#dexter vex x reader

[skulduggery-pleasant-bp9]

Dead Men x M/n - Angry kids (Part 5 of Dead Men meet M/n)

WARNING!: Blood x Gore, Violence, Serpine will die, a bit graphic, death, cursing AND MORE ! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!!

The names are all pronounced this !: Keiran(M/n) – Keer- in or Keer-awn Laoise – Lah-weese Lorcan – Lor-ken

Part 5 – Angry kids

Stephanie was at China’s, worried sick for Skulduggery. Serpine ambushed them and took out the Detective, while he tried to kill her. China knew her name and used it against her, to keep her in the library. She should have called Keiran.

China was out right now and Stephanie broke down the door to her private room, snatching back her phone...if she could...reach out to Keiran ?

She activated her phone and dialed his number quickly. He picked up instantly.

“Keiran Fox.”

“Keiran, help, please. China knows my Given name and she is keeping me hostage in her Library. I called her in a panic. Skulduggery and I got ambushed in Grimwood, by Serpine and his paper pals. He captured Skulduggery too.”, she quickly informed.

It was dead silent on the other end.

“Lorcan...Laoise...get your weapons and magic ready. We are going to beat some Serpine ass and get the Mortal girl out of China’s clutches.”, Keiran said with a dark voice.

“On it !”, Lorcan yelled and Laoise was slightly to hear too.

“Sit tight, think of a name and we will pick you up ! Lorcan will tell the rest of the adults and we will get ready. We have to inform Meritorius and then get Skul as fast as possible !”

“What if he is already dead ?”, Stephanie asked worried.

“Serpine thinks Skulduggery has the key. As long as he doesn’t have it, he won’t kill him.”, Keiran assured.

After that they hung up and Stephanie found her name, ten minutes, before Keiran broke the doors down, to collect her. China wasn’t happy and tried to force Stephanie to stay. But she didn’t listen anymore.

“So you have taken a name. May I know who you are now ?”, she asked the girl.

“Valkyrie. Valkyrie Cain.”

“Fuck you, China Sorrows. If Uncle Skulduggery is dead, because of your ugly ass, I will personally set this place on fire and kill you.”, Keiran growled out darkly.

“Now, now. Don’t be so dramatic.”, she scolded.

“That man has a FAMILY, you BITCH !”, Keiran screamed at her and charged at her with a dagger.

China tried to use her sigils on Keiran, but noticed too late, that they don’t work on him. He cut into her arm and she hissed. He charged again and cut at her right eye, giving her a nice scar, she hissed again in pain. She tried her sigils again, but nothing worked.

“WHORE ! JEALOUS BITCH ! SELFISH BIMBO ! DISGUSTING MURDERER ! TRASH ! WALKING GARBAGE CAN !”, he screamed at her as he charged and charged at her again, giving her cuts.

Keiran stabbed her into her abdomen and she fell on the floor. She was far from dead though.

“KEIRAN ! STOP !”, Lorcan yelled.

Keiran froze in place and looked at Skulduggery’s Son.

“We don’t have time, for that backstabbing Bitch ! Father is more important !”, Lorcan yelled.

He looked at China again.

“Remember well who saved your pathetic life, Bitch. Next time, I won’t be so merciful.”, Keiran spat and left, sheathing his dagger again.

Valkyrie stared at Keiran in shock.

“I hate that traitorous whore so much. Why we let her live, will be a mystery to me...”, Keiran scoffed.

With that they left and hurried to Meritorius. As soon as he heard that Serpine was accused again, he denied it, refused to believe them.

“Listen to me RIGHT now, Meritorius !”, Keiran yelled at him, angered.

Meritorius stared at him.

“You do not talk to your elders like that-“

“I don’t give a flying FUCK what you want ! Skulduggery is MISSING, most possibly DEAD already and you expect ME to be CALM ?! YOU expect someone like SERPINE to keep a TRUCE, for the rest of his LIFE ?! I think your old age made you forget what a person Serpine is ! He is a fucking PSYCHO, STALKER, MURDERER, FACELESS GODS LOVER and PURE EVIL ! He stalked Skulduggery’s Family since the TRUCE started ! He killed behind your back ! He was about to KILL Valkyrie THREE times now, which mind you, YOU wanted to go back to her NORMAL life too ! That could have KILLED her ! He took Skulduggery now and it is HIS life on the line ! Sorry that I told you from the BEGINNING that a TRUCE WON’T cut it ! But now get your old ass up and GIVE ME PERMISSION TO KILL HIM AND GET MY UNCLE BACK ! HE HAS FAMILY FOR FUCKS SAKE !”, Keiran screamed at Meritorius pissed royally off.

Everyone stared at him. No speaking mistake and there was a very dangerous fire in his eyes. Meritorius knew better than to argue with him any further. He will have to give in.

“If you drag us into a war, Keiran, so help me the Ancients.”

“The war started a long time ago, again, already. Your old ass just refused to see it. We are in the MIDDLE of it and YOU still sit here and do nothing but sit in your own Dream World.”, Keiran scoffed.

Then he stormed off and waited for the help, he knew they needed.

The Dead Men, Lorcan, Laoise, Valkyrie and Meritorius looked at him in utter shock and respect. Keiran wasn’t messing around and when he is pissed off and worried sick about his Family, he will get violent. Both, physically and verbally.

After a few minutes two Cleavers arrived. Meritorius arrived with the rest and Keiran scoffed.

“Is that all you will give us ? Damn, you WANT us to die.”, he accused the Grand Mage.

“We have no more, that we can give you.”

“Sure and I am the Easter Bunny. Whatever. Get rid of Sagacious Tome. He is a spy for Serpine. I spotted him a few times enter an alleyway and Serpine left it minutes later. Don’t trust him, no matter what he says. Serpine wants the book of Names and he is looking for something that can kill you. If you die, the book is unprotected.”, Keiran explained annoyed.

They were all in shock, but didn’t question it. They soon enough met Tanith, Valkyrie stated that she met her once already and that she was nice, and so Keiran allowed her to tag along. After everyone, besides Anton and Meritorius, jumped into Ghastly’s Van, did Meritorius talk.

“Your Son really is violent.”, he told the Gist Master.

“I know...”

“But...he is only violent, when he is worried sick about one of you. Be careful with one another. He seems...protective and territorial of you all.”

“We will try our best.”

“Good. Now go rescue Skulduggery.”

Anton nodded and jumped into the Van and Ghastly sped off. It didn’t take them long to arrive there and Keiran wasted no time into getting out and getting ready for kill or be killed mode. Lorcan did the same and Laoise copied her Cousin and Brother.

Tanith sent the Cleavers to distract the Hollow Ones and then they ran for the wall. Hopeless, Ghastly, Lorcan, Laoise, Erskine and Keiran made it over the wall easily. Ghastly helped Anton and Saracen with a small boost of his Magic, while Keiran helped Larrikin over it and Lorcan helped Dexter Vex over the wall. Tanith helped Valkyrie over the wall.

Together they ran into the castle of Serpine’s and started a wild search in a Team of two. Lorcan and Keiran found Skulduggery and he looked in bad shape. That, made Lorcan, go into rage mode.

“Oh, hello you two.”, Skulduggery greeted them weakly.

“What the fuck did that Bastard do to you ?”, Keiran growled out.

“Oh, just some torture with his red hand.”, he chuckled out weakly.

Lorcan and Keiran saw red at that. The others all came rushing in and Ghastly tried to crack open the handcuffs. After that was done, Saracen and Hopeless helped Skulduggery to get up and walk.

The rest of the Team tried to keep the way free, only to realize way too late that three members were missing, after they fled. Laoise, Lorcan and Keiran.

“Wait...where are Lorcan, Laoise and Keiran ?!”, Anton asked in panic, after they were in the Van.

“Shit !”, Ghastly cursed.

“We have to go back.”, Skulduggery said weakly.

“YOU need medical attention ! This is serious and urgent !”, Hopeless scolded.

“The kids !”, Skulduggery protested.

“They know what they are doing. We have to get you to Kenspeckle.”

“They are going after Serpine.”, Valkyrie whispered.

Everyone was silent.

“What ?”, Dexter asked in shock.

“Didn’t you see the murderous glares Keiran and Lorcan had ? They probably told Laoise, because she had the same murderous look later on. They are going after Serpine, to make him pay for what he did to Skulduggery.”, she explained.

“Fuck. We have to go back !”, Saracen yelled.

“If we go back now, Skulduggery will die.”, Larrikin argued back.

“Let’s hope these three are careful. We have to get Skul into medical care and that fast.”, Ghastly said worried.

Anton sat in the car, worried sick for his Son, Nephew and Niece. They were all worried, but Anton was the most worried with Skulduggery. Their children’s lives were on the line.

-With Keiran, Lorcan and Laoise-

They followed Serpine, ready to kill instantly. They had the perfect torture session planned out for Nefarian Serpine. One that he will beg to be over fast.

As soon as Serpine was alone inside a room, Lorcan locked it and Keiran knocked him out cold. Then they dragged Nefarian away from populated areas and into a deep forest. All they did was set up some cameras and then waited for the Bastard to wake up.

-With the Dead Men-

They reached the Cinema and rushed Skulduggery inside.

“Kenspeckle ?! Kenspeckle we need your help, urgently !”, Ghastly called as soon as they were in the soundproof hideout of the Professor’s.

Kenspeckle arrived after a few seconds, with his two assistants, Stentor and Civet. The older man’s eyes widened as he saw Skulduggery.

“What in the ever loving hell happened to him ?”, the Professor asked.

“Serpine.”, Saracen answered.

Kenspeckle’s face turned grim and he instantly led them to an operation room.

“Put him on the bed and then leave. This is urgent.”, he told the Dead Men.

Valkyrie was scared for Skulduggery. What if he won’t make it ? The left the room quickly and stayed seated in the waiting room.

“Shouldn’t we search Lorcan, Laoise and Keiran ?”, Valkyrie asked worried.

“We don’t know where they are right now. It would be like hunting a needle in hay.”, Dexter replied softly.

Anton just sat there, eyes unfocused. He was worried sick.

Ghastly put a hand on the Hotelier’s shoulder, which made him snap out of his thoughts.

“Don’t worry, Anton. I bet they are okay.”, the tailor told him with a soft smile.

“I hope so...”, Anton replied.

Hopeless, Larrikin, Saracen and Valkyrie had a grim face. They hoped so too, for Anton’s and Skulduggery’s sanity’s sake.

-With the kids-

Serpine woke up finally. The children already had sinister grins on their faces and Laoise started the cameras.

“W-what happened...?”, Serpine groaned and rubbed his head.

They agreed that Lorcan can break Serpine’s bones, Laoise can stab him anywhere she wanted and Keiran will cut off the hand.

“Well, well, well~ Awake at last, aren’t we~?”, Keiran purred darkly.

Serpine stiffened up, eyes wide in horror.

He quickly turned around, right hand stretched out to instantly kill, but Keiran saw that coming and grabbed the outstretched arm, then pressed it to the floor, making Serpine hiss in pain.

Before Nefarian could make Keiran let go of his hand, by causing him pain, he screamed in agony already. Keiran’s dagger came crashing down and made quick work of cutting through the bone of Serpine’s red hand, severing it from his body.

Keiran smirked darkly at Serpine, who looked at him with tears in his eyes.

“You disgusting piece of trash, hurt and tormented my Family for long enough. It’s time to end it, don’t you think ? I told you, you lay your hands on my Family, you will regret your existence.”, Keiran said darkly.

Then he got up and picked up the cut off red hand. Just then did Serpine see Lorcan and Laoise, Skulduggery’s children. They didn’t look very happy.

“Oh, we will have fun, won’t we, Serpine~?”, Lorcan asked darkly, a dark promising smile on his face.

Laoise giggled darkly and gave Serpine also a dark, promising look.

“N-now, now ! We can talk about this, kids !”, Serpine tried to convince.

“Yeah, no. You bothered us for way too long. You broke the truce. You HURT my Father. You tried to kill us. You tried to kill Keiran and now you want to TALK ABOUT EVERYTHING ?! Fuck you, Nefarian Serpine.”, Lorcan snarled.

With that Lorcan lifted the sledge hammer and let it slam onto Serpine’s right leg, making a satisfying loud cracking sound. Serpine screamed in pain, while Lorcan continued to break his bones to pieces.

“When we are done with you, you wish you were never born.”, Keiran promised Nefarian darkly.

Serpine was scared. He never saw them this pissed off, nor did he ever had to feel this threatened before. He didn’t want to die...

-With the Dead Men-

Kenspeckle came out of the room and everyone looked at him. The older man sighed.

“He will be fine soon. Give him a few hours and he can leave. He had a few cracked bones and open wounds on his torso.”, Kenspeckle informed.

“Oh thank the Ancients ! He will be fine.”, Larrikin said in relief.

“If you would have came two seconds later, one of his ribs could have broken apart and stabbed him in the heart, so good instincts to bring him to me.”

Everyone grew pale at that information.

“Holy shit...”, Ghastly muttered.

Kenspeckle looked around and then was confused.

“Where are the kids ? Usually they are always with you.”, the Professor asked.

“They went after Serpine without our knowledge. But we had to choose. Either Skulduggery or them. They can handle themselves and we would have searched for them, if we knew where they are.”, Dexter explained.

Kenspeckle stared at them then sighed and muttered under his breath.

“I hope for you all, that you won’t regret your choice.”

With that he left them alone.

-With the trio-

Serpine just took his last breath and the three kids pouted.

“Oh, our toy is already broken...”, Lorcan pouted.

“Such a shame.”, Keiran said as he looked at the bleeding messy pile, that used to be Serpine.

“What do we do with the body ?”, Laoise asked.

“Burn it. We give Uncle Skulduggery the hand as present. I bet he wants to burn it himself.”, Keiran answered.

Lorcan turned off the cameras and brought them to Keiran.

“What about the recordings ?”, he asked his Cousin.

“I am making a quick Movie out of it. A great memory for life. We killed a bastard that hurt Family. A warning for future foes too.”

“I like your idea.”

“You always do.”

With that Keiran took the Cameras and started to make a small movie out of it, while Lorcan and Laoise collected wood, to burn the body.

-Time skip with the Dead Men-

Ghastly was pacing around, just like Anton. Anton paced because his worries got to him, about his Son. Ghastly paced because of Skulduggery’s kids, Keiran and impatience. He wanted to see his friend.

Soon enough Kenspeckle came out of Skulduggery’s room and looked at them.

“You can go in now. He is responsive and well rested.”

Instantly they all rushed inside and saw Skulduggery sitting up in his bed, slightly hunched over, but he was sitting. He looked at his friends and Valkyrie and waved, with a smile. It looked stronger and more healthy, than the last one he gave them.

“Hello you all.”, he joked.

Ghastly shook his head and hugged Skulduggery.

“Idiot. How are you feeling ?”, the tailor asked.

Skulduggery hugged him back and huffed out a small laugh.

“I am doing just fine. A bit healing still, but I am feeling ready to beat some ass again.”

“The kids are still not back yet, Skulduggery.”, Anton informed the man, worried sick.

Skulduggery looked at Anton and frowned, worried too.

“Let’s hope they are fine. As much as I would love to chase them down now, I can’t. I am still recovering. Serpine did more damage, than I thought.”, the Detective replied.

Suddenly the doors swung open and everyone looked in the direction of the swung open doors. Their eyes widened as they spotted Lorcan, Laoise and Keiran, covered in blood, but they looked smug and satisfied with themselves.

“Kids ! Are you alright ?!”, Dexter asked in worry.

“We are just fine, Uncle Dex !”, Lorcan replied, energetic and smug.

Keiran and Laoise nodded, big grins on their faces. The Dead Men, Tanith and Valkyrie grew concerned.

“What did you do ?! Why are you covered in blood ?!”, Anton yelled in worry.

“It isn’t ours, Papa.”, Keiran replied still smug.

“Then...whose is it ?”, Ghastly asked.

“Serpine’s.”, the three replied happily.

The Dead Men and two girls stared at the trio in shock.

“WHAT ?!”, they all screamed in shock at the kids, who were still smug.

[skultrashfics]

Could you please do a Dexter Vex and reader fanfic? The crush I have on this man is not okay and there is so little content

AAAH My favourite boy! I’m very happy to get a request for Dexter Anon! I hope you enjoy :) 

Pairing: Dexter Vex x Reader Word Count: 2267 Themes: Fluff, Nightmares, Confessions 

The wind was howling violently outside, you could hear the trees shaking as they struggled against the brute strength of the breeze. Clutching your knees to your chest you sat on the floor beside your bed trembling a little. You had been placed in The Midnight Hotel for your own protection by Skulduggery as you had been caught up in the middle of some large misunderstanding and for some strange reason, there were assassins out there looking to kill you. They had come pretty close until Ghastly and Skulduggery had stepped in, saving your life. Not really understanding the ins and outs of the investigation, you were simply hidden away until further notice. Now as you glanced up towards the window you could see a grey clouded sky and not a bird in sight. This was faintly reassuring as Ireland had been sunny and the sky was clear, so you knew you had to be pretty far away from there by now. But that wouldn’t make the bruises on your face or body disappear any faster. Your thoughts were interrupted by a gentle tapping on the door, “Hm? Oh come in…”, you responded. Anton Shudder walked into your room with a tray of food laid out quite pristinely, he placed it on your bedside table and joined you on the floor. “I understand you are in a bit of trouble and your mind must be wandering a lot so feel free to stay in your room. But the fire is warm downstairs and you can always get a drink at the bar, ok? It’s all on the house”. You nodded softly not making any effort to respond. Shudder took a deep breath, “right then”, he said standing up once more. “Oh also, we are in Amsterdam… just thought you may want to know”. 

After a couple of days had passed, you began to feel a little more comfortable in the hotel. The ever-changing scenery was rather enjoyable and Anton always tried to talk to you even when he seemed a little busy. The limitations of your bedroom had led you to explore more of your surroundings although you were not permitted to leave the hotel itself- for your safety of course. It was another rather uneventful day when you decided to head down to the bar. The hotel was just as quiet as it always was, that was until the door was suddenly being thumped on very loudly. It made you jump and you clutched your chest in panic, immediately you went running back up the stairs only to go barraging straight into Anton. He stepped back from you holding his arms up, very uncomfortable with the sudden contact. He shook his head calmly, “Don’t worry this can happen sometimes. Other people need refuge too”, he explained walking toward the door but it was obvious he had his guard up. Once it opened Anton’s expression changed to one of surprise as he was greeted by a big enveloping hug, “Oh Anton! I’m so glad you answered it would have been really weird if it was someone else!”. Anton was struggling to get out of this grasp and grumbled, “Just great, now get off”. Stepping away you saw none other than Dexter Vex stroll into the lobby with a wide grin on his face. His hair was longer than when you last saw him, but he still had the same playful demeanour. Upon seeing you he smiled and waved, “Hey y/n! Long time no see? What are you doing here?”. Anton closed the front door behind Dexter and sternly pulled him aside, “It’s complicated but she has a lot of people after her head right now. So please keep a low profile”. Dexter raised an eyebrow and then approached you slowly, he could tell something was different about you, “What have you gotten yourself into y/n?”, he said studying the bruises that were more apparent now he was closer. You recoiled away a little embarrassed, “It’s not like I can’t fend for myself. They came after me while I was asleep… there were too many…”. Dexter mentally kicked himself for bringing up a blatantly sensitive subject. He then turned to Anton and smirked, “Well I can always keep you guys company! As long as you can get me a drink!”. 

You all spent a while talking and being social, it was nice to be able to forget why you were here. Dexter was telling you all about his time exploring hidden caves and finding long lost treasures (which turned out to be some really really old books). Everything was pretty calm until the hotel clock caused it to shunt away to its next location. You stared at Dexter wide-eyed, “Oh goodness you must have stayed too long! I’m sorry Dex”. He laughed gently and patted your arm, “Nah it’s alright. I was plannin’ on staying a while. After all, I did say I would keep you company”, he added with a sly wink. Anton rolled his eyes in disgust, “Could you keep the flirting to a minimum? I am still awake”. You giggled and shook your head not believing that any of it was serious. You had always taken Dexter to be the swashbuckling playboy type of person and did not allow yourself to get provoked by such remarks. After playing a game of cards and loosing fantastically you decided to retire to bed. “I better get some sleep”, you mumbled as you stood up from the table. It was the first time you had been tired in days and you relished the thought of undisturbed sleep. Dexter smiled at you and stood up himself, “allow me to escort you milady”, he graciously offered his hand to you. You only laughed and batted it away turning to face Shudder, “Goodnight Anton… and thank you”, you blew him a quick kiss and then walked alongside Dexter back to your room. Shudder sighed as he watched you go, silently hoping that Dexter could keep his hands to himself for a night. As you approached your door you yawned again and stretched, “Well goodnight Dex… thanks for walking me”, you went to open your door and were stopped as you saw a pouty faced blonde poking his face in front of yours, “Don’t I get a kiss too?”. You hummed thoughtfully before pressing a light kiss to his forehead, “There. Goodnight”. He smiled contentedly and stood up straight while you went into your room and closed the door. “Goodnight y/n…”, he said in a hushed voice before putting his hands in his pockets and walking off to his own room. 

Dexter’s eyes snapped open as he woke to hear screaming. He bolted out of bed and immediately headed toward your room, taking care not to graze the edge of the wall as he turned a corner. Without taking the time to ask questions he slammed open your door and saw you still in bed, struggling against the covers and crying out. His heart hammered painfully in his chest and he knelt down by your side and wriggled the covers off of your arms. Grabbing your hands in his he spoke to you calmly, “y/n It’s Dexter. You are safe I promise. Nobody is going to hurt you…”. Your eyes opened full of tears as you looked around in a panic, “Shh shh It’s ok. I’m here. You’re in the midnight hotel remember?”. He spoke soothingly to you as the nightmare faded and reality began to take over once more. As your breathing slowed down and your mind became less hazy you leaned over into Dexter’s chest and sobbed, remembering that the events of the nightmare were also a traumatic memory. He held onto you while you cried and turned to see Anton in the doorway looking rather panicked himself. ‘Bad Dream’, Dexter mouthed to him and Shudder breathed out a sigh of relief. Seeing the state you were in Anton nodded at Dexter and went away to prepare you a warm drink. Dexter went to stand up himself but you continued to cling onto him and he almost fell over, “Hey I’m not leaving… it’s ok”, he whispered reassuringly as he gently pushed you over and made room for himself on the bed. At this point, you did not care if he was just flirting because it was comforting and you could not bear to be alone again. Resting your head on Dexter’s chest you felt it slowly rise and fall while he rubbed your back reminding you that you were safe. Exhausted from crying so much you quickly fell asleep again. Shudder came back with a hot mug of soup, then realised that maybe he had taken a little too long. “Is she alright?”, he asked Dexter gently and he gained a nod in response. “Just tired… but I don’t want to leave her alone right now”. Anton frowned, “I know you are not that kind of man Dexter, but no funny business ok? She is too vulnerable right now for your antics”. Dexter looked deeply hurt by Shudder saying this outright, “I knew she was here”, he said eventually. “I asked Skulduggery and went to the next location of the hotel, ok? I heard she had been attacked and well… I wanted to be the one to protect her. And-”, he cut himself off and closed his eyes in thought. Anton stared at him confused, “Are you telling me, that Dexter Vex is genuinely infatuated with someone? You really care for y/n, don’t you?”. Dexter nodded and that was all Anton needed to see, “alright then, as my friend I trust you”, he sighed before closing the door to your bedroom again.

In the morning you felt rays of sunshine behind your closed eyes and it was beautifully warm. Sighing happily you rolled over delighted at being able to sleep and you pulled your covers closer and then felt a sudden tension. Something heavy was stopping you from snuggling into your blanket. With confusion, you opened your eyes to see Dexter asleep facing you, snuggled up in your bed. You froze for a moment not remembering how he had gotten there and you worried that maybe you had drunk too much last night. His face looked so peaceful and albeit you had to admit to yourself that he was spectacularly handsome, “Not a bad sight to wake up to”, you giggled to yourself. “Not so bad yourself”, came the reply that put all the tension back into your body. You buried your head in the covers blushing relentlessly. “Please tell me you are still asleep”, you whined softly realising that now all you could see was his sculpted chest and abs highlighted by the morning sunshine filtering through the covers. Dexter chuckled, “Oh no I am wide awake y/n”. You groaned to yourself in embarrassment and resolved never to show your face to the world again. “Do you remember what happened last night?”, he enquired. Your face shot up out of the covers and stared at him, “Don’t tell me that we… that-that I…”, you were beginning to get very flustered and Dexter stared at you in confusion, “What?...OH. No no no no that is not what I meant”, even he seemed a little embarrassed now. “You had a bad dream… so I woke you up, you cried a bit and then fell asleep on me”. You seemed a lot calmer at this explanation, “O-oh… you stayed here all night just for that?”. He moved his face a little closer to yours, “Well yeah… I had to keep you safe y/n”, he leaned forward and ever so lightly kissed the bruises on your face as though he were trying to heal them. You closed your eyes as he did so, smiling at the warmth you could feel. “I am so sorry that this happened to you y/n, but I promise I will not let it happen ever again”. He then kissed the tip of your nose, and then the top of your lip a little shyly and then he wrapped his arms around you kissing you properly. It took your breath away, to say the least especially when he pulled away from the kiss to tell you that he loved you. You blinked at him in surprise, “Dexter Vex don’t go throwing around words like that when you don’t mean them…”, you said sternly. He shook his head rapidly and took your hands in his, “I mean it. Y/n I have been in love with you for so long now and I am sick of pretending those feelings aren’t there. Truly”. His gaze told you how serious he was and you thought back on all the time you had spent together before the attack. He was always so charming and kind to you, but you hadn’t really thought you were special. You didn’t let yourself think that. But right now in this moment, you felt safe again and you felt loved and you felt every bit as inclined to stay by his side. “Dexter I don’t know what to say... “. “Say that you’ll stay with me, or at least let me stay with you… until you are allowed to leave again?”. You laughed through your nose and kissed him happily, “Only if you promise to stop teasing Anton, ok?”. Rolling his eyes Dexter wrapped his leg over you and pulled you closer to him, “Believe me… after this, I am not going to be the one doing the teasing”.

[cheezritsu]

Elegy for the Living

Fushiguro x reader

One of the tenets you’ve created for yourself when you became a jujutsu sorcerer was that you would save everyone—criminals, bullies, junkies, the like. You were no god; judgement was never yours to give. And yet, Fushiguro Megumi is trying his damndest to break every single one of your beliefs, brick by hard, infuriating brick. It’s all fun and games, until it’s not.

Alternatively: enemies to lovers and back again, in five easy steps.

A/N: currently in the process of writing an Enemies to Lovers Fushiguro fic so here’s the first part:

It’s possibly only seconds after you’ve finished battle. Seconds, he thinks, because his chest is still heaving, because you haven’t moved an inch, not even to pick up the weapon that’s been left behind after the final blow. (His blow, which made lamented card float lamely into the grass. It sits there, the five of cups, his disapproving frown aimed at you.)

Your feet are still, as if nailed to where you stand. The clouds begin to drop rain over the two of you, the run off puddling around your grimy combat boots. That’s how long you stay staring at the dismembered figure; you can only assume it was once a person by the puzzle pieces of body parts left behind after the attack. A hostage, a possessed person, a cursed item. A human being. Or, what was one.

Megumi’s steely eyes hold no reverence, instead watching your movements as you mindlessly reach into your uniform pocket, pulling out a small carton. You shake the box once, and the slim stick reveals itself.

Megumi’s skin prickles. “Hey,” he says, stepping closer to you as you continue to numbly place a cigarette between your lips. “We need to get going. Ijichi’s coming with the car soon, we have to meet him back at the entrance.”

There’s a flicker of blue light that emits from your fingertips; cursed energy, ignited like a flame. Megumi sneers at the misuse, watching in disgust as you take the first few puffs. “Unbelievable,” he mumbles. You tear your eyes away for only half a second to give him a withering glare, and then they’re back where they started.

But they twitch. There’s anger that fuels the blue flames licking your fingertips, and you can’t help but wonder.

“Why’d you attack it with divine dogs before I could secure him?” You don’t even acknowledge his look of bewilderment. “If I’d been able to separate them—“

“You couldn’t have.” He snaps. The tightness in his jaw is visible; it makes the sharp line his face even more defined, while at the same time marring the his boyish handsomeness. Does being a hardass come naturally? Or does he force himself to be this way? You mull over the question as he berates you, catching his customary reply:

“You’re not even close to being strong enough to save everyone.”

