#at least they're quite good at fighting soooooooo

[panzershrike-pretz]

Graves - pt. 4

part 1 | part 2 | part 3

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Hey! Made a new part! I really like how it turned out and there's ✨️lore✨️!

Taglist: @onehelluvamarine @1waveshortofashipwreck @whollyjoly @sweetxvanixlla @xxluckystrike @executethyself35 (if you want in or out, tell me!)

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Dean was the one who slowly pushed the door open, a nervousness taking over his body as he took in the room filled to the brim with the most random stuff it could be - all from books to a full unicorn taxidermy, staring down at him from it's shelf.

It was about the size of a wild hare with bared pointy teeth and black eyes. Dean had never seen a real unicorn before; Archie had told him how hard to catch those creatures were. Small, fast and aggressive, who used their horns to kill their prey. He wondered for a second if they were really as scary as the taxidermy mount, but decided not to question it.

The atmosphere was heavy, filled with the sound of feather scratching paper and fire burning at the fireplace - even as the rest of the group entered, stepping on the usually creaking floor boards, it seemed too quiet. Too still.

Sat right in the middle of the room, was a desk full of uninteresting paperwork and useless decoration. Miss Peacock was there, looking at the papers without even batting an eye at the group at first - she only did so when Seamus made a shy 'ahem' sound.

Her eyes drifted from her work, up to his face, and she raised her brows, glasses slipping a bit down her muzzle.

“I see you have returned.” She let down the feather she was writing with, then entangled her fingers, curious to what they had to say. “Without Pigeon and an hour and a half after your real return. One must wonder where have you been; you put the whole place in deep fear. We were about to send out a search party.”

“Miss Pigeon refused to join us,” said Sam, a bit intimidated by the woman. It was too dark in the room for him to tell who the other women were - he recognized Laura Macaw, Peacock's own apprentice and personal assistant. Other than that, he could only guess who the others could be. “She made a point about killing whoever went after her next.”

“She's elusive as always. That's how she spent so long in hiding. We're the first to find her and that's how she welcomes us…” Peacock pushed her reading glasses up, before drinking a sip of tea, then taking a look down at the papers again.

Seamus thought about the Hollow that was set loose upon Pigeon’s loop, but decided not to talk about it. Peacock knew about the creature because of Pangea's vision, but didn't know it was wandering the place for over a week before they could access it.

“She said she doesn't want to see you again. Ever. And that you were a cowardly bitch.” Enoch continued, a grin on his face that he was lucky Miss P couldn't see in the dark. Her eyes stared at him with such intensity, though, that he regretted his words instantly.

Peacock recomposed herself, opening a sweet smile before saying: “Don't you pay attention to such a thing. She's out of her mind. Staying isolated for so long takes its toll on a person, you see…” then she looked at one of the women in the room, which Seamus finally recognized to be Hydra. Peacock's eyes narrowed. “Now, what kind of language do your Ymbrynes let you use…?”

Enoch followed her gaze to the nervous woman, who looked like she wanted to disappear on the spot.

“I'm sorry… Miss Peacock…”

“Now, you two did fail your mission, though I'm not severely surprised…” she looked back, picking her feather back up. “Next time I'll need to pick more competent people, I see. No thanks to you, Miss Ibis.”

“I'm sorry, Miss Peacock.” Hydra said, quickly, letting her head down. “It'll not happen again. You'll not be disappointed anymore.”

“Correct, I won't. You promised me your children were good for any task, but they failed at such a simple thing as to bring a one-legged old-woman to me. I'll not be using their help for these missions again.” Peacock went back to writing, after dipping the feather's tip in some ink. She stopped mid sentence, though, to look up once more. “Will you tell me why you kids took so long to get to me?”

“No, ma'am… I fear not.” Sam simply put.

Peacock shook her head, then made a dismissing motion with her hand.

“Then out of my office.”

They bowed, showing at least some respect, before quickly scurrying away, followed by Hydra. She opened her wings enough to cover their backs as they made their way through the hall, looking over her shoulder as Laura closed the door.

Hydra guided them, looking extremely nervous as she whispered to herself in an ancient language. After some walking, though, she let them stop, finally feeling just safe enough to check on them.

