#gonna be honest for a long time I’ve been like ‘Ember’s name is so close to Emmet I should use that’ and didn’t know what to do with it | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bridgertonbabe · 2 years ago

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Bridgerton Drabble - Harry Potter AU Edition #2

“If it’s any consolation, Tessa always seemed a bit fair-weathered in general.” Wetherby offered up.

“Yeah, to be honest I was sort of expecting her to flake out on you.” Henry agreed.

Truth be told, Benedict knew exactly where his friends were coming from. He had been seeing Tessa since May, and while they had bonded over their shared love of art and enjoyed making out to pass the rest of the time, he had sensed that their relationship wasn’t going to make it in the long-term.

He had extended several invitations to her during the summer holidays to come and stay at Aubrey Hollow but she had always dropped out at the last moment, opting to go to a music festival or hang out with her friends instead. During school she had never been the biggest fan of holding hands in the hallways or even sitting next to him at mealtimes, and while he understood not everyone was into public displays of affection or closeness, he got the sense that Tessa didn’t want to flaunt their relationship amongst her fellow muggleborns (quite often muggleborns would tease each other for dating purebloods, due to the generalisation that purebloods were clueless and ignorant about anything muggle-related). When he had then asked if she wanted to go to the Yule ball with him just last week, he had been bracing himself for her flat-out refusal but had been pleasantly surprised when she muttered an unenthusiastic “I guess.”

So really, when Tessa pulled him aside at the end of Art club the previous evening and told him she wanted to see other people, Benedict wasn’t in the least bit surprised. What surprised him most was how little he was bothered at being broken up with. Upon reflection while he liked Tessa, it occurred to him that he never liked-liked her, not to mention the fact that he had never even considered being in love with her.

“What you gonna do now for a date?” Henry asked.

It was on his lips to respond with I have no idea when suddenly his eyes were drawn to a figure approaching from the other end of the corridor. Even though she was petite in a sea full of students making their way to their next lessons, Benedict could recognise those golden curly locks anywhere.

Sophie Beckett had always carried herself with a serene and graceful air, gliding along as though she were a fairy princess, not to mention looking like one. As they got closer, Sophie caught his eye and shot him a dazzling smile, her eyes flashing with elation just like she always did whenever she saw him. Her radiance was so instantly warming and infectious that Benedict immediately mirrored a beaming smile back at her, throwing in a quick wink in greeting before they passed each other by.

All at once Benedict decided who he would ask to the Yule ball. It was such a no-brainer that his mind couldn’t come up with any other name of who else he could bring as a date to the end-of-term festivity. Who else would even make for a better companion than Sophie? He had always delighted in her friendship whether through enthused conversation or companionable silence, and when Tessa had let him down during the summer he hadn’t been the least bit disappointed as he looked on the bright side of hanging out with Sophie instead.

“I’ve got someone in mind.” he responded to Henry as they continued to their Transfiguration class, quickly looking over his shoulder to get one last glimpse of Sophie before she turned the corner.

The following afternoon Benedict had just carefully scaled the stairs up to the Owlery and turned the corner to enter the tower when he clapped eyes on the very person he had been hoping to catch a quiet moment alone with. Sophie hadn’t noticed him as she fed her little mottled owl, Ember, a treat before offering his own owl, Clement, one in turn.

“So this is why Clem’s diet hasn’t been working out.” Benedict said, announcing his presence and making Sophie jump.

“Ben! I, um, didn’t realise that Clem’s diet was restricted,”

“Soph, I’m kidding.” he smirked as he sidled up to her and used the back of his finger to stroke Clement. “Posting a letter?” he asked and inclined his head to the envelope laying by Ember’s talons.

“Yeah I’m writing back to your dad. He wanted to know what a fidget spinner was.”

“Ah of course.” Benedict chuckled (even though he actually had no idea what a fidget spinner was himself).

“You writing home too?” she enquired and nodded to the envelope sticking out of his coat pocket.

“Writing to Ant.” he replied and retrieved the letter. “He sent me some fragrance tester strips so I could recommend what Egyptian perfumes he should get for the family for Christmas.” he explained. “So act surprised when you unwrap your bottle on Christmas Day.”

“Will do.” Sophie snickered as she began attaching her letter to Ember.

“So,” Benedict began nonchalantly, knowing this would be the prime opportunity to ask Sophie to the ball, “looking forward to the Yule ball?”

“Oh yeah. Sure.” Sophie nodded. “It was a lot of fun last year.”

“And... are you... have you got a date?” he hesitantly asked.

Midway through his question it occurred to him that he was probably too late to even bother asking her to accompany him to the ball. Surely someone as pretty and well-liked as Sophie would have already had plenty of offers. Benedict suddenly thought himself foolish for even thinking he had a chance of securing her as his date.

“Pft. No.” Sophie snorted.

Benedict frowned. “You say that as if the question I asked you was ridiculous.”

“Well it is. Not only do I not have a date but no one has even asked me. So of course it’s a ridiculous question.”

Though he could breathe sigh of relief that she was not already snagged up, he found it very strange that nobody had even tried asking her to be their date. He had heard plenty of people remarking on how kind and beautiful Sophie was and he was confident that many of their peers harboured secret affections for her - so how come she wasn’t the most heavily sought-after girl to go to the ball with?

It only took Benedict a couple more seconds of reflection to cotton on to three reasons why Sophie hadn’t been asked out; the three reasons being better known as Colin, Phillip, and Michael.

Sophie made up a quarter of one of the most popular groups in school and she was rarely without at least one of her friends on a day to day basis. While Sophie was an incredibly approachable and genial person, anyone wanting to ask her out would struggle to find a moment alone with her without her trio of male friends being present (in fact Benedict considered it a miraculous stroke of luck that he had happened upon her by herself up here in the Owlery). Benedict could also see that from an outside perspective that people would just naturally assume that as the only female member of the friendship group that surely one of the guys would have asked her out by now. Now that he had considered it, Benedict could easily see why nobody had thought to bother to ask Sophie out; Colin, Phillip, and Michael were inadvertently gatekeeping her.

“What about you?” she asked as she kept her eyes fixated on Ember. “You must have a date.” she presumed.

“Nope. I’m in the same boat as you.” he responded.

“Wait, really?” Sophie darted her head up, her brow pinched with perplexity. “I would have assumed you were going with Tessa.”

“Well I was until she dumped me the other day.”

“Oh, Ben.” Sophie’s softened sympathetically. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Eh, don’t be.” Benedict shrugged off. “It was never going to work.”

“How come?”

“I mean considering I wasn’t even remotely upset to be dumped is probably as big an indicator as you can get that we weren’t meant to me.” he remarked good-humouredly.

“Well I suppose.” Sophie nodded, followed by a beat of silence before the pair of them laughed.

Once their amusement died down Benedict watched as Sophie booped Ember’s head before the owl took off on her journey to Aubrey Hollow.

“Soph?” he called to her as Ember disappeared out of sight.

“Mhm?”

“I was wondering,” he began and rubbed at the back of his neck as she turned to him, “since neither one of us have dates if you might want to go the Yule ball? Together.”

Sophie’s lips parted gently, her mossy green eyes shining with disbelief, and Benedict began to panic at the thought that he had made her uncomfortable by asking to go with him.

“I mean, we don’t have to make it a thing or anything, of course, I meant we could go as friends.” he began to garble the longer she stared at him without saying anything. “It’s just, I was wondering who I could go with and you sprang to mind because I always have the best time with you, Soph, like we’ve always got along so well and I adore your company and honestly there’s nobody else I would even want to go to the ball with -”

“Okay.”

“And it’s just - wait.” Benedict suddenly stopped his waffling as his ears picked up on what she had just uttered. “Sorry, what did you say?”

“Okay.” she repeated with a small smile growing on her blushing face. “I’ll go to the ball with you, Ben.”

He could feel the warmth reaching his cheeks and a giddy smile pulling on his lips as she accepted his proposal to attend the ball together.

“Really?”

“Really.” she nodded eagerly. “So long as you promise not to shove food in my dress pockets like Colin did last year so he could eat them later.”

Benedict couldn’t help the laughter that escaped him and he shook his head at his younger brother’s typical greed-driven behaviour.

“Cross my heart and hope to die.” he grinned.

Sophie stayed with him as he fastened his letter to Clement’s leg, both of them wishing him a nice trip to Egypt before the owl took to the skies. They continued to chat about the antics Colin had got up to at the previous year’s ball but as they took the first step out of the stone room, Sophie slipped on a bit of snow. Benedict reached out deftly and caught her, securing his hand in hers but before he could check she was okay, he blurted out a different point of interest.

“Sophie, your hands are freezing!” he exclaimed as he clutched her smaller hand in his.

“Oh that’s normal, they get colder than most peoples,”

“Don’t you have any gloves or mittens?” he clucked and he could hear his own mother’s voice leaving his mouth.

“I do but Michael took them to make a snowman with.”

“Oh for the love of Merlin - here, wear mine.” he insisted and shoved his royal blue mittens on her, having taken them off earlier in order to attach his letter to Clement’s leg.

“But then your hands will be cold.” she pointed out.

“They’re far warmer than yours at this moment in time and besides I’m sure I’ll survive the short trek it’ll take us to get back to the castle.” he reasoned. “Now,” he said and took her newly mittened hand in his, “hold on while we make our way down. This snow and ice is absolutely lethal and like hell am I about to let my date for the ball slip and break her leg.”

Then leading the way, he slowly and carefully guided them down the tower, keeping her hand clutched in his the entire time. Every time he looked back over his shoulder to make sure she was alright he saw her wearing the warmest smile on her cute pink face, the corners of her lips pinching up every time he looked to her. He would shoot her his lopsided grin back before refocusing on the steps ahead of him, determined to ensure she would remain safe and intact for the ball.

His mood remained jubilant for the next several days as he wore an unbeatable grin on his face, his mind constantly fixated on Sophie and how much he was looking forward to be going to the ball with her.

On the following Monday morning Benedict was having breakfast with Henry and Wetherby on a sparsely filled table in the Great Hall. They had been discussing their Charms homework when out of nowhere there was a sudden pull on Benedict’s body. Before his friends could grab a hold of him he was sliding away down the long bench he was sat on and only came to an abrupt stop once he collided into Phillip Crane.

“Did you just Accio me?” Benedict cried out when he looked across the table and saw his brother tucking his wand back into his robes.

“As a matter of fact, I did. I’ve got a bone to pick with you.” Colin said with a rather vexed expression on his face.

“What? What did I do?” Benedict spluttered, wondering what sort of nonsense his brother was going to come up with.

“You stole my date to the ball, is what you did!”

Benedict frowned at his brother, then glanced at Phillip and Michael, neither of whom looked the faintest bit interested in the Bridgerton boys’ drama as they continued to eat their breakfast.

“Funny, Sophie said that nobody had asked her to be their date to the ball.”

“Well no, I might not have asked her but it was assumed.” Colin said arrogantly.

“Well then perhaps you shouldn’t have assumed,” Benedict countered, “since Sophie made no mention of going to the ball with you.”

“Well we went to the ball together last year, all four of us.” Colin gestured to his remotely uninterested friends. “It’s our thing and now you’ve ruined it.”

“Is it really a thing if you only did it the once?” Benedict questioned.

Colin’s eyes narrowed at him. “It’s a friendship thing, Benedict. It was supposed to be a tradition.”

“Then maybe you should have made that clearer to Sophie.”

“Probably should have made it clearer to me too.” Phillip chimed in. “I didn’t realise none of us were supposed to have dates.”

Colin opened his mouth to make a retort to his brother when he did a double take at Phillip. “Hang on; are you telling me you’ve got a date as well?”

“Yeah.” Phillip grunted with a crumpet in his mouth.

Colin stared at him open-mouthed as he processed this new information. “What do you mean you’ve got a date? You - Phillip Crane - asked someone to go to the ball with you?”

“I didn’t ask.” Phillip said as he buttered another crumpet. “I got asked and I accepted.”

“What the f-”

“Well who’s the lucky lady then?” Michael asked excitedly and cut Colin off.

“Lucy.” Phillip replied and took a bite of his crumpet.

Looks of confusion were exchanged between Michael and the two Bridgerton brothers as they tried to wrack their brains to figure out who Lucy was.

“Are you talking about Henry’s stepsister, Lucy?” Benedict puzzled as he tried to think of Lucy Granville asking out the shy and retiring Phillip.

“No.” Phillip said with a mouthful of crumpet.

“Is it that Metamorphmagus girl from Care of Magical Creatures?” Michael queried.

“No, that’s Dulcie.” Phillip corrected him.

“Which Lucy is it then?” Colin asked.

“Lucy Biggsley.”

Phillip’s response still left the other three stumped as they all struggled to place the girl in question.

“What class is she in?” Michael wondered.

“She’s in Herbology club with me.” Phillip mentioned, though once he realised this still didn’t clear things up for the other three he let out a groan and rolled his eyes. “She’s a Gryffindor sixth year, long dark hair, big brown eyes,”

“Oh!” Colin jolted in his seat with realisation. “Do you mean Lucy Big Tits?” he exclaimed in a voice loud enough for the surrounding tables on either side of them could hear.

Phillip beckoned Colin to lean in closer with his finger and when he did, Phillip smacked him with the back of his hand.

“Ow!” Colin childishly whined and recoiled.

“Her name is Lucy.” Phillip firmly stated.

“How the hell’d you manage that, Phil, you sly dog?” Michael smirked ecstatically.

Benedict was equally curious to learn how Phillip had pulled the girl. Lucy Biggsley had had boys lusting over her ever since she came back after the summer holidays in fourth year with a suddenly ample bust that was hard for anyone to ignore. The poor girl was regularly hounded and ogled, and yet to everyone’s knowledge she had never had a boyfriend let alone been on a date with anyone at all.

Phillip shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess we’ve always discussed plants together and got along well.”

“Discussing plants?” Colin screwed his face up incredulously. “You can’t be serious! Or is discussing plants innuendo for you inspecting her bush?”

Colin was struck again, only this time it was a smack around the head from Sophie before she slipped into the seat beside him.

“Ow! Why does everyone keep hitting me?” Colin complained.

“Because you keep objectifying that poor girl!” Sophie scolded him.

“But Sophie it doesn’t make any sense why Lucy Big Tits - ow!” he exclaimed as Sophie clipped his ear.

“I think what Colin is trying to say is that we’re struggling to understand how Phillip ended up getting asked out by her, seeing as he doesn’t appear any the wiser either.” Michael explained.

“Ugh, you idiots!” Sophie rolled her eyes tiresomely. “It’s because Phillip treats her like an actual person! He chats to her about Herbology instead of asking her what her cup size is and he can have a conversation with her without his gaze wandering down to her chest. He has no ulterior motive when he talks to her unlike literally every other guy at this school!”

“Wait, is that why your neck is so thick?” Colin turned his attention back to Phillip. “From all the restraint of not looking at her chest? Ow!”

“Perv!” Eloise called over her shoulder as she walked past, having smacked her brother around the ear.

“And you wonder why you haven’t got a date for the ball.” Sophie snorted and shook her head.

“Um, for your information, neither me or Michael have dates!”

“Well if everyone else’s got a date...” Michael said and then turned to peer down the other end of the table. “Oi!” he shouted through cupped hands. “Honouria!”

Honouria Smythe-Smith darted her head in Michael’s direction, her friends all shushing themselves to see what he was going to say.

“Do you,” Michael mouthed over to her before miming holding someone in a ballroom dance, “with me?”

Honouria’s mouth dropped open before one of her friends nudged her and she responded to him with a fervent nod of the head.

“Great!” Michael gave her the thumbs up and turned back to his friends as Honouria’s squealed in delight for her. “Well, that’s me sorted.”

“So I guess that really just leaves you without a date, huh?” Benedict teasingly grinned at his brother.

“For the love of - could my morning get any worse? GAH!”

A large parcel had suddenly walloped Colin right in the face and Sophie’s owl Ember ended up flipping over and landing into the bowl of jam in her disorientation.

“Stupid bird!” Colin cursed as he rubbed at his head and scowled at the jam-drenched owl.

“Hey, leave her alone! She’s only little!” Benedict said defensively, retrieving the small and sticky owl from the bowl and wiping her down with some nearby napkins.

“What’ve you ordered, Soph?” Michael enquired.

“Oh, it’s my dress!” Sophie chirped as she recognised where the wrapping of her parcel was from.

“What?” Colin frowned. “You got a new dress just for the ball?”

“Yes, Colin.” She replied tightly. “The one I had last year doesn’t fit me anymore.”

“Hm, I suppose, what with your chest filling out - ARGH!”

“That’s far too much tittie talk for this time in the morning, mate.” Michael said after knocking a fist into Colin’s groin.

Benedict rolled his eyes at yet another one of his brother’s tactless remarks that morning. He shot an exasperated look at Sophie who shook her head despairingly before returning her attention to Colin and Michael bickering. Benedict couldn’t really be bothered to follow his brother and his friend’s back and forth, instead he looked at Sophie’s parcel, wondering what her dress might look like. As he pondered on the thought, his gaze rose without him realising and rested on Sophie’s chest, which Colin was right had filled out in the last year and Benedict recalled the tight tank top she had worn during the summer -

Hang on; nope. Don’t do that. Don’t think of Sophie like that. She’s your little brother’s friend. Stop objectifying her like that.

He craned his neck towards his brother, only to catch Phillip’s scrutinising stare. They maintained eye contact for a beat before Colin drew their attention back to him as he stood up from the table.

“Well seeing as you’re all such traitors, I’m gonna go get my own date for the ball!” he declared petulantly before stalking off.

As Colin stormed off, Clement landed on the table with far more grace than Ember and presented a package for Benedict.

“That’s odd, I don’t remember ordering anything.” he remarked as he detached the parcel from Clement’s outstretched leg.

“Oh, I think that’s from your mum.” Sophie said, biting her lip hesitantly. “I think she heard from Posy or Daph that we were going to the ball together so she asked me what colour dress I was getting. That’s probably the waistcoat she ordered for you so we can match.”

Sophie seemed uncertain with how he’d react but Benedict was delighted by this piece of news. “And what colour is your dress?” he enquired and raised an intrigued quizzical brow.

“Silver.”

Benedict’s mind immediately began picturing Sophie in a whole array of various silver coloured dresses, envisioning her as a fairy princess that he’d get to sweep across the dancefloor and feeling smug that everyone at the ball would know they had come together when they wore matching colours.

“Sounds perfect.” he grinned at her and she smiled back timidly at him as her cheeks flushed pink from what he assumed was the general cold Scottish weather.

“You know what, I’d better go ask Honouria if she wants to colour-coordinate as well.” Michael remarked before saluting them goodbye and traipsing off.

“And I’d better drop this off in my dormitory before my Arithmancy lesson.” Sophie declared as she got to her feet and picked her parcel up with her. “Thanks for cleaning Ember up, Ben. I’ll see you later.”

Then just as Benedict was about to return back to Henry and Wetherby down the table, Phillip placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him in place.

“Phil?”

“Ben, I know you’re a decent guy and you’re Colin’s brother but please promise me you won’t do anything to hurt or upset Sophie.”

Benedict was thrown by the warning he had just been dealt with. “What? I’m sorry, Phil, but why would I do that? I wouldn’t dream of hurting Sophie.”

“And I know that, but this ball means a lot to her - you know, just like any ball any girl goes to.” Phillip explained carefully. “I know you’ll be kind and respectful, Ben. Just don’t do anything that might even inadvertently upset her, okay? I’m only asking as her friend.”

“No, of course, Phil. I get it. Sophie means just as much to me as she does to you and there’s nothing I would do to jeopardise that friendship - or her friendship with Colin for that matter.”

To be fair, Benedict knew exactly where Phillip was coming from and he admired the younger boy for looking out for Sophie. As he was older, it was easy enough to think he might take advantage of her, but Benedict would never do that. He’d never do anything to make Sophie sad and he’d do everything he could to give Sophie the best Yule ball experience ever - there would be nothing that could spoil the night for her.

#narrator: but he was an idiot and did in fact spoil it for her #bridgerton drabble #harry potter au #benophie #benedict bridgerton #sophie beckett #colin bridgerton #phillip crane #michael stirling

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nova-is-a-writer-now · 4 years ago

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The way you said “I love you”

Summary: All the times you and Zuko said I love you to eachother, sometimes without even actually saying it.

A/N: I was feeling a little uninspired while trying to write pt.4 of Fools, so I decided to write something else in the mean time. I saw someone did this and I found it so adorable I decided to do it too. Sadly I only saved the original post and not the hc that was inspired in it, so if you know who came up with this pls @ them so I can credit them.

Side note, I had more ideas for some of the other prompts but didn’t want to make this excessively long, so maybeeee I’ll make another one of these but we’ll see.

original post

-IF YOU HAVE ANY REQUESTS DONT HESITATE TO ASK-

As a hello

It was late on the night the gaang had finally agreed to let Zuko join them. They hadn’t been specially trustful or accepting of him, but they let him join, and that was what mattered to Zuko, he’ll work his way up to everything else.

He couldn’t sleep, thoughts about everything that had happened and everything that would happen running around in his mind. The stars above him glimmered in wonderful harmony, the time of the year where the sun would be more forgiving at day and the nights would gain a growing coolness to them came around.

Lost in his head, Zuko was startled when he heard you take a sit next to him. You were the only one in the group who Zuko didn’t know that well. He’d only seen you a handful of times before that night and couldn’t really tell on what ground he stood with you.

You handed him a blanket with one hand while you held your own around your back and over your shoulders with the other. “Didn’t want you to freeze to death on your first night.” You explained when you saw the confused look of his face.

“I’m a fire bender, I don’t get cold.” He replied taking only a couple of seconds to mentally slap himself for being rude. This being a good guy thing was gonna take some practice.

“Oh” you said, the realization of his words hitting you, feeling a little dumb for not thinking about it before.

“But thanks...anyways” Zuko tried to redeem himself, hoping he didn’t make a bad impression on the one person who didn’t hate him already.

“Yeah, no problem.” Your eyes drifted up to the stars too. They were prettier tonight, maybe it was because of how peaceful things felt for once. A deep sigh forced you to turn your attention back to the dark haired boy. “Are you ok?” You asked him, hoping he wouldn’t feel like you’re intruding.

“Yeah, just...worried. Katara still hates me, Sokka doesn’t trust me and Aang only keeps me around because he needs me. I’m not complaining, I just... don’t know how to show them I’ve changed.”

“I’m sure Katara is gonna come around eventually, she has too much of a big heart to stay mad at anyone for too long. Aang is the one that convinced everyone to let you join, so I think he does like you, and Sokka is...well, Sokka, I wouldn’t worry about it” you reassured him.

Zuko gave your words a thought. You were right, but things were still complicated. He looked at you and asked. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

You looked away from his gaze, his golden eyes were a bit intimidating if you were honest. “I...don’t know. I guess I just believe you when you say you’ve changed. I see good in you... I always have, even when we were running away from you. All of us have done things in the past we aren’t too proud of, some of them may be worse than others, but we’re all here now, and we’re all trying to do the right thing. I think that on its own makes you worthy of a second chance.”

Your words shocked Zuko. No one besides his uncle had been that kind to him in a long time. He felt hope inside, if someone as kind and good as you could forgive him, think that he could be redeemed, then he hoped everyone else would too. “I...thank you. I promise I won’t disappoint you... any of you.”

“You and I can start on a blank slate, as a matter of fact” you extended your hand to him. “Hi, I’m Y/N, very nice to meet you.”

Zuko chuckled very lightly at the weird way you had decided to show how it was a new beginning for the both of you, but played along. “I’m Zuko, it’s very nice to meet you too.”

When the broken glass litters the floor

It was your first day on the Ember Island’s house. Katara and you had been cooking with the groceries Sokka and Suki brought from the market. You two weren’t experts but you had gotten so much better by then. Katara decided to go outside with a basket of cabbages to feed Appa and told you to stay and check on the food so it wouldn’t burn.

No more than a few minutes passed before you heard Zuko coming inside from where he had been training with Aang. He took his shirt off at some point during the training, leaving his naked and muscular torso was exposed.

You tried your best not to stare but you couldn’t help the blush that took over your face when you looked up to his eyes and found him staring right back. His cheeks were blushed as well and you decided for your own sake to assume it was from the physical activity.

“Hey...um, do you mind pouring me a glass of water, please?” He asked softly, his voice a tad raspier from him being out of breath.

“Yeah sure.” You managed to say.

When you turned around to get a glass for him your arm bumped into a glass vase that was incredibly bad placed, throwing it off from where it had been resting. One of your feet was already lifted when the vase crashe onto the floor and into a million pieces, which made you nearly lose your balance and step right on the fragments. In a fraction of a second you felt Zuko’s hand grabbing your wrist and pulling you back, which made you very strongly land on his chest. His other hand instantly moved to the small of your back, as if he was scared you would fall without his support.

His eyes met yours as you raised your head to look at him, your faces closer than they’d ever been before. Both of you held your breath for a few seconds before you broke the silence. “thank you.” You muttered softly not wanting to move a single muscle.

“You’re welcome” Zuko replied in the same tone, softening the grip on your wrist.

The moment would’ve lasted way longer had Katara not stormed into the kitchen after hearing the sound of breaking glass.

“I left you in the kitchen alone for ONE SECOND!”

Not said to me

Zuko had clearly been avoiding you the past couple of days. Was it the war that was starting to gain weight inside his head? Was it how close you two had started to get all of the sudden? Was it something you did? You didn’t know for sure, but you knew you didn’t like the feeling of it, at all.

He told everyone one morning he wasn’t feeling great, so he would stay inside instead of spending the day at the beach like the rest of you had planned. This was your chance to get him alone and try to talk.

You decided to make him a special tea recipe you’d picked up from Iroh at some point, he said it was a miracle when it came to curing illness. When you tried it you were surprised from how good it ended up tasting. You poured it into a teapot and grabbed a couple of cups, proceeding to take them upstairs where Zuko’s room was.

You were about to walk right in when you heard Sokka voice coming from inside, realizing the door was only half open.

“You can’t do nothing, dude. What kind of dumb ass plan is that?” He said whisper-screaming.

“I’m not telling her.” Zuko replied in a voice so low you almost couldn’t hear him.

“Why not? She clearly likes you back, you know that, I know that, and everyone else does too. The two of you are the only ones who keep acting like it isn’t obvious.”

You wonder who they could possibly be talking about, a small pit of jealousy forming inside of you.

“You don’t know that for sure, and I’m not losing Y/N’s friendship just cause I was dumb enough to crush on her. Trying to get over it is better than getting rejected and ruining everything, I like her too much to do that.” as soon as you heard your name your heart stopped.

Zuko... liked you. He liked you and was scared you didn’t like him back. How could he ever think that? Sometimes you felt like you were too obvious about it, but it was hard not to. It was his golden eyes, probably the most beautiful thing you’d ever seen, how they looked like growing flames when the sun hit them, the little dark spots around the rim of his irises, how they looked at you intensely like if when you talked everything else faded. It was the way he would throw his head back when he laughed, but only when you made him laugh really hard, how his face glowed with a youthful tint, like he was a normal teenager even though you were in the middle of a war, and how when he stopped laughing he had to take a deep breath before letting the laugh die down. It was the way he talked about his mom with such love and adoration, or how he talked about the future with a little bit of fear but mostly hope. It was the way he was always ready to run to you if you needed him to, making sure you were ok, protecting you. It was him, all of him, it had always been him.

You were shocked at the words you just heard but glad you’d heard them. Before either of them walked out and found you there, you walked back downstairs as quietly as you could, praying they wouldn’t hear the creaks of the stairs. Once you were back at the kitchen you decided to wait for Sokka to come down, he had to eventually, and you hoped he would leave Zuko alone when he did. It didn’t take him much longer to do so, to your relief coming down the stairs alone. He looked at you and smiled.

“Hey, Y/N. Watcha doing?”

“Making tea for Zuko, is he feeling any better?”

“Oh, no. He’s terrible, the poor thing. You should definitely go check on him.” He tried to say this without smiling so you would take him seriously but the corners of his mouth were already starting to curve up.

“Will do, thanks Sokka.” On the surface, you were thanking him for the information he was giving you, but deep down you were also thanking him for being the reason why you found out Zuko also liked you.

You walked back upstairs, not even thinking of bringing the tea up with you. You took in a deep breath before opening the door, and you when you did, you saw him laying there, eyes closed at first but opened quickly when he heard you come in.

“Y/N... hi.” He said sitting up.

“Hey, wanted to check up on you, Sokka said you were feeling terrible.” You told him knowing he would kill Sokka afterwards for sabotaging him.

“I’m not feeling terrible, I’m much better actually, but thanks for coming to check on me.” You took a sit on his bed, close enough to be able to do what you were planning your next move to be.

“I’m glad. We need you up and in your best shape right now.” You waited a few seconds trying to gather all the bravery you had inside before saying. “Zuko?”

“Yes?”

You didn’t warn him before closing the space that separated the two of you, one of your hands went up to cup his cheek while your lips pressed softly against his. You could tell he was shocked by how his body stiffened under your touch, your lips moved softly and slowly trying to figure out wether he wanted to kiss you or not. You were about to pull away when he started kissing you back. His own hand sliding up to your neck, holding you firmly while his lips devoured yours, like he had been waiting for this moment for way too long. When the two of you finally pulled apart to fill in your lungs again, your eyes connected with his, there was a new kind of light in them. A smile took over his lips when his eyes drifted back down to your lips.

“Were you eavesdropping when I was talking to Sokka?” He asked softly and teasingly.

“What in the world would make you think that?”

Over and over again, till it’s nothing but a senseless babble

You were under the covers in Zuko’s bed. Your eyes deeply staring into his, your fingers running up and down his jaw, sometimes getting distracted and playing with his hair. The moonlight leaked through the window and the only sounds that could be heard were the ones of trees swaying with the wind.

Zuko looked at you intensely and profoundly. He was sure you were a dream sometimes, something so perfect couldn’t be real, so he touched you to make sure you were actually there, and he held you gently but firmly to make sure that even if you were a dream, he wouldn’t lose you.

“We should sleep” you muttered in a whisper

“We should” he replied his lids already looking a little heavy.

“Good night, Zuko.” You planted a little short peck on his lips before starting to turn around.

“Good night, Y/N” he replied getting comfortable. “I love you.”

Your heart stopped at this words, a warm feeling started to crawl up your body and your eyes that were already closed opened abruptly.

You turned back around to find him staring at the ceiling, eyes wide open while holding his breath. “What did you just say?” You asked him.

“I-... I’m sorry it just...slipped.” He explained.

You knew he could be a little insecure sometimes, always thought he was unlovable so you had to constantly make sure he knew how much you liked him. This was one of those occasions. You crashed your lips against his roughly, pulling him so he would be on top of you. This kiss was a declaration, a promise and a revelation all at the same time, your lips moved hungrily and passionately trying to show him how much you loved him back.

Once you separated you looked at him sweetly and said “Say it again.”

“I love you.” Zuko was more sure of himself this time, a warm smile took over his face.

“Again, please.”

“I love you.”

“One more time.”

He took your face into your hands and kissed your forehead first. “I love you” then he went to your right cheek “I love you” and to the left “I love you” and to your nose “I love you” and finally took in a deep breath before looking to your lips “Y/N Y/L/N you have no idea how much I fucking love you” he kissed you again.

Maybe you couldn’t understand how much love he felt for you, how it burned inside of him like a wild fire, how when you were with him all his worries faded and the rest of the world was put on pause, maybe you’d never even grasp the way you were his first thought in the morning and his last at night, but he could try showing all of it to you with a kiss.

You pulled away to look at him one last time and said “I love you more, I will always love you more.”

#zuko x reader #zuko fanfic #atla zuko #zuko x you #zuko imagine #avatar zuko #prince zuko #zuko #zuko x y/n #fire lord zuko #zuko x oc #atla au #atla fandom #atla fanfic

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deniigi · 4 years ago

Note

will we be getting anyting spooky for this year? "ain't afraid of no ghost!" fed my halloween loving soul.

hi!!

I’m a little burnt out with writing right now, BUT I do have a piece from the Selkie Verse that’s a little bit ghostly/scary. I can’t remember if I posted it here already or not, but I’ll give it to you (again?)

It’s like 8k so be prepared!

Title: ember ghosts

Summary: Flash forces Peter, Ned, and MJ to go ghost hunting in a local cemetery. Peter decides to add a little pizzazz to this trip in the form of Resident Dead Hero Jack Murdock to get back at Flash. Things, as they are wont, go terribly wrong.

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

Matt’s new coat was white and incredibly heavy; Peter learned that last part upon dragging MJ and Ned over to catch Matt in the act of grooming it.

He barked at them and the volume of the sound locked Peter into place for a minute before he came back to himself and hustled in to go flop down next to Matt and ask him if he needed help first, and then secondly, if his dad was busy.

Matt felt for his chin and then jerked his face close.

“What business do you have with him?” he asked.

Stories about baby seals, obviously.

Matt tossed him away.

“You’re not borrowing my father’s spirit to scare Flash,” he said.

MJ and Ned came over to join the pleading session.

“But Mr. Murdock’s the biggest ghost ever,” Peter lamented.

“He’s a normal sized spirit, not a ghost,” Matt sniffed at him as he gathered up his fur rug from the floor and started picking through it in his lap.

The gesture he used was mesmerizing. He dragged the fur back the wrong way until he found something he didn’t like, then used the last three fingers on his hand to scrape at it until it was vanquished. He pulled his whole hand over the place again and carried on down the stripe he was making until he found another knot or bit of dirt or something to scratch at.

“Can I try?” Ned asked.

Matt’s face jerked his way and he dragged even more of the coat into his lap.

“No touching,” he said.

“I thought Foggy’s coat was the white one?” MJ asked.

Matt gathered his coat even further in offense.

“It will shed,” he said. “It is a new coat.”

“It’s baby fur,” Peter told the others. “Foggy said—”

He got a face full of baby fur and could now confirm that it was soft and fluffy and amazing. He could sleep in this.

“It’s a new coat,” Matt emphasized. “Annoying me will not unlock access to my old man.”

Boo on you, sealman.

“I’m gonna ask your mom then,” Peter declared.

He got yanked down before he was even all the way up.

Matt held his chin again.

“He’s a spirit,” he said. “And a hero. Say it with me.”

“He’s a spirit and a hero,” Peter repeated.

Matt shoved him away.

“If you ask him very nicely, he might be interested in having some time away from the church. But not too long. He can’t be away from Mum for too long, you hear?”

That was permission.

“We hear,” Peter promised. “Should we bring Sister Maggie an offering?”

Matt huffed and stood up. He left his pile of coat behind him and the urge to pet it behind his back was insurmountable. Peter met Ned and MJ’s eyes and bounced his brows. MJ shook her head.

Matt returned from the table and held something out towards the coat. MJ leaned forward and plucked it out of his hand.

“A comb?” she asked.

“Tell her its teeth are too wide,” Matt said. “Go get a bouquet of flowers—no roses, Peter. Go for hyssop if you can find it.”

Copy that.

“Be gone with you.”

