#even the sitting in his lap thing in the DID case i was willing to brush off as oh haha 2000's gay joke

[grinchwrapsupreme]

Lassiter and Shawn from Psych are yet another ship i thought people were exaggerating but no i just watched the weatherman court case episode and Lassie is so fucked

[bwabys-scenarios]

Hi bwaby ~ I’m new to your page and I love your yandere posts ^^ I’m reading the ones you’ve written for Kurapika. I saw your requests were open.

How do you think hxh yanderes would respond to their captive s/o having a panic/anxiety attacks when their captor tries to get intimate? How would they go about that?

🖤 ur work 🖤🖤🖤 thnx

Yandere!HXH respond to you panicking during intimacy

!!REBLOGS APPRECIATED!!

warnings: dubcon, panic attack, bad aftercare, forced cuddling, slight manipulation/coercion with Chrollo(it backfires), vomit in Chrollo’s, Feitan is emotionally distant, Kurapika is unstable

A/N: just a little note that none of my yanderes will ever rape the reader. I just include dubious consent because being captive blurs the lines of consent. Can you really consent when you’re captive? I don’t know, so I include it just in case, even though in my eyes reader is always consenting during these acts. I’m not comfortable with writing out rape, so this situation is the farthest I go.

characters included: Kurapika, Leorio, Chrollo, Feitan, Illumi

Yandere NSFW: @lightshowerrr @jungtoast @nenggie @aliceattheart @pannacottababy

‼️If you want to be added to the taglist, please check out the taglist information then comment what you want to be added to! Make sure you have your age in your bio and that your blog can be tagged/mentioned!‼️

Kurapika

First of all, Kurapika is VERY hesitant to initiate any intimacy after he takes you away. He wants you to get used to your captivity before he starts anything.

Kurapika is also the only yandere on this list that won’t be overly pushy in terms of physical contact most if the time, and honestly he’s okay if you never love him again… even if he really wants you to love him and give him lots of affection. He knows he did something unforgivable by taking you away from your life, and he’s willing to be hated by you if it means you’ll be safe.

Now, when you do eventually initiate some kind of intimacy he is over the moon. He would do anything for you, desperate to please you and make the experience as good as possible. Kurapika wants your love, your physical touch, and he wants it willingly.

So when he initiates, kissing along your neck with his hand gently rubbing your clothed cunt, he stops immediately when you start to panic. “My angel? Are you okay?”

He’s quick to pull away and give you space. His hands shake and he feels guilt and panic rise in his own chest. Did he just ruin all of the progress the two of you had?

But you calm down after a little, and lean against him. “I… I’m sorry, I just… I got really anxious.”

He’s quick to wrap his arms around you, tentatively smoothing out your hair. “Don’t apologize… shh, just relax. We don’t have to do anything.”

Kurapika spends the rest of the night just a bit unstable, terrified that he’ll do something to upset you. He just loves you so much and he doesn’t want to lose your love and affection when he just got it back. The next day he makes sure to pamper you more than usual, and he’s almost a bit clingy… as if he’s scared he’ll lose you.

Leorio

He’s pretty handsy, though most of his touches are just affectionate in nature. When you cuddle, he has his hand in your ass or thigh, kneading at the soft flesh.

Leorio likes to have you in his lap as often as possible, where he can move you as he pleases as cover you in kisses as he holds you as close as possible.

He’s eager to get back to sex after he takes you, though he won’t push… too much. Leorio is just super clingy and you’re already sitting pretty on his lap, the only thing separating you from his is that pretty skirt you’re wearing!

It was a normal day, with you sitting in his lap after he tugged you his way. But this time, instead of the usual soft squish he’d give your thigh or kisses to your cheek or the top of your head, Leorio started moving you back and forth against the bulge firming in his pants.

You instantly froze, feeling his warm breath on your neck. When you began to panic and cry, Leorio paused for a moment. “Princess? Something wrong?”

When you started to struggle, he gently set you down. The air was thick and heavy with tension and awkward energy. He scratched the back of his neck, his boner gone. “You alright?”

You shook your head. “I… I don’t want to, Leorio… I’m scared…”

He felt his heart break a little, but he was quick to reach out and gently ruffle your hair. “Don’t be scared… I won’t… do anything to you that you don’t want…”

But it felt a bit hypocritical, considering he did steal you from your old life against your will. Leorio had standards though, and one of those was not assaulting people.

That night, he was way less clingy than usual, giving you some space and time to process things… but you joined him in bed for snuggles later.

Chrollo

He kept telling you he wanted to make your first time with him special, that he’d buy you flowers and pretty lingerie to wear. He even suggested getting a nicer hotel than usual, which was shocking because the hotels you usually stayed in with him were beyond luxurious.

So when the special night came, he took you out to a fancy dinner, letting you order whatever you wanted. You had become very complacent, accepting the fact you’d never be able to escape him… not even in death.

So you are your food, and you bathed before putting on the set of lingerie he surely paid a high price for, and sat on the bed, waiting for him to get back from a meeting with some phantom troupe members that were in town.

The wait already had you anxious, but the way he kept going on and on about how perfect he made everything and how much effort he put into this night put a lot of pressure on you to do well.

And that was on purpose. He wanted you to know just how much he had done for you… how much he craved and adored you. With him, you would be endlessly pampered and loved… all you had to do was be a good girl and do as he said.

So by the time he got back, you were already anxiously fidgeting with your lacy black lingerie, biting your lip.

Now… he didn’t want to make you anxious, just a little nervous. He thought it would be cute to see you squeak like a timid little mouse as he took you… he didn’t want you to stiffly lie down and tear up when he unbuttoned his shirt.

And he hadn’t expected you to throw up from the stress of it all.

He felt a bit guilty, you were crying and muttering apologies as he called for room service, trying to clean it up yourself. Had he instilled that much fear in you that you shook in terror at the thought of upsetting you? That’s not what Chrollo wanted… despite his sly and manipulative nature, he wanted you to genuinely love him and see him as someone that protected and took care of you.

So once you calmed down a little, he pulled you in and snuggled you, kissing the top of your head. “I..: apologize. We’ll do this at your pace.”

You couldn’t really break away from his grip… and you didn’t want to anger him, so you let him hold you close and gently rock you.

Feitan

Feitan already is absolute garbage with intimacy, so it’s rare he’ll initiate anything. He’s both insecure and emotionally distant, but also longs for your affection and physical touch.

But he also HATES physical touch… so being his darling is a confusing experience where you’re constantly walking on eggshells.

The rare instances when he tries to be intimate with you, you almost leap with joy. He’s the only other human you have physical contact with, and you’ve almost gone crazy without touch and affection.

He’s very insecure and sensitive to rejection, so when he touches you, even if it’s just subpar, you praise him endlessly with soft whimpers and moans. He’s pretty skilled with his fingers considering he was a virgin before he met you.

So when he’s got his hands on your hips and ready to push his cock into your pretty pussy, instead of the usual happy whines you make… you instead whimper and shy away from him.

He’s tortured many people, so he can recognize the signs of a panic attack easily. You don’t know what came over you, but you just started to break down, crying and rocking yourself.

Feitan froze up, not knowing what to do. He’s not used to comforting others, and he already feels the harsh sting of rejection from your reaction. Was he that bad?

But… he’s able to push that away. He puts a blanket over your naked form and gently rubs your back while looking the other way.

“… don’t have to. Just say when don’t want it.”

And that’s all you get. He doesn’t kiss away your tears or clean you up… but it’s a big step forward. For Feitan, comforting another human being is hard, so the fact he’s trying for you proves that you mean something to him.

[yanderefarm]

Currently caught up on your posts and saw what 🪐 anon said so to make this better lets break some more yanderes!!

We already got some Nephy content so let's step it up a notch..

How about making some of the yanderes totally codependent on us in order to even live?? Like we go really extreme and remove one of their limbs sort of things because if they're willing to do anything to keep us then we should return the favor to them

I have an issue...

-🐝

cw;; cannibalism, gore, amputation, violence, abuse, ableism (kind of?? this isn't meant to be realistic depictions to begin with so take it with a grain of salt), amputation kink, dehumanization, dumbification, pet play, dead dove don't eat

ohhhh the amputation ask was about us doing it. still. its an amputation kind of night so we're doing it.

i can only see this with a few of them so im just gonna write about them. tbh i could probably also do something with ajax but i don't know what.

silvan;; he can't hurt himself anymore if he doesn't have arms. after being particularly bad and hurting himself enough to leave an ugly scar you decided to go through the process of having his limbs removed. it's usually reserved for cruel pet owners but in your case it's necessary for his own well being. well removing his legs wasn't necessary but you thought it would be better that way. he's completely dependent on you, he has no choice but to spend his days being carried by you or his maid because you refuse to give him any mobility aids. the only time he gets a taste of freedom again is during parties where you outfit him in beautiful but barely functional porcelain prosthetics. he can't move his hands and he can just barely walk so he still has to rely on you.

imagine him cutely waking you up by crawling over top of you. you open your eyes and look up to see his cheeks red and tears in his eyes. poor thing needs you to carry him to the bathroom, you give him a little kiss before you put him on the bed. you watch him squirm and try to sit up before you finally pick him up like a child. his tears soak your nightshirt as you carry him to the bathroom. he's so pathetic.

achilles;; the ultimate punishment. one of your regulars in your streams and as a customer asked you one night how much for a leg, normal question for you. except he meant achilles leg. and he was willing to pay millions for it. achilles and you spend a long time talking it over. it's not that you don't love the idea of taking away his life and making him solely dependent on you but you're worried about him waking up one day hating you for doing this to him. he assures you that's impossible and even if he did wake up one day hating you he would want you to break him back into place. he asserts over and over that his life, his body, his mind are all yours to break as you will. so he loses a leg. and then an arm. and soon enough your cute toy is just a sweet little thing that needs you for everything.

imagine him crawling as best he can over to you whining the whole way. you take pity on him and pick him up, sitting him in your lap while you play games. everyone in the stream says hi to him so excited to see him and his face that was once the picture of stoicism lights up with glee. he waves a nubby arm at them and almost falls off your lap. you give him a gentle kiss as you fix him between your legs. you have to remind him again to use his words and he struggles to think like he has every day since he became a happy little toy. "fhank you!!" so cute.

noemie;; he's premium meat and you've always found it a waste not to eat him no matter how much you like him. so when he gets on your last nerve you decide you've had enough. he screams and cries like a proper pig but you can tell even through his tears he's so happy. you only take his limbs and let him keep the rest because that's how much you like him. he is so grateful when he watches you eating one of his legs and you're kind enough to feed him some as well!! and now, you take your four legged piggy and you put him in your bedroom, metal on his nubs, hook in his nose, a little fake pig tail in his ass. he's a reward for you after a long day of work. sometimes you take him out and carry him around for some fresh air and to see everything you've been working on.

imagine opening the door to your bedroom to see your little piggy sitting in his bed on the floor looking excited to see you and immediately oinking. you pick him up and carefully remove his nose hook before you start to head to the bath. you're covered in blood and grime from work and he smells sweaty. he'll cuddle against your chest while he talks about what he thought about all day and how much he missed you. in the bath he'll splash and blow bubbles and be all excited you have to take him out and wrap him tightly in his towel so you can actually clean yourself. but he'll never stop talking and praising and smiling at you.

[iluvangel]

🖇·˚ ༘ ┊͙[Cleaning with the Akatsuki] ! ˊˎ {Akatsuki x reader}

FT - ITACHI, SASORI, PAIN, DAIDARA

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

𝑰𝑻𝑨𝑪𝑯𝑰 🥀 :

⭑ would love to clean the living room, the scene when he chases the chicken while trying to make food imagine that but he’s running around the living room vacuuming

⭑ he would despise having to clean the bathroom it would gross him out

⭑ he would have a bad habit of trying to do everything multiple times to ensure it’s clean. After his first time vacuuming he would walk around staring intensely at the carpet to make sure he didn’t miss a single thing, and then even tho he didn’t miss anything he would still go over it again just in case

⭑ he would be a psychopath and not listen to music while he cleans, however; when he cleans with you he dosnt mind when you put on a calm playlist (he definitely loves classical music) - If you did choose to put on a playlist then after his vacuuming and and ur dusting or organizing he would take ur hand and spin you to face him. He would start to slow dance pulling you in to follow his lead

⭑ after intensely running around the living room and giving the carpet a good stare down, he would make sure ur done as well and help if needed - then you both shower or bathe whichever you prefer - finally you both can relax in bed and watch a movie or simple hold each other as you both drift to sleep

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

𝑺𝑨𝑺𝑶𝑹𝑰 🪆 :

⭑ he wouldn’t particularly like cleaning but he would enjoy organizing (his tools and such) when he does get into the productive cleaning mood he would need a body double. He would appreciate you helping him clean but he wouldn’t want you moving his stuff around so most likely he’d ask you to sweep or dust

⭑ as I said he wouldn’t really like cleaning so it’s not what he doesn’t like to clean it’s what he does and what he will actually be willing to do

⭑ he would have a bad habit of getting easily distracted, not in the worst way but when he cleans and organize his tools he would think of new ideas for his puppets and start working on that instead (thus why he needs you to be there as his body double)

⭑ he would enjoy having music on but it would need to be low so he dosnt get distracted by it, when cleaning with you he would let you put on whatever playlist you want as long as it’s not on full volume

⭑ after organizing he would ask if your done, if you say yes he would go right back to cleaning signaling for you to sit on his lap to keep him company as he enjoyed it while cleaning more than he thought he would. If you say no he would let out a sigh and ask if you need help and what he can do to make help you get it done

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

𝒀𝑨𝑯𝑰𝑲𝑶 (𝑷𝑨𝑰𝑵) 🪦 :

⭑ if he’s in the mood for it he would go ham when cleaning, he would love to clean the kitchen as he finds doing the dishes and moping calming, but only when he’s in the mood for it

⭑ there’s nothing in particular he would complain about when it comes to what he would clean but if he doesn’t want to he won’t. He is pain, after all. No one can really tell him what to do

⭑ his bad habit would be spacing out just randomly as he’s mopping he would just stare at the floor

⭑ he wouldn’t really like music in the background, he would let you put your music on tho. However, he would prefer listening to you yap about whatever came to mind, he would find ur voice easy to get lost in

⭑ after cleaning he would lean against the wall and wait for you to finish, then as your done we would take you by the arm and bring you to the bathroom so you both could shower. And finally he would go back to work allowing you to stay with him only if you’re quiet. If you asked, after showering he would agree to a small nap or one movie before returning to work

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

𝑫𝑬𝑰𝑫𝑨𝑹𝑨 👅 :

⭑ he would hate cleaning, no such thing as a cleaning mood for him. You would have to do a lot of convincing and nagging for him to help you

⭑ his least favorite thing would be the bathroom, which is why it would be the room you force him to do first

⭑ “eww EWW! I can’t do it! It’s too gross” his bad habit would be complaining about everything because he knows if he does it enough you’ll let him go do something else as long as it’s cleaning related

⭑ he needs music if he’s going to be cleaning he would love listening to your playlists and hearing new artists

⭑ immediately after cleaning he would drag you into the freshly cleaned shower. Then you both would cuddle in bed and watch whatever he wants “you made me clean now you have to watch what I want, it’s only fair”

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

Click here for 🎀 Part 2 🎀

[genshin-side-piece]

The Hawk and The Sparrow

*Blows the dust bunnies off of this one* This one has been sitting for a minute and by a minute, I mean like the beginning of the Sumeru chapter. It's amazing what a week off of work does for the creative mind.

Characters: Alhaitham, Kaveh, GN reader (no pronouns or descriptions used for reader)

Warnings: Minors DNI, 18+, Yandere themes, Yandere Behavior, Power Imbalance, Master/apprentice dynamic, Abuse of power, Kidnapping, Non-Consensual Touching, Dark themes, not smut (sorry), angst My bad writing, Anything Else I Missed

“There you are, sparrow.” It took you a few seconds to react, but when you did, your entire body froze. While the intrusion of Alhaitham’s voice wasn’t a terrible surprise, you hadn’t expected it this soon. He had been away on business, with no word on when he might return. It had been your hope that when he returned he would be so exhausted from his weeks away that he would simply go home. As you had left the city this morning, your mind had conjured images of him standing at the city gates, impatiently tapping his foot as he waited for you to return or even him patrolling the border as you leered at it from a distance. You should have considered that he wouldn’t be satisfied with simply waiting. It was a foregone conclusion that upon his return to the city, one of the first people he would want to see would be you. If you weren’t where he expected you to be, then he was more than capable of finding you. “Thank you for making me spend most of my final day off searching half of Sumeru for you.” On instinct, you focused on the drawing in your lap. You knew better than to give him your full attention right away. Alhaitham’s acuity when it came to mind games was second to none. It was a talent few knew he possessed. For those that did, they were, well you were wary to enter into such a battle with him. It was easier to act coy or feign stupidity. At least then you would only have to endure a lecture versus accepting what Alhaitham felt were the full consequences of your actions. “A tad dramatic, don’t you think? Don’t tell me Kaveh is starting to rub off on you.” His low growl echoed across the small clearing, causing you to smirk. “Tell me, was your intention to press your luck today or are you merely interested in testing my lack of patience the instant I return?” Your smirk widened at the hint of irritation in his normally smooth voice. “Would you believe me if I said neither?” You briefly looked up from your sketch, glancing over your shoulder at him. “Since your return was open ended, I had no clue when I would see you again. I am merely enjoying the day.” Behind you, the soles of his ornate shoes brushed across the grass as he stepped further into the clearing. “Really?” There was a chuckle. “Does your enjoyment necessitate the need for no escort, no Akasha terminal, and no word to Kaveh as to your whereabouts?” He clicked his tongue in disappointment. “Do you have an explanation for me or shall I just add it to the list of infractions that occurred in my absence?” You swallowed, your smirk softly falling. In your world, Alhaitham’s absence had been a blessing. Kaveh was far less observant when it came to what you did and who you spoke to. You had more than taken advantage of the lack of supervision when it came to getting a few things done. It was improbable that Alhaitham had found them all in such a short amount of time, but it wasn’t entirely impossible either. You had long suspected Alhaitham had put a second set of eyes on you before he left, just to ensure you were behaving as you should. 

