#as soon as i saw the takeovers i literally screamed

[moosh2727]

THEY MENTIONED JET IN THE TWITTER TAKEOVERS!!!!

THIS YEAR ALONE THEY'VE BEEN PROMOTING JET SO MUCH!!!! (not to mentioned they've slowly hyped him up previously last year etc)

AND THAT FACT THAT THEY SAID "RIVALS HAVE A WAY OF COMING BACK" TOO!!! THEY'RE 100 PERCENT COOKING UP SOMETHING BIG WITH HIM!!!!! 💚💚💚💚

AAAAAAAAAAA IM SO EXCITED!!!

[mothicalspoken]

Trading One For Another

Summary: The Night, in Marcy’s body, offers a proposition. Anne takes it. Based off the small theory I have because of Anne’s eye in the photo in The Sleepover To End All Sleepovers. A night!Anne fic 

TW for graphic depictions of violence and injuries! 

-----

Anne’s vision spun wildly as she struggled to recollect herself. Something warm was dripping off her face from the impact with the stone wall, and her head hurt like hell. In the corner of her eye, she saw a vague red blur rush towards her, but in a blink of an eye, the red figure was pulled back from Anne’s vision. 

Blink. 

“Oh no you don’t,” a creepy yet familiar voice tinged with rust hissed.

Blink. 

Anne turned her head, and a flash of bright light shone through her cloudy vision that was just beginning to clear.

Blink.

A glimpse of yellow.

Blink. 

A guttural scream. 

“SASHA!” Anne exclaimed,  swiping at her eyes and not taking the time to examine the thick blood now plastered on the back of her hand. The blonde was on her knees and heaving, one hand pressed over her left eye. A figure clad in a blue wetsuit stumbled back on sudden unsteady feet and the glowing knife fell from thier grip. 

Anne raised herself to her knees with visible strain, and crawled towards her fallen friend. It hurt to even lift her head. Sasha kept one hand over her eye, and looked at Anne with the other, tears brimming even as she held out her arm and took Anne in underneath it. 

Anne wrapped her arm around the back of Sasha’s torso and pulled her close, brandishing nothing but a glowing blue fist as she glared angrily at the figure standing before them. 

They were crying. Their breaths came out as thick, choked sobs, but their face was set with a sinister determination. Orange eyes glowed against the shadows of Andrias’s basement. They took in a deep breath, and wiped thier eyes, muttering loudly to themself in a voice that was far too composed for someone who looked like they were in the middle of a breakdown. 

“Urgh... this child’s emotions are so... annoying,” They said dismissively. Anne stiffened and bristled at their words. “The Wit cries so much- like I get it, I get it, you love your friends or whatever and you don’t want to hurt them. Fine. But here’s the thing! I’m hurting them. And you can’t do anything about it but shake some things around and hope it messes me up. So just sit back and let me conquer this place, okay?” 

“Stop HURTING THEM!” Anne screamed, anger and desperation radiating from every part of her voice. She was powerless to do anything but yell and hold back, due to the threat of accidentally injuring Marcy. “Get out of Marcy’s body and get away from Sasha, you sick freak!” 

“That’s an awfully human term to describe something that has been alive longer than you’re able to comprehend,” the figure in the wetsuit replied with a nonchalant air, orange eyes blinking innocently. “Honestly, considering how young you are compared to me, don’t you think you should trust my judgement? Gotta respect your elders and all that, as frogs say.” 

“I don’t care whatever self-righteous nonsense you think you’re entitled to, you stupid body-stealing eldritch robot baby,” Anne hissed, earning a weak laugh from Sasha. “Just get out of my friend’s body, and leave us alone.” 

The figure let out a long, drawn out, dramatic sigh. 

“Fine. If you REALLY want me to stop doing whatever I’m doing, then I have a suggestion. You might not like it though.” 

“I’ll do anything,” Anne insisted firmly, something deep and permanent fueling her from the inside. “Just as long as Sasha and Marcy don’t have to suffer anymore because of you.” 

“Oh really?” The figure  bent down and looked at Anne with a smug little smile. “Well- do you think you can handle me, you little glowing nuisance?” 

Sasha sucked in a harsh breath in realization, and tugged Anne even closer, whispering frantically into her ear. 

“Anne, don’t fall for it, it’s-”

“Sasha. I’m the only one out of us three who actually has a grip on my calamity powers. It has to be me.” 

“What makes you think that your calamity powers are going to be able to stop whatever that thing is?!” Sasha hissed, voice slightly higher than usual. “You don’t even know anything about it! It takes ahold of your mind, and Marcy was the one who was supposed to be good with that stuff, and-”  “They’re mortally injured! Do you really think that it’s possible to concentrate on fighting off an eldritch god when you have a gaping chest wound?!” Anne hissed back. “They’re trying her best, and they’ve gone through so much already, and I just-” 

“You’re injured too!” Sasha exclaimed, tears brimming in her eyes, finally taking her left hand off her eye. There was a deep burned gash in the place where her eye had been, completely disfiguring the side of her face, and it almost made Anne sick to look at, especially since the smell of roasted flesh began to emanate from it as soon as Sasha took her hand away. She raised her hand to gently brush at the side of Anne’s head, and Anne hissed in pain. Sasha’s fingers came back bloody. “You can't just- I don’t-” 

“Not as injured as her, or you. I’ll be fine,” Anne replied, a little more coldly than intended. She raised her hand to where Sasha had her arm wrapped around her shoulder, and squeezed her hand in a feeble act of reassurance. “Just.. trust me okay? Please.” 

Sasha opened her mouth and closed it again, like an incredibly worried fish. She said nothing though, and instead buried the uninjured side of her face into Anne’s shoulder, holding on for dear life. 

“You’re not gonna lose me. After this, I promise we’ll never have to lose each other again,” Anne whispered, quiet enough so only Sasha could hear. “We’re done with that. No more getting separated, and almost dying, or literally dying. None of that. It stops now. I’m gonna make sure of it.”   

The only answer from Sasha was an incredibly pained look. It was strange to see on the usually composed and confident girl. 

The figure rolled their eyes and groaned. 

“So is that a yes or no? C’mon, I don’t have all day for your sappy little heart-to-heart or whatever you’re doing.”

“I’ll do it,” Anne confirmed. Sasha’s hand gripped onto her t-shirt tighter. The figure bent down to Anne and Sasha’s level and smiled wide, almost mockingly. 

“Well then, if that’s the case...” they scanned Anne’s face, and seemed to come to a decision of some sort. “Hold still. I’mma let my host take over for a little bit here.” 

Anne’s eyes widened as one of the orange orbs staring at her flickered, and soon became smoothly replaced with a familiar brown pupil against a white sclera. Almost instantly, Anne could see the regret and sorrowfulness in Marcy’s eye. 

Thier hands, cold and slightly damp, came to rest on either side of Anne’s face, shaking slightly. 

With a single, determined movement, Marcy leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to Anne’s open head wound. 

Almost immediately, Anne’s vision flooded with a bright, glowing orange light, and she shut her eyes against it. A wave of pain shot through her mind, and she  cluctched at the sides of her head, trying to fight back against the intense takeover. 

Marcy slumped over, and fell limply into Sasha’s arms, breathing shallow. Sasha  pulled her into her lap and held her close, whispering “I’ve got you,” and “you’re okay,” and any other words of reassurement she could possibly offer. 

“Ugh...” Anne groaned, finally tearing her hands away. 

Sasha looked over at her, breath catching in the back of her throat. 

Half-lidded, tired eyes stared back at her. 

One blue. 

One orange. 

Anne gave a feeble thumbs up, and laughed. 

[aewhore]

A night of fun ~ Rhea Ripley x reader

(A/N: This is an AU based on The women’s War Games match in 2019,(pls watch this match before reading, also just watch it again if you can because it's stellar.)where instead of Candice it's you and Rhea vs all team Shayna. I also tried to keep the match section short so there may be a bit of time jumping but it shouldn't be too jarring.)  

Summary: You’re Rhea’s Girlfriend and you both have a very hard fought wargames match and have a fluffy celebration after in the locker room 

You stood on the stage with the rest of your team, Trash talking to the other side, as you awaited Shayna’ entrance. When she finally strolled out onto the ramp you look to your left to see your girlfriend of 3 years Rhea Ripley staring not only daggers but the whole kitchen sink at the soon to be former women’s champion. As soon as you all turn to your respective teams to strategize who will enter the cage first, You see Io strutting down to the steel structure. Seeing her act so cocky makes your blood boil. “You want her babe? Go get her” Rhea says daring you to get the payback she knows you deserve on your former best friend turned enemy. You storm down to the rings after Io and as soon as you're both locked in the cage, the fight is on. You and Io lay into one another, letting every built up emotion add extra blow to your strikes but as soon as you start to maintain the upper hand over Io the timer runs out and Bianca is added to the mix and you're quickly fighting a losing battle as you are down at a 2 on 1 disadvantage. You can hear Rhea yelling encouragement from the cage but it's hard to listen when all you can focus on is how you can feel the sickening bounce of your head meeting the canvas as Bianca powerbombs you 3 times before chucking you into the steel cage wall. After a head splitting running dropkick to the head from Io, you were thankful to hear the countdown start as it indicated you were getting a teammate in the cage.   

You look up at the sound of the buzzer to see Rhea making her way down to the ring. “HOLD TIGHT BABY, RHEA’S BRINGING SOME TOYS” you can’t help but do a double take as at home that would mean something completely different but you see her reach under the ring for garbage cans and kendo sticks and you know your night of fun has barely begun. You hear the crowd start singing ‘Rhea’s gonna kill you’ and you can’t disagree as you help set up a bridge of chairs for Rhea to put Bianca through. Before the bridge can be used a brawl breaks out with Io coming back for more as the timer runs down again meaning team Shayna would be getting another teammate setting you and Rhea at a 3 on 2 disadvantage. You hear Kay Lee Ray enter the cage before you see her as she lays you and Rhea out with chair shots to the midsection and back. Out of the corner of your eye you see Kay lee and Bianca setting Rhea up on the chair bridge, a bolt of adrenaline runs through you as you run to knock Bianca off the top rope before she can do damage to your girlfriend. You start to beat down Bianca in the corner when you feel Kay Lee and Io underneath you setting you up for a suplex onto the pile of chairs below. You’re pulled backwards in the blink of an eye and immediately your vision goes white for a split second from sheer pain alone. You look over to see Rhea wraith in pain after a 450 from Bianca, You reach out your hand and she squeezes it to show you she’s still in this fight with you. The sound of the buzzer indicating that your team was getting a teammate filled you with relief as the playing field would be evened out for yourself and Rhea. However this relief quickly turned to confusion as you saw the mayhem at the top of the ramp. You watch on in horror as Dakota viciously attacks Tegan. You hear Rhea’s screams of frustration as reality sets in, your team is two down, This match is now a 4 on 2. You see Shayna laughing from her shark cage on the ramp as she realizes that the victory is almost guaranteed to be hers, but as long as there is air in your lungs you are going to win this match for Rhea. 

You look over at Rhea and you can see she’s panicking “How are you not fucking terrified right now?” You can tell she’s confused by your calm demeanor. “Compared to the family get-togethers I’m forced to attend twice a year, this is actually rather tame.” Rhea cracks a smile at this, her panic seeps through “We’re screwed Y/N!” she quietly grumbles to you, “Well, if we're going down, why not make all these bitches hurt real bad as we go down” You and Rhea share an evil laugh as you turn your attention back to the other girls that were locked in the cage with you. To hell with the number advantage, you both weren’t going out without a bang. Yourself and Io were brawling in one ring, Rhea was left with Bianca and Kay Lee in the other as Shayna strolled down to the cage to enter and start the match. Io got the upper hand over you and forced you to watch the 3 on 1 attack on Rhea as Shayna entered to officially start war games. As the match progresses you equalize Kay Lee and Io with a DDT to hurry over and save Rhea from Shayna handcuffing her to the ropes. You and Rhea cautiously stand in the no man’s land between the two rings as you silently give each other permission to to be as reckless and deranged as you both see fit.  

You were catching your breath as you look up to see Rhea has Io in the Prism trap but suddenly you feel someone drag you off your feet into the air by your neck and it's too late when you realize it’s Shayna and she has you in a standing kirifuda clutch. You’re trying to scream at Rhea not to let Io go but your lack of air supply prevents anything from coming out. You scratch at Shayna’s eyes and she releases you at the same time that Kay Lee attacks Rhea to release Io. As the match rages on the violence keeps building and building. Spot after spot, you and Rhea keep kicking out, you both keep each other in the game. You watch as Rhea handcuffs herself to Baszler and you can’t help but hold your breath as the energy in the arena builds in wait to what Rhea is going to do now that she has the upper hand, literally, over the women’s champion. An earth shattering riptide onto awaiting chairs and Shayna is out for the three count. As soon as Rhea is freed from her handcuff you sprint to her in your well earned victorious celebration. Rhea lifts you off the ground and spins you around in a bone crushing hug that only she could give. She lets you down and you both hobble to the back after basking in the crowds' rapturous applause. 

As you both make your way back to your shared locker room Rhea is stopped by Triple H as he congratulates the both of you on a fantastic performance and begins talking to Rhea about her upcoming title shot. You began to zone out Hunter’s words as you stared at Rhea’s practically glowing face, her hair was chaotic as it stuck in every direction but still managed to frame her face perfectly. Her pale blue eyes beamed with pride and joy as she saw the championship within her reach come next takeover. Before you know it Hunter is bidding his farewell as Rhea slips her arm back around your midsection pulling you into her side as you both finish your victory lap in your locker room. As you go to you bag you turn to ask Rhea how she’s feel only to discover she had flopped face down into the sofa. You chuckle to yourself as you hear her start to loudly fake snore. You turn back to your luggage as you start to strip out of your gear. ”Oh wow” you hear Rhea damn near moan as you turn towards her in only your bra and underwear. “I have a confession to make.” Her words were slurred, eyes almost comically wide. “I...I’m super gay and hopelessly in love with you.” You can’t help but burst out in giggles at Rhea’s “confession” You see Rhea pout as you put on your shirt. “I...I know...we’re dating, sweetheart. We have been for a while now” she slowly gets up from her lying position on the couch to hug you from behind “I know that baby girl, and what a happy while it’s been.” Rhea loving says as she lays gentle kisses at the base of your neck. “I couldn’t help but notice.. You have a matching set on” Rhea’s hand move to rub your hips and up your sides, “I knew we’d win so i thought I’d give you a nice bonus when we got back to the hotel.” You feel Rhea let you go as she rushes back to her luggage to frantically pack everything. “Well what are we waiting for let’s go” You can’t help but fall even more in love with her as she comedically “packs” (more like violently throwing your things in the general direction of your bag) your things and rushes out the door to start the second act of your night of fun. 

[starrynite7114]

Snapshots: Worries

A/N: I actually followed through and finished an update! Yay! I had time while I was waiting at the car dealership and was able to finish an update. I have another update for Things you never knew, but I think I’ll hold off on that one. Snapshots has been my original baby and I’m really glad I finally got back into writing it again. Hope you all enjoy this update. I promise, the angst will be sporadic from now on.

Warnings: Smut, angst

Masterlist

Tagged list: @iambabyharry : @justahopelessssromantic : @ifoundmyhappythought : @everyhowlmarksthedead : @trulysuccubus : @encounterthepast : @enamoured-x : @gemini0410 : @sadeyesgf : @claytoncardenasbabymama​ : @summertimesadnesswithadashofsass​ : @thickemadame​ : @marvelmaree​ : @agirllovespasta​ : @whyisgmora​ : @woahitslucyylu​ : @carlaangel86​ : @briana-mishell24​ : @briannab1234​ : @samcrobae​ : @elcococruz​ : @fariesandwanderlust​ : @jadert15​ @chibsytelford​ : @cind-in-real-life​ : @welovethesponge​

You moaned, grabbing your breast as Angel ate you out. You were kneeling over his face, one hand grabbing your breast, the other holding on to the headboard. He was lapping at you, spreading your lips with his fingers. He was two fingers deep as he flicked his tongue on your clit. 

“Oh my god,” you cried out, mouth opening, a silent scream escaping your lips. 

Attempting to move away from him, Angel locked one of your legs with one of his arms, enabling you to move. You gripped on the headboard tightly, your orgasm coursing through you as Angel continued his ministrations with his tongue and fingers. You grinded against his tongue, the sensation intensifying. Your legs were shaking. He finally let go of your leg, causing you to lay next to him. He hovered over you, giving you a slow sensual kiss as he grinded his cock against your pussy. You still felt your legs shaking from that orgasm. 

“First night at the new house and you just couldn’t wait to have my cock in you.” Angel feathered your neck with kisses and then your shoulders. Taking a nipple into his mouth, he sucked, and bit down, causing you to moan. “You look immaculate, baby.”

It’s been a month since you moved back to California. You and Angel finally got everything moved into your new home. Angel finished off his lease and you did as well. You two were officially homeowners. Even after a few long days of moving, Angel had you spread out on your bed, willing and waiting for him. 

“I can’t wait to come back from my run and come home to you.” Angel had a run to Vegas in a few days. It would be the first time you two would spend some time apart and Angel was nervous. He was anxious when it came to leaving you. There was a part of him that was nervous that you might not be there when he got back, just like his last run. He hated thinking in that way, but it was just the truth. “Always so wet for me querida.” He slipped in you, kissing you as he buried himself to a hilt. “You want me?”

You nodded your head. You tried to reply with some type of word, but all you could do was moan. You were so sensitive from your previous orgasms. Angel was just slipping in and out so easily, and every time he went in, he felt deeper. Grabbing on to Angel’s forearms, you dug your nails in, causing Angel to hiss.

“Fuck baby, it feels that good huh?” He rolled his hips, resting some of his weight on you. 

“So good.” You arched your back, meeting his thrust. “You always feel so good, you make me feel so full.”

Angel took your hands with his, intertwining them and placing them on either side of your head. He continued to fuck you in the same pace, rolling his hips from time to time so his pelvic bone rubbed on your clit. You could feel Angel’s hot breath against your lips. He kissed you, pulling your bottom lip.

“You’re driving me crazy.” You mewled as Angel continued with the same pace. He always wanted to make this last, to prolong your orgasm and he was so good at it.

“Yeah Querida? You drive me fucking crazy too.” Angel suckled on your neck, leaving marks as he always did. “I always just want to pound into you over and over again but I love making you wait for it. Love seeing how your face contorts in mild annoyance but is immediately replaced with pleasure.” He slid a hand between you two, using two fingers to roll your clit in between. You groaned out then, burying your head on your pillow. “Fuck baby, you’re so fucking wet. You’re gripping me so tight already. You want to cum?”

You nodded your head. Grabbing the hand that was on your clit, you motioned for him to go in circles. Angel did as you instructed and picked up his pace. He could let you cum, but he definitely wanted a few more out of you. Before long, you came, screaming out Angel’s name. It was his favorite sound in the world. Knowing he brought such pleasure to the love of his life, he was set. 

He turned you to the side. You felt the wetness between your thighs and how sensitive your pussy was right now. You honestly didn’t know if you could cum anymore. But Angel was still hard and you knew he wasn’t done.

“You ready for more?” He was right behind you, rubbing the tip of his cock against you, slapping it on your clit. You whine, rolling your hips, hoping he would just slip in. 

You nodded. 

Angel slipped back in causing both of you to groan. Wrapping his arms around you from behind, he pulled you flushed against him. Lifting one of your legs, he thrusted into you, the new position hitting differently. Your hand was gripping the sheets, just letting the sensation takeover you as you always did. Pushing back against him, you rested your head on his arm. 

“Feel good?” He has a hand on your hip, holding you down. You tilt your head back, Angel capturing your lips as you did.

“Mmhmm, always does.”

“That’s right baby, cause I’m the perfect fit for you.” He took one of your breasts in his hand, squeezing it, tweaking your nipples. The sensation shot down to your pussy. “I fucking love you amor, I know you love it when I talk to you while I make love to you. It drove me crazy knowing Jake was your first because you belonged to me, I was supposed to be your first.”

You remembered the time that Angel had come by the morning you and Jake had sex for the first time. You were doing laundry and Angel saw your blood stained sheets. He joked if it was your time of the month, chuckling as he ate some leftover pizza you had. But when you informed him of what transpired the night before, the fun and games Angel was gone. He was livid that you would let Jake in like that, how it was only your third date. It was hypocritical of him, he knew that, but fuck it. He didn’t speak to you for two months, avoiding you like the plague. He only spoke to you when he requested for you to come pick up EZ with him and his father.

“Doesn’t matter, you’re going to be my last.”

Angel groaned at your words, squeezing your breast that he still had in his hand. “Damn right baby, I’m going to be your last. No one else is going to make you feel this good.” He nibbled at your ear, his pace was tortuously slow, but you knew Angel liked to take his time. “You’re the love of my life Y/N, one day I’m going to marry you and you’ll have my last name just like we always planned. You want that baby?”

“Angel, fuck.” You gripped him tighter when he mentioned marriage. You’ve always wanted to marry Angel, especially when he would mention that stupid agreement with you. Before you thought it was him settling, but now, it seemed Angel had a plan all along. You knew of his insecurities and you knew why he decided to give that time limit and stipulations to the agreement. You’re just glad it worked out this way. “Yes, I do. I’ve always wanted to marry you.”

“Just me, huh baby? No one else.”

You shook your head. “No one else.”

