#eden do you realize you make a move on the same guy TWICE in one fucking day

[lunaetis]

▸▸ [ @muraenide || third time is a charm ]

─「エデン」─  she had her arm rested next to his frame, partially trapping him between herself and the counter. despite the fact that she was wearing heels, he still stood taller than her. golden hues gazed up at the other, her breath would be felt with how she leaned closer, stopping before their lips could touch as if asking for permission.

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers DARK FATE ー Laito [VAMPIRE ENDING]

ー The scene starts in the hallway at Eden

Yui: ( ...I’ve reached my limit...!! I... )

Laito: Yui-chan...! Hang...in there!

Yui: Laito-kun...Uu...

Laito: I’ll save you right now...!

ーー Kuh, uu...!!

Yui: ( Laito-kun...At this rate...! )

Laito-kun...Just forget about me...and runーー

Laito: I refuse...!

*Rumble rumble*

Yui: Laito-kun!!

Laito: !!

Yui: I’ll be okay so...

Laito: Don’t say that...I will...save you...!

*Rumble rumble*

Yui: ( Laito-kun...!! )

Laito: Come on! Don’t close your eyes, grab my hand...!!

On certain CGs, little black roses will appear on the screen. If you click on them, you get an extra line of dialogue.

“My life has been worth it, simply because I was able to meet you. ...Thank you.”

“Fuck...! These stupid flames...! ...But don’t worry, Bitch-chan. I’ll keep you safe.”

Yui: ...!!

Laito: ...! Thank god...I made it just in time...

*Rustle*

Laito: Ugh...

Yui: Laito-kun, did you hurt yourself...!?

Laito: Fufu...It’s just a scratch...

It’s such a trivial matter, when I consider I could have lost you.

Yui: Laito-kun...

Laito: Even if I have been nothing but a marionette my whole life, my love for you is genuine.

Just like you said.

Even if everything else went exactly according to his plans, there’s at least one thing.

One thing which that guy has no say in. That’s...our feelings.

Yui: Yeah...You’re right.

Laito: I’ve been aimlessly walking around in a thorny forest, and tried to forget about the pain by numbing my own emotions.

However, a cute princess who wandered into that forest...she reminded me.

These feelings she taught me...They are forever.

Yui: Yeah...

Laito: My feelings are the only thing I can say are entirely my own. And what this heart of mine seeks outーー

That is the sole truth in my eyes...

Yui: Yeah...Exactly...You’re right. Laito-kun...

Laito: Cough cough...The fire...! Fuck, they flames have reached this far...

Yui: Ugh...

( Is there no way out...? )

( However, now that our hearts have become one, I feel like we found happiness regardless... )

*Flash*

Yui: ...Eh?

Laito: The door...The door to the Chamber of Time...opened...?

Yui: What is happening?

( It refused to even budge when Laito-kun was screaming at the top of his lungs. )

Karlheinz: ーー You who are fit to be Adam. You have been granted entry.

Now, step forward aiming for Eden.

Laito: ...!?

Yui: Karlheinz-san?

ー They enter the Chamber of Time

Yui: ( This is the Chamber of Time...It’s a very mysterious place... )

( I’m scared, yet strangely calm at the same time... )

Laito: ...

Karlheinz: No need to glare at me like that, Laito.

Laito: I’m not glaring. I just figured there’s something I should tell you beforehand. 

I’m no longer your puppet.

Karlheinz: Hmph.

Laito: I’m not quite sure what you’re setting me up for. However...

I have zero interest in carrying on your intentions.

No matter what those may be.

Karlheinz: I see. That is a shame.

Laito: The fact you don’t seem to feel any regret at all really gets on my nerves. ...Honestly, I can’t believe you...

You knew I would turn out like this, didn’t you?

Karlheinz: ...I wonder?

Laito: You’re being sarcastic, aren’t you. I bet you know what comes next too, don’t you?

Karlheinz: ...

Laito: Your silence proves that I’m right. Why did you let us in here?

Karlheinz: To give my blessings to the anticipated future. 

Laito: Your blessings? 

Karlheinz: You, who has become Adam, allow me to entrust you with this power...

Laito: ...!?

Karlheinz: You have become the first Demon who obtained the truth and learnt to experience human sentiment.

Therefore, I shall grant you my strength. Come on, accept it.

You will need these powers.

Laito: ...No thank you.

Yui: ...?

Laito: If you want to see me die from sheer self-hatred after accepting those powers, then go ahead and force them upon me.

Karlheinz: ...

Laito: I don’t care what you think. I’m free nowーー

Karlheinz: I see.

Laito: Goodbye.

Karlheinz: ...

ー The scene shifts back to the hallway

Yui: Laito-kun, are you sure you did the right thing?

Laito: Nfu~ I did. I don’t want those powers at all.

Come on, let’s go. Let’s leave Eden together.

Yui: ...Yeah...

Laito: I’m sure many trials will wait ahead of Adam and Eve after they’ve left Eden.

But you’ll come with me, right?

Yui: Yeah, of course!

ー The scene shifts back to the Chamber of Time

Karlheinz: ーー Good grief.

Socrates: Despite sighing, you seem happy somehow.

How does it feel to play the part of the ultimate villain?

Karlheinz: What happens to me is of no concern. As long as I consider that this will aid in the birth of a new humankind. 

Regardless of the circumstances, I have lost this fight.

Socrates: I think you are the only person I know who could rejoice in a loss, my friend.

Karlheinz: ーー Let us put the match on hold for a while.

Socrates: Very well.

Monologue

Surrounded by a sea of flames,

the two of us fled Eden hand-in-hand.

Amidst the scorching fire blocking our path,

Laito-kun somehow seemed happy.

At last...

We might just have obtained,

the freedom we’ve always wished for.

*TIMESKIP*

Monologue

In the end, it turned out that the one who set fire to Eden back then,

had been Shin-kun.

Afterwards, this escalated into an all-out war,

between the two Founders and the other demonic races.

The Sakamaki and Mukami brothers quickly became involved in this conflict,

with every day being just as busy as the last.

However, Laito-kun is the only one...

who insists that the war is none of his business.

He seemed to be enjoying his new freedom of mind to the fullest.

Perhaps they had realized this, 

but despite the many complaints from his brothers, none of them opposed his behavior.

I believe this might have been his brothers’ way,

to show that they actually do care about Laito-kun.

ー The scene shifts to the forest

Laito: ーー Phew. Now we just have to put a stone on top. ...There.

*Thud*

Yui: Done?

Laito: Nfu~ It’s complete. Come on, this way. I want you to be the first person I show this to.

*Rustle*

Laito: What do you think?

Yui: ーー I think it’s great. I’m sure Cordelia is very happy as well.

Laito: Fufu, I’m not so sure about that?

Yui: I’m positive.

Laito: When you say that, I’m tempted to believe it.

Yui: ( Cordelia’s grave. I was very shocked when Laito-kun suddenly said he would make her one. )

( This shows that Laito-kun was finally able to make peace with his past and move on, right? )

Laito: ...

Yui: I wonder if she’ll be able to rest in peace now?

Laito: Well, I doubt it.

Yui: Really...?

Laito: I mean, she was quite the fierce personality after all. The word ‘peaceful’ just doesn’t apply to her.

ーー However, now I’ve come to realize that this might have been what made her pain twice as bad.

Of course, I suffered too, and was hurt in many ways. However, by doing so...Sheーー

When I consider that she did those things, hoping that perhaps it would make Karlheinz finally look her way...

She suddenly seems so miserable..pitiful, and so very pathetic...

Yet incredibly sorrowfulーー

Yui: Laito-kun...

Laito: Her ways were wrong. However, that was a fate none of us could have escaped.

As a result, I was hurt. However, this is also what allowed me to eventually meet you.

Because I have had to bear many struggles (1), there was a truth to be discovered at the end of it all, don’t you think?

Yui: Yeah, I’m sure.

Laito: ...

Yui: ...

*Rustle*

Laito: ...

Yui: Um...Are you sure you don’t want to stay longer?

Laito: Yeah.

Yui: ーー Even though you’re crying?

Laito: Nfu~ These are happy tears because I’m thinking of our future together.

Yui: You’re joking around...even right now?

Laito: I’m not joking. How cruel.

...Come on, let’s go.

Yui: Yeah...

Laito: ーー See you. Mother.

Yui: !!

( Laito-kun referred to Cordelia as ‘Mother’ for the first time ever... )

( ...I’m glad. )

( With this...Laito-kun’s heart has truly been set free. )

ーー Where are we headed next?

Laito: Nfu~ I guess we should return to the human world for now? I’m pretty sure we’ll get involved in some annoying conflict if we stay here.

Yui: You haven’t made any concrete plans yet?

Laito: No. Not really. Disappointed?

Yui: No, Iーー

Laito: ‘ーーI will go anywhere as long as we’re together!’, right?

Yui: ...!!

Laito: Ah, I was right? I figured so. Well then, let’s depart to our lovely castle in the human worldー!

Yui: A castle in the human world...?

Laito: Nfu~ A wonderful place~ You’ve got nothing to worry about if you just leave everything to me.

Yui: ( That sounds a little fishy coming from him but oh well. )

( I also like that side of him after all. )

Laito: Ahー I’m so excited. Let’s do all things we’ve missed out on so far...Like ‘this’ and ‘that’~

Yui: What are you thinking of?

Laito: Eeh~? You’re curious? Sure, I don’t mind telling you...

Yui: N-No, nevermind, I don’t want to hear...!

Laito: Nfufu~ Oh come on, don’t say that. My precious Princess Bitch~!

Yui: Don’t call me that...!

Laito: Eeh~? Let me think? I can’t help myself when you protest like that though?

Yui: Laito-kun...Please...!

Laito: Nfu~ Then, ‘cutie’~

Yui: T-That’s kind of embarrassing too because I’m not used to you calling me that...

Laito: Eeh? Really? Then, ‘Bitch-chan’?

Yui: Yeah, that’s fiーー Wait.

That one’s getting a no too!

Laito: Fufufu~ I can’t believe you want to be called ‘Bitch-chan’. Honestly, you’re just so...Nfu~ 

ーー Very cute!

Yui: ...!!

( Laito-kun’s this happy yet he can still be himself. )

( That...makes me happier than anything else. )

( Since you remain by my side to this day, we can both vow our love for each other. )

( Now, until foreverーー )

ーー THE END ーー

Translation notes

(1) He continues to use the ‘thorns’ metaphor here, saying that he walked a path full of thorns. 

[vintagedolan]

Do Indy and Gray have a boy or girl next? <3

“I still don’t know why she said we shouldn’t do a six week scan. Eden got one with both pregnancies, why didn’t we?”

Indy turned around slowly in the closet and smiled, pulling down one of her bigger shirts over her stomach. Grayson had been through this once already; his head had been buried in research from the moment that they knew Beks existed, and he’d worked himself up into a frenzy of worry and doubt.

“Babe, ultrasounds are stressful for little babies, and Dr. Hollingsworth doesn’t see the point in putting a baby through it twice when there’s nothing we can do between 6 and 10 weeks that would change anything anyways.”

Grayson exhaled.

“And besides, now we get to find out the gender at the same time, no waiting for another scan.” Indy’s heart fluttered as she said it, the realization setting in. Today was really the day.

When they found out about Beks, they’d done a gender reveal. Indy had set one up for Eden with Miles, and she insisted on returning the favor. It had been the whole nine yards, from the votes to testing the wives tales. Eventually, everyone had thrown a little balloon full of paint at a canvas, revealing all different shades of pink to reveal they were having a little girl. 

Now, with a toddler, and E squared occupied with a brand new baby girl, Gray and Indy had decided to skip the fanfare. Sure, the painting that they had was a cute keepsake, but they wanted to try it the other way - more intimately, so they could just have it to themselves for a bit. 

Grayson was excited, but he pushed it all from his mind to spend a few moments with his daughter before they left. She was in the backyard, up in the play house that Grayson had built for the kids, Ethan standing guard at the ladder while she and Miles made up a game. But as soon as she saw Grayson she sent herself down the slide, reaching up for him from the bottom. 

Grayson carried her over to Indy, kissing her red cheeks. Her skin was warm from a mixture of running around and the California sunshine, and Grayson snagged the sunscreen to swipe a bit more on her cheeks before they went. 

“Where you going?” Beks asked when she noticed Indy’s purse on her shoulder. She frowned, eyes darting back and forth between her parents.

“We’re gonna go see the baby in mommy’s belly. But, guess what?”

“What momma?” Beks asked, eyes going wide in excitement. 

“We might just bring back a special treat for everyone when we come back, as long as you’re good for Uncle Ethan.”

It didn’t work as Indy had hoped. Her daughter still frowned, and tucked her head onto her Dad’s shoulder.

“How long you be gone momma?”

Indy’s heart cracked. Bekah had only recently started asking that question, and she knew it was because she’d started back at work. Even though she was only picking up the occasional shift, twelve hours was a long time for the both of them to be away from each other.

“Not so long babe. I tell you what, you play with Miles, and eat your lunch and take your nap and by the time you wake up, we’ll be back. How’s that sound?”

“Okay.” 

Indy could tell she was still upset, and if it wasn’t so important, she would have cancelled her plans. So she gave her daughter a tight hug and a kiss on the forehead before Grayson did the same, sending her back over to Ethan who turned on the charm to distract her. 

The pair tried to push their daughter’s sad eyes out of their minds - they hated to leave her, but they knew it was important. Music was their distraction, as it always had been, and it eased the buzz of nerves as they headed down the road.

“I feel like I’m bigger this time,” Indy mused as she ran a hand over her bump. Because there was a bump, surprisingly, even at just 10 weeks. 

“It goes faster with your second pregnancy,” Grayson said casually, as if every man his age would know that.

“Are you reading those pregnancy books again?”

He blushed. “Maybe.”

“You’re the best dad,” Indy hummed, kissing the back of his hand. 

L-O-V-E Y-O-U, she traced.

The doctor’s office was busy, and Indy and Grayson’s legs tapped in sync as they anxiously awaited being called back. They held hands tightly, tracing little notes to each other until finally, a nurse opened the door.

“Indiana Dolan?”

Indy stood, Grayson right behind her carrying her purse as they followed the woman in the blue scrubs back. She got Indy checked in, did all the necessary paperwork, and before she could really process it, Indy found herself back on an examination bench in a dark room. 

Grayson pulled his chair up on the side opposite the monitors, pressing a warm kiss to the back of Indy’s hand when she reached for him. 

“Everything will be okay, no matter what,” he said. 

Indy knew too much about the human body. A million scenarios rushed through her mind as she sat and waited, ran her other hand up and down over her bump. She trusted her husband, and she willed herself to believe him. 

The ultrasound technician came in a few moments later, making them both jump. 

“Alright guys, you all have done this before, you know the drill,” the woman smiled, already starting to get prepped. “Any questions for me?”

Indy shook her head and bit her lip.

“And if we’re able to see it, are you guys wanting to find out gender today?”

“Yeah, if you can. We don’t need the envelope or anything this time, you can just tell us,” Grayson explained. It was subtle, but Indy could hear the shakiness of his voice, felt his nerves that he was trying to hide for her sake. 

The technician went through the motions; pulling up Indy’s shirt, spreading the gel across her belly. She filled the room with small talk, but Grayson had to answer most of it. Indy’s eyes were honed in on the monitor, waiting for a glimpse of the little life she knew was inside of her

She let out a breath when the heartbeat sounded through the room - a flutter, quick and light and strong. 

She barely heard when the technician began to speak, moving the ultrasound wand slowly back and forth over one particular spot.

“Indy, take a deep breath for me.”

She stopped breathing, eyes wide in concern.

“I think there’s two.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Holy fuck,” Grayson gasped. Indy’s hand came up to cover her mouth, tears prickling in her eyes. And then she could see it, see the two separate sacs, the two tiny babies in their own little homes right next to each other. 

“Twins. We’re having twins.” 

