#both weird and normal blooded shadow are really good

[ruoshik0]

DP x DC: The al Ghul twins but with a twist!

Danyal al Ghul was- is a phenomenal actor. Always have been.

He was one of the best in the league for infiltration and espionage. None can deny that.

Along with his twin, Damian- whose skill sets are the complete opposite, they made for a terrifying pair of twins.

Ra's al Ghul saw that. He would have been a fool not to. The heir and his spare were talented in a completely different way.

So much so that Ra's decided to team them up. In the spotlight, Damian- the heir- would fight with raw strength and brutal power whilst Danyal- the spare- would strike from the shadows with amazing efficiency.

However, as much as they are better together, the twins must learn to be independent. To better themselves by being alone.

Relying on another encourages codependency after all.

And Ra's did not want such a pathetic thing to be a bigger problem than it is now.

So, he sent the spare to learn more about the Lazarus waters. A long term mission of infiltration and espionage. And while the League did not do such missions, he needed to learn more about the waters and it's properties to make better use of it. And simply forcing the two scientists to spill everything may result in a less than favorable outcome. Learning from the inside is better, really.

And whilst Danyal was away, he would further along Damian's training.

It was a good plan. Two birds with one stone.

And when Danyal arrived at his destination, he was a little worse for wear. Torn and dirty clothes, messy hair and acted beyond his years. He was in the alley right next to the Fentons' house when they first found him. They decided letting him spend a few days in their home to get ahold of a normal life before sending Danyal to the CPS was a good idea.

They quickly got attached to the cute and soft child beneath the always suspicious and hesitant orphan.

The Fentons immediately adopted him after deciding he would stay.

His name is now Daniel James Fenton.

Daniel was an average kid who acted like how you would expect an orphan who had lived on the streets for a long time.

His academic performance is above average in comparison to the other kids.

Even without the Fenton blood running through his veins, Daniel fit right in with the weird family.

As stated before, Danyal al Ghul is a phenomenal actor.

When he first arrived, he engineered a situation in which the scientists had no other choice than to take him in for a time.

When he was successful, he didn't stop to celebrate. Danyal immediately started working on making them warm up to him. Little gestures such as a hesitant hug and following them around like a little duckling worked like charms. Little giggles here and a little harmless prank there worked too.

Those psychology books and being near civilians more often helped him with these things. As well as the specialized training from the League.

When the child named Jasmine had fallen in his trap, it was easy to get the parents in too.

After getting adopted, although not before getting him a legal identity, he immediately started working who exactly he wanted Daniel to be and how people saw him.

A scared little child who jumps at any loud noises and a big interest in space and stars. Mostly because Danyal himself was a big space nerd and it's hard to fake enough interest to seem real.

Then he had gotten himself friends. A quaint life in a quaint town meant having less than 5 friends.

Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley were both viewed as weird and should be avoided. The new kid in town has befriended both and thus should be avoided by association.

He did not want to deal with even more obnoxious kids.

Danyal had lived a fake life with a fake personality. He trained whenever he can, and helped in the lab other times.

Weekly written reports to the League.

And learn as much as he can.

That was then. Now, Danny was no longer as alive as he was. And while it's a nuisance, his ghostly powers brought a lot of advantage.

When he first became Phantom, he fought ghosts. Acted like the wimpy yet still brave Danny in front of his friends.

Every few days, he would complain about the vigilante life and every other day he would use make up to worsen his appearance. A little darker dark circles and messier nest of a hair.

And while Danyal got the hang of his new abilities in a few days, Danny took a few weeks.

He purposefully dropped his grades because Danny couldn't find the time to study and Danyal knew Sam and Tuck would get suspicious if his grades remained the same.

Weeks and weeks after, learning more about the Lazarus waters, ghosts, and it's properties at a faster rate than ever before, Danyal decided that his little engineering and sciencing hustle should end. And by that, he means he should end the mission. So he started working on the last phase of his plans.

(He got too attached. Oh Ancients, he got too attached. He wanted to stay there and actually live like a normal person. He wanted to but- but... what about his brother...? He had to leave. Leaving means more suffering for them. His... friends and family.

He is so gonna miss the cat and mouse chase with the Fentons. He is gonna miss everyone. He hopes everyone forgets him so that he can leave feeling a little better)

First step, making those who are in the know about Phantom, warm up to the idea of him leaving vigilantism behind.

Every few weeks, he would joke about quitting as Phantom. That turned into months and Danny started looking even worse than when he first became Phantom. Danny wouldn't have a future if he didn't study more. But he couldn't because of vigilantism. And the stress caught up to him.

16 year old Daniel James Fenton decided he should stop when he was finally convinced by his two friends and two sisters.

(He hated how much he engineered these situations)

And while Danyal knew Danny didn't have a future, Danny himself didn't and thus acted like it.

It was hard trying so hard to rebut his circle of people when he just wanted agree right then there. It all ended in a messy and teary situation Danyal would have liked to avoid altogether.

(His tears were real. He didn't want to admit that he was crying. Mourning his loss before it happened)

The things he does to stay character.

Phantom quit after loudly announcing he was moving to another place to haunt.

And Danny's grades slowly went up to what it used to be before the ghost nonsense. He was finally relaxing again.

He was anxious. Anxious to the point of tensing. His League training thrown put the window)

Few months after, Daniel James Fenton went missing with little to no clues as to why.

Everyone mourned him. His ghostly core was happy when he had caught a glimpse of his grave while he was... visiting, for a lack of a better word.

(Finally, he was being mourned. Because he did die. Death touched him and he didn't even have a grave before this)

Now Danyal al Ghul returned from his long term mission. He could finally be himself again.

(Somewhere along the way Danny had become Danyal's real personality)

The League of Assassins was exactly as he had first left it. There were a few very glaring issues though.

First, Damian isn't here. He had left. Left Danyal alone. It took quite the willpower to not go out and track wherever Damian had gone to.

Second, Ra's al Ghul wasn't here. Grandfather had died and his body was nowhere to be found.

Third, Mother was leading. While it is not that much of an issue, Danyal is to be the heir and shall by crowned the leader in a few weeks time. Which is a big issue. Mostly because he was supposed to be in the shadows. Danyal decided that he did not want to be in the limelight like his brother.

Plus, he was already the Eventual King of another dimension. A rather infinite one might he add.

Ugh, more responsibilities.

He decided that he would greet his brother on their seventeenth birthday. A little terrorizing never hurts anybody.

Till then, he'd have to train his ass off.

(He’d do just about anything stop himself from thinking about Amity Park and its residents)

Sigh...

[deathnguts]

I don’t think Remus is attracted to people very easily personally, like I think he’s so deep in self hatred he’s not Willy nilly with ‘condemning’ people by liking them. But when he does like a person really fast (like no slow burn, no friends first lovers later, love at first sight fast) he has no idea how to be normal about it he’s such a freak, like he’s the guy in the club everyone tells you to steer clear of but in this case none of his friends know he’s like this so you get no warnings

Like I’ve had the image of Remus meeting Sirius’ sister (transfem regulus shameless plug she’s eating my brain and I’m thanking her) and experiencing immediate attraction for like the first time like ever and he’s just🕴🏼“uh.” Like he’s suddenly very aware of how tall he is and he’s like looming over regulus and is he standing too close? He’s definitely standing too close, he should get closer, no he shouldn’t what was that.

And he’s completely unaware that his internal panic is very much showing externally, his eyes are wide as saucers and he’s just staring at regulus and he hasn’t blinked even once. Regulus also isn’t sure if he’s breathed? Ah no, there he’s breathing now, very heavy breathing but at least he’s breathing. This goes on for an uncomfortable amount of time before regulus is like ‘ok… nice to meet you I guess.’ And Remus is like I fumbled for life it’s so over 😞

Until like not even an hour later regulus is bored of the little get together Sirius made her come to and like Remus could smell the opportunity like blood in the water he just appeared at her side. Like stepped out of the shadows when regulus swears he was just by Sirius or something, how does a guy that big move so quietly?? And Remus isn’t staring like he’s terrified anymore, but he’s very much still staring and regulus feels like she’s being picked apart before Remus suddenly says “you smell good.” And his eyes dip down for a second and then back up and- is he shaking?

So Remus has now tripped every alarm bell regulus should have, but he’s lucky on account that regulus doesn’t have any alarm bells and likes her men to be obsessed freaks so if anything she’s intrigued.

She takes his hand in both of hers (yes he’s definitely shaking) and pulls the oldest trick in the book just to watch Remus squirm. “Oh wow.. my hands are so small and pale compared to yours, look at that” while she’s like caressing his fingers and running along the (very attractive) veins she finds there. She glances up and Remus is trembling now, as well as a very deep shade of red up to his ears and she hums a little before stating more than asking, “you’re kind of weird aren’t you?” And Remus is nodding before she even finishes her sentences because whatever pretty girl thinks he is he either will be or she’s right. Regulus decides she can work with that.

[bluemoviegirl]

UNDER THE SAME SUN CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 1

joel miller x reader, enemies to lovers

wc: 6.8k

tw: death, blood

summary: we finally get to know a bit more about your past, and another thursday with Joel!! Though you and him just can’t get along, even when you try really hard.

a/n: there'll be more interactions with joel soon guyz, right now they just really despise eachother <3. also, thanks for all the likes!! this chapter took a bit longer cause i'm super duper busy rn but honestly i'm just motivated to get them together. no rushing it though i love a good slow burn xoxo lmk what u thought i loveee getting comments 🩷

happy reading!! <3

It’s been 2 days since the repair job. It had upset you a lot more than you anticipated. That day had triggered the anxiety you thought you had stuffed so far down it would never dare come up again. And that was weird, you were tough. You’ve been tough. So what? A man got killed in front of you? You’d seen it many times before, you’ve been the one holding the gun so many times.

But the way you were dismissed, the way your presence meant nothing to him. How helpless you felt, your emotions had gone back in time. A time you had tried so hard to forget. The way Joel looked so unbothered by it all, he had looked more bothered about you yelling than the actual murder. It made you feel sick. It made you think of Dane.

10 years ago.

You weren’t supposed to be friends, not really. At first, you weren’t even sure you liked Lois. She was loud, brash, and a little too quick to joke in moments where you thought it wasn’t appropriate. But in a world like this, what else were you supposed to do? Sit in silence and wait to die?

It started like this: the first time you met her, it was over a stolen bag of chips. You were hiding out in a small, abandoned building, just trying to keep your head down. You had a decent stash of food, and you were about to enjoy your first real meal in days when you heard movement behind you. Your hand quickly went to your knife, but before you could even make a move, you saw her—Lois—grinning like she’d just hit the jackpot.

A girl your age, long brown hair put in a braid and thick straight eyebrows moving with every word she spoke. The same way your brows always speak before your mouth does.

"Those for me?" she’d asked, eyes twinkling, like she hadn’t just come out of the shadows like a damn ghost.

"Yeah, right," you muttered, not trusting her one bit. "Find your own."

But she was persistent, and after a few back-and-forths, you found yourself sharing what little you had. Lois didn’t have any food to offer, but she did have something else: stories and jokes.

She talked about her life before all of this—what it was like to have a family, a home, a normal life. It was strange to hear someone speak about it so casually, as if the world hadn’t completely changed. For a moment, it felt like the world was just… normal again.

"You know," Lois said, chewing slowly as she looked out the window, "I used to hate rain. Could never get my hair right."

You snorted, a little caught off guard. "Sounds rough."

She laughed, leaning back against the wall. "Yeah, you’re right. Now? I’d give anything for a real storm. Some kind of normal weather. Anything that doesn’t feel like it’s out of a nightmare."

The conversation drifted naturally after that, with you both talking about small things. Things that, at the time, felt impossible to care about, but talking about them somehow made the world feel just a little more bearable. You didn’t become best friends that day. Hell, you didn’t even like her that much. But she wasn’t the worst person to share a tiny room with.

The next few days passed in much the same way. The two of you stuck together by necessity—safety in numbers and all that. Lois was always the first to crack a joke when things got tense, always the first to break the silence with something silly. Even if it was just the smallest thing, she had a way of making you forget how miserable everything else was. She brought out the social butterfly in you.

One morning, as you huddled together near a fire, she offered you some of her dried fruit. "This is better than nothing," she said, tossing a piece toward you with a little smirk.

"Better than a bag of chips," you replied dryly, smiling despite yourself.

"Hey, don’t knock it. It’s survival food. It’s what’s keeping us alive." She leaned back, her eyes scanning the horizon. "We got this."

And maybe you did. You didn’t know how you’d survive this world, but you knew you couldn’t do it alone.

Over time, you began to learn the little things about her. How she would always tap her foot when she was thinking, or how she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear when she was nervous. A habit you had started doing too. The way she fidgeted with her necklace when she was nervous. The way she would keep you on your toes with her sudden, random bursts of energy or the way she could make even the worst situations feel manageable with a laugh.

You’d never admit it out loud, but it became clear to you: You depended on Lois. In a world where it felt like you could lose everything in an instant, Lois was a constant. Someone who made the emptiness of everything else feel just a little less overwhelming. She became your reminder that maybe, just maybe, you weren’t alone in all of this.

And even if you didn’t say it, the bond was there, growing deeper each day. You shared a glance, a small nod of acknowledgment, and in those moments, you knew—no matter what happened, you could make it through as long as you had her by your side.

One day, you were surrounded by infected. There was no way to get out of it alive unless you had help, and it was as if your prayers had been answered. Before you know it, the infected are getting shot down, beheaded, stabbed, name it and they did it.

This group, led by a man named Dane, had come to your rescue. He was a tall, broad man, dark hair cut short. You two owed him your life. He led a group of around 15 people. He seemed like a good man, promising to keep the two of you safe. You and Lois both knew you were capable of keeping yourself alive but it was nice to have a community. It was nice. Until it wasn’t.

It started off well, Dane welcomed you two like you were going to be part of the family. They actually had a base, a protected fort if you will.

“Our help’s gonna cost ya though,” Dane said, leading you both past the rusted gates. The metal groaned as it shut behind you, sealing you in.

Lois didn’t hesitate. “Of course! We’d be more than happy to help you guys out. After all, you saved our lives.” After a moment of waiting for you to say anything, she nudged your side, expecting you to back her up. You nodded stiffly, but something about the way Dane was watching you made your stomach knot.

“Don’t worry, we don’t bite.” His grin –flashing a silver tooth--was meant to be friendly, to ease your discomfort.

 It didn’t.

Lois had taken your hand in hers and squeezed it lightly. Her way of saying you’re okay.

It was somewhat normal the first week. You’d been given chores like cleaning the dining room, washing clothes and cooking. When you first started preparing plates, Dane’s right hand Silas told you to watch the portion control.  Dane and a select few eat better meals than everyone else. The rest get scraps. When you point it out, they joke, “Rank has its privileges.”

Lois had thought it was a bit weird but she brushed it off quickly. She adjusted fast, you couldn’t blame her. You’ve endured so much fear, you know what she’s lost and what you two had been through. Of course she’d jump at the option to be protected. You still thought you two were more than capable of protecting yourself. And you certainly didn’t need Dane to be the one to protect you.

Every night you’d have trouble sleeping but you kept telling yourself, you’re just paranoid. You’ve been with just Lois for so long, these aren’t bad people.

Dane was superior, to the rest of the group. No one ate before he did, no one dared to sit in the chair he sat at, Dane had the final say in everything. Everything you owed, they owed. Someone liked your jacket? It was theirs.

“I get that it’s scary being with all these strangers, but I’d never want to put you in any harm. I truly believe this is a good place. Yeah their rules are a little weird, but we have weird rules too. Like our rule that we can never refuse a snack one of us offers? Even if we’re not hungry? Isn’t that silly too?” Lois had replied softly when you finally built up the courage to talk to her about it.

You dropped it and didn’t speak up about your discomfort anymore. It was obvious, Lois wanted to stay here. Who were you to drag her away from all this? And so far, they had actually been good to the two of you. Nothing crazy but you got shelter and food.

As you tried to adjust after being here for 4 months, you managed to actually make another friend here. His name was Jonnie. He was about 5’5, a bit younger than you and had the cutest snort when he laughed. His curly blonde hair always falling before his blue eyes. The thing you loved about him the most was how he still had that pre-apocalypse softness many people had lost. Including yourself. He brought that out in you. He had this innocence to him, like even in this world, he wouldn’t harm a butterfly.

You and him were on cleaning duty, every night after dinner you’d clean up the dining room together.

“You’ll never believe what I have.” He said, his hands behind his back.

You try to peek but he turns away each time. “What is it? Tell me Jonnie!” You chuckle.

He quickly brings his arms forward, revealing a little cassette player.

Your eyes widen and jaw drops.

“Your mouth’s open.” He snorts.

“No freaking way!!” You grab it from his hands, observing it closely. It was old, had a lot of wear and tear. You always said how much you missed music and now Jonnie had managed to get a cassette player? He was truly an angel.

“I’ve never actually seen these things before the world ended.” You chuckle. “Wait but, do you even have any cassettes? Else this thing is pretty useless..” You look up at Jonnie, who’s already holding in a big wide grin.

He reveals a cassette. “Of course I do. I don’t do half-ass surprises.” He takes the cassette player from your hand and pops it in. “Warning though, it only plays one song.”

“It better be amazing then.” You wait for the music to start playing.

The tune starts playing, you immediately recognizing it. You eye Jonnie as he eyes you, both pairs of eyes twinkling.

“We’re talking away. I don’t know what I’m to say..” The grainy sound of the cassette filling the empty room.

You burst out into laughter as you grab Jonnie’s arms and start dancing. More like just jumping around, but it’s still considered dancing in your book. “Take on meeeee” “Take on me!”

You’re carelessly spinning around, arms wide, cheekbones aching. Jonnie’s clapping along, completely off-beat but grinning so widely it doesn’t even matter.

Your dance party is cut short when you hear the door opening though. Jonnie quickly turns off the music. It was Silas.

“Evening.” He says, his finger tracing a table as he checks it for dust. By some miracle he hadn’t heard the music.

You and Jonnie are stood next to each other, hands behind your back, as if you’re some soldier.

“Don’t mind me, I’m just here for a late night craving.” He brushed past the two of you, grabbed some food and disappeared again.

You two both let out a breathe of relief.

“Thank the gods, I don’t know what would’ve happened if he caught us like that.” Jonnie says softly, obviously a bit shaken. “He creeps me out.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

The following clean ups were the one thing you looked forward to every day. You’d start the evening off with a dance party and would have the song on repeat the entire night.

Jonnie and you spent a lot of time together. You’d seek each other out at dinner and of course clean together. You didn’t expect to find one best friend during an apocalypse, let alone two.

