#ever since I saw that graffiti

[superbeans89]

Jim Pickens has conquered Louisville!

[doriantomybasil]

i visited the pompeii archeological site a few days ago and honestly i was on the brink of tears the whole day, the fact that i was walking on streets that were made for and by people 2000 years ago because they lived there, they loved there, they cried there, they had people they care about there, i don’t know how i managed to not fall on my knees and weep on every corner i took

[sunnyangy]

Can you maybe do hcs for togame and umemiya. Like general relationship hcs, how they came to like y/n, how they are in a relationship kind of thing and maybe nsfw hcs too

of course ! hope you’ll like it, and don’t hesitate to tell me if it’s ooc, i’ll change it :) I already did Umemiya NSFW hdc, but i’ll make another post for Togame’s NSFW hdc !

——————————————•

Relationship Headcanons 🍃

- Umemiya, Togame

- Umemiya 🌱

• The first time he saw you, was when Sakura had brought you up to his office. It was unusual to have a girl in this school, so when you started asking him too much advice, he got fed up and brought you to the leader, the famous Umemiya.

• He was since the start a sweetheart to you, greeting you with his usual bright smile. You seemed quite surprised to see that the leader was a man like this, with dirt on his shirt and gardening gloves. Of course, the first thing he did was showing you his tomatoes.

• But when you seemed to be interested in it, and to have some knowledge about it, he was like stunned in place, holding the tomatoes in his hands. He was probably as red as them.

• You then used to go to his office at lunch to talk with him about plants, share advice, and garden together. Every day, he waited for lunch more and more. He quickly realized he was more excited about seeing you than talking about the summer barbecue. His heart was pounding whenever you knocked on the door, the butterflies in his stomach flying around as he went to greet you.

• After around 3 months, one day you were as usual watering the plants, before putting back some soil. As you were filling your bucket up, you felt arms go around your waist, his body gently pressing against your back, his chin on your shoulder. It felt natural at this point, you just smiled and blushed at his contact. But what he said did in fact surprise you, as he said it with no warning whatsoever.

« I love you, y/n. »

You froze for a second, before setting your bucket down and turning towards him. Your answer was to put your hands on his cheeks, and kissing him.

• Since then, you two never leave each other.

• Umemiya’s love language is physical touch, he can’t resist just holding you in any type of way, even if it means touching your feet with his under the table if you’re in a group. He will always have an arm around you, a hand on yours, on your thigh, and if he can, he will always be kissing you in some type of way. On your lips, your cheeks, your temple, your forehead, your shoulder, whatever, as long as he can kiss you. He’ll always be hugging you and cuddling you, even if it’s not the time or place.

• He also comes to your house uninvited often, usually to gift you things or just to talk. He doesn’t mind if you do the same, but he takes the initiative way more.

• He is always very protective of you, he is sometimes reluctant to let you out on patrol, he’d rather you doing the not dangerous jobs like painting over graffiti’s.

• He likes to takes you out on dates often, bringing you to bars, restaurants, swimming pool, wherever you can have fun together.

• With you, he lets out his weirder side. He’s so energetic, always jumping around and smiling, always making jokes and annoying you teasingly.

• Of course, he loves PDA. He loves to show people that this beautiful girl right here is HIS, and that he is YOURS. All the school knows you’re the leader’s partner, everyone respects you and protects you.

• You’re the only one she shares his concern and bad emotions with, his past and what annoys him. You always try to give him a solution as well as calming him down, and you always succeed.

• Just like he says « Ko - to - ha ! », he will always come to you like this, chanting your name as he shows you something on his phone.

• Overall is the most golden retriever boyfriend ever, always clinging onto you, teasing you with a big smile on his face.

—————————————•

- Togame 🦁

• You’re not part of Shishitoren, as you are just a student working in a convenience store after school to pay your studies. And this store happens to be the one closer to the Shishitoren’s place, the abandoned cinema.

• They always came in groups, and you were kind of scared of them but always tried to stay polite and oblige their demands. But once, someone came alone, which was rather unusual. He was not wearing the orange vest, but you recognized him. A tall man dressing in a traditional kimono and wooden shoes, with yellow glasses and his black hair in a braid.

• He came back everyday, without his vest, buying drinks and snacks. At first he was always quiet, but after a while he started talking to you. Telling you Hi, how are you, talking about things like the weather or whatever was going on the city, just trying to make conversation. One day, as he was leaving, he turned back to you, and spoke.

« By the way, my name’s Jo Togame. Nice to meet you »

And before you even had the chance to answer, he waved you bye and left.

• After a month, he was once again at your counter, and bought a card. But when he left, he didn’t take the card. You tried to run after him to give it, but he already disappeared. You sighed and went back at your counter, putting the card on your desk. But when it slightly opened, you saw there was written something.

« If you want, you can meet me tomorrow at the new cinema at 8pm. I’ll let you choose the movie »

Even if he never told you personnaly, you knew he was part of the Shishitoren, so you were quite scared, but you judged that there was less chances to get beat up if you accepted his advances than refused. So you went. And it was the greatest date of your life. He was gentle and all throughout the night, bought you snacks, even taking you to the restaurant after the movie.

• For months, you two learned to know each other, before one day, he finally spilled it out.

« Hey y/n.. um.. I.. fuck you know what, I’m just going to say it. I’m part of the Shishitoren. »

You looked at his green eyes, slightly laughing. He was clearly confused on why you laughed, but you simply answered

« I know, Jo. »

• Since then you two grew close to each other naturally, he didn’t even ask you out. You just went onto dates, met each other after your shift, even before, and met on weekends.

• He loved that you saw him not for his affiliation to a gang but for his own person. You reminded him of Chōji, you reminded him of a sun. And you became his new sun.

• Togame’s love language is acts of service. He will always be doing things for you, making your life easier on whatever he could. He had a bit of trouble with physical touch but learned to appreciate it from you.

• He loves whenever he sits on the floor between your legs as you are on the couch, as you gently brush his hair as you hum a song. He loves the feeling of you braiding his hair, running your hands on his nape and shoulders.

• He likes gentle kisses filled with love, as it’s a rare time when he actually fully touches you, his hands on your hips pulling you close.

• He likes to tease you, pull some pranks on you, always laughing after. And you could never stay mad at him, his smile way too rare to ignore.

• He is REALLY protective of you, no one better lay a finger on you. He is also very possessive and jealous, you have to calm him down sometimes if even just a customer talks to you.

• He has trouble talking about his emotions but you always help him, he feels comfortable enough to talk to you about his worries. Sometimes, he’ll end up crying in your arms about how he felt guilty that he couldn’t help Chōji. The sight of him crying is rare, but it’s heartbreaking.

• He is overall a calm and supportive boyfriend, who loves to do things for you, and love when you help back. Other guys must beware, as he knows how to show his fangs if someone even approaches you.

[ha-rinrin]

Hiding From The World

Summary: After a meeting with Silco, Jinx goes missing, leaving you to go find her.

Pairing: Jinx x Fem!reader

Wordcount: 1k

Authors note: The long ass story is still not finished im so sorry guys im gonna try to publish it as soon as I can 🤞🏻. I also did this at 2am, sorry if its bad I literally fell asleep in the middle of writing it.

Masterlist

It's been hours since you last saw her. Jinx was supposed to come back to the hideout after a supposedly urgent meeting with Silco, but the minutes dragged on, turning into hours, and still no sign of her. You tried to convince yourself she was just blowing off steam somewhere, but you couldn’t shake the sinking feeling in your gut.

Without a second thought, you head to the one place she might be. It’s a little secret basement in an abandoned building tucked away in the darker parts of Zaun, somewhere she figured no one would ever think to look, when you and Jinx first stumbled on this little abandoned building while exploring Zaun’s hidden alleys. The structure was half-buried under layers of graffiti and rust, but Jinx saw it as treasure—something forgotten by everyone else but perfect for the two of you. Together, you’d set up this place over the months, stringing fairy lights from the cracked ceiling, stacking old crates to make makeshift chairs, and even securing it with a series of hidden traps to keep intruders out.

The shadows stretch longer as you approach the building, slipping past the creaky metal door and down the stairs that lead to the basement. You disable the traps one by one, the steps so familiar you could do them in your sleep. Finally, you reach the heavy door that leads into the basement, taking a breath before pushing it open.

And there she is.

Jinx is slouched on the floor, leaning against the wall with her knees drawn up to her chest. Her eyes flicker with a mix of frustration and exhaustion, and you catch the way her hands keep fidgeting, as if even while sitting still, she can't quite find peace. She looks up when you enter, and something in her expression softens ever so slightly.

"Y/N," she mutters, sounding almost relieved. "Guess I’m not as good at hiding as I thought, huh?"

You close the door behind you, crossing the dimly lit room until you’re in front of her. “Not from me, anyway.”

She scoffs, but there’s a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. You slide down to sit beside her, close enough that your shoulders are almost touching. For a moment, neither of you speak. The silence is comfortable, settling like a blanket around you both.

You glance over, studying her for a beat. “Rough day?”

She lets out a bitter laugh, rolling her eyes up to the ceiling. “Silco thinks he knows everything. Says I’m too… reckless, like he doesn’t know me by now.” Her fingers toy with a stray thread on her pants, pulling at it absently. “Sometimes I think he just doesn’t get it. Doesn’t get me.”

You nod, listening to every word. “Sometimes I don’t think he deserves to.”

Jinx looks over at you, that fire in her eyes simmering down, replaced by something softer, something almost vulnerable. She doesn’t say anything right away, but her hand inches toward yours, her fingers grazing your palm as if she’s testing the waters.

You intertwine your fingers, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. “We don’t need him, you know,” you murmur. “We’ve got this place. It’s ours. Away from everyone else.”

She leans her head back, gazing around at the dim room, where the fairy lights cast soft, warm glows over the walls. It’s far from fancy, but it feels like home, like yours. The two of you worked to make it that way—a sanctuary in the chaos.

Her gaze drifts back to you, a small, genuine smile breaking through her tough exterior. “Guess that’s why I wanted to come here… I knew you’d find me.”

“Always,” you say softly, brushing a thumb over her knuckles.

For a while, you sit in comfortable silence, her head eventually finding its way to your shoulder. The weight of her against you feels reassuring, grounding, like the world outside doesn’t matter when it’s just the two of you in this little hidden corner of Zaun.

“You know,” she murmurs, her voice barely above a whisper, “this place… I’d never let anyone else in here but you.”

Your heart skips a beat, and you turn slightly, pressing a soft kiss to her hair. “Good. Because I wouldn’t want to share it with anyone else.”

She smiles again, her eyes half-closed as she leans into you. In this moment, with the flickering lights casting shadows across the room and the muffled sounds of Zaun fading in the background, you both find a rare, quiet peace.

Jinx’s head grows heavier on your shoulder, her breathing slowing, steadying. You glance down to find her eyes closed, the furrow in her brow smoothed out. It’s rare to see her like this—unguarded, peaceful, away from the chaos that usually surrounds her.

Carefully, you shift, wrapping an arm around her to support her as you slowly stand up. She stirs slightly, but doesn’t wake, her head resting comfortably against your shoulder as you carry her over to the old, beaten-up couch you both dragged in here ages ago. Easing yourself down, you settle back with Jinx still in your arms, her body now draped across yours.

She mumbles something incoherent as she nestles closer, pressing her face against your chest. One of her arms wraps around you, clutching the fabric of your shirt as if you’re an anchor keeping her steady.

You can’t help but smile, brushing a few strands of hair away from her face, tucking them behind her ear. She looks so serene, her usual smirk softened, her breathing deep and calm. Gently, you stroke her back, your fingers tracing light, soothing circles as she relaxes even further against you.

The warmth of her settles into you, a quiet comfort that makes the dim room feel like it’s lit up with something more than just fairy lights. Holding her like this, feeling her heartbeat thrum in sync with yours, it’s like all the weight of the world fades away.

As minutes slip by, you let your head rest back against the couch, one arm wrapped securely around her while your other hand continues to run softly up and down her back. You could stay like this forever, hidden away with her, in a place that’s just for the two of you.

In this little pocket of the world, it’s just you and her, and for now, that’s all you need.

[blackynsupremacy]

THERE’S SOMETHING

ABOUT YOU.

CHAPTER 2

pairing: smallville!clark kent x blackfem!oc

fandom: smallville (2001-2011)

guest starring: aaliyah haughton as lyric james

also starring:

angela bassett as crystal james

rick fox as joseph james

summary: ever since lana lang has moved in with the sullivan’s, clark kent’s nightly telescopic views of the galaxy and daily glimpse of the sunrise tend to get lonelier. that is until a moving truck, a wandering amicable feline, and her frustrated owner, lyric james, makes her debut in his life as her family are the new owners of the old potter house next door. things between the new neighbors start to shift as clark is tasked as her personal tour guide at her new school. one little slip is all it takes for her to learn he’s more than meets the eye in this small town.

contains: lots of words, friends to neighbors, use of gifs for visuals, tooth rotting fluff, a bit of angst, lyric and clark getting closer, mild swearing, cute moments, slow burn, main audience is black readers but everyone is welcome. lyric’s thoughts, clark’s thoughts.

taglist: @zombiehe4rt @ellethespaceunicorn @elitesanjisimp @jkr820 @rosiestalez @sabrinasopposite @tryingtograspctrl @simply-the-best23 @gxuxhdjdu @afrowrites @afrogirl3005 @paisholotus

important a/n: for my black smallville girlies, i have created a smallville x black reader tag, so please if you have any content for any smallville characters idc if it’s a rant, fanfic, or meme, put it under that tag because we deserve that space and i want to see more than my stuff on there!

please read: CHAPTER 1

it was sunday afternoon and the james family were now officially moved in. furniture, clothing, and appliances were all accounted for and every necessary document for a citizen in smallville. lyric’s parents went next door to meet the kents to properly introduce themselves before venturing out to find the local market to freshly stock their kitchen with food and have their first meal together as a family in their new home. lyric stayed back, claiming she was tired from all of the lifting, moving, and organizing. she sat on her bed with her legs crossed and a sleeping noir on her lap as her thumbs pressed on the right arrow button of her digital photo album. she always saw it as a hobby, but her friends back home were always impressed with her photography skills. lyric adored to capture the realness and beauty of her city. she appreciated that it didn’t have to be a large garden or a gigantic skyscraper for it to be art. her album included graffiti painted murals, street musicians sharing their talents, or a child’s beaming smile as they indulged in an ice cream cone on a hot summer day. these photos brought her nostalgic bliss until she clicked upon a picture of her and omar. lyric felt such a twinge of pain that bit at her chest and a suffocating tightness in her throat that she inhaled and simply shut off the device. she picked up noir in one arm to get off her bed and place it on her desk next to her computer. if she didn’t do that, the thing would’ve thrown and smashed into the wall.

there was one thing that could make this feeling go away: a vinyl. lyric placed noir on the floor to roam around the room as she pleased before crossed over to her shelf that her record player atop of it. obviously being the year 2002, a lot of people her age wouldn’t care for them now, but this was a family heirloom that her grandpa, joseph “jojo” (as she affectionately called him) sr., passed down to lyric for her to enjoy music of the past and present. the brown skinned girl made the adjustments that the player was ready before she squats down to find a suitable album to listen to. hmm. beatles? nah. duke ellington? not today. whitney houston? maybe. lauryn hill? yes! lyric slid “the miseducation of lauryn hill” vinyl from the album cover to gingerly place it on the turntable. her fingertips grip the tonearm to maneuver the needle that gently descends onto the spinning vinyl, a soft crackle is heard in the room, indicating the start of one of lyric’s favorite songs. the sultry notes of " ex-factor” filled the room, lyric lost herself in the moment as she turned the dial to increase the volume. she grabs her hairbrush from her vanity to lip-sync as if she were on a world tour with her audience of noir who seemed to enjoy the impromptu performance of her owner swaying her hips to every rhythm. lyric felt the vibe hit differently as she sang along with the breakdown.

(care) care for me, care for me

I know you care for me

(there) there for me, there for me

said you'd be there for me

(cry) cry for me, cry for me

you said you'd die for me

(give) give to me, give to me

why won't you live for me?

care care for me, care for me

you said you'd care for me

(there) there for me, there for me

said you'd be there for me

(cry) cry for me, cry for me

you said you'd die for me

(give) give to me, give to me

why won't you live for me?

(care) care for me, care for me

you said you'd care for me—

“LYRIC RENEÉ JAMES!”

just as she hit a high note, crystal’s voice boomed as she burst through the door. lyric halted to turn around to see her mother’s facial expression change from a feigned stern look to one of amusement and laughter in her voice. lyric sheepishly giggled as she walked to the player to lift the needle off the vinyl to stop the music.

“hey, mama! what’s up? did the store have the frosted flakes?” she asked stumbling towards her mother. whenever lyric was caught like that, she attempted to take the attention off herself by changing the topic of conversation.

“girl, you and that record player! i’ve been calling your name for five minutes, but it looks like you were selling out stadiums on your world tour like you’re a child of destiny or something.” crystal quipped as she crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe.

“ma, it’s destiny’s child and i’m sorry. i just wanted to kill some time until ya’ll got back. is there anything you need me to do?”

“don’t get smart, girl. yes, get dressed. we’re going to dinner!”

“oh, for real? ya’ll found a restaurant out here that fast?”

“it’s not a restaurant, child. we’re just going next door. that nice family of that sweet boy—uh, honey, what’s his name? he found noir for you yesterday.”

“clark—clark kent?”

“yeah yeah, him! his family invited us to have dinner tonight, so start getting ready before we leave you.” crystal demands before she saunters out of her daughter’s room.

“you couldn’t leave me if you tried, ma!” lyric jokingly called out with a chuckle.

“try me and find out!” crystal responds a sound of her bedroom door opening and closing following suit.

lyric giggles while shaking her head before she goes to her closet to assemble the attire of a cropped black top with long mesh sleeves, khaki colored jeans, a sleeveless army patterned vest with a zipper, and combat boots. within the next thirty minutes, she did her hygiene, got dressed, and briefly primped herself in the mirror until her she deemed her final look presentable for the evening ahead. once her signature hoops were on, she kissed noir on the head and warned the cat to be on her best behavior before going downstairs to find her parents at the front door waiting to make their journey to the kents. she noticed her mother holding what looked like a boxed dessert of some kind before they walked out the door. it was a mild autumn temperature with a light breeze. the sun was starting to set painting an array of vibrant colors in the sky and setting the stage for the moon and stars to take their role for the night.

the family reached the kent house and stepped onto the porch. joseph glanced at his watch that indicated that they were ten minutes early and used his index finger to ring the doorbell. jonathan and martha answered the door within a second, amicably greeting the family with pleasant grins, hugs, and handshakes before they were cordially welcomed in the home. lyric’s eyes perused the classic, american interior of the living room, wooden staircase, and the multitude of family photos. lyric found it all so endearing her trance was broken when she heard a male voice speak her name with a friendly tone, it was not as deep as her father’s nor mr. kent’s.

“hey, lyric!” the girl’s head turned and her earthy eyes ascended to meet his of sky blue and an award winning smile on his lips. lyric could definitely peep his simple, classic farmhouse style of a red plaid flannel with jeans and boots, but he looked well put together nonetheless and not to mention of his clean, fresh scent.

“hey! what’s up? how ya’ doing, clark?” lyric addressed him with a dimpled smile, standing with one leg in front of the other and placed her hands in her back pockets. she wasn’t really sure what to do with her hands at the moment, she’s already shaken his hand when they first met, but she didn’t want to be too forward to give him at least a side hug.

“i’m good—well, great! i’m glad you guys could make it. you look really good, by the way. i like your outfit!” clark was trying not to stutter as his cheeks turned a bit red because he was telling the truth. it wasn’t a lie that he thought lyric was pretty, but to not come off as a creep and secure a potential friendship with his new neighbor, he complimented her fashion style that was also eye-catching. it was comfortable, simple, but it stood out from the rest with both neutral and vibrant colors.

“thanks, clark! i appreciate the invite and you don’t look bad yourself. you clean up real nice.” lyric honestly reciprocates the compliment. he’s too sweet. who needs to eat when your ego’s been fed?

all of the conversations were halted as the kents took the initiative to lead the james family to the kitchen. they gathered at the table and the husbands respectfully sat with their wives while clark pulled out a chair for lyric to sit next to him. with a soft voice and a smile of gratitude, she utters a thank you to the boy before taking her seat. the meal consisted of chicken fried steak and a spread of fresh farm to table cuisine that tasted like tlc was injected into every bite they took. as the families got to know each other, they conversed about the smallville community such as people they should (or shouldn’t) meet, places to go, and things to do. lyric was piqued at the mention of a meteor shower that previously happened in the fall of 1989, but saddened to learn that there was destruction, trauma, and long lasting effects, but the people of smallville had eventually learned to move on.

“oh my goodness, that’s awful!” crystal gasped with an appalled expression.

“it truly was—life altering, but not all was lost that day because we gained a son. that was the day when clark came into our lives and i wouldn’t change a thing.” martha responds with fondness as she places her palm on her chest and glances at her son earning smiles from everyone at the table.

“aww, that’s so sweet, mrs. kent!” lyric cooed as her chest swelled with warmth. she was a sucker for a happy ending.

“ah, mom. please don’t get too emotional! not in front of our new neighbors.” he jokingly pleads in slight embarrassment as his cheeks flush to scarlet causing the rest of the table to chuckle. mr. kent mentioned a man by the name of “luthor” lyric forgot his first name, but he’s a wealthy ceo of his own company. he’s originally from a city called metropolis, but moved into a mansion in smallville. the james family discovered that clark actually saved his life and they became friends ever since, hence his connections to the kents. lyric was amazed at the farm boy’s bravery, but she also detected in mr. kent’s tone that there was some mixed feelings about this dude. clark would chime in to come to this man’s defense. meteor showers, rich guys, clark being a hero. maybe this town does have some interesting stuff going on.

after dinner and with their parents’ permission, clark and lyric were excused to go to his loft in the barn to continue to know more about each other. it was already dark outside, but the many stars in the sky set the scenery. clark gave lyric a short “tour of his fortress of solitude”. lyric thought of clark to be lucky to have this huge, private space and she found it thoughtful that he at least felt comfortable with her enough to share it with her. he guided her to the telescope by the open loft window. she leaned forward and peeked her earth toned pupil through the eyepiece and he made sure to adjust the focus to capture all of the captivating spots that inhabited with galaxy. lyric felt the warmth of clark’s towering figure behind hers and she listens to his passionate, tenor voice as he educates her about the cosmos and eagerly answers any questions she has. it sounds like he wants to be up there. maybe he wants to be an astronaut after graduation.

a light bulb goes off in lyric’s brain before she moves back from the telescope and her two fingertips lightly tap his forearm to which clark’s eyes are immediately on hers.

“hey, clark?” she questions.

“yes, lyric?” he responds.

“i got an idea.”

“what might that be?”

“you wanna play 21 questions? i know it’s kinda lame, but it’s a good way to know each other if we’re next door neighbors and going to the same school, right? so are you in or are you out?”

“i’m in! do you wanna sit?” he offers gesturing to the sofa. lyric nods in agreement and they seat themselves on the cushions.

“bet! i’ll start with something basic. what’s your favorite color?”

“mostly blue and red. what part of new york were you from?”

“brooklyn. i’mma get this out the way—how tall are you?”

clark chuckles before answering.

“6’3. what’s something you love doing the most?”

“taking pictures with my camera! especially things that give me inspiration. i wish i had it take a picture of these stars…what’s your favorite food?”

“pizza. i can’t live without it if i wanted to!”

“get outta my head, that’s my favorite, too! there was this place back home called tony’s and let me tell you, they had the best new york style pizza on the block. they’d make the slices so big that you gotta fold it like a taco to get one bite and you’ll never finish it the day you get it.”

“sounds like my kind of place! i’m never one to back down from a challenge, so i’ll take your word for it, lyric. oh, right! the game— i wonder how’d you get to know noir?”

“that’s an interesting story. well, there was always this cat in my neighborhood just going on about its business, but some people were superstitious and thought she was bad luck because you know, she’s a black cat, so they would yell and curse at her like she was something evil. i was 12 years old and she was so cute to me, so i always fed her a little treat or just gave her a bowl of milk. one day it was raining, and i was in such a rush to get in the house that i didn’t see that i left the door cracked and she followed me in. i knew my parents wouldn’t feel too excited about any animals in our house, but she was cold, wet, and shivering, so i did what i had to do. i took care of her and it took two weeks of begging and my parents let me keep her because i was showing them that i was mature when i took care of her and the rest is history.”

“that was very kind of you, lyric. noir’s very lucky to have you as her owner, you’re basically her hero when everyone made her feel like an outcast.” clark’s lips formed a small smile and commended her as he peered at her side profile. lyric just sheepishly smiled as her dimpled cheeks radiated with heat.

