#first time he posts himself on his story damien replies like:

[ashertickler]

damien and huxley

(credit: @ official.faithn on insta)

[fangirl-writes]

Seven Minutes in Heaven

Damien Haas x GN!Reader

Warning(s): making out, swearing, drinking

Notes: Got asked for more Damien things but I didn't have any so I wrote one! I'm not sure about the drinking habits of the Smosh squad, but for the purposes of the story we're going to assume they all partake in a reasonable manner.

Summary: You and Damien may or may not have kissed in the Smosh Closet, but you're not telling.

"Seven minutes in heaven!"

You raised your eyebrows at Courtney. "What are we in seventh grade?"

"At Smosh, we are all in seventh grade," Shayne said, laughing.

"We don't have a bottle though," Angela said.

"We can use this," Spencer said, downing the last of his Kickstart and setting it in the middle of the group.

The cast and crew were celebrating post a live show, having pulled couches, chairs and bean bags from all corners of the office into one room for everyone to convene.

"Okay, anyone playing, sit in the circle," Courtney said, clutching on your arm so you couldn't run away.

"Court!" you whined, but she just looked at you with her best puppy dog eyes and you relented.

All cast members joined the circle, except for Ian and Anthony, who hung back, and a few crew did as well.

"How do we decide who goes first?" Tommy asked.

"It was Courtney's idea, I vote they go first," you said.

She shrugged, leaning down and spinning the Kickstart can.

"No fucking way."

The top of the can stopped spinning perfectly in front of Shayne and everyone burst into giggles.

"Her husband? Really?"

Everyone, giggling like teens, ushered Shayne and Courtney into the Smosh Closet.

"Okay, and time starts now!" Anthony said, setting a timer on his watch.

"Don't get too down and dirty, you two or we'll have to burn everything in there!" Ian joked as Chanse closed the door on them.

In true middle school fashion, you all played truth or dare while waiting for the seven minutes to be up.

"Y/N, truth or dare?" Amanda said.

"Uh, truth," you replied.

"Do you or do you not have the hots for someone in this room?"

Your face got hot. "I- er."

"I'm taking that as a yes," Amanda said with a laugh.

"OOH, who is it?" Angela asked.

"Not your turn, Ang," you replied, sticking your tongue out at her, which she returned. "Spencer, truth or dare?"

Anthony's timer went off just as Spencer was in the middle of dancing around with his shirt off.

You all may have had some alcohol in your systems.

Chanse knocked on the door, "Ya'll decent in there?"

He opened the door and Shayne and Courtney, maybe a bit more ruffled, walked out with grins.

Everyone whooped and whistled at them, making them laugh.

"Who's up next?"

It went on like for a few rounds. Shayne spun after Courtney, landing on Spencer and the two of them disappeared into the closet to make silly moaning noises and run a bit way too long. Spencer went next, landing hilariously on Tommy, and so on and so forth.

You'd been able to avoid the sword of Damocles that was the Kickstart can for most of the round until Damien (who'd just emerged from the closet with Kiana) spun it.

You watched with bated breath as the yellow can spun wildly.

And landed on you.

Fuck.

Courtney squealed beside you, grabbing your arm while everyone else did their usual oohs and whoops.

You licked your lips and stood up, taking a final swig of your drink for liquid courage before you handed it to Courtney and followed Damien to the closet.

"Don't have too much fun in there," Chanse joked with a wink.

You hoped everyone would assume the two of you would just sit and talk for the duration of the seven minutes, like most people who weren't playing it up for the bit did.

But what they didn't know was that you were crushing hard on Damien.

He'd really come into himself over the past year or so, dying his hair silver, getting more tattoos, wearing his piercings more often, retaining his rather buff physic. He was hot. And that was a problem for you.

Chanse closed the door, ushering the two of you into darkness.

Your heart was beating so loud you hoped he couldn't hear it.

Once your eyes adjusted to the dark, you could see him better.

He was wearing a regular black t-shirt and some cargo pants, his earrings dangling, and he was already looking at you.

"Hey," he said after a beat.

"Hey," you replied.

The sounds of truth or dare outside the closet were loud enough to cover anything that you two may have said, so any eavesdroppers would be deterred.

"Can I tell you something?" he asked.

You swallowed, nervously. "Uh, yeah, yeah, sure, of course."

His hand came up to softly grab onto your chin so you were looking right at him.

"I think you're really hot," he said, barely above a whisper, lips inches from yours.

You shivered. "Yeah? Well, I think you're pretty hot, yourself."

"Should we make the most of this opportunity?"

He was giving you all the power here, the ability to back out if it was too much for you.

Which it was, but you weren't about to decline a perfectly good offer like that.

You leaned forward and pressed your lips to his. He made noise of surprise before pressing back.

His hand slid from your chin to your cheek and your hands gripped at the material of his shirt.

Fireworks were going off in the pit of your stomach.

Damien tilted his head slightly, deepening the kiss, putting more pressure on your lips.

You hummed in delight, hands moving from his chest up and over his shoulders to finally tangled themselves in his hair, tugging him closer.

His hands moved as well, sliding down your sides and to your hips, tugging you closer in return.

The both of you were humming softly against each others' lips, letting each other know you were enjoying the moment.

Damien's tongue slid politely against your bottom lip, asking for permission.

You granted it to him by sliding your own tongue out and guiding his back into your mouth.

He groaned, exploring your mouth gratefully.

You were so caught up in him you almost didn't hear Anthony's timer go off.

Almost.

You quickly pushed him off of you and began straightening yourself, much to his confusion, before he heard Chanse knock on the door and ask.

"Y'all decent in there?"

Damien pulled his shirt down and ran a hand through his hair, replying, "We're good."

Chanse swung the door open and you two stood there, a respectful distance apart.

You must not have looked too suspicious because nobody did anything out of the ordinary, whooping and hollering like they usually did.

You went back to your space next to Courtney, who raised an eyebrow at you.

You raised yours back at her to indicate 'Later.'

Then you leaned over and spun the can to continue the game.

To your luck (but mostly detriment), it landed on Amanda.

She whooped and stood up, you following.

You disappeared into the closet again, Damien watching you go with tingling lips.

Once Chanse closed the door, Amanda pounced.

"So, what happened between you and Damien?"

You debated telling her, but as much as you loved her, you knew she'd tell Angela, who would tell Chanse, who would tell Tommy, who would tell Spencer, and so on until everyone in the office knew what had transpired.

So, you said, "Nothing, we just talked."

"Nonsense!" she said, smiling. "There's no way you two locked in a confined space didn't finally get you to crack."

"You've been watching too many romance movies, Manda," you joked.

"But you admit it is Damien that you're crushing on, right?"

You hesitate in your answer again, a dead giveaway, and she claps her hands.

"I knew it!"

"Shh!" you chided. "I don't exactly want the whole office to know. It's no big deal."

"No big deal? Girl, you're perfect for each other, I'm telling you. The next Shayne and Courtney."

You frowned at that. You didn't want to be the next Shayne and Courtney. There already was a Shayne and Courtney.

"It's not like that," you insisted.

"And he totally didn't say anything in here that might've slightly implied he was into you?"

"I think you're really hot" echoed in your mind.

"No."

She threw her hands up. "Come on! You two suck at this."

You rolled your eyes playfully and spent the next few minutes answering Amanda's grilling questions and trying not to let what happened slip.

That was between you and Damien.

And maybe Courtney later.

Because Damien would definitely tell Shayne, right?

Chanse opened the door without hesitation this time, knowing he wouldn't find you and Amanda in a compromising position.

And the game went on.

But you weren't really paying attention, the kiss (or well, it was definitely more than that) lingering on your mind.

"Y/N, truth or dare?"

Fuck. That was Amanda.

If you picked truth she'd try to make you spill your guts. So you did something stupider.

"Dare."

She grinned like the Cheshire Cat and you regretted it immediately.

"I dare you to kiss Damien on the mouth."

Fuck, Amanda, you thought.

"Only with his consent," you shot back, hoping upon hope that he'd deny the request.

But this was Damien you were talking about. His bravado was coming out in his slightly tipsy state.

"I'm down."

Everyone whooped and hollered (of course) and Shayne was shaking Damien's shoulders in support.

You were cursing everyone in your head as you made your way over to him. Amanda for the dare, Damien for the consent, Courtney for suggesting seven minutes in heaven, Angela for suggesting truth or dare.

You got on your knees in front of him and he was smirking at you.

"I hate you for this," you said.

"No you don't," he replied.

And then you kissed him.

It wasn't at pleasurable as the first one, considering you were surrounded by your co-workers, but you couldn't deny the fireworks had returned.

God, Damien was a good kisser.

It was also then that you realized Amanda hadn't set a time for the kiss to last. And you were kissing him for way longer than you had to.

Anthony's watch went off, signaling the end of the seven minutes and, you decided, the end of you dare.

You pulled back from Damien, who looked a little dazed, and turned to Amanda.

"Good enough?" you asked.

She was grinning way too smugly. "Perfect."

You plopped next to Courtney who raised her eyebrows at you imploringly, practically begging for the insight.

You gave her a look that replied, 'Later, Court.'

She frowned, unsatisfied, but let it go.

The game went on way too far into the night, but you thankfully didn't have it land on you again.

You're not sure what you'd do if a) another one of your co-workers hit on you, or b) someone asked you about Damien again.

Everyone finally decided to call it a night at about 3 am and considering it was a Friday night, you all needed the weekend to recoup.

Especially you, since, you know, you'd just made out with Damien earlier.

You were preparing to leave when Courtney caught your arm.

"Now, please?" She almost begged.

You bit your lip, looking around at everyone, in various states of sober and tired. "Not here."

You glanced around for Shayne to let him know you were stealing his wife, but he was nowhere to be seen, allowing you and Courtney to hurry off to some secluded area of the office.

You ended up in the thankfully empty kitchen area.

"So?" she squealed. "What happened?"

"Damien and I...may have kissed a little."

"Yes!" she shouted.

"Shh!" you replied and she calmed down.

"Sorry. So what's that mean? Did you like it?"

"I think it was the best kiss I've ever had. But where do I go from here? Does he want more or was it just like a spur of the moment thing?"

Courtney shook their head. "From everything I know about Damien, he wouldn't do that without a reason."

"I think you're really hot," returned to your mind.

"And if the reason is he just thinks I'm hot?"

"Then use that as a basis for wanting more. Which, you do, right?"

You nodded. "Yeah, but...I don't know. We're not you and Shayne, what if it doesn't work out?"

"Then you're both mature enough to be professional about it, right?"

"I suppose."

"Then what's holding you back?"

You didn't reply, unsure. Fear?

"There you are," Shayne said, turning the corner. "I think Damien was looking for you, Y/N."

He had that look in his eyes that practically told you that he knew.

"Okay, um, have a good night, guys."

You walked off, noticing Damien standing next to the door with his leather jacket on and arms crossed.

He perked up when you walked towards him.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," you replied. "So, about earlier..."

"I meant what I said. I think you're really hot. But I also really like you, Y/N. Can we...give this try?"

Your heart was pounding but you smiled as you said, "I'd love to."

He let out a breath. "Well, that's a relief."

You laughed.

"Can I see you tomorrow?" he asked.

"Absolutely," you said before leaning in and whispering in his ear, "I'd love to pickup where we left off in the closet."

Damien's face went red and you thought you noticed him adjust his pants, making you heat up as well.

"Hey, you two, if you're gonna flirt, don't do it in my lobby," Ian called, standing across the room with Anthony, who laughed.

You debated on flipping him off, but just settled for grabbing Damien's hand and leaving.

"Better get used to the flirting," Damien joked. "I think we're gonna be doing it more often."

[canonically47]

social media headcanons for tdi gen 4 :3

nichelle: has instagram, twitter and tiktok. has a massive following which only slightly decreased after her hollywood fail. she posts pictures of herself and her friends on set or out in the city, and her story is always photos of herself with a song in the background or some important cause. she actually cares about those causes and boosts them as much as she can.

julia: has instagram, twitter and tiktok. tells people to kill themselves uncensored which has caused her to have her accounts banned so many times that she has lost every follower. somehow the super fans of total drama still found her current account and she is bathing in the attention she is receiving. whether it’s love or hate, she likes every comment, and insults haters.

bowie: has instagram, twitter and tiktok. he has a lot of followers due to being the first openly gay contestant, and also a lot of haters for that exact reason, whom he cusses out daily, and so do his fans. some argue he’s toxic; others may say he just doesn’t take anyone’s shit.

MK: has instagram, twitter, tiktok, reddit and tumblr. she uses anonymous or small accounts that never link back to her personally. nobody has found her accounts and it is driving them crazy. doxxes people.

zee: has instagram, tumblr and pinterest. he just posts pictures of himself or of nature that he’s taken. sometimes he gets on instagram live high out of his mind and rambles about the meaning of mankind’s existence for three hours, then it’s radio silence from him for months. he also likes a lot of posts that talk about how confusing gender is, which has led some fans to believe he may not be very cisgender. when asked “Hey Zee, sorry if this is too invasive but are you a boy or are you under the trans umbrella?”, he replied “idk i may be under the umbrella when it rains too hard haha”.

caleb: has instagram, twitter and tiktok. very active on social media and has a large following. he posts motivational gym videos and gets a lot of ‘sigma alpha males’ in his comments, which he deletes and blocks. he likes a lot of cute animal videos, especially cat ones. his most viral video is him with his four kittens and their baby mama.

ripper: has instagram and twitter. used to have reddit but deleted it after getting together with axel. he used to have a large following of mysoginistic boys but he’s deleted his accounts and created new ones to start fresh and try to he more mindful of what he posts. you could say axel has helped his mindset in a lot of ways.

axel: has instagram and twitter. posts pictures of her cats or of her and ripper. she follows some of the previous contestants, including duncan, leshawna, gwen, brick, jo, shawn and jasmine. also posts workout videos and has a lot of incels but also thirsty girls in her comments. people often harrass her or ripper upon finding out they are together because “he doesn’t deserve her” or “she can do better”.

chase: has youtube, instagram, twitter and reddit. fucking insufferable. follows every previous total drama contestant. obnoxious content. lots of hate. videos are made on him and they are not good. hope he dies.

emma: doesn’t have social media; took a break from it and deleted all her accounts after chase’s incel following found her and harrassed her because she left him.

priya: doesn’t have social media. she just watches training videos on youtube.

millie: doesn’t have social media because “it greatly affects her generation” and she is “better than that”.

damien: doesn’t have social media and is chronically offline. nichelle once asked him what he thinks about some tiktok drama and he asked, genuinely confused, what tiktok is. begs people at school to tell him what ‘rizz’, ‘sigma’ and all other slang means, rarely gets an answer and, when he does, it just confuses him more.

scary girl: doesn’t have social media accounts. she uses socials to stalk people, though. if anyone challenges her she appears in their nightmares that night. chase has made a video on her being some demon. even his haters agreed with him.

wayne: has instagram. posts pictures and videos about hockey or including him and his friends. his pfp is him and raj at one of their games. he replies to almost every fan that has found his account.

raj: has instagram. his private account deeply saddens and annoys his fans. he posts the same things wayne posts and puts a lot of pride stuff on his story.

[nightsidewrestling]

D.U.D.E: Part 2 - The King Can Go F--- Himself (Set in 2020)

Note: This is set in a universe where Men VS Women / Intergender matches can happen.

Chapter 1: here

Tags: @piratewithvigor @tantamount-treason @thedollmaker16

Around 2000 Words. 18+ in places (those chapters will be marked as ‘Mature / sexual content’ just to be safe). Please inform me if you wish to be tagged or untagged from posts. If the text is in italics and orange it’s Kirby’s inner monologue. If the text is coloured but not in italics, it’s either dialogue or a P.O.V change (P.O.V changes will be in bold and translated dialogue will appear in square [ ] brackets), Key below. Quick note on Geia’s text colour: Yes I do know that as Greed she should be in yellow but I decided to colour the men’s dialogue yellow so Geia was changed to be pink like the other women in the story outside of the main 8.

The Main 8: Damo - Bio. Vi - Bio. Billie - Bio. Geia - Bio. Kirby - Bio. Honey - Bio. Eli - Bio. Sara - Bio.

Eli's Vlog P.O.V:

"Ooh, Hound-Of-Hell, thank you for the donation. Hound asks, if the guy barged past Kirby, did Sara attack them or did Kirby give him the death stare from last week's vlog?"

"So, I would have attacked this guy, But I didn't want to scare Renee, and Mox and Kirby seemed to sort out the situation well by themselves." Sara explains, gesturing with her hands as the Fatality plays out.

"Oh, so Kirby didn't eat him alive."

"No, she swore a lot though." Eli murmurs, covering her mouth as she watches the screen.

Sara giggles as she looks at Eli's reaction, not at all bothered by the digital bloodshed.

"How do you play this and not react to the blood?"

"I'm from New York, I lived around people who fought each other and got bloodier than these dudes."

"That's... partially true." Honey murmurs.

Eli shakes her head in disbelief, before going back to reading through the comments until the end the stream, signing off and turning off the recording before sending Kirby text asking where she is and when she'll be getting back to the hotel. Kirby replies within a few minutes saying she'll be back before Damian takes them out for dinner.

Gluttony's P.O.V:

If someone had said 'This is your brain when you think of him' and showed Kirby a picture of a brain with both the reaction of hate and respect and then asked 'who is he?' her answer would either be her father, Damian or Eddie Moore. A few weeks had passed, now the morning, a very sunny morning, of the 5th of August in Jacksonville.

Damien had tasked her with being the person who would take on Eddie in a feud starting today with promos exchanged. Kirby had struggled with writing something on Eddie, given both how little she knew of him and how much she respected him already. She wrote a few lines she expected him to fuel by reacting to. Before she did that though, she had footage to edit for Eli's vlog and emails to write to her family, making her way to the gym for a few hours before the show's taping and managed a good workout before having to get to the arena and confront Eddie.

She took a micrphone after Sara's debut match win against Kilynn King, waiting for Sara to join her at the top of the stage. Her music hits as she walks out, cutting off when she gestures to (listen to the first 10 seconds).

"Go on now girlie, run away with your tail between your legs like the false King you are," She taunts Kilynn before clearing her throat and looking into the camera, "speaking of false Kings... Eddie Kingston, how's he for an indie darling. A man nearing his forties with a beer gut, with a damn beer gut, I'm half surprised he hasn't got both knees replaced or a wife and kids at home like the guys who are half his age." Kirby begins, gesturing with her hands during her promo.

Sara chuckles as she leads Kirby down to the ring and holds the ropes down slightly for her. Kirby steps over the top rope, expecting Eddie to come out at any time and try to fight her.

"Seeing as I have time to kill and a hunger for blood and viscera, come out and play with me Edward. It's either we do it the easy way, you come to me, or the hard way, I chase you down and rip you to shreds."

As if on cue, Kingston comes running down to the ring with Moxley hot on his heels. One thing is clear in Eddie's eyes, rage. Kirby avoids his first punch, sweeping his legs out from under him and pinning him in the corner with the heel of her boot against his throat, slowly choking him out. Mox, having successfully scared Sara off, takes Kirby by surprise with a chair to the back, not knocking her down but surprising her and letting Eddie gain the upper hand and get in a couple good punches before pushing Kirby to the floor and following her down, sitting on her stomach and choking her before Mox pulls him up and drags him away from her and out of the ring.

Kirby sells the pain as she heads to the locker room, changing from her promo gear into some casual clothes before walking back to the hotel and relaxing for a while until she hears a knock at the door, followed by a voice which is slowly becoming very familiar to her.

"Yo, Kirby, You there?" Eddie calls from the hallway.

"Eddie? What are you doing here?"

"Just lemme in before somebody sees me."

She sighs as she gets up and lets him in, her heart rate spiking as Eddie checks her neck, manhandling her before stepping back and sighing in relief.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought I choked you harder than I did. You sold that so well."

"I sold it well because I grew up learning how to sell as well as how to fight."

"You grew up fighting?" He cocks an eyebrow in surprise.

"I'm part of a family of wrestlers, my family owns a wrestling promotion and a wrestling school. I started training when I was ten, and started wrestling for C.R.C, aka the Welsh Wrestling League, at the age of fifteen. I've been in the business ever since."

"And how old are ya?"

"Twenty-nine." She murmurs, sitting on the edge of the bed, next to Eddie.

Eddie goes silent for a minute, looking at Kirby before getting up and grabbing a bottle of water from the hotel mini-fridge and holding it against her neck, "you should have told me this before you started this feud."

"I wasn't the one who decided to start the feud."

"Who was?" Eddie asks softly, changing his position to sit behind Kirby and press the bottle against the back of her neck.

Kirby doesn't answer.

"Kirby, tell me who told you to start the feud."

"Damien told me to, alright, now get out."

"Kirby, I'm just trying to help you."

"Get away from me, Eddie." A look of fear slowly builds in her eyes.

"Kirby." Eddie sighs, quickly losing his patience with the giantess.

"Eddie, I'm serious, you need to leave." She insists, turning to face him and trying to push him off the bed.

"Kid, just let me help." He murmurs, grabbing her wrists.

The two wrestle for a minute before the door swings open and Damian walks in, seeing Eddie straddling Kirby's hips and holding her wrists above her head with one hand, pulling up his jeans with the other.

"Oh shit." Eddie whispers, getting up quickly and rushing out of the room, leaving Kirby alone with her 'boss'.

"Boss, I swear we weren't doing anything like that."

"Shut up, beast." Damien growls.

"Boss, I'm telling you-"

Damian smacks Kirby around the ear, leaving a mark.

"Oww," she yelps in pain, "Boss, I'm serious, we were doing nothing."

"Shut it!" He roars.

Kirby goes silent, only nodding.

"Fucking insolent little bitch!"

Kirby goes to leave before Damian grabs her by the hair. He drags her to the bathroom, chucking her inside and slamming the door behind her. She breaks down sobbing. Damian takes his rage out on the room before leaving. She spends the rest of the night alone, crying herself to sleep. That bastard has secured our fate, Damien will kill us one day and we know how, he'll use our power against us and make it look like an accident.

She gasps as her body springs awake, quickly checking her phone as she hears knocking at the door, '01:00 Thursday 6 August', who in their right mind would be knocking on her door at 1 AM? Kirby flings the door open, a look of utter confusion quickly taking over her sleep-deprived face.

"Eddie?"

"I'm sorry, I heard Damien yelling at ya. I had to make sure you were okay." Eddie murmurs, clearly sleep deprived himself.

"It's not your fault he yelled at me."

"It was though, I should have fuckin' left when you told me to. If I wasn't such a stubborn dick, ya wouldn't... have you been cryin'?" Eddie reaches out to touch Kirby's face, stepping closer as she steps away and crossing the line into the room.

"Leave me alone." She whimpers, trying to avoid him at any cost and falling over her own feet as she steps closer toward the bed, crashing to the floor.

"Holy shit, kid, are ya okay? No, no, come here." He whispers, pulling Kirby close to check her for bruises or any injuries.

Kirby breaks down again, placing her face against Eddie's shoulder as she starts crying. He holds her close, stroking his hand up and down her back to soothe her.

"I got ya. It's okay kid. You're gonna be okay."

"what if he comes in? What if he sees me with... with you?" She stutters, her body trembling.

"If that bastard comes in here now, I'm gonna fuckin' kill him." Eddie growls, holding Kirby tighter against his body.

"Eddie, it's not safe for you to be in here with me... Damien would destroy you, you gotta go, you gotta leave."

"Fuck that, I ain't leaving you to get yelled at and beat by that piece of shit you call 'Boss'."

"But he'll hurt you." She whispers, her voice hoarse.

"I'm not leaving you here wit' him. I don't give a fuck what he does to me. Kid, you need to be safe, let me give you that. Kirby, let me protect you from him, at least outside of work."

"Eddie, I can't have you in here with me."

"Then I'll meet you in the parking lot later, around six, and we can get breakfast together, okay?"

"Okay, we'll do that." She whispers, taking a few deep breaths.

Eddie puts his number in her phone, giving himself the cover name of 'NY Bud' before leaving Kirby to sleep and heading back to his own room. Kirby falls asleep soon after Eddie leaves, her usual nightmares darker than usual. she wakes after around three hours of mental horror, gathering up her things and checking out of the hotel before checking her phone and seeing Eddie's number, she sends him a message before leaving the hotel.

'Update to your plan. I checked out at 5:30, meet me at McDonalds.'

Her phone buzzes as she climbs into her rental car, having rented it the day prior just for herself had pissed Damian off but now she was glad to have spent the money on it.

'Get an outside seat, and a large shake for me. I need to have a smoke.' Eddie had texted back.

Kirby shakes her head in disbelief, not only was she agreeing to Eddie's plans of getting her away from Damian, but now she was agreeing to spend more time than she ever planned to with the New York native as she texts back one word 'sure'. It didn't take long for Kirby to get what she needed 2 large strawberry shakes and 2 large fries, waiting for Eddie to meet her outside. She didn't expect Mox to drop off Eddie and his suitcase before he drove off.

"You didn't tell me what flavour you wanted so I went with strawberry." She murmurs as she waves bye to Mox.

"I wanted to see what you'd choose. These fries for me?"

"Yeah, I don't know what you like so I hope it's okay."

"More than okay," Eddie pauses to light his cigarette, "You don't mind me smoking?"

"I'm more than okay with it, I've been around smokers my whole life."

"Really? Do ya parents smoke?"

"No, my uncles do. All seven of them. Many of my cousins too."

"Big family?"

Kirby scrolls through her phone before showing Eddie a picture of her and her family at their last gathering, "The Rhydderch Clan, owners of C.R.C and trainers to many."

Eddie's jaw drops slightly as he takes in the photo, around 290 to 300 people of all ages, "Jesus H, you have a big family, are those two ya parents?"

"The two on my left, yeah, needless to say neither of them were expecting me to be a giant."

"Any brothers or sisters? Nieces, nephews?"

[the-drifters]

@kisetsukaze-central @dogshit-enchantment (reblogging this because it’s too much of a chaotic mess to put in the replies. Human designs I’ll post later)

So! To start with some background- this is all taking place on my rp server, which is a multiverse server and people can rp OCs, canon characters, or AUs of canon characters- you get the idea. Anyways this deranged chain of events starts below, minor tw for suicidal ideation later in:

This ongoing, in-character mess is largely focused on Geist, Dianthus, and one of my admin’s Call of Cthulhu OC. There seems to be a recurring trend with me in any rpc I’ve been apart of and it’s that my characters can’t. stop. taking L’s. Dianthus has it worst of all so far.

The first thing that happens after I start rping as Dianthus isn’t such a big deal but I think it’s necessary I describe it anyway. I’ve chosen to start her off AFTER harvestella’s plot and her character story has been finished.

She teams up with another user’s OC and the two basically commit a criminal heist against a corrupt and collapsing dystopian space government. Why? The man just wanted to get back to where he came from. The two of them become friends without really intending to and Dianthus worries for the guy bc he doesn’t take care of himself. Otherwise they’re really just two accomplices atm.

Now here’s where the messed up stuff begins. The first disaster, which I’d consider the inciting incident of this convoluted mess:

She decides to further explore this strange new world, returning back to the Castle of Illusion and stuff as needed. Even better, she doesn’t have to hide herself in these new places because she doesn’t have the bad reputation an Omen has among ReGaians! So, while she’s walking around in a city park one day she sees a crowd gathered around an injured priest. Said priest is Pucci from JJBA, played by another user. He freaks the fuck out and a random civilian dies due to his stand.

So naturally Dianthus is all like “what the fuck dude” considering she’s got a duty to protect humans, and an innocent person is dead. So she leaps into action and Pucci retaliates because he thinks there’s a stand user nearby, and she’s the stand. Poor Dianthus ends up totally powerless in this fight because what she can do with the Geo Amplifier only boosts Pucci’s stand. So she freaks the fuck out too.

All but ONE person in the crowd is killed in the fallout of the fight. Once Dianthus realizes she’s done everything she could and it’s just not working, she tries to flee and chases after the survivor in order to try and save him. She isn’t able to escape in time as Pucci’s stand is able to basically obliterate her. She accidentally drops the Geo Amplifier and it ends up passing right through the stand- proving that Dianthus is a physical being. So Pucci stops fighting. Dianthus is able to hold on long enough just to send out a distress code after Pucci flees the place, but she dies immediately afterwards. The human survivor, the CoC OC I mentioned earlier, is injured but otherwise fine.

Dianthus’s body and Damien, the human survivor, is retrieved by Nivalis. Damien’s wounds are treated by some other Omens. Dianthus’s personality chip and her memory drive is miraculously untouched by the fight, so she’s got her intact parts placed into a new, identical shell. She’s brought back… but something’s WRONG with her, and EVERYONE knows it. Ever since the incident she’s been constantly on edge, distracted, and seems… not herself. So, she has been corrupted by what she’s just been through. She’s trying a bit too hard to hide it so whenever someone expresses concern she just gets mad with them instead.

Geist meets Damien and Dianthus later interrupts them by mistake. So the three chat for a while but eventually Geist says something that ends up aggravating Dianthus and she tells him off. So now he’s beginning to worry a bit more because he’s had his code corrupted too. Some time later, Geist finds out Damien is a master of psychology and knowing that Dianthus has developed very humanlike emotions, he tries to get some insight on how to approach her with his worries. Damien has his fair share of concerns too so the two come to her together. She’s receptive to what they have to say and they tell her they want to help her.