Megumi’s truths are white noise, barely decipherable from the drizzling rain. Underneath the awning of this abandoned high school, you’re safe from the onslaught of rain, but the body is not. It sags as water soaks into the clothes—a seifuku, black with white stripes. Blood floods the grass, trickling in rivulets down the sidewalks, sloshing into the gutter. You breath in, as if you’re sighing, taking a long drag of smoke that makes your lungs burn and your eyes finally shed the tear that’s been welling in the corner. The body’s going to bloat in a few days if it keeps raining.

Megumi, not privy to your inner thoughts (and frankly, unsure you even have any,) grabs your left arm. “Are you even listening?”

“How come whenever demons attack it’s always in shitty weather? Ever noticed that?”

Perhaps it’s the way your fingers separate, all of them equally spaced out as your right hand reaches up to drag the cigarette from your lips, that makes Megaumi pause. As the cigarette slides between your digits, a trail of blood stains the pure white. You haven’t wiped your hands yet. You go cross eyed from looking down, examining where the blood on your hands stains the cigarette. Your eyes glaze over, as if throughly entranced.

Megumi tears his eyes away, lest he be caught up in the same hypnosis. “We don’t have time for your stupid questions.”

You scratch your forehead with your thumbnail, humming slightly. “That just means you don’t know either.”

Cold wind sweeps through the thin fabric of his uniform. He looks at you with a pinched frown. “No, it means I don’t care. Let’s go.”

He’s done asking you anything. He heel turns away, leaving you—to do what, exactly? Your unerring stare never leaves the quartered girl, her mouth open to the clouds, like the dammed souls of hell crying for their saviour.

(Did you think that savior would be you? The mocking voice sounds unsettlingly like Megumi.)

Or perhaps, more likely, in her final moments of living she screamed for the safety of her mother, like any little girl would. Like she would.

“Damn,” you sigh, finally squatting down to collect your card. Your knees create a symphony of cracks, and you groan like an old war veteran when you stand back up.

When you spot Megumi, he’s leaning against one of the poles under the awning, his attention turned to the road. He doesn’t see you light another cigarette, inhaling slower this time to ride the drug out.

He only slightly turns his head when your feet start idly sloshing the water where you stand. The pointed toe of your shoe draws words he can only guess before they wash away.

“What are you doing?” He asks, both to get you to stop and from a deep seated curiosity. “Writing,” you say briefly. The cigarette dangles precariously from your barely open lips, your hands splayed out beside you to keep balance.

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I gathered that much.”

“Then why did you ask?”

“What are you writing?”

A quick bite of a response loads itself on your tongue, but you hold back. Instead, you divulge the truth to him, knowing it’ll make him angrier.

“Things that deserve to be forgotten. Pain,” deft strokes write the kanji, and Megumi sees it take shape. “Agony. Memories. Sorrow.”

You finally take the cigarette out, the stick already half burnt. His eyes narrow upon it, his blood boiling as you waste your dexterity on vent poems in the rain. Perhaps this is your most vexing quality; your almost childish insistence to succumb to whatever emotion moves you at the moment. You’re as fickle and fragile as the wind, pretending you’re made of stone.

“Why do you do this to yourself?” He suddenly asks, though not for the first time. The first time he asked was far less judgemental than it was now. “Why do you always make things worse?”

Worse for who, you have to ask. You cough, trying not to outwardly cackle in his face. The idea of bringing Megumi misery makes you nearly giddy. The bubble of excitement dies down the moment your eyes catch his expression: brows pinched, eyes flashing dangerously until they give a lidded glare, his mouth turned in an upward sneer. The look saves just for you, just when you’re alone.

“I don’t think anything could get worse than this,” you tilt your head towards him, pointedly blowing smoke. “Besides,” you tack on. “Why do you care?”

“I don’t.” You laugh again at his response, and his shoulders tense, expression slipping into a boyish anger. “It’s not about you, it’s about the fact that you exacerbate your bad emotions like you want every other demon in a five kilometer radius to find us.”

“Exacerbate,” you snort childishly. “Now that’s a five dollar word.”

His posture has straightened, shoulders defensively squared and facing you. “When are you going to admit you’re not made for this, huh?”

Your shoulders shake with another laugh, this one hollow and bitter. He stands in front of you, expectant, voice laced with an air of maturity he doesn’t have the right to posses. Not even if he was born decades before you, a millennia before you.

“Made for this,” you repeat slowly. “Like the gods themselves crafted you, Fushiguro Megumi, from the mud under my shoe to fight demons.” You relish in the hitch in breath you elicit from him, even if it is followed by the individual cracks of his knuckles. You meet his gaze, and your combined cursed energy signature fluctuates; those same demons in the five kilometer radius must be fainting in its wake.

It doesn’t deter either of you. You’re both as still and stubborn as bulls. It feels like having a stare down with your own reflection, and it is agonizing to know this truth. To know he is your mirror.

“You weren’t made for this either, Fushiguro. You made yourself. So you must forgive me for not suppressing any and all emotions, like you.”

The curl to his lip drags upward even further, like the snarl of a wolf catching its prey. “You can barely keep it together after a grade 2 mission, and you want to come at me?” There’s something cruel in his eyes when he says it, something that wants to dissect your flaws and put them in a glass cage to repeatedly gawk at. Your eyes drop to ground, unable to bear the lens he views you with.

“You’ve lived with sorcery and demons for so long, and you’ve never gotten used to it. So why do you keep pretending like you can do this when you can’t?”

You blow smoke towards your feet. It vanishes quickly, evaporating into thin air. You stare into it, as if your memories are scripted in fog, abs you can make them disappear just as easily.

Megumi scrutinises your face for every micro expression that flits across your features, and he’s disappointed when all he sees is confusion. Like you don’t know the answer either.

He clicks his tongue, training his eyes back to the road. You stay staring at your feet, unblinking, lest you close your eyes see her decomposing body behind your eyelids.

A sudden realization shocks you as you bring the cancer stick to your lips for the first time in minutes. You’re only a quarter of the way through, leaving it forgotten. But there’s a warmth in your veins and a steadiness to your hands, some non-nicotine induced high. You smile callously at Megumi, who stands stiff as a board, pretending not to glance at you from the corner of his eye.

Unfortunate, you think. Seems I’ve found a better drug.

You take a drag off the cigarette. It’s feels like nothing in comparison. You burn through half of it, so that when you open your mouth, smoke curls out like a simpering dragon; elegant, dangerous, intoxicating. Megumi gapes as you grin, and something in you burns.

“You’re fun to argue with.” You snuff the cigarette between your calloused fingertips, putting out the ash in the box careful not to litter. Megumi’s expression is so priceless, you laugh when you say “Let’s do this again sometime, yeah?”

[capricornus-rex]

The Haunt of Redemption (5)

Sequel to: A Path I Can’t Follow

gif belongs to @endiness​

Chapter 5: The Past Has A New Face | Cal Kestis x Reader

Summary: It has been months since your last encounter with Cal, at that time he was a fledgling Inquisitor. In an ironic twist of fate, you cross paths and blades with him once again, and he’s keen on turning you into an Inquisitor as well—unless you bring him back to the light first.

Tags: Dark Side! Cal Kestis, Inquisitor! Cal Kestis, Redemption Arc! Cal Kestis

Also posted in AO3

Chapters: 1 - 2 - 3 | Previous: Chapter 4 | Next: Chapter 6 | Masterlist

5 of ?

A part of you wanted to calm down and subtly scan the area for enemies; the other wanted to just keep running until you find your way back to the ship.

The cacophony of animal sounds continued to sing through the woods. Your hearing hoped for rather than searching for any manmade sound—a twig snap, rustling of plants or leaves, anything. You moved on when there was nothing.

You attempted to reach Cere again, but there was nothing.

“Aw mother of fuc—!” you hissed, but were quickly cut off by the sound of the leaves crunching against the forest floor.

You sharply turned around, lightsaber ignited for nothing, but you continued to listen for it.

Come on, [y/n], forward. You coaxed yourself in your mind.

In the distance, the sound of an explosion echoed and reached the forest where you stand now. You haven’t exactly prepared your heart and mind for the worst yet. In truth, you never prepared yourself for something like this to happen so soon.

The first thought that came into your mind was the Yewa Docking Bay.

“Lora… Kaleen…” you gasped.

Eventually, you found the main path again and followed it.

Yes! You thought. You’re so close now.

The fragment of hope that you held came and went when one of the TIE Fighters fired a shot in the forest—its blast was coming to the general direction of your obstacle course, presumably trying to flush you out of the woods and into a clearing. The shot was somehow close to your current location, dust blanketed the path ahead as well as the path where you came from.

“We can’t be trapped here, BD, we gotta go!”

The ominous snarl of a lightsaber caught you frozen in your tracks. The source was unseen but you can feel it close to you. Taking cover from behind the rock, your thumb searched for your saber’s switch as you prepared for a surprise attack.

You stifled your coughs, careful to not give yourself away to any potential enemies, as you fanned out of the haze that enveloped you.

Stalking the forest floor with a great deal of caution, you held your lightsaber defensively in front of you—the way you held it made you look like a scared Padawan learner in a basic defense stance. Your heightened sense of space caused you to turn around and find a dark silhouette standing in the other side of the wall of dust. You stood your ground, gripping your lightsaber well and positioning yourself in a stance.

When the smoke finally cleared, the figure revealed itself but only for a short second—you didn’t even get to catch a glimpse of whoever it was. The figure disappeared with the haze. Confused, your eyes frantically searched for the figure among the trees.

You feel someone standing so close behind you, their lips could be felt within a mere inch from your ear.

“[y/n]…”

A twirled attack was easily deflected. As soon as your eyes registered the sight of the person in front of you, a whirlwind of emotions flooded you. Never have you ever felt so unsure what to feel that you wish it’s was just as easy as picking one emotion out as you please.

“Hello there, [y/n],”

You’re absolutely dumbfounded. Your breath shuddered as you attempted to suck in air, your eyes widened even with your sights narrowed at the person you thought you knew all this time. You were focused in examining his entire person—he was far beyond the Cal you last saw in Koboth, you barely recognize him with the dark gradient in his and his stubble.

Your heart skipped a beat.

On a tremendous level, you hate to admit that you find him appealing.

Well, fuck me sideways. The expression of your own voice in your head was a combination of frustrated, smitten, and growing hysteria.

Cal completely understood your predicament right now. He could sense your resolve fluctuate, the confusion and shock factored to it. He smirked at the discovery, there was a glint in his green eyes full of intent.

While in a convergence of blades, you afforded to take a good look at how much he’s changed before he pulls away for the next attack. You caught yourself before you fumbled to the floor, you cannot allow him to get the upper hand.

The last time you traded strikes was seven months ago, you wonder just how good he’s gotten all this time… and you were about to get a firsthand demonstration.

Based on his movements, he never strayed from the lightsaber form he’s been originally using ever since; there were hints of new attack patterns and techniques that you’ve never seen before. You wagered that they’re something that he picked up from his training.

“I see you’re still sharp. Impressive,” he purred.

You shifted your weight on your deflect and pushed him out so you could step away from him to regain your bearings. However, you’re not as sharp as he thought you were. The sudden reunion affected your emotions, then subsequently your movements in the duel; it was a struggle for you to conceal it from him, eluding him was a challenge in and of itself. If he managed to touch even a fiber of your clothes, his Psychometry will trigger and he’ll exploit whatever he’s harvested against you.

The shrubs, the trees, and the rocks became your allies all at once; aiding you in eluding this fearsome, youthful Inquisitor. There are some parts of the obstacle course that you may use to your advantage—such as the large, fallen logs whose bottom gaps are sizable enough for one to slide under, all the while concealing you as you make your escape or hideaway.

Cal followed suit, this was no different from the various environments he’s faced in his past campaigns. By the time he got to the other side of the log, you were nowhere to be found—little did he know that you were hiding among the tall grass, prowling closer as he stalked through the path.

“You didn’t really kill those people back in Magyon, you were manipulated!” your disembodied voice rang in the trees.

He looked around, searching for you while you continued to banter.

“Oh, is that what you tell yourself at night, when you go to sleep? Is it because you don’t want to face the reality now?”

Like a predator, you come springing out, lightsaber at the ready, but this is an Inquisitor you’re facing right now. You’ll have to up your game a bit more. A rush of energy flowed across every vein in your body, granting a burst of power and strength when trading strikes with Cal. You went with a flourishing attack until his deflection brought both of you leaning sideward to the ground; still improvising and maximizing the environment, you quickly pulled away and then skidded your boot hard against the earth—particles of the soil pricked Cal’s eyes and caused him to break from his form.

Just when you thought you had the chance to finally deal damage at him while he’s open, you stood corrected as he blocked you at the last minute while half-blind.

“Fighting dirty, aren’t we?” Cal hissed, you expected him to be vexed, but there was a mischievous purring in his voice.

“Just a style I peppered in!” you snapped back.

Cal patted off the dust that caught in his eyes. You afforded him the dignity of recomposing himself before you could attack again. You wonder if he felt that you couldn’t bring himself to strike him down—meaning, actually fatally wounding him with your saber.

He may not have vocally expressed that he was mad, but you saw it in the way his attack patterns shifted and evolved. The blows got heavier and the strikes were stronger; he even zoomed around the battlefield the same way Trilla and the Ninth Sister evaded your attacks back then! He refused to let the distance close between you. It was getting difficult to dodge him, but more so in getting close to him just to swing at him.

“Huh, I thought you’d see that coming,” he sniggered, expecting you to be able to catch up with him even though he’s zooming from point to point.

You were slowly getting nauseous as you spun in place, anticipating him and from where he’s going to attack you. Your defense was slowly breaking as he tires you out, but he saw that you’re refusing with all your willpower.

Stay still, goddamnit! You hissed in your mind, desperate but mostly annoyed with this new trick. Personally, you hated this when you faced either the Second or Ninth Sister.

“For how long will that endurance of yours last?” Cal jeered, his figure disappearing and then appearing here and there.

“As long as it takes until I knock you down!” you barked.

“You were always the achiever between the two of us,” he stopped his teleporting, he splits his saber and throws both of them to you.

That was a more extreme throw-attack compared to any of the Inquisitors you’ve faced. Luckily, one saber is enough to deflect both—credit is due to your dexterity. When one of the sabers returned to Cal’s hand, the second found its way to the connector and a quick twist sealed them together.

Your next move was your undoing. Coming at a running attack, he takes the chance while you’re still off guard—he extends his hand to you and suddenly you couldn’t move your entire body.

You are literally frozen—saber hand pulled back, seemingly ready for an overhead attack. You try to pull away but you just keep bouncing back into place.

WHAT?!

“How did you—?”

“You’re not the only one mastered the Force-Halt,” he snickered, quite proud of himself to break the news to you.

Short, panicked breaths escaped your lungs; you tried to move even just a finger but you could only do so much as twitch and that’s that. Cal approaches you while you remain as steady as a statue. A steely glower intently fixates on you. The closer he gets, the more out of control your heartbeat became.

Was it fear?

Were you actually stimulated by this?

Cal brings his hand to you. The first thing that came into your mind that he’s going to use one of his abilities on you. Your entire person shifted left and right, as if trying to scamper free from this hold, but to no avail. He ignored your helpless escape attempt.

He ran a gloved finger across your cheek. His touch was something you longed for, but this felt different—it was from someone you knew, but it still felt strange. He withdrew his finger, motioned his hand to turn and your entire body rotated in the same direction as his hand. You didn’t realize that you’ve already reached the first half of the course—where it’s close by the ship and in view of the town below.

“No…!” you sobbed when you saw towers of smoke waft from the settlement.

Standing behind you, Cal sweeps your hair to the back of your shoulder, exposing your neck, he brought his lips close to your ear; you could’ve sworn you felt the hairs of his stubble prickle on your cheek, the warmth of his breath blowing at the crook of your shoulder, hence the hairs on your nape stood.

“You know, I could make this all go away,”

He didn’t expect an answer and continued on.

“After they’re done with that quaint, little town, we’ll find the Mantis next and we’ll take the Holocron from Magyon.”

“You wouldn’t!”

In your mind, you still focused on breaking free, you pondered if his Force-Halt was exactly the same as yours that he simply copied or if he’s managed to improve it to overpower yours.

“You don’t believe me? They all follow under my directive. If you come with me, everyone—especially those in the Mantis—shall be spared for sure, and perhaps those who aren’t dead yet in the village,”

“And if I don’t?” you hissed and he smirked in reaction.

He slightly bends over so his face is level with yours, the gap between his lips and your face is just as thin as a thread when he turned his face to you as he spoke. His eyes trailed up and down, studying the contours of your face, the beads of sweat that riddled your temples, and the way your eyes struggle to avert from his gaze.

“You and I will watch the whole town burn and capture the crew, they’ll be charged with sedition by the time they’re caught. Either way, I’ll still get the Holocron one way or another,”

“Oh, so you’re making me choose who dies and who lives like how the Grand Inquisitor pitched it to you? How generous. Not exactly a win-win for either party, though,” you snapped.

He smirked at your rebuttal, he wasn’t—in the slightest bit—offended. In truth, he missed your sarcasm. Oftentimes, he imagined what life would be like if you were in the fortress at Koboth, either as an Inquisitor initiate or just a plain captive.

“I see your snark aged well,”

You scoffed a prideful chuckle, “You aged well.”

“So, [y/n], what is it going to be, darling?”

The sound of the greater waterfall crashing nearly muted the explosions of the cannons’ impact to the buildings in the settlement and the thousands of voices screaming in pain until they vanished into silence. You focused on the waterfall—it was a crazy idea, but it was your only choice. You could feel his influence ebbing, you’re surprised to find that it was shorter than you expected; you took the opportunity right away—once you’ve broken free, you jabbed him on the abdomen with your elbow, catching him off-guard and then bolting it towards the edge. You looked back over your shoulder one last time.

“GET READY FOR A DROP, BD!!!” you howled as you dropped to the water.

Cal recomposed himself, ran to the edge and peered over at the river. The thick spray of mist fogged his view of the water itself, practically cloaking you as the craziest, improvised escape plan ever hatched has been executed. There was no visible sign of you in the water from Cal’s point of view. Stormtroopers come running through the forest eager to report.

“Sir, they’re gone!”

“What do you mean gone?”

“The Jedi’s ship! We lost it when it took off!”

Frustrated, he resorted to having the town garrisoned first. After that, Cal made it absolutely clear that he’ll find you no matter how far in the galaxy you’ve gotten. The Stormtroopers led him out of the forest and escorted him to the town where he prepared his business.

The impact was sharp, you let the wild current of the river carry you downstream, your head popped into the surface every once in a while to get some air—before the rapids knock your head back under the water. It wasn’t long until you’ve reached calmer waters. You swam up to the surface and finally got a chance to catch your breath.

“Cere? Come in, Cere!”

“[y/n]?! Where are you? Imps sieged the town and—!”

Relief washed over you—aside from the cold water—when you heard Cere’s voice loud and clear. You swam to a shoreline downstream to continue your conversation.

“Listen to me, it’s Cal! It was all Cal,”

“You don’t mean…?”

“I’ll explain everything in the ship. I’m in the river after the bigger waterfall, are you near?”

“Kid, wear anything darker and we might mistake you for a boulder in the water!” Greez cut in just to get his joke at you across.

Greez’s jokes always boosted the beacon of hope that Cere’s voice personifies. The engine hum of the Mantis became louder and louder, you could feel its thrusters blowing at the water and trees around, but you couldn’t see it.

“Merrin, of course!” You exclaimed, recalling that she can cloak the ship.

Emerald glitters flickered as the Mantis gradually materialized on sight. Merrin and Cere appeared on the end of the entry ramp and kicked down a ladder at the edge.

“Hurry, [y/n]! I’m not supposed to reveal ourselves!”

You swam close to the suspended ladder and climbed as the ship slowly maneuvered to face forward and then disappeared into thin air again thanks to Merrin’s magic. The invisible Mantis darted through the skies, heading off-planet before the enemy discovers that they’ve been eluded. Your knees felt wobbly from the altitude and so dragged yourself to the seat in the cockpit to really catch your breath.

“You mind telling us now what just happened back there?”

“I’ll explain in a sec,” you raised a weak hand at them, gasping for breath as the adrenaline was too much for you to handle.

Despite being physically exhausted, your fingers worked their magic whenever they touch the buttons on the dashboard; you were optimizing the speed thrusters for your getaway—and you perfectly knew that Greez doesn’t like it when you get closer to the middle part of the dashboard.

He slapped your hand going for the button that will activate the top speed of the Mantis’s throttle.

“Whoa, whoa, hey! What the heck are you doing, kid!?”

“What, you don’t plan on getting away? An Inquisitor’s fleet just terrorized the town!”

Greez, Cere, and Merrin exchanged glances as you prepped the Mantis for the trip. You punched it and the captain had no choice but to accelerate and get the hell out of the planet before the Imperials find their missing ship.

[skulduggery-pleasant-bp9]

Playing with a Coroner and a Detective is not wise - Skulduggery x Male!Reader Universe MASTERLIST !!

Summary: Gordon Edgley is dead. M/n is Stephanie's older, adopted, Brother and he has real anger issues when it comes to his Family, which are only, Stephanie, Melissa, Desmond and Gordon. Thanks to some stupid psychos, M/n and Stephanie got introduced to a world of Magic. How will M/n react to it ? Will he like it ? Will his Family grow or will it become lesser ? Read here to find out !

CHAPTERS!:

Part 1 - Gordon’s Testament

Part 2 - Danger

Part 3 – Take us with you

Part 4 – China Sorrows

Part 5 – Tailor Bespoke

Part 6 – Convincing Ghastly

Part 7 – The Elders

Part 8 – The Coroner is ticked off

Part 9 – The Vault

Part 10 – M/n’s Workplace

Part 11 - Inspections

Part 12 - The Plan

[skulduggery-pleasant-bp9]

Dead Men x M/n - Trouble (Part 4 of Dead Men meet M/n)

WARNING!: Cursing, mention of blood and gore AND MORE ! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!!

The names are all pronounced this !: Keiran(M/n) – Keer- in or Keer-awn Laoise – Lah-weese Lorcan – Lor-ken

As Skulduggery arrived at the Hotel Midnight, he already saw the Motorcycle of Keiran outside. He parked his car, turned off the engine, got out, locked the car and then entered the Hotel. As soon as he was inside he was tackled by a small girl.

“Daddy ! Are you okay ?!”, the girl greeted worried.

She was looking like an eight year old, but she was a bit older than that. Skulduggery’s children knew from the beginning that they were Mages, which caused them to age differently than other Mages. They aged slower.

“Hello, Laoise. I’m fine, my Darling. How are you, your Mom and older Brother ? I heard Serpine was around you again and Cousin Keiran had to beat his butt.”, Skulduggery asked worried.

Then a Teenage boy entered the Father’s sight.

“We have been doing alright, Dad. Keiran really whooped his ass.”, the boy replied with a snort.

“Lorcan, Son, I’m so relieved to see you alright. Last time...”, Skulduggery interrupted himself, struck with guilt.

“It’s in the past, Dad. You tried your best and I am still here and in one piece, aren’t I ?”, Lorcan replied with a smile.

Skulduggery smiled back, still feeling bad for what almost happened to him and his wife a few years ago. If Keiran, Ghastly and Anton wouldn’t have been with him, he could have lost them both, because of his own stupidity...

A woman came into view next and she smiled a small, worried smile.

“Love.”, she greeted Skulduggery.

“Honey... I’m so sorry, I was busy with the case of Gordon and the connections it had with Serpine, that I made the same mistake again and was away for longer than I should have.”, Skulduggery explained and rushed to her side, worry clear in his eyes.

She chuckled and held his hands.

“It’s alright, my Dear. We could have called you. Keiran always keeps an eye out for us all, so you don’t have to worry so much. Nothing bad happened.”, she assured her Husband.

“It is still not right of me.”

“You have a very serious job and you love overworking, so you have everything solved faster, to spend time with us again. We are not angry.”

Skulduggery looked at his wife in guilt.

“It’s still not-mph ?!”, Skulduggery was interrupted by his wife kissing him.

It caught him off guard, but he returned the kiss. After they parted, she looked at him with a serious face.

“Now shut up. It’s fine and I will punish you, if you keep trying to argue with me.”, his wife threatened.

Skulduggery swallowed a bit harder than usual. His wife was good with punishments... He hated them.

“Noted, Honey.”, he replied.

“Are you done with your sexual tension and come to Papa’s room, already ?”, Keiran asked annoyed.

The two snapped apart and Skulduggery’s wife chuckled awkwardly, while Skulduggery himself blushed a deep shade of red. How embarrassing that Keiran caught them...

“On our way, little Nephew.”, his wife replied.

“Good. And PLEASE stop smooching near me. Eww.”

“No promises.”, Skulduggery teased.

Keiran made a sound of disgust. He didn’t like it, when he had to see people kissing. It was weird and didn’t look nice to him. He liked kisses on the hair and forehead, but on the lips ? Hell no. Ewww...

They entered Anton’s room and Skulduggery saw everyone there already. Ghastly, Saracen, Dexter, Erskine, Anton, Hopeless, Larrikin, Keiran, Lorcan, Laoise and Stephanie. They were all there. Skulduggery and his wife sat down on the last free couch.

“So what did you find out ?”, Anton asked.

Stephanie started, before Skulduggery could.

“Serpine is after the Scepter of the Ancients. For some reason he killed my Uncle, so maybe he had it last and locked it away somewhere in Grimwood. Maybe it is just a replica, but he killed my Uncle for it, so we should take it serious.”, she explained.

Everyone stared at her and Laoise looked at her Dad.

“Papa, may I speak ?”

“Sure, Darling.”, he replied.

Laoise looked at Stephanie again, stare hard and serious.

“You DO know that the Scepter is just a myth, right ?”

“I do. Skulduggery told me that at the very beginning. But if Serpine takes it for real, maybe we should too and get our hands on it, before he does. My Uncle must have it somewhere in Grimwood.”

Lorcan stared at her in worry.

“Dad, do you think the same thing as the Mortal ?”, he asked Skulduggery.

“I do, actually. I am very certain that Serpine killed Gordon and he was a collector too. China assumed the same that he had something, where you have to die, in order for the next person to own it entirely. The Scepter was ONE of these things.”

“Not this again... Listen little girl...This is not your world. You don’t know much about our cultures and how things work. Of course she would believe Skulduggery’s opinions.”, Ghastly said.

“Uncle Ghastly, kindly shut up.”, Keiran said.

“Keiran !”, Anton scolded.

“Papa, think about it. This is like many other things we faced before. Mevolent was supposed to be very evil and a psychopath, but he wasn’t. Abyssinia was supposed to be nice and helpful. But she was a Psycho, who tried to get Uncle Skulduggery to be evil and, let us be honest, he was probably not the only one she corrupted. Immortality is supposed to be impossible, but Abyssinia had that trait. NOTHING is impossible. At this point I don’t even doubt that the Scepter of the Ancients exist and the Faceless Ones are real. We’ve seen a lot of crazy shit.”, Keiran countered.

At that everyone looked at one another.

“He has a point...”, Hopeless stated.

They all agreed.

“Also, what Uncle Ghastly said was quite rude.”, Lorcan stated.

“It wasn’t. She can still go back to her normal life.”, Ghastly argued back.

Keiran glared at Ghastly.

“Uncle...you are stupid. Uncle Skul doesn’t just pull Randos into the world of Mages. Something must have happened and as we all know Serpine, he probably sent someone to Grimwood and the girl was there.”

Skulduggery nodded.

“The bridge was flooded and her Mother’s car broke down. Only one of them could go with the workers and the girl offered to stay the night at Gordon’s house. She inherited it after all. It was raining heavily, so she was stuck over there and her Mother couldn’t cross over. I was there by coincidence.”, he explained.

“Some creep called me and wanted a key from me and urged me to tell him my name, which I refused to do. Then he started to aggressively knock on the front door and after I didn’t let him inside, he smashed the window in and entered. He was about to kill me as Skulduggery came and scared him off. He was forced to use Magic and his gun, but the creep left. I was in shock and passed out, as I woke up he made me tea and we talked a bit. After he wanted to leave, I forced him to take me with himself, because he bashed the door in and it was broken, so anyone could have entered and killed me next.”, Stephanie explained.

“She even took my hat hostage and threatened to stand on it...”, Skulduggery said saddened.

Hopeless snorted and then laughed at that.

“Then he explained a few things and I wanted to help out. He tried to scare me off, but I refused to let him do that. Then I found out as we were at China’s, that my Uncle got murdered and we talked a lot about Serpine, so I started to think it was him, until we found motives, so that’s why I am still around. I will avenge my Uncle and I want to do this for myself as well. It is easy for a Mage to say ‘Go back to your usual life, you are saver there’, but you don’t know that. Normal life is BORING. And safety ? Really ? I could be kidnapped the next second from school, I could be killed on my way home, I could be raped, HECK ! I just need to fall off of a bench stupidly and can break my neck by accident ! There is no safety.”, she said with a glare at Ghastly.