“Oh, thank the Gods you're safe!” She said, pulling both Enoch and Seamus for a hug. It was clear how worried she was before and now, close to tears, she couldn't quite believe her eyes, seeing them alive and in one piece. “I-I was so worried I'd lose you!”

Enoch mumbled something, before pulling himself away from her. He crossed his arms, looking at the floor: “Well, it didn't seem so while we were being humiliated by that glorified chicken.”

Hydra sighed, trying to place her hand on his shoulder, just before he stepped back, out of reach.

“I'm sorry, Enoch. I truly am. I know I should've said something, but… Miss Peacock can be hard to deal with. I'm sure she didn't mean any of tha-”

“Out of the way, searats!” Laura's voice was sharp and full of hatred as she passed by, using her blue colored wings to push Hydra and the group out of her way. “I'm impressed Miss P still lets you wander around these halls. A dirty, disgusting bunch…”

“Oh, shut yer trap!” Dean let out, receiving a very hostile look from the woman. He didn't back away, though; instead, just puffed his neck and tail fur - he just didn't do anything more because Sam quietly held his hand.

“I think Miss P is extremely kind by giving you a chance,” she said, turning around just enough for her to face him. She carried a bunch of books and paper scrolls, presumably to be retrieved to the library. “Pirates are good for one thing alone, and you know what it is.”

“Say it, then!” He dared, furious.

“To hang.” Laura then turned to go, leaving the group behind as she disappeared in the halls of Venus’ Pandeloop.

Dean wanted to break free from Seamus and run after her, to attack, but a tug made his attention shift to his partner. He looked angry, ready to take on that fight even if it meant he could actually be sentenced to death by the Bird Council. The only thing that held him back was Sam's pleading look.

“Dee, let her be.” His voice was calm, gentle, though still carrying some sadness by the way Laura had spoken.

“Let her be?! She said our only purpose is to die! To meet the end of the rope! How am I supposed to let her be?!”

“Jeremy said the same thing once…” Hydra said, looking hurt. “We wanted to throw him overboard, but we didn't. I never knew why, but we let him be. Now, he's a changed man. He doesn't think like that anymore. People can change their minds, Dean, give Laura time to actually know and understand us.”

“I think she's a prejudiced piece of good-for-nothing crap!” Enoch huffed, sounding angry. "We should trow her to Artemis' dragons!"

“And how are you any better?” Pangea asked, making him go silent.

The way back through the almost empty halls was silent. During the day, that place was filled with people of all kinds, from everywhere in time and every part of the world, traveling through the Pandeloop's portals to visit places and friends. From winged women being followed by their peculiar children to weird looking animals and groups of scientists meeting to talk about discoveries. At night, though, all you could see were the occasional staff cleaning and tidying up the place.

They passed by the known people, giving them faint smiles and quiet waves as they went but, other than that, they were each absorbed in their own minds.

As the group approached their own door, right at the end of one of the second floor's halls, Hydra pushed it open. The door was made out of wood, seemingly normal if not for the corrosions from salinity and the smell of ocean water coming from behind it. Besides that, the only other indication that it was the right door for them to go through, was a golden sign with “Blithe, present. Restricted access. Do not enter.”

The room slowly transitioned from a guest room in London, 1886, to a pirate ship's jail, on the lowest deck of it.

They went through, feeling a slight shift in the air as they stepped out of the past and directly into the present. Going from stable ground to a moving one, as the waves swayed Blithe around, made the group almost lose their balance, safe from Hydra, the best prepared for it. She used her wings to help them stand normally and, when they all finally seemed to be able to actually stand by themselves, she opened the cell's door for them to get out.

Peggy wagged her whole body as she started sniffing around, shoving her nose in one of the ship's cats face - Oops hissed at her. The cat, sleeping peacefully inside the cell, was definitely caught off guard as her owners stepped out of seemingly the wall. Unable to see the portal, Oops simply arched her back, trying to seem dangerous before almost hitting Peggy in the nose and running off, letting out angry hisses and meows.

Seamus was the first to step into the ship's kitchen, caught by surprise by the presence of all the Crew, standing around the table and looking down at a map. He had almost forgotten his command to Horace, for him to gather everyone and fill them in, to the best of his ability.

“So, Pansy is back?” Hugh tilted his head, a couple of bees flying around his face as he stared at the group, waiting for the rest of the news.