[eliegloryofficial]

Here When You Wake

Summary:  Though they might have saved World 30, the events of World 29 continue to haunt Rebecca.

Fandom and Pairing(s): Edens Zero, Rebecca / Shiki Granbell.

Links: ao3 | ff.net

Rebecca had been plagued by bad dreams for as long as she could remember. Growing up on the streets hadn’t exactly gifted her with the greatest childhood, of course. She had struggled to survive and were it not for the kindness of others, she might not have.

That was what she had always thought, of course. Now, she didn’t know which were bad dreams.

Master Noah had said she had subconsciously used Cat Leap twenty-nine different times. Twenty-nine different times she should have died. When Master Noah first explained it to her, Rebecca hadn’t given herself much time to fully process what exactly that meant. There were too many other things happening for her to stop and consider the implications of what he told her.

After the battle was over, however, it was impossible to ignore. She laid in her bed on the ship and stared out the windows to the stars and wondered how many of her bad dreams were a different life she’d lost. The accident that killed Happy was one, that much she knew. Rebecca had suffered through so many bad dreams throughout her short life - it would be impossible to determine which ones were actual dreams and which ones weren’t. Master Noah could potentially have helped, if he had really been watching her all this time, but the thought of asking him felt ridiculous.

She was a big girl, she could handle a little uncertainty. But that first night after defeating Drakken Joe, Rebecca found herself unable to sleep. All she could seem to do was stare up at the ceiling and let her thoughts run rampant. Flashes of world twenty-nine kept playing in her mind, reminding her over and over again how powerless she was at times.

The next day, Rebecca managed to convince her friends that she had slept just fine. Hid the dark circles around her eyes with make-up and forced herself to smile and act like nothing had happened.

At night, however, she found herself troubled with questions about Cat Leap - if this was world thirty, what happened to world twenty-nine? Or all the other worlds before it? Was her Ether Gear somehow creating alternate timelines with every jump? Was there still a world, then, without Shiki? The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth, and Rebecca knew that if she dared attempt, all she’d see was his demise repeated like a bad movie reel.

So she stayed awake. Busied herself with video games and caffeine. Pretending it didn’t happen was harder the next day, but she powered through. The last thing she wanted was for her friends to continue worrying about her any more than they already were. She’d baffled them enough with her questions about Mr. Connor. If they found out she wasn’t sleeping, they might get the wrong idea. Once or twice, she caught herself drifting off during a quiet lull here and there, but nothing quite like what she needed.

The third night, Rebecca couldn’t force herself to stay awake any longer. The sleep that came to her, however, was restless and anything but peaceful. She tossed and turned so much throughout the night that when the wake-up call sounded, she felt worse than she had the day before.

In the kitchen that morning, when Shiki got close enough to notice her bloodshot eyes and asked if she slept well, she told him she stayed up too late editing a video. He frowned, dark eyes watching her carefully for a second before she turned away first. Rebecca could feel his eyes continuing to watch her, expression plain as day as she tried to ignore him. If the others noticed anything, they chose not to question why he spent the entire meal staring at her or why she, in turn, refused to look in his direction.

After the meal, Rebecca found herself aimlessly wandering the ship. Three nights without a decent night of rest had done its toll, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she would be able to go on like this. She didn't want to try taking a bath in case she accidentally passed out, she couldn't focus well enough to play a video game, and she certainly didn’t want to risk spending time with her companions lest they notice she was struggling with something.

Bad dreams plagued her nighttime thoughts and rattled her dreams so harshly that sleep just didn’t seem possible anymore. Going without sleep for too long was dangerous, and it would only be a matter of time before everyone else started noticing. But what choice did she have?

As it was, she was fortunate that Sister Ivie was distracted with Kleene’s strange condition and hadn’t had time to give her a good look yet. Who knew how much longer that could go on. Shiki wasn’t well known for his subtleties, after all, and it was a wonder he hadn’t pushed the issue more at breakfast. For now, she would count herself fortunate and hope for the best this evening.

That was the plan, at any rate. However, just as she was shuffling her way through a corridor, something warm gently grabbed her hand. “Rebecca?”

She slowly turned, seeing Shiki next to her with a worried look on his face. “Hey, Shiki,” she said softly, rubbing at her eyes. “What’re you doing here?”

“You’re right outside my bedroom,” he replied, his frown deepening a little. “Are you alright?”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Rebecca mumbled, nodding. “I’ve never been better.” Even if she hadn’t been mildly sleep deprived, she knew her words would never have convinced him. For as dense as he was, her companion seemed to pick up on her every mood shift. He knew her well, even though they had only met a short while ago.

His hand still gripping hers, Shiki suddenly gave her arm a tug as he started moving. “Come on,” he said softly. Rebecca opened her mouth to ask where he was taking her, but the words didn’t want to form properly so all that came out was a sort of groan. It didn’t help her case any, and she knew it.

To her surprise, Shiki led her into his own personal bedroom, releasing her hand only briefly so he could dim the lights. “What’s happenin’?” Rebecca asked, rubbing her eyes again. He grabbed her hand again and pulled her along silently, stopping just by the bed.

“You look like you could use a nap,” he explained, gesturing towards it. Rebecca glanced down at the bed for a second before looking back at him, a slight blush coming to her face.

“Shiki, I’m fine,” she insisted, taking a step back. “Really. I’ve just been working on some videos.”

He crossed his arms against his chest. “Happy said you guys haven’t recorded any videos in a long time,” he told her. His voice was even, but the hurt was still there, permeating his words. Rebecca glanced away, reaching up to rub at her elbow. He must have been more worried than she realized to speak to Happy. “Rebecca, what’s wrong?”

When she looked up again, he had stepped closer. For a second, she debated on whether to continue insisting things were fine, but how could she ever hope to lie to him again? “I haven’t been sleeping well,” Rebecca admitted with a sigh. “I can’t stop thinking about all the other times I must have used Cat Leap, how many other bad dreams got written off as a nightmare when they were actually times I should have died.” Her voice came out weaker than she would have liked, tears already settling in the corner of her eyes. “There’s so much I don’t know about these powers.”

Gently, Shiki reached up and placed his hands on her elbows. He said nothing, and after a second, she continued. “I’m afraid that if I sleep, I’ll just keep seeing all the bad things from world twenty-nine. And I…I would rather never sleep again than watch you die.”

Tears spilled from her eyes before she could stop them, and Shiki’s embrace wasn’t far behind. He held her gently, offering her the support she had been denying herself for days. “I’m right here,” he said after a moment, keeping his arms wrapped around her. “All your friends are right here, remember?”

“I remember.” Rebecca closed her eyes and let herself relax a little into his hug. This wasn’t like him, but she appreciated the gesture all the same. “I remember.”

He pulled away a little, signature grin already halfway across his face. “Good!” he told her. “See? No reason to keep crying.” Rebecca allowed herself a small smile, reaching up to wipe the few tears away from her cheeks. “Will you please take a nap now?”

“A nap sounds nice,” she admitted. He grinned a little wider, and fully released her so she could get into bed. Once she was settled, he offered her one more grin and turned to leave. “W-wait.”

Shiki stopped. Rebecca had pulled the covers up over her mouth and nose, and all that could be seen of her forehead was painted red. She couldn’t explain why, exactly, but…

“Will you stay with me?”

The words were soft, uncertain, and Rebecca almost retracted them. But something compelled her to ask, some great fear that if she was left on her own, the nightmares would simply return and his act of kindness would ultimately help nothing. If Shiki was here with her, then maybe things would be better.

Totally, definitely, absolutely not because she liked it when he comforted her.

For a few seconds, he simply stood a few feet away as if he was trying to understand what she meant. Then, finally, a soft smile took the place of his confused frown and he moved to join her. Staying above the covers, he laid down next to her on his side, watching her carefully. “I’ll be right here, so you can rest easy,” he said softly. Rebecca closed her eyes, nodding once. For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, she drifted off into a peaceful sleep, half nestled in her friends arms as he watched over her, ready to fight back any bad dreams that dared to interrupt her.

It was the best nap Rebecca had ever taken.

[blissfullylostinarabbithole]

Duckling Pt. 7

Pairing: AU!Teen Wolf x Reader x AU!Avengers, Derek Hale x Reader

Word Count: 1.6k

Summary: Peter learns why he should never, ever approach the owner of the yellow Skylark.

A/N: This one’s a short, little filler, but not to worry! The next part will probably be up by the time you finish this one!

A/N 2: Plot requester didn’t remember the name of the film this is based on, so if you recognize it, let me know!

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Nat hadn’t spoken to Brock since that game. He’d gone over to the house, actually walking up to the door, and asked to see her on a few occasions. She turned him away every time. She knew she was a hypocrite for getting as angry as she did, knowing she wouldn’t have cared had he attacked any other player on the team. It didn’t matter, though. She was actually pleased she was rid of him, much to her own surprise. More than anything, she was relieved that no one saw anything at the game. Still, she didn’t relax; she couldn’t. Not only would there be other games, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before someone ran into you. It was a small town, after all, at least compared to New York. All she could hope for was that no one recognized you when they did. 

The only bad thing about breaking up with Brock was that now she was back at square one; no boyfriend, no friends, and nothing to do. She considered pursuing something with Clint, but it seemed to her that every time they spoke, it was because she initiated it. 

Word spreads fast in school, so she knew everyone knew she had left her old group of friends behind, yet no one stepped up to try to befriend her. She thought for sure Clint would, but he didn’t. At first she thought maybe it was because he was Brock’s teammate, and it would complicate things or cause problems amongst the team, but it looked like Brock was getting the same treatment. It shocked her, as she didn’t think his usual crowd could ever do anything but worship the ground he walked on. She didn’t care, though. Brock was no longer her concern.

For the first time in a long time, Nat didn’t want distractions. She wanted something real. It hit her when she saw not only the concern of your teammates, but the concern of some of the academy’s players, too. She saw how T’Challa had commanded his players to back off when Derek beat Brock, and when Clint actually spoke to you, making sure you were ok. It made her realize just how lonely she really was.

She didn’t understand it until she saw Derek, though. He was even angrier than she was when Brock tackled you, and Clint’s words came flooding back to her.

When you see them together, you’ll know.

The relief on his face when he realized you weren’t hurt morphed into pure adoration. As he looked you over, needing to be sure you were alright, her own heart broke at having never seen that look on Brock’s, or anyone’s, face. Whatever Derek was, whatever he did or whatever facade he put up, it’s not who he was when he was with you. Meanwhile, she never dropped hers in front of anyone. No one had ever made her feel the way you seemed to make each other feel.

Now she’d seen you together, and she knew.

She never stood a chance.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

As much as Peter missed his friends and his old hangouts, he was starting to love his new home. He had a smart, beautiful girlfriend, an awesome car, and little to no city traffic to prevent him from enjoying it when the time came.

He was in the driveway again, listening to the radio in his ‘new’ Chevelle. It was about the only thing that worked in the old car, but that was the way he wanted it.  Sometimes the twins would join him, making engine sounds and pretending they were on a trip. Other times, he’d end his dates with Shuri there, talking until it was time for her to go home.

The sun had just set, and the light was quickly diminishing. Her brother was due to pick her up any minute, so they sat in the car, relishing the last few moments they had together. They were speaking animatedly about their plans for spring break, which Steve had surprised them with a trip to the southern part of the state, and invited Shuri to come along. She had squealed that she’d always wanted to go to Disneyland. 

A yellow car sped by, and Shuri pursed her lips at the gleam in Peter’s eye as he watched it shrink in the distance. He turned back to her, and his smile faltered at the worried look on her face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “You don’t like the Skylark?”

She shook her head. “It’s not that.”

“Oh, well, what is it?” He could hear her mind working, trying to decide if she should say what she was thinking. “Do you know who owns it?”

“No, not really. I know her name’s Y/N Lang, and she calls it Honeybee.”

“Aww,” Peter gushed. “That’s cute. You think she’ll let me take a picture of it? My friend Ned back home would-”

“No!” Shuri interrupted, clutching tightly on his arm. “You mustn't speak to her!”

“W-why not?”

Shuri sighed, deciding it would be better to tell him what she knew, rather than risk Peter putting himself in danger. “Because of Derek Hale.”

Peter knew that name, he’d even seen the guy around town once or twice. Most people seemed to be afraid of him, from what he could tell. “What’s he got to do with anything?”

“He’s her boyfriend,” she leaned in, whispering as if it was some big secret. “Things don’t go well for people who cross their path. I’d say ‘Just ask Matt Daehler’, but...”

Peter’s brows knit in confusion. “Who’s that?”

“A boy who was found drowned in a creek last year. A shallow creek. My cousin said it happened just days after he spoke to her. Derek was the prime suspect.”

Peter visibly paled, swallowing hard at the information she’d given him. “But, there wasn’t any evidence, was there? Since he’s free right now. Why did they think it was him?”

“Look, we don’t even know Derek. My cousin thinks all the rumors are true, but my brother’s not so sure.” She hesitated again, but she quickly relaxed, resigning herself to just getting it all out there. He’d hear everything eventually, it might as well be now. “His family died in a fire a few years ago. Only three people survived: him, one of his sisters, and an uncle who said it was a miracle he was able to get out. Then, two years ago, his sister was killed. Had their uncle been trapped in the house, the only surviving member would be Derek.”

“Wait, so people think he killed his own family?”

“That’s the rumor,” she said. “It’s not just family, but girlfriends, too! Before his sister, his girlfriend was found in the woods. Then it was an ex last year. Throat ripped right open. Then when Matt died, and people started saying he was seen talking to Derek’s current girlfriend…”

“They assumed he did it.”

A loud knock on Shuri’s window startled them, making them both scream. They could hear T’Challa laughing, and they climbed out of the car just as Bucky ran out the front door, clutching a large hunting knife in his hand. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

There weren’t many times you were seriously angry at your sister, but this was one of them. You’d all been ready to go, and were only waiting on your dad to double check the back door was locked before leaving, when Cassie spilled juice all over herself.

Now your dad had to get Cassie cleaned up and changed. You’d offered to do it, but he already had her halfway up the stairs and told you to sit tight. You swallowed thickly, turning back toward the living room.

Hope smiled at you, but you could see it didn’t reach her eyes. You offered your own strained one in return before taking a seat on the couch across from her.

“So,” she began awkwardly, “will Derek be joining us tonight?”

“Oh, um, no. He has… other things to take care of.”

She nodded in understanding, only letting silence linger for a moment. “Everything’s going well at the garage?”

“Yeah, he’s… he’s good.”

“That’s good. And you? Are you happy at Argent’s?”

“Can’t complain.” You hadn’t noticed when your knee began to bounce, so you pulled your legs up and sat cross legged instead. 

“I hear your team made the semi-finals. Excited?”

The minutes dragged, and though you resolved to try to make things less awkward with Hope, it didn’t seem like it was any different than before. You suffered through small talk, silently begging your dad to hurry up and get down there already.

It felt like hours had passed by the time they descended the stairs, finally ready to begin your ‘family’ outing. They were a regular occurrence, but it was the first one Hope attended.

It wasn’t too bad, once it was the four of you again. You pretty much just focused on Cassie, keeping interactions with your dad and Hope to a minimum. It was easy enough to do, and easy enough to not let negative thoughts creep to the forefront of your mind. At least, it was until you fell a bit behind, and noticed how sweet the three of them looked together. 

They held Cassie up, swinging her between them as she laughed. You tried to be grateful that Hope seemed to genuinely care about them, but you couldn’t help the gnawing feeling in the pit of your stomach that made you question if there was room in that picture for you.

Your father’s laughter pulled you from your thoughts. As you picked up the pace to catch up, you realized it didn’t matter whether or not you fit in. You only had a little more than two years of school left. After that, you’d be off to college, or moving in with Derek, and you wouldn’t have to feel like the odd one out anymore.

