#at least it's wet enough nothing should catch on fire

[akallabeth-joie]

I'm not sure what anyone's getting out of setting of fireworks in the fog, but by the sounds of it, there are loads of them (some quite loud, which I assume means big/expensive).

[undertheopensky]

If You Can't Say Anything Nice 2

Whumptober Day 31: Emptiness

Characters: Sky, Legend

Trigger warnings: Anxiety, Bullying, Miscommunication

AN: No, I don’t know why this and only this decided to be in past tense. I just work here, folks, and barely at that.

Read on Ao3!

Missed the first instalment? Read it here!

---

Truth be told, the first time Wild called Legend for dinner and got nothing more than a nod and a thumbs-up, Sky had wondered if something was wrong. The veteran was terse, but not quiet. Was he not feeling well?

Then it kept happening. Moments Legend should have filled with a comment went empty. He stopped chipping in at story time over the fire. When Hyrule tried to draw him into conversation, he stayed silent, just nodding or shrugging or shaking his head.

The night Sky saw him sitting away from the fire, staring blankly off into the forest and hugging himself, he had to intervene. He had to at least try to reach out, even if prickly Legend snapped at him for it.

(He doesn’t. He shatters.)

He got the story between fits of near-silent weeping. Offering help and being rebuffed, time and time again. Trying to joke, only to have someone yell and call him a bully. Constantly told off for speaking his mind – was he really such a horrible person, that no one else could stand hearing his thoughts? he asked. Why was he always so mean? He didn’t understand.

And that – that broke Sky’s heart.

Legend was crying in earnest now. The wet, choked noises managed what his withdrawal hadn’t, catching attention from across the fire. Twilight rolled his eyes, a smile playing around his lips, and opened his mouth to say something –

Without blinking Sky hurled his belt knife.

The whole camp froze. Twilight sat stiff, the knife just kissing his ear where it had sunk hilt-deep into the tree behind him. Wind had jumped and spilled half a waterskin on his tunic. Everyone was staring wide-eyed at the sudden and seemingly unprovoked violence from sleepy Sky.

Legend missed it. He had buried his head in his knees, muffling his already-strangled sobs. Gently, Sky drew his sailcloth around Legend’s shoulders, then turned to rapidly sign, You were about to say something mean. He’s upset, and you were going to poke fun.

Warriors huffed and made as if to comment, only to pale when Sky reached for his carving knife next. Carefully, he raised his hands, and when that didn’t earn Sky’s ire signed We’re only joking. We always bicker with Legend, we don’t mean anything by it.

Legend doesn’t know that, Sky signed, stone-faced.

Warriors looked stunned. Under his scars, Wild had gone an awful grey.

You’re always telling him how mean or rude he is, Sky continued. You called him a bully last week for trying to help Wind. He hasn’t said anything in days, and when he breaks down, your first reaction is to tease him for it. I don’t think Legend’s the mean one here.

Piece said, Sky turned back to Legend and dragged him into a tight hug. Legend flinched, briefly, then clung back. Legend had always been a little aloof, but now Sky wondered if he’d been misreading it all along.

Legend had been on seven adventures in eight years. How much time did that leave, Sky wondered, for learning how to be a person again in between?

Legend sobbed into his shoulder. He was still trying to hide it, huddled into Sky’s side, terrified of whatever judgement awaited him.

Not enough. Not nearly enough.

[sykesandskittles]

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER ONE

Harlow

Sometimes I feel cursed.

Okay, well, not cursed exactly. But I’ve had my share of challenges in the nineteen years I’ve been on this planet. Well-meaning people—usually adults—have always told me to be thankful for my hardships. It makes you stronger. More capable. Independent.

I wish all that were true. Really, the events that have shaped my life just settle like silt inside me, tainting every thought, every action. Until I’m convinced misfortune has been braided into my DNA.

Generational trauma, isn’t that what they call it?

I dig my toes into the wet sand and look out at the Pacific Ocean. It’s hard to feel cursed here, though. Malibu is a magical place, soaked in sunshine, with a surprising small-town feel. But its best quality is how far it is from Fresno. From home. From the events of last year.

The sharp wind whips through my hair and stings my cheeks. My best friend, Talia, and I wandered down to the beach hours ago after we’d unpacked our boxes and set up our dorm rooms.

Talia called me crazy when I waded into the frigid water, dunking my head under the salty waves like some kind of baptism. Maybe it was a type of cleansing. The ghosts of my past washing away with the tide.

If only forgetting were so easy.

“Hey, look what I found!”

I turn to see Talia walk up to me with something cradled in her palm. It’s a piece of green sea glass. “It was probably a beer bottle or something originally.”

Picking it up, I angle it toward the fading sunlight, looking at it from different angles, admiring its beauty. The power of the ocean is wild—transforming an ordinary beer bottle into something so beautiful. I wonder if it has the power to transform me, too. “What are you going to do with it?”

Talia shrugs. “Turn it into a necklace or something, maybe.”

Another gust of ocean Taliaze whips through me, and my teeth start chattering. “It’s almost sunset. We should head back to the residence hall.”

Exeter University West—one of the West Coast's most prestigious colleges—is right on the beach. When Talia and I applied last year, it was a long shot. A pipe dream. We both have decent grades, but nothing spectacular. So, months later, when we were both accepted, it felt like a miracle. Then when I scored a full scholarship, I finally started to believe my luck was changing.

Exeter is the escape I’ve been desperate for. A fresh start.

I look down the length of the beach and see a huge Victorian mansion perched on a cliff, overlooking the ocean. I noticed it when we first got to campus a couple of days ago. It’s hard to miss. The giant Gothic structure is painted a dark, crimson red with navy blue trim, and ornate woodwork that makes it look out of place on a modern college campus. I was probably here first, though, and the university just encroached gradually until the house and grounds were consumed by the sprawling campus.

It’s a creepy-looking house, though. No lie.

“Our residence hall is right on the other side of that weird house,” I say.

“Okay, let’s go,” Talia says, her bottom lip quivering. “I’m turning into a brine-flavored popsicle.”

The sharp wind continues to cut through us as we walk along the sand, getting dark quickly, and we’re two girls walking alone, so I’m on full alert—glancing behind us, my hand resting on the small stun gun tucked into my front pocket.

But the beach is empty—which is surprising, considering the amount of students on campus. It rained a little earlier, and it’s freezing, so maybe that’s why no one is here. But cold or not, there would still be a couple of people out here, at least, right?

“Slow down,” Talia pouts. “Your legs are longer than mine.”

I pause so she can catch up. “Have you noticed there’s no one else out here? That’s weird, right? I mean, it’s cold, but it’s not that cold.”

“There are people out here,” she says, pointing ahead. I squint, and sure enough, there’s a fire burning about half a mile in the distance, on the beach directly below the creepy house. I don’t know how I missed that, but to be fair, the beach isn’t straight—there’s a shrub-capped berm in the way, and the fire is partially hidden behind that.

“Oh, yeah, huh.”

Talia shakes her head and continues walking. “You are so blind. I keep telling you to go to the eye doctor.”

“I’m not blind.”

“Oh, really?” she says. “So when you walked up to that girl back in high school and started telling her off because you thought she was Veronica?”

I frown, trudging after Talia in the sand. Now it’s me trying to keep up with her. “Okay, but in my defense, they could be twins. I’d like to see the DNA report on those two.”

Talia stops and rolls her eyes at me. “The girl you accosted was three inches shorter than Veronica, and has glasses—which you also need.”

I blow out a breath. “Details. Whatever.”

With a scoff, Talia turns back around and we both keep walking. The beach narrows as we approach the fire, so we have to climb over the berm to get to the other side. It’s rough, and the shrubs are spiny, but we manage to make it down the other side.

“I’m remembering why we didn’t come this way originally,” Talia says. “The sidewalk was a lot easier.”

The sidewalk also dips between several university buildings, and in the dark, there’s no way I’m taking that route. I don’t want to say that, though, so I just shrug. “This way is shorter.”

Talia just pushes out a frustrated breath.

The closer we get to the fire, though, it becomes clear that something is sketchy. There are several people, all wearing robes with hoods, gathered in a half-circle around the fire, facing the ocean, chanting something.

Chanting.

What the…?

I reach out and grab Talia, pulling her back into a crouching position. We had to walk up and over, so we’re somewhat concealed by the random tufts of brush, but not entirely. And we’re only about thirty feet away, but thankfully, I don’t think we’ve been seen.

“Holy shit,” Talia whispers.

I blink rapidly to try and see through the murky twilight. There’s one guy, drenched, and completely naked, cupping his family jewels, shivering in front of the cloaked group.

“What are they doing?” I ask my tone low.

“It could be a frat, but the robes are weird. I think this is the Society of the Burning Crown,” Talia says with a note of awe in her voice.

I swallow. “What is that? Please tell me it’s a chess club or something.”

“Does this look like a chess club?” Talia hisses. She grabs my hand and pulls me forward, but I dig my heels into the sand. “Come on, we need to get closer.”

Closer? Is she insane? “Oh, fuck, no. Whatever this is, I don’t want anything to do with it.”

She manages to drag me several feet forward, but only because fighting her could draw attention to us. So far, we’ve managed to go unnoticed, and I’d like to keep it that way.

We crouch down again, and I try to quiet my breathing. It’s not likely they can hear anything over the roaring ocean, or their weird chanting, but I’m not taking any chances. If I could stop breathing altogether, I would.

Someone from the half-circle approaches the fire. I can’t see their faces, but I’m guessing by the person’s size, and broad shoulders, it’s a guy—and he’s probably the leader. He has a long, metal-looking rod in his hand that he shoves into the fire.

“Okay, we’ve seen enough,” I whisper. “Let’s go.”

Talia just waves me off, her gaze fixed on the odd ritual in front of us. Whatever this is, I get the distinct idea that Talia and I aren’t supposed to be witnessing it. And I would love to honor that.

The chanting continues for a couple of minutes, then Lead Guy approaches Naked Guy and says something to him that I can’t hear. Whatever he says is swallowed by the sound of the roaring ocean.

In response to what was said, Naked Guy nods once, then turns to face the ocean, and falls to his knees. His shoulders curl forward, exposing the length of his spine, and I watch as his thin frame vibrates violently against the cold.

Lead Guy takes another step forward, his hand jutting out like a surgeon silently requesting his scalpel. Someone from the circle removes the rod from the fire and places it in Lead Guy’s outstretched hand.

My breath is held, my gaze cemented to the scene as I watch Lead Guy pull his arm back—almost like he’s doing it in slow motion. Is he going to hit the other guy with that rod? Is this actually happening right in front of me?

As Lead Guy’s arm juts forward, and the tip of the rod makes contact, Naked Guy screams out in pain, the sound echoing off the cliffs surrounding us. He’s being branded. The barbaric act is so shocking and so unexpected, that a scream is ripped from my own throat, and I lurch forward.

“Shit, Harlow!” Talia hisses, pulling me back.

I shove my hand over my mouth to silence the whimper that bubbles up from my throat. It’s too late. They see us. Every hooded figure is turned toward Talia and me, and their leader—God help us—is already crossing the sand, closing the distance between us…

HIS EYES ARE A COLD, Dark Brown. That’s the first thing I notice as the leader of this group stalks toward us, shadows from the moon playing across his masked face, half-hidden under the hood of his robe.

Intensity radiates off this guy, his large body moving with confidence across the sand. When he stops right in front of us, I gulp. He looks like a bouncer, ready to toss us out of a club.

Talia and I are standing side-by-side, but when he speaks, he looks directly at me. “Leave. Now.” His voice is muffled by the mask, but it's deep and harsh, and sends a shiver of fear down my spine. “Go back the way you came.”

I’m already half-turned, opening my mouth to tell him, “Yup, no problem, we’re already gone,” when Talia grabs my wrist, stopping me.

“Hold on,” Talia says, looking over his shoulder at the other robed figures. “What are you guys doing out here?”

The guy’s jaw clenches tightly as he drags his gaze away from me and settles on Talia. Behind the mask, his eyes narrow, and if we needed evidence that we don’t belong here, there it is. Right there. That deadly stare.

“Talia,” I say, practically pleading. “Let’s go.”

She doesn’t hear me, or she’s deliberately ignoring me. Either way, she steps up to Lead Guy. “If you don’t want people watching you, then you shouldn’t be doing this—” She waves wildly at the scene in front of us. “–out in public.”

“This is a private beach,” he answers through gritted teeth. “And you aren’t welcome here.”

I grab Talia's elbow firmly and dare a glance at Lead Guy. “We’re leaving.”

I don’t love the idea of taking the sidewalk all the way back to our residence hall, but it’s either that or walk straight through this creepy-ass ritual. Mmm, no thanks. Hard pass.

Talia struggles against me, but I manage to keep my grip. “You can’t tell us what to do!” she practically yells at the guy. “We’re just walking along the beach. You’re the ones doing sketchy shit.”

Oh, damn. He inadvertently triggered Talia's defiance. I’ve known her since middle school, and she’s always been strong-willed, even to her own detriment. Tell her not to jump off the bridge, and she’s going to do it just to prove she can.

Right now, though, my job is to make sure we don’t end up as the topic of a true crime episode.

“Talia,” I say firmly, yanking her in the direction we just came. She digs her heels in, but I manage to move her a little—enough to encourage me to keep pulling. “Let’s leave the nice Jedis alone.”

I hear the stranger grunt as we walk away, and I feel the weight of his gaze pressing on me until Talia and I reach the top of the berm. I release Talia and quickly make my way down the other side of the small hill, then head up the beach, toward the sidewalk. It’s a steep climb, but I make it in record time, Talia trailing behind me.

“Slow down,” she says, annoyed.

I shake my head and pick up my pace. “We shouldn’t have seen that,” I say.

“Oh, who cares, Harlow? They shouldn’t have been out in the open if whatever they’re doing is such a secret.”

I stop abruptly and turn to face her. “The beach is empty.”

I’d noticed that earlier, but I’d assumed it had something to do with the rain. Now, I wonder if people had gotten the memo that something was going down tonight, and had deliberately stayed off the beach.

Lord.

We stumbled onto something we weren’t supposed to see, and I can't help but wonder what the repercussions of that might be. None, I hope. We left, and hopefully, that’s the end of it.

But ever since the incident last year, my mind has been stuck in survival mode. It feels like everything and everyone is a potential threat. So I doubt I’ll stop worrying about this whole thing anytime soon.

It’s taken a mountain of therapy just to get me to this point–willing to leave my hometown and start over somewhere new. And, honestly, if it weren’t for Talia, that never would have happened. In my darkest moments, she was there, guiding me and encouraging me. She’s the one person in my life I can rely on.

But her impulsivity can get her into trouble, and I feel like I’m always trying to rein her in. Even when we were kids, I was saving her from herself. Trying to get her to think before she tumbled right off that proverbial bridge.

“You have to admit, that was amazing!” Talia says, clapping her hands excitedly. “Shit. I never thought we’d get to see something like that.”

I keep walking. The faster we get to the residence hall and off this dark sidewalk, the better. “A guy was getting branded. What’s amazing about that?”

“I’m pretty sure we just witnessed the initiation ceremony for the Society of the Burning Crown.” She’s walking behind me, and I don’t need to see her face to know she has a smile stretched across her face. I can hear it in her voice. “No one gets to see that. Unless you’re a member, obviously.”

I stop and turn around to face her. “That—what we just saw—was super shady. Branding, violence, anything like that is strictly against the university’s policy.”

She looks lost. “Okay, and? What does that have to do with us?”

“Are they going to be worried we’ll tell someone about it?”

Talia snorts. “You’re afraid they’re going to come after us? They aren’t the mafia, Harlow. They don’t give a shit about us.”

