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halothenthehorns · 7 months ago

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Chapter 10: MY MATH TEACHER GIVES ME A LIFT

Oh my gods does Jason get some long-overdue character development in this opening. I've only been dropping pebbles for him this whole time, and then I just drop a boulder down here. Still connected to Nico and Thalia, but hey, progress! I honestly considered making this its own chapter it got so out of hand with all I'd planned, but frankly it's not to terribly long it can't be here either. Hope you all enjoy, and many thanks as ever for the constant love and support you give this fic!

PJOPJOPJOPJO

Will counted to sixty slowly in his head to give Nico time to get wherever he was going and take a breath before getting up to go after him.

He stopped and watched Percy for a moment, hand still in Annabeth's as he gestured awkwardly to the rooms and muttered something about showing her how the fridge worked. Will considered going over and telling Percy to get his butt in on this, but he was to worried that would make things worse. Whatever Nico was so worried about, there was a nine out of ten chance it involved him.

When a tap came on his shoulder, he wasn't that surprised, but he was a bit jealous and worried as Jason stopped him. "Can I come?"

Will sighed. What was he asking permission for? He didn't decide who Nico could be friends with...he realized he'd kind of been helping as he glanced over at Alex who was watching them intently and clearly in hearing range.

"What do you think he's blaming himself for this time?" Jason asked instead when Will didn't answer.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Will sighed. He'd felt intrigued by Nico the second he saw him in here. The child of the Big Three who clearly felt out of place among his peers. It had been fun getting to know him, and yeah, he'd developed a pretty heavy-duty crush along the way.

He was pretty sure he got now where Jason's interest in Nico was, but it still didn't tamper down his mild jealousy. They could have so much in common Will would never understand about the responsibilities of their father's names.

This could be good for Nico though, he tried to muse his green thoughts away. Will always wanted to make sure Nico was okay, and he truly hoped he'd made Nico believe that by now, but it would be all the better if he felt he had more of a support system than just him and Alex who was all over the place making best buds with Percy and Thalia, and being so weirdly intense around Magnus.

"Actually Jason, maybe it would do him good if you asked?" Will nodded.

He looked surprised, a little shy for a moment maybe, but then nodded and took off. Will sat down and leaned over his couch to tell Alex, "am I being overbearing?" Trusting he'd call him out on any bullshit.

"Nah," Alex shook his head, also watching the door. "Nico would slap you if you were. Don't underestimate the fireball. He's got problems, but having a backbone ain't one."

...

"I have a deal for you," Jason grinned as he leaned by Nico on the rooftop railing. Nico didn't seem as young as Jason had once mentally deemed him. He'd relaxed some, since that first time they'd been up here. He seemed more like he was walking around glancing over his shoulder all the time instead of being up here actively waiting for someone to push him off.

His mouth twitched, but he continued looking out over the dark landscape. "What's that?"

"You tell me what you think Percy's going to kill you for this time and I'll stop him."

Nico's little snort of mirth should have been more offensive. "You have no idea what you'd even be defending."

"My problem while I hold my up my end of the deal," Jason shrugged.

Nico still didn't answer. He was fiddling with his ring absently and glancing at the door.

"Okay, let's start with something simpler," Jason sighed. "Did you actually do something wrong, or are you just worried people think you did something wrong, again."

Nico finally did look around at him with an annoyed frown. "It's not my fault the only person in there with a normal reaction is usually Magnus."

"Normal?" Jason cocked a brow. "What the heck is normal in our life? There are now four children of the big three in this place that weren't supposed to exist at all. I'm supposed to be dead. You and Percy just had a really poor lunch with a mortal who watches her son die every day. What is normal, Nico?" He sure was an evasive one, Will wasn't the only guy to notice how well Nico perfected even staying on one train of thought, let alone place. "Are you going to take my deal or not?"

"I thought you'd be talking to Thalia right now," Nico rolled his eyes as he looked back away, as if that were an actual answer. Now he wasn't even trying to be subtle. Will must have the patience of a saint.

Jason had the stubbornness of one. "I intend to, but if she comes up here I'll just ask her if she knows what's fixing to happen and hear her side, then Percy's. Don't you want yours out too?"

Will had said something similar to him too, and Nico still felt like the odd one out more than ever everybody else kept throwing advice at him like it was obvious when he seemed the only one to think it wouldn't matter. What was so different about him he couldn't even think like them?

His old jealousy at his sister flared up hard at how naturally she'd fit in with the hunters. She'd basically woken up with the worst lot in life having to take care of him and then instantly found her place only months later.

Then he glanced again at Jason, who like Will, had gone out of his way to want to learn how to play Mythomagic with him. He shook his head at himself, that he was really mad at himself he just hadn't fit in with the guy he wanted to. He'd probably be doing fine otherwise, with the assumption Percy didn't decapitate him coming up.

"I may have led Percy to the Underworld under not entirely honest pretenses," he finally sighed.

Jason studied him with interest. "To find out about your mom, right? Why would you think he wouldn't help?"

"My source wasn't reliable enough I thought Percy would trust it. He would have been right. It went, bad."

"Did you fulfill your end of the deal before it went bad?" Jason asked after only a few moments of consideration.

"No, though that part was true, I really was trying to, help," Nico sighed.

"Then it seems like they're the one who caused the problem, not you," Jason shrugged as if it was as simple as that.

Nico chuckled darkly because it was a nice delusion. "Not so much how Percy saw it."

"Ah," Jason said in a little more understanding. This wasn't a baseless fear this time. By the tense set of his shoulders, Nico obviously remembered exactly what was coming where Percy didn't. "So, is this a done deal?" Jason hoped Nico didn't think he'd missed the obvious in that Nico's source and the cause of this wasn't revealed.

Nico slowly turned back to look at him. He looked drained. "We never even agreed on our last deal."

"I'm not sitting around being worried about you being cryptic and wanting to come to camp with me?" Jason shrugged. Nico, who should have felt like an enemy more than anybody, had still been so honest with him he probably trusted him most. Nico probably just wanted a summer camp away from his summer camp or something, after all that had gone on there with his sister. "So yeah, deal," he reached out his hand to shake.

No matter how much Nico studied him for it, he couldn't find the hint of a lie in him. He shook. "Deal. You're now in two very open-ended deals with a child of Hades." He couldn't help but say it out loud to make sure he hadn't been just getting really high and hallucinating on sea-bottom algae.

"Yeah, more than Zeus probably ever bothered with your dad, I feel so special and awesome," Jason chuckled.

Then Jason realized the missing link as Nico winced.

Oh. Well. That wasn't going to be fun.

....

Thalia was at the bottom of the stairs, saving Jason the trouble of awkwardly asking her aside and wondering if she'd continue to avoid him.

She had her head bowed though, one ankle cocked against the wall, twining the links of her bracelet so hard it must be twisting her skin and hurting. The silver circlet on her head glowed in the faint light like a warning.

Nico gave Jason a questioning look and was relieved when the blonde nodded him away. Nico had more than enough of his own sibling drama he was still processing, but he would have stood there and been whatever Jason needed him to be in this, whether witness or on his side. He probably knew how Jason felt better than anyone.

"Were you going to tell me?" Jason asked stiffly.

"Yes!" Thalia instantly assured, looking up at him and clearly hurt he'd think otherwise. "I, I just wanted to figure out how, what happened. Come to you with more answers than questions."

"And our mother!" Jason snapped then, challenging her to tell anything. He felt blindsided as he kept replaying that image of her ghostly form over in his head.

She flinched, and he felt instantly like the worst person. That drunken woman who had made Thalia feel so small.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, backing down at once, taking a step back right into the wall. He was taller than her, he hated the sudden dominance he'd felt demanding answers of her, the worst of a male hero.

Thalia studied him with eyes to old for her face, same as him. She hadn't been the least bit intimidated by him. He'd just hurt her. "I wasn't lying to Percy, she did get drunk and crashed a car, I found it in an old newspaper Annabeth helped me find. I'd run away long before that happened." She bit her lip for a moment before telling him what little more she could. "You were two, we were going out for a picnic. I went back to the car for something, I was only gone a second, but when I came back she was babbling about you being taken to justify, something. I, didn't realize, until, all this," she gestured at the mess of their life in that room.

That he'd probably been taken away to the other camp, somehow. Sacrificed for Zeus having two children when he shouldn't have even had one? Justified in Jupiter abducting his child without warning to raise him however he'd wanted?

"I searched everywhere, but I, I honestly believed you were dead until we wound up in here." Thalia finished, pleading to be understood. Jason never would have suspected she could sound so vulnerable with anyone.

You're like a ghost to me, she'd once told him. He studied her with such a sharp sense, one she recognized, and it wasn't because of the coloring. Jason had spent time sizing up others, sussing out the truth. "You were waiting until Percy's life was back on course," he finally surmised, "to tell me."

She winced with guilt, again, her heart plunging. "It's not like that Jason, he's..." she fumbled off with no good justification other than what he'd given himself.

Percy was familiar, someone she had no problems being comfortable around. Percy was her friend for years, he was reliable with whatever insanity came next. Percy was a real person to her, and he was the one who needed to be taken care of.

He'd never get all that with her too if he held onto this grudge. "Well," he sighed, but offered her a tentative smile. "At least it wasn't because I'm, Roman." The word sounded strange on his tongue, it was the first time he'd acknowledged it out loud. It felt good. "Right?"

"No, it was not because of that, not in the slightest," she nodded, matching his cautious confidence. "I didn't even know that, I was only seven and barely figuring out what was going on myself." She paused with a frown, trying to dredge up memories she'd long since tried to bury. "He was different the second time he came around, Zeus- Jupiter, whatever. More straight-laced, more formal, hard to believe, I know," she smiled at his confusion of all they'd heard of him in Percy's time. "He paid me no mind like I wasn't even there."

"So we're not even half-siblings through our dad, kind of," Jason actually chuckled. "Just our mom?"

"Sure, let's go with that, if it makes you feel better." She shrugged. He'd always be her little brother no matter what side of the family he wanted to call it.

He studied her for several tense minutes before he smiled like normal again, causing his scar to flutter. "I guess it doesn't really matter, in the long run. Jupiter, Zeus, either way, he was an absent, crappy dad." His face settled into that familiar mask of confusion as he started rubbing his tattoo in irritation.

She gently touched his face, smiling as her finger thumbed the scar on his lip before she dropped her hand away with a fond shake of her head. "I can tell you one thing, if you'd like. How you got that scar."

His eyes lit with interest instantly, so she said without further ado, "you bit a stapler."

"I what?" The involuntary laugh that burst out of him sounded a tad insulted.

"I swear," Thalia crossed her fingers over her heart. "I was there!"

"All this time, all these badass scenarios I had in my head," his grin was still confused, like he was half convinced she was teasing him. "I escaped with my life by a brush of death to the face, I jumped in the way to save a friend, I got into an epic battle with a killer monster. You're telling me it's because I was to blonde to function as a toddler?"

"Sorry Jase," she crossed her arms superiorly. "I got all the smart genes."

"Ha, as if," he mimicked her pose, annoyingly taller than her by a few inches. What a traitorous little brother. "You're a tesla coil with an attitude, you steal all your strategies from Percy."

She gasped and hand pressed to her heart. "How could you betray me like that? Stabbed in the back by my own baby brother?"

Then they both started laughing, and they didn't stop for a long time.

...

"So, Nico seems different," Annabeth said as she twined a bit of spaghetti expertly against a spoon. She'd watched every exchange between them with the kind of interest she had taking in a National Geographic episode.

"Feel bad for him," Percy nodded, looking anxiously at the door, still wanting to help but more than happy to admit he'd probably make things worse. "Clearly something bad happens in the Underworld; but yeah, he's been laughing a lot with Will," Percy shrugged as he shoveled his own pasta in, not caring how it hung from his lips and chewing fast to keep talking, mostly without food in his mouth. "Don't know why they didn't hang out at camp more, they get along fine."

"Right," Annabeth said with a look at him as if fearing he were about to be clubbed over the head. She was just a little sad, and a little relieved Percy really was that oblivious to say anything more to him. Especially because Nico seemed happy talking to Will all day, so it clearly wasn't a major concern.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw no one. Then he glanced at her again, then Nico's empty seat, and froze with a meatball lodged in his throat and started coughing violently.

Crap. He hadn't once thought about Nico's crush on him since she'd been here. Should he have been like, more considerate of how he acted around her because of that?!

It didn't seem to be bothering Nico any, as he'd kept smiling along with Will this whole time, mostly, until this recent appearance.

Annabeth was smacking between his shoulders and he finally swallowed and turned back to her. He decided saying nothing was the best policy here, like Thalia had said, let Nico blab that to whoever he wanted. Percy certainly wasn't going to tell Annabeth.

The idea felt like the right sign from the universe as Nico came in chit-chatting with Magnus. He couldn't tell what about, but they were both holding food for their usual seatmates who Percy had heard snippets of some strange back and forth over color theory or something. Percy really hadn't been following. Orange was cool, why did it need a meaning?

Jason came in with his hands in his pockets but a more comfortable smile they'd seen on him all day.

Thalia at least looked less likely to pitch someone off a roof too, which was always a great relief to Percy's personal safety.

She gestured like she was asking if he was going to move his seat. He hesitated, but then shook his head and gestured to Nico.

Doing a pretty good fake smile, Thalia nodded but did a melancholy plop into her beanbag. Percy offered her his garlic bread, such a gift even she couldn't deny as she began nibbling on the knot.

Alex was more than content to wait until everyone had their fill and the general mood in the room was calm, ish.

He picked up the book with one last worried look at Nico, who had only eaten under duress of Will's striping bits of ham and cheese and feeding them to him in smaller than bite-sized pieces as he devoured his own sandwich. Alex truly hoped whatever had Nico so newly glum, it was at least the last time. He'd been through enough.

The chorus of groans around the room for the new chapter title probably amused Annabeth more than it should have. It was just, funny. That they all knew without another word this was a fury, Mrs. Dodds leaping unpleasantly back into Percy's life and probably snatching him off the Underworld ground and threatening to drop him on sharp rocks before he decapitated her again.

Instead of anybody at Camp, who would have gasped in horror and fear at the idea of a Kindly One being anywhere near their thoughts. These guys really were great friends with Percy.

We emerged in Central Park just north of the Pond.

"There would be a freaking entrance in my backyard," Percy already looked plenty grumpy. "Grover's shoes couldn't have dragged him in there first, noooo, we had to deal with every stinking roadblock and pothole life could throw at us! Does my life look like it needs the worst sewer entrance possible there too!"

Annabeth was rubbing his shoulder in commiseration and considering suggesting a better way to vent right now might be stress eating, while Nico was watching with disappointed disdain. He wished Percy had kept that to himself like he had back then, did he have to be so blatant how much he hated where Nico called the closest thing he had to home?

Mrs. O'Leary looked pretty tired as she limped over to a cluster of boulders. She started sniffing around, and I was afraid she might mark her territory, but Nico said, "It's okay. She just smells the way home."

"I mean, it wouldn't surprise me if she could be doing both," Alex offered. "Maybe when she doesn't feel like traveling she's marked plenty of entrances."

"I really hope the dryads at Camp don't revolt against her," Thalia winced in agreement.

I frowned. "Through the rocks?"

"The Underworld has two major entrances," Nico said. "You know the one in L.A."

"Charon's ferry."

Nico nodded. "Most souls go that way, but there's a smaller path, harder to find. The Door of Orpheus."

"The door of, many holes?" Magnus asked in concern.

"Or-fee-us," Will clearly enunciated. "Not orifice."

"And that means?" Magnus demanded, wanting some kind of forewarning. Regular people had many holes too, so, maybe it was just a nice, normal door?

"The darkness of the night," Nico said with a sorry smile.

"Kay," Magnus sighed. "The tunnel will be dark and creepy, what else would I expect?"

"I am not," Will pouted, causing Nico and Alex to laugh while Magnus smirked at least he'd gotten a laugh before they had to descend and he'd just pretend being an idiot was going to be the worst of this.

"The dude with the harp."

"Dude with the lyre," Nico corrected.

"Thank you Nico!" Annabeth groaned.

"It's one of my dad's signature items," Will agreed in exasperation. "Percy, you are not that bad at this, I believe in you to learn the difference."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Percy chuckled.

"But yeah, him. He used his music to charm the earth and open a new path into the Underworld. He sang his way right into Hades's palace and almost got away with his wife's soul."

"That was, sweet," Magnus said in surprise. Nice to know some of these Greek stories used these fangled powers for more than blowing up cities anyways.

"Wait for the end of it," Thalia muttered.

I remembered the story. Orpheus wasn't supposed to look behind him when he was leading his wife back to the world, but of course he did. It was one of those typical "and-so-they-died/the-end" stories that always made us feel warm and fuzzy.

"Oh, well then," Magnus sighed.

"Still one of the nicer ones I've heard," Jason offered, better than being betrayed or tripping along the way or just being trapped in an endless tunnel forever wondering for all time if it was going to work. This time it was just, human fear of the unknown.

"So this is the Door of Orpheus." I tried to be impressed, but it still looked like a pile of rocks to me.

"How does it open?"

"We need music," Nico said. "How's your singing?"

Annabeth didn't even pretend to hide her horrific face. "Please, no, tell me you didn't!"

"Gods I hope I'm never that desperate, even one of my insane plans would never work if it came to that." Percy nodded fiercely.

"I'm suddenly so, so grateful this isn't an audiobook though," Thalia nodded as she rubbed at her ears at the mere idea. While it would be nice occasionally to crank up the volume over these blabbermouths, nothing was worth that.

Will coughed and didn't say anything, which was probably the nicest thing he'd ever done in his life while the others tried their best not to laugh at the idea of everybody making a run for it if Percy ever tried to belt along at the Camp sing-alongs.

"Um, no. Can't you just, like, tell it to open? You're the son of Hades and all."

"And you're the son of an earthshaker," Alex looked at him, "just stamp your foot and use your stern, Sally voice."

"With my luck it would just create an earthquake in the city and the rocks would ignore me," Percy shook his head quickly.

"It's not so easy. We need music."

I was pretty sure if I tried to sing, all I would cause was an avalanche.

"An avalanche is what you need to happen though," Magnus said in confusion.

"An avalanche in the Rocky's too though, it just seems like to much collateral damage," Percy huffed. "Apollo's busy, I don't need him taking the time to come over and glue my mouth shut now of all times."

"I'd say you're overestimating your power, but man, after the volcano, I believe you," Alex cackled.

"I have a better idea." I turned and called, "GROVER!"

"Why didn't we ever think of that," Thalia smacked the side of her head. Even hearing the explanation in more detail wasn't going to make it feel that much better. "Just shout at him to get his butt over here. Alex was onto something with you using your Sally voice."

"Ha, ha, ha," Percy said with a smile.

We waited for a long time. Mrs. O'Leary curled up and took a nap. I could hear the crickets in the woods and an owl hooting. Traffic hummed along Central Park West. Horse hooves clopped down a nearby path, maybe a mounted police patrol. I was sure they'd love to find two kids hanging out in the park at one in the morning.

"That would just go, so not well, I can't begin to imagine all the bad of it," Magnus said in disgust. Trying to take Percy and Nico into custody, even the Mist might not get them out of what they'd do to resist. Having to call Sally down to the station, dear gods she'd just said goodbye to Percy and this was the phone call she'd get? Percy and Nico having to run, possibly shadow travel to LA, when Nico's already pretty worn out? There weren't enough warning labels for it all!

"I've been going through enough deja vu," Percy groaned, "please don't make me the star of another manhunt!"

Nico kept his mouth shut about what did happen, but he was personally pretty confident they'd have gotten out of it. He'd been avoiding people the better half of two years now.

"It's no good," Nico said at last.

But I had a feeling.

"Oh, so now we know it's going to work," Jason said in excitement. He really hoped Grover was okay.

"If it does, than we finally have our proof that Oracle has been secretly feeding Percy her mist at night," Alex snorted.

"The best demigods have a sense of these things," Annabeth shrugged. "I think it's why Percy made friends with Grover, Tyson, and Rachel immediately. Even if he had no logical reason to do so, just a part of his gut feeling on what would help him survive. I theorize it's something we inherit from our parents."

Percy grinned at her and then patted his gut in thanks. Annabeth smacked his hand and called him a seaweed brain.

My empathy link was really tingling for the first time in months, which either meant a whole lot of people had suddenly switched on the Nature Channel, or Grover was close.

"Does that Nature Channel thing happen a lot?" Thalia asked with interest.

"Often enough I finally figured it out the second time Paul tuned in," Percy agreed as he rubbed at the base of his skull. He was half convinced his whole apartment complex was secretly in on it, and he needed to drink some serious coffee to cool his brain down when it did.

I shut my eyes and concentrated. Grover.

I knew he was somewhere in the park. Why couldn't I sense his emotions?

"You never have in the past," Jason frowned. "Grover's only been able to find yours."

"It's been coming in and out a bit since I've been really trying," Percy insisted. "Not much, but it's why I'm so positive he's alive, and not just because I should be dead. It's like, if I really try and think of him, I think I know what he's dreaming about. It's usually food, but sometimes I get little glimpses of his nightmares. It's easiest when I'm falling asleep, and man was it late enough my brain thought I should be."

All I got was a faint hum in the base of my skull.

Grover, I thought more insistently.

Hmm-hmmmm, something said.

Jason looked ready to rip Percy's head off and examine it under a microscope in excitement at this development. Percy tried to subtly shift his beanbag behind Annabeth.

An image came into my head. I saw a giant elm tree deep in the woods, well off the main paths. Gnarled roots laced the ground, making a kind of bed. Lying in it with his arms crossed and his eyes closed was a satyr. At first I couldn't be sure it was Grover. He was covered in twigs and leaves, like he'd been sleeping there a long time. The roots seemed to be shaping themselves around him, slowly pulling him into the earth.

"What was Grover attacked by, and why is it the most ironic thing ever?" Jason frowned.

"Was Grover actually cheating on Juniper?" Alex gasped at him being found in another tree's roots.

"Oh am I getting to the bottom of this," Percy reminded with a frown for whatever the answer.

Grover, I said. Wake up.

