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winchesterszvonecek · 2 months ago

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I See Red 18+

Chapter 24 - Will You Really Fight For Me? Until It Kills Me

Word Count: 8871

Series Masterlist | Full Masterlist

It was quiet out. The sun had set only moments ago and the first of the winter darkness began to loom over the snowy streets of Sioux Falls. The sky above was slowly filling with clouds, preparing themselves to rain a fresh sheet of snow down onto those brave enough to venture out into the icy chill of the night, which in this case just so happened to be Crowley.

It’s where he’d been for upwards of an hour now. Standing at the end of the driveway with his hands stuffed deep into his pockets as he did nothing but stare out at the street in front of him, watching as the snow that littered the road wore down with each heat-filled car that drove past him. He didn’t care that it was freezing. The cold didn’t bother him, and whilst he could feel the sharp sting of it against his warm skin, it didn’t cause him any sort of pain or discomfort.

If anything, it brought him a touch of relief to feel something other than the small pieces of his heart that had recently shattered inside him. The ones that now felt like they were flowing throughout his body, transferring the excruciating pain in which he’d succumbed to to every single part of him they could reach until they had paralysed him completely.

And they were close. He knew they were. He could feel it. The heartache deep in his chest was relentless. No matter what he did, or what he told himself might miraculously happen, it continued to chip away at his soul and he knew it was only a matter of time until he broke completely.

It’s why he’d come outside in the first place, to try and stop it from happening. Why he tore himself away from Selina’s body that still lay on the dining room table. Cold. Stiff. Withering away into nothing as the hands on the clock ticked tauntingly by. He couldn’t handle being near her anymore. He couldn’t handle seeing her like that. Watching as the colour of her skin faded and was replaced with the sickly shade of death as the seconds passed by in which the realisation that she was never coming back slowly began to weigh heavy on his shoulders.

Crowley had never felt like this before. So numb, yet so paralysed with emotion that his whole body felt like it was three times heavier than it should have been. He hadn’t even felt like this when he first had to let Selina go, because at least then he knew that she would still be out there somewhere. Breathing. Living her life, and whilst she may have been depressingly heartbroken, she would have still very much been alive. But now she wasn’t. Now, because of his own stupid, idiotic decision, Selina was dead and the worst part of it was that he had no idea where her soul was.

No one could find it. Not himself, not Castiel, not even Heaven as a whole could pinpoint where Selina’s soul was and perhaps that’s why this was so much harder on him than it should have been. If she was in Heaven, then at least she’d be at peace, and even if she hadn’t gone upstairs where she belonged and instead descended into the pit, he’d still have been able to find her. He’d have been able to track her down, save her from whatever torture she might have been enduring and bring her back to him. But he couldn’t even do that as no matter how hard he looked or how many demons he had scouring every inch of Hell, Selina was nowhere to be seen.

Her soul was lost, and with it, so was his own. He was beside himself with grief — something he’d never once experienced and that’s partially why he’d eventually ventured outside. He couldn’t let those who’d come back into the living room see him crumble at the mere thought that he’d never get to see Selina again. That he’d never get to see the smile she had that left him weak at the knees each time he was lucky enough to be with her. He’d never get to hear her voice again, or the way she would snort softly each time he had her laugh until she cried.

He’d never get to feel the soft warmth of her touch on his skin when she would cup his face, drag her hands down his arms and chest or even something as simple as holding his hand. But worst of all, he’d never get to see the glisten in her gorgeous eyes when she looked at him, with so much love clouded over her pupils that he almost couldn’t believe it was directed at him. He didn’t deserve it. He didn’t deserve her love, yet he was somehow lucky enough to have gotten it.

Only now, because of his own moronic decision, he’d never get a chance to tell her that — how lucky he was to have been able to be with her, regardless of how short a time together they had actually had. He’d never get to experience any of the things he loved about her again because the truth was that he had lost her. Hell, he couldn’t even bring himself to look at a photo of Selina as he knew it would never compare to the real thing and if anything, it would destroy him completely to see her as she once was when he knew he’d never get to experience it again in person.

The fact of the matter is that he had lost everything . And the more time he spent staring off into space, the more he came to realise it had all been for nothing. He should have hunted down those who were opposed to their relationship and ended that, instead of ending the best thing that had ever happened to him — getting the throne of Hell, included.

Letting Selina go had been the worst decision he’d ever made in all his long years and now, because of that, there was a family in the house behind him mourning the loss of their beloved sister. The one who only ever deserved the best, and whose death they would more than likely never bounce back from.

Crowley could tell they blamed him for it, even if they didn’t explicitly say so themselves, he could see it in their eyes. The way they looked at him, with tight knit eyebrows and tense jaws, it was only a matter of time before they snapped and that’s another reason as to why he’d left the warmth of Jody’s home and come outside. He didn’t have it in him to deal with a grieving Sam, or an angry Dean, and so he hoped to remain alone until the harrowing time came where they had to burn Selina’s body, after which they’d never see him again.

However, it was as if the universe couldn’t grasp that he needed to be left alone and instead continued to throw punches at him as soon enough, he began to hear the soft crunch of snow coming from behind him. He knew that meant that someone was approaching him, and given the lightness to the footsteps he knew it wasn’t Sam, Dean or Castiel. More than likely it was Claire, who’d been the one to give him Selina’s necklace back after breaking his heart even more by telling him Selina had taken it off seconds before she died.

But when Crowley turned, about to politely tell Claire he wasn’t up to explaining the laws of the afterlife to her anymore, his heartbeat quickly slowed to halt as, it wasn’t Claire who had been cautiously approaching him…

It was Selina.

Some way — somehow — Selina was alive and walking ever so slowly towards him , fiddling anxiously with the sleeves of her blood soaked jacket as she tried her hardest not to cry. And Crowley could tell that she was from the way her lip wobbled. From the way she bit absently at the skin on her bottom one, making him want to reach out and run his thumb down them just to stop her from doing so as over the course of her life she’d developed a bad habit of biting it until she bled.

Although this time, to Crowley’s surprise, she stopped on her own — as did all other movements she may have been making as she came to a slow halt about ten feet in front of him. Her eyes were already glistening in the light of the moon that peeked through a crack in the dark clouds cascading over them, allowing Crowley to see that which he never thought he would again — her love, shining brighter than ever as she stared so deep into his soul he could feel it stitching itself back together.

“Did you mean it?” Selina eventually said, her voice cracking terribly as she wiped furiously at the tears that had leaked from her eyes. She’d already cried enough in the last few hours to fill a bathtub, she didn’t need to cry anymore. “Will you really fight for me?”

The question was unnecessary, Selina knew that. She’d already heard the words fall from Crowley’s very own lips, and she’d even gotten a sneak peek at the end of the life they might have to fight to look forward to, but she didn’t care. She needed to hear him say it again. She needed to hear him , the present day version that she loved, say it to her soul, not just her empty vessel.

“Until it kills me,” Crowley replied instantly, feeling his heart piece slowly back together with each small step she began to take towards him. He didn’t know how she had heard him. Where her soul had been to allow her to know of the desperate pleas he’d cried over her body, but much like Selina, he didn’t care. She was here. She was back, and she had heard him, and that’s all that truly mattered to him. “Because I love you, Selina, and I never should have let you go.”

“You did exactly what you were supposed to,” Selina sniffled, once again wiping at her tear-filled eyes as Crowley narrowed his in question.

However, she didn’t answer that question and before Crowley could open his mouth to ask it aloud, she had come running towards him and quite literally jumped into the safety of his arms, almost knocking him off his feet in the process of hugging him as tightly as her strength would allow her to. His arms wrapped around her instantly, his hands sliding beneath the cool leather of her jacket to feel the gentle warmth that had returned to her body.

Oh, how he’d longed to hold her again.

“God, I missed you so much,” Crowley whispered into the crook of her neck, increasing his hold on her out of fear that she’d be so cruelly taken away from him again. “And I promise you, I’m going to do whatever I can to make it up to you.”

“You don’t need to do that,” Selina said softly, drawing her head back just a little and forcing Crowley to lift his own back up to face her, allowing her to see the redness to his eyes and for once, it wasn’t because of his essence. “I already forgive you and like I said, you didn’t do anything you weren’t supposed to.”

“Darling, I do believe you’ve lost me,” Crowley said in confusion, his eyes once again narrowing.

“Let’s just say I got a sneak peek into how the universe really works,” Selina replied, rather mysteriously to say the least — looks like ways of Death had rubbed off on her a little.

“Oh?” Crowley’s eyebrows raised as his curiosity piqued. “Care to share?”

“Maybe one day,” Selina said with a smile, which only widened when Crowley frowned playfully and it was kind of hard to believe they hadn’t been together this whole time with how easily they fell back into the swing of things. “But for now…”

Selina cut herself off when she grabbed Crowley by the knot of his tie and pulled him closer towards her, kissing him as though it was the first time she’d ever tasted him and even to Crowley himself, it felt like that first kiss all over again. Hungry. Heated. Passionate. With all the appropriate hair gripping and face cupping one might expect, yet at the same time it was incredibly gentle. Soft and slow, as this time… they didn’t have to rush out of fear of being found out as everyone Selina deemed as important already knew — which only seemed to add to the pleasure the kiss was giving her.

All in all, it was perfect. As though the stars had realigned above them and when Selina’s hand dropped from around Crowley’s neck to land upon his chest, she felt their hearts beat as one and she knew… Despite everything she had previously seen or learned, this moment right here was when she knew that they were truly meant to be together.

As the kiss went on and the more engulfed in the smell, taste and all round essence of the demon she loved it became almost too much for Selina to handle so soon after her resurrection and so she pulled away, gasping softly for breath yet never once allowing her hands to fall from Crowley’s body or her forehead to part from his.

“I do believe your family just watched you do that,” Crowley exhaled, equally as out of breath as he glanced briefly to his side to see the six pairs of eyes that watched them through the blinds.

“I know,” Selina replied, with no indication that she cared if they had or not — as she didn’t. She was tired of hiding Crowley from the world, so they were just going to have to get used to seeing her kiss him in front of them. “I sort of came straight out here after they almost hugged me back to death so they’re probably still waiting on an explanation as to where I was.”

“And where might that be?” Crowley asked curiously, his eyebrows rising once again.

“You’ll see,” Selina smiled, before leaning in to kiss him again. And, as if the moment couldn't get more perfect, it started to snow, and the moment she felt that first icy flake land on her nose Selina drew back just an inch and whispered softly, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Crowley replied, watching as another snowflake floated down between them and landed directly on Selina’s cheek. It melted on impact almost instantly, and when it absorbed into her skin, causing a small circle of light red to form he leaned in, pressing a warm kiss to the exact spot and sending a fresh wave of goosebumps over every inch of her body.

Soon enough the sky opened more and the falling flakes started to grow increasingly heavy around them. Selina pulled away and started to back up the drive towards the house, hearing the soft crunch of the fresh snow beneath her feet with each careful step she took. She then held out her hand, wiggling her fingers a touch as though encouraging Crowley to take it as it seemed like she was going to have to physically drag him back inside with her and out of the incoming blizzard.

“I don’t want to cause any trouble,” Crowley said quietly, clearly hesitant about going back inside.