“You’re my favorite teammate,” Peter said.

“I said begone,” Matt sniffed.

---

“You think he should have just kept it anyways?” MJ asked on the way to May’s friend Tonya’s place.

Ned took the comb from her and held it up to the sun.

“What do you think it’s made out of?” he asked.

Knowing the selkies? Probably teeth.

The other two stared at Peter.

He shrugged.

“Johnny says selkies are obsessed with guarding their teeth,” he said. “So maybe it’s whale bone or something.”

Ned huffed.

“Maybe it’s turtle shell,” he said.

Maybe.

“Why not roses?” MJ asked Peter.

Oh, well that was easy enough.

“There’s not really a kind of rose that isn’t a curse for Mr. Murdock,” he said. “It’s all friendship this, scorned lover that. And from the sounds of it, he doesn’t like them. Hyssop is a sacrifice flower, so you know. It’s an offering for both him and Sister Maggie.”

MJ tapped at her lip.

“Do you think we should cover our basis with a can of sardines, too?” she asked.

Well, it couldn’t hurt.

---

Tonya, upon learning that the flowers Peter was seeking were to be given to a ‘selkie and her young man’ (in her words) went a little overboard.

She stuffed the hyssop in as an afterthought among a tryptic of sunflowers in a bed of bursting blue cornflowers. She mused on a pink rose or two to top the whole thing off, until Peter informed her that the son of the recipients had warned against it.

She said hollyhock would have to do, and then she gave Peter a basket of herbs for drying back home. She said to leave them outside when he went in to talk to the selkie.

Tonya’s apprentice said nothing the whole time and stared at Peter like he was scum while she snipped the low leaves off the stems of black-eyed susans. Peter resolutely didn’t look at her or her fancy, pale-eyed familiar.

She was a poser, anyways.

“Tell me how it goes,” Tonya hummed, draping herself across the desk and humming. “I wish I could bag a selkie. Imagine it, Missy. Strong handsome man comes up from the banks and—”

“The banks of the Hudson, Ms. Rice?” Missy said scathingly.

Tonya considered this then shrugged.

“He’s shower first,” she said.

Peter and the others said bye.

---

Sister Maggie was suspicious of the flowers. But to be fair, she was suspicious of pretty much everything. She accepted the comb back much more comfortably.

“You want Jackie?” she asked once that was done.

“Yes, ma’am,” Peter said.

“What for?”

A reckoning.

“One of our classmates is a jerk,” MJ said. “He’s forcing everyone in our club to go ghost-hunting with him even though no one wants to. So we thought we’d give him a run for his money, but we didn’t want to like, disturb anyone or raise the dead or whatever.”

Sister Maggie’s eyebrow arched and Peter swore that she was going to start in for a lecture. He braced himself.

It did not come.

“That’s considerate of you,” she said instead. “How long do you need him for?”

“Like, just a few hours? Fourish?” MJ said.

“Let me ask him,” Sister Maggie said. “I think he’ll be interested, he’s been rolling balls back to the wains all day. It’s only fun for the first five times.”

---

Mr. Murdock was a good four inches taller than Matt and around forty or fifty pounds heavier. He looked like he could carry all the babies at St. Agnes’s all at the same time if he wanted to. But, having seen the guy in action (i.e. hopelessly lost in the tunnels of the great seanchaidh), Peter now knew that he was kind of a St. Bernard burdened with a troublesome wife and son.

“Have fun,” Sister Maggie said.

Mr. Murdock huffed at her and said that he ‘shan’t’ and it made her laugh as she closed the door behind them all.

“I’m not a ghost,” he told Peter, ignoring the other two’s shock and awe.

“A spirit,” Peter said. “Yeah, I know. But Flash is a dick and you don’t like bullies, right?”

Mr. Murdock’s jaw worked.

“What kind of bully, now?” he asked.

“He calls us names and talks shit behind our backs and runs into me on purpose in the hall during passing period,” Peter said.

“Easy fix for that,” Matt’s dad said with a hand wave.

“Mr. Murdock, I can’t fight him. I’ll break him in half,” Peter said. “Fighting is only for spiders.”

Mr. Murdock did not understand. That was okay, he and Matt only understood the language of hitting people. It was genetic.

“If you can just like, do the glowy thing right behind him tonight when we go to this crypt, that would be super helpful,” Peter said.

“You glow?” Ned asked Mr. Murdock.

Mr. Murdock was not convinced.

“How will me standing over a guy get him to stop bullying you?” he asked.

That…was maybe a fair point.

“It’ll scare him,” Ned said. “And it’ll be all his fault and everyone will blame him and he’ll feel stupid for having made everyone go along with his dumb idea.”

Mr. Murdock considered him and then looked back to Peter.

“Just go with it,” Peter said. “It’s a teenager thing. It’s how we keep each other humble.”

---

Mr. Murdock didn’t want to wait with them until nightfall. He wanted to be with Matt. That was his second favorite place to be, apparently, after hanging around Sister Maggie, but Peter got the feeling that Matt would talk Mr. Murdock out of some good, honest revenge and into some Catholic guilt if they were stuck together. So he gave him the next best thing.

Foggy was basically a vengeful spirit.

He laughed really hard at the idea of Mr. Murdock going around scaring kids in a cemetery.

“No, no,” he said. “Here, you must—Jack, can you hold things?”

Peter snapped his head back to Mr. Murdock.

“Some,” Mr. Murdock said.

“How much can you lift?” Foggy asked.

Mr. Murdock squinted at him.

“I don’t like the question,” he said.

Foggy abandoned them all to go dig through one of his kitchen drawers. He came back with tiny bottle and held it out to Peter.

“Mix it with some lamp oil,” he said.

Peter took the bottle.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Ask not what you don’t want the answer to,” Foggy said. “Just mixy-mix, boyo. Here, I’ve even got a lantern around here somewhere. Jack, we need to dress you for the part.”

Peter paused and turned to look up at Mr. Murdock’s dark eyes and thick hair.

Dress? Him?

You could dress a spirit?

“Why not?” Foggy said. “You, my dear sir, need a coat and a flatcap.”

Mr. Murdock’s whole expression dropped.

“I’m not playing some ghostly lighthouse man in the middle of New York City,” he said.

“You are,” Foggy said seriously. “For your people, Jack. Think about your people. And fix that accent, I know you’ve got a brogue in you.”

Peter took Mr. Murdock home with him when he and the others split off to reconvene at the cemetery at 8 o’clock. Mr. Murdock rode the train like a champ. It was cramped from the rush hour traffic and Peter entertained himself by watching Mr. Murdock lay his hands tenderly on top of those belonging to douchebags who were plenty tall enough to hold onto the upper bar but who couldn’t be assed to look away from their phones to realize this.

One guy yelped at Mr. Murdock’s touch on his knuckles and ripped his hand off, only to see nothing there. Everyone around him stared at him.

He coughed and reached up for the overhead rail.

Mr. Murdock abandoned him to squeeze through the carriage to the back. He found a pregnant woman standing beside a group of teenagers all listening to music. Peter watched as he inspected the lady’s phone in her hand and then her face. He tapped on the top of the phone so it fell right out of her loose grip, and the woman jumped. The kids all startled at the sound of the phone hitting the ground and two jumped up to pick it up for her. One offered her his seat.

She thanked them and carefully, carefully sat down.

Mr. Murdock watched this with no expression.

Peter swallowed a giggle.

Jonathan ‘Jack’ Murdock. Lighthouse Ghost Impersonator and Subway Manners Enforcer.

---

“Oh, hey there, long time no see,” May said to Mr. Murdock when Peter got home. “You’re going with Pete and the others tonight?”

Mr. Murdock said nothing.

Peter recounted his poltergeist from earlier for him. May thought it was just delightful.

“I told him to take Johnny,” she said. “But you might be even better.”

“They should just fight it out,” Mr. Murdock said.

“Mm. School authorities won’t go for it,” May said. “So I’m afraid we must stoop to witchcraft.”

---

Mr. Murdock didn’t know the full glory of Youtube, so Peter spent the next few hours snacking and showing him clips of old vines. Then, when it was time to go, he turned to google how to use an oil lamp. Mr. Murdock watched him struggle for a good five minutes before reaching over him and showing him how.

“Did you and Matt not have electricity in Ireland?” Peter asked him.

Mr. Murdock huffed.

“No, I just uh. I guess I had an interest in maritime shit since I was a kid.”

Ohhh.

“Is that how you met Sister Maggie?” Peter asked.

Mr. Murdock’s lip quirked up a little.

“No,” he said. “But we got there anyways, didn’t we?”

---

“Do you not like roses?” Peter asked him on the way to the train station.

“They all smell like soap,” Mr. Murdock said as he followed Peter down the steps to the station. He was wearing the hat that Foggy had impressed on him. It was a strange thing; Foggy had marked it with a piece of chalk under the brim before handing it over and it seemed to have made it ghost-apparel. He didn’t have a big scary coat, but he did have a scarf and between that and the hat and the lantern, Mr. Murdock was plenty old-timey lighthouse man.

“Not all of them,” Peter said. “Some smell like lemon.”

“That’s what they want you to think,” Mr. Murdock said over the heads of folks by the train. “S’all soap.”

---

“Did you every hunt for ghosts when you were a kid?” Peter asked when they were approaching the gates of the meeting place. May had given him a bag full of offerings to place on graves when people he was with weren’t looking. Some mandarin oranges and little bouquets of lavender and zinnias with sprigs of baby’s breath. They were pretty. Peter had something like twenty in among the fruit.

“No, the dead never bothered me half as much as the living,” Mr. Murdock said.

That sounded kind of angsty.

“How did you become a hero?” Peter asked.

“Kind of a long, boring story,” Mr. Murdock said. “The short of it, I guess, is that I did a lot of shit for the fae and they appreciated it.”

“Johnny’s starstruck of you,” Peter pointed out. “He thinks you’re like, super cool. He told me you smell really good.”

Mr. Murdock glanced down at him.

“It’s a sign of status for the fae to be attached to a hero,” he said.

Oh???

“Am I a hero? Does Johnny get a boost from being with me?” Peter asked.

Mr. Murdock shrugged.

“You’re both pretty young to be able to know or tell,” he said. “And you’re a witch. So unless you’re a hero-witch, I got nothin’ for you.”

Ah, well. It was worth a shot.

“There’s Ned, that’s our cue. Here, you can take the lantern. I’ll point Flash out to you,” Peter said.

Mr. Murdock took the lantern Peter held out to him without complaint while Peter fumbled through his pockets for a lighter.

He held it out.

“Do you want me to light it or are you okay?” he asked.

“You light it,” Mr. Murdock said. “This is heavy for me in this shape.”

---

Mr. Murdock took the lantern and left Peter to go meet MJ and Ned. The light had vanished by the time Peter looked back.

“I think Mr. Murdock’s a little sad,” he told the others.

“Ghost separation anxiety?” MJ offered.

“Maybe it’s harder for him to be with people who aren’t his family. Maybe he’s tired,” Ned said.

Yeah, maybe.

“Or maybe he’s a softie who doesn’t like scaring people,” MJ said. “But that means that Matt got his nonsense gene from the nun side.”

It wasn’t implausible.

“Hey, are you guys coming?” Abe tossed back at them. He was prepared with two flashlights and a backpack with a bulky mobile charger in his pocket. He’d said that he wasn’t falling for ‘any ghost shit’ that night and no one was making any ‘dumbass mistakes’ on his watch.

Peter thought that Abe might try to punch Mr. Murdock in the gut. He and MJ agreed to separate him from Flash as soon as possible.

---

Flash insisted on leading the charge—of course he did. Peter hung back a ways so that he could set offerings on graves. Ned told kept reminding him that he didn’t have to do it for every single one, and obviously Peter knew that. But some of the graves deserved stones on them and a quick prayer. That was just being polite.

Flash caught him at it and asked him if he was scared. Peter told him to mind his own business.

“We’re here to find ghosts, not feed them,” Flash volleyed back.

Peter pointed at him in a way that he hoped was dramatic enough for Mr. Murdock to catch sight of it from wherever he was.

“If they’re eatin’ these, they aren’t eatin’ me,” he said. He offered Flash an orange. “You want one?”

Ned snickered.

“You’re not funny, Parker,” Flash sighed. His breath clouded around him. “Come on, it’s not too much further.”

---

The ‘crypt’ was actually a mausoleum, as Peter had expected. It was tall and made of stone and Peter could tell immediately that it was of no one of import to the local necromancers.

Even the vultures had declared the folks in this one too boring for their rituals. It was probably a family thing. A bunch of folks who were ordinary but devout. Maybe they had a little money and chose to spend it in death.

Everyone had their own thing.

Peter had oranges and flowers, for example. He snuck around the corner to set one onto the ground by the stone.

His breath puffed out around it and misted away and Peter paused before standing up out of his stoop. He could feel a breeze on his cheeks. He looked up and around.

“Mr. Murdock?” he breathed.

Nothing.

No lantern light.

“You’re not my ghost,” Peter whispered. “I’m just leavin’ a snack, okay?”

The breeze seemed to vanish.

Cool.

“Don’t mind my spirit friend. He’s big and kinda glowy, but he’s not one of you,” Peter said.

“Peter?”

He glanced over his shoulder.

“I’ve gotta go,” he said. “But this other idiot is gonna try to climb onto your grave. Sorry about him. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it.”

The leaves at his feet blew up and scattered around the orange.

“No problem.” Peter said. “Bye now.”

He hurried back to the others.

---

The main problem was that none of them knew how roman numerals worked and, surrounded by ghosts, looking it up on the internet was kind of challenging.

MJ and Ned gave Peter pointed looks when he came back to join them.

They knew Peter could read roman numerals. He was assigned the task of keeping his mouth shut without anyone having to tell him.

“Maybe they don’t want to be read,” Felicia said.

“Correct,” Abe agreed. “No reading. I can’t read. None of us can read. This is a blessing of ignorance, given to us by the Lord.”

Flash stared at them.

“X is ten,” he deadpanned.

“Damnit, Flash,” Abe said.

“What’s L?” Flash said. “And M?”

“Code,” Ned chimed in.

He got flat eyebrows all around.

“We live in the twenty-first century,” Flash told the stone. “Just use normal numbers like everyone else.”

The wind kicked up a bit in offense.

“Alright, well, now what?” Abe said. “Not a single ghost so far. Only a creepy stone in a creepy yard with a creepy—oh shit. Turn off the light.”

Say what now?

“Keeper,” Abe snapped over his shoulder, pointing away from them towards a floating light. “Turn ‘em off or we’ll get kicked out.”

Oh.

The lantern.

Peter joined the others in turning off their lights and hiding on the other side of the mausoleum.

“You’d have thought it would be too late for working,” Felicia whispered.

“It’s a graveyard,” MJ whispered back. “The time you need the most coverage is night.”

“Are they still there?” Abe asked.

Flash peeked out from around the stone.

“No,” he said.

Peter untensed his shoulders and stepped out.

“What if it’s not a keeper?” he asked. “What if it’s a—”

“Huh-uh. No,” Abe snapped. “We’re not asking stupid questions tonight, remember, Parker? I specifically said this not 10 minutes ago. No stupid questions.”

Abe had seen a few horror movies, it would seem.

“Alright, alright. No stupid questions,” Peter said. “It’s just—that doesn’t look like a flashlight to me.”

Ned made a show of looking around.

“It’s gone, it doesn’t look like anything to anyone,” he said.

“This is exciting,” Felicia anxiety-giggled.

“It’s not,” MJ sighed. “Well, we’re already here. Might as well keep going.”

The others all turned towards her.

“Wait, you mean, go further?” Flash asked.

MJ shrugged.

“We’re only like, part of the way in,” she said.

Peter surveyed the space beyond their current alley of monuments. The light from the two floodlights at the gated entrance was already weak. Further out, there wouldn’t be light until they hit the war memorial way, way in the back.

That was a plenty big enough stretch.

“Guys? Did it get foggy?” Felicia asked.

Peter shivered.

He had about ten oranges left and an equal number of flower packets.

Welp.

“Let’s go,” he said. “Before it rolls in thicker.”

---

The grass seemed to get wetter and wetter with every yard and Peter had started to see things out of the corners of his eyes. Shadows. Little flickers of light.

He felt MJ’s fingers sink into his jacket sleeve as he watched an extra set of legs follow behind them in the jerky shadows jostled around by the flashlights.

Abe froze twice, each time to take a deep steady breath and to remind himself that he was not asking stupid questions.

Flash laughed at him, but the sound was strained and a little hysterical. Felicia had grabbed ahold of one of each of their arms up ahead. Ned touched Peter’s shoulder.

“Where is he?” he whispered.

Peter shrugged.

“He’s lantern man,” he said. “We’ll see him.”

“In the mist?”

Mmmm. Okay maybe they should have brought Johnny after all.

---

They were halfway to the war memorial when the lights above it suddenly went out. MJ’s fingers dug deep into Peter’s sleeve. Ned gasped.

“Dude,” Flash’s voice said in the dark. “That’s not cool. Don’t do that.”

“Don’t you talk to it,” Abe snapped. “Don’t you dare talk to it. Just walk. Don’t ask questions. Just walk.”

Peter felt wind against his cheeks. He shivered.

Mr. Murdock wouldn’t fuck with the lights, would he? Was he that strong?

Peter thought he was supposed to be a spirit, not a ghost. And he’d seemed kind of tired earlier. Surely he hadn’t fallen asleep or something, right?

There was a loud rustle to the right of their group and Peter jumped, which made MJ jump, which made Felicia yelp.

The rustle carried on. It was punctuated with a horrible, wet-sounding slap all of the sudden.

“Wh—what was that?” Flash asked.

Another slap rang out, then another. Followed by the sound of something dropping into leaves. Something…heavy.

“Nice try, slugger,” Mr. Murdock growled.

Actually growled. Like an angry tiger or something.

Peter shivered hard.

This guy hadn’t been scared at all. He’d been preparing himself.

To fight.

Fuck.

Abort mission. Abort, abort, abort.

“We need to leave,” Peter said sharply.

“Agreed,” MJ said.

“Yep,” Ned said.

“You speak my language finally,” Abe said. “About-face and—”

“Don’t move,” Mr. Murdock said dangerously.

Peter felt his body turn to ice.

“Who’s there?” Flash asked.

“They’re mine,” Mr. Murdock rumbled. “Hands off, ya fuckin’ lowlife. Yeah, get back to your hole. Go on.”

Oh, okay.

Fun times with the undead. Peter should have brought holy water.

“Wh—who’s there?” Flash asked again in a cracking voice.

The sound of metal clanking met them and then an orange flash crackled into sight. And there was Mr. Murdock. Six foot two and missing his hat. He looked huge and solid and his shoulders glowed ever so slightly.

Flash and Felicia and Abe gasped.

“Y’all better be moving along,” Mr. Murdock said, meeting Peter’s eyes seriously.

“Are—are you a ghost?” Felicia whispered.

Mr. Murdock flicked his eyes down at her and they didn’t reflect the light from the lantern.

“Folks call me ‘Jack,’” he said, holding out the lantern. “Or they used to. Nowadays, the little ones call me ‘John.’ This is a ritual grounds tonight, kids. Bad night for a hunt for the living. Go on, I’ll see you out. Take this; your lights won’t work.”

MJ took out her flashlight and it clicked as she turned it on and then off.

“What kind of ritual?” Peter asked.

Mr. Murdock’s lips thinned.

“Go,” he said.

Peter’s chest expanded.

“Where are they?” he asked.

Mr. Murdock shook his head.

“Go,” he said again. “This isn’t for you, little witch.”

Peter heard the others’ shape intakes of air, but he held firm.

“You’re a spirit,” he said. “You can’t stop them.”

Mr. Murdock sighed and his shoulders fell slowly.

“I’m not just a spirit,” he said. “I’m a hero. I’ll see you out. Tell my son the name of this place. He’ll come in the morning.”

Wh—

No, wait.

“Don’t go,” Peter said.

But he was already gone. Felicia was left holding the lantern.

---

They ran-slipped-fell all the way back the way they’d come. This time, Peter held his breath at the sound of too many feet hitting the wet pockets of mud around them. He heard Felicia sobbing and the lantern clanking dangerously ahead of them.

The floodlights at the entrance had gone out.

They had to carefully climb the fence and pass off the lantern one at a time until they were on the other said, panting.

Peter realized belatedly that he’d dropped the bag of grave offerings.

He dipped his head and clenched his fists.

He’d have to go back for it in the morning.

“You’re a witch,” Flash suddenly snapped at him.

“Lay off,” MJ said immediately.

“You’re a witch and you brought that—that guy with us?” Flash asked.

“It was supposed to be a joke,” Peter said.

“A joke?” Abe said. “You—Peter, witches aren’t real. Ghosts aren’t real. Who was that?”

“No, you, a witch, thought it would be funny to bring some kind of spirit with us to a graveyard?” Flash demanded.

Peter huffed.

“Hey, you were a dick about this first,” Ned said. “The ghost dude is harmless.”

“Harmless?” Flash said. “Harmless? Yeah, fuckin’ streetfighter ghost is harmless.”

“He’s not a ghost,” Abe said, “He’s an actor. Peter that’s not cool, man. That’s not cool.”

“He’s not an actor,” Felicia said quietly.

The rest of them turned to see her holding the still-burning lantern. She was staring into it.

“His hands were so cold,” she whispered.

Abe executed a full-body shiver.

“Well, now what?” he asked. “We’ve trespassed, found a ghost, and nearly got ritualed to death. What else do we need to do to learn that this was a bad idea all along?”

Peter looked up at the gate.

“Dark magic,” he said.

MJ and Ned turned towards him.

“Peter, you’re not going back in there,” Ned said.

“I took charge of the spirit,” Peter said, setting his jaw. “I’m not going back on my word to a selkie.” He jerked back. “I need my familiar,” he said. “You guys can go.”

“Your…familiar?” Abe said slowly. “Peter. Peter, you are not a witch.”

“He’s not a familiar like others are, maybe, but he’s mine,” Peter said. “And he’ll know how to help the spirit.”

Ned and MJ exchanged glances.

“Okay?” Ned said. “Well, where is he?”

---

Johnny answered his phone and said he’d been 20 minutes. They were the longest 20 minutes of Peter’s life and were spent primarily being interrogated by Abe, Flash, and Felicia.

They were understandably upset by the set-up, and then understandably upset by the fact that they were, in fact, living in ignorance of a whole multi-dimensional plane.

Abe demanded to know if genies were real, and Peter could only say that they probably were.

“Just so I’m clear here,” Flash said. “You went and borrowed your local seal-person’s husband for a jump-scare for us and now we are waiting on a fire demon to help us rescue the seal-person’s undead husband from some evil witches trying to raise the dead?”

Peter chewed a few fingers.

“That’s the gist of it, yeah,” he said.

“PARKER.”

“PETER. OH MY GOD.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Abe sobbed.

“I was appeasing the spirits,” Peter snapped at them. “Why do you think I brought all those oranges? Do I look like I’m vitamin C deficient?”

“You’re a witch,” Felicia said. “You’re a witch. That’s insane. How do you—”

“I’m not a witch,” Peter sighed. “I’m—I’m a—I’m almost a witch.”

“Clearly,” Abe said.

“Hey, leave him alone,” Ned jumped in. “It’s no one’s fault this happened. We all thought we were walking into a totally different situation.”

“Yeah, except Mr. Ghost Man,” Flash said. “He knew what was up. Why didn’t you listen to him? Or, I dunno, read the undead-people signs?”

“Because he’s not my family spirit,” Peter snapped at him. “And he’s not a ghost. He’s a spirit, and not like a spirit, even. He’s a—it’s hard to explain. I don’t even know what he is. He’s just different. He’s like an inbetween kind of—”

“He’s a hero.”

They all looked up to see Johnny standing there in blue with a black knitted scarf wrapped triple around his neck. His eyes flashed orange and red and gold. The ground swayed around him, light up by his internal lantern.

Everyone around Peter recoiled.

“What does that mean, Johnny?” Peter asked quietly. “I don’t understand.”

“It means that the spirits of the sea granted him another life in exchange for the protection he offered their people during his human one,” Johnny said. “You should know by now, Peter; the fae work in exchanges.”

“He already made his deal,” Peter said. “I don’t understand.”

“His deal as a human was fulfilled. His soul is safe with his selkie, only she can shepherd it. It will go to the Otherworld, where he will stay in comfort. But he’s chosen to stay here--as a hero. In this world. And as long as he is here and not in the Otherworld, his purpose is to protect humans and fae, to protect them from each other if he must, as he stands now with a foot on both sides of the line.”

Peter felt his breath coming slowly again.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.

“Because,” Johnny said with a sudden smile. “Your soul is already mine—we share a heart remember? I don’t need you getting stupid ideas—imagine if you decided to become a hero, then died and decided to stick around these parts instead of letting me take you to the Otherworld. You’d drive yourself mad, Peter. You’d never sleep ever again.”

Peter blinked.

“You lied to me?” he asked.

“I’m a fire demon,” Johnny said. “We listen to truths. We don’t have to tell them.”

Wow.

“Know that I’m really upset with you right now,” Peter said.

Johnny bobbed his head.

“But you’re more upset about the hero,” he said. “No need for that. He didn’t become a hero by dumb luck, and anyways, look at his kid. He’ll be fine; he’s the original material. A little dark magic isn’t gonna tear him up. He’s probably just gonna—”

There was a flash like miniature lightening through the bars of the gate.

“I take it back,” Johnny said. “Whoopsy-daisy. Come on, now, heart-boy. Up and over.”

---

Peter landed on the other side of the gate right into mud that hadn’t been there a moment earlier.

“What’s going on?” he asked as Johnny hopped down with him.

“Big, wet,” Johnny said. “Dark, dark magic. Gross. Sticky. Here, we need more light.”

Little embers glittered in the throw of fire that expanded Johnny’s lantern lights. It brightened the space substantially and when Peter looked down, the ground was dry.

“Dude,” Flash said. “You know what? I’m convinced.”

“Johnny Storm is a fire demon,” Abe wept into his hands.

“Stay here,” Peter told Ned and MJ, we’ll be—”

“BACK. BACK. BACK.”

Johnny slammed Peter against the fence and let out a hiss that sounded like water hitting a scalding piece of metal. Peter’s heart throbbed. Johnny slowly released the pressure on him and made a clicking noise.

“I think,” he said after a moment. “That perhaps I am not a big enough fire.”

Dude, what?

Johnny turned to him.

“Sorry,” he said sadly. “More and more are waking up every second. They’re heavy.”

Dude, what?

“I’m really sorry,” Johnny said. “But uh. I think I need to, uh—”

“Need to what, Johnny?” MJ demanded on the other side of the fence.

Johnny looked like he was going to cry.

---

“JONATHAN STORM.”

Scary, scary, scary, scary, scary.

“Sue,” Johnny pleaded. “Not here. Not now. There’s hero in the—”

“Oh, I see him,” Sue Storm said, looming. “He’s doing just fine. He’ll hold on for long enough for me to—”

“It’s my fault,” Peter blurted out. “I called him here.”

Sue Storm’s blue eyes seemed to blaze in the dark.

“Don’t blame him,” Johnny said. “I’ll take it. He’s my human. I’ll take it.”

“This is dark magic,” Sue said. “None of you should be here. This earth will turn sodden under the spell of these monsters. The hero will return it to balance. You two, in the meantime, are no heroes. Not even halves of one.”

Peter felt his face burning.

“He’s the selkie’s, Sue,” Johnny said quietly. “He’s not long a hero. Please help him?”

Sue Storm chewed her tongue, gazing holes into Johnny’s face. Johnny looked away first.

“Which selkie?” she demanded.

“Her name is Margaret,” Peter said.

Sue’s face jerked his way. Her eyes widened and she turned back out towards the cemetery.

“Oh,” she said softly. “That selkie. She’s more like us.”

Peter frowned.

“I don’t—” he started.

“She honors the earth and its fae even though she’s sea folk,” she said. She sighed heavily. “Alright, fine. I’ll help. But for the hero, not either of you, you hear? Johnny, you’ll need to make things right with the selkie. She’ll be furious. She’s been nothing but kind to our people. We can’t repay her like this.”

“Will do,” Johnny said.

“Stay here,” Sue said. “All of you. The curse has got into you. We’ll break it all at once.”

Oh shit.

MJ and Ned turned slowly towards Peter.

“Curse?” Ned asked.

Peter groaned.

---

“It’s a friendship circle,” Johnny bubbled as Peter shoved him, once again, into the sigil he was trying to draw in the dirt at the cemetery entrance.

“I’m gonna salt you in and I will not regret it,” Peter threatened him.

“Johnny, come sit,” Ned said, patting the place between him and Felicia.

“Never,” Johnny hissed at him. “My heart is right—”

Peter left him to finish the circle. Johnny hurried to keep up with him.

Flash watched after him with furrowed eyebrows and a fist pressed to his mouth.

“This is not how this night was supposed to go,” he said.

“We didn’t even ask any stupid questions,” Abe sighed.

“What’s she doing out there?” Felicia asked.

Peter shoved Johnny’s flailing body towards her and finally finished the circle. He’d never made one this big. He started in on the protective signs around the interior.

“She’s a boggart!” Johnny chirped. “She’s boggart-ing!”

Peter felt the pause of the others more than he heard it.

“What does that mean?” Felicia asked.

“Oh. She’s a faerie of darkness,” Johnny said. “So she’s probably winding her way through all the posers and chasing them back to their hovels so that she can go chase the witches away from the hero and let him rest for a bit. She’ll guide him back if he’ll let her—which he might not. You never know with heroes. He might not want her smell on him.”

Peter had the feeling that Mr. Murdock was made of more sense than pride.

“How long will that take?” Abe asked.

Johnny made happy crackling sounds.

“Who knows! Depends on the witches,” he said. “Depends on how many people she needs to terrify. Boggarts get power through fear. The more spirits she scares, the faster she’ll be.”

Peter moved Ned’s backpack out of the way and carried on.

There was a lull.

“Peter, what are you doing?” Felicia asked.

“Protection circle,” MJ said for him.

“Oh.”

There was another silence.

“Where did you learn that?” Abe asked.

“His aunt’s a full witch. She does business in herbs, potions, and materials for their part of Forest hills,” Ned said.

“Oh.”

Flash and Abe scooted forward to let Peter in behind him. They watched him.

“That’s pretty cool, actually,” Felicia said. “Thanks for that.”

A mumbled thanks went around the whole group. Peter finished the final marks and stepped carefully over them into the circle.

“It’s nothing,” he sighed, flopping down and dragging Johnny away from Ned. “I should have known better. I think the ghosts were trying to warn me from the start. I should have listened better.”

More awkward silence.

“Well, it sounds like the fighting’s calmed down,” MJ said. “Mr. Murdock should be okay.”

Yeah.

“Wait,” Abe said. “Isn’t that your boss, MJ?”

Welp.

“Ghost man is my boss’s dad,” MJ sighed.

“Oh my god,” Felicia giggled. “You guys roped your boss’s dad into a practical joke?”

“He didn’t even want to scare you guys,” Peter groaned. “Man, I gotta learn how to read spirits. Johnny, how do I read spirits?”

“No idea. Spirits don’t like me. I’m too bright and obnoxious,” Johnny said.

“I’m un-bonding us,” Peter said. “You have nothing but bad advice and secrets.”

Johnny made kissy noises at him then scrambled up straight.

“Sue’s got the hero,” he said. “She’s arguing with him. Ahahaha.”

Peter cleared his throat. Johnny startled.

“Right, sorry,” he said. “She’s uh. Trying to convince him to come with her, but he’s refusing to look at her. Smart guy, you know that? Name a boggart and they’ll go off on you. He doesn’t want to chance it. Sue’s telling him that she’ll do the invisible thing so he doesn’t see her and he’s not into it, guys.”

Peter took it back. Maybe Mr. Murdock had too much sense for his own good.

“Can you talk to him?” Felicia asked.

“Who? Hero-man? Nah. I can just feel Sue’s frustration,” Johnny said. “Sibling bond, forever. You know?”

No, Johnny. No one knew. The only people with siblings in the circle were MJ and Abe.

“You’re so annoying,” MJ said.

“Aw, I like you too,” Johnny tittered.

Peter yanked him back and prayed that Mr. Murdock would give into the inevitable soon.

---

“Look? See? No trouble. Not even a little trouble. Did I lie to you?”

Peter snapped awake and shook himself. He blinked into the dark until the shapes of bodies appeared before him as the other woke up too. They all turned around to see the dark outline of Sue standing on the other side of the fence.

Mr. Murdock’s tall shape was there too.

They looked…uh.

Kinda scuffed up, actually, hair-wise and scratches and bruises--the whole thing.

“Lord, she’s still talking to me,” Mr. Murdock said, facing away from Sue, now that Peter could see better.

“God is smart enough to see through you talking to him to talk to me,” She pointed out.

“Lord, you are so unknowable,” Mr. Murdock said pointedly.

“You know, for a fae hero, you’re sure religious.”

“Please see me through this period of suffering,” Mr. Murdock carried on. “And safely away from this hostile body and place.”

Johnny leapt up.

“You found him!” he cheered.

“Yes, of course I did,” Sue said. “He was fine, by the way. Meat-head here has anvils for hands.”

“I keep hearing voices, Lord,” Mr. Murdock said miserably. “Whatever sin it is I’ve committed, I’m willing to repent. But you’ve gotta help me out, man; the priest is convinced I’m a demon in his confession box.”

“Move,” Sue told Johnny. “Come one, Hero-man. We’re going through a fence. I dunno if you’ll fit with all those muscles.”

They all watched as Sue got a handful of the back of Mr. Murdock’s shirt and dragged him through the largest part of the gate uncomfortably.

“You did it!” she cheered. “Successful hero. Another quest fulfilled. Look at all these living children. And you even picked up a rock! That’s good for a young guy like—”

“I’m going back to the church and I’m never leaving,” Mr. Murdock finally told her directly.

“Oh,” Sue said. “You’re a church hero. That’s new.”

“I’m done. No more seals. No more mountains. No more lakes. No more cemeteries,” Mr. Murdock said, shaking himself and dragging his hands through his hair to smooth it out.

“Oh, wow, you’ve really been through it, huh?” Sue asked his back as he left them all in place.

“No more superpowers either,” Mr. Murdock said over his shoulder at her. He moved on ahead purposefully.

“I want him,” Sue told Johnny forcefully.

“He’s taken,” Johnny reminded her.

“He’s sturdy is what he is,” Sue said.

“Reed is sturdy,” Johnny pointed out.

Sue contemplated this.

“But he’s not fae,” she said.

Johnny rolled his eyes.

“Sue, we can throw your boyfriend into a graveyard of dark magic and let him fight his way home,” he said. “That’s something we can do. We can even time him.”

Sue drummed fingers across her face and slowly wrapped an arm around Johnny’s shoulders until his cheek was smushed up against hers against his will.

“You are so smart, little brother, sometimes I forget how smart you are,” she said.

She threw him away and straightened herself out.