Things seem well… for a little while. Dianthus has been spending what little free time she has with Damien because the two of them have fallen hard for each other but don’t realize what they’re feeling yet. But, Dianthus has started overworking herself to escape the anguish she’s in. Damien eventually convinces her to take a break and he asks her out. During their date (which Dianthus doesn’t realize it at first), Damien finally tells her he loves her, but not long after Dianthus receives a transmission, warning her there’s been a Hallowed sighted nearby the Castle- and it’s a mutant, kind of like what is featured in Brakka’s character story. So she’s forced to leave and address that.

She’s injured in the fight. She lives this time but is somewhat delirious. Geist saves her, helping her back to the Castle. But Damien’s been victim to some timeline fuckery and he’s found near death back at the Castle.

THEN Dianthus finally snaps. She starts fretting over how she’d rather die with him than keep living. Geist quickly cuts off Dianthus’s signal and shuts her off so she doesn’t have to witness what is going on, and he separates the two so they can get their wounds treated. Geist looks through her code without her permission and he’s HORRIFIED by what he’s looking at. He has two options: reboot Dianthus entirely or let her remain corrupted. But with Geist’s newfound perspective thanks to Damien’s help, he’s going to let her make that choice because this “corruption” is really just trauma that can he wants to believe she can heal from. Once Dianthus is powered on again, she’s presented with her options, but there’s a catch. She’ll be rebooted without a choice if she harms herself or others, or she can try and heal.

Dianthus chooses to try and heal. She’s temporarily cut off from her duties so she can rest and think about what she needs to do. It helps for a while but eventually she begins to become very depressed without a purpose. She cuts herself off from everyone and isolates. Geist has caught on, and he’s all like “oh. FUCK.” because remember what happened the last time an Omen was corrupted and disappeared like that?

So that’s where it’s at now. As for what’s next? I don’t know for certain but this is kind of the climax of this madness. I plan to begin to get more into Geist’s personal problems as well because at this point he’s got a lot of those too.

So tl;dr- Dianthus witnesses 30+ innocent human beings die, is subsequently killed by an Italian, falls in love with the one human she saved, gets fucked up by a mutant Hallowed, watches her boyfriend nearly die to horrors beyond her comprehension, is effectively placed into a forced break from working, and spirals into severe depression. And Geist is standing by wondering what he needs to be doing.

Harvestella microwave brain rot thoughts (some spoilers)

Something something Geist but also the robot arm that cleans itself, it feels like a very good analogy to his character

And also the idea of Aria being more or less a flawed messiah. In my mind her perfect song to corelate her entire being is Personal Jesus (by Depeche Mode or MSI, both are fitting for the vibe) the idea of her taking on the burden of humanity and fighting for it to thrive, wanting desperately to be saved but not knowing if she can be.

I also can't stop thinking about corrupted Dianthus, the idea of her being the one that becomes overwhelmed with metaphysics instead of Geist, what measures she would take to ensure humanities survival

I am rotating the Seth in my mind

[starrynite7114]

Misconstrued: Part 2

A/N: Good evening my lovelies! I was going to post this last night, but it became too late when I got home. Hopefully you all will enjoy this one! Snapshots and another request will be posted after this! Hope you all will enjoy the update as much as you liked the first one! 

Anon:  I don't know if this is too specific but could you do something about Angel ruining a date and later admits it because he loves them and then they have some angry smut and late night fluff

Word Count: 7317

Masterlist

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If you would like to be added to the tag list, let me know! If I forgot to add you, I’m so sorry!

Ever since your date two weeks ago, Angel has not been around you as much. Whenever you were around the clubhouse, EZ was your constant companion and if it veered from the norm, it would be Coco or Gilly. From time to time, you hung out with Riz. It was always fun to exchange information about hair care products with Riz. It was ridiculous just how nice his hair was.

But you missed Angel. 

You’re not sure why he avoided you like the plague, but you figured it had something to do with the date and how you confessed your feelings for him. You appreciated the distance cause maybe you can resume the friendship between you two. He would be pleasant with you, but he wouldn’t stay around like he usually did. 

And it was fucking hard for Angel.

He tried his best to stay away from you. It would become difficult at times. He missed hearing your ridiculous ass stories about car owners and how much their egos reflected on their cars. He missed hearing you babble about the newest recipe you made for yourself and how you couldn’t wait to share it with him. 

It broke him when you would come by the scrapyard looking for him. He would send Ezekiel to deal with you.

=================

“Come on Angel, don’t be a douche, just go talk to her.” EZ snapped. He was so annoyed by this whole situation. This had nothing to do with sponsor and prospect. This was between brothers and EZ was going to strangle Angel soon.

“Ezekiel, I’m busy, just talk to her. I can’t play hard to get if I’m readily available.” Angel argued. 

“You’re such a fucking idiot.” EZ walked out of the clubhouse to meet with you. Chucky had informed them that you were at the front office, asking for Angel as you had brought him something.

Angel waited for EZ to come, slightly anxious. He should stop playing this game, he fucking knew that, but he was already invested, he had to follow through.

EZ came into the office and found you sitting down, with a tupperware in your lap, and your right knee shaking away. He noticed it was something you did without noticing and from Angel told him, it was due to you becoming anxious. Angel was such a pain, the fact he was doing this to you made him that more annoying.

“Hey,” EZ greeted you.

You looked up at him and he saw the deflated look on your face that you quickly tried to mask. “Hey Ezekiel.” You greeted him. “Angel isn’t around?”

“He’s working on something, can’t pull him away, you know him. Once you distract him once, he’ll never get back to it.” EZ attempted to joke with you, but you just gave him a tight smile.

“I made him cookies, some sort of peace offering.” You extended the container towards EZ. 

EZ gave you a small smile and nodded his head. “There’s no need for a peace offering, Angel isn’t mad at you.”

“Yeah?” You stood up. “Doesn’t feel like it. I’ll see you later boy scout.” You left before EZ could even say anything else. 

EZ shook his head, cussing his brother’s name under his breath. He made his way back to the clubhouse, debating if he should just keep the cookies to himself. Angel didn’t deserve these cookies, especially with the way he was making you feel. 

“Here, you douchebag.” Ezekiel placed the Tupperware in front of Angel, who was sitting in the clubhouse while EZ spoke with you at the scrapyard.

“What’s this?” Angel opened the Tupperware and it was your infamous cookies that he could devour without a problem on his own. They were addicting. They were white chocolate macadamia. “Fuck.” His mouth watered.

“You know this is really fucked up. She thinks you fucking hate her now.” EZ scolded his older brother. “This is a stupid game Angel, just tell her what’s going on.”

“I did, she brushed me off. I can’t be the only one putting in some effort.”

EZ rolled his eyes. “God, you’re so fucking stubborn.” EZ stood up. “She brought those as a peace offering. She knew how much you love those cookies and that maybe now you’d speak to her like before.”

Angel remained quiet, eating the cookie as EZ watched him.

“You don’t deserve those cookies with the way you’ve been acting towards her.” EZ hissed as he walked away. He paused by the door and turned around, grabbing the tupperware from Angel. “You don’t deserve these cookies.”

“Hey! Ezekiel!” Angel chased after EZ.

After that day, you kept trying to leave Angel food, but EZ was always there to intercept. It got tiring for you that Angel kept avoiding you, so you decided to give him his space. The excuses were lame and EZ knew that, but he tried to cover for his brother. 

So you started giving EZ the things you were supposed to give Angel. 

The one time you happened to run into Angel, he wasn’t exactly happy about your choice.

“Hey, shocking you’re here, is EZ here?” You asked Angel, trying to keep your focus. Angel was currently shirtless, wiping off all the sweat dripping down his body. You’re thankful that the sun was hitting your glasses so you could squint and not truly see Angel’s ridiculous body.

“Ezekiel? Why the fuck are you looking for him? You need someone to go with you?” Angel was avoiding you, but if he knew no one could be with you, he would go.

“No, I brought him food for lunch.” You held up the plastic you were holding. 

“What do you mean they’re for EZ?” Angel noticed that you stopped dropping stuff off from him, or maybe his little brother had decided to keep things for himself. 

“Yeah well, you’ve made it very clear you don’t want anything, so I don’t want to push myself onto you.” You placed the food on the picnic table. “Can you just give it to him? I gotta get back to the shop.”

“Hey, why won’t you and I grab lunch? I’m sure you haven’t eaten.” Angel was starting to see that maybe Gilly’s way was not working. He didn’t want to keep pushing you away.

“It’s okay, I have work to do, I just came to drop this off for EZ.” You slipped back inside your car, leaving the yard. 

Angel cussed under his breath. EZ came out from the clubhouse, giving him a questioning look?

“Was that Y/N?” EZ questioned.

“Yeah, you making moves on my girl?” Angel knew it sounded stupid, especially how he saw the expression on EZ’s face change. 

“You fucking serious right now?” EZ demanded. “You’re the one playing this stupid game.” 

“Fuck you Ezekiel.”

“Yeah, well you can go fuck yourself Angel.”

=================

Currently you were getting ready for your second date with Damien. You didn’t tell anyone at the club where your second date would be or that there was going to be a second date. All you wanted to do was enjoy the night with Damien and truly get to know him. 

You needed to know if there was a spark, to know if this was going to be worth it. If not, you were definitely staying away from anyone under the club’s influence.

You heard a knock on your door and opened it, the smile on your face slightly faded when you saw Angel on the other side. 

“Hey.” You greeted him. “What’s up?”

“Can I come in?” 

You opened your door a little wider and stepped aside to let Angel in. He scanned the room making you roll your eyes. 

“Who told you I have a date tonight?”

Angel chuckled. “Not important, Damien warrants a second date?”

Angel broke his deal with Gilly today after EZ overheard your plans for a second date. He couldn’t let you go on that date, even if he’s been MIA lately.

“Why do you care? You’ve literally avoided me for the last two weeks Angel, you don’t have a club hang-around to stroke your ego tonight?” That was a low blow, but Angel needed to know that he wasn’t going to always have the upper hand.

“You jealous?” Angel smirked.

You were surprised by his question and you opened your mouth to reply no, but nothing came out.

“I think it’s cute you're jealous, cause you know how much I don’t like Damien.” Angel stepped closer to you, your back was against the door. “I’m jealous querida, I fucking hate knowing that you’re going on another date with him. Why won’t you just cancel and you let me take you out?”

“Angel, I told you, stop with the games.” 

“What fucking games? I told you I fucking want you, I like you and you’re still entertaining this fucker.” Angel stepped away from her, frustrated with her. 

“You’ve ignored me for two weeks, you expect me to believe you want to be around all of a sudden?”

“It was Gilly’s idea, play hard to get. You have no idea how much I fucking want you.” Angel felt like he was going crazy. All he wanted was to be with you, to start this relationship. 

“Listen, I don’t need this right now. Go to Vicky’s get your dick wet, you’ll forget all about this.” It hurt you to say that, but you didn’t want to play this game with Angel. You were trying to put yourself out there. And Angel was your friend, you didn’t want to go back down that road again.

“Do you know how hard it is to fuck another woman when you’re the only thing on my mind? I can’t even get fucking hard without thinking of you.” You slightly gasped at Angel’s confession. You’ve never known anyone as blunt as Angel. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which was why you were surprised to find out he likes you or apparently does. You’ve had conversations like this with another man before, nothing came to fruition, but it was eerie to you how familiar this conversation was. He wasn’t as blunt as Angel, but he always knew what to say to keep you around. Not this time, you wouldn’t fall for it.

“Cat got your tongue querida?” Angel knew he had you. He should have been more straightforward, but he was out of his element. He was finally getting his footing.

“Angel, I have something good with Damien, please don’t ruin it.”

“Is he better than me? Is that what you’re trying to show me? I bet that he won’t make you feel as good as I do.” 

“You know what, fuck you Angel. If I want to fuck anyone, I’ll fuck Damien.” You weren’t even sure why you said that. You had no plans on fucking Damien, none whatsoever. But you knew it would get to Angel and quite frankly, you felt good digging it into him. 

Angel’s phone rang, preventing him from even replying to your ridiculous ass though.

“This is not finished. Have fun on your date querida.” Angel left after the phone call, most likely club business. 

“He is so infuriating.” 

You sat back down on your couch, awaiting Damien’s arrival, but he never came. Just a text message. 

‘I’m sorry, I don’t think this is going to work out. You’re a nice girl, very beautiful, but I just don’t think there’s a spark here.’

You reread his text message a few times, but eventually you placed your phone down, letting out a sigh. 

Guess you’re back in the dating game. 

=================

Currently you were at a club party. You had just walked in with EZ and your eyes immediately roamed around the outside of the clubhouse and found Angel. A beer in one hand and his other resting on a girl’s lap as he whispered into her ear. It was like what happened a few days ago didn’t even fucking happen. He was back to ignoring you, which was so much more difficult with Damien not distracting you. 

“Well that’s nice.” You bitterly chuckled. “EZ tonight might be a short one.”

It was always a short one, but EZ wasn’t a dick. He wasn’t going to let Angel play his game and get a reaction from you. Angel’s game plan was simple, distance himself from you so you could seek him out and to make you jealous so that you would break and proclaim your undying love for him. But you did technically do that, Angel was just being irrational. Gilly was talking him through the whole thing while Coco and EZ just shook their head, not wanting to further egg on Angel’s stupidity.

You looked around, trying to avoid Angel. You noticed then that there were more bikes than usual. When other charters came to Santo Padre, you tried not to come to the parties since you didn’t want to run into him. You knew that he was a full patch member of Stockton. There were times you couldn’t avoid it, but when he would come, Angel was around so he didn’t even try to come near you. But it was different this time, Angel wasn’t around. 

“Which charter is here?” You saw plenty of Mayans' kutte's on their backs flashing that pride proudly, but you couldn’t exactly read the patch at their front. 

“Stockton.”

“Okay, I don’t know why I come to these club parties.” You shook your head. You should be over it by now, it’s been years since your last encounter with him. But knowing he used you just to get some head with the Mayans, it never sat well with you. Five years you were his so called friend and every time you tried to walk away, he gave you enough for you to stay. He kissed you once or twice, just to keep you with him, but as soon as he was a full patch, it was like you were beneath him. You never told your Tio Bishop or Tio Marcus. He was a good foot soldier and the last thing you wanted was to cause drama. This was why you promised yourself to never fall for a Mayan, you had too many connections for there to be no ulterior motive. 

“Come on, you know you don’t mind the free food.” EZ teased you.

“Does your brother hate me now?” No offense to EZ, but you would really much rather have Angel as your protection detail. He kept any other club member from coming up to you. EZ was a prospect, he was technically their bitch. 

“What? Don’t be ridiculous. Angel could never hate you.” And this was why EZ thought Gilly’s plan was ridiculous. You weren’t going to seek out Angel. For people who claimed they knew you, they don’t seem to know you at all. You were going to shy away. You wouldn’t put yourself in the position that would make you more vulnerable. You already thought Angel didn’t like you in the way you like him and this further cemented it. 

“He doesn’t really hang around me anymore. Guess the guard detail changed.” You tried to joke around with EZ, but he could tell you were hurt. The incident a few days ago was most likely a fluke. You tried to text him after, and no answer. 

“Look, you’re not an idiot. Angel told you he liked you that night at the fair right?” If his older brother wasn’t going to be smart about this, then EZ would take matters into his own hands. 

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t know if he actually meant it seeing as how where we are now.”

“It was difficult for him to tell you that and you just kind of brushed it off. We all have our insecurities, but don’t be obtuse, Angel only hung around you whenever you were here. He likes you, a lot.” EZ could see Angel watching them as your back was towards Angel. “Why not put all of us out of our miseries and talk to him?”

“Hey Diego.”

Your reply surprised EZ and he turned around. The man behind him was almost as tall as Angel, muscular built with black short hair. His eyes weren’t even on EZ, it was just on you. 

“Hey, you mind giving us a minute prospect?” Diego acknowledged EZ.

“Sure, not a problem.” EZ looked over at you for some confirmation and you couldn’t exactly escape this conversation now. You just gave him a smile. 

EZ made his way over to where Coco, Gilly and Angel were sitting. His older brother looked at him as if he grew another head, pointing at you.

“The fuck are you doing?” Angel demanded, watching as Diego spoke to you.

“He asked to talk to her, he’s full patch Angel.” EZ explained, he knew the rules. As much as he wanted to stay, a patch asked him to walk away. There was hierarchy for a reason. 

“Yeah, well he’s not your fucking sponsor. If I tell you to stay with her, you fucking stay with her.” Angel’s jaw clenched. Your conversation from a few days back was fresh in his mind. You texted him, but he was across the border dropping off Creeper after he was injured on a run. 

Coco knew Diego. Both by association to the club and from what you told him. He was your confidant, the person you trusted with your secrets. Coco was the first person you befriended in the MC and you two remained close since then.

“Shit,” Coco stood up, thinking of a way to get you out of this conversation. He knew you could fight your own battles, but from what he understood, you had a weak spot for Diego, the man who basically used you to get into the good graces of the MC. “Boy Scout, tell Y/N I gotta talk to her.” If Diego had a problem with that, Coco would handle it then. 

EZ and Angel, who were arguing about EZ’s duties looked over at Coco, who interrupted their bickering. “What?” They asked in unison.

“Just do as I say, go get her.” Coco would do it himself, but he didn’t trust himself to not give Diego a piece of his mind.

“Shit, is that him?” Gilly knew of Diego as well. Him and Coco came over one night and you three happened to get drunk. You told Gilly all about Diego and all about your crush on Angel. Gilly had a soft spot for you as well. The MC were tough bikers, but they were sweet guys, as long as you didn’t fuck with them. 

“Yeah, that’s Diego.” Coco nodded his head. “Prospect, go get her.” He ordered EZ once again. 

“What the fuck is going on?” Angel looked at his best friends, wondering what was going on. Who the fuck was this guy?

Gilly and Coco both ignored Angel, keeping their eye on you. 

“How are you?” Diego wasn’t going to approach you. He would have done so the few times he had been down here with his charter, but Angel Reyes was always attached to you. He didn’t want any unwanted attention, so he didn’t pursue you. Also, he was certain that you weren’t exactly happy with him after everything that transpired. 

“Good, you?” Diego still looked the same, maybe a little older, but he still looked like the same person you had fallen for all those years ago.

“Good, just the same old shit.” He grinned, stuffing his hands in his pocket. “Big move to Santo Padre. Doesn’t look like your scene.”

You nodded your head. “Time for a change of scenery. Besides I followed my mom here and she decided to move back.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen her a few times, she still gives me the death glare.” You two laughed at that, knowing well how that looked like. “I don’t blame her.” He bowed his head, looking at the dirt beneath his feet. Diego was thankful that the clubhouse was full of life. 

You didn’t want to have this conversation, at least not a a fucking party. 

“Don’t,” you shook your head, holding up your hand. “It’s fine. We’ve all moved on.”

“I haven’t, I hurt you. I’ll always be sorry for that.” Diego knew how it looked. He led you on, which he did for his own benefit. But he truly did cherish you. All that hardships you two had shared together wasn’t for nothing. “Can you just let me explain?” He appeared remorseful, but you couldn’t fall for this again, he always looked remorseful. Even when he tried to apologize for that incident with Regina. 

“Some things are best left unsaid.” The last thing you wanted to do was talk about the past that you’ve tried so hard to bury. It didn’t seem like a big deal, but your life revolved around Diego for five years. After he got his patch, he didn’t exactly stop talking to you, he kept you around. You were his unofficial girl that never came into fruition. He would become jealous whenever another guy was around you. He would always reel you back in with sweet promises. To this day, you’re not sure why you let his sweet words get to you, but here you two were now. 

“No, it’s not, I fucked up.” Diego tried to talk to you. Everything fell apart when he fell for another woman. You guys were never official and if he was honest, he felt like a dick for keeping you around. He knew that he would be favored since he was close to Alvarez and Bishop’s niece. Was he a bastard? Absolutely, especially when he realized just how much you did for him. “I hurt you, you didn’t deserve that.”

You are tapping your foot now. Anxiety coursing through your veins. You were not ready to have this conversation even though you thought yourself to have moved on.

“Diego, please, it’s okay. Let’s not open back up old wounds.” You couldn’t even look at him. You were awful at confrontations and you tried to look anywhere but him. Where were Coco and Gilly? Where was EZ? Hell where was Angel?

“Look, I get it, but I think it would be best for both of us to try and get closure. I can’t keep avoiding you and I don’t want you walking on eggshells around me. You were my best friend and I took advantage of that.”

“Will told me that she left you. Is that why you’re speaking to me now?” You hated Regina. She was the one who basically put you on blast over your “annoying obsession” with Diego. You felt like a fool, especially since Diego didn’t do anything but watch. 

“You know that’s not it.” Diego said through gritted teeth forgetting how stubborn you could be. “That bitch has nothing to do with this.”

“She has everything to do with this.” You gnawed at your lip again, not liking the fact you said that. “Just please leave me alone, you’ve done a good job for three years, let’s just keep it that way.”

“You good sweetheart?” You heard Will Medina, the sergeant of arms at Stockton, asked from behind Diego. He was the only one who knew of your plight with Diego. Your tio’s former prospect who used to pick you up from school as one of his duties as a prospect. One of the hardest things to do was leave him, since he was like your pseudo older brother, but you had to go with your mother, just to get a chance of scenery. It was hard whenever you ran into Diego and Regina. 

“Will,” you greeted him warmly. “Yeah, we’re good, right Diegito?”

“For now,” Diego decided to let you go. He’ll try again. He wanted you back in his life. You didn’t belong in Santo Padre. You belonged in Stockton, with your family, with him. He was a bastard, but he was going to make it up to you. This wasn’t about Regina, this wasn’t about the club, this was about you two. 

Both men watched you walk into the clubhouse, not speaking till you were inside.

Medina shook his head, sighing at Diego. “She has a good life here Diegito, stay away. She’s happier here.”

“You know her, she’s good at masking her emotions.”

“And you think she’s hiding her unhappiness?”

“No, I just think she wants to come back home, but doesn’t want to because of Regina.”

“Whole world revolves around you, huh?” Medina knew that they may have been part of the reason why you didn’t want to come home, but he doubted that was the main reason. 

“You know that’s not what I meant, but her mother couldn’t stand the heat, she won’t be able to do so either.” At least Diego hoped you couldn’t. He wanted you back in his life, and he would make sure of it.

“Who the fuck is that guy?” Angel was standing up now. He saw your foot tapping and he was going to make his way over to you, but he saw Medina approaching. You didn’t even look his way when you made your way inside the clubhouse. 

“She really has never spoken to you about Diego?” Coco was surprised that Angel didn’t know about Diego. You were comfortable talking to him and Angel knew a few things, but you withheld a few things from Angel.

“Is that him?” He didn’t know who the fuck Diego was, but he would gladly beat his ass for you. The way your body language changed when EZ left you alone with Diego, it bothered Angel. 

“Yeah, look, I don’t want to step on things. She obviously told me in confidence and Gilly since she was drunk. You can ask her about it.” Coco didn’t want your business out in the open like that. Diego was a big part of your life.

“Coco, you’re my best friend. You’ve known how I felt about her and she apparently confided in you that she likes me, why didn’t you tell me?” It was burned in Angel’s memory that Coco knew everything. He wondered why Coco never said anything to him. They were best friends, brothers. 

“Because she was so afraid to tell you. I didn’t want to do it for her even if I knew how you felt about her. I encouraged her to tell you, but it’s due to her experience with Diego that she didn’t want to do it.”

“She liked him?”

“Fuck.” Coco closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He looked at the women around them. “Leave us.” They dispersed quickly, he didn’t need them gossiping about you. “Diego was her best friend, they became friends their senior year of high school. Once they graduated, Diego expressed his desire to prospect for the Mayans, but they didn’t take him. Using her connections, she somehow convinced Medina to sponsor him.” Coco lit up a cigarette and took a puff before continuing. “He treated her just like you did. He pretended to have feelings for her to keep her by his side even after he got his patch. A few years after he got his patch, a woman came and he fell for her. Bitch called Y/N out, saying that Diego will never have feelings for her and her obsession with Diego was annoying. He just watched as she berated her and after that, Y/N has stayed away from him. She was humiliated and broken apart since she thought Diego had feelings for her, but he didn’t.”

Angel sat back down then, upset at what he was hearing. Who the fuck did Diego think he was? He used you and couldn’t even defend you from a psychotic woman.

“How could Bishop and Alvarez let him patch?” Angel finally spoke up after a few minutes.

“Because she’s never told anyone. She cared about the guy regardless of his past indiscretions.” Gilly answered. “Fuck, I didn’t know all of that.”

“That’s why she thinks you’re just talking to her because of Bishop. That you were bestowed with the duty of being her bodyguard.” Gilly explained.

“I’m already a patch, and even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t fucking use her to get my patch.” Angel fumed.

“Hermano, calmate, that’s not what I meant.” Coco shook his head. “She knows who she is and who she’s connected to. It’s just her thinking that you stayed around her because of orders from prez. She just has a hard time separating the two due to being burned before.”

Angel felt like an asshole now. What he’s been doing, it basically cemented your thoughts about the whole situation. 

Angel was done with the games. He was going to show you that he was serious. Fuck Diego. He’ll show you how much you were worth it.

You were able to avoid Diego the rest of the night. You were also able to ignore Angel who for some reason decided he was going to talk to you now. The mixed signals and mood swings were too much. Thankfully he left early and you didn’t have to deal with him. He most likely brought a woman home, which you didn’t look forward to since he was your neighbor. 

That’s right.

You lived right next to Angel. 

It was opportunistic, but Angel had told Bishop that the apartment beside him was open. Better way for a Mayan to be close by to ensure your safety. 

Opening the door, you almost had a heart attack when you found Angel waiting for you at your apartment.

“Fuck! Angel, what the hell is the matter with you?” You closed the door behind you, taking a deep breath to calm your heart rate.

“You wouldn’t talk to me, so I figured I’d wait here.” Angel was smoking, sitting on your couch in silence. He looked so damn good. 

“Couldn’t you just have waited at your apartment?”

“Last time I waited at my apartment, I had to barge in here to make sure you weren’t going to fuck Damien.” You has dropped something, causing you to shriek. Angel thought you had come home with Damien, but in reality, you had been at your apartment the whole day and dropped a glass. Angel barged in anyway, looking around wildly to see if Damien was there. You haven’t exactly told anyone that Damien was no longer dating you.

“And as I’ve said before, I don’t know how that is any of your fucking business.” You’re not sure where this confidence came from, but it was here and you plan to utilize it.

“It is my fucking business, why wouldn’t it be?” Angel stood up, putting out his cigarette on the ashtray. “You doing okay?”

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” You walked past him, not wanting to be close to Angel right now. Taking off your jacket, Angel whistled at the shirt you were wearing, thankful you never took off your jacket. 

“Who was that guy at the clubhouse?” Angel came in here with the intention of having you tell him about Diego. He didn’t want to throw Coco under the bus.

“None of your business.” The last thing you wanted was to talk to Angel about Diego. The man who you thought would end up like him.

“Come on querida, I didn’t come here to fight. I’ve missed you. Talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. He’s just an old friend from up north.” You gave him the cliff notes version of your relationship with Diego. This wasn’t Angel’s business anyway.

You went inside your room, closing the door hoping Angel would get the hint. You changed into some basketball shorts that you absolutely loved due to the comfort and a white shirt you had stolen from Angel during one of the times you slept over his home after a scary film, not wanting to be alone. Coming out of your room, you weren’t surprised that Angel was right outside of your door, what did surprise you was when he crashed his lips on yours, your eyes widening as he did. Before long, your eyes closed giving in to the kiss. How could you deny him? You’ve liked Angel for so long and now he was kissing you.

His hands slipped under your shirt, caressing your sides as he opened your mouth with his tongue. You sighed arching your back against him. 

Pulling away from you, you two were breathing hard, his head resting on your forehead. 

“I like you, Y/N.” He didn’t want to say the other L word yet, that might just scare you away. For now, he would settle with the word like.

“I like you too Angel.” You replied, kissing him one more time before pulling away.

“I know you’ve been burned before, but I won’t do that to you, I could never do that to you.” He began to walk as you walked backwards, your knees hit the edge of your bed causing you to sit down. “I want you, do you want me?”

Was this the right time to tell Angel you were still a virgin?

“Yes.”

Angel groaned, kissing you again as he laid you down on your bed. He hovered over you, making sure he didn’t put his weight on you. Pulling away, your lips chased after him making Angel chuckle. 

“I’ve been dreaming about this mi dulce,” he moved your shirt up, well his shirt, shivers running up your spine. You’ve never gotten this far with anyone. You’ve kissed people, but nothing like this. “Your skin is so fucking soft.” He assisted you on taking off your shirt, your bra was a deep shade of purple. “Purple’s my new favorite color.”

You became nervous then when Angel caressed your breast, softly squeezing it causing you to moan. You’ve never felt that sensation before, everything was so new to you.