Unnnh—zzzzz.

Dude, you're covered in dirt. Wake up!

"What did you think that would do?" Annabeth asked him in surprise. "I've seen Grover roll in dirt when he gets itchy and just shake it off."

"It was a pretty important detail to me, he was taking the right kind of dirt nap at least," Percy shrugged.

Sleepy, his mind murmured.

FOOD, I suggested. PANCAKES!

His eyes shot open. A blur of thoughts filled my head like he was suddenly on fast-forward. The image shattered, and I almost fell over.

Percy frowned at the amount of times that must have happened to Grover. Being dragged to the Big House by him, waking up in Polyphemus's lair, countless others he did and didn't know about. The amount of times Grover woke up still fearing for his life probably rivaled Percy's.

"What happened?" Nico asked.

The number of times Nico had watched Percy stagger like that, clutching his head in pain and confusion had become an all to common sight. It was far more times than Nico had ever seen him grit his teeth through bleeding pain in his shoulder and scowl like a warrior at his old Vice Principal. He really wished first impressions weren't so strongly fixed in him, or at the very least, he didn't still want to gently guide him to the ground and offer him his ice-cold hands.

"I got through. He's . . . yeah. He's on his way."

A minute later, the tree next to us shivered. Grover fell out of the branches, right on his head.

"Thank Athena for those horns," Annabeth smiled in sympathy. She wasn't nearly so lucky to have such shielding when it happened to her.

"Athena made the satyrs?" Percy asked blankly. He'd swear he heard once they'd been fathered by Hermes. But then wait, what was their connection to Dionysus again?

"We literally have Greek classes at camp, how are you like this?" Annabeth sighed.

"They've never tried to kill me, it's not been that important," Percy shrugged.

Annabeth opened her mouth with a very 'you-seaweed-brain' expression that probably meant she was going to launch into the exact history and detail of how the satyrs came into being with every cliff note known to man before Alex cut her off very loudly. Jason looked at him in betrayal while Percy mouthed, 'thank you!'

"Grover!" I yelled.

"Woof!" Mrs. O'Leary looked up, probably wondering if we were going to play fetch with the satyr.

"You, you mean-" Magnus tried to correct in concern.

"She always brings them back," Percy shrugged. Magnus kept his mouth shut so he could ignorantly believe he was just having his leg pulled on that one.

"Blah-haa-haa!" Grover bleated.

"You okay, man?"

"Oh, I'm fine." He rubbed his head. His horns had grown so much they poked an inch above his curly hair. "I was at the other end of the park. The dryads had this great idea of passing me through the trees to get me here. They don't understand height very well."

Jason's eyes glazed over with such interest, Nico was pretty sure he could have waved a donut around and he wouldn't have blinked. Nico smiled to himself at his endless well of curiosity, it really was great to see in someone who wouldn't go around with an 'I told you so attitude.'

He grinned and got to his feet—well, his hooves, actually. Since last summer, Grover had stopped trying to disguise himself as human. He never wore a cap or fake feet anymore. He didn't even wear jeans, since he had furry goat legs from the waist down. His T-shirt had a picture from that book Where the Wild Things Are. It was covered with dirt and tree sap. His goatee looked fuller, almost manly (or goatly?), and he was as tall as me now.

"Poor guy's finally showing his age," Thalia smiled fondly at how far removed that was from the shrimpy little thing that had promised to take them to safety. She still remembered exchanging unimpressed looks with Luke...but then Annabeth had run forward and shown him her knife and squealed with excitement that there was a whole camp of kids that both Thalia and Luke could come to.

The temptation to risk it on their own like they had been vanished. She probably did have Grover to thank for Annabeth surviving all these years and their pride not getting them all killed trying to do it alone.

"Good to see you, G-man," I said. "You remember Nico."

Grover nodded at Nico, then he gave me a big hug. He smelled like fresh-mown lawns.

Nico had never been more grateful to feel so dismissed. All Grover had probably seen was the child of Hades was back, but hey, at least he didn't get mauled by those hugs either.

"That's the thanks you get for finally finding Grover?" Alex looked so wounded on his part. "I hope Juniper at least gives you a fruit basket!"

"I'll take a gift card," Nico shrugged.

"It was a group effort," Percy frowned.

"Where is your apartment Percy?" Alex challenged. "How many times have you passed this place before Nico got you plopped there."

Percy didn't answer, and Alex nodded his point was made.

"Perrrrcy!" he bleated. "I missed you! I miss camp. They don't serve very good enchiladas in the wilderness."

"Make sure to bring that one up next time he goes on about us nature destroyers," Will chuckled.

"I did, it shut him down for like, three days, before he went on a farming rant," Percy looked so proud.

"I was worried," I said. "Where've you been the last two months?"

"The last two—" Grover's smile faded. "The last two months? What are you talking about?"

Percy sighed in understanding of that horrible feeling. He'd been experiencing it in small patches over his many quests, and now too, he realized as he glanced around. "Annabeth, how long have we been down here?"

She frowned to herself. "It was the 20th when Artemis came for me, you'd been missing over a week."

"That happened on the fourteenth, and I was dumped in here about two days later," Thalia easily kept track. "We don't seem to be skipping time down here at least."

Those missing two days made Percy and Jason exchange concerned looks though. They'd already lost their memories in that span, what else could have been done to them without having a clue before Posideon seemed to have stepped in?

They let Alex keep reading without another word, because, what else were they supposed to do?

"We haven't heard from you," I said. "Juniper's worried.

"Worried," Annabeth echoed. That small, simple little word that really did nothing to encapsulate the kind of feeling you lived with when you didn't know where someone you loved was.

We sent Iris-messages, but—"

"Hold on." He looked up at the stars like he was trying to calculate his position. "What month is this?"

"August."

The color drained from his face. "That's impossible. It's June. I just laid down to take a nap and . . ."

Jason shivered as he wondered what he'd been doing right before he vanished from the planet. He wished with all his might he could remember something, even just a hint of a voice, a feeling, but it was still as blank as ever. As awful as he felt for Grover, he almost envied the idea of having that much time sucked away from you if you still got to keep all your memories.

He grabbed my arms. "I remember now! He knocked me out. Percy, we have to stop him!"

"Whoa," I said. "Slow down. Tell me what happened."

He took a deep breath. "I was . . . I was walking in the woods up by Harlem Meer. And I felt this tremble in the ground, like something powerful was near."

"You can sense stuff like that?" Nico asked.

Grover nodded. "Since Pan's death, I can feel when something is wrong in nature. It's like my ears and eyes are sharper when I'm in the Wild. Anyway,

"You need to share your brain cell with Grover right now," Alex groaned. "You shouldn't just anyways past such an awesome detail!"

"I know Pan said to spread his message, but did Grover become like, his successor? That sounds even more," Magnus stopped with a contemplative look, "more." He concluded it just summed that up to well. "I thought Grover summoning panic was, like a one-time thing, now that Pan was released and his, his essence was supposed to be in them all or something."

"I thought I saw a little more of that mist energy go into him than us," Percy reminded with pride in every word. "Makes sense to me if Grover's like, an actual lord of the wild who can do that awesome kind of stuff but isn't a lazy rump like those old goats on their thrones."

I started following the scent. This man in a long black coat was walking through the park, and I noticed he didn't cast a shadow. Middle of a sunny day, and he cast no shadow.

"Do monsters, cast shadows?" Magnus had never thought to question that.

"Oh trust me, they do," Annabeth sighed. She couldn't believe the kind of life her cousin must have led to only ask such a thing instead of growing up fearing every movement of the darkness.

He kind of shimmered as he moved."

"Like a mirage?" Nico asked.

"Yes," Grover said. "And whenever he passed humans—"

"The humans would pass out," Nico said. "Curl up and go to sleep."

"Nico, why do you know that?" Percy looked around now when he'd been riveted on Grover before.

"I'd been keeping tabs on the gods that had defected," Nico shrugged. "I was just confirming a theory."

"That's right! Then after he was gone, they'd get up and go about their business like nothing happened."

I stared at Nico. "You know this guy in black?"

"Afraid so," Nico said.

"Know him personally, no," Nico chuckled awkwardly at so many people staring at him. "I know of him."

Annabeth smacked Percy's shoulder. "This kid doesn't have Greek classes and he still keeps up better than you."

"Yeah, yeah," Percy rubbed his shoulder as he grinned at her. "He's a genius. You'd get bored if you didn't have to explain everything to me all day."

"Not the point," she rolled her eyes.

"Grover, what happened?"

"I followed the guy. He kept looking up at the buildings around the park like he was making estimates or something. This lady jogger ran by, and she curled up on the sidewalk and started snoring. The guy in black put his hand on her forehead like he was checking her temperature. Then he kept walking. By this time, I knew he was a monster or something even worse. I followed him into this grove, to the base of a big elm tree. I was about to summon some dryads to help me capture him when he turned and . . ."

Grover swallowed.

"Grover's lucky he didn't get captured," Thalia said darkly.

"He can take care of himself," Percy said confidently. A little to much so, considering he'd found him passed out under a tree after two months.

"Percy, his face. I couldn't make out his face because it kept shifting. Just looking at him made me sleepy. I said, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'Just having a look around. You should always scout a battlefield before the battle.' I said something really smart like, 'This forest is under my protection. You won't start any battles here!'

Alex chuckled as he read that. Not because he underestimated Grover could back up that statement, but because he hoped this monster did.

And he laughed. He said, 'You're lucky I'm saving my energy for the main event, little satyr. I'll just grant you a short nap. Pleasant dreams.' And that's the last thing I remember."

Annabeth ground her teeth up in frustration that she'd have had no way to counter this even if Grover had been able to pass along this information back then. They would have been just as blindsided by what was coming because how on earth could she imagine such a scale as what they'd lived through?

Knowledge was supposed to equal strength, but this answer wouldn't do her any good, and that rocked her so much she took Percy's hand for the stability he always was.

Nico exhaled. "Grover, you met Morpheus, the God of Dreams. You're lucky you ever woke up."

"I tried to find him," Nico said sporadically, "Morpheus," he clarified. "I didn't even know Grover was missing until I got to camp." Nobody was sure why he needed to tell them that. "I wanted to study his ways, and, you know, find out how he did that and if I could replicate it." He sounded just a touch of crazy by the end as he smiled awkwardly.

Annabeth thought she got it though. Studying the tactics of the enemy could draw you in and blur the lines of what you were and weren't capable of.

"Two months," Grover moaned. "He put me to sleep for two months!"

Annabeth shivered and held Percy's hand tighter than any support beam she'd ever build. The thought still sickened her where she couldn't push it away, how long he would have been missing if whatever all this was hadn't been interrupted?

I tried to wrap my mind around what this meant. Now it made sense why we hadn't been able to contact Grover all this time.

"Why didn't the nymphs try to wake you?" I asked.

Grover shrugged. "Most nymphs aren't good with time. Two months for a tree—that's nothing. They probably didn't think anything was wrong."

"We've got to figure out what Morpheus was doing in the park," I said. "I don't like this 'main event' thing he mentioned."

"He's working for Kronos," Nico said. "We know that already. A lot of the minor gods are. This just proves there's going to be an invasion. Percy, we have to get on with our plan."

"Wait," Grover said. "What plan?"

We told him, and Grover started tugging at his leg fur.

Alex started muttering about mutiny, always having the answer dangled above his head and the constant glossing over and now even Percy was doing it.

Percy swallowed nervously who Alex planned on mutinying against, and wouldn't be surprised to find himself bound in a chair and being forcibly read to in the future too. As long as Alex put their chairs facing each other, he'd try to get through it.

"You're not serious," he said. "Not the Underworld again."

"I'm not asking you to come, man," I promised.

"I would," Annabeth and Thalia groaned.

"You should have three people, it's like a mini-quest," Jason nodded.

"Grover needs to get home and tell camp about this, we've got it," Percy shrugged without a trace of concern.

Nico smiled and tried to calm his painfully thudding heart like a monster was lurking about. Percy really didn't seem agitated at all at what was about to happen. He really hoped this time he was just being over dramatic and nothing bad was about to happen in this room.

"I know you just woke up. But we need some music to open the door. Can you do it?"

Grover took out his reed pipes. "I guess I could try. I know a few Nirvana tunes that can split rocks.

Magnus couldn't help but laugh in delight at the sudden idea of Grover going around and trying every song he ever heard on his pipes to see what would happen to nature when he did. It sounded like the best gift any kid could be given...even if they didn't all sound to great.

"I haven't heard that one," Thalia said in delight. "Remind me to ask him to play that when I see him. I'm surprised you recognize it Perce."

"I always liked their band name and know like, three songs," Percy nodded. "I have it on good authority that getting high and listening to Nirvana is roughly what I should imagine actual Nirvana to be like."

"And who's authority is that?" Annabeth asked with interest.

"I hung out with some kids on the basketball court," Percy shrugged. He'd been tempted to try a little himself, but...well, he was to afraid to let his guard down and be to lax if a monster came calling.

But, Percy, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Please, man," I said. "It would mean a lot. For old times' sake?"

He whimpered. "As I recall, in the old times we almost died a lot. But okay, here goes nothing."

Percy had meant the old times at Nancy. When he'd nearly been suspended that first day Grover came in hobbling so badly like he had two broken legs and the first thing some kid nearest him had done was trip him. Percy had shoved him out of his seat, and then raised the tray in his hand to crack it over this animal that even Rachel wouldn't start a protest for.

Grover had grabbed his wrist. He was standing on one leg and using Percy for support as he tried to quickly get his shoe on what looked like a misshapen foot, like every bone in his foot had been put in wrong. He didn't seem to care, only a terrified light in his eye as he looked all around the cafeteria and whispered at him it was okay, just step back.

He had. It hadn't felt good, but not moments later the principal came in and he and Grover had shuffled along like nothing had happened, and he hadn't even gotten in trouble that time for some reason. Percy had started to believe they'd be inseparable for life not long later.

His first best friend wasn't just some scared little kid anymore who would take that kind of abuse for the next several months, always telling Percy to stand down and it didn't matter as they swapped sandwich ingredients the other wouldn't eat and movie critics.

Hestia swam back to mind, which felt silly. As accepted as he'd always been around Grover, the goddess hadn't sent him to that tree when he needed to go home.

He put his pipes to his lips and played a shrill, lively tune. The boulders trembled. A few more stanzas, and they cracked open, revealing a triangular crevice.

"I think I need to look into this Nirvana stuff," Jason chuckled.

"Don't get me started with your taste in music," Thalia frowned at him. If her little brother listened to something like opera, she might have to brainwash him all over again.

I peered inside. Steps led down into the darkness. The air smelled of mildew and death. It brought back bad memories of my trip through the Labyrinth last year, but this tunnel felt even more dangerous. It led straight to the land of Hades, and that was almost always a one-way trip.

"Says the guy who's done it twice," Will rolled his eyes. He'd have thought Percy of all people would be slightly more comfortable going in there by now, especially with such a tour guide.

"Jumping off twenty-plus stories is also supposed to be a once in a lifetime experience, yet here I sit," Percy shook his head.

I turned to Grover. "Thanks . . . I think."

"Perrrrcy, is Kronos really going to invade?"

"I wish I could tell you better, but yeah. He will."

I thought Grover might chew up his reed pipes in anxiety, but he straightened up and brushed off his T-shirt. I couldn't help thinking how different he looked from fat old Leneus.

"They're not even the same species," Alex scoffed. "Leneus is closer to the rodentia rotund order."

Percy thought for a moment he was just being smart about his weight, but then Magnus couldn't help saying, "and Percy thought his rodent problem was bad."

Causing the laughter to double as they put together the rest.

"I've got to rally the nature spirits, then. Maybe we can help. I'll see if we can find this Morpheus.'"

"Better tell Juniper you're okay, too."

His eyes widened. "Juniper! Oh, she's going to kill me!"

"I understand the sentiment," Annabeth nodded while Percy studied her carefully. He should probably be more hopeful she stayed in the relieved part of him being alive longer.

He started to run off, then scrambled back and gave me another hug. "Be careful down there! Come back alive!"

Percy smiled and wished he could still hug him back, pull him under his arm and proclaim them inseparable.

But, they'd grown up. Grown apart. Grover had always had his own mission in life, and Percy was happy for him getting to live it. He'd love to have Grover come with him, but he didn't need it.

Once he was gone, Nico and I roused Mrs. O'Leary from her nap.

For a dog with hearing better than Grover's she'd sure tried to pretend she couldn't hear her name. There had been a lot of rump shaking and promises of treats for her to yawn with the force of a jet engine starting and her eyes to finally open and land on them without much enthusiasm for once. Guess she'd really needed that nap.

"We need to take her on more shadow travel walks Nico," Percy sighed. "Get her used to exerting that energy."

"Uh, sounds like a plan," Nico said, trying his hardest not to glance around like an idiot and ask every one of them individually if he'd really heard what Percy just said.

When she smelled the tunnel, she got excited and led the way down the steps. It was a pretty tight fit. I hoped she wouldn't get stuck. I couldn't imagine how much Drano we'd need to un-stick a hellhound wedged halfway down a tunnel to the Underworld.

"Yeah, it's, probably not a good idea to call maintenance for that," Will nodded, imagining Chiron showing up to their cabin with tools and a sigh to see her tail wagging hard enough in their door to cause structural damage.

"Ready?" Nico asked me. "It'll be fine. Don't worry."

He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

Will sighed as he glanced at Nico and Jason. Nobody had warned him what exactly Nico was so worried about, so he really hoped Jason had convinced Nico it wasn't going to be to bad.

I glanced up at the stars, wondering if I would ever see them again.

"Maybe not all of those specific stars," Thalia said oh so helpfully. "The constellations change all the time Perce."

"Child of a ball of gas, you would be the authority here," Percy smirked, leaving Annabeth once again wondering how these two hadn't killed each other locked up down here.

Then we plunged into darkness.

The stairs went on forever—narrow, steep, and slippery. It was completely dark except for the light of my sword.

Will couldn't stop a shiver he wished Nico didn't feel, but he wasn't moving away. The dungeon they were in already wasn't his favorite vacation spot, he was starting to feel more drained every day from being so far from the sun and never getting to feel the warmth of anything other than Nico. This place, so dark you couldn't see your own hand, with death on every breath. Gods he was glad Percy and Nico were doing this together to keep each other sane.

I tried to go slow, but Mrs. O'Leary had other ideas. She bounded ahead, barking happily. The sound echoed through the tunnel like cannon shots, and I figured we would not be catching anybody by surprise once we reached the bottom.

"Why would you want to?" Alex asked oh so innocently. "You're not down there to cause anybody trouble, for once. You're there to do some mysterious thing nobody seems to approve of to help you defeat Kronos, I can't see how Hades won't roll out the red carpet."

"What do you mean, for once?" Percy frowned at the completely wrong part of that sarcasm. "The last two times I was only down there for other people's trouble, not my own."

"Percy, stop talking," Annabeth said, pinching the bridge of her nose while Alex couldn't have held in his laughter in a life or death matter.

Nico lagged behind, which I thought was strange.

"The excitement must wear off after so many times down there?" Magnus couldn't help but phrase it as a question, hoping Nico would just casually agree he was bored, not...anything else.

"You okay?" I asked him.

"Fine." What was that expression on his face . . . doubt? "Just keep moving," he said.

'You will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend,' Percy frowned at the nagging voice of his first prophecy. Must just be all the bad memories and deja vu, with Luke and May Castellan's eyes, and now back here.

I didn't have much choice.

He did have a choice though, Annabeth pursed up her lips. It wasn't a good choice, but one Percy was making by taking the next step. Percy could have jumped into the ocean to help his dad win this war or any number of things to get out of the responsibility he was walking towards. He was following through on the promise he'd made to Nico, all those years ago in the forest. That this was going to end on his terms.

She glanced at Nico in surprise that he would know that now. She wondered if Nico had felt like all that greatness had been ripped away, or if he was relieved and grateful to her boyfriend for this burden.

Judging by the way he was still watching Percy's every move anxiously, she'd guess he himself hadn't decided.

I followed Mrs. O'Leary into the depths. After another hour, I started to hear the roar of a river.

We emerged at the base of a cliff, on a plain of black volcanic sand. To our right, the River Styx gushed from the rocks and roared off in a cascade of rapids. To our left, far away in the gloom, fires burned on the ramparts of Erebos, the great black walls of Hades's kingdom.

I shuddered. I'd first been here when I was twelve, and only Annabeth and Grover's company had given me the courage to keep going.

Percy's hand in Annabeth had yet been more needed as he shivered and squeezed. He'd already owed Artemis the best offerings ever for what she'd done for them on top of Mt. Othrys, now he wasn't sure what he'd have to do to repay her for this gift, but gods he'd find a way. How many lion coats would it take before that crossed over into animal cruelty?

Nico wasn't going to be quite as helpful with the "courage" thing. He looked pale and worried himself.

"Nico," Percy tried to ask in concern, but Alex ignored him and read as if an interruption was suddenly the highest of concerns in this room.

Percy sighed but let it go, even if he was tired of still, forever, always feeling like he was missing something. Hadn't his life had enough of that?

Annabeth was studying Nico just as intensely too, and Percy decided it probably was for the best. His greatest fear had already been worrying he'd kill these guys any moment, now he had Annabeth down here to protect from that too. Best not to pressure himself over a detail that had already happened.

Only Mrs. O'Leary acted happy. She ran along the beach, picked up a random human leg bone, and romped back toward me. She dropped the bone at my feet and waited for me to throw it.

"Um, maybe later, girl."

"You owe her and Cerberus so much playtime Percy," Alex groaned.

Percy half listened as Alex proclaimed he was going to confiscate the guardian of the underworld and Mrs. O'Leary and set them up on a playdate in the best dog park ever while trying to catch Nico's eyes. Nico was not obliging, and it was causing a pit the size of the underworld to form in his gut the longer he kept telling himself not to think about it.

I stared at the dark waters, trying to get up my nerve. "So, Nico . . . how do we do this?"

"We have to go inside the gates first," he said.

"But the river's right here."

"I have to get something," he said. "It's the only way."

He marched off without waiting.