Since Alhaitham’s departure, there had been one too many instances of the same group of eremites being near you for it not to be the case. You briefly wondered exactly how many so-called infractions of his ridiculous rules had gotten back to him. Had there been daily reports or would that be too much? The trip to Port Ormos wasn’t too bad, but you doubted he was willing to pay someone or a set of someones to go back and forth everyday. Maybe every few days? It was hard for you to say. Still, a small worry began to creep its way up your spine. What did he know? What had he been told? As he said, there was a list. Your mind slowly began to spin at how long it could actually be. “The akasha shouldn’t be a terrible surprise. You know that silly thing hurts my ear if I wear it for too long. It does me no good outside of the city, so I left it behind.” The slight quiver in your voice nearly gave you away. You could see it in how his body shifted, his hips turning so he could block your only exit from view. “It’s a requirement of the Akademiya that you wear one.” You scoffed, trying to hide the unease that was washing over you. “Since when are you concerned about upholding the Akademiya’s mandates? I wonder how they would feel about your latest excursion.” You lazily drug the graphite across the page, acting like you still cared about your landscape. “My latest excursion was at their request.” Unlike yours, which was not. “I thought we discussed your little sketching trips the last time you tried this.” The discussion being that after you had successfully vanished from his sight for an entire day, Alhaitham informed you that you were not allowed to leave the city alone again. “I’m not a child, Haitham. I resent being treated like one.” You added a little bite to your tone in the vain hope that he might pick up on your displeasure. “I needed reference material for a project. Since I was refused a kamera, I decided the only way to get it was to make a few sketches.” You made the conscious choice to not elaborate beyond what you had already said. It was easier to let him admonish you for what he did know, versus adding to your troubles by telling him something he hadn’t discovered yet, which you doubted was very little. His thoroughness when it came to you knew no bounds. That’s why your efforts to keep your secrets hidden was an exhausting affair.  “The distance is trivial, it shouldn’t require an escort. Even if it did, all your favorites have gotten outrageous with their fees. I can use a stick and get equal protection.” You heard him scoff at the suggestion. “As for Kaveh, he was nowhere to be found. I wasn’t interested in searching the entire city just to tell him I was going a stone’s throw away. Though if he really is that worried, he could have asked the forest rangers. I passed their lookout on my way here and told them where I was.” “I’m aware.” There was a long pause. You could feel his eyes on you; searching, scanning, and assessing your figure for anything he might find out of the ordinary. Much too what you imagined was his disappointment, there wasn’t anything egregious. Outside of your missing akasha terminal, you were as he preferred you. The only thing he could fuss about was the amount of sun your exposed neck, shoulders, and back had seen. Then again, he might also take it as a blessing. There was little doubt that Alhaitham would probably jump at the chance to rub aloe into your irritated flesh. “Your location is inconsequential. You’ve been found.” He grated that out in what you guessed was an effort to hide his apparent relief. 

Alhaitham had been anxious about you using his extended trip as an excuse to vanish from Sumeru. There had been the less than ideal suggestion of you going with him, but he had rejected it at the last minute. Having you with him was a liability he couldn’t afford. Hence his need for curfews, boundaries, and you being left under Kaveh’s less than observant eye. The last thing Alhaitham wanted was to lose his precious control over your life and more importantly, you without having a say in the matter. You had already tried to leave his mastery and pursue other opportunities outside of Sumeru on more than one occasion. Each attempt had been met with a strict punishment and an ever tightening grip on your finances. 

Because you were apprenticed to him, he had the right to take everything you made for himself. Much to your chagrin, it was a right he exercised often. There was always a long winded speech about your lack of responsibility or your foolish ways before he took your hard earned money from you. Anything he returned to you was the result of his so-called generosity. As your master, he was expected to provide for you. But your definition of being provided for was far different than his. He viewed your needs as requiring the basic essentials and nothing more. Anything extra had to be requested and in some cases begged for. If he granted your wish, then the item would be purchased for you rather than him giving you the money. He was well aware of the danger that came with handing you a bag of Mora and letting you galavant around with it. The one and only time he had done that, he had barely caught you at the docks before the ship had sailed. 

“Though since you refuse to wear your Akasha Terminal as you’ve been asked to.” You flinched at how he drew out the word asked. “I may employ Kaveh’s suggestion of sewing little bells into your clothes or maybe I’ll just hang a large one around your neck.” Like he would a pet. The ridiculousness of that made you want to throw your sketch pad at him. You reviled that he kept tabs on you. His incessant need to hover over you was suffocating. Not wearing your accursed Akasha Terminal was one of the few ways you could insure some level of privacy from him, even if it was short lived.

“I think some would find that terribly disruptive. Most professors demand silence during the lectures. I doubt they would be welcoming of such a distraction, even if it came from the grand oiseau himself.” You heard an annoyed huff come from behind you. “Since I’m outside the city and the Akademiya, I doubt Kaveh’s precious bells would have proved useful.” Alhaitham grunted in response. “If anything, wouldn’t they draw danger to me?” “He also made mention of locking you in my study should I decide to go away again. He was quite vocal about how difficult you’ve been in my absence.” It was laughable to think you had been the difficult one. Despite your best effort to keep up appearances while going behind Alhaitham’s back, Kaveh made it especially challenging to do so. Visual contact had, at least in terms of him laying eyes on you, been impossible. If you could find him, he had been face down on Lambad’s bar or passed out on Alhaitham’s couch in a fit of exhaustion. In your desperation to not alert Alhaitham that something was amiss, you had been reduced to leaving notes in Kaveh’s hand as proof of your daily check-ins. The last thing you needed or wanted was for your keeper to come back early because he believed you had fled his ever present eye before you had actually done it. “Not that I feel it’s a reasonable solution, but why save that particular joy for your infrequent trips outside the city? You already watch me morning, noon, and night when I’m at the Akademiya. I’m surprised you haven’t insisted I enjoy that delight so you can observe me as I sleep.” Your sarcasm wasn’t lost on him. Nor did it do much to improve his mood. You could feel his eyes burning a hole in your back. 

“If I thought it plausible, I might.” His voice had a tone you didn’t like. His normally condescending manner had degraded into a quiet outrage that sent a small shiver all over your body. The last time you had heard that tone, he had shown you exactly how much power he had over your life. It wasn’t an experience you wanted to repeat. “Regrettably, I lack a cage large enough to keep you confined for any real length of time.” He had moved closer, his cape swirling the air between you. “Kaveh is as tired of your shenanigans as I am. It seems whatever sympathy he had for you has run out. He mentioned that he was all too eager to design you something before I came searching for you. Maybe I’ll take him up on it.” A heavy silence fell between you. Your mind silently debated whether he was serious or not. Alhaitham wasn’t one to jest about punishment. His one insistence was the expectation of his rules being followed.  But the notion that he would bring himself to completely confine you as a means of controlling you was a step too far, even for him. Allowing you your liberty, more importantly allowing you the chance to shine was a positive reflection on him and the Akademiya as a whole. Even if his reputation wasn’t entirely important to him, you doubted he wanted that to change, unless he had discovered your largest transgression before you had the chance to do anything about it. 

A glance over your shoulder told you all you needed to know. His clenched jaw and stormy eyes were an indication of exactly how livid he was. His fury went beyond his previously listed reasons for being here. While not wearing your Akasha terminal, having no escort and the most egregious of all, failing to inform Kaveh of your whereabouts were simple infractions. They weren’t anything you hadn’t done before. They were behaviors that Alhaitham found at worst, annoying. He had tried to curb them, but generally speaking they brought little more than being restricted to spending your free time in his office for a few days. This was different. This was a level you hadn’t pushed him too before. This meant only one thing.

Silently, Alhaitham reached into a pocket that was concealed by his cloak, pulling out a wax sealed piece of parchment. Your eyes fixated on it, your entire body going cold when he held it in front of you. “Interestingly, this was waiting for me when I returned.” You felt your mouth go dry as you continued to stare at it, your heart sinking like a stone as he ran his fingers over the broken seal. “Kaveh told me it was delivered to the house this morning.” Of course it was. You closed your eyes, grinding your jaw for a moment. Word had reached you that it was being sent. You had thought that the Akademiya might be kind enough to send it to Alhaitham’s office. Then you would have had a chance to retrieve it before he ever got word of it, but fate had not been kind to you. Instead, it had been sent directly to Alhaitham’s home, likely because that would be the first place he would go once he returned. The confirmation that Kaveh had received it meant that Alhaitham had been alerted to it almost instantly. It was probably what triggered Alhaitham’s unexpected return and his confrontation with you now. “Here I thought we had buried the concept for good. Yet-” He let out a breathy chuckle. “You are always full of surprises, aren’t you?” You slowly opened your eyes at the sound of him shifting his weight. The light clinking of ornate embellishments of his outfit broke the silence between you filling the void. “Do you have any kind of defense?” Not that it would save you. He already had more than enough cause to punish you. The letter in his hand was just the icing on the proverbial cake.

You impassively shook your head while you continued to focus on the piece of paper in his hand. He had you. There wasn't a lie in the world that could save you from him. You knew what you had done. More so, you knew the lengths you had gone to get it. The document in question was the proverbial carrot that Alhaitham had dangled in front of you ever since he had taken you under his wing. Your freedom relied on it, your sanity depended on it. Your eyes focused on the stamped seal of approval from the Akademiya. They traced every bump, every dip of the wax. Even the break where it had been opened burned its way into your memory. How could it not? It wasn’t everyday one received a graduation letter from the Akademiya. It was even less likely for you, since your master and benefactor had denied you of it ever since you had come under his tutelage. 

It hadn’t taken you long to figure out that your main roadblock to your future was Alhaitham himself. He had found you on one of your trips through Sumeru. You had set up a small stall in the streets of Port Ormos, peddling sketches and caricatures to tourists while you made a study of the port. You remembered it and him at first because he had spent nearly an hour looking over the pieces you had on offer. He had been especially engrossed with a study of the ruins near Ay-Khanoum. After three additional visits that same day, he deemed you worthy enough to speak to. His curiosity was mainly about how you had reached the ruins, but he also asked other questions; where had you learned, who you were apprenticed under, and the most damning of all, were you traveling with anyone? His reaction when you had answered no to his final question was something you should have been wary of. From that time until you were ready to leave Port Ormos, he had lingered close to your stall. Even after you had moved it to a more crowded area, he still found you.  Patrons taking an interest in you wasn’t anything new. You’d had many offers to stay in the different villages and towns that you had visited. Alhaitham was not the first person to offer to keep you in comfort so you wouldn’t have to endure the life of a wandering artist. Even if that life was entirely your choice. To him, someone of your talent deserved to have their skill honed to the highest level. It was a privilege to study at the Akademiya. You should consider yourself fortunate that such a distinguished and respected figure within the Akademiya was willing to personally sponsor the next step in your education. Nevermind that it was a privilege that you had never wanted or asked for. It was enough that Alhaitham wanted it for you and whatever he wanted, he got. The mind games he so expertly played made sure of that.

Under the guidance of your darshan, your skill had grown exponentially. Some had even gone so far as to say your skill exceeded Alhaitham’s at his current age, nevermind his younger self. The man himself was pleased with your progression. At least, you thought he was pleased. Your overall academic progress never seemed to matter to him. He instead insisted on you following his ever increasing, ever suffocating list of rules. You had thought to leave when it all started. When he first began to tighten his hold on you. In the beginning, Alhaitham had been largely content to simply observe you. It hadn’t mattered if you were in the public spaces of the Akademiya or in the privacy of one of the many art studios, those of eyes of his seemed to follow you wherever you went. You had diverged on many occasions, trying your best to shake the oppressive presence of your sponsor. The result had been Alhaitham leaving his proverbial perch to track you down. Once back in his field of vision, he tightened his hold on you, slowly and steadily trapping you in his firm grip. By the time you realized what was going on, it was far too late to do anything about it. Instead your escape attempts were thwarted, your departure from the Akademiya refused. 

It was hard to remember when his attention had changed from observational to physical. He wasn’t terribly affectionate, yet he always managed to let his fingers linger on yours whenever he would take the graphite from you to show you something. That escalated into those same fingers toying with the sensitive skin of your neck while he hovered over you in the evening. You had tried to minimize the unwanted contact by moving your studio time to earlier in the day. Your hope was to be back in your apartment before he finished work, but luck was not on your side. Like everything else in your life, Alhaitham held a specific level of control over both you and your schedule. Your class times had been optimized to fit with his schedule. The moment you had tried to adjust anything to suit yourself, it was mysteriously shifted back. When questioned why, the registrar merely shrugged. The only excuse that was offered was that the studios were a distracting place during the day. A student of your advanced capability deserved peace and quiet to work. That was why everyone was seemingly insistent that you take an evening slot. Nevermind that it gave Alhaitham all the privacy he could ever want when it came to you. In those moments, the main focus of his attention was your neck and shoulders. Delicate fingers would run along your nape and collar bones while he watched you sketch. A heavy hand often laid upon your shoulder while you practiced your writing. In the very late hours, when it was assured you were alone, his lips would find themselves behind your ear, softly pressing into your sensitive skin. You had tried to stop it, first by asking him, then by telling him, but he had refused. Instead, he got bolder. He exercised his authority over you, by commanding that you keep his favorite spots exposed for his pleasure. When you defied him by hiding them with scarves and other items, he retaliated. Your wardrobe was changed overnight. It was the first of many humiliations to come. 

“I want to leave Haitham.” Your eyes didn’t falter from their fixation on the letter. Your voice didn’t even so much as tremble. Not when your freedom was in the palm of his hand. His continued control of your life had only cemented your resolve to be rid of him once and for all. The letter meant that upon your official graduation, you would be released from your apprenticeship to Alhaitham. According to the laws of the Akademiya it meant that in some aspects, namely the financial ones, he would have to yield his control of you. Once that happened, you would be able to trigger the final part of your plan. “I’m tired of this place.” You were tired of his demands. You were tired of being a possession. You were tired of him. “I want to travel again.” You wanted to put as much distance between you and him as was humanly possible. Even if it meant living on a boat in the middle of the ocean for the rest of your life, you were prepared to do so. Just to be rid of him. “And you believe I’ll allow any of that.” His tone was like acid, burning you word after word as he disregarded your reasons for wanting to get away. It wasn’t like he was blind to them. Alhaitham was all too aware of them. This wasn’t a new conversation for either of you. There had been numerous occasions where you had demanded he let you leave, only to be thwarted by the very piece of paper that was now in his hand. As long as you didn’t have it, he could keep you.  “It doesn’t matter if you do or you don’t.” You finally tore your eyes away from the letter, craning your neck upward so you could stare into his malicious gaze. “That piece of paper severs your hold over me.” According to the Akademiya, you were free. 

The news of that went over as well as you expected it too. Losing was not something Alhaitham was accustomed to, especially when the source of his defeat was someone he viewed as inferior. He had gone to great lengths to insure that you would never graduate. The fury that raged in his eyes when he realized you had gotten around all of them was akin to a hurricane. Menacing and swirling and desperate. He was dangerous when he was like this. You knew that, yet you stood firm in both your reasons and your actions. Any punishments incurred from here on out would fall under the purview of the law. You could bring his actions up to the Matra and they would be obligated to investigate. It was one of the many benefits your graduation had brought you. More so, he wouldn’t be able to prevent it. The letter meant everything had become official. Your graduation and your subsequent release from his care had been registered in the official records. If Alhaitham tried to deny you had graduated, all the matra needed to do to confirm it was check the lists. “No.” His hand tightened around the letter, crushing the piece of paper with almost no effort. “Have I not told you countless times that you are not ready to move forward, yet you are insistent on disobeying me.” 

“If not now, when?” You stood up releasing some of the anger that had been pent up inside of you. “I know you think me stupid. I know you view me as blind.” You matched his harsh tone, spitting every word at him in the hope that they would hurt him as much as you wanted them too. “But I won’t be ensnared in your trap any longer.” You took a shallow breath, mentally steadying yourself. “I want my life back. I was fine before you tricked me into joining the Akademiya. I’ve been miserable since. I’ve had my fill of it. I don’t want anything more to do with it or you!” His lips curled into a sneer.

“Is that so?” He took a step forward, his grip tightening even further around the letter. “Did you ask for my blessing before you did this? Did I grant you my permission to do such a thing?” He reached for you and on instinct you leaned back, tossing the only weapon you had at him in the hope it would stop him. 

“I have an offer.” It worked. 

Alhaitham stopped where he stood, his eyes growing wide at that statement. His face shifted from anger to disbelief to something you didn’t recognize in a matter of seconds. He almost looked as if he hadn’t heard you correctly. But he had. You knew he had. The anger that practically radiated off his frame told you he had.

“I beg your pardon.” The tone of the statement cut right through your confidence. Admitting you had a way out had been a mistake. It had been your intention to never reveal it, at least not until you were well and truly away from him. The letter explaining your escape route, along with your packed bags were back at your apartment. Your intention was to leave the second you had your graduation letter, but that plan had been obviously foiled. Now you had realized Alhaitham’s worst fear for him, in the hope that it would deter him from pressing you any further. It was a foolish move on your part. One you would later come to regret. “I- have an- offer.” You tried to swallow the lump that had formed in your throat, but it was as persistent as his scowl. “The- the court of Fontaine. They wrote again-” The Palais Mermonia was in desperate need of a courtroom sketch artist. They had written months ago after one of your old sketches had ended up in the Palais. Alhaitham had insisted you turn it down, because he needed you here. Now they had written again, this time more urgently. They had even offered you an advance, just to tempt you with the concept of acceptance. “They increased their offer from before.” You couldn’t refuse. Not when the position and the money were your ticket out of Sumeru. “I want out, Haitham.” You said that with every ounce of force in your body, hoping to get your point across.

An extended silence passed between you two, one that was filled by the sound of the wind as it whipped around you. 

