#attempting a multi-chapter fic!!!

[a-writing-otter]

Chapters: 1/12 Fandom: Gravity Falls, The Book of Bill (Gravity Falls) - Fandom Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Bill Cipher/Ford Pines Characters: Bill Cipher, Ford Pines, Wendy Corduroy, Dipper Pines, Mabel Pines, Original Characters, Stan Pines, Jesus "Soos" Alzamirano Ramirez, Melody (Gravity Falls) Additional Tags: Handyman Bill Cipher, Post-Book: The Book of Bill (Gravity Falls), Temporarily Human Bill Cipher Summary:

Things are complicated in Bill’s life as it is now that he’s in a human body on glorified house arrest while doing community service as the new handyman for the Mystery Shack, what he doesn’t need it a situationship-turned-maybe-just-ship with Ford Pines.

…maybe he shouldn’t seek it out either, but that’s besides the point. He’s got one goal and that’s to get back in his body, get his powers back, and far away from this rock.

So, when salvation comes in the form of a former fling spinning plans about how to get his revenge and eat it, too, Bill’s all too eager to listen. It’s not like he cares about these people, this place, or anything else here. He’s got plans, big plans, and there’s nothing that can stop him, not even these squishy, human emotions he’s starting to feel.

[stormz369]

☕💖 Can I Get Your Number? ☕💖 Ch. 2

Jason Todd x Chubby! Reader (fem)

A/N: Wow, I was not expecting that kind of reaction! Thank you to everyone who's interacted with chapter 1; I've had a rough week and you all made my day! I wasn't planning on posting chapter 2 until I was a bit further along with ch 3, but I just can't find it in me to say no to ya'll!

Chapter Selection

written with a female reader in mind, first person pov, no use of Y/N, hurt (no comfort) (yet), will probably get NSFW later, let me know if there's anything else I should tag this with!

warnings (chapter specific): chapter includes a brief scene of attempted assault (which will be labeled for those who'd rather skip it) angst, gun violence, some negative self-talk

words: 1.8k

Jason's first call came at exactly 2:05pm the next day. When I picked up I was immediately greeted by his voice seemingly from the other side of a very large room; “seriously, guys! I'll call, I'll call!”

“Too late!” Dick shouted, clearly holding the phone. “Hello! This is Dick, calling on behalf of my idiot brother, Jason! We met at the cafe yesterday?”

I could hear Jason shouting at someone, but it was muffled like he was under something. “Right … So are you going to put Jason on, or…?”

“Well, Jaybird is under the impression that calling a girl the next day is ‘desperate’ and ‘off-putting’, so we've taken up a poll at the house, and surprise surprise; we need a tiebreaker. Your thoughts?”

Before I could respond I heard muffled grunting; someone in the background shouted “no! Get him!” which was immediately followed by a yelp from Dick as Jason growled a bit;

“Give me that!” A door slammed, and all the other voices were gone, replaced by Jason's gentle, almost shy voice; “... Um … hi … still think this is normal sibling behavior?”

I giggled; “... Starting to veer away from normal now. But it's sweet, they obviously really care about you. And for the record - you can call the poll on the side of ‘it’s not desperate or off-putting'; I gave you my phone number, surely I expected you to use it, right?”

“... O- oh, yeah I guess that makes sense … So yeah, I'm using it. … Hi.”

“Hi~”

After that, I spoke to Jason in some capacity or another most every day. Turned out he was a night owl too. Apparently he worked most nights, so, after I assured him that a text wouldn't wake me, he started preemptively sending me a good morning text around 3 or 4am, so it was the first thing I saw when I woke up.

I loved how he could go off on an impassioned tangent; getting him all worked up over literature was especially cute. He did have a tendency to backpedal after a particularly passionate rant, no matter how many times I pointed out that I liked hearing him so excited. We also kept trying to arrange a day to get together, preferably without his brothers hovering this time, but his work schedule was so hectic that we kept having to postpone.

It seemed a bit unlikely, but I started to wonder if I had been right in the first place; that it was all some really elaborate prank. It certainly wouldn't be the first time an attractive man had played with my heart like that, though it would be the first time one had bought me anything before pulling the rug out from under me… 

Nearly a month into our texting relationship, Jason went radio silent for several days. No warning, just gone. I didn't want to be clingy, but I was a bit worried. He had been so attentive until this, what if something was wrong and I was out here thinking the worst about him?

On day 5 without a response I picked up a late shift at work, hoping to distract myself from the whole thing. It didn't work though, and I ended up trudging home at 2am blasting loud, angry music through my headphones. I was frustrated, and confused, and careless. I didn't notice the man behind me until his hand was around my wrist.

 ❌❌❌ -skip point- ❌❌❌

The world moved in slow motion as I was pulled into the alley. The man's mouth was moving, but I just heard a staticy ring. I tasted copper, and everything was too dark. Things didn't snap back into focus until I felt the rough brick slam against my back and I screamed, shoving against him.

All at once, everything was moving too fast; he was grabbing, I was punching and kicking, my voice was cracking. A second felt like an eternity, I couldn't even hazard a guess how long the fight actually took. But all at once it ended; with a loud, sharp sound that left me frozen in place and my ears ringing, the man collapsed in front of me. Red bloomed across his unmoving chest, and all I could do was stare.

❌❌❌ -end skip point- ❌❌❌

Large, leather clad hands gently touched my shoulders, bringing me back into my body. I slowly looked up, blinking. I immediately recognized the masked man who had come to my aid; Red Hood had made quite the name for himself in his time as a mob boss. I heard something droning on, but couldn't focus on any specific details over the sound of my own heartbeat still pounding in my ears. It took him gingerly sliding my headphones off for me to realize the noise I was hearing was just the next song on my angry playlist.

“Miss? Can you hear me now?” there was an electric quality to his voice. I vaguely wondered why more Masks didn't use voice modulators; it seemed more practical than the standard vigilante eye coverings… 

I slowly nodded. “... Y- … yeah?”

The red helmet nodded once, “did he hurt you?”

I looked down at myself, frowning a bit. My shirt was grimed up from the struggle, and I could feel the cold night air on the back of my thighs; my pants had ripped when I tried to kick the man off me. A shaky breath turned into a sob as I gasped, looking up again.

A million thoughts ran through my head at once. I wanted to scream, to curse, anything! But all I managed was a whimpered; “... Th- these were my favorite pants …”

“... Well, your boyfriend will just have to get you a new pair. Let … let me get you home, yeah?” I flinched as he reached toward me again, a gloved finger gently wiping away my tears. He offered me his hand, easing me out of the alley like a frightened stray cat.

I followed without complaint, turning my music off. “... No boyfriend …”

“A friend then? Someone who'll take care of you.” Red Hood led me to a motorcycle. He unzipped a bag on the back, and held out a red flannel shirt.

A watery giggle slipped out of my mouth and I shakily took it, tying it around my waist. “... I don't even know anymore…” 

“Don't know?”

“Well, I was talking to a guy, but … I think he ghosted me.”

“No!” I jumped at the sudden volume and insistent tone, looking up at him awkwardly.

“... No?”

“I … I just mean … a pretty girl like you's not gonna get ghosted. If he hasn't texted back in a few days there's gotta be a reason.”

I looked away, squirming awkwardly. Did an ex-crime lord turned vigilante really just call me pretty? “... Y- … I … what?”

He was silent for a long moment. I got the distinct impression that he was staring at me, but with the helmet on it was hard to tell. “... We should get you home.”

Next thing I knew, I was holding Red Hood's helmet. I hesitantly looked up as he turned, catching just a glimpse of one of those domino masks the other local vigilantes wore. He moved his bag and swung one leg over the seat of his bike, turning back to stare at me expectantly. The prospect of letting the Red Hood know where I lived didn't seem like the smartest idea, but I was definitely not going to walk home alone after all that. So I slid the helmet on and carefully climbed behind him, placing my feet where he indicated. As I arranged the flannel between my bare thighs and the seat it occurred to me how unexpectedly kind it was of him to offer it. I knew he had been spotted working with the Bats lately, but just because they had accepted him didn’t mean he was a boy scout all of a sudden...

Of course, now that I was on his bike I was faced with the rather pressing concern of where to put my hands. I didn’t exactly have handle bars, and I doubted he was going to drive slow enough that I could stay upright; I would have to lean against him. I took a deep, steadying breath, and placed my hands on his shoulders. Hood froze a bit, and after a moment he reached behind himself to grasp my elbows. He gently pulled me to wrap my arms around his waist.

 “It's actually safest this way. Interlock your fingers, and lean with me on turns.” His voice was so much nicer without the helmet distorting it, even if he was doing a truly terrible Batman impression. 

“... O- ok…” I clung to him, feeling my entire body heat up. I wasn't sure how much of that was because I was blushing and how much was because the Red Hood was apparently a living space heater, but either way I was glad he couldn't see my face. I told him how to get to my apartment, and we sped off.

The roar of the engine and the wind whipping past mercifully drowned out anything we could have hoped to say to each other. I shut my eyes just for a moment, trying not to cry again, and suddenly Hood’s hand was trapping mine against his stomach. “... Hey, this it?”

