#but like i still have just a bit left in the jug (not enough for like anything and i'll probably just drink it straight from the jug)

[windwardstar]

part of the problem with hating having to go shopping is that my brain is also always "there's food at home" and "there's still stuff in the cupboards/freezer I can make, I'm not out of food" and meanwhile the only things in my fridge are the condiments.

i really gotta go grocery shopping but like... i can still scrounge up food in my cupboards

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

You know that feeling when you want to make a good impression and eveything you do feels low-key humiliating

Or when you're just perpetually mortified about every word that leaves your mouth by default regardless of what's happening or who you're talking to like I am—

ANYWAY HERE'S SOME HEADCANONS ABOUT THE BOYS BEING EMBARASSED OR SOMETHING—

Oooh Nooooo

Zoro, Sanji, Shanks, Mihawk, Buggy x Reader

Needless pointless fluff with the tiniest bit of hurt-comfort or something

Live-action or anime/manga canon, either or both

I don't think there are any TWs?

Sorry for wasting all of our time with this silliness

Anyway here's some Nu.

Zoro

He just pushes himself much too hard sometimes.

Sitting down and "taking a nap" after training, when he's clearly well beyond his limit.

Or rather "passing out from utter exhaustion with his swords unsheathed across his lap."

It could have ended a lot worse than a rogue wave washing across the deck and a gash on his arm.

Grumbling about how he's fine and doesn't need any help the whole time you're wrapping bandages around his arm and chiding him.

Going silent and tense for a moment when you wrap him in a tight hug and softly ask him to be more careful.

No, he's not blushing, he's never blushed in his entire life, shut up

Hugging you back? What are you talking about?

Gives a little growl of annoyance, refusing to let you go for longer than he's willing to admit, and will probably say it was for your benefit if anyone asks.

Sanji

The old *whoops* with the pepper shaker.

It had already been a long day, he was just trying to wind down in the kitchen.

Trying to season a very simple, very straightforward sauce.

And the entire lid falls off of the pepper shaker, and into the pot, along with a massive pile of ground black pepper.

And he just lets out a groan of defeat, dropping to his knees and letting his forehead fall against the edge of the stove with a weak little thunk.

But no no no, you're already hurrying over to help scoop out the excess pepper, reassuring him that it'll definitely be fine.

Your rush to assist him is enough to make him smile in itself, to let out a small affectionate chuckle as he watches you grimace at the taste the ruined sauce, before you meet his eye and try to fake a smile.

Decides to repurpose the sauce in question, to get back at the idiots that loosened the pepper shaker lid in the first place.

The two of you are left snickering to yourselves while the rest of the crew fights over the nearest jug of fresh water after tasting it themselves.

Shanks

Man could probably drop a knife and sever three of his toes and still manage to laugh it off, what is "embarrassment...?"

Well, it's a little more subtle.

It's having to relearn how to use both a sword and a pen after losing half of his dominant arm.

It's laughing off how his handwriting looks like a child's now.

It's getting mildly annoyed at trying to button a shirt one-handed and simply tucking it into his belt instead.

It's refusing help with simple tasks that could be made far simpler if the stubborn idiot would just let you help already—

It's hearing him chuckle and agree when you call him a stubborn idiot for refusing any help, settling his hand in your hair and pulling you close.

The whole process is embarrassing in itself, but he's got you, and he's got his crew, and that makes it all so much easier.

Mihawk

What on earth could he possibly have to be embarrassed about?

World's Greatest Swordsman, one of the seven Warlords, with a sense of wit as devastating as his blade.

And yet, despite all his efforts to hide it, he's just a big softie.

As if it wasn't already evident from how he allowed Zoro to live after challenging him and subsequently trained him, with the convenient excuse of wanting a worthy rival.

He's going to glare at you with a sharpness that could slice clean through diamond if you suggest out loud that he did any of it out of kindness, much less fondness.

But he's also going to sigh in an irritable sort of defeat when you kiss his cheek and compliment him for finding such a perfect balance between mercy and murder.

And mumble just as irritably about how you're lucky he finds you endearing enough to keep around, begrudgingly proving your point without even realizing it.

Buggy

Lives in a perpetual state of embarrassment that he tries to mask with haughtiness and aggression.

It mostly revolves around the elephant in the room.

The very red, very round elephant in the room, attached to the very center of his face.

The one he might just slaughter anyone for mentioning in front of him.

Who nose what that could possibly be *wink-wink*nudge-nudge**stupidest-pun*

But the second you plant a kiss there and say how cute it is, in a way that makes it clear you're not condescending or taunting him about it, he's too busy blushing and sputtering over his words to remember what he was supposed to be angry about in the first place.

[vampiresbloodx]

Heya love! I absolutely adore your writing and I was wondering if your requests were still open? :)

If they are I was wondering if you would be able to do a Vanessa x Reader, where maybe she has low iron or struggles to sleep n Vanessa takes care of her, purely because they’ve both been kicking my ass a bit this week, if your not able to no worries and enjoy your day/evening 🫶🏻

a/n: raise ur hands if ur an insomniac and struggle to sleep!!!

Trigger warnings: none just fluff.

Vanessa herself is an early bird.

She's the type that wants to get a good night's sleep before she has to go to work, since with her job, sometimes she is called very early in the morning, so getting enough sleep is important to her.

When you two started officially dating, Vanessa couldn't help but notice more things about you than she did before, how you struggle to sleep at night, staying awake to get some work or study done or to simply just read, watch the TV etc.

She would always catch you up at 2am, with tired eyes, your chin resting on the palm of your hand, she knew just how much you wanted to get in bed with her and have her cuddle up to you, but for some reason, your mind wouldn't shut up.

She worries about you, a lot.

How you take care of yourself, even as to how you treat yourself, to when you push yourself to fhe limit and get a burnt out and become exhausted.

She wants nothing more than to take away all your problems and patch them up, pressing a kiss to it and taking care of them for you.

But she knows you'll need to find your own way of handling your sleep issues, though for now, Vanessa will lend a helping hand.

Because she loves you too much.

And just wants the best for you.

It was a Thursday night, she knows you've got work early tomorrow and so does she, Vanessa woke up in the middle of the night, not feeling you next to her causing her to pout as she misses your warmth, stepping out of bed and into her bunny slippers, Vanessa sighed, rubbing at her eyes, turning on the lamp.

She walked towards your office, where you sat with your head down, laptop on as she stood behind you, placing her hands on your shoulders.

"Hey" she murmured softly.

"Nessy? Why are you up? Don't you have a shift in a few hours?" You asked, looking up at her and she smiles.

"Come back to bed with me" She said, caressing your cheek with her hand.

"I couldn't sleep, so I came out here to get some work done."

She hummed, rubbing at your back, knowing you liked it when she did that, you sighed into her touch, leaning more to it.

"Just... try" she whispered.

After a brief moment of silence, she could hear you debating in your head, you finally spoke up.

"Fine" you say defeated, "only because you're too cute to deny."

She grinned.

"Sweet! I'll go make you some chamomile tea. Do we still have more of that left in the kitchen?" She asks as you watched her leave the room, a smile on your face as you hear her turn on the jug, god this is the life you've always wanted and you get to have it with her.

(Despite the poor sleeping habits.)

"Yeah, should still be some left, I'll go pick some up when we get groceries."

"Also, Mike and Abby are visiting today, Abby misses you" She smiles, seeing you step into the kitchen as you stretch out your arms.

"I think she wants to see you more" you chuckled, going up behind the blonde as you wrap your arms around her.

"She likes you too, silly" Vanessa said, once the jug was boiled and the tea made, you both made it slowly back to the bedroom, where you got into the bed first and Vanessa climbed in after you.

She presses her lips against your forehead, you smiled.

"Thanks" you said, taking a sip of your warm tea.

She raised an eyebrow at you, "for what?."

"For taking care of me."

She laughs.

"Don't apologize for something I wanted to do, regardless, I'll always take care of you. You're my other half after all, my soulmate."

"So cheesy" you teased, your face heating up as she chuckled.

"Yeah, you love it."

[mins-fins]

something — [ mahae — 엔시티. ]

where it's a usual dooming situation, your good old powder keg that'll result in chaos | now playing ☁︎

mark lee is absolutely doomed.

which, in hindsight, is completely foreseeable. it's a little irrelevant to the current motion of this overly dramatic festivity. if there's one thing your family loves, it's a good party. the guest list is packed with quite literally every patron settled in your neighborhood, ranging from the decades old family friends to the barely perched neighbors who probably only accepted the invite because it they wouldn't have to cook for the night.

and of course, they drag, they drag for so long that mark has become accustomed to staying up late on literal school nights. it was a little bit of a shocker to eight year old mark when he was allowed to tag along to one of your parents' overly excited outings with his eyes staying open past eight pm.

they throw parties for every single occasion, but this one is especially important, because you're home. your parents are anything but lazy, they decorated as if you had come back from serving for your country, in reality, you had just studied overseas for a good half a year.

communication over technology wasn't easy for them, so the moment you got back, they made sure to remind everybody of your presence. the party soon came around the corner, and now.. here we are.

it isn't as if mark didn't see you for a whole year and a half, the attachment you have is.. special, still, the whole occasion instates a feeling of longing he doesn't exactly know the specific origins of.

"are they really giving out gift cards? it's not like you enlisted or something.." mark mutters, pouring lemonade from the large glass jug into a mere cup.

"you know how they are, one year without me and they go crazy" your laughter is pretty, the small nudge you offer mark along the lines of an affectionate gesture.

"they're a little too attached aren't they?"

"normal for parents" you again share another smile with him, rolling your eyes. mark listens as you begin exchanging greetings with many familiar faces, as they again act as if you'd left forever. it was just a year.

maybe mark just doesn't get it.

he clears his throat at the lack of attention, but he can't exactly control the volume of his action, which results in you turning your head towards him. heat immediately coils along his skin, a tint of red spreading across his cheeks. he sneaks a glance peripherally, but you're already looking.

god you look enamored by him.

it's so stupid, maybe mark is just looking at it through rose tinted glasses. you're just naturally like that, the stupid fucking enraptured looks you share with everyone are just that, looks. you don't even realize the extent of your affect, mark is absolutely going crazy.

the jewelry hanging around your neck shines under the light of the barely peeking sunlight, and you straighten your posture as you sigh. "you missed me right?"

mark narrowly holds back his true words, opting for a feigned reply of stubbornness; "barely".

"sure mark" you offer your hand for him to take, and the stubborn front doesn't last for long, the intertwining of your fingers is smooth, soft, an action performed so many times that it becomes it's own trademark.

you glance down at your wrist watch, nose scrunching. "hyuck is gonna be late".

mark assumes his glare must be hidden by the fleeting euphoria of his own eyes. why talk about donghyuck when he's right here holding your hand? isn't mark enough for you?

okay, that's too much, an entitled way of thinking.

he hums instead.

your smile reaches your eyes. "okay, enough about everything else, what did you get up to while my angelic presence was absent?"

"don't be so full of yourself" mark whispers, just barely hears over the feat of childish laughter filling the outside air. "i did what i usually do, got a new job at the huang's ice cream place, made music on my laptop.."

"same hobbies?"

"same hobbies".

your laughter is laced with elation, maybe mark would actually be able to focus if you weren't so pretty. you don't even have to do anything, what kind of a person has a melodic rhythm to their laugh? one that is so pleasant it makes the recipient feel as if they now have to purposefully crack jokes?

"this new color fits you" you swipe your index finger against a single strand, removing his hand and ruffling the rest with your fingers. "and this hat is stupid".

mark frowns, but he then snickers. "chose the first thing i could find".

"green doesn't fit with the atmosphere" in the most hypocritical chess move, you place the hat atop your head, whistling as you level at your best friend with a inquiring glance. "looks better on me right?"

mark sucks his teeth in a feat that isn't genuine irritation. you lean just the slightest bit closer, and mark again takes in your close up facial features. your identical moles and the shape of your eyes, yeah, nothing's really changed, you've always been just as beautiful up close.

it'd be a good time to kiss you.

but mark can't give into his desires so blatantly, not in this huge expanse of a backyard, not while both your parents stand no more than a few feet away, not with eyes clearly burning through the back of his head.

but is it mark's fault you look so kissable?

no, he doesn't think so.

"never" mark attempts to swipe the hat back, but you avoid his hand, a muttered curse leaving his lips as yours turn upward in retaliation. there's a gleam of victory shining behind your eyes, and even with the vexation, mark finds you so.. gosh he can't even explain it. would attractive be the correct word?

"hey, let me keep it for a while okay?"

"y/n".

you shrug your shoulders as you begin walking towards the snack table, a small breath escaping mark in reply. he trails behind you with a smile concealed by his petty anger, your whistling filling the air. "it's my welcome back party!"

see? mark lee is most definitely doomed, he can barely even keep his irritation at a seemingly natural level when it comes to you. you're just too..

"hey, you know jeno's asking for you right?"

mark gets brought back to reality by your words, and he again takes your hand in a rushed moment he can't even explain himself. you pause as you stare, but you don't mention it, simply chuckle. "jeno is obsessed".

"come on, let's go".

absolutely doomed, he won't be able to recover.

lee donghyuck seems to have a much easier time.

it's the same old story, yet he has a high advantage in comparison to everyone else. charm is everything, he's learned that well enough, and he's charming to most.

he's adored by your parents, his immediate toothy grin practically put them in the palm of his hand. is it really that manipulative if it was all natural? seven year olds can't exactly manipulate the adults around them.

they love a good party, and so do his own parents. if not for opportunity to get drunk, but also so they can drag him out without receiving a no.

and the only reason they wouldn't receive a no is because you're the center of the discussion.

"oh you dyed your hair now?"

donghyuck's eyes glimmer in something he can only describe as euphoric, it's completely your fault. all your fault, who gives you the right to have such a pretty smile?

your gaze zeroes in on his black hair, and you yelp as donghyuck almost lifts you from the ground with the sheer force of his hug. "y/nie!"

if it was a usual day you'd complain about the volume of his voice, but you'll give him a pass. he starts with his onslaught of attacks, if the cheek kiss was crazy, then neck kisses can only be described as outrageous.

but those are all regular donghyuck actions, you can barely be perturbed by his uncanny proceedings at this point, knowing him for so long does that to a person. you simply him and lean back, whistling. "okay, okay, calm down hyuckie".

donghyuck simply smiles, feigned innocence behind those fierce eyes. "sorry for the lateness, i had a thing".

"oh i don't care, i missed you".

well that's just lovely.

it's a contrast to how mark sees all of it, it isn't usual for donghyuck to get tripped up by the easiest of things. you're pretty, he can admit that, but anyone with two good eyes can see that. you could look smitten by any little thing, you could stare enchanted by any person (and maybe there's one particular person donghyuck loathes in specific), those aren't anything.

but maybe it's the way you speak that has a tint appearing on his face. you've always articulated your words in a way that could make anyone beam, donghyuck wants to gatekeep them sometimes.

"aww, really, i knew it!"

you stay stuck on the strands of his hair, your index finger twirling a strand. he blinks, yet he manages to keep his composure. he can't give himself away, not while your standing so close. "both you and mark dyed your hair.."

mark. that's funny. why talk about mark when donghyuck is right here? right here for you to admire with his eyes blinking a look of fondness right at you. "oh, so you've seen mark already?"