One evening, you and Lois are sat with Dane and his select few around the campfire.

“I think it’s time we celebrate our newcomers. You two have been here for 6 months. Really proven that you’re of use.” Dane said, a beer in his hand. You noticed that when he grinned, you could see a broken yellowed tooth. Yuck.

Lois nodded happily.

“You’re a tough nut to crack though.” Dane’s eyes met yours. You felt shivers down your spine.

“Do you like it here?” He took another sip.

You were quiet for a moment before speaking. “I do.”  You lied.

“Are you dedicated to us? To me?” His gaze darkened and his voice was deeper.

You were taken aback a bit, why is he asking this crap? You furrowed your brows a bit. Lois could read you like a book, she could tell you thought Dane was a total idiot.

“She is. We are.” Lois chimed in, smiling as she interlocked her arm with yours.

He huffed out a dry chuckle, his eyes showing no sign of amusement. “Show me.”

“What?” She asked, as if she didn’t hear right the first time.

“I want her to show me.” Dane said, looking firmly at you and not Lois.

You felt your stomach drop, what the fuck does he mean?

Before you could even think about what it meant, Silas arrived, dragging a guy with him. He threw the guy on the ground in front of you. His hands and ankles tied, head facing the floor but you could recognize those curls anywhere.

Jonnie.

Your eyes widen as you feel your stomach drop. For a moment, the world was in slow motion. Dane’s laugh sounded slowed down as Silas kicks Jonnie, flipping him over as Jonnie squeals in anguish.

Lois is frozen, as are you.

Your eyes scan Jonnie’s battered body. He’s been beaten to hell. His clothes are soaked in blood, his face nearly unrecognizable. His left eye is swollen shut, his entire right side bruised. Blood stains his blonde eyebrows and drips from a split lip.

You tried to get any words out, to stand up for Jonnie. But you freeze when Jonnie’s eyes met yours and a tear rolled over his cheek. That moment of eye contact told you everything, he was terrified.

Dane suddenly pushes a gun in your hand. You look up at Dane, who sits back down. He’s.. He’s actually grinning.

“Kill him.”  Dane nudges his head towards Jonnie. “W-What?” You stammered, a tear rolling over your cheek that you quickly wiped away.

A moment of silence is broken when Dane throws a cassette player in front of you. Jonnie and yours cassette player.

“He doesn’t respect our rules. We share here. Yet, this boy thinks it’s acceptable to keep things to himself. You know our rules right?”

You shakily nod. “Say it.”  Dane folds his arms as he manspreads.

“E-everything you own, we own. We- we share everything.” You quietly said, breathing heavily.

“Speak. Up.” He snapped back, his voice raising. It shook you.

“Everything you own, we-“ You choke up. “-own.” You stammered through the tears you could no longer hold back.

“Good. You know the rules. Calm down, let’s make this atmosphere a little less hostile.” Dane snorts as he leans forward to grab the cassette player. He presses play.

The sound of the song startles you. The song that you and Jonnie used to love and dance to every night, was now being played at Jonnie’s possible last moment.

“Takeee onnn meeee.” Silas murmurs with a wide smile.

Lois furrowed her brows as she was no longer holding onto you. You glanced at her, almost afraid to meet her eyes. She had tears welling up but she attempted to blink them away.

“Good. He didn’t respect that rule. Frankly, I don’t know if he’s ever really been of use here. Don’t even know the boy’s name.” Dane chuckles, his eyes showing nothing but evil. “Now, kill him. I won’t tell you again.”

You tremble as you look down at Jonnie, he’s crying too. You had never felt so weak before, afraid your knees might buckle any moment. You stood up before Jonnie, weakly lifting the gun to him but you immediately lower it. You can’t do this. Jonnie’s your friend. Jonnie’s innocent, he got that cassette player for you. You should be paying for this. And as his eyes meet yours yet again, you feel like you might throw up. He’s pleading. Jonnie’s pleading for his life with that look in his eyes.

“I- please Dane-“ You beg, you plead but Dane shows no sign of you getting out of this.

Suddenly the gun gets taken out of your hand, Lois takes it. You look at her, her eyes don’t show sadness and fear like yours are. Her eyes show determination. Like she’s turned off her personality. She raises the gun to Jonnie’s head.

“Lois!” You yelp, your voice cracking.

But she ignores you and pulls the trigger, blood splattering on your face as your tears try and clear your vision. The only thing visible is the light from the fire reflecting off of Lois’s gold locket hanging around her neck.

After that, there’s a moment of silence. Silence filled with that stupid song still playing.

--

You blink, snapping out of that horrible memory, it’s like you could feel the blood splattering on you again. Your stomach turns. Now you’re sat on your couch, zoned out staring at Joel’s gloves you’d forgotten to return after you stormed off. Even the painted wall felt stupid and the fact that Joel was the one who helped you complete it. Get your act together, you thought. You’re over Dane. Dane isn’t Joel. Joel isn’t Dane. It’s completely different.

And the thing is, you knew it was. You knew it was different. You knew Joel had meant you no harm, not the way Dane had always meant harm. Not the way Dane had harmed Lois- So you convince yourself to at least get dinner at the dining hall today. The dry bread and cans of vegetables weren’t cutting it anymore.

You step outside of your apartment, the cold air breezing through your hair. The feel instantly bringing you shivers. It’s a bit of a walk from your apartment to the dining hall and you happened to run into Selene. Selene was your neighbor, one that had chosen to befriend you in the first two months that you arrived. You’d been cooped up in your place for the first two months but as soon as you were out and about, she came running. She was a tall woman, taller than you were. Her curly auburn hair always put into a bun with pieces sticking out. After those two months you guys talked often. You knew she had a boyfriend, Aaron. He was the opposite of her. She was very loud, very witty and social, while Aaron was quiet, nerdy and very to himself. It was honestly a cute match.

“Hey! Finally I caught you.” Selene said, pacing up her steps to match yours. “Are you headed to the dining hall?” She twirled her hair pieces.

“I am yeah. Haven’t been in a while.”

“Yeah, thought I hadn’t seen you out in a couple days! Everything okay? I get that the change can be tough, I had just the same thing. When my boyfriend and I just arrived here, we didn’t leave our place for two weeks..” She rubbed the back of her neck as she felt a pink tint creeping up, her realizing you didn’t leave your place for two months. “I guess it’s different for everyone.” She chuckled a bit awkwardly.

“I’m doing good, thanks for asking. I just felt like staying in. How are you and Aaron doing?” You smiled reassuringly.

“Oh we’re genuinely fantastic. Okay, don’t tell anyone-“ She leaned in closer to you. “I think we might be expecting..” She smiled widely.

You wanted to be happy for her but it was hard to hide the frown on your face. Who would get pregnant in a world like this? You want to bring more people into this scary world?

She noticed the look on your face and her smile immediately dropped. “I get it.. A baby, in a world like this. It’s crazy. We certainly didn’t plan on it, but I just can’t hide the excitement that I actually get to bring life in a world that takes so much of it.”

to bring life in a world that takes so much of it.

“That’s beautifully said, Selene. I am happy for the two of you, I hope your baby gets your curls.” You smiled, the conflicted feelings fading at the idea of Selene being a mother. You didn’t know her super well or anything, but you could tell she’d be a great mom.

“I sure hope so! Not Aaron’s bald patches.” She snorts and nudges your arm playfully.

You laugh, a genuine laugh.

When you two finally arrive at the dining hall, you were going to sit alone but she urged you to join Aaron and her. With a tray in your hands containing a bowl of stew, a piece of bread and a glass of tea, you sit down, your eyes scanning the room.

 Your stomach drops for a second when you see Joel sit at one of the tables, further down. He’s sitting with a girl, looks to be about 14? Joel is a dad? And he’s laughing? Well, it’s a minimal laugh, a tiny chuckle. But you’d never seen it before.

“Isn’t that Tommy’s brother?” You suddenly hear Selene cutting through your thoughts as she leans closer to you. Your eyes snap back to Selene.

“What’s his name?”

“Joel.” You say before stuffing your mouth with bread, not wanting to talk about him any further. Selene doesn’t seem to get that hint though.

“Joel. He’s cute.” Aaron shoots her a look, raising his brows as she said that. “Oh come on, I’m having your baby,” She mouths the word baby. “I’m not leaving you.” She whispers, laughing. He gets a bit red as his eyes shoot to you, not sure whether you knew.

“Yeah I told her.. As soon as I saw her. I actually couldn’t hold myself back. She practically guessed it.” Selene quickly says even though you didn’t even have the faintest suspicion of her being pregnant. You grin.

“So you and Joel? I’ve seen him around, always brooding.” Selene continues, smirking.

You exhale sharply, already over this conversation. “Absolutely not.”

Selene shoots a look back at Aaron before returning to you. “Why not?”

“’Cause he’s world’s biggest asshole, that’s why.”  

“Damn, what did he do to you?” Aaron says, intrigued.

“Yeah, spill. There’s not nearly enough gossip in this place.” Selene picks at her curls again.

You shoot them both a look. “I’m all for a little gossip but honestly, this man is just an asshole. I do repair jobs with him and let me tell ya, they are not fun.”

“You have to elaborate!! Come on, we’re super duper curious.” Selene nudges you.

You chuckle a bit, Selene reminded you of Lois in some way, they were completely different yet so the same. The way Selene rambled was the way Lois would ramble too.

 “It’s just that, he completely dismisses me. Thinks I’m some weak link that has no understanding of the world outside of these walls.” You start ranting.

“He acts like I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. Like I’m some clueless idiot who’s never set foot outside of a QZ or here. He doesn’t listen, doesn’t take me seriously. It’s like he’s already decided exactly who I am, and nothing I do or say changes that. I can tell him one thing, he does not have me figured out. And just—” You realize you’re rambling. “Sorry.” “Oh please, don’t apologize. He sounds like a real jerk.” Selene says, Aaron nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, and I may have been a real jerk to him too. So we’re not on the best of terms.”

Your thoughts go back to the man he killed and the look in his eyes afterwards. Your eyes glance back to Joel across the room. Your stomach drops when you see he was already looking at you. You quickly turn back to the table.

“Oi, you know who I say leaving Julian’s apartment this morning?” Selene grins widely, teeth baring. She’s tapping her hand on the table to get your attention.

“Who?” You can’t hide the smile that’s building on your face as your brows knit together in curiosity.

“Nevermind.. You’ll actually just never believe me.” She fakes looking frustrated as she sighs dramatically before the grin reappears on her face.

“Tell me!” You poke her.

“Okay okay, if you want to know that badly.” She comically rolls her eyes before slapping both hands on the table and leaning forward. “Sasha.” Selene covers her mouth with her hand as she giggles.

Sasha was one of the people who frequently worked at the Workshop, she was always annoyed and honestly, a real bitch. You remember the first time you made your way to the Workshop and asked for a notebook. She had looked you up and down and just scoffed as she walked off. You waited for 5 minutes before realizing she wasn’t going to bring you one. She weirded you out to say the least.

Julian on the other hand, was such a nice guy. He was around 42, fully grey hair and always laughed so loudly it would make anyone else laugh too. So the two of them together, is definitely surprising.

“You’re kidding???” You reply.

“No! I’m not! Aaron, you saw it too right??” She looks at Aaron, who’s just about to take a spoonful of stew. He nods. “Yeah only cause you dragged me out of bed to see that.” He says before eating.

“I actually couldn’t believe my freaking eyes!! How can miss grump fit with mr sunshine?!”

“You have such a way with words, Selene. But I agree. It’s like a perfect book trope.” You grin.

After dinner, you tell Selene and Aaron you’re taking a little stroll. Before you got up you had glanced over to where Joel was sitting but he and the girl had already left. You bring your tray back to the counter and make your way outside.

The stroll is nice. The sound of people chatting, kids playing, the lights on inside the house making you only see shadows of people through the curtains, the smell of campfires burning. You couldn’t believe you were at such a peaceful place. That was, until you were hit with a snowball. Right in the face.

“Jesus-“ Your hands wipe the snow out of your face. “Oh shit! I thought you were someone else!” A girls voice yells as you hear her coming closer.

You blink out the rest of the snow as your vision clears. It’s the girl Joel was sitting with.  You smile at her, feeling a tad awkward after being attacked with snow.

“It’s okay.” You’re about to start walking again before she speaks up.

“You gotta admit, that was a pretty good shot.” She laughs. You smile back at her. “Yeah great shot, thanks.” You chuckle.

 “I feel like I’ve seen you around.” Her eyes scan you.

“That’s possible.” “You’ve done repairs with Joel, yeah?” She asked but it was more of a statement.

“Yeah—I do actually. You’ve seen me with him or Joel tell you about me?” You asked, for some reason curious if the asshole had talked about you.

“Oh I’ve seen you two coming back, I sometimes wait at the gates around the time your job ends.”

Of course he hadn’t spoken about you, not that it mattered. “Right. Your Joel’s kid?”

She laughs and scoffs. “"Hell no. Do I look like I have his grumpy-ass genes?”

“No, you do not.” You chuckle.

“He’s something like that, not my dad though.”

“Ah.” You nod.

“I’m Ellie.” She looks you over.

You introduce yourself to her. “It’s nice to meet you-“ “Ellie? Christ, I was lookin’ for you.” A voice cuts in from behind you. Joel’s. Ellie’s eyes widen a bit.

“Shit, now my sneak attack didn’t fucking work!” She says.

Joel comes closer, before realizing who Ellie is talking to. You look at him as he stands next you. His brows pulled together a bit as he looks back at Ellie, not saying a word to you.

“I hit her in the face with a fucking snowball. My aim is crazy good, I thought you were coming round the corner but it was her-“ Ellie says, proud of her aim and also a bit apologetic about hitting you in the face. “Language.” Joel mutters.

“Right, I should get going. It was nice talking to you Ellie.” You smile shortly and start making way. That’s put to a halt when Joel suddenly grabs your arm. It’s a light grab. You shiver. Your head shoots back to him and he lets go.

“Y’still got my gloves.” He says, his voice gruff with a hint of irritation, his eyes not even meeting yours until he’s done talking.

“Oh right. I’ll get them to you, if you think I’m capable enough for that.”  You say flatly before walking off. Joel sighs sharply.

“Geez, what was that about?” Ellie snorts.

--

The next day you had made it your task to get the gloves back to Joel. Having to see him every Thursday was enough, so you really hadn’t looked forward to this.

It was early in the morning, you hadn’t really slept well. Rolling around in bed all night, thinking about the past never worked for a good night sleep. So as soon as it was a bit more of an appropriate time to drop by someone’s house, you made your way to Joel Miller’s place.

The town was quiet, a couple birds chirping in the distant and that fresh morning breeze blew through your hair. Mornings like these made the world feel at peace. You never thought you’d become a morning person as much as you are a night person, but nights grew more unsettling while the comfort of daylight made mornings provide a sense of safety.

Joel’s porch creaked under your boots as you debated just leaving the gloves by the door. That would be easier. Less talking. Less looking at his permanently scowling face. You were just about to set them down when the door suddenly swung open.

You barely had time to step back before Joel barreled into you, shutting the door behind him with his back to the world. He mutters a curse under his breath as he turns, his eyes widening slightly at the sight of you.

“Jesus Christ-“ He exhales sharply.

Your brows knitted together. “You don’t think to check if anyone might be on your porch?”

“You don’t think maybe I don’t expect anyone at the crack of dawn?” He shoots back as he looks at you, his usual frown on his face.

You’re quiet for a moment, he’s right. You are really early. After a moment you roll your eyes and press the gloves forward. “Returning your gloves.”

Joel glances at them, then back at you, like he’s debating whether this exchange is even worth his time. Finally, he reaches out and takes them. His fingers graze yours for just a second—just enough for your stomach to twist in frustration.

The way he looks at you, like you’re beneath him.

Joel just raises the gloves a bit before walking off the porch. “Yeah, thanks.” He mutters before walking off. Leaving you standing on his porch.

“You’re welcome, asshole.” You quietly mutter.

When it’s time for lunch, you decide to head into the dining hall with Selene. Aaron was on patrol so it was just a simple girls moment for the two of you.

“I can’t believe Joel just walked off like that! Maybe he’s just that into you that he gets all nervous and stuff.” Selene giggles.

“Right, that’s totally it. It’s not the fact I called him out on being a monster cause his loved one died.” You say, silencing Selene completely as she turns red. “Yeah.. Cold.. Maybe he’s not into you.” She quietly replies before taking a bite of her sandwich.

It didn’t take long for you to become close friends with Selene. She was a social butterfly and you like to think you also were one. So you quickly started confiding in each other, gossiping and chatting about anything and everything. The only thing you just kept to yourself was your past. She didn’t talk much about hers either, so you took it as a topic that was off limits for the both of you. You preferred it that way.

“I do regret saying it. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely despise how he behaved at the outpost. But still, I stooped down to his level. I acted cold and that’s just so unlike me.” You picked at the crust of your bread.

It was true, you regretted saying what you said. It took you a moment to understand how you could say such cruel things. You’ve always been really empathic but Joel had triggered memories of Dane. It made you want to be cold, it made you want to hurt him. To hurt Dane. To turn off the overflow of emotions. You did hate Joel though, no matter how much PTSD you had, the way he had handled the situation was awful.

“What’s done is done. Honestly, don’t even give it too much attention. He’s obviously an ass. Maybe it’s good he heard it from someone. He looks like the type of guy that doesn’t get a lot of back talk.” Selene says before taking a bite. “I know I’d be too scared to give him back talk.”

“You’re right. I’m going to go do the repair job Thursday, completely nail it, no pun intended and I’ll show him he can’t bother me!” You whip your hair as you laugh.

“Mhm, atta girl!” Selene chuckles.

--

As Thursday comes around, you’re ready and settled on your horse before he even arrived. You wanted to make sure there would be no possible reason for the two of you to speak unless it was absolutely necessary.

As the snow crunches below the hooves of your horses, sounds of birds chirping and the wind whistling was enough to fill the silence that you’d usually attempt to fill with your small talk. You had glanced over at Joel a couple of times, he’d be unreadable staring straight ahead.

It wasn’t often anymore that someone filled you with so much anger, it’s like every little thing he does ticks you off. The way he taps his heel against his horse every so often, the way he held the reins ever so slightly more to the left cause he knew the horse had a tendency to walk more to the right, and especially the way he always furrowed his brows. Always furrowing those damn brows.

“Quit starin’ at me.” He speaks up.

You blink, not realizing you had zoned out looking at him. “I wouldn’t dare.” You scoff as you roll your eyes.