I jolted slightly, looking up at the familiar building. I nodded, slowly extracted myself from his grip, and slid back onto solid ground. He held a hand up to stop me as I started to remove the borrowed flannel.

“Keep it.”

I blinked slowly, having trouble processing what he said. “... But … it’s your shirt … how will I give it back to you?”

He chuckled softly; “it’s just a shirt.”

I didn’t have the energy to argue the matter any further. I slipped his helmet off, holding it out to him.

“Thank you … I can't believe I let this happen…”

He frowned deeply at that, and his voice shifted a bit from a fake-Batman voice into an actually deep, grumpy tone; “you didn't let anything happen.”

“I'm usually so much more observant, if I had just been paying attention…”

“He would have changed tactics. You did nothing wrong. I don't want you thinking otherwise, got it?”

I sniffled softly, looking down at my shoes. “... I … God, I didn't even have my keys in my hand… I was taught better…”

“And I was taught not to kill. Shit happens.”

I blinked a bit, unable to stop the laugh that bubbled up. “… I … I guess so. … Th- Thank you … for everything.”

He nodded once before putting his helmet back on. Before I could step away, he reached out to touch my hand again. “Hey. You did everything right, ok? You drew attention, and you kept him off until I got there. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Got it?”

I nodded slowly, stepping back a bit. “… ok.”

“Good. Now, get inside.” He waited there, watching me. Only after the building's front door was closed and locked did I hear his motorcycle speed away.

Next ->

Divider by: @saradika

Taglist: @jawdropforkpop

(If you would like to be added to the taglist feel free to let me know!)

[hopelessfandomfreak]

what if….I were to write a multi chapter agathario fic….and actually see it through??

[mechazushi]

Kafka Hibino

Kafka Hibino.... with visible salt and pepper side burns.

Kafka Hibino.... wearing glasses and has salt and pepper side burns.

Kafka HIbino.... in that black turtleneck and a dark brown leather jacket and also wearing glasses and has salt and pepper side burns.

Kafka Hibino.... wearing that outfit and is an Animal Biology Professor in an College Au.

Kafka Hibino..... asking out Hoshina who is an Advanced Mathematics Professor working at the same college, to have an after-work drink with him.

Slightly DRUNK Kafka Hibino... becoming very forward with an also slightly drunk Hoshina

Slightly Drunk Hoshina... immediately matching Kafka's freak tenfold and Kafka is very much fine with this.

[lilacxquartz]

Don't Make Me Feel Alive I Chapter 4

kenjaku x f!reader

plot: diagnosed at an early age with an illness that slowly deteriorated your body; you went from being a promising sorcerer to a retired husk of your once former self until he found you, offering you an opportunity to live instead—not that you had a choice to refuse.

chapter summary: your bond with him thickens but there’s still a lot to uncover. meanwhile, kenjaku plots something a bit different than what you agreed to.

< Previous Chapter • Next Chapter >

4. Bonding

You tried to understand why he was so beaming despite how he treated you the day before, but with little avail.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” you warily asked.

“Oh,” he seemed to be caught off guard that you caught him but recovered nearly instantly, “I decided on something.”

“On what?” you asked.

He glanced down at you with his expression suddenly cold, before returning to an unreadable smile, “You’ll see.”

After that strangely cold interaction with him last night and after such a strange morning, such behaviour seemed to never repeat ever again. Even when the continued practice of the technique seemed to wreck its toll on the energy output and even when such drainage sent you off to an early night—he never once repeated such coldness with you again.

As a result, you decided that it was best to not dwell on it again because it didn’t make sense for you to be upset over such trivial things. The agreement was to help him out as he figured a way out to help you live, that was it, so as long as he remained conditional to his promise, you decided that how he treated you in the end didn’t really matter.

However, as the days continued to pass you by and you invested more time into researching ways into improving both energy input and output, you couldn’t help but feel more and more curious about what your involvement actually was here.

“No seriously, what am I helping you with?” You asked once more, having done so just a moment ago. You felt frustrated, finding that you didn’t quite like how he ignored you the first time.

Kenjaku in the meanwhile resisted spilling you the full truth, biting onto his tongue as he held back a smile, “As I already told you, you’re going to fight.”

Oh, how he wanted to spill it all, but he knew better than to tell you the full truth. It was already a miracle that you were fighting someone from your side; rather, that you switched sides immediately in exchange for life.

Mortality was so easy to play around with.

“Who?” you persisted.

“That’ll depend when the time finally comes,” he replied, leaving more questions than answers.

You sighed in response, finding yourself growing increasingly frustrated as he purposefully kept you in the dark, “What time, though?”

“You’ll know when I tell you,” he simply replied as his eyes squeezed with his smile, pointing straight down at you.

“But-”

“—Don’t worry about it,” he dismissed, leaving you utterly frustrated.

Despite finding your frustrations amusing, he did have his reasons for keeping you in the dark about his plans that went beyond just losing your willing participation, even if he could force your hand. There was the experiment he was running on the cursed tool for one and he didn’t want to feed into unnecessary stress that could likely deal more strain for the battery.

At least for now, he wanted to keep the drainage minimal which is why he excluded you from strenuous activities while assisting you with the tedious ones; such practice that he dubbed training, even if it was just helping your body to relearn eating independently, to utilise cutlery efficiently again, to aiding you in walking and even to helping strengthen your mind through reading and puzzles.

Even if you didn’t realise it, all of these tasks helped you gradually decrease energy consumption. Just like he planned initially.

As he noted earlier on before too, the company that you offered him wasn’t half bad, so he didn’t actually mind assisting you during such tasks, no matter how pointless or boring they seemed to either of you. Moreover, he introduced you to the concept of helping him with his own work, such as aiding him with the more tedious aspects of his planning.

However, despite giving you such independence, he still kept you relatively closeby, just in case another hiccup resurfaced.

“Hold still for a moment,” he instructed, taking the pendant slightly away from your chest but within reasonable reach so that you wouldn’t drop dead, tinkering around with it as you patiently waited. Cursed tool manipulation wasn’t an easy task, but his intentions were to maximise the efficiency of the item so that’s what he did.

However, as he placed the amulet back against your chest, something then went strangely wrong. He did his best to observe your reaction carefully, understanding that perhaps too much energy cast upon a body unused to it was overwhelming on your being.

As a result, your body began to feel off and suddenly you felt terribly dizzy. Again. In a different way though.

It was beginning to get a little tiring, he thought.

Standing up to try and determine what was going wrong, you accidentally ended up plummeting more energy, causing your body to take a heavy hit. Something about it made you feel similar to how you felt on the deathbed just before you met him; something sinister lurking within your instincts and pulling—dragging you off to a place you shouldn’t explore.

You gulped as the pendant waned and the glow subsided as though there was nothing left to keep it fired up and running anymore.

It was then that you felt stiff as your body fell, a dull thud drumming against the floorboards—the wood failing to echo the hit. You felt strangely cold as the feeling persisted; a sensation of pure dread enveloping your senses, anchoring you down into an early demise.

Kenjaku initially reacted slowly, incorrectly thinking that you would recover just like the previous times before. However, as you remained limp and your body grew colder, he froze in place as he realised you were on the verge of something irreversible.

His project had been going so well yet suddenly, it showed signs of failure.

“Hey, wait,” he backtracked, feeling caught off guard due to its sudden failure, unable to mask it so well this time. He was simply just surprised though, not panicked. He mostly just didn’t understand what went wrong.

He didn’t want for something that he had already invested so much time into dying off so early on, especially before your full potential could shine.

Thinking quickly, he transfused some of his own energy into the pendant while extracting the excess energy from your body. It was a slow, intricate and daunting process, however it seemed to be working as your body soon stabilised—your breathing returning back to normal and your flesh once again saturated to its usual complexion.

You later woke up feeling much worse from before though, wondering exactly what had just happened as soon as you sat back up.

“What was that…?” you groaned, your mind begging for answers.

As usual, Kenjaku continued to keep you in the dark yet again as he withheld answers.

He smiled, pushing you gently back down into bed, “don’t worry your pretty little head, I won’t try it again,” his fingertips stifling your lips, “get some rest instead.”

“But-” you let slip.

“—You’re alive, aren’t you?” he stifled, his eyes once again devoid of any emotion, he wasn’t going to answer a single thing.

Too tired to protest, you hesitantly nodded off as your body continued to nod off into a deeper sleep, your body feeling oddly heavy as you succumbed to a weary state.

Kenjaku then sighed a deep breath the second that you did so, continuing to remain locked in place as you slept, slowly inching closer to keep a watchful eye as you did so. Just like always, it was just in case something went wrong.

He sighed again as the familiar emotion resurfaced from before but in a different form, finding that he didn’t like how it made him feel. Eventually though, he too grew tired as his eyelids drooped, unintentionally leaning against the bed as his body yearned for some shut eye. It was then that he decided that it didn’t hurt to even share the same bed, just to monitor you and your sleeping habits if so.

But in doing just that, he secretly felt some form of relief as your safety was now secured, however finding that this might have been too just a little too close for him to be.

Something troubled him as he considered it all, determining that he had to be more careful with his experiments, hoping for some reason in particular that this couldn’t happen again.

That’s why he considered something new—something he wouldn’t usually do.

His mind internally conflicted, trying to convince himself that he shouldn’t risk it.

