#don't mind me ill get to drafts ;;

[byanyan]

@ everyone who's waiting on replies from me and I'm over here only replying to one thread... I'm so sorry

[an-android-child]

¡JAJA! YOU HAVE ACTIVATED MY AUTISM TRAP CARD

SPECIAL INTEREST

SO, first let's get to Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne's clusterfuck of a relationship.

As everyone will tell you, comic's canon is like gender: a social construct. If anyone tries to tell you there's a main canon they're lying to you. It's true that the comics TRY to market it as such, and we've been through so many reboots and continuities that I believe the present default is, literally, that everything is canon, depending on what the writer or story calls for. Which is as confusing as it sounds, and has been regarded as, possibly, the move of all time.

And I want to make it explicitly clear that I am not taking Elseworlds (official dc aus for their ocs, like Batman being a pirate and shit like that) into account. This is literally all "main continuity" in all its rebooted as shit glory. I'll specify what continuity I mean, but basically know that every once in a while DC has the compulsive need to kill off their entire character universe and start it all again "from the beginning", except it's literally never that because half of this reboots need the reader to know the characters already, so what's the point, and that they tend to just make everything worse and deliver the most dumb possible comic events in history, with few exceptions. But that's a personal opinion and it literally doesn't matter.

At the end of the day, here's the thing. There are... A shit ton of interpretations about their relationship, because it literally varies from writer to writer. No, I'm not kidding.

Let's start from the beginning. Literally.

First Main Universe

Detective Comics (1937) #38

Writer: Bill Finger

The first appearance of Dick Grayson is hilarious because it doesn't mention any legal procedure regarding anything related to the fact that Dick's an orphan now. Batman sees a traumatized child and thinks "is anybody gonna kidnap that" and doesn't wait for an answer. There's no real label for their relationship either, aside from the cover's vague remark of "taken under his mantle", and literally those two panels where it implies that Dick will be working with Bruce as an aide or something. Or better said, that they will be going on adventures together lmao. I mean, I guess.

Also unrelated but I love the fact that Bruce caves like a wet paper towel for his kids so much, even at the beginning. No, you can't be a crime fighter vigilante, wait no no don't look at me like that here I'll train you for months here's my secret identity and all my money please come live at my very big and lonely mansion

Detective Comics (1937) # 39 & #43 & #47

Writer: Bill Finger

So yeah, for a while, the og Batman writer basically referred to Dick as an aide. Whatever that means. Unpaid internship go brrrrrrrr.

Detective Comics (1937) #40

Writer: Bill Finger

But even from the beginning, it was obvious that their relationship was special and that they cared for each other. Hell, Dick was the first person to ever know Batman's secret identity. That's a huge ass deal. Not even his fiancé knew. Before Alfred even existed, Dick Grayson was already living in that house lmao.

Detective Comics (1937) #41

Writer: Bill Finger

The FIRST ever mention of any type of legal relationship between them is this off-hand comment made when they're trying to infiltrate a boarding school to find some killer I can't remember the name of. I place some legitimacy in it because they're literally going as Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, no disguises. When did Bruce do the paperwork for this? When did the trial take place? Who knows! It will be explained. Later. Somewhat. Don't think about it.

As time progressed, the relationship became more explicitly parental. You could argue this was because of the controversy, but whatever it may be for, Bruce doesn't shy away from telling/showing Dick how much he loves him. He also does it when he thinks no one's paying much attention to him lol

Batman (1940) #20 (this issue is very cute)

Writer: Bill Finger

Batman (1940) #66

Writer: Bill Finger

Sometimes though, he would insist they were just the best of friends.

Detective Comics (1937) #166

Writer: Don C. Cameron (i'm not sure if it's really him, but i can't find any other sources claiming any other writer, and it kinda seems like his writing style)

Ironically, Dick seems to be the one to insist they're just good friends the most, which I find an interesting choice.

Batman (1940) #3 & #20 & #118

Writer: Bill Finger

Except... When he doesn't.

Batman (1940) #57

Writer: Bill Finger

Batman (1940) #339

Writer: Gerry Conway

Either way, don't be fooled. No matter what, this little guy cares.

Batman (1940) #13 (in this story Bruce is just pulling off a ruse with a dummy so Dick doesn't get killed, but instead of telling him he leaves the house lmao. Also, oh, the irony)

Writer: Bill Finger

The general consensus though, if there's anything like that in a world as cruel as this one, is that Dick was never formally adopted, just taken in as a ward. This was because, in the 40's, single men couldn't adopt even if they wanted to, so that was the next best thing. But that's another entire can of worms.

So yeah, Dick was never really adopte-

Detective Comics (1937) #145

Writer: Don C. Cameron (again, I can't be sure, but the comic references two other issues written by him, and I'll eat my left shoe if it's anyone else)

Yeah let's just. Let's just move on.

Second Main Universe

In the second universe, things start getting messy. Writers have decided angst is what they want, and their relationship becomes way more rocky. They fight, Dick becomes Nightwing, Bruce gets his back broken, Jason fucking dies, not in that order. Y'know the drill. The focus on father and son shifts, but let's start with the basics.

For some context, in this universe Dick isn't adopted, but Bruce is his legal guardian.

The Untold Legend of the Batman (1980) #2

Writer: Len Wein

So yeah, Dick isn't adopte-

Robin (1993) #0 (thank you so much @northoftheroad for helping me find this instance!!! there are way too many comics sometimes lmaoo. i recommend her blog so much, and she specializes in Dick's whole comic history)

Writer: Chuck Dixon

Ignore that.

He's just a ward-

Robin (1993) Annual #4

Writer: Chuck Dixon (IS HE ADOPTED OR NOT DIXON)

Ignore that.

I meant foster chil-

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #100

Writer: Dennis O'Neil

Fuck.

Look. This is a mess, we both know it. Let's pretend consistency is a thing that exists and that DC gives a shit about it.

In the second universe, Dick ISN'T adopted, and doesn't care much that he hasn't bee-

Tales of the Teen Titans (1984) #50

Writers: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez

I actually meant that he cares and wants to be Bruce's so-

Batman (1940) #439

Writer: Marv Wolfman

I mean, he was a child when he said that! Character development I guess! In a way! It's the same author. I don't understand the point of the conversation at the wedding if Dick literally asked him not to. I can get behind tha-

Secret Origins (1986) #13 (thank you so much @tiffanybluesclues for helping me find this instance!!! they have this super fricking cool meta i can't recoomend enough if you want to see more clearly for yourself what Bruce's and Dick's whole deal is about lmao)

Writer: Dan Mishkin

Okay this is getting ridic-

Batman (1940) #217

Writer: Frank Robbins

YEAH. WHY NOT

DID I MENTION THAT THIS UNIVERSE TRIES FOR THE BROTHER ANGLE. Except when it doesn't.

In the First Universe we had the best friends angle, now we have the brother one. They want to keep Bruce young so bad, even at the cost of consistency.

Robin (1993) Annual #4

Writer: Chuck Dixon

And also the best friend angle. Again. Because of course we do.

All this mess is just the first two universes and I'm leaving so many details out. Jesus Fuck.

Third Main Universe

The universe I was referencing, the one where Dick is adopted by Bruce as an adult, is the third main continuity. From one of my favourite comic writers (who was done so dirty, and I'll never forgive some fans for how they treat her, or DC editorial for not letting her finish her Nightwing story properly).

Batman: Gotham Knights (2000) #17 (this issue was released in 2001)

Writer: Devin Grayson (my beloved)

You'd think this would be a pivotal moment for their relationship, in the sense that it would shape how other authors wrote them from then on. As times have changed, the focus on a much more character driven story has been the cause for many changes in DC comics. One of the reasons the Second Universe was so full of angst (not as much as people make it out to be, but way more than we were used to), was precisely that fact. And now, in the present, one could argue the focus is still there, perhaps even more so. You'd think this would mark the end of an era, the beginning of another. You'd be correct, in literally any other circumstance.

But this is DC.

52 (2006) #30 (this issue was released in 2007)

Writers: Geoff Johns & Grant Morrison & Greg Rucka & Mark Waid

Batman and Robin (2009) #7 (this issue was released in 2010)

Writer: Grant Morrison

Batman (1940) #713 (this issue was released in 2011)

Writer: Fabian Nicieza

This will always be DC.

Fourth Main Universe

Nightwing (2011) #0

Writers: Kyle Higgins & Tom DeFalco

So, yeah. Canon is a social construct. Some writers see them as brothers, some as best friends, some as equals, some as father and son, some as fricking colleagues, and I'm sure you can find someone who sees them as lovers. This is literally a pick your poison type of deal here.

And all of this. All of this just to talk about Dick and Bruce. I have barely even touched the present continuity (the fourth one, I'm not counting soft reboots because everytime a new writer appears it is a soft reboot istG). I haven't even gotten to Jason.

I'll do a part two in the reblogs later about him, lmao. Probably make my own post as not to clog op's notes (this was supposed to be a short answer and it got way too long)

If you want some recs about a character in particular, or a specific type of relationship, feel free to hit me up! I'll see what I can find

dick and jason trying to give tim the crash course on what it's like to be robin, except tim leaves the conversation more confused than he was before, because everyone quickly had the realisation that there was. definitely a favourite child

dick goes on about how bruce's teachings gave him healthy outlets for his grief and anger etc etc, whilst jason's very much confused because he was kinda under the impression that robin was an outlet for bruce's feelings.

dick says that the father-mentor ratio was really well balanced during his time as robin, and bruce always saw him as a son first. and jason's just like "....i didn't even know he saw me as his son until after i died????"

[f1fnatic]

DON'T LEAVE ME BEHIND! ⤿ m. verstappen 1

→ ( in which. . . ) you're at a dreaded sponsor event for redbull and find someone that resents them just as much as you do, if not more.

→ ( fanfic genre. . . ) written

→ ( pairing. . . ) max verstappen x fem!reader

→ ( content warnings/disclaimers. . . ) mutual pining, fluff, cursing, mentions of alcohol consumption, chr*stian ho*ner

→ ( authors note. . . ) woohoo! another fic done :p this is just one of the 17 (😀) drafts i have... anyways... hope you enjoy! see end for more

→ ( masterlist )

you wanted to leave. but you couldn't. you had always hated these types of stuck-up sponsor events. luckily, you noticed some body who hated them just as much as you.

you caught a glimpse of him before he was whisked away by one of the redbull higher-ups. his dirty blonde hair was easy to spot among the brunettes surrounding him.

you, unfortunately, were in the same boat. someone who you forgot the name of was talking your ear off, slurring something along the lines of it being beneficial for their brand if you were to join with them.

being a redbull athlete meant high expectations and a multitude of events. sometimes you were given a heads-up, but tonight you weren't. no, instead, this sponsorship party was sprung upon you by your manager 3 hours before it started. they blamed it on the fact that you were 'unbelievably busy' and 'it slipped their mind.' that put you in a sour mood. you were home, meaning that you had made plans with your family and friends that you had to regrettably cancel.

this man was getting on your last nerve. you could not handle another second of his borderline incoherent mumbling. so, you kindly excused yourself for a drink. you turned on your skinny heel and began to walk away. the corset of your dress digging into your ribs with every step. breathing was becoming a task with the tightening ties. instead of stopping at the bar, you continue walking towards the balcony.

rays of moonlight flood through the dauntingly tall glass doors. you step through the threshold and onto the unusually small balcony. the crisp air feels like a shot of espresso as you breathe in. it rejuvenates you. a light breeze sends shivers down your spine, goosebumps appearing in its wake. there isn't much decor on the platform. string lights are threaded through the railing, potted plants are set in each corner of the rectangular area, and a gas fireplace is placed to the left surrounded by cushioned chairs.

a figure is standing in front of you, body slumped over the rail. you walk over. once you get closer, you are met with the familiar face of max verstappen.

max knew who it was before you reached him. the clicking of your expensive heels on the concrete of the balcony gave you away. as did the cherry-vanilla perfume you adored so much as it wafted in the wind. he was infatuated by you. he very rarely got to see you in person, but when he did, he drank you in like a man starved. the pure beauty you held made him shrink within himself.

"i thought i saw you earlier." you comment. that was a partial lie. you didn't see him directly, but you felt him. you knew that he was there when his burning gaze was digging into the back of your head.

he only smiles. he knew you would be here, much to your dismay. he was almost considering telling christian that he fell ill and wouldn't be able to make it, but he couldn't risk not seeing you. max looked to you and you looked back, a sickeningly sweet smile on your pink tinted lips.

a comfortable silence blanketed the both of you. you had one arm laying atop the balcony rail while the right was propped on your cheek. the golden bracelets fell down your wrist and twinkled in the soft light. your gaze fastened on the breathtaking sight in front of you.

max stood beside you in a trance. everything about you had him head over heels in love (but he wouldn't admit that.) the way your hair softly blew in the breeze, the way your rich blue dress complimented every curve of your built body, and the way your eyes twinkled in the moonlight made butterflies flutter everywhere in his body. they started in his stomach then migrated to his toes and fingertips. he knew he was blushing and was bright red. but the small buzz he had going could be to blame.

you weren't sure when, but at some point your bodies grew closer. maybe it was just max, or maybe the both of you. but the added body heat began to slowly warm you up.

just like before, you could feel his intense, icy gaze burning into the side of your skull. "you're staring."

"i know. just enjoying the view." he replies simply. you turn to look at him, a shocked expression on your face. a light blush began to dust your cheeks.

"is that so?" you ask. he nods simply, closing his eyes and smiling. you playfully scoff before somberly adding, "you know you may grow tired."

"with you in front of me? never." he expresses. "truthfully y/n, if i could paint, you would be my muse. no doubt about it. i would never grow tired of looking at you. your beauty is simply awe inducing."

you were speechless. words escaped you and you were positive your blush got even darker. you shyly went to turn back to face the view but max's hand quickly found yours and tugged your body back to face him. he kept hold of your hand and interlaced your fingers with his.

"don't look away." he states. a heat began to bundle in your core. he had never talked to you this way, nor acted this way. you wish he would. there was something unreadable in his eyes, the bright blue darkening.

you silently stared at each other. neither of you daring to break eye contact. that is, until, the sound of someone clearing their throat made the two of you, unfortunately, separate. the lack of heat made the bitter cold even colder.

you turn your attention to the sound and are met with none other than christian horner. "i hope i'm not interrupting anything." he says smugly.

"nope, nothing at all." max responds, sheepishly sliding his hands into his pants pockets. christian stood in the door way, arms crossed like a doting father.

he acknowledges you with a simple "y/n." you respond with a nod. he then turns his attention back to max. "there's a sponsor wanting to talk to you. something about sunglasses. i told him i'd come and get you."

you look up to max and see him deflate a little. you gave him a sympathetic pout and patted him on the shoulder. "so then, let's go." christian pushes, annoyance laced into his tone. he turns to leave, returning inside just out of view of the glass doors.

max goes to follow, but now it was your turn to grab his hand and make him turn around. he does so enthusiastically. "don't leave me behind, yeah maxie?" you say moving your hands to his shoulders, locking your fingers behind his neck.

"i won't, i promise schatje." his hands went to rest on your hips. warmth radiated from his palms enveloping you in heat. the both of you started at one another, eyes locked and cheeks flushed, red like a sunburn.

max slowly moves in and you follow. the two of you always seemed to gravitate towards one another; like two galaxies yearning to twirl with each other.

you knew what he wanted, and he knew you wanted the same. blue eyes locked on your pink lips. instead of you connecting with his, you swerve and plant a kiss on his cheek; just at the intersection of skin and lip. your lipstick left a visible imprint almost like a stamp. his blue eyes twinkle and you smile. "you should go before horner grounds you."

max laughs before dropping his hands from your waist and you do the same. that same bitter cold returns but you knew it wouldn't last long, he would be back in no time.

"you'll still be out here, yeah?" he questions.

"i should, unless stephen hunts me down to talk to a sponsor."

"i'll find you before that." he winks. he bowed in front of you playfully. a laugh fell from your lips. god, he loved your laugh. he smiled at himself. turning on his heel he began retreating back inside. he turned to look over your shoulder, bidding you adieu.

there you stood, on the balcony, cheeks red, butterflies flying around restlessly throughout your body, yearning for the man that owned your heart.

first max fic! really happy with how this one turned out. AND OFF TOPIC BUT CHARLES FIRST GRAND PRIX WIN OF THE SEASON?? AND IT WAS MONACO?? OMG?? also, if you would like to be on the taglist, comment!!! requests and feedback are welcome! make sure to leave a comment and kudos as well (only if you want :P)

[rathayibacter]

Ok so how does one MAKE a tabletop game because this is something I want to try!! Are there good references out there for non-d20 systems or how to balance mechanics yourself?

oooh, hell yeah! honestly the big thing is to just do it, unlike board and video games the gap between idea and execution in ttrpgs is incredibly narrow, so if youve got an idea just start writing stuff down and see where it starts pulling you, where it feels like something's missing, find what excites you and what you feel isn't working. but that's not very specific, so let's get into it!

first off, read games! read weird games! there's tons of free ttrpgs on itch, lots of people sharing their work here and on other social media, there's 200 word rpgs here and here, and lots of system reference documents written specifically for people looking to hack games. reading other games is a great way to enrich your work whether you're building systems from scratch or working in an existing framework, because every game you read will show you a new way of approaching design problems.

on that note, draw inspiration outside of ttrpgs too! i pull a lot from video, board, and card games in my work, as well as poetry, novels, movies, etc etc etc. im autistic, and ive spent a lot of my life thinking about and dissecting unwritten social rules, so that's another big source of material for me. take your passions, whatever they may be, and put them in your work!

next up, think about the core of your game, sometimes called the minimum viable product. this is whatever the fundamental idea at the heart of your work is, and it's important to keep in mind because it keeps you from spiraling down unnecessary tangents. the core of your game can change, don't get me wrong! in fact, it likely will. what you want to do isn't prevent your work from growing and changing, but have a point of light you can always refer back to and ask "is what im doing important to this game?" you might be surprised by what you find isn't actually as important as you thought at first, and what turns out to be vital to the experience you're going for.

next up, once you start working, don't throw things away. if youre working in a word processor or google docs, it can help to have a section at the bottom of your document that you copy anything youd otherwise delete into. i do the same with my Affinity documents, ill have a few pages i dont export to store all my scraps. i know other folks who keep a dedicated scraps document that they use across projects. whatever works for you! the reason you do this is twofold: it makes it easier to cut things if you know you can always put it back later if you change your mind, and it gives you a lot of raw material that you can pull from in the future. months or years from now, you might find yourself looking to fill a gap in a new design and realize that some cool toy you set aside is exactly what you were looking for.

lastly, i wanna strongly encourage you to practice finishing things. that's often the hardest part for people, cuz we have a lot more experience starting projects than finishing them. here id like to once again direct you to 200 word rpgs, because that strict limit means you wind up with a finished first draft really quickly, and the rest of it is polishing and editing. once you've finished some bite-sized projects, you'll have a better idea of what it entails, what parts you're good at and what parts you struggle with, when to keep working and when to cut yourself off. i find it really helpful to add arbitrary limitations and deadlines on my work because that helps me push myself to finish something when otherwise i'd just keep adding and tweaking, but you'll find what works best for you!

[infin1ty-garden]

Myrtle and Marigold with Paul Atreides? And he is emperor and still in love with Chani too?