"Are you hiding a secret recipe in your room?" Jason tried to ask like this was as casual as anything else they could get up to.

"Nico, I swear if you're stopping to pick up your deck of cards, I'm going to strangle you," Thalia didn't seem quite so indulgent as she looked at him in confusion. As far as she knew the myth didn't need the tear of Hades or anything else for Percy to go into the Styx, and he was already acting shifty. Something odd was going on.

Nico's throat convulsed with fright. He grabbed Will's hand and averted his eyes quickly away, trying not to look like the guilty party he was and use Will's available arm as a shield to cover up her target. Jason's deal had not applied to Thalia, and he wouldn't want it to anyways. They had enough going on between them, he'd never risk whatever friendship he might be having like that.

I frowned. Nico hadn't mentioned anything about going inside the gates.

Nico hadn't really mentioned anything at all about what was going on to Percy, Annabeth couldn't help but grumble to herself. Percy was so trusting, he barely knew the basics and was just following him blindly when he should have stopped him and demanded every step of this plan.

But now that we were here, I didn't know what else to do. Reluctantly, I followed him down the beach toward the big black gates.

Lines of the dead stood outside waiting to get in. It must've been a heavy day for funerals, because even the EZ-DEATH line was backed up.

"Woof!" Mrs. O'Leary said. Before I could stop her she bounded toward the security checkpoint.

Cerberus, the guard dog of Hades, appeared out of the gloom—a three-headed rottweiler so big he made Mrs. O'Leary look like a toy poodle. Cerberus was half transparent, so he's really hard to see until he's close enough to kill you, but he acted like he didn't care about us. He was too busy saying hello to Mrs. O'Leary.

Okay, so maybe meeting Mrs. O'Leary was the lesser of another option Magnus had never considered, as he sunk as far down in his seat as he could with dread at the excitement in Alex's voice.

Right, he was sure that would help so much when he met her. Just remind himself she could be even bigger!

"Mrs. O'Leary, no!" I shouted at her. "Don't sniff . . . Oh, man."

"For all you know that's been her life goal, to say hello to him as all dogs do," Alex grinned in delight.

"Yeah, who am I to stop an acomplishable dream." Percy sighed.

Nico smiled. Then he looked at me and his expression turned all serious again, like he'd remembered something unpleasant.

"Did I have Underworld in my hair?" Percy asked, mock ruffling it out.

Nico was now looking so intensely at the door Percy looked over and checked there wasn't a monster hanging around waiting to pounce. He was starting to wish there was. The kind of tension Nico was causing wasn't even summoning stirring shadows or icy coldness in the room like the last time he'd been really upset. This quiet acceptance of just, something bad coming, was giving Percy a nervous tick.

"Come on. They won't give us any trouble in the line. You're with me."

"Percy gets VIP with fish, Nico gets that with ghosts," Jason looked a little pouty. "What do we get Thalia?"

"Jack all," Thalia snorted.

"VIP treatment with demigods?" Annabeth answered pleasantly, batting her eyes in over-the-top adoration of her. "Even Percy can't get enough of having you around."

"Hardy har, you're hilarious," she snorted.

"VIP treatment with monsters, they come for you first," Magnus answered much more clearly, which wasn't as funny but at least made Jason smirk for a moment he'd get first crack perhaps.

I didn't like it, but we slipped through the security ghouls and into the Fields of Asphodel. I had to whistle for Mrs. O'Leary three times before she left Cerberus alone and ran after us.

"Percy's the only one with a dog too besides Cerberus," Alex was clearly over there more invested in his monster dog park idea than whatever he was supposed to be reading. "Hey, who's been looking after that dragon? I didn't hear about Reid, maybe they'd like to go! And Peleus!"

"Um," Will rubbed awkwardly at the back of his head as he realized he was expected to answer. "The, dragon, Reid, is um, currently ill-disposed and down for maintenance?" He really didn't want to say any more than that. Beckendorf had been doing the majority of the work on it in whatever spare time he had that wasn't helping Percy, or the camp. Which wasn't a lot. Nobody had been fool enough to keep trying in recent times with him gone.

Annabeth was distracted from adding what little more she could, in that she'd been scouring Deadelus's laptop for answers on rogue automatons also in-between said madness and the project had pretty much come to a halt with her Olympian designs taking precedence; as she watched Magnus. Just smiling at Alex like a complete dope, like seeing him be in his own little world over there was the best thing he'd ever do with his time.

Ah. Her poor cousin. She wondered how long they'd known each other.

We hiked over black fields of grass dotted with black poplar trees. If I really died in a few days like the prophecy said, I might end up here forever, but I tried not to think about that.

"Oh, yeah, thanks man, just leave us to think about it," Jason frowned.

"It's not my fault you guys won't get out of my head," Percy shrugged.

Nico trudged ahead, bringing us closer and closer to the palace of Hades.

"Hey," I said, "we're inside the gates already. Where are we—"

Mrs. O'Leary growled.

For the first time in this room, Alex gave something resembling a nervous laugh. "Well Percy, what else was inside the gates aside from the palace? I know you're not as dense as this pressure," he waved his hand around the room in a really poor showing because it was perfectly normal.

Magnus was now looking restlessly between Nico and Percy. Yeah, Alex knew full well something was about to happen and hadn't asked the more obvious question on purpose. What would Percy's dog growl at down there? She'd either think it a friend of the Underworld like her or...or? An enemy Nico had walked them right into?

Like his old math teacher.

A shadow appeared overhead—something dark, cold, and stinking of death. It swooped down and landed in the top of a poplar tree.

Unfortunately, I recognized her. She had a shriveled face, a horrible blue knit hat, and a crumpled velvet dress. Leathery bat wings sprang from her back. Her feet had sharp talons, and in her brass-clawed hands she held a flaming whip and a paisley handbag.

"Can you believe Sisyphus thought I looked like that?" Percy jabbed his own chest. "Come on, I don't plan on having wrinkles like that until I'm my mom's age, and don't get me started on how bad I'd be with a whip as a weapon."

Annabeth was once again looking at him with the unsettling feeling of a gag gone over her head, and nobody else could even crack a smile. They were to busy looking from Nico to Percy in true confusion what this was.

"Mrs. Dodds," I said.

"Who is she married to exactly?" Alex asked as he looked up from the book and Percy's title for her. "One of the other fury's? Secret affair with Ares too?"

"Gods we've got to find a way to sedate him one of these days or I'm going to have a panic attack," Jason groaned as he rubbed his forehead in pain.

Alex looked at him in delight for the mock threat. "Come on Jason, you know you want to get in on this! I'm sure there's some god out there only you're privy to who would love to be the Mr. Dodds Fury."

"Make it stop," Jason grinned back, pitching his voice to a whiny toddler poorly.

"I will when somebody gives me a good answer on who this knitting, whip lashing, math teacher is married to," he insisted, now hugging the book close to his chest.

"Secret drunken night with Chiron nobody's ever tried to fix," Nico happily jumped into the fun kind of trama as the Campers looked at him in horror. "The grounds originally started as a monster retiring home and that's where they met."

Alex laughed in delight, the evil kind where lightning should have been flashing behind his head. Nico had rarely felt so proud of himself as getting Alex to laugh like that.

She bared her fangs. "Welcome back, honey."

Her two sisters—the other Furies—swooped down and settled next to her in the branches of the poplar.

"You know Alecto?" Nico asked me.

"If you mean the hag in the middle, yeah," I said. "She was my math teacher."

Nico nodded, like this didn't surprise him.

That his father had kept an eye on Percy. Not in the slightest. That his dad had sent his most trusted minion. Obviously. That Alecto had disguised herself as a math teacher, the worst of those infernal school subjects. Please.

He looked up at the Furies and took a deep breath. "I've done what my father asked. Take us to the palace."

"You're father-" Percy yelped.

"Oh gods, Nico, what did you do?" Thalia groaned, covering her eyes and really not wishing to see the rest.

Annabeth jumped out of her beanbag, her shriek nearly to loud for their ears to hear. "Nico!"

Jason opened, then closed his mouth as Nico gave off the embodiment of a hotdog on Mrs. O'Leary's radar. "I never said I'd protect you from her," he protested.

"Hey, chill princess," Alex leaned forward threateningly in his seat.

Annabeth had already taken a stalking step forward and was gesturing at Percy like a lost lamb. He was reaching for her hand she'd dropped with a very mingled look of anger and terror as he looked everywhere but at the son Hades-

A sharp, piercing noise ripped through the ocean, burning their eardrums and quite possibly stopping everybody on this half of the continent in their tracks.

Will was still sprawled out in place, looking grumpier than Annabeth had ever seen him as he lowered his fingers from his mouth to say, "jeez Annabeth-"

But her face had gone stark pale, and Percy had his arms wrapped around her as his worst fear was confirmed by the sudden storm of bubbles in the room that seemed to make the walls themselves throw out tendrils of power and shadows in his presence.

Seven yelps of fear accompanied Oceanus's sudden dominance of the room as he glowered down at Annabeth, like a spotlight of darkness overshadowing everything.

"Don't. You. Dare." Percy growled, his arms a vice like shield as he glowered up at him. If the Titan had thought he'd been a problem child before, he'd be in for a world of trouble if he dared to snap her out of here. Alex's hand twitched in place to grab his garrote and hold the Titan down if necessary.

Thalia was right beside him, her hands crackling with electricity like a killer night-light in the dark room, she was one finger away from bringing out Agies.

Jason watched Oceanus rub his temples, studying every crinkly line they made into his dense, turquoise skin, like the world's oldest sea turtle. He looked near tears with exhaustion. He was in disturbing lionfish toga pajamas that had an uncomfortably un-done belt hanging on by a thread.

"What, in Gaea's name, is it going to take to shut you kids up?" He sounded truly drained. Magnus almost would have felt bad for him if they weren't being held prisoner.

Nico expected Percy and Annabeth to throw him under the bus any word. His eyes were out of focus, his lips pursed tight as he looked dead ahead, a bead of sweat coming down his brow as he could only imagine where he'd end up. It would almost be a relief to get away, even to worlds unknown.

Annabeth slowly lowered Percy's arms as if staring down, well, the ocean itself, as she knelt into a bow. Her voice was firm, but clearly apologetic as Percy remained standing over her, sword in hand to make sure Oceanus thought twice about moving his hands. "My apologies, I know we can get out of hand. I assure you I've gotten designs started in my head, and there will not," she threw a scowl at the darkness where Nico last was, "be another interruption."

He sized her up, then looked around at all of them, his filmy eyes sunken so far into his head they vaguely wondered if they were going to vanish altogether soon. It didn't stop him now from seeing each of their mouths was very firmly shut with fear.

He made a harumph noise, like every grumpy old person Percy had ever met when they were told they couldn't stack coupons at an early bird breakfast. He scowled, "one more chance, half-mortals, or my deal with Posideon is off! You can all rot in whatever Hera has planned for you, and be damned what that puny god wants to say to me about it."

Swirling out of there with several loud mutters about, "lucky for Tethy's soft side-" there was painful silence for five seconds.

Then Nico released a massive breath and started coughing as Will popped back into existence through the bend of night, the dim lighting returning the room back to normal. He instantly started rubbing Nico's back with a look of concern, murmuring to him for deep breaths.

"That was so cool," Magnus couldn't stop blinking, it looked painful.

"Thanks," Nico rasped, his chest hurting with every breath. Gods he wished he could figure out how to breathe while doing that!

"What, did you just, when did you, how did you-" Jason was looking from Will, shaking himself but looking unharmed, to Nico who hadn't released his vice-like grip on him.

"I'll get some water," Alex promised, getting up, going slightly cross-eyed because they were surrounded by water.

"No, it's horrible for people who are choking to drink-" Will started.

"Don't change the subject!" Annabeth snarled through gritted teeth, her low voice the deep silence of a predator about to pounce. "You could have gotten him killed! What deal did you make with Hades!"

Nico's eyes were still a little off with pain as he tried to focus on her through his burning lungs. Her words stung worse, but it wasn't unexpected of everyone at camp always assuming every deal came with death when it came to him and his dad. He looked instead at Percy. "Never," gasp, "hurt you," gasp, "on purpose."

He looked spent, but still half considering leaping over the back of that couch and fleeing for his life while his eyelids drooped with exhaustion.

It instantly broke Percy out of his anger. He didn't want to be feared. He'd never wanted anyone to see him as a bully, throwing his weight around against someone smaller than him. Even if Nico hadn't brought up his own crush, Percy instantly couldn't hold on to his own temper no matter the sting of betrayal from someone he'd really hope could one day be his friend.

"Annabeth," Percy firmly took her hand again. "I know, okay, I'm sorry I keep getting kidnapped by gods and vanishing." His temple pulsed with a new pain he didn't understand why, he had a bad feeling about whatever Hades was going to do to him made this situation down here feel a little to familiar. He stood up and took her other hand, begging for her full attention while she kept glowering at the other dark-haired punk. "Hey," she finally looked at him, anger now wavering with desperation as her storms chased his. "I promise, I'll never leave you again."

She made a strangled noise, suppressing a mingled yell of to much as she threw her arms around him. She was shaking as badly as Nico as Percy supported most of her weight to his beanbag where she sagged down mostly into hers but still half on him very awkwardly with her weight sort of hanging in the worst possible non-space between the two cushions.

"You're my lifeline," he whispered into her ear as her hands tightened on his back, only one spot felt painful for some reason as her nails dug in like hooks, his whole body was tingling with her arms around him. "I'm always going to get out of whatever madness this is for you, I swear." He'd swear it on the styx if he didn't fear the rumbling thunder to vow his words in place. He would the second they got out of this.

She nodded and tried to catch her breath while Nico finally managed the same, rubbing his sternum with his knuckles and eyes still on the floor.

"Quick thinking Nico," Percy applauded over her shoulder, rubbing her back.

"Thanks," he nodded, his eyes still trying to fall closed without his permission, but snapping back to meet Percy's. "Please don't ask me to do that again in the next wee-" he yawned so hard it might draw Oceanus back. "Don't even think about it Will," he managed, rubbing stubbornly at his eyes so much he was seeing spots as Will opened his mouth. "I want to get this over with, we're barely into this one and we're not stopping for the day on my account."

"You should at least eat something," he insisted.

Nico wasn't going to argue that point and slumped against the armrest as Will squeezed his hand and went off.

By the time he came back with a tray of fruit parfaits for everyone, and the largest heaping helping for Nico, Annabeth had calmed down and was stirring her's moodily and tentavily eating it with everyone else.

"How's your shoulder?" She asked Will, her tone as apologetic to him as it had been the Titan's.

"Forgot all about it," Will chuckled, rotating it obviously. "Godly food is great like that."

Nico was looking in confusion between the two but decided he didn't want to know as he savored every bite. He somehow managed to finish his first to his surprise, and he wasn't fighting against every blink anymore.

Alex gently picked the book back up like an unfinished mold as she glanced moodily around at the walls as if daring Oceanus to interrupt her again. She fully believed the eight of them were incapable of finishing this book without another outburst, they were human!

Annabeth was clearly thinking the same thing as she set her empty cup down. She watched it whizz into the trashcan with a still dark face, but spoke to the room at large in a modulated voice she'd perfected years ago, being the head of her cabin at twelve. "I know that last one was rough, but guys, the next time someone in here needs a yell, start with screaming into a pillow. We can't afford to anger him like that again until Percy and Jason get their life back."

"Sorry," Will said, probably not as much guilt as he should have felt at all of them nearly getting snapped away by a Titan for distracting Annabeth's death glare. "That was my bad guys."

"There was no way he wasn't going to show up with that one, not how pissed off somebody was," Percy said with a look at Annabeth.

There were nods of agreement and some mutters, but nobody really felt like that was going to fix this. It was certainly not Annabeth's most well-constructed plan, showing just how tired she must be.

Alex didn't keep reading though. Magnus was signing something to her. Who was using she/her pronouns. Magnus had just asked her something while signing at his chin, which he'd explained very early on was the female denotation...it caught her so off guard she didn't even register what he was actually trying to say.

"Alex?"

She heard her name and finally snapped away from looking at his sweet, concerned face with no clue what was going on. "It's she/ her pronouns," she said like someone had punched her in the ribs before she started reading, only vaguely hoping Annabeth had been done talking.

I tensed. "Wait a second, Nico. What do you—"

"I'm afraid this is my new lead, Percy. My father promised me information about my family, but he wants to see you before we try the river. I'm sorry."

Annabeth's hands were still tense like she wanted to wring Nico's neck right along with him. Percy jiggled his fingers against hers until she slowly relaxed and let his hand back in. While he understood every thought racing through her head, he almost couldn't blame him now that he'd taken a moment. Wouldn't he do the same to learn anything about his past?

Not make a deal with Hades!

His dad had apparently made a deal with a Titan on his behalf to get him in here though, out of whatever scheme another god had planned for him. Nothing really felt like a good answer right now in all the meddling they lived through.

"You tricked me?" I was so mad I couldn't think. I lunged at him, but the Furies were fast. Two of them swooped down and plucked me up by the arms. My sword fell out of my hand, and before I knew it, I was dangling sixty feet in the air.

Will winced at Percy actually making a move like that. Percy had never hurt another person though, Will really didn't want to believe he'd do more than shove Nico to the ground like he had Leneaus.

There was an edge to his thoughts though, one that stemmed from to many of his siblings dying and being able to do nothing to stop it. If he had to step between Nico and Percy, or the entirety of Mount Olympus to make sure Nico felt safe, he would. Nico deserved to have someone in his corner who would never hurt him, which now he couldn't even claim in Percy. He didn't know how, hiding him under his bed probably wouldn't work, but he would. If Nico could make a wall of shadows to hide someone, maybe he could do the same with sunlight?

For now, he tapped Nico's arm so that he could mouth, 'gods' at him. He felt over his head at just the idea of what Nico must have been going through. The only friend he'd had at the time being dangled by his father to know about his own past.

Nico gave him a grateful smile. He had no clue how he'd gotten so lucky, but he was probably indebted to Posideon apparently for all this.

"Oh, don't struggle, honey," my old math teacher cackled in my ear. "I'd hate to drop you."

"Would she though?" Thalia bravely offered the first comment as if nothing had happened. She looked pretty peeved at Nico too, but at least she had a fearless attitude in the face of death about it. That titan couldn't make them shut up, just quiet down.

"You know Thalia, I don't think she would," Alex was right there with her nodding.

Percy shook his head affectionately as he looked between them. "Glad you two are having fun."

"I'm on vacation," Thalia agreed, a really miserable one she couldn't book the first flight out of, but an enforced period of leisure all the same. She'd dealt with worse monsters than Oceanus.

"I'm always having fun," Alex chuckled.

Mrs. O'Leary barked angrily and jumped, trying to reach me, but we were too high.

"I was half convinced she was going to rip one of their wings off," Magnus admitted, the mental image making him piss a bit. It certainly scared him more than a pissy Titan Percy and Annabeth could stare down.

"I'll tie a cape on her later and play the theme for super-dog, just for you," Percy grinned.

"Tell Mrs. O'Leary to behave," Nico warned. He was hovering near me in the clutches of the third Fury. "I don't want her to get hurt, Percy. My father is waiting. He just wants to talk."

"If my dog gets hurt because of this shit you pulled-" Percy stopped himself by sheer stubbornness against himself, to close his mouth and turn his scowl away. He really couldn't guess what Nico cared about anymore besides himself. He was positive Mrs. O'Leary was one of them though with the way he smiled upon seeing her no matter how many times they'd approached her that day.

I wanted to tell Mrs. O'Leary to attack Nico, but it wouldn't have done any good, and Nico was right about one thing: my dog could get hurt if she tried to pick a fight with the Furies.

Jason was still looking sadly between Nico and Percy. He couldn't believe how fast Percy had turned on him, in what was clearly a complicated situation.

He was also extremely relieved Percy hadn't the chance to react to badly in here. He hadn't wanted to actually hold him back from attacking him, even if he would have.

He would have used Thalia as a human shield to deal with Annabeth in a pinch.

I gritted my teeth. "Mrs. O'Leary, down! It's okay, girl."

She whimpered and turned in circles, looking up at me. "All right, traitor," I growled at Nico. "You've got your prize. Take me to the stupid palace."

What would she have done to get Percy back? The dark thought kept circling Annabeth's mind at the blind vow she'd made to Artemis. What if the goddess asked for Chiron's head? What if she'd asked her to drag Thalia into the den of a monster but made her swear not to tell, for whatever reasons a god's will was.

She kept forcing herself not to shoot murderous looks at Nico. She probably owed him an apology too she didn't feel right now. It was only partially his fault he'd triggered every abandonment issue she had in this stupid, ill-timed stunt.

But it hadn't lasted, she kept reminding herself as she held her lifeline's hand tight, their fingers entwined in a pattern only they felt. He'd come back.

Alecto dropped me like a sack of turnips in the middle of the palace garden.

"Because if she'd dropped you gently, we'd know something unfortunate was fixing to happen," Alex rolled her eyes.

"Pretty sure something unfortunate did happen anyways," Magnus muttered. No way did Percy get in and out of this without more problems with the way it was already starting.

It was beautiful in a creepy way. Skeletal white trees grew from marble basins. Flower beds overflowed with golden plants and gemstones. A pair of thrones, one bone and one silver, sat on the balcony with a view of the Fields of Asphodel. It would've been a nice place to spend a Saturday morning except for the sulfurous smell and the cries of tortured souls in the distance.

"It's called decorative feng shui Percy," Alex helpfully informed him.

"It's called creepy," Percy told him flatly.

Skeletal warriors guarded the only exit. They wore tattered U.S. Army desert combat fatigues and carried M16s.

The third Fury deposited Nico next to me. Then all three of them settled on the top of the skeletal throne. I resisted the urge to strangle Nico. They'd only stop me. I'd have to wait for my revenge.

Nico rubbed the side of his neck and winced. He kind of regretted not waiting, like, at least an hour before he'd come to rescue Percy.

For all he knew though, maybe those thoughts would have escalated to something more creative, so, it might have all worked out for the best.

Assuming Percy's inner demon didn't make a comeback in here.

He wasn't real convinced of that yet.