“Yes, and she…”

“Kidnapped Harriet Compton?” Millard asked; even if he was invisible and no one could see his face, his voice made it absolutely clear that he was holding back so he wouldn't cry. His efforts were in vain, though, as he saw Sam's small nod. He covered his mouth with his hand, looking down as a hiccup left his throat.

“You worked with her, right…?” Juni's voice was low and gentle as she reached for his shoulder, rubbing her hand against him, trying to soothe Millard. “I'm sorry, Mills. She’ll be alright, I know it.”

“Oh… if Pansy needssed someone to guide her through the Map of Days, it could've been him…” Olive said, receiving weird looks that she couldn't quite understand. “What?! It is true!”

“Olive, please take Claire and go play upside.” Natasha smiled at her, trying to convince the kid to step out of the kitchen so she wouldn't have to listen to anything, if it came to it, but Olive didn't move a single strand of fur.

“I'm older than you!” She argued. “And so is Claire!”

“Ye're still physically and mentally kids, though. Please, dear, would ye do it for yer dad?” Rodion intervened, kneeling to stand at her height. He had a smile, gently holding her little hands with his big, calloused ones. “I know ya want to be included, but just this time, ok?”

“Not fair! Mamma lets me participate in stuff!” She stomped her feet, looking around for someone to defend her, but everyone seemed to agree that it was better if the kids were left out of the discussion. “Why do you all act like I don't know anything?!”

“We know ye're an amazing lil’ fighter, Olive. We know ye know a lot.” Rodion got back up, gently shoving her in the direction of the exit. “This time, tho, there'll be stuff ya don't wanna hear.”

She crossed her arms, stomping away followed by Claire. Her white fur let it show how her face turned red in anger, as she huffed and puffed all the way up the stairs, mumbling about how “grown ups are stupid!”, “I can shoot and sword fight!” and “I'm not scared of Pansy Graves!”.

Rodion let out a sigh, turning back towards the rest of the crew, waiting for their information and plans to be laid out.

“Alright… we stopped by the Cutthroat Inn and Jack told us he thought the next place Pansy would go is her family's estate, we just don't know where it is.” Sam started, leaning against the table as he tried to make sense of the UK's map. “We know they're bankrupt and living off the Serpen's loaned money. Presumably, also close to one of your family's places…?” His eyes darted back up at Sirius and Hydra.

Both stood side by side, looking at the map in silence. Sirius leaned forward, pointing at London and tracing a line with his finger towards Hampshire.

“Me family has a manor in the countryside here, up near North Wessex. We used to travel there in the summer with Mother, remember Hydra?” He tilted his head, tapping the map. “I think the Grave's Manor is near here. Mother would talk about ‘em being good people and she wanted our Grandmother to marry Hydra to ‘em instead of the Carrow Family.”

“Oh, yeah, a lot of magical families lived nearby or had summer residences there.” Hydra nodded, trying to think. “The Graves, the Carrows… now Sagitta and Scorpius, after they married. Didn’t Archie's grandparents live there too? The Müllers.”

“Well, it means he could help us find out which is the Grave's manor.” Dean pointed out. “Just gotta know how the fuck do we get there while also passing by Brighton to get him.”

“Easy; you go from the Devil's Acre directly to Brighton.” Hydra said, immediately noticing the confused faces. “Oh, you didn’t know, right? The third floor will be closed tomorrow, by Peacock's orders. There'll be no way out of the Devil's Acre unless you go through Miss Lyrebird's imitation of the Pandeloop.”

“Miss Lyrebird's what the fuck?”

Hydra stopped, biting her tongue. For a moment, she wanted to hide herself and act as if nothing happened but, now, she had no way out of the discussion without spilling all the beans.

“Kenji and I were scared when Peacock took control over the Pandeloop. I pulled Lyrebird aside one day and she helped us come up with a plan B in any case…” She looked down, seemingly guilty for not telling everyone earlier about what she and the other two had done in secret. “I stole Venus’ old papers from when she was being forced by Regulus to build the Pandeloop and we set up another one inside Lyrebird's Loop…”

Hydra sat down in one of the chairs, a little dizzy from pure anxiety.

“We- we know it works to send someone somewhere, but it can't open for someone to come back through it. It's a one-way ticket to wherever you want, but you have to come back without it.”