“Fine.” That answer confounded you. Fine? After years of refusals and torments he finally agrees? It didn’t seem right. It didn’t feel right. Alhaitham wasn’t one to give up, nor did he readily accept defeat. Especially when he had been caught off guard. That meant one thing; there was a catch, somewhere. You knew Alhaitham well enough to know that if there was one plan, then there were at least seven back ups. The man didn’t breathe without a contingency in place. That’s why his sudden acquiescence, especially when he was still seething from your previous conversation, seemed out of sorts. Because it was. There was a trick up his nonexistent sleeve. “I’m sorry, what?” You furrowed your eyebrows at him, hesitant to show him the confusion that was radiating through your body. “You want out of the Akademiya? Fine.” His words were clipped and sharp, lacking any real sincerity. “I’ll grant that to you. You’re out. It saves me the trouble of purging the records once we return to the city.” You gently shook your head. “I want out of Sumeru, Haitham. I want my own life.” An odd, almost all knowing smirk crossed his lips. “I’ll give you that as well.” You blinked at him, your eyes as wide as saucers. For a brief moment you actually thought your brain had broken and your ears deceived you. He agreed? “If you do one thing for me.” There it was. You wanted to laugh at how predictable he could be sometimes. “From now, until you leave Sumeru, you will wear your Akasha terminal.” He reached around behind him, pulling the accursed thing from his pocket. He offered it to you, expectantly waiting for you to take it. You would not deny that it felt too good to be true. After everything had put you through, you could not shake the feeling that you were being deceived once again. 

“That’s it?” Your eyes kept moving between his face and the terminal in his hand. “All I have to do is wear this until I leave and I’m free?” The smirk grew larger and with it, so did your hesitation. You didn’t want to trust it or him really. All you had to do was wear your akasha terminal until you left Sumeru and he would let you go free? The offer was too easy. Too simple. Two things Alhaitham never was. There was also the complete lack of a second option to consider. If you refused, what would happen? Would he drag you back to the city kicking and screaming? Would he purge your graduation as a means of keeping you? It was hard to say, hard to know. But that was the point. You were gambling on two unknowns; could you really trust him to do as he said or could you stand whatever punishment he deemed most appropriate? It didn’t matter. You were damned either way. “You’ll truly let me go?”

“Do as I ask and I will happily grant you the new life you seek.”

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You should’ve listened to your instincts. You should’ve run as fast as you could. You should’ve removed the akasha terminal before going to bed that night. If you had, you wouldn’t have had to face the horrific reality that greeted you when next woke.

A new life. That’s what he had said. Do as he asked and he would grant you a new life. You had been foolish enough to believe that Alhaitham would do the right thing and allow you the new life you had made for yourself. You weren’t to know that when he had sent you home that night, that the Akademiya would be running an experiment. That everyone wearing an Akasha terminal within a specific radius would be pulled into a deep slumber for an undetermined amount of time. Alhaitham though, through his privileged position at the Akademiya, had. It was why the deal he had offered had been so ungodly simple. All he needed was for you to be wearing the terminal while you slept. Once in the experiment’s hold, he could do as he liked to you, for as long as the experiment lasted. Which was what led you here.

It had been an odd sensation to wake up in the room or rather the cell you would be forced to call home. At the start, you couldn’t quite place it. The ornate woodwork that ran along the ceiling and the cushions beneath you were both entirely unfamiliar. Your apartment and your bed, both of which you firmly remembered falling asleep in, were much simpler. Alhaitham had refused the idea of allowing you anything remotely grand. If you wanted splendor, you could find it in his home. So you had long settled for the simplicity of your surroundings. That’s why the silks and the satins, the ornate carvings, and the gilded bars felt entirely out of place; because they weren’t yours. This was not your apartment. You thought them to be part of another dream. A bizarre image created by your mind due the stress of the last few days. Alhaitham had said he would let you go. He had promised it. Yet as the terror of reality slowly began creeping its way into your bones, you tried to lie and tell yourself this wasn’t real. He hadn’t. He couldn’t. No, you were leaving for Fontaine in the morning. Alhaitham was going to let you go. You kept telling yourself that, right up until you turned your head, finding the man himself staring back at you through the bars of your new gilded cage. 

He didn’t speak to you. Not initially. He just stared, as he liked to do in the quieter moments. He allowed you the privilege of assessing your present circumstances on your own. Of letting you reach your own conclusion when it came to what they meant. He granted you the rare right to the blinding rage that filled you to the brim after the reality of your situation finally sunk in. He had lied to you. He had tricked you. He had trapped you. There would be no escape. He had finally acted on the overarching threat that had hung over your head like a blade waiting to strike. Alhaitham had made you his. “Haitham?” Your voice quivered as your barely maintained control of it. Gods above how you just wanted to scream at him. Even if it would be deemed unnecessary at this stage, you still wanted to. If nothing else than to release the emotions that were threatening to suffocate you. “You must have still been tired from all your exertions while I was away.” The flat calm of his voice incensed you further. The sheer audacity of the man to be unaffected by the looming consequences of his actions sent you to another level where your fury was concerned. Even if there was nothing you could physically do to him, Alhaitham could have had the good manners to sound somewhat remorseful for the fact that he had tricked you. “I took your akasha terminal off hours ago.” You tried to take a deep breath to calm yourself, knowing full well it would do nothing to help. The deep, stuttering quality of the release of it matched the wrath that was vibrating through your body. “Did you sleep well?” An absurd question all things considered. “What’s going on?” You sat up fully, using the cold metal bars as a means of support when you could finally manage to stand. “What have you done?” 

He rose from his place on the sofa opposite the cage, taking one last moment to look you over before he closed the distance between you. It wasn’t a large gap, in fact, he closed in what felt like a second. To you though, it felt like an eternity. He was savoring his victory. The look of utter satisfaction he gave you when he stopped in front of you nearly made you take his face off. The only thing that stopped you was that it was well out of your reach. “I cannot admire you to my own satisfaction if you are in Fontaine, sparrow.” He confidently reached out, the pads of his fingers running down the column of your neck, daring to pause long enough at the base so he could brush his thumb over your exposed collarbone. “I shudder to think what could have happened to you had you slipped away.” You would be free. That’s what would have happened. You would be in Fontaine and completely free of him. “This is a much better arrangement, don’t you think?” 

“How is this better?!” Hot tears began to stream down your face, burning your skin more with each drop that rolled across your cheeks. “I’m behind bars because of you!” The idea that he acted on his threat to confine you to this degree was not the worst part of this, but it was the most horrifying. Alhaitham always held himself to such a high standard of logic and reason. It was impossible to believe that he would go to such a barbaric level just to maintain his control over you. “I did warn you about the cage. What a pity that you didn’t listen.” Your fingers tightened around the bars. “All you had to do was behave and I would have left you at liberty.” He chuckled. “Such a shame you couldn’t even manage that.” Behave. He meant stay. The price of your liberty was  staying in Sumeru until one of you died. Had you just done that, you would have woken up in your bed or at worst his. Instead, you had pressed the offer from Fontaine. You had demanded he let you go. You actually tried to leave. Now in his mind, you had to pay the price for your folly.

“HAITHAM” Your fingers released the bars long enough for you to slap them in pure frustration. “This isn’t fair- this isn’t legal!” He didn’t fight you on either point, he didn’t need to. You were correct on both counts, you knew you were. Confining you was not an ideal solution for him, but your disobedience had forced his hand. You had turned his worst fear into a reality and that was something Alhaitham wasn’t about to allow. “Let me out!” You hit the cage again, more for effect than anything else. “Or?” He retracted his hand from you, folding his arms in amusement, almost challenging you to threaten him. “You’ll scream?” He shrugged. “Go ahead, no one will hear you.” You swallowed, not liking the dangerous glint in his eyes. 

“We’re in the middle of the city.” Your complete lack of confidence in that statement was all too apparent. The truth was, you didn’t know that for sure. It was an assumption that he had taken the route of least resistance and brought you to his home. But you had been unconscious when he had done so. The sobering reality was, you could be anywhere. Sumeru was rife with caves and ruins alike. There were any number of places where one could hide a person or themselves if they needed to. Places that the matra didn’t know of or places they didn’t care to go. Places that Alhaitham was prepared to take advantage of, should he need to. “Are we?” There was a small smirk. “Are you sure about that?” Your only response was to look away from him. Having to stare at his smug expression was making you sick. “Would you like a hint?” 

“How is this even possible?” You turned back, fixing him with a glare, blatantly ignoring his question. “The last time we spoke, you told me you didn’t have this. The threat to lock me away was an idle one at best.”

“Didn’t I? Interesting that you know what may or may not be in my possession at any given time.” You shook your head in complete denial. He had only just forced you back from the woods yesterday. There was no way he could have gotten this in the span of a night. Either you had been asleep for a lot longer than you thought or something else was going on. “If you’re good, I’ll consider letting you out later to stretch your legs for a bit.” If not, he would keep you locked away for days, even weeks before he would consider letting you out again. Even with your exceptional capability to refuse him at nearly every turn, you could not deny that Alhaitham held all the cards. If you would not offer your compliance freely, then he could demand it in other ways. He could force it if it was absolutely necessary, but he would wear you down long before he ever got to that point. The burden of being held captive wasn’t resting on him. Alhaitham was free. He could do as he pleased and you knew it pleased him just to have you. Your presence was enough to satiate any desire he might have. He could easily lose himself in a book and be fine with forcing you to wait to the point that you were willing to beg him for a scrap of attention. Meanwhile, all you could do was stare at the door of your cell and pray that you didn’t descend into madness from the sheer boredom of it all. “I know it’s a foreign concept for you to behave yourself where I’m concerned, but perhaps you could practice it while I’m otherwise engaged today. It’s not like you have anything else to do.” The incredulous nature of his statement caused you to only be able to gape at him in horror.  

Alhaitham’s expectation of you being good, was for you to be utterly compliant to his whims. He expected your gratitude and your adoration in equal measure. Your inability to express either frustrated him to no end. You supposed he felt your current situation would fix that. To achieve an ounce of freedom, you had to do what he wanted. You had to obey. There were no more second chances or mild infractions. Alhaitham’s intentions were all too clear. You become what he wanted you to be. Period. “Kaveh will be in to check on you once he gets back from his errands. Considering he’s as irritated as I am with you, I’m sure a little obedience would go a long way mending the proverbial fence with him.”

“Fuck off.” You spat that at him the hope that it would have some effect on him. It did, but only from the standpoint that it made Alhaitham angrier. You could see it in his eyes when they grew harder, glossing over with the cold apathy that he had mastered. “Language.”  You went to say it again, this time louder, hopefully loud enough that someone would hear, but he cut you off. “Don’t doubt me when I tell you I have all that I need to correct your mistakes. Your language is one of them.” There was a brief pause. “I’ll give you a pass on that little outburst because you’re upset. Perhaps rightfully so. But don’t make the same mistake with your language again. If you choose to continue to scream obscenities at me, then you’ll do so from behind a gag until you know better. Am I clear?” You let out a slow breath, flaring your nostrils at him as you did. God you wanted to try him. You wanted to dare him to act on his threat, just to see if he would follow through on it. You half considered it, until you looked over the bars again. He had gone so far as to build you a cage. A gag or anything else he had squirreled away would be nothing in comparison. “Sparrow. Answer me, courteously.” “I hate you.” You weren’t about to give him the acquiescence he desired. Not today at any rate. “This isn’t even remotely close to fair.” Your hands came around the bars, gripping them with all you had. “It isn’t fair that you were going to sneak away either. Yet you still tried. Consider this your punishment.” He indicated the cage. “When you learn to stay as you should, then I might be persuaded to let you out for an extended period of time, with supervision.” Stay as you should, like a dog. Gods help you. Your previous fury, which hadn’t been subdued by his motives finally succeeded in escaping, launching itself at him with every ounce of strength you had in your body. The bars of the cage rattled in unison with your screams as you pounded against the door to your cell. Much like Alhaitham, it didn’t move. It held firm, keeping you exactly where he wanted you as he took in your tantrum. He watched you fail and cry and scream until you were reduced to a crumpled puddle at his feet, quietly sobbing out what was left of your rage. There was nothing more to do, there was nothing more to say. To your own horror you had to accept the truth, that despite all your careful planning, Alhaitham had still managed to find a way to win.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some time later, that was how Kaveh found you; crumpled against the cage in a broken heap. Enrant tears still fell as you couldn’t quite bring your emotions into check, but your sobbing had long ceased. The only reason it had, was because you had no more energy to do so. Whatever means Alhaitham and Kaveh had been using to keep you alive while you slept weren’t being employed now that you were awake. That meant you were reliant on them to supply you with what you needed to survive. Something you were sure would depend on your behavior and how obedient you choose to be. Knowing Alhaitham, the more you humiliated yourself for his benefit, the better. If you refused, he could starve the defiance right out of you.

“Paradisah?” You flinched at the sound of Kaveh’s voice. He had slipped in a while ago. Like Alhaitham, Kaveh was keen to observe as well. It was an annoying trait they both shared. You wished though, that like Alhaitham, Kaveh had remained silent. You weren’t ready for him. Your anger at Alhaitham, at least the first incarnation of it, had only just subsided. Kaveh didn’t necessarily deserve the tail end of it, simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Had you the energy for it, you would have given him the fresh anger he had earned all on his own. Instead you limply sat there, ignoring him. It was the only defense you could muster. “Darling-” He quickly moved closer, the metal details of his outfit clinking and clanking with every swift step. “Darling, are you alright?” Out of all the statements and questions you had heard today, that took the cake on being the stupidest. Were you alright? You had been abducted and told you would stay locked in some form of a cage for the rest of your life. Of course you weren’t alright. Why would he ask that? “I only just got here. Alhaitham left a note saying to check on you. He mentioned that you might be upset.” Might be. Might be. 

You turned, your head tilting up in utter disbelief as your tired, red rimmed eyes found Kaveh’s. Might be upset. Things that might upset you were things like the coffee shop being out of your favorite blend or being denied art supplies that you needed for a project. Suggesting that you might be upset at your present circumstances was perhaps the understatement of the millenia. There was no might be about it. You had gone well past the point of upset and gone nuclear. The only thing that seemed to contain it was your own mental exhaustion. “Paradi, please don’t be like that. It’s-” He let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s not that bad. Truly it’s not.” For the first time, you were thankful for the bars that separated you from Kaveh. Had they not been there, then there was a very real chance you might have killed him where he stood. “Are you mad?” You didn’t bother to soften your tone for his benefit, not when he was acting like this was the most normal thing in the world. “I’m locked in a cage, Kaveh. A cage.” The anger you thought you didn’t have for him sparked, rapidly reigniting the ashes of the inferno that had been burning inside of you. “Why?” The question had been a rhetorical one, but the blonde scoffed, deciding it needed to be answered. “Because you gave him no other choice!” You watched as Kaveh planted his hands on his narrow hips. “Not to take his side in this, but you did it first! You-” He weakly gestured to you, letting his one hand fall back to his side. “You went behind his back! You went behind my back! By the way, Fontaine? Really?” Kaveh fixed you with a look of utter contempt. “And for so little too.” He shook his head in disgust. “You should at least get what you’re worth if you’re going to try something this stupid.” Like he was one to talk. Kaveh was Sumeru’s reigning king of foolish endeavors and stupid mistakes. The reason for his personal troubles were because he lacked the common sense he was born with. “I wanted my life back. I already live on a pittance, what’s the difference if I do it here or in Fontaine?” The difference was that Alhaitham and Kaveh wouldn’t be with you. While he tried to disguise it as pity or even empathy, Kaveh was every bit as bad as Alhaitham when it came to controlling your life. He didn’t use money or even his position to keep you where he wanted you. Instead, Kaveh’s violent mood swings often played a large role in getting you to do what he wanted. It was easier to comply with his poor pitiful me act than to deal with the outbursts that would follow should you refuse. “I didn’t think you would be one to lecture me about wanting to get away.” You fixed him with a hard look. “Aren’t you always going on about paying off your debts and getting away from him once and for all? Why am I any different? Why do I have to be the one that’s locked in the cage?” “Because you won’t listen!” The force in Kaveh’s voice temporarily silenced you. He stomped so hard his entire outfit rang in your ears. “All we want is to take care of you!” He took a deep breath, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. “Are you that ungrateful? You were sleeping in ruins and shady inns before you came here.” He let out an exasperated sigh. “We’ve offered you a life, a home. Sure Alhaitham is wretched and the whole mora thing is annoying, but does that alone constitute betrayal?” The word be slammed into you like a sack of bricks.

“Betrayal?” You could hardly voice the word. Did Kaveh really believe that? “Yes!” He pointed at you. “Betrayal. You have done nothing but lie to me for the last few weeks. Outside of one or two incidents, I thought we were getting along splendidly. I was ready to give him a glowing report so that he might cut you a little slack. Instead you betrayed me. You went behind my back multiple times to make arrangements for your new life in Fontaine. Then you scared the living daylights out of me when you took your little sketching trip into the woods. They delivered your graduation letter that morning and when I went to find you so we could talk about it, you were gone!  I thought you had tried to run. I spent my day combing Sumeru City trying to find you!” You wanted to feel guilty about that, but you couldn’t quite manage it. Kaveh’s willing participation in this whole fiasco seemed to kill any remorse you tried to have.  “Do you think so little of me that you would do that to me? After everything we’ve been through, you would just leave me behind to deal with his fury?” That you did feel slightly sorry about. You had from the beginning. 

Kaveh was as much of a victim of Alhaitham as you were. While you had to deal with Alhaitham’s wandering hands and his incessant control, Kaveh had to endure endless rounds of verbal abuse that were hurled at him on a minute by minute basis when he and Alhaitham were together. Even if it was mostly brought on by Kaveh’s general attitude, Alhaitham almost always went for the jugular where Kaveh was concerned. There had been plenty of instances where Kaveh had limped away from a fight with Alhaitham, only to lick his wounds in the tavern. The difference between you and Kaveh though was Kaveh’s continued participation in Alhaitham’s scheme to keep you in Sumeru. That’s why you only felt slightly bad about your failed escape. Kaveh deserved many things, but the one thing he didn’t deserve was to face the brunt of Alhaitham’s anger when the truth of your escape finally came to light. That didn’t mean you hadn’t been prepared to force him to suffer for the sake of your freedom.  If the consequences of you leaving forced Kaveh to realize his own hypocrisy at the hands of Alhaitham, then it was a price you were willing to pay. That at least would be some justice for what had happened to you. Now, there would be none.  