“You won’t,” Selina assured him, even though she was on the fence about that answer herself. And Crowley clearly knew that as he still didn’t move so much as inch towards her, causing her to walk back over to him and take his hand tightly in hers, feeling the never-fading warmth of his skin ripple across the brewing coldness of her own. “I want you to stay.”

Unable to bring himself to say no to her under any circumstances, let alone so soon after her almost permanent death, Crowley’s brow softened. He then stepped forward, bringing his free hand up to gently cup the side of her face and using his thumb to wipe away another moist drop of snow that landed just below her sparkling eyes.

“Then I’ll stay,” He whispered, causing a heartwarmingly wide smile to spread across Selina’s face. She leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to his lips before eventually he allowed her to drag him all the way back to the house with her — where, once the door clicked shut after them those inside quickly scattered, not-so-nonchalantly acting as though they hadn’t just been spying on the two of them through the blinds.

“You gonna tell us how the hell you’re back now?” Dean asked the second they turned the corner into the living room, focusing his attention solely on his sister and not the demon whose hand she was still holding as it made him sick to even think about.

“Soon,” Selina replied — a little coldly as she could tell what Dean was thinking by the way his jaw tightened each time his eyes flicked towards her. “I want to get showered and change into something more comfortable first, so in the meantime… Try not to kill each other.”

“No promises,” Dean grumbled, before slouching down into the spare spot on the couch and immediately eyeing up the half drunk bottle of scotch that sat on the table in front of him — which didn’t exactly help instil anymore confidence in Selina that they wouldn’t kill each other whilst she was gone.

“Cas, I’m leaving you in charge,” Selina said towards the angel, who was honestly the only one she could fully trust to keep the peace. He nodded once towards her in understanding, before flashing Jody an apologetic smile as she frowned disapprovingly at being overruled inside her own house.

Then, after she was sure too much damage wouldn’t occur in her absence, Selina gave Crowley’s hand a quick, comforting squeeze before she grabbed the bag she’d dumped in the corner of the room when they had arrived and headed for the stairs. It was like she hadn’t just died bloody with the way she skipped up them, faintly humming the tune to an old rock song as she left her family and Crowley alone in the living room together.

She knew it was risky, lord knows she did, but she also knew they’d all have to learn to get along together if they ever wanted to live amicably. And if there was anything Selina wanted more than the last three months of her life back, it was to be able to live out the rest of it in peace.

However, that more than likely wouldn’t be happening any time soon as the very second Selina disappeared from the top of the stairs, a thick fog of awkwardness and hostility swept over the entirety of the room. No one dared say anything. Nor did they risk looking anywhere other than the floor beneath them — not without Selina there to keep the peace anyway, as the last thing they would want was to have her come back downstairs to what would most likely be a deeply heated argument.

Or worse, a living room brawl that consisted heavily of everyone in the room fighting to keep Dean from brutally murdering Crowley. He’d already broken into that scotch again and was slowly sipping on it, which in hindsight may not have been a particularly good idea, but at least it kept him distracted… For the most part.

As for everyone else, they all stayed quiet and alert. Claire and Alex had gone back to bickering with each other over who had more room on the couch but aside from that, the faint ticking of the clock on the wall and Castiel’s soft footsteps as he slowly paced before the window, the room had fallen into rather tense silence.

Only, to those blessed with the ability of what Selina had once described as supersonic hearing, there was one other sound that they could vaguely make out. One that could override even the most hostile of tensions. This one included. It was a sound which, whether it had been from Selina being dead or simply because she hadn’t been the same since the break-up, neither Castiel nor ever thought they’d get the pleasure of hearing again.

And that was… Selina singing in the shower.

They never thought they’d get to hear it again so soon after she came back. They had both assumed it would take Selina a little while to get back to the roots of who she had once been as overcoming what she’d gone through was no easy feat that could be accomplished overnight. Yet here she was, back to her usual, carefree self and already comfortable enough to perform a solo concert in the steamy confines of Jody’s bathroom — which, given that her resurrection had been a miraculous endeavour on its own, was just the cherry on top of a rather delicious sundae.

In fact, for Crowley, it was more like a handful of cherries as he couldn’t even begin to describe how much he’d missed that sound. Missed hearing it as he lay in bed, forbidden from entering the bathroom after her as Selina was always so afraid she’d go home smelling like sulphur thus exposing their secret. She used to spend upwards of an hour thoroughly washing her hair and body, and the whole entire time she would sing, leaving Crowley with nothing else to do but sit back and bask in it. And boy would he ever.

There was never a moment of it that he didn’t treasure. That he hadn’t locked away inside his mind for rainy days as he leaned back against the headboard and closed his eyes, shutting out everything that wasn’t the, for lack of a better word, heavenly sound of Selina’s voice.

And as he sat there now, his fingers tapping anxiously on his leg and his heart warming in his chest, the faint sound of Selina putting her heart and soul into parts of the most random songs that came drifting down the stairs was enough to make him forget about his surroundings. It was enough to make him forget that Dean was firing grim looks at him over the rim of his glass, no doubt cooking up ways he could potentially kill him without causing Selina too much misery and despair.

It was enough to make him forget that he’d just spent the last… However, many hours holding Selina’s cold, limp hand as she lay dead next to him. But most importantly, it was enough to make him smile widely. Fondly even. As though he were hearing it again for the very first time, and with each melodic tone that left Selina’s lips that smile continued to grow until it had caught the attention of every single person surrounding him. And, unluckily for him, the one that he least wanted to talk to right now, just had to be the one who went and broke the now comforting silence.

“What are you smiling at?” Dean asked bitterly, watching as Crowley slowly shifted in his seat and forced the once love-filled smile to fall swiftly from his face.

Clearing his throat, Crowley’s eyes shifted briefly towards Dean — just in time to catch the slight whiteness to his knuckles as he increased his grip on his glass at the mere handful of seconds in which he was forced to wait for an answer. He didn’t even care if it was an appropriate amount of time for someone to take when deciding to respond, it was angering him — Intensely. Probably because it was Crowley, his sister’s demonic boyfriend — God, it really pained him even thinking that — whose response he was waiting on.

Luckily though, before the eldest Winchester ended up whirling the empty glass directly at his head Crowley went against his better judgement and decided to answer with nothing more than the plain, heartfelt truth that Selina was singing. And just like that, both Sam and Dean’s faces softened instantaneously.

Even Crowley himself couldn’t stop the smile from tugging at his lips again when Selina interrupted her singing to swear at a bottle that had fallen over — before immediately getting back into her concert that caused his heart to flutter with each and every word.

“I never thought I’d hear that again,” Sam said softly, despite the fact that couldn't even hear it himself.

But at least someone could and that’s really all that was important right now. For him anyway. Dean on the other hand… Well, he didn’t think that was any reason for them to celebrate as to him, Selina never should have had to stop singing in the first place. Yes, it may have annoyed him sometimes — especially early in the morning when her voice would drift through the bunkers vents and wake him up, but he had never wanted it to stop.

At least, not in the way that it did.

He never would have wanted Selina to have stopped singing solely because she was in so much pain that she could no longer bring herself to want to feel anything even remotely close to joy. Pain that he was still coming to terms with learning had all been because of a demon. That this whole ordeal — Selina’s death, not to mention her deep spat of depression — had been entirely because of Crowley, and perhaps that’s why this moment had pissed Dean off much more than it should have.

“You know, you have some nerve to sit there and smile ,” Dean scoffed, uncurling one finger from around his glass to point directly at Crowley. “You have some nerve to come in here and act as though you aren’t entirely at fault for everything that’s happened lately.”

“Dean,” Sam warned, lifting himself from where he’d been resting on the arm of the chair. “Don’t start this again.”

“Oh, I never finished,” Dean exhaled angrily, slamming his glass down on the table so hard it made the girls sitting across from him jump. He then got to his feet, catching a glimpse of trenchcoat from the corner of his eye as Castiel edged his way slowly, and nervously, towards him. “You see, I never got a chance to tell Crowley how the woman he “claims ” to love so much had to be put on suicide watch for the past three months because she was so broken… So destroyed — because of him — that every single moment she had to live was nothing but complete and utter agony.”

With anger now coursing through his veins and his teeth clenching, Crowley got abruptly to his feet, forcing Sam and Castiel to each take another step towards them should that living room brawl well and truly break out. For a moment, that’s where this was leading. To an anger-induced fist fight, and they were fully prepared to deal with that. They were fully ready to pull the two of them apart by the scruff of their collars and put Dean to sleep in order to calm the situation down.

Only, as Crowley went to square up to Dean in order to begin in giving him a stern piece of his mind before knocking him off his feet, as he fully intended to, he suddenly stopped. Then, his shoulders sank low and as quickly as his anger brewed, it was gone. Replaced with nothing but the strong sensation of guilt as… Dean was right. Selina’s death… Or rather, her apparent suicide driven by her inability to deal with her heartache anymore had been entirely his fault and deep down, he knew… He knew that he deserved this. He knew he deserved to have his ass handed to him, both physically and verbally, by those whom he’d forced to pick up the pieces of the woman he loved.

Therefore, he simply couldn’t bring himself to argue back. Nor could he even bring himself to stay another second in that room and before Dean could egg him on any further into that fist fight, Crowley vanished, leaving those left in the living room rather puzzled at his sudden abandonment of an argument that he normally would have pleasantly enjoyed participating in. But like he said, he wasn’t in the mood to argue. Especially over something such as this, so instead he opted to go to the one place… the one person rather , whose blame for this was the only one he’d ever truly take to heart.

Selina — who, thankfully, was now out of the shower and fully dressed in a pair of clean, comfy pyjamas as opposed to the bloody outfit that was now a reminder of what had happened. She was still in the bathroom, standing in front of the mirror with her hair dripping wet and leaving dark spots on the fabric of what was once Sam’s favourite red t-shirt, the shade of which matched the flush on her cheeks perfectly and it wasn’t all that surprising to see that the rest of her skin was also still a deep shade of red.

Crowley knew well that she often enjoyed her showers hot enough to almost burn her skin and by the steam still covering the bathroom mirror, today was no exception. She’d absolutely had the dial turned up as far as it would go, yet for once it didn’t bother him to see that she was willingly putting herself in a situation that could potentially be bad for her. All he cared about was the fact that she was here to put herself in that situation and for now, that’s the only thing he cared about.

Taking a small step forward, Crowley watched as Selina raised her hand and in one quick swipe she had erased the steam that once covered the small oval mirror, allowing her to see that Crowley was now standing behind her and by his guess, not to mention the small jump of her shoulders, she absolutely had not been expecting to see him there.

Nevertheless, she was glad he was and so, still gazing at him in the mirror, Selina smiled. Warmly. Lovingly. And not just with her lips, but with her eyes as well and that was all Crowley needed to feel his heart practically burst in his chest as he never thought he’d get to see that, particular smile again. Then, without his mind having a clue as to what his feet were doing, he moved towards her — until there was nothing more than an inch separating them and, almost nervously, he raised his hand, lightly brushing his fingertips up the length of her arm as he never once drew his eyes away from the reflection of hers.

