#at some point while at thunder cave

[flowersandbigteeth]

I Have an idea for a character one shot (I'd just irk to fuck a centipede monster but same thing)

You get lost in the desert come across a cave, take a nap in the cave but when you wake up you’re trapped by a large centipede man who’s staring down at you like you’re a snack.

Preferably nsfw and Fem reader, also I’m sorry if you’re not taking requests I’m new to your blog

I really like this idea ^_^, It actually inspired a longer story I'm working on about a sarantopodarousacentaur. But for now, we have this.

sarantopodarousacentaur/half-centipede half-human (Mitas) x F reader

Word Count: 3K

Warning: nsfw, dubcon half-centipede smut, kidnapping, descriptions of violence, desert vibes

“Have you seen a witch run this way, miss?” a lanky member of the city guard asked. 

You squinted in the desert sun as it reflected off his shiny gold armor. 

“A witch?” you asked, leaning on your bow. “Nope, can’t say I have.” 

He gave you a nod, glancing at your horse, Bina, who had her head in a bucket of water you’d drawn from the oasis. 

“Pretty horse,” he said, tipping his hat. “Better stay safe tonight. There’s a witch on the loose. Murdered one of the merchants in town with black magic. Could be dangerous.” 

“Sure thing,” you said, giving him a little salute as he walked away. 

“She’s not here!” you heard him yell at his captain over your shoulder. “Just a huntress watering her horse.” 

“She’s the bloody witch, you mouth-breathing dolt!” his captain shouted. “After her!”

Time to go! 

You hurried to empty the bucket and climbed on Bina’s back, kicking her lightly to make your escape. Pulling your goggles over your eyes, you turned into the wind, heading towards the mountains where you might be able to hide. You weren’t any witch, as the guard thought. You’d killed the merchant with poison before you’d stolen all his gold. It only appeared to be magic to the idiotic guard, who apparently had no idea what poisoning looked like. He’d bled out of every orifice, but his death was faster than he deserved. 

You could hear the hoofbeats of their horses on your tail. The guards were wearing heavy armor, however, and carrying swords. You were much faster. You twisted in your saddle and shot off a few arrows to ward them off. 

“We’re under heavy fire!” one of the guards shouted, and you snorted.

A few odd arrows were hardly heavy fire. You could have killed them if you’d wanted, but you aimed at their obnoxiously shiny chests, and your arrows only dented the metal. 

You often stole, but you didn’t often kill. The merchant had it coming, though. When he took you back to his home, thinking he’d seduced you, you’d found a house full of half-starved slaves. Slavery was illegal in Dechete, but he’d bragged to you about how he’d paid off the city magistrate to claim he’d adopted all the teens. So, annoyed that he was both a lech and a slaver, you hadn’t felt the least bad about dropping a few drops of Bloodweed essence in his drink. You let the teenagers take what they liked of his possessions and horses, pointing them towards the coast before you broke into his safe and pocketed the gold coins he kept there. 

No one would have noticed for a few days if one of the newer slaves wasn’t a snitch and called the guard, hoping to gain a favor from the magistrate. He got an arrow to the chest for his opportunism. Probably didn’t kill him, but the punctured lung would keep his mouth shut while the others got away. 

Which is why you were galloping through the desert, hoping to lose the city guard in the rising sandstorm. It was better they chase you than newly freed youths. 

“Sorry, Bina,” you muttered, pushing her faster into the fading light. “I owe you as many apples as you can eat when we make it across the mountain.” 

Beyond the mountains were the green lands of the Thundering Redwoods and safety. With all the gold you’d stolen, you could buy some animals and a little house in the woods. You’d never have to see this dismal desert again. 

“Fall back! The storm’ll take ‘er!” you heard the guard shout as the wind whipped around you, shooting particles against your face like liquid sandpaper. If you could have breathed a sigh of relief, you would have. Instead, you focused on keeping Bina running straight so you didn’t end up lost. 

“You’re a good girl, Bina,” you murmured, though you doubted she could hear you over the whistling wind. 

The rocks of the mountains came on you so quickly, you would have driven her straight into a stone wall if she didn’t have better sense. She made a sharp 90-degree turn at the last moment and carried you into a canyon. The wind didn’t reach here, and you pulled off your goggles, looking around at the high cliffs stretching up above you. 

“You’re worth your weight in gold,” you cheered, rubbing Bina’s neck. 

She gave you a pleased whinny, happy to be safe from the irritating sand. Hopping off her back, you wandered through the winding canyon, hoping it would take you straight through to the other side of the range. Night fell, and you still hadn’t come upon the opposite end, so, lighting a torch, you looked for a cave where you might get some rest before starting off again in the morning. 

“This look all right?” you asked Bina, holding your torch into a hole in the canyon wall only a bit larger than her. 

She nuzzled your hair, and you supposed that was her approval. Inside the opening, the cave opened to a large hall with a high ceiling you couldn’t see with your weak light. The sound of trickling water echoed off the cold stone walls, and after making your way quietly through the passage, you found a spring pumping, clear icy water into a small stream that went deeper into the cave. 

“I think you chose correct,” you said, smiling at your horse while you pulled your saddle and her bridle off so she could have a nice drink and a rest. 

You washed the layer of dirt off your face before you plopped down on the floor to get comfortable. Pulling an apple, you’d nicked from your bag, you gave it to Bina as she’d done most of the work. You could find something to eat in the morning. 

“Sleep tight, Bina,” you muttered, exhausted. 

Curling into a ball on the hard floor, you quickly fell asleep. 

You woke looking at the floor…but it was the ceiling…No. You were upside down. You blinked, peering in the low light at a shadowy creature silhouetted by the sun creeping in through the mouth of the cave. Your eyes frantically searched for Bina, but you found her safe and sound, resting in a bed of hay and eating a salad of apples, carrots, and melon from a crudely shaped clay bowl. Where did that-?

“Hello, little human,” the creature hissed. 

As your eyes adjusted to the light, they popped open, realizing what was holding you aloft by your ankle. 

“Sarantopodarousacentaur!” you gasped at the half-man, half-centipede smiling at you. 

His body was long, and the segmented carapace looked like polished mahogany. Shiny gold legs tapped the stone floor as if he were excited. He righted you, lifting you so you were eye to eye. His face was rather handsome despite his mouth appearing far wider than a normal human. Messy black hair fell around his jaw, and his skin was as gold as the desert sand. Two odd, blood-red teeth poked past his lips, and you puzzled at what they could be until he stretched his maw in an eerie smile, and you found they were the tips of two mandibles that rested in his cheeks. He flexed them at you as if he were hungry. 

“Um…hello…” you said, unsure what to say to a legendary monster. 

Sarantopodarousacentaurs were a myth, a story the desert folk told to keep their children from wandering at night. Yet, here was in front of you, grinning like a demon. He set you on the ground and patted your head. 

“You are a juicy little morsel,” he beamed, folding his muscled body to your height. “The perfect size to be my mate!” 

You swallowed hard and waved your hands at him, stepping back. 

“Oh no, I’m no…er…mate,” you said. “I’m just passing through. Bina and I will be on our way. Didn’t mean to disturb you!” 

You inched towards the bow you’d left on the ground while sleeping. His body curled around you in one smooth movement, pinching legs trapping you in a golden cage. A finger tipped your chin up to meet his red eyes. 

“You will be my mate,” he said. “But don’t be frightened.” 

He waved a hand at Bina, who happily munched on her bowl of treats, not the least afraid of the monster. 

“I will take good care of you and your Bina,” he said. 

His black-clawed fingers tore at the filthy, sandy clothes you wore, slicing them to ribbons as he unwrapped you like a treat. Lifting one of your legs, he examined it closely. 

“You look delicious,” he murmured as his eyes took stock of your body. 

You wracked your brain, trying to remember if centipedes killed their mates, but you couldn’t think clearly under his careful inspection. 

“Don’t you think we should get to know one another…before you…do…whatever…?” you asked. 

Please don’t eat me. 

He smiled again, his face so close to yours that his mandibles brushed your cheek.��

“I go by Mitas,” he said while he sniffed your hair. 

“I’m…ah…(Y/N),” you said, shivering. 

The cave was cold now that you were naked, and Mitas frowned. 

“You will be warm in my nest,” he assured you, tapping legs carrying him at a dizzying speed deeper into the cave. 

You gasped at what must have been the creature’s bedroom. On one side of the room, jewel-toned blankets, furs, and pillows formed a large, wide bowl where he slept. Your mouth went dry as you took in the neatly piled bones and skulls of his victims. Some were split to make bowls for food, drinks, and pigments, while some were carved with intricate designs and hung on the walls like art. 

He plopped you in his nest and coiled around you like a snake, his stiff legs holding you in place. His odd mandibles bloomed, pinching your cheek gently. 

He’s definitely going to eat me, you thought. His heavy hands moved all over your body, tracing your curves as if he were getting to know them.

“Normally I devour little mouthfulls like you,” he hummed, tucking his nose behind your ear and sniffing you. “But you’re too pretty to be a meal.” 

He sighed. 

“I’m lonely,” he pouted. “I want a proper mate.” 

“Yes but…” you started to say. 

“No buts,” he hissed. “The goddess led you to me. You walked right into my den. She must have meant for you to be mine.” 

“I don’t think that’s how it works,” you argued. 

“You’re either a meal or my mate,” he reasoned. “Which would you rather? It’d be a pity to eat you, but I’m sure you’re scrumptious!” 

Posed with those options, you chose the one that did not result in your immediate demise. 

“M-m-mate,” you squeaked. 

If only you had your bow nearby! The sarantopodarousacentaur was strong, but not invincible. A shot to the heart would kill anyone. 

“We ought to kiss,” he decided. 

“You think?” you asked. 

He nodded and smiled his eerily wide smile. 

“That’s what mated pairs do, no?” he replied. 

At that you squeezed your eyes shut, prepared for the worst. What you felt, however, was rather nice. His lips were soft and warm as they brushed yours. With your eyes closed, you took more notice of the scent of his nest. He didn’t smell bad, more like sandalwood and moss. Without thinking you leaned in to him, your hands finding their way to his chest. 

The muscles were firm and sculpted. Curious, your fingers drifted down to his abs as he tentatively brushed his tongue against your bottom lip. Your lips parted on their own and you were presented with his flavor. Surprisingly he tasted like mint and honey. 

You sighed your appreciation as his fingers gently moved along your waist, exploring your curves. Your body betrayed any lingering sense of caution sparkling under his touch. It’d been a long time since you’d been with a man. As a desert scavenger, you were more likely to rob one than take him to bed. 

You heard a lusty moan build in your throat and he pulled you closer, the sharp points of his legs scraping your skin in a not unpleasant way. His lips set off on an exploration of your body, drifting to your cheeks, then neck, until he was curiously nibbling at your breasts. 

There was no holding in your gasps when he pulled a nipple past his lips and ran his tongue over it. The pointy mandibles tucked in his cheeks nipped at the tender skin making you shudder in pleasure, not pain. 

He hummed, pleased that you were obviously enjoying his investigation. Thick fingers slid down your stomach to dip themselves into your wetness. 

“What’s this?” he murmured as his roving fingers found your sensitive spot. 

Inquisitive sanguine eyes met yours. 

“It’s called a clit,” you explained in halting breaths. 

He chuckled lightly as he felt your body stiffen while he circled it. 

“You like that,” he observed and you gave him a tight nod punctuated by a loud moan. 

He made an odd chattering noise that sounded rather victorious before returning to your breasts, to lick your nipples, one after the other. He had your head all fucked up. Pleasure rolled over you like a unstoppable wave, clouding any thoughts of escape with ones of surrender. 

Feeling you relax into his arms, he pushed you down into the soft pile of blankets and pillows beneath you. Opening your eyes you found him looming over you, considering his strategy. 

As you watched a portion of the yolk of carapace that wrapped around his hips parted and what must have been his cock emerged. It wasn’t like a man’s at all, instead the tip was slightly curved and the shaft lined with knobs arranged in a spiral. You whimpered at it’s size, unsure if it would even fit inside you. 

“Oh,” you mewled and he smiled down at you, his mandibles stretching wide, obviously proud of what he had to offer. 

“I like your little, squishy legs,” he purred opening them with ease and brushing his member against the soft skin of your thighs. 

Precum mixed with your own fluids that had slid down your leg. Curious, he dipped his head and you felt his long tongue explore your channel, making you squeal. No one had ever been quite so close before. At first, you were frightened, but as he worked his tongue inside you, you couldn’t deny the pleasure he sent shooting up your spine. Your eyes rolled back in your head and your lashes fluttered. Panting your hands found his shaggy hair on their own and held him in place. 

You heard a rumbling grow echo through the chamber, coming from his chest. He stopped for a moment to glance up at you. 

“No, don’t stop,” you demanded despite yourself and he grinned at you, lowering his head again. 

His efforts moved to your clit, his tongue twirling around it like some tentacle. His teasing pushed you up and up like a drifting balloon until you popped, screeching as you came. Pleased with himself, he loomed over you, licking his lips with the agile appendage. 

“Now you’re mine,” he declared, his hips snapping forward and his cock plunging in to your soaking core. 

Your body was his to take as his cock stretched you. His shaft was stiff and smooth, the covering feeling more like smooth bone than velvety flesh. 

"Ahhhh!" you groaned as he drove into you. 

His claws fingers held you in place, gripping your neck and all you could do was gaze up at him. His eyes had shifted from a deep garnet to cherry red. 

"Minnnnne," he muttered in a labored hiss. 

His hips slammed into yours mercilessly, rutting you like a beast. You started to lose yourself in bliss, his member stroking the places inside of you that felt the best. 

Your eyelashes fluttered closed and the only thing that passed your lips was incoherent babble. 

"Touch yourself, mate," he ordered, eyes eating up your vulnerable body and you obeyed. 

Your narrow fingers desperately circled your clit, chasing your end and plucked at a nipple. His gaze on you was lecherous, enjoying your neediness. After a few minutes, he couldn't take it anymore, brushing your hand away and folding his large body in half so that he could nibble the pert nipples you'd tugged to a point. 

His other hand found your clit and as he drove into you he pinched and stroked your little bundle of nerves until you were sobbing. Pleasure detonated in your core like a bomb and your back arched in the soft linens as you screamed his name. 

You heard him chuckle, devolving into animal grunts as he took his pleasure. His glowing eyes narrowed and you could see the rapture growing in them. They were solely focused on you when he emptied himself inside. 

You both laid there panting, his body curved over you like a cave, but not pressing his weight on you. 

"Little mate," he purred,  fingers stroking your cheek. "You are so lovely." 

Like a gentleman, not a monster, he twisted around offering you a sip of water from a bone bowl. You were too thirsty and spent to complain, so you drank eagerly. 

He hummed at you in satisfaction. It seemed providing for you pleased him. Your head was dotted in his happy kisses. 

"When we are done resting we'll go pick fruit," he said, snuggling up next you and trapping you in a cage of his legs. "I won't let my scrap go hungry."  

"Where?" you murmured. "We're in the middle of the desert." 

His chuckle rolled over you like a heavy grumble of thunder, sending a shock of pleasure up your spine. 

"There's an oasis where I cultivate plants," he explained, yawning. "Only I know about it. Very secret, but I'll share it with my mate. Sleep now, little one." 

Escape briefly crossed your mind, but to be honest, you'd never been so satisfied carnally before and you were rethinking that plan. Your body was glowing and your hormones were slowly binding you to the myth made flesh dozing beside you. Maybe escape could wait until after a nap and some fruit salad. So you pressed your head into his chest and maneuvered his thick arm over you like a blanket, which earned you a satisfied hum from Mitas, and drifted into sleep. 

[room-temperature-orange-juice]

Listing off Odysseus’s crimes in epic the musical

- starting off strong, infanticide: just a man

Dropping a baby off a wall is probably (?) illegal, but I’m not a lawyer so idk

- Disturbance of the peace, harassment: open arms

Odysseus threatens the lotus eaters for food and tells them he can and will burn down their home, mostly unprovoked. (The lotus eaters said ‘welcome’ and he immediately pulled out a sword)

- breaking and entering, thievery, killing a pet: Polyphemus

Yeah Odysseus kinda walks into this cave, kills an animal, takes food out, and only then notices that someone lived there. Credit where it’s due, no one else noticed, and he immediately backtracks, but it’s still probably illegal.

Assault? : survive

They do attack Polyphemus, but I’m not sure if I’m counting this, since it could be considered self defense.

Assault, maiming: remember them

Once again, not sure if I’m counting this, since it could be considered necessary force. Still marking it down, since he does blind someone and still their sheep

The ocean saga:

Fun fact! The ocean saga is the only saga where Odysseus doesn’t do anything illegal!

Drug possession laws, drug free zone laws: Wouldn’t you like

Odysseus takes and is in possession of drugs, that are likely not legal.

Breaking and entering, assault and battery: done for

While under the influence of Moly, Odysseus breaks into Circe’s palace. (I didn’t hear her invite him, so I’m assuming he just walks in unprompted) Odysseus also threatens Circe on her private property and summons a cyclops. I don’t know if summoning a cyclops is illegal, though?

Disturbance of the peace: no longer you

He just yells ‘WHO’ really loud, someone probably filed a noise complaint.

Murder on several accounts: Different beast

He kills several sirens here, to the point it is definitely considered premeditated murder

(Idk what he did in Scylla is technically illegal, but I’m still writing down manslaughter)

Assault and battery: Mutiny

Although it may be considered self defense in some courts, he definitely fights Eurylochus with swords, undoubtedly causing injuries

Manslaughter/murder: Thunder Bringer

“But we’ll die.”

“I know.”

Disturbance of the peace: Love in paradise

Threatening to kill calypso, although it’s definitely justified, and most courts wouldn’t hold it against him. Still likely illegal.

And that’s all the sagas for now. Tell me whatever crimes I missed, because I probably did miss a lot

[mama-ino]

Storm

The roar of the downpour struck fiercely on the stone of the cave entrance, "Stay here." He entered the cave, golden eyes taking in the cave. Straw was on the floor. However, it had likely been there quite some time.

Thunder boomed loudly, causing the small Rin to shriek. He returned to them, "Is it safe?"

He nodded, Shippo sniffed around, "People have been here before." Again, Sesshomaru nodded, "Is there anywhere mama can get out of her wet clothes?"

He seemed to think for a moment, looking her over. She was soaked. He pulled the tassles of his armor, pulling the large cauldron armor over his head. He took the long obi like bow from his middle tying it up, "Hang your clothing. This one will find something to burn," he removed his haori, placing it across the makeshift line like a curtain.

"How bad did the rain get you, Rin," she asked softly.

"Rin is pretty dry, Lady Kagome!"

Shippo shook his tail and pulled off his small fur. Her pointed gaze had him speak, "My fur kept me pretty dry, Mama."

Just about to round the would-be curtain he eyes met his, "Are you going far?"

"I will not." She nodded satisfied with his words, "Miko." His eyes pointedly shifted to the large pelt he'd set down, "it is dry."

However, when he'd returned, he found Rin wrapped up. His eyes met blue when she peeked around his haori, shifting nervously under his gaze. He built a small fire as Rin came to his side, "My lord?"

"Hm?"

"When Rin gets older," she began, "Rin wants big boobs like Lady Kagome!"

"Rin," she shrieked as Shippo choked on his own spit.

She beamed at him, "Rin." His voice seemed quieter, "That is not within this one's control."

She seemed to think a moment, bounding back over to Kagome, "Lady Kagome!"

"Rin-chan! I can't do that either!"

"Awwww," Rin pouted.

He pulled off his wet inner robe, setting it on a stone facing the fire to dry. He lifted the large pelt rounding the makeshift curtain, a soft gasp quickly escaping her.

Her hands cover her chest, eyes quickly darting away. His eyes briefly catching the boy's fur across her legs, "Rin." He pointed to the side of the straw, prompting her to stand and wait.

He settled by her, setting the pelt around her and across his lap. "Mama," he neatly curled up on her lap, quite the protective little thing.

He opened his arms, head nodding to Rin, who quickly settled onto the fur across his legs. Rin rubbed her small cheek against his wrist, settling.

The warm air, the heavy rain, and low rumbles of thunder quickly had the atmosphere calm. Her head bobbed as she fought sleep but ultimately settled on his shoulder.

His eyes darted to the sleeping woman. She was complimenting his like this. His chest swelled with pride. While it did take her longer, she did fall asleep. Trusting him to keep them safe.

He slowly reached, arm wrapping around the pelt and her pulling her closer. She was warm, and while he would never admit it out loud... she was beautiful.

At least not yet.

🫣💕

I love you guys!

I'm replacing the fan and ram (possibly more things) on my computer, so hopefully, I can get back to some digi stuff soon!

Also sorry am late!

[welcometo79s]

Echoes of a very particular Karaoke Night at 79s

this was written inspired by prompt #1 of @weekly-star-wars-prompts and will be added to my collection of clone shenanigans.

A beautiful collection of text messages that ARC Trooper Fives sent to his twin brother over the course of 79s Clone Karaoke Event.

