many years but then there was a problem. She erased my memories and the next thing I remember is ending up in Mr. Peters house."

"Which Witch?" Thor asked.

"I think her name was Agatha." I said softly.

"Well." Fury drawled from the back of the room. "I would hate to say I told you so. . . who am I kidding? I told you so."

"I'm not a spy." I said, but I couldn't even be angry about it.

"Maybe not." Fury said while Loki's arms tightened around me, "But I did say that any cat with supernatural powers was not really a cat."

I gave a nod of assent. Perhaps that was true.

"Well!" My father sounded more cheerful than before. "I suppose my er- visit will have to be cut short then." He looked at my Uncle Thor. "Mother will want to see her especially."

"Yes, of course!" Thor said boisterously. He was just as loud as I remembered, but I was only glad that I was back with my family again."

"Wait!" Bucky said hurriedly. "She can't leave yet!"

My heart twisted painfully.

"Why not?" Loki asked angrily.

"She's our soulmate, you can't just take her away from us." Steve said.

"Ah." Loki said with distaste. "She will not be joining your soulmate stuff. In-"

"You can't make that decision for her."

"He's not." Thor said with obvious regret. "It is our law. Gods cannot be soulmates with humans. Our lifespans far out live yours and it would only lead to pain and suffering on Y/Ns part when you die in twenty or thirty or forty years and she lives for a thousand or two more."

"It is against our law to do so." Loki added. "Doing so would banish her from Asgard for life."

"We have waited for her for forever." Bucky said. I think he was trying to sound angry, but all he did was sound hurt and that hurt me too.

"It will be fine." Loki spat. "You do not need her. You already have two mewling quim on the side already."

Bucky's mouth dropped like he had been slapped, while Steve sat down in his chair, looking mortified. Both of them realizing a lot of things at that moment. Tony glared furiously at the two of them, and then glared at Nat who was blushing just slightly.

"Father." I whispered. That wasn't fair. Now that I had my memories, I had taken a fair share of lovers into my bed as well. It was technically against the law in Asgard to shag outside of marriage, but no one listened to it. It had become a useless law.

"No Y/N. I cannot see you get hurt like that."

I took a deep breath and said, "Steve and Bucky are also immortal Father. It is different with them."

Thor and Loki looked at each other.

"We will have to speak to our father." Thor said, sounding troubled. "Perhaps it would be safer for you to stay here at the moment."

Loki looked disappointed, but nodded as well.

"Someone get her some clothes." He snapped at the others, before he and Thor drew me away into a corner.

"Are you sure this is what you want sweetheart?" Loki asked softly.

"Yes dad." I whispered. "I have found that I already love them. I think it would hurt more to not be with them. And they really are immortal so that should make a difference in the law."

"I will speak to Odin about it." Loki said, sounding troubled as well by this idea. "Hopefully mother will help persuade as well. I love you."

"I love you too." I mumbled, hugging him tightly. He kissed the top of my head.

"Here Blizz- Y/N." Sam said, holding out some clothes.

"Thanks birdbrain." I said softly.

He grinned, "You've been hanging around Tony to much."

Loki put up screens to block the others out while he and Thor turned so that I could get dressed. It did take me a moment to figure out how to wear clothes, and when I was done, I recognized one of Tony's AC/DC shirts and Bucky's Slytherin detailed sweatpants.

Loki pursed his lips when he saw the clothing. "I will bring you proper Asgardian clothing when Thor and I return."

I hugged Thor too and it took a while for the both of them to actually leave, as we did not want to part, so soon after finding each other again.

I suddenly felt rather self conscious when I was left with them by myself.

"Can we talk alone?" Bucky asked awkwardly.

I nodded and the three of us left the room. 

⬅️➡️

[silkendandelion]

Mirage In The Desert - Chapter 13 (END)

Summary: The Battle for Alabasta has come to a close. Crocodile is apprehended, and Alabasta is at peace.

Rated Mature for language, graphic violence. Cross-posted to Ao3, same username. Send me a DM: yell at me, send flowers. Cheers.

AN: Now that it's finished, I can greet you all one last time:

This started as a one-shot, an exercise in a dynamic that I never intended to expand. It became a two-shot, an itch I couldn't stop scribbling on when I had a moment to myself. And then it became a story, one of love, and letting go.

Thank you for reading and however this finds you, please enjoy.

~*~

For over a decade, Crocodile had built his organization, endeared himself to the Alabastan people, and meticulously played both sides to be their own end. Whether he believed unity within a nation couldn’t exist because of his contempt for people, or because he had seen proof those types of islands were doomed to die bloody anyway, even he might not know anymore.

For Alabasta, they had known happiness once, and that was the only mistake that mattered—that he chose Alabasta at all. For an island once lush, even fractured and starved, they would not go quietly, and they would not go still.

Not the palace guards, not the princess, nor the Oasins who fought beside mainlanders against a common enemy.

“Hey, I’ve got you,” Esai said quietly to the woman in his arms, coaxing her to her feet. Around them, the city shook and crumbled around the roar of clashing soldiers, kicking stone dust up into the eyes and lungs. “Can you run?”

“I t-think so.” She nodded, sniffling.

“Go that way,” he pointed down a side street for her to follow. “Follow the others! Go!”