“I love entering you bare, nothing in between us. You just feel so fucking warm. I can stay in you forever.” He moved your leg down, so that your legs were now together. Slightly sitting up, he thrusted into you, feeling tighter due to your new position. 

“Oh my god, Angel you’re so fucking deep.” You knew you were coming soon. Angel pounded into you, a hand resting on your hip as he continued.

“Yeah baby, I feel it. You cumming?” He felt that familiar feeling at the pit of his stomach as well.

Angel panted harder whenever he was getting ready to come, his thrust would become faster and unrelenting, chasing that euphoric feeling. 

“Fuck baby, I’m cumming.” He grunted out your name as you followed right after him. “Baby, fuck me, you have the best pussy, god you have me addicted.”

You laughed, which turned into a groan when Angel pulled out of you. He turned you so that he was in between your legs. He always watched as you pushed out his cum, some self satisfaction in his eyes.

“Can I eat you out again?”

“No,” you closed your legs, shaking your head. “Baby, I’m still fucking quivering. Give me a break.”

“Come on baby, it’ll feel so fucking good.” He pried your legs open, his eye on his prize.

“Angel you literally did that earlier and I came twice just from that.”

“Let’s make it three.”

“Angel!”

“Okay, okay.” Angel laughed. He stood up and went to the bathroom, grabbing a cloth to clean himself up then for you. 

He pressed the warm cloth against you and it felt so good.

“You always take care of me.”

“Of course baby, you’re my girl. I’ve taken care of you since we were thirteen.” He tossed the cloth in the hamper. 

You maneuvered so you could get under the covers and Angel slipped in beside you.

“I love our house.” You and Angel were facing one another, his arm resting on your side.

“I’m glad you do.” He caressed your cheek, your eyes trying to fight the sleep. “Go to sleep baby.”

Before long, you were knocked out. Angel turned to lay on his back, the feeling he’s been trying to fight off was seeping in. He felt irrational, but he was frightened that you were going to leave while he was gone. He remembered how well everything was going between you two before you decided to just up and leave. It was premeditated too. He wasn’t proud of his thoughts and he was sure in your relationship, but you weren’t the only one with insecurities. His father promised him that he would check on you, just to appease Angel’s thoughts. 

Sleep finally took over Angel, but he jolted awake when he didn’t feel you next to him. He immediately sat up and called for you.

“Yeah? I’m in the bathroom baby, I had to pee.” He heard the toilet flush and the water running. You came out of the bathroom and found Angel sitting on his side of the bed, just waiting for you. “You okay?”

“Yeah, baby, just had a bad dream. Come on, let’s go back to sleep.” He didn’t want to worry you. He knew you weren’t going to leave him now.

He was confident in that.

At least he was trying to be.

===============

The Vegas run was successful and they were on their way back. Angel called his father, who assured him that you were safe at the house and Ares was there happily accompanying you. He didn’t tell his pops why exactly he had him checking on you, but Felipe figured Angel just wanted to make sure you were safe.

You texted him constantly throughout the two days, but the last few hours, Angel hasn’t felt his phone vibrate and when they did stop, there was nothing from you. That dread came over again but he was trying his best to keep it at bay. Bishop had told them they could head home after the run, nothing to discuss as it was nice and smooth. He broke off from the group since his house was the closest to the freeway. Making his way down the street, he couldn’t wait to see you. He always missed you terribly and was teased for it, but he couldn’t help it. 

When he pulled up the driveway, he noticed your car wasn’t there, but you did park it inside at times. Making his way inside, he found Ares on the couch. The pup lifted his head, tail wagging. He looked at Angel and his head went back down.

“I see the old you is back.” It was always a hit or miss for Angel and Ares. Though the distance between Arizona and California definitely had the dog missing him, now, you were the apple of Ares’ eye again.

Seeing Ares made Angel feel at ease. You most likely were taking a nap. But he still had to check to make sure. He entered your bedroom and there was no sight of you. His chest felt heavy then, worry just coursing through his veins.

Why weren’t you home?

He walked over to your closet and released a sigh of relief seeing your clothing.

It was eight in the evening on a Friday night. You worked from home on Fridays, you should be here.

Quickly he took his phone out and still no messages from you. The last message you sent was at noon. He immediately clicked on your name to call you, he felt his temper slightly rising along with his anxiety.

After a few rings, you finally answered.

“Where the fuck are you?” Angel didn’t mean to sound so aggressive and demanding, but he had adrenaline running through his veins, worried that you left.

“Baby, we just got out of that play I told you Rafael wanted to watch. It’s on the calendar on the fridge remember?” You were a little taken back by Angel’s brashness. 

He walked over to the fridge and sure enough, play was written on the date. Well, it was Rafael time. 

“Fuck, baby, sorry. I was just worried when you weren’t here.” Angel felt terrible. You weren’t going to leave him, not anymore. He repeated that mantra over and over again. Maybe it would stick. 

“It’s okay baby, I’ll be home soon.”

“No it’s fine, enjoy the night with Rafael. I can come get you if you’ve drank too much.” He knew Rafael most likely picked you up.

“Hey Angel, it’s Rafael, can she stay the night?” Rafael knew Angel trusted him. He missed his best friend and he just wanted to see if her husband would let her stay over.

Angel was silent for a moment. He was already gone for two days and now you’re going to be gone. He pushed the thoughts away and knew that Rafael must have missed you as much as he did. He could let Rafael have you tonight.

“Sure man, not a problem. Take care of my girl.”

“Always. Thanks bro.”

Rafael passed the phone back to you.

“Babe, I can come home, I can always see Rafael another day.” You were worried. Angel seemed really worked up earlier, you were scared something occurred during the run. 

“No baby, you’re fine. Enjoy, I’ll see you tomorrow. You want me to come get you?”

“I would love that. See you. I love you.” 

Angel smiled. “I love you too.” He hung up and sat down beside Ares. “Guess it’s just you and me tonight buddy.” 

You sat on Rafael’s couch, sipping on the wine glass he handed to you, watching the newest Netflix RomCom. 

“How’s it been with Angel?” Rafael knew and saw how broken up Angel was. For a few weeks, Angel regularly came to your apartment hoping you had come back. Rafael felt for the guy and almost broke to tell him where you went, but he knew why you did what you did. He didn’t want you to feel ambushed. His loyalties lied with you after all.

“It’s great.” You blissfully smiled. “I should have listened to you.”

“Yes, you should have but this had to be a mistake you learned. Angel adores you, he would do everything to make you happy.” Rafael was glad you got your head off your ass. You were so stubborn at times that it infuriates Rafael, but he understood why you did what you did. Martyr bullshit he never agreed with, but understood. “I can’t believe he got you a fucking house.”

“Me neither,” you sighed dreamily. “I feel awful though.”

“The guilt is eating you up, I get it.”

“He holds me tighter, whenever I’m out of his sight for even a second, I can see how anxious he becomes, I can feel it.” You frowned. It started the week you got back to Santo Padre. At first you brushed it off, but you could tell Angel was anxious whenever you were out of his sight. 

===============

Angel walked into his apartment, exhausted from the day’s events. All he wanted to do was lay in bed with you, and put some Netflix show on the background while you two cuddled. He was surprised to not find Ares greet him by the door. If you were in the bedroom so was Ares. Sometimes he greeted him, but it was rare. 

Walking further in, he called for you and no answer. Ares' leash was hanging by the door and Angel felt the overwhelming pressure in his chest, the same one he had when you left the first time. Frantically, he took out his phone and just as he was about to dial, you walked in the front door with Ares leading the way. He had a new leash and immediately, Angel’s anxiousness went away.

“Baby, why didn’t you just wait for me? You know I don’t like it when you walk Ares so late at night?” Angel tried to mask his nerves, but you can tell he was anxious. He was breathing far too quickly, like he was in a panic state prior to your arrival.

“Angel, are you okay?”

“Yeah baby,” he smiled at you, walking over to you to give you a kiss. “Just please wait for me next time.”

“Angel, we literally just walked up and down the street, he just had to pee.” You frowned. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, come on, let’s go to bed. It’s been a long fucking day.”

===============

After that day, Angel always seemed to be watching you, more than he usually did. It was like if he even looked away from you, you would disappear and you felt helpless. You didn’t want him worrying whenever you were out of his sight. 

“I fucked up so bad.”

“Babe, there’s no need to be so harsh on yourself, just talk to Angel.” Rafael knew that your actions would have repercussions. Angel was so broken up, but so were you. Rafael hated hearing you cry, even if you did it to yourself, Rafael felt awful. You would tell yourself that it would get better, that eventually the pain in your chest would fade.

“Yeah, I will, I don’t want him thinking I would leave him after we get into an argument or if I’m just walking the dog. I thought I did the right thing because I was taking myself out of the equation, so he didn’t have to do the hard task of breaking up with me.” You laid your head on Rafael’s shoulder. “I know I was being irrational, I just didn’t think this was how bad Angel would be affected.”

“You walked away with no premise and seemingly everything was going well. Angel is just frightened that it’s going to happen again. Those months were hard on both of you and maybe a little reassurance would help him feel at ease. It’s gonna take time for him to be at ease, but you just have to be understanding of the situation.”

“I love him so much Rafael. Leaving him was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. He’s the love of my life.”

“I know babe, and he knows that too, but you know him, he’s had his insecurities. Just, communicate.”

“I will, I can’t leave him again. It would kill me.”

“Hell, I’ll kill you both. The emotional turmoil traumatized me from getting into a relationship.”

You both laughed.

“Whatever, you know you would jump into a relationship if it was Angel.”

“Damn right sister.”

===============

The next day, you just arrived home after Angel picked you up. You two grabbed some breakfast before making your way back to Santo Padre. As soon as you got home, you jumped back into bed with Ares following suit. He laid by your feet while Angel slipped in beside you.

“Do you have any plans today?” You wrapped your arms around Angel. 

“Besides fucking you? Nope.”

You laughed, playfully smacking him on his stomach. Angel groaned, letting out a laugh as well.

“Baby, we have time to make up for, you literally withheld from me for like six months.” Angel bit her ear, tangling their legs. 

“You’re so silly.” You kissed his chest. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“What’s up?” Angel felt his heart race. He told himself to settle down, but it was rare that something good comes out from that sentence. 

“I’ve been noticing how antsy you become when I’m not around and I want to talk about it.”

Angel sighed. He didn’t think you would notice but how could he even say that? Of course you would, he was a fool to think you wouldn’t notice. If he noticed everything about you, of course you would notice everything about him. 

“Baby, it’s nothing. It’s irrational.”

“No it’s not.” You frowned. You sat up, turning to face him. “Baby, talk to me.”

Angel sat up, leaning against the headboard. He offered you his hand, which you took. You sat on his lap, straddling him. He rested his hands on your thighs, running his palms up and down.

“I love you, you’re my world. When you left, shit broke me. Everything was so good, I’m scared that something is going to cause you to leave again and you won’t talk to me.” Angel’s eyes welled up, your heart clenching. “When you left, I was in denial, I even thought you were playing a prank. But you weren’t. You changed your number and my world fell apart. I was thinking you just needed time, which I reasoned it was fine. Then when you changed your number, it sunk in that you weren’t coming back, that you left me.”

“I couldn’t get a hold of you and I was going crazy. You didn’t want to talk to me, I could live with that, but I didn’t know if you were safe. That’s the hardest part. I didn’t know if you were alive, if you were doing okay.” Angel felt his tears fall then, remembering how helplessly he felt. How he sat down against his couch, night turning into day as he tried to figure out where you were. The thing that haunted him the most was if you were safe. As much as he wanted you back with him, his concern was your safety. “I was just worried about how much you hate being alone, how you might not know anyone where you were, if you were eating. Shit was eating me up. We’ve always taken care of one another.”

He gripped your hips. “I bought the house, thinking it was a good surprise for you for our six month anniversary. Then you just left over assumptions that could have been solved with you just talking to me. I understand why you left, but I’d rather not have kids if that means I can have you.” 

You listened to Angel as he let everything out, everything he was holding in.

“I can’t help but worry that you’re going to leave and I don’t know if I can take that.”

You wrapped your arms around Angel, burying your face at the crook of his neck. Angel mimicked your actions. You whispered against his neck how sorry you were. Ares watched you two, walking over and laying in between Angel’s legs.

Pulling away, you left quick pecks on Angel’s lips. 

“I don’t know how to make this better, but you will trust me again. I’ll prove to you I’m worth the time, the wait, I love you. You’re my world too. I made a mistake, but it’s never going to happen again. I will talk to you before I make any brash decisions.” You cupped his face, resting your forehead against his. “It’s you and me against the world.”

“Forever mi dulce,” Angel laid his head against your chest, you ran your fingers through his hair. “Please don’t leave me again.”

The desperation in his voice killed you, but you nodded.

“Never again baby, I’ll never leave you.” 

Angel pulled away and kissed you. 

You two were working on your relationship, but at least you were both on the same page. 

Ares nudged at your back, scratching it slightly.

“Ares, baby, your nails.” Your back arched as Angel laughed, lightening the mood.

“See, I told you they hurt.” Angel playfully tickles your sides causing you to shriek. Ares moved them, pawing at Angel causing him to hiss out as well. “We talked about this, they hurt Ares.”

“Whatever, you're still a baby.” 

[moonlit-imagines]

Back Again

Jerome Valeska x reader

warnings: gun n blood probably, he calls himself daddy once bc its jerome

a/n: hope you like!

prompt: @imaginesbymk: “hi lacey! could you write an imagine about jerome x reader (season 3)! once he’s back from the dead he is trying to get back together with y/n after he breaks up with them before his death in season 2? maybe he goes causes so much chaos just to win them back? thank you!”

“My dear, you have to let me go.” Jerome caressed your cheek with a gun and leaned in for a deep kiss. You grasped his arm and looked him in the eyes as he finally let go of your lips.

“But I just got you back.” You whined to him, making him let out a sigh. He tried not to look away from your face to show weakness, but it was no use.

“I know! I know, baby.” He groaned and paced the room. “Let me think.” Jerome scratched his head with the gun. “Okay, okay, here. Hows about if the plan goes alright tonight, you join us in our little act some other time?”

“Oh, yeah, sure. Sounds good!” You agreed. He ran up to you and kissed you passionately.

“Love you, doll.” He poked your nose. “But remember. Me and you? We’re done for now.” You nodded with a slight frown and he exited the room without a goodbye.

You tuned in to the show being broadcasted across Gotham, excited to watch Jerome’s takeover. But it didn’t exactly go the way you were hoping. He died on live TV.

“No!” You screamed and ran towards the television set, shaking it as if it could help. Guess you and Jerome really were over.

—————

You heard a knock at your apartment door and unlocked the deadbolt, but not the chain.

“Who is it?” You stuck your face into the crack in the door and the man spun around and with a crooked smile literally plastered on his face.

“Miss me, dear?” Jerome asked in a low voice. He leaned onto the door frame and got very, very close. “Why don’t you open the door up so we can have a little talk...face-to-face.” He chuckled.

“No.” You huffed. Jerome’s eyes widened and his head tilted.

“‘No?’ What do you mean, darling?” He gave you a frown through his bloody face. “It’s been so long!”

“You’re an asshole, Jerome! I thought you were dead!” You slammed the door and stomped away with tears in your eyes, but you heard a crash that sent you running back to the living room. Jerome stood in your apartment in front of your door that was now in pieces.

“Oh, y/n, but I was dead! And now I’m back. Not even death could keep us apart!” He took a look around your little apartment. “Wow, not much has changed since I died, huh?” He leat out a chilling laugh and paced closer to you, then grabbed both your hands and began to dance.

“How are you here?” You asked him as you leaned into his shoulder.

“Fate, my dear. That’s how.” He pulled back and caressed your face. “Now give daddy a kiss.”

“Jerome...” You said his real name, which snapped him out of his trance of love. “I can’t...I can’t make sense of it. I think you need to go.”

“What?!” He gasped.

“Leave, Jerome.” You pointed to the door, starting to cry. Jerome looked so disappointed for a split second, but he complied with a smile.

“You’ll see me soon.” He walked through the remains of your door and you fell to the floor with a sob. What had happened to the man you love?

After your pity-party, you decided to order delivery pizza and lay on the couch. The delivery man didn’t even ask what had happened. But that’s Gotham, I guess. When you switched on the TV, you went wide-eyed.

“Oh, god, no.” You muttered as you sat up and stared at the Gotham news station. What was being reported was an awful act of admiration. Jerome had managed to place bombs across Gotham, and one had already blown.

“The suspect, the presumed deceased Jerome Valeska, former Arkham Asylum inmate who was last seen at a charity gala, is now demanding to see ‘y/n l/n.’ Every ten minutes that he waits, he will detonate another bomb, he claims. The GCPD has deployed several bomb squads to prevent any further destruction.” Your jaw dropped at the sheer chaos of it all.

“Y/N L/N?” A man from outside your apartment asked. You turned your head and saw men enter the apartment. “Uh, sorry. Door wasn’t all there, so we let ourselves in.”

“Yeah, what’s up with the door?” The bigger man asked.

“You’re cops?” You asked.

“Detectives.” The other one answered. “I’m Detective Gordon, this is my partner Detective Bullock.”

“Jerome.” You laid back down.

“What was that?” Bullock scrunched his eyebrows together.

“Jerome broke my door down. He was here earlier. I’m guessing you’re here about him, yeah?” You grabbed another piece of pizza and lifted the box up. “Want a slice?”

“We’re good, thank you.” Gordon lifted his hand, politely declining. Bullock took a slice and Gordon glared at him.

“So, what do you want to know?”

[unchosens]

wonderful graphic thanks to @theboywhv, the best person alive

❝ there’s something inside you, it’s hard to explain. they’re talking about you, boy, but you’re still the same. ❞ Merlin’s beard, what is ( HARRY JAMES POTTER ) doing out at this hour? For a ( HALF-BLOOD ) who is ( 46 ) years old, ( HE ) really ought to know better. You know, I hear that they’re aligned with ( THE ORDER ), but that could be just a rumor. I do know that they're ( CISMALE ) and a ( GRYFFINDOR ) alum who works as a ( UNEMPLOYED ) though. They're very ( RESILIENT ) and ( SELFLESS ) but also quite ( SOLITARY ) and ( WRATHFUL ), which could be why they remind of ( TRUSTING YOUR GUT, LESSONS LEARNT THE HARD WAY, OLD SCARS AND FRESH WOUNDS, THE WEIGHT OF DUTY ). Some people say they’re the spitting image of ( NAVEEN ANDREWS ), but I’ve never heard of them. Word on the street is that they're ( THE REVENANT ) and their prophecy is ( PROPHECY #58. ), but only time will tell if that's true or not. 

triggers: death, parental death, ptsd, torture

“THE REVENANT is the only person who can vanquish the unspeakable enemy, for they possess power that their nemesis knows not. When all is said and done, only they and they alone can end this for good. But if they fall, the entire world will fall with them.”

POST WAR.

Life was difficult for Harry after the war. He couldn’t bear the idea of going back to Hogwarts. Not only did the memories of everyone who died there haunt him, but it felt pointless. He didn’t belong there anymore, sitting in class, trying to pretend everything was the same. Harry signed up with the Aurors instead, in the direct aftermath not seeing another path for himself than to continue what he had started in protecting others. The work didn’t exactly make him happy, but it was a fulfilling purpose, helping him get up in the morning every day.

[PTSD TW; TORTURE TW] The lightning scar had never been the worst of his wounds. The memories of the people who’d died (for him), the feeling of Voldemort in his head, the sounds of Hermione screaming under torture, Remus, Tonks, Fred and Colin dead in the Great Hall were all what truly lingered. He tried his best, but he couldn’t help but think if he’d been smarter, done things a better way, they’d still be alive. They could all still be alive. The things Harry had done himself – such as the torture of Amycus Carrow - haunted him less, but he wasn’t proud of it either. There were days he thought he’d never get out of his own head, once trapped there by Voldemort, now only by himself – days he thought something had gone wrong inside of him and he simply wasn’t built for anything but fighting a war. It was Ron and Hermione he leaned on most, who helped him recover from the very worst of his depression and PTSD, but they couldn’t make it go away, couldn’t fix it just by being at his side as they had done for so many of his problems. His symptoms were mainly expressed through recurring vivid nightmares, consistent low moods, continuing hyper-vigilance/alertness in his day-to-day activities and frequent self-isolation. Harry was never good at talking about the things that bothered him most, and it was no different now, he kept most of it inside and threw himself into his new purpose, being an Auror. [END TW]

He tried his best to keep functioning, to keep seeing his friends - Harry hated the thought of worrying them and he needed to be around them, too, for his own peace of mind. Teddy also meant the world to him and he was determined to be there for his godchild , the closest person he now had to family. Andromeda remained Teddy’s primary caregiver and was scarcely willing to be parted from her only remaining family for much more than an hour, but she and Harry got along surprisingly well and she soon became comfortable with letting Harry look after him for longer periods. She treated Harry not as a hero, but as the shell-shocked and traumatised young man that he was. He certainly wasn’t ready to be a parent to a young child, but Harry visited often, at least two or three afternoons a week, at his most presentable, determined to at least be a steady presence in Teddy’s life. Usually, he ended up sleeping the night when Andromeda forced him to stay over in the guest room. She could tell that left to his own devices, he wasn’t getting much rest.