“True.”, Keiran agreed.

“When was life ever safe ? The Mortal world is sometimes more dangerous than our world.”, Lorcan stated with a shiver.

Keiran shivered at that too and nodded.

“Remember Freddy’s.”, he told Lorcan.

Lorcan glared at Keiran and had goose bumps.

“Shut up ! That was the WORST place to work at with you ! Asshole !”

“Ouch. Not my fault that Meritorius wanted us to go there and investigate, because the stupid American Sanctuary didn’t do shit about it, even though they knew what was going on !”, Keiran defended himself.

“You two went on a MISSION ?! Without MY and ANTON’S PERMISSION ?!”, Skulduggery yelled at them angered.

They both flinched and looked at Anton and Skulduggery. They both stared at them angrily.

“Well...we thought it was an easy pocket money job, really. We get money from Meritorius, if we watch the place and find anything suspicious there, while we also made money for five nightshifts. We had no idea that it would be actually dangerous.”, Keiran explained.

“The pay was terrible from the estate...”, Lorcan pouted.

“VERY terrible. One hundred and twenty bucks per week... For what we have seen and had to do, we deserved like five times more than that.”

“We did.”, Lorcan confirmed.

“Trauma on a stick. I will NEVER do the graveyard shift EVER again.”

“Me neither. I will enjoy driving around with my Father at night but never EVER get out of the car at night. Hell, I wouldn’t even let my own FATHER out of the damn car.”

Skulduggery and Anton got worried at that.

“I will only go on top of Papa’s roof, to go star gazing. You will NEVER see me anywhere else at night AGAIN.”, Keiran told Lorcan.

“I still jump at night, whenever I hear the smallest of sounds, Keiran.”

“I am already scared just looking at my door and window. Bruh. This shit really gave us a good taste.”

“We should have destroyed the place.”

“Mike Schmidt did in the end, did you forget ?”

“I did in fact.”

“Oh...wait...RIGHT ! You were passed out in one of the spare suits. I forgot...”, Keiran said sheepishly.

“Ha. Ha. Not funny. Kenspeckle had a lot of work to do.”, Lorcan pouted.

“I know. I saw you.”

“I gave you a scare, didn’t I ?”

“One hell of a scare.”

“At least I achieved that.”

“What are you two talking about ?”, Larrikin asked, worried.

They stopped talking and looked at everyone.

“Oh well, I supposed you have a right to know.”, Keiran said unbothered.

“We are SOOO getting grounded.”, Lorcan groaned.

“Meh. Not like we had it coming.”

“Fair...”

“Alright so, we went to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. There were four Animatronics. Bonnie the Bunny, Chica the Chicken, Foxy the Pirate Fox and Freddy Fazbear. We were supposed to watch the place at night in exchange for some money. And so we did.”, Keiran started.

“We had no idea what we signed ourselves up for...”, Lorcan said with slight fear in his eyes.

“Meritorius also asked us to investigate there. Rumors said that five children went missing there and never found again. They never left the building apparently, so they had to be somewhere. They were reported dead after a while, because no one ever found them. It had been like...20 to 30 years now, since they disappeared. But more and more children went missing near places that belonged to Fazbear Entertainment.”

“To this day children disappear, that were at Fazbear Entertainment’s attractions.”, Lorcan added.

“But now even adults go missing. People that work for and with Fazbear Entertainment, so this is getting serious. Adults went missing in Freddy’s too, but only the night guards. After a while...well...we were sent to investigate and you were already on three cases, Uncle Skul, so he asked Lorcan and me to take over that case.”

“We went there and at first nothing was out of place. We looked around, looked into all rooms and tried to find anything that proved murders in the building or that the kids died there.”

“That was until the clock hit 3AM. We heard metallic sounds, it was heavy and creaked. As we looked, Bonnie was off of his stage. He glared right at us and suddenly sprinted after us.”, Keiran said, with a haunted expression.

“We sprinted like Demons to the office and shut the door on his face. Then we watched the cams and Chica was gone too.”, Lorcan explained, fear evident on his face.

“Music started to be played from the carousel that was in the main dining room, without anyone touching it. The cams started to twitch and show weird texts and we heard laughter of a child from time to time.”

“The Animatronics started to make glitching noises and moaned from time to time.”

“In the cams you could see posters of missing children some times. They only seemed to be there from time to time, but not all the time.”

“For clearance, there were no missing posters in Freddy’s, but when you stared at the Cameras, there appeared some from thin air.”

“I tell you, the place was haunted.”, Keiran got out.

Everyone stared at the two boys. They seemed frightened to just talk about it.

“Each night got worse. Each night we got a phone call and the man explained how to survive these things, until...”, Lorcan continued.

“Night five... His Power ran out and they got him. We heard the screaming of the Animatronics and how the phone was slammed on the table.”, Keiran finished Lorcan’s cut off sentence.

“He asked us to check one of the suits, when we finished our shift. Because these things STUFF you inside them, if they get you. He said, it doesn’t sound bad, but imagine a pile of metal shoving you into a Springlock suit, by force. You will be crushed if they stuff you in there.”

Anton and Skulduggery, with his Family, covered their mouths in shock, while Stephanie looked at them in horror.

“They got more aggressive with each night. Foxy ran for the office, if you didn’t keep an eye on him and Freddy moved if you didn’t look at him each night through the cameras. If the Power Generator went out, that meant one of them will get you, while you can’t defend yourself anymore. In other words, you will be fucked, if the Power runs out.”

“We couldn’t use any Magic either, which was scary. At daytime they worked, but as soon as the clock hit midnight, we were powerless.”, Lorcan told everyone.

Keiran only nodded.

“At the fifth night, we met Mike Schmidt. He sneaked inside and wanted to burn down the location. We decided to help him and we made it pretty well, Mike even had an axe with himself in case. But the power ran out ten minutes before 6AM.”

“Six AM is the time where all the spook stops and everything goes back to normal.”, Lorcan explained quickly.

“Until 6AM you won’t get out alive. They snatched Lorcan by the arm and tore him away from us. Mike and me, we hid away and played Cat and Mouse with the Animatronics, until 6AM. As soon as it hit six, we heard an ear piercing scream and we ran for the parts and service room, while the Animatronics were back on stage and Freddy had blood on his hands.”, Keiran explained, look far away.

Lorcan looked away, silent.

“We found Lorcan stuffed inside a Freddy Springlock suit. It made creaking sounds and Mike quickly acted by winding up the Springlocks, then he got Lorcan out as fast as possible. I carried him out, while Mike spread all the gasoline and then set the place on fire. We parted ways and I quickly brought Lorcan to Kenspeckle. He fixed him up and wanted information of what happened.”

“But we were too traumatized to talk about it back then. Even now it is still hard to talk about it.”, Lorcan finished.

“There was so much blood...”, Keiran got out, voice distant and filled with horror.

Skulduggery stared at his Son and Nephew, horror and worry on his face. He will have to talk with Kenspeckle to get an understanding of how bad it was.

“We would be crazy, if we would say that the Scepter of the Ancients isn’t real. Ghosts and killing Machines aren’t supposed to be real either, but here we are. Living proof.”, Lorcan got out with an empty chuckle.

Keiran still looked distant.

“This was worse than what I have ever seen in my whole life. I thought Lorcan was dead right then and there...”, he said.

“Welp, I am a survivor, Keiran. I am still alive and very healthy.”, Lorcan said happily.

“Thank fuck for that. Your Dad would have set the whole world on fire, if you wouldn’t have survived.”, Keiran said, snapping out of his distant state.

“You would have helped him.”, Lorcan deadpanned.

“Of course I would have. He’s my Uncle.”, Keiran confirmed.

Everyone stared at them and silently agreed, that they should believe that the Scepter is real, for now.

“Anyways ! Back to our actual topic ! I think we need to find the key, before Serpine does and get the Scepter before he does. Then me and Lorcan will whoop that right red handed bastard’s ass and give him over to Meritorius. No, even better ! We kill him off, so he can’t bother anyone anymore !”, Keiran suggested happily.

Ghastly, Saracen, Hopeless and Skulduggery stared at Keiran in shock.

“Did you wake up and chose violence today, Keiran ?”, Dexter asked.

“I always choose violence, when it comes to Nefarian Serpine.”, Keiran stated darkly.

Anton looked at his Son with concern.

“I don’t think violence is the answer this time.”, Saracen said carefully.

Keiran snapped his head to Saracen and faced him.

“With Serpine it is the ONLY answer. I can’t wait to bash his head in. He is one annoying, psychopathic piece of shit.”

“I agree with Keiran. Why try and jail him ? He will get out one day and go after us again. He still wants Dad dead and when he gets out again, the more he wants to kill him. We will never be safe as long as Serpine is alive.”, Lorcan told everyone.

“I agree with Bubba. He never leaves us alone. He is always there and stalks us.”, Laoise agreed with her Cousin and Brother.

“He is already a very big threat with that hand of his.”, Skulduggery’s wife agreed with the kids.

“True...”, Anton admitted.

The rest did so as well.

“He is a big issue, so let us get rid of it. Now we need to find out where the key is and what it looks like.”

“I am working on that with the girl already.”, Skulduggery said.

“Then we will keep eyes open and have sharp ears everywhere, until you have the key.”, Dexter said.

“And I will keep your Family in here.”, Anton stated.

“Thank you Anton. I owe you one.”, Skulduggery thanked the Hotelier.

“I will hold you up on that promise.”, Anton said and then left the room first.

“Good luck, Skul.”, Erskine wished him.

Ghastly held Stephanie back and gave her a bundled pile of fabrics.

“Your clothes. Be careful.”, Ghastly told her.

“I will be and thank you.”, she replied.

Ghastly nodded and then left.

“Welp then...we have a riddle to solve.”, Skulduggery said.

“We have indeed.”

With that they left the Hotel and entered Skulduggery’s car, driving back to Grimwood.

“We need to look at the door again and look what the keyhole looks like. Maybe we can make a duplicate of it and unlock the door.”, Skulduggery suggested.

“Good idea.”

“I always have only good ideas.”

“Sure you do...”, Stephanie replied with sarcasm.

“I do.”, he tried to convince her.

“Yeah, of course, Mr. ‘I leave a girl in her house defenseless with a knocked out front door’.”

Skulduggery pouted.

“Not fair.”

[skulduggery-pleasant-bp9]

Part 9 – Not your fault

WARNING!: Mention of Murder, Cursing, Mentally and Emotionally unstable Reader, Violent thoughts, Reader snaps AND MORE ! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!!

Skulduggery looked Erskin dead in the eyes, he gulped at that.

“Remember that I won’t be mad, Erskin. I didn’t come here to punch anyone, not even you. So please tell me the truth.”, Skulduggery softly told the frightened male.

Erskin nodded carefully.

“Were you there, when my Family was murdered ? Did you see what Serpine did to them ? Did you...see me get outraged ?”

Erskin froze up and he stared at Valkyrie. The room was dead silent. All of The Dead Men looked away at that, knowing that Erskin WAS there. But they refused to babble out anything.

“You said you didn’t tell him.”, he whispered to her.

“I didn’t. But Eliza Scorn told him something and revealed with that, that you might have been there.”, Valkyrie stated.

“Scorn ?”, he asked.

Skulduggery nodded softly.

“Please tell me the truth, Erskin. Have you been there ?”, he asked the panicking male.

“U-uhm...”

“I am not here to hurt anyone. You have the soul vision on, yes ?”

“A-ah...Yes I do...”

“Then you see that I am not at the verge of getting angry. I am just as uncomfortable as you, but I really need to know the truth now. From you.”

Erskin started to shake and he looked away.

“Y-yes... I was there that day...”, he whispered softly.

“Since when ?”

“S-since the be-beginning... Y-you ran off and left the rest of us ! I-I thought you might need some help !”, he stuttered out, partly panicked.

“Erskin, calm down. I am not angry, nor am I going to get angry. Look at me, kid.”

He slowly looked at him and saw the pain Skulduggery had in his own eyes.

“Explain it to me, everything. Take your time when you start talking.”, Skulduggery said calmly.

Erskin took a few deep breaths and his shaking subsided slightly. Anton and Ghastly got up and sat next to him on the floor. Anton gave him a side hug and Ghastly held his hand, both of them knowing, that Erskin was extremely scared.

“You left us...I saw you leaving in a hurry. I thought you might need some help and decided to follow you. We arrived at some building and you froze in place. I wanted to know why...you NEVER froze in place in the war before. I kept my distance from you and hid behind you, behind a tree. That’s when I saw Serpine and your family. They were...in terrible shape. Your Son...he saw me. I-I wanted to help, wanted to do something. I jumped out from behind the tree, ready to pull out my gun, but I froze up instead... Serpine already started to...torture them to their slow death. I couldn’t move. No matter how much my brain screamed at my body to do something, I couldn’t.”, Erskin explained, tears falling down his face.

Skulduggery’s transparent face screwed up in phantom pain, but he wanted him to explain, so he had to deal with it. Erskin looked at Skulduggery.

“I really tried to move, I swear ! But I couldn’t ! I froze up at a moment where you would have needed me and I’m sorry ! I fucked it all up !”, Erskin sobbed out.

Anton hugged him tighter and Ghastly rubbed Erskin’s back. The rest of them had a pained face too, unable to imagine the pain Erskin was feeling, but able enough to understand that it wasn’t easy to talk about for him, that it was hurting him deep in his soul.

“God...Your own Son must have been disappointed with me.”, Erskin hiccupped.

“What do you mean ?”, Skulduggery asked, voice thick with emotion.

“He saw me. He saw that I wanted to help and kill Serpine. He just stared at me. He BEGGED me to do something. The damn look he gave me said everything ! And I just had to disappoint him ! He wanted me to pull out the gun and pull the trigger and I just couldn’t ! He gave me an understanding smile before he died, but it feels like he was actually disappointed with me ! He was my best friend ! I didn’t want him to die !”

Skulduggery was in shock, like the rest of The Dead Men and Valkyrie. Erskin didn’t tell anyone about that.

“Even after they died, I was still rooted in place ! And then you screamed and looked ready to start a rampage out of rage ! It was too much for me at once and I had no idea what to do ! A second before you grabbed the dagger, I saw that it was poisoned. I wanted to scream, my mouth was open, but before I could yell at you to NOT touch it, you already did ! That’s when I knew that I will lose YOU too ! I couldn’t let that happen ! I saw how you suddenly dropped to the floor, but before Serpine could get me, I ran for the hills and back to our camp.”

The rest of The Dead Men stared at him in shock, Valkyrie in horror. Serpine was hell bent to get Erskin too. Ghastly and Anton were the only ones who knew about that part.

“I risked my life to get a book about Antidotes, that can cure people from deadly poisonings. I found the one I was looking for, refused to sleep, eat and drink, just to find the damn thing. When I saw all the things that I would have needed, I knew that I needed help. I asked Hopeless for a lot of things and bothered Anton, Ghastly and Dexter to help me make it. For some reason, I think Hopeless knew what I was trying to do, what I’ve seen. I told them all that you went on a solo mission, so they won’t get worried. I was hopeful that I can save you and no one had to know that you were on the brick of death.”

All of The Dead Men, besides Skulduggery, nodded in agreement. Valkyrie just stared at Skulduggery.

“They didn’t like it that I pressured them to hurry it up, because they had no clue why I was in such a hurry. When we finally had it done, I also found your location. Before they could ask me, what it was for and why I needed it so badly, I bagged the damn thing and ran off. I was running to your location, sneaked by, killed and avoided enemies. It costed me time though and I knew I was running low on time already. I didn’t calculate in the wall that I had to get over though and even though I hurried and slipped like 50 times almost to my death, I came 20 seconds too late to help you. You were already dead when I arrived... Serpine said you died 20 seconds ago, so that was how I knew. The next day you were openly burned on a lance and that was when everyone knew what I tried to do, why I was in such a hurry and what I knew, that they didn’t.”

They all nodded again, besides Valkyrie and Skulduggery. Skulduggery had a pained expression on his face. He felt horrible for how Erskin must have felt, what he had to witness and what he blamed himself for. He sighed deeply and looked at Erskin with soft eyes.

“None of this, was your fault, Erskin.”, he then said.

He stared at Skulduggery in shock.

“B-but I just...STOOD there and fucked everything up !”, he protested.

Skulduggery shook his head.

“You didn’t. As I told you a few days ago...China was there when Serpine killed my Family. She saw you and made you stay frozen in place. You didn’t freeze up from horror or shock, you would have acted, if China wouldn’t have stopped you. She and the rest of the Diablerie captured my Family and brought them to him.”

The Dead Men stared at Skulduggery with wide eyes and Erskin stared at Skulduggery with ripped wide open eyes too.

“Who told you that ?”, Ghastly asked.

“Eliza Scorn did. She had a grudge against China Sorrows and bombed her Library and apartment. She told me what China did and she knew that Erskin was there too and China made him freeze up and feel horrible about it, thinking that he was just incompetent to function properly when needed.”, Skulduggery explained.

“And you believe her ?”, Saracen asked.

“I believe her.”, Valkyrie answered.

They all turned to look at her.

“I asked her why, when she talked about Erskin, she softened her voice. She said he keeps secrets, but in Mevolent’s reports stood that Erskin was there and witnessed Skulduggery’s family’s death. He was also noted down as emotionally and mentally unstable child. She also added that China disgusts her for making a 50 to 60 year old, mentally and emotionally sensitive child, believe that he had to blame himself for things that were taken out of his control. She informed me that he was still considered a child when he was below 100 years of age.”

“That is true. Erskin wanted to be treated like a Teenager, even though he would have only been one with 68 years of age. We fulfilled his wish though, because he started to get sad that we still treated him like a kid.”, Dexter agreed.

“She really told you all that ?”, Ghastly asked.

Valkyrie nodded.

“Skulduggery was already in his car when I asked her, but yes. She did tell me all that. She wanted us to tell Erskin that it wasn’t his fault.”

Erskin stared into space and everyone looked at him. His left eye twitched and his face darkened.

‘Oh shit. That was too much information at once ! He is going to snap !’, Vile yelled at Skulduggery.

‘Means ?’

‘He is already planning China’s death and when he killed her, he will go on a rampage and kill more people. He will go insane and when he is insane, he has no control over himself !’

Suddenly Erskin sprung up and went to his drawer in his room, he got out his gun and loaded it.

“Erskin put the gun down. It is no use.”, Skulduggery said calmly.

“No use ?! This Bitch made me watch everyone die from your Family, including you ! She made me feel like shit for years ! Don’t tell me you plan to forgive that Hoe ! She helped in killing YOUR FAMILY ! She is responsible for YOUR DEATH ! She triggered a lot of shit that I hoped I would never have to deal with ! She helped to pull me into depression ! SHE RUINED MY LIFE ! AND YOU PLAN TO FORGIVE AND SPARE THAT HOE’S LIFE ?! HELL NO !”, Erskin exploded on him.

His eyes held pure rage and hatred. Such pure rage and hatred, The Dead Men have never seen in Erskin’s eyes. Valkyrie started to back up from Erskin.

“It was long ago, Erskin.”, Skulduggery tried to reason with him.

“SO IT WAS WITH SERPINE ! DID YOU FORGIVE THAT PIECE OF SHIT ?! NO !”

“He didn’t change, nor did he ever feel regret.”

“OH ?! AND CHINA DID ?! THAT BITCH ONLY STANDS ON A SIDE THAT IS WINNING AND WORTH HER TIME, TO SAVE HER OWN SKIN ! SHE IS A FUCKING SNAKE ! AND YOU WANT TO REASON WITH ME THAT SHE CHANGED OR FELT REMORSE ?! PAH ! GIVE ME A BETTER REASON !”

“Yes, she did bad and I doubt that Skul forgave her. I doubt he even plans on forgiving her. But please, she is not worth your time and effort, Erskin.”, Valkyrie tried to reason.

He turned to her with a dark glare. He pointed his weapon at her, but didn’t plan on pulling the trigger.

“You, keep yourself OUT OF THIS ! You have no IDEA what I went through, just because of that disgusting Bitch ! This piece of absolute filth ! I already hated her when she was still alive and ‘helping’ us from time to time, but now...oh, now I just want to GOUGE HER EYES OUT !”

Erskin’s eyes started to glow brightly and everyone was in fright. Skulduggery got up and approached him. He knew Erskin would never hurt anyone from them. He touched his arm with the gun and pushed it down.

“I know you are pissed off and that is totally okay, Erskin. But please let us regain self control, yes ? I do NOT forgive her, nor am I planning on it. But she is not worth our time and effort. Karma will come for her. We just have to be patient. Now please...calm down.”, Skulduggery told Erskin.

He glared at him, but somehow he started to get back to his senses. What Skulduggery didn’t know, was that everyone saw how pained Skulduggery was right now and rage and anger, seemed to make him even sadder. Erskin took a deep breath and then dropped his gun. Skulduggery picked it up and gave it to Ghastly, then went back to stand beside Erskin.

“Anything else you have to tell me about that damn Hoe, before I get pissed off again ?”, he asked in a monotone.

“She and the rest of the Diablerie came from time to time in my cell and watched as Serpine tortured me.”, Skulduggery informed.

Erskin sucked in a breath. He left Skulduggery’s side and went to his drawer again. He screamed and swiped the side lamp and decorations with brute force off, making them hit the wall and shatter to pieces. Then he slumped on the floor, in a sitting position, facing the wall and stayed dead silent.

Everyone stared at him, waiting for him to say something or to move a muscle, but he didn’t. Skulduggery sighed saddened.

“Give him his five minutes. He needs time to process everything.”, he informed them.

They all nodded and waited for Erskin to be back with them again. After 10 minutes of silence, Erskin got up from the floor and turned around, sniffing. He looked at the damage he made and then at Anton.

“Sorry for that, Anton.”, he apologized.

“It’s alright. This stuff is easy to replace, don’t worry.”, Anton waved him off kindly.

“Can I...have a hug...?”, he asked Anton.

The man got up and approached Erskin, pulling him into a tight hug, Erskin returned it just as tightly.

“Are you feeling better ?”, he asked the male.

Erskin nodded and took a deep, shaky breath.

“No episode incoming ?”

“No...Just feeling empty right now...”, Erskin whispered into his ear.

Anton frowned and the others saw his frown. They grew worried.

“It’s okay. At least you were afraid of nothing, little Brother. It was not your fault, just as Ghastly, Hopeless and me told you over and over.”, Anton tried to soothe him.

“Tired...”

Anton understood that Erskin was emotionally drained. He nodded.

“Of course... Do you want anyone to stay ?”

“No...Wanna be alone...”

Anton nodded. Then he let go of Erskin.

“Everyone, out of the room. Erskin wants peace and quiet. He is emotionally drained and tired.”, Anton informed.

Everyone, besides Erskin, Skulduggery, Anton and Valkyrie left the room. Anton watched Erskin go to bed and then sat next to him on it.

“Do you need anything ? Water, food ?”, he asked Erskin.

“Painkillers and a glass of water for later ? I think I will wake up with a massive headache...”

Anton nodded and left the room to get the requested things. He quickly came back and put it all on the nightstand next to Erskin’s bed.

“Thank you...”

“Sure. Sleep well. Call one of us, if you need anything after you woke up, okay ?”

Erskin nodded and then closed his eyes.

Anton looked at Valkyrie and Skulduggery and motioned for them to leave with him. They did as asked and soon they all met in Anton’s room.

“I...never saw him like that...”, Erskine got out.

“Me neither.”, Ghastly replied.

“None of us ever saw him like that. The cup overflowed by Erskin this time.”, Anton told them.

“That was silent rage.”, Saracen stated.

“So what ?”, Dexter asked.

“Silent rage is the worst kind of rage. You never know what the person with silent rage is going to do. You can’t read their expressions all that well.”, Saracen explained further.

“He is right... I had no idea what he was gonna do with the gun. I was even afraid that he either shoots himself or Valkyrie.”, Ghastly voiced his thoughts.

“Silent rage is dangerous. Such people are unpredictable.”, Erskine added.

The rest, besides Valkyrie and Dexter nodded.

“He was terrifying. I thought he will pull the trigger.”, Valkyrie said still shaken.

“He could never hurt any of us. Not of his own free will. If he would have hurt us, then because he is forced to.”, Skulduggery told everyone.

“From where would you know that ?”, Ghastly asked.

“He told me many times, before I died. He could never hurt us and if he ever does...then because he is forced to or it isn’t him at all.”

“Why would he tell you that a lot of times ?”, Ghastly asked.

“You remember when we were in Kildare ?”, Skulduggery asked Ghastly.

He nodded.

“We had a big fight and you all thought that Erskin wanted to shoot Hopeless, who ducked in last second. You thought someone might have been behind him, but you didn’t see anyone, remember ?”

At that, everyone, besides Skulduggery and Valkyrie, hummed.

“You were mad at him and he used the excuse that he mistook Hopeless for an enemy, high from all the stress and adrenaline. Right ?”

Again nods.

“That was a lie. Hopeless knew why Erskin made it seem like he wanted to shoot him. There was someone behind Hopeless, but only Erskin could see through their disguise. Someone had the ability to turn invisible and tried to kill Hopeless from the back, Erskin saw them and shot. He gave Hopeless a look that told him to duck. He did so quickly after Erskin pulled the trigger. He wanted us to leave instantly, because he didn’t want any of us to worry about more of these people. Hopeless went back there a few hours later and found out why Erskin made it seem like he wanted to shoot him, but told him to duck at the same time, with just one look. He told me, but wanted no one else to know about it.”

They stared at Skulduggery in shock.

“Erskin was worried since, that I would throw him out, abandon him... So he told me many times that he would NEVER hurt anyone of us, besides he is forced to or it isn’t him at all.”

“So we had enemies that could cloak themselves without any objects...and we had no clue....”, Saracen said in shock.

“That’s why Erskin sneaked out at nights ! He kept an eye out for them and killed them off. You all remember the loud gunshot and we all ran out of our tents ?! We all checked on Erskin first and he was in bed, we didn’t find anything ! He got rid of the body in the lake, that was nearby our camp and rushed back to bed, pretending to have been alarmed by the shot as well !”, Dexter threw in.

“Yes ! Of course ! This makes sense now, why Hopeless told us to leave him be ! After that first incident, he trusted Erskin to be careful and to take care of the rest of these people !”, Erskine threw in, in realization.

“To think back and have believed that he planned to hurt one of us...”, Anton thought loudly and shook his head.

“I am surprised you never figured it out.”, Skulduggery stated.

They stayed silent and looked at the ground in shame. They never thought that they had sunken this low... Erskin was their little Brother, for fucks sake ! They accepted him as their little Brother and they sunk that low, just because he was outraged. How could they do that to him ? He was one of them !

-Three hours later-

They all conversed about things that might be concerning them soon and when that all died down, they read books or did other things. It was so boring without Erskin there.

The door to Anton’s room opened and inside came a worried looking Erskin, he seemed partly asleep. He didn’t know that everyone was in the living room of Anton’s room. Anton just came out of the kitchen and spotted him there.

“Erskin ! What’s wrong ?”, he asked him worried.

“Where is everyone ? I looked for Ghastly, Dex, Saracen, Erskine and Skulduggery with Val... They were all...gone. Did they leave already without saying goodbye ?”, he asked slightly hurt.

“No, no, no. They are still here, don’t worry Erskin. They are all in the living room. We didn’t feel like sleeping or being in our rooms separated.”, Anton calmed Erskin down.

“I...didn’t scare them away ?”

“You didn’t. Go to the living room. Everyone misses you.”

Erskin nodded and made his way to the living room. He spotted everyone and Valkyrie was the first one to notice Erskin. He put his index finger at his lips, motioning her to be silent, his eyes gleamed with mischief. She stayed quiet and Erskin sneaked up on Ghastly. He was behind him and then...

“ROOOOAAAAARRRR !!!!”, Erskin screamed.

Ghastly fell off of his armchair, screaming in fright. The others followed his example and fell to the floor, Skulduggery sat still and laughed with Valkyrie next to him. Erskin then howled in laughter too and held on tightly to Ghastly’s armchair.

They turned around and spotted Erskin. Ghastly got up with an evil grin, just as Anton ran inside.

“What happened ?!”, he asked.

“Erskin scared them.”, Valkyrie reported.

Anton grinned and then laughed loudly.

“Good job, little cub !”, Anton praised.

Erskin grinned at Anton and then ran at him, making them both fall to the floor.

