#but its fine i can handle wolves i guess

[gh0ulsh4rk]

amazing that my horse will fight a literal dragon, take a blast of fire to the face and be unphased but runs away from wolves. Dimitri what the fuck.

[amatchinwater]

Pairing: Stisaac

Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Isaac Lahey, Derek Hale, Jackson Whittemore

Warnings: Canon typical violence, blood and injury, hurt Stiles, Stiles accepts the bite to save his life, near death experience, broken bone

Words: 2055

Prompt: BTHB square Setting a Broken Bone

Ao3 link Masterlist

--

Before Chris took Allison away to France after forming a truce with the Hale pack, she taught Stiles everything she could about archery. The once fragile human now fills out his clothes, got stronger, and damn good with a bow. So whenever the pack decides they want fresh venison for dinner, he joins them.

It was as close to running with wolves as Stiles could get as a human. Adding what Allison taught him with Derek teaching him how to track, Stiles became an amazing hunter. In the traditional sense. Just as good as the supernatural creatures he surrounds himself with. Minus the extra teeth, glowing eyes, and enhanced senses. 

Alli and Derek got him close enough while still clinging to his humanity. It’s not that Stiles doesn’t want the bite. You can blame his stubborn nature, but he’s determined to prove that he can survive just fine as is. And while he’s done a great job so far, Stiles has made it clear to Derek that should it come to life or death, give him the bite no questions asked. 

He’s stubborn, not stupid. 

Stiles even annoyed Deaton into showing him what it means to be a pack’s emissary. It was important to Stiles that Derek had someone he trusted to look out for the well being and safety of his pack. And that couldn’t be Deaton because deep down, whether Derek will admit it or not, he never fully forgave the man for not warning his mother about Kate. Stiles promised to be better. 

And so far, he has been. 

“Wanna tell me what you’re thinking about?” Isaac asks, catching Stiles staring at his feet while they walk through the preserve in the early evening.

One guess what the pack wanted for dinner tonight.

“Just wondering if the deer can hear my stomach grumbling and that’s why we haven’t seen any.” Stiles grins at the wolf, “if we don’t find one soon, I might be eating wolf tonight.”

It was supposed to be a joke. But the look Isaac gives him makes Stiles’ cheeks burn. “So you think I look tasty?” His words, no matter how cheesy, spread the heat down to Stiles’ chest. He trips over a root trying to respond about how he meant Jackson or Boyd. Isaac chuckles, “Not as smooth as you thought you were?” 

No, Isaac. Because you’ve been Stiles’ crush ever since he laid eyes on you. 

“Shut up,” Stiles scoffs, choosing his next step more carefully. He’s a hunter for god’s sake, Stiles has been trained out of his clumsiness. 

“Aww, did I hit a soft spot, Pretty Boy?” Isaac practically whispers in Stiles’ ear. 

When the fuck did he get that close? 

Chills run down Stiles’ spine from the wolf’s words and proximity. That was a lot to digest in thirty seconds. Much more than Stiles can handle while trying to hunt deer. Rather than give Isaac the satisfaction, Stiles focuses on the task at hand. 

Another few moments of silence and they spot a doe eating in front of a large tree. Stiles crouches behind a bush, Isaac beside him, and removes an arrow from his quiver. He takes a steady breath before knocking it. 

“Hit her in the heart, I’ll take care of the rest?” Isaac whispers so as not to spook her. 

Stiles nods. It’s their method and has always worked for them. They work. Derek knows it; it’s why they’re always paired together on hunts. You just won’t catch Stiles saying some embarrassing shit like that out loud. He’s impulsive, yes, but his brain cells still work. Isaac will never see them as anything more than pack and Stiles has to live with that. 

Stiles takes a breath in time with the draw of his bowstring. Holding it, he aims for the heart. He won’t miss, Allison made sure of that. On the exhale, Stiles looses the arrow. But before it can hit its mark, the doe takes off, a set of glowing blue eyes bound towards them instead. 

There’s no chance of a reaction, of trying to defend himself or see if Isaac can jump in between. The only option is to brace for impact. If blood wasn’t rushing through his ears, Stiles probably would have heard the snarl before being body slammed into the ground. It’s a quick blur, but the wolf resembles what Peter looked like when he could fully shift, just a little smaller. 

Isaac’s roar as the omega runs away barely makes it through Stiles’ ears. He doesn’t even get to register the pain in his side from the landing. Or the dirt he had to spit out. He’s already spun and crouched, bow at the ready for the wolf to make its next move. 

“Talk to me, Is,” Stiles’ eyes dart around the tree line the sun has mostly fallen behind. He can’t see shit. “Where is it?” 

“I don’t know,” Isaac hisses, golden eyes struggling to locate their attacker. “I can’t even smell it.”

That’s not good.

A twig snaps to his right, Stiles trains his bow immediately. Not realizing it’s a trap until Isaac yells, “Stiles!” that it was just a diversion. 

Stiles turns only halfway before the beast lunges from the shadows. Its teeth clamp around Stiles’ forearm, the bow falling to the darkening forest floor. At first, he doesn’t feel much other than the trail of blood sliding down his arm. Too much shock, adrenaline, or both coursing through his veins. Then the wolf thrashes. Flinging Stiles’ around by his limb like a dog with a chew toy. 

Skin shreds and something definitely cracks and Stiles feels it then, letting out a blood curdling scream. White hot fire shooting up his arms, causing a ringing in his ear. It hurts to fucking bad, but he can’t get free. 

“Derek!” Isaac howls. His claws sink into the wolf’s sides while Stiles tries to get his arm free without doing more damage. 

He’s already lost feeling in his fingers. 

Using the last shreds of strength he can muster, Stiles drives his free elbow down on the wolf’s head repeatedly until it finally lets go. He grabs his bloody arm, holding it to his chest, stumbling to the ground. 

Stiles can feel the bone sticking out of his skin. If he looks, he’ll pass out. Adrenaline sure is something, he’s in pain that’s for sure, but at least he stopped screaming. The blood loss is already making his vision swim, he needs to stay conscious. Not that it would really matter if he ends up dying. Seeing death coming and being powerless to stop it would be almost as insulting as watching that thing kill Isaac. 

The sun is well behind the trees now, all he can make out are two blurry shapes bouncing around. Stiles is fucking cold. He should really assess the damage. See if he can fix it while Isaac fights. But that just seems too hard and the grass is comfortable. It’d be totally okay if he closed his eyes right now. 

“It’s okay, Stiles,” Isaas says, sounding so far away, but the dull drag of pain being taken washes over him with the wolf’s words. It’s almost like he’s speaking underwater. He half feels Isaac lift his head into his lap. But those golden eyes, those are in sharp focus. “It’s gone, okay? You’re going to be just fine. But you have to keep your eyes open. Can you do that for me, Pretty Boy? Huh? Let me see those eyes.”

“What happened?” What sounds like Jackson’s frantic voice asks.

Stiles can’t be sure. He’s well past loopy, looking up at Isaac, slurring, “why you ‘lways call m’ pretty boy?” 

Someone kneels beside him, lifting his shredded arm.

Isaac chokes on his laugh, “because you are my pretty boy, Stiles.”

“Because he loves you, moron.”

Yeah. Definitely Jackson. 

Stiles makes a noise that was supposed to be a chuckle, but it just comes out more like an amused grunt. “I love you too, Isaac,” Stiles grins, full and dopey.

“Isaac,” Derek snaps with no heat. Purely to get his attention rather than scold. “I need you to hold him still. I have to reset the bone. The bite will save his life, but it won’t fix that.”

“But it cured Eri-”

“It will mend it together, yes.” Derek bites off a growl, “but it won’t put the bone back in his body. 

Why does Derek sound so angry? Stiles is over here on cloud nine. He can’t feel a thing, which in hindsight should be a bad thing. But Isaac has feelings for him. That’s all he cares about. Although Stiles admittedly is very tired. If only he could rest his eyes, just for a moment. Then he could get his bearings and work shit out. Just a few seconds, it’ll be okay, really.

“Shit,” Derek curses, “he’s slipping. Isaac, hold him.”

He only needs a moment, Derek, it’s fine.

Crack.

It’s startlingly silent for all of half a second before Stiles screams. Loud, long, and high. That hurt just as much as the actual breaking of his arm. He wails, trying to lurch into a sitting position, but Isaac’s hold is true. Both he and Jackson are quick to take his pain. Stiles’ skin is clammy. He’s hot and cold all at the same time. Wide awake from the shock of it all and ready to pass out. 

And when Derek’s teeth sink into his flesh, he does.

—

Stiles wakes with a start the next morning in Isaac’s room. What the hell is he doing in the wolf’s room? 

“He’s awake,” Derek says. 

But when Stiles looks around the room, the Alpha is nowhere to be seen. The only person is Isaac sleeping soundly in a chair beside his bed. So then how was he able to hear Derek? What did Stiles miss?

“Isaac?” He says, the wolf grunting softly in response. “Isaac,” Stiles repeats, more firmly.

The Beta jolts awake, inhaling sharply before his blue eyes land on Stiles. “You’re awake,” Isaac beams, reaching over to hold his hand. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine?” Stiles says, confused as to why he wouldn’t be. He can’t really remember much from the night before other than him and the wolf walking through the preserve together for dinner. “Why am I in your bed?”

“You-” Isaac shakes his head, curls flopping over his eyes, “you don’t remember?” Stiles shakes his head no. “We were attacked last night. You got hurt, you were-” the wolf takes a shaky breath, “you were dying. Derek saved our life.”

Memories flash in the back of Stiles’ mind. The rogue werewolf, the way he screamed when it bit his arm. All of the blood he lost. Derek snapping his bone back in place. The bite. And Isaac. Admitting that he loves him through Jackson’s snark. He’s a werewolf now. 

“You love me.” It comes out as more of an accusation than Stiles intended. 

Isaac ducks his head for a second, hiding the smile curling the corner of his mouth, “I do. Have for a long time, Pretty Boy. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you,” the other wolf whines in the back of his throat.

Not even remotely wanting to hear an apology or that whine again, Stiles uses his newfound werewolf strength and drags the Beta into bed with him. “That thing came out of nowhere, Is,” the wolf says, Isaac curling around his body. “I don’t expect you to be sorry for that. Not with how fast it moved. Besides,” Stiles adjusts himself so he can hold the other wolf, “you did your best and stuck by me the whole time. I have nothing to be mad about just as much as you have nothing to be sorry for.” 

“You still got hurt,” Isaac retorts, squeezing tighter. “And turned into a werewolf because of it.”

“Meh, it was bound to happen eventually,” Stiles reasons. “All I care about is that we’re both safe now. And that I love you too.” 

Isaac looks up at him with a soft smile, “so that wasn’t just the blood loss talking?”

“You tell me,” Stiles grins, leaning down to seal their mouths together, adoring the way that Isaac melts into the kiss. 

It definitely wasn’t the blood loss.

[thejellybeanboys]

Hi its me again :D and ty for the answer's BTW i didnt mean to overwhelm or hurt Wil-Liam 😰(i was only curious cuz he had hearts in his eyes)

I have a few more questions that i forgot to add in the previous ask but i didn't get to because i was in a hurry lol

Q:

For everybody:

1:what are your biggest fears?

2:Do you have any one for valentines day???(Note:Btw you don't have to answer this one im just curious :>)

3:Worst childhood memories?(Note:You also don't need to answer this one)

4:Fav animal???Why???

5:Whats on your mind?

(NA: LOL it's fine :3 these kids are all emos and embarrassed dummies and its all in their perspective so if these little buggers are mean or acting dumb its not your fault they are teens they are like this, also rest assured that Wil-liam is okay now he's just realized that he totally has a crush lmao) (okay back to the boys)

Luis: "Oh this person again um thanks for the ask. We got another one with multiple so I guess let's do them sequentially."

Codey: "Yeah. um, first one. Oh, Easy, biggest fear is getting forced into a relationship.. even worse if it's with ugh... those misogynistic online guys."

Cecil: "Ahí no, that should be everyone's biggest fear. But um mine is...Oh, this is going to sound really shallow but...being seen as pretty by others if I was...different. Like if one day I woke up to look too different or too... materialistic idk, I'm mostly saying that I like how I look right now and I wanna believe everyone thinks I look good but what if...I looked more up to everyone's standards, then they really didn't like the real me..."

Luis: "Woah..." O.O

Jeremy: "People are dumb if they don't think you're like the prettiest thing ever like how you are now."

Cecil: "...Thank you, Jeremy." (Blushes)

Jeremy: "Oh um... heh...ah, I guess I'll say my fear is...being forced to move in with my even more transphobic aunt."

Mason: "My turn! Two words. Clown. Snakes."

Hoagie: "Mines Getting eaten. Oh come on it's obvious, I'm a snack yes but sometimes not in a good way."

Leroy: "Being a DJ for a famous celebrity but it all goes wrong and my music career tanks forever."

Otty: " Rabbits hating me, wahh I wouldn't make it if those little guys all hated me."

Wil-Liam: "... Getting rejected. And being feared...also other things."

Luis: "Cryptic...But um mine is a monkey attacking me and ripping off my ugly beautiful face, look I...I can handle primates in memes and shows, I just, eh can't do it in real life."

Leroy: "...wait isn't like your uncle a monkey?"

(Second question)

Codey, Leroy, Benny, Mason, Hoagie: "No."

Jeremy: "You see. um...(Just do it man) I WAS HOPING YOU--CECIL COULD be my VALENTINE."

Cecil: "Really?"

Jeremy: "Yeah! Um, its okay if you say no or don't say anything--I mean we could all forget I said anything--"

Cecil: "Sure."

Jeremy: "Yeah?"

Cecil: "Yeah :))"

Jeremy: "Oh...awesome..ha. Um well I'll text you the dets later. Cause were like in a middle of a question."

Cecil: "OFC, hehe. Um thank you for asking me."

Codey: "OH thank gosh."

Luis: "Wow yeah we totally didn't expect that.(sarcasm) But...ugh as for me. I don't think I'm going to give Chris a card this year. I looked but all these cards are crummy and...well it's the 8th and my time is kind of up, so I'll put that plan on hold. Oh well, I guess I'll look through this card that I just found here addressed to me, but I'll see it later."

Wil-Liam: "..."

(Third question)

Codey: "Erm yeah I don't think were okay with sharing trauma rn, look we'll dump out our personal stuff all the time but..."

Luis: "Not really feeling it...Though I'll give a quick one. One day when I was 7 my mom accidentally threw away my vintage ebay bought Webkinz...I cried."

(Fourth question)

Luis: "Easy...DOG. Best answer the only answer."

Wil-Liam: "HEHE it's only a doggy-loving world now!!"

Luis: "That's...acceptable. But everyone else is not allowed to say other animals. I just muted yall,"

Wil-Liam: "Mines are wolves...is that okay?"

(N0t_Wordgirl /command: mute) (Not mute Wolfnoob,exe)

Luis: "HA yeah!"

(last question)

Luis: "We have no thoughts."

Wil-Liam: "Head empty.

Luis: (giggling) Oh wait... I forgo to unmute everyone...eh whatever it's much better like this anyway."

Wil-Liam: (Oh word?)

[ghost-like-pale]

a flinch is enough

info: the past never forgets, and techno never forgives. 》 they/them 》 in canon + platonic 》 1.4k words

warnings: sexual assault, explicit descriptions of murder/blood, hurt/comfort, swearing

a/n: this was a request from my beautiful 🌹 anon, thank you for sending this in. i made the implications of sexual assault a a little more subtle but i still hope you like it.

this blog it meant as a way of coping with trauma/mental issues, please don't report it. if you don't want to see what i write, please just block me.

——♤——

the moonlit sky was a beautiful dark blue as you stared at the light. you had been doing housework the entire day due to your counterpart being too busy with whatever he was brewing upstairs. the piglin hybrid usually helped you when he was home, it's his house after all. but today was different, you supposed.

you were so caught up in the moon's doings that you didn't notice the tall figure creeping down the stairs and right behind you. he assumed you were aware of him and went to tap on your shoulder.

as soon as he does you whip your head around, backing away from him as you hold one arm in front of your face and the other in front of your lower body. the shaking of your body became more prominent as time went on.

"(y/n)?"

you couldn't look at him. you weren't strong enough.

"(y/n), please. look at me."

you lowered your arms hesitantly and looked him in the eyes still filled with fear.

"(y/n), i'm not going to hurt you. i promise."

you averted your gaze and drop both your arms. tears leaked out of your eyes and cupped your face with your hands, all the memories coming back and hitting you like a truck.

"i'm so sorry, techno."

you dropped to the floor, your knees buckling under you and techno barely being able to catch you. you felt a heavy, warm cape drape over your figure while a worried piglin grunt escaped techno's throat. he got on one knee and rested one of his hands on your shoulder.

"don't apologize."

two simple words managed to tug at your heartstrings so harshly you couldn't hold it in anymore. you sobbed loudly into your hands, completely losing any posture you tried to maintain. techno was startled, thinking he did something wrong. he quickly snapped out of it, however, and pulled your body by the shoulders into his chest. his firm grasp made you feel secure, stifling your cries a little.

"...are you alright?"

you knew he had no idea how to handle it from here, but you appreciated the concern and kindness he showed. you pulled back from his embrace and wiped your eyes gingerly.

"i'm.. a little better."

"good."

the voices wanted to know who did this - who made you this way. who the fuck hurt you? he tried to keep them quiet, but he wanted them dead as much as his mind.

"can you tell me what happened?"

everything was silent for a few seconds. the voices were quiet, nothing came out of techno's mouth. you sighed and shakily started explaining yourself. techno listened silently, trying to catch every detail and description of the man who scarred you. he had a basic image of him in his mind by the time you were done.

"thank you for telling me."

techno glanced outside the window, the soft glow of the moon telling him it's late. how long had he been brewing? he shuffled a bit and eventually stuck an arm under your legs and upper body. with a small yelp you were lifted a few feet in the air, the cape that you were siting under fell off your back and onto the floor in the proces.

"you need some rest."

you didn't bother trying to stop him. your mind was foggy and your body felt heavy.

"thank you, techno."