For a moment there, when he saw that oh so addicting smile, he couldn’t help but think that this had all been a dream. But now, as his touch increased in pressure and Selina began to lean back into him, he came to realise that this was very much real life. She was alive. She was here. And most importantly, she had forgiven him. Somehow, she’d found it in her heart to forgive him for everything and by her next words, it was almost like none of it had ever even remotely happened.

“If you wanted to see me all soaped up and naked, I’m afraid you’re far, far too late.” Selina flirted, hooking her teeth over bottom lip as she slowly began to turn around in the light, comforting hold he had on her.

Only, Crowley wasn’t here to flirt with her. Surprisingly. Nor was he here to see her all soaped up and naked — which was even more of a shock as he’d never once shrugged off the opportunity to see that or acted as though it hadn’t bothered him. No, this time he was here for one thing and one thing only.

To hug her.

And he did. Instantly. The second he remembered why he’d come up here instead of staying downstairs to fight with Dean, he wrapped his arms around her the very moment she faced him and within seconds, he had pulled her as tightly against him as he could without hurting her.

It had very clearly taken Selina by surprise to be pulled into such a tight, lung-moving restricting hug when things had started out so soft and gentle. For a moment, she was nothing more than a stiff board against his body as it took her mind a second to realise what was happening. But when she did. When she came to realise what had most likely happened downstairs and what Crowley needed from her, she immediately loosened up and slipped her own arms around his body as best she could, holding him equally as tight and feeling as he shifted the position of his head in order to bury his face in the crook of her neck.

At one time, such vulnerability from Crowley would have shocked her deeply. To see a demon so in touch with their emotions as Crowley was, was such a strange thing for a hunter to experience. Not to mention rare. Or rather, non-existent to be exact as in her lifetime, Selina had only ever come across two demons who were capable of showing emotions. Crowley being one of them, of course, and as for the other, well, she hadn’t exactly met him herself but she’d seen the videos. The ones which opened up a whole new wave of opportunities for them when they learned that demons could be cured.

Obviously, there was a common theme with both demons in that they’d been exposed to copious amounts of human blood before they were able to experience such emotions, but despite all that, it was still such a strange thing to see. Yet, no matter how much may have baffled her to see Crowley cry or to have him express genuine feelings to her, Selina would never change it for a second. Not even when she felt her neck begin to dampen again — and this time, it wasn’t because of her hair.

Crowley was crying again and it broke her heart to see him like this so she pulled back a touch, once again causing him to lift his head to face her. He could see himself in the mirror over her shoulder. How weak he looked. How pathetic he was with his red-rimmed eyes and the tears that rolled slowly down his cheek, but he didn’t care. He’d almost lost his one true heart and soul for good, and if that wasn’t reason enough to be overtly emotional, then he didn’t know what was.

“I thought I’d lost you for good,” Crowley finally let out, forcing down the thick lump that was trying its hardest to rise up his throat.

“I know,” Selina said softly, bringing her hands up and using one thumb to wipe away the lonesome tear that had rolled down his cheek before she cupped his face entirely.

And when she did, he could have wept.

“But I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere,” Selina carried on, drawing both her thumbs across the lining of his beard — the same way she knew would always bring him comfort and if anything, only brought his tears on more given that he thought he’d lost it forever. “I promise you that.”

“Can you promise such a thing?” Crowley asked hesitantly, his heart breaking just speaking the words let alone hearing what she may respond with. “With the way Dean is…”

“You let me worry about Dean,” Selina cut him off, her voice stern as she seethed internally over whatever nonsense her brother might have spewed downstairs to have Crowley like this. “He’ll come around eventually… Especially when he learns the truth.”

“Truth? What truth?”

“That you and I are destined to be together… And that we always were,” Selina confessed, watching as Crowley’s eyes slowly widened as the realisation of what she was so clearly implying set in in his mind.

“Are you saying…”

“We’re soulmates, Crowley,” Selina said plainly, hearing the shuddered, shaky breath Crowley sucked in as he tried to comprehend what he’d just heard.

He’d always known soulmates were real — rare nonetheless, but completely real. Carved into the very fabric of the universe by the Gods themselves and to hear that he was a part of it? He almost couldn’t believe it. Not just because he was a demon and didn’t technically have a soul, but because, even in his human life, he hadn’t done anything even remotely deserving of a soul mate.

Selina had though. She’d done more than her fair share of soulmate worthy deeds, so perhaps this wasn’t about him at all. Perhaps this wasn’t hisreward for things he’d done, but was in fact, all about Selina. About her reward for the things she's been through. The things she’d sacrificed to make the world a little safer for those living in it.

Of course, Crowley could think of about a million other things she deserved as a reward more than him. But if he was what she truly wanted. If she really desired to spend the rest of her life with him, then he wouldn’t deny her that. He couldn’t. He loved her, and most importantly she loved him, which soulmate revelation aside was a miracle in itself given his history. But if Selina could look past that. If she could forgive him… If she could love him despite the things he’d done, then so could he. He had to. If he ever wanted to live happily with the woman he loved then he needed to let go of all of that, and he most certainly had to stop taking what those around him said to heart.

“And I have this to prove it,” Selina carried on, dropping her hand and digging quickly into her pocket to produce a small, silver bullet from within. She held it up between her thumb and forefinger, watching as Crowley’s brows knit together as he tried to place the bullet in the mass of memories that resided in his mind.

Then, a few seconds later, his eyebrows shot back up and his eyes widened, “Is that…”

“The bullet that should have killed you?” Selina finished for him and Crowley nodded. “Mhm, and the only reason it didn’t kill you is because I was the one who pulled the trigger.”

“I always wondered how that happened,” Crowley exhaled, reaching up to gently take the bullet from between her fingers.

“Death said that no matter how hard we might have tried, we’d never have been able to kill one another.”

“Death?” Crowley repeated, closing his fist around the bullet and glancing back up at Selina. “Is he the one who had your soul?”

Selina nodded, “He wanted to talk to me before he sent me back.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for the old suit for bringing you back to me but I have to ask… why? Why would he do that of his own free will?”

“Because it wasn’t my time,” Selina said, once again drawing Crowley’s eyebrows together. She then went on to tell him everything. What she’d heard. What she’d seen — well, most of it. She left out the ending and the fact that Crowley turned human for her as she didn’t want to overwhelm him. Or scare him, as he could be quite skittish and question-dodging when it came to their future together so it was for the best that she keep that to herself for now.

Other than that though, she told him everything and spared no detail either.

By the end of it, Crowely was overwhelmed with a wide range of emotions — relief being the most prominent of them all as he gladly came to learn that their continuing relationship would no longer pose a risk to Selina’s life. He didn’t even feel as much guilt and regret as he had done over letting her go in the first place. As had he not, then by the sounds of what had been written in her death book he really would have lost her for good and if the way he’d been early was any indication as to how he’d have managed with that, then the chances are he wouldn’t have been alive himself for much longer afterwards.

“Do you see now why I was so quick to forgive you?” Selina asked softly, continuing to draw her thumbs along the lining of Crowley’s beard as she loved the feeling of how he’d lean into her touch with every gentle motion.

“I do,” Crowley nodded, “But don’t think I won’t be spoiling you every single chance I get.”

“You know I could never say no to a little spoiling,” Selina chuckled, leaning in to peck a soft kiss to the smile that had widened on his face. She then drew back a touch, guiding her eyes from his lips up to his own and staring deep into them, watching as the love she’d once longed to see directed at her stood loud and proud in the centre of them. “Promise me something…”

“Anything.”

“Promise me that this is it… That there’ll be no more messing around… No more secrets. No more pain… Promise me that from this moment right here, no matter what might happen down the line, that it’ll be just us.”

“I promise you,” Crowley said softly, his heartwarming as even though Selina had heard from Death himself that the two of them were destined to be together, she still sought out assurance from him. He raised his hands, taking hers from aside his face and placing a soft kiss to both of wrists, feeling the gentle beat of her pulse beneath her skin. “From this moment forth, it’ll only ever be us.”

With a sniffle, Selina smiled. Then, before her heart could burst from her chest and land in Crowley’s hands she leaned in, pressing the sweetest, most tender kiss to his lips that he had ever felt. And that she had ever given as in all her life — all the people she’d been with, she’d never once kissed any of them like this. She’d never once loved any of them like this and truthfully, it still scared her a little to feel such deep and intense love for one single person — especially when she knew she still had to explain that love to Dean and try and get him on board with the whole demon-hunter relationship.

But if anything, that love only gave her more strength of which she needed to be able to do so. After all, she was essentially going to have to fight for it and if there’s one thing Selina was a near expert at, it was fighting for those she loved. After all, her entire life had been about fighting for her family therefore she knew that one measly talk with Dean about growing up and getting over the whole all demons are evil mindset he had would be easy.

Perhaps even more so than she would have thought as when Selina eventually ventured back downstairs after sending Crowley ahead of her whilst she finished up, she soon found out that Death had paid a little visit whilst she was gone. Not to reap someone, as people might expect, but instead to tell those she had left waiting for answers exactly what she had been upstairs telling Crowley.

Honestly, it had come as such a relief to find out Death had spilled the beans himself. She really didn’t have it in her to ramble on about all that again, and something told her he’d probably know that. They were connected after all so chances are he’d felt her strong reluctantly to want to tell everyone that her and Crowley were soulmates and opted to spare her the hassle of having to do so herself so soon after coming back from the dead — which she greatly appreciated and she couldn’t help but think he deserved a little basket of mini muffins as a thanks.

In the meantime though, with the truth finally out there, Selina felt as free as she could ever possibly dream of being. In fact, she felt so free that when she entered the living room to find everyone, minus Dean, in a slightly better mood than when she left them she didn’t choose to sit on the small gap on the sofa between Dean and the girls like she would have at one point. No, instead, she opted to sit in the adjacent arm chair… Right on Crowley’s lap.

However when she did, pecking a short and sweet kiss to his lips when he wrapped one arm around her waist the second she leaned against, Dean let out a scoff of disgust and stood up, grabbing his bottle of scotch before heading for the door as he’d rather stand outside in the cold than have to witness anymore of public displays of affection. At that, Selina’s once happy mood seemed to outwardly deflate. Her shoulders sank and a frown tugged at her lips as she sighed. Guess having Death explain that she and Crowley were soulmates just wasn’t enough to warrant Dean’s blessing, so it looked like she was going to have to have that dreaded conversation after all.

“I’ll be back in a sec,” Selina whispered, flashing Crowley a thin-lipped, partially reassuring smile as she slid off his lap and quickly disappeared out the door after Dean before he could make sure she was okay — or even give her his coat as she was heading out there with nothing but a short-sleeved t-shirt covering her upper half.

Selina felt the intense chill the second the front door closed behind her, but it was too late to go back inside as Dean had already spotted her from where he stood — against the Impala with his arms folded and snowflakes already coating the back of his head as he stared aimeslessy down at the ground. He hadn’t touched the bottle of scotch yet, which sat on the roof of the car with the same amount of alcohol in it that there had been when he left, so perhaps this conversation wouldn’t go down as badly as Selina couldn’t help but think that it would.

“Dean, I know you’re mad at me,” Selina said carefully, followed by the soft crunch of her footsteps in the snow as she made her way towards him. “I know you’re pissed that I fell in love with Crowley…”

“That’s not why I’m pissed,” Dean interrupted, yet he never even bothered lifting his head from where he was staring at his own footsteps.

