#but it is to defend nick from people trying to demonize him

[massiveladycat]

me trying to understand people who say nick davis is 'toxic'

he literally never can win. be nice to his girlfriend?? 'TOXIC NICE GUY!!' oh, wait, he punched sel because sel was actively letting his bloodlust hurt nick when nick begged him before to stop?? HOW RUDE OF HIM!!!! tell sel to stay away from bree because nick genuinely thought that sel was going to end up killing her?? ASSHOLE!!!

[squerlly]

flames of desire chapter 8: how sweet...

Alastor x (f! bunny reader) -FLUFF-

Alastors POV:

Ever since that day, the day I came to terms with the fact that I am indeed infatuated with y/n its driving me crazy. why couldn't she just push me away, why didn't she deny my feelings, I feel weak...

your POV:

well last night was quite the shit show. I almost got raped, angel might pay for it later, and Alastor just confessed he loves me. what do I even do with myself, god my head hurts what was in those drinks. with a groan I get up heading to the bathroom to freshen up, it was a Saturday and I was feeling lazy so tank top and shorts it is. after changing I take a moment to look at myself, for a demon I look so....pathetic?, I really gotta learn how to defend myself, maybe ill ask vaggie later.

walking to the lobby I see Alastor on the arm chair with a book, husk at the bar, and angel flipping through channels on the TV. Alastor spots me and I stiffen, my face heating up remembering what happened last night, "good morning my dear" "oh uhh good morning, what are you guys doing?" I plop on the couch beside angel "ehh its my day off and my fucken head hurts" I roll my eyes "what happened to gotta start off strong" angel shoots me a scowl "I'm not one for weak alcohol like you~" "sounds like a you problem" "oh you little-" "ehem" looking at alastor he shoots angel a warning look, I try to hold in a laugh maybe having creepy deer man at my side isn't to bad "anyways I was going to go out for a walk to visit a dear friend of mine and would like for you to attend if you would like" "well I wasn't planning on doing anything today so why not" "wonderful dear tell me when your ready to go and we shall be off" as alastor leaves I avert my gaze back to angel as he throws me a suspicious look "what?" "what are ya giving smiles under the table or somethin, he never invites people out" with a flustered face I yell "angel!!!!" "what!? just sayin no need to get your panties in a bunch~" "whatever..." angel cackles as I walk away heading back to my room to get dressed. once again tearing up my closet I settle on a white sweetheart neckline puffy sleeved dress, brushing my hair and ears I hear a knock on the door, opening its alastor "hello my dear are you ready to go?" "yes!" "wonderful" heading to the hotel doors I turn back to angel who smirks doing a jerking off motion, I just flip him off I we both leave.

walking the streets of hell once again I notice that demon stray away from us, leaving the sidewalk free of any sinners blocking the path, damn just how scared were these people of Alastor, noticing him staring down at me "whats the matter?" "nothing cher you just look nice today" oh that's a new nick name "thank you but, were are we going?" "well none other then one of my favorite places in all of hell!" with a curious look I see a sign that says cannibal town written on it "cannibal town? Al am I going to get eaten" I joke seeing the people all around before watching a man get mangled and eaten, wait a damn minute- "I assure you cher nobody will eat you with me here" lovely.... "o-ok" I say trying to ignore the fact somebody literally got eaten alive in front of me, aside from that the town looked nice, don't get me wrong the people are terrifying but this is the most well managed place if seen thus far, its mostly just chaos down here. "there's somebody I would like you to meet, I'm sure she will love you~" walking into a place called Rosie's Emporium, it had nice dresses and is that- body parts!!?, suddenly a tall pale woman wearing a long dress and a large hat with feathers comes pushing past the crowed "alastor? alastor!!!, were have you been iv missed you" "hello Rosie, good to see you doing well" as she grabs him and hugs him she looks to me as I awkwardly wave "Alastor whos this lovely lady, introduce me will ya" "ah yes y/n dear this is Rosie one of the most darling and dangerous overlords this side of the pentagram!" "oh no need for such flattery~" "Rosie this is y/n a resident at charlies hotel" "oh hello, its nice to meet you" "my my she's a cutie!" "Rosie you don't mind if she picks though some of your lovely dresses" "oh of course, any friend of alastors is a friend of mine" "wait what-" "cher why don't you look through these lovely dresses at her shop I'm sure you will find something you like" "I- are you sure?" "yes, me and Rosie will talk for a bit, pick anything you like~" "oh uhm alright!"

Alastors POV:

sitting on one of Rosie's tables she hands me a cup of bitter coffee as we talk "well alastor its not everyday you bring a lady to my place~, who is she?" "we need to hang out less dear" she lets out a little laugh, "she's a shy one, quite a lucky girl aswell, it takes a lot to gain the likes of you" glancing at y/n looking through the dresses "she's quite interesting, and I don't know why..." "well your all googly eyed for her so I presume you love her" unconsciously some static cracks through my voice as I speak "love is a strong word don't you think?" "sounds like your in denial~" "I'm not in denial!, this is just a new form of interest" "I think this is good for you, she seems like bright girl. you guys haven't done anything yet hmm?" I give her a glare before averting my gaze elsewhere sipping my coffee "ohh~?" "nothing serious so don't get your hopes up" nothing serious yet, the truth was that kiss tasted sweet, it stir something in me, and I don't like sweet things. so why do I want more...I need more, I need another taste.

your POV:

looking at the clothing racks of dresses they were all old fashioned, not that it was a bad thing but not my style, I still looked around anyways setting my sights on a nice red and white dress, it had a high neckline with the top half being white and the bottom a deep red color. the sleeves were puffy, taking it off the rack I hang it over my arm "uhh Rosie you don't mind if I try anything on right?" turning her attention from there conversation "of course dear try on anything ya like, the dressing rooms are in the back!" I give her a smile as I hurry on back, looking at the dress I see there was buttons along the sides wear you slip it on, stepping into it I button them on, walking out I look at myself in the mirror, giving it a spin it looked pretty but the waist is a bit tight...seeing alastor in the mirrors reflection I turn "alastor you scared me for a second" "sorry cher I didn't intend to scare you, found something you like?" "I don't know I feel silly..." "nonsense you look wonderful" grabbing my hand he spins me earning a giggle "red is truly your color" "say the one who wears nothing but red" "well then I suppose we match don't we~" "can I have this one?" "of course, why don't you change and ill get it for you" "thank you Al" "anything for you my dear" running off to change I come back out with the dress in hand as we walk back to the front with Rosie "well take this one Rosie" "oh what a lovely choice you made, I'm sure this looked beautiful on you" "how much will that be?" "don't worry about it its on the house!" giving a wide smile she waves it off "thank you so much!" "yes thank you again Rosie" "anything for a friend, after all you've never done me wrong before~" packaging the dress in a nice bag she hands it to me with a card, "if you ever need some dresses don't hesitate to pay me a visit" she said with a wink and I nod with a wide smile.

Alastors POV:

it does my dead heart good to see her smile, to know I caused that smile, oh she had no idea what she's done to me. "y/n dear why don't we walk back to the hotel, wouldn't want to make Charlie worried" "oh yes!" I wave off Rosie finding her much needed advice quite useful "did you enjoy yourself cher?" "most defiantly!, I can see why you like this place" "yes it takes me back to my time were things were much simpler" "I wish I could live in this time, it was...nice" "glad you think so".

back at the hotel we walk in as it was already starting to get late, I walk her back to her room "consider this a date, I would love to take you out more cher" seeing a shade of red on her cheeks makes me feel giddy, taken out of my thought she suddenly gives me a hug, surprised I return her affectionate gesture hearing a small mumble from her "thank you alastor, it means a lot" "anything for you darling, now sleep well, don't let the nightmares' haunt you, that's my job~"

eat eat eat this up please because I pray you love this chapter as much as I didddd!!!! Rosie is my everything!!!! and are we gonna talk about last weekend were I woke up to 99+ NOTIFICATIONS!!!! I love you guys so much I could cry have a wonderful day/night lots of hugs

-squerlly

@pooplyface1423 @strippezzz

for more content or chapters please click this masterlist

[worth-this-and-more]

Sarah Griffiths: a character study because people aren't talking about her enough and im so disappointed yall pt.1

[spoilers for legendborn ahead, read at your own caution; this is gonna be long so I'll probably make two posts about it]

first and foremost, Sarah Griffiths has been my fav character since like forever and I haven't been able to talk about her very much, sincerely sorry, but nvm this post is for her anyway

she is the third person from legendborn that bree met after nick and sel I hope this is some kind of foreshadowing because I want more sar content but okay I'm just grasping fallen marbles atp lool and I feel like a lot of people overlook her. which is understandable because she didn't have a lot of screentime but her time was really important too, so here's my rant about my fav sar moments + character study + fangirling

her introduction was quite normal and formal, and even i could not imagine her fighting the shadowborns, understandably so because this "pixie-like girl in a flowy dress" doesn't really seem fierce enough, or does she??

sar definitely surprised me specifically in this scene:

while everyone is heavily confused but still alert on their jobs, sar made sure to place bree to safety, without giving any unnecessary lecture about "oh page matthews tf were you thinking why arent you back to the lodge??" she really knows how to keep her cool, and her action and reaction are almost similar to what I expect wlliam or greer would do

next fav sar moment was when she defended bree from sel at the infirmary:

sel is right in his place to suspect bree, it's his job to see the safety of the order, and he is angry af. we all know our merlin boy is scary af when angry because as russ so eloquently stated "you're never sure if it's safe to talk shit about him behind his back" and that's true anyway, but like sar really defended bree even when she did not know her, because she trusted nick's judgment and has already accepted bree as their own.

i feel like this is a very important factor in all the characters, especially sar, as I'll discuss further

next, this one:

she noticed bree was shaken from this encounter, because for her bree is a onceborn who had the unfortunate luck of experiencing a shadowborn attack and see so many injuries real time, while being attacked by an uchel as well. she offered to drive her home and walked her to her dorm, a girl's girl through and through. ik it seems like the barest minimum but I will still appreciate it because let's be real, everybody was stressed, who else would've offered to take bree back to her dorm safely?? nick is injured, william is busy, sel is busy trynna kill her, evan is injured, and the others are still processing the day. this small gesture seems insignificant but really shows sar's mindfulness and makes me fall for her harder and harder each time

this car ride is where we find out that she is a victim of racism as well:

which creates multiple questions. she definitely knows tor is racist, and I wont be surprised if tor has herself made racist remarks on sar as well but just keeps it quiet in front of her?? sar must definitely hear tor's remarks about others, especially bree. she stays because she loves tor, as we've seen here:

but there's definitely some kind of resentment towards tor that develops further in the story. how did she end up with tor anyway?? like after tor's "rebellious phase", is she really just in love and trying desperately to ignore all the red flags or is there some other story??

also her devotion to the order?? i love it. the order ain't shit, we know that, but the definite loyalty that sar has towards the order, it doesn't seem like much but I admire that grit so much. she was raised for service, but she chose to stay and serve even knowing all the risks. bree is the first of her family, but sar definitely has her own stories to be known.

again, my fav sar moment:

no explanation needed lmaoo sel doubted his own demon side for a sec haha

sar keeps tor in check around bree, because she knows tor hates bree's guts, and as we see here:

sar definitely calls the shots. im pretty sure that everytime tor finds something to bitch about, sar gives her the deadliest side eye ever because the kindest ones are the deadliest ones always. and whenever bree calls tor out for her behavior tor goes crying to her gf because sar is the only one who tolerates her lool

and finally, the most precious sar moment in legendborn:

everyone is in love with sel because he was the first one to kneel for bree, but we are kinda forgetting that sar was the second one to kneel. she has already accepted bree as a part of legendborn, and did not hesitate to pledge her loyalty to bree. this is the most iconic sar moment I love because she is loyal to the order, to bree, and to her service.

this is what i mean when i say I love sar, there is so much story behind this one girl and I really really wanna know her. i hope she has more moments in oathbound because her loyalty is fierce and I'm pretty sure she will join alice and william too if this gang forms

bloodmarked will be discussed in pt.2 hehe I think this much is enough for today lool

[cookiesupplier]

A Friend Down In Hell - Part Twenty-Two END

pairing: Nick Folio x ofc (Ishtar)

warnings/tropes: slow burn, pining, idiot in love, language, drinking, mentions of violence, mentions of torture, mentions of religious mythology.

summary: Folio can't quite tell you how long he's been dead, but it doesn't matter when he has friends like his, and Ishtar. Ishtar, with whom he fell in love the moment he met her. The problem? She doesn't know it. How does he convince a demon, who is practically immortal, to date him when he's dead? How did Ellie do it so easily?

author’s note: Final Part for Folio & Ishtar.. but don't worry the Hell-Verse is not over yet, keep an eye out..

To read from the beginning: A Friend Down In Hell Masterlist

And for those that missed Noah & Ellie's Story previously, all Hell-Verse stories will be included here: Combined Hell-Verse Masterlist

tags: @spicywhenspeaking @tearfallpixie @cncohshit @nyxthedestroyerofworlds @lyschko666 @bngurngheart @lacktoesandtoddlerants @sorrowsofsilence @collapsedglasshouses @vinyardmauro @dsireland86 @4rtificialfolio @emmmm127 @badomensls @agravemisstake @sunsshinesunny @blackveilomens @jilliemiw86

Tag lists are open, please let me know if you'd like to be added to this story, the Hell-Verse as a whole, or Everything

“Let's go, Sunshine, give them some time to think it over.”

Ishtar joined Nick as they left the bar to head back to her apartment. She’d teleported to the bar to get there, this morning, so it was no trouble at all to choose to go with him on his bike, or summon her helmet with a snap of her fingers. Neither was a bother, if anything she preferred it, spending time with him was always something she preferred. Yes, she’d sent him away last night, but everyone needed a bit of alone time when they were stressed now and then, even her. Now, now she was overjoyed, and she just knew she didn’t want to be apart from him. Knowing that he was willing to face a man that had just tried to stab him last night to defend her, ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous, but, she just wanted to wrap herself around him and never let go.

Of course, as soon as they got to her apartment building, when they stepped into her apartment, the door closed behind them, Ishtar spun around on him and smacked her hand across his bicep. She used an open palm, right across his skin, a nice slap. Not as hard as she could, but none too lightly either, she wanted him to feel it a little bit, just a little anyway, not to much, just enough to know she was serious.

“Ow!”

So she did it again, and again.

“Ow, ow! Okay, okay, I get it!”

“Do you, Sunshine? Tony tried to stab you yesterday, and you just walked right into that office to confront them alone? You didn’t even tell me you were going!”

At the very least, he looked a tiny bit sheepish at that.

“You would have tried to stop me and told I didn’t need to go in, and I know you had it handled, but Ishtar, hear me out, I caused the problem, I wanted to at least try to fix it. To go and see your boss in person and tell him to his face just what kind of man that Tony is. In my experience, horrible people like Tony get away with the shit that they do, because they get away with so many little things, that when something big like yesterday happens, everyone goes.. Oh well, no one will punish him for it, so what’s the point?”

Nick expression was set into a fierce gaze, and Ishtar couldn’t help but wonder if her Sunshine hadn’t met men like Tony in his time in the living realm as well. Then again, he was a biker he worked in a bar just like she did, they got all kinds and that she knew well, who knows what kind of people might have crossed his path during his life. It was fair to say that he might have indeed come across others, just like Tony, that got away with all kinds of things because no one challenged them. Taking in a slow deep breath at his words, she sighed.

“Alright, I understand, but you understand mine, too, right? You could have taken Noah, Nicholas, or even Jolly, anyone would have been better than no one, Nick!”

Her voice cracked a little at the end when she thought about what could have happened if Tony had attacked him again, and her boss had done nothing to stop it. He had been friends with Tony longer than she had worked there, longer than she’d been alive in this lifetime, who knows what could have gone down once he had arrived. Nick might not be able to die again, but it would not have been a fair fight, not when Tony had backup this time.

Folio wanted to continue to insist he would have been fine, he wanted to argue that he could handle Tony just like he had last night. He was a coward at worst, and a pansy that couldn’t throw a decent punch at best, but then when her voice did that thing, he swallowed it down. No, he wouldn’t argue. Taking in a deep breath instead, he reached for her, arms circling around her waist just as hers then wrapped around his shoulders, hugging him to her tightly, a soft sound escaping her throat.

“I’m sorry, Princess. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you so badly, I’ll remember to be more careful next time I have to deal with them, I swear. Always with you, always with backup. Never let myself get away with me.. You have my word.”

Not be stupid enough not to accept Jolly’s offer next time! That would be a good starting point at least.

“Oh, Sunshine, I don’t think there is going to be a next time.”

Pulling back from her to groan,

“You don’t seriously think they’ll still have the gall to fire you after that? Noah and Nicholas will rip into them when they find out what Tony did! Can they send him to punishment? Are there punishment realms for demons? Please tell me yes, please!”

“Hold on, Sunshine, hold on, that’s not what I mean. Hearing everything you said to Mario, and Tony in the office, about me, about what I have to put up with there, even if I don’t get fired, I don’t want to work there any more. I’m done. Working at the bar, I wanted to work my way up, and it's not worth debasing myself like that any more. They aren’t going to let me get anywhere, I need to make my own way. I’ve always wanted my own place, and it's about time. Maybe a little café.”

Folio lit up at the sound of it, Ishtar had talked about her dreams of owning her own little café one day more than once, and the thought sounded perfect for her. She was wonderful with people, and he loved her baking, how could he ever not support her in this?

“With breakfast wraps?”

Hearing her lyrical laugh when he asked her that. Of course, he was going to ask that, there was no way he was going to be going to the shop across the street when he was going to be going to Ishtar’s instead. Breakfast wraps or not. He would just get something else instead if she chose to make a different variety to keep up a fresh menu.

“Maybe, or maybe something better. I’m sure I could come up with my own version. I found a recipe for breakfast muffins, and I’ll throw in an apple crumble one on the house just for you, Sunshine.”

“As if you haven’t already gotten me sold, Princess.”

Cupping her face in his hands, he pressed his lips to hers in a sweet kiss, grinning all the while, over the moon right then. For a morning when he had been absolutely distraught with the disaster that the night before had been, he was overjoyed right then. Looking into her bright, sparkling eyes, the joy there, he just knew, Folio knew..

“Ishtar.. I want to bond, I want to bond with you. I love you more than anything. I want to share this life with you, and your next life, and the next.. Not to mention every life after. I want to wear your vines proudly on my skin for everyone to see.”

Hearing her giggle when he mentioned her vines, her lips pressed right back against his in response, he would take that as an agreement, an enthusiastic agreement! He knew it would be different for him, in a sense giving up reincarnation to stay with her, but any time he’d even thought about going back, the pros did not out weight the cons in his point of view. While he openly talked about having no interest, he was sure everyone considered it, at least sometimes, who didn’t wonder about the world of the living sometimes.

Ishtar preparing for their bonding didn’t take long at all. Some liked to make a ceremony of it, but Ishtar always considered it to be something that should be more personal, something that was very private. It was a bonding of the souls, it was a magical ritual that was about to voluntarily bind the very essence of what made them who they were together for the rest of eternity. Yes, she had been surprised when Nick had told her he had never wanted to get married, and yet had sort out the information on bonding with her so readily. Marriage was nothing but a signature on a piece of paper for her, a vow for humans she supposed, but bonding was a magical blood tie that lasted beyond death.

For her, she had always dreamed about whom she might one day want to bond with, but Ishtar never thought it would be like this, though, so intense, so quickly. Ishtar knew others that were involved for years before they even considered bonding, and here she was, only weeks with Nick. Weeks, well, weeks after five years.. But she knew. She knew the moment that Nick told her that he wanted to bond with her, warmth had swelled in her chest, that she’d made the right choice. She’d known the moment she’d mentioned it in the field, under the starts. The way he assured her he never wanted her to push her into human ways instead of demonic ones, how could she not want to wrap him up and keep him for her own? 