“Right, because you’re the victim in this.” Kaveh managed to look a little wounded by that. “Do you think so little of your own ideals that you would cast them aside to imprison me?” The look he gave you was akin to being sucker punched. You could see the wheels spinning in his head. You watched the guilt work its way across his face as he finally took in your situation. “I- I didn’t want you to wake up in there.” Was that supposed to make you feel better? Were you supposed to thank him for his thoughtfulness despite the fact he willingly participated in your abduction? “Even with your betrayal, I advocated that you would be more comfortable out here.” Kaveh briefly gestured at the couch that sat along the wall closest to him. “We could always lock you in later, but I felt it would be better for you not to wake up behind bars. Alhaitham- he disagreed with me. He insisted that things had to remain as normal for us as possible. Nothing could look or feel amiss. I told him I would stay with you, but-” Kaveh shook his head. Obviously that suggestion hadn’t gone much further than that. “In the end, he’s right. We had to consider all that you had done, all you could do. You could hurt yourself, or something else could happen.” Like alert the matra and try to get away. “We both felt that this was better. Safer for everyone.” Safer. You wanted to laugh. You wanted to scream. Safer for who exactly? Them? You? “I know you’re upset.” He tried to sound gentle about it. Despite screaming at you only a few minutes prior, Kaveh was trying his best to be the good cop to Alhaitham’s bad cop. He was trying so desperately to add a silver lining to an abysmal situation. You wouldn’t accept it though. No amount of honeyed words would ever fool you again. “If you listen to him then it won’t be for long. He told me he might even let you out for a while later.” Fresh tears stung your eyes as you gripped the bars with all you had. “You’d like that right? To be out, to walk around? You were under for so long. I’m sure it would feel great just to stretch your legs. Oh! Just think, we could all have meals together, just like we used too.” Like some bastardized version of a family. Despite being famished, you nearly wretched at the thought. “Wouldn’t that be grand?” Kaveh offered you a genuine smile in an effort to disguise the fact that what he had just said was completely revolting. We could all have meals together, just like we used too. As if you hadn’t been forced to eat with them the first time. As if anything would ever be like it used too ever again. How could this meal or any others make up for the fact that your life had been stolen from you? Years of work, years of training, years of studying all made useless by the cold bars that held you in place. You had been reduced to no better than their pet. Something they were preparing to mold and train into a mindless thing. “Why don’t I make you some Pani Puri? You like that don’t you? I think we-” God you couldn’t stand him anymore. You couldn’t stand his incessant need to ignore the obvious. You hated him. You hated Alhaitham. You would rather be left to rot in the prison they had built for you before you would tolerate being in their presence for one more second. “Leave.” It took him a second to process what you said. Initially you thought he hadn’t heard you or that you had only said it in your mind based on the confusion that was written across his face. His expression changed a moment later, resembling that of a kicked puppy. “Darling, I -” He took a step towards you. 

“I said-” You turned away from him, not wanting to see his face again. “Leave.” You tried to add some force to that, but it didn’t really work. The word came out as some weak, warbling thing that was barely discernible. Still though, he understood. You heard him take a breath, as if to say one last thing to you, but he refrained. Needless platitudes of encouragement or pleas for you to reconsider wouldn’t do him any good. You had already refused to hear them. Instead, the only sound you wanted to hear was the gentle clanking of Kaveh’s outfit as he slowly moved away. After what you guessed were a few minutes, he granted you that. Leaving you to the fate that Alhaitham had decided for you.

[simplyholl]

Out of My System Pt. 1

Summary: Loki doesn’t understand Thor’s attraction to Midgardians. Until he meets you.

Pairing: Avenger Loki x F. Avenger Reader

Warnings: Eventual smut.

W/C: 1K

See my Masterlist here

You were sitting beside Loki just like you did every movie night, a large bowl of popcorn perched in his lap for sharing. You jumped and screamed so loud, when the monster grabbed the woman on the screen that it even startled Loki, who almost dropped the snack in the floor.

You reached for his hand, entwining your fingers with his long skinny digits. He stayed still for just a moment unsure of how to react to your touch. You felt him relax against you, accepting the affection. Each time, a scary part came on you would hide your face against his arm. He began to anticipate it. He wrapped his arm around you snuggling you closer. Now you could press your face against his broad chest.

You laid your ear against him, listening to the rhythmic sound of his heart beating. You had only been this close to the mischievous god while training. Otherwise, your friendship never crossed any unspoken boundaries. You were surprised how he had welcomed your touch. He wasn’t huge on affection, shying away from hugs, shoulder pats, even handshakes which surprised you. He only shook the hand of business men Stark needed him to schmooze, and only when necessary.

The movie was over too soon. The loss of warmth his body provided made you shiver as you walked to your room. Hurrying to your bed, your mind ran wild with thoughts of the creature from that horrible movie waiting for you underneath, grabbing your feet as you walked by and dragging you under there with it. You got under the blankets covering up every inch of skin. You were an Avenger for crying out loud. You had fought villains way scarier than the monster in the movie.

Still you couldn’t help the thoughts of it waiting to get you as soon as you peaked out from under the blanket. You heard the floor creak and you swear you stopped breathing for a second. Relax! It’s probably somebody walking in the hall. You squeeze your eyes shut willing yourself to fall asleep.

You convince yourself you feel someone staring at you. You give yourself a little pep talk slinging the heavy blanket off your face and retrieving your phone off your nightstand. You get back in your cocoon. You pull up the contact on your phone praying he answers.

“H..hello?” his groggy voice comes over the line and you’ve never been more grateful to hear anyone. “Loki, I need you to come to my room right now.” your voice barely comes out as a whisper. You are trying to stay quite just in case that creature can hear you.

“Darling, it’s three in the morning. I can barely hear you. This is not a good prank.” Click. He ended the call before you could ask for help. You dial his number again. He answers on the third ring. You decide you better make this call count so you start frantically yelling into your phone. “Loki, please don’t hang up! I know it’s three AM, but it’s the witching hour! That means this thing is gonna be that much stronger!! I need you to get in here right now before it kills me!”

You hear your door fling open. You stick your head out from your fortress. Loki is standing in your room, daggers in hand assessing the situation. “Where is it?” he growls. You can’t help the giggles erupting. He looks at you, confusion clearly eating him up.

“Promise you won’t be mad?” “I will make no such promise. Tell me what is so funny about your life being in danger.” You take a deep breath trying to suppress your laughter. “I kept thinking about that movie and I freaked myself out. I convinced myself it was in here with me. So there’s no real danger.”

Loki sighs heavily, running his hands through his slept on curls. He sets his daggers on your nightstand. “You said it was going to kill you.” “Sorry, I was being dramatic. I just didn’t want to be alone because I was scared. I didn’t expect you to burst in here like that. But since you’re here, do you mind staying with me? I know I’m safe with you here.” Loki agrees walking toward your couch.

“Can you sleep in the bed with me, please? I really freaked myself out and I just need to know that you’re right here if I need you.” He gets in beside you, and every fear fades into the darkness as you press your back against his chest. His arm rests against your stomach.

Loki planned to leave right after you fell asleep. He was sure he wouldn’t rest well, if at all. So he was surprised when the sun light peaked through your window and woke him the next morning. He was shocked to find your warm body still snuggled in so closely to his. He had only wrapped his arms around you to comfort you. He didn’t think he would be so reluctant to remove them.

He took the time to study your features. How your hair was a tangled mess even though it seemed like you hadn’t moved at all through the night. How the sun light made your face look almost angelic. He took note of how comfortable he was beside you. And that terrified him. That thought alone was enough motivation for him to go back to his own rooms.

Loki was sure he would never share Thor’s love for Midgardians. He didn’t understand his attraction to them. After Thor and Jane broke up, Thor had successfully seduced every woman he came across. It made Loki sick. He and his brother were gods. Midgardians were beneath them.

Loki waited until their trips to Asgard to sleep around. Those so called models paled in comparison to the goddesses back home. He had never thought highly of any person from Earth, until you.

You stumbled into his life and turned it upside down. You weren’t repulsive. You were beautiful. You weren’t ignorant, but intelligent. You were kind to him, when the rest of the pathetic planet either feared him or hated him. Loki had quickly offered you something he didn’t give lightly to any other person on Earth - his companionship.

Part Two

Tags (as always if you want to be added or removed let me know!)

@lokisgoodgirl @fictive-sl0th @lokidbadguy @ozymdias @cindylynn @potter-puff007 @cakesandtom @eleniblue @muddyorbsblr @marygoddessofmischief @coldnique @mochie85 @goblingirlsarah @lokisninerealms @wheredafandomat @peaches1958 @freegardenbanananeck @chantsdemarins @lokidokieokie @anukulee @sheris532 @multifandom-worlds @lokixryss @javagirl328 @assemblingavenger @lilibet261 @lemonadygirl @joyofbebbanburg

[leanteam43]

Little Ways They Show They Care (Criminal Minds HC's)

summary : how different members of the BAU would show they care !! <43

pronouns : they/them | GN!reader!

warnings : swearing, i think thats it

a/n's : guess whos bacckkkkk - 🌿 | heyy bookie beeaaarsss- 🎸 | what should i say - 🐇

Aaron Hotchner

ACTS OF SERVICE !!

with a healthy sprinkle of gift giving~~

bro will travel across the COUNTY to pick up food from your fav restaurant

he just loves doing things to make your life easier

"i was planning on moving my couch against that wall but-" "done." "wtf-"

when y'all first started dating, you were a little overwhelmed by how willing he was to help with chores around your apartment

"you're my boyfriend not my maid..."

but he assured you he liked doing things for you, as it helped him know you were taken care of while he was away on cases

somehow always knows when you want/need something

like if you run out of your fav makeup/personal hygiene product

expect it to be gifted too you the very next day

basically he just really likes helping you out in (mostly) subtle but sweet ways

Derek Morgan

WORDS OF AFFIRMATION !!

i mean come on

we allllllllll (and i mean ALLLL) hear how he speaks to penelope

so of course with you he wouldn't be any different

except he's a bit less confident because i mean come on

yOU'RE YOUUUU, YOU LITTLE SHINING STAR <43

random calls at any point throughout the day

*3 am* "..hello?" "did you know spencer likes cheetos??"

derek is an extremely spontaneous man

like my guy is pulling up to your house with no heads-up and SHOWERING you in compliments

FASHION SHOWS AFTER YOU GO SHOPPINGGGG !!!

"GIVE ME A LITTLE TWIRL"

he's your personal hype man

Spencer Reid

QUALITY TIMEEEE :DDD

if you wanna sit down and ramble to this man, feel FREE

contrary too "popular belief", he actually can listen too others talking without interrupting, he just chooses not too /hj

he chooses to bite back his facts and quips for

refreshes himself on the classics while you sit with your legs thrown over his lap rambling about a stray cat you saw on your way too work

"did you know most calicos are females? of course you did, you're a genius" "...thank you?"

of course you do allow him to ramble too you, you're not a monster

tries to prepare you for any and every disaster

"what do you do if a car is following you?" "...peddle away?" "you don't even own a bike."

he really just wants you to be safe

"could i, hypothetically, put pepper spray on chicken?" "what do YOU think?"

JJ Jareau

QUALITY TIMEEEE <43

after long days of speaking to press, she still makes an effort to create a comfortable space for the two of you

it doesn't matter how late

or how tired

she finds a way to make time for the two of you to sit together on the couch and relax <43

after extremely hard cases, she'd just want to be around you

laying her head on your shoulder while you both recharge

the next morning,

y'all would wake up at different times but she always makes sure to make your coffee/tea exactly too your liking before rushing too the office

sometimes at the expense of being late, but oh well :D

[calaisreno]

An Arrangement

1200 words / Prompt: Hobby

Summary: Mycroft finds an ally

Mycroft Holmes regards the police officer who is sitting on the other side of the desk. Dark eyes, prematurely greying hair. Good at his job, recent promotion. A sense of humour (laugh lines), and an uncompromising commitment to honour. Maybe that’s not quite what it is. Honourable, yes, but it’s an inner sense of rightness, a gut feeling about people. Not impressed by power.

He wonders what DI Lestrade is thinking about the man he’s come to see without an appointment. 

“You’re here about my brother,” he says, sparing him the explanation. 

Lestrade nods. “I’ve seen him around, talked with him a few times. Last night—”

“Thank you.” Mycroft isn’t good at thanking people, not when thanks seem so inadequate. “I am truly grateful that you found him before… well, before more serious harm was done.”

Lestrade looks at him directly, openly, and Mycroft imagines this is the face he uses when interrogating a suspect. “You don’t know what to do with him.”

Surprised at the deduction, he responds. “I have taken some measures. It seems what I’ve attempted has not been successful, but I have the means to try other things.”

“What about your parents?”

“Our parents are not able to fully grasp the problem. Sherlock has always been… difficult. They have never understood him, and blame themselves for his problems. The matter elicits a great deal of emotion, and I have elected to be my brother’s keeper, so to speak, in order to spare them that ordeal.”

“Mr Holmes, I can’t claim to know Sherlock as well as you do, but I know a thing or two about addiction. The measures you’ve taken… well, nothing’s going to work until he’s ready to work on himself.”

Mycroft smiles grimly. “Mr Lestrade, I’m sure you’ve met many junkies in your line of work, but I’m equally sure you’ve never met anyone like Sherlock.”

“True enough. First time I met him he was high, stumbled on a crime scene I was investigating. It was like he had x-ray vision or something. Described exactly what had happened, pointed out where the murder weapon was, even suggested that the murderer was left-handed and had a limp. I didn’t dismiss him as a nut job because I could see it all— he was right.”

Mycroft’s smile is more genuine now. “My brother is several levels above any junkie you’ve met, Mr Lestrade. His problem is one he could solve, if he turned his mind to it. He resents my interference, however, and resists the measures I’ve taken. I will not give up on him, however long it takes. You need not feel responsible for Sherlock.” 

Lestrade stares down at his hands, which he holds clenched in his lap. When he speaks, his voice has lost something of the policeman. 

“Forgive me for speaking so freely. I know what it’s like to talk to someone on the phone, to say see you later, knowing that it might be the last thing you say to them. Guarding your words so you won’t sound bitter, won’t drive him away, when all you want to do is shake some sense into him, scream at him, lock him up until you can make him right.”

“Ah.” Mycroft leans back. “Your own brother.”

Lestrade smiles. “Five years younger than me, baby of the family. Our parents worked hard, and we did all right. All of us but Andy. I don’t know why. He was bright enough to do anything, be anything. We loved him, but something made him feel unloveable. It was never enough.”

“I’m sorry.” There really isn’t anything else to say when someone admits something so personal. This conversation is far more personal than he wants it to be. 

“I always take an interest in the addicts because of Andy. Maybe I can figure it out, save someone when I couldn’t do anything for him. Last time Sherlock and I spoke, I made him an offer, said I’d be willing to talk to him about homicide cases I’m working on, if he stays clean. He seemed to like that idea, said he might be a ‘consulting detective,’ the one I come to when I’m in over my head.”

Mycroft shakes his head slightly. “Sherlock is meant for something greater than police work, Mr Lestrade. I’m afraid you’ll find he quickly loses interest.”

“I don’t know, Mr Holmes. What police do matters. I’m not suggesting that Sherlock would make a good policeman. I saw a spark in him, though, one I hadn’t seen the other times we talked. Even if solving a crime is just an intellectual exercise to him, it might be the thing that keeps him from needing his next dose. That’s how you solve addiction, I think, one dose at a time.”

“That’s very simplistic.” Mycroft frowns now. “Believe me, I understand what rehab entails. And I know the success rates of most programmes.”

“True, there are a lot of failures. I don’t mean to suggest that I can cure him. You can’t cure an addict. But you can give them something else, something that absorbs them, even for a while. And maybe over time they’ll learn that there is something they want more than drugs.”

“You’re asking my permission,” Mycroft says. “I give it to you with conditions. First, you must not let him in simply to let him down. If you invite him to solve things, you will need to keep giving him things to solve. I’m not sure that’s feasible, but it is my condition. Do not treat him like a hobby.”

“I wouldn’t.” Lestrade looks at him solemnly. “I’m doing this because I think I can help him, and it would go against everything in me not to try.”

“I have another condition. You must check in with me and let me know if you see him slipping. Sherlock doesn’t see me often, doesn’t answer my calls. As I’ve said, he resents my efforts to help. You will recognise the signs. If he’s doing poorly, I want to know. I don’t care about confidences and trust between you and my brother. I must know if he is in danger.”

“I’m willing to do that.”

“Even if it involves lying to him?”

This gives the detective pause. “I want him to trust me, and lying to him would break that. I don’t want him to think I’m working for you. At the same time, I won’t pass along anything you say to me; our conversations will remain confidential.”

“In addition.” He sighs. “I am appalled that I must say this, but I would be remiss not to mention it. Do not use my brother. People have used him before, taken advantage of him. I’m not suggesting that you are the type of person who would do that. I don’t know you, Detective Inspector Lestrade. But if I ever learn that you have done such a thing—” He breaks off, giving him the humourless smile that explains more than words. “It would be very unfortunate.”

“Of course.” Lestrade looks sad. “I would never.”

“Very well, then.” 

He extends his hand. Lestrade takes it, gives it one shake, and nods. “You’ll be hearing from me.”

---

Shoutouts to everyone who is writing these! I'm so impressed 💕 Please keep writing your mini-epics, fluffy/angsty one-shots, hilarious AUs, limericks, and whatever else your brain comes up with. Please do tag people, and if you're posting on AO3 as well, consider adding to my MayPrompts2024 Collection. Much love to you all 💕

[verystrxxwberry]

Hello! I hope you’re doing well! I noticed your requests were open so I was wondering if you could write a headcanon for Eldarya about MC/Erika or whatever you want to call her giving the ANE guys attitude? Like being upset for whatever reason (that doesn’t necessarily involve them) and them having to handle her in some way? Anyways if you don’t feel like it don’t worry about it, I’m just glad you’re back!

ELDARYA; ANE routes when you’re upset

♪¸¸.•*¨*•. ♪¸¸.•*¨*•. ♪¸¸.•*¨*•. ♪¸¸.•*¨*•.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭: sfw, ANE routes when you are angry/sad/unhappy. ↝ 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: Hi, I am doing great, thanks for your words and request! I hope you enjoy these headcanons <3 and I am sorry if there is any spelling mistakes...

♪¸¸.•*¨*•. ♪¸¸.•*¨*•. ♪¸¸.•*¨*•. ♪¸¸.•*¨*•.

NEVRA

The moment he greets you and you simply ignore him or answer in a not very nice way, he becomes worried and wonders if you had any trouble in your day. If he didn’t do anything to make you upset, he is aware of that and doesn’t tend to overthink. In fact, he goes after you and sits besides you, placing his hand on your back.

He got used to dealing with Karenn being upset while growing up, so he knows how to be patient in these situations.

He stays there with you and caresses your back. “What happened? Your pretty face seems mad.” He talks with a low tone to not stress you even more. And even if you don’t want to talk about it, he stays there unless you ask otherwise.