“Ooof !”, Anton grunted as they hit the floor.

“Thanks !”, Erskin chirped at him then.

Anton smiled and wrapped his arms around him. Erskin got an evil smile on his face and playfully smacked Anton’s cheek. Anton gasped and they both started to playfully wrestle on the floor.

“Erskin did that in war times with Anton a lot. Anton is used to the smacking, it means Erskin is in a playful mood and wants to mess around.”, Skulduggery informed Valkyrie as she stared in shock at them.

“Ah...”

“He is in a childish mood right now. Don’t make him feel bad about it, he can’t control his mood swings.”

“I will end you, Erskin !”, Anton playfully threatened.

“Try me, old man !”, Erskin chuckled back.

They continued to wrestle around and playfully hit each other. Soon enough Erskin got Anton on his stomach, arms behind his back and legs disabled to move.

“Ha ! I win, old man !”, Erskin teased.

Anton playfully pouted.

“Next time I will beat you !”

“Sure, old man.”

Then Ghastly sneaked up on Erskin and started to tickle him. Erskin yelped and started to laugh and fall off of Anton.

“Nohohohoho !!! Ghahahahastlyhyhyhyhy !!! Stahahahahap !!!”, Erskin laughed out.

“Never !”

He continued to tickle him and Erskin was screaming in laughter and tears fell down his face, begging Ghastly to stop tickling him. After a while he stopped and Erskin slowly calmed down, then pouted.

“Ghastly, you are a Meanie.”

“I am always mean.”

“Yes, you are. You suck.”, Erskin said and stuck his tongue out at him.

The others all laughed.

Masterlist HERE !

[skulduggery-pleasant-bp9]

Jealousy made a Monster – Father!Anton x Son!Reader

WARNING!: Attempted Murder, Violent thoughts, Cursing, Violence, Blood x Injury, Blood x Gore AND MORE ! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!!

Anton Shudder, Ghastly Bespoke and Erskine Ravel went back to the Irish Sanctuary. Keiran followed them, without them noticing, right behind Keiran were the rest of the Dead Men, because Fox begged them to trust him, desperately.

Something was off about all of this, since they went together into the war against the other Sanctuaries, and Keiran was worried sick for his Dad. Keiran Fox might be a grown up, but he didn’t want to lose his Papa yet. Because of this, the Dead Men agreed to follow them, without them noticing, to help.

Soon enough they got back to the Sanctuary and Keiran sneaked inside first, the others stationed themselves outside, to make sure no one got in.

As Keiran was inside, he saw almost immediately Erskine sneaking up on Ghastly, with a dagger in hand, Keiran whipped his head around and soon spotted the black Cleaver, who was formerly the white Cleaver, too, who had his eyes trained on Anton.

He had to act fast ! They didn’t know !

“Ghast ! WATCH OUT !”, Keiran yelled loudly.

Ghastly instantly whipped around and saw Erskine attacking him with the dagger, he caught Ravel’s wrist, with the dagger in hand, quickly. Ravel cursed.

More Cleavers came inside.

Anton summoned his Gist, which was a bad idea. The black Cleaver went to attack him, knowing Anton will be unable to move and is unprotected. Keiran ran for his Father, in blind panic.

‘INSIDE ! HELP ! TRAITOR ! DANGER ! WHITE CLEAVER !’, Keiran yelled in his mind, reaching out to Skulduggery.

“PAPA !”, he screamed.

Ghastly looked at Anton and saw the black Cleaver, running at him, scythe unsheathed.

“Anton, GET DOWN !”, the tailor yelled.

But Anton couldn’t move, like always. He can’t move while his Gist is out, it takes too much effort, that he could pass out. Keiran sprinted faster and ran, with a slight jump, full force, into his Dad, protecting him from the scythe, taking the hit and making his Father fall to the floor. Keiran stayed protectively over his Father, back vulnerable.

The Gist looked at its Host and Kin, seeing the damage Keiran had gotten instantly. His back was cut by the black Cleaver’s blade. It would have beheaded Anton, if Keiran wouldn’t have interfered. The Gist got more angered at that, than it was before already, and attacked the black Cleaver.

Anton used a lot of effort to turn around to lie on his back, then he stared at his Son in concern. His face was screwed up in pain. Anton wanted to ask, what was wrong, but froze when he saw blood running down Keiran’s arms. He was HURT.

“Keiran ?! Are you alright ?! How bad is it ?!”, he yelled worried sick.

“M-my head is still on my sh-shoulders, P-Papa.”, his Son managed to mumble out.

Anton’s eyes widened at that information. They went for his head and his Son saved him from his early death, taking the hit himself. He looked at his Gist, that just managed to tear the black Cleaver to shreds and then came to aid them. It whined softly at Keiran, concerned. A very rare, close to impossible, development for a Gist to care for its own Host’s Kin, but Anton’s Gist was always different.

“R-return to Papa. I-I’ll be fine...”

The Gist listened to Keiran and returned to Shudder. Ghastly wrestled with Erskine, on the floor, in the meantime. Erskine seemed to be winning. Keiran got up and saw that Ravel was about to push the dagger into Ghastly’s neck.

“N-no.”, he tried to stand straighter and then ran at Erskine.

No one hurts his Family.

Before Ravel could stab Ghastly to his death, he was thrown off of him. Ghastly quickly got up.

“KEIRAN !”, Anton yelled in panic.

He was badly wounded on his back and he still went to fight, he could make it worse ! At this, his Gist went wild in worry, demanding to be let out again for help.

They wrestled and Ravel managed to stab Keiran’s right shoulder, deeply, making the male yell in pain. It made Anton’s Gist just wilder, wanting to rip Ravel to shreds. Ghastly speed – walked over to them and kicked Erskine, with all his might, in the head.

Erskine fell off of Keiran and was passed out. Then the doors flew open and inside came the rest of the Dead Men, running, with weapons drawn out. Madame Mist cursed.

Keiran may be in pain, but he was pissed.

“KILL HER ALREADY ! SHOOT HER ! SHE TRIED TO KILL GHASTLY AND PAPA WITH ERSKINE’S HELP !”, Keiran screamed in anger.

Mist’s eyes widened in fear and she tried to run away.

BANG !

Her eyes went even wider and she fell to the floor, coughing out blood and trying desperately to catch her breath, only to notice that she will die. Dexter’s gun still smoked, his glare deadly and his face was darkened, his mouth making a disgusted and outraged expression.

Valkyrie never saw him this mad before...

Then they ran to Anton, Keiran and Ghastly. Saracen was with Anton.

“Are you alright ?!”, he asked worried.

He nodded.

“But Keiran is not.”, Anton replied worried sick.

Dexter and Skulduggery were with Ghastly, checking on him, while Valkyrie was with Keiran and gasped at the damage she saw on his back.

They all turned to her and Skulduggery rushed over, instantly. He got out his phone and called Doctor Synecdoche, telling her that he needed her help immediately in the council room of the Irish Sanctuary. Then he quickly hung up and mumbled as he tore off his suit jacket and used it to slow down the bleeding.

“I need more help, the cut is big and deep, his right shoulder seems to be injured too.”, Skulduggery informed the rest quickly.

Anton rushed over next and Dexter followed. They pulled off their coats and pressed them on the wound of Keiran���s back, trying to slow down the bleeding there too. Ghastly took off his coat and tied it tightly onto Keiran’s right shoulder, which made the male hiss in pain.

“Synecdoche will be here anytime soon, she is hurrying.”, Skulduggery informed.

Saracen glared at the passed out Erskine, in hatred.

“What about him ?”, he asked coldly.

“Put him in handcuffs and leave him there.”, Skulduggery replied with an ice cold tone.

Saracen nodded and did as told. Then Synecdoche came rushing in with a few more helpers. She stopped and gently pushed Dexter aside, then looked at the damage.

“Oh wow, this is serious. Get him to the medical wing ! We need to fix him as fast as possible !”, she yelled.

The helpers got quickly to work and the Dead Men backed away to let them do their job.

“How did that happen ?”, Valkyrie asked Anton and Ghastly.

“He yelled a warning at me first and with that I survived, then he yelled for Anton, but he couldn’t move. He had the Gist out. Keiran ran into Anton and shielded him from the black Cleaver’s scythe with his back. I fought with Ravel, but it seemed fruitless as the dagger came closer to my neck, in last second, Keiran threw himself at him and tore him off of me, he stabbed his right shoulder and I kicked him in the head.”, Ghastly explained shortly.

She stared at Erskine in horror, which soon turned into disgust.

Anton quickly followed the Doctor, wanting to be there for Keiran. He HATED Doctors. He needed Anton to stay calm and not fight. The others followed too.

When they reached the room, they already could hear Keiran yell and scream at Doctor Synecdoche, trashing the place as it seemed. A lot of things crashed and clashed around.

“Keiran calm down.”, she said.

“NO ! DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH ME !”, he screamed.

Anton quickly entered and Keiran’s head snapped to him. Keiran’s face showed rage and fear at first, but as he saw his Dad, he seemed to calm down and feel ashamed. Anton approached him and patted his uninjured shoulder.

“Calm down and let them help you, Keiran. I’m here. No one can hurt you.”, he soothed.

The male nodded his head softly. Anton knew why he hated and feared Doctors. There was one Doctor, he was at. He was a psychopath and traumatized Keiran, since then he needed Anton by his side, to not freak out and kill a Doctor that meant well.

When Nye was working at the Sanctuary, Keiran refused to go. He rather went to Anton and Skulduggery to get his wounds at least stitched and bandaged, than to risk his own sanity with Nye. Not even Anton could keep him calm near that thing.

Synecdoche went to work quickly and explained every step she was about to do, to soothe Keiran. It did help him. Anton was thankful that she knew what to do, without him asking it of her.

-Two hours later-

“I am finished.”, she announced.

“Th-thank you.”, Keiran said softly.

“It’s my job to help. Now do not move any heavy objects, don’t get into such a fight again, don’t get your back injured in the next four days and everything should be fine. Okay ?”

Keiran nodded softly.

“Good. Here is the medication you will need for at least today. It will help to heal it faster.”, she explained and gave him the recipe and a small package.

“Thanks again.”, Keiran said.

With that they left the room and were in the hall, where the other Dead Men waited.

“How are you ?”, Ghastly asked Keiran.

“Better.”, he answered.

He looked at Ravel, who was awake and gagged, legs bound together too.

“He tried to escape ?”, Keiran asked.

“He did.”, Saracen answered.

The male nodded softly and then went in front of Erskine. He helped him stand up, which shocked the rest of the Dead Men. They were about to accuse him, but suddenly...

SLAP !

Erskine’s head snapped to his left and he fell onto his left side and onto the left side of his face. The other Dead Men stared at Keiran, who slapped Erskine. The handprint was already forming on Ravel’s right cheek.

Ravel looked at Keiran in shock. The boy, he helped to raise, with the others... He glared at him with so much rage and hatred.

“I hate you, Ravel. You led them into a trap, you worked with the enemy, you betrayed us, you tried to kill my Father and Ghastly. My Uncle. I really have the urge to beat you up until you are close to death. They were there for you all the time and you stab them in the back, like a dirty, slimy slug !”, Keiran yelled with rage at Ravel.

He stared at the young male in shock and shame.

“You DISGUST me, Ravel. I wish I NEVER met you. I wish you were NEVER born. And I will kill you, when I get the chance.”, he spat outraged at him.

Ravel never saw Keiran’s hatred like this and he didn’t like that it was directed at him. Keiran turned around with an outraged and betrayed look on his face.

“I’m ashamed that I wanted to be like you. One, of the eight Role Models, I had looked up to and he is a traitor. Do us all a favor and fucking die.”, Keiran said and then left.

Ravel stared at Keiran’s retreating form in shock. He saw him as a Role Model, he wanted to be like him too and he let Keiran down. The Torment lied to him ! He said that Keiran would be happy if Erskine did what Torment told him to do ! He said that Keiran never saw him as a Role Model ! He...he ruined everything.

He looked at his former friends, they all glared in hatred at him, besides Skulduggery, he didn’t have a face, but he was definitely outraged.

“Can I kill him ?”, Anton asked darkly.

Erskine knew he had no right to plead, but he wanted to explain himself. He pleaded at them with his eyes and looked down at his gag, to make them understand that he only asks them to let him speak.

Valkyrie glared at him, but sighed and took the gag off.

“Thank you.”, Ravel said softly.

“Don’t even start. Whatever you have to say, do it quick, before I gag you again. I really don’t like you anymore, Erskine.”, she growled.

He looked down.

“Of course. I...wanted to explain and apologize for what I just tried and did behind your backs, I know it won’t safe my life, nor am I asking for forgiveness or mercy. I beg you to do your worst after I explained myself.”

They still glared, but Val, Skulduggery and Ghastly were confused slightly. What’s the point in explaining himself, if he doesn’t expect to be forgiven or get mercy ?

“I was missing a few times in the war, if you remember, besides Valkyrie, she wasn’t there when we fought Mevolent’s forces. I was...jealous of you. Keiran always said he wanted to be just like you all when he grew up. He said it to everyone of you, but me. So I thought he didn’t like me or I was not interesting. He looked up to you all and...not me. I felt excluded and I liked Keiran. I was even more jealous when Anton was chosen, by Keiran himself, to be his adoptive Father. At some point, I met the Torment and he knew all of this. He said if I would do what I was doing today, then Keiran would see me as his Role Model. Blind as I was, I believed him. He fed lies to me and made my jealousy grow into distaste and blood thirst. I knew it was wrong, you were my friends and I fought against this jealousy, cherished every moment that I had spent with Keiran instead, but after the war, I barely saw and heard from him, with that my jealousy returned. I got worse. I never knew that I already was his Role Model, that he looked up to me already.”

They stared at Erskine in shock.

“If I would have known, I wouldn’t have fallen for the Torment’s lies and tricks. But I do not expect forgiveness or any mercy. Do your worst. I deserve it. Kill me if you have to.”

“He never told you then ?”, Anton asked.

Erskine looked at Anton.

“What do you mean ?”, he asked confused.

“It was hard for him to pick between you and me. He saw you like a big Brother and me like a fatherly figure. He always feared that he bothered or annoyed you, if he would come to you or write you the first letter, so he waited for you to write. But you never did. You struck him as a person that can be nice, but can easily mask their annoyance with a fake smile, so he never wanted to bother you all that much.”, Anton explained.

“He was supposed to tell you.”, Saracen said.

“He never did...wait...what date was that ?”, Ravel asked.

“It was the 24th of October 1875.”, Ghastly answered.

“Oh... Well then I scared him off, I think. I was very stressed that day, had too little sleep and was easily annoyed. He must have seen me and then backed away.”

There was silence for a long while.

“I always looked up to you. I thought you would think it’s childish. So I never said that you counted in too. It looked like you didn’t like me all that much, so I didn’t bother you. You should have told me.”, Keiran’s voice came from the darkness.

“And you should have told me some things too.”, Erskine countered.

“Miscommunication is a pain in the ass. And it led to this too.”, Dexter sighed out.

Erskine shrugged his shoulders.

“At least none of you died and I will be punished accordingly. My jealousy doesn’t justify what I tried to do and did. I doubt you could ever trust me again.”

Keiran stepped out of the shadows and looked at Erskine.

“I will need a LOT of time to forgive you. And even MORE time to trust you again, BUT I am willing to give you a second chance. Everyone deserves one. Yes, your jealousy doesn’t justify anything, but you were partly brainwashed too, which makes you partly innocent too. I am at fault too, I should have had the bravery and told you that I was also looking up to you.”

“So...my sentence ?”, Ravel asked Ghastly, who was now technically Great Mage.

“Because of the truth you told us and what Keiran said I would put you to jail, with locked away magic, for ten years. You will get therapy to get rid of whatever remained of your jealousy and you will be released when you are considered ‘healthy’ again. Then you can work on getting our trust and friendship back. Don’t fuck it up, otherwise I won’t hesitate to give you over to Keiran and he will make you cry, when he is done with you.”, Ghastly threatened.

Ravel nodded, but didn’t smile. He had no right to smile. He was still a disgusting man. He tried to kill two of his best friends, that always stayed by his side, for something as stupid as jealousy...

Masterlist HERE !

[skulduggery-pleasant-bp9]

The Dead Men meet M/n – Skulduggery Pleasant x Kid!Male!Reader (Part 3)

WARNING!: Cursing, abuse, blood x gore, injury, happened in the Mevolent war times, mention of torture AND MORE ! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!!

Hopeless followed the pair into a small, dark alleyway. He hid close by in the shadows and listened in.

“We wouldn’t be in all these troubles, if you would have checked right after the fire !”, the woman yelled angered at the man.

“You can yell at me later ! We need to find the damn brat, before anyone else does !”

“And how do you plan to do that ?! No one saw him ! He could be anywhere !”

“The Mistake probably ran to the graveyard, to his Mother’s grave ! We will get him there !”

The woman stared at the man and then nodded.

“If this fails...I will fucking end you, Kody.”, the woman threatened.

“It won’t Amanda. We will get the damn brat and kill him for real this time. I won’t do the same mistake again.”

Hopeless couldn’t believe his ears. They really didn’t plan to leave M/n alone. What awful assholes.

‘I have to tell the others !’, he thought.

Hopeless quickly and quietly ran away and back to camp. As he suspected...M/n was in very high danger.

-With the Dead Men-

Anton continued to hold M/n, while the five year old shook in nerves and fear. Ghastly and Saracen had their weapons in hand, aiming at the front door. Erskine and Dexter hid behind furniture, for a surprise attack and Skulduggery already packed everyone’s belongings for a fast escape.

Hopefully they don’t have to run right now...

The door opened and Hopeless entered quickly. He locked the door right after.

“Hopeless ! What did you find out ?”, Skulduggery asked.

He looked at everyone and then at M/n.

“You need to have a Taken name as fast as possible. Two people are looking for you and they told everyone your Given name.”, he warned the boy.

M/n’s eyes widened further than they already were and he clung to Anton tighter.

“They are here ? Kody and Amanda ?”, the boy asked.

“Who are these people ?”, Dexter asked.

M/n turned to the rest of the Dead Men.

“Kody is my producer and Amanda is his flame. The one’s that tried to kill me.”

Anton’s face darkened at that information. From the others the faces darkened again, besides Hopeless.

“There is more. They are not planning to leave Fox alone anytime soon. They called him horrid names and are planning to finish what they started. Kill him.”, Hopeless quickly informed.

Now the Dead Men were in murder mode.

“Not if we can help it.”, Ghastly growled out.

“What’s the plan, Skul, Hopeless ?”, Erskine asked darkly.

“We lure them somewhere and then get rid of them.”, Skulduggery informed.

M/n shook his head.

“Useless. The trap has to be as subtle as possible. You forgot what I told you, Amanda can read minds and control it for a short time. I need to make some bracelets, that will keep her out and then you have to stage everything, like it is real.”, the boy said.

“We will NOT risk your safety like that !”, Saracen and Dexter yelled.

“I grew up with these psychos for two years. They aren’t THAT stupid, guys... You will have to pretend like you hand me over to them. I know how to survive, trust me. I survived them until now.”

“Are you to one hundred percent sure, that you can survive them again ?”, Anton asked him softly.

M/n smiled and snuggled more into Anton.

“I am.”, he said into his clothes.

The truth was that M/n had no idea if he will survive it. The burning story building was already a challenge to escape from. But he had not much to lose to be honest. And if they die, then he doesn’t mind dying too. At least he can see his Mom again...right ?

“What should we do ?”, Skulduggery asked M/n.

“They will probably expect me at my Mom’s grave... We will stage everything there. Hopeless will say that he sighted me and the rest of you hides. I will play my role...as soon as they try to kill me or use magic more than twice on me...you come out and beat them up.”

“You want them to hurt you ?”, Anton asked shocked and worried.

“They need to feel safe and alone. They will be too careful and run away as soon as you would jump out. Trust me...”

Everyone, besides Fox, stared at Skulduggery. He took a deep breath and sighed.

“Alright...”, he agreed with distaste.

M/n nodded and then went into the kitchen. He pulled out some herbs and started to braid the different kinds of herbs together into a bracelet. He did that six more times and then made himself a ring.

“I didn’t want us to be in the rain and to possibly to get sick, but we have to get rid of them as fast as possible.”

“So tomorrow ?”

M/n nodded and then slowly went into his room. He refused to go to sleep though.

-With the Dead Men-

“Are you sure about this ?”, Ghastly asked Skulduggery.

“He knows them better than us. If he says it has to be, then it has to be.”, he replied to Ghastly saddened.

He HATED this idea...

“What is Fox’s Given name ?”, Dexter asked.

Hopeless hesitated, but sighed and nodded.

“M/n L/n.”

Anton’s head snapped up.

“What ? Repeat the name.”, he urged on.

“M/n L/n.”, Hopeless repeated, confused.

Anton get up from the couch and ran circles, deep concern in his eyes.

“What is it ?”, Saracen asked.

“M/n L/n was reported missing a year and four months ago, by Mevolent himself.”, Anton informed.

They stared at him wide eyed.

“What ?!”, they all yelled at Anton in shock.

“He himself and some of his minions went through the village often, asking for the boy with a picture of him. No one ever saw him, but it is said that he didn’t give up.”

“Did he start a war because of that ?”, Ghastly asked.

“Maybe... Maybe he is the mysterious Godfather and he was hell bent to find Fox, after he found the mess Kody left behind...”

“Fucking hell...”, Dexter cursed and sat down.

“If we ask him, do you think he would answer ?”, Erskine asked Anton.

He shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know... But who would want to go to him and ask ? That is death itself.”

“White flag.”, Skulduggery suggested.

“You would really tell him that you don’t plan to fight ?”, Hopeless asked.

“If HE is Fox’s Godfather, then we should at least try to communicate with him. If he really agreed to take in a child, then he can’t be that bad, right ?”

“He did prove a lot of times that he actually cared about him. The times he went searching for him himself is shocking.”, Anton agreed.

“Maybe he thought that by causing a war, Kody and his flame would sacrifice Fox to safe their own skin.”, Ghastly suggested.

There was silence for a while.

“Get your coats. We are meeting a madman.”, Skulduggery huffed out and went for his own coat.

“Are you sure that we should risk our lives on a theory ?”, Dexter asked worried.

“Dead sure.”

There was no changing Skulduggery’s mind. They grabbed their coats and then left, knowing that M/n will be safe on his own. Then they ran for the castle, Mevolent was in.

-Time skip-

They stood in front of the entrance and made a white flag. Skulduggery stood on a big stone after that, while the rest hid. Then he yelled loudly.

“HEY !!! MEVOLENT !!! ANYONE ?! WE COME IN PEACE !!”, Skulduggery yelled from the top of his lungs and swung the white flag.

Someone went to one of the open window of the castle. By the helmet, it looked to be Mevolent himself. Skulduggery swung the flag a bit more before he stopped. Mevolent seemed to have understood and he disappeared from the window.

Skulduggery looked behind the rock, at his friends.

“I think he is coming or he sends someone to come get us.”, he informed them.

The bridge of the castle was let down and out came Mevolent and his wife, Serafina. They were armored and had weapons. Skulduggery got down from the rock and the rest of his Team came out of hiding.

“I knew it ! It is a trap !”, Serafina hissed.

“No, no ! Still peace. I did say ‘we’.”, Skulduggery quickly defended.

“That he did, my Dear. Please calm down.”, Mevolent replied.

She looked at him and nodded.

“Pardon me.”, she apologized.

“It’s fine Miss. I understand why you are so cautious. I would be too.”, Skulduggery replied.

“Why are you here ? And most importantly...why in peace ?”, Mevolent asked.

“We have a question. After that we either need to talk or we leave and see one another never again.”, Ghastly now mixed himself in.

The rest of the Team nodded. Mevolent crooked his head to his right in curiosity, while Serafina looked at them with suspicion, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“That must be very important, if you came to me personally, then.”, Mevolent said in thought.

“Honey, they are the Dead Men, I am surprised that they are even here, in peace.”, his wife replied to him.

“Hmm.”, he hummed in agreement.

Then he looked at them.

“Do ask. I feel civil tonight.”

Anton stepped forward and looked at Mevolent.

“You have been searching for a boy, named M/n L/n.”, he started.

Mevolent and Serafina froze up at that. His wife’s eyes were wide open in shock.

“Yes I have, so ?”, he asked feeling threatened.

“Why ?”, Anton asked.

“Pardon ?”, Mevolent asked confused.

“Why did you search him ? Are you his Dad or...?”

Mevolent stared at them for a long while and then sighed. Serafina looked down at the ground.

“I am...M/n’s Guardian. His Godfather. His biological Mother and I were close friends and she told me what she was fearing and what she knew was happening. Her husband...Kody Brooks, was abusive, unfaithful, hated his child and he would never stop by murder either. She was afraid that she might die soon and her Son would be tortured by Kody. I offered to take him in when she would die. She happily accepted and told me the places he could be, if he is not in the house anymore. I checked on her every night...until I found her dead body. It was a mess. But M/n and Kody were gone and it seemed like they left last night. It must have happened shortly after I checked on her and she was still fine. I should have waited longer.”, Mevolent explained.

Serafina let a tear roll down her face.

“Maureen Necro was a great friend, mother and wife. But HE...he destroyed everything ! I would give ANYTHING to kill him !”, Serafina said outraged.

Mevolent pulled his wife into a gentle hug.

“Is that why you started the war ?”, Saracen asked.

Mevolent nodded.

“I hoped that, if I inflict fear, he would run away and leave M/n behind. He was a selfish bastard anyways.”

The Dead Men looked at one another. Everyone nodded at Anton to tell them.

“Well...we found M/n.”, Anton said.

Serafina’s eyes widened.

“WHAT ?!”, the pair yelled in shock.

“Well, maybe not like that, he found us. He escaped his Father and came back to his home village. He ran into us by coincidence. A mage chased him, who wanted to kill M/n and he was hurt, unable to run anymore. He healed our wounds, because we seemed nice and didn’t kill him. We killed the mage that chased him and since then he was with us. He lived in the dumpsters before he found us.”, Anton explained a bit more.

“Since when has he been with you ?”, Mevolent asked.

“Not long. Two to three days. He was back in town 2 weeks ago, if I remember correctly. He had no idea a war was going on, until that mage tried to kill him.”, Erskine answered.

“And you told us just now ?!”, Serafina asked at them angered.

“He didn’t say his name.”, Skulduggery informed her.

“Then...how did you find out ?”, Mevolent asked.

“And what did you call him instead ?”, Serafina asked worried.

“He said Buddy, Bud, Little Fox. Anything that is not Child or Kid. And Hopeless was in town today and meet Amanda and Kody. They told everyone M/n’s name and are actively searching him.”, Anton explained.

They froze.

“Why are they here for him ?”, Mevolent asked darkly.

“To finish what they started.”, Dexter said darkly.

“And that is what ?”, Serafina asked.

“M/n didn’t escape out of the new house they lived in. He was trapped in a building that Kody set on fire. He was supposed to burn to death, but he escaped and came back here. That is what M/n told us.”

The wedded pair had their hands balled into fists and Mevolent seemed to growl.

“M/n is with us still and he made a plan with us of how to kill the both of them, but we don’t like the plan all that much...”, Hopeless informed.

“What did the boy plan ?”, they both asked.

“Tomorrow we go to his Mother’s grave, they will expect him there. Hopeless is supposed to get them and we are supposed to hide. He wants us to only attack and kill them when they are beating the crap out of him, to say it lightly. Because, according to M/n’s words, they would otherwise be careful and run the moment we jump out of our hiding spots.”, Skulduggery explained.

Mevolent took in a sharp breath and went over to a tree, punching it so hard that it fell over.

“That means that we can’t disagree with what M/n said. We won’t be able to do anything against that plan. Kody and Amanda are slippery rats. No matter how many people you set on their tail, they always escape. They are very observant and careful people. My Husband always does that when he knows that he can’t do anything about something.”, Serafina told them, slightly saddened.

“So we have to watch him getting beaten ?”, Anton asked in worry.

“Sadly yes. But we both will be there tomorrow too. We will help.”, she notified them.

“Did he still have his book about herbs and healing balms ?”, Mevolent asked them.

“Yeah ! I saw it stick out of the bound of his ripped, old pants.”, Dexter said.

Mevolent sighed in relief and nodded.

“Why was that so important ?”, Ghastly asked.

“It was a gift from me, to him when he was 2 years old. Many powerful healing herbs, how to make a healing balm that heals instantly and more was in there. In case he would have needed it.”, he explained.

“Ah...”

“We all need to sleep for tomorrow. Please go back to your camp. We will meet tomorrow.”, Serafina said kindly.