Some might say it was selfish in so many ways, that it was asking him to give up reincarnation. She didn’t see it that way. Nick would have to live with her dying and having to wait for her to come back to him every few hundred years, and if she had to do the same now and then? If he wanted to reincarnate and go back into the world, and she had to remind him of who she was when he came back to hell, she would, each and every time he wanted to go. She could only hope he’d still fall in love with her still, for while her soul would be bound to his, but his soul wouldn’t be bound to hers.

That didn’t deter her, he’d always be her Sunshine, no matter what.

It wasn’t even lunchtime when they were kneeling in the middle of the sitting room. Ishtar had cleared the furniture from around the space and laid down a sheet. She used charcoal to draw the binding symbols in a circle around the space on the sheet where they were now kneeling in the middle of. Nick was shirtless, while Ishtar wore one of her light sun dresses, so her arms were completely bare along with most of her shoulders. She had written the runes that she needed him to use onto a piece of paper, and where he was to place them, but the next step some found a bit squeamish. Thankfully, she full well knew that Nick would be able to handle the sight of blood.

Ishtar was careful was where she sliced their hands open, the worst mistake anyone made was cutting open their palm to affect their nerves. Not that either of them had to worry about not healing, or that their nerves would suffer permanent damage from the cuts. Just the same, the ritual spell required them both to bleed into the bowl between them, mixing their blood together. From here Ishtar painted a series of runes with her fingertips in a mixture of their blood, along Nick’s shoulder blades, and down his biceps and forearms, and he did the same to her. The runes on each of their bodies were different, one denoting that she was binding her soul to his, and he was the one being bound to. 

Once Nick was finished, Ishtar smiled softly to herself. He had insisted that she have a way to check to make sure that he got all the runes perfect, which was why they had a handheld mirror inside the circle. It had to be inside, they couldn’t leave the circle before the bonding was complete, or it would dissipate the runes, and they’d have to start again from scratch. She checked, and sure enough, thanks to her guidance, and his careful following of the guide drawing, he got them just right. 

Taking his hands in hers, she grasped them and began the final steps of the ritual. The demonic language of the spell flowed from her tongue seamlessly as she spoke the words to bind herself to him. To give her soul to him for the rest of her life, all of her lives, with every death and rebirth. Just as he would bare her soul mark from here on, he was in her heart always.

The moment the words ended, the runes seemed to melt into one long line on both of their skin and flowed into the air forming a scarlet ribbon made of their blood. It flowed through the air, and wound its way around their arms. One wrap around each arm, before tightening around their skin, as if to act as the very binding, before the blood ribbon fading and sank into their skin. This was their red string of fate, it was always going to be a part of them, and Ishtar would have it no other way.

“It’s done.”

Seeing Nick beaming back at her,

“It’s finished?”

Her eyes flickered down to the side of his neck slightly with a smile, “Have a look for yourself, Sunshine.” She held up the mirror for him to have a look at himself. Ishtar watched him as he held up the handheld mirror to see the mirror image of the vines that ran down the side of her neck down the bare side of his neck, the side that was previously unmarked. Seeing the way he practically radiated pure joy at that moment, sunshine, just as she always called him.

“It’s perfect. Now, every time I look in the mirror, I get to be reminded how lucky I am to be bonded to you, Princess.”

Dividers by @saradika-graphics

[ngnwnchstr-arch]

the  whisperers      (    and  lydia    )      supernatural  arc.      these  thoughts  are  jumbled,    but  here  i  go;      once  an  ordinary  mom  named  dee,    dee  came  to  survive  a  possession  when  another  hunter  saved  her.    unfortunately,    dee      (    like  nick  with  lucifer    )      found  herself  almost  addicted  to  the  power  that  came  with  being  a  vessel    &    sought  out  for  more,    allowing  temporary  possessions  just  for  the  high.    each  possession  chipped  away  a  little  piece  of  her  soul  until  there  wasn’t  one  left.      —      just  a  human  monster.    she  eventually  found  a  way  to  encase  demons  within  her  via  some  new  form  of  anti  -  possession  tattoo,    essentially  allowing  her  to  trap  them  within,    their  power  in  her  control  rather  than  her  control  in  their  power.    during  this  time,    alpha  murdered  her  husband  in  front  of  their  daughter  for  trying  to  intervene.    she  then  began  to  live  a  very  dark  life,    luring  in  people  just  as  twisted  as  her    &    creating    the  whisperers,    a  pack  of  monsters  that  found  a  way  to  use  demons  to  commit  their  atrocious  crimes.    poor  lydia  was  dragged  along;      where  else  could  she  go?

negan  was  still  in  his  kind  of  a  prisoner  era      (    courtesy  of  another  hunter,    who  also  cut  his  throat    )      for  most  of  this,    and  his  path  crossed  lydia’s  when  that  same  hunter  temporarily  held  her  to  find  out  information  on  her  mother.    during  this  time,    lydia    &    negan  bonded,    with  negan  making  an  active  decision  to  defend  lydia  against  anyone  looking  to  hurt  her.    eventually,    negan  and  this  hunter  joined  forces,    deciding  they  now  had  a  mutual  enemy    &    they  needed  a  monster  like  negan  to  take  out  a  monster  like  alpha.    negan  infiltrates  the  whisperers,    convincing  alpha  he  desired  to  be  one  of  them.    this  later  leads  to  alpha  commanding  negan  to  bring  her  daughter  to  her,    with  the  intention  to  kill  her.    negan    ＂    kidnaps    ＂    lydia,    hiding  her.    he  gives  alpha  exactly  one  chance  to  make  a  better  decision    &    when  she  makes  it  clear  she  won’t,    he    .  .  .    y’know,    chops  off  her  head.    he  also  almost  dies  saving  lydia  from  beta,    alpha’s  second  in  command.

the  whisperers  briefly  turn  to  negan  as  their  new  alpha,    but  he  says  fuck  no  and  returns  to  the  saviors.    he  briefly  considers  taking  lydia  with  him,    but  for  the  first  time  in  a  very  fucking  long  time,    negan  feels  a  human  connection  towards  someone.    he  gives  a  shit.    hunter  still resentful  over  negan’s  previous  actions  tells  him  if  he  really  cared,    he’d  leave  her  behind    &    for  once,    he  listens.    he  decides  she’s  seen  too  much  violence    &    leaves  without  saying  goodbye,    thinking  this  is  a  better  option  for  her  than  bringing  her  into  his  world.

[waitingformyfavoritesongs]

4 may 2023 Thursday 2:13 am pt

yesterday? Incubus stabbed something inside my body several times . I’m not sure if it was an organ. Probably was. Feels like it got completely destroyed. All day I was in pain. Sore. Difficulty breathing Bcz of it. And he’s still burning 🔥 my rib cage area too which also makes it harder to breathe 🧘🏻‍♀️. He is still eating flesh with acid. I resigned fighting on the Sierra LaMar case and the carter Ruth case and child rape in general. It seems the consensus of the powerful is that whatever heinous crimes happen to children 👶 and women are righteous. Even if it was decided a long time ago b4 conception of the human. Incubus defends that what happened to dugard as righteous, and the kidnapping and prostitution of minors is righteous. That’s why the police are allowed to get away with those crimes Bcz they are righteous. I already tried telling people more than a year ago but nothing still seems to be done ✅ about it. And I’m still given the run around at hospitals 🏥 and people in general . 2:20 am pt and treated horribly. I don’t feel well. He’s killed me already. I don’t like 👍 people for sure now. Acid throat pain 2:22 am pt. So I can’t trust demon lord with demon angels. I think everyone is corrupt Bcz of what this system is designed to do but incubus excuses it all including child rape of dugard and Ruth. He makes me think 💭 that I’m bad Bcz of a few occasions. Sometimes I believe in it. But moments b4 writing ✍️ this I suddenly don’t believe. But it doesn’t matter . Bcz he killed me. For sure he will use all his powers to lie to me. To delay the progress of the Sierra LaMar case Bcz I connect it to him in 2001. A repeat of history. That I thought 💭 he was guilty of in 2017. But I found no support in 2017/2018 to now. 2:27 am pt I’m trying to remember my addresses but it’s starting to get fuzzy. 😖😭 2:28 am pt 5585? 5855? Fuzzzy. 2:29 am pt it doesn’t matter. He’s scaring me for some reason for trying to remember the address. Gurgle hot butt 😫😩😖😭🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵 he’s given me a hard time all 6 years. I think he really lied to me about being my husband. Nick carter looks like he knows I’m dying 😵. 2:31 am pt how do you know if someone is good? By their genes 🧬? Is there a good person gene? A bad person gene 🧬? Been seeing auto save green box through keyboard ⌨️. 2:32 am pt if you do things to make an enemy out of someone only Bcz you want to? Then you’re not going to get any good feeling back from them. 2:34 am pt

2:35 am pt he still gave me misleading signs today which probably was meant to insult me in actuality. He already hated me b4 the end of 2005. I am resigned to telling any more of my story Bcz it seems people wanted to hold their ground no matter what and doubt that anything I say would be true. 2:38 am pt they have chosen their king. The way that makes people born only to be miserable and sacrificed. 2:39 am pt including child rape victims. They are all hypocrites. And most likely trusted and worshipped a cano who probably engages in human s*x trafficking of minors. 2:40 am pt what makes a person a good person? Listening to demon angels? 2:41 am pt

2:43 am pt yup that’s the way the incubus wants it. He scalded my hip. Wow it doesn’t matter what you fight for. He really wants to silence all his victims of rape. Look at Shannon Ruth. You think the doctors would have found something! I’m shocked that Carter is still not in court. It’s like he’s a god. 2:45 am pt

3:09 am pt incubus won’t let me load anymore pictures including from his music videos and I can’t watch wake up call anymore with captions. 3:10 am pt

I think he’s an ugly demon angels with ugly joy. 3:11 am pt

4:06 am pt by the time I was 6 years old I think I tried not to get caught humping. So it’s trickier to catch by 6 years old.! The incubus probably made me get scared or something to get caught. I think by 5/6 years old I used my hands. 4:09 am pt

4:53 am pt I guess that’s the incubus’ big revelation: rape victims deserve to be raped including children as young as Jon benet Ramsey and Jaycee dugard. And he’s making examples out of all of us with torture and that includes Ruth, too. 4:55 am pt and they’re never going to STOP. 🎶🎼🎼🎵🎤

4:56 am pt you’re all disgusting incubus

5:50 am pt I think if you rape someone it means you are inconsiderate. = bad trait. 5:51 am pt

6:56 am pt incubus burned my skull with acid many times this morning. 6:57 am pt

7:02 am pt 7:04 am pt I don’t like incubus = wicked/evil 7:05 am pt child rapists = incubus

7:07 am pt Nick Carter’s tattoo = incubus tattoo 7:08 am pt ki in katakana. All the witnesses are probably phony. 7:09 am pt

7:10 am pt someone should arrest him and his “witnesses.” 7:11 am pt

7:17 am pt incubus attacked my vag and eyes with acid again.

9:48 pmpt even though everyone else got more air conditioning than me, it don’t mean that they didn’t experience heat/hot weather like I did. 9:49 pmpt my sister went to the Philippines, too. 9:50 pmpt

10:01 pmpt when I saw Scott again in 2010 he showed me drawings he did if a building. And (searing stinging hot pain vag 10:02 pmpt) I think in a different day in 2010 he said he was thinking of transferring to UCB. I don’t recall if he said for what program/major. But Bcz I thought UCB was weird, which I didn’t say out loud - ran into people who played mind games/gaslighting us in first encounters, I suggested he go to (acid head pain brain 🧠 10:06 pmpt) uc Santa Cruz . Bcz when I look at him I think trees. On his Instagram you will see a picture of a mountain? With trees? Not that it matters. But I went to college for 6 years, and I didn’t think I ever ran into him at community college even though Jessica and Q went there too. 10:09 pmpt

[dramaticdads]

Diversity win!

This is the dumbest thing I’ve written in ages. The plot is that Sparrow learns he’s aroace from the canonically asexual FBI agent. That’s it, that’s the fic.

Word count: 2747

CW: Strong internalized aphobia, feeling broken, sex mention

Summary: During an interrogation, Sparrow has a surprisingly insightful conversation with an FBI agent about his romantic and sexual orientation.

Sparrow kept his eyes on the ground without letting his glare slip. He wasn’t going to let himself break this easily, as he was guided into a private interrogation room. He was no stranger to experiences like this. No stranger to getting mixed up with dangerous people. And he would escape it, eventually. All he needed was a plan, and even without one, his allies would possibly help him out eventually.

“Take a seat,” the man at the other end of the desk said, and when Sparrow did not comply the agent that held onto him pushed him down into the chair. Soon after, the door closed, leaving the interrogator alone with Sparrow. There was a moment of calculative silence before the man spoke again, “Do you know why you’re here?”

“I had enough of that phrasing from teachers in middle school. I’m not falling for that.” Sparrow stated plainly.

The FBI agent chuckled in response, “That’s fair, that’s fair.” he tapped the table but didn’t let his eyes leave Sparrow for a second, “Let’s start with a simple question: What do you know about Nick Foster?”

Sparrow shrugged, “Nothing.”

“You and I both know that’s a lie.”

Sparrow didn’t respond to that.

The FBI agent sighed, “That’s what I thought you’d say,” there was a beat of silence, before the FBI agent opened a drawer in the desk. He rummaged around and eventually grabbed something, a jar, which he gently placed on the table in front of him. Sparrow raised an eyebrow, “I would like you to take a whiff of this powder.”

“I don’t do drugs.” Sparrow muttered half-jokingly.

“That’s not exactly what this is.”

“What’s even the point then?” Sparrow asked with a slight smirk. He was so tired, but he couldn’t let himself slip up.

The FBI agent sighed and opened the jar. “This powder ensures that you’re telling me the truth. If you smell it, I will too. I’m sure we can find information that’s beneficial to both parties.”

Sparrow huffed, “No offense, but I don’t really care about the government’s second-rate demon knowledge.”

“So you admit you have knowledge we don’t?”

“Not necessarily, but at least I don’t have an entire government organization about it.”

Then prove to me that you have nothing of interest.” The agent said, swirling the jar gently with one hand, “If you don’t, I can’t promise the safety of your family.”

Sparrow frowned a little too quickly for his own liking and could instantly tell that the agent had noticed. He sighed, “God you’re unprofessional about this. I can recognize a bluff.”

“Is that a chance you’re willing to take?”

My family can defend themselves he wanted to say, but despite everything that had happened, there was a burning sensation in his chest that he didn’t even want them to try. The thought of Rebecca, of his kids, and of how no matter how hard he tried, danger was hiding around every corner. He sighed, “You first.”

The FBI agent smiled with a little too much self-satisfaction, took off the lid and smelled the powder. He reached it out for Sparrow to do the same.

“Would you hurt my family?” Sparrow dared to ask before he complied.

“Yes,” the agent responded with far too little hesitation.

Sparrow leaned forward, feeling quite silly as he smelled the powder. He was caught off guard by the smell. It was like a home he could no longer pinpoint the location of. Like Lark’s presence beside him, like his father and mother’s warm embrace.

The agent smiled at him, a little softer now, “Are you ready to talk?”

“I’m never ready to talk,” Sparrow responded, the phrasing floating off his tongue strangely.

The FBI agent let out a small laugh, “I will warn you that sometimes the truth can surprise even yourself.”

Sparrow didn’t respond to that, trying not to let himself talk more than necessary. There was no reason to, when he hadn’t been asked a direct question.

“What do you know about Nick Foster?” The agent eventually asked.

Sparrow bit his lip and hardly had the time to think before he spoke, but was relieved at the place his mind decided to begin nonetheless, “He liked minions as a kid and I think he still does. He’s part-demon, has two dads because of some timeline mix-up and a court case, he used to be a real narc but see, his dad actually came from a guitar-”

“That’s not what I meant,” The FBI agent interrupted, “What does that even- no, it’s on me, I should’ve been more specific. Do you know how to get into hell?”

“No,” Sparrow stated, ”I don’t.”

“Do you know someone who does?”

Sparrow shrugged, “I knew Nick and his family,”

“Did you have a falling out?” 

“Yeah, we did,” Sparrow responded darkly, unsure why that part was even any of the agent’s business, “Have you had a falling out with any of your friends?” He figured it was a good idea to direct a question the other way. There was less to be revealed if the spotlight was moved around.

“I have,” the FBI agent nodded, “This is not an easy line of work.”

“Neither is mine,” the words drifted out before he had the power to stop them. He wasn’t sure if he had that power in the first place. It seemed too tempting to share, “Do you have a family?”

“I do. Are you trying to stop me from questioning you?”

“I am,” Sparrow smiled somewhat, “Have you done this before?”

“Yes. It’s surprisingly freeing.”

“Is it? How so?” Sparrow asked, not really caring.

“Well, you can tell how it feels. It’s nice and calming, and it’s a good way to make room for yourself to admit things you find it too difficult to think about.”

“Like how you’re working for a shitty and pretentious government organization?”

“That’s a little harsh.”

“I’m just being honest.”

“Where is Nick right now?”

“Hell if I know,” Sparrow thought for a moment, “Yeah, hell, if I know him.”

“Tell me,” the agent moved forward in his chair, “If you no longer speak to Nick, why are you trying to protect him?”

“Because I don’t want the government sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong and I also still care about him,” the last words came out shakier than he intended, “Where does your family live?”

The agent went somewhat pale, “In this city,” he quickly continued to speak, “Would you hurt an innocent family to get back at me?”

“Probably not, but you’d be a hypocrite if you make me leave them out of this entirely after your threats.”

“That’s fair enough. Who in your family are you most afraid to lose?”

“My kids.” Sparrow responded, surprisingly relieved at the answer.

“And then your wife?”

“No, then my brother.” there was an uncomfortable shiver throughout his body at needing to correct that.

The agent seemed surprised, “Really?”

“Suppose so, but he can defend himself.”

“And your wife can’t?”

“She’d probably be able to.”

“Probably?”

“I don’t know! I would never involve her in any of this, I’m in lo-” he abruptly cut himself off, the words faltering as he tried to say them out loud. As if he’d interrupted himself with a thought that never came. His heart skipped a beat.

The FBI agent furrowed his eyebrow, “What?”

“My wife, I’m in lo- in lo-” he tried to push the words out. Tried to feel all the right feelings in his heart to prove that he was speaking the truth, but the words weren’t budging. Got stuck in his throat before he could add another sound, “Fuck I- I love her and I want her to be safe.”

There was a beat of silence, “Are you alright?”

“Not in particular.” Sparrow cringed at the words.

“You seem kind of out of it.”

One stupid attempt at saying the righ thing had given the agent an excellent opportunity to get under his skin. Had let out something deep inside him that he’d worked so hard to keep hidden, even if he was always urgently aware of it. One miswording, and the agent already had something to use against him.

“I love my wife. I’m in lov- fuck I…” all color drained from his face and his heartbeat seemed so much louder. The room seemed to dissolve around him as he tried to keep his breathing steady and calm, “This isn’t relevant to this interrogation.” He tried.

There was silence between them. Sparrow was much more aware of it than he’d been in a while. After a few moments that lasted an eternity, the FBI agent spoke, “Do you want to talk about that?”

“I mean, yes, but it’s only because of the stupid powder you gave me.”

"You're not in love with your wife?"

"I'm supposed to be in love with her," Sparrow answered honestly, "But I've never been able to get that right. I always knew that, deep down."

There was an odd look in the agent's eyes, "Are you in love with anyone else?"