Secret societies are like cults in my mind—and cults can do some pretty crazy shit to keep their secrets hidden. I should know—my mom has been in a cult for the last eight years. She joined when I was eleven—just skipped right over to Florida, leaving me to live with my grandmother. That’s the kind of power these types of groups wield.

Talia grabs me. “Harlow, you’ve got to stop worrying so much.” I sigh. “I’m trying, but it’s not easy.”

Her expression softens. “I know, but everything is going to be fine. How were we supposed to know, right? We were just—” She motions casually “–walking along the beach.”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

But as we walk back to the residence hall, an uneasy feeling gathers in my stomach. The whole idea behind coming to ExU was to blend in. Start over. Stay away from drama. Classes haven’t even started yet, and trouble has already rooted me out.

We get to the building fine—thank God—and I swipe my key card. I’m on the second floor, and Talia is on the third, so we part ways on the second-floor landing.

“See you tomorrow!” Talia calls out, walking up that last set of stairs to her floor. “And stop worrying!”

I just roll my eyes and open the door that leads to my floor. It’s going to be tough to fall asleep tonight—but not because I’m worrying. I know the second I lay my head down to sleep, all I’m going to see in my mind’s eye are a pair of electric brown eyes…

The next morning, I’m barely awake when my roommate, Emily, taps me on the shoulder. “Um, Harlow. Are you awake?”

My eyes are practically sealed shut—how could I be awake? Moaning, I roll over onto my side and face the wall. “No,” I say, pushing my voice through the gravel in my throat.

Last night, just as I predicted, I got zero sleep. As I lay in bed, staring up at the dark ceiling, last night’s events were on repeat inside my head.

Was there something I could have done differently? Inside the safety of my thoughts, I’m always braver than I was out there on the sand—and I say something snarky and clever back to Lead Guy. It’s different every time, but he’s always taken aback by my clever response.

I finally fell asleep around five, just as sunlight started bleeding into the night sky.

But my roomie is an early riser—or so she told me yesterday. And that obviously still holds, even though classes don’t officially start for another two days.

“Okay, well, there’s a note or something here for you. I’ll just put it on your nightstand.”

A note?

I wonder if it’s from Talia. Usually, she’d just text me, but if I’m not answering then she might resort to a handwritten note.

The door clicks shut as Emily leaves, and I flip over onto my back, stretching until I feel a pleasant sting spread across my shoulders. Then I blink and pick up my phone. It’s only eight in the morning. My God. Where on earth could Emily possibly be going this early?

Sitting up, I yawn and glance at the note she left on my nightstand. It’s a black envelope with my name scrawled on the back in all caps—not Talia’s swoopy cursive. I open the envelope and pull out a piece of black cardstock. There’s a symbol on the front. It’s a crown, embossed in gold, flames erupting from the tips

.

Oh, shit.

Didn’t Talia say the society we encountered last night was called the Society of the Burning Crown?

I flip the card over.

Preference Ceremony  

Ten O’Clock  

Rush House

Uh.

I immediately text Talia with a photo of the invite, followed by a full screen of question marks.

Talia is in my room within fifteen minutes, sitting on my bed, cross-legged, looking at the invite from every possible angle. “Well, it looks legit,” she says, scratching the gold embossing.

“What’s a Preference Ceremony?” I ask.

Before arriving on campus, Talia did a ton of research about the university—history, culture, clubs, party scene…any information she could get her hands on. Maybe she ran across a website that mentioned it.

“Never heard of it,” she says, tossing the invite onto the bed next to her. She picks up her phone, types something in, then starts scrolling. “There might be something online about it.”

I do my own search on my laptop, but there’s nothing. All I can find on the Burning Crown is general information that’s been posted on a random forum dedicated to secret societies.

“Listen to this,” I say. “The Society of the Burning Crown is a secret society, founded in 1890, on the campus that is known today as Exeter University West. Rush House is the society’s headquarters and sits on the edge of the university’s 124 acres.” I turn my computer, so she can see the photo that’s been inserted between the paragraphs. It’s that creepy Victorian house on the cliff. I pull my computer back and continue reading out loud, “Little is known about the inner workings of the society, but the rumored structure is a larger membership known as the Circle, and a smaller, ruling class, known as the Omen boys. The Omens are the direct descendants of the four founding members.”

Talia scrapes her teeth over her bottom lip, thinking. “Hm. Does it say anything about what a Preference Ceremony is?”

“Nope.”

She lifts her hands, slapping them back down on her knees. “Welp, I suppose we’ll just have to find out then!”

I shake my head. “No way.”

Talia frowns at me, her delicate features scrunched up and contorted. She never really looks ugly, though. She has a pert little nose, high cheekbones, and long, dark eyelashes that are 1000% real. The girls in high school always hated her for that.

She shoves her bottom lip out in a pout. “Oh, come on, why not? It’ll be an adventure.”

“Yesterday, that guy was pissed that we’d stumbled on their…whatever that was. Then this morning, they slid an invite under my door?” I press my lips together. “If that’s not weird, then I don’t know what is.”

“Maybe they just want to make amends,” Talia offers. “You said yourself that they might be afraid we’ll tell someone. So maybe this is their way of, I don’t know, smoothing things over.”

I pick up the envelope that the note came in, reading my name over and over, almost as if I stare at it long enough, it’ll give up its author’s secrets. It just makes me more uneasy, though, if anything.

“How do they even know my name? And why just give me an invite?”

My tone is rising, and Talia must sense how tense I’m getting. She knows the year I’ve had, and how desperately I just want to have a normal freshman experience. Quiet. Boring. No drama.

She reaches over and places a hand on my arm. “Harlow, it’s okay. Societies like this have their hand in everything, and if someone steps foot on their campus, they usually know about it. It’s not personal to you.” She shrugs. “And you probably got the invite because you’re closer to the building entrance. Why bother sending two invites when they know we’re together?”

It’s a paper-thin theory and doesn’t even make sense, but I cling to it because believing there’s a deeper meaning would seriously threaten my mental health. And the whole idea behind starting over is not over-analyzing every little thing. Or so my therapist, Dr. Cunningham, says.

I take a deep breath. “Yeah, okay. Doesn’t matter anyway, because we’re not going.” I snatch the invite up off the bed and rip it in two.

Talia lunges at me, her green eyes wide with horror. “Harlow, what the fuck?” She grabs the two pieces from my hands and tries to fit them back together. “We have to go. No one gets invited to these things. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

I lean back against my pillows. “You know how I feel about cults, Talia. Don’t ask me to do this.”

“It’s not a cult. It’s a secret society. There’s a big difference.”

I push out a sigh. “That’s disputable.”

I know her, though. If Talia wants to do something, she’ll do it, no matter what I say. And I can’t let her go to something like that alone—it’s way too sketchy.

“Maybe they want to apologize for last night? And if we don’t go, then they might see that as an insult.”

I make a face. “Apologize? The guy from last night didn’t look sorry. He looked pissed.”

“Okay, let’s compromise. We’ll go, see what they want, and if there’s anything shady happening, then we’ll leave. Easy. No stress.”

No stress. I practically snort at that. I’m already stressed.

I think about it for a second, then take the invite from her hands, shoving both pieces into the black envelope. “Fine, we’ll go under two conditions.”

“Okay, shoot,” she says, and I can already see she wants to squeal with excitement.

“One: we find out what they want, then leave.” I hold a finger in the air before she can respond. “Two: if they even hint at trying to recruit us, we bail right then and there.” Talia opens her mouth to argue, but I stop her. “Ah! We leave immediately.”

She deflates a little, but I think she knows this is the only way I’ll do it. And the envelope has my name on it, which gives me a little leverage. She could try to go without me, but there’s a chance they’d turn her away at the door.

Talia leans back. “Fine. Deal.”

I nod, satisfied. But deep down, I have a sinking feeling there’s more to all of this than a simple apology. Something much darker…

[eileenslibrary]

Big Enough Bedroll For The Two Of Us

Thorin x Reader

Warnings: Rain, Not The Greatest Writing, Hypothermia (Mentioned x2), Nudity, Sharing A Bed Trope But A Bit Different, Fluff

It’s raining, water pours down on all fifteen of you cold to the bones, thirteen dwarves and a hobbit try to catch up to you “Stop walking so damn fast with your long legs” Fili cusses nearly slipping on the mud “I have a reason to walk fast! I am more susceptible to hypothermia than all of you don’t you remember!” You shout back turning around and huddling your blue cloak around you trying to stay warm. Fili and Kili grumble in frustration as the other dwarves start catching up with you, Thorin quickly finding his place next to you, his hair sticking to his face. His blue eyes calculate the scenery “What’s the layout?” You hum shivering letting out a shaky breath as water starts dripping down your neck into your shirt, your armor doing nothing to stop it. “I think I see a cave over there, we can set camp until the rain clears” He sighs, Thorin shouts the order to the others, and a series of “at last” and “finally” can be heard from Kili, Fili, and Bilbo. You all hurry over to the place Thorin says he sighted the cave.

You see it and sigh in happiness. It is a cave, and it’s dry, you begin unpacking and check if your bedroll made it out dry, to your luck it did. You place it on the ground keeping your boots off of it, you strip your cloak off and undo all of your armor throwing it in a pile, and you dig in your pack to grab some dry clothing. You hum in frustration at the open wide cave giving you no privacy to change, you feel a presence behind you and a big blanket suddenly be thrown in front of you. “I’ll hold it up, get changed” Your eyes widen surprised that it is Thorin of all people saying that. “Thank you, Thorin” You hush slipping off your boots and socks and putting them next to your cloak. Thorin picks up the blanket holding it in front of you as you change out of your wet clothes and into your dry ones “I’m done” Thorin drops the blanket down at that “You are still in your wet clothes, you should have changed” You scold noticing his tunic sticking to his torso in what seems to be an uncomforting way “I also change in privacy (Name)” He says quickly looking down at you “Oh, well would you like me to return the favor?” You stand offering to hold the blanket, Thoring stays quiet for a moment thinking of a response “I would yes” He sighs handing the blanket to you. He leads you to his pack, his dry clothes on the ground, you notice his bedroll didn’t make it out dry due to the harsh rain “Thorin, Where are you to sleep?” you sigh as you turn around holding the blanket up giving him privacy, he does not give you an answer. You shake your head, at least this blanket is dry “Are you planning to sleep only with this blanket?” You ask, seething when more cold beads of water drip down your shirt from your head. “I was, why?” He grumbles “Because I will not allow it!” You fuss your eyebrows creasing in worry. He chuckles, only you can hear it “And where am I to sleep?” He presses. You listen to him clasping a cloak around his shoulders “I have enough room in my bedroll. It will benefit me as well, I will have a lower chance of getting sick if I have another person to keep me warm, due to my body temperature being significantly lower I am more susceptible to catching an illness that can end up in death or amputation” You point out to him. You hear him sigh and the both of you fall into silence, you feel anxiety rise “Did I overstep?” you think biting your lip at the silence.

 “I am dressed,” He says after a while of silence. You fold the blanket and turn around looking at him handing it back, you turn and go back to your bedroll, unrolling the wool-lined fabric and slipping into it, you pull it around yourself, still shivering. Kili and Fili gather as much dry wood as they can from outside pilling it up for a fire, You watch Bofur tear a few pages from his notebook as kindling, they finally get a fire going, Balin and Dwalin start cooking up some dinner for all of you. 

You sip down the hot soup quickly feeling the warmth flow through your system. You were huddling between Fili and Balin trying to find more warmth “I hate how the cold wind blows right through me” You grumble in protest of the weather, some of the dwarves chuckle at your statement. Bilbo agrees with you happily making you cheer up slightly at not being completely alone in this horrid freezing state. You look across from you and see Thorin staring at you, his hair beginning to frizz up as it dries. You nod toward him in acknowledgment before finding interest in your stew sipping it up hungrily. Supper comes to an end and the dwarves all start going to bed, you move back to your original place, pulling on another tunic and an extra pair of socks to stay warm. You hear someone approaching you, Thorin you realize, he stares down at you “May I still take you up on that offer?” He asks, you nod and hold up one side of your bedroll for him to slide into. He willingly slots himself next to you throwing the blanket from earlier over you both. You shift to lay on your side so he has more room, he thanks you quietly and lays down next to you, turns on his side facing you, and shuffles closer to you. To your surprise he offers his arm as a pillow for you “Rest your head, it will warm you up” This Is all you get from him. You nod and lay on his arm, your cheeks heat as he pulls you flush to his chest tucking your head in his neck, the moment becoming intimate quickly, Thorin's soft breathing calms you, his body heat quickly warming you up. Your eyes flutter closed and you begin slipping into the land of dreams, but you faintly feel a pair of lips pressing quickly to your forehead. 

.

.

.

[nyaagolor]

Does anyone ever think about the whole poisoning scene in the courthouse? Because I do. A Lot.

-

“You should know better than to take drinks from strangers, Mister Attorney,” she says.

He’s frozen now, mug still raised to his lips, dark eyes locked with hers. Slowly, carefully, he sets the mug on the counter with shaking hands as his heart plunges to his stomach. The entire room seems to spin around the ghost of her smile, some subtle fragile thing. He commits every detail of her face to memory, how soft it is, how blank, watching him with vague disinterest like a well polished doll. Diego opens his mouth, a million questions stuck behind the ivory cage of his teeth. He catches himself staring at her, fighting to speak. His stomach rolls. He’s forgetting how to breathe.

Something hot spikes in his abdomen and he curls instinctively, back arched like a cat and hands curling tightly around himself. He fights to lift his head, to catch the look in those eyes even as the world around him pulses dark and painful.

Every single one of his limbs feel heavy, and the leaden body of Diego Armando slumps onto the table with eyes wide open. He fights with it, with himself, tugging himself upwards even as his skin melts away like candle wax and his nerves burst into flames. White hot electricity crackles over his remains, falling down, down, and he reaches out with every last ounce of his failing strength as though he can will himself back up. He knows where it is he’s going now, because his body is on fire. It’s still burning, even as his form reduces to ashes. If he can just reach out, grab hold of her, he might be able to stop himself from falling— or at the very least drag her down to hell with him.

Choking out something pitiful, he feels wetness on his face. Diego wills the tears to stop falling, for his face to dry, to stop the stinging behind his eyes as his vision blurs to nothing. He cannot cry now— that would be admitting to himself that it’s over. When his body drops and his consciousness shoots upwards, suspended in some kind of backwards free-fall, he just sucks in air. There’s a wetness in his lungs, on his face, dragging him downwards into that burning, smoldering darkness, but if nothing else he can do one last thing. With the last breath he remembers taking, Diego Armando screams loud enough to wake the dead.

[sugarsweb]

HiMERU x Fem!Reader

SIT ON HIS FACE. HiMERU has a specific request. (Originally posted Sep 22nd)

Contains : Dom/Sub undertones, cunnilingus, Fem!Reader, not proofread

Word Count : > 800

18+ content underneath the cut. By clicking 'Keep Reading' you are knowingly reading content made for people over the age of 18. Read at your own discretion.

His hand travels across your body lightly, and your body feels like it’s on fire. His touch is so gentle, yet promises much more to come - your lips connect, and HiMERU’s free hand comes up to cradle your face gently. 

With his body on top of yours, pressing down enough for you to feel some of his weight against you, you should feel trapped - but you’re comfortable, and you break the kiss to let out a breathy sigh, lightly panting from the lack of air. Your boyfriend pulls away a bit to take a glance at your face - your hair is dishevelled, cheeks warm and your eyes are nearly glazed over. Who knew he could have such an effect on you? 

He feels his pants get tight, and as much as he wants to feel your tight cunt wrapped around him, there’s something else on his mind. 