Permanent -  @melconnor2007 @ria132love @psychicwitchphilosopher @sireennotsiren @silence–in–the–library @thefridgeismybestie @hymnofthevalkyrie @abbybills22 @mvasquez492 @ek823 @nicky10876 @sophiealiice @madeof-ink @dugan365 @magnitude101999 @way-ward-whale @i-am-the-fandom-warrior @seabasstiantrash @eden-the-human-garden

Duckling - @lgkoval@charmed-1998 @broco8 @sailor-earth-1 @sincerely-kizzy 

If I missed you, let me know!

[much-obliged-timothy]

Happily Ever Aftermath Part 2

Information of what Happily Ever Aftermath is here

*

“Stop this,” Tim said.

Blue continued to scream at him.

“You’re being a brat,” Tim said.

The screaming continued.

Tim threw his hands up. “I already fed you! I literally just watched you eat.”

Blue stopped screaming. He nudged his empty food dish forward, waited a moment, then screamed again when Tim made no moves to fill it.

“Handsome Jack, bested by a cat,” Ava said as she watched from the table.

Tim picked Blue up and tossed him into Ava’s lap. Ava yelped in surprise, and Blue hissed and scratched at her.

“Timothy,” Maya said.

“She snuck up on me. She had it coming,” Tim said.

Ava flung the cat off her. He landed gracefully on his feet, glared at her, and darted off. 

“Sit down,” Maya said, pushing at Tim. 

Tim sat down and Maya sat next to him. They passed the food around, filling their plates. Ava kept shooting Maya looks, waiting for the inevitable conversation to begin. Maya ignored her.

“Are you all settled in, Tim?” Maya asked.

Tim shrugged. “My stuff is put away. My cat has already claimed his spot in the room. So, yea, I guess.”

“Good. We can relax tonight, and tomorrow I can show you around Athenas more,” Maya said. “It’s quiet here. I think you’ll like it.”

Tim didn’t particularly care for the quiet, but he’d gotten used to it over the years. He’d learned that not every silence had to be filled with his horrible thoughts. Sometimes there could just be peace. He hoped he found that here.

Maya asked him about his time on Eden-6 since they’d last talked. Ava pretended not to be interested, but Maya could see how closely she was paying attention whenever Tim talked about the COV invasion of the planet.

“Will they make it here?” Ava asked Maya.

“If they do, we’ll kill them,” Maya said simply. “They’re not welcome here.”

“They’re like ants. Kill one, ten more appear,” Tim said. 

Maya hadn’t meant for the conversation to turn back to killing. Maybe she wasn’t very good at talking about anything else, though. 

“Do you want to go to the library in the morning?” she asked Tim hastily, hoping to turn the conversation.

He raised an eyebrow at the lame attempt, but gave a nod. “Sure, kiddo.”

“Maya,” Ava pressed, because they’d finished eating and she wanted to see this drama already.

“Will you just get out with whatever bad news you need to break to me? The tension is killing me,” Tim said. “And trust me, I know what dying feels like.”

“Oh, um, about that…” Maya shifted nervously, then forced a smile.

Tim groaned. “Oh no. What now? What shit thing are you going to bring into my life, Maya?”

“Well, I’d already invited someone to come visit before I asked you. So you guys will be here at the same time. It’ll be fun!” Maya said.

Tim narrowed his eyes. “Who?”

Maya considered mumbling the name, realized he’d just make her repeat it, and decided this had to be dealt with eventually. “Krieg.”

Tim stared at her. She stared back. 

“Krieg,” Tim repeated.

Maya forced a smile. “Yes.”

“Krieg, who once almost beat me to death,” Tim said.

“Wait, what? I didn’t know that! You just said they didn’t get along,” Ava said, shooting Maya a look.

“He didn’t mean to do it. He was just upset,” Maya said. At Tim’s look, she scowled. “You shot me, and I still invited you over.”

“Non-fatally! I shot you non-fatally, to earn Jack’s trust, so I could free you!” Tim said. “He broke so many bones, Maya. I didn’t even know I had that many bones. I almost died. I couldn’t use my arm for so goddamn long after. My bones pierced my internal organs, because he shattered them so badly!” 

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me that part of it,” Ava said.

“I already told Krieg you’d be here, and that he had to get along with you,” Maya said.

“Your friends told him not to kill me, but that didn’t stop him from trying,” Tim said. 

“He won’t hurt you. I wouldn’t have invited you here if you were in danger,” she said seriously. She could still remember the cold horror that had washed through her when Jack said Krieg had killed Tim. “Do you trust me, Timothy?”

Tim groaned. “God help me, I do. I swear, though, if a single one of my bones gets broken, I’m shooting him. Fatally.”

“You could never take that guy out,” Ava said, raising an eyebrow. “He’s, like, twice your size.”

“So was the vault monster, but bitch I lived,” Tim said, spreading his arms. 

“I’m...just going to get dessert, because you two won’t listen when I say not to argue,” Maya said with a sigh, getting up. She put a hand on Tim’s shoulder. “You’ll be fine. You know I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you.”

“Jack did stab me with your help,” he said.

She glared. “I had the collar on me!”

Tim grinned. “‘Tim remember when you shot me’, yea, kiddo, remember when you let Jack stab me? Oh, two can play at this game, and two absolutely will.”

“You’re miserable,” she said, but it was fond. “Bother Ava while I get dessert.”

“What? Don’t do that!” Ava said, but it was too late.

Maya sighed as Ava began to yell about how Tim had kicked her under the table. Tim began to yell about how Ava had flicked mashed potatoes into his hair. Maya strongly considered going out and gathering all the wine around Athenas, because she knew she was going to need it once Krieg was added to the mix.

[cosmiciaria]

Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate Review! (spoiler free - long post)

It's done! I finished my first AC game ever! And I loved it!! YAAAY!!

First things first: this is going to be an honest review. I liked the game, A LOT, more than I expected, actually, but it has flaws. Not many that I could find personally, but it has. But before I delve deeper into it, let's have an overview of the game.

AC: Syndicate is the ninth?, installment in the Assassin's Creed franchise. It's a sequel to Unity, that came out just a year before, but you don't need to play any of the other AC games to plunge into this one (or any of them, to be honest), since each game tells a self-contained story. If you've been living under a rock for the past decade or you don't know a thing about videogames, Assassin's Creed games follow a character in the present time, joining the Order of the Assassins, warriors and masters of stealth that have been at odds with the Templars since time immemorial. The Templars desire the pieces of Eden, magical artifacts created with ancient technology by the Precursors, gods and goddesses that somehow bear the names of the Roman pantheon members. These pieces of Eden are extremely dangerous in the wrong hands, but have been long lost to the folds of History and withered pages of books. The Assassins must find them in today's world, through the genetic memories buried within the DNA of the descendants of the Assassins that at some point in History have come into contact with those artifacts.

Well, that premise is true for all Assassin's Creed games. This time, we're following the same initiate we met during Black Flag and Unity, if I'm not mistaken. The previous games have followed Desmond Miles, an actual character with a face, but in these "in-between" installments, the initiate is a faceless placeholder for the player to incarnate them. But, to be honest, the present timeline is, uh, what's this word…

BORING.

Nobody cares what's going on in the present! Let's move on to the actual plot!

Syndicate takes us to Victorian London! Through the DNA of the initiate we travel in time to 1868, to the middle of the British capital. Our protagonists this time is a pair of twins: Jacob and, lo and behold, Evie Frye. I say "lo and behold" because this is the first official female assassin protagonist that we have in the mainline series of games. Prior to this game, we have Liberation which also followed a female assassin, the real first one, but that game is a spin off and mostly overlooked, since it came out only for the Vita sadly back in the day (although there's a remaster for the ps3!). Either way, all previous Assassin's Creed games (if Syndicate is the ninth, then you got the number) have starred male assassins as their protagonists. In Unity this came to a great peak when in the multiplayer co-op players were unable to play as female avatars, which caused a great ruckus. As Syndicate intended to mend many of the problems players found in Unity, we have now an official, canon female character in the main series! And I say: CHEERS TO THAT!

I MUST address this because it was one of the two reasons why I bought this game. I was never interested in the AC games but I've always wanted this one, because you could play as Evie Frye. As a female cis person, I find the lack of canon female protagonist to be baffling, to say the least (the actual word I'm looking for would be "annoying"). I'm not going to say that I'm forced to play as a male character all the time, because nobody forces me to play any game, I play them all because I wish to – but the truth is that, for many years, the videogame industry has been directed at one public only: boys. And some boys, for some reason, won't play the game if the protagonist is a girl or looks like a girl. And I don't care if the presence of a female character breaks your history immersion and whatnot: we have fricking magic in this game, do not throw historical accuracy at me for it. So, Ubisoft: I AM GLAD you created Evie Frye. She's fearless, she's relentless, she's clever, she has a clear goal in mind and solves every little piece to make the bigger plan work. She's badass without throwing her femininity off the window, and for a change she's the one saving the man in distress. I love her and her cloaks. Also she's cute as hell.

I am ALSO GLAD that Ubisoft created Jacob Frye! Jacob is a good balance to Evie, since he's more impulsive, a brawler, and likes throwing himself into battle. He speaks with fists, while never leaving his morals aside. He shows disregard for careful plans, but ultimately works in favor of them. He might sound a little stupid when I picture him this way, but he's not: he follows the creed strictly, during the assassination missions he shows clear precision, planification and ingenuity, and most importantly, he has a golden heart, and knows his ideals and principles very well. And for the love of Minerva, he's so handsome I might die.

So the Frye twins are both your protagonists this time! During the open world map and sidequests, you can switch between them on the fly. But during main missions, one of them will be assigned for you to play as and you'll be forced to complete the quest with either of them. Evie favors stealth, whereas Jacob is all about combat. This allows the player to tackle the game and the different activities as they see fit. If you're patient, probably Evie will be best for you, but if you can't handle the stealth, choose Jacob and start throwing punches! The city of London is open for you to choose the way you can liberate it.

And that takes me to my second reason why I bought this game: London.

For a not native-English-speaker as myself, who has learned and studied British English for over ten years, London will always hold a soft spot in my heart. Two years ago I was finally able to realize my dream and visit the city for the first time ever. I cried when I stepped out of St. Pancrasse station, understanding that my feet were touching English ground. So when I saw that this game not only offered me the chance to play as a female assassin, but it would also allow me to revisit London, I didn't think twice.

We follow Jacob and Evie to London, where they must meet Henry Green, the assassin watching over that city, in pursue of an important Templar figure: Starrick. Along the way to assassinate him, we'll take down other important Templar members, all responding to him. As I will keep this spoiler free, let's leave it at that. Let's just say that Starrick is in London, controlling every nook and cranny, while his second in command, Lucy Thorne, is reservedly researching the leads of a possible piece of Eden that might be hidden in the city's most secretive places.

London is so well recreated, I cried once when I stopped in front of the Big Ben. You're only able to visit and play through a portion of the city, around the Thames and Westminster, but still, even small though it seems, the map is big enough and full of activities to fulfill. The streets feel alive with its multiple, many, MANY npc's walking, running, driving carriages, interacting with each other, often having conversations as well! I was astonished when I was walking with Evie down an alley and an npc waved his hand to another npc that was some feet away, and the first one rushed to the second one to greet each other. It was such a realistic thing to see on the street that I was amazed at the technology behind it. As always, AC games excel at the presentation of countless npc's, each with a different animation and voices. On top of that, the city looks gorgeous, with so many details that I often stopped to stare, especially in the most emblematic buildings, like the different train Stations, the Parliament, St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and, of course, the Buckingham Palace. Everything is so faithful and vibrant and alive, that… yes, I love it. I fricking love it. I travelled again there in this game and I'm thankful for it.

There are nine sequences with 4 to 7 memories each, and all of them are different and unique enough to make them memorable. In particular, the main assassination quests were complex, using exclusive scenarios to the mission, offering the player different paths to tackle the killing – they were my favorite out of all the game. The last mission was *chef kiss*.

Apart from the main missions, you can slowly liberate each neighborhood from the Templars' claws. Each borough has a set of different activities to complete in order for you to "conquer" it. Gang wars, bounty hunts, Templar hunts, there's a lot to do. It might seem a lot at first, but you'll soon see the patterns across the sidequests, only to (unfortunately) realize that they're all the same. These can get tiresome and repetitive after a while, but they're also the best way to level up and earn money quickly. My personal favorite were the child liberations, because I felt like I was doing a good deed and also as if Charles Dickens himself was asking me to do it.

Oh, yes, Charles Dickens is in this game! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT, because I don't! He's one of my favorite authors, so, to be GIVEN a QUEST by HIM, I'm in tears guys, do you understand why I loved this game so much??

But Dickens isn't the only historical person that you'll encounter: Darwin also makes an appearance, as well as Marx (of whom I believed to be in Brussels, but I guess he visited London at some point – now I want an AC game set in Brussels), and Alexander Graham Bell, who will be your DaVinci of this game (Oh, now I want to play Ezio's games), offering you new toys to tinker with as you pave your way across the city. There are other historical people, but I won't mention them, since they're probably a spoiler, so I'll let you be surprised!

You'll have like a "hub world", or more like, a hub train – a train will be your hideout, your base, where you'll collect money, take some quests, interact with some characters and buy stuff cheaper. This train will constantly move around the city – sometimes I found myself appearing on the other side of the map because I was studying and investigating the things the train offered. I really liked the idea of a "moving base house", also it's quite fancy, and besides, I love trains. This game just keeps bringing me the good content.

Evie and Jacob are good protagonists – I'm not going to say they slay at it, but they serve the purpose. They're quite stereotypical, specially Jacob, as he seems to follow the trend Ezio imposed back in the day, and to which Arno also contributed – and Evie is quite the "polar opposite", a cliché often used on twins to express how "different they are". Their personalities are nothing new; what is endearing and worth noting, though, is their interactions. At first I thought "this is going to be another of the never-ending cases of twins acting like friends instead of siblings". I do come across this mistake more frequently than I'd like to, only broken by some exceptions (World of Final Fantasy is a really good one), even more if the twins are a boy and girl. I'm not saying twins shouldn't be friends themselves, but they're siblings first, for the love of Juno, and most creators who put twins into their stories don't seem to remember how siblings treat each other. Luckily, this game proved me wrong, since the Frye twins showed me that they're real siblings: not because they quarrel (they do, sometimes, quite forced in my opinion), but because of the way they look at each other, they care for each other, they often joke about the other, the familiarity and complicity they treat some topics with, because of the small banter that you can hear them have in the train hideout, how Jacob teases Evie with Henry or how Evie teases Jacob for the cloaks he's wearing – that, all of that, all combined, make up for a good sibling relationship and show me that these two have been brother and sister for a while now. I'm glad they ended up being one of the exceptions to this godawful rule among the fictional twin characters. I would've liked, though, maybe a few more scenes with them having a real heart to heart – I think we were robbed of one or two (specially after sequence 8 if you ask me- Jacob please, let's talk, baby).

Henry is another important character – although I thought he'd be more important. He ultimately appeared in less missions than I expected, and is soon relegated to be Evie's love interest and that's it. And even that is, uh… a little underwhelming. I kinda shipped them at first, then I was like "please, they're FRIENDS, don't force this", only to see myself getting disappointed. I think Henry needed more screentime for me to care more about him, and I definitely believe that, after that mission with Evie, we needed a cutscene with an explanation. It was kind of forgotten later, and he felt more like a plot device than anything else. I'm sad, because he could've been a great opportunity to show us a bit of Indian culture, and also because by the end of the game he's treated like another protagonist, when it doesn't feel like he'd earned it, though, considering the whole game. My opinion.

There are other characters worth mentioning, like Freddy Abberline, another historical person, whose running gag about disguises soon grew on me; Clara O'Dea, a little girl who asks us to liberate her fellow children friends from the claws of foremen who exploit them and acts like a little spy for us; Ned Wynart, who brings trans representation into the game; and some other sequence exclusive characters, who I won't mention because it will spoilerish. Let's just say that Jacob comes across a very interesting man.