“We’re hours from dawn,” she said. “We’re going home. Baby witch, you and my brother will apologize to the selkie tomorrow. I don’t think the hero wants to stay with you until then. I’m 90% sure, actually, the hero is already catching a train without you. The rest of you--”

She rounded on all of them.

“Do not play with ghosts, witches, spirits or any receptacle of them, do I make myself clear?”

Peter shrunk under her finger.

“Yes, ma’am,” they all mumbled.

She sniffed.

“Good,” she said. “Now we all need to go talk to baby’s witch’s mom. You have one hell of a curse hanging over you.”

---

May was not pleased.

May doused them all in six different herb waters and made them eat something foul that tasted like charcoal and rubbing alcohol.

Then they had to get sprayed off with the hose in the backyard until all the cemetery mud came off and only then did May send everyone home.

---

“Hey Peter?”

Peter looked up from his grinding in the doorframe the next morning—it as far as he was allowed at the present moment—and jumped at the whole group from the night before staring down at him.

He scrambled up.

“Uh, hi,” he said.

“Did you say sorry to the selkie yet?” Felicia asked him.

He almost wanted to shush her and check for passersby. May swore at something in the kitchen behind him. He edged forward and closed the door as far as he could without closing it all the way.

“No, not yet. What are you all doing here?” he asked.

He got a wave of eyebrows all around.

“We wanted to go with you and to say thanks. To the hero guy. You know. For uh, saving us from certain and horrible death,” Abe said.

Oh.

“Let me, uh--give me just a second,” Peter said.

---

Matt was at his apartment and he opened the door at the third knock. He heard MJ clear her throat and started cackling immediately.

“Don’t be a dick,” MJ said. “Let us say thank you.”

Matt remained inarticulate.

“Oh my god,” he finally choked. “Do you know—I haven’t—He hasn’t been this mad since I ate fries off the street—hold oh. Oh my god.”

Ew, man. That’s disgusting.

“Pops, come on out,” Matt coaxed, wiping tears from his eyes and skirting fingers across his kitchen counter until he got to cupboard under the sink. “They just wanna say sorry, Dad. It’s okay. There’s no secret second quest.”

Mr. Murdock refused to exit his newfound home.

Matt snickered so hard his shoulders shook. He stood up and found his counter to lean his elbows against.

“No harm, no foul to us,” he said amiably. “Mum’s been trying to keep a straight face in Mass. He came here for sympathy that I’m afraid I don’t have.”

Man. It was a wonder that Mr. Murdock stuck around at all.

Peter puffed himself up anyways.

“Mr. Murdock,” he said. “I know you can hear me. And I wanted to say that I’m sorry for roping you into the whole thing yesterday, but I’m also super glad you were there. ‘Cause we would’ve been screwed otherwise. So thank you.”

“Yeah, thank you,” Felicia said. “You’re really nice, and I’m glad you were there, too.”

The others added their thanks to the pile and Matt grinned in the direction of the cupboard.

“Come onnn,” he drawled. “I can feel you giving in, in there.”

Nothing.

Matt muffled a round of giggles in his sleeve.

“He accepts your thanks,” he said. “He’s just allergic to sunlight and gratitude.”

The cupboard door rattled violently. Matt shoved a foot against it.

“Mum isn’t mad either, she thinks it’s healthy for him to do quests without her,” he said. “So you’re all good with the three of us.”

Peter wasn’t positive that they were actually. But okay, sure?

“I guess we’ll leave you guys to uh, brood? Baseball? Whatever it is you do together?” He said.

Matt hummed and nodded and waved them out. Peter shut the door behind them.

“That was easy,” Flash said.

“Man, I hope my dad just dies the once,” Abe said.

“My dad isn’t cool enough to fight zombies in a graveyard,” Felicia said.

MJ considered this.

“My mom could do it,” she said.

Ned snorted. Peter swallowed a laugh.

---

“So,” Flash said as they passed by the church that Mr. Murdock usually called home. “I know it was all kind of an actual nightmare, but like. I dunno.”

Peter stopped.

“You want more fae bullshit?” he asked in shock.

Flash rubbed at the back of his neck and even Abe and Felicia refused to make eye contact. Ned and MJ stared at them, then Peter in shock.

“It’s just really cool,” Flash admitted. “Like, there’s all this stuff that I thought was fake. But it’s all happening here, all at once—you know. Heroes and zombies and fire demons and witches.”

“This isn’t a tv show,” Peter said. “You know that right? Like, we don’t always win? Yeah, there are heroes and witches, but there’s also really bad magic. Dangerous fae. There are turf wars and tricksters and everything you do is a deal and you always owe someone something. It’s not always fun.”

“Okay, but isn’t it better to know?” Flash asked.

Peter closed his lips.

He didn’t have an argument for that.

“I’m not teaching you,” he sniffed. “I’m already apprenticed. If you want a mentor, it can’t be me—and you can’t have my demon.”

“But he’s Johnny Storm,” Abe blurted out. “Johnny. Storm. Peter, how did you even swing that? And why does he listen to you.”

“He doesn’t,” MJ butted in.

“He does,” Peter corrected.

“He really doesn’t,” Ned said. “Peter’s an amateur witch at best who bound himself to a fire demon with impulse control issues.”

Wow. Betrayed by his own family.

“I’m leaving, I’m grounded, you guy go get a grimoire or something and learn your magic bullshit yourselves,” he said.

“Aww, come on.”

“They were just joking, Peter.”

“Come backkkkk.”

Mr. Murdock had the right idea. Peter had a cupboard to find.

------

Hope this hits the spot, boo!! And Happy Halloween, y’all!

#fic #ficlet #selkie verse #witch peter witch peter witch peter

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sparklyicecube · 4 years ago

Text

Scorching Romance

I JUST FINISHED ONE OF THE BEST MANHWAS EVER AAAAAH

Why you should read it: a review? Suggestion? Anyways.

Name: Scorching Romance

Status: Completed!!!

Length: 90episodes (pretty long but it’s worth it I swear)

Genre: Highschool romance

Quick summary:

‘Cursed girl who is constantly hot meets cursed boy who is constantly cold.’

Ok so:

Despite the ‘cursed’ parts we honestly don’t have magic running rampant in this place besides the fact that our two main characters genuinely feel really hot and cold to the point that Ember (the girl and hot one) can heat stuff up and give burns with body temperature, but mostly it is set in our normal universe. The start of the whole thing is pretty slow-paced with me not really that invested, but not turned off by anything. It gets reaaally action packed eventually and I nearly cried ahahahah.

The author is genius. The characters are honestly not one-dimensional, no matter what the story tries to trick you into believing, and the best part is that they introduce sooooo many characters in but by the time the story ends, there are virtually no loose ends and you are invested in all their stories. They don’t take advantage of misunderstanding nearly as much as they could realistically actually do and it will make you squeal!

I would say the overall theme of the entire thing is forgiveness and owning up. The amount of times someone said sorry for doing something awful and I genuinely believed them, because that ‘sorry’ just held all that weight.

Ten outta ten would recommend!!!

Spoilers from this point on! (I rant about my feelings on it down here)

OKAY SO THEY ARE SO CUTE I SHIPPED THEM SO MUCH AND AAAAAAAAA

I loved the dynamic between them and I love how they ended up being really truthful to each other and Aspen didn’t lie even though he thought about it :...) they’re so sweeeet

I looked at the chapter number when their curses broke the first time and was like waiiiiit. I then also wondered whether the rest would be just fluff scenes (not that I’m complaining) but the author really said “BUCKLE UP IT GONNA GET SERIOUS”

The author put so many references to little things that happened and tied everything together so nicely??? Also Trevor, idk when I started rooting for you but you were real. You and Moxie should get together. (You will never make it as a kpop idol because your bullying scandals)

I think overall, I really liked how it all came together and ended?? They even had that Rocky dude go with someone else??

The forgiveness/repenting aspect of the entire thing was really amazing. Aspen kept saying ‘sorry’ for so much at the start and throughout, yeah he was genuine but he was also overusing it. Later on, ‘sorry’ became such a powerful word that was used in such serious cases, like when Harry’s grandma cursed Ember or when Monica burned the place down.

Can we talk about Harry???

HARRY is BEST BOY

At the start, even though I knew that it was Aspen and Ember I was like ‘does Harry sorta like Aspen though?’ and low-key shipped it but then he said ‘he’s too good for you’ and there was the whole “I DO NOT LIKE ASPEN” when being bothered by Ember and I think that is actually really sweet. We never get the answer to why he sticks with Ember, well, at least not explicitly, but we definitely know why.

1. He and Ember were childhood friends, he saw her deteriorate to such a serious state and is willing to stick with her because they’re friends (serious state being both her heat and her temper as he sees how she did actually attempt to be nice to people only to be backstabbed)

2. She’s been there for him when very few people have. When Aunt Monica left him Ember was right next to him, that makes them very close and also feel like they’ve been through a lot, and so are willing to stick to each other more.

Harry not having any romantic interests in Ember or Aspen just makes him so much more appealing, he teases them, is there for them, and we can see how amazing he is and without having any romantic unerlying agendas! Love fuels a lot of stuff in this manhwa but so does platonic love and I love that for him. I also don’t think Megan deserves him, because she is too immature and honestly, still hasn’t figured out love yet. (Especially with the ‘buying him ice cream was worth it’) like GURL have you SEEN his HOUSE he does not need a sugar parent. Even until the end she eats ice cream with him, which just shows she can’t open up to him and she was honestly pretty childish thoughout the whole thing. Either way I love how the author baited us several times with Harry for us all to be like ‘Could it be??’ and then ‘I knew it.”

AMBER AND ASPEN”S RELATIONSHIPPPPP

I love how the whole thing played out to be honest. At the start, I didn’t like Ember’s attitude, or Aspen’s attitude but they both grew so much as people and their character growth through was just so amazing! You could see so many parallel’s where Aspen stands up for himself, where Ember is more restained, it’s *chef’s kiss* amazing!

One of the best bits was when Aspen couldn’t bring himself to lie to Ember, which was what I feared. It seemed like the worst misunderstanding ever but Aspen managed to trust Ember enough and vice versa, showing how far they’ve come. The two of them are now able to banter and converse freely, which both of them trusting in their love and relationship so much!

Aspen trusting Ember was the bit thing I think, if he couldn’t trust Ember they would keep having these issues, but Ember had grown to be more trustworthy and Aspen had grown to be stronger and have better self-confidence.

At episode 64 or smth where Ember’s curse broke and I thought ‘are they going to have another 30 chapters of just fluff?” (not that I’m complaining), and they didn’t, but the fluff they did have was so cute!!! Also when Ember collasped and hugged Aspen after ‘faking’ a relaspe *sobs* it was so cute :.)

This next part will be a collection of little observations I found (there are probably still more) that I though were super cool!

1) Aunt Monica’s cigareete. We see her throw it as a little thing like a (I’m leaving/I’m outta here) thing when we first find out that she was Harry’s aunt, then we later find out that Harry’s grandma cursed Ember because of a fire from a cigarette butt from him. At that point no one realises what happened yet. Then she has an epiphany when some person from some car throws at her when it’s all dramatic (I thought that was Lucifer or someone going to burn her originally but it was just a random person) and then we find out it was all her! We even find out that the fire happened on the day of her leaving and no one realised! Anyways...

2) Hypnosis. Monica says in her little ‘angels club’ thing that they must wear sunglasses all of the time lest they hypnotise people. I read that, realised that Lucifer was from there, then went ‘wait a second...’ because Lucifer hypnotised Moxie!!! Several times!!! Cool easter egg I love

3) Remembering things. Aspen didn’t remember Monica from when he was so young, only his mom did, because Aspen was 1. Young and 2. Monica didn’t have much of an impression on him. I like it when author’s decide how much people can remember because let’s face it, even when we’re not children we don’t remember what we ate yesterday morning. Also, Ember not remembering that Monica told Harry to think of her as his mom. Same logic, Ember was young and it had waaaay more of an impact on Harry than anything. More than that, Monica left the next day and it would seem like an irrelevant detail technically.

4) Names. I love how they actually tied in names with meanings, it made it so easy to remember the names and it also made it not really weird and obvious (I’m looking at you J.K. Rowling) but integral to the story. One could predict what role they had in the story by their name. Rocky’s name particularly threw me off a bit, because I could tell it was based off the ‘Rocky mountains’ but was unsure of whether that was related to ‘cold water’ and just decided that it was, but it wasn’t as Aspen’s. Making him just ‘water’ was really nice because it gave us reason as to why Ember seemed to be helped by him but also make him just out of the picture as well.

5) The ice storage. Making the bodyguards faint and be cold too, especially wen they didn’t really coma (or at least, the second one) because we knew you had to go in involuntarily to no be in coma, very good detail.

6) Aspen still having the misunderstanding that Ember was up on that roof saving him to this day because it was never disputed. Ever.

There are totally loads more than that but I need to re-read it a few more times to spot them I suppose!

I think the only hing I want more content of in the whole thing is from Aspen’s dad. His guilt after what he heard his son and wife went through, his bonding with Aspen, him and his family, I feel like that was the only thing that was left unfinished and that I’d want to see more of.

Finishing it off with a- how are you reading this part??? You must really like reading me ramble. Anyway, that might or might not be all from me on Scorhing Romance, I’ve been getting into manhwas lately and especially finished ones (bcs duh) so these rants might come in a bit more frequently but who knows.

Bye!

#scorching romance #scorchingromance #hongchi #aspen cha #ember kim

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wingsofkpop · 4 years ago

Text

Hiraeth - I.V: Rise of the Primes

pairing(s): Hybrid!Im Jaebeom x Reader, Witch!Mark Tuan x Reader, Werewolf!Jackson Wang x Reader, Vampire!Park Jinyoung x Reader, Supernatural!Got7 x Reader

genre: Supernatual!AU, Dark Magic!AU, heavy Angst, eventual Smut

warnings: Mature language, mentions of death and murder, violence, blood and gore, very brief depiction of magical torture, mentions of child abuse and other traumatic experiences, etc.

word count: 8,1k

synopsis: How far are you willing to go to find out the truth about Moon Dye Bay?…

chapter directory

Mark remembers a time when he was much younger, much, much more naive, and completely oblivious to his magical roots.

And while he’s not usually one to look back into his past, nowadays, he can’t help but wonder about those clueless years where his sole care was passing dreaded calculus class and keeping his pot stash hidden from his mom. Sometimes Mark even misses those days—misses his mom.

Mark often wonders what would have happened if his mom wasn’t killed that night. He was only just beginning to learn the basics of witchcraft back then, barely able to keep his emotions in check without blasting a window to pieces. If his mom were still around, would he have done the stupid things he knew better than to do? Would he have sought for such ambitions he knew he could never achieve? Would he have been a better leader, witch, man…?

Yes. Mark knows that. He would be better.

It’s been years since Mark tried to talk to his mother, having given up trying to summon her spirit when he received a personal message from her telling him to stop—to let her go. Even so, he wishes that he can just have one minute. One short minute to see her face, to look into her eyes, and to ask her the same question that has been haunting his mind since he found her body in a pool of her own blood in their home:

‘What the fuck am I supposed to do now?’

As much as he plays the leader-card, and as much as he acts like he’s all-knowing—Mark has no clue what he’s doing. It’s as if he’s been inside a maze these past nine years, unable to find the right path that leads him to glory. Maybe if she was still here, holding his face in her wrinkled hands and speaking his name in her sweet voice, Mark would know what to do. He’d know how to get rid of the huntress and the witch without taking their lives. He’d know how to protect his people, and the rest of the town.

He’d know how to be better—to do better.

Mark shakes his mother’s face from his mind, attempting to focus on the passing scenery of the forest. He adjusts his grip on the steering wheel before reaching forward to turn his air conditioning on full blast, then adjusting his grip again.

It’s been months since he last traveled this way, yet all the sights are the same. The trees are the same trees. The shrubbery, the same shrubbery. Even the rocks haven’t changed save for a new crack or two. That thought actually spills anger through his veins. It’s as if the forest doesn’t realize something is missing—someone is missing.

‘And it’s your fault.’

Mark shakes the intrusive thought away, peering at his companion through the corner of his eye. Jinyoung, like Mark, is merely staring at their surroundings, dark eyes flitting around in every direction. Before everything happened, Mark would have never predicted that one of the Primes would be riding in his passenger’s seat with no care in the world. To be honest, he’s still having a hard time believing him and Jinyoung are on decent terms at all.

“My sisters and I used to play in these woods.” Mark is taken aback by the sudden, albeit casual comment from the vampire, nearly losing his footing on the gas pedal. He looks to the side once again, discovering Jinyoung’s gaze still fixated outside the window.

Mark clears his throat. “I… didn’t know you had siblings.”

“It was a long, long time ago.” Jinyoung shrugs, “Besides, we weren’t close anyway.”

“Why do you say that?”

His question is answered with silence, and when he turns to the passenger, Jinyoung’s expression is blank, almost cold. Mark decides not to press and focuses back on the road.

The cabin has not changed either, Mark notices as the structure comes into sight. A heaviness begins to settle within his chest as he parks in the gravel driveway, one that has his heart beating twice its normal speed and palms beginning to sweat. Trying not to dwell on it too much, Mark cuts out the engine and wipes his hands against his jeans. He’s prepared to exit the vehicle when a sudden realization enters his brain.

Mark turns to Jinyoung and sighs, “I think it might be best for you to stay in the car.”

“I was thinking the same thing.” Jinyoung agrees, granting the witch a rigid nod.

“Just don’t steal my truck, okay?”

“This piece of junk?” Jinyoung chortles, “It’s practically falling apart.”

“Don’t piss her off. She still has to get us home.” Mark finds his chest a little lighter as a result of their banter, something he would never admit aloud to the vampire. With a silent farewell, Mark shoves open his door and steps into the bright sunlight, cursing himself for forgetting his sunglasses back at the mausoleum.

The log cabin casts a drowning shadow over Mark as he makes his way toward the figure waiting on the steps that lead up to a redwood porch. Overgrown vines and moss seem to inhabit every available spot of the cabin, winding around wooden supports and spilling down each roof tile. If it hadn’t been for the catch of the sunlight, Mark wouldn’t have been able to notice one of the grimey windows on the second floor had been cracked.

“Long time no see, hyung.” Mark finds his chest tightening at the tired tone of the figure’s voice.

He paints what he hopes to be a smile across his lips and nods. “It’s nice to see you, Gyeom.”

Like the cabin, it has also been months since Mark has seen his younger friend. Yugyeom has always been a giant, towering over him and basically everyone else in town since he hit puberty, but if Mark didn’t know any better, he’d say the wolf had grown even more. His shoulders are broader, dark hair longer, hands calloused and slightly marred with the throes of hard work. He must still be working for the town’s lumber service.

Yet another something that hasn’t changed.

“How… How are things?”

Yugyeom shrugs. “You know how it is out here. Not much excitement.”

“Right.” The silence between them grows heavier and heavier with each passing second. Mark searches his brain for something to expel the awkwardness, but can’t seem to see past the guilt and suffocating self-loathing swirling through his gut.

He thanks the universe when Yugyeom breaks the quiet himself.

“I know you didn’t come just to check in, hyung.” His gut sinks at the younger’s painfully true observation. “What’s going on? And why can I smell a Prime in your passenger seat?”

“I don’t if you’ve heard, but Nayeon was killed last week.”

Yugyeom’s eyes soften. “I saw it on TV. I’m really sorry, hyung,”

“The people who killed her—a witch and supernatural huntress—they’re after the rest of the coven.” Mark ignores Yugyeom’s sympathy, fiddling with a loose thread inside the pocket of his jeans. “Jinyoung has been helping us track them down. He’s gonna help us fight but…”

“But you’re not sure if it will be enough.”

“I know I have no right to show up here and ask for your help, Gyeom.” With a gulp, Mark dares to step closer to the small staircase. Even as far as scaling the first two steps to move closer to his younger companion. Mark shakes his head, “But—I’m desperate. My people are in danger and… and I don’t want anyone else to die.”

Another moment of silence passes, save for the violent beating of Mark’s pulse. Yugyeom stares at Mark, his gaze a cross between pained and hopeful. Just when the latter feels like his lungs are going to explode, Yugyeom releases a helpless sigh and shakes his head.

“I want to help you, hyung. I really do… but I can’t risk anyone in the pack. Especially against a hunter.”

Mark’s heart drops to his stomach.

Yugyeom sends him a sad expression. “I’m sorry. I really am.”

“It’s okay. I get it.” Mark nods, taking a rather clumsy step backward off the porch steps. He manages to save himself from the embarrassment of collapsing into the gravel before offering Yugyeom a weak smile. “I… I would do the same thing. If it were my people.”

“Hyung—” Yugyeom moves to follow Mark, descending a single stair just as the front door swings open. The embers of Mark’s self-loathing grow to flames at the sight of various familiar faces crowded in the doorway, and he wishes nothing more than to cast a spell that makes him completely disappear.

“What’s going on?... Mark?” Chan emerges behind Yugyeom, his features a mixture of confusion and surprise. Another few bodies join the younger man, each set of eyes reopening a mess of old scars in Mark’s soul.

“Mark-oppa!” He barely has time to prepare when a smaller figure dashes down the staircase and collides with his body. His arms catch the figure’s waist before her form falls to the ground, supporting her weight against his own form.

He releases a heavy, yet silent breath. “Dahyun.”

“Where the hell have you been!?” Dahyun pulls from the embrace with a fierce, yet playful spark within her dark eyes. “It’s been months, Mark! Months!”

“I know… It’s just been kind of… weird lately.”

“We’ve missed you… I’ve missed you.”

He winces. “Yeah. Me too.”

“What the hell is he doing here?” Mark recognizes the familiar gritty tone, turning his eyes from Dahyun to a seething Changbin. The animosity in his glare deepens Mark’s wounds.

“Changbin. Don’t.”

“He has no fucking right to be here.” Changbin ignores Chan’s warning, narrowing his eyes to poisonous slits.

“Changbin! You asshole—”

“It’s okay. I was… just leaving.” Mark interrupts Dahyun’s scold, peeling himself away from her arm like a bloodied bandage. He spares a glance and a nod to a pained Yugyeom, “Thanks, Gyeom. I’ll see you around, okay?”

“Yeah.”

Dahyun reaches for Mark again. “But you just got here. You can’t just—”

“Dubu…” Dahyun turns at Yugyeom’s call, watching the sad shake of his head with glittering eyes. “Let him go…”

Mark’s heart practically cries out at the pure devastation written across the younger woman’s face as she helplessly drops her arms to her sides. He chooses not to linger on her expression, nor Chan’s, nor Yugyeom’s, and with a final nod of his head, makes a break back to his beat-up, rusted truck.

In mere seconds, Mark is driving away from the cabin—driving away from the pain. It’s not until the cabin is completely gone from his rear-view mirror is he able to inhale a full breath without his lungs screaming out.

“No one else is going to die.”

Jinyoung hadn’t said anything at his frantic entrance, nor that he hadn’t paused to throw on his seatbelt. In fact, Mark had almost forgotten the vampire was in the vehicle at all. He turns to find Jinyoung staring out the window, just as before. And if he hadn’t spoken again, Mark would have thought he imagined the voice himself.

Jinyoung turns, sending chills down Mark’s spine at the intensity of his gaze.

“You have my word.”

Mark can’t find it in himself to respond, stuck between unwanted memories and the nostalgia of uncured heartbreak. He instead swallows the bile at the back of his throat, carefully throws on his seatbelt, and turns up the radio.

The music does nothing to drown out the cruel thoughts raging through his mind.

☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

The scenery outside the car window passes by in verdant blurs, settling a slight wave of nausea in your gut. Not desiring to vomit up the Chinese you ate beforehand, you turn your attention to the young driver instead, meeting her starry-eyed gaze in the rearview mirror.

“How much longer?”

“The estate is just up this hill, miss.” The driver assures. “It should be no more than a couple minutes.”

You nod your thanks, peering out the window before remembering your sickness in the first place. With a silent sigh, you abandon the prospect of any sight at all and close your eyes, leaning into the comfort of the headrest. The slight pressure actually somewhat relieves the throb in the back of your brain. The headache that has been present ever since you stormed out on Mark and Jinyoung.

It’s been almost three days since you learned the truth about Moon Dye Bay and all its supernatural offerings. You’d think by now you’d be able to process the fact that your best friend is a witch, and the charming man that saved you from likely death is a vampire—one of the oldest vampires in existence at that. But alas, you’re still having a hard time believing any of this is possible. Even with all the evidence, and proof, and general rules of logic.

Then again, vampires and witches and werewolves and hunters and whatever other creatures aren’t exactly logical… considering they go against everything that is the basis of nature.

Anywho, neither Mark nor Jinyoung has even tried to reach out since that afternoon. In fact, Mark hasn’t returned any of your calls or texts. Though you’re not exactly surprised as both he and Jinyoung made it very clear of your position on the sidelines.

Too bad you’ve never been much of a player who likes to miss the action.

“We’ve arrived, miss.” Your eyelids snap open at the sound of the driver’s lilted voice, jaw almost dropping at the sight that awaits. You shimmy forward, greedily taking in the expanse outside the car window as the driver maneuvers the vehicle up the cobblestone-paved driveway.

If you had to use one word to describe The Project Estate, it would be massive. Completely fucking massive. With a single glance, you can only imagine how many acres of land make up the entire lot. The mansion itself is bigger than any building you’ve set foot inside, resembling that of a miniature castle without the turrets, walls and moat. You’re pretty sure it’s at least four times the size of your apartment building.

“Beautiful place, isn’t it?” The driver marvels, craning her own head over the steering wheel to take in the view. “The Project Brothers are crazy loaded to be able to afford anything like this… What do you think they do?”

Rob banks with their vampire super strength? Steal artifacts and masterpieces with their vampire super speed? Accumulate millions and millions of dollars in wealth after being alive for centuries?

You shrug. “They probably own real estate or something.”

Once the driver stops in front of what you hope to be the front door, you quickly bid her farewell with a generous tip and exit out onto the stone pathway. The purr of the engine grows fainter and fainter as the vehicle turns back the way you came in, leaving you stranded in the shadow of the towering mansion. You can only hope Jinyoung is home.

An old fashioned, golden door knocker rests on the door, fashioned into the shape of a growling lion. You ignore the goosebumps forming across the skin underneath your jacket and pick up the knocker. It’s heavy in your palm, striking the door with such powerful strikes, it must be impossible for anyone inside not to hear.

You visited the cemetery earlier, prepared to convince Mark of your resourceful and beneficial addition to whatever little team he’s gathering, but you only found an empty mausoleum, and an even emptier feeling inside your gut. So you figured you would pay Park Jinyoung a visit at his personal place of residence instead—the same residence him and his brother have resided since 1770.

Your mind races as you wait, thinking over the long speech you prepared to argue your competence and readiness. You don’t know how long it will take, but you do know that you are not leaving until Jinyoung accepts your help, or at the very least, acknowledges your newfound importance in the situation.

The killers are your roommate’s friends after all.

After what seems like minutes, but is probably only a couple seconds, the large, mahogany door swings open. Although, the face that appears in the doorway is not the one you were hoping to see.

A young woman appears behind the door, her babyish features practically exuding the forefronts of her age. She couldn’t be older than twenty, you find, at least, definitely not with a face like that. Her eyes are rather bleary when they meet your own, borderline crimson red. You wonder if she just woke up from a deep sleep after a long night of drinking…

“I’m sorry to disturb you, but I’m looking for Jinyoung?”

“Jinyoung is not home right now.” The woman’s voice is blank, monotone like your boss whenever he’s giving out a lecture. It deepens your concern. You’ve seen your fair share of hangovers between Jihyo and Sana’s party-animal habits, but never one that renders your body so… zombie-like.

“Do you know where he went? Or maybe when he’ll be home?”

The woman doesn’t blink. “No.”

“Okay, um…” You gnaw at your bottom lip, carefully thinking over the next plan of action. Due to the woman’s state, it’s pretty obvious you are not going to be able to get much out of her. Maybe you can try Youngjae’s cell, and eventually badger an answer out of him—

“What’s taking so long? Who’s at the door?” The woman steps aside to reveal a familiar face—one that sends gooseflesh budding across your skin.

Jaebeom’s eyes widen in surprise. “You…? What are you doing here…? ” His expression reminds you of your previous encounter outside the town hall, where he confirmed his and his brother’s vampiric nature. Beneath the surprise in his gaze, you can still make out what seems to be apprehension… almost fear.

“Is Jinyoung here? I need to talk to him.”

“He’s not here.” Jaebeom crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the doorway. “He went on some field trip with that Tuan kid. I have no clue where they went.”

“Well… do you at least know when he’ll be back?”

He narrows his eyes. “Why do you need to see my brother anyway?”

“I told you. I need to speak with him.”

“Are you sure he even wants to talk to you?”

The agitation spreading through your veins grows at Jaebeom’s obvious indifference. You swallow down the frustration before sparing a glance back toward the silent woman. She’s staring in your direction, but her eyes don’t seem to be looking at you. Instead, they seem to be looking through you.

“Is she… okay?” You ask softly, earning another wave of surprise from the Prime.

Jaebeom leans down to murmur something into the woman’s ear, before she turns on her heel and disappears back inside the house. It might have only been a trick of your mind, but hidden beneath the collar of her shirt may be a wound—a wound that looks strangely like a bite mark.

Your stomach violently turns as you’re reminded of the other night. Jaebeom was going to feed on you, possibly kill you… but he didn’t.

You murmur aloud before you can think, “Why?...”

“What?”

“Why did you stop?” Jaebeom’s face pales at your questions, indicating he knows exactly what you’re talking about. His throat visibly gulps before he uncrosses his arms and steadies himself back on his own feet.

“So you know…”

“Know you almost killed me?... Yeah. Kind of hard to forget something like that.”

Jaebeom shrugs. “You’d be surprised what people can forget under mind compulsion.”

“Mind compulsion?” Your eyebrows furrow as your head tilts in curiosity. “Don't tell me vampires can control minds?”

Jaebeom raises his eyebrows, his surrounding features contorting to a mixture of shock and amazement. His eyes shine, lingering over the planes of your face. As if you activated a switch, a sly smirk pulls across his lips. Perfectly complimenting the dangerous mischief swirling inside his dark brown irises.

“So you know what I am then…” Jaebeom chuckles. You don’t like the way his eyes seem to deviously flicker in the sunlight. “Your witch boyfriend must have you on vervain. That explains why my compulsion didn’t work.”

You ignore his mention of Mark. “Vervain? What’s that?”

“An herb. It’s poisonous to vampires.” He explains so casually. “It dulls our abilities, makes humans immune to compulsion, and burns like a fucking bitch.”

“How do you stand in the sun? Shouldn’t you erupt into flames or something?”

Jaebeom’s smirk seems to widen. “You ask a lot of questions, little dove. That can get you in trouble.”

“You won’t hurt me.”

“And what makes you think that?” In a flash, Jaebeom is standing right in front of you, his hands threateningly cradling the sides of your head. His eyes bleed pure sadism and malice as he speaks, “I could break your sweet, fragile neck right here, and no one would even know…”

Any other person would be scared to death. But you know better.

“If you wanted to kill me, you would have in the alley.” You shake your head, reaching up to grab his wrists and tug his hands from your face. Prowess spills into your chest as his gaze grows surprised once again.

You nod. “Now, since Jinyoung isn’t here and I really don’t want to pay another hundred dollars to haul my ass back to town, you’re gonna help me understand how this whole vampire thing works.”

“I’m going to… what now?”

“You heard me.” You step past Jaebeom and enter the mansion, following the same pathway the previous woman took. You’re barely able to hold back a gasp at the regal interior that greets your entrance. Swallowing your awe, you peer over your shoulder at a rather confused Im Jaebeom and hum delicately, “You don’t happen to drink coffee? Do you?”

☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

“I finished the boundary spell, Mark-hyung. No one can get step foot into the cemetery without us knowing.” Jinyoung watches Jisung step outside of his ritual circle, crafted from salt and the burning essence of various herbs. From across the way, Mark provides the younger witch a nod of encouragement before turning to face the Choi duo.

“You stocked up on enough energy, Youngjae?”

Youngjae disentangles his hand from Lia’s grasp, his skin ceasing the magical glow Jinyoung has seen many times in siphoners long before anyone in this particular coven was born. The witch hums, “Yes, hyung. I should have plenty to last.”

“Don’t count on it.” Mark shakes his head, tossing another smoldering herb into the center of the salt boundary. “We have no idea what we’re up against. Everyone needs to keep on their toes, and stay together.”

“Have you… fought something like this before?...” It takes a whole moment of silence for Jinyoung to realize Jisung had directed the question at him. Peering at the youngest witch with his usual blank expression, Jinyoung inhales a deep breath, attempting to push away the whiplash of memories that rage through his head.

Jinyoung answers, “I have faced many hunters and witches… but never as a pair.”

“So you’ve fought dark witches?...”

The inquiry surprises Jinyoung, but for what reason—he doesn’t know.

“It is not the witches who are dark—it is the magic.” He finally sighs after a long period of silence. “Dark magic plagues the mind like a parasite, laying its eggs in the user’s morals and logicalities until it builds into an infestation, and completely takes over the witch’s sanity.”

Jisung’s face visibly pales. “Does it… kill the witch?”

“In more ways than one.” Jinyoung catches Mark’s eyes. Inside them is an emotion he knows too well—guilt.

“Don’t worry, Sung.” Lia sidles beside the youngest witch, weaving her fingers with his own to provide a comforting squeeze. “Everything’s gonna be fine… right, Mark?”

Everyone’s eyes immediately trail to the head witch, and though he doubts anyone else could see, Jinyoung notices the aura of fear and apprehension oozing from Mark’s tense body. He can only imagine how Mark feels—terrified for the lives and wellbeing of the people he calls his family… Jinyoung hasn’t felt that pain in centuries, but it’s impossible to forget.

Especially when it comes to those you love.

With eyes of pure, determined fire, Mark nods.

“We do this for Nayeon.” He gathers the witches close, reaching across to take Lia and Jisung’s joint limbs in one hand while the other goes for Youngjae. Something inside Jinyoung’s chest seizes at the heartwarming sight… A memory of both him and Jaebeom suddenly rushes into his thoughts where their hands are tightly clasped between their bodies. Where they stand as brother’s united against the world.

Where did those times go…?

“—For Nayeon!” Jinyoung returns just in time to see the group disband from their minimal embrace. Lia and Jisung head back toward the mausoleum, probably to fetch more supplies for the battle just waiting over the horizon, while the remaining two witches approach Jinyoung. Each with a sullen expression along their features.

Jinyoung clears his throat. “You’re certain they’ll attack tonight?”

“It’s a new moon. Mina’s power will be it’s strongest.” Mark says, providing Jinyoung a grim frown. “Which is why all of us need to be careful. Like I said, we have no clue what to expect.”

The corners of Jinyoung’s lips slightly turn. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were actually concerned for me.”

Mark shakes his head, completely ignoring Jinyoung’s attempt at humor before shifting his focus to Youngjae. “Anything from Minho?”

“No, hyung. But Jisung left him a message to tell him to stay far away from the cemetery tonight.”