Once you explain to him what happened, he won’t act unless it’s a very unfair thing. He cares about you and he knows you are strong enough to do things on your own. He can give you advice and cheer you up to act, because come on, babe, go eat them up. In case it is something very unfair, don’t worry, he is gonna be there to eat them up too.

If it was his fault: The moment he realized you wouldn't like one of the things he did, he already started planning how to apologize. He can read your expression pretty well, and he feels bad when you look so drained. Why did he do certain things that he knew you wouldn't like? Ah, that's simply because he wasn't thinking. He was simply impulsive.

Don’t try the silent treatment with him because he is gonna be so needy for your attention at some point that he will cross his arms and sit in your lap -no matter if he crushes you- or lay down his head there and say “are you willing to forgive me?”, “come on, chill a bit and let’s talk”, “I won’t move until that moody face disappears.”

He is capable of pinching your cheeks to bother you, but it can only go two ways… good or bad…

He will not let you go until you feel better.

LANCE

He is genuinely confused and overthinks the situation. Why didn’t you accept his cheek kiss?- He has already done too much bad stuff to allow himself to hurt the one he loves the most in his current life. He’d be like “Uh, what did I do..?” 

If it’s his fault, he is gonna search for the best way to make it up to you, because he has a mask to keep in front of others and being in a tense situation with you makes him not be able to focus on work. At first, he would give you time to be alone and not be so invasive. He probably did a mental speech of what to say to fix it for the last few hours, and when he feels prepared, he kneels in front of you and grabs one of your hands. “Darling, could you please listen to my words for a bit…? I want to be honest…” His voice is softer than usual, you can even feel that the authority and roughness he always speaks with disappears and there is a vulnerable side of him showing at this moment. 

In case you forgive him, you would notice how he leaves a few kisses on your hand as thanks, without saying anything else. In case you do not forgive him.... well, he would leave a timid kiss on your hand and mumble "It's okay, I understand. I'll be patient." Although inside he's truly impatient to know if you forgive him....

He'll never do whatever he did to make you unhappy again.

If it’s someone else’s fault, he is going to talk with the person that made your day worse, or to reassure you with a hug -because he doesn’t know how to comfort too well with his words-. Put him on a leash because if he finds out that someone has done something bad to you, he won't hesitate to have a 'serious conversation' with them. 

LEIFTAN

Being your soulmate, he can feel the anxiety that has formed in you at the moment when what has upset you happens. Even if you are far away, he is already thinking about what he will do when he sees you. Maybe you need your space, or maybe you'd like him to be there to calm you down.

Very patient, he has had to deal with Miiko's and Lance's anger many times -although sometimes they would get on his nerves, but Leiftan knows how to keep some serenity and calm so that things don't escalate to more-. So, he will listen to you and then give you the advice you need.

And don't be afraid, because whether it's his fault or not, Leiftan will never judge or devalue your reasons for feeling bad. Whether it's because of some insecurity of yours, some accumulation of stress or something, he's going to nod his head and let you let it go. You don't have to be ashamed of feeling negative emotions.

If it is his fault, it is most likely a misunderstanding or some minor action of his that has accumulated with the stress you were already carrying. He has no problem apologizing from the bottom of his heart and clearing up anything that was misunderstood. In case it was something external, Leiftan will be able to advise you.

And after speaking to you sincerely, he would lean towards you to kiss your head and caress your shoulder gently. "I encourage you to be more direct with your thoughts and not let them accumulate like this. When you burst out, you can end up hurting yourself and others, and you don't deserve to carry that pain alone by yourself." She would explain in almost a whisper, while pressing little kisses on your head and shoulders.

MATHIEU

He is concerned and a little bit paralyzed, not knowing how to act. He takes a deep breath. He is not used to dealing with his partner being like this. He approaches and hugs you from behind and asks “Have I done something to upset you?”, notoriously worried.

Mathieu genuinely doesn’t know what he did if it was his fault, so you should refresh his memory if it was the case.

And man, a pout appears on his face, feeling guilty of making you upset. "Oh, jeez... Forgive me." And his arms wrap around your waist, hugging you and burying his face in the crook of your neck. The most likely thing that bothered you about him was dealing with all his energy at some bad time, because Mathieu can be intense with his games and pranks. There are times when even if you tell him to stop his prank, he can keep it up, and many times throughout his life he has found himself in the situation of having annoyed someone by his explosive energy of happiness.

To cheer you up, he would leave you alone for a while while he goes to prepare your favorite food. And suddenly, from behind you would be caught by an arm that would drag you to bed. In a matter of seconds you would be wrapped in a blanket that surrounds your whole body except your face, and in your lap a bowl of your favorite food. Mathieu would hold you between his legs, letting you rest your back against his chest and saying. "Even if you are angry, have this delicacy as an offering of your forgiveness, your majesty..." 

He would just stay there, hugging you silently -except if you bring up a topic of conversation- while you enjoy your meal. He will be happy to see you enjoying it, and even more, when you forgive him he will be very excited.

If it were for an external cause, his response would be "Oh, honey, I know the world is an unfair place...but let's try to cheer you up now and we'll figure out how to deal with it later." He's not much of a counselor, but he does know how to distract you from whatever negative situation you find yourself in.

✩; remember to reblog and like to support my content. I hope you enjoyed it!

[shreddeddescent]

OKAY!!!!

okay. so. i want to share this for anyone who is like.... cool about this worst case scenario bullshit i keep talking about. i think im writing it kinda good or at least in a compelling way, and honestlyyyy i just wanna post shit to be like hey. im having fun with it, and i think its really interesting to see how it all turns out. i think its been fun every other time ive posted about it, you guys seem to like it, but this is the part that will come off the most weird. if you dont know, ive tagged all previous things in this timeline as #wcs (worst case scenario)

so i think yall get this is like. the fucked up timeline. but like that its the going to be okay timeline too.

to explain more about it if you dont know, lets just say like. shredder did the fucked up thing he wanted. i think ive made that clear in previous posts about this. shredders dead now. they had to deal with the consequences of what he did to them. if the implications of that squick you out its totally fine. if youre not sure what i mean, im sorry. you DO NOT need to read further. but theres nothing specific about it here, this is just alllll the result of that. the results will be made clear by the end.

they went to big mama's hotel to get help from her with said consequences. its been dealt with. theyre now just recovering, being normal kids, still going to therapy. they're coping. but big mama's help always comes with a cost, but they havent figured out what that cost was yet.

so like. its been fun to explore in writing. IF YOURE WILLING to hear me out about all the fucked up shit turning out okay, feel free to read further. even if it sounds weird. i hope everyone can just be like.... respectful.

this doesnt have to be canon to the rest of my au, but if youve enjoyed it when ive talked about it....this is a big reveal shit for that timeline. if you are cool about everything im implying so far.

if youre not, again, you dont have to read forward. this isnt mature rated or anything, its just the implications of what the characters have been through are dark.

but the characters are going to be okay. and this right here is the reason they will be.

okay? okay. please be fucking nice.

missing context would be: raph saw someone in their room the night before, but he thinks he made it up. donnie also saw what he thinks was a ghost.

they went out for breakfast, and raph saw a turtle yokai he couldnt help but chase to the elevator who said her name was jennika, but she really wouldnt look him in the eye. and then they all discussed whether shredder had another experiment done before they existed.

questioning their origins, donnie and mikey scout the pool for recon as leo and raph come back from their joint therapy session with big mama.

--

The elevator door opened and they stepped out into the pool area. It seemed to be a rooftop pool, but the elevator had felt like it was going down. The view was the highest they’d seen, and yet the air was warmer than it had been in their room. And there was no wind, unlike their room.

They looked around and spotted their brothers, Donnie was sitting on the edge of the pool with his feet in, looking at his phone, while Mikey was doing laps.

Leo grabbed Raph’s arm and the two of them wandered over.

“Hey guys.” He said. “How’s the mission going?”

Donnie looked up and looked around. “No other turtles spotted here.”

Mikey jumped out of the water with a splash. “Yeah, just old people really. I don’t think they liked us.”

“You were doing cannonballs, that's why.”

Raph wandered over to the edge of the roof, resting his hands on the railing and staring out at the city. It was so high. Higher than fathers tower was. In fact he could see Foot Tower in the distance, dwarfed by this view.

He was above it. He was beyond it. But god were they ever high.

He felt Leo walk up behind him. “I hate this view.”

He sighed and nodded. “I’m surprised I don’t feel sick. I hate heights.”

He felt him step beside him and press his shoulder against his. “I know what you mean… it’s like it’s not a real height. There’s none of that wind whipping in your face. Like a big realistic dome with a view.”

Raph nodded, squinting out at the view. “The feeling of the window was freezing.. like ice. And here there’s no wind at all.”

“Me and Slash got Big Mama to tell us there’s some kind of cross dimensional portals between the floors.. that there’s protection magic around the floors. I wonder if something broke the one by our window.”

Raph tapped his fingers against the railing.

“Maybe…”

“You okay..?”

He looked up at him nervously.

“I’m… scared, honestly.. and I’m not sure why.”

Leo smiled down at him. “We’re gonna be okay. We got this, partner.” He held out his fist for a bump.

Raph ignored it to give him a tight hug.

Leo rubbed his back lightly and looked back over at the twins.

“Should we get the raisins out of here? Or do you want more recon?”

Raph sighed and let go. “I think I’d like to stay out of the room for a while. Try and relax.”

“Didn’t bring a bathing suit. Mikeys got those shorts, but you’re wearing jeans.”

Raph shook his head and looked around at what other yokai were wearing. Some were in bathing suits, others looked more naked from what he could tell.

He wasn’t sure if he was comfortable being naked though, shell or not.

“Maybe I’ll just sit.” He said as he spotted a lounge chair to the side.

Leo walked past him to go talk to the twins again and he watched them. He felt like a mom again. Out with her kids. At least he didn’t look like Splinter this time. Bathrobe and all.

It was about noon and the sun was shining, so it was getting busier the longer they stayed out here. But he just sat in the warm sun and let himself feel calm, he watched Mikey try and splash Donnie to coax him in, watched Leo strip down to his sweatpants to wrestle with their baby brother in the pool.

At some point Donnie wandered over to hand him his electronics and he smiled at him.

“You wanna get in?” Raph asked him, surprised.

He shrugged. “Might as well live in the moment for once. It is a nice day, and we’re not too weird here.”

“You want me to help you with your braces?”

“Nah, I’ll need them. I don’t care if they get wet.” He pulled his hoodie off and Raph stared at him. He never went anywhere without something on his chest.

He was surprised how weird it felt to see him like that in public. Donnie was somewhat round like Raph, but had more masculine features, for a turtle. But no muscle definition. Even in the cage he’d been wearing his hoodie. But he was feeling more free right now. Maybe this place was good for them.

Donnie pointed at his phone and headphones.

“If you don’t wanna join, you can like... Read or listen to music. There’s free wifi here.”

Raph hummed and put the headphones on.

“Thanks Donnie…”

He shrugged and made his way into the pool to try doing laps. Which for him was holding the edge the whole time.

Raph eyed the phone and looked through his music. Not much he recognized. He found Queen though, and decided to play that and close his eyes. Letting himself be a turtle basking in the sunlight for about 20 minutes.

He sensed someone sit near him and opened his eyes.

A tall furry lion Yokai was in his sunlight, looking down at him.

And suddenly he felt uncomfortable.

They seemed to be talking to him so he pulled the headphones off.

“Huh?”

“I said kinda a weird look for the pool. The jeans.”

Raph looked down at himself and back up.

“Yeah. Wasn’t planning on coming to the pool.”

He gestured over to his brothers with his head.

“Those your kids?”

Raph furrowed his brows and looked over at his brothers. They seemed to be having fun splashing each other.

“Kinda, yeah?”

“Huh. That one your… husband?”

Raph felt his face flush as he looked over at Leo.

“No, that’s my brother.”

He raised his brows and smirked. “So you’re a single mom?”

‘Female female female!’

His body felt cold despite the heat from the sun.

“Sorry, bet they dragged you out here without a bathing suit. Shame, you look like you’ve got a good figure…”

‘You’re going to get assaulted again!’

His heart was pounding in his chest. He looked in Leo’s direction desperately, needing someone to help him.

“Hey kid.” A deep familiar voice behind him said as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

The lion looked over him nervously.

Raph watched as the backside of a tall muscular turtle stepped into view, shielding him from the Lion’s gaze. They were wearing flowery swim trunks.

“That’s my son you’re talking to. He’s 17. Do I need to call security?” The voice said angrily. “Or are you gonna fuck off?”

Raph tried to quiet his beating heart. He felt like he might throw up. He felt like Slash might jump out.

And yet… This turtle made him feel safe.

“U-uh no problem man! My bad!” The lion quickly rose up and left. And the turtle took the chair and sat down beside him.

Raph looked at him nervously.

Broad shouldered and maybe 30 years old, his skin was a dull light green, his plastron wide and pointier than Raph had ever seen. Thick legs and strong arms. He looked tired but smiled warmly at him with wide, kind eyes.

“Are you okay?”

Raph stared at him nervously, pressing his hand to his chest.

“I-I might be having a panic attack…” he said softly.

The turtle reached out to offer his hand.

“You want me to count for breathing?”

Raph nodded quickly, taking his hand.

“In one two three four… out one two three four...”

He closed his eyes and followed the turtle's instructions. After a few minutes he felt okay again and stared down at the hand in his.

Two fingers. Their hands were so similar, but his were much larger.

He looked up at his face. He’d seen those eyes.

In the dark.

“It’s.. it’s you.”

He grunted softly in affirmation.

“You keep trying to get into trouble.”

Raph stared at him hard. He wanted to look away but he was terrified the man would disappear.

“What.. What's your name?”

“Kirby.”

“W-why are you following me? Why were you…”

“I just said you keep getting into trouble.”

Raph felt his eyes water as he stared at him.

“I-I’m not trying to, I thought I could just… be out in public, but I guess I’m too much of a s-slut…”

Kirby winced and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and holding Raph's hand in both of his, staring at him so kindly.

“You’re not. People always want to take advantage of you. I’m sorry, it’s not fair.”

“W-why do you know that..? W-who are you..?”

He shook his head. “Just someone who cares.”

“D-do you know Jennika..?”

He laughed. A familiar laugh. “Yeah. We know each other.”

“Why… why did she cry when she looked at me?”

He shrugged. “She’s got complicated feelings. Hard to explain.”

“I-I’m not scared of you. I should be, I don’t know you…”

“You kinda know me though.” He said, a weird glint in his eye.

Raph grunted and stared at him frustrated. “Why are you so vague and annoying?”

He laughed and shook his head. “I don’t know. Ah. Leo’s noticed. You should be fine now.” He pulled away from his grasped hand.

“Hey!” They heard Leo yell from the edge of the pool.

Raph didn’t turn. He watched Kirby bolt up and give him a salute before disappearing into the crowd, he presumed to the elevator.

Raph just stared blankly at the space he’d been.

Leo sat in front of him, dripping wet and waving his hand in front of his face.

“Are you okay?! Did he hurt you?!”

Raph looked up at him and shook his head slowly. “No… h-he… uh, saved me..? There was.. a guy trying to…” he closed his eyes and winced. “He saved me.” He looked back at Leo, who looked worried.

“What did he say? Did you get anything out of him?”

Raph rolled onto his back and stared at the pool.

“His name’s Kirby. He says I keep getting into trouble. He pretended he was my dad to make a guy leave… I.. I felt really safe.”

Leo groaned and lay back on the chair. “What the hell is going on…?”

“I-I didn’t want him to leave..” he whispered and held himself. His heart hurt.

Leo looked at him sadly. “Raph..?”

“I-I knew him… h-he said I knew him…”

Leo frowned and rubbed his neck. “Maybe it’s like.. You said he pretended to be your dad. Maybe it’s not pretend. Maybe he’s our real dad. Maybe he’s our dad, and Jennika’s our mom and that’s where we really came from.”

Raph looked up at him. “Jennika wasn’t female… she.. she had a plastron like you, not me. Her tail was long. A-and dad.. dad was so clear our human stuff is his… They couldn’t have made us.”

He sighed. “Let’s just imagine we get to come from somewhere better though, yeah..?”

He looked up at him sadly and nodded.

“O-okay…”

“Do you want to go back to the room..? Cuz we can go…”

He looked over at the twins and saw they were just splashing each other. It looked fun.

“I.. I wanna join, but…” he looked down at himself. He couldn’t swim in these jeans. It was naked or nothing. And he couldn’t do naked.

Leo smiled and bumped his shoulder.

“Trade pants. These are fine.”

Raph blinked and shook his head.

“Then you’ll be in wet jeans…”

“Eh, it’ll dry.” He picked up a rolled towel from a rack nearby and held it up in front of Raph as a privacy barrier.

“C'mon, you go have fun for a minute.”

He groaned and relented, unzipping his jeans and pulling them off. Leo dropped the towel on his lap for privacy and quickly undid his wet sweatpants and passed them to him. Raph put them on, they were a little snug and too long but it was stretchier than the jeans. Leo put the jeans on and smiled.

“See? Easy. I’ll watch the stuff, you go swim.”

Raph eyed him nervously and unzipped his hoodie.

He wondered if Yokai had weird gender rules even without nipples.

He tried not to let it bother him, Leo was being nice and it would be a waste to make him do all that and then just chicken out.

He tossed the hoodie on the pile and decided to jump in.

He let himself float on his stomach for a while, feeling the refreshing water and the sun on his back. He probably looked like a corpse.

He felt someone jump on him and whipped around, seeing Mikey had decided to clamber on his back.

“Raph’s here!” He cheered and hugged him.

Raph laughed a little and shoved him off. “Careful, I’m not that strong a swimmer.”

He looked around. Leo waved at him from the lounge chair.

Someone splashed him and he turned, seeing Donnie holding on to the side of the pool.

Raph beamed. “Oh? We’re doing a splash off now?”

Donnie yelped and started swimming away.

Raph laughed and chased after him, Mikey was cheering from the center of the pool.

“You can escape Donnie! Kick those legs!”

Raph caught up and waved his arm at him, causing a big splash to hit him in the face.

“Nooooo!” He cried dramatically and pretended to sink.

Raph laughed and dove under water, grabbing him around his middle and standing up straight in the shallow end to carry him over his shoulder.