I stared at the empty thrones, waiting for something to happen. Then the air shimmered. Three figures appeared—Hades and Persephone on their thrones, and an older woman standing between them. They seemed to be in the middle of an argument.

"—told you he was a bum!" the older woman said.

"Mother!" Persephone replied.

"We have visitors!" Hades barked. "Please!"

"Because this is really the scene I'd hoped to walk in on," Nico groaned like he was just as unhappy about all this as Percy was, which seemed unlikely judging by the fact he was supposedly about to get his answers, the little squit!

Hades, one of my least favorite gods,

"Why?" Magnus asked blankly like he hadn't been here for Percy's entire ordeal of a life up until now. "You've had far worse problems with, like, the rest of them!" Between Zeus, Aphrodite, and Ares actively causing problems and Heaphastus sending him off to his unwitting doom, not to mention Hermes now waving a red flag over Luke's life; Hades seemed like a minor inconvenience considering all he'd done to Percy was give back his mom.

Well, that taking her would rank higher than the rest, Magnus decided he'd answered his own question, which was a good thing, because Percy clearly wasn't going to oblige as he just looked at him with a raised brow.

smoothed his black robes, which were covered with the terrified faces of the damned.

Alex cleared her throat as she looked around at Annabeth with a casual smile. Annabeth wasn't fooled, those heterochromatic eyes flashed to easily between mayhem and mischief to believe she'd settle on merry after what just happened. "One of Percy's first thoughts upon meeting him was to wonder what horrible thing someone would have to do to get woven into Hades's underwear?"

Percy didn't even bother to call Alex a traitor this time, mostly because he wasn't sure he wanted to sit around and hear theories on an answer as Annabeth gave Percy an affectionate, exasperated look. She'd long since accepted his train of thought had no tracks.

He had pale skin and the intense eyes of a madman.

"Which I am so glad Nico didn't inherit," Jason shrugged. "Apparently his kids get a bad enough rep."

Will kept to himself he hoped that wasn't Jason's subtle way of thinking Nico was much more of a looker assumedly taking after his mother, because he was now.

"Percy Jackson," he said with satisfaction. "At last."

Queen Persephone studied me curiously. I'd seen her once before in the winter, but now in the summer she looked like a totally different goddess. She had lustrous black hair and warm brown eyes. Her dress shimmered with colors. Flower patterns in the fabric changed and bloomed—roses, tulips, honeysuckle.

The woman standing between them was obviously Persephone's mother. She had the same hair and eyes, but looked older and sterner. Her dress was golden, the color of a wheat field. Her hair was woven with dried grasses so it reminded me of a wicker basket. I figured if somebody lit a match next to her, she'd be in serious trouble.

"Because that's the first thing you should think when seeing a god," Thalia still somehow managed to sound surprised and exasperated at him all this time later.

"The gods perception of me hasn't changed, why should mine to them," Percy grumbled.

"Hmmph," the older woman said. "Demigods. Just what we need."

Next to me, Nico knelt. I wished I had my sword so I could cut his stupid head off. Unfortunately, Riptide was still out in the fields somewhere.

Will was like, ninty percent sure Percy didn't mean it, not the same guy who hesitated to kill Ethan, repeatedly, and still couldn't unsee Luke in Kronos's new face; but he gave him a look of distaste anyways for the uncalled for violence. So far Nico hadn't gotten anybody hurt in the slightest and had given Percy a valid enough reason he should at least be pissed instead of murderous.

"Father," Nico said. "I have done as you asked."

"Took you long enough," Hades grumbled. "Your sister would've done a better job."

Alex choked like she'd just read that while someone punched her in the throat.

"You know what, I take it back," Will said venomously. "Someone in there does deserve a beheading, but at least it's the god who can grow his useless mouth hole back."

Nico still flinched under Will's arm. He wished he'd forgotten this was coming in the mess of everything else, but honestly that still hurt as bad as the second time, and fifth time, and every time he'd said it to him. His father obviously approved of Bianca abandoning him and growing stronger with the Huntresses. Maybe he had some grand idea about taking her away from Artemis and breaking her vow so that she could grow to be the greatest child of Olympus and fulfill the prophecy instead of Nico's useless butt.

Jason was rubbing his own heart like he felt that one personally, and Thalia winced as she guessed he would. Zeus, or Jupiter, whatever, had shown some pretty obvious favoritism from his perspective, or lack thereof.

Nico lowered his head. If I hadn't been so mad at the little creep, I might've felt sorry for him.

Magnus could barely give Percy a, well at least you tried, grimace. This really was just a sucky situation, period.

I glared up at the god of the dead. "What do you want, Hades?"

"To talk, of course." The god twisted his mouth in a cruel smile. "Didn't Nico tell you?"

"So this whole quest was a lie. Nico brought me down here to get me killed."

"Oh, no," Hades said. "I'm afraid Nico was quite sincere about wanting to help you. The boy is as honest as he is dense.

"So, you're not very honest?" Alex looked around in mock confusion. "What a weird way to phrase that, I wouldn't even think Hades would consider that an insult."

"Ha, ha," Nico said with a smile tugging at his lips he couldn't help but feel.

I simply convinced him to take a small detour and bring you here first."

"Father," Nico said, "you promised that Percy would not be harmed. You said if I brought him, you would tell me about my past—about my mother."

Queen Persephone sighed dramatically. "Can we please not talk about that woman in my presence?"

"Then why did she come?" Thalia asked with blatant disgust. She still hadn't forgiven her for turning her bow into honeysuckle.

"So Hades couldn't escape hearing more of that riveting argument," Percy reminded distractedly, not that she'd needed the reminder. She obviously just wanted to complain about everything going on in the Underworld right now, a common theme.

"I'm sorry, my dove," Hades said. "I had to promise the boy something."

'Something,' Alex didn't like the sound of that. Like Hades might even lie about Nico's mother because he'd had to tell him something.

The older lady harrumphed. "I warned you, daughter. This scoundrel Hades is no good. You could've married the god of doctors or the god of lawyers, but noooo. You had to eat the pomegranate."

"So, like, this entire immortal family is kind of garbage, huh?" Magnus frowned.

"Good of you to finally catch on," Thalia rolled her eyes. There were some major exceptions, but nobody was really crying out in distress anymore at now everybody just casually mouthing off to gods.

"Mother—"

"And get stuck in the Underworld!"

"Mother, please—"

"And here it is August, and do you come home like you're supposed to? Do you ever think about your poor lonely mother?"

Annabeth was still in a pretty bad temper and wanted to hurl some corn at her. Did she ever think of any children except her special extra favorite? While Katie Gardner busted her back every day looking after all of Demeter's other children!

"DEMETER!" Hades shouted. "That is enough. You are a guest in my house."

"Oh, a house is it?" she said. "You call this dump a house? Make my daughter live in this dark, damp—"

Nico couldn't help but watch Will, just to see if he agreed with any part of that. Even he knew some of the most common dating around camp came from kids of Apollo and Demter's offspring, they usually had so much in common.

Will still looked more like he was trying to add up how much a never-ending marching band would cost him to run through Hades's domain to get a good read. Grumbling all kinds of unpleasantries about disturbances and noise complaints. Well, Will obviously could be an expert on that if he put his mind to it.

"I told you," Hades said, grinding his teeth, "there's a war in the world above. You and Persephone are better off here with me."

"Aww?" Magnus couldn't help the surprised, sweet noise. How did Hades go from a useless ass dirt sperm donor one moment to someone who clearly cared about his family the next? It was kind of sickening and hopeful all at once, to think he'd be capable of apologizing to Nico, to clearly not caring.

"Hades is getting more visitors to his life this day than he's ever had in, like, millennia. No wonder, he's a shit hoast apparently," Will said as if the world's biggest problem right now really was there weren't enough hors d'oeuvres around.

"Excuse me," I broke in. "But if you're going to kill me, could you just get on with it?"

Annabeth smacked him upside the head.

"I'm not sorry," Percy shrugged.

"Of course you're not," she sighed.

"You know I have a problem waiting around," he insisted.

"I know," she groaned.

All three gods looked at me.

"Well, this one has an attitude," Demeter observed.

"Indeed," Hades agreed. "I'd love to kill him."

"Father!" Nico said. "You promised!"

"Husband, we talked about this," Persephone chided. "You can't go around incinerating every hero. Besides, he's brave. I like that."

"I guess she's not mad about me threatening to throw her in the Lethe anymore?" Percy raised a brow in disbelief.

"Honestly Percy, I'm more surprised if she remembers you after you finished running her errand," Thalia scoffed.

Hades rolled his eyes. "You liked that Orpheus fellow too. Look how well that turned out. Let me kill him, just a little bit."

"As long as he promises to bring you back," Annabeth said dead pan.

Nico choked in surprise while Percy snorted with laughter. She managed a half-hearted smile while the boys full-blown grinned. It was nice she could turn around and laugh about this, even a little in mocking.

"Father, you promised!" Nico said. "You said you only wanted to talk to him. You said if I brought him, you'd explain."

Hades glowered, smoothing the folds of his robes. "And so I shall. Your mother—what can I tell you? She was a wonderful woman." He glanced uncomfortably at Persephone. "Forgive me, my dear. I mean for a mortal, of course.

Percy said a few foul mothed things about how his mother could kick Persephone's ass with a cookie sheet, but Nico was to distracted to hear it. At least now he could recall with vivid clarity a memory taken away. How Hades had adored Maria and offered her a palace in the Underworld. It had seemed like more than just a fling he'd gotten over all these years later. What better outcome was there? His stepmother never would have let them live anymore than Zeus if it wasn't for time passing on and all of them losing interest in the matter, some to more degrees than others.

Her name was Maria di Angelo. She was from Venice, but her father was a diplomat in Washington, D.C.

Alex spluttered in a painful sounding laugh. "Why is that the most perfect thing I've ever heard for Hades? Attracted to a woman with a stereotypical temper in the middle of snake central, it's so perfect I swear I'm going to die."

"Don't," Nico advised. "My dad won't let you off for his good taste in women."

That's where I met her. When you and your sister were young, it was a bad time to be children of Hades.

"Was it ever a good time?" Jason mock whispered.

"I seem to be fairing in the scraping by camp, as opposed to my other abundance of siblings," Nico said, dower sarcasm as far as the ear could hear.

World War II was brewing. A few of my, ah, other children were leading the losing side.

There was something really messed up in that Alex packed a wallop into reading. Hades knew he was losing a war his own children were in. Was he even referring to his half-blood children right there? It was kinder to assume not, but with the gods, it was hard to tell.

I thought it best to put you two out of harm's way."

"That's why you hid us in the Lotus Casino?"

Hades shrugged. "You didn't age. You didn't realize time was passing.

"He became master level at all video games I'm sure," Magnus offered.

"Eh," Nico waved his hand. "There was a Mythomagic tournament there while I was, I spent most of my time learning how to play that."

"Was that your dad's influence?" Annabeth asked in surprise.

"What?" Nico frowned, why would he care about that?

"So that when you'd come out, you'd be knowledgeable of our world, even if you didn't fully know it." She was even starting to smile again at this puzzle.

"Um, I don't think he has that kind of power, do they?" Percy shook his head.

"It's not clear," Annabeth seemed to be speaking to herself the longer she talked, like her eyes were glazing over before their eyes. "Odysseus rescued his own men from the original lotus-eaters without any interference. I can't imagine it would overpower a god, ergo they may even be able to influence what the current Hotel could make its occupants do to some degree."

"That's dangerous isn't it?" Magnus looked unsurprised, but still a little hurt. "Sally didn't tell Percy any of that stuff, because ignorance kept him safe. When Hades pulled them out, well, no wonder Grover found them so fast when they'd only been out for a few months along with how many monsters?"

"More preparation from my dad if so," Nico nodded as if this made perfect sense now.

Annabeth shook herself to here and now as Alex kept going, and Percy was back to smiling as if nothing had happened as he watched her go in and out of a nerd daze. Nico was almost smiling again too. He really might get out of this better than worse. It seemed to good an idea to let himself linger on for more than a second, to afraid he'd jinx it.

I waited for the right time to bring you out."

"But what happened to our mother? Why don't I remember her?"

"Not important," Hades snapped.

"To who?" Will's scowl was something else, he looked ready to hurl the sun.

"Himself, that's obviously the important part of this conversation," Jason said dully.

"What? Of course it's important. And you had other children—why were we the only ones who were sent away?

Nico still didn't really have an answer to that, and to his surprise, he found himself looking around hopefully as if they would. The idea lingered that it was because Hades had loved his mother, had done her wish, not that he'd done it for them.

"It's possible he started with the youngest set," Thalia offered half-heartedly. "If the rest of his kids were already over the age of sixteen by that point, you two would be his priority."

Nobody else hazarded a guess to Hades's plans. Most of them thought he was a psychotic maniac who couldn't rip a decent bone out of a dead body anyways.

And who was the lawyer who got us out?"

Hades grit his teeth. "You would do well to listen more and talk less, boy. As for the lawyer . . ."

Hades snapped his fingers. On top of his throne, the Fury Alecto began to change until she was a middle-aged man in a pinstriped suit with a briefcase. She—he—looked strange crouching at Hades's shoulder.

"Okay, that one actually sounds kind of obvious now that he said it out loud," Percy shrugged.

"What is the difference between a lawyer and a vampire?" Alex asked with a devilish smirk. "Law School."

Thalia grinned and said her favorite, "There is a new Barbie doll out for Christmas, she's called Divorce Barbie. She comes with all of Ken's stuff."

"How long have you been saving that for the Aprhotide cabin?" Percy laughed in delight.

"We are not going to sit around and tell lawyer jokes!" Jason spluttered. "Thalia, that's practically blasphemy!"

Thalia gave him a pitiful look he thought she cared. Honestly, it's like he hadn't gotten to know her at all.

"I'm on Jason's side," Annabeth said in exhaustion. "Guys, we might be able to get through another chapter, two at most before we all pass out. Let Alex finish."

"Alex was enjoying the show," Alex huffed, but obliged for the yawn Nico was still trying to muffle.

"You!" Nico said.

The Fury cackled. "I do lawyers and teachers very well!"

"This surprises literally no one," Magnus rolled his eyes. Not even him!

Nico was trembling. "But why did you free us from the casino?"

"You know why," Hades said. "This idiot son of Poseidon cannot be allowed to be the child of the prophecy."

"Even if I hadn't made up my mind before, now I definitely would be," Percy scowled while Annabeth patted his shoulder with a defeated look in place for knowing the same.

I plucked a ruby off the nearest plant and threw it at Hades. It sank harmlessly into his robe.

At least he didn't throw it at Nico, Will thought in relief. It would have been, well, a really crappy moment for Percy to force Hades to show his hand how much he cared about his kid. It would show how great of an insult that was to Hades by what he did next.

"You should be helping Olympus!" I said. "All the other gods are fighting Typhon, and you're just sitting here—"

"Waiting things out," Hades finished.

"Not something I'd brag about," Nico muttered. Not voicing that at the time though was probably the actual reason he still had his head.

"Yes, that's correct. When's the last time Olympus ever helped me, half-blood?

It didn't feel great that Jason could kind of see his point though. Hades was outcasted unless he was needed. If Hades had shown up to that fight, darkness slinging, he might have just gotten a nod of thanks and then ignored again until the next solstice. What reason did he have to join in?

When's the last time a child of mine was ever welcomed as a hero? Bah! Why should I rush out and help them? I'll stay here with my forces intact."

It was sadly not the worst argument Annabeth had ever heard, that honor still belonged to Percy defending his claim of rock skipping champion, but it was pretty high up there.

"And when Kronos comes after you?"

"Let him try. He'll be weakened. And my son here, Nico—" Hades looked at him with distaste.

Nico had kept his head bowed and carefully on the highly polished floor so he could only see the reflection and pretend it was just warped. Thanks Percy.

"Well, he's not much now, I'll grant you. It would've been better if Bianca had lived.

"If he talks shit to you one more time, I'm going to go malevolent on his ass," Alex said deep in the back of her throat.

Everybody decided they really didn't want to know what that meant, except for Nico it seemed as he opened his mouth curiously.

"Anyways!" Percy squeaked, but enough Alex heard him and gave a sigh.

But give him four more years of training. We can hold out that long, surely. Nico will turn sixteen, as the prophecy says, and then he will make the decision that will save the world. And I will be king of the gods."

"He'll be the only god left," Percy frowned.

"So technically, he's not wrong," Thalia shrugged.

"Demter's down there you single-minded-" Annabeth stopped and put her face in her hands in further exhaustion and groaned. Apparently she got crabby when she got no sleep for going on nine days.

"And a lot of the minor gods are running around too," Jason nodded. "Honestly Annabeth, I think Grover just ran off with their time-share brain cell."

Percy and Thalia exchanged a look. Those two were getting a little to comfortable.

"You're crazy," I said. "Kronos will crush you, right after he finishes pulverizing Olympus."

Hades spread his hands. "Well, you'll get a chance to find out, half-blood. Because you'll be waiting out this war in my dungeons."

Annabeth couldn't stop herself from flashing Nico another murderous look. Not just the 'if looks could kill kind' but genuinely her gray eyes seemed as if they could turn him to marble in a Medusa-worthy stare.

Then she sighed and turned back away and Nico kept breathing. The worst part? He was pretty sure that was her 'I'm less mad at you, but don't you ever do that again' face.

"No!" Nico said. "Father, that wasn't our agreement. And you haven't told me everything!"

"Thanks for trying man," Percy still couldn't say that like he meant it, but at least he nodded at him while managing not to roll his eyes.

"I don't take lightly to people not honoring their deals," Nico said it simply enough, but Percy got a gut sense. He remembered what The King of Ghosts had done to Minos. Percy had gotten out of there, and a sporadic rescue mission on Grover's part might not be the only hope for his future. Then he winced at a new stab of pain and quickly looked away.

"I've told you all you need to know," Hades said. "As for our agreement, I spoke with Jackson. I did not harm him. You got your information. If you had wanted a better deal, you should've made me swear on the Styx.

Why did that feel like the obvious answer to most of these problems and yet nobody used it, Magnus rolled his eyes. He really didn't want to say that to Nico though.

Now, go to your room!" He waved his hand, and Nico vanished.

"Where, where's your room?" Magnus asked with dread, thinking Hades was the kind of disciplinarian to throw Nico into a volcano to see if he survived that as well as the idiot son of Posideon could.

"With a great view of Elyusium," Nico said sullenly. He would have preferred the volcano idea.

The worst part was, he must have created that room on the spot too, because he'd explored the place numerous times. He'd found this view, but it had just been one of a stretch of windows that showed each corner of his father's domain so he could stand and view them all from one tower without turning his head to much he'd guess.

Now the circular room was decked out with a bed of deepest black silk with a gold frame and more jewels adjourning the other decorations than existed in a billionaire's brain. Nico had landed on the bed, looked out the window and known. His dad wanted him to see what Bianca had missed out on. What he should want. He'd passed the other options without glancing as he went to the door that was locked. Shadow travling hadn't worked.

Good thing his dad remembered to send up servants to feed him within a decent time frame, and he'd been practicing his invisibility in the shadows, even from creatures of the Underworld.

"That boy needs to eat more," Demeter grumbled. "He's too skinny. He needs more cereal."

Ah, that explained that, Nico scowled at his own thoughts. It hadn't even been his father. Possibly Demeter sending him up that bowl of cereal. Whatever. It had all worked out. He didn't care.

Gods, yes he did! If anyone in the pantheon shouldn't treat him this way, it should be the one god who knew how he'd feel! He'd definitely have to ask someone in here to confirm he wasn't nuts later when Hades came to help, because Nico had no clue what he'd done to manage that.

Persephone rolled her eyes. "Mother, enough with the cereal. My lord Hades, are you sure we can't let this little hero go? He's awfully brave."

"No, my dear. I've spared his life. That's enough."

"Under other conditions, I almost might agree," Thalia said with a torn expression this seemed generous to the point of absurd.

"Thanks Thals," Percy rolled his eyes.

"You can't say it's not true Percy," Will nodded too. "This does sound like Hades in a good mood."

"Yes, fine, we're all besties now!" Percy crossed his arms and leaned back so hard in his seat he tipped it over. Annabeth watched his feat kick around to get himself back upright with a long overdue smile.

I was sure she was going to stand up for me. The brave, beautiful Persephone was going to get me out of this.

She shrugged indifferently. "Fine. What's for breakfast? I'm starving."

"Does she not feed herself?" Alex frowned.

"I'm with Alex, she clearly has more than enough free time on her hands," Percy grumbled as he straightened out his beanbag.

Annabeth looked between the pair and decided against pointing out the actual problem of what had just been said there. It would fall on deaf ears.

"Cereal," Demeter said.

"Mother!" The two women disappeared in a swirl of flowers and wheat.

"Well at least she has a chance to avoid getting scurvy with that diet," Magnus frowned.

"Not you too Magnus," Annabeth looked at her cousin in betrayal.

Magnus shrugged without a drop of defense for himself. "Sorry cuz, I've learned it's just best to ride the crazy Alex train. Much more enjoyable."

"Choochoo," Percy said hopefully next to Annabeth's ear.

"You are all seriously lacking in something alright," but she couldn't stop herself from saying it with a chuckle.

"Don't feel too bad, Percy Jackson," Hades said. "My ghosts keep me well informed of Kronos's plans. I can assure you that you had no chance to stop him in time. By tonight, it will be too late for your precious Mount Olympus. The trap will be sprung."

Annabeth's breath still caught with more riveting attention than any building plans ever had captured her as Percy's attention switched from her goofy boyfriend to the child of the prophecy. How he went back to glowering at the book, to Hades, and what she knew would come out of his mouth. A demand he help his brethren, an accusation of how worthless Hades was. The kind of things only Percy would say to a god after he found out this kind of information wasn't being shared with those he cared about.

She didn't know how Alex kept reading as if nothing had changed except a slight rise of anger in her own voice.

"What trap?" I demanded. "If you know about it, do something! At least let me tell the other gods!"

Hades smiled. "You are spirited. I'll give you credit for that. Have fun in my dungeon. We'll check on you again in—oh, fifty or sixty years."