"mark always comes early".

donghyuck doesn't care that much about mark, shouldn't it be about him now? call him self centered or whatever, but he thinks when he's in front of you, talking about mark is just.. stupid.

"enough about other things, how was portugal?"

his arm comes to link with yours, the press of your bodies together completely intentional. maybe mark will see, he hopes mark will see, donghyuck does like to think of himself as the superior one in this little competition of theirs.

you shrug as you again begin whistling, your ramble starts off with a comment about the country's scenery. donghyuck won't communicate it verbally, but he missed you too, missed your cute little giggles and the pauses in between your detailed rambles. he doesn't think of himself as doomed in the same manner as mark, no, he's the one with a real chance, isn't he?

you cut yourself off with a small laugh as you mutter something funny midway through your story, and you lightly nudge donghyuck. his eyes flitter upward, catching your own in the process.

the glow of your eyes is full of bewitchment. it should be illegal for you to stare at anyone like that, can anyone really blame donghyuck for feeling the way he feels when you stare like that? it's not unheard of to develop feelings for a childhood friend, especially when said childhood friend is so.. lovely.

lovely is the best word he can think of for this.

"are you going back next year?"

"yeah, i'm only around for the summer, i've gotten much too involved".

donghyuck's jaw clenches momentarily, but he masquerades it as uncomfortableness at the flies swirling around him. "okay then, let's make sure we spend good time together this summer".

you hum in reply, laughing at some unintelligible thought in your mind as you again stare at your friend.

donghyuck usually isn't a weak man, really, a mere smile can't render him bashful.

your eyes hold universes that he wishes to get lost in.

would it be so bad to kiss you in the moment?

he presses his own lips together, thoughts steady in his mind.

is it really donghyuck's fault you look so kissable?

absolutely not.

he almost gave in to the desire of being reckless, but his worst nightmare (hyperbole) comes rounding the corner in a feat of a few seconds.

"listen, they're too spicy, you know i don't have a good tolerance" mark's mumble stretches until he glances up and catches sight of the particular scene.

there's a hint of his eye twitching, donghyuck narrowly holds back his own giggle, it's invigorating how mark gets pissed off. he then smiles at the sight of you, even if the irritation slowly slips through. "hi donghyuck".

"mark! it's been a while hasn't it?"

it's only to get a scowl from him, the hug is simply an action he knows will get a kick, but mark can't display such vexation so clearly around you, he knows better than to ruin a party because of childish jealousy. he frowns in your direction, and you snicker, completely oblivious to his genuine turmoil.

"y/n told me he's here all summer".

"yeah i know it's just.." mark's face scrunches as he shoves donghyuck backward, though gently enough that his true animosity is hidden enough. "i was looking for you for like twenty minutes".

"well i didn't run away or anything, i just found him and i missed him so" you roll your eyes, poking donghyuck in the shoulder. mark clears his throat, and you level at him with a look of indifference.

you whistle, observing the lights your parents decided to hang up, knowing this party would go on for longer than it was supposed to. your hands settle behind your back, gaze remaining upward. "it's been a while since it was just the three of us huh?"

reminiscing about old times is the one thing you can't help but do, under the bright lights and surrounded by people you've know for.. forever just brings out something saddening in you.

mark's glare settles, but he avoids donghyuck's eyes. you blink as you stare at him, but then you shake your head. "anyway, i think my mom would be happy to know your here, come on" you nudge donghyuck forward with your shoulder, and there's barely anything behind mark's eyes as he watches the scene.

but before you walk away, you then turn back to look at him, eyebrows furrowing. "mark" you start softly, offering a pinch to donghyuck's shoulder that draws a wince. "come" you motion your head forward, basically telling mark to tag along.

and really, who is mark to disagree?

maybe the two could shut up for once, they could be civil, it's not like it's out of this world.

it's for your sake, they can save the chaotic blow for another time.

[marymary-diva17]

Guidance

tonowari x reader x ronal + sully family

Guidance was always something that was needed in ones life, when they were facing hardships. The ones who always seem to be seeking helping are teenagers and kids as they, live their daily lives. Growing up is not easy and it extreme not easy when you are navi teen trying to live up to image of parent or older siblings that praised by everyone else and you don't get the same praise as well. Over your life of adult and when you were young you had seen, that and made a promise to always help out those who seek help when needed.

y/n " I given blessing to the great mother for my life ... I give the great mother thanks for my mates and for my children" you were doing a pray hoping for some answers on some stuff, when you heard something.

????? " leave us alone "

????? " aww little kids getting scared do you need your mommies"

????? " hey leave them alone right now or else" you heard aonung voice you soon stopped what you were doing, and made your way towards the sound. To see your sons along with the tow sully boys in fight with some visiting teens from another clan.

y/n " hey" you soon made your way towards the fight and soon broke the boys apart or they pushed each other way.

y/n " what is happening here"

lo'ak " these punks were picking on kiri calling her a freak, and I came to tell them to stop they were bothering us until neteyam and your son came"

y/n " kiri is that true"

kiri " yes we tried walking away until they insult our families"

navi teen boy " well it true all your family is weird"

y/n " enough all of you no more fighting we don't need conflict among, ourselves during these times"

teens " sorry"

y/n " you boys will start showing respect to the clan guests as they are becoming one of us, because if we were like them they will do the same for us"

metekayain teens " yes ma'am"

y/n " sully family I'm sorry for the poor behavior of the reef teens I will make sure it will not happen that much"

neteyam " it okay miss we know you can't control everyone opinion on us"

y/n " now it seems like you all might wish to explain this it your fathers" the teens soon looked to see their fathers standing there, you soon looked at your sons.

y/n " I will try to clam their tempers but you might still get scolded and some punishment, when you are all done head to the healers and get first up" you soon walked away and spoke with your mate and there males, they seem to understand a bit but the teens were still a trouble a bit.

Later on that day

y/n " so let me get this straight you had sent the boys all fishing together for what reason"

tonowari " Jake sully said it will be good for them to bond and form a friendship as well"

y/n " I hope so"

tonowari " what the matter"

y/n " I think you should spend some time with the boys a bit more"

tonowari " ......."

y/n " I'm just speaking from the heart it seems like the boys have been doing their best, to proven themselves to you lately as they idolize you ma tonowari"

tonowari " you are right my love"

y/n " thank you so please give them some time with you, and it will be good for all three of you"

tonowari " sure and maybe I can help them with their fighting after what happened today they are good but could use more training"

y/n " tonowari"

tonowari " what you told me to bond with them and I will" you soon smiled at your mate knowing he is correct.

y/n “ well I hope the boys have a good time, it seems like our boys are bonding well with the sully boys that good for them”

ronal “ what good for them is good for the clan” ronal soon sat with her mates making you smile.

ronal “ I thinks this friendship will blossom good fortune for our clans”

Y/n “ yes it will” your mates had stayed with you but soon left later on in the day. You were garage some water with a jug, when you saw your two sons with neteyam and other reef boy.

y/n” welcome home children how was the fishing”

aonung “ it was wonderful mama we caught many fish”

y/n “ that wonderful but where are the others”

neteyam “ oh we spilt up two groups my brother went with some of the other boys, one of them came with us”

Navi teen boy “ y/n I’m sorry for my rude behavior toward you and the others”

y/n “ it okay young one and it seems like you all were able to become friends that’s good, we will need this friendship in our time of need” the boys smiled and nodded their heads, you soon sent them on their way to deal with the fishes with the other hunters.

later that night

y/n “ …….” you were walking around at night after getting done with some task.

????? " I'm a freak dad"

????? " no you are not baby girl" you soon heard Jake and kiri talking, the girl was very sad.

kiri " yes I'm dad"

Jake " no you are not your brothers, spider, and aonung along with rotxo stood up for you today even y/n as well"

kiri " I know but why do I feel like a freak"

y/n " you are not a freak kiri" Jake and kiri soon looked at you, as you stood there giving them a smile.

Jake " hello again y/n"

y/n " hello I didn't mean to interrupt I was on my way home when I came across you to"

Jake " it okay"

y/n " kiri you are not freak"

kiri " then why can't I be like everyone else be normal"

y/n " because you are special my child and you have an import role to play, eywa has made you this way because she had plans for you"

Kiri “ are you sure”

y/n “ yes I’m sure young lady and it good you are different, because if we were all the same it will be boring around here” kiri gave you a smile and you smile back her, Jake and kiri had noticed fish’s were swimming around your legs as well.

Jake “ y/n right my daughter you are not a freak and will never be a freak”

y/n “ those who call you a freak are foolish and blind” kiri smiles at the comforting words, but soon everything changed in a quickly second.

????? “ aww you are hurting me let me go” the trio soon turned around to see their sons dragging, a few of the other reef boys over.

????? “ let’s us go”

neteyam “ tell my dad what we over heard you saying come on tell my father”

aonung “ tell my mother as well”

spider “ tell them don’t stand there acting like you can’t speak”

Jake “ what has happened where is Lo’ak” the boys were soon placed in front of you and jake, you could tell something had happened.

y/n “ boys speak now”the boys look like they were to scared to speak and this was making matter worst.

jake “ what has happened now someone say something”

y/n “come on everyone we are going to speak with tonowari, and ronal someone go get these boys parents now” Rotox and spider nodded their heads and soon took off, together as Kiri went to go get her mom and Tuk.

minutes later

tonowari “ you boys have done something stupid and dangerous leaving a boy, who knows nothing out there alone”

ronal “ it seems like you boys had this planned for the youngest sully boy”

navi teen “ he humiliated us”

ronal “ you did this because of some fight after you we’re bullying his sister”

navi parent “ it not our sons fault they didn’t mean any harm”

neytiri “ harm they pulled s dangerous prank on my young son, and nearly did the same to my other son and nephew let not forget tonowari sons as well”

navi teen 2 “ he was supposed to be back by now we didn’t know he will be gone this long”

y/n “ we can deal with these boys and their parents later tell us, where you left him”

navi 3 “ beyond the reef past the three brother rocks”

Ronal “ you are all fools and you know aluka are out there”

neteyam “ what is that”

aonung “ a predator of the ocean….” Neteyam soon punched one of the boys soon causing chaos in the hut.

Jake “ son I know you are mad but fighting won’t solve the solution, we need to find your brother now” you soon left the hut before anyone else could take action.

y/n “ I will go find the boy”

Jake “ I will come as well I will bring some help as well”

y/n “ no it better I go now it will be for the best”

Jake “ no this that creatures you speak about it out there I don’t wish to leave you alone” you could understand where Jake was coming from, as there was already someone lost on the reef.

y/n “ Jake sully I welcome the offer but it will be best if I go alone”

Ao’nung “ mama we are coming with you” you soon looked and saw your sons along with neteyam.

tonowari “ no you three are staying here”

Jake �� yes it will be for the best”

neteyam “ we are warriors dad we have to the right to come and look for loak”

y/n “ yes you are younger warriors but the time hasn’t come for you to act now, the time will come young ones but not now”

Ao’nung “ but mama”

y/n “ no stay here the collage and your families will need you all right now”

Rotox “ yes mama”

tonowari “ are you sure about this yawne”

y/n “ I will be fine ma tonowari I know the way, and if I’m not back soon then you all can come looking for me” tonowari knew there was no winning for him, you soon called your strimwimg and soon headed off.

???? “ my father comes from the stars see up there”

y/n “ loak” you soon saw the boy standing on creature and that creature is a tulkun, a tulkun you knew so well.

loak “ y/n” you soon dismounted off your creatures and soon went towards loak and payakan.

y/n “ are you just anywhere”

Loak “ no thoes boys left me behind I think they were pranking me”

y/n “ I know your brother and my sons caught them with spider, the truth was told but they will be dealt with later on …. It seems like you have a story to tell”

loak “ yes I almost got caught by this grey shark creature and this creature saved me”

y/n” thank you so much my friend your savor is tulkun, I will tell you more later one but now we need to get home”

loak “ yes ma’am” the group and travels the rest of the rest of way home together, until the were close to the village.

???? “ loak y/n”

y/n “ we have to go now come I will bring you the rest of the way home”

loak “ thank for saving me I hope to see you again” you had taken the boy home on your creatures, soon running into Jake and another warrior as they escorted you and Loak home. Soon everyone reached the villages and got onto the docks.

Navi women “ the boy has returned”

Navi man “ the sully boys has been found”soon Jake and tonowari had came towards you and loak.

Jake “ let check you out okay nothing that bad”

y/n “ your son is brave Jake sully he stood up against a akula”

Jake “ really”

loak “ yes that I true i did escape one and made by way back here but, soon came across y/n and she brought be home”

Jake “ thank you”

tonowari “ are you okay my love”

y/n “ I’m fine” soon the rest of the who families had come over happy to see loak was okay, and that you came home as well.

y/n “ well you will be okay but will be feeling some string pain, but overall you will be fine” you were healing up loak he soon nodded his head.

loak “ yes ma’am thank you for saving me twice in one day”

y/n “ you are welcome loak but it seems like you have done great today my boy”

loak “ thank you”

y/n “ no head off on home and loak if you have questions about your new friend, I can answer them for you or you can find out on your own but remember to follow your heart”

loak “ yes ma’am but what about the boys”

y/n “ they will face a punishment after an meeting with tonowari and your father, we will see what happens later on”

loak “ yes I understand”you soon saw loak home before you went home as well, to your family that was waiting for your return happy to see you come home safe and sound. That night you were happy that everyone was home safe and sound, but you felt like something was coming a feeling that your could understand half way and couldn’t understand as well.

[rootsofdread]

I live for goofy moments with survivors mid serious matches tbh. Nuthin'better than throwing the game because some guy found a way to jump on the table!

Ace, Rebecca, Feng and Dwight with a usually ferocious killer, who's easily amused and/or distracted? They basically see red at all times, running and slashing and tearing everything apart.. untill people stop running away and start doing something unconventional for the place. They see a survivor behind the counter in the Dead Dawg Saloon? Yeah, no, it's not a hunt anymore, it's a bar night. Someone watches TV at Lery's memorial? That's their favourite thing to do now, too! And the carnival games.. Don't even get them started on carnival games. So it's mostly the matter of "who can entertain the said killer for the most time possible" instead of "who can outrun them" most times :)

🦞 uhavefuntoo

this was a fun one to write hehe!! fun fact i based the dwight one off of an experience i had in-game, i can't remember if i was playing dwight at the time but i had gone to pet maurice with two of my teammates and while we were petting him our killer, a nurse, came over and just watched us for a little bit, then left. IIRC, she massacred us, but it was funny X)

(i also tried to amuse a sadako in a similar way...i pretended to be watching one of her TVs, crouched in front of it, was pointing at it, and so she teleported through it, which got me to laugh. she also ended up killing me though lol)

Dwight Fairfield: 

For the most part, Dwight is so afraid of you that anything funny or distracting he might do is completely by accident. For example, when he was trying to hide from you on the grounds of Father Campbell’s Chapel. He ducked down by Maurice’s favorite tent, hiding slightly behind the horse hoping you wouldn’t see him. He began gently petting Maurice to calm himself down, because he swore he could feel something looming over his shoulder. The feeling kept nagging at him as he pet the animal…until he decided he should turn around, and saw you staring at him. But there was something different about your demeanor — you seemed to have calmed down. He was still petrified, of course. Especially when you moved closer and crouched down beside him. He almost bolted away, but you started petting Maurice with him. Confusing as it was, he decided…whatever keeps you from killing him. Maurice seemed happy, too.