HiMERU moves to lay down on your shared bed, his hair splayed out as his hand grabs your thigh and he squeezes it silently, asking you to get on top of him without using any words. You get his message, and on shaky legs, place yourself on top of his lap, feeling his dick right through his pants. Your brain finally catches up in the moment, realising that you’re completely naked, while he’s just shirtless. He chuckles when he sees the pout forming on your face, knowing exactly what you’re thinking - unfair. 

However, him being naked is the least of his worries, and he opens his mouth to ask you; 

“Sit on HiMERU’s face.” 

Okay, maybe not much of a question - more of a demand, if anything. And what HiMERU wants, HiMERU gets. That doesn’t stop your face from feeling a hundred times warmer than before, and as embarrassing as his demand makes you, your pussy clenches around nothing, anticipating the feeling of his wet tongue in you. 

“Um, are you sure?” You say. His hands trail down your spine, one hand coming to grab your asscheek and the other pressing against your back to press you closer against him, and he bucks up into you as he can feel your heat right against his clothed dick. “I- I’m not light as a feather or anything…” 

HiMERU groans, not out of annoyance, but the thought of feeling your thighs around his head and the taste of your juice on his lips turns him on more than he’ll ever admit. The hand on your butt squeezes, telling you that he’s absolutely sure. 

You give a hesitant nod and, reluctantly, pull yourself from off his lap to shuffle towards his face. If you weren’t so distracted by the whole situation, you could have noticed his eyes gleaming out of excitement in the dim room light. 

You’re right above his face, not pressing down just yet as you check in with him again. “You’re absolutely sure?” 

His answer is to quickly move his hands to your thighs, pulling you down on top of his face - you can feel his hot mouth against your own heat, his tongue darting out to lick a stripe across your pussy. Your body jolts in response, hands immediately grasping the headboard to steady yourself and try to avoid suffocating your boyfriend between your thighs. 

HiMERU groans loud at the taste of you, hips bucking into nothing. His tongue laps at your wetness, and you moan in reply. You have to remind yourself not to start riding his face, but he feels so good and the way he’s making circles is driving you insane. Lewd slurping noises bounce off the walls of your room, and HiMERU’s tongues into your hole, making you nearly fold in half out of pleasure. 

His hands are massaging your thighs, making a shiver go down your back as he focuses back on your clit, and you feel your orgasm rapidly approaching. 

“HiMERU… fuck, feels so good-” Your praise turns him on even further, and he doubles his efforts, desperate to feel you clench around his tongue and cum in his mouth. “I’m gonna - fuck - I’m gonna cum soon-!” 

The vibration of his moans add to the sensation, and you quickly lose yourself in the pleasure, your hips lightly bucking against his face, and HiMERU thinks he’s died and gone to heaven - to see yourself lose your inhibitions and chase your high thanks to his tongue does things to him. 

You nearly scream his name as you cum on his tongue, and he happily laps every last drop up. The feeling of his tongue continuing to clean you up overstimulates you, your thighs shaking violently, and you try to pull yourself up from his face, but your boyfriend’s hold on you gets tighter. He pulls away from your cunt momentarily to look at you in your eyes, and you notice the wetness on the lower half of his face and you have to force yourself not to look away in shame. However, HiMERU seems to read your mind, and one hand comes up to grab your face in a firm - yet gentle - hold. 

“I’m not done here.” 

Oh, you were in for quite a night.

[xxspringmelodyxx]

The Daughter of the Phoenix~

Hello my dear readers! Welcome back to the next chapter of The Daughter of the Phoenix! I hope you enjoyed the last one, and I hope you enjoy this one just as much. Just a little reminder that this is a “HSR Men x F. Reader” situation type deal! :) Here is part I if you haven’t read that yet! Also, let me know if you’d like to be included in the tag list. I have notifications turned on now, so I should now be able to see who comments on my posts; so, I should get back to you very quickly! Anyways, I’ll stop with all this jibber jabber and let you read. Have fun~

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Words: 3.4k

Warnings: a bit of swearing, a bit of violence towards the end…I think that is all!

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I felt my body slowly wake up after what seemed to be forever. My eyes were heavy, making it almost impossible to open them. As I slowly gained back consciousness, I started to feel pain run up and throughout my body. It was almost like I was on fire and no matter what, I couldn’t get rid of it.

Suddenly, I heard two voices talking to one another. One sounded like a girl, and the other sounded like a boy. 

Wait…where am I? 

My eyes snapped wide open, only to be met with a bright light. I slightly shut them this time, letting them adjust to the light difference. 

“Hey! She’s awake!” The female voice spoke.

She began to slightly shake me, making my head dizzy. 

“Stop doing that. You can clearly see she is getting sick from it.” The male voice said

“Oh, sorry! I was just trying to help her wake up.”

That’s when I budded in and began to speak…well tried to at least

“Where…where am I?” I said. My voice was extremely hoarse, making it hard for the two to fully understand me. 

The girl placed her hand on my arm, trying her best to soothe me.

“Don’t worry. You are safe here with us. We tried to help you to the best of our abilities. But some of your injuries were far too deep to fully heal.” She said

Soon enough, my eyes adjusted to the light and I took this time to observe my surroundings. I was…outside? Tall and bushy trees surrounded us, the morning sun’s rays just barely passing through them, giving it this ethereal look. The soft, grassy ground was wet from the morning dew, dampening my clothes. I looked down to look at my body, seeing deep wounds and bruises all over my body with a few bandages wrapped around my legs, torso, and arms. I also noticed that I was wearing what looked to be a hospital gown. 

I tried to push myself up, but realized that my body was so weak and injured that I couldn’t even do that.

“Woah, woah. Just relax, okay? Your body is pretty banged up, so you need to give it some time to heal.” She said

“W…What happened?” I tried to speak again. I tried desperately to remember how I got into this situation, but no matter how hard I tried, nothing came to mind. Now that I continue to wander in my own mind, I quickly realize that I can’t remember anything besides my own name! I was dragged out of my own thoughts when the man began to speak.

“We were wondering the same thing. You're lucky we were here to catch you. Otherwise, you would’ve died. What the hell were you even doing up there?” The man asked, trying his hardest to understand what was going on.

“Dan!” The girl yelled

“What? All I’m trying to do is see why she was up there.” He replied

“Up…where?” I asked, confused as to what they were talking about

“In the sky! You were falling at like 120 miles per hour!” She said

“I was?” I asked again, still not sure as to why I was all the way up there

“You mean…you have no memory of what you were doing up there? Or what caused you to fall?” Dan asked, perplexed.

I shook my head.

“Well, do you at least know what caused you to get injured this badly?” The woman asked, making me shake my head once again.

“I can’t…I can’t seem to remember anything at all.” I spoke up

“What about your family? They must be worried about you? Any friends? Pets even?” The girl said

“No. Nothing.” 

“Hmmm. It would seem that your body has experienced a lot of trauma that somehow caused your mind to block out any memory you had. Do you at least remember your name?” Dan asked

“Y/n…Y/n L/n.” 

“Well it's wonderful to meet you, Y/n! My name is March 7th! And this jerk to the left of me is, as I’m sure you heard, Dan Heng–ow! What was that for?” March whined after Dan stepped on her foot.

“Why are you telling her our identities? She could be with you know who!” He whispered to her.

“Oh come on, Dan! Look at her!” March said, kneeling back down to you, placing her hands around your face and cuddling up to you.

“She doesn’t even look like she could harm a fly!” She said

“What is he talking about?” You asked her

“Oh don’t worry about him. He's just paranoid that you could possibly be siding with a man who is maybe, kind of, most definitely trying to destroy us.” She explained

“Destroy you??” You asked with a concerned look

“Or maybe take over the world…to be honest, we don’t really know. But what we do know is that he is out for something. And whatever that is, it must be important because some of the townspeople have been dealing with him lately. They’ve managed to keep it tame for some time, but every time he comes back, it gets worse for them.” She finished

“I see…well, I’m not sure what I’m doing here…or where I am from. But I can tell you one thing. I am not with whoever it is you are talking about. Well at least I don’t think I am….” You said, scratching your head

March smiled down at you, hugging you tightly. Dan, however, just stared at you with a look of uncertainty, not sure if he fully believes you or not.

“Oh I just knew you couldn’t hurt a fly! Welcome to our not so large group!” March said

“Are you kidding me? She is not joining us. I still don’t trust her, not to mention that we barely even know her!” Dan said to March, pulling her away from me.

March pushed Dan away, glaring at him

“Oh hush, you! Give her a chance to prove herself!” March said, making Dan roll his eyes.

“No way.”

“Oh please, Dan! Please!” She asked, using her puppy dog eyes. She kept asking Dan over and over again, which you couldn’t help find a little funny. Eventually, Dan quickly grew tired of her and sighed.

“Alright! She can come with us. Just stop with that nonsense.” He said to her, moving his eyes towards my direction. He pointed his finger at me, looking at me with menace.

“And you. If you slip up even once, you are done.” He said sternly.

I nodded, swearing to them both that I will not be a burden to them and prove myself worthy.

“Oh goody! Soooo, what can you do!” March asked, sitting next to you.

“What do you mean?” I asked her with a questioning look.

“Like what kind of abilities do you have? Can you fight? Can you heal? Can you help us at all with defense?” 

I just stared at her with a blank stare, still struggling to even remember who I am.

“March, she just told us a while ago that she can’t remember anything.” Dan said, holding the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

“I know. I just thought I’d ask. I wanted to see if she could remember that.”

“She also might not have any ability at all.” He said

They began arguing once again. They were just like siblings who were both at the age of 5.

Quickly you budded in because you were starting to find their arguing a bit troublesome instead of funny. It was giving you a pounding headache.

“If I may.” You interrupted, making them both look at you

“I do not know if I am capable of anything like that…but I feel that I can learn rather quickly if you allow me to come with you.”

March’s eyes sparkled as she clasped her hands together.

“I love that idea! You can be our little apprentice who learns the way of the true fighter.” She said, looking off into the distance in her own little world.

Dan looked at March with confusion, but dismissed her to look back at you.

“I guess that wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Just make sure you don’t fall behind. We have things to get done and we can’t waste any of that time carrying you on our backs.” Dan said.

“Dan, she literally can’t walk! Look at her!” March said

“Oh, I’m sure I can walk now by myself…at least I think.” I said, looking down at my legs. Honestly, I lied. I knew it would be extremely painful to walk right now. But I don’t want to be left alone…and I also don’t want to start this off with them having to carry me around everywhere. 

I tried to push myself up, only to feel throbbing pain everywhere. March pushed me back down as she instantly took notice.

“Y/n. You need to not move a single muscle. Whatever you went through caused a great deal of damage to your body. If you continue to move without resting and letting yourself heal, you might cause future issues that could cause issues for you and the rest of us.” She said. Dan turned on his heel to go look for a way out of the forest, telling us that he will be back.

“But I-”

“No buts. Look, I know you don’t want to seem like a burden to us, but trust me, you aren’t. I know Dan may seem a bit…unique with his attitude, but he is only acting this way because he is confused. He can’t explain what happened to you or how you even got here. Therefore, he is struggling to trust you because he can’t understand. Once you get to truly know him, you will realize that there is a soft side to him. It just takes time. Once he gets used to you, he will open up a bit more and you may even find yourself to become good friends with him.”

“But he doesn’t seem like he wants to be around me at all.”

“It’s just because he doesn’t know what to do right now. Dan is that type of person to be reserved and professional about almost anything. But trust me when I say this. He will not leave you behind. He is not the type of person to do that. If he was, he would’ve left me behind a long time ago with how easily distracted I get.”

“Really?”

“Oh are you kidding me? Almost every mission we go on, I am always the one that slows us down because I want to enjoy everything we are doing! Dan just wants to get to point A to point B and get it done and over with. Honestly, I think it’s the reason we work so well together. He keeps me on track, but I allow him to actually enjoy life rather than being so uptight.” She said

“And now with you, it's going to be so much fun! Who knows what new adventures you bring us! Or what new talents you bring us!” She said

“But…Dan said I might not have any ability-”

“So what? You don’t have to have a special ability to have talent! You could be helpful in other numerous ways! You could help gather up a team to help us on our missions! You could help spy on others to help with our missions! You could even just help us by traveling long distances to search for things or talk to others for our missions! Don’t get down on yourself so easily! You never know what potential you have if you don’t try!” She said

“Yeah…I guess you're right.” I said, thankful for her kind and inspiring words. 

Just as she finished, Dan came back in a full sprint.

“Dan? What’s wrong?” March asked

Before he could open his mouth, a large screeching sound was heard from behind him. My eyes opened wide as I realized we were in danger.

Damn it! Why right now!

“Shit! We need to get out quick! We can’t fight a shape shifter right now!” March said, grabbing a hold of me.

“Dan! Help me get her up!” March said. Dan quickly sprinted towards us and, without struggle, picked me up in his arms. March and Dan began to run as fast as they could, not wanting to waste a single second.

The screeching got louder and louder, however. I lifted my head a bit to see what exactly we were running from, only to see a gigantic creature running towards us. It looked like a knight in shining armor, only more terrifying. 

It raised its hand and balled its hand up into a fist, causing a large lightning bolt to hit only inches away from us, making me shriek. 

Soon, another hit, knocking March to her knees. Dan stopped in his tracks, looking down at March.

He ran to her and helped her up.

“You alright?” He asked. She nodded, panting.

Dan looked up ahead, seeing that it would be near impossible for them to escape this without getting severely injured. It would be better to just face the enemy and get it done and over with.

You noticed that they weren’t moving and grew nervous. They weren’t seriously thinking about stopping that thing were they??

“Get her to safety.” March said, pointing towards me.

Dan nodded and ran you over to a large tree to hide you. He looked into your eyes with a bit of concern

“Stay here and don’t move, alright?” He asked, well, more like ordered.

I nodded anyway and stayed back, watching them fight the creature. Lightning was shooting from all sides, freaking me out a bit. Though, the two of them seemed like they knew exactly what to do. They attacked the creature from both sides, not giving it a single chance to strike back. Their only worries were the lightning strikes hitting the ground, but even with that, they seemed to avoid each one.

Unfortunately, one of the lightning bolts nearly hit me, making me scream a bit. I ran my hand over my mouth, hoping they didn’t hear that. That didn’t work, however, because I felt a large hand grab my leg, making me scream loudly this time. I was suddenly lifted up into the air upside down, hanging by my foot.

I looked up to see another one of those creatures, looking at me with sinister eyes.

Dan turned around to look for me, only to see the position I was in.

‘Y/n!” He yelled, running towards me.

March also looked and gasped. Before she could do anything, though, she was flung back into a tree from the first shape shifter, causing her to lose her breath.

Dan ran up and tried to help me, but the shape shifter behind him grabbed onto him and threw him around, causing him a great deal of damage. 

The creature looked at me and struck me with a bolt of lightning, sending shocks all throughout my body. 

I yelled in agony as my already injured body was facing more and more damage. 

“Y/n…” 

My face turned from one in pain to one with confusion as I looked around to see who said my name.

Everything was in slow motion, but it was all very blurry. Suddenly, I started to see a smokey silhouette from afar. It was pitch black and it was flying with its wings. It looked like a bird.

“Let me in, Y/n…Let me help you…” It whispered in my head, its voice echoing this whole time.

“W-Who…are you?” I whispered, making the creature holding me upside down confused.

“That is not important right now, my dear…Right now, you must let me take over so that I can help you.” It said, still standing far away from me. 

Before I could respond, however, my eyes were getting very heavy from all the pain that was being put on me. It’s funny. For some reason, I feel like I am having deja vu…but I can’t remember for the life of me why that is. 

Having no power left in me, I just accepted my fate and closed my eyes, falling into yet another deep slumber.

“I’ll make sure you are protected, no matter what…” The voice said to me before I passed out.