"shh, there's no need to thank me."

in comfortable silence you were carried up the stairs and into techno's room. you were confused, you had your own room after all. you didn't mind, though. he placed you on the mattress he slept on rarely. his bed was bigger, the blanket was heavier, the pillow was softer, everything felt better. you wrapped yourself in the plush blanket and felt your eyelids getting heavier already.

"sleep well, (y/n)."

just as he was about to stand up you grabbed a hold of his wrist. he looked at you quizzically, knitting his eyebrows together.

"where are you going?"

"don't worry, i won't be away for long. now sleep."

"fine. good night, techno."

"good night."

—

looking through his bag once more technoblade checked if he forgot to grab anything; he had food, arrows, ender pearls, potions and a small knife. on his hips hung his axe, crossbow and sword, yearning to be used. his bag was full and everything he needed was in his possession. before he opened the door techno noticed the red velvet fabric resting on the ground. with a few paces he arrived in the kitchen and picked up the cape. he swung it over his shoulders and adjusted it carefully. with a loud exhale he stepped out of his house and into the cold weather of the tundra. he whisteled a command and one of the wolves in the pack jumped out of the enclosure it sat in and rushed over to techno's side. he was going to find them.

you've shown him your previous residence multiple times, which is where he was going to look first. it was his best guess. while making his way over to your former abode the wolf that traveled with him was scouting out ahead, hoping it would find it faster than techno.

techno's eyes shoot in the animal's direction when it starts barking aggressively at a moving figure across the woods. the voices screamed at him to assist his pet, to shoot him, kill him immediately, to which he happily obliged. he sped over to his companion, hoping to catch a better glimpse of the person.

"stop him, now!"

techno ordered the animal. after a few seconds he heard a loud thud followed by a yell belonging to a man in immense pain. he made his way over to the barking wolf, it having a slightly stained mouth from its jaws going through the man's flesh and muscles. he found them.

"what's the rush?"

he towered over the other male pathetically writhing on the floor. his calf had a nasty teeth mark, bleeding profusely and covered in dirt and saliva.

"p-please... don't... hurt me!"

"why shouldn't i?"

technoblade hated these kind of men; not even willing to fight or run. just begging and whimpering for mercy. it made him sick. the wolf that followed him all the way here was still barking, ready to tear the man to shreds.

he takes his netherite axe off his hip and hoists it over his shoulder. techno looks the other man right in the eyes, fully aware it fills him with fear. he wanted to feel everything you were put through. he was going to feel your pain.

"i...i've never done anything to you..!"

technoblade froze at the sentence. nothing? he thinks he's done nothing? he's not completely wrong; he's never physically hurt him - he's never even met him before. his train of thought was interrupted by the voices yelling in his head. they were screaming at him to cut him, to strangle him, to burn him, anything. he needed to feel pain.

"does the name (y/n) mean anything to you?"

the horror on the man's face got worse by the second, him figuring out why techno is here. the piglin drops to one knee and gets about an inch away from his victim's face.

"am i going to get an answer?"

"y-yes! we were friends a few years ago."

techno let his axe fall off his shoulder and into the dirt, the blade only falling a few inches away from the other male's injured leg.

"do friends traumatize each other?"

the question filled the victim with dread, his monotone voice only adding to the fear.

"y-you don't know what we did!"

the sudden surge in confidence surprised techno, to be sure. there was nothing more pathetic than a man yelling at the brink of death in such a tone. he scoffed with an amused expression and retracted his axe back into the holder that rested on his hip.

"yeah! they were lying to you, i promise. that's the reason i stopped being friends in the first- GAH!"

his sentence was cut of by a dagger being plunged into his stomach and dragged up to his ribs, cutting open his body. he mewled and moaned in agonizing pain, unable to form any coherent words.

"you disgust me."

technoblade stood up, his ears twitching and voices pleased. the blood on his hand dripped on the dried leaves as he called the wolf he brought with him. as the animal sped over to technoblades' side the screams of the impaled man were completely gone. looking over his shoulder he sees the lifeless body of the man who has haunted you for a long time.

he'll never hurt you again.

——♤——

thank you for reading, hope you liked it.

masterlist

taglist;

@esylwen

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

An Offer

Warnings: coercion, threats, slightly blackmail-ish, intimidation, entrapment, implied noncon

This is dark!(lumberjack/nomad) Steve Rogers and explicit. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: Steve makes you an offer you can’t refuse.

Based on this drabble request:

Nomad Steve Rogers + “You'll never find anyone better than me.” + Lumberjack AU + Smashed and broken dreams of a good career forces reader back home. With a degree in her hand but no real chance of finding a good job reader has to accept any job she finds and Steve isn’t making it easy cause he wants her so he sabotages any job opportunity to make her depended on him. This really hits home 😭. Sorry 😭.

When you sat in your college lectures, you never expected to end up there. Never expected to be carrying armfuls of wood to a large stack, splinters catching in your gloves as each piece clacked between the noise of the logs being split. You didn’t expect to be working for pennies, busting your ass for hours, just to pay for the room above the liquor store in your hometown.

You didn’t expect any of it. It was a surreal nightmare. It was as if that purgatory could never let you go. The small town’s always claimed what was theirs. Blood grown of that soil could not venture far before the roots dragged them back, a constricting coil around the throat.

Another log split, almost exploding as the two halves fell on either side of the stump. Steve took one and chopped it again, then the other. Perfect quarters for you to pile in your arms and add to the mounting stack. Your sweat soaked the flannel coat, the same kind your father wore when you were a child, the same that everyone in town seemed to have somewhere in their closets.

Steve rested the head of the axe on the stump and leaned on it as he watched you.

“Think that’ll do,” he said as you heard him scratch his beard, “supposed to be a mild winter.”

“Mild? Around here? You know that just means the snow stops at the knee, right?”

You carried the last of the wood to the pile and laid it out in the niches perfectly. It was like a Tetris game, every piece had its place. You clapped off your gloves and looked back at Steve as he shook out his jacket and pulled it back on. Even as his work left him sweaty, you didn’t know how he could stand to take it off and bear the bitter winds in only a tee.

“My knees are higher than yours,” he said, “think I’ll be fine.”

“Uh huh,” you put your hands on your hips and looked out at the trees, the sun setting behind them in an amber haze.

“Hey,” he interrupted your sightseeing, “how about you stay for dinner? I finally tried that chili recipe…”

“You? Cooking?” you shook your head, “so that’s why I’m out here lugging wood.”

“Is that yes?”

“Do you have pepto?” you joked, “sure, guess I could. Save me the trouble of opening a can at home.”

You followed him inside as he held the door for you. You shoved your gloves in your flannel pocket and hung it as you wiggled out of your boots. Usually you tidied and did the household chores as Steve worked outside. It wasn’t much of a job but there was nothing to be had in the lifeless town. Still, even with the work you found in the city, you couldn’t afford even a closet to live in.

The house was nice, big. The country land was cheap and as Steve told it, he built the entire thing himself. It was a wooden castle with better amenities than most of the antique houses in town. He bragged about how he chose every countertop and cut down every leg of every chair and sanded and polished the thick table over a willowy fall.

But you wondered how he ended up there. He wasn’t from the town and his accent was not of the nearby metropolis. He must be from far away. You could see it was an escape from the life he didn’t talk about.

You sat at the table as he clinked around in the kitchen. He came out with two red bowls and set one before you as he sat at the corner near you. He handed you a spoon with a wooden handle and you twirled it as you watched the chili steam.

“Did you make these too?” you asked.

“Ha,” he said dryly and stirred his bowl.

“Well…” you shrugged and looked around.

He smiled at you and leaned his head back until his neck cracked. He let his spoon rest and rubbed his jaw. It twitched and he looked out the big bay windows of the dining room, the ridged bark and overgrown grass staring back.

“I…” he shifted and leaned on the arm of the chair, “I slipped your pay in your jacket.”

“Oh, thanks,” you were embarrassed to talk about money. He knew how little you made even if he did pay you generously for the work you did.

“But… I did want to talk about it, er, about…” he sighed and rested his chin in his hand as he traced his lower lip in thought. He sat up and cleared his throat, “we get along, don’t we?”

“Sure,” you blew on a spoonful and tasted the chili. It was spicy but not bad.

“I know how hard it’s been, Maggie, Lester, Jeff… tough break.”

You swallowed and sat back. You frowned. “How did you…” your resume had been turned down by almost every business owner and manager in town.

“It’s a small place, like that box you’re living in.”

“Steve--”

“I’m not saying it to embarrass you but… because I… want to…” he gripped his spoon, thought about having a bite, then let it go again, “I want to make you an offer.”

“You pay me more than you should for doing your chores,” you left your spoon in the bowl and ran your nails up and down your jeans, picking at the little metal snap by the pocket.

“That’s not--” he squared his shoulders and all humour left his face. He bit down and the vein in his head surged, “you could live here. The place is more than big enough… lonely.”

“I can’t--”

“Please, just listen,” he raised his palms, “I’m lonely and you’re in a bind. We could help each other.”

You squinted and shook your head. He took a breath and leaned forward. He reached under the table and touched your knee. He slid his hand up your thigh until it met yours and you stopped him.

“What--”

“You don’t even have to keep on cleaning or any of that,” he said quietly, “just be mine. You’ll be comfortable here. All you have to do is… be here… with me.”

“Steve,” you held onto his thick fingers, “maybe you don’t mean it that way but I’m not… not a prostitute.”

“It wouldn’t be that,” his throat constricted, “it would be convenient; practical.”

“I should go,” you shoved his hand off of you and stood, “you did a good job with the chili.”

The chair scraped behind you as you stepped out from between it and the table. Steve was fast and caught your shoulder before you could evade him.

“Go where? Do what exactly?” his voice was stern and stolid, “huh? No one in town’s gonna hire you, we both know that. And you can’t make it in the city.”

“That’s mean, Steve, I want to go,” you pouted, “let me go.”

“Why can’t you see I’m helping you?”

“You have helped me but what you’re… offering is insulting, don’t you understand?”

“It’s generous is what I’d say,” he grabbed your other arm and pulled you close as he snarled down at you, “I can give you everything you need and want, all you have to do is give me…” his eyes crawled down your body, “a little sweetness.”

“Steve--”

“You’re proud, I get it, you don’t want to admit you have no choice but what happens when Fletcher needs that room for storage or he rents it out to a higher bidder? Where do you go then? Huh, you keep handing out that resume and what has that degree got you but sorrys and no thank yous?”

“Get off--” you pushed on his chest as he squeezed your arms painfully.

“Let me tell you I will be the only yes you ever get,” he growled, “I made sure of it.”

“Wha-- I--”

“I’m not driving you back to town,” he released you, “so if you really wanna go, if your pride is worth all that, you can walk and see if you beat the wolves. Or you can stay and earn that extra bill I put in your pocket.”

“Steve, what the hell?”

“Your call,” his fingers stretched around the waist of his jeans as he flexed his chest, “reception’s shit so good luck getting a ride.”

“You can’t--”

“Let me make this easy for you. Walk and see if you make it home, stay and you’re already home.”

You searched his face. You’d never seen this side of him. You blinked and spun on your heel. Fuck him. You’d drive yourself and he could tell the police you stole his truck. You ran to the front door and snatched his keys from the hook. You bent to grab your boots but his hand on the back of your neck stopped you. 

He wrenched you back and tossed you against the wall. The keys tumbled to the floor and he kicked them away, “no cheating,” he said, “you wanna go then?”

Before you could answer the high whine of a coyote cut through the air and the glass slats of the front door dimmed. You faced him and your heart beat wildly.

“Why?”

“You going?” he asked again.

“Steve--”

“Well?”

“You can’t do this,” you pleaded, “keep your money then. Just take me home.”

“No,” he marched towards you and pinned you by your neck against the wall. His hand threatened to stifle your breath as he leaned in, “go or stay?”

You batted away tears with your lashes. You turned your head as far as you could whimpered as the sky continued to darken through the marbled glass, “Steve.”

“Go or stay?” he rasped as his breath tickled your cheek.

You trembled and touched his wrist. He squeezed just a little and you gasped, “and if I get lost? If I die out there?”

His lips curved and he chuckled lightly, “you willing to take that risk?”

You watched him, looking for any crack in his veneer, looking for an ounce of the man who’d been your godsend in that desolate town. He wasn’t there. It had all been an act, a trick. He had you in his snare like any good hunter.

“What choice do I have?” you whispered.

He pressed his forehead to yours and his large nose brushed against the tip of yours, “I’m not that bad,” his other hand crept along your stomach, “you’ll see that,” he played with the ribbed cotton, “you'll never find anyone better than me.”

🪓🪓🪓

Please reblog and leave some feedback if you enjoyed. Thank you 💕

[lazy-alex]

There’s something wrong with my suit....

Jasonette July Day 1: “Suit up“ ROMANTIC

MASTERPOST

An text sounded on Marinette's cellphone. She is cuddling with her boyfriend- Jason Todd- on her apartment. They were having a movie night and was watching Disney films; and were currently at Jungle Book. And Jason complaining that Mogli would be eaten by the wolves the moment they saw him. She was reaching for her phone on the table when Jason pulled her back to cuddle.

"Come on Jay, I need to see if it's important." She received a muffled 'fine' as an answer.

She picked up her phone and read the text.

Babs: There's a robbery down the street you live in. The others are too far away to respond immediately. Let Jason handle them. (Ps. It's TIME.)

"Jay, Babs said there's a robbery down the street. I need to do some stuff. Can you handle them?" Marinette said to her boyfriend after reading the text. She stood up then head towards her closet.

"Yea, sure. Where are you heading anyway?" Marinette changed her pajamas into jeans and a pink t-shirt with black boots. Then tied her hair into a decent ponytail.

"Barbara's. I almost forgot, I promised to help her choose an outfit for her date with Dick." Marinette almost snickered. Of course it's not a complete lie... She is still going to Barbara's. Just for other reasons.

Marinette checked her phone and replied to Barbara.

Mari: Be there in 20 min. Are the cameras ready?

Barbara immediately responded.

Babs: Before you even asked.

Mari: Good, Let the show begin

She tucked her phone in her purse and pecked Jason's cheek. "Bye Jay!" She rushed to the door. "Oh- your suit is on the basket. I just washed it. Bye!!" Then she closed the door.

Jason just shrugged at his girlfriend's weird behavior. He went to where she said his suit is and checked the basket. Weird. The contents are all pink...

"WHAT THE HELL?!?!"

Jason lifted up HIS SUIT from the basket. And guess what. IT'S PINK. His SUIT and his HELMET is PINK. HIS HELMET IS PINK! EVERYTHING IS PINK.

How will he go out with THIS?!?

As he was stressing himself, a text notification sounded on his phone.

Pixie♥: Suit up. The bad guys don't wait. :-P

That coward! She planned all of this! She did this on purpose! Jason texted back at her furiously.

BlueJay: WHAT THE HELL MARI?!

Pixie♥: its payback Jay

Oh. Marinette was talking about that prank. Jason decided to add red dye to her shampoo. The dye only lasted for a week. But it was hilarious. What ever Jason did to Barbara, he didn't know. But he regret it now...

BlueJay: I already said I was sorry...

BlueJay: HOW AM I GOING OUT??

BlueJay: MARI??

BlueJay: MARIII!!

"Dammit!" Jason cursed. "She's not responding!" He doesn't have a choice. His extras are on his apartment and the batcave. But it will take too long for him to respond. He NEEDS to wear it. Besides, if he didn't wear it, Marinette got more tricks on her sleeve. And he KNOWS that some of those are more worse than this. Jason shivered. His girlfriend is smart. So dammn smart its scary.

He still went to those bastards anyway. He got no choice.

Those criminals will never forget the day they saw Red- Pink Hood. They're lucky that they lived to tell the tale. All of them having nightmares with the Pink Hood beating the shit out of them.

Meanwhile...

Barbara and Marinette are watching the camera footage of Pink Hood beating the criminals; both of them laughing their asses off. Everytime the criminals snort or laugh, they received a hard punch or kick in the gut. Jason cursing more when people saw him. It was hilarious.

It was even more hilarious when he saved a woman from a mugging. She didn't recognize him. She screamed. When he tried to explain that he was helping her; the lady hit him with her shoe. Marinette fell down on the floor; laughing.

Barbara sent a copy of the video to the batcave. They watched it again. This time, on the Bat-computer. Batman even cracked a (very tiny) smirk.

"Hurrah for them." Jason said, annoyed. (And himuliated. His reputation is ruined.)

@jasonette-july-event

[starlessskies94]

Consequence (Joel Miller x OC)

Summary: What if Joel survived his injuries from the Abby and Fireflies attack but ends up with really bad amnesia. He can’t remember his wife, Ellie, or the Outbreak; only before. How will his family bring back the man they once knew?Pairing: Joel Miller x OC                                                                                      Note: An update? Could It be? After all this time?...Yes. It is I! I come with a thousand apologies for taking so long to update. I didn't plan for it be so long but with Covid and going back to work during Covid and family stuff, I just haven't had the time but I'm back my lovelies and I really hope this chapter doesn't disappoint :)

Chapter Seven 

Tommy woke up late for the first time in weeks; he didn’t often sleep in but given his late night chasing lost cattle through the town after they’d somehow managed to escape the paddocks; he figured he more than deserved it. Maria had woken him when she made to leave and insisted he stay put while she made a start on the morning checks. She kissed him goodbye and they promised to meet later for lunch together.

The morning air was crisp and fresh as he stepped down onto the path, his jacket zipped tight to fight off the dwindling cold. The snow had long since melted and there were clear telltale signs of Spring fast approaching in Jackson.

And while the cold wasn’t as biting as it had been, there was still the odd chill that needed to be shielded from with a layer or two.

It wouldn’t be long before they were preparing for a new harvest to grow throughout the year. The sacks of seeds and planting equipment appearing all over town as families began to prep the soil and start their planting as the wildflowers poked their heads through the ground to bask in the warming sunlight.

Tommy made his way through the streets heading straight for his brother’s house. It was still hard to believe that it had been a whole two months since Joel’s attack.