You look ahead of you. The quiet really making you think. Yeah sure you’ve thought about apologizing to him. You’ve thought about it often, about how much you didn’t want to do it. He should apologize to you. The way he pulled the trigger so easily- the thought of it brings you shivers. That day just keeps replaying in your head, the gut dropping feeling you felt.

Lately everything has been reminding you of Dane and Lois and you blamed Joel for it. Hated him for it. Despised him the way he despised you. It worked out in your favor, making that cold remark to him that day. He obviously felt no need to see or speak to you more than obligated and neither did you.

As the two of you arrive at the outpost, you’re very displeased to see that the wall had caved in on the side. It takes everything in you to not grunt out loud. It’s worse than you thought—wood splintered, nails bent out of shape, snow from last night’s storm piled up against the debris.

“How did that even happen?” You exhale sharply. This meant you’d be on the job even longer.

“Christ if I know.” Joel murmers as he walks inside, he looks just as annoyed as you are.

“We need more wood,” you finally say, hating that you have to acknowledge him at all. “And nails. Probably some new support beams too.” You sounded like you actually knew what you were talking about. You felt a little proud cause of that.

That moment was shot down quickly though.

Joel lets out a humorless chuckle. “Real sharp observation.”

You glare at him. “You got a problem?”

“Nope.” He grabs an axe from the supply crate, inspecting the dull blade. “Just wonderin’ how long you’re gonna waste time statin’ the obvious before actually doin’ somethin’.”

Your blood boils. “Oh, I’m sorry, would you like me to just shut up and blindly follow your lead? ‘Cause we both know how well that worked last time.”

“Worked out just fine.” Joel replies before walking off toward the trees.

You stand there for a moment, fuming. The way he always had to have the last reply, or the better reply. If it was possible, there would be actual fire and steam coming out of you right now.

After an hour of working and not communicating, the only sound between you is the crack of splitting wood, the dull clang of nails being hammered in, and the occasional huff. The air is freezing, your breath visible as you work. Every muscle in your arms aches from chopping, lifting, and hammering.

And yet, somehow, the worst part is still him.

Your mind just keeps going back to last week. To that comment you made about his loved one. You hated him, you did. But it was just in your nature to apologize. It literally wasn’t you.

You decide to speak up, you part your lips to say something but it takes you a few more attempts to actually say something. “Hey um, about what I said last week-“

“Don’t.” Joel cuts you off, his voice sounding flat.

Your brows knit together a bit. “I just wanted to apolo-“

“Don’t.” He states firmly, leaving no room for arguing. You just blink a couple times, very confused why he’s not taking your apology. Did it hurt him that deeply? Surely other people must’ve said similar things right? This just makes you feel worse.

“Joel I am sorry about what I said. Don’t get me wrong, I hate what you did. But I’m still sorry.” You decided to push your apology further, not letting him shut you down like that.

It’s quiet for a moment, like Joel is unsure of how to respond. But when he turns to you, it’s obvious he’s bothered.

“I don’t care about your apology.” He turned to you. “Your words mean nothin’ to me.”  He said, it genuinely seeming as if he didn’t care, but you knew better. His response to it last week told you enough.   “Right, sure seemed that way.” You sigh, annoyed he can’t just take the apology.  

His eyes shoot to yours as you said that, he looks angry again.

“You just always have to have a big mouth on you, don’t you?” His voice raising slightly.

“Maybe you just can’t stand someone finally telling you how it is.” You step forward, if he wants to argue, that’s what he’ll get.

He chuckles dryly, shaking his head as he looks you up and down. “Yeah, that must be it.” His back towards you again, not engaging in this argument.

“Dickhead.” You mumble as you continue. His eyes glance towards you for a second, to make sure if you actually said it. He decides not to respond and just slightly shake his head.

Why can’t he just take the apology? He makes your blood boil. You wish you never took this stupid repair job, you literally volunteered to have fights with Joel Miller. The guy everyone moves out of the way for, the guy people rarely look in the eye. You weren't afraid, if you had something to say, he'll hear it.

[dollwhite]

𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇

𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠

P.s all works made by me, will be under the tag ‘dollings work’

ALSO my new theme for my blog is Blood rose <3 my blog will be changed on the first. If u were wondering?

Ik this doesn’t scream blood rose buttt close enough!!

I imagine posison ivy is like 30-35

Something you didn’t expect was your close friend poison ivy to call you. You two were very close even with her being 34 and you being 24.

A ten year age difference didn’t seem like a lot, and in reality it wasn’t.

As you answered the call, it felt like something was wrong. It HAD to be ivy, I mean you don’t really have many “close” friends. And you and your family were close but you guys didn’t just call each other on a regular. Unless it’s an emergency like a death in the family.

Plus you come from a small town on like the other side of the world. Your home town basically doesn’t have internet.

“Hello?..” you say the words flowing softly out of your lips.

“[ reader ] heyyy.. you know how about a month age, I did that big favor for you? And u said ‘ Oh Ivy I owe you big time!’” Your friend Ivy said her words coming out a little bit slowed which was a bit weird as she’s a normally fast speaker.

“Hiah..” a little chuckle came from over the phone, you could tell the person was a woman and that she was maybe over a feet away from Ivy. That was also strange Ivy only had a hand full of friends that she could count on one hand.

Now Red Robin was back in the batcave, and he was getting scolded.. All because he decided to check up in that stranger, he gets it he really does but.

Being grounded from patrol, In a huge villain attack?? What is Bruce thinking? It’s obvious he needs all the help he can get. He already has Superman on standby, maybe he also has the justice league?

Who knows.. who knows.

Now time for Tim to get looking for some info on this new stranger. It’s clear she just moved to Gotham, maybe a few weeks back? But that doesn’t matter because he’s going to find out.

Everything.

“Just like the seedd, I don’t know where to go.” A beautiful woman’s voice echoed across the room.

Startling Harley, “now what in the heck was that!”

“That my dear Harley, was my friend.” Poison ivy said. “Now come on, we have to hurry” she added.

Grabbing Harley by her hand, leading her to the cafeteria exit.

“I——what about the guards?” Now don’t get Harley confused, she loved going by the flow.

But Ivy was more of a ‘think now, do later’ type of person. And also she has other friends??

Why didn’t Harley know about her, or-them. Hey! Harley doesn’t judge, if you wanna be called a guy.

But if you look like a girl, she’s going to call you a guy!

“Through dirt and shadow, I grow. Just like the seed”

As they both were passing through the exit, Harley took notice of this weird acting guard.

Matter of fact, all the guards in the cafeteria were acting weird, and the other inmates as well.

Like they’re under some sort of trance? But whatever it was, she didn’t care as long as she gets to lease to your voice she’s good!

……………………………………………………………………

Yeah yeah ik, i have been gone for like what? A month at least. And I can’t promise you guys that I’m going to be posting more often, because we’ll school has fucking kicked the shit out of me, and I had a very difficult situation with two of my close friends. So in all life has been shity to me, this is an old drift I never got around to post, and I’m pretty sure you guys can tell. Cuz it’s low-key trash, because when I made this I was like what half a month of getting into writing. Also I have been spending my time in the hotd fandom! (My favorite characters are the Hightower siblings!) and I might try and writ for hotd, because it’s just interesting to me yk?

But I’m here to say that…. Idk when I’m going to be able to get my ass to write something for you guys! And I hope that you all don’t mind that, I’m also going to try and finish my drifts. Also ao3 has got my heart at the moment(no because there’s so much love for Alicent Hightower there🤭)

See you guys maybe never again! But um y’all known what y’all were going to be getting into when you fucking followed me! And I haven’t been that interested in the batfam, so I might not continue any of my stories on them…..

[daily-smol-silm]

Can you tell me more about Angbang children?

Absolutely! Sorry for taking so long!

Their names are Naira, Caurë, and Ormë, meaning something along the lines of Dreadful, Fear, and Wrath/Haste in Quenya, respectively.

I honestly don't think their parents would have named them in Quenya, but I was having a hard time finding a decent-sized corpus of Black Speech, and I'm the most familiar with Quenya anyway. I reconcile this by saying that this is what the Noldor might have called them, as they might have been vaguely aware of three energetic Ainu children running around in the North? But that's very much so a band-aid on the larger problem of Their Names Should Not Be In Quenya Anyway. I imagine, if the Noldor had names for them, then the Sindar would also have had names for them, and because Sindarin seems to be much more common than Quenya in the 3rd age most historical records would have been in that language, meaning that the triplet's translated names would have been in Sindarin, or at very least sindarized.... Which I honestly just can't be bothered to do anytime soon? So tldr for this section, their names are weird for who they are, and I don't really have a good explanation for that.

Also, the words Naira, Caurë, and Ormë are mostly nouns straight from a dictionary, and from what I understand might not be typical for names? I think that if they were to be more name-like, their forms would be Nairien, Cauwë, and Ormendil. Maybe. Something like that. However, I like using the first versions, mostly because they feel more like concepts and less like oddly named elves. They're the children of Melkor and Mairon. Morgoth and Sauron. They may be tiny and cute but they also have a much more primordial, elemental side to them, where each represents a certain aspect of Melkor and Mairon's effects on Arda. Ormë represents the hastiness and careless destruction of war. Naira represents the pointed cruelty of both of her fathers. Caurë represents the all-encompassing, blanketing fear that Angband spreads as a shadow in the North. Especially to the Noldor, who wouldn't have known them as Mairon and Melkor's sweet little babies. These three may be small and grow slow, (I'll get to that later), but, to anyone outside of their very niche family circle, they're going to be absolute terrors. Anyway...

Naira is the angbaby who resembles Mairon, her Maia dad, the most. She's pointed and tactical, and is frequently a ringleader amongst her two other siblings. She adores mathematics and architecture (you know, normal toddler* things), and also likes following Mairon down to the dungeons and torture rooms. She finds blood and screaming to be very funny. If she's crying, all her parents have to do to cheer her up is show her the tormented faces of elven thralls. (Again, very normal toddler* things).

Naira's fána, unsurprisingly, matches Mairon's the most, although it's never quite stable. Nor does it have a consistent number of eyes. Typically, she's a being of glowing, corporeal flame, with uncountable teeth and gleaming irises orderly lined along her fiery hair.

Also, Mairon likes to dress her up, much to her chagrin. She just looks so much like him! How could he not? She's always following him around or sitting on his shoulders anyway, and a Maia can only listen to "Why?" so many times before he has to react.

Seriously, though. Naira has too many outfits. She's barely a century old, Mairon, she doesn't need all that decorative armor. (Although she does prefer the armor to the frilly stuff. In a game of make-believe, she's always the one to play the fearsome knights and valiant generals).

Ormë is the triplet who resembles Melkor, his Vala dad, the most, taking after his chaotic nature and frustration with stuff like rules and planning. Ormë is the one to come up with extravagant, rube-goldberg style plans for him or his siblings to act upon, most of which don't turn out as intended. There have been multiple times when he's tried to sneak into places he isn't allowed, only to grow careless and be caught by someone who, horror of horrors, enforces rules.

Strangely enough, Ormë ADORES water. He's almost like a little Ossë, in the way that he loves seeking out sources of water and becoming an absolute monster for anyone also trying to access that water. If Angband were by the Sea, Ormë would be living, eating, and sleeping in the ocean. His dads wouldn't let him, as neither of them are a fan of water OR the Ainur who live in the sea. But a kid can dream. Actually, on that note, his parents have joked about Ormë being a lost child of Ossë and Uinen's, just because of how sea-and-storm oriented he seems. But in all actuality, Ormë just has a really uncommon interest for a child of Melmai.

Since Ormë is most like Melkor, he typically follows him around the most. He's also the one who invented the concept of jungle-gym dad, where the babies try to scale Melkor like a climbing tree. Don't worry, even though Melkor does have his injuries from the Fingolfin fight, the tinies are very, very light.

Ormë's fána is more solid than Naira's, although he often enjoys taking the form of storms and whirlwinds when he can get away with it. Typically, he looks like a bipedal cross between a dragon and a sea serpent. In his most humanoid form, he still has shiny, bluish-green scales and a spiky tail.

Caurë is the child who doesn't distinctly take after either of their parents. They're seemingly calm and quiet, often preferring to play on their own. They like shiny things, and Mairon often leaves his jewelry box open for them to play with. (Strangely, quite a bit of Mairon's jewelry has disappeared since Caurë started playing with it. I wonder why).

Cau often gets overwhelmed by their loud siblings, and sometimes needs to go in another room while they're playing. When that happens, they usually go to Mairon, who keeps a stash of paper and charcoal in his desk. They like drawing and coloring, and Mairon has been teaching them the basics of 3d shapes and light to foster their creativity. (And curiosity. Caurë is almost as bad as Naira when it comes to "Why??")

When they do get involved with their sibling's schemes, Caurë is usually the one to actually pull things off. Like theft. If there's one thing it's certain that Cau inherited, it's Melkor's kleptomania. They're stealthy and unassuming, so they make for the perfect burglar. They've even found a stone that comes out of the walls, that, with careful arrangement, becomes the perfect place to hide their stash of stolen goods. Mostly Mairon's jewelry and random shiny rocks. Sometimes their siblings get them to hide snacks in there, too, although they're very particular on getting them out of there as soon as possible. (And no, you can't hide decomposing skulls in the walls, they'll get too much gunk on the metal. Naira).

Caurë also suffers from frequent nightmares, some of which can be rather disturbing, even to their parents. The way they know this is that oftentimes, when Caurë has a nightmare, Melkor or Mairon will have the same nightmare at the same time. Those nights typically end in Caurë sleeping in their parent's bed, because no kid should go through those alone.

Caurë's fána never really changes, and for the most part represents a porcelain doll or a rather opaque ghost with pinkish-to-red irises. They're very pale, and their hair is long and white.

As I've alluded to before, these three are triplets, and so were "born" (heavy quotations because it's weird), at the same time, sometime shortly after Melkor fought Fingolfin. I say "born" in quotes because I kind of stole part of an idea from @melkor-did-nothing-wrong , where the baby Ainur were essentially all ëalar, and formed their fánar after they split from that of their parents. I messed with the concept a little more, and basically came up with... this.

So essentially, what I think happened was this: (I say I think, mostly because this gets into AU territory and I really don't have a solid AU idea). After Melkor returned from his imprisonment in Valinor, his physical hands are severely burned, and so is the stuff of his soul, pretty much in the same fashion that the Silmarils burned his hands. It hurts, and Mairon tries to heal, or at least lessen, the pain by using his own spirit to fill the places where bits of Melkor's soul were charred off by the Silmarils. (Fully going with the "Silmarils burnt Melkor's soul not just his body" idea here). In the process, both of their ëalar wound up overlapping, and since I imagine that's just generally nice for those Ainur who trust each other deeply to do, they just kept doing it. They'd also have times when they would let their spirits mix and overlap and mingle, just because they could. It alleviated quite a bit of Melkor's pain, and let them comfort and communicate with each other better than osanwë ever could. The thing is, just like how when you mix two different colors of paint, or of light, you get a different color, the combination of Melkor and Mairon's souls kind of started to... I dunno, take on an identity of its own? Not really, because it didn't take over Melkor and Mairon themselves, but there was still something there. And the more they were together, the more it started to stick around, almost like how if you look at one color for too long, a negative of it will be burned into your vision for a little while. Only it didn't go away. Sooner than later, Melkor and Mairon started to notice that each of them seemed to have slightly more souls than usual. And as time went on, they became more and more defined. Almost like how one theory as to how planets formed involves clumps of matter being drawn together, and then slowly becoming more solid as they increase in gravity? Something like that, although I probably explained the planet thing pretty badly. At that point, it became rather obvious that there was more than one.

The "birth" of these three was probably more akin to them finally growing too well-defined to rely completely on their parents, opting to tear themselves away in order to form their own fánar. And they were small. As in, kangaroo baby small. Even though technically they were strong enough as spirits to create their own bodies, it was kind of the bare minimum needed to hold them together. Baby Ainur, it turns out, are tiny, delicate, and need a lot of sleep.

(Side note, even though these are triplets, I don't imagine they were all developing with the same parent. They probably were at first, before they became well-defined as three separate entities, but as they grew I imagine at least one of them decided to latch onto the other instead. Specifically Naira leaving the comfort of Melkor's ëala for Mairon's. Melkor probably wasn't having that great a time trying to sustain three other souls, especially while also being injured. Poor guy D:

Also, the mechanics behind how they were actually conceived are another idea I stole from melkor-did-nothing-wrong. Particularly the metaphor about blending colors. What can I say, she has good ideas. And I REALLY didn't know how else to make this work 😅)

Oh, and about the age thing: Melkor and Mairon's kids age amazingly slowly. Since they're Ainur, and baby Ainur at that, I figured there wouldn't be all that much precedent for how their life cycle works. So, essentially, my headcanon is that their childhood consists of mostly growing their spirits in strength, meaning that they need to eat, sleep, and learn a lot over a very long period of time. For the most part, I don't imagine that adult Ainur need to meet that many basic needs, (except for learning/creating things, that's probably important throughout all their lives), but baby Ainur, who are still bordering on wisps in the wind and don't quite know how to sustain themselves yet, have most of the basic needs of mortal children.