“Angel, before we go any further, I have to tell you something.” You placed your hand on top of his, stopping his sinful ministrations. 

“What’s up baby?” Angel’s eyes were dilated, looking at you wish such desire.

“I’m a virgin.”

“You’re a what?” Angel gave you an incredulous look.

Before you could reply, there was a knock on your door. You two looked at one another, before you grabbed the shirt that Angel just discarded. You quickly made your way over to the door, embarrassed by Angel’s reaction. You were certain he would leave after that bombshell. 

Reaching to open the door, Angel pulled you back against his front, “I got it.” He informed you as he moved you behind him. He opened the door and your breath hitched when you saw Diego on the other side.

Diego’s face went from worried to anger in less than two seconds after his eyes landed on Angel.

“What the fuck is this?” He demanded.

“Diego, can I help you?” Angel further blocked you from Diego’s view, putting himself between you and Diego.

“Yeah, I need to talk to Y/N.” Diego straightened his form, trying to assert some type of dominance. But it wasn’t working on Angel. ��So if you don’t mind, you can leave her with me.”

“Don’t think that’s going to happen. She’s my girl, you expect me to leave you all alone with her?” Angel scoffed. “What business do you have with her?”

“Your girl? She wasn’t with you a few hours ago. If I remember correctly, you had a whore sitting on your lap for a major part of the night.” Diego smirked. He wasn’t sure why the fuck Angel was here, but he wasn’t leaving till you two spoke.

Angel smirked. “I suggest you walk away before we have a problem here.”

“We already have one.”

Next thing you knew, Angel punched Diego on the face, tackling him to the ground. 

“Angel!” You yelled his name, trying to pull him away from Diego. “Stop it, come on, he’s not worth it.”

But he didn’t hear you. Angel continued to land shots on Diego’s face and body. But then Diego was able to hit Angel on his rib cage, knocking the air out of Angel. He turned them around, with Diego now landing the blows.

“Diego, please stop it!” You pleaded with him and tried to push him off Angel.

“Diego!” You heard Medina running towards you three, pulling off Diego from Angel. He came with Diego to assure that he could intervene when you became upset. He was smoking by his motorcycle when he heard the commotion.

Angel stood up, and was going to lunge for him again, but you wrapped your arms around him, trying your best to hold him back.

“Please stop, he’s not worth it.” 

Angel and Diego glared at one another. Diego was bleeding profusely from his lips while Angel had some blood coming out of his as well. His ribs hurt the most, but he had too much adrenaline coursing through his body. 

“Stay the fuck away from her.” Angel wanted one last time. Spitting out the blood that formed inside his mouth.

“Fuck you Reyes,” Diego snarled. “She can’t be yours when she’s always been mine!” Diego shouted back as Medina pulled him away. 

Angel led you back in your apartment, closing the door and locking it. You looked at him as he leaned against the door. 

“You didn’t have to hit him.” You crossed your arms across your chest.

“I know mi dulce, but he didn’t get the fucking hint.” Angel pushed off your door and walked over to you. “Why the fuck is Diego claiming you?” He knew what he was, but again he didn’t want to throw Coco under the bus. You walked away to the kitchen to get Angel a bag of frozen vegetables to put on his face. 

You gnawed at your lip as you handed him the bag. You knew you could trust Angel, you just didn’t know what to say. He was definitely your best friend once upon a time, but he proved that wasn’t the case. “We went to high school together and became close during senior year. He wanted to prospect for the Mayans and was rejected so I convinced Will to sponsor him. He became a patched member and nothing really changed. I always thought he had feelings for me because he acted as if he was my boyfriend. I always reasoned that he was protecting me or that we didn’t need the labels.” You pursed your lips, your arms crossed once again, but it looked more to Angel that you were holding yourself together. “I, I felt foolish, especially when his girlfriend called me out. It was his birthday and I came to his apartment with cake and his gift. I got him this new riding sunglasses that he had been eyeing for months.” You smiled sadly, trying your best to keep your tears at bay. “She threw my cake to the ground and told me that they were together, she berated me about my obsession with him and how he didn’t feel the same. That he kept me around since I was connected to Mayans royalty.” You looked up at Angel, his heart broke as he saw just how much it hurt you. Even after all these years and he couldn’t blame you. “Five years, I waited on him hand and foot thinking we would be together at the end, but instead I was the dumbass. I couldn’t stay there, it was the reason my mom moved to Santo Padre. Sure, she wanted to be closer to Tio Bishop, but it was due to me.”

Angel watched as your shoulder shook, head towards the ground. How could he do that to you? Use you and throw you away like a piece of trash? His blood boiled just thinking about how heartbroken you must have been to have that happened. It made sense why you kept him at arm's length at the beginning. You were very nice and cordial, but whenever he would try to get to know you, you would just excuse yourself. 

He walked over to you, lifting your face with his finger under your chin. “I would never do that to you. I get he hurt you and the mother fucker is going to pay. But you’re safe here with me. He’ll never be able to fool you again.” He wrapped his arms around you, letting you cry into his chest. Kissing the top of your head, he promised himself that he would do everything he could to make sure you never cried. The way his heart clenched as he just imagined you at Stockton, giving everything you had to a motherfucker who didn’t deserve it.

“I’m sorry,” you pulled away from Angel, wiping your eyes. “If you’re totally not interested in me anymore, I completely understand.” Who would want someone with baggage that involved one of his brothers? Though you were certain Angel never saw Diego in that way. 

Angel rolled his eyes, cupping your face and forcing you to look at him. “Listen I’m fucking here to stay. I’m not Diego, and all you have to do is let me prove it to you. Querida, I like you, why won’t you let me take you out and show you a good time?” Angel wasn’t even sure when he’ll find the time with everything going on, but he’ll make time, for you he would.

“Okay.” You grinned.

=================

Medina pulled Diego to the side, shaking his head. “Haven’t you done enough damage?” He pushed Diego, smacking him upside the head. “We had a deal. I agreed to let you come if you stayed the fuck away from her.” Medina knew he should have never let Diego come. He was too persistent for him to not do anything. 

“I have to get her back.” Diego spat out the blood in his mouth. “I know we had a deal, but when I saw her, I couldn’t help myself. I miss her.”

“I don’t give a fuck. You fucked up. Just because the pussy you gave her up for left you, doesn’t mean you should disrupt her life.” Medina has his hands on his hips, watching as Diego sat on the floor collecting his breath. 

“I love her.”

“No you fucking don’t. You romanticized her because of her connection to Bishop and Padrino, but she’s more than that. She fucking did everything for you and what did you do? Break her fucking heart. You don’t love her, you just missed how she waited on you hand and foot.” Medina scoffed. “Stay the fuck away.” He warned. He never told Bishop or Padrino, but maybe it was time to do it now.

“I listened to you once and I’m not going to stay away. You can’t tell me how I feel about her. I know what I feel regardless of my past indiscretions.” Diego stood up then, spitting on the ground once more and dusting off his clothing. 

“Angel would never let you near her.” Medina knew of Angel’s liking towards you due to Bishop. He kept him updated since Medina had been around you for years. 

“He won’t always be with her, after all, I’m gonna be here for the next few months.” Diego smirked. 

“What?” Medina was confused. What the fuck was he on?

“Santo Padre is down a man, they need someone to fill in, so I volunteered.”

“Diego, this is a bad fucking idea.” 

“She was mine first and once I treat her like how she deserves to be treated, show her how much I love her, she’ll come back to me.” 

Medina knew that wasn’t going to be the case. 

Angel wouldn’t let that happen. 

He had to make sure Angel wouldn’t let that happen.

[i-am-ironic]

Daminette arranged mariage au part 7

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

Damian arrived right on time as usual, to pick Marinette up for dinner. In the car they went over the plan one last time.

"So the plan right now is just to tell your brothers that we are dating until the papers go through confirming you are Xander's father, right?" Marinette said watching the city fly by.

"It shouldn't take long." Damien replied, "Rich families tend to get things done faster then anyone else. Everything should be in order before the end of dinner."

"But what about when they start asking questions?"

"We avoid the questions until the paperwork goes through, then we can tell them the whole story." He Paused thinking back. "When I got back I didn't talk about what happened. I didn't tell anyone so they should be interested enough in the story to leave their questions till the end."

"This might not go well dames," Marinette started Fidgeting with her bracelet, "what if they don't like me? Or they think I'm helping your mother? Or what if-"

"No, mari." He said, his voice bringing her away from her anxious thoughts, "it will be fine. i promise. they will love you and once we explain, everything will be fine. We are here are you ready?"

She nodded and stepped out of the car. The manor was even more extravagant then she had imagined. She was going to need to come back to sckech just the doorway not to mention the rest of the house. Thinking about the architecture helped to calm her nerves.

"Here we go" she said stepping up to the door. It opened before dhe even had the chance to knock. Behind the door was an elderly man in a suite.

"Hello Ms my name is Alfred, I am the Wayne's butler and your name is?"

"Just call me marinette.”

“I must insist it wouldn't be proper to call you anything but your last name.” Alfred said.

“Just marinette for now but you will probably know my last name by the end of the night.” he looked at her curiously, why didn’t she want him to know her name yet?

“Very well ms marinette,” he said before turning to damian, “master damian your family is waiting for you in The sitting room.”

the two of them walked into the room and marinette was expecting a lot of things, but not this. damian just looked so done with his family. 

“Ahem.”he said drawing attention to himself.  “Marinette these are my brothers Dick is the one hanging from the chandelier” she waved at the familiar man. “Tim is the one drinking straight from the pot of coffee and Jason is the one throwing knifes at Dick. Oh and cass is the only normal one sitting on the couch.”

“Hey!” the boys all yelled in unison.

“Its a pleasure to see you again marinette.” bruse said before the boys could start arguing “I presume that our other guest will be here after dinner?”

“That is correct Mr Wayne.”

“Its Bruce as I have told you.”

marinette rooled her eyes smiling. She wasn't going to call him Bruce

“Hold on what other guest?” Jason said confused.

“Dinner is served.” alfrid said from the doorway as he lead the group out of the room.

“Damian wait!” Dick said reaching out for his little brother. Damian turned glancing at marinette who nodded.

“What do you want Grayson?” he siad eager to get back to marinette. 

“I don't think you should be seeing marinette you know how dangerous our 'job' is and-”

“She can take care of herself” he cut his brother off turning to follow were the rest of the group had gone. 

Dick grabbed Damian’s arm makeing him stay this was importent.“I'm sure she can but she has a 2 year old son who can't take care of himself and I don't think-”

“Richard.” that got his attention damian never called anyone by their first name.

“Yes?”

“Xander is my son.” that took a moment to Process before-

“WHAT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE IS YOUR SON!”

without answering Damian walked out of the room. Dick folowed him into the dining room, where evryone looked at the two.

“Dick whats wrong? we heard yelling and you look like you saw a ghost.” Cass said conserned. 

“Its nothing,” Damian replied sharing a meningful look with marinette. “I'm sure Grayson is fine. so marinette do I need to take any of my brothers to the garden”

evryone looked shocked at the implicashons but marinette just giggled.

“No they have all been wonderful. besids you know i can handle your brothers.”she smiled. 

“Listen, marinette, if damian kidnapped you blink twice.” jason said in a sereous tone.

she gigaled again, “He didn't kidnap me besides we both know I can beat damian in a fight.”

“take that back! i have beaten you plenty of times before.” this made the boys and cass very intrested, if damian was defending himself he must have actualy tried to beat her, and falled.

“Dames I beat you 68% of the time.” interesting. 

“so you admit i have beaten you before!” he said triumfently.

“Yeah when I let you win.” damians mouth fell open in legitament showk. he looked over at his father, who nodded, before making a statment that would change this family forever.

“Marinette Anne dupan-chang al Ghul Wayne you take that back right this minute!”

the reactions were very mixed. Dick was shocked. not only did his baby brother have a child but it apered that he was marred. Jason didnt know what to think. he had begun to coneckt the dots, marinette had foud the father of her chiled, she then showed up with his brother and she had the same last name as him. $#*! Tim alerdy knew about all this from his reserch and cass decided to wait for an explanation.

“No.” marinette said scrunching up her noes playfully. "I refuse to take it back."

there was silence for a moment before Bruce spoke.

“Maybe we should continue this discussion in the sitting room”

“So would you like to explain why marinette has the same last name as you?” cass said once they reached the other room. 

“Not really but-”

“dames be nice, we knew we were going to explain when we came here tonight. I'll text luka.” 

.”Who's Luka?” Tim said, he hadn't read anythig about a ‘Luka’.

“Its a long story so let's start from the beginning,” marinette started.

“Three and a half years ago I was walking back to my family's house after hanging out at a friend's house. Before I got home I saw a man who needed help, so I went over to help. him i cant remember what he was doing but when I got there I felt a prick in the back of my neck. I pulled the dart out before I hit the ground. The next thing I knew I was in a room laying on a coute. the door was locked and I could hear yelling from someone else in the building. I could tell it was a man but I couldn't make out what he was saying. it wasn't in french I later found out he was speaking Arabic. After the yelling stopped i heard the door unlock and got ready to run but when the door opened a woman was standing there with two big men behind her. She walked in and because of the two men I couldn't run. She started speaking to me in french she said 'my name it Talia. I need you to put on this ceremonial dress.' To which I replied as any sane person would that I wasn't going to put on the dress and they needed to take me back home. She asked 'did you hear that man yelling a moment ago?' 'Yes?' I said though I wasn't sure what that had to do with anything. 'if you don't put it on and do what I say I will kill him.' So I put on the dress. They tied my hands behind my back and blindfolded me before leading me out of the cell I was in. When they took the blindfold off I was kneeling at an alter. Talia began speaking in french so I could understand. She was saying things about the strongest bond known to man, and a queen for the future king. I didn't understand what she meant until I turned to see a boy my age bound and kneeling next to me. Thats when it hit me we were getting married. She made us drink something from a chalice before we were ushered into a different room. We were both untied and left alone. the door locked behind us. The only thing in the room was a bed. The boy introduced himself as damian and said that he wasn't sure why his mother made us get married but that he was going to get some answers. He looked pretty cute when he said that.”

Damian blushed at her compliment.  

“Anyway Talia's explanation was that damian was 16 and for the league that meant he was a man and had to get married. And I had the great honor to be the one he married. I, was pissed. She said that as such a powerful magic user i was worthy to marry the future king of the league of assassins. I was even more pissed. She had the audacity to say that getting married, AT 16, to someone you had never met was a good thing. That little-”

“Alright mari I'll take over.” Damian said resting a hand on her sholder. “Anyway she said that after a year of mari training with the league we could go back to our normal lifes until we turned 18, at which point if we didn't at least move in together they would kill one of us. best mom ever. After that we were left alone to talk. Every day we trained and talked and worked hard. Once a month they would move us to a different compound and give us a huge array of blood tests. We became good friends. it was us against everyone else. Since we were already married we decided to give this whole romantic thing a try. But after six months I was sent to meeting with Talia she said I was going home and knocked me out sending me back to you. I searched and searched but I couldn't find any sign of marinette. so I had to asume Talia killed her. I couldn't think about France without thinking about her so I blocked all news from France. I didn't say anything to anyone for a month. And evrey year for one day I couldn’t speak, the anniversary of the last day I saw her alive.”

“I wasn't dead incase you were wondering.” marinette said picking up where damian left off,” I was sent to the med bay. No one would tell me what was happening or were damian was until Talia came in and said damian had fulfilled his usefulness. she exsplaned The only reason i was there was because damian had spent to much time with his father and had gone soft. The league needed a new heir to the throne. They picked me to be the mother of that heir. I was stuck there for months. I knew they weren't going to let me go. After the baby was born they were going to kill me. One day something big happened, I don't know what but it was big enough no one was watching me. I escaped. I hiched rides to France and snuck across borders. When I finally got back i saw a doctor as soon as I could. I didn't know if the baby was ok. He was born when I was 17.” she turned to the door where a young man stood holdng a toddler who scrambled down and ran over to his parints. “Everyone I would like you to meet Xander Thomas dupan-chang al Ghul Wayne.”

“Damian you have a son.” cass said wide eyed.

“I'm aware” damian said handing the boy his phone with a game already opened up. 

“Xander is my nephew??????” Dick said staring at the boy like he had grown a secend head.

“Yes.” marinette said simply.” It took a year to defeat Paris' villain. After that I moved here to find damian and tell him about Xander.”

“Dang. So you know about Robin then?”

“Yep”

“Why didn't you say anything??? I've known you for over a year and you said nothing????” the betrayed jason said.

“I didn't want to explain anything until I could tell damian. i thought He should be the first to know about his son.”

“We have a break in at gatham museum.” alfered said over the intorcom

“We are not done with this conversation.” Bruce said. 

“Suite up!” called Tim.

“Marinette do you want to come?”

she smiled at her husband “I wouldn't miss it for the world.”

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

I'm pretty sure this is the longest chapter I've ever written yay me. Pro tip if you see a centipede in your house DON'T TUCH IT it can and will sting you and it will hurt, my little brother just got stung by one. Anyway im glad so many of you like this story thanks for all the love! If you want to be tagged please let me know you can ether message me or reply to this. And if anyone can explain how to link things the pretty way with just "here" underlined that would be great. if you asked to be tagged and you weren't then ask again and ill put you on the list.

@thestressmademedoit

@abrx2002

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@myazael

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@ur-average-reader

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@thenillabean

[yuna-dan]

1.-Soulmate au with Logince?

If you want a large Logince involving soulmates you can always read my fic Countin’ on you and one of my favorite Impossible Possible

Now that the selfless promo is over…

A long time ago I read a Marvel Fic where when Steve always had Natasha on his wrist and when he woke up from the ice, he had Antony and I was reading some prompts to get ideas and I saw something like that and decided to write it! This idea however it’s not mine, and if I find the fic where this was inspired, I’ll posted here.

I hope you enjoy this, I did enjoyed writing it but at some point I think the story got confusing?? I hope not

Taglist: @awkwardkindanerd @cas-is-a-hunter @theunoriginaldaisy @underthesea73 @mariita-2006 @prinxietyforever @peanut0303

If you wanna be add to the list please interact with this

---Warning: Off-screen bullying. Slight Transphobia. Slight Violence. Cursing.--

Logan was five years old when the tattoo appeared on his left wrist. The name Rosaline Prince was written with a blue and pink ink, with italics and a beautiful lettering for the young kid.

He remembered how when the bullies found him, he wasn’t scared because she will wait for me. When he arrived home and showed his mama his tattoo, his mama kissed his hair and said “She will always be there for you”

--

Logan used to have a treehouse, that he used to escape reality of his parents constant bickering and the bullies who never left him. He was fourteen, and he was too old to have one.

He was going to clean it for the last time, and he got boxes to put all his childhood things there, maybe one day I can show it to Rosaline he thought.

He didn’t see a step, and he fell.

He broke his arm.

The arm where Rosaline’s name was.

He didn’t think about it too much. The doctors have to put a cast on it, and he decided on a blue color (the same blue of his tattoo, that way he could think of Rosaline).

When the doctors removed the cast, the tattoo was heavily crossed out with a large, thick black line.

“What did you do?” He asked to the nurse, terrified.

The nurse was staring back at him, with the same shocked face, “I-That has never happened.”

No one had any explanation.

He cried to sleep that night.

--

The tattoo disappeared after three days.

Logan didn’t even move out of his bed.

-

He was in the school, when he felt a small itch on his right wrist. He didn’t want to pay any attention, because he was doing a test.

When he delivered the test and left the classroom, he noticed that he had a different tattoo, written in red and gold.

Roman Sanders

He felt something on his stomach, his chest tightened, and his vision blurred.

A student was passing by, and Logan didn’t think about he just knew, “Hey, I am going to passed out, call a teacher.”

“Dude, what the fuc-?”

He passed out.

-

When Logan woke up in the, the same student was next to him.

“Dude, you have to know that’s the weirdest way to meet someone.” He started ranting once he noticed Logan was awake, “What the actual fuck, man?” He hissed.

“Yes, I am okay, thanks for asking, stranger.” Logan replied, sitting down in the bed. The guy glared at him.

“I’m Virgil, by the way.”

“Salutations.” Virgil made a face, but Logan ignored him, “I am Logan.”

Virgil snorted, “You talk funny, Logan.” He cleared his throat, “So, uhm, are you okay? Do you want me to call someone?”

“No, I am fine… just…” Virgil stared at him, but Logan shook his head, “No, never mind, thanks for helping, Virgil.” He clutched his right arm close to his chest.

The tattoo was touching his heart.

--

Logan was seventeen when he came out as pansexual, and it turned okay.

Logan was eighteen, when he went started college with Virgil, his roommate and best friend ever since that day.

Logan was nineteen when he told Virgil about his two tattoos.

“... and honestly, I have been researching everywhere and I just cannot find any information about new soulmate bounds.”

“Maybe she died?” Virgil offered.

“Wow, Virge, thank I need that.” He glared, and his friend mumbled a quick sorry.

“I don’t what to say, Lo.”

“I want to hate Roman, and I know I should not feel like that. He’s supposed to be my soulmate, but I just need to know what happen to Rosaline.” He sighed.

Virgil genuinely didn’t know what to say, so he just hugged his friend.

Logan definitely didn’t cry.

--

Logan was on his last semester of college and he fell exhausted, with all the final exams, his parent obsessing over his graduation party, the freaking graduation party…

Yes, he fell exhausted.

He normally didn’t like to buy coffee, but when saw the new coffee shop near his apartment he decided to try it, firstly because Virgil was with his soulmate in their shared apartment.

He sighed and rubbed softly the name Roman on his right wrist. Ever since Virgil met Patton, he felt weirdly sad and also guilty for feeling sad. He should feel happy for his best friend, and yet, here he was running away from their house because he felt sad when he saw them together.

“Are you ordering, specs?” The cashier asked, interrupting Logan’s thoughts.

“Uh, yes, sorry.” He fumbled with his wallet, “A Black Earl with almond milk, please.” The man smiled and Logan felt himself blushing, for some reason. “Anything, else?”

“Uh, no, that’s fine.” Logan squinted, trying to read the tag, “Roman S.?”

Logan felt how the air of his lungs suddenly left, but the man continued to take his order, “What’s your name?”

“Huh?”

“For the tea…” Roman said, annoyed at the client. “We need your name.”

Logan spoke automatically, “You’re Rosie.” Roman’s face turned white, dropping the sharpie and cup he was holding.

“I don’t know who you are,” Roman Rosie said, “But you need to leave right now.”

“No, you…”

“No, my name is not Rosaline, my name is Roman Sanders and you need to leave, now!” He screamed, at the top of his lungs. Some clients were staring at them.

Logan didn’t want to leave, but the end he ran away.

-

When Remus entered the coffeeshop, he expected to see his twin and his boyfriend closing up. Ever since they left their dad’s house, Roman has been way happier. He started T a few months ago, and his mental health had been improving.

He was ready to pack everything off and go to home, maybe had some pizza.

He didn’t expect to see Damien and Roman sitting on a table, with a cup of tea, “I think Dad found us.” Was the first thing Roman said when he entered.

Damien was gripping his shoulder, “What do you mean?” Remus ears were ringing with anger, “Did he came here?”

Roman shook his head, and took a deep breath, “A man came. He called me… y’know, that.” He sighed, “I-I told him to leave and he, I don’t know.”

Damien interrupted, “I can take both of you to the police tomorrow.”

“No, mom will get worried.” Ro said, “I just want to forget about this.”

Remus bit his lip, “RoRo, I know but if you think Dad is back, we need to tell mom, and Damien is right, the police too.”

Roman shook his head, “No. I don’t want to.”

Remus was about to argue with his brother, because goddamit, he needed for Roman to understand that they were in danger, when the door opened violently and abruptly. Damien stood up, “We’re close, sir.”

Roman gasped, “It’s you!” He yelled, “I told you to leave me alone!” The man was getting closer and Remus hand was already on his phone, ready to call the police if necessary.

“No. Please let me…”

“If our dad sent you here…”

“No, please let me…”

Damien was standing between them, ready to fight if the moment asked for it Remus fucking love him, the man try to get closer, “Please, Roman, let me explain…”

Damien punched him, right in the eye. The guy was startled and looked back at Roman, who was holding back tears, “Roman, I’m your soulmate.”

The guy fainted.

---

Roman stared into Damien’s eyes, who was staring back at him. Remus wanted to laugh, really, but refrain himself from doing it, this was a serious moment and only a few minutes ago they all believed their lives were in danger, he shouldn’t really find this funny, not all...

Roman ran to check the guy’s pulse, and only then everyone realized the tattoo on his right wrist Roman Sanders.

“Oh my god Damien, you punched my soulmate!”

Remus laughed out loud.

--

When Logan woke up, he was in his apartment. He tried to sit up and winced when he felt pain on his back. He hissed in pain, “Yeah, sorry about that, Logan. No one knew you were going to faint and honesty, no one prevented you from hitting the floor.” Roman said.

“What?” Logan looked up and saw Roman his fucking soulmate in his living room.

“You really need to stop fainting when you meet important people, Logs.” Virgil was laughing between his sentence.

Logan groaned.

--

A few days later, when everything was explained I’m sorry I punched you, I thought my boyfriend’s asshole dad sent you and I’m sorry I called you by your deadname, but everything was confusing.

That was probably the weirdest way to find your soulmate, but they wouldn’t change it for the world.

--

They were in the coffee shop, Logan was waiting for Roman to close everything. They held hands when they walked to Logan’s apartment.

“Y’know…” Roman hummed in acknowledgment that he heard him, “It’s kinda funny.”

“What is?”

“I got your right name in the right wrist…” Logan laughed softly, “It’s almost as if the world knew about it and decided to play a pun.”

Roman laughed, “It is funny.”When they kissed that night, it felt fight, and it was fantastic.

[smooshjames]

forget you not (epilogue)

‘cause we’ve come, we’ve come so far, oh, baby (or: a second chance)

word count: 4k

a/n: i finally got my butt in gear and wrote the epilogue of forget you not! i still don’t think i’m 100% happy with how it came out, but if i edit / re-write it any more my head will explode. a reminder that i didn’t write any of the songs mentioned in this story (they all belong to little mix). and here are the links to this chapter’s songs: x, x, x. while we’re on the topic of links, here’s one to my ko-fi in case you want to buy me a coffee. no pressure if you can’t (or just don’t want to), i’m just glad you guys take the time to read my work. i hope you enjoy, and thank you for all the overwhelming support, it means the world to me <3

warnings: blink-and-you’ll-miss-it angst (i couldn’t help myself), i think that’s it ?? this is just a lot of fluff and the happy ending we deserve

previous parts: one, two, three, four, five

You called exactly one week later.

It was around six o’clock (nine o’clock for you, Shayne noted). He had just gotten home from work and was contemplating what to have for dinner when his phone started buzzing. He pulled it out of his pocket disinterestedly, figuring it was probably Damien or his mom. When he saw your name on his phone screen, however, his heart nearly stopped beating.

He took a deep breath and answered the call.

“Hey,” he said. He sounded mildly out of breath and hoped desperately that you wouldn’t notice. “What’s up?”

“I said I’d call,” you said. Your voice was shaky, your tone unsure. You were putting emphasis on all the wrong syllables. Shayne could picture you in his head; you on your couch in your nice New York apartment, dressed in something comfortable, a vision of natural beauty.

Shayne didn’t reply, just silently willed you to continue. He sat down on the couch.

“Um… it was fun. The sex, I mean.” There was a long pause. Shayne held his breath. “I would… next time one of us is in town, I think it would be good to hang out again. Maybe we can get to know each other again.” Another long pause. “Get to know each other like hanging out and talking, I mean, not like… not like wink-wink getting to know each other, not that I don’t want to have sex with you again, I just…” You stopped again, and he could practically see the grimace on your face. “Jesus, okay. I’m gonna stop talking now.”

Shayne grinned so wide he thought his face might get stuck that way.

“Okay,” he said. “I’d like that.”

Another pause, one which could have lasted three seconds or three years.

“I’m really glad we got to see each other again,” he said. He was careful to keep his tone light, decidedly avoiding any words that might send the I still love you vibe. He didn’t want to push the boat out on another chance with you too soon, but absence absolutely makes the heart grow fonder. There was a part of him that already had the color scheme for your wedding planned, a part of him that felt sure you’d give him a second chance. After all, you’d spent the night together, and now you were calling him back. That had to mean something, right?

But he knew, rationally, that you were still smarting from what had happened all those years ago, and he knew that you had every right to be. He figured you would want to take things slow.

And then, before his brain could really think about it, his mouth said: “I want… I really want to try again, if you… if you want to. I think we could do things right this time.”

So much for taking things slow.

There was another long silence. Shayne was almost certain his heart was going to pound out of his chest.

“I want to try again, too,” you said. Shayne felt his shoulder sag in relief. “I’ve missed you a lot. But, um, it’s late here and I worked all day. I should get ready for bed. I’ll have Michelle look at my schedule tomorrow and we can figure out a good time for me to fly back out there, okay?”

“Okay,” he said. “Goodnight, Y/N.”

“Goodnight, Shayne.”

The line went dead. Shayne sat back on his couch and stared up at his ceiling in wonder. A second chance. He couldn’t fucking believe it.