Two whole months since his sister in law had lost her husband; his niece, her father. And unfortunately for all of them; it didn’t seem like Joel was making any progress to getting his memories back. He tried to help of course but his brother, being the stubborn grump that he was, had only pushed his younger brother away, insisting he was capable of handling the trauma alone.

He hated seeing his brother struggling, especially when it seemed that some details were coming through. It was little things but it was better than nothing. The only problem was, it was things Joel seemed to dismiss without a second thought.

Tommy honestly believed if Joel focused on them, they’d help process bigger things. Though it certainly hadn’t helped matters that the older Miller had stopped going to his weekly check ups to help his mind improve. The head of the infirmary had voiced her concerns to Tommy a few days earlier. His constant dismissal and disregard for their importance to his slow recovery; not just frustrating the Doctor but also Tommy himself.

He just hoped he could talk some sense into his big brother.

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

He knocked but no answer greeted him as he stepped inside the house. It was quiet but clean. Each room meticulously organised and tidied to within an itch of its life. He figured this was what Joel must have been filling his days with over the past few weeks. The sound of muffled hammering caught his attention, leading him up the stairs to Joel’s workshop room. The door slightly ajar. Tommy had barely entered the room before Joel acknowledged him.  

“What do you want, Tommy?” Joel grunted without even bothering to turn around. Tommy just shrugged silently, his hands awkwardly stuffing into the front pockets of his jeans.

“Well good morning to you too, just stopped by to see how you’re doing.”

“As good as I can be I guess.” He muttered as he continued to work, never taking his eyes off the wood in his hands. It felt nice seeing his brother once again taking an interest in an old hobby that he had enjoyed before his injury. It felt like maybe they were finally heading in the right direction. But Tommy had to hold off, he didn’t want to push anymore than was necessary. He knew Joel well enough to know that if you pushed too far; Joel would only push back twice as hard. “Right, sorry... whatcha making?”   Joel hobbled back a little from the table, giving Tommy a better view of the work in question. The long neck and the four legs beginning to take shape made his heart skip. The older man had always had a talent; that was for certain. The horses he made were always magnificent. The wolves and the deer along with any other animal the people of Jackson had asked for; were always made with utmost care. And it seemed this work of art was no different.

“I think I meant for it to be a giraffe before... everything. Figured I might as well finish it. Hell if I know who it was supposed to be for.”

“Ellie.” Tommy whispered.  

“What?”

Tommy took a second for his brain to catch up with his words as he quickly cleared his throat and tried not to fidget too much. “It’s just...uh.. that it’s her birthday in a couple of months and she always liked giraffes, maybe it was meant for her?” He offered nervously. Joel just hummed casually. With a quick dismissive shake of his head and a sigh; he moved the half carved giraffe onto a nearby shelf along with his other unfinished projects. Turning to face his brother, his arm reaching out to grab his cane to steady his balance.

“Yeah, maybe...maybe Ada asked me to make it for her to give to Ellie as a gift.” He wondered out loud, stopping Tommy in his tracks.

“You talked to her?” He asked almost a little too quickly. Causing Joel to frown slightly in response at his brother’s unexplained eagerness.  

“Who Ada? Briefly, why? Am I supposed to know her or something?”

“You guys were...friends I guess…” Tommy replied weakly. He knew he had to be cautious here, baby steps. They were moving into uncharted territory when it came to Ada and Ellie. Joel had only just started to accept the life they had lived in Boston as smugglers and that was before he had even had the courage to bring up the Fireflies. He needed to steer clear of things deeper than that for now  and ease into the conversation he wanted to have. But his patience was starting to run thin. “Look, the reason I came by is because I was talking to Elizabeth and she said you’ve stopped going to your check ups.”  

“Oh not this again Tommy!” Joel snapped, his brother rolling his eyes in frustration as Joel hobbled away from his work space and further towards the door. But Tommy was quick to stop him, stepping in the threshold and blocking Joel’s exit.

“Look I know I don’t understand what you’re going through but-”

“You’re damn right you don’t!” He yelled. "You have no idea what it’s like Tommy; to lose years of your life in an instant. Forget everything you’ve done and the people you used to care about. I don’t see how bitching about how shitty this is to the damn Doctor is going to help!”

“But you’re starting to remember things Joel! That’s a big fucking deal!”

“How?! All I’m remembering is crap no one cares about! How are horse’s names gonna help me? Or how I take my coffee in the morning? I couldn’t even remember holding my little girl in my arms after she was shot! Oh but thank the lord I could remember what colour shirt I was wearing when it happened!!”

With every word Joel got closer, his nostrils flaring in anger as blood continued to boil. But Tommy never backed down, squaring up to his big brother wasn’t unusual and certainly wasn’t the first time they’d been at odds on how to handle something. Joel’s eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched.

“It’s been two months Tommy...two months of this and it ain’t getting better any time soon. This ain’t your problem so just back off!” He hissed between gritted teeth.

“You can’t just push me away Joel, I want to help. I’m trying but you’re just being so damn stubborn.”

“Then leave, I didn’t ask you to babysit me. And I sure as hell don’t need you sticking around outta guilt.” The words stopped Tommy dead.

“What?”

“I might not remember what happened but I know enough from what you told me about Boston...You survived because of me. All those years I took care of us. Just like when we were kids. So what? You feel like you owe me? You gotta take your turn to take care of me now? You can keep it baby brother because I don’t want it. And I didn’t ask for it.” The words spit venom with every ounce of bitterness Joel had in him. And Tommy felt his lip snarl in response. The ungrateful bastard; he thought coldly, after everything he’d done to keep his brother alive on the way back to Jackson after the Fireflies had almost beaten him to death and this was what he had to say in response.

“How do I know the people who did this weren’t after you. I mean they did a pretty good number on you too right? Big brother to the rescue to save your sorry ass; yet again! You think I want to live like this?! Huh?! Trapped in a life of a man I don’t even know. A house full of memories I can’t even goddamn remember!”

That was it, Tommy was done. Joel was frustrated and angry, he knew that. He understood that. Of course he did. But to blame him for this?! How the hell was that fair? His hands shook in pure anger, chest heaving as he held back his punches as much as he could. He stumbled away from the door. His trembling hand reaching up and running through his beard in a poor attempt to calm himself.  

“You know what screw you! Screw you Joel! You wanna give up, you wanna feel sorry for yourself? Fine! I’m done. You give up on your family-”

“Family?! What damn family? There’s no one left Tommy! Sarah is gone!”

“She ain’t the only one you got!” Tommy cut off without thinking. Joel’s face dropping at his brother's outburst. The younger man’s eyes widened in shock as he realised what he’d said. But it was too late to take it back now. And Tommy knew that. They both did. Perhaps now was the time to tell the truth.

“You want to know who your family is Joel? Take a look in your damn attic.”

Tommy uttered the words into the thick silence left between the two men. Before turning on his heel to leave, never giving Joel a chance to answer. Leaving the man to stew in his confession. He just hoped that somehow...Ada could forgive him for this.  

[writeblrfantasy]

excerpt from acogs: a mirror

had this written for months, and i finally am at the place in acogs where i can fit it in, so i'm very happy. wc 500

“I could never analyze you enough,” she says. “You will hear me. You need people who like you in your life to keep you sane, so you fill it with strangers who can make you forget for an hour or two.”

Their meaningless banter, the speed with which they can insult each other has evolved into this. They push each other to their limit, to this. The iciness of his blue eyes freezes, but it washes harmlessly over her. He is ice, she is fire. No one more powerful than the other when dealing with each other.

You see, she thinks as black fire coats the inside of her skin, slow and sticky like oil. Finally. He’s cornered himself right where she wants him without her having to lift a finger.

Her lips stretch into a something like a smile.

He releases her hand, but she doesn’t pull it free of his grasp immediately. The expression on his face almost melts back into his usual I’m fine pleasantness, that fake persona that makes her burn from the inside out. To her delight, his truth doesn’t melt entirely. He can’t seem to fit back in his default mood, like struggling into clothes a bit too small.

His face settles in between his usual fake joy and the extent of his truth, sinking into post rage exhaustion she is well familiar with. It’s probably coating his bones now, attaching itself to his heart. He doesn’t know yet, he probably guesses it will fade, but now that it’s risen to the surface, this kind of feeling won’t just melt back into the depths. His trauma won’t go quietly back into its cage like he wants, it won’t be locked away.

When he realizes that, she’ll let him crawl to her, warring with himself, and ask her for help. She’ll do her best to hold back comments and only tell him what he can handle, a bit at a time. Telling him anything other than what he wants to hear is a start. Harsh truths are a start, but she can imagine the horror on his face, how quick he’ll be to sink back into his shell.

She’ll draw him out.

Now, he glances at three other shocked faces, one open mouthed, before sighing and walking away. Katya shifts her weight and watches him float away, the back of his windswept hair, his dark coat.

“Nikolai unveiled,” she murmurs.

Three pairs of shocked eyes turn to her like wolves.

“What did you do with our Nikolai?” Saige demands.

Katya rolls her neck, comfortable like a cat the first time Nikolai came to collect her. In the wake of the fire raging under her skin, warmth settles. She is content. “I gave him a mirror more effective than the reflections of those swords. Nikolai’s perfect companion isn’t someone who is composed and capable of sweeping him up. They’re stable. They’d prove to him with gestures, not words, that they’re not going anywhere, that they won’t hurt him.”

acogs taglist (lmk to be added/removed) @magic-is-something-we-create @inkflight @spencer-nyx @writing-is-a-martial-art @ashen-crest @wisteria-eventide @nikkywrites @denkis-phone-charger @myhusbandsasemni @lynolord @ettawritesnstudies @golden-apple-s-blog @chazzawrites @pen-of-roses @47crayons @wickerring @sleepy-night-child @florraisons @faithfire @croctears @inkovert @kait-writes

[shypandawrites]

New girl (Twilight au Witch x Edward) Part 5

WARNING: One more part after this and this story is done. hope you like it till the end !

Hope you enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I went over the next day I was surprised to find out that Edward was gone to hang out with Bella. At least I’m sure they are a nice couple I thought. I spent the day with Asher as he finished up an assignment that we have. No sooner did he finish than I decided to head home. He walked me to the door and hugged me before I left.

After I ate with my dad I made sure that I had all of my homework done for school, and was satisfied to know I had everything done. With that out of my mind, I headed out the door to explore the forest more.

Grabbing my sweater I put it on as I yelled to my dad that I would be back later. I closed the door as a big gust of wind blew past me, ignoring the cold I walked into the woods, hearing the leaves crunch underneath my feet as I walked.

I listened to the wind and the sound of the forest creatures running around in the trees, I even got a glimpse of a deer before it took off. “How cute” I made it to a stream that separated where I was standing. Hmm, looks interesting. I wonder what was on the other side. The instant I went to turn back I heard a loud whimper from the other side, and without thinking, I easily jumped over the gap, rushing to where I sensed the hurt animal, only when I got there did I realize it wasn’t a small animal that I first thought.

It was a wolf.

I thought wolves were big but this one was bigger still. I froze in front of this sandy-colored wolf until I saw that it was hurt, its paw was stuck in a bear trap. “Hey, it’s ok,” I whispered, as I inched closer to it. The wolf lifted its head at me, it seemed calmer than I would have thought from a wild wolf, aside from the whimper it would let out every so often. As I got close enough to be right next to it I gently ran my hand through its fur. “Good boy,” I said, gently grabbing the bear trap and started to push the sides down to open it.

Hearing the wolf started to growl a little, I stopped to look at it for a moment. “I’m trying to help please don’t be mad.” Getting back to my tack I got it opened and it yanked its paw out, backing up a bit from me to nurse it.

Should I help them?

Standing up I walked over to them slowly. Which got them to stop to watch me. I held my hands out in front of me to show I meant no harm. “Would you mind if I look at your paw?” I asked as I kneeled in front of it. It stared at me with kind brown eyes that got me confused. “C...Can you understand me?” It nodded its head. “Cool.” I smiled at it before reaching for its paw. “Can I look at it, to see if it needs to be wrapped?” It nodded again and I gently took hold of its paw, seeing that there was no more blood or wound.

That’s odd, usually, there would be a wound still, but there’s nothing. Did it heal itself? Sneaking a glance at the wolf I glimpsed into its mind to see that it was a person! I listened to how his thoughts mixed with others. Those others saying that they are on their way to them. So the wolf is a person named Seth? That’s a nice name I thought as I let go of his paw.

“The wound seems to have closed so that’s good.” Patting his paw, me and he both stood up, and I gently brushed my hand against his fur. He dipped his head as I must have got a good spot on him. “You sure are cute,” I commented as I sensed the others coming our way. Well, better go before I get in trouble.

With one last scratch, I backed up. “I better be going but it was nice to meet you mister werewolf!” I smiled, noting that it froze, I waved and walked away, hearing the sound of it slowly following me. Sensing their pack behind them as well, I stopped and turned to see nothing but I knew where they were.

I heard some branches break and turned to glance that way before walking over to where I knew Seth would be. “Can I help you?” I asked, peeking behind the tree to see him freeze a second time.

He came out with his head down, aw he looks cute if a wolf that towers over you can be called ‘cute’. I’m not going to hurt you. I smiled at him and patted his head. “I would like to ask why you are following me, but I don’t think you would want to talk.” He just stared at me, looking more confused. A second later another wolf came into view. This one was bigger than the one I was currently patting on the head still.

“Hello.” I greeted the black wolf with a wave. It eyed me for a moment then looked at the wolf I had stopped petting. I wonder what they could be talking about. Something must have been said, cause then Seth went behind the tree and all I heard was the sound of bones popping and cracking.

That has to hurt, I thought as I waited, for him to come back out from behind the tree. I was not expecting a tall person to come out, thank goodness in shorts, I don’t know how I would handle it if he came out naked. He towered over me as he sheepishly came back over to me. “Hello.” I waved which he reciprocated. “Hi.” He seems to look older but he seems like a younger person, we stood in silence for a bit before I tilted my head.

I wonder what he is scared about. His pack? Or maybe he just doesn’t want others to find out about him. Either way, I want to be friends with him, in the little bit I was in his head I liked how his mind was kind. I held out my hand with a smile. “Nice to meet you, I’m Luna.” His hesitation wasn’t unexpected, but I was glad when he took my hand with a grin.

“Seth.”

“Nice to meet you, Seth.”

Looking into his eyes, I glanced through his memories before staying in the present to see him still gazing at me. “So why were you following me?” I took a step back. “Was it to get rid of me?” We both looked horrified before I chuckled, turning my head away. “I’m sorry. It seemed quite tense so I thought to try to make you laugh.” He seemed to relax a bit. “But I guess my joke didn’t go well.” Shaking his head at me, he smiled. “I was told to ask how you knew I was a werewolf.” Pointing to my head I answered. “By your mind, and the fact that your wound was healed by the time I looked at it, that’s not normal.”

He nodded, as he reached up to rub the back of his neck, shifting to one foot and then the next. “And are you going to tell anyone? It’s something that people aren’t supposed to know.” Seeing him getting more nervous, I shook my head. “No, I wasn’t going to tell anyone. I just thought it was nice to see another supernatural being.” I finished with a grin. “Supernatural being?” I felt all eyes turn to me.

With a dip of my head I pointed to Seth, “Yup, you’re a werewolf.” turning my hand to point to myself. “And I’m a witch.” As if to prove it I made a couple of balls of light to swirl alive in my hand before making them disappear by closing my hand.

Seeing his eyes light up in wonder I held back a laugh “Can you do that again?” He asked, standing close to me now, eyeing my hand. “Sure.” Balls of light started to appear surrounding us and started to slowly spin until with a wave of my hand they too disappeared. “Cool huh?” I asked, getting a little excited by how much he was.

The guy is tall but he acts like a child a bit. Holding back another laugh I pinched his cheek. “I have to get going now that it is getting late but would it be ok if I come back tomorrow to chat?” I asked, with a step back to not crowd him.

His eyes went wide before he started to laugh as others started to come up behind him. “You are a weird witch.” One tall guy said, wrapping his arm around Seth’s shoulder to lean on him. Soon I realized just how short I was, even the other woman was taller than me.

“Well, aren’t I a dwarf,” I murmured to myself starting to stare at the ground. That seemed to be funny to them cause they started to laugh but then went silent. With a peek at them, they were all staring at the oldest-looking one but you would still call him a young man.

His stare made me think he was debating on if he can trust me or try to kill me. I am hoping not the latter. I don’t want to cause trouble for people. Keeping my heart calm I simply stared back until he looked away as if he finally decided what he wanted to do.

“That’s fine with me I’m sure Emily would like to have another girl to talk to.” He then glanced at the woman who just stiffened and then walked away. “Stepped on a land mine huh?” A boy joked which got him elbowed, hard. “Ow!” He rubbed his ribs before coming forward and ruffling my head. “You are so short.”

I felt my eyes go hard at the comment, I knew I was maybe shorter than others but I didn’t want to be picked on for it. Without looking at him I looked at the big guy who I assumed to be the leader. “Can I flip him?” I asked, casually, pointing at the guy who soon backed up in defense.

“If you can.”

“Sure” I grinned.

Next thing they knew I rushed at him and quickly grabbed his arm before turning and flipping him over onto his back, knocking the wind out of him.

He laid on the ground in stun silence as the others cracked up over him, before helping him up. It looked like he was going to glare at me but then he started to laugh as well. “I take it, I shouldn’t call you short.” At that, the corner of my mouth lifted a bit. “I would like it if you didn’t . . . Unless you want to go flying again.” I ended with a grin but by his slight nervous look, he knew I wasn’t bluffing.

It was getting darker, so I better be getting home. “I should be going but I’ll see you tomorrow!” I grinned, waving at them, before turning and heading to the stream. Shortly after jumping it, I headed home to go get some rest for school tomorrow. Excited knowing that I maybe have made a few more friends.

Thus began the time I spent with The Cullens and The Wolf Pack. It was fun to learn about them and I also answered questions they had for me. It was nice, Seth was a sweetheart to hang out with. His excitement made me more excited by default. I was eating muffins at Emily’s house. A beautiful native woman who had a scar running down her face. Her reaction to me saying she was beautiful when I first met her made her look flabbergasted.