Soon after the post-battle clean up, when Kingsley approached him about Auror training, Harry didn’t hesitate. It was what he had always planned on – the only thing he’d planned on. And it was a natural extension of the work he’d already been doing, helping with the trials and the remaining Death Eaters. For someone not expecting to survive, there was something healing about participating in the clean-up, in the rebuild. It wasn’t that he couldn’t see a different path – quidditch, teaching, all things he enjoyed, that he might have made a life out of. In another life. At the end of the day, that life wasn’t for him. It might have been restful – but Harry knew he had never been a restful person. He never would be. At least now it was on his terms, his choice. That’s not to say he managed to find a healthy balance – Harry threw himself into the work, caring little for his own wellbeing when the only thing he feared was losing momentum and having to think about the trauma of the war.

Becoming an Auror required a lengthy adjustment process. The war was over, yes, but it was time for politics to begin, and there, Harry was out of his depth. He had old scars, too, literally and figuratively, from dealing with the Ministry and a lot of distrust. He’d never been good at working with others, who weren’t Ron and Hermione, but luckily, both were still at his side. What was difficult was learning to accept help from other people too, and getting used to the slow and bureaucratic way Aurors had of solving problems. Harry couldn’t just throw himself headfirst into danger anymore, surviving on skill, luck and nerve – he had to listen, obey orders and co-operate. All of which he found difficult, used to operating on his own, or under the trusted instructions of Dumbledore – the only person he’d ever really had to answer to in the past. Now there was a whole department full of co-workers and bosses who he had to find a way to get along with, many of whom thought he scarcely had the right to be there.

Harry had never gotten along with the Ministry - had in fact in the past refused to co-operate with them. Now that the story was out and his defeat of Voldemort and quest to destroy the horcruxes was public knowledge, some resented that Harry, a seventeen year old boy had not confided in the Aurors - they believed they should have been entrusted with the mission, that Harry keeping the secret close to his chest had been reckless and selfish. It was mostly due to Kingsley’s influence that Harry was hired - he wanted someone he could trust within the department given the upheaval it had gone through during the war. Of the Aurors, some had gone on the run, some had been killed, some had been Imperiused and some had been collaborators who were now imprisoned themselves. As Gawain Robards attempted to put the cracks of the Department back together,  Harry found himself at odds with many of his senior co-workers, who believed that Harry saw himself as above the law - much as they believed his mentor Dumbledore had. 

In return, it was only Kingsley who Harry really trusted. He was suspicious of many of the Aurors he’d come across in the past - people like Dawlish, Proudfoot and Savage, who may not have been working for Voldemort, but had done plenty of damage regardless due to their unquestioning loyalty and fanaticism for the Ministry’s rule. Dawlish in particular was a problem, given that he had been Imperiused by the Death Eaters after their takeover of the Ministry, something he was particularly susceptible to after the Order had Confunded him several times. For this, he blamed Harry.  Their working relationship was tense to say the least, and it was a relief for Harry when he began to rise through the ranks and no longer had to answer to Dawlish. 

At first, though, Harry just wanted to work. Help in the trials, make things better, not get involved in politics. He remained fervently distrusting of the Ministry, though he believed Minister Shacklebolt was different. It was Hermione who’d always had the passion for causes in the abstract, things like S.P.E.W., that honestly, Harry had barely even feigned interest in. He’d step up every time if there was danger, if someone needed him – throw his life on the line without a second thought, fight back against a threat, an aggressor, a tyrant – but he was never really a revolutionary.

Instead, Harry had somehow naturally fallen into a role as a Dementor expert. For the first couple of years after the war, he was a dedicated – some might say obsessive – member of the Dementor Task Force. The task force concentrated on tracking down the Dementors that had been working for Voldemort and getting them away from the wizarding and muggle villages that they had gotten used to targeting in big swarms. It wasn’t precisely healthy - Harry had always been affected by them worse than most and especially after the war, when he was already in a dark place, constantly reliving all the worst memories and being dragged into low moods by the Dementors wasn’t good for him. Especially as he approached the job with the razor-like focus he had so often been consumed by in the past. But he pushed on anyway, arguing that it wasn’t as if other people had an easy time with them either. He’d do his share. His famously strong Patronus put him in a better position than most of his co-workers anyway, which is what got him originally appointed to the force.

Then, at the same time as Harry was working hard on driving the Dementors away from people they would harm, he learnt that the Ministry was still intent on using them in Azkaban as prison guards. As before, for Harry, it’s when it becomes personal that he takes an interest in politics, and then he is unstoppable. Nothing was more painful to him than the memory of Sirius’ twelve years in Azkaban without a trial, the lost years they could have had together, and the life stolen from his godfather, sucked dry by the Dementors. Even aside from that, the Dementors turned coat before and could do so again. Harry would rather trust people than the dark creatures, if he has to trust anyone outside his core group at all.

So he then found himself getting involved in politics after all, more than simply saying a few words here and there, or supporting Hermione in one of her reforms. His friends were glad of it, encouraging him to take a step back from active duty hunting down the Dementors, having been concerned as Harry experienced his darkest period since the end of the war. The good news was that the famous Golden Trio were still inseparable, and frankly, unstoppable when they had a cause. It was mostly Hermione leading the way, but Harry wasn’t going to sit back and participate in more of the same Ministry corruption either. He turned his focus on prison and trial reform relentlessly, steadily growing more comfortable in being a leading voice, and since then recognised as one of the more influential Aurors in the department, likely to be appointed to leadership in time.

[TORTURE TW] Yet Harry himself was far from perfect. While he wasn’t especially guilt-ridden over his needless and anger-fuelled torture of Carrow, or the other, more practical uses he’d made of the Imperius Curse during the war, he couldn’t in good conscience fail to recount the whole story, everything he had done, when telling Kingsley what had happened, right after the battle. Kingsley organised a pardon for war crimes, which he then promptly buried at the Ministry for political reasons, aware that people didn’t want to know this about their hero. His motivations were both to protect Harry from undergoing more scrutiny when he had been through so much already – and at the same time, ensure the new government wasn’t tarnished by this complication. [TORTURE TW]

Harry went along with this, hating the idea of undergoing more publicity, more attention, and following Kingsley’s lead to let it rest, not yet wary of what this could mean for continuing corruption in the Ministry.  His use of the Unforgivables remain a secret even now, something not known to many outside of Harry’s closest circle of Ginny, Ron, Hermione and some of the Order. When Harry thought of that time and what he did, he remembered the danger of his temper, of what he was capable of if he gave into anger, of where it could lead him. That, more than anything else, was what haunted him about what he’d done and was a warning he planned on passing on to his children when he considered them old enough – yet he often put it off, afraid of what they might come to think of him.  

Before that, he and Ginny rebuilt their relationship, finding their deep connection to still be alive and strong after the horrors of war. It was Ginny who got him without Harry having to speak, and it was Ginny who could make him laugh again. She understood the trauma in his past and had never changed the way she looked at him. They eventually got married and supported each other as they grew their careers, Ginny in professional Quidditch and Harry in working his way up the ranks of the Aurors until he became Head Auror. 

 As his family grew, Harry truly felt for the first time in his life that he was putting the past to rest, finally letting go of all his pain. It was James who came first - a child rejected by his birth family on account of his magic. The pain of being an outsider was something Harry knew well - his own childhood had very little love in it once he was sent to the Dursleys - and his heart instantly went out to the little boy. When some time later, another baby was left on his and Ginny’s doorstep, just as he had been left on a doorstep himself years ago, to some it might have seemed as if fate was guiding his life again. But Harry didn’t think about it like that. He still believed what Dumbledore had told him - that it was choices that mattered. Not ability, not blood, not birth, not fate. It had been Sirius Black, a man not related to him by anything but the ties of friendship and love that had given Harry his first experience of family, of a father. It seemed right that he could do the same for his two sons - more than right, it was what he wanted, more than anything. A third child, Lily, made their family complete. As a parent, he wanted to ensure his children grew up with everything he didn’t have, as well as give them the best of him, usually at his most patient and even-tempered around them, if also a little overprotective. 

Protecting his family was his highest priority, but his fame and position made it difficult. Harry tried to keep his kids from the spotlight as much as possible, but even he knew it was hopeless. The press had never stopped being interested in the Boy Who Lived, even once he was a man. For himself, he hated the publicity - personally, he could never quite get over the lies and the harassment he’d faced, the way he'd been treated as a spectacle to dissect all over the front page. But Harry had also seen firsthand what it was like when false information and dogma was fed through the news and so professionally, he knew it was crucial to speak to them – in his capacity as Head Auror only. His most important rule, which he made clear at every interview with his sternest expression and very coldest voice was that he never spoke about his family. All he ever wanted was for his children to have safe and happy lives, and he would have done anything to make that happen. It was why Harry struggled with Lily’s ambition to be an Auror. At once painfully proud and fiercely worried that she would find the cycle of violence and darkness too much to bear, it took time for him to accept that she was just as stubborn as he ever was. 

THE SECOND WAR.

The rise of the Wraiths made Harry furious, perhaps more than even he had ever been before (and he was always very good at anger). The sacrifices he had made, that the people who had fought and died had made, were not going to be made into nothing. He had been frustrated for some time by Orion Lestrange - it had been clear to Harry that the wizard had been planning some kind of attack, but within the law, there had been nothing he could do while Orion hid behind a cover of political freedom. While at many times in his career he had felt the old frustration with the Ministry and its skewed priorities and limitations, he was now truly disillusioned at the way it seemed to harm more than help, despite the contributions of Kingsley, Hermione and Harry himself. He now felt as though he had failed to make a difference, failed to prevent this war, a mistake that was proving catastrophic. 

Harry then reformed the Order not just to fight, but to win. And this time, he had no intention of doing it in secret, beyond the covertness necessary for survival. The Order itself would be secret, but Harry was going to speak out. This was their world now. They weren’t children, and they weren’t powerless.

He depended on his old circle to be his fellow leaders, Ron and Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville – there was no one else he trusted more, and together he had faith they could end this, for once and for all this time. 

He took the codename Hart, a reference to his stag Patronus - hart being a term for an adult red deer, was also chosen for Gryffindor red, but of course, he had to endure a lot of jokes mostly from Ron and the Weasley brothers about being the heart of the Order. All of which Harry dismissed with an eyeroll – he wasn’t special, certainly not more than any of them. They were going to win together. 

When Harry heard about the Prophecy, his determination to fight didn’t change, but he also felt a deep dread, an ever-increasing disconcertment at the way history seemed to be repeating itself. He wasn’t afraid of having to fight Voldemort again – he would do that prophecy be damned. He didn’t need a prophecy to tell him to do that. But Harry was afraid of the past repeating itself, of more people dying for him, of them making a sacrifice for someone who wasn’t worth it. How could he, how could one person, be worth all the death that lay in his past? The worst of it was the fear of who could be lost next – his children, the very best of his life; his wife, who was the greatest source of happiness he’d ever had; or his friends, who’d never backed down from his side, despite the risks they’d faced. 

The thing about prophecies was that Harry learnt them, as he learnt so many things, at Dumbledore’s knee. Hearing this one made him angry. The only one who could defeat an unspeakable enemy? Already, it implied that he would once more be the victor, the one to survive, the one who lives. What about his children? His wife? His best friends? There were no assurances for them and Harry had no intention of being the survivor this time, not if it meant losing them. The one thing he wanted was to end this war before his children had to be more involved than they already were. And that, to Harry, meant not listening to the prophecy. He already knew they didn’t have to be true – that it was Voldemort who had really marked Harry as his eventual killer. Dumbledore had told him that, and whatever complicated feelings he had about the man, who he at once loved, resented and couldn’t bear to hear criticised, Harry still had more faith in him than just about anyone else. If there needed to be a sacrifice this time, he’d be the one to do it.

The only problem was that if other people chose to believe the prophecy – and they did – he and his family would be a target. He knew in a way that it was his own fault. After all, he did defeat Voldemort. But Harry also knew it wasn’t because of any prophecy. As he once put it, he chose to walk into that arena with his head held high and do the job marked for him, by Voldemort, by Dumbledore – but not by fate. To the rest of the world, though, he had proven once before that he was the Chosen One. So the Potter family increased their protections, and went as close into hiding as they could go without actually going into hiding, all the while the spectres of James and Lily I and their fate hanging over him.     

Meanwhile, considering his determination to not believe this Prophecy, Harry started thinking about what might happen if he did die. It was certainly not his intention to die – he didn’t mean to sacrifice himself simply for the sake of it, but he’d fight and die if necessary, like anyone else. He had to think, then, about how that might mean leaving his children with nothing. Years ago he’d given the Marauder’s Map to Teddy, who he assumed had since passed it down to James, and perhaps Albus and Lily in turn (Harry didn’t need to know about that, it wasn’t supposed to be passed down from parent to child, but from mischief maker to mischief maker - though regardless of that, he knew what it was like to crave a connection to the father you’d never known and it belonged as much to the Lupins as to the Potters). 

Now, however, Harry gave his long-treasured Invisibility Cloak to Lily as a means of protection at Hogwarts from the student Wraiths and also as a tacit sign of his approval of her decision to become an Auror. But truthfully, it was also because of his uncertainty of whether he’d make it out alive this time. Perhaps, if the worst indeed came, it would give her comfort, as having something of his own father always had for him. He also, at this time, looked past his own desire to stay perfect in her eyes and told Lily about his own use of the Unforgivable Curses in his past, knowing that she was in many ways, just like him - and if Lily was going to choose the same path as him, face the same darkness, he wanted to warn her of the dangers of their shared temperament. He had passed on enough pain to Lily already and he did not want her to repeat his mistakes. At Hogwarts, Lily did need the Cloak the most; for James, Albus and Teddy, all adults, he focused on giving them all the time he could, just in case. He wanted them to know there was nothing in the world he loved as much. That it had all been worth it, to get to this part of his life, where he got to have them. 

DEATH AND RESURRECTION.

The one thing he wanted was to end this war before his children had to be more involved than they already were. But tragically, that hope ended the same night Harry’s life did. Lestrange, something of a sadist, had chosen the night on purpose and tormented Harry with the fact before he died. Harry gave up any hope of escape, preferring to buy time for his family.

Ginny took James and Albus to safety, to the Granger-Weasley safehouse, only to return with Ron and Hermione to help Harry. They were too late to find anything more than his body, bereft of his wand, which had been taken by the Wraiths as a trophy. 

He was buried at Godric’s Hollow, in the graveyard next to his parents’ plot. On their other side is a memorial stone Harry organised himself, honouring Sirius and Regulus Black, neither of whom left a body behind. Harry, alongside Andromeda, also oversaw the burials of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks at Godric’s Hollow. 

While the fact that he has been brought back from the dead as a living revenant seems to point to the prophecy’s accuracy, the old Harry would have pointed out that knowledge of the prophecy would have encouraged the Knights to bring him back as just that – a self-fulfilling prophecy once more. Now, without his memories, Harry is less inclined to regard the prophecy as false, not when everyone around him seems to credit it but it remains yet another thing Harry struggles to believe about himself. What chance does he have of defeating any enemy? He doesn’t even know who he is. He doesn’t know if he wants to know who he is, if he even wants to be alive. He might be a revenant, but he isn’t a hero. It’s not that he doesn’t want to help. If he knew where to start, he’d try. For all his confusion and grief over the heaven he’s lost, there’s no part of Harry capable of sitting back and doing nothing. But he’s lost. Whoever Harry Potter used to be, he’s no one’s Chosen One anymore. 

Harry Potter had been resting, at peace. He was torn away from that when he woke up in his grave, to be found by the Knights and told who he was. At first he felt nothing so much as confusion. All he could really remember was being safe, comfortable, warm; now it was eyes on him all the time, hushed whispers in his presence, frightened voices and angry discussions in which people threw around blame. Learning of his past made him more unnerved still – it was impossible to think of being this person others described, apparently the perfect hero … though Harry can’t help but see the trail of death that seems to follow this past self of his in all the stories. Touching everyone except him. 

Being around his old family and friends is, for the most part, uncomfortable. He doesn’t know how to act around any of them, he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to be. And they look at him with so much expectation, so much hope. It’s the worst around his children. The way they look at him could break him if he let it. Despite everything he doesn’t remember, Harry hates the feeling that he’s disappointing people. It hurts to let them down, when it seems as if they love him so very much. If only he could remember. But no matter how much he tries, he can’t find what he’s lost – what, he sometimes thinks, might no longer exist as anything other than someone else’s memory. 

And there are times he doesn’t want to try. Times all he feels is anger, an anger he tries not to show, but it’s there. He doesn’t belong here. He shouldn’t be here. And they brought him back. It was the first thing he had said when he was pulled out of the grave – “I’m not supposed to be here. Who are you? Why did you do this to me?” Since then, it’s never really stopped hurting. It got worse when he learnt about Neville Longbottom – Harry doesn’t remember the man, but knowing he should be alive and Harry should be dead is a lot to bear. From the stories, though, allowing other people to die for him is nothing new. The question is why other people keep going along with it. 

With the resurrection, Harry has been altered. Some things remain the same – he’s still brave and determined, still resilient and certainly still internalising his own feelings, trying to be strong, because it’s what people seem to expect of him, what they’re looking to him for. And he can’t help but try to be what others need instinctively, though truth be told, he’s no better than he ever was at comforting others, awkward and unpractised at both words and touches of love. The feeling of a wand in his hand is familiar, even if he doesn’t remember old spells, and he seems to have a way of rubbing the scar on his forehead when he’s thinking, or brushing flat the unruly hair on his head, that might well painfully remind his forgotten loved ones of the man they knew. But while he still feels those old instincts deep within, ultimately, he’s more consumed with himself and his own pain. It’s something like being a child again – egocentric and absorbed in his own feelings. 

His worst flaws, the ones that before his death, Harry had spent years working on and trying to master are instead amplified – his temper, impatience, independent streak, tendency to internalise and his disregard of his own life. For now, he’s cooperating, remaining hidden in the Order safehouse, but he’s never been easy to control, and while others are consumed with trying to figure out what to do about Harry, what’s right - even with the best of intentions, he’s never liked being told what to do or “handled” like a problem. As if he’s incapable. In fact, that tends to make him more defiant, more reckless, and without the bitterly learnt lessons in controlling those urges, Harry is every day more likely to do something he can’t take back. 

The worst part of it is that he doesn’t really know what he wants – to do anything and everything possible to get back his memories, regardless of danger? To fight alongside the people who are apparently his family? Or to leave, to take the offer of a peaceful life without any of them, to leave and never look back? Deep down, there’s another urge, to give up entirely, to stop fighting past the pain he feels in order to stay alive – it’d be easier to return to the heaven he’d lost. That much he can’t say out loud to anyone, sure of the pain it would cause to these people who won’t seem to stop fighting for him, whether he wants them to or not. 

[stoopsbookstore]

Abandoned -M-

Warning - Sexual Content, Some dumbass plays with an Ouija board, Knifeplay, a smidge of Bloodplay, Master Kink, small bit of cockwarming/Impregnation kink, Demon Possession, Porn with no plot, Violence, Exhibitionism/Voyuerism, literally just utterly shameless, lusty filth. Please don't read if uncomfortable with the above.

Synposis - A night that led the group to a haunted house and when a few members decided to play with some spirits, one latches onto Taeil, giving him the power and confidence to have fun with the girl of his dream in the most lustful way best.

Taeil had Y/N bent over the rusted sink, skin slapping together, hiding in a bathroom of an abandoned house Chenle suggested they explore. The rain pounded on the windows in tune with Taeil's hips as he clawed into the girl's flesh.

"Just let any of the guys walk in right now, see how good I'm fucking you," Taeil growled, "your shirt pulled under your nice tits, your shorts around one ankle, your bra and panties ripped to shreds."

Eyeing the torn undergarments on the floor, Taeil pulled Y/N to his chest, putting his fingers in her mouth as he forced her to look in the broken mirror. He had been acting weird since Haechan, Mark and Yuta opened an Ouija board, playing with it as Johnny protested.

"You idiots just took your hands off of it without saying goodbye! That's rule fucking one!"

"It's just a stupid game, nothing is coming to kill us, Johnny," Yuta folded up the board, placing it back in the cardboard box, "If something happens, we know the plan."

"Push Mark, trip Doyoung, run and try to find a photobooth, call the guys from Buzzfeed Unsolved," Haechan jumped as Taeil started to rub his forehead, "Yo, dude, you good?"

Taeil nodded, "yeah, just a headache. I'll be fine."

"Maybe Y/N can kiss it, make it feel better," Chenle made kissy noises towards the eldest member as Y/N brushed against Taeil's arm, a shiver falling down his spine.

"Don't listen to them, Il-ie, they're just being assholes," Y/N rubbed his arm, a sign of affection she did to everyone, a sign of affection Taeil was used to, but he found it so much more sensual this time and the blood in his face quickly went downwards, "they're going upstairs, come on. We shouldn't get left behind."

Taeil ripped a shard off the mirror, dragging it along the side of Y/N's neck, "You fucking love the danger, don't you? Knowing I hold your life in my hands makes you wet, huh?"

"Oh my God, yes," Y/N kept the tempo up as she stared at her distorted reflection, the pleasure on both of their faces prominent.

"What's my name?"

"Taeil! Oh m-"

Taeil slapped her ass, "that's not the one."

"Ma-ma-master!"

Keeping the glass shard in his hands, Taeil pulled out of Y/N and turned her around. He dropped to his knees, kissing her thighs while he dragged the shard from her ankles and up her leg, stopping at her hip.