“Well, we’ll be in the present so it shouldn't be hard to get back…” Sam mumbled, still trying to wrap his head around the news. “We use it to go to Brighton, get Archie and he takes us to the Graves’ Manor.”

“No! Absolutely not!” Hydra spat out, suddenly getting up again and promptly regretting it. She took a deep breath. “You can't go there. You have no clue how that place will act once they find out you're there.”

“Why…?” Dean tilted his head, confused.

“If you think Laura is prejudiced, you never met one of those families!” Hydra stared at him, her wings shooting open. “I was born and raised with them, Dean, you have no idea how far their hatred can go. They'll disappear with all of you solely because you're not considered ‘pure’, or whatever.”

Dean wanted to protest, but Sirius stopped him with a motion of his hand, before speaking up.

“Hydra 's right. They tried to kill me, their own blood. What would stop ‘em from killing y'all? They're all on Regulus' side, anyway.”

“At the same time, we need to stop Pansy…” Jeremy said. Until now, he had been silent sitting with his hands together, staring at the map almost without blinking. He finally looked up at Sirius, grabbing his hand to calm him. “Ay, love, ye know ‘em. Those kids are made out o’ iron. I trust ‘em to go there and come back alive.”

Seamus let his ears down, then looked at his own hands. He didn't like to mention his own health conditions or curses but, somehow, he felt like it would bring some peace to Hydra and Sirius.

“I'm… an Obscurus…” he said, slowly, trying to look up only to fail. “If anything happens to anyone… I can… uh… let go…”

“FUCKIN’ NO!” Dean yelled, grabbing him by the arm. “The Gods know when you’ll die ‘cause of that… thing! I don't need to lose ya now!” Dean let go, still looking absolutely betrayed by the mere idea. “That parasite drains your soul every time you let it take over and you know it!”

“You have to promise, Sam.” Pangea said, crossing her arms and tapping her foot on the ground. “No Obscurus. No matter what.”

He simply nodded, looking up at Hydra and Sirius. Both still seemed anxious, but if Jeremy gave the green flag for them to go, it was final.

“Alright. I promise.”

“Good.” Jeremy got up, still holding Sirius’ hand. “The three of you should rest and leave early tomorrow.”

“I'm… not going… I have to stay and take care of Enoch.” Pangea said, side eyeing him. “I promised Eleanor I'd look for him if the potion's side effects grow worse.”

“Oh… well… then… “ Jeremy looked around, eyes falling upon Natasha and Emma. “You two will go. Their powers are great for defense and attack, if needed.”

The two girls seemed caught by surprise, but didn't argue, simply nodding their heads with a slight smile on their faces.

"Wait! You're letting us go?" Natasha placed a hand on her hip, a sassy smile forming on her lips. "Fuck yeah, we're ready!"

"Someone has to save the boys' fur..." Emma winked at Sam and Dean, before letting out a laugh. She leaned against her friend's shoulder, jokingly putting up her middle finger to Sam and Dean, with a single flame burning at the end of it.

Seamus crossed his arms, letting out a mumbled "fucking great..." as he heard Dean laugh. He wasn't completely against the girls' involvement with the mission, but he couldn't quite put aside the fear that both of their strong perdonalities would end up being more of an obstacle to them.

"See you by the morning. We're leaving when Sun's up."

"A'ight, sir!" Natasha did a playful playful salute, that only made his patience drop a little more. He knew it was a joke, but part of him couldn't help but feel pissed at how unserious they were.

Nate and Emma both walked away, giggling with themselves as they disappeared down the stairs, walking towards the sleeping quarters.

"They'll give you a headache~ ", Dean joked, side eyeing Sam's already tired face.

"Yeah, good luck." Pangea agreed, a soft laugh leaving her mouth. "They're not quite your usual soldiers, Seamus."

"I can't quite think if that's good or bad..."