–

Dan and March sat up, their heads bleeding and pounding from the attacks they just received. 

March looked around for you, seeing that you were still being held upside down with even more injuries to your body. Her and Dan’s eyes opened wide as they saw you hanging there with your eyes closed.

“Y/n!” They both called out for you, standing up quickly to run and help you.

That was quickly put to an end when a large amount of lightning strikes surrounded them, creating a wall between you and them.

“Y/n! Wake up! Please, wake up!” March yelled, trying to find a way out to help you.

The lightning strikes kept getting closer to them, making the two stick right to each other.

There was no way out unless they ran right through it at the right time.

They both looked up at you, seeing the creature about to strike you again.

“Y/n!” Dan yelled out, trying to run through, only to get shocked. He was flung back into March, knocking her over as well.

Just as they thought you were done for, they looked up only to see your body…absorbing the shocks around you??

The two’s eyes widened as they watched the electricity go into your body, surrounding your skin with white cracks.

The two creatures looked at you with turned heads, curious as to how you were doing this.

All four of them took notice of how your arms started to turn a blackish/greenish color, the bright white cracks still present in your skin.

In a matter of seconds, your eyes opened wide, completely black with a bit of smoke seething out of the outer corners of your eyes. In that moment, a large scream emitted from your mouth, allowing a surge of energy to burst out of your body. 

The bright energy blast that escaped your body ran through the forest, pushing the trees back and even breaking them a bit. The ground beneath you all began to push downward due to the force of the blast. Most importantly, however, the blast touched the two beasts surrounding you two and completely disintegrated them into dust.

Since they disappeared, the lightning also disappeared and allowed March and Dan to be freed.

In a moment of shock, they stood there, amazed at what you just did, yet also a bit cautious. They weren’t sure what else you were going to do…or if you even knew what you were going to do.

But their thoughts quickly eroded away when they saw your body turn back to normal almost instantly and start to fall to the ground. 

Dan sprinted towards you, making sure to catch your body once again. He just barely made it to you, falling to the ground with you in his arms.

He looked down at you to see you were in the same shape as you were when he first caught you in the sky, making his curiosity about you increase.

“We need to get her proper medical help. Right away. Her pulse is barely there again…and I fear it will be harder to heal her with just us two. Come on, we need to get back to the others.” Dan said, standing up and placing you on his back, allowing you to rest.

March followed behind, worried about what just happened…and worried if you were going to make it.

And as much as Dan didn’t want to admit it, he was just as worried as well.

The two of them traveled as fast as they could to get back to someone they knew who could help, and who they knew was close by.

Bailu

_________________________________

That’s all, my sweet readers! I hope you enjoyed this, and please, let me know if there are any mistakes or issues because I am always open to constructive criticism to help improve my writing! With that being said, I hope you all have a lovely rest of your day/night!

Taglist:

mysticparadisecrusade

[heroictoonz]

Febuwhump 2022 Day 6: Hypothermia

Ships: Blue & Red

Warnings: N/A

AO3 L!nk in the Comments!

Finding Blue frozen in such a state was surprising to the red-clad hero and his new fairy friend. Red called out to the other and looked up and down at the block of ice. When the fairy reminded him of the fire wand in his possession, Red grabbed the weapon and unleashed its powers onto the crystal-like prison.

Once the ice had thinned enough the weight of Blue’s form caused the rest to shatter under him as he fell back. Red lunged forward to catch the other. He stiffened his legs so as not to give out under the sudden weight in his arms.

Red looked over at Blue. He seemed to be unconscious, his shivering form cold to the touch. His clothes felt damp and his face flushed. “Blue?” Red whined sadly. “Blue, please wake up!” His head snapped over to the fairy and he cried, “Fairy! What’s wrong with Blue?!”

The small being fluttered anxiously towards them. She looked over the unconscious hero before speaking, “He looks to be too cold. You should try to warm him up!”

Red fervorously scrubbed his arm across his eyes to keep any tears from forming as he nodded. He gently moved to lean Blue’s form against the cave wall. His lip quivered at the sight. Blue shouldn’t be sleeping like this! He should have exploded out of the ice with a loud yell. He should have been up and running off to try and find the others, or even Shadow. Seeing him in such a state only made Red want to cry.

“His clothes look wet!” the fairy cried out. “Hurry and get some of them off so they can dry off and Blue can get warm!”

Red looked up to the fairy. “Oh uh,” he muttered out, looking from Blue to the fairy. He pressed his fingers together and pouted. “He’s kinda heavy, though. Do I have to?”

“Red!” the fairy hissed out angrily. “His life could be in danger!”

Red made a call of surprise and flinched at her tone. Ah. Right. Bigger picture here. He bit the inside of his lip and pushed his focus to maneuvering the top layer of Blue’s damp tunic off. That should help at least some. Red put the garment to the side flat to try and help it dry out.

Red then moved to grab the fire wand. He pushed it towards Blue, careful not to touch and accidentally burn his skin. Red closed his eyes to try and focus on the wand. Magic was a frustrating thing at times and if he wasn’t careful he could only do more harm than good. He focused on keeping the heat emanating from the wand lower. Still hot enough to warm up the body before him, but not enough to cause an actual flame.

Time felt so slow. It felt as though he had been doing it for hours. He wanted nothing more than to grab Blue and shake the other awake. Though, Red didn’t even know if that would work. That thought scared him more than anything else.

After a bit, he heard the other shift. Red’s eyes shot open at the sound, watching as Blue’s own eyes opened slowly. He let out a groan of confusion. Red, in his joy, threw his arms into the air, sending the wand flying. He grabbed the confused hero and pulled him into a tight embrace.

Blue let out a grunt of surprise at the action.

“Blue!” Red called loudly. “You’re alive!”

“Wh- I’m-?” Blue squeezed his eyes closed to try and get his foggy brain to clear up. It didn’t do all that much. “‘Course I’m alive, dumbass,” he grumbled out weakly. He let out another groan and pulled himself out of the hug. He opened his mouth to speak again only to be cut off by a loud sneeze. The sound caused both Red and the fairy to jump as it reverberated through the cave.

“Oh no!” Red cried as he suddenly launched forward and shoved his hands onto Blue’s face. Running both palms against his forehead then to his cheeks, squashing them in.

Blue made a sound of upset as he swatted at the hands.

“The ice made you sick!” Red gasped as he pulled his hands away.

“You manhandling me is what’s making me sick right now!” Blue yelled out angrily. However, the energy used for such an exclamation took more than he had. His head crashed into a dizzy feeling and he quickly placed it into his hands and groaned.

Red’s hands shot to his mouth in worry. “Oh! Here!” He pulled off his own tunic and shoved it into Blue’s hands. “Yours is still drying! But you should stay warm!”

Blue looked down at the bright fabric with his brows furrowed in confusion. He let out a huff before pulling it on. “Fine,” he mumbled. “But we gotta switch back before we meet up with the others or it’ll get confusing.”

Red nodded. He then realized the wand was no longer in his hand. He quickly twisted and turned til he found it and grabbed it. He let the ball on the end erupt in flames before setting it up beside them. “To help keep us warm!” He smiled at the other. “You should warm up and rest before we head off to look for the others!”

“What!” Blue hissed in refusal. “No way! We gotta go look for them and then find that stupid shado-wachu!”

Red frowned as the other wiped away his sneeze. “Nuh uh! No way!” Red pushed his hands to Blue’s shoulder with a serious expression. Or at least as serious as he could look. “You’re not going anywhere until you have at least some of your strength back!”

Blue moved to protest but was startled by another sneeze. He gave a groan and crossed his arms with a huff. “Fine,” he hissed out.

Red’s face pulled into a wide smile, happy to have won the argument so easily. He moved to settle next to the other against the wall. “I’ll take a nap with you!” He cheered out.

“What! No way! Sleep on your own side of the cave!” Blue hissed out at the other, shoving him away by his face.

Red let out a laugh. “Aw! But it’ll help you warm up faster! Ya, know like with body heat!”

Blue crossed his arms again. “Who said I wanted your heat! I can make my own just fine!”

Red gave another laugh. “That doesn’t even make any sense!” He pushed into the other’s side and relaxed against him.

“Hey-!” Blue gave another sharp sneeze, cutting off any protest. He let out a groan as he decided he was too tired to keep arguing. Instead, he relaxed into the other and let his eyes close. The warmth of the fire and Red luling him to sleep.

[therealpactcommander]

Commander Week Day 7 - Aurene

Written like the Story Journal. At least attempted to

-----

There’s really nothing to journal about. I woke up, learned about my short coma, and now my own daughter Aurene won’t let me leave because I’m “still hurt.”

But, I’ve written about all of my adventures, and I’m bored to all hell. So, I might as well do something to pass the time. It won’t be as interesting as describing my epic battles against dragons, but I’m in so much need of something to do.

-----

My hip is aching again. Aurene told me to sit in the water, and I didn’t want to explain that it didn’t have anything to do with being shot. So, now I’m wet and cold. Yay for me.

Another lasting mark from a near-death experience.

I hadn’t told anyone that my hip had gotten caught when Kralkatorik attacked me. Don’t get me wrong, I would have been all crystal if Aurene hadn’t stepped in, and I’m grateful she did. Yet, the agony of brand lodging in to my skin while breaking about 5 different bones isn’t something I’ll forget any time soon.

It hadn’t spread any further from the wound, so I went off and killed Kralkatorik. It was only when I had a moment to breathe when I hid in Thunderhead Keep and started ripping crystals from my skin. Spirits, it hurt- too much flesh came with it. Yet, I had managed to completely remove the crystals without anyone but Rytlock knowing I had been branded. I swore him to secrecy and he helped me bandage up the wound I had caused.

But… sitting in the pool does feel… better, I guess.

?/?/?

I had another night terror again. Apparently it was a bad one. I certainly remember the nightmare that went with it- that was a bad one, too.

The wound in my chest had flared up again, and… it felt like… him.

That’s why I didn’t dodge the arrow. Rytlock had asked me that at some point. He and I both knew I could have. I didn’t tell him- I just said I had been cold. Judging by the fact I am norn and the low growl he offered me, he probably didn’t believe that.

I could have dodged it. I really could’ve.

But I froze. I froze. Norn don’t freeze when faced with danger.

And yet, when I saw the flaming arrow, my mind went blank. I felt afraid. Fire had never been the same comfort to me after what he did to me. I can’t sleep anymore. I mean, I already wrote about last night- it might have been worse, but the others aren’t all that great either. Aurene says it's okay- that she doesn’t need sleep, and she likes taking care of me. I should be taking care of her, really I appreciate it.

She asks me if I want to talk about it sometimes.

Usually, I answer by asking her back. If my pain that day had bothered her enough to fly halfway across the continent to fight a god as a baby, it couldn’t have been a breeze for her mental health, either. Then, she was kidnapped, force-fed god magic, and immediately started fighting her grandfather.

Of course she knows all of this, but she always answers with something along the lines of “I don’t mind discussing it. That’s why I asked.” Then I’m forced to admit that no, I don’t want to talk about it.

Four years old, and she’s already outsmarting me.

-----

I wandered around the Eye of the North today. Not anywhere outside of Aurene’s chamber, since she’s smart enough to know that I would try to escape back to the fight. But I wandered anyway. She said it was good that I was walking normally, without pain.

I’m always in pain. I know that. She knows that. I think she was just trying to cheer me up.

There wasn’t much ‘bad’ today, actually. I played with Ivory. She showed Aurene some silly little tricks, then demanded I give her treats. I’m glad. Ever since I’ve been hurt, she’s been depressed, but she seems to be cheering up. She’s playing ‘catch’ with my tail right now- in which she bats it until it flicks away, then she pounces on it. At first it was involuntary and very annoying, but eventually I just started flicking it around for her to chase on purpose.

Aurene mentioned my tail.

~~

“You keep Ivory’s fur pristine, but you’ve let your tail get matted. Why?”

Thorne wrinkled his nose. “Don’t have time.”

“But you have time to get little outfits for your companion?”

“They make her happy!”

~~

Little outfits do, in fact, make her happy. She loves little outfits.

Aurene said that I’m going to have to shave the mats out. I will not do that, as I think all of my fur is matted.

-----

Aurene made me shave my tail. Does it feel better? Yeah, but now I’m cold and my tail looks stupid. Too angry to write today.

-----

Now that my tail grew some of its fur back, I feel less angry.

Aurene told me more about what being an Elder Dragon was like. How it felt to feel ley lines so strongly you feel like you can see them, or the feeling of magic flowing through you and purifying it as you absorbed it.

She also asked me to show her the new magic I've been working on. I was happy to oblige, and showed her a few fire tricks. She nods and hums when I explain how it works, despite knowing exactly how elemental magic was done.

I love her. I hope she never forgets that.

I never will. She saved me. More than once, but especially after Joko captured me. Whatever state of mind break I had been in, it was her voice that allowed me some sense long enough to distract him before she tore apart the undead lich king like jerky.

I don't know if she knows what really happened when I was in captivity- the enchantment Joko put on my choker muffled our bond after all, which is why it took so long for her to find me. With his death, the enchantment was gone, and I felt her concern for me then. I almost started crying right then, but I just allowed her to carry me on her back, back to safety.

Back to my our family.

[hope-to-hell]

I’m back, baby! Writer Mike makes a surprise appearance, poor guy. The hollow where his heart should be. Mike. Mike x Reader, really. Angst, some body horror and gore, gross abuse of first-person pov. He really should be working on his novel, but he keeps having this dream.

—-

The thing is, babe�� it’s been so long, so fucking long I’ve almost forgotten how to do this, how to reach inside my chest and grab the words. I have this idea that’s been kicking around the back of my mind, and it’s been driving me fucking crazy because I can’t do anything about it. It’s just this image, these little moments, and this feeling. It’s like I can see the shape of the story but it’s all hollow. I just. I can’t, not like this. Not when I keep having this dream.

There’s this bay of deep black water, iron fences, rusted steps that rise up with their sharp edges and they cut, babe, they cut and catch at my feet and I’m leaving bloody trails up and down but I can’t stop. I’m shredded raw, walking on bone but I have to move, into the water and back out again and I’m all wet and shivering, the salt water’s burning my lungs and I’m drowning, babe, right there between water and sky.

I dream about it every night. Maybe I’m in hell. They say it’s all fire and brimstone and red hot pokers but babe, hell is cold. It’s cold and lonely, like that last spike of adrenaline when you know you’re gonna die and it’s gonna hurt real bad. I just know there’s chains down below and every time I go down the steps they stab their hooks in me. They, yeah. I mean those strangers in the dark with their faces like dead things; they throw their chains and they’re catching at my feet, my hands, my heart, but when I go up again it’s like some awful dream within a dream and it’s just step after step, over and over again forever. I can’t. I can’t do it but I have to anyway.

It’s like I’m a puppet, babe, and these chains pull me wherever they want because I can feel them even when they aren’t there, when they’re coiled up with them down in the dark. There’s rust in my blood like poison; it’s theirs because somehow they’re sipping pain wherever they go and every time I take a step they dig their nails into me. And my feet are gone, babe, just bones all shiny from seawater cause they’ve been worn away and I can’t look but I have to look. They keep saying bear witness and it has to be a dream but those aren’t my words and it’s not my voice. They won’t let me stop until I’m all used up, all worn away. I feel like even then it wouldn’t stop. They’d just find another way to make it hurt.

I know I’ve been a pain lately, babe, but please— please— be patient with me just a little longer. I have to beat this, but I don’t know how. I’m so tired and I wake up soaked with sweat and aching in the middle of the night. I think it’s sweat, at least. It better be, because I don’t know what I’d do if it was water, if I found myself drowning in the blankets. It’s already bad enough the way moonlight shines through the window; I remember breathing you in while you named the stars, when you pointed up and said there’s the Lovers, but I already had my hands under your shirt and I didn’t hear the words til later. But the moonlight shifts like wavelets on a quiet sea and when I wake up I’m scrambling back against the headboard and my lungs are burning.

