#but I don't think getting back together and giving it another shot after being broken up for 3 months is gonna solve our issues

[potato-elf]

personal posting in the tags again beware

[wholoveseggs]

Hi love,, how about elijah and reader have recently broken up and ready is exploring other options but elijah is still madly in love and gets super jealous? I’m thinking super rough with a touch of angst but mostly anger and jealousy?! (also a lot of kinks) ⋆˚✿˖°

Madness

18+ ---- {Masterlist} {Tag-List}

You bring a date to the Mikaelson party, specifically to attract the attention of your estranged husband. The plan backfires; he's not the type to let you go so easily and makes sure to remind you that no one will ever take his place.

♡♡ Thanks for the request @spideysbabe & @ashloring! I love writing about Elijah's wild side ♡♡

6.4k words - Warnings: smut, oral sex, dom!Elijah, angry sex, rough sex, biting, blood drinking, spanking, jealousy, rim job (f!receiving), anal sex, riding, Elijah being possessive, lots of praise and a little degradation.

You probably shouldn't have brought a date to a Mikaelson party, but considering how you and Elijah ended things, you saw no problem with it. Was it petty? Yes. Was it immature? Also yes. Were you feeling a bit vindicated when you walked in the door and saw the look on Elijah's face? Absolutely.

You found the hottest guy possible on tinder, the kind with zero brains and all brawn. He was the perfect rebound, the type with an inability to commit to anyone, let alone you, but that's not what you wanted from him anyway. All you wanted was to make your ex jealous, and judging by the glare he shot at your date, it was working.

To the undiscerning eye, Elijah appeared to be the picture of composure, greeting the guests in one of his favorite suits. But you knew him better than that, and you could see the twitch in his jaw, the slight tension in his shoulders. And judging by the way he was avoiding your gaze, he was pissed.

When he was pissed, specifically at you, he would usually get you alone and give you a proper dressing down, and it always turned you on, a lot. The first time you'd fucked after a fight, it had taken you both by surprise. His usual gentle nature had given way to a possessiveness that made you see stars, and ever since, you'd been chasing the feeling.

You didn't really have a plan, a part of you wanted to do the healthy thing and move on, but there was another part of you, a part that was addicted to Elijah,that just wanted him back, it had been that way for so long you could barely remember a time before him. You were still mad at him, though, so you decided the best thing to do would be to try to make him jealous.

Your date wasn't going to last past tonight, you knew that, but he was the perfect prop for your little game. You knew Elijah would find you, you just needed to set the stage, so you pulled the big dumb beefcake to the dance floor.

He was a terrible dancer, but you didn't care, it wasn't about him. You already caught him flirting with several other women in the short amount of time you'd been here, but you couldn't be bothered. As long as he showed up on your arm, and looked hot while doing it, that's all that mattered.

"That asshole in the suit has been staring at us this whole time, and he doesn't seem too happy," your date said, trying to whisper, but it came out much too loud. You'd chosen him specifically because of that, you liked the way people looked at the two of you.

"Don't worry about him," you replied, pressing yourself against his body a little closer. "He's an ex. A controlling ex."

"He looks a little old for you, what is he like? 35?" Your date asked, looking directly at Elijah. 

You stifled a laugh, "close enough, I guess." 

"How long were you together? He's still giving me death eyes," he whispered, not subtly.

"A while," you shrugged, "but that doesn't matter anymore." You leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "I'm yours for the night."

You'd hoped he'd get the hint, but apparently it took a lot of hints for him to understand that you were looking for sex, and not anything else.

"Why'd you break up? He's obviously still hung up on you." The music changed, and he was still talking. "Did he cheat on you? I know a lot of guys who do that."

"No, nothing like that," you answered, your annoyance growing, "he's just a selfish asshole who likes to masquerade about his morals." You weren't entirely lying, you were pretty sure Elijah's ego was the driving force behind his recent decisions. "Plus he has a tiny cock," you added, for good measure.

Your date laughed, and you had to laugh along, you could feel Elijah's glaze burning into you. You glanced his way and his eyes met yours, and you had to resist the urge to blush under his gaze. His eyebrows were raised, a twinkle of amusement and anger in his eyes. You could practically hear him telling you that wasn't funny, that you were acting like a child.

Elijah always hated when you acted out. It was like he wanted you to be some sort of prim and proper lady, which you were for the most part. But every now and then, you felt the urge to be bad, and you enjoyed pushing his buttons.

"Get me a drink?" You asked your date, batting your eyelashes and giving him a wide smile.

"Of course," he replied, before heading off to the bar.

You went to a nearby table and leaned against it, trying to appear casual. You felt Elijah's presence behind you, and your stomach twisted in anticipation.

"Do you think I don't know what you're doing?" He asked, not bothering with pleasantries.

"Whatever do you mean?" You asked, pretending to be coy.

"This boy isn't going to last past tonight, so why did you invite him here?" He asked, leaning forward, his lips almost touching your ear.

"I don't know, I thought he might be fun," you shrugged, playing innocent. "I didn't realize I wasn't allowed to date other people," you added, knowing it would infuriate him.

"You are allowed to do whatever you want, but there will always be consequences," he replied, his voice low. "And your boy is getting a bit too friendly with my sister, don't you think?"

You glanced over, and sure enough, your date was chatting up Rebekah. Poor guy had no idea that Rebekah could eat him alive.

"I think Rebekah can handle herself," you said, looking away.

"You're not upset? You don't seem particularly attached to him," he asked, his fingers lightly brushing against your elbow.

"Worried that someone else has claimed my heart?" You asked, turning around to face him, a teasing smile on your lips.

"No, because I know it will always belong to me," he replied, a smirk on his face, a knowing look in his eyes. He always knew how to disarm you, and piss you off.

"I'm not yours, I think I made that very fucking clear," you snapped, your smile fading. The pain of your breakup was still fresh, and his arrogant attitude only fueled the fire.

"We both know that's not true," he said, stepping closer. "Even if we're not together, you're still mine."

"You are such an arrogant prick," you huffed, trying not to show how much his words affected you. You wanted to hate him, and sometimes you could, but in moments like this, your feelings for him overwhelmed you.

"If you think insulting me will erase how you feel for me, then you are deluded," he scoffed, before grabbing the back of your head, forcing you to meet his gaze.

He paused for a moment, taking in the fire in your eyes, the defiance that turned him on. He loved the struggle, it always led to the sweetest surrender with you.

"Did he fuck you yet?" He asked, his lips dangerously close to yours.

"That's none of your business," you snapped, pulling your head out of his grip.

Your date returned with the drinks before you could say anything, placing one in your hands.

"Here, honey. I got you a dirty martini," he said, before glancing at Elijah. "Get your own girl, mate, this one's mine," he added, wrapping an arm around your waist.

The blood boiled in Elijah's veins and he resisted the urge to grab this stupid boy by his head and slam it onto the table. Instead he gave him a deadly glare, smiling when the poor fool flinched slightly.

"You are aware that you are in my home with your arm around my wife," he said, his voice deceptively calm. He could feel you watching him, waiting for his reaction, and he was determined not to give you the satisfaction. Not yet, anyway. 

"Your wife?" The boy sputtered, loosening his grip on you. "I didn't realize...I..."

You rolled your eyes, annoyed that he was letting Elijah intimidate him. You see Elijah's self-satisfied grin and it pisses you off.

"Don't mind him," you said, patting your date's chest. "He's just a control freak who's a bit threatened by younger men." You looked up at him, giving him a teasing smile. You knew you were poking the bear, but you couldn't help it, Elijah was making you feel things, and you were determined not to let him win.

Elijah leaned in close, his pupils dilating as he compelled him. "Sit and be quiet," he commanded, and the boy obeyed without question.

"What did you do that for?" You hissed, slapping him on the shoulder. "He didn't do anything to deserve that." The truth was, he wasn't doing much for you, but he didn't need to know that.

"There, now we can continue our conversation," Elijah said, ignoring your protest. "Now, answer my question. Did you fuck him yet?" He asked, his tone serious. His hand was resting on your hip, his grip firm. He knew exactly what he was doing, and it was driving you crazy.

"You didn't have to do that," you said, trying to remain unaffected by the whole exchange.

"It was either that or kill him," he shrugged.

"Well, now you're being a bit dramatic," you scoffed. You were determined to maintain the upper hand, despite the fact that he was getting under your skin. "He's an idiot, but he didn't deserve to die."

Rebekah had noticed the two of you standing there, and she headed over. She knew about your recent fight, and the reason for it. She also knew that the two of you were a disaster when it came to communicating, so she did what she did best and interfered. 

"Well, well, what is this?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Just a friendly conversation, dear sister," Elijah replied, his voice tight.

Rebekah looked down at the dazed man sitting between them, and then back up to the two of you. "Doesn't seem very friendly."

"Your brother is a possessive asshole, who thinks he owns me," you said, glaring at him. 

"Your sister in law is acting like a child, trying to provoke me," Elijah replied, matching your glare.

Rebekah looked back and forth between the two of you, before shaking her head. "You two are exhausting," she sighed, "I think it's time for your date to leave, fix him, and send him home," she added, her voice leaving no room for argument.

Elijah sighed and looked down at your date, "stand up," he commanded, watching as the man did as he was told. "You will leave and forget that my wife even exists," 

"Elijah! You can't make someone forget me!" You said, outraged. Your plan was backfiring. You were supposed to piss him off and make him jealous, not the other way around. 

Before Elijah could respond Rebekah grabbed the both of you by the arm and led you upstairs, into an empty bedroom.

"The two of you are being ridiculous. Acting like children and making a scene. This party was supposed to be a nice, relaxing evening. We are not in a fucking reality show," she scolded, her face turning red with anger. "Now, you are going to work this out, so I don't have to witness this bullshit anymore."

She slammed the door before either of you could respond. You turned to look at Elijah, and for a moment, the two of you were silent, the air filled with tension.

"Y/n," Elijah started, reaching out for your hand, but you pulled it away.

"I'm not doing this with you right now," you replied, moving towards the door, but Elijah blocked your way.

"Move," you ordered, glaring at him.

"No, not until you talk to me," he said, his jaw clenching.

"Or what? You'll compel me to stay?" You scoffed.

Elijah's expression changed to anger, taking a step forward and backing you up against the wall.

"You know that I would never do that," he growled, his voice low.

"You compelled my date, Elijah, and that was pretty low, even for you," you retorted, your hands coming up to push on his chest.

"That man was an absolute bore," he responded, a slight grin on his face.

"That doesn't make what you did okay, Elijah!" You shouted, frustration bubbling inside you.

"Don't pretend like you care, this isn't about him," he laughed. He knew what you were trying to do, and you hated that. "You brought him here because you want to provoke me," he continued, "you want to punish me."

"Maybe," you sighed, looking away, the heat between the two of you simmering. "Look, we just keep having the same fight," you finally said after a moment, still refusing to make eye contact. "We're never going to agree on this."

"We've overcome much worse in our time together," he countered, reaching out to cup your cheek, turning your head back towards him. "We are meant to be together. I know it, and you know it.

"Then why do you keep doing this to me, to us?" You whispered, barely audible. "You let Klaus use you over and over again, and it always ends badly. Why can't you just be satisfied with what we have?" You were trying hard not to cry, your emotions a messy jumble of pain, love and anger.

"My brother can be very persuasive, he's had over a thousand years to work on that," he explained, his thumb wiping away a tear that had slipped out. "He needs someone to believe in him, to fight for him, and it seems no one other than me is capable of that, or wants to even try."

You had heard this all before, the endless excuses, the justifications. "Don't you think its time he figured his own shit out and stop using you for it?" You snapped, losing your patience again. "He treats you like a means to an end, Elijah, and that has to hurt. I see how it hurts you, and it pains me to see you like this."

"What you are doing, fucking some nameless wretch just to piss me off, that hurts far more than Klaus," Elijah growled, his face inches from yours.

You opened your mouth to argue, but his lips crashed down onto yours, stealing your breath from you. You tried to resist him, but it was impossible. His kiss was intoxicating and you melted against him. Your hands tangled in his hair as you tugged him closer. He groaned and you pulled away, pushing against his chest, hard. He stumbled back a bit, a look of surprise on his face. He blinked, confused and you moved toward the door once again. 

He grabbed your wrist, stopping you and pulling you to him. His lips were on yours in an instant, claiming you, dominating you. There was no point in fighting it, you were his, and you both knew it. 

 He moved to your throat and your head tipped back as he gently sucked and nipped at the delicate skin there. A small moan escaped your lips and your knees felt weak, a wet heat spreading between your thighs.

Your free hand wrapped in his tie and pulled him back to your lips. The kiss was raw and needy, and it awakened a fierce hunger inside both of you. Elijah let go of your hand and roughly grabbed your hips, lifting you up, slamming you into the wall. The force knocked the wind out of you but it wasn't enough to make you stop.

"Eli," you said with a bit more urgency, knowing that neither of you could keep it up much longer before you took things much, much further. "I - I can't, we shouldn't..." You tried to argue, but your body was betraying you, and his touches were setting your skin aflame.

Elijah released your hand and tugged at the hem of your dress, pulling it up to your hip. His hand dipped between your thighs, finding the soft, soaked lace of your underwear, a smirk spreading across his face.

"Liar," he whispered into your ear.

It wasn't like you had no control. If you wanted him to stop, all you had to do is say no and you knew Elijah would, but that's not what you really wanted. All your anger and frustration was dissolving into pure lust.

Elijah moved your panties aside, gently stroking his fingertips along your wet slit, slowly dragging the pad of his middle finger around your clit before dipping into your core. He watched the desire on your face as he pushed two fingers inside you and his eyes darkened at how wet you were for him.

"You're such a greedy little thing," he groaned into your ear, pumping his fingers deeper, "always so wet for me."

His fingers pumped faster and harder, his mouth finding yours, muffling your moans. When his thumb started massaging your clit, that was all it took. You shuddered as an orgasm rolled through you and you clutched at his shoulders to stay upright.

Elijah could feel you tremble and shake beneath him as waves of ecstasy washed over you. He chuckled softly, slowly withdrawing his fingers from your cunt. He slid the digits into your mouth, making you gag as they touched the back of your throat. You could taste the tang of your juices on them.

Elijah removed his fingers and you inhaled deeply, swallowing hard to clear the tickling in your throat.

"So beautiful when you come undone," he muttered, bringing you even closer, crushing you into his body. "I've missed hearing my name tumble from those sinful lips of yours."

You felt the blush creep into your cheeks and you buried your head into his neck.

"Elijah, this isn't us getting back together," you breathed into him. "This is sex," you clarified, even as your heart tightened in your chest. "Can you live with that?"

You could feel his smile on his lips.

"Can you?" he shot back.

His hand was resting on the curve of your bottom and he suddenly gripped it, his nails digging into your flesh. His fangs grazed the sensitive skin of your neck before sinking into your vein, and the sting was the best type of pleasure.

A small cry escaped your lips. With each pull of blood he was drinking more, sucking deeper, making it harder to breathe. You grabbed his biceps, clinging to him, the mix of intense pleasure and pain muddling your thoughts.

Your eyes fluttered closed as he finished drinking his fill and began licking the wound, a gentle groan escaping his lips.

"You've been mine for eight hundred years, do you think I would just give you up so easily?" He whispered, his breath tickling your neck. "If all we have to settle for is sex, then I will take it."

He lifted up his arm and offered you his wrist, without a second thought you sank your fangs into him, a rich taste filling your mouth. You drank deeply from his veins, and he held you close, watching your eyes darken and veins ripple around them. 

He smiled and pushed your hair behind your ears, running his thumbs over your cheekbones. You wanted him badly, and as your gaze focused on him, a thrill went through your body. His hair was disheveled, his lips slick with the remnants of your blood, his eyes dark with arousal. He looked dangerous and sexy and so incredibly delicious. You needed more of him.

He set you down, letting your feet touch the floor, his hand tangled in your hair. Your gaze dropped to the erection straining against his tailored slacks. You knew exactly what he wanted you to do, but even when he was this worked up, he would never ask, always the gentleman.

You didn't want the gentleman though, it reminded you too much of the love the two of you once shared. No, tonight you wanted the possessive, rough, jealous vampire. The one he hid behind his red door and only let you see. You liked when he was ruthless.

You sank to your knees before him and he loosened his hold on your hair. With one hand, you grabbed his hip, while your other hand deftly unbuttoned his slacks. As you lowered the zipper, your breath brushed over the straining silk boxers, and you could hear him let out a soft growl.

You paused before freeing his cock, leaning in, placing a light kiss on the hard fabric and felt his muscles go tight. You were going to tease him, never quite giving him what he wanted, until he took charge. You needed that rough touch, the kind that could shatter the windows and break bones. The kind of touch you secretly longed for.

You pulled his boxer briefs down just a little, running the pad of your thumb down the underside of his length, before blowing cool air over him and making him twitch. Keeping your eyes on him, you leaned forward again, this time letting your tongue lick across the tip, cleaning his pre-cum from it.

His hands were in your hair, more forcefully now. You continued the teasing, until his grip was painfully tight, you could see the gentleman leaving him. It excited you more than you ever wanted to admit, even to yourself. You knew it wouldn't be much longer before he was ruining you.

Taking his thick girth into your hand, you moved your tongue to swirl around the tip. This time his response was not so reserved, a low, deep sound emitting from his chest.

You sucked lightly on the head, hollowing your cheeks and slowly stroking him in time with your movements. You purposefully kept him from feeling the full effect of your mouth. He was losing the battle over his restraint.

One of his hands cupped your chin, making you look up at him. There was a wild look in his eyes, his breathing ragged. He was trying not to let you push him, he wanted to have slow, passionate sex, make you want to come home and be with him again.

But tonight was not the night for that.

You fought your gaze, fluttering your lashes at him coyly. You saw it on his face, a war being waged. Only you could do this to him, undo his defenses, strip him bare.

"You wish to be treated like a whore," he said quietly, his words sounding almost bitter, though his voice had a strange timbre to it, a hint of excitement.

You tried to nod, your mouth still full of his cock, and his grip on your hair tightened, keeping you in place. He sighed, his thumb brushing along your cheekbone, an odd tenderness.

"Whatever my love wants," he murmured, sounding as if it hurt to say those words. He shoved himself deeper, not stopping when you started to cough, drool slipping down the corners of your mouth. He was so big, his size always overwhelmed you and made tears prickle your eyes.

You worked to breathe, knowing he was not going to be gentle this time. One of his hands left you and pressed into the wall, anchoring himself as he started to fuck your face with a bruising pace.

"Is this how you want to be treated? Letting me fuck your throat raw," Elijah hissed, his cock hitting the back of your throat and you gagged, saliva spilling over and down your chin. "I guess I don't have to hear your snide remarks now, do I?"

You didn't know what you expected, but this was exactly what you had been hoping for. He pulled on your hair hard, pressed your face into his hip, the hairs there making you twitch and your nostrils burn. Your hands gripped his thighs, trying to push him back as you struggled to breathe. You could only make rasping noises, your eyes tearing up, droplets pooling before they spilled.

He pulled you off, allowing you to breathe. Your chest was heaving, a long string of saliva hanging between his cock and your mouth. You kept his eye contact, your lips swollen and slick.

"Good," he murmured. "I'm glad you can finally understand that no other man will ever own you the way I do."

"You don't own me," you rasped out and the fire in his gaze burned.

The words were barely out of your mouth when he threw you onto the bed, the force making your head spin. He tore at the top of your dress, sending bits of fabric flying everywhere. You lay there panting, his eyes hungrily devouring every inch of your half naked form.

"Spread your legs," he commanded, not moving towards the bed, watching intently, waiting for you to comply.

"No," you responded, holding his stare, defiance flashing in your eyes.

His shirt was missing several buttons now, torn open to reveal the toned planes of his stomach and chest. In an instant he was on the bed, his hands grabbing your hips and pulling you underneath him. A slight grin playing on his lips.

"Do you think I don't see what game you are playing? If you want the monster, you've got him, darling," he whispered before capturing your mouth in a rough kiss.

His hands reached up, taking the cups of your bra down. When his fingers closed over your breasts, squeezing the soft flesh roughly, you couldn't contain your gasping cry, his thumbs pinching your nipples painfully.

"Tell me, did your little date fuck you like I do?" He growled against your chest.

You whimpered, twisting in his grasp, but his strength was no match for you, you could already see it in the flexing of his muscles. He bit down hard on your nipple, the shock of pain making you choke. His mouth was soft and warm, his tongue swiping over the hardened peak soothingly, but his teeth held on tightly, biting at your sensitive skin.

"Answer me," Elijah demanded, raising his head to lock his gaze with yours.

"E-e-e-e," you stammered, struggling to speak as his hands moved to your hair, roughly twisting the strands together and pulling, tugging your head back.

"E-e-e-e?" He mocked, kissing a trail over the curve of your jaw, ending at your lips, teasing the flesh with his teeth.

"Fuck you," you breathed, anger spiking through the lust clouding your mind.

He flipped you over abruptly, slapping your ass. You struggled to get away, but his hands were pressed into your back, not allowing you to move.

"Did he," another smack landed on your bare skin and the stinging ache made you gasp.

"Fuck you?" Two more blows, this time to your opposite cheek and you clenched the bed sheets tightly.

He pushed your panties down, grabbing your hips and tilting your bottom towards him, spreading your legs, revealing your wet core. You moaned, the need growing and making your toes curl, desperate to be taken.

"Hmm," he mused, tracing his thumb down the seam of your pussy. You moaned into the covers, your head burrowed between your arms, your hands making fists in the sheet. He parted your swollen lower lips and let out a shaky breath when your arousal coated the pads of his digits. He moves his thumb to your ass, teasing your opening and you feel more heat spreading across your cheeks as you squirm in protest, whimpering.

He chucked, slapping your left butt cheek playfully. "You've no right to blush," he mused, leaning down and running the tip of his tongue along the crack, before blowing a small puff of cool air on you and the tickling sensation sent shivers down your spine.

"I bet he couldn't satisfy you the way I do. Even as he tried ...you were thinking of me."

You froze, caught off guard, and then your teeth were clenched and you tried to break from his grasp again. He was being such a damn cocky asshole, always believing himself superior. Your pride bristled under his comments, anger starting to well within. You began to protest and fight when suddenly he pressed his thumb against your puckered entrance, the digit sinking into the knuckle, making you mewl into the mattress.

"Don't..." your voice trailed off, losing your thoughts as your hips rocked trying to grind yourself against his hand.

"I will use you however I see fit," he said with a chuckle, biting into the flesh of your ass. "Don't pretend you don't like the depravity."

His words were spoken so low, so ragged. It was like his entire demeanor had changed, the door cracked open and the monster was breaking through. He roughly spread the globe of your ass with his free hand, and ran his tongue along the seam of your hole before flicking his tongue against the pucker. He continued teasing your rim, making it even more slippery with his spit and you relaxed into his touch.