All he had to do now was get it right this time.

***

A month passed, and then two, and then six. You and Shayne flew from New York to LA and back more times than you could count. You squeezed texting, calling, and facetiming into every spare second. Shayne made himself endlessly available to you, and you did the same for him. You were constantly in trouble with Michelle for getting distracted during interviews and meetings and recording sessions. Rumors circulated that there was a man in your life, which, for a while, you didn’t confirm or deny.

You knew that you’d have to go public eventually, something you discussed with Shayne early on in your second attempt. You were both far more in the public eye now than you’d been five years ago, which meant people would put pieces together sooner than you wanted them to. Finally, after two months, the two of you decided it was time to call it official. Instagram posts went up, fans lost their minds, the comments of your Smosh video were dominated almost exclusively with references to you and Shayne.

At the four-month mark, you discussed moving out to LA permanently. You’d still be spending a lot of time apart while the band toured, but you would at least be able to go home to him full-time in between the months on the road.

Carly asked if it felt a little soon, and you told her it didn’t. If your first attempt at a relationship with Shayne had been more-or-less a strong one (save for the end), this attempt was iron-clad. Shayne had matured more than you ever could’ve hoped for. The years apart made him wiser, more willing to confront his feelings and his issues. And in your five years of being single, you had found something infinitely more valuable than a shiny new relationship: self-worth. You knew what you deserved, and a happy, loving relationship was one of those things. You no longer lived in fear of Shayne running off at the first sign of someone better than you. You were far more willing to fight for yourself and for your relationship. 

You spent a couple of months deliberating whether you’d move to LA. The time it took you to think was in part caused by some hesitation, but more than anything caused by the fact that the band was recording a new album. You couldn’t think about much of anything besides choruses and hooks and beats.

Your hang-ups about the move were more practical than anything; it wasn’t that you didn’t want to move, it was that cross-country moves were infamously stressful and problem-filled. Not to mention, the rest of the band still lived in New York, which might cause professional complications (and would most certainly cause personal heartache; you weren’t necessarily ecstatic about living almost 3,000 miles from your best friends).

You finally made the decision during a late-night, insomnia-induced facetime call. You called Shayne at four in the morning one night after tossing and turning for hours. He picked up on the third ring, and you could tell immediately that he had been asleep; his surroundings were completely blacked out, his face only visible from the light of his phone screen. He was squinting at the screen, face scrunched up in a way that made your heart swell with the urge to kiss him, as his eyes adjusted to the brightness. And when he spoke, his voice was gruff with disuse.

“Hey,” he said. He didn’t seem the slightest bit upset at being woken up, but there was definite concern on his face. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” you replied, “I’m sorry to wake you. I can’t sleep. I wanted to see you.”

If you lived in LA, whispered the ever-present voice in the back of your mind, you wouldn’t have to call him to see him. If you lived in LA, you’d be fast asleep in his arms right now.

Shayne hummed sympathetically and you heard the blankets rustling as he rolled over on his back. The angle was about as unflattering as it could have possibly been, but you didn’t care. In fact, you loved him all the more for it.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he said. His words were just slightly slurred, like his tongue was still heavy from sleep. “What’s keeping you awake?”

You sighed and scrubbed a hand over your eyes. “I don’t really know,” you replied. “A lot of things, I guess. It’s been a couple of weeks since we saw each other last, so I’ve been trying to find a good time to fly out there, but I’m completely booked for the next few months. The new album has been kicking our asses and we’re nowhere near where we need to be if we’re gonna make the deadline, so we’ve been working all hours, which means everyone’s sleep schedules are completely fucked. I’m pretty sure Alexis and Piper are still at the studio right now.”

He hummed low in his throat again, nodding slowly. There was a moment where he seemed to be debating which part of your speech to address first. “Well, don’t worry too much about flying out. You know I love seeing you in person, but I don’t want making time for me to be too stressful for you. I’m perfectly content with long-distance if that’s what you need to do.”

You smiled despite yourself. Shayne had established this rule early-on; you never needed to worry about going to see him if going to see him would jeopardize your work or your personal wellbeing. If you couldn’t handle the stress of a flight across the country, he would either come to you or you’d just make texting and calling work until one of you could get on a plane.

But in this instance (and in every other instance), you didn’t want to see him in person just so that he would be satisfied. You wanted to see him in person because seeing him in person was infinitely better than seeing him through the phone. You wanted to be there when he got home from work, to kiss him goodnight and good morning, to fall asleep next to him.

“I’m gonna move out there,” you said, surprising even yourself with the conviction in your tone.

“What?” he asked. The camera shook for a moment and you imagined he was sitting up in bed. “Seriously?”

You nodded. “Seriously. I’ll talk to everyone tomorrow and then I’ll call you and we can figure out the logistics. I need to be with you, Shayne. I think now’s as good a time as there’ll ever be.”

***

It took a month of you living together for Shayne to track down the old ring. He’d kept it all these years, though he could never quite put a finger on why. At least, until now.

As he rifled through his closet searching for the little blue box, he knew exactly why he’d kept it. For five years, he’d hoped against hope that you would come back to him. He’d hoped that despite it all, you could still be soulmates, just like he’d known you were before he went and fucked it up.

He found the box. It was a little dusty, but the ring inside was preserved perfectly. He moved it from the bottom of his closet to the back corner of his sock drawer, which felt like a more appropriate hiding place for a ring that was no longer going unused (hopefully).

You were currently back in New York to finish recording the new album, and then you would begin tour rehearsals in LA. The reasons for that were threefold; first, there was a choreographer based in LA that you desperately wanted to work with; second, the tour would kick off in LA, so it made sense to do the rehearsals in the place you would start; and third, you had convinced the rest of the band to do it in LA so that you could be close to Shayne. They, being your best friends and considering the other two reasons, had agreed happily. The proximity was good for Shayne, not only because it meant he got to spend time with you, but because it meant he could consult Carly. He figured that if anyone would know if you were ready to marry him, it would be her.

A week or so into tour rehearsals, the two of you hosted a dinner party at your apartment. You invited the Smosh Squad, the band, and a few other mutual friends. It was a challenge fitting everyone into the small space, but you made it work.

Shayne managed to find Carly after dinner was over and everyone had broken up to mingle. You were occupied with Olivia, Courtney, and Piper, and Carly was only talking to Damien, so Shayne figured it was his golden opportunity.

He sidled up to Carly and Damien and shot Damien a Hey man, you know what I’m about to do look (Damien was well aware of his plans, of course; Shayne had texted him the very second marriage popped into his head). Damien nodded.

“Hey, Carly,” Shayne said. She gave him a barely-civil look and took a sip of her drink. She still didn’t entirely trust him, which Shayne couldn’t blame her for; the way he understood it, she had been the one to pick up the pieces of the mess he made. He knew she was only playing nice with him for your sake. “Can I talk to you in private?”

“Sure,” she replied. She narrowed her eyes at him, obviously suspicious, even as she gestured for him to begin walking. “Lead the way.”

Shayne beckoned her into the bedroom, which was the only place not occupied by dinner guests, and rifled around in his sock drawer until he found the ring. He turned and presented it to Carly.

She choked on her drink.

“You’re going to propose?” she asked, volume just lower than a shout, obviously incredulous. Shayne shushed her frantically and glanced over to the open archway into the living room, thoroughly regretting not closing the door and praying to God that no one had heard. “Sorry, I just… Jesus, okay.” And then, in a much more reasonable tone of voice: “You’re going to propose?”

“I’m thinking about proposing,” Shayne corrected her. He set the ring back in his sock drawer. “I haven’t made my mind up yet. I don’t want to ask and freak her out. I figured you might know her thoughts on it.”

Carly narrowed her eyes at him, appraising. Shayne got the disturbing feeling that she could see straight into his soul; it was like she was looking through him, not at him. He shifted uncomfortably.

“Y/N is my best friend,” Carly said after a few seconds. Shayne nodded his understanding but didn’t dare speak. “After you destroyed her -- and you did destroy her, and it was your fault, even as much as she’s tried time and time again to convince me otherwise -- I was there for her. I have seen her at her lowest, most desperate points, and I have seen her at her most joyful. She is my best friend. She is my sister.

“All this to say, Shayne, that if you hurt her again, I can and will -- in fact, I am obligated to -- make your death look like an accident.”

Shayne nodded again, struck speechless. He was reminded of a conversation he’d had with you some time ago: he’d mentioned that he thought Carly didn’t like him, and you had conceded that she didn’t. But, you’d said, don’t worry too much. She’s all bark and no bite, and she just cares. She’ll come around to you.

As she stood in front of him now, fire in her eyes, tension in her shoulders, chin held high, Shayne was absolutely convinced that this woman was 100% bite. She quirked an eyebrow, waiting for him to speak. He was somehow more intimidated by Carly than he had been by your family.

“I love her, too,” he said. “That’s one thing we have in common. I know that I hurt her, and not a day goes by that I don’t regret it. I should’ve done things so much differently five years ago, I know that, and I’m sorry I didn’t. But by some miracle, she’s given me a second chance, and I’m not gonna fuck it up this time. I want to marry her with everything I have, Carly. I need to know that she’ll say yes.”

There was another silent moment as Carly appraised him. She glanced over at the sock drawer, where the ring was safely tucked away, and then back to him. “Okay,” she said. Shayne’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Here’s what we’re gonna do.”

***

You rehearsed for two months before the first concert of the new tour. In the week leading up to it, you were riddled with nerves; you were exhausted from long rehearsals and yet you couldn’t sleep, you had to force yourself to eat, you had dreams of getting on stage and forgetting all your choreography, or, worse, the lyrics to your own songs.

Shayne did his best to help you. He stayed up with you when you were having insomnia, even if his work suffered for it the following day, and he brought you food sometimes when rehearsals ran past your allotted lunch or dinner break. He was a godsend.

Finally, the big day arrived; it was the opening night of your tour. The new album had been out for a couple of weeks and it was doing well so far. The concert hall was slightly bigger than the one you’d performed at last time you were in LA. But sitting in your dressing room with shaking hands, about to attend the pre-show meet and greet, the nervous churning in your gut felt eerily similar to the way it felt eight months prior.

And, like eight months prior, Carly came to collect you. You walked with her down the hallway and to the meet and greet room, which had an almost identical setup; white backdrop and four stools on one side, camera equipment and a friendly man named Rob on the other.

You and the rest of the band gave Michelle the all-clear to let guests in, and the meet and greet began.

It was around the halfway mark when the door opened and you heard familiar voices walking in. Your face split into a wide grin as Noah, Keith, Olivia, Courtney, Damien, Ian, and Shayne rounded the backdrop. All of you had grown pretty close over the last few months, between you living with Shayne and occasionally visiting him at work. You had actually been in talks with Ian to appear on a SmoshCast once the tour was over.

Hugs were exchanged between the band and all your friends. You greeted Shayne with a kiss on the cheek, and Courtney with the complicated secret handshake you two had been working on.

The entire massive group took a photo together, and then your adoring fans left to find their seats. Your heart felt lighter for having seen them, and knowing that they would be in the audience worked wonders to calm your nerves. It was the exact opposite effect of your last meet and greet experience with Shayne.

The meet and greet ended, mic check passed, and the beginning of the concert approached. You took a deep breath. You did your pre-show ritual. You got into places. The concert began.

The first half of the show went off without a hitch. The fans were obviously loving it, and you (miraculously) remembered everything you were supposed to do. You were constantly glancing back at Shayne and your friends, both for comfort and to make sure they were enjoying themselves. Occasionally, you’d make eye contact with one of them and they’d flash you enthusiastic thumbs-ups. Every time you looked at Shayne, without fail, he was looking back at you, which made your heart beat just that much faster.

As you were introducing Your Love, though, you glanced over and saw that Shayne was no longer sitting with the group. You frowned but figured he had gone to the bathroom. Damien flashed you a grin and a thumbs-up from his seat next to Shayne’s.

The song began and you didn’t have time to think about anything else as you started to sing: “Luxurious lovin’ like Egyptian cotton, if I ain’t got nothing, least I got you.”

This particular song hadn’t been written with Shayne in mind, but it was hard to think of anything else as you sang the lovey-dovey lyrics. Every time you glanced over at his seat, though, he was still gone. It wasn’t that big of a deal, you knew, but you were somewhat saddened by the fact that you couldn’t serenade him (or at least make eye contact with him) while you sang.

Alexis had the second verse. You were swaying to the beat and moving across the stage to your mark when you felt a tap on your shoulder. You almost ignored it and kept moving; you were in show mode, so you chalked it up at first to a backup dancer brushing against you or something of the sort. But then you took in your surroundings and stopped in your tracks.

Alexis was still singing, but she and the rest of the band had turned their eyes to you. In fact, everyone on stage was looking at you. The audience was screaming, and you thought you heard your name a few times, but it was impossible to make anything out, and a screaming audience at a concert wasn’t exactly unusual. Your heart still plummeted, though, and you wondered if you’d done something wrong. You made eye contact with Piper, standing off to your right, and she nodded encouragingly and motioned toward you as if to say turn around.

You did, and what you saw almost made you drop your mic. Your jaw practically hit the floor.

There, on one knee in front of you, was Shayne. He was holding a little blue box, and inside the box was the most beautiful ring you’d ever seen. He was smiling up at you, hope and adoration in his eyes. As your band-mates launched into the second chorus of the song, you nodded enthusiastically and allowed Shayne to put the ring on your finger. The audience was going insane. He pulled you into a tight hug.

“I promise I’m gonna get it right this time. I love you so much,” he said. You nodded against him. When he pulled back, he laughed softly and reached up to wipe his thumb over your cheek; you realized with a start that you were crying. “Happy tears?” he asked, just loudly enough that you could make it out over the noise.

You nodded and leaned in to kiss him. You weren’t normally big on PDA, and you were pretty sure kissing in front of a concert hall full of people definitely counted as PDA, but you figured you could make an exception just this once. When you pulled away and brought the mic back up to your mouth to sing, you kept one arm around his shoulders and hardly took your eyes off him. You could feel yourself missing your choreography, but you didn’t care. Your world had narrowed to just the two of you. Shayne, the love of your life, your fiancé, standing next to you with the biggest smile you’d ever seen, looking at you like you were his everything.

You finished the song and kissed Shayne again before he had to get offstage. He leaned in to whisper in your ear, “I’ll see you after the show. Knock ‘em dead, beautiful.”

And then he went backstage. A minute later, you saw him return to his seat in the audience, where he was almost immediately engulfed in a patented Damien Bear Hug. You smiled at your friends and then turned back to the audience. They had only marginally quieted down since the end of the song. You brought the mic to your mouth. “I’m engaged, ya’ll!”

A fresh round of cheering erupted and your band-mates rushed over to wrap you in a group hug. You felt another few tears spill over and wiped them away. You’d only felt joy like this a handful of times, and it more than made up for all the sadness Shayne had caused you.

You knew, as you launched into Nothing Else Matters, that this was the beginning of a long, happy future. Your life with Shayne would, of course, have its ups and downs, but after everything, you knew this for sure: with him by your side, you could weather any storm that came your way. And he was more than worth it.

[sad-boy-mono]

Highschool Casualties

Chapter 5/?

Masterpost with Ao3 link 

Word Count- 3,447

Ao3 link

A/N OK HOLY FUCK. Y'all, I'm so sorry this took so long to make. Not only did I have my own issues going on, but I had so much trouble deciding where I wanted to go with this chapter. Not only did I not know what to do with the story, but also I trouble trying to figure out how I wanted to word certain things and never felt just right. Even now as I'm posting this, I'm not 100% happy with this chapter, but I think it's the best I can do. So having said that, please enjoy!

“SHAYNE WAIT-” Damien was cut off by a small tone, indicating Shayne hung up on him.

“Shayne?” He pulled his phone away from his ear and looked at the screen.

“God-” Damien moaned as he slammed his hands against the bathroom stalls.

“-Damn it Shayne!” Damien dialed Shayne’s number again.

“Come on, Shayne, please, pick up.” Damien pleaded.

“Hey you’ve reached the number of Shayne Topp! I can’t talk-”

Damien hung up the phone with a huff, and began typing.

Damien

Shayne please

What’s going on?

What happened?

Are you ok?

Is someone hurt?

Are you hurt?

Please

Get back to me soon

At least tell me if you’re ok

Damien stared at his phone as he pealed out of the bathroom and went to his next class: English. He only had to wait out that class until lunch, where he would see Shayne. 

===

Damien entered the classroom, and all eyes turned to him.

"Oh Mr. Haas, glad you could show up. Go ahead and take your seat." His teacher, Mr. Hecox, said, pointing to the empty spot where Damien sat.

Damien nodded, silently thanking him for not making a scene of him being late, and walked over to the desk, keeping his head down.

He got to his seat and pulled out his phone once again. Glancing down at it anytime his teacher wasn’t looking, only partially listening to what Mr. Hecox was saying. 

It was about 10 minutes into his class when he noticed something. Shayne had read his messages. And he was typing. The three dots on his screen showing up and disappearing. His heart was racing.

Shayne

I’ll explain at lunch

And I’m okay for the most part

Damien

For the most part?!

Shayne what happened?!?!

Shayne

Lunch Damien

Damien

Fine

Damien slipped his phone into his bag. His mind was put to little ease, but he just had to wait out this one class. That shouldn’t be to hard. 

Just one class.

===

“Alright class, we have about... 8 minutes of left, and in that time you guys are gonna go ahead and turn in your essays!” Mr. Hecox said as some of the class dug through their bags, others asked if they could quickly print off their essays (which Mr. Hecox reluctantly agreed to). 

“Alright and um, Damien can you go ahead and collect those for me, please?” Mr. Hecox asked, Damien replying with a quiet ‘sure’. “Thank you! And if you could place them on my desk when you’re done that would be great.”

The rest of the class sat quietly. Some people reading a book, others on their phone. The only sounds in the room being Mr. Hecox typing on his computer, and Damien walking around the classroom.

“Thank you Damien!” Mr. Hecox said as Damien placed down the small stack of papers on his desk. He lowered his voice as he continued to speak, “And before you head for lunch, I’d like to speak with you.”

“O-ok.” Damien mumbled, and walked back to his seat. 

Damien stared at the clock. Only 4 minutes until lunch. He just had to wait 4 minutes.

Tick

3 minutes

Tick

2 minutes

Tick

1 minute

Tick

The bell rung throughout the halls. The class stood up and swung their bags over their shoulders. As his classmates robotically walked out of the room, Damien dragged himself to Mr. Hecox’s desk.

This better be quick. I don’t have time for this.

“Yes?” Damien asked, with an annoyed tinge in his voice. It wasn’t like Damien hated his teacher, no that wasn’t the case. He quite liked his english teacher, but he had somewhere to be. And whatever his teacher needed to talk to him about wasn’t nearly as important as getting to Shayne.

“Thanks for staying, I’ll make this quick since I know you want to head to lunch,”

Thank god.

“I’ve noticed that your grade in this class dropping over the course of this month. You’re not turning things in on time if you turn them in at all.”

“Ok?” Damien asked. They weren’t to far into the month, so it was hard to understand the concern.

“I was wondering if there was anything going on at home, or in your personal life. Because you’re usually really active in this class, one of my best students.”

“Well, um thanks... But I guess I've just been sort of busy..." 

It wasn't exactly a lie, Damien had been sort of busy. But in less of a 'I have so many activities going on in my life right now," and in more of a 'Wow I'm so tired and my head hurts all the time :D' kind of way.

“What’s been going on?”

Shit

“Uh, it’s sort of hard to explain. Kinda just a few things that built up these few weeks. Yeah sorry, again, sort of hard to explain. My brain kind of refuses to work when I’m hungry.” Damien hinted, fidgeting with cuff of his sleeve.

“Oh, um, yeah, alright. I’ll let you head to lunch in one second.” Mr. Hecox grabbed a notebook from under his desk, writing a few things down before turning his attention back to Damien.

“So, how does this sound; I let you go for now, and if things still seem to be doing pretty low, and not just in your grades, I’ll check back in with you next Friday. Okay?”

“Yeah, sound good to me.” Damien said, shifting his weight between his feet.

Alright! Then in the meantime you are good to go! Have a good day Mr. Haas!”

“You too, Mr. Hecox.”

Damien gave a slight wave before leaving the room.

===

Damien ran out of the classroom and down to the cafeteria. Speeding by groups of kids and teachers telling him to walk.

If I’m doing pretty low, and not just in my grades? What does that even mean? Ok you know what, it doesn’t matter. Maybe he just noticed that I’m tired or something, fuck if I know. God, stop thinking about it, that isn’t the concern right now, Damien! Just get to Shayne.

Once he got closer to the lunchroom, he stopped running and pulled out his phone. Shayne messaged him.

Shayne

Meet me in the elevator room near the caf

The one they closed down, not the new one.

Well I guess there’s no other Elevators near the caf

Ok it doesn’t matter you know what I meant

Meet me in the old elevator room.

Damien let out a small breath from his nose, amused at Shayne’s always amazing texting skills. He shoved his phone into his pocket and changed his direction to the elevator. 

He sped to the elevator, walking past more groups of students, many giving him a strange look as he went. Damien’s was heart racing harder than ever. Shayne wasn’t one to cause this type of panic. He was usually very straight to the point if he had any issues going on. And with that in mind, Damien realized how dire the situation must be. 

He walked inside, and there he saw Shayne, leaning against the wall inside.

“Oh thank god,” Damien walked into the room and gave Shayne a hug, “dude you had me so worried! I thought you were hurt.”

“Y-yeah, sorry, I-I’m fine.” Shayne said weakly, barely reciprocating.

“Ok, now-” Damien dropped his arms from Shayne, ”-what happened? Is there a reason that Courtney can’t know about this or-”

“She can know about it! And she’s probably gonna f-find out what happened soon...” Shayne mumbled, his voice wavering at the end. 

“And that’s not the point, Damien, but last time I checked, Courtney didn’t call me because she heard what I was thinking in her dream?! Dude how the-what in the- how?” Shayne asked, his hands on the back of his head, a hand occasionally running through his hair. He kept his head down, averting his eyes from Damien's. And Damien didn’t see it before, but Shayne wasn’t himself. 

“Shayne I-I don’t even know what happened!” Damien retorted, a creak coming from the door to the room as it began to close. “And this isn’t the first time I’ve called you because I’ve had a weird nightmare before!”

“Yeah? Tell me the last time you called me because of a nightmare, Damien. Better yet, tell me why you called me.”

Damien opened his mouth, the words getting caught in his through when he realized when it was. 

With a sigh Damien continued. “A few months ago...”

“And why did you call me?”

With another sigh, Damien answered. “We were in the danganronpa universe... and Courtney killed you with a creeper... While Revenge was playing...” Damien admitted, his voice slowly getting more mumbled with his explanation.

“Yeah you weren’t exactly dreaming the most realistic!”

“You have to admit it was kinda funny though.” Damien said, voice still mumbled.

“Yeah it was... But now is not the time for that!”

“Right, sorry.”

“And stop trying to change the subject! How did you know what happened?!” Shayne snapped.

“Shayne, for the love of god. I. Don’t. Know. All I said was that I heard you, and you sounded freaked out. I even asked you what happened when I called you. You said you would tell me at lunch! And I’ve spent the last period wondering what happened to you!”

“But how did you hear me?!” Shayne asked again, desperate for an answer to this strange situation.

“If I knew, I would’ve told you! So please, just fucking tell me what happened!” Damien snapped. 

“OK! Fine! I...” Shayne paused, trying to find the right words.

“I almost killed a someone.”

“WHAT?!” Damien put his hands over his mouth, taking a step back. Shock filling his eyes. 

Ok, should’ve taken a bit more time to think about the wording there, Shayne.

Damien took his hands off his mouth and tried to force words out. A sentence, a question, anything. The only thing to come out were small croaks. 

“Ok no, not killed, I didn’t do that, h-he’s going to be fine. He’s just, Injured? Concussed?” Shayne explain quickly, still trying to find the best way to word this.

“Hurt badly.” Shayne settled on.

“Okay h-how did this happen? Did you trip him or- don’t tell you got into a fight!” Damien’s eyes changed from shock, back to worry. 

“What! No! I’m not like that anymore dude! You know I-I wouldn’t do that!”

“I know! I do! It’s just... How else could this have happened?”

“O-okay so it’s gonna be hard to believe, but you have to trust me. Please.” Shayne, for the first time this conversion, looked Damien dead in the eyes as he pleaded.

“Yeah of course!”

Shayne went on to explain the incident once more, being more detailed than in his previous explanations, though still jumbled up in the troubling nature of what happened. He was shaky, and stuttering. 

“Oh.” Damien replied once Shayne concluded the story. 

“Yeah...”

There was a beat of silence before either of them spoke again.

“A-are you sure he didn’t just... trip? When you hit him?” Damien asked cautiously. 

“Th-there’s no way! It looked like-” 

“I know what it probably looked like.” Damien cut off. “But are you sure you’re not just... misremembering?”

“N-no, I know what I saw! You don’t fly back like that when you trip Damien!”

“Yes I get that but-”

“You said you would trust me on this, Damien!” Shayne said, his voice cracking as he spoke more. Eyes welling up.

“I know! And I do! I do-I really do. It’s just...” Damien sighed, trying to collect his thoughts. “Adrenaline was running, a lot was happening, and it was probably hard to think clearly. Everything might’ve looked more dramatic than it was.”

Shayne stood their in silence, opening his mouth as if he was trying to speak, but no words were coming out. He wiped the tear from his eye.

He’s right

“Yeah. And I’m not trying to like, dismiss your feelings, it’s just... ya know... You’re strong, but not exactly super human strong. No one is.” Damien said, letting out a dry chuckle. 

“Ok how are you doing that?” Shayne barked.

“Doing what?” Damien asked, taken aback by the sudden harshness Shayne was exuding.

“Am I speaking? Because I swear I thought that last thing in my head.” 

“D-did you not just say something?” 

“No, I didn’t! How are you doing that!”

“Doing what?!” Damien asked, panic flooding his voice and mind.

“It’s been happening all day! I’ve just thought I was saying things aloud accidentally! But it’s like you’re reading my mind!” Shayne’s tone was getting more accusatory. Like he was calling Damien out for a crime. 

“Shayne, come on, you know that’s impossible-”

“Oh and I was literally thinking earlier ‘haha maybe Damien’s reading my mind! Wouldn’t that be funny? Just like the whole joke people have! But nooo there’s no way! I’m probably just more tired than I though!” Shayne lashed.

“C’mon Shayne, are you sure you’re not overthinking this? We already established that today’s been a little off for you.” Damien said, but he sounded unsure of himself. Like he didn’t truly believe what he was saying himself.

“Oh don’t try and change the subject back to me. And things haven’t been off with me all day, just since gym. You on the other hand,” Shayne took a step towards Damien. “Have been acting very off this entire day.”

“I mean, I’m tired dude. Not getting enough sleep does that to you!” Damien said quietly, trying to rationalize his behavior. 

“Oh so not getting enough sleep means you're able to reply to the things I think in my head?” Shayne questioned, taking another step towards Damien.

“But that’s impossible, when has that ever happened?” Damien asked softly, his voiced was laced anxiety. He slowly taking a step away from Shayne.

“Oh? Maybe on the way to school?” 

Shayne’s took a step closer.

“Or when we met up with Courtney?” 

And he was being so loud.

“Or when I was walking you to the nurse’s office?” 

He sounded so angry.

“Or how about when you where able to know what I was thinking, in your fucking dream!” 

“OK!” Damien shouted. The lights flickered, and the clock on the wall cracked. 

Damien backed away from Shayne (who was standing no more than a foot away from him), his arms covering his head as he curled in on himself. 

“I-i get it! Just stop yelling! Please.” Damien kept backing up until he was against the wall. He slid down, choking back a sob. 

Shayne stood in shock, and realization. He hurt his best friend. Things were, literally and figuratively, falling apart.

“Damien I-”

“I know! I-I know. Don’t apologize. I-it’s my fault. The reason you wanted to talk was so you could tell me what happened. This was suppose to be about you, I made it about me. I-I don’t know why I’m upset. I should’ve been less selfish.” Damien hid his head further into the security of his arms. Tears streaming down his face.

Guilt creeping up on Shayne as he stared at his friend. He didn’t know what else to do, so he slid down and sat a few feet away from Damien. Close enough to be able to comfort Damien, but far enough away where he could reject his presence if he needed to.

“This wasn’t your fault.” Shayne said, looking blankly at the broken clock

Damien lifted his head slightly to look at Shayne. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“I mean this wasn’t your fault. There isn’t much behind it.” Shayne chuckled sadly “I pushed it. I was... angry? Confused? I think confused is more accurate, but that doesn’t matter.”

Damien shrugged, he didn’t really have much to say at the moment.

“And you didn’t make this about you,” Shayne continued. “I did. I brought you up. If I wanted this to be one sided, I would’ve just told you what happened over the phone. But I wanted to know what happened on your end.”

“Yeah I guess...”

“And we figured out the situation that’s going on with me. He probably just tripped. But there’s something going on with you. I think it’s more than you being sleep deprived.”

Damien nodded. “Yeah...”

“And I think I know what’s going on.”