"No. I've never been in love with anyone," he felt tears in his eyes and this was so stupid, he shouldn't be admitting to any of this in front of this poser of an organization, "There's always been something wrong with me on that front. I've never been able to feel the right things like everyone else." 

"I don't think something's wrong with you because of that." The agent said, quietly.

“You don’t understand. It’s… I don’t even find her attractive. I can tell she’s pretty but when I kiss her it doesn’t make me feel anything. Whether she’s naked or clothed it doesn’t make any difference to me. And- and it’s not just her, I don’t find anyone attractive regardless of gender. It doesn’t matter how hot they are, it doesn’t make me feel anything. I-”

“Me neither,” the FBI agent suddenly blurted out.

Sparrow abruptly stopped speaking. A beat. “What?”

“Have you… I don’t know how to ask this, but have you ever heard the words… Aromantic and asexual?”

Sparrow blinked away some of the tears he still had in his eyes, “What?”

“I’m… Alright, I’m not trying to label you or anything, but it sounds like you could benefit from looking into those things. It’s a… It’s a whole spectrum of experiences.” The agent seemed strangely serious as he spoke.

“What does this have to do with anything?”

“One time, when I was under the effects of this powder, I had a similar experience, so I figured I’d just let you know that it might not be as uncommon as you think it is.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” Sparrow felt as if he was stuck in another world for a little. In that moment right before he went from one world to the next.

“I think you might be aromantic? And asexual too. Some people call that aroace, I think. Aromantic is when you feel little to no romantic attraction and asexual is when you feel little to no sexual attraction.” 

Sparrow felt like he couldn’t breathe for a few moments, “I think I might’ve heard of it before,” he stated, very slowly, trying to remember words he’d taken note of offhandedly in the past. Aromantic. Asexual. Aroace. The words felt like arrows straight to the head dissolving into water when it was too late to prevent the damage. “I’m not- I can’t be, I…” there were so many broken things about him, and this had always been one of them. One of those things he noted and kept to himself, because he couldn’t say it out loud, couldn’t risk it all falling apart. And maybe there was something comforting in knowing there were other people in the world where the right feelings regarding this particular thing were out of reach.

But the most powerful thought in his mind right then was not one about community or one about similar experiences to connect with.

“So I can’t fix it,” he whispered, an admission that poisoned every part of him, “I was never even capable of loving her?”

“Well, that’s not really how I’d put it-”

“So I have just been lying to her? It was doomed from the beginning and I didn’t even have the decency to realize I was a lost cause even when everything indicated that was the case?”

“You do love her. You could say that easily,” the agent clarified, “I don’t know much about her or your relationship, but it doesn’t seem like you stayed with her to manipulate her. It’s incredibly hard to identify feelings that aren’t there. Trust me, I’m married myself and I didn’t let myself realize I was asexual until recently. I had sex because of societal expectations and because I could always tell my wife really wanted to…”

“I want to want to,” Sparrow felt desperate as he spoke, “I can’t even describe how much I want to feel the right things. We have kids, I have a family to keep together. It’s so so hard to keep it together in the first place. A-all of it has been broken for years, ever since we were kids, and all I want… All I want is a normal family. A simple one. I don’t- I don’t want to hurt her. She’s one of the few good things I have left.” his voice cracked at the final words, the tears streaming down his cheeks without his involvement.

The FBI agent seemed to ponder the words for a few moments, “It’s not a simple thing to deal with, of course it isn’t. I mean, I don’t know your whole situation, man, but… This isn’t the sort of situation where either of you is the bad guy. Your wife probably never wanted you to feel broken or accidentally cross any boundaries, and of course you never meant to hurt her either. You have a family that you clearly love and want to protect, and that’s a really important thing, but you can’t keep lifting everything at the cost of your own self and comfort, you know?”

Sparrow tried to even out his breathing, attempting to count the seconds for each inhale and exhale. “I- I can’t risk this. It’s… It’s too important.”

“I mean, no worries. This isn’t a thing you have to figure out overnight,” the agent explained, “But stuff like this builds up, doesn’t it? Even after I realized I was asexual it took me a while to tell my wife about it, but it was a freeing experience in the end. It was really helpful to work out some new boundaries between us, and I feel more present in myself than ever.”

“I can’t just… I can’t just tell her I was never in love with her. I can’t tell her that she wasted- wasted all this time on me.”

The agent shrugged, “I feel like she wouldn’t have chosen to stay with you for this long if it was all a waste.”

Sparrow repeated the words in his mind. Aromantic. Asexual. “Aroace…” he whispered.

“I get it if it takes a while to take all that in. Take your time.”

“I really fucked all of this up… I’ve worked so hard to keep it all together, but really taping it all together makes all the broken bits show when you walk too closely.” he tried to wipe the tears from his eyes.

“Yeah I- I get it, you seem to have been through a lot,” the FBI agent nodded with a certain level of understanding. He met Sparrow’s eyes, “But for what it’s worth… You’re not broken. You’re a whole person, even if that person doesn’t always live up to everyone else’s expectations.”

Sparrow could barely force out another word, “Thanks-”

Suddenly, an alarm blared from the ceiling, causing both of them to freeze up. After a few fragile seconds, Sparrow managed to smirk weakly, “Looks like my escape is here.”

The FBI agent’s eyes widened, but before the man could provide a rebuttal, Sparrow felt Lark’s familiar arm on his. Many of the tensions he’d felt prior immediately dissolved.

It wasn’t all solved. There was so much he didn’t know, so much he didn’t understand, so much he needed to wrap his head around before anything could be done.

Though as he escaped the FBI the words lingered in his mind.

Aromantic. Asexual. Aroace.

[tinyboxxtink]

"...So I Married A Monster" *Chapter 2*

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

Man we just skipped the happy fun times here and went straight into the fire, didn't we? Zero to hundred REAL quick.

What can I say guys, writing is therapy. And I have a lot of demons.

Eventually we'll get some fluff....eventually. Maybe.

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------------------

Rafael went to his car and began to think. He had to trust you would listen to what you said, if you loved him like he loved you, you would. But the thought that terrified him more than losing you right now was that William Lewis was back, and on the loose. He dialed Liv’s number as he sped back towards New York City.

“Liv,” He said very seriously as soon as she answered. “He’s back. Lewis is back,”

Meanwhile

You started to pull yourself together when you heard a small noise from the corner of the room. You saw Maggie standing there with her mouth open.

“Oh baby--” You stood up and walked over to her.

“Why was he saying that, mom?” She had lost her sassy demeanor, and was now just a scared little girl.

“I…” You put a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t know, baby girl,”

“I bet it’s because he’s jealous,” She scoffed, now resuming her angry flippant self. “He’s jealous dad is a better dude than him. I don’t know why--”

“We are not getting into this again, Margaret,” You used her full name, letting her know you meant business.

“You don’t…” Maggie paused. “You don’t believe him, do you mom?”

“What?” You blinked, trying to decide whether or not to answer honestly. Her big doe eyes looked at you, begging you to confirm that her dad was the man she thought he was.

“...No, of course not sweetie,” You shook your head and pulled her into a huge hug.

But you weren’t entirely sure at all.

-------------------

The Next Day In The SVU Office

Rafael and the squad had been working all night since he had made the call to Olivia. The squad room was now full of a corkboard full of all of William’s aliases, past transgressions, etc. Except now your name along with Maggie and Kylie’s names were added on a side stem, with “Billy Loomis?” written above it.

“So, you’re sure this chick hasn’t been helping William this whole time? Helping him hideout?” Fin asked Barba.

“What?” Rafael gasped. “No, not at all. No way,” He shook his head violently. “She didn’t even know who he was,”

“....Mmmhmm,” Fin gave the others a look.

“Look Fin I didn’t come here to here you insult my girlfriend--”

“Your girlfriend?” Nick asked. “Didn’t you say she kicked you out?”

“I don’t care, when she realizes--”

“And what if she doesn’t?” Olivia chimed in. “What if she does try to help him now?”

“Olivia!” He looked at her in betrayal. “Come on, you don’t think--”

“You said that he already convinced her to kick you out by just a few words on the phone,” Olivia pointed out. “Now that he knows you two are involved he is gonna try like hell to drive that wedge further and further,”

“But he won’t be able to if she finds out who he is,” Rafael rebutted.

“But if she won’t look, she won’t know,” Olivia stood her ground.

“She’ll look,” Rafael reiterated. “I know she will,”

----------------------

Back at your house

It was late at night, the girls were asleep and you were on your phone in your bed with a bottle of wine. You had brought a glass to bed with you, but you were drinking straight out of the bottle.

What Rafael said yesterday was eating at you. But what was eating at you more was the fact that you were starting to believe him over the man you had shared your life with for almost a decade, a man who you had two children with.

You looked at your phone which had your text thread with Rafael pulled up on it. You went through all the texts you had ever sent. The late night conversations, the little texts in the middle of the day just to say he missed you. He was so good to you, he always had been. He would never lie to you...would he?

You closed the text thread and opened up GOOGLE. You looked to the sky and asked God to forgive you for betraying the father of your children like this; but it had to be done. You typed in the name “WILLIAM LEWIS” and hit “SEARCH”.

---------------------------

At Rafael’s Home

Rafael was staring at the text thread between you from his own phone, rubbing the screen with his thumb. He wanted so badly to call you, but he knew he needed to trust you to do this on your own. Plus, he was sure you wouldn’t answer if he called anyway. While he was staring longingly at his phone, it lit up:

UNKNOWN NUMBER CALLING

He had a pit of dread forming in his stomach, but he answered the phone anyway.

“Hello?”

“Hello there, counselor,”

“How did you get this number?”

“My lovely wife gave it to me, obviously,”

“You’re lying,”

“Am I?”

“Yes, she wouldn’t do that,”

“Oh really?” He chuckled darkly. “You really think she cares about you that much?”

“I know she does,”

“Well, you know that’s really unfortunate for you, because you won’t see her or my kids again,”

“Why are you doing this?” Rafael asked. “Why do you even have a family? What are you going to do with them?!”

“What?” He laughed. “Nothing, counselor. I assure you,”

“Bullshit,”

“No actually, it’s not,” William explained. “Y’know after I had my little...adventure, in New York. I went off the grid. Wanted to live a normal life for a little while. And then I met Y/N,”

“Uh huh..” Rafael listened impatiently.

“And then I fell in love with her, and we had two beautiful girls. And I love those girls more than anything in this world, Barba,” He explained.

“You’re a fucking liar,” Rafael spit. “You don’t know how to love,”

“Believe it or not I do,” William smirked. “I just...don’t show it in a normal way,”

“Right,” Rafael rolled his eyes.

“Hey, look,” William defended. “I was in love with Y/N for a while, I really was. And then--”

“Then what?”

“Then, she got a little naggy,” William shrugged. “She got on my nerves, and I got that itch again,”

“That itch?”

“Y’know, that...itch,”

“You wanted to kill her,”

“I did,” William admitted. “But I figured killing mommy wouldn’t be something I could get past the kiddos, so I scratched that itch in other places,”

“She did say you travelled a lot…’for work’,” Rafael recalled a conversation he had about him before with you one time, in passing. If only he knew what he knew now.

“Yeah,” William chuckled to himself.

His ‘work’ was quite extensive. And it was exhausting trying to lead a double life, but he was being honest when he said he loved his girls. He really did. He loved them more than anything or anyone he had before, maybe ever. He’d never let anyone hurt them...or turn them against him.

“Anyhow,” He continued. “Y’know I may not be in love with Y/N anymore, but you know what I hate?”

“What?”

“People touching my things,” Lewis growled.

“She is not a THING, Lewis. She’s not even yours anymore,” Rafael yelled.

“See I know you’ve never been married Barba, so maybe you don’t understand this,” Lewis lowered his voice to an eerily calm manner. “But when you marry someone, in front of God and everyone you love, it creates a bond. An everlasting bond,”

“Oh give me a break--”

“And that bond, cannot be broken. ‘Till death do us part,”

“...Are you threatening her?” Rafael was vibrating with rage.

“No, of course not counselor,” William replied innocently. “However, if you were to help her break those vows….I might be forced to,”

“Excuse me?”

“Until death do us part, Barba,” William repeated. “That means either she stays faithful to me, or I’ll have to kill her,”

“Don’t you DARE touch her Lewis, do you hear me?!” Rafael’s blood was boiling.

“Well I won’t have to, as long as you leave her be,” William replied calmly.

“....You won’t get away with this,” Rafael growled.

“Oh I think I will,” William smirked. “Because if you send anyone after me, she will die,”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Rafael growled. “You just said your kids would--”

“So maybe mommy gets in a car wreck on the way home, or God forbid robbed in a parking lot!” Lewis taunted Rafael with an evil laugh.

“You’re the fucking devil, you know that?”

“Maybe, but I know I’m a man who gets what he wants,” Lewis chuckled. “I’ll let you go Barba, I know you’re a busy man. And remember, I’ll be watching!”

And with that he hung up on Rafael.

------------------

Almost immediately after hanging up with Lewis, Rafael’s phone lit up again.

Y/N CALLING

“Holy shit…” He blinked in disbelief at the phone. How did you know?

“...Y/N?”

“Rafa,” You tried to keep yourself from crying, you couldn’t wake up the girls. “Rafa I...I saw William Lewis,”

“Oh god,” Rafael put a hand over his head. “Baby, I am so, so--”

“No, I’m sorry,” You cut him off. “I should have listened to you, I should have googled him, not kicked you out,”

“You didn’t know…”

“No but you did, and I should have trusted you. That’s what you do when you--” You paused, never having had said it out loud before.

“....When you what?” He waited with bated breath.

“When you love someone,” You bit your lip, hoping it wasn’t too late to say.

“I knew it,” He smiled to himself. “I knew you loved me. I knew he was full of shit,”

“What do you mean he?” Your eyes quirked.

“Shit,” Rafael realized he misspoke. “Um, well--”

“He called you, didn’t he?” You asked.

“...He said you gave him my number,” Rafael confessed.

“I didn’t, I swear to God Rafa I didn’t,” Tears stung your eyes. “I-I don’t know how he--”

“It’s fine, carino,” He assured you. “He has his ways, I know that,”

“Okay…” You said softly, not really sure he believed you. Damn Billy. Damn him to hell.

“Speaking of ‘his ways’--,” Rafael added with an uncomfortable clearing of his throat.

Oh God. What was he going to say?

“He...we…” Rafael tried to get the words out, he really didn’t want to say them out loud.

“He what, Rafael?” You pressed him.

“He said that I can’t see you again,” He closed his eyes as the words fell out of his mouth.

“What?” You nearly dropped the wine bottle all over your sheets.

“I can’t--” He started to repeat himself.

“No,” You cut him off. “No that is not--” There was no way in hell Billy was going to keep you from Rafael, not now.

“He said he would kill you, Y/N,” Rafael said very pensively.

“Well why hasn’t he done it already?!” You raised your voice, quickly looking to the door to make sure the girls hadn’t heard you. They hadn’t.

“He said your kids wouldn’t forgive him, and he really does love them,” He relayed what Lewis had told him.

“Ugh,” You gagged. “I can’t believe that son of a--”

“Y/N I believe him,” Rafael interjected.

“About what?”

“All of it,” He sighed. “I...I think he really does love your daughters,”

“...Really?”

“Yeah, he said that’s why he left. He wanted to scratch his...itch, somewhere else,”

“Oh my god…” You wanted to vomit thinking about all the “business trips” Billy used to take. If you only knew what kind of “business” he was in.

“...And I also think he’ll be good on his word of having you killed,”

“Having me killed?” You snorted. “By who?”

“Guys like him, they know plenty of...dark people,” He rubbed his eyes, he was getting a headache from all of this worrying. “He probably has people watching your house right now,”

“No, there’s no--” You looked out your window and down the street. Nothing looked out of place, but now you were paranoid. “...There’s no way, I would notice. I’m pretty sure,”

“Look we may be worried about nothing,” The idea just occurred to Rafael’s mind.

“Nothing? Really?” You laughed sarcastically.

“Well look, if Lewis thinks that you believed him over me, just...just keep him thinking that,” He hated the idea of you pretending to still...like, Lewis but he needed you safe.

“You want me to just go about my life like I don’t know my ex-husband is a psychopath?!” You hissed, really attempting to keep your voice down. The girls definitely could not hear any of this. Ever.

“Just for now,” Rafael assured you.

“Do you really think he’ll think I chose to believe him over you?” You twirled your hair nervously.

“Well, I mean you didn’t--” He paused. “You’ve never mentioned me before, maybe he’ll just think we were a...a fling or something,”

“I was introducing you to my kids!” You cried. “I think that’s a little more than a fling,”

“Okay fair point,” Rafael shook his head. “But, it would make perfect sense that you would just believe him at his word that I was the bad guy, right? He’s the father of your children, I’m just some guy you were having sex with for a few months,”

“No you aren’t,” You bit back tears hearing him drag your relationship like that. “You know you’re more than that,”

“I mean for the sake of the lie, amor,” He said with a somewhat endearing tone. He liked the fact that you made sure he knew that was a bunch of shit.

“I guess,” You shrugged, still not liking the idea of having to shit on what you and Rafael had. Even if it was just acting. But you had to, for your life. And for your children’s lives.

“Rafael, what if he suspects something? What if he kidnaps the girls?” Your mind was racing with worst case scenarios.

“Y/N I’m telling you, if you just play it cool, he’ll never think anything else about this,” Rafael tried to comfort you through the phone, but he knew it was somewhat fruitless without him being able to touch and hold you.

“....And I’m just supposed to live like this?” You felt tears in your voice. “Just...just never see you again? After I just told you I--”

“Just for now, mi vida,” He tried not to to start crying himself. He had to be the strong one here. “Just until I can-- figure something else out,”

“...I just want you here,” You whimpered.

Your whimpers pierced his heart like a million knives. All he wanted in that moment was to be next to you, holding you while you cried. Protecting you with his life. But he knew in reality, this was how he had to protect you. And your girls.

“I know…” He nodded his head, a few tears dropping down his face. “I just want to be there,”

“...I-I need to go, it’s late. The girls will be getting up for school soon,” You wiped tears from your own face, putting the wine bottle back in your side table.

“Alright, mi amor,” He said softly, not really wanting to hang up. He didn’t know when the next time he’d be able to hear your voice was going to be, and he wanted every second he had left with you.

“Don’t…” He bit back the sobs in his tone. “Don’t call me, or text me. Wait for me to contact you, okay?”

“What?” Your voice went up a register higher. Now you didn’t want to hang up with him, if he was going to ghost you like this. “No, Raf please, we haven’t--”

“I know,” He rubbed his eyes. “I know we’ve never not talked for even a day, I know. And it’s going to kill me, just know that. You’re my best friend, Y/N,”

“Really?” You blinked in surprise. “Even over Olivia?”

“...Don’t tell her,” He cry-laughed. He knew that would be the last time he laughed for a while.

“You’re my best friend too, Rafael,” You were really crying now. “Ever since I met you, you’ve made my life better. And now I’ve gone and fucked it--"

“Hey,” He stopped you with a stern tone. “No. You didn’t do anything wrong here, you understand me? That’s-- that’s not why I’m cutting you off, okay? I’m not punishing you, please know that,”

“...I know,” You replied in a soft voice, almost like a little girl scared of the dark.

“Okay, good,” He breathed in relief. He couldn’t live with himself if you blamed yourself for this mess.

“I promise-- I swear to you, as soon as I think it’s safe I will come straight to you,” He promised. “The very second,”

“Okay,” You nodded in a more controlled, mature tone. You had to be strong now, you didn’t want him to think you were a blubbering idiot without him. You had survived three long years on your own, you could do it again. You hoped.