On the technical department, I already said that London looks great, but I want to stress this: the whole game looks great. From cinematography to animations, I think they nailed the direction in this one. As my first AC game I can't speak for the others, but this one is a gem. I must mention though that the game crashed on me only once, and I was looking for the "destruction trophy", the one that asks you to break 5000 destructible items of the city – well, it seems I had destroyed enough and the game couldn't take any more wrecked chaos across London, but other than that I didn't encounter any bug nor any trophy didn't pop up. It looks great and it plays great: the controls are responsive, you swiftly dash across the city feeling unstoppable – sometimes controls didn't do what I wanted but it wasn't the game's fault, it was mine, so I can't blame it for my own stupidity.

The soundtrack is also such an unexpected jewel in this game. The solemn tracks that play on the background while you're peacefully traversing the city – some are lyrical and dramatic, others go well with a rainy suburb. The vibrant and electrifying tracks during battles or escapes did bring all the Sherlock Holmes movies vibes to the game. It was all – so English, if you catch my drift. The music did fit well with the British atmosphere they were aiming for.

The ending is satisfying – don't expect an opera prima, or a huge revelation, or groundbreaking plot twists. The story is fairly lineal in its presentation: this is the goal? Alright, the whole game goes for it. We can say that it's quite predictable, but let's be honest, we're not here for the ending or the things that might happen to discover the characters in the present time, we're here to assassinate people with our beautifully hidden blade – wait, that sounded way too violent – we're here for the gameplay, for the historical events, for the feeling of being an assassin, and for some world-building regarding the Precursors.

In regards to that, I cannot not mention the World War I Simulation – a rift in time appears in the Thames towards halfway through the game, and you can enter it – it will take you forward in time, to the same London that is now under the attack of the German. In this more modern time, you play as Lydia Frye, Jacob's granddaughter, also an assassin, who collaborates with no other than Winston Churchill to defeat the Templars. In this kind of DLC episode we learn way more about the Precursors, Juno, Minerva and other important figures to this world-building, that it's mostly lacking in the rest of the game. This simulation does feel like a DLC since it only offers a few hours of gameplay, the metaphor isn't in vain – it's a huge change of pace, it plays a little different since you'll be doing war stuff, and you also visit a portion of the city that isn't available in the main game: the Tower Bridge. It IS worth playing, though, not only for the trophies or for the extended map, but for what I said earlier: world-building. Juno plays a big part in this simulation, and I encourage you to play it, even though it's optional. Slowly but steadily, the world of the Precursors is unfolding before our very eyes. Also, Lydia, YASS another female assassin joins the family!

All in all, Syndicate is a positive experience. Sidequests are repetitive and mostly boring after you complete the first borough, some characters needed more screentime, Evie and Jacob could've used a sensitive cutscene with a deep conversation – but the mechanics, the gameplay, the city, the main missions, the relationship between the twins, the customization of weapons and outfits, and the fact that I literally entered Buckingham Palace after killing a royal guard or two – that, is more than enough to compensate for what it's lacking. You might be tired of the same formula over and over if you're a fan of the franchise, but do give the twins a shot. If you never play an AC game before, try this one out – it might turn you into an AC fangirl, like it did to me.

I'm a trophy hunter myself, so I'll try to platinum it! And now my eyes are intent on Unity, because, if you've seen this post, you know that Arno and Élise resemble two of my oc's, so now I need that game to be injected into my veins, thank you very much.

[elopez7228]

Scenic Route 8/47

Read on AO3 : https://archiveofourown.org/works/18268208/chapters/43229774 

Start over : https://elopez7228.tumblr.com/post/620919089893933056/scenic-route-0147

***

After finishing her cheese burger, (No, please, no more refills) Rey called Jessica. She had to lie about the details of her setbacks and the circumstances that had led her to haul a dog on a 3,500 kilometer road trip. She explained that she had loaned a car and was improvising from there. Yes, she was doing better. Yes, morale was high for now. No, she hadn’t run into any guns or cowboys (yet), but she had seen buffalos (from afar) and the scenery was absolutely beautiful. Alright, she would send pictures.

Placing the phone in front of her, she smiled as innocently as possible at the front camera and hit “send” on the photo.

Everything was fine on Betterton Street according to Jessica. Finn and Poe had been talking the talk, they apparently spent an entire afternoon discussing Rey-drunk-in-the-street and Ben-the-tall-dark-mystery-man. They unanimously wanted to know:  who  was this guy and what was the  nature  of their  relationship ?

Rey rolled her eyes. He wasn’t anyone in particular. He was a random fellow from Denver who was both attractive and repulsive, but in his defense they had started off on the wrong foot, that’s all.

“No, Jess, I didn’t sleep with him. But if you think it’s hilarious that Finn believes I did, go ahead and have fun with it. You can tell him that I spent a night of passion with Ben Solo, rockstar and lead singer of KYLO & THE KNIGHTS OF REN. That way he’ll realize that I don’t miss him and that I’m doing just fine without him. And if he gets jealous—even better. Ask him how he thought I felt when I imagined him in bed with Poe.”

She ended the call there.

She finished her fries, covering the top of her glass with her palm to stop the waitress from refilling it again (had they gone mad here?) as she scrolled through her phone lazily. She was feeling nice and comfy in this 50s style greasy spoon—with its abundance of zinc, black and white tiled floors and red and pink neon signs. There was WiFi and air conditioning, and she balked at the idea of returning to her oven of a car.

Her finger traced over the selfie she had just taken. Her cheeks were rosy and her eye bags less prominent, how many days had she managed without crying? In the background sat a tall blonde woman in a buzz cut, looking straight in her direction.

Photobomb,  Rey thought glumly. But the woman’s piercing blue gaze was locked onto the camera, as if by design. As if they were both looking at the same thing. Rey turned around to see if she was still there. She wasn’t.

A family of four were helping themselves to a small basket of nuggets. At the counter, a lone diner in jeans and a tank top sipped on a drink.

Shrugging, she pocketed her phone and tapped her palms against her thighs to get BB8’s attention. BB was also taking advantage of the air conditioning as she layed stretched out underneath the table. She got up clumsily once Rey gently tugged on her collar.

It was time to hit the road again, they could manage a few hundred kilometers by nightfall. The vast land sprawled in front of Rey’s eyes once more, set to the particular rock rhythm of Kylo & the Knights. Little by little, their surroundings transformed into the desert. Yellow earth littered with spiny shrubs and cacti.

She passed Rock Springs at 2:30 PM, taken by the frankly apocalyptic view.

Columns of smoke billowed overhead, likely from mines or factories. Rusted trucks rolled by. It was a sprawling urban hellscape straight out of Mad Max. The empty mountain side inspired a certain sort of fantasy—it gave new meaning to “the hills have eyes”.

A few more kilometers to the west and she would have hit Utah. But Rey deviated to the north. As she approached the crest of the hill, she was stupefied. She had stumbled upon Eden Valley, surrounded by forest and freshwater rivers. Rey was slack-jawed. She hadn’t seen this much green since she left England. The feeling was almost spiritual and she could feel her eyes watering.

A few hours later, after two bathroom breaks for the dog and a mini-walk, they crossed city limits into Jackson Hole. It was a ski resort town. Nestled at the foot of the green slopes, the town was the perfect summertime spot for hiking tours, hunters, and weary Yellowstone travelers. The hotels were pricey and the food was mediocre at best but it didn’t seem to matter.

She obtained a camping spot just outside the city at Curtis Canyon Campground. BB8 wandered as Rey set up the tent and her mattress for the night. Having unloaded the bulk of her belongings from the car, she was finally able to notice an inscription on the mat lining the boot: “MILLENIUM FALCON”. She smiled. Didn’t all pilots give their baby a name? This old hunk of junk had just won her over.

And so Rey piloted the re-baptized Millennium Falcon into the city in search of dinner. She parked the car in the heart of town, taking a selfie in front of a massive wooden archway decorated solely with deer antlers, then made her way into a noisy yet poorly-lit bar.

Seated at the counter, she ordered a light beer and a Caesar salad while she texted Jessica. She attached the selfie she snapped in the adjoining room.

And then she saw the shadow.  What the hell?

She zoomed in on her screen, heart pounding. A blurry silhouette stood a few meters behind her—the same woman with cropped blonde hair.

No way, I must be seeing things.

Rey looked up from her phone and scanned her surroundings. Any second now, she would see the mysterious woman in the room. But she didn’t.

I must be imagining all this.

But the doubt crept in. She did her best to bottle the anxiety, to think of something else. But the question remained—who was this woman? Was this just a coincidence? After all, she had followed the typical route from Denver to Yellowstone and Penny’s Diner had been pretty much exactly in the middle of the way...other travelers could have stopped there for lunch too, it was totally plausible.

She scarfed down her salad, still deep in though. A woman offered to buy her a drink but she politely declined.

Afterwards, she placed some cash on the bar-top and thanked the bartender. Her heart was pounding again as she went out onto the street, there was a gut feeling she just couldn’t shake. She turned the corner to get to the car and—

“Hey! What are you doing?!”

A tall woman,  the same one with the short blonde hair, was leaning over her car door and tugging at the handle. She jumped at Rey’s tone, scrambling away.

Rey felt icy beads of sweat slide down her spine. She hadn’t been imagining anything, she  knew  something was off. So much for coincidence. Furious, she marched over to the woman and raised her voice even more:  

"Are you trying to break into my car? I'm going to call the police!"

The woman held her hands up in the universal gesture of innocence. "Well excuse me, I just thought it was mine. There's no need to make a big deal," she said simply.

" Really ? You also happen to have a dingy 1977 Oldsmobile with handpainted brown paneling on the front? Are you fucking kidding me?"

Screaming like a fury helped Rey cover up her insecurity. Why was this woman following her? What was she up to?

BB8 was barking furiously at the woman too, and Rey noted to congratulate her later. She had caught on very quickly.

The woman rolled her eyes and turned on her heels, turning the corner and disappearing into the street. Rey followed her, red-faced, before deciding to let her go.

She reconsidered calling the police as she held her phone once more. Who would believe her story? Some girl from Britain being chased by a mystery woman for 800 kilometers, a futile attempt to steal a car that didn't leave a scratch? They would surely laugh at her. She was wasting time. She had to move on by herself.

All those who bore witness to this altercation in the town square quickly turned away. They avoided the seething girl with the English accent and hastily took their leave.

Rey, heart racing and temples pulsing, bent down to pet BB8 in praise. BB was still in attack mode--growling and baring her teeth.

"Bravo, BB8. You did it, you protected me, good girl. That's a good girl,"

BB yelped and licked her nose.

"Come on, let's go. But first, I'll have to buy you a treat."

Google indicated there was an Albertson's grocery store that closed at midnight on Buffalo Way. There, she bought fried chicken bites for BB8 and cookies for herself. For breakfast...and dessert. Okay, she bought two packets of them. It was high time for some comfort food.

Something on the bulletin board just outside the store (boasting public service announcements and local yard sales) caught Rey's eye. It was a flyer that she read twice to make sure she wasn't mistaken.

KYLO & THE KNIGHTS OF REN

WEST TOUR

A sticker on the flyer displayed upcoming show dates at Jackson Hole.

The Mangy Moose, July 5th

She grimaced. She was driving around  randomly in an area that was roughly 10 million kilometers squared, populated by about 325 million people. But she kept running into the same man in one small town or another. It was infuriating.

It was the third of July. She decided not to linger around Jackson Hole, she wanted to put as much distance as possible between herself and the blonde madwoman. Too bad for the concert.

It's not like she wanted to go anyway, she didn't want to run into Ben Solo again at all. Nor did she want to see the look on his face when he saw her out in public again.

Who are you trying to convince?

She waved away the pesky whispering voice in her head. It was time to go to bed.

On the way back to camp, she fed BB the fried chicken bites. She took down her tent and instead set up her sleeping gear in the back of the car. She didn't have as much legroom, but at least no one would be able to get away with breaking in unannounced.

Her phone was at eight percent battery. She had to recharge immediately. There was no way she would spend the night alone in a camp with no phone. She wouldn't live to see the day.

She slipped into her jacket and left BB8 to guard mothership-Millenium-Falcon while she headed to the camp entrance. Everything was closed, with the exception of an ill-lit vending machine. She found an outlet and sat on the floor to wait for her phone to finish charging. She was there for at least half an hour.

She couldn't stop thinking about why anyone would want that car. What was so special about it?

Her fingers trembled as she dialed Leia Skywalker--if anyone would know it would be her.

970-571-3350

There was no dial tone. Just a robotic voice informing her that  the phone number you have dialed is not available .  Rey was immediately taken aback.  What the hell? She had certainly dialed this number before.

She tried again. Same number, same error message.

Her hands became unsteady. Unavailable? She had called that number barely a couple days ago. She had met Leia Skywalker in the flesh--ate with her and slept at her house. What did this mean? Was Leia using a burner phone to keep in touch with Rose, was this deliberate? But to what end?

The long-term implications of such machinations were beyond Rey, who was already battling anxious thoughts. What was it, what did they want?

Suddenly, she remembered the existence of Luke Skywalker. She had his number too, it was literally engraved into the dog's collar tag.

She dialed it shakily.

909-667-5721

The phone number you have dialed is not available.

Rey let out a scream and threw her phone down. It clattered against the damp floor.

She got up, heart racing and head pounding. Her breath was short and her hands were freezing.

Who could she talk to? Jessica?

Apart from worrying the living daylights out of her, there was nothing to be done.  Rey had Leia's physical address since she had texted it to Jessica, but what was she going to do with it? Call the police to report the car? Tell them about the cute dog and the impressive change of number? It was ridiculous. No one would be able to help.

What were her other options?

She had to take the dog to the address in San Francisco, an address she hoped still existed, because the corresponding telephone number was clearly garbage.

Could she back out? She still had to get to San Francisco by the 15th. How was she supposed to change plans if she didn't have plans in the first place? She had mentioned Yellowstone to Leia but not much else.

Abandon the dog? No, the poor animal had no way to fend for herself. Abandon the car? She could hardly continue on foot. She looked down.

Her phone case had been partially damaged due to the fall.

She bent down gingerly to pick it up. Examining it to make sure that the phone itself was intact, she noticed a slip of paper sticking out between the case and the phone itself. Her eyes widened as she pulled it out with her fingertips. She turned it over to read the back:

Ben

970-663-8876

[specxrum]

SAINT JACK || {jack&eden}

At fifteen years old, Jack felt like she was in a pretty good place. Certainly in a better place than her mother was at her age. Crystal Keller was born into a family that lived in one of Florida’s most poor cities. Belle Glade was not glamorous or pretty. It was not a place that had ever been marked down on a person’s calendar for their next vacation spot. For the entirety of Crystal’s life she’d told herself she wouldn’t spend her adult years there. She’d convinced herself that she would go to college and get out. Things took a turn down a different path, however, when she turned seventeen and found out she was pregnant. Her parents weren’t actively in the picture, and neither was the baby’s father. It wasn’t until she set eyes on her baby that she knew she’d have to push on with her plan. Her beautiful daughter was not going to grow up in the same place she did. She named her Jacqueline, but she’d never actually called her daughter the name. From day 1 it had always been Jack. Jack was a spitfire, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed bundle of joy that always kept her on her toes.

Jack was four when Crystal met Caspar Chamberlain. Caspar was twenty-five and had the misfortune of getting stranded on a backroad in Florida just as a big storm was rolling in. At that moment he felt like something very bad was about to happen. But it wasn’t a flash flood that greeted him as he stood against the side of his car- it was a tall, beautiful, blonde woman with brown eyes and a warm smile. She was walking down the dirt road, a toddler on her hip, when she stopped and smiled at him. She clearly knew that he was out of place with no way of contacting someone for help. So she invited him back to her trailer, making it inside just as the storm really got started. Caspar and Crystal started to talk and by the time Caspar’s car arrived, Caspar knew he wanted to get to know her more. So he gave her his phone number and that’s how things started. They talked almost constantly for the next three months. Caspar would visit as often as he could until one day he suddenly proposed. It was a whirlwind, but he knew he loved her. And she knew she loved him. So of course she accepted and moved with Jack to Arcadia Island.