"I will not be middle-aged before I've gotten my license!" Was Percy's big protest to that.

"I will be," Thalia sighed.

"You don't count Thalia," Percy was instantly sidetracked, "you chose that problem."

The two fell off bickering like absolutely nothing new had happened in the span of an hour until Annaebth threatened to dump iced coffee on them to break it up.

It was such an engineer's dream really, Magnus chuckled as he watched Percy shrug and walk off to get the book while Thalia rolled her eyes and Annabeth gave her the 'stop instigating him look so I can go to bed.' The three really were their own cogs in each other's wheels that the other could always keep spinning.

#pjo #Percy Jackson #Thalia Grace #Jason Grace #nico di angelo #will solace #Magnus Chase #alex fierro #Annabeth Chase #percabeth #solangelo #fierrochase

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shelbydelrey · 2 years ago

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Mr. Shelby and Jay Gatsby

summary: Bri recommends a book for Tommy and he muses over it.

warnings: Tommy being angsty AF

A/N: Written for the The Peakys Receive a Letter Event hosted by @raincoffeeandfandoms. The first letter was written by @there-goes-thefighter and the reply was written by me. I'm sorry if Tommy came off as overtly dramatic 🤭 I don't know why but i think he would make a fuss about it 🤷🏾‍♀️ Enjoy!

Dear Tommy,

This is Bri writing to you. I’ve been wanting to tell you about a book I’ve read before. It’s called The Great Gatsby, and it was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It’s a beautiful tale of love, loneliness, and emotion. The main character, Jay Gatsby, is described through the eyes of his neighbor, Nick Carraway. Gatsby is known for throwing parties at his glorious mansion, in hopes that someday his love Daisy will come. He believes in a green light that shines across the lake from the end of Daisy’s dock. The green light represented his hopes and dreams for the future.

The chilling passage at the end of the book goes like this:

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter – to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther….And one fine morning–

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

I apologize for spoiling the ending for you, but it’s one of my favorite parts of the book, as Nick is describing the hope that Gatsby still held on to. His hope never faded. He was also a believer in going back and repeating the past. It was his love for Daisy that shined through, there. See, he loved Daisy in a way he knew her husband never could. This story almost feels like you, seeking hope that is brushing against your fingertips. You’re similar to Gatsby, as you both have glorious mansions that are often filled, but never whole. In both stories, there’s a woman that magnetizes you, changes you, and envelopes you. I bet you’d get along well if you met him.

I love the story because Gatsby is such an intriguing man. His desperate attempts to fill a void in his life despite having every material thing one could want shows how hard and passionately he loved. The material things didn’t matter to him, Daisy did. His love for her superseded anything and everything on earth. Gatsby wanted no one else, as no one else would ever compare to Daisy. He loved her and only her.

I hope someday you pick up the book and let it speak to you. I hope you’re captivated by the story as much as I was. I hope you believe in the green light too.

All my love,

Bri

Dear Bri,

I apologize for not replying to you sooner. I've read the letter as soon as it came to my possession but the words 'hope' and 'void' hit me in the stomach with the force of ten men and like a coward, i recoiled inside myself and threw your epistle aside, hoping that being out of my sight it would be out of my heart too. I failed miserably, as you may have guessed already.

Your descriptions of Jay Gatsby haunted and pestered me in the most inappropriate times and every time that i was in London for business, i found myself heading to the library Ada used to work at, asking for the book. I could purchase it of course, as i did later on, but the lack of commitment that borrowing it brought was more appealing than to have it on my shelf, taunting me every time i remembered its existence.

The librarians gave me negatives each time, explaining that since it was a rather new book, they needed permission to acquire it, and each time i left with an odd mixture of relief and guilt. Relief for stalling for a little while what felt inevitable and guilt for creating a fuss over something you took the care to tell me about.

But i can't lie, Bri. The picture you painted of Mr. Gatsby felt like a mirror and i was afraid to face that hopeful fool. Afraid of what awaits us at the end of his story.

I do trust your judgement though and I apologize again for taking too long to remember this fact. That’s why the book is resting by my side as I write to you, waiting to be opened for the first time.

There’s a detail that you provided that gives me hope (here’s that word again): Gatsby isn’t the one who narrates it. I can’t help but to think that if he were the one telling his own story he wouldn’t be as intriguing or passionate. His dedication to Daisy seems like a desperate man’s attempt to cling onto life because everything else inside him got corroded. There’s nothing left except a pathetic core. But having an outsider, his neighbour Nick Carraway, as the storyteller, serves to redeem Gatsby out of his own foolishness. It’s comforting to imagine that a legacy of misery can be erased with rose coloured glasses.

These are only my impressions, of course, and I'm sure they’ll be put to the test and prove me that I'm wrong.

One thing that I don’t doubt is the fact that we would get along. Melancholic men have a tendency to gravitate towards one another.

I’ll write back to you once I'm finished with book, Bri and let you know what I thought about it.

Yours Truly,

Tommy Shelby

taglist: @runnning-outof-time @call-sign-shark @look-at-the-soul @cljordan-imperium @dandelionprints @zablife

#the peakys receive a letter #tommy shelby

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yupuffin · 1 month ago

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One year ago today, I decided to take a leap of faith and board the Astral Express -- that is, I started playing Honkai: Star Rail!

It was an addition to my routine worth considering beforehand, given that I'd hyperfixated solely on Genshin Impact for almost three years prior and worried about having time for a similarly involved game. I'd had some tangential awareness of Star Rail since its released, but put off trying it out until I reached a point in Genshin where I felt comfortable potentially reducing my time and energy investment to free up mental space for what would almost undoubtedly become another hyperfixation. (Also, getting into new media aggravates my anxiety!)

In Genshin, I'd just recruited Neuvillette, which left me feeling satisfied and accomplished with my progress in the game, as I've wanted to form a significant emotional attachment to a water dragon character since my adolescence -- I just had to wait about ten years for the right combination of circumstances for it to finally 'click.'

So you can imagine my enthusiasm when I happened across an off-handed comment from another fan about Star Rail featuring another water dragon.

I do distinctly recall noticing on social media when Star Rail was first released, musing that Dan Heng looked rather like my 'type,' if a bit plain and unassuming, so I wasn't terribly interested at the time. I do also distinctly recall noticing on social media when Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae was first released in August of that year; at the time, I was able to resist the additional temptation, under the rationale that if I played every game that featured a handsome playable dragon character, I wouldn't have time to properly enjoy them all.

But with this supplemental knowledge, I thought: what's better than a water dragon, if not two water dragons?

So, overall, the timing seemed right, and I still believe it was.

Even so, I can't help but think that if I knew how drastically my sleep quality would improve solely due to this decision, I likely would have started playing sooner!

I don't have the psychological background knowledge to explain or rationalize my observations, so they feel silly at times, but, to make a long story short, I think getting into Star Rail had a significant -- even drastic -- impact on my emotional state.

Before this, I thought I knew what people were talking about when they discussed 'comfort characters' -- and then I met Dan Heng.

For all of the knowledge I had going into the game -- specifically of his oh-so-'secret' dragon form -- I'm thankful I had no idea that the player character's introductory scene was of them getting very improper CPR, in the form of attempted mouth-to-mouth, from our very own Dan Heng. (And I'm glad to learn that none of us in the fandom will ever let him live it down.) So, you can imagine that I was already 'losing my mind' from the game's opening scenes. A benefit of playing Genshin Impact for years prior to this was that, in processing my emotional experience with the game, I'd managed to conquer a significant portion of my internalized homophobia, so, going into Star Rail, I was much readier to embrace my love of beautiful men. The team behind Star Rail definitely didn't need to try any harder to get me interested in Dan Heng.

And I felt blessed to have Dan Heng as a permanent installment on my team from the very start of the game, as one of the challenges I encountered during my aforementioned emotional experience with Genshin Impact was how to cope with my anxiety in the absence of my 'comfort character.' Thankfully, I'd learned a lot in this regard and understood what I could do differently this time around to minimize my unease; still, the reassurance was nice to have, especially given the pretty intense novelty anxiety I experience with any unfamiliar game, regardless of the presence or absence of any specific character.

Even considering this, I was convinced I wouldn't be all that attached to Dan Heng before I got to the reveal of his dragon form; visually speaking, as he appeared on the Express, he didn't stand out much.

I was proven wrong very quickly.

I'd just happened to select "Take the Journey" on the phonograph upon boarding the Express, since a soft acoustic track seemed appropriate to soothe my novelty anxiety. And, of course, being told that Dan Heng frequented the archives, I visited that room of the Express at the first opportunity. Only once I stood next to him and noticed the intensifying ache of longing in my heart, which persisted even after I'd closed the game for the day, did I realize the atmosphere I'd unwittingly set.

The nightmares came soon after. They were nothing new -- I'd endured them for over a decade beforehand -- but it still felt like a dubious achievement whenever they'd start to feature a new character: a bittersweet indication of my emotional attachment to them, and of the proportionate anguish I'd experience were I ever separated from them.

But, for the first time in my life, they'd often find a peaceful resolution.

I'd incorporated Star Rail into my nighttime routine: the very last thing I'd do before heading to bed is walk my character from the Express's parlor car to the archives and 'say good night' to Dan Heng by playing the appropriate voice-over from his profile. This wasn't really anything new or revolutionary, considering I'd kept a similar routine with my Serenitea Pot in Genshin Impact for years prior.

Still, for whatever unknown reason, it made a significant difference. Starting then, I fell asleep more quickly and stayed asleep more easily than at any other time in my adult life. Anxiety that would previously wake me up most nights and even manifest physical symptoms was suddenly all but gone. Waking up to check the time and seeing that I'd slept through an entire night on a regular basis left me baffled.

And Dan Heng's Imbibitor Lunae form hadn't even rerun yet.

The timing worked out splendidly in that regard. Shortly beforehand, I'd experienced the 'Imbibitor Lunae returns' portion of the Xianzhou Luofu storyline from the liminal space of the Boston airport in January at approximately 4 am -- I was supposed to catch an early flight that ended up getting delayed by several hours, giving me ample time to immerse myself in Star Rail. The scene featuring "Samudrartha" left enough of an impression on my psyche that I set the song as my weekday alarm and often still listen to it during the day in addition for that, for how could I ever dislike the song that first plays softly in the background as Dan Heng, in his dragon form, observes the statue whose eyes were pecked out by swallows, and then crescendos as he lifts his hand to part the seas of Scalegorge Waterscape in what can only be described as, according to the song's lyrics, "an awe-inspiring sight?"

Especially to someone who's already deeply in love with him.

It was only a couple of weeks later that the first Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae rerun occurred, just as I'd accumulated the 180 pulls necessary to guarantee an event character.

Honestly, since then, my time in the game has been a bit of a blur. I very nearly quit the game two or three times for reasons related to its difficulty, though I never followed through with the decision, as I couldn't bear the thought of not seeing Dan Heng the following day. I put off starting the Penacony storyline due to how deeply unsettling the place looked, but ended up doing it anyway to avoid burning out on the game completely, and shortly fell in love with Aventurine -- with refreshing decisiveness, given how stable my emotional state had been thanks to Dan Heng's presence.

Oh, yeah, the nightmares -- here's the most notable part: after having them consistently for about eleven or twelve years... they're just gone.

Now, whenever a dream starts to take a bad turn into the familiar nightmare narrative, I hear Dan Heng's voice calling my name and telling me to wake up, and the dream ends.

I don't have an explanation for this that I believe makes any logical sense whatsoever. At some point in the past year, their frequency and intensity started dwindling, until they've disappeared more or less completely. I can only infer that such a consistent and severe symptom derives from proportionately profound trauma, so how can the mere presence of a fictional character have such a disproportionately strong effect? The only words I have to describe the situation, as silly as it sounds, are the following: having Dan Heng in my life -- 'being with him,' if you will -- feels right in what I presume is the same way that others have described being with their significant other 'feels right.' I'm not sure why, and I don't know that this is something that I will ever understand.

As of today, it's been three hundred and sixty-five days. There's a lot to experience in Star Rail -- a lot of emotional and psychological twists and turns and ups and downs -- but each day invariably ends the same: I walk the Trailblazer into the archives, past where Dan Heng stands on the overworld so long as you neglect the quest "Clouds Leave No Trace," and position him in the corner behind the bedroll on the floor -- the ideal position from which to open the character menu and listen to Dan Heng's parting comment: See you tomorrow. Sleep well.

And then I go to bed, and have sweet dreams.

#star rail #soliloqyu #hsr spoilers

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peoplcshope · 1 year ago

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GET TO KNOW YOUR ADMIN !!

name — Jay

pronouns — I'm/Him j/k he/him

preferred comms — Discord or LINE granted I'm sometimes slow with replyin' mostly due to work and at other times it's distractions like gaming. Or maybe some errands.

name of muse — Trunks Briefs

experience in RP — over ten years, started first on a site called Myspace then drifted through different other roleplaying sites and forums until I eventually gotten here.

best experiences — I once had to answer a question like this on another blog and the answer was just...man too much too ready because the experiences were countless. Whenever I meet a mun and then we just hit it off to the point we're discussing our muses for hours and hours over discord. Or even doing little mini threads on discord, those are really THE best experiences in roleplay.

pet peeves/dealbreakers — When people get on my ass for a response, little 'hey I'm just reminding you that you still probably have a post of ours lost in drafts or BLESS the people that link me to something I missed through the activities. Those peeps are a Godsend but the fuckers that just dick ride you for a response? They can go to tell, harrassing you for a response day in and day out like bro that'd make your reply even LESS than a priority. This shit's a hobby, not our lives.

muse preference ( fluff, angst, smut ) — I don't have much of a preference, I'd say give me ALL OF THOSE but I mean if I HAD to choose one It'd be angst. Oh people that knows me KNOWS I love putting not just mine but my writing partner's muses through emotional damage.

plot or memes — Give me a meme any day. I love plotting too but with plotting comes over-excitement and there's gonna be a moment IN the story you're plotting that you just CAN'T wait to get to but your ass has to wait because LORD knows it could be after the roleplay's timeskip or even far down the line into the future. Then again even with memes eventually that thread is going to be thought about and plotted..can't win XD

long or short replies — Write what you feel I always say (and it's not cause i'm bad at long posts I swear XD) sometimes when things need a little explanation you gotta go all out and send something long but sometimes that's not the case and it's okay.

best time to write — For me it's just at the crack of 4AM or 5AM when i wake up for work and then a little after im back by evening. Those are really my best times to write.

are you like your muse?: NOT AT ALL, not even a little bit, in personality he's nicer than I can ever be, temperament I'm even further behind, believe me I WISH I could be like Trunks but if I'm honest I CAN DO WITHOUT HIS TOUGH LIFE. The man may look like he's got everythin' goin' for him with how he looks, carries himself and whatnot but he's got WAY too much shit going on for me to actually want that life.

tagged: @particlecreator , @swordsxandxsakuras (thanks for tagging yo boy :D)

tagging: @acoldsovereign , @kiealer , @n3rdb0x , @hopefromadoomedtimeline , @infintasmal , @universestreasures , @eternalbxtterfly , @crimsontwins , @kaguyahiime , @ofhope , steal this one homies and tag me so I can learn a little bit bout you.

#❛ dashgames ━━ nothing heats a heart this cold.#ooc post

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dnickels · 2 years ago

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I picked up Idylls of the King because Russell's repeated quoting seems pointed (I think the line is dropped more than once, but I could be misremembering) and because Morse is a Tennyson guy, and while it's not my favorite overall I do think its fabulous both as a lens to view the show and a supplement to the text. The quoted line is pretty straightforward:

The old order changeth, yielding place to new

It both describes the social/political upheaval in the background of the series, and serves as a fun little wink at the audience from a writer creating a slick new prequel to an extremely beloved and venerable story. This line in particular is interesting, because its repeated twice-- by Arthur in the first poem, when he's just finished vanquishing the foe and is casting out the old order of barons, demanding they pay tribute to him, and then by Arthur in the last poem as he lays dying, Camelot lost, the kingdom fallen, the shining city undone by human failings.

The parallel with fresh-faced young Morse of the pilot and a defeated, jaded Morse (either of Exeunt of Remorseful Day, your pick) is obvious, but I want to dig into deeper than that-- there's an unspoken cloud hanging over Tennyson's Idylls, one that all the knights understand but never acknowledge: the Arthur's project is untenable, he sets standards for his knights that are impossible to live up to, he lives in a fantasy world and can't see the 'sins' going on under his very nose. Through that lens, we can see Morse's naive crusade against corruption as beautiful and doomed as a lost Camelot. Sir you are in a 1960s police force, perhaps the most venal and corrupt institution there is! The labor AND the wounds are vain!

I do think there's a level of intention, and its not a line quoted by chance (Thursday spends his last episode musing on The Lays of Ancient Rome, a key text of a certain kind of ideology we're about to discuss), Morse raising himself on high Victorian and Edwardian poems about heroic self-sacrifice, stainless knights, valor, stalwart righteousness etc despite the fact that everyone who genuinely believed in those ideals was killed on the Somme in 1916 (anyone who survived quickly jettisoned anything to do with Knights in Shining Armor) really fills in the picture of why he's Like That. I would absolutely describe Morse as chivalrous, with both positive and negative connotations-- he loves damsels, but cannot understand (or, as he gets older, tolerate) women who refuse to wait in a tower to be saved. He makes these impossible demands of himself, and its very noble, but he's vicious when other people fail to live up to the versions he's dreamed up in his head-- and most of the time, they're puzzled as to why he ever believed that highly of them in the first place. He is gracious, courteous, respectful but also fussy, hidebound, quick to judge. He's constructed this beautiful worldview that was antiquated ten years before he was born, much less at the height of the swinging 60s, and he's constantly being blindsided by the bare facts of the times he lives in (o tempora o mores etc). The old order changeth...and Morse gets left behind.

Then loudly cried the bold Sir Bedivere: “Ah! my Lord Arthur, whither shall I go? Where shall I hide my forehead and my eyes? For now I see the true old times are dead, When every morning brought a noble chance, And every chance brought out a noble knight. Such times have been not since the light that led The holy Elders with the gift of myrrh. But now the whole Round Table is dissolved Which was an image of the mighty world, And I, the last, go forth companionless, And the days darken round me, and the years, Among new men, strange faces, other minds.”

#you thought the deranged posts would end with the show? NOT SO #morsewatch #longpost

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countlessrealities · 2 years ago

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@dynamoprotocol sent: Clarissa for you know who, at either/both major point(s) in their relationship Would my muse...? || Not accepting !

Then...

"W-Well, duh," Rick huffs out with a sly smirk, sprawling a little more in his seat. "F-For all the options."

After all, this is his romantic partner he's being asked about. Even if, truth to be told, he would have most likely said yes to everything even if they hadn't been in a relationship.

"I-I mean, shit...H-Have you seen her? S-She's fuckin' hot, rough edges an-and everything." In his eyes, whoever disagrees either has no taste or is blind. "S-She's smart and witty, and yeah, i-it gets on nerves at times, b-but that's part of how we are. I-I can talk some science with her an-and she keeps up, and tha-that's real fuckin' rare."

One of the downsides of being the smartest man in the universe is how hard it is to find people who can understand your work. Clarissa isn't as brilliant as him, but she is obviously intelligent and she has a lot of expertise in certain field.

"S-She's a force of nature an-and she fuckin' sweeps me off my feet as no one has i-in a fuckin' long time. C-Can't resist that passion. I-It drives me crazy in the best ways"

And, of course, there are all the things that make them kindred souls: trauma, loss, addiction, recklessness, anger, desperation, stubbornness. However, they have a silent deal not to mention those. Why spoiling something that, while unhealthy and probably destructive on the long term, is so good in the present?

"I-I have fucked her an-and I can't wait for the next time we'll end up in bed. W-We have a lot of fun, her and me...An-And don't get me started on what she can do w-with that dynamo power of her. I-It makes sex electrifying. Literally."

It has taken a little trial and error to find out the right voltage, but Rick can't say that he has hated too much the times when she has shocked her a little too hard.

"An-And I'm dating her because of all of the above. I-I don't need to say more, do I?"

-----

Now...

"F-For fuckin' real? Clarissa?"

Goddammit. Here they go again. If it was up to him, Rick would pretend to have forgotten whose name that is. And that's what he has done for almost a decade, until his path has accidentally crossed hers once again. Now not only the thought of her haunts him way too much for his liking, but all the hurt, the anger and the longing he thought he had buried once and for all have come back at full force.

When he speaks, his tone is harsh and bitter, voice full of annoyance, but there's also a darker, sadder note hidden in it.

"S-She's a beautiful woman, w-with rough edges, b-but that makes her more attractive to me...objectively. I-I'm allowed to have a fuckin' type, right? An-And she's still clever, witty, passionate...an-and all the shit I used to like about her."

The difference is that, while once upon a time those traits used to excite him, now they are just a reminder of how much he has lost and of how painful it has been. And also of what he can't and shouldn't have ever again.

"S-So yeah, I-I find her attractive. B-But I wouldn't date her. N-Not again. It's...It would end in a g-goddamn disaster and I'm not going through that s-shit show again. Hell no. T-The first time was enough for ten lifetimes."

He means his words he believes them without any shred of doubt. And yet, that's not enough to quench the yearning that still bites his stomach whenever she sees her.

"A-As for sleeping with her...W-Why not? Hate sex can be fuckin' awesome. An-And she was amazing at that l-little electrocution trick she pulled on me." He hasn't found anyone capable of being as good as her yet. "B-But I strongly doubt that she'd be interested, s-so...it's not even worth asking."

#[ ic :: c137 Rick ]#[ The electric ecstasy of you and me tastes like misery :: Rick & Clarissa ; reunion arc ]#[ You and I are a spark so hot so bright but we burn too fast :: Rick & Clarissa ; pre breakup arc ]#dynamoprotocol #[[ I had to do them both x3 ]]#[[ so have Rick during the honeymoon phase of their relationship ]]#[[ and him right after they met again and all the memories came back x3 ]]#[[ this took FOREVER sorry !! ]]

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wexarethewalkingxdead · 1 year ago

Note

(all muses) ✝: any religious beliefs my muse has →: is my muse any good with directions? ☮: is my muse a happy person? 웃: three people that are important to my muse ⌘: was my muse good in school? ✿: is my muse an outdoors person? ♐: is my muse blunt or do they beat around the bush? ♑: is my muse an optimist or a pessimist?

headcanon meme! send me a symbol and i’ll tell you…

✝: any religious beliefs my muse has

Andrea is not religious. She believes somewhat in a higher power, but it doesn't rule her life.