I try to force myself to write, to catch lightning in a bottle. The publisher keeps calling, saying Mikey, baby, where’s the manuscript? Give us anything you’ve got, come on, that advance must be running out, god dammit Michael have you heard of breach-of-contract, but every time I try to write I slip away into the sea and the blinking cursor on my laptop becomes that tap-tap-tap of bones on iron. I’ve got nothing, not even outlines, not even ideas except this stuff I’m telling you, but I don’t think you can slap a half-naked hunk on the cover and call this shitshow a romance. Babe. I can’t. I don’t know what to do.

The dream is getting closer, and I know it doesn’t make any sense but I can hear the soughing of water and wind even in the daytime now, even here: I’m a thousand miles away from the sea and still I feel it. Everything I touch cuts sharp like salt and I can hear them in every step, every breath. I look in the mirror and I see iron and blood; they’re calling to me and I’m saying no for now but I’m so scared, babe. I just want this to be over, to wake and feel you with me in this bed. I want you to name the stars with me again. I want to lie down and feel the warm earth bake into my bones. I want, I want, but I’m falling apart and I don’t know where some of the pieces have gone. I think the parts of me I’ve lost are with them in the dark.

Remember when you found me all hollow in the cold? I still had soil in my hair and I swore up and down my chest was torn open but you looked— you lifted up my shirt and said your heart’s still beating. You laid your head against my chest and tapped out a rhythm on my ribs. You said either way, the scar’s the same. You said I’m with you now and you. And you— oh, babe. I want— when I told you I had another story in me, when I said I needed just a little bit of quiet— I didn’t think this would be it. My whole mind is ocean and rust and that tap tap tap; I’m drifting down and I’m so afraid of climbing up again, of bearing witness to my own dissolution, but then again I know what's waiting down below.

[ficbrish]

Black Spot (aka Shenko Pirates) Chapter 6

"Days break. As do vows." [AO3]

Rating: Explicit, 18+ only

Tags: Prompt Fic, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Enemies to Lovers, Pirate Captain Shepard, Navy Admiral Kaidan Alenko, Renegade Shepard (Mass Effect), Renegade Kaidan Alenko, Biotic Shepard (Mass Effect), Some Plot, POV Alternating, Eventual Smut, Shameless Smut, Oral Sex, Rough Sex

[[TW/CW: Food, sex references, itty bit of suicide ideation]]

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[All Chapters]

Dawn came and they were still awake. There was nowhere dry to lie down on; even sitting soaked them through. Everything was wet, so they couldn’t even start a fire. Their clothes wouldn’t dry. Their skin wouldn’t dry.

Shepard groaned, “This is horrible.”

“Yeah, well… We’re alive.”

Bone-weary, they had abandoned their shirts and settled together on what used to be their roof. Their soaked skin stuck together, but it kept them from shivering.

His arms were wrapped tight around her.

It was just for warmth.

“Doesn’t change anything,” she grumbled.

“What?”

“You know this changes nothing, right?”

“Right. Yeah, of course.”

She squeezed the forearms locked across her chest.

The sun was rising.

“Doesn’t change anything,” she barely repeated, and finally fell asleep.

*                       *                       *                       *                       *                       *

“Move.”

Kaidan felt something tickle and scratch his face.

“Move!”

Whatever it was came down a little harder, this time against his chest.

“Wha-?!”

“Get up! You’re on the roof.”

She’d been prodding him with one of the fallen palm leaves. He bolted upright and rubbed his eyes, “I’m what?”

She was pushing him over to the side and tugging on his bedding, “Our roof! I’ve been tying it back up.”

Kaidan noticed the shade covering his head, “Oh, well done. Thank you.”

She grumbled.

The sun was powerful, high in the sky, and made the damp a distant memory. There was a fire going too.

“How long have you been up?”

Shepard just shrugged and continued working.

“Thank you.”

“You already said that.”

“I know! Still…” his mouth was dry, “Thanks.”

“Sure.”

Kaidan yawned, “Did you get a chance to boil the water yet?”

At least there’d been one positive to last night’s storm. They stuck their buckets facing upright in the sand every night in case of rain. Both were already overflowing by the time Shepard and Kaidan stepped into the trees.

“Water, but no breakfast.”

“Ah. I’ll go do that then.”

“It rained, so there’s plenty of chicken beetles.”

“Lucky us.”

*                       *                       *                       *                       *                       *

Their fruit and beetle kabobs were actually a lot better than most of the rations he’d had in the Navy. Often, he’d hear his crewman telling stories of pirates eating bugs and rats; laughing cruelly and feeling superior. But then he’d catch those same men shamefully eating ship pests not even a day later, alone in some shadowy nook. And what they ate wasn’t fresh and roasted between banana and coconut.

“I’d give anything for a bath,” Shepard complained.

“What? You weren’t wet enough last night?”

They immediately turned away from each other, eyes wide and cheeks flushed.

“I didn’t mean—” Kaidan blushed profusely.

“Right!” she agreed too loudly.

He tried to say something else, but the words tripped over each other.

Shepard beat him to it, “We should talk, yeah?”

Kaidan swallowed a little too hard and it stung in his chest, “About…?”

“Don’t play dumb. I know by now you’re not.”

“Okay. So, me and you?”

“That’s just it, there is no me and you.”

“I’m not saying there is, not like that. But we are here on this island together. And we are…”

“Fucking.”

“…Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

Kaidan took a full breath in and out, “So, we should stop?”

Shepard squinted, “Do you want to stop?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I didn’t say we should stop.”

They continued eating for a bit, but the conversation wasn’t over. A pause hung over the moment.

“I don’t mind it,” Kaidan eventually murmured.

Shepard finished chewing, “You what?”

“I don’t mind it,” he stated clearer, “Doing that with you.”

She smirked, “You’re going to have to say the word if it’s gonna continue.”

He glared at her, “Fucking you! I like fucking you.”

“There we go! And thank you,” she hesitated a bit, “I like fucking you too.”

“And we might die here!”

“Exactly!”

They high fived.

Her hand lingered in his for just a moment. Then she snatched it back.

“It changes nothing though,” she said, looking away.

His voice was rough, “I know.”

Looking desperate to change the subject, Shepard blurted, “Hey! I think I know how to make soap.”

*                       *                       *                       *                       *                       *

Liara taught her how to do it years ago. Shepard didn’t know why she was walking Kaidan through the steps. It wasn’t like he was a biotic too. Not that it was impossible otherwise, but the process was a little different.

They fetched seashells and seaweed, gathering a nice pile of each by the campfire. Then Shepard used her biotics to turn the shells into dust and the seaweed into a paste. Kaidan combined them while she extracted oil from a coconut and added it to the mixture. Finally, Shepard essentially sped up time, and they were left with a solid, pale green block of hygiene.

“Oh, thank god!” Kaidan exclaimed.

“Can we share for now?” she panted, “I’m exhausted.”

“Share?! Who cares about sharing? Shepard! I could kiss you!”

“No!” she suddenly got serious, “We don’t do that!”

“I didn’t mean—It’s an expression!”

“Yeah? Then why do I have to keep reminding you?”

“I’m sorry. It’s not intentional, but I’ll be more careful.”

“You better be,” she glared, “But you know what?”

“What?” he asked hesitantly.

“We have soap!" she shouted gleefully.

He matched her exuberance, “We have soap!”

*                       *                       *                       *                       *                       *

“Bastard!”

Shepard laughed, “Did you just call the water a bastard?”

“It’s cold.”

She threw her head back and cackled.

They’d practically sprinted over here, then climbed down the ledge to the base of the waterfall before they even set up their camp. It took every ounce of willpower to shed their clothes before jumping in.

Kaidan dipped his head under the steady stream first, “It’s really the perfect pressure.”

“Then let me under!”

Shepard swam under and felt the sting, “Ah!”

Kaidan frowned, “I’ll get the soap,” and swam over to the riverside where they left it on a pile of their clothes.

She saw bright, new scratches along all his scars.

He came back insisting on washing her shoulder first, “It might hurt though.”

Shepard stared at the cut that was healing on his neck. She saw her blade pressing against it until blood came out. She felt her lips on it in the dark. Her face grew hot.

“I don’t care.”

“Right. Just, uh, just tell me if it gets too much.”

She turned around in the water so her back faced him. Her hair was short, but she still moved it out of the way.

Motherfucker!

“You okay, Shepard?”

“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Sorry, it’s a little infected.”

“Yeah, so wash it out.”

“I am!”

It felt like his sword was slicing through her all over again. She started resenting the heat of his skin.

“Almost done.”

He spoke like he was soothing a child or a horse, but not in a way that was patronizing. What was the word? It was… It was…

Kind.

“Oh, fuck off!”

“What?”

“You don’t have to act like this just because of… everything.”

“How am I acting any different?”

“Let’s start with you cleaning out a wound you inflicted.”

“I’m sorry about that, Shepard. I wish I hadn’t.”

“But that’s not true!” she was getting more frustrated than she expected to, “You meant it! And you’d do it again, and you will do it again.”

“It’s finished.”

“What?!”

“Your back. I did what I could.”

“Don’t change the subject!”

“I’m not.”

“Then answer me.”

Kaidan sighed, “Yes, it’s a temporary truce. But—”

“Nope! Don’t do that. You’re turning away again.”

Shepard turned around and looked him in the eye, “When this is over, if we make it out of here, it goes back to how it was. I’ll go back to my life, and you’ll go back to hunting me.”

He swallowed, “I know.”

“That’s just how it is," she stated plainly, "Now turn around and I’ll do your back too.”

“Oh, I only did your shoulder. I didn’t wash your whole back.”

“Then finish me off!”

He raised his eyebrow.

“Later,” she winked, and turned back around.

They washed each other’s backs before taking turns with the soap. It was disgusting to realize how filthy they were. Sure, they’d rinsed off every day, but soap finally touching their skin made it sing with relief. They could tell how bad it had been by how good it felt in contrast.

“I don’t know how to thank you, Shepard.”

There was so much lightness in his voice that it changed to a tone she’d never heard before.

“Words are cheap,” she teased.

“Oh?”

“So, I guess you’re gonna have to find a way to make it up to me.”

“Get on your back,” he answered; so fast that it was like he’d been waiting for the right moment to say it.

She let herself float to the surface, “Is this your thank you?”

Kaidan swam into the space between her legs. She lifted her head up to see him and almost sank, so put his hands under her thighs to steady her.

“If you want it to be,” he said as his head bobbed over the water, her cunt in his face.

She put her hands on his head, pulling at his hair as she ran her fingers through it. Her whole body felt lighter than air.

“Do it.”

She cried out in anticipation as he got closer and met her with his tongue.

Her head started rushing with realities of the present. The Admiral, the hand of the State that spent years trying to snatch her, was massaging her folds in his mouth. His head—his neck—was between her thighs. She could crush him if she wanted, squeeze and drown him, all while floating on her back by a waterfall as he ate her with reverence.

He either knew what he was doing or paid close attention, because it wasn’t long before her legs shook and squeezed him as pulsing sensations worked over her violently. He didn’t stop until she twitched with overstimulation.

He held her steady above the water until she was ready to stop floating.

“I’m gonna have to make more soap,” she said stupidly.

Kaidan laughed.

[Next Chapter]

[All Chapters]

[piddgeon]

yeehawgust day 14: dripping fangs

so I’ve had an idea for this prompt since day one but could not for the life of me write it, so instead I give you all the play-by-play I wrote instead. featuring Arthur Morgan and my OC Angel Escarra <3

Arthur is riding back to camp through the desert (usually he would just camp for the night but there’s not much cover where he is and as much as he loves the desert, it’s spooky at night) and while he’s riding he sees a campfire a little bit off the road. this isn’t that odd people Do camp out here but as he starts to ride by something nags at him and he knows something isn’t right. so he stops and starts to approach the camp and almost immediately knows that something is seriously wrong. as he gets closer he can see a shape in the shadows thrown by the fire and it looks like someone crouched down over a body. it looks intimate upon first glance but just over the crackling of the fire he can hear this *squelching* that sounds like a scavenger pulling meat from a carcass and Arthur isn’t scared of much but this. this is Strange. he’s gotten closer than he realized and he can really make out the figure now, can see that it’s very obviously a man (or at least something that looks like one), kneeling in the dirt and hunched over this body. the realization just starts to dawn on him that this *thing* is eating or feeding off this poor person and he can feel his heart start to jump in his chest when the figure’s gaze snaps to him and their eyes meet. his eyes reflect the light of the fire like a cat’s, small round points of light in the shadows, and it is so deeply unsettling. Arthur should be reaching for his gun, should be doing anything at all, but he’s frozen and before he can really think much about it he’s being tackled to the ground. clawed hands are at his shoulders and the wind is knocked out of him and now he’s face to face with this creature that certainly looks like a man. his long dark hair has fallen down around his face, a few strands sticking to his cheeks where they’re wet with blood. with the fire behind him the blood on his face nearly looks like tar in the darkness, and there’s *so much of it*. it’s smeared along his mouth and gathers along his jaw and chin, enough that it drips down onto Arthur’s face. it hits his cheek and *it’s still warm* and Arthur recoils, horror and revulsion settling so quickly and so deeply in his chest it nearly makes him sick. he meets the man’s gaze again and his eyes are dark and wild but intelligent. the man cocks his head slightly, appraising Arthur, and seems to deliberate for a second before coming to a decision. he licks the blood from his lips and Arthur catches a flash of long, sharp fangs and then the figure is gone, moving away from him faster than he can see. for a second Arthur thinks the man simply disappeared into thin air but then he hears the soft rustle of tack and clothing and he just begins to raise his head when hooves come crashing into the dirt beside him. it’s a narrow miss, but they’re gone as soon as they come. there’s a high, startled whinny and then the hoofbeats fade off into the distance, leaving Arthur laying shaken in the dirt with nothing but the sound of the crackling fire.

[saintveil]

Hands Like A Devil (Remember My Misery, Part 4)

Lorna Shore, Tallah

Will Ramos/Justin Bonitz

Warnings: Self-harm, General Drunkenness, Vomiting

Will was home now. Justin promised he would call hours ago, but he couldn't bring himself to. Instead, he sat in his dark apartment while Max paced the room, not holding any anger back verbally. Justin rested his back against the wall, watching as Max moved, but not listening to a word he said.

The room smelled of blood, cheap alcohol and whatever red candle Max was holding. Justin was too drunk to know, or care. He had turned to drinking for comfort again. It must have shown in the way he was texting Max, because the drummer didn't believe him when he denied it. If Justin was being honest, he was right not to. Max suddenly stopped, pointing the candle at Justin in an attempt to see his face in darkness.

"You're not even listening are you?" Max said.

Justin didn't respond, earning an exasperated sigh from Max. He sat down next to Justin, putting the candle on the floor between them and giving him a light tap on the knee.

"We're worried about you, man. The path to self-destruction is a short one. You gotta turn back while you can." Max said, trying his best to be patient with his friend.

"Get that goddamn candle away from me." Was all Justin said.

"Yeah, I probably should. You're so drunk you might catch fire near an open flame." Max replied.

"Do you have to be such a dick?"

"Do you have to keep putting yourself in danger, and refusing all help offered?"

The silence afterwards was thick, and suffocating. It was awkward for them both. Suddenly, Justin's phone began ringing from the kitchen for the third time that evening.

"I don't know who the fuck keeps calling, but it sounds important." Max said, growing impatient.

"It's Will." Justin replied.