The adjustment to life on Arcadia wasn’t easy for Crystal, but she got through it. She went to college and got her degree in ‘Financial Literacy’. She made friends with people living on the island and slowly she became used to how life worked there. It wasn’t until a year after moving to Arcadia that she had a sudden realization. It happened one day when she saw Jack playing in the front yard with an array of toys. The plan she’d made when she was little had actually happened. She’d gotten out of Belle Glade. She was out of Belle Glade and was married to a man she loved desperately. A man who loved both her and her daughter. A man that loved Jack so much he didn’t think twice about adopting her after the marriage was finalized. 

Life before Caspar wasn’t easy. For whatever reason it seemed that Crystal had a knack for attracting the most useless sort of man. Ones that, if not abusive, were simply just bad for her. It all culminated when she found out that one of them had been abusing Jack. She’d made the discovery when she found a large bruise on the side of her daughter’s neck. Crystal reported the man to the police and moved, which is how she ended up in the neck of the Belle Glade woods that Caspar found himself in. When he’d left after their first meeting she froze at the realization of the danger she’d just put herself and Jack in. But she’d gotten lucky- Caspar had been the total opposite of every guy she’d ever come across. And now Jack would grow up happy and safe, never having to want for anything. 

When the topic of her Sweet 16 came up, Caspar told Jack she could do whatever she wanted. No idea was too grand or extravagant. Jack inquired whether she could have a Paris-themed party on Arcadia followed by a week spent in Paris with her friends. Caspar agreed and hired someone to plan the whole thing. Her and Dulcie sat on Jack’s king size bed, the pink canopy shading everything with a Valentine's Day-esque hue. “SO,” Dulcie said with a grin. “We need to figure out who you’re inviting to both parties. We should probably start with the party in Arcadia since more people will go to that one. What do you think?”

Jack nodded and pulled out their yearbook from the previous school year. Dulcie started to go through names and Jack would mark them down in her notebook. “Kiko and Tally, are obviously going on the list.” Jack agreed and marked them down, looking down at the page once again. This time she pointed at a face on the page- Dom Brathwaite. “Dom has to be there.”

Dulcie giggled and Jack immediately turned red. “Shutup,” She said, urging Dulcie forward. Dulcie begrudgingly did so, her finger moving to a picture of a redhead one row down. “How about Eden Ledoux?” Jack stared at the picture of the girl and exhaled, shaking her head. Eden was someone who people may have expected to be at Jack’s party, but Jack wasn’t entirely sold on the girl. So she was a no. The two spent the next hour finishing up the list and gossiping about kids at school. It took the guy that her father had hired only two days to hand make the cards. Jack brought them to school in a beautiful wicker basket, lined in a pink material that matched the cards. The cards were personalized, making sure that only the people meant to get an invitation would get one. 

Jack who was far shorter than Dom was holding his invitation up as she stood on her tippy toes. Dom pretended to be unable to reach it for a bit before finally grabbing it, and in a manner that was obviously intentional, he tripped into Jack and both fell two or so inches backwards into the lockers behind them. “Oh, that’s my bad Chamberlain.” Dom said in a voice that had always made Jack melt. “Total accident.” Dom looked inside the basket and then looked back down to Jack, who had yet to move away from him. “Empty basket? You saved the best for last, good for you.”

[turquoise-maiden]

The Only Way Out

A/N: Ok first of all I was minding my own business. Listening to my mess of a playlist when this specific song started playing. I was overwhelmed with the urge to write this out and once again this is yet another 2 am story. So please...don't let my pain go in vain, I legit cried like a baby writing this.

Word Count: 1,948

Warnings: PAin, heartbreak, blood and death.

Summary: This is how I think Far Cry: New Dawn should've ended. Also as to why me the player, the captain, chose to spare our baldunder-the-bun father.

Tagging: @they-are-not-just-stories @imthejudge @whatsinsideofmybrain and @uncommonly-average I just.. really want to know your guys' thoughts on this.

Also @seedlingsinner by request. I guess I should ask people if they want to be tagged in future works huh?

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

    Release. That was his choice of terminology. He wants to be released.

The Judge stared at him in disbelief. Joseph Seed, the man who was once so sure in himself, was now asking to be killed at the hands of the Captain. How selfish of him. Utterly selfish and drenched in self pity. The Judge couldn’t move, they couldn’t breathe, they couldn’t think. He wanted to leave them. Leave the very being he had once promise to protect down in that bunker. He said he’d guide them and show them the light.

    Ruelle stood before Joseph in discomfort. This crazy old man before her was asking to be put down. His sad, pleading, eyes stared at her so deeply. She could almost feel something close to confliction between her own emotions. However she made a promise to protect her people against the Highwaymen. The people of New Eden’s Gate took part in that the moment they agreed to help win the fight. She will protect as many people as she can, no matter the history under their belt, and she didn’t plan on dropping her duties now. She had no authority nor right to determine who dies or lives after the fight. A survivor will remain a survivor until the Earth decides to take back what is Hers. The Highwaymen have been defeated, the threat is gone, and the remaining members of the gang have been abandoned by their leader. Shepherdless sheep lost in the open.

“Joseph, I…I can’t do that.” Pleading in return she locked eyes with him as they stared at each others in a silent conversation.

“My soul has become a cancer. I am a monster. And I have only spread suffering and death in the name of God. My family is all ashes, Eden is dust and there is no redemption for this. No atonement. There is only the justice of God’s hand. End this vicious cycle. Give me God’s justice. Release me.”

    Those were his words. The Judge was still hearing them echo in their head. They just couldn’t believe their ears and each repetition was hitting harder than the last. They watched as Ruelle’s hand was forced to press the gun against his chest. Her body was tense and she hardly breathed in fear of making a wrong move. She did not wish to kill him. To her he was just an old man, crazy at times, but with faithful followers. A small community that was thriving hidden in the shadows. She saw the leader in him, she knew how much the people depended on him and surely the people who lived through the attack on their village will need him now more than ever. She wasn’t about to take that away from them. A shiver went up her spine.

“Release me.” He repeated with a stern voice.

“Joseph, I can’t do this to you.” Placing a hand on his, she attempted to push down, to lead the gun away from his heart. “Eden’s members are still out there. They could be looking for you at this very moment.”

“Release me.” His voice whispered.

“N-no, you need to live. Your people-” She stumbled back as a hand yanked her to the side, making his hold on her slip and let go of the gun.

The Judge stood tensely before him now, their shoulders rising and falling, breathing heavily with their fists clenched at their side. Their sheer aura made them seem twice as big compared to the defeated frail old man. Turning their head slightly towards the captain, it was a clear sign they were hesitating about their next step. However their decision was made and they turned back to Joseph. Ruelle watched wide-eyed as they watched their hand reach for the mask to remove it. The hood on the Judge’s head still covered the profile angle Ruelle would’ve been able to witness. Just knowing the mask was removed felt just as revealing to the captain and she didn’t know if she should move for a better view or turn away of out respect. In her indecisiveness she simply froze, continuing to stare, even forgetting to blink.

The Judge held their mask between the space of Joseph and them. Their gloved fingers brought it closer to him. Shaking it slowly at him they found their voice that had been lost for so many years.

“Does this mean nothing to you?” A deep raspy voice broke the silence. “Am I not your family?” Breaking throughout the sentence it was almost difficult to determine if the Judge’s voice was faltering from emotion or vocal damage. It sounded completely different from when Ruelle first heard it. It had been a soft tender whisper in the dark that had said encouraging words to her. Now it was such a foreign sound of rage and hurt.

Joseph looked at the Judge with an unfazed expression of sadness. He closed his eyes and bowed his head slowly, mimicking the motion of when he would connect foreheads with them, but this time it was in shame.

“I have yet to properly apologize for leaving you like that. I did not consider your emotions then, much like I did not consider my son’s.” The corner of his mouth quivered downward in his battle for composure. “I’m sorry, Elisha. I was lost then.” He admitted.

Elisha inhaled sharply at the mention of her name. One she had thought had been long lost and removed from her life. It only made her emotions go over the edge. Looking down at her mask she tightened her grip in anger. The mask made a sickening cracking noise, much like the shattering of her false reality, as Elisha, the Judge, now realized she had been lied to just like everyone else from Eden, just like Ethan. In one swift motion Elisha swung her arm up before violently bring it down, smashing the mask on the ground. The momentum of her movements made her pace to the side giving Ruelle a clear view to her scarred face. Her stress furrowed brows hooded her hazel eyes that reflected the fire of the burning tree and her features sharpened by the shadows only complimented her on her age. The pure wrath in her eyes made Ruelle shudder as she watched her pace back and forth like a caged animal.

“Wrath was always one of your biggest sins.” Joseph smiled softly at the nostalgia those words brought him. “After all this time it has always been there. Hidden deep within your soul.” Elisha slowed down to a stop as she glared at him. Joseph turned to Ruelle “My brother, John, stood no chance to enter Eden’s Gate the way I had told him too.” His eyes glossed over in tears as his voice broke at the mention of the name.

Elisha’s emotions intensified at the mention of John’s name. Her brows softened slightly as the anger was overshadowed by the intense irrational guilt that swarmed over her once again. She was the only one responsible for his death. He was younger than she is now when she ended his life. There was so much more for him to experience and she took it from him. Fists full of hair pulled at Elisha’s head as she began to experience early signs of a panic attack. Her mind racing, her focus on the present faltering and her emotions irrationally amplified. Joseph’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

“This is what I cause, this is the impact I leave in everything I touch.” He extended his hand towards Elisha. “I ruined a perfectly strong, sane, and healthy, deputy.” Pointing at Ruelle he began to move closer to her. “She once stood in your shoes. She once tried to protect everyone around her.”

Taking a step back Ruelle hid the gun from Joseph’s grasp. She wanted to aid the Judge who was in clear need of help, but she couldn’t turn her back on Joseph. He reached out for her hand again but didn’t bother to go for the one with gun. With both of his hands he grabbed her empty one and lifted it up to his chest once more.

“You must, release me.” He begged. “Release me before I foolishly repeat the same mistake.” Tears began to stream down his sunken cheeks as he fell down to his knees. “Release me!”

“No!” Elisha cried out as she finally found the strength to speak again. “Don’t do it Ruelle.” Making her way to them she stood between the both of them.  “You don’t need his blood on your hands.” Their eyes met for the first time and the intense determination in Elisha’s eyes made Ruelle back away in intimidation. Reaching down Elisha replaced Ruelle’s hands with hers as she kneeled down to Joseph’s level. “Allow me to do it.” She told him more as a statement than a question. “As your friend, and your Judge, let me fulfill my role, to the very end.” She croaked the last part as her composure began to slip.

Joseph’s eyes closed shut as he bowed and sobbed into her hands. Her determination to serve him and her loyalty to him was becoming all too much. He could see the resemblance of Faith and Jacob in her much like he saw John in her as well. She reminded him too much of his family, if only she knew he encouraged her choice to use a mask for such a selfish reason. A meaningless attempt to hide his mistakes. Releasing her hands from his grasp Elisha removed her gloves and cupped his face. He leaned into the touch absent mindedly as she cleaned his tears, that repeatedly flowed down, with her thumbs.

“You don’t deserve this. This release.” Her words were soft, almost like that of a whisper. Bringing their heads together she couldn’t contain the sob that escaped her. “You deserve to live. To grow older still and see Hope County rebuild itself.” Tears of her own began to drip on the dirt beneath them. “You deserve the pain.” The dark words left her lips like flakes of snow. Beautifully slowly and bitterly cold like a demon’s kiss. There was a small pause, enough for Joseph to look up at her in question, before she continued. “But, I’ve grown to love you, Joseph. I love you dearly and only wished to see you happy.” She smiled sadly at him. “I’m sorry for not being able to fulfill the void in your heart. I’m sorry for creating it in the first place.” Laughing softly in a forced manner she basked in his features, one last time, before she shoved her knife into his neck, penetrating the artery.

Joseph’s face sterned up in shock but was quick to soften as he fell into the embrace of her arms. A whimper flowed from Elisha’s chest as she soothed his strands of hair behind his ear. He looked at her with his dying eyes, his cheeks showered by her vicious flow of tears, the warmth of his old and defeated body leaving him quickly. At his labored staggering breaths he glanced at the sky.

“Joseph?” She called, almost too afraid that he had left already. Reluctantly he looked at her as he gasped for air. “T-tell Jacob I’ll come home.” She croaked.

Not a moment later Joseph released his last breath of air in a satisfied sigh. Gasping softly she bit her bottom lip, even breaking skin and tasting blood, to hold back a scream. Hugging him tighter she silently sobbed into the nook of his neck while rocking back and forth. Completely losing sense of time she remained there for hours.

[sometimesrosy]

You really think they’re going to go back to earth?? I mean, I could see Bellamy and Clarke landing at the dropship site all ready to rebuild humanity with radioactive playing softly in the background, fade to black. But I can also see them really leaving earth in book one.

It is, of course, only a speculation. I don’t know. I recognize that I am leaping ahead of canon evidence to make that speculation, but then, I have done that before and been correct. I guessed, from out of nowhere that cryo sleep would be a solution, but my guess came too early. I guessed that for the COL they would save everyone instead of losing everyone like MW, because that’s the kind of twist that would keep an audience on it’s toes. Once i accepted the time jump and clarke left behind, I guessed that she would become a mother, although I said it woud be bellamy’s child. So i got the motherhood right but not the shipping spec. When you spec on this show based on shipping it’s almost never right, that’s not how they make their narrative choices. I guessed that s5 would end with Bellamy and Clarke would lose the war for Eden (McCreary cheated) and take their people who stopped fighting into the wastes for an exodus. As the season went on it became probable that the exodus would be in the stars instead of on earth. So like, these big conceptual stories? I’m picking up on. I think it’s because I speak the same language as JR, 90s scifi geek who went to college to study writing. We have the same references in our heads. Once I started LOOKING for his symbolism and allusions and archetypes, the whole show fell into place and made a lot of sense to me. This show is NOT random. He’s not changing the story to please fandom or to hurt them (except in cases where he can WORK with the changes.)

I’m not intending to brag, I’m intending to show you that although my spec seems like it comes out of left field and there’s no basis for it, the basis actually comes with the TYPE of story he’s telling and the common language in the GENRE. Like, I started picking up on his symbolism in s3, but if I didn’t keep getting confirmation that I was right with the themes and archetypes and symbolism and allusions, I would have changed my theories. But I keep getting confirmation that I’m on the right track. JR is going down a familiar path for me. So I’m trying to find the street signs and show them to you so you can follow the path too.

So WHY did I come up with this wacky theory about Clarke and Bellamy returning to earth? HOW? It didn’t happen until s5 was over and I started getting asks and started reading/watching those references he told us about and started thinking how all the storylines converge.

long and involved, so, below the cut.

Snarky foreshadowing– This was when I first went, wait, what? Raven, when she flew the last ship off of earth said, “Just once I’d like to take off from a planet while it wasn’t burning.” TWICE she’s done that. Third time’s the charm. They’ve been fixing the traumas, I think we’ll get this one again too, only this time the planet won’t be burning. They’ve got ONE planet left. The new one. Therefore, they will be leaving the planet and it won’t be burning. But WHY would they leave the planet when it’s not burning? Then I had to find a REASON for them leaving the safe haven planet. 