After all, you weren’t that special to begin with.

(Or were you?)

~~~

Your recovery was slower this time as it took a couple of days to get you going again.

As you figured out how to get back to right where you were before, you adopted a streak of independence in doing so and usually when dabbling in technique mastery, Kenjaku would often detach from someone who was getting the hang of it, letting them find their own way—but he couldn’t quite do so with you.

Finding that in fact, he didn’t like it at all.

And as he watched you slowly recover and train yourself without him, he didn’t feel a single shred of relief or pride for any longer, as it turned out.

Instead, deciding that since you were his project, that he didn’t trust you to seldom practise anymore. Finding that while it must have seemed irrational, that he preferred it when you were much more dependent on him instead—enjoying your company much more when you seemed to be unable to even function without him.

For some reason finding that it actually made him feel more attached to you.

Not that he could fathom why.

And as he continued to tinker around with the pendant yet again, you didn’t suspect a single thing when he changed something rather drastic in its function. Nor as his tone of voice grew slightly unstable.

“The battery is on standby unless I activate it with a condition now,” Kenjaku said as he offered an unsettling grin, the direction of his change feeling off as though he wasn’t actually addressing you.

“Why though…?” you asked, confused by the sudden change.

He then redirected his sights to meet with yours, leaning in a little closer with his smile falling flat as he did so, “Do you really think I’d trust you to do things like that alone?” He asked, his stare intensifying, “You’re already a lot to work with, you know.”

“But, I really don’t like that,” you chose to protest instead.

However, he didn’t really care about what you liked, only about what he preferred. Yet rather than arguing with you back and forth and getting nowhere, he instead tried to manipulate you that this change was for your own good—your freedom be damned as long as you remained docile and dependent on him, a feeling he unashamedly wanted more of.

“Just think,” he said as he leaned closer, “I can keep you safe from yourself forever,” his breath hot against your temples as he leaned in, “isn’t that so much better?”

Feeling cornered and distressed, you didn’t want to continue this strained dynamic, realising that you were no longer content with helping him out if all he was going to do was to keep you so restricted.

You knew that you were getting into something weird, but you didn’t quite realise the extent of his true intentions until now when he kept pushing nonsensical change after change upon someone he seemed willing.

As a result, you then pushed him aside.

He let you do so though as his lips formed into slightly curved lines—slowly rising to his feet and following you closely behind as you tried to leave the room. Just as you tried to take your chances with leaving through the front door however, he deactivated the pendant to minimal output, prompting you to be hit with a wave of exhaustion instead.

He then grabbed your wrist as you succumbed to the sudden hit of tiredness, leading you back into the room and locking both the door and the window on his way out, leaving you alone for the remainder of the night.

The energetic feeling from before returned.

Perhaps he would talk you into a binding vow, after all.

Maybe you were that special to keep around.

[shu-box-puns]

You wanna be one of them (Tsu’tey x Reader) Act 2

Previous chapter <-- Act 2 --> Next Chapter

If you prefer to read on Ao3, you can find the fic here!

Word Count: 8243

Summary: In which Tsu’tey has his love crisis.

Reader uses they/them pronouns.

Tsu’tey was in love with an idiot, and they were going to kill him of a heart attack before he even got around to telling them. 

No sane person would throw themselves into the path of an angry palulukan for an even bigger idiot. Perhaps it was a Sky Person quality, since Jake tended to make the same reckless decisions. Or perhaps he was just attracted to stupid. And frustratingly enough, he couldn’t find it in himself to be pissed or upset about it. 

His pa’li rode near the rear of the herd, expression set in a fowl scowl as he watched the pair of idiots in question keeping their heads down. Neytiri hadn’t needed to speak a word for him to fall into the back, content to keep his eye on the dreamwalkers whilst watching everyone’s backs. It was soothing to have everyone in sight where he knew they were safe and accounted for as it allowed him a chance to relax. 

A protective quality which had helped Mo’at and Eytukan pick him out as the next Olo’eyktan. A position he had been trained his entire life for. Even when Sylwanin died, he was still set to become the leader, only to take Neytiri instead. What would the people think of their future Olo’eyktan taking a sky person for a mate?

His face morphed into an expression of horror, his pa’li snorting uncertainty at the sharp twist of guilt and anxiety that knotted his stomach.

What about Neytiri? 

He looked to her now, sitting proudly astride her mount, bow in her lap, ready to jump in at a moment’s notice or at the slightest rustle of leaves. 

Sure he only loved her as a sister, and their courtship was heavily because of their duty to the clan, but he couldn’t in good conscience mate with her when his heart clearly belonged to another.

These thoughts plagued his mind as the group of four trudged back to HomeTree empty handed. They dismounted in silence near the river, releasing the pa’li from their bridles to wander until they were required again. 

Tsu’tey bowed his head respectfully to Neytiri as she grabbed Jake’s arm and began dragging the man away. He attempted to protest, calling out to Y/n in his alien language to which the hunter simply grinned and waved. Tsu’tey felt a flare of affection erupt across his chest at the easy slant of the avatar’s shoulders. How their tail swayed so cutely in the face of Jake’s middle finger.

They turned, pausing as their eyes caught on Tsu’tey. <”I didn’t know you could smile.”> They stated bluntly, making Tsu’tey’s private grin morph into yet another scowl before he swatted at them.

<”Go and be useful.”> He snapped instead of responding with a quip, pushing them towards HomeTree with his bow. 

They rolled their eyes, grabbing onto the shaft of his bow and dragging him with them. He allowed the casual touch, relieved that he would not have to find an excuse to keep them in his sights. With luck, his presence would deter them from doing anything fatal.

The evening continued like that. With Y/n carrying out tasks that other clan members asked of them, and Tsu’tey hovering nearby. Sometimes the na’vi they were talking to would take pity on him and assign him a similar job so he wasn’t sitting around uselessly. And other times, Y/n would find ways to divide up the simple chore so he could help out. 

It was sickeningly domestic and easy. The repetitive nature of their tasks and the soft din of the clan grew steadily louder as the hunting parties and the foragers returned from the forest, lulling Tsu’tey into a calmer mindset. 

Crouched before the fire with Y/n’s thigh pressed against his own, whilst the pair descaled fish, he could almost forget about the day's events. His eyes falling to half-mast as he lost himself in the repetitive motions of sliding his blade through flesh, skillfully removing bones as he went. 

<”Careful.”> Said the gleeful voice of the idiot beside him. <”If you get any more relaxed, you’re going to start purring.”>

<”You missed a strip of scales.”> Tsu’tey returned easily, making an effort to wake himself up.

Y/n hummed. <”So, why are you hovering again?”>

<”It’s the only way I can ensure you stay alive.”> 

<”Hey, I am not that bad.”>

<”I looked away for a couple of breaths, and you decided the best way to deal with that situation was jump /towards/ the dangerous predator.”> He stopped the motion of his knife to turn and catch their gaze. <”So yes, you /are/ that bad.”>

He kept plucking out bones, ears lying flat in embarrassment. It was not often he was so easily read. 

<”It worked didn’t it.”>

Y/n fell still. <”You’re genuinely upset about this.”> An observation. It was true but it made Tsu’tey feel surprisingly raw. He kept his head bent, refusing to meet their gaze. The teasing note in their voice had evaporated with the sentence. <”Tsu’tey, I’m fine.”> They said softly, a five fingered hand gripping his knee and squeezing.

Y/n huffed, their hand disappearing from his knee, and he assumed they would leave him be. 

Instead, they reached for his wrists, gently lowering the fish and knife to the pile he was crouched before. They take hold of the hand not covered in blood and guts, their expression open. Almost kind. Tsu’tey tore his gaze from that look, knowing there was a very real danger that he would start purring if they kept looking at him like that. 

<”It’s like you’ve learnt nothing. As if my teachings did not stick around in that thick skull.”>

Thankfully, the avatar remained oblivious as they took his hand and placed it - palm flat - against their chest. Tsu’tey eyebrows furrowed, confused until he felt the steady thump of their heart beneath his touch. <”That cat didn’t even hit me.”> They reassured him, unknowingly loosening something that had wound the hunter up tight

>_<

Neytiri found him in the roost tending to his ikran after the avatars had disconnected in their hammocks, and the clan had dispersed after dinner. 

She approached him as he scrubbed at a stubborn mud stain on his Mount's neck, lips pursed as he scowled up at the patch of dirt.

With a light touch to his shoulder, she effortlessly captured his attention, her voice firm as she stated simply, <”we need to talk.”>

Tsu’tey nodded, stepping away from his ikran to give her his full attention. 

Neytiri swallowed, seeming to gather all of her courage before speaking again. <“I wish to mate with Jake, once he has completed his training.”> For a moment there was silence. Besides the pair of them and the ikran, there was no one else in the roost. A fact Tsu’tey was eternally grateful for as his shoulder slumped and his heart suddenly unclenched. The relief that flooded him made him lightheaded. 

Neytiri studied his reaction carefully, as if expecting yelling or some form of reprimand. It took everything in Tsu’tey not to sweep her up into a hug.