Feng Min:

Feng has quite the penchant for messing with killers. Whether or not they ever enjoy it could be up for debate, but it doesn’t stop her from doing it, and she always has fun with you. Every time the two of you are running through the Dead Dawg Saloon, she’ll make some distance between you and her and dive behind the counter inside the saloon, and when you finally catch up to her, she pops up from behind it and announces she’s here to take your order. Seeing the immediate change in your demeanor amuses her to no end, when you suddenly stop and politely approach the counter. Typically, you two will end up playing barkeep for the rest of the match while Feng’s teammates finish generators and everything. Sometimes, other survivors will wander in and either be confused by the scene or decide to join in your games. Either way, Feng loves having fun with you like this.

Ace Visconti:

Of course, Ace is no stranger to testing his luck, especially when it comes to killers. He was testing wacky ways to lose you or direct your attention to something else long before he knew how easy it really was to distract you. He didn’t truly discover this until one day, when running from you around the carnival grounds of Father Campbell’s, he decided to stop at one of the booths. It was a milk jug ring toss game, he figured if he landed a shot, maybe it’d amuse you enough to leave him alone for now. To his surprise, you actually stopped your bloodthirsty rampage to watch him play the game, and you even took a turn after he’d thrown a few. He soon realized, after a couple rounds, was actually having fun with you. A killer…! If he would’ve known this was going to work, he would’ve done it a long time ago.

Rebecca Chambers:

Rebecca doesn’t tend to goof off during trials, not even with other survivors, especially not with a killer. Normally, she wouldn’t be particularly inclined to waste time either, but during a trial between the two of you inside Lery’s Memorial, as she was running from you she was quickly realizing she was running out of ways to keep you distracted. She noticed a television up the hallway, and as a last-ditch effort, sprinted towards it and called a time-out to watch TV together. She didn’t think it would work. But you actually stopped and lumbered towards the TV with your head cocked, and you stood next to her in front of the screen. She was still tense, but internally, she heaved a sigh of relief. Somehow, it had worked…she had gotten you to calm down and stop terrorizing everyone for a few minutes. In a way, it was nice, almost….

[hastalavistabyebye]

did i see something about tusken inspo 👀

To be fair, it's like Tatooine inspiration at large. But yes, much many ideas :D

Oh this is going to be long... *crack knuckles*

Okay so Tatooine is inspired by Tunisia which is not a secret (for the folks that don't know, the name comes from the town Tataouine and the scenes in the movies were filmed in three other Tunisian cities). Added to that is the fact that the Tuskens were inspired by the Bedouins, a nomad people of north Africa.

Now, there is an Umayyad (medieval Islamic dynasty, 661-750) farm in Jordan named Qusayr Amra :

Which gives massives Tatooine vibes.

The Umayyads (and the Abbasid dynasty right after) rules over a large territory, which extend as far as the Maghreb. So the comparison of a Jordan farm to the Tunisia cities used for star wars is understandable.

Now those geographical and chronological markers give me a well of material to get inspiration for Tatooine and the Tuskens. (I includ the Abbasids because they're in the lineage of the Umayyads and the aesthetic match what I think would suit nicely for the Tuskens.)

The ceramic cup in the middle is Umayyad. The decor comes from an antic (Roman Empire) aesthetic that is still very present in this dynasty's art. Now you could replace those vigns by something more space looking, like space oasis flora.

The Kufic inscription would be out of place for the Tuskens. Except if we look into a Kufic calligraphy that appears a bit later which is composed with little characters adorning the letters. What I propose is that the Tuskens could have a sort of writing system composed of pictograms representing their signs. They could carve those pictograms on the cliffs as well as their ceramics or weapons...

This cup is not from north Africa I give you that (like the two next objects, it's from Susa in Iran. That site is way too rich and big....), but with it being Umayyad it doesn't betray the original inspiration for Tatooine. Plus it would look really cool and that's the most important.

(The vase on the left could also look really cool in a tusken hut I think)

All of those are Abbasids. I took the left picture for the bol in the centre but that green one looks great too (I think it's jadeite or nephritis but I'm not sure).

I just think they would look super cool as Tuskens ceramics. The jug on the right is a lil favorite of mine. It's a very luxurious object (both are really) because of the glaze. The blue is obtained with cobalt from Afghanistan (if I'm not wrong, I need to check) which was not an easy thing to get (we're at the 9/10th century here). But the technique itself and the forms are still simple enough that I think it'll mix well with a space nomad tribe culture in a desert.

Now we could look into other dynasties productions and I should look back at my notes on Middle and Near East Antiquity, because there most likely has more things to dive into there.

I don't think Tuskens would use much metal or if they do, it'll be forging with scraps bought from the Jawas. To cut and grave little pendants and ornaments, spikes, that kind of things. But I sort of think the only way to forge for them would be by using their ceramic kilns (if they have any and not just tempory holes dig specially for it), that's why I didn't look into Islamic metal production. I just don't think they'll have forges with them being nomad like that. But it's still a possibility of course.

Anyway, that was a little look into the ideas I've been munching on lately.

[emmyspov]

Migraine (Haldir x Reader)

author's note: a new haldir fic coming your way! this was actually my first request! :D @oneofmanyinterests - i tried to do your idea justice and hope you and everyone else who struggles with headaches and migraines can take some comfort from this 🩷

warnings: reader in pain, mentions of throwing up and medication. let me know if i missed something! :)

word count: 1.1k

edit is mine, all pics are from pinterest :)

Your head was throbbing. Everything was too much: the noises, the lights-

Something between a whimper and a groan left your lips, alerting the elf next to you.

Haldir had come home from his most recent patrol only a few days ago and the two of you had spent every minute together, trying to make the most of it until he had to return to his duties as a marchwarden.

Carefully, he brushed his fingers down your arm. “Is it happening again, meleth?”

You nodded. It wasn’t the first time you were hit with a migraine and although they were horrible each time, having your husband at home with you helped immediately. You had come up with a routine which made the pain at least a bit more bearable and whenever Haldir had to leave, he made sure to talk to at least one of his most trusted friends or brothers to look after you in a case like this.

Immediately, the elf got up – careful not to disturb you – and closed the blinds, shutting out most of the lights.

“Would you prefer complete darkness?”

His voice was always soft when he spoke with you, but whenever he saw you in a more vulnerable state than usual, his words were even more hushed.

“Yes, please.” He blew out the lit candles around the room and heard you exhale shakily. “ Thank you, Hal.”

The pain in your voice made his heart clench in his chest. He absolutely hated to see you like, so weak and not in control at all. And there was only so much he could do which is why he would do his absolute best with the things he could help with.

After checking your shared bedchamber for strong scents and not finding anything, he quietly left the room. It soothed him a bit that he could move around without a sound so he wouldn’t add to your discomfort.

Once in the kitchen, Haldir grabbed a clean bucket in case you’d need to throw up, a big jug of water and a glass as well as some medication Elrond had brought with him during one of his more recent visits after he’d heard about your struggles. They didn’t cure the migraines, but they helped ease the pain a bit.

He quietly joined you in the bedroom again, taking in your curled up form on the bed.

“My love”, he whispered after he set down the bucket and pulled a thin blanket over you, “I brought you some water, the fluids against the pain and the ointment. Do you think you can sit up a bit? Just enough to swallow the medicine? Or at least drink some water?” An unpleased hum left your lips and Haldir knew he was asking for a lot this moment. “You can also stay like this for some more time. Can I apply the cream though?”

You slowly opened your eyes and his heart broke at the unshed tears in your eyes.

“Oh meleth, I know. I know.”

Carefully, he leaned down and pressed the gentlest kiss against your forehead. “The medicine will help a bit. Do you want me to apply it?” He knew he was repeating himself, but he needed to make sure he wouldn’t make your pain even worse.

“Yes, please.”

Carefully, the elf sat down beside you and unscrewed the lit before dipping his fingers into the juncture. When his fingers touched your forehead, you flinched.

“It hurts, Haldir.”

“I know, my starlight. You can hold my hand, here”, he whispered while he intertwined your fingers, letting you squeeze his hand.

He hurried to spread the ointment over your forehead and your temples as well as down your nose, keeping his touch always light. “Are you still with me, meleth?”

You answered by squeezing his hand and he brushed his thumb over the back of yours, not speaking another word.

The cream had to set in a bit and Haldir used the time to go back to the kitchen to prepare a cold compress and a hot water bottle.

Just a little bit later, he returned to the bed chamber, making sure to keep light and noise away from you. The only way you knew he had joined you again was by the deep connection you two shared.

“Hal”, you whispered, “can you help me sit up so I can take the medicine from Elrond?”

An affirmative hum left your husbands lips and he hurried over to your bedside, setting down the compress and the heating pad before helping you sit up. One hand was supporting your upper back while his other hand brought the little cup of medicine to your lips.

“You’re doing so well, meleth”, he whispered after you’ve swallowed everything. “Do you think you can also drink a bit of water? It’s good for you, but if you don’t feel like you can, don’t stress yourself. The fluids from Elrond will help in a bit either way.”

“I’ll try.”

“I’m so proud of you, my love.”

The elf brought the glass to your lips and you drank a few sips, immediately appreciating the fresh feeling of the water.

Before you could lay down again, Haldir put the heating pad onto the mattress where your shoulders and neck would be to help relax the muscles. He knew that migraines were not only happening in the head but affecting the whole body.

As soon as your shoulders came in contact with the warmth, a sigh left your lips and the tension between your eyebrows eased.

“Do you want me to place the ice packs on your forehead, starlight? They might dull the pain even more.”

You nodded and closed your eyes at the touch. The ellon had been right. The medicine and the water did help with the pain and the hot and ice packs were only decreasing your discomfort even further.

Meanwhile, Haldir was going through the list in his head again to make sure he didn't forget anything: he shut out the light, checked for any strong scents, made sure you took your meds, had water and cooling and heating pads on hand to help with the pain. There was nothing he had missed.

He was getting up to let you rest by yourself when you grabbed his wrist as he stood up.

“Can you stay? Please? I feel better when you’re close to me.”

A small smile took over his face. “Oh meleth, you don’t have to ask.”

Carefully, he laid down next to you and let you determine which position and how much physical contact you wanted.

Once the two of you were settled, he could see the rest of the tension leaving your body before you quietly spoke up.

“Thank you, my beloved.”

Haldir hummed. “Remember, my starlight, I will always and forever be here to help you through hard times. You’re safe with me.”

Everything-Taglist: @shadowhuntyi @asgardianhobbit98 @fizzyxcustard

Haldir-Taglist: @ellis-peace @heilith

-> if you want to be added or removed from my taglist, just shoot me a message or an ask 🩷

[specksizedgoddess]

A giant sluggirl at the office has taken notice of you. At first you thought she was just clumsy, almost sliding over you while you're on you ways to meetings, but you've notices she leaves an impenetrable coating of slime right outside your cubicle* right before lunch like every day. (*a small, 3" cardboard box - you did not find your job particularly fulfilling).

One day at the water cooler, she almost crushed you while installing a new jug--you spoke up, finally voicing how you felt like how she was ignoring you. Her eye-stalks leered at you, "Why would I care what a speck thinks?" she sneered. The blatant violation of HR policy, the slow realization that some of her past behaviors may have been intentional. You felt so small. "B-but!" you protested. "What do you even do here? If you dissolved in my mucus would anyone here even notice? Be real."

She knocked you into a cup when another coworker passed by and drank from it. You shouted and tried frantically to avoid being sucked down--but none of your noises were big enough to make it to the coworker. After he left, she peered down at you and chuckled. "Give me a good reason to not just end you". Strangely flustered but also desperately afraid your mouth spoke without your permission to use you as she wanted. She smiled and slid back to her cubicle, leaving you in the cup.

Upon arriving at her cubicle, you bore witness to her horribly messy workstation, the residual ooze from her coating nearly everything. She dumps you out on the desk, and mocked, "How about you keep this place spotless". Before you could get to your knees to start scrubbing with your hands, she tossed a bundle of fabric, "dress the part" She had this prepared

You put on the outfit, a parody of a business-woman and a maid with hardly any fabric, all your bits spilling out. She laughed at you and your ridiculous clothes. Humiliated, again you protested, "W-when HR finds, HR finds out--" "--Girl, I've got freckles bigger than your dick, and pores bigger than your tits, you really think you've got the guts to bring this up?" The speck had no guts.

Tuesday. You brought your meal-prep for the week. You cleaned a square foot. She took your lunches and used them as a garnish on her lunch. She laughed at your tiny, sweaty body squirming to clean off her ooze from more of the desk. She left, the floor completely covered in slime, blocking your exit. An all-nighter.

Wednesday. You're rags were stained. She refused to clean them. You were so hungry you resorted to eating the crumbs left around. When you asked for something to drink, she cocked her arm and dropped her armpit over you, glazing you in some wretched liquid. The strap that covered your left boob finally gave out. Another all-nighter.

Thursday. You were so hungry you were considering cleaning with your tongue. She told you to dance for your lunch. You almost got someone's attention, but she played it off as though she were watching something on her phone. As punishment, she glazed the 2.5 sqft you'd cleaned with a fresh coat of slime. At least the speck had something to drink. Still trapped. Another all-nighter.

Friday. When you saw her in the morning you asked for something to drink, and unconsciously opened your mouth to her armpit in the sky. She did not let you live that down. Teasing you for giving up so easily. She spat on you for your daily hydration. You danced for her, none of the original outfit remaining, when you wanted lunch instead of asking like a person with dignity might've.

A week had passed of this humiliation and she was right. No one noticed your absence. Not at the meetings, the water cooler, or lunch. You were just a toy for the mean slug girl to play with and mock. It was bad enough that you were a worthless mote, but before closing, she made you say it. She pushed you down with her finger, twice as large as your torso and a million times larger than your ego, and pinned you down, and told you to call yourself her toy. The speck acquiesced. Then she twirled her finger, rubbing the bug in placed, and asked if it liked it, if it liked being nothing but her toy. Again, the speck said yes--though this seemed to anger her.

"God, I wanted this thing to last longer," she lamented, "it's no fun when it doesn't even try to fight back" The speck lied there, unthinking--thinking was for girls with dignity after all--and waited. She threatened to get the mote fired--no, girls get fired, such a threat was meaningless for a worthless crumb. "Dance!", and the dust speck danced "Beg!", and the bug pantomimed "Cum when I bully you!", and the kinky mote began to leak "No no! This is too easy! You'd let me swallow you whole wouldn't you!", the speck stretched out its arms to welcome the oral embrace

Strangely she felt compelled to follow through, and grabbed the thing up in her jaws. Mumbling to herself, "If it was fine being eaten, why would it have offered to do anything I asked back then"

The sudden change of heart, the slow realization that some of this speck's submission may have been intentional. She felt so played, "w-wait" she gulped.

And with that, Eve smiled as she slid down into that slimey slug stomach. She may not have been able to give two week's notice, but she'd have two minute's fun down here before finally finding fulfilling work: as empty calories for a hot workplace bully.