Zhellday — 9:00 pm

Dear Echo,

the first 79s Clone Karaoke night is starting soon. I'm a little sad that you didn't want to join us, but I understand if it's not your scene. I hope you have a nice sleep tonight and enjoy that novel you've been reading! If anything happens, I'll reach out. By the way: If Rex asks, I don't know where his comlink is and you don't either. If he starts to search our barracks, don't let him unscrew the light bulb. I'll tell you all about the Karaoke Night tomorrow!

— your big brother Fives

Zhellday — 9:30 pm

ECHO I WON THE FIRST ROUND!

I'm something of a Karaoke Scientist by this point. I have studied the ways of the masters (General Skywalker, who taught me a thing or two about Karaoke) and I have acclaimed a victory for both of us with thunderous applause. I dedicated my song to you. People absolutely loved my Pop Punk rendition of "Mambo No. Fives". They said it was very creative and Tup found it deeply emotional. I beat Jesse rapping the Republic Anthem, but it was a close call. He's a little bummed that he lost, but he seems to be having a good time doing shots at the bar. I'm going to rest my vocal chords until it's my turn again. The bartender gave me a cute mocktail with one of these little umbrellas and a slice of orange for free. I'll send pics.

— Love, Fives

Zhellday — 10:00 pm

Little brother,

are you still awake? Would you consider coming over and looking after Jesse for a while? He took a few shots too many and now he wants to get another Republic symbol tattoo but this time on his buttcheek. Kix and I feel that he might regret this decision. The worst part is if someone agrees to tattoo him drunk, we can't even sue because we're not considered persons in the eye of the law. I would look after him myself but I have a song coming up and my fans are waiting for me. I need to beat Commander Cody's emotional love song dedicated towards an anonymous Jedi General. I'm optimistic because he kinda slurred it due to the alcohol but he has the heartfelt delivery going for him. I must not underestimate my opponents.

— Big Bro

Zhellday — 10:30 pm

Echo,

you will not believe who just showed up as a last minute entry into the Karaoke Competition. Marshal Commander Fox from the Coruscant Guard. He isn't even here to arrest people (I think). I really didn't think Karaoke was his thing. He isn't drunk either but he says he has consumed a little more coffee than usual and needs to blow off some steam. He accidentally started a flash mob in the bar to his song "The power of one, the power of two, the power of maaaany" (the additional a's are apparently part of the title and add to its atmospheric value). Fox told Hardcase, who has declared him his best friend, that he got this song from Chancellor Palpatine himself. Apparently the Chancellor's guardian Hego Damask who taught him about politics and "other things" has learned this song from some DJ named Jason Qimir Mendoza with whom he did a spiritual retreat in a cave once! That sounds like an adventure!

Fox said I would not last 30 minutes on a spiritual retreat because it requires silence and meditation and he has never seen me shut up for longer than 3 minutes. I thought that was very mean. I stole 5 credits from him. Don't scold me though, I will use them for the good of others! I bought you a Tauntaun wiggly head figure from them! It's red and has very big eyes.

— Thank me later, Fives

Zhellday — 11:00 pm

My bestest brother in the whole world,

I made it to the next round of the Karaoke Competition because Marshal Commander Fox decided one song was enough. Otherwise he would have won. I'm a bit bummed that I didn't fully earn this victory, but I will keep fighting and defending our reputation.

Can you come over though? Jesse has accidentally swallowed the little plastic umbrella from my mocktail and I'm not sure if that's bad. I tried to ask Kix but he is also drunk and simply said that the force will shape the umbrella into something new in the endless cycle of death and rebirth. I don't think that medical advice is very credible...

By the way, those Bad Bitch guys showed up. The one with the mental illnesses bumped into me on purpose and said "move, reg". I challenged him into a Karaoke Duel to the Death. He declined. He is too scared of me.

— Fives

Zhellday — 11:30 pm

Vod'ika,

attached you can find a picture of me and Hardcase competing over who can fit more drinking straws into their nose. A clone from the 212th told us to take our drunk misadventures somewhere else as we're getting too annoying. I told him Nasal Drinking Straws as a sport deserves more respect than to be assumed as something only drunk people do. Hardcase is drunk, I'm not. I do this because it is my calling and I will bring home the world record for both of us. Karaoke is going well btw, Hardcase and I are still in the competition, as are Dogma, Cody and some guy who only sings about Soup.

Tup was disqualified for not singing because he got stage fright. I cheered him up but he is crying now because that Technology guy from Clone Force 99 introduced him to something called "The Trolley Problem". I tried to reassure Tup that he doesn't have to hurt any of the little people on the train tracks if he doesn't want to, but it still made him sad. I'm glad that this Tech guy has not joined the Karaoke Competition because his big brother (the muscly one) said he's a Karaoke Champion.

Croissant has stuck two long drinking straws into two bottles of whiskey and is trying to drink them simultaneously. He intimidates me a little bit. But every grumpy stranger is a potential new friend, as Hardcase always says, so I approached him and asked him if he wants to join us in sticking drinking straws into our nose. He asked me if they removed all of my braincells on Kamino. I wanted to report him to his Sergeant for harassment but that one already came in super drunk and he's currently snorting glitter off the bar counter. It's not easy being Fives.

— Your favorite Brother

Zhellday — 11:45 pm

Echo, for reasons that are ✨ a secret ✨, I need you to come to 79s and pretend to be my lawyer. If you use the fake beard and wig I put under my bunk, they will never be able to tell you're a clone.

Benduday — 12:00 am

Echo did you block me?

Message could not be delivered.

Benduday — 12:30 am

Little brother,

thank you for unblocking me. At first I meant to call Rex to tell you to unblock me but then I remembered his comlink is in our lamp so I called it 50 times and this seemed to have the desired effect. I have handled the lawyer situation alone like a big boy and I hope that you are proud of me. I simply told the Corrie who caught me trying to loot the passed out 99 Sergeant's armor for valuables a fake name and address of my fake lawyer (Dr. Icicle Joe, Tauntaunlane 42 in E-97451 Kriffuck). By the time he finds out it's a fake address I will be long gone. See? I can handle my problems on my own. 😌

Sincerely,

— Fives

Benduday —12:45 am

Hey Echo,

Do you perchance know if Regs can digest confetti? I didn't eat weird things again, I promise! Jesse and Kix ate the confetti and Kix just giggled and said he has a bad feeling about this. I'm worried about them. I'm trying to prevent them from eating more confetti but this is a two man job and I don't want to cancel the semi-finals of the Karaoke Night. Please help.

— your twin who loves you very much, Fives

Benduday — 01:00 am

Hi Echo, I just wanted to tell you that the big hunk from the Bad Batch has carried Kix and Jesse to the nearest medical bay. He was way nicer than his grumpy brother. Croissant has laid down in a dark corner of 79s facing the wall. I'm not sure if he's sleeping or contemplating his life but I really don't want anything to do with it. Also Tup'ika is happy again because I told him a Jedi could solve the trolley problem by stopping the trolley with the force.

Me and Hardcase passed the semi-finals of the Karaoke competition. Dogma was disqualified and so was the soup guy. He didn't do well after he poured Everclear into his chicken broth. Now it's just me, Hardcase and Commander Cody left. I'm the only sober contestant. I have this in the bag.

— the future Karaoke Champion, Fives

Benduday — 01:30 am

Dear Echo,

I was bitten by a clone trooper from a different legion. I don't know him. I wouldn't be too worried about it normally but Dogma said something about how when you notice you have rabies, your death is already certain.

Tup says he hates 79s and needs pain killers. I tried to steal them from Tech but he karate-kicked me to the ground. Thankfully he gave Tup some when I explained to him that my vod needs them. He said next time I should just ask and apologized for making Tup'ika cry with the trolley problem. He's nicer than I thought he was. Good people are still out there. I was a little worried with all the chaos going on, but the night is getting better. Things are calming down.

— Fives

Benduday — 01:50 am

Aloha Echo, do you by any chance know how much the whole Karaoke equipment costs that they have at 79s? I am asking this because I plan on getting one for the 501st. Definitely not because the one here just died (for reasons I definitely had nothing to do with). Anyway, there is a large fire in the middle of the room. The Corries are trying to put it out. We've all evacuated the building and are chilling outside of 79s. Fox had to rescue Croissant because he did not wake up from the burnt smell or the people who were screaming "There's a fire! Run for your lives!" That guy... I have snatched a portion of the fire for you as a gift. I keep it in a little open glass with a candle in it and after they announce the Karaoke King, I will bring it home and keep it alive so that I can give it to you in the morning.

— Your older brother, Fives

Benduday — 02:20 am

I'M THE KARAOKE KING! They couldn't hold the finale because the karaoke corner burnt down but Hardcase passed out drunk so I won by default. I'm very happy and I will carry the grave responsibility to lead my Karaoke Kingdom with honor and pride. My first request was that for the new Karaoke corner the bar hangs up a picture of you on the wall with the caption "I dedicate this victory to my little brother Echo who came out of the tube 10 minutes later than me". They have accepted. However they stated that there will never be another Karaoke Competition, which is a shame but at least no one can break my winning streak. I still have your Tauntaun figure and your fire. Sorry I spammed you. I will go home now! See you tomorrow. Fives out.

[jjmaybankshousekeeping]

i need your touch || JJ MAYBANK

summary - jj and yn got into a fight, but due to the current storm, neither of them can leave the château, so they’ll be stuck together, which would be especially difficult for jj since he craves yn’s touch, something he can’t have.

warnings - angst?, fluff.

word count - 407

a/n - thank you for the request :) sorry it took me so long to answer, i haven’t really been on tumblr in quite a while. i do believe this was a request but it took me so long to finish it that the request has somehow disappeared lol.

post number - 6

reader - she/her.

add yourself to my taglist here

“do you fucking mind?” jj spat towards his girlfriend.

she snarled back, “what?”

“stop looking at me. it’s fucking annoying.”

y/n chuckled, “all right then, big man.”

y/n walked away, going to get herself a drink, as john b and pope walked over to the blonde boy.

“woah!” john b raised his eyebrows, “trouble in paradise?”

“oh, don’t even ask. i don’t even know what’s going on. i just know that we’re really mad at each other for some reason.”

pope was confused, “you’re mad at each other, even though neither of you know what for, but you’re still continuing to be mad at her?”

he thought for a moment, “uh, yeah. that’s about right.”

jj explained when this all started and how neither of them knew what for. he mentioned how difficult it was for him to not go and lie down in bed for him, and go cuddle with y/n like they always did during storms.

after about an hour, he’d had enough and went to go lie down; however, his girlfriend already beat him to it.

“bro.”

“what?”

“i basically live in this room and i can’t even come in here now.”

“nobody said you can’t.” she pointed out, “literally nobody is stopping you.”

jj thought, “oh, yeah.”

he went and sat down on the bed, opposite side of the bed from where y/n was relaxing, trying to keep as much distance as possible.

he tried to get comfortable, but with the loud thunder going on outside, it took him a while, and the cravings for y/n’s touch grew.

“baby.” he whispered softly. no reply.

“baby.” he repeated.

she looked at him, “what?”

“please can we cuddle? i don’t even know what we’re arguing about and it’s getting ridiculous now.” he spoke softly, “i love you so much, and i’m sorry if i did something wrong, but it’s too much. i can’t pretend to be mad at you for so long. and i know you’re struggling to do that too.”

she smiled sheepishly, before practically diving at jj, “it took you long enough! i’ve been waiting, i was not going to cave in first.”

he let y/n straddle him and snuggle into his chest as his whole body immediately relaxed, before gently pressing a kiss to her forehead.

they both fell asleep together without even saying another word to one another, just listening to the sounds of each others breathing, heartbeats, rain and thunder.

[pompomqt]

Journey to the West Chapter 51

We're back everybody! With yet another chapter of Journey to the West with @journeythroughjourneytothewest. This chapter marks the beginning of book three, so let's get into it shall we?

So we begin where we left off last book, with Monkey having a crisis and crying over not being able to rescue Tripitaka. And see, this is why I don't really understand interpretations that say that Monkey hates Tripitaka and is only on this journey because he is being held at gun point aka the golden fillet or something. From what I can see he really does care about Tripitaka and finishing this journey with him. Sorry about that tangent, anyways once Monkey is done crying over his situation he realizes something. That demon recognized him and knew about what he did in heaven, that must mean he is from there. With that in mind, Monkey decides it's time to give the heavenly realm a little visit.

So Monkey arrives at the heavenly realm and has some celestial announce him to the Jade Emperor. And can I also mention that Sun Wukong actually seems pretty popular, with people offering to have tea with him and asking how the journey's going. Pity he doesn't have time to socialize right now. Anyways so Sun Wukong actually bows to the Jade Emperor this time! And is very polite in explaining why he's here and requesting heaven to take a role call to find out who the demon is. Turns out Monkey is a lot more meek when he doesn't have his staff to threaten people with.

Luckily Monkey doesn't need to try and threaten the Jade Emperor while staff less, because he agrees to help and sends out a decree to find out who's missing. So they do a role call and can't find anyone missing, so the Jade Emperor offers to let Monkey take some soldiers with him to apprehend the demon. Monkey is flattered by the offer of course but uh... considering how he kicked all of their asses last time, there's not really anyone in heaven he considers powerful enough to fight this demon if he couldn't. Except maybe Erlang. However if Monkey has to pick someone anyways he'll go with Prince Nezha and his dad, they also throw in some thunder deities free of charge to throw some lightning at the demon.

So Monkey leads his new crew to the demon's cave and Nezha's dad volunteers him to go and fight the demon first. So Monkey heads down to the cave with Prince Nezha and bangs on the demons door and demands Tripitaka's return. The minion demons of course report this to his boss who decides to see for himself who Monkey brought as reinforcements. The demon recognizes Nezha and asks why he's here, and Nezha responds that he's here to arrest him. The Demon doesn't take to kindly to this response and goes on the attack, and before Monkey can call on the thunder deities to throw lightning at the demon, Nezha transforms into his three headed six armed war form. With each arm holding a unique weapon. The demon then transforms into a similar form, and as soon as Nezha throws his weapons into the air to attack, the demon sucks them up with his fillet just like he did with Monkey's staff, causing Nezha to flee. Which makes the thunder deities grateful that they didn't throw and lose their lightning to.

So the gang regroups and Monkey laughs and remarks that the demon's abilities are only so-so but that the fillet is very formidable. Nezha asks why Monkey's laughing, and Monkey basically replies that he's laughing because he can't cry instead. On that sobering note, it's time to come up with a plan B and try and find a weapon they can use that the fillet can't suck up. They decide that maybe fire or water could work, so Monkey decides to go back to heaven to conscript the help of the Star of Fiery Virtue who has dominion over Mars. So Monkey makes his way to the Red Aura Palace to talk to the fire god and explain the situation. At first the Star of Fiery virtue isn't sure what they need him for, since he already took Nezha with him who is much more powerful, but once Monkey explains they are hoping his fire powers can destroy the fillet, the god is willing to lend his assistance.

So the fire god heads down with Sun Wukong, and has Monkey provoke the demon into battle again. This time when Monkey bangs on the door and demands his masters return he has Nezha's dad fight him, while the fire god waits in the wings waiting for an opportunity to burn up the fillet. So those two fight for a while before he takes out the fillet again- which causes Wukong to give the signal to the fire god. Unfortunately the fillet is able to suck up all the fire beasts just like he did with every other weapon. Leaving the gang back at square one and plan C.

This time they decide to try water, and conscript the help of the Star of Watery Virtue to drown the demon. When they point out that that will drown Tripitaka as well, Monkey is pretty nonchalant in saying that if he drowns, he drowns, and he'll just revive him later. I feel like Tripitaka would have a few words to say about this plan, but he's not here so he doesn't get a vote!

So once again Monkey goes up to meet with the god and explain the situation to conscript their help. So the water god agrees to help and takes a small chalice with him that contains half the water in the yellow river. Once the god is packed up and ready to go the two head back to earth. The plan now is for Monkey to go and provoke battle again while the god dumps out his chalice and drowns everyone in the mountain. After that Monkey will fish out his masters corpse and revive him. Which at least we know from past experience that Monkey does indeed know how to revive a water logged corpse, but I still feel like Tripitaka wouldn't be to thrilled about this plan if he knew about it.

So Monkey bangs on the Demon's door, and as soon as he opens it, the water god dumps his chalice to flood the area. However the Demon once again takes out his fillet, but this time instead of sucking the water up, he reverses its direction sending it down the mountain and towards Monkey instead. Monkey jumps clear, but apparently the water god can't put the water back into the chalice so they are gonna have to wait for it to drain on it's own. Which- what kind of one trick wonder magic chalice is that? Should have asked Guanyin for help instead, I'm pretty sure that she can put the water back into her vase at least.

At this point though, Sun Wukong has had enough, and does what I'm surprised he didn't do from the very beginning, and challenges the demon with his bare fists. Which the Demon surprisingly agrees to, even putting away his lance so they can have a fair fight. Soon enough though this boxing max turns into a full on brawl, as the demon's minions and Sun Wukong's allies join the fight. However when Wukong summons some duplicates to change the tide of battle, the demon once again uses the fillet to suck them away. After that the demon and his minions go back into their cave to party it up, while Monkey and his allies evaluate the situation and decide what to do next.

Prince Nezha compliments Sun Wukong on his excellent fighting, and Nezha's dad points out that Wukong is the better fighter of the two, and that the demon's only real advantage is the fillet. So the Stars of Watery and Fiery virtue point out that they should probably focus on stealing it. And as a Thunder Deity points out, who better to steal it then the Great Sage himself who once robbed heaven itself? Monkey is flattered by their compliments and agrees to try and investigate the cave to see what he can do.

So Monkey turns into a fly and sneaks into the cave, and while he can't find the fillet, he does find all their stuff, including his beloved staff! Monkey is so thrilled to have his weapon back, that he has to use it right away. So weapon in hand, Wukong fights his way out of the cave and back to his allies.

Current Sun Wukong Stats: Names/Titles: Monkey, The Stone Monkey, The Handsome Monkey King, Sun Wukong (Monkey awakened to the void), Bimawen (Banhorseplague), The Great Sage Equal To Heaven and Pilgrim Sun. Immortality: 5 + 94,000 years Weapon: The Compliant Golden Hooped Rod Abilities: 72 Transformations, Cloud-Somersault, Ability to transform his individual hairs, super strength, Ability to Summon Wind, Water restriction charm, and the ability to change into a huge war form, ability to duplicate his staff, ability to immobilize others, the ability to put others to sleep, and the Fiery eyes and Diamond Pupils, intimidating horses, churning large bodies of water, sleeplessness, seizing the wind, enhanced smell, discerning good and evil within a thousand miles, Spirit Summoning, lock picking, object transformation, distance reduction, vanishing in a flash of light, super healing, transforming others, and Invisibility Demon Kill Count: 9+ Unknown Number of Minions Human Kill Count: 1009 God's Defeated: 22 + Unknown number Defeats: 6 Crime List: Robbery, Murder, Mass Murder, Arson, Theft, Coercion, Threatening a Government Official, Resisting Arrest, Assault, Forgery, Employee Theft, False Imprisonment, Impersonating a Government Official, Treason, attempted murder, failure to control or report a dangerous fire, desecrating a corpse, breaking and entering, trespassing, violating Tree Law, looting corpses, trading counterfeit goods, criminal threat, animal abuse, Assisting or Instigating Escape, Damage to Religious Property, contaminating a substance for human consumption and Identity Fraud. Cry Count: 8 + 3 fake cries Mountains Trapped Under: 4

Current Tang Sanzang stats: Names/Titles: River Float, Xuanzang, Tang Sanzang, Tripitaka and the Tang Monk Abilities: Curing Blindness, making branches point a certain direction (allegedly), reciting sutras, pretty privilege, memorization, Heart Sutra and Meditation. Cry Count: 26 Tight Fillet Spell Uses: 31 Paralyzed by fear: 5 Bandit Problems: 2 Kidnapped by demons: 8 Falling Off Horses: 8

Current Bai Long Ma Stats: Names/Titles: Bai Long Ma (White Dragon Horse), Prince of the Western Ocean, and third prince jade dragon of the dragon king Aorun Abilities: Transforming into a human, a water snake, and a horse, eating a horse in one bite, flight, Magic of Water Restriction, Singing, and Sword Dancing. Cry Count: 1 Crime List: Arson, and Grave Disobedience. Contributions to the plot: 2 Kidnapped by demons: 1

Current Zhu Wuneng Stats: Names/Titles: The Marshal of the Heavenly Reeds, Zhu Wuneng (Pig who is aware of ability), Zhu Ganglie, Pigsy, Idiot and Eight Rules. Weapon: Rake Abilities: 36 Transformations, parting water, fighting underwater, cloud soaring, size enhancement and CPR Demon Kill Count/Kill steals: 2 Kidnapped by Demons: 4 Human Kill Count: 1 Failed Flirtation/romances Attempts: 3 Cry Count: 2 Crime List: Sexual Harassment, Murder, Kidnapping, arson, defamation, Damage to Religious Property, contaminating a substance for human consumption, Identity Fraud and Theft

Current Sha Wujing Stats: Names/Titles: The Curtain-Raising General, Sha Wujing (Sand Aware of Purity), Sandy and Sha Monk Weapon: Monster Taming Staff Abilities: Fighting underwater and Cloud soaring. Demon Kill Count: Unknown number of minions. Kidnapped by Demons: 3 Human Kill Count: 1 Crime List: Breaking a Crystal Cup, murder, desecration of a human corpse, Damage to Religious Property and contaminating a substance for human consumption

[whenlostinthedarkness]

Afterglow: Chapter 2 / Part 1 - In My Way

Leader Singer!Reader x Lead Guitarist!Ellie Williams

Photo by @abbysthighs ; edited by me

Summary: You and the band attend a party after the show, which leaves you social exhausted. Ellie takes note and you both decide to head back to the hotel for some much needed come down time from the surplus of social interaction

Warnings: Social anxiety, Weed smoking, and mentions of reader & Ellie’s past relationship; I believe that is it.