‘Follow them! Don’t let them get away!’ The voices of royal soldiers cut through the crowd, too cruel for what their king once claimed to stand for, though they pursued the fleeing locals only far enough to encounter Ramon: a mountain of a man. Black curls, streaked with gray, tied haphazardly to his crown and blood-orange haki loaded down each corded arm. Despite his supposed confidence, held tall just by his skeleton—he was so tired. All the Oasins were. Those who possessed haki, what they called “Temple”, realized their muscles were unsuited for war, created for protection and building homes, rather than the endless hours of battle.

“Come on!” Ramon yelled, summoned a shout from the last of his reserves as the soldiers considered retreat.

“Stop playing with them!” Esai barked. “Cut them down quick. We need to catch up with the others or we’ll be overwhelmed here soon enough.”

The endless endurance and naivety of young men, Ramon thought as he steeled his shoulders. Sometimes he wish he still had it.

His breath quivered in his lungs, bone-deep exhaustion, the fatigue of felling soldier after soldier. “… Fine. It stings worse than their swords to be scolded by a hatchling half my age.”

“What did you just call me—?!” Esai’s outrage was cut off by his blade clashing with the flat of an enemy shield.

Ramon was on them both faster than Esai could realize he was on the ground, in a haste he had never seen from him. Gnashing teeth, capillaries swollen in the whites of his eyes, frightened for him, he realized. The youngest of their elders but older than Esai by easily 20 years, the oldest of the 35 Oasins that came to fight. He fought for not only his family that he built, his wife and children, he fought for the sons and daughters of his friends.

Forced to survive by felling the sons of daughters of strangers who no more chose this war than he did.

Esai watched as the soldier was wrenched off him, tossed into a stone wall in tired hopes the violence would inspire retreat before he was cornered into a more permanent solution. It seemed to be enough and the man took off, deterred both by his now cracked armor, and the blood in Ramon’s teeth.

“Are you well?” Esai reached for his shoulder, careful not to touch the now bisected art of the tattoo on his wounded deltoid.

“I… I am so tired.”

“Of course, of course,” Esai said, capable of offering little more than his presence.

“When we return to the island,” Ramon swallowed, thick and dry, “I will no longer be your leader. This is—this is as much as I can give.”

“You’re exhausted—we all are. Think about it more when you’re rested.”

“I don’t need to know anything more than how I feel right now. My body is—”

It all happened so fast.

Both men turned at the clamor of the soldier returning, and not alone. Even with haki, the two of them are easily overwhelmed, wrestled to the ground, though the air sours further when Esai hears a choked sound, the strangled sound of a man unable to gather the air to scream.

“NO!” He screams back, wrenching himself free to stand, and horrified to realize he must look distraught, feral as Ramon falls to his knees, wide hands supporting the knife in his belly.

The soldiers prepare to finish with Esai, blades raised until an arrow from an unseen archer flicked through the neck of the one closest to him. Two more arrows come down, less accurate but enough to scatter the rest, and Esai has little desire to look for the archer as he helps his friend to lie down.

Ramon found little strength to sigh, keeping the wound plugged while Esai ripped recklessly at his clothes to make fragile resemblances of damages. The weak bat of Ramon’s hand still him, too tired to do more than capture his attention as his eyes rest closed.

He steeled himself for the naivety of young men, already anticipating that Esai would push himself too far the way he always did, and worse, attempt to be brave for him as if he hadn’t kept him steady on newborn legs in the sand all those years ago.

“No… No no no, don’t go!” Esai shouts in his face, his own stricken by panic, a frantic love, clinging to this man who had raised so many of them. “Don’t close your eyes! Don’t—don’t leave us. What are—who’s going to take care of Aria and Alma like you will?”

His fingers dug hard enough into Ramon’s clothes to scratch white lines into his brown skin, as he remembered his words to River.

I’ve always known leadership might cost my life. It is an honorable death to protect my people.

Tears in streaks flow freely down over his twisted frown. “No more martyrs. No more sacrifices. Not one more!”

The cough that bubbled up from Ramon’s chest almost resembled a laugh. “You’re going to do so well.”

“What?” He croaks.

Silence followed, as close to silence as war could be. ____ ___ __ _

The Alabastans had known times of plenty once, and they would not go quietly, and they would not go still. Not the rebels, not the few of the king’s soldiers who had grown to hate their uniform, not the princess who, even as she was dangled over the edge of the palace wall and held aloft over the dust storm below, would not go easy.

“I will—stop you, if it costs me my life—”

“It just might,” Crocodile interrupted her, uncaring how she clawed at his arm. “You speak of ideals like peace, but have no ability to make them real. What good is your peace if it only exists in the fantasies of your mind?”

“You did well, princess,” Robin said from a few paces away. “As well as you could.”

“What a cruel thing to say, Miss All Sunday.” Crocodile’s frown slid wide into an amused grin, his shoulder’s bouncing with a cold, dry laugh. “When we all know it wasn’t enough.”

Of course she couldn’t do it alone.

“Put her down, Crocodile,” spoke a voice to his left.

He froze, rooted to the courtyard tiles by a weight too much like seastone. If his ears were to be believed, he was approached by a ghost, loose from the chains of his love and unwieldy with his guilt. His guilt, standing taller than he had ever seen, despite the ruined state of him, his clothes stained with his and the wani’s blood. The blue-black hair down his back is a flag for his island, as well as the mainland that has forgotten how to love them, but he is not angry.

He is calm.

“You’re alive.” Robin spoke for the warlord, her mask struggling to stay affixed.

“Let her go,” River repeated.