<”I want to start courting Y/n.”> He replied with, instead of voicing any of those thoughts. 

Neytiri relaxed, smiling knowingly. <”I’m surprised you didn’t withdraw from our arrangement when they became Omaticayan.”>

<”It was too complicated.”> Between his duty to the clan and Neytiri, to the uneasiness of the people accepting a Sky Person into their midst. Although they had thoroughly proved themselves during their training and the months afterwards, it had taken the People time to truly accept Y/n as one of their own. When it came down to it, few still doubted they would stand with the clan if the Sky People declared war.

<”What changed?”> Neytiri asked easily. 

Tsu’tey waved her off, feeling like the question was too personal. He didn’t even know. One moment he was joking and hunting with his friend, and the next he was scrambling to grab that same idiot as they fearlessly launched themselves at a superior predator. Watching them literally slip through his fingers, and feeling his entire body wash with horror so intense he’d never felt anything like it before.

It was that day in the forest all over again. A wounded avatar, fearlessly throwing themselves at him in self-defence, and all his brain could think was ‘strong.’ Tsu’tey always knew he’d been attracted to strength, someone to stand beside him instead of behind. Someone he could rely on when he himself faltered, on the battlefield and off of it. 

<”Jake scares me with how reckless he can be.”> Neytiri admitted, pulling him from his musing. <”But he’s got a strong heart. He feels right.”>

Tsu’tey nodded along, amused by the far away look in her eye as she spoke of the man.

Decision made, Tsu’tey straightened, his strides were even, more confident than he felt as he approached his intended. She turned to him as he neared, her expression knowing as she held herself proudly, shoulders squared and her chin up. Absently, Tsu’tey admired her for her courage, for knowing what she didn’t want and being fearless in letting it go. In letting him go.

They would have to tell the Olo’eyktan and Tsahik later so the rest of the clan could be notified and decisions could be made for the future, but for now, it was just them.

With an air of finality, Tsu’tey placed his hands on Neytiri’s shoulders, her gaze locked on his, a mutual understanding passing between them. <”I, Tsu’tey te Rongloa Ateyitan, release you, Neytiri te Tskaha Mo’at’ite, of your oath to me.”> There was no dramatic shift in how he felt for her, but there was a relief of pressure from his shoulders.

Neytiri bowed her head. His hands dropped from her shoulders, and she mirrored his earlier stance, hands squeezing his shoulders as she inhaled a steadying breath. <”And I, Neytiri te Tskaha Mo’at’ite, release you, Tsu’tey te Rogloa Ateyitan, of your oath to me.”> 

And just like that, they were free. 

>_<

Unlinking was disorientating. The process took seconds. A single blink. And then you were transported to a new world. Your senses were dull compared to that of your avatar. The sounds of the machinery muted compared to the clear sounds of the forest.

The pocket compound was a quiet hum compared to the din of the main chamber during the evening meal. The smells were off. The pleasant hints of vegetation and chilled wind replaced by sterile halls and metal. 

Hauling yourself up and out of your link unit with a groan, you felt your shirt stick to your back, your head throbbing unpleasantly from long hours spent doing nothing.

You moved towards your desk before venturing into the next room, the whirr of Jake’s link unit providing some white noise. Pulling out a spare deodorant from one of the drawers, you found your gaze drifting to the stars peering in through the window. Pandora was gorgeous at night, although the soft glow of the forest was muted from this distance as well as the light pollution from the light behind you. 

You had only been gone moments, but you already missed it.

Forcing your gaze away, you screwed the lid back on the small tub, metaphorically doing the same to the mounting sense of yearning that was making your chest ache. Shoving the deodorant back into the drawer, you swiftly turned on your feet.

Grace and Norm were rustling around in the kitchen, the whirr of the microwave suggesting it was about dinner time. You noted Norm loitering by the stove, peering into the small machine with a bored expression. Dreading the tasteless meal to come, you flopped heavily into a vacant chair at the table, exhaustion making you groan.

“Long day?” Grace asked without looking up from her notes. She had taken over most of the table with her laptop and numerous stacks of papers.

“Again?” You parroted and Norm snorted from behind you. Turning to him, you repeated the question. “What do you mean again?” He waved you off as if it was too long winded a story to repeat. 

“Jake almost got killed by a thanator.”

Down the hallway the creak of wheels indicated Jake’s approach towards the kitchen. “What is it with that man and stupid decisions?” 

Norm simply shrugged, whilst Grace chuckled from across the table. “As if you’re any better Y/n.” She mused, snatching up a file from the stack to her right before carefully typing out the contents on her laptop. “On your first day you got separated from your team. Were lost in the forest for hours. Managed to get wounded AND fall out of a tree, almost killing Tsu’tey by flattening him, all before you took out a knife to finish him off.”

“Again?” She replied, not bothering to look up from her work.

Leaned up against the stove, Norm had gone very still, whilst your face had split into a reluctant grin at the recollection of the hunter’s face when you’d whipped out that utility knife and tried to stab him. He’d easily caught your wrist and disarmed you, all whilst looking mildly peeved at the whole interaction.

“Am I hearing this right? You tried to kill Tsu’tey on your first day?” Jake laughed as he glided into the room.

“In my defence, I thought he was gonna /kill/ me.”

“And yet here you are, playing best friends and threatening to braid each other’s hair.”

“Y/n has always been a charmer when they wanted to be.” Grace agreed, reaching over to mess up your hair whilst you shoved at her hands. She laughed at your childish squirming before retreating back behind her computer screen. “They and the future Olo’eyktan have been chasing each other’s tails ever since.” 

“With what evidence?” You deflected.

You groaned loudly, kicking her under the table. “Can you drop that already?”

“You’re not dead for one.” Norm interjected.

“You haven’t been there, you get no opinion Spellman.” You dismissed without missing a beat, to which Jake immediately took up the challenge instead. 

Grace kicked you back twice as hard. “It’s hard to when the evidence is staring me right in the face.” She replied easily, “you’re so infatuated it’s disgusting.”

“He spends practically all day with you.” Jake added.

“We work well as a team.” 

Grace tuts. “I never took you as someone afraid of love, Y/n.”

Jake just shook his head before continuing on. “And he was waiting for you to turn up earlier. AND, he practically chewed you out for throwing yourself at the thanator earlier.”

“He did, until I saved his idiot ass. But that’s besides the point, Omaticaya do not mate with outsiders, looking at you in particular Jake. Neytiri already has commitments. And that’s not including the fact that we’re not here for the long-term. It would just end up hurting everyone involved.” You retorted, pulling the conversation back to an area you could control.

You scowled, “I’m not afraid.” 

Grace hummed, not looking convinced or agreeing with you. “But you’re right, all jokes aside, we are not of their world.”

Grace butting back into the conversation at that. “I thought you said Jake almost got killed.”

Your heart clenched despite knowing it was the truth. Despite repeating it to yourself everyday since you’d fallen for that gruff voice and scowling face. 

Even in the privacy of your own thoughts, it was hard to admit that you loved him. That you wanted that deep connection with him. To mate with the man you had chosen and spend forever with him. Because even in your thoughts, you knew it was something unattainable. You knew you’d always have one foot in either world; looking in but never around.

>_<

Mo’at and Eytukan had taken the news of Tsu’tey and Neytiri’s broken engagement reasonably well. With the Olo’eyktan storming off for several hours and leaving the young pair sweating bullets, whilst the Tsahik took one long look at her daughter and came to a fast conclusion. 

Which led to him and Neytiri crouching around a low burning fire in the main chamber, each attempting to create their courting gifts. The dawn was still young, with the hunting parties having left already, but Neytiri had already given up on her courting project. 

<”Thank you for being honest.”> The woman stated bluntly, addressing both of them before turning her attention to her daughter. <”I will speak with your father.”> Then she swung her gaze around to Tsu’tey. <”We will have to discuss whether you will proceed as Olo’eyktan or Neytiri’s mate will take up the position instead.”>

She was being frustratingly unhelpful, as per usual, as she excitedly told Tsu’tey all about her evening with Jake. They had progressed surprisingly far into their courtship in such a short span of time, with Jake allowing Neytiri to braid his hair the night before. The man was currently parading the new look around the clan, following Y/n around like a lost puppy. 

Tsu’tey tried not to scowl at his turned back. Instead focusing on carving an accurate atokirina into the hilt of the knife in his hands. He’d discovered the palulukan tooth not far from HomeTree and had brought it home to sharpen and attach to a hilt of his making. It was almost finished, and only required the last few decorative carvings to the hilt before he could present it - and his heart - to the subject of his affections.

Across the flames, Neytiri’s face visibly lit up, her posture straightening as Jake rounded the firepit to take the vacant spot at her side. Tsu’tey watched with an amused smile as the man sat down a respectful distance from the woman, only for Neytiri to purposefully shift herself into his side. Jake visibly stiffened, eyes boring into the flames as he avoided Neytiri’s fierce gaze. It was amusing to watch him suffer, whilst Neytiri grinned evilly, her tail thumping in silent victory. 

Although internally Tsu’tey was raging at the idea of Jake taking his lifelong position, he managed to bite his tongue and nod his understanding. 