I might have forgotten something, so if I remember I'll put it in the replies. Thank you for asking!!! And I hope this wasn't too incoherent, I finished typing this at 12:30 AM :P

[sieglinde-freud]

What do you think Awakening Trio’s spouses call them once they’re back in Ylisse?

hi anon!! thank you so much for the ask 🩷 thats a good question… honestly i think it depends both on which member of the awakening trio it is and also who their spouse is? under cut because i ended up writing a LOT sorry 😭

normally when i think about post-fates awakening trio, im thinking about my preferred pairings for all of them (lucisev, lasnyx, azuodin) and so for all of those i generally tend towards their original names? i think that inigo, sentimental as he is, would prefer his original name regardless of spouse, honestly. whether or not that’s nyx doesn’t exactly change that for me, when i really think about it. maybe if he stayed in nohr, like with xander (when it comes to xanlow im not sure if i prefer them staying or leaving? both sexy… both sad…) he might just suck it up but i think he prefers inigo.

for owain, though, i think it depends! for him with azura specifically, i think they would go with calling him owain, because 1) i think he realizes that azura needs space from everything in nohrshido and a ylissean name as opposed to a nohrian one is already a huge help with that and 2) its HIS name and he holds a lot of value in that! but on that second point, the weird thing about owain is that hes actually… super down with changing his name. its odd at first, but unlike someone like laslow who’s kind of in this feeling of limbo with the identity change, odin kinda jumps at it and uses the change in name to help more strictly define his persona as the “legendary hero of darkness” aching blood and twitching hands thing he’s got going on. not only that, but wheras owain’s identity is already cemented in being the second (or third if lucina has a sibling. yikes!) prince of ylisse who’s pushed to the side in favor of his “better” or “stronger” family members, odin gets to choose what and who he is. and so, i think owain is really just. it depends, because even with all that said, owain is still the name he got from his mom, and it’s the name that saw him through hell and back! i think if he were like with niles or beruka, he’d take owain. if he were with like, charlotte or elise, he’d take odin. i think his relationships and how they come about would definitely influence his pick.

for severa… well, like i said, my favorite pick for her is lucina (oohhh u wanna pine for your lost love while in another world soooo bad ooohhhhh) and so, when she comes back, because lucina has known severa forever, i think she just goes with that. HOWEVER. if she brings back a nohrshido spouse… i think she’d like to stick with selena. she’s in a very similar spot that owain was in in terms of using the name change as a new identity, but unlike owain, she just… goes for it. no reservations, no errors, she dumps severa behind and immediately falls into her role as selena and i think she’s much happier for it. i think for her, severa was too much trapped in the shadow of her past and her mother, so once she’s given the opportunity to become selena, that all just kinda… falls away. not that it doesn’t affect her anymore—it does! in her supports with like, subaki, for example, her mother and her insecurities are still there. and her supports with odin show she does still long for her home, but i also think that she’s a lot better at realizing that, despite everything, you can’t actually go back to the past and fix how fucked up the three of them are, and being stuck in that grief isn’t worth much to her! so she accepts selena and everything that comes with that identity. and once she’s in ylisse again, just because she’s home, it doesn’t mean she’s going back. now that she’s experienced what it’s like to be able to step out of everything that’s restricted her for so long, like her name that attaches her too much to her mom, i think she wouldn’t mind keeping selena. in private, and especially if her spouse is like, lucina or inigo or owain or noire or laurent, maybe she wouldn’t mind hearing severa every now and then. but publically (and probably legally. #paperwork) she’s selena for the rest of time. also i do hc that even if her spouse is ylissean, she just kinda falls back into mercenary work, so. professionally also, she’s def known as selena. she said FUCK that old name im not going back. cordelia calls her severa though.

[gossamersingularity]

found the most cursed autism mom coffee table on marketplace. the amount of effort that must have been put into this blows my mind.

nightmare scenario: your friends come over after school to play yugioh but you have to play in a common space in case your mom decides that your friends are bullying you and you need rescuing.

the only surface available to play on is the autism table.

you try to suggest playing on the floor, but floor time has been banned because your mom thinks that engaging in any behavior that can be seen as autistic means you'll never be able to socialize properly and you'll be a pariah, forever.

so you and your friends sit around the autism table, and they're being so nice. they laugh that "wow this is uncomfortable" laugh and make a whispered comment about how your mom is really something, to put you at ease.

before you can even play a single game, your mom goes into a tirade about how autistic people are people too, even if they're weird and uncomfortable, or they can't do what us normal people can do, and how it's not nice to whisper because autistic people have auditory processing issues so they can't understand you unless you speak slower and at a slighter louder volume than normal!

your mother doesn't realize the power hidden inside of the cards. your friends look from side to side exchanging questioning glances, before they all look at you for approval. you let out a sigh and give them a short nod of the head, and it is done. your mother has been sent to the shadow realm and the autism table has been given up to dark forces as payment.

then you lose every game because it turns out you're a different kind of autistic and you're horrible at deck builders. your friends laugh at how bad you are, but it's good-natured, and one of them offers to take you under her wing and show you the ropes. you spend long nights playing yugioh on the floor with her. your father doesn't ever notice that your mother, or the table, is missing.

life goes on.

over time the two of you—through a shared interest in the magic of the cards—fall in love. you're older now, and you've both become infamous in the underground yugioh scene. the kind of people you hang out with now are always pointing out how autistic you are, but in that sweet affectionate way that makes your heart sing.

and you meet others like you. they're quiet, or brash, or they can't stop talking, or they're sweet, or annoying, or they can't stop moving, or singing, or tapping. you don't get along with all of them, but they all see you for you, and you for them. and through them, you learn darker, more esoteric secrets from the cards.

until it all goes wrong.

you still don't know how it happened. but one minute your mentor turned lover turned sister was sitting around the cards, hand in yours, and the next…gone. you can smell the shadow realm in the air; it smells of fermentation and ozone and wilted gardenias.

and that's all you can smell as you start awake, to find yourself in a bed you don't recognize. minute by minute your life—your old life?—is becoming foggier, like someone is smearing grease over the window of your cognition.

was none of it real? was it all just a dream?

the table. the fucking autism table. it glows ominously from the corner of your room, and with a sickening feeling, you notice there's a new puzzle piece embedded in the resin. you walk over to the table—mother doesn't let you crawl any more—and the blood drains from your face as you see your sister's haunting visage rendered on the puzzle piece. she stares with a wordless scream, her hands outstretched. there's a single card on the table, and a knife from the kitchen: [[Exchange]]

you know exactly what has to be done. you steel yourself, grasp the knife in your shaking hand, and walk off towards the chiding voice of your mother wondering why you aren't out of bed yet. your mother apparently never learned the lesson…sisters always know best.

[eddathegreat]

Worm and Ward and Familiarity

I saw a really great analysis of Worm working with tropes while Ward works against them by @greatwyrmgold, and it reminded me of a more general contrast that I noted:

Worm is coming from a very familiar place and being pulled out of that. The Undersiders have fairly relatable experiences (on average). Poverty, bullying, neglect and abuse by guardians. I'd argue that, as extreme as Alec's experience is, it would resonate with many who have dealt with indoctrination in their youth (like me). Brockton Bay is a city on economic decline, struggling to stay afloat, and afflicted with violent crime. There's superpowers thrown in, sure, but it's fundamentally very familiar human shittiness and problems that drive a lot of the story.

The powers are definitely weird and creative, but it's still unmistakably a superhero story. Bugs, darkness, flight and strength and durability, contact biokinesis. Superheroes and supervillains in costumes fighting each other, hijinks and blood loss.

Except that there's Endbringers, and Echidna, and Cauldron, and Scion. The culmination of the story is peeling back the mask of a familiar superhero setting to reveal a cosmic horror story.

Ward is set in the aftermath of that.

There's a massive megacity that still doesn't have a name. It's basically a country, but it's led by a mayor. Infrastructure is just barely there, lots of people are still living in tents, the internet is just barely running and not everywhere. People with superpowers are no longer just superheroes and supervillains, they're... what, exactly? So many threats that were once contained are now running free, the ratio of normal territory to gonzo hellscapes has been turned on its head. The skyline is torn apart by portals to other worlds, and it's fucking with the weather. There's a political movement against people with superpowers, and there are people affected by superpowers with their own identity, and both of those groups are very conspicuous in how hard it is to treat them as an analogy for any other groups. People are estranged from their own environment, and it's a brave, terrible new world in the shadow of a slain god.

The superpowers are less straightforward. Being unable to be pointed at, impregnation tentacles that fuck with the effectiveness of other powers, lots of cluster triggers and grab-bags, etc. The powers are more obviously reflective of the cosmic horror story people have had to wake up to, unfamiliar, weird, and deeply upsetting.

The characters are also pretty dang weird. Rain is a lot like Alec, and I think he might actually be the most normal of the bunch. Body dysphoria+, sharing a body with a sibling, attachment issues, living as a clone or as a sort-of clone. Not totally unrelatable, to be sure, there are parallels with real life experiences, but these are more their own thing, not so recognizable.

This makes Victoria kind of the perfect protagonist, matching the themes: she's estranged from who she was and her old connections; her home city is gone; she's gone through something absolutely mind-bendingly terrible that is among the worst that people can experience IRL and then some; her power has changed; she was raised into the weirdness of superheroics and is pioneering how it looks in this new world; she's knowledgeable about the weirdness surrounding powers, giving her a good eye for understanding the new world.

I think a decent fraction of Ward's relative unpopularity sadly comes from this: estrangement from the once familiar. The characters can't be related to as easily, the powers aren't so iconic, and the setting feels undefined. I don't think Ward is inherently worse for it, it's just a bit of a tougher sell.

[ruru195]

What if bendy and boris met mugman and cupheads father black hat

ohh that will be an intense meeting......

The Meeting

The manor loomed ahead like a haunted cathedral. Its spires stabbed the gray clouds above, and the wrought-iron gates creaked like they hadn’t been opened in years. Cuphead stared at it like a soldier going to war.

“Alright,” he muttered, fixing his collar. “Just act normal. Say ‘yes, sir.’ Don’t mention the blood wine. Or the hellfire chandelier. Or the painting that screams.”

“I feel like I shouldn’t be here,” Boris said quietly, adjusting his suspenders and brushing invisible dust off his fur. “What if I say something weird?”

“Boris,” Mugman put a hand on his shoulder, “you’re literally the nicest person alive. My dad’s scary, not heartless.”

Cuphead coughed. “He might be heartless.”

Bendy snorted. “He’s definitely heartless.”

That’s when the front doors creaked open.

They were led through the cold halls. The shadows seemed to follow them. Even the candles burned a little too dark. And then—they reached the drawing room.

Black Hat was already standing. Tall. Impeccably dressed. A living void in the shape of a man. His eyes, glowing red, locked first onto Cuphead and Mugman, his sons. A faint nod.

Then… Bendy.

Bendy, ever the showman, tried to smile, but his voice was gentler than usual. “Uh… Bendy, sir. I’m—Cuphead’s boyfriend.”

A long pause. Black Hat blinked. Slowly.

Then Boris stepped forward, big hands clasped nervously in front of him. “Hi, sir. I’m Boris. Mugman’s best friend.”

Black Hat’s gaze shifted. Red eyes narrowed. He didn’t speak. He just stared at Boris. The wolf offered a shy, lopsided smile in return.

A demon, Black Hat mused. At least you know where they stand. But this one… the wolf… Too nice. Too quiet. Too good. No one’s that pure without hiding something.

He said nothing. Simply turned, poured himself a glass of wine, and stood by the fire. The tension thickened.

Bendy shifted uncomfortably. “Sir, I—really love your son. I know I’m not what most parents dream of—”

“I wouldn’t dream of anything,” Black Hat cut in coldly.

Cuphead flinched.

Bendy swallowed. “Right. Well… even so, I love him. I’d never hurt him.”

Black Hat didn’t answer. He turned to Boris next, who hadn’t moved, still patiently smiling.

“I don’t quite understand,” Black Hat finally said. “You’re just… friends?”

“Yes, sir,” Boris nodded. “Best friends. I’d do anything for Mugman. He means the world to me.”

Black Hat hummed.

Too soft. Too sincere. Either he’s an angel, or the best liar I’ve ever seen.

He turned, walked back to his chair, and sat. Then, out of nowhere, he spoke again:

“Fine. I’ll give you both the benefit of the doubt. For now.”

Cuphead and Mugman blinked.

Bendy relaxed, but only a little.

Boris tilted his head. “So... we’re okay?”

Black Hat took a sip of wine. “I didn’t say that.”

Later that night, Black Hat stood alone in his study, staring into the fire.

A demon and a wolf. My sons… always collecting strays. But perhaps… they’ve chosen well.

Still... if either of them break their hearts...

I’ll make the void look like paradise.

[astarionbraiinrot]

Last Call

Chapter 2: Awareness

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The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.

– Nathaniel Branden

          He can’t breathe. He doesn’t actually need to breathe, strictly speaking, but he’s a little too occupied with panicking right now to remember vampire facts. Jaheira was still talking, her voice muffled and far away, as if she were under water. Or as if he were. Maybe that’s it. He’s somehow fallen into the harbor and he’s drowning and the lack of oxygen has caused him to hallucinate and any moment now he’s going to come to on the docks coughing up seawater to find that the last five minutes was all a dream and they’d all have a good laugh about how ridiculous this is.

          Any minute now.

          Aaaannnnyyyy minute now…

          He feels Tav squeeze his hand, and that’s enough to ground him back in reality, his awareness surfacing from the churning sea of his mind. He’s sat next to Tav, on their bed in the Elfsong Tavern, Jaheira in front of them sitting on a stool she’s pulled from somewhere, both of them looking at him as if he’s the one being weird right now. Tav’s thanking her for her help, saying that they’ll come find her later to talk more once they’ve had a chance to digest the news. Jaheira responds, but he doesn’t hear it, the words sliding over his mind and dripping away like oil. He does note the look of fond exasperation on her face, though, blinking owlishly at her as she pats him on the shoulder before turning and walking away.

          Tav’s still holding his hand. Reminding him that he’s real. Right. And this is real.

          And that entire conversation was real.

          Oh.

          Hells.

Deep breath in. Hold. Exhale. Again. Do not, under any circumstances, pass out. He has enough to deal with right now, and he should probably say something, right? Or at least check if Tav would like to have first turn at freaking out before he gets too deep into it. Courtesy and all that.

          Considering the darkness creeping into his peripheral vision, though, he doesn’t think he’s going to get much of a choice in the matter.

          Another breath in. Hold. Count to four. Exhale. Keep your fucking shit together.

          Focus. Breathe. Count the spaces where his heartbeat should be. Don’t think about the heat crawling up his neck, the ringing in his ears. Ignore the tingling in his face and hands. That could be a symptom of anything. He’s dead, he probably has circulation issues.

          …

          Nope. He’s definitely going down.

          Well fuck.

          He thinks he maybe manages to also express that thought verbally, before the dark water finally closes over his head and he doesn’t think anything else at all.

          How embarrassing.

── ･✩*₊˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖₊*✩･ ──

          It wasn’t as if all the signs weren’t there. In hindsight, it was… glaringly obvious. But really, who jumps straight to “We’ve achieved the impossible and we didn’t even try” instead of any of the other perfectly reasonable explanations available?

          It had started with Tav’s blood tasting different. Not bad, just… different. He’d mentioned the change to her offhand, but they’d brushed it off as an environmental effect of journeying through the Shadow-Cursed Lands and put it out of their minds because they had bigger things to worry about.

          Then Tav had been a little more fatigued, moving just a little slower than normal. But a month of fighting wraiths and monsters and Shar’s darkness had had them all in a state of perpetual exhaustion. No one was sleeping well, the cold settling into their bones a little deeper each day, and the shrieks of passing horrors interrupting what little rest they did get. Everyone was constantly hungry. Even Halsin had started to look a little gaunt. The curse had rotted most of their provisions within the first few days of entering the shadows, leaving the mortals in their group subsisting on smaller and smaller portions of whatever dried rations could be muddled together into an ever-thinner soup, and him with only an occasional swallow of blood whenever Tav (and some of the others once things got desperate enough) could spare it.

          He'd stopped drinking from Tav entirely when she’d started suffering occasional bouts of illness. She’d insisted she was fine, and that he needed to eat, had blamed the nausea and intermittent vomiting on the stress and environmentally-enforced starvation diet. But he’d put his foot down after the first night he’d been able to count her ribs from across the tent as she changed out of her day clothes. The discussion had gotten a little heated for a bit, but everyone had been short-tempered lately, all of them tired and irritable after weeks in the darkness. Tav had even snapped quite viciously at poor Wyll the day prior over an ill-timed joke, surprising them all with such an out of character outburst. Though, she’d also immediately apologized, then teared up when Wyll had good-naturedly offered a hand in forgiveness, which was much more typical for her.

          They had eventually stumbled onto Last Light Inn, but it hadn’t really improved the situation all that much. Between the Harpers, the Fists, the refugees, and now their own party, there were still just too many mouths to feed for anyone to end the day with a full stomach. And Tav, bleeding heart that she was, was giving half her rations to the Tiefling kids whenever he wasn’t looking. On top of that, a constantly growing list of mysteries to solve, quests to complete, and people to kill, plus Tav’s continuing struggle with her own mysterious darkness, meant they were all still passing on sleep more often than not, stretching themselves as thin as possible and pushing themselves to the breaking point in order to be everywhere at once.

          Suffice to say, no one was looking or feeling their best when it came time to face Myrkul’s Chosen in the Mindflayer colony.

          Tav had noted a missed monthly during their time traipsing through the shadows, and then a second while they were on the road between Reithwin and Baldur’s Gate, but she’d explained it away as a common occurrence, her body likely not being able to spare the resources after nearly six months of constantly battling rough terrain, extreme weather, monsters, cultists, food rationing, stress, and, oh yes, brain worms. And while he was, as a rule, ready and willing to be argumentative about anything at any time, he was also smart enough to recognize that this was one topic where he should probably keep his opinions to himself if he didn’t want to spend the night bunking with Gale.

          The nausea and fatigue had continued though, along with a few random bouts of dizziness, despite everyone starting to fill out and look a little more lively again with the resumption of regular meals and full nights of rest. But then they’d finally made it to the outskirts of Rivington, and Githyanki were flooding their camp, and their Dream Guardian was a damned Mindflayer who was keeping a lost Gith prince captive, and things got very busy very quickly.

          The next couple weeks went by in a blur, mission after quest after life-altering-event piling up faster than he could blink. Exploding toys. The circus. The Gur. His siblings at Fraygo’s. Gortash’s coronation. Permanently breaking Wyll’s pact. Rescuing Florrick. Finding Minsc. His siblings’ kidnapping attempt. Killing Lorroakan. Stealing the Crown of Karsus. Killing Cazador. Releasing the other spawn. Celebrating his newfound freedom on his grave. Orin kidnapping Yenna. Infiltrating Bhaal’s temple. Confronting Orin. Tav and Orin in single combat. Tav winning. Tav denying Bhaal. Tav floating in the air as Bhaal reclaimed his blood.

          Tav’s limp body hitting the floor with a sickening wet thump.

          Tav’s body so still, too still, sightless eyes staring up at nothing, devoid of light.

          Silence where her heartbeat should be.

          His world coming to a grinding halt.

          A heartrending scream that he will only later realize came from him. Running to her. His legs giving out. The force of his knees hitting the stone floor next to her. Tears streaming, hands holding her face, begging her to look at him, Please, Darling, just look at me, don’t do this, not now, you’re okay, don’t do this! Holding her as he screamed, cried, demanded, begged, prayed for someone, anyone, to bring her back. Because this couldn’t be happening. Because they had fought gods to get here. Because they were both free now and they were supposed to have an entire life together. Because just three days ago they’d stood on his grave and he’d finally been able to tell her he loved her and he’d meant it and it wasn’t fair it wasn’t fucking fair!

          A gentle hand on his shoulder (Wyll?) trying to pull him away. A gruff voice and strong arms (Lae’zel) wrestling him kicking and screaming away from the only person he’d ever truly cared for. A sturdy, warm body (Karlach) wrapping around him and holding him still, choking out soothing noises through her own tears as she forcefully turns him to face the center of the dais where Tav’s corpse oh gods her corpse lay in a pool of her own rapidly-cooling blood.