The others just laughed and went straight for the food she prepared. I munched on the chocolate muffin as the other argued and Seth and I chatted by the counter. “Do witches fly on brooms?” He asked, with a mouth full. I grabbed a napkin and handed it to him, making him blush. “Some do. Others can just fly.” I demonstrated by floating a little off the ground and landing back on the wooded floor.

“But I have met a witch that would need to use a broom to fly,” I added, taking another bite of my muffin, enjoying its chocolate goodness. “Then do witches have mates?” That had me tilting my head. “Like your imprinting thing?” When he nodded, I thought about it. “Well, yeah you can say we do. They are called Chosen.” This time it was him who tilted his head. “Chosen?” I gave a nod as I started to explain. “Yup. They are called Chosen, cause out of all of the universes they were chosen just for you. But some witches chosen aren’t happy to be with a witch, so they reject them.” I added, looking down at the ground.

Seth wrapped his arm around me. “Did you find your Chosen?” He is sweet, I wonder how old he is at times. “No, I knew a witch who found her chosen but they rejected her. I was just remembering how she kind of withered away because of it. But want to know a cool thing about being a witch?” Nodding his eyes widened with excitement again. I held up my finger as I pointed to myself. “If a witch chooses to also reject their chosen, then they can break their bond, and in turn that bond will go to another.” Taking note of the others I was surprised to find them mostly looking at me.

“Then how would a witch find their chosen?” Paul asked, seeming interested in witches’ things as well. “Some find them through touch, others through looking into their eyes, like you guys. And some can even just sense their chosen around.” I explained, throwing my trash away and going back to stand next to Seth, who looked like he wanted to ask more. “Does that mean you might find your chosen then too?”

I shook my head with a small smile. “My case is different since my mother put a spell on me preventing me from finding mine. Cause when a witch finds their chosen, they, in turn, get stronger or gain more power.” But she only put that spell on me cause she didn’t want to get stronger than her.

Got to love mother, quite a cruel woman to her own family but not her lovers. I remembered one time when I was little, she saw me cast a little spell only for it to be stronger than I had intended. Her eyes full of hate only greeted me when I went to tell her about it.

Ignoring those memories I looked up to see them looking worried but I just smiled and waved it off. “I’m gonna go so talk to you later!” I called, already out the door, going home. They shouted their goodbyes and then I easily opened a portal to take me to where the stream was. The moment I went through it the portal closed right behind me. I strolled through the forest on my way home, softly humming to myself. I made it past a downed tree when Edward suddenly appeared right in front of me. Jumping in surprise I quickly learned to calm down my heart fast.

I went to open my mouth to greet him but he picked me up and started walking in the opposite direction I was heading. “I need to talk to you.” Was all he said, as he continued to walk, before hoisting me up higher, so I wrapped my arms around his shoulders to hold on as he ran somewhere.

As he ran I thought if I made him mad or something and nothing was coming to mind. Was it something I said? But I hardly spoke with him, since he started to hang out with Bella. Feeling a shiver go down my spine due to the cold wind, I leaned more into him, burying my face into his neck.

Did something happen and he just wanted to talk? My mind kept racing as he ran until we made it to a clearing. No sooner did we make it there than I leaned away to see him staring at me. “Are you ok?” I asked, starting to get worried the more he continued to stare at me.

My heart started to speed up as I debated on flipping out of his arms and walking away since he won’t say anything. His arms tightened on me, pressing me more against him. That got my heartbeat to skyrocket, trying to hide the blush on my face, by turning it away from him. “Mind putting me down? You said you needed to talk to me?” I questioned, slowly kicking my feet in hopes that he does.

He sighed before finally putting me down. “Ok, what is it that you wanted to talk about?” It was quiet then he just started to pace in front of me. “I wanted to talk to you about something but I didn’t want anyone else to hear. Sorry for scaring you.” He apologized as he continued to pace, this time with a smile. Glad he seems to be back to himself.

Watching him pace I waited patiently as he seemed to try to get his thoughts in order. I hid a smile as I thought he looked cute when he is concentrating so much. He looked anxious about whatever he wanted to talk about and didn’t look like he could calm down, his smile went away as well.

What could he be worried about? Melancholy started to fill my heart the more I watched him pace. I wonder if there is anything I can do to help. Taking a breath I got in front of him and softly cupped his cool face, tilting it down to face me. “I don’t know what is causing you to get this scared or something. But I am here if you need someone to listen.” I tried to comfort him, slowly brushing my thumb against his face as our eyes never left the other, even though my bangs covered my eyes.

I waited, contemplating if I did something wrong as he just stared at me, his eyes softening the longer he looked at me. He then placed a hand against my cheek, softly petting my cheek. “I…” He started, looking hopeful and scared.

Nodding my head for him to continue, he looked like he was about to when he jerked his head to the side and glared. I followed his gaze to see Emmett and Jasper, both poking their heads around a tree staring at us. “Never mind,” Edward whispered, backing up from me, turning to leave.

Emmet and Jasper walked over sheepishly, “Sorry about that.” Emmett apologized, eyeing the way Edward had ran. “Didn’t mean to interrupt you guys just wanted to see if he had the guts.” He added, I went to ask what he meant but then Jasper elbowed him.

“Don’t mind Edward. I'm sure he will be back to normal by tomorrow.” They both avoided my eyes when I tried to make eye contact with them. “Ok,” I mumbled in defeat. Without another word from them I waved and teleported back to my house, heading to my bed and flopping on it.

Trying to think if I did do something wrong or not. And why did Emmett and Jasper want to come to see? Was it a prank? I felt a knife in my heart at the thought of it being a joke but shook it away, knowing Edward isn’t like that.

“I’ll just ask him tomorrow,” I whispered to myself.

The next day was a weekend so I walked over to their house, fully ready to ask Edward what happened in the clearing only to find that he wasn’t home. Well, I’ll have to ask him another time. I headed up to Asher’s room and knocked before entering to sit on the bed. “Hey, Luna. What’s up?” He asked, staring as I silently took off my shoes and just laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

Not wanting to lie to him, I tilted my head to face him. “Nothing much, just wondering about something.” “And what’s that?” He posed, coming to sit on the edge of his bed. That Edward seems to hate me and wants me to leave him alone. “Wondering why caring for someone has to be hard.” A weight on the bed had me rolling into the middle to lean against Asher.

We were silent, pondering what can be said. “It does suck huh?” That had me jerking to face him. His sad smile made me want to hug him. “Knowing that you might not be the right person for them, and not wanting to ask them about their feelings in fear that they might reject you.” Yes, it does suck. I reached over and poked his cheek. “Maybe all you need is a little push. And you never know what someone is feeling for you unless you ask them.” I consoled him, continuing to poke his cheek trying to get him to smile.

It worked after a bit. “Maybe. But how would you even get around to talk to them about that?” I shrugged as I sat upon his bed to lean against his wall. “Go right up to them, tell them how you feel, and know that at least you told them!” He jolted up to gawk at me. “Really?” he asked, in disbelief.

Seeing his expression full of hope I let a small smile grace my lips. “Who knows. But I’m sure if you talk to them about it then they will answer you.” I said, confidently knowing that anyone that Asher will like, will be a nice person.

His face turned red as he looked away, burying his face in his knees. “Easy for you to say.” His voice muffled by his knees. Reaching over, I messed with his hair, getting him to look up to glare at me. “It will be ok,” I assured him, to which he nodded, and then our stomachs growled.

We took the moment to look at our stomachs than at each other before bursting into laughter. “Come on let’s get some food.” He rolled out of his bed, while I stood up and walked over to the edge before hopping off. “How did you do on that test we had?” I heard him ask as we headed to the kitchen.

“I got 100 on it. But I told the teacher to take off a point cause I didn’t want to be a top student, cause then I would have to give a speech at graduation and-” I shuddered at the thought “-I would rather not do that.”

Hearing someone laughing as we reached the kitchen I saw that Emmett was still laughing as he sat on the couch. Esme was in the kitchen and went to hand us each a plate that had a sandwich on it.

“Thank you, Esme.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

I took a bite of my sandwich, enjoying the taste as I noticed that Alice was standing by the window, looking outside with a sad expression, and would glance at me every so often. That made me look down at my clothes to see if I passed for her choice of clothing. No, I looked fine, in my jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, with my sweater over it. Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, I faintly heard the sound of a car's engine stop.

Wonder who it is? Turning back to Asher, I caught a glimpse of Alice looking pained before she walked over to where Jasper was and sat by him. I would have asked who it was only for that to be answered by Edward coming up the stairs with Bella in tow.

She wrapped her arm around his when they reached the top. She giggled as she leaned her head against him. I tried to ignore the feeling of someone grabbing my heart and squeezing it. Asher must have seen my expression but didn’t say anything, he seemed to try to get my mind off of the newest couple and I was thankful for it.

He was able to distract me from looking at them and we got to discussing how the latest movie we watched. How the main character could control people with their minds and that in turn made them want to try to help people.

We talked about the end of the movie where the main character dies to protect the woman he loves. Asher started to tear up remembering it, which got me to pat him on the back. I took out plates away and washed them before putting them on the dish rack. Turning back just in time to see Edward jerk his head to face the tv. I wanted to ask him if he was ok but seeing how Bella seemed glued to him I refrained from it. Don’t want to bother him with his girlfriend.

The feeling of a knife in my heart came back but this time when I looked at them, it twisted as if saying that it will never work out and to give up. I quickly tried to disregard the pain and went to talk to Asher more but noticed the sky getting darker. “I’m gonna get going,” I announced, wanting to leave before the pain got worse.

“See you later!” I called to Asher, heading for the door.

Only I didn’t make it to the door before someone grabbed my hand. Pivoting on the spot to see Asher, staring at me with a blank expression before grinning.

“Go on a date with me!”

[magalidragon]

fire on ice | a crackish Jonerys drabble

Soooo... @moggett reblogged this post and well I felt compelled to write a drabble for one of those prompts so I give you this crack fic-- a funeral home meet cute!

I give you....FIRE ON ICE!  And this is also partially @youwerenevermine‘s fault, lol, because we literally had same idea for one of the prompts.

“Thank you so much Mr. Snow.”

Jon nodded politely, solemnly, his gray eyes the perfect amount of sympathetic, sad, and he hoped the right amount of ‘normal’— lest people think him a total fucking creep—while he shook the hand of the Greatjon Umber, whose son Smalljon Umber had unfortunately encountered the wrong side of a chainsaw while out trimming trees.  

Greatjon began to go into a tale about his son—who by all accounts had been a horrible person—speaking like he was the second coming of Aegon the Conqueror for all his ‘talents’ and ‘successes.’  “Hmm,” he murmured, walking him slowly to the door.  “He sounds like quite a man your son, thank you Mr. Umber, we will speak later regarding tomorrow.”

“Of course, thank you again Mr. Snow.”

The door shut loudly behind him, Jon slumping against it, relieved.  He glanced at his cousin, who had emerged from the basement, shaking her chopped bob out of its messy little knot atop her head.  “He gone?” she demanded.

“Aye.”

“I had half a mind to sew his arm on backwards.”

Jon closed the doors to the viewing room where Smalljon rested in repose until tomorrow when he’d be taken to the Karstark’s castle for the final funeral and ultimate burial in the crypts, as was custom for the Northerners.  He clicked his tongue.  “Arya, be nice.”

“Remember when his wife died, and he squeezed my arse?”

“Aye, I remember.”

“Thought so.”  Arya checked her phone.  “Your beloved texted me.  We have another on the way.  This one fell from the Wall.  Ygritte said he’s a fucking mess.”

He made a face; he hated that she referred to his ex-girlfriend as his ‘beloved.’  “Will you stop calling her that?”

“She works for the morgue Jon, what were you thinking?”

“It’s hard to find women in this line of work.”  He heard the bell ringing on the other side of the old stone house that served as their place of business and home—the five-floor monstrosity he knew people in town referred to as ‘Castle Black.’  He did wear a lot of black.  Came with the territory.  He waved off Arya.  “Just make sure you finish up with Mr. Lannister before the end of the evening.”

“The rich dude who died on the shitter?  Yeah, no thanks, that’s all yours.”

“Do you want to take this one?  Where the fuck is Robb anyway?”  Robb was the master of this shit, not him.  He was better with the dead.

Arya walked away before he even could try to play ‘Dragon, Wolf, Lion’ with her or answer as to where her eldest brother happened to have gone off.  Guess it was all him.  He caught his reflection in one of the mirrors in the hallway, adjusting his black tie at his neck and raking fingers through his curls.  It did nothing to tamp them down. He schooled his expression, solemn, and pushed through the dark wooden doors from the funeral home side of the floor to the entry way.  He let them swing back and folded his hands in front of him.  

“Welcome to Three Wolves Funeral Home, may I help you?” he asked, voice gentle; you never knew who might be waiting to speak with you on this side of the building.  He’d been accused too often in Robb’s post-services discussions of being too cold.

The woman standing in a dark red dress with long black overcoat was not someone who appeared to be in mourning, but then you never really knew, some people were good at masking emotions.  Her silver hair was in an elegant, braided knot at the back of her head and she had large black sunglasses folded in her hands, gazing at the table with various brochures for caskets.  

She turned, blinking wide violet eyes at him, her lips crimson, face pale.  “Good afternoon,” she greeted him, eyebrow arching.  “I’m inquiring as to your crematory services.”

“For yourself?” he blurted, before he realized how it sounded.

She smirked, while he flushed, thrown off by her stunning beauty.  He tried to school his expression again; she could very well have been there for her husband, boyfriend, or other, he did not need to stumbling through this.  He wished Robb was there.  “That would be interesting, wouldn’t it?  Well, I can assure you I’m not here to burn myself alive, but you know…” She inspected her hand, a couple rings on them glittering gold.  She grinned up at him.  “I have heard stories my ancestors were immune to flame.”

His throat constricted.  “Apologies.  Can I help you?”

“Your crematory services?” she wondered again, walking by him and into the showroom, running a finger over an ebony casket.  

“Ah…I am afraid Three Wolves does not offer such services.  We can, however, assist with selecting one, urns, and preparing a memorial service.”  He wondered what she was doing; she was now leaning down to look underneath a massive white casket.  No one really cared what the underside looked like.  He gestured towards the office.  “We can speak in private, if you wish?”  

The woman shook her head.  “No I’m fine, thank you.  Just doing a little bit of research.”

“For a relative?”  

“Something like that.”  She wore very high heels, which clicked loudly on the hardwood.  She glanced sideways; eyes shrewd.  “Are you one of the Three Wolves on your sign out front?”

“Yes, Jon Snow, I’m the mortician.”  It sounded so creepy like that, but it was the truth.  Robb handled the hand shaking, the business side.  Arya was their resident makeup artist—she could do wonders with faces practically taking them on and off—but he was the one who handled everything else.  

“Hmm, yes I heard of you.”  The woman offered her hand.  “Dany.”

“Jon,” he repeated, like an idiot.  He was put off by her beauty, rather disarming.  He swallowed hard again.  “Nice to meet you.  Is there…”

“This was enlightening Mr. Snow.  I’ll be back.”  Dany wiggled her fingers, waving, striding out decisively.  “See you later.”

What the seven hells was that about? He spun on his heel, about to ask her what else he could help her with, when the front door slammed shut, bell ringing on her exit.  He heard the door from the services wing open, Robb walking in.  He scowled.  “Where were you?”

“Talking with the Umbers, heard it went well, did we have a customer?” Robb adjusted his tie, eagerly seeing dollar signs.  “Where are they?”

“They left.”  

“Damnit Jon!”

He rolled his eyes, storming by.  “I’ll be downstairs.”

“With Tywin Lannister?  Better make him look good, the Lannisters are paying through the nose for this.”

“Aye,” he said idly, heading downstairs and to his ‘lair’ as Robb referred to it.  He shook his head, preparing in the locker room, putting on scrubs and his protective gear.  When he tugged on gloves, walking over to the block of freezer drawers, he rolled his eyes again, making another face.  He was better with dead people anyway.

-----

A couple of weeks later, Jon saw the beautiful silver-haired woman again, this time from the front step of the funeral home, while Arya sat on the railing, Robb in shocked horror as the sign went up across the street.  

Dracarys Funeral Home and Crematory Services

“How did this happen?  We had the run of things here!” Robb exclaimed.

Arya cracked her gum.  “Want me to get info?”

The silver haired Dany waved from the front step of her home.  “Hello Starks!”

Jon shook his head, appalled.  “I thought she was just asking because someone died…like they all do.”

“You didn’t think that she was scoping the competition?” Robb shouted.

“I told you I’m better with the dead than I am the living!”

“Oh leave him alone,” Arya chided.  She rubbed Ghost’s ears—his great white wolf—gazing across the street again, shrugging.  “Maybe we can make this work.  Jon, you were the one who met her, maybe you can get some more info.  They do crematory, we don’t.  Maybe we can make a deal or something.”

Robb nodded, poking his shoulder.  “Go over there, find out more.”

Jon sighed.  He really didn’t want to do this. “I have that Wall guy to deal with.”

“Jarl will keep, go find out more.”

He slid away from the column, clicking his tongue for Ghost to follow him, the two of them crossing the street and up to Dracarys.  He entered into the front room, seeing that everything was a shade of black and red.  He glanced at Ghost, who was scanning the space with his bright ruby eyes, white fluffy tail wagging slowly.  “What do you think?” he mumbled.

The walnut wood stairs creaked in the back, drawing him towards the door leading away from the showroom and sitting area.  He peeked into another part of the old house, just like how their business was set up, with a viewing room and seating area.  He moved to another door, which was open, leading down a set of stairs.  

A massive black cat yowled from a sunbeam near the door, hissing at Ghost and running off.  Ghost didn’t bark but took off after the cat.  He sighed, calling out.  “Please don’t kill her cat!”  

He went down the stairs and pushed open a set of swinging double doors, pausing at the sight.  It was state-of-the art and he scowled at some of the fancy equipment he’d been trying to convince Robb to upgrade to for the last year.  He ran his tongue over his teeth, arching a dark brow at the woman who had been wearing head-to-toe designer when he’d met her and now was in black scrubs and protective gear, leaning over a dead man, a kit of makeup and brushes next to her.  