She thumbed one of the beads woven into a front braid of Jake’s hair, the motion full of love that made Tsu’tey’s stomach twist, whilst Jake flushed a bright purple.

A hand on Tsu’tey’s shoulder brought his attention away from the couple, instead allowing him to focus on Y/n who had dropped into an easy crouch at his side. Their gaze had immediately fallen to the knife, eyes wide in interest. Tsu’tey tried not to preen too hard at the blatant show of intrigue. 

He made no move to conceal his work. Privately, Tsu’tey had always disagreed with the idea of secrecy within the courtship process. Why work for hours on a present his intended might not even like? He might as well ask their opinion as he went and ensure they loved it. 

He allowed their curious gaze to linger for a while, content to entertain them whilst he worked. 

<”How tall are you in your demon body?”> He found himself blurting when the half formed thought of creating them a necklace for their second gift came to mind. Beside him, Y/n had gone stock still, their hand freezing on his shoulder, but Tsu’tey couldn’t say he wanted to take it back. If he was going to do this, he was going to commit all the way. Avatar and Sky Person alike. And for that to work, he needed to create twice the amount of gifts, or at least, that’s what he assumed.

When the time came and he did gain the privilege of meeting Y/n in their natural body, he wanted to have a piece of himself already there. A necklace made by his hand would work perfectly. Small enough to remain out of the way, but obvious so as to tell others that they were already involved with someone. 

<”What?”> Y/n finally choked out, whilst Jake had gone very still across the fire. 

Tsu’tey shot him a warning look. Injecting the expression with enough venom to silently reassure him that he would retaliate if he got involved. 

<”Human?”> The word felt weird rolling off his tongue. 

<”Your demon body.”> Tsu’tey repeated, looking up to find an unnaturally neutral expression plaguing Y/n’s face. Their eyes searched his, looking for the joke, or worse, a trap. <”The one you disappear to when you close your eyes.”>

<”My /human/ body?”> They returned sharply, using a word Tsu’tey did not recognise. 

”Banshees? <Strange.”>

<”It’s easy to pronounce in english.”>

Y/n at least took pity on him, leaning back as they explained, <”it’s what Sky People call themselves.”> They fumbled for an example, the distant call of an ikran making their ears perk. <“Right, so you have ikran, right?”> He nodded uncertainty, unsure where this was going, <”well, they refer to them as> banshees.”

<”You still haven’t answered my question.”>

<”It’s just not really that important.”> They deflected, but Tsu’tey could tell they were withholding it for a reason. 

<”I can’t remember.”>

Tsu’tey narrowed his gaze, uncertain as to why he was being denied such an innocent piece of information. <”What? Why not?”>

<”Are we not friends?”>

<”Of course?”> They arched their eyebrow.

<”Then tell me.”>

And now Tsu’tey was confused. <”I just need you to describe yourself to me.”>

The avatar huffed in a way that Tsu’tey knew meant that he’d won.

<”I can’t show you my human body. It is too fragile for Pandora.”> 

<”Why are you so invested?”>

<”Just tell me!”> He finally snapped, eyes narrowed.

They began simple, describing themselves in details that Tsu’tey could understand since he’d only ever seen snippets of humans from a distance. They showed him roughly what their height was in comparison to their avatar, they described the hue of their eyes, the tones of their hair, the state of their hands. They depicted their typical attire, how they carried themselves, mapping out old injuries and aged scars, all of which he absorbed greedily. 

It was more than he’d asked for, and he was grateful for it. It would be easier to construct gifts to their taste with this additional snippet of information.

They settled in more comfortably, turning away from the flames to give him their full attention. Tsu’tey drew his gaze away from his work, eager to not miss anything. 

As their rambling diverged off the original topic, Tsu’tey listened with mild amusement as they began complaining about the exo packs they were forced to wear whilst exploring Pandora. Telling him about how the air of this planet was too dense with carbon dioxide and easily overwhelmed their lungs if they breathed it in, to which he felt compelled to interrupt. 

If these ‘exo-packs’ were so crucial, surely he should learn how they work. As their future mate, he should possess the skill to step up if it were required.

<”Show me.”> He said simply, and they stilled again. He seemed to keep surprising them today. <”I want to learn how it works.”> 

They made a show of looking down at their weapon’s belt and loincloth. <”I don’t have one on me.”>

Tsu’tey tutted as he rose fluidly from his crouch, slipping his knife back into its sheath whilst he set aside his courting gift. <”You said you’re in a new hideout. Up in the Hallelujah Mountains. Yes?”> He pressed, motioning to said mountains on the horizon. They nodded as they rose to their feet. <”There’s still plenty of daylight left.”>

They agreed easily enough, following his lead towards the double helix staircase after biding a quick goodbye to Jake. He issued a half-assed challenge at the base of the helix, to which they grinned and immediately agreed, going so far as to shove him aside and making a head start. Tsu’tey laughed at their boldness before jumping after them, effortlessly climbing faster and making it to the rookery before they cleared the fourth level.

In companionable silence, the pair saddled their ikran before taking to the skies. It was still early, the forest only just waking up. The skies clear and the sun bright on the horizon. With a whoop, Y/n took the lead guiding the pair in the direction of the Hallelujah Mountains.

>_<

When you got into the link this morning, this was not how you envisioned yourself returning to the compound.

As the small, silver unit came into view on the horizon, you slowed the speed of your mount to warned Tsu’tey of the other people you were sharing the compound with. He nodded along, content to follow your lead as you began your descent towards the open strip of grass. 

Landing your ikran near the other side of the cliff, you slid off with a comforting pat to your mount’s snout. Striding across the short distance towards the compound, you absently remarked on how small the helicopter felt now that you were almost as tall as it. 

Crouching down near the compound doors, you knocked lightly on the metal, aware of your superior strength in this form. Tsu’tey approached slowly from behind you, eying the building with clear mistrust. 

One of the windows shifted as someone peered out. You smiled with a wave, unable to make out their face as they dipped out of sight just as fast as they’d appeared. You didn’t have to wait long, as you heard the hiss of the airlock and shuffled back to make space for whoever was coming out. 

Decked out in an exo pack, Grace poked her head out of the compound door. ”The hell are you doing here?”

”Tsu’tey wanted to learn how to put on exo packs.” You replied simply, motioning to the hunter over your shoulder. Grace followed the motion, visibly stiffening as her gaze found Tsu’tey looming nearby. ”Would you mind grabbing a couple and a silicone dummy?”

She nodded despite her confusion, disappearing back inside to rummage through the storage. 

<”Humans are very tiny.”> Tsu’tey commented with no malice. 

<”And fragile. So be careful.”> You warned, offering to help Grace with her load as she stumbled back out of the airlock with the equipment you needed. 

Together, you laid out everything on the grass not far from the compound, Tsu’tey sat crossed legged across from Grace as the older woman launched into a brief explanation on the exo packs. She pointed out the different pieces and dismantled and rebuilt one for Tsu’tey to observe.

Then she strapped one to the face of the dummy and instructed him to remove it. He crushed it easily between his forefinger and thumb, making his tail thump in annoyance. Grace laughed before replacing the mask, instructing him towards the straps at the back of the mask and how they worked. 

It took plenty of trial and error, with a small pile of ruined exo packs building up behind Grace, some beyond repair, but most could be recycled into spare parts. But eventually, Tsu’tey learned how to get the old exo pack off, before Grace challenged him to strap a new one on. 

It was fascinating to watch how engrossed he became in the task. Ears pricked in curiosity as he messed with equipment much too small for his large fingers, navigating the fiddly compartments with a growing sense of familiarity. 

“Stealing from your friend? Now that’s low even for you.” You lightly pushed her, rolling your eyes. 

Whilst he worked, you caught Grace’s eye, to which she looked pointedly at your arm. “Now I know for a fact you can’t weave. So what sorry sod did you steal that off of.” She mused, ignoring how Tsu’tey’s ears flicked towards the conversation, even as he continued to focus on the task at hand.

“Tsu’tey actually made it.” 

Grace raised her eyebrows but said nothing else. Her eyes drifted back to Tsu’tey who had almost gotten the exo pack back over the dummy’s head. You followed her gaze only to find Tsu’tey glaring daggers at her and the woman refusing to back down. 

You internally debated starting up a fresh conversation to distract them from one another, but you were terrified of either of those gaze turning on you. 

>_<

“You’re such a mum.” You jabbed, “it was a gift obviously.” 

In the weeks that followed, Jake passed his rite. 

You’d heard his triumphant whoop echoing from the branches of HomeTree as the new hunters returned home. Grinning to yourself, you helped prepare the evening feast whilst Eytukan and Mo’at climbed the helix staircase to greet the newest additions to the tribe. 

The rest of the members began to tuck in before anyone came down from the rookery. The main chamber falling into its usual rhythm of chatter and crackling flames. Finding yourself a vacant spot further away from the staircase, you knew when the hunters emerged as a triumphant roar erupted from all the clan members. 