He lined the tip of his cock with your ass, pressing lightly against it and your nails raked across the sheets, gasping as he moved slightly inside. You arched and wiggled your butt trying to move, make him work for this, even though your body craved everything he offered. He grabbed your wrists and forced your arms above your head, holding them there. You heard his heavy breathing as he thrust his hips forward, his cock sliding past the ring of muscles and sinking into your depths.

 Your face was pressed into the pillow, and you couldn't contain the lewd groaning escaping from your lips when he sunk his cock into your ass and stretched you.

"Too much...ahhh," you mewled, turning your head to take a large gulp of air, the feeling was too much as he slowly rocked into your body. You could barely catch your breath. He wasn't even fully inside.

"no, don't, too much; none of those sound like our safe word," Elijah taunted, his lips hovering over your ear, his words coming out in short panted breaths. He pulled out before plunging deeper, you could hear him sucking in air through his gritted teeth, struggling to hold back and enjoy the torturous pace.

The sweet ache of having him there, the burn as your body struggled to adjust, made your head swim. You felt light headed, overwhelmed. He chuckled and began rocking slowly, the soft roll of his hips letting you feel every inch. His strokes were leisurely, no rushing, drawing out the torment. His fingertips traced down your spine, his palm rubbing a slow circle on your back, soothing the tension.

"Such a good girl," he purred, "taking everything I have to give you."

The pace of his strokes increased, becoming hard and relentless, shoving you into the bed. You bit down into the mattress trying to stifle your sounds as the mix of pleasure and pain became so intense you could only scream.

Suddenly, his hands were in your hair again. He tugged you back harshly, pulling you upright, your back now flush with his front, his cock pistoning into your ass so hard your teeth nearly rattled.

"Let them hear," Elijah whispered into your ear. "Tell everyone here who fucks you best."

His name tumbled out of your lips over and over as the pressure built, tears rolling down your cheeks. You were babbling his name, half sentences, moans, a bunch of nonsense. He was forcing another orgasm to the surface.

Just before you tumbled over the edge, he bit down into your neck and everything turned bright white and sparks flared behind your eyelids. When he stopped drinking your blood, he pushed you back down and pulled out.

You lay there trying to catch your breath before he sat you up, scooting you closer to the edge of the bed, draping your legs over his shoulders. His cock was in your pussy before you could even inhale and then you were screaming his name again.

"Good girl," he groaned, as his hands gripped your hips, bruises blossoming in the dips of your flesh. He didn't slow this time, instead, he shoved the both of you backwards and fucked you into the bed. "Is this what you wanted? Hard, messy, raw." He lifted you and placed you on his lap.

Your head fell into the crook of his neck, too far gone to keep yourself up. His hands were on your ass, lifting you up and down. You clung to him, your fingers tangled in his hair, overwhelmed by the feeling of him using you, taking everything you had. He felt too good, even like this. He knew your body better than you did.

His hand hit your ass, a loud cracking noise filling the room.

"Don't go limp," he snarled, wrapping your hair around his fist and twisting, wrenching your head back and up so that your eyes were forced to meet his. His face was so close, your breath mixed with his.

Your breathing was rapid and shallow, your chest rising and falling. He took one of his hands and intertwined your fingers together, holding you closer. There were no words exchanged, but the intimacy of the gesture made you start to cry. It was too sweet. You tried to squirm out of his grasp and escape this sudden, unbidden vulnerability that seemed to be taking over, but he tightened his hold, moving your hips slowly on his lap. The man was insatiable.

"Don't run from it," he whispered, his lips capturing yours, kissing you with such gentleness, you ached. This was supposed to be rougher, you shouldn't have fallen apart like this, given in, surrendered yourself to this part of him. But now...you couldn't bring yourself to turn away.

A wave of ecstasy was washing over you, the kind of blissful peace you had never felt anywhere but here, wrapped in Elijah's arms, him buried deep in your core, the two of you close, lost in the heat of a passion and connection.

"I want you here with me," his mouth hovered near yours, his hips working harder and harder. "You are my home," his words made your heart squeeze tight and tears leaked from the corners of your eyes. It had been a very long time since he had said such tender words to you. But it was the most desperate pleas, the broken whines that followed that you couldn't ignore.

Your arms closed around him, clinging to him. As if he were your anchor in this chaos. Your mind swam, the lines blurring. This moment was just the two of you, lost in the sensations. A single moment in the midst of the madness. He held onto you tightly, whispering words of praise and affection. The tension built until it snapped, leaving the both of you spent and exhausted.

His mouth was on yours again, swallowing your gasps as you both came down. You lay there for a few moments, your eyes closed, the sound of your hearts pounding loudly in the quiet. You couldn't remember the last time sex was this good. You felt so content and boneless.

You were so lost in the haze of afterglow, it wasn't until Elijah was helping you into a bath that you realized how much time had passed. The warm water lapped against your skin as he settled you onto his lap, his hand trailing up and down your arm. You rested your head against his shoulder, enjoying the peaceful quiet, his warmth surrounding you, his scent, the feel of his bare skin under your fingertips, the brush of his chest hair.

You weren't sure what to say, didn't know how to break the silence. It was like the past few months had not existed. But the pain, the agony, the heartache were fresh. You weren't sure if you were ready to forgive him yet, but it was a step in the right direction.

"Will you stay?" Elijah asked, breaking the silence. His hand paused, fingers splayed on your thigh. He shifted you, turning you so you were facing him. His face was solemn, his brow furrowed and eyes serious. He brought his hand up, cupping your face, his thumb brushing across your cheekbone. He waited patiently for an answer. His expression hopeful, but guarded. The question was simple enough, but it meant so much more.

"I will stay," you whispered, leaning into his touch. You couldn't deny it, he was a part of you, you would always love him. No matter how much you hated him at times, there was no life without him. He was your home. It would take time to rebuild the trust between the two of you, but you had to believe it was possible.

A soft smile tugged at the corner of his lips and his eyes glistened with unshed tears. His head dipped forward, his forehead pressed against yours, the two of you breathing each other's air.

"Good, because I would have done a lot of things I am not proud of, to get you back," Elijah whispered, his thumb swiping along your bottom lip.

Your brow shot up, and a playful smile crossed your face, "What kind of things?" You teased.

Elijah let out a sigh and pulled you closer, "Kidnap, murder, perhaps a bit of torture." His mouth brushed over yours, a quick chaste kiss.

You giggled, wrapping your arms around his neck, "Sounds healthy," you quipped.

"It was, I assure you." He replied, his lips brushing against yours. His tongue slid into your mouth, a deep, languid kiss, a slow exploration of every inch. He pulled back, his eyes boring into yours, the heat and intensity making your stomach flutter. "What is love, if not madness." He finished, his mouth crashing down on yours again.

You didn't have a response, all the air was sucked from your lungs and the ability to speak vanished. Instead, you simply kissed him, hoping he understood. That the two of you were a beautiful mess of chaos, but it worked. It was real. This was love.

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[g1rld1ary]

I feel like you’d eat up this idea so much but Camp Counselor James Potter!!

Where its semi frenemies to lovers after James unexpectedly becomes head camp counselor alongside reader, thus forcing them closer as they have to work together. I’d imagine James as a sports/swim instructor who the campers adore and reader as an arts and crafts teacher who James has liked for years since they met at camp (even before they became counselors.)

summer friends - camp counselor!james potter x camp counselor!reader

wc: 2816

cw: swearing, implied fem!r but i don't think any pronouns, alcohol, throwing up (once)

part TWO

first of all thank u so much for the compliment anon i hope i am doing it justice!! i actually love this idea and so there's gonna be more parts because i have so many fun lil camp ideas already HOWEVER we don't rlly have summer camps where I'm from so if u wanna see anything specific (activity/trope etc) please request!!! love u xoxo

It was stinking hot already. The clock in your car was broken so you weren't sure exactly what time it was, but you were sure it was too early to have sweat dripping from your brow. Nine, maybe. Still, nothing could bring down your present mood, not the sweat, not the early morning on a weekend, not even that your Fleetwood Mac CD kept skipping during The Chain. No, you were in the best mood you'd been in in a while and nothing could ruin it.

You were headed back to camp. Your camp. It was your first year as head counselor at the camp you'd grown up in and you were filled to the brim with excitement and drive to make this summer as magical as the ones you had growing up. Pulling into the dirt parking space you sighed contently, glad to be back where you belonged.

It was weird to see the camp almost empty. You'd been a general counselor before so you'd seen the camp without kids, but being one of the first there in the morning was peaceful. You waved cheerfully at one of the cooks who'd been working since you were a kid, laughing as he tried to return the gesture over the boxes he was hustling into the kitchen.

You broke into a jog to catch up with the camp director who you needed to meet with, smiling widely when he greeted you. You made small talk as he led you around the camp, giving directions to some of the staff setting up in between his extended spiel explaining your duties. You really were trying to listen but you couldn't help your eyes darting to each movement in the corner of your vision. The other head counselor should have been here already, and it wasn't like him to be late. Michael was one of the many kids you'd grown up with through summers, and he was just as devoted to camp as you were, so it wasn't surprising he also made head counselor, but it was surprising that he was now late.

"Where's Michael?" You asked when the director took a breath. He turned to look at you, one eyebrow raised slightly.

"Didn't we tell you? Michael had a health scare, he can't work this summer." You could feel your mouth hanging open. The two of you had been talking about this for years, dreaming of becoming the head counselors.

"So who's—"

"Nothing like the fresh air, is there?" Your shoulders tensed just by the timbre of it, you could recognise that voice anywhere.

"Potter," You turned to greet him, ponytail swinging behind you.

"No need for last names, love, I saw your braces phase," James retorts and you huff, rolling your eyes dramatically.

"Yeah, yeah, and I've got pictures of your acne. So you're really my partner this summer?" James didn't bother replying, his cocky grin saying it all. You felt the director's eyes on both of you and refrained from another snip in fear of it undermining your leadership, but still shot James a dead-eyed smile to let him know you weren't done.

You were dismissed to settle in until the other counselors arrived for briefing after a few other business matters (for which both you and James stayed civil and responsible) and all but ran to your car, eager to get the moving in part over with as quick as possible.

After so many years of making camp your home away from home, you'd pretty much nailed the routine of packing and unpacking, and your part of the four-girl cabin was taking shape very nicely if you did say so yourself. You even had time to stick up the photos you'd printed out, which usually took at least a week to happen. You were just wiping the sweat off your face with the hem of your t-shirt when someone cleared their throat. You didn't need to guess who it was.

James was leaning against the doorframe, looking unfairly unperturbed by the heat.

"Sorry your dream boy couldn't be here," He said and you couldn't quite tell if he was joking.

"Michael and I—"

"Relax, I was talking about your real boyfriend, remember?" You paused at his statement, studying your painted fingers intently.

"We broke up," You said quietly, not daring to look at James in fear of him teasing you about it. You consequently missed the flash of curiosity (and maybe relief) that passed across his features.

"Sorry," He said awkwardly, still under the doorframe.

"It's fine. He's a dickhead."

"I could have told you that last summer!" He laughed, then slapped a hand over his mouth as he realised it might have been too far. You managed a small laugh yourself, if only to make him feel better about his misstep.

"Yeah, yeah. Last summer you also thought swallowing gum would fuse your insides together."

"And I stand by that! You should just learn to listen to me," He crowed, eyes sparkling with mischief. You rolled your eyes again, pushing yourself off the bed to reapply your deodorant.

"If I ever start listening to you, take it as a sign I'm losing my marbles," You said, ducking under the arm James had stretched across the doorframe, "Now come on, everyone'll be arriving." You don't stop to see if he's following, marching out of your cabin and toward the dining hall where the counselors would convene. James watched you go for a moment with a soft grin before jogging to catch up and bother you some more.

The dining hall was already buzzing with energy and noise and the campers hadn’t even arrived yet. You smiled as you watched the counselors meet and mingle, some of them being kids you’d grown up with almost your whole life.

“Everything the light touches is our kingdom,” James’ whisper appeared from behind you.

“You are so lame.” You don’t bother looking at him, convinced you knew exactly what face he’d be pulling. “Now make yourself useful and greet everyone.” You might have been a little rude, but it was clear to you that this job wasn’t nearly as important to James as it was to you. Head counselor was something you’d been working towards since you’d started at camp, and you would like to keep the gig through college if James didn’t ruin it for you.

A booming noise silenced the room, and you were surprised to know it came from James. He started off the address for you outlining all the boring housekeeping notices you could recite in your sleep. They were almost exactly the same every year, except for James’ insistence on being the funniest in the room and making jokes after every other statement.

“As you know if you find any contraband in the camper’s belongings report it to the camp director, especially if it’s an illicit substance, as there may be serious discipline. However, if it’s alcohol, slip into into my cabin ‘coz god knows I’ll need a drink after dealing with the kids and this one.” He gestured over to you, receiving a ripple of laughter throughout the room. You grit your teeth, trying not to react and be the bad cop of camp.

“Just so we’re all clear,” You faked a laugh, “None of the campers or counselors will be ingesting or posessing alcohol while at camp. Right guys?” You locked eyes with the camp director, trying to bring him down from the conniption he was on the verge of. It worked, mostly, and you took over from James, shooting him a warning glare as you rushed to finish listing off the timetable for the coming evening and next day as campers arrived.

In his defence though, James wasn’t exactly wrong. Although the camp director could never ever find out for the sake of all your jobs, there was definitely a stash of alcohol that all the counselors contributed to and had access to, though strictly when there was no risk of campers or higher ups finding out. Like tonight. Every year before the campers arrived the counselors held a campfire right out in the forest; far enough away that there was almost no risk of the adult-adults finding them, but close enough that drunk walks back to the cabin weren’t quite impossible.

That brought you to the campfire. You’d been stuck in meetings and doing last minute admin all night and you really needed the break. You could only look at schedules and spreadsheets for so long anyway, add James to the mix and you were going absolutely crazy.

You’d snagged a spot next to Lily, hugging her tight as you reunited.

“I can’t believe you’re stuck with Potter,” She said, taking a sip from some ungodly drink one of the counselors had mixed. You laughed as you pulled away and greeted Remus quickly, taking the can of cider he offered.

“I’m just thanking my lucky stars it wasn’t him three years ago.” You shook your head resolutely, “At least now I’m sure he’s human. I just hate that he’s gonna make me bad cop all summer.” Remus cocked his head in confusion and Lily asked for clarification so you continued.

“You know, James is always the funny one, James is always the chill one. I’m the one who’s gonna have to spoil the fun and enforce the rules.”

“That’s not true though, you might be the one sticking to the rules but you’ve been here just as long. Everyone knows and loves you, and you’ll have just as much fun even if you aren’t quite as go-with-the-flow,” Lily said, a comforting hand resting on your arm.

“Prongs might surprise you,” Remus said, clearly taking a different approach, “I think when it matters he’ll step up to the plate.” You looked at him for a moment, considering his philosophy. You chanced a glance over at James to see him halfway through a game of beer pong — losing badly in fact, and sighed. If he, the head sport and swim counselor, was losing at a game consisting of throwing then he must’ve already been smashed.

He caught your eye at just the wrong (or right) moment and waved you over with such excitement that you excused yourself from the conversation to see what he wanted.

“Sirius needs a teammate,” He said simply, gesturing for you to go over and play. You shook you head furiously.

“So you’re asking the arts and crafts leader? I have zero coordination.”

“Yeah, and? You’re competitive and that’s all that matters. Consider it our head counselor bonding time.” You looked at James for a moment, weighing out the pros and cons in your head. You figured it couldn’t be that bad even if you embarrassed yourself, and you really didn’t want the other counselors to think you had a stick up your arse after getting the position. So, you reciprocated the high five Sirius had offered and got in position.

The game went shit, as could have been assumed. You really didn’t have an ounce of coordination, your throws missing most of the cups. Sirius was better, making your team at least not totally hopeless, but the two of you were no match for the machines that were James and Marlene — though both significantly worsened by their inebriated states. You were providing the trash talk though, which seemed to keep everyone entertained

“Ok new game!” James clapped after you’d downed the last drink, “Sirius, switch with me.”

“What! But I like my partner!” You high-fived Sirius again at his declaration, now sufficiently buzzed from the shitty beer you’d been using.

“Yeah, we’re doing just fine, Potter. Worry about yourself.” It came out a bit louder and more aggressive than you intended, but James didn’t seem to mind — none of you were sober enough to be picking up on the intricacies of human communication. James mimed a stab to his heart dramatically.

“You kill me,” He groaned, leaning on the folding table in despair. You laughed loudly, holding up your hand in the shape of an L to rub it in. After rubbing it in for a moment you conceded, stomping your way to his side of the table, patting Marlene on the shoulder as you swapped places.

“Alright, Potter, let’s get this round over with so I can kick your arse again.” James’ grin was practically blinding as he brightened up, getting ready to play another match. You might’ve been getting a little too competitive, but it was camp and you were drunk, so everyone around the table was matching your energy tenfold.

“Are you actually capable of getting a ball in a cup? You’re genuinely so terrible at this,” James laughed as he said it but you took it personally, shoving him aside.

“Piss off, dickhead. Just because you’re a big shot athlete or whatever.” You must have finally struck a nerve in James as he was quiet for the rest of the game, still much more skilled than you but his energy significantly dampened. Even when you won, he only offered you a weak smile and a pathetic high five. You felt bad for a moment and opened your mouth to apologise, but your inebriated brain was distracted by music playing, running over to Lily to ask her to dance.

You were at the stage of being drunk where everything was perfect. The day’s heat had mellowed out into a dreamy summer night, a soft breeze rustling the leaves above you all as you danced and drank, reuniting after a long year apart.

You might’ve overdone it slightly though, which found you a little ways away from the rest of the party, emptying your stomach into a bush where hopefully none of the campers would stumble across it. Looking past your unfortunate accident you caught a glimpse of a dark shape on the bank of the river. Narrowing your eyes you tried to make out who it was, but settled on getting closer instead. You hesitated when you made it out to be James.

“Hey, Potter. You alright?” You called awkwardly, a little unwilling to get too close.

“Hm?” He looked back at you, voice uncharacteristically quiet. “Yeah, fine.” You sighed. He was clearly upset about something and you couldn’t just end the conversation there, no matter how much you didn’t want to have a DnM with James Potter on night one of camp.

Reluctantly you got closer, taking a seat next to him. You watched the lake for a few minutes, black except for the silver from the moon. It was peaceful when there weren’t so many people around, it was one of your favourite things about camp, just being outside and disconnected from the rest of your life.

James broke the silence first.

“Do you… Are you mad that I’m co-head counselor?” You chanced a glance at him, surprised at the vulnerability in his voice. James wasn’t usually one to get sappy or personal like that, especially not with you.

“No?” You replied, “It wasn’t what I imagined, obviously, but it’s not like I hate you. You’re just mildly infuriating like 80% of the time.” James snorted, and you got the feeling he’d intended to wallow a bit longer. But James was James and he couldn’t stay moody for too long, it wasn’t in his nature.

“I can work with that.” He smiled his blinding grin, and you could have sworn you could see it reflecting off the water.

“We have to be a team though,” You affirmed; now was as good a time as any for you to address it. “I know that your whole bright and lively class clown thing is effortless for you, but I don’t wanna be the bad cop all the time, okay?” James was deep in thought for a second, then a cheeky grin crept onto his features.

“You think I’m bright and lively?”

“Shut up.” You rolled your eyes, but you weren’t sure you weren’t returning his smile. “Come on, let’s get to bed. Neither of us can afford to be hungover when the kids get here.”

You and James wandered back towards the cabins, both hazy and giggly from the lasting drunkenness and the (at least temporary) smoothing over of your tenuous relationship.

PART TWO

[justwinginglife]

-request-

Hey!!! I‘m Reading your one shots for a while now, and I have to say that I LOVE your work!! Keep going and I love you pooks🎀

So, I wanted to ask if you could write about y/n who’s in love with soshiro and he finds out about her feelings (or she confessed to him about her feelings), but he doesn’t feel the same

I mean it’s heartbreaking but HEAR ME OUT-

Would be nice💞

Xoxo

AHH thanks so much! Also LOL I will totally do this for you, but I will be so sad about it. I need to get with Soshiro, if I don't get with him, I die. I will probably immediately write another fic about getting together with him after I write this so I can feel better lol. But thanks so much for reaching out to me!

Joy Of My Life

For the longest time, your feelings for Soshiro kept you company. They held you afloat when you had nothing else to look forward to, filling your days with pleasant thoughts, taking you back to your schoolgirl days when you'd giggle under the covers, gossiping with your friends. When you got older, other men made their futile attempts at seeking entrance into your heart, but your feelings would lock the door and throw away the key, barring admission to anyone but Soshiro Hoshina.

It was physically impossible for you to love anyone else, not with the way he was. Not when he'd saved your life over and over again. And not just from the kaiju. From yourself, from dark thoughts that swirled like a torrential storm in your mind. From your so-called parents and your family that proved that blood did not matter in the slightest. He was more family to you than anyone else. Even the small things he did- they saved you, little by little, until your soul felt whole again.

You'd think about the way he'd take you anywhere you wanted in his free time, always being the driver because he knew you hated driving. And then he'd drive like a grandma and you'd tease him for it, saying maybe you'd overcome your fear of highways just so you could show him what real speed was. He'd laugh but he'd continue to drive cautiously all the same. You were shocked when one day you learned from someone else that he actually usually drove like a maniacal, road-raging, speed demon. He was just safe for your sake.

You'd think about how he never took a day off of work except on your birthday so he could remind you how grateful he was that you were born. Even when sometimes you wish you'd never been born at all. But you couldn't think that way now. Not when you had someone waiting for you, someone laughing with you, someone to hold you, to care for you. Even if it wasn't the way you wanted him to care for you, you were still thankful for any part of him that was yours. Any piece of him that belonged to you, any moment you'd shared with him alone.

Maybe one day, he'd give you his smile and you'd store it away in your fondest memories. And the next day, he'd tell you a joke and you'd preserve it in your mind exactly the way he said it, save it for a rainy day when you were in need of a laugh. A wrinkle of his nose, a raised eyebrow, the curve of his lips, you stole anything you could from him and you were happy with it. Happy with the little that you got because it was better than the nothing that came before him. Better than the emptiness and the loneliness and the silence.

Slowly, you felt all the jagged, unwanted, broken pieces of you mending themselves. Repairing the damage to your heart so you could have something worth giving to him.

And so, for awhile, you were content just allowing your feelings to be nothing more than just warmth in your chest, kindle for the fire of your love. But then the Hoshina clan started spreading word that their youngest son was in need of a wife and that fire within you began to burn more erratically, flames sputtering and trembling at the thought of him being with another woman. You knew you had no choice but to release your longtime companion from the confines of your heart, and finally confess your feelings to him.

Once they'd been set free, you wondered if your feelings would ever be comfortable shrinking back into their hiding place again, or if they'd never be the same after getting a taste of the outside world. You were scared to find out but you knew you couldn't keep going on this way forever.

By the end of the day, the delicious, familiar pang of your one-sided love would either transfigure itself into endless tidal waves of crushing agony at being rejected, or endless rays of blissful sunshine at the joy of being accepted.

But rain or shine, you are determined to move forward into this uncharted territory so you find yourself on Soshiro's familiar doorstep once again.