“i think it’s the other way around! you would’ve done the same. the last i checked i didn’t save a rich dude from drowning, so you’re more of a hero than me.” lyric and clark chortled before she resumed the game with a question,

“what do you wanna do when you graduate, clark?” lyric quizzically awaited his answer, her eyes boring into his as her elbows rest on her lap with her chin resting in her palms. clark sits in thought for a few seconds to honestly get the answer from his brain through his mouth.

“i think i want to go into journalism. there’s something fascinating about getting a fresh scoop on something and you jump down the rabbit hole to get all of the facts from all of these different sources. the only downside is the possibility of invading someone’s privacy, breaking someone’s trust, and proofreading an article.” he states before they both chuckle at his joke.

“oh, really? for a minute, i thought you wanted to work for nasa with the way you were talking about the stars. it was like you were giving me a tour of your hometown, but it was the galaxy. journalism is cool though. clark, you could be on tv if you wanted to! it sounds to me you got it down to tee. you’ll do numbers, trust.” lyric shift her leg over the other and placed her elbow on the back edge of sofa, leaning her head in her palm.

“i’ve never got a chance to ask you this, but i really like your name. it’s unique. what gave your folks the inspiration?” he questioned and wittingly pretended to hold an invisible microphone with a playful smirk curving on his lips and a piqued glint in his eyes as he pointed his hand towards her lips, awaiting her answer. clark’s smile grew wider as lyric giggled and clasped her hands together.

“aha! i hear the journalist popping out now. we’re really doing an interview, huh? okay, well, my mama loves music. she used to play piano and write poetry as a hobby, but back then, her parents wanted her to do something more…practical and she went on to be a nurse. of course she loves what she does, but she told me that when i cried for the first time after i was first born, i was like the lyrics to her song of her life, so yeah, that’s why they named me lyric.” both teens simpered at the thought of their mother’s affection towards them.

“i can tell that you and your mom are close like my mom and i.”

“you’re not wrong, your mom speaks fondly on a day of tragedy and chaos because of you! there’s no doubt that she loves you a lot, clark. it must’ve been hectic giving birth during a meteor shower.”

there was a beat of silence.

“well— i’m actually adopted. my parents adopted me when i was around three years old and they raised me ever since. i’m not ashamed of it of course because they only want what’s best for me.” clark uttered as he cleared the air of awkwardness when he noticed lyric raise her brows in awe.

“oh-ooh, i’m so sorry, clark! i shouldn’t have assumed, it’s just—ya’ll are so tight, so i couldn’t tell. never be ashamed because blood doesn’t always mean family. as long as you got people in your circle who truly care for you at your best and at your worst, that’s family.” her hand slowly reaches toward him to place her palm on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring touch which clark receives with a small smile.

“thank you, lyric.”

“don’t mention it, clark.”

clark places his hand on top of hers for a brief moment and they both pulled away before things got too awkward between them than it should. for the next several minutes they continued with their inquiries about their lives, interests, favorites, and pet peeves. the parents were about to go their separate ways and made their way out to the porch to fetch the kids, but what they heard was laughter and a good conversation echoing from the open window in the barn. they all found it endearing, but joseph and crystal had to be up and at em’ the next day for their first days at work and lyric, her first day of school. jonathan and martha insisted to the james’ that lyric can hang for a few more minutes because they enjoy lyric’s company for their son and the kids would eventually tire out from their activity. knowing their son, he would bring their daughter home safely in one piece. crystal and joseph pondered on it and decided it would be okay, but they all agreed that if lyric wasn’t home by nine, one of them would pick her up. they bid each other a friendly goodnight and the james couple walked down the path and retired to their home.

lyric and clark stood outside the barn. it was pitch out, but the sky was still scattered with the soft shining light of the stars. her laughter mingling with the cool evening breeze. clark stood at her side with his hands stuffed in his pockets and an easy smile on his face, both of them reluctant to let the night come to an end.

“i swear, my parents be playing with me like that! of course they’d leave me if i don’t haul ass in time.” she chuckled, kicking a pebble to the side and glances over her shoulder to the familiar path that led to her house. clark laughed, a warm sound that filled the space between them.

“i wouldn’t be surprised. they’re the type of people that when they’re ready to go, they’re ready to go, even if you’re not. ,” he teased, his azure eyes sparkling. the connection between the teens felt easy like a sunday morning, it was a kind of chemistry that made them forget their mundane worries all together, but as the stars twinkled with every second passing by, reality crept back in.

“ugh, i gotta go home. god forbid i oversleep on my first day tomorrow.,” with a sad smile, lyric sighed glanced at the path again.

clark straightened his posture, his smile dimming just a touch. “i’ll walk you home, lyric.” he offered without missing a beat.

“thanks, clark!” she replied and they started their journey.

as they strolled side by side, the air was thick with a comfortable silence momentarily, but they resumed the stories of themselves and their friends. with each giggle and chuckle, it what seemed like a brisk two minute walk, felt more like a five mile stroll to her house. when they reached her front door, it felt too soon.

“goodnight, lyric. it was great seeing you again.” clark said, the volume of his voice diminished as he took a small step back. he didn’t want to make a bad impression by waking her parents.

“goodnight, clark! i can’t thank you enough. i’ll meet you at that bus stop where you showed me in the morning.” she utters, her heart fluttering a bit and a tickle in her throat. as her knuckles were about to knock on the door, clark called her name, his tone almost hesitant.

here it goes, it’s now or never.

“hey—um, how about we meet early tomorrow to watch the sunrise? it’s really beautiful out there and maybe it would spark inspiration for you to take pictures on your camera. that’s if you’re okay with it of course! ,” he suggested, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

he could see lyric’s toffee toned face light up at the idea. “yeah, i’m down for that. i don’t usually like waking up early, but you’re good in my book, so why not?” she responded, her smile beaming and she turned briefly to knock on the door to signal for parents to answer. joseph came to the door and graciously thanked clark for getting his daughter home in time.

as lyric stepped inside, she glanced at clark one last time to give him a wave and after he reciprocated, she disappeared behind the door. she didn’t realize the dopey smile that was stuck on her face as she walked in, but joseph did. with an amused grin, the older male crossed his arms and quipped,

“what you smilin’ about, lil’ girl?”

lyric stopped and cleared her throat, embarrassed that she was in such a trance that she didn’t realize her facial expression.

“uh—n-nothing just had a good time, daddy.” she stammered and twiddled her fingers.

“mhm, sure didn’t seem like nothing. get some rest, baby girl. it’s your first day tomorrow.” joseph chuckles and bids his daughter goodnight with a kiss to her forehead and ascended up the stairs to join his wife in bed. lyric playfully groaned, rolled her eyes at her father’s antics, and followed suit to change out of her clothes to her nightly attire and silk head wrap. she gathers her already sleeping onyx kitty in her arms, but doesn’t forget to adjust her alarm clock to a decent, but early enough time to get ready and meet clark before school. her eyelids close to begin her slumber.

as clark walked home, he was excited for his meeting with lyric and for her to meet his friends at school, but he felt a twinge of guilt. he felt he was betraying his loyalty to lana because watching the sunrises would be their “thing”. sure, he loved her, but it wasn’t like she’s his girlfriend. lyric was just a (almost) friend, all he wanted was to make her feel welcome, and that thought warmed his heart. clark really hoped that she would come through in the morning. he didn’t see any harm at showing someone the beauty and wonders of his hometown especially if they came from a whole different setting. once he got home, clark helped his parents tidy up the kitchen, bid them goodnight, and rested his body for the following day.

[rigginsstreet]

@runraerun made some wheels for @harringrovekinktober prompts (here in case anyone wants to play around and write something even after october) and my 3 prompts were rimming, ghost hunting, and bennys burgers which made me laugh so i decided to write something aaand here it is happy halloween 🖤

-

"this is such a bad idea."

"quit your bitching."

billy's hunched over the padlock blocking entry into the now desolate diner, trying to pick his way in with a bobby pin he stole from max's side of the bathroom.

"it's weird, billy!" harrington's whining behind him. "a guy died here, have some fucking respect."

"aha!" billy shouts as he gets the lock open, pulls out the chains holding the door closed and kicks it open before turning around to face steve. "and that's why we're going to see if all the rumors are true. so stop being a pansy ass and come in. wanna see if there's still any brains left over."

the rumors, of course, are that the place has been haunted for the past 40 years ever since the Benny of Benny's Burgers was found by the counter with his head blown off. and billy, being billy, has been itching to get out here ever since steve made the mistake of mentioning this to him as part of the town lore when he was trying to impress the hot new guy a few weeks ago... (it worked, of course, because steve got himself a new semi-boyfriend out of it, it's just that said boyfriend is kind of a psycho maniac, turns out.)

"you're a sick weirdo freak," steve deadpans, slightly disgusted.

billy just grins at him, tongue between his teeth. "that's what makes the sex so good."

billy steps in without further notice, and there's a split second where steve thinks about ditching his ass and just going to tina's party or something. find himself a nice normal somebody to hook up with instead.

he follows billy inside.

the place smells like old grease and mothballs. can't see shit inside until billy clicks on a flashlight and they're treated to a view of fallen bits of ceiling, cobwebs, and old graffiti.

"cute," billy says as he walks up to a wall with a satanic goat head painted on.

"okay! we came, we saw, no ghosts, let's go." steve is not freaked out, he just doesn't want to stay in this place any longer than he has to. he also doesn't want to risk tetanus.

the front door slams shut then, and billy starts cackling like some evil witch when steve jumps from the noise, because it's loud, not because he's scared.

"god, you really are a pussy," billy's still laughing, and steve wants to deck him in the nose.

"ok, you know what? fuck you. i'm leaving."

steve's had enough. he's not putting up with this the rest of the night. he's got better places to be, better company to keep. except.

billy's grabbing him by the waist as he tries to make his exit. pulls him til his back is flush against billy's chest, and billy's got his arms wrapped around him tight, faces pressed cheek to cheek in an oddly intimate pose for someone like billy hargrove who, in steve's short time of knowing him, hasn't really done much of intimate at all.

"hey, hey, i'm sorry, alright? i'll protect you from the big bad monsters..."

steve rolls his eyes because of course billy can't help himself from being a prick about it, but like.

the embrace does feel nice. maybe steve's a sucker. but he's fine with that fact as billy's turning him in his arms and suddenly they're face to face.

"only monster i need protection from is you."

"aw, baby, now how can you say i'm the bad guy when i treat you so good..."

billy takes steve's chin between his thumb and forefinger, guiding their mouths together at a tortuously slow pace that leaves steve's knees feeling like jello when their lips finally touch.

steve kind of forgets where they are after that. for as annoying as billy is, he's frustratingly a really fucking good kisser.

so steve lets himself get lost in it. has his hands fisted in the denim of billy's jacket and walks them back until billy hits the old diner counter with a grunt. makes billy kiss back harder, biting at steve's lips like he's some rabid animal. it's how it always goes with them.

"thought we were s'pposed to be ghost hunting?" steve asks between kisses. not that he really gives a shit. this is much better than disturbing restless spirits.

"got something else for you to hunt."

steve groans at the horrible joke, but then billy's whispering all husky against his mouth "want you to fuck me," and then steve's groaning for a whole different reason.

steve kind of wants to object, because this is not the place he wants to be doing this. but the thing is... billy hasn't actually let steve fuck him yet. all their hook ups have been the other way around and like, that's been all fine and great, but steve's kind of been itching to have his go at billy. and if this is his opportunity being handed to him on a silver platter, then, well...

"god, yes."

he's maybe a little more enthusiastic than necessary when he goes to undo billy's jeans. would be embarrassed about it under other circumstances, but he's a man possessed. maybe it's all the jitters from earlier. fuck if he knows.

but before he can pull billy's jeans down billy's stopping him with a hand to his chest, all calm and slow like the biggest cocktease in the world. for a second steve thinks he's been played, that billy's gonna start laughing in his face and tell him as if. but he doesn't.

"first thing's first, cowboy."

he tugs on steve's shirt, forcing him down to his knees as billy turns around, back to him. ass to him, really, once steve's in the desired position. and it takes steve a second to process it, what billy's wanting. but then billy's bending forward and planting his forearms onto an old vinyl cushion of the counter stools, and he's giving his ass a little wiggle right in steve's face and... yeah, okay. he gets the message. fuck.

he's done this before, just not with billy.

well, not to billy. billy's usually the one doing it to him, and he's fucking good at that, too. so. no pressure or anything.

"c'mon, harrington, i wanna wake the dead."

"ew, don't talk about that right now."

billy laughs while steve shakes off his disgust. refocuses on billy's ass in front of him and how he needs to remove the current barriers between them.

billy's ass is kind of glorious up close. not that steve would tell billy that, like the guy needs an ego boost. but seeing it stripped bare right in front of him he can better admire how taut it is, how golden it is, somehow, just like the rest of billy (an imagine springs to mind of billy sunbathing naked and it's got steve all kinds of things.)

there's a light dusting of hair that steve can see and feel as his hands make slow, methodical work of massaging him, getting him nice and relaxed before steve spreads him open and goes to work.

the tiny gasp billy let's out does wonders for steve's own ego. spurred on by all of billy's pleased noises he really sinks his teeth in - so to speak.

"fuck, harrington," billy breathes. "and everyone says i've got the wicked tongue..." he's cut off by a moan, and steve can't help but smirk to himself.

"they don't call me king for nothing," steve quips before going back in and fucking his tongue into billy's hole, relishing in the whimpers billy's letting out.

if only everyone at school could see big bad billy hargrove now, reduced to a whimpering mess all because of steve harrington. it sends a little jolt straight to his dick, he can't lie.

"wanna fuck you so bad..." steve breathes, brain going foggy as he bites into the meat of billy's ass.

"no one's stopping you." billy's trying to sound like his usually cocksure self, but the effect is hindered somewhat by the desperate rasp of his voice.

steve's all set to get on with it, getting ready to pull himself up to his feet when there's a loud crash coming from the kitchen.

"the hell was that?" he asks.

billy looks up, almost like he, too, was spooked, but of course he won't just say that.

"probably just an animal or something. get back to fucking me."

"i haven't started," steve mutters, back on his feet.

he's halfway to zipping down his fly when there's another crash, except this time it's from a rock, he assumes, hurling right past them til is cracks on the wall behind them.

"that's not a fucking animal, billy!" and, okay, maybe steve's kind of losing himself a little here, but, like, can he be blamed?

even billy's shot up, staring into the kitchen with wide eyes. "it's gotta be the wind or something... it's fine."

billy tries to tug steve closer to him to get on with the show, but it's in that moment a piece of the ceiling comes hailing down next to them, and steve's had enough.

"nope! no way! im out of here!"

even billy seems to have finally gotten his sense and is pulling his pants up, running out of the place right behind steve.

"homophobic ass ghost," he's mumbling to himself as they reach the door, and another rock flies by and cracks the glass.

"don't antagonize it, billy!" steve grabs billys arm and hauls him outside. "sorry mr. benny, sir! won't happen again!"

billy flips the diner the bird as they're running away, and steve will swear on his life he actually heard the bellowing sound of a man's voice yelling at them. nothing distinct, just... unsettling howling of sorts.

steve doesn't want to think about it.

only when the diner is out of view do they finally stop running.

steve's heart feels like it's about to leap out of his chest as he glares at billy. his lungs are gonna explode. "next time you want someone to fuck you, try taking them somewhere normal like a motel 6. asshole."

billy, despite his own look of fear, starts laughing. "you gotta admit this makes for a better story, though."

steve just shakes his head, still trying to catch his breath. "asshole."

[retrieve-the-kraken]

In honor of the Young Royals anniversary, I’m posting my pictures from my pilgrimage to the holiest of places in YR fandom, Kaggeholm slottet (Hillerska).

I have to say, not only was it so surreal to arrive at the actual place, but it was actually one of the nicest days from my whole trip to the Nordics (besides seeing Omar at Furuvik and my birthday). It was such a nice day with perfect weather, the trip to Ekerö itself was kind of a fun little adventure, and I wasn’t yet dying from pollen allergy (more on that some other time). It was great.

I have to say, getting off the bus, and seeing the bus stop, and then turning around and realizing that the building is RIGHT THERE, was a little shocking. I don’t know what it is, but the dimensions of everything in my head were completely different. I mean, is it me, or did everything look bigger, farther, higher on the show…?

The area is very peaceful. I saw some cars arriving, some people working in the surrounding buildings, and I was prepared to be told to “get the fuck out”, but no one said anything to me. Guess they’re either very used to YR fans walking around in awe and they don’t pay us any mind (unless you’re disruptive or something, perhaps?), or they just don’t mind visitors. Either way, I was left to roam the area, and take pictures and nobody ever asked me anything.

The main building was closed, though, and through the windows I could see a lot of piled furniture. The high season is in the summer, and it’s clear that they were working on the areas and buildings used by visitors, and for summer activities. I didn’t walk too much around the buildings in the back because they were working, and I was worried about walking straight into a construction.

The whole garden was in dire need of upkeep, which I’m guessing happens nearer the start of the summer season. The grass was quite high, and there were loads of flowers growing everywhere. The fountain was empty.

But the area was really beautiful and peaceful. Sometimes there was the noise of grass-cutting equipment or an electric saw, but most of the time, I just heard birds singing, and the breeze, and it felt very nice. Perfect for a picnic.

Look! The classroom building! And the pier!

It was near midday, and I had to figure out where I’d have lunch. I brought a little picnic, but it felt kind of weird to sit there all alone and eat. Also I couldn’t see where to dispose of my garbage afterwards, so after taking a gajillion pictures and videos, I started back toward the front to wait for the bus in the iconic bus stop.

On my way around the main building, I saw this offering by a fellow YR fan.

Also, since I knew the bus would still be a little while, I did sit at a picnic table on the front, and had a knäckebröd sandwich, in honor of Wilmon. And I enjoyed some more of the soothing sounds of birds singing.

And the final stop of my little tour was the red bus stop.

Wow, that place has been turned into a real chapel of YR adoration and prayer, hasn’t it?

I was amazed by the amount of graffiti all over it, paying tribute to all the characters, the actors, the creators and the magic of the show. But I was also amazed about the fact that it has been left untouched. I hope it remains like that forever, but you never know, so I captured as much of it as I could. I might have to share them all in another post, because this is not letting me right now...

I left my own mark, so if anyone ever visits, you might find a tiny message saying Retrieve-the-Kraken was here (or something like that, can't remember) somewhere on the bench. I think I remember thanking Lisa too.

So there you have it. I was but a humble pilgrim wanting to see the place where one of the most special shows that was a very special part of my life for three years took place, and it did not disappoint.

It felt especially bittersweet to be there after the end of the show. From the way the place looked, it was almost like they really shut down Hillerska, but also it was like entering a dimension of its own, the birthplace of a love like no other. And I don't mean just Wilmon Endgame™, I mean a very special fandom which will live in my heart forever.

I'm not ready to let go just yet, though...

[plainclothesdisaster]

Red Knight Chapter 6 - Masks

DP x DC | Dead on Main

Jason Todd encounters one Danny Fenton in the streets of Gotham and suddenly he's thrown into a world of ghosts and monsters. Will he embrace this life? Or will it just end up with him dead again?

Read on AO3 | Beginning | < Prev | Next >

---

Some nights later Jason was wrapping up some Red Hood business outside a local pub when he noticed something off about the ghosts. But not the curse ghosts— the regular spirits around Gotham that he’d started to see after his first encounter with Danny. Ever since he’d started fighting the curse ghosts with Danny, the regular crowd had stopped actively causing him trouble, but it didn’t change the fact that seeing all manner of bizarre and terrifying creatures that no one else did could be incredibly distracting. Like it was right now.

Dozens of ghosts of all sorts were running (flying, jumping, what have you) down the streets, away from something. A look in that direction didn’t reveal anything obviously wrong, and there were no sirens ringing. Regular people on the street were still just going about their business, so it couldn’t be that bad, right? He didn’t know enough about ghosts to know what could spook them like this. Jason, perhaps noble and perhaps stupid, set off in the direction they came from, toward whatever had made them run.

He followed the trail of fleeing ghosts and the growing sense of unease in his stomach. It led him downtown, under one of Gotham’s many bridges– a wide interstate overpass that let large shadows pool underneath. The few streetlights that worked did very little against the darkness.The unsettling energy he’d followed was so strong here it made him want to turn tail like all the other ghosts had. Every instinct said it would be unwise to stick around.

Then he recognized Danny’s voice. The clipped tones of the conversation made it instantly apparent he wasn’t catching up with a friend. From this distance, stationed behind a graffiti-covered concrete pillar, Jason couldn’t make out exactly what was being said.

He risked getting closer, turning invisible and maneuvering to the next column in. It was enough to finally parse the words of a voice he didn’t recognize, with a formal accent he couldn’t place.

“How much longer are you going to play this silly game?”

“I have a good reason for being here. An entity like this can’t be allowed to stay topside unchecked. You’re the ones who pointed it out, remember?”

“Irrelevant! You are stalling. the lesser kings grow restless.”

“You know I don’t give two shits about what those uptight raisins-“

“You are well aware that there are more important matters that need your attention. Your duty is to—“

“I don’t work for you.” Danny’s tone gained a dangerous timbre that sent a shiver down Jason’s spine. He caught his breath behind his teeth.

The warning also shut up the other speaker. The silence hung for a long moment. Then Danny spoke again.

“I will make an appearance in the Zone when I get a chance. Until then get lost.”

Jason caught a whorl of green in his peripheral and assumed it meant the other speaker obeyed Danny’s command. He had to fight his own instincts to abscond as well. He was certain if the words had been directed toward him he wouldn’t have been able to resist either.

He still wanted to bolt. He wondered if Danny had sensed him lurking there. That was a conversation he certainly was not supposed to hear, and the smart thing to do would be to get out of there before he got caught. But some of the uneasiness had faded from the atmosphere when the other speaker left, and Jason reminded himself that this was Danny. Danny wouldn’t hurt him.

Probably.

He came out from around the corner before he could chicken out, striding over like he’d just walked up. Danny brightened as soon as he saw him, which made Jason’s gut do a funny little flip.

“The ghosts are acting weird. Everything okay?” Jason kept his voice even.

“Oh, yeah,” Danny replied breezily, “Nothing to worry about.”

Lies. But Jason didn’t press even as he burned with curiosity. Better not to raise suspicion. Danny didn’t seem interested in questioning what Jason was doing here either, equally avoiding having to talk about the previous conversation.

“So.” Danny got that familiar conspiratorial look. “Since we’re already out here. Let’s go hunt some curses.”

//

A curse ghost gnawed on a gaudy statue of a golden bull in the financial district. The ticker on the outside of a gleaming skyscraper scrolled, reading some headline about record stock prices. A man slept on the bumpy ledge beneath the statue. He shivered as black goo, invisible to him, dripped down onto his side. The curse ghost loomed over him, the same shape as the bull, as if it were its shadow.

Then, without warning, Danny was on top of it. He whooped as the bull bucked, but he rode it rodeo style, holding on to its neck with one hand like some sort of gothic cowboy. Jason stared mutely, aborted plans replaced by incredulous disbelief. Maybe this was how Bruce had felt when he jumped into fights as Robin.

“Where the hell did you learn to fight?” Jason pulled his sword, positioning himself to help corral the beast away from the buildings.

“Self taught, mostly. Can’t you tell?” Danny wielded a whip of green energy in his off hand, snapping it at the bull’s sides when it got too close to anything breakable.

Of course Danny had no formal training. Nobody who had any sense of self preservation would fight with such reckless abandon.

“But you know what they say about grabbing the bull by the horns.” Danny did just that. Jason rolled his eyes. But a moment later he felt a buzz of power in the air and Danny wasn’t smiling anymore. He was focused on his hands, on the bull, almost like this stupid stunt actually had a purpose.

Then the bull let out a piercing shriek, twisted in a horrible convulsion, and launched itself sideways like a cannonball.

It crashed into the side of Gotham Central Bank, taking Danny with it completely through the stone brick wall. Alarms immediately started ringing. Shit. Jason jumped through the hole in the wall after them. With the amount of times this place had been targeted by rogues, Batman had it at the top of their surveillance priority. They had a matter of minutes before one of them showed up.

“We gotta go!” Jason shouted through the dust of falling rubble. “Fast!”

Danny faced off against the bull in the middle of the lobby. “Going! As fast! As I can!” He punctuated each phrase with a blast at the bull. Jason felt the power behind each one in his throat.

The curse dodged a blast. Then, as if Danny were a matador flashing his red cape, the bull charged.

Jason reacted before any thought surfaced. He strode once, twice, then swung his sword in a wide arc. It sliced through the curse ghost’s side, knocking it away from Danny and sending it sprawling to the marble floor.