"I could mark you right now, those fuckers won't ever think about touching you," Taeil looked up as Y/N threw her head back, "I should go fight Yuta right now. The way he wanted to hang on what's mine was disrespectful."

"Where is this coming from?" Y/N threaded her hands through Taeil's hair, as Taeil avoided the area she wanted him to kiss the most, "I kinda like it."

A chuckle came out of Taeil's lips as he begun eating Y/N out.

"This place is so huge," Yuta put his arm around Y/N's shoulder, "maybe we can sneak off and find a sex dungeon."

"Those only exist in Fifty Shades, you perv," Y/N pushed the boy away, falling into Taeil who pulled him up by his shirt and threw him against the wall, "Whoa! Taeil!"

"Calm down!" Yuta pushed Taeil's arm away as Y/N stayed as still as a stone.

"I don't think I should. She's my girl, why touch her, Nakamoto?" Taeil pulled Y/N, positioning her behind him as he punched Yuta, a bloody nose soon dripping.

Yuta threw his own punch, knocking Taeil to the ground. The two soon began wrestling as Y/N screamed for the others to help break up the fight. As the guys appeared, Taeil was on top of Yuta, landing blows to his face until he was pulled off by Johnny and Haechan. The area was tense, only broken by Taeil coming to his sense for a brief moment.

"Listen, dude. I'm sorry I don't know what came over me," Taeil genuinely apologized as he helped Yuta up off the floor.

Yuta was dazed, swaying as he tried to get his footing, "Nah, it's o-okay, it'll heal. Ca-can we find a be-bed or some pl-place for me to lay down?"

"I'll look for a first aid kit or some towels," Y/N ran off as Johnny, Haechan and Chenle helped Yuta down the stairs to a couch.

Y/N had found a bathroom, opening cabinets and drawers, only finding a small rat. Taeil had appeared behind her, a blank stare on his face. He put his hands on her hips, causing her to jump. When she tried to turn around, Taeil held her in place, trapping her against the sink. His hands dragged along her hips as he begun to push her shirt up.

"Just let me know if it becomes too much."

Y/N started to shake as Taeil continued eating her out, scratching down her legs as her moans echoed in the bathroom.

"I wish I had done this earlier," Taeil stood up as he picked Y/N up, pushing her into a wall, an evil smirk painted on his face, "Guess I just need a demon's confidence."

Y/N put her head on Taeil's shoulder as he pushed into her, a high-pitched moan escaping her lips as she looked up, noticing two blurred figures standing at the door. Y/N tried to get Taeil's attention by smacking his back. As her vision got cleared, she saw Johnny and Yuta, staring with mouths agaped.

"Finally!" Yuta cheered Taeil on as he watched the older male thrust at an inhumane space.

"Looks we have an audience now, darling," Taeil waved the glass shard at Johnny and Yuta, the two boys coming into the bathroom as they shut the door, "one more position change, darling, then you'll get your reward, okay?"

Y/N nodded as Taeil pulled out, leaving her empty, legs wobbling underneath. Taeil sat on the floor, patting his lap, Y/N inching her way over. Taeil reached for her hand, gently grabbed her wrist as she goes to sit on his lap cowgirl-style.

"No, turn around, let them have a look," Taeil signaled for the two younger boys to come closer and sit on the floor in front of them, "such a beautiful picture. They'll never get to touch, only watch."

Taeil slipped into Y/N, who let out a yelp as he dragged the glass shard along in her inner thigh, "Master, please let me cum."

"Soon, darling. We should've done this so much sooner," Taeil nicked Y/N's shoulder with the glass shard as he sucked thd blood that released from the wound, "you taste so good, your blood, your juices, your skin. Everything is so sweet."

Y/N begun to squirm in Taeil's arms, she hasn't been able to cum and she's not used to edging. Taeil's free hand came to rub her clit as his thrusts begun to go harder. She felt a rubber band snap and an unusual sensation befell her as Taeil came soon after.

"You're going to take every drop," Taeil kept thrusting, making sure Y/N doesn't waste a single speck of his cum, "beautiful girl, you've done well."

Y/N looked towards the two unexpected audience members, their faces covered in a liquid she assumed came from her.

"You two fuckers know she's mine, you can go," Taeil stayed in Y/N as he waved his hand again, "I see you two dumbasses flirting with her, I won't be gentle like I was this time."

Johnny and Yuta broke out of their trances, amazed at the sight in front of them, an exhausted Y/N, clothes all torn to bits and Taeil's dick inside of her with a puddle in front of the pair. The two scattered, Yuta hitting the door before Johnny opened it and leaving.

"Taeil, I'm not sure what came over you. But I would be lying if I said I wasn't extremely turned on with you fighting Yuta and keeping your cock in me," Y/N grabbed Taeil's arms, wrapping them around her as she snuggled into his arms.

"I'm not sure either, but I think I'm going to stay like this for awhile. Let's get into a more comfortable position," Taeil pulled out, picking Y/N up as he places her on a counter.

"I thought you said no more moving," Y/N whined, leaning on his shoulder as Taeil teased her, rubbing his cock up and down her folds before pushing in once again.

"I lied, sue me," a smirk appeared on Taeil's face as he rubbed her back, a much-welcomen soothing motion to otherwise harsh moment they just shared.

"Maybe I will, maybe we can have another round, but right now, just hold me," Y/N wrapped her tired arms around the boy.

While Taeil was holding Y/N, caressing her body like he has always wanted to do, he catches a glance of himself in the broken mirror. He noticed something comfortably strange that was like a blanket over his body.

His eyes weren't the same they were this morning, one was blacked out while the other was now red instead of his usual deep brown.

The demon started his takeover of Taeil and he wasn't about to stop it.

[dongiovannaswife]

I'm a big dumb baby who isn't brave enough to come off anon but I just wanna say I really admire your confidence. Self shipping is scary for me because I worry about being judged if anyone knew. But you and your husband are really cute together. I love reading the bits you give us about your daily lives. I love it when he does the blog takeover. Sometimes I think that my f/so wouldn't like me because I'm a little useless and get sick all the time, but reading about you and gio gives me confidenc

To start, you're not dumb; you're just baby and you're brave enough for sending this, because it actually means a lot. Trust me when I saw that I didn't start confident, I was in the same situation you mentioned, but at some point I just started screaming (well, not literally, but you get me) about my love for him. Soon enough people started to support me and although you shouldn't need approbation to feel confident with what you do/love, it actually made me get more confident.

I must say, then, that I love posting about it and I actually have a lot to say, but I worry people may get annoyed, and because I know that probably no one really came for my self ship. In a more positive side, I love the takeover as much as you do!

Honey, your f/o's love you more than you think; maybe they feel so much they don't even know how to say it out loud, but their love for you is there, present and strong. Wanna know something? They told me it hurts when you say you're useless; they think your worth is there, and they'll make anything for you to see it. They told me they want to take care of you even if you get sick more than twice at week, because they love you so soooo much they can't help it, but feel in heaven when they see you, hold you or comfort you.

[mingiswow]

Soulmate!au Series | Jooheon

Pairing: Jooheon x Reader

Summary: Everyone got their entire life to get ready for the day they were going to meet their soulmate, except for you, whose soul clock has been reset since you were born.

Words: +1,9k

Every morning you woke up with the sunlight in your eyes, the yellow-ish strings touching and warming your skin. Eyes slowly opening and, as soon as they focus, meeting the big frame on your wall.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” Lao Tzu

Those words soothed your soul and mind for a while, until you looked to the little red numbers on your skin. Where it was supposed to be marking the time until you meet your soulmate were a bunch of zeros.

Is your soulmate dead? Do you even have one? Did you already met them and haven’t noticed? 

The questions filled your mind every day since you can remember. And ashamed of your “condition”, you hid the soulmate mark under a large real watch.

A shiver ran down your spine as you felt the soft and fluffy tail of your cat touch your skin as feathery as the winter wind.

“‘Morning, lollipop” you played with his ears, caressing his soft fur and earning a loud and soothing purr. “Are you hungry?” he meowed and you laughed. “C’mon, moma will feed you” another shiver went up your spine as your warm feet touched the cold tiles of your room, and you cursed yourself for not having bought a carpet yet.

The grey cat followed you along to the kitchen, waiting for you to fill his bowl with the food so you could finally do something for yourself. You decided on your usual egg roll and black coffee, taking your time before falling on the rush of Seoul.

You entered the Starship building greeting your coworkers as well as some trainees and idols that were there and walking straight up to your office.

“Good morning people” you smiled to the people there, that greeted you back, your best friend hugging you.

“Good morning, Y/N” Sooyoung said happily, her smile wide in the thin lips of her. “Boss said he’ll be coming over for a meeting at 10 am”.

“I don’t know why you keep calling him boss” your bags thudded on your table. “He’ll be your husband in a few months” she shrugged. “And I still don’t know why you’re still my PA when you can literally be one of the bosses of our department”.

“I like working with you. Besides, if I went to boss things up, you’d go with me-”

“And this department needs you” your boss arrived and ruffled your hair, it was incredible how he loved to treat like a kid even though you were already 24. “How’s the brainstorm?” he asked you, sitting in your chair and the you noticed three of the seven Monsta X members. You waved at them happily, after so many years working there, you grew a soft spot for them.

You, your boss, Shownu, Kihyun, Changkyun and other people from your team spent the whole morning and good part of the afternoon discussing the concept and the visuals for their up and coming comeback, only stopping to eat the takeovers Sooyoung brought.

“I think that we should mix it up a little bit” Changkyun spoke, holding two of the concept boards. “I don’t know, maybe make it a little more urban and edgy rather than dark”.

“Like the one we did for our last Japanese comeback?” Kihyun asked and the maknae nodded. You analysed the boards in front of you as well as the lyrics and meanings. “Call Jooheon and Wonho, they helped produce the album” the boy nodded and sent a message in his phone.”

In a matter of minutes, the two known faces arrived and took their parts in the discussion, expressing their thoughts over the ideas.

Your eyes tried to concentrate on that creative mess in front of you but they unconsciously traveled over the face of the so well-known boy. You and Jooheon were born in the same day, the same hospital, with a difference of seconds, making him older than you - which was enough for him make fun of you and try to piss you off.

Ever since then, your parents became friends, consequently, you two too. Jooheon has been in the most importants parts of your life and you on his. When he became a trainee, when he took part in the survival show, the debut, every single bit of his life you were there. It was more than clichè to tell you’d fall for him, but can someone blame the heart? 

Yes, you can. And you did. Every single day of your existence.

Because while you were there, with your soulmate clock stopped, his was counting. He had someone. And it wasn’t you.

“Y/N? Y/N~ah!” you woke from your daydreams with Sooyoung shaking you angrily. “Are you okay? What do you think of this?” you nodded and smiled, just letting an  I think that’s great almost inaudible. “Then that’ll be!” the woman clapped her hands excitedly, being followed by the others in the room.

Everyone started to either dissipate from the room or talk to each other about the work to be done from then on. You just wanted to go home, put your feet in a nice and warm bucket of water and stuff your face with pasta and wine, when you felt a hand on your shoulder. You didn’t have to look to know to who that gripped belonged to.

“You. Me. My place. Movies and food.” he said excitedly pointing from you to him. His brown eyes shining galaxies that made you never wanted to stop looking at it. “Oh! And I won’t accept a no as an answer” you rolled your eyes and sighed. You could be 50, 60, and still would act like kids with each other. “Yah! C’mon, Y/N! I’ve finished everything for the comeback, I’m finally free and I want to spend some quality time with my bestie”.

“Kyunnie! I think Jooheon is talking to you” you called the youngster, earning a laugh from the boy in front of you. “Are you serious right now?” he nodded and nudged to your sides, basically cuddling you. He always did that when he wanted attention. “Ok. But I’ll go home first and take a shower and change” he nodded and kissed the tip of your nose, running away from somewhere you didn’t know. “He’s nuts”.

It was almost 8 pm when you parked your car in front of the condominium, giving it to the car keeper of the fancy place.

“Hey!” Jooheon greeted you with a hug, even before you rang the bell. “I saw you coming from the cameras” you giggled at him. You absolutely loved this silly and caring way he had. After all, that’s one of the reasons that made you fall for that man.

Stopping to analyze all the situation, the main reason that you fell for Jooheon is that you allowed yourself too. You never had anyone to wait for, never spend your days dreaming about how your soulmate would look or how they’d be. You had enough time to pay attention to the tiny details of the man you trusted and cared the most. The little things that made Jooheon himself. 

You only wished you could understand why you were different from everybody else and why your soulmate couldn’t be your true soulmate, the one you chose.

“What will we do tonight?” he asked pulling you to the couch perfectly placed in the center of the room.

“You were the one who invited me. You decide” his arms hugged your waist and pulled you to snuggle on his chest, which you gladly did, hugging him back and hearing his fast heartbeat. “Are you okay, Joo?” he only nodded, his hands caressing your hair like the rarest feather from a phoenix.

“Y/N…” his voice came as a whisper, loud enough only to travel slowly to your ears.

“Jooheon” 

“I have something to tell you” the chill that ran down your spine the day you saw him shirtless was nothing compared to the one you felt that moment. Every single pore of your body was awaken. Those simple words made your heart to beat at the same pace his own and, only then, you could tell it was because he was nervous. 

You nodded after a while, waiting for him to say something. The boy lifted his and your body, eyes meeting too close for comfort. His right hand pulled his left sleeve, revealing his soulmate clock, the remaining time almost ending. 

“Joo-” you could feel your heart traveling from your chest to your mouth then coming back. With a swift movement, he took his clock out. revealing another one underneath. Your eyes blinked quickly, trying to assimilate everything. “What’s… What the fuck, Lee Jooheon?” you screamed, louder than you wanted.

“The company gave me a fake clock the moment I entered so I could figure it out what was wrong with me and my soulmate” you listened carefully to the boy in front of you. “I never really cared about it, I didn't have time for it after all. But the fake clock was running and time getting tighter, so I had to figure it out what to do, especially with monbebes already knowing about my clock” he sighed, holding your hands on his. 

“That means you already met your soulmate?” the question was low, the pain in your heart being too much. His clock was reseted. The zeros adorning his arm.

“My clock always showed zeros. I can’t remember one day it had numbers on it. I didn’t know what was the problem until my mom realized. My clock never worked because I already knew my soulmate. I always did. Our clocks didn’t work because we met each other the moment we were born” you blinked a few times, too much information to handle. 

“So… Me and you are…” he nodded.

“I guess, but there’s only one way to know for sure” his body came closer than already was, chests close, knees brushing each other, foreheads touching and the hot breaths mixing it with each other. You closed your eyes and waited. His soft lips ever so gently touched yours, just enough to tickle the muscle and make your body shiver even more than it already was. You were the one who closed the space between your bodies, hand holding the back of his neck and pushing his head torwards yours.

As soon as your lips finally met, an eletric wave ran from your lips to your wrists. The numbers burning your skin, the forms changing to become each other's name. Your fingers gently touched the red-ish name imprinted in his skin. The tears threatening to scape your eyes as you felt your whole body warm up.

“I love you” the words came so easily out of his lips, like they were waiting on the tip of his tongue for so long to be spelled out. “I’m more than happy to know that you are my soulmate” his nose caressed yours, arms wrapping you up in a tight hug. “I love you so much, Y/N”.

“I love you too, Joo” it felt so good saying those words with the real meaning. “The only bad part is that we won’t have all that cute fluff shit of getting to know each other” you pouted.

“Says who?” he left your embrace and got on his feet, you following along. “Hi, I’m Lee Jooheon. Your soulmate” you laughed at his silliness. “Nice to meet you”.

“I’m Y/N. Nice to meet you too” you shooke his hand, but quickly enough he pulled to another kiss.

And another.

And another.

Shownu | Wonho | Minhyuk | Kihyun | Hyungwon | Jooheon | I.M

Requests are open

Masterlist

[kai-borg]

The Mangai Trio

A second chance can change everything

In a time once following the same path as its original, and so many before it, three heroes of legend fell. From corruption, betrayal, and death. 

But now, now their time has been redone. It has become far different than it once was. 

An accident happened. 

An unforeseen event that was not supposed to be.

One was sent back. They were reforged. Their body remade twice over, their mind broken yet still held together, and changed through their future experiences and knowledge of what their chosen path and its choices brought unto them.

Once cruel, malicious, a betrayer to those he should’ve held most dear all for a foolish belief that a position of higher standing, no matter the cost it would take to gain nor where it came from, and what accepting it would mean, would lead to a better life than what he already had.

Now he knows how wrong he was. His mistakes unforgettable, his consequences and failures permanently etched into his body twice over, and the memories of what he caused, where his path eventually lead, and the horrifying fate he received, forever in his nightmares.

Now all he wishes is to, while unable to fix his own self’s idiotic choices of past, ensure he does not lose his family, that which brought him his only true happiness in life, something he wished he had realized so much earlier, again.

And he has succeeded. But with his success came change. Not just for himself, and those he aimed to save, but also how time and its past events once proceeded.

A fate he’d no way of avoiding. For a second chance can change everything.

Here we have the famous trio. Different from what they once were due to times own changes.

Nidhiki, the one who fell through time.

Tuyet, the one who lived.

And Lhikan, the one who turned ‘renegade’. 

-===================-

So, first off some basic info for this AU/timeline thing. 

Basically in this world (i.e my story/Tekan’s timeline) everything basically went exactly the same as it did in the canon beyond the inclusion of Tek, who honestly could’ve just been your average background Ta-Matoran of little import, especially after they all lost their memories (I.e. his friendship with Takua) following Teridax’s temporary takeover... or at least it did at first.

The two differences, both so surprisingly small for how big the changes they caused became, but perhaps such makes sense when it is considered that both were related to the Vahi.

First was the time of the Vahi’s completion, or at least its near completion. In this world Vakama had nearly completed it early, early enough that upon Teridax’s ‘proper’ reveal through means of draining the power plant, he had a mask that, while technically wearable, was far from stable, much less controllable.

The second was Teridax’s choice in who, and what he was going to absorb. 

While, yes, he did of course take Nidhiki and Krekka first, in this world the risk of letting the Vahi, now completed to a point where he himself could easily finish it if need be, slip through his grasp was enough to tip the balance from, ‘letting the Metru escape', to instead, ‘taking them out early/at all’. Certainly a change in plan, but as we who have read the story know it would’ve honestly done little in preventing it.

In fact it would’ve most likely decreased its timeframe by an astronomical amount. Certainly, the Toa were useful in getting him what he wanted, but as was fairly obvious the Makuta themselves could’ve just as easily accomplished the tasks themselves.

There’s very little beyond a Toa that can slow a Makuta for an amount of time that actually counts, much less kill them, and honestly nothing of the sort was really utilized in protecting the various necessities of Teridax’s plan. 

Even the ‘impenetrable’ shield protecting its final, and most import ‘key’ was quite quickly shown to be a false label.

So by removing the Toa in their entirety, well, all that’s left is the OOMN and truthfully when compared with the Brotherhood, well, they’re at best just even, and at worst, rather,well, disadvantaged.

So, Teridax in this world choice to also go for the Toa following his meal of a crab-spider, and its one eyed friend. This would both removed future irritants, and gain him the Vahi, which he could easily finish himself. Especially seeing as how he’d soon absorb Vakama, the one who was making it, into himself.

Unfortunately for Teridax, said choice didn’t exactly go to plan. But hey, how could he have expected Vakama to be so desperate as to put on, and attempt to activate the unstable, highly powerful mask he’d yet to complete in attempt to stop him as he’d made a grab for the Toa.

Due to said instability of the legendary mask, upon activating it instead of simply stopping, or at least merely slowing Teridax’s shadow hand, Vakama instead literally broke time around not only his fellow Toa who were in range of the mask, but also around Teridax’s entire self. The uncontrolled temporal energy quickly latching onto, and arcing through Teridax’s entire being. Including the yet to be fully absorbed duo he’d grabbed earlier.

This ‘breakage’ of time managed to create a sort of... pause, or saved point in time. An area where no matter what actions were taken would somehow repeat itself throughout the timeline. 

A loop of sorts, but also one that saved the... imprint of the original selves of those affected. An imprint which would recombine with its ‘new’ versions, forcing them to remember how their original timeline went in comparison to whatever differences may have occurred in their new one up to that point.

It also further affected Teridax and those... ‘combined. Due to the energy that crawled through Teridax’s gaseous self being a fair bit more unstable.

Of the three two,the dark hunter duo, found themselves rocketed back in time as copies, and the third, the ‘dark lord’, found himself combined with his past self, but left with only foggy, fragmented remains of his ‘original’ self’s memories. Certainly not as great a fate as the other two, but it was more than enough to cause some... changes, some steps taken earlier, much earlier, in his plans.

In particular his choice of when he took over both the Brotherhood, and Metru-Nui. I.e. A whole lot earlier than he did in canon! The few memories he either had intact, or had managed to partially puzzle back together showing him more than enough to figure out how exactly he accomplished both before, or at least how he now could.

Due to this many other events found themselves... misplaced in the timeline. Such as certain events coming earlier, or perhaps not at all, or past deaths (or at least assumed ones) not happening when they should’ve due to the events needed to cause them not happening as they originally did.

-===================-

Nidhiki, the one who fell through time

Name: Nidhiki

Element: Air

Gender: Male

Species: mutated Toa

Kanohi: Powerless, mutated Volitak, fused to face

Weapon/s: Built in, extendable, claw daggers

Bio: Nidhiki re-entered his timeline with a crackling tear of temporal energ, pained and ragged screaming, and a fall from the apex of Metru Nui’s coliseum. 