"And you're ignoring him?" Max said, angry once again.

Ever since Will and Justin had started dating, the other members of Tallah had all taken care of Will. He had met them only because he was dating their vocalist, but soon enough he had become part of the family. He was gentle, and sweet. Justin was a loose cannon. They knew that, and tried to protect Will.

"I'm texting him and telling him you're okay, and we're hanging out. He doesn't need to know you're drunk and ignoring him." Max said, unlocking his phone.

Justin put his hands over his eyes, trying to block the light radiating from the screen. His hands still smelled like blood. Max hadn't noticed in the dark, and the scent wasn't yet distinctive to him. Justin hoped it never would be. He knew he'd feel this in the morning. It felt like nothing now. It just felt wet, and a little gross as the blood dripped down his sleeves. But he ignored it, focusing more on the sound of Max typing.

He missed Will. More than he was caring to admit. But Max had been right, that knowledge wouldn't be good for him. His letter was sitting next to Justin. Will had forgotten to give it to him, but he'd know Will's handwriting anywhere. He had read it obsessively, again and again for hours. He hated himself for getting blood on it. Will had worked hard on something so beautiful, and sweet, and Justin had ruined it. He was only trying to hurt himself, the fruits of Will's labor was only collateral. 'Fitting.' He thought to himself. Finally, Max spoke up.

"He's not responding to me. I love you man, and you're my best friend, but if you hurt him I'll kill you." Max said.

"Oh no, I wouldn't want that." Justin laughed sarcastically.

Max blew out the candle and stood up, offering Justin a hand.

"Where are we going?" Justin asked.

"We're walking to the nearest church. It's only a few miles away. The walk should help you. If you're not at least halfway sober, and forming coherent thoughts by then, we'll walk to the next one. You're lucky they're everywhere in this fucking town." Max said, helping Justin off the ground.

Max held onto his arm as he fumbled to get his shoes on. He was exhausted, drunk, and missing a lot of blood. In fact, he was still bleeding. But he'd live, or at the very least, survive. He shoved Will's bloody letter in his pocket, just in case he didn't.

When he was ready, Max yanked him out the door. Justin was lucky he lived on the bottom floor, considering he could barely walk down stairs sober. The street lights glowed a golden color as they walked through the parking lot. It was raining hard on them, adding to Justin's discomfort. Max didn't like it either, but he would endure it to help his best friend.

°•°•°

They had stopped on the side of the road. Justin was on his knees, throwing up in somebody's yard. Rain poured on his back heavily. Max waited patiently, keeping a steady hand on Justin's back.

"That's it... get it all up, we've got a long walk ahead of us." He soothed.

But it didn't help. The only thing that could help in that moment was Will. His desperate, clingy tendencies were stronger than his pride.

"Has Will responded yet?" Justin managed to choke out.

"I don't know, but I can check." Max said calmly.

Waiting for Max to unlock his phone and open his messages felt like eternity as he threw up. He could hear dogs barking in the distance. He was aware of all his surroundings at this point, waiting.

" 'I hope you guys have fun. Give him my love when you get the chance.' " Max read aloud. "That's the last message I've received from him. If he's sent anything else, it was after we left an area with signal."

Justin felt relief wash over him. Will still loved him, and he didn't know about the situation he was in at the moment.

"What's the point of this walk, again?" Justin asked, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

"Ew, remind me not to touch your arm. It's to get you sober, and thinking clearly. Besides, maybe you'll think about how other people feel after this." Max replied, smirking.

"Fuck you. Let's go." Justin said, climbing off his sore knees, and continuing into the dark.

His legs were weak, and his wrists crusty with dried blood. His sleeves were sticky and he felt close to passing out. But he pushed on.

Tears stung his eyes as he kept thinking about Will. He was so beautiful, and sweet. He didn't deserve this pain. It wasn't his fault Justin had these problems. It wasn't his fault Justin was addicted to pain, and blood, and struggled to get by without it. Will shouldn't have to take the pain that came with loving him.

He cried at the thought of Will alone, and neglected. Max rubbed his back as they walked, but it didn't help as much as he hoped.

°•°•°

The sun was beginning to rise when the church came into view. It was getting hard to keep his eyes open. His legs wanted to give out on him. They had twice already. Max had given him a minute or two both times, before helping him off the ground. Justin kept pushing himself. He was so close. Just a little bit farther.

The sun was giving him a headache already and it wasn't even fully up yet. His breathing was getting heavy as they approached, and sweat and rain soaked his shirt. His whole body ached. Max seemed to be fine, aside from a little bit of sweat. Then again, he wasn't drunk and bleeding when they started this journey. When they reached the parking lot, they sat together under a tree.

"You did great. How are you feeling?" Max asked.

"Thanks, I feel like shit."

[britswriting]

Devotion (25)

Devotion Masterlist

Read on Wattpad

*Leighton's POV*

New year new me is what I told myself as I went to therapy this morning. I walked in with determination to figure some shit out, and I left with a fire under my ass as I dialed River, placing my phone in the cupholder as it rang, pulling out of the parking lot.

"Hello? Leighton?" he picked up, echoing around my car.

"Hey! River! How are things going?" I quickly asked, wanting to get the catch up out of the way.

"Doing alright, how about you?"

"Good.. good.. um, quick question." I chuckled nervously.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know Aaliyah's last residence? I saw her before Christmas, but I don't know where she is, and I have something I need to tell her." 

"Um..." He hummed, "I haven't really talked to her since we broke up. I've also been meaning to talk to her. I kinda want to get back together with her—"

"Kinda?" I harshly questioned.

"I miss her, Leigh. Things got hard, but I never wanted to lose her. I wanted to marry that girl, but you know, with everything going on being a new parental guardian, shit got hard."

"How are the kids?" I asked, really missing having talked with River.

"They're alright. They're finally made some friends, adjusted to the new school. I started sending them to therapy to hopefully help them if they have issues with me and don't want to talk, or helping them process losing their parents. I just.. it's been hard, but we're figuring it out."

"That's good." I nodded to myself, my mind reeling at the idea that he wants her back.

"The last I heard she was with you, but you could try asking Monica?" River suggested and I groaned.

Monica and I never got along. She didn't like me very much. Just another name to the list.

"She might be your only bet, Leigh." River reminded me.

"I don't even know if Aaliyah would've told her anything. She was kind of a shell of a person the last time I saw her. She seemed like she wanted nothing from me, and I just... do you think she would've gone to Monica?"

"It's worth trying."

"But.. if her sister doesn't know anything, I don't want to worry her, you know? I don't even know how close they are anymore. I also want to fix things with Aaliyah, and I'm only going to dig my grave further if I include her sister in her business when she doesn't want Monica to know."

"I don't know what else to tell you Leighton, she won't answer my calls either. I think I've lost her for good, and I'm kicking myself because of it. I really had something good, and I couldn't even keep it."

"You can't beat yourself up, River. You had a huge life change. You got up and moved across the country. We're all just doing our best." I reminded him.

"Yeah.., thanks Leighton. We should talk more. I've missed your friendship."

"Same. I'll let you know if I figure out where she is. Thanks River." 

My fire was extinguished, and I groaned in my car, going through the motions of driving to Cynthia's to get Gemma, but I still felt determined.

Aaliyah stuck by my side even with all the shit I put her through. The least I can do is return the favor.

I rang Cynthia's doorbell, Nova barking as Logan opened the door, welcoming me into his home with a hug.

I let out a deep breath, collapsing into my brother's chest.

It always felt like home.

"You alright?" He asked, and I nodded against him, squeezing him tighter.

After a few minutes I let go, exhaling a deep breath.

I really needed that.

"You alright?" Logan asked again, eyeing me as he pulled back.

I still can't believe he won't be just a drive away. He's moving to a whole other state, and I knew I was too... but the idea that I can't just drive over and be wrapped in his arms, or hang out with his family like I used to once I got out...

My eyes prickled with tears as I blinked slowly, my eyelashes becoming wet.

"Leigh?"

I gulped down the emotion building in my throat, pulling it together enough to get a few words out, "I'm good. Sorry." I sniffled.

"Leighton.." He sighed, pulling me back into his arms. "Everything okay at home?"

I nodded.

"Everything okay with the baby?"

I nodded again.

"Want to talk about it?" He asked and I shook my head.

I felt a tug at my leggings, my daughter looking up at me as I looked down at her.

"Hi, momma." She waved, a smile breaking out on my face.

"Hi, Gemma." I replied, letting go of my brother to hug my daughter.

"Wanna.. wanna see.. see what I make?" She asked and I smiled at her, nodding.

"I'd love to, bug."

Gemma showed me the artwork her, Harper and Papa worked on, beaming with pride at her little signature in the corner.

"Papa showed me how." She giggled.

"You did such a good job, Gemma." I ran my hand over her hair, pushing it out of her face.

"Momma?"

"Yes?"

"How.. how come.. how come you don't.. don't draw no more?" She asked, looking up at me with her beautiful big blue eyes.

"I just never have the time, baby."

"Why?"

"Momma's got to work, and then take care of you, and the house. There isn't really time for me to sit down and draw, baby."

Her lips pursed and she looked at the table.

"Draw with Papa and I?" She asked, grabbing her coloring book, handing it to me.

"I'd love to baby, but we need to get home. Coco should be home soon with Sam." I reminded her, watching her face light up at the name of her uncle.

Sam was staying over so they could do their merch photoshoots and team meetings this week together, Kat having come with, but I guess she was going to go see her friends, instead of hanging out at our place.

Shocker.

"LET'S GO!" Gemma yelled, speed racing out of the dinning room to collect her things.

"Gemma Lorraine! Come clean up your mess!" I called out, not wanting her to leave my brothers house a disaster.

Good lord knows this kid can be a walking dumpster fire if she wanted to. I swear if I stepped on one more Barbie shoe I was throwing them all away.

"Momma, see Sam and Coco!" 

"Once you clean up your mess."

Apparently seeing Uncle Sam was enough motivation to get her to clean up her mess in a giffy and get her tiny hinny in the car without causing me a migraine.

Gemma couldn't contain herself as I unbuckled the clips, letting her bolt out of the car to the elevator, impatiently waiting for me to waddle over to her.

I swear she was on a sugar high based on the energy she couldn't contain as she ran down the apartment hallway, yet again waiting impatiently for me to unlock the door.

"Hurry mommy!" She exclaimed, rocking on her feet as she waited.

With a twisted key in the bolt, Gemma rushed through yelling "Coco! Sammy!" throughout the apartment before returning to me with a confusing glance.

"Where go?" She asked.

"Where did they go." I corrected, Gemma nodding.

"I dunno!" She replied, looking around with a furrowed brow.

"No, baby. The question is: Where did they go. Can you say that? Where did they go." I tried, reminding myself to look at what kind of speech classes there were around here.

We've been trying our best to work on her stutter, and talking in third person, but my string was starting to reach its end. She'd be going into Kindergarten next year, and she sometimes still talked like she was a two year old. I knew every kid took their time, but I didn't want her to be behind, or god forbid get made fun of. I at least wanted to dot my I's and cross my T's with everything I can do to help her. I felt like a failure knowing she isn't where she should be by now. Like I was already letting her down, and ruining her chance at success. No matter what age. 

"Where did.. dey go?" Gemma copied slowly, watching me.

A smile broke out on my face, nodding, her own smile beaming.

"I did it?"

"You did it, bug. Where did they go."

"Where did they go?"

"Where did they go." I nodded, grinning now.

"Where did they go!" She matched my own grin now, a giddy energy radiating off of her.

"I don't know, baby. Should we call them?"

Gemma nodded, letting me unlock my phone and call Colby. We waited, and waited, yet there was no answer, so we tried Sam, who answered right before the phone hung up.

"Hello?" Sam answered, and I nodded supportively towards Gemma.

"Hi!" Gemma's tiny voice replied.

"G? Hi!" Sam's mood noticeably alters to a peppier, happier to hear from my daughter.

"Where go? Gem came home, no Sammy or..or..  or Coco?" 

"Coco and I are working, G."

"Oh."

Sam chuckled.

"We'll be home after your bath, right before bed, okay?" Sam told her, which I found weird considering Colby told me they'd be home around 4, and it was currently pushing 5pm, reminding me that I needed to get dinner started.

"Otay." Gemma replied, sighing hopelessly, making me chuckle.

"Okay." Sam laughed. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Otay." She sighed longingly again.

They said their goodbyes and Gemma's giddy spirit was now in the dirt as her shoulders sagged.

"Want to help me make dinner?" I questioned, watching the light come back to her beautiful blue eyes.

G dragged her stool to the counter, letting me wash her hands and pull her shoulder blade length hair up, rolling her sleeves to her elbows before helping me pour different ingredients into our glass bowl.

With our sauce simmering, I let Gemma help bread the chicken before I sent her on her way so I could fry it.

I plated the chicken parmesan, cut up Gemma's plate, and set it on the table before calling her for dinner.

"Coco not home." Gemma grumbled, sitting down on the chair.

"Water or milk?" I asked G, holding her cup.

"Juice?"

"Not this late, sorry baby."

"Why?"

"Because it has sugars in it that'll give your teeth ows and make you run all over the place and you need to sleep. Can you not fight me on this, baby? Milk or water?"

"Yummy water?"

I sighed, filling her cup and finding one of my flavor packets, sprinkling a little into her cup, knowing this probably has the same amount of sugar as the juice does, before dumping the rest of it into a water glass of my own.

With a quick stir, I sat it down in front of her, taking my own glass with me as I joined her.

 Life looked like this a lot lately. 

Just Gemma and I sitting at the dinner table, talking about our day and our plans for tomorrow, except tonight, Gemma surprised me by bringing up the baby.

"When baby come home?" She asked, stabbing a piece of chicken and awkwardly shoving it in her mouth.

"The baby will come when she wants to come, bug. She should be here around April. Do you know when April is?" I asked, Gemma's head shaking.

I got up, grabbing the calendar that was on the fridge, placing it on the table to show her.

"So this is today" I pointed to the calendar. "You see this word?" I asked, pointing to where it read January, Gemma nodded. "It's currently January. Can you say January?"

"January." She answered slowly, earning praise.

"And what number is this?"

"FIVE!" She yelled out, holding her palm out, showing her five fingers. 

"That's right. It's January 5th. Do you remember your months? January.. Feb..." I trailed off, waiting for her to finish.

"February!" She replied, a smile breaking out on my face.

"Mar.."

"March!"

"What comes after March? Ap.."

"April!" 

"So how many months is that? January.." I held up a finger, "February" another finger, "March" Another finger, "April" I showed her my hand, letting her eyes count before she yelled, "Four!"

"So baby sister will be here in 4 months."

"What's dat?" Gemma asked, pointing to the Calendar where it read "Colby's Birthday"

"That's Coco's birthday. What number is that?"

"Two!"

"That's correct. Colby's birthday is January 2nd. Remember how we made him a cake? And you gave him his presents?" I asked, jogging up the memory of our very chill birthday celebration.

Gemma nodded, looking down at the calendar. 

"How come.. how come we.. we wait.. four... four months?"

"Because babies take a long time to grow. They have to get big and strong and healthy before they come to meet their older sisters" I smiled at her, my hands resting on my bump.

"Baby my... my sister?" She asked, brow furrowing.

"Yes, Gemma. She's your sister. You'll be a big sister, and have a little sister. Are you excited to have a little sister?" I asked her, taking a drink of my water.

Gemma shrugged.

"Never.. never had one, momma."

I smiled, "I know. Are you going to be nice to the baby?" I asked, voicing one of my biggest fears.

I've always heard about older sibling jealousy, and I was extremely worried that with a four year age gap, going from being an only child, to having to share everything, including our attention, would create some behavior issues.