A/N: If you haven't caught on by now, each chapter will be named after a MUNA song that is fitting for the situation. Listen to ' In My Way' here.

Intro | Chapter One |

A soft towel was thrown around your shoulder by Dina as you and the rest of your bandmates exited from the stage, leaving a crowd still screaming as they begged for yet another encore, even though you'd already given them two on top of the one you did every night of every show.

"Well, they were fucking crazy", Jesse laughed while dabbing his forehead with his own towel.

"Seriously! I think that was the highest energy we've gotten from a crowd so far," Ellie said, mirroring Jesse as she too held the towel against her forehead that was dampened with a few locks of hair.

The thundering crowds noises were quickly dissipating the further your band walked into the back stage area, until you all had finally made it to the large, shared dressing room.

"God, it's fucking hot!," you exclaimed while dramatically fanning yourself as you stood in front of a table top revolving fan that was turned up to high.

"Yes, yes you are," Dina teased as she began undoing her button up shirt, joining the rest of the group that had already started undressing out of their sweaty clothes.

In a flirtatious manor, that you both knew held nothing but friendly intentions, you turned around with your hand on your hip.

"Don't tease me D."

"What if I'm not?"

Both of your coquettish expressions caved into humored ones the minute you made eye contact.

"We've already been down that route in college, no need to revisit it," you joked with a pointed finger as you began undoing your top.

"God, don't remind me. It was like fucking my sister-no offense." You nodded in agreement with Dina as you voiced your mutual feelings about the night both of you had drunkenly hooked up after a party in college.

Thankfully, It wasn't a completely bad experience. It was the reason the both of you had become friends after all. What better way to bond than after a hook up that neither of you felt a romantic connection with, yet still enjoyed the others company.

As Ellie began zipping out of her jeans, she couldn't help but listen in on yours and Dina's conversation and reminisce about that night.

You, Ellie, and an apartment that was much too small for the amount of people that were walking in through the back door.

A local college band was playing in a space that no doubt was originally a living room that had been moved around to arrange a space for the band and others to gather around them.

You held on tight to the back of Ellie's-aka your roommate who you had met just a couple days ago- shirt as you allowed her to guide you through the mass amount of bodies that were somehow fit into this space that couldn't have been more than 1,000 square feet.

As college parties go, you and Ellie ended up talking with cheap beers in hand for awhile as you watched the people around you, until you saw Dina walk in. She was clearly the life of the party, which is what caught your attention in the first place…and she wasn't bad looking either.

Ellie remembered you whispering how hot you thought the dark haired girl, who you would come to know as Dina, was. Urgently, Ellie turned her head to look at you with furrowed eyebrows that begged to ask a question.

"Are you gay?"

Present day Ellie laughed quietly in the dressing room as she recalled you saying "do I look like I'm straight?", in a way that was so deeply offended, you would've thought you had been mistaken for the worst possible human being one could imagine.

Suddenly, there was a feeling of fear and hope spun together in a braided ribbon. Because now that she knew you liked girls, that meant that her immediate attraction to you wasn’t something that she could shove off in a corner. No, now her mind would conjure up all these scenarios and universes where it was you and her tangled up in sheets as your bare skin touched her bare skin, all because it was something that was possible.

Sure, it wasn’t definite and, at that time Ellie had no idea that you had felt this immediate attraction to her as well, but now, it was easier for her to picture herself with you because it wasn’t like the crushes Ellie had on straight girls in the past. This time it was real and raw and vulnerable.

"What so funny?"

Ellie hadn't noticed you, snuck up on her as she changed with her back to the rest of the group.

Quickly she peaked over her shoulder as she continued getting undressed.

"Remember when you were offended that I didn't know you were gay?"

A warm, comforting feeling filled you as you thought back to your very first outing with Ellie.

You nodded, "Yeah! I'm still pissed about it."

Ellie chuckled, "You're dumb."

You didn't reply, merely just watched silently as one by one, Ellie's legs slipped out of the denim, leaving her in plain colored boxer briefs and an undone button down shirt while her back was still to you.

You knew better than to allow your eyes and imagination to linger too long-that was dangerous territory; a been there done that type of territory.

The group continued chatting as each of you finished changing into less dampened clothing.

"You guys going to that party tonight?"

At Jesse's words your eyebrow raised in question, until you recalled the big name popstar's birthday gathering you all had been invited to that was happening tonight. Quietly, you sighed as you finished grabbing all of your personal belongings.

"Not sure. You?"

Jesse 'pst' his lips, "Ah c'mon! You have to come. It'll be a nice way to decompress. We haven't had a night off in ages."

You couldn't disagree. It had indeed been a two week spread of shows every single night...maybe a party wouldn't hurt.

But on the other hand, you knew you dreaded any sort of social gathering that was bound to leave you overstimulated and exhausted by the end of the night.

"I don't know.."

"Babe cmon, you deserve it. I deserve it. We all deserve it! Besides, we can ditch if we're too exhausted or if it's lame or something," Dina said as she turned around, joining the rest of you and your bandmates as you all naturally gathered in the center of the changing room.

You wagered your plan of staying in the hotel in stretchy clothes with takeout in hand and a shitty movie on the tv as you snuggled into the fluffy blankets…but the looks you were getting from your bandmates pretty much prepared an answer for you.

"Fineeee," you dragged your words as Dina took the initiative of leaving as she opened the dressing room door.

"Who knows, maybe you'll get laid."

You shook your head, shoving Dina playfully on the shoulder as you followed behind her. "Shut up slut."

Ellie followed behind you, and Jesse behind her as he chuckled at the usual banter between you and Dina that continued for the entirety of the walk to the black vehicle that was ready to take your band to the party.

----

You'd been at the party for only an hour before you felt your threshold being pushed to it's farthest limit.

Dina and Jesse had been loved up on the dance floor, shouting the words of a song that was unfamiliar to you as Jesse had both of his arms around his love.

Ellie had caught your eye as she talked with other people throughout the party, always having some sort of whiskey drink in hand as she fidgeted with the small black straw she was swirling around her drink.

You knew how awful Ellie was in conversation, or rather following along with a conversation. Her thoughts always seemed to take over, making it hard for her to be fixed in on the entirety of a conversation as she, instead, resorted to zoning out or fixating herself on some sort of habit like she was right now.

With your back lent against a crisp white wall, you raised your drink to your mouth as you took a sip while still watching Ellie attempt conversation, until her eyes locked with yours.

She knew this version of you too well. The crowds, the socializing, the various amount of different noises all going on at once, none of it was ever your forte.

You quickly averted your gaze downwards into the honey colored drink in your glass, which made you oblivious to the fact that Ellie had already dismissed herself from her conversation and began making strides towards you.

"Over it already?"

Her familiar tone made your eyes glance upwards briefly before bringing them back down to your drink. You shrugged, "You know how I am at these things."

Ellie indeed knew too well. She also knew how much you resented yourself for not being able to handle a party without feeling like shit before, during, and after.

"Wanna head out? I'm kind of over this too." Ellie said as she mimicked your position of back resting against a wall with nearly empty drink in hand.

Your eyes remained low as you talked. "You don't have to leave because of me."

"I'm not," Ellie assured, "you're the one who can't do social gatherings, I'm the one whose bored of superficial small talk with people that I couldn't give less of a fuck about."

At her words, you chuckled, your neck now raising as your tipsy squinted eyes finally made contact with Ellie.

"Promise it's not because you feel sorry for me?"

Ellie's face lit up with a familiar, warm grin as she held up her pinky to swear her promise was true. "Promise."

You wore a lazy, but genuine smile as you extended your own pinky and gently hooked it around Ellie's. "Let's get the fuck out of here then."

---

The drive back to the hotel was silent except for the easy listening radio the Uber drive had been playing in the vehicle. You were thankful they were playing music that was appropriate for the 3am hour that it was. The last thing you needed was heavy bass to fuel your already slightly aching head.

Both you and Ellie made your way into the hotel once the uber had reached your home for the night. Thankfully, your manager had taken care of check in so your room key was already tucked inside the palm of your hand, leaving the only thing to do was slide your key through the appropriate suite numbers door so you could fall face first into a fluffy, white bed.

Your mind pulsed with the room number as you got closer. '208, 2010, 2011, 2012."

A literal weight seemed to fall off of your body when you mentally read the 4 digit number.

"This is me. What room did you get?"

'Fuck', Ellie thought as she did a double take on the room number that was written on her key card and the room number engraved in a gold plaque on the door you were both stopped in front of.

"Me too. Guess we’re rooming together."

Ellie didn't mean for her words to come out with a grimace expression, but you understood why the second she said it.

Annalise. You'd told her once about not wanting to room with Ellie due to your past with her and it was never a forgotten thing..I guess not until now.

It wasn't that you didn't want to hang out with Ellie. Ellie was your best friend first, ex girlfriend second. Despite the past the both of you shared, you always made it your mission to never let it interfere with one of the strongest friendships you've ever had with a person.

Not rooming together was more of a...preventative measure. You and Ellie had dated for a couple years, obviously you also slept together during that time. Keeping separate sleeping arrangements was just a way to keep certain situations less likely to happen.

Without either of you making eye contact, you slid the card in, then out of the slot in the door as a light flashed green, signaling the release of the lock.

You could feel the very dim way your hands shook as you grasped the metal knob in hand, allowing you and Ellie entry into the spacious suite that, thankfully, had two queen sized beds in it. You couldn’t imagine what would happen if the hotel somehow made a mistake and gave you a suite with a single bed; at least one thing was on yours and Ellie’s side. Though it didn’t make the situation at hand any better.

The tension was thick like a humid august day in Florida.

You and Ellie had taken to silence as you both worked on unpacking the few essentials you had on your person - thank god your team had already managed to put both yours and Ellie's luggages by each of your bedside, leaving not too much work to be done tonight unpacking wise.

Once your shoes had been tucked away in the small closet, your phone charger plugged in with your phone attached to it, and your pajama's in hand, you set off for the bathroom in the still silent hotel room.

A quick shower paired with freely brushed teeth, a clean face, and much more stretchy clothing had you feeling almost fully recovered post show and post social gathering.

As you walked out of the bathroom, you couldn't help but follow the trail of clothing that was sprawled sloppily on the floor and on top of the bed that was Ellie's for tonight.

It was like a mouse hunt as you followed along the fabric and items Ellie had no doubt shoveled out of her bag instead of putting them away neatly - typical for Ellie. She was never the cleanliest of the band members.

The humored smile remained on your face as you walked from the area in the suite that contained the beds, over to the small hallway that led to the living room area.

Ellie was sprawled along the couch with nothing but a table side lamp on as her eyes were glued to her phone while her finger moved along the screen.

Thankfully she hadn't caught wind of your entrance or else she would've seen the way you ran your eyes up from her sock clade feet all the way up to the athletic shorts and hoodie that was branded with your bands logo. She only looked up when you sunk down on the opposite side of the couch she was on.

Startled, Ellie looked up at you, looking as if she had forgotten you were even here, and for a minute she honestly did. Ellies eyes had been zoned in on the text exchange between her and her girlfriend, Cat, since the moment she flopped herself onto the couch in a living room that wasn't hers- this was somewhat of a routine she had subconsciously started doing ever since the tour began.

Your eyes naturally followed along to Ellies screen as curiosity got the best of you, but when you saw the name and photo labeled at the very top of the text exchange, you felt that same god damn feeling. That drop, that warmth, that surge of an energy that was anything but positive.

It was as if Ellie could read your mind as she followed your eye line and quickly locked her phone before setting it on the arm rest of her side of the couch.

Clearing your throat, you tried your best at creating a diversion.

"I see you're still messy as ever." Your eyes remained low as you fiddled with the hem of your sweats that sat on top of your ankle bone.

Ellie smiled, mimicking your lack of contact gaze as her vision zoned out on the grey colored couch cushion.

Her mind began to dump through memories upon memories; when you and Ellie were roommates, you were always complaining about her side of the room, which quickly morphed into the entirety of the room as the floor was filled with various clothes, personal items, etc.

You only genuinely got upset about it once- finals week, freshmen year. You were stressed, Ellie was stressed, thus ensued the first of many fights that the both of you would have over petty things.

But the both of you were grown now and surely you could have a conversation over something like that.

"Shit, I'm sorry." Ellie made the move to get up from the couch until you spoke with a waving hand.

"I'm fucking with you El. You're good," you said with a calmed smile and warm tone.

"You sure? Cause I can-"

You were nodding quickly, having to fight back a large grin and laugh at how quick Ellie was willing to get up and tidy the space. You couldn't help but interrupt her quick thoughts that you could tell were piling up a mile high in her mind.

"Ellie."

At the sound of her name, Ellie felt her thoughts fall from their whirlwind as she instead focused her attention on one thing at a time and that one thing was you.

"You're good, I promise."

It was crazy how, just at the confirmation of your words, Ellie was able to calm herself down. There weren't many people in the world who could fully put her mind at ease and allow it to stop the overthinking, but you always could. You held a sense of magic over her.

"Wanna watch a movie or something?"

Though Ellie hadn't agreed yet, the remote control was already tucked in your hand as your thumb pressed down on the appropriate buttons. As if you already knew what a routine of assisting Ellie from an anxiety come down was like, which you did.

"Yeah that sounds good." Ellie's words were straight laced as she recognized her pulse for the first time and just how rapidly it was beating.

"Do you mind if I smoke? I usually do it after shows, but since we don't room together I wasn't sure-"

"Yeah your good." You interrupted, making Ellie let out a breathy laugh as she walked over to her bag that sat on top of her bed.

"What?" You asked with confusion.

"You've interrupted me like five times already." Ellie's tone was anything but malicious which assured you that she wasn't upset with your bad habit, but that didn't make you feel any less ashamed either.

"I'm soooorry," you dragged out, the sound of rummaging in the background as Ellie grabbed her trusty tin box that contained a single pre roll and her lighter.

"You know I'm fucking with you." Ellie made her way back to the living room area as she scouted out a source for proper ventilation to ensure the smell of the potent greenery wouldn't cloud up the room or the entire floor.

Thankfully the suite was equipped with massive windows that looked as if they were from the 1920’s. Adorned with different variations of swirls and florals that made the layer of cream colored paint anything but some plain colored windowsill.

Using two of her hands, Ellie grasped the bottom of the window and pulled it upwards as far as the rusted parts would allow. As if out of some sort of rom com, Ellie took a seat on the windowsill as she flicked the lighter with her thumb until it lit a small flame.

At the noise of the lighter, you turned your attention to Ellie just as the flame caught the tip of her joint- a line of smoke streamed from the now charred stuffed rolling paper. You watched Ellie’s chest as she deeply inhaled with her eyes closed, the end of the 'j' searing red as she did so, and held the smoke in her mouth for a few seconds before releasing the breath she was purposefully holding.

Even though Ellie was used to the weed, she never failed to let out a string of coughs after a deep inhale. After her second cough, you turned your body fully around to find Ellie with her mouth tucked into the crevice of her elbow as her body tried to rid itself of the irritant in her throat.

“Water?”, you questioned, to which Ellie nodded as she continued to blow out on last cough until you were standing in front of her with your steel water bottle in hand.

The way Ellie’s mouth wrapped around the tip of the bottle made your pupils dilate as you watched her gulp down several sips of water. She muttered a “Thanks” while handing the water bottle back to you while you scolded your mind for reminiscing on exactly what Ellie’s mouth could do in certain situations.

Once her throat had been cleared enough times for the saliva in her throat to break up, she leant her back against the window frame again, relaxing as the high in her mind began to build.

“Wanna hit?”, Ellie said with hooded eyes as she looked up at your standing form.

The fact that you had to stop and ponder your answer made you cringe. You were a far off version of who you once were only a year ago. Now, you got up early in the morning and did yoga just after you made yourself a hot cup of decaf coffee because, for some god awful reason, you needed a change and that change happened to be weening yourself off of caffeine.

It was funny how well you were convincing yourself and others that you were better and striding along nicely on the path of self love and content while being by yourself. What others didn't know is that you had never felt more lonely in your life. Even after Ellie and your's breakup nearly 4 years ago, you had never felt this bottomless pit that you only had to deal with once off that stage.

Maybe thats why you felt so addicted to performing. Maybe thats why you were the only one who didn’t complain when you saw how many shoes you would be putting on this tour. It took your mind off of reality..it was your drug.

"Sure," you answered Ellie as she reached her nearly limp hand out to you with a relaxed grin on her face.

The moment the joint was held between your pointer finger & thumb, it felt instinctual, despite a year or so without the substance.

As the smoke sucked down your throat, you could already feel your head beginning to float.

"Nice, right?"

You nodded, as you passed the joint back to Ellie just before taking a sip out of your water bottle that moments ago had been pressed against Ellie's mouth. You could still taste the vague cherry chapstick flavor of her lip balm. “I haven't smoked in fucking ages."

Ellie nodded as she took another big hit that made her shoulders slump even more against the window as she delved into a state of relaxation. "This shit is the only thing that calms me down after shows now."

"Seriously?"

With a nod, Ellie's eyes scanned you as if she were searching. For what? You didn't know and neither did she, but yet she allowed her eyes to linger until she landed on your arm. "How's the tattoo healing?"

Your eyes pulled down to your arm, but not without feeling a lag in motion due to the weed in your system. The amount of at ease you felt was something you hadn't felt in years. You couldn't help but question why the fuck you stopped smoking in the first place, until you came back to that self love journey, bullshit, blah, blah, blah.

"Tattoo is good. The shading on it is soo beautiful”, you dragged along your words more than usual as you prepared for your last statement that would inevitably bring her up. "Your girl is good."

At the mention of her girlfriend, Ellie felt comfort in her smile. "Yeah, she's great”, she answered honestly.

You knew her words held double meanings-yes, Ellie's girlfriend was a great tattoo artists, but you knew her and Ellie were good for each other, at least from your view it seemed that way.

"You seeing anyone lately?"

The hairs on your arms began to raise at Ellie's question. It seemed that anytime relationships or partners, whether romantic or sexual, were brought up..it always felt awkward to you. But maybe that was because you were just being you, and Ellie was matured past the college relationship you and her shared.

Not that you weren't stuck on the relationship itself entirely. You were more so stuck on the feeling of being loved like that and loving that person in return just as much. You craved it, yet no one ever scratched that itch for you after Ellie.

"Nah..I'm good," you lied through your teeth, but Ellie saw right through your faux satisfaction.

"C'mon, it's been, what? A couples years since your last relationship?"

Ellie hadn't intentionally meant to strike that nerve when the words left her lips, yet she could tell she managed to do just that according to the look on your face.

"Fuck, 'm sorry. Didn't mean to bring that up..I forgot that your last relationship was us."

You felt the urge to spit in Ellie's face out of pure spite that was bubbling inside you even though you knew she meant zero malice with her words. Deep breaths consumed your chest as you repeated a mantra to yourself: You were the one who had the problem. Not her. You were the one who had the problem. Not her.

"Yeah...it's been awhile," You chose to ignore the subject as best you could, yet it felt so damn difficult when your last relationship was sitting right in front of you, looking beautiful as a joint hung from her lips.

Ellie breathed the smoke through her gritted teeth before snubbing the end of the joint on the brick that sat on the outside walls of the hotel just outside of the open window she was relaxed against.

"So you really don't want to see any one?"

"Can we talk about something else," you huffed out with aggravation, taking Ellie by surprise, making her eyes fill with sorrow.

"Sorry."

"Don't be...", you trailed off for a moment as you took another drink out of your water simply just to give yourself something to do that wasn't sitting in silence. "I'm just sick of people asking me about it,” you shrugged. “Sorry to get pissy with you."

Ellie nodded her head as silence built between the both of you.

The longer you both sat in silence, the higher and higher Ellie felt as her eyes began to alter her perception, her brain began to cloud her judgement, and her filter on her words grew thinner and thinner.

"Do you ever think about us?”, Ellie said with a head tilted backwards and her eyes staring up at the ceiling.

Meanwhile, your lips hesitated as they forgot how to move in time with your tongue. You were finding speaking to me exceptionally difficult when it was a question like that from a person who used to be your everything.