          He freezes as his eyes land on Withers, slowly circling Tav’s body. Seethes as he labels her godless, faithless, doomed to an eternity lost in the Fugue Plain. Despairs when he states that this is the will of the divine cosmology.

          But then Withers declares he will not permit it, and the tiniest flame of hope flickers to life in his chest as Withers commands her to rise, as a rush of power sucks the air from the temple, like an inhale shaking dust from ancient bones. And then a release, an exhale, and he almost doesn’t dare to believe his ears when he hears Tav’s heart restart with a stutter and an echo as she rolls on her side, coughing and gasping as air once again fills her lungs. He watches as she pulls herself to her knees, as Withers confirms she is forever free of Bhaal’s influence, as he talks of new life created because she had remade herself into something Bhaal couldn’t recognize, as she accepts his charge to finish their mission. And then she turns her head to look at their group, her eyes meeting his, and without a thought he’s slipping free of Karlach’s hold and running to her, stumbling, all but tackling her in his haste to confirm for himself that she’s here and real and alive.

          Tired, bloody, and beat to hell, their party had exited the sewers after leaving Bhaal’s temple and slowly made their way back to the Elfsong, Halsin carrying an exhausted and still-sniffling Yenna and Astarion supporting Tav. They’d all but collapsed into their bed that night, wrapped up tightly in each other, and he’d drifted off to the comforting sound of Tav’s heart beating loudly in his ear with that faint little echo that had been present since she’d been revived.

          The next day, the party had left to venture beneath Wyrm’s Rock in search of Ansur, leaving himself, Tav, and Jaheira behind after Shadowheart had threatened to tie Tav to the bed if she didn’t take a day off to recover. A wise move, as Tav had then spent the better part of the day white-knuckling her way through bouts of vertigo every time she stood up. She’d finally relented to his perfectly valid concerns (“fussing,” she’d called it) when he’d mentioned that persistent echo to her heartbeat, and had gone to Jaheira for more healing.

          Jaheira had had him help Tav to bed, performing a few diagnostic spells before informing them that Tav was a little dehydrated and undernourished, low on calcium, and mildly anemic. All things that were easily treatable with some dietary changes and a few potions, and perfectly normal for someone who was roughly three months pregnant with a Dhampir.

          Which was right around when his lungs stopped working.

── ･✩*₊˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖₊*✩･ ──

          The first thing he’d registered upon his return to consciousness was Tav calling his name. The second thing was her hands, warm, one on his chest and the other gently tapping his cheek. The third thing was the heat in his ears as all the blood in his body from his last meal rushed to, presumably, turn them bright red.

          Because he’d fucking fainted like some delicate, swooning, Upper City damsel.

          Oh, he was never going to live this down.

          After insisting to Tav that, yes, he was fine, and then confirming that Tav was also fine and was already feeling a little better after consuming some sort of herbal tea Jaheira had made, he steeled himself for what was possibly going to be the most difficult task they’d ever faced:

          A truly honest and in-depth conversation about their feelings and what the hells they were supposed to do now.

          It was… not an easy conversation, and certainly wasn’t helped by the fact that neither of them had ever needed to cultivate long-term planning as a skill. You don’t exactly need to have a five-year plan in mind when your future is effectively limited to “continue being a slave” and “keep doing murder,” respectively. They’d eventually resorted to making a pros and cons list, but they’d managed to at least come to a consensus on what seemed to be the most pressing issues.

Did they want to have a baby?  Uncertain – As far as either of them had known, it wasn’t an option, and therefore they’d never thought about it.

Did they want to have this baby?  After a lot more discussion… yes. They may not have planned on it, but now that the opportunity was on the table – their only opportunity – neither of them wanted to pass it up.

Could they actually raise a child?  Probably. Assuming they survived the whole Mindflayer Invasion thing, that is. Which felt like it was really the best answer anyone in their position could give. Even after divvying up the group’s total wealth, their share would be more than enough money for a home and whatever supplies a baby needed. They’d very likely never need to work again if they didn’t want to, which was great considering that “Magistrate 200 years out of practice” and “former serial killer” didn’t make for the most competitive resumes. Plus, they’d have help from their friends, all of whom were terminally nosey and just shy of unhealthily enmeshed in each other’s lives, which was basically what a family was, right?

          Decision made, they then had to ask themselves the next most important question: Should they tell the rest of the team? After a long back and forth, they decided it was best kept a secret until after they’d dealt with the brain. Like it or not, they needed everyone fighting if there was going to be any chance of success, so there was no way Tav could sit out. Everyone else knowing would just distract them, so for the safety of the mission and everyone involved, they’d need to keep it to themselves for now, with the exception of Jaheira, who already knew, and Halsin, who Astarion insisted on since it would mean an extra healer available to assist if something went wrong, and Halsin wasn’t prone to gossip.

          That done, they’d filled Jaheira in on the plan, and she’d walked them through what she knew of the differences between regular and Dhampiric pregnancies, which was unfortunately rather limited information considering the rarity, but she’d promised to help them as much as she could.

          With everything as settled as it could be for the moment, Tav had returned to bed for more rest. He’d intended to go with her, but she’d pushed him right back out of the bed, insisting he go for a hunt and “run off the nerves before he tied himself in a knot” He decided to let her win this one, so with a kiss to her cheek, he made his way to the forest just outside of Rivington, where he spent the next several hours indulging his baser instincts and enacting a bit of violent population reduction on the local wildlife.

          When he returned to their suite later that evening, a little less unhinged and a lot more blood-drunk, he’d crawled into bed and settled himself with his ear just over Tav’s lower abdomen. He’d soaked in the sound of that persistent little echo – his child’s heartbeat – gently tapping out the rhythm on Tav’s hip until he joined her in Reverie.

Next Chapter

[concussed-to-pieces]

Wolves At The Door; Part Two

Fandom: Resident Evil [Village]

Pairing: Eventual Karl Heisenberg/AFAB!Reader

Rating: Holy shit M.

Summary: "You don't gotta' lie to me, you know. Books don't get like this without love."

A/N: Welcome all, welcome to our second installment! Enjoy!

Tag List: @cookiethewriter @amneris21 @topgirl17 @vodkafolie @a-smol-witch @baby-lisuga @clockworkmidnight @calwitch @silver-quinn01 @velvet-paradox @hijackser @mrs-wolfwood @nonstop-haikyuu @mic-sunderland @somethingthatsaysbubbles @fullofmoonsandstars @stargazerofgoldenwords @imthegreenfairy86 @karlskitten @nitrogennightmare @chunnies

Prelude

Part One

[!TRIGGER WARNING!: This installment contains mentions of blood, canon-typical violence, depictions of animal butchering, depictions of a burn/scalding and graphic depictions of mental and physical duress. Stay safe!]

Sleeping that night was…difficult. Heisenberg was restless and it definitely didn't help your mental state to have him skulking around the cabin in the half-light, maul in hand. You found yourself curling up on the couch, eyes unconsciously drawn to the dark windows even as you attempted to get some rest.

Karl, for his part, didn't seem better off than you. If anything he was worse, the man sweating visibly as he made his rounds. Whether from the exertion of the day or nerves you couldn't say, but you finally had enough.

"Sit down." You ordered, gesturing to the sagging chair that resided parallel to the couch. "You're making me dizzy with all your pacing."

He obeyed without a word, the maul resting across his knees after he settled into the chair. Karl's gaze landed on the floor after a moment and a deep frown etched a furrow between his brows. He seemed to be struggling with something, wrestling some deep conundrum in his mind, so you decided to simply stay quiet.

"I think I'm…like them." Heisenberg's voice grated a little when he broke the silence. "That wrongness, that…feeling, that Uncanny Valley shit, I hate it but I know it." His eyes darted to your own. "I don't think I'm a good person. Or I–dammit I don't know, I think bare minimum I've done some real bad things. Do you see it too? Or is it all in my head?"

…

You drew your knees up even tighter to your chest, resting your cheek on one of them. It was like you were studying him in the wan light of the candles on the wood stove. Those same candles threw enormous shadows on the walls, black forms twisting and writhing as the flames danced in the breeze from the open windows. 

Karl couldn't decide what he wanted you to say. Was he the man, cowering in his chair, fidgeting with a simple club, or the nightmare creature skulking in the dark, made all the more terrifying by fear and imagination?

Wolf in sheep's clothing.

Choose, damn it! he found himself thinking irritably when you continued to look at him.

"Both." 

Karl blinked, stunned at your response. "What?"

"Both." 

"The hell do you mean?"

"I mean, I guess we're all both." You shrugged. That shrug was really starting to get under his skin. You were a little too free and easy with this stuff, in Karl's humble opinion! "We're all kind of unsettling in our own ways. I wouldn't say you're like those things out in the woods, but you're probably not unlike them either. Maybe you've got something to do with them, maybe not. Obviously you're weird, you can move metal with your brain. That doesn't mean you're like-" you gestured vaguely at one of the windows. "-those critters."

"Seems more like them than a normal person." Heisenberg muttered. 

"Nobody's normal." You insisted, sounding almost annoyed. "Not even if they want to be. No matter how much you polish or clean things up, humans are weird. Sure, we can pretend for a little while, but we're all just a few wrong moves away from revealing how awkward we are." 

"Awkward?" Karl snorted in disbelief. "I should be so damn lucky to be considered awkward, sugar. Better that than the town freak." 

–pitchforks and torches, factory ablaze, iron-red scent in the air–

"What do you want me to say, huh?" was your retort, snapping Karl out of whatever memory that was. "I don't know you, but I'm trusting you on my property. The Duke vouched for you, which counts for something. Not much, but something." You leaned forward, one accusatory finger aimed at his chest. "I don't see any effing talismans around the property to ward you off. Do you?"

He couldn't meet your gaze. Heisenberg had no idea how to tell you that the mangled charm he had found tied to the fenceline made his hand feel like it was on fire when he tried to replace it on the post. I'm like them, I'm like them sat at the base of his throat, a lump of cold dread.

You sighed after a minute of his silence, apparently taking it as acceptance. "Of course you don't. So don't…don't worry about that stuff, okay? Worry about it when you have to. Don't make more trouble for yourself." One of your hands slipped along his jaw and Karl flinched before he could stop it, the instinctive motion obviously startling you because you quickly pulled away. "Oh sorry! Sorry, sorry." You apologized. "I shouldn't have…uh, that's on me."

"No it's--it's fine." Karl tried to wave you off, forcing a chuckle. "No harm done, right?"

…

His eyes had only met yours for a second, yet it felt like a lifetime. There was something there in his expression that had sent a shudder down your spine, compounded by the way he had flinched back. Karl laughed it off but his visage was guarded. Clearly whatever it was, he didn't feel like confronting it now. It may have even been something he didn't remember; some odd reaction to a thing he couldn't explain.

What is it like, you wondered with a flash of sympathy, to exist in a body that remembers what the mind doesn't? 

Heisenberg eventually stood back up, the maul hanging loosely from his fingertips while he carried on that circuitous roaming. The repetitive creaking of the floorboards slowly began to lull you into a doze, the stubby candles on the wood stove burning low as the time passed. 

The rustling of Heisenberg's tattered overcoat served to herald his rounds close to your resting place, and during your uneasy drowse you felt a hand tug up the light blanket that had slid off of your shoulder. 

The dawn came slowly. Neither of you got much rest, you were fairly sure. At some point Karl had settled down in front of the door, his coat draped over him like a makeshift quilt. The maul was tucked up alongside him, a loyal companion even in slumber. 

You had to admit, in the light of day you felt a bit foolish for being so scared the night before. But…Karl had been concerned too, right? Maybe he was just following your lead?

You scoffed at yourself, getting to your feet. You had survived the night and thus, there was the work of the day to be done. Breakfast first, then the chores you had neglected yesterday while you whipped yourself into a frenzy over (probably) nothing. 

You squinted out the window next to the sink as you quickly washed your hands, scrutinizing the edge of your property with tired eyes. Everything looked okay, but you knew you would walk the fenceline later. If only to make yourself feel better! Maybe you would find a bear trail, or something else to allay the fears that still gnawed at you.

The morning meal was simple. You were still working your way through the abundance of plums from last year's harvest so dried fruit and a piece of hard cheese from the pantry lined your stomach well enough for the moment, but you would have to add bread to your to-do list. Having Karl in your home was quickly tearing a hole in your food supply; you were so accustomed to stretching your stores that dealing with a guest was proving difficult to manage. 

Were you really so solitary that an unexpected visitor was enough to throw everything off? Granted, you did live alone in an off-the-grid cabin well past the outskirts of some old, abandoned village. You were pretty sure it was abandoned, anyway. The only map you'd ever seen it on was a moldering scrap of paper included with the equally-old deed to your current abode, and until the Duke had trundled up the rutted, overgrown road, you hadn't seen another person for quite a while. 

You were self-sufficient, that's all, and you valued your peace and quiet. Out here, nothing really bothered you. Aside from the occasional deer pilfering fallen apples during the autumn or a fat boar rooting its way through your lettuce and green beans in the summer, that is. 

You didn't mind being alone.

Karl mumbled a protest when you roused him from his spot in front of the door, and you quickly ushered him to relocate on the couch. It seemed like he was asleep before he was fully horizontal, much to your amusement. No time for that though, there was work to be done!

…

Karl groggily came to, realizing the noise he had heard in his dreams was the sound of the cabin door creaking open in the breeze. You were outside humming some tuneless, meandering thing, punctuated by occasional grunts of exertion. 

Heisenberg stared wearily up at the knotholes in the ceiling. Did you ever stop? In the brief time he had known you it seemed like you were always doing things, always occupied with some eternal, infernal task. Sisyphean, his brain reminded him helpfully. Clearly he enjoyed clinging to useless information.

He sat up with a groan, stretching his arms overhead and then rubbing absently at the scarring on his abdomen. It didn't really itch, not exactly. The Duke had left behind some sort of ointment for him that you had been dutifully applying every other day and it seemed to help expedite Karl's healing process, but the skin around the area always felt a little too tight.

At that moment you shouldered open the ajar door, your sleeves rolled up to the elbow and your hands covered in…

Karl lunged to his feet, groping for the maul and watching it come flying from beside the doorframe to his waiting grasp. "What happened?!" He all but shouted at you, bewildered when you met the inquiry with a breathless little laugh. Were you in shock? That was a lot of blood! 

Now you were waving your hands around, as if to distract him. "I'm sorry! I didn't want to wake you. Something got a deer at the back fenceline, I've been prepping it to dress." You explained, nudging open one of your cabinets with your elbow and scooping up a pile of stained towels. "Had to hoist it to drain, the usual."

"Oh." Karl wasn't sure how much of this his heart could take. The poor thing was currently hammering in his throat and he got the feeling it'd be that way for a while. "Wait, what do you mean something?" He latched onto your words, suspicion mounting as your expression shifted from puzzled to concerned.

"I thought…I thought it was wolves, maybe?" You reasoned. "They're pretty skittish, so if they'd heard something in the house moving they might have left the deer."

Karl followed you out of the cabin, still firing off questions while the two of you trekked across the yard. "How'd it die, did you see any weird marks on it?" I didn't hear shit, there's no way it was wolves.

"Usual stuff." You settled onto your haunches beside the strung-up deer, gesturing vaguely at the neck which had been ripped open. "Must have tired it out and then took it down."

Heisenberg crouched beside you, examining the primary wound and finding that his eyes seemed much too accustomed to the scene. It stirred odd half-recollections in his broken memory, ushering things to the surface that, frankly, he was getting a little nervous about.

--looking down at a body with his hands up to the forearm in the abdomen, his own cajoling, mocking voice echoing in some deep, dark hole–

The deer. The deer for fuck's sake keep it together Karl.

Karl forced himself to focus, tracing a half moon-shaped bite imprint with a sinking feeling in his stomach. "This isn't a wolf kill." He said finally. "That's from a human mouth, or at least one shaped like it, see?" 

You gave him an incredulous look but obliged, your knee knocking into his as you shuffled over. After a moment, you wrinkled your nose. "Guess I shouldn't cure this, then. Be a bit of a waste to dry what might be contaminated meat." You sounded dejected, continuing, "I was hoping it was a lucky break. You like meat and I just…storing it is always an issue for me so I usually only take down small things in snares. Rabbits, pheasants." You sat back, grimacing at your bloody hands. "Give me a minute and I'll haul this away so we don't attract anything unsavory."

"I'll do it."

"You're still recovering! Splitting wood is one thing, dragging a dead body through the forest is-"

Something I'm intimately familiar with. Karl cut you off, shaking his head. "Just let me. I already feel like all this is happening because I'm here. If it's really got nothing to do with me, this is the biggest goddamn coincidence I've ever witnessed." He swore, then growled, "where the hell is that fat bastard when we need him?"

"He is a creature of convenience." You acquiesced, your smile rueful. "His own, specifically. Wonder how much lei I'll have to scare up for some fresh talismans?"

"If he charges you I'll kill him myself." Karl stated flatly, mentally reeling from the sudden animosity that flared up. "Fuck that prick and his two-timing bullshit." Two-timing? Where did that come from? 

True to his word and despite your protests, Karl shouldered the deer carcass and lumbered off into the woods. You pointed him towards the trail you had previously marked out with small blazes on the trees so he simply followed it to what you had dubbed your 'disposal site'. 

As he trudged, Karl noted in a somewhat distant way that the body he had slung over his shoulders didn't seem…all that heavy? Granted, it had lost a bit of blood, but you hadn't even gotten to gutting it yet. He also noticed that the blazes left on the trees were somewhat softened or overgrown, as though they had been there for years. The man's brow furrowed. 

Just how long had you been out here? Wherever here was, of course.

The disposal site was a small pile of refuse from your previous endeavors. Bones were scattered around, presumably by whatever scavengers had visited the area. Karl, not really paying attention and moving on autopilot, simply threw the deer to the side. He watched the body skid for a moment, then reality caught up with him. 

That deer should be heavy. It should be pretty heavy, bare minimum. He had heard the way you had struggled to lift it, even with the pulley system you used to hoist it up on a nearby tree branch to drain. But to him, it felt like nothing. Karl flexed his fingers nervously, sure he was missing something. Moving metal with his brain was all well and good, but if he was some kind of freak why couldn't it only be in one regard? What else was wrong with him?

--the giant hammer slamming down again, the eruption of blood and the sputtering roar of a turbine–

…

You grumbled as you scrubbed at your arms, annoyed with the current turn of events. You'd really thought you had caught a break, finding that deer! Instead, all you had gotten was disappointment. You shouldn't be surprised, knowing your luck, but still. Annoying. Disheartening.