~🐍💜

HDJDJDJFJD OH MY FUCKING GOD HUN

I COUPD READ THIS OVER AND OVER AGAIN THIS IS SO FUCKING PERFECT

I GENUINELLY DONT KNOW WHAT TO ADD I WAS. HUMPING A PILLOW WHILE READING THIS- IMMEDIATELY ADDING THIS TO MY FAVORITES, THIS MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE ONE YOUVE SENT PERIOD-

Oh my GOD I need this so badly... overworked, exhausted, baggy-eyed and feeling useless to the company... all I needed was for her to show me just how useless I really was....

Finally a real job... I fucking love the idea of being too small and far too weak to even escape her cubicle if I wanted, its my new home... I exist for her, I exist to serve her- the humiliation makes me tremble, and half the times when she's gone (and often when she's not) I'm leaking like a FOUNTAIN onto her desk, imagining her comments... my body on full display for her, the least I could do- SGJDDJF GOD

I NEED THIS LEVEL OF HUMILIATION SO FUCKING BADLY OH MY GOD

I could bring up every little bit, I could fawn over this for fucking PARAGRAPHS, but I. Am gonna refrain myself... hdhdjjrd god I love this so so so SO much thank you-

... I will say that the um. freckles bigger than your dick and pores bigger than my tits part might have made me audibly squeal....

Need this so badly... I need to be a tiny thing at the mercy of an office bully... I should have known when she vandalized the "Treat Tiny Co-Workers with Respect!" posters with her ooze... GODDDDDDD

KISSING YOU YOU BRILLIANT BRILLIANT GAHCHAHCJSJD GOSH <33333

[biscuits-of-bagend]

DnDoc #8 - The Present

Part 1 Part 7

The Doctor's lips curled inwards as he tried to stop himself laughing again. To be fair, Rogue did hear himself and how he sounded. It was the silliest list of complaints he'd ever heard and it was coming out of his own mouth. He watched his wildly gesticulating arms as if he was watching someone else, someone altogether more fun than he, someone he had been before his loss, someone he had very briefly been when he played at feuding lovers on the Chuldurs' dancefloor.

   "So that's my story," Rogue said with a sigh. "Eventually I tumbled into the right shed, and here I am."

   "I'm so glad you did," said the Doctor. As he reached over to take Rogue's hand again, Rogue noticed that he was still wearing the ring, the one he'd given him during their 'proposal scene.' The feeling of stroking that ring on someone's finger again was like putting a layer of tracing paper over an old memory, or like when the sonic superimposed his ship over the wasteland. Memories of his partner were far from a wasteland, but the Doctor was not simply empty tracing paper either.

   "Lemme just…" mumbled Ruby, reaching over and yoinking the water jug off the table. As she bowed out the door she said, "I'll bring more back, but like, in a bit… Okay see ya."

   Rogue let his eyes close once more as he laughed, his tired shoulders tensing and untensing. He stretched his arms as he opened his eyes and found that the Doctor was moving the end table out the way so he could shove the futon he'd been sitting on up next to Rogue's. Then he whirled around and lay down on it, hands behind his head.

   "Ah, Rogue," he said, turning his head to face him. "And now here we are indeed... I've been journalling about you, you know."

   "Journalling?"

   "Don't laugh."

   "I wasn't!" Rogue exclaimed, though he did laugh a little now at the look on the Doctor's face. "You just don't seem like someone who stops long enough to write much down. Keep living and all that."

   "Yeah, I might have been letting it slide a bit when we last met," said the Doctor. "But it's something I learned when I was, like, very definitely Rose's uncle. I went back to it a lot after I lost you."

   "You know, I'm still a little confused that you have a niece," said Rogue. "I thought you said you lost everyone."

   "Oh I lost Rose's mother for a long time. She couldn't remember me or she would die."

   "Starting to understand why you keep on moving."

   "Exactly. But then an old face came back, there was a Meep, it was a whole thing. I'm rebuilding," said the Doctor. He sidled right up next to Rogue and pressed against him side-to-side. The Doctor's right arm overlapped with Rogue's left, hands clasped firmly.

   "I didn't mean to undermine you or anything," Rogue whispered, turning his head to look in the Doctor's eyes. "I'm glad you got to see your friend again."

   "It's okay, I know it's confusing," the Doctor whispered back. "I think, for me, even if I do manage to find people again, loss is always there like a shadow, you know, especially because of what happened with my homeworld. Even if you get something back, you know so sharply that you could lose it again."

   Rogue nodded his head ever so slightly, scared to move too much in case he shattered the moment. "I know exactly what you mean. It means you've got to be ready to experience things while they're here - people, moments…"

   He tailed off as the Doctor started to kiss him. Blissfully, he'd regained enough strength to return it properly this time. He turned onto his side, putting his right arm around the Doctor to show that he was awake enough now. He was here, not in his own head, not in the dead forest or in 1813. Here, in the present, with the man he'd completed endless fetch-quests to find.

---

Thank you so much for reading! I've retroactively titled this story as a whole 'Coming Home' and I've really enjoyed writing about Rogue's adventures. I've already been writing an adventure for him and the Doctor and Ruby to go on together and I do have a lot of ideas, but if anyone has any requests for times and places they could visit let me know :) No pressure to keep reading of course, I'm just having a great time so am going to keep going for the moment.

Next stories: DnDoc, Space Band DnDoc, A Man's a Man

@off-traveling-in-the-stars @casavanse @monster-donut (let me know at any point if you no longer wish to be tagged in each post)

[englishstrawbie]

august 26th : homemade lemonade

Carina arrives home a little after eight o’clock, her body weary after back-to-back surgeries all day. The summer heatwave they are currently experiencing didn’t help. The hospital’s infrastructure is struggling in the hot temperatures and the vents had broken down at least three times today. Carina had escaped to her Porsche in between patients just to enjoy its air conditioning. Her feet ache, her legs are tired, and all she can think about is a cool shower and falling into bed – preferably naked, with her wife.

She is immediately greeted by the overwhelming smell of lemons when she steps into the apartment and, for a moment, she wonders if Maya has been on a cleaning spree. And then she sees her wife in the kitchen, rolling out and squeezing lemon juice into a small bowl – hears her too, as she sings along with the radio, a little off key as always. She doesn’t hear Carina or the click of the front door, so Carina lingers for a while, watching her.

Maya is relaxed and happy, and Carina feels her heart swell at how carefree she is, so different from the woman shrouded in darkness who shared their bed twelve months ago. So many times these days, Carina finds herself just watching her and soaking in her happiness.

As if sensing she is being watched, Maya looks over her shoulder and smiles when she sees her wife.

“Hey,” she says cheerfully. “How was your day?”

“Hmph. Long,” Carina says, kicking off her shoes and padding into the kitchen. “What are you up to?”

She greets Maya with a kiss, then leans back against the counter to watch her work. How her wife makes squeezing lemons look sexy, she will never know.

“Making lemonade,” Maya says. “I stopped by the grocery store on my way home from the station and they had all these lemons going cheap. This heat is insane and it reminded me of when I was a kid.”

She wipes her brow with the back of her hand.

“My dad went away for a few days on a work trip, so it was just me and Mason with Mom. We had a neighbour with a lemon tree who came over with a bag full of lemons, so Mom taught us how to make lemonade. We set up a little table on the sidewalk in front of our house and sold it for twenty cents a cup.”

Her eyes glaze over as she tells her story.

“Mom said we could spend the money we made on whatever we wanted. I chose an ice-cream sundae and Mason wanted a new comic. Mom took us to the cinema afterwards. It was a Disney movie, I think. She even let us have popcorn.”

“It must have been a good day to still remember it,” Carina says, picking up on her wistful mood.

“Yeah, it was,” Maya says. “We used to make lemonade every summer after that, until my dad started coaching me.” The smile drops from her face. “Then every holiday was spent training.”

“Maya…” Carina says softly, but Maya shakes her head.

“It’s okay. Diane says it’s important to remember the good parts, I just have to learn not to let it be tainted by the other stuff.”

“That’s good advice,” Carina says.

Maya exhales, a habit she has picked up on when she is letting go of what used to haunt her.

“Okay, I think that’s enough lemon juice,” she says, pouring what she has into a jug of water and adding a cup of sugar. “You know, my mom always swears by adding a little bit of honey too.”

Maya searches the cupboards until she finds the jar she is looking for. She adds a spoonful of honey and mixes it together. Meanwhile, Carina grabs two glasses and fills them with ice. Maya pours the homemade lemonade over the top and swirls it around, then passes one glass to Carina while keeping the second for herself.

“Cheers.”

“Cin cin.”

They clink glasses and each take a sip.

“Hmm, so good,” Carina says, sighing with delight at the sensation of the cold liquid down her throat. She nods towards the pile of lemons left over. “Maybe tomorrow I can show you how to make lemon gelato?”

Maya smiles. “I’d like that.”

Carina returns her smile as she slides her hand into Maya’s.

“Come on, bella, I need a shower to wash off this day.”

She starts to pull Maya towards the bedroom.

“And you need my help with that?”

Carina smiles over her shoulder. “Not a need – a want.”

august prompts

[midmorninggrey]

welcome to DADWC! how do you feel about Cal x Fenris for "his dark eyes took me in, and I wondered what they would look like if he fell in love"?

Hey, thanks for the @dadrunkwriting prompt! I felt this was the perfect excuse to write Cal Being An Idiot.

WC: ~1000

One night, all three of them ended up sitting down at the docks with a half-full bottle of rum that Isabela had swiped on their way out of The Hanged Man. Cal was the one who was supposed to be watching the bar, but she’d stolen him too. With the card game finished, Fenris had followed on his own accord. She’d ordered their boots off and they dangled their feet over the edge of the broken pier, toes kissing the black water. The sea was no cooler than the air, which was as thick and sweet as the drink.

After a time, Cal and Isabela tried stargazing through the smear of foundry smoke. The shape of a particular group of stars got them arguing, as much as they ever argued.

"Canary, do you even know what a woman looks like?"

"I just don't think that's what it is - really." 

"Fenris," Isabela drew herself up and pulled her hair away from where it had stuck on the back of her neck. "Tell us - do you see a lady of the evening?"

Cal took a long sip from the rum bottle, wondering how it happened that he was always between the two of them.

Fenris’ eyes flicked across to her.  "Only one."

“Shame. She's quite a looker up there,” Isabela shrugged and took the bottle from Cal for a last gulping drink, then put it back in his hands so she could stand.

"Now, I'm off to find someone who doesn’t need a reminder of what a woman looks like."

“Good luck,” Cal said.

"Don't get too hot under all that armor," Isabela chimed back. Through the warm haze of rum, he didn't understand why she looked at him when she was speaking to Fenris. Cal was only in his shirtsleeves. Before he could think to ask her, she tucked her boots beneath her arm and strutted down the dock and off into the dark.

They watched her go in silence. Cal handed Fenris the rum, expecting him to take it and make a quick departure himself, then lay back into the space Isabela had left behind. The rough wood felt good against his sore back and he wanted to rest a moment longer in the open air.

To his surprise, Fenris leaned back on a hand and kept his feet over the water. Outside of Hawke’s study for Fenris’ lessons, it was rare for the two to be alone together.

“I think that’s a bit of Bellitanus,” he said to fill the strange space usually full of books and chalk. “You know, the maiden. But I think she wears clothes. The Oak should be next to her – my friend told me it’s really a sign of Andriul. The goddess of the hunt.”

Fenris did nothing to acknowledge his prattling, so Cal folded his hands on his chest and said nothing more. The waves rippled beneath them.

Cal had long ago decided that denying Fenris’ looks was like denying the sun in the sky; he might as well enjoy the warmth of both from a distance. Now the sun had set and Fenris was still shining. Looking up, Cal watched the shadows play on the proud arch of his brow, along the curve of his jaw, and down the long lines of his neck. His eyes went to his mouth on the rim of the bottle, noticing the sheen of sweat on his upper lip.

"That -” Fenris interrupted Cal’s daze by pointing a finger at the sky. “- is the red jewel of Minrathous. I knew I was headed away from Tevinter when it was at my back. I had hoped that one night I would look up and it would be gone." 

Cal squinted up at the star. 

"Maybe it's watching over you."

"Not likely."

"I can't believe you made it all this way." Cal swallowed. "I mean, I can, actually."

"It was difficult." Fenris made the admission slowly. "Some days I have trouble believing it myself."

"Having to watch out for yourself all the time. It's hard." The words sound hollow and dull, like hitting a half full jug; both too much and not enough to ring true. He was surprised when Fenris’ answer was prompt.

“It’s the second rule of survival.”

“You have -” It took two tries for Cal to sit up. "You have rules?"

"Yes.” Fenris sounded annoyed, but Cal saw some satisfaction in the tilt of his chin. When Fenris passed the bottle back, he took it with both hands and a grin.

"What are they? What's the first - the most important?"

Cal hadn’t realized how close they were until Fenris turned his eyes on him. In the night, his green eyes had turned as black as the sea. The darkness made them look soft, and he wondered what it would be like if they were that way in the daylight.  

"Sorry," Cal ducked his head away to the safety of the rum bottle. There wasn't much left. "You don't have to tell me that."

They sat in silence again, longer this time. A breeze picked up across the harbor, and though it was still as hot as breath, it stung of fresh salt. Cal gave Fenris the last drink.

"My first rule of survival is to always have an extra pair of socks," he offered eventually. 

"Oh? That is mine as well."

"Really?"

Fenris looked down at his bare feet, only ever wrapped in the traditional elven style, and stretched his toes. "I like knit stockings best."

Cal let his head fall back and he laughed until he wheezed. Fenris joined him with only a smile, laughter held in the lines around his eyes, but the stars seemed a little brighter to Cal then.  

[alittlebitofeverythingtbh]

Run Rabbit Run

Corey Cunningham x fem!reader

Warnings: smut, 18+, fear play, knife play, prey and predator, bondage, bit of a breeding kink, etc

Authors Note: I have been sitting on this concept for a bit and decided to finally write it. Hehehe enjoy.

It was a few days after your run in at the gas station, and Corey was still at work. “Have to stay late tonight,” he told you earlier, “me and my dad gotta like, fully repair this truck later. Not looking forward to it.” You gave him a good luck kiss, which always worked. He smiled and went off on his way, leaving you spending your day off from work. It was one of those days where you were certain you had something to do, but couldn’t remember what.

It didn’t hit you until ten at night: you had forgotten to go get milk. It could wait until tomorrow, but what if you forgot again? I can just go get a jug real quick, you thought to yourself as you grabbed your keys. You went outside and quickly locked your door, peering around in the dark. You honestly didn’t have much to be afraid, but what if Michael showed up again? Would he remember to leave you alone? What if some other stranger showed up when Corey wasn’t around? You shook your head as you headed to your car and hopped in, cursing yourself for having an overactive brain. You pulled out of your driveway and made your way to the nearby grocery store.

You made your way into the store, wishing you had brought a coat instead of your hoodie. It wasn’t that cold, but still enough to give you a bit of a chill. You wouldn’t be here long though. You went to the milk isle and grabbed a carton of your favorite brand, debating if you should pick up a snack or dessert. You decided against it, telling yourself you had some at home. You could always come back later in the week as well. You went and stood in line, checking your phone and notifications. You finally were first and went up to pay for the carton, which the cashier placed in a plastic bag. You thanked her and took the bag, making your way back to the parking lot you parked in. You were about halfway to your car when you heard someone speak behind you.