“Jon Snow,” she called.

“Daenerys Targaryen.”  He used her full name.  The proprietress of the competition, he would not refer to her as Dany.  “You could have told me you were moving in across the street.”

“And you would have shown me around?  I think not.”  

He stepped closer, curious at what she was working on.  His eyebrows flew to his forehead.  “Greyscale, huh?”

“Hmm,” Dany murmured.  “Yes.”  She looked up, grinning.  “I saw you coming over, decided not to stop you from finding me.  You’re not squeamish.”

“No I’m not.”

“They call you the King of the Dead.”

It wasn’t the worst thing he’d been called.  “And you are?” he retorted.

“The Dragon Queen, I suppose you could call me.  Or at least, that’s what they called me at mortician school.”  She selected another brush, grinning.  “I’m offering a service that your busines does not Jon Snow, that’s all.”

“The North doesn’t burn their dead.”

“I know, but many in the South do.  There’s plenty of them moving up here.”  Dany stood and pushed the gurney with the greyscale man into the freezer, closing the door.  She removed her gloves and gear, walking by him, and began to wash up.  She tossed a serene smile over her shoulder.  “I think we can make this work Jon Snow.  Don’t worry about it.”

“Robb isn’t used to competition.”

“And you?”

He shrugged.  “I work better with the dead.”

“So do I.”  When she finished, she studied him for a few seconds, which unnerved him.  He tore his eyes from her, wondering what she was doing.  She approached him, hands on her hips.  “Would you like to get a cup of coffee?”

He frowned, nose wrinkling, surprised.  “Coffee?”

“A hot beverage, sometimes served with milk and sugar?  Other times with various accoutrements like cinnamon or chocolate?” Dany’s smile softened.  He saw then how gentle she actually was, how soft.  It was comforting and he wasn’t even grieving.  She must be very good at her job, he thought.  He was numb, unsure how best to reply.  She patted his arm, stepping by him.  “Come on, I’ve got a lovely blend from Braavos.”

In the kitchen on the third floor of her house, where he assumed, she lived, she prepared the coffee.  He wondered where Ghost had gone.  “This how you get all the competition?” he managed to get out.  “Ply them with coffee?”

“Just you.”  Dany sat down across from him at a small bistro table in a large bay window, with a beautiful view of the mountains in the distance.  She passed him the mug of coffee and used a small ceramic pitcher to pour milk into her coffee.  Lifting it to her lips, she smiled again, warm and eyes dancing.  “You intrigue me.”

He sipped his coffee—it was very good—a small smile on his lips.  “You are an interesting one, Dany…if that is your real name.”

“Only my friends can call me Dany,” she mouthed.  

“And we’re friends?”

“Well I hope we’re not enemies.”

Jon figured he’d have to wait it out and see for certain, but he didn’t think enemies was the best word for it.  He was not good at this sort of thing, so he chose to continue drinking his coffee.  He set the mug down on the table, sighing and cocking his head, a slight furrow to his brow.  “I’m not good at this.”

“I know,” Dany shrugged.  “But I am.”

Well that was that then, he figured, smiling at her.  

-----

“So where did you two meet?”

Jon wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, as one of Sansa’s friends from King’s Landing had cornered him, trying to get info on Robb.  “Where did I meet…?” he echoed, playing dumb.

Margaery Tyrell frowned.  “Where did you meet Daenerys?  Sansa didn’t tell me.  In fact, she’s being really weird about things.  Won’t even tell me what Robb does for a living.”  Her eyes lit up.  “I like a challenge.”

“Um, well…”

His wife of the last two hours emerged at his side, looping her arm through his.  “We met at a funeral home,” she said, smiling at Margaery’s wide-eyed, horrified expression.  Dany gazed up at him, love shining from her beatific face.  “In fact, we contemplated holding the reception there, but figured everyone might think that a little weird.”  She smiled even wider.  “Also in the future, please keep the Fire on Ice Funereal Services in your thoughts for any funereal needs!”

Jon stifled a snort, glad to be rid of the odd questions.  He smiled down at his beloved.  “We didn’t actually consider the reception there or…did you?”

“No of course not, I don’t want to mix business and pleasure.”

“Isn’t that exactly what we did?”

“Nah, I came to scope out the competition and this really cute guy who couldn’t look me in the eye without blushing wandered in.”  Dany rose on her toes, pecking his cheek.  She patted her hand against his chest.  She beamed again.  “Best decision I ever made.  I could have sent Viserys.”

At the mention of her annoying older brother, Jon shivered.  He squeezed her close.  “Very well then.  Let’s at least try to figure out a better story, you’re scaring people.”

“Well it is the truth.”  

Jon shook his head, but smiled anyway, his arm around her and hers around him, both of them walking off into the crowd of guests.  He even thought that he overheard someone say the King of the Dead had found his queen.  He kissed her temple, sighing.  He certainly did.

THE END

[bunnieresources]

paladins: champions of the realm voice lines sentence starters.

“ in this game, you win or you die. there is no middle ground. “

“ the only way for you to win is not to fight. “

“ i had respect for you, ____, but i’ve been wrong before. “

“ i can get us out alive. “

“ go to hell, tell them ____ sent you. “

“ wise men run when i go to war. “

“ nice set of teeth you have. have fun picking them off the floor! “

“ thought you’d be... taller. “

“ i know you’re better than this. “

“ this isn’t the first time i’ve bled internally... “

“ can’t hold your drinks, eh? “

“ in the end, i’m still the best looking! “

“ it’s not polite to stare, but i understand. “

“ this place was once peaceful, and it shall be so again. “

“ all that dies shall be reborn. “

“ i don’t care how powerful they become, i will fight to my last breath. “

“ don’t let your mind wander, it’s too small to be let out on its own. “

“ so much knowledge hidden here, waiting to be discovered! “

“ damn this fleshy vessel! “

“ the right man in the wrong place can make all the difference... wait, where am i again? “

“ this is why they kneel before me! “

“ elbow out, shoulders back, wrists loose. find your mark, and just breathe. “

“ you’re not the sharpest arrow in the quiver, are you? “

“ for my people, i will do anything necessary. “

“ i fight to protect those who cannot protect themselves. “

“ guns? ...tch, so primitive. “

“ do not mistake me for weak! “

“ i’m not splitting the reward. “

“ you are a sad, strange little man. “

“ it’s just business, dear. “

“ i’m not insulting you, i’m describing you. “

“ funny? you think i'm funny? like a clown? do i amuse you? “

“ ooh! yes! please run! i love it when they run! “

“ if i must fight, i will win. “

“ maybe you should work on your aim. “

“ with a friend like you, i will soon have no enemies. “

“ you don’t fight fair, but you are skilled. “

“ many men wish death upon me. “

“ remain silent, and be thought a fool. or speak, and remove all doubt. “

“ you’re small... like a cat. “

“ if you are going to lose so easily, at least give me something good to look at while dying. “

“ i will be the last thing you see before you die. lucky you, huh? “

“ only the gods can judge you, i simply arrange the meeting. “

“ champions are made by the paths they choose, not the powers they were graced with! “

“ i'd love to stay here and talk with you, but i'm not going to. “

“ i hate to get my hands dirty, but you’ve left me no choice. “

“ i know your every move... and i've guaranteed my victory. “

“ i’ll show you what it means to suffer. “

“ your friends aren’t safe. your family isn’t safe. what makes you think you are? “

“ there's no shame in exploiting someone's weakness... or at least none that i feel. “

“ how do you know if a noble’s untrustworthy? if they have a pulse. “

“ strike where they least expect it. as a general rule, that usually means between the legs. “

“ they will bend the knee, or they will break. “

“ if i wanted your opinion, i’d ask for it. “

“ you can’t take that kill, i called it! “

“ i’m not gonna behave. it’s not in my nature. “

“ i’m gonna take a nap. you seem to have this all handled. “

“ is it dangerous? it looks dangerous! “

“ i thought we could work together... i guess i was wrong. “

“ revenge is all consuming. “

“ i do what i must, because i can. “

“ now i just look ridiculous. “

“ did i do that? yes, i think i did! “

“ even the smallest being can alter the course of the future. “

“ do not let your hatred seed revenge. “

“ our only path is forward. “

“ there is hope for this world yet. “

“ say a prayer to me and i might make your death quick. “

“ i have such sights to show you. “

“ aren’t you too young for this? “

“ when do we get paid? after we win? “

“ explosives, check. dashing good looks, check. and world-renowned skill, check. “

“ where do i collect my reward? “

“ my equipment was a generous gift... okay, it was loaned to me... fine, i stole it. “

“ think of all the riches we aren’t stealing right now. “

“ i know things that were, things that are, and some things that have not yet come to pass. “

“ you'd like to see a trick? watch as i make your life disappear. “

“ to err is human. to forgive is not something i'm capable of. “

“ reality is an opinion. one i disagree with. “

“ if you need help, don’t hesitate to ask! “

“ hehe, did i trick you? “

“ i didn’t mean to hurt you! “

“ let’s be honest, heels are a little impractical. “

“ okay, now things are getting weird. “

“ fool me once, shame on me. fool me twice... wait, how did that go again? “

“ fear does not fade, it only hides in wait. “

“ fear is an illusion... except yours. that’s real. “

“ i'm here to kick butt and chew bubblegum! and properly dispose of the gum in a designated waste container. “

“ this is the third best day of my life! “

“ is weakness contagious? “

“ come watch the great ____ take down all the people she hates! not you, of course. “

“ i just want to live a normal life, without having to blow everybody up... oh well! “

“ hey! what’s the deal?! “

“ i like you. you can live. “

“ i tried to play by the rules, but nooo! “

“ hey! who says you get to look at me, hmm? “

“ will i find a worthy opponent? the anticipation is killing me! “

“ might wanna see a doctor for that. “

“ is it just me or are they really bad at this? “

“ remember my name, it will mean something one day! “

“ there are no winners among warriors, but there are certainly losers! “

“ play by their rules, and you’re just a pawn in their game. “

“ what doesn’t kill me... better start running. “

“ this will be a walk in the park compared to what i'm used to. “

“ does it come in pink? “

“ welcome to the mean streets, kitten! “

“ excuse me, i need to go stab something. “

“ you wouldn’t last a day on my streets. “

“ have i robbed you before? i think i’ve robbed you before. “

“ it's not smart to turn your back on me, you may find a knife in it. “

“ i could banish them to another dimension with the wave of my hand, but that wouldn't be very fair, would it? “

“ take a good look, i won’t be here for long. “

“ i kill everything i touch. “

“ you can be a good person. i won’t give up on you! “

“ you’re messing with power you don’t understand! “

“ why do you hurt people? what’s the point? “

“ you shouldn’t have overestimated me. “

“ i was once thrown to the wolves. now i lead the pack. “

“ this place is too bright. too... happy. “

“ you would do wisely to kneel. “

“ i’ll have my revenge. “

“ i haven’t forgotten about you. “

“ a wise man once told me 'time heals all wounds.' it did not un-slit his throat. “

[sammystep]

No One Lives Forever- CH11

(AO3 link)

Stardust Crusader Wolf Pack AU

[From the beginning- CH1]

<Previous Chapter     Next Chapter>

The sky is painted bright orange and red by the time the pack arrives at the next camp site. The fall colors on the trees make the world look like it’s made of gold and rubies cemented to black cast iron trees in silhouette. The path to the camp ground is narrow but still large enough for the truck to navigate as Avdol drives carefully down the one lane trail. Kakyoin had kept in mind the need to be able to transform at will tonight and found a private campsite that promised a ‘true survival experience’ according to the reviews online.

Your attention is dragged away from the fall scenery outside as Jotaro shifts in his sleep, his head resting in your lap as he lays sideways on the bench seat of the back row. You adjust the hoodie you’d thrown over his sleeping figure and gently brush back his hair before returning your hand to rest on his arm. He’d been exhausted after the last fight and started nodding off almost as soon as you had set out. After the third time he leaned too far forward and jerked himself awake you gave in and decided to risk the embarrassment of the others teasing -or worse, Jotaro’s rejection- and offered to let him lay down. He looked confused for a moment but you patted your lap in invitation. He snuck a quick glance to the rest of the pack before shifting and laying down. You were both tense at first at first but you hesitantly ran your hand over his hair and he loosened up considerably. Soon he was fully asleep on you.

Joseph and Polnareff also seem to be sleeping, or close to it in the middle row seats, but a particularly rough bump in the road shakes the truck enough to wake everyone. Jotaro grumbles as he sits up, sweatshirt falling off and revealing the tank top and bandages on his shoulder. He looks it for a moment before handing it back to you with a gruff ‘thanks’, his voice raspy with sleep.

“It’s no problem. Feeling better?” you ask as you bundle the sweater on your lap.

“A bit. Still sore as hell.” He tries his best to stretch in the confined space. Another bump in the road almost causes him to bump his head on the roof and he slumps in his seat to avoid it happening again as the bumps and rocking get more extreme.

“Ah, that must be the camp site ahead.” Kakyoin says as he looks up from the map on his phone and points to the clearing now visible after cresting a small hill. The truck is barely still for a second before Polnareff jumps out and starts stretching. The rest of you follow his example, the cramped car ride after transforming and fighting not doing your muscles any favors. Like the site you just left this one was also empty but located much deeper in the forest. Perfect for keeping off the grid until morning.

The last campers had left some firewood under the cover of a nearby pine tree so you work to quickly clear the ashes from the fire pit. With the help of Jotaro’s lighter, a good size fire crackled happily to life just as the sun set. The rest of the pack had split up to investigate the clearing and into the woods beyond while you built the fire, but the rustling of bags draws everyone back in. Joseph makes his way over carrying as many bags of snacks as he can, “Dinner time! Looks like the choices tonight are beef jerky, chips or candy.” You all gather and take a seat on the logs laying near the fire and start passing around the bags.

While a meal of snacks wouldn’t be filling for long, for now it was enough to leave you all satisfied. Joseph is sitting with Polnareff and Avdol across from where you are seated between Jotaro and Kakyoin and sets off the first contagious yawn. You can hear his back crack as he stretches, your own eyes watering from the strength of your yawn. Polnareff laughs and slaps Joseph on the back, “Ha, looks like it’s past the old wolf’s bed time!” Joseph can’t refute this as he goes to reply and gets caught by another epic yawn.

“We should go over sleeping arrangements though. The truck is too small for all of us to sleep in and we only have a fire because the last campers left some wood.” Kakyoin says as he leans forward toward the fire and rests his head in his hand. He moves his sharp gaze around the clearing looking for any other supplies or natural resources that could be used. He heaves a sigh and drops his gaze back to the fire.

Jotaro hums in though as he looks around as well. “With all the encounters we’ve had just today I think we should take shifts on patrol. The truck can probably hold two people if we fold down some seats. The rest of us will have to spend the night transformed, for safety and for warmth.” The rest of the pack nods in agreement. “Avdol, are you ok driving the rest of the way tomorrow?”

Avdol tilts his head at the change of subject. “Yes, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Good,” Jotaro leans back and stretches a bit as he explains, “you and the old man can sleep in the truck tonight, the rest of us will pair up and patrol in shifts.”

“Well wait a moment Jotaro, I can patrol too!” Joseph slaps his hands on his legs as he leans forward toward Jotaro. “I know I joke about it a lot but I’m not that old!”

Jotaro sighs as he closes his eyes and crosses his arms. “One of these days your age will catch up to you. Besides, you’ll need to be well rested to navigate for Avdol tomorrow. And you need to manage whatever is going on at the new headquarters once we get there.” He opens his eyes again and fixes Joseph with a steely gaze. Joseph scratches at his beard and looks away, not ready or willing to challenge Jotaro on this. You can’t really make out what he grumbles under his breath other than ‘not that old’.

Polnareff laughs and slaps Joseph on the back, “Ha! I’ll remember you said that next time you try and get out of trouble using that ‘frail old man’ card!” Joseph just grumbles more as everyone chuckles; you see a small smirk on his face as he turns away though.

“Fine, fine. Us old guys will sleep in the car while you young whippersnappers brave the cold out here. But don’t come knocking on my door in the middle of the night!”

Jotaro grins at his grandfather’s antics before turning his attention to the rest of the ‘youngsters’ in the pack. “I think we’ll be fine if we spend the night as wolves. The temperature shouldn’t be so cold that we can’t handle it. As for patrol and watch,” he pulls out his phone to check the time, “we’ll pair up for the night and morning shifts, that way all of us get at least a few hours of sleep.” Just the word sleep has Jotaro suppressing a yawn. “I’ll take one spot on the morning patrol, anyone else have a preference?”

You nod and speak up, “I’ll stay up for night shift, I’m not an early riser.” You blush and turn away from Jotaro as you realizes he’s seen you in action- or inaction- two mornings in a row now.

“I don’t really have a preference.” Kakyoin says from your other side, he must have interpreted your movement as looking for his answer, not just avoiding Jotaro.

“I guess that makes me the deciding vote, I’d rather stay up for the night watch than wake up early as well.”

With the patrols figured out for the night everyone starts to prepare for bed. It turns out though that you’re the only one with rough camping experience as the guys watch perplexed as you start gathering a pile of leaves to make a more comfortable spot than just the hard ground. “What, you guys never camped without gear before?” Three sets of eyes look away, embarrassed as Joseph starts cackling in the background.

“You’re going to have to show these city boys the ropes (Y/N)! I’m sure you can handle it.” Joseph says as he climbs into the cleared space in the back of the truck and shuts the door behind him.

“Wait, seriously? None of you have camped out without tents before?”

“Unfortunately, Mr. Joestar is right,” Kakyoin explains as he takes a step forward to better observe what you are doing, “is it really more complicated than just transforming to stay warm?”