“No?” Selina said, in disbelief to tell the truth yet she couldn’t help but allow her voice to break with her next sentence — as it had been what she feared from the very day she gave into temptation. “Because from where I’m standing it seems like you can’t even be in the same room with the two of us together… At least, not without looking like you want to murder the man I love right in front of me.”

“You know I would never do that to you,” Dean said defensively. It may have been on his mind at one time or another but he would never , evereven think of doing such a thing if he knew it would hurt Selina — regardless of whether or not it involved Crowley.

“Then what is it?” Selina asked exasperatedly, taking another step further into the icy tundra that had become Jody’s driveway. “What is it that’s made you so pissed that you can’t even stand to look at me?”

“It's because you didn’t trust me, alright?” Dean blurted out, a little more harshly than he meant and even Selina seemed so taken aback by his abrupt and rough voice that her eyes had started to water. It could have been from his tone or simply the snowflakes that coated her lashes, but either way Dean hated that they were and with a regretful sigh he straightened, finally lifting his head to look her in the eye. “You told everyone the truth about you and Crowley except me… Me?

“How do you think that makes me feel? Huh? To find out that Cas , someone you didn’t trust for an entire year when you first met him, knew before I did?” Dean carried on, pushing off the car to take a few slow steps towards her, “I get telling Sam, you know the twin thing, but Selina come on, I’m your big brother… I looked out for you. I protected you from dad your entire life and you couldn’t bring yourself to tell me?”

“You don’t think I wanted to?” Selina said, her voice cracking as she choked through her words. “You don’t think I wouldn’t have given everything to be able to tell you, because I would have. I’d have done whatever I had to in order to finally tell you, but Dean how could I? How could I have risked telling you something as big as that when every single time Crowley had been around you threatened to kill him?”

“That’s only because I didn’t know that you…” Dean hesitated, unsure whether he could bring himself to say it. “That you… You…

“That I love him?” Selina said softly for him, and Dean nodded. “So now that you know… Are you saying you don’t want to kill him anymore?”

“If it’ll hurt you, then no… I don’t want to kill him anymore,” Dean said seriously, before his lips curled upwards into a playful yet scheming smile, “But that’s not to say I won’t lock his ass in the dungeon anytime he annoys me.”

“You always were such a flirt, Dean,” said Crowley himself, who had suddenly appeared beside Selina and made her jump once again — as well as making Dean roll his eyes before reaching out for his bottle of, now incredibly chilled, scotch.

“What are you doing out here?” Selina asked, glancing to her side to see Crowley in the process of taking off his coat.

“Making sure you don’t freeze to death,” Crowley replied, wrapping his coat securely around Selina’s shoulders and engulfing her in the warmth of his body heat that still lingered in the fabric. She pulled it across her chest, only now feeling the chill of the air surrounding her and in that moment, as she tilted her head down and took in the alluring scent of his coat, she couldn’t be more grateful.

“Thank you,” she whispered, smiling briefly over the edge of the dark fabric that she still had pulled up against her chin.

“You’re welcome, darling,” Crowley replied, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and feeling as she leaned into him as he placed a soft kiss against the side of her head.

“You really love her, don’t you?” Dean asked, the smile on Selina's face and the look in Crowley’s eyes when he saw it being all he needed to know that Crowley wasn’t just doing all this as some sort of evil plot to get back at them for the trials.

“More than you know,” Crowley replied sincerely, watching as Dean pressed his lips together tightly and slowly nodded his head. He then stepped towards them, causing both Crowley and Selina to suck in their breaths as they couldn't help but think he was going to do something stupid.

But all Dean did, or rather all he said was the only thing he’d truly care about when it came to his sister’s relationship, “You take care of her.”

“I plan to,” Crowley said, and it was all Dean needed to hear for him to nod once and head back inside out of the cold.

At that, Selina let out all the air she’d been holding in her lungs as what she could only describe as a weak chuckle. She never thought it would be that easy to get Dean on board with their relationship, and she had fully intended to have to fight for it. And hard too, as Dean was more stubborn than her and that was saying something. But by some blessed fate, all he’d been annoyed about was her having not told him the truth. To think, had she just manned up and told him all those weeks ago then maybe things wouldn’t have been as hard as they were and perhaps she wouldn’t have felt so nauseous all the time either.

But no matter how much she wished she could, she couldn’t change the past. All she could do was alter the future and hopefully for the best. She already saw how it ended, but how it got there? Well, that was something to look forward to and now that she was back and no longer had to live her life in the shadows… She simply couldn't wait to get started.

The End 🖤

#crowley #supernatural #crowley x original character #crowley x oc #supernatural fanfic series

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thefriendlyghvst · 2 years ago

Text

melancholia // jjk nanami kento

⚠️ WARNING: JJK MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠️

a/n: this is not accurate to the manga HAHAHA if that's what you're expecting i am so sorry. i also wrote this before the release of the newer chapters, so yeah, not accurate at all.

enjoy!! xx

- nur

*****

"wake up, angel," smooth and soothing, your husband called you to wake up from your sleep.

"five more minutes," you mumbled at him, turning over to face his side of the bed.

he chuckled. "we don't have five more minutes, baby,"

your eyes were still closed as you smiled at him and reached over, only for your hand to fall flat against the surface of the mattress, the spot where nanami was supposed to occupy, empty and cold. you wanted to peel your eyes open and get up to find him, but the sinking feeling in your chest was screaming at you to go back to sleep. to go back to where he actually was. in your head.

soon, the sinking feeling in your chest turned into a lump in your throat and you sat up, fully awake now. your eyes were already open and teary.

we don't have five more minutes.

he was right. you didn't have anymore time with each other. he was gone forever, and you had to live with that for the rest of your life. the lump in your throat turned into choked sobs, and you cried and cried until you grew tired again.

this was how you spent your nights ever since the news reached you that that nanami kento was not coming back from shibuya to you alive. he wasn't even coming back to you in one piece. they had gathered what they could, and for at least an hour, fought you off when you tried to see him. yuuji, mostly, held you back and the kid alone was supposed to be strong enough, but even he had lost someone dear to him, so he had ijichi's help. they didn't want you to see the state your husband was in, claiming that you wouldn't be able to take it.

"please let me in, he's my husband!" you screamed and tried to push through the both of them.

the tears flowed down your cheeks in hot streams, burning your eyes. the feeling in your heart was indescribable. it really felt like someone had ripped it out and stabbed it a million times, and then did a terrible job at sewing it back in your chest. you knew you wouldn't be able to handle looking at his lifeless body, but you had to. you couldn't believe nanami - your nanami, was gone forever.

"please," you sobbed.

you looked at yuuji in the eye, and the kid let you through. and how you wish he held onto you so much harder and dragged you home instead.

when you finally saw him, you felt all the colour drain from your face. ieiri did not expect you to be able to come in, and immediately ran in front of you to cover him up with a blanket. or what's left of him. you grabbed onto her hand to stop her, gripping so hard that from the corner of your eye you could see the doctor wince.

the man that was once your husband, your lover, your knight in shining armour, was now nothing but dust and broken bones, and his lower half. nanami didn't deserve this. you didn't deserve this. no one deserves to go like this. or see the love of their life end up like this.

the wind was knocked out of you. you couldn't breathe and the room began to spin. you let go of ieiri's arm and took half a step closer, before your knees buckled and you fell onto the cold tiled floor. you heard a blood-curdling scream and only realised it was coming from you when your throat felt like it was being ripped out. ieiri was holding onto you, also on the floor as footsteps rushed over and you were being held by another pair of arms. yuuji cradled you as shoko stood to cover up nanami's remains.

the doctor and young sorcerer did not say anything and let you grieve, screaming and crying. you sobbed into yuuji's shoulder as he continued to hold your shaking body in his arms.

"i'm so sorry. i'm sorry y/n-sensei. i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm so sorry," the boy whispered into your hair, apologising profusely.

you wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault, that it wasn't his sin. he was just a kid, and just like nanami, you treated him as your own kid brother, or even as a son. you wanted to tell him that it was okay, that as much as you didn't believe it, things were going to be alright. no words could come out of your mouth, so you opted to grab his hand and squeeze it in your grip. you hoped that he could get the message, blinking through your tears.

time seemed to slow, but yuuji stayed glued to your side for what felt like hours. he helped you off the floor when you had no more tears left to shed, holding onto you so you did not fall since the both of you had been sitting on the floor in the same position for longer than an hour. you told ieiri to do what had to be done, and that you will sign all the legal documents later.

when you somewhat regained yourself, you gently peeled off itadori's hand from your arm and managed a smile at him. you told him you'd go home and freshen up a little before the funeral, even though that wasn't your plan at all. you were going to find who did this, and make sure the fucker regrets ever being brought into this world. cursed spirit or not.

and then you would join kento and be with him forever, just as you promised each other. in life, and in death.

"sensei, you're a good liar, but i've been around you and nanami-san for long enough to know your tells," he said softly, sadness in his voice.

he insisted on following you home, refusing to leave your side in case you did anything stupid. you declined, lying again and hoping he believed you this time. you even begged him, fresh tears streaming down your cheeks. you were frustrated, and desperate. you couldn't just let nanami go like this.

please let me do this, itadori. you thought.

"sensei, please. i can't lose you too," and you felt your heart shatter all over again.

it had been almost a year since that day, and though you think you're improving during the day, the nights just seem to get harder for you. every night you would dream of him and wake up crying, and you would cry about him even before you went to sleep. some nights you didn't sleep at all, not willing to see him in your dreams and wake up disappointed and depressed all over again.

in the morning, you'd miss him. you would miss tying his tie for him as he got ready. you'd miss his tender kisses and light touches, his scent, and his cooking. you would miss every part of him for every part and every second of your day. the apartment home that was once filled with your laughter and his warmth was now deafeningly silent and cold. with every passing hour, you would miss the man you vowed to love forever even more, and every time you did, the wedding band on your left finger would remind you of its weight.

you would kiss it softly, thinking that the sudden weight was nanami's reminder that he was with you, always. in life and in death.

you woke up tired. your sleep was restless, and the sound of the morning traffic outside of the window when the sun rose did not let you sleep in this morning. it was bright and sunny, and birds flew over your window as soon as you opened your eyes, chirping happily.

you sighed while rubbing your eyes and sitting up. they were puffy and your nose was red, you realised as soon as you saw yourself in the mirror. you had gotten up to take a shower and start your day. the sight of your reflection almost made you want to laugh, in a pathetic and dejected way.

why did he have to leave me like this?

you shook your head and washed your face, then stepped into the shower once you picked out some new clothes to wear. when you felt better and slightly refreshed, you decided to go and pay your late husband a visit. you stepped out of the bathroom and sighed again, a sinking feeling planting itself into your chest.

your outfit was simple. you had picked out a white long sleeved a-line sundress that reached just below your knees, pairing it with a silver watch that nanami had bought for you as a birthday gift a few years ago and the silver chain that held his wedding ring and a heart shaped locket that had his initial engraved. you had that done a week ago for your anniversary.

with a small exhale, you gathered your things in your purse, spritz some perfume on your neck and wrists, and put on your shoes. you opted for a pair of flats since you would walk around a lot today. you had taken a month break when you thought it would not get better for you, and wanted to go back to work soon. with your keys in your hands, you glanced at your watch to look at the time. 10.30am. the flower shop down the street could already be open, so you quickly left and locked the door behind you.

the columbarium was quiet, breeze gently swaying the leaves that hung over its walls and the potted plants beside it. you slowly approached the row that held nanami's urn, a familiar feeling bubbling in your chest, where your heart ached the closer you stepped towards it. you shifted the bouquet of flowers in your hand to the other, bringing two fingers to your lips, kissing them, and then pressing them to the glass surface that protected your husband's ashes and the photo of the both of you that was placed beside it.