Danny recovered quick enough to whip out a thermos and zap it up. Jason’s heart thudded. He’d panicked for a moment. He’d panicked when he thought that thing would hurt Danny.

“Thanks,” Danny tossed over his shoulder with an easy smile.

Jason nodded mutely.

He didn’t look after other people. Everyone was disposable and replaceable in this line of work. Bruce taught him that. He couldn’t start worrying after someone else’s life, not when they chose to risk it. Especially not someone who was practically a stranger.

But this wasn’t a stranger. This was Danny.

“We’ve got company,” Danny muttered, eyes toward the hole in the wall where they’d crashed in.

Spoiler stood in the gap, silhouetted by hazy moonlight. “You doing bank robberies now, Hood?”

He wouldn’t get any sympathy from Steph, but then again he hardly knew her. At least it wasn’t Tim. Or Bruce.

“Mind your business,” he snapped. “But no. You can check. Money’s all still there.”

“Right, right. And would he have anything to do with the giant hole in the wall?” She gestured to Danny, who gave a meek little wave. “Your new… partner?”

Danny choked on a chuckle at the same time as Jason barked, “Not my partner.”

Steph smirked. “Sure. Anyway, Batman is on his way, so you can explain it all to him.”

Danny froze, tension in every muscle. Jason shifted, angling himself in front of him.

“I’m actually gonna skip this session with Dr. Bats. So, if you’ll excuse us.”

Jason gestured to Danny with a tilt of his head, and Danny fell into step beside him as they bolted for the atrium stairs.

“Shit,” Steph hissed as she leapt after them. “Oracle, you tracking them?”

Fuck. Babs getting involved spelled signs of having their shit wrecked and on display for Batman to see before the sun rose. Jason lifted a hand to scan the frequencies on his helmet coms, hoping, halfheartedly, that he was still coded into their channel.

Batarangs whizzed past their heads as they careened up the stairs and burst out the doors onto a mid-level courtyard. They ran to a stone railing that looked over the street two stories below.

“This can be easy if you just answer our questions.” Steph appeared in the doorway as Jason turned. His eyes darted, scanning for options. Flat walls on either side of them. No good grapple point off the edge. They could go back the way they came- through Steph- but he wasn’t confident they could get past without having to hurt her, which. No, he wasn’t going to do that.

Beside him Danny practically bounced on his toes, his eyes doing the same dance. They had a lot more options for escape if they relied on Danny’s powers, but that meant outing him as meta-adjacent. That couldn’t happen— in that they both seemed to be in silent agreement.

“ETA 5.” Batman’s voice crackled through Jason’s helmet. They still used the old frequency after all.

“I have visual.” Oracle now. “Spoiler, keep him talking.”

“What are you doing here tonight, Hood?” Steph took a step closer, but she still maintained a healthy distance. She wouldn’t make a real move till backup arrived. Smart.

He just had to give Danny enough of a window to get out of sight. Then Danny could disappear for real, and Jason could deal with the Bats on his own. He just had to have hope that Danny had enough self preservation instincts to run when he had the chance.

“Who’s your friend?” Steph continued despite his silence.

“I’m Danny,” Danny replied, again with a chipper wave. Jason glared at him through his helmet.

“Danny, did Red Hood put you up to this?”

Danny snorted. “No. I mean, not really.”

Funny to think that Jason could make Danny do anything at all.

“It’s alright. We’ll make sure he doesn’t cause any more trouble.”

“That seems unlikely.” Danny threw him a glance.

“Shut up,” Jason hissed.

“We’ll take him from here.” Spoiler took another step forward. Batman would certainly swoop down at any second.

“Thanks for finally giving us an excuse to bring you to heel, Hood. I hear Arkham is real cozy this time of year.”

He shouldn’t be surprised, but he is. Of course he’d be treated like the other Gotham rogues. Foolish of him for expecting any better from the old man. He clenched a fist.

“Oh,” Danny stopped his fidgeting. The air around them went still. “Nah. I don’t think you will.”

Jason blanched. Danny couldn’t be stupid enough to use his powers now, could he?

“Losing visual.” Oracle’s voice crackled through static. “There’s– it’s some kind of interference.” Around them the landscaping lights in the courtyard flickered. Jason swallowed. Yes, it seemed, he could be that stupid.

“Danny, what–” Jason began, voice low, but before he could finish he felt a hand grab the back of his jacket. Suddenly he was invisible, and then suddenly he was weightless, and then suddenly he was flying. Spoiler shrunk beneath them as they crested the rooftops. Up he went over Gotham, dragged by Danny’s firm grip on his collar, streets whizzing past at dizzying speeds below.

Jason opened his mouth and a thousand things didn’t come out. He just gaped, strung along behind Danny like a fish on a line.

Cold wind pulled at Jason’s jacket as he glanced up at Danny. His face was a shadow, unreadable.

Danny didn’t slow down until he circled down onto their usual Crime Alley rooftop a few short minutes later. Jason felt gravity turn back on as Danny released him, gentle enough that he didn’t even stumble. Like he’d done this before.

“Fuck,” Jason half whispered.

“Sorry. Would have given you more warning, but it kinda would have defeated the purpose if she caught on to the escape plan.”

“No, that’s–” He rubbed a hand over his mask. “Now they know you’re a meta.”

“Not a meta.”

“Whatever. Now they know you’re someone they should know about. Once you are on the radar of the Bats you don’t just get off. They’re going to come after you.”

“They can try.”

Jason paced across the roof. “I’m serious. You should have gotten out when you could have. I could have dealt with them alone.”

“I couldn’t just leave you there.”

“It was stupid of you not to.”

Danny stood across from him, arms folded petulantly. “You cowing to their interrogation wasn’t a smart option either.”

“I would have been fine. I’m very good at lying. And if that was another bull pun I will strangle you.” Danny smiled sharply. Jason groaned. “And they wouldn’t really hurt me. Family, remember?”

Danny fixed him with a glare. “That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t hurt you.” The words were icy. Jason bit his cheek. From what he’d shared, Danny would know first hand how much family could actually hurt you.

“Whatever. I’m going home.” Jason turned to leave. Danny hmphed but didn’t press it. They exchanged curt goodbyes and parted ways.

Jason simmered with annoyance the whole way home. He could see it now, how it would pan out. Bruce would find out about the ghosts, about the curse. He’d swoop in and try to fix everything, and then he’d try to fix Jason. This was the crowbar that Bruce would use to pry open the door back into controlling Jason’s life.

And Danny— he tried to imagine a world where Bruce tolerated Danny. Removed from all the ghost weirdness, he was prime adoption bait, from the looks to the tragic backstory and the fraught familial relationships. But he was certain Danny would also react very poorly to Bruce trying to control him. And Bruce would absolutely try to control a powerful meta in his city.

None of this changed the fact that the city was still cursed. Nothing to do but keep fighting. Only now they’d have to always be looking over their shoulders.

//

The next morning he dressed as Jason and took his bike to Gotham University. He posted up outside the science and engineering building where he knew Danny had class. If Bruce had tracked Danny here, Jason wasn’t about to let him face Batman alone.

Maybe he was being paranoid— They only had Danny’s first name and his face, nothing else. It had been less than 24 hours since their encounter with Spoiler.

Yeah. No. He wasn’t going to underestimate them.

The towering oaks and manicured lawns of the campus felt foreign to him. It hardly felt like Gotham at all, not the real Gotham. The tall iron fences around the grass made sure to keep the real Gotham out. He scanned the doorways for campus security. Jason stuck out enough he wouldn’t put it past them to try to kick him out. He considered just aborting this pointless escapade and leaving when a stream of students began wafting out of the doors.

Danny appeared among the crowd. Jason’s feet froze to their spot. Danny smiled when he saw him, surprised.

Danny made his way over to, breaking off from the other students. “Isn't this a bit far from your radius?” He looked natural here, a bookbag slung casually over his shoulder, notebooks under his arm. Like he belonged.

“Gotta get some fresh air once in a while.”

The corner of Dannyʼs mouth quirked up and Jasonʼs stomach twisted.

Danny waited for Jason to, presumably, provide a reason for being there. “Making sure Batman doesn’t come after you” seemed like a crazy, unreasonable thing to say. Especially in that moment, as a sunbeam poked through the clouds and students chattered around them about homework and sports and parties.

As if reading his mental gymnastics, Danny offered a lifeline. “You want to join me for lunch?”

“Sure,” Jason replied almost too quickly, grateful for the excuse. He allowed himself to be led toward a cafe a few blocks away. He couldn’t help but scan the streets as they walked, looking for any hint of potential snoopers. The fact that there were so god damned many Bat-minions now made it more difficult to hone in on any one obvious tail.

Danny nudged him with an elbow, a questioning glance on his face. Was he being that obvious? Beside him Danny walked with the casual air of an ignorant civilian. More relaxed than a native Gothamite. Like he hadn’t just barely avoided a disastrous confrontation with the Batman. It only made Jason more paranoid.

They made it to the cafe without incident and found a table among the crowd of other University goers on their lunch break. As they ordered and settled in, small talk came as easily for them over pastrami on rye as it did between punches. Danny told him about the complex physics theories he was studying in class and Jason listened earnestly. Jason reminisced about his own schooling, non traditional as it were, and talked of the hours he spent in Bruce’s libraries.

His gaze wandered to a table by the window where a couple sat, laughing. First date, maybe. A next thought tried to follow that one but he strangled it like a firm hand around a throat.

“Itʼs not often I get to see your face in the outside world.” Danny pulled his attention back.

“Appreciate it while you can.”

“I am.” Danny smiled and Jason was suddenly acutely aware of his gaze focused only on him. “It’s unfair really. You get to admire these good looks all the time.” He gestured to himself and put on a false pout, hair flopping over his face.

Jason rolled his eyes playfully, but it stirred up a lingering concern. Oracle had caught Danny’s face on camera. That meant it was only a matter of time until she- and Bruce- found him. All that could have been avoided if Danny had a hero persona like the rest of them.

“Why donʼt you wear a mask?” Jason asked. “Itʼs like hero 101 shit.” He didn’t mean for it to sound as accusatory as it did.

Some of Dannyʼs brightness faded. “Iʼm not a hero.”

He raised an eyebrow. “So youʼre just a guy with superpowers fighting monsters every night. In jeans.”

That earned him a reluctant smile. “Pretty much.”

Jason lowered his voice and leaned closer. “Batman has your face now. He knows you have powers. He knows you work with Red Hood. Wouldn’t it be easier if you kept that separate from-“ he gestured to the books, the cafe, his life- “this?”

Danny sighed, leaning back and folding his arms. “There’s not really a point in keeping secrets. Batman can’t stop me. We’re careful. And it’s not like the ghosts are gonna talk to the tabloids.” “Weʼre not that careful. One wrong move or stray camera could destroy your life.”

Danny laughed, dry and harsh. “Danny Fenton is dead. I donʼt have a life to destroy.”

Jason paused. He hadnʼt found anything in his searches to suggest that was true. And it made no sense. Danny Fenton had dreams. He wanted to finish his degree. He hoped to work for NASA. Jason hadn’t imagined that conversation. Something didn’t add up.

“How does a dead man register for college?”

“With some half-baked forgeries and an excellent hacker on speed dial.”

“And wouldnʼt it still be bad if the undead college studentʼs life got ruined?”

Danny looked away. “It doesnʼt matter.”

“It doesnʼt matter?“

“I’m here to fix a ghost problem.” His voice got tighter.

“You said you werenʼt trying to do ghost stuff full time.”

“Trying, yeah. Emphasis on trying.”

“Not very hard, I guess.”

Danny grabbed his bag and stood up from the table in one abrupt motion. He looked down at Jason with cold eyes. “At least I try.”

Jason flinched at the hint of malice behind the words. Danny wasn’t wrong. Jason Todd was dead, and he had no intention of changing that. He didnʼt need to. He had his mask and the kingdom he’d built with it. He didnʼt need to be Jason.

But Danny had dreams as Danny. Jason had seen the yearning determination in his eyes as heʼd looked at the sky. Danny was a good liar but not good enough to fake that.

“Where are you going?” Jason snapped.

“Why do you care?”

Danny turned and brushed past tables of other diners as he stormed out. Jason clamped his mouth shut to stop himself from snapping back. He didn’t move from his seat. He fumed silently. Nothing that he’d found online had pointed to Dannyʼs death. No death certificate, a hospital stay, an obituary, a gravestone. Nothing.

He thought about going after Danny. A good friend probably would have. Instead he remembered snippets from that overheard conversation. Duty, the other person had said. Something about Danny’s duty. Nothing to do with fighting Gotham’s curse, from the way they said it. Some other thing entirely.

//

Danny didn’t show up that night. Jason waited on their roof (fuck it all, he’d started to think of it as theirs) but midnight came and went with no sign of him.

Jason tuned into the Bat coms after barely fifteen minutes of silent sulking. A pang of worry lingered in his gut. Batman could have found Danny, and— and what? He doubted they could lay a finger on Danny, let alone capture him. He’d already been in and out of Bruce’s security undetected.

Still. He listened on the coms for any mention of their escaped meta, but it was just a standard night of patrol. Tim and Cass out in the field, Oracle guiding them. Bruce must not have been listening in closely because they’re lax on chatter on the frequency. It’s like a personal radio drama just for him, except it’s a window into the life that was no longer his.

Still, Danny’s silence didn’t feel good. Jason remembered the hardness in his eyes from that afternoon, The apathetic bite of his tone. But Jason banished any hint of guilt that tried to squirm its way out of him. Fine by him if Danny wanted to ruin his own life. That clearly wasn’t his responsibility.

“Disturbance at Robinson Park. Destroyed property. Perp unclear.” Oracles voice came steady and clear over the coms.

“On our way. Is it Ivy?” Tim responded, businesslike.

“Negative. The path of destruction points to something large, animal-like. But I can’t spot it. It’s like it’s invisible.”

Jason’s ears perked up at that. That was a curse ghost, no way it could be anything else. And as much as he loved to imagine Tim getting his whole ass handed to him by an invisible monster, he really should go deal with it because the bats would be in way over their heads.

Well, except for the fact that Danny wasn’t there. He’d never fought a curse ghost alone. For as good as he’d gotten with the ghost weapons, he didn’t always come out of these fights unscathed, even with Danny’s backup.

He sent Danny a text with the location- curse ghost here. Maybe that would make him get over his sulking and get out here to help.

Minutes ticked by with no response. Tim and Cass sounded more harried on the coms. Danny would almost certainly tell him not to fight it solo if he were here. He gritted his teeth. Jason didn’t need Danny’s approval. Or his permission.

He checked the straps on his holsters and sword then took a running leap off the roof.

By the time he got there the park was already in chaos. Tim stood on the path and swung his staff at nothing. Cass crouched by the swing set which was sprawled in a half crumpled mess. Neither of them looked at the curse ghost, which gnawed on a corner of a park bench.

In an ideal scenario Jason could lure the curse ghost away to avoid explaining anything to them. Then Tim’s head snapped toward the bench, alerted by the crunching of old wood between invisible jaws. Cass also tensed, ready to pounce. Fuck.

Together they attacked. Predictably, Cass’s foot and Tim’s staff went right through the mass of oily shadow with no resistance. It took actually seeing it happen for Jason to fully appreciate just how screwed they were. Normal weapons couldn’t hurt it. They couldn’t even touch it.

Annoyed, the beast stopped snacking and with a massive clawed hand it took a swipe at Tim. Tim didn’t see it coming, obviously, so he took the hit hard to the side, sending him tumbling to the dirt.

“Red Robin!” Cass leapt after him only to catch a lazy swipe from the ghost's tail, knocking her down into the bushes.

“Backup heading your way, hold on,” Oracle's strained voice came through his helmet. More Bats wouldn’t solve this. It would only end up with more of them hurt. But they knew too much already without Jason exposing his ghost powered weapons too. He just needed the right opportunity.

The beast prowled toward where Tim was still righting himself. It cackled like a hyena, jaws wide and full of sharp teeth. It lunged.

Jason was faster. He took two bounding, half-floating steps, swung his sword and caught the ghost in the jaw. He shoved it back from Tim as it yowled.

God fucking dammit. So much for laying low. But he couldn’t just watch them get hurt.

“Hood?”

“Infrared.”

“What?“

“Use infrared vision.” He looked down at Tim as he found his feet, keeping the ghost in his peripheral. He remembered Danny calling out the infrared detectors as part of his arsenal of gadgets (“Helpful if you can’t already see them.”) and he didn’t want Tim and Cass flailing around totally blind.

“And stay out of my way.”

The ghost lunged again and he met it with his sword. They clashed, and for all Jason’s bravado, his arms shook as the beast parried his swing. He threw it off with a surge of effort. Thankfully Tim listened and had scattered to the edge of the lawn where Cass had resurfaced from the bushes, out of the radius of the fray. But looking to check on him had been a mistake— Jason felt a claw slash into his calf before he could dodge. He sucked a breath through his teeth. He’d had worse. But he was reminded again that he’d never faced the full ire of the curse ghosts alone. He’d always had Danny to trade blows with.

Now the ghost looked at him, only him, with hungry black eyes and that insufferable cackle dripping from its lips.

“I’ve got visual on infrared.” Oracle, still in his ear. “It’s showing up as a cold spot—some kind of giant wolf.” Hyena, Jason corrected mentally before barely dodging another swipe of its claws.

“Got it,” Red Robin chirped. Jason dared another look to see he had indeed donned infrared goggles from his kit. “Going back in.”

Jason’s heart clenched. “No,” he grunted over the coms he was definitely not supposed to have access to, “Stay out of it.”

The ghost took the opportunity to launch itself at him. Jason found himself pinned under its massive paws, staring up into that gaping, laughing mouth.

“Hood!” If he didn’t know better he’d think Tim actually sounded concerned. Which—fuck, that didn’t mean anything since he couldn’t do shit to help.

Jason found his pistol and wiggled himself just enough room to press it to the ghost’s belly. He pulled the trigger and green energy exploded into the shadow, tossing the ghost off of him and fully exposing Jason’s own ghost shit for Oracle and everyone to see.

“You can’t hurt it,” he barked at Tim as he rolled to his feet. “Stay the fuck back.” Tim didn’t protest. For once.

Now that the guns were out he gave up any attempt at subtlety. He got nasty with his blasts and pulled nothing from his punches, calling every ounce of that green energy to the surface. He must have looked like a glowing menace to Tim and Cass, but he had little room to care. The ghost fought back with eager viciousness. Jason ignored the snap in his wrist, the teeth grazing his side, drawing blood. He just had to beat it down enough to capture it.

After another round of traded blows finally, finally, the curse ghost started looking worse for wear. It panted heavily, long black tongue lolling out of its mouth, and it oozed black sludge where Jason’s sword had left the deepest marks. He holstered a gun long enough to pull the thermos instead, and as it lunged toward him one more time he sucked it up in a beam of light.

The silence that followed was beautiful. He bent over halfway to catch his breath. He did it. He fucking did it. He did it without Danny.

From the other side of the lawn, Cass whistled. Jason stood and turned to face them, intending to take a quick bow before exiting stage left, but— there was Bruce. Batman had arrived sometime during the brawl. He stood protectively in front of Tim and Cass.

“Red Hood. Report.”

Nice to see you too. He rolled his eyes and turned to leave.

Then Bruce tried a different angle.

“Where is your new partner?”

Jason bristled. Batman being suspicious of him was one thing, but bringing Danny into the equation made the pit under his heart roar in protest. He turned back before he could think better of it. “None of your business, old man. Stay out of it.”

He didn’t appreciate the thin press of Cass’s lips or the hint of Tim’s chuckle.

“Let us help you.” Batman extended a hand. And oh if Bruce didn’t sound just a bit soft, and the offer sounded almost genuine. It only made his hackles raise further.

“You can’t help,” he ground out. And it was true. If Bruce couldn’t help him before all the ghost stuff, he absolutely couldn’t help now.

Jason took off toward his bike. If he was fast they wouldn’t catch him. He hoped he wouldn’t have to dissuade them further.

“Jason!” Batman broke his own rule to call out his name, and it was almost enough to get him to stop and go back. Almost.

He slipped between the trees and ran deeper into the shadows.

//

Jason had two more nights of worrying. Of listening in on police scanners (since he hadn’t been able to reconnect to the coms since revealing he had access) for any hint of Danny. Nothing.

Maybe Danny got wise and skipped town. Jason went to Danny’s apartment to check if he’d left. When his knock went unanswered he phased himself in through the door. A quick glance around said all of Danny’s stuff was still there. No sign of a fight. Jason stood in the center of the tiny apartment feeling like an ass. Now that he’d been there with Danny’s permission it felt wrong to be breaking in unannounced. Danny wasn’t just a suspicious unknown meta anymore. He was— well, he was something. Still suspicious. But undeniably on his side.

Danny could be MIA for any reason. Something could have happened with his mysterious family maybe, though that thought did nothing to calm Jason’s nerves.

He let himself settle into the more likely possibility that maybe Danny simply didn’t want to see him. It wouldn’t be hard for him to avoid Jason, break ins aside. Danny could simply vanish anytime he sensed Jason nearby. Maybe he’d been stupid for pushing Danny to talk. Dumb of him to think that Danny owed him anything real.

He opened his phone like he was going to text Danny, but after typing and deleting various attempts at concern or apology or both he just shoved the phone back in his pocket, message unsent. Their text chain only pertained to the curse ghosts after all. It’s not like Danny owed him a response for anything else.

On the third night, out of nowhere, Danny sent him a text.

You up?

Jason nearly frisbeed his phone across the safehouse when he saw the notification. It was just barely 2 am- he had finished his rounds and called it a night early. He hurriedly tapped a reply.

Where have you been?

Meet u at roof.

Jason didn’t know whether to be mad or relieved. He ended up pulling his pants back on and rushing out while feeling a strange cocktail of both.

As soon as his feet hit the roof Jason could tell Danny was off. His shoulders sagged, his face looked less full, eyes filled with less light. Suddenly Jason was less certain his absence had anything to do with their fight and instead everything to do with whatever caused him to look like this.

“What happened to you?”

“What are you talking about. Iʼm great.”

Jason raised his eyebrows, asking for more. Danny sighed and changed the subject. “Sorry I didnʼt reply about the curse ghost the other night. Did it do any real damage?”

“Tried to eat the park benches.” Jason leaned up against the stairwell wall next to him. Danny grimaced, and Jason left out the part where it nearly wasted Tim and Cass. “But I handled it.”

A bit of sharpness snapped back into Dannyʼs eyes. “Wait, what?”

Jason tapped the thermos on his belt. “Added ‘em to the soup collection. What, didnʼt think I could do it on my own?”

Danny hmmed in reply, his usual enthusiasm still dimmed. But Jason could see wheels turning behind his eyes.

“No faith at all. I’m insulted.” Jason cracked a smile.

“Did you get hurt?”

“Do I look hurt?”

Danny tilted his head knowingly. Jason pulled his jacket closer.

“I’m fine. And Either way, it was probably a good thing to keep you off the Bats’ radar for a bit.”

It wasn’t, however, a good thing that Danny looked like he’d been chewed up and spat out. Jason bit his tongue to keep himself from prying.

“The Bats were there?”

“Tim and Cass. Couldn’t let them get their shit wrecked by an invisible ghoulie.” Then he added, quieter: “Or Bruce’s.”

Danny let out a huffed pained noise under his breath. Suffice to say that his opinion on Batman hadn’t changed.

“We have limited time till they get more involved.” Jason leaned closer, trying to catch Danny’s eye. “So I have to ask— Where is this all going? Weʼre bagging these things night after night, but that doesn’t stop them from appearing. There has to be an end.”

“There is.” Danny pressed his lips together.

“The curse is actually just one entity,” he continued, “These ghosts we’ve been fighting- they’re like offshoots of it. The root is like… the queen of the curse. She’s the oldest one here, the initial kernel that grew into something powerful enough to spawn all the others.”

Jason blinked. “Then why havenʼt we gone after her?”

“I have. When I first got here. It sucked.“ He pushed up off the wall they were leaning against and paced across the roof. “She’s dug her claws in real deep, and all the power her minions get feeds her too.”

Jason did not like the sound of a foe that even Danny had trouble facing.

“But we’ve been cleaning up curse ghosts left and right. That must be putting a dent in her, right?”

“That’s the hope, yeah. So that next time I face her, it shouldn’t be such a disaster.”

“We.”

“Huh?”

Jason got off the wall to follow him. “Next time we face her. No way I’d miss out on sending her packing after all this.”

Danny was quiet a moment. “Right. Yeah.”

The hesitation in his voice was certainly not a vote of confidence. Jason did his best to ignore it.

“Anyway.” Danny said, shaking off a bit of the funk hanging over him, “It’s been too long since I’ve bashed curse heads. You up for a little tête-à-tête?”