“Well, that will keep you warm but it won’t make it more comfortable to sleep on the ground. Help me gather up some more leaves, we’ll make a two-person pile to use as a mattress. Then I’ll help you guys bundle up some pillows out of clothes so they don’t unravel overnight.” Jotaro raises an eyebrow but just shrugs and does as you instruct, the other two falling in line as well. Soon a pretty decent leaf pile is collected and you spread it out large enough for two adult males to fit comfortably. After showing the guys how to roll up pillows tight enough to withstand the tossing and turning that comes from sleeping on the ground you all scavenge the area for branches and sticks to keep the fire fed overnight. “Excellent! I’ll make campers out of you guys yet!”

“How is it you know all this anyway? You said you traveled a lot, but is this how you normally got from place to place?” Kakyoin asks as he drops off the last pile of sticks from his arms.

You wave off the comment, “Oh no, I usually had enough money to get a motel room or something. In a pinch I could sleep in my car for a night if I absolutely needed to. I actually learned all this camping stuff from family reunions. I have a lot of family when you start counting cousins and second cousins, and every year there is a reunion at the beginning of summer. We spend the whole weekend as wolves, hunting, racing, sleeping, occasionally fighting…” you smile and slap your hands free of dirt. “It’s really a great time, living wild for a weekend. Gets a lot of pent-up energy out, you know?”

“That sounds like a rather nice tradition.” Kakyoin gives you a kind smile, “Perhaps we should consider adopting it?” he turns his head towards Jotaro who just hums contemplatively before nodding. Another wave of contagious yawns overtakes the pack and you all decide its time to get some rest.

You all quickly shed your human forms for wolf fur, your senses sparking alive as your form shifts. Colors dim as your new sight allows for better night vision at the cost of reduced variation. You inhale deeply, expecting only the smells of woods and campfire but something slightly sour hangs in the air. Closing your eyes and lifting your nose to the wind you try and follow the trail but it’s gone as suddenly as it appeared, the wind chasing it away from you through the trees. You shake your head and snort to clear your nose. It was probably just some trash or something a previous camper forgot in the area.

Jotaro and Kakyoin get situated on the bed of leaves and Polnareff motions for you to join him at the edge of trees for your first patrol. The journey through the woods is slow going at first, both of you slightly on edge, not knowing what to expect. While you had more experience ‘living wild’ as you called it, Polnareff obviously had more experience hunting and tracking. He makes it a point to stop often to mark your trail with scratches on the trees and brushing up on other shorter bushes to leave his scent. He laughs at you a bit when he catches your curious gaze on the tree he just mauled, “What’s the matter? I thought you were used to camping out in this form?”

“Well yeah, but… I was always stuck hanging out with the pups. My dad and uncles split up patrol duty.”

“Ah, well in that case let me show you. I usually do this when I’m on a job to find someone in the city; its much easier to follow your nose back rather than loose track of a target because you were looking at a map.” He gestures to a tree ahead, “Go ahead and help out. It will probably help keep other animals away too if they smell too many predators in the area.”

“I was wondering why I didn’t hear anything moving around tonight. You think we scarred everything off?” you sniff the air again; you could tell some deer and rabbits had been through recently but only their scent remained now.

“Probably. They’d have to be pretty ill equipped to stay in an area with a bunch of wolves roaming about- or humans for that matter.” He lifts his nose and jogs ahead a few paces to a large boulder, “Here- this is where we started at. Now we just turn left and we’ll be back at camp.” You blink perplexed, you hadn’t really thought about how many turns you’d taken during your walk. Perhaps you were more tired than you thought.

The fire is burning low when you get back to the camp so you feed it some of the branches collected earlier, keeping the coals burning hot enough to reach the sleeping men and keep them a bit more comfortable. You take a seat next to Polnareff and grab one of the drink bottles from the snack pile. It’s a little tricky with your hands being larger and less dexterous than you are used to but you manage to open it and hand it to Polnareff before grabbing one for yourself. The lack of animal sounds around the campsite is still a little unnerving but you’re soon distracted when Polnareff turns to you and starts telling you about the time he had to covertly chase a target through an office building while dressed as a mailman, trying to catch the target in the act of cheating with his co-worker.

You take turns trying to one up each other with ridiculous stories, keeping an eye on the fire and the woods at the same time. You can’t help but let your attention drift every so often as Jotaro or Kakyoin move around in their sleep. Polnareff’s pointy elbow is suddenly nudging your side as he laughs at you, apparently, you’d been staring at the alpha long enough for Pol to notice. You quickly turn away even though your fur would cover any blush on your face. Standing up and moving to the woods again you initiate another patrol round, Polnareff snickering as you follow the trail left last time and refresh the scent marks.

The rest of your night on watch goes smoothly, and by the time your last patrol comes around you’re feeling a bit sleep drunk, playfully pushing Polnareff around on your walk as he teases you for being so concerned with keeping the fire warm and setting aside snacks for Jotaro and Kakyoin when they woke up. Really you were just trying to keep Polnareff from eating all the good snacks. You laugh and give a shove and he makes a show of exaggeratedly falling into a tree.

“Such violence! Just wait! I’ll tell on you to Joseph; we’ll see who’s laughing then!” the large wolfman throws a hand to his forehead like a swooning southern lady and points an accusing finger at you.

“Tell on me? What, you’re going to admit you can’t hold your own against me? He’ll just laugh and call you a spoiled pup again.” You continue slowly on the patrol path and wait for him to catch up.

“No, I’ll just tell him how you were making googly eyes at his grandson all night. You will never have another moments rest!” his triumphant smirk is infuriating even in his wolf form so you shove him off the path again and race back to camp, laughing as he playfully shoves you off course as he passes you.

Back at camp your eyes immediately go to the sleeping wolves and you have to admit maybe Polnareff has a point about you making ‘googly eyes’ at Jotaro; he and Kakyoin are tangled up in what would be a puppy pile if they were younger. You’re very tempted for a moment to not worry about waking them up for their patrol shift and just join the pile yourself, but your rational mind overcomes your instincts and you carefully wake them. Kakyoin wakes up quickly and makes his way to the remaining snacks near the fire. Jotaro however looks half asleep still so you keep him seated for a few moments longer on the leaf pile as you check the wounds on his shoulder hadn’t opened up or gotten too dirty in his sleep. You help him brush some crumbled leaves from his fur and you both make your way to the fire and sitting logs.

You grab a few packs of jerky and some drinks to help Jotaro wake up and you can’t help the startled yelp as he grabs your hand and pulls you down to sit next to him. You’re almost uncomfortably close, your side brushing against his any time either of you inhales. Jotaro doesn’t seem to notice how tense you are, he still looks half asleep as he mechanically eats the snacks you offered him while staring into the fire. You ignore Polnareff’s snickering and Kakyoin’s knowing looks from across the fire pit and hand over a drink to the alpha at your side. His arm brushes against yours as he takes it and you shiver as the contact marks you with his scent, even if it was accidental it is a highly intimate thing, usually reserved for very close pack mates.

“Did anything interesting happen while we were asleep? Anything we should know about?” Kakyoin tries to draw in Polnareff’s attention before he can start teasing you or Jotaro.

Polnareff is hyper focused on the opportunity to tease you though, “Non, non. In fact, you are witnessing the most interesting thing to happen all night,” he gestures to you both. Jotaro must be more awake as he looks back over his shoulder in confusion before he realizes what Pol is implying. You hear him mutter something as he shifts away from you, but only by a few inches so you were no longer joined at the hip.

“Seriously Polnareff?” he yelps and fumbles with a water bottle you throw at him. “But really, it has been pretty uneventful. We must have scared off everything around here.”

Jotaro tenses next to you and you look at him with a questioning tilt of your head. “You haven’t seen any animals around? Not even on perimeter patrol?”

“Uh, no. we just assumed we scared them all away.” Polnareff scratches his head, also confused by Jotaro’s concern. “Isn’t it natural to flee a place is a group of hunters moves in?”

“Maybe at first, but at least the animals in the trees should have come back by now…” Jotaro rubs his eyes and lowers his head with a huff, “Whatever, I’m probably over thinking it.” You glance around the camp site again, the peaceful quiet now more ominous as shadows cast from the fire dance behind trees and bushes.

“Oh, thanks a lot Jotaro. Giving me the creeps right before I go to bed.” Polnareff’s fur is standing on end making him appear comically fluffy. “I’m blaming you if I get no rest tonight. And after (Y/N) and I did such a good job on our watch.” He huffs as he attempts to smooth down his fur again.

The red wolf next to him just chuckles and shakes his head, “Well no one said you have to go to sleep. You’re free to stay up and keep an eye on camp if you want.” Kakyoin stands up and stretches as Polnareff mumbles to himself about needing his beauty sleep and shuffles over to the leaf bed.

You and Jotaro rise from your seats and you give another skeptical glance around at the trees before grabbing hold of Jotaro’s arm as he starts to walk away. This may be becoming a habit for you, grabbing onto his hand for reassurance. He faces you and tilts his head an you search for words as you make eye contact with him. “I…um… just…” you glance away and refocus on his face when he gives your hand a squeeze “Be careful?”

He nods and his stoic features soften slightly as he smiles, “We will, don’t worry. Go get some rest.” His hand lest go of yours and trails up your arm and around to your back to nudge you in the right direction. Too tired to put up any resistance, you follow his order. You’re asleep almost as soon as you lay down next to Polnareff in the leaf pile.

Kakyoin waits patiently at the entrance to the patrol path you and Polnareff created as Jotaro checks around camp. Avdol and the old man still asleep in the truck, the coals of the fire still hot enough that the heat reaches your sleeping spot, and there should be enough wood to keep it that way till morning. He’s satisfied with the state of things and casts one last critical glance to the shadows beyond the tree line before joining Kakyoin on the path. The silence of the forest is unnerving but easy to ignore, Polnareff was probably right about the animals keeping a wide berth around a group of predators.

His concentration is pulled from the surrounding woods by Kakyoin. “(Y/N) seems to be really fitting in well with the pack.” The red wolf faces ahead with a straight face, but there is a glint in his eyes as he glances back to Jotaro to gauge his reaction. “I don’t think I’ve seen you warm up to anybody as fast as you have to her. It’s a bit shocking you decided to trust her so soon if I’m honest.” He tries to keep his face neutral, but Jotaro can see the beginnings of a smug smirk.

“You saying I shouldn’t trust her?” Jotaro throws the statement back at him, years of experience turning Kakyoin’s teasing comments on their head coming into practice.

“Ha, no, not at all. She more than proved herself today.” He pauses, a more serious look on his face as he continues, “But even you have to admit, you’ve been acting very strange since you met her.”

“It’s… complicated. I don’t really want to talk about it.” Jotaro shakes his head and continues moving on.

Kakyoin stops in his tracks, “You know I wouldn’t push you unless I was worried about you. This may be your last chance for a while to get it out in the open. No audience, just us and the trees.” Kakyoin gestures to the woods and waits as Jotaro stops and contemplates his options.

He heaves a sigh before continuing to walk and Kakyoin grins knowing he’s won. “It’s complicated because I don’t really understand what’s going on myself. I know I don’t really know her yet, but at the same time I don’t care about that at all.” Jotaro ruffles his hair in frustration and embarrassment. “The old man thinks its my instincts trying to tell me she’s my mate, or potential mate at least. Logically, I know I should take it slow and get to know her first like a normal person, but…”

“But we’re not normal people Jotaro.” Kakyoin nods sagely, the internal issues clearer to him now. “But she’s not a normal person either. From what I can see, she’s just as eager to get closer to you too.” He can see Jotaro’s shoulders slump in relief as they keep walking the path. “You do have options here, but you need to figure out what you want first. And you don’t have to take Joseph’s words to heart. We’re not going to have the same thoughts on pack bonds and mates as the full wolf members of the pack do.”

“True.” Jotaro sighs again, “Maybe it’s just my human half making me over think this. Gramps and the others don’t seem to have a problem just following their instincts wherever they lead to.”

“Well, that doesn’t always work out perfectly either. That’s what my father did all his life and you know I only call home for mother’s sake these days.”

“I don’t think that’s a trait limited to wolves in that regard.” There is more of a growl in his voice than Jotaro intended. He clears his throat and continues, “Some fathers are just like that.” The rest of the walk back to camp is silent and Jotaro makes himself busy tending the fire when they arrive.

Kakyoin is equally subdued and takes a seat on the log next to Jotaro after raiding the drink selection. He hands over a bottle of beer and Jotaro quirks his head in question. Kakyoin just shrugs and pops the cap off his own, they each take a long swig and stare into the fire.

After a while its time to walk the perimeter path again, the red and black wolves moving quietly to the edge of the camp. Jotaro can’t help but sneak one more glance to where you and Polnareff are sleeping before giving the whole area one last critical look. He joins Kakyoin at the entrance but is stopped by Kakyoin’s outstretched arm before he can continue on the path. The red wolf has his nose tilted to the air so Jotaro follows suit. A slightly sour smell, like a mixture of garbage and deer musk assaults his nose before a breeze makes him loose the scent. Kakyoin must have lost it too based on the way he opens his eyes and searches the woods around. Nothing seems out of place, all the trees around silent and still. The animals have still not reappeared and the silence makes each footstep loud and clear as a bell. Another strong breeze makes the trees creak and groan, leaves shifting and rattling on the ground.

The soured smell is back again as they reach a landmark tree indicating they need to turn left soon, but as they pass it by, they are met with unfamiliar woods in front of them. The trees groan in the wind again, but Jotaro notices no leaves shift from their spots on the ground. They both freeze and turn in place, Kakyoin barely catches movement from his right where the landmark tree is, the roots undulating and creeping like snakes before quickly resettling.

“Jojo, the trees…”

“Yeah, I saw it. Not just the trees though, look at the branches on that bush.” The shrub in question was undoubtedly larger than it was a few seconds ago, its branches and twigs looked like they were caught in the wind but were using the movement to disguise how they grew and stretched themselves towards the wolves.

Jotaro’s fur stands straight up, there was no telling how far off the path they’ve been led. Were they even in range of the camp to hear if anything was also going wrong there? They’d have to rely on the scent trail to get back before… The sour smell from earlier is suddenly overpowering as a few trees about fifty feet away move on their own to make way for a giant creature lumbering towards them. Its beady eyes are focused on them and it grins, revealing jagged teeth as it lifts its arm. The plants around them writhe and tangle themselves at the leshin’s command.

Kakyoin growls loudly as he cuts away reaching branches with his claws. Jotaro focuses on the creature before them, looking for any obvious weaknesses. Its body is gigantic, probably twelve feet tall even though it was hunched over and dragged its knuckles like a great ape while it walked. Rough textured skin peeked out between ragged pelts and tufts of mossy hair on its body, probably the most vulnerable targets at a glance. On its head it wore a deer skull like a helmet, the antlers scraping branches above it with each bob of its head.

It’s distracted with pushing a tree out of its way to make room for its body and Jotaro uses the moment to rush forward, Kakyoin following right behind him. They quickly close the distance and lunge at the beast leaving deep gouges in the creature’s skin. No blood rises to the surface of the cuts though, in fact, the leshin makes almost no note of the injuries. They repeat their attack, but the rough patches only splinter like tree bark as they make contact. It retaliates and swings a fist at them but it’s too slow to connect.

They quickly fall back out of range to regroup. Jotaro growls lowly with his hackles raised, “Its skin is too thick to break through.” The leshin raises its arms again and they cut away the creeping branches.

“We can out run it though. Get back to camp and get everyone out of here.” Kakyoin pants as he slashes at vines threatening to anchor them to the ground. Jotaro nods and turns towards the woods, Kakyoin leading the way back to camp. The creature catches onto their plan though and with a chilling wail the trees in front of them weave into a solid wall before their eyes.

Roots spring up from underground and snare their legs too quickly to cut away. The creeping vines quickly climb up past their hips and tangle their claws when they come close enough. Their struggle is fruitless and the leshin lumbers closer to them making up for its speed handicap by totally immobilizing its prey. It reaches for Kakyoin and its massive hand is large enough to completely wrap around his torso as it plucks him from the ground.

Jotaro’s eyes widen and redoubles his efforts to get free as Kakyoin is lifted towards the creature’s mouth. He glances around desperately looking for something that can aid him before it’s too late. The trees and roots are still undulating wildly, rocks and dead branches pushed out of the way for the living plants. Living plants. Of course, it was only able to control living things! He’s finally able to free one of his arms and grabs a rock laying near his feet. It flies free of his grasp and shatters the nose of the dear skull on the leshin’s head sending shards of bone into the creature’s forehead and eyes.

The leshin howls in pain using its free hand to brush away the shards and lowers Kakyoin towards the ground. Kakyoin had been scratching and clawing at the gigantic hand still squeezing him but uses the opportunity to grab onto a large rock as he’s swung low to the ground. The creature recovers and swings Kakyoin back up towards its mouth. The rock Kakyoin is holding slams into its face as he swings his arms with all his strength and the creature wails in pain again.

Keeping hold of the large rock, Kakyoin quickly shoves it into the mouth of the screaming leshin, sinking his arms up to the elbow to lodge the rock in its throat. He’s barely able to withdraw before the leshin snaps its jaws shut. Its wails and cries now reduced to gurgling choking as its eyes begin to bulge and look franticly around the woods. Panic is starting to set in as it’s unable to draw in air, its grip on Kakyoin finally releasing and control over the plants waning. The drop to the floor is jarring and Kakyoin scrambles to regain his footing, one arm braced across his stomach where the leshin’s grip had tightened painfully.

Jotaro is finally free of the vines and roots that kept him bound in place and sprints over to where Kakyoin is hunched over, grabbing him under the arms and dragging him away from the creature as it fumbles and thrashes. Its gnarled hands grasp at its throat, clawing and scraping away at its own bark-like skin. It rises to its full height and stumbles backwards, beady eyes rolling in their sockets and tongue hanging from its gaping mouth. One of its arms flails wildly before making contact with its mouth, pushing fingers into its own throat to try and dislodge the rock but only pushing it deeper. The lack of air finally makes it loses consciousness and it falls back into the trees with a crash.

Kakyoin stands, panting as they watch the leshin twitch in its death throws, both he and Jotaro winded but thankfully just bruised from the encounter. The woods around them are again still and silent, trees and roots creaking and groaning in protest to their new locations but no longer moving on their own. They keep their eyes locked onto the creature as they catch their breath but as soon as they recover, they turn back to the path. The markings on the trees can’t be trusted to lead them so they rely on smell as they run through the woods back to camp.