Joining in with gusto, you watched as Jake made his way through the assembled na’vi, receiving back pats and calls of congratulations as Neytiri dragged him along by the arm. He looked good in paint. His hair had also been restyled, accented with braids and beads which looked significantly better than the rat tails that used to hang around his ears. It was definitely Neytiri’s handy work, you knew for a fact that Jake couldn’t braid. Nor did his human body have hair to practise on.

Tsu’tey found you before too long, taking the space opposite you, his leg guards still strapped on after a long day of climbing the mountains and gliding around on his ikran. 

<”How were they?”> You asked by way of greeting, pushing the serving leaf closer for him to pick at.

<”That is good.”>

<”My students performed excellently. As was predicted.”>

<”And Jake?”>

<”Almost plummeted to his death, but as you can see,”> he motioned to where Neytiri and Jake had disappeared off to. <”Eywa does not wish to take him yet.”>

Tsu’tey did not respond. He seemed to come to a conclusion as he confidently reached for his belt once again and pulled a knife free. Your eyes zeroed in on the thanator tooth blade before gliding down the smooth, wooden hilt. It looked like it had taken days to carve, sharpen and construct. And fuck was it an attractive blade. From the alluring glint of the tooth to the heavily detailed handle, you couldn’t even fathom the amount of hours it would have taken to acquire the materials, let alone make them into something new.

<”Something on your mind?”>

He jumped as if he’d forgotten you were there. You narrowed your gaze. <”Did you do something?”> You deadpanned, mentally preparing yourself for anything between leaving the saddle on his ikran to straight up murder. 

Judging by the look on his face, he was definitely preening. Then again, so would you be if you had managed to craft something on the same scale as this.

<”It’s gorgeous.”> You breathed, leaning closer to examine it further. Tsu’tey held it out to you, encouraging you to take it from his hands with a firm nod of his head.

Tsu’tey hummed, not reaching for the food like usual. That in itself was off putting. Refocusing your attention, you realised he was acting strange. Almost skittish. His hand reached for something at his belt, only to rethink his actions and for it to drop back into his lap. You frowned.

It was perfectly balanced and fit like it was made to be held by your hand. 

<”Jesus, how long did this take you?”>

Tsu’tey shrugged, going for modesty, but you could see the pride oozing off him in waves. His ears had pricked cutely, whilst his tail swayed as an obvious sign of glee. 

Tsu’tey’s tail stilled. His happy swaying was abruptly cut off as his eyes snapped open, pinning you in place with a look that could freeze over the north sea. 

<“So when are you going to give it to her?”>

“Huh?” He breathed dumbly.

Behind him, someone audibly winced, shuffling in closer to their family group. Tsu’tey paid them no mind. 

You tried to play it off with a laugh, assuming he hadn’t heard you beyond the compliment regarding his craftsmanship. <”When are you giving it to her?”> You repeated, smiling encouragingly when his expression did not change. The longer he stared at you with that blank, unreadable expression, the longer you felt yourself grow uneasy. <”This is for Neytiri, right?”> 

He was the one who looked unsure now. Eyes skittishly fluttering all over your face.

You broke eye contact, turning the knife over and over between your palms. In every sense of the word, it was perfect. A much better fit than the measly weapon strapped to your chest, or your old utility knife.

<”Thank you.”> 

<“No.”> He snapped, making you jump at the sudden harsh tone. His eyes flashed, ears falling from their tall swivel. <”It is for you.”> He continued quieter, his tone losing its harsh note. 

He nodded, seeming to finally relax. <“Good. Your one is an embarrassment.”>

You huffed, leaning across to give him a playful whack to the shoulder, which had a smile breaking out on his lips and his tail thrashing again. Whatever had been brewing between you seemed to evaporate in the wave of the familiar gesture. 

As Tsu’tey reached for some food, you busied yourself with unsheathing your knife from the sheath strapped across your chest. You’d made it yourself during your early weeks spent at HomeTree from a rock you’d smashed open and a smoothed down slab of wood. It had served you well until now. Sliding the new one in in its place, you grinned at the perfect fit. 

Tsu’tey shared your smile as he nodded slowly to himself, ears pricked and his face relaxed. 

Over his shoulder, you caught sight of Mo’at picking her way back down the double helix stairs, Eytukan’s hand on her shoulder to keep her steady. The Tsahik spared him no attention, her gaze driving into your soul despite the large, open space between you. You could’ve sworn she was smirking, but you /knew/ that Mo’at did not smirk. 

>_<

The party lasted late and long into the night, so you were not overly surprised when there was hardly anyone around the following morning when you linked up. After descending the spiral staircase to the main chamber, a nervous energy fell over the few hunters who were already awake. 

There was no chatter today. The main chamber of HomeTree was eerily still.

Tsu’tey was nowhere to be found. Whilst Mo’at and Eytukan were not in the plaza as they usually were. The sudden break in routine had your hair standing on end, some deep rooted na’vi instinct warning you of an impending danger.

But you were safe. You were beneath HomeTree, far away from the Sky People and any other form of threats.

Shaking the feeling off, you decided to busy yourself. Tsu’tey couldn’t hide forever - he was clingy like that - so you just had to find something to do until he showed himself. Stepped out of the shadow of HomeTree, you made your way towards the river where the pa’li grazed. 

The atmosphere out here was not so stifling, the sunshine helping to ease the previously sombre mood. Or so you thought.

You’d barely made it onto the path that led away from HomeTree when you noticed Jake and Neytiri walking hand in hand towards the tree. You gaze narrowed, unused to seeing them so forward with their physical affections to one another. Against your will, your legs stopped walking as you observed. 

As if sensing you needed a push to slot the pieces together, the wind decided at that moment to pick up, wafting the smell of sex and togetherness straight at you. Your eyes bugged, connecting the distinct smells of Jake and Neytiri.  If you were blind, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart.

That thought throws you as an instinct that isn't your own knows what it is. The words echo in the back of your mind. Short. Simple. 

They had bonded.

>_<

Jake would have been on cloud nine if he hadn’t just witnessed the destruction of the Tree of Voices. According to Neytiri, they should be basking in the presence of one another and enjoying their newfound closeness through the bond, not internally panicking about the bulldozers which had gotten far too close for comfort.

HomeTree was eerily still as the newly mated pair rushed towards the main chamber with the intention of warning the Olo’eyktan about the approaching attack. The pair had barely gotten into the shadow of the massive tree when a fuming Y/n stormed up to him out of seemingly nowhere. He had taken one look at that expression before his stomach had dropped with fear sharper than any bulldozer.

They took one look at him, nose twitching unnaturally. Then their expression hardened, similar to those first few weeks of him being around HomeTree. 

Neytiri had also stopped walking, her expression perplexed as she watched the scientist visibly attempt to calm themselves.

“When I said don’t, it wasn’t a fucking challenge to get it on as quickly as fucking possible.” They blurted, tail thrashing. Jake very much wanted to run. He felt genuinely in danger.

When a hand caught his ear in a vice-like grip and began dragging him out of HomeTree, he briefly contemplated unlinking and begging Trudy for a rapid getaway, but decided he wanted his knife on him if anything went wrong. “That hurts!” He whined instead, confused as to why Neytiri was just laughing instead of helping him. 

They didn’t bother offering a response and instead dragged him out into the sunlight despite his best attempts at wrestling them off. His ear was on fire, eyes watering. Somehow it was worse than being at knife point. 

“What the fuck are you playing at?” They snarled, letting go of him with a shove that sent him sprawling in the dirt. Thankfully, they’d dragged him away from the main path to HomeTree and into the undergrowth to the side where there would be less witnesses. His blood chilled at the connotations of that thought. 

Y/n was still fuming, hands twitching at their sides as if to reach for a knife, but Jake mentally noted that they weren’t wearing their weapon’s belt, odd, they never took that off. “We are /visitors/.” They hissed, drawing his attention back to the matter at hand. “As much as we wear the skin and decor of the clan, we do not belong here.”

They smack him upside the head again. “Exactly! You didn’t.” 

Anger flared to life in his gut. “Stop talking to me like I’m a kid.”

“Then act like a fucking adult for once in your life.” They returned sharply, giving him a harsh thump to the head as if to activate the rest of his brain cells. His expression remained pinched, defiant. Y/n returned it with such venom he almost wanted to back down. “What happens when the programme closes down Jake?” His heart plummeted as their expression morphed into something more neutral.  “What about when they rotate us home?”

He fumbled for a response. “I didn’t-.”

"And Tsu’tey-" they cut themselves off with a groan. "I know that you hated him, but stealing his intended is several steps too far Jake."

Their expression held a thousand words. “Why do you think I never took a mate after my rite?”

“I didn’t-”

"Look, I can explain." 

"It better be fucking impeccable." They threatened, “I've got eight months of training on you in this body, I can and will kick your ass.”

“What? No!"

“Then unlink so I can beat your ass.”

“Don’t make me come over there Jake. I will unlink right here.”

“I’m not doing that either.”

“Look, I get that you’re angry. This looks really bad-”

“I am beyond angry Jake. What the hell were you thinking?”

"Who?" 

"They aren't intended anymore!" Jake hurriedly, supplied. Y/n froze.

"Tsu’tey and Neytiri. They broke it off." 

Meanwhile, Y/n had frozen up. Their brows furrowed, whilst Tsu’tey watched on with an expression of pure glee. Jake wanted to smack him. 