“I love you, Y/N,” Rafael repeated it for the third time that day. You wished you could record it and play it over and over again, falling asleep to it.

“I love you too Rafael,” You sniffled.

“...Talk soon,” He said softly, then hung up before he could change his mind about the whole thing.

You both cried yourself to sleep that night.

[skellebonez]

I hear people talking about Sandy basically being a human shield and it gave me an idea with #79 for Silktea Angst. Huntsman notices some scars on Sandy's back and when he tells Huntsy he got them while protecting his friends it leads the spider demon to think, less then highly of team MK. (not that he thought highly of them to begin with) - Pixel Anon

Well I can’t argue with that! After all... I was hoping to expedite a chapter two of a certain fic I started...

How did you get that scar?

Huntsman went over his clothes one last time before returning back to the spider lair, making absolutely sure there was no left over cat hair clinging to his coat or pants. No one could know where he just was. No one could know anything about the conversation he and Sandy has just shared. No one could find out about...

A shudder wove its way up his back, born of concern and fear of being discovered. He couldn’t believe he told Sandy that much.

But he did. He hadn't told the other man every single thing, but if anyone knew he'd certainly have hell to pay. Something about Sandy, the warmth and openness he held despite what Huntsman had done, just drew all of it out of him. Maybe it was the fact that the warmth he exuded was such a stark contrast to the coldness added to his home since the Lady Bone Demon arrived.

He couldn't even blame it on the idea that the tea was secretly a truth serum. He'd told everything before he'd even taken that first sip.

And then that smile...

A thump resounded through his chest.

... oh.

"... oh no," Huntsman whispered to himself as he snuck back into his home, careful not to alert anyone to his presence and careful not to let his internal revelation stumble him as he felt that same odd thump in his chest as before. The one from when the other smiled at him, the second smile that was far softer than the ones he was greeted with before.

It was at that moment Huntsman knew... he may have messed up.

~

"You're back sooner than I expected," Sandy said nonchalantly as he opened his door at 5 past midnight the next evening. He gave him the other kind of smile, the one that was too wide and open for his liking, and welcomed him inside without question.

Huntsman hadn't needed to sneak out this time at least. He'd had time to plan, make sure that he covered his tracks properly like a good hunter did when going after their prey, and to come up with a reasonable explanation for his absence in the night. Given what they were planning behind the Lady Bone Demon's back that was easy enough.

While Syntax would be a better lead for finding certain things they need they needed him back in the lair to plan and build. Huntsman, on the other hand, could sneak and find and bring things back much easier than his more technologically impressed counterpart. And while he may have lied about where exactly he was going to hopefully get what he needed, Sandy...

He knew Sandy wasn't just muscles and tea, even if he had mocked him for it before. The boat he lived on was proof enough of that.

"I want to tell you more," he started slowly, sitting down on the couch and watching as the calico cat that had approached him last time stood and sat on the arm across from him. "And... Ask for your assistance."

Sandy paused what he was doing, tea cups only left partly filled for a moment before he continued as. "With what?"

"My Queen has a plan," Huntsman began, and this time he didn't hold anything back.

He told Sandy about what really happened at the festival. How he'd seen her true face after stealing the demon revealing mirror. How MK had snuck into their lair and had fought Spider Queen in shrunken form (he did not miss the shock and confusion and then a sad realization on Sandy's face at this revelation, but shouldn't he have known that already? it wasn't that long before he'd gone to retrieve the flower in the first place). How they had a plan, something that may just be enough to halt her provided they were able to complete it. How he and his two counterparts had looked at their plans and realized they may not have enough time on their own.

How Sandy's offer was probably one of the only things he could think of that could help them at this point. When they were quickly running out of time.

Sandy had brought him some tea half way through his explanation and said nothing the entire time. Just kept watching him and nodding his head to show he was listening.

"And now you know exactly the depths of the trouble we're in," Huntsman finished gravely. He held his empty cup in his hands, glowering down at the loose leaves in the bottom.

"I'm gonna be honest with you," Sandy started, swirling his own cup with a far off look on his face. "I didn't... I didn't know most of this. MK never told us about going into the sewers."

"What?" Huntsman asked incredulously, looking at the other in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

"I am!" Sandy insisted, face firm and worried. "Until last night I didn't even know it was the Lady Bone Demon you were working for! He hasn't told us any of this, just that someone was working with the Spider Queen and that's it. This explains his reaction to the game though..." He trailed off, looking deeper into his cup as if the tea would spill all of the secrets he needed to know.

"I thought heroes were supposed to be more honest than that." Huntsman scowled, jolting a bit as the calico climbed into his lap. At least this time he didn't have to worry about removing every cat hair, stray cats were common in the city and it wouldn't be odd for him to encounter one while out, though he would certainly still try.

"MK's a good kid," Sandy said softly, standing with a sigh and rubbing the back of his neck. "But... I think he thinks he has to deal with this on his own. To prove something."

"That's stupid."

This time Sandy leveled him with a glower, rough and harsh and not unlike the one he was met with during their fight. It made him freeze, a cold shudder running through him at the memory of the scenery around them he'd watched whiz past him as he ran.

The mountain that was more crescent moon hole than mountain now.

But that glower only lasted a moment, Sandy sighing and rubbing his face. He looked... tired. More tired than just from staying up late... had he slept after their last encounter?

"MK's not stupid," he defended as he sat back down. "But I can't deny that his choice to not tell us anything, no matter the reason, is foolish at best and dangerous at worst. I need to talk to him."

"Will he believe you figured all this out on your own?" Huntsman raised an eyebrow. The calico's claws dug into his legs as she, he was certain the cat was a she now, made herself comfortable.

"No. But I don't have to tell him you told me now if you want these two visits to remain a secret. I'll tell him you said something when I got the flower that was making me worry and that I put the pieces together over the last few days."

This made Huntsman pause himself, looking at Sandy with a narrowed gaze. "That's... shockingly generous of you."

"I know what wanting privacy feels like," Sandy said easily and something akin to a cold knife stuck itself in Huntsman's stomach as he remembered their fight once again. "...Thank you."

Again, this surprised Huntsman (there was a lot of that about this night it seemed). "For... what?"

"Telling me all this," Sandy said with a gesture of his arm and that damn smile. "You didn't have to. But you trusted me enough to do that anyway."

Trust... did Huntsman trust Sandy? Or was his just concerned enough for his Queen and his own life to push any distrust aside for the sake of their survival? Or was he just lonely with only a distracted queen, his old companion, and the newest addition who he already didn't see eye to eye with as regular company that didn't show frustration at his presence? So lonely that someone smiling at him so genuinely made his heart (yes, he was certain that was his heart now) thump harder than he ever remembered it doing in his life.

"... don't mention it," it what he chose to reply with instead of confronting any of those thoughts head on. Especially that last one.

He could unpack that later. Or never. Preferably never, but something told him that wasn't going to happen.

"Well!" Sandy suddenly announced, standing up and clapping his hands dramatically with that too wide smile back on his face. "I'm hungry! And I have just the perfect snack for this next batch of tea!"

Before Huntsman could argue that he wasn't hungry himself Sandy had turned around and was off into his kitchen, the sudden movement making the calico cat startle and jump off Huntsman's lap.

And then the spider demon was alone.

The temptation to take what he needed from the boat, wherever it may be hidden, and leave was strong. So strong. But he knew that if he did that the rest of his plan would be for nothing. He knew they needed more time and that wasn't something they could buy. Not anymore, not when the Lady Bone Demon had so much of what she needed already. But more help could make up for that time... and as much as he knew that his Queen would be furious with him for going behind her back, for seeking help from one of the Monkie Kid's friends of all people, he cared more about them living than her wrath at this moment.

Maybe he would have felt different if he was faced with that wrath head on, but he wasn't.

So instead, for whatever reason he told himself that wasn't just "sheer curiosity", he stood and followed the other man part way into the kitchen as quietly as he could manage and watch. And then he noticed something he'd seen before.

He couldn’t help but stare. He had noticed them during their first encounter on his boat, but hadn’t paid attention, really. Too focused on the conversation at hand and worrying about how this could all go horribly wrong. But now... now he couldn’t help but stare at Sandy’s back, wide and vast and muscled and scarred. Little nicks and wide chasms of slices and cuts and stabs littered his spine and shoulders, each of varying levels of age and healing. So much more than on his chest.

Sandy said he didn’t fight unless he had to, so... Huntsman had to ask.

"How did you get that scar?"

"Which one?" Sandy countered almost immediately, and Huntsman realized he may have been more aware of his surroundings when in his own home than Huntsman had given his credit for.

"Any of them. All of them. Take your pick."

He didn't look away from his back. Sandy didn't turn to face him.

"Most of them are old," Sandy started, the scars moving as his shoulders moved to prepare whatever it was he was making. "Pretty obvious some of them are recent. I told you I don't like to fight, but my friends..."

Sandy trailed off, most likely looking for the right words to explain. But Huntsman realized the implication long before he had the chance.

"Don't tell me you've been making yourself a meat shield for your friends," he said with a scowl. The idea of him doing that for people who were supposed to be heroes... for some reason he didn't like that at all.

"I wouldn't put it that way," Sandy countered, turning around with a plate of some kind of cup up sweet. "They don't really like it, but if my friends are in danger I want to protect them. Sometimes I forget I'm not invincible like other people."

"Wow, sounds like bad decisions are just a theme for us," Huntsman said under his breathe with a scowl, regretting saying that the second it left his mouth.

Sandy hadn't seemed to have heard him though, or if he did he made no indication that he had been offended by the statement. Which... seemed to be a pattern with the other. He didn't seem to get offended by much unless you were hurting his friends directly.

... Huntsman realized he had no idea what that felt like on either end.

But it struck him as odd, and foolish. His friends should be able to take care of themselves. He'd seen even the human scholar fight during the festival and in the celestial realm, he wasn't nearly as strong as everyone else but he put up a decent defense. For Sandy to jump in front of them to take a blow, and for them to allow him to do that...

He scowled even deeper than before. Had they no pride? No shame in letting someone else take the hits for them like that? Foolish indeed!

"You gonna sit back down?" Sandy asked after a moment, shocking Huntsman from his thoughts, gesturing to the couch. "You still haven't told me what you need."

"You sure you trust me enough to give it to me?" Huntsman asked as he sat back down, reaching to push away the plate of sweets from his side of the table. He had no interest in food at the moment.

He didn't get to do that, Sandy's hand reaching out and grabbing his wrist instead.

His hand was warm and firm and calloused from years of whatever it was he had done before and from working on tech. His fingers slipped under the cuff of his coat slightly and Huntsman could have sworn that the other man could feel how fast his heart had begun to beat in response.

"I told you before," Sandy started, pushing his hand back away from the plate. It was that Huntsman realized he had slipped something into his hand. "I don't trust you, not yet. But I offered you that second chance."

"Y-yeah," Huntsman stammered out as he wrist was let go of. He yanked it back, looking down at what was in his hand. Another tea bag and a different sweet. Store bought and wrapped. A simple fruit flavored hard candy, nothing more. But given to him all the same. Something he could choose to eat when he wanted... or not at all. Maybe that meant something, maybe it didn't.

The warmth that seemed to linger on his wrist felt like it did though.

"Now, what do you need? I can't guarantee I have it, but I'll do my best to help."

Huntsman's scowl remained on his face as he explained what materials they needed and what they were hoping to find to expedite a few certain old creations in their building of what they needed.

His scowl remained as Sandy handed him everything he needed, bidding him a safe return to his home with a yawn when he made his leave.

It remained as he rushed back to the lair, back to his Queen, to present the treasure trove they needed to get everything back on track. As Syntax looked at him in suspicion. As he returned to his own quarters holding his wrist, wanting to feel the same warmth around it that was now missing again. As he snuck a cup of hot water into his room and he dipped the tea bag into it and waited.

It only dissipated as he opened the hard candy, popping it into his mouth as he took a sip of the new tea.

The natural sweetness of the new tea tea mixed with the mouth punching sourness of the hard candy.

Huntsman couldn't help but smile, just a bit, as the flavors mingled in a way he knew many people would find unappealing. But he loved it. Sour and hard mixed with sweet and smooth.

The big guy was more insightful than he thought.

[neowinestainedress]

DYNASTY / NCT

CHARACTHERS 

TAEYONG LEE "I've been having a hard time adjusting. I had the shiniest wheels, now they're rusting"

The role of the leader passed at him naturally. When the fire changed their lives forever, none of the others hesitated for a moment to know that the future of the city had to be put in his hands. Yet, he didn't feel the same. He couldn't see how they had so much hope and trust in him to hold things together when he couldn't even hold himself, anymore. But he knew that they still saw in him the protective older brother that used to take care of everybody and tried to defend them from everything, unfortunately, he knew that child wasn't there anymore.

𝞦

THE PROTECTOR

In charge of protecting the city and looking after the citizens. He's helped by his team, divided between the protectors who stay at the door of the city to control who comes in and out, and a team inside of the city that mostly focuses on the citizens' needs and external relations.

JOHNNY SUH "Cause in the end the road is long, but only cause it makes strong. It's filled with twist and peaks and turn. Sometimes you have to learn to forget about it."

If there was something Johnny was good at, it was observing. He loved to see things from a different point of view and analyze them since he was a child, so it wasn't surprising when the role of the protector was given to him. He always believed that everything happens for a reason, and you can choose to make it kill you or make you stronger. He once went for the first one and lost a loved one, so he won't let that happen again.

𝞦

THE THINKERS

The unit in charge of the bureaucracy. They are the ones that take care of the plans for the city, helping Taeyong with their outstanding logical thoughts skills. They can always maintain calm, even in the worst situations, always trying to weigh the pros and cons of the situation.

TAEIL MOON "All the things that I've done and I've seen. Still I don't know, don't know what it means, to be human."

Taeil always felt a big weight on his chest for being the eldest of the group and not manacing to protect them all. He wasn't the one who started to see the red flags, he never stopped Taeyong and Anastasia and their reckless plan. Thoughts haunt him at night that he should've done better. As the oldest, he had seen the worst thing, but the more he tries to remember, the more he feels disconnected from reality.

DOYOUNG KIM "Tell me the truth, tell me, do you still remember feelin' young and strong enough to get it wrong in front of all these people?"

Doyoung has always been the most impassible one of all of them. Nothing could tarnish him. He strongly believed that behind everything there was a scientific and logical explanation. He had no time to let himself get caught in pointless things like emotions and hypotheses. But with that came a strong need of never failing, because he couldn't let people see him as weak, or wrong. He always had to get it right on the first try. Live, though, loved to prove him wrong. .

TEN LEE "'Cause I feel like I'm the worst, so I always act like I'm the best."

Ten intelligence has always been witty and sharp. With his way, he could manipulate anybody with a blink of an eye. He loved control and power, and the feeling they brought with them. He always had to be one step in front of the others and know exactly what to do, how and when. But behind all of this confidence, a fear of failing hid behind.

𝞦

THE FIGHTERS

The unit in charge of fighting. Their abilities are mostly physical and differentiated in different specialities. They have been training since they were children and all of them got better in a specific field but overall they developed ability in all the ??.

YUTA NAKAMOTO "My demons are begging me to open up my mouth. I need them mechanically make the words come out. They fight me, vigorous and angry, watch them pounce. Ignite me, licking up the flames they bring about."

Yuta had one thing in mind, revenge. He had to carry with him the name of the people that put them through the worst and he couldn't bear it anymore. He wanted to see them beg for forgiveness and then take everything from them just like they did.

JAEHYUN JEONG "My heart's gone bad, now it won't beat for you. You had your laugh, now I won't play the fool. I've lied for you, and I liked it too. But I'm black and blue, from bleedin' for you."

Jaehyun has always been quiet, always in a corner, respecting the rules and never talking back. At least in front of their parents and all the things he was afraid of. He was calm of nature, that's what they would say to him. But the more life marked him, the more he realized he had a fire inside, and they weren't ready to see the flames.

LIV HANSEN "I can feel the flames on my skin. Crimson red paint on my lips. If a man talks shit, then I owe him nothing. I don't regret it one bit, 'cause he had it coming."

Liv was just like her name, life. Her burning red hair was flames itself, just like her. Dangerously pretty, dangerously quiet. Nobody could shut her, always saying what she was thinking since she was a child. She never let anybody step on her or tell her no. She had always been a force of nature, protecting everyone around her like a summer breeze caressing skin at night, until she realised that in that world she had to be a hurricane to protect who she loved, and never fail again.

LUCAS WONG "I don't envy, I will survive. And I've been begging and begging myself, please don't close your eyes. I don't have tears, I cried it all."

Lucas has always been the positive one of the group, the one that managed to always bring happiness even in the worst situations. He wasn't a hopeless romantic, he simply had to try and find the good in everything to survive. He knew it couldn't rain forever.

𝞦

THE HEALERS

The unit of doctors. They mostly learned by themselves, studying hard as soon as they realized they needed to always have somebody who could heal their friends. And then have been trained professionally. They work downtown at the medicals studios but also operate in the palace.

KUN QIAN "Losing is easy, winning takes bravery. I am a tiger's fool Out in the open. No one to save me. The kindest of whispers are cruel."

Kun always liked taking care of the others, from the smallest things to the biggest. So it wasn't surprising for him to be a healer. But he also had another passion, magic. It had started when he was bored and had nothing to do, behind everybody's eyes. People were scared of the unknown, and he simply found it stupid, because, behind every magic trick, there was logic. Little did it know, what life had planned for them.

SICHENG DONG "I found what I'd been looking for in myself. Found a life worth living for someone else. Never thought that I could be happy. I believe in possibility. I believe someone's watching over me."

The bad things that happened in his life never made him lose hope. He believed in kindness. But most importantly, he believed in people and that everybody could have another chance in life. Helping others came naturally for him because nothing could come close to the feeling he got when he saw the person he helped have a smile on their faces.

𝞦

THE DREAM CHASER

The unit made of teenagers who are not children of The Rebels, except for Mark. Their team is wide and filled with other personalities that don't take place in the other units, except for a thinker, a healer and two fighters.

MARK LEE ⮚fighter

DEJUN XIAO ⮚pilot

HENDERY WONG ⮚ hacker

RENJUN HUANG ⮚thinker

JENO LEE ⮚ training fighter

DONGHYUCK LEE ⮚ hacker

JAEMIN NA ⮚ healer

YANGYANG LIU ⮚ racer

CHENLE ZHONG ⮚ chemist

JISUNG PARK ⮚ hacker

𝞦

JUNGWOO KIM "I live inside my own world of make-believe. Kids screaming in their cradles, profanities. I see the world through eyes covered in ink and bleach. Cross out the ones who heard my cries and watched me weep."

Being a functional human being felt impossible to him, by now. Anxiety trapped him in a cage and it felt worst than when that trap were burning flames. He couldn't let go of his past and the pain they inflected him, and he couldn't let any of his friends close to him again, terrified they would use him against them again.

ANASTASIA ARENAS "But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time. Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time."

Anastasia has always been inconvenient, she never liked their little games, and she always made it clear. That's why they had to get rid of her. If only they knew she would've found a way back home, and this time ready to break the chain once for all.

ANIKA SINGH "I didn't have it in myself to go with grace, and so the battleships will sink beneath the waves. You had to kill me but it killed you just the same."

Is it possible to have a family, a house, and feel like you don't have a place where you belong? For her, it was. Anika spent her whole life being somebody her father wanted her to be. She was trapped between her duties and her dreams, always selfless, focused on taking care of her sisters. But what if the perfect daughter chooses herself for once?

SOOMIN WAN "Now I breathe flames each time I talk. My cannons all firin' at your yacht. They say 'move on' but you know I won't."

Soomin learned how to survive all by herself. She has no idea what a family is, and she's not even looking to find out. She's only looking for revenge. Because she used to have a family, before they took it away from her, right in front of her eyes. Nobody likes a mad woman, but He wanted her to be like that.