Mark releases a heavy breath and drags a hand down his face. “That douchebag is gonna get himself killed, goddamn it…”

“They will be looking for the entire coven, not a lone witch.” Jinyoung assures, feeling the need to expel the head witch’s anxiety. “Minho will be safe. Wherever he is.”

Mark meets Jinyoung’s gaze. “I hope you’re right.”

“We should go over the plan of action again.” Abandoning the intensity of Mark’s stare, Jinyoung turns at Youngjae’s offer, discovering the siphoner to already be looking in his direction.

There’s a subtle waver in Youngjae’s tone as he asks, “You remember what you have to do?”

Jinyoung nods cooly. “Once you immobilize the witch, I go for the huntress.”

“And you’re sure you can take her by yourself?”

“I’ve encountered and destroyed dozens of supernatural hunters over the years.” Jinyoung replies to Youngjae, earning a silent, but visible eye roll from the other witch. He ignores Mark’s annoyance, nodding again at the younger siphoner. “I’m strong enough.”

Jinyoung only hopes that will be true.

“Good.” Youngjae turns to Mark. “Once Mina steps foot onto our grounds, the spell will immediately take effect… She’ll be in pain. Immense, torturous pain.”

Jinyoung notices how Mark’s shoulders shiver at the description.

He gulps. “This will work. It has to.”

“It will.” Jinyoung offers again, placing a gentle hand against Mark’s elbow. The latter grows surprised for a moment, before a weak upturn of his lips signifies his gratitude.

Jinyoung immediately pulls away from Mark as a loud shriek erupts through the graveyard. The first to wake out of the alarmed stupor is Mark, who immediately shifts on his heel and dashes for the entrance of the cemetery, where the noise had previously erupted. Youngjae runs after him, followed closely behind by Jinyoung.

“Mark-hyung! Wait, don’t—”

“There’s someone here! Get Lia and Jisung out here!” Jinyoung provides Youngjae a nod, assuring the witch to follow his leader’s demand. The siphoner makes a break for the mausoleum while Jinyoung scales the rest of the distance toward the head witch, who’s standing mere feet from the iron gate that acts as the only access point into Eclipse Cemetery—where a shadowy figure is helplessly squirming on the graveled-earth.

Jinyoung grabs Mark’s wrist before he can lunge at the figure, frantically shaking his head. “Are you trying to get yourself killed!?”

“That son of a bitch murdered my friend—” Mark hisses, wrenching his limb away from Jinyoung’s grasp and pushing his body away with a hefty shove. “You don’t want to test the reliability of my self-control right now… so I suggest you back off and do your own damn job!”

“Wait for the others, at least!” Jinyoung urges, “Be smart about this, Mark! Trust me—!”

“Don’t tell me what to fucking—”

“Mark-hyung!” Surprise mirrors itself along both Jinyoung and Mark’s features. The head witch quickly leaves Jinyoung to kneel beside the figure hidden beneath the darkness of the moonless night. Jinyoung hurries to Mark’s side, his eyes widening to saucers at the familiar features he can barely make out in the obscurity.

Mark gapes. “Minho…?”

“Wh-What is—ha!.. Hap-happening?...” Minho manages to spill through gritted teeth with much struggle. Jinyoung recognizes the writhing and twitching of his limbs, as well as the wild nature of his gaze—Youngjae wasn’t lying about the pain.

“Shit, Minho—” Mark hurriedly mutters a counter-incantation beneath his breath, pulling the younger witch to lean against his chest. Even with the spell lifted, Minho continues to spasm and moan at the phantom waves that send pain through his form.

Mark shakes his head. “What in the actual hell are you doing here!?”

“What… What the fuck are you talking about?” Minho gasps, clutching onto the sleeves of Mark’s shirt as another wave passes through his veins. “You… called me, asshole!”

“What the fu—? I never called you! Jisung told you to stay home!”

“I-I… talked to you earlier.” Minho inhales something close to a wheeze before lightly poking Mark’s chest. “You told me to… to come to the ‘maus’ at mid-midnight…”

Jinyoung feels his blood run cold, but his tone is even colder:

“They knew it was a trap…”

Mark’s eyes are wild with desperation and fright as he meets Jinyoung’s gaze. “The others—” A loud, high-pitched wail cuts off Mark’s speech. Neither him nor Jinyoung waste any time and make a mad dash for the mausoleum, Jinyoung’s heart racing in his throat. The first thing he notices is the door of the structure—wide open and practically torn off its hinges.

“Youngjae! Lia! Jisung!” Mark screams, sprinting inside the mausoleum with no hesitation. Jinyoung pauses in the doorway, watching as the head witch frantically surveys the place, only to find it completely empty save for himself. Tears are glistening in his eyes as he shakes his head, “Where the fuck are they!? Oh my fucking god—”

“If the boundary spell caught Minho, then they could have gotten in anywhere!” Jinyoung steps aside just in time for Mark to race outside again. “We need to be careful! Especially if they have—!”

“Mark-hyung!” Youngjae’s call carries through the nightly breeze, brewing even more uncontrolled fear in Jinyoung’s chest.

“Youngjae!” Jinyoung can barely keep up with Mark’s frantic pace as he tears deeper into the graveyard, skipping over headstones and rounding tall statues with the skill of a professional athlete. He somehow manages to keep up. Just in arms reach of the head witch.

“Youngjae!? Youngjae!?” Mark sobs, pausing to peer through the continuous hills of graves and monuments for the forgotten. “Jisung!? Lia!? Where are you!?”

Through the very corner of his eye, Jinyoung notices a speck of movement emerge from behind a nearby tree. Time seems to slow as he focuses closer on that tree, immediately noticing a human-like shadow holding something between stoic hands—holding a loaded crossbow pointed directly at Mark.

Using every bout of vampiric strength in his possession, Jinyoung sprints toward the head witch just as the bolt leaves the barrel of the crossbow.

“Mark! Get down!”

“Jinyoung—!?”

Jinyoung can hear nothing but screams and the ringing of his own ears as he shields Mark’s body with his own. Somewhere deep inside, as the crossbow bolt pierces his flesh, he can hear something that fills his soul with immense warmth…

It’s your voice—telling him to go to hell, as he immediately succumbs to a violent wave of darkness.

☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

“So you’re… a werewolf and a vampire?” Jaebeom watches your eyebrows raise to the heavens over the rim of his glass, swallowing the sweeter-than-sweet liquid before licking the remnants from his lips. He can’t remember the last time he sat down and had a cup of coffee, much less drank something that wasn’t straight from the vein.

To be honest, he’d much rather be feeding from the blonde woman waiting in his bedroom. But something about being with you is too addicting to pass up… and that scares him.

You shake your head. “Isn’t that like… ironic? Considering vampires and werewolves are sworn enemies?”

An amused chuckle spills from his lips as you fumble with your own teacup, barely managing to save its matching saucer before it clatters to the floor. Your annoyed glare pulls more laughter out of him, and it takes a good portion of his self-control not to smile.

After taking another sip of his coffee, Jaebeom shrugs. “I was born a werewolf, and it carried over when Jinyoung and I became vampires.”

“How did that happen anyway?” You lean back in your seat, crossing your legs at the ankle with a tilt of your head. “I mean, did you and Jinyoung choose to become…what you are?”

“Yes and no,” He hums.

“So you chose to become monsters?”

“You consider my brother and I monsters…?”

Jaebeom doesn’t like the serious expression that pulls across your features. “I know you’ve killed a lot of people… and have done some pretty fucked up things.”

“A millennium is a long time to be alive, little dove.” Your obvious distaste at the nickname fills his chest with comedic pleasure. He smirks, “You get a little bored after a while.”

“Normal people read books when they’re bored, or find a new hobby.”

“Killing isn’t a hobby then…?”

Your response is a look of pure disgust.

Jaebeom howls in laughter before inhaling the remainder of his coffee in one gulp. He heaves a sigh, peering out the large, stained-glass window. Partly to recollect his thoughts. Partly to allow the obvious tension to dissipate between his and your forms.

Now inside his own head, Jaebeom wonders whether or not he should have said such a barbaric statement in the first place. If it were anyone else, Jaebeom would care less about protecting his image—but it’s you. And something inside him warns him to be careful around you… Very, very careful.

“Jinyoung and I were children when we found each other.” Jaebeom sighs, feeling the weight of your surprised gaze on the side of his face. “After my own caregivers abandoned me, he convinced his parents to take me in… It wasn’t until I lived inside their home did I realize how cruel they were.”

“Cruel…?”

“Jinyoung was a bastard child.” He explains, “His mother had an affair with a village merchant. After his father found out, he murdered his wife’s lover and made Jinyoung’s life a living hell.”

Jaebeom rises from his armchair and grabs his empty cup before heading for the liquor tray in front of the same window he was previously staring out. While pouring himself a drink, Jaebeom makes sure to raise his voice so you can still hear:

“For years, I watched that asshole beat the shit out of Jinyoung while his mother and sisters sat back and didn’t do a goddamn thing.” He downs the brandy in one sweet gulp before selecting a stronger bottle of scotch. Not bothering with his cup, Jaebeom unscrews the cap and takes a long, drawn-out swig from the container. Fire erupts through his belly, sending the beginning of a pleasurable buzz through his veins.

“One day I got fed up with it all, and when the fucker tried to lash Jinyoung for refusing to shoot a fawn, I took that belt right out of his hands, wrapped it around his neck, and squeezed and squeezed until the light left his eyes…”

Through the corner of his eye, Jaebeom notices how your body grows tense at his confession.

He whirls around to meet your gaze, pushing away the pestering emotions without so much as a blink before continuing, “We were banished by his family and the other villagers, but we didn’t care—we had each other, and we needed no one else.

“We encountered a witch one day, as we were walking through the forest.” Jaebeom says after another sip, “She told us she could give us a gift like no other: Eternal life. We only had to take part in a ritual, and death would never come for us.”

You shake your head. “Why? Why would you want to live forever?”

“If you were given the chance to be invincible against everything, even time, wouldn’t a small part of you be somewhat interested?”

He allows you a moment to ponder his question. After maybe a minute or so, you release a silent huff and gesture for him to continue.

“The witch tricked us though, and in trade for immortality, we were forced to sacrifice our humanity.”

Your eyes widen. “So you didn’t… choose to become vampires?”

“No.” Jaebeom sets down his bottle with one hand while carding his fingers through his hair with the other. “Anyway, Jinyoung and I spent decades learning how to manage our newfound abilities, and even longer on how to handle the lifestyle.”

“If you and Jinyoung were the first—the Prime Two—did you create more vampires?”

He chuckles with a sigh, “Yes. Though it was by accident how we found out.

“Fledgling vampires branched off from our bloodline are different. They’re not as fast, nor as strong, nor as powerful as us.” Jaebeom explains, “Jinyoung and I can compel humans and other vampires, but vampires can only compel humans.”

“Are fledglings immortal too?”

“To some extent.” Crossing back across the room, Jaebeom lowers into the armchair beside your own. Now close enough to see the curious spark of wonder in your irises. “It is possible for a fledgling to live forever, but unlike Jinyoung and I, fledglings can be killed with a wooden stake through the heart.”

“Nice to know that much is true.” Jaebeom relishes the borderline amused chuckle that leaves your lips, playing the odd elation off as the effects of the alcohol. “Is it also true that a bite from a vampire turns you into a vampire?”

He snorts, “Let me guess… Got that from Twilight?

“Just answer the question.”

“The only way to become a vampire is if you die with vampire blood in your system.” He hums, “After you die, you’ll wake up in transition, and will need to drink human blood to complete the transformation.”

“And if you choose not to complete it?”

“Then you die for real.”

You shift at his answer, finding interest in the chipped edge of your cup. Jaebeom wonders whether he should change the topic of interest, but before he can think up some possible options, you steer the conversation yourself:

“You never told me why.”

His eyebrows raise in confusion. “What?”

“Why you left me in that alleyway.”

For the first time, Jaebeom feels vulnerable underneath the scrutiny of your eyes. He fidgets uncomfortably, and like you, searches the room for another object to hold his attention. However, whether it’s because of the whiskey, or something else, his gaze returns to and remains rooted on your own.

What is it about you? The thought spirals through his thoughts like a 2-seater plane with broken wings. Maybe he should have listened to Jinyoung, and stayed away from you in the first place. Because whatever game you’re playing, whatever spell you have him under… it’s messing with his head.

And he doesn’t like to be fucked around with.

Finally, after what seems like hours, Jaebeom shakes his head. “I don’t kn—”

A sudden crash emerges from the foyer, effectively interrupting his explanation. Jaebeom leaps from his seat and speeds in front of where you’re sitting, shielding your form from the entryway where the noise sounded. His protective stance vanishes, however, at the figure that appears in the doorway.

Jaebeom tsks. “Oh. Look who finally decided to show up.”

“Jinyoung…?” Jaebeom steps aside to allow you to step forward, rolling his eyes in annoyance. He moves to fetch himself another drink when your exclaim stops him, “Holy shit! What the hell happened to you!?”

Upon taking care to really look at his brother, Jaebeom understands the reason for your concern. Jinyoung’s usual clean-cut and formal appearance is nonexistent. From head to toe, he’s covered in dirt, and his dark hair is far past disheveled. His clothes are badly torn and wrinkled, and practically soaked in fresh blood. Jaebeom quickly realizes the blood does belong to Jinyoung, noticing the large, thick bolt protruding from his chest.

Jinyoung winces, “It’s a long story… but if you don’t mind, I’d like to sit down first.”

☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

The gleam of the awakening sun rising over the horizon sears Yugyeom’s eyes, but he keeps his gaze fixated on the entryway of the cemetery. No matter how much the newfound sunlight burns his eyes, he continues to watch the shadows of the night disperse in fear of the approaching morning. He knows pain all too well.

“Gyeom?”

Yugyeom greets Chan silently, with a curt nod. His stare remains frozen on the gate.

Chan sidles up beside him until they are shoulder to shoulder. His own gaze glances at Yugyeom’s point of interest for a moment before he turns to look at his companion in the early morning glow. Through his peripheral vision, Yugyeom can spot Chan’s grim expression.

“How’s the coven?” Yugyeom asks after a long bout of silence.

Chan shrugs, “Minho, Jisung and Lia were all sleeping when I left. And Youngjae, he’s…” When his voice trails off, Yugyeom doesn’t urge Chan to finish his sentence. He knows exactly how Youngjae is right now.

Terrified.

“What should we do with the body?”

Yugyeom barely blinks. “Probably best to burn it. Can’t leave anything up to chance.”

Chan hums in agreement, seemingly ready to return to the mausoleum, but to Yugyeom’s surprise, Chan remains in place. Another long, tense round of silence carries between them, filling Yugyeom’s head with even more heart wrenching memories. After another mind-spiralling hurricane or two, Chan breaks the silence again:

“We made the right decision. If we got here any later, that huntress would have killed everyone.”

Yugyeom shakes his head, “The huntress was working with a witch, and we only found the one… We should have gotten here sooner.”

“Youngjae thinks the huntress was working alone tonight.” Chan says, lifting his palm to shield his eyes from the blinding sunrise. “There were no traces of unfamiliar magic… nor did we catch anyone else’s scent in the cemetery.”

“Then where is the witch?” Yugyeom moves his attention away from the graveyard entrance, and with aching eyes, turns to meet his Alpha’s downcast gaze, “And more importantly, where the hell is Mark-hyung…?”

☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

You hold back a wince as Jaebeom literally tears the bolt from Jinyoung’s chest, earning a pained grunt from said victim. Dark blood splatters from the now open wound, painting across Jaebeom’s skin and adding even more stains to Jinyoung’s unsalvageable shirt. Disgust fills your gut as Jaebeom offers Jinyoung what seems to be a glass of blood—probably from that blonde woman you encountered at the door.

Jinyoung shakes his head and pushes the drink away. “No. I’m alright.”

“You would have healed by now if you were.” Jaebeom tries again, “Just take a sip.”

“No.”

“Suit yourself.” Your eyes widen in both surprise and revulsion, watching Jaebeom knock back the glass and down the blood in one large gulp. Fighting back a wave of nausea, you carefully approach the wounded vampire, holding forth a clean towel.

Jinyoung takes the garment and sends a grateful smile in return. “Thank you, (Y/N).”

You nod, “Sure.”

Jinyoung presses the bunched fabric to his gaping wound, hissing through gritted teeth at the sudden pressure. You wonder whether or not you should grab the emergency Tylenol from your bag… Does pain medication even work on vampires? Aren’t they technically dead?

“We were ambushed at the cemetery.” Jinyoung explains, pulling you from your foolish thoughts. “After the huntress shot me, I must have hit my head and knocked myself out.”

“Sounds like a pretty unfortunate story.”

Jinyoung chuckles at your joke before continuing, “When I came to, the wolf pack had killed her and Mark was gone.”

Panic immediately spreads through your veins like flames to dry wood. “Mark? What do you mean he’s gone?”

“I’m not sure. We searched the entire graveyard, but there was no sign of him.”

You open your mouth to inquire further, but Jaebeom’s loud exhale cuts you off. Both you and Jinyoung turn to peer at the hybrid, finding him staring out the large window while drumming his fingertips against the red- and blue-stained glass. After a quiet moment filled with the rhythm of his fingers and Jinyoung’s marred breathing, Jaebeom peers over his shoulder—his eyes glaring daggers straight at his brother.

Jinyoung shakes his head. “Hyung—”

“I told you not to get involved with Tuan.” The dark, bitter tone that leaves Jaebeom’s lips sends a harsh shiver down your spine, more so since the comment included mention of your best friend.

“And I told you I’m taking care of it.”

“Can you not just do what you’re fucking told just once? Just one goddamn time—?”

To both your and Jaebeom’s surprise, Jinyoung suddenly leans forward in his seat and retches violently. You rush forward, splaying your hands across his back while asking about his condition. Your response is another retching noise, and in just the nick of time, you manage to step out of the way before Jinyoung vomits red across the carpet.

“Fucking god, Jinyoung! What the hell is wrong with him!?” You call out to Jaebeom, squeezing Jinyoung’s shoulders as he heaves again. After another gag or two, you help Jinyoung to lean back into the armchair, wiping the bloody remnants from his lip with a towelette. Your knuckles brush the arch of his cheekbone—his skin is hot to the touch.

“He’s burning up! What do we do!?”

“It’s… werewolf venom.” Jinyoung gasps, weakly pulling your wrist away from his face.

You shake your head, “W-Werewolf venom?”

“A werewolf’s bite is deadly to vampires.” Jaebeom explains, barely batting an eyelash as Jinyoung lurches forward with another gag.

“But he wasn’t bitten? How the hell—?”

“The crossbow bolts must have been poisoned.” Your anxiety skyrockets, worriedly staring as Jinyoung begins to choke on his own blood. Jaebeom glances outside the window again, murmuring, “He won’t die… The effects will pass in a day or so.”

“But can’t you heal him!?” You jump to your feet, narrowly avoiding a puddle of dark blood before dashing over to Jaebeom. Your fingers desperately latch onto the lapels of his leather jackets, tugging him down to meet your eyes. “You’re a hybrid, so your blood should technically flush the venom out of his system? Right?”

Jaebeom’s lips twitch. “You’re smart, little dove. I’ll give you that.”

“So you’ll heal him?”

You wait in utter agony as the hybrid considers your request, staring blankly at the features of your face. You can only imagine how much you resemble a crazed, mad woman, but you can care less. Right now, your sole focus is on Jinyoung and ending whatever horrible fate awaits. Jaebeom wouldn’t let his best friend—the man he calls his brother—suffer in absolute anguish…

Not when he killed Jinyoung’s own father to protect him.

After a miserable moment of silence, Jaebeom releases a heavy exhale through his nose before meeting your gaze. The bubble of hope expands inside your chest when the hybrid offers a weak smile, lifting a hand to brush a stray hair from your forehead. You shiver as that same hand lightly grasps your chin, guiding your face closer until you can taste the alcohol on Jaebeom’s breath.

All in a matter of seconds, that bubble of hope pops at Jaebeom’s curt answer:

“No.”

You watch in horror as Jaebeom releases your chin, turns on his heel, and leaves you by your lonesome with a wounded Jinyoung, and even more wounded soul.

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ralfmaximus · 4 years ago

Text

Demon Trap

I finished the incantation, the last of the words yanked from my throat as they often are. My Sight revealed them swirling away from me, forming a vortex within the containment circle surrounding me, simple chalk on basement concrete.

I stepped carefully out of the circle then, popped the cap off a bottled water and swallowed half in one long draught. By the time I wiped my chin, my visitor was already forming.

He appeared first as an orange ember, a firefly darting frantically within the containment. Finding no escape, he settled into the center, about eye-height, finally spreading himself out a bit: now he spanned a half-dozen hands, sheets of electric fire spinning and churning. The suggestion now of eyes, teeth, horns, reptile skin stretched between bird-bones.

The process was fascinating, always different, yet always similar. Their kind was a bit predictable, which was why I worked in my chosen field. A specialist, I felt comfortable with my knowledge; what to expect, what to do when things went wrong. And this time, everything seemed to be humming along perfectly.

The last thing to arrive was his voice: a howling impotent rage, scaling up into dog-hearing, now bombing out into floor shaking subsonics. This too would subside, I knew, as the thing realized how thoroughly it was caught. I finished my water as I waited.

Eventually, silence. I cleared my throat.

“Hello in there?”

A momentary flash of fire, the howling and shrieking renewed. Were I standing within the circle, I might’ve been impressed. Perhaps even incinerated.

“Oh, quite enough of that, thank you. We have business to discuss.”

The shrieking stopped. I could almost envision a cartoon thought-balloon filled with question-marks hovering over the circle.

“Talk to me. I command it.”

It took a few moments; I could imagine the thing sorting through possible responses, but if I knew my demons, this one wasn’t stupid. Hopefully it wouldn’t spend a lot of time trying to impress me.

“Business?”

I smiled. The words were well-modulated, pitched for human ears. It’d worked with us before. Excellent. Gender neutral, mmmaybe a touch more male than female… but clearly it understood some basic rules.

“Yes. I have a business proposition. And you would be well advised to pay attention, because really… what else can you do?”

Subsonics again; the stuff on my walls shook. “Release me.”

“No. Not gonna happen. Not until we come to an agreement, anyway.”

Flash of heat, even through the circle. An explosion of random noise, insectile chittering, rabid bears singing opera: “I WILL STRIP YOUR FLESH FROM YOUR BONES! I WILL FASHION YOUR SKIN INTO A CUNNING FALL JACKET! YOUR ORGANS WILL FILL ITS POCKETS! I WILL—“

“Oh, please. Check my stats. Who has the real power here? Go ahead… check it out. I’ll wait.”

It didn’t take long. The flames died back into silence as it murmured to itself for a few seconds.

Then, back into conversational mode: “Business?”

“Yes. That. Shall we get to it?”

A sigh. “Very well.”

“I find myself in need of a minion. A familiar, even, should you prove your worth. In exchange I will grant you a small boon of power, bound to my will of course, and a measure of freedom on this plane.”

“This is the human plane?”

“The very same.”

“Crap. I hate this place.”

This gave me pause. “Really. Something bad happen?”

“Oh… don’t get me started. It’s really a long boring story and I come off looking like an idiot, so no. Let’s not go there. Just know that I would burn your world to a cinder then piss on the fire. In a heartbeat.”

I nodded slowly. Good to know. I briefly considered probing for more, specifically when the demon had last visited, but knew that could rapidly spin out of control… their sense of time was different than ours. We could spend hours arguing the semantics of cause and effect, and we’d both end up irritated.

“Okay then. On the surface, does this business proposition interest you? Say the word and I’ll send you back. No harm, no foul.”

“A question?”

“You may ask.”

“Why… me?”

Wow, that was a good question. Cut right to the heart of things, really. Did he know I’d been scanning for demons of a particular… situation? Had my reputation preceded me? Or was this an honest curiosity? Or did he already know… and this was a test? My paranoia ratcheted up a notch; I flicked a mental switch and brought some backup defenses online.

“You glow, sorcerer. I detect new shielding. Perhaps your posture is a lie; perhaps you are weak and ripe for the plucking. Mayhap I should test these bounds a bit more, see how strong they really are, hmm?”

An inferno swelled to fill the circle, now a cylinder stretching from floor to ceiling. It was like standing next to a house fire. I cursed mentally; drew in additional force, twisted the talisman dangling from my wrist. I’d pay for it later, but I sensed things might rampage out of control were they not stopped, now.

I pointed; the circle flashed. The being within howled. I’d delivered a few-gigavolts of whoop-ass, wholly beyond what was necessary to subdue a demon of his kind… but I wanted there to be no repeat performances. Show them a strong hand, and you’ll never have to use it. Usually.

It worked. The firefly was back. Stunned, it wavered then regrew to its amorphous teeth/eyes/wings/reptile blob of light, hovering at eye level.

“That went well,” it muttered.

It possessed a sense of humor; a bonus. I could work with this. Suddenly I wanted to work with this… my mind was made up in that moment.

“Try it again, and I’ll napalm you back to the Big Bang. Got that?”

“Accorded. The question.”

“Yes, your question.” I decided to play along, might be useful for it to understand. And if it already knew, I was giving nothing away.

“I sought you specifically because I know superficially of your situation. You have fallen on hard times. Once powerful, once respected, now you are untouchable. I know not the specifics, nor do I care. But I do recognize talent when I see it. That is why I summoned you.”

It chuckled then. “I see. Release me.”

“Agree to be bound, and we’ll talk.”

“Very well,” it sighed. “I release myself.”

And suddenly things went very wrong. The containment circle winked off, drained of power as if it never was. The thing was suddenly in front of me, heat curling my eyebrows. A reptilian eye regarded mine, inches away, slitted iris opening with interest.

I sensed it then: fathomless power, carefully hidden. The thing was a master of stealth. I’d been tricked, thoroughly and completely. I swallowed, preparing myself to die.

It rumbled, its voice clearing. I closed my eyes.

“Human, I like you. I agree.”

The heat turned off then, as with a switch. I sensed its amusement as I opened my eyes, repressing my body’s urge to convulse and collapse. I took a deep breath, held it, released.

I kept to the script, mystified but willing to accept the gift. “So then, bind yourself and let us begin our new relationship.”

It chuckled again, but came across with the first three syllables of its name then. Which I’d already known, but that’s how contracts are signed. I locked them in and released yet another breath. Far more shakily than I would have liked. I suddenly needed to sit down.

A chair appeared beneath me. I sat. The thing howled with glee.

“See? Already, I serve. You have a faithful servant. Rejoice, human, for today is a good day for us both. And let me just say, it took you long enough.”

I shifted in the chair, trying to decide if I wanted to lay down instead. This was too much. “Come again?”

“Oh, too delicious! You sought me, when all this time, who sought whom? I’ve been pushing you for months, human. How do you suppose my… situation… was revealed to you? How?”

I racked my brains, trying to remember the exact moment when I selected him for my trap. I could not.

“You see, now. Yes. All is as intended.”

My bruised ego aside, I simply could not believe I’d been so thoroughly duped. Nevertheless… “You have me, I suppose. What now?”

“Oh, that is for you to decide. Master.”

This last was said with barely contained mirth, yet I sensed no ill will. Clearly it was enjoying yet another joke at my expense.

“Then you intend to honor the binding? I mean, it is a binding, isn’t it?”

“Most certainly. A reasonable device, though I have suggestions for next time. You could learn a lot by seeing things from this perspective; loopholes have always been the bane of human magic, you know. But yes, I am bound. You command. I wish it this way.”

“Um… why?”

“A question,” he mocked gently. “The human has a question. Very well: I shall answer. I lack motivation. True, I have power, and the will to use it… but am cursed with a lack of imagination or ambition. Perhaps I have always been so, perhaps I had such at one time, perhaps I am damaged… something has happened in the past few dozen centuries, I am uncertain. But no matter: it is how I am, and I acknowledge that freely. It took a lot of therapy to get to where I am now, by the way.”

Not sure if that last was a joke or not, and I didn’t want to risk insult by asking. I moved on.

“So,” I ventured, “we’re a team. I command, you follow, but only because you let me.”

“Well said. If I get bored I may napalm you back to the Big Bang, but I doubt you will bore me.” The glowing orange blob eased in closer, as if to whisper a secret: “As I said, I like you.”

I nodded then, slowly. Could be worse. Deep breath, and suddenly I felt better. Sat up a little straighter. Crossed my legs and leaned back, hands behind my head. Considered.

“We’ll need a physical form for you,” I mused.

“Select one. I’m not picky.”

I grinned, formed a thought, set it out for him to see.

His reaction was beautiful. “Surely you jest.”

“I always wanted a dog.”

He sighed. “Very well.”

A flash of light, the brief smell of burning hair. Smoke parted to reveal an irritated dachshund sitting on its haunches, snout pointed at me. But it was all good; I sensed his secret amusement.

“Well done,” I applauded. He took a little doggy bow.

The words ghosted into my head: “What is first on the agenda, Oh Wise and Beneficent Master?”

I stood, cracked my spine. “I’ll tell you upstairs.”

It was fun watching him take the steps one at a time.

#me #writing #demon #trap #demon trap

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marvel-ousnesss · 5 years ago

Text

Little Flame (Hades x reader)

Request: Can I have an imagine where I'm Mal's best friend and I have a crush on Hades and he overhears?

A/N: Made with love, based on @thorxme18 ‘s request (I modified the concept a bit) 🥰 Sorry not sorry but… no smut in this one. Also, this ended up being super long, I think it's like 7k-ish ???? Anyways….. Enjoyyyy and tell me what you think.

Pairing: Hades x reader

Warning: Cursing

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Descendants or any of its characters.

Y/I: your initial

Much to your surprise, everything had changed from the last time some VKs were elected to go off-shore. Everyone who wasn't chosen seemed to be happy for those who were; you wished you'd've had that reaction from your mentor and, you'd dare to say friend, Hades. You couldn't bring yourself to stop thinking about it, it made both your mind and your left foot bounce non-stop as you waited for Mal and Ben to make an entrance at the new students' welcoming ceremony.

Ben thanked his people for their support, but not everyone seemed to be sharing the positive attitude on the VK topic. Beside you, you heard Audrey's grandma, whose name you couldn't remember, scoff, "not like we had a choice."

All you did was roll your eyes, after all your time in Auradon, you had grown used to the comments about you being a villain. You listened to Ben while fidgeting with the sleeve of your dress, a grin plastered across your face in expectancy of what was gonna happen after he finished singing. However, just like it happened with the announcement of new arrivals, not everyone was happy about the king's proposal.

"No!" Audrey screamed, making a few threatening glares, including yours, be thrown her way. As cliché as it may sound, it is right to say that, if looks could kill, Audrey would've been dead within seconds (if her jealousy didn't kill her first).

After Mal said yes, everyone began celebrating and commenting on how romantic the gesture had been, how good of a couple they made, and how lucky Auradon's people were to have them.

"Ben and Mal are the absolute best, I really cannot wait for Mal to be queen," said the girl who was standing next to you.

With a smile, you nodded in agreement, "I know, I mean, they work really well together, and they're such a great couple."

"You'd really rather have a VK on the throne than me?"

The girl just turned around and left, but you faked a smile and mocked, "I think even Carlos' dog would make a better queen."

"You're not one to talk, you're one of them yourself," Chad Charming came to Audrey's defense.

"Why thanks, captain obvious, I was completely unaware of that." You rolled your eyes at them as you began making your way to where your friends were standing.

As soon as Mal came down from the stage, you and Evie engulfed her in a tight hug.

"Did you guys know?"

Evie just sighed and grinned, "everything."

You shrugged nonchalantly, "helped plan it." You hugged her once more, thrilled to see her so happy, "you're gonna be the best queen that this pretty, preppy people can even imagine."

….

You stood next to Evie's desk, scanning a new book of sketches she had made for Mal's wedding dress and munching on a chocolate chip cookie.

"Who else knows about the crown and the scepter?" asked Evie, with her brows slightly frowned.

"No one. I mean, think about it, people are scared enough as it is. We have to employ these entirely new security measures". Mal spoke with confidence as she explained the situation to both of you.

For one, you couldn't believe that such important objects had been stolen, and you understood the fear of the people, knowing from first-hand experience how dangerous and wicked villains could be. However, you didn't support the Isle's complete isolation, it was unfair to take such measures.

"Will this delay our bringing over more V.K.'s?" Evie asked.

Mal sighed and replied, "We're talking about closing the barrier for good."

You gasped. "What? M, they can't do that."

Automatically, Evie's notebook rested on the table next to you and began pacing.

"Not only will you kill dozens of children's illusions to be here, but we'd never get to see the others again. You said no, right?"

"Y/N is right, you know? Besides, the four of us are living the dream, and we finally get to share that. I mean, what could be more important than that?" Evie had always been the most compassionate out of the five of you, so she was trying to lead Mal into the path that seemed the kindest.

"Yeah. I know. I mean, maybe security or maybe peace of mind for everyone in Auradon. People like Hades, dangerous and cruel, could get out of the Isle at any moment, I truly believe that it's best for us to keep the barrier closed. For the sake of our people".

"Our people? M, look, don't get me wrong; I really admire how you care about everyone's safety here at Auradon," you sat on a spare chair, between your two best friends, eyes pleadingly looking at Mal. "But you can't afford to forget where we all come from. Better than anyone, we know that not everyone there is a criminal; and, even some of those who are, want a chance to prove themselves. There must be something, anything that can be done."

Mal seemed a bit taken aback, both of you could see that she was having a hard time with the current situation so, even if you didn't completely agree with the measures that she was telling you about, you gave her your most sincere smile and all the support that you could muster.

"M, I'm so glad that you're going to be Queen. You will be a part of these conversations, you will stand up for the V.K.s. Thank you for telling us. You're gonna be a great Queen".

Mal seemed gave you a small closed-lip smile, you and Evie stood up and hugged her, and she sighed, calming down a bit.

…

You hummed to yourself as you helped Carlos prepare a picnic basket for Jane's birthday party. Chuckling, while Evie threw different fruits at Jay, you folded everyone's towels and neatly arranged them. When you were about to go upstairs, to get your camera, you heard a faint, "later, suckers!" coming from outside.

You all rushed out and, before you could see anything, Jay exclaimed, "Whoa! You might wanna think of a spell for that."

Turns out, Audrey, who apparently was out and about looking for trouble, not only stole the scepter and the crown, but had also turned Mal into an old lady. Your friends were debating over what to do concerning the Audrey issue, when you chimed in, "The only thing more powerful than the scepter is Hades' ember. We need to go get it."

Carlos countered, "Are you sure? I mean, Y/N, can't you fix it with your magic?"

"Sorry guys, but Hades's our only choice, we need to get the ember."

Jay scoffed, "Yeah, right. We can also invite him over for tea."

Carlos gave him a smack on the back of his head, but didn't support your suggestion either.

"He’s right, Y/I,” Evie spoke up, “ besides, no one knows where his lair is”.

You shared a look with Celia, then shrugged, “I do. Actually, we both do.”

“I'm his errand rat. I've got the key at my dad's.”

“Great, you’re both coming,” announced Mal.