“Sure, but I don’t.”

“Damien I think you do, you just don’t want to face it.” Shayne softly said.

Damien sighed and shrugged his shoulders, taking seclusion in his arms once more.

They sat in tense silence, unknowing to the amount of time that had passed due to destruction caused by Damien.

“Shayne?” Damien whispered, pulling his head up to face Shayne once again.

“What’s up?” Shayne replied, the casualness of his response clashing with the tension the situation held.

“I-I’m scared.”

“Of what?”

Damien shook his head, running a hand over his face and through his hair. He was at a loss.

“Honestly, I-I don’t know. I just- I thought I was going crazy? I guess? I mean, heh, maybe I am. For all I know, I'm over at your house, still spending the night over, a-and I just haven’t woken up yet. This is all just a bad dream...”

Shayne chuckled, “Wasn’t the last time you slept over like a month ago? That’s a really strange time to pick.”

“Well, that was before... stuff happened.”

“Stuff? What kind of stuff?” Shayne asked, scooting closer to Damien.

“The stuff you said.”

“Well, I never really said anything.”

“But, you know what I mean...”

“Damien, is there something I should know about? Did something happen to cause this?”

“No, nothing caused this! And that’s why I feel like I’m losing it! I don’t exactly have any sort of explanation for why this is happening! I just woke up one day feeling like shit, everything was super fucking loud, and my head hurt all the time; and I kept hearing shit when nothing was being said so I was paranoid all the time and it sucks!” Damien rambled, frustration building up in his voice.

Shayne’s expression morphed into one of concern. “Dude, I had no idea! Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“B-because I thought it would go away! I thought it was only temporary!” Damien let out a shaky breath. “I sure as hell didn’t expect this to happen.”

Shayne stared at Damien and scooted closer until the two sat with their knees touching. He put his arm around Damien and pulled him into a side hug. 

“I don’t think anyone could have predicted something like this.” Shayne said, rubbing Damien’s shoulder.

“I mean, you guys would always joke that I’m psychic.” Damien laid his head on Shayne’s shoulder.

“Well, yeah. But that was only because you were good at guessing stuff.”

“Fair enough. Still kinda funny though. That y’all were right.” 

“Yeah, well, god works in mysterious ways.”

“Oh fuck off.” Damien said, poking Shayne in the side.

“Hehey! I was kidding! Stohop!” Shayne laughed, batting at Damien’s hand.

“Uh huh, suuuuuure.” Damien teased, poking Shayne a few more times before stopping.

The two sat quietly for a moment before Damien started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Shayne asked.

“It just hit me, how fucking weird this situation is.” Damien explained in between laughs. “Like, I have super powers for christ sake!” 

It didn’t take long for Shayne to join his laughter.

“Oh, man, Damien, we gotta have a super hero training montage!” 

“Oh hell yeah!”

“Like, my workout playlist already has a montage-y vibes to it!”

“Dude we have to do this!”

“Dude, can we do it after school?”

“Yes, I’m so down!”

“Hell yeah!”

The two high-fived, interlocking fingers as they brought their arms down.

“God, this is all crazy.” Damien said with a sigh.

“Yeah, but we should probably head to lunch now.” Shayne removed his arm from Damien’s shoulder and stood up.

“Oh shit, yeah.” Damien said, doing the same.

As the two walked out of the room, Damien couldn’t help but notice that Shayne still seemed somewhat off. When he tried to listen to his thoughts, he noticed how tense it felt. Like Shayne was actively trying not to think about something that was very clearly on his mind. Every few seconds, a word would slip out and it was imminently suppressed. It wouldn’t just fade away, it was like if someone was talking and a hand was put over their mouth. The more Damien tried to do it, the bigger his headache got, until he decided to just stop. Shayne probably just didn’t want Damien to know about it yet, but he would tell him eventually.

Right?

A/N: That little creeper aw man danganronpa story is based on something that actually happened to me! One of my friends called me because I was killed via ‘creeper aw man’ by our other friend in a dream he had. I thought it was funny so yeah

[iggy-of-fans]

Daminette AU idea part 4

I did not think this story would take off like that. Thank you all for your support! I also want everyone to know how difficult this part was for me to write. My Oma (grandmother) suffered from schizophrenia and PTSD, and a lot of Adrien's actions today will be a mirror of what she did or said. I apologize to everyone if this is offensive to you, I am basing this on my own personal experience but this is by far not what the majority of people are like when suffering from any mental health issues. If anybody has any tips for writing this, please message me! 

For better or for worse

The batfam immediately jumped into action, Dick rushes to the penthouse to pick up the Miraculous box, Tim runs to the batcave to locate where they might be, Jason goes immediately for his guns and Alfred transforms on the spot for the first time in 3 decades. Bruce makes sure the rest of the League has their costumes handy, while Barbara calls her father to set up a perimeter preemptively and minimize casualties. Damien holds Marinette close, wanting nothing more than to go get his sword and cut them down now, but not wanting to leave Marinette alone. Diana stands beside her also, looking at Marinette's pale face. She asks her quietly, will you run? Or fight? She says it in a steely voice that pulls Marinette from the tortures of the past and make her consider her surroundings. She will not stand by idly. She MUST protect the Miraculi. And she will not be a useless bystander. Her face still pale but set, she smiles to Diana. Dick chooses that moment to Portal back with the box and Marinette jumps on it, pulling out the Snake for Dick, telling him to transform and put his costume overtop. 

"if anything happens, this will give you a second chance. Use it as often as you need to, but know that you will need to recharge after" she then grabs another miraculous and asks him to pass it to Tim. She grabs the cat and gives it to Damien. "Transform or don't, but make sure that ring is well hidden." she grabs the dragon and calls Tikki to herself, asking her to change the shape. As she's doing that she turns to Diana. "Diana Prince, can I trust you to protect the Miraculous I hand you? Will you make sure that no matter what, this Miraculous will never fall into the hands of darkness and evil?" Diana nodded solemnly. ." I swear". Marinette nodded, picking up the changed Dragon Miraculous and handed Diana the Miraculous she would protect, while she transformed herself. The suit was still mostly black, with a red cape, but the five circles on her Cape and gloves looked slightly different. Damien couldn't place it, but something was different. Diana took her leave to quickly change. Damien turned to Marinette, still reluctant to leave her without a Wayne. Jason came in at that moment, nodding to Damien he then took the rest of the box and and led Marinette to the bat cave. Alfred was on the computer with Oracle already, Tim was trying to figure out how to hide the ears that came with his under costume, listening to the police scanner to see if they had any leads yet. The League was starting to gather and Damien as Robin materialized at Marinette's side. 

"The situation we find ourselves in today is quite different. Few of us are masters at magic, let alone an ancient magic to do with gods. However, this is what we know: Adrien Agreste, former Chat Noir, has lost his mind and is coming here because he saw the Miraculous Cure from Guardian Angel two weeks ago. According to our public source, he wants the Miraculi of the cat and of ladybug to wish back a dead classmate and create a "perfect world" for himself. What that world looks like for the rest of us is anybody's guess, but something I am unwilling to even entertain. With the permission from Guardian Angel we have the use of a few Miraculi at our hands. Angel? Do you have information to pass on?"

" I want everyone to remember that yes, we're dealing with teenagers, but they're not without their dangers. We're not only dealing with the former Chat Noir, but also Rena Rouge. Neither of them were big planners, but Rena Rouge was sharp and observative, and we also know that they have the, unwilling it may be, help from a brilliant strategist and hacker. Max created a sentimental robot at age thirteen and can override street cams and home security. Alya is an aspiring journalist, she spent her every minute since our first appearance tracking us, trying to unmask us. We know from Nino's message that they've got the backing from a metropolis villain, and that Adrien and Alya are more than slightly unhinged. That means there is very little they're NOT willing to do" 

The next 20 minutes were spent planning, they were counting on robots and guns, so they put the more bullet resistant members at the front. The majority would remain back up, protect the Miraculi in the tower, and run interference to keep civilians safe. All the planning in the world would not prepare them for what they met at Gotham City outskirts. 

Nino was worried. He'd seen some weird and nasty things in Paris during Hawkmoth's reign, but the fear he felt now eclipsed it all. Adrien was standing by the window at Luthor corp. He looked serene, a soft smile on his face. But his eyes weren't seeing the Metropolis skyline. They were unfocused and every once in a while he'd nod his head, as if agreeing with a thought he'd just had. His smile would become a smirk, and he would look dangerous, like when he had killed Max's parents. He'd been reluctant at first, Nino could tell. He'd hesitated. But then he'd turned his head, as if hearing something, nodded along, and then done what he had to. He'd turned back to sunshine child in a heartbeat, smiling reassuringly and telling Max that the Miraculous would bring them back, he just had to help them get it. The blood dripping down his shirt made the boy look far more deranged than reassuring. The fact he was looking over Max's shoulder rather than at his face made it even worse. This pattern continued for a while. He'd hesitate, and a bit of the Adrien from the first day of school would shine through, but he'd hear something and he'd do it. He always turned back to the sweet boy next door afterwards, but everytime became easier for him do something atrocious. Fourteen victims later and now he just smiled, as if trying to reassure his victim that they'd be okay. Nino shuddered. What the heck was happening with Adrien? He looked to the other two in the room. 

Alya was glaring at a computer provided to them. She shuddered at Adrien's behaviour as well, but she needed to get revenge. Ladybug had been her hero and then had turned around and had Alya arrested and Lila deported. And Lila could NOT be a liar. Because if Lila was a liar, that meant that Alya had ruined her reputation as a journalist, had fought with and hurt her friend for a nobody. And that was unacceptable. She was a journalist. She was never wrong!.... Except right now, when she was trying to prove Lila's innocence. Now, as she researched all the amazing things Lila had done, all she was finding were the stories she herself posted. And videos debunking each and every claim. Even Lila's mother had stated that they hadn't left Paris once since landing. "Dammit! Lila is not a liar!" Alya screamed at her computer. 

"She won't be when I make my wish" Adrien said, still smiling softly over Alya's head. 

"What do you mean?" Alya's voice was sharp. 

"Nothing" Adrien shook his head. 

"We're ready to proceed" Lex Luther stated from the door, a sick smile on his face.

Max was ready to wet himself. Or have mental breakdown number five. This was insane! How could Adrien think any of this was okay? How could he think the Miraculi would fix all the damage he had done, when there was no proof it even worked outside of magic? Max looked fearfully towards Nino for reassurance, but there had been no reply so far from any heroes. Had they received the message? Were Nino and Max also in trouble by association? What was their plan to help the heroes? Looking out at the elaborate lay out of Luther's hidden base, Max wasn't sure if there was anything they could do. Looking at Nino's pale face and Adrien's serene smile was not at all reassuring.

This is bad, was the collective thought from the members of the League. Usually Luther was a one man (even if that man was Super) job. But this.... How had he gotten so many people under his thumb? When? Staring back at them were the faces of jot only Luther's Army, but all surviving member os the League of Assassins, including Bane, and what looked like Scarecrow. Interspersed were some Luther Tec robots and hired guns.

"OH.... This is much worse than I thought"

Thank you so much for sticking with me so far! The next part will hopefully be out by tonight and then the last part will likely take me a few days between University! Hope you enjoy! I hope I got all the people who asked to be tagged. I'm still learning the ropes but I'm trying my best.

@bookreader20003 @mooshoon @artxyra @spicybelladonna @nyctamaximoff @captainmac6 @fsketchart @2sunchild2 @northernbluetongue @kuroko26 @multishipper1needshalp @ginamarie1512 @blue-peach14 @xxkelsey39

@throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen

[sirius-mf-blaxk]

Sanders Sides - Hogwarts AU (Part 1)

I’ve wanted to do one of these for a really long time, and it turned out to be way longer than I expected it to be (sorry for posting late, I’m just really lazy). ENJOY!!

Patton

Because he was born to wizard dad and muggle mom, Patton had been anxiously waiting for an owl to arrive at his house when he turned eleven.

He squealed for 10 minutes when it did.

Was proper HYPER while shopping in Diagon Alley, to the point where he almost got lost.

Twice.

Took him almost 14 whole seconds to fall absolutely in love with a beautiful snowy owl, which he (very proudly) named ‘Sparky’.

Despite being totally elated to go, the departure was tough (many tears were shed, both by his parents and himself)

He finds a compartment, which already hosts a bespectacled boy (like himself), same age as Patton.

He knocks on the glass twice, and waves when the boy looks up from his book to him.

Patton slides the door open with a smile. “Hi! I’m Patton”, he says, “Can I sit with you?”

“Yes, you may”, the boy replied, gesturing to the seat across from where he sat.

“What’s your name?”

“Logan Carnell”.

Patton eagerly extends his hand for Logan to shake (’Maybe he’ll be my first friend!’ he thinks)

“Pleased to make your acquaintance,“ Logan says.

“You talk funny, I like it,” Patton giggles.

The door opens again to reveal two boys, one with a good portion of his face scarred, the other slouched behind him.

“This is ideal”, the first one says and drapes himself next to Logan, while the other one doesn’t move from the doorway. “Uhh, Dee, maybe we should ask first or-”. “Oh it’s ok, plenty of space!” Patton smiles, and the boy replies with a small grin of his own and sits next to Patton

Before he could introduce himself to the new comers, the door opens again and four boys scramble in frantically and close the door behind them.

“Remus, what were you thinking?” one says.

“I wasn’t!” the other one (Remus?) snickers

“Excuse me?” Logan says and the two identical boys look like they just realized they were not alone. The other two boys looked just as confused, though Patton could tell they had nothing to do with whatever happened

The (now) eight boys find a way to sit comfortably in the compartment, and upon hearing their story, Patton gasps, “You blew stink bombs in the sixth years’ carriage?!”

“Not just ANY sixth years. They were Ravenclaws! And everyone knows how prissy they get” Remus brags

Everyone laughs except Logan, who closes his book to say “Actually, Ravenclaws are not all irritant. Not what I’ve read.”

Patton tilts his head, “Do you have relatives who were in Ravenclaw, then?”

“Not exactly, I’m adopted. My parents do not possess any magical attributes either. They are, in simpler words, Muggles.  But I am positive I shall be sorted in Ravenclaw”. Patton liked his confidence.

“I propose a small game”, one of the twins says, “Let us all introduce ourselves and tell which houses we want to go to, and why.”

Patton thought that was excellent! “Oh yes!” he exclaimed, “I’ll go first?”. With no sign of disagreement from anyone, he smiled and put a hand on his chest.

“Hi everyone! I’m Patton Whitlock and I want to be sorted in Hufflepuff because their common rooms are the nearest to the kitchen and I like my midnight snacks!”

Logan

Seeing an owl fly through the sky with a letter was an uncommon occurrence in Surrey. It was also the highlight of Logan’s eleventh birthday

Luckily, they had nice next door neighbours who saw the owl, and ended up confessing that they weren’t as ‘normal’ as Logan thought

It came to the neighbours having to take out their wands out to prove that magic exists, as Logan kept insisting that ‘it doesn’t make sense’

(A simple transfiguration spells were what changed his mind)

Diagon Alley was exciting yet scary for both Logan and his dads, but they ended up having fun

The trip to Ollivanders’ was…interesting – even if his Papa’s coat had to catch fire before a wand chose him

He almost ended up RAIDING ‘Flourish & Blott’s’ as he insisted he had to learn EVERYTHING  there is about the Wizarding World before he left for Hogwarts

“Loganberry, you’ll be doing that your new school!”

“But Dad, I want to be prepared!”

“Listen-“

“Papa, please tell him how it would be better for me”

(‘Papa was always easier to convince than Dad anyway’, he thought)

“Honey, maybe we can get him a few of the books he mentioned?”

(‘YES’)

“Oh alright, but only a few”

They ended up buying 14 thick books, which Logan was doing his best to hold them, with his parents trailing behind, proud of their little genius

Leaving was difficult, and he knew he would miss his dads terribly  

But it also meant he’d be exploring a whole new world all by himself, and he was excited

But that didn’t stop him from hugging his Dad and Papa

“I promise I’ll write to you”

“Ok, honey”

“Every week”

“Ok, honey”

Luckily he finds a empty compartment and quickly gets in before some group comes around. He sets down himself in the window and takes out his book from his satchel

Just as he was beginning to truly get engrossed in a particular passage  about Centaurs, he heard a knock on the door and a friendly looking boy waving through the glass

He allowed the boy, Patton, to join him as he seemed rather nice and did not expect him to be a disturbance. However he did seem hard to understand at first, and overly eager

“You talk funny”, he said

Logan did not realize he had made a joke. Had he?

Before he could question, two more boys joined the pair, then four became eight and Logan decided to give up trying to read altogether

Honestly, how can eight people even fit?

“Not just any six years. They were Ravenclaws!”. Logan had perked up at that. From what he had learnt so far, he had come to the conclusion that Ravenclaw was the best house that best suited him. He fit all the criteria, his intelligence being his biggest arsenal

“And everyone knows how prissy they get”

Yeah. No. What?

“Actually Ravenclaws are not all that irritant”, he counter-argued “Not from what I’ve read”

When Patton questioned about his blood line and lineage, he got defensive. He had heard enough questions and slurs about his fathers in his old school, and like before, was ready to defend them in front of Patton

However, he was mildly surprised when no rude comment followed

“But I am positive I shall be sorted in Ravenclaw”, he said hoping he didn’t start far from the conversation at hand.

When Patton smiled at his comment, be decided that this fellow visually impaired boy shall be a good friend if given the chance

“I propose a small game”, one of the boys said, who sat next to his twin brother. Logan had decided that they were going to be a handful the moment that barged into the compartment and told about their prank

Patton began ‘the game’, his answer was the most innocent one anyone could’ve given

Patton looked at him next, gesturing at him to continue

“Oh right. Greetings, everyone . I am Logan Carnell and I shall be sorted in Ravenclaw for I believe that I possess the intellect required for anyone to belong to that particular house”

Virgil

Virgil wasn’t exactly disappointed when a letter addressed to him reached his family’s doorstep, but he wasn’t jumping with joy either

Mainly because he knew what would follow.

“My son! Another Slytherin in our family shall only bring more honour!’

Luckily his cousin was a little more understanding

Kind of

"Dee, what if I’m not in Slytherin??”

“Where else would be? Everyone in our family was. Pureblood, Slytherin and Proud”, he said cynically, “I know I am”

“You FIT the criteria Damien!! The qualifications or whatever…” his shoulders slumped as he sat cross-legged on his four poster bed, “I just don’t think I do”.

“You’ll be fine, Vee”

On the day they reached Platform 9 ¾, leaving wasn’t all that hard for him, especially since Damien was with him.

Despite being of the same age, Damien always looked out for Virgil, and in turn Virgil found much needed comfort in his cousin.

Still, the fear of the consequences that may befall him should he not be sorted in Slytherin had him on edge

As Damien led their way through the narrow corridors of the train, they decided to ask if they could settle in the cabin with the two bespectacled boys

Well, Virgil decided; Damien just got in and sat beside the boy clutching a huge book

However, they seemed friendly enough. Especially the bright, blue eyed, bouncy one

Everything seemed fine

Until the additional four boys shuffled in hastily into the compartment, disrupted their little peace

Sensing his discomfort, Damien put a reassuring (and protective) hand on Virgil’s knee, and gave the boys his most scrutinizing gaze, but they were too busy bickering about a 'stink bombs’ to notice and perish under it.

Soon, however, the group fell into a comfortable conversation

One of the boys in the glasses says something about Ravenclaws not being 'prissy’, which got him thinking about his Slytherin problem

He was too busy having an internal existential crisis, he didn’t realize there were six pairs of eyes looking expectantly at him and Damien

Suddenly, the cool September air felt that much warmer

Before he could jump out the open window of the moving train, however, Damien spoke :

“I am Damien Ethel and I’m pretty sure I’ll be in Slytherin, and I have no objections whatsoever, because they have the best common room”

Virgil thinks he heard someone mumble something suspiciously sounding like 'Falsehood’, but before he could think any further, one of the twins spoke

“But isn’t that where all the bad and wicked wizards and witches go?”

That got Virgil defensive, for some reason. “They’re not ALL evil, ummm…”

“Roman”, the twin pointed at himself.

“Right, Roman”, Virgil continued, “Not every one who was evil was in Slytherin. Peter Pettigrew was a Gryffindor, look how that turned out”. Virgil decided to stop there, as everyone staring at him again overwhelmed him.

Roman, however, spoke again, “Well then, which house do you want to be in?”

Virgil couldn’t answer, because he didn’t know what to say

“I don’t know”,he said after a beat, “I was hoping the Hat might make it easier?”

Thankfully, noone pressed on, only nodded

Patton was the one who broke the short silence with his cheery voice, “Well, what’s your name?”

Virgil didn’t realize he forgot to mention

“Oh umm… Virgil… Virgil Fawns”

Roman

Ever since he could remember, Roman had always been a big believer of fairy tales. His favourite past time as a toddler was when he wore his little cape and demanded to be called ‘Prince’ by his parents, who played along (except his twin brother, who just kicked him in the shins and ran away cackling).

Due to his firm faith in the existence of Kings, dragon witches and magic, the letters did not shock him. The only question he had was ‘ HOW is REMUS a wizard?!’

That is, until the Headmistress herself showed up and insisted that she spoke with the boys and then the family as a whole.

(It took Ms. McGonagall twenty minutes to convince Roman that all witches aren’t evil and that there would be no need for him to bring his Sword of Righteousness along with him)

Turns out, magical blood had been passed down from their mothers side, who herself had no idea about it.

A week later, the boys found themselves gawking at the eccentric landscape of Diagon Alley.

Their parents had never seen them so quiet and still, a reaction that lasted for about two minutes.

Next thing they know, each adult is running after an over excited eleven year old

Roman rushes to a window display of a shiny broomstick, which reminded him of the old, evil witches in his books. But something told him that this was something else, something …fun.

“Ro, it says here that first years can’t have their own broomsticks”

That was Roman’s first heartbreak.

Next stop was Madam Malkin’s, where Roman and Remus had to purchase their robes from. As Roman looked around the shop, he saw four different patches, out of which a certain red coloured one stood out for him. The moment he saw the golden lion embroidered on it, he decided that he wants this crest. Fit for a prince.

“Can i get that one, please?” he asked the nice lady attending them.

“Dear, those are for Gryffindors”, she said, and proceeded to explain the houses in the school and how he’ll be sorted by a Hat (a Hat???)

“What if i want to be in Gryffinkdor”

“Gryffindor, darling”, she smiled as she folded a simple and plain Hogwarts robe for Roman

“Yeah that”

“Well, you’d have to be very brave and honourable, every Gryffindor i knew was so daring”, she laughed, “but then again, they were also very - OH DEAR, NO!”

She caught Remus’ hand, which was holding several sewing pins and was dangerously close to his mouth

As his parents apologized for their son (‘We’re so sorry for that, he’s just not afraid of anything!’), Roman pouted at the interruption and shift in attention given. But he felt like he had heard enough.

Which is why, he would not stop talking about Gryffindor and the gorgeous red robes and the lion aboard the train (which was boarded after a very teary manly farewell) to the two other boys in their cabin, Remy and Emile.

“We get it, you want to be sorted in Gryffindor”, Remy said, rolling his eyes

“No, I WILL be sorted there”, Roman puffed his chest, “for it is 'where the brave and- EEK-”

His monologues was cut short by Remus sticking a wet finger in Roman’s ear canal

“Wait, how do we tell you apart?” Emile asked the bickering twins

“Well I have green eyes, like the weird goo that grows on a goblin’s knees, and Roman’s are red like … well blood obviously !” Remus giggled

Emile regretted his question immediately

Just when Roman thought he couldn’t get any angrier at his brother, he heard a loud BOOM sound outside their compartment followed by various screams. However, it was Remus’s laughter which shocked Roman the most

“What did you do?!”

“Oh nothing, just planted a few stink bombs in the Ravenclaw carriage that explodes when someone says 'Apple Cider Jelly’”

Despite his brain going 'who would say apple cider jelly?’ he instead asked “Where did you get them?!”

“I made em myself !”

“Cool…” Remy smirked

“Who, in Merlin’s musty fingernails, is Remus C.?!” Someone said

“You wrote your name on the bombs??”

That’s how they found themselves hiding sharing a cabin with four other boys (and Remus, to his dismay)

“And everyone knows how prissy they get” Remus said and Roman rolls eyes (no you don’t. You didn’t even know Ravenclaw was a thing a few weeks ago)

And then two of them started talking houses and Roman took the opportunity

“I propose a small game!”

He liked Logan’s confidence, even if he spoke big words ('Nerd’ he thought 'Definitely Ravenclaw’)

Patton seemed like the sweetest and warmest of them all ('Hufflepuff, no doubt’, he calculated implicitly)

Damien seemed intimidating, but fun to be around nonetheless. However he clearly answered 'Slytherin’ which made Roman wary

Virgil Fawns, however, intrigued him. All dark and brooding, but confused? That didn’t add up. Roman decided he would be in Slytherin because 'look at that hoodie, I mean, c'mon’

“Well Remy? What about you?” Roman said as he pushed the game forward

“I’m Remy Abberton and I don’t care where I end up”

Roman heard Virgil snicker lightly and smiled himself

“Emile?”

“Hi!” he said, and stood up enthusiastically. “I’m Emile Forrest and I really wanna be in Ravenclaw, because blue’s my favourite colour, and it reminds me of Stitch”

Logan, Roman and Remus where the only ones who nodded in recognition

“Well I-”

“I’m Remus and I’m going in Slytherin because people say I’m scary and because my eyes are green” Remus spoke, interrupting Roman again

“You cannot possibly predict your house upon traits like those, Remus”

“Thank you, nerd” Roman continued, “As I was saying, I am Roman Cicero and I’m going to be in Gryffindor because-”

“That’s where dwell the brave and true, girl, we KNOW, please shut up”, Remy exclaimed

Before Roman could respond with a sarcastic remark, the compartment door opened and a sixth year stood wearing a badge that said 'Prefect’

“Hey, better change into your robes, we’ll be reaching shortly" 

Taglist:

@god-im-bored @salmonisforthebagel @melonlord527 @anxiousshadowling @anni-cat-flower @kaz-brekkers-gloves @lasilhouetteinbianco @rainboots-are-for-snobs @bihighandgivinghighfives @nadja-chamack16 @only-gay-in-theory

[mytsukkishine]

Is it possible for a Damien x reader where the reader is insecure about something (up to you) and he comforts her about it?

a/n: hi anon, thank you for the request! so far I love to do this so I hope you would enjoy this! 

a/n2: this has become a little angst so fair warning, this is about body insecurity so, just a warning. please do not be triggered ya’ll because this is actually my insecurity hehehe

a/n3: Lastly, Damien is too sweet here. We all need a sweet boi

Summary: It was your birthday and Damien wanted to surprise you by posting your photos together on Instagram for the first time. Now, in your almost a year relationship, Damien has never really put you in the limelight, and now with your face exposed, your insecurity comes out and it got the best of you. A little dash of angst and fluff, a story on how Damien shows that he loves you. 

in short words: Insecure reader, Damien comforting you by saying how much he loves you

enjoy!wordcount: 1,637k

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

There were some perks in being Damien’s girlfriend for almost a year. You get to travel with him whenever he was required to at work, you get to know his amazing friends from SMOSH, and you get to distribute to them any ideas that you have for their next video.

But there was also another downside. Sometimes Damien doesn’t need a plus one for his work, you rarely hang out with the SMOSH fam because either they are super busy or you are busy, and because fans judge you too much.

Damien never posted a picture of you or any couple of pictures you two had, and you were fine with it. You both agreed to make it public but not too much. The whole internet knew Damien already has a girlfriend but they only saw pictures of hand-holding, or Damien hugging you with your face buried in the crook of his neck.

You were ecstatic at first, people were so intrigued on who you were, what you look like, and how you managed to make Damien Haas yours.

It was your birthday today, your family and friends greeted you as usual. Now, you expect to just maybe watch a movie or eat at a restaurant with Damien (of course, you two would eat somewhere far from the city) but it seemed like your boyfriend has different plans.

You were cooking for breakfast, Damien would come in a little while to spend the rest of the day with you when your phone dinged, followed by another, then another.

The notification popping up were endless.

You put your spatula down, turned the stove off as you grabbed your phone.

“What the…” You muttered to yourself as you opened the notification that says Damien Haas mentioned you in their story. Your eyes widen as you saw a picture, it’s you, drinking Starbucks and looking at your phone. Then another story was seen, it was you and Damien. Your lips were on Damien’s cheek as your boyfriend smiled very widely at the camera.

Written below was; “To the woman who made me what I am today. Happy Birthday, darling.”

Another photo was posted, and it was your photo while you are sleeping.

“You look so adorable, babe”

“What the heck is happening…” You murmured to yourself, erasing all the notifications that kept popping up. You viewed your profile and saw that you already had a hundred additional followers.

You bit your lip nervously.

The thing was, another reason why you didn’t want to be exposed as Damien Haas’ lover was that you were pretty insecure. You weren’t that type of girl with petite waist, gorgeous wavy hair, and you don’t wear that much make-up to start with, and you were a little in the chubby side.

In other words, not that type to be seen with Damien.

You groaned and dialed up Damien’s phone.