History repeats itself– This story is about how pre-apocalypse humans were ruining the world. Becca is the real wanheda. She, her creation, eradicated humanity. That’s the genocide. She started the harshness of the Ark because of her madness. She started the harshness of the grounders as Pramheda. She came back and we saw her trying to fix what she’d done. She ALSO had to do with the eligius program and invented their nightbood. THEREFORE, the new planet colony is a descendent of Becca’s original crimes against humanity. Was it all an accident? Sure? But also it was the result of her choices, her hubris, her genius.  She is Doctor Frankenstein. (Actually I just made that connection and I feel stupid for missing it. Does it work? Anyone see it also?)

You are responsible for your monster when you let it out– Lincoln’s words. VERY IMPORTANT. This makes EVERYTHING in the story make sense. If people don’t take responsibility for their evil, they are the monster. If people TRY to take responsibiilty for their evil, they are the hero. That’s why leaders sacrificing others is not a sacrifice, they aren’t taking responsibility they are using people. But Clarke or Bellamy risking their lives to fix their mistakes IS heroic. It’s not always smart, but that’s the good guy move. hero/monster has been a theme since s1.

The structure of the story is a spiral– They are returning to their greatest traumas and FIXING them. Making the right choice this time. Teaching others to make the right choice, learning from their mistakes instead of doubling down on their evil actions in order to make it worth it, like Octavia all season 5. Or Lxa in s2. Or Jaha the whole show. Or Cage Wallace. Redemption comes through recognizing your monster and DOING BETTER. Redemption is a MAJOR theme of post-apocalyptic stories. 

Eligius 3 are Colonialists, NOT refugees– Monty said that they went to the new planet to USE the resources because the resources of the earth were used up. They aren’t looking for a home, they’re looking for another planet to consume. THIS IS WHAT STARTED THE ORIGINAL FALL OF HUMANITY. They reflect the values of Mount Weather who believed the earth was their birthright and treated the people on the surface as cattle to be used and tortured. This is a repeat of the MW conflict.

Eligius 3=Mount Weather– that means we’ll be getting a redo of the biggest and most traumatic “failure” that Clarke and Bellamy had. Except, it never really was a failure. It was the RIGHT thing to do. It happened also to be best for their people, but it was GOOD, even though it caused harm to some innocent people, because as Maya said, none of them were innocent. They were the disease. Clarke (med student, remember?) had to KILL the mountain to put it out of its suffering (like Atom) and to save the rest of humanity. This means that Eligius 3 will ALSO be the disease. They ARE the disease that caused the apocalypse. 

JRs reading/viewing list: all about the aliens– Weird non linear, non reality hybrids of alien and human. Consciousness. AI. Philosophy. Religion. I have not gotten to see ALL of the films or read the books, but I’ve researched them all a bit and they share themes. Also Avatar (blue not airbender) And I believe that we’ll have a non-humanoid kind of alien that bonds with the humans to create something new (also if you’ve ever read Ender’s Game which JR certainly did, it actually moves on to tell the story of Ender as Speaker for the dead, and his psychic connection, facilitated by an AI in his head [JANE!] who brings back the dead species and allows another very odd species to be recognized as sentient.  HOLY CRAP Madi is the speaker for the dead. omg i just realized!

If humanity is to be redeemed, they have to be responsible for their monster – They have broken the cycle of violence amongst themselves. They encounter a society that will be JUST as poisoned as the pre-apocalypse society that started this all. Russell’s people will BE the monster. Their enemy (the aliens who are NOT their people) will be the victims.  To be the good guy, they will have to CHOOSE their enemy over their people. Lincoln did it. Maya did it. They were The Good Guys. Clarke and Bellamy will have to end Russell’s people. In doing so, they will replay the MW trauma, but this time they will understand WHY it had to happen and will heal the trauma of the past, because they are HEALING humanity.

If humanity is to be redeemed, they must FIX what they have broken, that is The Earth itself– They can’t drop Earth when it’s no longer providing for them and move onto another planet that they can use up. If you look at The 100 in terms of environmentalism, which you can, you can see this would make them the bad guys. To be the good guys, they have to go back to what they did and start over. This fits the spiral structure, as well as being the Good Guy and being responsible for your monster. 

They aren’t going to discard the earth, or humanity– Why? Because they wouldn’t let Octavia martyr herself. She represents humanity. She will now be forced to WORK to redeem herself and fix what she did. So will humanity. They do not OWN the Earth, the Earth owns them and they are the caretakers. Octavia needs to go back to earth and treat it like her responsibility, not her property. She needs to follow what Lincoln believed. The attempted martyrdom was a reference to Lincoln. But she was cheating. She can’t cheat redemption.

THEY CAN’T CHEAT REDEMPTION: THEY HAVE TO GO BACK TO EARTH. In real life, none of this would have to happen, but this is not real life. This is JR with a story he wants to tell. The story is about the redemption of humanity and two mythic heroes who save humanity, not by keeping them from dying, but by leading them to redemption. THIS IS EPIC. 

When I started thinking about all these thematic questions, I saw that it started to form into a narrative, and many of the characters had roles to play within this narrative, some more than others. When I looked at those characters and their relationships, it completely connected to the long game stories of the relationships of the delinquents and the storylines that are actively being told and have been left open at the end of season 5. 

This theory slots the character arcs into the themes of the show as a whole AND the new main plot story of aliens, new planet, russell’s “peaceful” (yeah sure) society, bellamy and clarke’s commitment to be the good guy. 

So yeah. I see them leaving the new planet to take responsibility for the planet humanity killed, destroying russel’s peaceful society so they can’t destroy the new planet, and leaving Madi behind (she is special) as the steward for the new people. 

Because of the ORIGINAL foreshadowing that brought on this spec, Raven wishing to take off of a planet that isn’t burning, we know that they won’t destroy the new planet. They will save it. And leave it. In order to redeem humanity. 

leaving madi and echo behind with the aliens is not necessary for this redemption plot, but it fits the youth shall inherit the earth generational story and reflects Abby’s struggle with letting go of Clarke, and also Echo’s story of belonging and family and loyalty, and with her stated backstory. You see how this theory connects the larger themes to the character arcs? it just makes sense to me. It isn’t convoluted to me. It is a direct if this, then that, kind of logic. It’s just that it is bringing together MANY past concepts and lessons to save humanity. I don’t know if it sounds convoluted to other people, so if it does, ask me question and we can see if i can get it any clearer.

I can tell the entire story now, with places for the main characters dealing with their personal stories. And it all fits. It’s CRAZY but I’m so excited about it, I can’t wait to see if I’m on the right track. Because if I am it is going to be SO GOOD. Like REALLY. Like miraculous. And everyone who ever hated on this show is going to have to eat their words. Just. I mean. WOW. 

And all the characters people think were discarded and deserved better? They all have an important place, too. Wells has the vision for a life well lived. Lincoln’s idea of being responsible for your monster. Lxa’s power will actually be related to how they can save the new people (the flame), Maya’s conviction that she needed to stop her people because they were doing the wrong thing. Jasper’s belief that the problem WAS humanity and it might not be worth saving. Luna’s desire for peace. HOLY SHIT. 

[octannibal-blake]

damocles 1/?

one of the canonverse drabbles I wrote before 5.12. I'm starting a collection of shoulda, coulda, woulda's. basically, my small rewrites of s5.

*

*

A war chant begins to echo through the valley, bouncing off the surrounding trees and warning of the impending battle. Clarke’s hands begin to shake, so she clasps them together, squeezing so tight that her knuckles turn white. Her leg bounces nervously on the floor as McCreary’s voice booms over the chants.

“Gunners, through the trees!”

She closes her eyes, trying not to imagine her friends on that battlefield. Trying not to imagine the blood smearing across Eden. Her home. No, not anymore. She lost that home to Eligius. Yet, here she sits trying to get it back. Letting everyone else do the fighting, sitting complacent and watching it burn only to come out in the end and stand atop the ashes.

Wrong. This is wrong.

Her eyes find Madi, where she stand peering through the blinds solemnly. She did this for her family and her home.

But at what cost? Will there be anything left? Will it be worth living for?

“We should be doing something.” Madi says, not for the first time. Her voice is strong, no longer a quiet whisper of a child but that of a fierce leader. It's not something she's adjusting well to, every word reminding her that the flame once again lives inside her child’s head.

“We are,” Clarke tells her with matching ferocity, “We’re keeping you safe.”

“Those are your people out there,” she counters, shooting a glare over her shoulder, “And you’re just going to let them walk into a massacre?”

Her gut is filled with lead, something a little like guilt, heavy and toxic and weighing her down, “They made their choice.”

Madi laughs, sarcastic and biting, “That’s what you keep saying. But you’re making one, too.”

She stands, rolling her shoulders back and pushing her chin up. She won’t let the guilt eat at her, not right now. Right now, she has to focus on keeping Madi safe. Her family is what matters, the rest comes later.

But they’re your family, too, her heart cries from deep within her chest. She swallows it down. Not anymore.

“I’m making the choice that ends with you staying alive. What comes after is…”

Madi turns back to the window before speaking again, and it’s so low she almost misses it, “'There can be nothing happy for the person over whom some fear always looms.’"

Clarke’s breath comes out in a soft whoosh, “What?”

“It's Damocles,” Madi says, turning her eyes on her. They’re different now, no longer wide and innocent. No longer young, but far too wise for her age. They hold memories of too many lives, “Bellamy told you that story, remember?”

Her heart rams into her chest at his name, that particular memory. It was before Praimfaya, when they were sitting in Becca’s lab talking about space. About fear and he had smiled, told her a story, and God, she loved to hear him tell stories. She used to pretend she could hear them on nights she couldn't sleep as she stared at the stars.

And she never told Madi about that, it was her own small detail locked away for her own safe keeping.

“How…” her voice cracks, hands trembling slightly because she realizes just as she asks, the true answer. She thinks about yesterday, when she had mentioned Mount Weather. She had assumed she was pulling from Lexa’s memories. But Lexa wasn't there when they pulled that lever. Lexa wasn't there when she stood in front of Bellamy, kissed him goodbye and told him those stupid words.

I bear it so they don't have to.

“The Flame holds the memories of fourteen commanders before me,” Madi confirms, “Your memory, Clarke.”

She swallows, voice lodged in the back of her throat. Her mind seems to short circuit, trying to hard to loop through all those memories herself, but Madi clears her throat walking to the candle and running her hand over the flame, “You always paint yourself as someone in the background, but you were their leader, Clarke. You're the reason they survived.”

“I’m not,” she shakes her head, moving back so that she falls onto the cot, her legs giving out easily, “Bellamy was…”

“Stop trying to make yourself a bad guy!” She snaps, whirling around, “You took the night blood solution. You pulled the lever in Mount Weather. You stopped ALIE!”

“I wasn't alone!” Clarke snaps back, the memories playing all to clear in her own mind now, “I couldn't have done that without Raven. Bellamy. Monty. Murphy. They are the only reason that I…”

“So you're all heroes, then.”

Something escapes from her, a noise that sounds similar to a sob but she hardly even feels it. She lifts a hand to her mouth to catch the next one, but even it escapes in between her fingers. She stumbles back and falls onto the cot, mind beginning to churn rapidly. Madi has her memories. She’s seen everything she’s done, everything she was willing to do. How could she possibly see her that way? How could she still believe that, even now, after she…

“Those are your people out there,” Madi repeats, stepping towards her. She’s no longer the same little girl that colored her hair only weeks ago, with an innocent smile and bright eyes. She’s a commander now, “And you need to do something.”

Her people. Her people.

“Monty. Harper. Raven. Murphy.” she pauses, staring intently at her mentor, “Bellamy. He’s out there, walking into a trap that you set. Are you really going to leave him to die twice?”

It hits her then, as she stares at the girl she raised as her own, her lifeline on this stupid planet for so long, that she knows everything. Madi watches the light bulb go off, the realization kick in and nods, “Does he know?”

She can’t speak. No words would do the question justice. No words would erase everything she’s done to get them here. Madi grabs something from off the table and approaches slowly, holding her hand out. THe pistol looks large in her small hand, wrong. IT’s not supposed to be there, she was never supposed to see war. The world was supposed to be better than this.

“I know you think you have to protect the people you love,” Madi says softly, “I understand now, why you worry so much. But you know we can’t just sit here why they destroy our home. Destroy each other.”

Clarke reaches for the gun, picking it up delicately from Madi’s palm. It’s heavy and rough in her hand, awkward and yet too familiar.

“You said there are no good guys. But you’re wrong. We can be the good guys.”

It’s too late for her, she wants to say. Her hands are already stained, her soul is black. But she stands, taking a deep breath and placing her free hand on Madi’s padded shoulder, “Maybe you can.”

[space-whalesharks]

“tell me I’m wrong” for the prompts! Johnnic of course! :)

Again, this was supposed to be crack based on my absolute favorite fuck up I’ve done in this game but then two pages in my brain was all “make this the first 99% serious thing you’ve done for these two” and I was powerless to stop it. 

John/Deputy Nic: How We Operate

In which a bear interrupts John and the Deputy’s final confrontation, and their escape forces them to talk things out with unexpected results. 

The way that we’ve been speaking now I swear That we’d be friends, I swear‘Cos all these little deals go down with little consequences, We share, we shareTurn me inside out and upside down and try to see things my wayTurn a new page, tear the old one out and I’ll try to see things your wayAnd I’m gonna love you anyway“How We Operate” - Gomez

Nicolette cried out as she hit the ground hard. It was just like the Universe to have her slip on the wing of the plane she had stolen from John’s ranch to pursue him after the showdown at the church. The dogfight had been brutal, but then somehow, some way something had gone wrong in John’s plane and he was forced to bail, and she followed. Because nothing added to what was going to be a Hell of a fight like another fucking injury. She rolled to her feet and got up. She tested her footing, and finding it passable, drew her magnum and started walking. She had seen John go down a couple of hundred feet away. By the looks of it, there were a couple of hills separating them. “Right… you can do this…” she hissed to herself.

She started up one hill, and before long, some of the pain thankfully started ebbing away. She continued on, only to stop short at the base of the hill when she heard John’s voice in the distance, no more than a hundred feet away:

“Wha- A BEAR?!”

She scoffed and quickened her pace. “Gotta do better than that, John!” she called as she made her way up the final hill. However, all of her own arrogance immediately faded when she saw the sight to behold.

John had most certainly not been lying, if the grizzly bear charging him had been any indication. He was tearing in her direction, half hobbling from the damage he had taken in the fight.

Some absurd part of the back of her mind risked a closer look at the bear’s neck, wondering if it was Cheeseburger, but no, there was no collar- this one was wild- and apparently very, very angry. And headed straight for them.

“MOVE IT, DEPUTY!” John barked as he passed her.

She didn’t have to be told twice- she just wondered why she had been told. She growled, took a couple of steps backward, pointed the gun at the grizzly’s head and fired-

And the gun just clicked.

She was out of rounds- they were all gone from the church confrontation, and she had been so hyped up on adrenaline that she didn’t even notice. “Fuck!” she tossed the gun at the grizzly as some last ditch effort of distraction. Of course, there was enough distance between her and the bear that it landed before it- and the grizzly merely ran straight over it. “FUCK!” she repeated before she promptly turned on her heel and took off after John. Sure, they seemed to be at a stalemate for this, but there was no way she was going to lose him in the process. When John took a sharp right after one particular clearing, she nearly had to dive to course correct to match him, but when she recognized the Doverspike Compound, she had a vague idea of where he was headed.

There was a crash from behind her followed by an ear-splitting roar, the bear apparently determined to remind them it was close. Too close. She made it into another clearing, and sure enough, John was just ahead, climbing up the ladder into the hunter’s nest. She inhaled sharply before following directly. Again, because nothing says guaranteed death after two different near death experiences like getting in a place that was high up with the guy who was just trying to kill you. She had made it up and two thirds over the landing into the nest. She let out an indignant little squawk when John popped up from deeper into the nest and hauled her the rest of the way up by the back of her shirt.

The fact that the bear proceeded to roar and slam into the ladder was a decent deterrent about the fact that she had landed half on top of him.

There was another creak, and then suddenly, the ladder itself peeled away from the wood and promptly fell away from the edge of the nest and to the ground below.  