Gemma nodded, taking another bite of chicken, chewing with her mouth closed until I reprimanded her, reminding her of her manners. 

She began to ask me about hanging out with Noel when the door opened, in walking Sam and Colby.

"Coco!" Gemma rushed off her chair, Colby quickly catching her, tossing her into the air before kissing her cheek, saying hello. "You're home!" She giggled.

"Have you had a good day?"

Gemma nodded, Colby handing her off to Sam before kicking off his shoes, coming over to give me a quick kiss, noticing dinner on the table and apologizing for being late.

"You might need to warm it up a little." I warned him, Colby dishing his own plate as Gemma climbed back on her chair.

"Is Katrina not coming?" I asked, unsure if she was completely avoiding me.

"Her and Stas are meeting up for drinks tonight, I'm meeting up with them when she goes to bed." He nodded towards Gemma, myself nodding as I finished my meal. 

I started to buss the dishes when Colby stopped me, grabbing my hand.

"I'll get it."

I got G ready for bed, Sam reading her a bedtime story before bidding us a goodbye as he left to meet up with his friends.

I watched the hall light flick off before the bedroom door opened.

"You were gone awhile." I stated, looking back down at my laptop, viewing different house listings in Minnesota.

"Things went longer than expected." He replied, tugging his shirt off, tossing it in the hamper along with his jeans. "I'm going to take a quick shower." He told me, wandering back down the hall, leaving the door open.

My eyes rolled as I kept scrolling, Colby reappearing in a towel 10 minutes later.

"You're pissed." He said, the sound of the towel hitting the hamper catching my attention, Colby fixing the waistband of his boxers.

"I'm pissed." I nodded in agreement.

"About me being late?"

"Mhm."

"It really did go longer than expected." He sighed, plugging his phone in and taking a seat on our bed.

"You didn't answer when I called, and I know I need to loosen up because there's a million reasons, but what if it was the baby? What if someone was hurt? What if it was more than just you being late for dinner?"

"I'm sorry I was late."

"You know, I'm going to need you to actually be here when you say you're going to when this baby gets here. I need to be able to count on you, and if you can't be, or won't be, I need you to tell me. I don't think that's too much to ask, Colby."

"I promise I'll be better. I was just caught up."

I decided to let it go, leaning back against the pillows, grumbling when I could no longer see my laptop due to my bump.

"Never get me pregnant again." I huffed, sitting back up, struggling to readjust my pillows, Colby silently helping me before continuing to scroll through his phone. 

"Thank you." I sighed, relieving the pressure in my back as I sunk into the pillows. "Have you heard from the realtor?"

"I can check."

Silence fell between us when I heard his charger hit the floor, Colby leaning closer towards me, showing me his phone, and email open.

My brow furrowed as I scanned in, waiting to see the "Sorry you haven't been chosen." when my eyes widened and my heart began to pound.

"We got in? They accepted us?" I asked, taking his phone from him, reading the email again.

"They want to meet with us, but so far, yes. We've been accepted."

"Oh my god! That's great! When can we book a flight? Shit, I need to take time off with work—"

"I don't understand why you don't just quit. We're leaving anyway." Colby interrupted.

"Because we need the money."

"We don't. I have us covered, you just won't let me. You don't have to work right now, Leighton; and I hope you know you won't be working for a while once the baby is born."

"So what, my life gets put on hold because I'm carrying your kid?"

"Don't do this, Leighton. Not tonight. Please. Let us be happy. We got in." He sighed, mental wear showing on his face.

"I'd love to be happy, but you're trying to be controlling! I can work if I want to." I argued.

"Yes, you can, but we're about to have a newborn, and a toddler. That's a lot. You mentioned wanting to go back to school too. I'm not saying you can never work again, but maybe take some time off. Let's get through the pregnancy, the move, the newborn stage, and then regroup." He suggested, my lips pursing.

"Okay. I'm sorry for getting upset." I gave in, agreeing that I didn't want to blow up tonight.

"It's alright. You know I love you, right? I just want you safe, and happy, and the both of you healthy." Colby's hand rested against my stomach, rubbing softly.

"I love you too."

Colby scooched down the bed, pressing his lips against the fabric covering my stomach.

"I love you too little one" He murmured, pressing a few kisses before moving back up and kissing me as well. "Here's to a new adventure. I'll book the flights, you put in your two week notice, deal?"

"Deal."

~

"It's not perfect, but it'll work." I voiced, opening the door to our future nursery.

"It's just a small step to forever, remember. We rent this place, we find land, we build our dream house and move into our forever home." Colby said behind me as I opened the closet doors.

The house was old.

Don't get it twisted, it wasn't ancient, but it was dated.

Everything about it screamed early 2000s.

It was far from either of our styles, but it was safe, it was available, and they said yes to a move in date by early February, meaning we needed to get a move on moving.

We both signed the lease, confirming our move in date to be February 12th and I immediately felt the stress breathing down my neck.

A little over a month to move halfway across the country whilst I'm 6 months pregnant.

What have we gotten ourselves into?

Immediately I knew it was all hands on deck. 

Uncle Garret booked a flight to California so he could drive the UHaul, Aunt Ginger was going to babysit Gemma all month, meaning my daughter wasn't flying back with us. Melissa and Lincoln were flying with us to help us pack. Sam, Kat and Stas were also going to help us which surprised me.

Box after box got loaded and taped shut, shoved into a UHaul, the big slam of the heavy door rattled my bones as we locked it, Uncle Garret giving me the biggest hug before climbing in with Lincoln and waving at us as they started their trek.

Colby's car was packed full to the brim as well, mostly essentials and delicates, like things for the kitchen, bathroom things and some of Gemma's prized possessions.

"Kentucky is not that far." Cynthia reminded me, wrapping me in her arms. 

"I know... it's just... there's a lot's changing. You're not going to be a quick drive away anymore."

"We'll be a phone call away though, and a quick road trip. You're not losing him, Leigh."

"I know. Thank you for helping today." I smiled, hugging her tighter before letting go. "And thank you for keeping my dad until we get a bigger place" I swiped the tears away, blinking a few times. 

"Anything for family, right? Plus, he's good with the kids. Harper likes having him around."

"Hey, I'm heading out with Mel." Colby told me, his hand on my lower back, getting me to turn and look at him. "They're bringing you to the airport right?"

"Yeah. Drive safe and keep me updated, okay?" I gazed up at him, Colby nodding.

"Will do. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Text me when you land, okay?"

"Okay."

He kissed me for a few seconds, patting my ass before waving goodbye to my family and climbing into the car with my cousin.

The original plan was for me to go with Colby, but with how far along I am, and how uncomfortable I've been, a flight would be quicker and somewhat easier on me, leaving me to fly alone from LA to Minneapolis, meet up with Gemma and Aunt Ginger and drive to the new rental.

The only one of my siblings who didn't show up to moving day was Lexi, and honestly? I wasn't surprised. 

I climbed into Landon's car after being dragged off of Cynthia and Logan, him quite literally slamming the door on me and locking the car.

"Got to get you out of there somehow." He teased, starting the car before driving us away, Logan, Cynthia, Harper and my dad waving goodbye.

"How did it work out that you're driving me? You're one of the worst drivers right after Lexi."

"Because I was the only one willing to deal with LAX on a Friday night."

"Well, I appreciate it." 

Landon and I talked about his relationship struggles with Xander and Finley and what's been like navigating a poly relationship, followed by us belting out Taylor Swift together.

"I've missed this." I confessed, resting my head against the headrest as I looked at my brother. "I'm going to miss you. We haven't hung out as much as I would've liked lately, and I apologize. I know we've all been busy, but I really should've put in more effort. I promise, I'll try to call more often and you and your boyfriends are welcome any time. Okay?" I reassured him, Landon nodding, a small smile on his face as we were parked outside of LAX. "I love you. Thank you for driving me."

"I love you too Leighton. Now, go live out your dreams. Get the hell away from LA." He chuckled, letting me pull him into a hug before I grabbed my carry on, telling him I loved him once more.

I looked behind me once more, Landon waving, waiting for me to open the door before driving away.

Here goes nothing.

I crossed the threshold into the airport, all sorts of people crossing my path, shoving me out of the way and harshly talking on phones as I made my way back to check in.

It's been awhile since I've flown alone, and the entire three hour wait, I couldn't help but think about Aaliyah, and how I was leaving her without properly saying goodbye, and telling her I'd also contact her soon.

I wish I knew where to start. Who to talk to. Who would know where she was, but I guess her telling be goodbye truly was our goodbye, no matter how much I wanted to change the narrative, I guess that wasn't my story to end.

I looked out the plane window as we began to take off, saying goodbye to LA one last time.

Off to bigger and better things.

Or so I hoped.

~

"Upstairs, first bedroom off the bathroom." I directed my Uncle as he unloaded the UHaul.

Lincoln and Uncle Garret spent two hours unloading the UHaul whilst I began to unpack Gemma's clothes, hanging them in her closet.

The sun began to set as my family helped put together bed frames, Aunt Ginger making the beds, claiming "You need somewhere warm for your head to rest tonight." Gemma was overly excited about her new pink princess bed sheets my Aunt had bought her.

"What do you think of your room bug?" I asked, tossing another toy into a toy box.

She shrugged.

"It's only for a bit, okay? Coco and I are gonna build our own house and you can design your own room." I promised her, pushing myself up off the ground with a grunt. "Now, let's find some comfy PJ's, get a snack, take a bath, and get ready for bed."

Gemma sat on the floor in front of me as I brushed her hair, watching a movie on my phone when Colby and Melissa finally made it.

"Coco!" Gemma bolted to her feet, not giving me room to demand she stay put since we were almost done before bolting into his arms.

"Gemma! Come finish brushing your hair please" I called out, Colby giving her a kiss before carrying her back to me, plopping her on the couch.

"You guys have been busy." He commented, looking around at the furniture.

The couch was here, the TV was here, on the TV stand, ready to be hooked up. Our dining table was put in the middle of the tile right off our small kitchen.

"Beds are together too." I told him, Colby leaned down to kiss me.

"Drive go okay?" I asked, kissing him again, letting it linger for a few seconds before he replied.

"Between you and me, I'm happy I'm home." He chuckled quietly in my ear, kissing my cheek.

"That bad huh?" 

"I'm glad I'm marrying the right cousin, that's all." He grinned, kissing me again before telling Gemma to let me finish her hair whilst he unpacked the car.

Once Gemma was tucked away in her bed, her door left open, the hall light on as requested, Colby got started putting our clothes away whilst Aunt Ginger, Melissa and I started to unpack the kitchen, Uncle Garret and Lincoln hooking up the TV.

"I can't believe you're finally here. It's felt like years since you've mentioned moving back home." Aunt Ginger said, placing cooking utensils into a holder next to the stove.

"I'm just grateful I'm here before this baby decides to show up." I sighed, washing another plate, adding it to the cupboard.

"It feels good to have you home, hon."

"Feels good to be home. Feels like a breath of fresh air." I confessed, Aunt Ginger squeezing me in a hug from behind, placing a smooch against my cheek, surely leaving red lipstick residue that I didn't bother to wipe away.

Everyone said goodnight around 11, telling me they'd be back tomorrow to help us finish, claiming we needed a good night's rest.

"Oh I could orgasm right now." I groaned, every muscle relaxing into the mattress.

"I could make that happen if you'd like." Colby smirked.

"Too tired." I groaned.

"You're going to regret laying down before changing." He laughed, grabbing my hands and tugging me upwards. "Come on Up you go." He groaned, earning a glare.

"I know you're not groaning from my weight, Cole."

"Of course not. It's been a long day. A lot of heavy boxes." He replied.

"Mhm." I hummed, my eyes falling shut.

"Come on, lets get you into something more comfy. I'm thinking fuzzy PJ pants. A nice comfy lose shirt. No bra." he listed off, the sound of a drawer opening and closing as I moaned to the thought.

"No bra sounds great. My boobs are so sore." I sighed, stripping my shirt off, my bra following suit.

"As much as I don't want to lose sight of this, it's fucking cold out." Colby commented, tossing me a comfy shirt.

"Well Mr. Brock. Welcome to the first night in our new temporary home." I grinned, yanking my fuzzy pajama pants up my thick thighs. 

"You as well Future Mrs. Brock." 

"I'm never leaving this bed, I hope you know that." I warned, yanking the covers back and welcoming the flannel bedding with open arms. 

"I think your bladder will say differently."

"Can you believe we're in a cold enough place to use flannel bed sheets?" 

"Can you believe I'll have to deal with snow removal?"

"We could hire someone." I suggested. 

"We could. Or. I could go rogue with a snowblower."

"Do they not handle the snow?"

"Nope. Just the lawns."

"Damn." 

Laying in our new temporary home that night felt weird.

Colby fell asleep pretty quickly, snoring in my ear as I laid there, staring at the ceiling.

I could feel Lennon moving, my hands racing where the movement came from, trying to imagine life with a newborn again.

I knew life was different. Not only was I now in Minnesota, and I have a toddler, but I'm sober. I'm in a partnership with the baby daddy. It seemed like it would be smooth sailing here on out; just there was this itch I couldn't scratch.

I carefully got out of bed, my hand resting on my belly as I wandered down the hall to the future nursery.

I paced the room for a moment, running my hand over the textured walls, opening and closing the wooden closet doors.

This was my baby's room. 

It felt weird.

Like we were somewhere we shouldn't be.

This wasn't our home.

I sat down on the floor, my back against the wall as I looked around the bare room, trying to imagine which wall the crib would lay against.

Life's changed so much in the past 5 years. 

After a few moments, I carefully got up off the floor, went to the bathroom before laying back in bed, Colby still sound asleep.

This had to be home. For now. And that was okay. Right?

Sleep pulled me under, only to be yanked right out after what only felt like a few minutes, my phone blaring.

"Hello?" I sighed into the phone, not bothering to check the time.

"Leighton?" A sniffled voice spoke, causing my heart to race.

"Monica?"

* * * *  I restarted this chapter lolol - June 5th 2024

I got writers block lolol + I've been distracted with life - July 26th 2024

I wrote most of this in one sitting lol - August 12th 2024

Written on: May 21st, June 5th, July 26th, August 12th, 14th 2024

Published: August 14th 2024

Word Count: 5032

Part Twenty Six - Coming Soon

[alekgray]

Stillness washed over the realm as Alek faltered, with an agonizing foce of reversal, the alpha's body was violently pushed back into the shape of a man. The weight of the transformation brought the lycan to his knees as he gasped and cried out in pain, though when Alek looked at his palms again he thought that he could hardly recognize them. Filthy, broken fingernails and scarred palms. The least of what coated his pale skin was the grime of the earth, he remembered- he remembered everything and retched violently as Alek's guts spilled onto the ground. Darkness receded from his veins, uncoiled shadowy tendrils from his soul and with it the magic of the changeling heart and the volatility left with it.

Quiet, so quiet. Alek couldn't feel them anymore, the voice or the wolves that had been howling at the back of his mind for months. He remembered though, he remembered the way their tissue felt between his teeth, and how the acrid taste of iron had coated his tongue and filled his gullet. He remembered everything in agonizing detail and Alek retched the rest of his stomach's contents - Andreas' pet drake among them - between his palms across the earth. "Brother-" Alek pleaded weakly, wet, crystalline eyes looked up at Andreas where he stood. No longer a beast, Alek couldn't be sure if the archdruid was anything more than a mere, mortal man now. "brother-" tears streaked his filthy face and in perfect clarity Alek saw all the faces of the people he'd killed. The witches that had screamed, the druids that he'd gleefully beaten to death, the lycans he'd devoured, vampires, drow, and most recently fey. He'd enjoyed it. He'd laughed. Alek had been a troubled kid but he'd never been a killer, now-

"Help me."