[trans-cuchulainn]

What are the major details that confused you about the Hound blurb? The major one that stood put to me was the "way of the farmer opposed to the sword" thing which felt very...un-Cú Chulainn. Also, if you don't mind expanding further, which details didn't you question/be confused by?

and also for anon:

okay so it is like. 2am so there are not going to be any sources here but i can't sleep so here goes!! i will go through this blurb line by line and give youse my thoughts

In 50 BCE,

reasonable. this is roughly the right time period for when the ulster cycle is set. maybe marginally earlier than i'd place cú chulainn, but i'm talking a few years, nothing to get worked up about.

Morrigan, the goddess of war,

fine. normally i'm wary of pantheonising impulses with regard to irish characters (almost none of them can be identified as a god of anything in particular, it doesn't work like that) but tbh the morrigan is like, the most plausible exception to that, so whatever. normally her name has the definite article attached to it because it's kind of a species term as well but whatevs.

has become restless as a long-lasting peace settles over Ireland.

dubious. closest i can think of to peace being reference in any texts is togail bruidne da derga talking about conaire mor's reign being like, prosperous and peaceful and whatever, and even there you've got díberg (plundering/reaving) which is what eventually fucks him over and starts the otherworldly hell spiral situation. that's roughly the right period here but conaire's doom proves you don't have to do much to nudge peace into war, and connacht and ulster are at each other's throats for years before cú chulainn comes on the scene anyway

Deciding the time of peace must end, she chooses Setanta, the nephew of the king of the north, to become her ward.

hmm. i mean. like, this isn't the WEIRDEST choice they could have made. it's still completely made-up, don't get me wrong -- cú chulainn has a lot of different foster parents in different texts and they don't agree with each other but none of them ever mentions the morrígan. but like, they do have a connection of some sort, as evidenced by their conversations. and there's that one moment in the r1 boyhood deeds where little cú chulainn is out on the battlefield and hears her (not sure which name is used here) calling out to him and it like. motivates him to do some deeds or whatever, and i guess you could extrapolate that into some kind of teaching capacity.

so like. could be weirder. if you're gonna pick anyone, you could do worse. still seems weird to me! but not on its own a major issue, i could get past this and consider it a Fun But Unorthodox Creative Decision

(the fact that she tries to seduce him in the táin probably wouldn't get in the way of this considering sleeping with his teachers/foster-mothers is far from unheard of where cú chulainn is concerned)

After a young Setanta slays the demon-hound of Cullan, he becomes known as Cú Cullan—The Hound of Cullan.

weird spelling choices, they could have at least bothered to use the genitive properly. also the hound isn't a demon, it's a ferocious watchdog -- making it sound all Otherworldly and Hellish like this kinda confuses the issue of why he would need to take its place. he needs to take its place because the cattle and people still need protecting because it is a watchdog!! but whatevs, again, it's a brief summary so they can't exactly give us all the details and this is not actively objectionable

As Cú Cullan grows older, it is apparent that an extraordinary power lies within him … and a great darkness.

ugh boring. this makes it sound like he's going to be ~tortured~ and angsty about it. give me an unapologetic murder teen please. is the ríastrad dark? sure i guess, if you're going to be boring about it. it's more like, grotesque neon in my head

When he chooses the quiet life of a farmer over the sword,

this would fucking never happen on like five different levels. obviously like anyone who has ever read anything about cú chulainn can see that this is not in his nature. he is never going to choose a quiet life. this is the kid who tricked his way into taking arms before everyone thought he was ready. also juxtaposed with the "darkness" comment makes it sound like he would Angst his way into this quiet life which. again. have you seen this kid. he is an unapologetic murder teen

the only thing i can think of that might make him temporarily want to walk away is connla's death which... depends where you position that in the timeline really, he does seem a bit fucked up by it and maybe he'd want a holiday although i can see that lasting precisely 5 minutes before someone pissed him off enough for him to murder them. but if he's being raised by the morrígan i can't see him going to train with scáthach so then he'd never meet aífe and therefore connla would never be born so that wouldn't happen. so like. whatever.

but also like. he would not become a farmer. he just wouldn't! it doesn't work! the ireland of the stories is super hierarchical, right? and this blurb has already fucking told us that he's the king's nephew (canon) so we can tell that being a farmer is Not His Place. when we see upper class figures becoming menial labourers in texts, like in cath maige tuired, it's because Things Are Fucked, Shit's Gone Wrong. people don't just decide to change their entire social class on a whim lmfao

if cú chulainn really wanted to turn his back on being a warrior he could probably make recourse to certain other Suitable Professions ... his grandad's a druid so he might have a route into that, though his dad's not so that might fuck things up a bit bc it's one of those things that's usually inherited. he does give "wisdom" in at least one text though and we also know he can write (he carves riddles in ogham in the táin) and he composes verses on various occasions so idk, maybe something in a poetic direction, though again, usually requires two generations of inheritance to be a real poet and not just a lower-class bard. warrior's kinda the main thing he's got open to him tbh. but farming? i'm not a legal expert but as far as i'm aware based on what i have read, that would fuck shit up

more likely an upset cú chulainn would just go off in search of an adventure somewhere conveniently far away until he'd calmed down (alba, or the tyrrhenian sea, or -- if we're going to get early modern about it -- somewhere like india, which frequently gets thrown into the texts with absolutely no cultural context and it's always hilarious)

Morrigan, angry at the betrayal,

of the entire social order, yes,

instigates an invasion of his homeland

i mean. if they intend this to be the táin then.... táin bó regamna does kinda make the morrígan responsible for it? not in the sense of triggering the pillow talk argument that it's in the book of leinster -- it's her getting up to her usual cow-nicking behaviours for shits and giggles. [note to readers: it is probably for more than shits and giggles but did i mention it's 2am]

but all in all, not particularly out of character that she would be at least some way responsible for this so i can vibe with this. echtra nerai also supports the TBR explanation with her fucking around with otherworldly cows and pissing people off so, yeah, whatever. the morrígan engineered this. sure.

and Cú Cullan must challenge fate itself

this is probably a controversial stance but fate feels like a difficult concept to apply to medieval irish texts. like are people sometimes Doomed? yes. there are prophecies, there are gessi, there's all manner of otherworldly fuckery that can trip you up. is that the same thing as fate? no idea. considering cú chulainn comes out alive from the táin though and his doom prophecies don't catch up to him for like, at least another decade, maybe 16 years depending on who you listen to, hard to see how that would apply here

to keep the goddess at bay.

again like she IS causing fuckery in the táin but also it's like... one time. really not the main character. but she or maybe just some crows, hard to say, do get implicated in the death tale so maybe they're doing what people often do and conflating the two? even though there's like 10-16 years in between them?

anyway as you can see i don’t think it’s wholly terrible / i’m not completely thinkshaming it. like, having cú chulainn raised by the morrígan is unorthodox but it could be a fun and creative direction so i don't object to it. making cú chulainn get sad about murder and choose to be a farmer is just fucking laughable tho, and makes me doubt their characterisations in general. so that's offputting and would probably make me think twice about buying it, if that had ever been on the cards.*

and of course sure, their cú chulainn can be a Sad Boy Who Likes Sheep, but that means he's not the cú chulainn of medieval irish lit / irish myth, because that cú chulainn is a feral murder teen who keeps killing his friends and also is way too high social status to ever be a farmer, and whose only relationship to livestock is as the watchdog who kills anyone trying to harm them (which is an important role on a farm! but like. not the same thing as Being A Farmer. mostly because it involves more murder and is essentially just an extension of his role as a warrior. or rather the other way around. he promises to protect mag muirthemne as a watchdog and this like. gets extended into him becoming its sole defender)

this has been my analysis of this blurb i hope you enjoyed it

it's now 2.30am i should try and sleep now that i've exorcised a few thoughts from my head

*as i mentioned in the tags of my other post, i don't tend to read graphic novels due to disability stuff. they're much harder for me to understand and follow than prose, to the point where some are incomprehensible, so i don't really enjoy them. there are a few i've read, but they tend to be short ones, and i'm usually not reading them in order, just admiring the art separately from the text. so it's unlikely i would read a graphic novel of this size anyway.

[mammons-tax-returns]

HDJXKDKFF I KNOW I HAVE REQUESTS BUT I NEEDED THIS PLEASE FORGIVE ME THIS WAS SO TIME CONSUMING AND FOR WHAT>> TO SATISFY MY DYSPHORIA/fA<>>A???

synapsis ; Satan and MC often discuss the plot lines of their favorite books, but this time, it’s a little bittersweet

✖️MALE MC✖️ comfort, kinda sad, fluff?

MC could practically feel the past few sleepless nights tugging at his limbs. He yawned into his hand. “I probably shouldn’t have pulled an all nighter last night, huh?” He chuckled a little to make light of the situation.

Satan sighed helplessly, brushing some of his hair out of his eyes. “I told you this would happen. You’d better watch yourself before I force you to get proper hours of sleep.” His emerald eyes never left the pages of his most recent favorite novel series.  “Lucifer isn’t as worried for your grades considering you won’t be here for as long as us.”

“That’s true...  But even still, I wouldn’t want to disappoint Luci.” MC rubbed his eyes a bit before responding.

There was only a scoff in response from the blonde, along with mutters definitely slandering his older brother.

“But never mind that.  Wanna update me on your book?” MC grabbed his own book from the table to his side and took a seat on Satan’s bed.  He has learned from experience that Satan read books far beyond his comprehension level-- far beyond the comprehension level of some of the smartest demons as well.  But the plots are interesting enough that listening to Satan relay the insights to him has become a hobby. 

“Well....  Amanthy ends up saving the prince from the monster right in the nick of time, but get this;  the two of them don’t get married.”  MC finally gets to see Satan’s eyes when he looks up in mild excitement.  They’re blazing so brightly that it nearly burns him as he watches them.  This normally happened when Satan was allowed to rant about a book.

“Amanthy calls off the marriage because he didn’t think that the prince was strong enough to be with him on his journey.  I really recommend you reading this part at the very least.  Now that you know what’s actually happening in it, you can focus on how incredibly this author deepens the understanding of Amanthy and his intents.”

Amanthy...  Would you really end it all just like that?  MC found himself wondering.  It must have been the fact that MC projected him and Satan onto the two ex-love birds in the novel.  Amanthy was clearly a sophisticated book-loving mage similarly to Satan, and the prince was a simple man in a foreign world trying to figure everything out.  Just like MC being thrown into the Devildom.  Together, the two fought and travelled together.

As childish as it is, MC was hopeful that they would end up together in the end, just because of his crush on Satan.  And hearing the news about their wedding almost felt like a personal attack.

He can’t respond immediately.  “Oh.” He breathes, “That’s surprising...  I, uh.  Did not expect that.”  A small laugh.  How was he supposed to answer?

“I feel the same.  It was not hinted at in the slightest...”  Satan held his chin between his thumb and index finger.  “But I understand Amanthy.  I mean, looking at it realistically...  The prince had his sword, and even with the little magic he had, surely he could have fought the beast instead of waiting for it to kill him...  Amanthy is a strong man, and I’m not sure how well he’d hold up being with someone like that.”

“Hmm.  Interesting...  This whole plot was just one turn after another.  You really have an eye for good books...  The beginning of that story was a bit slow.” MC tried to seem as invested as possible.  But it was proving to be much more difficult than it seemed.  Although he knew Satan can’t be held accountable for something like this...  Does he really think that Amanthy was in the right?

There was a knot forming in the very bottom of his stomach.  So then, would he do the same thing in that situation?  Would he really drop me if he had to save me like that?

“The story certainly did pick up speed...  Even I was impressed.  But it truly added to the character development!  Amanthy is a smart man for what he did, and he’s really selling it to me.  I wonder if that shopkeeper from the last chapter will reappear...”  He flipped several pages back as if to see if it was hinted at anywhere.  “She looked like a better fit for our bookworm protagonist...  Or maybe he’s better off on his own?”

MC’s mood just seemed to be going down a never ending decline.  The shopkeeper?  Who was literally everything that he wasn’t?

Satan continued before MC could comment, “The prince was always a bit of a dead weight, I can admit.  There were times that I found myself criticizing him for little things, but never fully disliked him...  Although there was much more to him than his exterior, I suppose.”

Okay, now this was a full blown call out post for MC.  The prince getting called a dead weight for the protagonist?  Suddenly, MC constantly having to be reminded by Satan to sleep seemed a little more daunting.

“So that’s how you look at it...” MC hummed and buried his face in his book, careful with his phrasing and hoping that the intuitive male in front of him couldn’t pick up on his hurt.

“Of course...  How would you see it?” Satan leaned a little closer.

This man will be the end of me, and he won’t even know it.

MC cleared his throat and shifted a little out of discomfort. “I mean...  I guess I sympathize with the prince a little.  He hasn’t really gotten the chance to protect himself...  A-And that’s the first time he’s been left with such a powerful beast, right?  Just a few weeks ago, he was in his castle watching the knights spar, and now he’s here defending himself alone.” Don’t seem suspicious, MC.  You got this.  You can do this at the very least, can’t you?  “Amanthy had a good connection with him.  I can’t believe he’d just overlook that because the prince needs help understandably.  I mean, isn’t that what a lover is for?  To love and support?”

Satan’s lips tugged into a simple smile.  “Ahh, so that’s how it is.  I’m surprised you can pay so much attention right now when you’ve barely slept.  You could barely keep your eyes open earlier.” He playfully ruffled MC’s hair.

His affectionate touch stung, and his words stabbed deep into MC’s core.  He knew no harm was meant, and yet he couldn’t help but feel horrible.  Why couldn’t he just listen to Satan’s nagging?

“But your opinion is just as strong as mine!” MC added quickly, hoping that Satan didn’t think he was disregarding him.  “Maybe calling off the wedding was the right choice in the end...  After all, the prince was kinda shady in the first few chapters right?  Maybe he’ll prove to be the bad guy.”

Satan seemed to think it over for a moment.  “ I suppose...  But the prince is a bit more respectful than that, don’t you think?”

And now he’s defending the prince?  Make up your mind already, MC silently thought.

“Y-Yeah, I guess so...” Am I as respectful as him, someone of literal royalty? MC breathed out slowly.  Even if I am, what difference does that make, Satan?

Some time passed after that, and MC couldn’t get passed a single page in his book.  His mind was a confusing jumble of thoughts.  Some of them hoped that Satan would react differently if proposed the same situation.  And some justified Amanthy’s decision in a sickening submission to his situation.  His ‘situation’ is an inevitable unrequited love for Satan.  And now he’s aware that Satan probably wouldn’t consider someone like him as a spouse even if given the chance.  Great.

“MC?  If you’re tired you should sleep.”

The (H/C) haired male jumped.  He looked up to see Satan way too close for comfort at the moment.  He felt himself flush.  “I’m not!  This story is too interesting for that.”

“You haven’t turned a single page.  And you looked a little scary.” Satan chuckled.  “Is it Lucifer?  Is that rat stressing you for your grades?”

“Well, no...  It’s just,” Phrase this properly, please. “I’m all hung up on that whole marriage situation.  If...  If you had to make that decision, would you call off the marriage too?”

Satan had a look of shock.  “Hmm...  I guess I hadn’t considered that.”  He thought for a second. “I don’t think I would.  I may have chosen Amanthy’s side, but I’m not him.”

Geez, that’s a big relief.

“But what about you?  Would you do the same?”

Okay, now that was unexpected.  MC blinked.  “I definitely wouldn’t have.  You heard my piece earlier.  I wouldn’t leave someone just because they were incapable of things like that.”

...  Was that too much information?

“Really...  Interesting.” Satan leaned back into the cushions on the seat.  “It’s almost spellbinding how similar you are to him, and yet you two have such different ideals.”

“Yeah...” MC answered subconsciously.  “And it really--...  Wait.  Come again?”

How similar I am to Amanthy?  No.  I must have heard wrong.  It just doesn’t make sense.  There’s no way that he would compare me to someone as great as-

“I must have never mentioned it, but I tend to project the people I know onto storybook characters.”  He seemed a little bashful, as he couldn’t quite make eye contact with MC.  “Amanthy is a very selfless mage that happens to have a habit of staying up for days on end to finish his studies.  He...  He reminds me of you.”  A small tinge of pink crawled onto his cheeks. “Sometimes, it also feels like you’re the protagonist of a great story, too.”

MC was flabbergasted.  This conversation is hitting him harder than the actual plot of the book being discussed.  “Th-Then, who do you see as the prince?”  This wasn’t adding up.  He couldn’t imagine who it could be if it wasn’t him.

“Me, of course.”  Satan responded without missing a single beat.  “I hate to admit it, but as the youngest brother, I tend to...  Blow things out of proportion.  And the others say it’s because I haven’t experienced the same things as them.  I don’t quite understand it...  But I guess I really don’t need to.”  He looked lost in his own mind as he explained.

He continued as MC struggled to put everything together. “The prince was told many of the same things I have heard.  But I think the reason I relate to him so largely is because I also feel little out of place, as many of his monologues describe my exact feelings so often.”

“Out of place..?  Why is that?” MC’s words left his mouth before he could consider them.  “Err, if you don’t want to talk about it, it’s fine.”

“No, It’s nice to get things like this off of my chest occasionally.”  He paused briefly. “I guess I’m just not used to someone understanding me quite like you do.  Don’t get me wrong, It’s not bad at all.  It’s just a bit...  Odd to me.  Sometimes I wonder if I deserve it.”

“Satan...  Of course you do.  Otherwise I wouldn’t have taken the time and indulged in the same things as you.” MC felt his heart throb.  Of course Satan would look into the story from a metaphorical stance rather than literal, like he did.  He was the one actually reading the pages, after all.  That’s just the type of person he is.  There’s no real beast in this story in his eyes.  The prince was just Satan stuck in his own thoughts.

“But...  Surely, this doesn’t mean that you thought I would have made the same choice as Amanthy, right?”

Satan hummed.  “You’ve got me unraveled under your fingertips, MC.  But you’d be mistaken...  I did.  But even if something like that ever happened, I don’t think I’d let you go quite as easily as the prince did.”  His smile had hints of mischief in it.  “You’re stuck with me.”

MC’s eyes widened a little.  There was so much information to take in at once.  “Well...  Rest assured, then?”

“Agreed.”  Satan nodded. “I’m just hoping you won’t get fed up with having to constantly calm me down before a wreck a building.”  He laughed, but it seemed sad, in a way.

Ahh...  So that’s just it.  Satan was insecure about something that I don’t mind helping him with a thousand times over.  MC found himself smiling.  Demons were much more similar to humans than he thought.

“That’s a bit cute, Satan.”

“What’re you on about?”

MC reached over and pat the top of his head in the way he knows he enjoys it.  “I wouldn’t let you go so easily, either.  I’m not Amanthy, and you’re not the prince.  You’re gonna have to try a little harder to get rid of me.”

Satan was frozen in the spot.  He suddenly understood what Levi’s shows would describe when they said, “time seemed to slow, and nothing else mattered other than him.”

“I don’t think I’d ever dream of it...”

For the first time ever, he felt as if he was receiving his very own happy ending in his own novel. 

[lifblogs]

Don't Call Me Sammy: Chapter 3

DEAD DOVE: DO NOT EAT READ ON AO3

Sam opened his eyes. He was lying on the ground in the cage, Lucifer sitting cross-legged before him, a cruel looking knife with a hilt wrapped in black leather in his hands.

Had he died? Again? Sam had quickly assumed he was already dead since he was in this prison. He’d probably died on the way down to his own personal Hell within Hell. So what had happened after Lucifer choked him? And, Sam thought as he looked around, where was Michael?