“Always.”

They tracked a curse ghost to an old office building at the edge of Crime Alley. It was a remnant of when this place used to be Park Row, an imposing tower adorned with art deco details, now crumbling with neglect. They followed Danny’s senses up to the executive floor, where large wooden desks and rows of retro office chairs sat fading.

For a couple of long minutes as they stalked the dark halls, Jason feared the trail had gone cold. Then, from the conference room in the corner, he heard a pale keening moan. Danny flashed him a look, and then they began their usual dance.

Danny took the opening, crashing in through a half-screened window. Jason followed, blocking off the door. The rhythm came easy, like a set of ping pong across the conference table with the curse as the ball. He matched Danny’s pace more easily than normal, and he felt a curl of warm smugness in his gut before he took a glance at Danny. He looked downright sluggish compared to normal, like gravity had turned against him for once. His limbs moved heavily through the air, and when he twisted too fast Jason caught a wince snarl through his features.

The beast hadn’t stopped keening, but it was slower to get back to its feet now. Just a few more good hits and then they could wrap this up and Jason would demand Danny tell him what was wrong.

Then something happened that Jason never thought heʼd see.

Danny went down, hard. A sudden whip from the beast's tail sent him plowing through the wall, then another, then deep into a stack of ancient metal file cabinets with a nasty crunch. He didnʼt get up.

A spike of fear shot down Jasonʼs spine. A flicker of his old rage laced the next few swings of his sword, but right then he was grateful for it. It was enough to give him an opening to pull out the thermos. He sucked the curse up before it got any closer to Danny.

Then Jason stopped thinking as his legs carried him to the divot in the cabinets where Danny laid unmoving.

“Danny?”

Danny groaned, still alive. Half alive. Whatever.

Jason didnʼt know what to do. He reached out his hands and they hovered over Dannyʼs crumpled torso. The white of his t-shirt revealed growing red stains. And also, worryingly, green.

This was the part where Danny would sit up and crack a joke. Where he would tease Jason for worrying. Where heʼd smile that infuriating smile. But he didnʼt. His breath came in shaky rattles. His eyes stayed closed.

“Fuck.” Jason stopped hesitating and put his arms under Danny, lifting him gingerly from the dust and debris.

“Wha-?” Danny mumbled.

“Iʼve got you.”

Danny relaxed into his arms, his head resting against his chest, and Jason felt his heart stutter. Danny was too cold in his grasp, too light. But Jason didnʼt have time to worry about that. He needed to get Danny somewhere safe.

In a daze, he made his way to Dannyʼs apartment. Danny didn’t wake throughout the trip, just let out little pained sounds whenever Jason jostled him too much. When they arrived at the apartment, Jason used his jacket to phase them through the door. Glancing at the unmade bed, he opted to lay Danny down on the torn up couch instead— better to not get blood all over the sheets.

Jason knew where the first aid kit was from when Danny used it on him, so he grabbed it from the kitchen. Then he took the hem of Dannyʼs torn shirt and pulled it over his head. Any qualms Jason had about the invasion of Danny’s privacy died when he saw the wound on his side.

Huge gashes raked across his abdomen in parallel, torn deep into the skin. Claw marks, Jasonʼs brain provided numbly, though these claws must have belonged to something even bigger and nastier than the curse ghosts. Something worse than anything Jason had seen.

What the hell did this?

“Jason-?” Dannyʼs eyes fluttered half open.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Jason admonished.

Danny blinked slowly, still out of it. “Didja get ‘em?”

He was still worried about the curse ghost? Jason nearly bit his tongue. “Yeah.”

Danny leaned back and closed his eyes again. “Good. Thanks.”

Fucking hell.

Jason turned off his brain and let his hands do the work of patching up Dannyʼs side in mental silence. Danny didnʼt stir as he disinfected the wounds, as he taped butterfly bandages over them, as he pulled a fresh shirt over Dannyʼs head. If it were anyone else Jason would have needed to do stitches, but with Danny he knew better. His accelerated healing would take care of it quicker than he could pull the stitches back out.

The pack of bandages had been nearly empty. Seems it wasn’t the first time he’d been hurt. Something ugly twisted in Jason’s stomach at that thought. So instead Jason looked at Dannyʼs face, free from worried creases in sleep. Danny looked so vulnerable, so peacefully human. Jason fidgeted with his hands.

“Not so invincible after all, are you?” he breathed.

The space between them felt smaller than it had before, all pretenses of keeping his distance shattered. What once had been a wide gulf, gaping like the wounds on Dannyʼs side, collapsed like an imploding star.

Jason couldnʼt stop himself. He reached out with a timid hand and closed the remaining distance. He pushed aside the lock of dark hair that had fallen in Dannyʼs closed eyes, his fingers brushing featherlight over Dannyʼs forehead. Reverent and tender. Danny shifted and sighed.

Jason froze. No. Nope. Nuh-uh. He couldnʼt do this. It was like holding an overripe strawberry in his palm— he didn’t trust himself not to crush it. He shut his mind off again as he fled for the door, leaving Danny to wake up alone.

//

Danny showed up on their rooftop the next night, no sign of the injuries from the night before, looking chipper as the day they met.

“Thanks.” Danny said, handing Jason a paper wrapped burger.

Jason took the gift without rising from where he sat. “For what?”

Danny responded by lifting his shirt to reveal the gashes in his side. They had sealed over in puckered pink scars. Fast, maybe even more so than Jason had expected.

“For the patch up.” Danny pulled a second burger out of the bag and sat on the ledge next to him.

Jason waited for him to say more. To offer an explanation for the wounds, or what gave them to him, or where he’d been. Danny just bit into his burger and chewed wordlessly. He looked off somewhere in the distance.

“I could have handled it.” Jason broke the silence. “You shouldn’t have been out fighting like that.”

“I’ve had worse. Plus, now I’m fine.”

“Not caring about getting hurt just because you heal fast isn’t a good battle strategy.”

“Who said I was good at strategy?” Danny had that damnable smirk on his face.

“Either way. You could have left it alone for another night. Gotham’s been cursed as long as I’ve been alive.”

“Longer than that.”

“So it can definitely survive one night without its blue-jeaned protector.” Danny scowled, but didn’t argue further.

Jason reminded himself he shouldn’t care. Danny didn’t owe him anything, and he liked it that way. Any more info on Danny’s life would just serve to entangle them more than they already were, which he very much didn’t need. The only answer he really needed at this point was how to stop the curse ghosts.

He still hadn’t had any luck in cracking the pattern though. Even with the added info about the heart of the curse- the queen- progress was slow going. He’d shifted his efforts to finding her specifically, but so far she’d proven incredibly elusive. There was just too much violence in Gotham to parse what was tied to the curse and what wasn’t.

They finished their meal in silence as sirens wailed in the distance.

Jason stood and stretched. “Almost can’t imagine this place without a curse, though. It’s part of the charm.”

Danny crumpled his burger wrapper and tossed it in the bag. “Once it’s gone you and the Bats will actually be able to change things for the better though. It won’t be such a Sisyphean fight anymore.” He raised an eyebrow. “Sisyphus? Didn’t peg you for a mythology fan.”

“I’ve, uh, taken some practical mythology courses.” Danny blushed, which sent Jason’s stomach tumbling.

Jason honestly couldn’t picture a Gotham without all the corruption and violence and greed. What would that place even look like? Would that Gotham even need a Batman? Or a Red Hood?

Or a Danny?

“What about you?” Suddenly Jason had to know.

“What about me?”

“After the curse is gone. Will you stay?”

Danny’s lips turned down. Thoughts spun behind his eyes. Jason’s gut dropped and he regretted asking. He didn’t know which answer he wanted to hear. He didn’t know which would be worse.

Danny opened his mouth to reply. Then a curse ghost crashed onto the balcony below them, stealing his answer away.

//

Another week went by with no lead on the curse’s cause or its queen. Jason, for his part, had kept it professional when it came to Danny. They met nightly, hunted curses, then parted ways. Like following a script. He ignored, with great effort, the spike of worry he felt every time Danny took a hit, or the way his whole body clenched whenever he thought he saw the shape of a cowl following them in the shadows. He couldn’t let himself lose focus.

Find the queen. End the curse.

So far the bats hadn’t actually bothered them any further, which meant that either they had bigger fish to fry, or that he still had one scrap of good will left in Bruce’s eyes. But he wouldn’t bet on it. Which is why they needed to find the queen and finish this quickly. Then everything could go back to normal.

He’d go back to running the Crime Alley scene uninterrupted, and Danny would go back to… something else. College? Jason wanted to believe it, but after their conversation in the cafe, he couldn’t be sure. He thought about never having to fight another curse ghost with Danny and it made his heart do an unpleasant twitch. He wanted the curse to be gone, he reminded himself. Wanted the bats to have no reason to be suspicious. Wanted to be done with all this ghost bullshit.

At least that’s what he told himself.

Jason had gone out scouting for leads on the queen when he found himself at the graveyard. The slant of the evening sun had turned the familiar stones a shade of pale golden even through the overcast sky. It wasn’t the first time he’d been back here.

He stopped walking at a particular knoll. The headstone at his feet read Jason Peter Todd. The grass had long regrown over where he’d dug his way out. He wondered if Danny had a grave, one that had been erased from the records.

Ghosts- regular ghosts, not curses- floated about, semi transparent. They must be pretty weak if they were only half visible even to him. Or at least he thought so, based on what little Danny had told him about how ghost biology worked. The ghost of a woman, older but not old, floated closer. She looked at him expectantly.

He gestured to the headstones around them. “One of these yours? I can, uh, clean it up a bit for you? If that helps?”

“I don’t- I can’t- remember—“

“I’ll read some names. Maybe it’ll come back to you.”

“Abigail? Chelsea? Lorraine?” He stopped at a grave with fresh soil. “Sarah?”

The light shifted as the sun slanted lower. He noticed her neck- deep purple bruises wrapped around her windpipe with the distinct outlines of fingers.

Anger twisted in his stomach. “Or maybe it would help more if I found who did that to you.”

The spirit’s eyes snapped to him, suddenly sharp.

“Hurt.“

The tone of her voice sent a spike of fear down his spine, gravely and staticy and filled with so much anger.

“Whoa, whoa. You okay?”

The ghost woman shuddered and changed in front of him. She warped into a heinous visage with sharp teeth and pointed fingers, her hair twitched at wrong angles in a writhing cocoon, her eyes turned to pools of inky black.

“Hurt. Hurt him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him kill him kill him kill-”

Jason’s own rage leapt to a sudden, blinding boil. It felt like fire ants swarming under his skin, hot and sharp and bright. He felt the woman’s pain as if it were his own, and felt the need to cause pain ten fold in return. The beast under his heart roared, hungry for revenge.

He relished how familiar it felt, the clarity of purpose, the surrendering of will, the open bleeding wounds that could only be paid back with more blood. He thought about the relief he’d feel if he finally put a bullet through the Joker's brain. Better if he made Bruce do it. He’d hurt the other Robins as a motivator, kill them if he had to. He’d do whatever it took to make that bastard feel hopeless, to make him bend, to bleed, to make him suffer like he had—

Oh, fuck. Jason blinked away just enough of the green in his vision to stumble backwards. He needed— he needed to feel the crunch of bone under his hands, the taste of fear–. No—no. He needed to get away, needed distance between himself and the vengeful ghost. He ground his teeth as he fell to the earth. He dug his nails in the dirt as he clawed backwards, away.

He spat blood— he’d bit his tongue. He scraped at his holster, whipping his pistol out. Its weight steadied his hand as he trained it on the spirit.

“Knock if off,” he spat at the ghost, poisonous heat still raw in his voice.

The pressure of her pain didn’t relent, still clawing at his insides, scraping into the oldest parts of his anger with black heat. He pulled on his own energy in return, desperate. It leapt readily to his call, building at the tip of his gun.

“I said fuck off!”

He shot, and the cannonball of green energy barreled into the ghost. She wailed but she didn’t stand a chance. Her form dispersed in green flames. The claws around his heart vanished with her, leaving him feeling raw.

Easier to beat than a curse ghost. But the encounter left him feeling more than twice as rattled.

Then he rolled onto his knees and dry heaved over the grass. Flashes of what he’d wanted to do to his brothers, to Bruce, surfaced through the clearing haze in his mind. He could have done it. If he’d had any less awareness of the cause of those thoughts, he was certain he would have.

Cold sweat simmered over his skin. He curled his arms around his legs like it would make him warmer, or settle his stomach. It did neither.

He could have killed them.

Danny would have stopped him, he thought. The thought had no real backing in reality, but he believed it all the same. If Jason had actually gone after Bruce and the others, Danny wouldn’t have let him do it.

It provided enough hypothetical comfort to allow him to remember how to breathe.

He raised his eyes just enough to look at the empty air where the ghost had just been. He almost didn’t see it, but once he focused it was unmistakable. A wisp of black shadow, identical to what it looked like when Danny blasted apart a curse ghost. But she hadn’t been a curse ghost. Had she? She’d been completely harmless. Normal, until—

Jason leapt to his feet, wallowing forgotten. He had to get to his computer.

//

“I figured it out.” Jason had the patience to knock at Danny’s door when he got to his place instead of crashing through the window like he wanted to.

“Figured what—Huh?” Danny, in sweats, coffee mug in hand, allowed Jason to barge past him into the messy apartment.

“How the curse ghosts show up. The pattern. The cause.”

He pulled the thumb drive from his pocket, plugged it into Danny’s computer and sat down in the desk chair. “They’re connected to deaths.”

“No shit, Sherlock.”

“Shut up and let me finish. Not just any death.” He pulled up a map with an overlay with points for all Gotham deaths. They far outnumbered the curse ghosts.

“You said not everyone comes back as a ghost, right? What makes them more likely to?”

Danny leaned on the arm of the couch. “A death or a life that’s especially violent or unjust, usually. Combined with a strong sense of purpose unfulfilled. But the curse ghosts aren’t like that. They’re the kind that exist without consciousness. They are the abstract purpose of fear and suffering.”

“But what if they didn’t form like that from nothing?”

Danny tilted his head, bidding Jason to continue.

“What if the most violent, least just deaths-“ he pressed a key isolating those points on the map- “resulted in ghosts that somehow got turned into curses.” He clicked another key and brought up the layer of curse ghost sightings. It matched nearly perfectly.

Danny’s eyes widened. “It all tracks. Except for the fact that ghosts can’t just majorly change their nature like that.” He paused. “Unless…”

“Unless?”

“Something more powerful than them triggers it. Something else is actively changing them.”

Jason smiled. He could tell they already made the same conclusion. “The queen?”

Danny nodded, excited now. “The queen.”

“We just gotta find deaths that are likely targets for her. She’ll come out to change them, and then we zap her up.” Danny pulled out his phone and began tapping furiously. A moment later the familiar sounds of the police scanner came through the tinny speaker. ‘Retired’ vigilante his whole ass.

Jason was infinitely relieved that Danny didn’t ask him how he’d had this epiphany. He very much did not want to tell him about the ghost from the graveyard and what he’d almost done. Or the fact that the woman had warped into something like a curse ghost because of him, not the queen.

“How will we know which death she’ll use?” Jason pulled at a cuticle. Night had fallen since the graveyard, and the scanner was a constant buzz of chatter and codes.

“We’ll know.” Danny tapped his leg with restless energy. They waited and listened as the minutes turned into nearly an hour.

Eventually Danny broke the silence. “You don’t have to come,” he said quietly. Guiltily.

“Are you joking?”

“The queen- the true curse- I encountered her once. Before. She’s– she’s not like the others.”

“So?”

Danny fiddled with the half-finished belt on his desk. “This junk only does so much. You’re still fighting with a handicap.”

The unspoken offer was there- a cure, a fix, a permanent silencer for his rage. A fix which was tied up in his own power- if he could even really call it that. It still felt borrowed more than something of his own.

He folded his arms. “Almost everything I’ve ever fought has been stronger than me. Why would I stop now?”

“You sure I can’t talk you out of this?”

“I’m insulted you even tried.”

The chatter on the radio crescendoed, pulling their attention back.

“Killer Croc and Scarecrow reported at the North Docks. Batman spotted on scene, perps still on the loose. Two DOA.”

Jason jumped to his feet. “That’s gotta be it, right?” Danny stayed where he was on the couch a moment before he rolled to stand.

“You ready?”

“Always.”

“Let’s go.”

They rode their bikes side by side through the streets till the apartment blocks turned to squat warehouses at the harbor’s edge. They ditched the bikes when they spotted police cruisers, opting instead to weave their way between shipping containers on foot till they found the scene.

A handful of cops lingered around a shipping dock. Cameras flashed as they took photos of something near the water’s edge. No sign of Croc, Scarecrow, or Batman. Whatever confrontation had happened it was already long since. Danny led him to the top of a container where they waited and watched.

“I take it she won’t come out with Gotham’s finest hanging around?” Jason asked below his breath.

“Doubtful.”

Minutes ticked by as the crowd of cops began thinning. The energy in the air practically crackled. Danny had lost his usual nonplussed air- he shook out his fists and paced the length of the container. They waited until the last of the cops drove away, leaving the dock in a deceptively peaceful sort of silence. Anticipation coiled in Jason’s stomach.

“Maybe I’m wrong. She might not show.” Jason crouched, unmoving.

“She will.” Danny spoke with zero doubt. Through all his impatient fidgeting his eyes never left a spot at the end of the docks. Where, Jason assumed, the man had drowned. He couldn’t see a body. But Danny had a sense for these things.

Suddenly Danny stilled, and Jason snapped to attention. He crouched beside him, looking out to the dark water. Nothing changed for a long moment.

Then the light shifted colder and dimmer, like the streetlights suddenly weren’t as effective at pushing back the dark. Their sodium yellow glow turned pale sickly gray. A thin layer of mist rolled across the water and over the shore.

Jason knew what the curse ghosts felt like. He’d felt it nearly every night for the last six weeks. This wasn’t that. Where the curse ghosts were hot fury and gunshots, this was a slow smooth knife of dread, cutting deep and settling in.

Danny sucked a sharp breath through his teeth. It sounded more like a hiss.

And then Gotham’s curse herself appeared.

A black cloaked figure glided across the water, barely distinguishable from the black of night around her. a circlet of shadows hovered over her head. As she moved Jason realized that it wasn’t just a cloak— the figure was shadow all the way down, writhing and shifting in the illusion of human form.

Around her a pack of curse ghosts followed at her heel like obedient hounds. The dripping goo of their bodies looked garish next to hers, all shimmering mist and elegance. As terrifying as she was, there was something deeply familiar to her. Both elusive and enticing.

Jason chanced a look at Danny. He’d stopped pacing. He had never seen such dangerous focus on his face before.

The queens entourage stopped at the dock Danny had been watching. Out of the water in front of her something blue and luminescent rose up— a ghost. The ghost they’d been waiting for.

Whispers filled the air in lower frequencies that thrummed through his body more than he actually heard them. He couldn’t parse words at this distance, but the meaning became clear enough. The queen extended a claw-like hand toward the fresh ghost. And, just like the one at the graveyard, it began to warp into something awful right before their eyes.

“Stay here,” Danny bit out below his breath. Jason recoiled at the thought of hanging back, but Danny shot him a look with such intensity that he choked on his retort.

Danny jumped down. He landed on his feet in the open cement of the shipping yard, fully visible under the glow of the desaturated street lamps.

“That’s enough.”

Danny’s voice shook with the same rumble as the whispers, cutting through them like ice. The curse queen and her entourage turned their attention to him instantly.

“Come out to play again little king?” The queen's voice was unexpectedly smooth, like cool silk down his spine. “I do find our games so enriching.”

“I find them rather dull personally,” Danny answered. His body language was nonchalant, but there was still an edge to his voice. He tilted his chin toward the warped ghost. “Neat trick.”

“You like it? Gotham’s restless dead truly thrive once I remake them in my image.”

“They’re not yours.”

The temperature dropped ten degrees in the span of a heartbeat. The queen’s pack of curse ghosts began lurking onto shore and positioned themselves in a wide circle around Danny. Jason tensed. “This city is mine. Anyone who comes here is mine to keep.” She turned her attention back to the new ghost. “And mine to devour.”

The shadows around the queen flared and the new ghost convulsed with a horrible garbled cry. Black goo exploded from its eyes, its mouth until it was covered. It fell to the queen's feet, a heap of sludge that writhed like worms. She laughed, a haughty rumble that had Jason’s hair standing on end. When the ghost rose a moment later on shaky, inky legs, it took the form of a hound. Just like the others.

Around Danny the lights flickered and popped. The queen laughed again, this time a piercing cackle.

And then the hounds attacked.

In the analytical parts of Jason’s mind, he had accepted that he’d never seen Danny fight with his full strength in any of their brawls. He hadn’t truly understood what that meant until now.

Barely a week prior Jason had managed to scrape a win against just one curse ghost by the skin of his teeth. Now Danny fought seven. At once. The shipping yard turned into chaos as Danny blasted curse ghosts in rapid succession, throwing them into shipping containers with such force the containers bent and toppled. Swaths of black goo splattered across the dock every time Danny landed a hit. Flashes of green and shadow exploded against one another like toxic fireworks.

Danny spared no breath for his usual quips and banter. Instead, his lips pressed into a firm line, broken only sporadically by a flash of his fangs as he tore into the hounds with easy viciousness. Jason practically chewed through the inside of his cheek. He could barely keep up with the pace of the fray as Danny’s glowing form darted through the gauntlet of claws and ink. He gripped the hilt of his sword from his hiding place. He could help. He couldn’t just watch. But just being in the queen’s presence still felt like a skeletal hand around his throat.

Danny faced off against two hounds from the dock side. He didn’t see the one from behind. Fuck that. Jason jumped.

He swung the sword in a wide arc downward and, just as its jaws reached Danny, relieved the curse ghost of its head. Goo splattered to the dock with a satisfying thunk.

Danny whirled on him, palms alight with energy. His eyes went wide in a kind of panic. “What are you–”

“I’ve got your back.”

Before Danny could protest, Jason stepped for another swing of his sword, catching another hound in the side. No room for Danny to argue. They fell into the rhythm of battle.

This Jason knew how to do. Armed to the teeth with Danny’s gadgets and weeks of practice, the clawing fear became background noise to the rush of adrenaline. He slashed heads and unleashed blasts and zapped with the thermos. Sounds of metal slicking through muck rang out, alongside the pained grunts and roars of the curse ghosts and his own frenzied breathing. As the dock got covered in more and more goo, he found himself grinning. He’d gotten rather good at this.

He looked to Danny, hoping for one of those sharpened smiles. Instead, Danny looked back at him with that same strained panic.

Jason saw now that Danny was focusing on keeping the curse ghosts away from him, enough that he’d taken more than one nasty hit. It threw Jason’s rhythm, enough that a hound got its teeth into his arm. He hissed in pain. Danny was there an instant later, ripping the beast off of him by its neck and tossing it back into the harbor.

“Quit hovering. I’m fine.” Jason growled.

“I told you to stay back.”

“I came here to fight.”

“Just let me handle it.” Danny stepped in front of him, throwing up a green energy shield to push back another curse ghost.

Jason ground his teeth. He wouldn’t be scolded like a child. He’d had enough of that from Bruce.

They were down to just two hounds left. The queen watched from the end of the dock. Danny went for her, two bounding leaps and a green sun in his fist. The newest curse ghost— the one they’d just watched turn— leapt out from behind her. They clashed and tumbled back through the open large bay doors of a dry dock warehouse.

The queen stalked forward after them. Neither of them reappeared, but the sounds of crashing metal and breaking glass rang out from inside. Jason ran toward it.

He got inside the warehouse just as Danny subdued the new curse ghost, sucking it up into his thermos with a grimace. The queen stopped before him, her shadow wide and menacing like wings surrounding her.

“What I don’t understand is why you keep playing this little game?” Her voice filled with cloying sweetness as she bent closer to Danny. “Why not just end it? What are you waiting for?” Dannyʼs eyes shifted across the room and found Jasonʼs. A mistake.

The queen whipped her head around with a crack. Her eyes- two black holes in her face, somehow darker than shadow- locked on him. His stomach dropped.

“Or should I have asked who?” The queen's full attention hit him like a flood. She had no mouth but Jason could hear her smile. Every nerve he had left was telling him to run. Every muscle in his body refused to move.

Her whole body twisted to face him, slow as dread. Jason gripped tighter on the sword in front of him. He swallowed a shallow breath.

“What do we have here? One of my wayward knights? So wonderful to finally meet.” The queen took one smoky step toward him.

Then every lightbulb in the warehouse exploded.

“He’s not yours.” A snarl ripped out of Danny like an earthquake. It cut through the sudden darkness, layered with unnatural echoes and tones that Jason felt under his skin. He tore his attention away from the queen to look back at him.