[wajjs]

Halkyle all of them

ask game

who hogs the duvet

Kyle. He's a restless sleeper, always moving, kicking, and turning around, and it ends with him cocooned in the duvet. For cold nights, Hal knows he's gotta go to sleep with a sweater and socks because he's not gonna have anything else to keep warm 5 mins after Kyle falls asleep

who texts/rings to check how their day is going

Kyle, he can afford a phone and a data plan that lets him text constantly. He also sends tons of emojis Hal's phone cannot read because Hal still has a nokia brick phone and he's not going to change for a newer model.

who’s the most creative when it comes to gifts

Kyle. it's Kyle. we all know it's Kyle. Hal is gonna show up with the smallest box of chocolates and flowers and that's after thinking really hard about it. That or he's gonna gift you a plane ride. And we all know how those end 😏

who gets up first in the morning

Hal. Hal is a morning person. Kyle needs his beauty sleep

who suggests new things in bed

Kyle!!! He's always eager to try new stuff!! It isn't that Hal is an inattentive lover, he's actually quite generous, but he does tend to stick to things he knows in bed and that he knows he can rock your world with

who cries at movies

They both cry. Kyle cries openly and is really weepy about it. Hal cries silently when Kyle is too distracted by his own crying to notice

who gives unprompted massages

Hal. He's really good at them, and they come with the bonus of a 50/50 chance of ending in sex

who fusses over the other when they're sick

They both fuss but they both are terrible at it. Kyle doesn't really know what to do and is a bit helpless. Hal less of a mess but he also struggles with vulnerability, so.

who gets jealous easiest

Yes.

who has the most embarrassing taste in music

Kyle. He doesn't care though. Actually he thinks he has great taste

who collects something unusual

Hal collects enemies that want to fuck him, Kyle collects dead g---

who takes the longest to get ready

Kyle. He fusses over his hair a lot

who is the most tidy and organised

Hal. Partly because that's what he's used to, and also because it's easy to be tiny and organized when you don't own a lot of stuff

who gets most excited about the holidays

Kyle! And he knows Hal likes to avoid them by being in space, so he has appropriate plans for each holiday to make sure they get to celebrate them in small ways

who is the big spoon/little spoon

They switch. a lot

who gets most competitive when playing games and/or sports

They're both soooooo competitive. Soooooooo competitive. They may break up during a game and then make up later in the bathroom with intense make up sex while people keep knocking on the door because they want to pee

who starts the most arguments

You have two argumentative bitches together in a relationship. At least half of that relationship is about arguing. There's joy in arguing

who suggests that they buy a pet

Neither of them. Are you kidding me. They can't keep a plant alive, they won't be able to keep Mark the goldfish alive either and what's worse, both Arthur and Garth will be pissed about it. It's not worth it

what couple traditions they have

Insane sex. Almost dying for each other all the time, or actually dying and then being brought back.

what tv shows they watch together

Kyle watches trashy reality tv and Hal does not. so they do not watch tv together. Hal watches sports sometimes

what other couple they hang out with

They're sooooo annoying but they hang out with equally annoying people so they hang out with Guy+Guy's fist, Oliver and Dinah, etc

how they spend time together as a couple

Fucking+sleeping+chilling+flying through space together+fighting yet another bad guy that wants to fuck Hal

who made the first move

Kyle. He actually had to basically yell at Hal "are you gonna date me or what!!!!" because Hal kept playing gay chicken with him

who brings flowers home

Hal, when he fucks up. It happens often

who is the best cook

Hal, again. Kyle can't even boil water.

[scattered-winter]

also: top 5 composers!

OHHHH THIS WAS A HARD ONE ,,, these aren't in any particular order because if I had to first choose only FIVE favorites and then put them in order of most -> least favorite I would simply CRY

sarah schachner

her most notable work for me is the reboot call of duty: modern warfare soundtracks <3 here are some of my absolute favorites from her <3

modern warfare main theme (2019)

into the furnace (2019)

modern warfare II (2022) (I LOOOOVE the difference in instrumentation between the two main themes <3333333 they're both soooo good in their own unique way <33333)

hindsight (2022) (2:12 to the end is my favorite section of it)

the bitter end (2022)

john paesano

soooooooo many things. he's done the maze runner trilogy, ps4 spiderman, daredevil, and soooo much more, and every single one of them fuck severely. some absolute musts from him:

battlin' jack murdock (daredevil)

fogwell's gym (daredevil)

the maze runner (the maze runner trilogy)

finale (the maze runner trilogy) (bro when those STRINGS COME IN!!!!! LEAVES ME IN SHAMBLES EVERY TIME)

what's next (the maze runner trilogy)

i'm sorry (the maze runner trilogy)

spider-man (marvel's spider-man)

make it right (spider-man: miles morales)

steve jablonsky

if you've been around for very long you've probably heard me ramble about the transformers soundtracks. they're what made me watch the movies in the first place and by god if the movies were as good as the music they would be absolutely phenomenal. but alas. I'm sure jablonsky has more work outside the transformers franchise but I haven't expanded my reach beyond them just yet.