"hi, my love," you whispered, letting your hand fall back to your side.

"how have you been?" you asked, to no one in particular. "i brought you flowers... and your favourite bread from that bakery you liked,"

you knew there wasn't going to be a response, but you kept talking anyway. you didn't want to think that he was actually gone, so you stood there and talked to the picture of you and your husband. you knew you probably shouldn't, but you figured it would help you cope. at least for the time being.

"it's been tough. i'm sorry it took me so long to come and see you,"

silence.

"i miss you so much, kento," you paused, your voice getting impossibly softer as you whispered.

a lump was beginning to form in your throat as it got harder for you to speak. your voice broke as you tried again, tears streaming down and staining your cheeks.

"everyday. more than you think, more than you would ever know," your voice was thin as you tried not to crumble.

you opened the glass with the key you were given and gently placed the flowers you bought on top of the ones already there, not taking them out since the flowers still looked pretty fresh. someone else must have been here, you thought.

when you closed and locked the small door again, you felt a breeze behind you and a familiar scent overtook your senses. then, you felt two strong arms wrap around your waist. you sighed, the tears threatening to fall again as you felt yourself relax into his embrace. there was no mistake, you could recognise this man by touch alone.

"all dressed up for me, sweetheart?" you heard him whisper in your hair, his chin resting gently on your shoulder.

"kento," you sigh out his name, trying not to cry again.

"oh no, baby, shh," he cooed. "don't cry,"

he soothed you, lifting his head and brushing his lips against your temple. you kept quiet, not daring to move. you were afraid he was going to be gone again if you did. you felt him sway both your bodies side to side a little and you let yourself follow his movements, quietly enjoying his presence. his chin was back on your shoulder, his nose buried into the crook of your neck as you stood there.

"you look so beautiful, princess," he complimented softly, his lips brushing your neck as he spoke. "my y/n,"

"nanami," you began. "come back to me, please,"

you turned around to face him, gathering the courage to look at your husband in the eye. you thought you would see him burnt on one side of his face, or that he'd be gone, but he remained. in front of you he stood, handsome and perfect as ever.

he was still holding onto your waist, keeping your body close to him as he gazed at you. the look on his face was a mixture of everything. his eyes showed nothing but pure love and fondness, but his eyebrows were furrowed in regret, and a small, sad smile settled on his lips. he was wearing a white dress-shirt, similar to the ones he used to wear when he was alive, and his hair, dirty blonde, was neatly styled in his signature side part. he wasn't wearing his glasses, but you didn't care. you got to see your nanami again, and that was enough.

your eyes blurred with tears as you swallowed, the lump in your throat making the simple action hurt. the ache you felt in your chest was almost unbearable as you reached up to touch nanami's face. he smiled wider a little at you, his gaze soft as he leaned into your touch. you choked on a sob when you felt him lean his forehead against yours.

"i'm sorry for breaking my promise, y/n," he muttered, his eyes closed. "i'm so sorry, my love,"

the tears did not stop flowing. your eyes and cheeks burned with the heat they left, but you couldn't stop crying. nanami embraced you completely, engulfing you in his arms and his familiar scent. though you wished you could cry out in agony, you stifled your sobs. you missed him so damn much, it was killing you on the inside. when nanami died, it felt like a part of you went with him. your whole world, your happy little world filled with hopes and dreams, crashing down and destroyed in one moment.

the two of you pulled away after a moment, taking each other in. he studied your features, the same way he used to do when you did his tie for him in the mornings, the same way he used to do when you spoke and he listened, the same way he used to do all the time, as if trying to memorise every inch of your face.

you just wanted your husband back.

"my beautiful, beautiful, y/n," he declared quietly as he cupped your cheek in his hands.

"thank you for coming to me, my sweetheart. i love you," he uttered as he leaned in to place a kiss on your forehead.

you didn't feel his soft lips press themselves onto your skin, but felt another gentle breeze blow past as you heard a voice say your name.

"y/n sensei?"

your eyes opened and you found yourself still facing the picture of you and nanami beside his urn. your heart sank again, but your hand subconsciously reached up to play with kento's ring and locket on your necklace. you planted a kiss on your own wedding band as an 'i love you too' before you turned around to face the owner of the voice that called you.

yuuji stood a few feet away from you, hands clasped together in front of him. in the few days you haven't seen him since he last checked on you, the kid seemed to look much older. your heart ached for him, too.

he was taking care of you all the time, but who was looking after this poor kid? he has been through so much more than all of your problems combined. with a warm smile, you opened your arms for him and he ran up to you for a hug.

the younger boy paid his respects to both nanami and his grandfather while you waited outside after paying your own respects to mr. itadori. your dress swayed with the gentle wind, the open columbarium's natural light and wind keeping the plants that decorated the place alive. birds flew ahead in the sunny blue sky, and the clouds moved in line with the earth's steady rotation. you inhaled and exhaled deeply, again playing with your necklace.

"i'm done," yuuji's voice said from behind you.

you turned around and smiled at him. with an arm around his shoulder - or the best of it you could do since he was slightly taller than you, the two of you walked out of the place together to head back.

"have you eaten?" you asked the teenager who was clad in his uniform.

he shook his head and you frowned, quickly rummaging through the bag of fresh bread that you bought so that you could pass him a sandwich. he refused to take it at first, but accepted it anyway when he saw how insistent you were.

you watched him munch happily on the sandwich, thinking, you knew he missed your husband too, and you vowed to yourself you'd protect him, the same way nanami had. it was your turn to take care of him, come what may.

nanami smiled to himself as he watched the two of you walk out of the place with smiles on your faces, talking and laughing with each other. it was nice to see you smile again, and he knew that you were both going to be okay in each other's good hands. he sighed.

i'll see you next time, my love. the both of you thought at the same time.

masterlist

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convexicalcrow · 2 years ago

Text

Sausage walked into the Cathedral to find Scar and Cub waiting for him. They'd called him here and asked him to bring his staff, which wasn't a problem, he always carried it with him anyway.

Sausage hesitated; the power of the Vex filled the Cathedral in a very different way to how Santa Perla or Saint Bdubs did. They were both very sunny and warm gods. The Vex, on the other hand, preferred things cold. Sausage had learned to wear a cloak when he came to the Cathedral now to keep himself warm.

But then, Sanctuary had become cold as well. Long gone was the tropical jungle air. Now, it was cold, a wet, rainy, icy winter. The colours muted, the people preferring to stay inside. The Latin music still played throughout the city, but somehow, it sounded quieter, more melancholic. Even the sunflowers seemed to droop their heads, as if they knew what Sausage had done. He'd stopped looking at them once he'd noticed, not wishing to be reminded of his pact with the Vex, and how he'd turned his back on his sunflower goddess.

Scar and Cub were in Vex form, as Sausage had come to know it as. Their skin was blue, they had Vex wings, and their faces were simply masks, with impenetrable white glowing eyes and mouths, their fingernails now sharp claws that could rip his flesh with ease. Which they had done on at least two occasions. He still had the scars on his arms to prove it.

Sausage knelt before the altar, where they were both sitting, gazing down at him with their cold eyes. "You wished to see me, masters?"

"Of course, of course. We did promise to help you control your dimension jumping, didn't we? Well, the time's come. We can add some magic to your staff to help you with that. So you can go wherever you please," Scar said.

"Oh, yes, you did say that! Thank you! It's been so awful being pulled into somewhere else like that. I'd love to be able to control it better," Sausage said.

"And is our pact still unbroken? Whispers reach us, Sausage. Whispers reach us of Santa Perla. Pleas for warmth and courage. Don't tell me you've forsaken the Vex, the ones who have sworn to help you," Cub said.

Sausage swallowed and bowed before them, hoping they wouldn't see the guilt on his face. "It's-it's nothing, I promise! Just old habits! We're not used to the cold here in Sanctuary, that's all, I wouldn't dare betray the Vex, I promise."

Scar yanked Sausage's head up, grasping his hair tightly. Sausage froze, and did his best to look appropriately submissive. A sword lifted his chin and Sausage saw straight into Scar's eyes, the light coming to be all-consuming as Vex magic paralysed him. He could taste it on his lips.

"The Vex know everything, Sausage. They see everything. They are everything. Nothing escapes Their notice. They see the old gods burning in your heart. Must we kill them before you in order to secure your obedience?" Cub said, pressing the tip of the sword gently against Sausage's skin.

"Nonononono, please, there's no need to resort to that, I swear, it's just-"

"It's just what, slave?" Scar said, pulling his hair harder.

"N-nothing, nothing. The Vex are my true masters, I swear," Sausage pleaded.

"Give us the staff," Cub said.

Sausage handed over the Staff of Sanctuary without question, and without a word. Compelled by the mesmer in Scar's eyes, Sausage had no will to disobey, not anymore.

Cub took the staff and ran his hands over it. "Very powerful. It's been crafted well. The magic here is strong. It can handle the magic we wish to give you."

"Don't overuse it, though. You can really mess things up if you keep hopping between the worlds you remember," Scar said. "Nevertheless, we accept your obedience, and your request will be granted. Cub, give the magic to the staff."

"Just needs a little Vex magic crystal to activate it, it won't take long," Cub said as he held a hand open to the air as a Vex magic crystal materialised in his palm. It was a blue colour, glowing softly in the light, though it seemed to have a mix of blues and whites and silvers mixed in, colours that swirled hypnotically that Sausage couldn't take his eyes off.

The crystal was attached to the amethyst, bound with some kind of thin membrane. Cub whispered to it, and runes and enchantments appeared on the wood, glowing with a soft blue light. Sausage had no idea what Cub was saying, just trusted them to do their jobs and hold up their end of the bargain.

And just as he felt he was about to sink into the soft white light of Scar's eyes, suddenly, he was shoved back onto the floor of the Cathedral, the spell broken, and his staff pressed into his hands. Scar and Cub slid off the altar table, and looked down at him.

"You have what you need. Now, go. We'll call you when we need you," Scar said.

"Yes, yes, of course, thank you, thank you so much," Sausage said as he scrambled to his feet and hurried out of the Cathedral.

"You made sure it could get to the right world, didn't you, Cub?" Scar said as he observed a dying sunflower outside.

"Of course, of course. I know the plan," Cub said. "Speaking of, perhaps we should go make sure he's still there."

"Good idea. Better make sure he's still obedient too," Scar said.

Supreme noticed the Vexes floating in the middle of the summoning circle from the top of his tower, and knew who had come to visit him. Beings who had promised to get him out of here and back to the place where the old Emperors lived. Oh, he'd dreamed about this for so many years, searching for the magic that could get him there. Things were so close now! So close! He ran down the stairs and headed over, kneeling gladly at the feet of the Vex. He would kneel for no one except them, until they had fulfilled their usefulness, of course. Then they would be consumed along with everyone else.