You dashed a few tears away, frustrated with yourself for getting so wound up again. Maybe you could chalk it up to the poor sleep you'd gotten the previous night. You inhaled deeply, trying to rein everything in and force yourself to be rational. You'd just have to set some snares, that wasn't any big deal! You were making a mountain out of a molehill here. 

You scrubbed a little harder, huffing out a breath. 

There was a crashing in the undergrowth that heralded the return of Karl but you didn't turn to look at him, simply raising a hand to acknowledge his presence and then going back to tediously cleaning the grime from beneath your fingernails.

You yelped, dodging the spray it kicked up which caused Karl to chuckle. "What, afraid of getting wet?" He teased, grabbing the sleeve of the shirt and preparing to reel it in. 

Karl slouched down beside you on the riverbank, the shoulder of his worn shirt smeared with blood from the carcass. You realized belatedly that maybe you should have offered him one of your rags to keep the stains to a minimum, but he didn't seem overly concerned with appearances. He was silent for a moment, staring down at the running water. Then, without preamble, he undid a few buttons on his shirt and jerked it over his head, flinging it into the water. He nearly took his undershirt off along with it, but managed to wriggle loose at the last moment.

"No, no, you'd better not!" You exclaimed, scrambling to your feet. "Don't you d-" The wet shirt smacked your leg, sending a frigid jolt up your spine and making you unleash the most embarrassing squawk of dismay.

Heisenberg's smirk was positively devious, the man slapping the shirt back down into the water once more as you raced away. "You can't escape me that easily, sugar!" 

"I can try!" You yelled back, ducking through your fence and bolting into the woods. 

You could still hear him laughing as he pursued you and weirdly you found yourself giggling too. It was as if the tension had broken, the two of you sprinting through the trees without a care in the world. Eventually, breathless, you ended up back at the edge of your property waving off Heisenberg's quickly-advancing form. 

"Time out!" You gasped, flopping against a tree trunk. "I give up, okay? You got me." 

Instead of snapping the shirt at you like you had been expecting Karl crowded you back against the tree, cupping your face with the sopping fabric. You closed your eyes, luxuriating in the sudden coolness after your mad dash, and you heard Karl swallow hard. When you opened your eyes again Karl was looking at you with that odd expression, his own gaze troubled. 

He had never been this close to you and you realized, in an absent sort of way, that his green irises had an amber-yellow ring around the pupil. In this light, you mused internally, he's almost handsome. "What? Do I have something on my face?" You finally quipped, already missing the lighthearted mood of moments before.  

Karl opened his mouth, paused, and then simply stepped back, sweeping his hat off to offer you an elaborate bow in the direction of your home. "I'll let you off easy this once." His smile was sardonic. 

A strange sense of loss came over you as he sauntered away but you hurriedly shook it off, running to catch up with him instead as he laboriously began to rebutton the damp shirt over his threadbare undershirt. "If you want meat, I expect you to lend me a hand setting up the snares."

"More shit to do!" The man half-laughed, half-groaned at your demand, settling his hat further back on the crown of his head. "Don't you ever take a break?"

"No, not really," was your blunt response. 

"Well," Karl drew the word out, giving you a haughty look. "Maybe you ought to."

"The genius on display." You replied sarcastically, flicking the brim of his hat. "If I don't do shit, who will? You're not going to be here forever y'know, and I can't exactly rely on having an extra pair of hands."

"I think you could, though." Heisenberg's eyes were pointedly fixed ahead when you glanced at him. "For a little while, at least?" The only way you could tell it was a question was the barely-there uptick in his tone of voice at the end. You, for your part, were a bit stunned. You hadn't thought…

"W-Well that's up to you!" You stuttered out, feeling strangely flustered. "I'm not kicking you out, if that's what you're asking. You leave when you want to. But," you then paused, trying to infuse some gravity into the situation, "you will have to keep pitching in if you stay, so I'm not sure if the tradeoff is worth it to you." 

It was at least half a joke. 

Well, maybe a quarter. There was always work.

"Understood." You watched him withdraw a pair of leather gloves from his back pocket, then Karl tilted his head towards you with a grin. "Snares, huh? Think the rope is strong enough to snag a boar?" 

…

It was odd, the easy way Karl slotted into your day to day. You woke before him in the mornings and he went to bed well after you, the two of you still on different sleep schedules. You partitioned off a section of the living room so that he could have a bit of privacy, shoving the repaired camping cot into the corner behind the sheet. 

That was it. Simple. Painless.

He helped around the yard, pulling weeds in the garden or watering as the summer continued to march on. He held fences so you could mend them and the two of you did your best to not talk about the withered remains of the Duke's charms, now all but crumbled to dust. He checked the snares and you could tell whether the trap had been a success by listening for his distant crowing in delight. 

Karl's presence became normal. Mundane, even. 

Many's the morning he came stumbling out of the cabin door, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he passed you a cup of something to drink. Karl often urged you to take breaks, "even for a second or two," and you would usually oblige, if grudgingly. The extra set of hands was appreciated, but you didn't want to fully rely on him. That wasn't fair to either of you! He should be free to pick up his pieces should his memory return in full, and the last thing you wanted was him sticking around out of fear that you would be ineffective on your own after all of his help. 

A day then came where you felt like another shift occurred, a gray day where you were feeding more wood into your stove, intent on making an excess of quality charcoal for the rain barrel filter you knew needed refreshing soon. It was dull, smoky work and Heisenberg for his part was content to sit, the man leafing through one of your few dog-eared books with an increasingly-sour squint.

"Not your thing?" You finally asked, a little pricked by the stiffness of his face. Karl shook his head absently and you watched his eyes dart over the pages. You tried again, "I didn't bring much with me, so that's kind of a favorite." Kind of. The poor book's tattered state heralded a lifetime of reading; shoved into bags or pockets and bookmarked over and over. 

Karl looked up, that grim squint still holding firm. "You don't gotta' lie to me, you know. Books don't get like this without love." He closed the book, fanning the air with it. "I uh, I don't think your stove is drawing right. The smoke is burning my eyes a little."

To your dismay you realized that he was, in fact, correct. The stove was currently billowing smoke from the ajar door and you scrambled to adjust the crooked old chimney, but in your haste you forgot how hot the metal would be.

Heisenberg was on his feet before the pained noise left your mouth, the man yanking you back a step and then glaring at the leaning stovepipe, which snapped itself as straight as a poker. "Sugar," he chastised, examining your palms as you hissed in pain. "C'mon, let's get you to the river before that blisters."

In an uncharacteristic moment of vulnerability, instead of protesting you simply let yourself be led to the riverbank. The chill of the water worked quickly to soothe your scalded skin, reducing the pain to a small area on the heel of one of your palms. Karl kept your hands in his own, the man not meeting your eyes the entire time he ministered to you. When you flinched he muttered an apology, his voice gruff, and something about the tone had your stomach in knots.

"I think it'll be okay." You said softly after a few minutes. Karl started, like he had forgotten you were there, like he had forgotten your hands were cupped in his. His eyes locked with yours and you smiled, wanting to express your gratitude for his presence but having difficulty coming up with the words. You simply settled on, "thank you." 

In reply, Heisenberg huffed and snorted so much you were certain he was going to choke, the man just jamming his hat down around his ears and then sauntering off. "What are you waiting for?" he yelled over his shoulder. "You keep sitting around and the house is gonna' burn down!"

More likely to get blown over by a huffing, puffing wolf, you thought with a private little snicker as you rose.

…

Indebted was the only word he could think of, but it was…wrong somehow. Every time you smiled, it let Karl convince himself to stay a little while longer. 

Besides, it wasn't…so bad being indebted. If he could even call it that.

There came the day when you ran out of the salves the Duke had given you for Karl's wounds and it was pitiful, but Heisenberg almost missed the way you would tend to his fading scars. Almost. He told himself it wasn't that he missed the actual care, but it was easier for his body to mend if his brain was receiving constant affirmation about it. Without that, well, things might slow a bit. 

He felt like he couldn't afford to slow down, for whatever reason. The feeling in his stomach continued to yawn wider, the desire to move and cause harm with every step becoming more and more prevalent.

He'd had you there, beneath that tree, and that was what had shaken him to his core. The tunnel vision that took hold of him as he chased you was…something he didn't want to examine too closely.

Like them. Whatever they were.

He had pulled away. Had deflected. A cocksure attitude did a lot to hide certain reactions, certain expressions he wasn't the master of. The reality of knowing that it was a switch, some terrible thing inside of him that bayed for violence, kept Karl's sleep even more poor than it had been previously. And when he would forget, overstep, cozy up, Heisenberg would sternly remind himself of The Facts: he was clearly Bad and you were Good and the way the world worked was not kind to people like him.

Really, it wasn't so terrible. Sometimes you even thanked him, your hands in his own after you burned yourself, your face so close to his and your smile small but no less genuine for its size.

As the first apples began to ripen on your two trees (to Karl's combined horror and relief) an unfamiliar-familiar cart made its ponderous way up the now nearly-intraversable road. 

You were still inside washing dishes from lunch, so Karl called to you through the window to alert you and then acquired the maul from the woodpile. That gargantuan bastard had some things to answer for.

"It is good to see you so hearty once more, my Lord!" The Duke called once Karl was within earshot, his broad face split with a grotesque smile. "Your recovery was no guarantee, after all."

My Lord. My Lord. Lord Karl Heisenberg. My Lord.

Karl reached up as high as he could and seized a handful of the Duke's straining shirt collar, his voice a seething whisper when he demanded, "tell me what you know or I'm feeding you to the fucking wolves."

Part Three

[teeny-tiny-revenge]

So I'm having a real normal one here, not obsessing over the trailer at all. I shall demonstrate that by this presentation, where I tried to put some of the events from the trailer in chronological order based on Ed's looks and the injuries on his face. Like one does.

First we have Kraken Ed, freshly post breakup, with his depression makeup, wearing all leather and trying to look unaffected and cool by day, but ugly crying over his repainted cake toppers by night. No injuries, just tear streaks.

Second we get dangly earring up-do Ed. He's had a rough night, but he got up and did his hair up all nice, showing off his earring and pearl necklace, and he replaced the Kraken makeup with some nice eyeliner. He's unwell, daydreaming and moping at the helm, but starting to take care of himself. Again, no ouchies (only heartbroken).

Then Something Bad happens to him. Is this where he falls/jumps/is thrown overboard, perhaps? Does he get in a fight? Either way next Ed version is this, I think:

Head bump scene Ed is a mess, and this time not emotionally. He's unconscious in the beginning of this clip, and even once he startles awake, he looks super out of it, and I don't think it's because of the head bonk. Poor dude is concussed. The entire right side of his face is bloodied (cut eyebrow), and not just a little. There's blood in his beard, from a nosebleed and a cut lip. There's a cut on his left cheek. Our boy really was put through the wringer. He doesn't even realise that's Stede there yet, I think. (Also, this might indeed be their first reunion?)

Then we get a couple of different scenes that are somewhat shortly after this. Like the awkward meeting of former shipmates, and Ed smoking the joint. In both you can clearly see the split lip, the cuts on his left cheek and right eyebrow, and the bruises on his right cheek/temple.

I'm unsure if he also has those cuts in the weird blue light in the woods scene, where he fires the gun and tries to hit someone over the head, but those have a really unreal vibe to them, so might be concussed Ed hallucinating?

He does have the injuries in the bunny scene. It's a bit hard to see and I couldn't get a good still of it, sorry this one still sucks and is the best I could do, but the lip cut is there. You can see it in the trailer video if you look for it. The others are covered by his hair.

The bruising and lip cut are still there, but fainter in the "I am your captain" scene, you can see the shadow of the bruising when Ed turns his head, and I did manage to capture the lip cut, while the eyebrow cut seems gone. So this is later than blunt smoking and awkward running into Stede.

Then we have this pic, and Ed at Jackie's and at the beach. (There's also my mouse, oops.)

The split lip has healed, the cut on the cheek is still very faintly visible if you know where to look. Some time has passed to allow him to start healing. I'd guess this is more towards the end of the season. Ed isn't only healing physically, he's also out of the Blackbeard leather get-up, trying something new, as he says to Jackie and Swede.

Okay, thanks for coming to my TED talk. Hope you're also feeling very sane and hinged!

[yutahoes]

Favorite

Inspired by the music video and some lyrics of Favorite by NCT 127.

characters: former rebel! student! Yuta Nakamoto x vampire! student! Y/N

summary: He didn't care about anything until his eyes caught her. Who is she and why is her eyes changing color?

chapter word count: 6.3k words

chapter genre: angst, fluff, suggestive

chapter warning: language, blood, incorrect descriptions of vampires, kissing, character death, a lot of biting, sucking, and licking

Yuta Nakamoto. 

Just the name makes all the high school students quiver. The worst of all the worst in school. The strongest fighter which makes the other fighters from other schools quiver. Everyone feared him, even students and teachers from nearby schools wouldn't dare cross paths with him. 

He was a huge bully, always in fights and seated at the back of the class with bruises or wounds on his face. His teachers were even lucky if he went to their class. And they would just let him. 

Until the twins transferred into their class, the affluent Jung twins who always excel in everything they do. He didn't bother about them at first. And he's too lazy to get their attention. Besides, what good can their attention bring to him? 

But as days went by, he noticed how the male twin became the center of everyone’s attention. He excelled in sports, even defeating Yuta in basketball which he’s really good at. He’s kind-hearted and even good at studying, and the teachers always favor him. Yuta would often hear the girls, even from other schools, gush at how handsome he is with his pale skin and chiseled face. He didn’t care at first. But something is weird about that Jung Jaehyun. How can he be agile all the time? How can he keep running without looking so tired? And why is his skin so pale?  

Noticing the other half of the twin, Yuta thought that it might run in the family. Maybe they were born to look like models on the catwalk. They were built to be perfect individuals which irked him. His gaze unconsciously fell on the girl looking out the window during Science class. She doesn’t have as much presence as her brother but she had charisma. Yes, she's hot but certainly not hot enough. 

He was startled when she turned her head to him, raising an eyebrow as if asking why. Instead of turning his head to look away, he squinted his eyes at her and she smirked. What the heck is wrong with this girl? 

—-----

It was normal for him to skip classes, especially Math time but it surprised him that someone in the same uniform is outside the school as him. "You should come with us, pretty girl." The guys with motorcycles claimed that made the said girl stop in her tracks. "You seemed rich." One guy said while signaling another guy to get her backpack. She revolted but someone was holding a pocket knife that made her freeze. 

Yuta shook his head, appearing himself from the shadows that made the boys startled. "That's foul," he said in a commanding tone. "Give back the bag." The girl stared at him for a while before she was held by that guy with the pocket knife. 

"This isn't your business, Yuta." The guy said. "Leave!" 

The mentioned guy cocked his head to both sides, flexing his fingers so that his knuckles created a crackling sound. Some guys looked scared that they scrammed away. He breathed on his fist and then landed a solid punch on a guy who charged at him. He kicked another guy to the stomach then took another's arm, holding him to the ground and twisting it. "She's my business," he said rather cockily. "Let her go." 

The guy with the knife pushed the girl and Yuta was quick to help her stand up. Everything was fast, he heard her shout then he felt something poke his side. The guys ran, with their things, leaving him on the ground with a bleeding side. Great! He might just die like this. "Hey, I have to take you to the hospital, do you have your phone?" The girl asked, hands trying to locate a phone in his pockets. 

"Are you just groping me?" He smirked. She rolled her eyes at that, surprised that he still has time for jokes like this. "My phone is inside my bag." 

"Fuck!" She cursed, surprising him. So she knew how to curse. The girl unbuttoned her blouse, revealing a tank top inside her uniform then tied the fabric to his wound. "I have to bring you to the hospital. This is just first aid." 

She stood up but he held her wrist, stopping her. "I'm alright dying here." He said with a smile. "I'm just happy to see a girl undress in front of me before I die." 

"What the fucking hell is wrong with you?" She exclaimed which startled him. She looks so pure and innocent. Now that he was staring, he noticed how her eyes were light brown in color. Is this her normal eye color? It looks lovely, like a galaxy can be seen in her eyes. "You can't die. I'll be filled with guilt." Yuta smirked. "Wait for me. I'll just call someone." 

He held her wrist, stopping her from going anywhere. "I'm fine. Just let me die."

"You won't, stay here." Then everything went black. 

Yuta could only see the blinding lights when he opened his eyes. A girl in white asked him how he was feeling and his first thought was that he might really be in heaven. But then, a person like him doesn't deserve to be in heaven. So where is he exactly? "I'll inform the doctor that you have woken up." Oh. A hospital. Why the hell is he here? 

He surveyed the area, it was huge. Are hospital rooms always this spacious? There were fruits on the side of the bed, a huge TV in front of his bed, and a huge window. He can get used to this. A man in a white robe entered the door, smiling warmly at him. Yuta’s first thought is that his smile is vaguely familiar and when he spoke, he realized what it was. “Thank you for saving my daughter.” Their family really might be really perfect. 

The older did some tests on him and advised that he should stay in the hospital for a few more days to make sure that nothing bad would happen to him. Yuta had to refuse calling his guardian and the older Jung just gave him a nurse to take care of him. He agreed, thinking it was a hot female nurse but a man in white came in and introduced himself as the person taking care of him. 

On the third day of staying in the hospital, the Jung twins came. The girl was holding a bouquet of flowers that made him grin. He can totally get used to this. His gaze fell on her eyes, dark orbs making him confused. “Your eyes are brown, isn’t it?” Both the girl’s father and brother stared at her and then at him as if he just said something wrong. 

“It might just be the light that time,” she said in a soft voice. She’s different from when they were on the backstreet at that time. Totally different. 

—-----

It must be because they were perfect that she had to always be the prim and proper little daughter in front of her family. That was the thought ringing in Yuta’s head while watching the female Jung during their class. He wasn’t even interested in getting into his classes, just wanting to observe the female and his weirdness. “Yuta,” the teacher called and he turned to the old man in front, “Do you want me to transfer your seat next to Y/N?” He lightly glanced at the mentioned girl who had her head hung low. 

Something has changed with this girl. 

There were a lot of rumors and whispers around about him liking Y/N but it’s not the case. It’s safer to say that he’s curious about her. Well, anyone can say that he’s interested in her. But not in the same way that people thought about it. He doesn’t like her to that extent. 

Yuta was on his way out of the school gates, ready to skip Math class when he noticed a familiar girl seated under the shade. She has her earphones in, reading a book. A normal image of her. He sat beside her, getting one of the earphones and putting it on his ear. Surprised that she was listening to rock music. “What are you doing?” she asked, moving back to stay away centimeters from him. 