the all spark (transformers)

optimus (transformers)

bumblebee (transformers)

arrival to earth (transformers)

sam on the roof (transformers)

prime (transformers: revenge of the fallen)

NEST (transformers: revenge of the fallen)

i claim your sun (transformers: revenge of the fallen)

i rise, you fall (transformers: revenge of the fallen)

sentinel prime (transformers: dark of the moon) (spotify is SOO winterphobic so hardly any tracks in either this album or age of extinction are actually on spotify :(

it's our fight (transformers: dark of the moon)

our final hope (transformers: dark of the moon)

tessa (transformers: age of extinction)

hunted (transformers: age of extinction)

autobots reunite (transformers: age of extinction)

leave planet earth alone (transformers: age of extinction)

sacrifice (transformers: the last knight)

history of transformers (transformers: the last knight)

your voice (transformers: the last knight)

did you forget who i am (transformers: the last knight)

sir edmund burton (transformers: the last knight)

seglass ni tonday (transformers: the last knight)

we have to go (transformers: the last knight)

henry jackman

my favorite works of his are from captain america: the winter soldier, but I also really love what he's done with x-men: first class :]

lemurian star (captain america: the winter soldier)

project insight (captain america: the winter soldier)

fury (cptain america: the winter soldier)

taking a stand (captain america: the winter soldier)

time to suit up (captain america: the winter soldier)

end of the line (captain america: the winter soldier)

cap's promise (captain america: civil war) (shitty movie. great soundtrack.)

first class (x-men: first class)

rage and serenity (x-men: first class)

x-training (x-men: first class)

hans zimmer

I know he's like. everyone's favorite. but it's for a good reason because goddamn

dream is collapsing (inception)

one simple idea (inception)

dream within a dream (inception)

paradox (inception)

time (inception)

a watchful guardian (the dark knight)

why do we fall? (the dark knight rises)

now we are free (gladiator) (its worth mentioning that zimmer collaborated with quite a few people on this one)

at wit's end (pirates of the caribbean: at world's end)

up is down (pirates of the caribbean: at world's end)

one day (pirates of the caribbean: at world's end)

drink up me hearties yo ho (pirates of the caribbean: at world's end)

i'm spider-man (the amazing spider-man 2)

my enemy (the amazing spider-man 2) (pharrell williams put his entire PUSSY into this one btw)

you need me (the amazing spider-man 2)

i'm moving to england (the amazing spider-man 2)

i chose you (the amazing spider-man 2)

the rest of my life (the amazing spider-man 2)

no place like home (the amazing spider-man 2)

and as a nice lead-in to the next composer, here's a choral piece from zimmer that I really like: aurora (peaceful choir: new sound of choral music)

eric whitacre

one of these is not like the others <3 whitacre doesn't do movie soundtracks, because he's largely a choral composer who creates pieces for choir groups to perform. his work is very special to me out of everything else on this list because I've performed a lot of it onstage, and they all hold very special places in my heart because of the memories I have practicing and performing those pieces with my choir that was practically family to me <3 he uses cluster chords in his music a lot, which basically means the notes clash together in a very specific way to create the most gorgeous overtones and atmosphere and it's just oughghghghghghghh <333

lux aurumque (light and gold)

five hebrew love songs: temuna (a picture) (light and gold)

five hebrew love songs: larov (mostly) (light and gold)

the seal lullaby (light and gold)

sleep (light and gold)

i carry your heart (i carry your heart) (the lyrics from this one come from one of my most favorite poems of alllllll time btw)

sing gently (sing gently)

[royalsunshinehotel]

hellooo i've been obsessively reading all ur sherrif hassan fics. they're all soooooooo good. i can practically hear rahul kohli's voice plssssss. if ur still taking requests please consider: public sex. thank u for ur service

10:01 AM (Sheriff Hassan x Reader)

A/N: I'm gonna lose my shit I tried so hard ok. Rahul DM me money. I need moneys.