His eyes burned bright like a signal fire under heavy eyebrows, even more prominent with all the lights out. But that wasnʼt what made goosebumps rise across Jasonʼs skin. He’d never seen Danny angry. Heck, heʼd rarely even been more than annoyed. But now he was outright furious.

Sure, the weight of the queen's presence had struck a chord of fear in Jason, deep and instinctual. But that didnʼt hold a candle to what he felt now. He looked at Danny and his mind filled only with terror of the primal sort. Like a hare caught in the jaws of a wolf. Prey amongst a predator.

The queen threw back her head and laughed once more. It sounded like groaning metal and dissonant strings.

“Then stop me!” She screeched, and she lunged toward Jason.

As the swirling mass of shadows convulsed in his direction, Jasonʼs reflexes kicked in and he threw the sword up to block. It didnʼt matter. A shadowy talon sliced clean through it. The top half of the blade clattered to the ground unceremoniously.

Shit. Heʼd really started to like that sword.

Then he realized the sword wasnʼt the only thing the talon had cut.

He looked down. A thick spear of shadow extended through his stomach and out his back.

The queen laughed louder as she pulled it out of him with a wet schlick. He put a hand to the spot. Instantly his palm was drenched in red. Blood, so much blood. Warm and sticky and wet. Running out of him like a faucet.

Distantly he heard Danny yell out to him. He wanted to lift his broken sword to strike back, but his mind hadn’t caught up with what his body already knew- the fight was over. He’d lost. Embarrassing, really. After all his bravado he still wasn’t even in the same league as a real threat. Not even close.

A dull fuzzy feeling started overtaking the sharp bite of adrenaline in his system. That wasnʼt good. That felt like dying and he really didnʼt want to do that again. As his legs gave out and he fell to his knees, he realized he didnʼt really have a choice.

He looked up across the room again as his vision started to blur. Dannyʼs face was warped in absolute fury. The shadows around the edges of the room cowered back. He blinked and there was a flash of blinding white light. Every nerve in his body iced over with terror.

His eyes wouldnʼt focus. The world turned into a slideshow, flashes of images and sounds that lingered on the back of his eyelids. He clung to them like a lifeline.

A flaming crown. A starburst of shadows. The pungent smell of gasoline and ozone and iron. Cold, so, so cold. Black being ripped from black, pained terrible screeching. Neon green, brighter than the sun. Cold, deep chasming cold, down to his bones.

He crumpled to the cement.

A howling wail that nearly broke his heart.

And then blissful oblivion.

[lubnabowsandpoetry]

I accidentally deleted my work on ao3 and it felt like burning down the library of Alexandria.

Anyways here's the prologue while I go ahead and re-release it. Reader is a firefighter (I watch too much 9-1-1) and Ghost needs therapy.

Prologue (I didn't start the fire!)

The late-autumn air, harsh and unrelenting, seeped through the thin sweater of the lieutenant. Despite his stature his steps were quiet, his boots making little to no sound. His eyes on these streets were always darting around, observing. With his hand clenched in fists in his pockets, his right one wrapped around a combat knife, he started to walk more confidently. He was almost where he was supposed to be. The weather forecast in Manchester predicted heavy rain, yet there was no sign of that. Just the usual cold wind.

When the lieutenant finally reached the address that was written on a note in his hand he took in the abandoned residence. The roof looked like it was about to collapse, the door was barely attached to the hinges and outside walls were littered with graffiti. He payed no mind to the tiny garden gate and walked up the path leading to the front door as if he owned the place. Technically speaking, he did. Kind of.

Just to let out the smallest bit of frustration he kicked down the door. Unnecessary, but it did the trick. He stood in the foyer of the house as if he were a guest expecting someone to greet him and offer him a drink. The remaining furniture looked like it would explode to dust any second. His entire life was being a soldier, and maybe also some of his comrades. He was really beginning to enjoy Soap’s company. He’d never admit it though.

His old life taunted him whenever he came from another mission. There is no distraction that lasts long enough to make him forget.. His past ghost haunting his chambers. Therefore, he decided to dig up the grave of his youth himself. Since the spirits of his past were going to release themselves anyways.

Ever since he saw you.

You who reduced him to nothing but a teenage boy. Reminding him of the childish joys, making him feel giddy at the sight of you.

He just had to see you again.

Carefully pouring gasoline in every single corner of the house. Making sure the outside had its fair share aswell.

He grabbed his lighter out of the pocket of his jeans, the same one he had used countless of other times to light up a cigarette.

Then he set his past aflame.

He watched as the fire started to lick at every inch of his childhood home. He lived there until the age of six. No tasteful memories really resided there. Just an empty shell. He grabbed his phone and entered three digits.

‘’9-9-9, what’s your emergency?’’

‘’Send the fire department.’’ Preferably a specific firefighter

PS: It is out there again. 5th chapter out!

[at4zxx]

RED HEADCANONS

Red!Hearts x fem!reader

Genre: fluff💖

warnings: not proof read guys, English is my second language 😭

having a crush ⬇️⬇️

more jealous than usual

Wants to talk to you more often

Stares at you in class or training.

If you come I class late, she just glares at you in disappointment. Meanwhile shes RELIEVED.

will probably wait for you to ask her first, but she’s dropping hints like😵‍💫

“the sky is beautiful, right??”

“wanna go see a movie sometime..?”

“We could- work together in the exam?”

LIKEE- you know she likes you, Chloe told you but you just wanna tease the poor soul 😭😭

After a while she ends up confessing, in the most messiest way ever.

GRAFFITI ON THE SCHOOL WALLS OF HEARTS ❤️

she doesn’t exactly care if you talk to people, but if they tell you that they like you-

pulling you by the arm like-

“She’s with me, thank you.”

CONFESSIONS WHEN SHE PULLS YOU INTO THE HALLWAY.

when you tell her you like her too she’s quite flabbergasted.

this is her ➡️ 😧‼️

IN A RELATIONSHIP💕⬇️⬇️

hand holding IS A MUST.

She wouldn’t really want you to go back to her palace because well- her mom (if she didn’t turn nice)

but if we’re talking after- MAYBE? I think red would find it so awkward since her mom had never wanted her to date.

SPEAKING OF, your her first gf congrats!

First date preferences are probably at the enchanted lake (your idea)

Asking her if she wants to swim ( SHE CAN SWIM- but she prefers not to)

you drag her in anyways, and her makeup is ruined 😞😞

found it fun though-

Afterwards you guy’s probably go to the village festival in Auradon, watching the fireworks

Probably her first time ever seeing something so colourful besides just the normal colours, Red, Black & white.

She then mentions how she’s never had her first kiss 😵‍💫

Gently cupping her face with the palm of your hands. You kiss her for the first time.

It feels like sparks, fireworks exploding in her body.

after a moment, you pull away. And she’s stunned. The same face you saw when you accepted to be her girlfriend.

“what a beauty.”

OMG KYLIE IS JUST SO GORGEOUS AAAA😍😍

[eeeeuuughggg]

Omg I’m sorry, I never saw your post😭 I was the anon that requested Toby, and really it can be general or in a relationship with him, which ever you’d like best

what's it like being in a relationship with toby?

notes: AUGH. im srry this is short anon but tysm for the request its been ages since i've wrote something over like 300 words

w/c: 319

warnings: none

Road trips. Lots of them. The two of you driving around in his shitty old car at night, music blasting. You're not going anywhere in particular, but sometimes he'll take you to a fairly empty 7-Eleven parking lot. Maybe you get high, maybe you don't— it's up to you. Or maybe he'll take you under the old bridge a few miles away to graffiti, tagging your initials or carving them into a tree nearby, who knows?

He's a fucking nerd. He'll take you to music stores, looking through the vinyls, cds, posters, funko pops, merch, etc. Seven times out of ten, he'll start rambling about the band or artist, or drop the most random lore about how he supposedly met them at a garage sale or something like that.

Tags you in stupid shit on TikTok. Two feral stray cats fighting in an alleyway? "@/yourusername us". Silly video of a horse eating hay? "@/yourusername this is what u look like when u eat".

Dates with Toby will usually be away from public places. Either they're at home, in a secluded or abandoned area, or in a dark place, like an aquarium for example. Do you like a certain movie? He'll raid a gas station for snacks, set up a pillow fort, and put on that movie so the two of you can spend time together.

Maybe you like lego (because who doesn't?). He'll steal buy a bunch of sets for the two of you to build in your free time, sitting on the floor and talking about nothing or everything while building the set.

Play fighting is a big thing with him, too. Sure, he can't feel pain, but he loves the adrenaline. Both of you press your hands against the others, pushing until someone eventually falls over. Other small competitive activities aren't uncommon, like thumb wars, or arm wrestling, maybe a bit of staring contests in the mix.

[morningsunandnightsky]

Lie with you | Ten Lee

Pairing: ten x reader

Warnings: death, grieving, unprotected sex (wear protection pls), fingering, usage of petnames, skinny-dipping, illegal graffiti (not advised). Let me know if i forgot anything.

Word count: 4k

Genre: angst, smut, bit of fluff

18 +, minors dni

Sypnopsis: It’s been some time now since the love of his life left this world. But Ten still can’t get over you and he probably never will. He wants to see you again, hold you in his arms and show you how much he loves you. One day when he visits your grave, the chance of spending one more night with you might not be so impossible after all.

Note: chrysanthemums symbolize death and mourning.

An: if you read my work, you know that smut really isn’t something I do. So I was not expecting this story to take such a turn but it did because a friend of mine found out I write and well...long story short this is the result. It’s the very first time I’ve ever even attempted to write smut, so please bear with me. Feedback is greatly appreciated! I advise you not to read this if any of the warnings make you uncomfortable.

Ten's delicate fingers travel over the smooth stone, following the curves of the carvings that bear your name. He looks at you with tears in his eyes, as he does every time. In an attempt to remove the dust from the letters, he briskly wipes his hands across the surface. “I’m sorry, I haven’t visited in a while, my little star,” he whispers.

He lies on the ground next to the headstone, wiping his hands on his jeans. Whilst a chill runs down his spine from the coolness of the ground.

He notices the dazzling stars as he looks up at the pitch-black sky. The few clouds begin to break almost as if on cue, and then there you are, shining the brightest of all, his little star, softly dazzling upon him.

The cool night breeze brushes over his skin as he shuts his eyes and tilts his face up to the sky. His heart aches, and tears are starting to run down his cheeks.

-

Ten suddenly feels something along his skin, just as if someone was tickling him. His eyes flutter open, revealing…you. with a single white chrysanthemum in your hand and a gentle smile on your face. rubbing it lightly across his cheek. Ten eyes widen as he sees you and for a brief moment his breath catches in his throat.

"Y-Y/N." He mutters in shock.

You carefully wipe his tears away as you keep looking into his eyes with a gentle smile. “Don’t cry…we’ll be alright” you tell him.

He holds your hand tightly; his hand feeling warm against your own. Then he pulls you closer and wraps his arms around your body. Still not believing you’re in front of him,

“you’re really here," he breathes out with a trembling voice. You can hear his heartbeat so loudly and clearly, as if his heart only just started beating because of you.

You run your fingers through his dark locks. It felt the same as always, and yet it felt so different to all the other times you’ve done it before. You can hear him sighing against you, clearly enjoying your touch. You both stay like this for a while. You don’t even know how much time goes by, nor do you care. However, everything feels familiar and peaceful, just like you've returned home.

You look up at Ten and see him looking back at you already. His gaze holds so much love for you but also immense pain. So much so, that you can feel your own heart crumbling down by look in his stunning eyes. His whole face had changed since the last time you saw him. The suffering had left its marks, taking away the glow that was once present. You knew it was because of you.

Cupping his face in your hands, you give him a soft kiss. So gently, as if he’d break if you were any harsher. Ten closes his eyes and kisses back. It only lasts for a few seconds, but it was enough to hold the cracks of your souls together for now.

“Shall we head out of here?” you ask him as you climb to your feet and pull him along. He's still holding your hand, fingers entwined, his thumb softly stroking your skin, and he gives you a nod.

With a mischievous grin on your lips, you sprint back to your car together. You both know exactly what the other is thinking about since you’ve done it countless of times before. A curt nod followed by the engine starting, and you're driving down the highway before you even know it.

With your windows down and the music blasting through the speakers. Both of your voices are overtaking the song as you scream at the top of your lungs. You can tell the few cars that are passing by are giving you looks but you couldn’t care less.

“Do you have the goods with you?” Ten asks even though he already knows your answer. “Would I ever not have the goods?”, you answer and hear him chuckle beside you.

Not too much later, you reach your destination, hop out the window, and open the trunk. Your usual assortment of spray bottles is all spread out, and you shoot Ten a playful look that asks him why he’d ever doubt you. You both take the bottles with you and step into the abandoned factory at the edge of town. Climbing up the ladder and entering the building through a broken window. Graffiti covered the walls, shattered glass was strewn all over the place, and dust was floating around the space like snow in a snow globe. It was perfect. Since it was your little secret spot.

A wave of nostalgia hits the both of you as you walk past all of the murals you have compiled throughout the years. On the enormous wall were the love doves that represented the beginning of your relationship that you’d painted on your first date. And as you went deeper into the building, all of your memories seemed to be displayed like you’re walking through a museum about your own love story. The old place appeared more alive thanks to the vibrant walls than when the space was still in use.

Entering the final, hardly standing room on the rooftop, you lay out your stuff and start your final piece. The location was illuminated by the distant town lights and the flashes from your phones. You both work quickly yet carefully. The air feels thick with paint fumes and perhaps something else too.

You both decide to inscribe your initials within a heart-shaped graffiti piece tonight. It was simple, especially compared to your usual extravagant work the two of you'd do. Yet the simplicity also held a lot of meaning, as it marked the very end of your journey. It seemed as though you were bidding your work of art adieu and saying, "Let's meet again sometime."

Ten keeps stealing glances at you whilst you work, and he swears that every time he looks at you, the butterflies explode more than the last time. You looked as gorgeous as ever as if no time had passed since you last saw each other. He lets his eyes follow your movements, as he can’t take his eyes off of you. He stands behind you when you are completing the last details of your joint project. His body feels hot against your own, and you can feel his lips brush your neck as he whispers in your ear, “So beautiful…”, causing you to shudder.

"Ten…" you exhale, as his hands begin to explore more of your body and his lips start kissing your skin. However, he stops when he hears sirens in the distance. He dashes to peer out of the opening that served as a window.

"Shit, they're heading this way," he lets you know as he rushes back to get you, before escaping. You both notice the red and blue lights getting closer as you sprint back to the car. "Give me the keys, I know a spot," he says but before you can do that the police catch up quicker than you both expect, so you duck behind some bushes and pray that they haven't noticed you yet. And just as if your prayer is answered, they drive past you.

“Come on” Ten says, and you both run away, not even bothering to take the car now. You turn around slightly and look up at the building to take a last glance at the ‘TEN + Y/N’ mural you left behind. Was it a bit childish? Yes. Did you care? Absolutely not. Because it was your final recollection of each other.

After walking for a few blocks, you burst out laughing. "I can't believe that we got away with this." "I was so sure they had us this time," you scream as the thrill of adrenaline shoots through you. Ten laughs along with you, “I know right? If they came even a second earlier, we’d be done for.”

The walk is filled with more laughter and a whole lot of reminiscing about the past. And although you two are beaming, each step you take still feels heavier than the last, you both feel it but neither of you brings it up, not wanting to add to each other’s pain.

The air feels chilly as you make your way down to the secluded lake, Ten had taken you to. It was surrounded by trees, and it looked like it was taken straight out of a fairy tale. You look around mesmerized, “What is this place? It’s amazing,” you exclaim.“I’ve been wanting to take you here for a while now. I discovered it when I was driving around one time, and I’ve been coming back ever since. It should be all ours for tonight because nobody else is ever here at this hour.”

He takes your hand, brings you up a little cliff, and asks you to close your eyes. You take a hesitant step forward, and he has his hands over your eyes. He tells you that you can look when you arrive at the edge, "Okay, we're here," and removes his hands to show you. You see the moonlight reflecting in the water as the lake flows by. The trees' leaves are softly rustling in the mild breeze, creating a soothing sound. You were in complete awe of the sight, which was only enhanced by the lights surrounding the area. “Oh my god…this is absolutely stunning…” you say still not over the view.

Ten chuckles besides you and you feel his arms sneak around your waist again. He looks at you instead of the scenery, “yeah…it’s absolutely stunning…” his eyes flicker to your lips and he leans in to kiss you. It’s filled with all of his love for you, and you can feel every emotion seep through. You both kiss for a few minutes until he pulls back.

“Now…are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he asks with a sly grin on his face. You look from him down to the water. “You’re kidding, right?” you say feeling nervous as you can tell exactly what he is thinking. The grin on Ten’s face only grows as he starts shaking his head. “ofcourse, I’m not kidding. Why? Are you scared?” he asks teasingly. You huff and cross your arms, pretending to be confident as you answer, "Not at all," but you can't help but swallow anxiously as you glance down at the water.

Ten gives you a comforting kiss on the head and giggles as he hugs you from behind. "If you really don't want it then we don't have to do it but I think you do want it," he states. "It's not like I don't want to…it's just so high up and- and what if there is something in the water?" You nervously ask. "Well, we won't know unless we give it a shot, will we? And we’ll do it together like we always do, it'll be ok.”

you nod slowly as you consider it. "Are we completely undressing?" you ask. Ten gives you a nod. "You're aware of the expression 'go big or go home', right? So, let's go big because we definitely aren't going home." Despite laughing at what he said, you still agree.

You both quickly stripped off your clothes. And the thrill of seeing each other naked still made your hearts race even after being together for so long.

Ten's eyes follow every movement you make. You looked amazing to him; every inch of your skin was flawless. You feel your body heat up as he admired you and you can't help but glance at him too. His toned body and tattooed skin made your knees weak. You turn back to the water, trying to hide how flustered he makes you.

Grabbing his hand, you quickly run hand in hand towards the edge of the lake and dive in. The cool water envelopes your bodies immediately. And you swim around, splashing each other and laughing the whole time.

As you float on your backs, the silence of the night crept up on you pleasantly. Feeling completely content with each other's company, that’s filled with lingering gazes and rapidly beating hearts.

However, as you continued to swim, your innocent amusement soon evolved into something more passionate.

You swim closer and closer together until your bodies become entangled. The beautiful swaying of the water only fuels your desire for one another.

Your kisses are deep and strong, and your hands freely move across each other's bodies. You had never felt so alive, so engulfed by one another.

His hands rest on your waist, and he moves closer to you until you feel his chest press against yours. You feel yourself heating up, and the cold water appears to affect you a lot less now. Placing your arms around his neck, you close the distance until you are just inches away from each other. He notices how you’re biting your lip and it only turns him on more.

"Let me do that for you," he says against your lips before kissing you deeply. It was more passionate than any other kiss, and you could feel your entire body tingle. His skin melted into yours, and your lips fit together flawlessly as if you were only made for each other. The kiss became more intense as you felt his tongue glide into your mouth and start moving against yours. His hands went down to your hips, and you let out a gasp when you felt him squeeze your butt.

Ten begins kissing down your neck and sucking on your skin, leaving a trail of red marks. Your breath becomes heavier the lower he goes. His wet tongue glides against your collarbones, making you shiver. His mouth travels down to your boobs, and you can feel his lips wrap around one of your nipples. You can't help but moan at the feeling as you grab onto his hair. Taking his time with your hard nipple, he circles his tongue around and sucks hard, leaving you gasping for air.

"Does that feel good, baby?" he asks as he begins rolling your other nipple between his fingers. The way your back arches and the moan that escapes your mouth tells him enough. He switches hands and lets the other travel down your body, touching all the right places until he reaches your core. And lets his fingers glide against you teasingly.

"Ten…please…" You beg for more of his touch. "Please, what?" he asks with a seductive smile, pressing his thumb on your clit.

"Please touch me," you pleaded. His smile widens, and he begins playing with your folds. His fingers are getting coated with your juices as he gently starts rubbing your clit. You let out a loud gasp and grabbed his shoulders whilst grinding against his hand, wanting to feel more.

“I don’t think it’s the water that got you this wet,” he says with a smirk, clearly amused by how wet you already are when he has barely touched you.

You let out a small whimper as you try to press yourself more onto his fingers, knowing he is still teasing you by not giving in completely. "Do you want more?" he whispers to you. You nod at him, but he only chuckles, "You have to use your words, darling. Tell me what you want, and I will give it all to you.

"I need your fingers inside of me," you breathe out. The glint in his eyes darkens as he kisses you again, pushing a finger deep inside. The way you moan into the kiss tells him you didn't expect him to give in so quickly, which only makes him smirk more.

Ten raises your thigh and wraps your leg around his waist with one hand, as he starts to slowly push his finger in and out of your pussy. “You’re so fucking tight, sweetheart,” he tells you, picking up the pace. The feeling of his cold metal rings against your core only adds to your pleasure.

"Fu-uck," you whimper as he circles your clit with his thumb. You're dripping down his hand, and you can feel your walls tighten around his digits. "Hmm, so wet for me," he hums, adding another finger and curling it deep into you. Hitting your sweet spot so well. Turning you into a moaning mess.

Ten groans against your neck as he feels you clench around his fingers, and he takes it as a sign to fuck you faster. You can feel the knot forming in your stomach but not wanting to come yet you hold his hand still. When you do this, his brows knit together as he glances at your face. "I want to come with you inside of me," you mutter, gazing at him with glazed eyes and and heavy breathing.

He lifts your body and carries you out of the lake while you hold onto him. As you emerge from the water, your bodies glisten in the moonlight, there is a rawness and vulnerability between you that you've never felt before. It was as if the night had taken away all of your inhibitions, leaving only your love for each other.

He lays you down on the soft grass and caresses your cheek, locking his gaze with yours. "Are you sure about this?" he says, carefully examining your face for any symptoms of discomfort before he does anything.

You smile at him and pull him towards you, “I want you so badly. Please…I need you to fuck me” you say. When you tell him this, he wastes no time as his lips find their way back to yours, kissing you deeply. He settles between your legs, pushing them open. A string of curses escapes his breath as he sees your cunt completely soaked.

He strokes his cock a few times and spreads around the precum leaking from his tip before gliding it along your slit. His smirk returns to his handsome face as he watches how your face contorts in pleasure when he rubs his cock against your clit. Your breath hitches, and you buckle your hips up, wanting to feel him inside of you.

He aligns himself with you and slowly pushes in. "Ten…f-fuck," you moan as he fills you completely. He kisses your skin and holds still for a few moments, allowing your walls to stretch around his length.

"You okay, my love?" he asks, stroking your hair. You nod and tell him he can now move. His hips start to roll against yours. You can feel him sliding in and out of you, pushing deeper each time. You're dripping down his length, as your juices cover every inch of his cock.

"You feel so good…taking me so well," he murmurs as his movements quicken and the lewd sounds of skin on skin become louder.

Your bodies now completely connected in every way possible, as you make love underneath the stars. You moved in perfect harmony, the gentle lapping of the water providing a rhythmic backdrop to this moment.

As you pull him closer to you, the deep feeling in your stomach appears for a second time tonight. "I'm going…fu-uck Ten, I'm-" You can't even finish your sentence as your orgasm overtakes you completely, making you come so hard. The feeling of your walls clenching around him sends him over the edge too. And you feel his cum shoot up your core, filling you up as a raspy deep moan escapes his lips.

He slowly pulls out and lies beside you, trying to catch his breath. He draws you into his arms, “you did so well for me. That was amazing,” he states, still breathing heavily. Smiling at him, you let him know you enjoyed it as much as he did.

He wraps you in his jacket and brings your head to his chest. You snuggle up to him, and you both stay silent for a while. The coolness of the water is now a distant memory as you enjoy the warmth of each other's embrace. "You do realise we're going to catch a cold, right?" you ask after some time. Ten chuckles, "Yeah, probably, but it's well worth it. Everything with you is worth it." You scrunch up your nose at his remark, which only makes him laugh loudly.

"We'll have another excuse to cuddle up," he adds. You listen with a drowsy grin on your face. As time passes while you lie in each other's arms, a sense of melancholy fills the air. You can both sense it deep within your hearts. "I wish we could have more time together," you mutter quietly, eyes glistening with tears. "If only we had more time, maybe things would have been different."

Ten shakes his head slowly, refusing to accept the truth of your words. "I know, darling," he says with a sigh. "I wish it too." You take his hand and squeeze it tightly, hoping to savour every second you have left together.

He can feel your warmth pouring through his fingers as he holds your hand. "I don't want to let go," he whispers, his voice breaking.