—-

Part 2 coming soon

[dirtytransmasc]

u got any hc’s for miles for earth 42 and miles from 1610 interactions? they’re besties to me fr fr

(first few are sorta theories for btsv, the rest are general hc's for their dynamic. these got kinda angsty, oops)

they definitely fight a few times before realizing they can be on the same side of things, Miles 42 being more the aggressor, but Miles 1610 wants to get even each time, cause he's a teenage boy, sue him. its in their moments of weakness that they start to see that they don't have to be enemies. they're also fair fighters, to some point, and fight generally clean, which definalty plays into their bond later on. there was always some level of mutual trust and respect.

its when they reluctantly team up and they get beaten to absolute pulps, and are forced to see each other as not only equals, but kids, both forced into lives they didn't want, or at least positions, they didn't want, that they start to bond.

its the act of picking each other up and dusting each other off that the bond cements, when Miles 1610 sees the kid in Miles 42, the kid that's tired and scared and not entirely there after living life hidden away in the back of his head that makes him extend his trust and his friendship. for Miles 42, its seeing Miles 1610 be so kind and good and trusting and strong, despite being a kid and being scared and tired and hurting, that makes him want to accept Miles' offer of friendship, and in a way, safety.

once they're friends, they're the definition of terror twins, like, generally they're sweethearts when not in combat, but they are capable of so much mischief, oml. and in combat, together, they're down right terrifying.

I totally think they would see each other like twins too, so they have such a brotherly dynamic in my mind. both are technically only children, so at first they're just kinda in this blissful awe of how nice it feels to not be alone in the world, to know they always have a shoulder to lean on, someone to protect them.

definitely both physically affectionate, and both of them have that AuDHD in them, so they spend a lot of their free time justlying in a pile somewhere.

Miles 42 does Miles 1610's hair and helps him with Spanish, in return Miles 1610 helps Miles 42 reconnect with his artistic side that had been buried while he was the prowler.

Miles 1610 sneaks him into HQ all the time, to the point that Miguel just gives the kid his own watch for the sake of his sanity.

it takes a while for Miles 42 to be down with intimacy of any kind, even just stuff like small talk and brushing shoulders, cause he feels like any attempts at connection from anyone is just them looking for a weak spot to use against him. Miles 1610 definitely helped him feel safe by just blabbering on and on about just about anything, making it abundantly clear that he trusted him (42) to keep his 'secrets' safe, and therefore he could trust Miles 1610 to do the same. once he's ok with small talk, they start tackling physical touch, slowly but surely. Miles 1610 is always supportive of him, always trying to understand better so he can be helpful, trying to make his 'twin' feel safe.

Miles 1610 forces Miles 42 to join his friend group, like he is so insistent that Miles 42 just caves. he doesn't regret it.

Miles 1610 is the more emotional protector, making sure Miles 42 feels safe and secure in a give situation and helping him get away and ground when he doesn't. Miles 42 is a physical protector, and he will end anyone who harms a hair on Miles 1610's head.

very competitive, in everything, absolutely everything.

steal from each other all the time, and almost never return the items.

Miles 1610 will indulge in childish things as if they're the norm for kids his age, so that way Miles 42 doesn't feel so ashamed of reliving the parts of childhood he lost.

they're both afraid of thunder and will huddle up under the covers during a storm. (once Miles 1610 has kindled a bond between his mom and especially his dad and Miles 42, they totally climb into their parent's bed, cause they're just big little kids and they want their parents when the thunder starts shaking the house ok? leave them be)

vigilante Miles 42, who tries to be someone Miles 1610 would be proud of, even in his fucked up dimension and with his already fucked up reputation.

they kinda forget they're basically the same person, so they're all ways surprised when the other likes the same thing or has the same habit, etc.

1610; orange cat. 42; black cat. vibes; amazing

it should be so obvious, but they do the good old twin switch every once and a while, sometimes just for shits and giggles to see how long it takes others to notice.

they guilt trip people when they take too long to notice. they don't actually care, they just think its funny.

they make each other more confident. Miles 1610 is less of a people pleaser and does more for himself. Miles 42 feels secure in being selfless and nice and having his own feelings on things.

for some reason, Miles 42 is really good with babies, and Miles 1610 is subpar at best (he's better with little kids, not babies) and they always babysit mayday together.

they're with each other more often than not. especially after migeul just gives up on trying to keep him off of missions, cause it takes more time and effort to do so, especially when he ultimately fails every time.

Miles 42 blackmailed Miguel into apologizing to Miles 1610, while he was already in the process of apologizing... he just wasn't doing enough in Miles's mind, he needed a little push, a little reminder of what would happen to him if he chickened out.

thats all I've got for now, hope you enjoy my brain worms.

[troublesomeknight]

You know, since it seems people liked my last post about this, I guess I'll do another one about how the Thunder Saga departs from the books.

Now in my last post I mentioned that Elpenor cornered Odysseus while he was in the underworld and asked him to go back to Circe's island and give him a proper burial. So they actually go back and do just that and while they're there, it's Circe who tells Odysseus about Scylla, but also about Charybdis.

Basically she tells him that the only way he was going to get home from here is to pass between them, but the problem is if ship gets too close to Charybdis' whirlpool then it'll get sucked in and destroyed, but if they sail too close to Scylla's cave she will grab at least six of his crew and eat them. She advises to stick closer to Scylla because it's better to lose six people than the whole ship.

Now, here's a thing. Book Odysseus actually objects strongly to this. He understands the alternative is worse, but he's like "Can't we just fight her instead so no one has to die?"

And she's like "No, that's a terrible idea. You won't be able to reach her to fight her. She'll just kill more of your crew if you try."

But Odysseus doesn't entirely listen to this advise. He resolves to try anyway, but once they actually do reach Scylla's cave, he realizes Circe was right and they really can't reach her despite her being able to reach them just fine. So they just gun it past her instead.

As for the sirens, I'm pretty sure most people already know it didn't go like it did in the musical at all, but yeah. They don't kill the sirens, they just sail past them with Odysseus being the only one who can hear them while tied to the mast and all that.

Even though he neglected to warn the crew about Scylla before hand in the book too, this does not start a mutiny, but what does almost start one is when he tries to just sail past Helios's island rather than stopping. Because the crew is tired and Eurylochus insists they should stop there for a bit to recuperate after all that crazy shit they had to deal with plus losing six more people and of course the crew takes his side, so Odysseus reluctantly agrees.

But only on the condition that they all swear an oath that they won't harm Helios's cattle under any circumstances. They agree, so they stop on Helios's island. But then they get stuck there for a whole entire month and the food supplies start to run low again.

At this point Odysseus realizes there will be trouble and leaves for like an hour to go pray to the gods/make sacrifices to try and figure out why they haven't been getting any wind and whether he can convince the gods to let them leave the island before his crew does something stupid.

Unfortunately, while he's gone, Eurylochus decides to convince the rest of the crew that they should just eat the cows.

It'll be fine. They'll just build Helios a temple back in Ithaca once they get home. Surely he'll accept that as an apology, right?

No. No he won't.

In fact Helios goes straight to Zeus and threatens to take the sun into the Underworld if he doesn't punish the mortals who killed his precious cows right this very second. Zeus tells him to calm down and wait until they get back on the ship to leave first, then he'll punish them.

Odysseus comes back to discover the on-going barbecue and is understandably pissed at his crew breaking their oath and dooming them all, but basically no one is listening to him at this point. But finally they have wind, so they decide to leave, having made sacrifices hoping that will stave off the gods' anger for a while. But of course it doesn't.

Zeus does not show up in person like in the musical. He doesn't try to hit Odysseus with some kind of sadistic choice deal. He just hits them with a storm as soon as they're out to sea and destroys the ship with a lightning bolt, killing everyone aboard except Odysseus.

And that's how the events from Thunder Saga happened in the Odyssey. You're welcome.

[saphirered]

I saw your autumn/winter prompts

It’d be cool for you to do some fluff with Ashton for either cold nights or thunder and lightning

Love your stuff!!!

More prompt requests incoming! 😘

Miserable. This weather feels absolutely miserable. Ashton is uses to the rain and thunder but now it’s fucking cold. Freezing, frigid cold and fuck does it hurt. They can feel it in their bones, their entire body just hurts, more so than usual. The jungle is fine, perfect even. It’s like home. But they’re far from home. The heart in the jungle, lies far beyond sight and perhaps even mind. This fey bullshit is something else entirely and Ashton doesn’t quite like it. The weather seems to hate them especially. If there’s some asshole watching over them making this all happen, he’ll personally see to it that there’s a nice and comfy spot in the earth about six feet under. Fuck. 

All of those emotions disappear though. A burst of light illuminates the skies and with it your face. You look up at the sky and admire the tendrils flash before the disappear as quickly as they came. You’re a beautiful sight- It is a beautiful sight. Fuck. You’re beautiful. They’re in deep. Once upon a time Ashton thought this was fun while it lasted. A little teasing and flirting never hurt anybody but the line had blurred a long time ago. Ashton caught feelings and it’s very few times they’re unsure about anything. Your lips move but your voice is drowned out by the sound of crashing thunder. 

“Hah?!” Ashton leans in closer to hear as the ground shakes once more. 

“I said we should find some shelter!” You all but shout pointing at the sky and take their hand. So much for venturing off on your own and having a little voyage ‘back in an hour’. You hope the others have the mind to find shelter too. You send them a message just in case as you pull the genasi along through the trees and rocks until you stumble upon a cave. You’re not taking any risks and the lightning is getting closer. From here you’d be safe with cover, and still able to witness nature in all it’s grandeur. 

Letting himself be dragged along Ashton isn’t opposed to the shelter you’ve found because with his track record he wouldn’t put it behind any mischievous fey to set the gold in those cracks to attract the lightning. On the other side they too are a little curious to see what would happen… Maybe another time. Ashton curls and uncurls their fingers, rotates their wrists when you let go and take a look out at the oncoming clouds hiding the moonlight, or dusk-light should be more appropriate. You stay at the mouth of the cave to watch another rumble hit the earth in a cacophony and the lightning, quick as it passes makes this cave all the darker. Ashton can’t see shit and in an attempt to find a wall loses their footing. A crack, that’s luckily hidden by thunder saves most of the hit to his pride. But then fire glow appears in the palm of your hand. 

“Why are you on the ground?” You hide a chuckle as you watch Ashton give up on, life, existence, everything laying on their back, legs bent at the knees and groan. 

“I just wanted to be one with my element.” They speak as casually as they can but your brow furrows and you take a tentative step closer, and another and another. You kneel down and help Ashton sit up. Groans are not just a casual annoyance at this place, but something of discomfort. You caught on. Shit. 

“I can give you two a moment if you’d prefer but I don’t think that’ll do you much good.” 

“There’s room for one more. Plenty of the earth to go around.” Ashton jokes. 

“I was hoping there’d be plenty of you but I can settle for the rocks beneath my feet.” You jest and Ashton scoffs though the attitude is quick to slip when your arm hand touches their back. Even through their jacket, the warmth offers such a relief. “You doing okay?” Again your brow furrows. 

“Yeah. Yeah sure.” And so the comfort disappears. You pull back and just sit on your knees, hands gathered in your lap. Disapproval crosses your features. 

“Sure.” You deadpan and grab onto Ashton’s wrist, uncurling the fingers gently and clasping his hand between yours. You bring it to your lips and blow warm air. It doesn’t take much to see the instant relief cross their features. 

“Okay maybe I’m not entirely okay.” The look you give them is much akin to ‘ya think?’ and it hurts to admit to the way it makes Ashton feel inside. Then your features soften. You look out towards, the oncoming storm, to the lightning reaching out, and the wind rustling through the trees picking up. 

“Sit with me.” You simply say. It’s not quite a question as much as it is an order and Ashton does feel like they have a choice. It’s just a very tempting one despite their disdain for authority and following orders. You shift from your knees until you’re comfortable, looking out over the horizon. Everything seems so much easier when he looks at you. Everything is. You make it so because any doubt falls away. Ashton knows they’re on the right path because you’re there and as long as you walk it with them they’ll keep walking with you. 

Ashton shifts and sits next to you. He bumps your shoulder with his. You chuckle and bump back, though much likes the rock around, they don’t budge. The cold pain creeps up again and almost as if you know exactly what to do, you wrap an arm around their back, slipping your fingers under the jacket and lean your head on their shoulder. Just your sheer presence, and a little magic manages to numb the pain and that’s more than Ashton can say the majority of people they’ve had in their life have ever been able to do. 

“You’re so fucking confusing.” Ashton speaks before they think.

“Wow, so much affection.” You scoff but pull closer. 

“You are.” Ashton doubles down. “You’re a fucking disaster waiting to happen.” 

“But I’m your disaster.” You poke a finger at his chest. 

“Are you?” Again, speaking before thinking but that seems to be the right track. You take a deep sigh and Ashton’s heart stops, their breath stops. Time stops. There’s not but anticipation, both joy and dread loom overhead and they’re just stupid fucking feelings because end of the day you’re just you and you’re fucking amazing. That’s what you are. You’re fucking amazing. 

“I don’t know. Am I?” The both of you look at another lightning bolt striking close by. Ashton gives it a moment, letting the trembles of the earth fade and the light too, not but the dim orb behind the two of you offering the littlest of light. 

“Maybe you are. If you think you can handle it.” He looks down nudging your head from his shoulder. 

“First off, rude-“

“You’re the one using my shoulder as pillow, find a rock or something.”

“Maybe I will.”

“Will you now?”

“Yeah. A nice and comfy one.” You’re unreadable. That’s dangerous. Next Ashton knows you’re on your knees at their side, back facing the exit of the cave, your warmth has disappeared from their back but settles on their shoulders. It takes everything to not lean into the touch. Not that they have to because you lean closer. 

“This one seems plenty comfortable.” You close the gap, press your lips to Ashton’s. While you’ve shared your flirty kisses before they were just that. This kiss is different. This kiss is a lifetime unfolding however long it might last. This moment is as bright and beautiful as the flashes beyond the cover. You’re like a warm fire in the cold dead night and are simply a relief. You’re a certainty in their life when they have known so little. This might not be eternity but this is certain. You’re certain because you’re just fucking you and that’s all you’d ever need to be. Cover from a thunderstorm isn’t so bad out here. 

[the-greatest-magic-of-all]

Frightful Snow & Delightful Fire

○ fandom: fantasy high

○ main pairing: fabriz (fabian x riz)

○ characters: fabian | riz

○ genre/warnings: fluff and a bit of hurt/comfort

○ tags: Snowed In | Pining | Sharing a Bed | Post-Campaign 01 Season 02: Fantasy High Sophomore Year (Dimension 20) | Fabian Aramais Seacaster-centric | because Riz is out of commission for a lot of this | Fabian goes through the ringer baby! | Mentioned The Bad Kids (Dimension 20) | Fabian's Fire Elemental | In before Junior Year!

○ word count: 7,454

→ summary: Lost in a blizzard and separated from the rest of the party, Fabian does his best to keep Riz safe while trudging through snowbanks until he happens upon a lonely cottage...

○ note: y'all this was supposed to be short. I hope you enjoy it though!

White.

That’s all Fabian could see.

For miles and miles, all around, as he trudged through banks of snow across the mountainside despite the fall of night. In his mind, thoughts raced about, weaving in and out of the forefront of it like waves lapping at a shore.

Most were complaints and grievances over the chill seeping into his bones. The pieces of snow sneaked into his boots when one slipped deeper than expected into the heaps of snow. There was one thought that never left, though. That he kept repeating endlessly, like a broken record.

A prayer.

One to any deity that would listen.

To Cassandra.

To Helio or Sol.

Anyone.

A desperate plea for a sign, no matter how slight, that he was heading the right way.

He’d been sure of it back when he and Riz had first escaped the abyssal cultists’ sanctum. Stumbling out of a secret passage and into the harsh cold of an unforeseen blizzard, they’d only had seconds to decide before they either froze or got caught.

As thunderous, frosty winds buffeted their bodies and bellowed in their ears, they bickered about their next move. Seeing as splitting up hadn’t been the Bad Kids’ plan going in. But, then again, when had any of their plans ever gone off without a hitch? At least they’d had enough shrewdness to set a rendezvous point at The Last Boulder Inn in the Dwarven village they’d set out from last.

“We didn’t account for not being able to get to the rendezvous point, did we?” Riz yelled over the wind, clutching the artifact they’d stolen (An ancient tome of some kind, don’t ask him.) close to his chest, shielding it from the blizzard the best he could.

Faint shouts began to stir from the tunnel behind them, interrupting any quip Fabian could’ve shot back. Barkings of orders in Infernal—no, he’s heard The Hangman and Gorthalax speak it too many times—in Abyssal. And they were growing louder and louder despite the wind doing its best to drown them out. The cultists. Both of their eyes widened as they looked at the closed secret door, back at each other, and then all around.

Fabian soon realized that even at his height he couldn’t find any substantial path. So, he turned to Riz and said, “Get on my shoulders, see if you can spot a path or a-a cave or, or, or something!”

Passing off the tome to him, Riz scaled Fabian with practiced ease. Only thrown off slightly by the force of the winds, but he got up there nonetheless. The cultists’ cries of anger grew in volume in the panicked yet empty moments of searching.

“There!” Riz shouted from above, sticking out a gloved hand toward something Fabian couldn’t see. “There’s a cabin about a mile, maybe two away from here. We can make it. I know we can.”

“Well, you’re not making it anywhere. Take this,” Fabian shoved the tome back into Riz’s arms before he dropped to one knee. Slinging his backpack off of his shoulders. Zipping it open, he presented the open compartment to Riz. “And get in.”

Riz’s eyes went wide. “But—”

“In this sort of weather, the safest place for you and that book to be is in my backpack.” He said, desperation tinging what authority he tried to have in this moment. “The Ball, your tiny legs aren’t going to be able to keep up with me. Not in snow this deep and gales this strong. Get. In.”

Riz stared at the bag with a scowl before he let out a hiss and shoved his briefcase in the bag before getting in himself. “You’re heading due east, okay? Due. East. With all the ridges and slopes, it’s gonna feel like you’re going the wrong way but I promise you aren’t.” And a second before Fabian zipped it up after him, Riz poked his head out and said, “Oh, and remember—”

“Three pats on my bag if I’m going to open it because if I don’t you’ll shoot me.”

Riz grinned wide, his eyes sparkling. “Best Friends.”

“That’s quite enough out of you.” With a pointed zip of his bag, Fabian hauled his backpack onto his shoulders. Taking a deep breath, he took a glance at Riz’s compass, due northeast, before setting off.

That must’ve been an hour ago.

Maybe longer.

He’d lost sensation in his nose, ears, and cheeks about fifteen minutes in, which was a blessing in some ways. No longer having to endure how the blizzard’s winds whipped and lashed against them. Such strong gusts that a stray thought settled in the back of Fabian’s mind of clothes torn by icy currents and boots rent by frozen snow.

About twenty minutes in, his fingers had gone numb as well, even with his gloved hands. More of a bane than the others, he’d been shaking so badly that, at some point, he’d dropped Riz’s compass. But he couldn’t stop to look for it. He couldn’t stop at all. Because if he did, he wouldn’t start again and if he didn’t start moving again…

Well, best not to think too hard about it. All he had to do was keep moving in the direction Riz had told him to. He’d said there was a cabin, so there must be a cabin. Fabian just has to make it there.

So, he kept trudging. One step after another. Through the mountainside, half frozen, enduring Constitution saving throw after saving throw. Making each one by the skin of his teeth. He crossed his fingers that Riz was as successful as he, though he didn’t know many Rogues with high Constitution scores.

At that thought, he faltered in his strenuous stride. In the crook of two hills whose sides rose well above his head, blocking his vision from anything but the bright grey sky. He stopped. Yelling was a pointless thing to do in a blizzard as severe as this one turned out to be, but Fabian had no other choice. He wouldn’t risk slinging his bag off of his shoulder and opening it up.

One, because he’s semi-convinced that his backpack has frozen to his thick jacket and he couldn’t take it off even if he wanted to. And two, exposing Riz to this cold would certainly finish him off if the failed saving throws hadn’t.

Yelling it was then.

“The Ball?”

No response. He didn’t yell as loud as he could’ve. So, Fabian tried again.

“The Ball!”

The howling wind swirling around him seemed oh so much fiercer and vociferous in the absence of a response. Even faster than it had been beating already, Fabian’s heart picked up speed.

“Riz!” Fabian shouted behind him, his voice shaking. “Riz, talk to me!”

A beat of silence, of stillness. Not that of a calming lake or the morning after winter’s first snow but the silence and stillness of a long-dead corpse. Another beat. And another. It’s only when fear spiked in Fabian’s heart and he jolted his backpack around, trying to get it off, that Riz’s voice reached his ears. Barely making it over the wind.

“I’m fine,” Came Riz’s voice, muffled and weak. Fabian could almost cry at the sound of it. “Just keep going, I’m… fine. We’re almost there, right?”

“Of course, we are.” He lied, his proud voice ringing out into the night because what else could he have said? ‘No, he’s starting to think he’s been walking in circles and that they’re going to freeze to death in the Mountains of Chaos’. Don’t be stupid. “I can see the cottage now. We’ll be out of the cold in no time at all.”

“Told ya. K-knew you could do it.”

Oh.

An epiphany struck him like a well-packed snowball to the face.

He’d thought that if he stopped in all this frost and fury he’d never get himself moving again. But after that, how could he have ever not started moving again?

Gazing up the snowy hill before him, the steepest he’d encountered yet, he resettled Riz on his back, took a deep breath of sharp, frigid air, and set off once more.