“You’re out pretty late, aren’t you?”

You knew the voice, but it still sent a shiver down your spine and caused you to jump. You turned and saw Corey leaning against the wall of the grocery store, watching you get back to your car. There wasn’t a street lamp there, so you could barely see him. “Did you follow me?” you asked once your heart rate settled back down. “You always manage to leave a trail somehow,” he said, and you knew he was smiling though you couldn’t see it, “always so easy to track.” “I was just out getting some milk,” you said as you held up your bag.

Corey began to slowly walk towards you, “ah, is that the reason you left the house? Just for some milk?” He reached you, his right hand going to grasp your chin gently, “or was there another reason, little bunny?” You shivered at his words. He always called you by some cute pet name, but this was different, much different. He noticed your slight reaction, “yeah?” “Shut up,” you mumbled.” He chuckled, “aww, don’t worry my little bunny. There’s nothing to be shy about. And nothing to worry about.” He suddenly pulled you to him, pressing your back against his front. You were trapped.

“What are you-“ you started to say. “You just look so cute right now,” he whispered into your ear, “I could just eat you up right here.” “In the parking lot?” you asked, looking around to see if anyone else was close by. “I suppose not,” he said, and he let you go. You pulled away a bit, looking back and seeing a mischievous glint in his eye. “We’ll have to take this elsewhere, the woods perhaps?” he asked, his right hand in the pocket of his overalls. The grocery store wasn’t far from the woods, you knew that. What was he planning?

“Corey, what are you-“ you asked again, but then he pulled out his knife. Oh fuck. “Run little bunny,” he said, his grin widening, “run.”

You didn’t need to be told twice, dropping the grocery bag and making your way towards the wooded area. Corey merely walked towards where you went, following you.

You ran deep into the wooded area, realizing it was a lot bigger than it looked on the outside. And with how dark it was, it was dangerous. You had half a mind to use the flashlight of your phone, but it would make you noticeable. Instead, you carefully but swiftly made your way deeper into the woods. Every snap of a twig under your foot had your heart racing, and you swore you heard something in the darkness behind you. You cautiously made you way through the dark until you reached an oak tree that had massive roots, one of which was in a strange loop into the ground. It could provide you with a hiding spot, and god did you need to take a small break. So you sat under the root, scanning the dark as best as you could.

A moment later, you heard a twig snap in the dark. And then another. And another. You pressed yourself up against the root as much as you could, keeping your breathing as quiet as possible. “Little bunny,” you heard him say, “come out. I know you’re nearby.” How on earth did he know that? you wondered, was he checking the floor for snapped twigs or something? That had to be it. You heard him chuckle, “I see, so that’s how it’ll be then.” And then, there was complete silence for a moment. That is, until you heard another soft crunch not far from you.

“You’re making me frustrated, little thing,” and you could hear it in his voice, “come out and maybe I’ll play nice.” You knew it was a lie. Whatever mood he was in, he would never play nice. And you’d be lying if you said that didn’t thrill you. So you kept quiet, almost giddy with the fact you were so well hidden. More twig snaps and a frustrated growl, “fine. Then I won’t play nice. I’ll ruin you, little bunny.” He sounded closer this time, which kind of terrified you. You had the sinking feeling he would find you soon. You waited until he sounded further away before you ran from your spot as quietly as you could. But with your luck, he heard the twig you stepped on.

You could hear him take off running behind you, which made you run as well. You ran blindly throughout the woods, heart sinking as you heard him get closer. You grabbed a tree branch from the floor, stopping in the dark. You waited until he got close enough and whacked his chest with it. The sudden pain stopped him briefly for a moment, and you heard him cough as he sunk to the floor. Suddenly concerned, you walked to him, reaching out a hand. “I didn’t mean-“ you started before you let out a scream as he grabbed your arm and pulled. Corey pushed you onto the floor, panting heavily. “Trying to fight back? I have to say, I didn’t except that,” he growled, pushing himself against you. He held his knife against your neck, the blade cold enough to make you shiver. You could feel him straining in his overalls, and it took all the power in you to not grind against it. Instead you whimpered, “please let me go, please. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” Corey grinned, “no, it’s too late little bunny. No one’s going to know because you won’t be able to tell them.” He set down his knife beside you before pulling out what looked like a small coil of rope out of his pocket, tying your hands together.

He then nearly tore down your leggings, running a hand over your soaking panties. You whined, struggling underneath him. “You act like you don’t want this, but you’re absolutely soaked for me, little bunny,” he taunted, “you wanted this, didn’t you? You needed this.” Corey pulled down your panties, throwing them beside your leggings. He loomed over you, his eyes piercing you, “I said I could just eat you up earlier. Hmm….” His hands trailed down to your thighs, pulling them apart, “I think I will do just that.” And he immediately dove in between your legs, his mouth on your clit. He wasted no time eating you out like a man starved, and you didn’t hold back the moans of his name. You wished you could grip his curls, but you couldn’t struggle out of the rope. You instead could only lay there and take it.

Corey’s nose bumped into your clit as he licked and sucked at you, his thumb rubbing against your clit as he did. He loved the way you shivered and shook under him, and he couldn’t keep the grin on his face away. From the way your hips bucked and the moans you were letting out, he knew you were close already. He pulled his mouth away, grinning down at you as he swiped his thumb across his mouth, tasting the last of you. You whined at the loss of his mouth, and at the frustration of your fading orgasm.

Corey then pushed two fingers into you immediately, “what’s wrong little bunny? Were you gonna cum? Don’t worry, I’ll let you cum this time. But only because you’re being so adorable for me.” You whimpered as he thrust them roughly into you, bucking against his hand. Once he deemed you ready, he slipped in a third. “You looked so cute running away from me, bunny,” Corey said as he watched your face contort in pleasure, “but you never really wanted to run, did you? You just wanted me to take care of you.” You whined out his name, still struggling at the rope around your wrists. You felt your orgasm approach again. He knew you too well by this point, and could sense your approaching orgasm without you even saying anything, “you gonna cum, bunny?” You nodded weakly. He grinned, “such a good little bunny, my good little bunny. I need you to cum for me, okay? Be a good little bunny and cum all over my fingers.” The thumb rubbed harsher circles into your clit, and that sent you over the edge almost violently. You came with a sob of his name, bucking your hips against his fingers wildly. Corey kept going until you came down from your high, and chuckled when you squirmed from the overstimulation. After a minute of torture he raised his fingers to his mouth, sucking them clean.

Corey unzipped his mechanic suit and took off his boxers, “little bunny…..” He positioned himself over you, reaching for his knife again, “I can’t wait to ruin you.” He thrusted himself inside you, groaning at how tight and wet you were. He brought the knife back up to your throat while his free hand gripped your hip tightly. Corey didn’t move for a moment, letting you adjust before he began to thrust into you harshly. You whimpered, trying to form words but being unable to. Every time you tried, it just came out as a squeak or a whimper. Corey loved it, “what’s that, little bunny? Already having trouble talking? How cute.” He kept pounding into you roughly, taking out his frustrations from the day onto you. “Fuck, bunny,” he groaned, “I’ll never get over how tight your cunt is for me. So good for me….” You could only whine in response, too fucked out of it.

After getting tired of holding the knife to your throat, Corey threw it down beside you again. His hand instead went for your throat, putting some light pressure. “Harder,” you managed to whimper. Something dark glossed over his eyes, “yeah bunny? Want me to choke you?” You nodded quickly. “Fuck,” he groaned as his thrusts only got rougher, “such a good little bunny.” The pressure of his hand got a bit tighter, which nearly made you cum. He could feel you shake under him, causing him to curse. “Fuck, look at you bunny,” he groaned, “taking my cock so well. Wanting to be choked like a good little pet, fuck. My good little bunny, all mine.” You tried to warn him that you were about to cum, but it only came out as a shuddering gasp. But Corey knew anyway, bringing his hand from your hip to rub circles against your clit again, “that’s it bunny, that’s it. Cum for me. Cum for me, and I’ll never let you go. Never let you- fuck- never let you escape me. Come on little bunny, cum for me.” You came quicker than you usually did, letting out a near scream as you did.

Corey’s hips stuttered as he could feel his own orgasm not far off. “Fuck bunny, fuck. You did so good for me, so good.” His thrusts got faster and harder as he chased his orgasm, which made you cry out from overstimulation again. “Gonna fill you up,” he moaned into your ear, “gonna make you all mine. All mine.” And then, he said something that he didn’t even think twice about, “gonna breed you, bunny. You’re gonna be mine forever. I’ll just-fuck- breed you over and over. You’d like that, hmm?” You nearly came again at that, his words awakening something in you. Corey laughed a bit before whimpering, “fuck. Fuck. Bunny….I’m gonna cum. Gonna cum inside you. Gonna-“ He came inside you with a growl, panting against you as he spilled into you. Despite his orgasm, he started up the pace of his thumb again, getting you to orgasm again. You came around him with a whine, still feeling him cum in you. Corey was shaking and panting, holding you against him tightly. Once he came down from his high, he undid the rope around your hands, freeing them. Your hands immediately went for him, one hand in his hair and the other against his chest. Once his breath was finally caught, he leaned down and kissed you rather gently.

Exhausted, he laid beside you for a moment, knowing he would have to carry you back to your car. He could tell from the way your legs shook and the fact you hadn’t quite caught your breath fully yet. A thought came to his mind, and he laughed. “What?” you asked. “We totally forgot about the milk,” he said. You groaned, remembering you dropped it in the parking lot. “Don’t worry,” Corey said as he brushed some of your hair back, “I’ll get a new one tomorrow before work, okay?” You nodded. Corey got up and got dressed before helping you get your clothes back on. Once you were all done, he scooped you up into his arms. You felt so comfortable in them that you fell asleep before you even realized your eyes were closed. Corey smiled when he realized, holding you a bit closer to him. He carried you to your car, hoping nobody would be around to ask questions. He grabbed the keys from your pocket and opened your car, gently putting you into the passenger seat before he climbed into the other seat. He started the car, careful not to wake you.

Corey drove you home and gently tucked you into bed, smiling at how cute you looked. He gently closed your door before reaching into his pocket, realizing with dread that he left his knife out into the woods. He let out a sigh before exiting the house and hopping on his motorcycle, heading back to the wooded area for it. Leaving a knife behind where anyone could find it in Haddonfield was a terrible idea. And to be honest, Corey liked that knife. Not only because it was perfect against his victims, but because he loved to see you squirm under it.

He made his way back to the area you too had been in, the flashlight on his phone illuminating the dark. He followed the small path of broken twigs as he had done earlier, searching for the knife. A glint in the dark and there it was. Corey picked it up and put it back in his pocket before heading back through the woods. He was back at your house soon after.

He debated getting into bed with you. He often slept on the couch when he didn’t want to wake you, but he also really wanted to be with you. Sneaking as quietly as he could, he climbed into bed with you. Corey wrapped an arm around you, gently pulling you to him. You must have been so tired to not wake up from it all. Corey listened to your soft breathing before he surrendered himself to sleep.

[theboywithburninghands]

Part 2 of my standalone Funnybunny piece. Less angsty, more fun, still pretty heavy. I love it. Hope you will too. T/W: Mentions of drugs and alcohol, self-hatred

“You’re going to be okay, right?”

Pomni looked up at Jax. The two of them hadn’t said a word to each other since leaving his room. Thunder boomed and churned. 

“Yeah,” was Jax’s paltry reply. Pomni swallowed, from nerves and from her enduring thirst. She couldn’t chew on her gloves due to one gripping Jax’s hand and the other the lighter. She chewed on her lower lip instead. 

“You… don’t have to stay for very long. I told you I’m dogwater at social stuff, so I won’t force you to do too much. Okay?” 

“Okay,” Jax replied.

Pomni felt frustration stir in her belly. One-word answers were the bane of her existence. For the life of her, she couldn’t tell what someone was feeling if they only said “yeah” or “nah” or “fine.” Was Jax angry with her? Tired? Ashamed? Some awkward fusion of all three? …Well. That would have to be put on hold. She released Jax’s hand, the rabbit tucking his hand back into his pocket, and opened the door to Ragatha’s bedroom. 

“ Pomni! And-And Jax, you’re back! Is everything okay?”

Ragatha hurried over to Pomni, stepping carefully over her blankets and pillows. She had evidently been trying to make a blanket fort in near-total darkness, without much success. 

“Yeah. We talked.” Pomni said. 

“More like screamed.” came a dry and annoyed voice. Zooble was resting on Ragatha’s empty bed. “We could hear you from all the way down the hall. I think the only thing louder than you was the storm.”

There was a faint burble of thunder. Apparently it agreed.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to scare you guys. I just…”

“Don’t worry, Pomni. You brought light with you.” 

Kinger ignited the wick of a long, white candle using the lighter in Pomni’s hand. He stared at the flame it created intently for a moment, before he stuck it on an old fashioned brass chamberstick, the kind with a finger loop you always saw people in silk pajamas use to look around their dark manor in old movies. He cupped the flame and brought it over to some of the candles that had fallen on the floor, setting the chamberstick down on Ragatha’s hutch so he could plate the other candles.

“You should thank Jax. He had a change of heart even before I yelled at him.” Pomni said with a nervous chuckle. 

Jax blew a raspberry through his lips and went over to help Kinger light the other candles. Pomni chewed on her glove. 

“Thank you for bringing the lighter back, Jax…” Gangle said softly. She clutched a stuffed zebra for security. “I-I don’t do so well in the dark…” 

“Whatever.” Jax replied without turning around. 

“I think that’s Jaxenese for ‘you’re welcome.’” Ragatha said with a smirk. 

“Say, why is this candle blue?” Kinger asked, holding up a squat, already lit powder-blue one in a glass jar. 

“Oh, that’s one of my scented ones. Blue citrus, it’s really nice. Leave it going for a bit.” Ragatha delicately took the candle and placed it on her table.

In time, the performers eventually had all the candles going, safely burning on sticks, sconces or small glass plates to keep any wax from dripping onto the floor. Kinger went and retrieved his camping stove, which thankfully had enough white gas left in it to get started. Ragatha filled her tea kettle with a gallon jug of drinking water she kept stowed away under her bed, setting it gingerly on the camping stove. She set about putting ginseng tea bags in her white china cups, handing them to everyone on saucers as a plume of steam began to issue from the kettle. The room smelled pleasantly of orange. 

“I know it’s a little cliché, but I love tea. Especially with my secret ingredient.” 

“Booze?” Zooble asked. Pomni couldn’t help but snort. Ragatha chuckled as well. 

“No, no. I don’t really have a name for it. At least not yet.” Ragatha went over to a small fridge that resembled a toy chest. 

“Shrooms? That’d be awesome.” Zooble sighed. Gangle stifled a giggle this time.

“Zooble, stop it.” Ragatha tisked with a hand on her hip. “You would not wanna do magic mushrooms in the middle of a blackout, trust me.”

“She’s right…” Gangle agreed. Zooble shot her a suspicious look just as Ragatha retrieved a small thermos from the fridge, shutting the door quickly to not let the cold out.