The fatal impact itself barely lessened to a more agonizing than deadly outcome by his elementally given instincts, and the few remnants of his power he’d regained.

To say the when of his re-arrival was both the best, and worst place in time would be putting it lightly. For he’d landed just after his past-counterparts betrayal and exile, a wound, while still fresh for his siblings, far more easily mended than what it had become after being kept from healing so many times, and left to fester and grow for as long as it did in his own future, but also a time long since past the loss of one member of his ‘family’s’ trio.

Or at least it should’ve been.

To say that, after initial introductions had been completed, and some of the confusion cleared up (and certain dangers made clear), such as Lhikan’s surprised arrival to his suddenly traumatized, and clearly... ‘changed’ brother after having exiled him just a few days ago, and then ‘Dume’s’ (or should I say Teridax’s) arrival, enraged recognition of the just (re)appeared Toa, and then said Toa’s panicked attack on him, which ‘Dume’ quickly took advantage of to declare both he and Lhikan, as traitor’s of the state to the Vahki (having scheduled the forces creation much earlier), Nidhiki was surprised to learn Tuyet was somehow alive would be true. 

To say he was also beyond overjoyed, and soon after beyond terrified once he began recognizing certain events from time once long passed began, would also be.

Surprisingly enough Nidhiki quickly got Lhikan on his side. The Toa having only had past suspicions, ones gained from having Teridax impersonating his Turaga for a time far greater than before, confirmed by ‘Dume’s’ declaration.

Even more so he managed to, not only stop Tuyet before she made any attempts at murder, but also redeemed, or at least set on the path of redemption, her, well, very self. Managing to now have a sister who actually saw her siblings as family, or at least potential ones.

Following this the Trio quickly became the cities most infamous inhabitants. Becoming so-called ‘renegades’, outright betrayals of Toa-Kind, yet whose acts only worked to undermine ‘Dume’, and his so called righteous intentions.

Saving Matoran unjustly attacked by Vahki, destroying what could be considered fleets of the cities so called robotic defenders (more like enforcers of ‘Dume’s’ will as many considered them), and even more actions far too heroic for what were supposed to be such vile ‘evil-doers’ as Dume was trying to make them out to be.

Tuyet, the one who lived

Name: Tuyet

Element: Water

Gender: Female

Species: Toa

Kanohi: Mask of intangibility 

Weapon/s: Crook scythe

Bio: Tuyet, a Toa once turned murderer all in attempt to keep an artifact of such power it never should’ve been made, much less given to a single protector. For power always corrupts at least a little bit, and for one who’s mind is far from the ‘purest’, such an addictive rush (as power typically is) is very difficult to give up, whereas finding ways to justify its use is so much easier. 

And Tuyet, well, we’ve seen just how far she can push her reasoning for justification.

In this world though, Tuyet was given a fairly good reason to choose the more difficult path once her time’s Lhikan, and a Nidhiki of a different future, but still with the knowledge of what would soon come, confronted her before she was pushed to that level of justification by  the recent of appearance of some dark hunters with a certain prey in mind. She’d yet to hear of one of her brothers sudden reappearance, much less of the pairs subsequent shift to ‘villainy’, a definite stopper in her plan if she’d known earlier.

When Nidhiki and Lhikan confronted her she was just beginning to prepare for said plan as it was. So she hadn’t yet set up the preparations needed for any surprise visits, such as hiding the Nui Stone. So when the two burst into her home, they caught her red-handed. Somewhat literally at that going by the crystal’s hue.

Now, any other timeline this would’ve resulted in Tuyet attacking, and either winning the battle, or losing it, but in this one, well, while she did attack the two she was quick to willingly forfeit.

Now at this point Nidhiki had only just been, well, shot out of his temporal anomaly of a portal a few hours ago, and he was still littered with loose temporal energy. So when Tuyet activated the stone to drain the pairs powers, she got a full dosage of overcharged temporal energy channeled into her.

Enough to, while not send her through time, essentially temporarily connect her to her various selves potential timelines, and force her to witness what her fate could be.

Now while a number were, yes, shows of success, they for the most part ended in painful failure. One could certainly argue that now that she knew about how she failed she could easily work to prevent it, but it didn’t fully assure she would succeed in the first place. 

And, well, the chance she’d seen how the OOMN dealt with the main timeline Tuyet, and she’d rather not have taken the risk that she would end up being the Tuyet ‘copy’ they took.

Along with this the energy itself interfered with the Stone, it did have a limit on what it could contain and temporal energy, especially when unstable, was a powerful, powerful force.

While the stone did not outright shatter, it did... fracture when she attempted to deactivate it. It was like it was caught in a temporal anomaly of itself, both shattering, and yet not at the same time.

This ended up with her being peppered with temporaly infused shards of the Nui Stone, and being left with a greatly weakened, and structurally unsound artifact.

Following the Trio’s... fight (if you could really call it that) Tuyet was quick to throw her lot in with Nidhiki and Lhikan. The fact they both quickly made to help her following the Stone’s ‘glitch’ also helped affirm the choice as the best one in her mind.

Due to the temporal infusement of the shards of Nui Stone stuck inside of Tuyet they’re kept in a form of constant temporal instability. Permanently active, yet also infused with Tuyet’s very self, this in turn causes the odd effect of causing Tuyet to now be the main focus of their elemental energy draining, but only from the environment around her instead of other Toa as is natural for her kind.

Unfortunately she is still limited to only using her own element, thus leaving her rather stock full of useless energy of the various other elements. This is where the Stone comes into use, and why the OOMN have so far not tried to take it (beyond the fact that without she’d eventually go off in what would basically be a nuke’s equivalent of a self-feeding elemental detonation that would leave its effected area permanently wiped of all elemental energy, and the surrounding highly depleted).

Tuyet uses the stone to both filter out the various energies within herself, convert what she can, and store the rest for later use.

This also causes a number of areas on her body, namely those with visible shards in them to lightly glow with elemental energy.

At the same time that the shards absorb/filter energy they also grow, attempting to revert back to their original temporal state, but forced to remain still infused with Tuyet, and thus stuck in their current one. 

This is a very painful affliction for the Toa, but a useful one in a way at least

The infusement of time energy, and its various effects also managed to warp Tuyet’s body, stretching her into a more lanky, and thinner form. Similar to Nidhiki’s own in a way, just much less withered.

The Nui Stone

The Nui Stone, once an artifact capable of power more immense than any should have. Power that is most certainly more addictive than it is not.

As Tuyet herself can most certainly acclaim to.

Nowadays the Stone is, while weakened, still a force to be reckoned with. Just one far less versatile than it was before. 

At least if you don’t want it to shatter after a single use it is.

Lhikan, the one who turned ‘renegade’

Name: Lhikan

Element: Fire

Gender: Male

Species: Toa

Kanohi: Hau

Weapon/s: Fire greatswords

Bio: Lhikan is perhaps both the most confused, yet also happiest of the Trio. For now he has regained both his lost siblings. Even if he only remembers losing one, and even then a more recent, much less devastating loss than said brother knows it grew into.

Lhikan was quick to believe Nidhiki’s story, he’d had his suspicions of Dume for years now. He’d noticed he’d become... different, even if he couldn’t outright tell why. The fact it was his own brother, screaming in pain, mutated, and clearly aged and traumatized by events he had no knowledge of also helped.

The sudden announcement of an additional, robotic force of defenders, and a number of recent deaths, or at least near ones for his various other teammates, and some just outright disappearing, all while on missions given to them by Dume had left him even further wary.

So when Dume suddenly became enraged, and seemingly recognized Nidhiki immediately despite his mutations after arriving on the scene to see what was happening, followed by Nidhiki’s own horrified apparent recognition of him, and panicked attack Lhikan was quick to figure out his suspicions had been correct.

And only had them further confirmed when Dume labeled him an accomplice despite his own reaction to Nidhiki’s attempted attack was to stop him.

He was also quick to agree with his brother’s plan of saving his sister, though he did at first have some doubts that such was true, having seen no real proof as to her having such a dark side as of yet. At least he was until they caught her holding the stone, and would’ve most likely been killed outright if it wasn’t for Nidhiki’s remnant sparks of temporal energy.

Following this, and Dume’s soon following announcement of the Trio’s newest status as the most terrible of ne'er-do-wells, Lhikan himself decided to get some upgrades to his form to make his new vigilante lifestyle a touch easier.

From a more taller, more lanky build, similar to his two sibling’s own, just now a prposeful choice, making him far more aerodynamic, and a fair bit more suited for parkour, a useful skill when running from Vahki, and a modification to his ‘Fire board’. A modification which now allowed him to strap the two greatswords to his arms and have them also be able to act as wings instead of only a flying surfboard, a much, much more maneuverable choice, and what eventually lead to his ‘nickname’ amongst the Matoran as the ‘Darkened Angel’.

Despite how modified his form is, it’s still difficult to gain access to the necessary pieces, and people needed to keep up repairs due to his criminal status.

And while Tuyet is partially temporally anomalified, keeping her form from aging in a manner any more detrimental than just the basic aging, and Nidhiki was physically set back to quite a younger age despite his remaining mutations which would’ve come about far past it, Lhikan has none of these benefits, and it is clearly shown in the visible decrepitness of his form.

From a back hunched with age and damage, to arm dulled and rusted from battle despite his own attempts to keep it as clean as possible.

Lhikan is just happy to have his family back, even despite the rather... disheartening tales of what they would’ve done, and what his Nidhiki would be doing, had future!Nidhiki not appeared.

Lhikan’s ‘wing’ positions:

Folded/speed position

Extended/Agility position

And now to wait until someone notices it.

[forthelulzy]

Heaven By Violence: Chapter 5

How can a tree stand tall If a rain won’t fall To wash it’s branches down? And how can the heart survive Can it stay alive If it’s love’s denied for long? — “Lift the Wings”, Bill Whelan (Riverdance)

Irene returns to Haven utterly exhausted. Julien is alive, but it is somehow worse to be so close and unable to talk than it was when she had no idea where he was. Envy’s attempted hostile takeover leaves her with a pounding in her temples even days later, and she’s still trying to wrap her head around what that boy… spirit… thing… said. The templars had no idea what she was talking about, either.

Then she arrives back in the mountain village and has to endure a war meeting when all she wants to do is crawl into her bed and sleep.

Or drink… but no. She won’t. Sleep it is.

“You did not see what I saw, Commander,” she snaps. “The templars are too far gone. I never wanted to go to them in the first place, but now that I have, they’d damn well better help me close that Breach.” Her voice is straining, but she doesn’t care.

“Cassandra wrote that you found your brother,” Josephine says delicately.

She knows what the Ambassador means, though. They always think she’s stupid. “Yes. He is included in the conscription. He is too injured to help, but I will not be accused of favoritism. After the Breach is dealt with, I would support granting the templars more freedoms. For now, they are on thin ice.”

Cullen grits his teeth but doesn’t argue further. Leliana says, “We have a few dozen veterans on their way ahead of the rest. They should arrive—”

And then Cole is there on the war table, crouched just so that he doesn’t step on any of the flags. He picks one up, ignoring Josephine’s scream and Cullen’s shout of alarm, and says, “Soon. Templars don’t like to be late.”

Cassandra and Cullen draw their swords, and Leliana has a dagger out faster than a blink. Irene waves them down, but no one moves. “Cole,” she says, “what are you doing—”

“You know this creature?” Cassandra snarls, stepping forward to put her sword between Irene and Cole. He tilts his head at her, something in those watery blue eyes that makes Irene grab Cassandra’s wrist and squeeze.

The sword drops with a clatter. Cassandra yanks her wrist back, but Irene holds tight and says, “Stop it. He wants to help.” She lets go, turns to Cole and says, “Come on, off the war table.” She needs to control this situation before someone gets hurt — and it won’t be Cole. She has seen him fight, after all.

Cullen looks between her and Cassandra. His swordpoint drops a few inches.

Cole slips off the table, murmuring something about ‘not being a war’. He is literal-minded, and she is reminded of herself when she was young.

“I, for one, am interested in why he came,” Leliana says, folding her hands behind her back. Her dagger is undoubtedly still palmed there.

“You,” he says to Irene. “You help people. I saw. I want to help too. Help you help them.” He ducks his head and peers at her from under his lashes and the brim of his ridiculous hat. “I won’t get in the way. I won’t need any of your supplies. I just want to help.”

His voice sounds almost plaintive on the last sentence, and if she had not already decided, that does. “Cullen. Cassandra. He saved my life in Therinfal. I’m not turning him away. Or killing him.”

“Then…?” Cole says, blinking. Blue eyes. Her husband had blue eyes. Not nearly so big and watery, though.

She takes a deep breath, wills her chest to stop aching. “You can stay and help, Cole.”

He tilts his head at her again. “Tiny. No trouble. No notice taken unless you want them to.”

Cullen finally sheathes his sword with a frustrated sigh. “Fine, but you’re not honestly suggesting he can run around doing as he pleases?”

Irene turns to him and scowls. “He is currently in higher standing than the templars. He has not once tried to kill me.”

“That’s not—”

“Or blithely ignored others trying to kill me.” She is being petty, but she also doesn’t care. She needs to sleep, but undoubtedly something else will come up before she can. It always does.

“I don’t think anyone is suggesting he be left alone,” Josephine says, looking thoughtful — and neatly skipping over Irene’s point. “Perhaps we could— oh! Where did he go?”

Cole is gone again, the map marker he picked up right back where it is supposed to be. Irene sighs, rubs her temples. “He… does that. But he isn’t the main concern right now. If the templars are almost here, we need to prepare.” She barely waits for them to agree before turning on her heel and leaving the war room.

Colm has rubbed off on her, she thinks. Her husband was kindhearted, sometimes to the point of folly. A few years ago she would have killed Cole on sight, but now she’s a different person. She just hopes she’s different enough, and that her faith is justified.

“Oh, I see it now. It was hidden before. Hiding or running. It can never be both. You didn’t kill him, but you did kill him. Bare fists, bloody face. Eyes like yours.”

Her breath catches in her lungs as she freezes in the hall. Cole is half-hidden in the shadow of a pillar, but his voice is loud in the quiet Chantry, and the hushed conversation between Mother Giselle and Vivienne stops as both women look over curiously. Irene’s stomach feels heavy, but her heart is hammering away at her chest. There it is. You never truly thought you could run far enough to escape this, did you?

Footfalls behind her, but she won’t run, not again.

“Herald? What is he talking about?” Cullen. Irene cannot appreciate the irony of him taking Cole’s word for it now, after drawing a blade on him earlier.

She turns slowly, finds them all behind her. She knows her expression isn’t helping matters, but she never could control her face. She’s so tired, so tired of everything.

“Irene,” Cassandra says, like she’s just dredged up a memory long buried. “That day, you said you thought you must have done something, and only realized you hadn’t when you saw the Breach. Tell me. What made you think you could have destroyed the Conclave?”

Oh. Had she said that? Everything between waking up and waking up again is a terrifying blur. She gets that way, when she’s angry. Rage would have a fine time with her. “I—”

Cole starts, eyes going wide. “Oh no. I said the wrong thing. They’ll hurt you. I won’t let them!” He reaches for his daggers, but Irene steps between him and the advisors, hands out to placate. She doesn’t have the energy for anger.

“They’re not going to hurt me, Cole. Why don’t you go find someone else to help? I’ll be fine.”

Cole stills, staring at her. “You have the mark but you don’t need to lead. Locked up, trotted out only to seal Rifts then shoved back in. Or they could find another way. Too risky. You’re lying.”

“I… yes, Cole.” Shit. She should have thought about bringing home someone who could read minds. “I am. But sometimes hurt is inevitable, necessary. Sometimes hurt is justice.”

“Justice…? You’re not that person anymore. You never were.”

She can’t think under so much pressure, but maybe that’s for the best. “Please go, Cole. Whatever will be, will be.” Her voice comes out strangled, quoting one of Julien’s favorite lines to soothe her when she got angry. If only he were here, but he’s in the infirmary. He woke up once, but was delirious from pain and too many healing potions. What will happen to him, if she can’t explain this? If the others bring down the judgment that should have been brought to bear years ago?

Cole nods jerkily and disappears again. She can only hope he’s gone farther than a few steps this time.

“Now. Herald. What’s going on?” Cassandra asks, voice hard. It pains her, to see the woman she had formed a tentative alliance with so hostile, but it is no less than she deserves.

Irene glances to the side of the hall, where Vivienne and Mother Giselle are both looking on. The First Enchanter is fanning herself while she leans against the wall, face unreadable, while Giselle has stepped forward a few paces, showing concern. Concern for Irene? It is a strange thing, to know another has so much faith in her.

Either way, she doesn’t want an audience for this. Let them gossip, but it will be difficult enough to explain to just four people. “I’ll tell you everything. Just. Not here.”

Josephine turns back toward the war room, but Irene remembers her first time approaching that room, hearing Chancellor Roderick’s raised voice from within. She knows where this must happen. She strides toward the door leading to the dungeons before she loses her nerve. It is where she has always belonged, after all, and there won’t be a walk of shame if they condemn her. When they condemn her.

She leads them down the stairs, startles the single guard on duty. Knight-Captain Denam is supposed to arrive with the main force of templars, behind the veterans who will help seal the Breach, so the cells are empty. The citizens who tried to kill her before she was the Herald were released two days ago, according to Cassandra. Still, she marches all the way to the last cell. The door isn’t locked.

“Herald, what are you—” Cullen starts, but she cuts him off because if he asks it, she will think about it.

“I am Irene Stellana Trevelyan,” she begins, standing in the middle of the chilly cell with her hands clasped in front of her. Her breathing is shaky, but she has to do this. “Eight years ago I was a Templar recruit in Ostwick when I murdered one of my charges, Maxwell. Maxwell Trevelyan. My— my eldest brother.” She nearly chokes on her words. The advisors are staring at her, waiting for her to continue. Cullen shifts his weight, opens his mouth, closes it again. “I started drinking young. I couldn’t handle— I can’t handle it. Any of it.” She swallows, forces her eyes to remain open though her vision is blurring at the edges. “We were celebrating our graduation to full templars, and the other recruits had a flask of whiskey. I drank the whole thing. I knew it was dangerous.” Deep breath. Just the facts, don’t shift the blame.

“I woke up later, on the ground, face to face with my brother’s corpse. I had beaten him to death. Blood, everywhere. I…” She shakes her head, presses her fist to her mouth so she won’t get sick. Cullen no longer looks like he wants to say anything. Josephine’s lovely brown skin is green-tinged in the dim light of the dungeon. “I couldn’t remember a thing, but I knew I had killed him. My knuckles were skinned down to the bone.” She flexes her fingers, showing them the scars that will be there the rest of her life.

There’s still more to tell, and she barrels on. “I turned myself in to the Knight-Commander. I thought I would be expelled at the least, imprisoned, maybe even executed. Maxwell had been heir to the Trevelyan name once, before his magic showed. But my father intervened on my behalf. Said I was too talented to waste on a mage. The Knight-Commander was a good man, but my father… He threatened to withdraw his financial support, even get the Grand Cleric to demote him. Of course he bowed. I was sent back to watching mages the next day. The day after that, before I would get my first draught of lyrium, I ran.”

“Why… why would you kill him? Do you know?” Leliana is floundering, caught off guard as she rarely is. Irene is not surprised the spymaster didn’t find this out — Bann Trevelyan is well-practiced in cleaning up.

“I don’t know. The other recruits were terrified, refused to talk to me about it. Then they all were silenced, one way or another. Some with money, a few more with blackmail. And the remainder were sent out to hunt apostates and never came back.” Yet more lives, ruined by her. She only found this out years later, when others made inquiries on her behalf. “I had no plan, when I fled the city. I just wanted out. Away from my family. I had known he cared little for Maxwell, but…” She shakes her head, trying to banish the memory that comes to her mind, as clear as it was all those years ago: Maxwell’s face, inches from her own, a bloody pulp except for his eyes. Brown like hers, like their father’s, staring into her forever, accusing where the Bann wasn’t.

There are many reasons why she doesn’t sleep until she has to.

“I can’t… I’m sorry, everyone. For acting like someone I wasn’t. For giving you false hope. For creating this mess and leaving you all to try lessening the damage.” She’s done. She takes a deep steadying breath, and holds it.

To her dull surprise, Cullen steps forward. “Irene. You didn’t know what you were doing.” A beat later and he rubs the back of his neck, evidently nervous to be so close to a murderer. But he doesn’t take the words back, or shy away. “Maker’s breath, you were drunk.”

“That’s not an excuse,” she says quietly.

“Not an… Irene. You had no idea drinking that whiskey would affect you so much. You have torn yourself apart over this.” There is something gentle and understanding in his eyes when he says that. “I’m not saying you were wrong to feel guilty. But I will not condemn you for something that was not your fault.” He glances back at the women, but she can’t bear to. She fixates on Cullen, fascinated by his defense. She doesn’t believe him, but she could.

“Josie?” Leliana says.

The Ambassador taps her quill against her chin before scribbling something down. “It could be difficult to mitigate the scandal if this gets out. I could manage it, however. We may even play it to our advantage — that the mark proves Andraste has forgiven you.” A pause. “As for what I think, it would have helped to know this from the beginning. But this is by no means a crippling blow to the Inquisition.”

Josephine is being kind, she thinks. But, Irene is no diplomat. A tiny swell of hope rises in her chest — not that she will be wholly absolved, but that the Inquisition may avoid the fallout of her mistakes.