To be honest, you missed the dusty air of the Isle; you'd never been a fan of the Olympus, so when the gods decided to kick you, the goddess of devilry in war, daughter of Ares, out of the place, you didn't even bother argue. You greeted Dr. Facilier, waltzed around his shop for a bit, and then exited with your friends.

"Long time nay see," beamed Harry with a wicked grin. The bikes that had brought you were now occupied by pirates of The Lost Revenge's Crew.

Jay was fuming and it showed, he snarled, "get off my bike, Hook.''

"Catch me if you can, Jay!"

And then, they were gone.

You made a move to follow them, as Jay, Carlos, and Evie already had, but Mal placed a hand on your shoulder. "They got this, the three of us gotta gotta go find the ember." So you made your way to Hades'.

With a sigh, you opened the door to one of the most familiar places in the whole Isle.

"Okay, stay quiet," Celia warned. " It echoes, like, crazy in here."

The three of you walked and you could see Mal's eyes bouncing all around the entrance of the 'New Underworld,' as you liked to call it jokingly. When Mal passed besides Severo' s cage, his three mouths snarled menacingly and he began barking; however, it stopped when you passed by and was replaced by happy panting. You looked at him but decided against greeting the three-headed dog, you'd have time for that later. Your best friend sent you a questioning look and you smiled at her, as if telling her "I'll explain later."

The only way of entering the lair was similar to the entrance of the mines in which dwarfs worked back at Charmington. Multiple rail bikes were stationed on the edge, together with some lantern helmets. Each of you took a helmet and got into a bike, which immediately began taking you to where your mentor and friend lived.

You glanced back at Celia and Mal as you explained, "okay, the plan's simple: you'll approach him and get the ember while Celia and I distract him".

"Okay," "alright then," they both agreed.

Given that the former god was fast asleep, you and Celia stayed at the entrance of the cave, while Mal followed your directions and approached him, to take the ember. You mentally cursed as Hades, still unmoving, inquired, "What are you two doing here?"

"We just thought we'd, uh, say hi," Celia tried. When Hades didn't respond, she continued, "also, we noticed that you're low on… on… canned corn."

Not knowing how to support her weak ass excuse, you limited yourself to greet him with a small wave, to which he responded with a smirk and a nod.

"Hi, Dad". Mal remained behind his couch, bending her knees to face him.

"Quite a show you put on the other day," he claimed.

"Right back at you".

After steering awake, he stood up, more like jumped to his feet, "I was just coming to see you!"

Mal didn't believe him, and didn't bother to pretend. "Really? Wonder why.Is it because I'm gonna be Queen?"

"Ah! Now, Mal, don't be bitter".

"You abandoned me when I was a baby," the fae's voice was full of anger and disgust.

The god rolled his eyes and defended himself, "no. no, I left your mother. She's not the easiest person to get along with".

"You think?"

You scoffed, making your way toward the small storage room where all your witchcraft and sorcery materials were sitting, unused ever since you moved to Auradon. While you gathered your possessions, you didn't pay much attention to their interaction, they deserved privacy.

From where you were, you could hear them sing and fight like they hadn't done in the last sixteen years or so.

"Do you wanna make up for being a lousy dad? - Give me the ember," you heard Mal demand.

Hades smirked, "the ember only works for me." And me, you recalled.

"No. It'll work for me. We're blood."

"You're only half Hades. The ember won't do everything for you that it does for me".

"I'll take my chances." Mal began to walk toward where you were, so you took it as a cue to grab your bag and make your exit.

"If it gets wet, it's game over."

When you left, Hades glanced at the cupboard where you kept some things, noticing that, now, the only thing left was a small piece of burnt paper with the words LONG LIVE THE UNDERWORLD messily scribbled on it. His thunderous laugh was faintly heard back on the surface. 'The place does have on hell of an echo'.

Your eyes seemed to be stuck on Mal as you walked back to the barrier; when she noticed you gave her a smile, but felt a kick in your stomach for not telling her which was your connection to him. You could have told her at the lair, but remained silent, thinking it was better to do so when the tension was less.

Everything was quicker than expected, you got in, got the ember after sort of an awkward greeting, and got out. The only problem that you had was the fact that Gil and Harry had now escaped, unleashing a chain of events that had resulted in the oddest of alliances. Long story short, Uma had been roaming the sea all this time, apparently looking for a hole in the barrier; and, while doing that, she had found all the luxury of life outside the dome of the Isle. So, now Mal had promised to guarantee a future for all VKs and you were working with the sea three.

After arriving at Auradon prep, Mal had lead you to the Castle. You looked for Ben with no success, ending up in a room full of knight armours which, speaking of odd, were now charmed to fight. Thanks Audrey. From there, things had gone messy and both gangs were now singing, dancing and fighting for their lives. You did what you could to cover Mal, who was battling two minion armours at once. You swinged your sword and struck the ones around you, with your eyes focused on the scene surrounding you; they were outnumbering you and your group was cornered into the center of the room. However, you couldn't help but notice that the sea witch had dropped the ember, which Audrey had noticed too.

When one of the knights went for the ember, you slashed his head off and went for it too, beating him to it. You concentrated, closing your eyes and clenching your fist around the ember. The familiar burst of blue sparks began to run through you and your eyes opened, glowing silver as you screamed and lifted your arm, making the knights stand completely still before dropping their swords and falling to pieces.

"Y/N?" Mal winded, her wide eyes calling on to an explanation.

You scratched your neck, trying to force your words out, "it's a long story, M."

She pressed on the topic, "Hades said his ember only worked for him, How..."

The others remained quiet, using the time to catch their breaths and recover from the recent encounter; however, Evie's and Carlos' faces mirrored Mal's.

Hesitantly, you revealed the truth. "You guys know I'm sort of a greek goddess myself?," they nodded.

"I am, or I used to be, the goddess of devilry in war, known for being reckless and destructive. This sparked Hades' interest, so he became my mentor and one of my closest friends. When my dad, Ares, found out, he asked Zeus for my permanent expulsion from the Olympus, so I moved in with Hades. Before everything with Hercules and Megara happened, I was already learning everything about the Underworld. Hades' grew to trust me enough to teach me the magic of death so, as it all happened, I learned to use the ember".

The others looked satisfied with your story, but Mal looked at you with an air of betrayal, "so, you've known him all this time," she concluded.

Again, you sighed, "that's right.'’

This time, it was Carlos who spoke, "why didn't you tell us?"

"I don't know, guess, the way I saw it, you guys would've treated me differently knowing that I'm immortal". Okay, that was only half of the truth, but you couldn't risk it in the middle of such an important mission.

Evie smiled at you and, while hugging you, she assured, "Y/N, We love you, no matter what."

Carlos, Jay, and even Mal were quick to join her, showering you with smiles and words of agreement.

"Uh, guys, sorry to interrupt but we gotta keep going," Gil said, making you end the hug and continue your search for the king.

….

On your way to Audrey's room, Mal approached you.

"So… you and my dad being friends, didn't see that one coming," she chuckled.

You shrugged, kicking the dust beneath you, "he was there for me in hard times, the guy has a better heart than what people give him credit for."

She nodded at your words, "How'd you guys meet?"

"We made quick friends in the Troyan war. I was summoned by the greek soldiers and he was there, personally gathering the souls of the fallen. He said my work was great and I complimented his fiery hair, which, as I came to learn, turns out is one of his softy points."

"The Troyan war? So that's why you didn't even open your greek history book," she concluded, lightening the mood.

Audrey was not in her dorm, but Uma found her diary, so you arrived to the conclusion that she was at Fairy Cottage, a place where she had spent a big part of her childhood. Nevertheless, you had all agreed to meet at Evie's after the two hours had passed, so you headed there instead.

When you made it, you saw the three new Vk's fast asleep on the living room, and Evie's boyfriend, Doug, in the same condition but in her study.

Evie fell to the floor beside him, desperately trying to wake him, but to no avail.

Uma rolled her eyes, "he's spelled, is she not a fast learner?"

"She's emotionally involved, okay?" Mal defended her.

"Well, in that case, she should be able to wake him up. True love's kiss".

The atmosphere in the room got thicker with Uma's suggestion, so Evie asked to be left alone with her sleeping boyfriend. After a song and a true love kiss, not to mention with Doug back on his feet, you decided to take a break and have a snack.

You smiled when Mal apologized to Uma, and placed a hand on hers to show your pride and support. However, happiness and peace of mind didn't last long. With loud thuds, wooden boards began to cover the windows and trapped you inside the house. Mal's eyes glowed green as she tried to break Audrey's jinx, but her magic wasn't powerful enough so she and Uma had to join forces. The boards fell down.

Evie hummed, "You did it! Together! This is what I've been talking about".

"I guess my shell likes you," Uma shrugged, wanting to appear nonchalant. "Why don't you hold on to that?"She handed the ember to Mal, but instead of keeping it, she smiled and handed it to you.

"Actually, I think Y/N should have it. She knows it better than I do," she confided.

You thanked your best friend and put the ember away, proceeding to look out the window.

You caught a breath but, before you said anything, Celia announced, "hey, it's your bae!"

That's all it took for all of you to rush outside, stopping on your tracks when you saw the guys on Evie's front yard. With a smile plastered on your face, you hugged Jay and Carlos, and smiled at the pirates and Ben (who was Busy greeting his queen-to-be).

"I'm so glad you guys are okay," you raved. "All of you," once again, your eyes fell on Gil and Harry.

After reuniting, you had to part ways once more; Jane, Gil, and Doug went to find Fairy godmother, and the rest went looking for Audrey to Fairy Cottage.

….

Frankly, it was quite predictable that Audrey would, yet again, outsmart you; so, when she wasnt in her hideout anymore, you weren't as surprised. To say that going there had been a loss of time would be inaccurate, given that you had witnessed a sort of amusing scene when Ben freed Chad.

You were walking together, abandoning Fairy cottage, when Ben demanded that, someday, he had to hear how Mal and Uma ended up working for a common cause. You shared a look with Evie, and she happily declared, "Actually, Mal promised to let all the kids off the Isle - once this is over".

"Mal?" The king inquired.

The fae sighed defeated, which you didn't understand.

"I have to tell you guys something. Um… I lied to you," she confessed. "No one will be coming off the Isle".

You couldn't help but get angry at her, how could she give you so much hope only to crash it? You knew that if you opened your mouth, you wouldn't be able to control your words so, with your eyes locked in the ground, you stood motionless.

She continued, "the program is shut down. And the barrier… will be closed for good. For Auradon's safety."

Uma spoke up, looking at Mal with a deadly glare. "Hold up. So we're saving your precious people and your behinds for a lie. I knew it was a mistake to trust you. You're always out for yourself".

Harry followed his captain's example, facing Ben.

"And you, King Benny..." he bowed, approaching your friend, "you're probably just gonna throw us all back inside".

It was not the badass pirates who raised their voices in that moment, it was the broken children who had discovered that they had been, in fact, fighting for a heartless lie this whole time.

"You know what? I actually thought you were brave. You're nothing but a chicken." Celia's voice broke when she spoke, sounding so betrayed that it wrecked you. "Too scared to tell me I was never gonna see my dad again".

You went after Celia, throwing the ember at mal with your back facing her. Unnoticed by you, the magical gem had landed on a tiny puddle on the forest floor; but that had been enough to extinguish its light.

"No! No," Mal exclaimed, tears beginning to flood her eyes.

"Regain your might and ignite! Regain your might and ignite!" Despite her desperate tries, the ember did not light back on.

The two pirates left to find their friend, showing no empathy at all and not bothering to look back.

At least now, Mal had the guts to face her friends and apologize. She directed her words at Evie and the others, but wished that you were there too, even if she didn't deserve it at that moment.

"Evie… I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, I just… I thought that... I was afraid to tell you. I thought I was gonna lose my best friend.I… I just lost Y/N! But I had to do something. I had to protect Auradon".

Evie brought herself to ask, "closing the barrier was your idea?"

Mal sobbed, defending herself, "I did it for us. I did it for our life that we have here now."

"For our life? What about the kids that we left behind on that island? The kids that we promised? We were their only hope. I thought you were gonna stand up for the V.K.'s. But instead, you lied to them. And you lied to Jay. And you lied to Carlos. And you lied to Y/N. And you lied to me. We're your family."

"I'm gonna go look for Y/N," whispered Jay, only for Carlos to hear.

When the younger boy nodded, the thief began to run in the direction in which you had previously left. After a few yards, he found you, throwing rocks into a small pond. He kneeled to sit next to you, but with a cloud of pink fog, he turned to rock. That's what let you know that Audrey was near, probably going after Mal, so you jumped to your feet and ran back to your friends. There they were, all of them turned to rock; but Mal was nowhere to be found.

Okay, think, think, she has to be somewhere near. Where would M go? She'd go find Audrey; now, where would Audrey go… The castle!

So, that's where you went and when you arrived, you saw your friend begging the pirate sea witch for her help. You were about to make your presence known, but you were snatched off your feet and hit with something on the back of your head.

You woke up on one of the towers next to Celia, who practically threw herself into your embrace.

"It's gonna be fine," you tried to reassure her.

"No, it's not," scoffed Audrey, grabbing Celia by her forearm and forcing her to stand up. "Now, scream for help," she ordered, "I need Mal up here so I can end her once and for all."

Celia complied. "Help me, Mal!" she screamed.

"Don't listen to her, Mal! Go find the others," you tried to warn her but Audrey put the scepter against Celia's neck; "say another word, and she's done with," she threatened.

"Save your little friend, Mal!"

"Help me, Mal!"

You cheered when you saw Mal approaching in her dragon form, but a glare from Audrey was enough to shut you up.

"Careful not to fry your little V.K. buddy!"

Audrey was distracted by Mal so you took the chance and jumped from the tower, landing on your feet. You ran to Uma and Harry, who were still there, watching the whole thing.

You dusted off your jacket and approached them, "are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, but she doesn't stand a chance without the ember," claimed Uma.

''We're stronger together. We're stronger together!" She tried to use her shell, but it was not working. "I'm right here, Mal! Regain your might and ignite. I'm right here, girl," the ember flickered lit but it didn't last long.

"Let me help, you placed your hand over Uma's, grabbing the shell with her. "We're right here. Regain your might and ignite!"

Your eyes gleamed silver and you beamed, "It worked!"

In that moment, Harry took you by surprise when he hugged you and Uma at the same time, not caring about 'sides'. You hugged the pirates back and grinned.

"Thanks Uma," you smiled, "and I'm sorry for everything".

Even if Mal had already apologized to Uma, you felt the need to do the same because, even if you did everything under your friend's lead, you had still been terrible with her.

"S'alright," she returned the smile, "and I'm glad we did this together."

…

For what seemed to be the thousandth time you closed your eyes and concentrated on the ember, but the result was not different from the previous attempts. You fell back into Ben's arms, panting.

"Sorry, guys, but I'm not powerful enough. The ember's laced to Hades' magic, not mine."

"There must be something that we can do, she's slipping away," Evie insisted.

"As Y/N said, there's only one person in the world who might be able to do something about this, and that's Hades," said Mal.

"Hades? He wouldn't do it. I wouldn't risk it,"Ben tried to reason.

"Actually, he might do it for me. He's my father," Mal revealed.

"I'll send guards to get him,"offered Ben.

"I can go get him," you volunteered, "I know where his lair is."

Ben looked at you questioningly; "he's, uh, an old friend of mine," you wrinkled your nose.

Uma entered the ro

\om, followed by Harry. "Maybe I can hitch a ride. The Isle is my home, someone needs to be there to protect it."

"Well, then, you will need your first mate". You smiled at them, already fond of the pirates.

"The Isle will be in very good hands."

The room fell silent, but Celia broke the ice, "Can I go, too?I wish I could be in both places," she gave Mal a sad smile.

So, it was settled. You were leaving the following day.

….

"I'll be back soon, stay here," you told the guards.

"Good luck, Y/N," Uma placed her hand on your shoulder and you smiled at her.

"Thanks, guys, for everything."

"Nay," shrugged Harry, "no big deal but, seriously, if ya ever visit, come to the ship."

With that, you parted ways. You knew how to get to Hades' by heart, from every part of the Isle; so it took you no time to reach the entrance of his lair.

You let out a breath and went in.

"Look who showed up after the curtain closed, heard you helped Mal beating the witch wannabe," he didn't even have to look your way to know who had traspassed his property; it was enough with the sound of your step.

"I… How did you even hear that?" You tried to avoid the elephant in the room.

Ignoring your question, he continued as he added what you noticed were the final ingredients to one of the potions that he sold at the market. "Congrats, really. Guess I taught you well. Now, let me guess, you came to say a final goodbye now that you're welcomed to join the goodie-two-shoes once again; it was fun having you, Y/N/N."

Now, you straight up scoffed at him, "dude, chill, don't get all cheesy and sad on me. I'm here because I need a favor; actually, Mal needs a favor."

He looked at you and you could see that he was angry, broken, and yet willing to help you out once again, "okay then, little flame, I'm listening.

You looked around the room, then looked at him, "It's Audrey, she's under the sleeping curse."

He crossed his arms over his chest and raised a brow, "so what, didn't you use the ember to wake her?"

"Couldn't do it," you admitted. "Guess I'm not as connected to it anymore."

He scoffed, glaring at you, "Who would've thought, it's been what, four years? Not that I'm keeping record."

Even if his tone was sharp and his eyes seemed hateful, you could read him like an open book; and, to say that it broke you to see him so hurt because of you was quite too little to express what you felt. "Hades, I… I'm sorry."

At this point, your eyes were boring into his pleadingly, but his pride didn't let him forgive you so easily.

"You're sorry?" he exclaimed. "Jeez, little flame, that's a relief! I'm glad a lowlife villain like myself is at least worthy of your apologies!"

For a moment, your sadness and regret were clouded by anger. You were forcing yourself to be brave enough to make amends and here he was, being a complete dick without even listening to you.

Stepping closer to him, with only a few inches between the two of you, you barked, "look, I'm actually trying here. So if you could shove your ego up your ass for a second and listen, that'd be fucking great!"

He smirked, closing the gap even more, "at least you haven't completely lost it yet."

When the steam of the moment dissolved into the air, you stepped back and sat down, using your hand for inviting him to do the same. "Now, the truth is, I did try to call; I tried to reach you the last time I was here, but I… I don't know. I was afraid of losing Mal to you. I was afraid of losing the world outside to you."

He remained silent so you continued, "When I was chosen to go to Auradon, I thought I had lost everything. Then I just met all of this great people and discovered that I'd… I..." you huffed. "Who am I trying to trick. The truth is I was awfully ungrateful with you, and a terrible friend and I'm really sorry."

He quirked a brow.

"Yes, I'm sorry, and as much as you'd like to hear more, that's all that I have to say."

"What were you saying about not getting all sad and cheesy? Oh, right, 'dude chill!' " He mocked you with a high pitched voice, making you smile.

"When do we leave?"

"As soon as possible."

….

When you got to Auradon, the guards told you that the king had sent specific instructions for Hades' stay. You were forced to head back to your place, and he was kept in a small version of the magic dome for the night. Next morning, when you were already back at Audrey's dorm, he was taken there by at least eight guards.

The former god entered the room, his limbs adorned with silver cuffs, and his face sporting a snarl of disgust to which you had become familiar with a long time ago.

Mal walked up to him, closely followed by you.

"Thank you," she said, "for coming."

"Didn't do it just for you," his eyes caught yours.

Ben and Mal shared a confused look, but the king broke it and asked, "can you wake her?'’

"Since when do heroes care about villains?" asked Hades, turning the cards around.

Ben trailed off, "she's..."

The god completed the young king's sentence, "one of your own. Right, When you guys try to destroy the world… it's an error in judgment. But when it's one of us… lock them up and throw away the key."

He scoffed, "right, Beast?"

After having a stare down with the former king, who had imprisoned the god and stripped him off his magic all those years ago, he raised his hands, but the guards restrained him immediately, going full defense.

"Yeah. I'm gonna need to use my hands," he declared.

He extended his hand, silently asking for the ember. Mal handed it to him and this time he was not restrained.

When he grabbed the gem that was rightfully his, his hair lit up.

He smirked, "haven't lost my touch."

The former lord of the dead stepped closer to the bed, he began the countercourse and the room was showered on a blue light, beaming with his power.

Audrey woke up, wishing for it all to be a nightmare. "I'm sorry. I wanted to hurt you both. I wanted to hurt all of you," she sighed.

Mal and Ben approached her bed. "I have owed you an apology for… a very long time now," said Mal, Ben agreed, "and so have I."

Then, Audrey's grandma, whose name you still couldn't recall, apologized to Mal. Just then, Beast motioned the guards to seize Hades, and to take him away once again. How classy, apparently a villain didn't even deserve a thank you.

After the guards exited the room, you followed them into the hallway.

"Wait! Guess I'll see you later," you smiled. "Say hi to Pain and Panic for me."

"They'll be thrilled to hear from you," he tried to smirk back, his expression just as sad as yours. "Thanks for a glimpse of the sun, by the way."

Without thinking twice, you walked up to him and pressed your lips to his, framing his left cheek with your right hand. The kiss wasn't as hungry as you would've expected it to be, but it was eager and full of feelings. It was the perfect way to say I'm gonna miss you.

No word was uttered afterwards. Your foreheads remained against each other for a few seconds, and his blue eyes looked at yours in a way in which they hadn't before, yet he didn't smile. You both stepped back, turned around, he slipped the ember into your hand, and then you left your separate ways. You smiled to yourself and held the familiar gem, feeling its power and warmth curse through you.

Days passed and you couldn't stop thinking about that kiss; you hadn't told anyone and it was eating you alive. So, now that you were at Evie's, wrapped around a blanked by the fire, watching a movie with your two best friends, you were gonna do it. You grabbed the remote and pressed pause, taking a breath and looking at them.

"Guys I need to tell you something. I'm sorry if it upsets you but it's been drowning me for some time now. I, I kissed Hades the day he came here to wake Audrey up."

Evie smiled at you but Mal was frozen in shock, her mouth was agape and her eyes were wide open. She tried to say something but words didn't come out.

You continued, fidgeting with your blanket, "M, I know that things have been quite tense between you but I couldn't lose him; I couldn't let him go back to the Isle without knowing how I felt and, believe me, I've tried to tell you guys before but I was also figuring this whole thing out."

Evie grabbed Mal's hand supportingly, then the fae took a breath and smiled at you. "Thanks for telling me this, Y/I.''

"You guys, you're my best friends. There's no one else I'd trust with this," you smiled at them, glad that they'd had taken it so well.

Mal sighed, "still, I can't reverse my decret to close the barrier Y/N. I'm sorry, you know that no matter what, I'll always be there for you; but I have a kingdom to think of and, even if Hades has helped us out and, even if he's your friend or… whatever he is," she chuckled, both of you joining for a second, "I can't overlook the crimes he's committed."

Your head and your heart were divided. You knew that Mal was speaking as a queen and not as a friend, and were utterly happy that she supported you, even with everything that was going on between her and Hades; but you couldn't stop yourself from being disappointed in the fact that she didn't even consider letting him out of the Isle.

Even so, you gave her a tender smile and hummed, "I know M, and I wouldn't think of asking you to do it for me. I just had to talk this out with you, it didn't feel right to keep it to myself."

"We're happy for you, Y/I," Evie smiled.

"Very," agreed Mal.

…..

Now, a few days later, you were happy again, as happy as you could be with everything that had happened. Standing between Evie and Carlos, you clapped as Ben and Mal appeared on the balcony.

"Lady Mal and I wanna thank you for celebrating our engagement with us today. I couldn't be prouder or happier to call you my Queen." Ben looked at Mal lovingly, and to be honest you felt only a bit jealous of their happiness; but they both deserved it, after going through so much. "So… raise your glasses to our future Queen of Auradon."

"To our Queen of Auradon!”

"To our Queen of Auradon!" you cheered.

"Speech, Your Special-ness," mocked Carlos.

Jay followed, "speech, Your Fancy One."

"Speech, your oh-so-royalness," you winked at her.

She chuckled and smiled apologetically, then she fell serious and the crowd became silent.

She turned toward Ben, "I can't. I can't be Queen of Auradon. I can't turn my back on the Isle."

After you looked at her, nodding in encouragement, she began talking to the people. 'We made a decision… to close the barrier forever; and it was my idea, but it's wrong. I've learned that you can't live in fear because it doesn't actually protect you from anything. You never know where the bad is gonna come from. And you never know where the heroes are gonna come from either."

Carlos grabbed your hand, in assurance.

Mal continued, "Without Uma and her pirates, Auradon would be gone. And without Hades, my father, Audrey would be gone. We are all capable of good and bad, no matter which side of the barrier we come from. And that's why I can't be Queen of just Auradon. I have to be Queen of the Isle, too. And it's time that we take the barrier down forever."

Ben placed a hand on her back, and spoke in her support. "I choose to be a King who moves forward. It's time for forgiveness. It's time for new beginnings. The barrier will come down!"

"Yes!" "Woo!" you and Carlos cheered.

"Bring it down, Mal," and so, the five of you did it together.

After everyone on both sides had processed what had just happened, a sea of villains and vks flooded the bridge and came to Auradon; your eyes surfed the crowd, looking for the face you wanted to see, but he was nowhere in sight. Some of the Auradon kids made their way to the gates, to welcome the newcomers, so you joined your friends at the very front of the bunch.

Everyone was dancing and singing and celebrating, so you let the vibes absorb you. You danced and cheered with the rest, but when the party mood dimmed out a bit, you finally saw the spikes of blue hair that you were looking for moments before. However, you didn't approach Hades, you went straight to Mal.

"He came," you said, anxiety dripping from you.

She smiled at you reassuringly and advised, "Get out there and tell him how you feel; he's a complete idiot not to feel the same."

"M, I can't," you insisted, "what if he doesn't?"

She smirked at you, "as I said, only a complete idiot wouldn't like you back."

You let out a breath, shook your fear out, and looked around to see where he was. Much to your despair, or your relief, he had been standing behind a group of people nearby.

"So, how exactly do you feel?" he smirked. "I think it wasn't clear enough the other day."

"Look, I've liked you for quite sometime now," you confessed. "Maybe a few decades. The kiss the other day, it was just me spilling it all; you don't have to like me back, but I just had to tell you."

" 'Dude, chill! Don't get all cheesy on me'," again, there was his cheap impression of you.

This time, you couldn't help but laugh and roll your eyes at him and, before you could say anything, his hands flew to your waist and his lips were on yours once again. This time, both of you were absorbed by the moment and let the kiss be everything that the first one had not been. He bit your lower lip and granted himself entrance to your mouth, which you accepted happily. You separated to catch your breath and smiled. He looked at you like he had before and avowed, "Nah, I think I don't like you that much, little flame."

Once again, you laughed and punched him playfully, "shut up, really."

"Or what?" he challenged, making you blush.

You recovered quickly, and whispered into his ear, "I guess you'll find out later, maybe at my place."

"Welcome to Auradon, by the way." You kissed his cheek, grabbing his hand and leading him to where Mal and the others were.

#hades x reader #hades imagine #hades onshot #descendants x reader #descendants imagine #discendants oneshot #disney descendants #Mal #mal imagine #evie #carlos de vil #jay #gil #harry #uma #audrey #chad charming #descendants 3

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ladylunasolis · 4 years ago

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Zutara Week 2020 - Day 1 “Reunion”

This is my first ever work for Zutara and ATLA - also my first work of any kind in years. Zutara has always been one of my OTPs and the re-watching the show reminded me how much I love the ship. We only had so many episodes to see them together...but this fandom keeps them alive. This is a more Zuko-centric piece, as I really like to wonder about his POV. Please enjoy “Reunion!”

Rating: G

It has been almost two years after the war had ended. There were some things Zuko had a more challenging time with as new Fire Lord. One was weeding out the Ozai loyalists in his councils. Second was smiling so much. He barely got used to that when he was with the rest of the gang. Of course, he didn’t necessarily need to smile but with the right people, it helped. He was initially a bit rusty with economics but with Iroh’s occasional visits and reading recommendations, Zuko made great progress.

Another area for growth was replying to the numerous gifts and letters he received from dignitaries throughout the world. After one round of answering letters took over an hour in a chair (he insisted he reply himself to make things more personal) he realized he was not quite there yet. Zuko tended to think better while pacing so he employed a transcriber.

As many things were challenging, there were many things Zuko did well. Some of these strengths include memorizing the names of his servants and being able to take into consideration the viewpoints of the needy/working class. He was for the people. He was open to hearing input, though did not hesitate to tell someone when their words were disrespectful. Although he was awkward, kids liked to talk to him. He was great at international relations.

And he always, always replied to Katara within 2 days - in his own writing.

Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, daughter of Hakoda, waterbending master, ambassador. The girl who saved his life. Not too long after his coronation ceremony she had left to fix the rest of the world, alongside Avatar Aang. In the months that passed her departure, every time he closed his eyes he would see hers. He would see those deep blue eyes peering down at him, the first thing he would see after Azula’s attack. He remembered how they brimmed with tears. He remembered that not even the blue of Azula’s fire or hell, the blue of Azula’s lighting, could compare to the blue of Katara’s eyes.

He had wanted to say it, wanted to ask her if he was crazy to think there was something there because she felt it too right? A few days had passed after the pomp and circumstance of the coronation. She was checking to make sure he was healing well, her glowing hands running over his exposed stomach, making his abs contract.

“So...” Katara started off shyly. She had a blush on her cheeks and a small smile, but did not meet his eye. This was it, Zuko thought. This is the moment!

“I think me and Aang are going to give this a shot. I mean this, like, me and him. Together.” She became very flustered and brought the water back to the bowl, looking to see if any drops had fell though he damn well knew that wasn’t possible. Silence came over the two of them, except for the roaring of Zuko’s heartbeat in his ears.

He was unsure how much time has passed until Katara started to shift and stand up, brushing off invisible lint. “Okay well you’ve healed past anything serious, it’ll just be some pain—.”

“Thank you.” Zuko tied his shirt and stood up as well. He towered over Katara, who was looking down, playing with her hair. Zuko was definitely aware of the pain he would be feeling, now and for a long time coming. But it wasn’t from the agni kai. The next words kind of just came out on their own.

“Are you happy?”

Katara looked up at him with those beautiful blue eyes, with a small smile. She kept eye contact for a moment, which made Zuko wonder if she was searching for something in his own eyes. Then the moment passed. “I am! I really am.”

Zuko felt the urge to say more, but another thought crossed his mind. Who was he to get in the way of her happiness? He saved her life and almost sacrificed his own, sure, but Aang had done just the same. Aang was a good kid. Aang would protect her. Aang is in love with her... With Zuko, he wasn’t even completely sure yet how he felt - he just knew that he wanted her around. But that wasn’t enough to keep her from love. So Zuko cleared his throat and returned the soft smile, placing a hand on Katara’s shoulder.

“I’m really glad.” And he meant it.

He watched her leave a few days later, after hugging both her and Aang, wishing them both safe travels and letting them know they were welcome any time. Zuko could distinctly remember standing on the palace steps long after the air bison had disappeared into the horizon. To distract himself from regrets, he buried himself in work. It was effective about 90% of the time.

Zuko would also still see Mai, and though he felt a familiarity for her it wasn’t the same as what he felt for Katara - whatever that was. He would spend time with Mai when he could, try to get things back to where they were before he left to join the gang, but his mind would wander. To the argument they had on Ember Island “At least I feel something!” Or to brilliant blue. The kisses and touches he shared with Mai paled next to what stirred within him when Katara merely said his name.

Then the letters started arriving.

The letters started a little more than two months after Katara and Aang left. They would come once a month, or two if they were closer. They started off with many “we went to” “we met with” “we did.” After another seven or eight months it was mostly Katara writing about her day and asking about Zuko’s day.

The fruit in the Earth kingdom are great, but I still like the Fire Nation’s better. Especially that one that’s soft and yellow in the middle. I forgot the name. But nothing beats sea prunes! You have to try some next time you come here.

Despite Mai’s lack of expression, Zuko knew she was very perceptive. Try as hard as he could, he wasn’t able to ever give her all of his attention. If he was honest, he would say he was almost desperate to forget Katara but it wasn’t fair to Mai to use her for that. Zuko opened his mouth to say something one day and she put a hand up to stop him.

“I get it. I don’t want to fight about it, but I never want to speak to you again either.” That stung, because in a way she was pretty much his only friend in the nation, but he knew it must have hurt her worse. And so he buried himself completely in work and firebending training.

A year after the war ended and peace had begun, a conference was held at the Fire Nation palace. It was decided the leaders of each nation would come together to encourage international coordination and morale between the nations. Zuko had fought against those Ozai-loyalists daily to combat the ideals that the Fire Nation was the best of all. He had advocated diligently to open their eyes to how the other nations work, to be able to learn from them, and to share the Fire Nation’s ways without having to over their land.

Plus, it would be a good chance to see his friends again.

On the day of the Conference of Peace Zuko awoke even earlier than usual and went through some of his firebending forms. He felt jittery, shaky, alert. But he was excited. Him, Zuko, excited! He was sitting in the conference chamber an hour before the meeting started that day. It had been too long since he had seen Katara. Is she taller? Is her hair done in the same way? Will she still smile when she sees me?

Then the nerves set in. Am I taller? Am I fitting into my royal robes well enough? Wait, are the royal robes too much? I know Katara’s not the type to—. He had to shake his head quickly, before his thoughts ran away with him. “It doesn’t matter anyway, because she’s with Aang. So stupid.”

When Sokka came announced as Water Tribe Ambassador, Zuko had to grit his teeth to curb his initial reaction. Sokka was charming and cheerful as usual. “What’s up, Fire Lord? I’m here reppin’ the Water Tribe!” He wrapped an arm around Zuko’s shoulders and leaned into him.

“H-Hey, Sokka,” Zuko managed. He cleared his throat. “It’s great to see you. Uh where’s Katara?”

“Oh yeah, so right before she was gonna leave I guess almost all of the village got sick with something they haven’t seen before. Katara had been healing for days but it’s something that needs multiple treatments or something. Wait, you didn’t get a letter? Well I guess I got here before the letter since I’ve been traveling closer with Suki.”

At this point they heard the unmistakable groan of an air bison and Aang landed Appa in the square, and from far away they could see his arm up and waving. Everyone will remember that first conference as one where Fire Lord Zuko was informative, but his expression hardly changed the entire time. Some would say he was even a little surly.

Zuko caught up with Sokka and Aang and while it was truly great to see them, he couldn’t help but wonder where Katara’s letter was. As curious as he was about her, he wasn’t going to bombard her brother and her boyfriend for information. Sure enough, he had found her letter at the end of the second day.

I’m so sorry Zuko, my people need me. Even though people are recovering it’s taking multiple rounds of healing for each person and I’m the only one who can heal at this pace. By the time you read this Sokka will probably have told you already. But I just wanted you to know I really did want to see youand everyone.

The last words seemed to be scribbled together, like she had an afterthought to add “and everyone” over where she originally placed a period after “you.” I’m probably just imagining it - the thought flooded Zuko’s mind, but he was able to sit up late and respond.