“Alright, everyone bring me your cups.” Ragatha said, taking the kettle off of Kinger’s stove with a pink and white checkered potholder. Thunder rumbled. 

Everyone gathered around Ragatha’s table as she poured hot water into their cups, the water turning deep amber as it mixed with the hot tea leaves. She bobbed the string in everyone’s cups to let out some additional flavor before discarding the hot wet bags and opening her thermos. She retrieved an elegantly patterned silver spoon from her tea set and stirred the contents of the thermos. After a moment she scooped out a heaping spoonful of what looked like purple clotted cream, dolloping it into her own cup and stirring until the tea was a pleasant, dull lavender color. She put a significantly smaller amount into every other cup, humming tunelessly. She smiled and held up her own cup after finishing. 

“Hope you enjoy! Drink it slow to savor the taste.” Ragatha gently blew away the steam drifting from her own cup and took a sip, sighing in contentment. 

Pomni blew on hers as well and sampled the tea. Whatever Ragatha’s secret ingredient was, it contained a lot of sugar and cream. It was almost like drinking a slice of birthday cake, but with a flutter of herbs she didn’t recognize. Not bad at all, but a little too rich to have more than one cup. 

“Mmm!~ This is so good!” Gangle cried. Zooble, on the other hand, spluttered.

 “Oh jeez…” they said in between coughs.

“Aw, you don’t like it?” Ragatha asked, smiling politely yet with a twinge of disappointment. 

“No it’s- it’s good it’s-” Zooble hacked and coughed. “I just wasn’t expecting like… A blast in the face from the sugar cannon. I- ahem, usually take my coffee black or my tea plain…”

“Oh man, that’s hardcore, Zooble.” Pomni said. “I at least need a little sugar in mine…”

“I’m with Pompom. It’s almost like plain coffee tastes bad.” Jax said. He sipped from his cup and looked down at it with a slightly crinkled face. “Yeah, this is like, crazy sweet though.” 

“Well you aren’t spraying it across the room, so I’ll take that as a win.” Ragatha replied, smiling proudly. 

Kinger finished his entire cup in a few gulps, holding it out to Ragatha. “More please.”

“Woah! Easy there, Kinger!” Ragatha held out a hand to slow him down. “I’m glad you like it but you’re gonna burn your throat. Plus this is ginseng, so it’ll give you energy.”  

“Oh, that actually makes a lot of sense. You stay peppy by consuming truckloads of caffeine.” Jax tapped his cup for reference. 

Ragatha giggled. “Caffeine does help. But counting your blessings and staying positive every day helps even more.” 

“Yyyyyyyeah, I’ll stick with the caffeine thanks.” Jax took a sip of his tea, squinting his eyes a bit at the sweetness. 

Pomni smiled. He was getting back to his old self. If he kept his humor to light-hearted ribbing, he was pleasant. Charming, even. She sipped her tea.

After everyone had finished, Gangle, Kinger and Ragatha going back for a second cup, Ragatha taught them the basics of making a blanket fort. While Pomni normally wouldn’t have been interested, not having any sort of caffeine or similar stimulant in months had caught up to her; her head was humming and she needed something to do. She listened to all of Ragatha’s instructions carefully, and went to get her blanket from her room along with the others. Kinger accompanied Gangle to her bedroom, the ribbon girl still paranoid about the dark even with a candle to light her way.

Jax proved himself useful at tying the blankets together. It seemed that in addition to making him a skilled lockpicker, his nimble fingers allowed him to make pretty complicated knots on his first or second try. He hardly required any instruction on how to tie them either. Maybe it was the ginseng helping him focus, Pomni wondered to herself. 

Soon, their fort was complete. It was a little on the cramped side, especially when it was filled up with pillows,  but all six of them could fit if they packed together like sardines. Pomni, cautious of having to squeeze up alongside people, opted for a seat at the end, Jax on her left and the fort’s exit on her right. She didn’t mind being close to Jax… 

“Well, this is great! I feel snug as a bug in here!” Ragatha declared. 

“It’s nice enough.” Zooble admitted. “Beats whatever stupid-@$$ thing Caine had planned.”

“When do you guys think he’s coming back? He’s not gonna be mad is he?” Pomni asked. 

“He doesn’t really get mad very much. He tries to keep the kid-friendly persona up all the time, so he can’t be too threatening, y’know?” Jax said. From how close they were sitting, Pomni could feel the vibrations of his voice on her left arm. 

“Besides, I think he’ll be proud we managed to have a little adventure together even with the electricity not working properly.” Ragatha added. 

“I just wish there was a way to bring light into our fort…” Gangle sighed. “I know it’s not safe to bring candles in here, but it’s so dark…”

Thunder sounded out from beyond the blankets, still quite loud but not nearly as frequent and quaking as before. 

“Hey, you know it’s funny you say that?” Jax said. He took a moment to reach into the pocket of his overalls and retrieve a small, tube-shaped item. There was a click and a cone of light shone from one end of the tube, causing everyone to squint.

“Jax, is that a flashlight..?” Ragatha asked, shielding her eye with one hand.

“You had a flashlight on you this whole time and didn’t tell us?!” Zooble groused. 

“Hey, I forgot I had it until I got back into my room. Why do you think I was so willing to give Jingles my lighter?” Jax tousled Pomni’s coxcomb hat, shaking the bells in it. “Besides, I was waiting for a moment like this-”

Jax held the lit end of the flashlight under his chin, turning his face into an eerie black and white silhouette with shaded eyes. 

“-to tell you guys a little story.”

Gangle let out the same sustained whine she did when the power first went out. 

“Jax, come on, no ghost stories.” Ragatha held out her hand in a “halt” motion. 

“Aw, whaaat?” Jax took the light off of his face. “You’re kidding, it’s an essential slumber party activity. Unless we were gonna sit around and talk about boys.”

“I’d rather we do that…” Gangle admitted, holding her stuffed zebra a little closer. 

“Real boys, Gangle. Not anime boys.” Jax drawled. “Come on, just one story. I promise I’ll go easy on you.” 

“I wouldn’t mind hearing it.” Kinger said.

“Sure, whatever.” Zooble grunted.

“Noooooo…” Gangle mewled, squeezing her zebra with all her strength.

Pomni smiled a bit. “Gangle, I think he really means it this time. You promise you won’t scare us too bad, Jax?” 

“Well I can’t promise-”

He paused for a second.

“Yeah, I promise.” 

“...Okay.” Gangle sighed. Ragatha reached a hand over to hold one of her ribbons, which she gladly accepted.

“Eeexcellent…” Jax held the light under his chin, giving a huge, jack-o-lantern grin. “Then let’s get started.”

The rabbit cleared his throat. 

“There once was a 10-year-old boy, we’ll call him Paul, that lived near a pretty big set of woods. It was meant to be cleared for more houses, but there was some sort of issue with zoning or maybe the HOA, you know how these things go. Paul’s house was right next to it, and since the city wasn’t doin’ anything with it, he decided to explore it. “Now Paul loved it out there. Even though it was only a wedge of land a little less than a mile long, he had the whole place mapped out. He knew where every fallen tree to balance on was, he knew where every gully was so he never fell into ‘em, he knew where all his favorite hidden clearings and funny looking bushes were. 

“But, like any 10-year-old, he would forget stuff out there sometimes. Nothin’ too bad at first, he’d forget a comic book out there, then find it again a few days later with spots of mold on it, or maybe he’d bring his lunchbox out there with some snacks and forget it, so his mom would have to wash it when he finally found it on a stump or something. “Now there was one Saturday, in April, where he went out in the morning to play. He had his jacket on since the mornings could still be a little bit chilly in the early spring. But, as the sun got higher in the sky, the day got warmer. So, he took his jacket off and hung it on a branch. 

“Not long after he did that though, his mom called him inside to do his weekend chores before he went over to a friend’s house, and he went running back home, leaving his jacket, forgotten, on the branch.”

There was a rumble of thunder, Jax’s smile only growing wider with a dark chuckle.

“So, he goes to his friend’s house, comes home, does his homework, plays some video games, and goes to bed. He’s got church tomorrow morning after all, he can’t stay up too late, and he’s tired. He had a busy day. So, he lays down in bed and falls asleep within minutes. 

“One o’clock in the morning. Paul wakes up and has to go to the bathroom. On his way back though, he hears a noise. He looks down the stairs to see that the front door is creaking open. No one locked their doors around here, it was a safe neighborhood. He figures it might be his parents back from some kind of get-together with their friends. But what comes inside…

“Oh, it isn’t his parents.” Jax let out another grim chuckle, Ragatha squeezing Gangle’s ribbon a little bit tighter.

“What shuffles into the house is a good eight feet tall with long, scarecrow-like limbs, covered in mud and leaves from the woods, piercing bright yellow eyes peering out from filthy, bug ridden hair. It tracks mud on the hardwood floor with every step it takes, leaving behind three toed footprints. It looks up the stairs, and it sees Paul! 

“Paul runs for his bedroom, but he can hear the creature snarl through a clotted throat and fall onto all fours, loping up the stairs far, FAR faster than Paul could run. Paul skids to a stop in front of his door, seeing the creature’s horrible eyes leering at him from the top of the stairs. He runs inside his room and tries to slam the door shut, but a hand tipped with three dirty talons catches the edge of the door before he can shut it. “It’s so much bigger and stronger than he is, and it throws the door open, slamming it hard against his bedroom wall. It has to stoop to fit into his bedroom, never once taking those awful, piercing eyes off of him. Paul falls onto the floor and covers his eyes, waiting for the teeth to clamp down on his head or those horrible claws to tear him limb from limb! “The creature reaches onto its back, pulling something off of its body. A weapon to stab him with or- “A jacket. The creature dropped Paul’s filthy jacket onto the bedroom floor with a wet flop.  

“‘Quit leavin’ your stuff on my property, stupid.’ it grunts, before turning and bowing out the door, down the steps and into the night.”

Everyone was quiet for a second before Ragatha started laughing. Gangle joined in, then Pomni did as well. Jax handed the flashlight over to Gangle and relaxed, putting his hands behind his head. 

“That was a good story, Jax! I liked it a lot better than the one about the babysitter.” Ragatha said. 

“Or the one about the dog…” Gangle said. She seemed to have surprised herself with how hard she had laughed, as she hiccuped soon after. 

“Hey now, this story has a moral,” Jax said from his reclining position. “What, respect nature? Don’t leave important stuff behind?” Zooble asked, barely interested. 

“Nah. Don’t be a ten-year-old.”  Again, there was a ripple of somewhat awkward laughter amongst the performers. They weren’t used to Jax making jokes that weren’t… cruel. Snarky as hell, sure, but these were… actually pretty funny. It was… nice to have him around. 

Pomni touched his leg. He opened one eye and glanced down at her glove, then back up at the jester. Even in the dim light, her blush was noticeable. “So what do we do now? Anyone got anything they want to talk about..?” Ragatha asked. “I dunno. I’d say we could nap, but I’m still a little wired from your tea. What else do you do at a slumber party?” Pomni scratched her cheek. “I could teach you guys how to make paper stars! Or maybe we could-”

There was a great swoosh of movement as the top blanket was yanked off of their fort. “HELLO EVERYONE! GLAD TO SEE YOU’RE DOING WELL!” Caine held the blanket in one hand and his cane in the other, hovering above the group and giving off his own light. Everyone jolted, Pomni pressing herself against Jax. Jax instinctively put a hand around her. “Well, we were …” Jax drawled. “What do you want, Caine?”

“The lights are still off… no luck fixing whatever needs fixing..?” Zooble asked. “Also, that’s my blanket.” 

“APOLOGIES, ZOOBLE! HERE YOU GO!” Caine hurled the blanket at Zooble like a cannonball, knocking them into their pillows with a shocked and incensed “OW.” 

“Caine, what’s-” Pomni noticed she was in Jax’s arms. “Uh… I um…” 

Jax looked down and smirked proudly. 

“EXCELLENT QUESTION POMNI! BUBBLE AND I HAVE BEEN HARD AT WORK TRYING TO FIX OUR LITTLE POWER ISSUE! ISN’T THAT RIGHT, BUBBLE?!”

Bubble emerged from within Caine’s hat, wearing a construction helmet and glowing. 

“We haven’t been able to fix anything!” he declared proudly.

Caine just about fell out of the air in shock, quickly righting himself. “Bubble! They’re not supposed to know that!” he whispered harshly. 

“Oh. I guess they do now huh?” Bubble replied. Caine swiftly popped him, his helmet falling out of the air and into Kinger’s lap.

“Ooh! A gift from the gods!” he declared, immediately putting it on. 

“You guys haven’t found the issue yet..? Is there anything we can do to help?” Ragatha asked.

“We? I ain’t helping.” Zooble declared. 

“I’m with Zoob. I’m pretty comfortable in this little tent. With my stuffed animal.” Jax said, patting Pomni on the arm. Pomni felt like she might explode.

“I APPRECIATE THE OFFER RAGATHA, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, THE ISSUE IS FOR RINGMASTER AND RINGMASTER ASSOCIATED ASSOCIATES ONLY!” 

“Well… what is the issue then?” Gangle asked. 

“WELL YOU SEE-”

Caine then regurgitated an enormous dump of information, enough to fill up three pages front and back. But his voice was sped up so quickly that it all flew by in a matter of about 30 seconds. 

“-BUT THAT’S THE SHORT VERSION!” 

“So… it’s gonna take a while to fix, then.” Pomni said. She was admittedly a bit happy they wouldn’t be thrown into another adventure right then and there. She was comfortable right where she was… right there next to Jax, sharing his warmth. His fur was fine yet plush, incredibly soft like that of a microfiber blanket.

“How did it happen anyway? Were you messing with the weather again?” Zooble asked.

“I PLEAD THE FIFTH!”

“Caine, don’t take this the wrong way, but… you look… tired?” Ragatha asked. 

“HA! DON’T BE RIDICULOUS! I’M THE RINGMASTER! IT’S MY JOB TO KEEP YOU ALL ENTERTAINED FOR-”

There was a deafening clap of thunder that stopped Caine’s spiel in its tracks. He looked up at the ceiling and then hung his head.

“I’m very tired.”

Ragatha smiled and got to her feet, stepping out of the now roofless blanket fort and over to the camping stove sitting on her table. She got the stove started after a few attempts, refilling her tea-kettle. The others watched her, exchanging looks. 

“Whatcha doing there, Rags?” Jax inquired uneasily.

“Caine said he was tired, didn’t he? He could use a cup of tea.” Ragatha replied, putting the kettle onto the burner. 

“Can Caine even eat or drink..? I don’t know if-ACK!”

Pomni was bonked on the head by an object that  fell from above. As it rigidly fell to the mass of cushions with a polite plop, its form became clear in the beam of the flashlight. 

“Caine dropped his… uh, cane!” Gangle whispered, putting a ribbon to her mouth in surprise.

The six performers looked up at the ringmaster. He hovered in the same spot, head still bowed. A sound emitted from his teeth, a mixture of a Dial-up computer’s startup sound and faint snoring. 