Hey Soshiro, thanks for fixing my front porch, by the way I'm in love with you.

Hey Soshiro, when you took me out for dinner the other day because my stove broke, I imagined it was a date in my mind.

Hey Soshiro, I know we've been friends for awhile, but I've always seen you as more.

You'd think that with how long you'd been in love with him, you would've at least thought up a better way to confess to him. But not once did you ever even imagine that you'd be doing this, so it never occurred to you to unscramble the mess of your feelings and produce a reliable means of conveying them to him.

You wonder if your heart is sprinting laps inside your chest because you feel it bursting when you finally manage a weak knock on his door. Part of you hopes he didn't hear it and you can go home, forget you ever wanted to confess to him. But part of you knows this has to be done and that part of you knocks again, louder this time.

He is surprised to see you but he eagerly lets you inside anyway, a grin at the ready.

"What's up?" He knocks his shoulder against yours as you pass by him.

You take in the familiar sight of the inside of his apartment, wondering if he'll ever let you in again after you say what you have to say.

The look he gives you grows increasingly more puzzled with every passing second.

You seem to be ignoring him, the way that you just keep taking in your surroundings as though it's the last time you'll see them.

"Alright, you're acting weird, spill the beans." He sits you down firmly on his couch.

You fiddle with your thumbs as your voice struggles to catch up with your thoughts. "I, uh, have something to say to you."

He raises an eyebrow. "Okay? So say it then."

You cough. "Right. Working on it."

"Well work on it a little faster." He laughs.

You swallow hard and the action suddenly makes him very nervous.

"Sorry, I mean take your time. I was just teasing."

So now he knows you have something serious to say and now you're even more scared to say it. But you say it anyway. "I care about you. A lot."

His brows furrow as he ponders how something so simple can get you so worked up. "I care about you too. What's the big deal?"

"No I mean," You swallow again, this time more painfully, "I love you. I'm in love with you."

Your words seem to find him because suddenly he's sinking into a chair now too.

"Oh shit." He mumbles, steadying himself on the arm of the couch.

You bite your lip as you wait for his verdict.

It seems like hours since he last spoke. It's been a few seconds.

But the silence itself is a response and you're taking every painful second of it like a knife to the heart. You wonder just how long you have to wait before it's appropriate to cry. You wonder what you'll do with this new feeling that's invading your chest. What it'll do to you.

You think you might be drowning because you can't remember what it's like to breathe. The air is so thick and so heavy in your lungs, that you feel like a stranger to oxygen.

You wonder how he'll apologize, you know he'll apologize. He can't help it. He's kind. He doesn't want to hurt you, even unwillingly. You wonder if your eardrums might shatter when you hear his voice again. When you hear his apology, his rejection. He's taking too long for it to not be a rejection.

You wonder if he can tell you're spiraling.

"I can't... I can't return your feelings. As wonderful as they are, as grateful as I am for them, as important as you are to me, I can't return them and I'm sorry."

There is it is. That damn apology. It sears its mark on your chest, but somehow the sting is still bearable. He still loves you. Not in the way you want, not in the way you're desperate for, but he still loves you. Enough to be honest, enough to be sorry, enough to hurt when you hurt. And that makes you smile a little, even through the tears.

You remember all the times that fluttery, jittery feeling in your chest kept you hopeful for better days, kept you eager for tomorrow. All the times you remembered what it was like to wish for something and to dream for something after years of being told you couldn't want anything, shouldn't need anything. These feelings have kept you sane, kept you human, for as long as Soshiro has been by your side so have they. And they were beautiful and they were wonderful and you're glad he finally got to know even a glimpse of them.

You're not sorry for having them and you're not sorry for loving him. If you could do it all over again, right down to his rejection, you'd do it in a heartbeat. He saved you and will probably continue to save you even now that he knows this big secret of yours that you've kept safely tucked away inside the deepest, most genuine parts of your heart.

You're not sorry. And he shouldn't be either.

"Don't apologize, it was the joy of my life being in love with you."

[jpitha]

Between the Black and Gray 23

First / Previous / Next

Fen's breath catches. Here we go. "I was hoping you could tell me!" It's taking a lot for her to balance sounding hopeful that the K'laxi could shed some light on what happened, but also not so casual as to not be interested. "I was being carried by The Dreams of Hyacinth, and all of a sudden, the ship told me to get into my Frigate and launched me. When I looked back, I saw it doing that move and then all three were destroyed."

It wasn't false, not entirely.

Tavren paused for a split second before taking the pad back. Fen's eyes flicked up to Zhe. She was busy taking another sip of the tea and didn't seem to react. "So you weren't aboard The Dreams of Hyacinth?"

"No, no I was. But, I was asked to get into my Frigate by the ship and then was ejected."

"The ship told you? like an AI?" Tevren's ears flicked like she was trying to shoo a bug away. Short, quick flicks, seemingly unconsciously.

"I don't know Honored Councilor. Don't Human Empire ships not have AIs? I thought they didn't like them." Again, not exactly a lie.

"That is my understanding too, yes. But I also know my history. Before the Empire, humans worked with their AIs much more harmoniously, and human starships trend old. It is entirely possible they have a few ships with AIs left."

"But, then wouldn't the AIs be-" Fen had to be very careful here "-restrained somehow? I can't imagine an AI working with the Empire willingly."

"I can Fenchurch, it's more likely than you might imagine. People of all kinds can put aside terrible things if they think they're getting a benefit." Tavren sighed. "I suppose it was too much to hope you did it."

Fen blinked. "Wait you wanted it to be me?"

Tavren smiled and her tail swished. "It would be very advantageous to us to have an ally that's able to easily destroy three of their most powerful starships. If nothing else, it would give us... leverage." She stood sharply and snapped her pad closed. "I suppose that was all I needed my friend." Fen and Zhe stood quickly after her. "Zhe, please led our guest back out and help her with whatever she needs." Tavren walked to the door and stopped in the doorway. "If you think of anything else... I'd like you to contact me. Remember who raised you. Anything you can think of could help all K'laxi." Without another word, she walked out.

With her gone, Fen sat back down. Zhe dithered, not knowing what to do. With the attention that the Councilor of Ships and Starbases gave her, Fen clearly was of a higher social rank than Zhe, but still she was a human. Fen noticed this and gestured for her to sit too. "Please Zhe, let's finish this tea, there's no need to waste it, it's really quite nice."

Zhe sat down gratefully and tore into her tea. It had cooled in the conversation and she was able to down the cup in one shot and immediately poured herself another cup. Fen stared into the cup and thought. It seemed like Tavren knew more than she was willing to let on, but also was willing to accept Fen's story as she told it. She didn't pick apart any details or even ask for more elaboration.

Zhe powered through another cup of tea and went to pour a third when she stopped. "Uh, do you want another cup, Fen?"

The reverie broken, Fen looked up and smiled. "Oh no thank you Zhe, you may finish it"

Not waiting to be told twice, Zhe finished the pot. When she was done, Fen stood. "Come on Zhe, will you show me the way out?"

"Of course!" Zhe jumped up and together they left the lower levels of Minaren.

Out in the main gallery, Zhe stood awkwardly. "Uh, here you are, Fen. I guess... I'll let you go and I'll..." she trailed off. Fen stared at Zhe as she did this. She really was quite young. Listening to her speak she seemed younger than she first guessed. She wasn't Ma-ren's age, she was easily 5 or 6 K'laxi years younger. This was probably her first job. "Zherun, do you know a good place to eat around here? I could use a meal."

Zhe's head bobbed excitedly and her tail started swishing. "I do! It's over here, follow me." Zhe took off deeper into the artificial forest as Fen strode after her.

Deep into the forest, the light from the star was shaded and dappled. The noise and crowds of the edges near the elevators and docking rings quieted. Zhe turned a corner and they entered a clearing which had been set up with tables and chairs. It was a restaurant, completely in the open. Most of the seats were full of K'laxi eating. Fen noticed that there wasn't a single human here. Zhe bounded up to the smartly dressed K'laxi standing at a podium. "Hello Lii! Can we have a table please?"

Lii's ears swiveled as he turned to see Zhe and Fen. "You're bringing a human here Zhe? I know you're fascinated with them but-"

Zhe punched him in the shoulder. "But she speaks K'inmar and was raised by K'laxi Lii, so be nice!"

Lii's demeanor immediately changed. K'laxi are furred and don't blush, but Fen could read his body language well enough to know he was embarrassed at his gaffe. He faced Fen and placed his hands together in apology. "I'm sorry, friend. My... prejudice got the better of me."

Fen was a little miffed at the assumption that she was just another ignorant human, but what could she do? She could make a big deal out of it and miss lunch and possibly make Zhe and Lii mad, or just... let it not bother her. Ancestors know she got enough of that back home. "It's all right Lii, all is forgiven." Fen put a little extra effort into her K'inmar to make sure her northern accent was picked up. "I am hungry though, and Zhe graciously offered to show me a great place to eat. Is there a table for us?"

"Of course! Of course! Please follow me." Lii lead them towards the center of the group of tables, and placed them slightly further from everyone else. Fen noticed that the K'laxi diners' ears swiveled to follow their conversation and a few eyes tracked them, but she was used to the attention. Just another price to pay given her upbringing. As they sat, Lii brought menus. "Today, might I recommend the mali'me? We just got some shipped up from K'laxi this morning."

Fen marveled. "I haven't had mali'me in ages. It's so hard to grow on stations." She looked at Zhe. "I know what I'm having then, what about you?"

Zhe stared at the menu a moment. "Actually Lii, can you come back for me in a moment? I'm not feeling like mali'me today, I want to look over the menu."

Lii inclined his head slightly. "Of course Zhe. I'll be back." and walked off silently, and checked on the other patrons as he swished his way back to the front.

Zhe watched him leave. "Don't mine Lii. He spends all his time among K'laxi, I don't think he's ever even left Minaren."

Fen nodded. "Thanks Zhe, it's okay really. I'm used to it. I grew up on a Gren station raised by K'laxi."

Zhe blinked and stared back at Fen. "You grew up on a... Gren station?"

Fen nodded. "Yup, my parents passed soon after I was born and Group Gen'mil took me in. I'm officially a member of the familial line, I was adopted in."

"That makes you legally K'laxi, right?"

Fen chuckled. "Except I'm not right? No matter who raised me and what language I speak natively, I'm always a human first."

"No!" Zhe pounded the table for emphasis, and some of the conversation stopped. Zhe looked over embarrassed, and in a much quieter tone said "No! You were raised by Gen'mil, you are in the familial records, you speak K'inmar, you. Are. K'laxi. As much as I am, as much as Councilor Tavren is."

Fen leaned back. "You know, my wife, Ma-ren would have liked you. Hell, I like you." She noticed Zhe's body language register a K'laxi blush and she mentally raised her eyebrows. "How long have you been with the Discoverers?"

Zhe looked away for a moment. "Only a few months. This is my first job."

Fen nodded. "I can tell." Zhe swung her head over, her eyes wide and Fen held up a hand. "Not in a bad way! You have a lot of heart and you wear it well." Fen mentally shrugged. Worth a shot right?" "Zhe, I find myself in need of a crew. I'm starting up a mercenary group, do you want a job? I can't promise much, but I can promise it'll be more interesting than leading people around and I bet I can pay better too."

Before Zhe could answer, Lii returned. "Zhe, do you know what you want?"

"Uh, yes Lii, I'll just have the fried uulan." Zhe handed the menu back.

"Great, that'll be right out." As Lii left, Zhe's voice was low. "Fen, what would I do with a bunch of mercenaries? I can't shoot, I'm not tough!"

"No, but you are good with people, and I'd need someone like that. Do you know anything about piloting a ship?"

"No!" Zhe looked horrified.

"Good, no bad habits to unlearn then." Fen smiled as Zhe sputtered. "Think about it at least. It doesn't have to be forever. I'd ask you to sign on for one human year, and then after that you could decide if the life is for you. If it's not, I'd bring you back to Minaren and you could do whatever you wanted. I'd make sure you'd be paid better than almost any job here."

"You'd just sign me on like that?"

"Think of this as your interview." Fen leaned back in the chair, and breathed in. The smell of the forest combined with the food was wonderful, cozy. The light, the sounds, the... everything was just right. These were the moment when she felt the least human.

Zhe stared at Fen a moment. Their eyes locked. Zhe's golden pupils locked with Fens and there was a weighing going on behind her eyes. She stared hard into Fen, and Fen felt like she was being weighed.

"You're serious." It wasn't a question.

"Utterly serious, Zhe. Sign on with me."

Zhe threw up her hands, but her ears twitched amusement. "You know what? Fine. I'm going to say yes now, but I still want to sleep on it." She smiled. "You know, I'm not normally this impulsive. I think being around you is rubbing off."

Fen just smiled.

After saying it, making it real, Zhe's face flashed a moment of second-guessing. "But why me?" She almost wailed as Lii brought the food.

"Because I believe in you." Fen took a bite of the mali'me. It was spiced and chewy and fresh and melted in her mouth.

It tasted like home.

[ghostflowerhotpotch]

Meet the Parents Part 2

Okay, once again, I rambled for too long and needed to do a second part. Sorry that this post is also coming delayed, real life stuff comes first.

Part 1 to be up to speed!

You know? Maybe it was for the best that the post got cut short, I realized of a small detail that didn't notice yesterday.

The sequence where this four frames are from last around a 1 or 2, I am not really doing this in any professional fashion so I cannot say the exact time; but it is pretty quick, even at half speed.

But you can see how for a moment, Gwen either realizes this is not going well, or drops the enthusiastic persona for a second. Either way, I think it shows that this is not going how she expected.

While Gwen hasn't heard enough to know it was a bad idea using their first names, I don't doubt that Miles talks about them fondly.

She got along well with May and Ben (I notice later that there are some flashbacks including Ben.) And that probably meant a lot to her because you can see how prevalent was the relationship between those families, eating together, talking, etc. Almost like a family.

I don't think Gwen would like to replace Peter and his family, but Miles is not a replacement of Peter anyways. She probably wanted meeting them (Even if I am sure she didn't want to have this meeting today,) would run a lot more smoother.

Because she knows Miles loves his parents, and they do sound like good people; she didn't even seem to think this could actually turn so awkward.

This moment just last a couple of seconds at best, so this goes fairly quickly.

And again, I am not saying this because I want to paint Miles' parents in a bad light; even if they are not giving a fair shot to Gwen, all things consider they are been extremely patient with Miles.

(I really need to do a post about that.)

Now going back to where we left it.

Oh this scene is so hard for me to see.

(Sorry, but DAMN the representation here; this didn't exactly happen to me, but similar enough that is giving me the most embarrassing flashbacks. No I am not saying this is an universal experience, just very painfully real to me.)

Okay, Miles' parents are being over protective here? Oh for sure.

While I think their actions are very logical and understandable once you remember they have no idea what Miles is doing; this is really the part where Rio and Jeff shows us they also need to mature in this movie.

And I don't say it as an insult; a lot of parents have trouble with this transition, and Miles is their first and only child; with said child suddenly not acting as the same kid anymore.

(Sidenote; I am surprised Miles doesn't have any siblings, Jeff and Rio look so in love I am surprised it didn't happen.)

I love how Gwen just takes her hand back, like "well damn I didn't even get a date with him and his parents already are telling me to back off."

Also oof, poor Miles. Honestly forget three months this is probably worse than that already.

Rio making that joke is painfully realistic and let's move on to the other part of that dialogue.

I think Rio and Jeff aren't just trying to establish some rules with Miles (considering the amount he has broken today,) but they also need to reaffirm themselves of being able to dictate what's going on Miles's life.

Again, this is coming just after they grounded him, and then he dipped out. They are feeling they are losing him.

I love Rio, I do, but ma'am this is how you get your kid to keep even more secrets for you.

Not much else to say here, this is the lesson she and Jeff need to learn. Miles is (probably) still hating being alive right now; and Gwen is somehow able to keep that composed face despite everything which has to be one of her most impressive feats in this film.

I honestly have to feel it for Gwen right now.

She probably knows the alert her watch is giving her is bad news, so she really doesn't have another choice.

Forget not making a good impression with Jeff and Rio, now she just lost her chance to have a decent goodbye with Miles.

At this point I don't think she would had admitted to herself this couldn't happen again, I think even now she hoped for another chance later down the line. But there is no idea to know when.

I have no idea what she would had said if she had the chance to say goodbye on her own terms, to his face; but it was certainly not what she ended up doing.

Girl, 3 years being spiderwoman and you can't still come up with good lies for situations like this?

Ok I cannot blame her for not being able to come with up with something better; this entire conversation was already not going well and now she basically needs to flee, which doesn't help.

Oof, look at Miles's face, he really looks so heartbroken here.

For all the awkwardness Gwen has sported during this conversation, this is among her most natural expressions; while she is probably not stranger for dipping early, I do think this is not how she wanted to leave.

Gwen really didn't want to leave, at least not leave Miles. While she couldn't really explain what was going on, I think she wanted to let him no that this isn't about his parents or him, she wouldn't be going out if she didn't have any other choice really.

Jeff hasn't really said much during this conversation, mostly having judgy stares at most, but you can see his expression become a bit more open once he sees Gwen's behaviour change.

Rio I think is trying to maintain a mask because she probably also caught on this looking a bit off, but also because is around here that she starts to realizing how much Gwen means to Miles.

I think is also around this point that Rio seemed to want to say something else.

She could just be trying to say goodbye, but I think her expression and her hand point out more than she actually wanted to intervene here.

I am pretty sure that regardless of how Jeff and Rio felt about Gwen, they didn't want to make her run away like that.

Because again, they are missing context; Gwen is leaving because the Spot flee and she just got herself into a mess, Miles knows this is related to spidey issues.

But as far as Jeff and Rio are concerned, this girl tried to be friendly (way too friendly for their liking but friendly nonetheless,) and is now running away after Rio decided to play Mother Hen.

(Sorry, that joke may not be understandable in english. Mama Gallina/Mother Hen is an expression used a lot in my country for moms that are very protective of their kids.)

Oh, this shot.

This is an interesting comparison because when Miles heard that Gwen was leaving, he looked so crestfallen; she could see it so did his parents but he didn't register the fact that it was so pain this was for him.

Gwen maintained a somewhat composed face to them, but on this shot that she is giving everyone the back, she looks so sad.

This, is basically their relationship in a nutshell. Miles wears his heart in his sleeve and can't help himself on it, and Gwen tries her hardest to keep her emotions at bay, but everything so often they creep back.

This is awkward, and it looks awkward, and this is really more into speculation territory than analysis, but I think she did it because she wanted to go for a hug, or similar.

I had mentioned in other posts how I believe Gwen is an affectionate person, or at least, someone who likes and seeks physical affection to those important to her.

The way she went to hug her dad both at the beginning and end show how much she craves affection; and how she barely contained herself before hugging Miles tells me not just that she probably has even less people to hug nowadays, but how much important he is to her.

But she probably doesn't want to upset his parents more, and his mom told her just a minute ago to basically leave Miles alone; so this was the best she could think of.

Nobody is really happy. Even Rio and Jeff are realizing how uncomfortable is Gwen; thought again, they are probably thinking this is all their fault.

This is really the moment when Rio and Jeff are probably realizing that whatever the heck is going on with Gwen and Miles, is important to them, or at least Miles.

Again, Jeff and Rio are worried, and they have no idea what Gwen's situation is, Miles mentioned she left town but they didn't even believe she existed prior this so they probably doesn't think that's case. Or even if it was, well, keeping contact can't be that hard in this day and age right?

(Sadly, Miles really needed to fall in love with a girl who to get in contact with you need technology from another timeline.)

Miles is 15, and they just met this girl, they couldn't imagine how much she matters to him, specially with all the secrets.

And here, is when Rio finally can let her own feelings aside for a moment, and see her actual son, and not the idea she has of him.

Of course, he is just staring at where she is at, no idea when he would see her again.

A part of me wonders, if he would had tried to go and say something else if his parents wouldn't had been here.

I really, do think Gwen wanted to say something else.

Now with all the context, it makes me so sad to see Gwen leave, and still have trouble to actually do so.

Because she knows this meeting wasn't suppose to happen, and she has no idea if she could ever repeat it or when. She has been so focused on Miles she completely neglected the mission, heck, she even neglected to keep an eye on the guy, which wasn't even so much of a fix for this situation.

You know? Something I kept thinking while analyzing this scene, is how is not just Miles struggling to keep a civial life and a spider life, Gwen is going to the same thing, or similar enough at least.

At this point, she has embraced the Spidey life, she literally has no other choice because she cannot go back home. Her life as Gwen Stacy was gone; being able to just be a carefree teen is left by the times she can be crashing at Hobbie's dimension, and even then, you see that is not enough.

In this sequence, she tries to go back to those patterns, like the camaraderie she had with May, or the jokes she probably shared with her dad's buddies.

But it doesn't go well, and her last moments with Miles were extremely awkward, and them discussing about the organization.

This all feels just like a bitter reminder, she can't be just a teen anymore.

Is a shame, because on the Clock Tower we basically confirm, that Miles was the only person that could make her feel that someone was seeing her for all her. To combine those two worlds she belonged.

But she can't have that now, just like she believes, she can't have Miles.

[magniloquent-raven]

its midnight and im sleeby but i finished this thing i started scribbling out this afternoon based on @harringroveera 's post that i couldnt get outta my brain

i think i might have angsted it up a little cuz i can't help myself but its still cute so. pls enjoy

--

Billy's not super clear on where he is right now.

There are people everywhere. Yelling. Laughing. Music plays over a big fancy sound system. There's a blurry blue light glowing through glass sliding doors that he's been staring at for a little while 'cause it's…pretty. Twinkly and stuff. 

He's too many drinks past a good buzz, that much he's sure of. His head feels. Floaty. And heavy. And if he tries to move the room starts to spin. 

Whatever he's sitting on is comfy though. Soft. Softer than his damn mattress with that broken spring that's always stabbing him in the ribs. 

He's tired. Really tired.

Feels like he hasn't slept in months.

To his left a girl starts squealing as her boyfriend grabs her around the waist, to his right a speaker vibrates against the wall, buzzing to the beat of a deep bassline. Everything sounds far away, though. White noise blending together while the edges of his vision go fuzzy and faded.

He feels his head tip, just a little, and then—

With a sharp inhale he jolts, blinks, glancing around blearily at a silent, empty room.

It's still dark out. The blue glow still shimmers at him through glass. A lamp lights the room he's in. Everything's…shapes. Colours. His brain is still mushy.

He blinks a couple more times. His eyes are dry. Wobbly. All the shapes are wobbly.

"Hey, man, party's over." A voice startles him. He tries to look around, but it fucking hurts, and moving his head is so much work. Whatever, it's a nice voice. Way nicer than the jarring silence. 

Wait, why's the party over. He doesn't want the party to be over.

He wrinkles his nose. "Nooo…" 

"...Yeessss." There's a pause. "Everyone is gone, dude."

"No." Billy rubs his eyes. The chair is still so comfy. He sinks further into it, unwilling to move. "You're here."