“Or wh—” Crocodile knows the ridiculousness of the situation must be written across his face. “Back from the dead, and for what?” His growl startles even Robin, who has never seen him so honestly upset.

“For them? For you to play hero? You are more foolish than you have ever been, River, you have never thought these things through.”

He lets go of the princess before any of them can react, do anything more than call their useless shouts and screams.

“NO! No!” River rushes forward but his haki is just a weak flicker, he’s exhausted, and Crocodile snatches him up faster than he had grabbed the teenage girl. His shirt pulls taut to nearly cut into his sore skin when Crocodile brings him deadly close.

“You think you can still be a hero after everything you’ve done? You’re in this with me.”

He flings the Oasin to the side, whether because he wanted to make him feel small, or because he was growing tired of being the cause of his pain. But they weren’t finished.

“Did you think you could only be a villain when it suited you? To cower away when there was too much blood?”

River’s elbows barely hold him off the ground as he stares up at the wall of the warlord that nearly darkens the sun, all too aware he’s unarmed and remembering that a soul unwilling is a body without haki.

“Did you think you could drape your body in diamonds and yet your hands are clean? There’s no such thing.”

“Of course they will never be clean!” He shouted and staggered to weak feet. For all Crocodile’s seething anger, he could not help but feel a wash of relief when the fool found the strength to look alive again.

“And I realize now… I will be unclean even in death. So why should I not live?”

God, he loved him still.

After everything, all their spilled blood and hateful words, that’s all he ever wanted: to know the hero that challenged him was still his River, his dreadfully imperfect, lovely River, and not some romantic martyr who had been convinced that self-sacrifice was anything more than the permanent result of poor prior planning.

He only wished they could have stood together.

“I thought I had lost you.”

“W-what—” CLANK. The sound of his hook clashing with River’s haki rips through the gritty air—but that’s not possible—

“Yes,” Crocodile found himself smiling, an involuntary, nearly manic thing, to River’s own perplexed gaping. “Yes, there you are.”

“I don’t have the strength the stop you.” River admitted, naught but a whisper, holding his ground with arms ten strikes to failure as they stood close enough to see the blood on Crocodile’s bottom lip, licked away before he spoke.

“So give me everything you have. Like you do.”

And River took his words into himself, whispered between them, nearly lost to the commotion of the falling city, but not lost to his aching soul.

The screech of his hook coming away from lapis blue hands was as clear as any bell. Blow after blow, parry, dodge, defend—the sounds of the city were finally lost to gold on steel. Just a little longer, just minutes, what felt like hours to an exhausted River who could hardly believe he was almost having fun.

They hadn’t sparred in months. And to feel his body sing, sore but high on a good fight, the bite could almost be called pleasure.

“You did so well.” The ache in Crocodile’s eyes, fondness and spite, was almost too much. Too much love for right now, even as it feels—

“I did, didn’t I?” River’s lungs sting as he smiles in the threads of his edges, his body has burned nothing but embers for hours, from Rainbase to Alubarna, to his last fight and now to ashes. “And it’s just enough.”

“Enough for—what?” Crocodile’s words are broken the stripe of a falcon across the sky, too large to be an ordinary animal, and carrying the princess along his back, as well as—

“That fucking brat.”

The sight of Luffy, alive, astride the back of the falcon guardian, was yet another reminder that more than once he had struggled to kill when it counted. He wondered if they were just devastatingly resourceful, rather than the horrifying possibility he might be losing his touch.

“I told you I’d come to kick your ass, Crocodile, and I meant that. ‘Relio!”

“I got him.”

River feels the roof of the palace sway beneath his feet, hears Luffy’s chirpy threat through the water in his ears, but he doesn’t hit the ground. Steel arms slip beneath him, the only strength keeping him upright as they allow him to fall.

“I’ll take you somewhere safe,” the man said, his strong silhouette breaking the sun beams over River’s face and kind, brown eyes framed by eyelashes flecked with dust and soot.

“The man… with the owl.”

“There he goes,” Aurelio said quietly when River’s head fell back against his arm. Exhaustion has finally settled in. “Luffy!”

“Eh?”

“I’m heading back down, going to take him to the doctor.”

Luffy’s little nod came with a breezy whistle of acknowledgment. “Bye, ‘Relio!” ____ ___ __ _

It comes down to waiting.

For those of them that were too wounded, too little left to give, they would wait for the silence: the sound of weapons sheathed, and the overjoyed falling to their knees. If the Strawhats could be trusted to succeed the way they boasted.

River stills sleeps some time later, laid across a flat piece of ground while Aurelio keeps watch over him and a group of hiding civilians. His bandaged arms lay limp beside him, his only movement the rise and fall of his scratched chest. Footsteps outside the shelter perk up Aurelio’s ears, his eyes locked on the opening to the alleyway where a young face breaks the light.

“Is there an Oasin down here?” The boy calls, too loud.

“Be quiet. And who are you?” Aurelio said, unwilling to move from where he sat by the gate, ready to defend the helpless and resting.

Not yet rejected and feeling particularly bold, the sand cat reveals himself to nervously totter over broken crates, wasted food and spent supplies. “I—that’s my friend. He’s going to want these back.”

Aurelio watches him with scrutinizing, flat eyes as he reaches into his cloak to produce twin silver swords, wrapped in a sun-bleached cloth that might have once been a shirt.

“Where did you get those?” He squints, recalling the glimmer of them on River’s hip when he saw the Oasin in Nanohana.