“Oh my God, he’s out cold!” Zooble said incredulously. They stood and tapped one of Caine’s feet experimentally. Not even a twitch. A huge grin spread across Jax’s face. “Let’s put his hand in warm water!” He scrambled to his feet, only for Pomni to grab one of his ankles on his way out of the fort, causing him to fall onto the floor, one leg still stuck in the fort. “Let’s not.” she retorted flatly. “Man, you suck.” Jax said, putting his chin on his knuckles in petulant disappointment. 

“Guys, we should let him sleep,” Ragatha said, dropping a tea bag into one of her China cups. “I think if he gets the rest he needs, he’ll be able to fix all this. At least give him until his tea is ready.” The other performers obliged, some more reluctant than others. Jax climbed back into the tent beside Pomni. They chatted quietly for a few minutes, occasionally glancing up to check on Caine, who remained suspended in the air like an unused marionette. Ragatha soon approached with a cup of her purple tea on a saucer. 

“Anyone want to do the honors?” she asked, looking up at Caine with an amused smile. 

“I’m on it.” Jax said, picking up a pillow. He squinted one eye to help his aim and lobbed it at Caine. The cushion bounced off Caine’s teeth, landing back on the floor anticlimactically. 

A few seconds of silence and then Caine slowly raised his head as a start-up jingle played. He blinked rapidly and looked around. “GADZOOKS! HOW LONG WAS I OUT?!” he cried.

“Couple hours.” Jax replied. This earned him a whap with a pillow from Pomni. 

“He’s kidding, you were sleeping for about twenty minutes,” Ragatha said. “But you needed it. Do you feel any better?” Caine scratched where his chin might have been. “HMM, LET ME SEE…” 

He put his hands on his hips, staring off into nothing. His eyes gradually drifted in opposite directions. “Uh…” Pomni began. “YES! I FEEL MUCH BETTER! ALL I NEEDED WAS A GOOD HARD RESET! DON’T YOU WORRY, MY LITTLE SUPERSTARS, YOU CAN REST EASY KNOWING THAT I’LL HAVE THIS STORM ISSUE FIXED WITHIN THE HOUR!”

“That’s great! But, you know? It was a fun little adventure on its own, I think.” Ragatha said. “FANTASTIC NEWS! THAT JUST MEANS I’LL HAVE TO WORK EVEN HARDER TO SURPRISE YOU ALL WITH TOMORROW’S ADVENTURE, WON’T I?!” 

Everyone winced. 

“WELL, I BETTER GET BACK TO IT! SEE YOU ALL ON A SUNNIER DAY!” Caine declared, picking up his cane from the pillows and twirling it around with theatrical flourish. 

“Oh, did you want your tea first?” Ragatha held up the steaming cup for Caine to see. “GOSH RAGATHA, I ALMOST FORGOT! THANK YOU, DEAR!” Caine hovered down and took the teacup with his free hand, pinky out.

“Be careful, Caine, it’s a little-” Ragatha’s smile melted when she saw Caine chug the entire thing in one go, tossing the teacup over his shoulder, where it shattered on the floor with a tinkly smash. 

“...hot. A-Are you okay?” 

Steam issued from Caine’s mouth, his tongue significantly more raw and red. Tears pooled in his eyes. “THE PAIN ITH ALMOTHT EUPHORIC, RAGATHA!” he lisped, pointing at the ragdoll. He then disappeared in a loud pop of confetti, a distant howl of pain audible within a rumble of thunder. 

After cleaning up the bits of broken china, Ragatha put Zooble’s blanket back over top of their fort and climbed back inside. The performers spent the next hour or so chatting about this and that. About 20 minutes was devoted to an argument over whether milk or dark chocolate was superior, Kinger rattled off an encyclopedic list of the insects he had in his collection, and Jax introduced everyone to the concept of “The Game.” It was agreed Kinger had the best chance of winning The Game given his iffy memory. 

Pomni was in the middle of reciting Pi, and was on the forty-first digit (6) when the lights weakly flashed on, turned off, then bloomed to full brightness. 

“Yaaay! We’ve got power!” Ragatha cried joyfully. 

“Aw, too bad. I was curious about the rest of Pi.” Jax drawled. Pomni blushed and nudged him on the shoulder. 

The performers took a moment to help Ragatha snuff out all of her candles and put away all the sticks and dishes they were placed on. They carefully dismantled their fort, everyone holding their respective blanket and pillows. “Thanks for stopping by, you guys. I know I said it was a slumber party, but it’s only… uh…” Ragatha checked a pocket watch she had in her dress. “1:52 PM. So I guess it doesn’t technically doesn’t qualify…”

“Hey, don’t sweat it doll,” Zooble said. “I had a nice time. Doesn’t happen very often, you know?” 

“Mmm-hmm. I would have spent the whole day hiding in bed without you.” Gangle added. She still had Ragatha’s stuffed zebra under one ribbon, the doll said she could borrow it.

“You guys, come on…” Ragatha waved a hand, her cheeks pink. “It’s no big deal, really.” 

“Give yourself some credit, Ragatha. You did the most today.” Pomni insisted with a faint smile. 

Ragatha laughed off the compliments. Even if she was being humble, it was clear just how much the praise meant to her from her luminous blush. The performers parted ways, going to their rooms to make their beds and, for some, promptly lay back down in them. Pomni rubbed her eyes as she smoothed out her comforter. That ginseng was really carrying her, and now that the last of it had passed through her brain, she was left with the combined fatigue of too little sleep and emotional overexertion. A nap would really hit the spot right now, and the dim light from the leftover storm, now not much more than a drizzle and occasional thunder, was an open invitation for her to close her heavy eyelids. Only… there was one thing she needed to take care of first.

She swallowed, feeling a spark of anxiety in her belly, but decided to bite the bullet and go for it. She crossed the hallway to Jax’s room and knocked on his door. “Jax..?” she called, too quietly to be heard. Her anxiety had a nasty habit of forcing her voice into a mumble. She cleared her throat and opened her mouth to try again, only for the door to open. Jax looked down at her and gave her a smile. “...Hey.” “Hi…” she replied with a timid little wave. “Can I come in..?” Jax moved aside to let the jester into his room. Through his window, she could see the sky was still covered in a patchy mix of white and gray clouds, puddles dotting the grounds just about everywhere. Jax closed the door and locked it. “...I’m sorry I yelled at you.” Pomni said. She put the thumb of one of her gloves in her teeth and chewed on it. “You were being an @$$, but I was out of line too.”

Jax went over to the window and looked outside. Pomni moved her teeth from her thumb to her pointer finger. “...I do still think that… You wouldn’t hate yourself as much if you weren’t-” 

“Spare me.” 

Pomni looked up. Jax was still smiling, but it wasn’t nearly as wide as before. “You’re right. You don’t have to hurt yourself coming up with a whole big speech.” Jax said, turning to look at Pomni. She averted eye contact, looking out the window instead. 

“...I won’t. But…” Pomni bit particularly hard on the tip of her glove. “You… really don’t remember?” 

Jax shook his head. “Nope. It just… exists. The feeling that I’m nothing. Worse than nothing-”

“Less than a person.” Pomni finished.  “Below zero.” 

“Yup.” Jax said. “No cure for something with no cause.” 

Jax felt a pair of arms wrap around his torso. Pomni rested her head against his side, looking out the window with him.

“That doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to make it hurt a little less.” 

Jax felt an ache in his throat. He put a hand on Pomni’s back. She didn’t flinch.

The two of them looked out the window like that for a while. Jax eventually led her over to his bed, helping her climb in and pulling the covers back.

“I figured you were tired too.” he said. 

“God, am I ever. I feel so heavy…” Pomni sighed.

Jax tossed the covers over her. He scooted up beside her on the bed, and she immediately slid up beside him, resting her cheek on his chest. His denim overalls were warm. “I had a good time with you today…” Pomni said. “Can… Can I kiss you?”

Jax was quiet for a moment. He looked down at the jester. She met his eyes. He leaned down and their lips met. It wasn’t a long kiss, or even a very good one. Pomni was off-center by a few centimeters and ended up kissing his bottom lip only, and the awkward angle made it so Jax had to crane his neck to get any reach at all. And yet, the electricity between their lips easily dwarfed any thunderstorm.

[i-have-not-slept]

Malectober Day 21: Curse

Missing scene from Queen of Air and Darkness.

——————————————————————————

The sky was just beginning to lighten from black to grey when Magnus stirred faintly. Alec was at his side in an instant, leaning over him. He’d been watching over Magnus all night, in the room they were sleeping in at the Los Angeles Institute. The demon sickness that had been sapping Magnus’s strength for weeks now was worse than Alec had ever seen it. For days, Alec had sat in this room with him, only leaving for brief intervals, watching Magnus grow weaker and weaker. Jace had sat with Alec earlier, but he had left a few hours ago, after Alec had finally persuaded him to get some rest. 

Alec had lost his father not two weeks ago. He couldn't lose Magnus. For a while, he’d been convinced that Magnus wouldn’t survive the night. Alec had cried a bit, watching  his thin face on the pillow, and tried to prepare himself to say goodbye. But against all odds, Magnus had survived the long dark night. He was still breathing. And he was waking, for the first time in more than twenty-four hours. Alec bent over him as he stirred again. He took Magnus’s hand and cupped it between both his own like he was holding flakes of gold.

“Magnus.” he whispered.

The warlock’s eyelids fluttered. He looked up at Alec, still thin and pale, but with a look of such trust and love that Alec’s heart broke. “How long was I asleep?” His voice was thin and cracked, and Alec poured him a glass of water from the jug on the nightstand. 

“Over a day.” Alec said gently. He held the glass with the straw to Magnus’s lips, regretting that it was only ordinary water and not the stuff of Lake Lyn, which would cure Magnus. 

If it arrived in time. If the Wild Hunt got through. 

He explained their plan to Magnus, who listened with his eyes closed, taking shallow breaths. Alec ached to do more to help him. If he could, he would rip out his own lungs and give them to Magnus so he could breathe, take Magnus’s sickness upon himself and make him well. 

When Alec had finished speaking, Magnus didn’t say anything, just reached for Alec’s hand. Alec took it and gripped it tightly. They sat together for a long time without speaking.

“I want to go out on the balcony.” Magnus whispered eventually. 

He was no longer strong enough to stand, so Alec wrapped him in a blanket and carried him outside. Dawn was just streaking the edge of the horizon. Alec carefully set Magnus down on a wicker sofa, and he shivered in the cold sea breeze. Alec wanted to take him back inside, where it was warm, but if Magnus wanted to be out here, Alec wouldn’t argue with him. He sat next to Magnus, propping him up and wrapped his arms around the warlock, trying to warm him. They leaned against each other, Magnus’s head on Alec’s shoulder. From this height, Alec could see across the sandy desert all the way to the ocean. In the other direction, a gold line gleamed on the eastern horizon. It was very quiet. Alec waited. 

“Alec…” Magnus whispered eventually. “If I die…”

“You’re not going to die.” Alec said instantly. “Don’t say that. Don’t.”

“I might.” Magnus said. He sounded sad, but resigned. Alec clung to him tighter, as if he could stave off sickness and death if he held Magnus close enough. “The Wild Hunt are coming with the water of Lake Lyn. They’ll be here soon.”

“I hope so.” Magnus whispered. “But if they’re not, and I start turning into-”

“Don’t say it.” Alec pleaded.

“You have to keep going.” Magnus told him. He seemed to use all the strength he had left to grip Alec’s chin and turn his head. He stared deep into Alec’s eyes. “You have to look after our kids. They’ll need you. You have to live.” 

Unshed tears stung the back of Alec’s throat. “I will.”

“Promise me.” Magnus insisted. 

“I promise.” 

Exhausted, Magnus dropped his hand and slumped against Alec. He could barely even hold his head up. “Tell them I love them.” he murmured. “Max and Rafe. Tell them.” 

“I will.” Alec whispered again. “But it won’t come to that. You’ll be okay.”

Magnus was silent for a while, then he turned his face weakly towards Alec. “I love you, Alexander.”

Alec couldn’t speak. He kissed Magnus as gently as he could, then wrapped the blanket tighter around him. Magnus was gazing at the dawn, at the pink and gold staining the sky. His face, thin and gaunt, was transformed by the golden light falling on it, becoming a thing of otherworldly beauty. Alec held him. There was nothing else he could do. They sat together in the cold and brilliant dawn, watching the sunrise, and the cool ocean wind dried Alec’s tears.

[in-my-feels-probably]

We’re Burned For Better - Chapter Two

Chapter Two

---

“I think I’m going to be ill,” Aelora said as she picked at her plate, unable to stomach her breakfast.

Aegon, on the opposite end of the table, groaned into his hands. “You and me both.”

“Serves you right.”

Aegon grumbled, his gaze cold. “Did I see a cat in the halls on the way here? Mangy little thing. Not a real looker, either. Having one eye certainly isn’t doing it any favors.”

Aegon snickered as he glanced at Aemond, before returning his gaze back to Aelora. She narrowed her eyes at him, pushing a jug of water towards him.

“Drink that, you look terrible.”

Aegon made noises of protest, but he reluctantly poured himself a cup. Aelora continued once she was satisfied with him half emptying his glass.

“Yes, there was a cat. His name is Fynn, and Helaena found him yesterday evening in the gardens. She brought him to the maesters, and then gave him to me. Your son quite liked him. I let Fynn out to explore this morning. Although I’m sure you would have noticed if you hadn’t spent the majority of your evening in Flea Bottom and then wrapped around a chamber pot. And I don’t know who you’re calling mangy, you clearly didn’t get a glimpse of yourself this morning–”

“Yes, yes, alright. We get it, you’re clever. Enough talk, my head is pounding and I can barely hold this fork.”

Aemond was still smirking at Aelora’s words, leaning back into his chair. “You could have eaten in your room. Why are you even up and in here at this hour?”

Aegon’s stare was deadly.

“Because, brother…I am expected to greet our lovely half sister and our nephews when they arrive, as are you.”

Aelora raised a brow, shaking her head. “And you actually got out of bed? I expect your Mother was all that could wake you.”

“Yes, she may have persuaded me.”

“With her hand?” Aemond jested, and Aelora glared at him.

As much as Aegon grated her patience, she would not stand for jokes regarding abuse or cruel punishment, even if they were deserved. As much as he made her want to slap him herself sometimes, she would never dream of actually doing it.

Not when he already flinched at fast movement near his face, or a too loud sharp tone.

It was clear to everyone that Alicent’s form of discipline was more often than not dealt at the expense of Aegon, this Aelora knew. But she refused to be complacent in it. Not that he didn’t deserve punishment, but there are other ways of making Aegon behave better. This, Aelora also knew.

“Aemond,” she warned, her tone frighteningly calm. “Don’t.”

“Yeah, Aemond—“

“Aegon,” Aelora said, cutting him off. He shrunk under her stare, nodding and quieting down.

Aelora smirked, pointing between the two of them. “Not today. Both of you, best behavior. If you embarrass me in front of my Mother, I’ll have both your heads. Got it?”

“Got it,” they simultaneously answered, albeit sounding displeased.

Aelora nodded, standing up from the table. “Mother is supposedly due in an hour. I think I’ll need every minute of it to keep myself from being sick. If you’ll excuse me.”

She left the dining hall, headed back for her chambers. She had been ready for hours, already dressed and prepped, but she couldn’t help but worry that she was forgetting something, or that she wasn’t presentable enough.