BELOVED

✧. ┊ summary: myrtle - arranged marriage au & marigold - they get jealous of someone getting close to you ✧. ┊ pairing: paul atreides x gn! reader, paul atreides x chani ✧. ┊ warnings: none ✧. ┊ word count: 498 ✧. ┊ author note: has been sitting in my drafts for some time. haven't found time to post it

masterlist.

Ever since Paul became emperor, he's made it clear your marriage wasn't a love match and will never be. He still has feelings for Chani. He parades you around dinners with the other houses and during ceremonies. This was one of those times. A gathering celebrating a victory or something.

You harboured no ill feelings for Chani as she is a respectable woman. Since Paul betrayed her by asking for your hand, she hasn't spoken to him. You were mostly keeping to yourself. If your husband called upon you, you would join him. "Empress, you look stunning." You recognised the man as a friend of yours.

Before your marriage with Paul then he had been your guard. Now, a general. "How have you been?" He took a sip of his drink. "I should be asking you that. There are rumours about the emperor." You looked at Paul as he was in deep conversation. "Aren't there always?"

"Has he been mistreating you?" You paused for a while. Why would someone think that? "No, what gave you the idea?" He placed a hand on your back. "People have been saying a lot. So much you eventually start to believe it and I was concerned." That was understandable. It's been a few months since you've seen him and communication was sparse.

The two of you spend the rest of the event catching up. Paul began to notice his wife's conversation partner. "And who is this?" Paul asked but paid no mind to your answer, just wanting to get you away from your "friend". You let him knowing better than to start an argument when he could and will just use the voice on you. You tried making conversation with the other guests.

Paul would always find a way to interrupt. You stopped trying. Why was he acting this way? Once the event finished you made your way to your wing of the castle. Your maids were helping you undress when Paul barged in. "How could you just do that?"

"Do what?"

"Talk to him in such a manner. You think I don't know."

"We were just catching up. Nothing to worry about."

"YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH HIM!" That's when your maids left. You were only in your undergarments. "My heart is devoted to you. If he is in love with me, you're the emperor. Kill him if you want," you tried to remain calm. "Why do you feel threatened by a general?" He moved closer to you. "I'm not threatened by him. I'm questioning if my wife has been sleeping with other men."

"Is my word not enough?" Paul kept quiet. You left him standing there, entering your bathroom. The bathtub filled with water as your maids had done it before leaving. You took off the rest of your clothes and relaxed as you entered the tub. Paul choose than to make his way to the bathroom. "I trust you. I just can't take him flirting with you." There it is.

Thanks for reading & requesting!

[hkruu]

“LOVE ME!” — hkr

// slightly delulu reader , soft yandere , implied stalking , he can be fixed , implied suggestive thoughts , mentally ill oc , he does get a little silly , EN IS NOT MY FIRST LANG. \\

The moment Cilian step foot into your life, it has never been the same. At first you didn't mind his presence, you'd always thought he was a nice kid since he helped you with your academics and research.

Though, on a particular day (Valentine's Day), your dynamic hasn't been the same. That is, from your point of view, for Cilian it's been the best decision he's made his entire life, it didn't matter if he already won so many awards from Karu Academy, what mattered was your acceptance to his little letters that he wrote just for you.

On said letter, Cilian talked about how he appreciated everything and anything you did for him (even though it was the complete opposite), it was sweet and short. You often admired writers, just the thought of someone sending you a love letter makes you feel butterflies.

Of course Cilian knew that.

Cilian knew everything about you the moment you asked for his help, he knew you were going to ask for his advice, his lead, his words. Ah, he could write a whole analysis on you and he'd finish it in 26 hours and 34 minutes, not like he didn't do that before but oh well.

That letter he'd sent you on Valentine's Day was only half of what he felt for you, he had been deeply obsessed with you since that time from the playgrounds. It was unfortunate that you didn't recognize his name but people often forget things from their childhood don't they?

Only his true feelings were spoken in his drafted letters that he hadn't read to anyone but himself. Cilian was aware that no one will ever get what he feels for you, no one will get how he loves you more than he loves himself. If anything, being your enemy was more than enough, thankfully that didn't happen.

Cilian's innocent visage was a gift from the heavens above, he swears that it works like a charm. With a face like this, manipulating comes easy in his hands, blackmailing is as easy as sending an email to a teacher for inquiries, trapping people were as easy as trapping an ant inside your palm.

Just one glance of his pouty expression was enough to get everyone to take pity on him and take his side, including you. You were the only one to approach him with a genuine request, each and every one of the students only came for him because of his purity and innocence.

You were sincere, someone that was easy to warm up with, your skin was perfectly smooth, your hair glistening in the sun, the way your lips move as you ramble about the latest drama online. It's all perfect, the one that Cilian deeply admired.

How he wishes to take your lips into his, to taste whatever gum you ate earlier, to make your hands wrap around his body and hug him with all your might, to make your skin's touch with one another. Cilian would take your favorite pen and write with it with you in thought, even if the things he wrote were a little weird.

If anything you are the reason why he's always at the top. Cilian had always strived to be your exact type, one that you need and the one that you'll never leave. After all, he's seen the countless relationships you've been through, the messy break ups, the talk with your friends..

Your type, your favorite smell, your favorite food, your fashion sense, your manners, your hobbies and even your tinest gestures that you'd make when you're nervous.

It was worth the mental struggle that he had to deal with, even though it took a hard toll. It was worth it in the very end, you as a person were more than enough. You admired writers so he became one, you wanted to go to Karu Academy and so he went there too. Whatever you choose he'll always follow.

(Even if it ruined him mentally.)

He had worked hard to be able to be on top of any situation, it was all worth it if you always were by his side. It was worth it if you'd greet him with a genuine smile, a little hug on the shoulder, it was worth it to pretend that he was only a friend, someone that could support you from the sidelines.

But Cilian knew that one of these days, he'd get you to admit to him. After all, his charms are no joke to everyone, including you. Cilian was aware of the inner struggle you had with labeling him, was he a friend or something more?

Really, it was amusing to see you grin happily when you first read his letter. Cilian could repeat that scene again and again and he would never get tired of it.

The only thing getting in his way was the fact that he was in fact not ready to date, hes all bark but no bite, he flirts but he's easily flustered. The thought seemed a little too much but you're a willing exception to that, he'd try just for you.

"Cilian, you really dress well.. teach me your ways!" You exclaimed in awe as you saw Cilian come out of his dorm room, styling the Karu uniform and wearing glasses. "You.. you look good in glasses.." You murmured, gripping the strap of your bag tightly as you glanced towards his collarbones.

"It's too early in the morning to stare at me like that don't you think?" Cilian grinned like a cat, humming playfully as he offered his arm. Your jaw dropped and hit him in the arm, though you still took his arm as you both walked towards campus.

While you were having your inner turmoil about being close to Cilian since you weren't used to holding his arm, Cilian could only hum in joy with a grin. "Maybe I understand the girls in our class now.." You mumbled, realizing why the girls loved him to an insane extent and for the first time in awhile, Cilian let out a genuine laugh.

\\ this is js an intro post for my acc I wanna expand on Cilian cus uhh I love writers like omg pls feel free to leave feedbacs cus I wanna improve my writing pleasssddssssssssse//

[ghoulangerlee]

HERE WE GO. dewther phone sex that probably could have gone on for another six thousand words if I'd continued writing instead of forcing myself to end it :)

there is some lore-y stuff in here because I am not me if I don't include my own personal lore, and at the end there's mentions of heats and knotting but neither of those actually happen :)

Dew is a lil mean in this but as it turns out, Aether really likes em mean.

-

The phone rings, pulling him from the inventory reports in front of him—it's the desk phone of all things, not his cell that sits face down a little further away and for a moment, he thinks to ignore it, to continue his work so he can finish quicker and get to bed sooner, but at the late hour it could be some kind of emergency— 

He picks it up, balancing his pen in his other hand as he cradles the desk phone between his ear and shoulder, “Infirmary, this is Aether speaking, how can I help you?”  

There’s silence on the line for a moment and Aether tilts his head, “Hello? Is someone there?”  

A sigh, familiar in its tone echoes across the line, “Hey Aeth,” Dew mumbles, sounding tired, “Didn’t know if you’d still be awake.”  

Aether glances up at the clock across the room, the hands ticking by slowly, it’s late, much later than he’d expected, “Ah,” he says, “I was finishing up some inventory reports in the infirmary, some new guy decided to double the amount of gauze we need so now we’re swimming in it but don’t have any more antibiotics,” he glances down at the papers in front of him, red lines crossed through black numbers, “Been down here most of the day counting things to get everything right again.”  

Dew hums, a pleased little sound, “I like hearing you talk about the work you do,” he says, tone bordering on that sappy-tired one he gets whenever he’s worked to the bone and sleepy, “I miss you.”  

“I miss you too,” Aether murmurs with a small smile, leaning back in his chair and focusing all of his attention on Dew, “How is guard duty with Frater Imperator?” he asks, a brief flash of worry catching him.  

“He’s safe,” Dew says, yawns widely over the line, “A little annoyed by the travel, a lot annoyed that there may still be something or someone after him despite everything,” he’s candid about it, and if Aether closes his eyes, he can almost see Dew sitting in front of him, waving a lazy hand in emphasis as he speaks. “Of course, we’re doing fine, this other church is okay, a little drafty and the ghouls here don’t really speak, but I guess it’s fine for a little while. The elders keep giving me dirty looks when they think Copia isn’t watching though.”  

A pang of regret goes through him, he’d almost went with Dew and Copia, but something had come up in the infirmary, someone had fallen ill and he’d been the best person to fill in, he wishes he were there with Dew right now. “Sounds exciting,” he says, “A little draft isn’t too much for a fire ghoul, right?” he asks teasingly, feeling the tension of the day fade the longer he speaks to Dew.  

“Cold day in Hell that a puny little church with an annoying clergy bothers me enough to make me leave early,” Dew says with a snort, “I wanted to talk to you though, time differences suck. We’re on different continents and everything so I can’t even really feel you right now either.”  

Aether gets it, he can feel the way his bond with Dew is weakened, barely there, dormant in the distance between them—in the back of his mind he can still feel him, but it’s a far cry from the usual. “I know, wisp,” he murmurs, “I wish we were closer too,” he admits, “Church is quiet without you here.”  

“Copia was giving me shit earlier,” Dew admits after a few moments of silence, “Said I looked sad, like someone stole something from me,” he pauses, clears his throat, “Told me to come call you, that you’d probably be up working still even at the late hour.”  

“He was right,” Aether says with a little laugh, “Not that he has any room to talk about what is and isn’t late,” he continues, and then glances up at the ceiling, “Are you still sad?” he asks cheekily, lazily spinning his chair to the side, “Do you need me to talk to you so you can fall asleep?”  

He means it as a joke, but there’s a serious undercurrent there, something they’d discovered before Copia’s lateral move, when Dew had toured but Aether stayed behind—sometimes, sometimes his brain wouldn’t let him sleep, not alone, and he’d call Aether, listen to the quintessence ghoul talk until his eyes grew heavy and he fell into a comfortable sleep—imagining his mate right there beside him.  

Dew hums lazily, “Maybe,” he starts, but this time, there’s something of a breathless quality to his voice, “Or maybe I want to talk to you about other things.”  

It takes Aether a moment, if he focuses hard enough, he can hear something on the other line, a slick sound, a hitch in Dew’s breathing, “Is this a booty call?” he can’t help but ask, the words spilling out before he can stop it, “Dew are you—” he cuts himself off, presses his palm against the bottom of the phone and glances around the office.  

It’s late, of course, and the door isn’t locked, but he’s the only one down here right now, having sent the rest of the staff off, only keeping a bare bones support staff in case of emergencies, but he can’t sense anyone else.  

“I am working,” Aether finally says, lowering his hand, feeling a flush come up the sides of his neck, “If someone were to walk into my office, they’d—”  

“They’d what?” Dew asks sharply, the hitch in his voice making it obvious what he’s doing, “They’d think you were on the phone, right, baby? That you’re working late, working so hard for everyone, making sure the inventory reports are all correct. You’re not doing something silly like touch yourself, are you? You’re on the phone and you’re working diligently.”  

Aether grits his teeth, pressing a fist hard into his thigh, “I’m not touching myself,” he says, and looks down at his desk again, numbers taunting him on the page, “I’ve stopped working for the moment to talk to you,” he inhales deeply, bites his lip when he hears Dew moan quietly over the line.  

“You’re being such a good boy,” Dew murmurs the praise, praise that shoots right down to Aether’s core, “I’m going to touch myself and you’re going to listen to me and keep working, aren’t you?”  

Aether bites harder at his lower lip, tilting his head back against the chair, “I am,” he finally agrees, after a long moment of listening to Dew breathe heavily, the slick sounds of his hand.  

Dew waits for a moment, almost as if he’s aware that Aether’s not working, waits for minutes until Aether sits up, scoots his chair forward and picks his pen back up, “If I were there with you, I’d situate myself under your desk,” he purrs, words going a bit high on the end. “You’d be a busy body about it, complain about me distracting you but we both know you want me to.”  

Aether digs the pen into the paper in front of him, keeping his gaze trained on the numbers on the page and he hums a little, “You are good at being a little shit sometimes,” he says, trying to keep his tone casual.  

A laugh, breathless and the slick sounds seem to get louder, “Uh huh,” he agrees, “I am, but you love me like that, you love when I push your buttons. Take you down a peg, big guy.” Dew grunts a little and Aether can only imagine that he’s fucking up into his fist, “You turn to putty in my hands the second I get my mouth on you,” he breathes.  

“Lies,” Aether says, trying to keep his voice firm as he presses his legs together, “You’re just running your mouth.”  

Dew swears softly, “Aether,” he moans out, “Strong words for the guy who begged me to fuck him right before I left,” he teases, and Aether feels hot under the collar when he thinks about it, how desperate he had been for Dew’s dick. “It’s okay big guy, I love when you fall apart for me, when you can barely speak because you’re so dick drunk,” he coos, “Thinking about how your skin’s so cold, but every time I get inside you, you heat up like a fire ghoul,” he teases, “Like I’m branding you from the inside out, isn’t that right baby, you’re all mine and no one can fuck you as good as I can.”  

Aether squeezes the pen in his hand tight enough that he can hear the plastic creaking, “Dew,” he says sharply, but doesn’t speak beyond that, knows if he says anything else he’s going to make a fool of himself, he’s going to start babbling about how much he wishes Dew were here now, down under his desk, mouth on him, making him come.  

As the silence stretches between them, Dew moans again, this time higher, another swear, the steady creak of bedsprings, little ah, ah, ahs falling from his lips as he does, “Say something sweet for me baby,” he finally says, breathless and oh so close. “Let me hear your gorgeous voice, tell me what you want me to do for you, baby.”  

And oh Dew’s begging now, desperate in the same way he gets when they’re together, even when he’s being mean and teasing Aether—when he’s close, when he just needs a bit more to come.  

The pen clatters to the desk and Aether’s quick to shove his hand down the front of his scrubs, so glad he’d opted for them instead of the stuffy slacks he normally wore when on administration duties, “I want your mouth on me,” he finally admits, “Wanna fuck your face while you wait under the desk for me to finish working,” he manages to get out, moans when his fingers meet his dick, stroking over it quickly. “Want you to put a couple of fingers inside me, something for me to squeeze around,” he swallows heavily, tilts his head back against the chair as he arches his hips up into his own touch, imagining the heat of Dew’s mouth around him, “I feel so empty, firelight,” he admits, voice breaking a little as he does, pants out in the open, “Feels so empty when you’re away, want you to carve a place inside me and never leave.”  

Dew swears again, louder, a litany of fucks falling from his lips and Aether thinks he comes, thinks if he focuses hard enough he can feel it, the heat of it inside him, that maybe their distance is driving him a bit mad with how much he misses him.  

“Come for me baby,” Dew’s voice, rough with his orgasm, fills Aether’s ears, draws a sharp gasp out of him as he clenches around nothing and comes, goes completely breathless with it as he continues to touch himself until he’s too sensitive and he has to pull his hand away though it doesn’t go far, arm falling limp between his thighs once his hand is free from his scrub pants.  

It takes a while for his heart to settle down, for his breathing to fall under control again and he allows it, floats there as he wishes that Dew were here with him right now, a warm weight between his legs, fire all down his chest and stomach as he cradles him close, chasing away the chill that always falls over Aether after coming.  

“—ay we’re going to be back tomorrow, we’ve done all the ground work here, anyway, the rest is just boring admin work that can be done over Doom meetings.” Dew’s murmuring when he comes back into focus, “As soon as I see you baby, I’m going to get my hands all over you just like you deserve,” he promises, filthy and low in his ear, “Gonna have you coming so much you’ll be satisfied for days.”  

Aether hums, interested when his brain catches on the first part, still mostly focused on the second half of Dew’s words, “Tomorrow?” he asks, hating the way his voice sounds so hopeful.  

Fuck, it’d been weeks though, since he’d last seen Dew. Since they’d been together. He misses him.  

“Yeah, baby,” Dew murmurs, “Our plane landed a bit ago, we’re at a hotel for the night, but Copia’s got a car coming to get us in the morning. We’ll be home before you know it.”  

Aether makes another noise, something choked, “Oh,” he says, looks down at the paper on the desk in front of him, half-finished inventory reports, “I’ve got to—”  

“Whatever it is, it can wait,” Dew says firmly, “You’ve got tomorrow off and maybe the day after, Copia’s feeling a bit benevolent,” he says that with a bit of a grin in his voice, “Inventory will be fine for a couple of days, besides, Copia said he’d work on whatever you didn’t finish, just leave it where you’ve got it and he’ll take over. No arguing with me, alright?”  

And well, Aether can’t argue, because he’s feeling a bit selfish, a bit like he wants to shirk his duties for a few days so he can spend time with Dew instead, something warm settling in the pit of his stomach. “Okay,” he settles on, feels the weight lifted off of his shoulders at the word as he leans back in the chair, making it squeak a bit under his weight.  

“Good boy,” Dew says sweetly, “Now, listen, I want you to hang up the phone and go get cleaned up, settle in our bed and before you know it, I’ll be there, waking you up with a kiss.”  

Aether thinks about his nest, the one he’d been working on since Dew had left, how it still smells like the two of them and how much he wants to be there now, “Okay, yeah,” he says, “I can do that.” He swallows, bites his lip, “I love you, Dew.”  

Dew hums softly, “I love you too, big guy, I’ll see you tomorrow, bright and early.”  

When he hangs up the phone, it’s with warm feelings, and as he levers himself up out of the chair, he feels like he’s floating.  

He grabs his phone, scrolling through the few notifications that he has, there’s a couple of text messages that he’s not too concerned with answering tonight, another text from Dew that’s just a heart emoji and then a singular calendar notification.  

Aether raises an eyebrow but thinks nothing of it at first, locks up the office and deposits the key in the safe box for another staff member to find before he heads up from the infirmary and to his and Dew’s bedroom.  

Once he’s showered and settled into bed, wearing only his underwear and a thin t-shirt that used to be Dew’s at one point and is entirely too short on Aether and stretched out the from the number of times he’s squeezed into it, he picks his phone up again.  

Taps the calendar notification and blinks at the entry that had been added recently.  

Mandatory Leave 10.26 - 11.3 – Accepted by F. Imperator  

There’s a text, one that had come in while he was in the shower, from Copia this time.  