They burst past the line of trees into camp and take stock of the scene. The fire is burning low, but everything else seems to be just as they left it. Jotaro motions to the truck and Kakyoin nods and makes his way over to wake Joseph and Avdol. From where he’s standing, he can see you and Polnareff are still sleeping, your face pushed into the white wolf’s back for warmth and Polnareff has wrapped himself around one of the makeshift pillows. Jotaro shakes you awake first; you grumble and reluctantly roll over to look at him. “We’re leaving early.”

A kick of adrenalin feels like ice shooting through your veins, fully alert and stiffly sitting up to look around the camp for danger. Nothing seems out of place so you turn your attention to Jotaro. He’s panting slightly but seems fine other than some random leaves and twigs stuck in his fur. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?” you ask as you stand up from the leaf bed and keep a careful eye on the woods.

Polnareff is grumbling as he’s woken up too but Jotaro turns to you and answers, “We encountered a creature, I’m not even sure what it was.” Another spike of adrenalin rushes you, “We took it down but I don’t want to take any chances that it had friends out here. I’ll explain more in the car when we’re out of here.” You and Polnareff nod and help him to quickly pack up camp.

Joseph and Avdol make their way out of the truck just as you finish smothering the fire, Kakyoin behind them and once again in his human form. Jotaro drops his transformation as Joseph approaches him and claps his hand to Jotaro’s shoulder as he looks him over for new injuries. A few new scrapes have appeared on his skin but you were correct earlier when you didn’t see any serious ones. He huffs as he completes his visual check and pulls Jotaro into a tight hug. “We’re really having some shitty luck lately, aren’t we son?” he pulls away with a grin as Jotaro mumbles out his trademark ‘good grief’, but you see the small smirk on his face too. “Kakyoin told us the… thing… out there is dead?”

“Yeah, but I’d rather we get out of here as soon as possible. We don’t know if it was the only one here.” Avdol nods at the order and gets to work arranging the seats and loading gear into the truck. You and Polnareff are the last to drop your transformations and the chilly morning air causes you to shiver. It’s still a few hours till dawn, but soon you are all ready and seated in the warm truck, Joseph is acting as navigator as Avdol drives carefully out of the woods, the last leg of your journey to New York City now underway.

<Previous Chapter    Next Chapter>

Author’s Note:

I just keep falling further and further behind, don’t I? I try to write for at least an hour a day on my lunch break, but between this chapter being SOOO long and my lunches being shorter lately... well better late than never! 

[janiedean]

Oh hey Lavi, for the anniversary prompt how about the following options: A) Rickon telling stories of things he experienced on Skagos (and why he doesn't ride horses and unicorns only) B) Sweet Robin recovering from Lysa's awful parenting, him and Sansa meeting as friends when they're both grown up. Enjoy the hellsite anniversary :3

AAAND EXTREMELY LATE *spins wheel*

--

buy me a coffee | commissions open

--

"Let me guess, we can give Lord Manderly's gift to Arya?"

Not that Lord Manderly will know either way and they do have an excuse - the mare he gifted to Rickon for his... supposed crowning is a truly wonder of a purebreed but she's barely been looked at and Jon supposes it would be a pity to waste her, but then again she is a tad too big to be ridden by a seven-year old... a regular seven-year old, but what Lord Manderly doesn't know won't hurt him.

"She can have it," Rickon shrugs as Jon follows him inside the stables where he's running his hands over the silky mane of... well.

His chosen ride.

A chosen ride that wasn't as huge when it arrived with him from Skaagos along with Osha, Lord Seaworth and a few other men plus Lord Manderly's fealty to Stannis, and good thing they managed to strike a proper agreement in between the whole lot of them, but now -

Now it's... something.

Jon imagines what would happen if someone was to ride it in a battle.

He's halfway sure it would be enough to half-win it.

"Humor me," he says, moving closer, wishing that - well. That a lot of things hadn't gone down since the last time they saw each other. No seven-year old should be this guarded, he thinks, and he's not going to blame Osha for having brought him in the only place no one would have looked for him, but still. If he's to be his regent, gods, Robb, why did you do it, but he knows why Robb did it and on one side he loves him for it, on the other he wonders what Catelyn Tully would think of it.

He has a feeling she didn't approve of that decision. Surely she approved of it less than his siblings, and for a moment he feels like crying, but -

Never mind.

"What's the difference? In between riding that and a horse," Jon adds when Rickon looks at him, cocking an eyebrow.

"Oh," he replies, half-smiling, thinly, but still more than he did since Lord Seaworth brought him back, so - so that's fine, he supposes, "I could let you try." He considers. "But if you tried you wouldn't want to ride horses anymore and I don't think you want that."

"No," Jon shakes his head, "that wouldn't be convenient. But I still want to know."

Rickon looks back at the - at the unicorn in front of him, all black like Shaggydog, who is quietly growling as he huddles with Ghost in the corner, but - in an almost friendly way. And Ghost looks overjoyed to be reunited with his brother, so - good for them. It's large, and that mane looks silkier and shinier than a regular horse's, though it has harder eyes, Jon thinks, and the rough, huge corn sprouting from the middle of its forehead looks like it could impale a man or two.

"They're faster," Rickon finally says. "A lot. Sometimes it feels like you're flying, while they run. They gave me one a few days after we arrived."

"Did they?"

"Osha insisted," Rickon half-smiles. "That one died a while later, but it was old. It still ran faster than any other horse. Then I rode all the ones they had in her village. They gave me this one just before I left but they told me not to name her for a year."

"Why's that?"

"They say it brings bad luck," Rickon shrugs, "I don't know about that, but they'd know best, right?"

"Sure," Jon replies, "and how long do they live?"

"Oh, the first one I had was three hundred years old, they said."

Seven Hells. Does that mean they'll have a unicorn lingering in Winterfell for centuries, if she survives the Long Night? Well, Jon supposes, that can't be too bad.

"Good," he says, "she - she is impressive."

"I know," Rickon replies. "Not that Lord Manderly's was... well, bad. But she's not the same. And when I go inside her the way I do with Shaggy while riding it's just - a horse wouldn't be the same. It couldn't."

Ah, damn. He'll need to tell Rickon to not be so carefree with saying he can warg, and didn't he learn that lesson himself, but -

"I only can do it with Ghost," Jon replies quietly, "but I imagine it's... you see with her eyes, don't you?"

"Yes," Rickon nods, delighted, "and they can see so many colors, you wouldn't know."

Considering that when he's inside Ghost he can see less than he does as a human...

"I imagine it doesn't... compare with doing it with the wolves, does it?"

"Of course not!" He sounds almost outraged. "I mean, with Shaggy it's just different, but no, it's so many more than we do. And they shine so much."

"Maybe I'll go to Skaagos and get myself one then," Jon says, "wouldn't want to try with yours."

"Oh, there's so many of them, and you're friends with all the wildlings. They'd give you one for sure. I heard the other lords say they're bad but they're really not."

"People can be... stupid like that," Jon agrees, shuddering all over again. Understatement of the century, but maybe now that it's clear that they're facing impeding doom maybe they'll get over being prejudiced, he supposes. Maybe they can ask the Skaagosi to send them an army of unicorns. Now that would be interesting.

"I know," Rickon snorts, "I heard them say that they do all kinds of things on Skaagos, but they really don't."

"Like what? The, uh, -"

"Eating other people," Rickon replies with all the calm in the world, and what in the Seven Hells, Jon thinks, but then again didn't he and Robb get excited when as kids Old Nan would tell them stories about the Rat Cook and they were the same age? "Because they don't. I mean, they eat people's ashes after funerals but I don't think it's the same thing."

"They - do?"

Rickon nods. "They said it was so you could bring them with you or if they were good warriors you'd become as good as them."

"... Have you been to a lot funerals there?"

"Some," he says, "I mean, it was all old men, they burned the bodies under the heart trees and then ate the ashes at sundown. Then they'd have a feast in their honor that would go on all night. It was nice. Also they, like, they don't breed all of the unicorns. They capture them sometimes."

"Really," Jon shudders at the idea of taming a wild beast like the one in front of him. "And did you go with?"

"Osha brought me a few times with her friends. I didn't get close or anything but - I cheated."

"Oh, you cheated?"

"I said they could use Shaggy if they needed, but then I went inside him. I think Osha knew but she never said either way."

"It sounds... like you didn't hate it," Jon says slowly. Surely it sounds like he hates everyone staring at him like he's their last hope for House Stark to thrive more than he could ever hate being on Skaagos.

"It was... fun," Rickon admits, running his hand through the unicorn's mane again and again. "And people didn't talk to me weird."

"Weird how?" Jon asks, even if he suspect what the answer is.

Rickon shrugs. "Like I'm more important than you all are. Or like they expect me to... I don't know. To do your job already. Is it bad that I don't really want it?"

"Robb didn't want it," Jon says, "I don't particularly want it and Stannis Baratheon doesn't particularly want to rule the rest of the kingdoms regardless. I'd be worried if you did want it. And you won't have it for a very long time."

"Good," Rickon says. "I guess we couldn't... visit there again at some point?"

"Tell you what," Jon says, putting a hand on his shoulder, "after we deal with the wights we can - all just go there. Maybe we can leave Sansa to handle things here, I don't know if she'd like Skaagos, but - maybe we can go there and she can meet us at the Wall. Unless she wants to come and then she can, too."

Rickon grins back at him. "I'd like that."

Me, too, Jon thinks, and decides that if they get through this alive it's the damned first thing he's going to arrange.

Never mind that he thinks he does want one of those unicorns for himself.

[esperwatchesfilms]

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

This film always reminds me of Starland and the happiest time I’ve probably ever had in a job. I put the rental stickers on this one myself, and on top of that, it’s just an amazing film. If you haven’t seen it, as I write this, it’s streaming on American Netflix. If you can get your hands on it? Watch it *ASAP*. And also stop reading this because spoilers incoming.

Fun Fact: The fourth film directed by Taika Waititi to premiere at Sundance Festival, after Eagle vs Shark (2007), Boy (2010), and What We Do in the Shadows (2014), which all won critical acclaim.

Paula: Apparently, he’s a bit of a handful, a real bad egg. I mean, if you look at his file, you’ll see that for yourself. We’re talking disobedience, stealing, spitting, running away, throwing rocks, kicking stuff, defacing stuff, burning stuff, loitering, and graffiti. And that’s just the stuff we know about.

Hec: [meeting Ricky] You ever worked on a farm before or you just... ornamental?

Bella: [to Ricky] Come on, have some breakfast, then you can run away.

Hec: [to Ricky] Yeah. Leave me alone.

Ricky: Maggots wriggling in that sheep / Like moving rice. Yuck. That was my haiku about maggots. It’s called “Maggots”.

Bella: [after Ricky gets a dog] What are you gonna call him? Ricky Baker: I'm still thinking. Something fierce to reflect its true nature. Either Psycho, Megatron or Tupac. Bella: What's a Tupac? Ricky Baker: It’s just my... this really cool rapper [mumbles] and he’s, like, my best friend...

Minister: Like a sheep trapped in a maze designed by wolves.

Minister: You would think Jesus. I thought Jesus the first time I came across that door. It's not Jesus. It's another door. And guess what's on the other side of that door? Yeah, Jesus. He's tricky like that, Jesus.

Ricky Baker: I ran out of toilet paper, give me some of yours. Hec: Eh? Ricky Baker: I've gotta poop. I need to poop, you need to poop, we all poop. Hec: Use a leaf. Ricky Baker: A leaf? Ugh! I hate you. [Ricky walks away] Hec: And bury it! Ricky Baker: I'll bury you.

Paula: This ain't no charred foster kid.

Andy: Something definitely happened, but I’m wondering what. Paula: Okay, I’m gonna need you to shut up, Andy, ‘cause you’re doin’ my freakin’ head in.

Ricky Baker: [reading wanted poster] "Faulkner is cauc-asian" - well, they got that wrong because you're obviously white.

Hec: You can take him, but I'm staying here. Hugh: Like hell. People want answers. Ron: Yeah, answers. Hec: Look, we got lost, I got injured, he's fine, it was basically a holiday. Ricky Baker: Not a real holiday because he made me do stuff. Hugh: Like what? Ricky Baker: Just stuff. He had a sore leg so he made me do things for him. It was hard at first because my hands are so soft, but I got used to it. I didn't really wanna do it, but it was the only way to survive. It wasn't always hard, sometimes I got to do my own thing. He pretty much never joined in with me though. I asked if he wanted to play with me, but he would just make me play with myself. Ron: I feel sick.

Hec: What's juvie? Ricky Baker: Juvenile prison. They don't care about kids like me, they just keep moving us around until something happens like... Amber. Hec: Oh no, bugger then. Okay, okay. We're in about a million hectares of bush, that's big, it's big enough to hide in for a while, anyway. Ricky Baker: Good enough for me. Hec: But we're heading into winter. It's gonna be rough, no huts, no tents, real bush life. Can you handle that? Ricky Baker: I can handle it. Hec: Yeah. And if you play up, I dump you. Ricky Baker: Okay, Uncle. Hec: I'd still prefer if you don't call me Uncle. Ricky Baker: Okay, Hec. So what do we do now? Hec: We run. [They run for a few seconds, then stop out of breath] Hec: Wait, wait wait. Maybe we don't need to run. Ricky Baker: Oh yeah, let's just fast walk.

Hec: Pretty majestical, aye? Ricky Baker: I don't think that's a word. Hec: Majestical? Sure it is. Ricky Baker: Nah, it's not real. Hec: What would you know? Ricky Baker: It's majestic. Hec: That doesn't sound very special, majestical's way better.

Hec: Me and this fat kid / We ran, we ate, and read books / And it was the best.

ESE: 110/100

50 +5 for Bella Falkner’s sweater +5 for giving a pig a piggyback +3 for haikus +15 for the Ricky Baker birthday song +5 for Tupac the dog -10 for Bella’s death +5 for the weird minister -5 for burning the barn -3 for the foot injury +5 for Ricky trying to talk things out with Hec +2 for Andy +3 for Ricky’s goofy headdress -5 for the assholes in the hut +10 for “Shit. Just. Got. Real.” +5 for fast-walk +5 for Bella’s heart of gold +5 for Kahu +10 for Kahu’s dad -5 for sleeping in -10 for “a new Bella” +10 for not trading family for anything +5 for the Wilderpeople -10 for Zag being gored by the boar +10 for Bushman aka Psycho Sam +5 for Crumpy -10 for car crash -10 for Hec being arrested +5 for Ricky staying with Kahu +5 for Hec learning to read +5 for Hec’s haiku

[lizacstuff]

Liza that 3rd fragman 👀 "if I was born a 100 times I'd fall in love with you everytime" Eda saying this is their last obstacle and nothing can separate them, serkan's "I'll be right back, close your eyes I'm here" If this isn't all a red flag for shits about to hit the fan then I don't know what is LOL (but also how cute to Edser look and them telling each other they love each other very much 😭😭😭)

That fragman is both the SWEETEST and the MOST OMINOUS thing I’ve ever seen. ALL AT ONCE.  

Friends... we’re gonna go through some things.  That being said, everything is going to be great. These writers have been solid so far, and I have faith they have come up with something really interesting to increase the longevity of this show. And I don’t know about you, but I’m prepared to go through some things if it means keeping Eda and Serkan for longer.  (I heart them)

This show is about Eda and Serkan and their love story, at it’s core it’s a comedy, it will all lead to happy things, but... yeah, buckle up! 

I have a lot of asks both about the fragman and last ep, so I’m going to answer a bunch under the cut. 

Anonymous said: The fandom theories about episode 28 have gotten so wild that I literally think the most shocking thing would be if they actually got married and were not separated (emotionally or physically). What if the earlier painful episodes were to make us believe that things couldn't possibly go right in 28 and it's a reverse psychology trick?

You could be right!  I like your thinking. I checked on twitter and I had to back away slowly. The juvenile temper tantrums were too much for me today.  

Look, I think it’s clear something big is coming. It has to, there has to be something that shakes up the show. Some of the theories are more upsetting and catastrophic than others, but the writers won’t do anything that dings either character or their love for one another.  Whatever happens will showcase the connection between these two and the chemistry between the actors, that’s the point of everything, and anything that does those things is gonna be a-okay with me. 

@jan31​ Hi Liza. Do you think we are going to see the wedding in 28 or they will leave it on a cliffhanger for next week. Lots of theories going round mainly cos of Neslihan saying new dimensions coming in episode 29, which could just mean married life etc. I have seen suggestions of memory loss, it's all a dream since episode one. I would personally love Eda to wake up like in episode one but for it to be a total turn around and she is the boss and Serkan the employee. Eda being robot yildiz appeals to me!!! I know it will never happen but leave me here with my dreams!!

I started the day at 90% sure they’ll be married in 28/29, but now I’m down to like 30% that they’ll get married in these episodes. I really, really want them to get married before whatever happens happens, because every scenario I can think of for this reset or starting again, seems like it would be better if they were married.  

However, the shooting spoilers from today, make me question that. Namely the videos where Hande appears to still be wearing the ring on her right hand. We shall see, that could be for many reasons. 

Honestly, though, I wouldn’t hate a memory loss storyline. Seeing one of them (and Serkan’s line in the trailer makes it seem like it might be him) lose their memory and have to fall in love all over again? There are worse fates for a shipper than getting to experience that all again but in a different way.  

Anonymous said: Your response to the fandom drama anon was so good, it's exactly how I feel. While I don't know what the old posts that were like are (that's shady as fuck) I did see all the other drama go down and wow. The actresses def need to stay in their lane and some of the fans, hoooo boy, it's obvious they're young based off their reactions alone. Had to unfollow some people once I realized what they were like. Also some of the IRL shipping reminded me of col*fer stuff, reading into everything and blowing it out of proportion (which then gets picked up by paps....). But you're right in that at least the show related drama is tame compared to OUAT. But still, people being too careless even while they know the paps see everything and harass Kerem and hande (omg did you see the video of hande the other day stopped in the van and she looked so overwhelmed 😔)

You’re referencing this post here about yesterday’s drama. 