The sand cat gives as good as he gets, glaring back and almost unwilling to speak to the unwelcoming man that has yet to let him approach more than a few meters. “If I had stolen them, why would I be giving them back?”

Aurelio smooths his brow and briefly rubs one of his eyes, suddenly aware by the boy’s jagged response that he must have been scowling. It really was just the heat, and the weariness of the island in his bones. “Thank you for returning them.”

“The last time I saw him…” The boy began, soothed by the gratitude. “He went off towards Rainbase, though I didn’t know for sure he lived there. I lived with my dad in Yuba but he stopped coming home, and when the rebels left the city I didn’t want to go with them. Ended up in Rainbase, but never found River. When that big casino in the center of the city sank, I saw some marine carrying his swords.”

“He will appreciate you brought them back to him. I’m sure he’ll be excited to see you too when he wakes up.”

“Can—can you just tell him I came by?” The boy said again, quieter than he spoke before.

“You’re not going to wait for him to wake up?”

“I—” He paused, words caught in his throat by the fear of being rejected, as well as the ever-present fear of being alone. He couldn’t know River is the reason his dad didn’t come home, couldn’t know that only if he stayed, River would promise him the world in some attempt at recompense.

“Give this to him too. He’ll know what it means.” He stood, hand outstretched with a pendant in his paw, a leather cord with a hearty blue pearl at the end.

“Of course.”

“And… tell him my name is Luca.”

Aurelio only nodded, unable to convince the young man to stay as he wandered out of the alleyway, off towards the calmer side of the city. ____ ___ __ _

But they don’t wait forever. They don’t wait long at all, actually.

“Hey. Hey man, wake up.” River’s eyes slipped open to stranger’s shaking him awake, unable to recognize the street he laid on as it settled and smoked. But the strangers crouched over him didn’t looked worried, no, they seemed to be bursting with relief, their joys overflowing in tears that dripped onto his face.

No… No, it wasn’t tears.

It was rain.

He touched the droplets on his face, and found the pendant wrapped around his palm. ____ ___ __ _

The Next Day

Up the coast, the Strawhats awake in their feathered beds, well-fed and enjoying the rewards of their heroism at the princesses’ (and Luffy’s) insistence. As for the scattered fragments of Baroque Works, most were arrested, others still hid, and the remaining few looked for what little opportunities they had to flee.

River’s entire body screamed in soreness, his night in a cave along the water offered little healing and only scraps of comfort, only managing to find some rest in freedom. Still, a bed would be nice. Something more to eat than sleep.

The pier should have been swarmed by Marines, especially overnight, but as he ventured from his hiding place to search—he found it deserted. A smaller vessel called to him, one who ideally preferred a handful of people to operate rather than half of one man but she seemed like she might serve him well in a pinch. Hopefully.

If he could find the strength to get the boat into the water, perhaps he could hide off shore long enough for the marines to leave, and then Oasis was only a few hours away. Right? His stomach swam, he didn’t know if his heart could take fleeing the entire island, finally free and yet still unable to go home.

“There are easier ways to kill yourself than sailing alone,” comes a deep voice from behind him. River flinches, hands on his swords, and cries out as his jolting aggravates his bruised ribs.

“There are easier ways to kill yourself than fighting me,” Aurelio says, gentler, and crouches beside him.

“You fought beside Luffy, in the end.” Not a question, nor an accusation, just filling the silence while River takes him in, the obvious strength of him and his patient eyes. The owl must be somewhere above them, he realizes, and River knows he must not take his kindness for weakness.

“And you are hunted by the Marines,” Aurelio continues when he is quiet.

“I was one of Crocodile’s officers. They won’t leave the island until they’ve finished capturing us and the pirates.”

His declaration to be, realistically, Aurelio’s enemy, garners no reaction, apart from the flick of his eyes to assess him back: wounded, weak, alone, scared. River wasn’t used to fear.

“For defeating Crocodile, I believe they will give the Strawhats a head start.”

“Hm.” River hums, allowing himself a smile as he remembers the gruff Captain Smoker who liked to pretend his eyes were not also kind. “Maybe so, maybe not. I can sail, I will do my best to run. As it turns out… I am not ready to surrender. Not now, that I am free.”

“I cannot sail,” Aurelio replies, simply. He points to a small ship tied to a post near the docks. “Is this the boat you want? Watch out.”

River scrambles off his knees and away to watch the strange man push the boat into the water with all the ease of opening a door. He breaks the rope that holds it to the pier without a blade, snapped with just a tug of his fist.

“You fought well, and have proved you are loyal but not stupid.” Aurelio gestures to the boat and tosses the rope on board.

“My name is Aurelio. I’d like you to meet someone important, if that’s all right with you.”

“I’ve… really had my fill of meeting powerful people,” said River with a grimace he failed to hide in a frown. “I want to go home.”

“And where is home?”

“Just up the coast.” He points to the west. “I’ve lived so close and yet been unable to see my family for so long.”

“You’ve had your fill of the sea then?”

River winced, his brow furrowed and frown pulled by more than his wounds. “I will never tire of her. But I’m tired of this... pain? Perhaps guilt is a better word.”

“I work with the Revolutionary Army. Their leader, Dragon, is a good man. He’s my friend before he is my boss. With the right argument on your behalf, I’m confident he would shelter you. If you want to see more of the world, and foster the good in it.”