Dew may be a little grumpy in the morning, our car arrives in three hours to pick us up, we’ll be back before your heat starts. The others have stocked your room while you were working and I’ve taken the opportunity to clear your schedule for the next week just in case. Let me know if there’s anything you need <3  

He feels a surge of affection, sends back a heart in response and takes a moment to take stock of himself, feels the low simmer of something that had been bothering him for a while, something gnawing at him the entire time he’d been without Dew—and he didn’t think that it was heat, thought it was just something happening because Dew had been away for so long. His mind races a bit, wonders why his heat had decided to show now of all times—  

His phone buzzes again, a text from Dew.  

Go to sleep, Aeth. I can feel you thinking from all the way out here. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.  

He huffs quietly, sends back a fuck you and a heart a moment later, almost immediately, another text comes through.  

Of course, big boy, anything you need. I’ll even let you knot me if you want <3  

[felixsramen]

can you do poly OT8 skz reacting to you getting pregnant please🥺😭

I hope you enjoy this. I got really carried away writing this. I kinda connected this to my Yours Truly series so I hope you don't mind. This has been sitting in my drafts for way too long though. I've just decided to post it after finishing it. There might be a few mistakes so sorry about that.

You had waken up this morning on your huge shared bed completely overwhelmed with nausea and quickly crawled over your boyfriends practically running to the bathroom. You quickly dropped to your knees and threw up into the toilet. You were currently cursing Hyunjin mentally for asking you to get takeout from that restaurant. You probably had food poisoning now.

You feel a hand go to your hair holding it and another hand going to your back. Clearly from 2 different people.

"Damn it. I told Hyunjin we shouldn't have gotten takeout from there." You hear Changbin say.

You once again leaned over the toilet throwing up with your eyes closed. "I'm going to kill him when he gets up." Seungmin says threatening his boyfriend.

After a couple minutes at this point you're not throwing up anything else. Instead dry heaving into the toilet. "Is she okay?" You hear Hyunjin say worried.

"She probably has food poisoning because of the takeout from last night." Changbin says as you start finally feeling like you weren't going to throw up your guts.

You sit back on your legs and sigh wiping your face. "I should kill you." Seungmin says to his boyfriend who looks on worried.

"Lets get you laying back down okay?" Changbin says and you nod tired now that you had thrown up what felt like your entire guts.

Seungmin and Changbin help you back into the bed where the rest of your concerned boyfriends wait. "You okay love?" Jisung asks you.

"Just a little nauseous. Probably from dinner." You tell him and he nods yet he's still worried. Felix comes in with a water bottle.

"You need liquids. From what I know you've thrown up everything you ate last night and you need fluids." Felix says handing you the bottle and you take it drinking at least half before the boys let you put it down.

"You're going to be alright." I.N. says rubbing your back.

"I feel bad that we can't stay." Chan says sighing. Yet you just shrug.

"Don't. You guys have work." You tell him and he sighs again.

"That doesn't make me feel any better." Chan says and you sigh. "I promise it's okay love." You say and he gives you a sympathetic look.

You grab his hand intertwining it. "Is Maria off work today?" Minho asks you and you nod.

"She should be." You tell him and he nods.

"Since we can't take care of you today we'll call your friend Maria and ask if she will. Okay?" Minho tells you.

"Okay." You say giving him a weak nod. He grabs your phone calling Maria. He leaves the room as the boys tuck you under the blanket.

"Hello?" Answers a male voice instead of Maria. "Hey. Can I speak to Maria?" Minho asks.

"Sure. Who is this though?" The voice asks.

"Minho." He says simply.

"MARIA!" The voice yells out though it sounds muffled.

"Which of the 8 are you?" Minho asks him back.

"Seonghwa. Is there a special reason why you're calling from Y/Ns phone?" He asks him which sounds like a genuine question with no ill intent.

Minho sighs. "Is Maria off work today? Its kind of urgent. I need a favor that deals with Y/N." He asks him.

"Yeah she is." He says and another yell of Maria comes out.

Minho hears voices in the background. "Get off me!" Minho hears Maria say while laughing.

"No!" The voice says back.

"I need to get to Seonghwa Woo!" She says as it sounds like a struggle is happening.

"Help me Yunho!" She yells. He hears laughter in the background.

"Minhos calling from Y/Ns number." Seonghwa says to Maria.

Minho hears more struggling. The phone is handed off. "Hello?" Maria says. He hears muffled laughter. "Get off me Wooyoung! San you too!" He hears her say and a reply of no comes.

"Hey we got takeout from this restaurant Hyunjin wanted to try and Y/N woke up throwing up and she's nauseous." Minho says sighing.

"Is she okay?" Maria says concerned.

"Yeah but we have to work and its really important or we'd stay here with her. We don't want to leave her alone and I feel bad for asking because it's your day off but could you come over and watch her just until we get home. We're going to try and get them to send us home around noon." Minho says.

"Don't feel bad about it. I don't mind at all, she's my friend." Maria says concern still in her voice.

"Thank you. If there's anyway we can pay you back let us know." Minho says sighing out relieved.

"Give me 30 minutes to get changed and get there. I don't need you to pay me back, that's my friend." Maria says sighing.

"Thank you." Minho says. Suddenly there's a scream from Maria followed by laughter.

"Stop San and Woo! I have to go see Y/N she's sick" Maria says scolding her boyfriends.

"Is she okay?" Wooyoung says to Maria.

"She's okay but the boys have important work today so they can't take of her until later so I'm going over there." She tells him.

"Fine but you owe us later!" Minho hears what sounds like San say.

"Yeah. Okay." She says.

"I'll be there. Bye." She says and the phone hangs up.

Minho makes his way back to the room. "She's coming over." Minho says to his boyfriends.

"Good. I didn't want to leave her alone." Chan says sighing looking at you as you had fallen back to sleep.

"Lets get ready. She'll be here about the time we need to leave." Minho says and the boys nod getting up from surrounding you even though they don't want to leave your side.

They all get to doing what they need but check on you. Though after changing I.N. and Jisung come up to you and climb into bed with you.

They lay there watching your breathing and to see if you'd need help getting back to the bathroom in case another wave of nausea wakes you up. They hear the faint knock of a door but don't move knowing that one of their boyfriends would open the door.

Hyunjin is the one who opens the door. "Call us when you get done." Hongjoong yells to Maria.

"I will." Maria yells back to him as he backs out of the driveway.

The back windows roll down. "I LOVE YOU!" Shouts Wooyoung sticking his head out the car.

"Get back in the car now!" Jongho says pulling his boyfriend back into the car as the window rolls up.

Maria laughs and turns realizing the door is open now.

"Oh sorry about that." But then she realizes it's Hyunjin.

"Nevermind I take it back. You were the one who has my friend throwing up because she has food poisoning." Maria says and Hyunjin sighs and knows that was deserved. He steps out of the way so Maria can come inside.

"Thank you for coming Maria. Y/Ns currently laying down in the room." Chan says taking her to the boys and your room.

He opens the door revealing you squished in-between 2 of your boyfriends. They look at Maria and sit up.

Chan goes up to you gently shaking you awake. "Baby?" Chan says and you hum.

"Hey love we got to leave. Maria's here. We're going to try our best to be back around noon." Chan says and you open your eyes. You nod to him.

"I love you." Chan says kissing your head. "Love you too Channie." You say back to him and he smiles.

The rest of the boys go to you kissing your head and let out I love yous.

"We're leaving now baby. We'll be back soon. Maria's going to take good care of you. It's my fault you have food poisoning and I'm really sorry." Hyunjin says kissing your hand.

"It's okay Jinnie I'll be fine." You tell him as he nods and kisses your head once more. He gets up walking with the rest of the boys out of the house. You hear the door shut signalling your boyfriends left already.

"How are you feeling?" Maria asks as you sit up.

"Still feel nauseous but not like I'm going to puke my guts up anymore." You say and she comes to the edge of the bed and sits.

"Good. Do you have a fever or anything?" She asks you and shake your head.

"Are you hungry?" She asks feeling your head. You nod.

"Anything in particular?" Maria asks you as she moves her hand away.

"No you can pick." You tell her and she nods. "Is it okay if we make something light so you can keep it down?" You nod at her question.

"How about chicken noodle soup? I'm sure your chef boyfriend has the things for it." She says teasing you about Minho and you nod.

"Minho almost has nothing in the freezer that's quick to eat and he currently put a ban on me cooking." You tell her while pouting remembering your boyfriends words.

"What did you do?" She asks laughing. "I tried making dinner and burned it. He banned me for life." You say sighing.

"Well I won't burn the food I promise and he didn't ban me." Maria says and you smile.

"You want to come watch me or would you rather stay in here and get more sleep?" She asks you.

"Is it okay if I stay in here and get some more sleep?" You ask her and she smiles nodding.

She helps you lay back down. Before you know it you fall back to sleep.

You're awoken by Maria lightly shaking you. "Hey I'm done with the food." She says and you sleepily sit up.

She places it in your lap. "Here." She says and you start eating the soup. Yet another wave of nausea rolls over you. Maria sees you move the bowl to the nightstand and rush to the bathroom.

She goes in there after you lifting your hair. "Are you okay?" She asks you and you nod giving a thumbs up.

It soon goes away faster than it did earlier. There's an open cabinet as she helps you back up and flushes the toilet. She looks at the the open cabinet and inside are a box of tampons and there's pads beside it.

"Hey Y/N?" Maria asks you and you look at her but her eyes are on the tampons and pads. You hum.

"When did you last have your period?" She asks you now looking back at you.

Your eyes go wide looking back at her. "You don't think I'm pregnant do you?" You ask her and she nods. You look at her wide eyed and she quickly helps you back to the bed.

"Do you want me to call one of the boys and see if they can pick up a few pregnancy tests?" She asks you but you shake your head.

"I don't want the boys knowing. Not until I know for sure." You tell her and she nods understanding.

"Can I call one of my boys to bring some?" She says grabbing her phone and you nod. She quickly goes through her contact list.

She pulls up one and puts it on speaker and the phone rings but is picked up by the first ring. "Hey love." You hear a voice says. "Hi yeo. I have a question do you think you can go to a store with Hwa and pick up something for me?" Maria asks him.

"Uh sure. What do you need?" He asks her and she lets out a sigh looking at you.

"I need some pregnancy tests." She tells him and the line goes quiet.

"Why do you need pregnancy tests?" He asks her. She looks at you seeing if you'd let her tell him.

"Oh God. Are you pregnant? Hongjoong is going to kill all of us." He says over the phone slightly panicking. You let out a little laugh and so does she.

You nod letting her know she can tell him though. "No I'm not pregnant but if I was Hongjoong can't be mad because it'd be all of your faults." She says laughing and she hears Yeosang let out a sigh of relief.

"It's for Y/N. We think she might be pregnant. Can you get a few different ones for us?" She asks him.

"Yeah. Let me go get Seonghwa. We'll be over soon." Yeosang says.

"I love you." Maria says to him and he sighs again relieved.

"I love you too." He replies back and she hangs up.

You look at each other and burst out laughing. "Would Hongjoong really have killed them?" You ask her and she shrugs.

"He was part of it so I don't know." She says laughing still.

She calms down laughing. She looks at you smiling.

"What are you going to do if you are pregnant?" She asks you.

"Set up an appointment to make sure." You tell her smiling.

"Are you going to find out which ones the father?" She asks you and you shake your head.

"No. I don't think so. I don't think that'd matter to them and it doesn't matter to me anyways." You tell her and she nods.

"When are you going to tell them if you are?" She asks you and you take a deep breath.

"I'm not entirely sure." You say sighing.

"Well I think the sooner the better. The faster you do that the faster you can start planning for baby stuff." She tells you and you nod agreeing.

You guys continue talking about all the what ifs and soon there's a knock on the door. You and Maria get up going to it and Yeosang and Seonghwa are standing there.

You invite them and they go to the couch. Yeosang hands you the bag filled with tests. "We got you 3." Yeosang says looking at you and they nod.

You go to the bathroom and pull out the tests. You read the instructions the wait time on them being all the same and pee on the sticks. You set all 3 down on the counter and sigh. You wash your hands.

You walk out and Maria looks at you. You go to the couch sighing. "How long?" She asks you. You sigh "5 minutes."

"Are you ready for the results?" Seonghwa ask you. You nod and he smiles.

"What are you hoping the results are?" Yeosang asks you as he holds Seonghwas hand.

You sigh. "I hope it's Positive but I think I'll be fine even if it's Negative." You say and he nods.

"You guys have been together now for almost 4 years. So I'm glad this is something you want." Maria says and you nod.

"I hope this doesn't sound rude but do the boys want it?" Seonghwa asks and Yeosang elbows his boyfriend.

He glares at him and so does Maria. "Oh no that's fine. I mean I hope they do." You say smiling.

"Well then I'm sure it'll be positive then." Seonghwa says smiling at you.

"I think it's been almost 5 minutes. Do you want me to come with you?" Maria asks and you nod. She follows you into the bathroom and you take a deep breath.

"I don't think I can read this Maria." You say turning around and she hugs you.

"Do you want me to read them first?" She asks you and you nod. You move out the way so she can go to the counter. Her face shows no emotions not giving away what they say.

"Your turn." She says and backs up. You take steps over towards the counter.

You look down and they all read positive. You look at Maria who smiles at you. You start crying from how happy you were currently.

Maria goes up to you hugging you. "You're going to be a mom." She says and you can't believe the words that come out her mouth.

"You can come here Hwa and Yeo." She yells and she hears footsteps. Seonghwa and Yeosang look at you confused. Maria smiles and they know they all must read positive.

"I thought this was something you wanted?" Yeosang says and you nod.

"It is. I'm just so happy." You say and Yeosang and Seonghwa nod smiling at you.

You cry into Maria who just lets you cry happy tears until you calm down. "Okay maybe now I want to be pregnant." Maria says as she helps you throw away the tests and clean up.

"Go talk to Joong about that. If he agrees I think we'd all be more than willing to." Seonghwa says leaning his head on his boyfriend.

"We've been together for 5 years. A baby wouldn't hurt anything." Maria says to her boyfriends and you laugh.

"Maybe you guys should talk to Hongjoong then." You say and she looks at them pouting.

"Okay fine. We'll talk to him." Yeosang says giving in to her. "What's the worst that can happen? He says no?" Yeosang says shrugging.

"That'd be so cool. Me and you both being pregnant and our kids growing up with each other." She says smiling while looking at you and you smile at her back.

"Wait a minute. Now I have to apologize to Hyunjin because he didn't give you food poisoning." Maria says and you laugh.

You all head back to the living room and the door opens revealing all 8 of your boyfriends. Their eyes fall on you as half of them immediately come up to you.

Changbin comes to you picking you up and spinning you. He kisses you and you hear a gagging sound and look at Maria. "Don't act like they don't do that either." You tell her and she smiles.

"Oh Wooyoung does worse." Seonghwa says laughing.

"We've come home from practice and Wooyoung has jumped on her on more than one occasion causing them both to fall onto the couch." Yeosang says laughing and Maria rolls her eyes.

"What are you guys doing here?" Chan asks them with an eyebrow raised. Their eyes dart to yours and Marias.

"We got bored and Y/N and me wanted some company. That's okay right?" She asks Chan who nods even though he's slightly suspicious.

"I think it's time for us to go." Maria says and you nod waving to her as her, Seonghwa, and Yeosang leave.

"Did you miss us?"Changbin asks you and you nod as Jisung kisses all over your face.

"Did you end up eating anything?" Minho asks you.

You sigh as Changbin sits you on the couch with him. "Maria made chicken noodle soup but I ended up throwing it up." You say and Minho sits on the couch beside you.

"Do you think you could go get me some chocolate covered strawberries?" You ask Minho who raises an eyebrow.

"You want chocolate covered strawberries but can't keep down chicken noodle soup?" He asks you and you nod.

Chan comes up to you. "I don't think you need that at the moment." Chan says and you don't know why but tears come to your eyes. Before you know it you're crying on Changbins lap.

The boys look at you concerned. "I want chocolate covered strawberries." You say emotional as you sob on Changbins lap.

"Please don't cry okay? We'll get you chocolate covered strawberries." Chan says rubbing your back calming you. It doesn't take long before your sobs are now hiccups.

"Me and Minho will go get you chocolate covered strawberries right now okay? So please don't cry anymore." He tells you and you nod.

Him and Minho look at each other putting their shoes back on and Changbin holds you rubbing your back as they leave.

"You okay baby?" He asks you and you don't even know why you were crying.

"I'm okay." You say as Felix leans his head on Changbin looking at you.

"Good." He says letting out a sigh of relief. Seungmin sits on the edge of the couch watching you with a raised eyebrow. You were never this emotional, not even on your period.

Seungmin wasn't the only one who had noticed that. Hyunjin had an eyebrow raised too. What had happened in the last couple hours to make you so sensitive about chocolate covered strawberries?

You lean into Changbins chest as he wraps his arms around you holding you until your boyfriends came back. In the door walks a soaked Chan and Minho but they have exactly what you asked for.

"You're so damn lucky we love you." Minho grumbles as he shuts the door. He reminded you of a soaked cat.

"Here love." Chan says as you sit up in Changbins lap. "Again as your boyfriend I advise you not to eat them right now but you can go ahead if you want." Chan says and you feel bad but the urge to taste one overtakes it. You open it and bite into one. You finish it and you don't feel like puking your guts up.

The boys look at you in confusion considering that you had thrown up the chicken noodle soup earlier but currently were keeping down chocolate covered strawberries.

You offer them each one and they take it. Before long they're all gone. They all knew something was off at this point as Minho took the trash from you. "You feel better?" I.N. asks and you nod.

"Good." He says showing you his teeth with a smile.

Suddenly Minho comes into the living room. "Why are there tests in the trash?" Minho asks with an eyebrow raised at you.

"Tests?" Hyunjin replies back.

"What kind of tests?" Chan asks back to his younger boyfriend.

"Pregnancy tests." Minho says bluntly crossing his arms looking at you. All of the boys eyes fall on you.

You sigh as the boys wait for an answer. When you don't immediately answer Hyunjin speaks up. "Are they yours or Maria's?" Hyunjin asks you.

Your eyes meet his and you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding. "Mine." You say and the boys look at you in surprise.

"Are you messing with us right now? We're bring punked right?" Jisung asks you and gets a smack on the back of his head.

"After I had thrown up the chicken noodle soup Maria noticed that one of the cabinets was left open and noticed my stuff for my period. She asked me if I had period and I realized it's been a month. She called Yeosang and Seonghwa asked them to bring tests because I wasn't ready to tell you guys." You say looking down at the ground wanting to cry but a hand comes under your chin and makes you look up.

"It's okay love but why weren't you ready to tell us?" Changbin asks you and you shrug having no real answer.

"That's okay. What did the tests say?" Seungmin asks you and you let out another sigh.

"Positive. All 3." You say and the shocked faces return once again.

"You're pregnant?" Felix says mouth wide open in shock.

"I don't know for sure yet so we'll need to set up an appointment but yes." Suddenly you feel him picking you up and spinning you as he laughs. "You're pregnant." He shouts over and over and you can't help but laugh and feel dizzy. He puts you down and you stumble lightly.

Chan is quick to grab you and bring you into his arms. "Careful Lix. She's carrying our baby." Chan says holding you so you don't fall from the dizziness.

"Sorry. I'm just excited." Felix says smiling ear to ear.

You look over and you see Minhos hands covering his face as he sits on the couch. Chan lets go of you looking over at Minho. You make your way to him. "You okay?" You ask him and he looks up at you.

"Yeah. Just processing it." He says grabbing you and bringing you into his lap. He holds you against him and you lay your head on his chest.

"I love you so much. All of you." He says as you listen to his heartbeat.

"We love you too." You reply back. Minho sighs.