Your eyes meet, and a wave of sadness washes over the both of you. You both know that you were about to part ways forever. So, you lean closer and kiss his cheek wanting to mend his broken heart even if it’s just a little bit. It's quiet between you again, and the air still holds your breath. Your chests rise and fall together, sharing the same heartbeat. The moonlight beams on your faces, casting an ethereal glow on the grass where you lie. It felt as if time had stopped just for you two.

Slowly, you open your eyes and glance at him again. For a split second your memories travel back to the first time you met him. It was years ago, when you met him unexpectedly at a time you thought you’d never find someone like him. You never believed in 'love at first sight,' but looking back, you realise your heart has loved Ten since the very beginning.

He never strays his eyes away from yours because he knows this is it, but he's not ready to let go. Running his fingers through your hair he can feel your breath on his lips. He has so much to say, yet the words never seem to come out properly. So he stays silent, wanting to remember this moment forever and seal it in his heart.

Each beat of your heart's echoes in the other’s chest when you wrap your arms around him, wanting to feel his body against your own one more time.

Your eyes fill with pain, knowing that you will have to let go of each other and return back over to your respective worlds. You exchange one more kiss as the clouds cover the sky, bringing an end to your brief yet beautiful rendezvous.

Looking into his eyes for the last time, you can feel the emotions well up inside of you as you see him cry. You want to tell him how you feel, how you've always felt, and how you'll always feel for him, even if you're apart. Because there is no one else you'd rather be with than him.

“I may leave you behind in this world, but I’ll never leave your heart. My love for you will never change. Even if my body is taken from you, my soul will always be with you.”

You tried to smile as you tell him, but the tears streaming down your cheeks make it hard. You couldn’t bear to see him cry and you couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him behind either. But the darkness creeps in even if you don’t want it to, and your voice wavers as you can’t keep your eyes open anymore.

“I love you, with every beat of my fading heart.”

-

Ten opens his eyes, and his tears keep rolling down his face as he searches for you in the night sky. A broken smile spreads across his face as his eyes find you again, shining so brightly. He holds up the single white chrysanthemum and whispers,

“I love you too, my little star”

[messenger-of-stupidity]

So I went hiking yesterday and climbed on some old lime factory ruins and saw some graffiti. (Lots of it actually.)

So here's what I think the redacted characters would graffiti (if anything):

David: No. He wouldn't graffiti. Man prolly believes in the sanctity of nature and leaving things either as or better than he found it

Angel: Cock and balls.

Asher: Jigglypuff. He wants everyone to behold the splendor.

Baabe: honestly, despite the fact I hc them as an art nerd, I don't think they would graffiti. Maybe with chalk so that way it's temporary. But idk what they would say.

Milo: either "Milo was here" or "Shut up Asher"

Sweetheart: doesn't matter. It's a mess. Because "Art is abstract, Milo. Besides, it kind of looks like that time Aggro spooked you and you shifted and made a mess in our old apartment"

Sam: he wouldn't. He's on the same wavelength as David.

Darlin: some kind of inside joke so that way everyone in the pack (and clan) knows they were there.

Vincent: a purposefully cheesy inspirational quote in the shittiest lettering you've ever seen.

Lovely: a smiley face because they just want their life to calm down so they can enjoy immortality with their stupid boyfriend.

Porter: he wouldn't, but not because he cares about sanctity or whatever. He just doesn't see the point.

Treasure: nah. They don't see the point either. They also don't have a marker or spray paint or anything with them. Porter just kinda zipped them into the middle of fucking nowhere all of the sudden. Somehow they lost a shoe on the way.

Elliot: yes. Boy is making a whole landscape because it's in his DNA and his inner Bob Ross is screaming at him that there's no mistakes, only happy little accidents

Sunshine: they put a sun and a little river for Brachium since he can't deface property with them :(

Blake: he's bringing a powerwasher to destroy all the graffiti

Bestie: they weren't aware it was an option because Blake is sheltering them from the existence of graffiti to keep them pure.

Aaron: no. He doesn't have the time

Smartass: they're busy too.

Ollie: no. He'd rather be inside playing board games

Baby: no, they're inside watching Ollie explain a board game for three hours

Ivan: yeah. Idk what, but he is

(I'm not doing Ivan's listeners)

Guy: it's just memes. There pepe the frog. There's rainbows and telling people that "they're putting chemicals in the water to turn all the frogs gay"

Honey: they put Guy's phone number so he gets spammed because his graffiti tastes are as good as his humor. Make of that what you will.

Geordi: no. He's too anxious about getting in trouble to even think about it.

Cutie: yes. They're putting passing people's thoughts on the wall.

Camelopardalis: no.

(He has too many listeners and I isn't remember them and they dint have enough personality for me to be able to tell)

Vega: no. It's too human.

Warden: once. They felt bad and tried to get rid of it afterwards. It was just a stick figure with horns.

Hush: yes. He saw it once and wanted to try it. Now he's wanted in twelve states for defacing government property. He just copies what he's seen.

Doc: nope. They never understood the draw.

Damien: nope. He's a rule follower

Lasko: no. He's too anxious

Dear: yes. But it's just dad jokes.

Huxley: once. He felt bad about it but it was certainly an experience. It was a tree and a stick dude.

Gavin: absolutely. It's hilarious. It ranges from just crude jokes to just random circles. No one knows the meeting, but it's becoming like a mini legend in Dahlia. If you find the holy circle (because it's a perfect circle. He has good wrist control) you have to leave an offering. He's making a cult by accident but he still finds it funny

Freelancer: yes, but only because Caelum saw Gavin doing it and thought it looked like fun and he wanted Freelancer's help.

Caelum: he drew a bunch of shaky smiley faces to "brighten peoples day. Because when they see all these smiles, they'll want to smile too, and that will make them feel good. Which makes me feel good. Which helps me make others feel good. Which makes me feel goo-"

Morgan: no.

Seer obscura: no. But they were tempted to give vague warnings to people to try to help them

[with-my-calamitous-love]

A DWINDLING, MERCURIAL HIGH

odasaku x f! reader

long fic, angst, brief smut, themes of abusive marriage/family poverty, cheating, pregnancy

a/n: i had to split this into two parts! it was getting so long but i wanna get this out now. part two is in the works <3

inspired by illicit affairs

you were 18 when you met odasaku, and 18 when you were forced apart.

in the bustling city of yokohama, it was often hard to find serenity.

it often felt like the city’s people never truly rested. they tore through the streets like a bullet through paper. always a place to go. always an important job to make little money at, always a date for a failing relationship, always somewhere to be and somewhere to go. no matter where you drove, walk or ran to, there was almost never a place that felt calm. not boring, as others would call it. calm. like a checkpoint just for you. so when you did find those hidden caverns, forgotten by the world to busy to pay attention, you savoured it.

you thought of it like your superpower. being able to scope out the places of sweet refuge.

the hidden away, small coffee shop covered by graffiti- small you called cozy and graffiti you called art- was rourou cafe. you knew the owners well. it seemed only you knew to order the green curry because it tasted the best with the jasmine rice they always served fresh. it didn’t taste like the pompous food they served only to the finest, with refined flavours and an astonishingly large bill that always managed to ruin a meal. it had the aroma of comfort, and the flavour of home.

kogaya park was a sight for sore eyes on your long walk home. in its heyday, it seemed to be the only right place for a romantic confession. now, you see couples lose their love like the trees lose their leaves to the enemy we call time. you met an old man there once. he was blind, yet saw the world better than anyone you had ever known. “[y/n],” he spoke in slow breaths like the sun rising over the land before anyone had awoke in its grace. “age is not a number. age is how many times you’ve felt the suns warmth. age is how many times you’ve heard a beautiful song. age is how many times your feet have carried on and moved you forward. when i die, that is what i’ll remember.” you knew he was a man who bared stories like they were his clothes. this park was the only place where the warmth of the sun remained uncovered, the only place he could slow down and feel. you felt that too.

your favourite place, if you could truly choose, had to have been the aishi library.

part of it was that you worked there, and so loving it made your mundane tasks easier. but you were by no means forcing yourself to love it. it seemed everyone who walked in and out were much like you- people who longed for a quiet life. while you spent your hours of the day sorting books into shelves and keeping the place clean, after hours was the true beauty of it all. you’d bury yourself in the stories, pages that opened a gateway to different worlds. relationships that lasted, lives that were fair, and endings that truly mattered. those pages were your true home. fantasies are much nicer than reality, anyway.

perhaps the reason not everyone found escapes as easy as you was because they never needed to.

ever since you were young, you were always forced to search for something more pleasant. you were someones daughter, and that meant helping with dinner and hoping that the sound of chopped vegetables and boiling water could overpower the sounds of your parents falling apart in the other room. being someones daughter meant trying to heal your mothers trauma while she hid away in the closet, scared to come out and look for you knowing he might be there too. being someones daughter meant forgiving your father over and over again. not because you truly forgave him, but because you didn’t want to find out what would happen if he knew that.

your father was a dangerous man. one who owed debts to unsavoury people. people you had only read about in books. people you would soon come to know all too well.

as the days passed on, you grew more and more reliant on that little library. winter soon came, and the familiar faces you knew slowly began to phase out. people left to be somewhere warmer, and you knew that longing for warmth better than anyone else. you stayed focus on the task in front of you, arranging a pile of books back into their rightful homes.

ring!

the front door bell announces that someone has walked inside. in your peripheral, you see him- a young man you presume- enter the library and scan his surroundings. you look over your shoulder. indeed you were right, a young man you had never seen before. soft, reddish brown hair framing his strong jawline with eyes like the ocean to match. he dressed well, you noticed as a tinge of blush blooms on your cheeks.

he notices you too, and smiles.

you immediately turn back to your books.

all is still for a moment. he walks around for a bit, examining his choices of stories to read. he carries a pen and paper by his hip, as if ready to note the anecdotes of life at a moments notice. he must have been writer. or maybe you were thinking of him a little too much.

“excuse me, ma’am. do you have a book you’d recommend?”

wow. you thought. his voice was deep but honeyed. you turn to face him, as he gets a good look at you without your nose stuck in a book.

wow. he thinks as well upon seeing you.

“follow me.”

you take him to your favourite section, the fantasy novels. the stories that made real life seem like a poorly written, unfinished drama. “any one of these here are beautiful reads, i would know.”

you pulled out a velvety green book from the bottom shelf. “but if i had to recommend, i’d start here.” you handed the book over to him like it were a prized possession.

“the cave of two lovers?” he asked, curious blue eyes scanning the treasure you had gifted him.

“the story of oma and shu, two lovers from enemy villages who-‘’ you began to ramble. “oh i wouldn’t want to spoil it!”

he smiled again. “i’ll have to give it a try, then.”

you had grown terribly fond of your new friend, odasaku. he’d make sure to come in once a week at least to tell you his thoughts on your recommendations. the setting sun by osamu dazai was a riveting read, one that he’d lazily get back into while eating the green curry you let him in on. the tears of the kingdom, the story of a princess and her knight torn apart by evil was the book he relaxed into while at kogaya park. he even spent a day reading his favourite verses to a kind old man who reminded odasaku of himself. he absolutely adored the cave of two lovers, but thought that the avatar’s love- it’s sequel- deserved a better ending. he felt as though zuko and katara would have been a much better fit.

“i’m glad you’re enjoying youself.” you hummed while you sorted away more books. odasaku had taken it upon himself to help you with this task, reaching the taller shelves you couldn’t get to- much to your dismay. and he insisted he didn’t mind, though he was embarrassed to admit he did it simply to he around you more. everytime he’d reach over you, you were gifted the scent of his cologne and the sight of him. you could spend the rest of your life putting books away with him.

“you have great taste. i’m happy to come here.” odasaku paused in his tasks to admire your rhythm. every now and then you’d pick up one of your precious books, flip through the pages before sorting it alphabetically. sometimes you had to run and grab tape or pen, but it didn’t matter how far those were- you knew the library like the back of your hand. he knew you spent a lot of time here and hoped he wasn’t intruding.

“i’m happy you like my recommendations. i don’t always like to share my favourites.” you hum, now facing him and giving him your attention. “the people who come here don’t usually care about what i think.”

“well, i do.” he reassures you, his lips forming into a smile that could light up the world. “but i actually have a recommendation for you.”

“oh?”

“i recommend..” he placed down the book he was holding and took your hand in his, rubbing his thumb over yours in small strokes. “that you let me take you out tonight.”

your heart nearly leaped out of your chest.

“we can go to that cafe you introduced me too. i find it lovely, but maybe more so with you there, [y/n.]” the way he said your name made you melt, like molten honey dripping from his lips. each syllable of your name sounded like poetry as soon as he said it.

“i’d love that.” he took your hand and brought it to his face, pressing a kiss to your wrist. his blue eyes didn’t blink once as he stared at you. he had feelings and knew you felt them too, and he was taking advantage of that now.

in hindsight, you wished he would have just pressed his lips to yours and made you his right then and there. because life gives you no warning when it changes, and that night it was all about it change.

as soon as the door to your house swung open, the feeling of uneasiness rushed at you. something screamed wrong, and you were about to find out why. you followed the sounds of anguish to your living room, finding your mom on the couch. her head was buried in her hands wrinkled with guilt and age. you were used to the sight of her crying, but never without reason.

seated across from her was a man you had never seen before. dressed in a black suit with hair like midnight, tied in a neat ponytail. his white gloved hands sat orderly in his lap, a disturbingly calm contrast to your mother in distress.

“mom, whats going on?” you cautioned as you sat down next to her weeping form. she slowly removed her hands shielding her face, turning to you. her eyes screamed pity.

“[y/n], we h-have a visitor. this man is ogai mori, and well… he’s your fathers boss.”

mori smiled, his eyes piercing through your soul and screaming nothing but bad news. “it’s very nice to meet you ms. [l/n], i’ve head very good things.” his words seemed nice on paper, but his tone spewed venom.

“ms. [l/n], i’m sure your aware that your father owes me quite a bit. your family is also struggling to stay afloat right now.. i’ve come here to tell you that that will no longer be an issue for you.” he smiled, but hie eyes remained sinister.

you looked to your mother desperately for answers. how could your debt have been solved so easily? why was she crying if all your problems had supposedly been solved?

“ms. [l/n], kindly lend me your hand.”

hesitantly, you reached out your hand- the same hand that has previously been blessed by odasaku mere hours before. his slender and much larger fingers grasped your palm as he slid a silver ring onto your finger.

you froze. cold sweat dripped down your forehead at the sight. you jerked back, staring down at the ring mori had forced on you.

no. no. no. no. no. no. NO.

“what the fuck is this supposed to mean?!” you cried, knowing what it meant but not wanting to accept it. your mothers tears dried, motioning behind you. it was only then when you noticed the suitcase of clothes- your clothes- packed and ready. your mother looked down. she looked ashamed.

“ms. [l/n], don’t be startled. we have plenty to do together, afterall.”

meanwhile, odasaku sat and waited patiently at rourou cafe. he was deep in thought, worry and insecurity rattling in his shaky hands. everything seemed find when he had asked you to this date. maybe his worst fears were true. maybe there was nothing between you after all.

“is [y/n] coming?” the cafe owner asked.

odasaku shook his head.

7 years later.

you had thought that marrying the leader of the port mafia was punishment enough. you cried and cried and cried, mourning what you had lost in the blink of an eye. your husband reminded you that this was the contract that your father signed you off to- now that you two were married, your family could live debt free. but that wasn’t your choice. it was decided for you.

it wasn’t just a marriage where you turned into some pretty housewife- no. mori had taken it upon himself to train you. to turn you into one of his most deadly weapons. you hated it. you hated learning to shoot and to look away as you stole the breath of someones life. but over the years, your heart hardened, and your tears dried. perhaps it would a good thing he had made you this way. now not even he could touch you.

long were the days you read and weeped for the fictional. ougai had promoted you to executive status, a rare feat for someone with no ability. but your skills were exceptional, and only the broken could do such unspeakable work. that had to have been why he broke you in like a god damn shoe, after all.

but no matter how much he forced your heart to fortify, someone stayed in your mind. someone who left his kiss on your now wedded hand.

you had influence within the mafia. as an executive and as ougai’s wife, you knew that you could track down odasaku. you knew that you could have your men summon him into your office with the snap of your fingers. so why didn’t you?

your high heels tapped against the floor as you were just about to turn a corner. you head the voices of some subordinates, mocking your name.

“theres chuuya, the short ginger, kouyou, the hot one, and queen bitch [y/n] mori. what does that make you, just some bandage freak?”

you peered the corner to see two of your subordinates, challenging your fellow-executive dazai. you were always a fond of him, and by the smirk on his face when you turned the corner, he seemed quite fond of you too.

“ah ah ah boys, you’re going to regret what you just said.” he provoked them further. its clear that whatever he was doing he was clearly aware of. he was a demon prodigy- yet he had his fun toying with the minds of others.

“oh yeah? why’s that?” one of the men challenged.

dazai chuckled. “queen bitch, you say?“

“bitch! i bet shes only one of you fancy ass executives because shes married to the boss!”

“ahem.”

dazai chuckled and backed up, giving you room to enter the scene. the two boys blood ran cold at your sight.

you slammed the particularly loud one into the wall, pressing your arm up against his chest. the other bolted in the opposite direction.

“y-y-[y/n]! i didnt mean any of that! we were just j-joking around..”

“you don’t get to address me by my name.” your voice was cold as ice. no one had called you by your name in years. no one you would ever let.

your knee flew up, hitting him right in the crotch. you released him from the wall and watched as he wailed, grabbing the sensitive area in pain. you began to walk away, dazai following shortly after you.

“what are you doing? you’re an executive, act like it.” you spewed. dazai sighed like a little boy.

“well, i only stepped in to investigate all the things they said about you! so really, you should be thanking me.” you chuckled; childlike stupidity was always funny.

later that evening, you found yourself desperately needing a drink. the mafia was fond of a few different bars in the surrounding area, but one you knew of well was lupin. it was a cozy and elegant setting, one that reminded you of your past enough to draw you in but not too much that it made you want to burn it down. 

you ordered a glass of white wine, drinking it down as though you never used to hate the taste of alcohol. so far, you’ve managed to shut down every piece of your past. this was you now. you couldn’t escape anymore, you had become the thing you hid away from all those years ago. and you had no choice but to move forward.

“whiskey, neat.”

the man next to you ordered. his voice was comforting, but you knew not to be lured in. only the mafia came to this bar, and that meant everyone waa bad news.

but, you couldn’t resist tilting your head and hearing him speak. he was a deep, husky baritone, one that made you wonder who’s lips it came from. you looked down at your wine glass and lightly spun it, watching the liquid as it sloshed! around the cup in boredom.

you wondered what your name would sound like in his voice.

“[y/n]?”

you chuckled to yourself, knowing your imagination called out to you in delusion.

that was, until the voice called out again.

“[y/n]…” 

you finally looked over, and there he was.

age had done odasaku justice. he looked stronger and adjusted, like his life had sculpted him into a beautiful man. those eyes stayed the same. the ones you had dreamed about for years.

your lips stayed agape. his blue eyes examined the sight in front of him. he noticed you changed as well. your sweet blush, gentle hands, and forgiving eyes had been buried away. you seemed older, like life forced you into a corner you fought back to. but you were still fucking beautiful.

“i-i, wow, odasaku. i mean. you look great.” you spoke as if you slapped the few words in english you learned when you were 5.

he was forgiving, and chuckled at your demeanour. “is that your way of making it up to me?” he teased.

“no! god no! i- wow. i mean, what are you doing here?” you questioned. you had to admit that the subtle reference to the past caused you a tinge of pain. but all you could do is be thankful that he was actually here, alive and well in front of you.

“i could ask the same about you.. though, since we’re both here, we can assume one thing.” odasaku’s eyes never lingered off of you, as if he wasn’t trying to lose the image of you in his mind.

“i see… i guess life forced you into this as well.” you spoke before taking a deep sip of your wine.

“i guess so. but i never stopped thinking of you.” there it was. odasaku’s warmth, his radiance like the sun that kept you warm throughout the harshest 7 year winter you had endured. you wanted to bathe in it forever. he placed his hand on your thigh, moving closer to you. but something caught his eye.

“you’re married?” he asked, tone changing to confused as he looked down at your silver ring. he remembered that hand, the one he wished he could hold the rest of his life.

to be honest, you had completely forgotten about that as soon as you saw odasaku. “oh!” you took your hand and studied the ring. “yes, i’m married to ougai.” that last part of your sentence fell flat with resentment.

this was the moment odasaku had realized how much you’ve changed. how could someone as sweet as you marry that monster? but oda knew to act better than he felt.

“i see..” he calmly replied, removing his hand from your thigh and finishing his whiskey. you panicked, knowing that look of disappointment all too well. you had seen it on many men before you, but his seemed more worried than anything.

“i’m so sorry if i made you think..” you lied through your teeth, trying to comfort the man in front of you.

“its okay, [y/n]. a beautiful woman like you.. it was bound to happen.” he reassured you, knowing that the rose of love had its thorns.

the way he said your name broke down every wall inside your head. god, how you wanted to tell him the truth of your marriage. how it hurt knowing he simply thought loved another man. how it hurt he didn’t know that that man was him.

“i’m really glad i ran into you, odasaku.”

“i’m glad to see you, [y/n].”

the rest of the night you spent laughing and chatting like you never had before, taking you back to your secret book club meetings with just him years before. this is what warmth felt like. you hadn’t felt that in years.

it started out with simple, nightly phone calls. you’d call him on your way back home since ougai worked such late nights and often didn’t bother to check on you. oda would. he’d text you to confirm you’d got home and wait up for your goodnight text.

it then evolved into private, clandestine meetings at the bar. you’d meet late into the night, sometimes joining ango and dazai in their chats. odasaku would introduce you as a mere “friend”, though everyone knew that that title felt wrong on many levels. you pretended not notice odasaku take a swig of his drink everytime your husband was brought up in conversation.

but you relearned everything you loved about odasaku. his jokes, his way with words, and how he always managed to make everyone the worst parts of yourself feel like a eulogy. he had filled your empty heart with something you longed for. something you hadn’t felt from your parents in years, something your husband had never given you once: love.

you didn’t mean for it to happen. but you were falling back in love with him.

well, its not like you tried to stop it.

and even though odasaku was a man of class, and wanted to respect the vow of marriage, he too could not deny the lingering feelings he had kept like a locket all these years. and it burned inside of him knowing that even though his words were the ones you kept in your heart, at night you laid next to another man. he was the man that held your hand on hard long days, but it was not his ring that wedded you. that even though he loved you more than the air he breathed, you were married to ougai mori.

it wasn’t him. it wasn’t him. but it should have been. he thinks every time he sees that fucking ring on your finger.

odasaku could be content knowing that at least, you were loved by another man. but you weren’t. the more he learned about your marriage, the harder it became to act better than he felt. he wanted to respect that you were a wife, someone else’s wife, but that was some made up vow on a sheet of paper somewhere. your heart belonged to him.

odasaku had taken you to the rooftop of his apartment. it was late at night, so late that you thought even the stars had longed to go to sleep. you knew ougai would begin to grow suspicious, but right now your fear was overpowered by the man beside you.

he held you close with a firm arm wrapped around your waist, securing you to your rightful place by his side. your eyes watched as the stars blanketed the night sky in a bright hue that stretched for infinity, singing a choir of celestial beauty that only those fortunate enough could see each night. you watched the sky, and oda watched you.

all these years and you still looked so fucking beautiful. bathed in the moonlight, you heart was beating like it were about to burst. you turned to face him, placing your hands on his chest and allowing yourself to be enveloped by his scent. he hummed in response, hands keeping a firm grip on your waist as if you would be pulled away from him at any second.

you never wanted to kiss someone more desperately than now.

“i love you.” you whispered, finally allowing your heart to breath. for what felt like the first time in 7 years, you spoke the truth.

odasaku let his forehead drop, pressing it against yours. his eyes closed, hands never wavering from off your body. he felt like you lifted bricks off of his back, confirming that you had felt the same for him all these years. but there was just one problem.

“you’re married, [y/n].” he wanted to scream. scream how it was unfair, scream how you should be married to him instead. but his lips could only muster our the first half of the truth. he had to put you first, always.

you scoffed. “do you really care?”

that right there, was all he needed. “no.”

he pressed his lips to yours with passionate fervour, like he were to die without feeling your kiss. you wasted no time returning the favour, pouring every ounce of your love for him. odasaku kissed you like he hopelessly, desperately needed you- every bit of you. probably because he did.

you desperately grasped his shoulders as he used one hand to cup your face, the other remaining diligently on your waist. you were pushing him past his limits. your beautiful eyes, waist shaped like it was just for him, and a soul that could dare any man to fall in love with you.

you couldn’t stop kissing, even when both your lungs scratched for air. you only pulled apart to look into his eyes once more before going back in, pressing your lips to his like he was your lifebuoy. you needed to feel him, all of him. you needed his love. you were deprived of it for years and subjected to a hell without it. but he was here now, and god damn it if you weren’t going to feel all of him. your husband waited for you in a barren, cold apartment, but the love of your life kissed you under the warm gaze of the heavens.

you were what he needed. he was what you needed. this is what love felt like.

you were everything he wanted love to be, and he wasn’t going to stop at just your lips.

for a man so gentle, sweet and loving, you had never expected him to be this way in bed.