They said their Goodbyes and then left. When they came back, they checked on M/n, who was passed out in his bed and then they went to sleep themselves. No one noticing the sheet of paper on M/n’s desk.

-The next day at the Graveyard-

M/n refused to eat, he was too nervous to keep anything down. He put on his old, ruined pants and ruined one of Ghastly’s fine work on a shirt, apologizing for ruining his hard work. The tailor only waved him off and said that he can make such a shirt again.

They all hid on top of trees, the leaves covering them from sight. Soon enough they spotted Mevolent and Serafina too, they were on the same tree, Anton was on.

“How is he doing ?”, Serafina asked Anton in a whisper tone.

“Not well, he didn’t eat anything and didn’t get enough sleep. He is very nervous. He came in the middle of the night to me and he woke up a lot of times, from Nightmares. I had to gather everyone in the Living room, so he had some calm hours of sleep. He felt safer with all of us in one room.”, he whispered back.

“He likes you. The Team.”, Mevolent stated in a whisper.

“Yeah and we like and care about him too. He grew very quickly on us. We had a lot of fun and playful fights these small days and we bonded pretty quickly.”

“Fun, eh ?”

“We never laughed that hard since the war started. The wild flour fight in the kitchen he had with Ghastly and Skulduggery was the best. He is good in card games, but he needs work on humor and understanding when someone laughs with him and when someone laughs at him. He...needs a lot of work to have at least a bit of a proper childhood.”

They stayed silent at that and just observed. Hopeless didn’t have to get them as it seemed. They went to the graveyard themselves. Anton and Mevolent growled darkly as they saw them. Overprotective men.

-With M/n-

“Wish me luck, Mommy...”, M/n whispered.

Then he got up, took a deep breath and turned around.

Kody and Amanda were close enough to M/n’s liking.

“There you are, you damn brat !”, he yelled.

“Kody ! Behave.”, Amanda yelled and looked around.

She didn’t see anyone and then glared at M/n.

“You little useless piece of shit caused us enough trouble. We are going home NOW.”, she stated darkly.

She went to grab M/n, but he kicked her into the knee and then ran for it.

“Fuck you, you two fucking assholes !”, M/n yelled.

“Why, this brat !”, Kody snarled.

He was ready to chase M/n, but Amanda held him back and glared at M/n as she got up and he continued to run.

“M/N L/N STOP.”, she commanded.

M/n froze up instantly. The Dead Men panicked, he didn’t have a Taken name ! The boy took a deep breath and then turned around, staring at her and sticking his tongue out.

“NOT MY NAME, BITCH !”, he yelled back and continued to run.

Kody’s and Amanda’s eyes widened in shock.

“The brat has a Taken name now ?!”, he yelled.

The Dead Men and the wedded pair were in shock that he found his name, but they were happy for him none the less.

The abusive adult pair chased M/n and of course they were faster than him. Kody used his wind and slammed M/n against Ghastly’s tree with brute force. M/n yelped and his head had an injury. Mevolent and Anton wanted to act at that, but Serafina held them back.

M/n shook his head and got up, but Kody sent another wave of wind against M/n and slammed him again against the tree.

“I will kill you the same way I killed your disgusting, ugly, useless Mother ! This time you won’t survive, you disgusting Mistake !”

He grabbed M/n by the hair, making him scream in pain as he was torn up by the scalp. He wasn’t scared though, just angry. Kody slammed M/n’s head against the tree trunk harshly, making him scream again, his nose was broken and his head hurt badly now.

The Dead Men, Mevolent and Serafina wanted to jump in right then and there, but waited a bit longer, until M/n gave the signal. M/n was about to hit the trunk again, as he twisted his way free and then bit Kody in the left arm. He yelled in pain and slammed him with wind against the tree again. M/n hit the back of his head harshly and was close to passing out.

He looked up and at Anton’s tree. Anton stared at M/n concerned and worried sick.

“H-help...”, M/n whispered loud enough for him and Ghastly to hear, then he passed out.

“Fuck the signal.”, Anton growled lowly and went straight for attack.

The others followed and surprised Amanda and Kody.

“Who the hell are you ?!”, she yelled at them.

Kody’s eyes widened as he saw Anton Shudder.

“They are the Dead Men and Mevolent with his wife...”, he informed Amanda.

Her eyes widened in shock and fear at that. Kody summoned fire and threw it quickly at them, Anton snarled and went straight for him. He got him by the throat, closing his hand around his windpipe and continued to press, while Serafina held Amanda down.

“How DARE you... I would kill you if I would want to waste my time on scum like you. But I have a more important matter to tend to.”, Shudder growled darkly.

Ghastly put magic binding handcuffs on Kody’s hands and Skulduggery did the same on Amanda. Mevolent was at M/n’s side and trying hard to stop the bleeding, while Dexter and Serafina roughened up the two bastards. Death was too good for them...

“I can’t stop the bleeding.”, Mevolent said in slight panic, as Anton slid down next to him.

“We don’t have the time to stop it, we need to heal him as fast as possible. This is a severe head injury.”, Anton said and quickly pulled out the balm he snuck out with himself.

He pulled out a towel from his bag that he took with himself and gave it to Mevolent, who then wettened it.

“Get the blood off so I can see where I have to put the balm on.”, he explained.

Hopeless came running to them too, with Ghastly and Skulduggery. They ripped their own shirts and helped too, while Mevolent hurried and gave Anton enough sight, before more blood came gushing out again. He quickly put the balm on his hand and rubbed it on M/n’s wound, he looked around and did the other wounds too. As they were almost done, Saracen was rushing over and took off his shirt, giving it to Anton. Anton quickly wrapped M/n’s wound up and then he took him and carried him away, back to their camp.

Skulduggery gave Mevolent the location of where M/n is with them and he even told them that they can have these two abusive shits. They gladly did and planned a whole torture session already.

Dexter stared at M/n’s Mother’s gravestone in the meantime and was saddened. She must have been a great Mother, so sad that she was forced to leave so early... The rest of the Dead Men joined his side and also just stood there, paying their respects and sadness. She didn’t deserve to die so early, nor did M/n deserve the life he had to live until now.

With that they left soon after.

-At the camp-

M/n was in his bed and Anton took off the shirt, rubbed more balm on the boy’s injuries and then used actual bandages. They should have done something sooner... Anton isn’t sure if M/n will even make it at this point.

One of the reasons he hated about himself... He always got fond of someone and then they suddenly leave. One of the reasons he decided to be cold and distant in the war and yet...M/n got in by just being himself. If this boy doesn’t make it, he will fucking cry and he rarely ever did.

“How is he ?”, Skulduggery asked softly.

“I don’t know. His pulse is slow and his breathing is normal, but...I don’t know if he will pull through, Skul. His skull got smashed against the log four times and the injuries were serious, but a doctor is too far away from here. They moved a day ago and aren’t near here anymore.”, Anton whispered out.

Skulduggery entered the room and sat beside Anton, who kneeled right next to M/n’s bed, watching him, afraid he might leave as soon as he looks away.

“I never saw anything like that before... I never saw anyone being so brutal to their own child, so...murderous. If that is what M/n always had to go through, no matter what he did, then I am surprised he survived until now.”, the male stated softly.

Skulduggery listened to Shudder, watching M/n too.

“His balm will heal him. He hasn’t left us yet and I don’t think he is planning on it anytime soon. He is a strong five year old. He will pull through.”, Skulduggery tried to cheer his friend up.

“And what if he won’t survive this time ?”, he asked.

He went quiet at that.

“You...think he won’t make it already, huh ?”

Anton stayed silent and wiped his eyes. Skulduggery noticed that Anton was actually crying. He got very close with M/n in this short amount of time. They all did, but Anton was the most connected with him.

“Why did you bond with him so quickly ?”, he asked.

Anton sniffed.

“His past and his urge to help us, even though he didn’t know us at all...it impressed me and made me proud. Even though he was abused, he still tried to see the good in strangers. Not everyone has that trait. And even though he bugged me a bit, it was nice and...adorable. He acted like an actual five year old that was curious about everything and wanted answers. And he only wanted attention from us, when he was really down. His Nightmares and slight random worries were the only times he asked for our comfort. He...was very considerate, even though he shouldn’t be. A toddler is supposed to be ignorant and always wanting attention. I just...I just felt very close to him thanks to all of that.”

Skulduggery nodded softly, understanding what he meant.

“It is said that we can connect faster with broken children than we can with normal ones that need adoption. We have an urge to help broken children, so they can still enjoy a bit of their childhood and life, so they don’t become rotten eggs and the next villain in line. But...when you do that, help a broken child to be a bit more stable...you bond with it very fast and it is getting stronger each second you spend with them. And when something bad happens to them that they might never recover from...we get very emotional.”, Skulduggery softly told Anton, putting a hand on his shoulder for comfort.

“I don’t want him to leave.”, Shudder sobbed out.

“None of us want him to leave. He won’t go, Anton. I believe in him. You have to believe in him too. He will pull through. He is a strong kid.”

Shudder looked at his friend and nodded. He will believe in M/n, if it will get the boy to survive this...

-Five days later-

Mevolent came over each day, asking how M/n was doing and if he already woke up. It was always a no and his heart continued to sink each day. Anton refused to leave M/n’s side, he didn’t want to eat, shower or even change his clothes. He wanted M/n to wake up. He redressed his head and smeared new balm on his injuries, to keep the wounds clean and to busy himself with something.

He barely talked with anyone. He was in a stage of grief that the Dead Men have never seen before. They voiced their concerns to Mevolent and he told them to bring him everything, so he doesn’t have to leave M/n’s side, but otherwise he didn’t know how else to help. All they could do was wait for a miracle.

That night Mevolent stayed over, hoping that something good will happen. As long as M/n breathed, he was alive...But that didn’t kill the chance that he might die anyways and they just torture him into a slow painful death.

-Day six-

Anton just sat there, staring. He was so tired, but he refused to sleep. Mevolent entered the room for the first time and looked around. It was cozy, he had to admit. Then he spotted the desk and the piece of paper, no one else witnessed yet. He went over to the desk and picked the note up, reading through it.

Tears ran down his face underneath his helmet and he had a wobbly smile. He sat down next to Anton and tapped his shoulder. He barely looked up, just hummed.

“M/n will be okay.”, Mevolent said.

“I hope so.”, Anton replied.

Mevolent chuckled and then read out loud what stood on the paper.

“ ‘Hello Dead Men, I have a feeling something will go wrong in our plan, but no worries ! The balm will heal anything and everything on injuries. Please don’t be sad, I’m tough, I will survive. Whatever damage I will receive, I had it worse and lived. I might fall into a coma, but as long as someone redresses and puts new balm on the wounds, I will be just dandy.

Hope to see you all soon, Keiran Fox.’ “

Anton’s head snapped up at that and his eyes were wide. He reprocessed the information and then smiled and had fresh tears in his eyes.

“It was on his desk. You should have looked.”, Mevolent said softly.

He gave Anton the note, petted Keiran’s hair softly and then left again, spreading the message. Anton started to laugh and sob in relief.

“You little Fox, you ! We should have known that you would leave us a sign in case.”, he said.

Not even two minutes later, all the Dead Men piled in and asked to see the note. They were so relieved, but also annoyed that they never noticed the piece of paper on the desk. Anton felt better, knowing that Keiran partly expected something like this to happen.

He was so relieved that he finally allowed himself to fall asleep, next to Keiran’s bed. The others in the house were relieved that Anton finally took some rest. They left the room and sat on the couch in the Living room, with Mevolent.

“I have a feeling Anton wants to adopt Keiran.”, Dexter said out loud.

“True. He does act like a Father.”, Skulduggery agreed.

Mevolent took off his helmet at that. His short blonde hair and his yellow toned skin were revealed and he put the helmet away, running a hand through his hair and his eyes were silver like. They stared.

“To be honest, if he wants to adopt Keiran, then I will not fight him. I am only a Guardian, but Keiran has to decide himself, where he wants to be and what he wants.”. Mevolent said, ignoring their stares.

“You would gladly give him away ?”, Ghastly asked.

“No, but your friend seems to care a lot about him. He would be sad, if I would take him away, you took care of him, he likes all of you and I only want what’s best for him. You found him first too. I might have set heaven and hell into motion to try and find him, but I didn’t think about searching in other villages. I should have been that smart. Another point where I would think that I might fail him way more than your friend would.”

They were silent in utter shock.

“His Mother would want the best for him. I will not stand in the way of his happiness.”

“And we feared you would fight us if we would ask you for Anton...”, Erskine voiced.

Mevolent laughed at that.

“No, no, no. I would never fight someone that makes Keiran happy. I am only his Guardian to kill the people that hurt him or try to kill him. I might be a Monster, but I’m not THAT bad.”

“Are you really a Monster, when you care about people ?”, Hopeless asked.

Mevolent was silent at that.

“Heh, everyone assumes it. I started the war with the lie to make the Sanctuaries fall and to get the Faceless Ones back here, even though I never planned on it. It was all just to get Keiran back and to safety.”

“Why didn’t you just say that ?”, Skulduggery asked.

“Who would have believed me, hmm ? I had no evidence and Maureen would have NEVER said anything, nor Keiran. Keiran wouldn’t have said anything in fear Kody would have hurt his Mom and Maureen wouldn’t have said anything, because she was scared to lose Keiran. Kody had them both where he wanted them to be and after she was dead, Keiran was missing, so he couldn’t make it official. I had to come up with something and a war was easy enough. The Sanctuaries would have been way too distracted with a war, to notice that I slipped out of my castle and searched for Keiran everywhere.”

Skulduggery was silent at that for a while.

“I would have believed you as soon as I would have seen the corpse. That usually is all I need to believe someone. I know the Sanctuaries like to accuse the one who found the body, that they did it, but I wouldn’t have. I did see some things that taught me to never just accuse someone.”

“Hah... Well sad we didn’t know each other back then, otherwise I would have slammed against your door until you would have came out in the middle of the night.”, he replied chuckling.

Skulduggery snorted at that joke.

“Very funny.”

“Meh, I guess I caused more of a mess, than needed. I’ll so go to jail for this for a long while... Well, I should have thought about that before I started a war...”, Mevolent sighed.

“I think I have to thank you partly though, that you DID start a war. Otherwise I would have never met these awesome men in this house.”, Skulduggery had to admit.

Mevolent gave a weak smile.

“You’re welcome.”

Then his smile died down and it was replaced with a thoughtful frown.

“You might want to get rid of Nefarian Serpine.”, he warned.

“Why ?”, Saracen asked.

“He hates Skulduggery for some reason. I wouldn’t be surprised if he would take out his Family at this point. That man has gone crazy.”

Skulduggery froze up.

“What ?”, he asked the male in shock.

“I have a Sensitive working for me and they saw that he will kill your Family. Even if I would stop the war now, I doubt your Family would be safe. Once something is set in that man’s head, nothing will change his mind to stop it. He will do it no matter what.”

“Shit !”, Skulduggery cursed and got up.

“Hey, if the war would continue, it would take a few more decades for Serpine to get to them, don’t overreact just yet. I will ask them tomorrow to look again and I will report back to you if they will be safe. I just wanted to let you know that he is planning on getting under your skin.”

“Under my skin ?”

“He wants YOU dead. Your Family is just a tool to him and not of importance. I might be unable to imagine how a Father and Husband would react to see their loved ones get killed, but you are a very calm and collected person, Pleasant. It takes something very serious to get you oblivious to your surroundings. You are way too clever when you are like this, so he wants to get you so outraged that you can’t think straight. In my head only your Family came to my mind. If nothing else got you out of control, Family surely will. I let a Sensitive look into it and they saw what I suspected.”

He sat back down and stared on the couch.

“Don’t worry, I will try to figure out if he will be any danger even after I broke up the war. When he is, you can have the honors of killing him. After all, he would go so far as to kill your own child and wife, just because he is a jealous, spiteful, pitiful creature.”

“Nice that we talk about stuff like this in the Morning...”, Hopeless mumbled.

“Before I forget, I rather said it now.”, Mevolent said, shrugging his shoulders.

-A few hours later-

Anton just finished cleaning, rubbing and bandaging up Keiran’s head again. He was about to go wash his own hands as he heard Keiran groaning softly. Anton stopped dead in his tracks, turned around and looked at him.

He had a shocked expression on his face, which quickly turned to relief. He wiped his hands on a used towel and then ran over to Keiran’s side. The boy sat up in bed, held his head softly and had his eyes screwed close. Anton kneeled right next to the bed again.

“Keiran ? Are you feeling any better ?”, Anton asked.

Keiran’s head snapped up at the mention of his name. He opened his eyes and looked at Anton.

“A-Anton ?”, he asked.

“Hey, you little Fox ! You made it.”, the male replied.

“I...I did ? They are gone ?”

Anton nodded.

“Your Godfather and his wife took them to torture them as punishment. How is your head ?”

Keiran needed a second to process and understand what the older male said.

“I feel like I died... I hope...it will get betterer.”, M/n groaned, annoyed, at the last word.

His speaking issue again. He meant to say ‘better’. Anton put a hand on the boy’s shoulder softly, to comfort him.

“No problem. You meant ‘better’. I know. It’s okay.”, he tried to cheer him up.

“I think I suffered through some brain damamage. Oh come on ! I hate my life...”, Keiran complained frustrated.

“Relax, it will heal.”, Anton soothed and then pushed Keiran back into a laying position.

“Don’t get up. You are not healthy enough for that yet.”

Keiran nodded softly and Shudder left. He dashed down the stairs, alarming everyone downstairs.

“Keiran is awake ! But be careful, he has more trouble speaking without messing up. He thinks he got some brain damage.”, Anton informed.

They got concerned, but were happy that he was awake. They all got up and went up the stairs, they entered Keiran’s room and smiled brightly as they saw that he was awake and moving.

“Hello, Keiran. A beautiful name you picked yourself. Black Fox. Suits you.”, Skulduggery said.

Keiran smiled and turned his head slightly, wincing at the discomfort.

“Thanks, Skulduggery. Now...as you left Anton...it just then registered in my brain that you mentioned my Godfather... Who is he ?”, Keiran asked.

Anton frowned at that. Right...Keiran will leave as soon as he is better with Mevolent...He looked at the boy and stepped aside, revealing Mevolent. Keiran’s eyes widened and he was in utter shock.

“YOU are my Godfather ?!”

“I am indeed. I guess your Mother never told you my name.”

“She didn’t, but I know you anyways. You are Mevolent.”

Mevolent nodded and then he started to explain everything. Why he started a war, how he found him now, what he did while Keiran was missing, how he met his Mother and everything else that he deemed important. Keiran had to interrupt him a few times, to slow down and let him process all the information, his brain still not fully functioning.

After a few hours of explaining everything to Keiran, he was in shock. He just stared at Mevolent in slight awe and shock.

“I...I need a minute to digest all of this.”, Keiran said softly.

“Take your time, Keiran.”, Mevolent told the boy.

After a few minutes he was calm and collected, looking at Mevolent again.

“Okay...Anything else ?”, the boy asked.

Mevolent looked at Ghastly and he understood what he wanted. He took Anton by the hand and left the room with him.

“Why are we leaving ? Is something wrong ?”, Anton asked confused and worried.

“This is only for them to discuss and for us to hear about later. Trust me Anton. We need to have a talk anyways.”, Ghastly soothed him as they left.

Skulduggery closed the door and everyone was looking at Keiran. The boy got nervous.

“W-what’s going on ?”, he asked nervously.

“Keiran....you do know that you will have to say Goodbye to the Dead Men, yes ? I am your Guardian and with that you have to move with me.”, Mevolent asked the five year old.

He needed a second to catch up with his brain, but when he did, his eyes widened and he got tears in his eyes.

“I....I have to ?”, he asked saddened to the core.

He didn’t want to leave ! He liked the Dead Men, he BONDED with them, he...he saw them as a potential group of best friends, something he never had before...They all gave off so much parental energy...POSITIVE parental energy.

Mevolent nodded.

“But-but I can visit, yes ?!”, Keiran asked hopeful.

“You won’t be able to. I can’t let you out of my sight and I am a very busy man in my castle. I can’t leave you with servants either. And the Dead Men are very busy people too. They won’t have time to visit as often as you would want. Maybe only once a month or even less.”

Keiran’s hope sunk and then he looked at Mevolent with determination.

“Then I will not go with you. I can handle myself. I had to, for four years, I can live without a Guardian.”, he said.

“That is not how this works, kiddo. I am responsible for your well being. I HAVE to take care of you until you are an adult.”

“Look, I don’t care how much you looked for me. I also don’t care how well my Mommy and you knew each other. I know close to NOTHING about you ! And I am supposed to trust you just like that ?! No !”

Mevolent smiled in his mind. Keiran was really a smart kid.

-With Ghastly and Anton-

They sat in the Living room and Anton just waited, for Ghastly to start the ‘oh so important’ conversation.

“What do you want to talk about ? Don’t just sit there.”, Anton huffed out annoyed.

Ghastly, continued to be silent for a few more minutes until he asked.

“How much do you like Keiran ?”

Anton blinked at Ghastly in surprise.

“What ?”

“You heard me.”

“He is a child, how am I supposed to feel ? Threatened ?”

“Do you like Keiran ?”

Silence for a moment. Then Anton sighed.

“Yes...Yes, I like him. He is a sweet child, can you blame me ? Skulduggery already gave me a small lecture. I bonded with him too fast and now, I have to deal with it, that I will never see him again. Like always.”

“How does your Gist feel about him ?”

“Calm, weirdly enough. It only raged when Keiran was attacked and asked for our help.”

“Do you want him to stay ?”

Anton looked at him, like he was stupid.

“Did you not listen to what I said not even five minutes ago ? Of course I want him to stay.”

“Allow me to phrase this differently then... Do you want to adopt Keiran as your own child ?”

Anton froze up, eyes widened in utter shock at that question.

-With Keiran-

“So you want to stay with the Dead Men, no matter what I try to offer ?”, Mevolent asked kindly.

Keiran nodded determined, but refused to look at them.

“Why do you want to stay with them ? You barely know them.”

“Because they are very nice, since we met, they protected me best they can, they took me in, instead of abandoning me, they helped me make this house and the rooms, they fed me, they cared for me, Ghastly made me new clothes, so I don’t have to freeze with my ragged thin clothes, they played games with me, they bothered to spend time with me, they didn’t yell at me if I teased them or had a small war in the kitchen with one of them. They are amazing people and yes, I might not know them as great as they know each other, but I am willing to get to know them further ! And I can only get to know them better, when I stay with them.”

“Why are you so hopeful that they even WANT you still around ? Because of the few good deeds they did ?”

Keiran’s heart dropped at that, but he put on a brave façade and looked calmly at Mevolent.

“I am not implying that they will want me to stay with them and if that is the case, there is no reason to fight about it. But they give off POSITIVE adult energy and I see them as potentially good best friends in the future and I would be a fool, to just let that chance slip away.”

“You could make friends with other kids your age.”, Dexter suggested.

Keiran gave them a look, like Dexter said the most stupid thing in the world.

“I may be five years old, but I had to grow up faster than other children, okay ? Most kids my age are still eating their own snot, suck on their own fingers, babble stuff they don’t fully understand and just want attention. Even older ones, would just bully you and act like they are better than you, because they are attention seeking blobs. I am not like that, I am feeling like a 15 year old that is trapped inside a five year old’s body.”

The men were all silent at that statement.

-With Anton-

“Of course I would. I doubt he would give me any trouble.”, Anton said after a while of silence.

“You would have to get used to being called Dad at some point and you would have to be more open with your thoughts and emotions. You think you can manage that ?”, Ghastly asked.

“I could.”, Anton said determined.

Ghastly nodded, got up and motioned for Anton to follow him. Anton did so.

-With M/n-

“If you want to stay with the Dead Men, you need someone to adopt you.”, Mevolent finally stated.

Keiran looked up at them, with wide eyes.

“We noticed how attached Anton got to you. Do you want to be adopted by him ?”, Erskine asked softly.

Keiran looked at the floor.

“Only if he wants to.”, he replied.

He would be happy if Anton adopted him. Anton was nice and gave good hugs and was comfortable to cuddle when he needed it. But...did Anton want to adopt him ?

Then the door opened and inside came Anton and Ghastly.

“What did he say ?”, Ghastly asked.

“Only if he wants to.”, Saracen replied.

“What about him ?”, Hopeless asked Ghastly.

“He said he would love to.”, Ghastly replied.

Mevolent nodded and got up.

“I will get the papers tomorrow so you can sign them, Shudder.”

With that Mevolent left, with a smile on his face. As long as Keiran was happy, he was glad. That was his and Keiran’s Mother’s goal anyways. To give him a happy life. He put his helmet back on and then went back home.

“P-papers ?”, Keiran asked confused and scared.

“The adoption papers, dummy. Anton wants to adopt you and you want to be adopted, so you both get what you want.”, Skulduggery said teasingly.

“S-so I can stay ?!”, Keiran asked excitedly.

All the men nodded and smiled. Keiran’s smile was as bright as the sun right now. The brightest he ever smiled since they met him.

“Yay !”, he cheered.

-Many years later-

“And that was how Keiran Fox was one of us and Anton’s Son.”, Skulduggery finished.

Stephanie stared at him.

“If Mevolent wouldn’t have ended the war and warned me about my Family’s safety, I could have lost them and my own life. It was almost sad that he was executed for what he did. But it wasn’t us who did it, that was Vengeous. I have no idea how he did it, but he killed Mevolent when he didn’t look out. But he already sent the peace treaty and with that, the war was officially over. He might have been killed, but it was too late to continue the war. Most importantly, because Keiran saw everything and told us, so we reported it to Meritorius.”

“Wow...”, was all Stephanie got out.

Suddenly a motorcycle came zooming near them and halted quickly. The driver took off his helmet and dark hair was to see, then a face. He looked at Skulduggery and Stephanie.

“Hello Uncle Skul ! Dad sent me to greet you for (from) him, the Hotel is very busy at the moment. I heard you needed some help. Did you finally get something against Serpine ? I saw him spying at your Family yesterday, told your children and wife to go to Dad’s Hotel, for safety.”, the male explained.

Skulduggery froze up and frowned.

“He was near my Family ?”, he asked dangerously quiet.

Stephanie looked at him concerned and slightly scared, while the male just shrugged.

“Yeah, I whooped his ass and mopped with him the floor, but it won’t be the last time he will show up at your Family’s doorstep. One day I won’t be there in time and then you have no one left. So please tell me you have something against him. Papa is getting worried.”

Before Skulduggery could even reply with some clues he had, Stephanie interrupted.

“Skulduggery, who is that ?”, she asked.

“Oh, how rude of me ! Hello there, Ma’am, my name is Keiran Fox. Some also call me Keiran Shudder, because I was adopted by Anton Shudder.”, Keiran introduced himself.

He had a strand of his favorite color in his hair, his eyes had a very obvious hue of Sapphire blue, mixed with a tinge of ruby red in them. A sectoral heterochromia, if Stephanie remembered correctly, it was called.

“You have pretty eyes.”, she complimented.

Keiran chuckled softly at that compliment.

“Why thank you. Yours are pretty too. Do you already have a Taken name, girl ?”, he asked.

She shook her head.

“Ah, what a shame. Tell me your Taken name when you have one, yeah ? I’d like to meet up with you and chat a bit.”, he said kindly.

“S-sure !”, she stuttered out, blushing.

“You have a phone ? I can give you my number in case you need help and Uncle Skul isn’t near to help.”, Keiran offered.

She nodded and gave him her phone, he put in his number and gave it back to her, after he wrote himself.

“I will save you up as ‘Uncle Skul’s friend the unnamed girl’ until you have your own Taken name.”

She nodded softly, still staring at him in awe, while Keiran typed in what he said he will. After that he put his phone away and stared at Skulduggery.

“So ? Serpine ?”, he asked, getting back on track.

“I know that he killed Gordon Edgley. Me and her think that he is after the Scepter of the Ancients and Gordon might have had it and the key.”, Skulduggery answered.

“But it is just a myth...”, Keiran said confused.

“He believes it is true and I think we saw enough to have learnt, that not everything is what it seems.”, Skulduggery replied smartly.

Keiran got a darker face.

“I’ll gather the others, you come to the Hotel. We will try to figure this out. If the Scepter is actually real and Serpine finds it, before we do, we are so gonna be fucked.”, Keiran said.

Skulduggery nodded and went to the Bentley. He stopped when he noticed that Stephanie didn’t come with him.

“Are you coming ?”, he asked her.

“Can I ride with him ?”, she asked.

“You have no safety clothes for that.”, Skulduggery countered.

“Hey, I can keep a woman safe on my vehicle, Uncle ! It is not THAT much of a trip.”, Keiran defended himself.