Instead of answering her, Yuta took a peek at the book she was reading. Unlike the usual books he can notice she was reading, this has lots of pictures and they’re all about the sea. “Do you want to go to the sea?” He asked casually but the girl stared at him in regard. She lightly bit her lip as if considering his offer. “Come on, let’s go.” He held her hand but she quickly removed his hold on her, surprising him. “We can take a bus…”

“I can’t,” she claimed, then closed her book, rolling the earphones in her hand. Y/N stood up and then walked inside the building leaving Yuta staring at her form. 

How interesting. 

Yuta hated music class but today, he was sitting at the back of the class watching as his classmates showcased their talent for musical instruments. Jaehyun played the acoustic guitar making the girls in their class swoon. When the other Jung was called, she stood up and then played classical music on the piano.  

A smirk escaped his lips. How superficial. “Yuta, do you want to show us your instrument?” the teacher asked and everyone turned to him, including her. He took an electric guitar from one corner of the room and plugged it into the stereo that created an ear-piercing sound. He started creating notes, and loud guitar riffs that he heard from her earphones the other day. Almost everyone in the room was covering their ears, complaining about how loud the sound is but she remained staring as if studying what he was doing, not fazed at the loud sound he was creating. 

When he returned to his seat, Y/N was looking at him as if confused. Her black dark orbs looked like the night sky, her pale skin looked like moonlight and her lips looked as red as cherry. Yuta smiled and for the first time, looked away from her. She’s fucking beautiful. Why does it take too long for him to realize it? 

—-----

Their house is majestic. Truly suitable for a perfect family like theirs. He isn’t a stalker, at least he knows he’s not, but one time he followed Jaehyun home and saw where they live. He also isn’t obsessive but he noticed where Y/N’s room is when he passed by one time and saw her on the balcony, looking at the stars. A huge balcony near a tree that he can easily climb. 

Yuta was suddenly thankful for the strength training he got from fighting. Flawlessly, he climbed the tree and jumped on her balcony just as it opened and revealed a surprised Y/N. The guy was disappointed that she was wearing long-sleeved silk pajamas with matching long pants. “What are you doing here?” She asked but he only stepped backward, hand touching what seemed to be a flower. 

Immediately, Yuta plucked the red rose and handed it to her. “To give you this.” The girl, once again, had a confused look on her face. “And to ask you to go to the sea.” 

“I told you I can’t.” She whispered, taking the rose which lightly grazed on Yuta’s finger. A small cut can be seen as a drop of blood gushed on his finger. Almost in a snap, Yuta noticed how her eyes became lighter in color. From the color of the night sky to the color of the galaxy. “You have to go.” She pushed him lightly, panic can be seen in her expression. “Yuta, you have to leave.” 

The guy had to glance down from the balcony, “You can’t expect me to jump…” A knock on the door can be heard as Y/N quickly closed the door to the balcony and closed the curtains before a voice can be heard, asking what she was doing. 

He isn’t mistaken. Her eyes really do change colors. But why? How? 

She was avoiding him. Even if they belong to the same class, Y/N would always come out before he could approach her. Jaehyun would always find a way to block him or even stop him from approaching his sister. Why? Is it wrong to show interest in a girl? Why is her brother protecting her like this? 

But Yuta isn't someone easily fazed by these trivial matters. If she's avoiding him then it only makes him want to chase her more. And not that he's a stalker but someone from class informed him, after a lot of persuading - bullying, in that someone's perspective - told him about the girl's whereabouts after class. 

Music room. How superficial. 

Yuta had never been in this part of the school. He doesn't have any reason to go here in the first place. Who would have thought that a girl would make him explore this part of the school? He kept on glancing inside the rooms for any sign of her, some even looked scared at his presence while others just notified him that the person he was looking for can be seen in the farthest music room. When he peeked inside, she was seated in front of an old upright piano. 

The melody she was playing sounded so familiar. It was a lesson they had in Music Class. He also heard it from a movie before. And it reminded him of an ocean. Oh, wait. La Mer? The Sea?

What was her fascination with the sea if she kept refusing to go to one? 

Yuta clapped and she whipped her head to him, surprised that he was in the same room as her. Her eyes were black, shining. "What are you doing here?" 

"Why are you avoiding me?" He sat beside her on the stool, pressing the same keys she was playing earlier. "Let's go to the sea." She was just focused on his fingers and he was conscious of what key to press next. "I can ask permission from your dad…" 

"No, it's not my dad." She claimed, fingers playing along with him. "I just can't." 

"Then, can you just stop avoiding me?" 

She stopped playing, body turned to face him. "Yuta, why are you doing this?"

"Why can't I do this?" He also stopped playing, facing her. The dark eyes widened when Yuta inched closer to her. "I like you, Y/N." She looked surprised at the sudden confession. "You're interesting. I can't keep my mind off you." 

“Then stop it.” 

Yuta inched closer, eyes staring at her cherry-red lips. “What if I don’t want to stop?” His lips gently went to hers, soft warm lips that made his head hazy. She didn’t even move so Yuta took this as a chance to lick her lips while angling his head to the side to deepen the kiss. His mind was clouded at the idea that she was kissing him back.

Then his bottom lip hurt. A prickling pain followed by a confusing feeling that made him lightly push the girl. The part that hurt throbbed. Her eyes turned light brown, a little blood staining on her lip which she licked. A flash of pointy teeth is noticeable before she put a hand on her mouth, standing up to exit the room. 

Her movements were so fast that he didn’t register what happened. Yuta lightly grazed a thumb on the side of his lip, blood could be seen on his finger. Could it be? 

Yuta never believed in the supernatural. They are just faceless creatures created as stories to scare young kids. Yuta also never believed that he'll read a book in the school library yet here he is, silently skimming books for fictional creatures just to get the answer he was looking for. 

She is pale. She likes to be alone most of the time. She has this fascination with the sea. She was always under the shade. Her eyes change colors. Yuta recalled the times it happened and came up with the common thing in those scenarios. He was hurt. There was blood. 

Pale. Shade. Blood. The pointy teeth. 

Words associated with vampires. 

Y/N is a vampire. 

Then Jaehyun is also one. 

It's been days since Yuta had made the observation. Days passed without her attendance at school. He noticed how Jaehyun stood out among the crowd with his pale skin and tall stature. It all now makes sense how agile he plays basketball and why he doesn't seem to get tired even if he plays rounds and rounds of the sport. A supernatural. 

If Yuta was in his right state of mind, he would think that he was losing his mind.

But falling in love makes you crazy. 

A feeling that he was slowly experiencing with her absence from school. "Jung Jaehyun," he called. The other guy glared at him before excusing himself from his group of friends. "Where is Y/N?" 

"What do you want from her?"

"What happened to her?" 

"What do you want from my sister, Yuta?" His voice was louder and it was slowly attracting the attention of the other students. “Y/N is someone you shouldn’t mess with. Our family, specifically.” But Yuta didn’t have the intention to mess with her. In honesty, she was the one messing him up. “Whatever you did to my sister, undo it.” 

What exactly did he do to her? He kissed her. That was it. Did something happen to her because of that kiss? 

Yuta needed to find out. The risk-taker part of himself wanted to find out. He did it before and he’ll definitely do it now that he’s desperate to see her. 

The balcony of her room was open but he stopped when he saw a female figure seated by the bed. From the silhouette itself, he knew it wasn’t the girl he was looking for. “Honey, it’s been days. You have to drink.” Drink? “Honey please.” The woman begged in her soft voice, whispering to the person she was talking to but it was all clear on Yuta’s ears. “You’ll die if you continue this.” 

Die? 

A heavy sigh can be heard followed by the words, “You should have erased his memory like what your dad said when he saved you back then.” Yuta exhaled heavily. It is about him. What exactly did he do to her? Is it reversible? Should he just run away from her? 

“I’m sorry, Mom.” Her voice was quiet, broken. A sound that shattered his heart into a million pieces. He cannot see her broken. He needed to keep his distance away to save her. 

Yuta stepped to the side and almost slipped if not for his quick reflex in holding onto the ledge of the balcony. It caused a small cut on his finger and a drop of blood appeared from the wound.

Blood. In a house of vampires. How great!

He heard the door of her room closed followed by her weak voice calling his name. How did she know that he was here? Is it the blood? Then, does the whole house know that he is here in her place? He had to come inside.

The sight of the girl looking as pale as moonlight while laying on her bed crushed him. What has he done to her? “How long have you been outside?” He hated that her voice was this hoarse, and hated that she looked so sick. “Yuta…” 

“Stop talking!” He shouted in a rather loud voice that made her visibly flinch. “Did I do this to you?” She was about to speak but Yuta had to glare. The girl weakly shook her head. Yuta sighed then sat on the side of her bed. Even he, himself, knew that it was all just a lie. “Is it because we kissed?” Again, a shake of her head. Why can’t she stop lying? “Can I do anything to make you better?” Yuta moved closer to her. “Can I do anything to save you?” 

The girl gently pushed him away, gulping hard as if stopping herself from doing something. “I’m dangerous. You should run away from me.” The desperation in her voice broke Yuta. He doesn’t want to run away from her. If anything, he wants to stay with her. “Staying with me is dangerous, Yuta.”

“I know,” He started. “But I love you and I want to hurt even more desperately in this destiny.”  

“You have no idea…” 

“You’re a vampire,” Yuta claimed, her warm brown eyes widening in surprise. “You’re pale, you always wanted to be alone, you’re always in the shade.” He listed down, “And your eyes change colors when there’s blood.” 

Her eyes were warm, an expression of fright seen on her face. “Dad was right. I should have erased your memory back then.” 

Yuta moved closer as his breath tickled her lips, “I still would have fallen in love with you.” He whispered before leaning in to kiss her lips. It was a gentle kiss, a soft kiss different from what they shared in the music room. Her breathing was heavy and Yuta had to break off the kiss to check on her. She looked paler than before. Is she allergic to kisses? Should he not kiss her? But it probably isn’t that. 

He remembered from the book he read that vampires don't necessarily take human blood to drink. That’s what rogue vampires do. And it was the answer in Yuta’s mind on how their father works in the hospital even if he was a vampire. But once they have the taste of a human’s blood, it will be like a drug to them. Y/N bit him when they kissed, she had a taste of his blood. 

He’s now a drug to Y/N. The reason why she refused to drink the blood given to her and was just sitting on her bedside table. And for her not to die, there’s one thing he should do. “Bite me.” The girl stared at him in surprise. Yuta cocked his head to the side, his neck in full access to her. “Just bite me, Y/N.” 

The inhibitions in her expression were gone. She flashed her pointy teeth before sinking it into Yuta’s neck. He grabbed the sheets to prevent himself from making a sound at the pain of what she did. A pain that was changed into a feeling of being light-headed real quick. A foreign feeling as if he was floating in clouds. His body felt cold, shivering in thrills.

And then everything went black. 

—---

The room was dark when Yuta opened his eyes. His initial thought was a basement but a certain voice made him realize where he was. “Did you have an amazing sleep?” Jung Jaehyun’s room. The guy who owned the room clucked his tongue as he switched off the turntable. “It didn’t occur to me that you’ll be that serious of my sister.” 

Yuta sat up from his bed, eyeing the room. The curtains are closed and there’s only a faint light coming from a small night light by the bed. “I’ve heard a lot of things about you Yuta Nakamoto and being smart isn’t one of them.” He squinted his eyes at the remark. “Now that you know what our family is, I hope you won't put your life in danger.” Jaehyun left some fabric on top of the bed before fixing the tie of his uniform. “Hurry up, we’ll be late for school.” 

Jaehyun’s uniform was bigger on Yuta’s body but what makes the morning uncomfortable is being the only human in a house full of vampires. Yuta smiled when Y/N came down the stairs, in her uniform, looking livelier than when he saw her last night. She sat on the vacant seat beside Yuta, just in front of her brother. “Are you feeling better?” Yuta asked and she nodded, grinning at him. 

She looks well. That was a good sign. 

The father of the household went down and Yuta stood up to greet him. Y/N was the one who introduced Yuta and he just nodded while smiling, claiming that he already knew him from the hospital. "So, Mr. Nakamoto," he started. "Where are your parents?" 

Yuta shook his head. "They died when I was young." The twins looked at him in surprise as their mother gasped. "I lived in a foster house until I have enough to live on my own," Jaehyun whispered to the other girl if she knew about it and she just shook her head making Yuta laugh. "Don't worry. This is the first time I shared that fact with anyone." 

The older man had a serious look before putting both his hands on the table. "I'm sorry about that." He then pursed his lips. "But you do know that by pursuing my daughter, you're not just putting your life in danger but also our own kind of people." Yuta had to look at the steak on his plate. He didn't realize how huge this is. "When the time comes, our priority is our people." 

"I understand, Doctor Jung." The older girl lightly glanced at her daughter before Yuta continued, "But I'm serious about Y/N and you can trust me in keeping your identity a secret." His hand held Y/N's hand that was above the table, "If the time comes, I'm willing to die for Y/N." The girl beside him gasped at that statement and their mother smiled at him warmly. 

The older woman held her husband’s hand, mimicking the same way Yuta held her daughter’s hand. “Honey, let’s trust Yuta. I can say that he’s serious about our daughter.” The older man nodded, tapping the other’s hand. “Let’s spare Yuta his memories for now.” 

—----

Y/N and Yuta were inseparable. Classmates would always note that Yuta had changed so much because of Y/N and it was the truth. A lot has changed because of her. Who would have thought that vampires do exist? And in this world full of humans? If he's going to tell anyone, they might think that he's crazy. 

He doesn't usually read but he always has books, made-up stories about vampires, that made him obsessed. Y/N would always laugh at him, claiming that they don't disintegrate in sunlight or die because of garlic or a cross. 

Since he's always at their house, he learned some things about her kind. That they have fantastic stamina, the reason why Jaehyun still looks like his model self even after PE class. That they drink pig's blood rather than human blood because it's morally right. And it was the answer to why her father can work in the hospital. 

Her parents are very fond of him. Even reaching to the point where they favor Yuta over his little silly arguments with Jaehyun, their own son. It was like their daughter’s boyfriend is a massive part of their family. 

So it wasn’t a surprise when he got invited to the annual party her family hosts. 

The night was filled with dances and formal wear. Her mom even bought Yuta his own tuxedo and he marveled at how gorgeous his girlfriend looked in her silver ball gown. They truly are a picture-perfect family, looking like models on the runway. And everyone invited probably thought of the same thing as they exclaimed in awe when the four members were on the mini-stage. Yuta wondered if they were all vampires. Is he the only human around here? He hoped not. Or it will be trouble.

“Hi,” she greeted with a wide smile on her face. Yuta mirrored the same expression before tucking a lost hair behind her ear. “Are you enjoying yourself?” 

The guy only smiled widely, “The food is amazing.” He complimented before grinning wider, “You look amazing.” Yuta noticed how a group of people stared at him and her, surprising him. He stepped forward and whispered, “Just a little curious, am I the only human here?” 

Y/N had to turn back to glance at the people he was looking at. "Dad has some co-workers as guests." She lightly chuckled, “Are you worried about that?” Yuta bit his lip. Should he be worried? “Dad put scent blockers on you so the vampires wouldn’t smell your blood.” He gave a breath of relief and she held his hand tight. “Come with me.” 

He stayed in his place that startled her, “We’re not doing something that your parents would disapprove of, right?” She giggled before shaking her head. Why is he suddenly disappointed?    

The garden looked lively with the lights her mother designed it with. The mini fountain lights up in different colors and the flowers bloom so colorful that everything looks like a  dream. Wait, is this even a dream? Even Y/N, who walks under the fairy lights, looked so lovely that he’s scared none of these were true. His hold on her was tight, not wanting to let her go even for a bit. “What is it?”

Yuta shook his head, a wide smile kept appearing on his lips. “Nothing.” He whispered before gently pulling her hand closer. “You are just so beautiful.” They stopped in the middle of the garden, just staring at each other. 

It was fast but he didn't complain. Yuta doesn’t know if he was the one who made the first move or her. Who kissed who first? Her lips were soft, tongue tasting like mint that it made him dizzy. His body felt so hot as if getting a fever. 

She let go of the kiss, breathing warmly against his jaw as she pressed butterfly kisses down his neck. “Yuta,” she called in a low voice, sending shivers down his spine. “You smell so good.” Her lips were warm against his neck. A pleasurable feeling. “I want you.” Yuta had to bite down a moan at how hot that sounded coming from her lips.

“Y/N,” a female voice called that snapped Yuta back to his senses. Standing in front of the two of them was a gorgeous female in her bright red dress, long black hair, and black stilettos. “I’m sorry if I ruined the moment.” A smirk played along her cherry-red lips. 

The girl beside Yuta stiffened. “Auntie,” she asked before pulling him behind her. Her aunt? But she looks so young. “I didn't know Dad invited you.” 

The pale woman smiled devilishly. “He didn’t. But I’m family, aren’t I?” The way she said those words are chillingly cold. Who is this? Why is Y/N looking scared? “Your boyfriend?”

Before she could say something, a bass booming voice called for the other woman’s name. “There was a reason I didn’t send you an invite.” Y/N’s dad. “Leave before you cause trouble.” 

She gave a longing look at Yuta before disappearing. The younger guy had to blink twice to confirm what was happening. Y/N looked worried at her dad before asking her to go inside, leaving Yuta with her dad. “I can smell your blood rush from the inside,” he claimed once there were only the two of them. Yuta’s eyes widened in surprise. But he didn’t get hurt. “I’m not against you dating my daughter but please tone down the passion. She’s still my young girl.”  

They can smell his arousal? This is embarrassing. “Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir.” The older tapped his shoulder, smiling. 

When Yuta went back inside the party, all eyes were on him. Why are they staring like that? Did they smell him like her dad? Then he might be in trouble. They’re all vampires. What if there’s a rogue one who wants his blood? 

Maybe he should just leave. 

Y/N was worried when he said goodbye but Yuta just reasoned out that he was getting a headache. Jaehyun even commented that he might have to take care of something other than his head. The thoughts were confirmed, they could really smell his arousal. This is so embarrassing—more reason to leave early. 

He promised to call Y/N once he was almost home. Her voice can be heard on the other line as he inputs the code for his room. “Do you want me to come and ask Dad to check on you?” She asked, making Yuta laugh. She’s too worried, it’s endearing. 

“I’m fine. I’ll just sleep this off.” He stopped in his tracks when he opened the door. A female figure was standing in the middle of his room. What is she doing here? Did she follow him? How did she get inside? He felt his body tense up, he cannot move. Is this some spell? “YN,” he called, breathing shallowly as his heart started beating fast. “I love you.”  