→: is my muse any good with directions?

Andrea is very good with directions. She just needs to see them written down or on a map. Verbal directions are not her strong suit.

☮: is my muse a happy person?

Overall, Andrea is a happy person.

웃: three people that are important to my muse

1). Amy 2). Dale 3). Shane

⌘: was my muse good in school?

Andrea was good in school. She was in the top ten of her graduating high school class. And graduated law school with honors.

✿: is my muse an outdoors person?

Not so much. The outbreak was really her first real experience outside of the occasional fishing and camping trip with her parents (mostly her Dad).

♐: is my muse blunt or do they beat around the bush?

Andrea is very blunt.

♑: is my muse an optimist or a pessimist?

Andrea is somewhere in the middle.

✝: any religious beliefs my muse has

Beth believes in God and is fully committed to keeping that a part of her life.

→: is my muse any good with directions?

Somewhat. They can't be overly complicated or she's lost.

☮: is my muse a happy person?

Yes.

웃: three people that are important to my muse

1). Hershel 2). Maggie 3). Hershel Rhee

⌘: was my muse good in school?

Beth was okay in school. She excelled better in the arts and music than the academics.

✿: is my muse an outdoors person?

Absolutely. She loves being outside.

♐: is my muse blunt or do they beat around the bush?

Neither. Beth is quiet and doesn't really give her opinion unless explicitly asked.

♑: is my muse an optimist or a pessimist?

Optimist.

✝: any religious beliefs my muse has

Carol used to be religious but now she's questioning everything she ever believed. And she stays that way for the rest of her life.

→: is my muse any good with directions?

Carol is excellent with directions. Even complicated ones.

☮: is my muse a happy person?

Carol is probably a healthy mixture of all emotions. She's good at hiding them al though.

웃: three people that are important to my muse

1). Sophia 2). Henry 3). Daryl

⌘: was my muse good in school?

Carol was good in school. It's what made her want to be a teacher so that she could help others be good in school too. Sadly, she never got to practice being a teacher.

✿: is my muse an outdoors person?

Carol likes both equally.

♐: is my muse blunt or do they beat around the bush?

Carol is blunt with some people and beats around the bush with others when it's necessary.

♑: is my muse an optimist or a pessimist?

Carol is a realist.

✝: any religious beliefs my muse has

Charley believes in the possibility of a higher power but is always questioning.

→: is my muse any good with directions?

Charley is decent enough as long as they have a GPS.

☮: is my muse a happy person?

Charley is a happy person.

웃: three people that are important to my muse

1). Sammy 2). Sammy 3). Sammy

⌘: was my muse good in school?

Charley was top of their class in high school and college. Education is so important to them they wanted to help mold young minds.

✿: is my muse an outdoors person?

Charley likes the outdoors well enough, but only in moderation.

♐: is my muse blunt or do they beat around the bush?

Charley is blunt. Especially when to comes to the safety of their child.

♑: is my muse an optimist or a pessimist?

Charley is an optimist.

✝: any religious beliefs my muse has

Daryl doesn't have any religious beliefs.

→: is my muse any good with directions?

Daryl is good with directions both verbal and written.

☮: is my muse a happy person?

Daryl is a moderately happy person when he's left alone and not bothered by people that annoy him.

웃: three people that are important to my muse

1). Carol 2). Rick 3). Judith

⌘: was my muse good in school?

Daryl was good in school and had decent grades, but he was forced to quit school in his senior year to keep a roof over his head and food in his stomach.

✿: is my muse an outdoors person?

He lives for the outdoors.

♐: is my muse blunt or do they beat around the bush?

Blunt. He doesn't know any other way.

♑: is my muse an optimist or a pessimist?

Pessimist.

✝: any religious beliefs my muse has

Rick used to be religious and was in church every Sunday morning. Then his grandmother died and he stopped going entirely.

→: is my muse any good with directions?

Rick needs GPS. He's gotten better though.

☮: is my muse a happy person?

Rick is a happy person but he hides it sometimes or a lot of the time.

웃: three people that are important to my muse

1). Carl 2). Judith 3). Michonne

⌘: was my muse good in school?

Rick was average in school.

✿: is my muse an outdoors person?

Rick loves a healthy balance of outdoors and indoors.

♐: is my muse blunt or do they beat around the bush?

Rick is usually quiet until pressed for his opinion then he's very blunt. Unless it's to do with emotions, then he beats around the bush.

♑: is my muse an optimist or a pessimist?

He's middle of the road.

✝: any religious beliefs my muse has

Shane isn't religious at all. The only time he set foot in the church was when he went with Rick as a kid.

→: is my muse any good with directions?

Shane is amazing with directions whether verbal, written, or mapping them out himself.

☮: is my muse a happy person?

Shane is happy because he's full of himself.

웃: three people that are important to my muse

1). Rick 2). Carl 3) Andrea

⌘: was my muse good in school?

Shane was average in school. He got grades good enough to pass but he didn't win any academic awards.

✿: is my muse an outdoors person?

Shane likes being outdoors well enough.

♐: is my muse blunt or do they beat around the bush?

Blunt. Very blunt. He doesn't know the meaning of beating around the bush.

♑: is my muse an optimist or a pessimist?

Pessimist.

✝: any religious beliefs my muse has

Sophia went to church with Carol as she was growing up before the Outbreak. She has talks with Father Gabriel frequently.

→: is my muse any good with directions?

Sophia is decent with directions. Especially when reading a map.

☮: is my muse a happy person?

Yes.

웃: three people that are important to my muse

1). Carol 2). Carl 3). Judith

⌘: was my muse good in school?

Sophia was decent in school before the outbreak. She has tried to keep up her studies after the Outbreak but life had more lessons than a book could teach her. She knows the basics; reading and math.

✿: is my muse an outdoors person?

Sophia enjoys being outdoors a healthy amount of time. She likes the solitude it can give her.

♐: is my muse blunt or do they beat around the bush?

Sophia does a mixture of both.

♑: is my muse an optimist or a pessimist?

Sophia is an optimist.

#.maildrop #.headcanon [andrea]#.headcanon [beth]#.headcanon [carol]#.headcanon [daryl]#.headcanon [rick]#.headcanon [shane]#.headcanon [charley]#.headcanon [sophia]

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breathingliifearc · 4 years ago

Text

* ( EVERMORE ALBUM BY TAYLOR SWIFT / SENTENCE PROMPTS. @vagasbonds

❛ I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve ❜ from tari/the tardis to ten uwu

❛ Oooooh do you now? Well, mind showing me one of those tricks? Bet it’s brilliant! ❜ The Doctor says grinning, though it only takes less than a minute for him to get distracted with a thought. ❛ Hopefully it’s not a holdout. A friend of mine invented the trick up their sleeve. Kepplinger was his name, interesting fella. Didn’t like losing though... Ah well, I guess the lucky Dutchman wasn’t as lucky after all! ❜

#I AM SO R U S TYYYYYYY #can't believe Ten was my first muse ever #SO RUSTYYYYY but hope this works tho!!! -flails-#vagasbonds #memes ( vagasbonds )#Tari ( Ten )#◕▿◕ 〢sent! ─ ( answered )#tags tba

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hellolovers13 · 2 years ago

Text

Annual Writing Self-Evaluation 2022

Shamelessly stolen from @larrysballetslippers

1. Number of stories posted to AO3 this year: 10

2. Word count posted for the year: 83.245 (WTF??)

3. Fandoms I wrote for: One Direction

4. Pairings: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles/Niall Horan

5. Story with the most:

Kudos: I Hope We Never Change

Bookmarks: I Hope We Never Change

Comments: love drunk, waiting on a miracle

More under the cut.

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why):

I Hope We Never Change was my first story and I've put a lot of heart into it. But I also have to mention my advent fic love drunk, waiting on a miracle. Writing 30k words in just three weeks is something I could never have seen myself do. It has been a challenge but I am soo glad I did it.

7. Work I’m least proud of (and why):

I Hope We Never Change Yeah I'm really proud of this one, but I also know I could've done soo much better. As is often the case with your first work, I think.

8. Share or describe a favourite review you received:

This one, because I love when a comment reflects what I wanted to portray. Makes me feel like I've done a good job. Same with this one. And I loved this one, too.

I also received some video reaction from my lovely beta @liberty-barnes which is just something else I love that soo much. <3

But honestly, I cry about almost every comment. I'm just soo grateful people enjoy my silly lil writing.

9. A time when writing was really, really hard:

Finishing Every Snowflake Is Different (Just Like You) was really hard. I struggled with fitting the pieces together a lot

10. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

No really a scene, but then again REALLY a scene XD, but writing Slow Hands really wasn't on by bucket list. It was, if nothing else, a great writing exercise and I'm happy people liked it even tho it had Narry in it XD. (also, if anyone sees this as a kinda sequel to I Hope We Never Change, I will not disagree, although I didn't write it like that it might very well be)

11. A favourite excerpt of your writing:

"All that will ever matter to me is you. My sexuality could never be more important. I haven't figured out what I am yet, but I know I’m yours. And I want you to always be mine. Whether that be my boyfriend, girlfriend, my partner.” (I Hope We Never Change)

12. How did you grow as a writer this year:

When I started again in June after almost ten years of not writing anything, I didn't think I would ever post anything. And now here I am, with 10 stories and over 80k words and I can't quite believe that even happened and that people would enjoy my writing at all.

13. How do you hope to grow next year:

There are a lot of areas I struggle with. Writing a scene with lots of people for example. I hope to get out of my comfort zone a bit next year.

14. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

@liberty-barnes Miah, you already know this, but none of these stories would exist without you. Thank you soo much ily<3

@footy-met-mussy Tricia, you were my first real "fan" (lol) and I'm soo happy every time you comment on my fics or leave a tag or anything. ily

15. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

Definitely. Gender stuff is always very close to my heart, but I'm sure loads of my own insecurities blend into my stories as well

16. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

This will sounds like no advice at all, but just write. Doesn't matter if it's good, doesn't matter if it makes sense, doesn't matter if anything's missing. I have so many things marked as unfinished, so many half written sentences (mark those, otherwise your beta will be very confused XD sorry @liberty-barnes :*)

If I have a scene in my head I'll write it even if it's just a few sentences. I can always change it later if it doesn't quite fit anymore, but at least I have it written down.

17. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

Yes, I have a pretty big project planned. Can't wait to start writing.

18. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read.

@liberty-barnes @neondiamond @harryslonecurl @bananaheathen @wabadabadaba @lunarheslwt @itsnotreal @disgruntledkittenface @alwaysxlarrie @tommokat and anyone else who wants to

#tag game #my writing

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lalaangeldust · 4 years ago

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.・゜゜・・゜゜・．.・゜゜・・゜゜

[ 𝚜𝚏𝚠 // 𝚜𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 ] [ 𝟽𝚔+ 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ]

[ 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 ] : ᴛʜɪʀᴅ ʏᴇᴀʀ, 3-ᴀ // ᴄᴜʀꜱɪɴɢ // ᴀɢɢʀᴇꜱꜱɪᴠᴇ ᴍᴀᴋɪɴɢ ᴏᴜᴛ // ꜱᴇʀᴏ ꜱᴛᴀʏꜱ ᴅʀɪɴᴋɪɴɢ ʜɪꜱ ʀᴇꜱᴘᴇᴄᴛ ᴡᴏᴍᴇɴ ᴊᴜɪᴄᴇ // ʜᴇ'ꜱ ᴀʟꜱᴏ ᴀ ᴍᴀꜱꜱɪᴠᴇ ᴅᴏʀᴋ // ɢᴏᴅ, ɪ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʜɪᴍ ꜱᴏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ

[ 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 ] : ᴍɪɴᴀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴇɴᴋɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ɢʀᴏᴡɴ ᴛɪʀᴇᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏʙᴠɪᴏᴜꜱ ᴍᴜᴛᴜᴀʟ ᴘɪɴɪɴɢ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴏɴ ʙᴇᴛᴡᴇᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴇʀᴏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴏᴛʜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴍɪʀᴀᴄᴜʟᴏᴜꜱʟʏ ꜱᴛᴀʏᴇᴅ ᴏʙʟɪᴠɪᴏᴜꜱ ᴛᴏ. ꜱᴏ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ ʙɪᴛ ᴏꜰ ꜱᴄʜᴇᴍɪɴɢ, ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴅᴇᴄɪᴅᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ᴍᴀᴛᴛᴇʀꜱ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴏᴡɴ ʜᴀɴᴅꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ɪɴ ᴀ ʀᴀᴛʜᴇʀ ꜱᴛɪᴄᴋʏ ꜱɪᴛᴜᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

( ᴘᴜɴ ᴠᴇʀʏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ɪɴᴛᴇɴᴅᴇᴅ. ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴢᴇʀᴏ ʀᴇɢʀᴇᴛꜱ )

[ 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞 ] : ʏᴏᴜ - ʙʟᴜᴇ // ꜱᴇʀᴏ - ᴏʀᴀɴɢᴇ // ᴍɪɴᴀ - ᴘɪɴᴋ // ᴅᴇɴᴋɪ - ʏᴇʟʟᴏᴡ

[ 𝗺𝘆𝗸𝗶𝗲'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 ] : ᴀʟʟ ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ɪꜱ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴘɪɴɴᴇᴅ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀɴᴇᴀᴛʜ ꜱᴇʀᴏ ᴀꜱ ʜᴇ ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛ ᴛᴀʟᴋꜱ ᴍᴇ ᴏᴋᴀʏ??? ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀꜱ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴄᴏɴꜱᴜᴍɪɴɢ ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴛ ɪꜱ ɴᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜʀ ɪꜱꜱᴜᴇ ᴀꜱ ᴡᴇʟʟ (˶◡‿◡) ~ <3

ᴀʟʀɪɢʜᴛ ʏ'ᴀʟʟ, ʙᴜᴄᴋʟᴇ ᴜᴘ. ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴀ ʟᴏɴɢ ᴏɴᴇ- ·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ˚✩ ⋆｡˚ ✩

┊ ┊ ┊ ✫

┊ ┊ ☪⋆

┊ ⊹ ┊-

✯ ⋆ ┊ . ˚

˚✩

"Come on, come ooonnnnn," Mina groans as she tugs at your ankles.

"You lazy butt!! You can't stay in here like a hermit forever!" she exclaims with a final yank, sending you off the edge of your bed with a loud thump.

"Ugghhh, but I'm tireedddd! I spent all day shoving boxes around and reorganizing my stuff!" You grumble underneath your arm that's dramatically draped over your face.

"I know! Which you did an amazing job by the way. You truly have a talent for decorating," Mina says with a teasing undertone as she looks around your new third year dorm.

"Aaannnnd that is exactly why you should unwind with the rest of us in Denki's dorm," she says as she bends down, grabbing your ankles once again and lets them rest on her hips.

"Think of it as a dorm warming party and celebration of our last year here at this god forsaken school," Mina concludes as she looks down at you, her eyes pleading you to give in.

"Nnnnggh- Finee!" You let out a disgruntled grunt as you dramatically fling your arm off your face and look up at Mina hovering over you.

"Yay!!" She squeals as she drops your ankles and bounces on the balls of her feet.

"God, you make it so hard to say no, Mina," You say as you sit yourself up.

"I know~ it's what adds to my irresistible charm," she replies with a wide smile and a wink, to which you roll your eyes at.

"And besides, I would've been so sad and lonely without you," She fake pouts at you, sticking out her bottom lip and gives you her best puppy eyes.

"Oh please," You say as you squish her cheeks together, making her bottom lip jut out even further in a comical manner.

"Shero would'b missh'd you tooooo~" Mina muses, her words slurring together while wiggling her eyebrows at you suggestively. You gasp, tossing her head back and you cross your arms across your chest.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," You say flatly as you turn to the side, no longer facing Mina's direction. Though you can't see it, Mina is giving you a devilish look as she giggles at your reaction.

"You totally know what I'm talking about, y/n~" she hums as she approaches you from behind.

"There's no way you miss the way he looks at you all love sick with big, gross googly eyes," She teases as she throws herself on your shoulders, her cheek now squishing into yours.

"Don't even get me started on how he went gaga over your new hero costume," she giggles, a shit eating grin pressing on your cheek, "Mans was practically drooling,"

"Wha-!??" you guffaw, "He was not!!" you exclaim, growing increasingly flustered from Mina's taunting, you throw your hands on your face.

"Oh, poor sweet y/n," Mina cries out dramatically, throwing her hand to your other cheek to push your face impossibly closer to hers, brushing your hands off your face while doing so.

"Too whipped for stinky Sero to see he is infact also painfully whipped for her," She sighs as she shakes her head against yours in fake disappointment, "Tragic..."

"S-shut up before I decide to change my mind!" you exclaim, your face glowing red.

"What?? Did I lie??" she says. You open your mouth to retort but Mina's hand flies to your mouth, pressing one finger against your lips with a shush to silence you.

"No. The answer is no," She concludes in a matter-of-fact tone. Angrily, you wiggle your way out of Mina's hold and turn around to her with a flustered scowl.

"I don't know where you got any of that from, but we're just friends," you huff at her, placing your hands on your hips. Mina's hand flies to her forehead with a slap as she lets out a groan in either annoyance or frustration. Probably both.

"Oh my god, you two are so cliché it's putting me in physical pain just watching it!" she cries, "The friends to lovers troupe is getting all too real!" You roll your eyes at her as you grab your phone and tuck it into your hoodie pocket.

"Common, let's go before you make me question myself more than I already am," you say, grabbing her wrist and make your way to the door.

Mina immediately snaps out of her dramatic manner and trails behind you with a cheerful "yay!". You can't help but giggle at the way your friend's mood flipped on a dime as you two make your way out of your dorm.

[ time skip; Denki's dorm ]

You have no idea why you ever agreed to letting Mina drag you here. Your whole body tenses up and everything in you seizes as Denki calls out your name from the strip of paper he pulled out of the beanie in his hand. Your heart is beating so hard it might as well burst right out of your chest and Denki hasn't even announced who you're being paired with yet.

"It'll be fun," she said, "You'll have time to unwind," she said.

Bullshit

And you believed her! You thought you'd be playing Mario Kart with your classmates or singing karaoke! Not playing a dumb game of chance to see who's going to be trapped in a closet together for nearly ten minutes. Embarrassingly close in a dark closet, fumbling over each other as you two awkwardly shuffle around in the closed space-

You shake your head to try to get rid of your anxious thoughts, silently cursing to yourself as Denki flashes you a smirk that has nothing but trouble written all over it.

"It's ok, y/n, Loosen up. You'll be fine, I promise," Mina whispers to you as she squeezes your hand reassuringly.

You give a nervous chuckle and shoot her a look that says I'm going to kill you when this is over. Mina gives you an innocent smile in response before averting her gaze back to Denki.

"Now, let's see who's the lucky fella, or lady, who am I to judge, is to be paired with the lovely y/n~" The electric blonde announces as he makes a show of shuffling the papers in his hat.

You anxiously fidget with your fingers as Denki continues to drag on in suspense. After what felt like an eternity, he finally pulls out the cursed slip of paper. His gaze shifts between you and Mina before he sends her a mischievous smirk before announcing,

"Sero Hanta!!"

Your eyes fly to Sero sat directly across from you and you see that he's already looking intently at you. After hardly a split second of eye contact, your eyes dart away, looking at anything but him.

"Dare I say I'm jealous~ you get to have sweet y/n aallll to yourself," He cries out in a dramatically animated manner.

Your stomach drops and you let out a strained gulp and your throat goes dry. You hesitantly look back at Sero, his dark eyes still glued on you and he gives you his all too familiar grin with a cocky wink. Holy shit- you think to yourself as your breath hitches, your cheeks already blooming an embarrassing shade of pink at his action.

"Come, come!!" Denki shouts as he gestures for you and Sero to stand next to him, "This is no time to be shy now!"

Sero lets out a soft grunt as he pushes himself off of the bean bag he was lounging on, running his long fingers through his shaggy black hair. Now anxiously gnawing on your bottom lip, you approach the center of the room where Denki is standing. Your eyes fly back and forth between the loud blonde and the lanky boy but unlike you, Sero's eyes have never left you since the moment Denki announced your name. Whatever nervousness he was feeling at the moment, he was doing a damn good job at hiding it. Though you hate to admit, you can't deny his confidence is insanely attractive. The way you can practically feel his eyes on you sends swarms of butterflies fluttering around angrily around your insides.

"Come on you two!" Denki exclaims as he places his hands behind both your backs and ushers you towards his closet, "Time is of the essence and it can't be wasted!!"

"Kami, shut up or I'm gonna punch you in the nose," You say bluntly, too nervy to care or think about what you said.

Sero snickers at your comment and Denki sucks in through is teeth in response.

"Tough crowd,"

You shoot him a nasty look and Denki throws his hands up in defeat while taking a step back, leaving you and Sero right in front of his dreaded closet. Sero looks back at him and Denki gives him a big thumbs up with a stupid grin smeared on his face. Sero rolls his eyes and shakes his head before looking back at you. He slides the door open and extends a hand towards you.

"Ladies first?" He hums and you smile at his gesture, your eyes nervously shifting from your feet up to him and you bite your lip before taking his hand. Sero gently guides you into the closet before quickly trailing behind and Denki's head peaks in through the doorway behind Sero.

"Alright now, you behave, kids. Sero, make sure you use protection, I don't want a mess all on my shit," Sero punches Denki on the shoulder at his sly remark and Denki snickers, "and y/n?... You're an angel so I trust you'll keep tape face in line," he adds, slipping in a wink at you and you can't help but giggle.