"There's no one else we'd rather have a baby with." Minho says letting you listen to his heartbeat.

"I hope not." You say laughing and Minho can't help but laugh at your joke too.

"I'm serious." He says after that. You nod against him.

You lift your head and look at the boys seeing Jisung pouting. "What's wrong with you Ji?" You ask him. You make grabby hands for him and Minho moves.

"Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Seungmin asks and you put a finger to your lips shushing him and he listens.

"Come here my baby." You tell him and he does exactly that. He goes up to you and you signal for him to sit in your lap. He whines embarrassed but does exactly that.

You wrap your hands around his waist and he rests his head in your neck clearly embarrassed. "What's wrong Ji?" You ask him and he sighs after getting over his embarrassment.

"Yeosang and Seonghwa knew before us." He says and it's muffled but you let out a slight laugh. "Don't laugh at me. I'm serious. Why did they get to know before us?" Jisung says looking at you now.

"They just happened to be here and they brought me the tests so of course I had to let them know. Plus I didn't technically tell them. Maria did." You say looking at him. He nods understanding but that doesn't make the pout leave his face. You kiss his lips and the pout leaves.

"You can get off her now. She's carrying our baby remember?" Seungmin says and Jisung gets to get off you but you keep your hands around his waist. "Stop being mean Minnie. Jisung is perfectly fine sitting on my lap it's not like he's pressing into my stomach." You tell him and he sighs.

"Not trying to. I'm just worried." He says coming up to you. You nod at his words as he kisses your forehead. "Don't be. I'm fine okay? Jisung sitting on my lap won't hurt me." You tell him intertwining your fingers together.

"Okay." He says and suddenly I.N. is on your other side.

"Who's going to the first appointment with you?" He asks and you shrug. His eyes light up. "Do you want to go with me Innie?" You ask him and he nods smiling.

You hear a whine come from Jisung. "You'll go with me to my next appointment okay?" You tell him and he nods.

"Do you want to find out which one of is the father? I mean I don't think it matters to us we're still going to love the baby and help you raise it all together." Hyunjin asks you.

"No. It doesn't matter much to me. Unless you guys would want to know?" You ask them. They all shake their heads.

"What do you hope it is?" Jisung asks to no one in particular.

"A girl. I want to dress her in the cutest little outfits. She'd look so cute." Felix says gushing over the baby.

"Well I want a boy. I also want to dress him in the cutest little outfits." Hyunjin says and you laugh.

"What about you Y/N?" Jisung asks you.

"I honestly don't care as long as they're healthy." You say and the boys nod at you smiling.

"Well whatever it is. We're happy as long as you are." Chan says kissing your lips.

"That's Chans way of saying he wants a boy." Jisung says but that earns him a pinch by Minho.

Chan rolls his eyes at his boyfriends antics. "If you're healthy and so is the baby I don't care." Minho says and you smile.

"I hope it's a boy." Jisung says excitedly and you laugh. "I can tell love." You say grabbing his hand bringing it to your lips to kiss.

Changbin leans against you. "A girl doesn't seem too bad." Changbin says happily.

"What about twins?" Seungmin says and you look at him rolling your eyes with a smile.

"You think we all can take care of 2 kids?" You tell him and he nods. "There's 9 of us. Of course we can." Seungmin says.

"I hope it's twins now." Jisung says and he brings a hand to your stomach.

"I'm not sure what you're expecting to feel because they're still growing." You tell him and he shrugs.

"Doesn't matter. You're having one or two of our babies." Jisung says happily.

I.N. grabs one of your hands. "I think a girl and a boy would be adorable." He says telling you.

"Even if it's only one we can always try again." Hyunjin says smiling mischievously and he gets hit on the back of his head.

"Do you only ever think about sex?" Minho asks him and Hyunjin pouts.

"Of course not. I was just saying." Hyunjin says and you kiss his lips.

"Maybe Jinnie." You tell him and he smiles.

"You need to get some sleep love. I'm sure you're still exhausted." Chan says and you nod.

"Yeah." You say and Jisung moves off of you.

You make your way to the room followed by the 8 boys who are watching your every step. This was going to be a difficult time but at least you had your 8 boyfriends.

Taglist: @queenmea604 @lolareadsimagines @tinyworld18 @liv302 @jinniespuppy @stephy-nicole13 @freyaniobe @chansbabygirlsstuff @jkookiejiminlvr @hyuneyeon @sirenthalia @nagadiluc @tenshimara @leeknowleeknow @boi-bi-ahaha @shltsnglggles @jfkedldndkd @tinystarsthing @armystay89 @baby-fairy-yas @haileybugulug @freckleboilix @im-sinking-in-mud @thatoneperson1911 @lmaouwu @greysweaters-blog @katrodriguez99 @3rachasninja @amararosesblog @1alesakura @m4gg13-g @vampcharxter @noellllslut @berryberrytan @junebug032 @jeonginwvr @jeongchaos @emyferra08 @stvrfir3 @feybin @mauvemelon @worcesheshestershiresauce @realrintaro @katsukis1wife @foliea @krishastumblernow @pretty-blkgirl @mrsseochangbin @cyberpunksunwoo @nobody3210

[ellieluvr420]

Eye for an Eye Pt.4

MASTERLIST (and information about Palestine) Please read!

SYNOPSIS: Your body yearned for the touch of your girlfriend, the warm embrace that calmed your mind but you couldn't give in, the anger you harboured for her at disappearing with her group for three months without any warning, explanation or even a mention of when she would be back stopped you in your tracks any time you got close to giving in. You loved Abby so much but looking at her made you sick, you couldn't push the feelings down no matter how much you craved for things to go back to what they once were. You hadn't planned this but the anguish in those green eyes mirrored yours and sucked you in before you could think twice about the repercussions of your actions. You made your bed when you made the deal with the auburn-haired stranger, eventually you'd have to lie in it.

I want to quickly stress that this is a darker fic and there will be a lot of darker, possibly triggering themes to do with mental health throughout so take that as a warning. I likely won't do warnings for each part because part of this fic for me is that you don't know what's going to happen until you read it so please do not read if you find graphic descriptions of mental illness and topics surrounding that triggering. But if you do read, thank you so much, this story is really important to me and I appreciate any interaction whatsoever!

Had this in my drafts and wasn’t gonna post until i finished chap 21 of friends?never but @moonspowder is holding their breath so had to get a move along 🤗

₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧    

You waited for Abby to fall asleep, it didn’t take long, she was clearly exhausted from the day of crying and grieving her beloved friends. You watched her sleep for a little while, imagining what it would look like when she wouldn’t wake again but you dragged yourself away to pack your backpack ready to go back to Ellie. You grimaced at the thought of seeing Ellie again, after your dramatic exit earlier you were sure you wouldn’t get a warm greeting but you didn’t care either way. You were going to make sure Nora died, not to see her. 

The walk there was tranquil, you heard a few screeches here and there but that was normal, it didn’t bother you, you had managed to sneak into the weapon armoury as its never got someone working it overnight and you were quite adept at picking locks so the added weight of your weapons and ammunition in your backpack acted as an anchor, comforting you and keeping you on this plane of existence instead of floating away into your mind like you had been all day. You had a rifle over your shoulder and Ellie’s switchblade in your hand, every time you looked down at it you smiled at the memory of pointing her own knife at her as you left earlier, it felt like you were mocking her and you liked it. 

You practically skipped up the steps of the fire escape, bounding in through the window gracefully and sauntering through to the stage where she was already sitting on one of the chairs in the front row waiting for you. You smirked at her as you made your way towards her where she scowled at you. 

“You’re a fucking bitch you know that?” She spat. 

“Well that’s not very nice.” 

“I specifically asked you not to tell Jesse and you tell him at the first opportunity. What the fuck was that for?” 

“Payback.” She rolls her eyes and stands, holding out her hand, you look at her puzzled until you remember the switchblade still firmly planted in your palm. You fold it back together and place it in your back pocket as you smile.  

“You’re being weird, what’s wrong with you?” 

“You don’t know what’s weird and what isn’t with me Ellie, you don’t know me so stop acting like you do ‘kay?” That didn’t help, stop being so defensive. She was right, this wasn’t you but if you had been you, you would’ve let her kill you before you agreed to hurt Abby, but you’re not you, and that’s the point. “I didn’t come here to chat so are you ready?” 

“Yep.” You turn on your heel and start walking back towards the window. 

“Jesse not joining us?” 

“No, he needs to rest his ankle and he’s not the biggest fan of you so it was best he stayed.” 

“Can’t imagine why he doesn’t like me.” You flash a coy grin over your shoulder and Ellie chuckles before she can even think to hold it in which makes her scowl in your direction even more. As you bend over to crawl through the window you feel Ellie’s fingers brush against your ass before a hand comes up and grabs your hip, holding you in place. You squirm and curse at her as her free hand dives into your pocket and retrieves her switchblade. You glare at her over your shoulder, and she sticks her tongue out at you. Childish. Even the subtle blush of her cheeks angered you as you made your way down the fire escape, her following closely behind. 

As you trailed along the dark paths of Seattle towards the park you planned to cut through, you wondered what could have happened if you had met Ellie before, under better circumstances. You know if you had met her before you had been ruined, darkened by the torment of love and hatred, you would have liked her, found her charming. Anything that you would’ve liked about her only drove you further from her, the thought of getting close to someone again, feeling for someone again, it made your blood run cold. You’d do whatever you had to do to keep your distance until everything was over. 

You reach a dead end that has you huffing as you notice the double doors slightly ajar to your right. “Fuck’s sake.” You mutter to yourself as Ellie comes to stand next to you. 

“What?” 

“Was hoping we wouldn’t have to cut through any buildings, but I guess I was wrong.” 

“No hold on a minute, if you can get me to the top of the wall I can pull you up.” You quirk an eyebrow at her, challenging her declaration, it wasn’t that you didn’t think she was strong, it was just a very high wall, it seemed like a long shot. 

“Well worth a try because these buildings are crawling with infected typically.” She nods and you walk to the wall, pressing your back against it and cupping your hands together.  

“You ready?” She checks as she puts her foot into your hands. 

“As I’ll ever be.” You nod and in sync she jumps up as you boost her and somehow she actually manages to grasp onto the top edge and pull herself up. It was impressive to watch, you hadn’t met anyone as adept as Abby until you met her. She lowers herself down and reaches an arm out to you. 

“Just jump and grab my hand and then don’t fucking let go okay?” 

“Yeah I got it.” You take a breath and leap as high as you can, the second you feel your hand in hers, you breathe a sigh of relief, she starts slowly pulling you up and the second you can you grab onto the ledge to help her for the last bit. Once you’re both over the wall she stands with her hands on her hips and a smug look on her face. “I swear if you say I told you so.” 

“I wasn’t gonna say a thing, you said it for me.” She smiles and you continue walking without looking to see if she followed but you know she has from the faint patter of her footsteps. 

The entrance to the park comes into view at the same time that you hear a high-pitched whistling. “The fuck is that?” Ellie whispers. 

“Scars. We’ll take it slow and just try and sneak around them okay, keep your head down and stay quiet.” 

“Yes ma’am.” You glare at her before creeping forward, this time checking she’s following. The whistles grew louder as you moved deeper into the forest until you heard a blood-curling scream, followed by begs and pleads from another WLF soldier. “What the fuck.” Ellie whispers next to you as you both see the soldiers strung up from trees, one with his organs dangling from his body and the other flailing about desperately as he screams and tries to bargain for his life. “Do you know them?” 

“Yeah I know the one they haven’t cut open yet. Daniel.” 

“Oh, sorry.” 

“Don’t be, I’m not.” She scoffs in disbelief at your bluntness as you keep moving until you hear the swish of an arrow cutting through air and the fleshy squelch of it landing in a body. You turn to see Ellie lying on the floor grunting as she yanks at the arrow. You immediately spot the scar heading straight for you and you lunge at her, digging your knife into her neck and yanking it out, her blood splattering over you, painting you skin red. Just more blood on your hands. It will all be over soon. You return to Ellie and kneel beside her. “Hey, hey, let me do it.” She nods and as you snap the arrow so you can pull it out easier, she gasps and squeezes your arm as she clamps her eyes shut. Her hand burns your skin, you needed to get this done quickly. 

“You better be right-handed.” You say trying to lighten the mood as you yank the arrow from her left shoulder, she whimpers slightly but as soon as it’s out, she breathes a sigh of relief. 

“Yeah I’m right-handed.” She watches as you pull your backpack off and retrieve a bandage from the front pocket. “You came prepared.” 

“I was actually planning to leave this time so yeah I did. Take your shirt off.” 

“Wh- why?” 

“So I can wrap this bandage around it. I’m not tryna cop a feel, relax. Just take your arm out of the shirt.” 

“Right.” She winces as she pulls her left arm from the shirt and you press the end of the bandage to the seeping wound before grabbing her hand and pressing it onto the hole firmly. You wrap the bandage round her shoulder and under her armpit as tight as you can before ripping it and tying it off then helping her back into her shirt. 

“You okay?” 

“Yeah but we need to keep moving.” You help her up and begin sprinting towards the exit of the park until you’re no longer surrounded by foliage, instead comforted by the urban forest that you found a lot easier to navigate.  

“See through those two buildings there, that’s the hospital. We’re not that far away now.” You were half telling yourself that and half telling her. It’s not like it would get easier the closer you got to the hospital, but the closer you got, the closer Nora was to meeting her demise. That’s why you were here. To make sure she died, that’s it. 

₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧   

 

The sound of ‘it was a good day’ by Ice Cube rang through the halls, one of yours and Abby’s favourite’s. You thought it was ironic, that particular song playing while Nora gets slaughtered, poetic almost. “There’s a door on the other side of the room, I’m gonna go round and make sure she can’t run through there. Just wait a couple minutes before you go in, yeah?” 

“You’re not coming in with me?” And let Nora blow yours and Abby’s relationship wide open? No, you were not going in there.  

“No, I’m gonna make sure no one comes and finds us. Why? You want a little company?” 

“You made your point.”  

“Make it hurt.” You mutter before walking off round the corner to go find the door. The song ringing through your ears causing a slideshow of memories with Abby to flash through your mind, you shake them away as the door comes into view, you press your ear to the door and as you hear Ellie’s voice inside you get to work barricading the door, you slam yourself into the large metal cabinet to scrape it across the floor until it’s firmly in front of the door. You moved slowly to make as little noise as possible, the music covering your plight well. You go back to pressing your ear against the door just as you hear Ellie’s disgruntled voice. 

“You fucking cunt- Agh!” A crash and then the handle shaking violently as Nora tries to make her escape, you can’t stop yourself from popping up in the glass pane of the door and smiling with a little wave and tilt of your head. She whispers your name as her face screws up before you disappear from the glass again leaving her and Ellie alone. You shouldn’t be enjoying this, you barely felt human anymore, it’s her fault, it’s their fault, it’s your own fault too but you’d fix that soon enough. You appear at the other door and glance through the window. Nora’s on the floor, unmoving as Ellie stands over her with a large metal pipe in her hand, the end dripping with crimson. You notice the tremor of the pipe, the rigid stance of Ellie as she stands over Nora, and then she thrashes the pipe down onto her, again and again. Was this what Ellie had witnessed when she found you at Hillcrest? You needed to get moving so you enter the room quietly and as she lifts the pipe again you grab it and yank it out of her hand. She spins to face you and you feel like she might kill you there and then for stopping her. “You got her. We gotta go.” She nods and lets you lead her out of the room, and out of the hospital into the cool night air. She doesn’t speak, she doesn’t move without a nudge from you, she doesn’t notice when a runner creeps up on her from behind until you’re ripping it off of her, throwing it to the ground and stomping its head into the cement underneath you. If you don’t sort her out soon, she’d get you both killed so you drag her into a nearby house, sitting her down on the sofa before checking it’s clear and securing the doors and windows then returning to her. “Ellie, I need you to focus. We need to get back to the theatre, so I need you to focus.” 

“I- I shouldn’t have done that.” 

“Why?” 

“I should’ve just killed her. I’m as bad as them. I made it hurt.” She looked up at you and suddenly that familiar feeling you thought you were free from comes rushing back like it had never left. Guilt was crushing, it was worse than any physical pain you could ever describe. Your whole body ached and twinged as every nerve felt like it was on fire. You crouched down to make her look at you, attempting to distract yourself from your own inner turmoil with hers.  

“Ellie, look at me.” Her eyes flick up to yours as you cup her cheeks with your hands. “She fucking deserved it, they all deserve it. You’re gonna do this and you’re gonna go back home and forget about this place and everything in it. You’re gonna go be happy with your girlfriend and your friends and you’re gonna move on but you have to make it out of here alive first, so I need you to focus.” She doesn’t say anything, she just mirrors your own hands as she cups your cheeks, your skin burns.  

“I don’t know how to be happy anymore, I don’t think I can go back to the life I had before all of this.” She leans in and your eyes widen as you put a hand on her chest. 

“Ellie, don’t do this to yourself. Dina is what you need.” 

“I don’t know how to be what she needs.” She leans in again and you can’t shake the feeling you’re taking advantage of her, she’s vulnerable, she’s grieving, you can’t do this.  

“Ellie, you don’t want this. You’re confused, this would be a mistake that you’ll regret every day. Think about Dina.” 

“She doesn’t look at me the same anymore, Jesse doesn’t other, they don’t get it. You do. Please, I know what I need, I need this. I need to feel real, like I’m not just a heartless killer, I know you understand that.” Fuck, she’s right. You know it’s wrong, everything’s wrong, she’s not Abby but in your eyes, Abby isn’t Abby anymore. She changed and she changed you with her. Why did cheating feel so wrong when you were fantasising and planning on killing her? Why did you feel bad for a girl you hadn’t even seen? Everything you were doing was driving you further into that bottomless black pit that you’d never escape from. It was pointless trying to fight the darkness slowly squeezing the life out of you, so why are you still trying? It would all go away soon so why fight it? You started all of this because the hurt they had enacted on you caused a large gaping abscess to form where your heart used to be but now, now you had lost control, blinded by your rage, by your bloodlust. She was right, you needed to feel real, just once more before it all ends, before everything catches up to you, it would sooner or later, catch up to you. You just needed to feel real. 

You sighed and looked into her eyes before nodding gently and leaning towards her, closing the already small gap between you both. Your lips pressed together, cautiously at first, her hands moving down to your hips and squeezing tentatively. This wasn’t right, you half expected to see a monster looking back at you next time you looked in a mirror, how could a broken heart do this much damage? Were you overreacting? Were you like this all along and Abby just gave you an excuse to show your true colours? You just needed comfort, affection, from someone who hadn’t set your heart on fire and stomped it into the ground. You just needed some comfort. 

Ellie sucked your tongue into her mouth as you straddled her hips, desperation seeping through your pores as you latched onto her hair and yanked her head back to give you access to her neck, you pecked at the skin just below her ear and as you went to suck you had to stop yourself, you couldn’t leave any traces of your evil on her pale skin. Her hands squeezed at your thighs as she nudged your cheek with her nose to get you to face her once again. The air was dense, it was clogging your throat, any time you pulled away you felt like the air was sucked out of you and your body was being crushed. You couldn’t take it, you couldn’t understand how it made you feel so much more immoral than anything you had done over the past few days, yet it still made you feel alive for the first time in months. 

Ellie could barely think, barely function, all she could focus on was your lips on hers as her hands roamed your body. Any time Dina would pop into her mind she’d just press herself further into you, it blocked everything else out. How could she go back to her normal life, after everything, after you? She knew you didn’t feel the same way, she could tell, this was just a necessity to you, a distraction, but to her, it was everything, it was like you were letting her be the version of her that rose from the ashes of Joel’s death, not trapping her in a cage of who she used to be.  