“odasaku!” you moaned out of breath, barely being able to speak his full name. he thrusted his thick, throbbing cock into your pussy. he groaned, relishing in the feeling of your tight walls clenching around him. he pinned your hands above your head, while his free hand rubbed circles on your throbbing clit. he fucked you like he was going to lose. he needed to feel you, all of you.

the sounds of skin slapping echoed throughout the room. with a sharp thrust, he buried himself deep inside your willing body, a guttural groan of pleasure escaping his lips. “this is where you belong. not with him, with me.” he reassured you as he pressed his lips to your already hickey-infested neck. he was going to send you home with his marks. he was going to make sure your piece of shit husband knew who you really loved you. he might have been married to you, but odasaku was the one who fucking you now.

he set a relentless pace, pounding into you with ruthless abandon as he chased your pleasure. he wanted you to forget ever feeling unloved, only being able to think of the way his cock fucked you. the sound of flesh slapping against flesh filled the air, and by the end of the night you would only be able to remember his name.

he continued to pound into your pussy. your desperate moans and cries of pleasure fuelled his relentless pace. he reveled in the feeling of your tight heat enveloping his throbbing cock, the sensation almost enough to make him lose control. he let out a deep moan as he leaned down, his lips and teeth hungry against your flesh. he sucked and nipped at the soft skin of your breasts, determined to leave his mark - a possessive display that would show the world that you belonged to him and him alone.

“f-fuck! fuck oda… fuck please.. i need you.” you desperately cried out to him as you felt your core begin to slowly unravel itself. you were coming undone from underneath him. gripping your hips firmly, he resumed his relentless pace, his thick shaft plunging into your body over and over. the sound of your shared moans and the slap of skin on skin filled the air as he chased your release, intent on thoroughly ruining you for anyone else.

“i’m gonna cum.. fuck please…” you cried out. he kissed your chin as he felt himself come close as well. his vision swam with stars, his only mission now to plant himself so deep inside of you your husband couldn’t even think of touching you. he clutched your hips with bruising force, driving himself in as deep as he could go. with a few more sharp snaps of his hips, you let out a cry of ecstasy as his release crashed over him and you hot spurts of cum flooding their intimate embrace. he let out a groan as your pussy clenched around him so tight, cumming around his cock desperately. he continued to pump into you slowly, drawing out your orgasm. you were practically seeing stars.

slowly, he pulled out, a trickle of his spent release dripping down your thighs. leaning in, he placed a possessive kiss on the nape of their neck, a satisfied l smile playing on his lips. he removed himself from on top of you and laid down beside you. odasaku pulled the blanket over the two of you, pulling you closer to him and his embrace. he kissed all over your face, making sure that you were okay. you lazily nodded, reassuring him that you simply needed to come back down to earth.

your head fell into the crook of his neck, allowing the sleep to overtake you. for the first time in your life, you laid next to someone who loved. odasaku could sleep soundly, knowing you were safe. knowing you were with him.

“my wife, i was so worried about you the other night. tell me dear, where have you been?”

bullshit. you thought.

ougai had summoned you into his office, a rather rare occurrence considering your relationship. if he wanted to assign you a job, he’d simply call you. when he wanted to see you in person, it was because he needed to see you. as a doctor with extensive knowledge on the human body, ougai knew how ro detect a lie. but you knew how to hide one well.

“i was assisting the black lizard in a raid.” not a complete lie. hirotsu was a personal friend of yours, and often called upon you as backup. he also had a distaste for mori, so he’d have no problem confirming this in your favour.

ougai pressed his lips into a calculated smirk. “i see.” something was up. he was testing you.

“my dear… the mafia speaks of you in such high regard.” he began, turning in his chair and facing the portrait behind him. he had a painting of you made, one that required you to stand in an uncomfortable silk dress that barely fit you properly for hours on end. he didn’t want a wife, he wanted something beautiful he could own.

“they speak of your power and your beauty, your voice and your and your heart. many think of you like a goddess, and their eyes twitch with jealousy upon learning that you are married to me.”

your brows furrowed. “whats your point?”

he stepped up, carefully walking towards you. that wretched smile of his never fell off his lips, and it was anything but comforting. he moved until he was mere inches away from you, leaning in to your ear.

“what would they think if they… knew you were pregnant with another mans child?”

[licially]

Interlude: Anger

| I may expand on this in the near future, but this is what I can come up with for the time being as I finish off some more fics. Short and simple.

Halina belongs to @wpk12art, Asa Sweet is a character from Lackadaisy, and belongs to @lackadaisycats.

The phone booth’s door opened to a midnight cloud from the outside. The insides of this coffin consisted of graffitis, drawings, markings, and everything in between as the silence within was disturbed by footsteps from yonder. Two light footsteps overtook the space, and within those steps was another object which the person had laid down and leaned towards the sides of the phone booth. It, as with the boots that this person wore, was bloodied. The axe itself had dried, and so did the tiny spots on their shoes. Yet, it didn’t bother them as they closed the door behind them. 

A hand reached out to the receiving end of the telephone, as the other hand from them dialled through a bunch of numbers before it started to connect. The eeriness of the empty environment sat with the person dressed in all black, as if they were a patch of the night sky itself. The only thing that slightly contrasted them was the colour of red, and it is only because the inside of that coat was made with a red fabric. 

Suddenly, the other end spoke. A soft voice spoke up. It’s the receptionist from the Maribel Hotel, someone who the person on the phone had been quite acquainted with. From the person that spoke first, there was a sign that they’ve been doing this for quite a bit.

“Maribel Hotel, how can I help you?”

Then, a slightly irritated voice replied from within the booth. In contrast to the voice that came over the speaker, this one seemed more well-mannered and calm. The voice came across as such, yet it was also a double edged sword, as it had an undertone of dread beneath it and every word from the booth person’s - or the lady with the axe’s - voice seemed like it was dragging out these words.

“Put me to Mr. Sweet, please.” 

The line suddenly went dead, as the other party silently transferred the line over to the “Mr. Sweet” that was mentioned. The phone booth creaked slightly with the wind, with the lady in the booth just slightly noticing the fluctuations. She didn’t mind it, in part because the place itself was as worn as its surroundings. 

As she peered out towards the night sky yet again, she saw the place as nothing but suspicion. The trail of drying blood that led towards her booth, the slight glint of lights that shone into the abandoned buildings and concrete foundations that laid unbothered by nature, her eyes saw it all. The line’s silence proved more to her observation skills as she traced the treelines that were barely visible through the night sky, and a break from the civilisation approaches as she spots a tiny creature that disturbed the night’s winds. It was a tiny rat-

“AHEM…”

The sudden grunt from the other line, and the inexplicable noise that was to follow a disgruntled clearing of his throat startled Halina, but only slightly. She quickly adjusted to the noise, and replied back in the usual sense of wording.

“Mr. Sweet. I apologise for calling this… late at night.” 

“Oh no worries about that at all! I was worried that I was speaking to a ghost, with how long it took you to respond!” 

He laughed at the end of the sentence, as he put Halina’s patience and wit to the test. By testing, it means that he gets to be annoying without the interference of Mordecai since he’s grown to be a bit protective against Asa’s childish demeanour towards her. 

“A very… interesting comparison, sir. I believe I’m not calling you because I wanted to hear your jokes.” 

Her shift in focus was deliberate: it’s best she could kill off the root of the problem before it spun out of control. WIth how Asa had been messing around ever since her induction into the place, it doesn’t seem too out of place to have a level conversation with him. All for the sake of his business.

“Straightforward… alright, what do you got for me?” 

His usual tone went away just after her remarks. With the tone officially set, Halina continued with a sigh. The conversation is finally well under way so that she could get home and rest.

“It seems the supplier held back our agreed amounts on purpose. They have buried it in a cache, three miles from where we had arranged for pickup, and they had men there that had guarded it…”

She began to recount the events that transpired. Roughly two hours ago, her mission had been to accompany another person towards the east side of the Eads Bridge, and to protect them at all costs. Asa had no choice but to bring Halina into it, as the other trustworthy person had been “busy” and wasn't answering his calls. They had arrived near abandoned warehouses that resided a bit into the countryside and just below Brooklyn, Illinois. They were straggling the borders of the two cities, and it was more common to do these operations at night as the border wasn’t too heavily reinforced. 

Halina had been tasked to do this because he thought her skills with melee weapons would be better in the dark rather than loud guns. He had planned to bring Nicodeme, but he had been busy with something else alongside Serafine. Upon arrival at the promised place it was revealed that they had brought on far more men than expected; some 20 odd men instead of 10, and that they were to kill off the person who she had been escorting, which was a defector from their gang within Illinois. Knowing this, she still stuck to her mission, and as they jumped towards the pair with the intent to kill, Halina put her skills to work. 

The first target was careless, as she quickly clawed the axe into the guy’s open face, splitting it almost wide open. The second, third and fourth person carried out attacks next, with the defector managing to throw his gun towards Halina. Without hesitation, she put a hole through those three, alongside a fifth and sixth person about to run behind. Without organisation, they soon turned into chaos. 

“What a bunch of buffoons.” He interjected.

Halina put a quick pause on her story to catch her breath. Meanwhile, she asked about Asa’s well-being. Quite frankly she wanted this to be over so that she could get home to sleep. Despite not being the chatty type, this is the only time she could recount with some accuracy.

“Mr. Sweet, I do hope you do not mind my retelling. However, it is late for both of us. I think the rest is obvious enough with how much blood that had covered my dress and axe.”

The line was silent. She had a tiny doubt that she inadvertently pissed him off but she also reasoned that he was just thinking of how to respond.

“Alright, good work. I trust that you’ve handled them, but what about our handler?”

“He should be making his way towards you as we speak. We only located some stuff that was buried near this place, near the phone booth. Surprisingly.” 

“I see. With how unpredictable they really are, you’ve put a stop to them before anything worse happens. Thank you… Ms Dobra…ski?” 

He reluctantly tripped on the last few words, to the disappointment of Halina. 

“Dabrowska, Mr. Sweet.” 

She replied back, holding back on faulting him for an error that’s bound to come. Even though she wouldn’t let this go by, this was her boss and she could not correct him further lest she wanted to aggravate him. Yet to fuel her anger towards him, Asa replied with minimal differences.

“Ah! Dabrowska. Ms. Dabroska.”

He almost had no shame in correcting what he thought was wrong. Then proceeded to ruin it even more.

“...Mr. Sweet. With all due respect, my last name is not that difficult to remember.” 

If it were up to her, she’d send him to see Atlas within the afterlife.

“It’s… hard to pronounce it. I’d always get Mordecai to relay this, but you’ve opted to contact me first which is also… a first!” 

He bursted out laughing, much to the disgust of Halina who wanted this conversation to end badly. Luckily, she didn’t have to do much as the phone hangs up, and she’s left on her own. Before anything else bad happens, she puts back the receiver end and grabs the axe with an anger never seen before. 

“Skurwysyn, kawał gówna-” she muttered under her breath, before storming off and slamming the door to the phone booth behind her. Its force was strong enough to almost completely bring the dingy door off of its hinges. 

[spartanblacksmith]

The Forges of Remnant

Chapter 1: A New Dawn

Rose Penthouse, Vale. 24th day, 3rd month of Year 5028.

The winds howl throughout the valley. The grass is growing, and the frost is melting.

Spring is coming, Weiss thought.

The warm air is chasing the cold in a wistful game of tag. The birds chirp their songs and glide on the currents, seeking their mate.

Wearing nothing but the blanket around her, Weiss observed the city of Vale from the balcony of her penthouse in the central, tallest skyscraper. The elegant yet simple structures. The hustle and bustle of the people down below. She could see the park from where she was, and it was filled with a few birthday parties and barbecues.

The sight of the city, and the 3 others sitting in line, covering the valley floor, filled Weiss with a familiar happiness. She loved the past 2 months of living in this location.

This cute little valley. It's so wonderful and serene. I could see raising my children here. I could take them to that peak to observe the stars. Teach them navigation by those bright lights in the sky.

And then a regretful sadness swarmed over her as her thoughts.

But I can't.

Soon, they’d have to abandon this peaceful place. Another peaceful, beautiful place, left to its fate.

She always hated to do so. To leave a city to burn. All 4 of them, the cities sitting right there in the valley. But she had to do it. They all had to. And as she looked back to Ruby and Penny, asleep in their bed, she understood why.

If they stayed for much longer, her wives would fight. Weiss knew this.

They would defend the Remnant tribe. For they loved the people in it. They cherish me as much as I adore them.

And if they fought, they would die.

For the Horde would not be denied, nor defeated. Not now, not tomorrow, not ever.

For 5 thousand years, the Remnant Tribe have stayed ahead of the monstrous, mechanical Horde of the Grimm. Monstrous machines of war made to destroy civilization. All hope was lost when they attacked, for nothing was strong enough to stop them.

Lucky for the people of Remnant, her family's old construction equipment was still operational. And those old mechs were their salvation.

5 giant “Forge-Class” Construction Mechs. Crafted by Weiss's ancestor, Nicolas Schnee and Penny's father, Dr. Polendina, they were marvels of engineering in their time. The Forge was a gigantic white box with 4 folding legs, equipped with observation towers on top of it to see its progress, and a few defense towers, added on after their creation.

Although originally it was almost featureless, it was covered in scratches and graffiti after 5 thousand years of being around humans. But since the Forges had the ability to remove the graffiti, the people suspected they liked certain styles, and allowed them to stay.

The Forges walked in a herd, constructing whole cities for the remnants of civilization to live in. Vale, Vacuo, Atlas, Mistral, and Menagerie, named after the 5 kingdoms that were destroyed. they would walk in front of the following tribe of more than a million nomads, leading them like benevolent shepherds looking after their flock.

Gathering rocks and materials as they traveled, the Forge would construct whole buildings and streets inside them. And when it was safe enough, and at a good location, they would sit down, deposit their construct, and stand up. Boom, an entire city, ready to live in.

Even now, Weiss saw the four hulks resting on the horizon, sitting even bigger than the cities. Sleeping before they were to rise and travel again. Quietly receiving rocks and ore from the Miners guild, who looked to relieve the burden of material gathering from the Forges, even if it wasn't much, or necessary. A good hearted gesture if anything.

Yes, 4 Forges.

Atlas…

That was a story for another day.

Weiss walked inside and over to the bed. She sat down on it, next to her wife Penny. They saved Penny that day. Pulled her from her place in the control room, and fled the devastated Forge, along with the survivors.

Penny. If we were stronger, maybe…

Weiss pushes the hair from her lover's face. Penny is so peaceful when she sleeps. She is always adorable and sweet. Weiss felt her heart flutter every time she thought of her. She remembers the day she got her left eye’s scar in battle. The day Penny saved her and Ruby.

Ruby. Weiss looked at her cute dolt. Sleeping away her exhaustion from last night. Where Penny made her heart flutter, Ruby took her breath away. She was so strong, fearless, and quick witted. And her beauty grew every day. Ever since Weiss saw her in Silver Clans initiation ceremony, she knew they were destined to be together.

If only the younger me knew that she was half right, looking back to Penny.

How did I get so lucky? Two soulmates? Who both cherish me? It may be an effort to return their affections in a way they deserve, but it is always worth it.

Now, 7 years married, Weiss sits as head of the Remnant Council, with her wives supporting her all the way.

Ruby stirs a little, waking up. She rises to sit up on her arm. The covers almost slip away, as she catches them, holding them to her naked form. “Weiss, you're up early. You're never up before me. Is something wrong?”

Astute, as always.

“Yes. To be honest, I didn't sleep last night. I’ve been contemplating. Although Blake’s Shadow Clan says that the Horde is a month and a half away, I think we should pack up and go now, and not next week as we usually do.”

At Weiss's thoughts, Ruby simply waved them away. “Oh, you worry too much.” Ruby leaned over and cupped her wife's face. Weiss let herself lean into her touch. “They won't reach us ever again. I’ll make sure of it.”

Weiss grabbed Ruby's hand. “That's what I'm afraid of, Petal. They're dangerous. They're constantly after us. There's the unpredictable Salem's Hand. I fear for you… for Remnant… for… I…”

Ruby gently pulled Weiss in, and kissed her.

Ruby, this is serious. I won't be swayed by… by… what was I thinking about? No, focus. Focus… Oh, whatever. I’ve got a hot woman kissing me.

Weiss reached behind Ruby's head, petting her short black and red hair, forgetting her troubles for a moment. She leaned into her petal's kiss, passionate and sweet.

They break the kiss, and Weiss blushes a little, staring into her lovers silver eyes. “Ruby.”

“I derail your train of thought?”

“You and Penny have that effect on me.”

“I'm glad we do, Cutie Weiss.” Penny?

Ruby and Weiss look down to Penny, who is awake now, having a gander at her wives tender moment.

“How long have you been up?” Weiss asks, pecking a kiss on Penny's cheek.

“Long enough. Your worries about our situation are noted, but unnecessary. The Horde is very far behind, and maintenance on the Forges are complete. My calculations show that we are safe for another week before we must pack and head for the Coastal Plains. And even with delays, we will be passing by several old abandoned settlements. With proper decoys, they will distract the Horde for a time as we progress further.”

“Ceil came back with the Pathfinder Clan yesterday?” Ruby asks as she scoots closer to Penny.

“Yes. She came in last night and reported it. I was going to tell you two, but the surprise you had for me… I was understandably distracted.” Penny says as she takes a second to remind herself of their night together.

Oh, definitely. Our 7th anniversary is no small occasion. For someone as old as Penny, it doesn't seem like much. So Ruby and I make sure to celebrate it… passionately, every time, to remind her that she is loved. Even if she's an android, she's still learning love like the rest of us.

“Yeah, that's on us. The Coastal Plains. That's next to Vale's ancient origin, right?” Ruby asked.

Weiss takes a moment to think, then responds “Yep. It's been a long time since the Tribe have been there.”

Penny points a finger up. “743 years, actually. It was a nice looking place originally, 4,849 years ago. ‘Twas sad I had to eat the remains and turn them into some new constructs. At least Vale has kept to the original designs all these years.”

Ruby wrapped her arms around Penny. “Aw, come here, sweetie. Even when you were a Forge, you were always gentle, weren't you?” Ruby nuzzled her head into Penny's chest.

Penny touched Ruby's arm gently. “I tried to be. The other Forges are so stoic. But they don't assure the people. They left that to the Schnee family. I always tried to be different. To be inspirational.”

True, but the Schnees couldn't hold a candle to your kindness.

Weiss crawled in next to Penny. “I remember. When I was younger, you would build whole parks for the young. Community centers and Opera Houses for the people. Unnecessary, but everyone loved you for that. You inspired the other 4 Forges to do more. That there was more to cities than just “Residential and Public Service” buildings.”

Penny blushes as Weiss holds her hand, saying her compliments. “To be fair, Mistral did the artsy thing first. Their buildings have always been nice looking.”

Ruby curled her finger in Penny's curly orange/red hair. “I loved when my mom brought me and Yang to Atlas to show us the graffiti you put on your own buildings. They were always so funny looking.”

Penny looked at both Ruby and Weiss with a bright smile on her face. “Thank you. I love you two for being so kind to me.”

If only there were words to express how much those words meant for us to you.

Weiss nuzzled her head into Penny's chest, bumping her nose against Ruby's.

Ruby smiled at her lovers and laughed. “We should probably get out of bed and start the day, or else we're gonna be late again.”

Both Weiss and Penny groaned in agony, being reminded of their duties.

Weiss had meetings all day regarding her Head Chieftain duties. She sometimes wished she didn't hold her 3 seats on the 15 seat Council.

Well, 2 and my sister's seat, Winter, commander of the warrior clans. She doesn't like politics, so she lets me use it. And I, very quickly, understood why in my career. People, especially stubborn, stupid people can be insufferable.

Penny, although she knew the Forges were in top shape, had all day, nay, all week to spend with the Engineer Clan with Yang's Ember Unit. She smashed it up, killing a Rogue Ursa with her Fire Clan 4 days ago.

Ruby had duties of her own. Her Silver Clan had patrols to do. They hadn't seen Beowolves for weeks, and that was a bad sign. They were gathering numbers for an attack, she often told Weiss. She was certain of it. They had to go hunting.

All three were reluctant to separate though.

“Five more minutes?”

“Five more minutes.”

“Yay, five more minutes.”

The three lay there, enjoying each other's company. Penny petted Weiss's head, running her fingers through her white hair. Weiss reached over to scratch Ruby's back. Ruby hugged Penny tight.

Oh, I could just lay here forever.

Simple, lovely, and blissful contentment in the arms of her lovers. What more could a woman ask for?

—----------------

Fields outside of ancient Mistral origin city. 24th day, 3rd month of Year 5028.

No one knows who or what made the Horde of Grimm. Some say it was a reckless pair of brothers, hell bent on world domination. Some say it was the Schnee Dust Company, a secret weapon development gone horribly wrong… or right if you believe the conspiracy theorists. Some say it was a mad scientist, a woman who despised the world and simply wanted it gone.

I know many people who believed it was the Schnee conspiracy. But after meeting Weiss, getting to know my sister-in-law, it's hard to believe now. Blake thought as she lay on the hill, observing the Horde.

From mysterious origins, these machines destroyed the kingdoms of old. They looked much like a Forge. Except for the 6 legs, gigantic hexagon shape, fully armed dozens of cannons, and the upper torso of a colossal, mechanical Leviathan sitting on top with long arms and razor sharp claws that tore through everything.

No one knew who was stupid enough to build them, then give them independence. But all had to flee from them. Their only solace was that the Leviathans were slow, and the Forges and the Remnant Tribe was faster than them.

Blake and Ren lay on the side of the hill, and spied on the distance with their scopes. Luck was on their side apparently. Blake knew how much Weiss was a worrywort, but now she had good news to give the Head Chieftain. The Leviathans were tearing apart some old ruins that used to be some cities the tribe had built a millennia prior.

Ren was taking notes on the number of Ursa there were and the 2 in development within Watts. “Didn't they destroy those before?”

Blake huffed some her hair out of her face. “They're mechs of destruction. They don't exactly have another purpose. They saw some structures standing, so they decided to crush it again. Not that complicated.”

“Well, I’m glad either way. Looks like they're taking their sweet time. Now I get 2 extra days to relax at home before I gotta pack up.”

“Don't you and Nora pack light? Everyone else does.” Blake adjusted her scope to take a look at Salem. Surrounded by her bodyguard Leviathans, as usual. She noted it down.

Salem was a paranoid War Forge. While there were 40 Leviathans in the Horde, there were four additional War Forges creating smaller Mechs to serve them. Their existence was a blight on life itself.

They were so nefarious, they had names so the warriors could remember them better. Tyrian, the "Ursa" Forge. Hazel, the "Nevermore" Forge. Watts, the "Repair Creep" Forge. And Salem, the Queen War Forge and "Beowolf" Forge. Each Factory had a bodyguard unit of 4 Leviathans and a swarm of smaller Mechs.

Ren kept taking notes, including one about the new Nevermore about to launch in a week's time from Hazel. “We do. But remember, she's got her Magnhild Unit. She can carry a lot more than other people. So she volunteers us to help others pack up and load up her unit with cargo. I know I got 8 families to load up once we get home, if she hasn't volunteered more.”

“Ah, right. Yang is the same way.” Blake takes a second to contemplate that. “Actually, all of the Fire Clan is like that. They use their mechs to help a lot of people travel.”

“Yep.” Ren says as he adjusts his scopes dials. “We love them for it though, don't we?”

A long sigh escaping Blake's mouth, she says “Yeah, we do.” Then a smile widens across her face at the thought of her wife.

Yang should be waking up by now. Her blanket falling away. I wonder if she slept in the… *sigh* Get your head out of the gutter, Blake. You can't always be thinking about your wife's voluptuous, beautiful… Hmm? Blake turned to Ren, who was quite silent.

“Ren? You alright?”

“Mmm.” Ren's face remains blank.

Blake took a guess as to what Ren was thinking of. “... Look, they can handle it, Ren.”

“I know. But... I wish those things would just give us a moment. There's so many already.”

Blake could see that Ren's face remained blank, but his hands were gripping his scope a little too hard.

She understood his anguish all too well. Nora received her scars in battle against the Ursa only last year. Ren was terrified all through the months it took for Nora to recover from her injuries. When he was home, he doted on her as much as he could. And Nora was returning to the Fire Clan next week.