Reinvigorated by Riz’s conviction in him, Fabian began climbing up the side of the icy hill. He caught himself several times, seconds before he slipped and fell. Wondering if this is what Kristen meant about all that “As Above, So Below” Cleric business. How her faith, even as a single mortal, was enough to revitalize an entire deity. Simply because she wholeheartedly, unshakably believed in them.

Cresting the hill’s peak, he found not only a plateauing terrain and a sparse grove of evergreens but also a dark, ramshackle, old cottage. As he took in the sight of a sanctuary, Fabian knew he would never underestimate the power of belief. Or perhaps he’d never underestimate the power of Riz Gukgak.

It took three good shoves to burst through the cottage’s frozen door and another to get to shut it again.

Slumped with his shoulder still pressed to the door, Fabian’s laboured pants echoed out in the quiet of the stone cottage. The howls and groans of the blizzard still rang in his ears despite how muted they sounded now. As he inhaled and exhaled ever-shaky breaths, his eyes scanned the place.

Dusty.

Everything in the cottage was covered in a thick layer of dust and dirt. In the center of the wall to his left was a sizable fireplace that looked like it hadn’t been lit in forever. A frightful-looking bed sat in the far corner. Made up of only a thin mattress, a threadbare blanket and a pillow. Which only left the tiny kitchen beside him on his right that spiders had long since colonized. Oh, and a crotchety chair that sat lonely at a rickety table next to it.

Whoever had lived here, had lived alone. But they didn’t anymore, live here that is. Not for many months, probably.

No pissed-off homeowners to run into then. A small blessing.

Alright. No rest for the wicked.

Pushing off of the door with a wince at his aching muscles, Fabian stalked toward the center of the cottage near the fireplace. Beginning the process of detaching his backpack from his back. As gently as he could, he placed his bag down next to the unlit hearth and collapsed into a heap beside it.

Giving the side of the bag the three pats required to signal safety to Riz, he buried his numb face in his numb hands and groaned.

“Ugh, remind me to never go mountaineering again, The Ball. Never again. I swear I had a more pleasurable time trekking through a literal Nightmare Forest than I just did through all that fucking snow. This book better be worth it or I solemnly swear to throw Adaine and her high Arcana checks off the nearest cliff. You hear me, The Ball! Off a very steep, very snowy cliff! Like to see her Portents save her from that. Ha-ha!”

The beat of silence that came after Fabian’s little rant stretched on for far longer than he thought it would. The acute quiet, well, disquieted him. Made his stomach churn and chest tighten. He had good reason to be anxious right now. They’d almost frozen to death in a blizzard and got separated from their friends. Oh, if the rest of the Bad Kids were here, perhaps this wouldn’t feel so bad.

“Do you think she and the others made it out alright? I mean, I have no doubt that Gorgug had those weird cultists handled with his axe and Kristen has all her anti-evil Cleric spells but… Adaine or Fig would’ve messaged one of us if something went really wrong, right? Of course. Of course, they would’ve. So if they haven’t that means they’re fine. Hopefully, all this blizzard shit will let up in the morning and we’ll all make it to that inn in one piece. If not…well, if not…”

Another beat of silence.

“The Ball? Isn’t this where you chime in with one of your numerous and lengthy backup plans?”

Fabian turned around and peered at his now unsettlingly still backpack. He called out again, “Riz?”

Crawling over to it, already flinching away just in case a stray bullet flew out, he hesitantly zipped his backpack open.

Fabian gasped.

Riz’s body trembled as his tail curled up around the tome. His eyes were closed tight while one hand gripped his gun, his fingers having long turned blue. Almost every inch of his visible soft green skin was tinged an icy blue, including his tightly wound tail. He’d failed nearly every Constitution saving throw, taking on exhaustion fivefold.

Worse yet, he’s still making them.

One more failure and he’d—

Fabian bolted to his feet, his heart racing once more.

How should he fix this? What could he do? He wasn’t a high enough level Bard yet to be able to cast Greater Restoration and even if he was, he could only feasibly remove a single level of exhaustion. If he couldn’t remove them… then the only thing to do was prevent Riz from getting his sixth and final level.

Steeling himself with a breath and a look at a freezing Riz, who always believed in him so fiercely, Fabian was prepared to do anything and everything to save him.

Quicker than he thought he could with sensationless fingers, he unbuttoned and ripped off his thick, fur jacket. Uncovering his battle sheet. Thanks to the carefully wrapped Elven silk, heated by his inner fire elemental, he’d been making all those Con saving throws with advantage. Riz needed it much more than he did right now.

Ignoring how the chill of the cottage raised goosebumps on his exposed arms and caused shivers down his spine, Fabian got to work. Scooping Riz out of the backpack and into his arms, he felt like a block of ice. And once Fabian pulled him closer, the soft chattering of teeth reached his ears. He didn’t have much time till the next saving throw arrived.

A precious moment or two was spent prying the thick tome and arquebus out of Riz’s hands. Fabian’s voice softened to a croon as he did, “Come on, Riz. I promise nothing bad will happen to them if you let go. Everything’s okay. You’re safe.”

Eventually, thankfully, Riz’s grip loosened enough to slip the two items out of it. Setting them aside, Fabian got to work unsheathing his Sword of Shadows and swathing Riz in his battle sheet. The motions had a strange familiarity to them.

Bringing him back to a moment of relief within a lengthy battle as rain poured down on them and he held an unconscious Riz in his arms. Just as he’s doing now. His face had been more relaxed back then, instead being tensed and scrunched up in distress. Though, as he finished wrapping him up, Riz’s furrowed eyebrows and curled lips eased as the sheet’s warmth sank into him.

Fabian had almost lost him that day too. Only time would tell if they’d be as fortunate as they were that day to cheat death once more. But, watching Riz sigh and nuzzle into the fabric of the sheet, his boyish charm making a heartening return to his face, their chances looked promising.

Now that he had a warming Riz in his arms, Fabian almost placed him back on the ground. Ready to get to work on a fire when a stray memory of one of Sandra Lynn’s survival lectures stopped him. Something about never sleeping on cold, bare ground. Glancing down at the grungy, creaky floorboards, his nose wrinkled. Yeah, no, he wouldn’t want to rest his sheet down there, let alone Riz.

With a bit of maneuvering, Fabian managed to keep Riz in his arms as he nudged their stuff away from the front of the fireplace and he dragged the ragged mattress from the bed to place it there instead. Giving the old thing a couple of hits to get the dust off of them. He only succeeded in sending whatever foul substance blanketing it into the air.

One coughing fit later, he laid Riz down on the mattress, resting his head on the worn pillow and covering him in the blanket. Which in practice seemed to be just the suggestion of one and provided almost no actual warmth.

Well, it’s the thought that counts.

Nodding once at the sight, he rose to his feet and set out to start a fire in the hearth. Or rather, convince his inner fire elemental to light some logs ablaze. Whatever you wanted to call it, it’s about to get real warm in here real quick. Rubbing his hands together with a tiny smirk, he glanced around the fireplace for logs to burn.

Strange.

There don’t appear to be any logs stacked near the fireplace’s rack. None under the bed. Or resting against the sides of the web-bedecked kitchen counters.

There don’t seem to be any logs… anywhere in the cottage.

Right, nobody has lived here for a long time.

No person. No logs. No fire.

Cool, cool, cool.

That’s fine.

Fabian just needs to… to…

To…

By the Seven Winds and Jane Wren’s blade, this is hopeless.

Look, Fabian has never ever claimed to be the Smart Bad Kid. Adaine and The Ball had that on lock! Not the wisest either, Kristen and, surprisingly, Gorgug could take that medal. And hell! Fig had enough wit and cleverness to sink a galleon.

Figuring stuff out, remembering and recalling information, none of that was Fabian’s job. His job was to deal stupid amounts of damage, prance about with his sheet dealing out bardics and imposing disadvantage when needed, and, finally, to look hot.

That’s about it.

His Intelligence and Wisdom checks have rarely gone well and even when they did, even when he oh so desperately wanted to be the smart one, he could never beat out his friends’ rolls. And, ultimately, he’s fine with it because that’s not his job.

But right now, it is.

And worse, he needs to be good at it.

So, he dug the heels of his palms into his eyes and tried to come up with a solution for his crisis.

There’s no firewood in the cottage. He needs to find some or else Riz will freeze to death. Where does one get firewood? If they were back in Solace, he’d assume that there was a hardware store, one that the Thistlesprings surely patronaged, that sold the stuff. But they’re deep in the Mountains of Chaos and the closest town is too far away to go just for firewood. The previous owner must’ve gotten it themself, which means that… that…

Wait.

A shed!

When he had booked it over to the cottage, he hadn’t paid it any mind, but there had been another structure attached to it. Surely, if the previous owner had to have cut down the trees themself, they would have needed somewhere to put all that lumber! Yes, yes, that’s it!

Throwing on his thick coat and his gloves, he checked on Riz one last time before venturing back into the blizzard. He wasn’t quite the ice block he’d been before, but he was still much too cold for his liking. Ruffling Riz’s wild mane of waves and tucking him a little tighter in the sheet, Fabian went to search for firewood.

As he stepped out, all at once, every ounce of cold he’d shaken off once he stumbled into the cottage returned. Tenfold even, now that he didn’t have his battle sheet to keep him warm. It was like walking straight into a brick wall of frost and harsh winds. None of that discouraged him, though.

Raising a hand to block what little he could of the storm from his face, he trudged through the compounding snow. A gloved hand followed the rough stone exterior walls around the length of the cottage. Until he turned the corner and saw it. The shed wasn’t that big, which is likely why he discredited it at first glance, but it was plenty big enough to hold lumber.

Like the cottage’s front door, it took a few good jerks to yank one of the shed’s double doors open and shut, but only halfway. It would have to do, he wasn’t planning on staying long. Wrapping his arms around himself to preserve what little warmth he had left, Fabian hummed an old sea shanty as he did a once-over of the shed.

Good news: Amongst the lingering dirt and dust, sat bags of kindling and heaps of hefty logs were stacked on a sturdy, metal rack. More than enough for the night they’d be spending here.

Bad news: None of the logs lined up along the wall had been chopped small enough to fit in the fireplace. Fabian didn’t know a lot about survival tactics but all the logs he’d ever seen used in fireplaces were chopped into quarters or eighths. Not one big log.

Promising news: There’s a perfectly good axe nearby to chop those logs into the smaller pieces he needed.

Horrifying news: It’s clutched in the hands of a corpse.

Collapsed in a corner of the shed was what he could only assume was the cottage’s previous owner.

Almost jumping out of his skin, Fabian’s scream went muffled by the raging blizzard as he leapt a foot into the air at the sight. It was too cold for there to be a smell coming from it, but he covered his face anyway. Pressed up against the wall opposite it, he stilled. Controlling his panicked breaths the best he could. He’d dealt with the undead too many times not to have a healthy suspicion of “dead” bodies.

When it’d become apparent that no one was rolling for initiative, his shoulders relaxed. Pushing off of the wall, he crept over to the body. It’d been lying on the ground, curled up around the axe, next to a chopping block. Frozen despite the thick coat wrapped around them.

Riz would’ve probably inched closer to reveal the body’s face currently covered by a large hood, but Fabian couldn’t stomach it. Instead, he focused on the axe, careful to avoid touching the corpse as he took hold of the handle. Try as he might, his mild tugs weren’t enough to wrench it from the body.

Deep sigh.

His grip on the axe tightened. Already wincing at the act of disrespecting the dead. Counting down from ten, when he reached one he yanked the axe free. The sickening crunch of frozen bones breaking that sounded out into the quiet of the shed would haunt him for years.

Turning away from the body, Fabian dragged the axe behind him as he shuffled over to the rack for a bunch of logs. Settling one on the chopping block with a steading breath. Adjusting his hold on the throat and shoulder of the axe, he mimicked the stance he’d seen Gorgug take thousands of times now.

Drawing on every ounce of his strength, he heaved the axe up, his eyes never leaving the center of the log, and brought it down. Splitting the log in two.

The repetitive motions were soothing. In their own way. Even as his muscles began to ache and scream for a break. And even as the chill of the Mountains drained his energy. His mind found comfort in the raising and falling of the axe’s blade and the splitting of wood. It was like trudging through the snow. He didn’t know how far he had to walk; he didn’t know how many logs he’d have to chop. But he kept going anyway.

Fabian’s rhythm finally halted once the axe’s blade sunk so deep into the block that pure momentum wasn’t enough for him to be able to lift it again. Everything he’d been ignoring in favour of chopping hit him all at once. The sting of overworked muscles. The stiffness of his frame. The level of exhaustion.

Crumpling around the axe and onto the chopping block, a stray thought of falling asleep sounded like such a brilliant idea. Right here. Right now. He’d bring the firewood in afterwards. Just for a few minutes. Fabian’s heavy eyelids threatened to shut and stay that way for longer than he’d like. But not before his eyes landed on the corpse. Frozen to death in a crumpled pile in a shed in the middle of nowhere.

No.

That’s not how he’s going to go.

And besides, there’s a freezing Goblin inside who needs him.

Gritting his teeth, ignoring soreness and shaking limbs, Fabian brought himself to his feet. It took a good, solid minute but he eventually got there. Leaning heavily on the upright axe handle, he took a moment to take in just how many logs he’d chopped. The floor of the shed was absolutely covered in them. His eyes widened.

Okay, he’d kind of, maybe overdid it. By a lot.

Holy shit this is so much firewood.

Sheepish, Fabian gathered as much as could in the old, leather firewood carrier, along with a bundle of kindling,. Putting the rest up on the rack before heading back to the cottage.

With a noisy thump, he plopped the carrier and himself down next to the hearth. Unable to ignore how Riz didn’t flinch at its suddenness and volume. He got right to work.

Fabian could feel the palpable judgement from all the rangers and druids he knew as he built the fire. Deciding on something akin to a Jenga tower with the kindling on top. Sitting back, he stared at the logs. A deep frown on his face as he weighed the pros and cons of starting over again before shrugging and summoning his fire elemental.

After that fateful Spring Break, he and his elemental, whom he’d named Nar, had become quite the magical guinea pig for all of the Wizards he knew. Unable to stand the arcane anomaly laid before their inquisitive (read: nosy) minds.

Between Adaine, Aelwen, Ayda, and Zayne, they’d come to a peculiar arcane conclusion. You see, when he’d kissed Nar in Fallinel and swallowed that mote of fire, he’d become a material component of sorts.

Apparently, motes of elemental energy are usually only placed in expensive jewels. Thus becoming an Elemental Gem capable of casting Conjure Elemental. Which would make him the Half-Elven version of it, except better since the Gems are only one use. Or something like that. Fabian had only ever understood that much of their arcane babbling before zoning out.

To him, the academic reasons behind the source of his bardic power never mattered. Much to his Wizard friends’ exasperation. No, what mattered was how he felt and wanted other people to feel, and from there, his magic flowed into the world.

Knowing how freaked out Kalina made Kristen, he’d wanted her to feel every bit the hero she was when he cast Heroism on her. Whenever he cast Faerie Fire, it focused on his want, his need, to see what could potentially harm his friends. Fig had even once described his bardic inspirations as a surging seaside campfire after being shipwrecked. Hopeful and heartening in the face of overwhelming odds. While hers were more like a galvanizing jolt of pure hell-fiery rock n’ roll.

Whenever his Wizard friends had wanted him to conjure his elemental, he always went back to the moment when he summoned it forth for the first time. A time when he wanted nothing more than to protect his friends and keep them safe. More specifically, keeping Riz safe.

This must be why when he tried to summon it, wanting nothing more than to protect his best friend from the cold, Nar appeared quicker than it ever had.

In a rush of flames erupting from his sheet, Nar sprung to life in its sleek Elven shape of roiling flames. Immediately, it curled around Riz’s unconscious form. Adjusting the sheet around him before cupping his face and kissing his forehead.

A small spark of jealousy flared in Fabian’s chest as he rolled his eyes at his elemental’s cooing and doting.

Audibly clearing his throat so that Nar would pay attention to him, he gave a pointed nod at the fireplace. “Alright. If you’re quite finished with your little love fest over there, you have a job to do.”

Crossing its arms, Nar reluctantly left Riz’s side, not before one of their slender hands gave his curls one last ruffle. Without another word from Fabian, it dove into the hearth’s opening. Encompassing the stack of firewood and setting them ablaze. A tidal wave of heat crashed over him, almost to the point of pain against his icy, numb face.

Nar flowed out of the swelling fire to come to stand in front of Fabian, looking quite satisfied with itself. Rolling his eyes, Fabian gave it an obligatory round of claps, to which it did a ballerina’s curtsy before disappearing into his battlesheet.

Just as Fabian shook his head with a fond smile on his lips at his elemental’s dramatics, wondering where in Spyre it could’ve gotten that from, a small sigh pricked up his ears.

Whipping around just in time to watch as Riz sluggishly woke up. His eyelids opened to reveal golden gems, usually keen and hyperacute, now left hazy and weary by his levels of exhaustion. Yet they opened all the same.

“Riz!” Fabian’s heart leapt in his chest as he pulled the mattress closer to him and the fireplace.

“F’bian?” Riz murmured, looking like he was caught between wanting to curl up into the sheet further and sitting up to talk to him.

With a gentle hand placed on the center of Riz’s chest, Fabian guided him back to lying down. Maneuvering himself to sit behind the mattress and slightly above Riz. As not to force him to strain as they spoke.

Brushing a rebellious curl out of Riz’s sleepy face, Fabian said, “Yes, it’s me. How are you feeling?”

Riz heaved a shaky sigh, and Fabian’s heart skipped a beat as Riz leaned into the hand that’d lingered near his face. “Tired. I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired.”

“And I’ve seen you not sleep for a month.”

Riz smiled at that memory. “Hehe, yeah, gotta be a record right?”

Yeah, Fabian’s memory of that whole ordeal was less fond.

It’d been over the summer last year, and Riz had gone into “deep cover” again. Only for Fabian to find him perched like a gargoyle underneath the Marigold Docks running on zero sleep and heaps of coffee.

Apparently, he’d been tailing someone for his Dad, official upper planes business. Fabian had hardly cared about the reasons Riz had blustered about when caught, he’d instead immediately cast Sleep at his highest spell slot. Making a Dex save directly after to catch Riz’s unconscious form before he fell into the river.

Riz had woken up hours later in Fabian’s bed more than unimpressed, but Fabian ignored his glares and grumbles. Only mentioning that his dad might prefer that Riz didn’t work himself to an early death, and his mother more so. That shut him up enough to eat the soup Cathilda had made him.

Hmm.

Fabian pursed his lips, still deep in thought. “Are you hungry, perchance?”

“Yeah, I could eat,” Riz answered, furrowing his brow as he sensed they got off-topic somehow. They widened a second later as he bolted upright. “Wait, the tome! Did it make it? Is it ruined?”

“The tome is fine, The Ball. Look see,” Fabian said, reaching over to where he discarded the thick, leather-bound book and presenting it to Riz. “You kept it perfectly safe.”

“Good, good, good,” He said as his body relaxed at the sight of the tome. As he laid back down, his eyes grew heavy and his voice drowsy as he said one last time, “Good.”

By the gods, Riz was adorable when he was tired. With a small smile on his lips, Fabian brushed a few of Riz’s curls from his face and readjusted the battle sheet upwards. “Don’t worry, you focus on resting up and I’ll—” He looked out into the desolate cottage, frowning. “—Find us something to eat.”

Scanning his eyes over the interior of the cottage again, Fabian couldn’t help the grimace that took over his face. Nothing to find but dust and dirt. And heading outside to hunt for food (something he’s never done in his life) definitely wasn’t an option. Oh, this night just wouldn’t end!

An ever-growing sense of fatigue settled over him and a huge yawn escaped his lips. He was just so tired. And his bones ached and muscles screamed at him every time he moved. But he couldn’t fall asleep. Not yet. Just one more thing to do. Find food and then sleep. That’s it. Just find some food.

The first place Fabian looked was in his backpack. Mainly because it meant that he didn’t have to stand back up just yet but also because there could be a couple portions of rations that he hadn’t eaten yet.

Rifling through it, all he managed to find was a bag of loose nuts and berries. Fig had gathered them a couple days ago and tried to figure out how to cast Goodberry. Though she never figured it out (no matter how many times she used the words and movements they’d seen her mother use), they were still berries. And nuts! And thus, food! Sure, they’re still a far cry from anything substantial, but discovering them gave Fabian a much-needed boost in energy.

No longer so hopeless and weary, he gave the cottage a more thorough look through. Opening up creaking, dusty cabinets and cupboards and looking under tables and benches. Until he realized one of the heavier sacks he tossed aside left a trail of scattered oats across the floor.

Oats!

Fabian dropped to his knees, his heart racing and breath bottled up in his chest and lifted the sack upright. Steadying it before he ripped its top seam open. Revealing an entire, large bag of thick rolled oats. Still hesitant, Fabian dipped a hand into the grain and lifted a scoop of it to his nose before letting it fall back into the sack through his fingers. It didn’t smell off. Didn’t look it either. No mould or rot of any kind. There was no way for him to be one hundred percent sure, but he was willing to take the chance.