"Ah, there you are! Eager little thing, aren't you?" Scar said as he saw Supreme offering his deference.

"Masters, it has been one thousand years of torment, I need this. I need to escape. Help me out of this prison!" Supreme said, daring to look at them.

"Oh, we won't help you do that. Sausage will. He'll open the pathway you need to get out of here. But it's our magic he's using. You'll have your revenge," Scar said.

Supreme laughed; laughed and giggled and clawed at the earth, feeling his teeth sharpen in anticipation at all the chaos and death he would cause once he got there.

"I will have all their heads! All of them! Their souls will be mine to consume!" Supreme proclaimed.

Cub lay a hand on Supreme's head, and Supreme froze, going very quiet as Vex magic flooded through him. God, he hated that there was magic more powerful than his own! How could he get it? Consume these silly little Vexes? Is that how? How could he take this power for himself, so he didn't need to hold up his end of the bargain?

"There will always be more Vexes than you can consume. We are infinite. We are everything. You are simply a tiny speck of sand in our cosmos. The tool we need to bring that server under our control. No power you find there will ever break you free from our grasp," Cub said, his voice resonating through Supreme's body.

Supreme laughed again, hands clawing at his head. He never acknowledged the collar around his neck, hiding under his clothes. It contained magic vastly more powerful than he could comprehend. Magic that was documented nowhere else but in the land of the Vexes, a land he was unable to cross into, in spite of the many times he'd tried.

"Ohh, let me go, let me go now, masters, please," Supreme said, hungering for the carnage that was just out of reach.

"If we simply let you go through, what would we use against Sausage then? No, it's better you wait for him. He'll come. He has power he has wanted for a long time, and memories that will make him come here. You'll find him. You'll get your way back," Scar said.

Supreme smiled. Grinned. Wore a manic expression on his face at the thought of Sausage coming here and opening the gateway he needed to get free. Get the guard to set him free, that was perfect. He understood. He would cause so much pain with that.

Supreme laughed. Didn't notice the Vexes leaving. Didn't notice the blood sheep looking at him strangely. Didn't feel the skulk veins winding around his arms. Only felt the power pulsing through the earth towards him. The summoning circle had a heartbeat, and Supreme knew it well. Soon. Soon. Soon, he would be free.

Vexspace was singing. Laughing, really. Scar and Cub watched their charges, weaving their fates with precision. This had not been the initial plan, but once they found out about this evil version of Sausage, well. An insane demonic-possessed man trapped in a pocket dimension seemed like just the sort of chaos the Vex loved. Let him tear through the Empires. That will delight the Vexes. They will feast well once the slaughter is done.

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tavyliasin · 9 months ago

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BG3 FicFeb SFW - Day 14

I have no idea why this one just went "oops all angst" so here is your Content Warning for this prompt: THIS SHORT REFERENCES LOSS, FAMILIAL DEATH, AND DARK THEMES. Also some swearing.

Short Fic below the cut~ ----- -----

Day 14 - Family Reunion

The magic oozed through the graveyard with malevolent tendrils of the Weave.

“What have you done?” Gale yelled, running towards the group, even as the child scampered backwards, still clutching the spell page.

“What she always does, trying to help!” Astarion called back, not unkindly, but the words still stung.

“No, no no no…fuck no…” Tav was on the floor, pushing herself backwards with her heels digging into the dirt, shaking hands still gripping her daggers.

“Darling, whose grave is-” He didn’t even get to finish his question as he saw the hand clawing through the dirt. By some instinct that would have felt distinctly foreign had he a moment to think about it, Astarion pushed the child behind him protectively as he aimed his crossbows at the first two corpses to rise. “Gale, a little help?!”

“I can’t undo it now! Just keep them alive and send those creatures back to their graves!” The wizard was already casting fire bolts at the nearest risen dead.

Tav, meanwhile, remained on the ground. Her eyes were wide, skin drained of all colour, drenched in cold sweat and shivering.

“Darling please, I can’t-” Astarion reloaded his weapons as fast as he could backing up towards her. “Whoever that is, they are long gone. Love I need you to fight. It doesn’t have to be whoever that is, was, just cover our backs!”

“What in the hells-” Karlach’s voice cut in as she dashed down the alley to see what was going on, quickly leaping at the nearest risen dead.

Unearthly groans filled the air with fear, the screams of civilians who had come to mourn echoing down the streets.

“SOLDIER, ON YOUR FEET!” Karlach yelled, slashing down another undead and kicking the re-dead corpse to one side. “I SAID NOW!”

Tav finally started to hear the words, the firm instruction reaching her with no room for argument, and almost no time to react as one of the shambling dead was almost on top of her. She gritted her teeth and leapt at it with both daggers, ripping through rotting flesh with a howl of pained rage.

“Fire! That helps keep them down - it’ll get up if you don’t-” Gale’s warning came just at the right moment as the body at Karlach’s feet began to rise. Tav threw a small flask of oil on the ground and dipped her blades in it, just as the puddle - and her daggers in turn - caught light from a nearby candle left out for remembrance.

“Gods, not a moment too soon.” Astarion was already reloading his crossbows again, taking down another that was trying to crawl up from the filth. “How many left?”

“Six, I think!” Gale was still throwing magic as carefully as he could, the balance between taking down the undead quickly and avoiding civilian casualties becoming ever harder.

Fire, arrows, daggers, and axe. The sounds became deafening to Tav, as everything became a blur. She let her muscles carry her, the memory of a hundred fights moving her body without need for thought. She became a weapon, doing what she had to do…

It took another few minutes for the battle to finally come to an end, by then Tav was on her knees, daggers dropped to her sides, tears streaming down her cheeks. Karlach and Gale had taken the child to one side, leaving Astarion to take care of Tav.

“What happened? Are you…sorry my love that is a ridiculous question, of course you are not alright…” He knelt beside her, hand on her shoulder. “Darling, look at me. Look into my eyes. Do you see me?”

Tav blinked, blurred vision coming to focus on two points of crimson. “I…”

“Gods, sorry, I have no idea how to handle this…” He took a brief glance around, hoping to see anyone else coming to his aid, searching for an answer in the blissfully motionless corpses around them. The sudden grip on his arm brought him back to face her again.

Tav’s voice was barely above a whisper, hoarse and strained. “It was…her.”

“Her who?”

“My mother…”

“Darling no, whatever that thing was, it had no relation to you. Not any more. Do you hear me?” He shook her gently, hoping to wake her from the dazed state she was in, but it was no use.

“She…” Tav’s voice caught again.

“We should go back. You can tell me everything later.” Astarion quickly stashed her dropped weapons in his pack, scooping her up in his arms to carry her as her head fell to his chest, tears falling anew. “I wish I knew what to say, my love… I am here. That will just have to do for now.”

As he walked back to the Elfsong, the vampire couldn’t help but notice how small she looked cradled in his arms. A far cry from the fierce woman who usually leapt into the middle of whatever trouble happened her way. She looked so…ordinary. It wasn’t a bad thing, of course, but some days it had been easy to forget that her body and mind both bore scars she wouldn’t let show so easily.

Either way, he hoped there wouldn’t be any other family reunions any time soon…

#bg3ficfeb #astarion #tav #astarion x tav #dark fic #fanfic #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 tav #a tav's guide #angst

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paigelts05 · 2 years ago

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FNAF Renegade AU designs: RD robotics

https://www.deviantart.com/paigelts05/art/FNAF-Renegade-AU-designs-RD-robotics-864598021

Published: Dec 20, 2020

So, I designed some of the charaters from the FNAF AR emails a while ago, but I missed a bunch that seemed like they weren't from the same company. Looks like it's design time. For Nora and Tristan, I knew what I wanted: angry tiny woman shin breaker and tall lanky string bean who wants the earth to swallow him whole. I had to rush Tristan's colour scheme, and yes I've been working on this since a bit before October, so made him Daniel Rocha's brother and worked his colour palette from there. As for Nora, well, as of October 7th, I decided the hair colour to be green. She's the green one of this bunch. Izzy was a bit harder to design, but I settled on a kind and soft woman. Charles was a pain in the neck, and it took me ages to figure out a hair style, but I had his motives set down to a T- that being someone whose just there to make money because he's broke af and bearly scraping by, and animatronics was where the money was at - from the get go. As for colours, I already kind of knew what Izzy was going to be from the get go, but Charles? No clue. I eventually managed to figure something out though. °•:*:•°•:*:•°•:*:•=°•.🌹.•°=•:*:•°•:*:•°•:*:•° This group makes up R&D robotics. They work closer with Fazbear Entertainment, recreating the machines from the 80's and 90's and bringing them to life in the modern world. When they took the contract, they weren't initially aware of the danger they were in. As it's a small company, no-ones role - aside from Charles's - is usually set in stone, so one day, someone could be the whole compliance team, and the next, they're on circuit board installation duty, teh next, who knows. On the plus side, they've all become firm friends. Sometimes, emails aimed at Fazbear Entertainment's research and development divison mistakenly make their way to them, but they're still expected to handle it. Tristan: He's the backbone of this place. Whilst he usually works with Nora, making the animatronics, he's the guy who goes around making sure everyone takes breaks and doesn't do anything stupid - likely because he suffers from having so much empathy that second hand embarrassment could easily be the death of him. He's self-conscious about his height, and really dislikes the fact he has an inignorable presence. Whilst making machines is his main job, he also distributes notifications within the firm and sometimes to other firms that they're working alongside if applicable if Izzy is busy. Nora: She only looks short because she's always compared to Tristan. This results in people low-balling her age by between fifteen.and twenty years, dispite standing at five foot seven and a half inches; eye to eye with many normal people. Being 32, she finds this low-balling of her age very insulting, especially since she's Tristan's senior by three years. Likely because of this, she's a seething ball of rage who acts fast no matter how loud the result would be. When she's not angry, it's hard to tell, as she's loud anyway, but those who know her can tell. Also, she works on building animatronics, rotating between casing construction, endo skeleton creation, and other tasks as needed. Charles: The owner of R&D robotics. Handles the business and finance side. He may seem cold, but he's just always exhausted from putting 120% into his job to try and make ends meet - not just for himself, but for his workers too. He sometimes ignores his gut instincts if doing so would help him make ends meet. He frequently gets reminded by Tristan to take a break and that what he does for everyone is appreciated. Charles, in return, reminds Tristan that he needs to take a break too. Izzy: She is a gentle soul. Izzy mainly deals with correspondence and customers. She's usually the first to know everything, but as she's always busy with another customer, she usually relays what she needs to tell everyone to Tristan in order for him to tell everyone. Whilst correspondence is her main job, she usually winds up helping out Nora and Tristan if the emails stop flooding in. °•:*:•°•:*:•°•:*:•=°•.🌹.•°=•:*:•°•:*:•°•:*:•°

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the-cursed-recruit-story · 1 year ago

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The cursed recruit

By Symon Pude

Chapter 1 - The last day

The door creaked open, morning rays invading our main room. Before my mother and I could shield our eyes, the silhouette of a man blocked the sun from the door. Cold air pushed inside, fighting the stuffy warmth from the rekindled hearth.