“I’m sorry Ellie, I’m so, so sorry.” Your voice was cracking and trembling as you spoke but when you opened your eyes to see hers still closed, no reaction to what you had said, the panic set in. Not again. “I’m sorry Ellie, please hear me, I’m sorry, I’ve ruined you too. I’m sorry.” You were practically screaming as tears rolled down your cheeks. This time her eyes snapped open again but they were only filled with lust, something else that you couldn’t decipher but you didn’t want to. 

“I needed this too, thank you.” She breathed out and your stomach churned, your hand immediately going to your cheek to feel that it was completely dry, you heaved at the feeling and jumped off of her, you’ve lost it, you’re barely connected to your body anymore, some outside force controlling it.  

Her eyes went glassy as her jaw dropped open slightly at your sudden change in demeanour. “Did I do something wrong?” Her voice was small, shameful as she averted her eyes from your manic ones. 

“No I- I heard something, we need to move, we’re too close to the hospital.” 

“Oh... okay.” She looked like a beaten puppy as she stood and grabbed her backpack, wincing at the pain in her shoulder. You tore your eyes away from her to look out the window and make sure it was safe to leave before turning back to her and taking in her features, her hair messy and tangled, her cheeks blushed, and her lips parted as her chest rose and fell heavily. You stared as she stared back until you took a breath and went to reach for the doorhandle, but it wasn’t there. Instead, your fingers found the bottom of the window that you had left ajar upon your exit of the theatre. You snapped your head towards it and screeched as you yanked it upwards and threw yourself through the opening. You turned back and you felt your body go cold as Abby was standing behind you, climbing through the window with eyes so dark you thought they were black. The blue was no longer there, replaced by inky darkness that matched the background, the theatre seeping away from your vision and leaving only you and her. You screamed and cried as she inched closer to you, you tried to scramble away but she snatched your ankle back towards her and climbed on top of you, squeezing your chin as her eyes stared into your soul and sucked it out of you. Your whole body tingled before going numb as a single tear rolled down your cheek at the sick grin that twisted her lips upwards mocked you. 

“Hey, come on, wake up, fuck please wake up, what the fuck?” Ellie’s voice boomed through your head, light blinded you as you used every ounce of strength in you to open your eyes only to come face to face with Ellie peering over you. “What the fuck was that? You just passed out as you went through the window.” 

“S-sorry, I- I dunno what happened.” 

“What do you mean you don’t know?” 

“I mean I don’t fucking know.” You could never tell her what you had seen, what was happening to you, you couldn’t even begin to verbalise it. You sat up and surveyed your surroundings, you were at the theatre, you had blacked out for at least an hour, best case. You needed to fix this, you needed to get home before Abby wakes up.  

“Are you okay? Let me help you up.” She goes to lift you up but you smack her hands away, you didn’t know why you were agitated but you were, you needed her not to touch you or look at you or breathe near you because your skin was itching and you felt like you were a bomb seconds away from exploding. 

“I got it, I’m fine, okay? I’m probably just over-tired.” You walk away from her and disappear through the curtains as she follows you down to the chairs where you dropped your backpack and began pacing. She sat beside the backpack and pulled her arm out of her grey t-shirt once again to look at the bandages that were now stained red and leaking onto the hand she pressed on the wound. 

“I don’t suppose you’ve got anymore bandages you wouldn’t mind sharing.” 

“Yeah, front pocket of my backpack.” You would’ve got them for her but you couldn’t stand still right now, you needed to keep moving as you begged for the memory of the journey from the hospital to the theatre to return to you but there was not even a second of it you could remember. 

Ellie watched you for a second before going to the front pocket of your backpack and routing around it. Her hands brushed over something thin and smooth, a piece of paper but not like the paper in her journal, like film almost. She knew she shouldn’t snoop but you didn’t seem like the type to share and she just wanted to know more about you so she flipped the polaroid over to look at the picture and the sight made bile rise to her throat as she clutched it and brought it closer to her face. You were completely unaware of her actions as your back was turned to her mostly but her eyes still flicked between you and the polaroid. “What the fuck is this?” She spat as she stood and stormed over to you. 

“Hm?” You turned and immediately a polaroid fluttered at you, landing on the floor at your feet. Your hand shook as you picked it up and realised what she was talking about. The polaroid was of you and Abby, her kissing your cheek and you beaming at the camera, with ‘my love’ written in sharpie on the thick white border. “I- Ellie...” You whispered as you refused to look up at her. 

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?” Her hands thrust you backwards sending you stumbling as she reaches behind her jeans and yanks her pistol out, aiming it right at your heart. You don’t move, you don’t look away, you just stare back at her eyes that were fiery with rage as her lips sneered at you. 

tags: @emiliabby @liasxeatt @kawaiibreadbouquet-blog @tphmnv@a-little-bit-of-everybody@chrry1ovr

[vyuntspakhkite-l-darling]

. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ Writeblr intro

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Hello! My name is Vyuntspakhkite, I go by Vyunt. My pronouns are he/it. I'm a writer and an artist :3

I'm a minor! I don't mind interacting with people who are 18+ but please don't interact if you're an exclusively NSFW blog.

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I've always really liked to write stories and I've wanted to make a proper book since forever, but I have a bad habit of getting distracted by new ideas and abandoning my old ones before I can finish them. I'm determined to see this one through, though, as I have big plans for the world I've created and need a solid starting point.

I'm new to Tumblr and a little shy, but I do love talking to people! If you're interested in anything I do, feel free to reach out with a DM and we can chat! Seriously, getting messages makes my day 100x better :3

When it comes to reading, I'm open to just about any genre (feel free to hit me with recommendations!), though I almost exclusively write fantasy. Many of my characters are LGBTQ+, mentally ill, or both. My writing tends to get dark and gory at times, but I do my best to properly tag and warn if anything I post might be triggering.

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Current WIP: Biting the Bullet - early drafting stage Biting the Bullet is a fantasy military story, centering around a group of soldiers as they fight for independence from the oppresive Kristalyan Empire. Arsioly and his fireteam constantly have their worldviews challenged as they slowly realize that war may be less about honor and justice than they thought. Posts about this book are tagged with #biting the bullet vld

List of BtB snippets I've posted (in vague chronological order): Prologue Are you scared? Hate, hate, hate My family has some Selvesh blood... The refugee Heads up, seven up Was I as good as the others?

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[fic-heaven]

Enemies to lovers with König and witty reader? I don't know if you also write about him so imma leave this here

Answering two anons at the same time lmao

Say my name (König x witty! Reader)

Pt.2 now!

🐥 The first time König appeared on my drafts was when I was making my last Reyes x Reader fic and um... I kind of wanted to keep doing lmao so here it is. Sorry for my broken English-

Angst/ SOCIAL ANXIETY/ slight nsfw/ open ending (if you guys want a part two and this short gets some attention)

⚠️ I still picture König as Lee Pace ⚠️

.

They say you transfered from SpecGru to KorTac because you simply wanted a change of airs. But it couldn't be that simple. Why were you so simple?

As antisocial as he seemed to be, König was well aware that a bond between teammates was needed in order to sync and function properly during missions. He wasn't the best at striking up conversations and never intended to improve on this aspect either, often trying to figure people out from the distance, he only approached them if he had questions about their character. Horangi once said it was weird but König frankly didn't care about what was socially accepted or not, he just made the effort to know his team because it was expected of him, and as great as it would be to have friends, he struggled socializing and had given up trying ages ago. König was paid to kill, not to make friends. And as far as his interactions went with his teammates, the only one who gets his game and could be considered his friend is Horangi. But you?

He had tried to investigate you, even going as far as using his position as colonel to gather as much information from your background to understand you without having to make any awkward approach. But nothing he found explained why you changed factions or why you behaved the way you did. You had a normal childhood, went to a good school, graduated being top of your class... Jesus you had a rabbit called Mr. Whiskers, even the most personal info given was borely normal. No trace of trauma or any mental disorder.

König begun studying you like a biologist would to a newfound species and got more and more invested and frustrated the more information he gathered, because he simply couldn't excuse your... Well, your everything.

He approaches you one time during morning drills, looks you up and down as you stretched, ignores the flirty comment you shot his way, because what the fuck is your problem? You don't know him. Then König proceeded to mouth the first thing he ever said to you, one of the main questions he had on his head as to why you would behave so strangely. And it goes like this: "Do you have any mental illness, hm?"

"I might have, yeah."

And you said it so casually. Do you, though? Are you being sarcastic or... God he hates you. Why can't he figure you out!? Why do you smile at him so much? Why do you flirt so much with him? Do you flirt with the others the way you do with him?

That new question made him observe your body language around others and listen carefully to any interaction you had and found nothing but your enchanting witty self. Of course you teased other members, but never so bluntly like the way you flirt with him. The colonel felt weirdly relieved at this. Maybe he liked the attention given? Scratch that, or course not!

One time after a tiring mission in Barcelona, Spain, König approached you with a bottle of water, you thanked him with a wink and he watched you swallow the whole thing before he proceeded to ask you the second question that plagued his mind: "Do you perhaps hide some secret trauma that permanently changed your behaviour, using sarcasm, smirks and jokes to protect your scared inner child in order to not get hurt again?"

"Hmmm... The day I found out my mother was Santa Claus I went bananas, but I wouldn't say it scarred me for life. Do ya want an M&M, colonel?"

He fucking hates you. He hates you. König aggressively snatched a handful of M&M's and stormed away. That night he swore he could hear your laugh echoing inside his head. Why couldn't you leave his fucking mind? What was it with you? Were you doing it on purpose?

_____

You were definitely doing it on purpose.

You have to be patient with König. But he was so hilarious and scary, it thrilled you to watch the two meter tall behemoth of a man walk near you and sneak watchful, calculated glances your way when he thought you weren't looking. If someone dared to ask, you'd easily answer with the honesty everyone knew you posses: You'd fuck König without a thought.

He's so feral in battle, so demanding and intimidating on the comms. His ridiculous voice made him all the more adorable contrasting with his appearance. Oh fuck that. Even his appearance was ridiculous, he looked like the red guy from that creepy show called "Don't hug me, I'm scared" or one of those executioners from the Shrek movie. But he was HOT, with that slutty waist accentuated by his bulky back, those long slender arms that could lift anything on his way, you saw him lift a fucking car a few inches so an injured woman could scape, and as she cried of relief you could feel your pussy crying as well at the sight. And oh his hands... The way he used them, so elegantly but rough, they'd make a beautiful necklace. His voice, as unfitting as it sounded coming from this KorTac monster, made you itch to hear more, his accent was so attractive that it quickly made you addicted to sound of it and your brain pondered on how he'd sound while doing other things. Lucky you, when the stars aligned and you two coincided in the gym you made sure to be close enough to hear the quiet grunts and sighs from the colonel as he trained, to your surprise he never moved away as if he knew what you were doing and thought nothing much of it. Safe to say, you'd gladly eat whatever interaction König graced you with with a speck of salt.

Though, when you begun paying attention to the details (because it was hard to guess his deal without seeing his face) You noticed a few hints about the colonel that indicated he had a severe case of social anxiety. The way he self isolated, how he forced himself to interact with people resulting in very awkward conversations that led to him coming up as rude to what he got frustrated and scaped the situation, how he loved his job because you were convinced that he thought he was only good at killing.

That made you wonder if he had other hobbies... It's funny to imagine a tall, muscly guy like him baking or making origamis.

______

Today you saw the ultimate sign that your big crush wasn't a people's person.

You two were on a meeting with some other KorTac members. König was peeling an apple and had finished it rather quickly as all of you spoke, but he spent ten minutes with the carcass of the fruit slowly browning and drying on his hand, so you decided to test your theory by walking to the near trashcan to throw a random paper you crumbled quickly, after a few seconds König abruptly stood up to throw the dried fruit remnant, the tall Austrian glanced your way before he sat again and kept to himself.

Okay, so judging by this and how stiff he looks, König doesn't know exactly what to do with his body around people, he needed an excuse to stand up and throw the finished apple so he waited for anyone to use the trashcan to go after, BUT he waited a few seconds to stand so he wouldn't look like he was waiting. Must be stressful to be on his shoes. Interesting, but maybe you were overthinking too much, so you decided to do a final test that would definitely tell you if what you thought was right. You didn't want to come to this unless it was really necessary... But you'll probably have to apologize later.

You directed all the attention to König by asking a number of things, (obviously work related) that caught the attention of everyone in the room taking the poor colonel by surprise, his cristal blue eyes widened for a minute before he composed himself answering everything you asked with a professional tone until you spotted the tremble on his hands, poor König noticed your attention drift to his hands so he slid them under the table. That's how you knew it. He couldn't handle being the center of attention for prolonged amounts of time. Your poor baby...

You gave him a sympathetic look that again took him by surprise, but by that time König had called the meeting over, gathered his things and walked out before you could approach him.

Damn you and your stupidly beautiful voice and worried eyes trying to comfort him discreetly.

Gloved hands fidgeted with the bracelet on his wrist. König remembers the little girl who gifted him said thing. The day him and his team rescued her and some other orphans from a building about to explode, the worried colonel spent a few minutes comforting the little girl until she pulled the orange bracelet from her small SpongeBob backpack, he chuckled at the gesture and had never taken it off since. They even shared some letters from time to time, he held a piece of little Astrid in the form of a cute bracelet and she held a piece of him in the form of sweet spoken letters.

König saw her kind eyes in yours and it squeezed his heart so much he felt suffocated. Why would a teasing little vixen like you have such kind, gorgeous eyes? It was weirdly comforting that someone would look at him so softly like he wasn't a monster for once after so long.

His heart begun beating faster, his head was so full of questions about you it infuriated him. Long legs carried the colonel to the gym absentmindedly, like his body craved to ease some tension, but at the last minute he turned to the left corridor further from the gym, went to the right and finally approached the shooting range's door.

"Scheibe..." König cursed lowly, he could have very well bursted the door out of it's hinges, his gloved hand (still a bit shaky) took his favorite riffle from the top right corner of the shelf while he shot a backward kick to push the metallic door closed. He spent fourteen minutes shooting targets while mauling at your last interaction, rage swirled his insides and yet he couldn't fully hate you for asking questions, after all it was work-related, and the last soft gaze you gave him spoke volumes that you didn't want to advert all the attention to him out of malice. König was reloading his sniper rifle when he heard a gentle thud indicating someone had entered the room.

"You'd make an amazing sniper." You spoke softly trying not to startle the tense man.

"You come to mock me? Laugh all you like. I'm well aware I'm too huge to be a sniper." He spoke in resentment over his shoulder before redirecting his focused gaze to the target ahead.

"I always say size doesn't matter! As long as you know how to handle your weapon, you'll make any girl blush."

Your dark humour takes König by surprise and he misses the dummy's head, he tries to hold back the chuckle that threatened to spill from his hidden lips. Luckily the shirt he wore as a mask shielded his face enough to make it look like he was holding in a cough or a sneeze but you weren't stupid. When he turns to face you placing the riffle to the near table he gets startled by how close you are, the smirk accompanying your lips as you weaseled close to his very sacred personal space made him curse lowly in his mother's tongue. The tall Austrian stepped back and you rose your hands in mocking defeat.

"Alright, I get it, personal space. Jus' wanted to hear ya laugh..."

"I didn't." He hisses.

"Didn't ya? I thought I heard it, must have been the wind."

Your sarcasm often infuriated König who never seemed to get a good grip on his English, so it was hard for him to detect when you were being serious or just pulling his leg. His hands flex on his sides, tiny waist move side to side as he balances his weight before he crosses his arms and leans his back to the wall. König raises a brow when your smirk morphed into a sincere apologetic smile as you admired his stance six feet apart from him.

"I'm sorry for what happened back there." You said honestly, he sucked in a breath. "Didn't want t' put ya on the spot."

The Colonel's cerulean eyes widen before lowering his gaze to your tank top blinking rapidly. It was easier to listen if he wasn't looking directly at your eyes.

"König..." Your voice was honey making shivers run up his spine and his skin erupt in goosebumps, his hands trembled even when he fisted them on his crossed stance. "Why don't we start again? Call me paranoid, but I feel like there's tension between us and not the type I'd like."

König wasn't shy, he wasn't, but that last line of yours made him feel like it, and it wasn't an ugly feeling? But it was a little uncomfortable, foreign, it squeezed his heart in a weird way, his hands were clammy, he felt strangely light like if it wasn't for his tapping foot on the floor he'd float away. König understood what you were saying and it comforted him that you were on the same page, the weird unsteadiness between the two of you becoming rather unbearable and a constant topic on both your minds, it was relieving that you thought the same way. Suddenly the ugly, unexcused anger he had for you quieted down.

The colonel lifted his hand your way offering you a handshake you took with mirth.

"I'm colonel König. Y-you are...?"

"Goddamn. Ain't your parents bit' egotistical? Namin' their baby boy 'king' in german." You say with a snicker shaking his hand. He takes it back abruptly but you don't flinch. "I'm Sargeant (c/n). My name is (y/n) (l/n). Is König the name written on your birth certificate or were you called somethin' else?" You press teasingly but wary and a bit nervous thinking you were pushing too far.

König is taken aback by this. When was the last time someone had asked the colonel his name?

"I am..." It tasted foreign on his tongue, like he had forgotten the sound of it, the taste of his own name on his tongue. "My name is Andreas Dobler." He said, his eyes meeting yours. "That's... That's my name." His name wasn't König, he remembers the man he left behind all those years back, the man under the dark cloak, before things went to shit, before becoming colonel König.

"Andreas. What a curious name, never heard of it-"

"Say my name again." König interrupts. His voice weak but demanding and desperate. He loved it. He loved the sound of his name on your lips. It was strange, sweet... Arousing, even.

You blinked angling your head up to take a better look at his half-lid eyes. This time König didn't look away, your eyes met and suddenly the ugly tension from before was morphing into another type of tension, your heart beats faster in sync with his. You didn't know you were getting closer until König placed a hand on your waist and then the other, not pushing, not pulling, he simply laid them there and it came so naturally, your playful smile wavered slightly as your hands landed on his shoulders, he shivers. You tilted your head to the side and he was so lost in you, your aroma, your eyes, your lips, your touch, he didn't realize he was returning the head tilt.

Your lips parted, pink tongue darting to hydrate your dry lips until your pearls were visible from the gap, and his eyes catch every movement your mouth makes when you whisper "Andreas."

"Again."

"Andreas-"

"Again..."

"...Andreas..." Your hands slowly move to his chest, his breath hitches. His name has never sounded so sensual whispered by anyone's mouth. You were... You...

"You..." He isn't sure what to say. You are not sure either, suddenly your wit has abandoned you it seems. "You intrigue me." He decides to huff out, accent heavily pronounced.

There's a thousand thoughts swirling on König's mind, he has shared his name but it suddenly didn't feel enough, he wanted to show you who he was, his past, his thoughts, his hopes and dreams, even his face. How can a simple woman like you make König feel so much? Because you were no simple woman. That's why when he felt your small hands slide up his chest to the hem of the shirt that composed his mask, König didn't tense up, in fact, his shoulders relaxed embracing the touch of your fingers gently feeling his neck under the cloth, his stubble, his chin, his high cheeks... Gloved hands grab your wrists.

You stop, still looking up at him noticing the heaving of his chest and how lost in awe his gaze seemed.