“I am a fugitive,” argues River, his shame written in his eyes that cannot meet Aurelio’s.

The sight makes him laugh, a gentle thing. “We all are. But our enemies are ones we are proud to have.”

River finally looks at him when he hears Aurelio step into the ocean, or rather, he knows he should hear it, but there is no sound. Instead, the revolutionary steps above the water, standing with a fraction of an inch between his shoes and it’s surface. Was this another type of haki? A power beyond it? What other wonders could he see if he just agreed?

“The world is filled with worse criminals than Crocodile. You can be on the side against pain, against suffering if you want, from the beginning this time.”

He tried again when River was quiet. “But we don’t have forever to decide, the Marines will be mobilizing soon, and travel down the coast from the east—”

“I’ll do it.”

“Glad to hear it,” Aurelio said and stepped onto the boat with dry feet.

“But we must make one stop before we leave Alabasta.”

He sighed, almost childishly but with little actual exasperation as he waved at River to get moving. “Hurry up, then.” ____ ___ __ _

On Oasis, Claudia was waiting at the land bridge with the rest of their village, awaiting the arrival of the ones that had left to war. The rebel leader, she already forgotten his name, had written ahead that all of the Oasins would return safely, though he gave no list of names.

Esai had promised to write, but Claudia waited with shreds of patience to no correspondence. Surely he would have written ahead if River was with them? What happened in the capital? The other Oasins had poured over the newspaper, gossiping and talking themselves blue about the Alabastans and their war, but Claudia found herself too sick to read it or seek out the list of the dead.

Cheers startled her out of her thoughts to see their soldiers return, families refusing to wait as they rushed into the ocean, demanding their hugs and kisses even covered in seawater.

She paced the shore, not spying Esai for long moments, until she thought to follow Ines into the shallows, still bared from meeting him by the dozens of them that crowded the water. So many voices, happy cries and shouts, the splashing of the sea as loved ones puzzled back into their waiting families.

Far away behind her, a shout pricked her hearing.

Again it came, when she ignored it.

“Tell whoever that is shouting to be quiet, I can’t hear if Esai is—” She whipped around to the side of the beach that faced the open sea, and froze.

Among a rickety boat bobbing in the gentle waves, hanging off the mast to see her better, she saw her River. Smiling so hard his face must hurt, calling to her over the chatter of the village.

She screamed his name until her voice broke, and sprinted away from the suddenly quiet crowd, off and into the sea.

“Claudia! Claudia!” River yelled to her, possessed by his heart to leap off the boat and into the waves after her.

“There he goes,” said Aurelio, already on his feet to prepare the anchor.

“River!” Claudia called, wading until she could no longer stand on her toes in the sand, her head bobbing, feet paddling and arms open to haul him into her embrace.

She shook in his arms in the warm water, face stricken with tears as they stayed carried by the waves.

“My baby, my River,” she sobbed, content to drown if it was the only way to hold him. “My River.”

He gently kicked them back into the shallows, setting her down while the water lapped filthy sand over her arms and his back, tying them together by the soaked ink of his loose hair, and a piece of seaweed that hung from her braid. But she refused to let go.

“I’m here, it’s all right.”

“I prayed… I prayed.” She pleaded, nearly incoherent and voice quivering worse than her arms as she held the top of his head to her lips.

‘Is that River?’, came the whispering of the crowd moving to the other end of the beach. The murmurs of ‘I thought he was dead’, ‘He really came back’, and ‘Don’t move, don’t rush her.’

“I’m sorry it’s been so long but,” River replied, finding his own tears in the smell of their garden, the bread she must have made that morning for it to still be in her hair.

“I’m home now.”

More tears dripped from her flushed face, lost in the sea, and she held the sides of his face to keep him still for a kiss to his forehead, even as her frown twisted in the most painful happy cries she would ever make.

“Welcome home. My son.”

‘River!’ They heard a shout from the crowd, and confused Oasins parted for Esai to rush to the front, moving around a slow-moving Ramon, bandaged but alive, and still dressed for the war they only just left behind. Beside him, a stricken panic paints Esai’s face that betrayed the truth he didn’t quite believe his friend to be anything more than a mirage.

“Esai!” River yelled back, and Claudia released him to run up the beach, right into Esai’s arms and into his tears.

“Are you real?” Esai asked, too quiet and vulnerable to recognize his own voice, whispered in the space between them as he held his disbelieving arms wide.

River just held him tighter, hoping that the arms around him and the tear stains on his shoulder were proof enough of his corporeal form. “Hold me already.”

Together again. Two halves of a story, a family reunited, held fast in the sweep of River off his feet as Esai spun him for the sun. The village cheered for the second time that day, twice in a day they had their loved ones returned, on a morning that started ordinary as any other, under a typical, Oasin sky. Sunny, with the usual chance of rain.

“I missed you… so much.” Esai reached to touch his cheek, thumb the soft skin and admire the tenderness of his gaze. Holding him too close, too long for a friend’s love. He flinched his hand back to his side.

“Your—” He cleared his throat, an embarrassed flush creeping up his neck. “Your hair has gotten a bit out of control.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, coming from you.” River smiled at him.

Ines tottered over to him with her cane, waiting patiently for her due in the form of a long hug and a kiss to her cheek. “Never doubted you for a second.”

She pinched his side, tugging his clothes to and fro both to inspect their quality and survey the condition of him. The click of her teeth made him grin, even as he awaited her judgment.