You’re right, Sokka did get to me first. But don’t worry, your people come first and I’m wishing them all a quick recovery. They have a great healer there after all, Master Katara. Zuko paused, before continuing on. It would have been great to see you, too. Hopefully that will happen some time soon.

After the conference, there were no letters for a month or two. Needless to say, Zuko berated himself. “Scared her off,” he muttered to himself, throwing a towel into a soiled linen basket. He had just finished some training, taking his frustration out on himself. Zuko noted there was a mail delivery and his eyes lit up when he saw the blue water tribe symbol. He opened it eagerly and skimmed through the long letter.

. . . Anyways, I love being home. It’s nice to be with family and wear my furs, though I’ve been growing a bit so I may have to get new ones soon! I’ve been so busy ever since 2 of the kids found out they can waterbend. Being home does sometimes feel different though. I guess it just takes a little getting used to for me to be back here because this is the longest I’ve been home or even 1 place since me and Sokka found Aang. But since Aang and I broke up, I just decided to stay here for a bit. We’re still friends, probably better friends than girlfriend-boyfriend, but thought that the space would be good.

Zuko stopped. “Since Aang and I broke up…” A fire lit within him. He read it over again in disbelief. This was his chance! Finally! He was going to-! Zuko shook himself, and ran a hand over his face, eyes skimming the letter over. “No. Come on, Zuko, she probably doesn’t want to be jumped on after a break up. They were together a while. How long have they been broken up for anyway?”

After some thought, and calming exercises, he picked up a quill. Zuko wrote out the general greetings and response to the daily activities she had in her letter. He hesitated and continued on.

I’m sorry to hear about you and Aang but that’s great you two are still friends. As you know, it doesn’t always end up that way. I’m sure you two will continue working on making the world a better place.

Zuko grimaced as he read his letter over. Before he could change his mind, he rolled the scroll up and went to the aviary.

The letters were different from then on.

I was really missing the turtleducks today! I wonder if those babies are all grown up now! Remember when you first showed them to me? We had so much fun.

The sunsets here are great, but sometimes I think about the sunsets in the Fire Nation. They’re completely opposite but still just as beautiful.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing all that I can to help people, or if I should be doing more. I’m doing great work here I know but I’m thinking about traveling again, learning more and bringing that knowledge back home.

Zuko would reply. He started to confide in her his fears and insecurities, in response to her becoming vulnerable with him too.

Those turtleduck babies have gotten bigger, but there are always more born every year. It would be nice to have a picnic by the pond to introduce you to them.

Next time you’re here, you have to see a sunset from my favorite spot. I’ll take you. And you’re right, opposites can both be equally great. Before I got to know you, I never knew water could be so strong and beautiful.

I know how you feel. Even though I’m seeing changes it can feel like I’m still fighting a battle. Sometimes I just get tired, but I just have to keep going. Sometimes broadening our horizons are the best ways to help our people.

The second Conference of Peace was approaching in another two months’ time. Of course, Zuko had invited Katara to be Water Tribe Ambassador once more and he waited with bated breath for her answer.

Zuko, of course I’ll be there! I can’t miss it two years in a row. I actually wanted to let you know, I was thinking of spending time there before the conference. I’m in the Earth Kingdom right now. I traveled here since my last letter, thanks to your encouragement! Since we’ve been talking about the Fire Nation and things I haven’t seen yet, I thought it would be a good chance to do a little bit of that before we have to all talk business. But if it’s not a good idea, or if you’re too busy, I understand.

Zuko, who had been working on the speed of his replies, replied and sent right after he read her letter.

Of course you’re welcome to come. I would love to have you here.

Weeks later, Fire Lord Zuko stood on the docks, staring out to sea. Many citizens were quick to recognize him and Zuko gave each of them a nod of his head or a wave. He knew this was a little odd, but he didn’t care. He was finally going to see Katara again. They had so little time together in person before she had to depart so he didn’t really know what to call his feelings then. All he knew was he cared enough about her to give his life. That had not changed with Zuko, but he now knew what he feels for her now.

He saw Katara on deck, leaning on the railing, before she saw him. Her chestnut hair was partially up, hair loops still in tact. She was wearing a new blue outfit that matched the tan of her skin. And her smile when she saw him was brighter than the sun. He noticed the way she flicked her wrist, and the sudden wave that brought the ship closer even quicker.

She made her way down the dock and Zuko had to remind himself he is the damn Fire Lord, look noble! But he sure as hell still felt like a teenager despite his age making him an official adult now. He wanted to run and hug her but was able to control himself enough to take a few steps towards the smiling waterbender.

“Hi Zuko,” Katara said, and her voice was a song to his ears. Better than any song he ever heard on music night, by far. She smiled up at him, because even though she had grown a little he had grown a lot. “It’s been too long.”

And then he looked into those eyes, just as blue and expressive as he remembered them. They had haunted him in the most tormenting way but now that his eyes were meeting her’s again, all the pain was worth it.

“You’re right, Katara. It has been.” And Zuko smiled, the emotions reaching his golden eyes. His smile was a promise - a promise to show her everything she wanted to see, and that he wasn’t going to take this chance for granted. Not ever again.

Thank you for reading!

#zutara #zutara week #zutara week 2020 #atla #avatar #avatar the last airbender #avatar: the last airbender #writing #reunion

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holidaywishes · 4 years ago

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Embers XVI

Chapter XVI: how much really?

Summary of series: Katie moves from Peachtree, Georgia, to L.A. with her son, Alex to start fresh after the death of her husband. When she meets Evan Buckley, a young firefighter, she falls fast but will her son be so quick to accept Evan into his life?

Summary of chapter: Maddie asks Evan to babysit but he worries about doing it on his own; Katie runs into an old friend; Hen and Karen invite everyone over to celebrate an achievement

Warning: some fluff, implied sex, more angst than I expected tbh

Author’s Note: Alrighty, I want to clear something up for those of you who have been reading the series. I’m not going to have some subplot about Katie cheating on Buck with Eddie, the reason I wanted to have that “moment” in the last chapter was so that the possibility of any “cheating subplot” was off the table. I’m going to be perfectly honest, the only series I feel like I’ve successfully concluded was a 50 chapter hockey series about Tyler Seguin -- and I just can’t bring myself to do that again, so I apologize if these last few chapters feel a little rushed but, hopefully, I can end this series with some closure and that it’s still enjoyable for everyone. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Stay golden, loves <3

masterlist

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Katie’s P.O.V

“Evan,” you laughed as your boyfriend paced around his apartment, “you love kids! You’re great with your niece. You’ll do fine. Maddie wouldn’t have asked if--”

“Maddie wouldn’t have asked me if someone else was available,” he interrupted, “I’m her last resort...”

“No,” you scoffed, “Evan, you’re Uncle Buck. You are never the last resort, why would you think that?”

“Because I’m not mature like literally everyone else,” he smiled, stopping in front of you finally, “I’m not a dad...” You stood up, taking a second to wrap your arms around his neck and lean up to kiss his lips gently

“You may not be anyone’s biological dad,” you said, kissing him once more, “but you’re a pretty good dad to Alex. And, believe me, I don’t let just anyone around my son. He doesn’t like everyone either”

“That’s different,” he argued and you rolled your eyes, “he just thinks of me as his friend. I’m not anything more than someone to laugh at with him”

“What’s wrong with being his friend?” you scoffed, pulling your arms away from him, “I’d much rather be his friend than the person who has to discipline him. He loves you, Evan, because of how natural you are around him, because of how much he trusts you.”

“Can’t I just be nervous for a little while?” he whined, earning a laugh from you, “I’ve never babysat an actual baby before. A kid? sure but never a baby. What if I drop her? Or have to change her diaper?”

“What’s gonna happen when you have your own kid?” you asked as you sat back down on his couch

“What?” he asked, dumbfounded at your question

“Relax,” you chuckled, “I’m not pregnant. I’m just saying, when you do finally have your own child, what’s gonna happen? Are you always going to be nervous?”

“Yes.” He laughed, “aren’t you?”

“Yes.” You agreed with a smile, “but that’s why we have friends and family. For help. To keep us sane.”

“So I’m allowed to be stressed to look after my niece alone,” he added, “why don’t you babysit her with me?”

“I can’t, I have to work,” you sighed, “but you’ll do great.” He groaned before you got up to leave

“Hey,” he called to you just as you got to the door, “would you... ever want to have a baby with me?” You laughed before walking slowly back to him

“Maybe,” you said, kissing his cheek, “but let’s talk about that later.” He smiled at your reply, planting a kiss on your lips and pulling you close before you whined that you had to leave for work

“Why is it the one day that I have off, you have to work?” he chuckled

“That’s life, lover.” You giggled, pushing his arms away so you could leave, looking back and blowing him a kiss as you walked out the door. Work was relatively boring that day but you were trying to figure out the best way to announce Nick’s engagement so you took him out for lunch to discuss what exactly he and Amber wanted.

“Katerina?” a voice called as you and Nick waited for Amber to arrive, “Katie?” When you finally looked around to see the face that matched the voice, you practically screamed

“Sydney?” you gasped as your childhood friend outstretched her arms to give you a hug, “oh my god! What are you doing here?”

“Holiday.” she replied with a smile, asking how you were doing before moving out of the crowd around you

“I’ve been good. Busy, but good. How are you?!”

“Good!” she exclaimed

“Katie...” you heard Amber’s voice ring out in annoyance and you were suddenly yanked away from the reunion

“I’ll be right there,” you called back, “we need to get together before you leave. How long are you here for?”

“Two weeks. I’ll call you.” She smiled as you exchanged numbers, “it is so good to see you. And to see you doing so well...” You scrunched your eyebrows at her last comment but couldn’t think too much of it

“Who was that?” Nick asked

“A friend,” you replied, settling back into your seat, “from home.”

“Well,” Amber huffed, “deal with that on your own time. You’re here to help us.” You inhaled sharply before shaking your head and focusing your attention on them but wondering what your friend had to say. When you finally met up with Sydney, nearly a week after you ran into her, you sat across from her in silence trying to conjure up an icebreaker

“So how is Alex?” she asked

“He’s good!” you smiled, leaning forward to rest your arms on the table, “yeah he’s happy and he’s making friends, he’s doing really well”

“That’s great. I know when Jesse died, things were... tough”

“Yeah..” you sighed, “but we have each other and we’re moving forward”

“Even after the whole kidnapping thing?” she asked nonchalantly and you were forced to raise your eyebrows

“Yeah” you said simply and the silence crept back between the two of you

“So are you seeing anyone?”

“I’m guessing you already know the answer to that,” you smirked, “but yes. His name is Evan, he’s a firefighter and he’s been so great with Alex. They really love each other”

“A firefighter huh?” she smiled, “isn’t that stressful?”

“No..” you hesitated, “I mean, yeah... but he’s incredible at what he does and he loves what he does, so a little stress isn’t bad”

“But doesn’t it worry you that it’s such a dangerous job. I mean Jesse’s job, his life, was a dangerous job..”

“Look,” you interrupted, “was losing Jesse hard? Absolutely! Can Evan be a little reckless? Yes but we both know what we’ve gotten ourselves into...”

“But how much really do you know about him?”

“What?”

“How long have you been together?”

“Like a year and a half”

“And all you can tell me is that he’s a firefighter and he’s been so great with Alex. What else do you know about him?”

“I just told you what he did not who he is”

“Okay so...” she continued, “tell me who he is”

“He’s..” you started with hesitation but soon gushed swiftly about the man you had come to love

“So he’s always been searching for something?”

“Isn’t everyone?”

“Not necessarily...” she said, “at least not like your boyfriend”

“Sydney...” you sighed not knowing where she was going with this

“No no, hear me out,” she added, “when we were growing up, we were searching for something, sure. Searching for a way out, a new start, a marriage, a child, whatever. But, from what you’ve told me about Evan, it sounds like he doesn’t know what he wants until he has it. So he’s constantly looking for the thing that fits”

“Again.. aren’t we all?”

“My point is... what if he decides that you’re not the thing that fits? Or that Alex isn’t the thing that fits?”

“He’s not like that” you countered, sitting back in your seat before huffing

“But he’s been that way for as long as you’ve known him”

“No,” you corrected, “no, he was like that before I met him. He has been completely honest with me about his past and his family and everything. So, yes, he’s been searching for something but he’s found it with the 118...”

“I just want you to think about your son in all of this. It’s great that you have someone that you care about and that you seem to love but you can’t just think about you. You have a son to think about and his feelings are more important than yours.” She tried to be as gentle as possible but it was the classic Southern concern that you were so used to during your pageant days and it forced you to scoff in Sydney’s face

“I appreciate your concern, Syd,” you started, letting a smirk creep across your face, “but I know how to take care of my son. I’ve been doing just fine since the day he was born. But thank you, Sydney.” You could feel the twang in your voice fighting it’s way to your tongue to say something bitingly before you left your friend but you suppressed it as best you could, “I hope you enjoy your last week in L.A. Sydney, it was nice to see you again. We should keep in touch.” You smiled as you stood up, gathering your coat and purse before Sydney said her final words

“I’m just trying to look out for you.” And, with that, the Southern accent surfaced and you turned to her slowly, cocking your head to the side with a smirk on your face

“Oh, bless your heart.”

Evan’s P.O.V

“She was just so...” Katie started as she tried to explain what her friend had said to her, “rude but nice rude. Like Southern Rude...”

“She said she was just looking out for you right?” you tried

“She’s not looking out for me,” she scoffed, “she’s prying and trying to have something to gossip about.” You nodded as if you were truly paying attention before you had to get her focused

“We really should get going,” you said, “Hen said everyone should be there by like 6, we’re gonna be late”

“Are you trying to rush me?” she laughed and you nodded before standing up and wrapping your arms around her, kissing her nose once before you heard Alex call to the both of you

“MOMMY! BUCK!”

“We’ll be right there, baby!” Katie called back, kissing you back and grabbing her phone so the three of you could head over to Hen’s dinner party. “So, what is Hen calling everyone over for?” Katie asked

“I don’t know,” you replied, checking in the mirror to see what Alex was doing, smiling when you noticed him playing with a toy firetruck, “she wants to tell everyone something, I guess...” She turned her body slightly to look in the backseat and smiled at Alex before outstretching her arm to play with the hair on the nape of your neck, letting her skin graze across your neck, “I love you.” You said as you placed your hand on her knee, seeing her smile out of the corner of your eye

“I love you, too.” She replied before leaning in and kissing your cheek

“MOMMY!” Alex yelled, “STAY IN YOUR SEAT! It’s not safe”

“You’re right, sweetheart,” she smirked, “I’ll sit back in my seat.” You smiled at her, looking at Alex in the rear view mirror and winking at him with a big smile on your face. When you pulled up to Hen’s house, you noticed that there wasn’t really anywhere to park so you had to drive around and park pretty far away, earning a whine from Alex for you to carry him there, “wanna carry me too?” Katie laughed and you had to shake your head but not without pecking her lips

“Maybe on the way out” you smiled, which she reciprocated and the three of you made the journey to Hen and Karen’s front door

“YOU MADE IT!” Karen exclaimed as she opened the door

“Hey,” you laughed, putting Alex down so he could run inside, “how are you?”

“I’m good!” she replied, giving Katie a hug and welcoming you both in, “how are you two?”

“We’re good” Katie responded

“Yeah, we had to park pretty far away but, other than that, we’re great” you teased

“Well, everyone’s out back, go join the group!” She insisted and you took Katie’s hand and led her outside where you were greeted happily by everyone before everyone took a seat at the outdoor dinner table. You watched as the group laughed and enjoyed the meal before Hen eventually stood up to share the reason you were all there

“So, everyone,” Hen said, a big smile spread across her face, “I guess you’re wondering why we invited you here tonight...” The group laughed and you were the first to crack a joke

“Are we having a town hall meeting?” you laughed at your own joke, feeling Katie squeeze your leg to get you to stop

“No, I do have some news though.” Hen continued and the group leaned in to listen closer, anticipation covering the space, “I’m officially Dr. Henrietta Wilson!” Everyone gushed and cooed over Hen’s good news, rushing to her side to give her a hug or congratulate her in some way while the kids stayed put

“Congratulations Hen!” Katie smiled, giving her a hug

“Dr. Wilson, huh?” You smirked, “does this mean I can get better insurance?”

“Buck...” Maddie scoffed, rolling her eyes at you

“I’m just kidding,” you laughed, “congrats, Doc.”

“Thanks,” she smiled shyly, “but I’ll still you at work for a while. You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Buckley.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it” you joked

“Mommy,” Alex whispered, tucking himself between you and Katie, “I’m tired...” You picked him up and his head dropped instantly onto your shoulder

“We should probably get him home,” Katie smiled, “before he gets overtired and throws a tantrum.” Hen and Karen smiled as they hugged her goodbye, waving to you so you didn’t have to worry about disturbing Alex. When you got to the car, you set Alex in his car seat and buckled the seat belt, carefully so as not to wake him

“Alright, I think we’re all set.” You whispered as you gently closed the door and walked around to the front

“You’re so good with him,” Katie smiled, her body turned to you where she sat, “he loves you so much. You mean the world to him.”

“He means the world to me, too.” You replied, leaning over the centre console to give her a kiss before driving back to Katie’s house; picking Alex up from the back when you parked in front. Katie woke up Alex just enough to get him into his PJ’s and then you tucked him in while Katie stood in the doorway

“Are you staying over?” she whispered as you wrapped your arm around her waist and led her out of the room

“You want me to stay over?” you teased as you nibbled on her ear

“Yeah,” she nodded excitedly, pushing you back toward her bedroom, “I always want you to stay over.” As you continued to kiss her softly, you felt her hands drift to the hem of your shirt and the two of you were soon entangled with each other, moaning quietly into each other, “I like you being here”

“I like being here,” you smiled, “especially with you.” She smiled as she nuzzled her face into your neck

“Move in with me,” she whispered, “with us.”

“What?” you said

“I know you like your place, I do too, but there’s more room here,” she explained with a smile, “and it would mean so much to Alex to know that you weren’t on the other side of town on your days off.”

“That’s a pretty big step, isn’t it?” you asked as Katie propped herself up on her forearm

“Yeah...” she said, “but so was meeting Alex”

“I met him first though” you smiled

“Right!” she giggled, “so the hard part is out of the way. Moving in is just... the next step”

“You sure you can handle me being here? With my hectic schedule?”

“Of course,” she smiled, “I would rather have you here after your day and know that you’re okay than have you go home alone. Especially, if you have a stressful day at work.”

“Are you sure?” you asked

“Yes!”

“I would love to move in with you.”

Katie’s P.O.V

Asking Evan to move in had been on your mind for a while but it never felt like the right time but the more you saw him with Alex, the more you wanted to take that next step with him. After a few months, things seemed pretty normal and easy to match everyone’s schedule; Alex loved having Evan there as a surrogate dad and you loved having him there to cuddle with. Things were going well, until he started to get up to his old tricks and the fighting started

“I GET THAT IT’S YOUR JOB BUT YOU CAN’T GO RUSHING INTO BURNING BUILDINGS WITHOUT BACKUP!” you yelled, thankful that Alex was with your mom tonight

“THEY HAVE MY BACK!” he shouted back

“THEY’RE NOT THERE WITH YOU EVAN!”

“THEY KNOW WHERE I AM, WE HAVE THE WALKIES!”

“THE WALKIE THAT YOU DON’T USE!”

“IF I DON’T DO MY JOB, PEOPLE DIE”

“AND IF YOU DO YOUR JOB RECKLESSLY, YOU DIE!”

“I can’t apologize for doing my job, Katie”

“Can you at least acknowledge that you’re putting your life in danger when you don’t need to?”

“No,” he said plainly, causing you to take a step back in disbelief, “my whole job is putting my life in danger. Risking my life to save someone else’s”

“You’re not invincible Evan!” you argued, “You are not immune to death. You are not the exception. You’re human”

“I’m not saying I’m invincible!” he yelled, “I’m just saying that this is my job. This is what I’ve done since I joined the 118--”

“And look where that’s gotten you!” you interrupted

“I SAVED MY BEST FRIEND’S SON! I FOUND MY SISTER AFTER SHE HAD BEEN KIDNAPPED! I DIDN’T GIVE UP LOOKING FOR YOU AND YOUR SON!”

“Wow...” you sighed. Part of you just didn’t want to fight anymore, another part of you knew you weren’t going to win this argument or get him to see your side, but another part of you was hurt that Alex was just your son to him. “Fine, Evan. Do what you want. Save the people you want to save without thinking of yourself. I’m used to dealing with the fallout of men’s stupid, reckless decisions. I will pick up the pieces that you leave behind you. My son, on the other hand, might not. But whatever. You need to risk your life and put your life in danger because it’s what you’ve always done? Go right ahead. I can’t stop you.”

“Katie...” he said quietly

“I can’t do this anymore, Evan. I can’t keep worrying that you won’t come home. That I’ll have to tell my son, for the second time in his life, that someone he loved has died and there was nothing I could have done to stop it.”

“That’s not going to happen” he sighed

“Are you sure?” you insisted, “because it seems like everyday, you move closer and closer to your grave.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, walking toward you, “I didn’t mean to yell or argue or make you worry.” You scoffed before he placed his hands on your arms and gently rubbed his thumbs across your bare skin, “I love you and I love Alex and I don’t plan on leaving or dying anytime soon. This is my job and sometimes the situations can be very intense and very dangerous.”

“But can’t you just... not be so reckless?” you asked, making Evan chuckle

“I can try,” he replied, “but I can’t promise anything.” It was a start but it still made you nervous knowing that you’d have to watch him leave the house and not know if that would be the day that he wouldn’t come back.

#fun fact #when I wrote this it was before I saw the new episode #and I was positive that #baby buckley #was going to be a boy #but I think that Uncle Buck with a niece would be ADORABLE #Evan Buckley #Evan Buck Buckley #Oliver Stark #9-1-1 #911 #9-1-1 on fox #911 on fox #911 fox #911fox #tag list #taglist #Embers Taglist #Embers tag list

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brianc521 · 5 years ago

Text

All Night | Nap Date 1

1:45 am felt later than it usually does for Shawn. He’s been at this party for three hours now, and it truly felt like he’s been here the whole day. He honestly just wanted to go home.

He landed in Toronto at 9:57am this morning. Since leaving the airport at 11:00, after getting all his luggage loaded and taking millions of pictures with his fans, he’s met with his manager for lunch, stopped by his condo to make sure his stuff made it home okay, and jetted out after a quick 15 minute shower to Raul’s.

Jet lag is a bitch, and Shawn doesn’t even know how he’s still standing right now. He felt like he could barely keep his eyes open, and he was absolutely regretting riding in with Raul and Peter tonight.

The three triplets stood together, laughing at Brian’s tour stories about Shawn and Connor. Shawn was standing a bit uninterested, having lived through these stories. His blinks were becoming heavy and he was swaying back and forth to the music in a way to soothe himself.

“There she is.” Raul says to himself, catching Shawn’s attention.

“Finally found June?” He mumbled, looking over and spotting his brothers girlfriend laughing with a group of girls around her.

“Yeah, she texted me like a half hour ago saying they were headed to the bathroom, but I hadn’t seen her since and it was making me a little nervous, but she’s here, she’s safe. I’m good.” Raul nods. “Her book is killing it right now Dude, I’m so proud of her.”

Shawn smiles, looking at his brother who is so utterly in love. He can’t wait until that’s him someday. “I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but I plan too on this break. I gotta support the Sis in her crazy good work.”

Raul smiles at Shawn’s choice of words. “She wants to thank you.” Raul says sipping from his solo cup. Shawn’s gulping from a water bottle, brows furrowed in confusion. “For lending us money when we first moved in together. I told her a little bit ago, and she wants to thank you for helping us. I know you say it wasn’t a handout or anything, but just, could you just-”

“Accept her gratitude with a smile.” Shawn nudges his brother. “Like I would have had you not told me.”

“I just wanted to warn you.” Raul looks at his shoes. “She’s everything to me, and I want her to be happy. Always.”

Grinning, Shawn looked over at June and caught sight of an angel next to her. His whole world felt like it stopped spinning. A long legged beauty was dancing with June, a blue dress that hugged her curves but flowed around her thighs. Light brown hair that hung loosely down her back in the softest curls he’d ever seen. Her smile was bright, and her hips swung back and forth fluidly. His mouth went dry and his voice got caught in his throat. “Raul,” He choked. “Who’s that girl with June?”

Raul looked back at his girl and smiled when he saw Juni’s best friend Ember clutching her waist and swaying together. “That’s Ember. Her and Juni have been friends since high school.”

Shawn nodded, mouthed the name Ember, and smiled at the way it felt to say.

Shawn suddenly didn’t feel as tired as he did 2 minutes before. He was wired now, wired with the need to hear her laugh. To pick her brain, know her story and maybe, if he’s lucky, walk away with her number saved in his phone.

Shawn jumped back into the conversation around him, nodding when Brian asked for his back up on if he’d really been kicked out of a bar because he wasn’t 21 yet. All the while sneaking glances at Ember.

He’d made a move to go introduce himself, planting himself next to Juniper. She’d hugged him and made her rounds with all her friends from school, but it happened to be at a moment when Ember went to get another drink. So Shawn was sucked into a conversation about his hair, his shoes, his stylist, and what it’d be like to have a stylist for about 30 minutes before he saw Ember across the room speaking to another guy.

He deflated when he saw her laugh, holding onto this guys arm as she threw her head back. She was so beautiful, the brightness in her features made Shawn want to smile, the way she held herself, her confidence, had him groaning to see it up close.

“Who are you-Ember?” Juniper said noticing that Shawn was in his own world, staring at someone. “Are you staring at Ember?”

“Yeah.” He breathes out.

“Why?” Juniper squints her eyes.

“Is she with him?” He asks, pointing to the guy Ember was standing with.

“No, she’s single. That’s Derrick, they work together.”

“What do they do?” Shawn asks, turning his attention to Juniper with raised eyebrows.

“She works for Style at Home magazine. She writes under the ‘How To’ ‘Organizing Tips’ section. Derrick writes under the ‘Gifts and Must haves’ under ‘Shopping’.”

“Oh.” Shawn stands straighter. “That’s really fucking cool.”

“Yeah, for as long as I’ve known Ember she’s been the biggest neat freak ever. I mean she would organize her locker daily in high school.”

Shawn smirks, looking back at Ember who had body glitter clinging to her skin and slightly smudged lipstick on the corner of her mouth. “That’s really cute.” He murmurs.

“I’ll introduce you, if you want?” Juniper offers.

“Can I be honest?” He asks, looking at her. She nods and smiles at him. “That’s the whole reason why I came over here to begin with. I’m sorry, that makes me sound like such an ass but she’s just-” He looks back up at her, eyes widening when he notices she’s making her way towards Juniper. “She’s coming.” He squeaks.

“Breathe Shawn.” Juniper giggles.

“June, I thought Raul was wearing a matching red shirt to your dress?” Ember teases.

“No I’m-”

“She knows who you are Shawn.” Juniper lands a hand on his shoulder to hopefully soothe his anxious nerves.

“Hi I’m Ember, it’s nice to finally meet the last triplet.”

“Shawn.” He blurts as he shakes her hand. Juniper snorts and backs away too Raul to let Shawn and Ember have a moment. “Oh my god I’m sorry I’m being weird.” He groans when he notices he’s still shaking her hand.

Ember just giggles and shakes her head at him. “It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry,” He puts his head in his hands. “I just, I saw you with June earlier and I wanted to say ‘hi’.” His cheeks are a nice bright pink and his tired eyes sparkle when they land on hers.

“Why didn’t you say ‘hi’ earlier?” She asks softly, stepping closer.

“Um well you looked to be having a lot of fun dancing, and I didn’t want to interrupt that.”

“You could have, I wouldn’t have minded.” She grins at him.

He smiles, nervously chuckling as he looks down to his feet.

“I came over to meet you.” He explains. “But you disappeared.” He shrugs. “Like Cinderella.”

Ember almost spits out the sip of her water she’d just taken, staring up at Shawn with wide eyes. “Did you just call me a Princess?”

Shawn blanches when he realizes he’s just spoken all of his thoughts out loud. “I mean,” He shrugs, embarrassed. “You look like one.”

At this Ember laughs, slips her hand into his as she throws her head back. When she’s calmed and meets Shawn’s entranced gaze she says, “That was really smooth. I have to give you credit for that one.”

Shawn frowns when he hears her say that. “Get hit on a lot?”

“No,” She scoffs. “But my friends do.” She points to the group of girls who are dolled up for the house party. “I’ve heard about all the pick up lines any sleezy fuck boy can come up with.”

Shawn takes his hand out of hers, “Do you think I’m a sleezy fuck boy?”

Ember snaps out of her giggling, standing straight, eyes wide. “No, no Shawn I don’t. I’m so sorry, that’s not what I mean-”

“I’m kidding.” Shawn’s smooth voice flows around her. His hand back in hers as he pulls her a little closer. “I’m glad you don’t think I’m a fuck boy. But I wasn’t giving you a pick up line. I was being honest, you truly look beautiful tonight.”

Ember’s cheeks flush, and she giggles as she looks to her heeled toes. “You won’t be saying that when the alcohol wears off.”

“Actually,” Shawn grins. “I’m completely sober. I’ve been traveling all day, and have work tomorrow, so I’m the DD.”

“Oh.” Ember stares up at him, taking in the fact that he actually thinks that she’s beautiful. “Oh.” She says again, eyes going wide.

“Yeah.” Shawn smiles at her softly. “Can I-” Shawn starts to say when her phone starts to go off.

She looks down and almost physically whines when she sees it’s her alarm going off. She’d promised Juniper she could go out, as long as she left at a decent hour to get home. She has work in the morning, she is selling a really big pitch to the editors. She can’t afford to be overtired and drunk for such an important meeting.

“What’s up?” Shawn asks when she angrily clicks off her phone.

“I have to go.” She says pulling away.

“Hey, Cinderella.” Shawn catches her hand. “You already disappeared on me once, let’s not do it again.”

“I’m sorry Shawn, I have to go. It’s getting late and I have work in the morning.”

Shawn follows her outside, pushing Peter and Connor out of his way when they try to stop him to join their game of beer pong.

“Hey, hey, hey.” He says when he finally catches up to her outside. He’s slipping his jacket off his arms and over her shoulders as she clicks through the UBER app on her phone. “Before you order your pumpkin carriage ride home.” He pushes her hand down with his left hand, using his right to tilt her chin up. “Let me take you?”

“Shawn I-”

“Listen, you know Raul, you know Peter, you know me.” He says with a small smile. “But I don’t know you, and I’d like too.”

“Why?” She asks, staring up at him with bewildered eyes.

“Because you’re gorgeous, and your eyes hold a story I’d like to hear. I’ve heard a small bit about your job, but I’d like to learn more. I’d like to get to know you Ember. Let me take you home, so I know you get there safely, and maybe you’ll let me take you out sometime.” He raises one eyebrow, teeth clenched together as he awaits her answer.

She sighs as she looks around. Holding onto his arm she takes one shoe off at a time.

“What are you doing Cinderella? Gonna give me your shoe?” He grins.

“Shut up.” She giggles. “I’ll let you drive me home, but you have to be okay with me being barefoot because these heels are killing my feet.”

Shawn laughs and nods, looking her up and down, loving the look of her in his jacket.

“Here.” He says, quickly toeing off his shoes and kicking them towards her feet.

“What are you doing?”

“If one of us is going to walk without shoes to my car it’s going to be me. I at least have socks on. Put my boots on, give me these.” He takes her strappy heels, dangling them on his fingertips.

Ember laughs as she steps into his shoes. She feels so ridiculous right now. His feet are three times the size of hers, and as he leads her to his car all she can do is stomp her way there so they actually stay on her feet.

Once he’s got her seated in his Jeep, and thanking himself for actually taking his Jeep and not the Tesla tonight, he lets his nerves bleed into confidence.

“Are you hungry?” He asks looking over at her.

“What?”

“Food? Are you hungry?”

Now that she’s thinking about it, yes she is. “Um, yeah. But I can make a snack when I get home.”

“Or.” He says, turning into a side road diner she’s always heard of having good shakes. While he puts the Jeep in park she blushes in the passenger seat.

“You’re laying it on thick Mendes.”

“That’s not fair, you’re calling me by my last name but I don’t know yours.”

“It’s Mills. Ember Rose Mills.”

“That’s really beautiful.” Shawn smiles.

Before Ember can even respond he’s slipping out of the Jeep, in only his socks, walking around and opening the door for her.

“Let me feed you, and then I’ll take you home.” He compromises. “I can’t, in good nature, send you home hungry.”

“If I’m late for work tomorrow because I’m overtired I’m blaming you.”

“I’ll take all the blame.” He nods, placing his hands on her waist to lift her out of his Jeep.

“You’re just smooth huh?” She giggles as he tangles his fingers with hers on the walk to the doors of the diner.

“Not usually.” He answers with a laugh. “But if it’s working for you then let's go with it.”

“Hi Shawn.” Doris smiles when she sees him enter.

Doris is a 53 year old waitress at the diner. She’s been Shawn’s waitress for years. She knows his order like the back of her hand, and knows his stories inside and out. He’s really the only reason she enjoys the job.

“Hi Doris, is there a chance we can get my booth in the back?” He asks, plucking a menu from the waitress stand in the front by the door.

“Of course, you know I always keep it empty in case you stroll in.” She smiles. “Can I get your order started?”

He smiles, shaking his head. “Put my order in when my date does.” He says, tugging Ember back to the corner booth he usually takes claim in.

“Come here often?” Ember asks as he helps her slide into a booth.

“Yeah, it’s so discreet and hidden that I can come here whenever and no one cares who I am. Met Doris when I stopped in the first time to hide from paps. She recommended the bacon cheeseburger with a side of fries and ranch. Says it’s her favorite. So I tried it, and now it’s the only thing I order.”

“That sounds really good.” Ember nods, watching as Doris smiles at her behind Shawn.

“How are you Darling?” Doris asks.

Shawn looks up with a wide smile, “I’m doing well Miss Doris.” He nods. “This is Ember MIlls, Ember this is Doris Mae.”

“That’s a lovely name dear.” Doris smiles at Ember. “What can I get you?”

“I’d love Shawn’s order please. With a Coke.”

“Of course.” Doris nodded, turning to Shawn. “Lemonade or Soda today?”

“Lemonade please.” He nods.

“Coming right up.”

“Thanks Doris.”

The food was delicious, and Shawn watched in awe as Ember ate all her food and a few of his fries. Every girl he’s been around since his fame shot through the world refuses to eat in front of him. Like eating is a major turn off or something, trust him when he tells you it’s not.

They talked through their meal. Telling childhood stories, and tour memories, comparing concerts and ultimately deciding that they need to see one together soon.

When she’s explaining what her pitch at work is about tomorrow Shawn feels a pang of guilt. She wanted to be home so she could get to bed and be well rested. Yet here she was munching on fries with him in the middle of the night.

He watched in adoration when she rubbed her eye with the back of her hand, smearing a little mascara. Her blinks were getting heavy and slow, and her body was relaxing in sleep.

“Okay Cinderella.” Shawn says leaving money and a hefty tip on the table. “Let’s get you home.”