“I caught you!”

Donnie shrieked and laughed, pounding on the back of his shell. “Stoooop!”

“I’ll save you!” Mikey rammed into Raph who dramatically threw Donnie into the deep end.”

And then Donnie didn’t come back up for too long.

“Shit.” Raph dove down and saw him sinking, he grabbed his arm and swam up, dragging him back to the shallow end of the pool and stood holding him up.

He was sputtering and struggling to breathe.

Raph held him against his chest and climbed out of the pool with him and patted him on his back.

“Cough it up, you’re okay.” Raph tried. He was trying not to freak out and placed him on the ground to sit.

He was still wheezing

Someone touched his shoulder and he turned to see a sweet turtle face smiling sadly at him. “I can help.” She said as she pushed him out of the way and waved her hand in front of Donnie’s chest.

She was gaunt. Her arms and knees were wrapped in some kind of bandages, and she was wearing a strange one piece swimsuit on top that fit around her shell. The shell looked too big for her body, slightly off center.

She waved her two fingered hand from chest up to his nose, and a floating bubble of water came out of Donnie’s mouth and then dissipated on the ground.

Donnie stared at her in awe. “W-water bending?” He was panting and taking croaky breaths.

She laughed a little and smiled, confused.

“I don’t know what that means. Simple magic. Are you okay?”

Donnie was clapping himself on the plastron, trying to breathe without croaking. She rubbed his shoulder.

Raph looked between them. Their skin was the same deep blue green. She looked like she could be his older sister.

“I-I think I’m okay…” he glared up at Raph. “Why would you throw me in the deep end?!”

He kept staring at the woman.

She turned to look at him and gave him a sad smile. “His knees aren’t strong enough to keep himself afloat. Maybe with some practice.”

He kept staring at her. She was his height, and much thinner. But she had the same flat plastron and short tail.

“…how do you know that?” He asked.

She laughed sadly and looked down at her own limbs. “Experience.”

Raph looked down and realized that her feet weren’t actually on the ground. She was hovering 2 inches above it.

Donnie seemed to follow his gaze and his eyes went wide.

“Are.. you the ghost?” He asked quietly.

She turned to look down at him and rolled her eyes. “Do I look like a ghost? I’m quite corporeal.”

Donnie looked up at her frustratedly. “You know what I’m talking about.”

She tapped her chin in thought. “Do I?”

He groaned.

Raph put his hand on her arm gently.

“I.. I know you…” he said quietly.

She turned to look back at him with sad eyes.

“We’ve never met. I’m Venus.”

“I’ve… never met another female turtle…” he couldn’t help but say.

She tilted her head sadly. “No.. I guess you haven’t.”

“I-I’m sorry…” he said suddenly.

He didn’t know why he was sorry.

She laughed a little. “You don’t have to be sorry, it’s not bad to be female.” Then her eyes got sad. “But I guess that’s to be expected…”

Donnie shot up and stepped between them.

“How are you floating? Is that like something you were born with or can you learn? Does it help with weight distribution? Is that why you do it? If I could do that I bet it would help. Oh but then you wouldn’t be exercising your knees…”

She blinked and sighed playfully, placing a hand on her hip. “You are too inquisitive.”

Raph stared between them. They had the same snout. The same smug look on their faces.

“Venus…” he said softly.

She turned to look at him. She saw something in his eye and winced, looking away.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re okay, kid. Don’t go swimming where you can’t stand up, and keep a brother with you at all times in the water!” She saluted and seemed to float away.

Raph wanted to chase her but he just… let her go.

Donnie groaned and looked at him funny. “She could have taught me magic! Bones don’t hurt magic!”

Raph looked down at him sadly, he knew there were tears in his eyes and Donnie’s expression confirmed it.

“Raph what’s wrong..?”

“Sh-she looked just like you…”

He scoffed and folded his arms. “Hardly. She was thin and agile.”

He shook his head and reached out to touch Donnie’s snout. “She had your snout.. your skin.”

Donnie was looking more nervous as Raph looked at him. He pushed Raph’s hand off him. “She can’t have been my mother. Shredder would have seen her as useless damaged goods. Maybe there’s just.. turtle yokai out there who come in such variety that she somewhat looked like me.”

Raph rubbed his arm. He was right, if she was chronically in pain like Donnie, and small and female like Raph… she would have been dead to their father.

“You’re not sure though…” Raph said. Donnie was making a face.

He sighed. “Hereditary illnesses are a thing, I suppose. But I don’t think she was old enough… unless she was… you know, younger than us when it happened.”

“Which Shredder would never have done, obviously..” Raph rolled his eyes and hugged his arms, turning away.

“Sorry…” Donnie mumbled.

He sighed and looked over. “I’m sorry I threw you in the deep end, I wasn’t thinking about that. I was thinking ‘don’t let him crack his head’ more than I was thinking ‘he needs to hold on to the edge to stay up’.”

Donnie shrugged and leaned against him. “I get it. We’re not used to pools and stuff. Thanks for jumping in after me.”

Raph smiled and rubbed his back. “I mean it would be shitty of me to let you drown don’t you think?”

Donnie grunted and nodded. “Extremely shitty cuz it would have been your fault yeah. Still. Thank you.”

“Are you as done with pool time as I am?”

“Yeeees..” He whined. “Need to recharge.”

Raph laughed and nodded, giving his head a kiss. “Okay.”

They wandered back over to Leo and towelled themselves off, Leo stared up at them questioningly. “How did the recon go? I hope that was what the FAKE drowning was?”

Donnie rolled his eyes as he was letting Raph rub his back dry so he could put his hoodie back on.

“Unfortunately that was a real almost drowning. I am fine, thank you for asking.”

Leo winced and stood up. “Shit, sorry. Are you okay?”

“Fine. She literally water bended the pool water out of my throat. And she was FLOATING! Did you see that?” He couldn’t contain his excitement.

Raph pat his shoulder and decided he should collect Mikey while Donnie got him up to speed.

He turned to the pool and didn’t see him.

Mama turtle went in overdrive.

“Mikey?” He called out, darting between people in the crowd.

The more he looked the more worried he got.

‘Idiot, you almost kill ONE brother and LOSE the other?’

He groaned and smacked his head. “Shut up Slash.”

That was new but he couldn’t blame him.

He did a lap around the pool and saw the backside of a turtle behind the bar to the side. He rushed over and realized this turtle was bigger than him.

“Jennika.” He breathed.

She turned in surprise and he could see Mikey behind her, smiling up at him.

“Oh, hi Raph!”

He whimpered and rushed forward, ignoring her to grab him around his shoulders.

“Where did you go! I was worried!”

He grabbed his arms and pushed him back.

“I’m fine! I made a friend, see?” He held his hand out to Jennika, who was standing awkwardly beside them. She was wearing a big white t shirt and baggy trunks.

“Sorry, you… guys were distracted and I wanted to make sure he was safe somewhere…” she barely looked at him.

That hurt for some reason.

“Thanks…” he stood back up, keeping his hand on Mikey’s shoulder to make sure he knew where he was. “I.. sorry, I shouldn’t.. assume things but. You’re… not female like me, are you..?”

She blinked and shook her head. “Uh… no. I used to be… sad. About that.”

A new emotion came over him and he gave her a look of awe.

“Are you… trans..?”

She gave him a surprised look. “Is that… okay?”

Raph could feel his eyes water but he smiled big. “I… I’ve never met a.. I mean, you’re a turtle like me, and you’re.. trans too! A-and that.. makes me happy, I-I don’t know.. sorry, I’m not… not trying to be weird.”

She smiled and shook her head, her eyes were wet too.

“No, it’s not weird, I really get it…” she rubbed her arm. “I didn’t know uh…” she coughed and shook her head. “No, I guess I’d always hoped you were. I didn’t understand myself.”

Raph was confused by her words but kept smiling at her.

“You’re beautiful.” He told her. He didn’t know why he felt the need to tell her that. It was overwhelming seeing someone like him out in the world.

She stared at him with a shocked smile. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

“O-oh…” she sniffed and then laughed, rubbing her eyes. “F-fuck, can I hug you? Th-this is a lot but..”

Raph reached in instantly to wrap his arms around her. He just wanted to make her feel as happy as he felt seeing her. She was taller than him and thicker up top, but she was just a beautiful turtle girl to him.

She seemed to be crying above him as she held him back.

Mikey wandered over and smiled up at her. “See, she’s a friend Raph!”

The two of them parted and Jennika got down on her knee to idly punch his shoulder.

“You’re a good judge of character, but you still shouldn’t run off with people. Not here. There’s bad guys here. Only trust turtles, got that little man?”

He made a determined face and nodded. “Got it.”

Jennika then leaned in to hug Mikey. It looked like a bone crushing hug. Mikey just took it and tried to hug her back just as strongly.

Raph looked between them. They looked.. so similar. She looked like if Mikey had been well loved as a child and grown up strong.

The idea was making him cry again.

“Jennika!” They heard a voice call out.

Raph looked over and saw Kirby again. He was standing by the elevator and waving her over, he looked frustrated to see Raph again, and maybe a little sad.

Jennika looked up and wiped her eyes. “Shit. That’s my brother, he’s gonna give me a talking to…” She muttered slightly annoyed.

Raphs eyes snapped up at her. “Kirby’s your brother?”

She winced and rubbed her neck. “Uh, it’s been nice talking!”

She shuffled away.

Raph was shaking suddenly.

“W-wait!” He started to run but they both looked at him inside the elevator with a sorrowful look and then disappeared.

And he dropped to his knees.

Mikey put his hands on his shoulders. “Raph? What’s wrong? Is it the voices again?”

But his head was silent, save for a ringing in his ears. He stared at the elevator blankly. It opened again and they weren’t there anymore.

He wasn’t sure how long he was staring, he knew Donnie and Leo had wandered up holding all of their stuff, and it took the three of them to lift him off the ground.

“What happened, Raph?” Leo asked gently as they walked his body towards the elevator.

He just stared inside. He hoped to god they’d just reappear and let him ask the burning question on his mind.

He couldn’t say this out loud until he knew.

The elevator door closed and it was just him and his brothers again.

‘You’re right.��

He whipped his head around to look, but realized the voice was Slash again.

“W-what do you mean I’m right?!”

His brothers looked at him funny but he paid them no mind.

‘You know who they are. And you’re right. Big Mama told me the first time you let me out, she wasn’t gonna crush the eggs. She said we’d never see them again. She lied.’

“B-but that makes no sense Slash! Th-they’re too old! I-it’s been a week!”

‘I don’t know. But you know that’s who they are.’

Raph slammed his head against the wall and shook it hard.

“N-no!”

Leo grabbed his shoulder and looked him in the eye. “Raph. Talk to me. What happened?”

Raph looked around the elevator in a panic. Mikey and Donnie looked scared of him, scared of what was happening.

“I-I… not here… I-in the room..”

He didn’t want anyone's secret eyes on him right now. He couldn’t trust Big Mama. Leo was right. Why had they bothered to talk to her at all today? They were better off on their own!

The door opened on their floor and they quickly rushed back inside their freshly cleaned room. Raph checked every room, every cranny. The windows were closed and no one was hiding in the corners.

After his panicked rushing he sat on the freshly cleaned sofa and tried to calm his breathing.

His brothers all stood in front of him in the conversation pit. None of them wanted him out of sight.

“Raph.” Leo said sternly. He looked up and saw them all staring at him with worried eyes.

He looked between them. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “It won’t make sense. But nothing here does. There’s.. magic and portals and dimensional travel…”

“At this point no theory is too out there.” Donnie said.

He opened his eyes and looked at them all seriously.

“They’re our kids.”

[wakacreations]

Zevlor's Bizarre Cocoa Adventure (Ch. 5)

Author's Note:

I did not forget the plot of this story.

@falcatamandarina

Prologue Ch1 Ch2 Ch3 Ch4 Ch5

Word Count: 3986

Summary:

The boys share a heartwarming moment at the campfire. Zevlor, Blurg and Omeluum set off from Ebonlake Grotto. Will the three companions get along on this journey?

What was going on between his companions. He had no clue. The hobgoblin gathered the food stuff for tonight's dinner. “Maybe something light in case the paladin still has a light stomach” he thought. He understood there would be tension between Zevlor and Omeluum. He half expected as much. Omeluum had their quirks about them. One part being a mindflayer and the other their unbridled directness. For an intellectual being you would think they would understand social cues. “Maybe you are what you eat extends to mindflayers?” Blurg thought as he scratched his chin.

They did eat one too many cocky would be “adventurers” (too many foolish mercenaries looking to establish themselves). Maybe a change in diet would do them some good. Though Omeluum still seemed unfazed by Zevlor’s words when he followed behind to the tent. If anything they were still their happy cheery self busying themselves with analyzing their latest batch of cocoa. Blurg peered over the table within view of the campfire. The tiefling was busy with tending to the campfire. He himself questioned why they didn't just use the stack of firebolt scrolls beside the logs. Zevlor mumbled some words as the fire flickered to life.

The older tiefling was strange in his own right but maybe those are the habits of paladins. Sick one moment, deny they are anything but up and well. The next moment focused on their objective while they're mentally scrabbled elsewhere. At the very end worrying about things not within their power or control for the sake of others. Rolan was correct in saying Zevlor was a bit of a sensitive case. From what the Master of Ramazith tower was willing to tell of their tale of Elturel to Baldur’s Gate, the poor guy needs a break as much as the rest of them. Maybe even more so.

The tiefling stared intently on the blazing inferno. The tired lines of their face are more pronounced against the bright orange flames. Alone they seemed as the shadows blanketed their frame. Untouchable to those around but to only just gaze upon like a somber painting. “Whatever is going on in that mind of theirs, it was best just to keep an eye out.” Blurg thought, sharpening the blade of his butcher’s knife.

“You've been staring at that fire for quite awhile friend” a deep raspy voice called over his shoulder. Zevlor turned to his right only to be met by too close of a set of nostrils obscuring his view. “By the gods! Some personal space!” Zevlor stumbled back from his crate, poised ready on his feet. A fist clenching his chest and the other remains hovering over his blade on hip. When did they get so close?! “I didn't mean to frighten you, friend. I just needed to use the campfire.” Blurg held up his hands to the Hellrider, sweat trickled down their neck. 

“Easy there. So… Soup or a nice porridge would do for you?” the hobgoblin nervously chuckled. Zevlor blinked at the cook. The silence hung in the air as the question circled back around to his ears. “A porridge. Thank you. I didn't mean… I'm sorry,” the tiefling curled inwardly, dropping his blade hand. His face turned away. The hobgoblin placed a clay pot onto the fire. “It’s alright. Should of known better than to sneak up on a paladin. Not my brightest decision” Blurg gave a hearty laugh. They gestured back towards the crate. “I hope I didn't frighten you enough to not share in my company. Please come sit.” Reluctantly Zevlor sat back down on his seat beside them, tail laid limply on his lap.

“I won't trouble you for what's going on in that mind of yours. Because what goes on in there is your business but I will bother you to indulge in my stories. If you want to talk please interrupt my babbling” Blurg gave him a wink. What kind of company did I find myself with? The hobgoblin did know how to fill the air for one thing. They went on to describe their personal research outside of the Society of Brilliance. The topic of cheesomancy and its magical capabilities as a martial art. The topic of its combat prowess did peak his interest but only to humour the man. Blurg once recounted how a brawl broke out at the Blushing Mermaid. He summoned forth a round of Waterdhavian in hand to be met by the crown of a drunken oaf.

All of this harrowing tale started when Omeluum was smuggled into the tavern under the guise of Durinbold Cheese wedge. Blurg wished to see his cheesomancy brought to practical use. Second, he questioned whether it was possible for Omeluum to use his psionic ability while in the form of a cheese. The mindflayer agreed to his experiment. In exchange his partner wanted to observe the taven’s patrons (no matter what disguise they undertook, patrons would be drawn to the “psionic nature” of the illithid). Though the hobgoblin did mention that the illithid would always take an alluring form like some sort of dream guardian (Omeluum explained these were the forms they knew by memory). 

The hobgoblin came to the conclusion that the lich, Omeluum's past partner did have a specific “type” when it came to their necromantic subjects. It didn't help either that the “adventurers” who disrupted the encampment were easy on the eyes as well. Blurg questioned them why they didn’t just polymorph to be a fly or something of an equivalent stature. They didn't feel the need to know what a squashed insect felt like or equivalent (Omeluum would not admit they did enjoy the attention that came with their “alluring” forms. It was one of the few times they felt accepted outside of the Underdark and the Society of Brilliance. To be treated like an equal rather than an eldritch horror). 

Blurg and Omeluum were having a telepathic conversation when a drunkard grabbed the cheese cloaked illithid. "The damn fool was hungry!” Blurg slapped their own knee while their belly jiggled from laughter. “He said if you are so busy staring at the stinken cheese, I might as well eat it.” Zevlor's eyes watered trying to keep a straight face. “Then Omeluum was having none of their nonsense and began to transform back. I yelled at them to turn into a squid that would be easier to explain. So, they did. You want to know what happened next?” Blurg said letting the tension build. “What?” the paladin leaned in, now invested in the story.

“The guy that spat out Omeluum was truly gobsmacked to see the squid squirming about. He turned to me and said ‘What in gods names is that!’ and I said ‘Seafood?’.” Blurg cackled. Zevlor tried to breathe but his sides hurt and spasmed. “You know what the guy did?” the hobgoblin wiping away some tears. “What?” he smiled. “He swung at me.” They both collapsed in a fit of laughter. “The worst part. He missed. The damn drunken bloody buffoon missed” Blurg howled. Once the last of their shared cackles subsided, a comfortable silence fell upon the two men.

 “You know Zevlor, you would make a great practitioner!” Blurg clapped at his back when he took a spoonful of porridge. Zevlor coughed as he fought to dislodge the oats from his lungs. “Blurg… While I do enjoy your enthusiasm. Let’s keep the dairy wizardry to the professional chefs or the curious hungry wizards for that matter.” He resumed eating though kept a cautious eye on his companion. “If you ever face any trouble. Any at all just know that I'm armed.” The hobgoblin gestured their hand to their right bicep. “Please. If anything I would be expecting to save you on this journey of ours.” Zevlor scoffed. “And maybe even the illithid Omeluum” he shortly added. The hobgoblin gave him a wide toothy grin.