“Skinnier than the last time I saw you: unbelievable. And you’ve gotten so pale, what, were you kept in a jail cell for the last year?”

Her humor sobered instantly as Claudia came to her side. “You weren’t, right?”

“No,” he assuaged her with his soft grin. “No, I’m okay, really.”

Claudia smoothed the front of her soaked clothes and pulled herself back together. “It’s nothing some good food can’t fix, some time in the sun. Of which we have no shortage.”

But the pull of River’s sheepish smile, the way he held their eyes so he might not have to admit out loud his guilty heart, told the little family all they needed to know.

“You’re kidding!” Ines gasped, covering her mouth like she just received the juiciest of gossip.

“OH, I can’t believe this!” Esai yelled, louder than he meant to, hands on his hips. “You just got back!”

He turned to Claudia for reinforcement, expecting her to drag River back home by the red of his embarrassed ears, but found her fussing with her apron instead—sad, that much she couldn’t help, but content.

“You—” She sniffled, gently, and offered what she hoped was a convincing smile. “You never did go on pilgrimage.”

“… Claudia.” River reached to pull her into another hug, tighter than he ever had.

Be kind to River.

She kissed his hair, letting him hold her as long as he wished, however long it took for him to say thank you for letting him go.

“Do you—have any time before you have to leave? I’d like to send you with something to eat, and your—your books are all here, don’t you want to take some of them? They belonged to Sofia, and your father—his papers are in the… the—”

“We can spare a couple hours, if your son is as good a sailor as he proclaims to be,” came Aurelio’s voice from behind them as they all turned to stare at him. Hard.

‘River, who is that man?’ Claudia said quietly, dropping the common tongue.

Ines elbowed Claudia aside to get a better look. ‘Is he yours, River? Because if he’s not, I’d like to make him an offer—’

‘Mama!’ Esai gasped (more like squeaked) at Ines, blushing and downright horrified.

‘He’s not my type. Too skinny,’ Aurelio said simply, and his own dropping of the common tongue earned it’s fair share of gasps and confused grunts.

‘Told you so. Hey, how about me, handsome?’ Ines called out while waggling her cane, and Esai made some kind of wounded, weak sound beside her.

“You never said you could speak Oasin,” River said.

“It’s not,” Claudia replied for him. “It’s similar, a little like Joel used to speak. But it’s not Dressrosan either.”

“I’m from the West Blue sea. Aurelio Angelo.” He refrained from shaking their hands except for Ines, who had earned the kiss he placed on the back of her palm with her enthusiasm.

“I could make you so happy,” Ines smiled up at him, starry-eyed.

‘Oh, I have no doubt.’ He flashes his white teeth, and flicks a gentle finger under her chin.

She wiggled in delight before turning to bark at her son. “Esai! Let’s get something cooking, we’ve only got a couple hours.”

“Come, River.” Claudia motioned with her head. “We will pack your things.”

For Oasis, the day would be remembered as a celebration, a time for roasting all the fish they had, and emptying their stash of wine to water the entire village with food and song. For Claudia, it was the day she got her son back, and the day she knew it was time to let him go. All because now he went not flanked by extortion and corrupt agents, but with a friend and a smile.

They loaded the little boat with all they could justify: fish, fruit, cured meats, salt, and all the books Aurelio would allow him. The fuss and finery of Rainbase had been left behind except for what he wore on his back, cleaned and ironed as Claudia adjusted the creases on his shoulders. He supposed he could let her fuss as long as she wanted, one last time.

She brushed his hair down his back, turning his collar right-side out and stepping back to admire her work.

“You look like you want to say something,” he said quietly.

Her hands rung the handle of the hairbrush, but all she offered him into her thoughts was the most honest of smiles. “You… look just like Joel.”

Though his father never wore his hair so long, Claudia could imagine it now with River standing before her in a blouse from a fine tailor, dark trousers with golden embroidery along the seams, and boots of a sturdy, soft leather, fit for an adventure to some far away land. But something was missing.

“I think I still have it,” she said after a moment and stepped away to search through her drawers. Pressed inside her sister’s journal, she found it, laid across the old, fragile pages like a bookmark—Joel’s hair ribbon.

“We would make fun of him for wearing such expensive things on the island but he was too charming to be ever be offended, and spoke well to us. Ines said with a little sun and a lesson in slang, he would fit right in. Now, with you standing here, you look like who he might have been.”

She reached to tie his hair back from his face and tuck a piece of his bangs behind one of his ears.

“He came to us because he was on an adventure, and never left… Go, River. Find one of your own, and if you find somewhere you like enough to call home, I want you to know it’s all right if you stay.”

She made a happy sound when he turned to hug her, what he felt would be the last time for a long while yet. Who knew how far the Revolutionary Army would make him travel?

How exciting. But he—they knew, even without saying so, that he would always make his way back to Oasis.

She dabbed her eyes with a corner of her linens. “I still expect some grandchildren. I hope you know this doesn’t exempt you. Find a nice woman to give you some children, or a nice man who’s willing to find an orphan child with you, there’s bound to be plenty out there that need homes.”

“They’re not kittens, Claudia,” he chuckled.

“Maybe buy one from a reputable source, or rescue one from some horrible people.”

“Claudia, we’re really not talking about this.” He managed to get out through his laughing.

On the shore, Aurelio was waiting with the boat, having just loaded the last of their cargo. Ines stood by, supervising, to Esai’s palpable chagrin.