Ren hated the Ursa.

Dreadful mech units that were quite large, the Ursa were the size of perhaps 3 skyscrapers side by side. They weren't the size of a Leviathan, who stood far taller and wider than a Forge, with worse weapons, but they were 3 times as fast as the Forges.

This meant they were able to catch up to the Tribe. And it was the Fire Clans duty to slay the Ursa when they threatened them.

And as Yang and Nora led the Fire Clan, Blake and Ren were seeing them often run off to battle, not knowing if they would return.

That fear was especially prevalent in Blake when she saw Yang’s Ember Unit being dragged in by two other Striker Units, smashed up and unresponsive. It took Penny and her crew 3 hours to cut Yang out of her cockpit, but by the gods luck, she was fine. Yang got the killing blow on the Ursa, but Blake wished she would be more careful.

It didn't help that she would have to report there were 5 Ursa now, with 2 on the way. More danger for them to face.

“Chief.” Blake turns around to see Illia call for her. “The Shadow Clan is ready to move out. Shall we head home?”

Behind the hill were 4 squads of 7, gathering, packing and loading equipment onto their Oobleck hover bikes. They were as fast as the professor who designed them.

They had been watching the Horde for 5 days now, keeping track of its progress. Now, it was time to head home. By the time they’re back, it'll be time for the tribe to set out again.

Blake thought it over. “Well, they're pretty busy. We'll head back, but keep the 9th squad out here to watch them, and we’ll come back after the tribe starts moving. Tell the 9th they can come back after 3 days and the 12th will relieve them.”

“Understood, Chief. Shall we?” Illia gestured to the speeders.

“Yes, but Illia, it's Blake. No need for formalities.”

“I… I know.” Illia turns away to talk to Squad 9 about their orders.

Ren gave Blake the side eye. “Still Chief?”

Blake flinched at that. Yeah. Still Chief. I’ll always be Chief to Illia.

“Old habits die hard, Ren.”

“It's been 10 years since the White Fang. Surely she can kick the habit?”

“It’s not easy to lose a quirk. You still have your quirks, ya know? And they've been around since Beacon.” Blake glanced over to Ren as he jumped a little.

“What quirks?”

“You still hold your cooking spoon out so Nora can lick it.”

“Only when I’m cooking for her and me.”

“And last time Yang and I had dinner at your place? You were cooking stew and Nora licked your spoon.”

“... I hoped you didn't notice that.”

“Well, I did.”

“Is there more?”

“Yes, but they're a secret. Nora told me.”

“Come on, tell me. What quirk?”

Blake laughed and shook her head and her cat ears flickered. “Well, we better get home. Yang has something planned for me when we get there.”

“Not gonna tell me, huh?” Ren and Blake walked over to where the hover speeder bikes were. “Nora's also got something planned, herself. Said she wanted to have a picnic under the stars and shattered moon.”

Blake hopped onto her speeder. “Nice. This region has a lot of constellations, if you're lucky enough to get a cloudless sky. Maybe if you pick the right spot, maybe you could see the Moon Goddess constellation.”

Ren didn't respond as Blake expected. He simply stood there, holding the handlebars of his speeder. Blake was about to say something, then she heard what had silenced him. A blood curdling scream.

*20 Minutes ago*

This is such a bad idea.

It will be fine, kid.

What do you mean it'll be fine!? We’re surrounded by the Horde! They're right over there by Vacuo, if you hadn't noticed!

Yes. That is a problem. But I doubt they'll find us here.

But they'll-

We’re deep in an abandoned Mistral settlement. On the 40th floor of a skyscraper that will hide our presence. There has been no sign that a human passed through here for nearly 500 years. Relax. They will pass, and we can continue on our way. We will find her.

Right… we will, right?

Yes. Jin is somewhere. We just need more information.

Well… okay, if you say-

*Clattering of metal nearby*

WHAT WAS THAT!?

Uh, I didn't think about scouts.

Why. Did. You. Not. THINK ABOUT SCOUTS!?

A Beowolf rounds the corner of the hallway. The kid blasts his shotgun towards the beast, and blows half his head off. It's not a killing blow, and the Beowolf howls and lunges. The kid shoots again, blowing the other half of the Beowolf's head off, but the beast succeeds in destroying his weapon with his claws. It falls to the ground, dead.

The kid, now defenseless, hears more howling.

Oh no.

RUN!

WHERE!?

The Shadow Clan. Find the Shadow Clan. They're always watching the Horde. They can get you out of here.

But where-

*A foot stomps a building nearby. A Leviathan has joined the chase for the kid.*

Move! They’ll find you, but there must be a “you” to find! Now Run!

*Present time*

Ren hopped onto his speeder. Blake yelled to the squad “Stay here.” Then both clan leaders moved their bikes up the hill again. They looked again in their scopes for what they could have missed. Then they saw it.

A boy excited the ruins of Mistral, running from the Horde, and he was being chased by a pack of Beowolves. He apparently was a stray nomad who was staying in the old city.

Blake started up her bike and zoomed towards the boy. Ren followed close behind.

It was a race to see who reached him first, for the Beowolf was not easily outdone. Standing at only 8 feet tall, small compared to its brethren, the Beowolf was the most loathed of all the enemy. For it was not only faster than a Forge, it was faster than most humans. And quite deadly.

Blake was racing as fast as she could. She could hear Ren preparing something behind her, but she had no time to look.

The boy was gasping for air, his legs doing all they could to outrun the beasts. When he saw the bikes coming towards him, hope filled him up again, and he got his second wind, sprinting harder.

The Pursuers and the Rescuers were converging in their own game of chicken. Would Blake have time to even get the boy before she was struck down?

She decided it was best to use it. She readied her missile pods. The bike was armed with two single use missile launchers, and Blake fires hers at the closest Beowolf. The first collides with his chest and staggers it. The second blew his head clean off.

Another two were on the verge of catching the boy.

Can't be stingy at a time like this. Blake readied her weapon, her sword from her time in the Silver Clan, and leaped from her bike.

As the bike slowed, she launched herself at one of the two Beowolf, converting her sword to a kusarigama, and wrapped her weapon around the Beowolf’s neck.

Blake landed next to the beast, and pulled the ribbon. Her sickle cut right through the beast's neck and lopped his head off, sending it dead to the ground.

Blake holstered her weapon and sprinted at the kid. Another Beowolf made a move, but Ren was quicker on the draw, firing his missile and hitting it square in the jaw. It fell to the ground right next to the kid and Blake. A second Beowolf received a missile to the leg, sending it sprawling to the ground.

She braked to a stop in front of the boy and grabbed him by the scruff of his jacket, not wasting time chatting. She hopped onto her bike and gave the boy to Ren.

Not wanting to overstay their unwelcoming party, the two of them sped away with their rescued straggler, easily outrunning their pursuers.

As was the way of the nomad.

The Shadow Clan joined up with them and they all flew down the fields towards home. They zoomed over hills and plains, heading back to Remnant.

Blake got on the radio “Squad 9, you know what to do. Since they're alerted, double the observation distance.”

She received acknowledgement from the Squad 9 lead, and the 7 scouts turned from the group and headed back to circle around the Horde.

Seeing the boy settle behind Ren, Blake realized that Weiss wouldn't get her good news this time. For she could hear the Leviathans stop their assault on the ruins and resume their march towards Remnant once more.

So they were after the straggler, not the ruins.

Blake simply shrugged her shoulders.

Oh well. It was but a day or 2 had they continued their destruction of the ruins. I'm glad we could save the straggler.

“Well, that could have been worse.” Blake glanced over at the kid. “Hey, kid. What's your name? And why are you out here?”

Blake could only hear mumbling come from the boy. Then again, they were moving at high speed, so that's understandable. She could see Ren use his semblance to calm the boy, and his trembling turned into a stillness. It was a moment before anything was said.

“Oscar.” Blake glanced at Ren as he said it. “He said his name is Oscar. And that he was on a mission for Ozma.”

“Who's Ozma?” Blake asked. Ren merely shrugged his shoulders.

Illia, who overheard, added in “Wasn't there an Oscar who went missing half a year ago from Mistral’s sector?”

Ren turned his head to listen again. “That's him.”

“I would still like to know. Why are you out here, running through ruins and evading the Horde?”

Ren listened again. “He said he's looking for Jin, the Librarian A.I., so he can give her to Qrow.”

Blake groaned internally.

Oh, of course this was Wanderer business.

But she didn't expect Qrow to send a boy out into the wild. Especially without a speeder.

Who even was this Jin? And Ozma?

Whatever the reason, she was sure delivering Oscar to his parents would cure him of his recklessness, and his business with the Wanderers would be finished. Hopefully. If he was crazy enough to come out here alone, who knows what he’d do.

Blake observed the oncoming change of scenery. Markings and signs could be seen.

Hmm, this is Ravens current stomping grounds. She better not try anything.

“Alright people, keep an eye out, we're heading into Bandit Territory. And we don't want no surprises.”

—-----------

Outside the Workshop of the Engineer Clan. 4th month, 1st day of Year 5028.

One Menagerie, Two Menagerie, Three Menagerie, Four Menagerie… ah forget it. Let's see if Penny needs help with Ember Celica.

Yang was restless. Blake was due back today and she couldn't wait to give her her present. But it was only 10 in the morning. So instead of waiting around, Yang tried to be productive.

But an hour later, standing outside the Engineer Clan’s Famous Workshop, Penny had turned her offer down. Yang wanted to work on her Ember Celica Unit, both to pass the time and make up for her mistake in her last battle. Make it up to the crew having to fix her unit.

But Penny and her crew just shooed her out of the Workshop, telling her not to worry. Yang and her Clan hunt and kill monsters, as well as protect the Tribe. Penny and her Clan make sure all of their equipment is in top shape. That's how they work together. Besides, the engineers preferred their quiet privacy anyway.

Although, as Yang turned and left, wishing them good luck. And as they resumed their work, a thought passed Yang's mind. With all that metal grinding and banging, how is that quiet?

So Yang decided to simply take her old school motorcycle, with actual wheels, through the streets of Vale to travel to the Shadow Clan headquarters in Menagerie.

Passing through the market and the warehouse district, Yang could see Vale as vibrant as ever. It was little wonder Ruby and her family decided to stay here. It was most like Atlas, so Weiss and Penny loved it. And they had the Engineers Workshop, and despite Penny saying they handled the equipment, she has no problem letting Ruby do her own weapon smithing.

Honestly, the two of them spoil Ruby. Well, that's not always a bad thing. Adorable, really.

It was also the home of the Silver Clan Headquarters, the Beowolf hunters. Ruby is the current leader of the Clan. Their mother used to be the leader of the clan too, so it holds great sentimental value to the sisters. Yang was passing the building complex, where memories bubbled up again.

Mom…

Yang held back tears as she rode on. The thought of Summer always had her on the verge.

Yang then reaches the city’s edge, and the paved road turns to dirt. Driving through the patch of land in between cities, she then entered Vacuo and its roughneck setting.

She knew they only looked rough on the outside. The inside was quite well designed and structured. The Vacuo Forge was meant for building cities in the desert, so they built on functionality foremost. But that didn't mean spartan living spaces. They had amenities just like the rest of the cities.

Yang spotted the Vital Coliseum on the edge of the city, though it wasn't hard to spot. This time around, it was in Vacuo.

The Vital Coliseum is switched around cities every cycle so no one feels left out of the festivities. A place for the warriors to test their mettle. But no deaths or maiming were allowed.

Yang winced at that thought. She was still banned for breaking Mercury's leg, who was also banned for illegal moves during the match. Moves that he had Emerald cover up with her illusions, that also got her banned. And we thought Penny had died that one time against Pyrrha, who Emerald was also affecting. Good thing her Forge could make another body for her, but Pyrrha was also banned. And the Nevermore attack that Ruby had to lead a counter charge against. And the Beowolf army that same Nevermore dropped on the Coliseum that everyone had to kill.

Man, the old days were rough.

Still, they exercise a lot of caution these days. So the games go on.

She took a detour to pass by her headquarters, the Fire Clan's Coliseum. Vacuo had an interesting time when it had to house 2 Coliseums, but they made due. As for the Fire Clan, Yang saw training was underway. 3 massive mechs were in the Coliseum, 2 veterans showing a recruit the ropes.

Good, good. The newbie’s getting her training in. She may even be ready for an engagement soon. And she can't do worse than Sage and Scarlet as mentors.

The Port Strikers. A tried and true mechanical weapon platform. Designed thousands of years ago by a veteran hunter, they have served as the frontline of the defense of Remnant. Bipedal and humanoid in nature, they could clobber an Ursa if utilized effectively. Standing almost 10 stories tall, they were equipped with weapons according to their pilots preferences.

Yang preferred the weapons she had back in the days she was in Silver Clan. Her Ember Celica gauntlets. Her Ember Unit was equipped with the oversized version, and she loved it.

Each Striker was also equipped with chest mounted missile launchers, dual knives for stabbing and climbing their massive foes, a jetpack, and grenades strapped to the waist like on a belt. There was also the option to mount a shoulder artillery cannon, but that tended to slow you down, so Yang didn't have one.

She left the area and her cohorts to their training.

Yang reached the other side of Vacuo and entered the space between it and Mistral. A very different look compared to its sister cities, Mistral was a fancy looking city. Ornate carvings and stone statues of creatures whose names were, unfortunately, lost to history. She passed the central park and saw the airships fly around. Mistral houses the best pilots in Remnant, so naturally it was the home of the Sky Clan, the Nevermore hunters. She passed by their airfield, filled with fighter and transport aircraft, and was once again leaving town.

Ah, home, sweet, home.

Menagerie. The majority of the Faunus in Remnant live here. Yang moved in with Blake right after their marriage. Since her father was the appointed Chieftain of the Faunus, his family was given the large Chieftains house the Menagerie Forge makes in every city. And he gave Blake and her wife, Yang, their own space in it.

She went by the house. Big and beautiful, her home was. Unfortunately, today the sight was depressing. Protesters were out front, calling for the current Chieftain of the Faunus to step down. They only come around once and a while when they feel like it, but they are persistent.

He held a council seat, and Ghirra was a great leader. The only reason for this ongoing protest, of 7 years now, was only because he was loosely related to Jacques Schnee through a chain of marriages and siblings.

First it was his daughter Weiss, who was married to Ruby and Penny. Then it was Ruby and Yang's sisterhood. Then it was her marriage to Blake. Then we get to Blake being the daughter of Ghirra. Convoluted and unnecessary.

Old grudges die hard, she supposed. Jacques was really hated during the years he and Ironwood were the heads of the council and commander of the clans.

He pushed the Faunus and those in the Miners Guild hard to meet their ridiculous quotas. So much so, they even fed the Forges more material than the Forges gathered themselves in those years for the first time in forever. Although the homes were free and food was shared by the gatherers and farmers, in Jacques’s head, the quicker cities were built meant more money when the shops stayed open longer.

But after the Atlas disaster, Ironwood killed Jacques and tried to lay all the blame on him. But he was banished for his actions, and for the destruction of a Forge. It was later revealed he had murdered a council member and Jacques in his madness, so now if he returns, it is to his death.

Back to the present, Yang shook her head at the current protesters.

Weiss was doing really well in her father's shoes. Remnant has been doing better than it's done before. She made sure everyone was treated fairly, and did her best to heal relations between the Humans and the Faunus. To lead with wisdom and justice. But some people are purely stubborn, and don't trust her.

Maybe it was the lies the White Fang were still spreading about her.

Absurd, really. And this development meant that Yang couldn't bring Blake home, otherwise she’d see this.

So, time for plan B. She sped away to the Shadow Clans Headquarters, at the far end of Menagerie. She arrived at the hanger bay holding all the hover bikes. Many of the clan warriors waved hello to her, knowing she was their leader's wife. Yang waved back, knowing they're a polite bunch.

Yang kicked the stand on her motorcycle, and leaned against it. She started waiting for Blake to arrive by the entrance, flipping through an old book she keeps in her motorcycle's side bag for such an occasion.

After a few minutes and getting bored with the book, she glanced down the valley the cities were sitting in.

A pretty sight, she thought. Tall mountain ranges on both sides with lush green grass waving through the middle. This world always has such beautiful scenery.

Just like Patch…

Yang and Ruby were born into the Vale sector, but their father, Tai, tried to raise Ruby and Yang in a little village away from Remnant called Patch with Ruby's mom, Summer. No running, no packing, no danger.

These villages are more common than one would think. With the Horde always after the Remnant Tribe, the villages were free to settle down in these out of the way communities. They could farm, craft, and take care of themselves quite easily.

Yang shook her head. It was a peaceful couple of years, Yang thought. Peaceful, but foolish of my parents to do so.

She knew Nora and Ren were born to a village themselves, and she knew the pain they went through. Just like her family.

The machines of war are always on the hunt, even for small little nothing villages. For they had found their little village with a stray Beowolf. A swarm of Beowolves, and an Ursa had been dispatched to kill them all.

Tai was pulling the cart with some of the wounded villagers, a young Yang and baby Ruby. That was when she saw her mother take her weapon, the one she had when she was the leader of the Silver Clan, and turn around. Tai and Yang called for Summer to not fight and run away.

Now that Yang thought about it, her mother had no other option. The monsters would have caught them all.

Summer leapt into action, unfurling her ax, splitting the helmet of the Beowolf pack leader, killing it, and then killing a quarter of his pack with massive shotgun blasts. She even managed to climb the Ursa, and break its eye. This made the hulk furious. Summer ran the other direction the villagers were going, to lead the monsters away.

Mom… Yang cried for her to come back. She cried and she cried, until she cried herself to sleep hours later.

Summer was never seen again.

A funeral was held, a memorial service. Her tombstone was placed onto a cliff somewhere and left behind. Then they all journeyed to rejoin Remnant. Their father was never the same, only a little better until maybe a few years ago.

Wiping a tear from her eye, Yang started thinking about the other things that happened in the past to cheer herself up.

She used to be in the Silver Clan with Ruby, Weiss, and Blake. Went to Beacon academy for warrior training and everything. They had a lot of misadventures during that time. The thought of it made her laugh.

There was the train station incident. A bit of a disaster against those bandits working for Torchwick. But at least it wasn't lived in. Well, other than bandits preying on the nearby village.

The temple ruin incident. Facing a Nevermore on foot? Something only my baby sister Ruby could do.

The bar incident. Okay, that was me. But Junior deserved it.

The battleship crash incident. Torchwick definitely regretted hijacking that one. Well, Neo gave us hell for years after his death before she retired. It did suck though, as it was the first battleship to work in 5,000 years.

The time Raven kidnapped Weiss for ransom, and team RBY and JNPR stealing a jet to rescue her. All with the help of the leader of the Sky Clan, Maria. And her Uncle Qrow's help with his knowledge of the wild, thanks to the Wanderers he leads.

Awkward, having to rescue your future sister in law from your biological mother, who happened to be the leader of a Bandit Clan. Her family tree was too complicated to give a lot of thought.

The time we burned down a bar, and that one was Ruby's fault. Okay, Ruby and my fault. But Junior still had it coming.

How they aren't banished is beyond her understanding.

The… Beacon incident. Yang touched her metallic arm. Not long before the destruction of Altas, was the attack of Beacon Academy. Some rebels known as the White Fang laid siege on the academy with some captured Beowolves. And it was there Blake's crazy ex stabbed her and sliced Yang's arm off. He slinked away with his followers, back into hiding.

Blake left the team and stayed with her family for a while, giving up the warrior life all together. Yang was laid up in recovery. Doctors say she couldn't be part of Silver Clan again, even with her new robot prosthetic arm. Major depression. She pushed away everyone who tried to help, even Ruby and Weiss. Eventually, with her father's help, Yang managed to get off the couch and get back into shape, though it wasn't easy.

Then Blake came back, her spirit renewed. She decided to join the Shadow Clan, do scouting instead. Yang joined the Fire Clan, for she was allowed to fight in it with her robot arm.

Things were looking up.

Then the Fall of Atlas happened. After that, Weiss had to leave Silver Clan and take her spot as Head Chieftain of the Council.

Then the White Fang attacked again, this time trying to cripple the Sky Clan in Mistral. Yang and Blake intercepted Adam, and after a difficult fight, killed him.

Ruby had to step up and take charge of the Silver Clan, without them. And she has. With Sun’s help, as well as Cinder, she's gotten the Clan in top shape.

And we get to now. A peaceful sunset on the horizon, as Yang waits for her beloved to show up, so she can take her on their date.

Not bad for a delinquent like me.

An hour passes, and Yang is dozing off on her bike when she hears a familiar sound.

Almost two dozen hover bikes appear on the horizon. The Shadow Clan runs out to meet their comrades.

Slowing to a stop, the dusty warriors get off their bikes to a warm welcome from their brethren. And Yang spots her. Taking off her helmet, Blake's hair catching the light. It just takes Yang's breath away every time.

She pushes her way through the crowd and scoops her wife into a bear hug, spinning her in joy. The crowd gives her some room, and Yang gives Blake a kiss as she set her back on the ground.

After Blake is able to collect herself, she smiles at her wife. “Yang, I'm glad to see you too.”

“Not too much trouble out there, is there?”

“Unfortunately, there's always trouble out there. And, we’ve even brought some back with us.” Blake looks back to Oscar, clinging to Ren, still not used to riding at high speeds for hours. After their week-long journey, he was ready to stay on solid ground.

“Straggler?”

“Yep.” Blake gestures to a squad leader named May. “Take Oscar inside and give him a warm bunk for the night. Tomorrow, we will look for his parents.”

“Aye, Ma’am” May gives a salute and guides Oscar to the barracks.

“So, do I get an explanation about him, or is it classified?” Yang says, throwing a thumb over her shoulder. The Clan had started to disperse back to their duties, taking the bikes inside for maintenance, the riders going inside for sleep and food.

“Nah. He was a straggler looking for something named Jin, the Librarian A.I. Said he was doing it for your uncle and a guy named Ozma.”

“Qrow? He doesn't do that. He’d at least send 3 hunters for something he wants, not one kid. I’ll see if I can get him on the horn tomorrow and ask what's up.”

Blake hugs her tall wife. “Thanks.”

Yang hugs her back. “Tomorrow. Tonight, I have something special planned.”

“Your wonderful home cooking, leading to a spicy night in bed together?” Blake said with a smirk.

Knowing that was plan A, now canceled, Yang responds with “No. Something else. Follow me to our steed, my lady.”

Getting on the bike, Blake holding onto Yang's waist, they speed away, the sunset on their backs.

—----------

Vacuo Forge mineral depository. 4th month, 1st day of Year 5028

The Miners Guild was vastly unnecessary, Grut thought, Stupid, stupid, stupid, these worms are. These people are pointlessly dumping materials into a divine machine that does it for them infinitely better than they can.

Grut was but a humble shark Faunas, meant for greater things he was, in his own opinion.

Grut was pushing a wheelbarrow full of rocks and ore so he could dump it into the Forges material receptacle. Knowing it was a drop in the bucket of the ocean of materials the godly giant gathers in merely a day.

But the silly miners thought they'd be nice to the machine god and gather some materials, and really contribute to the effort. If they weren't so quick to judge us for our worship, they would see they are no different.

Idiotic. What a load of rubbish, he thought. Ugh, why did Tyrian make me the spy?

Grut’s thoughts were often of ‘why couldn't Tyrian put me in the freaking office? Service? Even a craftsman. But no. I'm lugging rocks around all day, throwing out my back. This has better be for a good cause'.

His pager went off. The motion sensor at the end of the valley had been triggered. The Shadow Clan had returned.

He had reached the receptacle, and dumped his wheelbarrow into it. He had to hurry, else he missed them. He was walking back, and set his wheelbarrow down, saying to the others he was taking a break. They waved him away, and Grut went to the nearby hill. Behind the tree atop it, he readied himself.

He sat down on it and pulled out his binoculars and lunch. He started eating his sandwich, looking through the binoculars. A boring task, but it has to be done. His shark teeth took another bite into the meal as he scratched at his rough skin.

At least the view is nice and the food is tasty. Better than the stuff they serve in the Salem's Hand cafeteria. But I wonder how long Tyrians patience will last if they don't find-

Seeing the bikes crest the horizon, he sees what he's been looking for. Oscar was with them.

Grut pulled out his scroll and called Tyrian.

After a moment, he received an answer. “Her Majesty's loyal servant speaking.”

“Boss? Yeah, it's Grut. He’s here. The boy is here.”

“Grut? You see him? You're certain?”

“Yep. Shadow Clan got him. Don't know if he has Jinn.”

“Then we must strike while the iron is hot. He must not reach Qrow if he does have her.”

“What do we do?”

“You know what must be done. Your task as a spy is complete. I have… new orders for you.”

“Yes sir.” Anything should be better than this, He thought.