"It's my house. I'm allowed to stay." The voice sounds amused. There's some rustling behind Billy. Plastic crinkling. Maybe. Something being moved around. "Why are you even here, anyways?" 

Hazy memories jumble together. A flask of vodka in his pocket, slipped under itchy robes. Sitting two heads away from Steve Harrington, sneaking glances between barely concealed shots. A droning speech. Another droning speech. Neil's solemn face in a crowd, watching him walk across the stage to shake hands with…the guy. The. Whatever.  

Some girl digging her talons into his arm after he slipped away from Neil's attempts to maintain a public image by acting like he gave a shit about his son's accomplishments. Beer and cheap tequila and shitty music blurring into each other as he gets dragged around like a trophy dangling off the elbow of whichever nameless girl claimed him for the night.

"Graduated," he says, picking at a sticky spot on the thigh of his jeans. Pinching the fabric isn't doing anything but he can't stop prodding. 

"Yeah, I know, with honors. Congrats." There's a huff. A silence. "Doesn't explain why you're here though." Footsteps, sneakers on linoleum, tap tap tap, meandering around whatever room is at his back. Glass bottles getting moved around. It's sort of soothing to listen to someone move around their house without any reason to be keeping track of their movements.

Well, unless…

Billy's stomach flips, and his chest goes tight. "You're not gonna kick me out are you?" he asks, his voice small. He feels sick, saying it. Thinking about it. He doesn't want to be anywhere else. This house smells sweet under the stink of spilled beer and leftover perfume. And he likes this chair.

The movement behind him stops for a second. "...Nnno?"

He breathes. Relaxing into velvety upholstery. "'Kay." 

"You sure you don't have anywhere to be? Family waiting up? Girlfriend expecting a midnight rendezvous?" 

Billy snorts. "No one gives a shit where I am." 

Neil will care tomorrow when Billy makes him look bad by pulling up hungover and in yesterday's clothes, but that's a problem for tomorrow. He won't be waiting up for him, worrying about Billy's safety or whatever.

A glass bottle clinks against something. "What about your sister?"

"Pfff…" He snickers, and gives his head a tiny shake. The movement makes everything spinny for a second and he has to pause to swallow bile. The sour taste on his tongue feels appropriate. And gross. "I fucked up. Everything. Beat the shit outta her friend. She's prolly hoping I don' come home at all. Ever."

Another glass bottle gets set down, slower this time. Carefully. "...This friend of hers…"

"Steve," Billy sighs. His eyes fall shut and he leans back into a cushioned headrest. His insides do the stupid fluttery thing they always do when he thinks about Steve. Steve and his stupid kissable face. 

"It was pretty dumb of him to pick a fight with you, huh," the voice says wryly. 

"Mnh…I guess." There's a soft snort behind him. But something prickles at Billy. Guilt, maybe. It's uncomfortable. He chews his lip as his eyes start to burn. "Nah. No. Whole thing was my fault. All my fault. S'always my fault." 

Saying it doesn't make it feel better.

"What do you mean?" There's sounds anymore. Just the voice, and Billy's heartbeat in his ears.

"It's…" Billy swipes at his eyes with the back of his hand. "It's a secret."

"I'm good at keeping those."

"You can't tell him."

"...I definitely will not tell him."

Billy hums. "He's real pretty, y'know."

"So I've been told, but what—"

"No, he's…he's so pretty. Like, I can't believe it sometimes, and I just wanna. Do something about it. All the time. But it hurts. Hurts so bad, and it's not supposed to, so I had to—I had to…I just got so mad. And I had to prove I didn't wanna kiss him, but I do. 'Cause I like him so much. Too much."

The silence is back. Ringing in Billy's ears. He sniffles quietly. 

"Oh…" 

"Please don't tell him. Or anyone."

"Billy…"

"Promise."

There's a strained pause. Billy fidgets, his insides twisting into knots. 

"I promise." The voice is so gentle, and it makes Billy's eyes sting again. He blinks away tears and listens to more bottles being moved. Plastic cups hitting plastic bags. Sneakers against linoleum, and hardwood, and carpet. And after a while, "You're not gonna spend all night in the chair, are you?"

"You said—"

"I'm not kicking you out, I just meant. There's a guest bed, man," 

"Oh."

**

Sunlight hits Billy directly in the face and he rolls over, groaning. 

The motion makes his stomach lurch, but he buries his face in…pillowcase. Unfamiliar pillowcase. Smells like honeysuckle and clean air and it's softer than any bedding he's ever touched. 

His legs are tangled in sheets just as sweet-smelling and finely woven, and his guts give another heave as he realizes he's only wearing briefs. 

Did…did he fuck someone last night?

He was definitely drunk enough to do something that stupid, if the cottonmouth and pounding headache are any indication, but he doesn't fucking remember. Which would normally be a blessing, except he usually doesn't stay the goddamn night. 

Is he going to have some girl hanging all over him for the first couple weeks of summer? Until he can figure out how to ditch her without making it look like he's too eager to.

Or maybe he'll stick around for a little while, this bed is actually ridiculous. He might be able to fake his way through one shitty summer fling if it means sleeping like a goddamn king. There are like, five pillows, and it feels like he's laying on a cloud. 

He nuzzles deeper into the pillowcase. Smells nice too.

His memories of the previous day mostly stop around Tammy Whatsherface dragging him away for a graduation afterparty. Maybe he shouldn't have started drinking at noon. 

Christ, he's not even sure how he got here, or where his car is. 

Or where here is.

It's one of the Loch Nora houses, probably. Nowhere else would have sheets like this.

Eventually he drags himself, reluctantly, out of bed. And immediately tastes bile.

Which is. Bad. 

Being upright is bad. 

And he doesn't know where the nearest toilet is. Which could be extremely bad. Girls whose carpets you puke on don't invite you back to sleep in their nice guest rooms.

So, he's very slow and careful about pulling his jeans on. And he makes sure to pause when he starts to feel clammy, sitting on the floor to stop his head spinning. 

It takes him forever to get mostly dressed, jeans and an undershirt are enough. He can't find his button-up and socks require too much bending down, which his dehydrated brain does not appreciate. 

Peeking out into the nondescript hall doesn't provide any more answers about whose house this is. It's all shiny boring expensive decor and not a single person in sight.

Oh, looks like there's a bathroom at the end of the hallway though, good. 

He beelines for the sweet promise of a place to piss and rinse out his mouth, shuffling past a couple closed doors, listening for any signs of life and hearing nothing, until he shoulders his way into the bathroom and freezes in his tracks, because—

"Hey, uh. You're awake." Steve Harrington blinks at him, standing in front of a plain oval mirror, hairbrush in hand. Which he obviously hasn't used yet, because the bedhead he's sporting is kind of hilarious. It's all fluff in every direction. Billy wants to run his hands through it. 

Worse, though, is the fact that he's bare chested, wearing an unzipped hoodie and soft plaid pants, with all that fucking chest hair, and he's looking at Billy with a curious expression that isn't remotely like any way he's ever looked at Billy before and this is…all very, very strange.

So, obviously Billy's theory about what happened last night was wrong. He's not even back to square one, he has less than no idea what the fuck is happening.

"...Yes," Billy responds after a beat too long. 

Great.

Fantastic.

Very smooth.

The corner of Steve's mouth twitches. There's something soft and warm about the amusement twinkling in his eyes and it's making Billy itch. 

"I think I'm gonna puke."

Steve snorts, and drops his hairbrush on the vanity. "Right, I'll get out of your way then." He sidles past Billy, far too close, patting his shoulder as he passes. Which does not help when he's just barely keeping his shit together.

His footsteps fade down the hallway at Billy's back. And Billy doesn't move. 

What the actual fuck.

He slams the bathroom door shut behind him, and leans his forehead against it, trying to breathe slowly through his nose. 

They didn't have sex last night. There's no way. He did not fuck Steve Harrington.

He couldn't have. Steve would never…

He's not…

That's just. Not what happened. Because that would never happen. 

It kind of looks like that's what happened, but it's not. 

He sits on the floor, head in his hands. And breathes. 

It's unclear how long he stays curled up on cold tile. Long enough that his legs start to feel stiff. Nothing about last night comes back to him. He sighs.

And gets up.

And splashes some water on his face. Drinks a little from the tap. Uses some of the mouthwash he digs out from under the counter. Takes a piss.

He's still unsteady. His temples throb if he moves too quickly. But he feels a little less like roadkill.

Steve waves at him when he spots him coming down the stairs. Waggles his fingers in the air, like they're best buds and this situation isn't the most surreal thing to happen to them since the Byers' weirdly trashed living room.

Billy rubs the back of his neck. "...Hey."

"Coffee?"

"Sure."

Steve pulls out two mugs, one of his thumbs stuck through a hole in the cuff of his sleeve. There's sunlight warming the honey-coloured highlights in his hair.

Yeah, no, this is definitely more fucked up than finding Max in a random house with a busted window and shitty drawings everywhere.

He might actually have lost his mind.

"What the fuck happened last night?" He blurts, his cheeks hot, fingers jittery. He shoves his hands in his pockets, fists balled up against his thighs.

Steve glances at him out of the corner of his eye. "Ah, figures you don't remember."

"Don't remember what?"

"You were pretty out of it."

"Yeah, thanks, I know that part."

Steve snorts, grabbing more things out of cupboards. Billy's paying more attention to his hands than what's in them. "You didn't want to leave, so I let you sleep upstairs."

"...Why?"

"You didn't say, just said you didn't have anywhere else to be."

"That's not what I meant." He knows exactly why he didn't want to leave. All the many reasons why he'd rather be here than under Neil's roof. Or anywhere else. What doesn't make any fucking sense is Steve accommodating him. 

Steve's eyes flicker to his again, briefly, before he turns back to the counter. When he shrugs the nonchalance seems forced. "You're a lot nicer when you're plastered."

"I…" Billy opens his mouth. Shuts it again. 

What the fuck does that mean. 

Steve fidgets with a spoon. "You got…kind of weepy, y'know."

Oh.

Goddamnit.

His shoulders go tense, jagged edges of a shield around what's left of his dignity. "Fuck you, Harrington," he snaps. It's all he can muster when he doesn't know what the fuck he was crying about. Every possibility is worse than the last.

"Yeah, you wish," Steve mutters.

Billy freezes. 

And doesn't recover quick enough to hide it from Steve. Steve's eyebrows shoot up. "Holy shit, it's true isn't it?" He turns around fully, the mess he's made of the counter forgotten. 

Fuck.

"I—don't know what you're talking about." His stupid deer-in-the-headlights expression is mostly under control but the sudden tremble in his voice definitely fucking isn't. 

He backs away a step and then stops. Where the fuck is he going to go, he doesn't know where his car is, where his keys are, and he's fucking barefoot. Running upstairs and locking himself in Steve's bathroom seems just a little too pathetic but that doesn't mean he doesn't consider it.

Billy clenches his jaw. It makes his head pound. "What exactly did I say last night?" He grits out, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Steve eyes him. Slowly, carefully. Deliberating. He chews his bottom lip. The silence is fucking agonizing. 

"Can't tell you," he finally replies, his voice light. One corner of his mouth lifts into half a smile, and scratches his cheek. "I promised I wouldn't tell anyone."

"That's…" Billy rubs his forehead with the palm of his hand, like he's looking for the button to restart his poor, confused brain. He drops his hand, exasperated, eyebrows creeping up to his hairline. "Steve, what the fuck."

Steve cracks a full-blown grin. "I told you I'm good at keeping secrets."

"I swear to god—"

"Aw c'mon, I can't break a promise! Especially 'cause you asked so nicely. You were so polite. It was very cute."

"I…what?"

He can't have heard that right.

Or Steve's just fucking with him. That's what's going on here. Billy let something slip last night and now Steve's holding it over his head. Because why wouldn't he, honestly. He has every reason to want to mess with Billy, and now he's got the perfect leverage.

"Billy." Steve's voice is soft, suddenly. His expression gentles, and he moves to close the gap between them. And Billy…doesn't get it. He's stalled out and stuck trying to figure out how this is gonna go wrong, how it fits into whatever prank Steve is clearly pulling.

He doesn't know what his face is doing, but he's pretty sure he's being way more readable than he'd like. 

He nearly jumps out of his skin when Steve touches him. A hand on his shoulder. A hesitant, awkward pat. Testing the waters, maybe. Trying to make sure he's real, maybe.

Is any of this real? Billy's still not convinced. He can smell Steve's shampoo and see all the little flecks of colour in his eyes and his shoulder is still burning where they made contact, but…

"I'm sorry I hurt you, y'know," Steve murmurs, his gaze dropping, hovering somewhere around Billy's crossed arms. He reaches out again, fingers grazing Billy's knuckles this time. All Billy can do is blink at him, afraid to breathe. "Doesn't have to be like that."

He tugs at Billy's hand, untucking it from the crook of his elbow, unfolding Billy's arms, and Billy lets him. One hand drops to his side and the other stays cradled in Steve's grip. He's…staring at it like he's studying for a test. Billy has no idea what's so fucking interesting, or what Steve's talking about, but he's also not bothered at this point. 

His knees feel like jello. 

"You could've just kissed me."

Billy nearly collapses. Like one of those swooning chicks in shitty romance novels. Breathless and flushed and overwhelmed. Except he just stands there like a moron, staring at Steve. And Steve's mouth.

"What?" he manages not to sound too strangled. Miraculously. 

Steve smiles at him, almost sheepishly. "You still could. I wouldn't mind."

"You…wouldn't."

"Yeah, I mean, if you had morning breath still it might be a different story, but…" Steve gestures vaguely, pulling Billy's hand along with him as he shrugs. 

Billy snorts.

And hey, maybe Steve is messing with him, and this will blow up in his face, but…

Well, he just really wants to kiss him before it does.

So he leans in and presses their lips together. 

~~tag list @spreckle @growup-thatbeautiful @prettyboy-like-you @suddenlyinlove

[veeisdunn]

Sneaking around

Shelby family x sister!reader

warning: period typical homophobia

context: set before season one, reader is a few years younger than Ada.

I know this isn't an original idea and is kind of overdone, but I figured since I am very very queer I might as well give it a shot.

WC: 4.1K

MASTERLIST

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

It took awhile for everyone to recognise, but it was clear as day now. The youngest Shelby girl was slipping away.

Finn saw it first. The young boy idolised his older sister. Though less than a year was between them, Y/N was his world. You were there, day in day out, to offer support, advice, or generally cause trouble; until one day, you weren't.

Arthur, bless his heart, took a long time to come around. 

"But I fuck off all the bloody time and I don't see any of yous all stressed"

"This is different Arthur, it's y/n" Tommy, the replacement voice of reason.

You were barely a teenager when you first realised you were different. You had a playground boyfriend who you adored, but not in the right way. You always looked at him like a best friend, but it became painfully obvious he was dealing with some serious puppy love. He kissed you. You hated it.

You promptly ended things after that embarrassment.

As you got older, it clicked. You didn't like boys, not in that way. You looked at women the same way many men would. 

I'm fucking delusional. A looney.

The Shelby boys would tease your lack of romance, but deep down appreciated that you being single gave them one less thing to worry about.

You was all alone with these thoughts of self-loathing, until you met her.

Emma was a few years your senior and worked as a seamstress on the other side of Small Heath. You were caught in the rain together one evening, and the rest was history. You and Emma became close friends, both craving female companionship in your male-dominated lives. Your relationship escalated one drunken night in the snug of the Garrison. Most of the Blinders were in London doing god knows what, leaving the private room of the pub to you and her friend.

"Truth or dare?" Emma slurred 

You hummed, "truth!"

"Who was your first love?" 

"That's a big question." you pondered

"I've just never seen you around any men! You never even talk about them, you literally have your pick of every man in Birmingham." Emma giggled, her inhibitions getting the best of her.

"I… I just haven't found the right person yet." you quipped defensively, pouring yourself and Emman another glass.

"Maybe you're looking in the wrong place?" 

You choked on her gin. "What's that supposed to mean?”

Emma leaned back into her chair and stared you down. "I saw the way you look at the barmaid." she smirked.

shit. shit. shit.

"I think she's cute as well" Emma continued, swirling her drink around her glass.

You felt like all of the air had been ejected from your lungs. Did Emma feel it too?

"Wait. You also like women?" 

"Yes. I think they're rather more attractive" the older girl replied nonchalantly.

— 

Ever since that fateful evening, you had been "best friends" - more accurately, you were sneaking around each other's houses, stealing kisses behind buildings or under tables, and fighting the urge not to show any physical affection in public. You were enamored by each other.

This new arrangement made you fear your family, quite simply because they ran the entire city - the walls may as well have had piercing eyes following your every move. Though if the you were exposed, you didn't worry for yourself, you worried for Emma - an unmarried 20 year-old living in a bedsit above a cobbler who had no family (or gang for that matter) to come to her defense.

Y/N was certain this was one of the only laws her family hadn’t broken, and now you were walking all over it. Homosexuality, as Emma had taught you, was fully natural, but extremely illegal. Sometimes the you wished you could just be normal, but then you wouldn’t be able to spend hours gazing into your girlfriend's glowing eyes - a truly impossible predicament.

— 

The sun peaked up over the dense bog of factory smoke, darkened rays illuminating the dusty streets. Y/N took a deep breath in, halfway between a slumber and reality. 

That’s a nice smell.

Only a few minutes later did you realise that that nice smell was, in fact, Emma’s perfume and your head was, in fact, buried in Emma's chest.

“Morning, sunshine.” The older girl whispered, resting her hand on your knotty h/c  hair, attempting in vain to comb through it with her fingers.

“What time is it?” you yawned and relaxed into Emma’s gentle touch.

“Just turned seven, the bird’s woke me.” She spoke softly but the you were thrown into a panic. This was your first time sleeping in your bed and you'd slept in.

“They'll be up.” You shot up from Emma’s embrace. This revelation ruined the tranquillity of your night together. Emma hastily slipped on one of your frilly blouses and long woollen skirt, abandoning last night’s evening dress for the sake of blending in outside. You then helped your lover out of the window and onto the fence, then down to the alleyway beside the Shelby home.

“Em I’m sorry, again. I’m just scared, I don’t want anything to happen to you.” You apologised profusely, feeling ashamed that you went to such lengths to hide. 

Emma smiled sadly “No, I get it. We can’t have our fun end now can we?” She giggled playfully “I best be off, you should sleep over in my room tonight.” 

You blushed as Emma waltzed down the alley and onto the bustle of Watery Lane as if nothing had just happened. 

— 

“Aunt Polly, guess what?” Finn giggled, skipping into the crowded kitchen. The whole family, except you, were crowded around the table eating breakfast. “I heard someone in Y/N’s room!”

“Finn, that’s not funny. Go and cause trouble elsewhere.” Tommy scolded, glancing up from his newspaper.

“No!” the boy protested, grabbing his Aunt’s arm as she walked past, “I heard her talking! And I heard lots of footsteps! And the window!” he blabbed

The chorus of murmurs that filled the room ceased. 

“Y/N’s finally gotten herself a man!” John cheered, slapping an angry Tommy on the back. Across the table, it looked as if steam was pouring from Arthur’s ears.

“Boys, I say it’s a good thing. It’s time she found someone to have fun with.” Ada sighed, sensing one of her brother’s was about to blow up.

“I agree with Ada.” Polly announced, “Y/N is an adult now, she can do whatever the bloody hell she pleases”

“She’s barely 18!” Tommy slammed his paper down “she should NOT be having men sharing her bed.” Ada glared daggers into him. A floorboard creaking across the hall meant that you had accidentally announced yourself sneaking back to bed.

“Speak of the devil.” Arthur tutted. 

You apprehensively stepped towards the stairs.

Maybe if I walk slowly, they won’t see me?

“Y/N! Y/N! Who was it? When can I meet him?” Finn sang, bounding up to you, Tommy hot on his heels. 

“Who was the man in your bed?” Tommy demanded “Do we know him? Or will I have to introduce myself?” He snapped, a menacing undertone in his voice.

“THIS is why she felt the need to sneak him out!” Ada shouted over her brother, “you could at least pretend to be supportive!”

Tommy let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Okay, how was your secret fuck last night?”

“THOMAS! Cut it out. Now.” Polly could have broken glass with her shriek. “Girls, I suggest you leave. Your brothers need educating.”  

You fled up the stairs to her room. Ada followed close behind, stopping her sister from slamming the door and locking herself away. You threw yourself on the bed in despair. 

“That’s a nice dress. Did you wear it last night?” Ada tried her best to be friendly, inspecting Emma’s crimson dress hung over a desk chair.

“That’s not my dress.” You rolled over to face the wall, “it’s my friends.” you huffed defensively.

“You know, you can always borrow my dresses?” Ada settled down at the end of her sister’s bed, misjudging the situation.

“No Ada, it’s just that she wore it last night and left it here.” 

“So if one of your friends slept over, can’t you just tell everyone so they’ll shut up?”

An unfamiliar knot tied itself in your stomach. It was one thing sneaking around behind the backs of your family, lying to their faces was not something you'd considered. You opted to remain silent.

“What’s going on with you lately? You keep shutting everyone out.” Ada leaned over and looked down over her little (adult) sister with concern.

“I’m just so fucking tired of hiding.”

Ada’s the least likely to kill me.

“From what?” 

“Everyone. I am sick of living life like this.”

“Y/N, who was here last night?” Ada asked softly, catching on.

You snapped. “My girlfriend. My girlfriend was here and we slept in my bed. We didn’t have sex, we just talked.”

Ada silently gasped and took a moment to compose herself. “Look, I don’t care what you’re doing with her-”

“No, it’s not that.” tears began to well in your eyes, “it’s the fact they all probably think I’m no better than a common prostitute despite the fact they sleep with every woman they find.” 

“Oh Y/N…” Ada mumbled with a smile, “Polly will sort them out. You shouldn’t be sneaking around us.”

You was taken aback by Ada’s lack of anger. 

“Now…” Ada jumped up and picked up Emma’s dress from the chair, admiring the quality “tell me about her!”

— 

“Look Thomas, just because she is a woman and you are a man, it doesn’t mean you have more rights than Y/N.” Polly snapped, towering above her nephew.

“You just can’t seem to get it through your head, Pol.” Tommy retorted, standing from his seat, “men are bad, they can’t be trusted.”

“Yes, and you would know all about bad men Tommy, since you yourself run with the devil.” Polly squared up to him and snarled, staring into his dark eyes.

John joined the pair standing and rested a hand on each of their shoulders. “Eva is a smart girl, she probably picked someone who’s the total opposite of a Blinder. He’ll be nothing like Tommy.”

“At least if he’s a fuckin’ Blinder we can finish him off quickly.” Arthur chimed in, gripping his glass so hard it could have smashed.

“There will be no finishing of anyone off. You boys cannot sentence an innocent man to death for sleeping with Y/N. How do you think she will take that? Will she thank you? Or will she leave this God forsaken city and never come back?” Polly snapped, “It’s your decision, but it’s one you should take in a fucking heartbeat.”