Sero scoffs loudly and slaps his palm flat on Denki's face earning a dramatic "mmphf!?" from him before Sero shoves Denki out of the doorway. All you can see is Denki's arms flinging backwards before you hear a series of fumbling followed by a yelp and a loud thump as he tumbles from the force of Sero's hand. Sero with his head now poking out, looks down at Denki on the floor.

"My bad, g," Sero says behind a stifled laugh, a shit eating grin spread on his face.

"Oh, fuck off," You hear Denki grumble as he gets back up to close the closet door, "Y/n if you ever come to the realization you're too good for Sero's clown ass, just hit my line, baby," he quickly blurts out before slamming the door shut in Sero's face.

Sero flips off the door and turns to you. Now quivering with your hands covering your mouth from trying to hold in your giggles, you find yourself unable to hold back anymore and burst out laughing. Your laughter fills the closet as Sero looks at you with a goofy grin plastered on his face. Your giggles being majorly contagious, he starts laughing along with you and makes his way to get closer to you but quickly gets cut off when he trips over something on the floor. He gasps as he's sent flying forward, the only thing stopping him from collapsing right on top of you is his large hands slamming on the wall behind you.

You stop laughing, holding your breath from the shock of what just happened and you look up at Sero in surprise. He looks down at you, wide eyed at the realization that he now has you pinned underneath him.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry y/n. I didn't mean- I can get off if I'm making you uncomfortable," nervously stumbling on his words, he shifts his weight to one hand as he raises the other to rub the back of his neck, subtly averting his gaze to hide the blush creeping up his face. He starts to sit himself up but halts as you placed a hand on his shoulder.

"No, it's fine, really," you say reassuringly, "I don't think you'll be able to anyways with all of Denki's stuff scattered on the floor," you add, looking down at your feet.

Though the lighting in Denki's closet is dim, being illuminated only by a small lantern in the corner behind Sero, you can clearly see the floor is nearly completely covered in Denki's belongings that are haphazardly strewn about. The already small space only seeming smaller with the limited foot room. Not to mention Sero kabbdoning you, your bodies mere centimeters apart.

Sero huffs at your observation, silently cursing Denki under his breath. You would think his closet would be at least somewhat tidy since you guys haven't even spent an entire day in your new dorms yet. Guess that's Denki for you.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," his eyes come back up to yours, "but you're sure you're okay with this? You're not just saying it," Sero inquires. Touched by his sincerity, you slide your hand from the edge of his shoulder to the crook of his neck and you can feel slight goose bumps form underneath your fingers where your skin is touching his.

"Sero, have I ever said things just to say it?" answering his question with another.

"Hmmm, I don't think you want me to answer that," Sero teases.

You quirk your eyebrow at him. Though you are still unbelievably nervous about the unusual close proximity between you and him, you are significantly less anxious than before, becoming more relaxed with Sero's chill and goofy atmosphere. His personality has always been so inviting, it's one of his best qualities that you happened to fall hardest for.

"But seriously, we don't have to do anything if you're not ready or don't want to... Last thing I wanna do is make you uncomfortable," he says, nervously shifting on his feet. A soft smile forms on your face and your cheeks grow warm at how considerate Sero is being. Your heart clenches and you're already practically melting underneath him.

"Sero, if you didn't care, you'd already have your tongue shoved halfway down my throat by now," you reply with a light giggle, " You've never made me uncomfortable, love," you say as your voice grows softer.

You truly meant it too. Sero is one of the few people you've met in your life that you never felt you needed to put up a front for. Just simply having his presence around eases your anxieties and the time you spend with him is always relaxing. Even on that one night where he had kidnapped you from your dorm and before you knew it, you were shrieking in his arms as he swung the both of you from building to building.

A lovesick smile spreads on Hanta's face and his heart stutters at your bold statement, especially at your use of the endearing name. Although he's done a good job at hiding his nerves thus far, it's a miracle he isn't shaking like a leaf from how you're looking up at him with those doe eyes, the dim lighting reflecting on your face just right. You're the only one who's managed to put a dent in his usual chill and aloof demeanor. You make him feel a way that is so unnatural to him, a way he doubts he's ever felt before and he'd be lying if he said he didn't like it.

He clears his throat to try and shake off the nerves swarming in his stomach and starts to lean into you. Your noses now just barely grazing each other as he slides his hand underneath your ear, his thumb resting on your cheek.

"So... it's ok if I'm this close.?" his breath ghosts your lips as he speaks, his voice dipping to a low and sultry tone, "It's ok if I kiss you, right?" a slight rasp accenting his words.

Your breath catches in your throat and your heart palpitates at the way his voice pleasantly settles in your ears. Heat rises up your neck and you take a deep, shaky breath to try and calm your racing heart, completely unaware that you're making him feel just as flustered.

"Don't tease me," you say in an attempt to sound more assertive, but an unintentional whine laces your voice that undeniably turned Hanta on.

"Hm? I have no idea what you're talking about," he murmurs to your lips.

His are just barely touching yours, taking his time basking in the closeness and reveling in the way you react to his teasing advances.

Annoyed, you grip the back of his neck and shove his face into yours, your noses bumping into each other before your lips crash together. Surprised by your sudden movement, he grunts into your lips, the vibrations sending heat cascading down your spine that settles into the pit of your stomach.

But to your dismay, the kiss ends just as fast as it started as Hanta pulls away from you, leaving the warmth of his lips to be replaced by nothing but cool air. His eyes practically consume you as he slides his hand down to find its place in the small of your back.

"Dammit, y/n. I wanted to initiate that kiss," he grumbles

"You were taking too long.. and I was getting impatient," you grumble back at him, swiping the hair out of Hanta's face.

"Oh, is that so?" he quirks an eyebrow, "Am I just too irresistible? Even for a pretty girl like you?~" he purrs as he pulls you in closer to his body.

You slide your hand up the back of his neck, letting the dark tendrils of hair tangle between your fingers as you place your other hand on his chest, gently pushing it but not enough to actually make him move.

"Shut up," you whisper, the sides of your noses pressing together as you once again grow dangerously close to his lips.

"..Okay..." he whispers before colliding his lips with yours, this time more passionate than the last.

Hanta is holding onto your waist so close, so desperately, that you might as well meld into him. You sigh into each other, any tension from before melting away as Sero leans you into the wall. Overwhelmed by the sensation of having him so close, you pull away from him for air.

Hanta rests his forehead on yours, taking his time to breathe you in, sucking in every detail of this moment despite the fact neither of you can see very well through the poorly lit space. Gently letting go of your waist, his hand travels its way back to your cheek, cupping it in his palm.

"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that..." he says breathlessly and you hum in agreement.

"I don't think you know how long I've been wanting that," you say, mirroring his words.

"No, no. Impossible. I've definitely wanted you longer," he teases.

"Wh-? Ooooh, so it's a competition now?" you muse.

"I don't know where you could've possibly gotten that from,"

"Uh huh, cus it sounds to me that- wah-!" your cut off midsentence by Hanta gripping the back of your thighs as he hoists you up onto his hips. With your face now hovering above him, your back pressed flush against the wall, his chest presses against yours as he tucks his face underneath your ear.

"We can spend all day arguing over who wanted who first, princesa but... all that matters is that I want you right now~," He murmurs into you. His breath tickles the column of your neck, sending chills down your spine as he starts to gingerly suck on the tender skin under your jaw.

"Sero~" you sigh at the unfamiliar sensation of his lips marking your neck. He gives an amused hum, nipping at your ear lobe before raising his head to look at you. His gaze hungry, yearning for more.

"Call me by my first name, yeah? No need for honorifics anymore," he whispers before diving back into his assault on your neck.

You throw your head back in a daze, running your nails across Hanta's scalp and down his neck causing him to shiver underneath you. The way you lightly tug on his hair sends electricity through his body, encouraging his kisses to get sloppier and gradually starts to swirl his tongue on your sensitive skin. He nips at the collar of your hoodie, tugging it down as far as he can to gain more access to your skin and latches to your collar bone.

You can't help but let out a low moan as your mind goes hazy with how Hanta's lips somehow already know the spots that make you weak. You feel him smile against you, doing the exact same action that got you to make noise and squeezes the plush of your thighs.

"Ay dios mio... tú eres tan hermosa~" ( oh my god... you're so beautiful ) Hanta purrs against you, silk weaving through his voice as he licks the shell of your ear, leaving goosebumps in his wake.

"y tú suenas tan bonita..." ( and you sound so pretty... ) his hot breath brushes the back of your ear, causing you to whimper in response.

You have no idea what he's saying as he whispers sweet nothings into your ear but what you do know is that you don't want him to stop.

You grab his face to pull him away from you. Looking down at him with your eyes half lidded, you lean in and he meets you with a passionate kiss. Your breathing becomes rapid and shaky with the heat of the moment. Hanta softly swipes his tongue on your bottom lip, asking permission to deepen the kiss. Parting your lips, granting him wider access to your mouth, Hanta doesn't take a moment's hesitation as he sticks his tongue in. Tongues swirling together, he pushes himself harder against you, sandwiching you between himself and the wall, causing you to let out a muffled moan into his mouth earning one from him in return.

Hanta pulls away from you, surfacing for air as you pant against each other.

"Forgive me for being so bold but... I want to hear more of those noises you make..." he purrs, unintentionally rutting himself up against you.

"Well... maybe you should try a little harder to coax them out of me, hm?" you taunt in his ear, intentionally making yourself sound needy in hopes of riling him up a bit.

"Is that a challenge, love?" he hums and your breath hitches at the way the rasp in his voice sends heat up your neck.

"Only if you want it to be~"

Silently accepting your challenge with a low chuckle, he dives his head into the other side of your neck and starts kissing and sucking sloppily. His sudden change of pace, going from slow and sensual to hungry and passionate makes your head spin. He guides your legs to wrap around his waist and as soon as you got yourself situated, his hands fly to your ass. He squeezes and massages the soft muscle causing a mewl you fall out of your mouth.

But through the haze of your bliss, you're hit by a sudden realization that you're fairly annoyed with would rather not be bothered with right now... Shouldn't your time be up by now..?

"Hah..-Hanta..?" you speak hesitantly, a soft moan mixing with his name.

"Hm~?" he hums against your jaw.

"Don't you think our time should be up by now..?" Hanta raises his head to look at you, a shadow of an emotion you're not familiar with spread on his face. Worry? Disappointment?

"Well, probably not since Denki has yet to come barreling through the door, shrieking at us so... I think we're good on that," He says reassuringly, "Why do you ask? Do you want to leave..? ...Was I being too much?" He worriedly asks, nearly about to go into a nervous ramble.

You hold onto either side of Hanta's face, making him meet your gaze. A soft smile spreading on your face as warmth blooms in your chest from his genuine concern for you, despite how heated things were getting just a moment ago.

"No... no, I don't want to leave and I don't want you to stop. It's just- I-" you stutter on your words, trying to find the right ones to say.

"It just crossed my mind and got worried that Denki might've decided to lock us in together and... get stuck in here..." you admit.

The unreadable expression on his face washes away, being replaced with a soft, love struck expression and he returns your smile.

"There's no need to worry, cariña. ( darling ) He has to let us out sooner or later," giving your upper thighs a reassuring squeeze as he lowers you ever so slightly to make your face more level with his.

He furrows his brow, contemplating whether he should tell you what he knows or not. You look at him, his expression not going unnoticed and you give him a look, silently inquiring his worry.

"What's on your mind, love? You look upset," you ask softly. Hanta sighs loudly, silently cursing to himself before he continues.

"...I have a confession to make," he admits, averting his gaze from you. You look at him in concern, trying to keep your expression neutral before you jump to any conclusions about what he's going to say.

"I, uh- I knew we were gonna get locked in here... I wasn't in on it though..!" he blurts, "I wasn't supposed to know but Denki ended up telling me anyways. I don't know how long but... we're gonna be in here for a while," speaking quickly, he internally winces in preparation for your response.

Hesitantly, Hanta looks at you and is met by your dumbfounded expression. Your eyes wide and you start to laugh, a flurry of emotions you can't decipher rushing in.

"Y/n you're scaring me.. I can't tell what you're thinking," Hanta says, only half joking and you lean your head on his shoulder.

"Haaaa~ I'm going to kill him," You mutter, "I'm 99% sure Mina was in on it too," you groan into Hanta before raising your head back up.

"I'm afraid to ask if your mad at me or not," he says.

You look at him for a second, entertaining the idea of being upset at him but you decide against being petty.

"Hmmm, that has yet to be decided," you reply with a playful tone.

"That's a relief," he chuckles.

"Hey, look on the bright side," Hanta says, trying to change the subject, "You got to spend some time with me... and I got to make out with the cute girl I've been crushing on for a while~" he muses. Your quirk your eyebrow at him, a smile spreading on your face from Hanta's dorky demeanor.

"Mmm, she must be pretty lucky, managing to grab your attention like that," you play along.

A goofy smile tugs at his lips, sighing dreamily.

"Nah, I'd say I'm the lucky one. I never thought in a million years she'd ever feel the same way I do..." He leans his head to rest on yours and Hanta hums contently.

"She sounds pretty awesome," you jest.

"She's amazing..." he trails off and nudges you to lift your head. You look at him, his eyes staring intently into yours and you feel his thumbs brush up and down your thighs, his strong arms still holding you.

"You're amazing," he implores, his dark eyes looking deep within you.

"Hanta..." you whisper, cupping his face in your hand, feeling as if you might cry at how sappy and affectionate he's being.

You, rendered speechless and Hanta with no words left to say, you usher each other into another kiss, this one so many times more meaningful than the others. All the words you could ever say falling into the others' mouth as you exchange yet another passionate kiss. Hanta gently pulls away, not wanting to let go of you but continues to ask a question.

"Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable? Take your mind off things?" you shake your head in response.

"Just you being here is enough, Hanta," you say, planting a sweet kiss to the tip of his nose, "buuuuuut~" you continue, craning your neck to the side, examining the floor to see if there's any room for the two of you.

"Do you think there's enough room for you to sit down..? I wanna sit in your lap," you say. Hanta gives you a wide, mischievous grin before looking side to side, assessing the absolute mess of a closet underneath him.

"I'm sure I can make it work..." he hums, pressing a kiss on your lips before lowering you onto your feet.

Though the closet is narrow, there's just enough room for the two of you. Hanta turns around and eagerly kicks around the junk scattered on the floor. Once he's satisfied with the cleared space, he settles himself on the floor and pats his lap and opens his arms, inviting you in. You smile and make your way to him, sitting yourself between his thighs and you give your hips a teasing wiggle against his crotch as you get comfortable. Hanta clears his throat, trying to choke back the groan threatening to escape his throat from your movements.

"Now... where were we?" he asks in a playful tone.

"Hmmm," you hum, taping your finger on your chin, feigning contemplation before answering, "I think you were in the middle of attacking my neck, if I recall correctly," you conclude with a terrible British accent, reflecting his playful energy. Hanta chuckles, placing his hands above your hips, pulling you in closer to him.

"Ahh, yes, yes. I remember now. Thank you for reminding me, my dear," he teases, his British impression much better than your own and he gives you a sly wink that sends a new swarm of butterflies down your stomach.

You giggle, glad your able to be so comfortable with him, even in intimate moments like this. Hanta leans in and kisses your jaw.

"I love your voice so much, mariposita," ( little butterfly ) he muses, using the pet name he had coined specifically for you.

"I love when you laugh... and when you sing- regardless of whether you think you're good at it or not," he adds, assuming you'll try and retort. He moves his mouth right behind your ear, lightly squeezing your hips and drops his voice to a low husk.

"But I've found I especially love it when I can get you to moan~" he nips your ear lobe and lightly drags his tongue up the edge of your ear, causing you to shudder against his touch.

Hanta gives a low chuckle. You feel the vibrations from his throat in your chest and you lean into him, silently begging him for more. He wraps his hand around the back of your neck and pulls you in, letting out a long sigh against your lips as the two of you resume where you left off.

Eager to touch him more, you slide your hand in between the two of you and drag your fingers up his torso, his shirt bunching up around your fingers as you do so. He groans at your touch, his mouth opening just enough to allow you to stick your tongue in and swirl around his. He absentmindedly bucks his hips up against you, his mind foggy under the feeling of your magical fingers now caressing down his abdomen, your other hand playing with his dark hair. You take his movement as an invitation to start lightly grinding on him, Hanta's grip on you tightening in response and he pushes you down harder onto him. Groaning at the new pressure, he nips your bottom lip, lightly tugging the plum flesh.

Growing unbearably hot in your hoodie from your bodies rubbing together in such a close space, you stop and pull away from Hanta. You start shrug off your hoodie, revealing the spaghetti strap you're wearing underneath and Hanta looks at you like a deer in headlights. Hanta's face flushes and his pants start to tighten underneath you. With a surge of confidence, you draw out your movements, stretching out farther than you usually would and you hear Hanta swallow hard.

His eyes glued to your frame, unable to rip them off of you. A barely audible "dios mio" falls out of his mouth as he finally brings himself to tear his eyes off of you, his large hand dragging down the bottom half of his face as he throws his head to the side. You, now finished with taking off your hoodie, readjust yourself and look at Hanta as if nothing happened.

"Sorry.. I got hot," you say, feigning innocence.

So many things running through Hanta's mind, so many things he could say, so many things he could do but he bites his tongue, trying to keep himself in check as his eyes wonder, combing you up and down, drinking you in. He normally wouldn't be so affected by seeing you in a tank top, you often wear them in the dorms but this- this is something entirely different.

Hanta places his hands onto your waist and looks you right in the eyes, a certain darkness hidden in his eyes causing heat to pool inside your stomach.

"Yeah, you're really fucking hot...y eso fue realmente sexy..." ( ...and that was really sexy... ) he breaths out.

With an amused hum, you lean into Hanta, your arms sprawled lazily over his shoulders as your lips graze the shell of his ear. Hanta growing hyperaware of the way the plush of your boobs press against his chest. The way your top pulls down ever so slightly, revealing you are in fact not wearing a bra. How your soft breath fans against his neck and the way the smell of your shampoo has his head spinning. He looks away, trying his best to stay respectful. His face flushing a deep red and his breaths ridged as it grows harder and harder for him to keep his mind from cascading down a slew of dirty thoughts as his pants threaten to fully tent underneath you.

"I know~" you coo, your breath ghosting his ear, the low and sultry tone of your voice sending goosebumps cascading down his spine.

That was the thing that sent him flying out of control. Your confidence turning him on to no end, he grips your chin and pulls your face in front of his.

"Tú estas jugando con fuego, chiquita bonita," ( you're playing with fire, pretty girl ) He growls.

You gasp at his sudden aggression. You don't understand a word he's saying but the lust lacing each word sends the heat already pooling in your stomach shooting to your core regardless, making you throb in anticipation. You start grinding on him to try and relieve the tension in your core but it does little to help you. He lets out a brief moan at the sensation of your bodies grinding against each other before shoving your face into his, teeth clashing together as the two of you desperately latch lips.

"Is it ok if I touch you?" Hanta asks, his words muffled against your mouth as he doesn't even bother to pull away to speak.

You mewl into his lips, nodding against him as you grab his hand, placing him right under your boob, granting him permission to roam. He immediately cups your breast, messaging you in his large palm and rolling your pebbled nipple between his fingers through the fabric.

Wanting something to do with your hands as well, you rake your fingers down Hanta's chest all the way to the band of his sweats. Hooking your finger around the elastic band, pulling it out the smallest bit before releasing it, hitting his lower abdomen with a muted snap. He grunts at the feeling and lets out a shaky breath.

"Can I touch you down here..?" you inquire against his lips, your fingers dancing dangerously on Hanta's waistband. He grips onto your wrist, tongue still dancing with yours as he presses your palm forcefully on his clothed dick, a choked moan falling out of him as you round your wrist, making you rub his member in circular motions.

"Tú me estas volviendo loco," ( you're driving me crazy ) he groans into your lips, "Te deso tanto que me duele el cuerpo..." ( I want you so bad, my body aches ) he shudders underneath you, his kisses growing hungrier and sloppier as he gets increasingly intoxicated by your motions.

Growing more and more needy by Hanta's enticing voice, you slip your hand underneath his sweats and start palming him through his boxers. Hanta places his hand on the back of your head and shoves your face closer to his, deepening the already heated kiss and moans in your mouth.

But to Hanta's disappointment, you pull away from him. He cranes his neck forward to try and meet your lips again but you gently place a finger on his mouth to keep him from making any more advances. You pull your hand out of his pants and Hanta lets out a barely audible whine at the loss of friction while you trail your hands up to his abdomen under his shirt.

"Can I take it off?" you whisper.

Hanta looks at you, his dark eyes blown with lust as he gives you a mischievous smile.

"Of course, princesa," he purrs.

You give a content hum as you tug at his baggy shirt. Hanta helps you by lifting his arms as you slip it off of him and looks at you with admiration once you shrug it off. You run your fingers down his now bare chest, admiring his toned muscles underneath you.

"You like what you see, pretty girl?" he muses, his eyebrows raised suggestively in an attempt to tease you. You hum in response and kiss his neck.

"I think you're very handsome~" you hum softly into him and you feel his heart rate spike as your chest rests against his.

"Geez, y/n you're gonna make me blush," he says only mildly flustered.

Amused by his reaction to your compliment, knowing he's not very used to being on the receiving end of them, you continue, sliding both hands to rest behind his neck and you lift your head to look at him.

"But I mean it..." You coo, toying with the dark strands of hair on the nape of his neck, leaving Hanta as nothing but putty in your hands.

With his eyes half lidded, looking at you as if you're made of gold, he pulls you in for another kiss. Wasting no time, he sticks his tongue in your mouth, hungry for more of you. But before you could do anything more, you hear the closet door swing open.

"Surprise shawties!!! AHHHH-" you hear a dreadfully familiar voice drilling through the romantic atmosphere.

Incredibly startled and practically jumping out of your own skins, you and Hanta whip your heads to the door. He wraps his arms around you and pulls you to his chest instinctually as if to shield you, even though he's the only one shirtless.

"DENKI THAT'S WHY I SAID TO KNOCK, ROCKS FOR BRAINS," you hear Mina yell behind the door.