"Not yet?"

"I-i... Do not..." Mind. He didn't want to refuse your touch but at the same time it was so overwhelming.

You give a small nod, König lets go of your wrists and you take this opportunity to nuzzle his cheeks, he gasps landing his hands on your waist once more, squeezing the flesh over your tank top. The feeling of your fingers on his face was so foreign it felt like you were touching a piece of his soul.

"Don't you worry, darling..." König lets out a small whimper at this. "I'm rushing things ain' I? We were just getting on the first name basis and I had to screw it all..." You wanted to sound apologetic, you promise, but it was so hard when your colonel was practically purring at the feeling of your soft hands scratching his stubble. König was putty on your hands, he has never felt this way. His cheeks burn in embarrassment, he tries to move back but remembers he's already against the wall, and you, a small thing like you have him cornered like a honey badger hunting a mountain lion. His lip wobbles and he tilts his head to the side as he feels your hands massage and explore his neck and jaw in long, gentle motions. The pads of your fingers gracing every inch of his neck muscles.

"Shy lil' thing... Aren't you pretty hiding under there? Maybe you are too beautiful to allow anyone the pleasure of a simple look. Like a sweet Ferrero Roche firmly wrapped and ready to be eaten." You whisper, voice raspy before you chuckle when his Adam's apple bobs with a swallow. Your body is now pressed compleatly against his, your dear colonel's hands tremble on your sides as he fists your tank top. He's nervous, he's shy, but you know he is enjoying this judging by the way his teary, half-lid eyes blink slowly every time you feel and scratch a new inch of skin.

"...Sag bitte mehr, ich flehe dich an..." (Say more please, I beg you.) König moans out, his german accent sounding strong masking how weak he was feeling at the moment.

He loved your voice, your touch... Your everything. The colonel ran his fingers on your lower back encouraging to continue, meanwhile he very slowly tilted his head higher allowing you more space on his neck to massage and scratch. You chuckle darkly feeling his member poking at your belly, your body instantly pressing harder against his cornered torso.

"You like the sound of my voice, colonel?" You humm, he makes a small noise. "Andreas...?"

His shoulders shake with the force of his shiver, nails digging deliciously on your lower back, you chuckle delighted at the sight tilting his chin to the other side to feel his nape, his ear and some locks of hair. "ich begehre dich..." The Austrian groans, his member now fully erect twitched delighted by the delicious pressure of your torso against it and your soft ministrations to his neck.

Both your radios churr alive until a voice breaks the static, a random operator checking on the comms. König almost knocks you over with how fast he straightened his back and the way his strong grip held you back, his chest heaving fast, eyes wide and vulnerable. You take the opportunity to grab him by the hem of the shirt he uses as a mask.

"Wait-..."

König freezes when he feels cold air hit the heated skin from his neck. You had lifted a portion of the cloth revealing the part you were previously massaging, caressing and scratching just under his chin, careful not to reveal his face. His head moves up to the side trying to hide from your touch, his hands shoot backwards planting on the wall as if a force had taken them from the previous grip he had on you. In truth he was afraid he'd crush your waist.

"I hope you can forgive me colonel... Can't help it..."

There's a long gash on his neck, a very old scar that seemed to be product of a knife fight or even a bullet, it's crocked and it goes up probably to his right ear. You lean close on tiptoes because he couldn't crouch due to how shocked he still felt, and you planted your wet lips on the surface of the sensitive scar. König's throat rumbles with a groan, his powerful hands finally make the move to take you, to cage your body impossible closer to his. A hard roll of his hips make him gasp in relief and you loudly huff when he twirls you to where he was previously caged, his hands soon making small effort to lift you up, both legs wrapped around his waist and he THRUSTS stabbing your cargo pants. You are still kissing, licking and nibbling his neck, your hands explore the long bulky surface of his back, König moans delighted at one particular bite until-

"Oh. Shit."

König turned his head back so fast you are sure it made his neck rotatory, two pairs of eyes look in shock at Horangi who is standing there holding the rifle König had previously left before all of this happened. Your colonel was frozen in embarrassment his shaking hands still held you up and his boner was no longer stabbing you, the thing died at the speed of light when the Korean made presence.

"Jesus Christ. You gonna keep staring or you wanna join us, tiger?"

König snaps his head back at you comically fast, icy eyes glare in surprise, horror and astonishment.

"As fun as that sounds I'll leave you two to your games... 'sides, I don't think you'll be able to handle König alone, imagine the two of us. We'd ruin you." The Korean's response made you laugh enchanted by his wit, he walked out the door in quick strides leaving you two alone once more.

König huffs glaring at the wall behind you. The sudden unwelcome presence of his friend seemed to had robbed the magic from the moment. Your Colonel's body shagged slowly lowering your body, and the moment your heels touched the ground his head leaned down falling to the crock of your neck, the feeling of the warm cloth of his mask made you humm. He kissed your clavicle over his mask and you ran your hands to his shoulders until König slowly retrieved.

He took two steps back, with a very noticeable defeated look.

"Hey. We can keep going whenever yer up to. Don't look at me like that, sweet thing." Your voice carried a playfulness that comforted him from the sudden feeling of defeat. Though it did nothing to help the disappointment.

König couldn't meet your eyes, his voice was shaky "I'm just not like this-..."

"Andreas-"

"DON'T -...!" He barked, startling you both.

It was too much, too sudden, too weird, too suffocating. He liked it at first but... König couldn't put into words what he was feeling right now. He hated that the moment was cut short, he hated that he felt like it was his fault and he hated the way you are looking at him with so much concern like when you two were at the meeting.

"Verzeihen Sie mir." He muttered giving you a final short glance before he rushed out of the place leaving the door open and your startled self still leaning on the wall.

You recognized those words even if you didn't know much of German.

"Forgive me." You translated in a whisper.

Will you?

[ghostcrows]

We just are not ready yet to switch to a harm reduction frame of mind like the constant back and forth of whether mental illness is "an excuse" or not really proves that. Like there is such a need still for someone to be innocent and someone to be guilty and therefore for somebody to be good and somebody to be bad. How can any conflict ever be resolved under that lens. I dont know. This deeply frustrates me. How can you go back to "this is your personal responsibility alone" when you also talk about how individualism is a farce and how systemic and rooted these problems are on Top of the biological components. Which Is still not to say "mentally ill people can never ever hurt anyone on purpose and since it was by accident you have to forgive them immediately" but it's also not to say, y'know. "Just get a therapist and take your medicine and shut up and stop being a bad person of your own volition"

It's like, we forget, the apology and the forgiveness are between the people in the conflict first and foremost, and it's about how they deal with it, not whether we think one person or the other is more justified. Everything is not an Am I The Asshole post you know

We have made this like. Torturous spectacle of the act of apology and remediation and accountability where it feels like every word has to be so calculated. Because if it's not, like. You aren't doing it right and you don't really mean it and you're not really sorry. Don't explain too much or too little, don't talk about yourself too much or too little, don't say the words "I'm sorry" too much or too little, if a disorder was involved in your behavior don't bring it up because it isn't relevant

Goddamn I meant to draft this but ok

Yeah I didn't finish my thought but this stuff just makes my head spin

[the-s1lly-corner]

Hi. Can I request something similar to the immortals outliving you? Could it be with the rest of the characters and us passing from other causes?

Their reactions to losing you

I wasnt sure if you wanted the immortals as well, so I added them in here as well!

This is all written in one go since tumblr doesnt let me save drafts for asks so I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes <\3 it's like 1am rn

CONTENT WARNINGS, idk what all needs a warning but I'd rather play it VERY safe:

M*rder

M*rder revenge, almost all of them touch on it tbh, love me the revenge trope

Snorts^

D3ath, obviously

Grief and the general hurt that comes with it

In EJs case he sees your death first hand

Does violently slamming yourself around count as SH /genq, because if so that's vagued in EJs part as well

Maskys handles a hit and run but its vague

Masky also hints to a smoking addiction

Nonspecific illness in hoodies part

Slenderman;

I remember that I mentioned this for Slendermans part, but I had an idea that he already accepted that fact that you wouldn't last forever

But I don't remember if I mentioned/vagued the idea of how he'd react to you're life being forcibly cut short

Accepting the fact you'll eventually pass away does nothing when he finds out someone else was responsible for your sudden end

All that comes out is a cold rage, something that the creature hasn't experienced in a long time

Writing this, it makes me remember that clip from the first episode of castlevania where dracula appears in the fire in episode one, after they kill his wife

But instead of carelessly showing himself to the world in a fit of rage, he fiercely protects everything that you touched; his forest, your home, your grave, ect

But despite the rage he doesnt immediately take down the person who caused this

Nonono, he does what he does best; he chips away at the person's mind through stalking and paranoia, essentially tormenting them for.. god knows how long until he gets bored

When he does decide hes through with them he'll make sure their... death... is drawn out

Basically don't meddle in the life of a forest monster; he may be a very... passionate.. lover

Splendorman;

Incredibly similar to the other version of this post where he naturally outlives you

But if you pass unnaturally, he'd be even more torn up about it

His time with you was already going to be short to begin with, but it was cut down even shorter

Doesnt matter the cause; murder, illness, accident, ect.. he'll be just as broken up

There's no real significant changes; he still mourns and honors you the same way for the most part

Laughing Jack;

It was an accident; one day you were there and the next, gone

He would stay in the house for a few days, not even knowing what was going on

At first he'd be worried and confused, before those feelings would deepen into something debilitating

He'd probably eventually find out through the news, after turning on the tv to pass the time and fill the silence

His worry immediately morphs into ice cold; he could feel his heart drop

He'd throw caution to the wind and try to track down whoever did he

He doesnt care if it was an accident, he wants justice and compensation

He follows a similar route as slenderman; the only thing is, is that jack lacks the patience to draw it out

After everything is said and done he's beside himself; avenging you didnt bring him back and it hardly made him feel better

He likely just. Goes back to what he was doing before he met you; drifting from house to house and causing havoc; but now he carries a melancholic aura

Eyeless Jack;

Another story of revenge, but with a twist so his part isnt too similar to LJ and slenders

So I'll be using the idea I should've given slenderman (but I'm too stubborn to rewrite his part)

Like Slenderman, Jack is seen as a cryptid and thus, there are naturally going to be people trying to hunt him down. Especially considering before he was a cursed monster he was a normal dude who got caught up in a whole... thing... and who's body was obviously never found as it still walks

Jack is.. semi used to that; but one day he completely catches him off guard, and what's worse is that you were there when it happened

It was a group, too, usually they come in two; but there were more that day. If it were less Jack could have easily put a stop to it all

It escalated

You had tried to step in to help him, to buy him some time so he could run; but it all went wrong

I don't like going into detail about this kind of thing, so this will be up to interpretation

The whole thing flings him into a rage and he makes quick work of the remaining hunters, but it's all too late

Even if he wasn't, how could he help? He cant just leave the woods and dump you at a hospital... but he doesnt have the supplies to help you then and there... and even if he did you were both much too far away from the cabin

It just leaves him helplessly trying to stop the bleeding

He hardly ever leaves the woods after that; not even to eat

He's resorted to.. rather violently subduing the monstrous side of him that craves flesh

There's broken furniture everywhere

He blames himself

He should have had you stay in the cabin

He should have told you to run

He should have told you to hide

He should've...

The worst thing is that he begins to believe that it was his fault; afterall he let you out of his sight when he began fighting. Even worse, and perhaps stupidly, he believed this wouldn't have happened if he never met you

Its

Rough

Masky;

He just sits there, quietly

Be it shock or something else he just sits there

But his mind is going a mile a minute to try to figure out what exactly happened to you

You were.. in a wreck, and the other person just. Fled.

As feral as I tend to write and interpret masky, he can be thorough when it comes to investigating

Though I'm torn in whether or not he'd actually be able to find the person; especially because I'm kinda. Dumb when it comes to crime stuff and I'm not about to do mental gymnastics on something I'm not confident in <\3

In terms of grief, he seems... lost...

I don't usually hc that Masky smokes; that's just a Tim thing

But I feel like the smoking would bleed into Masky and become a whole... issue.. whether or not Tim as his own person knows about you/was involved with you is up to interpretation; as I tend to write the proxies as a separate.. thing

Still trying to find the correct term

But yeah

Focusing back in on Masky, he's kinda just lost. Angry, definitely, but mostly just. Wandering through life

He doesn't want to forget you

Hoodie;

Similar to Masky he's quiet and lost

Similarly he would feel the urge to try to find out who took you away; but I feel we've had enough "S/o dies at the hands of someone else" for this post, so we'll do something else... and because I fear hoodies portion will be too similar to maskys

You got sick, to put it simply

It's.. odd..

He's well aware that you're deteriorating, and he's aware that time is running out

But he can't help but feel calm in your presence; its only when you're apart that he feels that dread, and its constant

Maybe it's the fact that when he's with you he can easily convince himself that, in that moment, you're alright

It hurts when it finally happens

Out of all the guys, he's probably the most normal(?) About the situation

He visits your grave, a lot of the time, leaves little gifts there

He doesn't talk much, but he probably talks to you

Likely keeps something on him to remember you, like a locket or something

[springdaybreaks]

score a date | l. jn.

how the captain of the hufflepuff quidditch team managed to score a date with a certain ravenclaw.

tags: hogwarts!au; hufflepuff!jeno x ravenclaw!reader; fluff; tiny bit of angst if you squint

note: another self indulgent piece that has been burried for months in my drafts😀 this one's a short one but the amount of plot holes makes me want to bang my head against a brick wall lol. no warnings besides inconsistent grammar and tenses.

so, lee jeno

everyone took one look at him and thought he'd be sorted into gryffindor

they may or may not saw him telling haechan to stop annoying renjun and smacking haechan for annoying him, so-

but the sorting hat sorted him into hufflepuff

his parents said it make sense that he's been sorted into the house

he's a hardworker and is loyal to the ones he's close with

he doesn't really seem to be ambitious, but he actually is!

he just doesn't chase after it like slytherin!haechan

the professors adore him

he's always offering them his help

not to gain their favor or save face but purely because he's just that kind

"professor sprout, let me carry that bag of soil for you"

“professor flitwick, do you need some help distributing the feathers?”

snape has kind of a soft spot for him since jeno came early most days for his potions class just to help set the cauldrons

when he doesn't have quidditch practice or urgent tasks he'd even stay behind to clean them sometimes

but of course snape would rather die than admit it

his friends told him to join the tryouts for the quidditch team on their second year as a joke

jeno: okay (.◜◡◝)

but he really got in

becomes hufflepuff team's beater along with the third year lucas

got chosen as the team captain in his fourth year by the hufflepuff head boy, taeyong, before he graduated

he's just THAT good

we all know he loves animals

so it’s natural that he takes care of magical creatures as his elective

and excels at it

even though everyone says hagrid kind of sucks at teaching

he’s sad that he couldn’t see the thestrals though

also it's not all weird that jeno wants to become an animagus

that's why he works extra hard in transfiguration

and mcgonagall loves him so🥴

people thought jeno is all brawns and no brain

but his grades are almost all outstanding

with some exceeded expectation and a couple of acceptable

he's quite smart actually

is dubbed as the 2nd cedric diggory because he’s handsome, athletic, and smart

but of course being friends with the dreamies, it’s chaotic sometimes

he's been slytherin!jaemin's friend since they were kids

but somehow became quite close with ravenclaw!renjun ever since he helped him to deal with slytherin!haechan back in their first year

and he shared a train car with slytherin!haechan on their first day

haechan loves bothering jeno, but became fast friends with him because they have the same tastes in games

everyone at hogwarts know them as the dreamies

a group of girls likes them and call them dreamies because they're "dreamy"

very original

but they don't mind being called that so-

when you see one of these four, the other three wouldn't be too far behind

although they have quite different tastes and interest, they get along well

jeno has this friendly rivalry with haechan over their quidditch games

they bicker a lot, but haechan would be the first one to defend him if someone speak ill of him

no one does

doesn't take muggle studies, but would get muggle music recommendations from jaemin who took it

and sometimes you can hear him humming along the latest muggle music

hangs out with renjun if he wants to relax and just enjoy the day

renjun invites him to paint together once every few weeks

and he thinks that it's nice he's friends with renjun because he'd make them do their homework together

doesn't really go to the library except for rare study times and looking for his cat

he doesn't read the school's rule book but he's pretty sure students can't bring their pets to the library

but his cat can be quite mischievous and would disappear often

sometimes she'd be walking next to him one second and gone the next, following merlin knows what

his cat is probably still very curious of the place since he's only got her last year

and that brings us to you

you are one of the smartest ravenclaw in your grade

some even said that you're the brightest student in hogwarts after the legendary hermione and doyoung, the ex ravenclaw prefect and head boy that graduated a few years ago

of course you're smart, your muggle iq test could attest to that

but you always pair it with hard work

although people do call you snobby sometimes just because you wouldn’t do their homework for them

it pisses you off sometimes because you declined because you sincerely want them to learn!!! and be able to use the knowledge in the future!!!

you don’t mind though

bc being smart has its perks, like how people won’t bother you being a half-blood

and somehow the professors doesn’t mind that you don’t use a quill to write

except for snape

you’re used to the muggle world so pens and pencils are more convenient

but just for compromise, you use a fountain pen your father got you instead

anw

you were trying to get your homework done before supper, opting to do them in the quietness of the library rather than the currently crowded ravenclaw common room

jaemin somehow got into the ravenclaw common room and is currently on a raging whining spree bc the house elfs in the kitchen won’t give him coffee with 8 shots of espresso in it

you can hear it across the common room

at least the library is always quiet

so there you are quietly working through your homework in your favorite corner in the library; where it was quite hidden from madam pince and always got just the right amount of sunlight whenever the weather's nice

you’ve been at it for quite some time so you’re stretching your body

and then you feel a furry thing rubbing against your legs

you don't know whose cat she is

but she often follows you in the halls when she manage to escape from the dorms

and somehow slips through the unpleasant madam pince

but she appears quite often these days

at first she'd be sniffing you

and then she started curling up near your chair

when she found you again after not seeing you for a few days, she begins rubbing herself against your legs, asking for rubs

and proceeds to make herself at home on your lap

you just let her be

and continue doing your homework while occasionally caressing her fur

it's been a few weeks of this happening but you still haven't found out who her owner is

but one day you were just doing your homework as usual with the cat curling on your lap

and you hear a rather loud sigh nearby

"bongshik, there you are!"

you look up and

there stood lee jeno

of course you know who he is, but it's not like you know him

you know that he's doyoung's favorite junior ever

and currently said to be one of the best quidditch players in hogwarts

and he and his group of friends got enthusiastic following

but being in the same house as his friend and mutual friends, you feel like you know him already

you hear things about him quite often bc you're friends with jaemin and renjun

and jaemin sometimes boasts that he has couple items with jeno

not to mention they almost go everywhere together

like twins

some of the professors even got their names mixed up sometimes

but now jeno's alone and is staring at his cat curled up in your lap

"oh, is this your cat?"