Lucifer thumbed the sharp blade, flashing Sam an eerie smile at knowing he was awake.

Sam did what he could to ignore the smile, to ignore the heavy feeling it punched into his gut. “Where’s Michael?” he asked, sitting up. His pulse raced; it wasn’t at all natural to be asking the Devil questions.

“I sent him away to another part of my prison,” he answered. “Wouldn’t want him to be the third wheel, now would we?” Lucifer smirked.

“Third wheel?” Sam questioned quietly, his eyes still on the knife. No. No. He couldn’t grasp what Lucifer was saying. His mind absolutely refused to, trying to protect him. Still that dark weight was there, like a pool of dark, slick oil.

Lightning flashed, illuminating the Devil in all his cruelty, bristling with an excitement that had his mouth making too much saliva.

Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up, he pleaded with himself.

Lucifer’s eyes were on him—they hadn’t been anywhere else since he’d woken up—probing beneath his clothes, beneath his skin, straight to his soul. Fear burned hot in his stomach.

“Yes, you heard me correctly, Sammy. Third wheel.”

“I told you to not call me Sammy,” he snapped, not sure where he found the fortitude.

Quick as lightning, the Devil lunged forward, knife in hand. Before Sam could even lift up his arms to defend himself Lucifer had knocked him to the ground. He straddled him, body heavy and solid on his. The knife was against his neck, metal cold and biting. Each struggling, panicked breath shuddered in and out of him.

“You’re my vessel, Sam. Mine. And since you’re mine I can call you whatever I damn well please. Oh Sammy… Sammy, Sammy, Sammy… How will we spend our time together?”

Sam flinched when Lucifer nicked his neck, drawing forth hot, crimson beads of blood. Somehow, Sam felt more vulnerable when he pulled the knife away, neck open for Lucifer to do anything to.

A feral look had taken over Lucifer’s dull, blue eyes. Sam wished he could sink through the bottom of the cage. To fall into the void. And keep falling. Falling, falling, falling… At least he’d be away from the Devil. 

The thought of fighting him crossed his mind, but then it left his head, erased from the chalkboard. He didn’t have the right blade, was incapable of doing any real damage, and he was weak. So, so weak. The dark angel above him—on him—was much stronger than Sam was.

He squeezed his eyes shut as Lucifer leaned over him and pressed his lips against the warm trickle of blood on his neck. Sam trembled as that tongue licked, licked. It was forked, but still of human flesh, something so repulsive that Sam tried to blocked it out. His tongue trailed along the wound. It was wrong.

Wrong.

All of it.

And this was just the beginning.

“Mm… All that demon blood in you is intoxicating,” Lucifer breathed. “But there’s just enough you left. Just enough Sam.”

“No,” Sam pleaded, not even sure what he was saying the word to. To have Lucifer leave him alone? To have him stop talking about the demon blood? To fight against the fact that he was here, of all places in the universe?

“That seems like your new favorite word. Come on, Sammy. I thought that you of all people would understand. Demon blood’s better than fentanyl-spiked heroin. And trust me, I got to try that.” He shuddered. “Ooh, so good. But you… Mm…”

And with that Lucifer was back to enjoying the blood he’d drawn, sucking viciously. Sam’s stomach churned as if it was a sea struck by a hurricane, as Lucifer let out deep, gravelly moans of content.

With a cry of fear, and built-up resolve, Sam grabbed Lucifer’s head and twisted till he heard a snap. He then rolled over, getting on top for once, and he put a knee to his chest. Before Lucifer could truly react, he grabbed the knife from his hand. It was over in a matter of seconds. Seconds that had stretched for eternity, seconds that had happened in the blink of an eye. Purple lightning alit the damage he’d done to the Devil, bones poking at skin, begging to make their way through, neck all twisted, head hopelessly turned to the side. And with the moment over, with Sam above him, he had no idea what to do. What could he do against such evil? Sam held in a gag as Lucifer snapped his broken neck back into place, bone crunching, grinding. The bones no longer poked out, and the weakness that was clearly evident in his once-broken neck was no more. He’d healed himself. Eyes on the knife in Sam’s hand, Satan laughed.

“What now, Sammy? Are you going to hurt me? Come o-on, I know you want to.”

Sam fell back, knife collapsing from his hand. Lucifer stood and went over to collect it, and Sam backed away.

“Wise choice,” he remarked.

There was tense silence until Lucifer said, “Strip.”

Sam was so caught off guard that he asked “what?” without any fear in his voice.

“You heard me,” Lucifer responded. He gestured to him with the knife. “Clothes off, Sammy.” Sam said nothing, and he just sat there. Lucifer let out an exasperated sigh

“How are we going to have any fun when you’ve got your clothes on? Chop, chop. Strip, before I take them off myself.”

Sam knew that it was best to torture someone while they were naked, exposed, so he sat there, refusing to do anything Lucifer said. And this was his body. HIS. His to decide when and where and how to show to people, his to nourish, to take care of, to use to navigate the world. It wasn’t the property of the Devil’s before him, no matter what God said, no matter fate. Sam’s body was his own. And he wanted to keep it that way. But the strange light in Lucifer’s eyes that elicited chills down his spine told him he was going to have to fight for that once again very soon. Too soon.

Lucifer took a step forward. A warning. “Sammy…”

“I won’t let you do this to me, Lucifer.”

The dark angel laughed, making Sam’s heart crawl its way up into his throat till he nearly wanted to puke it out. Puke out the disgust, the fear, the hate. All of it. Lucifer seemed pleased by this, and he informed him, voice soft, seductive, “Oh, Sam. When will you learn? You’re my bitch.” All Sam could do was give an adamant shake of his head. No, no, no, no, no. Lucifer said, “Oh, come on, don’t be like that.

Sam tried to take a deep breath to calm his nerves, to tell his body it wasn’t dying, he wasn’t in danger. But he was. He really was. Eyes hot, he said emphatically, “Lucifer, I will not let you torture me.”

Maybe it was hopeless—this fight. But he promised himself right then and there that he would never stop fighting.

Lucifer cocked his head to the side as he crept closer. “You’re cute, Sam, I’ll give you that, but I’m going to have my fun with you whether you put up a fight or not.” He spread his hands out as he shrugged. “I mean, why not just do as I say? It’ll make things easier for you.”

“I won’t willingly give myself to you.”

Lucifer laughed, getting too close. Sam was backed up against the intricate stone workings, rough texture digging into the back of his head, and against his hands. His eyes followed Lucifer’s hand as he leaned down and grabbed at the stone beside his head, fingers curling around the openings, thunder sounding impossibly loud.

Sam’s heart beat too loudly in his chest as he forced himself to look up at him.

But he couldn’t meet his eyes.

How could anyone?

Sam fought to take deep breaths as Lucifer brought his mouth closer to his ear. His lips brushed against him as he whispered, “You already did.”

The Devil was right. That was the truth of it. It was the reason he was in the cage to begin with. He’d said yes to Lucifer. Whatever happened to him down here was his own fault. Despite that, Sam was proud he had done it. He’d done it to save the world, and more importantly—Dean. As Lucifer pulled away and gave him a smile that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, Sam still didn’t regret his choice. Yet, he wouldn’t let anything happen to him without a fight. There was honor in accepting defeat, but there was nothing wrong in going down fighting. So, Sam pushed Lucifer away and he stood, clenched his hands into fists.

“Finally cooperating are we, Sammy?”

“No,” he said resolutely. “If you want my clothes off, you’re going to have to do it yourself.”

Lucifer began to pace, seeming thoughtful. “You know, Sam, I’ve got to hand it to ya. I didn’t know you had this much of a fight left in you. I thought I tired you out by wearing your body around. It’s a nice body, by the way. Very strong, and the Devil’s Trap tattoo on your chest? Genius. You don’t want those sons of bitches getting up in you. Me, on the other hand, well, I’m a little different.”

Sam’s blood turned cold from Lucifer’s comments and ramblings. It was horrifying that Lucifer knew his body as intimately as he himself did. Swallowing roughly, Sam managed to ask, “You done?”

It was then that Lucifer lunged at him, and Sam struck out, giving him a sound uppercut to his chin that left him reeling. Rather than attack him once more as he usually would an enemy, he waited for Lucifer to make his next move. He wouldn’t place himself closer to him on purpose, and he wanted to save his energy. For some reason he felt a constant exhaustion. It didn’t worsen, but Sam didn’t want to take that chance of being left weak and fatigued.

Lucifer shook himself out before exclaiming, “That felt good!” And then he and Sam began to circle each other. Sam was in a position that would work well with either offense, or defense. He had his arms raised, close to his body, his hands balled into fists. He didn’t want to let Lucifer know just yet that he wouldn’t attack him.

And then Lucifer ran towards him, raising his knife. Sam lifted his arm up to block, and he braced himself for the pain that would soon come. A stinging sensation in his arm flashed through his nerves as Lucifer’s knife slashed him, tearing skin and muscle. Now that Lucifer’s arm was lower, Sam went to punch him in the face, and then he looked at him, surprised, when the dark angel simply grabbed his fist and stopped him.

Sam cried out as he went in for another punch, and Lucifer swept upward with his knife, ripping into his shirt. That was worse than the cut on his arm because it was one step closer to what Lucifer wanted.

His body, bare before him.

The fight continued, and Sam gave in to his instincts, his reflexes, and the wild pump of adrenaline. Each hit he landed on Lucifer jarred his entire arm up to his shoulder till he was numb, but he kept going. He had to.

Blood from Sam’s multitudinous wounds stained his clothes, dripping down to the dark stone, and what wasn’t seemingly lapped up eagerly fell into the void. Into nothing. Into lightning, and heat, and dark, and cold, and thunderous sound. Sam’s clothes hung off him in tatters now, strips that had been ripped off littering the bottom of the cage.

Backing away, Lucifer twirled the knife in his hand. He didn’t look any worse for having been punched multiple times. What a god damn bastard! This wasn’t fair. It wasn’t! Adrenaline pushed the thoughts away, sizzling in his nerves, and across his skin, injecting him with the frantic need to fight.

The knife. He had to get the knife.

Sam eyed it, desiring with everything he had to grab it, to take it for himself, but Lucifer had a good hold on it. He wouldn’t be letting it go anytime soon. And there would be none of the knife falling from his hand. Lucifer didn’t fight with fancy tricks to show off. His power was his narcissistic show, and his quick and methodical moves proved he knew exactly what he was doing, and that he knew he would win.

He would always win.

“This is turning out to be much more interesting than I thought it would be,” Lucifer commented as he looked Sam up and down. “You know I’m going easy on you, right?”

Sam tensed at his words. He’d been having a hard time just keeping Lucifer off of him. Why was he toying with him like this? Some deranged form of entertainment?

The challenge of this was born from Lucifer’s time in his head. He knew things Sam had never told anyone. His deepest, darkest secrets. He knew everything he’d ever learned, ever done—how he moved, how he fought. Somehow, Sam was going to have to change that, draw from a new well of knowledge, do the unexpected.

Pretending to not be fazed by what Lucifer had said, Sam responded, “I kinda figured.”

Lucifer saw through his lie. “It’s okay you didn’t know, Sam. Besides, how could you? We’ve never fought like this before. Let me tell you, I find it rather... invigorating. I like this intimacy. It can be our special thing.” The last words were raspy, soft. Wanting.

Sam bared his teeth at him as he let an angry puff of air out through his nose. He uncurled and curled his fists again and again, not sure what to do with them.

“Stop toying with me,” Sam growled.

“Why would I?” Lucifer asked, looking at him, his vessel, his, as though he were crazy. “We shared a connection even before you said yes to me. So now, this is entertaining. Come on, Sammy, you’re telling me you’re not having any fun? When was the last time you really had an opponent this challenging?”

“You like hearing yourself talk,” Sam stated.

Lucifer ignored him. “Oh, that’s right. It was your brother, Dean. About a year ago when you were getting yourself all hyped up with demon blood, if I remember correctly.” He chuckled. “And then you released me from this prison.” His head tilted as he looked around the cage, and then his eyes fell on Sam again. They were dark with anger. “Only to put me back in again.”

That look in his eyes made Sam more afraid than ever. Before, Lucifer had been calm, but now, he was really facing down the Devil. 

And the Devil was pissed. 

In a strong, clear voice, the strength having come from somewhere deep inside of him, Sam said, standing tall, “It was the right thing to do.”

“Right thing to do?” Lucifer snarled as he lunged forward and slammed Sam back against the cage, a hand around his neck, squeezing, squeezing... He held the knife up, ready to stab downward and deliver the killing blow. Sam scrabbled at his hand, trying to get him to let go. His lungs screamed for air and his neck hurt. His head pounded, eyes bulging, face surely red. “I’m in here because I loved my father.”

Sam pried the hand away just a hair’s breadth, and found enough breath in him to talk, his voice a rasping wheeze, “I don’t… want to hear… your sob story.”

The grip Lucifer had on his neck was back, stronger than before. Sam thought his eyes were about to pop out of his head. With a scream of rage, Lucifer stabbed downward. Sam tried to let out a scream as the knife pierced his flesh, stabbing through skin, muscle, blood vessels, drawing forth a spout of blood. The cruel blade burrowed its way through bone.

Then Sam saw the knife hilt in his peripheral vision, jutting out of his cheek like a thorn, a diseased part of him that had to be cut out, removed. All of him attempted to retch as blood seeped from the wound.

Lucifer released him and Sam collapsed, too pained and weak to hold himself up. Sam lifted a shaky hand to the knife hilt sticking out of his face. As he was about to grasp it, his hand faltered. Lucifer’s grim expression lit by a streak of the violence of electricity blurred in Sam’s vision as he struggled for breath. His blood, salty and metallic, bubbled up into his mouth. And then his head fell to the ground, black enveloping him.

[nieladasdenani]

supercorp promt lena going over all the times kara/supergirl saved her life and how many ways shed be dead without her and realizing all the times kara/supergirl stood up for her/defended her in public and private and how she would have been treated like a luthor and put in jail without her help and just coming to the realization that kara didnt use her like she said she did because kara would not do all that if she had been using her and just all around having a big impact realization about it

Hello and thank you, Anon! This will be a challenge because I have seen very little of the show since season 3 and none of the last season whatsoever. All my knowledge comes from Tumblr posts. And because I have strong opinions of how the reveal was handled by both canon and part of fandom. So I hope it still meets your expectations.

You can read it in AO3 if you rather.

--------------------------------

Lena’s hand trembles as she reaches for the bottle, so she clenches it in a tight fist and tries to take a deep breath to calm her mounting anxiety, though it doesn’t seem to have any effect. A sense of paranoia has her focusing her attention on the office door, expecting to hear the thunderous sound of trained boots rushing to get her, but nothing meets her ears. She sighs and tries to breathe deeper again. Then chances a look over her left shoulder at the balcony door, wide open, like a dare... or an invitation. If she turns completely, she’d be facing her desk, and on top of it lays Myriad, inactive. She knows she should have gone to Lex’s lair, where Hope in Eve’s body awaits to complete the mission. Would she be worried Lena hasn’t arrived? Confused?

“But, Miss Luthor, I am not your friend.” Lena scoffs at the memory and snatches the bottle and a glass.

“Neither was the person whose face you’re wearing, so I guess the integration was flawless.”

She drains the first glass of whiskey entirely in the first gulp and sits heavily on her pristine white couch. Mistake. There, on the floor, is the framed, cracked picture showing her smiling face, impossibly close to Kara’s own radiant expression. A stark difference to the one she was wearing when Lena left her in an iced kryptonite cell, inside her piece of home away from home: terrified, devastated. Some call it karma... Others call it revenge.

“Lena, please.”

Lena sighs again and closes her eyes after pouring a second glass, that she holds loosely in her right hand. Both her elbows rest on her knees, and her head hangs low. Was Kara scared for National City, the world? Or was she afraid Lena’s trap would kill her?

“Are you going to kill me now?”

Was she scared of Lena or for Lena? No doubt the DEO has a dark, hidden dungeon waiting just for her, where they can lock her in isolation, like her demented brother was before he escaped and wrecked havoc. Before she killed him... Of course Kara would be fine. Lena made sure the trap was safe. That the kryptonite was non-lethal. She made sure of it. It’s still an alien radioactive substance, though. No, no, she made sure. She studied Lex’s journals exhaustively. She’s working for good.

“I’m not a villain. You shouldn’t have treated me like one.”

So why does it feel like she’s doing something wrong? Non Nocere was conceived to remove one of humanity’s biggest flaws, to remove one of the primary reasons for suffering. She’s doing it for the greater good. She’s doing a good thing. So, why is she here and not finishing it up? Maybe because deep down she knows that, no matter how good her intentions, this is not the way, deceiving everyone to achieve her goal.-Using Kara. -Like she used me! -Did she? -Yes! She lied for years! -Do you realize you’re trying to convince yourself of this?

Lena’s whole head hurts from how hard she’s clenching her jaw. Kara lied for years. A Super and a Luthor. She must have been using her, why else would she have lied for so long? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, and all that. The Luthor way. Making sure Lena walked the line. Saving your life, protecting you. Enough! Lena shakes her head again, harder, to silence the voice inside. It works, so she closes her eyes and sighs.

Then images start flashing: A helicopter spinning out of control towards the ground. The pilot unconscious, limp next to her. Bracing for a certain death that never comes.

“You’re safe now.”

Feeling suddenly sick. Knowing too late that something’s wrong with the coffee. Someone has posioned her and succeded at it. She clinging to consciousness, barely, dreaming of Kara saving her. Taking her in her arms and flying her up to safety.

“You were flying, and you were carrying me.”

Lena determined to protect Kara as they both face Mercy inside L Corp. They somehow managed to avoid the rain of bullets from the intruders and are now trapped in the labs with the armed enemy. But Lena’s armed too. She’l protect Kara, who seems eager to leave, which confuses Lena, she’s seen Kara square up to people before, especially to stand up for Lena. But she let’s her leave, she’ll be safer anyway. And then Supergirl is there, neutralizing Mercy in the blink of an eye.

“The Luthor name doesn’t deserve Lena.”

A half machine half man monstrosity trying to storm her newly rebranded company. She, braving an attempt at defense. An enormous metallic representation of said rebranding flying towards her, promising a sure, painful and fast death. She, bracing for the impact that never comes. Looking through her hands to see the Girl of Steel stumbling from the force of protecting Lena from it.

“Get out of here.”

She confronting Edge, who poisoned children in an attempt at getting back to Lena. She almost going through with killing him. Instead getting knocked out and strapped onto a doomed plane. Not only is she going to die, all her work to be good would be erased, her reputation. But, once more, it doesn’t come.

“No, I’m not going to drop you!”

Kara, sweet and dorky, suddenly stony facing Detective Sawyer, who’s come to take Lena into custody. Conviction in her blue eyes, sure of Lena’s innocence. Willing to face off with her sister’s girlfriend over it. Lena shocked at the protective display.

“Hold on, Maggie. Slow down. Just, let her explain.”

Supergirl trying to warn her of her mother’s terrorist endeavors. Not as in warning Lena to stir clear of it. Not as in warning her that she’s being watched. But as if to telling her to be careful, that she may be in danger. As if telling her Supergirl herself will protect her, if she’d let her.

“Be your own hero.”

She deliberatedly jumping off a cliff, after facing off with a terrorist organization. Pushing the buttom on the watch Kara gave her, to protect her, alway. With not a trace of doubt in her system that Kara would come to her rescue. Feeling the power of the lasers coming out of Kara’s eyes.

“What was that?”

Lena falling from her office balcony, thinking of her fear of heights, her fear of flying. Thinking of Kara listening to her falling to her death after a couple of her mother’s goons accidentally toppled her. Clutching to Kara’s voice as the last thing she hears. Until arms of steel catch her and making it feel like falling onto a cloud. Freezing breath rushing past her face, and still feeling warm.