"What the hell Denki!?!?" you yell, your head still turned to the door and though you can't see it, you can feel Hanta giving a scary glare at Denki. Denki's face is flushed red and Mina stomps over and shoves him out of the way .

"I'm so sorry," she exasperates, "y'all continue and come out when you're ready," she finishes, waving her hand at you two without looking, in fear of seeing something she'd regret. Though, there wasn't much to see. Denki's just dramatic.

"There's no one in the room by the way! It's just us," she adds as she closes the closet door.

You sit up and look at Hanta, his arms still not leaving your waist and you see an infuriated look on his face you are not familiar with at all. His eyes meet yours and you can't help but laugh. Laugh at Denki's ridiculous personality, laugh at how Sero look genuinely pissed and just laugh at the overall situation you've been in this whole time. Hanta's hard expression quickly melts away at your giggles and despite him trying to fight it off, he starts laughing along.

"God, he's such a fucking idiot," Hanta says through giggles and laughs and you hum in agreement. You cup his face in your hand and give him a sweet kiss on the cheek.

"We should probably leave," you murmur under a giggle and Hanta groans at your words.

"Yeahhh but I don't wanna deal with Denki," He sighs, resting his forehead on yours and you agree. You two sit in silence for a moment, doing nothing but enjoying each others' presence as you think of what snarky comment Denki might have instore for you when you get out.

"Sooo... we'll continue this in my dorm?" Hanta muses, breaking the comfortable silence adn you giggle in response.

"Pfff, yeah... Yeah I'd think I'd like that," you hum in response as Hanta grabs your face to pull you into a gentle kiss, chuckling a bit against your lips.

.・゜゜・・゜゜・．.・゜゜・・゜

𝒇𝒊𝒏 . ✩

[ SORRY FOR THE ABRUPT ENDING D: I LOST INSPO AND MOTIVATION BUT I REALLY LIKED THIS FIC AND I HOPE YOU LIKED IT REGARDLESS AHHH!!! <333 ]

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cheelduh · 4 years ago

Text

How to strike your way into someone’s heart (Highschool AU)

Part 2 to this. Can be read alone!

Pairing: Childe x fem!reader

Warnings: A lot of swearing I mean what do you expect they’re all teenagers. Lots of brick slapping. Childe clowns Scaramouche. OH YES this isn’t edited at all lmfao have fun.

Synopsis: It’s your big date with Childe after you lost the bet miserably. You decide to pay the occult club a visit in hopes of finding something that can...ease your concerns. Childe on the other hand has Signora give him a friendly piece of advice, believe it or not.

Note: SRY THIS TOOK ME LIKE A MONTH

For as long as you can remember, you've never believed in ghosts, demons, or souls that lose their way in the endless void, forced to roam the earth in repentance.

Believing in the unknown takes creativity, adventure, maybe even a little sense of fear. Scratch that—a shitton of fear, because humans love to weave in their insecurities and inability to explain something into something of a phenomenon.

Bad luck lies in this category. Bad luck is simply a way to justify the catastrophe that one cannot admit they have fabricated themselves. Everyone wants a reason as to why shit hits the fan, and it can be anything but their own fault.

Bad luck is nothing but a load of bull to you. That's totally why you're standing outside the calculus classroom during lunch break, which happens to be the official meet spot for the occult club.

You raise a fist to knock, but then falter, thinking over your options once again. Is this what it has come to? Putting your faith into the weird kids that once tried to summon Schrödinger's cat for the physics final.

Fischl kicks the door wide open, a smirk playing at her lips once she spots you. "One cannot refrain from the song of your cogitation. The feline for which thou dwell on—"

A squeak leaves your throat and you flinch back, cutting her off. "You can read my mind?"

"Fischl," An icy eyed boy shows up from behind her and points a thumb back. "Mona needs your help."

Fischl squints at you for a brief moment, and then spins onto her heel to go back into the room.

The blue haired lower class man, Chongyun you guess, narrows his eyes at you. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Finally you manage to speak, palms all sweaty. "Yeah uh, I need your help. You know, with occulty things." You use your hands to articulate your thoughts, but ultimately give up.

You're not sure if it's pity towards your pathetic explanation or simply annoyance, but Chongyun widens the opening. He silently gestures for you to follow.

Stumbling on your feet and putting on your big girl pants, you hurry inside of the room, hoping you aren't seen by Beidou. She wouldn't let you hear the end of this.

The temperature instantly drops, and you have to adjust your sight to navigate. There's heavy incense in the air as well as a a few lighted candles from the dollar store, you guess.

Sitting smack dab in the middle of all the demonic markings is Mona, with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Chongyun has made his way next to her, crossing his arms with a sigh, and Fischl is busy cooing at her bird.

"Well well well..." Mona's amused, eyes almost twinkling as she gets up from the poor desk that had to suffer the wrath of her ass. "If it isn't Y/N."

Mona is a glorified dick wiper in your books. One time, she partnered up with you in chemistry last year and refused to do any work because apparently her "star sign" said she was incompatible with science. You haven't forgiven her since.

"I need your help." You barely manage to choke out the words, reigning yourself in by clenching your fists instead. It'll be unethical to claw her face, especially since you're the one who's come to her.

"Oh?" She smiles wickedly, revelling in every moment of this no doubt. "Why would the high and mighty Y/N need help from the 'Whoroscope whore'?"

Fischl nearly slips out a laugh, trying with her upmost ability to refrain from rolling all over the floor.

You blink away your tears of almost-laughter, casually sliding in twenty mora across the table dividing you two. If she's a whoroscope whore like you say she is, she'll definitely put it in her bra.

Mona raises a brow, but her eyes linger on the bill for a second too much. "What makes you think I'll do it for money?"

"That's simple," You say, rolling your eyes. "When you see mora, you cling to it like a baby clings to a tit. Now just take it and solve my issues."

She fumes a litany of curses but snatches the money up anyways.

"What do you want?"

You breathe in, then out. "I need a talisman."

Mona raises a brow, hand on her hip. "I'm sorry. Did I get that right?"

How dare she. You will your eye into not twitching, the beginnings of fire thrumming through your veins, scalding hot. How dare she make me repeat myself.

"You know, the thing to fend off evil spirits," Your statement hangs heavy in the air as the cogs in their brains click into place. "I need one that can remove the most evilest thing times ten to the power of twenty five on this planet."

Everyone immediately thinks of Hu Tao.

Chongyun is the first to speak from an area of expertise, seemingly shocked at your words. "Are you sure you want a talisman that powerful? How bad is the evil spirit you've come across?"

You glance out the window, through the semi-open blinds. The apprehension curls in your stomach once you spot Childe chasing Aether with safety scissors, and you've never been more sure of than anything in your life.

Gulping, you turn back to the exorcist. "I'm 110% sure."

He doesn't ask any more questions and goes to fetch the talisman.

Mona clears her throat. "So I hear you have a date with Childe today. Quite the character you've taken to."

"Oh please," You hiss through your teeth, your blood pressure going up tenfold, "you're the one that told him our star signs were intertwined and that we're fated lovers."

She shrugs innocently, stance casual unlike your own that is ready to lunge an attack.

"Here you are," Chongyun hands you a talisman, a colourful mix of some charms, some kind of liquid in a bottle, and about a shitton of other things. "You'll need these if you're going to face the most demonic of all evils."

You think of Childe's stupidly handsome smirk, the playful life of his eyes, and how gentle and considerate he is with you. You think about how cruel he is to others, but how loving he can be to you.

"Oh, I will be."

—

Childe is getting his ass handed to him by Scaramouche on the switch. It's just that he can't seem to focus, not with the forthcoming date all over his mind.

He hasn't experienced these kind of jitters in a long time. Has to endure that foolish smile that's about to plaster all over his face.

Scaramouche may be a son of a bitch with an agenda, but he doesn't appreciate his acquaintances safeguarding their personal crap when it starts to leak onto him. Especially when it comes to video games.

"Okay," The short boy sighs, stretching over the staff room sofa to drop his controller on the cushions. "Let's hear it." He can't even properly enjoy his victories when Childe isn't giving it his all.

"Hear what?" Childe lays his head back, relaxing from all the strain of endless gaming during the lunch hour. He seems too relaxed for someone who's broken into the teacher's lounge.

"Why you're so distracted." Scaramouche points out. "Not that I care—hey! I'm serious here!"

Childe's cracking up for absolutely no reason, rudely cutting him off. "I'm sorry—sorry it's just so hard to take you seriously when you're wearing that stupid fucking hat."

"Don't question the drip." The older moves his head to glare at him, but the thin stripe of silk on his hat swooshes with him, and it's enough to have Childe clutching his stomach in pain as he barks out in laughter.

"Grow the fuck up." Scaramouche says, no doubt exasperated from the constant shit he gets.

"Ok—ok I'm sorry."

There's a knock on the door before Scaramouche gets the chance to intimidate him again.

"Fuck shit fuck who is that? Wasn't there a staff meeting?" Childe whisper yells, panic clear in the ocean of his eyes.

Scaramouche shrugs and downs a can of soda with no care in the world.

Childe would be nonchalant too. If it were a normal day, he wouldn't give two shits about getting caught.

However, he's looking forward to that date he has with you today. Detention is going foil all his lecherous plans.

"It's me." The feminine sound of a threat calls out from the other side. "Open the door." The clicks and clacks of her toes tapping the floor indicating her impatience.

The two sigh in relief, Childe getting up to open the door. It's way too early in the afternoon to deal with this crap.

"Surprised to see me?" Signora greets sweetly, and if not for the murderous glint in her eyes, he would smile back.

"Yeah, I didn't say Bloody Mary three times." The ginger replies, keeping a steady eye on the upperclassman in case she pulls a fast one.

The blonde shoves him aside in offence, and prances in like she owns the goddamn place. Scaramouche greets her with the bird.

"There's this rumour going around—I'm sure you've heard..."

"Oh?" Childe pockets his keys, ready for an attack, not even remotely interested in the topic.

"Something about how Y/N gave Mona a visit today" Signora muses, elegantly taking a seat on the arm of the couch, "with your date and all, I just thought you should know."

"Hah!" Scaramouche bursts out in laughter, tears in the corner of his eyes. "I can't believe she went to get a horoscope reading on how shitty your date's gonna be."

"Get castrated." Childe growls, flipping him off on both hands.

"Now now boys," Signora's lips curl, and she clasps both manicured hands together, prepared to break the fight if it ever reaches its peak. "Settle down. You two are comrades."

"As if I'm comrades with this SIMP!" Scaramouche has to wheeze out the words.

The youngest clenches his fists, unclenches, and then lets a smirk grow. "Oh? I'm the simp? What about that time Mona pantsed you in-front of all the freshmen and you fell in love with her."

Scaramouche glares at him, a glare strong enough to have anyone shaking in their shoes. "I'm attracted at her sheer audacity of trying to fuck I, Scaramouche, the 8th harbinger, over. It takes balls."

"Mad respect." Signora leans forward to place her phone on the coffee table, then approaches Childe. "Moving on, the reason I've decided to bestow my precious intel on you is because I have a favour to ask of you."

"What?" He says blankly, confused that she has a request for him out of all people.

"I need you to let me get you ready for this date of yours." She gives him a gaze that is enough to wither away any arguments.

Childe shares a look with Scaramouche as if to say "am I fucking deaf because I sure as shit didn't just hear that."

"You sure as hell did, boys." Signora intercepts the connection of their two brainwaves with a dreaded sigh. "I hate Y/N. This is the only way I can get back at her."

"Hey!" Childe exclaims loudly, waving his hands in the air incessantly. "What makes you think I'll let you shit on my future girlfriend."

"I'll be doing nothing of the sorts." She points out, giving him a sly smile. "I just know she's terrified of what's coming. The better the date is, the more she's gonna hate herself. What more do I need but to sprinkle some inner conflict within her airtight resolve?"

As favorable as the proposal is, Childe contemplates for a second. Signora...helping him? This could work to his advantage if he plays his cards right.

His inner turmoil takes him into the future, where you two are happily married with eight and a half kids. If you ever managed to find out Signora was the culprit that was finally able to set you two up, you'd never forgive him.

"Nah I'll take a hard pass." He doesn't want to think about divorce and custody battles this early on. He'd rather face the brunt of Signora's wrath.

Scaramouche chooses right then to make a tactical withdrawal out through the window since he doesn't want to be a witness to a murder he hasn't caused.

Surprisingly— "Fine then." Signora shrugs, unbothered when summoning out a minty juul from no where. She's disappointed nonetheless.

Childe tilts his head, perplexed, but decides against mulling over it for too long. Instead, he strides off to the door, wanting to get the last two periods over with so he can run home and freshen up for this date.

"Oh and Childe?" Signora calls out to him, but he barely acknowledges her, only pausing momentarily without looking back. "A piece of friendly advice. A diligent student like Y/N, there's no way she'd be into rash things like fighting. So try and control yourself, hmm?"

He flashes the senior a sheepish smile, the front row tickets to the illegal underground fight-club burning in the back pocket of his pants.

—

Childe conceals near the bushes by the gate, expertly hiding his shaking hands by pretending to look for something in his back. His goal isn't to seem desperate, even though he's raced out here at the speed of light after Havria's dismissal.

It's not like he's trying to eavesdrop or anything. He just wants a little insight on how you're feeling about this, in case the rumors of you visiting the occult club wasn't a farce.

From his peripheral, he spots you and a familiar figure that is Lisa, leisurely walking side by side as you approach the main side walk.

"Ready for your date, Y/N? You've been daydreaming all afternoon." Lisa winks, and dodges the shove you send her way with experience like no other.

"Yes, daydreaming about punching you in the face." Your left eye twitches in annoyance as you fix your hold on your skateboard.

"Well then, I'll be off—ah!"

The gorilla grip you have on her sleeve takes away all the time she has to get on the last bus she's about to miss.

Your utter strength is enough to make Childe's knees weak. How pathetic he thinks.

"Oh no you don't," You say in a sing-song voice, "you got me into this, so you're going to help."

"Help with what?" Lisa fakes a hard pout as she bats her lashes, trying to collect pity points.

"I—" You inhale, loosening your grip on her and averting your eyes nervously to see if anyone's watching. "Don't make me say it."

The older girl motions for you to continue, and you're sure you've suffered more for less at this point.

"I've never...been on a..." The sentence ends in a trailed murmur.

Childe doesn't think he's ever seen you so flustered. He's about to snap a picture for later, but decides against it. They'll be plenty of moments later on to see your cute expressions.

Lisa's grin is both seductive and terrifying, Childe notices. "You've never been on a date?"

"Shut up!" You hiss, dropping your board so you can cover her lips with your palm, eyes darting around your surroundings frantically. "Not so loud."

He has to bite at his fist to hide his amusement.

As if she has a sixth sense, Lisa's eyes somehow find Childe's through the abundance of leaves, and there's a glint in her eyes that nearly makes him shart his pants.

"Of course Y/N," She replies sweetly to you, who is currently unaware of the staring match going on. "I'll teach you everything you need to know...and more."

Childe doesn't know if that's a good or bad thing. Nor does he want to find out.

—

You ponder on what's taking him so long, more on edge than you usually are. Thankfully, Lisa basically pried your hair down from its usual up-do. Said something about how you can hide your lack of shits given as to not offend him.

Except you think you're giving more shits that you expected to. Why else would your heart be pounding so hard?

"What took you so long?" You sense him creeping up on you, ceasing his chance to pounce.

Childe groans playfully and slaps a hand over his face as he comes into view. "How'd you know?"

"You have a douche-styled gait." You reply as you remove your gaze off your phone to approach him.

He's prepared to shoot a witty reply, but it dies halfway through his throat when he procures a good look at you. Your hair frames your face elegantly, eyes shining despite the tiredness that's so clear, all complete with a cooling spring dress that hugs you just right.

Mouth going dry, he forgets how to speak the common tongue, unable to tear his gaze off your form.

You shift in place awkwardly. "Uh are you okay? Looking a little...blank."

"Sorry—sorry just thinking." Childe stumbles over his words like the complete idiot and a half he is, berating himself countlessly on the inside. He regains his confidence once he spots the light dust on your cheeks. "You ready for the best date ever?"

"The best date huh?" It's the first time you smile today, and he swears his heart leaps in his rib cage. You're the prettiest thing he's ever laid his eyes on. "I'm ready. I better not be disappointed."

"I wouldn't dare disappoint, girlie." He feigns mock offence as dramatically as possible. "I'll show you how to have some real fun. Cool keychain by the way, for good luck?"

It's one of the charms Chongyun urged you to carry with you at all times to keep all forms of evil away.

"Yeah...something like that."

The two of you ease into the walk in a relatively comfortable fashion, contributing with lively chatter and a few jabs here and there. It's not awkward at all, not like you thought it would be. Your nerves loosen up, mind diverting from the roots of the stress of high school.

"—And you won't believe what Kaeya did the other day. I'm telling you there's something wrong with him because that SoundCloud rapper wannabe Venti goaded him into birdboxing through the hallways at lunch."

"And the son of a bitch did it?"

"The son of a bitch did it." Childe confirmed, gasping through his laughs as the two of you converse in psychobabble. "And guess who he bumped into?"

You're choking in laughter, tears in your eyes as you hunch over and shake. "He didn't. Childe—no he didn't."

"Straightttt into Diluc. And he had the balls to feel him up because he thought he bumped into a hot bab—"

Childe crashes into a sturdy chest and stumbles backwards towards you, but manages to catch his balance midway. Both of you freeze when faced with a buff guy from another school, bandages on his fist and a crooked smirk on his face.

Fuck. You think. Classic high school cliché.

Realizing he can't risk the remainder of this date when it hasn't even begun, Childe raises a hand in apology, aiming to be the bigger person instead of socking the kid in the face.

"Sorry. I wasn't looking." He offers to the guy, but you can tell he isn't buying any of it. There are about four more kids who group, a setup that isn't going to end in your favour.

"Hey punk. You don't remember me?" The upperclassmen barks out, glaring holes into your date.

You deadpan towards Childe, but he's too is racking his brain to remember. Ends up shrugging with no recollection.

"I have a list of names but they're in my other pants." Shit, what an a-grade reply. Now you know you're done for. "Listen dude, I'm kind of on a date and the vibe is going great. Don't ruin it."

"It's a good thing she's here to watch then!" The guy yells, stomping so that he's right in-front of Childe, ready to pounce. "You humiliated me in front of my gang last week. I'm here to rip you a new one."

Childe blinks, tries to remember, and when he doesn't, he grabs a wad full of cash from the his Fanny pack and throws it at the guy's feet.

Everyone's eyes bulge out of their sockets, including yours at the amount of money placed there casually on the crack of the dirty sidewalk.

"Hopefully this is enough for the damages." Childe offers, aiming to not further escalate the situation albeit how pissed he is right now. If you weren't here...well that would be another, much more violent story.

With a soft tug, Childe brings you close and begins to pass the guy, until he's abruptly stopped by a hand gripping his shoulder tightly.

"I don't think so!" The guys barks, and his lackeys move to surround you two. "You gotta pay taxes too buddy." Oh he's getting way too comfortable now.

A feral smile grows on Childe's face as he looks over his shoulder. "Oh?"

"Yeah shithead." The guy seethes, puffing out his chest to size him up.

Childe itches for a fight. He can no longer keep in the urge and is just about ready to raise a heavy fist, but is beaten by the sound of a loud thwack, and then a painful groan following.

There you are, standing in front of the trembling asshole, spinning your crossbody bag in circles like it's a nunchuck in all it's glory. There's a deadly glint in your eyes, pure, unadulterated vexation in your features.

If Childe could fall for you any harder, it's probably happening now. In that exact moment, his heart beats in his ears uncontrollably, and there's nothing but raw adoration that piles up all at once.

You're an angel of destruction, a force not to be reckoned with, and shit, you're the eye of the fucking storm.

Fire courses through your veins as you pulverize the guy with your bag, swinging with such expertise it has Childe in awe. "He may be an absolute idiot for not remembering—"

"Hey girlie you're killing me here!" Your date snaps out of his astonishment temporarily.

"—but you don't get to call him a shithead, you asshole!" You snarl angrily, gripping the handle of your bag tightly, decking everyone that lunges at you, letting out strings of curses with every hit. Every hit sends a flock of them either stumbling back in pain, or knocked out completely.

Childe doesn't even get a chance to lift a finger by the time you're done violating them with your heavy ass pink bag. Stands there like an absolute loser.

"Apologize." You pant, prepared to send another flurry of attacks at the leader, who is crawling away with a battered face. "Apologize or I'll—I'll fucking Russian neck tie your ass."

"S-sorry!" The guy whimpers out and tries not to piss his pants at the threat.

Childe is still in too much shock at the whole ordeal to reply, short circuiting.

Another thirty seconds pass until he registers the smaller hand waving in front of his face. He catches your cold hand through his haze, brings it closer.

Running a free hand through his locks, he doesn't hide his astonishment. "You're fucking gorgeous, girlie." He whistles lowly, eyeing you with a new kind of regard.

"I-I uh." Your face is all shades of red by now, the adrenaline from kicking ass wearing down. "Let's go."

"How is that bag so heavy?" One of the fallen gasps out in pain, clutching his ribs as he trembles on the floor. "Like a buh-brick."

A part of your zipper in open, and Childe briefly peeks out of morbid curiosity. His jaw slackens. "Is that a...no, it can't be."

"It's a brick." You murmur guiltily, gnawing at your bottom lip. "Just in case." Fingers tentatively play with the straps.

Childe is head over heels by now, all smitten as a foreign warmth bubbles up in his throat, and he's just about sure he'll puke his heart out.

His next words are picked out carefully. "There's an underground fight club going on—"

You lock and aim for his right kidney.

Worth a try, Childe thinks.

"SIKE. Joking—joking. Just a joke." He insists, gloved hands raised by his ears in defence.

Clicking your tongue, you scowl and rush past him.

It hasn't even been an hour and it's been the most exciting date Childe's ever experienced. When he sees your lips twitch, he knows it's the same for you as well.

"Are we going or not?" You mumble, avoiding eye contact, a tinge of red still decorating your cheeks.

Childe crumbles into his hands at your deadly duality. One that comes for his enemies and one that comes straight for his heart.

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