They turned to Tsu’tey, their tone dead serious and still festering with poorly concealed rage. <"Is it true? Your engagement?"> 

To his credit, Tsu’tey did not cower, and instead responded with a simple, <"yes."> The tension bled out of the scientist, whilst Tsu'tey's grin grew, preening at the act of someone defending his honour.

Y/n back off, physically retreating a step or two. "Then I apologise, Jake."

"You don't have a very high opinion of me do you?" 

The leaves behind Y/n rustled in response to his declaration as the pair in question finally stumbled upon them. Jake sagged in relief. Neytiri was immediately at his side, checking him for injuries with swift passes of her hands over his body.

"You're unpredictable. And stupid." They responded without missing a beat. And Jake couldn't exactly fault them for that observation.

Jake was about to bite back a not so kind retort when Neytiri effortlessly hauled him back to his feet. “As touching as this is, we must speak to the Olo’eyktan. It's urgent. The Tree of Voices has been destroyed." 

“I needed to get rid of it for fear of stabbing him.”

“You were planning to stab me.”

Tsu’tey was still grinning as he handed them back their knife belt, "I found this in the bushes." 

“In my defence, I thought you were in your rebel era.”

“Shit. I forgot about that part.” Jake admitted before he could stop himself.

>_<

In the language of the na’vi, there was no word for lie. In a world like Pandora, there was no room for treachery or deceit. Only a clear line between right and wrong. 

Your heart pounded as you glanced between Jake and Neytiri, the telltale scent of sex and togetherness that suggested a completed bond making you want to gag. Warning him against mating with one of the clan members hadn’t been a fucking challenge. 

But that wasn’t the main issue. The issue was the destruction of the Tree of Voices and Jake trying to explain Quaritch’s plan. 

The clan was deadly silent as he finished his rushed explanation. The tension mounting as Neytiri stared at Jake as if she didn’t know him. 

Their earlier ease with one another had evaporated. Jake's body tensed up whilst Neytiri looked devastated.

<“What are you saying Jake? You knew this would happen?”> Neytiri asked, her hand on Jake’s shoulder, trying to get him to look at her instead of her father. Her expression was searching as she tried to understand what he was getting at. Tried to grasp the concept of him being a double agent. 

You shifted in your spot half a step behind Tsu’tey, catching Grace’s eyes across the small semi-circle. This was a delicate situation now, one Jake could throw into chaos with a few wrongly placed words.

You felt the colour bleed from your face. What the hell was he thinking?

You stepped closer, ears pricked as if that would help you understand. Tsu’tey to your left mirrored the action, somehow still between you and Jake. <“You knew?”> He accused, his face ablaze with fury. You could see his hand twitching at his side, a sure sign he was going to draw his blade.

<“Yes, but-”>  Jake replied hurriedly, sensing he was about to send the entire encounter into a tailspin.

Neytiri abruptly tore herself away from him. Your stomach dropped at the pure agony twisting her features. <“I trusted you.”> She whispered, voice shaking. Then she hardened, her posture stiffening, her expression warping into a ferocious snarl. <”I trusted you!”> 

The hunters observing the scene reached for their bows.

Thankfully, he seemed to grasp the kind of situation he was in because he visibly steadied himself before responding. His expression was open, honest. You could see the fear glistening in the depths of his eyes. Noticed the shake of his hand as he grasped his mate’s hand on his shoulder, his tone soothing as he replied. <“Look, the Sky People sent me here, to learn your ways-”> 

Mo’at made a grab at her daughter’s arm, trying to pull the woman away from Jake as if he were the threat.

Tsu’tey stepped up, face contorting into a cold snarl.

You grabbed his arm when you saw the genuine fear spreading across your friend’s face as Jake instinctively backed away, unaware of the waiting hunters at his back. <”Okay, lets all just calm down.”> You commanded, dreading the look on Grace’s face when you found her in the crowd. “Jake, what the fuck are you talking about?” You hissed in english.

The steady grip you had on Tsu’tey’s forearm was ripped away as the hunter turned on you. Eyes burning with enough hatred to make you want to bare your neck. You remained firm, knowing that because of association you were also an enemy in his eyes. 

“Did you know about this?” Tsu’tey demanded accusingly. His expression was not of your friend, but of the next in line to the clan, ready to defend his people at a moment’s notice. 

“What?” 

“Did you /know/?” He repeated, almost shouting as he got up in your face. You held firm, refusing to back away or back down as you sternly met his gaze. 

Shoulders back, spine straight, you snapped in fluent na’vi. <“Of course not.”> You bared your fangs, ears pinned flat against your skull. Jake shifted behind you, and you waved your hand at him. Silently ordering him not to intervene. <“I’ve spent every hour here, helping the clan. Doing my duty. The only time I return to the compound is to eat and sleep.”>

Tsu’tey maintained eye contact, chest heaving. You dared not blink. Hunter to hunter, neither of you moved. Then his body lost its tension. He found what he’d been looking for in your gaze and he backed down with a nod.

“Grace!” Neytiri yelled, straining against the harsh grip Mo’at had on her forearm. You spun in the direction she was attempting to run in to find Grace’s avatar collapsed onto the floor. A couple women rushed forward to try and bring her back, but you recognised the unnatural stillness of an uninhabited avatar.

“Shit.” Jake cursed, and you couldn’t help but agree.

“They found us.” You breathed, barely loud enough for you to hear yourself. 

“The Sky People?” Tsu’tey asked, his hand found your shoulder and gripped tightly to draw your attention back to him. Numbly, you nodded, heart pounding as your hand found his arm and held on for dear life.

Behind you, Jake was also visibly panicking. He tried to draw everyone’s attention back to him long enough to explain, but he struggled to get the words out. His na’vi was breaking up as he stuttered through a poor explanation. <”You have to leave.”> You could barely understand what he was saying before his voice cut off, body stiffening and his eyes rolling into the back of his head. He went down like a rock.

Distantly, you heard Neytiri screech his name before she tore herself from Mo’at grip and ran to him. 

You were next, you realised. It was only a few steps past his link to your own. 

<“Listen. Listen to me.”> You pleaded, turning to Tsu’tey. His eyes flickered to the collapsed bodies of your colleagues before giving you his full attention, expression grim. <“The Sky People have found our compound. They’ll be coming for HomeTree next. They will show no mercy.”>

Anguished shouts erupted across the hollow chamber. You wanted to roar with them, but there was no time. 

You turned to the Olo’eyktan who had been watching the exchange wordlessly from Mo’at’s side, his expression unreadable. Tsu’tey did not tear you away as you stood before him. Nor did Mo’at order you removed. For now, for these few precious seconds, you were still one of them.

The symbolism of the bow at your back and the beaded armband encircling your bicep still held strong. You were still a hunter pleading to your leader. And for now, he would listen to you. 

 <“Olo’eyktan, you need to evacuate everyone who cannot fight.”> The People roared their disapproval, but Eytukan silenced them with a hand. He nodded once. It gave you hope. <”They need to go somewhere safe, the warriors-”>

Your body gave a lurch. Tsu’tey’s grip turned painful as your muscles locked up. Your vision blurred and your pupils lost focus. 

Mentally, you clawed at your hold over this body, fighting with all you had not to wake up as you felt strong hands pulling at your shoulders, slowing your descent. Someone was yelling your name. 

But you were leaving. Drifting away. Your consciousness slipping. 

You came up swinging on the other side. Grace was yelling from across the room as an RDA officer restrained her. Jake was out of sight, and Norm was also being held down. Your fist connected with someone’s temple as you screeched a war cry that should not have been possible with human vocal cords.

Previous chapter <-- Act 2 --> Next Chapter

[dantoru]

hello i posted a new fic 😊

🎈🌟 1/4 chapters (to be updated daily)

[lagomorphics]

wrote a good 600 words for this fic im working on after not being able to write anything for a week yayyyy

[hallucxnating]

You know what? Fuck you *slaps your Shizaya in a Darkwood AU*

[frischkasekuchen]

Dreamtalia moments that hit different for me after watching End Of Evangelion:

I remember joking with a friend in history class (who encouraged me to watch Eva) that Reve would be Asuka, because of his long hair- that was prior to me consuming any Eva content. Now, in retrospect...

[missmako-chan]

Girl help my ass is Drowning in WIPs

Ask me about them if you want, I guess. I'll put them in the tags

[koskela-knights]

Consider, a Tucker & Dale vs Evil AU/Crossover

Since 8 December this AU/Crossover idea has been living inside my head and now that I remember the Koskelas earlier concept art, it just drove home the idea even more.

The AU/crossover would probably be about the Koskelas as they try to have a peaceful, fun holiday in the woods but then Evil strikes, the Cult of the Tree being a separate thing from them and the Koskelas being misinterpreted as some dangerous killers by a group of outsiders/youngsters (the Bookers). (wow it's almost the same plot/s)

[brianmostcertainlymay]

Pulling a timeline of plot details for the super secret self-indulgent self-insert fic, and let me tell you, it isn't as fun as it sounds. ;- p

[kimium]

Chapters: 4/? Summary:

Canon Divergence. University AU. Mafia AU.

“Let’s leave. We’re not sticking around here,” Yuu said as they began to walk through the tall grass. If they were lucky, they’d run into someone that was willing to help and not ask many questions.

“Well, well what do we have here?”