"yes," he sigh, "i've been looking for her everywhere"

you handed the cat over as he come close

"sorry if she's been bothering you"

you stroke her head and she purrs in content

"it's alright, she's just been keeping me company. she's a sweetheart"

well that's a surprise

because bongshik isn't really a super friendly cat

it even took like a week for her to get comfortable with jaemin, who's been friends with jeno since they were kids

"she must really like you then."

after that, whenever he realize bongshik's gone missing, all he had to do was find you

because wherever you are, bongshik's probably trailing after you

even when you're not in the library

one time jeno was just about to eat supper when he spot his cat walking in the great hall

but instead of walking to him, her owner, bongshik walked to you

when exam season's coming up, you find yourself holed up in the library almost every day

and jeno, who's always looking for his cat, found bongshik curled up next to you every. single. day.

and somehow, he got lazy of worrying and finding his cat

besides, it's getting closer to exam season

so he starts doing his homework with you in the library

he does it almost every day that he got questioned by his friends

when his friends learned that he's been holed up in the library, they weren't exactly surprised

because jeno's probably the smartest out of them

but they know there's something else going on

bc even though jeno's really smart and he likes to read books on his own,

he's not the type to stay in the library for long periods of time nor every single day

like he's been doing for the past week

so haechan-

being the mischievous little shit he is

persuaded renjun and jaemin to spy on jeno one day

even though jaemin refused and told him to let him be

and well oh well

they found out he's been hanging out with you

jeno thought you'd be teased endlessly by haechan and instinctively lied

"oh they're just helping me with some tricky spell for charms! anyway, thanks, y/n!"

you two weren't that close but it kind of hurt that he doesn't want his friends to know that you two were friends

if that's what the two of you are

anyway

somehow jeno's lies of you helping him with homework got around school

and now you have a few people asking you for help for theirs

you told them you'd gladly help them as long as they don't make you do them

so now even some underclassmen come to you for help

quite a lot that you had to make a time-dedicated study groups

"well it'd be nice to get paid for teaching you guys, a sickle for each session wouldn't hurt"

you really said it as a joke

but some underclassmen really paid you for your help and it spurs the others to do the same

but even as you decline to take their money, they somehow managed to slip it into your bag or intentionally left it behind near your work station

your favorite underclassman gryffindor!jisung even snuck in a few candies to the library for you

ever since you managed to turn tour tutoring sessions into a small 'business', of course you see jeno less and less

but you two still greet each other in the halls

and library, whether when he's looking for bongshik or just doing his homework

one day you were running late to your session

jeno was seated not far from where you usually do it

and heard some of the girls in it talking about you

"merlin, if i'm not failing in charms and defense against dark arts, i wouldn't have to ask y/n for their help."

"yes well, i had to act like i like them just to get into the tutoring session too. what a inconvenience."

"they even charge us for this! other people doesn't even charge and just help us with it"

"yes, she's such a bitch too. you know she refused to help at the start? and now she only do it because of the money"

it's not really his business

but he feels annoyed and kind of riled up to hear them talking bad about you

and he really heard from jisung how you always declined their money and how you were just joking about the fee

but people just paid you nonetheless and eventually you were too tired to decline because they kept insisting

jeno's annoyed and packed his things

he'd rather do the rest of his homework in his dorm than here with their chatter

but when he passed the shelves behind the tables, he saw you

standing there clutching your books

merlin, you must've heard them

but you just sucked in a deep breath and forced a smile

even greeting him before coming over to the designated tutoring spot and apologizing for running late

somehow the sight of it makes his blood boil even more

and admiration, really, because of how kind you are

the next time you saw jeno again was before his match when the crowded halls made you two bump into each other

"oh, i'm sorry!"

"sorry!"

"oh- it's you."

"i- yeah. hey. how are you?"

jeno mentally smack himself for sounding stupid. as if he doesn't know you, as if he didn't spend time with you for weeks in the library. as if the thoughts of you don't plague his mind

somehow he developed a crush on you

and now he's gonna make himself look stupid

you shrug, "eh. so so. kind of busy because of the tutoring though."

you eye his quidditch uniform and the broom clutched in his hand.

"match day?"

"yeah." he hesitated before asking you, "you coming to watch?"

you tilt your head in confusion, "me?"

oh hell, he is in so deep for you. how could you look cute looking confused like that.

jeno feels his ears warming

"well, i am talking to you, aren't i?"

you raise your eyebrows in surprise.

"huh."

now it's his turn to be confused, "what?"

you just shake your head and laugh

"didn't know you could sound like a jock, lee."

"come on lee!"

his teammates are waiting for you at the end of the corridor. lucas are wiggling his eyebrows at the two of you with a teasing smile. haechan, who have somehow blend in with his team, shoots him a teasing look

as if to say 'mhm, i knew you liked her'

jeno ignored them and turns to you instead

"so will you come?"

"mmmm, i dont know. what if you suck?"

you teased

well- you know you are kind of flirting rn but ssssttttt

jeno's eye light up in amusement

and challenge

"you gonna give me anything if i win?"

you shrug nonchalantly, well- tried to, "i think you already have everything you want, captain. don't think i can give you anything else satisfactory."

a smile tugd the corner of his lip

"what about a date then?"

your eyes snapd to his in surprise.

"i- you... date? what?"

"yeah. a date. with me. next hogsmeade trip?"

you gape at him stupidly, "you want to go on a date with me?

he laughs, "well, i wouldn't be asking you right now if i wasn't."

"hurry up lee!"

his teammates roars. although some did snicker when haechan made kissy face at the two of you

"so, what do you say?" he keeps his eyes on you

"you want me to say yes?"

"badly."

a shy smile tugs your lips

hell jeno would take haechan's relentless teasing any day if it meant you'd give him that smile again

you steel yourself and look at him in the eyes

"then i guess you better win, captain."

© 2023 springdaybreaks.

[mais-nerdy-corner]

Have I sent a request to you already or is this my first? If it is then I want another Tighnari fic. Anything will do. But I prefer reading it with a female reader. I just want to be loved by TIGHNARI. Give me fluff please please please or angst if you feel like it, I equally love both. I want Tighnari to love me please please please.

Also, I had been looking for your Tighnari fic where reader is dead and only left with his daughter. Thank you for making it.

I just divorced Wanderer.

❝𝕾𝖙𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝕳𝖊𝖗𝖊❞ | 𝕿𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖓𝖆𝖗𝖎 𝖝 𝕽𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗

Synopsis: What if Tighnari's spouse didn't succumb to her illness in an alternative universe/timeline.

Pairing: Tighnari x Female! Reader

Genre: Angst & fluff, hurt/comfort

💮 — Author Answered: Nope, I'm pretty sure this is your first one (if I'm not gravely mistaken :v). Lucky for you, I had something chilling in my drafts for quite some time (and I kinda miss writing for Tighnari). Thanks for the request!

Note: The synopsis will probably make more sense if you've read the first part (or you can read it after this, I won't judge you). Also, I know that alternative universe and alternative timeline are two entirely different things, but I don't know what's the difference. So I just put both, you get the point hehe :3

Perched atop of the largest tree in Gandharva Ville, is a little fox-eared girl adorned in flowers complete with floral binoculars as well. Her name is Zahra. She was surveying the grey skies above Pardis Dhyai, ​​which means it was bound to rain there. Knowing that, there's only one thing came to her mind.

'Papa...'

As she continued to look through her binoculars, Zahra's large and pointy ears twitched a few times. Not because they're itchy, but because she was not alone.

"There you are, my little flower. What are you doing up here? Get down."

It was you, her mother. Hearing you call her, Zahra immediately got down to a much safer place. You kneeled down in front of the little girl, holding both of her hands in yours.

"What are you up to now? Hmm?"

Your question earned a silence from Zahra, as she looked back at the direction she surveyed earlier. Zahra may be the type of child who often gets into trouble, but she will never keep secrets. And she felt safe enough to share it with you.

"...I'm worried that Papa hasn't applied his plant-based waterproofing oil to his tail before leaving for Pardis Dhyai. And looking at the color of the sky above it, it looks like it's going to rain heavily," Zahra confessed.

You let out a sigh of contentment as you went to pat your daughter's head.

"That's very considerate of you, Zahra. But your father will be fine. He doesn't want us worrying about him all the time, does he? So I know he can take care of himself."

"...Yeah, you're right. Maybe I was worrying about nothing. Thanks, Mom," Zahra said.

You smiled at her before standing back up. Pulling out your floral pocket watch, it showed a bit past lunch time.

"A little past lunchtime... You haven't had lunch yet, have you, sweetheart? What do you want to eat?"

"Uhh... Ooh! Mushroom Hodgepodge!"

"Even your tastes resemble your father's, huh? Alright, let's get Ashpazi to cook it for you."

(Meanwhile, at Pardis Dhyai)

The Traveler had just finished talking with the manifestation of the Balladeer, indicated by showcasing his newfound power by causing lightning around Pardis Dhyai. Paimon who remembered that Tighnari and Dehya were still outside, immediately asked the Traveler to go check on them.

"That means anyone outside is in danger! Let's go, Tighnari and Dehya still must be fighting!" Paimon urged.

They ran outside and saw that the Fatui soldiers were not there, meaning they must have retreated.

"Oh, have the Fatui retreated?" Paimon wondered.

"Tighnari and Dehya are over there!"

The Traveler and Paimon rushed over to them, and something seemed amiss.

"Hey! What happened to you!?"

"He's hurt," Dehya said.

Tighnari quickly denied Dehya's words, but regretted it soon after. "I'm fine... Ugh!"

"Don't move. I've seen Eremites get struck by lightning before. You need to rest."

"Struck by lightning!?" Paimon exclaimed.

Dehya recall what happened when the both of them were not there. How the weather suddenly became abnormal, how lightning started attacking everyone, almost as if it were alive. Just very bizarre things, to the point of forcing the Fatui soldiers to retreat.

The Traveler apologizes for Tighnari's wound, reasoning that it was probably them who might have triggered the thunder and lightning.

"Huh... It's alright, I'm sure you also never expected this to happen. Don't blame yourself," Tighnari said.

Even though he is wounded, Tighnari still worries about others rather than himself. "My wound aside, you look like... you've seen something unpleasant. Is Haypasia alright?" he asked.

"She's okay for now, but I want to tell you something."

"Ugh...!"

"Hey! Didn't I tell you not to move?"

"Just in case... Ugh! Let's... go to Haypasia's place, and talk about things there."

They headed inside and continued their conversation. The Traveler recounted everything from "meeting" the Doctor at Port Ormos to their encounter with the Balladeer while checking up on Haypasia.

Hearing the explanation from the Traveler, Paimon, Tighnari and Dehya each had their own reaction. Paimon was surprised by what the Balladeer was thinking, Tighnari ridiculed the Akademiya's god creation plan, while Dehya had a more “positive” reaction.

Nonetheless, with the Doctor out of the picture, Dehya took this as their plan being successful.

"Yay, that's a big accomplishment!" Paimon cheered.

"Ugh! I'm... also happy for you," Tighnari said.

Dehya thanked Tighnari and told him to rest, along with the Traveler.

"Yeah, yeah... alright," he responded.

"Okay, that wraps things up for us here at Pardis Dhyai. Traveler, it's about time we rendezvous with the others at the Grand Bazaar. Let's continue to keep a low profile. You can head there once you're ready."

"Ugh... What... What time is it?"

By the time Tighnari woke up, it was already dark outside. That meant he must have had enough rest, so maybe this was the right time for him to get up.

"Agh! Perhaps... that wasn't such a good idea."

Tighnari sat back down and leaned against the wall behind him. He thought to himself, what should he do now? His body was aching from the long period of inactivity, but at the same time moving wasn't a good idea. So... what now?

Being so deep in thought, Tighnari forgot to pay attention to the "wall" he was leaning on, as it suddenly started to move.

"Hm? What the– Oh, Karkata. Sorry, I didn't realize that I was actually leaning on you."

"Kulilu?"

The mechanical crab Tighnari saved was named Karkata, created by a Sumerian researcher by the name of Abattouy. It seems surprised that Tighnari moved and thought it was the one who woke him up.

"Kuli..."

"Why are you apologizing? I'm the one who leaned on you and made you cautious so you don't wake me up, I should be the one apologizing."

It turned out that after some time spent with the mechanical crab, Tighnari began to understand what Karkata wanted to say. Certainly a lot easier to communicate with each other.

"Look, I'll just move over he—"

Tighnari quickly regrets his decision to move. Instantly, his entire body ached as he clutched on to his side. Karkata was confused about what to do seeing him in pain. It moved around, thinking of ways to help Tighnari but it hesitated.

Karkata suddenly remembered the cherry blossom bracelet you gave, which was laced at one of its joints.

(Flashback)

Tighnari took you to Pardis Dhyai to meet Karkata, and it was the first time you meet the mechanical crab. When you first approached Karkata, it was confused and somewhat cautious of you. It's understandable when you're meeting a complete stranger. But seeing Tighnari was the one who took you there, Karkata quickly warmed up to you.

"So, Karkata was created by your junior researcher named Abattouy?" you asked as you pet the mechanical crab.

Tighnari who was leaning against a tree answered, "Yes, he was the one expelled from the Akademiya for researching mechanical life forms. When Karkata took me and the Traveler to their 'new home', we only found his already cold body."

You grimaced at the image in your head. "I wouldn't know how to react if I were it too. Poor Karkata, it must have been through a lot..."

Suddenly, you took out a bracelet and tied it to one of Karkata's joints.

"Karkata, if you ever feel that you're troubled, always remember this bracelet. Come meet me at Gandharva Ville. Oh wait, do you even know the way there? Don't worry, next time ask Tighnari to show you the way."

(Flashback ends)

"Kalu! Kalu!"

"Agh... What is it, Karkata?"

The mechanical crab immediately showed the bracelet, and Tighnari slowly caught on.

"Isn't that the bracelet that Y/n gave you? What, do you want me to take you to her?"

"Kolu!"

Tighnari sighed. "As much as I want to, I can't. I can't move and who will look after Haypasia even if I could? Actually, now if I think about it, how can I even get there?"

(Back at Gandharva Ville)

"Aha! I won!"

"Aww, I lost... I must say, you're getting better at this, Zahra."

Sitting on the floor of Collei's hut, they were playing a game of Genius Invocation TCG with you as the audience. Collei won the previous match, this time it was Zahra's turn to win.

"Hehe, I like it when I win. Let's play again!" Zahra exclaimed.

"If you two keep going at it, eventually I will understand how to play this game. I can't focus on my work if all I think about is tactics and strategy to win. Plus, it's getting late and way past your bedtime."

"Aww, just one more match please~"

"At first I also still wanted to play because we tied. But now that I think about it, I'm getting pretty sleepy..." Collei spoke up.

"See, even your contender is unable to keep up. You can continue this tomorrow. Now, put your cards back into the box."

Zahra started tidying up her cards while you help Collei put her cards back into her Casket of Tomes. After she finished, Zahra's ears started twitching again, causing the fox girl to turn her head.

"Uncle Amir's dogs are barking again. Shouldn't they know how to behave by now?" Zahra said as she exits Collei's hut.

You and Collei watched Zahra leave before looking at each other and laughed.

"Be sure to wear a blanket when you sleep. It feels like it's going to be cold tonight."

"Mm-hm, I will. Goodnight, Y/n."

You kissed Collei goodnight before exiting her hut. You then found Zahra with her hands on her hips, examining the broken bridge.

"Someone really should do something about this bridge... Ooh! I have an idea."

Zahra then used the Dendro Vision on her to lift the two ends of the bridge and connect it with flowering vines.

"Eeepp! Doesn't that look pretty? Especially if you add small lanterns to the bridge," she said, satisfied with her work.

"As for the lanterns, I'll talk about it to your father or other Forest Watchers. And you should probably give back my Dendro Vision, Zahra. You wouldn't know when I'll need it."

"We're just dealing with some unruly dogs. There's no need to use your Vision, Mom."

Zahra was wrong. It wasn't just some unruly dogs. Amir's dogs were barking at the cowering Karkata who has brought Tighnari back to Gandharva Ville.

"Ugh...! Amir, can you tell your dogs to back down? They're scaring Karkata..."

"I'm trying...! Hey guys, calm down. The mechanical crab is friendly. It's one of us...! Come on, Sag. You're my best student, you should know better."

After seemingly succeeded in calming the dogs down, you arrived at the scene. The person you were waiting for his return was indeed back, but not in the condition you expected him to be.

"Tighnari?"

As Amir helped Tighnari down from Karkata, he let out a grunt, which made you rush to his side.

"What happened to you?"

"Stuff happened. It escalated to me having to clash with the Fatui and... Please don't panic when I say this... *sigh* ...I got struck by lightning," he answered.

"You got struck by lightning?!" You and Amir said at the same time.

Even though Tighnari told you not to panic, you couldn't help but do the exact opposite of what he just said. I mean, how could you not panic? The love of your life literally fought off soldiers from the most powerful military force in all of Teyvat, and then he got struck by lightning? How could you not?!

"In that case, I should carry you back to your hut. Here, get on my back," Amir said as he crouched down.

"That's not necessary, Amir. I can walk on my own."

Amir who was getting tired of his resisting colleague argued, "Please don't be so stubborn, Tighnari. What if you injure yourself more on the way there?"

"Here. Use this instead."

Zahra who had been silent all this time, suddenly brought a stretcher made from your Dendro Vision's powers. She probably made it when you and Amir were panicking over Tighnari.

"Good thinking, Zahra! Alright, hand it to me," Amir said.

Tighnari sighed as he turned to his daughter, "You really shouldn't have, Zahra... I already told you... I'm... fine..."

"Tighnari!"

Tighnari's words trailed off as he slowly fell backwards. Luckily you were right beside him and were able to quickly caught him.

"Okay, maybe now the stretcher is needed. Nasrin, can you help us out over here? We need the extra help."

(In the early morning)

"Tighnari? Are you awake?"

Cyno the General Mahamatra invited himself to enter the Forest Watcher's hut. When he saw Tighnari and you had fallen asleep, holding his hand on the side of the bed, he wanted to take back his stupid question. But he was too late, because someone already answered him.

"Nope, obviously not. But I am, so, there's that."

"What are you doing up so early?"

It was Zahra, the Little Forest Ranger in Training. She was eating something as she sat down on her foldable mattress on the floor.

"I couldn't sleep after what happened last night, and probably because of the adrenaline that caused me not to realize that I'm hungry. I didn't want to wake anyone up so I cooked up a bowl of mushroom rice for myself," she said.

"Then it must have been serious. Can you tell me what happened?" Cyno asked.

"I can, but not here. Again, I didn't want to wake anyone up and they both really needed their sleep. Let's go outside."

"Wait, before that, do you have a spare blanket that you're not using?"

'The General Mahamatra is cold?' is what Zahra first thought of when Cyno asked that question. Not wanting to question him, Zahra went to get a blanket that was stored in the lower cabinet of a shelving unit.

She then gave the blanket to Cyno, who then draped it over your shoulders. Zahra couldn't help but “aww-ed” a little.

"There. Come on, let's go," Cyno said.

With her blanket tied around her neck and her bowl of mushroom rice in hand, Zahra and Cyno exited the hut and looked for a place to sit.

"Now that we're outside, can you tell me what happened?"

Zahra then recounted the incident last night.

"I had just finished playing Genius Invocation TCG with Collei when I heard Uncle Amir's dog barking. So me and Mom went to che—"

"Did you win or did you lose?"

"Huh?"

Cyno's interruption did surprise Zahra, but she laughed it off. "We actually tied. So we'll continue it tomorro– Wait... technically it's today huh..."

"Hm. And although I can't be there to witness it, I'll be rooting for the both of you. I don't care who wins or loses, I will be happy either way."

"Aww, thanks. Now, can I continue the story?"

(A flashback that's written from Zahra's POV)

I watched as Nasrin and Uncle Amir carried Papa off to the hut, with Mom following behind. I then approached the mechanical crab that had been silent from earlier.