A few rings later, Damien answered.

“Hey, sweetheart. Happy birthday!” You were greeted with a very enthusiastic Damien. Typical. That boy was always happy. “How’s my pumpkin?”

“Dames,” You pouted, wanting Damien to be with you right now. You were slight panicking at the moment, to be honest. “My pictures… now everyone knows me,”

“I think it’s about time they know you,” You knew Damien was all smiles but seriously, your anxiety and insecurity level is going off the charts right now.

“When are you going here?” You just asked, not wanting to worry Damien through phone call because that boy would really go to you right now if he suspected that you are unhappy. You were scared to make Damien feel guilty right now because he sounded so happy.

“Oh, maybe half an hour, just going to the office to drop some items then to you! See you in a moment, apple pie!” At least Damien’s silly nicknames for you were calming you a little. You talked a little more before he hangs up, then your phone was full of notifications again.

You groaned, saw some new comments on your previous posted pictures on your Instagram.

“Wow, so you are Damien’s girlfriend,”

“Luckkyyyy!!! So pretty

“Hmm??”

“:’(((((( very lucky”

Your heart was beating fast as notifications after notifications appeared. Then something caught your attention that made tears pool in your eyes.

“Damien could do better”

 -

 “I’m here,” Damien announced as he entered your apartment. He closed the door behind him as he removed his shoes in the process. Upon hearing no response from you, Damien walked up to the kitchen and saw empty dishes in the sink.

It was so odd it was making him worry.

He puts his takeout food for the both of you on the table, and proceeds to go to your room with a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

He knew you liked sunflowers so he bought a dozen.

“Sweetkins?”

“Here, Dames,” Damien raised his brow at the raspy voice you made. He quickly entered your room and saw you in your robe and rubbing your hair dry in front of the mirror. Damien immediately smiled. He walked up to you and wrapped his arms around your waist, the bouquet pressed against your side.

“Happy Birthday to my beloved,” When Damien looked into your eyes through the mirror, he frowned. He puts the bouquet down on the dresser and spun you around.

You hid our face behind the towel and Damien was ushering you softly to take it off.

“What’s wrong? Were you crying?”

“No,” It was an obvious lie and Damien was a little hurt.

Damien caressed your waist and you immediately released a sob. “Baby, please tell me what’s wrong? Was it the photos I posted? I am so sorry I posted it without your consent,”

With the lack of reply from you, Damien’s heart panged.  So it was his fault that you were crying. Damien pulled you towards the bed and the both of you sat down, your face still buried on the towel you were holding.

“I’m sorry,” Damien started again after a couple of seconds.

Now you feel guilty. Damien should not be sorry. It was your own problem that was making you sad—but you can’t help—

“If you want I can delete it,” He suggested, already grabbing for his phone when you suddenly stopped him.

Your face was now shown and Damien wanted to punch himself for making your eyes puffy.

“I’m sorry,” Honestly, Damien was lost for words. He didn’t know it would end up like this. He had always wanted to show the world who his girlfriend was, and it was kind of breaking his heart on how disappointed you were with him showing you to his fans.

“It’s…” You started, your eyes averted down, not wanting to look at Damien’s beautiful ones. “It’s my fault…”

“No, babe, I—”

“Let me talk Dames,” You giggled a little in the midst of your crying and Damien was just too worried about you. “I’m sorry I am acting like this,” You sniffed, “B-but…” Your eyes started to sting, your lips quivering, “Am I… worthy,”

“What?” Damien was confused. Worthy? You were crying so hard right now in front of him, hands covering your face as Damien looked at you with confusing.

“Worthy? Babe, you are more worthy than—”

“I-I read the comments,” You said, a little too loud. “And they were right, I think you could do—better,”

“What?”

“Dames, I’m not—I’m not like Courtney, or Olivia, or Sarah— all of them are beautiful, and stylish, and here I am gaining more weight because you feed me, and still not know how to apply proper eyeshadow,” How you said that without cracking a voice was a mystery but your heart was stinging and your mind was spinning.

“I’m disgusting…”

Only the sound of your hiccups were heard as Damien looked at you with utter disbelief.

And you were scared because he might realize it that yes, he could do better.

“Y/N…” That made you look up at him and you were greeted with Damien’s disappointed face.

“How dare you call the woman I love disgusting?” He started and your eyes widen.

“How dare you to listen to those people when I tell you every day how much I love you?”

“Damien,”

“And how dare you compare yourself to anyone?” His voice softened and you cried again, wrapping your arms around Damien’s neck as you cried. You whispered some apologies and you felt Damien releasing a hiccup.

Now, Damien rarely cries. It made you cry more because of you made Damien sad.

“Oh Y/N… I love you so much,” He whispered while sniffing as he circled his arms around you, pulling you closer to him. “Please, oh god, please. Do not ever think of yourself so low…” You finally pulled your head away and both of you stared at each other.

“I’m sorry Damien,” He leaned in and kissed your lips softly.

“Oh bubb,” He cupped your face and kissed your nose. “I love you,” He then kissed your forehead. “I love you,” Then your chin. “I love you”

Your cheeks, “I love you,”

He grabbed your hand and kissed your knuckle, “I love you,” Then every fingertip with I love you.

You were blushing as Damien lets go of your hand and wrapped them around your waist again and squeezed, your robe falling a little on your shoulders and Damien took the opportunity to kiss it, murmuring an I love you before kissing another spot higher followed by another I love you.

Once he reached your jaw, he kissed your lips again.

“I love you,”

Sometimes you wonder, where Damien came from and how did you manage to get this sweet guy. You were just thankful for the heavens above that you met him.

“Love you too, Damien.”

~*~*~

Excuse any grammar errors okay?tell me what ya’ll think haha lovelots

[kd-holloman]

The Traveler’s Gift Deleted Scene

I haven’t posted any deleted content lately, so here’s a deleted chapter from D3 of TTG. This chapter--or something really similar--managed to make its way through three drafts before I decided to get rid of it. For some reason (one I can’t think of now that Draft 4 is done) I was reluctant to get rid of it. I’m glad I did, because the story just flows so much better without it. 

Warnings: Drug use, mentions of nsfw content, implied molestation, violence, language, and murder. 

Louis didn’t know what he was doing crammed in the back seat of the SUV, but he wasn’t sure he liked it.

Johnny was lounging in the front seat next to Mark, while Damien sat on Louis’s left. On his right, Slater unapologetically did his best to take up as much of the backseat as possible.

Louis was still hurt over what had happened to Rodney and he wasn’t about to forgive the brute in the passenger seat for the role he’d played in his murder. That was what he deserved for getting so attached. There was a reason that many of those who worked for the mob kept their home and work lives separate. If they didn’t, things got messy. 

Louis had distanced himself from his family to the best of his abilities without raising suspicion. His intimate relationships had a history of being nothing more than one-night stands or brief flings with no emotional attachments. He hadn’t kept up with his childhood friends after returning from the war. They’d had their own lives, families, and jobs to worry about. Once he’d been hired by Marcello, the only person he’d kept up with had been Javier, but only because they’d been partners. 

Look where that got you, he reminded himself bitterly. Javier is dead too.

“Oh, don’t be like that, blondie,” Johnny grumbled, his crooked nose pressed against the tinted glass to watch the city streets slide by. “It was just business.” The smirk was audible in his voice. 

Louis scowled and slouched against the supple leather of the seat, a quiet spark of fury igniting within him. He was in the car with two other gifted individuals reputations just as red as the blood on their hands. It would be wise to keep his trap shut. With that in mind, he swallowed his heated retort and settled for glaring past Damien, through the window, instead. “Where are we going?”

“Rick has given us an errand to run,” Mark explained. 

Slater spoke up for the first time since they’d left the apartment. “If I wanted to waste my time I’d spend it watching videos of dogs that can walk on their back legs. This is stupid.” 

“It’s not a waste of time. We’re just reminding Marco who he’s dealing with. If you run a drug ring from one of O’Shea’s buildings, you pay the rent.”

“They’re street trash. I don’t associate with street trash.” 

“You’re not associating with them. You’re associating with us.” 

“Why did you drag me along again? Johnny is here and he likes to crack skulls together. I’m sure he’s more than capable of getting the job done.” 

Mark tightened his grip on the steering wheel so much his knuckles cracked. “Yes, but he doesn’t have your reputation. Your face in a room is enough to make a grown man shit his pants. Don’t argue with me or I’ll put Rick on the phone.” 

“Please do. I can’t wait to tell him to go fuck himself.” 

“No! I’m not going to call him so you can piss him off. You’ll get all of us in trouble.” He pulled up to the curb in a shady, industrial, part of town. “Go in there, scare the shit out of a couple of drug rats, and we can all go home.”

“He does have a point,” Damien piped up. “If we have Slater, why do we need him and Johnny?” 

“I don’t know! I don’t make the fucking rules.” Mark twisted around so he could look at Slater. “You have to be on your best behavior tonight, O’Brien.”

Slater wore a liar’s smile. “I’ll be on my best fucking behavior.” 

“I’m too old to deal with this shit,” Mark grumbled before opening the door. “Dee, stay with the car. I don’t trust these bastards not to take a baseball bat to it.”

Damien obediently leaned against the bumper to wait.

There was nothing particularly special about the grimy building. It was a handful of blocks away from the main stretch of road, nestled in the shadows, and out of reach from any street lights. A few cars sat out front, dented, rusting, and paint fading. Their bumpers sat low to the ground, their windows too dark to see inside.

Louis unsnapped his holster, ready to draw his gun if necessary. It didn’t seem like it was going to come down to a shootout. Nobody else seemed concerned, even if the quiet stillness of the night seemed to whisper danger. 

Mark rapped on the door in a patterned series of knocks before it swung open. 

A haze of smoke hung in the air, curling in lazy wisps overhead. The smell of marijuana was so pungent that Louis felt like he was going to get gowed-up just from breathing. 

A man was sitting on a lopsided couch, a woman in his lap was being none-too discrete with her hand down his pants. He jolted upright fast enough to send her to the floor. He pulled the reefer from between his lips. “Who the hell are you?”

Another man had been weighing white powder on a scale sitting among a trash-littered coffee table. At the sound of the other man’s voice, he stopped what he was doing and picked a gun off of the table next to him. 

“None of that shit,” Johnny said. He waved his hand and the gun went skidding across the room. 

Mark gave an approving nod. He held up his hands to show that he wasn’t about to pull any weapons. “I’m not here to fuck up your shit. Are you Marco? Rick O’Shea sent me. He says your rent is due.” 

The man on the couch nodded. He had a tattoo on his face, an X, the blank ink was faded and looked slightly green against his skin. He slid a suspicious look from Mark to the rest of them. “Why did you come with such a big crew if you aren’t here to start trouble?” 

“You can never be too careful. I didn’t know if you were going to have twenty guys waiting to punch me full of holes.”

Marco nodded, seeming to decide that it was a fair precaution to take. “Get your ass up and get the hell out of here,” he snapped at the girl sitting at his feet with red eyes and black streaks of makeup down her face. “Don’t you have somewhere better to be. Go on, now.” He gave her a nudge with the toe of his boot. 

She was slow to get to her feet and slightly unsteady once she got there.

“If you see Drew or Kevin when you get out there, tell them to mind their own business outside until I tell them to come in. Got it?” 

She looked like she hadn’t even registered a word he’d said. She was too high to pay attention. 

“Bitch, did you hear me?” 

She jerked, the sudden boom of his voice startling her. “Uh, yeah … yeah. I’ll tell ‘em.” She shuffled to the door. It slammed shut behind her. 

“Jesus,” Mark said, “she’s fucked up. What is she on?”

The man sat back down on the couch and twitched his fingers toward his friend. Once he had fat stacks of cash he began to count it out. “Just herb, y’ know what I’m saying? Good dealers don’t use their own product.” He licked his finger and continued to count cash. “Your boss is asking for his cut a little early, isn’t he?”

“No,” Mark said. “He’s doing you a favor. He gave you an extension, remember? It’s time for you to pay up. I’m sure you discussed the terms and conditions of the late fee.” 

“I know my business,” Marco replied coolly. “I thought I had another week before I paid up.” 

“Take that up with him. What’s in the back room?” 

“That’s where I keep my supplies.” 

Mark looked from the doorway in the back corner of the room to Louis. “Mahoney, take a look back there and make sure we aren’t going to have any surprises.” 

Louis touched the brim of his cap in acknowledgement. He looked at the dark room, imagined himself standing next to it, and willed himself there. 

Once his shoulder was pressed up against the wall next to the door, ignoring the burning in his bones, he raised his gun and peered inside. 

There was nothing but a couple of locked gun safes against the back wall. There was another couch, even more stained and lopsided than the first, to his left. Trash littered the floor, the room smelled like mildew and marijuana. He checked each corner of the room before he gave Mark a thumbs up.

“Oh,” Marco laughed, amused, “you got yourself a bunch of freaks here. I almost forgot that O’Shea had a bunch of them on a leash.” He didn’t look up from counting the money when he asked, “What about you, red? Any tricks up those leather sleeves of yours?” 

Slater fixed the drug dealer with a ferocious sneer. “It will be a bad day for you, if you ever find out.” 

In the stillness of the night, a series of shrieks came from outside. It sounded like the woman from earlier hadn’t gotten very far and she was having an episode. 

“Don’t mind her,” Marco dismissed with a wave of his hand. He gestured for his friend to hand him more money. “She’s always carrying on about something. Back to you, Red, are you going to show off your moves for me?” 

“It’s a disappearing act,” Slater replied. 

“Really?” 

“Yeah and if you watch closely, you can see just how I do it.” With that, he turned tail and walked through the front door. 

Mark did his best to appear unconcerned, but Louis saw his jaw twitch from where he stood. No doubt, Slater was going to get an earful once they got back in the car. 

Marco finished counting out the cash. “There’s that and here’s the extra chunk I owe him for his generosity.” 

Johnny dropped a backpack on the coffee table in front of him. 

“Don’t forget that you’re just a phone call away from losing everything, Marco,” Mark reminded the dealer. He accepted the loaded backpack from Johnny. “Keep the boss happy and we won’t ever have to have this conversation again, understood?” 

The sharp glimmer in the other man’s eyes showed just how sour the threat sounded. “Of course, of course. I wouldn’t want him to send The Reaper after me. That’s his name, isn’t it? Or is that some sort sick joke your boss made up?” 

“I don’t know,” Mark replied with a shrug. “The Reaper just stepped outside. Why don’t you ask him yourself. Mahoney, go get him.”

Louis nodded and disappeared from the stuffy drug den and emerged in the sticky night air. He found Damien leaning against the SUV’s bumper. “Is Slater in the car?” 

He shook his head and pointed to the backside of the building. “He went that way, where that girl was screaming. Christ, you don’t think he killed her, do you?” 

That was a grim thought, but part of Louis was skeptical. “I don’t think so.” He jogged to the rear of the building, where Damien had indicated that Slater had gone. He only slowed when he heard the staccato smack of a closed fist hitting flesh. 

Louis’s heart beat faster as he rounded the corner. 

Slater’s red hair was unmistakable, even if the rest of him was hardly visible in the barely-there light. 

The woman sitting on the ground, slumped against the tire of a car the color of cigar ash. Her shirt was crooked and her skirt had been hiked up past her hips, revealing too much of a bright pink undergarment. Her head bobbled every once in a while, the way it did when someone was nodding off and trying to stay awake. She was alive. 

Louis turned his gaze from the woman and back to Slater. Why? He wondered. Why is he fighting with these strangers when he could kill them in their tracks? Why was he choosing to throw fists when he could end it in an instant? What’s the point? 

Judging from the way the redhead stood with his hands in the pockets of his , he wasn’t concerned about the two men circling him like sharks preparing to feed. 

“You think you can just come around here and stick your nose where it doesn’t belong?” The taller man asked, his voice raspy. There was an unthreatened melody to his tone, like the idea of a fight didn’t scare him. 

Slater’s face split into a grin. “Do you know who I am?” 

“From what I hear, you’re the guy that everybody’s afraid of. I can’t see why. You look like a pussy to me. What do you think, Drew?” 

The shorter of the men smirked, “He looks like a preppy motherfucker to me, Kev.” 

“Run along, Reaper. Let me fuck this bitch and get on with my night.”

Their jibes seemed to have little impact on Slater. He simply stood where he was, watching them from behind his sunglasses. “The only ones getting fucked tonight are the two of you.” 

The taller of the two men—Kevin—moved, a snake striking in the tall grass. It was sudden and the force of his punch was hard enough to snap Slater’s head to the side. The hiss of air slipping between his teeth was as sharp as a gunshot. 

Slater reached up and brushed his thumb across his upper lip. He inspected it for a moment before he laughed in delight. “Now, this is starting to get fun!” When the man swung again, he ducked out of the way before retaliating with a jab of his own. 

In an aggressive flash of fists, Drew joined the fight. It was unfair, two against one, and obvious that the two men wouldn’t stop until Slater was unconscious or dead. 

Louis contemplated intervention, but stayed put. He was interested in seeing how this deadly boxing match would end. Whatever the outcome was going to be, Slater didn’t appear concerned. 

In fact, with each blow struck him, it seemed to drive him faster, made him burn a little brighter. The smirk on his face continued to grow, even with the bruises already forming on his fair complexion. He showed now signs of slowing down. 

The door banged open and Mark scrambled around the side of the building with Johnny on his heels. He skidded to a halt when he saw Slater in the midst of a fight. Then, he pulled a device out of his pocket and lunged for Drew, it crackled and spat in a flash of blue light. 

Kevin stopped and looked at Mark, but his attention was jerked back to Slater when the redhead spoke. “If you touch them, I’ll kill you.” 

It must have been a credible threat, because Mark hesitated.

His pause was enough time for Johnny to extend his hand. 

Drew hardly had enough time to let out a startled yelp before he went flying backward. His body crashed into the brick wall behind him hard enough that Louis heard a crack. Then, he slumped onto a pile of garbage bags, eyes rolled into the back of his head. 

Slater’s eyes snapped to Johnny, the smile on his lips vanishing, his expression frigid. 

Kevin didn’t need an invitation to send another fist flying. This time, the punch was fueled by even more rage. It slammed into the side of Slater’s face with enough force that Louis’s own jaw ached in sympathy. It sent the two of them into another round of snarls hissed between clenched teeth and battered knuckles. 

Apparently, Slater’s arctic glare had been enough of a message to keep Johnny from intervening again. He didn’t make a second move to put an end to the fight. 

How much longer is this going to go on? Louis wondered. Are they going to keep going until they’re unconscious, dead, or until Marco comes out with his friend, guns blazing?

Enough was enough. 

Louis’s approach didn’t go unnoticed. Mark stepped in front of him to block his path. “Stay out of this, buddy. This isn’t your fight.” 

He flicked Mark an unimpressed look. Having something—doors, people, or walls—in his way had never stopped him before and it wasn’t going to work now. 

“Did you hear me? Are you deaf or are you stupid?” 

“Probably just stupid.” 

Mark made a move, the Taser in his fist crackled angrily. 

One moment Louis was there, the next he was standing between Slater and Kevin. 

Everything went still. The only sound was sound of the fighters and their ragged breathing, their attack thwarted by Louis’s sudden presence.

Louis had done what he could. He’d gotten their attention. Now, he had to keep it. 

“Move,” Slater ordered. 

He stayed put. At this point, if The Reaper wanted him dead, he had nothing to lose. 

“Get the fuck out of my way before I kill you.” 

Louis stared down at him, seeing his own reflection in the lenses of his shiny, bent, glasses. He thought about what Damien had said, that Slater had blown a man’s head clean off his shoulders with only his mind. Obviously, he’d been deemed The Reaper for a reason. If he truly wanted Louis dead, there was nothing stopping Slater from killing him. He didn’t look away. “If you were smart,” he warned Slater’s opponent, “you’d get the hell out of here.” 

He didn’t have to turn his head to hear the other man run off into the night. 

Slater was still glaring at him, four inches shorter than Louis. 

It reminded Louis of a game he and James had played when they were kids, one where they stared at each other before the other looked away.

Louis looked back for what felt like an eternity, every muscle drown rigid with anticipation. If felt an awful lot like staring down the wrong end of a loaded gun. Each second dragged as he waited to see if Slater would pull the trigger. 

“Johnny,” Mark said, “go tell Damien to start the car. Come on, O’Brien, you’re coming with us.” 

Slater kept his gaze on Louis for a few more deliberate moments before he followed Mark without a word. 

Louis exhaled a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. The tension resolved once those hidden eyes were no longer burning him to the core. He gave the girl, propped up against the wheel of the car, one last look before he followed the others. 

On the ride back, Johnny broke the uncomfortable silence by complaining. “Why do we even let O’Brien come with us? That asshole gets off on picking fights. I swear—”

Slater, now in the passenger seat, reached out with a bruising and bloody had to flick on the radio. He twisted the knob for the volume until nobody could hear Johnny bitching. 

Once the car was turned off, Johnny started again. He slammed the car door hard enough to make it rock. “You want to know what I don’t understand? I don’t get why Boss keeps you around, anyway. You’re a loose fucking cannon. I mean, just ask the new guy, I can kill people too. Big fucking deal! You aren’t spe—”

If Louis hadn’t been watching, he would have known what happened. One moment, Johnny had been going on and on, without a breath between words; and the next, he’d collapsed to the concrete of the parking garage floor, lifeless. 

There was a breath of stunned silence among them before Mark reacted. “O’Brien! What the fuck?!” 

Slater’s expression was smooth. There wasn’t the slightest hint of emotion on his face. He looked at the body with disinterest before he turned to the other man. His voice was just as blank as his face when he said, “I warned him to stay out of it. I warned all of you. He just didn’t listen.” 

“Oh shit!” Damien gasped from Louis’s elbow. “Oh, holy shit!”

Now Louis understood how Slater had earned his nickname. It hadn’t been a myth and Damien hadn’t been exaggerating his power. He had really killed Johnny just by looking at him. 

He studied the corpse with morbid fascination. Blood ran from Johnny’s mouth, nose, and ears, pooling beneath his head on the oil-streaked concrete. His eyes were wide open in a blank stare. 

Louis looked at Slater, palms sweating. Maybe he shouldn’t have stepped in to stop the fight. By doing so, he had probably signed his death certificate. 

Slater paused in front of Louis on his way out of the garage. He leaned in close, reeking of sweat and leather. There was a bruise blooming on one of his high cheekbones. His voice was a whisper, “Consider this your warning. Don’t get in my way again.” 

Louis swallowed the nerves that had formed into a ball in his throat and watched Slater disappear into the night.

Tag List: @tricksexual, @wildler, @ganseyboii, @surrealirist, @obsessionandstuff, @pertinax--loculos, @pe-ersona, @a-curator-of-nonsense, @angelolytle, @aslanwrites, @aurumni-writes, @andrewminyardd, @lordkingsmith, @gloriafrimpong

[sanderssidesfanfiction]

Royal Growing Pains - Chapter Four

A/N: I can see that I’ve gained quite a few followers for this particular story over the past week since I posted chapter three! I just want to say welcome, and I hope you enjoy the ride!

Warnings: Homophobia, transphobia, misgendering, sympathetic Deceit

Royal Growing Pains Tag

Roman climbed in the car, where Damien was already waiting. He appeared to have finally gotten some of his voice back, because he said, “You look good.”

“Thank you,” Roman said. “I much prefer jeans and a t-shirt to any dress I’ve had to wear, ever.”

“Understandable, but I wasn’t referring to your clothes,” Damien said. “You’re holding your head high, your shoulders are back and squared, and your voice is more confident and more compassionate at once. You come across as...well...regal.”

“I’m acting like a prince, you mean?” Roman asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“I...suppose so,” Damien said with a sheepish grin. “It does sound silly, doesn’t it?”

“Only a little,” Roman laughed. “It’s easy to forget that people see you as royalty sometimes, until it’s thrown in your face. Because I don’t feel any different than any of my other, non-royal friends.”

“True. We’re all human at the end of the day,” Damien agreed. “And human nature seems to be forgetting that fact.”

Roman laughed as they drove into town, and Damien asked, “So, a paint bar? Or grabbing art supplies?”

“I think I’d rather just get the art supplies,” Roman said. “That way, we can save whatever materials we don’t use for a later date.”

Damien nodded. “Sounds good,” he agreed. “Virgil, do you know where the art store is?”

Virgil sighed. “Yes, I’ll take you there, but I won’t be happy about it. And if you get paint splatter everywhere again, I will be telling your parents how your clothes got ruined.”

“It’s nothing a little rubbing alcohol and laundry detergent couldn’t fix,” Damien protested.

Roman snickered. “Not much of an artist, then?” he asked.

“I will admit I have had...multiple issues when it comes to art supplies. It wasn’t just the glitter when I was young,” Damien said.

“Yeah, he tried pottery, painting, dry media, wet media, any and everything, right down to graphite pencils and later, photography. He always ends up covered in something,” Virgil piped up.

Damien sighed. “Thank you, Virgil, for enlightening Roman to my shortcomings.”

“You’re welcome!” Virgil responded brightly.

“No, I—” Damien cut himself short. “You know what? Fine. Whatever.”

Roman laughed as they pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car. “Oh, come on, Damien, it’s funny! And it’s nice to know that you’re not perfect.”

Damien rolled his eyes and they made their way inside the store, Virgil beside them all the while, glancing around. “I’ll let you take the lead on finding paints,” Damien said. “I assume you’d know far more about what is and isn’t a good paint brand from experience. Just bear in mind that I’m a beginner, so please be kind and explain art jargon if I ask?”

“Of course,” Roman said with a smile. “I’m always willing to explain to someone who wants to learn! Remus and I used to talk about the things we had learned from different experiments in our preferred arts. I enjoyed painting and drawing, mostly different scenes of places I’d been or would like to go. Remus preferred writing. Often violent, gruesome, and dark stories, but it made him happy whenever he thought of something new. We’d swap creations and tell each other what we liked about them. I miss those days...It’s not that we couldn’t do it anymore, but we have less time to pursue our passion projects.”

“I know the feeling,” Damien sighed. “I am pursuing a degree in History, but I would love to teach philosophy, given half the chance.”

“Really?” Roman asked in mild surprise. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Most people don’t,” Damien replied easily. “But I loved reading about philosophy ever since I was a young child.”

“Huh,” Roman said. “The more you know.”

“Indeed,” Damien said. “Now. The paints?”

“Oh! Right,” Roman said, heading further inside the store in the general direction he thought the paints might be. Damien gave him an amused smile and Roman rolled his eyes. “Shut up. You’ve been distracted by conversation before, surely?”

“I will admit to nothing,” Damien said simply, but he was smirking.

“That’s basically saying yes,” Roman informed him.

“Ah, but it is not a definitive answer,” Damien pointed out.

Roman rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at Damien. Damien laughed. “Not very princely behavior,” he teased.

“It’s just us here, no one has to say anything,” Roman shot back.

Damien’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Ah, but what if I want to? You may have to buy my silence.”

“Oh yeah? And how would I do that?” Roman asked.

Damien smiled enigmatically.

“Oh come on, that’s mean!” Roman laughed. “Tell me!”

Damien’s eyes looked around conspiratorially, before he whispered in Roman’s ear, “Get us to lose the chaperone.”

Roman looked at Damien in surprise, and Damien just smirked back. Roman looked around, noticing one of the smaller aisles that had children’s art supplies. He grabbed Damien’s hand and ran down the aisle while Virgil looked behind them, and then sprinted down the back of the store until they reached the paints. Roman looked around, smirking. “Not bad, eh? And we got where we were going!”

Damien grinned. “Oh, Virgil is going to kill us both.”

Roman laughed. “It was your idea! I’m innocent!”

“Oh, I’m sure,” Damien said, nodding.

Roman laughed, looking at the different paints the store had to offer. “What do you think, oil or acrylic?”

“Don’t oil paints require paint thinner to use?” Damien asked.

“In some cases,” Roman agreed. “So maybe not oil today. I should probably make sure that you can paint at all before I bring out the fancy supplies.”

“There’s also watercolors,” Damien pointed out.

Roman shrugged. “True, but those are very tricky to use as well. If you’re not careful, you could wind up with mud as a picture.”

“Acrylic it is, then,” Damien said, walking up next to Roman. “Which brand should we get, and how much paint would we need?”

“A starter’s kit for each of us should be enough for now,” Roman said. “They have a deceptive amount of paint in them. Or, if you want something bigger, we could invest in tubes of cyan, magenta, and yellow. That’s how you can mix more vibrant colors.”

Damien hummed. “I think that if we’re going to be spending some time away from your art supplies, we should get the larger tubes, if only so you have more to work with. Cyan, magenta, and yellow? Should we get black and white as well for shades and tints?”

“Probably a good idea. I’m impressed with your knowledge of terminology,” Roman said.

Damien waved him off. “Trust me, Your Highness, the terminology is about all I’m good at when it comes to art.”

Roman laughed, just as Virgil dashed into the aisle. “You!” he exclaimed, pointing at the two of them. “You two are in huge trouble!”

“Uh-oh, he found us,” Damien stage-whispered, and Roman snickered.

Virgil stalked over, breath heaving in his chest. “Do you two have any idea how terrified I was when I turned back around and you weren’t there?!”