Alicent saved her from her thoughts, stopping Aelora just as she reached her chambers. Ser Criston followed a few feet behind.

“Your Grace,” Aelora curtsied, bowing her head.

“Hello, dear. Walk with me?”

Aelora didn’t dare deny her, nodding. “Of course, My Queen. Where to?”

Alicent tightly smiled, linking her arm with Aelora’s. She led her through the courtyard, past Aemond, who looked a bit tense at the sight of his Mother with Aelora. Neither paid him any mind, and Alicent smiled as she saw Fynn scamper past them, stopping at Aemond’s feet. Aemond bent down, petting him behind the ears, before continuing on with Fynn on his trail.

“He’s a cute little thing, isn’t he?” Alicent asked, squeezing Aelora’s arm.

“The cat or your son?”

Alicent let out a laugh, a genuine one that Aelora was not accustomed to. It reminded her of her own Mother’s, one she hadn’t hurt in months. It pained her to think of it, but warmed her heart to hear a sound so familiar. It sounded like home.

“I suppose they’re both handsome, aren’t they?” Alicent mused, watching Aelora’s face for an answer.

“I certainly think so.”

Alicent hummed, continuing towards what Aelora recognized as the King’s chambers.

“Your Grace, if you don’t mind me asking, where are we going?”

“Your Mother’s ships were on the horizon this morning, and her carriages are expected soon.”

Aelora felt her stomach lurch into her throat, willing herself to stay standing. She tried to remain composed, but her excitement was clear in her face. As well as her uneasiness.

“Nervous, darling?”

“A little, Your Grace. I haven’t seen Mother in many months, she asked me not to travel as much when the weather turned. She said it was too far a distance in unstable conditions. She often worries more than she should when with child, but I don’t dare question her. I wouldn’t want to add to her stress, so Meraxes has been flying alone recently, I’m afraid. I have received letters, though. Everyone is quite well.”

“Don’t worry, dear. You have adapted well to the city. Remember, your Mother was brought up here, it was her first home. You were raised here for a number of years as well. Everyone will settle in soon enough.”

The pair finally reached the King’s chambers, where Ser Harrold was waiting at the door.

“Ser Harrold,” Alicent started, turning to face Aelora. “He is to escort you to the gates, where Lord Caswell is waiting for your Mother and family. I am afraid I have matters to attend to, but I will be with you shortly. Please, go greet your family.”

Aelora quickly nodded, curtsying. “Yes, My Queen, thank you.”

Ser Criston guided Alicent away, and Ser Harrold came to stand at Aelora’s side.

“Come, Princess. Your family awaits.”

Aelora followed quickly behind, barely registering the trip down to the gates of the castle. It was like she was in a trance, not even noticing that she had arrived at the gates just as they were being raised and a carriage was coming through.

She was quickly guided to the top of the steps, at the entrance of the castle. Lord Caswell was in front and below, waiting in front of the carriage. One of the guards stepped forward, announcing the moment the carriage stopped.

“All hail Rhaenyra of House Targaryen, Princess of Dragonstone and heir to the Iron Throne, and her royal consort, Prince Daemon Targaryen.”

The carriage door was opened, and just like that, Rhaenyra stepped out.

Aelora felt a tear slip down her cheek, unable to stop it from falling. She quickly wiped under her eyes, trying her best to look strong for her Mother. But there was only so much a young girl could do when she was finally within arms length of her Mother again, and Aelora was sure that at the first moment Rhaenyra looked her way, she’d burst into tears.

Rhaenyra had yet to notice her. She walked onto the gravel, Daemon following shortly behind. She looked around, like the castle was an unfamiliar place to her.

Lord Caswell stepped forward, taking Rhaenyra’s hand. “Welcome back, Princess.”

Ignoring the two’s conversation, clearly wondering why someone of higher stature had not been the one to greet them, Daemon was looking around for any familiar faces. His frown disappeared when he finally spotted Aelora, his eyes softening.

Tala, he thought. Daughter.

He grinned at her, leaning down to Rhaenyra’s ear. “Come along, darling. Aelora is waiting.”

At the mention of Aelora’s name, Rhaenyra’s eyes quickly snapped to his, before she turned and scanned for her daughter. She felt her heart swell as her eyes landed on her firstborn, her only girl, who was sniffling at the top of the steps.

Their eyes locked, and Aelora couldn’t wait any longer. She pushed past her guards, clearing her throat when she stood behind Lord Caswell. He quickly stepped aside, bowing his head at her, giving her a clear view of her Mother and Father.

Finally.

Rhaenyra was glowing. She was just as beautiful as the day Aelora saw her last, although considerably more far along in her pregnancy. Her bump was now showing under her dress, reminding Aelora that she was to have another sibling. She was desperately hoping for a girl this time. Daemon stood dutifully a step behind Rhaenyra, a grin on his face.

Aelora couldn’t get out many words. All she could audibly get out was Muña, before wrapping her arms around Rhaenyra’s waist.

Mother.

Rhaenyra’s grip was fierce, her arms secured tightly around her daughter. Aelora closed her eyes, basking in her Mother’s warmth. The air was uncharacteristically cold, but Aelora was too happy to care.

Daemon grinned, wrapping one arm around Rhaenyra and the other around Aelora. “My girls.”

Aelora laughed, finally letting go of her Mother to hug Daemon. “Hello, Kepa.”

“Where are the boys?” Aelora asked, pulling back.

Rhaenyra grabbed her hand, holding it as they walked up the steps, Daemon on the other side of them.

“They’re already here. I expect they’ve gone to the training yard. It’s where they were most often when we lived here.”

Aelora groaned, sighing. Rhaenyra raised a brow, and Daemon scoffed.

“Don’t tell me you were that excited to see your brothers.”

Aelora feigned hurt, bringing a hand to her chest. “You wound me, Kepa. Of course I am. That’s not my worry, though. I expect the training yard is where Aemond has filled his time today.”

They walked through the halls together, following the guards.

“Ah,” Daemon nodded. “How is the little menace?”

Aelora rolled her eyes, ignoring the comment. “He is well. He’s grown up, I think you’d like him. He has some of your better qualities.”

“They’re all my better qualities.”

“Oh, Gods,” Rhaenyra interrupted, cutting the two off. “Five minutes together and you’re already bickering.”

“It’s with love, Mother.”

“I know. I had forgotten how much you two can carry on together.”

“You love it.”

“I love you, darling.”

Aelora smiled, squeezing Rhaenyra’s hand. “I love you, too.”

The guards led them to the King’s chambers, where Aelora had been moments ago.

Aelora rarely got a chance to see her Grandsire. He favored her, saying she reminded him of his firstborn, even occasionally mistaking Aelora for her Mother a few times. He was kind, and as good a King as she could hope for, given that he had much negative influence from the Hand. Aelora cherished the moments she did get to spend with him, since they were few and far between.

He spent most of his days confined to his bed, too subdued by the milk of the poppy given to him daily to leave his room. Aelora knew he was in pain, and it was not kind to speculate, but she couldn’t help herself. As civil as Alicent and Otto Hightower treated her, Aelora was not a fool to their plans. She had noticed the change in the castle, the Stars of the Seven plastered all over the walls. She knew her parents noticed when they walked in as well, feeling foreign in their own home.

Rhaenyra opened the door, walking in first. The room was quiet, nothing but the fireplace crackling and the gulls outside making noise. Aelora watched her Mother grimace at the sight of the foreroom, quickly walking over to the bed.

Daemon swiftly followed, like he didn’t want to be left alone in his brother’s room either. Aelora gently took his arm, standing by his side. She was uneasy as the King turned to face everyone, groggy from his medicines.

Rhaenyra stepped closer to be at her Father’s side, calling out for him.

The two quietly conversed, and Aelora went to stand at her Mother’s side, when she realized Daemon had not yet moved. She turned to look at him, seeing that he was reluctant to look at his brother.

“Daemon?” She asked softly. He didn’t move. She squeezed his arm, her tone louder. “Daemon?”

He finally looked at her, quickly turning his head so he didn’t have to see Viserys. “What?”

“Are you going to say hello? Please, come say hello. It’s alright.”

She guided him through the canopy curtains, now in full view of Viserys. He stopped a few feet away from Rhaenyra, refusing to let Aelora pull him any further. She relented, staying by his side until he was ready.

“Father…I’m here with Daemon. And Aelora.”

“Daemon?...Daemon…,” the King called out blindly, asking for his brother.

Daemon sighed, glancing at Aelora, who gave him a reassuring nod. He nodded back, and the two stepped up to stand beside Rhaenyra. He took a deep breath, finally looking his brother in the eye.

Rhaenyra helped the King sit up, resting him against the pillows.

“It has been so long.”

Rhaenyra took his hand, smiling down gently at him. Daemon cleared his throat.

“The Sea Snake has taken a grave wound in battle in the Stepstones.”

“When…we won that war years ago.”

“No…the Triarchy is resurgent. The fighting is anew. And there is a petition to decide upon the succession of Driftmark and the heir to the Driftwood Throne.”

“What?” Aelora asked, brows furrowed in confusion. She had heard no news of it, by word or letter.

Viserys sighed, painfully. “Petitions? Alicent and Otto, they see to all that business now.”

“No, brother, listen to me,” Daemon said, his tone urgent. “You are to affirm your position for Lucerys to be Corlys Velaryon’s successor.”

The door opened, disrupting the conversation. Aelora sighed a breath of relief, turning to see who had entered, when servants brought in her two youngest brothers who she had not seen in months. Being unable to travel home, she missed much of their growth, and they was so big already.

She quickly rushed over, taking baby Viserys from one of the handmaidens. “Hello, darling! Have you missed me?”

Baby Viserys happily babbled, settling into Aelora’s arms. She held him tight, following the handmaiden holding baby Aegon.

“Father, we have someone we wish to introduce you to,” Rhaenyra said, picking up Aegon.

“Father…this is Aegon.”

“Aegon,” Viserys said with a small smile.

Rhaenyra looked to her daughter, motioning for her to bring over Viserys. Aelora nodded, stepping up to the bed with her baby brother in her arms.

“Hello, My King. It’s Aelora. And this…this is little Viserys.”

Viserys smiled brighter, laughing. “Viserys. Now that is a name fit for a king.”

Rhaenyra laughed along with him, looking at her Father with emotion in her eyes. Aelora carefully handed Viserys over to her Mother, stepping back to say hello to Aegon. She ruffled his hair, planting a kiss on the top of his head, before returning to her place beside Daemon.

Viserys groaned in pain, bringing a hand up to his face. The children began to cry, and he let out a stream of half lucid apologies. “I’m sorry…I’m sorry.”

Aelora nodded, leaning down and grasping the King’s hand. “It is alright, Grandsire. They’re fine. Sit back, please.”

She helped him lay back, before turning to her parents. “Mother, I’ll make sure the boys settle in. I don’t want to rush you in here, and I’m sure you have plenty of other things to attend to. I’ll make sure they’re alright, and then I would like to go see Jacaerys and Lucerys. May I be excused?”

Rhaenyra brought a hand up to cup her daughter’s face, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Of course, my dear. Don’t be too long, I would like to spend the evening with you. We all would. Lucerys was quite excited to see you, he spoke of it all evening yesterday.”

“I am excited to see him as well. Thank you, I will return shortly.”

Aelora smiled, squeezing the King’s hands one last time, then moving to squeeze her Mother’s. She leaned up to press a kiss to Daemon’s cheek, before motioning to the handmaidens to follow her with her brothers out the door.

—

Once her brothers were settled in and napping, Aelora headed for the training yard. Her pace was quick, not only anxious to see her brothers, but to make sure they had not picked a fight with Aemond the second they had returned home.

While Aelora knew she asked Aemond to be on his best behavior, it wasn’t likely he’d actually listen to her.

She hurried to the yard, finally making it to the stairs down. A few Lords dawdled about, promenading, as well as a few squires. Those of lower stature bowed their heads as Aelora headed down the stairs, albeit giving her a strange look.

She had to admit, seeing a Princess in a floor length gown down at the training yard had to be quite the sight to see. But she did not come to train. She came to make sure her family didn’t kill each other.

A large group had gathered in the corner of the yard, her brothers in it. They were surrounding Ser Criston and Aemond, who were dueling in the center of the group. Aelora quietly approached, wanting to surprise her brothers.

She cringed as Ser Criston took a chunk out of Aemond’s wooden shield, causing him to drop it and duel with his sword.

Aelora always enjoyed watching Aemond fight. Having one eye left him at quite the disadvantage, and his fighting style was clearly trying to make up for that fact. He never let his opponent out of his sight, always quick to momentarily blind himself while swiftly spinning around, even if it meant being vulnerable for a second with his backside open. He always kept himself low and centered, with his eye on his opponent. He was quick, never in one spot long enough to where he’d be open for a hit, always watching. He would never let himself get stabbed in the back.

Jacaerys and Lucerys were in a trance watching them fight, leaving Aelora with the perfect opportunity to sneak up on them.

Leave it to Ser Criston to fuck that up. He lost the duel immediately after Aelora stood behind her brothers, congratulating Aemond on his win. Aemond turned his focus to Aelora’s brothers, calling them out.

“Nephews…have you come to train?”

They didn’t answer, making Aemond smirk. “No? Well, how about you then, Princess?”

Jacaerys made a noise of confusion, turning around to see Aelora standing right behind him, a grin on her face.

“Aelora!”

She was quickly engulfed by the two, feeling Jacaerys’s arms wrap around her shoulders, and Lucerys’s arms wrap around her waist. She laughed, throwing an arm around each of their shoulders, squeezing tight.

“Hello, Jace, hello, Luke. Miss me, I take it?”

“It was so boring without you. Gods, I’ve especially missed you in our High Valyrian lessons. I don’t know how you’re learning it so much quicker than I am,” Jace said, letting her go.

“He’s right, it has been boring. I’ve had no one to bother Jace with.”

Aelora laughed as Jace rolled his eyes, using both hands to ruffle her brother's hair. They both groaned, jerking their heads away.

“I’ve missed you, too, brothers. Sounds like I was dearly missed.”

“You should have heard Daemon. With Baela and Rhaena away on Driftmark, he was insufferable after you had left. It took Mother weeks to convince him not to take Caraxes to the city and to just let you come to us,” Lucerys said.

Aelora smirked. “Good to know I’m his favorite.”

“Yeah, as if that wasn’t clear,” Jace scoffed.

She cleared her throat. “Come, let’s—”

“Open the gate!” A guard yelled, distracting everyone from their conversations. Everyone turned to see who had arrived, and in walked Vaemond Velaryon, brother to Corlys.

The man challenging Lucerys’s position as heir of Driftmark.

Aelora narrowed her eyes, gathering her brothers together, nodding at Aemond to go his own way.

“Come on, Mother will be missing us. Oh I have something to show you.”

“What is it?” Lucerys asked excitedly as they ascended the stairs.

“A cat.”

Jace raised a brow. “A cat?”

“A cat. Did I not say it clearly the first time? Now come on, hurry up, he gets lonely.”

—

A/N - Hi everyone! Hope you enjoyed it. The next part will be partially recycled like I said earlier, but don’t worry, I’ll still make it entertaining. Thanks for reading!