He didn’t hear her answer and just put down his phone. “I know why my niece is so obsessed with her human boyfriend.” The woman started, walking to where he is, holding his shoulder and dragging a finger on his neck. Her sharp fingernail created a small cut then dabbed her fingertip with his blood. Erotically, she licked her finger and then hummed. “You taste so good.” 

Yuta had to stop his breathing. He knew this was his death. How cliche is it to fall in love with a vampire yet get killed by her own kind? This is the danger of knowing about what they are. 

Blood rushed to his system but not in the same way as when Y/N did this to him. This bite feels painful, like a poison filling his veins. Every memory flashed in his mind: his parents, the orphanage, the adrenaline of fighting, his friends at school, and Y/N. This is definitely his death. 

His body felt cold, wet. In a daze, he can see water above him. He’s drowning. But why? How? He saw a pair of arms taking him out of the water before his vision turned black once again. “Is he still alive?” A female voice. Y/N. “Dad, please tell me Yuta is still alive.” She sounded so broken, so desperate. 

“Y/N, he’s sucked out of blood and Auntie drowned him. There’s no way he’s still alive.” The cries became louder with what Jaehyun claimed.   

Everything is quiet and Yuta can feel his body getting dragged somewhere deep. A booming voice can be heard before his consciousness failed him, “There is still something we can do.” 

—----

Yuta woke up feeling light-headed. The curtains of his room were closed so he had to look at his phone to check what the time was. To his surprise, it was already late. He had to run at this rate. Hastily, he prepared for school and made sure that he had enough time to ride the bus. 

He was running from the bus stop to the school grounds, along some students who were already sweating through their uniforms. Once he arrived at his homeroom, his seatmate greeted him with a shake of his head. "Late again?" Yuta chuckled but the other shook his head. "I can't believe you ran from the bus stop. Why are you not sweating?" But Yuta just smiled, shrugging it off. 

His gaze fell on a certain desk by the window. Something should be there. Someone should be sitting there. Where is she? 

Instead of soccer practice, he found himself walking to the dark hallways of the music room. It's usually unoccupied but at the far end of the rooms, he could hear the fleeting music of the piano. La Mer. The Sea. 

Why is she so obsessed with the sea? 

Y/N turned around hearing Yuta clapping after finishing her piece. "Why aren't you in class?" he asked, sitting beside her. His fingers started playing the same notes she was playing earlier. "Do you want to go to the sea, Y/N?"

The girl giggled before pushing the music sheet in front of him. "Again?" Yuta smiled. "If my dad was normal, he would ground me for going home late last night." 

"Your dad loves me." She smiled, nodding. He did. His fingers skillfully played the notes of the classical piece, "But I love you more." 

Y/N raised an eyebrow. "Are you hungry?" 

Yuta grinned, shaking his head. "But that is tempting." The girl had to laugh at that. "I'm so sick of pig's blood. How can you keep drinking the same…?" He stopped seeing the girl bunch her hair on the side, the side of her neck in full access for him. 

The innate thirst for blood came to him like a shock. His mouth was so dry that he could easily feel the appearance of sharp fangs. From the reflection on the tinted window, he saw how his eyes turned from black to light brown. "You didn't get enough sleep again," Y/N scolded, "I told you to bite me before leaving last night." 

"I can't." 

"Yuta, it's normal for new vampires to feel that hunger." She held his cheek, urging him to not suppress his inner desires. "And it's my job, as your sire, to help you." 

The guy leaned his head on her shoulder, nose lingering on the side of her neck to smell her. "I don't want to always ask you for this," he whispered before licking the side of her neck. "But I badly want you." His teeth sank into her skin, a moan escaping her lips. 

Yuta felt the warmness traveling through his body. Her blood tasted so sweet that he was getting crazy. "Sorry," she whispered. "I made you one of us." His hand held hers, tongue licking the remaining blood from her neck. "I was so scared seeing you lifeless in the tub. When dad suggested letting you drink my blood…" 

He hushed her up, not wanting to hear the guilt in her voice once again. "This is the best thing that ever happened to me, Y/N." He smiled, white fangs tainted with blood in perfect view. "I didn't regret being a vampire if it meant being with you forever." Yuta leaned in, placing a soft kiss on her lips before leaning in once again to place butterfly kisses on her lips. "Let's get some food in you, you're getting colder." 

"Want to buy some pig's blood?" 

Yuta looked disgusted, "I had my fill." She chuckled. "Besides…" he started, linking their hands together. "If given a choice of blood," he continued, smiling warmly at her. "You're my favorite, my sire."  

"You'll always be my favorite." 

[twinkleomorashi]

Do you have any headcanons about your fic’s characters?

I actually have a whole document of these that has never seen the light of day. Until now. Some of these are canon bc that’s just how writing head canons about ur own characters works ig. Sorry this massively long!!!

I have both normal and omo/ nsfw ones of course!

June

Loves a fruity little drink. Any fruity little drink offered is a win in her books. Also loves diet coke. Hates drinking water.

Hates any sort of bug or animal you would call an exterminator for.

Takes obnoxiously long showers

Really terrible at not getting her way. Will have a tantrum

Youngest sibling if it wasn’t obvious.

Actually a really good cook, but nobody believes her

Possessive. It contributes to the biting / marking kink she has, but she hasn’t made that connection yet (everyone else has)

Favorite flavor of ice cream is cotton candy because Bethany Mota said it was hers in like 2014 so June forced herself to like it and is still convinced she does.

Loves gossip. Has never minded her business ever.

Kind of a klepto if we’re being honest but this is canon

TERRIBLE driver. Assigned passenger princess by others out of fear

August

extremely obvious blusher

sense of humor of a twelve year old boy despite trying to act more mature than she is

subconsciously collects rocks. Her pockets always have some in them that she found throughout the day. She sometimes forgets to take them and they fuck up the dryer.

Cries watching teen soap operas but nobody is allowed to know that

Terrible eyesight without her glasses

Fiddles with her glasses when she’s lying.

Scared of storms

Mommy issues so bad

Doesn’t like the taste of beer, but drinks it anyway because she thinks it makes her look more masc

honestly has terrible internanalized toxic masculinity

favorite band is The Killers

has kept a diary since she was 14

Taj

car smells like car air freshener desperately trying and failing to conceal the smell of weed

art major, makes a living drawing furry porn. Says it’s for the bit. It might not be.

Blood is probably at least 25% energy drink at this point

“Anything for the bit!” (Actively gets herself into Situations)

Terrible at budgeting

loves hot chip and charge her phone

favorite flavor of anything is green apple. Likes the light green monster because she thinks it’s green apple. It’s not.

Loves heights and climbing, is really good at it even though she’s short

sleeps in weird positions, very heavy sleeper

Exclusively wears really stupid graphic t shirts

Her one exception to her lesbianism is shadow the hedgehog and she’s dead serious about it

Massive praise kink.

Isla

Prefers coffee to tea. Has not had tea in two months because she thinks people expect her to drink tea and thus she refuses to.

Self proclaimed frigid bitch (is actually so sweet). Total defense mechanism.

Twirls her hair when she’s nervous.

Loves fruit and veg.

Avid reader, prefers non fiction. Likes to research psychology and human behavior.

High alcohol tolerance, but no where near as high as she thinks it is. “I’m completely sober right now” (is actively stumbling around and giggling)

Squeamish as hell. Can’t handle horror movies or even watch like… wrestling or something.

Psych major who has never once communicated her own feelings honestly ever so uh

Laughs really loud, is embarrassed by it

Struggles to make friends because she’s too self conscious to talk to people.

Was a horse girl as a child. Still is lowkey a horse girl but she’s embarrassed about it and refuses to discuss it.

Terrified of heights

porn specific lol both actual and piss

June

average sized bladder, though it’s on the weaker side

too stubborn to admit to others that she needs to pee until it becomes an emergency

Like won’t admit it until the VERY last second where she’s starting to panic about wetting herself

Squirmyyy, moves her hips a lot

Loves to give hickies. Huge marking kink. Goes along with her possessiveness.

Dominant for self-satisfying reasons. August immediately becomes more dominant if she sees June trying to be, but that’s what June wants from her anyway

August

Not super in-tune with her needs. Forgets to pee and ends up desperate later on as a consequence

Usually can stay pretty composed when desperate, but has her limits. Will admit it with little hesitation.

Instinctively grabs herself when desperate, though often catches and stops herself if people are around

Way more willing to pee in containers or outside than most people are

Has tried to pee standing up many times. It has never once worked. She has never told anyone this.

Loud..

Loveeees to top. Puts others pleasure before her own in every situation. Has to be explicitly guided into putting her own first.

Taj

Veryy vocal most of the time, mostly unashamed

Diuretics effect her pretty bad, despite how many energy drinks she drinks

Bladder’s actually pretty big and strong under normal circumstances. She can hold it for a while if she puts her mind to it and doesn’t give into the temptation to “let some out”.

That being said, she’s not particularly strong-willed most of the time… Easily tempted by the thought of relief and that can override her logic about the consequences of giving in.

Weirdo perv. Massive praise kink. Very obedient and eager to please

Tops from the bottom.

Dangerously close to crossing too many wires in her brain about a certain something..

Isla

Embarrassed at the mere idea of someone knowing she has to pee

Will not say a goddamn word if she’s desperate

Will literally be pleading for help but doing in roundabout ways that very rarely directly mentions the problem at hand

Huge bladder, but it tends to be weak and sore for a few days if she loses control of it

Secretly a huge pervert, but will barely even admit that to herself

Once she gets the chance to be one though??? Lord..

Soft but firm domme

Bottoms from the top

[review-anon]

(Save this for whenever you feel like continuing the Hero/medbay sideplot, I'm just sending now so I won't forget later)

*If an X-Ray of Hero is taken, the images are bit confusing to get a good read of, but upon further examination it seems like his jaw bones have been replaced by a mechanical structure of which the "teeth" come out from. A similar concoction exist around the hands, only instead of replacing the bones there are thin metal structures connected to them leading up to the claws, likely to keep them in place under the skin*

*If a bloodtest is performed, not really sure how it would come up as I don't understand those well. But it would be very messed up showing high levels of radiation exposure from the chaos energy permanently integrated into his system*

So you did tests on Hero did you...did you find what happened to him.

Well for that, I think we need to call the others in.

*Kanata goes outside the room to go and get Kyoji and Mikan....

Moments later they come back*

Hey we're back.

A-are you okay? We heard what Sannoji did you.

I could be better...but I'll live.

That's good to hear.

Anyway so you did all various tests on Hero, do you know what Dr. Robotnik did to him?

Yes we did and its not a pretty thing that's happened to him.

Firstly cutting him open was hard since Chaos Emeralds have been enfused into him which gives him a gem-like skin which normal knives cannot get through, I had to pull out my special surgical knives to do the job.

He also has problems with his heart as the increased muscle mass has put strain in it which would explain why he passed shortly after battling the Cloths, being here must sap a lot of his stamina.

That's not all we were able to discover as now we have given him a thorugh examination we were able to determine what Dr. Robotnik has done.

For starters Sonic is canonically 3'3 but Hero is about 4'5 which is much larger then he originally was, still small for a human as he is around the same size as Inori but much larger then normal.

We were able to get his gloves off and what we saw was horrific as they were slender but had a extra layer of bones, which testing confirmed he has Wolverine-like claws which could retract whenever he chooses, and they are made of a strange unknown metal.

The same applies to the teeth which his mouth is weird. He has five long teeth that go through where the gums should have been where instead of gums there's a metallic structure, almost as if the teeth come from the mouth itself. They also extremely elongated and very long. The osoephagus is also a lot smaller then normal which not only explains why Hero is unable to talk, but it also means we have to be careful what to feed him when he wakes up since he can't eat as large portions as normal.

Lastly, the eyes are extremely badly damaged as they are working at a third of what they should be. This could explain Hero's rampage as with such poor visibility he easily mistook us with our labcoats and glasses as being allies of Dr. Robotnik. Us having a Chansey also didn't help given the Pokemon's egg-like shape.

An x-ray confirms what we were suspecting that Hero has cybernetic inplants into him as both his claws and long teeth were both made of metal and bioorganic matter. Basically Dr. Robotnik tried to give Hero a cybernetic mouth and some claws.

We f-finally did a blood test and it showed extremely high levels of both radiation, and when we did magical signatures it came up positive to up to 3 Chaos Emeralds. Which Hero has in his body.

Wait a second this is sounding familar...did Project Shadow do something like this with Shadow?

Yes and a working theory we have is that this Dr. Eggman is behaving more like his grandfather was, wanting to tamper with biological life and create something akin to Shadow.

And given how much off the deep end Gerald Robotnik goes...this doesn't paint a good picture.

I see so Hero has all these modifications, and I suspect he probably had even more planned but Hero escaped before it could finish.

That might explain the health issues Hero has, Dr. Robotnik probably identified these problems and was gonna fix them eventually but Hero got away before he could do so; in short Hero is a unfinished lab experiment.

B-but he's here now right, so you might not be able to restore him to normal, but you could make his life better?

We can try but remember that Robotnik technology is decades ahead of what we are used to working with. Yes the Voidship had advanced technology as well but some of us barely know how to work it.

Our first priority should be restoring Hero's sight to normal levels. Half of the issues he causes is due to poor visibilty so if he had his eyes more or less back to normal, then some of the misunderstandings can be cleared up.

[ladyravenjadethe2nd]

Spoilers for Part 6 of If Wishes were Kisses

Now we get Killua and we are having a heavy on the Comfort Hurt/Comfort fic. Also a good bit of heart wrenching Romance in later chapters.

Poor Killua, this poor baby is going to have a gay panic, an 'Are we dating?' panic, 'Do best friends hold hands and watch sunsets together?' panic. He's gonna go through it.

I haven't written much for him because he is my favorite character and I'm pretty sure if I start I will get 20 chapters out for Part 5 while I'm still on Part 2.

My in general vibe though is this is going to be the sweetest fluffiest little found family thing ever. I'm going to have cute happy family moments with everyone.

Illumi's always going to be a bit weird, but I'm hoping I can get them okay with each other.

He will be pretty freaked out at first from being reborn, but he won't be their for 24 hours without being 'introduced' to Gon which will make everything better.

Luckily his parents are friends with Gon's parents and they all think that the only thing cuter then one baby is two babies!

I do think he will panic at first when he sees Illumi and it will be very obviously to him that Milluki is acting weird as fuck. Protective is certainly not a Zoldyck trait.

He'll be mostly bewildered, but no one is hurting him and he can see Gon often. Being a baby is embarrassing and he hates it, but outside of diaper changes and bottles it's not that bad.

He's very close in age to Alluka. I think he will be barely a year or maybe less then that when Momo gets pregnant with her.

Alluka's birth is going to be Killua's big test for his new family. If they are good to her he will accept them and if they aren't he will shun them and plan to leave with her as soon as he can.

Part 8 which has the prologue and epilogue will be mostly in Alluka's point of view and the reason that she gets that instead of a proper chapter starting from her birth is that Killua is going to be hyper focused on her every interaction with everyone as a toddler.

Alluka is a very interesting character and I figured out how to keep her trans without having anyone misgender her and how to handle Nanika.

You see Nanika is going to be a Nanika shaped Dark Shadow like quirk. Not everyone gets their parents quirks and who says that Nanika can't be born with Alluka? It's rare, but you can have quirks from birth.

Of course Tokoyami will be her godfather.

I'm not sure if I want a Doctor to misgender her and get eaten by Nanika, if I want Nanika to straight up be able to talk normally and tell them Alluka is a girl or if Nanika can only talk to Dark Shadow while she's a baby in secret Shadow language and Dark Shadow tells everyone, but either way super easy coming out.

Everyone uses the right pronouns for her from birth or gets eaten/squashed/deleted from the realm of the living. :)

I can see Momo already having researched the topic and pulling up a white board to explain in detail to the whole family what it means to be trans and making it very clear how Alluka will be addressed.

I think both her parents will be delighted to have a little girl, will treat Nanika as their second daughter after life advice from Dark Shadow and just be really great parents to them to both.

I'm not sure how blood thirsty I want Nanika to be, but I do want a scene where she righteously blinks someone out of existence maybe a villain and Momo and Shouto both treat this like something a firm scolding and a timeout will fix.

Now Killua knows that he can trust his new parents. I have a million ideas of him remembering past traumas and getting comfort from Momo and Shouto.

Killua gets a very powerful elemental quirk. Not sure if I just want to say a mutation to lighting or fire that moves so fast it's pretty much blue colored lighting. I'll need to research lighting. He gets it at the normal time of four years old.

Killua thinks superheroes are cool and as much as he hates the idea of his life being planned for him it's not as bad as being an assassin. These parents have been kind to not start his training yet and have encouraged him to have friends like Gon so he feels he owes them.

He goes to his father reluctantly, but willingly to start his hero training. He has the strongest quirk so of course it is his duty to be the heir.

Shouto doesn't handle this as badly as when Illumi tried it. We get a heartfelt scene of Shouto explaining his issues with his own father which would normally be way too much for a four old to understand, and telling Killua that his life is his own and if he wants to be a hero he would train him when he old enough to join a hero school, but not before.

Killua already cared about this family, but I think he fully lets go after that. Stops waiting for the other shoe to drop and for something horrible to happen. He finally gets to be taken care off and feel normal.

I think he will start trying to look after Kalluto more after that. He's born not too long after Alluka and as is cannon Killua had little interest in him until now, being far more concerned with Alluka.

He is selfishly happy that Gon doesn't have a quirk. Of course it doesn't mean they won't be heroes together. Nothing can stop Gon for a goal, but even if they are a hero due they won't be called in to world ending fights.

They can beat up goons that rob banks and help people find their lost cats and stuff like that. It will be something fun they can do together.

As much as he loves Alluka he shouldn't have had to be a parent to her. Having a family he can trust with her means he won't feel guilty having adventures with Gon instead of looking after her.

He and Gon do start training on their own way before Highschool. Hisoka might help. They might get a parent to agree to early training or get a different mentor. We will see.

I like the idea of Killua finding out that Gon could get his father's quirk and thinking that he took it. I could do a heart breaking scene of Killua begging Gon not to go fight. He would have to have enough self worth to be willing ask for something selfish and he would have to have enough faith in Gon to think it might work.

Of course Gon would tell him that he didn't take the quirk and that he will never leave Killua again. It would be a wonderful moment for a getting together kiss and might be a good ending for Killua's part.

I say 'I like the idea' and 'it would be' because I'm not 100% decided on how to end it yet.