“Virgil, we’re not toddlers, that tactic won’t work on us,” Damien said, arching an unimpressed eyebrow.

Virgil’s nostrils flared. “I thought the two of you were about to be seriously hurt. It’s my job to look out for the two of you and you treat it like it’s a game to get away from me when any number of people out here could be waiting for a chance to kill you.”

Roman felt just a tiny bit guilty. “We weren’t trying to make your job harder Virgil, we just...wanted some privacy.”

Virgil looked between them. Damien’s face revealed nothing, and Roman shrugged as if to say, What else do you want from me?

“Next time you want to make out, at least tell me where you’ll be making your attempt so I can make sure no one’s coming over,” Virgil growled.

“We will, Virgil, rest assured,” Damien said.

Roman sputtered. “We weren’t trying to make out!” he protested.

Virgil shrugged. “Why else would you want privacy?”

“We could be sharing secrets, or just want a moment to talk by ourselves without worrying about anyone else overhearing, for any reason! We don’t immediately go to the gutter when you’re not around!”

“Just immediately, hm?” Virgil asked.

“I...no! No, that is not what I meant and you know it!” Roman protested.

Damien and Virgil were both smirking to various degrees and Roman huffed. “You’re both being incredibly mean,” he growled. “And if that continues, you’ll both end up covered in paint by the end of the day.”

Virgil’s smirk dropped but Damien just shrugged. “It wouldn’t be the first time,” he simply said.

“But it would be the last,” Virgil warned. “Because I’m not getting in trouble for you being covered in paint, and I would never allow you near art supplies again.”

Damien held his hands up in surrender. “All right, all right, I’m done.”

“You promise?” Roman pressed.

“Yes, yes, I promise. If it means I get the chance to paint with you, then I won’t push this subject any further.”

Roman smiled, and proceeded to pick out some beginner’s acrylic paint, grabbed two brush sets, and then asked, “Mixed media paper, or canvas, do you think?”

“Canvas,” Damien said. “Much easier for me to work with a bigger surface that is very clearly not a table.”

Roman laughed. “Okay, then. Canvas.”

“Maybe easels, too? We could do some on-site painting with those,” Damien pointed out. “And we have quite the scenery at the base of the mountain. It could be fun.”

“Sure,” Roman agreed. “Do you not have any easels remaining after your painting escapades?”

Damien coughed. “Well...my parents may or may not have tried to deter me from future endeavors by not keeping the materials around.”

Roman giggled. “Oh, it was really that bad?”

“Hush, you’re hardly one to talk,” Damien said. “You have plenty of embarrassing stories, too.”

“True, but they’re not relevant to this conversation,” Roman chirped.

Damien glared at Roman. “Traitor,” he muttered.

Roman just offered him a grin in response. Damien glanced away and gravitated towards a sign that said the easels were in that aisle. Roman followed, paint in hand, and Virgil trailed behind them again. Damien picked out two smaller easels, and then turned to Roman. “Canvases?” he asked.

“Right,” Roman said.

They grabbed a pack of canvases and went to the front of the shop and rang everything up. Once they had everything in the car, Virgil looked at them. “Where will you two be painting?” he asked.

“I was thinking halfway up the mountain, where we have quite the view of farmland, it’s beautiful scenery,” Damien offered.

“Sounds good to me,” Roman agreed.

“All right, I’ll drive the two of you up there,” Virgil said. “But if I see any shenanigans with paint I will kill both of you.”

Damien gave Virgil a playful salute. “Whatever you say, Your Highness,” he said, voice soaked in sarcasm.

Virgil took a deep breath. “You’re really dead set on testing my patience aren’t you?”

Damien shrugged. “Well, you seem to be dead set on telling me what I can and cannot do when I’m my own individual, so it only makes sense to balance the scales somewhat.”

“Oh, you are playing a very dangerous game, Your Highness,” Virgil warned. “Get in the car.”

Damien gave Roman a very satisfied smirk as he did as told and Roman followed him into the car. Virgil shut the door a little harder than necessary as he got in as well. He drove them to a point that Damien picked out and then Roman and Damien got their supplies out of the car, setting up the easels and canvases so they were facing the farmland. “This should be fun,” Roman said with a smile as Virgil continued up the mountain. “And it looks like we’ll be on our own for a bit.”

“We’re close enough to the castle that the guards can watch us from there and pick us up if need be,” Damien said simply. “So we’re not necessarily ‘alone’ but we do have some space.”

“Some much needed space,” Roman said, looking out at the farmland below and taking the paints, before gasping. “We forgot the palettes!”

“Oh, damn it,” Damien muttered.

Roman laughed. “That was not a very princely response,” he teased.

Damien rolled his eyes. “Very funny, Your Highness. What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know,” Roman said. “I suppose we could mix the paint on the canvas, go for a slightly more abstract way of painting.”

“Well, unless we want to call Virgil back down here, that’s what we’ll have to do,” Damien sighed.

“Yeah, I don’t want to call Virgil down over this,” Roman said, shaking his head. He grabbed the tube of cyan paint and popped the cap, pouring some onto his canvas...or attempting to. Nothing was coming out. “That’s weird,” Roman muttered. He turned the tube so he could see the opening, and gently squeezed. Paint splattered out of the tube, all over Roman’s face, and he sputtered as Damein burst into hysterics. “Oh, you think this is funny, do you?” Roman asked, picking up a glob of paint and flinging it at Damien’s face.

Damien stood stock still for a second, before he slowly reached for the magenta paint and poured some onto his fingers, flicking it onto Roman’s arm.

“Oh, this means war,” Roman said, pointing the tube of cyan at Damien and squeezing again, getting paint all over Damien’s shirt.

“How dare you!” Damien exclaimed, laughing. He poured out more magenta and smeared it across Roman’s face, getting some in his hair.

Roman cackled as he grabbed the yellow and used both tubes to smear paint over Damien, while Damien took the magenta and black and returned the favor. They chased each other around the easels, and Roman squealed as he lost his footing running backwards and nearly fell straight to the dirt, only to have Damien wrap an arm around the small of Roman’s back, catching him in a dip. The two were laughing and breathless, and Roman muttered, “Hi,” to Damien.

“Hi,” Damien laughed back. “Truce?”

Roman considered it, looked at the yellow paint he hadn’t dropped, and grinned, saying, “Nah,” and squirting paint directly into Damien’s wavy hair.

“How dare you?!” Damien exclaimed. “And I kept you from falling, too! I had to sacrifice my black paint to do that!”

Roman laughed and got back on his feet, exclaiming, “Catch me if you can!” as he flung one last glob of yellow paint at Damien before running away.

Now, Roman was fast, but Damien was undoubtedly the taller of the two of them, and he managed to catch up to Roman quickly, snagging the back of Roman’s shirt. He pulled Roman into a bear hug, effectively getting paint all over both of them. “Virgil is gonna kill us!” he laughed.

Roman shrieked with laughter and wriggled out of Damien’s grasp, shoving him to the ground and pinning him there as Roman grabbed all the cyan off his face that he could and painting little clouds all over Damien’s face. He was shaking so hard from his laughter he could barely make the shapes.

“Hey!” a sharp voice hollered from the top of the mountain. “What did I just tell you two?!”

Roman and Damien shared a brief horrified glance before Damien was on his feet and grabbed Roman’s wrist, yelling, “Run!”

They both sprinted their way down the mountain, but soon found themselves outnumbered by guards driving their way down the road to barricade them in. Virgil barrelled down the mountain, breath heaving in his chest. “I said no shenanigans with the paint!” he exclaimed.

Damien pointed at Roman. “Roman started it!”

“What?!” Roman asked. “Did not! It wasn’t my fault that the paint tube squirted into my face!”

“But it is your fault that the paint was subsequently thrown onto my face,” Damien said.

“You didn’t have to laugh!”

“You didn’t have to retaliate!”

“Boys!” Virgil snapped. “I don’t care who started what, you both are complicit in the shenanigans and you’re both covered in paint! What am I supposed to tell your parents, huh?!”

“I imagine you’ll tell them you left us alone for five minutes under the impression that we could be mature and turned to look at how we were faring once you reached the top of the mountain only to find us having a paint fight below,” Damien said, completely deadpan and with a straight face that Roman couldn’t possibly hope to achieve.

“You both are walking up the hill and will be getting cleaned up before dinner this evening. I imagine that most of the dignitaries coming to congratulate you two on your engagement will not want to see the two of you covered head to toe in paint.”

“Why do we have to walk up the mountain, though?” Damien asked.

“Because we are not getting the back seats of any of the guards’ cars covered in acrylic paint!” Virgil hissed. “Do you have any idea how easily that stains?”

Roman raised his hand. “Actually, I do, and it’s not as bad as you might think,” he said.

Virgil glowered at him and Roman promptly shut up, following Damien and Virgil back up to the castle. Damien hissed as they approached the top. “Our mothers are waiting for us,” he whispered to Roman.

“Shit, what?!” Roman asked in clear panic. His mother was going to kill him!

Damien took one look at Roman and grabbed his hand to give it a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure she doesn’t chew into you too much.”

As they reached the top, the two queens looking at them with twin unamused expressions, Damien scratched the back of his neck. “It’s...uh, my fault,” he said quickly. “One of the paint tubes exploded in my face on accident, I started the paint fight.”

“Damien —!” Roman hissed.

Damien held a hand up at hip level to stop Roman. “It won’t happen again,” Damien assured.

“You’re right, Damien, it won’t,” the Queen said. “Because you are not going to be allowed near any of Veronica’s art supplies for the remainder of the week.” Ouch. And not just because of the use of his deadname, even if it was for his safety.

Roman’s mother looked at him and he inwardly braced himself for what he knew was coming. “Veronica, I’m disappointed in you!” she exclaimed. “I raised you better than for you to engage in a paint fight! That’s not very ladylike behavior for any woman, let alone a princess!”

He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from snarling at his mother, but he just nodded stiffly. “Of course,” he practically growled. But I’m not a princess.

His mother kept staring at him, but Roman was not going to give her the satisfaction of apologizing. Not to her. “Damien, you didn’t get any paint in your eyes, right?”

“Yes, I can still see,” Damien confirmed.

“Good,” Roman said, nodding. “Then we should probably change and get cleaned up. Virgil’s right; I doubt any visitors would appreciate the fine art that is...well, fighting with art.”

Damien barked a laugh, before covering his mouth with a hand. “I suppose you’re right,” he said with mirth in his eyes. “Although I must admit I like you in pants, they seem to do wonders for your confidence. Maybe tonight a pantsuit for dinner would be appropriate?”

Roman felt his heart soar at the excuse right there for him to take. “Sounds perfect,” he agreed, and together the two of them walked into the castle, while their mothers sent them one last look and a warning to behave.

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[geminiamethyst]

The Phoenix. Chapter 7: The Thunder Sword.

Sorry this took a while guys, I’ve been suffering from writers block and I’m trying to think of a short Moomin story to post since I haven’t done any for a while.

There are some scenes that were inspired by a YouTube animators creation. The series is called “No Evil” by Betsy Lee. I’ll leave a link at the end of the chapter if you guys would like to check it out for yourselves. I highly recommend it because it is truly awesome.

Anyway, please enjoy the chapter.

It took a long time it seemed for Kyun for his tears to stop running. By time they did, his eyes were sore, almost painful, and they immensely felt dry to him. He felt more drained than he did earlier. He felt worse, awful actually. He wasn’t sure if it was an affect of being forcefully separated from Shin like this, or the fact that he let out his emotions the way he did. He tired to shake it off as he felt like he was ready to break down again. He glanced down at the hat in his hands, seeing the salty, damp stain that decorated it. He frowned a little but shook it off, knowing that it’ll disappear overnight. Mumrik rubbed his back gently, trying to give more support than he could. He could tell that it might not mean much in the end, but what else could he do? It wasn’t like he could just suddenly make Shin reappear in a puff of smoke or something like that.

“Do you feel okay?” He asked, a little hesitant. Kyun took in a shaky breath, trying to steady his emotions. He needed to try to hold it together again.

“Honestly? No. But I will be when I get Shin back.” He sighed, rubbing his eyes to try to clear away the soreness. He cleared his throat as he felt like his voice was starting to crack after he had cried.

“You mean we? If you really want to take on the Hobgoblin, you’re going to need all the help you can get.” Mumrik frowned, not quite believing his ears. He felt like Kyun was reverting back to who he was before he met the others, thinking that he could do everything, especially when it came to looking for Shin, on his own. Mumrik thought he would’ve learned that it wasn’t okay to try to do everything on his own again, especially if there was a lot more danger than everyone had realised.

“You don’t have to come. I understand if you don’t want to.” Kyun said, trying not to sound desperate. As much as he didn’t want to admit it out loud, after what happened with Shin, he didn’t want his friends to get hurt even more than they already had.

“You’re joking, right? We’re all friends, aren’t we? Why wouldn’t we help you?” Mumrik asked, his face becoming a mix of being annoyed and serious at the same time. Kyun felt like face palming at that moment. Of course Mumrik would say something like that. Why did he feel so surprised at this?

“You, I get. Snuf, possibly. Ken? I don’t know, he’s a tough case.” Kyun muttered, looking back towards the direction of the camp.

“I realise that what he said was hurtful to you, but I’m sure if you two find some middle ground, maybe you can agree on something.” Mumrik sighed, sounding bothered himself by what Ken had said.

“I appreciate your optimism Mumrik. But I’ve got a feeling that it might be tougher than you think.” Kyun sighed putting his head in one hand, balancing his elbow on top of his knee. He glared out at the stream, trying to take his mind off of what Ken has said previously to him about Shin. Mumrik frowned a little himself, remembering the same thing. He did believe that Ken was out of line, but he really wanted him and Kyun to at least come to terms with one another.

“Come on. Let’s get back to the others. I’m pretty sure you’re hungry.” Mumrik sighed, wanting to try to change the subject a little. He slowly got to his feet, stumbling a little on his tired legs. Kyun secretly wanted to protest at this. However his stomach betrayed him, growling almost like a bear.

“Hungry, tired and I could seriously kill for a drink right about now.” He smiled, trying and failing to cover up his growling stomach. Mumrik quietly laughed, trying not to put enough strain on his voice than he already had. Kyun slowly got up and patted the younger’s shoulder gently. “And, Mumrik...thank you. I honestly needed that talk.”

“Anytime.” Mumrik smiled, glad that he was able to help in some way, even it was something simple as talking and listening to a friend. As they made their way back to the camp, the two Snufkins kept a respectful silence between themselves. The forest looked over them, their merciless shadows draping them, but they remained focused on the faint light of the campfire ahead of them. It became brighter the closer they had gotten close to it. The smell of food overwhelmed Kyun’s stomach, forcing it to gargle loudly once again. However, the air seemed to fill with tension once again when Ken looked sharply at Kyun. His stare seemed to test Kyun, almost taunting him to try to attack him again. Kyun seemed to send a similar message back, daring Ken to try saying something that will trigger him. It had seemed like time had once again gone to a complete stand still. And it was too much for nearly everyone to say the least.

After what felt like an eternity, Ken broke the glaring match first. With almost silent movements, he took the ladle that was in the pot and poured some of the soup into a bowl that had a hand made wooden spoon in it. His face tensed up a little as he felt the tension being forced upon his injured arm. He held the bowl out to Kyun, not saying a word. Equally silent, Kyun gently took it off of his hands, allowing relief to flow throughout the group. Kyun sat down and slowly started to eat. The taste of wild mushrooms and wild garlic filled his mouth openly, making him savour the taste. The others followed his example, filling their stomachs the best that they could. No one had spoken a single word, draping the camp in an uncomfortable silence.

“Kyun, I hate to ask but what did Damien say to Shin exactly?” Ken finally asked, sighing a little. Kyun glanced over at him before he stared intensely at the fire. It took everything that he had not to shake as he recalled those moments. He felt uncomfortable as he saw the flash of the dagger that could’ve killed him.

“To give him the Phoenix, or he’ll plunge his dagger into me.” He replied, slowly, trying to keep his composure.

“But he didn’t asked about its location?” Ken asked again, his eyebrow raised.

“No. He said that there was a spy in the group that Shin’s parents were able to form. Said that he had known where it was the whole time.” Kyun explained, remembering what the man had said.

“So, he knew the location but he needed Shin to give him access to it? I guess that makes some sense.” Snuf mused, holding his chin a little in thought.

“Not from my perspective it doesn’t.” Ken spoke up, staring at the flames, as if he was expecting them to grow larger.

“What do you mean?” Mumrik asked, ignoring the annoyed glances being thrown his way about him putting more strain on his voice.

“If Shin’s parents hid the Phoenix in some remote location, don’t you think that they would’ve told Shin? I know he said he was a kid when they passed away, but regardless his age, I think it would’ve been safe to tell him anyway. Even if it was through a story they would’ve told him.” Ken explained, trying to carefully explain what had been on his mind for a long time now.

“What’s your point?” Kyun almost snapped, starting to get the sense that Ken was going to say something that he wouldn’t want to hear.

“My point is that the Phoenix is also known as the Firebird in some parts of the world. When Shin was like...that, he was surrounded by small flames.” Ken explained, being careful with his words a little as he got a warning glance from Kyun. “So, either he has the powers of the Phoenix and he didn’t have full control of them. Or-“

“Shin is the Phoenix.” Kyun said, catching on quickly as to what Ken was saying.

“Yes.” The blonde sighed, breaking off his eye contact with Kyun.

“I don’t know, Ken. The Phoenix is immortal, isn’t it? What would it be doing inside a mortal body?” Snuf enquired, his brow furrowing in confusion.

“Hiding I think would be a safe bet. To be honest, being hidden in plain sight would’ve been a good idea if it hadn’t have been for that spy.” Ken sighed. Kyun felt his grip on the wooden spoon tighten. He held it so tight that he feared that it would turn into splinters. It started to come together for him. He tried to not think about it. However, after seeing Shin with that much power, he couldn’t help but acknowledge it. He knew that Shin wouldn’t hurt him. However, if that was the Phoenix inside Shin that was harming him and his friends, then it made sense. It is possible that the mythical creature had only sensed danger, but it wasn’t sure who was on its side and who wasn’t.

“I...I don’t want to believe it. But if I didn’t, then I would be the biggest idiot on the planet.” Kyun finally said, all the pieces at last coming together for him. No one said anything to him. In fact they didn’t say a word throughout the entire evening. By time the food was devoured, the fire extinguished to the point that the ashes were stone cold, and Kyun had put up his tent, not willing to share with anyone, the group had reached the point of exhaustion. For Kyun, it took a little longer than he thought to settle down into a haunted sleep. A sleep that he had hoped that Shin would be by his side once again. He stared at the canvas above him for what felt like eternity, until he turned onto his side. His half lidded eyes locked onto the hat next to him. As if something was possessing him to do so, he slowly reached over and cling to it tightly. He held it to his chest, trying his best to pretend that he was holding Shin close to him. Somehow, as silly as it seemed to anyone else, it had done the trick, as Kyun was slowly consumed by sleep. ‘I’m coming, Shin. Just hang in there for me.’ His mind prayed before he finally drifted away.

———————————————————————————

The morning couldn’t have come any sooner for Kyun. As soon as he felt dawn approaching, he woke up rather sharply. The moment he woke up, the only person that filled his mind was Shin and the need to find him. He was quite surprised that h didn’t feel as overly worried about his wellbeing. He didn’t feel any faint signs of pain that came from Shin when they were apart. However, it didn’t stop him from worrying. It only took him literally a minute to pack everything away and break down his camp, overpowered by prospect of seeing Shin again. Thankfully he didn’t have to wait too long for the others. As he packed all of his things, he had noticed that he was feeling a familiar pull. It was there when Shin first started to get away from Gnos. It was what gave Kyun the directions that he needed to see Shin again. It was like an internal compass, or a strong magnet. Kyun looked towards where the compass was telling him to go. His gaze settled on the mountains. They seemed to be the path to leave the valley. However, it didn’t feel like Shin had been taken out of the valley. Was he hidden in a cave, or maybe at a cabin near the mountains? Kyun will have to see once they get there. And then he will force the Hobgoblin to tell him why he was getting involved in this.

“Does anyone have any idea where we’re going then?” Ken asked, tying off a fresh bandage over his wound.

“That way. Towards the mountains. That’s where Shin is. Or at least in that direction.” Kyun said, pointing at the mountains.

“How do you know that? You were unconscious when the Hobgoblin took him.” Snuf asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“You know how a magnet can attract metal? Think of it as that.” Kyun exclaimed, slinging his knapsack on his back. No one argued against his word, trusting him completely in his explanation. After, he had managed to track down Shin almost effortlessly when he tried to escape Gnos.

The forest around them had gone through an almost dramatic change since the day before as they walked. Instead of the welcoming and warm postures that the trees often held, now seemed to loom over the group like unforgiving shadows. The light barely seemed to peek through the branches like they normally would. There was no sound, no birds singing their daily melodies, no squirrels chattering or arguing over their nuts, not even the wind seemed to blow through, making the trees shake their leaves. The forest seemed to become hauntingly filled with dread. It was as if nature was changing, knowing that danger could be anywhere. Kyun glanced around almost obsessively as he took long strides. He had this unwavering feeling that the Hunters might come out of nowhere and chase him and the others all over again.

“You okay?” Ken suddenly asked. Kyun almost jumped out of his skin as he was snapped out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He breathed trying to compose himself.

“No, you’re not. I get it if you’re nervous. But this might not help you get your head on straight about this.” Ken advised, his brow furrowing a little in frustration.

“I know. I just don’t want Hunters to get the jump on us.” Kyun sighed, trying to think of a better excuse for him to be nervous.

“Well...” Mumrik suddenly said Before he trailed off of his sentence. His voice seemed to be louder and less painful than it was the night before.

“What?” Kyun asked, looking over his shoulder at him.

“Before we found you and Shin, the Hunters were running literally with their tails between their legs. After seeing Shin like that, I guess that they decided that the money wasn’t worth it after all.” Ken explained, remembering the thunderous stampede that almost ran him and the other two over whilst they had made their escape.

“I guess that’s one advantage.” Kyun muttered, his gaze forcing him to face forward. Despite being told this however, he still kept getting the nagging feeling that something was going to happen. Snuf suddenly stopped, stock still, ears pricking up at a peculiar sound. Something that you shouldn’t have to hear in the middle of the forest.

“Do you hear that?” He asked. The others stopped and listened carefully. They each held their breath, worried about what it was that the youngest was hearing. Their ears picked up the sound. It was slightly faint, but they could clearly make it out. It was shouting. While they couldn’t quite hear what was being said, they could tell by the raw, negative feeling hitting them that it wasn’t a friendly confrontation.

“Sounds like it’s coming from over there.” Kyun muttered, pointing in the direction he was referring to. Before anyone could stop him, Ken suddenly sprinted off in that direction. “Hey! Ken!” The blonde Snufkin didn’t acknowledge the shout towards him, only continued to run off. After sharing a brief glance, the others took off after him. They were careful not to trip on anything as roots curved in and out of the ground. As Ken already had a running start, the group had to pick up as much speed as they could to catch him. So, when he halted very suddenly, the others had literally almost crashed into him. They looked forward and can’t stop staring at all. The sight was quite peculiar but bitter at the same time. At the mouth of a cave, a man and a Hemulen stood. The man was quite tall and seemed to be too posh for his own good. Hair sleeked back so perfectly that not a strand was out of place. His suit was impossibly too clean, not even baring a single stray hair or dandruff. The Hemulen seemed to be an elder, wrinkles showing o his face. His dress was a dark purple and his shoes seemed to be black. The elder looked like he was going to have a heart attack as the man glared so much at him that if looks could kill, the Hemulen would be in a terrible state (to put it lightly to say the least). The group didn’t know what was going on or what to do. They just stood there, watching the heated exchange.

“You dirty rotten cheat! You told me I could have the Sword! Why is it rejecting me?!” The man bellowed, shaking his fist so much that he seemed to have an earthquake inside of him.

“I told you; the Sword chooses it’s owner. It has its own consciousness. It’s not my fault.” The Hemulen tried to explain, stammering over his words, his form starting to tremble. This only served to enrage the man even more as his form too started to tremble even more, but in rage, not fright. The man only yelled another incoherent obstinacy at the elder and raised a fist. Once again, before anyone could react, Ken leapt forward. He stood between the man and the Hemulen, and caught the aggressive fist. His body shook as he stood his ground against the strength that threatened to knock him over.

“OI! Shame on you! Picking on an elder!” He shouted, shoving the man, who was almost twice his height, away from him and the Hemulen.

“Why you little runt! Who do you think you are?!” The man barked, shaking his fist at Ken. The blonde Snufkin didn’t even flinch, as if he wasn’t scared of the man threatening to strike him. That’s when the man noticed the three approaching the scene as calmly as they could. His face turned into a scowl. “Snufkins. Of course. Scum if you ask me. If I had my way, I’d wipe them off the face of the planet.”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!” Kyun yelled, his face slowly turning red. Mumrik and Snuf had to hold him back as it looked like as though he was going to start picking a fight.

“Listen here you. If you’re so rich, why don’t you do yourself a favour, and buy yourself some manners?” Ken challenged, crossing his arms defensively.

“Why you little-“ the man tried to snap right back.

“Look, either you can turn around and walk away, or you can continue to shout at me like a pompous, spoiled, brat. Your choice.” Ken continued to burn, cutting off the man’s upcoming insult. The man’s face turned bright crimson. Kyun was ready to step forward in case he was ready to try to take a swing at Ken. Instead, the man cleared his throat and straightened out his jacket. He turned to the poor, still frazzled, Hemulen.

“You’ll be hearing from my lawyer about this.” He hissed, sounding pathetic. He turned to Ken. “And you will hear from him too. You have no right to speak to me like that!”

“Funny. I was just thinking the same thing. Now walk away before you embarrass yourself further.” Ken said, continuing to keep his face as emotionless as he could. He was tempted to smirk but resisted against it. The man’s face turned redder. Once again he regained his composure and stomped away. The group watched until he disappeared deep into the forest. Ken let out a long sigh, seemingly relieved that physical conflict had been avoided.

“How in the world do you do that?” Kyun asked, scratching his head in wonder.

“Trust me, it’s something I’ve learned how to do a long time ago.” Ken sighed, refusing to make eye contact. Kyun opened his mouth, but Ken was quick enough to beat him to it. “And no, I won’t tell you what I mean by that.” He jumped back in surprise when the Hemulen suddenly snatched his hand in both of his paws.

“Oh thank you, kind sir! That man has been coming here and bothering me all day today. About time someone stood up to him.” The elder praised, not acknowledging the uncomfortable look that the Snufkin was giving him.

“It’s fine. Could you please let go? I don’t like unexpected contact like this.” Ken cringed, ignoring the faint snickering that Kyun was emitting.

“Oh! Of course! My apologies.” The Hemulen gasps as he turns pink in embarrassment. He hastily let go of Ken and looked at the group. His eyes seemed to sparkle with keen curious. “Well, I never thought that I would ever see a group of Snufkins like this. I thought you were the solitary sort. No offence. Where are you all off to then?”

“None taken. And we’re searching for a friend of ours. He was taken by the Hobgoblin.” Ken said, not even trying to consult with the others first. Kyun stared at him in disbelief. What was going through Ken’s head?

“The Hobgoblin you say? What business would he have with your friend?” The Hemulen asked again, his curiosity increasing, making Kyun feel more uncomfortable about this.

“That’s none-“ he tried to protest, wanting to get back to finding Shin as fast as possible.

“We are led to believe that our friend might know something about the Phoenix.” Ken interrupted, earning a harsh nudge to the ribs from Kyun. He didn’t make a reaction to it, as if it didn’t happen.

“Are you crazy?! What if he’s working with the Organisation?” Kyun hissed, his fists clenched. Ken didn’t answer him. As he rubbed the sore area of where he was jabbed, the Hemulen suddenly looked like his eyes were going to pop right out of their sockets. He looked so surprised that a Hattifattener may as well have given him an electric shock. The group watched him cautiously, half expecting him to call out to any possible nearby Hunters that could be looking for them.

“The Phoenix?! Well, I guess that would explain some things.” The Hemulen exclaimed, suddenly becoming deep in thought.

“What things?“ Mumrik suddenly found himself asking before he could think. The Hemulen made a quiet noise, as if he was unsure to tell the Snufkins anything. He slowly made his way into the cave, beckoning the group to follow him. The group shared a nervous but curious glance before Kyun, Ken and Mumrik started to follow. Snuf however didn’t. Instead he was glancing at the forest nervously. A horrible feeling was knowing at his gut. He didn’t know where it suddenly came from. He knew it wasn’t about the cave, as he has been comfortable going into many before this. This feeling was like ones you get when you know that something bad was going to happen. And Snuf was hating this.

“Snuf, are you coming?” Mumrik asked, as he noticed that the youngest was still where he stood.

“Are you okay?” Kyun asked as well, equally concerned.

“I just...have a bad feeling is all.” Snuf hesitantly answered, looking at his friends.

“What about?” Mumrik asked again, his concern growing.