Apparently the Universe had a fucked up sense of humor on top of hating her guts.  

She merely flinched when the entire structure shook, the bear still apparently Hell bent on trying to bring the whole thing down. She was grateful that the metal supports were probably sturdier than the ladder. Most likely. Shit.

There was a low roar behind them. Apparently the ladder has missed the bear, too. What was that? Universe 3, Nic 0? No, it was Universe 1000 by now.

With as much effort as she could muster, she kicked weakly at the fold-up chair leaning on the corner of the nest and sent it over the edge to try and hit the bear.

If the angry sound that followed was any indication, it hit its mark but didn’t deter it.

John grunted before doing the same with the other chair nearest him. It made contact and the bear made another distressed noise- but apparently left the immediate area.

She groaned in relief and let her head fall to the side until she realized she had flopped down right into his chest. She went to move again and not give him the satisfaction, but every inch of her body throbbed in protest. The only comfort was that he sounded as hurt and winded as she did. He probably didn’t have the energy to find the satisfaction. “I barely… hit you. How’re you that hurt?” she forced out. Anything to keep this normal, to draw attention away from the fact that this was far too intimate.

“Plane stalled, banked to hard when you tried to herd me… int’… the mountain. And you did manage to get a graze in,” he countered, lifting his shirt to show a bloodied spot along one rib.

“I missed,” she deadpanned.

He grimaced and let out a chuckle that was more wheeze than anything.

She eased off of his chest a little bit, and she was immediately torn about why she had done it in order to help him breathe, considering they had just been trying to kill each other in a dogfight.

The fact that the action brought the Yes sign entirely into view made the whole situation more surreal. Here they were, at the end of the line of their conflict, staring up at the hundred-foot embodiment of what had started their game of cat and mouse. There was no way to imagine that their confrontation would lead to this, though. Even now, the fact that they were laying in comfortable silence was something- granted they both felt half dead, but it was still a little more welcome than it should’ve been. Just thinking about the scenario made her imagination go a bit wild. In that exact moment, it should’ve been some Guardians of the Galaxy bullshit- the pair of them laid out, shoulder to shoulder but trying to land hits on each other, not huddled together, staring up at that fucking sign like it held all the answers. After a moment she realized that was spot on for him- that three letter word had been the answer for everything. Of course he would be seeking the truth from its physical imitation. 

They were silent for a while. For once, she was the one to break it. “Y’know… ya could’ve let the bear get me.”

“Death by bear isn’t the way for Wrath to go. Maybe Gluttony, Sloth. Not Wrath. Not you.”

“Should I be flattered… ‘bout that conclusion?”  

“If you’d like to be,” John countered.

Silence passed again. 

After a while, John laughed bitterly, and she was torn when she realized she was relieved it sounded less strangled- less like his lung had collapsed.

“You don’t even realize how much trouble you were, do you?” he asked.

“ ‘Were’?”

The humor on his face immediately faded. “I failed. You’ll never atone. I failed my most important task. I failed Joseph… I’m done. Eden’s Gates are closed to me.”

“He wouldn’t do that to you. He loves you.” Why the Hell was she reassuring the fucking psychopath who had put her through Hell?

“Does he?” John asked. “You and your people call him a liar. What’s so different between the lines he preaches and the bullshit he leaves on a voicemail?” he gave her a pointed look.

“I only checked it because I thought you’d have messages that gave some leads on outposts or something,” she argued.

“It’s a sin to tell a lie,” John countered.

“… Do you have any other music interests or are you just stuck in the 40s and 50s forever with that?”

“Joseph was a Vera Lynn fan.”

It was finally her turn to laugh. “Of course he is. He’s just that fucking weird. I bet that shit was just wholesome enough for the Voice.”

John’s third answering scoff was answer enough. He waited a while before speaking again. “I never hated you, you know.”

“Oh, quit talking like you’re dying. I grazed you, and it looks like I didn’t even hit your ear back at the church. Knowing you, you’ll survive on spite alone, you big baby,” Nicolette objected.

“Can’t operate on spite if there’s none to be had here anymore.”

She snorted. “Well, you changed your standing on this mess quickly.”

“When it comes to Joseph and the Voice, maybe. Not when it comes to the state of the world. We are on the brink of destruction, Deputy.”

“Oh, please…” she rolled her eyes, then jumped when John lashed out in order to grab her wrist and yank her so they were chest to chest.

John stared at her the same way they had been literally face to face- eyes wide- nearly unblinking, and so hypnotizing she couldn’t look away, and wouldn’t if she tried.

“I’ve seen doubt cloud your eyes. Look at the headlines, look who’s in charge. Don’t lie to me. Don’t tell me you haven’t had those thoughts in your head that we’re headed for destruction.”

“John…” she forced out.

“Tell me I’m wrong,” he cut her off.

She opened her mouth, then shut it. He wasn’t wrong. And that killed her. Sure, who the Hell hadn’t thought about that the last couple of years but filed it away in favor of some other, more optimistic scenario? Even with that considered, Joseph’s theories were a stretch- bliss dreams that felt too real or not.

John sighed at the hesitation. He crept forward and pressed his forehead to hers.

The show of the biggest amount of affection for him and his family froze her in place.

“I need you to understand. I need you to believe,” he insisted.

“I do. Not… entirely, but I get it. The why’s, anyway. The how’s? Not a chance. Killing people, culling the herd, forcing people into your beliefs… that’s not the way to go about trying to remedy it.”

“We had a plan ‘til you came along.”

“It was a shitty plan.”

“What would you have done?” John countered, tone implying he hardly wanted the answer.

“Rescue as many people as possible, no questions asked. No killing, culling, brainwashing, no forcing. Waited for the people who knew what they were doing to do something about it. What normal people would’ve done.”

The sentiment was enough to have him pull back and give her a skeptical look.

“Yeah, yeah. Would’ve ended up ‘your country made a promise but you can’t trust a liar’, right? Still would’ve been some citizens that would’ve done it. There are good people out there. Maybe if you’d stop trying to kill everyone who doesn’t see things your way you’d find them.” She wanted to laugh when John looked lost for a moment- like that had been the very first moment that conclusion had actually occurred to him. Then again, he had known nothing but pain and violence his whole life, no matter how many times he accused her of the same. It was a very real possibility that he hadn’t thought about it. He was just blindly following one of the only people who ever gave a shit about him. He had been going off what a Voice in his brother’s head was claiming. Or maybe it was the fact that she was the most obvious example of her own damned point, even if she technically was part of ‘the country’ when it came down to her job.

His lost look faded after a moment, and he gave her that soul-studying look he had during their first encounter in the bunker- the one that she had nearly sassed him for staring at her tits too long until she got the vibe that he was looking into her, reading her very soul and figuring out just what made her heart tick, how she operated and why. It was even more unsettling the second time around. 

“You really do want to save them as much as we do,” John mused. 

“From you lot or the hypothetical end of the world, yeah.” She squirmed under his gaze after a few seconds, then blinked when he suddenly released her wrist, reached up to close his fist around his bunker key and lifted it off his neck. He slipped it over her head without further hesitation.

She watched him carefully, more so when he kept the key clenched in his fist, hovering over the tattoo he had forced on her hours ago. His eyes flicked to hers for a moment- another perfect mirror of the first soul search- the brief eye contact, laying barely a foot apart from each other- eyes are the windows to the soul, she recalled in that moment. That was exactly what he had thought he was doing back then. And now, that was the moment that stopped time between them.

And then there was the feel of the clasp of the necklace’s leather cord tugging at the back of her neck and the cord itself digging into the sides of her neck, his knuckles brushed her throat and his lips were on hers, hard and insistent but good.

She wanted to think about how far had she fallen in all this that it only took her a moment to welcome it and return it. Then again, she could unpack that particular reaction later. This whole thing had turned out very differently than she had expected it to. Addie was going to have a fit if she heard about this.

The kiss was over quickly and John pulled back to press his forehead against hers again. “Take it. My people are yours, now. A few words from me and they won’t fight you. Take care of them.”

Her heart clenched at that. Fucking sympathy for the Devil, she knew, but the conversation had revealed that the man at least apparently genuinely thought he was helping people, psychotic way of thinking or not. “You’re not out of the game yet, John.”

“Joseph’ll make it clear that I am.”

“Then come with me,” she said, before she had even realized the gravity of the offer. Of course, she did the second she had spoken, and the risks outweighed the positives tenfold. He was still the brother of the enemy. He was still as unstable as they came. He had killed and tortured most of his end of the county.But the Resistance had done damage too, and if they couldn’t find it in them to work around a complication, they were no better than the Peggies. She couldn’t trust him. Not yet. But there was a chance that peace could make things work, and she’d go for it.

John scoffed again. “That’ll work out as well as me getting back into Joseph’s good graces will go.”

“Yeah, well, at least Hell will be a lot more fun than Eden.”

“Your people won’t take kindly to me.”

“No, they won’t. But if you try, maybe they’ll warm up to you if you get your shit together and help us…” she suddenly grew the courage to smirk at him. “Consider it your Atonement.”

John stared at her for a while, and then the pair stopped short when they heard a vehicle approaching.

They exchanged looks and helped each other up with a great deal of difficulty, staying low just in case.

Nicolette saw that it was Addie’s truck headed up the path. “It’s one of my people. She’ll figure something out to get us down,” she reported, and turned to John, even as he tensed. “So, John. What do you say?”

He offered her a matching challenging smile, then glanced over his shoulder at his sign, mocking  and encouraging him all at once. He turned back to her.

“Yes.”

[insideedensgate]

Jacob Seed/Staci Pratt - Stripper and Sugar Daddy AU

This alternate universe has NO abusive content and it stays in NO connection to original relationship which is based on abuse and torture of various forms.

I do not support abusive relationships, nor do I condone that the original basis of this ships lies within such an abusive contact!

But, and because I think these two could probably be adorable, if moved out of their original universe (and being less abusive and inhuman in certain ways), I decided to try this alternate universe out.

With Jacob not being an abusive monster and Staci being of full control of his actions, his mind and his body.

I decided to inform y’all, that I do not support any abuse or non-consent plot and the basis of the here presented relationship in this piece is not based on any of this.

Thank you very much. x

please klick the keep reading to - yeah, keep reading

nsfw-ish

english is not my mother tongue

also, this was heavily inspired by Frank Ocean's “Pyramids”

Staci started working in that luxurious, upper class strip club in Beverly Hills two years ago

he was trying to get into police school back in the days but they eventually didn't accept him to a lack of physical condition

so he started to train more to try again and eventually fell in love with dancing during that process

his best friend Joey Hudson, he knows her since high school, recently started her part time job as a bar keeper at Eden's Gate (she got a bullet in her leg during her second car chase and had to retire, caused by some nerve issues) and got him the job as a dancer

at first, Staci only wanted to stay for a few month and then find something more reputable, but he soon learned that the dim lights, luxurious and elegant interior as well as the loud music was everything he ever wanted in life

one evening, Grace had called herself sick for the week and it was Staci's time to shine on the club's main stage, he enters the club

Staci is overwhelmed by the red hair, the trimmed beard and the two thousand dollar Gucci suit (he's not a gold digger, he honestly isn't, but a beautiful man with a lot of money and a speedy car? He might drop his panties down a lil' bit)

he also immediately recognized this man as Jacob Seed, the older brother of Joseph Seed, the main investor of the club – and shit, he's fucked as the red haired man moves straight to his table

he only heard rumours about him once being a lawyer for war crimes at the UN and that had to retreat from his position, caused by some dubious incidents no one truly knows of and thus, he is now back in LA, assisting his younger brother John and his famous law firm Seed and Partners

there is some very unspectacular guy sitting right in front of Staci and he feels goosebumps rolling over his body as Jacob literally makes him leave by one of the club's bodyguards – just by a simple dismissive wave of his hand

he sits down and unbuttons his jacket and leans back in the expensive armchair, the whole suit is dark with light pinstripes and a fucking light blue bee pattern

Staci flushes as Jacob grins at him sublimely from below, two fingers gesturing for Staci to come closer

and he drops down on his knees, it is like he is fucking high like that Amanda girl from table 6, when she smokes that stuff Timothy brings in - everything just happens so naturally, the way he founds himself crawling towards the edge of the table

and god, is that man beautiful, his hair looking like liquid copper in the dimmed lights of the club, the dark blue of his suit melting together with the burgundy red of the chair and Staci's world is spinning as he presses his chest to the cold, solid table while pushing his hips up

“Aye, Peaches”, the not so unfamiliar man hums after he let his gaze wander over Staci's body a few times, “Knew you were what I was looking for when I came through that door.” “And what are you looking for, Sir?”, Staci smiles nonchalantly, rolling on his back and aching it, hooking his fingers playfully under the waistband of his expensive lace panties, soaking up every second of the blue eyed gaze darted onto him

when he leaves the club late at night, he has three thousand dollars to spent on his own and he hurries the fuck up, considering the cities' areas he has to cross to get home (he is actually so fucking scared he is getting robbed, but he also doesn't think of taking a taxi either)

 the second he comes home he hides the money under his bed and locking the front door twice and he is pretty sure he just heard gun shots down the road

the next day he takes Grace's place again at 8pm (“If that girl isn't seriously ill I'm gonna rip her extensions off”, Mary whines and Staci laughs at that) and there he is again, 9pm on the second, front seat

“Good evening, Peaches”, he mouths as he sits down and opens his jacket, the suit even fancier today, yet still suiting his red hair and Staci's cheeks turn red, his smile shy and Jacob genuinely laughs at that

and that's the game they play for the following two weeks, cat and mouse, Staci dancing for Jacob and only Jacob (“Nice to see you again, Mr Seed”) even though there are other people around they feel so isolated from the world when they see each other, Staci getting paid like he has never been before with the goal to impress the oldest Seed a little bit more every night

one night Jacob isn't around, the front seat taken by some guy who's sixty or what, and Staci honestly feels humiliated (He has found out, during his exceptional research, that Jacob is in his late 40s, which surprisingly doesn't disgust him at all, no he thinks of it as so attractive, “He is way too hot to be that age”)

when he arrives back in the dressing room there's a small white card, with neat black ink inviting him to Providence the same night

underneath the card is a slim black box, containing a fucking 800 dollar suit in dark green velvet

when he arrives there (this time he didn't even had to consider calling a taxi - someone, Jacob's driver as it becomes apparent, is picking him up in a black Mercedes), the whole restaurant is empty and Jacob is sitting there all by himself, and Staci shouldn't be so surprised but he probably booked the whole restaurant

it is one of the most comfortable date nights (he has to calm the fuck down, he is something like this guy's personal stripper, don't get too emotionally attached there - so he tells himself) Staci had in a long time, they talk about this and that and he eventually, just a little bit, feels his stomach tingle and becoming warmer by the minute

Jacob drives him home, after he had Staci mumble the address three times because he was too ashamed to speak it out loud - “So, this is where you live, Peaches?”, hand softly caressing his thigh, which feels so right “Uh, yes. I know it's not, I mean like - “, “Quite dangerous around here, are you sure you don't want to come with me?” and he would love to, but Jacob has already done so much for him, he just doesn't want to be a burden or something like that

he lays awake until the early hours of the next day, worrying if he pissed Jacob off, if he'll ever see him again

but he does, the next time he has a shift, Jacob is there again, taking a sip of his club soda – with scotch he assumes - on ice as Staci walks out on the stage and all the previous anxiety falls off his shoulders

and lord, he can see Jacob's arousal so clearly from up there, the glass in his hand near his mouth slowly tarnishing, the way he spreads his legs is so obvious it makes a familiar heat rise in Staci's belly

that night, they fuck for the first time and Staci doesn't want it to end ever, everything feels so fulfilling, so right and divine, like it was always meant to be this way, the way Jacob fills him up, makes him sore and leaves him greedy, begging for more and screaming out his name in pure, innocent pleasure

when he wakes up, some five star, many Michelin star prized hotel has delivered an overwhelming amount of fruits and pastries for breakfast and he feels like he is still at sleep, dreaming in his small ass bed in his flat, when he sees Jacob standing at the oven in dark blue silk underwear, brewing coffee and making pancakes