“Close the door,” I said. “You’re letting out the heat.”

The stranger squeezed himself through the entrance, rising to his full height, but the ceiling prevented it. He spread his broad shoulders, rounded by muscles that could crush bones. Few other villagers were taller than me, but this man still dwarfed them all.

I swallowed hard. “Berserker.”

As frightening as his physique were his clothes that slowly revealed themselves as he walked out of line of the light behind him. His long-sleeved gambeson was deep blue, with dark brown plates inset into his chest, shoulders and underarms. The octagonal crest sewn on his chest left no doubt. It was the uniform of a high ranking member of the royal army.

I jumped up, grabbed the broom leaning on the wall and put myself between him and Mother. There were few reasons for a man of his rank to get into our house and none of them were good.

The officer looked down at me with his turquoise eyes. A freshly groomed ash-blond beard and hair of the same colour adorned his head, complementing his tanned skin. An old wound on the left side opened up his tightened lips, revealing white teeth.

"Lay down the broom." His deep voice sounded like the lowing of a stubborn cow. "It won't do you any good in a fight."

The makeshift weapon trembled in my hands. He was right. The only thing I could hope for was that I was able to stall him, hoping that Mother could get far away in the meantime.

The berserker spoke again. "I'm not here to harm you or your family in any way, if you think that for any reason."

"Then why are you here?" I spat. "We're not due any tax."

"A horde of orcs is en route to Forlam. Every able man has to join the army."

I gripped the handle harder. "Not interested. Go away."

"It's the order of the king."

"I don't care, go away."

The man took a step closer, and before I could react, he grabbed the handle of the broom and ripped it out of my hand. I got pulled forward, but the berserker pushed me back against the edge of the table. My fingers traced over the wood, searching for anything that could defend me.

I reached the wooden spoon from breakfast and brought it forward. The berserker looked at the cutlery and grunted. Then he looked up into my face, and his expression changed to one of surprise.

A thin hand laid down on my shoulder.

"Stop," Mother said, then turned to the berserker. "He will join, please forgive his brashness."

"He'd be better off if he keeps it in check." The army official threw away the broom that he still held. "Is there any other man in this household?"

"My father, but his leg is stiff, he can't even walk properly."

The man narrowed his eyes. "Did he get hurt in the Broken War sixteen years ago?"

"Yes. Like most our problems, that was your fault too."

His eyebrows shot up. “Other siblings?”

"None alive."

"I'm sorry."

"I don't need your false sympathy," I said. "I need you to get out."

The intruder sighed. "Tomorrow at dawn, in front of the chapel.”

He pushed his shoulders through the entry. His massive outline slowly moved out of view through the open. A small cut of wind carried in the cold air from outside.

I shivered. “I said close the door, are you stupid or something?”

“Sh, he might still hear you,” Mother shushed me. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? You know it doesn’t end well when you shout at the back of a blue gambeson.”

I sat back down on the bench, which gave a sound like it wanted to break. "Then what else should I do?” I leaned my head back against the wood of the wall. "I can’t go, you need me here. Spring is just around the corner, and somebody has to tend the fields. Father can’t help much."

My mother grabbed my hand and squeezed it. Her skin was as callous as mine, made even rougher by a long winter. "It’ll be fine. I've run this farm alone once before; I can do it again. Plus, I had to take care of two little children then."

I placed my other hand atop of hers. "But you’re older now, and back then, grandmother was alive. "

She let go of my hand and rubbed away the lonely tear, past the quite new scar by her left eye. “At least there’ll be no one to mourn over this time.”

“But no one to help you either.”

“It's no use."

She grabbed both wooden bowls before us, carrying them away.

"Off to a battle, huh?" I said almost to myself. "Maybe the curse will finally catch up with me."

The bowls slipped from Mama's hands and onto the counter. "Don't say that."

I looked down. That had been out of tone.

The typical grunt of my father standing up sounded from the adjacent bedroom. Mother took that as a sign and started sawing some bread. I couldn’t take the scraping sound, taunting me that we couldn’t use the rest of our broadcorn stock, which would be better for baking.

“Have you seen the size of that guy?” I said to cover the noise. “He looks like a boulder that grew legs.”

A raspy voice called from the bedroom, “He's normal height for a berserker.”

Father stumbled into view in the doorframe. His felted, brown hair mirrored mine, except for its extensive gray strains. His angled nose and pointed chin, his unblinking, brown eyes made him look like a hawk. His expression had a seriousness about them, a feeling that he would reach anything he would set his mind to. My face twitched upwards; it was the same look of determination I thought I remembered before he went to military service. A look he had lost for years to bottles of alcohol.

He made his way over to the table, dragging behind his right leg.

With a deep sigh, he sat down on his designated chair, clutching his stiff leg. “You were lucky that he isn't of noble blood. You wouldn’t have survived talking like this to a mage.”

“How would you know all that about that guy?” I asked. “You haven’t even seen him.”

He averted his gaze, changing the subject. “You might have to pick up the spirit cleansed seeds today.”

“It’s rather soon for that, the equal day hasn’t even passed,” my mother said, putting the slices of bread in front of my father.

"He’s right,” I said. “Or would you want to take the trip on your own?”

“No.” Mother admitted.

“I will go in the afternoon." I stood up. Until then, I’m in the backfield, ploughing.”

My father spoke with his mouth full of dry bread. “I’ll join you when I’m finished.”

My mom said, “Just wear something warm, I don’t want you freezing your ass off.”

“Yeah, sure.”

I walked to the door, the freeze from outside pouring in. I reached out for the thick wool tunic, which reached to about the centre of my thighs, but changed my mind and grabbed my surcoat instead. The expertly sewn cow hide protected from wind, rain and snow. After years of use, the hairs were already peeled off in most places, revealing a lighter colour. With leather pants, tunic and surcoat, one could even go out for hours in the winter. As the only layer above the shirt, the coat might just be right for today. I secured the coat with a belt and fixed a waterskin and a belt pouch to it.

The door creaked again as I closed it behind me. I turned my head upwards and closed my eyes. The rays of the sun tingled on my face; the slight breeze was barely noticeable. Still, the chill of the morning seeped through my clothes.

I sighed and made my way towards the stable, stopping at the overflowing rain barrel to fill up the water skin. I took a swig of the water, but broke the contact immediately. The freeze hammered into my forehead, making me squeal in pain. I gripped the side of the barrel, my knuckles white. When the feeling wore off, I took another gulp. The second time, the feeling was manageable.

Heaving a sigh, I walked to our pasture. The cows, sheeps, blood hens, the rooster and the old donkey Ratter all lifted their heads when they saw me. One animal was missing. I found the almost black hen back in its usual place behind the stable door. She trembled a little when I picked her up. The veins under the translucent skin on her face showed a panicked pulse. I threw her to the other animals . The red hens charged her and the bird scuttered away back to the stable door. I sighed again and whistled for Ratter. The old donkey perked up and hoofed over without any hurry. I stroked him between his eyes, as his warm breath blew from his mouth.

"Now, Ratter. Do you wanna get ploughing?"

A bobbing of his head and a positive Eee-Ah might seem like he was happy to, but he acted the same to everything else.

"At least one of us."

I led him into the stable and hitched the old, trustworthy plough behind him. The field I thought of working on today was not big, but at an uncomfortable incline that had flipped the plough more than once.

I stopped Ratter as we ploughed closest to the border of a forest of conifers and deciduous trees.

A patch of snowdrop flowers broke the monotone ground. I picked one of the flowers and put it in my pocket.

When I turned around, I stopped for a minute. From here one had a great view of rolling hills patched with fields, meadows and forests. The plants still wore their drab, brownish winter colours. In the shadow of some trees, old snow remained. A gust of wind shot into my clothes and made me shiver.

“I should’ve listened to my mother.”

I looked further. Smoke rose from the chimneys of the few lonely farmers’ houses that were Hazelbrook. The white walls of the chapel stuck out like a weed on a freshly ploughed field. Ratter puffed, sending his warm, moist breath on my skin. I rubbed him between the eyes.

“I’m leaving, you know?”

The old donkey just puffed again.

A frown appeared on my face. “I don’t know if you’ll still be around when I come back.”

"Eee-ah."

"Me too, buddy, me too."

My father stumbled out, and I stood back up to continue ploughing before he could join me.

The next time I looked up to the sky, the sun had passed noon. I nodded to my father and led Ratter back to the stable. A few minutes later, the donkey pulled our one-axled cart. I sat down on it beside a shovel, and Ratter hoofed forward slowly. We stopped at the house, where I switched my surcoat for the tunic. I went back out, past the cart, to the eight poles driven into the earth beside the path. A year of weather had done a number on them, and I added it to my list to replace them; they won't be forgotten. I fished out the snowdrop, only two pedals on, and placed it next to the fourth pole. “Sorry, it looks a little tattered.”

Hannah loved flowers. It has been sixteen years since her death, almost twice as long as she had lived. Still, the memory of her face stayed in my mind, hopefully forever.

I finally turned away and jumped back onto the cart. Ratter continued on the old path, past the overgrown remains of a small house and towards Hazelbrook. Though the old donkey's steps were slow, the cart jumped up and down, threatening to break at any moment. I had to hold the shovel beside me, so it wouldn't jump all over the place.

A sudden jolt threw me against the railing, hitting the wood with my elbow. I let out a short cry of pain. The right side of the cart had sacked down, and although Ratter tried to continue, the cart wouldn't move.

I ignored the pain and jumped off to look at the issue. The right wheel got stuck in a muddy hole between two stones.

“For fuck’s sake.” I kicked the cart. “Stupid wheel.”

The same thing every year after winter; the path had never survived the snow. I looked out further. This time it was especially bad, with more holes than path. I had been tempted to just let it grow over and have the tax collectors deal with it, but we needed the path more often than them.

"Stupid tax collectors," I said, then grabbed the spokes of the wheel and pulled upwards. The muscles in my arms groaned as the wheel lifted out of the hole. My fingers slipped; the wheel fell back down. Without the weight, I lost my balance, and I fell back on the wet grass beside the path.

“Stupid cart.”

I worked myself to my feet, brushing off the plant bits from my behind.

A triumphant horn echoed through the early spring landscape. I turned to the sound. The army had arrived in Hazelbrook.

"Mighty soon here, aren't they?"

I leaned against the stuck cart and watched the procession coming from the east. The lead were horse riders in royal army blue, followed by a number of carriages in a single file line. Then came foot soldiers clad in blue; enlisted, men who spend a year or more in the employ of the army.

"Idiots," I said and helped myself to a handful of nuts from my belt pouch.

As the army went along, fewer people wore a coloured uniform, instead opting for utilitaristic brown clothes. These recruits made up the bulk of the procession. Recruits taken from their home. From tomorrow, I'd be one of them. A few people carried their belongings on the back, some rolled a barrel in front of them, and again others brought a mule or a donkey.

I looked at Ratter. Our old donkey wouldn't survive such a long journey, so I would be carrying my stuff on my own.