“I don’t know.” Snuf once again answered in a hesitant manner. He uncharacteristically hid half of his face with the brim of his hat by bowing his head, and fiddled with a loose thread on his sleeve. He looked like he was ashamed of himself for saying those things.

“Okay. Well...why don’t you wait out here? That way if something or someone is coming here, you can warn us. And if nothing happens, we’ll tell you what has happened in the cave.” Kyun suggested, trying to make it seem okay for Snuf to wait outside. Snuf only nodded silently and turned his attention back to the forest. Mumrik and Kyun shared an uneasy look before they continued to catch up to Ken and the Hemulen. The uneasiness that Snuf felt must be getting to them, as now they started to not feel alright. They carefully walked along the passageway, heading towards a cavern ahead of them. The cavern was lit up by a hole in the cave’s ceiling. It was domed shaped, only made by nature more than being man made. Ken waited for them to come, giving them a look that said ‘what was taking you so long?’. That’s when he saw that Snuf was missing.

“Snuf’s waiting outside. Kid got a bad feeling or something all of a sudden.” Kyun said before the blonde could ask his question. Ken nodded as he folded his arms and looked ahead. The other two followed his gaze, both starting at something peculiar. There, with it’s blade half sheathed inside a stone, reflecting the sun, was a sword. It seemed to be made of silver, with a jagged marking running down the blade. At the centre of the hilt was an oval shaped stone. The stone could’ve been mistaken for that of the crystal if it weren’t for its features. Inside the stone was mist, looking more like a great, grey cloud. The cloud was swirling furiously and every couple of seconds, it lit up, with a bolt of lightning streaking from one side to the other.

As the group stared at the sword in awe, the Hemulen stood next to the stone. He seems to be quite proud of himself.

“You see, since yesterday, the jewel in the Sword has been restless. My guess is that it is because of the Phoenix. Come on. Try to pull it out.” He invited, beckoning the group to come closer.

“I’m sorry, what? This isn’t a King Arthur story.” Kyun asked, crossing his arms impatiently. The group slowly approached the stone, trying to get a better look and understanding of the weapon.

“My dear boy! This is far from a fairy tale.” The Hemulen laughed, looking more amused. “This is the Thunder Sword. A weapon used to fight along side the Phoenix many years ago.” The three Snufkins stared at him as if he had grown a second head. So this Sword was connected to the Phoenix. There was no way that it had to be a coincidence that they happened upon this cave.

“Wait. What you’re saying is that we can use it?” Mumrik asked, recovering his voice. The Hemulen nodded, his smile not fading.

“Well, your friend was taken by the Hobgoblin, correct? You might need something that you can use to fight the magician. Not to mention, there may be others who may be after your friend too. The Sword may not be as powerful as them, but it could be used as a good defence.” He said, slowly reaching out. He gently took Mumrik by the wrist, causing him to tense up at the uninvited physical contact, and pulled him closer to the Thunder Sword. “Well, give it a go? If your friend really does know something about the Phoenix, there is a chance that the Thunder Sword might choose one of you to use it.”

“Hang on. ‘Choose’? You mean, we can’t just take it like that?” Kyun asked, his foot tapping slowly, again out of impatience.

“Goodness no! If you had heard the argument earlier, you might recall that I said that the Sword chooses its barer.” The Hemulen explained, his smile dropping, his tone a lot more serious. Mumrik glanced at him nervously, feeling an almost foreboding chill run throughout his body. He looked at the Thunder Sword, watching the storm that raged on inside the stone.

“If you don’t mind in my asking sir, will the Thunder Sword do anything to us if we’re not the ones to use it?” He asked, remembering how angry the man looked when he had stormed out of the cave.

“Would it matter if it did?” The Hemulen asked back, as he took a few steps away from he stone.

“I guess not.” Mumrik muttered. Taking a deep breath he reached out, his hand shaking a little. He wasn’t one for taking a weapon out of impulse unless it was only to defend himself. However, if this was to help protect everyone and save Shin, he was willing to take a risk. However, before he could come close to touching the hilt, what felt like a bolt of lighting struck his hand. Mumrik yelped and rubbed his hand tenderly.

“What happened?!” Kyun exclaimed, seeing this.

“The Sword! It gave me a shock.” Mumrik groaned as he looked at his hand.

“Now if I told you what would’ve happened, you might not have-“ the elder went on as if nothing had happened in the first place.

“Don’t give us that!” Kyun snapped, his shoulders becoming hunched up.

“But trust me. You may need the Thunder Sword if you are indeed to fight those that are after the Phoenix. Some of them have magic that rivals with the sword.” The Hemulen continued, ignoring Kyun’s impulsive outburst.

“I’ll go get Snuf, fill him in on what’s in here.” Mumrik said, turning on his heels and steadily made his way out of the cave.

“Your turn.” Ken suddenly said, eyeing at Kyun.

“Me?! Why me?!” He exclaimed, his voice echoing in the room.

“You’ve known Shin longer than the rest of us. It makes sense to me if the Sword chooses you and not me.” Ken explained calmly. Kyun looked at the Sword, his eyes focusing on the stone, just as Mumrik had done. Now that Ken had said it, it did make more sense than he would’ve thought if no one hadn’t said that to him. Without hesitating, brimming with confidence, Kyun thrusted his hand towards the hilt. However, the hope that he had shattered, as he too was struck by a small bolt of lightning. He exclaimed loudly, more in anguish than pain, as he shook his hand to shake off the pain. Ken couldn’t help but stare as this in surprise. He was sure that Kyun would’ve been able to take the Sword. Why wouldn’t it choose the one person that Shin was the closest to? Kyun turned red in anger. He was tempted to punch something but he only opted for clenching his fists. He had them so tight that he was sure that his fingernails were piercing the skin.

“I don’t have time for this. You can play knights in shinning armour all you want, but I’m going to go find Shin if it’s the last thing I ever do.” He growls, stomping his way out of the cave, wanting more desperately to get back to saving Shin.

“Don’t wait for me, I’ll wait for Snuf to come here.” Ken called out to him. Kyun only waved, showing that he got the message. Ken turned to the Hemulen. “Sir, I’m afraid that I agree with my friend. Although I don’t doubt what you’ve said, given what I’ve seen, I’m struggling to believe that either myself or my friends can use that thing.” The Hemulen sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. It seemed that he too was starting to be at his wit’s end.

“Think what you will. But the Thunder Sword was once used by someone that the Phoenix trusted many years ago. It would make sense if any of you can use it.” He sighed, trying to give the Snufkin more hope than he had.

“Trust huh?” Ken muttered, becoming a bit more doubtful at this. After the way he had treated Shin, blaming what happened on him when they were chased by the Hunters, he felt like the missing Snufkin wouldn’t trust him that much. He felt like a lot of trust was broken in so many ways that it cannot be fixed. He suddenly felt a sharp jab of a warning inside of him. He sharply glanced up, seeing a small patch of ice and a snow storm coming through the hole in the ceiling. He shoved the elder harshly, ignoring him exclaim in shock. Before the snow storm hit the cave floor, the Snufkin leapt out of the way. He skidded on something hard and frozen just as he landed.

“You old fool!”

Ken slowly looked up, dazed, as he heard the voice of a woman. He shivered a little as he felt ice against his bare hands. He glanced over in the direction that he heard the voice. Obviously, a young woman stood there. She was glaring down at the Hemulen, who appeared to be passed out. She stood tall and thin. She looked so thin that her cheek bones were showing. She had incredibly pale skin that seemed to rival the frost that you see on an early Winter morning. Her eyes were a deep sapphire blue and were sharp like a knife. Her long, elegant hair was pure snow white with small snowflakes decorating it. It seemed to flow a bit, like a breeze was carefully picking it up and letting it fall gracefully. A small crown domed her head. It looked to be like it was made out of crystals but upon closer inspection, Ken could tell that it was actually made out of ice, coloured in a perfectly seamless blend of blues and whites. Her dress was long and pure white just like her hair. It reached down to her feet, only showing a small part of her toes from her snow white shoes. It flowed around her like an elegant snowfall. Snow seemed to fall from it at every movement she made. Ice also seemed to appear under her feet as she took a step in any direction. Just her mere presence alone would have made the cave seem like it was in the middle of winter.

“This would never have happened if you had given ME the Thunder Sword! Oh well...” the woman scowled, mist forming from her mouth with every breath she took. Just as she started to turn, Ken leapt to his feet. More slipping on the ice than he was running on it, he reached for the Sword. The woman had fully turned around at that point and she thrusted her hand out for the weapon, screeching like a banshee.

———————————————————————————

Kyun felt the sudden rumbling more than he heard it. A harsh wind almost blew off his hat if he hadn’t held onto it. He turned around and his eyes widened as he saw flashed in the darkness of that had suddenly formed in the cave. Remembering that Ken was still inside, he started to run back. He skidded to a halt only seconds after. An angry cloud was coming towards him. It was an ugly shade of dark grey, lighting up as lightning clapped and thunder bellowed from inside it. Kyun spun on his heels so fast that he thought he’d trip over, and he bolted towards the entrance faster than he ever thought he could run. He saw Mumrik and Snuf at the mouth of the cave. Both seemed to have heard the thunder and wanted to see if everything was alright.

“Get back!” Kyun yelled. Without warning, he shoved, almost tackled, the two out of the cave, just as the storm almost caught up with him. All three crashed to the ground. They looked back into the cave to see the storm still in it.

“Where’s Ken?” Snuf asked, looking around for the blonde Snufkin.

“He’s still in there. And I don’t see a way of getting through that storm.” Kyun muttered, continuing to stare at the storm in astonishment.

“What happened in there? Did Ken grab the Thunder Sword or something?” Mumrik asked, staring at the storm in disbelief.

“Well, something happened in there. I was on my way out when this happened.” Kyun muttered. He slowly took a cautious step forward. This was only met by a lightning bolt striking out at him. Kyun jumped back, his toes narrowly avoiding the offending weather. He, Mumrik and Snuf stared back at the storm, not knowing what to do, what could have happened, or if Ken was alright in the cave.

———————————————————————————

The thunder cashed down Ken’s ear drums, almost making him deaf. He had his eyes firmly shut for the fear of the flashing lightning causing him to go blind. His body felt like raw electricity was coursing right through it. It was wild, untamed, and deadly. So how come he wasn’t dead? Ken only responded to this by tightening his hands so much around the sword that his knuckles could be mistaken for pearls.

“The Organistation will not stop their recklessness.” A voice suddenly whispered, making itself crystal clear against the booming thunder. Ken felt like his heart had jumped to his mouth for a split second. Was that...the Thunder Sword? The Hemulen did say that it had its own spirit or something like that. Was this it?

“They’re reckless?! You listen here, you overgrown toothpick! There are some people in this cave that don’t deserve to be electrocuted! What’s your excuse?!” Ken exclaimed, looking sharply up at the sword. He felt angry at the ancient weapon, angry that it would rather unleash its rage on the people that tried to protect it as well as the person who tried to steal it. This isn’t the way to solve things. Ken had learned that long ago, much too soon.

“That is not my purpose. Only to cast judgement.” The Thunder Sword responded, not seeming to notice the wrong that it was currently doing.

“The last thing this world needs, is a big old knucklehead that’s making demands and taking no responsibility!” Ken shouted, shaking his head furiously. As his head moved, his hair seemed to sway all over the place from the wind and the static in the air.

“Will you take responsibility? You take the responsibility.” The Sword demanded more than asked, the lightning intensified and the thunder boomed even louder.

“Me?!” Ken exclaimed. He sucked in a breath through his teeth out of frustration. “Fine.”

———————————————————————————

Before anyone could think of a safe way to brave the storm, it had suddenly died down. It slowly, but surely retreated back into the cave, the rumbling becoming nothing more than silence. Kyun exchanged a perplexed look with Mumrik and Snuf before he carefully slipped off his knapsack. Grabbing his gun and making it sure it was loaded, he pointed it ahead of him.

“Stay behind me, no matter what happens. Got it?” He warned and the other two silently nodded, both equally worried about the situation. The three cautiously crept their way into the cave. Chills ran through them as they stepped closer to the cavern. It was odd. The chills didn’t feel like the feelings that you would often get. It was more like the temperature had dropped to the point that it could’ve been mistaken for winter. It was so cold that as the Snufkins breathed out, their breath turned to mist. It became more puzzling when Kyun suddenly found himself almost slipping on something. He glanced down and his brow furrowed with confusion when he noticed that he had stepped on ice. The group looked around, seeing that the cave’s walls and floor were covered in ice. The Hemulen laid stunned a fair distance near the cave wall.

“Ken!” Snuf suddenly exclaimed. The others looked at what he saw, with Kyun lowering his gun. Ken was kneeling down at the sword, his hand still clenched around the hilt. He was breathing a little heavily, as if it took all of his strength just to keep hanging onto the Sword. His clothes had small scorch marks on them and his hat was knocked off of his head, showing that his hair had gone static.

“What the heck happened to you?” Kyun asked, trying his best to hold back his laughter.

“Did you not see the raging thunder storm in here?” Ken asked, glaring a little at Kyun.

“Well, I noticed that it gave you a new hair style.” Kyun snickered. Ken eyed up at his hair and saw some of the strands that were standing on end. With his free hand, he hastily pushed his hair down to its original state.

“Hey! Who’s she?!” Mumrik exclaimed, spotting the white haired woman a few feet away from Ken. She was groaning whilst holding her head as she stood up. Once she saw who had grabbed the sword, her face immediately had a scowl on it.

“You filthy vermin! You pest! That’s MY sword!” She screeched. All four Snufkins grimaced as their ears felt like they were going to burst.

“If this really was your sword, you would have been given it years ago.” The Hemulen suddenly stated. The elder was slowly getting to his feet, leaning on the cave wall as to not lose his balance. “I told you, you don’t choose the Sword, it chooses you. It has a consciousness inside it. It knows who is worthy of it and who isn’t. It clearly choose that young man right there, otherwise he would’ve been burnt to a crisp right about now.”

“Shut up you old fool!” The lady screeched again. Snuf looked carefully as ice started to form in her hands into the shape of something. “I am the Lady of the Cold! And I will not accept this defiance!” The lady raised her hands, showing that a bow was what the ice was forming. Snuf had started a sprint as she pulled back the string of the bow, an arrow forming as she did so. Mumrik tried to reach for the younger but it was already too late. As the Lady released the string, the arrow shot faster than the blink of an eye. The Hemulen didn’t react when Snuf suddenly shoved him out of the way. When the elder was unharmed, Snuf wasn’t. He exclaimed loudly in pain when the arrow struck him in the arm. The weapon shattered into tiny shards of ice, making a tinkling sound as they hit the icy ground. Snuf was sent to his knees, clutching hard at his arm. A small trickle of blood leaked through his fingers as he held the wound.

“Snuf!” Mumrik shouted in alarm. His feet suddenly had a mind of their own as he started to bolt towards his friend. The Lady of the Cold drew back the string of her bow again. This time she was aiming at Mumrik.

“Mumrik! Look out!” Kyun cried out raising his gun at the Lady. Mumrik skidded to a sudden halt and looked in horror at the arrow that was aimed right at him. Ken growled softly. Before Kyun could pull the trigger, the blonde had already gotten to his feet. With one pull, the sword was free from its stone prison. Clenching it with both hands, Ken brought it back and gave it an almighty swing. Lightning radiated from it, thunder clapping loudly in response. The Lady of the Cold looked, only to be thrown back by the lightning. She hit the cave wall harshly, her icy weapon shattered upon impact with the ground. She looked up at Ken, fear crawling upon her face. The Hemulen and Snufkins looked at him in astonishment.

“Don’t...you...DARE...harm my friends!” Ken growled, his eyes becoming sharp. The sword crackled in response to his threat, small bolts of lighting briefly coming off of it. The fear that the Lady of the Cold showed was replaced by rage.

“This isn’t over! We will have the Phoenix! Mark my words!” She sneered, pointing at the group, her tone more threatening than a blizzard.

“‘We’? You’re with the Organisation, aren’t you?!” Kyun yelled, raising his gun at her again. The Lady of the Cold smirked. She didn’t say anything as she suddenly became nothing more than a swirling snowstorm. Everyone stood their ground as another harsh wind ripped through the cave. The storm raged as it seethed out of the cave, leaving behind a trail of ice, and the echoing cackle of the Lady of the Cold. Kyun and Ken, almost impulsively, race after the snowstorm. By time they exited the cave, they only found that the ice trail continued deep into the forest. Kyun glared at it. The Lady of the Cold was with the Organisation. What more of a confession did he need other than her retreat? She could lead him to the rest of them, and he can stop this nightmare. He can stop the torment that Shin was forced into. He took a step forward, gun held so tightly in his hands that it might break. However, Ken placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from committing his impulsive action.

“Let her go. She’s not worth it.” He said sternly as Kyun glared at him. Kyun would’ve shouted, but instead he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt like his rage had melted away and his body seemed less tense. “Come on. We should check on the others.” Without another word, Ken made his way back inside, the Thunder Sword remaining to be tightly clutched in his hand. Kyun watched him for a second before turning back towards the ice trail. A part of him really wanted to chase after the Lady of the Cold. However, he fought back against that instinct. Besides, the storm had moved much too fast and the ice trail had already started melting away, evaporating a little in the warm sun.

Taking another deep breath, Kyun steadily made his way back once more into the cave. After closing his eyes for a short while, he suddenly found himself back with the others. The group had been split into two, Ken with the Hemulen, who was still astonished by him, and Mumrik was tending to Snuf’s injury. Since Ken was already occupied by the elder, Kyun decided to see if he can try to help out Mumrik. Snuf had his coat, scarf and hat stripped off of him, leaving him in a pale green vest like shirt. Mumrik was carefully trying to clean away the injury, making Snuf wince and grimace as the wound was unintentionally aggravated.

“Ow!” He yelped as pain shot right through his arm.

“Sorry.” Mumrik winced as he tried to be more gentle.

“You going to be okay?” Kyun asked hesitantly after biting his lip. He knelt down to see if there was something that he could help with, even if it was something as simply distracting the youngest from the pain a little.

“It’s only a scratch. Don’t-ow!” Snuf said, giving a poor attempt of a smile, trying to make it seem like it didn’t hurt anymore than it did. This only ended with him yelping again, almost like a dog in pain.

“Would you stop moving?! You’re worse than a child.” Mumrik scolded lightly. Kyun was close to letting out a quiet laugh as Mumrik sounded almost like an overly concerned mother then. Snuf only grumbled a little but complied. “What were you thinking? You could’ve gotten killed!”

“I didn’t know what else I could’ve done.” Snuf muttered, tensing up a little from the pain.

“He’s right, Snuf. We need to be more careful now. We can’t afford being too reckless.” Kyun said, his tone becoming serious. He started to worry that if the Lady of the Cold was truly part of the Organisation, who else with magic could also be involved in it? The Hobgoblin couldn’t have been because of what the Lady of the Cold had said before she retreated. She said that ‘we will have the Phoenix’. This only confirmed more of what was suspected. The Hobgoblin wasn’t with the Organisation, otherwise why would the Lady have said that? But this also fuelled Kyun’s determination even more. Even if the Hobgoblin was giving Shin some form of protection, as the others said he claimed to be doing, Kyun just wanted to see him again. He needed to.

“How bad is it? The injury?” Kyun asked, looking at the wound, his stomach doing what felt like unhealthy flips.

“Surprisingly enough, the wound isn’t too deep. My guess is that the arrow destroyed itself before more damage could be done. It might, however, need stitches-“ Mumrik sighed, putting down the blood soaked cloth.

“Stitches?!” Snuf exclaimed, looking like he was going to have a heart attack upon hearing that.

“-but bandaging it up might work for now at least.” Mumrik continued, ignoring the younger’s exclamation. He picked up a clean pad and held it to the wound. “Kyun, could you...?”

“Sure.” Kyun sighed as he held the pad, trading places with Mumrik. Taking a clean roll of bandages, he started to wrap up the wound. Finally getting away from the Hemulen for now, Ken stepped forward, being careful not to slip on the now melting ice. He watched silently as Snuf’s injury was finally patched up.

“Ready to leave?” He patiently asked.

“Just a minute.” Kyun sighed again, putting his gun safely back into his knapsack. Whilst standing up, he noticed a belt with a scabbard tied to it, was around Ken’s waist. Resting peacefully inside the scabbard was the Thunder Sword. “Isn’t that going to make things complicated?”

“Not really. Besides, the Hemulen insisted. Wanted to make sure I don’t hurt myself or anyone else by accident whilst carrying the Sword.” Ken shrugged, slinging his knapsack back on his back. Kyun only agreed by silently nodding, understanding the concern that the elder displayed. After seeing the power that the ancient weapon held, he wasn’t too surprised by the need to carry it safely. Mumrik tied off the bandage, cutting the extra length with his knife. Once this was done, Snuf packed away his coat, with one sleeve bloodstained and had an arrow hole in it, into his knapsack. He carefully pulled out a somewhat fresh coat. He slowly slipped it on and wrapped his scarf back around his neck. He was hesitant with moving his arm, not wanting to aggregate his wound more than it already had. He even reluctantly had Mumrik help him get his things on his back.

“I must say that you surprised me today. I thought that old age would kill me before the Thunder Sword choose its barer. Perhaps you’re a descendent of the one who last used it.” The Hemulen mused as he approached Ken. Despite Ken looking annoyed by being the centre of attention again, he had to partly agree with what was said. Though he didn’t want to say it out loud, he wasn’t sure if it was blood related, given how...

Ken mentally kicked himself just to stop completing that thought. He didn’t want to think back to...that life. He never had to think of it for a long time. He refuses to think about it now. He locked it away, banishing it completely. He watched as his friends were ready to leave.

“So what will you do with yourself now? By my guess, you’ve been keeping an eye on the Thunder Sword for a long time.” He asked, wanting to change the subject a little.

“Oh, I’ll just get back into botany. About time too. I’ve been sick of not studying it for a long time.” The Hemulen sighed, glancing over at the stone. Despite his somewhat enthusiastic response, he did seem sad. The elder must have been watching the Thunder Sword for almost his whole life and now that it was free, he must feel like that his life long job was finally over. He probably wasn’t fully sure about what he wanted to do with his life now.

“Sorry to have brought all of this trouble.” Ken sighed, glancing around the cave.

“Not at all. I wish you luck. I hope you find your friend.” The Hemulen smiled a little, holding out a paw. Ken hesitantly shook it and looked over at his friends. They were slowly making their way out of the cave.

“Thank you.” Ken said, before going to catch up with them. He felt like the Hemulen has smiled back, a final wish of good luck, as he walked away. Finally out of the cave, he could feel the sun kissing his skin, thankful that he was out of the dark. The ice trail had completely melted away, leaving nothing but damp grass and earth. Ken caught up to the others, faintly overhearing Mumrik making sure that Snuf was fine and the younger insisting that he was going to be alright, seemingly starting to become annoyed. Kyun was a little ahead, leading the group back to their original path. To the mountains. To where the Hobgoblin was hiding. To where Shin was being hidden.

“Well, this day hasn’t exactly gone as planned.” Kyun grumbled, looking straight ahead as he walked.

“No. But if you think about it, that’s actually a good thing.” Ken said, keeping up with his almost hurried pace.

“Oh? How so?” Kyun asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Ken took his time as he stared off into the distance. He seemed to be thinking carefully about what he should say next.

“Well, we know about one more member in the Organisation for starters. And two, that Hemulen helped us obtain a weapon that we can use against them.” He said, glancing down at the sword. It swayed back and forth a little as he walked, the tip of the scabbard gently tapping his leg a couple of times.

“And by “we”, don’t you mean you? Last time I checked you’re the only one who could use that thing.” Kyun said, sounding a little disappointed. It was reasonable to say the least. He was confident that he would be able to use it. Maybe he was lacking in something that Ken had. He shook the issue off, not wanting to start a fight again. He was more comfortable using a gun anyway. Ken shrugged a little, not quite seeing the difference. Either way, the Thunder Sword will be needed to fight anyone, with or without magic, that means them harm. Kyun took the silent as a half agreement. He looked up towards the mountains again. He’s happy to accept that. He was more glad though to be back on the road though. He won’t be fully happy until he sees Shin again. ‘I’m sorry this is taking so long, Shin. But I’m coming. I’ll save you. Just wait for me.’ He silently pleaded, wondering if by some miracle, Shin had heard his silent cries.

———————————————————————————

The doors slammed wide open as the snowstorm raged into the dark room. Strangely enough, they closed gently behind it. The Lady of the Cold formed from it, her face masked by rage. The room’s occupants were silent as she entered, clearly expected her to do that. The ground once again froze around her as she stood still. She glanced around the room, growling quietly as she received judgmental looks. However, her glare faded when she saw a familiar figure in the dim lighting. A man wearing a clean suit with a golden chain ending in the breast pocket of the jacket and shiny black shoes. However, his head was wrapped up in bandages with only his eyes, nostrils, mouth and one ear uncovered.

“Oh! Damien! How lovely to see you! Though, your face has seen better days!” The Lady of the Cold laughed, taking pleasure in the man’s punishment.

“Shut your mouth! You don’t know what I’ve been through!” Damien barked, sounding pathetic.

“Yes, Damien. We get it! Shin burned half of your face off. Serves you right!” The old woman sighed, her tone annoyed by the man’s pathetic attempt of a pity party. Clearly he had been complaining about what had happened at his home as soon as he woke up.

“Why you-?! Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t burn you, hag!” Damien threatened, pointing a threatening finger at her.

“Quiet!” The man yelled, his voice echoing. The three went mute and looked at him. He was sitting by the table, his features outlined by the crystal ball, which was as blank as a canvas at this point. The man looked at the Lady of the Cold, his stare almost piercing into her soul. “You were warned that the Thunder Sword might reject you again.”

“I would’ve gotten it if it wasn’t for that rat. The Sword is mine by my right.” The Lady of the Cold grumbled, acting like a spoilt brat that was denied of a toy that she wanted to have. A smirked suddenly crossed her face though as she remembered something. “Well, there is one plus side, I guess.”

“What’s that?” The old woman asked, her old ears peeking up at the Lady’s sudden cruel, joy.

“I hit one of those pestering pests with an ice arrow. Not a fatal blow sadly.” The Lady of the Cold smiled. Her smile was wide, stretching from ear to ear, and it was truly almost psychotic.

“What’s the point in telling us that?!” Snapped Damien, his arms crossed, fingers digging harshly into the material of his jacket.

“You’ll have to wait and see.” Smirked the Lady of the Cold, amusement continuing to grow in her voice.

“However, this doesn’t help us track down Shin.” The old woman sighed, massaging her temples.

“Thankfully, whilst the Lady of the Cold was playing sword fights-“ the man sighed as he touched the crystal ball. An image seemed to take form inside it once again as he did so.

“PLAYING?!” The Lady of Cold shrieked, her voice so high pitched that it could’ve shattered glass.

“-I have thought of a solution.” The man continued, ignoring the obnoxious, high pitched voice. The image in the crystal formed into that of an empty field. The man was silent for almost a full minute as he stared at it. Telling by how his eyes were shifting, the others could only guess that he was searching for something in particular. He suddenly made a noise of satisfaction as he found what he was looking for. He slowly stood up and looked at the old woman. “Might I suggest you get your broomstick and granddaughter ready. You’re going to retrieve something for me.” The old woman nodded. She walked out of the room confidently. As she did so, she stretched her hand out. A broomstick, blanketed by the darkness of a corner, shot straight out to her. She caught it in her had as the doors once again slowly closed behind her. The Lady of the Cold scowled quietly but made no further comment. She has already been through enough today and didn’t want to be given anymore heat for her mistakes.

“And what about me?!” Damien demanded, wanting to do something that he would deem as useful. At this the Lady of the Cold mentally slapped herself. Why didn’t the idiot keep his mouth shut?!

“You, Damien, will stay here. You’ve done enough damage because of your ignorance towards Shin’s power. You promised us the Phoenix and now you are rightfully suffering for not full filling it.” The man said, becoming more annoyed by Damien speaking out of term.

“But Elias-“ Damien started to protest.

“SHUT UP! YOU STARTED THIS WHOLE MESS, DAMIEN! AND ONCE AGAIN WE HAVE TO PICK UP THE PIECES!” The man, Elias, yelled at the top of his lungs. This stunned Damien into silence. Even the Lady of the Cold seemed uncomfortable  by the outburst. This was the one reason why she held her tongue.

“If you don’t mind my curiosity, what are you planning to do Elias?” She carefully asked. Elias looked at her. She braced herself for another roar of rage from the man. However, she was surprised when he slowly retook his seat. He interlaced his fingers together and rested his chin on them, elbows perched on the armrests.

“Patience, my dear. After all, goods things always come to those who wait.” He slowly said, a smirk being heard in his voice. The Lady of the Cold shot a confused glance at Damien, but the still, slightly shaken man only shrugged, just as confused as she was.

What was Elias planning?

Betsy Lee’s channel: click HERE

Chapter 1: Still Running (click HERE)

Chapter 2: The Burning Truth (click HERE)

Chapter 3: Secrets and Threats (click HERE)

Chapter 4: Still Fighting (click HERE)

Chapter 5: What Have You Done?! (click HERE)

Chapter 6: Not Again (click HERE)

Chapter 8: click HERE