It wasn’t as if you were a prude, you just weren't used to the anonymity of New York. It was “the city”, so very different from Crockett. But You, Hassan, and Ali had all made it. The city is a reward.

Ali is gone now, off to college, leaving you with Hassan, trying to find out what life looked like when your child is now technically an adult.

Trauma is a strange beast, anyone who’s experienced this before knows it well.

Certain areas of your relationship changed when you didn’t want it to

Sure you slept in the same bed now, but he hadn’t put his hands on you since the island caught fire.

You could feel him in the night, horrible dreams keeping him hostage. He’d wake, remember where is, and pull you to him.

Sometimes he runs a hand along the side of your neck, tracing the vicious reminder of that night.

He wasn’t fast enough and you paid for it.

The only reason you knew all of this was because you didn’t sleep anymore. At least not in a way that mattered.

Hassan knows this, and both of you kept it under wraps for Ali’s sake

And now the boy is gone. Who are you trying to protect?

So it starts with picnics. Nothing too intense, just two blocks over from your apartment. Both of you were still healing, that much as obvious, but you had each other to lean on, and that was enough.

Today was a day like any other, only you’re wearing that soft orange dress, the one you know Hassan likes, and you’d picked out a bag of his favorites.

No reason, you just miss him is all.

He knows better than to try and carry the bag, you’d put a stop to that right away when he’d first suggested he lift anything heavy at home.

And the two of you walk in a warm, comfortable silence.

“You want to say something, don’t you,” he declares as the two of you cross the street to the small green patch in the city.

“How do you know?”

“I’m a detective.” He knows better.

“Oh, sure.” You tried to shrug it off, spreading the blanket out under an old, quiet oak tree.

Hassan watches intently as you fluff up the pillows you had in your bag, so he could lay comfortable.

Something in his chest burns as he watches your hands carefully prop him up against your favorite tree, fluffing the pillow up just right, and slowly lowering him back.

He was supposed to be doing this for you, not the other way around. You’d been doting on him for the past six months. It's almost like you forgot who’s in charge here.

The logical, calm, part of his mind tells him that you’re just sweet like that. You just want things to be good for him because you love him, no more, no less.

But still, the power you held over him as he healed...you were getting too big for your britches. Someone had to put you back in your place.

“Hassan?” You ask, noticing his glazed expression.

“Um, yes. I’m fine”

“Everything go okay with the doctor?”

“Oh, the usual, I’m just old.” He tries to joke, as you give him a perfect view of what’s under your dress as you sit down. The breeze today is his friend, and he fights to keep himself under control. It’s not fair that this happened.

“Come on, you’re not old, you can still bounce back!” You smack his chest, hand lingering just a little too long on his heart.

“Everything’s bounced as back as it can get,” he pulls a face, and his skin starts to warm under your touch. Either you’d truly wanted to start something, or you forgot the effect you have on him.

“Good.” You declare.

“Hm?” he gives you a half-smile

“That’s good you're bouncing back!”

“It’s been quite the process, you’ve been amazing for all of it.” He praises, raising a thumb to graze your cheek. He’s not going to say how difficult this has been for him, because you already know.

“You know, anything...to bounce.” The thumb that was on your cheek wanders down to trace your lower lip. A part of him hopes you’ll bite, and you do, the air between you hanging heavy for a moment.

“I got the green light.” He says suddenly, breaking the tension.

The green light, what’s a green light?

Oh.

A warm flower blooms in your chest as Hassan backs you against the bark of the tree. You don't notice the scratch, why would you?

“What are you gonna do about it?” You ask, barely getting the words out before his mouth is on you for the first time in months.

Normally, Hassan would put in the work to get you soaked, gasping for him. He would have scratched you with his beard until you, intelligent, beautiful, only knew the word ‘please’. He’d bend you however he wants and play with your body just how you like.

But it had been too long, you’d clearly forgotten what it was like to feel him this way, he could make up for it later.

Hassan takes a moment, runs his thumb along your jaw, blood pumping in his ears as your eyes spark with an indignance he’d long assumed he fucked out of you.

“Getting bold?” He thought he had you trained. At least long enough that six months of recovering wouldn't leave you doubting his power, and being a brat like this.

You stand up suddenly, moving just a bit out of his reach, Hassan sighing as he takes the few moments he needs to get up. He was weak before, but he’s bouncing back, just as he said. Getting up is a process, but he stands at his full height, and the sheer sight of him makes your stomach flutter.