As Polly berated Arthur and John sat back with indifference, Tommy stormed into the hallway and ascended the rickety stairs to your room. His mind was running at lightning speed, anger and guilt both clouding his rational brain. He had to know who this man was before he decided on his next step. Your jubilant voice and Ada’s giggles stopped him from bashing her door off its hinges.

“And when Emma kisses me, I swear my heart is going to explode.”

“Does she treat you well?”

“She’s so thoughtful. On the anniversary of Mum’s death, she brought flowers for us to throw in the cut. We sat on the edge for hours and she just listened to me ramble.”

“Oh my gosh! You lucky girl Y/N!” 

Tommy kissed his teeth and looked up at the ceiling before opening the door.

If there is a God, he thought, then please tell me what the fuck is going on.

Both yourself and Ada jumped as your older brother entered, his expression was impossible for either of you to decipher.

“Tommy, before you yell at her, can you at least think about this!” Ada begged, standing between him and yourself.

“Ada. Out. I need to talk with Y/N alone.”

Ada stepped forward “If you upset her Tommy, I’ll fucking kill you.” she threatened through gritted teeth.

Begrudgingly, after bickering some more, Ada left your bedroom and closed the door behind her. 

Thomas sighed, listening to the rapid rhythm of his pulse. Wordlessly, he picked up your desk chair and placed it next to your bed, sitting down and staring at his sister who was leant against the headboard, your knees to yourchest. You refused to meet his gaze.

“So,” He coughed, “Who is Emma?”

You traced circles into your thigh as you took a shaky breath in.

“My friend.” You mumbled

“Your friend who you shared a bed with and kissed?” Tommy raised his eyebrows. He needed to hear you say it for yourself, though, as Ada did, he’d caught on.

“I - you know, Tommy.” You sniffed your tears back.

“I need to hear it from you, Y/N. Use your words.”

“Fine. I love her Tommy! I love her more than all the girls you sleep around with. I know you don’t want me to be happy but I don’t care because I love her.” You lost it, you sat up and faced him, shouting with tears streaming down your face. The only thing stopping you from attacking him was the iron grip you were keeping on your bed sheets.

Tommy didn’t reply. He rested his elbows on his knees and held his head in his hands.

“I know you’re pissed but quite frankly I’m sick to death of being a prisoner to the men in this family. For once, I have someone who loves me for me and who doesn’t treat me like a child. If you don’t like it, I’ll fucking leave and you can be rid of me.” The words flew out of your mouth without much doubt and you couldn’t figure out if they were empty threats or if you were ready to run. Your brother’s reaction would decide that.

Silence. “So?” you spat, “when do you want me gone?”

Tommy barely registered what he had heard. He was stunned, sifting through his racing thoughts: She could be arrested, or even killed. Her reputation would be finished. What if she wanted her own life and career? Would she even be able to find a job?

He was so engrossed, in fact, that he didn’t even notice you leave in floods of tears.

— 

You were running on fumes. You hadn’t woken up prepared for any of this anguish. Your legs carried you to the one place where you knew you’d be safe - Emma. Before long, and after lots of odd looks from people around you, you'd ended up at the door of the dress shop where your girlfriend worked. 

“G’morning! How can I help?” The woman behind the counter looked up from her work at you, a fake smile on her face.

“Emma.” you panted, catching your breath, “Is Emma here? I’m her friend and it’s an emergency.”

After studying your face, the woman’s smile faded. “Emma!” She poked her head through a door behind her and called, “There is a Miss Shelby here looking for you.”

A crash, a slam, and then Emma appeared, rather flustered. If it wasn’t for your panic, you would be swooning at the sight of your lover in your clothes. 

“You should step in the back for a minute - I don’t want customers seeing you girls chit-chat.” The woman, who you had now deduced was the boss, spoke quietly. Emma didn’t respond and grabbed your forearm, leading you into the back room and closing the door.

“What happened? Why’re you crying?” Emma fretted, sitting you down at a desk.

You held back your tears in fear of getting your girlfriend in trouble. “They know.” You whispered, “My little brother heard someone in my room and they’ve all found out.”

Emma cursed under her breath, holding onto your hands so hard her knuckles went white. “Are they angry?” She whispered back, her eyes flicking to the door cautiously.

“I - I don’t know. My sister was really happy but I don’t think my brothers are. I asked Tommy if he wanted me to leave and he didn’t even say anything. I don’t think I can go back.”

The older girl walked over to a set of pegs and took a key out of a bag, handing it to you. “Go back to my room. I’ll finish at six today, then we can come up with a plan.”

“No!” You snapped in a hushed voice “You don’t understand how crazy my family are. You should leave me here and go somewhere else, it won’t be safe in the city for you anymore.”

“I’m not going anywhere without you. If you don’t think it’s safe here, then let’s both get out.”

After that exchange, you were sent on your way back to Emma’s bedsit. Luckily everyone else was at work so no one saw you run in. You were originally planning to spend the day figuring out what you and Emma were going to do come the evening, but you instead collapsed from exhaustion and slept.

— 

“Thomas Michael Shelby!” Polly bellowed, practically picking him up by his collar. “What in God’s name have you done?!”

Tommy snapped out of his haze. Y/N was gone. Polly was out for blood. Ada was crying. Arthur was having a drink - at 8am. John was gone, too. What the fuck happend?

“You were meant to comfort her! Not drive her out of the fucking house!” 

Tommy ignored his raging aunt. “I’ll get every bloody man on the street to find her.” His voice was monotone as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket.

Ada chuckled sarcastically, “John’s already onto that, got all the Blinder’s after her. He was being a brother while you were sitting on your arse.”

“SHIT” Tommy stood up and threw the pile of books from Y/N’s desk into the wall. “Shit shit shit.” And he was gone.

— 

The three brothers were out all day looking for their sister, while Polly, Ada, and Finn stayed home waiting in case she returned. She didn’t. As the night approached, the trio returned and handed over to a group of their associates who planned to search all night.

On the other side of Small Heath, you and Emma were getting ready to head out. Your plan was to sneak back to Watery Lane, get your things, leave a note, and get out. You was intending to hide in Emma’s room until you could both figure out where to go next. You took the reverse route that you had that morning, seeing that all the lights were on downstairs, but no one appeared to be upstairs. Down the alley, up the fence, onto the roof, then through the window. The one thing that you'd forgotten to consider was that somebody could already be in there. 

Ada was laying on your bed in floods of tears. The second your feet hit the floor, she shot up and screamed, bounding over. “Y/N! I thought you were never coming back!” She grabbed you and smothered her in an embrace, “Tommy didn’t mean it. He was just being an idiot. Good god Y/N I thought we’d lost you.”

Emma awkwardly slid in through the window, extremely embarrassed. At the same time, a pair of footsteps sprinted up the stairs and into the room and the door flew open. John. He looked exhausted and was too shocked to even speak, he assumed Ada was having a nightmare. On her guard, Emma stormed over to him and backed him in a corner. 

“Are you Thomas?!” She snapped, seething with anger.

John let out a sincere chuckle and smiled. “So Y/N did pick someone tough after all - I’m John, not Tommy.” Emma retreated in embarrassment.

“Sorry, I thought he’d made you cry.” She mumbled to you “I couldn’t help myself.”

“I like her, Y/N.” Ada smiled, taking a good look at the new woman in the room.

You walked over to Emma and took her hand. “You don’t need to protect me, it’s ok.” You whispered, wrapping her in a calming hug. You could feel her pulse pumping across her body.

“So you’re the girl who stole my little sister’s heart?” John enquired, relieved.

“Emma.” You spoke into the girl’s chest, “You’re hugging me too tight.”

Emma immediately let go “I’m sorry, I’m just tense.” You pecked her lips, “Better now?”

Ada awed at the interaction and took in the sight of her baby sister in love, John could have sworn his legs had turned to jelly. The moment was destroyed by another set of footsteps, Tommy entered drearily. 

John ceased his opportunity to wind his brother up. “Emma.” He announced, turning to her, “This is Thomas. Tommy, meet Emma.”

The loving embrace between you both ended as Emma stormed over to the doorway and pinned Tommy against it. Ada covered her mouth, trying not to laugh at the exchange.

“You. You fucking made Y/N cry. She’s been in my room all day crying because you couldn’t talk to her, after demanding that she ‘use her words’ you fucking prick.” she spat. Tommy lifted his hands up in surrender, shocked at this new girl’s confidence. 

“Ay, no need to shout. I came to apologise to my sister for being an arse.” 

“Honest to God Tommy, I don’t think an apology will cut it.” John folded his arms and walked towards the door.

“No. I’ll listen.” You piped up, pushing past John. “Emma, it’s ok, I promise.”

Emma shook her head and stood back. Ada took her out of the room begrudgingly and John followed, the three of them waiting outside of your door.

“Tommy, I-” You began but you were cut off by your brother engulfing you in a hug and practically picking you up.

“I’m so sorry sweetheart. I’m sorry. You can be angry at me but I’m just so happy you’re home.” He rambled, gripping you as if you were about to disappear again.

“I’m not angry, I’m hurt.” You stepped back from the hug and looked into his glassy eyes. “Why didn’t you say something, anything Tommy? I thought you were mad, I thought you hated me.” You spoke as tears fell down her cheeks.

“I - Y/N I was thinking about you. I was scared. You’re too good for this world and people won’t understand this.”

“I just wish you could have said something. Tommy you fucking terrified me.” You sniffed.

He took your hand in his and held it to his chest. “I don’t care who you love, Y/N, as long as you love. I don’t know where all that talk of me hating you came from. You could scream and shout at me, but I will never, ever, hate you. I got scared that you’d met some man like me who wouldn’t treat you well; but now I see you’ve found yourself a woman who will fight me over your feelings - a brave woman.” 

“So… you don't hate me? I thought you’d want me locked up.”

Tommy scoffed “Locked up, eh? You don’t have shell shock. You aren’t crazy. And even if you were, I'd look after you, I wouldn’t shut you away.”

You burst into relieved tears, prompting Emma to open the door. Tommy immediately stood to face her, his arms yet again up in a surrender.

“I don’t know if you heard that, Love, but I was apologising, so please don’t cut me.” He spoke, locking eyes with her pleadingly.

“Ok.” Emma sighed. “You’re forgiven, for now.” She warned. John skipped through the door cheering. “Tommy brother, we have found your match!” He laughed, “Aunt Polly will love you!”

The rollercoaster of a day came to a crashing halt as night fell across Watery Lane. You apprehensively introduced Emma to your family. John was right, Polly adored her: “Finally, another woman to help me control these feral men.”

Arthur was less expressive: “D’ya want a whisky?” Emma obliged - immediate friends.

Finn, bless his heart, was very confused - “Y/N, your boyfriend is a girl.” but he eventually figured it out.

— 

“You know,” You started, looking into the fire surrounded by your family with the woman you loved, “sometimes Em and I joke that the Shelby’s have now broken every law in the book.”

“No, I’m sure your brothers could find a few others.” Polly chuckled, leaning back into her seat, a smile plastered across her face.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

please drop me a comment or message with any feedback or suggestions! I'd love to hear from you ♡

Vee x

MASTERLIST

[the-orange-tabby-cat]

ALBUM FIC OF THE DAY: Halcyon by @justagalwhowrites (15/?)

A LYRICS COLLECTION BASED ON GOLDIE AND JOEL

TRACKLIST VIBES

Did I spend the whole day thinking about the last Halcyon chapter? Yes. The whole damn day. The only way to deal with was being a big girl and listening to every Taylor song that reminded me of them. They are my favorite couple, you can blame Kit for it.

GOLDIE AND JOEL CODED LYRICS

“We are alone with our changing minds, we fall in love 'til it hurts or bleeds or fades in time” (State of Grace)

“So you were never a saint and I loved in shades of wrong, we learn to live with the pain, mosaic broken hearts” (State of Grace)

“These are the hands of fate, you're my Achilles heel, this is the golden age of somethin' good And right and real” (State of Grace)

“Put your lips close to mine as long as they don't touch. Out of focus, eye to eye, til the gravity's too much” (Treacherous)

“I'd be smart to walk away but you're quicksand” (Treacherous)

“All we are is skin and bone trained to get along, forever going with the flow, but you're friction” (Treacherous)

“That nothing safe is worth the drive and I would follow you, follow you home” (Treacherous)

“I guess we fell apart in the usual way and the story's got dust on every page but, sometimes, I wonder how you think about it now and I see your face in every crowd” (Holy Ground)

“Words, how little they mean when you're a little too late. I stood right by the tracks, your face in a locket” (Sad Beautiful Tragic)

“We had a beautiful, magic love there, what a sad, beautiful, tragic love affair” (Sad Beautiful Tragic)

“In dreams, I meet you in warm conversation and we both wake in lonely beds and different cities” (Sad Beautiful Tragic)

“Distance, timing, breakdown, fighting. Silence, the train runs off its tracks. Kiss me, try to fix it, could you just try to listen? Hang up, give up and, for the life of us, we can't get back” (Sad Beautiful Tragic)

“But if the story’s over, why am I still writing pages?” (Death By A Thousand Cuts)

“Hell is when I fight with you But we can patch it up good Make confessions and we’re begging for forgiveness” (False God)

“There are so many lines that I've crossed unforgiven. I'll tell you the truth but never goodbye” (Daylight)

“I wounded the good and I trusted the wicked, clearin' the air I breathed in the smoke” (Daylight)

“I once believed love would be burning red, but it's golden like daylight” (Daylight)

“Is it insensitive for me to say "get your shit together so I can love you"? Is it really your anxiety that stops you from giving me everything or do you just not want to?” (Renegade)

“You fire off missiles cause you hate yourself but do you know you're demolishing me? And then you squeeze my hand as I'm about to leave” (Renegade)

“Someday, when you leave me I bet these memories follow you around” (Wildest Dreams)

“This love is good, this love is bad, this love is alive back from the dead. These hands had to let it go free and this love came back to me” (This Love)

“We’re a shot in the darkest dark oh no, oh no, I'm unarmed” (Say Don’t Go)

“Why’d you whisper in the dark just to leave me in the night? Now your silence has me screaming” (Say Don’t Go)

“Cause you kiss mе and it stops time and I'm yours, but you're not mine” (Say Don’t Go)

“Truth is, I can't pretend it's platonic, it's just ended” (Now That We Don’t Talk)

“Was it over when she laid down on your couch? Was it over when he unbuttoned my blouse?” (Is It Over Now?)

“One thing after another, fucking situations, circumstances, miscommunications, and I have to say, by the way I just may like some explanations” (Question…?)

“Did you realize out of time? She was on your mind with some dickhead guy that you saw that night” (Question…?)

“And maybe it's the past that's talking, screaming from the crypt telling me to punish you for things you never did” (The Great War)

“I was making my own name, chasing that fame, he stayed the same, all of me changed like midnight” (Midnight Rain)

“He was sunshine, I was midnight rain” (Midnight Rain)

“Please, don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere” (New Year’s Day)

“Who's gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames If we know the steps anyway?” (loml)

“As the men masqueraded, I hoped you'd return with your feet on the ground, tell me all that you'd learned cause love's never lost when perspective is earned” (Peter)

“And the years passed like scenes of a show, the professor said to write what you know looking backwards might be the only way to move forward” (The Manuscript)

“The only thing that's left is the manuscript, one last souvenir from my trip to your shores” (The Manuscript)

“What if he's written "mine" on my upper thigh only in my mind?” (Guilty As Sin)

“if you wanted me, you really should've showed” (the 1)

“I persist and resist the temptation to ask you if one thing had been different, would everything be different today?” (the 1)

“I'm only seventeen, I don't know anything but I know I miss you” (betty)

“There's an ache in you, put there by the ache in me but if it's all the same to you It's the same to me” (‘tis the damn season)

“I escaped it too, remember how you watched me leave but if it's okay with you, it's okay with me” (‘tis the damn season)

“I don't like that anyone would die to feel your touch. Everybody wants you, everybody wonders what it would be like to love you” (gold rush)

“What must it be like to grow up that beautiful? With your hair falling into place like dominoes, my mind turns your life into folklore I can't dare to dream about you anymore” (gold rush)

“I can't stop you putting roots in my dreamland, my house of stone, your ivy grows and now I'm covered in you” (ivy)

“I'd live and die for moments that we stole on begged and borrowed time” (ivy)

“it's a war, tt's the goddamn fight of my life and you started it” (ivy)

“Pages turn and stick to each other, wages earned and lessons learned but I, I'm right where you left me” (right where you left me)

“If our love died young, I can't bear witness, and it's been so long, if you ever think you got it wrong, I'm right where you left me” (right where you left me)

“A simple complication, miscommunications lead to fallout. So many things that I wish you knew, so many walls up, I can't break through” (The Story Of Us)

“Don't you smile at me and ask me how I've been, don't you say you've missed me if you don't want me again, you don't know how much I feel I love you still” (Don’t You)

“I'm on the bleachers dreaming about the day when you wake up and find that what you're looking for has been here the whole time” (You Belong With Me)

“All this time, how could you not know, baby? You belong with me” (You Belong With Me)

TRACKLIST (all songs mentioned)

State of Grace

Treacherous

Holy Ground

Sad Beautiful Tragic

Death By A Thousand Cuts

False God

Daylight

Renegade

Wildest Dreams

This Love

Say Don't Go

Now That We Don’t Talk

Is It Over Now?

Question...?

The Great War

Midnight Rain

New Year's Day

loml

Peter

The Manuscript

Guilty As Sin

the 1

betty

‘tis the damn season

gold rush

ivy

right where you left me

The Story Of Us

Don't You

You Belong With Me

[blackbird-brewster]

Emily/Rebecca, Tara/Rebecca, JJ/Emily || Rated: E || WC: 73,800 Summary:

After Rebecca and Emily have an extremely unexpected and ill-advised one-night-stand, they have to navigate working together while trying to prevent their secret from getting out. Meanwhile, Tara is still holding out hope she and Rebecca can reconcile their differences and get back together. And JJ is struggling to cope after finding out about the website related to her.

FINAL CHAPTERS - NOW POSTED

Chapter Summary: The team is in a race against time to try and rescue Emily after she's abducted. The stress of the situation leads to unexpected emotions as both JJ and Tara make choices that will change their lives forever.

The door opened, though JJ didn't say anything, she just went to sit quietly on the couch. Tara joined her, offering her a hand to hold, and she took it as a good sign when JJ accepted the gesture.

"I just can't do this again," JJ whispered.

"I get that," Tara said. "I don't want to deal with that piece of shit either, but he might be our only shot at this."

"No, not Voit," JJ corrected with a shuddering breath. "I, uh,--I can't lose Emily, Tara."

"Hey, you won't," Tara said, she tightened her grip on her hand and rested her cheek against the top of JJ's head. "If anyone on this team knows how to survive an abduction... how to stay alive long enough for us to find them, it's Emily."

"Does she? Lately, she's been so...careless. When she was suspended, I went to see her and she," JJ replied, choking back tears. "I don't know, Tara. I've never seen her like this. I've spent the past few hours wondering if, this time, she even cares enough to survive at all."

The possibility hadn't occurred to Tara, but she also couldn't deny how reckless Emily had been over the past couple of months. None of them were particularly sound of mind at present. Just last week, Tara found Rossi sitting in his office with his finger on the trigger of his gun. But was Emily so broken she'd actually give up on living? The thought re-sparked her guilt about shutting Emily out and Tara tried to push it away, she couldn't think like that. She needed to keep a clear head.

Her silence was suffocating and JJ took it as confirmation that, maybe, she was right. Maybe, Emily was simply too apathetic to care what happened to her anymore. The concept JJ might actually lose her, cut through what little resolve she had left and she broke down crying.

Tara pulled her into a hug as her own silent tears rolled down her cheeks. "Jen, if we're going to get through this, then we just have to keep believing she won't stop fighting."

JJ was overcome with wracking sobs as memories of Emily's past abductions flooded her mind. Emily barely escaped with her life both of those times and that was because she'd fought with every fibre of her being to stay alive. Right now, Emily's mental fortitude wasn't nearly as strong. The memory of her funeral made JJ cling to Tara, on the verge of hyperventilating, because she just couldn't catch her breath.

"Shhhh." Tara pressed a kiss into her hair as she tried to soothe her, "Shhh, it's all right. You're okay, Jen. Try and breathe."

"I can't let her die," JJ whimpered.

"We won't, we won't let that happen. Just breathe."

When JJ calmed down again, she looked up to meet Tara's eyes and she could tell she was registering the truth behind them, but just in case Tara had any doubts, JJ also confirmed it out loud. "Tara, I love her."

She didn't have to specify she was in love with her, Tara clearly understood. She pressed another series of kisses into her hair, to hide the emotional turmoil in her own expression at such an unexpected admission. "Well then, I guess we better go save her so you can tell her that yourself."

>> Relationship Notes & Crime Board (Spoilers for Ch 11-12) <<

Ships explored in this fic:

Emily/Rebecca

Tara/Rebecca

Tara/JJ

JJ/Emily

Emily/Fiona (minor)

(JJ/Tara/Emily)

[alaydabug2]

@sparklenarniawizard

Broken heart/Broken mind

Chapter ten

(Human AU)

Sophie and Keefe met in the children's hospital when they were little. Because of how long they were confined to the four walls of the hospital, they became very close during their stay.

As the years pass, they wind up being in the same classroom together due to their physical conditions. This makes their bond deepen.

But are they able to handle when life gets tough, throwing problems and complications their way?

Sixth grade:

Sophie clipped her hair back. She was attempting to look halfway put together for her first day of middle school. So far, she wasn't having much luck.

She went back and changed into a light yellow dress. That finally seemed to do the trick. She grabbed her book bag and met Edaline in the car.

When she arrived at school, there were so many people. Why were there so many people?

She wound around the crowd to find her classroom. She let out a sigh of relief when she found room 603.

Thankfully, there weren't as many people in the room. The board said, 'Sit anywhere!'. She found a seat near the back that was less crowded.

A few minutes later, someone sat next to her. She stiffled a groan. There were a few dozen places to sit, why right there.

She changed her tune when she saw the familiar blonde boy sitting next to her. Her face lit up.

"Keefe!" she threw her arms around him. "I didn't know we were in the same homeroom."

He chuckled. "Neither did I. Not until I saw you sitting here." He glanced around the room. "But, holy cow, a real classroom is weird."

"Agreed. There's too many people."

He shrugged. "I'll get used to it."

"That makes one one of us," Sophie grumbled.

Sophie spent the next few hours going from class to class, learning her teachers' names, and finding out who was in all her classes. She had homeroom with Keefe, math with Tam and Linh, and English with Biana.

After that, she had PE, unfortunately. Good news, all of her friends had it with her!

She joined them by the track after getting changed in the locker room. They had to run the mile. On the first day of school. Yippee. Everybody in the crowd looked about as thrilled as she felt.

"Ok, who thinks I'm going to pass out?" Keefe asked their friends.

Tam started to raise his hand, but Linh snatched it down back to his side. She shot him a glare.

He shrugged. "He wanted to know." She shot another glare, and he held his hands in surrender.

They lined up as the coach started to rattle off the instructions.