There was a long moment of silence, then Skulduggery sighed in frustration.

“If she has even ONE scratch on herself, when I arrive, I will tell your Father to forbid you from driving your vehicle, for three months. Got it ?”

Keiran nodded with a big smile and helped Stephanie up.

“Hold on tight, this baby has real speed.”, he warned her.

She held on tightly and Keiran put his helmet on her head, then he started his motorcycle and zoomed off with her.

Skulduggery shook his head sighed and wore a small smile.

“Kids...”, he said under his breath in amusement.

Then he got into his car and followed after them, to Anton Shudder’s Hotel Midnight.

End ? Part 4 ? What do you want ?

Masterlist HERE !

[skulduggery-pleasant-bp9]

The Dead Men meet M/n – Skulduggery Pleasant x Kid!Male!Reader (Part 2)

Again got longer than I wanted it to be, Part 3 is in the making. I explained on update-blog-bp9 everything. Please give it a look. ^^

WARNING!: Abusive adults, mention of murder, mention of Violence, mention of being hurt, blood x gore, Fluff AND MORE ! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!! It takes place in the Mevolent War..

The Dead Men sat on the couch and relaxed, while M/n was out of the house. He looked for more herbs, to make more of his balm for them. While he collected them, he was deep in thought of what his Taken name could be. Sure he loved to be called Little Fox, but that isn’t a name now, is it ? It is a nickname, nothing more and nothing less. They only call him that, because he doesn’t like being called and referred to as “Kid” and “Child”.

The Dead Men offered to help him, but he refused their help, saying that they don’t even know what they would have to look for. It was a very good argument and they decided to stay and keep watch. Skulduggery wanted to talk into M/n’s head that he could just show and teach them what to look for, but M/n wanted to collect the herbs himself.

“What do you think we should show him first ? For him to get a feeling of how to be a child ?”, Saracen asked.

“Maybe play some games ? Like hide and seek, catch...cards ?”, Hopeless suggested unsure.

Ghastly turned to Skulduggery.

“You have a child, Skul. What do you think he needs ?”, he asked.

Everyone looked at him.

“Well, I know for a fact that kids need a lot of attention, care and love. My child is friends with other kids his age. It usually helps them to understand each other and to not argue about silly things all that often. They play a lot. My child is up to a lot of mischief when I was around. But the most important thing, a child needs, is having complete trust in an adult. Otherwise, you can forget about it.”, Skulduggery explained shortly.

They looked at one another.

“Who will try to bond with Fox ?”, Dexter asked.

Everyone looked at Skulduggery. His eyes widened as he realized what that meant.

“No ! I already have a child. Not planning on another one ! The kid would get attached to me ! How would I explain this to my wife, without letting it seem, that I’m not lying, that I didn’t cheat on her in the war ?! She is a very jealous woman !”, Skulduggery protested.

“You are the only one who handled a kid before.”, Anton pointed out.

“We have no idea how to act with one around.”, Erskine added.

“You are a Father. You can deal with kids.”, Ghastly deadpanned.

Skulduggery stared at them all and then slumped on the couch.

“Fine, but you will explain that to my wife.”, he gave in.

The rest of The Dead Men smirked and gave each other a high five in victory. Skulduggery grumbled moodily at that, but stayed seated. Then the door opened and inside came M/n again. Welp time to start acting like a Father now.

Skulduggery got up and approached M/n.

“Do you need any help, Fox ?”, he asked.

“Yes actually. Can you heat up the stove and get out a big metal pot ? I need two full and one half a cups of water too.”

Skulduggery nodded and went for the kitchen.

“And a wooden spoon !”, M/n added hurriedly.

“You got it !”, the male replied.

“Question, Fox.”, Ghastly started.

M/n looked at him.

“Yes ?”

“Which room is who’s ?”

“You can decide. I didn’t sort any bedrooms to anyone.”

With that he carried his herbs into the kitchen and watched Skulduggery prepare everything.

“Well then we should claim our Bedrooms.”, Erskine stated.

“Without Skul and Fox ?”, Dexter asked.

“They get the rooms that are still free.”

“That’s rude. Fox made this happen in the first place. If he wouldn’t have repaired the house, we would be wet, cold, dirty and sick tomorrow. If it is really supposed to rain heavily from tomorrow on for four days, we would have been screwed without his help.”, Anton defended.

“Fine, fine, we wait for these two.”, Erskine gave in.

They waited for 30 minutes and then heard Skulduggery and M/n laughing. Ghastly got up and went to the kitchen, curious what they were laughing about.

As he entered he just stared at them. M/n was covered in remains of herbs and Skulduggery’s hair was wet. They still laughed.

“What happened here, you two ?”, Ghastly asked with a small smile.

Skulduggery turned to Ghastly, smiling and trying to catch his breath.

“This fine gentleman insulted me and paid the price with wet hair and clothes.”, M/n started.

“And in return, for his gracious hospitality, I covered his head with the remains of the herbs he used. Aren’t we beautiful, Ghastly ?”, Skulduggery finished.

Ghastly snorted at that question.

“Very beautiful indeed. I bet your wife loves his husband with soaking wet hair and clothes, smelling like a dog. And no one ever hated a flower child. Perfect for weddings.”, Ghastly wheezed out.

M/n and Skulduggery stared at him in slight offence, then at each other and smirked. Skulduggery got out the flour, while Ghastly was too busy to not laugh like an idiot and looked away. M/n grabbed a bottle with water and some remains of the herbs, he couldn’t use in the balm.

The two grinned evilly at each other and then M/n swung the open water bottle, spraying Ghastly wet. The tailor yelped as the cold water soaked his clothes. He stared at the big wet spot on his clothes and opened his mouth to protest, but Skulduggery already swung the open flour bag and covered Ghastly from head to toe in white flour.

“Poof.”, Skulduggery snorted out, which made M/n snort too.

Because Ghastly still had his mouth open, some flour fell in his mouth, which he spat out and then coughed at. He glared at Skulduggery, ready to scold him, as M/n threw the remains of herbs on him and then laughed.

Ghastly looked at his clothes in dismay and then at M/n and Skulduggery, his friend, that behaved like a four year old right now. They were both laughing their asses off.

“Such a pretty man ! Mr. Bespoke is a very pretty male now !”, M/n howled in laughter and fell on his back on the floor.

Skulduggery laughed louder at that.

“Now no girl will say no to you, Ghastly, Buddy !”, Skulduggery laughed out.

The tailor just glared at them with a small smile, giving away that he wasn’t actually mad at them. Clothes can be washed after all.

“Who would say no to this pretty specimen ?!”, M/n wheezed out.

Skulduggery fell to his knees, not having laughed that hard in a long time. Ghastly chuckled and then picked up the open flour bag, which was still half full. Skulduggery and M/n noticed that and got up, backing away from the tailor.

“Now, now, Ghastly ! We can talk about this !”, Skulduggery stuttered out as Ghastly got closer to them.

“Too late, Pal. I will make you both white !”, Ghastly yelled playfully.

Skulduggery quickly grabbed M/n and carried him out of the kitchen, running as fast as he could.

“NEVERRRRRR !!!”, Skulduggery yelled after he passed Ghastly, who looked at where they just stood, dumbfounded.

He snapped out of his stupor and then started to chase them with the bag of flour.

“GET BACK HERE YOU TWO !”, Ghastly yelled.

Skulduggery ran through the Living room, giving the rest of The Dead Men a sight of how they looked. It made them chuckle and shake their heads softly. Not long later Ghastly entered and they actually started to laugh loudly. Even Anton did. Ghastly looked so ridiculous !

The tailor stopped dead in his tracks as they laughed and swung the bag of flour over all of them with one swipe. They gasped and stared at him. Dexter and Saracen even had to spit out some flour.

“That’s what you get !”, he sassed them and continued to run after Skulduggery and M/n.

They stared at their clothes in dismay.

“GET BACK HERE, SKULDUGGERY !!!”, Ghastly yelled.

“YOU’LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE !!”, Skulduggery yelled back.

M/n and Skulduggery entered the Living Room again, Ghastly very close behind. Now or never ! Ghastly swung the bag and hit Skulduggery’s back with the flour. Skulduggery felt that and pouted.

“MY CLOTHES !”

“Mine are worse than yours, stop whining.”, Ghastly scoffed playfully.

“I don’t care about YOUR clothes ! I care about MINE !”, Skulduggery complained playfully.

He set M/n down and turned to look at Ghastly with a glare.

“This means war, Bespoke.”, he growled out.

The tailor dropped the bag of flour and lifted his arms in surrender.

“Now, now, Skul ! It was just a little revenge !”, he protested.

Skulduggery jumped on Ghastly and tickled him, making Ghastly break out in uncontrollable laughter.

“Skahahahahahal ! Ahahahahaha ! Stahahahahap !”, Ghastly screamed out between laughs.

“Hmmm....Nope !”, Skulduggery replied, smirking.

He continued to tickle him until Ghastly let tears slip, then he stopped. Ghastly pouted at that, but refused to say anything. Was probably for the better. Just then everyone noticed that M/n was missing and Skulduggery looked in the kitchen for him, spotting him clean up the kitchen floor.

“Fox, we can do this later. You don’t have to clean this up now. Let us make dinner instead !”, Skulduggery suggested.

M/n looked at him and smiled.

“Okay.”, he replied and got up.

He threw the rug away and then went to wash his hands, which Skulduggery followed after too. Then he pulled off his jacket and folded up his sleeves of his white dress shirt. They met in the kitchen again.

“So what shall we make ?”, the man asked the boy.

“Hmmm...Colcannon and Champ ?”, M/n asked.

Skulduggery looked in the fridge and the cabinets. He found everything they would need and then nodded.

“We can make it. We have everything. You wanna make it, Fox ?”, the male asked.

“Yes !”

At that Skulduggery got everything out and on the table in the kitchen. M/n got out two knives and two cutting boards, bringing them over to the table. Skulduggery got out a big pot and filled it half with water, then he put it on the table and they got to peeling the potatoes.

Skulduggery was surprised that M/n could peel them so skillfully, but then again, his biological Father probably made him do that...

“I love peeling potatoes ! It reminds me of Máthair... I always helped her in the kitchen.”, M/n said saddened.

So his MOTHER taught him this. Alright, luckily Skulduggery was wrong this time, that the Father made M/n do that.

“Always ?”

“Yes ! She was sometimes very clumsy... So I offered to help and after I bothered her for a while, she taught me some stuff about preparing food. I mostly cleaned the kitchen up after too, so Máthair can rest. Athair always hurt her when she wasn’t done cooking when he returned from wherever he came from, or the kitchen wasn’t spotless. He always wanted food on the table and kitchen spotless clean before he is home.”

Ah, as Skulduggery feared. M/n’s Father did also abuse his wife in front of his own Son. That made his blood boil.

“I miss her...”

Skulduggery snapped out of his silent rage and looked at M/n, who had a frown on his face now.

“What happened to her ?”, he asked the boy.

“The bastard came home, that’s what happened.”, M/n snarled angered.

Skulduggery stopped peeling his potato and stared at M/n in shock. The boy can curse.

“Mom and I just finished cleaning the kitchen that night. And that asshole came home. He was very calm, emotionless like most of the times when he came home. I was never allowed to eat on the table with him and my Mom when I turned two years of age. He wanted to starve me, but she always let me sneak food in my room, before he came home, so I had my food in my room. Something was odd about him that night. I refused to go to my room and eat. I waited in the shadows and watched what he was about to do to her this time.”, M/n said in monotone.

Skulduggery continued to listen closely.

“After they were done eating, he jumped up from his seat and rushed over to her, she couldn’t react that fast and her Necromancy object was in her pocket. She couldn’t defend herself this time. He grabbed her hair and banged her head against the table, as hard as he could. Over and over again. I ran out of the shadows and attacked him as he slammed her head against it a second time, bit him in his right leg. He manipulated the wind and threw me harshly against the wall, continued to slam her head against the table. I got up ready to fight again....as her skull split open... Then he stopped. He dropped her disrespectfully to the floor, grabbed me harshly and dragged me out of the house, to his new flame and a new location.”

Skulduggery’s knife dropped to the floor, his blood ran cold, body frozen in horror. So that’s what happened to his Mother... And the child saw it all. How badly he wanted to kill that man right now !

M/n took a deep, sharp intake, tears running down his face and wobbly smile on his face.

“I should be traumatized...yet I just feel sad and boiling rage. I should be scared of him, I should be unable to talk about it, but I only feel rage...I want to kill him, Mr. Pleasant. That is not what a five year old should want, right ? What is wrong with me ?”, the kid asked the grown up.

Skulduggery looked at M/n with a very honest gleam in his eyes.

“We are all different, Fox. Don’t forget that. You ARE traumatized, but not in the way others would be. Your rage is your coping mechanism. You are not scared of him, because he killed someone you loved dearly. You want revenge. I would want revenge too, if someone killed my family. I wouldn’t fear them, I would actively hunt them down. You might be only five years old, but he triggered your rage none the less. There is nothing wrong with you. It is normal. You are grieving. It will take you a while to get over it.”, Skulduggery calmly explained.

“But I was only three years old that night !”

“That doesn’t matter. You loved her and you already hated him. It only fuelled your hatred to rage.”

“So...I’m not a Monster ?”, he asked, wiping his tears away.

Skulduggery smiled at him. An honest smile.

“You aren’t a Monster. HE is the Monster. And if I am going to be fully honest...me and the rest of my Team are Monsters too. We are in a war and kill to survive. Those who don’t kill, die. We are more of a Monster, than you ever could be.”

M/n looked at Skulduggery with wide eyes. The adult continued to give him a warm, honest smile, which made M/n soon smile too.

“Th-thanks...”

“It’s no problem. And just call all of us by the first name, little Fox. We don’t mind.”

The boy nodded softly.

“Now I have to wash my knife....”, Skulduggery sighed, picked it up and went to the sink.

He washed his knife and then came back. M/n seemed to be in deep thoughts as he finished peeling his potato.

“What are you thinking about, Fox ?”, Skulduggery asked as he grabbed another potato.

“About my Taken name...what I wanna be called...”

“Any ideas yet ?”

“Only that I want Fox to be in it... But I still need a first name...”

“So Fox is your surname ?”

“Yes. I’m planning on it...”

“Hmmm... How about something that means ‘Dark’?”, Skulduggery suggested.

“Dark ?”

“Your past wasn’t all that bright, black foxes exist, you seem to like darker colors and even though everything you’ve been through was dark, you made it out, like a clever Fox. It might suit you.”, he explained.

M/n thought about that as he peeled another potato.

“Hmmm...Good idea. Thanks !”

“Sure.”

With that they continued to peel potatoes and then they cooked the food, preparing the rest for the dish. After a while they finished and served the food to the rest of the starving Dead Men.

After that, they both got thank yous and compliments, then they all went to bed.

-The next day-

M/n was still asleep, as Skulduggery gathered The Dead Men in the Living room.

“What happened ?”, Anton asked, seeing how serious Skulduggery was.

“I didn’t want to tell you yesterday, what I heard from Fox. I know how his Mother died.”, the man informed.

“How ?”, Erskine asked.

“His Father killed her in front of him. Bashed her head against the table until the skull cracked open. He tried to stop him and safe his Mother, which didn’t work. His Mother was a Necromancer and his Father is, what I assume, an Elemental Mage.”

They stared at him in utter shock, horror and rage. Oh they wanted that man dead now.

“Also he was bloody three years old when that happened.”, Skulduggery added.

“I want to kill him.”, Anton growled out.

The rest nodded at his statement. Then they heard a door open and close, Ghastly ran to the kitchen, making breakfast.

M/n arrived in his new shirt and pants, that Ghastly adjusted for him. The pants previously belonged to Anton and the shirt to Hopeless.

“Good Morning. What is for Breakfast ?”, M/n greeted.

“Good Morning !”, the Dead Men said in a chorus.

“And Ghastly is making pancakes.”, Dexter answered.

“Cool ! I didn’t had these in AGES ! Last I had pancakes was when I was two years old and Father was gone for a whole week.”

“He made a food order, right ?”, Ghastly asked from the kitchen, mixing the pancake batter.

“Yeah. He called it a menu card. Most of it was disgusting pea soup and only vegetables with over seasoned meat and sauces. He loved it over seasoned, but I was too sensitive with my taste buds for it. He always smacked me when I asked him for less seasoning this time, or when I said it is too spicy for me. Said I acted like a pathetic girl...”

“Then what did you have ?”, Dexter asked the boy worried.

“When Ma was still alive, she smuggled me some good seasoned food in and then over seasoned the rest that still cooked. Other times I wasn’t so lucky and had to either starve or steal some bread.”

The Dead Men were in murder mode at that. They already had a plan forming in their head, how to find him and kill him off.

“Now say... Skulduggery, does your Team have a name ?”, M/n asked curiously.

“We do. We are called ‘The Dead Men’.”

M/n’s eyes widened in shock at that. Then he laughed loudly.

“YOU ?! He is scared of YOU ?! Hahahahaha !”, M/n laughed out loud.

“Who is scared of us ?”, Anton asked.

“My producer ! He heard of you and was scared shitless. Said to someone he won’t join them when you are around ! You might be Killers, but you act so nice and goofy right now ! I can’t take it serious that he is scared of YOU ! Hahahahaha !”

The others chuckled and Ghastly was on the stove, cooking the pancakes.

-With ???-

“How could you possibly be this STUPID ?!”, yelled a woman at a male outraged.

They stood in a burned down building. Searched every inch of a body, but there was nothing.

“He was a stupid 5 year old ! How was I supposed to know the mistake had some brains ?! At least we are rid of him ! So why do you care so much about him surviving it, woman ?!”

“If that brat tells anyone about what you and I did to him and his Mother, we will be hunted across the whole world, you dimwit !”

The man’s eyes widened at that in understanding, now panic set into him slightly too.

“He is a brat. I bet he died in the forest and ended up as food for animals.”

“Are you counting on that ? He ESCAPED a 5 story building, set in flames, ALIVE !”

Alright, that made the man feel dumb now.

“He probably went back to his home village. We go there and ask if anyone has seen him and say that we are looking for him. That he went missing. The mistake is a child, no one believes kids. They always lie !”

The woman was in thoughts and then nodded.

“Fine. Wear some poor looking clothes and then let us go. The sooner we find the brat, the better.”

The man nodded and they rushed off, back to their home to get their plan into action.

-With The Dead Men-

They finished Breakfast and played a card game. It was Rummy. M/n also played with them and he won three times in a row. Oh wait...we have to correct ourselves...

“Rummy !”, M/n yelled and finished the game again.

“Oh c’mon !”, Dexter complained and threw his cards away in frustration.

Anton sighed and put his cards down.

“God damn it !”, Erskine moaned frustrated and threw his cards on the table.

“I was so close...”, Saracen said saddened and put his cards down too.

“Me too, Rue.”, Ghastly sighed and put his cards down.

Hopeless put his cards down in silence, but smiled. At least M/n had fun.

“Welp, I wasn’t close at all, so I’m fine with losing.”, Skulduggery voiced and put his cards down too.

“If you want I can tap out and you play alone ? I seem to make some of you angry...”, M/n voiced concerned.

“No, no. Vex and Ravel are always that childish when they lose.”, Hopeless told M/n.

“Oh....okay ! Do you want to play another game, maybe ?”

“Like ?”, Ghastly asked.

“I heard about a game with dice... You put six in a cup, shake it and when you have two dice with the same number, you take these and try to get a third one... Do you know the game’s name ?”, M/n asked.

“It used to be called The Dice Game, but many call it craps nowadays.”, Skulduggery said.

“Why would anyone call a game...shit ?”, M/n asked confused.

The rest of The Dead Men snorted and Erskine, Dexter and Saracen exploded in laughter. M/n looked at them confused and concerned.

“What ? Crap is another word for shit, right ? Or poop ? Both ? What’s so funny about it ? It’s stupid that a game with rolling dice is called a word related to poop.”, M/n said defensively.

At that Ghastly and Hopeless exploded in laughter, Anton chuckled, slamming his fist against the table to not laugh loudly and Skulduggery continued to snort.

M/n was so confused and felt hurt. They laughed at him... Just like THEY used to... He got tears in his eyes.

“This is not funny ! Why are you laughing at me ?!”, he yelled at them, with tears running down his face.

At that everyone stopped instantly laughing. They looked at M/n, who hugged himself tightly and tried to disappear from his chair. He tried to curl up in a ball, to hide from everyone.

“Hey, hey ! We didn’t laugh at you. It just sounded funny. You are right, of course ! But it just sounded funny. We didn’t laugh at you, promise.”, Dexter quickly tried to reassure.

“Sorry if we seemed to laugh at you, Fox. We didn’t mean to make you cry. Please wipe those tears. We will play the game, okay ?”, Anton tried to calm him down too.

M/n looked at them and felt stupid for thinking that they laughed at him. He nodded, but stayed the way he was and stared down. It concerned The Dead Men. Mostly Skulduggery.

“Fox...did it trigger you to a bad memory ?”, Skulduggery asked carefully.

M/n looked at him and nodded subtly. The adult took a deep breath.

“Mind sharing ?”, he asked the boy.

“Nothing interesting. It’s just...THEY always laughed at me. I hurt myself by accident, they laughed and then...degraded and hurt me. I said something stupid, they laughed at me. I misspoke a word, they laughed and said that I am too stupid to form correct words. I...have these moments sometimes where I wanna say a word, but have a speaking mistake, without meaning to. It’s something I can’t turn off. I guess it’s born on... I know how it is spelled and said, but when I say it, I misspell somewhere and the word is messesed up.”, M/n covered his mouth quickly.

It happened again... Instead of “messed up”, he said “messesed up”. The Dead Men stared at M/n, but nobody was laughing. Not even smiling. They were in shock that M/n had that issue and that his biological Father and Stepmother were that brutal to make him insecure about it.

“Relax, little Fox. We understand. It just happened. You and we knew you wanted to say messed up and that misspelling took place. Don’t worry. No one is gonna laugh at that.”, Hopeless said calmly.

M/n stared at them and they all nodded. No one found it funny. He slowly uncovered his mouth and took deep breaths.

“Okay...Thank you for understanding.”, M/n said softly.

“Does it happen often ?”, Anton asked.

“Not as often as it should, I suppose. It happens randomly and only from time to time. They get really bad when I am pissed off, scared or even sad. Oh ! And when I am hyperactive.”

“Hyperactive ?”, Dexter asked.

“Don’t let me eat too much sugar, otherwise I’m going crazy for a few hours and do a lot of stupid things.”

“Ah...”

“Sugar rush. It usually leads to being hyperactive. In that state your child keeps you on your feet for a very long time. My child was hyper once. Was not fun, guys, I tell you.”, Skulduggery explained dryly.

“Noted. Not too much sugar.”, Saracen said.

“I can eat three cups of sugar a day, but not more.”, M/n explained.

Hopeless wrote that information down.

“I wrote it down.”, he informed them.

They all nodded at that in understanding. For the rest of the day they chatted away, collected herbs, cooked food, prepared their weapons, checked on them, if they still are in good condition, Ghastly made a few new clothes and M/n was mostly in his room, reading a book.

That was until the evening....

M/n asked Hopeless to go collect some more necessities. And when he asked, Ghastly, Ravel and Anton also needed some things. So he made a list.

-The next day-

Hopeless was in the village. He looked at his piece of paper, that he wrote the stuff on, M/n asked of him to get. Ghastly asked for a few pieces of cloths, Hopeless forgot to buy, Anton asked for more food, to restock and pack the kitchen full and Erskine asked for a survival in the wild book. It didn’t help that it was pouring that day too, as M/n warned all of them. The boy gave him a bracelet that was supposed to avoid the chances of Hopeless getting sick.

After a while he had the book, groceries and cloths in a waterproof bag. All he needed were M/n’s requested items. He was on his way to the last shop, as he was stopped by a man and woman, both were mages.

“Hello Sir. We need your help urgently !”, the woman greeted with desperation.

“What can I help you with Ma’am, Sir ?”, Hopeless politely asked.

The woman mage pulled out a picture and showed it to Hopeless, who’s blood ran cold, as he saw the person in the picture.

“Have you seen this boy, by any chance ? He ran away and we are looking for him. His name is M/n L/n.”, she asked.

M/n L/n...So that was his given name...Hopeless studied the picture.

“Hmm...I’m so sorry Sir, Ma’am, but I didn’t see this kid anywhere around here.”, he lied smoothly.

They looked at him, disappointed and the woman started to cry.

“I just want my Son back home, where it’s safe ! I’m so worried ! What if he is dead ?!”, she cried, worried sick.

“I’ll keep an eye out, Ma’am.”, Hopeless assured.

She looked at him, hopeful, then took and held his hand tightly.

“Thank you, Sir ! Thank you !”, she said happily, the man nodded with a smile too.

After that, they parted ways with him. Hopeless hid behind a tree, got out his small notebook, wrote a message, got out a trained mouse, bound the message on it and sent it to the rest of The Dead Men. Then he followed the pair, without anyone noticing.

-With the rest of The Dead Men-

M/n annoyed Anton as to why he didn’t like hugs, to which Shudder didn’t want to answer.

“Come on ! Tell me or else I will hug you !”, M/n threatened.

“I just don’t like them, Fox.”

“You must have a reason why though ! Or are you just hiding the fact that you never got a hug ?”, the boy insisted.

Shudder stayed silent and not long later, spotted Hopeless’ trained mouse running to them. He picked it up, took of the piece of paper and read it. His eyes widened.

“Dead Men gathering !”, he yelled loudly.

Everyone piled into the Living room quickly. Anton made it sound very urgent, so they picked up pace.

“What is it Anton ?”, Dexter asked.

Anton gave the paper to Skulduggery, to read its contents out loud.

“ ‘Gonna be home late, Fox needs a constant eye on him. I think he is in danger. I’ll try to find out more, see you later...Hopeless. P.S.: Don’t let Fox out of the house.’ “, Skulduggery read out loud.

“Danger ?”, Ghastly repeated worried.

“Okay we all got the message. No going out, Fox, and you have no privacy, until Hopeless is back and tells us the situation.”, Skulduggery said, worried.

M/n gulped and nodded, staying seated on the couch, scared. Anton rolled his eyes, already hating himself for what he was gonna do, and sat down next to the boy, pulling him into his side.

“Don’t worry yet, Fox. Maybe Hopeless gave false alarm.”, he told the boy.

M/n hugged Anton tightly, making the adult notice how much he was shaking.

“Shh...Shhh... As long as you’re with us, no one can hurt you.”, Anton soothed.

He looked, worried, at the rest of his Team. They looked at M/n and Anton too, worried sick. Hopeless was almost never wrong...

Masterlist HERE !

[skulduggery-pleasant-bp9]

Part 7 – A small visit

WARNING!: Mention of suicide, Mention of homeless child, Mentally unhealthy and emotionally unstable Reader, Cursing, mention of murder/killing, AND MORE ! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!!

Read THIS to understand why the reader has a name !

Erskin didn’t lie, when he said he was probably not ready to face Skulduggery yet, but he HAD to make sure he is okay. It was an urge that he couldn’t turn off.

He stood in front of Skulduggery’s front door and knocked. He took a deep breath as he waited for him to answer. He was there, his Bentley stood in its usual place, so he was here.

The front door clicked and soon opened. Out looked Skulduggery without a façade.

“Erskin ? What are you doing here ?”, he asked with a hollow voice.

Erskin winced in his mind. He was emotionally and mentally drained from that information.

“Valkyrie told me that China had a part in...you know... I thought I better check on you, to make sure you are as okay as you can be at the moment. She is worried about you. You didn’t talk to her for two days now.”, Erskin explained softly.

In his head started a small panic attack and his heart started to beat a bit quicker than it should. He knew it was a bad idea, but he HAD to help Skulduggery. He helped Erskin so much when he was a child, now it’s his turn to help.

Skulduggery just stood there, not saying anything.

“Do you want to come in for a little bit, before you go back to the Hotel ?”, the skeleton detective then asked.

Erskin swallowed the lump in his throat and controlled his panic attack.

“Sure. If you want me to stay for a bit.”, he replied.

Skulduggery opened the door wider, stepping aside too, for him to enter and Erskin did enter. Skulduggery closed the door and Erskin took off his shoes.

“Do Anton and Ghastly know that you are here ?”, he asked.

“No. They don’t know that I left at all. I will get a scolding when I return, but meh. It’s not like they will kill me.”

Skulduggery nodded softly.

“Do you...want me to use the façade, so you can read my emotions ?”, he asked.

Erskin was shocked at that question. Skulduggery never asked him if he should. There was definitely something going on with him...

“No, you don’t have to. I can use my vision. I bet Valkyrie told you about that small trait that I told her. I CAN see souls. I can use my vision to read your emotions.”