Yuu jumped, a scream bursting from their lips. Grim squirmed out of their arms and floated in mid air, his ear flames bursting brighter. Standing in front of them was a man wearing the most ornate outfit Yuu had ever seen outside of cosplay inside an anime convention. Clearly going for a steam-punk like style crossed with opera, Yuu couldn’t tear their eyes away from the birdlike mask or the feathers adorning the long cloak with ends that looked like bird wings.

“Goodness gracious!” the man exclaimed, a little too cheerful. “You’re not from this world.”

In where Yuu is summoned to a strange new dimension (by an occult) and will find their way home (and solving the mystery to why they were summoned in the first place) through the power of accidentally befriending the local organized crime fractions. (Or Yuu is accidentally the most powerful person in this world through the power of Friendship.)

~

Hello everyone. It’s me again with another chapter. I know I mentioned writing my FE fic but I had an idea for this one spring up last night. So, I ended up working on this fic again. I hope you like this next chapter! Let me know!

[royal-songbird]

its 9am and i havent slept but. prohibited wish fic is IN THE WORKS !!!! auugg im so excited to work on it i am hoping i'll actually get further than three chapters unlike literally every multi-chapter fic ive attempted

[sil-and-seals-blog-something]

Oh I love all of that, every bit-

JLD’s just absolute panic that something blocked the message and that it had to do with whatever is going on in Wisconsin cause that’s the only possible location that Phantom could’ve last been in due to the weapon.

The level of identity and absurd skill shenanigans, Danny & Damian team up to secretly fix the problem that is keeping Danny under Vladms thumb.

The story coming full circle with the “You owe me a magic sword.” and “Took you long enough.” JUST MAKES ME GO ALL GIDDY-

- I just love that it goes from a suspicious encounter to an all hands on deck to prevent a possible crisis from pouring out of Wisconsin. Vlad going from a ‘suspicious person, keep eye on’ to ‘possibly about to start an apocalypse’ is going to be jarring to the heroes who’ve met him (Arrow Fam and Bat Fam mostly) because the most suspicion that they had on him was possible theft, and hilarious for the readers cause, yeah Vlad would cause an apocalyptic crisis (he’s done it before) but he’s not presently doing that exactly (could reasonably escalate to that in a bad ending though).

Just a wonderful circle of misunderstandings, escalation, and Vlad getting what he deserves, especially with getting absolutely shanked by someone he probably wrote off as a non-threat for being purely human.

Practice Your Skills

“You ever look at someone and wonder how hard it would be to get past their defenses and stab them.

Damian snapped his head to the side, looking at the young boy now standing beside him.

The boy put his hands up in front of him with a wince, “Not that I ever do that. Totally not, whaaaat???”

Damian huffed and turned back around to watch the gala participants.

“It’s just you kinda looked like you were contemplating the logistics of stabbing Mrs.Halterguild for squeezing your cheeks.”

Damian scowled. Then, after a moment’s beat, “It would not be very difficult. She is nearly blind in her left eye, I would be able to approach without repost.”

The kid hummed, turning back as well before motioning to another group to the far right, “What about Mr. Beckensmith, he’s a retired vet right?”

Damian rolled his eyes and scowled harder, “The man has only seen the battlefield of an office as he bribed his way from being fully enlisted and instead managed to pay for increasingly higher ranks and medals. He is a disgrace.”

The kid cocked his head to the side, looking suspicious for a second and then nodding with concession, “Fair enough, I bet I could get close enough too.”

Damian scoffed.

“What, don’t believe me?”

Damian leveled a doubtful glare at the civilian, making it clear by looking him up and down, “Hardly.”

The other smirked dangerously, “If I can get close enough to poke him and get away without being noticed, will you believe me?”

Damian narrowed his eyes but nodded succinctly and watched as the boy immediately took off, making a few loops around other people before finally backing up to Mr. Beckensmith and poking him on the opposite side as a group moved past.

Damian pursed his lips. Interesting. Certainly better than he would expect from an amateur. And an amateur civilian at that.

When the boy returns to his side Damian brushes off the asks of meaningless praise.

“Come on, I did it, now you have to go poke Mrs. Halterguild without getting caught.”

Damian sneers, “And why would I do that?”

“Because I don’t believe you either, the woman’s old but I bet she sees you and squeezes your cheeks again. Old ladies just have a sixth sense for that stuff you know.”

Damian nearly growls but sets off on his task. He makes sure to stay on her left side, but the woman turns at the last second, forcing Damian to use a passing waiter as cover to remain hidden and finally get close enough to poke her gaudy dress.

Then he sidles back up to the boy on the edges and provides his best ‘I am more capable than you’ scowl. The boy simply laughs and says, “Who’s next?”

They spend the night like that, choosing each other’s targets to attack non-lethally as though they were attempting to stab them, and Damian finds the gala going by in a significantly less tedious manner.

Right up until the boy laughs at him when he chooses a target. Only one bark of laughter escapes, but it is enough for Damian to consider stabbing him as well. If only with a butter knife.

Instead, Damian grinds his teeth and asks, “What is so different about Masters, do you really believe you would be unable to succeed?”

The other gives a breathless chuckle, “I’m pretty sure even you wouldn’t be able to successfully stab Vlad Masters,” The boy’s shoulders sag even as his jaw tightens with irritation, “He sees everything.”

Damian narrows his eyes. Something naws at the back of his brain but currently the critique of his capabilities takes precedence.

“I would be capable of stabbing Masters even without my favored sword,” Damian scowls and stands taller with annoyance.

“Sure you can, man,” At this, the boy quirks a sharp smile, “If you can actually get him, I’ll personally get you a magic sword,” he says with an air of amused indulgence. Like he thinks Damian is some insipid child saying he will find a fairy.

Damian grits his teeth and shakes the other’s hand, then immediately sets off after his target. How dare this civilian question him! He is the Son of the Bat, this is not even a challenge!

Damian growls as his approach is thwarted for the third time by the man turning in his direction and almost spotting him. How dare he! He will not fail!

Just as he reaches to jab the man in the side, already poised to make his escape, Masters whips around and clamps his fingers around Damian’s wrist with a vice grip.

“Really Daniel I thought we were over-“ Masters pauses, looking at Damian critically as he glares at the man’s offending hand, “You are not young Daniel.”

“Remove your hand from my person at once,” Damian growls.

Instead of listening to Damian’s very sensible directions, Masters tightens his grip and twists his arm, most likely in an attempt to hurt him.

“Now why is a child attempting to-“

Damian doesn’t wait to hear the rest of the man’s words, sliding a dagger into his other hand and swinging towards him, until that hand is caught mid-movement as well.

“Heh-Hey there!”

Damian snaps his head to the side just in time to see Grayson take his dagger and slide it into his pocket. He ignores the bark of laughter he hears from across the room.

Masters’ hand disappears from his arm suspiciously fast, “Mr. Wayne, what a pleasure!”

Damian looks over his other shoulder to see his father standing behind him, a thin smile on his face, “Vladimir!”

His father’s figure quickly obscures his vision, putting an arm over Masters’ shoulders in a way that clearly makes him irritated but forces him to follow as he is steered away.

“Dami, I thought we talked about the stabbing at formal events,” Grayson says through a strained smile as he looks over the crowd to make sure no else saw.

“Tt, it was merely a demonstration of my skills, he was in no real danger until he refused to release me. I simply sought to correct that mistake.”

Grayson pinchesthe bridge of his nose, “Demonstration for who, Dames? We all already know your skills.”

“Tt,” Damian scowls and turns away.

Instead of pushing it, Grayson simply sighs heavily, “Just stay out of trouble for the rest of the gala okay? We’re almost done.”

Damian scoffed and waited for Grayson to leave. Once he does, Damian finally looks over to where he had been lingering with the boy.

Gone.

Clearly he’d taken the cowards way out when he’d seen that Damian had been accosted by Masters.

Pitiful.

Damian spends the rest of the night scowling from the wall and looking serendipitously for a head of black hair and blue eyes unrelated to him.

Of course it’s not until they are actively leaving that Damian sees him and immediately splits off of from his family.

He approaches with irritation, preparing to grab the other by the shoulder when suddenly he turns around and blue eyes meet Damian’s green.

“You,” Damian sneers.

“Me,” The other shrugs. He has an amused smile on his face, though it was strained at the edges.

They stare in silence for a minute, before the other’s smile grows and sharpens once more, “I didn’t expect you to actually try to stab him, y’know,” A slight laugh escapes him, “Not that it was unwelcome by any means, but still, unexpected.”

Damian scowls again, glaring at this foolish civilian.

“Oh, I never introduced myself did I?!”

The boy exclaims and holds out a hand, smile dangerous, “Daniel Fenton. Or if we’re being technical,” a pause as Damian finally returns the gesture and finds his hand trapped, “Daniel Masters, a pleasure to meet you Damian.”

“Hurry up little badger,” A voice says beside them, and Damian notices that it is indeed Vladimir Masters.

The man approaches, placing a heavy hand on Fenton’s shoulder, making the boy go taut, and then they both step into a dark car, leaving Damian on the front steps.

Damian’s anger flares and he shoots a glare directly to the boy getting into the car. It dies the moment they meet eyes and Damian sees the fear hiding in the other’s eyes.

Fear that Damian is all too familiar with.

Fear that reminded Damian of himself. Reminded him of his own eyes when he’d been under his grandfather.

But why did Fenton look like that?