Hassan at his full height was always a sight to behold, when he wasn't trying to make himself smaller for the comfort of others.

He'll stand as tall as you want him to, any day of the week.

“What are you gonna do about it?” You tease, taking a step out of the way, behind the oak you’d been laying under.

“ I think I’ll fuck you against this tree, and let the whole park know what a slut you are, would you like that?” In a moment, it’s as if every hair on your body sees fit to stand on end. He backs you against the trunk, your back exposed to the scratch of the bark, but you don't even notice.

“Oh fuck you.” You roll your eyes, ignoring how close he’s getting, ignoring how he’s looking at you like he wants to eat you alive.

“You wanna walk home sore? You want people to see me dripping down your legs, hm?” The image was a little too powerful, maybe you could ask him to bite at your neck, so people would look at his marks and not the scar.

“...please…” You gasp, “Wanna feel you, please.”

Hassan laughs lightly, the truth starting to register that you wanted him as bad as he’d wanted you. You’d been such a good girl, so patient with him. He’ll give you anything you want.

“Alright sweetheart,” he hums, before wrapping you around him in a smooth motion, like nothing had changed. With a shuffle, you whine as you feel his length against your entrance, so you whine the way he used to like.

He likes it still, adjusting his grip as he slowly makes an attempt.

You thread your hands through Hassan’s hair as he hits the blunt snag at your entrance, earning a pathetic, lovely “Please” from you.

“Aw, baby,” he laughs at you, soft and patronizing, before you lean back against the tree, you sing please, please, please. Of course you do

As he grinds forward, the two of you gasp for a moment, the burn of him was more, so much more than you remembered. Your eyes roll as you focus on squeezing him as tight as you can, hearing him hiss in your ear.

He buries himself to the hilt, and for a moment you can't quite breathe. Had he always been so much?

Each groan, each thrust, makes the back of your eyelids go white. You're never going to learn your place if this is what it gets you.

No matter how roughly he plays with your body, has you, takes you, marks you, Hassan always savors. Today’s no different. He listens to the sounds you make for him, forgetting for a moment that he's outside. He gets lost in you because you're the one thing that's kept him together. This warm, wet, heat you keep him safe in...

The old injury on his stomach feels tight, flashing on the nights you stayed up with him, changing his bandages when he couldn’t. The squelching of your cunt on his cock made his head feel light, and he keeps going.

It’s all over now, the only way to go is up. He digs his hands into the meat of your thighs, and for a moment, you're not just tangled, he feels safe in the fist-tight heat of you. In a perfect world he could stay there.

“Fucking hell,” he hums as he slows, savoring your give and take. Each squeak and moan you gave felt like a gift. He thinks for a moment about how your back must be getting scratched against the tree, so he rearranges his grip between your knees and gives you a break from the roughness.

There’s nothing left to be afraid of. He’s fine, you still want him, Ali’s safe. There’s nothing to be afraid of.

Hassan flashes for a moment to the last time he had you, quick and messy on the desk of his tiny office in the general store, if he’d known that was the last time before…”the miracle”... he would have put in more effort. He would have ruined you, he would have bred your perfect body and pushed you to the limit, so everyone in that fucking town would have known who you belong to, who you begged for.

As he feels the deepest parts of you, warm and wet and soft as ever, he lowers a hand to play between your legs, watching as you close your eyes and wiggle in his hands, nowhere to run. You’re so pretty like this,

“It’s too much, I’m-” you cut yourself off as you clench down around Hassan, who follows right behind, tucking his face into your neck. The dust settles. All that's left are two heartbeats, skipping, and two people trying their best, and the white noise of traffic passing by, leaving the two of you in semi-silence.

Hassan breaks first, letting you keep your eyes closed and hide in his chest.

“Good job sweetheart, always perfect for me,” he kisses the top of your head as you gasp and squirm, and whine in his grip. He holds onto you, laughing to himself as he already sees a few leaves in your hair that he would help you get out later.

When you finally open your eyes, they’re soft, dazed, and happy, just as they should be. He did that.

“Let's go home.” You whine a little as Hassan puts both of your feet on the ground, staying true to his word of making you walk, ruined, for the whole city to see.