Today Neslihan made it worse by addressing everything and claiming she didn’t like all those Hande-bashing posts because... wait for it... she was HACKED. Oy. Hackers got in and went back two years to like gross posts about Hande? Sure, Jan. While I don’t believe that for a second, I guess that at least gives her cover with Hande so they can all pretend it’s true and move on so it’s not awkward on set.  But, yikes, she needs to consult a publicist, she took a narrative that was circulating in certain circles in fandom and made sure all her followers were aware. Not very savvy. 

As for the paps coming after Hande, yes I did see her in the car, she did look overwhelmed. Back off vultures!!! That’s why I think Kerem sometimes throws himself to the wolves so that doesn’t happen. She always handles them like a pro, but you can tell she’d rather be anywhere else on earth than talking to them. 

The pap stuff is worse than I’ve seen before, they’re like vultures circling for any conjecture (sometimes made up out of thin air) they can turn into a question and blame fans. OUAT actors dealt with nothing like this. Also I can’t believe they never ask about the show. Like after last week? They could legit ask about the sex scene which probably would have given them some angle on the actors that they wanted, (especially since it was too hot for Turkish TV) but they let that pass them by, and instead asked the same questions about being together that they never answer. Dumbasses. They are not only awful people, they are awful at their jobs. 

In Van, the paps pay off crew members for info, they always know more than fans. Also I don’t remember stars of my shows getting this level of tabloid attention before. Except for on Riverdale, Lili and Cole generated that level of interest, and while I didn’t pay terribly close attention to them, I feel like they rarely talked to the paps, were just photographed. Also I don’t suspected the CW of calling the paps on them, but I suspect either the network or production company of sometimes calling them on Hande and Kerem. 

Anonymous said: Do you think it’s weird that they didn’t touch the kidnapping at all in either trailer? They might not have filmed it in time for the 1st one but certainly the 2nd. And I’m definitely not complaining about the ones we got because its like a fairytale but the kidnapping was the cliffhanger...? 🧐 I think they should’ve just left the princes storyline at “he went back to his country” but then they didn’t so......

If they’d left his story at just going back to his country, then the Prince really wouldn’t have served his purpose. He was brought on to cause some sort of trouble, so they probably need him to cause the trouble before he goes, lets hope it ends with this kidnapping!

And to answer your question, yes, I do think it’s weird that neither trailer touched on it. On any other show I’d think it was a huge red flag, but on this show maybe not as much because  a) there’s obviously a lot of romance in this episode, it’s not crazy that they are focusing on that to draw people in with the promos  b) this show likes to do cliffhangers that end up being no big deal, that happens a lot.  

Who knows it could turn out to be a big deal that shapes the rest of the episode in some unexpected way (Eda’s captured the whole episode and she’s dreaming about wedding prep, or... who knows) but I think it’s more likely that they resolve in the first 5-10 minutes and then move on.  Since we know from the summary (not that I trust those) that Serkan goes on the bachelor weekend, it feels like the Prince is taken care of prior to that. I don’t think he’d leave her alone for a second if there was a chance the Prince was still a threat. Perhaps Babaanne is pissed he tried to kidnap Eda and tells them she’ll handle it herself???

Anonymous said: Semiha not being in the promo is highkey suspicious. The actress is promoting the episode lol. She's about to Evil Queen this wedding ceremony but you know what, I'm fine with whatever she has planned if they end up married at the end of the day. What's funny is that since a lot of fans these days will assume that there will be shocking negative plot twists, not actually having one here would be a plot twist so I hope the writers keep them together for whatever's next haha

You’re not wrong, at this point, having this wedding take place would be a shocking twist for all of us!  As for Semiha... hmmm... it will be interesting to see what her reaction is to Eda being kidnapped by her pick of suitor. Serkan Bolat might be the son of the man indirectly responsible for her parents death, but he would never hurt her. Take note, Grandbag!  

Anonymous said: Do you mind sharing your speculative scenarios?

After the trailer today, I don’t know if I can even remember some of them. 

Memory loss

Grandma forces Serkan to choose between Eda and his company/wealth,  he chooses Eda and they start over from scratch with nothing

Time jump

AU starting over, showing a different path they might have taken together

Dream

These actors playing different characters in a new story

I don’t think the last three are likely, but they did spring to mind after some of Neslihan’s teases. 

Anonymous said: So this show doesn't get like fantastic ratings (it actually seems to be on the lower end compared to all other dizis airing) but the social media engagement is off the charts. Why is that?!? Is the show just extraordinarily popular internationally? or that this is a "shipping" show? I'm floored by the numbers - its like no other show/fandom is even trying

The ratings were terrific during the summer. But to your point, it has a huge fandom both in Turkey and internationally, but it’s worth noting that most of those charts you see where it beats every other show in every imaginable social metric is just for Turkey.  

It’s one of those lightning in a bottle situations where you get the right property and the right actors together at the right time and magic happens.  And, for sure, the number one reason is the shipping. Shipping drives fandom engagement, and a fantastic ship with a juicy, fun, tropey love story is what this show offers. It also offers up two extremely attractive, talented, likeable leads with off-the-charts chemistry (plus the added speculation about an off-camera relationship that has intrigued more than a few fans, tabloids and gossip sites and fueled interest) who have done a good job of building the fanbase through their social media engagement. Plus the timing is part of it as well. I don’t know about you, but this show hit the spot during this pandemic and the horror of 2020. We all needed this escape. 

Anonymous said:Do you think something happened in the writers room after the backlash of 25 and fan disappointment after Ayse's announcement? I feel like a switch flipped and now we're in fanficland with how much good content we've gotten in these last two episodes. Like I thought maybe they should wrap up the series soon before the characters got completely off the tracks but they may be finding their groove now and I'm interested to see what their next twist is after they can write out Balca/Seymen.

I don’t know about a switch flip, this show has been fanfic land since the first episode!  The tropes! That is how I described it to multiple people when I first started watching: an AU fanfic come to life.

As for the writing changes, no, I don’t think backlash after 25 affected 26 or 27, because 26 was already 90% shot, and 27 already written. However, I assume they themselves could tell that 25 got just too dark and had strayed pretty far from the DNA of the series. While I didn’t think it was bad, it was not fun to watch and this show ought to be fun to watch. 

Let’s hope, however, that the backlash affects future episodes in that they know what works... and what doesn’t.  The last two episodes definitely felt reminiscent of the first batch of episodes. Light, funny, romantic. If they can keep that tone... I’ll be thrilled.

Anonymous said: i didn't realize how much i missed "together" edser until watching 27.. it's been so long since they were "officially" together and we also had such few episodes of it.. ppl have been comparing it to 12 and while in some ways i agree, edser are always so different here than they were there. 12 was them navigating their new relationship.. they were more shy and finding their footing.. here they are very much established, as they should be after knowing their love for so long in comparison to 12!

Yes, it was lovely. You know I’ve preached a lot about how even though Eda and Serkan were broken up, they’ve still been together all this time. And it’s true, but there is something about them truly being together that is magical. We never got enough of that the first time around (a writing mistake in my opinion) and they’re so good together it’s lovely to watch. 

Anonymous said: Serkan not asking for help from Balca when asking his team for help with the marriage gifts preparations and refusing her offer of help when she asked made me so happy. Good job Serkan! He's learning! She's not trustworthy!

Yes, that was a good moment. And he was eyeing her very warily when she offered. The thing I don’t understand is how has no one caught on that she’s working with Babaanne? That entire office is filled with nosy people, has no one remarked on the number of times Balca has gone up to the office or they’ve disappeared for lunch at the same time? Come on Leyla! Come on Melo! Notice these things!  

Anonymous said: Fingers crossed that we finally make progress towards getting rid of Seiman & Balca now that all the girls were drugged and Eda was put in the car in the last episode. Unless Seiman has a change of heart and takes Eda back inside before anyone wakes & the guys get there then the show has to address it. Although I do not think Balca is going to back down unless Serkan straight up tells her he has zero interest in her and never will. Totally fine if that happens in the next episode.

Will Balca backdown even if she’s humiliated like that? She’s so delusional I’m not sure. What I am sure is that she’s dangerous. This came in before we saw the other two fragmans that have no mention of the kidnapping. Hard to picture how that is so easily resolved. Unless she frees herself (which seems unlikely in her groggy state) or maybe Melo’s future boyfriend is able to stop it before they get far?  Or I don’t know. I just know that I want to see Serkan lose his mind and all the other characters see Serkan lose his mind and then I want it to be over. LOL.

Anonymous said: As much as I am loving everything Edser, I cannot wait for Seiman, Balca and Grandma to be gone. And I am even more annoyed to think that the show might try to redeem all 3 characters. All 3 of them are truly awful people and no need to waste air time trying to make the audience think any different. Just my opinion...🤷🏻‍♀️. Show please finally expose those 3 for the psychos they are and get rid of them.

Bye bitches!  I don’t think there’s any redemption for Balca and Seiman. They both have poisoned/dosed people, hard to come back from that.  And there is no need to redeem them because neither is compelling enough to be a long-term character. But maybe Granny, we probably will see a redemption arc for her. 

Anonymous said: i know you were worried a few weeks ago that with ayse leaving as writer, we probably wouldn't have the same sort of comedy as previous episodes... but istg the whole kiz isteme scene, especially with chef alex, had me almost crying with laughter. especially when serkan off the cuff just goes "well if that's an option..." to everyone misunderstanding alex "wanting" ayfer for 2 nights and then eda ready to beat him with the flowers he bought her... comedic gold lmao.

SO GOOD! I was thrilled to see that sort of comedy, the sort of comedy we’d come to expect, from these writers. I think it bodes very well indeed!  

That scene was amazing. I know Neslihan said that much of it was improvised. Probably that line from Serkan (since Serkan is SO out-of-his-mind in love I’m not sure he could even joke about having Eda only two nights a week! LOL) was improv from Kerem, and Aydan asking about the other nights, and Seyfi bringing up the weekend. And Eda’s very Hande-esque “Ser-KAN.” 

I just love rewatching that scene and checking out everyone who is breaking character and just losing it. Cagri most of all. He’s blurred aback there but you can see Ferit spends the whole time laughing or trying to stifle a laugh. Reminds me of Cagri in the scene in 18 when they’re watching the security footage he was losing it in that scene as well. 

Anonymous said: i'm scared - I think they are really about to give us all of these happy EdSer scenes only to have something happen RIGHT before the wedding ceremony due to Babaanne. Based on the last episode, I don't think there's any chance of a breakup (knock on wood) but what if Serkan gets arrested, goes to jail for 2 years, and we get a time jump?

This was sent before the last two teasers, so yes I think something is gonna happen. We shall see!  I don’t really think Serkan going to jail for 2 years is in the cards, at least I hope not!  Besides if Babaanne did that she would have no hopes of ever reconciling with Eda, so that seems unlikely she’d follow through and leave him there for so long a time. 

Anonymous said: With the last week's sex scene, they did a lot of fade outs but the scene was basically still there so it wasn't much wasted effort for the actors. But for what they're teasing in episode 28 - idk how they can get away with showing them in the shower at all if Serkan lifting Eda with her clothes on had required blurring? Is Eda dropping her robe even pushing it? It's intriguing indeed.

Great questions. We’re 36 hours from finding out (well I'm longer than that because I wait for the English subs, hee hee) All I know is I want to see these scenes.. one way or another! 

[chubbydrawer]

Polar Trouble

Tom had been looking forward to this all week! He always loved going to the zoo and seeing all the amazing animals! He always wanted to work there too but it was a long distance so I sadly didn’t see that happening anytime soon. Tom was a 21 year old blonde with blue eyes and fairly lean with a bit of muscle. His hair was short and swept to the side. His skin fair with light hair on his body. He always dressed in plaid button ups red being his go too! And always paired it with some straight cut jeans and converse! He looked good and he knew it! He arrived at the zoo parking lot and walked to the gate,handing his ticket to the clerk. He walked in seeing all the amazing decorations in the zoo! It was near the holidays and was a nicer winter day unusually in the 50s it was a perfect day to walk and see the animals! He rand to the first exhibit and stared at the amazingly huge wolves prancing around showing off to the public! They were so so beautiful! Wolves were his second favorite animal! His first being ....BEARS!!!! He got soo excited! He loved bears sooo sooo much! They were big and fluffy and he always wanted to hug them! He practically ran to the exhibit showing off different types of bears! He first saw the beautiful grizzly chowing down on some grub. He looked happy and stared at Tom for a second. It was almost as if he gave him a wink! He moved next to his favorite bear! The polar bears! He loved them for their beautiful white coats and great swimming ability! They looked so friendly and cuddly! But when he arrived at the display...they were gone!

“What! Where did they go!?”

One of the workers there came up to him, he was clean cut and maybe late 20s. He had a mini paunch and a nice trimmed mustache and green eyes matching his chestnut brown hair. “Hey bud! Sorry to burst your bubble but the polar bears won’t be displayed in their habitat today, they are getting check ups right now.”

“Awwww man that’s a bummer, they are my favorite things to see in the zoo! Maybe next time I guess.”

He started to walk away when the worker called out to him

“Hey buddy wait you a second! I’m not really supposed to do this but I know where the polar bears are housed right now which isn’t a bit behind their habitat! I can take you there real fast if you want a quick look at them!”

“ Oh my god really!!!? Thank you thank you sooo much!”

“It’s no problem it sucks when you can’t see your favorite animal and travel all this way!”

“ it def does, Tom btw!”

“Nate! Nice to meet ya!” He holds out his hand and Tom shakes it firmly.

Ton follows Nate to the back room and they open the door to a room with big cages filled with big comfy beds and food and water. And there were the bears! They roamed casually around the cages getting food and resting!

“Wow they are soooo beautiful! They are even bigger uo close!”

“They certainly are! It’s a pleasure working with them! They are all super friendly and playful!”

One of the bears came up to the cages shoving their nuzzle through the bars and licked Tom’s arm. He giggled at that

“Wow they are friendly! I wonder what it is like to be them. Just chilling everyday and swimming and being big!”

“Are you sure you’d want to find out what it would be like?”Nate smirked.

“ well duh!wouldn’t it be cool to become and animal you loved whenever you wanted!?”

“ I suppose it would be pretty neat! Want to check out one of the cages? It’s pretty big and comfortable I’ll show you how we designed it!”

“Sure!”

Tom walks inside before hastily hearing the cage door shut behind him! He runs back putting his hands on the bars!

“Hey what are you doing!?” Just then Nate pricks his finger with a needle!

“OW what the hell!”

“I’m gonna help you live a fantasy!”

“What are you talking about!”

“Just sit back and enjoy the ride bud!”

“What ride? Let me out!”

Tom suddenly began to feel funny. He got super warm and began to sweat. “Wha-what’s going on! D-did you drug me?” He felt a tad woozy.

“No Tom I just gave you a simple prick. It does have side effects however!” Nate couldn’t force back his smiled he grinned ear to ear looking at Tom’s belly.

Tom looked to where he was staring and yelped! His once flat stomach was pushing into his button up making it tighter and tighter! He hesitantly touched it expecting it to be bloating but his fingers winked into his soft flesh. He shrieked once more and felt it surge forward more, further tightening his shirt.

“What did you do to me!”

Nate didn’t reply just stared at Tom drooling! He watched as his belly swelled even bigger now starting to make the space between his buttons gap. His pecks also started to soften more becoming plumper and soft to squeeze. Fuck he was swelling with fat! His now basketball sized gut blended with his lauded forming love handles stretching wider over the sides of his pants. His pants got tighter and his belly pressed into the button of them. He felt and he grew a fat pad, it pressing into his jeans. His thighs filled the space quickly making his pants tighter and making them make audible groans of being stretched too tight.

“My my what a fine specimen you are!” Nate snickered

“”Please, stop this!”

“Why? Then fun is just beginning!!

Tom watched as Nate shrank smaller. He looked up to see Nate wasn’t shrinking, he was getting taller! The fat piled on as he grew 6 foot and the 7 feet tall. PING!!!! PING!!! PING!!! His buttons popped off his belly one by one as it release his belly from its confines sending it surging down with a jiggle, the force popping his pants button off! His hands we bigger and looked much meatier! His nails also looked longer and more sharp! His converse were growing uncomfortably tight. He flexed his toes and as he did so giant feet ripped out the front! He stuck his foot out and noticed it was gigantic and covered in fur. It look like a paw! He shrieked again bumping up against the cage wall! His body shook as he grew thicker. RIIIIP! His ass burst from the seat of his pants as his thighs ripped open the seams, his body was much hairier now! Patches of white fur sprouting out of the rips and tares. He watched as his belly grew furrier and whiter. His big moobs quickly bursting the last of the buttons releasing them to sit on his giant gut. His face got rounder and his neck thickened. Looking at his hands he saw they were full on paws with pads and big claws! He watched as his nose and mouth uncomfortably pushed out in front of him creating a muzzle. He screamed loud, his voice deeper and raspy! His duck pressed through his pants growing bigger as well as his balls to match his bigger size. A tail sprouted above his giant ass and the fur quickly covered what bare skin was left. He stood there now a full sized fat polar bear in only his underwear and a shirt only hanging by a thread.

“What have you done!” Tom’s voice bellowed!

“Don’t worry it’s reversible! I wanted you to fulfill your dream of being big and cuddly! Now you are the very thing you love!”

“I-I like it but I don’t want to live in a zoo forever!”

“I have a proposal for you!”

“What is it.”

“How about you be like this for three days to get comfortable I’ll change you back and we can find a more easier way for you to switch from human to bear whenever you want! It’s more of a spell that gives you the power to do so! You can live in a dorm with me and work here! Sometimes as a person and other times preform as a bear!”

“Sounds intriguing. You sure I’ll be able to switch whenever I want?”

“Of course we have another guy here who loves being a grizzly, he was out earlier today. May have gave you a wink!”

“This is crazy but-I’m in!”

Nate opened the gate and walked into the cage and gave Tom a big cuddly hug! “Welcome to the zoo fam big guy!”

Tom blushed and felt his own fat furry body! He could get used to this!