“The Maker chose you,” Cassandra says abruptly. “I do not like the dishonesty, but even if He had not…” She sighs. “Even if He had not saved you, I think you have suffered enough.” Her posture is stiff, as if she does not like what she is saying. But Cassandra is not the kind to lie about something like this.

“Then we are in agreement,” says Leliana lightly. “Irene, I understand why you didn’t want us to know, but now that we do… Was there anything else?”

Irene huffs a disbelieving laugh, and Cullen jumps. “No. Tevinter husband, blackouts, Maxwell’s murder. That’s it from me.”

“Very well,” Cullen says. “We still have to close the Breach. Let’s worry about our immediate survival for the moment. Get some rest, Irene. If we fail at this…”

“We won’t,” she says, reeling. It’s uplifting, their faith in her. Even if she still thinks it foolish, she will bask in their kindness for as long as she can.

***

The next two days are spent in a flurry of activity, before the work runs out and they return to the dreadful waiting. A storm in the mountains just east of Haven delays the veterans, Leliana tells them. The Spymaster’s plan to stop the rumors before they start is mostly successful, but there is still a whisper that some issue has divided the Inquisition’s leaders. Which isn’t strictly true, but it is the best Irene could hope for.

Cole makes himself scarce, but there are signs he is still around: she finds a sprig of prophet’s laurel in a vase by Julien’s bedside, and the infirmary healers have no idea where it came from. She doesn’t know where he could have gotten the rare herb, either.

Her brother is healing steadily. The surgeon claims he will make a full recovery, even be able to fight again, though it will take time. They had to make sure he didn’t have any red lyrium in his body, and an infection took hold early on, which is why it’s taking so long. Now, with him laying there, unnaturally pale, she just wants to hear his voice again. She tucks his hair — a darker blonde than hers — behind his ears and studies his face. Same strong jawline; it looks better on him, even if it is half-hidden behind a scruffy beard. His nose was healed properly after it was broken, unlike hers. Broad of body, with a little paunch around the middle, visible even under the bandages. She’s a little surprised it has remained, given that he isn’t eating any food. Just thin broth.

Whoever his mother was, she also gave him noticeably darker skin than the rest of the family, and dark green eyes. She was envious of those eyes, when she was younger. A far step up from her own muddy brown. Hers are the same as her father’s, and Maxwell’s.

She can’t sit by his bedside forever; she tells herself it’s because she’s restless, not because she’s afraid of ruining everything she touches. She lurches up with a groan and stalks off toward the gates, grinding her jaw when the healers’ whispers follow her.

The Breach is still in the sky, and while they may be close to closing it, it won’t matter if they can’t find this Elder One Cole and Envy spoke of. Cole also mentioned Empress Celene of Orlais; she may be their best lead. Envy boasted of a demon army, too, but Irene isn’t sure whether that was posturing or a promise. Probably both. Either way, ‘army of demons’ is yet another phrase she would like to never hear again.

She steps out of Haven, nodding to the gate guards when they salute. Maker, but she will never get used to that.

Commander Cullen is taking a break from drills to oversee the construction of… something. Siege equipment? Just the base is done, but people are building more parts nearby. She comes closer, standing next to him while the workers hammer away at a long arm-like piece of wood. “What’s all this?” she says.

Cullen flinches. “Maker’s breath! I apologize, Irene, I did not see you there.” She tries to smile at him — he must have been really distracted, not to have heard her lumbering up — and though she knows it comes out as a grimace at best, he continues, “Haven is no fortress, but we need some kind of defense. These are to be trebuchets. I pray we never have to use them.” He won’t look at her for more than a second at a time. Well, it’s not as if she expected everything to be perfect after her confession.

“Me too,” she says. He’s nervous, with her there, so she shifts her weight and turns away. “I shouldn’t be distracting you.”

“Ah, you— you aren’t distracting me,” Cullen says, voice tinged with a note of panic, and she stops. When she looks at him he’s rubbing the back of his neck, a faint blush creeping up to his ears. “I would welcome your company. Unless you have other plans?”

Irene remembers why she left Haven’s walls in the first place. “I was going to visit the overlook again,” she murmurs. His blush is throwing her, and she considers that the nervousness may be born of something other than fear. Cullen is almost unfairly handsome. She doesn’t think he’s truly interested in her — she knows she’s not a good-looking woman, and to have this man be falling for her personality is laughable — and in any case, her heart still aches. Someday, she will move on, but she can’t imagine it now.

“Oh.” His hand drops to hang listlessly at his side. “I… apologize, Herald.” He wants to say something else, she can tell, but he decides against it.

‘Oh’, indeed. “There is nothing to apologize for, Commander. Good luck with the defenses — may we never use them.” Irene moves on, the weight on her chest that’s been suffocating her for weeks pressing that much more. She feels him following her with his eyes, but she keeps going.

The land’s been cleared halfway around the lake, in preparation for the templars to come, but the overlook is safe, and her little shrine remains. There’s something lying in the snow in front of it, something that wasn’t there before. She stops a few paces away, wary. She hadn’t thought about it, but a thin layer of snow fell since she was here last. There are footprints leading up, fresh ones, and the rock’s edges has been dusted off. A cut flower — embrium — sticks up out of the pile of snow.

Who would have been here? Who would violate her husband’s empty grave? The white-hot rage that steals her breath and blurs her vision is familiar, at least. It is better than feeling lost, as she has mostly felt since waking up in the Chantry months ago.

She marches over, intent on ripping out the embrium, and throwing whatever is lying in front over the edge to shatter on the lake ice below.

It’s… a staff. It’s Colm’s staff. Still in two pieces, still charred from the explosion, but instantly recognizable from the iron crescent on top. Someone retrieved it. Someone went up to the Temple and found it, brought it back down to put at the shrine she thought only she — and Cullen — knew about.

She falls to her knees, now out of breath for a different reason altogether. She won’t cry. She won’t.

But why—?

Her hands ghost over the splintered wood, and she sobs.

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Luflous

Summary: The same events as in ‘Soulful’ but from Stretch’s POV

Notes: @crysta-cub was very interested in seeing all of this from Stretch’s pov, and, yeah, I thought maybe we needed to see that. His perspective on it is very different from Edge’s, so let’s have it. This turned out longer than the original because as we all know, Stretch has a lot of words to say. Whether they all have meaning in another argument. 

Read Soulful first: 

keelywolfe.tumblr.com/post/180237746448/fic-soulful

Read more from this series in the Masterlist:  keelywolfe.tumblr.com/post/178224395713/masterlist-by-any-other-name

Read it on AO3: 

archiveofourown.org/works/16660039/chapters/39093499

~~*~~

The thing was, Stretch knew he was being the asshole about all this.

He’d been really damn sick, he knew that, and Edge had issues about that shit. Fuck, who didn’t? There was no one out there thinking it was a-okay that the people they loved were hurt or sick or what the fuck ever.

So, Edge dealt with that by layering on the protectiveness which was no kind of surprise because Blue did the same damn thing. This was High HP Takeover 101, and Stretch should be able to give Edge that. In theory.

In practice, he wasn’t very damn good at it. The forewarned texts came like clockwork every two hours, and angels wept, he hadn’t moved off the sofa since the last damn text. Exactly where did Edge think he was going to go? Hop a bus to Ireland for some damn Riverdance lessons? It was difficult to keep the snark at a minimum when you had to come up with a new variation on ‘I’m fine’ every two damn hours.

Except…snark came at a guilty price when Edge looked so tired as he came home from work. There were so many things he was trying to handle right now and here Stretch was, sprinkling his bullshit issues on top of Edge’s current shit sundae. Edge was on the verge of making himself sick working so hard and trying to take care of the house, of Stretch, of everything, and the worst part was, there wasn’t much Stretch could do about it except try to keep his prickish nature at a minimum.

That left him here, trying to think of a way to make up for being an asshole without actually saying ‘sorry about the whole asshole thing’. Not that he wouldn’t, fuck no, but apologies were easy. Dime a dozen. He wanted something a little more tangible.

He couldn’t cook worth a damn so making dinner was out; seemed more like a punishment than an apology to make Edge choke down a plateful of whatever he managed in a burnt offering. A little apology sex seemed like a good idea, but Stretch could admit he wasn’t really up to a marathon yet, and a quick round of missionary wasn’t probably wasn’t going cover it, especially if he fell asleep in the middle of it.

So far, he’d managed to allow a serious amount of cuddling after dinner, letting himself fall asleep in Edge’s arms because it was useful in settling his hubby down and besides, like Stretch was going to say no to a nap. But he was still on the lookout for something better.

Like so many good things in his life, the idea came to him from the television.

He was watching ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’, because that show was the shit and Stretch had no idea why people were always down on Guy Fieri on the internet because hell, that was a guy with style.

Anyway, the episode had wandered into mac and cheese territory, a wonderland that was near and dear to Stretch, and at one point, they referred to it as soul food.

Soul food.

It clicked a little lever in his head that sent an idea down through the tangled paths of experiments, pranks, and various television theme songs, straight to his guilt center and there it hit the buzzer.

Edge had looked so damn hurt when Stretch asked him to leave the room when the nurse pulled his soul and even when Stretch had shown it to him later, that hurt had only shifted states, liquid pain to icy fear when he’d seen the IV. Not exactly the stuff of romance. There was a pretty good chance he’d be interested in a private viewing when his soul was in its natural state.

It was intimate, sure, souls were intimate as hell, but he’d also spent the past week having everyone but the janitor give his soul a looksee. A big deal, yeah, but there were levels and honestly, now that he thought about it, Stretch was a little surprised Edge hadn’t brought it up before.  

He suspected it was an Underfell thing. Somehow, he doubted anyone in that little sliver of the multiverse was handing their soul over on Lover’s Day with flowers and chocolates for a little bonding time. To Edge, this was probably a much bigger deal than it was for him, but that was okay, it didn’t make it unimportant.

So, yeah, there was a plan. If Edge wanted to see his soul, hell, if he wanted to touch it, Stretch was fine with that. No one else had ever run away with screaming heebie jeebies from touching it, there were decent odds that Edge wouldn’t either. Plus, he could probably work it out so that Edge got a little more out of it than most Monsters would.

Stretch knew a little bit about souls; it had been years since any of those experiments, and yeah, cut that fucking thought off right there, but he did remember, and he knew how the focuses worked.

Souls could work on a low level of empathy; if he focused on how much he loved Edge while he was touching his soul, then Edge should be able to feel a little of it, without anything else that Stretch didn’t want him feeling bleeding through and if there was one thing he was sure he could handle, it was focusing on how much he loved Edge.

This was a great idea, Stretch was sure of it. If he worked out the odds, it was about 95% chance that it would turn out fine, less than a 5% chance of it ending horribly! Fuck it, let’s roll those dice.

Probably he should have waited until Saturday. Let Edge get in a good night’s sleep, wake him up with a few kisses, play up that shyness that Edge liked so much, and they’d be on their way. Except Stretch was shit for patience and now that he had the idea in his skull, it would rattle around like a maraca until he took care of it. So tonight it was.

About a half-hour before he was expecting Edge home, Stretch went up to their bedroom, peeling off his sweatshirt and tossing it carelessly on the floor. The hamper was literally a step and a half away, but Stretch had a thing for that little twitch Edge got in his socket when he saw clothes scattered around. It was a kink, so sue him.

The sweatshirt didn’t make a difference anyhow, it wasn’t like clothing impeded a soul, and Stretch might proudly be an idiot, but he wasn’t stupid. Edge liked how he looked, like the delicate lines of his bones, liked to run his hands over them, testing the smoothness. He was feeling better, he looked better, might as well let Edge have a treat to go along with the main event.

He hadn’t made the bed when he’d gotten up and he took a minute to smooth out the covers before scooting up to sit in the middle. Edge would be home soon, he needed to work fast, and Stretch took a deep breath and gingerly pulled out his soul. He hadn’t looked at it since they left the hospital and it would be better to take a quick peek. Edge probably wouldn’t handle any surprises very well.

It came easily, hovering over his outstretched hands. Silvery pale, a sign that he didn’t have any LV, and the mark where the IV had been was gone entirely. Good enough.

He heard the front door open and hastily dismissed it back, checking himself over. Jeans and a tank top, check, soul lookin’ good, check, ready for takeoff.

“come upstairs,” Stretch called, and he could hear the shuffling downstairs pause, clothing rustling, probably taking off his coat, and then feet on the stairs, coming up fast, well, someone was eager.

Edge filled the doorway when he stepped in, his eye lights a little bright and focusing in on him like a laser. “Hello.”

Oh, fuck. Stretch couldn’t help shivering, that husky growl, shit, maybe apology sex was a great idea…no, no, down boy, remember the plan, eyes on the prize and other various encouraging shit.

Instead, he gestured Edge in, patting the bed across from him. Edge was a little confused but willing enough, and he waited patiently for Stretch to spill the beans.

Stretch felt a flush rise in his cheeks, okay, yeah, so this was pretty intimate, far more than sex could ever be and of all the Monsters who’d ever seen his soul, ever laid impersonal, clinical hands on it, Edge was the very first Stretch actually wanted to touch it.

This was supposed to be for Edge, but Stretch was finding that he wanted this, too.

“i’m feeling a lot better,” Stretch said, little hesitantly, ““and i thought maybe you’d want to see my soul when it isn’t wired in like frankenstein.”

Want might not be a strong enough word. Edge’s eye lights flared wide; apparently, this was something he’d been yearning after for a while and never mentioned, yeah, this was gonna be a big deal to him, and that was okay.

Of course, Edge tried to give him an out, no surprise there, geez, it wasn’t like Stretch was the one who’d brought it up to begin with. And it wasn’t much of a surprise that Edge wanted to be the one to pull it, no, no, control issues, go on ahead.

Stretch didn’t mind. He trusted Edge with a hell of a lot more than his soul.

The sensation of someone else getting a grip on your soul was usually foreign and maybe a little unpleasant, at least in Stretch’s experience, and while it didn’t hurt, it was weirdly uncomfortable. Usually.

The delicate tendrils of magic that lassoed his essence and coaxed it forth were like nothing Stretch had experienced before and he closed his sockets, exhaling shakily as it slipped free and settled lightly into Edge’s hand.

Oh. That felt…oh…

Okay, he’d had other Monsters handle his soul before but none of them had ever resonated like this. Maybe…maybe it was because of who they were, he and Edge, the flipside of the same coin, he needed to talk to sans and red but not now, now he had to focus on edge, he loved him, loved him so, so much, edge was his brilliant sunshine through darkness, his safety from himself as much as from the world, and he wanted to show him that love, wanted him to feel it…

A little hazily, Stretch opened his sockets and could only stare in shock.

Edge was crying.

He hadn’t even known Edge could cry, he’d never done it, not once since Stretch had known him. Stretch was a little bit of a damn crybaby himself, not that he cared, own it, bitches, but Edge—

Tears were trailing from his closed sockets, not crimson, not a match to his magic the way Stretch’s were, but silvery and pale, a mirror of his soul.

That…Stretch had never seen anything like that before.

Um, yeah, maybe it was time to stop.

Edge didn’t protest but he was still obviously pretty damn reluctant to hand Stretch’s soul back so quickly. His tears stopped the moment Stretch’s soul faded back into his sternum, leaving streaks of wetness on his cheekbones.

Carefully, Stretch reached up and ineffectively wiped away one thin, silvery trail. “that was supposed to make you happy.”

Edge’s voice with thick, warm, as he murmured, “It did.”

The tears weren’t exactly convincing him, but Stretch decided to take him at his word. He gave up trying to wipe them away, bone wasn’t exactly great as a sponge and, unthinkingly, he let his hand drift down, resting his fingertips over Edge’s sternum and wishing fleetingly that he could touch, just for a second…

He could feel Edge stiffen, rejecting it wordlessly.  Ah, shit, Stretch hadn’t meant to put that idea into his head, he knew better than that.

“Do you…do you want…” Edge forced out, because of course he would. Of course he would offer, even though he wasn’t ready for that by any means. Even though it would upset him, maybe even traumatize him to force his soul out for no better reason than he felt like he owed it.  Of course he fucking would.

Stretch couldn’t think of anything he wanted less than to hold an unwilling soul, even one that loved him.

Turning him down didn’t take things down a notch as hoped and almost sent Edge into a fucking panic attack, and shit, shit, this was not how this was supposed to go. This was supposed to help, not make things fucking worse, and what kind of asshole did Edge think he was, that he’d demand a soul fondle in return when Edge was so unready for it?

Exhaustion worked for him for once, and Stretch was able to soothe him down, gently, set Edge at ease, and fuck, they should probably talk about this later. Probably.

Probably weren’t gonna though, because he already knew what Edge was afraid of, what he was so terrified Stretch would see.

And Stretch wasn’t about tell him that he already knew exactly what Edge’s soul looked like. Didn’t want to tell him he’d seen it the first time they’d met, swollen blood-red with LV, patchy veins of darkness scattered over it. He’d been in a bad damn way when they’d first arrive, but so fucking what? Stretch had been too; from the first step out of the portal, his own soul had been so faded it was a wonder he hadn’t already fallen down.

Red had seen all that from the beginning and so had Sans. They’d all known the stakes, for what little it was worth. It was over and done with, though, no point in talking about it now. And Stretch didn’t look anymore at anyone, not often, didn’t judge, none of them did that Stretch knew of. Souls showed something of a person, yeah, but they didn’t show everything and it was pointless to form a judgment on one aspect of a person when there was so much more left unseen.

But it didn’t mean that he didn’t know Edge’s soul was so much lighter since then. LV never left, but it could fade, it could lighten, those dark patches vanishing. His soul would always be red. It didn’t mean it couldn’t be beautiful.

Edge was so far from ready to hear any of that.  

Holding his soul must’ve been pretty damn draining because Edge was all but asleep in minutes. Resisting it, sure, because his love wasn’t very good at giving in, but eh, a little petting, a little singing, and he was out like a light.

Even in his sleep, Edge’s grip on him was tight, both arms around his pelvis and Edge’s skull was resting in his lap, his sockets closed and that weariness seeping away. It left him looking a little softer, a little warmer.

Beautiful, Edge had called him, so beautiful, and Stretch had to believe him. He’d been holding his soul, there wasn’t much denial Stretch could offer.

Very lightly, Stretch traced the crack that ran through Edge’s socket, the unevenness of it rough against his fingertip. Edge was beautiful, too, in so many ways, and maybe Edge wasn’t ready to hear that yet, not yet, but it didn’t mean Stretch couldn’t see it.

-finis-

[quilser]

Perfect P4 ~ Choni:

(A/N) Again with the exposition/plot driving nonsense. I’m well aware that people are here for the smut. Make no mistake. I am here for it too, but please bare with me because while I know no one wants to read this I PROMISE some good “wholesome” fun in the next update if you catch my drift ;) Thanks for the patience pals 

Read on ao3

Pairing: Toni Topaz x Cheryl Blossom

Word Count: 2335

Rating: T (pretty much this chapter only)

Warnings: Literally none. This is about as clean of a chapter as I’m willing to write. Some fluff but not even enough to warn about. If this wasn’t so integral to the plot I wouldn’t post it. Jeesh....

Summary: After two years, two past lovers are reunited. The end result is one neither of them wanted.

Parts: |1| |2| |3| |4| |5| |6| |7| |8| |9|

|~~|

If it wasn’t for the alarm blaring from her phone, Cheryl might have never woken up from the dream she’d been having. It was as though fate was playing some cruel trick on her by plucking her away right at the moment that she most wanted to stay.

She’d dreamt of Toni. She’d dreamt of her eyes and her skin and her hands. She’d dreamt of the way Toni’s mouth had attached itself to her own in a mixture of hunger and desperation while her mind flew in a fury of passion and lust.

Cheryl had liked her dream very much.

Upon starting to open her eyes, Cheryl noticed that light was already streaming into them. Confusion set in as Cheryl remembered that she’d come during the afternoon and any alarm of hers was set to go off in the morning. That’s when it hit her that it must, in fact, be morning once more.

Taking a breath in attempt to wake herself more, Cheryl noticed the weight that had settled itself on her chest. It wasn’t crushing or even uncomfortable, but it was strange.

With another rally of great effort, Cheryl managed to open a single eye even in her drowsy state. The image in front of her brought back more memories than she cared to admit.

On top of her chest laid the pink haired beauty she’d only just been dreaming about. The girl’s face was hidden by her hair, but the slow pacing of air moving itself across Cheryl’s chest allowed her to know that the other girl was still asleep.

The night hit her in a rush. All the events leading up to the now naked girl lying on top of her seemed more like a hazy fantasy than a true memory. Everything that transpired the night prior had been something Cheryl had been silently hoping for ever sense they ceased two years prior.

Smiling to herself, Cheryl became aware once more of the alarm that had been going off for a while. The fact that the annoying sound hadn’t managed to wake the sleeping girl on top of her almost made Cheryl laugh, but realizing the position she was in she decided against it.

With a slow reach, Cheryl managed to grab the phone that was whistling off before turning it off and placing it beside the pillow where her head sat.

Seeing as she was the only one awake between the pair in the room, Cheryl took it on herself to analyze the features of the girl she’d once known like the back of her hand.

To do this however, a few loose strands of hair had to be moved to the other side of Toni’s face. The action felt far more intimate to Cheryl than it should have. After the night they had prior, it was as if she was breaking a more intense character in order to satisfy the part of her heart that remained open for this particular individual; remained open for Toni.