Then it was back, he stood once more, his hand extended into a claw, closed like a fist as his own nails cut into his palms and drew blood. "Weak." Alek said. "So fucking weak." He had no desire to return to that pathetic little boy that had never been given anything but disrespect. A punk that made people spit at the earth when he walked by, an imbecile that couldn't keep his temper in check long enough to hold down a job or a stable relationship. "How did you ever put up with someone so fucking pathetic?" Aren the archdruid, Perseus the hero of heroes, Socrates the philosopher of philosophers, Arthur the King of Kings: what hadn't Aren been? A globe trotting savior, self-proclaimed humility and master of all. How disappointed the archdruid must have been to have someone so mediocre born just after him. Alek had to scrape and take and pillage even a fraction of what Aren had.

Alek walked towards the other, prepared to kill and devour. "This ends how it should have ended long ago, in blood: with your heart in my hand." The alpha took off into a run, a sprint but something caught his feet as he fell over himself. Again the drow plague was gone, but this feral volatility remained inside of Alek's chest. "WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?!" Alek demanded as he clutched at the other's tunic, hateful and pleading all at once, "What did you- what did you do to me?!"

Alek's skin began to blister and burn as if he was caught up in the explosion again, it singed and peeled away. Andreas had done this, he had to of. Death was catching up, it had returned and come back but the last thing Alek saw was his brother's face. "Andreas-" Alek pleaded as he felt himself catching fire, he pawed and pulled at his brother's cloak, his tunic. "Andreas please-" the alpha's voice broke, tears streamed down his blistering face, "help me please don't do this." In a moment, there was nothing left but charred flesh and bones.

Dead.

With the direwolf's resistance against physical force the beating did little to incapacitate Andreas but he also hadn't the strength or movability to wrench himself free. Dire wolf became dragonfly, the fastest winged insect, trying to escape the clutches fast enough to not get flattened by the powerful, nearly inescapable claws of the lycan. Despite the protection of the direwolf's body, there was a moment of distracting soreness to get over but this wasn't the same fight that they'd shared in the Faerie Forest. The last thing Andreas had wanted to do then was fight, desperate to reach some sense in his brother. This was not that situation. Alek now threatened far more than just his life and the archdruid was knowledgeable enough to know that while words were indeed a very powerful tool, they could not penetrate this magic now.

He gave himself no reprieve from the soreness, no space away from Alek and no time to waste. As soon as there was a second for him to shift once more into a direwolf he did, once more aiming to bite into a limb and remove it. Anything to slow the lycan down. Growls, snaps, yelps and the sounds of violent, bloody ravaging went on for so long he couldn't be sure as Andreas lost himself within the fight, lost himself completely within his various shifts. Direwolf, ursa, griffin, living and extinct creatures with powerful hides and tearing horns. It was a far cry from their former confrontations. No longer druid and volatile lycan but an archdruid and a drow-touched alpha.

When once he'd find himself exhausted far sooner, the archdruid now fought hours on a battlefield before feeling the magical consequences of it. Physically and mentally, his mortal body was always some manner tired no matter how much he slept during war. However his magic outlasted his body. The shifts did not come any easier or harder even as Alek threw him across their battlefield. In the blink of an eye, a saber landed on his feet, as all cats would. This gave him a moment to catch his breath as he looked across, over to Alek to access what damage had been done to his younger brother. The archdruid's own body was covered in both his own blood and his brother's, wounds that healed slightly quicker only thanks to previously injested potions and food given by Senate allies. The irony. "The tree is everything, Alek. If I don't kill you now my sisters will," Andreas spoke, his own voice coming from an unopened jaw. With whatever limited empathic communication he could send from the saber's form, the archdruid expressed every bit of his emotions: the truth of his words, the dread, the grief but also the love that was translated within that pain.

He couldn't fight like this forever. He needed Nettelia or Octavian's healing to rid Alek of this magic. But Octavian was gone and Nettelia was nowhere to be found. If he had weakened Alek enough he considered trapping him far beneath the earth, the horrid consideration of drowning his own brother over and over again in either lack of oxygen or water or so much soil that he could not dig his way out without it overcoming him. It would be little more than torture, but the alternative involved either one of their souls being lost. Aren had never taken a soul - he wouldn't begin with his own brother's.

"Tell me where this corruption came from. Tell me how the drow did this to you when you had the fey at your side?" Were there other ways of reversing it? He wondered if this question would become his final hail mary, if there was truly nothing to be done but trap his brother in a circle of torment beneath the surface. Perhaps Andreas would join him, a serpent of diamond coiled around so that neither could escape. A fight that would never end until Andreas had no magic or strength left. Mutual destruction to keep someone contained from the Oztalun's tree and prevent the alpha's ambitions from reaching the lycans under his command.

[writer-akihiko]

so mc running away i love it the angst 👌 so if its alright can you the same but with the dorm leaders?(pls do a good ending my poor heart cannot take it-༎ຶ‿༎ຶ)

Dorm Leaders + MC Running Away

So I apologise for the lack of happy endings, if you want to call it that. The scenarios turned out much more different than the First Years probably because of the power gap I had in mind. Also, for anyone wondering, the Vice Dorm Leaders will have a shot of saving you next! When I get to it... Cut for length. Also please help to share because I limited the tags!

Warnings: Character Death [Not you or the main boy], mentions of abuse and emotional manipulation [On the Reader] and violent actions [The Dorm Leaders]

"I'm not going back."

"Wh... What?" He was astonished. "YN... I've looked far and wide for you- please-"

No words left his mouth as you stepped away from him, tears in your eyes and you were going to make a run for it again.

Malleus Draconia

Your words struck a chord in him. He didn't mean it, but when you said that you weren't going back, he almost lost control. What did you mean you weren't going back? You promised him to be his Queen!

No... he's not accepting this. His Queen deserved better. His larger hands encircled your wrists, stopping you in your tracks. No matter how much you tugged and pushed, Malleus' strength was beyond you. In your sole despair, you fell in his embrace.

Every ache and injury struck your core, as you cried your heart out. "I can't go back Malleus," you whimpered. "I... I'm sorry."

Your hands gripped tighter onto his clothes. "I don't mean to fight against you, I-"

The Fae Prince sealed your bruised lips with his own, pulling your smaller form into his lap as he took in the moment of the bittersweet, longing kiss. "YN... listen to me," He said, his own ice cold tears falling onto your cheek, healing your wounds. "You never have to apologise for your suffering. Not even to me."

Malleus held you close as you drowsed off. The gentle smile hardened into a growl, as his back arched, black wings bursting out of his body. Malleus, in his dragon form, summoned the thorns to protect you, holding you as if you were his personal dragon hoard…

The principal, or more accurately the culprit, Dire Crowley was a fool to step out. It disgusted Malleus to his very core, his claws setting the very ground on fire as Crowley stepped closer. No words were exchanged between them. For all the suffering you faced, it was to be paid in tenfold as the dragon took a deep breath, releasing the fire in his chest.

"It was a fraction of her suffering…"

Riddle Rosehearts

He was ballistic. Riddle had been eager to bring you back immediately, but the sheer refusal and attempt to run away made him think that you hate him. He was blaming himself, sobbing to the ground.

Riddle's breakdown made you stop. No matter what you did, you still love him. Riddle's hiccups of sobbing paused at the feeling of your arms wrap around him. He wanted this, he wanted your warmth, he wanted- no… he needed you so badly he'd ceased to function without you.

"I don't hate you Riddle," You said, kissing his tears away. Your pretty Queen of Hearts had ruined the uniform he so proudly kept up with and Riddle himself was unkempt. Riddle cradled your sore body, letting you tell him your stresses and your breaking point abused over and over again by Crowley.

Riddle's heart softened ever so much for you, as he realised that he was to a fault as well. It was then he started to cry for you. "YN… I… I lost control. I know I can't be forgiven for the stress you went through so-"

"Rosehearts! You found her, how wonderful!" The jovial Principal cried out. In his hand was a magic tracking spell and that's when Riddle was struck with guilt once more. He doomed you, again. He… no, he refuses to end it this way.

Your loving self became meek, frightened by the aspect of being under Crowley's care once more. You trembled, reaching out to the hem of Riddle's coat. "Riddle… Please don't let them take me…"

He pulled you up, whispering to you. "When I cast my magic, run YN."

"Ridd-"

"Never thought you'd defy me, Rosehearts. Being a law abider and all~"

"Off With Your Head."

Kalim Al-Asim

"Y-YN?"

Kalim desperately hung onto your ankle, on his knees, begging and bargaining you to stay.

"YN… Please don't leave me again," He begged. "I'll… I'll stop dragging you to parties! I'll get you anything you want just please… please come back to me."

His tears wet your foot, as his grip left light marks on your ankle. Kalim never meant to harm you. He was so desperate to make you stay, but in his heart, he knew that he didn't have the strength to keep you with him if you desired to leave.

"How could you think that?!" You cried out. You stooped to Kalim's level, tackling him in hug so hard that he crashes to the ground. "I… I'd never leave you if I had the choice! I couldn't stand NRC anymore…"

You sobbed into Kalim's chest, wondering when it'd all end. You could never refuse Kalim, but what about everyone else? What about Crowley? Your spine shivered at the monster's name, wanting everything to disappear except for you and Kalim.

Kalim didn't know what to do. He didn't understand why Crowley would do such a thing to you. If Crowley was causing you such pain… He'd just have to get rid of the problem. You only deserve the best, after all. It's not his fault, nor is it yours.

You had cried yourself to utter exhaustion. Kalim gently wrapped you up in his jacket, cradling you to his chest. As if clockwork, Crowley appeared to the heartwarming scene, simply glad that you were going to be returned.

"Al-Asim, Dire should patch her up nicely-"

"No."

Crowley coughed. "What was that?"

"I said no," Kalim reiterated. "I have no reason to listen to you…"

"Since YN and I aren't your students anymore."

Azul Ashengrotto

How grateful he was to find you near the water. He almost turned red at the thought of you willing to search for him. Azul never thought you'd long for him this way, but you knew him, and you knew him well.

As if on cue, you looked beyond the trees to see your beloved, running from the sandy shores barefoot to be caught by your precious Azul. Azul doesn't have the best reflexes, trying to catch you without hurting you.

Azul took one good look at you, and the sight was enough to make him cry. Messy hair, cuts and bruises littering your skin possibly from running through the rocky forest, feet with sores from rocks… and tearful, sorrowful eyes.

Not an inch of sadness deserved to touch you. That was one of his core beliefs. He didn't say anything to prompt you to tell about what you'd been suffering. He knew. He knew every line of the story, and it made him ever so guilty that it led to this. If he just paid more attention to you, or at least try to.

Azul offered you everything. An ear to listen and his body for comfort, with his arms wrapping about you. If the simple action was enough for your forgiveness, he'd do it over and over again.

It was for a moment Azul held you, before running the water with you in tow. From the forest emerged the tweels, but what was behind you made you scream. Crowley, with his magic, retaliating against the twins' magic.

Azul wrapped you around his tentacles, drifting further into the ocean with you. He bent down to whisper in your ear. "YN, close your eyes. Don't look."

You shut your eyes tight as you did, hiding yourself in Azul's chest, away from the scene.

"May we never see you again, Crowley."

Azul and the twins in their merforms plummet into the ocean, deep down where Crowley would never come to touch you.

Idia Shroud

He wasn't surprised that the huge robot scared you. It was his secret project after all. He immediately let himself out of the robot, but he was hesitant to step into the forest. Idia was scared, but he still had to protect you!

"Y-YN..."

"Idia!..."

You stopped running, seeing your boyfriend pop out of the robot. Idia was quick to get over his reluctance as his panic shifts to your injuries instead. He wanted to cry out of joy from the mere chance of finding you.

Idia tried to treat your wounds as best as he could with the emergency kit conveniently equipped [he really did think of everything] although his wrapping technique was unkempt at best.

Idia's attempts to heal you made you forget of all the suffering. You couldn't help but laugh, realising how much you missed Idia. He knew that you needed this time. Oh, how he wanted to whisk you away...

But he might as well. You're his, right?

Crowley didn't get close to reaching you. Idia thought of it all. He tracked every move the principal made, fooling Crowley to think that Idia was with you the entire time, with the tracking device that Crowley so faithfully gave him.

"How desperate... it's honestly funny..." Idia scoffed at the idea of Crowley getting to you.

With the S.T.Y.X androids, Idia confronted Crowley, who was in sheer confusion.

"Crowley… burn in hell."

Leona Kingscholar

Leona didn't hold back. He couldn't believe you would say such a thign to him… The only conclusion he reached to was that you hated him. You hated his very core, just like everyone else… He was scared. It frightened him to the core that after everything he did, you still hated him.

"YN… stop fucking around with me," He said, grabbing onto your wrist. He wasn't about to throw a tantrum then and there. He had to get things straight. "Hey… tell me. Was I just a waste for you?"

"W-What are you talking about Leona?" You pushed against his chest, trying to get some distance but Leona was way stronger than you. The lion couldn't listen to reason. He simply went on about how you must've hated him, and how much you despised him.

"Did I mean nothing to you, YN?" Leona was shaking, his shoulders trembling from the mere thought of hearing those words.

You wrapped your arms around Leona, pulling him in close. "I never did… How dare you think that you stupid lion?!" You said, sobbing your heart out. You were equally hurt, but you never once thought Leona would think such a thing.

The emotional reunion was interrupted by the principal himself, pretending to be moved by such a scene. The false pretense of safety caught on to you, and you were sent into a panic, clinging onto Leona for fear of your life.

"I hate you!" You yelled, your body crumpling to the ground just as Leona caught you. "I hate you, I hate you. I don't want to go back, don't make me!"

If you were to scream anymore, you might collapse from exhaustion. Leona was quick to carry you in his arms, holding you close to his chest, where you were comforted by his heartbeat.

"Hoi, good for nothing principal," Leona called out, a single claw drawn out, igniting his Unique Magic.

"Move before I turn you to sand."

Vil Schoenheit

He was stunned to see you in such a state. He called out for you, and you stopped in your tracks. Was he that incompetent that he can't keep you with him? Did he not treat you right? Was his mere presence just torture for you?

Vil couldn't keep it in anymore. He needed to know. "YN… why won't you come back? Tell me, is it my fault? Am I not worthy of you?!"

The once prideful queen fell into shambles of insecurity as his mind won't stop painting images of you walking away from him, of you calling him your doom, of him being your captor… No, he didn't mean it…

"Was I the villain in your story?! WAS I?!"

Vil had never cried as much as he did. He needed to know that you didn't of him as a nuisance. He really was worthless if he made you feel unwanted… so please, he needed an answer.

"How could you think that, my love?"

You stooped to Vil's level, brushing away the tears that ruined his makeup with your very hands. Oh, your poor Vil… You were too selfish, thinking of your own suffering. With Vil in your arms, you felt whole once again. You gave Vil your actual answer, relenting every moment of your stress that stemmed from Crowley.

Oh… how his sweet potato must've suffered. Vil had a stuck of guilt, considering that he was under an Overblot as well. No matter, he had to make things right. For your sake, for his love's sake.

"YN, Crowley is trying to find you. But I… I have to set things right," He said, pulling you up.

The rustle of leaves had you on guard as from it came Dire Crowley, revelling in the scene.

"Schoenheit. You are supposed to bring LN YN to me immediately as I ordered."

Vil for once scared you. It scared you how enraged he was, and your heart wrenched at seeing the ink droplets by his hand.

"Vil, don't you dare-"

He turned back to you, whispering for you to run to Rook's safety. "Don't cry, my love."

You tried to hold the tears once again as you saw Vil shifting forms to an ink-like mess, this time his rage directed at Crowley. You could only run away, praying in your heart that Vil was safe.