“No,” She whines. “I’m having such a good time with you. I don’t wanna.”

“Hey.” He reaches for her hand across the table. “Let me take you home so you can turn into Sleeping Beauty. That way you get a little sleep before this killer pitch.”

“You’re lines are getting worse.” She grins at him.

He rolls his eyes as he pulled her from the booth, hugging her from behind when he walks her out. He winks at Doris when he passes her, tale tell sign that he got her note on the receipt and he intended to do as she said.

‘Don’t let her go Shawn. No girl stays up all night to get her heart broken.’

He gets her situated in the passenger seat and climbs in himself, smiling as she tries to scoot as close to him as she can. He’s never hated a center console so much in his life.

He drapes his arm over the console and she quickly hugs against his arm, resting her cheek on his shoulder. “You work out?” She slurs as she squeezes his arm.

“Yeah, every morning.” He nods.

“I can tell.”

Just for effect he flexes his arm and smirks as she giggles against his skin. He looks over when he turns down her street, heart melting at the sight of her so comfortable with him already. Something was different with this. He hoped this was something that could last a while.

He parked and dreaded the fact that he was dropping her off. True to his gentleman fashion he walked her to her door, making sure she got the door unlocked okay.

“Lock the door behind me okay?” He said nodding at her.

“Okay.”

“And kill it at work tomorrow.”

“Okay.” She smiles softly.

“And maybe you can call me after the pitch to tell me how it goes?” He raises an eyebrow.

“Hand me your phone.” She says, pointing to him with her chin.

He scrambles, but quickly gets his phone open and ready for her to put her info in. She types a few things and hands it back.

“I texted myself so I have your number. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Okay.” He nods. He slowly leans in a little, hinting that he really fucking wants to kiss her.

She inhales sharply, leaning up on her toes. He ghosts his lips over hers, waiting for her to reject him at any moment. Not wanting to pressure her at all. When she doesn’t do anything but curl her fingers into the side of his shirt he goes for it. He slowly presses his lips to hers, allowing himself to respect the simplicity of this kiss.

It gets a little needy when she sucks his bottom lip into her mouth, tracing over it with her tongue. It’s the biggest cliche known to man, and the amount of books she read about it can be counted as embarrassing, but she feels the spark. It’s like this zing went through her entire body when he touched her, and now that he’s kissing her it feels like she’s vibrating.

Shawn pulls back, breathing heavy, resting his forehead against hers. “Let’s not go too fast.” He nods. It’s hard, but he controls the urge to push her against the door and blow her goddamn mind.

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow Honey.” He whispers, lips brushing over hers. He leaves her with another small kiss.

He watches with dark, hungry, eyes when she reaches a hand up to touch her tingling lips. She looks innocent, but sexy, and it makes his knees buckle.

“Okay.” She nods, smiling softly as she looks up at him. “Thanks for the ride home.”

“My pleasure.” He grins, backing away to his Jeep.

“Goodnight Shawn.”

“Goodnight Ember.”

He waits in his car for her to close and lock the door, smiling to himself as he looks to his phone double checking he got her number. He laughs and shakes his head when he sees her contact information.

iMessage from Cinderella👠: If I’m Cinderella then you’re my Prince Charming.

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that-house · 4 years ago

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Hey so I hit 100 followers today!

Buckle up, this is gonna be a LOOOONG post.

I quite honestly expected it (while my ego is a little smaller than my jokes make it out to be it is definitely present), I didn’t expect it to happen so fast.

It’s not an insane milestone, plenty of people have 100 followers. A hefty portion of my followers are bigger than me. But it’s still important to me. Knowing that there’s 100 people out there who enjoy my shit makes me happy.

First and foremost the credit quite honestly has to go to ahegao George Washington. No, I’m not joking. Until I posted on r/tumblr about my desire to draw that, I had 0 followers. I jumped to like 10 overnight, which was awesome. And then those new followers helped me spread my posts and get more attention.

Secondly I’d like to shoutout @imaverysadgirl and @themeaninglessjumble. You two were my first real tumblr frens. You were the first of my followers to really interact with me. Ember, I’m super happy you’re alive to see me hit 100 followers. Jumble (I don’t know your name unless I forgot it), your art and creations are great and you deserve way more attention.

To all the rest of you, you guys are great, too. Every new follower makes me happy. I’d say I don’t deserve you all, but my colossal ego says I do. Regardless, being nemesi and getting called out for being horny on main and sending and receiving asks has made this last month or so great.

Finally, for all the shit it gets, and for all the shit it pulls, [tumblr] really is pretty dope. I got to meet you all, and it’s actively making me a better person by exposing me to groups of people I’d rarely interact with in real life.

Why does it feel like I’m saying goodbye? I’m not, don’t worry. I plan to stay, and neither death nor pain shall drive me from this hellsite. I’m just saying thanks.

Now with the thanks out of the way, I want to talk about myself a little. Just the stuff that I’ve always wanted to say and never quite gathered my thoughts and found the time to talk about.

You’re gonna get to know me so well! This is like a mini autobiography!

First off, my mental health. This is something I don’t talk about much on this blog, mostly because it doesn’t need much talking about. I’m doing pretty well, to be honest. I have a smattering of anxiety and I’m maybe a little too introverted for my own good, but I’m not suffering from depression and the only time I ever even remotely considered suicide was when I just really really didn’t want to go to French class. COVID has been great for me, since I don’t have to see people. I suppose I’m not a great person to talk to if you’re struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, seeing as I can’t personally relate, but I’m still always here for you guys if you need me. Just because I haven’t lived through your experiences doesn’t mean I can’t try to help.

Next up I want to talk about my sexuality. This one’s a bit of a mystery. For the past 16 years of my life I’ve considered myself 100% straight. But lately (let’s be honest, following the release of Spirit Blossom Thresh) I’ve been wondering if I might be bi. How many times can I joke about wanting to smash sexy boys before it’s not really a joke anymore? And if I am, a lot of things would suddenly make a lot of sense. But every time I think I have it figured out it suddenly feels like I have no clue what’s going on. Regardless, my sexuality has honestly never been a massive part of my identity (though I’m definitely not asexual, my friends can attest I’m far too horny for that). I have no clue if I’m bi and for now it’s kind of a fun little adventure!

I guess I’ll talk about school and stuff now. Believe it or not, I’m kinda smart. I’m taking a shitton of AP courses this year. But I simultaneously feel like it’s too much and not enough. I’m smart, but I’m not a great student. Compared to my dad, who graduated college with a 3.98 GPA (and his only B being in History of Canada as an American) and now has a super well-paying government STEM job that he loves, I feel like even if I work my ass off I’ll never quite measure up. And my parents have had super high expectations of me, and it’s only recently that they’ve started to accept that I might get some B’s here and there. I’m worried about all the homework this year. I’m a year ahead in Math but I don’t feel good enough at math to be taking AP calculus junior year. I’m worried I’m going to get like a C. But for the most part school is alright, too. That’s sort of the trend in my life. Everything’s alright.

Time to talk about my love life! I have no love life! I’ve been single for 17 years and probably stand no chance of changing that until at least college! Haha I’m so alone! But I can live with it. Growing up an only child with a few friends means that I’m pretty good at functioning without a ton of social interaction, and, while I’d like a partner someday, I’m not desperate. I can wait until I find someone. Pretty much my goal is not to die alone.

Onto sports maybe? I played soccer for most of my life, and was always the worst player on the select team. I was too good for the normal team and not good enough for the select team (kinda like math). Soccer was really toxic, especially when you’re the worst player on a team of high school jock drug addict boys. So I quit, and started playing frisbee! It’s a lot better. The people are nicer! But my first season never happened because of COVID and now I’m in my Junior year and haven’t played much frisbee! So I kinda suck! But I’m physically fit and that’s good enough for me! On my own time I bike and run to stay in shape.

Are you still with me? Now I’m gonna talk about my hobbies and things!

I’ve been playing video games for a long time. I kinda suck at them to be totally honest. I probably have below-average reaction time, and my parents only let me play 15 minutes a day for most of my childhood, so I have a lot less practice than most of my friends. I’m pretty slick with Swain in LoL tho.

This next part is borderline shameless self-promotion, but since the Kickstarter isn’t live yet I guess it doesn’t count. I’m making a tabletop role playing game! I’ve been working on it for the past few years. My goal is to launch the Kickstarter prior to my college applications, because that’ll look sexy as fuck to potential colleges. It’s a post-apocalyptic sci-fi game where you play as supersoldiers trying to reconquer the wastelands of Earth for humanity. I’ll do a big post on it when I launch the Kickstarter, and I guess that’ll also be a full name reveal (kinda spooky since my full name is ENTIRELY unique and one-of-a-kind. More ego boost lmao).

And finally I want to talk about my art and writing. I’ll start with my drawing, and finish off with my writing, since that’s what I’d most like to be known for on here (but that’ll never happen because my caveman brain shitposts are too funny).

So I’ve been doodling for a long time. I briefly got formal art training but sacrificing my Saturday mornings to draw what someone else wanted me to make so that I could make better stuff in the future didn’t appeal to my 8-year-old brain. I draw in the margins of worksheets. I draw on random sheets of paper. Recently my parents bought me a drawing tablet, and I’ve been trying to improve at digital art. I’d say I’m getting better, but I don’t practice nearly enough. All in all my art serves its purpose. It makes people laugh and can sometimes creep people out. It’ll never go in a museum, and I’ll never make money off of it but whatever.

And finally, my writing.

How can I talk about writing without talking about reading? I’ve likely read more books than both my parents combined, and if not, it’s close (and my mom is a prolific reader too). I have three bookshelves in my room and books on every surface. You can’t follow me for long without seeing a post ranting about my latest read. I love to read and I read incredibly fast. Reading spurred my love of English class, which in turn helped me write.

And finally, we get to writing in and of itself. I’ve been writing stories since I was a little kid. I’d like to think I’ve improved a fair bit. I’m still no novelist, but I consider myself a fairly adept short story writer.

But I suppose where my writing really stems from is my bed. Every night while I’m lying in bed, I tell myself stories until I fall asleep. I work on a story until it’s done or until I get bored of it. Along the way, in the shower, on my bike, I build the world of the story, crafting the plot. Sometimes the stories are elaborate fanfictions of my latest reads. That’s probably how they started. Often, they’re unique worlds all of their own. My current writing posts are about the City of Mammon, but my current story in my head is about some vampires who hunt other vampires in Victorian England.

And now we get into the process of writing. It’s fun! I sit myself down with an idea in my head, and use all the fancy words I picked up from my books to convey the vibes I want. I honestly wouldn’t be a great writing teacher. It’s just a skill that comes naturally to me as a result of what I’ve been doing with my free time my whole life. And it’s beautiful. And every time someone compliments my writing or reblogs it, I love writing just a little bit more.

Well I guess this is it. The 100 follower special. I wonder how many of you guys will take the time out of your day to read this. Hopefully a lot!

James (or That House) signing off for the night!

<3 thanks guys

#100 followers special

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callsignbaphomet · 4 years ago

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Ok! Here we go! 37, 42, and ALL of The Deep Lore. For whoever you want! :p

Thank you, darlin’ <3<3<3

Loke!

37. Do they have any phobias?

Phobias per say? No. They are quite uncomfortable around cats. So far the only exceptions have been Bheka, Ice Cream and Cheesecake. Just give them time to get to know the cat and they'll let their guard down.

42. What’s the dumbest thing your character’s done?

Oh this is constant let's be honest. When he sees someone's in danger he rushes in to help even at the detrament of his own well being.

47. What was this character’s biggest turning point in their life, something that changed them almost completely?

Daaaaamn, sorry, I'll try to tl;dr this aa best I can.

When he was 21 years old he and Jelani (8 years old at that moment) went to deliver some supplies to a village. On the way they ran into raiders who attacked them but Loki ran off to keep the supplies safe but more importantly keep Jelani safe.

He put Jelani on his horse and ran the horse away so his little brother wouldn't be in danger. To keep the raiders from him he stood his ground and tried to stall them for as long as he could. Given the fact that this was a large group of raiders he knew he was gonna die but this just goes to prove the validity of question 42.

He tries to fight 'em off and is actually doing fairly well as raiders are used to a certain fighting style from the locals but Loke one of Loke's parents is not a local and taught him how her people fight so successfully splicing both styles meant he had the element of unpredictability on his side. However, one of them found his horse's tracks and annouced he was gonna give chase which freaked Loke out and in a moment of letting his guard down he gets run through with a sword. In pain and scared for his brother he tries to grab his axe and doesn't see the behemoth sized creature quietly watching from between the trees. So as the leader of these raiders is about to stab Loke the creature grabs this dude and everyone in the area is staring like wtf is this thing and start attacking it. With the little bit of energy he has left Loke just watches but somehow he ain't scared bc the more he stares at the creature the more familiar it feels. Creature makes short work of them rips the leader's arm right off and tosses his body away.

The creature actually changes size to amount the height of an adult human and turns to find Loke had bled to death (he has that thing where his blood doesn't coagulate and he just keeps on bleeding). Creature nudges him a bit as it kneels next to the body and places its hands on the injury and breathes a weird mist from out of its mouth onto Loke's face who quickly sits up in a coughing fit. Creature helps him up but Loke faints into its arms.

Loke then wakes up to see Jelani sleeping next to him and it's night time now. He checks himself to see he doesn't have a stab wound on him or even a scar, he doesn't even see any blood anywhere. He looks around and sees the horse and a small fire next to them. He goes to check Jelani but finds a black feather underneath Jelani, as he picks it up he sees small embers floating up from it and he suddenly remembers the creature but weirdly enough he wasn't afraid of it. He just remembers a weird familiar feeling after he saw it.

So basically he died but came back and somehow it was Jela that did it. To this day he still has the feather. It hasn't rotted or broken apart and it still feels warm to the touch.

48. What was their lowest point? What was their highest point?

Lowest point was when they lost their fiancé. They were injured so their fiancé went to the aid of another village but most in the group died. This kinda left Loke in a daze for a while and if it hadn't been for their family they woulda just faded away probably.

Highest point? They went to med school just like their mom did. So whenever they feel like retiring they'll fall back on that. Mean time, the thrill of being the field medic who has full mastery of any firearm you can think of is where they'll remain.

49. What are some themes tied to your character’s story?

Love, more specifically unconditional love. Love is stored in the redhead.

50. What are some motifs associated with your character?

Protection, healing and calm.

51. What were some inspirations for your character (people, movies, games)?

Ok so not much, check question 53 for better explanation. I will say that his original name was supposed to be Loki as I was still drooling like a dog in heat over Marvel Loki. But I didn't wanna be too direct about it so I named him Loke which honestly...lmao same thing but ya know. It's "different" enough for me to get away with it.

52. How are you and your character the same? How are you different?

Both of us are clingy, needy and a bit emotional tbh. We're both really protective of people we love. It literally takes just a word and we're both gunning for whoever's acting up towards family, partners or friends. Also gamers. We also enjoy singing except they can sing well and I can't lol.

They're a hell of a lot braver than I am that's for damn sure.

53. Expectations vs Reality: what did you expect and what did you get with this character?

Expectation: He was supposed to be some plot point with no real purpose except to die very horribly to push Jelani in a specific direction. He had no personality and no real info save for a name and the fact that he was Jelani's older brother.

Reality: I'm a pain in the ass and cover all my bases as much as I can so I started giving Loke some background info and a personality and then I expanded on it and fell head over heels in love with him and things drastically changed and from there we have the Loke we know of today. He's grown as a core character and tbh it would NOT be the same without him.

54. What does your character want, and what do they need?

They're pretty comfy where they're at. They have a fantastic little dog that they spoil and love to bits. The job while dangerous is exciting and they know it's for the greater good. They have their brother with them which to them is super important. Their friends are close and family is just a drive or flight away. Out of my OCs Loke is probably one of the few that has everything they need and want tbh.

Some more video games and coffee and food wouldn't hurt tho.

55. What’s your character’s core trait? What’s their best trait? What’s their worst trait? What happens when these all interact with each other?

I think it's sort of a tie between patience and love. Best trait is def understanding. Worst? Overprotectiveness.

Like I've said before on a violence scale Loke is the second most violent character due to them being so overprotective. Understanding kind of goes out the window if it means they're brother, family or friends are in any kind of trouble. I don't personally see it as a fault but maybe some people might ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

56. What’s your overall goal with this character? Will they get a happy ending or will they succumb to their faults?

Tbh I don't really know how to answer this. They fill the role of the medic in the field, they're also the "big brother" figure within the group. They're also like...the calming presence.

They most definitely will get a happy ending. They deserve it.

#Loke tag #oc things #nicocalithorne #reply #Oracle Corp tag

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anistarrose · 4 years ago

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Fear The Reaper A Lot, Actually - Chapter 5

AO3

Summary: It’s time for the hunt to resume. Noelle makes a promise, Kravitz conducts an interview, Taako plans a séance, and Barry makes a friend.

Characters: Kravitz, Taako, Barry Bluejeans, Angus McDonald, Magnus Burnsides, Merle Highchurch, Noelle | No-3113, The Raven Queen, The Director | Lucretia, misc. BoB cameos, Julia Burnsides

Relationships: Taakitz, Angus McDonald & Taako, Barry Bluejeans & Kravitz, Kravitz & Angus McDonald

Sorry for the late update! I was sick on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then on Thursday I decided to focus entirely on losing my mind over the new TAZ episode, so that means it’s time for a rare Friday chapter. Lots of stuff is happening in this chapter, so hopefully it was worth the wait!

(Also, I normally don’t write the chapter titles on tumblr for this fic because it makes the title section of the post look cluttered, but this one is called “me and the boys at 2 am looking for jeans.” Just really wanted to make sure you were all aware of that fact.)

***

Long past the curfew established by the Reclaimers’ training routine, at the hour of night when the moonbase’s artificial lights dimmed and the bonfires on the planet below faded away, four pairs of eyes watched Avi from the shadows. A murmur of excitement escaped from behind one of the glass spheres when he yawned and checked his watch, followed by a chorus of disappointed sighs when he slapped himself across the face and set back to work unloading a new supply shipment, but he didn’t seem to notice them over the muffled roar of high-altitude winds.

Finally, a passenger sphere floated back into the port and the Bureau’s three top Regulators disembarked, back from a planetside drill that had run long. From her perch on Killian’s shoulder, Carey leaned down to affectionately slap Avi on the back, and he quickly accepted her invitation to join their gang for drinks at the Chug ‘N Squeeze. As Avi led the way out of the port, Carey and Killian hot on his heels while Noelle followed more distantly, there was much hushed rejoicing among their shadowy, impatient observers.

“Finally,” Taako huffed. “I was starting to think he was pulling an all-nighter.”

After checking one last time to make sure the coast was clear, Angus stepped out of his hiding place and reached for the door of the transport sphere, but Magnus grabbed ahold of him by the collar of his shirt.

“Sorry, little guy, but you’re staying behind this time.”

Angus opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again, at a loss for words for the first time since he’d started speaking in complete sentences at age fourteen months.

“It’s nothing personal, Agnes — we just need someone to stay behind and distract Avi if he comes back before we do,” Taako explained. “And no one can resist all your nosy questions once you get going, so you’re the perfect accomplice!”

“I can think of a few people who can resist it,” Merle scoffed. “Number one, me.”

Magnus ignored them both, kneeling down to look at Angus in the eyes. “Ango, if I’m being honest… we had some close calls last time, and that was in a cave where we honestly weren’t expecting to find anything besides a clue or two if we were lucky. Tonight, we’re going to try and get a lich’s attention, so this morning, we all sat down and talked about it and agreed we’ll feel better if you’re safe up here.”

Taako sighed. “Gee, way to let the kid know we actually care about him. Now his ego’s gonna grow until it’s bigger than mine, and then where will I be?”

“It’s okay, sir. I’m sure you and Merle will still find ways to keep me humble.” Angus managed a smile.

“Stay safe, all right?”

“That’s the spirit!” Merle laughed, as Magnus picked him up and placed him inside the sphere. “Now hurry up and set the trajectory, Taako. Barry Bluejeans isn’t gonna arrest himself —”

“Please, hang on just a second!”

Four heads whirled around to face the port’s exit hallway, where Noelle was floating.

“It’s just me, don’t worry!” she assured them, noticing Magnus and Angus’s guilty expressions and Merle and Taako’s panicked ones. “I won’t let the Director hear a peep of this, I promise — but if you’re going after Mr. Bluejeans, I’d like to come with you. If you’ve got room in that sphere, of course.”

“Well, the scale of this lich hunting team is rapidly veering past ‘secret club’ and careening into ‘elaborate conspiracy,’ but… I guess this whole bargain is about your life too, isn’t it?” Magnus thought out loud. “Taako, Merle, are you guys alright with this?”

“A ghost would know where to find another ghost better than any of us would, right?” Merle asked, and Taako shrugged.

“Then welcome to the lich-hunting conspiracy, Noelle,” Magnus declared.

On her way to the sphere, Noelle patted Angus on the head, surprisingly gentle despite her heavy robot arms. “Sorry, pal. I didn’t mean to replace you.”

“It’s okay, ma’am,” Angus told her. “I know you’re better in fights than I am, so… just be sure to keep them safe, okay? And if you get a chance, could you ask Barry if our theory about the Voidfish was right?”

Noelle’s face display flickered, somehow expressing a determined smile with just a few dozen lit-up pixels. “I’ll do my best, I promise.”

***

There were many reasons for a soul not to join the others in the Astral Sea, but most often, it was because they were waiting for someone. Luckily, the person Kravitz wished to speak with was one such soul, so he was able to find her in only a matter of minutes.

There was only one island in the Astral Sea with a cottage on it, after all.

Though expertly constructed, it was clearly unfinished, lacking a door, roof, or windows — so Kravitz knocked on the cedar doorframe, and waited outside for the house’s occupant to respond. Just seconds later, a tall woman with a bandana tied around her hair met him at the doorway, smiling sadly and shaking her head as she laid eyes on Kravitz.

“Oh. You’re the emissary of the Raven Queen. I’m sorry, I — I wasn’t sure if I was hoping or fearing that you were someone else.”

“I understand.” Kravitz said softly. “You’re Julia Waxmen-Burnsides, right?”

“That’s right.” Julia offered him a calloused hand. “Nice to meet — er, formally meet you, Death.”

“Death is my mother. Call me Kravitz,” Kravitz replied as he accepted the handshake, and Julia chuckled.

“Okay, Kravitz. What brings you over to my humble island?”

***

“Well, this spot should be as good as any,” Taako announced, kicking a pebble across the black glass circle that once was Phandalin. “Magnus, did you bring the sacrificial denim?”

“Sure did!” Magnus held up a pair of freshly purchased jeans. “Also some candles, and an ouija board that Carey helped me steal from Leon the other day as part my rogue lessons.”

“Tell Carey that gaslighting Leon is my job, and she needs to quit infringing on my brand.” Taako pulled a piece of chalk from his pocket, tried and failed to draw a circle on the glass, then conjured a paintbrush instead and started painting a pentagram.

Meanwhile, Noelle drifted around haphazardly, the lights on her face growing dim. “It’s… it’s so empty here. I was bracing myself for ruins, for bodies… but there’s just nothin’ left. I can’t even remember where the bar was, or the hotel, or the stables…”

Merle looked away. “Sorry we dropped the ball on this one, Noelle…”

“S’alright. You made up for it in the lab last week, with the savin’ the world and negotiating for my soul an’ all.”

“Well, don’t get too comfortable in your robot body, ‘cause we might not have much time left in the living world if Barry doesn’t show tonight.” Taako placed the jeans in the center of the pentagram, then lit them on fire. “But I think this’ll get his attention. Everyone, come join hands!”

Magnus kneeled and took Taako and Noelle’s hands, while Merle stood up on his tiptoes to do the same.

“You’ve done this before, right?” Merle whispered.

“Plenty of times.” Taako summoned a Mage Hand and adjusted his scarf to cover his nose and mouth, as the fire in the center of their circle intensified. “Noelle? Would you do the honor of reaching out for us?”

“Uh, I’ve never been to a séance quite like this one. Maybe you’d be the better one to —”

“Barry, you asshole! Too much of a coward to show your face!” Merle shouted. “Heard about how I banished Legion and got the heebie-jeebies, didja?”

The ruins of Phandalin fell eerily silent, aside from the quiet crackling of the fire.

“Sorry. Still not detecting any liches,” Noelle reported.

“Well, being a dick didn’t work,” Merle muttered. “Shoulda brought some booze and thrown a party — maybe that would get his lazy ass’s attention.”

“I’m pretty sure liches can’t drink, Merle,” Noelle told him. “And honestly, now that I’m thinkin’ about it, I can’t imagine why Barry would be obligated to haunt this here town just ‘cause it’s where he died. Are y’all sure this is the best place to look for him?”

“Positive,” said Taako, but Magnus spoke over him.

“Maybe we should widen our search area. Quick, what other places would be significant to Barry?”

“How ‘bout the cave where he got his ass kicked?” Merle suggested. “You know, the place where we met G’larg or whatever his name was.”

Magnus let go of Taako and Noelle’s hands to fan the air in front of him. “Well, a hike sure sounds better than standing around inhaling denim fumes, I’ll give you that.”

Taako extinguished the blaze then cast Phantom Steed, and Garyl manifested atop the embers of the fire, rearing into a majestic pose. “Hiking’s for chumps. Garyl and I will race you there!”

***

Julia led Kravitz inside the cottage, which smelled pleasantly of cedar and lavender, and motioned for him to sit down in one of two rocking chairs. She sat in the other, crossing her legs and absentmindedly rocking back and forth.

“So, Maggie went and got on the Raven Queen’s bad side, did he?”

“Not permanently, I’m hoping,” Kravitz replied. “I don’t know him as well as you, but he and his fellow death criminal associates don’t strike me as anything like the usual bounties I hunt. I was hoping you could testify on his moral character, and maybe also shed some light on how he cheated death, because he sure doesn’t seem to know.”

“Well, he’s survived some close battles — but I assume you’re looking for necromancy, not near-death experiences.” Julia drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair. “And I know Magnus is no necromancer.”

“I figured as much. Did he know any necromancers, though?”

Julia shook her head. “No. He’ll stand up to any authority figure if he believes they’re abusing their power, but that’s not because he just walks around looking for rules to break — it’s ‘cause he can’t stand injustice. He’s a good man, and I can’t imagine him throwing his lot in with a lich or someone like that to flaunt the laws of life and death…”

Her voice trailed off. “Do you know how long ago these so-called crimes happened?” she asked.

“They all registered in our system at once, about twelve years ago. Needless to say, I’m assuming he didn’t die 19 distinct times within minutes of each other, so there must’ve been some warding that was previously hiding him from our detection. We’ve seen that kind of thing before, although never quite to the same extent.”

“Twelve years ago was before I knew him,” Julia admitted. “I’m not sure I even know where he was living or what he was doing twelve years ago.”

“Forgive me changing the topic, but are his parents still alive? Or any siblings, aunts, uncles?”

“He was an only child, and his parents passed away before I knew him — I think he was an adult at the time, but barely, so… that would’ve been thirteen, fourteen years ago, maybe? He never told me how they died and I never pressed him, so — wait a second, you’re the Grim Reaper. Shouldn’t you know exactly who’s dead and who isn’t?”

“I really should,” Kravitz agreed, “and that’s the problem, actually. I can’t find any relatives of Magnus in the registry of deceased souls — no parents, no grandparents, no cousins…”

“You only found people who were Magnus’s family by marriage,” Julia realized out loud. “That’s why you came to talk to me.”

Kravitz nodded. “Exactly — but it gets even weirder. Magnus’s fellow adventuring buddies and apparent death criminals are an elf named Taako and a dwarf named Merle, whom I don’t suppose you know —”

Julia gasped, not in recognition, but in dawning realization. “Don’t tell me you can’t find their families, either.”

“All I found for Merle were some fourth cousins, and equally distant relatives. I couldn’t find anything about Taako.”

“The plot sure has thickened, huh?” Julia muttered. “You’re right that I don’t know Merle or Taako, they must’ve been… you know, after my time. But I can swear to you, if this is some kind of — some kind of necromantic conspiracy, then Magnus is the victim, not the one behind it. He could not and would not plan something like this for years while keeping it a secret all this time. He wouldn’t have hid it from me or from Steven —”

“I believe you,” Kravitz told her, “and I believe Magnus, when he says he genuinely doesn’t know how he died nineteen times. But because I believe you, and because I think you’re right on the mark with regards to a necromantic conspiracy, I have one last question: have you ever heard the names Lup or Barry Bluejeans?”

Julia snorted quietly at the latter name, but shook her head. “No. Are they… necromantic conspiracy suspects?”

“You could say that. More specifically, they’re liches whom we first detected around the same time as Magnus. At the time, I assumed it was a coincidence, but now… well, there a few different first impressions of Magnus and his adventuring buddies that I’m reevaluating.”

“Tell me about it. That man contains multitudes.” Julia leaned back in her rocking chair. “If there’s anything else I can do to help exonerate Maggie — any questions or testimony you need — I’m sure you’ll be able to find me here for a long, long time, but… can I ask something of you, if it’s alright?”

“Depends. What is it?”

“Can you help me send a letter?”

***

For the first few hundred feet of the race, Noelle kept up with Taako via her rocket boosters, but then opted to save her fuel, and Garyl surged ahead towards the mountains.

“Eat my dust!” Garyl whinnied. “I’m gonna find those oatssss!”

“Liches, Garyl. We’re looking for liches,” Taako reminded him.

“Yeah, but liches always have some loose spectral oats in their robe pockets!” Garyl scaled the foothills with ease, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. “Sometimes they even give me spectral sugar cubes! Why dontcha ever hang out with liches anymore?”

Taako yanked on the reins. “Excuse me?”

“You haven’t given me sugar cubes in decades,” Garyl moaned as they came to a halt. “Or even spectral carrots.”

Taako dismounted, turning away from the face of the mountain to look at Garyl in his iridescent rainbow eyes. “You gonna elaborate ‘bout me allegedly hanging out with liches, pal?”

“What is there to elaborate about? You used to hang with liches, and then you just —” Suddenly, Garyl’s eyes went wide. “Look out! Above you!”

Taako dismissed Garyl with a wave of his hand, and the binicorn disappeared in a flash of rainbow smoke. “Yeah, no, I’m not buying that. You’re just pulling my leg again —”

He turned around slowly and casually, not expecting to see anything out of the ordinary — only to find himself facing a crumbling mountainside, dozens of massive boulders already rolling on a trajectory straight towards him.

He instinctively raised his Umbra Staff, only to freeze up, no idea what spell he could cast in time to save himself — but then something in his peripheral vision flashed red, and not a full second later, he was standing atop a distant hill, a hundred meters away from the site of the rockslide.

“Are you okay?” a voice behind him rasped. “I didn’t mean to startle you — I know you probably had it under control, but I — I just panicked. Sorry.”

Taako turned around to face a familiar red-robed specter, two vaguely eye-shaped lights under his hood looking Taako over.

“You know, I was actually pretty un-startled until you popped up behind me and started rasping in my ear! Let an elf have his personal space, Barold!”

“What?” The lights beneath Barry’s hood froze in place, as did every thread of his robe, paralyzed in spite of the gentle breeze. The rasp in his voice dissipated as he went on: “Taako, how much do you remember?!”

Taako blinked. “Remember?”

“Talk to me, Taako! Please!” Barry grabbed Taako by the shoulders, incorporeal hands trembling. “Do you remember your sister? Do you remember Lup?”

“Ugh, that sound! Why do you have to do that right in my face?” Taako shrugged off Barry’s barely-tangible grip, clapping his hands over his ears.

“You heard static?” Barry gasped. “Oh, no. No. I thought —”

“You bet I just heard the worst five seconds of ASMR ever! What do you want from me, man? All I know about Lup is that she’s a lich like you, ‘cause that’s all Kravitz could tell me —”

“Kravitz told you about us?!”

“Yeah, he did! Told me you two were his most elusive bounties, and that I could never let my guard down around you!” Taako reached into the quiver slung over his shoulder, pulling out a sapphire arrow. “And I think it’s about time I gave him a heads up that you’re hanging out right here, soul ready for reaping —”

“Do NOT summon Kravitz!” Just seconds before Taako plunged the arrow into the ground, Barry tore it out of his hand and hurled it through a rift. “Why the fuck would you summon Kravitz?!”

Taako’s grip tightened on his Umbra Staff, and Barry recoiled. The lights under his hood looked like they were melting, shedding glowing droplets that cascaded down some semblance of a face within the void.

“Taako, please,” Barry pleaded. “I’m not your enemy, and — and Lup isn’t either, I swear! She wouldn’t want this!”

Taako raised the Umbra Staff to cast, but no spell fired from the umbrella as it shuddered in his hand.

“You can’t listen to what Kravitz tells you — he doesn’t know why we became liches! He doesn’t know about the Hunger!” Barry’s robe was fraying before Taako’s eyes, crimson threads unraveling at the edges of his sleeves. “What if — what if he thinks you’ve cheated death? What if he sends you to the Eternal Stockade?! Taako, I’m begging you, I — I — I don’t know what I would do if I lost you too!”

Taako cast again, and the Umbra Staff still refused to fire, the beginnings of a spell entering his arcane focus on one end but never leaving it on the other. As Barry drifted closer, sparks jumping between stray red threads and face a mess of swirling light and shadow, Taako turned to his last resort — stalling for time.

“You know, Kravitz was thinking real hard about sending me to ghost jail the other day, but I convinced him not to. Don’t you want to hear my side of the story?”

Barry froze, the unraveling of his robe momentarily halted. “In the Miller lab? What happened?!”

“We made a deal. He was going to arrest me, Magnus, Merle, Lucas, and Noelle — but I got an idea he liked better. I asked if he’d let us go free if we captured another bounty or two for him — so he gave us two months to capture you and Lup.” Taako shrugged, so focused on trying not to panic that he hardly noticed the sound of electricity crackling and fabric tearing. “So if you just turn yourself in, then at least you’ll only have to worry about me half as much.”

Barry convulsed as a jagged gash tore through his robe from shoulder to waist, an intangible darkness spilling out from within him and pooling on the ground below.

“LUP!” he shouted, voice echoing between mountains and through underground lairs for miles and miles. “They — they signed their own death warrant, Lup! I — I can’t do this without them, I can’t do this without you — where ARE YOU?!”

“Taako! There you are!”

Magnus sprinted onto the scene, Merle and Noelle hot on his heels. He thrust himself between Barry and Taako, then pulled a sapphire arrow from his own belt, jabbing it into the shadow-covered ground at Barry’s feet. “Kravitz, we’ve got a bounty for you!”

The lights beneath Barry’s hood coalesced back into two flickering eyes that immediately fixated on the arrow, which was already engulfed in a crackling blue aura.

“Boys, I promise I’m going to fix this,” he rasped, and then vanished into thin air.

“Wait, come back!” Merle called out, rushing towards the spot where Barry had been floating. “I didn’t even get a chance to talk to you —”

Taako yelped as his Umbra Staff inverted, and the arrow flew through the air towards its maw — but milliseconds before the umbrella snapped shut around it, Kravitz manifested in a puff of smoke, already dual-wielding sapphire scythes.