“Dropped something?”

“I was having coffee with Kara Danvers.”

Lena, flanked by the Danvers Sisters coming into a dream realm to confront Sam’s demons. A monster wearing Sam’s face attacking them, lifting Lena by the neck, threateing to break it.

“Let her go! Take me, take me instead, please!”

Being kidnapped onto an alien ship. And invader alien ship. Almost forced to get married, to Kara’s boyfriend, no less. Getting rescued by Supergirl. Joining forces with her mom, who had previously joined forces with Supergirl, both putting their difference aside to save Lena. Creating a device that would eradicate the invading threat, but that included Kara’s love. Kara, devastated, but reassuring Lena that it was not her fault, that she did what she had to.

“Lena, you helped Supergirl save the world.”

Kidnapped by her mother, after being framed. Used to get to Lex’s arsenal of anti-alien weaponry. Supergirl crashing the site, knowingly risking her safety with Lilian, Metallo and Cyborg Superman surrounded by weapons designed to defeat a Kryptonian. Supergirl on her knees, in pain. Warning them of the risk of Metallo’s unstable kryptonite’s core. A potential explosion that could kill her. And still staying to carry Lena out of there, just in the nick of time.

“Kara Danvers believes in you.”

“You’re good, Lena.”

“So, my office is overflown with flowers.”

“That’s what friends are for.”

“I’ve never had friends like you.”

“I trust you.”

“Supergirl might have saved me. But you, Kara Danvers, you are my hero.”

Lena’s gasping, just now realizes she’s crying. What have I done? But there’s no time to think about it further. A crash coming from her balcony captures her attention, and she stands, drink still in hand, tears still rolling down her face. Supergirl struggles to keep upright: she’s pale, panting. Her eyes, as wild as her hair, searching her surroundings, until they find Lena. And it’s palpable how the relief fills Kara. Her shoulders sag and her eyes close.

“Lena.”

But Lena has not gotten over Supergirl, Kara’s state. And then she sees her hands. There’s blood and bruises there. There’s blood on Kara’s hands. Lena can’t take her eyes of the damaged limbs. She takes a couple of steps towards the hero.

“You’re bleeding.”

Kara seems to not have heard her. She looks at Myriad and lingers there. As if she’s trying to see through it. But can’t. She’s helping herself stay standing by bracing one shoulder on the balcony door. Turns to Lena again.

“Please, Lena. Don’t do this. Please.”

“Kara, you’re bleeding.”

“If you do this, Lena, if you do this there’s no going back.”

“Why are you bleeding?”

“Not like, for humanity. We’d be able to fix that. We’ve done it before. With Myriad. But for you, Lena. You’ll be devastated when your anger subsides.”

“Kara.”

“Please, Lena, you’ve worked so hard to leave your family’s bad name behind. It’ll be so much harder to come back if you do this.”

“Kara, stop.”

“No, no. You gotta listen. You can’t do this! It will hurt you!”

“Kara. You are bleeding!”

“What?” And finally, she looks down. At her hands. “Oh.”

Lena closes the distance between them. Takes Kara’s hands in hers. Inspects the damage. Her mind racing to understand what she’s seeing. Kara is Supergirl, she should not be bleeding. Now Lena can see that Kara is also shivering. From exertion or cold, Lena isn’t sure. Both, maybe. She’s still catching her breath.

“You punched your way out.” She says this and looks up at Kara’s face, she knows her eyes are wide with shock and her mouth is, too. A little. Lilian would be appalled. “Kara, why? The trap would have turned off in a couple of hours. I would never...”

“I know. I know but... it was so tight in there.”

“Tight?”

“The space was so small.”

“Oh. Oh! You’re... Are you claustrophobic?” Oh, no. No.

Kara shrugs, looks sideways at the desk. At Myriad. But she’s not trying to contain Lena, to restrain her. She’s not rushing to take Myriad, either. She’s trusting Lena to do listen, to do what’s right.

“Why? Kara why didn’t you... I didn’t know. I didn’t know if I would have. I would’ve not put you in there,”

“We both did things. Lena, I promise. I’ve only lied about my secret identity. And I know there’s no excuse, but I have plenty. And I’ll tell you all of them when you’re ready to hear them. But, please, you have to believe me: I never lied about us. I swear I was not using you. You must believe me, Lena, please!”

“I think I do, now. I’m... I’m still hurt and angry. But, I know. I realize you didn’t need to work so hard on protecting me. From experience, I know that masks fall faster than that. I was just... Hearing i from Lex, while I killed him was overpowering.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I gave him the chance to take that away from us. I’m sorry that yet again I was robbed of the opportunity to tell someone I love. And that it gave him such a way to hurt you. I’m sorry that it made you feel used and unloved. I love you Lena. I love you.”

Lena’s vision is blurry with tears. And it gets worse when Kara’s words paint a smile on Lena’s face. At some point she has dragged Kara to the couch, have them both sat down, and she’s yet to let go of the hero’s bruised hands.

“You do?”

“I do. Of course I do. I love you. I’d say it as much as you’d need.”

“Hold on.”

Lena stands despite Kara’s throughly confused expression. She raches for the first aid kit in the bathroom and sits back next to Kara. Starts tending to the wonds, a little worried that hey don’t seem to be healing by themselves. But not wanting to draw attention to it. Kara watches her work in silence, with the occasional flinch or hiss of pain.

“You may want to reconsider your offer. I don’t think I’ll ever tired of you saying it.”

Kara looks lost for a second, until her face clears of all confusion. She smiles.

“I don’t have a problem with that.”

“I’m going to have to work on myself and my issues, though. Before we can really start to explore our relationship. In whichever form you’re willing to have it.”

“I’ll have to work on my issues, too. And we’ll work together on our relationship. I’ll have whatever you’rewilling to give me.”

And Lena almost says I’ll give you everything out loud. She finishes up tending to Kara’s wounds. And sighs.

“When should I expect the DEO to come and get me?” Kara frowns at her.

“Why would they come and get you?”

“I imagine Alex wants my head after wha I did?”

“Ales doesn’t know.” But Lena’s is too shocked to respond. “We’ll go and stop everything about the Non Nocere project. You’ll get Hope out of Eve, and we’ll deliver her to the authorities. Then we’ll all work together to stop Leviathan. Then, maybe after we worked through our stuff anough, we can tell the story as a funny story.”

“There’s not one funny thing about what’s happened.” Lena deadpans, because...

“I’m sure I can make it funny. I’m charming like that.” And Lena loves her cocky side. Lena loves all of her sides, she’s come to realize.

“Yes, you’re hilarious.”

Kara’s phone goes off before she can sass back and Lena can hear Alex voice through the speaker.

“Kara, finally. I was getting worried I couldn’t reach you or Lena.”

“We’re ok.” She says while holding her eyes to Lena’s. “I told her.” There’s a sigh on the other end of the call. Not dissapointed, nor angry. Just a sigh.

“Ok. I know you’ve wanted to tell her for a while. And I know you feel like your secret affects more than just you, Kara. But it’s ultimately yours to share. We’ve all have done it for you enough times. I also know you’re worried about the DEO trapping Lena with the excuse of confidentiality. But I promise you I won’t let that happen. How did she take it?”

“Well... I mean, she’s hurt. And I think we’re goin to have to work that out. But...” She let’s the sentence hang for a second, looking at Lena, who nods. “But, we’ll be all right.”

“I know you guys will. Now, enough sentimentality. What about the plan?”

“We found Eve, we’re about to intercept her and bringing her into cosudy. Then we can start working on the rest of the bad guys.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you guys soon. Would you need back-up?”

“No, we’ve got it.” She ends the call and stands, walking towards the balcony. Lena stays put, an eyebrow lifting in amussement.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To get Eve? Hope? Both?”

“We’re not flying, Kara. You can barely walk.” She can see Kara about to argue, so she activates the portal and gestures to it, expectantly.  “Shall we?”

“Show-off.” Kara grumbles as she walks through it and Lena and her laugh follow her. Yes, they’ll be all right.

[cheri-translates]

[CN] Shaw’s Exorcism Date (Eng Translation)

🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for a date which has not been released in English servers! 🍒

Note: This date was translated by @redqueenschoice! It’s on my blog because she doesn’t want to put individual translations on hers...

Shaw’s Qixi Collection: Date ♡ / Call 1 / Call 2 / Event / Special Call

Check out Victor’s date (by @lucienism) and Kiro’s date (by @skyholders​) too! A lot of effort has been put in by these three lovely humans T^T💕 Do send them lots of love!!

On the night of Qixi, I had a terrible encounter and happened to be saved by Shaw. In order to repay the favour afterwards, I promised to run errands for him for seven days. Very soon, the seven days are coming to an end…

~

The crescent moon reminiscent of a bow hangs in the sky, the canopy of the heavens are painted pitch black. The little starlight that filters through the dense canopy of the forest scatters, and a line of men make their way through the mountain’s forest in a hurry, the swords on their waists still red with fresh blood.

A drop of blood falls onto the surface of a leaf, before it is trodden underfoot all of a sudden.

MC: Ahh…

Bandit Leader: Tell me the truth!

My head was harshly hit, and I let out a weak, muffled cry through the cloth stuffed in my mouth.

The image of my family’s pitiful state right before the moments of their deaths surface in my mind again, and my throat tightens, both my heart and mind unable to move on from the tumultuous upheaval in my life.

It was only supposed to be a trip to the neighbouring village to visit some relatives. How had it come to this?

Bandit Leader: The ones we’ve gone after the last few days weren’t lacking in anything, huh? Hiding so many goods…

Bandit Underling: That’s right. Especially this young girl here, she’s still young and healthy.

Bandit Underling One: Boss, before we sell her off, how about we… ehehe.

Upon hearing his perverted words and laughter, I start thrashing about in a panic, but the ropes wound tightly around my wrists and ankles just won’t budge no matter how hard I pull. Tears stain the blindfold over my eyes and I stretch my hands towards my waist, getting ready to put up a fight with everything I have - I’d rather die than be disgraced in such a way.

At this moment, however, he is interrupted by another low voice.

Bandit Underling Two: That’s enough. You can make merry anytime you like, but in this instance, it’s better for us to hurry and get on our way. I heard these woods aren’t to be trusted at night, and there are rumours that monsters come out at night.

Bandit Underling One: Big Brother, aren’t you a little too believing of these old folk tales? Where on earth would there be demons, and even if there were, I’m not scared of them!

Note from Red: and here, ladies and gentlemen, is the beginning to every horror movie ever

A cocky laugh leaves his lips, but the second he does, the surroundings in all four directions abruptly fall silent.

All of a sudden, a long, piercing cry rips the still night in two.

The sound is delightful to the ears, yet it is striking enough to tear through the haze - upon hearing it once, it would be irreversibly carved into one’s heart.

I only feel my body sway for a moment, but in the blink of an eye, I find myself shoved down onto the ground. The second my shoulder collides with the wet, slippery dirt, I hear the bandits’ terrified shouts flying to and fro above my head.

Bandits: Mon… Monster!!!

The snarl of a predator beast, the metallic hiss of a blade being unsheathed, frantic and hurried footsteps… followed by bloodcurdling screams.

The chaos and what I experienced a few hours ago are far too similar, the same sounds echoing inside my head until they slowly fade away to nothing.

I cannot see anything in front of me, and can only smell the faint scent of blood mixed with that of the cool forest suffusing my nose.

At this moment, footsteps gradually approach me.

I hold my breath, and feel cold sweat slowly trickling down my back.

Who is it? Did one of the bandits survive?

Or is it… the monster?

The owner of those footsteps stop before me, and a strong hand pulls me up from the ground.

The person lifts up my bangs and a fingertip meets my forehead, the ice cold sensation making me shiver.

Mystery Man: Hah.

He seems to have no intention of loosening my bindings, a peculiar silence filling the space between me and the nameless man before me. With the blindfold over my eyes, my senses of hearing and touch are my only links with the external world.

His breathing is very light, but with each exhale that leaves his mouth, I sense undeniable danger in the air. I can feel his gaze, like that of a wild predator surveying its prey, as if he would sink his fangs into me in the next second.

MC: Mmn!

Terrified, I duck my head away from him, trying to avoid his touch. Instead, I hear a short laugh coming from the person in front of me.

Mystery Man: Fine. Since you don’t want me to save you, just wait here on your own, then.

With these words, the heated breaths across my cheeks vanish and the man seems to disappear into thin air, leaving no trace. My surroundings are completely silent once again.

He left?

I don’t dare to confirm it myself, waiting where he left me for a moment. Once the sound of birds and chirping of crickets returns to the area, I let out a breath of relief and begin to move once again.

Since I was under constant scrutiny of the bandits, I didn’t dare to do this earlier. Now that there’s no one in the vicinity, I can finally reach for the small knife I had secretly strapped to my waist.

This is the last thing my parents, who died earlier this year, left me to defend myself with.

I carefully feel around for the handle of the blade, wrapping my fingers around it. Because I can’t see and my movements are restricted, the tip of the blade ends up nicking my skin a few times. Gritting my teeth, I bear the pain and work on severing my bindings.

Note from Red: guys this is the mc we need but don’t deserve-

When I finally pull off the blindfold around my eyes, I see that the moon has already moved considerably towards the west.

Apart from the goods the bandits had been carrying with them earlier, I don’t see anyone else when I glance about.

MC: Did those people… really get eaten?

At the thought of the danger I experienced earlier, and might still be in, I couldn’t care less about the injuries littering my body, and force myself to my feet with the support of a tree branch, preparing to leave the forest as fast as I can.

The mountain paths are confusing and complicated, and I feel like I’ve been wandering around in circles for awhile when I finally hear the sound of running water coming from nearby.

MC: That’s great! If there’s water, that means I can clean my wounds!

I hobble towards the source of the sound slowly, but just as I’m pushing through the underbrush, a sound suddenly rings out through the air, causing me to freeze where I stand in fear.

Mystery Man: Don’t panic, everyone has a share.

It’s the voice of that man from earlier!

Before I can react, there’s the sound of flapping wings in the distance, taking my attention with it. Several strangely shaped skeletal birds flap over, and from their shrill, clamorous cries, it sounds as if they’re begging for food from someone.

I turn my head, only to see a young man casually lounging in a rowboat on the surface of a pool, next to a grove of trees. In his hand is a bunch of evening primroses. Under the light of the night sky, their petals give off a gentle glow.

The young man’s long legs are crossed, golden eyes half narrowed lazily as he looks at me. His expression is leisurely and indolent, and I see the petal of an evening primrose held casually between his teeth.

If I hadn’t encountered him in such an unusual circumstance, in the depths of a mountain forest, perhaps I would have thought he was the pampered young master of a rich merchant or businessman.

Mystery Man: Oh, that sentence wasn’t quite right. It should have been ‘every bird has a share’.

As if the skeletal birds can understand what he’s saying, they let out noisy chirps before obediently taking the petals from his hand one by one. The second the petals leave his palm, they dissolve into puffs of black smoke being swallowed up instantly by the skeletal birds.

Mystery Man: Today’s haul wasn’t too bad, there’s so much evil energy about, there’s enough for all of you to gorge yourselves on for a long time…

Mystery Man: Oi, you little idiot at the back, I caught you! Be a bit more honest, you’re not allowed to cut the queue…

Skeletal Bird: Squawk squawk?

Mystery Man: What did you say? Why didn’t I swallow up that little lady from earlier?

Mystery Man: Come on, do I really seem like a scoundrel who doesn’t take proper care of women… yeah, I am.

Trivia from Red: The word ‘scoundrel’ was translated from is the negative of a Chinese idiom 怜香惜玉, meaning a gentleman who takes care of the fairer sex. Shaw referred to himself as someone unlike a gentleman, so that’s how I translated it.

Skeletal Bird: Squawk!

Mystery Man: [clicks his tongue] I was just playing around a little. After I feed the lot of you, I’ll go back and save her, is that cool with you?

At hearing his words, I secretly make a face in his direction, muttering under my breath.

MC: I didn’t need you to save me… I got out on my own...

A skeletal bird suddenly caws in my direction. The young man’s eyes narrow instantly, the light in his eyes intensifying to something swift and fierce, before he turns his gaze right in my direction.

Mystery Man: Whoever’s there, come out.

I’ve been found out!

Note from Red: She, in fact, had been found out.

I subconsciously take a step back, but all of a sudden, the injury on my leg flares up with immense pain. My body loses balance all at once, and I find myself pitching backwards before I know what’s happening.

MC: Ah!

Note from Red: MC then proceeds to black out in typical otome heroine fashion… but let’s cut her some slack she was cool here T^T

I drift in the darkness, countless strange dreams blending together and surfacing before my eyes. One moment it’s the leering grin of the bandits, the next it’s the cawing of the skeletal birds I saw earlier. But the final thing is the long, piercing cry I heard in the forest.

When my eyes blink open, I find myself in an unfamiliar room.

It’s a perfectly normal looking bedroom, and the sheets under me are fresh and clean. Somewhere, I can hear the sounds of a vendor selling his goods and the voices of kids peddling flowers drifting in from outside the window.

Everything is so peaceful, it’s as if everything I experienced before has just been nothing but a dream.

MC: Where exactly am I…

Mystery Man: You finally decided to wake up.

A young man dressed in purple appears at the door in the blink of an eye. Startled, I sit up as fast as possible in shock.

MC: Who are you!?

At my question, he leans against the doorframe casually, and after seeing my expression, the corner of his lips turn up in a smirk.

Mystery Man: What are you being so on edge for? I’m the benefactor who saved your life, you know.

MC: What benefactor, I clearly saw you on that lake earlier…

Mystery Man: You’ve had some entertaining dreams.

Note from Red: o k a y shaw

MC: Huh?

Mystery Man: You, little lady, fainted in the wilderness in the nearby mountains. If I hadn’t just happened to be passing by and decided to do a good deed, there’s no guarantee you wouldn’t have been eaten up by a demon.

What he’s saying doesn’t match up with what I remember, but the way he speaks so smoothly with absolute confidence makes it hard for me to doubt his words, and for a moment I question my own memories.

Could the glowing primroses I saw by the lake… and the skeletal birds… all been some sort of strange dream?

Mystery Man: It seems like you’ve slept yourself silly.

The young man runs a hand through his hair before straightening up once more, and I watch as he steps towards me until he’s right next to the bed, bending down to look at me more clearly.

His golden eyes flash with sly amusement.

Mystery Man: Since you’re awake, remember this clearly: you’re on my territory.

Mystery Man: The name’s Shaw, and I’m your benefactor.

Mystery Man: As for what you should do now, you should carefully think… about just how you’re going to repay me for saving your life.

-

Carrying a bucket filled with water, I stagger into the garden, out of breath.

The only other person in the garden is currently lounging next to a flower bed, legs casually swinging back and forth, the picture of idleness.

MC: May. I. Please. Ask. If. Sir. Benefactor. Has. Any. Other. Instructions.

Since the day I woke, in return for Shaw safely bringing me out of the mountain, I agreed to run errands for him for seven days. Today is already the seventh day.

Upon seeing me puffing and panting, his brow lifts in an amused arch.

Shaw: Hmm, go water those flowers over there while you’re at it, then.

MC: Shaw, don’t take your bullying too far!

Shaw: How am I bullying you? Weren’t you the one who said that you wanted to repay me by running errands? Or perhaps you want to do it by offering your body instead?

Trivia from Red: ‘Offering your body’ is translated from the Chinese idiom 以身相许, which means 1) pledge to marry or 2) have sex with a man of her own will.

I stare at him in horrified shock for a moment, face burning red from embarrassment. Grabbing the gourd dipper, I scoop up a full ladle of water and fling it at him with all my might.