“There is that cocky vibrato I expected from a paladin. Then I'll be happily saved by you oh noble knight.” Blurg held his fist towards the aged Hellrider. “Well it is a kind gesture to know I'll have support for what trouble we come across,” the Hellrider bumps their fist with his own. “How are you so sure we'll be met with trouble? That is surely optimistic of you,” Blurg wiggled their brow. “From what you’ve told me of your shared ventures. Our journey won't be that far different from your usual tone of shenanigans,” Zevlor sighed as he rubbed his temple to subdue the yet to be migraine. His mind already conjures a number of scenarios their journey could unexpectedly encounter. 

“Well don't stay up too late with whatever what ifs or other unnecessary thoughts. We have a long journey ahead,” Blurg yawned, stretching themselves onto a bedroll. “Agreed” Zevlor still remained seated near the campfire. “If ya need anything. Just wake me up it's no bother at all,” as they turned in the bedroll,  waving the tiefling off. “Good night Zevlor,” the hobgoblin mumbled. “Good night, Blurg. I'll see you in the morning.. my friend.” The Hellrider was met by only the snores from his companion at that last acknowledgement. 

“It's good to know at rest the hobgoblin would scare off any beast that may be lurking,” Zevlor thought, chuckling to himself. I should probably take Blurg's and I's own advice. There will always be more time for I to be alone with these thoughts. The paladin made his way to his bedroll. “If only the view from here was better. I would imagine the summer’s night sky is beautiful tonight,” his mind drifted off as he laid on his bedroll. Embers now smoldered on their campfire. The myconids' psionic tune now muted. For once since the tiefling party Zevlor had a dreamless night.*

The sound of a roaring crackling fire stirred his slumber. The smell of sizzling pork belly wafting through the air. He was but greedy to attempt to linger back to bedrest. Try as he might, the discipline of a commander is too ingrained in his habits. Zevlor begrudgingly sat up from his bedroll and began his morning stretches. “Ah, good mornin Zevlor! Looks like the smell of food awoke your appetite.” Blurg beamed at him from the fire. “Good morning to you as well Blurg. Did you sleep well?,” as he finished the last of his exercises. “Slept better than a babe would you believe? How about you?” The hobgoblin slid the food onto the waiting plates.

“I am surprised a paladin would dare to sleep in for a change” they heckled, setting down the cutlery. “Such a thing is not far from the imagination Blurg. From the snores you were producing, I almost assumed a bugbear had infiltrated our camp.” Zevlor quipped, taking a seat at the table. “Coffee or tea, Zevlor?” Blurg held up a kettle. “I am well rested. Coffee if you will. Our journey will take some time and I fully intend for us to make some good progress.” The tiefling neatly places a rag onto his lap. Zevlor began to eat his breakfast but paused for a moment. “Will Omeluum be joining us for breakfast, Blurg?”, the Hellrider eyed the hobgoblin curiously. Blurg sat down across from them, indulging in their breakfast. 

“Omeluum is finishing up with the last minute tasks to maintain the grotto” they said in between their swallows of food. “They are currently speaking with the myconids as we speak. To check to see if there are any anomalies they have noticed as of late.” Zevlor’s ears twitched at that last sentence. His tail brushing up against the blade at his hip. “What kind of anomalies? If you do not mind enlightening me” he took a sip of his coffee. Best be prepared for anything. The hobgoblin took a swig from the carafe of water. They raised an eyebrow in contemplation then closed their eyes. “Supplies have been going missing as of late. You've heard the stories from Baldur’s Gate,” Blurg sighed.

Shipments had been attacked traversing the Underdark he knew. The Baldur’s Mouth Gazette made sure everyone within breathing distance heard the news. Zevlor didn't think much was out of the ordinary. Stretches without shipments weren't unheard of. “We have been speaking with the myconids. They were unable to commune with these beings.” Blurg shutters at their own words.The Hellrider looked upon the hobgoblin puzzled. Blurg motion for the tiefling for their ear. “They repelled their psionic intrusion,” they whispered. His heartbeat seized, the world seemed to sway lightly. What creature could possibly do such a feat? “Were the myconids able to give a general description?” Zevlor tensed. “Let’s wait to see what Omeluum has to say. Maybe we’ll receive some good news. Even a perpetrator if we're lucky.” The hobgoblin smiled but it didn't reach their eyes.

As we arrived at the entrance of the grotto, the drum beat of psionic pulses reverberated the ground. There laid in wait was a group of myconids huddled together obscuring the path. Something sweet and pleasant drifted in the air. “The faint fragrance of? Vanilla? That can't be right..” thought the Hellrider. “Good morning Blurg Zevlor. Were your provisions satisfactory?” The illithid floated before them from between the clustering mushrooms. “It was quite lovely Omeluum. Thank you for asking! Wouldn’t you agree, Zevlor?” The hobgoblin patted their stomach. “Yes, of course. It was a wonderful breakfast. Thank you again for your hospitality.” Zevlor gave a courteous nod. “Then do you have all that you acquire?” Omeluum glanced at the rucksack and satchel their companions were wearing. “We have all that we need for our journey ahead,” the Hellrider said, adjusting their pack. “The myconids have reported no disturbance as of late. Now then shall we begin?” The illithid gestured to the path before them.

What laid before them was a field of mushrooms. One looks as if they originated from the sea. “Timmask. The spores will leave you disoriented” Omeluum chimed. Another pulsed with a reddish glow. They seemed to grow in size as we circled around the fungi. “Watch out for that one. Torchstalk. I've seen a number of creatures blown to bits” Blurg pointed back. “What of those smaller uniformed mushroom clusters?” Zevlor said, his eyes gazing at the small yellowish mushroom before them. “Swarming Toadstool. Drow poison. You could pick some if you would like,” the hobgoblin eyed the plant. With a delicate hand, the tiefling safely wrapped the mushrooms and stored them in his pack. “It's unlikely I'll need to use some but you never know,” Zevlor thought.

The Underdark was beautiful in the otherworldly sense. Where you would expect trees you would find crystals that rival their size. Instead of the dazzling rays of the sun, you'll find mushrooms dotting the lands like the torchlights of a city. The usual warmth from overhead is replaced by the suffocating warmth from being so far down below. Though the humidity was the same no matter if you were above or below. “As for the wildlife we are of yet to encounter. It is unnerving to not have come across,” his mind wanders, hand resting on the handle of his blade. The sound of the shifting rocks that echo off these walls was unnerving. Was it natural or something lurking just over the cliff faces? His companions did not seem too phased to all the sights and sounds around them. How much did they grow accustomed to the noise? Could they still detect if something were to be amiss? “If something were to be. I would assume they would know,” Zevlor glanced at his illithid companion. 

He did not know much about them other than their devotion for peace. Their motivation to do so was beyond him. It's such a strange concept to think about. In just months prior, their kind would come to bring chaos to the world but for one to wish to champion unity well… Now that he thought about it more thoroughly they were no different from them. The tentacles that move of their own accord. Their tall imposing stature that eclipses whoever they spoke to. Whether they levitated or remained grounded, their presence was chilling. Their four clawed hands and two toed webbed feet that used to be bloodied when they first transformed. Their soulless piercing eyes was a reminder these were beings far from human or anything within our comprehension. These beings originated beyond where deities stake their claims among the realms. The gods don't watch over these beings.

Mindflayers still yearned to be one. If that meant becoming one of them or one with them it doesn't matter to them in the slightest. What mattered is if you were one of them, of the same side. “Too many of those who befallen didn't meet their arbitrary requirements. Even then, if you were for their cause,” his grip tightened over the handle. Their devotion was nothing if you weren't chosen. “You are unworthy of being a true soul,” a female voice whispered in his ear. It couldn't be. “Hellrider,” she teased. “Zevlor,” they inquired.

“When we reach the beach. We shall sail to the Baldur’s Gate in the morning,” the mindflayer turned towards his companions. “Sounds good to me. What about you Zev?” the hobgoblin asked. “Zevlor?” they prompted again. The paladin snapped back into focus. “Oh, yes. That should be fine. How far are we from the point of departure,” he awkwardly scanned about. Omeluum extends a finger before them. The rocky shores were further down below from where their perch was on the path. “Ah, thank you,” he coughed, venturing forth. That was.. something.

A rickety suspended bridge came into view. “It’s safe,” the hobgoblin said as they confidently walked to the other side. Blurg waved him on to follow. The wooden boards swayed under the tiefling's feet. “Steady,” Zevlor reminded himself, slowly crouching across. When he began to put his weight on the board before him, it splintered from the pressure. His leg hovered over the new opening. The sound of a high pitched thud echoed as the board fell down below. The paladin looked up at Blurg. “It was safe enough.. to hold their weight?” they answered sheepishly, shrugging their shoulders. “Good to know,” Zevlor answered as he patted them on the back. He looked over his shoulder to watch as Omeluum flew to meet them.

The village around them was dilapidated. No signs of life as far as he could discern. For whom might have lived here he was unsure. “This village” the hobgoblin began. “Used to frolic with deep gnomes from what the myconids have told me. It's still such a shame really.” Blurg look on at the broken in doors. “When I arrived at Ebonlake Grotto the duergar had already took over. There were no deep gnomes left,” the hobgoblin smiled bitterly. The evidence of their words became more apparent as they continued onwards.

Some light blood splatters lined the exterior walls and on the wooden boards beneath their feet. Broken bottles on the ground surrounded by ash now grew small shrooms. They passed by the front door of one of the homes, a meal sat unfinished on the table. “What of the duergar? The deep gnomes?” Zevlor asked somberly. “The duergar enslaved the gnomes in the Absolute’s name. Though from my understanding such events would have taken place even without their cause,” Omeluum answered. “The myconids were kind enough to allow us to tend to the survivors or any runaways. As for what happened to the duergar or what’s left of them… Tav had come through,” the hobgoblin chuckled. Zevlor raised a brow in a curious surprise. 

He knew their band would be far behind them but he never expected... They would make their ways through the Underdark to reach Baldur’s Gate. To go on such a journey right after defeating the goblin camp, would be ill advised from his perspective. Though he had a feeling the Archdruid Halsin had an influence on the matter. Maybe things would have been.. more safer on the road if Tav were there. No. They held faith he would be fine and able to lead his people to Baldur’s Gate. If Tav were to travel with their caravan, they would bear witness to his betrayal.

The hurt look of utter disbelief upon their face. The anguish from their voice as they plead and beg for him to see reason. The shakiness of their form whether to slay I, the heretic before everyone could see. “They should never have to make that decision,” he winced, his tail scraping the ground. Maybe it’s by Tymora’s grace Tav was spared such a fate. Maybe it’s by Illmater’s suffering that he was freed from the mindflayer pod. No matter what divinity that fate took the form of, he had to repent for the souls that were lost under his watch. It was by Tav’s kind hand that spurred on this journey. To follow along their same path to the surface was quite a strange feeling.

“Tav spared the duergar they could. They slain those who chose violence in the end. For those who harmed the gnomes you could well.. figure out the rest” Blurg continued. “That's very in character for them,” Zevlor nodded along to the hobgoblin’s words. They were not to be trifled with, especially in the need of others. It made him question if it were compassion for those before or their spite against fate that led them to be so empowered during battle. Maybe both were the answers. “As for the deep gnomes, they stayed at our encampment to recuperate and resupply. They made a safe passage to Baldur's Gate the following day,” Omeluum reassured the tiefling. 

Zevlor’s eyes wandered to the rows of houses as they ventured further down. Some buildings appeared to have been mended; damaged windows were boarded up, sections of exposed roof were sealed off, and scaffolding hugged the walls of some of the most damaged dwellings. “It seems this village is being repaired. Is this any of your doings?” Zevlor inquired. “We figured no one else would have. Besides, it would make traversing easier for those who wish to venture through the Underdark,” Blurg said. They were right. No one would care with the exception being them. “Not many are open to having their lodging and amenities close to the myconids,” Omeluum hummed disapprovingly. The hobgoblin and the tiefling shared a bewildered look at the mindflayer. That statement came to no one's surprise at all. 

"What is that?” Blurg pointed further on. Littered on the ground laid articles of clothing and rifled through trunks. Opened damaged crates appeared to have been thrown about haphazardly. The slight whiff of iron hit his nostrils. Zevlor readied his blade as they moved in closer. They came upon a large cart obscuring their path. “Omeluum?” the hobgoblin called to the illithid. “I don't detect any presence of any minds,” they confirmed. “That does not account for the bodies,” the Hellrider said, as he made for the left flank. He pointed to Blurg to make for the right. The lingering smell of blood and decay grew stronger. When they came to the front of the wagon it was a horrible sight.

Two heavily mangled corpses of rothe were smeared on the ground. Their entrails were scattered about. Zevlor kneeled before the animals. He ran his fingers through the damp bloodsoaked fur. It was still warm. “Stay alert. Whomever or whatever killed these rothe may still be in the area,” he commanded, scanning the cliff faces high above them. A couple of pebbles skidded down the rock walls. He heard an almost familiar young murmur. Rocks continued to trickle down. Suddenly the ground beneath rapidly violently shook. The rock faces surrounding them shattered. “Watch out!” Omeluum screeched as the boulders rained down upon them.

*If you're curious on how the tiefling party went, the party

[aew-kun-age-regression]

Caregiver!Alastor Headcannons 📻

A/N ~ Maybe I got a bit carried away and wrote more than normal 🤭. In my defense, I am sleepy, kinda regressed and really quite like his character sooo 🤷🏻

Understanding regression wasn't something that he immediately understood however he was willing to make the effort to learn.

^ Started off as a case as he wanted something to do for entertainment, therefore he came to the conclusion what would be more entertaining than filling a Caregiver role. He didn't have any bad or negative intentions but wasn't really focused on much other than the entertainment originally. Shortly after looking after a regressor for a while he realises that he actually enjoys the role more than he thought he would.

Although he doesn't really like physical contact for the sake of a regressor I feel like he'd be okay with it.

^ He is capable of lifting Regressors. (he is very strong 😌)

Charlie was literally the only one that trusted him with you, like at all.. Husk was the most cautious, always keeping an eye on you when he could.. Everyone is incredibly shocked as they all realise that Alastor does actually care.

"My Dear", "My Darling" & "Sweetheart" are his go to nicknames.

He is an amazing cook (Something he learnt from his mother) and I definitely see him genuinely enjoying cooking with a Regressor, it's a fun bonding activity!!!

Another thing he is amazing at that he learnt from his mum is sewing. Did your Plushie or clothes get a bit ripped? That's okay because Alastor can fix it and you won't even be able to see that there was ever an issue in the first place-!!!

No TV. He hates it.

^ He loves sitting with you and listening to music on the radio. So so calming.

^ Also dancing to the music together in his radio tower.

Another activity he loves is reading. Doesn't matter if it's you reading a story to him, or him reading to you. He loves it all the same.

Tea Parties with him and Rosie >>>

He has a very calming voice and will quietly sing/hum to help a Regressor sleep.

The absolute best at coordinating outfits (him, you and your stuffies of course!!!)

SO protective. Like, if he's not with you one of his shadow are.

His go to babysitters are Rosie and Husk. Rosie's his best friend (they are platonically married your honour) and he knows that although Husk doesn't like him between Husk never even thinking of hurting a regressor and the deal between the two of them he knows you'd be safe.

He has brought you to an overlords meeting before. Everyone (apart from Rosie obviously) was beyond baffled as this is not the Alastor they know. (You spent your time with Carmilla's daughters whilst the overlords all spoke 👍🏻)

He would occasionally let you nap on his lap in his radio tower as he broadcasts.

I feel like he's the type of Caregiver to store all artwork you do in a binder to keep it safe. (He will literally never admit this information.)

For Regressors with longer hair, he absolutely would be good at styling hair.

He can and will spoil you. He has powers which means he can literally summon objects, there is no way he isn't spoiling his little one with that ability.

I truly do not believe he'd be able to decipher baby talk. Will just stare at you like "👁️👄👁️"

[ca-suffit]

There is a debate on Twitter, about this photo of Santiago circulating with Eglee on his lap and someone asked artists to draw Loustat in this position.

What was my surprise to discover that 99% of the artists would represent Lestat sitting on Louis'... obviously each artist represents their own visions as they want but I don't know why in my head it seems so incorrect.

I know it's a bit cliché and I have to deconstruct myself from binary thinking but for me Louis is more female coded than Lestat, I have always seen Lestat as a representation of the patriarchy maybe I am wrong maybe I am too binary in my representation of the couple,Lestat = patriarch, Louis = mother and Claudia = the child in identity crisis?

the show itself has directly said / shown that lestat is the patriach, louis is the "housewife" and claudia is "the mistake." it's always worth examining ur own perspective but in this case, it comes directly from canon. there's even a quote somewhere from anne rice about her writing louis from a woman's perspective bcuz louis *was* her at the time she wrote it. so it's even book canon.

seeing lestat on louis' lap feels incorrect bcuz it *is* incorrect. we have had these arguments forever bcuz there's a divide in the fandom of ppl who see what the show is saying and ppl who want to pretend it's not there. they'll usually use arguments to scare ppl to taking their side too, like ur being antiblack if u think louis is feminine (literally not a real thing at all) or something about homophobia idek.

but when ppl make lestat this over the top, sassy, white gay caricature to louis'....blackness, rly? it isn't doing shit except softening lestat's traits that don't need to be softened and overlooking *all* of how louis is a black, gay man himself. it paints lestat in a less harmful and more easily digestible light and leaves louis as a black man stereotype.

ppl have not seen a black, gay man like louis before. lestat is seen as the only "real" gay rep a lot bcuz his whiteness gives him the ability to be more open about things than louis gets. his personality also enjoys that more. he at times "fits" what ppl are used to when they think of "gay man." that's only one version tho. louis expresses so much of his own identity as a gay man all the time, ppl just don't know how to see it. he acts like his own mother so often and has more biting commentary than lestat ever says, but ppl overlook all that bcuz lestat is white and does things more theatrically.

louis wants to be soft and vulnerable and cared for to a degree, but again ppl aren't used to seeing this from a black man. he's also built smaller than lestat. they intentionally had sam bulk up whereas jacob did not to place more emphasis on this too. louis struggles with eating as well, something not necessarily *only* a feminine thing at all but still largely viewed like that by a lot of ppl, especially in the role of a wife.

the reason ppl are more willing to start saying how louis started to act at times in the loumand relationship is "his real self" or whatever is bcuz that *is* what ppl want to believe. that *is* the antiblack male stereotype. ppl think he's hiding this person rather than the fact it's a coping mechanism and survival technique. it's not like u could *never* write a black man like this without it always being antiblack. there's ways to do it without being harmful. what makes the fandom's reaction to louis like this so antiblack is the fact that we've been shown over and over that that *is not* the real louis and yet ppl insist it is. they'll have a thousand headcanon explanations of why everyone else masks for whatever reason, even to excuse outright abuse, but louis doing anything "aggressive" is just.....typical louis. lol ok.

so ya. it feels incorrect bcuz it *is* incorrect. bcuz this is all a dynamic that is backed up so far by fanon only, and fanon that is hugely influenced by antiblackness.

as another comment on the end of this too, I see a lot of "gnc" comments around lestat just for having long hair, but where does anyone ever say this for armand? u see the ways fandom just hands shit to white characters for no reason. "I am she, she is me" is also seen as some kind of gender thing bcuz it's too icky to process that it's a rly colonizer ass line for the white, french guy to be saying. ppl use sexuality and gender to soften lestat all the time and then call u homophobic when u say anything otherwise. it's the same technique used over and over again to avoid criticism, u just pick a different focus each time (misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, etc). it's usually a white person thing but not always. this fandom has a lot of fans of colors saying awful shit and relying on scaring white fans with their identities to make it hold more weight. like "don't make louis feminine" came a lot from a black fan (showmey0urfangs) but what it rly stemmed from was her personal discomfort with mpreg fics lol.