"Feet on the white line," the coach barked. "On the whistle, you're going to start running. You run as fast as you can and no stopping until you make four laps around the track. That equals one mile."

Sophie got into position. She glanced beside her. She reached to Keefe to give his hand a quick squeeze before the coach continued, "On your mark. Get set. GO!" The coach blew his whistle, and Sophie took off.

All of her friends quickly sped ahead of her. She continued to fall farther and farther behind. She pushed herself harder.

Finally, with great struggle, she fell into a rhythm. Run. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat. Even though she wasn't catching up to her friends, she was still proud of herself for keeping a pace.

Three-fourths around the track, she heard the whistle blow, and the coach shout, "Keep running, Sencen, no stopping!"

Sophie turned her head. Keefe was doubled over trying to get a breath in, taking strangled gasps. She paused to make sure he was ok.

The whistle blew again. "Miss Foster, get to running! Don't concern yourself with him. And you, Mr Sencen! Keep. Running."

"I'm trying," Keefe wheezed.

"Well, try harder!"

Sophie turned and ran to him. He was still struggling to suck in some air. She hooked his arm with his, and they started a jog.

He was still breathing heavily, but at least they had a steady pace going on. The coach was yelling at them to go faster. Sophie ignored him, even when the threats of silent lunch came up. She just turned to Keefe and said, "Don't pay any attention, keep going. You're doing your best." He nodded and continued pushing through.

After nearly all the other kids, they finished their fourth lap. Sophie was a bit winded, but nothing compared to Keefe. She took him to sit on the bleachers with their friends.

"Are you ok," Biana asked.

He nodded. "I just... need a second."

The coach stalked over. "Why didn't you two run like you were supposed to? I saw that you were both capable."

"Capable?" Sophie asked. "He was having a hard time running like that! If he didn't slow down, he would've passed out!"

The coach scoffed. "Uh-huh. I know it's the first day of school, but I don't have children disrespect me. Detention, both of you."

They both looked up, shocked. "But that's not fair!" Dex shouted.

"How?" He cut Dex off before he could speak. "Let me guess, medical issue." He rolled his eyes. "Not that I've heard that excuse a million times."

"But it is," Keefe said. "Did you not read any of the doctor notes? I know for a fact I turned it in during open house."

The coach sneered, "It's the first day of school. You expect me to read all those already?"

"Yes!" Sophie yelled. "He could've passed out. I could’ve had a seizure. Some kid could have asthma. That's your job!"

The coach cleared his throat. "Well..." She had him there. "We'll deal with this later. I'll postpone the detention until this is sorted out."

The coach walked away, calling everyone inside. Sophie kept an eye on Keefe. Which was a good thing her next class after lunch was science. Both him and Dex were in her class.

The three of them sat at the group table, joined by another girl named Marella, who had come into class late, so seat pickings were slim. Something about her looked familiar, but Sophie couldn't put her finger on it.

"You alright?" She asked Keefe for the tenth time since PE.

"I'm alright, Foster," he assured her.

Even though he'd stopped shaking and had cooled down and caught his breath, she still wanted to make one hundred percent sure.

Her last class of the day, somehow miraculously, had all of her friends in it. She had zero clue how it happened, but it made history class a lot less boring.

On the way home, she texted her friends in the group chat: Wanna go roller skating Saturday?

After discussing times and plans, they had come to the conclusion that they'd meet up at the roller rink at twelve for their own back to school party of sorts.

[deeptrashwitch]

Wiiiiiiitch! Forgive me to ask this but...it's a angsty one.

Ok, let's just say that Alicia went with the Toa siblings on a mission. But the mission had backfired them. Leaving the three with some injuries.

Alicia saw that there running out of time before the enemies will find them and they're not even CLOSE to their escape route. If the enemies find them escaping they will kill them.

So SOMEONE has to stay back to distract them. And that's when Kanoa was asking Alicia one huge FAVOR.

Is to take Tiala out of there and take her back home safely.

Remember, there are no other option to stop the enemies that are following them.

So what is Alicia's response? What is her next move?

Taroooo :3 ohhh, let's go with angst! And a little one-shot 😅 please don't smack me for the open ending.

Everything went wrong.

The mission was supposed to be easy. Go in, take the intel and get out. But everything went wrong when the enemies figured out where they were and how many they were. That started a shooting on a closed space.

At this point it was a miracle that none of them had a been hit by a bullet. However, they were injured while escaping. They hid a bit far from the enemy base, but the sounds of the enemies looking for them was like a clock that ran out of time.

In silence Alicia was giving Tiala first aids, since she was the one that got the worst injuries. She was worried because Tiala was unconscious, and it was the most worrying part. Meanwhile Kanoa just stared out of their hiding place, then sighed.

"Hey, Licia?" He called softly.

"Yeah?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

Alicia looked at him confused, cleaning her hands. "What kind of favor?"

"...Please, make sure Tiala is safe and back home in my behalf."

"Noa..."

Kanoa smiled at her, hiding his sadness. "C'mon, it's temporary. I'll catch up soon enough."

Alicia looked at him while she felt a knot on her throat. "You suck at lying."

"No, I just never could fool you."

Then she started to feel a well known pressure in her chest, speaking while some desperation appeared in her voice. "We still can find another way, there's no need for you to stay behind."

"Don't do this to yourself, we know the truth."

"I won't leave you here! I can't!"

"You have to."

Alicia grabbed Kanoa by his vest, almost like she was about to punch him. But in reality, Kanoa was able to see the pain and desperation inside Alicia's eyes. Slowly and gently, he took off her hands from his vest while she rested her head over his chest.

"Don't... don't make me do this. Please don't make me do this." She whispered, holding back her tears. "I'm meant to take you back home too, remember? No one's left behind."

Kanoa hugged her gently and sighed. "Please, just make sure Tiala gets home safely."

Alicia didn't answer while she tried to think about anything, whatever that could take them out of there together. But nothing came to mind. She just closed her eyes while tears started to run down her face.

That was the worst part of being a Captain. And it hurt worst because she know Kanoa was aware...and ready to stay behind.

"I'm so sorry, Noa." She whispered softly.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, instead, thanks for being my friend." He answered back, kissing Alicia's head with a broken laugh. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, you're the best friend I could ask for."

After that, Alicia just hugged him tightly while she silently cried. With a sigh she carried Tiala and just was able to glance at Kanoa one last time before running away to escape. She just could whisper apologies while she ran carrying Tiala, crying like never before.

Soon the comms came back to life when they arrived to a certain part of the place, and she called for an urgent extraction team. It arrived in just minutes to attend Tiala's injuries. Meanwhile Alicia felt like crap, but sighed a bit relieved when Tiala was put inside the helicopter.

The guilt was eating her alive, the hate for herself for leaving Kanoa there. And soon an explosion echoed from the place they were at.

Alicia paled. "Kanoa..."

"Captain, what are you-?" One of the soldiers tried to intervene.

Alicia didn't hear him, she just grabbed her rifle again and sprinted back. At that point she didn't care about what happened to her while the sound of more explosions and shots filled the air. She ran and ran, praying that he was okay. Kanoa had to be alright. She just needed a chance to bring him back.

Just a chance.

[silvergolddraco28]

Cursed Ink - 4 Fork in the road

“Doing no good... Staying in me...” Wukong slurred. “Gotta protect my mate’s back... Gotta get’em to the cubs” Wukong slurred even more like he was drunk.

Macaque dropped to his knees, curling around the shorter monkey. A broken keen escaped him as he cradled the king. He pressed his face against the side of Wukong’s head, tears dripping down his cheeks. “Mate?” The ebony warrior whispered, hope in his voice.

“My mate...” Wukong repeated purring like a cat.

“Mine?” Macaque sniffled, looking into the other monkey’s eyes. Hopeful eyes searching Wukong’s. Wukong nodded. Pressing their noses together. A sign of affection between monkeys. Macaque gave the sage a shy, little smile, brushing their noses together. He raised a hand to the king’s face, caressing Wukong’s cheek with his knuckles. “Seriously, Sunshine. The worst timing. Why’d I have to fall for such an idiot king?” Macaque murmured fondly, a subtle purr coming from his chest.

“I'm smart...” Wukong huffed nuzzling into the hand just as another set of cracks formed over Wukong’s head. Only a small section flaked off revealing a familiar and heavily beaten crown that rested on Wukong’s head. The gold had faded to a more bronze-like color from the years of abuse.

Macaque’s face fell, heart breaking. “We match now, Peaches.” He whispered, mournfully clinking their circlets together. “Wasn’t that supposed to be removed?” He bumped their noses again, cradling the other’s face. Gently brushing his thumb over Wukong’s cheek, he closed his eyes. ‘Just for a moment. We can have this for a moment.’

“Heaven’s Leash... Didn't trust me enough to have it removed... I hid it after erasing the sutra from living memory.” Wukong stated. Before his ears twitched. “Mango... Get moving now!”

Without missing a beat Macaque threw himself forward, quickly breaking into a sprint. “What is it?”

“The feet, heavy in armor... Why the fuck does it sound like the Celestial Army!?” Wukong growled.

Macaque’s ears flicked and icy fear shot through him. “Shit! Hold on tight.” He warned, picking up speed and practically flying down the tunnel.

“This tunnel should come out a few miles from the beach.” Wukong informed. “Let's hope the pit traps and swinging axes were removed but I highly doubt our luck right now.”

“Fucking delightful .” Macaque growled, holding the king tightly. “When we get out what are we going to do about Azure?” He kept his eyes focused on where he was running, ears twitching at the slightest sound.

“Keep him far away from Mk. The kid doesn't need to know some things he would naturally find out on his own when he turns of demon age.”

“And if we can’t do that?” Macaque asked, ducking under a stalactite.

“I don't know...” Wukong replied. “Duck!”

Macaque hunched down as a spear wizzed above his head. He gritted his teeth and started weaving through the tunnel, trying to make his movements unpredictable. “Any ideas how to lose them?” He huffed, shifting Wukong as he ran.

“Want to try your luck out running a boulder? I think not.” Wukong rhetorically asked. “Give me a minute.” Wukong stated closing his eyes, pulling at strings of power inside of him feeling it rise. He opened his eyes as gold and purple power flooded his eyes before a gold and purple portal appeared in front of them swallowing them before the appeared on the beach tumbling over the sand from the speedy exit.

“Woah!” Macaque slipped on the sudden terrain change, sending him and Wukong sprawling into the sand. “Ow.” The warrior grumbled, shaking sand off his face.

“That... That was not what... I expected a portal... To do...” Wukong stated looking sick to his stomach as he groaned at the feeling of being car sick. Mk had once told him what it meant to be car sick yet he never was when they were on that road trip for the rings. This portal he had just made on his first try? Yeah that felt like car sickness.

“I think I’m gonna be sick.” Macaque rasped, pressing a hand to his temple. “First time I take it?” He stumbled to his feet, walking over to Wukong.

“First time I ever used magic other than my own much less in a mix like that.” Wukong stated. “Your portals are so much smoother.

“I thought I told you that you're not leaving Peaches.” an all too familiar yet twisted voice spoke from above.

Macaque snarled, placing himself between Wukong and the ink monster. “Don’t call him that!” His eyes flashed as he bared his teeth.

Ink dropped down from a tree looking perfectly relaxed while his white tail swung behind him. “Seems you lost a lot of those layers while I was away Peaches... Still haven't shed that mortal skin for your truest form yet though.”

“Says the off brand Macaque.” Macaque snapped, blocking Ink’s view of the struggling king. “No one likes an unoriginal sequel.”

“Ha! Says the living zombie pumping with ice magic.” Ink sparked back. “At least I look closer to what Luier was in the past, give or take a few cosmetic changes.”

A low growl built in Macaque’s chest. “Stealing a look that you can’t even pull off right. I believe that’s called desperation which fits you to a T.” The warrior snapped, clenching his fists. His tail wrapped around Wukong’s wrist, holding it firmly.

Ink simply smirked, raising a hand to his ear before a familiar golden light appeared with a very familiar staff forming in his hand with a green bladed sword appearing on his hip. “Want to test that theory, King's Shadow?”

Macaque formed his staff, eyes narrowed at the Ink monster. He braced himself, smirking. “Not a theory when there is just so much evidence. Haven’t you heard? Courtship kidnapping fell out of fashion centuries ago.” He twirled his staff, ears alert.

[Careful Mac... That's my staff and Mei’s sword.] Wukong ‘spoke’ into Macaque’s mind using telepathy, it was one of the few powers that didn't use a lot of energy and that Macaque actually had in turn as long as Wukong was the one to start the connection and keep it open.

[We’re kinda out of options, Peaches!] Macaque gritted his teeth, eyes locked on Ink. [If you have any ideas, please, I’m all ears! ] Even mentally, the sarcasm was more than obvious.

[one... But you won't like it very much.] Wukong responded as a leaf fell between the white and black monkeys falling to the sand and like a silent timer the two attacked.

Macaque brought up his staff, blocking an overhead strike from Ink. Ink smirked at the ebony monkey. Macaque snarled, twisting the two staffs to the side and kicking Ink back. Ink spun his staff around and swiped at Macaque’s head. The warrior twirled out of the path of the blow, eyes focused. Macaque sprang forward aiming a jab at Ink’s side, but was swiftly blocked by a green blade. Ink’s eyes darted over to Wukong, looking for a weakness. “Your fight is with me, creep!” Macaque snarled, dropping to a crouch and kicking Ink’s legs from under him. Ink caught himself on his hand and spun around, foot catching Macaque’s arm and pushing him back. [If you have a plan, Peaches, use it! I can’t hold him off for much longer.] As Macaque spoke, Ink extended the staff, sending it flying towards the ebony monkey. Macaque dodged, springing back.

[keep the cubs safe... I love you.] Wukong sent before opening his eyes that we're completely purple this time. Shadows thickened around him before several shadow like clones shot out dog piling Ink while a portal swallowed Macaque, Wukong’s staff and Mei’s sword all in one go. Wukong felt pain piece his chest looking down at an arrow coated in something sickly green sticking through his chest before he blacked out.

“Wukong!” Macaque roared as he fell into the portal, hand reaching for the king before the portal closed.

“Macaque!” a familiar voice called out from behind the black monkey. He spun around coming face to face with Wukong’s successor. “Macaque what is going on with this scroll?! It keeps pushing Mei and I back when we try to wake up everyone from their past lives.” the boy expressed looking lost and stressed.

“It’s cursed. You both okay?” Macaque looked between MK and Mei, scanning them for any injuries. He banished his staff and pulled the two startled heroes into a quick hug.

“Aww! You do care!” Mei teased, briefly exchanging a concerned glance with MK.

“I said no such thing.” Macaque denied releasing the young adults. “You said the scroll isn’t allowing you near the others?”

“Nope, it even took away my staff and Mei’s sword... That are currently lying right next to you…” Mk tailed looking confused.

“Long story short, the curse has gained some sort of sentience based off the person that used it’s subconscious desires.” Macaque growled, fur fluffing up slightly. “And if there’s one thing he’s wanted for as long as I’ve known him, it’s Wukong. So we have to wake the others quickly.” He picked up the sword, handing it to Mei. “It’s main form is with him. We could both get away so he sent me.”

Mei gripped her sword firmly. “You think someone is controlling the scroll?” Her eyes flashed green.

“Only one Lion I know has such an obsession withWukong it would bleed into any artifact that even had a shred of sentience. How do you think I got this thing on my head?” Macaque said pointing out to the cursed crown.

MK and Mei’s eyes widened. “AHHH!?” MK pointed at the filet!

“Aaah! Your ears are so cute!” Mei shrieked, pulling out her phone and snapping a picture. “Oh and the cursed filet or whatever.”

MK grabbed Macaque's shoulders and started shaking him. “How did you get that? Did you say Lion? Why do you have six ears?”

“Bud I'm the Six Eared Macaque. I hide my ears under a glamor to muffle out the extra sound and not to gain more attention from other demons that have a bone to pick with me. Azure Lion is the only lion that I know and this thing is from that damn copy cat that’s trying to get Wukong as its mate.” Macaque answered after he stopped Mk from shaking him feeling a rush of power filling him from the boy. “How the hell are you still moving with all that energy?!”

“What do you mean?” MK asked tilting his head. “I’m always energetic!”

Mei’s head snapped up to Macaque’s. “I’m sorry. Did you say Uncie Azure wants to mate with Monkey King?”

“Yes... Who told you he was an Uncle? Neither of you was ever supposed to meet him. The damn overgrown fur ball can choke on his own fur for all I care. I'm not letting him touch Sunshine every again.” Macaque growled showing off his impressive six inch monkey fangs in his anger at the mention of the blue lion.

“I knew it!” Mei shouted, jumping on MK’s back. “I told you!” She cackled.

“Mei! I told you! Monkey King isn’t my dad! Wait.” MK turned to Macaque, gasping. “You called Monkey King Sunshine?”

“And you guys still call him Monkey King instead of Wukong what's the difference?” Macaque retorted.

Mei giggled, winking at the monkey. “Sounds like someone is jealous.”

“This makes so much sense.” MK muttered, pulling out a notebook and scribbling something down.

“Let’s just get your friends before that copycat finds us... I thought Sunshine put a limiter on your powers?” Macaque asked while rubbing at the small headache between his eyes. His six ears twitched and moved like individual radio dishes.

“He did that ages ago!” MK nodded, shoving the notebook back who knows where.

“Do you think that weird key thing started to open it?” Mei asked, rolling her eyes at Macaque’s attempt to change the subject.

“The Skeleton Key! Out of all the things you used that?! No wonder your overflowing with energy your basically no longer human at this point.” Macaque exclaimed. “Fuck this must be what Sunshine meant when he said you couldn't learn this until you had your coming of demon age day.”

“I’m sorry. My what ?” MK chuckled, nervously. “I’m just regular old MK! What do you mean not human? I’m of age! I literally have a car and a job!”

“MK’s a demon now?” Mei gasped with stars in her eyes. “That’s so cool! You would make a great demon, MK!”

“Let’s get moving I’ll explain on the way. Don't not interrupt me cause I am not explaining it more then once and unlike Sunshine I'm blunt and won't hold back in information you need to know. What I need to know Mk is if you know anything before your fifth birthday.” Macaque stated.

“Uuhhh. What do you mean? I don’t really remember anything from before that. Do you, Mei?” The boy asked.

Mei shrugged, typing on her phone. “Not really. Maybe a little bit. But not much.”

“Kid, do you even know if you have parents?”

“Of course I do!” MK protested, crossing his arms. “Pigsy’s my Dad!”

“The ones that gave birth to you.” Macaque clarified.

“Why would that matter?” MK grumbled, looking away from Mei and Macaque. “I have my dads. I don’t need my birth parents.” Mei placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze.

“Kid. I'm only asking because that key should have unlocked everything in you body and mind including lost or suppressed memories from childhood... The only way you wouldn't have memories before being five years old is if you were just born .” Macaque stated.

()()()()()

Gold and ruby eyes with a slight green tint slowly opened with a nasty headache curling up slightly at the cold air that nipped at bare skin not covered in fur.

“Wakey wakey, Peaches .” A familiar voice snickered. “I’m getting tired of waiting~!” The monkey felt a kick against his ribs.

Wukong’s eyes snapped open at that gasping at the immediate pain. ‘That's going to bruise...’ Wukong thought.

“Look who finally decided to wake up.” A hand gripped his hair and pulled his face up. Still in the guise of the pale furred Macaque, Ink grinned. “Hey, Sunshine . Miss me?”

“Not very,” Wukong growled with a glare. ‘Gods I feel weak...’

Ink chuckled, holding up a golden shard. “Missing something?” His fangs gleamed ominously.

Wukong’s eyes shrunk at seeing the shard in his hand. “What did you do?” Wukong demanded before Ink scowled.

“You don't seem to understand the position you're in Peaches.” Ink stated.

Wukong shifted up so he was half sitting up. His side twinged in warning and he hissed, pressing his hand against the new bruise. “What position is that?”

“You're not a King here. Just a Bad Monkey.” Ink stated smugly before Wukong felt the familiar crown around his head tightening.

The russet monkey flinched, rearing back. “You’re not my Master.” He snarled, eyes blazing. “You don’t get to say that!” He gripped his head, fighting back tears.

“Not tight enough? I can make it tighter the more you Misbehave.” Ink stated.

“Fuck. You.” Wukong growled, determined to take as much of the curse’s attention as possible. ‘The longer it’s focused on me, the more time they have.’

“Oh, I think you would like that after you behave.” Ink stated, circling Wukong’s basically prone form. “Tell me, who in their right mind would want to love a weak and savage beast that can’t even read and write properly?”

Wukong bared his teeth, growling. “Says the creepy stalker that wants to mate me. Maybe I didn’t make myself clear. Not. Interested.” Ink simply snapped his fingers making an inky black mirror appear before Wukong. The ink bled away to a large full-length mirror that reflected not a golden monkey but a monkey made out of molten stone with a softly glowing golden core, purple-tainted arms and legs with deep orange ‘spikes’ in the shape of a mane. “What is this?” Wukong grumbled, glaring at the fake monkey.

“Your true form. One not hidden under the illusion of flesh. Didn't you ever find it odd a flesh and blood monkey was born from solid stone?” Ink asked impressed Wukong was not screaming in pain from the tightening crown. Wukong winced, one eye slipping shut as he tried to figure out the curse’s goal. Claws dug deep into Wukong’s arms while hot breath curled near his ear. “Why don't we have a closer look a the monster pretending to be a monkey?”

Wukong feebly pushed at Ink. “Speak for yourself.” He bit out. “That isn’t me!”

Ink grinned before stabbing Wukong in the back of the neck, orange lava-like cracks spreading over his form before flopping off like wet clay. Wukong coughed nearly choking on ash and steam coming from his own throat in shock. “A true Stone Monkey made as hard as a Celestial Diamond from the very Furnace they used to melt you down.” Ink supplied. “You think Macaque would still want to be your mate when he sees this? You are nothing but a walking golem.”

Wukong cried out, collapsing before the mirror. He shook his head in denial, steam drifting from his eyes. “No! That’s not true! None of it is!”

Ink smirked. “Your about as real as a toy soldier Peaches... Just like me. Do you think a living person would want to love a hunk of stone much less one that's as hot as lava?” Ink inquired jabbing at Wukong’s pain riddled thoughts.

“You’re nothing… but a stupid curse… controlled by a petty failure.” Wukong rasped, denying the other. “Macaque does love me!”

“You sure about that? He’s tried to kill both you and your little cub even turned your cubs against you too many times to count. Are you really willing to hand your stone heart over to someone who’d crush it in the blink of an eye for power?” Ink questioned watching as the green tint grew thicker like a plague corrupting Wukong’s thoughts. ‘Soon enough you’ll be seeing hallucinations of those you love dropping you like a hot coal either from disgust or fear of being burned.’ Ink swiftly sunk his teeth that resembled a more feline arrangement then monkey into Wukong’s shoulder leaving his mark of claim on the distressed stone monkey knowing he’d probably have to do it more than once until it became permanent. Wukong screamed as the primordial magic of a demon mating claim seared his shoulder before he slumped over his eyes now a toxic green. Said eyes closed in exhaustion while tanned hands tenderly caressed molten skin. “Your mine now Peaches... Let’s see that emo monkey try to take you from me now.” Ink smugly stated holding the stone monkey closer as the green light of the dragon blood he had coated the arrow in before spread to infect more of Wukong’s very body and soul.