“How would that even work ?”

“Well, it’s complicated to explain, but in short, when I see souls, I see their bodies and faces. You may be just a skeleton to the living eye, but if I use my vision, I see a transparent version of you, like you still look alive. I know I am horrible in explaining stuff... But it is the best I can explain it to someone...”, Erskin mumbled embarrassed.

“I get the image... You can control your vision ?”

“I can now since...I went to the Temple of Necromancers. When I learned Necromancy, I learned how to control my vision. How to turn it off and on by will. I just rarely do it nowadays. It feels like invading privacy.”

“You can use it on me anytime, Erskin. You don’t need my permission for that.”

Alright, WHAT happened to Skulduggery Pleasant ? This is so out of character for him. Erskin grew nervous and scared of what he will see if he uses his vision ability now. But...Skulduggery sounded so empty and sad...

“O-okay... Been a while so I’m a bit nervous. Haha !”, Erskin chuckled nervously.

Then he activated his vision sight and saw Skulduggery’s transparent soul looking down at the floor. His soul color was orange and you could barely make out his hair was once brown and his eyes forest green. The clothes he wore on the skeleton are also on his soul version and his hair was middle long and tied to a ponytail, slightly curly too, like soft waves.

He looked sad and ashamed. Erskin grew worried.

“What happened ? Are you that surprised about China ?”, he asked.

Skulduggery sighed and his eyes moved up to look at him.

“I didn’t expect her to...have done that to my family, nor did I expect that she was there when it all happened.”

Erskin froze up.

“She .... W h a t ?”

A sad smile from Skulduggery.

“You heard me the first time.”

“Where is she ? I will kill her myself.”, Erskin said darkly.

Skulduggery shook his head.

“Not important. I just...can’t process this information as good as I should. My family has been dead for a while now. It...shouldn’t matter anymore.”

“I know why it still matters to you. You loved your family very much, you were emotionally very attached to them, you cherished your wife and Son, your Son made your worst days to the best ones....They loved you very much too. Because of all of that, you, without knowing, became possessive and overprotective. Someone looked at them the wrong way or in a way you didn’t like, you made it instantly clear they were yours. But when the war happened, you couldn’t be there for them. You let them out of your sight for a second and they got snatched away and killed in front of you. And you couldn’t do anything about it.”

Skulduggery turned his head to his right and looked away. His soul face screwed up in phantom pain. It still hurt him to talk about it. Erskin frowned, but he had to say it, to make him understand why it still mattered.

“It still hurts you to talk about them and what happened, BECAUSE you are still attached to them, but not just emotionally now. You are attached to them mentally too now. After your unfortunate end...you watched everything go to shit and came back. You came back with rage and anger, yes, but also because of your family. The only downside was that, because your family was no more around and you went through a difficult phase, you had no one to help and support you, to stay on the right path. You stopped caring, because it finally sunk in that you don’t have a family anymore. It destroyed you mentally and numbed you emotionally for a long while. It took me YEARS to understand why you ignored and avoided me so much. It was the only conclusion I could find.”

‘Yet you still had many panic attacks and breakdowns...’, Skulduggery thought saddened.

“You didn’t know how to handle that. You tried to, but as soon as someone mentioned your family, you were ready to kill them. So they became a taboo to talk about. But...you can’t heal, when you don’t talk about it.”

Skulduggery looked at him again, with sad eyes. They looked like they were crying. Maybe he actually was crying, his soul form looked pained, it would make sense. Erskin came closer and took Skulduggery’s gloved hands in his own and looked at him.

“I understand that it is hard to talk about something that scarred you in every way imaginable. I don’t...understand your pain as good as Ghastly...I didn’t had many people that loved me in my family by blood, but I can relate a little bit. When you died...I was ready to die too. I guess you must have felt that way slightly too, when they left. But, life goes on and so do they with us. Yes, your wife and Son aren’t here physically anymore, but they live on with us. You don’t have to forget them, nor is anyone expecting you to not care about them anymore, but you really need to start to open up again.”

Skulduggery stared at their hands and listened closely. He never heard so much wisdom from Erskin.... So much wisdom that he himself doesn’t use.

“I don’t expect you to go to a therapist, nor that you talk with a sensitive, but Skulduggery...you have friends. Yes, they might leave one day too, but until then, they can help you. They are here for you. At least talk to them about such things, let them hear your troubles, confide in them a little bit. Open up and let them help you get better.”

He looked from their hands up to Erskin’s face. He looked at him too.

“Do you really think that...they can help ?”, he asked Erskin.

“Skul...I see them as my Family. You are a part of it. You all behave like big Brothers to me. Besides you, you behaved like a Dad. I believe they can help you, because they helped me too. You, out of all people, should know that you can have more than ONE family, without being unfaithful. YOU, The Dead Men, are MY family and we are not blood related. Maybe, I don’t know, you see them slightly as your family too. Maybe as the Brothers you never thought you’d have. I love you all and I care about all of you. Even though, I don’t show it very much. It’s...hard to show emotions, when you were raised, as a child, to not have any emotions. But I am trying.”

Skulduggery smiled a small smile and chuckled, while a tear rolled down his transparent cheek. Erskin smiled at him with glassy eyes too. Then he boxed Skulduggery’s shoulder softly.

“You can be such a pain, but god. You’re my best friend, even if I am not your best bud. If you would ever vanish from this world, I would miss you terribly.”, Erskin chuckled out with a shaky smile.

Skulduggery smiled softly and pulled Erskin into a hug. Erskin was surprised and didn’t move at first.

“Thank you, Erskin.”, he then said.

Erskin hugged him back carefully.

“Sure, no problem. Anything for a friend.”, he replied with a smile in his voice.

Erskin didn’t even notice that his panic attack dissipated. He never felt that happy since after the war, near Skulduggery. It was so long ago. Soon they parted.

“When do you think we can talk ? There is...more to what Scorn told me, but I think we both need a clear head to talk about it.”, Skulduggery asked.

“I mean, I was almost scared that you were totally out of it when I came here and told Val that I would need a month probably. But...hmm...maybe next week instead ? You also could come tomorrow, but I think you need a bit longer to have a clear head.”, Erskin suggested.

“Hmm...good idea. Next week it is then. And I will call Valkyrie tomorrow.”

“Okay. You can tell her I was here, but...please ask her for me to not smack me. I swear I didn’t lie to her, but I really had to check on you.”

He chuckled.

“I will tell her that. Until next week, Erskin.”

“Yep. If anything else is troubling you two, just give me a call and I will see how I can help.”

“Will do. Good night.”

“Good night, Skul.”

With that Erskin teleported away and back to Hotel Midnight. In his room was already an angry looking Anton and a pissed off looking Ghastly.

“Ah shit...”, he mumbled and slumped.

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ?!”, they both yelled.

Erskin winced and looked away.

“I killed the Vampire that didn’t leave Valkyrie alone. He got...aggressive and I had to kill him. He hurt her, tried to make her obey him...maybe even turn her. Then we talked a bit and now here I am.”, he explained.

They stared at Erskin and then felt bad for yelling at him.

“Oh, by the way. Skul and Val will come visit next week. There are important matters to discuss, but Skul wasn’t ready to talk about them yet.”

“And are YOU ready to talk to him in a week ?”, Ghastly asked.

“I do think I am !”

Anton and Ghastly gave him a serious look over and after a while of tense silence they nodded.

“Fine by me.”, Anton said.

“Alright then.”, Ghastly agreed.

Erskin breathed out in relief.

“But the rest of the Dead Men are coming to visit too, no buts.”, Anton stated.

Erskin’s jaw dropped open.

“Ugh ! Fine you two !”, he then yelled playfully frustrated.

“Admit it, you love us !”, Ghastly teased.

“You’re lucky that I see you as my Family. Otherwise I would have smacked the shit out of you two.”, Erskin said grumpily.

“We feel honored.”, Ghastly said with a hand on his chest.

“Very honored.”, Anton agreed.

Erskin pouted and flopped down in his bed. Anton and Ghastly joined him in a big cuddle.

“Night, little Brother.”, Ghastly told Erskin.

“Night you two big dummies.”, he replied.

“Ouch...our little Brother doesn’t like us, Ghastly.”, Anton informed the other with a fake sad voice.

Erskin smiled and playfully rolled his eyes. He hugged them both back.

“You two can be so stupid sometimes. But that is what I love about you two. Good night.”

Ghastly and Anton smiled and fell asleep with Erskin. They already planned to tease the living shit, out of Erskin, the next day.

-Next day-

-With Valkyrie-

She just woke up and looked at her phone again, still nothing. She started to get really worried now. She got up from her bed and started to dress herself up, then she went into the bathroom and got ready for the day. Her parents were out with Allison and her reflection was in school.

She just entered her room again as her phone rang. She sprinted to it and was happy to see that it was Skulduggery who called her. She picked up.

“Skulduggery ?! Are you okay ?!”, she instantly yelled.

“Hello to you too, Valkyrie. I am better than I have been the last two to three nights, thank you for asking.”

“Did you kill China ?”

“No. Why waste my time with that ?”

“Okay. Where is the body ?”, she asked, not believing him.

He chuckled and hung up. She stared at her phone with big eyes.

‘Did he just hang up on me ?!’

Then the window knocked and she saw Skulduggery in her window. She rolled her eyes, but smiled brightly. She opened the window, letting him in.

“I apologize, but I wanted to surprise visit you.”, he said.

“You big goof !”, she laughed.

He chuckled softly and then there was silence for a minute.

“I really didn’t kill anyone. But I had a surprise visit yesterday night. He also asked me to ask you to not smack him.”

“Who visited you, Skul ?”, she asked.

“It was Erskin. After you told him about me and being unresponsive, he appeared right at my front door.”

She looked at him shocked.

“He told me that he won’t be ready to see you until after a month ! What a lying asshole !”

“He wasn’t lying, Valkyrie.”

She glared at him, ready to protest, but he lifted his finger asking her to let him finish. She shut her mouth.

“He only came to check on me, because it is an urge he can’t control. He was probably panicking on the inside. He used his soul vision on me to see my expressions, so he knows if he is in danger or not. We had a small chat that cheered me up and he said we could meet next week. I didn’t tell him everything, just that China had a part in killing my family off and that she was there when they were killed. We both needed a clearer head for the rest. He was ready to kill China.”

She stared at him with wide eyes of shock.

“Okay...do we have to book a room then ?”, she asked.

“I think Anton already did. He will tell me when we can come over any second, I bet.”

And as if he knew, his phone rang. He pulled it out and it was indeed Anton Shudder. He picked up and put him on speaker.

“Hello, Anton.”

“Skulduggery. I booked you and Valkyrie a room that has two beds. You can have it Monday to Friday. If I find out that you hurt Erskin, I will personally ban you from my Hotel and never speak with you again. We both know how easily you can get violent. That is the last thing Erskin needs right now.”, Anton replied.

Valkyrie felt bad for Skulduggery. His own friends don’t trust him around Erskin, but at the same time she understood why. They were very close once and suddenly Skulduggery, without meaning to, only hurt and destroyed Erskin.

“I am not planning to hurt him, but sure. You can ban me if I lose control. Thank you for letting us know about the room booking. We will see to it that everything is packed in 5 days.”

“Sure. Until then, you two.”

With that Anton hung up. Skulduggery hung up too and sighed.

“It hurts you, that they don’t trust you, with Erskin being alone in a room with you, does it ?”, she asked softly.

“They have every reason to not trust me. I was very stupid as I came back from the dead. Worst is, I never realized it. I will have to prove myself to them, so I gain their trust again and that is just fine with me.”

“Now what are we going to do ?”, she asked.

“Take a break, pack our stuff and wait until Monday.”

“No cases ?”

“We don’t have any.”

She nodded softly at that. Then she hugged Skulduggery, who stiffened up.

“What is the hug for ?”, he asked.

“To comfort you and to show you that I am here for you.”, Valkyrie answered.

He hugged her back.

“Ha, Erskin said almost something like that. Said, that I should open up more again, at least to my friends. They might be able to help me to stabilize a bit better.”

Valkyrie smiled.

“Very true and wise words from him. Sad, that he doesn’t use these advices himself.”, she stated.

“He only hides away because I scared him off. I was the calmest, hard to anger, less violent person of The Dead Men, when I was still alive. He trusted me with everything he was ready to tell me about. I was the first one to know that he had abusive people around him, but he only said that it was his own parents when he was with us for 2 years already, so when he was 19 years of age. He told us about his biological Father, which was only that he had one and never met him. He never really went into detail how bad his family was, but to be honest, I think it would have made my blood boil.”

She nodded in understanding.

“He never mentioned names, was never ready to do that. He told us that he was forced to know about magic since he was three years of age and had no choice but to be here. He hid his emotions at first but he opened up to me more. I pretty much helped him to be open about himself with the rest of the Dead Men and my family. It was hard to get him to talk at first.”

“When did you meet him ?”

“When he was 11 years of age. My Son...found him. He brought him to me. He had no trouble to talk with him, but he didn’t like talking to adults. My Son had to make him warm up to me.”

“And he only came three times to see you all ?”

“I mean he stayed for a few days with us, but yes. The longest he stayed with my family was 2 months. And he only stayed, because it was raining, cold and muddy outside. The weather was really crazy those two months. My Son didn’t want him to get sick and I felt responsible for Erskin, so I let him in, fed him, cared for him, washed him and got him his own room. He mostly rather stayed with my Son, but I did catch him a few times in his own room. I guess he did need some space from everyone from time to time.”

She gave him a look.

“What ?”

“How did he get so attached to you if he was only there three times ?”

“He was with my FAMILY only three times. He told me where to usually find him and we met up often. I was pretty much his therapist and mentor. He needed my help, but was too afraid to ask for it, so I offered him my help. He instantly accepted and since then we built up a bond. It got very strong and he was almost ready to tell me everything...then the war started.”

“The war that you didn’t want Erskin to join with 16 years of age.”, she added.

Skulduggery nodded.

“Yes. I was afraid that he would lose his life. I admit it felt like he was my second Son. When he was 12 years of age, his magic was out of control and he was scared what he would do. That was the time I slowly tried to teach him how to control it. He HAD elemental Magic after all, it was easy to teach him something I had myself. When he was 14 years of age, he could control it without troubles and then we started to build up trust, so he can talk to me whenever he needs to. It took me a whole year and six months until he finally deemed me trustworthy enough. I helped him with a lot of issues I found out he had and he was almost ready to tell me things, he would have thought he would take to his grave, when he became 16 years of age. But then the war started and he wanted to join so badly, that I had to give in. It was very important to him and I didn’t want to destroy him by locking him away.”

She just stared and listened.

“You should have seen his desperation. There was no changing his mind. I warned him and he said he can deal with it. I knew he wouldn’t, but I let him join. I took him everywhere with me and started to train him to fight and use his magic against people. He was strong and a fast learner. When we were in the war for 5 months, we met the rest of our Team. One after the other and we pretty much fought side by side, I made friends with them all and as we took our first suicide mission, I saw that Erskin liked Ghastly instantly. I was friends with him before already, but he never met him then. I thought the scars would scare him off, but he liked them. Even complimented Ghastly about them.”

“Who was the hardest, Erskin had to get along with, from the Dead Men ?”

“Surprisingly it was Anton Shudder. He was a bit blunt and rough with his words. He didn’t like physical affection much and he mostly frowned. He took things very serious. He wasn’t as playful as the rest. Erskine, Hopeless and Saracen tried their best to always give Erskin a smile, when he looked at them, to assure him that he did nothing wrong. Ghastly and I always fooled around with him when he needed it, Dexter was always acting like an idiot to make him laugh and Anton...had a hard time to adjust. He needed a while to warm up to Erskin. He thought he was acting childish, but when I explained his situation to everyone, via Erskin’s permission, he understood why he acted the way he did and he tried very hard to show emotion and be a bit more careful with his words. Erskin always treasured his birthdays with us the most. He liked Anton’s hugs, even though they were rare and he hated hugging people. Erskin was an exception.”, Skulduggery told her with a chuckle.

She smiled at that.

“After my death...I think that was when it finally sunk into Anton’s head, that Erskin was still a child and that he needed someone to look after him. His outburst in the woods, after I was burned, must have opened his eyes. As Ghastly said, he and Anton played the Mother hen, after my death. Anton was still a bit...cold and rough with Erskin, but after I was gone, he seemed to finally get that his behavior still didn’t help Erskin. Anton did a 180 degree turn from when we met to now. I am thankful that they took care of him when I couldn’t. And I am happy that Erskin grew close with the rest. But it doesn’t change the fact that he was ready to tell me things he would have never told anyone else, only for me to change so much that I broke him.”

Valkyrie frowned saddened.

“I was planning to adopt Erskin after the war, when I was alive. I don’t know why I changed so suddenly, but...I totally forgot about that part when I came back. I don’t think I can repair the damage I caused him in the war. I doubt he will tell me anything ever again. Lord Vile was right.”

She perked up at that statement.

“About what was he right ?”, she asked.

“After my return from the dead, I forgot about Erskin. I just...I FORGOT about him, Valkyrie. Like the time didn’t matter that I spent with him, even though it did matter to me. I forgot that he was...that I treated him like one of my own children. I forgot our bond. I forgot about everything. All I knew was war, rage and revenge.”

Valkyrie stared at Skulduggery as he spilled it out. So Lord Vile told him that he stopped caring. She was shocked that Skulduggery admitted to it and that he was very devastated about it, but she was more curious as to why Lord Vile made him feel guilt for killing innocent people. Was it because of Erskin ? What was Vile’s reason ?

She hugged Skulduggery again, tighter this time. He hugged her back.

“I made him suicidal...”, Skulduggery whispered in utter guilt.

Valkyrie froze, eyes wide open in shock.

‘What ?’

Masterlist HERE !

[skulduggery-pleasant-bp9]

Skulduggery Pleasant x Reader ONESHOTS

They will have no SMUT ! Only Fluff and stuff. I will put warnings in case something is triggering though.

The Dead Men meet M/n – Skulduggery Pleasant x Kid!Male!Reader

The Dead Men meet M/n – Skulduggery Pleasant x Kid!Male!Reader (Part 2)

The Dead Men meet M/n – Skulduggery Pleasant x Kid!Male!Reader (Part 3)

Jealousy made a Monster – Father!Anton x Son!Reader

Trouble (Part 4 of Dead Men meet M/n)

Angry kids (Part 5 of Dead Men meet M/n)

Romantic Oneshots (Fluff)

Stressful week – Anton Shudder x Male!Reader

[skulduggery-pleasant-bp9]

The Dead Men meet M/n – Skulduggery Pleasant x Kid!Male!Reader

It got longer than I expected. When you are so deep into the Story, that you don't realize how much you've already written... TvT

WARNING!: Abusive adults, mention of murder, mention of being hurt, blood x gore AND MORE ! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!! It takes place in the Mevolent War... Skulduggery Pleasant was still alive in this Oneshot !

M/n was all alone in a village. He ran away from the burning house, his parents left him in. His Stepmother and biological Father hated him so much that they wanted to burn him to death. His only hope was that his Godfather will find him soon. Until then he just had to survive.

His Mother said that his Godfather was a good man and he will set everything in motion as soon as she was gone, to find M/n. She knew that his Father cheated on her, that he would run away with his new Lover and M/n. If he wanted to or not.

Even though M/n was only 5 years of age, he could remember a lot of things already. He remembered the way back to the village he lived in for 2 years and he finally escaped and returned here. He lived in the dumpsters of the villagers, but he couldn’t care less.

Did M/n know about Magic ? Of course he did. His Mother showed him her Necromancy and his Father hurt him with fire. He was the one who set the building on fire, to kill M/n. Did M/n already have a taken name ? No. He didn’t find the right one yet. Does M/n have Magic ? Yes he does. Elemental Magic. But he doesn’t want his Father’s Magic. He wants his Mother’s.

What the boy didn’t know yet, was that there was a war in motion. Kill or be killed was the motto right now. All he wanted was to find his Godfather... He learned soon enough that it was war.

He lived 2 weeks in the dumpsters, oblivious to the war that’s been happening, until a mage set the dumpsters on fire, close to M/n. He yelped and stared at the mage.

“Oh, you will be fun to kill.”, the mage said darkly, grinning sinisterly.

M/n gulped and looked frantically for a way to escape. He soon saw the walls and calculated, then he stared at the mage again and jumped from the right wall to the left, higher and higher, until he was on top of the roof. The evil mage cursed and tried to follow. M/n instantly started to run away on the roofs, jumping from one roof to the other, until he had no more left to jump on.

He took a deep breath and jumped down. His ankle made a loud cracking sound, M/n covered his mouth, hissed softly and continued to run. What he didn’t know was that he ran into the battlefield.

-With ???-

They fought against 12 enemies at once. Two of them were already down, so only 5 of them were still fully fighting. Two of them were badly injured, one of the two, who just blocked punch after punch, was badly injured, while the fifth one was running low on bullets. So in total there were three injured people, and two less injured people that still stood their ground and fought, while two were already down.

Who were they ? The Dead Men.

Anton had his gun out and shot, but had to sadly realize soon that the bullets weren’t enough to safe them. Ghastly and Skulduggery fought back on back. Hopeless and Dexter Vex blocked attacks, but couldn’t get any punches at the enemy either. Erskine and Saracen Rue were down. Erskine’s dominant arm was broken and Saracen had no more bullets to shoot, his adept Magic was useless in a fight like this and he had a stabbed right shoulder, it bled badly.

“ANTON ! THE GIST !”, Hopeless yelled.

Anton hesitated, worried, he might kill one of his Team members.

“For God’s sake ! DO IT SHUDDER !”, Erskine yelled in pain.

Hopeless and Dexter came to Anton’s side and gave him protection, while Anton ripped his shirt open and let the Gist out. It made quick work of their enemies. Ripping apart one after the other.

As they were all finished off, Anton pulled it back inside his chest and lost his balance for a second. Ghastly, Hopeless and Skulduggery were badly wounded and needed treatment as soon as possible, Erskine needed his bone snapped back in place and a bandage, Saracen needed someone to get the bullet out of his shoulder and then a bandage, Anton only needed a few small stitches and Dexter only needed a bandage on his left leg, which had a deep, bleeding cut.

They panted.

“Do you think we can make it back to...our camp ? All our medicine is there and the bandages..”, Saracen asked the rest of his Team.

“We will have no other choice, but to make it back.”, Skulduggery voiced.

The rest nodded at his statement and started to walk back, as they heard quick footsteps, they stopped dead in their tracks, weapons pulled out already.

-With M/n-

He was running as fast as he could, scared shitless. He needed help, or at least a place to hide at for a while ! He wasn’t looking where he was running, he looked around wildly, for any threats and then had his eyes closed, tears running down his face. He didn’t want to die...

Suddenly he tripped over a root of a tree, he yelped and fell, hands in front of himself, to catch himself. He hit the ground harshly and his knee was bleeding.

“Oww...”, he sobbed out.

He tried to get up, but his knee and ankle hurt so bad that he fell again. He sobbed now.

“No, no, no ! Let me get up ! Please !”, he begged his hurting body.

He tried again and stood, but as he took his first step again, he fell down again. He sobbed harder. He will never get away from that psycho mage like this !

Suddenly there were feet in front of M/n’s face and the boy’s blood ran cold.

“P-please don’t hurt me ! I didn’t do anything ! I don’t wanna die !”, the boy pleaded.

“Hey, hey... Calm down, kid. What happened ? Why are you here ?”, the person, which turned out to be a male, asked.

M/n sobbed and carefully looked up, seeing a face covered in scars. M/n looked at him in awe, but also in slight fear.

“I-I was just hiding in an alleyway in the dumpsters as some man wanted to kill me. I ran for my life. I swear I didn’t do anything wrong !”, M/n loudly said.

“You are a stray kid ?”, the man asked in shock.

“M-my Stepmother and Father wanted to burn me alive, not that long ago. I found my way back to the village I used to live in. Mommy said, before she died, that my Godfather would be here and do anything he can to find me. She said he was a nice man. I don’t know where he lives, nor do I know his name. I was just hoping he might find me.”, he explained.

“You do know that we have a war, yes child ?”, another man asked.

M/n looked up and behind the scar faced man. He saw very injured men there. He tried to get up again, hissing in pain as he did so.

“I didn’t know until that man tried to fry me near the dumpsters. I am surprised that I survived for two weeks then... You are all hurt...”, M/n said.

The men looked at one another.

“We were just on our way to our camp.”, the man with golden eyes said.

M/n shook his head and pointed at Hopeless.

“He won’t be able to make it with his injuries. His head is bleeding strongly, his arms have deep cuts and could already have an infection and one of his feet is badly bruised. He might die soon.”, the boy said.

“How would you know that, child ?”, another male asked.

“I had so many injuries myself that I know what might kill you soon and what not. Let me help. I had to bandage myself and my Mother so many times, that I know what I’m doing.”

“We have everything at our camp...”, another male informed M/n.

“Ever tried leaves and stuff ? I know what I’m doing. You don’t need bandages.”, the boy said and then already ran off, with his own injured leg.

The men shrugged and waited for the boy.

“Someone of you, start a fire ! I need to heat up the ingredients for the medicine !”, M/n yelled.

Anton and Dexter decided to do that. They collected wood and then started a small fire. Hopeless was starting to sweat.

“The boy was right. Hopeless wouldn’t have made it...”, Ghastly informed the rest.

Hopeless nodded.

“I thought I might make it...”, he said.

Soon the boy returned and looked at Hopeless.

“I knew it. Alright Sir, I need you to lay down and take deep, steady breaths. Do not sit up, do not talk, do not close your eyes. Understood ?”, M/n asked.

“Yes, understood.”

Hopeless did as M/n told him. The boy threw herbs into a small pot he found close by and stirred it with a skinned and washed stick.

“What are your names by the way ?”, M/n asked after a long while of stirring in dead silence.

“The one with the scars on his face, is Ghastly Bespoke. I am Skulduggery Pleasant. The male with the golden eyes is Erskine Ravel. The male that you want to help is Hopeless. The guy with the blonde hair is Dexter Vex.”

“I’m Anton Shudder.”, Anton introduced with a gruff voice.

“And I am Saracen Rue.”, introduced Saracen himself.

The boy nodded.

“Nice to meet you all. I have no taken name yet.”, the boy said.

The mages stared at M/n in shock.

“What ? You thought I find these names normal ? They are taken names. I know you are mages. My Mom and Father were mages too. My Stepmom was an adept mage...she possessed the power to control your mind for a short while.”

M/n continued to stir the pot with melted herbs for a while longer, then he took off his shirt and ripped it into two pieces, wrapped them around his hands and took the pot off of the fire. He went with the pot to the nearby lake and put the pot’s bottom in there. The water hissed and smoke rose up. After the pot was cooled down, he came back and put his finger in there, to see if it was still too hot. It wasn’t and with that he unwrapped his ripped shirt pieces from his hands, folded them open again and ripped one of the halves into half of it again.

He then put one of the freshly ripped pieces into the herb soup and let it soak. As that soaked, he went to the lake again and wettened his other freshly ripped half. After he returned the other half was soaked, he took it out again and got close to Hopeless. He cleaned the head wound and then softly dabbed the herbs on his wound. Hopeless hissed, but didn’t do anything else.

“These herbs will heal him in no time. I know what I used. It healed my Mother in a matter of minutes.”, M/n explained.

Then he took care of the rest of Hopeless’ wounds. As he was done bandaging his wounds with the washed clean big leaves, he looked at the rest.

“You too or no ?”

Skulduggery let Ghastly go next. He had a badly injured arm and right leg. M/n did his Magic and then pulled Skulduggery aside. His face was injured, his left hand, right shoulder and right leg. His back also got some damage. As he had his wounds covered in the herbs’ balm and leaves, M/n took Erskine next.

“You have a broken arm.”, M/n stated.

“Yes...I doubt you can heal that.”, Erskine said.

“Nonsense. This herb balm can heal anything and everything. But we have to crack it back in and bandage it, so it won’t reconnect wrongly... Wait here. I will collect some things.”

M/n got up and jogged off. After a few more minutes he returned, soaking wet, with sticks, something that worked as a rope, more big leaves and seaweed...

He came back and sat down next to Erskine again, carefully took his broken arm and then looked at him.

“It will hurt like hell when I snap it back in place. I need someone to hold your arm in place then.”, M/n warned.

“I will do it.”, Anton said and kneeled beside M/n.

M/n nodded.

“Whatever you do, NEVER let his arm go. Okay ?”

Anton nodded. Then M/n took a deep breath and...

CRACK !

“AAAAAAAHHH !!”, Erskine screamed in pain.