"I believe your name is Karkata, isn't it? I just wanted to say on behalf of my mom and also from myself, thank you for bringing my Papa back safely. She didn't mean to forget to thank you, probably because of her panic. And don't worry, Papa is in good hands. I've made sure of it."

"Kolu!"

"Hehe. Now go hang out somewhere away from the dogs. I'll go check on things over there."

By the time I got inside, they've already taken off Papa's hoodie. I still remember how shocked I was to see the scar on his upper body. It spread out like tree roots, with an electrifying purple tint.

I can't lie that I'm scared and worried, but I'm trying to keep my cool. On the other hand, mom is really freaking out. She paced around the room, checking Papa over multiple times, getting ingredients for the ointment, even messing up her workplace in the process.

At that moment, I just knew I had to do something.

"Zahra, give me back my Dendro Vision. I need it to–"

I grabbed onto Mom's hands and held it, looking at her with a stern look. I could tell from her face that she was a little surprised by my actions.

"I can take over from here. You can go out and take a breather."

I knew Mom would refuse and try to argue, so I quickly silenced her.

"It's okay, you've done well. You deserve a break."

She simply sighed and left the hut.

(Flashback and Zahra's POV ends)

"So what happened afterwards?" Cyno asked.

"Well, I did my thing and let Mom back in. I found her hugging her knees just outside the hut on the floor. She immediately rushed to Papa's side the moment I told her she was allowed back in. It also couldn't be help that the commotion woke Collei up..."

"Hm. I see..."

Cyno then went silent and was deep in thought. Zahra was silent too and was just about to spoon a spoonful of mushroom rice into her mouth, when she realized that her bowl was empty.

'Aww, I'm out of mushroom rice...' she thought.

Suddenly, the General Mahamatra stood up and pat Zahra on the head.

"Whaa– Hey!"

"I have to go now. Today is going to be a big day for the people of Sumeru, and I have to make sure the preparation is thorough. Get enough rest so you can win that Genius Invocation TCG match!" Cyno said.

"Oh, okay. Geez, excited much... Uhh, good luck, Uncle Cyno!"

(A couple of days later)

You heard the sound of birds chirping, that meant your consciousness was starting to return. When you woke up and looked at the hut's entrance covered by the large leaf curtains, you noticed how bright it is outside. It couldn't be that it's still early, right? So you got up, tidy up your bed and headed out.

"Good morning, Y/n! I see that you decided to sleep in today. So I made some Pita Pockets for breakfast. Would you like one?"

As you rubbed your eyes, you processed the voice that greeted you. And after a while, you realized it was Collei.

"Collei? What are you doing out of bed? You could've gotten yourself injured. What if you fall over?"

"No, it's okay. Don't worry! I feel much more energized than the previous day," she replied.

Hearing her reply, you then sighed. "I appreciate your effort in convincing me, Collei. But I'm afraid I–"

"No, this is for real! It feels like as if my Eleazar disappeared without a trace..."

"...What?"

Unintentionally, you pulled Collei's hand a little too hard to confirm what she said. When you realized you're being too rough, you murmured a quiet 'sorry' before continuing. You detached her sleeves to see the dark, hardened scales on her wrists had disappeared completely.

(Somewhere nearby)

Tighnari and Zahra were alerted by the sound of crying, sounding like it was coming from nearby. The Forest Watcher asked her to investigate the sound with him. The little fox-eared girl quickly stuffed her half-eaten Pita Pocket into her mouth, before putting down her plate and taking her other Pita Pocket with her.

"Y/n, what happened?"

The moment they reached the location, Zahra and Tighnari were stunned. They saw you crying as you crouched down and Collei who was confused about how to comfort you.

While Zahra took a bite of her Pita Pocket as a way of reducing her shock, Tighnari let out a sigh of contentment.

"I guess you found out about Collei's recovery if you're crying like that, Y/n. I too was shocked when she said that the scales on her body had disappeared. At first I thought that it was impossible since Eleazar had no known cure, but I gave up figuring out how. I think, for now, it's best if we be grateful for this unexpected miracle."

"I can assure you that these are tears of happiness, Tighnari," you said as you hugged the Trainee Forest Ranger.

The Forest Watcher came closer and pulled the both of you into a hug. Zahra who was still chewing the rest of her Pita Pocket, quickly swallowed it and joined in.

"Hey, I'm being left out! Group hug!"

[Author's Note]: Oh noo, poor Hat Guy 😅 I'm sorry this took so long, but I managed to finish it as my internship program is coming to an end. I only have about 10 days of break before returning back to school 😭

Hopefully I could finish that other request that's nowhere near done before I start my senior year of high school. Wish me luck :')

Publication date: July 6th 2023

[dragonwriterguy]

Dragon Tale(working title)

Before you start reading just know that this is the first draft with some small changes here and there to make it readable. Most of this is bound to change and a lot of it will be to you(my followers). If you think that something would work better then message me and i will probably look into the change. At the end of the day I'm writing this to learn and i hope that you will enjoy. (Also i am planning to upload this to Ao3 but they haven't given me my account yet so it might take a few days before it ends up on there.) (also also if you have any suggestions for the title just message me directly and ill think about it)

Rant over. Hope you enjoy

So this is how it ends. My life as a law abiding citizen. Not my actual life but just that I was about to become an enemy of the government. Now you might question why I would want to become an enemy of the government ,but I couldn't really ever tell what they were up to and half the time it seemed corrupt so why not. 

The wind brushed past my ears as I stood atop the ledge. My heart pounded quickly as I looked down upon the encampment before me. The miniature soldiers scurried about their tent moving cargo. The crimson banners blew in the wind like blood running down an arm. The tension in the air could be cut with a dagger. 

I looked back at my two friends, searching for any reassuring sentiments. Warren was closed off and seemed moody as always, but I can only assume  that he's moody right now. His helmet was covering his face, but his piercing blue eyes were shining through the gap in his helmet. He is an elf but you could never tell normally as he always has some kind of mask over his face and ears. There was that one time I walked into the baths and I saw the back of him, but I didn't get to see his face as he yelled for me to get out.Its not like i don't trust him, the dude has saved my life too many times to count, but he's one of those silent and mysterious types who act all lone wolf and like they can fly solo when they are actually a big softie under all those cloaks and armour. My main theory, that I have a bet riding on, is that he's some outcast prince that has to cover his face so as not to be recognised. 

To Warren's left was my other party member, Penelope. She was riddled with all kinds of thoughts. Her hand was covering her mouth. She was clearly very deep in thought as she was fidgeting, her eyes were glazed over. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a bun with bangs covering her forehead. Her white robes and blue cloak were being blown in the wind, like they were the wash of a boat on a river.

She didn't seem to notice that I had even looked at her as she turned around and began pacing. As much as I was concerned with her pacing, I decided to try and steady myself whilst we waited by distracting my mind. 

I thought back to how we even got in this situation in the first place, the story was long and complex and involved elements that had nothing to do with us but that was exactly what would help my brain. The job was fairly simple, all we had to do was to take down this legion of soldiers and the rest would be dealt with by our employer. This was simple but the repercussions were not. You see, this encampment was part of the royal army, so by attacking it we would become enemies of the monarchy. Now I'm not too big on politics and I'm not a massive fan of the government but even I know this is a bad idea, or it would be if we weren't working for the rebel forces that have been trying to take down the queen for the past decade or so. You might be wondering why there would be a large army trying to take out the queen, surely she's some nice old lady who sits in her castle all day drinking tea, WRONG. The queen is a massive asshole. To drop some lore the queen and her forces invaded from the west around 50-60 years ago. Her and her dragons, she's the queen of dragons as well which is super annoying, stomped in and decided to just push everyone around and move in. She is a massive dictator and until recently if you said something bad about her, you would be dragged off by her guards and you would never be seen again. So to put it simply she's a massive dictator and no one likes her.

In another weird sidenote, in technical terms she is my grandma as i am a dragon blood. So you might be wondering how that works and I'll tell you. When a dragon and a human love each other very much and they have a baby. This is sweet and all but magic can also influence this and can allow people to make an army with ease. This was how I was born, the not so sweet magic option, along with most dragonbloods. Another way to say it is I am a clone. All dragons are descended from the dragon queen so I guess in a way she's my grandma but then again that's not really true.

Now back to what's important, the Dragon Queen is evil which means that me and my friends decided to join the effort as the war was really hitting high tensions and the revolution was looking like it was going to win. They wanted to test our skills as we were pretty experienced so they sent us to this camp and now here we are sitting on a ledge waiting for our scout to return.

After a few more minutes of lying about on the floor, contemplating the specifics of how we got here and in other words being bored, our scout, Thorn arrived. By arrived i mean a small brown mouse scurried out of a bush, hopped up to us, looked at us with its adorable eyes before growing in size until sitting in front of us was a fully grown, but still short, adult. They scratched their spiky black hair and laid down to catch their breath. After a minute of being incapacitated, they began to speak.

“Okay, so good news, we should be able to go in and destroy this camp but we will need to do it in a very specific way” Thorn then went on to explain those very specific details.

“Is there anything else that we should know about?” asked Warren.

“Well i did overhear the guards discussing some kind of new weapon that had been acting up, i'm guessing that might be why we were assigned this camp specifically”

“So keep our eyes out for any fancy sword or staff then?” I chimed in

“Yup, lets try not break it unless we have to”

We all agreed and began to follow thorn through the forest. We walked in silence, only communicating through hand signals till we reached the edge of the camp.

Just past the tree line was a group of soldiers, most standing with a few sitting. They appeared to be playing some kind of card game. I stepped out of the brush and got ready to start the job.

So before I can continue with the story I need to drop some more “lore”. As you should already know I am a dragonblood, which is supposed to be mega loyal to the dragon queen as we are made by her. This means that everyone automatically thinks i work for her as you could guess this can sometimes be useful. Lore dropped, resume story. 

The soldiers all looked at me with an expression of bewilderment on their faces. They were clearly thinking “Why has this shirtless scaly guy just climbed out of the bushes. Their expressions quickly changed to those of suspicion as I continued to approach.

“Why aren't you at your station soldier?” One of the soldiers, an officer judging by his uniform, barked at me.

I walked on until I was standing at their table. “I thought I heard something in the bushes so I went looking.”

“And where is your uniform?”

I glanced down at my muddy, cargo pants, a stark contrast to their button up clean shirts and trousers. 

“Bear?” I tried hopefully.

“Look you better show us some identification or we're going to have to lock you up.” The soldiers were getting visibly irritated and some were starting to put their hands on their weapons. I was going to have to act now.

“Hold on, I think I have it in this pocket,” I answered as I reached deep into my pocket. After a second or two I did not bring out an ID or anything to show who I was. Instead I brought out a fist that was now travelling very rapidly towards the officer's jaw. They made contact with a small crunch and due to the now limp limbs of the man I had punched I could make the assumption it was a clean knockout. I quickly kicked the table into two other guys and punched another one across his face. The fight was finally getting started. 

The others proceeded to draw their weapons and charge at me. Unfortunately for them I used their knocked out friend as throwing practice. The unconscious man flew at them and bowled all three over. From the groaning I assumed that they were all winded and not planning on getting back up soon. The alarm bell rang out through the camp and soon a horde of soldiers began to charge towards me. 

Warren ran out from the bushes with his sword at the ready. He dashed past me and met with the crowd. His silver longsword sliced through his attackers, pushing them to the ground, and overall being a badass. His matte black armour did not reflect the light so amid the onslaught of soldiers he looked like a shadow warrior weaving between his foes. This warrior of the night ducked and bobbed amid this horde of iron clad enemies, his sword striking each and every one with precision and intent. You couldn't help but stare and watch this master of sword fighting stood surrounded by his disarmed and incapacitated foes. 

Following Warren's lead Thorn dashed forward and out of the tree line. They slid under the legs of our military foes and disappeared. A few seconds passed with no sign of them before a group of soldiers were flung through the air. Where a dozen soldiers had once been there was now a large brown bear. Its fur rippled in the wind as it let out a mighty roar to the heavens. Its teeth bared, the fuzzy beast began its attack on the soldiers. Its onslaught sent them flying every which way, and any that tried to fight it head on would get batted away. Within minutes this once large crowd had been torn apart and now only a few were left standing against these two fierce warriors. 

Penelope stood back from the pile of soldiers that was forming and focused her attention on the significantly larger group of reinforcements heading our way. Some of the reinforcements held back to draw bows and aim them our way. Penelope started to hold her hands out and chant. I realised what she was doing and prepared to run. A low hum began to resonate in the air and as the blanket of arrows flew into the air, like a deadly sheet being thrown down upon us by the gods, a loud pop hit my eardrums. The arrows proceeded to bounce backwards and fall upon the very soldiers that they were meant to protect. 

Upon hearing this pop I set off like a hawk upon a bird and ran across the battlefield, making contact with the enemy forces within seconds. Some of the soldiers swung at me with their swords with the hopes of slowing or stopping me in my tracks but they were soon robbed of this dream at a record breaking pace.  One by one, they were all met by either first or foot to their faces, stomach, knees, shoulders and an unlucky one in the groin. After not long I noticed that more of them were running away from me than running towards me. Sadly this moment of victory was rudely interrupted by a powerful blow in between my shoulder blades that sent me toppling forward a couple feet. I turned around to see a heavily tattooed dragonblood standing over me with a grimace stretched across his face. His horns were engraved with some runes that I didn't have the time to read. His face was scarred lightly with some cuts tracing around his eyes and mouth. 

“Traitor” He spat at my feet, his lip curling harshly as he snarled at me. 

“I'll accept the challenge buddy but i can't promise to not break some bones on top of your pride,” I was abruptly cut off by the approach of claws towards my head. 

I ducked and rolled behind him to avoid being decapitated by the angry lizardman. I jumped up and threw a punch into the back of his neck. He recoiled in pain before spinning around and trying to slam his fists down onto my skull. I took a step back and grabbed his wrists to pull him to the floor. This worked with surprising efficiency as he went down faster and harder than an avalanche. I now stood over my defeated challenger, who was inhaling sharply in between winces. 

“Yield” I spoke to him slowly and firmly.

He glared at me from the ground, despising the idea but knowing that he couldn't best me. He sighed and relaxed. I kicked him in the jaw to knock him out cleanly and then took a deep breath. This brief moment of clarity was broken by an unwelcome screech that rang out, the noise hanging in the air for a few seconds after. I turned around to see a battered grant facing off against a wyvern. 

The beast was easily ten or so feet in length with a wingspan of maybe twelve feet. Its body hung low to the floor, like a hovering snake, snarling at Warren as it encircled. He was clearly hurt and was giving everything he could to just stand up. This was the opposite of the wyvern which apart from a long gash along its underbelly that maybe cut a few inches deep was unharmed. The fiery beast began to get ready to pounce on my injured friend. I really couldn't catch a break today. 

Like an arrow shot from a taught hunters bow, I dashed across the ravaged remains of the camp like the wind was carrying me every step of the way. A dozen feet from my destination I leapt through the air, and like a blacksmith's hammer on hot metal I brought down my fist upon the skull of the wyvern. The contact of the blow reverberated through my arm and I followed through with the rest of my body. The wyvern was knocked a couple feet to the side and let out a scream that pierced the silent battlefield. The wyvern stared at me with its red hot eyes, the words of hate being engraved into the expression. 

“Tap in,”I said to Warren, before I shook off my hand and prepared a fighting stance. At least I got to tick Wyvern boxing off my bucket list. 

This oversized lizard pounced towards me, its massive form blocking the sun from my eyes. Fortunately for me, lack of sunlight does not mean lack of right hooks to mean, angry reptiles. The beats recoiled from the strike and was deciding to counter attack before I began to kick it repeatedly in its face, neck and jaw. Unfortunately this barrage of kicks did not allow me to see the tail that was about to sweep out my legs. I flailed through the air only to land badly on my ankle. I clutched it, wincing. Now was a very inconvenient time to sprain any limb as the tail wanted to say hello to me again. This time it connected harshly with my chest despite my best attempt to move out of the way. I was sent sprawling across the terrain and landed face down, feeling very bruised all over. I rolled over raggedly only to see the wyvern standing over me, its drooling maw now only inches away from my seemingly delicious face. 

So I guess this is how I am going to die. No big epic fight with the super evil irredeemable bad guy from my past, no training arc to develop my character and show my growth, certainly no mentor who teaches me patience and to stop making jokes in battle. If the universe had picked now as the time in which the hero nearly dies only to be overcome with some new found power and then save the world, then they should have picked a better time. I sighed and closed my eyes thinking back to my past and my first best friend. 

These thoughts of my past were stopped by a spray of warm liquid followed by a loud thud maybe a few metres to my left. These weren't the things I expected to happen before I got eaten but when I opened my eyes to see a decapitated wyvern and its newly separated head next to me I took it as a welcome surprise. I saw Penelope with her staff outstretched, obviously having used her spells to cut its head off. She looked at me frustrated before walking over and extending her hand to help me up. I pushed the wyvern corpse off me before taking her hand and standing back up. 

“Why is it that I'm always saving you boys from some kind of new situation every week?” Penelope teased as she helped dust me off. 

“Well I was doing perfectly fine until you cut its head off,” I joked.

“Oh yes, the elusive give up and let it eat you trick, only masters of the art of fighting know about that,” She added.

I laughed before gesturing to the very much dead lizard. “I'm guessing that this is the weapon that we were given the tip about.”

“I was assuming that as well” Penelope leant on her staff and blew some of her hair out of her eye. “Just to be safe we sent Thorn to check and see if they could find anything.”

“Well at least i can say i didn't break it this time” I said before walking towards Warren who was busy tending to a nasty cut on his arm. 

As we all sat down to talk, some rebels brandishing blue banners burst from the treeline. They charged through the wreckage for a few moments before spotting us sitting and nursing our injuries. They stopped the attack on the defeated enemy and sheepishly wandered through the battlefield looking for anything they could salvage or take. Some of them began to tie up groups of enemy troops and confiscate their weapons before depositing them on the back of wagons. One of the commanders, the one who had given the mission details if I remembered correctly, walked over to us to discuss our work. 

The commander was a young man in his mid 20s at most, with short trimmed hair that puffed up a bit at the front and a clean shaven face. There weren't many notable features about him apart from a thin scar that ran from his cheek down to his throat, and a look in his eye that gave away that he had just a little too much to lose.

When he reached us, he spoke enthusiastically but with a bit of caution, probably because he didn't want to end up like the wyvern. “Well done, you four. This is some amazing work, I just spoke to the general and he is so pleased with you all. He wants you to meet him right away. I was slightly doubtful that only four heroes could take down an entire encampment  but you have outdone yourselves here. Also don't worry about killing the wyvern we didn't want to go through training it. We have enough on our hands already.”

“Would you mind if we got a lift back with you, Thorn who is meant to be our navigator managed to get us lost and then unlost about five different times on the way here.” I asked the commander. 

“Of course, we would be delighted to have you. The soldiers need a bit of a raise in spirits anyway and having four fresh new faces to tell the story of the battle today is exactly what we have been looking for,” The commander replied, like he was reading from some advertising poster for the revolution “I'll even let you ride up front with me, i don't know your name though, what was it?”

“The names Kaz. It's a pleasure to be working with you.”

We helped with some of the clean up before all hopping on the wagon to head back to the city. I spoke with the commander, exchanging war stories and other random bits about our lives. Funnily enough, we both like our fish cooked the same way. As we talked and laughed, I felt something inside me begin to stir. As the city came into sight, I began to understand this feeling. Something in my gut told me that I was about to come face to face with a part of my past that I wish had stayed buried and left well alone.