An ink version of Wukong took form grinning with icy blue light followed by a monkey version of Mk. “Capture either the cub or that emo monkey. Nothing too damaging but I still want at least one of them in one piece before Master Azure comes to collect his Treasure.” Ink ordered.

”Dont forget our purpose Plums. We are simply tools to have the stone monkey behave ideally for the alpha lion.” the ink version of Wukong spoke. “Your hogging a lot of the extra power just to give yourself a flesh and blood form.”

“Yeah Baba! You're taking a lot of the fun out of making these sinners atone for those sins they caused!” Ink Mk agreed crossing his arms like he was a pouting child.

Ink simply chuckled. “They will pay in due time sweetheart. No go with your Papa and get those runaways.”

()()()()()

“Tang... How are you even related to Tripitaka?” Macaque questioned with a groan as Mei rubbed the black monkey’s back. Said monkey had ended up puking his guts after the multiple teleports through so many ‘chapters’ of the scroll causing a rather violent clash between his recovering magic and the ‘holy’ magic Tang was brute forcing into very crude spells. At least Tang had yet to bombard Macaque with questions on the cursed crown and the weakly glowing six ears.

Tang shrugged. “Maybe I’m a descendent? Although…. He was an extremely devout Buddhist, so that doesn’t make sense.” The scholar shifted his glasses, looking at the monkey and giving him another shrug. “Beats me.”

“I'm just going to guess reincarnation and keep my head from exploding at that imagery.” Macaque deadpanned as he stood. “You doing alright cub?” Macaque asked Mk who looked to have a thousand-yard stare.

While Tang was preoccupied at the idea of being the reincarnation of the Great Monk and therefore the Golden Fucking Cicada, MK was having his own personal meltdown.

“I don’t. I don’t know.” The young man mumbled, picking at his stolen shirt. “Finding out I might not be human is kinda a lot.”

“You have more in common with me and Pigsy now?” Mei tried to cheer her friend up, earning a tiny smile.

All of a sudden Mk gripped his chest, bright orange cracks spreading from the back of his neck while a sickly green glowing mark appeared on his shoulder. His eyes flickering between gold and purple as the scent of plums and peaches mixed with pears grew overpowering from the teen.

“MK!” The probably not a bug scholar and dragon girl both shouted, reaching for the younger hero.

Macaque’s eyes widened and his jaw went slack as the cracks started to spread. “Oh.” He whispered, tail lashing as the fruity scents filled the air. Then his eyes caught sight and the green mark and he snarled. “Damnit! The manifestation claimed Wukong. We need to go faster.”

“I’m trying but I really don’t know what I’m doing!” Tang snapped, gripping the ringed staff.

“Open his mouth. Mei I need to borrow your sword for a sec.” Macaque stated,

Mei blinked, uncomprehending. “What?”

“Sword now!” Macaque repeated while Tang gently got Mk to lean back and partly open his mouth.

“Okay! Okay! Geez!” She practically tossed her sword at him. “Throw a girl off guard saying something like that.”

Macaque ignored her as he sliced his hand heading over to Mk. “Keep his mouth open and make sure he swallows.” Macaque opened holding his hand over Mk’s mouth and squeezed letting this thick blood flow into the teen’s mouth.

Understanding lit up Tang’s eyes and he nodded, face serious. “Okay.” The human that might also be an insect, massaged the teen’s throat, urging him to swallow. “You gotta swallow, MK.” Tang murmured, squeezing the kid’s hand.

“That’s one of the top twelve grossest things I’ve ever seen.” Mei remarked, watching closely. “Why does he need to drink your blood? Do you have magic blood? I though that was Yin and Jin’s schtick.”

“He’s basically doing the demon equivalent of child adoption Mei,” Tang said. “Monkey King did a similar thing with the staff through a ritual of Proven Worth.”

“Ohhhh. Demon adoption. Cool!” Mei stroked her chin in thought. “Wonder if dragons have something like that. I’m have to ask Uncle.” She looked over at Macaque. “Does this mean you’ve joined the custody battle?”

Tang chuckled, brushing a hand through the shaken MK’s hair. “Pigsy and I adopted MK pretty much the moment we found him. Monkey King put a claim on him after he became the Monkie Kid.”

“that would explain how the kid could produce my magic without much effort,” Macaque stated feeling the cut heal while tossing Mei back her sword. “I suggest you brace for the next part.”

Mei and Tang both looked over at the immortal with confused stares. MK just gagged and shoved his face into Tang’s chest. “Why would that help with your powers?” Mei asked, slowly backing away from MK.

Orange cracks pulse once before glowing a bright purple and bursting ou in a mixture of white, gold, and orange shards. A long monkey tail curled around Mk’s legs while two sets of lotus ears twitch on the teen’s head colored a bright gold that faced to a sunset purple color with a soft orange glow. Mk groaned letting out chirps and whines at his new hearing.

A bright golden sphere covered Tang before the teen’s transformation hit. The bespectacled scholar gaped at his son, before chuckling. “Now he really is a monkey kid.” He hugged the boy. “You okay?”

MK covered his ears with a wince. “Maybe? I don’t know. Everything is so much louder now. Is that a tail?!” He gaped at his new appendage.

“Awww! You look so cute!” Mei gasped, hearts in her eyes. “Look at your pretty ears!”

Macaque simply chuckled before his smile changed in a snap second as he was in front of the kid holding a black arrow dripping in a sickly green substance. Macaque snarled his tail puffed up like a cat’s. “Dragon blood.”

Mei stiffened, color draining from her face. Tang helped MK to his feet, the two looking around wildly. “We need to move on.” Tang whispered, gripping his staff. The teen snagged Mei’s hand, holding it tightly. “And I think I have an idea where Pigsy might be.”

“Get us there quickly. We need to lose who's following us.” Macaque all but ordered. Tang nodded, banging his staff into the ground once. A large golden bubble surrounded them and they vanished. They appeared near a swamp one Macaque was vaguely familiar with. “This is the pig’s chapter. The shack should be down the road from here. Tang, try not to get kidnapped like the monk was.” Macaque stated curling his tail around Mk’s.

“Great.” Tang sarcastically replied, shaking his head.

Mei gripped MK’s hand, face blank as she stared down at the ground. MK glanced at her before turning to Macaque. “So I’m up to four Dad’s now?” He said lightheartedly, trying to lift the mood. The young man kept giving his tail uncertain looks. “And a monkey?”

“You were always a monkey Kid. Just hidden under a very powerful glamor that you've been subconsciously keeping running. You really are a lot like Sunshine with that stuff.” Macaque stated glaring at the arrow in his hand. “When we are done I'm burning this scroll to ashes.”

“Wait. Wait. Wait. Back it up. What do you mean I’ve always been a monkey? I’ve never looked like this before!” MK protested, ears pressing back against his head in distress.

Mei also glared at the arrow, eyes flicking a furious green. Tang gave the younger two a worried look before turning his gaze to the swamp.

“Kid, did Sunshine ever tell you how the four Celestial Primates were born?” Macaque asked before bopping Mei in the nose. “Calm your mind cub. There is a difference between this blood and yours. For one this is from a dragon that was sick, very sick, and had died. Unlike your lineage, some dragons don't decompose, instead, they become petrified while their blood becomes similar to a very powerful drug. It causes hallucinations and makes whoever gets it in their bloodstream docile and unable to use magic. You are immune to it as your own dragon blood would cancel it out immediately.” Macaque more or less info dumped on the dragon teen as he tossed the arrow into the swamp. “Walk and talk, we ned to keep moving.”

“The four what’s it now?” MK mumbled, clinging to his older friend. Mei shrugged helplessly as she tried to process the new information. The two teens trailed behind Tang who had already started walking.

“The four Celestial Primate of Stone, Wind, Fire, and Water.” Tang supplied. “Sun Wukong is obviously the Primate of Stone and Macaque is the Primate of Wind. According to the stories Macaque was born from the energy of wind, shadows, and moonlight in the body of a ten year old monkey demon with the power to hear the past present and future while later gaining the ability to manipulate metal.” Tang explained in his teaching mode that helped calm the teens.

Macaque gave the scholar a perplexed look. “Yes, that’s-how did you know that? Almost no one knows about that.” Mei and MK were giving him wide eyed stares of awe.

“That. Is. So cool!” Mei exclaimed, bouncing in excitement. MK nodded his head quickly, ears flapping as he grinned. Macaque resisted the urge to cover his face.

“You’d be surprised what you’d find in old manuscripts of the original journey and it's demons,” Tang smirked. “It also helped that Mk brought me to Monkey King’s vault where he kept a rather thick book on your powers and abilities. Even had pictures.”

Macaque gave the human a double take. “Wukong has a- pictures?” Then he slowly turned to level a blank look at the bashful teen. “You took him into the vault?” A thought hit the immortal and he whipped back to Tang. “Did he seriously include the part about my age?” He hissed, ears flaring out in embarrassment fury. The immortal crossed his arms, grumbling to himself. “Of all the stupid. Idiot king. Rocks for brains.”

Mei snicker, elbowing MK. “Looks like Old Monkey King wrote a book about his ex.” MK giggled, jumping on her back.

He easily kept his balance as his tail automatically stretched out to compensate. “Why would your age matter anyway? Your thousands of years old anyway aren't you?” Mk questioned.

Macaque huffed, ears turning a soft pink. “Cause that idiot loves to lord over the fact that he was born fully grown and I was formed as a child.” He wasn’t pouting. Absolutely not. No matter how much the two teens giggled at him. He admits nothing.

“I see the house!” Tang interrupted, pointing down the road. “Think we’re like ten minutes away.”

“Good.” Macaque nodded.

“Oh and your wrong about Monkey king being fully formed. He was a newborn cub he grew into an adult over the next few days.” Tang added.

Macaque froze and slowly turned towards the human. “He was what?” The immortal hissed, tail lashing. “That sneaky little-”

“Were here!” Tang cut him off. He sniffed the air frowning. “Looks like the scroll couldn't smother Pigsy’s love of cooking and adapted for it.”

MK interjected. “Wait. So Monkey King went from baby to adult in a few days. You were ten and had to grow up. Why was I five?” He pouted, crossing his arms as Tang looked around for Pigsy.

Macaque shrugged. “Beats me, kiddo. Everyone is a bit different.” He covered his nose, resisting the urge to hurl. “This smells nothing like the chef’s cooking.” Mei nodded, looking slightly green.

Tang covered his node as well. “One theory was that his power forced him into an adult body to properly regulate his output and input of energy. As the monkey of Stone his connection to the very earth is almost second nature but with the down side of having very powerful abilities and no control as a newborn.” Tang explained. “You guys stay out here, I've got a chief to talk to.” Tang entered the shack leaving the teens and monkey outside.

“Is that a wise idea?” Mei whispered to MK as the older man entered the building.

“He’ll be fiiiine.” MK assured her, giving her a thumbs up. He turned to the older monkey. “You were talking about celestial monkeys or something?”

“Celestial Primates.” Macaque corrected. He motioned his hand to the shack’s wall bending the shadows into all too familiar puppets. “Each primate was created by a god from a higher realm, much higher than the Jade Emperor’s heavenly court. From what I know each of us was carved from out very elements and placed in elemental ‘eggs’ to gather the energy then hatch in an according form.” Macaque explained.

“Higher than the Jade Emperor? Like the Buddhas and Bottisatva’s?” Mei asked, surprising the two monkeys.

“They were created by someone? Why?” MK asked, tilting his head.

“To balance the power between the Diyu and Heaven while acting as buffers in the mortal realm to increases in magic that could be deadly to mortals.” Macaque replied.

“Whaaaa?” Both teens tilted their heads, not understanding.

Macaque pinched the bridge of his nose. “Did either of you take Demon History 101 courses in school?”

MK shook his head. “It was only required for demons at my school, so I took Art 101.”

Mei scratched the back of her head. “I took it like five years ago and I really only paid attention to the dragon parts. Even then I think that lesson focused almost entirely on Monkey King then shifted to the Journey.”

“Of course it did... This is why Sunshine always left me doing the teaching...” Macaque muttered before he sighed dismissing the puppets. “Since we are stuck here, Kid try summoning a shadow staff. We're going to do a crash course on my abilities so you are familiar with them and not calling them up on instinct.”

“Uhhh. Okay. I can do that. Probably.” MK shuffled his feet, nearly stepping on his tail. He held out a hand, eyes focused on it intently. After a long moment of nothing happening, he glanced over at Macaque. “How do I do that, exactly?”

“Imagine a staff rising from your shadow but as an extension of yourself.” Macaque supplied.

“Yeah. Cause that makes sense.” The teen grumbled, ears twitching when his tail nearly smacks Mei in the face. MK focused on his shadow, imagining a purple version of his staff raising from the shadow. His shadow glowed but beyond that nothing happened. “Why do I even need a shadow staff? I have Monkey King’s.” He glared at his shadow. Mei just sat down next to the two monkeys, content to watch.

“In case your staff gets taken again. Only you can use a shadow staff made from your own shadows plus it prevents it from being stolen.” Macaque pointed out.

MK huffed, but couldn’t think of any arguments. “Fine. Fine.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The teen held a hand over his shadow and focused. The shadow glowed purple again, only this time a shadowy replica of his staff started to rise. Mei perked up, watching intently. MK gripped the shadow and pulled it out the rest of the way. “Ha! I did it!” Then it vanished. “Noooo!” He cried, throwing up his hands in exaggerated defeat.

“Not bad, you didn't have enough power in it to keep it’s shape.” Macaque smirked, his body language coming off as being a very proud parent especially with his wagging tail. “Try again.”

Mei covered her giggles as she quietly took pictures of the two monkeys. “Monkey King will love these.” She whispered, saving them to her MK Dad Squad folder.

“Okay. More power. I can do that!” MK hyped himself up. He raised his hand again, staring intently at his shadow. Once again the staff started for form and he grabbed it. After a moment he beamed, looking over at Macaque with his tail swinging happily behind him. “I did it!” He cheered. However the moment he stopped focusing on the staff it started to vanish again. “Nonono!” He stuck out his tongue as he tried to keep it solid.

They continued the impromptu lesson until Tang came out with Pigsy who looked a little dazed. “Hope I didn't take too long?” Tang asked.

“Nope! Mac has been teaching Mk to summon a shadow staff. If Mk keeps this up he could start duel-welding the Monkey Staff and the Shadow Staff at the same time!” Mei exclaimed.

MK seemed to perk up at the thought. “Think I could hold one with the tail?”

“Tail?!” Pigsy snapped out of his daze and stomped over to MK. “Kid! What happened?! How did? Where did? Monkey?” The pig started patting the teen down, closely examining his ears, tail, and fur. “Are ya hurting anywhere?”

“I’m fine, Dadsy.” MK mumbled, as the chef looked at his new monkey teeth. The pig just clicked his tongue.

“I’m going to have words with that mentor of yours when we find him.” Pigsy promised.

Macaque chuckled. “Actually… it’s not Wukong’s fault this time. MK’s a Celestial Primate. He’s just not using a glamour anymore.”

Tang nodded, supporting the immortal. “Turns out random small children covered in dirt are actually mythical monkey babies in disguise.”

“Surprise?” MK watched the pig, a slightly fearful look in his eyes.

Pigsy stared at him before huffing and ruffling the teens hair. “This doesn’t get you outta work.”

”looks like we caught up to the runaway.”

Macaque met Tang’s eyes. “Tang!” The scholar quickly slammed down the staff, summoning a golden bubble.

”Not this time!” an arrow broke through the bubble as two ink monkeys landed before the group. ”You really want to give us problems Plums? You're only going to end up back at the Palace unconscious.”

The small group gawked at the two. “It’s like looking into a gross, gooey mirror.” MK shouted, pointing at the Ink version of himself.

“You’re much prettier, MK!” Mei agreed, hyping up her bestie. She pointed her sword at them. “Give us back our friends!”

The ink version of Wukong simply looked at her unimpressed. ”why would I want to do that? You know the story but do you know the truth? Even Plums here only knows the bare minimum.”

The ink version of Mk simply grinned. “should we try out the new ability Pa?”

Ink Wukong simply nodded tossing a thick lava orsge charge of energy to the smaller ink creature. They absorbed it grinning as color bled into their being. In contrast to the real Mk the ink version has a dark blue mask on his face with chocolate brown fur with a white and silver streak. Bright green eyes brightened in chaotic glee. “I really take after Baba in taking a flesh and blood form.” Ink Mk chuckled.

Macaque growled, summoning his staff. “We’ll buy you time, Tang. MK! Mei!” The two nodded and brandished their weapons. Pigsy placed himself in front of the human, hands gripping his new rake.

”Shrink.” Ink Wukong started as he also absorbed the energy and his was the most drastic change. Silver fur, blood red pupils in black eyes, a blood red mask that looked more like a two leaves and stem then a heart with a blue outline.

Macaque looked between the two, evaluating which one was the stronger opponent. “Mei. MK. Take Ink MK. I’ll take the fake Wukong.” Mei burst forward with a loud whoop, quickly followed by MK. Macaque gripped his staff and shot forward towards the Ink Wukong.

The Ink Wukong easily caught the staff scowling slightly before seeing Macaque’s twitch of pain. “Still too lose? That can be fixed.”

Macaque chuckled, glaring at the ink demon. “Do yourself a favor and stop talking. I know you probably love to hear the sound of your own voice, but no one else does.” He sank into a shadow and circled the demon.

Meanwhile Mei and MK and Ink MK were all three wildly trying to hit each other amidst loud screaming. Most of the screaming was from Mei, accompanied by small bursts of flames.

“Ouch! Hey! Keep your flames from my tail!” Ink Mk growled before pouncing on Mei and getting into a wrestling match with her.

“Uh-uh! Fake best friends don’t get fire protection!” Mei shot back, rolling around on the ground with the ink monster while MK watched for a moment. He grinned at the girl, holding back a warm laugh.

“Ha! What kind of friend runs away after becoming a ball of fire?” Ink Mk countered.

“Big words from someone that isn’t even real!” Mei fired back, nawwing at Ink MK’s arm.

“Eww. Mei! It’s made of ink! That’s so gross!” MK gagged at the thought of any of that entering his mouth.

Ink Mk hissed like a pissed-off cat screeching at Mei before golden power enveloped Mei and Mk the two teens popped over to Tang with Macaque appearing as the group vanished in a bright flash of gold.

MK and Mei reoriented themselves, looking over at the older adults. “Nice job, Tangman! The Tangster!” MK hugged the older man.

“Good job you two.” Macaque raised a hand to the circlet with a wince. He tried to shake it off and turned to the chef and scholar. “Where are we, Tang?”

Pigsy narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. “And why are you in charge here? Where’s Monkey King?”

“Caged.” Macaque bluntly stated as something warm rolled down his face with a sharp spike of pain.

Tang nervously spoke up. “Macaque, your forehead is… bleeding.”

Macaque frowned at the large worried eyes of all the mortals. He raised a hand to the circlet and touched it. The circlet was slowly, but surely shrinking. When he pulled his fingers away they were covered in blood. “Damnit. There’s no time to worry about that. We have to find Sandy and get back to Wukong.”

“This is what Monkey King had to deal with?” Mk softly questioned.

“Worse. The sutra was longer and hastened the tightening curse. This one looks to be modified to tighten with a keyword and slowly continue unless more keywords are spoken.” Macaque deduced ripping off more fabric from his scarf and trying it around the band to hopefully prevent more blood from falling down his face and worrying the rest of the group.

Pigsy frowned but moved hit attention to the teens. “You two okay?”

“We’re fine, Dadsy.” MK assured.

“Let's get moving. We have to get Sandy and Moe before those ink knockoffs try to get us again.” Tang said before giving a sharp look at the teens. “The next fight with the ink teen better be serious and not just a play fight. Don't think I didn't notice the difference!” Tang warned the two teens.

Macaque gave his own glare at the two teens. “Seeing as Pigsy now has a weapon you’ll have someone to spar with Mei. Be warned Kid I'm not going to hold back in spars if you don't take your fights seriously.” Macaque directed the last bit of his statement to Mk.

Pigsy smacked the back of Mei and MK’s head. “Don’t play around when we’re trapped in a weird magic scroll!” He scolded, crossing his arms.

“Sorry.” Both teens hung their heads in shame.

The pond the group neared rippled turning black before it looked like a large tv screen with a scowling snow-white monkey in the reflection. ”So you managed to evade Wu and our little cub, Luier.” the white monkey snarked with a glare. ”then I guess you’ve forced my hand.” The white monkey stepped to the side showing what was directly behind him bound to a thick pole with a basket muzzle around his mouth was none other then Wukong but he looked far different then normal with lava skin, magma veins, and a sickly green coloring spreading from his chest and eyes. His left shoulder leaked lava like blood from a bite mark while thin glowing letters circled around the bite.

The group gasped, staring at the captive king. Macaque jerked forward. “Wukong!” His ears pressed against his skull as he took in the sight of his other half.

MK pointed his staff at the lake. “What did you do to him!?”

“Give us back the monkey man!” Mei growled, brandishing her sword.

”Simply broke that flesh and blood illusion over his being. A being of the Primordial Elements. A little bit of dragon blood and a bite of claiming.” the white monkey replied. ”too bad he never did get the Eternal Flames.” Wukong jerked before he started screaming convulsing in pain while black lightning arched between the silver metals on his limbs, lava-like blood dripping down his head from the bronze crown below the silver one the bronze color returning to a bright gold as it grew in power.

Pigsy held back MK while the kid growled, glowing a faint gold. “Let him go!”

Macaque felt a fury growing inside him. Eyes flashing purple, he stepped forward. “How dare you!”

”You forced my hands Liuer.” The white monkey simply smirked before the pond returned to normal. Macaque snarled in anger his claws digging into his palms in anger while his powers spiked at the instinctual rage of seeing Wukong in such distress. Thin purple cracks curling like wind through Macaque’s skin disrupted by thin white moons and dark golden lightning bolts. The very air around Macaque became electrified with power that was building to breaking point in the black monkey. The other four glanced between each other and the furious monkey. Tang nudged MK towards the older monkey.

“Macaque?” The teen hesitantly stepped up next to the immortal. Macaque locked solid glowing white eyes with the teen. Faintly Mk could see Macaque’s pupils but they were hidden under the power threatening to burst from the monkey’s ‘mortal’ body. MK slowly placed a hand on Macaque’s shoulder. “We’ll save him.” The boy softly assured the other, giving him an encouraging smile. “It’s what we do.”

Mei nodded, pumping her fist. “That creep won’t even know what hit him!”

The power slowly bled out before the black monkey passed out getting caught by the teen while thin silver scars decorated Macaque’s skin and fur from the cracks being stopped before Macaque’s power overpowered his body.