“Mornin' Peaches, I hope you slept well”, and the way he emphasizes his words makes Staci so greedy, washing his still tired body with the hot pleasure of lust

Jacob takes him right there, on the kitchen counter two times before they actually move on to breakfast and it is so peaceful, a lot of laughter and shared stories and Staci suddenly realizes, nearly choking on his strawberries, that it feels like fucking home

after a few days of seeing Jacob on a daily basis, fucking and making out, going out for expensive dinner Staci finds a small box once again

it's a key and an address somewhere in South Park, 20 minutes from the club

“Jacob, no. No, I am not going to accept that”, and even through the speaker of his phone he can hear that beautiful laugh that makes him hot all over, “Why not, Peaches? I thought it would suit you. Also, I don't have to be afraid any more that you'll get shot or robbed – or both, or worse.”, “Jacob, there's no way I'm gonna accept this fucking penthouse”, “Language, Peaches”, Jacob warns, but Staci can literally see the smug grin on the other end of the phone

“Fuck it, he's officially your sugar daddy, no matter what you say, Stace!”, Grace laughs when he tells her that his address changed, and Hudson nearly drops one of the fresh polished glasses. “No, he's not! He was just concerned!”, Stacie tries to protest but he knows she's right and he should feel dubious or shady or like a hooker but he doesn't at all

“Good evening, Peaches”, Jacob whispers into Stacie's ear, his trimmed beard tickling the back of his shoulder as he presses gentle kisses on the soft skin and he leans into the touch, carefully dropping the brush he just applied some highlighter with

“Daddy's boy is looking good”, Jacob continues, sending shivers of anticipation down Stacie's spine, “Do you promise to look even better when I pick you up later, Peaches?” “Yes, Jacob”, Staci whispers and smiles at him in the mirror “Good boy, keep your beautiful head up Peaches. And don't forget that I love you - Staci”, he winks and leaves the dressing room and Staci to himself, blushing in a deep red with a whole fucking swarm of bees starting a love-riot in his stomach

[happybeeme0514]

Irreversible Final Chapter

Don’t worry, there WILL be a sequel! Obviously. Lol. Big thanks to @justjen523 for helping me out along the way and being my coauthor! <3

Chapter 14- Wonder

Another week passes by. The gods work as usual, doing their wishes and punishments, but in the shadows, the manhunt for Diefropos rages on. It’s beyond frustrating, just sitting here, waiting for something to happen, especially when Karno said that he could hide for thousands of years.

Sighing, Teorus plops beside me and turns the TV on, flipping through the channels until he comes to one called HGTV.

“These actually work here?” I ask, immediately intrigued by the high quality of the moving pictures and sounds. He nods, flipping through some papers Leon gave him.

“Some gods like them. Have you never seen one before, Eden?”

I shake my head, completely enraptured by the program.

Twin brothers are going around helping families renovate their old homes before selling them and moving them into a renovated fixer-upper house.

As I watch, spellbound, I can hear Scorpio and Zyglavis muttering to each other in the back.

“If Diefropos is in hiding, he wouldn’t be able to use any sort of magic, would he?” Zyglavis whispers.

“Not if he wanted us to catch him. Why?”

There’s a pause. My attention divides between the TV show and the conversation, even though I know eavesdropping is in poor taste.

Zyglavis speaks as low as he can, as if trying to avoid me hearing him.

“I’m worried about Eden.” There’s another moment of silence.

“Why?” Scorpio replies.

“She’s…acting differently. She’s feeding much more often, and in bigger quantities than she used to, and after that…well,”

I hear a rush of air as Scorpio silently chuckles. Zyglavis lets out a low hiss.

“But what’s most concerning to me is that, her emotions are all over the place. Yesterday, she cried for thirty minutes because Ichthys sneezed too loud.”

I frown. I hadn’t even noticed I had been acting so strangely, what with worrying so much about Diefropos and being so frustrated with his cowardice, I had pretty much taken a backseat to me. As I glue my eyes back to the TV screen, I try to brush off my strange behaviors as stress. Vampires get stressed too. That’s got to be all this is.

…

As day slowly creeps to night, Zyglavis and I retire to his room.

I went over it all day, thinking about Zyglavis’ words. I turned them over, rearranged them, looked them over backward, forward and sideways. The only conclusion I could come to was that, maybe he thinks there really is something wrong with me. And with my emotions so out of whack, I’m not proud to say I cried for about fifteen minutes...four times.

“Zyglavis, do you think there’s something wrong with me?” I ask him timidly as he loosens his tie. His head jerks, and he turns around to look at me, frowning deeply.

“What?” He asks, confused.

“I…heard you talking with Scorpio earlier.” I explain.

“Oh,” He sighs. His expression softens, and he walks over to me, softly wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close. “I didn’t mean that I think something is wrong with you, love. I just meant that I’m worried. With Diefropos on the loose, and you acting out of the ordinary, I don’t know what warning signs to look out for. If something were to happen to you…”

Zyglavis trails off, and his hold on me tightens.

I nuzzle closer to him.

So that’s what this is. I know what he means. He is mine, and I am his. Our lives are like two strings woven together into one single strand. Cut one, and you cut both. If I were to stop existing, he wouldn’t be able to live through it, and if he were stop existing, I wouldn’t be able to live through it. And everyone knows that a world, a universe, without Zyglavis is completely pointless.

But somewhere deep in my mind, I know his worry is unfounded. That I’m okay. Something whispers that what is going on is not at all sinister, though it can’t explain what is happening to me.

As I lean against him, an old, familiar sensation comes over me. It’s pleasant, my muscles relaxing and my eyes closing. It takes my slowing brain a moment to connect the dots, but once it does, I fall asleep.

…

When I blink my eyes open, the first thing I’m greeted with is Zyglavis’ worried face.

“You’re awake! Finally! You had me scared to death, Eden!”

“Sorry?” I mumble, barely coherent. I look around, and realize that I’m lying in Zyglavis’ bed, and that it’s morning. Golden light shines in through the curtains.

“She’s awake?”

Suddenly the bed is surrounded by all eleven of the other gods, each looking worried themselves. I sigh as I stretch, my body shuddering pleasantly.

“C’mon, guys. I was just sleeping,”

“You weren’t even breathing!” Zyglavis chides.

“Vampires don’t need to breathe, Zyglavis,” I reply.

“Why were you even sleeping?” Leon asks, clearly unamused. “Vampires shouldn’t need to sleep, right?”

Everyone exchanges anxious glances. I turn my eyes to Zyglavis. I know he’s thinking he’s right, that there must be something wrong with me. Some curse, some strange illness vampires can catch, but once again, that little voice in my head whispers that nothing is wrong.

It’s quiet for a moment, no one sure what to say or do. I look at each god’s face, and when my eyes land on Hue’s, I see that he looks oddly at ease. Our eyes meet, and he speaks.

“Fatigue, excessive thirst, mood swings, and, ahem, desire…these are all symptoms of something,”

I snap my head to look at him, my brain making the instant connection. Zyglavis does the same.

“That’s impossible.” I tell him.

“Is it?”

I just stare at him.

No. I’m right. I have to be. Vampires shouldn’t be able to…to do what he’s implying. At least, females shouldn’t. My body is dead. It can’t change. A woman’s body must change, must be able to accommodate, and mine just can’t.

Subconsciously, almost involuntarily, one of my hands moves down to my stomach, and I’m shocked to find that it’s soft, not hard like the rest of me. Soft and warm and round, there’s a bump sticking out from between my hips. How long has that been there…? It’s small, barely noticeable, but it’s there, and now that I’m aware of it, it seems unbelievably large. A wave of emotion comes over me, and I feel venom coat my eyes in a thin layer of tears.

And then, I feel it. Soft, tiny little fluttering, a gentle nudging—from inside my body.

I’m…wrong. I’m wrong. Hue is right.

A sense of wonder fills me as my fingers gingerly run over the bump that I’ve been ignorant of until now. I feel Zyglavis’ eyes on me as my whole world shifts. Only seconds ago, there was just one thing I could not live without, and now, there’s two. It feels like my heart has grown big enough to accommodate the two of them, swollen to twice it’s twice.

Ichthys looks around, confused.

“What is going on?”

Huedhaut smiles, the action slow and deliberate.

“Eden is pregnant.”

[thorns-and--thistles]

Moon on the Bridge (Bias x Reader) Pt. 2

By the time you get home, you have a test to study for and still a restless mind. Perhaps I should’ve slept with him, you pout.

You study for the rest of the night and when you finally get in bed, alone, you’re faced with your thoughts.

“I left him,” you say aloud, letting yourself know what’s done is done and to stop being emotional.

You left B/N. All because you were both going to school in different countries. You didn’t want a long distance relationship, especially at your age. So you broke up with him, despite him saying it could work. 

It could’ve worked, had you been determined enough. Had you loved him enough, you frequently tell yourself.

“Is that the only reason?” B/N had asked when you ended it. It wasn’t. And you weren’t going to lie to him. 

The thought of commitment to one person terrified you more than you expected. And with your friends and family breathing down your neck to see other people and not settle too soon skewed your thoughts. So you bailed.

You wished that you two broke up like a regular couple. With you hating him, or no longer feeling the same way. But he did nothing that was worth disliking him for. 

You thought you were good with your emotions. Keeping them under control. You hadn’t thought of him this way in so long that you wondered if you had felt anything at all during those years with him. 

But just seeing him, hearing his voice and seeing his face. Having his hand touch you. And those eyes. And that smile. It was like a kick in the gut. And seeing Eden with him was like a slap to the face. You deserved that. 

You curl up in bed. You’ve been holding it in for the entire night and you feel so stupid for reacting this way, but you can’t help it. You cry. You cry into your pillow at what you lost and gave up, wondering if you really made a bad decision. 

Eden is watching him as they eat dinner, their friends chatting beside them, not yet noticing the tense atmosphere.

“What?” B/N finally asks her, noting how hard she’s been boring her eyes into him.

“You know what,” her arms are crossed, her jaw set, “Is that why you came here?” 

He wants to tell her it’s none of her business. He sighs, leaning back into his chair, “No,”

“But you knew she’d be here,” 

Again, no. He didn’t. 

Her attitude right now was annoying him. She wasn’t his girlfriend exactly, but lately she’s been acting as such and he’s not sure how it took such a turn. Yes, they’ve been together a few times, but he hadn’t pushed the label of anything. 

“Did you come here to rekindle a dead flame?” he can see the cynical look in her eyes, hear the sneer in her voice. A dead flame. He knows she’s mocking him, trying to get him as annoyed as her. 

It’s working. 

He looks at her without a word until she looks away awkwardly. He hates to admit it, but she was right. 

As the night goes on, B/N engages as best with his friends but he’s not there mentally. His mind keeps going back to seeing Y/N. He didn’t expect to see her, the city was too big to see the same person twice. And since moving here six months ago, he gave up on that. But seeing her tonight? It was all a matter of chance so he was more than surprised at the odds.

The commotion when she fell caught his attention but the sight of her kept it. How could someone look so graceful as they stood up? The way she pushed her hair from her face as she looked at him. The way her eyes stared into his own. For a moment he forget everything bad that happened between them. 

He could’ve walked away, he didn’t have to go to her. 

But she had fallen and it felt wrong for him to do that. His only concern was to make sure she was okay. He sighs. Why is he lying to himself? Her fall was a perfect excuse to talk to her.

She was visibly surprised at his actions towards her but he wasn’t. No matter what, he couldn’t hate Y/N. He also couldn’t blame her for her decision.

But B/W. He realized he made a bigger mistake in going to her when he saw the man that came to Y/N’s aid. He didn’t even notice she didn’t have her coat on, but he did. And he felt jealousy! Of all the things.. Something he should be feeling in regards to Eden. Is that why he took Eden’s hand when he walked away?

He knows he’s deep in thought because a friend asks if he’s okay and Eden looks at him. 

“Excuse me,” he dismisses himself, stepping into the cold to numb his feelings he’s kept suppressed for so long. And also to escape Eden’s relentless glare. 

“Let it go,” he whispers to himself as he leans his head against the brick wall.

Closing his eyes, he forces himself to think of anything else, even Eden, and not his past lover. But even with his eyes shut, he sees her standing before him, eyes locked on him in surprise and caution.

Y/N... he breathes out the thought, as if it were a wish that no one would ever hear, it’s been a long time.

The next few days pass by normally. You head to work at the book store, eating a snack before your shift starts. It’s a slow and quiet day, perks of working in a place where students study and sleep.

You’re restocking and arranging books when the door chimes. It’s B/W and you slightly panic. Why is he here? Are you going to have to deal with another guy that can’t accept ‘no’?

“Hey,” he says. The trolly of books separates you both.

“What are you doing here?” you haven’t seen him since that night which was two days ago and didn’t expect to speak to him either.

“I can’t say hi to a friend?”

“We’re friends?” It’s a slight joke but you mean the question. And you can tell that your response stung him.

“Friends with benefits? Remember?” he bites back. 

You raise the book in your hand, prepared to throw it at him as he ducks, “Don’t talk so loud,”

“Can’t we be friends though? I don’t even need the benefits, although I want them…”

“There’s no benefit in being my friend,”

He thinks for a moment, “True,” and you glare at him, “But, we were friends before this started. And I like having you around,”

You place the books into their slots, “I meant what I said. Friendships are hard to have after something like that,”

“And I know this. So many women can’t handle the fact that I ended it with them,” he sighs dramatically.

You roll your eyes, “And you’re acting just like them,”

“I won’t bother you. I won’t even try anything with you. I just-”

The door chimes again and in walks Eden with B/N behind her. You feel your eyes bulge as you gasp which makes B/W stop talking. 

This can’t be happening. 

“What is it?”

“Act like you’re in love with me,” you whisper frantically.

“Am I not being obvious enough or…?” he glances back and turns to you with a smirk, “Ah~”

“Do something,” you plead, wanting to hide or die.

He folds his arms, “Only if we can be friends,”

They haven’t seen you yet and you’re wondering how fast you can get to the back door, “Friends. Fine,”

B/W smooths his hair back, pushing the book cart aside. He holds your face in his hands, but you’re looking at them and thinking how fast you can disappear.

“Now act like you’re in love with me,” B/W says softly, brushing your cheek with his thumb.

“Wha-” He presses his lips against yours, kissing you in such a way that you almost forget why you had him do this.

Someone clears their throat, “Excuse me, do you work here?”

You pull from the kiss, seeing Eden and B/N, both looking surprised. But then her face tenses as she glances at B/N who simply stands there, staring. You wipe your mouth timidly, avoiding his eyes. 

Why does the look on his face hurt you a bit? And why do you feel as if you did something you shouldn’t have?

B/W scratches his head with a nervous smile, “Well, this is awkward. We usually never get caught,”

You elbow him and he winces.

“Cutting it close?” B/N says in a light tone and B/W laughs as well. 

“Sorry about this, how can I help you?” you ask them, looking at Eden.

But Eden puts up her hand, “You know what, never mind. There’s nothing here that we need. Let’s go, B/N,”

She walks away, B/N following before pausing. He looks at you as if he’s about to say something but decides against it, following Eden.

You press your hand against your chest, breathing out, “Thanks,” but you still feel weird. What was B/N going to say?

B/W stands in front of you, watching you carefully.

“What?” you ask.

“How are we gonna stay as friends if you keep asking me to kiss you? Gosh Y/N, what a way to confuse a man,” he turns his collar up before leaving the store.

Playlist for this chapter:

BTOB - Missing You.

BTOB - It’s Okay

YeYe - ゆらゆら

Bon Iver - Holocene

Lord Huron - Meet Me In The Woods