Shaw ducks out of the way at lightning speed, and the spray of water splashes onto the flowerbed he had been lounging next to earlier, catching the light of the afternoon sun and forming a rainbow. Shaw’s laughter rings out clearly.

Shaw: I asked you to water the flowers, not water people. Or is your eyesight so bad you can’t tell a human clearly from a flowerbed?

MC: ...You!

These last few days, whenever we’ve had banters like this, I’ve never won even once. Determined not to fall into the same trap again, I ignore his words and instead ask a question.

MC: The seven days are almost up. Can I leave tomorrow?

Shaw’s smile turns teasing.

Shaw: Your house is opposite this mountain, isn’t it? Are you sure you won’t faint halfway on your journey back again?

MC: I definitely won’t!

Upon seeing my determined face, Shaw grins, opening his mouth to say something again. All of a sudden, however, the smile fades from his face.

MC: What’s the matter?

Shaw: Nothing’s up, I’m just heading out for a moment.

Shaw: If you want to go home, I’m not stopping you.

Shaw: But you’re not allowed to leave tomorrow. Stay put in my house, don’t take a step out of the compound.

MC: Why not?

Shaw doesn’t reply my question, and with a few strides of his long legs, he’s vanished from the garden.

MC: Shaw, wait a moment, you haven’t explained yourself-

MC: He’s gone?

This isn’t the first time he’s simply disappeared like this. With a shake of the head, I shrug off his warning. Besides, after tomorrow, I’ll have repaid my debt to him in full, and we’ll have nothing more to do with each other.

On the morning of the next day, Shaw still hasn’t returned.

I chew on my lip, looking at the doors for the seventh time, slightly hesitant to leave without bidding him goodbye.

MC: Well, it’s not like that rascal is going to bother about it anyway…

Trivia from Red: MC quite constantly refers to Shaw as 那家伙, which is a casual way of referring to a mischievous, rascally guy, and can be interpreted as ‘that guy’, or ‘that little punk’.

Even though I say those words, I find my footsteps slowing on the way out of the front courtyard.

MC: Perhaps I should leave him a letter.

I write him a letter and leave it on his table. Just when I’m about to leave, a painting hanging on the wall catches my eye.

MC: This is…

Taking a step closer to look at it more clearly, I realise that it’s a mythical beast that I’ve never seen before.

On the beast’s lower back are five tails, and on its forehead is a single horn. Just from the painting, I can sense a strong aura of pride and arrogance.

MC: This painting… it kind of resembles that guy.

Curiously, I reach out and touch a corner of the painting. All of a sudden, however, the sound of thunder rumbles outside the window.

I look out of the window, and am surprised to see that the sky, that was sunny just moments ago, is now blanketed with thick grey clouds, looking like it’s about to start pouring anytime soon.

MC: If I don’t leave now, it’ll be bad if I’m caught in the rain.

I fasten my cloak, pick up an umbrella and leave Shaw’s house.

Even thought it’s well into the afternoon, the little town is completely covered in a thick fog, as if it has been completely blanketed by a layer of grey. The little river that runs through the town has little lotus lamps dotting the surface, all of them floating along silently.

Just as I’m about to leave the little town, my mind gradually begins to calm.

MC: This feels a little strange…

The town that Shaw resides in might not have too many people, but on a normal day, it would usually be bustling with activity, the smell of firework smoke in the air.

Yet today, there isn’t a single person on the streets.

Note from Red: gee, i wonder why, mc-

The further I go from Shaw’s house, the faster the sky seems to darken and unease wells up in my heart.

MC: Maybe I should go back and wait for him…

[thunder rumbles]

The clouds seem to descend, and the sky darkens even further. I don’t know whether it’s just my imagination, but the mist seems to suffuse and thicken in the tunnel before me, and I can see the outline of dark shapes moving about inside.

Before I can look more closely at them,  there’s a sound behind me, and I turn around. The moment I do, I can’t help but feel shock race through me.

It’s the skeletal bird I saw that night on the mountain!

The bird hops onto the side of the bridge, cocking its head at me. When it opens its beak to speak, what comes out isn’t the shrill squawk of a bird, but the familiar cool and clear voice of a man.

Bird!Shaw: Finally found you… what are you doing here?

MC: Shaw!?

MC: How are you… this bird is-

In typical Shaw fashion, the bird does not answer my question. Instead, it turns its head to look at the tunnel, and lets out a clicking sound even though it doesn’t have a tongue to do so.

Bird!Shaw: Come with me.

With that, it flies to me, taking my sleeve between its beak and tugging me in the opposite direction. Being pulled along into a run with it, all my words come out garbled.

MC: Wait a moment… What, what exactly is going on? Just now, what was that? And you, what are you?

Bird!Shaw: You have so many questions.

MC: It’s not me who has too many questions! It’s just that you’ve hidden too much from me!

Bird!Shaw: ……

Bird!Shaw: It’s the Ghost Festival today.

MC: Ghost Festival… Hungry Ghost Festival!?

Trivia from Red: The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, is a traditional Buddhist and Taoist festival held in certain East Asian countries. According to the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month.

In Chinese culture, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. The deceased are believed to visit the living as the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased.

Bird!Shaw: That's right. This is when the nine yin converges, and evil grows easily. It is the day when the Ghost Gate opens, and evil and living souls intersect. It will be more troublesome than a typical day.

Bird!Shaw: I distinctly remember telling you to stay put in my house, who would have thought you’d actually dare to leave and make trouble for me.

As the bird says this, it turns back to eye me. Even though it has no eyes, I can clearly see the words ‘annoyance’ written in its eye sockets.

At that moment, a feeling of unhappiness washes over me, and I can’t help but open my mouth to speak.

MC: All these things… you could have just told me earlier. You made me wait for you for the entirety of yesterday… without so much as an explanation.

MC: Shaw, am I really not worthy of your trust? Am I a burden to you?

The bird stops fluttering its wings for a second before it turns its head, not saying another word.

For a moment, I wonder if Shaw is angry with what I said, but after a while, a small snort of laughter leaves the bird’s mouth, ringing in my ears.

The sound is so clean and clear, it seems like Shaw is standing right next to me.

Bird!Shaw: I don’t think of you as a burden.

Bird!Shaw: I can tell you my true identity, it’s just that at that moment, you can’t be afraid and you’re not allowed to regret it.

MC: I won’t be scared, and I wouldn’t regret it.

Bird!Shaw: Then follow me closely.

The clouds close in on us, and the first drops of rain begin to fall.

It’s going to rain.

I follow after the bird closely, and each time, I narrowly manage to escape every encounter with a dark shape. Just as we’re about to leave the small town, however, it’s as if all the spirits suddenly sense me, and they all turn and start rushing towards me!

Bird!Shaw: Don’t bother about them! Just run towards the exit of the town!

The second it finishes those words, it lets out a caw. As if rallied, a hundred of the skeletal birds suddenly fly over from behind the wall. Like arrows loosed from a bow, they descend on the mass of black spirits and attack them with their sharp beaks and wings, keeping them tightly packed together.

But there is a limit to the number of birds, and the pitch black spirits can’t be stopped.

Understanding that the birds can’t buy me all the time in the world, I grit my teeth and run as hard as I can for the exit of the town.

Even before I can take two steps, pain runs up my leg, as if I’m being yanked back by something. I fall painfully to the ground.

Withstanding the pain, I look down to see a skeletal person grabbing tight onto my ankle, refusing to let go!

No matter how hard I struggle, the person refuses to let go, and only holds on tighter and tighter. Watching the rest of the dark shapes slowly approaching, I yank out something I have tucked in my waist, and bring it down as hard as I can on the person.

Shiing!

A loud wail rings through the air, but the grip loosens enough for me to pry it off. Looking down in my hand, I clasp the dagger that had saved me seven days ago, I’ve never let it leave me even once.

But in the time it took for me to do all that, it’s too late for me to escape the town.

I grip the dagger tight.

The dark shapes draw closer, before they finally rush at me ferociously.

[thunder rumbles intensely]

Thunder rumbles throughout the sky, like the beating of a thousand drums, the galloping of a hundred thousand horses, unceasing. In that second, hundreds of white hot lightning bolts flash through the air before me, bathing the entire sky in bright white light.

Note from Red: that can’t be good for your eyes...

A large hand covers my eyes from behind.

Note from Red: who needs sunglasses when we have shaw’s big hands T^T

Shaw: You idiot, why are you just standing there for? Do you want to keep your eyes or not?

His tone is teasing and lighthearted, but it makes me feel safer than any promise or vow in the world.

MC: Shaw…

Shaw: I didn’t think you’d be able to save yourself, not bad.

Shaw: No wonder I-

The rest of his words are cut off by the rumble of thunder, the flash of lightning. I feel raindrops land pitter patter on my nose and cheeks.

In order to let me hear his words clearly, he leans down and puts his lips right next to my ear when he speaks, breath hot against the shell of my ear.

Shaw: Turn around, open up your umbrella and count to ten in your head before you open your eyes. Got it?

I nod with all my strength.

Shaw releases me and I obey his instructions, opening the umbrella and beginning to count.

MC: One, two, three…

The strikingly familiar cry I heard that night in the forest rings out from behind me, leaving yet another deep impression in my heart.

MC: Four, five, six…

The rain slows to a gentle drizzle, and the oppressive air hanging over the town seems to be slowly fading.

MC: Seven, eight, nine…

Shaw… Shaw…

MC: Ten.

I turn around.

Within the bright flashes of light, I catch sight of a silhouette of the five tailed mythical beast.

-

Evil spirits dealt with and the dark clouds gone, it seems like the town has finally gone back to normal.

Because I injured my foot, Shaw takes me to a small boat, and the two of us drift along slowly on the river. As the boat is slowly carried along beneath a bridge, Shaw, who is lazily sitting at the front, plucks a flower from the side to play with.

The lotus lamps bobbing alongside us glow softly, and what was initially supposed to be a gloomy Hungry Ghost Festival resembles more of a pleasant evening of a wedding night.

Shaw’s purple robes flutter in the wind, and under the light of the lamps hanging from the boat, the horn on his forehead seems to be softened with a soft glow.

The scenery before me reminds me of the time we first met on the lake back in that forest, the only differences being that he’s now missing a few birds, and that I am here with him.

MC: Right, why haven’t I seen any of the other town residents today?

Shaw: You think everyone is like you? I already warned them beforehand not to leave their houses, it’d make way for the souls and I can do what I need to do.

MC: Hahahaha…

Shaw: What are you laughing about?

MC: I’m laughing at you - with that image and disposition, who would have guessed that you’re actually a great immortal?

After hearing my words, Shaw lifts an eyebrow, looking slightly miffed.

Shaw: Then what did you think I was, a monster?

MC: I think that you’re Shaw, that’s all.

Shaw stares blankly at me for a moment.

MC: Shaw, on the day of Qixi, when you brought me out of the mountain, was it you who rescued me from those bandits as well?

Even though my words are phrased as a question, my tone is sure and certain. There’s a flash of surprise in Shaw’s eyes, but he doesn’t reply. He casts his eyes downwards, manner insipid.

Shaw: That isn’t a good memory to have for the Qixi Festival. Just forget it.

MC: I won’t forget it.

What he says is true. The Qixi festival is deserving of good and happy memories, and being by bandits certainly isn’t that, but still…

I look earnestly at Shaw.

MC: But on that day, you also appeared.

All around us, the lotus lamps flicker softly in the night, jade green smoke curling up faintly, the cool sounds of running water in my ears.

MC: I feel like this is the most memorable, and also the most treasured Qixi I have ever experienced.

This world’s thousands of relationships cannot be clearly defined by these dates, but on this Ghost Festival, my heart soars more than it did on the day of the Qixi Festival.

Shaw watches me silently, before he puts down the flower in his hand and leans forward, closer to me.

His hands carry with them the body temperature of one that is not human, fingertips lifting up my bangs once again.

Inch by inch, his finger trails down, as if mapping out my face.

His golden eyes are locked firmly on me, gaze intense and captivating like that of a wild beast, not letting my eyes deviate from him in the least.

This time, I don’t shy away from him.

Shaw: The last time, didn’t you ask for my true self?

Shaw: I’m Zheng, and I consume evil energy as sustenance.

Shaw: I’ve never felt like I’ve done this to help humans, and I’ve never considered myself to be an auspicious sign like the legends say.

Shaw: When I’m hungry, I eat.

Suddenly, my hand is grasped tightly in his, and he lifts it to his mouth.

He bites down slowly on my index finger, sharpened teeth scraping over delicate skin, and slight pain radiates out from where his lips are wrapped around my fingertip.

Shaw: Even if that’s what I am, you’re not going to be afraid of me?

Even though he’s clearly giving off a sense of hidden danger and his words are meant to provoke me into giving him a response, my heart skips a beat at the smile on his face.

MC: I…

Shaw: I… what? Speak louder.

With a self satisfied smirk that looks reminiscent of a cat that got the canary, he nips on my finger again.

MC: I said, I won’t be-

Before the word ‘scared’ can leave my mouth, my finger suddenly slips free of Shaw’s mouth to land on his lower lip. My fingertip softly runs against his lips, breath warm and eyes shining.

It’s clearly… a kiss.

Note from Red: yes mc you get flustered NOW when your finger was on his lips but not when he was literally biting on it priorities on point we stan

In a moment, my entire face burns bright red and I hurriedly pull back my finger.

MC: Shaw!

Shaw grins at me as he releases my hand, his gaze on me filled with an emotion I can’t quite recognise. Having fallen for his tricks yet again, my heart races and I desperately look for something to say, but didn’t expect that Shaw would beat me to it.

Shaw: Shouldn’t you be heading home?

The second he says that, I’m reminded of my original purpose: to bid my farewells to him before leaving for home.

I nod at him for a moment, before I shake my head energetically.

MC: Shaw, I…

Shaw: But today, haven’t I saved you once again?

MC: ...Eh?

Shaw: The timing’s just right. I’ve polished off all the evil energies and spirits here completely, it’s time for a change in scenery.

Shaw: The town near your home… is there anything entertaining?

He speaks so quickly that I have no time to think.

MC: Entertaining… well, not really, but there’s a lot of good food there! Recently it’s been chestnut and lotus seed season, so there should be a lot of confections sold on the streets…

MC: Wait a second, you’re not thinking of following me home, are you?

Shaw: Of course I am. How else are you going to repay this huge favour you owe me for saving you?

His words are bold and upright, but the grin on his face is that of a satisfied hunter.

Shaw: Before you fully repay the favour… don’t even think about escaping from me.

[archangeldraws]

Battles and Consequences

Warning: Direct conversation about Suicide, You have Been Warned.

"Leave Me Be, I have come here for one thing, To finally Die"

Those were the words Jet Jaguar told Aptenodyte upon the giant penguin discovering him on the shore of Antarctica during a Blizzard. upon hearing this Aptenodyte was well aware he ill equipped to deal with the situation, So He called Rodan.

Rodan spread the word, and One by One, The Monsters gave it their best shots at changing his mind, Except for Mothra, Battra, and Godzilla. Mothra and Battra didn't come not because they didn't care, but because the Climate Jet is trying to kill himself with would most certainly kill them. And Godzilla Couldn't be bothered.

Rodan gave it his best, even drudging up some saddening memories of the fight Jet put up in Barb's Honor during the Muto War. This was ineffective as Jet told that that fight in the MUTO war is what got him into this mess. Jet didn't elaborate further.

Scylla tried stirring up Memories of Jet's other victories, Megalon, Gigan, Shadow Chaser. Jet merely turned away, saying that Humanity fears him because of it.

Jira reminded Jet of When Shadow Chaser attacked, how he placed herself and Ghiji well being in front of his own. How he inspired two normal humans to pick a fight with a Demon from space. Jet said how he doesn't even know where they(the humans) are anymore. Jira left determined to change her brothers mind, Godzilla was gonna get through to his knight even if she had to drag him to see him.

Next Up was Ghidora of all creatures, He reminded Jet of how they overcame Shadow Chaser toghether, all the times Jet earned his place among the monsters. Jet remarked that standing by the monsters got someone important to him killed.

The last ditch effort of the monsters was not one any one expected.

Jet Looked over his shoulder, seeing the blood red wings and emerald eyes of the Crimson Empress.

"Go Away, you can only do more harm than good." Jet told her

"Not even giving me a chance?" She said "Not even gonna tell me what all this is about?"

"Okay! Sure! Why not!?" Jet was clearly at his whit's end "Where should I start, hmmm!?"

"The MUTO war"

"Our Mate"

"Ex-Mate"

"Sure, Let's talk about Shadow Chaser, Why not?" Jet Flung his arms up "In a way He was the catalyst that started this. Though it wasn't exactly him, it was me working with your son that was the problem"

"Mind yo- I mean what do you mean?"

"He was the first reason humanity used to doubt my Loyalty to them" Jet explained "People are afraid of Ghidora, thus when I helped him, some people feared me, they were the first to call me a monster."

"But you embraced being a monster, you're the knight!"

"Yes and Humanity didn't like that one bit, I was supposed to be on Their side." Jet said, his eyes shifting closer to red "The Government said I was Humanities Champion, the good solider who would defend them from monsters. In the MUTO War, I had to make a choice, That choice showed my allegiance. I was to either Save Mothra or Save a couple of Destroyers who I told to stay away."

"And you saved your queen"

"Make sense, They disregarded your words"

"Yes, they made their graves"

"Yeah, You three agreeing on that doesn't put me at ease" Jet said "Especially since the COST for that Choice was My MOTHER!!"

Crimson Empress was taken aback by Jet's outburst, though it would explain his sour attitude towards her in particular. After all He lost his mother, what help could a being he was introduced to as a mother sooth that pain, instead of inflaming it?

"We're sorry to hear that"

"How did it happen?

"My mother was an Army General, she had stopped multiple of the military's attempts at Kaiju based weaponry, this infuriated a lot of the Warhawks among the ranks. After I abandoned the Ships, The Army declared me a traitor. And those Warmongers saw their chance to rid themselves of my mother, and then they tried to make me sign a loyalty agreement. They still have Zilla, Komi, and Kozi, and I'm not strong enough to save them." Jet Jaguar sat back down "I have failed them, Just like I failed Nick, and now, Mom. So, Now I choose to die, so that none may be hurt by my consequences"

"So you're just giving up?! I know Mothra didn't Knight you just so you could do that!"

Jet and CE turned around to Jira and Godzilla walk on to shore.

"She Knighted you, because you will always do what's right and Fix what goes wrong because of it." Godzilla Continued "If the Human's have made you their enemy, and Kidnapped our family. That's not our fault, but it is theirs, and they are gonna pay for it!"

"However, we understand if you want to solve this peacefully" Jira said, trying to temper her brother's bloodlust "What was that thing you said? "I'm gonna walk tall and carry the biggest stick."?"

Jet had said that to her before facing a group of MUTO's heading for her nest. He didn't want to kill them, but he wanted to scare them so he still brought his Spear.

"I'm gonna need an really frickin Big Stick" Jet said, hope returning to his voice

"Or an Army" Godzilla said

Jet Jaguar stood up and grabbed his spear, His eyes shifted back to blue. He nodded and took to the skies. Godzilla, Jira, Scylla swam after him with Rodan, Ghidora, and Empress joining the Movement.

15 minutes later, United States Pentagon.

"Sir, Jet Jaguar is back on the move" An intelligence officer ran up to a General

"What's his heading?" The General replied

"The Capitol, we think he's going after the president" The Officer said

"Sir! Monarch just sent this over" another officer hands the General a tablet with a map showing Kaiju Movement, All the red dots are heading towards America's East Coast.

In the bottom right of the screen there is a message from Monarch Command saying "We Warned You, You Don't Control Nature."