[it-happened-one-fic]

Hours in the Moonlight: Somnolent Gloaming - 4. Someone of Incredible Importance

Summary: You could say one thing. The Diasomnia clan’s library certainly didn’t disappoint. It had books that were beyond ancient and filled to the brim with information relating to vampires and their history. But perhaps more interesting and simultaneously alarming was what there was to learn from Malleus himself.

Series Type: Gender-neutral reader/ Vampire AU/ series/ romantic/ angst/ angst with comfort/ fluff/ sfw/ platonic interactions too!

Trigger Warning: Vampire

Word Count: 1578

Hours in the Moonlight Master-List

I could only assume that both Silver and Sebek were satisfied with my answer since, shortly after it, they left me to my work. 

But faced with so many books, I knew that this was going to be quite the undertaking, and a small part of me even wished that one of them had stayed to help. But then Sebek, for his part, did not seem entirely welcoming of me. 

In fact, he’d seemed rather insulted by the very idea of me evaluating the Diasomnia clan.

Silver, on the other hand, seemed a little more open to my presence here but was also a bit of a puzzle in his own right. 

A human living amongst vampires without seeming to fear for his safety at all. Vil had said that Lilia had taken him in, but when had that occurred? And why?

Leona’s words about willing blood donors, mortals that were enthralled by vampires, briefly flitted through my mind, but I hurriedly shook my head. As if that could clear it of such thoughts.

I didn’t really want to consider that possibility just because of all it might entail, and Silver didn’t have any obvious injuries anyway. 

Plus, even if that were the case, it was hardly my place to judge or question it or any of the people here. I was still fairly new to the world of the night, and I hardly knew what the norms were.

I flipped through one of the first books I’d pulled out, my eyes scanning over the sheets as I searched for anything relevant. 

It appeared to be a history of the Diasomnia clan. 

Apparently the Diasomnia clan was one of the first clans to come and settle in this area. I almost hummed to myself as I flipped past an old map of the city and took a new page that was simply a list of names. Those who found the clan apparently. And my eyes widened as I saw two names among the list that I recognized. 

Malleus and Lilia.

If they had founded this clan, how old were they?

I continued to flip through the book, my curiosity growing the more I read. This book alone seemed to date back to eons ago and was virtually filled with historical accounts of vampires and how they’d remained hidden with only a few mishaps happening along the way.

“Ah, so you were curious about our history?” 

I tensed at the smooth voice that had my eyes going wide as I turned to look up at the young man who looked down at me from where he stood behind my seat. His hands resting on the back of the chair lightly as if he’d been there this entire time.

There was a smile on his pale face as his inky black hair slid over his shoulder, his eyes narrowing slightly at me in amusement.

I had no idea how he got in here so quietly, but I was beginning to suspect that Malleus enjoyed doing things that were vaguely unsettling. After all, he looked far too pleased with himself.

“I, uh….” I faltered as I glanced back down at the book on my lap, my eyes immediately landing on the name, ‘Malleus Draconia,’ that was carefully inked on to the page before I looked back towards him.

He tilted his head before straightening so that was standing at his full, impressive height that was only added to by the horns that curled back over his head, “You need not worry, Child of man. There is no shame in curiosity.”

His voice was filled with amusement that also flickered in his eyes as he walked around the couch and took a seat in the chair across from me.

It was almost impressive how he could just sit down and make a chair that had before looked fairly mundane look more like a throne. Perhaps it was something to do with how he carried himself.

Vil also carried himself tall, upright, and with a regal air, but not to the same degree this man did. Or maybe it was just that I was more used to Vil while Malleus was wholly unfamiliar.

I closed the book sheepishly, an awkward smile on my face, “Sorry. I just pulled out a book, hoping for a lengthier history of this district's clans than what I’d seen so far. I didn’t mean to pry into your personal history.”

Malleus’s eyebrows lifted like my words only amused him further, and he tilted his head, “You appeared quite engrossed in the book, though. You didn’t even hear me enter.”

I carefully sat the book on the table, shifting awkwardly as Malleus's gaze stayed pointedly on me. That smile ever-present on his face.

“Well, uh, I didn’t realize that this clan was so old and that…..”

He leaned back, seemingly taking pity on me as he spoke, “Humans are often fascinated by that which they deem ‘ancient.’ It is natural that you be curious, though I must suggest you take caution and pay more attention to your surroundings since you have a ‘unique’ constitution.”

I felt myself still at his words, my gaze holding his, “Are you talking about how I attract vampires?”

He nodded before shifting, “Indeed. I’m sure you have been targeted by many vampires in your time, explaining why you have the skills to be a ‘Hunter.’ Silver is much the same as you after all and has also trained to defend himself.”

I blinked, surprised that he so freely shared that Silver was, as I had suspected, prone to attracting vampires. 

I’d expected for the secrets of this clan to be more closely guarded, sort of like how they’d been in the Scarabia clan with the notable exception of Kalim.

Malleus’s gaze flickered between me and the book, “Tell me, Child of man, would you have agreed to come here if you had known of our age?”

I stared at him in silent surprise before slowly nodding, “Vil and Rook had already told me that you and Lilia were ancient… So, yes. Knowing you’re ancient has never affected my decision.”

His eyes widened briefly, and I realized that my words surprised him. It wasn’t long before his expression shifted, though. His eyes narrowing in that same pleased manner they had in the room when we’d been introduced.

“Even though the older the vampire, the more powerful?” There was a smugness to his tone that had me wondering what he wanted. Was it for me to be afraid of him, or was it for me to be unafraid despite all the potential risks?

“Yes, even knowing that. Crowley is supposed to be quite old too after all, isn’t he?” Malleus nodded at my words, casually confirming Vil’s past words as his eyes swept over me. Almost like he was measuring something in me, just like several other vampires already had.

What was odd was that Malleus seemed oddly pleased by what he saw, even though we hadn’t actually talked that much at this point, and I’d been wholly unprepared for this conversation to boot.

“Indeed. I do not know how old, though. I do not recall seeing him in Wallachia,” He frowned slightly as he spoke in a soft tone, almost like he was musing to himself rather than responding to me.

But his use of the word Wallachia…. That bothered me. 

My eyes fell back to the book in front of me as I pondered the possibilities. Because I’d only ever heard the name Wallachia used one other time, and always in relation to Dracula. 

Wallachia was the land that Vlad the Impaler had ruled, and Vlad the Impaler was the man whose legacy was in large part the story of Dracula, the most famous vampire of all.

In truth, I didn’t know if Dracula was real or not, though I had wondered if that was the case before after I’d first learned that vampires were real. 

Either way though, Wallachia was, so far as I knew, a region in Romania and, inevitably, was tied to vampires. 

My gaze slowly lifted until I was looking at Malleus once more, “Is Wallachia where you’re originally from?”

His gaze shifted, green eyes with slit pupils finding my own stare before a smile spread across his face. Spreading until his fangs were glinting in the glow of the candles in the room, “Yes. My castle was once on the border between Wallachia and Transylvania.”

Transylvania. Another place intrinsically linked with vampires. And he’d had a castle to boot.

Could this man file away any other tropes related to vampires?

A part of me itched to ask him if he had ever met Dracula, but I stopped myself. I didn’t really know him well enough to go asking those sorts of questions. And besides, I didn’t know if Dracula was actually real or not anyway.

The more I thought about it though…. If he’d had a castle, then he must have been quite well off. Perhaps he left his home to avoid potential connections between vampires and himself.

He sat forward, startling me with his sudden motion, as the smile on his face grew somehow more amused, “How fascinating, though. A vampire Hunter here for records and to evaluate my clan, but not to see me.”

I barely kept my eyes from widening once more at his words, because the implications were obvious.

Malleus was someone of incredible importance.

If you would like to read more

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[lyranova]

Hi Lyra! 💕

I admit that I'm weak to the Medical AU and if you could write a little something for Nozelena I would love it. 🩺

Hiya Lola! Of course I can, and thank you so much for trusting me enough to write Helena and Nozel! I hope you enjoy 🥰!

Word Count: 1,350

Warnings: None

————

Helena let out a tired sigh as she flopped down onto a cushioned bench in the hallway. She had just finished doing her morning rounds, and was taking a small break before going to get lunch.

Even though her feet hurt, she couldn’t help but smile warmly as she thought about her patients, and about what awaited her at lunch.

But what she hadn’t been expecting was for the thing, or, well, person, she was excited to see at lunch suddenly sitting beside her.

“ Mi amor? What’s wrong, I thought we were going to meet at lunch?” She asked, her voice full of confusion and concern.

Nozel nodded.

“ We were but…I needed to see you now.” He told her softly, his eyes staring at the ground before slowly moving towards her.

A soft gasp escaped her as she saw a look in his eyes that said something terrible had happened, and that he needed someone to talk to about it.

With a determined gaze; Helena grabbed her boyfriend's hand, and led him towards her office so they could speak privately.

“ Alright, mi amor, tell me what happened,” Helena said as she closed her office door and sat down beside him on her small couch. Nozel laughed humorlessly as he ran a hand over his tired face.

“ Where do I begin?”

“ I would think at the beginning.” She responded, making his eyes narrow.

“ I was asking a rhetorical question.”

“ I know.”

Nozel blinked at her in surprise before he suddenly began to chuckle and shake his head, which made her smile. Good, at least he wasn’t too far gone into the pit of despair, she thought in relief.

“ Now tell me, what happened?”

He turned away from her again, and stared down at the floor.

“ I have a patient, a young female around Noelle’s age, whose renal failure is so far advanced that if she doesn’t get a kidney transplant within the next few weeks then she could die.” He explained softly, his eyes closing a bit.

“ Her mother is deceased; her father and older siblings refuse to donate or even be tested, while the eldest child did offer to get tested so he could save her life…we just got the results that he doesn’t match,” He continued, and she swore for a moment that she saw tears at the corners of his eyes. “ And I don’t know how to tell them.”

Helena nodded sadly as she wrapped an arm around him and pulled her towards him, allowing his shoulder to rest on her shoulder as she rubbed his back comfortingly.

“ Maybe…you should let another doctor handle this case,” She suggested softly, and watched as he raised his head to look at her.

“ Why?”

“ Because this case is a little too personal to you,” She told him gently. “ The patient is around Noelle’s age; she’s been abandoned by her entire family, and the only one that was willing to help was her eldest sibling who, by a cruel twist of fate, isn’t able to. Does that not sound familiar?”

Nozel let out a gasp before looking away again. As Helena pointed out; it did sound similar…a little too similar.

“ I won’t give this case to another doctor.” He told her firmly, and she sighed.

“ But, mi amor-,”

“ As you said; this girl’s been abandoned by everyone, and I refuse to abandon her too,” He began as he turned to face her. “ I will find her new kidneys, I will perform the transplant, and I will watch her recover and walk out of this hospital.”

“ Even if it causes you emotional pain? Even if it brings up awful memories that you would rather forget? Even if it throws you back into that pit of despair?” Helena questioned, her voice growing more worried with each question that slipped from her lips.

Nozel nodded, and it made her heart sink.

“ Yes. Even if it does all of that to me, I won’t abandon her.”

A sigh escaped her as she looked down at her lap. She knew he was determined to make up for the awful things he said, did, and allowed to happen to Noelle in the past. But wasn’t this going a bit far? Willing to risk everything for a patient that merely reminded him of his youngest sister?

But, wasn’t that one of the many reasons she loved him? Because he was determined to make amends, and despite his cold, aloof exterior and bedside manner he actually cared for his patients so much that he was willing to go to such lengths to help them?

Helena smiled, and jumped up from the couch.

“ Alright, then I guess I’ll have to follow you into that pit of despair then!” She announced cheerfully as she turned to look at him.

Nozel blinked in surprise.

“ What?”

“ I said I’m going to follow you into the pit of despair,” She repeated. “ I’m going to call CNOs and see if they may have any potential donors for your patient, and if not then I’ll ask every single hospital employee with a donor card to get tested to see if they’re a match!”

Nozel blinked at her a few more times, not really sure that he was hearing her right. She was going to help him? She was going to follow him into the pit of despair?

What on earth was she talking about?!

“ Helena, you don’t need to help me,” He began softly as he slowly stood up. “ I can do this on my own-.”

“ No, you can’t,” She told him firmly. “ You need help with this, and I’m going to do just that. Because as long as I’m by your side, I won’t let you get pulled into the darkness of your past ever again. So, either I stay with you and help, or you give this case to another doctor.”

“ Which will it be?”

An exasperated sigh escaped him as he pinched the bridge of his nose; this woman was completely crazy, but she was his crazy woman…and he loved her dearly.

“ Fine, you can help.”

“ Excelente! So, while I call CNOs, can you pull up your patients chart?” She asked as she walked over to her desk, causing Nozel to follow.

For the rest of their lunch hour the couple made over dozens of calls and had multiple employee’s tested. By the time their lunch hour was over, they were completely exhausted!

“ I’m sorry, I wasted our lunch together…” Nozel apologized softly as Helena leaned her head against his shoulder.

“ Hm, I wouldn’t say our lunch together was completely wasted,” She began with a smile, her head turning to look up at him. “ I got to spend time with you, and we found two donors for your patient.”

“ So I would say this was a very successful lunch,” She muttered softly as she leaned up to give him a sweet kiss, which he reciprocated.

“ Thank you,” He thanked her softly as he pulled away to rest his forehead against hers. “ For helping me, even though you didn’t have to.”

Helena frowned at him.

“ What do you mean? Of course I had to help you,” She told him as though it were obvious. “ You’re my boyfriend, mi amor, and I love you. We’re supposed to do things like this for those we love.”

He stared at her for a moment, before a bit of a loving smile appeared on his face.

Without uttering a single word he turned and wrapped her up in his arms, taking her by surprise for a moment. But after Helena got over the surprise she wrapped her arms around him as well.

“ We’re in this together, forever and always.” She whispered softly into his ear, making him chuckle a bit.

“ Forever and always? Are you really willing to put up with me for that long?”

“ ¡Desde luego!”

Nozel chuckled and shook his head, but his heart was filled with gratitude and love towards Helena. He also made a mental note to make up for this ruined lunch break, and to try his best to repay her for her kindness.

————

Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

[siriannatan]

Overheat - ScWhip

Man, I didn't write anything for a while, all the games I play kept on dropping updates on me lately, and my inspiration's been at all-time low :{

Here's to hoping it gets better :}

fWhip was fully aware he'd be quite a sight if anyone spotted him. A well-liked if a bit abrasive hero barely stumbling through the back streets. His face flushed so much it was easily visible from under his mask. Lips curled in an annoyed sneer. At least the place he was going to was both close and didn't have overly tight security making it easier to sneak in. He didn't need his acquaintances being bothered by the media.

Another lucky thing. No one got on the lift as he made his way to the top floor and then stumbled his way to a very specific door. And knocked. Leaning against the wall was all he could do while waiting.

Not that he waited long. "Must you come here in your hero outfit?" Scott sighed and practically dragged fWhip inside. Scott being still in his 'work clothes' was making fWhip's brain short circuit slightly. Teal and black looked too good together.

"I can go home if you're busy," fWhip offered in case Scott was leaving for work. Even if that work would get the whole city in uproar about a brutal murder.

"Shouldn't you be telling me to change my career instead?" Scott chuckled, practically carrying fWhip to his couch. 

"As long as you don't freeze anyone you're police's issue," fWhip shrugged, not like he was all that passionate about being a hero. It was just a job for him. He was no Gem to put actual passion into it. So he could not care less what Scott did as long as the mercenary was willing to help with his overheating issues.

"You're weird for a hero," Scott chuckled sitting down as fWhip freed himself of his mask and cape.

"For me, it's just a job, why put in more energy than I'm being paid to put in?" fWhip sighed. "I can go and stick myself in a fridge if I'm interrupting something," he added, just in case. Scott letting him in could mean he was not interrupting but it was more polite to ask. He might have just wanted to not have a chance of his neighbours seeing a literal hero on his doorstep.

"I was just catching up on emails, I'm barely back from one contract and I'm already getting requests," Scott complained, tablet in hand clearly ready to carry on.

fWhip had the urge to lay his head in Scott's lap but that seemed a bit forward. They were just accidental friends after all. Even if Scott was unfairly pretty with his soft floofy cyan hair and pretty dark blue eyes. Practically skin-tight black, likely bulletproof shirt he had on was just making it worse. 

He just had to try to not think about it. fWhip decided. Have a nice nap in Scott's pleasantly chilly company - literally chilly. And sneak back home. Hoping Gem doesn't ask where he goes to cool down after overusing his powers. Easy. 

Scott's hand, as if he could read fWhip's mind suddenly guided his head to the other's lap. "Just sleep," the mercenary said. "It'd be troublesome if you fall off the couch," he explained but fWhip could swear he saw a slight blush. He was smart so he didn't mention it. Just enjoyed this rare chance. "I'll wake you up when you've cooled down."

Scott's hand tangling itself into his hair as he was about to fall asleep was a nice bonus as well.