As her fingers traced the outline of Toni’s jaw line in an attempt to remove the hair in her way, Cheryl felt a slight wiggle from the other girl. Fearing being caught in her less than sexual action, Cheryl stilled instantly and stiffened in attempts of not waking the other girl further.

After waiting a few minutes with no further movements from the other girl, Cheryl finished moving the girl’s hair out of the way before placing her hands at either said of her, in no way touching Toni.

Cheryl took a few more minutes to admire the girl above her. The way her pink tresses spread gracefully onto her back and slightly onto the bed from the length made Cheryl all that more happy.

Placing her once removed hands onto the sides of Toni’s waist, she attempted to push the girl off her stomach gently, but when her strength proved useless Cheryl realized that all she could do was wake up the other.

Thankfully, that wasn’t quite needed.

“What are you doing?” The voice shocked Cheryl from her thoughts of planning to move Toni. She had to take a moment to think before answering.

“I’m trying to get up.” Toni didn’t respond, but instead planted her hands firmly on either side of Cheryl’s head before pushing up and rolling to the right.

The new freedom her body felt was painful in a way. Although her entire intention had been to remove Toni from herself, the other girl’s willingness to do that for her was slightly disheartening.

Cheryl took a deep breath before moving to get up, but was interrupted by Toni’s voice.

“Cheryl, we need to talk.” The phrase was a scary one. Originally, Cheryl had been at the delivering end of such a statement, now it seemed that the tables had turned between the two of them.

“But we can talk after breakfast.” With that Toni got up in a quick blur that Cheryl was sure she could’ve missed if her blinking had been timed right. She wasn’t sure that she’d even seen correctly until the empty bed was the only sight she was met with.

With a sigh, Cheryl made it into the bathroom that was opposite the bedroom and, between getting ready in some fashion, was repetitively wishing away the ending of whatever breakfast Toni had mentioned.

Toni stood in the kitchen completely naked after attempting to get out of the room as fast as possible. Not knowing what else to do, she immediately curled up beside the cabinets facing away from the entrance to the hallway.

Her body felt broken. Maybe broken was the wrong term. It felt more like she was in a hostile takeover between her mind and what the rest of her body kept trying to do. The warring sides of her left little room for comfort and no room for the feelings her heart was conjuring up.

For so long she’d pushed away the feelings that had overtaken her the night before. She’d screamed so loud just to drown them out and now it was as if a mussel had been placed on the rational side of her.

Cheryl was never supposed to get to her again, but not much can be said for what had already been done. The way the other girl stared at her with those eyes glossed over in a blissful ignorance of themself and the way her lips curved when she thought of something she liked more so than when she saw it.

All of that had been reintroduced into Toni’s life so recently and she hadn’t been prepared. How could she be? People always go with the path of least resistance and after spending so long in attempts to forget someone it’s only natural to go the easier way of remembering them better than you ever had.

Toni felt her eyes beginning to well with tears. Her throat had begun to feel scratchy and raw, but she wouldn’t allow herself to feel this. This was the one thing she could still control.

Mentally deciding that enough was enough, Toni washed up using the sink in the kitchen before grabbing a t-shirt and shorts from the laundry room.

Cheryl wasn’t far behind. After cleaning the sticky mess that coated her thighs and washing her face of the makeup she definitely shouldn’t have slept in, Cheryl began to feel like a human being again.

Exiting the bathroom, she noticed that Toni hadn’t seemed to return to the room and worried that she’d truly been left alone. With the sound of a television coming from the living room though, Cheryl knew she wasn’t by herself just yet.

Grabbing a loose fitting top she saw laying on the floor, Cheryl quickly realized the she’d be severely undressed in her current state. Looking around the room she noticed a closet and a few other pieces of clothes strunned around, but something in her told her that going through Toni’s things, even if for simple reasons, would be less than preferred.

Accepting her fate, Cheryl exited the room and moved down the hallway and into the living room with a zoned out Toni staring at the screen in front of her.

Cheryl was careful to sit at the very opposite end of the couch from Toni. This caused Toni to glance up at the other girl before laughing quietly to herself. Cheryl just so happened to notice this.

“What?” Cheryl attempted to not sound defensive, but the entire situation of being in Toni’s trailer after what transpired last night made her feel entirely too vulnerable.

“Nothing, it’s just…you know we had sex last night, right?” Cheryl felt her face heat up with Toni’s bluntness and she turned her head away to avoid any more patronizing. In hindsight, sitting close together on the couch would probably be the least intimate thing they’d done in the past few hours.

Seeing Cheryl turn her head out of embarrassment, Toni couldn’t stifle her much louder laugh. This caused Cheryl to quickly whip her head around to stare intently at Toni as if begging her to understand her motives. When Toni only continued laughing, Cheryl felt the need to explain herself.

“Look, I was just trying to be…” Cheryl halted her speech feeling like her words matched an entirely different situation. This did halt Toni’s laughter though, and instead replaced it with a grimacing look directed at Cheryl.

“What? To be respectful, kind, maybe nice? I’m angry Cheryl. Not broken.” Toni’s words lashed at Cheryl like claws. It was obvious that she’d struck a chord, but the words Toni spoke were less a jab at Cheryl and more a way of convincing herself of what she knew to be a lie.

“Look, I’m sorry. This all a bit…strange…after all these years.” Toni couldn’t debate this. She instead settled on allowing her eyes to return to the television and a silence took over the room.

After some time, Toni got up without a word a walked silently into the kitchen.

As soon as Toni reached the kitchen, she was quick to open the fridge a pull out what Cheryl quickly identified as a pizza box before she proceeded to grab a slice from inside of it. She took a bite while still holding the box.

Toni made a glance into Cheryl’s eyes, silently beckoning her into the kitchen where Cheryl found a pizza box shoved in her direction still without a word.

Looking up to see that Toni wasn’t looking at her anymore after handing her the box, Cheryl opened it and pulled out the one remaining slice before placing the box on the counter behind her. Toni looked up long enough to see this as with the box being placed down, Toni continued eating her slice.

Both girls remained in the kitchen eating away at their pizza until finally, as had occurred last night, there was nothing else to eat and nothing else to look at.

“So…we need to talk about…last night.” Toni spoke in a hesitant voice that took Cheryl off guard given her previous confidence.

“Yeah, I guess we do.” Cheryl, with an equally hesitant voice, replied only to watch Toni shift awkwardly in place.

“I’m sorry.” Cheryl was once again taken off guard by Toni’s statement. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what Toni was apologizing for. “I’m sorry that I let my anger get the best of me last night and forced you into stuff that you weren’t comfortable with.

Cheryl was certain that her and Toni must have been talking about different occasions as she by no means showed any signs of discomfort last night. If anything, she was certain she’d been a bit more agreeable than even she was used to.

“Toni, you don’t need to apologize for anything. You didn’t make me do anything I didn’t want to do last night.” Cheryl had to fight off the urge to walk over to the girl and place a hand on her shoulder as a sign of reassurance, but when she saw the girl obviously not believing her, she couldn’t stop herself.

She placed her hand carefully onto Toni’s shoulder, being wary of any move made by Toni to distance them, but when Toni only seemed to lean more towards Cheryl, the courage sprang in Cheryl to start sliding her hand up and down Toni’s arm as a continued display of sincerity.

“You still shouldn’t have been subjected to that anger. I should’ve done a better job at controlling myself.” Cheryl shook her head at this. Toni’s eyes were turned down not allowing her to see the action, but Cheryl was absolutely certain she had to get the point across.

“Toni, I’m the one who should be apologizing. You’re making it sound like you’re angry for nothing and you’re not. I know you feel like that angry part of you is wrong, but it isn’t. It’s exactly the part you should feed into when with me, because right now, I deserve it.”

Toni’s face remained stunned for a while. Cheryl wasn’t quite sure when it got to be that way, but it didn’t seem to be going away any time soon.

“I’m not blaming you Toni. I’m not asking for an apology. I’m asking you to let it out. Anything that you feel you need to. Throw it at me. I can take it, for you.” Toni’s tears that she once fought back began to pool in her eyes.

Try as she might, the anger that Cheryl left her with wasn’t something she could shake. For the past two years, she’d attempted every tip on forgiveness, read ever book, examined every solution. All she managed to do was realize that nothing worked.

With the opportunity presenting itself so well before her to let go, even for a moment, Toni couldn’t miss it. Even as her brain screamed at her to stop, her mouth moved of its own accord.

“I hate you.”

[svtmatokis]

Wonwoo Drabble~ Requested by Anon. I couldn’t finish this last night cause of some unexpected change of plans T-T So I wanted to post this before going to work today.

Request:  You’re married with one little girl and another baby on the way and he had to go away for business. the scene i had in mind was him facetiming with his family before their daughter goes to bed and then staying up with his s/o to make sure she can sleep okay without him. :’)

Genre: Kind of office!au? FLUFF ON FLUFF ON FLUFF

Pairing: You x Wonwoo

Words: 2004

Wonwoo walked through the door of his hotel room, satisfied with the outcome of his last meeting. He looked down at his phone and saw how late it was and realized that you were going to be getting ready for bed soon. After changing into something more comfortable and settling himself in bed, he decided to call you.

“Annyeong!!” a voice said over the phone and he pulled away to see your smiling face. “Oppa!! How are you?” you asked waving at him as he waved back, a big smile making it’s way to his face. Oh how he missed you so, so much. He hated going away on business but as the CEO, he had no choice. It was one sacrifice he had to make for his family.

“Jagiya” he said in his deep voice that still managed to make your heart swell. “Have you eaten yet?”

Before you could respond, Wonwoo heard a tiny voice.

“Apa? Umma, is that Apa? Can I talk to him?!”

You giggled as you stared down at your four year old daughter who had her toothbrush stuck in her mouth.

“What if I only want to talk to Apa?” you asked teasing while she pouted.

“But I miss Apa toooo!!!!!” she said causing you and Wonwoo to laugh slightly.

“Hyeri-ah” Wonwoo said as you moved the phone slightly lower so your daughter could see him.

“Apa!!!!!” she more or less screamed, foam coming out of her mouth causing you to giggle and Wonwoo to only smile at his daughter.

“How about you go rinse your mouth and then you can talk to Apa okay?” he suggested as Hyeri nodded her head enthusiastically running to the bathroom.

“Is she getting ready for bed?” Wonwoo asked as you nodded your head.

“I’m happy you called, she said wanted to talk to you before she fell asleep tonight.” you said giving him a sad smile, “She misses you….” you paused looking down before looking up at him again, “I- we miss you…” you said rubbing your bulging belly.

“I MISS YOU TOO WONWOO!!” a voice yelled from the background near the washroom and Joshua’s head popped out from the side smiling.

Wonwoo’s heart sunk as he saw the look in your eyes but chuckled when he realized you weren’t alone. During your pregnancy with Hyeri, it was when Wonwoo was the busiest and though he was hesitant at the time, you ensured that you were going to be okay, it was only two weeks anyways. Boy were you wrong. You had gone through some complications and Hyeri was born premature. He was glad that she had grown up so healthy despite having to be in an incubator for two months, so this time around, he was hesitant on leaving you.

He was reassured when Joshua stepped in and offered to help you whenever you needed it since you also had a toddler to take care of and you were close to your due date. He didn’t want any complications that could possibly endanger yours and the babies life.;

You and Joshua were best friends since you moved to Korea from the States and through Joshua, you had met the love of your life, Wonwoo. Though when Hyeri was born, the two of you agreed that Mingyu would be Hyeris godfather since he and Wonwoo were best friends and it was no surprise to see Hyeri and Mingyu’s son Jungshin get along so well.

Wonwoo wanted nothing more than to be there with you, especially when you were so far along in your second pregnancy. But this was an emergency and he was the only one that was able to do it. Sure, he could’ve sent Mingyu or Seungcheol in his place but the company that he was meeting with had wanted to meet him personally.

“Jagiya…” he started but before he could continue, Hyeri came back asking to speak to him again.

Wonwoo listened as she told him about what she did at preschool that day and how Yongin (Seungcheol’s son) and Yumi (Soonyoung’s daughter) started throwing sand at one another while she and Jungshin watched on and had snacks.

“Did you read today?” he asked knowing her love for books that she got for him.

She nodded her head, “I got to read out loud in class today! I was the bestest reader ever!! The teacher said so.”

“Best reader Hye” Wonwoo corrected her as she giggled.

“That’s what I said Apa” she smiled cutely as Wonwoo chuckled.

After talking to her for a bit longer, Wonwoo could see that she was getting tired.

“Will you read me a story Apa?” she asked yawning which Wonwoo found so adorable.  She was like a miniature version of you.

“How about Uncle Jisoo reads you a story tonight and when I get back next week, I’ll read you ALL the stories you want.” he said as Hyeri looked at him skeptically, a look that she got from you.

“Promise?” she asked.

Wonwoo nodded his head, “Promise.”

“Promise promise?” she asked again holding up her pinky finger and Wonwoo chuckled holding up his as well.

“Promise, promise” he said smiling, “I’ll be home soon okay? I love you.”

“Love you too Apa” she said blowing him a kiss as Joshua picked her up.

“Night Wonwoo, see you when you get back.” Joshua said waving with his free arm and soon the two of you were left alone

“So how are you and Wonwoo junior?” He asked chuckling as you scrunched up your nose in distaste while settling into bed yourself.

“We are not calling him Wonwoo Junior” you said glaring at him slightly before smiling again,”We’re fine.” You said rubbing your pregnant belly. “I’ve been waking up a bit more at night, I forgot how cold this bed can get when you aren’t here”

Your small confession made Wonwoo frown. “Have you been sleeping okay?”

You shrugged your shoulders, “It helps when we call at night. But on the days that we don’t, it’s a bit harder.” you shrugged, “Sometimes Hyeri will crawl into bed with me but you know how she is, going through that big girl phase. She’s getting so picky now, she’s like a mini version of you. Doesn’t want to eat certain things, doesn’t want to do certain things…” you listed off the things Hyeri had picked up from Wonwoo causing him to chuckle.

“Well she is daddy’s little girl.” he said before sighing, “It must be hard for you with her….I’m sorry..” he looked away from the camera.

“Why are you apologizing Woo?” you asked tilting your head to the side, “You’re working hard to provide for the family and it’s not like you’re gone all the time.”

“It’s difficult…” he hesitated to admit, “You’re so far along with your pregnancy and I know with Hyeri... “ he tried to reason as you shook your head.

“That’s why Josh is here, it’s a plus when his apartments on the same floor. Plus the guys have all been a big help. Cheol and his wife dropped by earlier to have dinner after they picked up Hyeri up from preschool, Josh is coming back to take her to school tomorrow and I think Mingyu said something about having a playdate with Jungshin. Despite me telling them otherwise, I know that Soonyoung, Vernon, Jeonghan and the rest of your team are on standby if anything big happens which it won’t.” you reassured, you knew he was thinking about your pregnancy with Hyeri and the complications that arose when you were alone and he was away.

“She’s lucky to have all these uncles who love taking care of her.” you stopped as your phone dinged. “Oh there’s Jeonghan” You sighed as you read the text, “I lied, your team is overbearing. Tell them to stop.”

That got a chuckle out of Wonwoo.  “What did Jeonghan want?”

“He wanted to check in to see if I needed anything and to tell me that he and his wife will be spending the day with me tomorrow while Hyeris in school…” you deadpanned, “Today it Vernon and Chan. Vernon and Chan, I can handle. We literally sat on the couch and watched TV all day. Jeonghan….” you sighed.

Wonwoo straight out laughed. He knew how Jeonghan could be which is why he was dubbed the mother of team.  He was just straight overbearing.

“They mean well and knowing that they’re there to take care of you reassures me that I do have a good team.” he smiled as you sighed but giggled anyways. “I miss you”

“I miss you too” you said looking at him and memorizing all his features. Over the years, Wonwoo had aged well, at the tender age of 30, he still looked like the man Joshua introduced you to. The man you fell in love with. “Now tell me about how you crushed those people at your meeting today.”

You listened intently as Wonwoo told you about the success he had at the meeting and said that he would probably assign Seungcheol to do the takeover since that’s what he did best.

After about an hour of talking about random things and telling one another how much you missed the other, you were starting to feel tired.

“You should go to sleep love.” Wonwoo said as he noticed your eyes slowly closing.

You nodded your head and asked in a small childlike voice, “Will you stay with me till I fall asleep?”

Wonwoo’s heart melted as you showed him your vulnerable side. It was a side you rarely showed anyone, you were CEO Jeon’s wife after all and everyone knew Wonwoo was a strong-willed person and that his wife was too.

“Of course sweetheart.” he said as you got up to use the bathroom again before grabbing what he noticed was one of his hoodies.

“It smells like you and helps me sleep.” you reasoned as you settled into bed while Wonwoo only smiled sadly, wishing he could be there to provide you the comfort himself.

“Are you settled in?” he asked as you nodded. He noticed how you slept on his side of his bed and cuddled his pillow which showed how much you missed him.

“Can you sing me a song?” you asked, you loved his deep singing voice, it was always a lullaby to his ears.

Wonwoo watched you as he sang you your favorite song. You eyes were slowly closing and soon he could hear your even breathing which meant that you had fallen asleep.

“Good night my love, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” he whispered about to hang up when he heard your response.

“I love you Oppa, come home soon.” your small voice said before your breathing evened out again making him smile.

Wonwoo hated being away and he couldn’t wait to hold you and his daughter in his arms again. Just one more week, he told himself, one week too long. That was when he made the decision.

Instead of going back to bed himself, he picked up his laptop and sent out a quick email to the company he was working with letting him know of an emergency at home and that since the main negotiations were done, everything else could be done electronically.

The next morning, you woke up to hear giggling coming from the living room in which you figured Joshua had already showed up and was getting Hyeri ready for school. You stopped by the kitchen to get a glass of orange juice before making your way to the living room, still wearing Wonwoo’s hoodie but stopped mid-step when you saw who was with Hyeri.

“Woo?”

Wonwoo looked up from his position on the floor with Hyeri and smiled at you standing up.

“I’m home” he said opening his arms as you ran into them, not before Joshua stepped in quickly to take the glass of orange juice from you so you wouldn’t stain your white carpet. Ooops.

[adamarinayu]

Gold Feathers Pt. 4

FIRST | PREVIOUS

This one’s a bit longer than the others.

Habit

It was also a complete accident when, at twenty-three, Donald became a secret agent.

He had literally stumbled on the scene and somehow became instrumental in the agents winning. He was asked to join up, with the alternative being his memory being erased, and he thought, I already have one, how hard could hiding another be?

The answer? Very.

Uno figured out immediately. Turned out the world’s most advanced AI could easily access the super secret files of even the Agency, and when he became an agent Uno knew.

The problem really came with adventures, though. Being a secret agent sometimes interfered with his hero work, but he prioritized his hero work over his agent work; the adventures, however, did not take priority over either.

If he got a call from Uno or Kay, he was off. He couldn’t tell Della and Scrooge where he was going, either- just that he’d be back as soon as he could.

On a cousin roadtrip and an alien invasion is coming?

“Sorry, guys, I know we were planning this for months but an emergency’s come up and I have to go.”

Family reunion while Belgravia plots a hostile takeover of the world?

“A close friend of mine is in the hospital and I need to go immediately, I’m sorry.”

Needless to say, his relationships started going cold.

Daisy, who he’d been dating since highschool, became distant. Donald didn’t blame her- between his job as caretaker of Ducklair tower, Paperinik, Double Duck, being an adventurer with his sister and uncle, and furthering his magic studies, he had very little time to devote to their relationship or... well, anything really.

But then the Evronians were defeated and Donald had so much more time than before, and it was great-

And then Everett bought Ducklair Tower back and shut Uno down, and everything was not great.

At first Donald continued his work as Paperinik- he was Paperinik before Uno, he’d be Paperinik after too. He missed his friend, and felt an overwhelming guilt at having hidden such a large part of himself from the one person who knew everything else about him.

So Uno was gone, and Donald missed him terribly- but Paperinik was still there.

And then Della wasn’t.

His entire world shattered, falling apart around him. Scrooge and Della, so used to him having “more important things to do” now, hadn’t even thought to invite him with them to find the mysterious Spear of Selene.

Instead, they brought that cursed spear back and Donald was overwhelmed with fear as pure understanding slammed into him with its twisting, dark, suffocating magic. It stifled him, and somehow he just knew what the spear did.

That thing- it turned magic into shadow, banishing its target and its user into the world between worlds, so that they existed in neither.

He took Della by her hands and told her to never use that spear- ever. Never use it, and never allow Scrooge to use it. 

And his biggest regret... was explaining to her why.

He couldn’t bear to lose them, too. He didn’t want them to only live in his memories, the same way Uno did.

That spear was nothing but trouble, and he couldn’t fathom why such a terrible, dark artifact was named after the goddess who would have reviled such a thing.

It was not something any magician wanted around. Donald didn’t want it around. It caused his magic to spike unexpectedly, and the magical artifacts in Scrooge’s garage reacted badly as well. It was as if anyone and anything with magic instinctively knew what this... thing was. 

Even Gladstone, whose magic was so weak compared to Donald’s- a passive magic he couldn’t control nor even knew to be magic- had taken three quick steps back when Della lifted it up to show him.

Later, after Della had gone to put the spear back into its display, Gladstone confessed to Donald he hated the thing, no matter how physically beautiful it was- gold and encrusted with gems, it was something Scrooge would have wanted no matter the cost.