M/n held Erskin’s arm in position and then looked at Anton.

“Hold it like that and don’t change the position.”, M/n explained.

Anton nodded and they swapped. M/n quickly took the sticks he collected and measured Erskin’s arm with them, then he bundled them together with the rope looking thing. He then braided the big leaves into the bottom of the frame and stabilized it with seaweed. Then he measured the distance between Erskine’s neck and broken arm. He bound another rope working plant into the frame, but this time the front. The Dead Men soon enough understood that it was supposed to help Erskine to hold his arm in place.

Then he got out a pocket knife and cut off the ruined sleeve of Erskin’s shirt, to get to his injured arm. He carefully pulled out the cloth from under Erskine’s arm. Then he smeared the balm on the arm and on the leaves of the self made sling. He picked the sling up and carefully, with Anton’s help, slid the broken arm in. It fit perfectly. Then M/n hung it around Erskine’s neck and it stayed in perfect position.

“Th-thank you...”, the male said, still in pain.

“Sure.”

M/n turned to Saracen and saw his shoulder.

“Come here, we operate.”, the boy said.

Saracen carefully sat down and straight. M/n cut off the ruined sleeve and took a closer look at his shoulder. He made a small sound and looked at it worried.

“That went deep...Let me get something real quick.”

M/n whooshed away and came back with two small, stable sticks. He skinned them and washed them too and then stared at the wound again.

“This will hurt...”

“Just go for it...”, Saracen said with gritted teeth, already awaiting the pain.

M/n carefully inserted the two small wooden, clean sticks and found the bullet quickly. He widened the sticks, making the wound bleed more and Saracen hiss slightly. Then M/n got a hold of the bullet and carefully pulled it out, which made Saracen take sharp breaths and stomp his foot.

“Almost out, Mister Rue...”, M/n said.

“Saracen is just fine, kid.”, he replied.

M/n nodded and then had the bullet out. He cleaned the wound and then smeared the herb balm on it again, then he used some leaves and bandaged it. After that he took care of Dexter and Anton.

“Just wait for a bit and then your wounds should all be healed. Besides Mr. Ravel’s. His broken arm will be healed in an hour or two.”, M/n informed them.

They thanked him and then M/n took care of his own ankle and knee. He took it off after five minutes and smiled as everything was gone.

“The more often you use it, the quicker it heals you.”, he explained to them as they just stared.

Suddenly a voice yelled.

“Come on, little kid ! Come out, come out wherever you are~!”

M/n’s eyes widened in fear. The same mage from before. He looked at the tree next to The Dead Men and quickly climbed it and hid in the crown of it.

Skulduggery and the others stood, ready to kill. The mage appeared and quickly lost his sinister smile as he saw The Dead Men.

“H-hello there...”, he stuttered out.

Anton loaded his gun and aimed it at the mage’s head.

“Any last words ?”, he asked.

“I-I’m just looking for my Son !”

“I hate liars.”, Anton snarled.

The mage shrunk into himself and whimpered.

“I have family..”

He rolled his eyes.

“Almost all of us have a family, no war was ever merciful to spare family members.”, Anton deadpanned and then pulled the trigger, shooting the mage in the head.

Anton’s hand was pulled back from the force of the gun’s shot and the mage’s head flew back, blood spurted out and the body fell to the floor. Skulduggery looked up to where M/n was hiding.

“Come down kid. We will keep an eye on you as long as your Godfather didn’t find you yet.”, he said.

“Promise ?”, M/n asked.

“You are most safe with us, kiddo !”, Dexter assured with a smile.

M/n slowly climbed down from the tree and looked at them, mustered them carefully.

“Are you sure you can watch a child, in a war ?”, he asked.

“We can. Trust us, child.”, Hopeless assured.

“Hmmm...okay then.”, M/n said shrugging his shoulders.

“You trust us ?”, Saracen asked.

“Not one bit. Hell, I just met you guys ! But I need protection, otherwise I might end up dead, so why not ? If you plan to kill me, I at least tried. No matter what I would choose, I will surely die on my own and you are a better choice for now.”

The Dead Men looked at one another and then nodded.

“Okay then. Follow us and you are sleeping with Saracen in one tent.”, Ghastly said.

With that M/n followed them.

“Are you alright with being called kid ?”, Erskine asked after the silence got too much for him.

“Not really, but I don’t have a taken name yet, so I have to deal with it.”

“Any preference maybe ?”

“....boy....buddy, bud....and little fox. I liked them because Mom gave me those nicknames and kid and child remind me of my Father and Stepmother... I HATE these words...”

“Little fox ?”, Ghastly asked confused.

“Yeah ! I am pretty smart for a five year old. I was smart with 2 years of age. I already learnt walking and talking properly at that age. And I experimented on herbs to find out what I would need to make a healing balm. I modified it with three years of age and that was one of the reasons Mom called me a little fox. With three years of my age, Mommy died and I was forced to go with my abusive Father and his new flame. When they tried to burn me in a house to death, I escaped and came back here. I have good memory I suppose.”

The Dead Men stared at him in shock. Only five years old...

“Seems like your Father was...”, Dexter hesitated.

“Unfaithful to my Mom ? He was. She knew and she asked someone she knew very well to be my Godfather. She knew he would pull something on her. I couldn’t safe her in time, but she said that my Godfather knew and as soon as she is gone, he will come looking for me.”

“Huh...So we just have to wait until he finds you.”, Saracen said.

“If he is still alive, yes...”

Soon enough they were at their camp and M/n was in awe.

“You have a wooden house here too !”, he exclaimed.

“Ah...it is in terrible condition and doesn’t belong to us.”, Ghastly informed the boy.

M/n scoffed and then left.

“Little Fox ?! Where are you going ?!”, Dexter called after him in worry.

“You will see. Take a rest for the balm to work quicker.”, M/n replied.

They were worried, but obeyed. Anton stayed awake the longest, wanted to keep an eye on M/n....but he fell asleep too.

M/n had more than elemental Magic to his use. He made some trees fall and cut them to shapes, then he brought them over to the run down house and fixed the damage it took. He always looked at the sleeping men and then continued when they were still sleeping. As he was with his abusive Father, he was forced to repair the house often, because he damaged it with a raging fit, made him clean up his own blood etcetera. M/n was used to it and this was a piece of cake for him.

He opened the door and saw that the house was still in very good shape from the inside. He grabbed all the stuff from the camp and put it into the house. He then woke up Hopeless and told him to wash himself. He did so, his wounds were fully gone.

“That is very useful, Fox.”, Hopeless praised.

“Thanks, but I need your help.”

“What is it ?”

“Can you go to the village with Anton and Dexter and get some furniture ? Trust me, it is worth it.”

Hopeless looked at M/n skeptical, but sighed and nodded. The kid helped them once already, he is doing it again, probably. Hopeless woke up Dexter with Anton, told them to wash themselves and then they were off with new clothes on. M/n watched the others rest, then crafted a big sleigh for the three to carry the rest back.

After a few hours, they returned with boxes.

“We have to go back to get the rest.”, Hopeless explained.

Hopeless dropped 2 big boxes, Dexter 5 smaller ones and Anton one big box. M/n nodded and gave Anton a piece of plant rope in the hand. He looked at the kid confused.

“I made you a little backup tool.”, M/n explained and pointed at the self crafted sleigh.

The three males smiled at him and then left with it. M/n opened the boxes and carried inside the furniture pieces. One was a couch, coffee table, table, and the five other packages held silverware, dishes, cups and tools to craft with.

M/n took out the hammer and started to put the table together, that only had nails. Then he took the screwdriver and wrench and screwed the couch together. He stacked the boxes with kitchen utensils next to the front door, so they won’t be in the way. Then he put together the coffee table. He always looked at the blueprints so he won’t fuck it up.

As he was done with the coffee table, the three men returned with a full sleigh.

“Fox ?”, Hopeless whisper called.

M/n stood up and left the house.

“I’m in here. Get the boxes inside, if you can’t get some inside, just bring the contents of them inside and pile them, separated, for each furniture. Don’t forget the blueprints.”

They did as told and then got the next load.

M/n had to find out that most of the stuff was kitchen apartment, so he started with the stove, which was gas. The blueprints simplified it for him, thankfully. Then he started with the sink. He saw the pipe, he had to connect the sink with for later, so he started to put everything together and then connected everything together.

When M/n moved with his abusive Father to his new Lover, M/n was forced to repair any damage that was there and he had to built in and out sinks and faucets. His childhood with his Father was Hell, but now it came in handy. Doesn’t mean he thanked that fucker. As a five year old M/n shouldn’t know any of that as much as he does. He should have been a child, that played with toys and was worry free.

After he finished that, he built together the cabinet that belonged to the faucet and sink. When he finished with that he started with the cupboards and got 3 big ones done as the three returned. They piled everything in again and Hopeless grew worried for M/n.

“Fox...take a break.”, he said to M/n.

“Nonsense ! I’m fine, Hopeless.”, he said smiling and went to the next cabinet for the kitchen.

Hopeless sighed and left again with the other two, to get the last few bits.

As they returned again, M/n was done with the kitchen and two closets for the living room. He sat on the couch, taking a small break. Hopeless was in awe that M/n was so fast and actually got a whole kitchen done already. The kid had his eyes closed and took calming breaths, but he was not asleep.

“Was that all ?”, the five year old asked.

“I have to go back and get a few more things, but Dexter and Anton will stay behind. They will help you.”

M/n looked at them then and nodded slowly.

“Okay. Take care of yourself, Hopeless.”

“Of course. You too, little Fox.”

M/n smiled.

“No promises. Putting together furniture is a pain sometimes...”

Hopeless chuckled and then left. He needed the sleigh again, but set Anton and Dexter on M/n to find out how he knows all of this stuff. He shouldn’t know any of that at such a young age, or at least he shouldn’t put furniture together at all !

M/n sighed and got up.

“I rested for a few minutes, I should be able to continue.”

Dexter nodded and Anton looked at M/n skeptically.

“How do you even know any of this ?”, Anton asked.

“Abusive adults... When they are too lazy to do something themselves, they forced me to do it. Comes in handy now, but that doesn’t mean that I am thanking them. I know I should be acting more like a five year old, but how am I supposed to ? I never had a proper childhood. I don’t know how being a child works anymore. Just how to be useful and productive.”, M/n explained and then went back to work.

Dexter frowned at that and looked at Anton, who looked at Dexter. That was unhealthy and not just abusive. They treated M/n like their personal slave, that was torture. Abuse is long off the hook, this was torture.

“Mr. Shudder, can you put one of the beds together ? Mr. Vex, can you put together a closet for a bedroom ?”, M/n asked.

“Our first name is just fine, little Fox ! And sure we can !”, Dexter said happily.

M/n nodded softly and then opened the next box. It owned a small cabinet for the living room. He pulled the contents out and sat down on the floor, looking at the instructions on the blueprint, then sorted everything, got the tools needed and started to put it together quickly. Anton and Dexter frowned at that. The kid seemed exhausted, but refused to show any symptoms of it.

They carried two big heavy boxes up the stairs and saw that it had more than eight rooms. Good. They took the first room and then they started to unpack everything, then sorted and then started to build everything together.

-Time skip-

Hopeless took a lot of time to come back. He looked for stuff for Ghastly to work with, some holders for guns, small wardrobe bars, candles, hygienic stuff, toiletries, food, drinks, bed stuff and much more.

When he returned all three of them were sitting on the couch, the boxes were empty and everything was in the house.

“I got the Bathroom and other necessities.”, Hopeless informed.

They looked at him and nodded. Hopeless brought in the Bathroom stuff first and the three of them dragged it all to the last empty room and built in the bathroom. M/n connected the faucets, sink, toilet, bathtub and shower, while Dexter and Anton built the two cabinets together.

After an hour they were done and sat back down. Hopeless organized the rest. He put the candles at places where they are easy to see and grab from, put more kitchen utensils in the cupboards, cabinets and drawers, put up the wardrobe bars, then he put food and drinks in the fridge and more. After he put the hygienic stuff and toiletries into the Bathroom cabinets, he returned to the other three.

“Where is Ghastly’s room ? Do we have extra rooms ?”, he asked.

“Yeah, there are some, in the far back, upstairs.”, M/n answered.

“Okay, thank you.”

With that he dragged the rest of the stuff upstairs and installed a whole tailor room in one of the empty ones. After he was done, he left the room and sat down on the couch too, huffing. He even put together two armchairs.

“Are we done ?”, Anton asked.

“We are. I have nothing more.”, Hopeless answered.

M/n smiled and then fell asleep.

“He was tired...”, Dexter mumbled as he saw M/n out cold.

“What did you find out ?”, Hopeless asked.

“His Father and Stepmother were abusive and tortured...Fox. They forced him to do what they want and when they were too lazy to built or repair something, they made him do it.”, Anton answered.

Hopeless was shocked into silence.

“He was probably forced to take care of his own and his biological Mother’s wounds too, because that man didn’t.”, Dexter whispered out.

“Holy shit...”

Then M/n woke up again and jumped up, full of energy, which worried the other three a bit. No one is so quickly full of energy again...

“Let’s wake the others, tell them to wash themselves and get them in here. We didn’t put all our effort in this, so they continue to sleep outside in the cold and muddy nature. It is supposed to rain for 4 days straight.”, M/n said.

They stared at him in awe. He knew the weather too.

Then he went out and hit the cleaned metal pot with a thick stick, making loud noises, that woke them all up rudely.

“Wake up ! Get cleaned ! Get your bodies inside after you are clean !”, M/n said excitedly.

They all got up groggily and grumbled as they went to the small pond to wash themselves. After a while Erskine could be heard.

“HOLY SHIT ! MY ARM IS ACTUALLY HEALED !!!”, he yelled.

M/n smiled brightly and giggled. Hopeless, Anton and Dexter stared at M/n, as he giggled, with wide eyes.

“Awww ! That giggle was so CUTE !”, Dexter fanboyed.

M/n blushed and looked at the ground.

“Hey, you don’t have to hide from us. You are still a kid, so act however you want.”, Anton told M/n calmly.

M/n nodded softly and then entered the house again. Soon enough the rest of The Dead Men came back, freshly washed and wearing new clothes.

“So...where is inside ?”, Erskine asked.

“The house. Little Fox fixed it. And we collected furniture and utensils.”, Hopeless answered.

They stared at them with gaped open mouths.

“Just look for yourselves.”, Anton sighed and entered the house again.

“By the way it will be pouring weather for four days straight.”, Dexter informed the others.

“From where do you know ?”, Ghastly asked.

“Little Fox.”

With that they entered the house and were in awe of how cozy and welcoming it looked.

“Who organized all these rooms and built all of it up ?”, Skulduggery asked.

“Little Fox did most of the work, because we collected everything. Dexter and I helped later on and lastly did Hopeless his own finishing touches.”, Anton told him.

“Little Fox already knows how to build furniture and how to connected pipes with faucets and stuff ?”, Saracen asked in shock.

“Abusive Father and Stepmother, forced him to know all this already.”, Dexter informed softly.

They were in shock.

“He also has no idea how to be a child.”, Anton added.

“Well then, we will help him !”, Erskine voiced.

All The Dead Men agreed to that. ‘Operation showing Little Fox how to be a child’ was set in motion.

I am planning a part 2 ! But this Chapter is so fricking long already. T-T

Masterlist HERE !

[skulduggery-pleasant-bp9]

MASTERLIST

Skulduggery Pleasant

READ THIS PLEASE ! THANK YOU ! If you don't know the characters' looks then look at THIS ! I doubt I have to mention it, it should be obvious, but... BOOK SPOILERS !!! INCLUDES ALL THE BOOKS DEREK LANDY HAS WRITTEN SO FAR ! I have permission from Derek Landy himself that I CAN write fanfics of his work (Yes I asked in case, before I get in trouble). So no one can complain !

I DO NOT SUPPORT: rape, abuse and other bad behavior ! This is pure fanfiction and fantasy ONLY ! People who can get easily triggered by it, DON'T FUCKING READ IT ! Warnings are at the very top of the beginning, so READ THEM BEFORE you read the fic ! (I doubt it will appear, but I better add it in case) RULES !

Skulduggery Pleasant Universe x Male!Reader

Book 1 :

WIP (Work in progress)

Book 2:

WIP

Book 3:

WIP

Book 4:

WIP

Book 5:

WIP

Book 6:

Part 1 - The Death Bringer is...

Part 2 –  How Lord Vile came to be

Part 3 – Anger and a plan

Part 4 – The fight and operation

Part 5 – A bit of Background to Erskin

Part 6 – China’s secret

Part 7 – A small visit

Part 8 – Meet Damion

Part 9 – Not your fault

Book 7:

WIP

______________________________

Oneshot Masterlist HERE !

______________________________

Playing with a Coroner and a Detective is not wise - Skulduggery x Male!Reader Universe

______________________________

For any informations go to

update-blog-bp9

Main blog

@blackypanther9

[skultrashfics]

reader x dexter slow dancing in the living room 😭😭 (i’m listening to nothing matters when we’re dancing by the magnetic fields and it popped into my head)

Here you go Anon! Thanks for introducing me to the song :) <3 

Pairing: Dexter Vex x Reader Chapter: 2/? Word Count: 1055 Themes: Fluff, Dancing, Romance 

Awkwardly Anton had woken you up for breakfast, subtly making sure that you were alright being alone with Dexter. That morning had been nothing but embarrassing for you for all different sorts of reasons, but you pressed on after kicking Dexter out of your room so you could get dressed. You were not about to hop on that train just yet, especially not when you were so self-conscious about how badly your body had been stained black and blue with bruises from the attack. 

You showered and got dressed, pulling on a cute pair of floral trousers that flew around your ankles like a skirt, with it you wore a small yellow top which accentuated your figure and hit the bruises particularly well. You were pretty pleased with yourself and headed down to the small dining area in front of the bar to see Dexter and Anton in the middle of a friendly chat with their breakfasts half-eaten. Beaming you sat down beside them, rejuvenated with energy after sleeping so well that night. “Good Morning”, Anton nodded to you and you nodded back in response. “Breakfast smells great today Anton! I love welsh rarebit”, you inhaled the scent from your plate heartily before picking up a slice and eating it. Dexter chuckled at you, “Ah she’s got a point nobody makes it quite like you Anton”. Shudder was shaking his head trying to hold back what seemed like a laugh, “Both of you stop trying to sweet-talk me. I know about everything that happens in this hotel. So I am warning you now-”, he pointed his finger at the both of you raising his eyebrows suggestively but he was dead serious. Dexter held his hands up in surrender, “Hey I didn’t do anything! I swear. Besides it is a private room Anton, you can’t blame just me if something happens”. At this point, you were staring into your rarebit so intensely that it could have suddenly burst into flames. Your hands pressed down on your legs harshly as you refused to look up at either of them, ‘why did we have to talk about this now? Or at all?’, you thought. Dexter sighed and his voice relaxed as he was serious for a moment, “Nothing is going to happen, I’m not stupid. I don’t want to rush y/n into anything and I really do care for her. So that’s that. Ok?”. He held your hand under the table trying to help you relax, and it helped a little. Shudder nodded seemingly happy with how the discussion went, “Y/n I apologise, I did not mean to embarrass you at all”. Taking a deep breath you shook your head, “No it is alright. We are all adults here, but I do happen to agree with Dexter. What happens in my room is due to my decision and I will not be forced into anything and nor will I be forced out of it”. He two men seemed to appreciate how forward you were and Dexter squeezed your hand again smiling at you softly, “Well I guess you sure told me”. Even Anton couldn’t help but laugh this time and the mood at the table once again grew lighter. 

Later in the day, you were sipping some wine and reading a book in the sitting room, it was nice to take some time for yourself to think about everything that had happened over the past couple of days. How you had almost been murdered over a misunderstanding, how you had been escorted from your home to travel the world in The Midnight Hotel, how for the first time you came to terms with your feelings and were dating Dexter Vex. One of the most charming men you had ever had the pleasure to meet. Right now, regarding everything, life was beginning to feel pretty exciting. It was certainly different from how stable and routine it had been before. “Y/n?”, Dexter called out peeping his head round the door. He grinned immediately as he saw you and walked over gazing at you sweetly, “Would you mind if I sat?”, he asked. You gestured to the empty space behind you but he ended up sitting on the floor more or less in front of you, “Could I put some music on?”. He gestured to the old record player in the corner of the room and you smiled eagerly, “That sounds nice actually…”. As he dashed over he scanned through all the different records until he came across one that seemed particularly interesting. He popped it onto the record player and a soft ukelele melody started to fill the room. It was sweet and gentle and your heart skipped a beat as Dexter started singing along to the words, “Dance with me my old friend~ Once before we go…”, softly he approached you and held his hands out. You laughed softly and shook your head, “Oh no… Don’t go getting all mushy on me”, you smirked. Not faltering for a second Dexter brushed the book out of your hands and taking care not to lose your page he put it down and pulled you onto your feet. Softly and slowly he guided you round the room, keeping pace with the song. It was nice being led into small twirls and you couldn’t help but smile widely. He pulled you in closer and your arms were laid to rest on his shoulders while you swayed to and fro to the music. “You’ve never been more beautiful~”, he sang into your ear as you glided across the room. Closing your eyes you fully let him take control in his lead and you relaxed in his grasp as he sang, “Nothing matters when we’re dancing~”. The words of the song echoed around your head as you realised how wonderful this moment was. The way he held you made you feel so cherished and wanting to return the favour you looked up into his eyes and leaned up to kiss him. He kissed you back holding you steady as the song came to a close, “I love you y/n”, he whispered lowering his arms with your hands held firmly in his grasp. Blinking away a whispy blur of tears you rested your head on his chest, “I love you too Dexter”. 

[skultrashfics]

A Common Cold

So I lied, I am posting again starting today! XD  I have a cold and always want comfort when I am not well, so I definitely wrote this as a self satisfaction kind of thing >w< 

Pairing: Dead Men x Sick!Reader Word Count: 1,497 Themes: Cold, Being Looked After, SFW, Fluff 

You had bought that box of tissues merely as a precaution. The weather was getting colder and you always were susceptible to catching the first wave of the common cold. Now here you were, a headache throbbing in your temples and the itchiest of sensations tickling your nose. It already felt sore from how many times you had had to blow it and that box of tissues was already practically empty. You groaned as you rolled over in bed, kicking off your blanket as a wave of heat flowed over your body. Hearing your distress, Anton Shudder opened your bedroom door and a frown furrowed his brow, “Are you alright y/n? You’ve been in bed all morning. That’s not like you”. You met his eyes with a soft pout on your face. From the appearance of your scruffy hair and the ever increasing bundle of used tissues he deduced quite quickly that you had fallen ill. A soft sigh left his lips and he nodded, “Right then, I will call for backup”. As quickly as he came Shudder left and you smiled to yourself, you could always rely on your friends to look after you.  

Erskine Ravel peeped his head round the doorframe and was met with your sleeping form, a soft smirk crept onto his face as he gently walked into the room and placed a hot toddy on the bedside table. He sat on the edge of the bed and lightly tapped what he assumed was your shoulder under the blanket, “Sorry to disturb you, but this one is better to drink when it is hot my dear”. A small mumble came from the mound under the covers. Ravel leaned down closer to you, “What was that? I didn’t quite catch it”, he uncovered your face and chuckled running his thumb along your cheek, “Come now… try and sit up”. You squinted at the light as you followed his grasp on your chin and were directed upright. Blinking yourself awake you stretched out leaning your face into his hand further, “Drink? What drink?”. Ravel noted your hazy demeanor and couldn’t help laughing charmingly, “Just beside you on the table”. You lit up as you realised he had made you his famous mystical cold curing hot toddy, just the scent of the whiskey and lemon was helping to clear your sinuses. He moved his hand as you reached over to take the mug and watched you happily inhale the vapours coming from the beverage before taking a sip. It immediately warmed and relaxed your body while simultaneously soothing your throat, “That is amazing… thank you Erskine”. He nodded appreciatively before standing up again, “I will leave you to relax now, get better soon”. With a final flourish and a soft kiss on the cheek Ravel left the room closing the door behind him. 

After watching some Youtube and finishing your drink, you were starting to feel sleepy again but the lack of heat after such a hot beverage was making you shiver. You nestled into your blanket only to half jump out of it again as your door slammed open. “Ah SHIT!”, you heard Saracen stumbling over himself and grappling with the door. Gazing over at him you could see by the rosiness of his cheeks that he had also had a hot toddy, or two. Giggling you shook your head at him, “Saracen Rue, you are disrupting my beauty sleep”. Closing the door behind him Saracen laughed, “Oh please, we both know that neither of us needs ‘beauty sleep’ just look at us!”. He slumped down onto your bed and frowned softly, “You feeling any better?”. You shrugged your shoulders in response, “I’m feeling tired again… but I’m a little cold now…”, you had only just realised that your shoulders were shaking. Saracen noticed too and scooted up beside you, he spread out his arms and lay back, “Then I shall be your personal heater mademoiselle. Please take all the time you need, free of charge”. You laughed at him, but nestled into the crook of his arm anyway, “I have to admit, you are so much more cuddly now”. Saracen raised his eyebrow at this, “I keep getting that a lot lately… But I’m glad I can keep the ladies comfortable”, he added with a chuckle. Saracen readjusted your blanket and made sure you were wrapped up tight. “There we go, is that warmer love?”, he asked looking down at you but alas you had already fallen asleep. 

You woke up a couple of hours later to the sound of Skulduggery lecturing Saracen, “Why do I always find you in someone’s bed, Saracen?”. “Well I guess I am just too lovable for people to resist me. Besides, she said she was cold”. “And your response was to get in bed with her, real mature”. You started laughing and Saracen noticed you jiggling in his arms, “There see? Even y/n thinks you are overreacting”. You yawned and sat up smiling at Skulduggery, “Don’t worry Skul, I’m not pretty enough for Saracen to try anything like that…”.

At this Skulduggery tilted his head, “You’re plenty pretty, even when you are sick. But I needed Saracen to help me with a case and this is where I find him”. As his face did not display his annoyance his tone very directly conveyed it, “Leave the poor girl alone, we need to leave as soon as possible”. With great hesitation Saracen freed you from his bear hug, not before planting a kiss on your head, and made his way out of the room with Skulduggery. “See you soon y/n, hope you feel better”, he called out as he was dragged away by the collar of his shirt. You smiled and waved from your bed and once you were left alone you looked around, “Now what am I going to do with myself?”, you questioned aloud. 

As though he heard your call, Dexter Vex strolled into your room with a bottle of Lucozade and a couple of DVD’s. “Sounds like you might be happy to see me then”, he grinned waving around his gifts. 

A couple of bad movies later you and Dexter were having the best time building a blanket fort in your room. You had so many now that it was almost as though you were collecting the foundations for such a project. “Hey Dexter, could you pass me the pillows now?”, you called out from inside the impressive structure. “Sure thing”, he yelled back before throwing pillow after pillow into the fort. You laughed loudly as he practically buried you in pillows, “Stop stop! What if the fort falls down?”. He laughed more and poked his head through the makeshift door, “Well I've run out of pillows now so I don’t think that will happen”. You cuddled one of the pillows and sighed, “I didn’t realise I had so many”. Dexter joined you in the fort and smiled pulling you into a hug, “Yeah, this one is pretty big too! And heavy”, he groaned rolling over with you in his grasp. You squealed and wriggled in his grip, “I am not that heavy!”. Dexter laughed and blew raspberries onto your cheek, causing you to laugh and squirm about even more, “Eww stooop!”, you cried out in between your giggles. Someone suddenly clearing their throat made you both stop in surprise, you made your way to the entrance of the fort to see Ghastly standing there with a tray. He glanced down at you with a knowing look on his face, “I figured you would be hungry by now so I made some ramen- since I know you don’t like soup that much”. You smiled brightly and nodded, “Thank you that was really thoughtful Ghastly”. He placed the tray on the floor in front of you and you saw two bowls, “Dexter he made some for you too!”. This quickly caught his attention and Dexter made his way to the front of the fort beside you. Ghastly had turned on the fairy lights in your room as it was starting to get a little dark. The ramen looked amazing and you could guess that it smelled just as good. Then your door opened once more and the rest of the Dead Men came in to join you. They each had a bowl of steaming ramen, apart from Skulduggery who only carried a book. You all ate and listened intently as the men recounted the events of their day once they had left you. It was a wonderful way to spend the evening, the warmth of the light, the food and your friends helping you feel better. Everything felt perfect, until Saracen let out a sudden sneeze. Everyone in the room turned to look at him and he met their gazes with a wide eyed stare, “I-I’m fine... don’t worry”. You laughed softly, “Saracen are you su-” he sneezed again loudly and sighed, “Damn it”.