Now, he isn’t about to act like he’s Spyre’s greatest chef, but he has watched Cathilda make him porridge enough times to know that even he can’t fuck up making oatmeal…. He’s pretty sure he can’t fuck it up…. He has burned water before….

Riz might be fucked.

But it’s worth a shot!

After grabbing a cast-iron cooking pot from beside the fireplace, Fabian ventured back outside into the blizzard to fill the pot with untouched snow. He brought it back inside and hung it on the hook above the livid, scarlet flames. Letting the snow melt and boil as he grabbed a wooden spoon from the kitchen and dragged the sack of oats closer to the fireplace.

Between Riz’s soft snores and the crackling of lit hearth, this moment was strangely peaceful and almost domestic. Safe from the raging snowstorm outside, Fabian sat next to Riz on the mattress. Wiping off the dust from the wooden spoon with his jacket. His gaze shifted from Riz to the pot to the spoon and back again.

Until the snow, now water, began to bubble and boil. Fabian then took the pot off of the hook over the fire and placed it on another away from it but still close enough to keep the water warm. Next, he carefully scooped out handfuls of oats and dropped them into the boiling water. Watching as they began to soften and thicken and cling to the spoon as he stirred. Slowly but surely, it became porridge before his eyes.

Click.

Fabian was startled out of his cooking reverie by the sound of a camera shutter behind him. He whipped around to see Riz, his cheeks still rosy and eyes filled with sleep, holding his crystal up and staring back at him with a lazy grin.

“The Ball!” Fabian said with a gasp. “You can’t take photos of man without telling him!”

Smug as can be, Riz grinned and said, “I just did.”

“You’re supposed to be resting!”

“I was.” He said defiantly before the photo he took on his crystal caught his attention again and his face and voice softened. “It’s just… you looked so content. And none of our friends will believe you cooked anything without photo evidence, so…”

“Alright, fine. But sit tight, it’s almost done.” Fabian peered over the lip of the cooking pot at the bubbling porridge within. His brow arched and lips pursed. “I think.”

Creeping forward until he reached Fabian’s side, Riz took a deep breath as he peered over the pot as well. “Smells good.”

“That’s promising.” Fabian said, following suit. The nutty and slightly sweet aroma filled his nose in short order. Hmm, yes. That does smell rather good. Chalk up another win for Fabian tonight. Stirring the pot with a little more pomp and self-satisfaction, Fabian went on, “I do have to admit that it’s going to be rather plain. All I have to add are some of the berries Fig found a couple days ago.”

“Oh! Wait,” Riz scurried over to the nigh-forgotten backpack and pulled his briefcase out of it. Clicking it open, he stuck an arm into the case and began to rummage through the infinite space within. “Remember the nice couple back near the base of the mountain?”

“You mean the throuple with the freaky ravens?”

“Yes, them. If I’m remembering correctly they kept a hive of bees and gave us—” He pulled out a glass container of something bright and golden and lifted it high in the air. “—Ah ha! Gave us some honey for the road!”

“Huzzah!” Fabian cried, throwing one of his arms up in the air with a little more flourish. “Here, come add it to the pot.”

Still wrapped in the battle sheet, Riz scampered over with the vial of honey. Uncorking it with his teeth, he poured the viscous, golden liquid into the steaming pot of thick oatmeal while Fabian mixed them together. The two of them breathed in the smell of oatmeal now with the added slightly floral smell of the honey and looked at each other with warm smiles. Perfect.

“Brillant as ever the Ball.” Fabian said as he picked up the pouch filled with boysenberries and walnuts and delicately sprinkled them on top of the oatmeal.

Riz shrugged and said with a wry smirk, “Well, I try.”

Huddled together on the mattress with the cooking pot between them, the two of them took turns eating spoonfuls of their dinner. Filling their stomachs with much-needed warmth and sustenance. Between the mouthfuls, they idly talked in hushed tones. Riz flipped through the tome that they stole. Explaining its relevance to their current adventure and theorizing what their plan should be in the morning to Fabian. Who was still only half listening.

Too wrapped up in gazing at how the fireplace’s flickering flames danced in Riz’s amber eyes and softened some of his harsh yet handsome features. Sue him. His best friend was cute. Not that Fabian could ever work up the courage to tell him to his face. He was still a coward in that regard. Far too afraid and confused to ruin what he and Riz have with all these pesky, lovey-dovey feelings. No, he was content to just watch. To keep safe. For now and forever.

Before long, the cooking pot was empty, only the sticky remnants of the oatmeal left clung to the pot’s insides, and their bellies were full. As Riz yawned, large and cat-like, Fabian moved to take the cooking pot and head back outside to fill it with more snow. Planning on washing it out with the boiled snow in the morning for their breakfast. Which, now that he thinks about it, will be a lot less tasty than their dinner. Thanks to them using up all their natural sweeteners.

Hmm.

Well, that was a problem for morning Fabian.

This Fabian was bone tired and wanted nothing more than to fall dead asleep. And he wasn’t the only one.

Once he got back in and hung the pot over the fire, when he went to say something to Riz, Fabian found him curled up on the mattress, passed out. Snoring the night away. Fabian smiled at the sight and gave a nod, more to himself than anything. Quest completed successfully. Time for bed.

As quietly as he could, Fabian brought one of the old wooden chairs over and placed it as close to the fire as he could get it. Settling himself down on it, he tried his best to get comfortable but eventually gave up and simply tried to get some sleep. Nodding off moments later to the sound of Riz’s snores and the glow of the firelight.

“Fabian?”

Maybe a couple hours later, Fabian awoke.

Groggy and half-asleep, he pried his eyes open to find a concerned, shivering Riz in front of him and a low burning fire to his side. And though it took his mind a moment to fire back up, Fabian jumped to his feet and rushed to the fireplace.

Shit, shit, shit, shit.

Clumsily reaching and fumbling for another log before tossing it into the hearth. “Sorry, The Ball. Just one moment.” Fabian said as he reached for the fire poker and started jabbing it into the log. Hazily wondering if he could give a fire bardic inspiration to last longer. He waved a hand at Riz. “Go back to bed, I’ve got it.”

But Riz didn’t move.

He stood there, bathed in the fiery orange glow of the hearth and asked, “Why were you sleeping on the chair?”

A beat.

“Where else I am supposed to sleep?” He answered with another question. Something he knew Riz hated unless he was the one doing it. Riz tilted his head to the side and he scrunched up his face before he took a pointed look at the mattress and then back to him. Fabian smiled queasily. “Oh, I couldn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because, I—” Fabian gulped. “—I’d take up a lot of space. On the matress that is.”

“I woudn’t mind,” Riz said quickly, the words almost falling out of his mouth. “Goblins sleep in piles for warmth, even the ones that live up here in the cold. So…”

“Is that right?” Fabian asked. Riz nodded. Well… if he was fine with it. “Okay then.”

Timidly, Fabian followed Riz back to the mattress. Though he hesitated as he watched Riz get back under the battle sheet and the threadbare blanket.

Furrowing his brows, Riz reached out with his claws and gave his arm a tug. With his eight strength, it didn’t do much but urge Fabian forward. “We don’t have all night. Get in.”

“Alright, alright. Bossy much?” Fabian whined though he hurried to follow Riz’s orders. Slipping under the blanket and battle sheet, he had to stifle a groan as the magical heat of Nar sunk into his skin.

Almost instantly, Riz settled close to him, to his chest. Resting his head underneath Fabian’s chin before curling up into a ball, his tail winding around one of his legs. Without even thinking, Fabian wrapped his arms around him and tucked him deeper into the embrace, hiking up his knees to curl around him. It all felt so right. Like pieces of a puzzle slotting together. Perfect and satisfying. As if this was meant to be.

Finally at peace, Fabian basked in how correct this all felt. In the quiet of the cottage, the freezing wind still howling all around them, he’d never felt as untouchable as he did now. And looking down at Riz, an almost serene expression on his sleeping face, Fabian hoped he felt that way too.

One last thing, before he drifted off to sleep as well, Fabain kissed the top of Riz’s head and squeezed him a little tighter. Slipping off into unconsciousness, he only half noticed Riz squirming a bit in his hold before he felt a brush of lips on his jawline, heard a whispered, “Thanks, Fabes.”, and had one last thought.

Huh. Maybe someone heard his prayers after all.

And then,

Black.

Thank you so much for reading! This is my first d20 fic and though i know the fabriz fandom is quite small now, i look forward to enjoying Junior Year with all of you. Don't be a stranger! I'd love to hear what you think and if you have any requests, i'd be open to hearing and possibly writing them! Thanks again!

[i-think-i-did-it-again]

The Tour VI

Warning: swearing, smut

There was no doubt in Colson’s mind that he wanted you, that he needed you. I had filled his mind with desire and it had absolutely nothing to do with fact that you left him, cock wet and ready for you. He spent the whole concert thinking of your lips wrapped around his dick, so lost in the memory he missed the cue twice to ‘Jawbreaker’. It wasn’t just your dirty mouth that was playing on his mind though. It was your scent, your soft skin, your smile as you walked away from him, the attitude. The way you blushed when you were embarrassed. He couldn’t stop thinking about you and this wasn’t the first time you swam around his mind like a lake. 

Flashback

It was the middle of winter but of course being LA, it never usually got too cold, but for some reason that year it’d rained for 2 days. No one was really accustomed to bad weather so when a bad thunderstorm hit while you were all partying in Colson’s backyard, everyone just stood there for a second staring up at the sky before running inside. Except you.

You looked up at the sky, smile on your lips, rain battering your skin and that’s when Colson had spotted you. You looked so peaceful that he’d had to join you. He stood beside you and looked up at the sky, letting the rain drench his hair and his clothes. 

“Close your eyes,” you’d whispered, barely audible above the rain and the thunder. 

He followed your instruction and scrunched his eyes closed. The sound of the rain filled his ears, the occasional clap of thunder breaking through. The cold droplets left goosebumps on his skin but he was so aware of you beside him. He could feel the heat radiating off your skin, the electricity in the air between you. 

You hadn’t been hanging out with the group long by that point and you were still trying to get a read on Colson. Sure he was this international superstar but who was he when there were no cameras, no fans, no fame. He’d seemed kind, goofy and a lot of fun to be around but you’d sensed a darkness in him. Just below the surface. You weren’t scared of him but scared for him. He seemed unhappy underneath it all but as you stood there standing in the rain, you felt that tug for the first time and so had he. 

Present day

When Colson came off stage, he couldn’t help but search for you, your red lipstick still in place. The sight of your full lips made his dick throb and he had to adjust his jeans to hide his growing hard on. He doesn’t say much to anyone, just sits in the green room listening to everyone’s conversations, your voice in particular. You’re mumbling to Ashleigh about a guy that had hit on you backstage and Colson immediately sees red. 

How fucking dare they. She had her lips around my dick 2 hours ago so they can fuck off. 

“Hey Ash…” Rook grins at her from across the room and her eyes immediately narrow. 

“What Rook?” she asks cautiously, folding her arms across her chest. 

“I know you said no partying and we had to get straight on the bus but…can we please just hit up one club?” he begged her, hands held together in a prayer motion. 

“Rook-” she starts but you cut her off before she can answer. 

“It would be good for PR,” you point out and she scowls at you. 

“You’re meant to be on my side,” she whispers but you just smile sweetly at her and she caves. “Fine! But you all better swear that your asses will be on that bus by 2am at the latest!”

Everyone was quickly on their feet, heading back to the hotel to shower and change. You made no attempt to move and neither did Colson. He eyed you a pure look of lust that turned your insides to mush. You hadn’t been oblivious to the hard on he was carrying around every time he looked at you. It made you feel sexy, wanted. You smirked at him and rose to your feet, being sure to swing your hips as you walked away. 

“I’m going to fuck you again, and this time you won’t be able to walk for a week,” he called after you as you strolled down the hallway and your entire body shook with his words. 

Not if I have anything to say about it. 

Everyone made a plan to meet in the lobby to head to a nightclub together. You decided to join tonight, whether Colson came or not. You changed into a black mini dress, with spaghetti straps and a slit resting midway up your thigh. You had bought it on a whim when you last went shopping with Sophie and never actually planned to wear it but a night in Vegas with your best friends seemed like the perfect time. You paired it with white tube socks and chunky knock off Chanel loafers. You named the outfit your ‘Rachel Green’. You reapplied some more red lipstick and added some more contour and soft blush to your cheeks. 

When you step into the elevator, you’re glad to be alone. You press the button for the lobby and just as the doors are about to close, a hand snakes its way in to stop them. You immediately notice the tattoos as the doors begin to part and staring down at you is a very unamused Colson. His eyes fill with lust as he takes in your outfit, practically bulging out of his head. 

“You can’t fucking wear that!” he barks at you between clenched teeth. 

Who the fuck died and made him king?

“I’m pretty sure I can but,” you twirl around, sticking your butt out, pretending to search for something wrong with the dress, “unless there’s a mark on it I don’t know about.” You smile sweetly at him. 

He bangs his hand against the emergency stop button and slams you against the wall. His lips are on your neck in a second, licking, kissing, devouring. You’re so blown away by his reaction that you stand there in stunned silence for a few seconds before regaining control. You push him away and fix your dress. 

“Would you make up your fucking mind?!” you screech at him, your voice reverberating off the walls in the enclosed space. 

“What do you mean?” he asks, still panting, his erection on full display in his tight jeans. 

“One minute you’re all over me and the next you won’t even look at me or fucking talk to me! Your mood swings are giving me whiplash and I’m fucking over it!”

He stares at you for a few moments, the silence hanging between you as his breathing settles. He turns and hits the emergency stop button again, the elevator beginning to descend again. You’re not sure if you’re angry or hurt by his silence but whatever the emotion, it hangs heavy on your chest. 

You don’t realise but behind Colson’s eyes wages a war in his mind. He wants to tell you exactly what he wants. Every dirty, messed up detail of exactly what he wants from you but his chest tightens every time he thinks of saying it out loud. To him, there is a difference between physical attraction and romantic attraction and he’s not sure exactly what you feel for him right now. When you had sex, it was the most mind blowing sex he’d ever had but as soon as you left the bed, his mind was encapsulated by dark thoughts. He’s done the fuck buddy thing before and it ended, messily. He’s done the relationship thing before and it ended, messily. His chest still aches with the rejection he’d felt. Yet, he can’t help but think that you’re different. He’s different when he’s around you. 

“I-I want you,” he whispers just as the doors open and he steps into the lobby and you’re left standing there, heart in your throat and jaw on the floor. 

[fiction-is-the-new-reality]

if only you knew

Prologue 

warnings: slight cussing, and a little bit of angst.

word count: 2k

Next parts: part 1, part 2, part 3

You and Jason had been friends since back in the Robin days. Unlike him, you weren't a hero; you were just plain you. No secrets, no alter ego, just you. Jason thought the dynamic was perfect. He enjoyed that he could actually talk to you about things that didn’t involve debriefing or pointing out what he messed up on and how he could do better next time. It was a break from the chaos of his life as Robin, he could be an ordinary teenage boy that made stupid jokes. 

Then everything changed; Joker had killed Jason.

Bruce didn’t even call or stop by to break the news to you, but Dick did. He dropped by the night that Bruce had come back without Jason. He told you all that he knew. While he talked, your vision turned blurry, and your hearing became muffled. Your heart felt like it was going to leap through your chest. Your stomach felt so uneasy, like a boat on top of thunderous waves in the ocean. Dick held you while you both cried.  

For an entire week, you couldn’t function. Holding so much grief in your chest you stayed inside and shut out everyone around you. After Jason’s funeral, you had decided that you would start training. You needed to get stronger and better, you wanted to avenge Jason. You turned to Bruce for his help.

Walking into Wayne Manor had never been so glum. Stopping in the corridor, memories of you and Jason came rushing to you like a freight train. All you could hear was Jason's laughter. Alfred greeted you and took your coat. 

“Good evening Miss. It’s so good to see you.” His face looked long, his eyes tired. You had never seen Alfred this way.

“Hi Alfred, is Bruce here? I was wanting to speak to him.” You followed Alfred to the kitchen, where you were gifted a cup of tea, still steaming. 

“I believe Master Wayne is in the cave. I’ll guide you there.” He started walking out of the kitchen, arms behind his back and hands held together. You followed, sipping your tea and trying your hardest to keep the memories of you and Jason at bay while walking through the halls. Alfred led you to the elevator and pushed the buttons for it to go down, 

“I wish you luck, Miss. He’s barely spoken to anyone, he’s been terribly distraught over Master Jason. We all have.” He nodded his head and turned to walk back to the kitchen. You quietly thanked him and got into the metal box. As it began its descent down, you started rehearsing how you were going to ask Bruce. Obviously, you knew it was going to take some convincing. Once the elevator stopped, its doors creaked open. 

The cave was almost pitch black. The light of the computers was the only thing illuminating the area. You could see Batman’s ears poking from the chair, you almost giggled at the sight. You approached slowly, almost scared to speak. The computer had images of the Joker pulled up and different documents with words you didn’t understand, and Bruce was mumbling about something.

“Hey, Bruce, sorry to interrupt, but I needed to ask you a favor. I want you to train me, and I want to learn how to fight and everything that Jason knew. I know it hasn’t been long since he,” The words got stuck in your throat, and your eyes shut, willing yourself to go, but Bruce spoke before you could. 

“Absolutely not. I will not put you at risk like I did to Jason.” 

“I’m terrified. I don’t know the first thing about self-defense. I don’t want to be Robin. I want to feel safe. Bruce, please,”  What was a small lie in the grand scheme of things? Jason had taught you basic stuff like how to defend against small attacks, but you wanted more.

“Please, Bruce. I don’t want to go to some shitty self-defense class that's going to go easy on me and not give me proper techniques. You are the best person to teach me.” By now, he had gotten up from the chair. He moved closer to you, his shoulders folded in on themselves like he was trying to make himself look small as if not to intimidate you. He stared at you for half a second before shaking his head, your eyes were pleading, and Bruce could feel his guilt building. Maybe if he did this, it would make him feel better; perhaps if he could train you better than he did Jason, just maybe it would help ease his guilt of being a failure. He wondered what Jason would say about the matter. 

“Bruce-”

“I’ll do it, but there are rules. You will not be fighting, this is training purely for self-defense. I’m going to train you to be the best you can be, which will not be enjoyable. I’m not going to go easy. Lastly, if I say we’re done, then we are done. Understand?” He looked down at you, his eyes peering into yours.

“Yes”

“Good, we’ll start next week. On Monday, you’ll meet me here.” He gave you a nod and then turned, putting his full attention back on the computer. 

“Don’t make me regret this.” 

You knew Bruce was always serious, but this felt extra serious. There was no way you were going to disappoint him. 

After that first Monday, you continued your training. It had started with just Bruce, but after a few months, Dick began to fill in when Bruce was busy. You were steadily improving and always biting at the bit to learn more. You had a hunger for revenge, and you were going to fulfill that appetite. 

After a year or two, Tim joined the bunch. He was definitely smart, and you could see him being an excellent fit for the Batfamily. You two bonded quickly, you both being nerds and similar in behavior. Bruce got swept up in training him, and it was clear to everyone that he was the next Robin. You hated it. Hated seeing the suit being worn by another person. Hated that he was at the same risk Jason had been in. You feared for him. This just drove you to push yourself to be better. You wanted to be able to protect your found family. 

Walking home from the little corner store one night, you were witnessed to what you believed had been your calling. A group of teens getting followed and harassed by some lowlifes. You followed as they rushed the kids towards an alley. Using a fire escape, you jumped from one building to the next. This higher angle gave you the advantage of surprise. The kids emptied their pockets and huddled together, shaking harder than wet dogs. 

Rushing down the fire escape, you threw yourself out and grabbed onto an overhanging bar, your legs reaching around one of the guys. You rested on his shoulders while your thighs squeezed his neck, twisting your hips and throwing your torso, which took him to the ground. Rolling away quickly, you kicked out and broke another guy's ankle. His scream echoed through the alley. Getting to your feet, you kneed him in the face causing him to fall on the pavement. The last guy was huge compared to the others, not quite Bane size, but bigger than average. This was going to be a challenge luckily, you love challenges. 

He shook his shoulders out and charged you. You went low while he tried to grab you, his size causing his movements to be slightly delayed. Your elbow jabbed deep into his side. While this stunned him, it did nothing to bring him down. You frantically looked for something to help you take him down. Seeing a dumpster on the wall, you knew what your plan was. Unfortunately, by the time it took you to find something, he had gotten the chance to hit you square in the jaw. Your brain felt like it was sloshing against your skull. Your teeth ground into each other, causing the worse feeling and a god-awful sound. You were taking too long to regain your composure, and you knew that. The guy grabbed you with one arm and began wailing on your ribs. The air was gone from your lungs. You thought back to all the times Bruce and Dick had told you to try anything to escape the attacker, so you went limp; you decided to play the best game of possum ever. 

The guy believed he had won and tossed you on the ground. He started to walk away, but you weren’t done. Despite all the pain, you felt so alive. You felt more alive than you had in a long time. You felt unstoppable. 

So you sprung up and began taunting.

“You suck, dude. I’ve seen old women with more energy than you.” You rocked back and forth on your feet, waiting for him to make his move. 