“The Marines have been spotted on the other side of the cove,” said Aurelio.

Running along the sand, River swung himself up onto the deck of the boat. “I’m ready.”

“Safe sailing, River! Eat more!” Ines shouted to him.

“Yes, be safe!” Claudia said.

Esai freed the rope to their boat, quiet as he struggled to find a way to say goodbye.

“Mama Ines!” River shouted over the edge of the boat.

“Hey, I already said goodbye. Now you’re just being dramatic!” She called back.

“I won’t be here when you vote on the new leadership. So I’d like to cast my vote now!”

She spluttered at him. “What for? I mean, for who?”

“I want it to be Esai!”

His friend felt his chest tighten, looking up at River framed by the sun. Why now? When I have already decided to let you go? “You—you can’t do that!”

“Why not? That’s what I want,” he smiled down at him, and Esai looked back to his mother.

“That’s one for Esai.” She smiled.

“And me.” Claudia looked to him, and he felt a blush creeping up his neck.

“That’s two.”

The crowd along the shore began to chatter and buzz, all reassurances among hollers of Esai’s name. Before River’s boat could get out of the shallows, they were shouting for him, crying out that he would stand beside his mother—and lead them.

“Goodbye, Esai! Much luck to you!” River waved over the railing.

Esai felt the beginnings of tears pool on his eyelashes, the pain in his chest unraveling into a warmth he would hold onto until that little boat returned.

“Thank you, River!”

On the boat, Aurelio waited beside the wheel. “You have a lovely home.”

“I do.” River smiled to him, and leaned into the salty wind that caressed their faces. “Let’s come back here when we get tired. Yes?”

“I’d like that.” ____ ___ __ _

Before the little boat is out of sight, the shoreline is again broken by a figure coming up the land bridge, this one alone, and smaller in stature than most. Most of the families had already gone back inside the treeline, and Claudia only noticed them because she lingered last.

“H-Hello.” The boy volunteered, his boots sinking in the sand and broken bow clenched in his hand.

“Hello. Are you all right?” She wandered over to him, suspicious but unwilling to turn them away. “Who are you?”

“My… name is Luca, and my grandfather was f-from here. He crossed the bridge when my dad was about… he was younger than I am now. But we lost the shop, they—they’re both dead, and I… Is River here?”

Claudia felt her eyes grow hot, throat suddenly sore. “He’s just left, I’m afraid. But anyone who makes their way here can call us home. If they would like to stay.”

His broken bow falls to the sand, knees wobbling, and the tears Claudia has yet to shed are now streaking clean tracks down his dirty face.

“Oh! Luca!” She runs to catch him, folding the tired boy in her arms because even if he made the journey alone, finally, he is home. ____ ___ __ _

When Crocodile wakes, he’s sees only the steel ceiling of ship’s hull, his body weighted by the seastone chains on his extremities.

This time was meant to be different.

His body aches, the cool air of the ship sliding uncomfortably between the layers of his tattered clothes, and the crust of dried blood pulls taut at the hair on his scalp. He knows he must look haggard but finds little motivation to care as the events of the battle seep back into his weary body.

The fractured battlefield is far from his mind, but the sting of defeat sits wresting against his ribs, by a rookie no less. He thinks his anger might finally break him, he was… this close. Close enough to still taste the blood and bile that slicked his teeth.

Alabasta was never meant to be more than a means to an end, so why did he feel—admitted not even to the walls—the beginnings of tears? Why did this time, of all times, hurt worse than that time?

After everything, shouldn’t he at least be happy to be rid of his favorite pet? No more noise, no more distractions, no more loose feathers of the rogue peacock that’s as fond of draping himself over the chaise as he is to announce his presence with a bugle in every room he enters.

No more dancing, no more singing, no more laughter of a man who may or may not have actually gotten the joke. Language barriers and all. But he loved to laugh, loved making Crocodile laugh—as close as anyone had ever achieved.

No more late nights, bitter mornings when the sun must rise and force them apart: a reminder that what they had was unbearably temporary. Always was.

The fool, his no longer, will go back to the island he loved and Crocodile will… go on. Until the opportunity presents itself for him to overcome this next pesky setback.

For now, he listens to the silence, the far away sound of the waves beyond the belly of this ship. Further still, a gull cries: the birds are returning to the island. And if he closes his eyes, he might hear it: the sound of a folk song, sung melancholy not because it was sad but because everything sounds a little blue in the sun of a warm afternoon.

Fair skies and calm seas, River. You are free. ____ ___ __ _

A bath and a good meal nourishes the body in ways it can’t hope to nourish the mind, but for River, it doesn’t feel right to nurse his thoughts just yet, as he sets their course and Aurelio is leaning back against stacked crates for a nap.

“How long will it take us to get there?” River asked. Hopefully the revolutionary wasn’t asleep yet.

“Water 7 is not far, don’t worry. We can procure a proper boat, and then we’re off again to get a coating,” he said without opening his eyes.

“A coating?” River pulled out one of his newer journals, hands searching for a pen. “What’s that?”

“You have so much to learn about the world.”

He pouted, still smiling. “Well, that wasn’t an answer.”

“I’ll tell you when we get there. For now, watch the compass—and be excited. You’re going to be in the New World before you realize.”

And River was, really, if the melancholy in his shoulders could beg for the patience that he didn’t show it. Aurelio slept soundly, but even awake River would not seek his comfort, not for this, not from him yet. The only ones who truly knew what happened in that apartment were him and Crocodile, now off to different seas.