“This is just great!” Pigsy grumbled, stomping over to the two monkeys. “Idiot monkeys. Not you, MK. The two senile ones.”

MK just hefted the monkey over his shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll be fine! We still need to find Sandy and Mo.”

“That's the first time I've seen Mac with white eyes...” Mei noted. “What the hell was with the cracks?! He looked ready to explode just like you did Mk!” Mei pointed out.

“I think Macaque might have tapped into the beginnings of his very elemental power...” Tang answered. “We saw Monkey King as a being of literal Stone. As Monkey King’s literal Elemental Opposite and Balance Macaque would only need to see Monkey King in his elemental form before acting to Balance out their powers.”

MK shuffled in place. “Does that mean I’ll turn into something like that?” His voice was small as he looked over at the older man.

“No Mk. You likely weren't made like Monkey King and Macaque to balance the power of nature. Let's get moving, we got a monkey to rescue and a friend to ‘wake up’.” Tang replied.

Mei slung an arm over Tang’s shoulder. “Yeah! Let’s go save Sandy and Monkey King!”

Pigsy ruffled MK’s hair. “Let’s go, kid.”

The group quickly made their way to the river the blue-skinned demon was supposed to be waiting for Tripitaka to arrive at. They stopped a moment to rearrange Macaque to rest on Mk’s back piggyback style. Subconsciously Macaque had wrapped his tail around Mk’s waist while deep low purring sounds sent feelings of protection and safety through the newly minted monkey teen.

MK chirped happily then immediately blushed when the others looked over at him. “Don’t mind me. Just monkeying around?”

Mei snickered. “Alright Monkie Man!”

“What could you be monkeying around with him unconscious?” Pigsy demanded with a raised brow.

MK chuckled nervously. “I dunno. He’s like purring and it made me chirp! I’ve been a monkey for like ten minutes. I don’t know what I’m doing!” He pouted, glaring down at the river.

Tang reached over and patted his head. “You are doing great, MK. It’s not everyday you suddenly get a tail and two new ears and a weird birthmark on your face and-“

“Thank you, Tang!” MK snapped, rolling his eyes. “Thank you for reminding me.”

“I thought that was just his monkey mask coming in?” Mei questioned.

“Wait, there’s something on my face too?” MK groaned, running a hand down his face. “Is it at least cool like Macaque’s or adorable like Monkey King’s?”

Pigsy gave the kid a deadpan stare. “Seriously, kid?”

“Mixed. It kind of looks like a butterfly but its color is a mix of theirs like a sunset orange?” Mei answered.

MK grinned. “Oh that sounds awesome! Take a picture! Let me see! Let me see!” Mei quickly snapped a picture and showed the other teen. “Woah!”

True enough his face mask did look like it was shaped to mimic a butterfly with a sunset orange taking most of the center with a deep red at the top and a softer peach color at the bottom like a gradient effect of two colors blending in harmony.

Tang looked around nervously. “This is the area where the great Monk and Monkey King met Sha Wujing. So Sandy should be around here somewhere.”

“Mrow.” came an all too familiar meow of a cat.

Mei gasped. “Mo! Hey buddy!” The girl picked up the cat, setting him on her head. “Thats one blue friend down!”

“Only one more to go!” MK cheered, tail flicking happily.

Moe patted Mei’s head and pointed to Tang’s staff motioning to tap it to the ground.

Out of any other ideas, Tang gently tapped his staff. Another golden bubble covered everyone and they vanished once again.

The group appeared in a cavern high above while a group of three demons talked down below. A blue lion demon, a white elephant demon, and a white eagle demon. “You know the plan, once we secure our victory over heaven slip the poison into Mihou’s wine and the drug in Wukong’s.” the blue lion spoke.

“Are we sure this poison is even strong enough to kill that simian? He’s as hard to kill as the immortal king.” the eagle questioned.

“I did the calculations and brewing myself, Peng. Luier Mihou will be dead by sunrise once he ingests the wine after the battle. Not even his powers will help detoxify the poison in time before he rots from the inside out. As for the drug, Wukong will end up forced into a feral heat. Said heat will force his body to shapeshift to accommodate in order to be mated and bare cubs just as you wanted Azure. You will have to keep giving him the drug until his very identity as Monkey King is burned away to allow his mind to take up the role of Empress when you become Emperor.” the white elephant stated.

The group of mortals gawked at the scene, horrified. Tang covered his mouth. Pigsy placed a hand on the scholar’s shoulder.

Mei snarled, gripping her sword tightly. “That conniving, lying, son of a bitch.” She hissed, glaring at the lion.

Mk on the other hand couldn't believe his ears that picked up the very heart beats of the three down below. None of them were lying. Mk felt sick but more than that rage bubbled in his chest while his mind went into overdrive Protect Mama! Protect Protect! Protect! Protect Baba! shouted a small part of himself that sounded like an angry monkey cub with flashes of Wukong and Macaque in his head.

A pained groan pulled MK from his murderous thoughts. “Ow.” Macaque grumbled, pressing a hand to his head. “The hell was that?”

“You tapped into your literal element of wind?” Mk supplied in a soft whisper.

“Good. Mihou has been a blockade in my attempts to court Wukong. Once Mihou is no more Wukong will be my Empress.” Azure promised.

“At the very least let me have his corpse, Brother. I could use a new fur pelt for my collection.” Peng grinned as best as his beak would allow. “I hear monkey meat is a delicacy when cooked correctly.”

“I what?” Macaque’s ears flicked towards the three demons below them. “When-where are we?” He frowned at the others. “What’s the brotherhood doing here? We need to find Sandy.”

“Moe had us travel here. We’ll explain what we heard when we get out of here.” Mei shushed him as Tang Hasilty tapped his power and the group fell into a dried riverbed with bones littering in piles all around them, a large ring made of done and rope stood out with Sandy standing in its center waiting for a challenger.

MK set Macaque back on his feet. “Alright. What happened?” The immortal looked over the group, satisfied to see everyone unharmed.

“Azure Lion-“ MK started before Tang jumped on his back speaking quickly.

“You old brotherhood was plotting to kill you and drug Wukong to force him to bare Azure Lion’s children!” The scholar blurted out. MK nodded, a low growl building in his chest.

Macaque closed his eyes crossed his arms and took a breath. “Pigsy... How well lf a hit can Sandy take?” Macaque asked the pig demon. “I need to hit something before I start breaking trees.”

Pigsy stared at the immortal then glanced over at Sandy. “Uh. He’s the toughest guy I know. Can take a pretty good hit.”

“He stopped a jet with his hand once!” Mei added, nodding with MK. “And didn’t he also stop your mech at one point?”

“I think so...” Mk thought frowning while trying to recall if Sandy had stopped his monkey mech.

“Good enough,” Macaque stated before turning towards the arena his form shimmered before he was a few inches shorter with golden fur, a back, and a yellow shirt with a tiger pelt around his hips and long, black claws digging into his palms as he jumped into the arena.

“So, you're the river demon I've heard so much about?” Macaque questioned in a flawless copy of Wukong’s voice down to even the cocky tone.

Sha Wujing stared down at the monkey. “What do you think you’re doing, monk? Challenging me! If you’ve heard of me then you have heard of how I capture and eat any that come to my river!” The large river demon’s eyes flashed and the skulls around his neck glowed.

“I've heard of you... Yet you don't seem to have ever heard of me. So I think it's fair game.” Macaque grinned before he pounced landing the first blow hard to the stomach of the blue river demon.

Sha Wujing braced himself and bellowed. “You call that a punch? The rush of the river hit harder than that, little ape! Take this!” The water demon started throwing quick blows towards Macaque.

Macaque easily blocked and evaded them before making the power of his punches no longer holding himself back.

Wujing grinned as the fight continued. “I see you are a skilled fighter! Not many have been able to give me a challenge!” He cracked his neck, skulled glowing ominously. “I have not added any monkey skulls to my collection. Perhaps you’ll be the first!”

“I won't be.” Macaque stated.

Mei leaned over to MK. “Hey you ten bucks, Macaque ends the fight in five minutes.”

MK scoffed. “I give him two.”

“Deal.” The two quietly shook on it while Tang and Pigsy sighed.

Mei silently took out her phone and hit the stopwatch while Moe watched from her head content to let Sandy stretch and to give Macaque time to calm down from finding out what Azure had planned so long ago.

Wujing started speeding up, punching and kicking the monkey. Macaque rolled his eyes with a grin. “Come on, big guy. Is that all you got?” Wujing laughed darkly.

“Dont die at my full strength.” he warned before throwing a punch Macaque easily stopped with a yawn.

“Let me know when you use your full strength.” The monkey teased, pushing back the water demon.

The river demon was shocked. “You.. Survived that punch...”

“Surprise.” Macaque snickered, twisting around and kicking the demon. “As much fun as this has been, we need Sandy back.”

Tang perked up. “You have to remind him of who he is!”

“Simple enough. Moe.” Macaque called for the cat who leaped into Sandy’s arms blue energy swirled around the river demon before bursting out.

“Moe!” Sandy shouted and nuzzled the therapy cat close.

“Awww!” Mei, Tang, and MK cooed.

“Tang, get us to flower fruit mountain,” Macaque ordered dropping the illusion of Wukong.

“You know... It never occurred to me but is Monkey King shorter than Mac?” Mei question Mk.

“I thought they were the same height.” Mk honestly answered he knew Wukong was easily six foot even, taller than most average people while being as flexible as an acrobat with the power of a Kung Fu master.

Tang chimed in. “In the original texts, Monkey King was described as a short monkey demon.”

“Who cares?” Pigsy grumbled. “Does it matter?”

“It kind of does when you thing of it. Are the larger monkeys usually the ones in charge?” Mei questioned.

“I am not getting in the systematics on demon mating right now,” Macaque replied flicking his ears. “We're about to have company.”

“We can gossip about which monkey is the top later.” MK rolled his eyes. “We have to get Monkey King back first.”

Macaque simply pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘Now I know how Peaches feels while trying to warn Tripitaka and simply being ignored.’

“Sorry, Macaque.” The two teens giggled.

The black monkey sighed before something similar to getting Deja Vu passed through his body his ears flickering at the complete silence around him. He couldn't even hear the hearts of the very two kids right in front of him before he recalled one of the more obscure powers he had. ‘Premonitions of the future.’ He thought. ‘Is this... An enhanced vision of what would happen if Wukong sends me away to protect the kids?’ Macaque realized.

‘I won't let this future become reality!’

[blackjackkent]

OK, doing things a smidge out of my usual order and going straight to get Karlach now (and Astarion) now that we've talked to Zorru; we'll come back and chat with Nettie and get hyped up on goblin shenanigans later. Rakha is enthused about helping Wyll killkillkill so finding Karlach has shot to the top of the priority list. Hopefully I can figure out a reason for Karlach not to actually die. :P

It is a bit of a walk to get Karlach, though, so there's a bit of other stuff to run into on the way, starting with these lovely people:

A dwarf lies in the roadway, bleeding out of a thick, gaping wound in his chest. Rakha can taste the blood on her tongue, in her brain. The man is dying. The man and woman standing next to him are both frantic with fear.

"You're a True Soul!" the woman is saying desperately as Rakha draws within earshot. "You can't die! Please stay with us!"

"I don't think he's conscious!" the man cries. "Can you hear us, Ed?"

The woman's head snaps up hearing the group's approach behind them, and she steps back defensively, rounding on Rakha. "You! Not a step closer!"

Rakha halts. It is a struggle to survey the situation analytically with that smell of blood in the air, and though the tadpole squirms excitedly in her head, she lacks quite the energy after the mental tussle with Wyll earlier to grasp at any thoughts from the strange group - to gauge whether they are friend or foe.

Information the old-fashioned way, then.

"What happened to your friend?" she asks curtly.

"An owlbear," the man says desperately. "Please, do you have any--"

"Shut up, Andrick!" the woman snaps. She's warier than the man, and looks at Rakha cautiously. "Do you serve the Absolute?" she asks.

Rakha stares at her, baffled. These words don't scan together in any context she's familiar with. She can hear the capital letter on the word. She can hear that she is being asked her allegiance. But she does not understand.

Who is the Absolute?

The silence is broken by the dying man on the ground, who rolls his head slightly to the side with what seems monumental effort and stares up in to Rakha's eyes.

"Wait..."

Narrator: The injured man locks eyes with you. A familiar squirming churns in your head.

Rakha sinks to her knees, keeping her eyes locked on the man. Is this another like them, then? Another who was caught on the nautiloid and infected? Another who might have answers?

Hold his stare.

Narrator: Your minds intertwine. You see his siblings - Andrick and Brynna. New recruits. Yours to shepherd.

She feels the dying man's voice echo in her mind. "Protect them..." And then, out loud to the siblings: "She is a True Soul. Mind her. She will-- she-- she..."

She is still connected and feels it, the moment when he dies, and her body gives a deep, involuntary shudder. The blood-pulse pounds in the back of her head with an intensity that for a moment blocks out all thought. She reaches out, puts a hand on the corpse's chest, rests her fingertips in the still-hot blood of the wound. For a moment there is again that flash of memory, of a thousand other corpses, a thousand other drops of blood staining her hands.

The woman - Brynna - is staring at her. "You're... you're a True Soul," she whispers unsteadily. She has the air of someone desperately trying to appear older and more confident than she is. "Edowin-- our brother, he was chosen. Like you. Do you have orders for us? We were reporting to Edowin."

Rakha comes back to herself slowly. The words don't make sense. Orders? Who are these people? Who is this Absolute they serve? What is a-- "True Soul?" she asks hoarsely.

"What?" Andrick asks, as puzzled at her question as she is in the asking of it. "Are you-- are you testing us?"

"A True Soul, like you, has been chosen by the Absolute," Brynna says. She is reciting something she has learned by heart; her voice takes on a rote quality. "You speak with Her voice. Your words are Her command. She grants you the power to enforce Her will. And when the time comes, the True Souls - you - will rule."

"That fellow was infected like us," Wyll mutters skeptically behind her. "Is this the mark of a 'True Soul'?"

Rakha desperately tries to steady her thoughts long enough to understand the situation. The blood on her fingertips is distractingly warm.

Brynna calls her a True Soul. The title connects, somehow, to the tadpole, and to the voice of a god called the Absolute. If Brynna is right, then this religion holds the answers Rakha seeks.

But even as she thinks it, Rakha finds herself dismissing the idea. None of her companions, just as infected, have mentioned anything of this god. Rakha herself has no memory of it, nor of any voice that she might be inclined to channel besides the murder-hungry urge crawling inside her skull.

And perhaps most to the point - Andrick and Brynna have been following the dead man for some time. That means he was not on the nautiloid. And that means his experience means nothing at all.

Whatever Edowin is (or was), it is something different from Rakha. And the True Soul gibberish is nonsense she needs no part of.

"You're mistaken," she says with a dismissive shrug, pushing herself sharply to her feet. "I'm no True Soul."

Andrick's eyes widen; terror splashes across his face. "What?"

"What are you doing?" Brynna demands, backpedaling several steps and yanking the mace off her back. The fervor with which she recited about the Absolute turns to a manic gleam in her eye. "Your sword, brother! Now!"

-----

The beast in Rakha's head was already on the point of slipping free, what with the overwhelming smell of Edowin's blood, his corpse staring up at her with its rictus frown. Seeing Brynna start to run at her, mace held high, she snaps, her vision whites, and she knows no more.

Some minutes later, she comes back to herself sitting in the shade of the nearby ridge. Her hands are soaked in blood. The two hapless followers of the Absolute lie dead next to their brother. Lae'zel is picking over their corpses, looking for anything of use.

Wyll squats next to her, raises an eyebrow. "I'll give you one thing," he says with dry humor. "You're thorough."

"I already told you," Rakha rasps. "How it feels. I wasn't lying."

"So I can see." He purses his lips thoughtfully. "Strange magic you wield. You about burned the girl to cinders and then... I don't know. It was like you couldn't move. Everything slowed down around you. Never seen the like."

She squints at him. "I could say the same of you."

"How's that?"

"Your magic. It's... different. Not like mine. It's..." She hesitates; she hasn't yet been able to truly articulate the way she sees the magical fabric of the world in a way that even Gale doesn't seem to. And she certainly doesn't know how to articulate why Wyll's feels so strange. "It's confusing," she finally says.

He laughs softly - but she hears something forced in it, another evasive edge. "Is it, now?" he says. "Sometimes it confuses me too..."

[cherubchoirs]

Hey, odd question, but how do you think Gabriel and V1 would fight something together? I feel like neither of them would be experinced in team combat, but I like to think that they would find a way to be in sync.

no worries bc i've 100% thought about this hhhfghdfg

i think they would definitely need to do a lot of practice because i also think they likely work alone and don't have the experience/programming to know how to coordinate. plus i believe they approach fights in a very different manner - gabriel is incredibly well honed, his style trained and polished to perfection, and while he can adapt well to adjust his methods, he has a way that he does things that's served him for thousands of years. he has strategies that he customizes to his opponents, his movements are all elegant and thought-through yet are second nature to him, and the art of it is only broken when he loses his composure to become overwhelmingly fast and brutal (happens quite rarely, since few opponents can work him up). v1, on the other hand, is much more chaotic and doesn't necessarily have a fighting "style" - i like to imagine that when it faces a new opponent, it can be quite odd and clumsy for the first minute or so because that's its learning time. it tries to parry too slow or too fast, it uses the wrong weapons, it tracks movements a bit poorly when attempting to aim precise shots (or ricochots), and it's dodging a LOT. however, after this window it's devoured all the information it needs and has broken the enemy down to data sets, ones it uses to form the most effective strategy against that opponent. so the way it fights varies hugely, although it of course has some consistencies since it needs to take itself into account. all that to say that not only are they both not set up to work with others, they have vastly different ways of approaching combat that could easily do more harm than good if they tried going in without practice.

that said, i think they would work great together as a pair once they understood the other. there's definitely bickering over whose way is better but honestly neither of them have the capacity to change how they operate SO they need to learn to work with it instead (not that either of them could ever get the other to change their mind lol) to their advantage, v1 knows gabriel's style inside and out while gabriel is very aware of v1's "lag" time and the staples of its combat. it's worked out quickly that gabriel leads since that gives v1 the buffer time it needs (although that rarely, if ever, means that it hangs back but instead that gabe needs to cover it) but once v1 finds its footing, there's a great synergy to their combat - they are both highly mobile fighters, they both have a lot of flourish in their tactics, and i really think their sizes come into play with v1 fully embracing using gabe for a quick high ground or being launched by him lol (also including a lot of teleporting to drop the wild little beast right on some husk's head). they weave in and around each other, each making nice set ups for the other to finish, gabriel throwing his weapons directly at v1 so it can parry them at the perfect angle; alternatively, v1 will often electrify gabe's projectiles. in addition, it makes crowd control or large arenas a much smoother experience, the two of them splitting up to tackle half and half without needing to worry that the other can't handle it. i think they do pick up a couple of combat quirks from each other, the way other couples might start to talk like one another - they both emulate without even knowing it, but i think sometimes their partner catches it and it makes them feel. a whole lot.

BUT even at their best, i doubt they can ever fully avoid stepping on each other's toes occasionally - v1 definitely runs right into gabe's axes while there's no way gabe hasn't been in the radius of an explosion lol he's a lot more fussed about it than v1 is, thinking he can always do better and trying to figure out what he did wrong, while v1 usually brushes it off since it regularly friendly fires itself anyway

[dustin4ce]

remind me.

ex-boyfriend!robert downey jr x female!reader

a/n: hihi, this is based off that song remind me by brad paisley & carrie underwood bc im a country boy and it's one of my favorites :o, if u haven't heard the song uhhhh go listen to it before reading this so u kinda get the context lolol.

warnings: mentions of past relationship, cursing (sorry i went a little overboard), veeeryyy quick mention of sex, robert being an asshole, reader slaps rdj

reader finally expresses herself!! amen, sorry no happy ending </3

life was perfect. everything was going the way you wanted it to. your career was going well, you had a lot of cool friends who cared about you. you had full custody of your son, which was really great since his dad was a piece of shit. everything was perfect, almost. everything would've been perfect if you didn't see your ex, and have all your feelings come back.

the movie premiere was going great. you nailed interviews without giving too much detail about the movie, which was a big improvement for you. you and your date, who was just your best friend, looked fantastic! you were loving every moment. until the white audi pulled up, and the guy, who you swore up and down that you were over, got out. cheers ran through your ears, the fans going crazy. how could they not? robert downey jr. just stepped out of his car and looked like he could get anyone he wanted. your mouth went dry as he walked up to the carpet. "mother fucker." you mumbled, you didn't know he'd be here. you had to pull yourself together! this guy left you high and dry after almost a year of swearing he was so in love with you. you guys are were the it couple. he made eye contact with you and smiled. he fucking smiled?! this asshole had the audacity to smile at you like he didn't ghost you! the interviewer called him over to talk to him while you were there, and of course he walked over. everyone knew about your breakup because he had gone public with another woman, quick fling you guessed, she was gone faster than light. "hey!" robert beamed, quickly side hugging you. "oh, hi, didn't realize you'd be here." you gave tight smile. the interviewer started to ask questions, but before you could answer, robert interrupted. "we're still good friends." liar. you guys had no communication, you weren't gonna lie to the public. "if you call not talking good friends, then we sure are great!" this caused robert to frown, he didn't want to create a scene, so he kept his mouth shut. you guys finished the interview before walking away, robert followed you. "why would you say that?" he asked. "why'd you ghost me?" you shot back. "you know i stuff going on!" he raised his voice. "you don't get to raise your voice at me, robert! i loved you! i was there for you!" you huffed, you had given this man a year of your life. 8760 hours of your life basically wasted. "i had let you into my life! i let you into my son's life! he saw you as a dad! he was so sad when you randomly disappeared, he blamed himself!" you yelled at him. "he's four!" robert looked absolutely lost. you raised your hand and slapped him across the face. "he's still a person!" you huffed, deep down you hated yelling at him. you loved him, still. you still dreamt about him. the way he'd smile at you. how his lips would kiss yours, oh so softly. the way everyone would yell at you both to get a room when you laid PDA on a little too heavy at the red carpets you'd go to. when you'd kiss him bye before he left for work like it was the last time seeing each other. the sleepless nights where you'd both say goodnight then end up making love. the days you'd purposely make him late by slipping on his shirt to distract him from work. you still loved him and you wanted him to know. "look, i messed up, but i can't go back and change what i did! you just have to accept it." you felt absolutely broken when he said this. "i can't. i just can't, robert. i still think about you, i still love you. i can't get rid of the way you made me feel. i can't get rid of the love i felt when i saw you be a dad to my son. i can't forget anything." you had tears in your eyes by this point, you couldn't lie anymore. "i didn't realize you felt that way." robert whispered. "because you never asked.. goodbye robert." you walked away wiping your eyes to continue your night. you couldn't let him bring you down, you had gotten the weight off your chest, it was time to move on. you had to become your own person as you left him there as heartbroken as he left you when he didn't say bye.