“Oh yeah? How about I kill you, you stupid bitch!” He charged at you, full speed, basically frothing at the mouth.

Right before he got his hands on you, you launched yourself off the dumpster and punched him as hard as possible. You followed up with a kick on his chest. He stumbled but managed to maintain his balance. So you pulled out your pepper spray and unleashed it on him. His hands shot up to his eyes as he cried out, and his knees hit the pavement next with a loud thud. You slammed his head against the dumpster until he became unconscious. 

Looking around the alley, you couldn’t help but feel badass. The rush of adrenaline from being in a dangerous situation was empowering. You felt more alive than ever before and wanted to capture and keep this feeling.

After that night, you found yourself looking for more fights while also trying to start out of the public eye. You kept your business small and in areas where you knew someone else had already been. The last thing you needed was Bruce scolding you. But of course, he already knew.

Arriving at the Batcave for your daily training, you were met with Bruce in his regular clothes. He leaned against the computer with his arms crossed. Oh fuck. 

“Sup B?” You stood there looking confused. Usually he would quickly get started with warmups, but he wasn’t moving. After standing there in silence for a minute, he finally started talking.

“I thought you would be interested in this surveillance footage I found.” He pressed a key on the keyboard and the screen lit up. The video shows an alleyway with Joker thugs harassing a family. A hooded figure runs from behind and takes them down. You stared at the video and knew there was no reason to play dumb, he knew it was you. His eyes were squinted as he watched your reaction. You didn’t know what to say, but Bruce did. 

“Don’t try to excuse it. I should have known,” he let out a deep sigh. “I did know that you were planning to ignore my warning and that you were going to fight. You lied to me and put yourself at risk.” He furrowed his brow while shaking his head. He glanced at you again, and you felt your chest tightened. You didn’t want to disappoint Bruce, and you felt horrible. 

“I’m sorry for not telling you and lying. I really didn’t mean to start fighting. I helped a group of people a few weeks ago and I couldn’t stop thinking about helping more.” You shrugged your shoulders. 

“I don’t want you fighting anymore. There are people out there who are stronger and have more experience than you. I can’t have you running into them.” He spoke like there was no room for argument and in his mind, there wasn’t. In yours, you’ve become more irritated. Who does he think he is bossing you around? You are not Robin; you don’t look to him for action. You can do what you want. 

“You should be proud of me. I helped stop a lot of crime. I took down guys twice my size!” Your emotions are getting in the way. “You can’t boss me around, Bruce. I’m not Robin.”

“You’re right, you’re not. There’s a reason for that.” His words hurt. You knew they shouldn’t have. They weren’t that mean, it’s just how he said it. The sentence was laced with disappointment and gave you a feeling of not being enough. 

“I’m not stopping, you can’t make me. You should be happy that I’m helping Gotham,” you paused before finishing. “Jason would be happy.” The comment hung thick in the air. The silence in the cave makes you feel icky. Bruce stands there thinking of his next sentence, he needs to deter you from being a vigilante. He needs to say something to hit you hard, and he finds the perfect fucked up thing to say.

“Jason would hate you being a vigilante. He never wanted you to do this. Using his name as a reason for risking your life is disgusting. His disappointment would be overflowing. Be grateful he’s not here to see you. Your training is over.” That stung.

Your chest, throat, nose, and eyes all burned with embarrassment and the hot tears you were trying so desperately to keep away. You felt the anger bubbling up inside of you. You needed to leave before you burned this bridge even further.

“Fuck you.” So much for not burning it even further.

And if looks could kill, Bruce would have been dead. 

[germworms]

Half-a-life (the story)

Pairing: Bdubs/Etho

Limited Life/Secret Life

Wordcount: about 5900 words

Summary: Bdubs wakes up after having died in Limited Life, instead of going back to Hermitcraft, he realises he's stuck in the Lifesmp. All because of some sort of "Half-a-life" deal a few lives ago...

___

A miracle brought him back, a bug or an error must have occurred.

His eyes blinked at the stone cave, and his back was against the uncomfortable bed, that only served as his respawn point, but still was comfortable enough to sleep the night away in.

He slowly remembered everything, and not only the game that they were playing but also his horses. His hologram, his friends whom he hadn't seen for days.

He remembered how Grian had asked them to play a new game, how a lot of them had agreed. But why agree to this game of murder?

The light from the entrance hit him in the face, and he could hear from far away, fireworks and yelling. Explosions and chaos.

His legs felt weaker than before, his whole body sore, feeling like he was burning up from the inside. Standing up felt worse, but he wouldn't dream of anything other than defending his family. His friends, to try to make them stop.

Out of habit he checked his clock, mostly to see how far away the night was, but his eyes landed on his timer, which wasn't ticking. His clock was frozen, time stopped. Maybe it was broken, but still, he wasn't dying anytime soon.

30 minutes on the clock, 30 minutes which meant nothing in the grand scheme of everything. Frozen minutes that flew by, and seconds he didn't want to be on stand-by.

He tightened his headband, and went out into the dark oak forest where he was headed for the clocktower which was making sounds. Ticking down the time, ticking down the deaths. Waiting to be ruined by the explosions.

In his head, he saw Grian, how happy he looked when they all agreed to play.

But behind all his confusion, he saw Etho for him, dying countless times while he stood by and watched. It was a life and death situation and by God, he didn't want to die. But watching Etho die in front of him at that time felt even worse than potential death would feel like.

Cleo knew that Etho was his favorite, his number 1. Definitely more than friends, but he couldn't see them together as a stereotypical couple, that made no sense. Etho was his special someone, his shoulder, his shield, someone he would protect with his life.

That's why when he neared where bombs dropped from the sky, and swords and arrows could be heard, he ignored the way his body jerked. He ignored the way his eyes closed and the way his ears rang, he even ignored the pieces of stone being flung into his skin. Leaving behind bruises and wounds.

His eyes searched for one man, who was in front of him, holding his arms and trying to speak to him. He couldn't watch his mouth, since it was covered, so trying to figure out what he was saying was impossible. His hand went to pull his mask down, and he was finally able to understand.

"We need to get out of here."

We, plural. Cause, even if everything seemed dull, it was always the two of them. They could rely on each other, when everywhere else was a mess.

His feet followed suit, but he could feel the harsh ground rip up his bandaged soles.

A squeeze alarmed him of the reality setting in, Etho looking back at him while running, his mask off and a sad smile was now shown. Still hopeful in spite of all this. He ran along until he couldn't anymore, until a barrier stopped them from running. Thunder halted their steps, Etho holding his hand tighter than before, "Someone's out."

Bdubs watched Etho looking at his own clock, it was a necklace around his neck, "I've only got a few hours left before I'm out, what about you?" He watched as Etho's eyes glanced down at his, so he quickly turned it around. Not wanting to reveal that he wasn't supposed to be alive right now. Knowing that behind it all, Etho would be sad about it, whether he showed it or not.

Etho raised an eyebrow, and tackled him until it was turned it around, time froze as Etho slowly realized what had happened.

"What did you do?"

"Someone blew me up from above, I woke up to thunder, and now I'm here." He confessed in a haste. His voice quietened down, "I should be dead."

He watched how Etho took a step back, assessing the situation, he went around in circles before stopping. "That means you can win."

He took a step back from Etho who neared him, who took his hands and looked at him in wonder, a different light beamed from him. Who hugged him, tight. He could smell smoke, blood, dirt, and sulfur, from the silver head. He hugged him as tightly back. His hands seemed to have missed the feeling of someone holding him so dearly, someone who sounded proud.

Which is why he took the opportunity to take Ethos clock off him, pushing them away from each other. With a stab from his hidden knife from his belt, he hit the clock, stabbing through the glass and metal, a purple smoke escaped and Etho who could have done something, was only watching.

Bdubs stomped on it for the last time and spat on it, "We're in one of Grians games, Etho. I don't want to do this anymore."

Etho stunned, nodded, shook his head and looked up at him, "What? Grians game? What about my time? My clock..."

"I'll give you one when we're back on the server." Bdubs eyes cast a last glance down at the broken clock which had stopped ticking. "I'll give you as many as you want."

Sounds of rattling from below, made him jump back, as he watched the clock magically rearrange itself and seemed to glue itself back together, purple smoke circled around it before landing in Etho's out-stretched hand. "What in the world!" He exclaimed, quite loudly. Loud enough for Etho to quiet him down, his hand around the clock.

It was ticking again, the one red eye reflected on the new shiny glow of the clock, "My time."

Bdubs finally realized that half of Etho's time was gone.

Thunder rumbled from the sky, sudden lightning making them flinch. "They're out to kill you." He stated, leaning against the barrier, behind him. Etho finally looked at him, nodding before putting his clock around his neck again.

"We gotta keep moving." And in seconds he was running again, hearing new footsteps meters behind them.

Arrows started shooting over their heads.

He felt exhausted, his knees weak and in pain, his feet hurt and his head felt heavy. He had to stop, even if Etho seemed to keep going, he had to surrender, to whoever was out to kill them.

"Etho!- Bdubs?"

He fell to his knees, feeling the night near and even if he had no bed, now was a good time to sleep. His head hung low, ready to be struck down. "Grian, do you have a bed? I'm tired."

"Oh, Bdubs, what did you do?"

He never got to answer before fireworks went off right behind Grian, who snapped his head to look at where it was coming from before running away in fear.

Someone picked him up, he was familiar with this person, of course, he knew Etho inside and outside. His rather ragged breathing turned more stable, his eyes opening to watch the distress in the others eyes, mask covering his mouth again, for more than practical reasons. He could feel his lungs get filled with smoke before he could hear the explosions.

He was lost, not knowing where Etho was taking him, he kept drifting in and out of consciousness.

When he woke up, he was alone, the air was tight, and the room was cold. His eyes looked around, landed on Grian who was sitting beside him, "How are you still here - alive?"

His eyes were red, as if he had been crying before he woke up, he didn't know how much time passed, he went to look at his own time, but it was still stuck.

"G, I don't know. Everything hurts."

His back felt stiff, his arms unmovable, his legs as heavy as a boulder and a loud thunder seemed to be stuck in his head.

Grian paced inside the small cave, "You lost all your time, yet you're not back on Hermitcraft. I can't call Mumbo or X to help, because I'd have to die in order to get help, which I don't even know what could have gone wrong! Everything seemed perfect except for..."

His eyes landed on him, "... you."

Grian was all over him, in the bed, looking even more distressed, his voice raspy and high pitched, "Whatever you're doing! This is dangerous, for yourself!"

"For myself?"

"You could actually die! Or go offline for, who knows how many weeks, months! Maybe forever?!" Grain raged. Spit flying everywhere in the spur of the moment, he had to push Grian off him with the strength he had.

"Enough, I'm fine. It's just pain, I can take some regen or whatever." Bdubs pulled himself up, sitting upright and starting to go through his inventory finding it very empty, "Do you have some potions?"

Grian sighed, pulled out his clock and turned it over, he watched as Grian wrote to everyone else about stopping the timer. Behind Grian, wings grew and his eyes turned from red to black, his hands reaching into his unlimited inventory and pulling out a few regeneration potions.

"Really going creative on me..." He mumbled, wondering how serious Grian was, his worry started setting in. If Grian stopped the game, his own game, for him.

Grian quickly changed back, picking up the potions and shoved them into Bdubs arms, "Drink these, I'll go out."

"Wait! G!"

Grian stopped in the entrance, "What is it?"

"Could you give Etho his time back, I tried to break his clock and it took some - time off... I feel really bad about it."

Grians eyes whitened out, like how it did when you would look into the controls. His eyes turned normal after a few seconds, furrowed eyebrows raised the suspense.

"I can't?" Grian looked unpleased about this, his eyes kept flickering, and Bdubs would rather have Grian stop trying to get time back, than potentially glitching out on him. It was a pathetic sight.

"Okay, G, stop! Stop!" He went to hold Grian in place, trying to ground him. "Listen, it's okay! Stop doing that."

Grian inhaled deeply and calmed down, "Somehow, Ethos time has been reduced to half of what he had, unless he gets a kill of course. The game works smoothly, and you don't even affect it in any way, shape or form. Stay put. Wait here until I come back."

He watched Grian sprint out before he got to ask where Etho was. The small human-dug cave seemed smaller and colder, he took a few potions down into his inventory and stood up, feeling the cold floor and the shake in his body.

The pain has subsided, for now.

"Etho?" He called out, once he walked out and onto some stairs. This must have been a quick hole Grian had dug for him, he could recognise it from the way he didn't hit his head on the way up. Not that he usually did, but that wasn't because he was short!

He was taller than most of the server, well 4 or 5 of them. Tango was a centimeter taller and Etho a meer 5 centimeters. Still, they kept bullying him.

If anyone could call him short it would be Pearl, Mumbo, or Ren. Impulse could he also excuse, but that was because of personal reasons.

He had a hard time adjusting to the light of the moon, he switched over to a sword he suddenly had, his eyes scanning for threats, not seeing anything but a zombie a bit away and a skeleton roaming around.

He ran towards the Clocktower, searching for Etho in the meantime.

He avoided the holes in the ground, from either tnt or creepers, this server had gone a mess. Once inside the tower, he stopped to catch his breath, the tower he had built had crumbled, now ruins scattered in its place. He looked up and saw a bright light falling directly above him, he quickly ran out of the castle while he felt a heat creep behind him.

With covered ears, he sat down as a loud explosion was heard behind him.

"Bdubs?" He heard a familiar voice call out.

He stood up, quickly equipping his sword, "HEY!"

"Woah! I saw the lightning! How are you still here?" Impulse stood a bit away from him. "I even got the time for the kill.."

It dawned on him, he took a step back, "You took me out, I can't believe this! My own- You took me out! I thought we were allies!" He yelled at Impulse who seemed to crumble in on himself.

"There's no allies once you're low on time, how much time do you have?"

"I'm dead." He stated. "I died, but I'm here, okay? G- G said I'm not- That I might go offline if I die. You do remember Hermitcraft?"

Impulse shook his head, "What? What do you mean go offline? I-" Impulse looked in pain as he tried to remember, "Why can't I remember, what?"

Bdubs watched as someone shot something towards them, "Impulse! Watch out!"

He was yanked away before he could grab onto Impulse.

"Bdubs! I thought Grian kept you away! You're playing with your real life here!" Etho said, as he ran away with Bdubs in his arms. "I can't lose you to you being reckless!"

"Awh, stop it, you love when I'm like this." Bdubs said, grabbing onto the other tightly as he felt the ground beneath them.

It wasn't the right time to joke, when this was the second time he was saved by Etho.

They ran until Etho physically couldn't hold him up anymore, it wasn't like he was petite, he was a full grown adult man. And Etho was quite lanky for someone his size, "Weak." He scuffed, obviously joking. "Thanks."

"Like you could carry me." Etho dared him, out of breath, but still willing to try to be cheeky.

"Oh, yeah?" He easily picked up the other, even swung around, while Etho held around his neck for support, "What did you say?"

"Okay! Okay! Put me down, I'll be sick!" Etho said, hiding his face in the others chest, trying to not get motion sick.

"Alright-" He started coughing, and even though he felt his lungs give out, he still found a way to safely put Etho down on the ground without hurting him. He was on the ground too, on his knees, as in a prayer. He was praying, for someone to save him.

When he felt like dying, he would close his eyes.

Hope for something good to happen.

"Bdubs!"

Hope for someone to hold him.

"Bdubs! I'm getting Grian!"

For someone to hold him tight. And when he least expected it, he was in a different place, in the same man made cave he knew. In front of two half soulless eyes, darker than the void.

Teleportation made him sick, his head spun while he was forced to drink a potion. Pink liquid filled his mouth, his stomach.

"You'll feel better, fill up your inventory with these, or a chest, I don't care, im one text away if you need me anymore. Stay. here. I beg you! Once I'm back on Hermitcraft I will get Mumbo to get you out, okay?" Grian said as he ran up to the surface again, shoving some potions into his inventory.

Once, again, isolated from the world.

He stayed down there for 2 days, thunder came from the outside twice, making him aware that the game continued on.

Another hour and he was up on the surface, looking around the world in flames.

He called out, to no one in particular. Grian, Etho, Scott, Impulse, Martyn.

It was in his blood to help, so he ran for his life when he heard screams. He ran until he got to the ruins of his work.

He watched the scene of Impulse, Martyn and Scott take place. His head sticking out from a place where they couldn't spot him.

Watching Martyn kill Scott made him jump up from his spot, "IMPULSE!" He yelled out.

The only thing he had on him was a few regen potions and his clock. He threw one at him, but missed. Darn.

Martyn had stopped in his killing spree, turning towards him, "Bdubs? Oh, you had it!"

And suddenly this situation had turned, "WAIT WAIT WAIT!" He yelled, "HOLD ON!" He screamed out, "MARTYN!"

Impulse took this opportunity to put down a minecart tnt cart, "BDUBS! COME TOWARDS ME!"

Was he crazy? Did he really want him to go offline that badly? What had he done in the previous seasons to make Impulse hate him. Yet he still ran over because they did team up last time and somehow that trust was the only thing he could feel in that moment.

He ran past Impulse, as Martyn ran after him, not stupid enough to step on the pressure plate of course. But that was never the plan in the first place.

Two bolts of lightning struck down at the crater that was just made. He was alone.

Did he win?

He had fallen, he was out of breath, and he was crying. He was cold, and warm, and out of place.

"What happened?"

He looked up, "Etho."

"What happened to everyone?"

"God Etho," He pulled himself up, wiping away his tears, his hands, shaking, but still managing to hold onto the other, "Impulse saved me."

At first Etho looked rather unpleasant, and then it dawned on him, "He died saving you."

"Yes."

He wasn't that good at expressions, but somehow he knew exactly what Etho was feeling at all times, even if he only saw his eyes most of the time. Jealousy had been a big factor ever since he mentioned Impulse.

Etho nodded, "Alright, I have to say thanks to him, I guess."

"So there's only, you and Grian left, huh?"

The air changed, "Nope. Only the two of us."

...

"What happend to him, Etho?"

Etho looked at him, "Are you scared of me? Grian died two days ago by my hand, okay?" He noticed how Bdubs had scooted away from him, only a few centimetres but still enough to be noticeable.

He shook his head, "No! I'm not! Etho you won! I don't count, so what's the price? Diamonds? Redstone? Shulkers? - Whatever your heart desires?"

A sudden faint expression painted Ethos face, an unreadable emotion, he didn't even say anything as he started climbing a ladder to skynet. "Hey!" He yelled at Etho, he ignored him, "What are you doing?"

He followed quickly, trying to keep up, "Etho!"

"I didn't win anything, Bdubs."

He kept going, and Bdubs followed him all the way up. Until they were on a wooden platform. The wind was wilder up here, so he kept himself grounded by sitting. His eyes on Etho who was standing, seemly deep in thought.

"I didn't win. There's no winning this if everyone is gone."

He shook his head, grinning, his mask lost somewhere on this server, his red eye met his black ones, "Even If I win, I have to go back don't I? And what about you? That's not winning, that's losing."

"I- Maybe- Grian said he was gonna go find help. And then..." His words died, "And then everything would be fixed."

"No."

"Huh?" He asked, looking up at Etho, who didn't even look at him, he was fixated on the ground way below them. "What do you mean?"

Ethos silence was deafening, he stood up, against his own fears, "What do you mean no?" With his friends expertise in coding and redstone he must know a bit more than he did. Which is why this one word concerned him the most.

"I'll go get help-"

"Like HELL you will! Everyone's gone! I can't lose you too! It's been days! Grian is gone now, and said he would talk to Mumbo about-" His arms flailed pointing at himself, "My situation!"

Etho looked at him, his eyes sad, his hands holding him tight, "I will get you - back again."

His hands shook as he fought himself to not be desperate, as the impulse took over, as his hands were all over the other. Holding, holding. On for his dear life, wandering.

"Please- Anything," He grabbed the others shirt, ghosting near his face, closer than he had ever been and would ever be. Seeing the small scar in the red eye and the tears in the other black one.

"Etho-" He took the others face in his hands, smashing their lips together in a last attempt at compromise, his hands sweaty and his whole body shaking. It wasn't nice, it wasn't warm, he didn't feel happy- dread filled his stomach and his eyes closed. Etho had gone into shock, his whole body still, not holding onto him, like a statue.

His lips cold against the others. The ticking of a clock felt like thunder in his ears.

Etho was the one who pushed him away, looking at him, not with disgust, but with sadness. With a whisper, almost impossible to hear, "I'm... gonna go find help. I- I'm-," His words seemed stuck in his throat, as if in a debate with himself to what he was gonna say, "I- I really care about you."

He jumped,

for goodness sake, he actually jumped and Bdubs were close to take off as well, but had to stop himself from doing so. His feet halted, hand reaching out for air as he watched his friend fall.

"ETHO!!" He screamed, a late response, falling to his knees as he in shock stared while Etho fell through the clouds. Lightning struck through them and then disappeared as quickly as he blinked. Only the remains of thunder sounded as an echo through the wind.

"Etho.." He whispered, falling back onto the platform as he started curling up into himself.

Last 5 minutes, Etho had used all his time trying to save him, trying to comfort him. And what had he done? Been a bother, only thinking about himself.