Crocodile once told him, back when he was still obsessed with understanding idioms of the common language, that “to have loved and lost is better than to have never loved at all.” He hadn’t understood him at the time.

Now, among the waves and in the sole company of his newest friend, he thinks he might. He pulls his fountain pen from the pack at his feet, a silver and gilded thing from his favorite jeweler, and begins to write.

To the man who loved me,

It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t enough, it doesn’t matter that it will never be the same.

It matters that for awhile, I looked at you, felt your skin in my palms, the warmth of your eyes, and decided this… this is what forever must be. It matters that years from now, perhaps when I’ve found love again, I will wonder where you are, if you are happy.

What will last forever is the version of us that forgot about the world beyond your apartment, hidden away by the ocean you believed you had lost. We cannot be killed, the version of us with no thoughts to the future, the one that tasted of cardamom and home.

Because for a wonderful, awful, incredible year… We were everything.

[oh-my-hubris]

Loyalty Of Angels #5: My Condolences

Jhonny and Logan are visited by the nearest thing to family Jhonny has ever had.

1324

Jhonny was settling in at the Thackeray estate. Logan had been living alone since the death of his older brother and it showed. The downstairs was barely lived in, like the other man woke up, went to the office, came home, and slept.

Which was pretty accurate as far as Jhonny could tell.

Jhonny didn't really have a leg to stand on in this matter, but he was putting the work into making the downstairs at least pleasant enough that they could spend time in it. This had involved a certain amount of shifting furniture around—some of which he made Logan help with because Jhonny was many things but none of them were 'moving a couch on his own with any grace'.

The activity was bonding though and when they'd finished both men were grinning and generally looking forward to living in the space they were occupying when they weren't at work.

Jhonny was in the kitchen making a pot of tea and considering the merits of lunch when the doorbell made a noise.

In the time he'd lived there Logan hadn't had a visitor that wasn't directly linked to Seraph business and even then it had only been once.

They dealt with people at the office, on patrol, on the way to the office, and on the way back to the house.

He set the kettle down and moved to the end of the foyer to make sure no one tried to murder Logan while he was unarmored and at home.

He couldn't see the person from behind Logan's bulk, but he recognized her voice. A warm voice, aging and with that age starting to creak like the stairs at Queen's Heart. Warm as low burning embers. Equally suited to gentle praise as it was to exasperated correction.

"Hello, Captain Thackeray," said Priestess Isabeau. "I was told that Jhonnen moved in here?"

Logan nodded. "He has," he said. "Can I ask who's calling?"

"Isabeau," Priestess Isabeau said. "I'm one of the priestesses who manages Queen's Heart Orphanage."

"Please, come in. I'll go get him."

Jhonny swallowed as his friend (roommate) moved to the side. When Logan turned Jhonny gave a shrug. "I've got it."

Priestess Isabeau was the nearest thing to a parent Jhonny had ever known. She was a tall woman, narrowly built in her white dress and blindfold, but she held herself like a mountain. Her brown hair was starting to grey and her face was lined with years of amusement and exasperation.

"I'll give you two a moment," Logan said. He passed Jhonny on his way deeper into the house and patted his shoulder.

"Hey," Jhonny said lamely. "Cup of tea or… something?"

He hadn't actually seen her in a couple of years. Immediately after leaving Queen's Heart he'd drop by with what he could spare to help out but he had gotten pretty deep into crime pretty quickly and hadn't wanted to have that particular conversation with the Priestess of Kormir who had raised him.

He dropped off what he could. Food. Coin. Blankets. Clothes. Little things to take care of the place that had taken care of him.

By the time he'd gone straight he figured she didn't have time for one kid when there were so many others who needed her.

Isabeau stepped into the room and folded him into a hug. He went limp for a moment and then set his eyes on her collar and reached up to hug her back like he was a small child once more.

"I heard about Quinn," she said softly, petting her fingers through the back of his short blonde hair.

"It was a couple of years ago," he muttered lamely.

"I know how seriously you tried to look after him." She held him close, ignoring that the hurt was supposed to be distant. It wasn't and he'd never been able to lie to her anyway. "You are good, Jhonny. I know you did what you could."

"I didn't," he admitted hollowly. "I had two choices and I made one and Quinn… I just left him."

He explained what had happened in halting tones, somewhere between asking for absolution and defending himself.

Isabeau pulled away when he'd finished and set her weathered hands on his cheeks. "You did what you could," she said again. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

He managed a small smile. "You've got bigger issues than one wayward orphan. I'm alright, got a real job and a roommate and everything." He cleared his throat. "I even have house keys now."

Isabeau chuckled and gave his cheeks a pat. "An improvement." She lifted her chin and looked past him. "Captain Thackeray?"

"Yes?" Logan said, confirming that he had been listening the entire time.

"He's a handful and a half, but generally I've found that he's worth it. Please take care of him."

Jhonny made an objecting noise but Logan gave a huffed little laugh. "Why do you think I asked him to move in? This way I know where he is."

"You're both hilarious." Jhonny scowled. He felt loved and, per usual, it wasn't a feeling he entirely knew what to do with.

Priestess Isabeau left and Logan settled a hand on Jhonny's shoulder.

"You are good," he said, just the way the Priestess had.

"I will bite you," Jhonny countered.

Logan smiled.