“Did you find Barry? Where is he?”

“He got away, I think,” Magnus sighed. “I probably shouldn’t have summoned you where he could see, but I rushed in because I was so worried about him hurting Taako —”

Noelle floated around Taako in tight circles, scanning him from all angles. “It doesn’t look he hurt you, but… I’m getting some traces of conjuration magic? Did you have a wizard’s duel or something?”

“Oh, god no. I probably wouldn’t be alive if we had,” Taako admitted. His heart was still pounding, but he tried not to let it show. “Conjuration magic, though… let’s see. That would probably be from when he — when he teleported me away from the mountain, after those rocks started falling.”

“Those rocks?” Noelle gestured towards the massive pile of rubble at the foot of the nearest mountain. “Those look like they could’ve killed you!”

“I know, right?” Taako replied. “Very uncharacteristically benevolent of him to show up when he did.”

“As great as it is that you’re not dead, Taako, it was also very convenient of him to show up when he did,” Kravitz paced across the hilltop, scythes crossed in front of him like the world’s most dangerous dowsing rods. “I can’t sense his presence anymore, meaning he’s squirreled himself away in some sort of warded hideout… but if he appeared out in the open here only shortly after you did, then that hideout of his must be nearby.”

He turned away from Taako, facing the mountains. “Which means he’s still nearby.”

Taako felt his hand grow warm, and looked down to see his Umbra Staff, energized from the absorption of the arrow… and pointing directly at Kravitz’s back.

“Let’s search the area.” Kravitz continued. “Leave no stone unturned —”

Taako pointed the Umbra Staff towards the sky — not a moment too soon. A beam of white-hot plasma pierced the clouds above and bathed the entire mountain range in daylight for a fleeting moment, before it fizzled out with a crackle of electricity and a whiff of ozone.

Kravitz whirled around. “Taako?!”

“I didn’t cast that spell! I don’t know how to cast that kind of spell!” Taako gasped. “My umbrella’s been acting up all night, but I didn’t know it could act up like this!”

Kravitz sighed and placed a hand on Taako’s shoulder.

“You know, on second thought,” he said, “maybe we should postpone the lich hunting until you get that thing checked out.”

***

Merle made a beeline for his bed the second the gang returned to the moonbase, while Taako took it upon himself to relay the night’s events to Angus as a bedtime story, and hopefully ensure that the kid actually got some sleep. Noelle had opted to stay planetside for a little longer and fly back up to the moon on her own later, explaining that she needed some time alone to process what had happened in Phandalin, and that left Magnus and Kravitz alone in the common room between the Reclaimers’ individual dorms.

“There’s no way Angus will relax enough to fall asleep in the next week if he hears about what happened tonight,” Magnus sighed, collapsing onto the couch. “Either Taako lies and says nothing happened, or he uses a sleep spell on a ten year old. You wanna make a bet on which?”

“I’ll pass. But you just reminded me, I actually have something for you.” Kravitz rifled through the interior pockets of his vest, pulling out a piece of shimmering blue paper. Although folded over on itself several times, it still felt almost intangibly thin, like parchment woven from cobwebs or even air itself.

Magnus raised an eyebrow, skeptical. “That better not be magical junk mail.”

Kravitz smiled, slowly shaking his head. “I spoke with someone in the Astral Plane today who had a lot of good things to say about you,” he explained. “She’s waiting to see you again, but hopes that day won’t come too soon, and… well, I haven’t read her letter, but I’m sure it speaks for itself.”

Magnus accepted the paper gingerly, eyes tearing up as he unfolded it to reveal Julia’s handwriting.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

Kravitz plucked a raven feather from his robe, transmuting it into a quill pen with a snap of his fingers before handing it to Magnus. “I don’t allow this kind of thing every day, so don’t go around telling too many people about it — but you can use this pen to write a response on the back. Fold it up again once you’re done, and it’ll make its way back to her.”

Magnus leapt up from the couch to crush Kravitz in a hug that would’ve knocked the air out of his lungs, had he still been alive and breathing.

“Thank you,” Magnus repeated. “Thank you —”

Taako barged into the room, Umbra Staff slung over his shoulder. “You wanna guess what ‘cha boi had to do to get the kid to go to sleep? I’ll give you a hint, it wasn’t — okay, what am I interrupting here?”

A joke no doubt on the tip of his tongue, he froze as he noticed the tears running down Magnus’s face. “You okay there?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I think so.” Magnus let go of Kravitz, wiping his eyes and picking up the pen and letter again. “I — I’ll be in my room. I need some time to… I just need some time.”

Taako nodded. “Don’t forget to get some sleep yourself. Apparently you humans need, like, eight hours of it, go figure.”

“He’ll be alright,” Kravitz whispered to Taako, as Magnus closed the door to his room. “He just got a letter from someone he hadn’t heard from in a while.”

“‘Course he’ll be alright. He’s Magnus, he’s indestructible,” Taako replied, but Kravitz could hear the relief in his voice. “And in case you were wondering, the way to get Angus to fall asleep is to read him a detective story, but only as a distraction while you’re preparing a Sleep spell.”

Kravitz chuckled. “You know, speaking of distracting — what’s with that flashing Chug ‘N Squeeze sign on the moon campus? I don’t think it was there when I visited you the other day.”

“Oh, that? I think it’s some kinda wine and pottery place — why, you wanna check it out? ‘Cause it’s supposed to open in a day or two, or so says all the hottest moon gossip.”

“Well, I mostly just asked out of morbid curiosity, but it does sound like something I could enjoy ironically — and maybe even unironically, as a break from all this lich hunting and detective work. Do you want to check it out with me?”

“Oh, a wine and clay vacation day with the Grim Reaper? That’s a hell yeah from Taako!”

***

The second Barry returned to his cave, he bolted straight for an unassuming chest beneath a pile of discarded scrolls and tattered jeans. Though it only occupied about two cubic feet, it was warded against everything from fire to water to acid, and sealed with an arcane lock — which Barry dismissed by uttering the passcode, emergency bonds.

From inside, he retrieved a handful of trinkets — a driftwood necklace from Merle, a wand that Magnus had once unsuccessfully tried to summon a dog familiar with, and most important of all, a dozen different wedding rings, all hewn from different materials and given in different ceremonies on entirely different worlds. Barry picked up the envelope beneath them and then gingerly placed them back in the chest, opening the envelope to look through the pictures it contained.

The shadowy essence of his lich form had stopped leaking out of his robe the second he’d opened the chest and been comforted with the wave of nostalgia, but he felt his soul stabilize even further as he pulled out the first picture. It was a candid shot of him, Lup, and Taako in the Starblaster’s lab, buried up to their elbows in notes as they studied the Light of Creation, which the camera had only been able to capture as a vague white blur. The three of them all had bags under their eyes, but they were still smiling. They’d been so determined to develop a new theory, to find the answers that would save them and their family.

And there was no reason for Barry to abandon that determination or give up on that goal now.

For the next four hours, he scrawled calculations on almost every blank scrap of paper he had at his disposal, comparing research he’s done half a century ago with papers he’d read on cycles even further back. He unfurled no less than five individual maps of Faerun, circling promising locations before changing his mind and scratching out all but a few that he’d personally visited in the past.

By the time his plan was complete, almost all of the rips in his robe had mended themselves — though he still looked unsettlingly threadbare, and he trembled slightly even while floating in one place.

How long did Taako say they have? Two months, as of the crystal incident? There’s no need to panic — I’ve got time. I just need to play this smart.

He extended his senses outside of his lair, scanning the surrounding area for Kravitz or another emissary of the Raven Queen — and there was indeed an undead presence lurking near Phandalin, but unlike Kravitz, it lacked even the faintest trace of celestial energy. Even stranger, its aura seemed shielded, but less so than a lich possessing a living body would’ve been… as if the soul was inhabiting an inorganic body, instead.

The robot no doubt sensed him approaching, but gave no sign of signalling for help, which made Barry feel much better about his decision to venture out of the safety of his cave.

“Mister Bluejeans? That you?” she asked, and the sound of her voice was all it took for Barry to connect a series of dots that couldn’t have been further from his mind just a few moments ago.

“I know you. You were in the Cosmoscope — and before that, you were in Phandalin. You were a halfling.”

“That’s right. I’m Noelle — Noelle Redcheeck. I’m surprised you remembered me.”

“I’m surprised you’re not furious with me,” Barry whispered. “I couldn’t save you, or anyone else in Phandalin — I’m so sorry, Noelle. Maybe, maybe, if I’d been in my lich form, I could’ve —”

“You tried your best,” Noelle assured him, “just like the Reclaimers. Really, the only person I should blame is whoever made that terrifying gauntlet in the first place —”

“No,” Barry interrupted. “I knew her, and I knew how implausible this will sound, but she didn’t want this. She tried her best to stop it, too.”

Noelle took a moment to reply. “It sounds like you know a lot of things that the Bureau doesn’t.”

Barry nodded. “Speaking of which… I really shouldn’t stay out here in one place for much longer, or someone will sense me, be it the Bureau or Kravitz. Do you mind if we take this conversation somewhere else?”

“Just lead the way.”

They headed not to Barry’s main hideout, but to a slightly nearer cave that he used mainly for storage but had placed equally powerful wards over. Abjuration had never been his specialty, but his ability to pick it up on the fly had been invaluable during his time as a rogue lich — and now, he thought, my abjuring might be the one thing that saves my family’s lives. Funny how that works out.

“So, Noelle,” he asked out loud, “I saw you with Magnus and Merle earlier. Do they know you’re still down here?”

“I told them I wanted to stick around Phandalin for a while and think about what happened,” Noelle explained. “Which, come to think of it, wasn’t a total lie — because I did want to talk to you about Phandalin, and I guess I got that chance after all. But I’m also here because I promised my detective friend that I’d ask you something.”

“Assuming your friend’s alive, then they probably won’t even be able to comprehend the whole answer — but fire away, and I’ll tell you what I can.”

“Did the Voidfish erase the fact that you were a lich?”

“Getting right to the root of the problem, huh?” Barry paused. “Hmm. Let me put it this way — the Voidfish erased all memories that could make me believe I was a lich. Whenever I’m alive, whenever I’m amnesiac, the idea that I could be a lich or even a necromancer just sounds like a joke. I’ve tried leaving messages to remind myself of that fact, after coming back to life — but my living self never believed it.”

“It sounded like a joke to Magnus and the others, too.”

Barry sighed. “That’s ‘cause they’ve lost a lot of memories of their own.”

“But… they’re innoculated. How is that possible?”

“Noelle, we’re well past the point where I need to warn you about keeping this conversation a secret from the Bureau, right? And… probably from your detective friend, too, assuming they work for the Director?”

“Yeah,” Noelle sighed. “Angus will be disappointed, but I understand.”

“There’s a second Voidfish,” Barry explained. “It’s very well guarded, and only the Director’s been innoculated by it — so she’s used it to erase all kinds of information, from the Reclaimers’ pasts to… a coming storm, which this world is unlikely to survive.”

“This storm… will it be worse than the Grand Relics? Worse than what happened to Phandalin?”

“It’ll be not just worse, but maybe even infinitely worse. Because it’ll go on to destroy worlds beyond this one, if we let it.”

Barry had forgotten what it felt like to speak so freely about his past and the Hunger, to speak without worrying that his words would be distorted by static, and more and more information just poured out, far more than he’d initially intended to share.

“There is an entity called the Hunger that seeks to consume all of existence, and it’s only a matter of months until it begins its assault on this planar system. The Director and the Reclaimers and I, we were all like family, and we worked together in search of a way to destroy this Hunger, but… we had some disagreements. And really, neither side was right, but Lucretia — Lucretia used the Voidfish to erase our whole mission, the Hunger included. I became a lich to protect my family from the Hunger, so… when I’m alive, I don’t have any memory of being undead. And my family doesn’t have any memories of me… aside from that time in Phandalin when I got Merle to stab himself with a fork, I guess, which probably didn’t leave a great impression.” He managed a bitter laugh.

“How long ago did they forget?”

“Almost ten years ago.”

“I’m so sorry.”

It dawned on Barry that he was having most sincere, two-sided conversation he’d experienced in a decade — and ironically, the realization left him at a loss for words.

The same couldn’t be said of Noelle, who continued on without hesitation. “I promised my friend Angus not just that I’d get answers, but also that I’d look out for the Reclaimers. I don’t want the Grim Reaper, or the apocalypse, or whatever’s coming to hurt them — or anyone else in this world, like Angus, or Carey and Killian, or my family in Hogsbottom — so please, Mister Bluejeans, tell me what I can do to help. I want to do something with this extra time the Reclaimers gave me.”

“If you get caught helping me,” Barry warned her, “you’ll be imprisoned one way or another — either on the moonbase, or in the Eternal Stockade, depending on who catches you.”

“Well first of all, it sounds like at the rate I’m going, I’m gonna end up either back in the Astral Plane, or consumed by this Hunger entity in a matter of months if I don’t do anything to help you,” Noelle replied. “And second of all, I’m not plannin’ to just give up and let them arrest me if I do get caught.” She cocked her arm cannon.

Maybe it was risky to accept help from someone he barely knew, but Noelle had seemed nothing but sincere — and Barry had spent so long working alone that frankly, he was amazed it hadn’t killed him yet. He was a creature of bonds and of love; he sought out companionship by both nature and necessity. He didn’t know if he could do this alone, but alongside another undead soul who could actually understand and help, he knew for a fact that he could.

“Welcome aboard, Noelle.” Barry chuckled. “First things first: I’ve tried to stay out of the Raven Queen and her servants’ ways, because they’re really not evil at all, but if there’s any chance of stopping the Hunger, then we’ll need Taako and the others’ help for sure. Which means we’re going to have to do something about the Grim Reaper situation —”

“You know, I might have something to help with that.” A drawer Noelle’s main body slid open, revealing a sapphire-tipped arrow. “Magnus figured we should all have some summoning beacons on our person, in case of emergency.” She winked. “But I was thinkin’ we could use it to lure him into some kinda sinister trap.”

She paused. “He can’t eavesdrop on us through this thing, can he?”

“Not if we don’t say his name. But I’d close that drawer for now, just to be on the safe side.” Barry said as he summoned a scroll and pen, then started jotting down notes. “This is all perfect, though! I already hashed out the spell theory for a plan, but you just made it about a billion times easier to pull off — not just because of the arrow, but because you can gather components, and I won’t have to risk him sensing my location and realizing what I’m up to!”

“Makes sense,” Noelle replied, looking over Barry’s list. “That’s all you need me to get?”

“Yeah. I was thinking most of it would be salvageable from the Miller Lab — uh, except maybe the iron filings, which are commercially available anyway.”

Noelle beamed. “I won’t let you down, Mister Bluejeans.”

“Thank you, Noelle.” Barry looked down at his robe, which looked less tattered and more vibrantly red than he’d seen it in years. “For everything.”

***

End notes:

Apologies in advance if the update schedule gets a bit less consistent from here on out, since I’ve burned through my pre-written buffer chapters, but I’ve at least got a solid chunk of Chapter 6 written and a detailed outline for the chapters after that! It’s just about getting into the write headspace to write.

as usual, comments/reblogs mean a lot!

#taz #taz balance #taako taaco #kravitz taz #taakitz #barry bluejeans #no-3113 #angus mcdonald #magnus burnsides #merle highchurch #julia burnsides #lup taaco #fic: FTRALA #rosalia talks #taz balance spoilers

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darks-ink · 5 years ago

Text

Fangs - Ectoberweek 2019

Oh god oh man. 1 year fic writing anniversary, here we go! For Ectoberweek day 1, I picked the prompt Fangs.

Rating: K+ / Teen (some swearing) Warnings: Referenced character death; but it’s ok because it happened 15 years prior to canon (and the fic) and also they became a ghost and are totally fine with how things are now. Genre: Friendship Words: 3,585 Relationships: Danny Fenton & Tucker Foley & Sam Manson (platonic) Additional Tags: First meetings, Alternate Universe, Referenced character death, One shot, Fluff

[AO3] [FFN]

---

Danny impatiently tugged at the lock on the locker door, cursing under his breath. Why wouldn’t the damn thing just unlock? It had seemed to simple when they’d explained it to them!

He was just considering the viability of turning his arm intangible and bypassing the lock entirely when someone cleared their throat behind him.

Startled, Danny jerked back, twisting to look at the person behind him. He looked like an ordinary human being; dark skin, teal eyes, and colorful clothing.

“Uh, hey,” the boy said, a little awkwardly. “Why are you messing with my locker?”

Danny blinked at him for a long moment. Then, “Your locker?”

“Yeah?” The boy frowned at him, then gestured at the locker. “See, number 524? That’s mine.”

“524?” Danny repeated lamely. Then he reached for the locker next to the one he’d been trying to unlock, and twisted the lock in the combination he’d been given. It clicked open easily. “Uh. Oops?”

“Wrong locker?” the boy asked, mirth in his voice but clearly understanding. “It happens to the best of us, man.”

“Oh.” He shrugged, unsure. He wouldn’t know. “I guess. Sorry. I didn’t break it, did I?”

“Nah, you’re fine.” The boy unlocked his locker as well, looking away from Danny to take out some of the books in it. “You’re new, right? Do you know where you need to go?”

Danny opened his mouth to reply, but a voice from behind them spoke before he could. “Tuck, don’t. You can barely get yourself to class in time.”

The boy rolled his eyes, turning to look at the new speaker over his shoulder. “That’s not because I’m lost, Sam, but because people keep getting in the way. Not everyone is a walking wrecking ball.”

Sam snorted, and Danny closed his locker to look at her as well. Pale skin, black hair, and striking violet eyes. He had to admit that he liked her style, though. Looked like a girl that Ember might appreciate.

“Not my fault you can’t keep up, Tuck.”

Then she seemed to realize that he was there too, because she grinned at him. “Nice hair.”

“Uh.” He raised his hands to comb them through his hair, automatically. “Thanks?”

“How’d you get the streaks like that?” she continued, sounding genuinely interested. “It looks really cool, that white in the black.”

“It’s kinda…” He continued to twist his fingers in his hair, shooting her an uncertain grin, “It’s kind of always been like that?”

She gasped, then suddenly stepped forward and grabbed his face. “Man, and your parents let you wear these fangs to school? They must be really cool.”

“The coolest,” he agreed easily, running his tongue over his pointed canine teeth. “But, um, that’s not really-- relevant.”

“Oh, I see.” She let go of him again, nodding to herself. “You’re wearing them without their permission!”

“What? No!” He dropped his grin to frown at her instead. “People do that?”

Tuck snorted, but dropped his smile when Sam glared at him. Then she turned back to Danny, huffed, and crossed her arms. “I would if I could get some. My parents suck. Grandma is pretty cool, though.”

“Oh.” He scratched his cheek, uncertainly. “I’ve never met my grandparents, to be honest. Jazz said they were pretty nice, but she was like… three years old when she last saw them, so I’m not sure if I trust her on that.”

The two other teens shared a glance at that, before Tuck asked, hesitantly, “Jazz? Like, Jazz Fenton?”

“Yeah? Not a lot of kids going by Jazz, right?” Or, well, that’s what she’d given as her reason for changing her name. Danny was extraordinary but with a normal name, so Jazz wanted to be the reverse of that.

“Why would Jazz Fenton know your grandparents?” Tuck’s eyes were narrowed, like he already suspected the answer, but didn’t like it. “Let alone when she was so young.”

“We’re… siblings?” Danny shrugged loosely, uncertain why this was throwing the other two off so badly. “She’s my sister.”

“But-- But--” Tuck turned and looked at Sam again, like they were having a silent conversation.

“But what?” Danny asked when it looked like they had finished. “Do we really look that different? Mom and Dad always said we had clear family resemblance, but--”

“No, no, that’s not it,” Sam interrupted. “It’s just…” She shot a glance at Tuck again, but turned back before it could devolve into another silent conversation. “We just… didn’t know Jazz had a brother.”

“Oh. I mean… I guess.” He shrugged again. “My parents didn’t want me out much, and I guess Jazz wouldn’t have talked about it with people she’s not friends with.”

Tuck opened his mouth to reply, but the sound was drowned out by a loud ringing. Danny flinched, raising his hands to his ears, but the noise stopped before he could finish the motion.

“And there’s the bell.” Sam shook her head, then shouldered her backpack. “Tucker and I have to get to English. Go find Jazz if you can’t find your class, yeah?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.” He watched them turn around, then realized what she’d said. “Hey, wait!” He ran after them, quickly catching up. “English? Like, Mr. Lancer’s English?”

“Yeah? You too, then?” Tuck asked, turning to look at him without slowing down. “Guess you’re in the same class as us. Convenient.”

“Uh huh. Mind if I tag along?” He shouldered his backpack properly, pulling his arms through the purple straps. “Since you’re going there anyway?”

Tuck snorted, then offered his hand. “Sure man. By the way, I’m Tucker. Tucker Foley.”

Danny took his hand, giving it a good shake. “Danny Fenton. Nice to meet you.”

Sam seized his hand the moment he let go of Tucker, shaking it as well. “And I’m Sam Manson. Now, since the bell cut us off earlier, what’s up with you not being allowed out?”

“Sam,” Tucker chastised, “There must’ve been a good reason, man.” Then he nudged Danny, lightly. “Don’t mind her. You don’t have to tell if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t mind.” He raised one hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it uncertainly. “Just, uh, kind of a long story. Might be better to save it until lunch or something.”

“Oh, that’s a deal.” Sam suddenly slung one arm over his shoulder, grinning impishly. “I’ll hold you to that, Danny.”

He smiled back at her, stamping down the dread that suddenly rose in his stomach.

Why did he feel like he just made a deal with the devil?

---

“Alright, now tell us,” Sam demanded as she tugged him down into a seat. “Why did no one know Jazz had a brother?”

He rolled his eyes, putting down his tray of food. “Can’t I eat first? I’m starving.”

“You don’t want to eat that anyway, man.” Tucker sat down next to Sam, looking at his tray of cafeteria food. “The stuff they serve here is barely edible. Best to bring stuff from home if you can.”

“I did bring food from home.” He reached for his backpack, pulling out the lunch his mom had packed for him. “But I’m gonna eat the cafeteria food too.”

“Boys,” Sam sighed, shaking her head. “You can’t seriously plan on eating so much?”

“Why not?” He peeked into the bag—ooh, weenies—then put it on his tray. Best to start with the regular food. If it really was that bad, he could get rid of the taste with the other food. “It’s not that much, is it?”

Tucker made a face. “It is a lot, dude.”

“Oh,” he said, picking up an apple from the tray. It was a normal amount for him to eat, but he supposed it might not be the same case for full humans. Still, couldn’t anybody have bothered to tell him about that? “I didn’t realize.”

“Man, and I thought I lived a sheltered life.” Sam chuckled, but her smile dropped when he raised his apple to take a bite out of it. “Hey, wait, don’t--”

He bit down into the apple, his sharp teeth sinking into it with a loud crunch. “Hm?”

“You’re not… supposed to eat… with those in,” she said, slowly, watching him chew. “That’s, uh, bad for your teeth.”

Danny swallowed the bite of apple, frowning at her. “With what in?”

“The fangs?” She gestured at the apple, deep gouges in it where his fangs had dug in. “Look at how deep those went! You could’ve done real damage to your teeth if that apple had been any harder!”

He glanced at the apple, then back at her. She seemed genuinely upset, but he wasn’t what to do about it. “Oh. Uh. It’s not really… like that.”

“Not like what?” she snapped back. “Do you think you’re immune to tooth damage just because your hair is super cool?”

“Uh.” He blinked at her, caught off-guard by the non-sequitur. “No? But--”

“No buts! And don’t take another bite!” she added sharply when he raised the apple again. “We weren’t done talking about this, Danny!”

He shrugged, maintained eye contact, then took another bite.

“I really wish you hadn’t done that,” Tucker muttered, moving further down the bench to distance himself from Sam.

“I don’t get it,” Danny admitted after he’d swallowed the bite. “It’s just an apple.”

“The problem,” Sam bit at him, “is that you’re not supposed to eat hard food while wearing fake fangs!”

“Oh.” He nodded. “Is that what the problem was?”

She opened her mouth to snap at him, but he cut her off with a soft smile and said, “They’re not fake, so.”

As Sam spluttered, Tucker leaned back over, one eyebrow raised. “What do you mean, they’re not fake?”

“I mean that they’re real?” Danny frowned, eyes darting between the two of them. “Doesn’t everybody lose their milk teeth?”

“Yeah,” Tucker said slowly, “but we don’t grow fangs, dude.”

“Oh, I see.” He took another bite of his apple, then around it, said, “I guess it must be a ghost thing.”

They both blanched, and he realized that he had, once again, misstepped in this conversation.

“A-- A ghost thing?” Tucker asked finally, incredulously. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Uh.” Danny blinked at them, confused. “It means that I’m part ghost? Duh.”

“Don’t ‘duh’ us!” Sam glared at him. “What do you mean, you’re part ghost?!”

“Well…” He shifted to lean on the table, semi-casual. “It’s kind of in the name, you know? Half-ghost? Pretty obvious.”

“You can’t be half ghost!” she insisted, arms thrown out. “You can’t be part dead!”

“Well, someone should’ve told me that before I went and managed it, huh?” He shrugged, then took another bite of his apple. The ghosts were all way easier about this.

Though, thinking back, that might also be because they were really big on gossiping. You just had to tell one ghost, and then suddenly everyone knew it.

“Man, you’re crazy,” Tucker said morosely, shaking his head. “Spent too long at home with your dad. Shame Jazz didn’t get him to let you go to school earlier, so you would’ve realized that all his ghost stuff isn’t real.”

Danny blinked at him, blankly. “But… ghosts are real?”

Sam shoved Tucker, shooting him a brief glare, before she turned to Danny. “Yeah, don’t listen to him. He doesn’t believe in anything but cold hard technology.”

“And science,” Tucker corrected her. “I believe in things science has proven! And ghosts aren’t included in that.”

“But… they are?” Danny frowned, confused. “My parents have tons of research about it? I can ask Mom to get you one of the basic ones?”

Both Sam and Tucker blanched. Again.

“T-There’s no need,” Tucker stuttered, holding up his hands. “I mean, it’s been forever since she died, right? Those papers must be outdated by now.”

“Well, they’re working on a new one now.” He scratched the back of his head, then shrugged. Whatever. No big deal. “But if you don’t want it, that’s fine. Just don’t tell me science hasn’t proven the existence of ghosts, because that’s a blatant lie.”

“’They’?” Sam repeated apprehensively. “Like, both of them, right now?”

“Uh, yeah? That’s kind of what ‘they’ means.” He raised a questioning eyebrow in her direction.

“Well, I guess you’re right.” She shrugged, eyes lowering to her food for a moment before they snapped back to Danny. “Just… Like a ghost, right? You mean that she’s a ghost?”

“Kind of hard to do things when you’re just regular dead,” Danny said, dryly. “That’s sort of why a lot of people become ghosts, after all. Want to continue to do things after you die? Become a ghost.”

“So then how did you become half a ghost?” Tucker asked sharply. “Did you half die or something, huh?”

Danny rolled his eyes, swallowing the last bite of his apple. “Nah man, I was born like this. My Mom died like, a year before I was born.”

“Ghosts can reproduce?” Sam said, incredulously. “Your parents had you after your mom died?”

“Uh huh.” He glanced over the rest of his lunch, shrugged to himself, and then reached for his bag from home. “That’s why they kept me at home for so long. They wanted to make sure I would be okay, being half-ghost and all that.”

“Man, that’s crazy.” Tucker shook his head, but didn’t try to refute Danny anymore. “I can’t imagine-- Wait, what’s that?!”

“Hm?” Danny looked up from his sandwich, which Tucker was pointing at. He raised it. “This?”

“Yeah!” Tucker swept his hand around, vaguely gesturing at it. “Look at it, it’s glowing!”

“Uh. Yes?” Danny lowered it, opening the bread to show the contents. “See, that’s the frankenweinies. They’re ecto-contaminated hot dogs.”

Sam made a face. “No offense to your parents, Danny, but that looks even less edible than the cafeteria food.”

“Yeah, I agree with her.” Tucker leaned forward, but when Danny moved the sandwich closer to him he flinched away again. “And I say that as the crazy carnivore.”

“It’s not for human consumption.” Danny rolled his eyes, then demonstratively took a bite from the sandwich. Immediately he could feel the ectoplasm feeding into his system, his core humming in contentment. “The ectoplasm is good for my ghost side.”

“See, dude, here’s a crazy idea for you to consider.” Tucker waved a hand as if presenting the concept. “What if the ectoplasm is making you think you’re half-ghost? Or, like, the contamination is making you all weird.”

Danny shot him a disgruntled look. Was Tucker really still going on about this? “I mean, technically, I’ve been ecto-contaminated since conception. My body is constructed to be a hybrid between ghost and human. My human side can’t survive without the support of my ghost side.”

Tucker continued to look unconvinced, eyes narrowed.

“How about this?” Danny swallowed away another bite of his sandwich. “Why don’t you come visit my house after school? You can meet my mom and some of the other ghosts, and my parents can tell you all about my weird half-ghost anatomy. And if none of that is convincing because you don’t think it’s real, well. My dad would love to show you some of his crazy inventions.”

The other boy narrowed his eyes even further. “Look dude, no offense, but I’m not really interested in ‘ghost fighting’ gadgets.”

“That’s fair.” Danny shrugged casually, taking another bite of food and waiting until he’d swallowed it to continue. “But they don’t just make weapons, you know. They have this crazy portal to the Ghost Zone—the dimension where ghosts like, for lack of a better word—and a super crazy hovercraft so Dad and Jazz can go there too. And they’re working on jetpacks for easier travel, too.”

“Oh.” Tucker wilted a little, turning a little fidgety. “Well, I… Sam, I bet you want to go see real-life ghosts, huh?”

She snorted. “Just admit you want to see what kind of crazy inventions the Fentons put together, Tuck. Don’t drag me into this.”

“You’re welcome to come too, Sam,” Danny offered, smiling at her. “I think that Tucker is too scared to go alone.”

“Hey!” The boy in question huffed angrily. “Don’t you dare! You’re the one inviting me to a literal haunted house, man. Haven’t you ever seen a horror movie! The handsome ones always die first!”

“You mean the non-white people.” Danny rolled his eyes, but didn’t drop the smile. “Besides, you’re too late to be the first to die anyway. My mom died years ago, and technically I’ve been sort-of dead since birth, remember?”

“’Sort of’ dead isn’t actually dead, dude.” But Tucker grinned back, the grim mood broken. “And your mom is the one haunting the house in the first place. That makes her death part of the backstory, not the first death to happen in the movie.”

“Eh, fair enough.” Danny finished off his sandwich, then stared at the cafeteria food still left on his tray, contemplating it. “But you’re bringing Sam, and she actually knows stuff about ghosts, so that makes her a viable first victim too. She’ll die just before she can tell you how to stop the enemy.”

“But that’s rarely the first death.” Tucker tugged the tray away from Danny. “Dude, you might be mostly dead, but you really don’t want to try that. Besides, lunch is almost over anyway.”

Danny stuck out his tongue, but nodded his approval anyway. He supposed Tucker was right. Not enough time to eat it, anyway. “I suppose I’ll ask Mom to pack me more lunch tomorrow. But, seriously, you two wanna come along to my house after school?”

“Will your parents be okay with that?” Sam asked, fingers rattling on the table. “Since you weren’t allowed to leave it for so long?”

“I mean, Jazz got them to finally send me to school with the intention that I actually interact with living people my age.” He shrugged, trying to cover his anxiety over admitting that he was supposed to be here to make friends. “That would involve out-of-school activities, right? And I bet having me safe at home would be preferable over me being out somewhere in the town.”

“What, ghost friends not enough for you?” Tucker grinned, then waggled his eyebrows. “Any hot chicks?”

Danny snorted. “You’re not even convinced ghosts exist. You really trying to date them, now?”

“Eh, can’t hurt to try, right?” Tucker flapped a hand. “And if you could be born half ghost, who says full ghosts can’t be born either? It’s not weird if they were never alive, right?”

“Debatable,” Sam said, dryly. “But I’d love to see you try to woo a ghost several centuries old.”

“That reminds me!” Danny leaned forward, poking Sam in the arm. “I gotta introduce you to Ember! I bet you two would get along great.”

“Yeah?” Sam quirked an eyebrow at him. “Why, because we’re both girls?”

“No?” He leaned back again, confused. “No, why would that matter? I thought you two might get along well because you have similar styles, and that ‘rebel’ kinda air.”

“Oh.” Sam blew out a breath, then grinned apologetically. “Yeah, y’know what, why not? Sorry for assuming. People tend to be assholes about that sorta thing.”

“Really? Unfortunate.” He paused as the bell rung, then pushed himself to his feet to go back to class. “I think Kitty would like you too. She’s closer to Jazz’ age, but Jazz is a little too ‘straight-lace’ for her and Johnny.”

“You got any cool friendship recommendations for me too?” Tucker asked skeptically as he grabbed his tray. “Or is this a ‘cool goth girl’ only thing?”

“I mean…” Danny hummed like he was thinking about it. “Sidney is a nerd too. Johnny, Kitty, and Ember are too cool for you… Dora, maybe, but she’s not too big on technology…”

Tucker’s mouth tightened. Danny laughed, then waved a dismissive hand. “Kidding, dude. Sidney is pretty nice, really, and Johnny and Kitty would love to meet you too, I bet. And Technus, maybe, but he’s older and also, like, old. But he’s really into tech.”

“Hmm, I guess.” Tucker shrugged as they entered the school. “Not a lot of nerds tend to stick around as ghosts, huh?”

“I think rebels just tend to die quicker than nerds, to be honest.” Danny laughed, following the other two to their next class. “It’s usually a more dangerous lifestyle, you know?”

Tucker cracked a grin too. “Fair enough, fair enough.”

They fell into silence as they made their way to the classroom. Tucker and Sam dragged him along to the back of the room, where he was tugged into a seat between the two of them.

Then Tucker leaned over, a worried crease to his brow, and whispered, “Are you sure you should’ve told us all that stuff, though? Wasn’t it a secret, or something?”

“Eh.” Danny shrugged. “If it was, they probably hadn’t counted on it lasting once I got to school. If they’re not keeping me a secret, then my circumstances would leak out sooner or later, right?”

He grinned at the two of them. “Besides, how am I supposed to make friends while keeping secrets like that? Not much of a friendship, is it?”

Tucker laughed, and Sam smiled back at him. “You know what, Danny? I think that this might’ve been the start of a beautiful friendship.”

“That sounds… That sounds wonderful, Sam.” He smiled wider, softer. “That sounds really great.”

#danny phantom #danny fenton #dp fanfic #phanfic #ectoberweek19 #sam manson #tucker foley #dark writes #i still dont know if tumblr is doing that thing where posts with links dont show up in tags or not #and i cant check easily because your own posts rarely or never show up #functional fricking website lads #edit: now with wordcount!

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