A tear fell down his cheek, his heart hurt, either from the sudden solitary, or from the illness or "bug" as Grian called it. He wasn't supposed to be here, and he couldn't die and respawn anymore apparently.

When the night neared, he stood up, not daring looking down, and not daring speaking up. He knew he would break down if he started speaking, even if it was for himself. Trying to cheer himself up, something he had gotten good at, since he was hilarious.

"He'll come back for you." He mumbled, stumbling to get down the ladder, "He wouldn't leave you alone."

"He loves you." He said, as quiet as the wind, "He does."

"He loves me."

When his feet landed on the dirt, he crumbled down into himself, he held onto himself tightly as one does when left alone, and started shaking. Trying to hold back his sobs, a talent he had gotten good at.

After some time, the night was over, with no meeting of a creeper or skeleton, he was sitting at the bottom of the ladders, stained cheeks of tears and red eyes. His arms were moist and his breath shallow. He forced himself up, holding onto the ladder, trying to not stare at it for too long.

The sun was out, warming him up, and lighting the way for him.

His hand went to reach for his lips, regretting his action. Closing his eyes to chase the feeling, hating the way he got excited, hated the way he loved it. He was far too gone to think straight anymore, his hallucination of lips against his ever lasting. His emotions all mixed up, some more fucked than others. Some more sinful and shameful.

He was devouring Etho's presence, or lack of.

Hungry, he was hungry and his feet were moving towards a cow farm he knew he had. He, Cleo, and Scar, their base. Which was, where? He swear it had been right there, right beside him. Before it blew up.

Before it blew-

up.

Realizing where he was, he ran. Ran until he couldn't anymore, until his hunger got the best of him, scared of dying and scared of this new world with none of his friends.

"They're coming." He said, to hear himself talk, "They're coming back for you, they promised. Grian promised, Pearl, Impulse... Etho promised me."

And after days of waiting, of finding ways to motivate himself to not go insane, he had built a new home. Well, newer than the one from yesterday, which he had burned down. Along with all the other projects he had.

Every strand of grass seemed the same, every single tree was newly planted. His leg was injured due to a skeleton, the arrow seemed to have pierced through him. He drank the last potion Grian had given him, for what seemed like months ago.

His clock was broken, so he couldn't count the days. He stopped counting after day 6.200. It all seemed meaningless after all.

He had learned to live by himself, even kept a zombie in a boat for company, which he had named Ethan. For no apparent reason. Ethan knew how to make him laugh, and even would sometimes grunt at him if he disagreed. Which he totally did, because who else would understand him in this barren world?

When his crops had disappeared one day after his expeditions to the mines, which he had almost stripped out completely, he didn't question it. Maybe it was a mob who had stopped by, burned and gone away. Or maybe it was his wolf who had eaten it. But, worst of all, Ethan was gone.

Ethan had disappeared along with his house.

Even the grass was greener, and a big statue had appeared where he had dug up from.

A big stone statue, of a head? Not his head, which was a tad bit offensive. If the mobs had decided to praise him, then at least get his face right.

"People these days, don't know how to build right! I say, to thou, stone head, I will rebuild you once I get back to my chest and get my - uh, pickaxe! I will redeem your sins against me!" He yelled at the statue, his voice more raspy and worn out.

"Bdubs?"

His head turned almost too fast, his neck cracking a bit, "Huh!?"

Grian stood there, someone he hadn't seen for a long time, "Why are thou- you here? What are- who- Get away from me!!"

The words died out as he screamed, his heart racing, his eyes blood shot and his sword dashed towards the man. The man who had been his friend, who had seemed to help him, who had promised him something he would never forget.

He would never forget.

"You forgot me, so why did you come back?"

Grian halted in his action to walk closer to him, "We really didn't! I went back and talked with everyone! Mumbo, Tango, Doc, Zed - everyone! And then, they said that the code had been mixed in with yours and there was no way to send you back until they had made a brand new one! Apparently something about a promised life, and the code for the new life series was unstable, so you only got half of a life, and-"

He couldn't listen to excuses, so he swung towards Grian, "YOU!" A hit against Grians shirt, "LEFT!" His sword left a mark on Grians arm, "ME!" Grian fell backwards, "TO DIE!" He stopped himself right as he was about to go for the final blow.

"But you didn't." Grian said, his voice was as calm as ever.

He cried, tears which hadn't been there for a long time fell down his cheeks, his sword limp in his hands, throwing it to Grians side, wiping away his tears, "But I wish I did." He held out his hand to help Grian up.

Grian went in for a hug, a warm one, he hadn't felt this warm since he was on fire that one time. Which had hurt a lot less than this, his body seemed to shake violently, which he found out were from the loud sobs he was making, he didn't want to let go, afraid to be left alone again.

Afraid to be left out.

"Bdubs, we did everything we could to start the server up again, it was on lockdown, and we all thought of you. I'm under strict orders to not tell you how Etho really missed you. He went offline for a long time to protest, and was really sad when he logged on to find you gone still. But I'm not allowed to tell you that!" Grian chuckled, rubbing circles on his back to calm him down.

"Where is he?" He asked, like a child, like a desperate lover, like a last plea. "Is he coming on?"

Grian nodded into his shoulder, "Of course, he's gonna be here soon to play test everything. You can respawn now by the way, you aren't tied to the code anymore."

"Okay, so I can be fully healed?" Bdubs asked unsure.

"Yes."

He pulled away from Grian, getting down on his knees, "Kill me."

Bdubs looked up at him, while Grian pulled out an enchanted netherite axe from his inventory, "Are you sure?"

He nodded.

He could feel the air change, his breathing slowed down, he could feel his heart stop, his eyes locked with the axe. He was gripping the grass.

He was - terrified.

"STOP!" He yelled out, rolling to the side, missing the axe by a centimeter. "I can't - can't do this!"

Grian nodded, "It's alright, I'll go back, I think the testers will be on in a few hours?"

"You're going?" Bdubs asked, his voice smaller now, he was still sitting on the grass, petting it slowly, "You're really gonna go?" It was almost impossible to bear.

Grian gave him a small smile, "Hey you could come with me if you - well, respawned. I have to be sure you're all new before you go back. I don't want what happened before to happen again..."

He nodded, slow at first, "Yeah, I will be here. I'll stay - here, good bye."

Grian waved, a bright light absorbed him.

"WAIT!!"

He yelled out, stumbling to get up, chasing the light, "DON'T LEAVE ME!" He cried out, his hands reaching and reaching, "GRIAN!!!" He face planted right down into the grass, quiet sobs, his whole body engulfed with shaking, and his hands trying to reach for something that was gone.

He threw up whatever he had swallowed down in the mines and throughout his period of being in solitude. Spider legs and Zombie flesh, steak and a cold potato. All the water he had swallowed when he almost drowned and all the ink he got into his lungs when trying to make a fresh octopus. A puddle of all the shit he had to endure, a pile of all his horror and terror of being alone. A small bone from a camel, and a fish eye. Not much to see.

What a man wouldn't do to survive, when all he wanted was to die.

His hands, rough, bruised, cut up from the stone and in constant pain. His pants, ripped, dirty, a different color than it had once been. His shirt gone, used for a cleaning rag and to help him survive from all the wounds he got. Shoes, gone, but never really forgotten, lava accident.

From where he stood he watched how the world had stopped moving, in a constant pause.

It didn't phase him how long he stood still for, he had been sitting for approximately 2 weeks before, it wasn't odd to wait for anything to happen. Either starvation or a zombie to find him.

A bright light startled him, a silhouette, two silhouettes.

He reached for his sword, out of defense. His eyes met familiar red ones, blonde hair, and red clothes.

All the words he wanted to say were gone, his eyes blinking at someone he both knew and couldn't recognize.

"Bdubs!" Tango screamed out, startling them both, "Good to see you again buddy! How, uh- I guess it's been rough. I missed you." His eyes watched how his friend reacted to his whole being. He probably looked like shit, and he felt like it too.

But, he didn't even listen to Tango, his eyes were focused on Etho, who had stopped in his tracks, eye to eye.

And he fell to his knees, not him, but Etho. His eyes filled with tears as he cried, no one dared near him, not even Tango who had taken a step back, knowing how long it had been.

As Etho cried, and cried, endless sobs into his hands, he weakly said, "I'm sorry" in between his cries. And after some time Bdubs went to hold him, scared at first, he was dirty, he was filthy, and he was everything horrible. But even still, Etho held onto him as hard as possible, to the point where he had to try to tap out, he was suffocating.

"What happened to you?" Etho asked, his voice stable now, his hands warm on his back.

He held on even tighter, "I- I don't know. Too much, can you just - please, hold me."

And he did. He could hear Ethos trying to slow his breathing through the mask.

The goddamn mask was back on, not that he really remembered what was hidden under, other than the experience of a lifetime. Other than the guilt.

He did remember the kiss, of course, how could he forget that. He felt shameful for it. "Etho I'm sorry-"

He didn't get to even start his apology before Etho was on him, mouth on mouth, with a mask in between them. He could feel the silhouette of his mouth, of hot breath, of wet tears. Of desperation. 'forgive me' repeating in his head as he stayed there for a second longer than appropriate.

A sudden tightness in his stomach occured, a force greater than he had felt in ages. He gasped, and Etho cried harder.

"Forgive me."

This time it wasn't he who said it, but Etho who held a bloody dagger in his hand, "This will be better for you after you respawn."

Tango stood there silently as his world faded in and out, "It hurts."

"It hurts so much, Etho." He whimpered.

His world become dark, as he felt his body ascend towards a familiar light. Every wound healed over, and every broken bone fixed within seconds. New clothes was provided along with shoes.

...

..

.

They all stood in a circle, a campfire in the middle as Grian was talking. Everything felt familiar, but who cared about that?

Bdubs beside Etho.

As fate aligned.

[rabbitenn]

LAST DIMENSION.

You were warned not to eat or drink anything if you ever found yourself in the place where the starlight can’t reach. And yet, before you knew it, your lips were already sweetened with honeyed nectar. What awaits you in this part of the Underworld?

ft. demon Tsunashi Ryunosuke x gn! reader.

cw/genre: halloween special, fantasy au, romance.

third of the halloween fics based on spooky night ! I hope you enjoy <3

In the months you had spent venturing every corner of this decaying world, you had learned there were certain rules to abide by.

If you wanted to stay alive, anyway.

Your existence might have not been luxurious or even easy.

Nothing in this world was anymore. Everywhere you looked, trees were dying, birds sang off key and strong winds howled.

And yet, you still had hope.

Perhaps any other semblance of joy had escaped with the sun that had vanished a long while ago.

But the stars still remained, the only difference between day and night at this point.

And that rule danced in your mind.

“If you ever find yourself in the place where starlight can’t reach; if you ever succumb to total darkness, with no Polaris to pull you out, keep your wits about you. No matter how much your senses play against you, don’t trust anything you hear or see. And most importantly: if you want to make it out, never drink or eat anything in that lightless pit.”

Well, good to keep that in mind, but you really didn’t intend to begin exploring dark holes; you had enough already with trying to find something edible so as to not starve to death.

Or so you thought.

Until that thunderstorm.

Jagged lightning shot across the sky, the heavy soot-like clouds rumbling with every flash of light.

Staying outside like you used to doesn’t seem like an option tonight.

Sighing heavily, you tug your ragged raincoat closer to your form, heading for the mountains.

You knew there was a cave there, perhaps no wild animals lounged on it today and you were lucky enough to take shelter in it for a while.

The rain gets heavier, your vision impaired by a downpour that looks as if the night itself was melting down in kerosene droplets.

Thunder roars even near.

At this rate, you won’t make it.

Then, you spot something from the corner of your eye.

Between some obsidian rocks, a crack widens into an opening.

It looks wide enough to fit one person and it’s only a few yards away from where you stand.

You hesitate for a moment.

Then, a branch from the tree right before you snaps, falling to the ground as smoke wafts off from it.

An overwhelming roaring sound shakes the ground, almost making you topple over.

You make a run for it.

—

Inside this newly discovered cave, it’s oddly quiet, the sounds of the raging storm outside not even a ripple in the stillness of a stygian lake.

A small fire crackles, lighting up the inky walls.

It’s… unsettling.

“Is there anyone here?” You ask, with your echo as only answer.

This place… there’s no one in here, and yet, it somehow seems… alive. As if the walls themselves were closing in to listen, to archive your secrets, every move recorded.

You really can’t shake the uneasiness, but you’re exhausted and soaked.

It might be better to try and sleep for a few hours and dry up your clothes.

Shrugging off your mud-stained coat, you lie down, dancing flames reflecting on a polished jet-black ceiling the last thing you see before your lids close.

—

Like the night prior, you awake to heavy silence.

The fire has died out, and faint light comes in from the entrance.

Probably not dawn yet.

Still, it’s never good to linger in one place for too long.

Picking up your dry coat, you get up and step outside.

The storm has ceased, and it’s still night.

Grey moonbeams filter through naked tree branches, their elongated shadows like clawed hands eagerly reaching for you.

The air feels hotter than before and then, you realize how thirsty you are.

Just your luck that your water has run out.

With your eyes peeled, you scan your surroundings for any source of decently clean water.

Then you notice it.

A tree somehow still untouched by this apocalypse.

Apples dangle from its branches, emerald green faded to gold, white blossoms flowering all over it.

You rub your eyes for a moment.

Are you hallucinating?

No, this seems real.

You approach it, cupping your hands under the dripping petals, rainwater pooling on your hands.

However when your lips taste it, it’s sweet.

Too sweet.

Then it hits you.

You set your gaze upwards.

The full moon shines amidst a spotless marine sky.

Well, shine wouldn’t really be appropriate.

It just hangs there… stagnant, lackluster.

Like a dull stone.

No clouds drift overhead.

And yet, not a single constellation can be seen.

No starlight.

This isn't your world anymore.

Just as you realize that, thorny vines wrap around your wrists, the ground between you opening wide as you plummet into total darkness.

—

One second you’re free-falling to your death, and the next you find yourself in a throne room.

Your hands are still tied in those vines.

“Ah… Sorry about that.” A gentle voice greets, from the center of the room.

Soft brown hair peeks from underneath the hooded attire he dons, a curved silvery horn curling upward from one side of his brow. Gloves that only cover three of his fingers reach his forearms.

In one of his hands, he fiddles with something round.

An apple, like the one from the tree you drank from, its colors now looking like venom to you.

The stranger’s eyes are a shade you no longer remember. Like summer evenings, when the sun sent its rays over sandy beaches.

Golden? Was that its name?

Then your gaze focuses on his neck. The same vines that bind your wrists loop around it.

That looks painful.

But is he human?

He looks like a demon. However, his demeanor seems so gentle…

“My name is Ryunosuke, but please call me Ryu.” He introduces himself. “I apologize that this land chooses such… uncomfortable methods to bring down here those who taste its nectar and fruit.”

He snaps his fingers, your wrists finally free from one another, though the thorned bracelets still remain.

Ryunosuke catches your gaze on them.

“Sadly I still really don’t know what to do about those.” He admits, bashfully.

“What is this place?” You ask, your voice hoarse, throat parched.

The demon sighs.

“We call it the Underworld. A place where the sky is fake and no light reaches. It tempts people with what they need most at a given moment, wrapping its vicious thorns around your soul, never setting you free once you’ve had a taste.”

So, this is the place.

Where starlight can’t reach.

And you’ve just bought yourself a one way ticket, with permanent stay included.

Well, at least this demon guy seems friendly enough.

As you stare at him for a moment too long, he already can read the question dancing in your eyes.

“No, once you’ve broken the rules there is no way for you to get out. I’ve been trying for years.” Ryu admits, with a sad smile.

“Fine.” You sigh.

It’s frustrating, even though it’s not like the Overworld was faring much better, all things considered.

“Why don’t you show me around?” You suggest.

His eyes widen in surprise.

“What? If I’m going to have to stay here from now on, I’d like to become familiar with the environment.” You shrug.

Ryunosuke chuckles, you seem to be taking this well. It’s been forever since anyone showed up, and the ones who did long ago were already driven to madness the moment they stepped into this realm.

“Alright.” He smiles.

And when he does, somewhere in your chest, you think you remember the warmth of bygone sunbeams against your back on early autumn afternoons.

—

After some weeks here, you realize this place isn’t so bad.

You have a roof under which to sleep now, food on your plate and considerably nice clothes.

If you had known the price to pay would have been just thorny shackles, you might have done this sooner.

Besides, Ryu is a very nice guy.

And your eyes can’t help but be drawn to his sculpted chest in that outfit of his.

No, wait, you definitely didn’t think that.

He’s just your companion… friend? Roommate?

It’s complicated to pinpoint right now.

However, one thing you’ve been missing from your world are the stars.

On lonely nights, when you felt you were the lone survivor of a land that knew no hope, you had a sea of constellations over you, at least.

If you were really quiet, you could almost hear them whisper, enticing you to wish upon them.

Even if they were faraway, they kept you company.

They gave you courage. Aim.

Something you don’t quite know how to find now while you stare at a concrete moon.

“[Y/n], are you okay?” A voice that’s become familiar and comforting during the last days asks.

You tilt your head to the side, your eyes meeting a golden gaze.

“I’m fine, I just…” You trail off, Ryu’s encouraging smile an indication to go on. “I was just… reminiscing. About the stars. I miss them down here.”

The demon looks into the distance.

“I might have a way to show them to you.” He offers, tone laced with a little uncertainty. “It’s worked before with the moon, the real one… So maybe I can try for you.”

“Wait, for real?” You ask, wide eyes reflecting the nonexistent rays of a faux satellite.

“I will try. You deserve to see the light of a starry night again, [Y/n].” Is the answer he breathes into the fabricated skies.

“Thank you.” You tell Ryu, putting your hand in his, showing him a genuine smile.

How long had it been, since you felt joy like this?

Wrapping you in his cape, Ryunosuke spirits you away to the place where he wants to make the universe’s light happen.

—

When you arrive, a motionless pool lays before you, chandeliers hanging from the small chamber’s walls, mirrored in the still waters.

This place feels warm, summery almost, a contrast to the bleakness you’ve become so used to.

Dipping his fingers into the pond, your companion closes his eyes.

Ripples start to appear on the previously stagnant surface, an ethereal glow emanating from the water.

You hold your breath, your body inclined towards the surface.

There, beneath the small waves, pinpricks start to appear, as the depths of the pool turn to indigo, mimicking what once was the night sky from above.

“Ryu…” You manage to breathe, in awe. “This is… it’s beautiful.”

You dip one of your own fingers into the glowing water. It feels as if you are catching stars in your palms; except they don’t burn you, they warm your heart, like no fire under sunless skies had ever done.

“Yeah, it is.” Comes his reply.

However, he’s not looking at the stars he created.

His gaze is set on the sparkles dancing in your eyes instead.

Ryu summoned a firmament for you, and yet, to him, no star could ever outshine the person standing before him.

Perhaps one day, he’d gather enough courage to tell you that.

Until then, well, he can wish upon the stars.

[nostalgiachan]

This week in Dungeons and Dragons

Iffin you're curious:

So our heroes, Grania Silvereye (dwarf bard of creation), Mirunax (dragonborn oathbreaker paladin), and Fritz Ralmarko (????? undead arcane cleric) were balls deep in an old tomb looking for a farmhand who they'd suspected of either being or being in cahoots with a necromancer. They'd met up with some sort of witch hunter named Renault, and Grania was quickly brought to her wit's end trying to keep that man alive - all of his abilities seemed to involve hacking into himself with his sword, and on top of that, he'd tried to play off being horribly poisoned as no big deal.

Everybody was pretty worn out by the time they found the door to the necromancer's lair proper, and sure enough, the farmhand was there, being at the very least hypnotized. Now Grania had hoped she could diplomance the party's way into an advantageous position, but there was only one problem: they'd already kicked the door in, so it was pretty apparent they'd come looking for a fight. She had a little argument with Mirunax about how to approach the situation, and all it served to do was leave the necromancer mildly confused. Fritz just let it happen, as Fritz tends to do.

And then Renault ran in and the fight began in earnest.

At this point, Grania was tired and deeply grumpy, and that was before the necromancer's pet undead ogre punched out half of her blood because she decided to run up and stab the thing. The fight was rough going for quite a bit as she and Mirunax teamed up against the ogre while Renault and Fritz dealt with the necromancer. As soon as the ogre finally fell, the necromancer decided to hit everyone with a nasty fear spell; Fritz and Mirunax were sent scrambling, while Renault and Grania were fine.

So Grania was deeply wounded, she was totally out of spell slots, Renault was about to die from a combination of self-inflicted blood loss and getting his veins exploded with Blight, and Mirunax and Fritz were being assaulted with images. At this point, she was blindingly angry in that special way that only dwarves can be. Thus, she hauled ass across the room as fast as her legs could take her, stabbed the necromancer right in the chest with her rapier, and thanks to giving herself Bardic Inspiration, she blasted him off the edge of the sword with thunder damage, caving in his chest and finally killing him.

And the day was saved. Renault lived to hack himself to bits another day, the party dragged the farmhand to face justice because he definitely in cahoots with the necromancer, and now they're back on the road to Zadash.