Well... except one cost.

A few well-placed myths about the spear where Donald knew Scrooge would find them led to Scrooge sitting them down and telling them, under no circumstances, were they to even touch the spear again. It would stay in the safest place in Duckburg- right in Scrooge’s Moneybin. Donald wished he’d chuck the thing into the deepest part of the ocean, but he kept his mouth shut.

Every time he even so much as walked into the Moneybin afterwards, though, he could feel the tendrils of that terrible artifact reaching for him, trying to entwine itself into his magic.

It should have been okay, though. The Moneybin was safe from outside forces- it was the safest place to keep the spear so no one could use it.

Except they hadn’t considered someone on the inside taking it.

Magica de Spell, the witch whose magic lashed just as dark and savagely as the spear, had half the city under hypnotism and the other half trapped in buildings as her minions attacked everyone and everything in sight. Scrooge was trying to find a way to beat her without giving up his dime, and Donald was seconds away from pulling his staff out to fight her, magician to magician.

She was a master of darkness. He was a jack-of-all-trades sorcerer. He knew he wouldn’t win- not alone. But maybe he could buy time for Scrooge and Della to win-

And then he saw her, the spear clutched in her hands as she stood behind Magica.

“Della, no!” Donald screamed at the same time Della’s eyes began to glow violet, the spear’s energy latching onto her, swirling around her and wrapping around her arms, up to her shoulders, her neck, her face, her torso- and with a start Donald realized it was manifesting, the energy turning as violet as her eyes as Della faced down Magica.

“No!” he heard Scrooge cry out, horrified, even as Magica shrieked and started turning into shadows.

Donald ran to Della, reaching out to stop her before the spell was complete, but his hand went through her and he realized she was already a shadow.

“No!” he cried, trying desperately to grab her, even as the shadow of her, Magica and the spear began disappearing. “No!”

And then she was gone, and Donald dropped to his knees.

When they hatched, he gave her children the names she wanted for them and vowed to himself that he would never let any harm come to them.

He and Scrooge didn’t talk again for ten years.

Taking the triplets in changed everything in Donald’s life. He moved out of the mansion, buying a houseboat with what he’d saved up from adventures. All of his books, his cauldron, his potions vials, everything went under the trap door in the boat, under lock and key and out of reach of the three ducklings. He stopped being Paperinik. He didn’t quit being an agent- the guaranteed income would be a relief when things got rough- but he did change his status to part-time. He was one of their best agents, so they put him on a code-red only schedule, allowing him to focus on the kids. He and Daisy broke up- a mutual and long-coming breakup, both knowing Donald just had too many priorities that came before romance. They cried, but agreed it was for the best.

Everything changed. He no longer had a sister. No longer had an uncle. No longer had a girlfriend. He practically no longer had a cousin in Gladstone (and Fethry was rather flighty), who dropped off the map after Della disappeared. He was no longer an adventurer, or a hero, and he was only a secret agent part of the time. And he was now poor, having taken only that which he owned- nothing from the account Scrooge had opened for him back when he took the twins in.

He didn’t want a cent of Scrooge’s money. He’d rather starve.

Only one thing remained the same; he didn’t stop doing magic. It was still, he knew, dangerous to stop, especially with three children in the house. He couldn’t risk magical backlash or buildup- he had to keep up with it. But he continued to practice only in secret. They didn’t need to know.

Of course, nothing’s ever quite that simple, especially for Donald Duck.

When they were three, he noticed the energy developing. It wasn’t strong, but it was there, and as they grew older it seemed to solidify and grow stronger.

It wasn’t the sheer, whipping energy of a witch, nor the intimidating, encompassing energy of a sorcerer. Each one’s energy was unique and unlike anything Donald had felt before.

Huey, the oldest, had an almost flickering energy. It twisted around him and extended from him, dissipating into nothingness if it reached out too far. It was wild, in its own way, and its movement was unpredictable.

Dewey, the middle, had a much gentler energy- it was flowing in a way Donald had never felt before, so calm and so unlike the duckling himself. It flowed, moving gently with every motion he made, and stayed close to him rather than reaching out.

Louie, the youngest, had... well, Donald almost didn’t know how to explain it. It didn’t flow, or flicker, or swirl, or twist, or anything. It was very... still. Calm. It moved with him, and sometimes pieces of it seemed to move on their own or even grow, never twisting around Louie but only within itself, as if it was layered. It was the only way Donald knew how to explain it.

Della’s children had, evidently, inherited some form of magic. Donald wasn’t sure what kind, though.

And then, when they were six and Donald’s own hands were completely gold from magic, he did.

“Uncle Donald!” he heard Dewey’s shriek in the middle of the night, and he ran like a madman to their room.

They were curled together in the corner on the other side of the room, a fire spreading between them. Huey cried, the energy around him having flared up in a way that actually scared Donald. It seemed to flicker in time with the flames.

“I didn’t mean to!”

Fire.

Was that energy the energy of an elemental?

He wasn’t sure, but he had to put the fire out. But if it was a magic fire, then he knew so long as Huey had no control then it would only continue.

Taking a breath, he called as calmly as he could, “Huey, I need you to calm down! Listen to me, okay? You’re going to be alright.” Huey took deep breaths, both of his brothers hugging him, and looked across towards Donald. “I know it’s not easy, and it’s scary,” Donald continued, “but you need to focus on the fire. Focus on it, calm down, and think of it going away.”

Huey’s gaze slid over to the flames, tears prickling in his eyes. His energy flickered dangerously, and the fire stuttered but only grew bigger.

“Think of things that comfort you,” Donald instructed, carefully moving around the fire and towards the boys. He sat down next to them and gently set a gloved hand on the eldest’s back, watching the fire spread from the floor to the walls. “Don’t let it control you, and don’t lose control over it. We’re here for you.”

And if Donald cast a calming charm to help relax the duckling, he wasn’t going to say anything. Slowly, but surely, the duckling took a breath and closed his eyes, and soon the fire dissipated, leaving behind only scorch marks and burned posters on the wall to show it had ever even been there.

Donald vowed at that moment to help the three of them in any way he could. However, when he sat them down to explain to them what happened- and just what they were- he found he couldn’t come out and say it.

I’m a sorcerer. He just couldn’t. He’d been hiding it for twenty-six years now.

Besides, they didn’t need to know he was a sorcerer. They just needed to know that he knew how to help them.

Dewey turned out to be a water elemental, Donald discovered when he woke up to find a whirlpool developing beneath the houseboat. He found Dewey crying in the bathroom, the energy around him whirling faster than Donald had ever felt it- it almost lashed out at him, its gentle calm turned into a deadly force.

“You have to calm down,” he told the frightened child, pulling him into his lap even though the magic began twisting around Donald, fighting against Donald’s own energy. Dewey hugged him tightly.

“I’m scared, Uncle Donald,” he whimpered. “I- I can’t-”

“You can,” he assured the duckling, wondering why their magic was lashing out in the first place when Donald had a relative amount of control from the start. Maybe it was because Donald discovered he could do magic when it first started developing, or maybe it was just the difference between sorcery and elemental ability, he just wasn’t sure. “Just focus, think calm thoughts and imagine the water falling still.”

Dewey took a shuddering breath as Donald gently pat his back. The boat was moving, rocking dangerously in the water, but Dewey seemed to be much more a natural with his magic than Huey was as it started evening out again.

The water below fell still and Dewey opened his eyes.

“I did it?” Dewey asked, surprised, and Donald grinned.

“You sure did.”

And it was at about that moment he noticed the vine steadily growing out of the bathtub drain.

Oh no.

He raced to find Louie who was sitting on the couch, watching as Donald’s plants began flowering and vines crawled along the walls, forcing their way through cracks and the space between the floorboards. The energy around him was abuzz, moving in contrasting directions in layers, writhing around and twisting together so quickly it almost sent Donald reeling.

“Louie,” Donald started, and Louie looked at him so confused and with just a touch of fear. “You need to focus on reeling those plants in,” he said, sitting down next to Louie. “If they keep growing like that they’re gonna break the boat.”

“I don’t know how,” Louie said quietly.

“Just stay calm,” he said, and he could see the spark of panic in his nephew’s eyes. “Stay calm, close your eyes and focus on making them go away.”

Louie did as he was told, grabbing onto Donald’s hand for comfort, and Donald watched somewhat impressed as almost immediately the vines began withering and turning to dust.

Unfortunately so did Donald’s hanging plants, but he was willing to excuse it this time.

The next day began their training to control it, and when Donald had taught them everything he could, he found them proper teachers in their respective elements. By the time they were ten, they were exceeding peers in their age group and knew never to tell anyone.

He still never told them he was a sorcerer.

[reylo-is-strong-in-this]

My First Reylo Smut!!

Part 2: https://reylo-is-strong-in-this.tumblr.com/post/169250713749/part-2-of-that-reylo-smut-i-wrote-stay

OMG!! I did it! I actually wrote it in one hour!!!

This is my first straight smut in my existence on this earth, so please proceed with that in mind.

I know it’s gonna be weird, but I have absolutely no clue how straight lemon works, so…yeah, I hope you enjoy it.

Warning!: Explicit content(I guess?), A little teeny tiny bit of not so vanilla smut, but I really wouldn’t say it’s a BDSM. It’s just…Not really vanilla. So if it’s not your cup of tea, please don’t read it.

As usual, english is not my native language, please excuse my grammar and spellings.

—————–

Rey knew she shouldn’t be doing this. “Yes, Ben. Yes, harder!” She moaned as her hand roaming all over her body. The scavenger closed her eyes and pictured the firm, large hands exploring her while those dark eyes kept staring at her lustful ones. It was wrong on so many level, but at the moment it just felt right to picture him to be the one to take her, claim her, make her felt like she belong to him and only him. “Yes, Maker. BEN!” “What? What’s wrong? Oh-“ She screamed, dragged the blanket  up to cover her partially clothed body. The Supreme Leader was standing right at the foot of her bed, his eyes widened, mouth hung open in surprise. Rey looked away, couldn’t bear the fact that he had seen a glimpse of what she was doing. “Get out!” “You know it doesn’t work that way.” Kylo Ren regained his composure, crossed his arms over his chest and smirked at the girl in the bed. “So, what do we have here?” “I hate you!” She still kept her eyes firmly on the wall, didn’t dare to meet his eyes. “Oh, I would have to disagree on that.”His voice teasing. “Come on, Rey. It’s natural. There is nothing wrong with, well, letting off some steam.” He shrugged, sitting down on her bed and chuckled when she flinched. “In fact, I think I can help you out with your…task at hand.” “You are not getting anything about the resistance from me this way.” She narrowed her eyes. “Oh, Rey. How many times do I have to tell you, I don’t care about any of them.” He leaned closer, his face only inches from her. “I just want to help you out the goodness of my heart.” “Did you really just say that?” Rey raised her eyebrow. “Beside, you actually sounded pretty….arousing.” “Shut up, Ben.” She blushed, tucked at the blanket to make sure it was secured. “It wouldn’t do to have a lovely lady experience such an unsatisfying evening if I can do anything about it.” His hand places firmly on her thigh, even with the blanket between them Rey still felt a tingling sensation from where he was touching her. Kylo grinned when he saw something shifted in her eyes. “Think of it as a break from the war. You have done so much for your…whatever it is these people are to you, you deserve this.” He coaxed. “And what’s in it for you?” Rey asked suspiciously. “Aside from getting to have you the way I’ve always fantasized about since we met? Well, I had pretty rough day chasing after you guys. I could use a little break too.” He tilted his head, his hand moved up her thigh. “So?” “Urgh! Fine! Just get it over with!” She rolled her eyes. “This doesn’t change anything between us.” “We’ll see.” Kylo chuckled, and yanked the blanket away from her and threw it on the floor. “Hey!” Her hands flew to cover her partially exposed breasts. Kylo licked his lips at the sight. “Which one of us were you fantasizing about? That boy you still foolishly believe is somewhere inside me? Or the monster you tried so desperately not to care about?” “I-” She bit her lower lips, looked down to avoid looking at him, but Kylo refused to be ignored. He grabbed her chin and tilted her head back up. “Which one is it?” “Um-” She flushed, and that was more than enough for him. “Who would have thought? Your master would be disappointed.” Kylo smirked, and before she knew it, he grabbed her wrists with the force and bound them on to the bedsheets, exposing parts of her breasts that slipped from her clothes. “Ben, wha-” “If we are going to do this, you might as well call me Kylo.” He did the same thing to her legs, and now Rey was bound on her own bed with no escape. “Don’t look at me like that.” Kylo said, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the view. “You knew how weak these are, you could easily rip it if you want to.” His bare hand ghosted along her face. “But I truly hope it wouldn’t come to that.” “Be- Kylo, I- I don’t know what to do, I’ve never done this before.” The scavenger confessed softly, almost as if she was whispering. Kylo just smiled. “To be honest, I have no clue what to do either.” He took off his cape, never broke eyes contact with her. “But I think I’m pretty good at letting my primal instinct takeover.” “What do you me- Oh…” She let out a surprised sound when the hands she had always fantasized about ripped off her shirt like it was made from paper. Kylo admired her beautiful body, her toned stomach, and her fully exposed breasts with his hungry eyes. Somehow, the way he stared at her made Rey felt even more aroused than touching herself. “You are so perfect.” She heard him whispered, more to himself than her. He decide to leave her pants on for the time being and cupped those perfect breasts in his hands. “They are so soft.” “Maker, please, stop talking.” She whined, trying to cover up her breasts with he hands but they are still securely tied to the bedsheets. “As you wish.” He said, and took one of the cute little buds in his mouth, his tongue swirling, teasing around the base and made her writhed under his large frame. “Yes, oh..” She moaned, digging her nailed into the bed. She felt the corner of his mouth lifted, and the bastard decided to torture her even more by flicking her other nipple. “Force, Kylo! Stop teasing me! I have a meeting in one hour!” She shut her mouth as soon as she slipped, telling the Supreme Leader about the Resistance meeting was not a good thing to do. But neither did sleeping with one. “Wow, maybe I really should change my interrogating methods with you.” He teased after finally let her poor sensitized bud go with a pop. One hand traveled down to her still-intacted pants, ghosting over the clothed womanhood. “You are already wet? Oh, that’s right. You WERE thinking of me.”Kylo looked so smug she just wanted to punch him in the face. “Kylo, please.” Instead, she begged. She arched herself to get closer to his hand, to feel that delicious friction he wouldn’t let her experience. Kylo just laughed, and pulled his hand away further. “Somebody it hungry.” “Kylo! I swear I will chopped you into million pieces if you don’t do something right now!” She threatened him while trying hopelessly to feel his hand on her again. “Now, that is not the way to ask someone for help, is it?” He cupped her chin in his hand, mischief clear in his eyes. “What do you want me to do?” She gritted her teeth, pretending to be irritated by it, but she knew that he could sense her arousal through their bond. “How about you show my how much do you need my help?” Suddenly she was free. Kylo was sitting on the side of her bed, patting the space between his leg with an evil grin. “Come on. Show me what you got.” She rolled her eyes, but it wouldn’t be fair for him if she didn’t return the favor. Still in her pants, Rey stood up from her bed and walked toward the waiting man, dropping on her knees in front of him and dealt with that ridiculously high waist pants as fast as she can. “R’iia!” She exclaimed when she finally saw what she signed up for. Kylo smirked proudly. “Too much for the last Jedi in the galaxy to handle?” “That’s a bold thing to say to someone who can literally bite that off right now, you know?” She shot back, feeling a little bit satisfied when she saw him paled for a second. Then, carefully, she stuck her tongue out and gave it an experimental lick. She felt Kylo shuddered, and it was one of the most satisfying thing she had ever felt. She continued to ran her tongue along the length, swirling around the tip, noticed the erection twisted in respond. “Force, Rey…” Kylo growled. She giggled and tried to wrap her tiny mouth around it, just to see the Jedi Killer reaction, but she started to choke half way through and had to pull away. “S- sorry.” She coughed. “Don’t worry. I actually enjoyed watching you try.” He replied and used to force to pull her up onto his lap, straddling him with only her pants keeping their bare skin from touching. “Ready for your reward?” “Maker, yes!” As if afraid he was going to pull away. Rey started to move her hips, grinding herself on his lap without hesitation, hoping it would be enough to make him end her suffering. “I’m glad you are enjoying yourself.” He chuckled with a shaking voice, clearly affected by her afford. “But it would be a shame if I let you finish this way.” “Wha- NO!” She cried when she felt the force lifted her off his lap, but soon gasped when she felt her pants pulled off her body, and Kylo, who was lying on the bed with the hungriest look she had ever seen, lowered her onto him, straddling his face. “Oh- OH!!!” She cried out when she felt a hot tongue running along her folds, swirling and sucking at her sweet spot until her leg was trembling. She practically sobbed when she felt his tongue inside her, claiming her for the first time. “Yes, Kylo, more!” she wiggled her hips in respond to his exploration. It felt dos good, so right…. And yet, not enough. Rey felt his hands cupping, squeezing her breasts once again. His calloused hands planting firmly on her soft breasts. She put her hands over his, chanting his name as if she was singing a song. “Kylo!Kylo!Ah-” She was flipped onto the bed, lying on her back while Kylo grabbed her ankles to keep them apart, his tongue still deep inside her, making her writhed and  moaned under him. Rey was nothing but a sobbing mess when he finally pulled away, placing her trembling legs on either sides of his shoulders and lining himself to her entrance. Then he paused. “What now?!” Rey asked impatiently, temping to just hop on his lap and get it over with. “I remember my mother saying something about what to do when having sex, but Lu- Skywalker told her it wasn’t necessary because Jedis couldn’t have sex.” “Seriously? You are thinking about your mother?!” Rey loved Leia to bits, but it was really not a good time. “Sorry. Might not be important.” He shrugged, and slammed into her without any warning. “OH FORCE!!” She screamed, gave him a delicious moan each time he thrust into her. He watched her small breasts bounced slightly from his movement with lustful eyes, and took one of them into his mouth again, hand teasing another. Rey arched her back, ending desperately to be closer to him, her hands tucked at his hair and kept him from abandoning her breasts. “You are perfect, so perfect.” He mumbled against her soft breasts, and decided to flipped her over one last time, Rey sobbed out the most delicious sound when he took her from behind, clawing on all four as he slammed into her hard. “Rey? Are you still sleeping? The meeting started in ten minutes.” Finn’s voice asked from behind the door. Rey froze, but unfortunately, Kylo didn’t seem to care to stop. “Ah- Yes! I’ll- be there.”  She answered, hoping her voice was not as shaky as she heard. “Come on, Finn. Let’s go.” She heard Poe dragged Finn away from her door. Bless that man. “Ah!” She screamed out when suddenly the man picked up the rhythm, trying desperately to match his movement. “That’s for thinking about other man when I am inside you.” He whispered, ramming into her passion and jealousy that made Rey want to cry with unrelieved tension. He was driving her to the edge, but he wouldn’t let her go. “Tell me. Do you think of them when you touch yourself? Any of them? Both of them? Have you ever think of anyone but me doing this to you?” “No! Maker, no!” She sobbed out. “You. Only you.” She could never imagine doing this with someone else. He felt perfect inside her. He felt so right. “Really?” He sounded genuinely surprised. Rey grunted impatiently, and Kylo responded by planting kisses on her shoulder. “Then you will have your reward.” Tears streaming down her eyes when she felt him filling her. It was the best feeling she had ever felt in her entire existence. “I- meeting, I need shower.” She mumbled, staggered off the bed into the fresher with wobbling legs. When she was finally done with herself, Rey walked out of her refresher to  see Kylo still lying on her bed, naked as the day he was born. “Don’t you have something to put on? A cowl or something.” She blushed, but wouldn’t stop staring at his body. How in the name of R’iia can that thing fit inside her? “Why do i have to put it on? You’ll come back soon, right?” He raised his eyebrow. “Wait, you are saying…” She swallowed. “Unless you don’t want to.” He shrugged, but the look on his face told her he knew exactly what her answer would be. “Whatever.” She rolled her eyes, and all but ran out of her own room.

//One month Later//

“Ben!” Kylo jumped from his working desk in his quarters. The Supreme Leader turned to see his…to be honest, he didn’t know what she was to him either…standing right behind him. She was…pissed?troubled?upset?excited? Her emotions were all over the place, but when he left her last night she was sleeping peacefully after their…session, so he didn’t know what was going on. “What is it? Are you hurt? Is my mother all right?” He has no clue why he asked about his mother, but it seemed to make Rey’s eyes soften. “No, I’m sorry I startled you. It just-” She bit her bottom lip. Kylo stood up from his chair and stepped closer to her, pull his little sand rat into his embrace and caressing he swollen bottom lip with his thumb. “Whatever it is. You can tell me. I promise I will do everything in my power to help.” He assured her. Rey sighed and look up to meet his eyes. “Remember when you said Leia had told you to do something when you have sex?” He cringed. It wasn’t the proudest moment of his life. “As much as it pains me to say, yes, I remember.” “Well, turns out it was a little more important than we thought.” She looked at him awkwardly. “How much more important?” He asked. He still couldn’t remember would his mother was trying to tell him before Luke interrupt her. “About a human baby size?” Rey blurted out, looking at him like she was trying to predict his response. At that moment, Kylo Ren, the Jedi killer, Master of the knights of Ren, the Supreme Leader of the First Order, and the most powerful man in the galaxy, just fainted in his pregnant enemy’s arms.

The end.