While the army continued on their way, I focused on getting the cart out of the mud again. I fetched the shovel from the cart. Using it as a lever, I freed the wagon from the hole, which I filled with a stones by the side of the path. I had to stop a few times for repairs on the path so we wouldn't get stuck again on the last stretch to Hazelbrook. As the path got better - a road now - and I passed by the first houses, the chatter got louder. The villagers had come out of their houses to greet the new arrivals. I sighed; the worst time to come here. And I had to travel on the main road to the seed stock as well.

The familiar faces of the locals seemed more bony than when I last saw them. Beside the villagers, small pockets of unknown men milled around, having stopped before reaching the camp at the other side of town. Some wore the army's uniform, most others tunics and leather pants just like mine. I scoffed. Not exactly like mine. Mine was covered with careful stitches that showed their age.

Like many Hazelbrookers, most of the men had either a darker complexion or a greyish tint to them. With one notable exception; A strange, pale man leaned against the side of the only tavern in our village. His pristine, leather cloak was too thick for the temperature and he seemed as still as a statue, not a muscle moving in his body. He stared at me, and I stared back.

A jolt went through the cart, breaking our eye contact. Ratter had stopped before hitting a tiny girl who had wandered onto the street. I jumped off the carriage and faced her. She looked up at me with unblinking eyes. She was the daughter of a farmer, the father only a year older than me, and now she was already five winters old. For a second, both of us were still.

I stretched out my tongue and crossed my eyes for a silly face. The small girl let out a refreshing laugh. I smiled, but as soon as I uncrossed my eyes, my cheeks fell down again.

The girl's mother dragged her off the dirt street, throwing me a disapproving look. I evaded her stare, choosing to focus on the road instead. A barrel of a recruit had broken into pieces a bit further along, and a group of men scrambled to pick up all belongings.

"Stupid soldiers," I swore under my breath. For now, I'd be stuck here.

In an instant, disapproving looks from the locals focussed on me. I The mother of the girl in the street knelt down and berated her. "I don't want you to talk to that person."

"But why?"

"You would die," the mother said.

The little girl started crying and hugged her mother, who carried her away. They disappeared in the crowd, and the other villagers stepped forward to protect as if I would come at the little girl with a knife.

I climbed back onto the cart, trying to ignore the looks. A few recruits had noticed the commotion, and I didn't know how they would act.

"Greet the Maker," a voice started with the formal greeting. "I believe we have not yet met."

I turned to see a young man standing by my cart. His bluish skin and the blue down feathers above his ears showed him to be of gargoyle blood. He wore a black robe with the crest of the church sown in at the centre of his chest; a red octagon around a red hand on a white background. He put a hand on the crest, which revealed a belly under his robe.

"I am the new ceremon in Hazelbrook," he said. "And you are?"

I took another handful of nuts from my pouch and started eating, one by one. All the while, I did not look once at the man of religion.

"We will celebrate a small ceremony in the evening to ask for the maker's protection for the recruits," the ceremon continued. "I know your family has not heeded the weekly call, but it would be great if I saw you there."

"Ceremon Altone, nobody of us wants him anywhere near the chapel," a woman's voice said.

The ceremon turned to the grey-haired woman, the waitress of the tavern.

"Now now, Silvia," he said. "Samoht taught us that nobody is too wayward to get back on the right path."

"He's got the curse of death upon his head. Don't get too close or you'll be caught in it."

"A curse?" The ceremon walked away from my cart. "Preposterous, there is no such…"

"It's true," an old woman at a table said. "Every last one around them dies before their time. Seven children they had, five dead in birth, one has not seen ten winters, he's left. Their neighbour burned alive,..."

"And even their dog doesn't bark anymore," her husband added, mulling over his ale. "I tell you, they were all sacrifices for the grey demons to let their crops grow tall."

My hand formed into a fist. I had to put Bello out of his misery last fall after a wild animal attack. His whine still rang in my mind from time to time. And they say I wanted to do this?

"If what you are saying is true," the ceremon said with doubt in his voice. "Then why is he still alive?"

"He should have died a few years ago," the waitress said. "Hanged for the murder of Britta, the eldest daughter of the Hahn family. He pushed her off that tower to her death. It doesn't matter what the army inspector said, we all know it was him."

I pursed my lips and checked the street. Finally, they have cleared the path, and I tapped Ratter's behind to get us away.

As the cart got moving, they still discussed further. "I still suspect that the farm hand they had was actually that priestess-rapist from Sunhill."

I scoffed. That one was the only one that had a bit of merit. Yrgal was not a rapist, though. If a priestess and a monk were caught together in bed, they would both be punished, except one takes all the blame on him. His love repaid him by slipping him a key to escape. And it wasn't a priestess, it was a priest.

I still vividly remembered how we plastered hair on Yrgal’s bald head to trick those that searched for him. In return for our help, he taught me things that no other farmer knew.

As I pondered in the memory of my friend and teacher, Ratter pulled me past all other bystanders to a wooden hut not far from the soldiers' camp, where some soldiers were building up their two-men tents.

The old donkey stopped right before the seed stock. I jumped off, turned the animal with the cart around and walked to the hut. An ancient man slept on the ground, wrapped in blankets. Joseph had already been old when I had been just a young boy. Although senile, he oversaw giving away the seeds. He was the only one in the village who could - officially - read highfont, save for maybe the new ceremon.

"Wake up, Sepp!" I called to the old man.

No reaction. He lay there, not moving at all, making me think he finally kicked the bucket. But, as I came closer, his chest was still heaving up and down.

"Wake up!" I nudged him with my boot.

He jerked awake. "What? Who?"

"I'd like to take my share of seeds."

"Isn't it a little too early?"

"It's afternoon," I extended my hand, so he could stand up.

He sighed in exhaustion, pushed his blankets off and heaved himself on his feet. He stood wary, threatening to fall over any second. "No, I mean early in the year."

"I know. But I have to join the army tomorrow."

"The army is already here?"

"They just arrived and were not silent in doing so. How did you miss this?"

He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the tents. "Aha, what do you know? So, what are you doing here?"

"Getting my share of seeds."

"Isn't it a little early for that?"

"Yes." I gave a smile.

He staggered for a moment before he continued. "Okay, then let's take a look at the list."

I picked up the big, leather-bound book he had used as a pillow, before the old man even tried to.

He took it from my hand. "Thank you."

He set the book to the small table that stood by the stock. He opened the index and turned filled page by page until he got to a page which was almost empty. I skimmed through the column of the table and found the symbol for my name within a few seconds. Joseph took longer; almost pressing his eyes to the page, he searched for the information. I took the time to look around in the stock for the things I could take with me.

Joseph tapped on the paper. "Ah, there we go. So, you can take...two bags of longseeds."

I checked the list again. "That's a three."

"Where's a tree?"

"No, I mean the number is a three."

He squinted at the writing. "Oh, right, my mistake. Thanks for pointing it out. You should be standing here, not me."

I took a look around. Luckily nobody was in earshot. If anyone found out I could read, they might find out about Yrgal, and punish the people who harboured the apostate monk.

The old man didn’t seem to care, or he had forgotten already. He went into the low room and pointed at three yute sacks with the church's crest printed on. “Take these."

I bent my knees and wrapped each arm around the bags. Taking in a short breath, I heaved them on my shoulders.

I carried them out of the stock house, while Joseph babbled on, “I heard that it’s a horde of orcs again that we’re fighting. Can you imagine they’re so stupid as to attack the capital?”

I grunted as I put the sacks on my cart. “No, I can’t.”

The old man’s rambling followed me a second time to the storage room. “Stupid green beasts. Do they really think they have a chance after we defeated them only a few years back?”

My reply was another gasp as I yanked a sack of longcorn and one of broadcorn on my shoulders. With the direct comparison, it was clear that the latter was lighter.

Joseph stopped me. "Hey, that's not longcorn, put it back."

"But I know that I definitely also get a bag of broadcorn. This makes it faster."

"Put it back!"

I sighed and did as he said.

After I loaded the third bag of longcorn on the carriage, Joseph read the next column. "Broadcorn, two bags."

I stared at him for a moment, before I made a heavy sigh and loaded two bags onto the carriage.

Josef continued reading. "And one bag of peas."

"Only one? In the last few years, we always got two in the beginning."

"Are you questioning the decision of the church?"

Yes.

I smacked my lips. "No."

Silently, I took the designated bag. On my last trip into the stock house, I could take smaller amounts of other seeds. With them in one hand, I said, "Bye, Joseph."

"What?"

I just waved him goodbye. He did the same and lay down on the floor again.

As I turned to the cart, the pale man from before now leaned against the wheel of the cart, eerily still. Even as I closed in, he didn’t show any intentions of moving. I examined the man further.

His thick leather cloak hid his body form, though the slight bulge around his waist hinted at a sword. A deep blue gambeson and wool lining peeked out at his sleeve. His hair was black, with only a few signs of grey in it, his slender face clean shaven. Slight wrinkles gave him a look of experience, while still retaining some youthfulness. I guessed he was around his late forties though it was hard to tell. His orange eyes seemed to glow on their own. I made a second take. The shine might have been a trick of the light, but what was even more strange were his vertically slit pupils. Now that I looked for it, I found other abnormalities. At his collar and at his wrists, his skin turned reddish. He had to be a member of a magical race, one that I had forgotten the name of.

“Can you move?” I said while putting the last seeds on the cart. “That’s my wagon you’re leaning on.”

The man unfroze, reaching into the pocket of his coat. With one quick movement, he produced a decimetre long, thin, porcelain tube with a small circular compartment at the end. The strange pipe had a gleaming white coating, with a sky-blue floral pattern. With his right hand, he took out a small pouch, and filled some dried leaves into the compartment. He pushed them down with the index finger of his left hand and put the pipe in his mouth.

I pointed in the direction of the army camp. “You could easily struggle to light the tabak just a few metres that way and not bother me.”

As soon as I said it, thin smoke streamed out from the pipe, while his finger was still in. His eyebrow went up just a little bit.

I narrowed my eyes at the smoke. “How…”

“Apple?” The man mumbled with the pipe still on his lips. His raspy voice had an authoritative undertone.

My head fell down and I noticed that he now held out a yellow apple with his right hand. I struggled for words at the sudden offer, and my stomach growled due to the lack of lunch.

“No,” I said finally. “My mother told me to not take food from strangers.”

“Good point.” With one quick motion he pocketed the fruit.

“What do you want?”

The man breathed away a stream of smoke. "The other villagers say you're cursed because your family members died."

Hate welled up in my chest. "Why would you care?”

He took another whiff from his pipe. "I wonder if they are right."

"Maybe they are,” I said. “So you better get away from me before you die as well.”

He ignored me. "It's most likely 'hogwash', as a farmer like you would call it. It's not too uncommon that a woman struggles to birth alive children, especially if that woman does not have a drop of magical blood. Is your mother human, through and through?"

"Is your mother a donkey considering how stubborn you are? Fuck off already."

"Hmm," He blew smoke over, and did not move an inch. "Do you have any special talents? Strength, good eyesight, a talent for swimming?"

“I was never in water deep enough.”

The hint of a smile appeared on the strange man's face. "Good."

“I’m getting tired of this.” I turned away and started walking homeward.

"What about your cart?"

I whistled, and Ratter started walking.

The man lost his balance from the sudden movement of his support. His pipe fell from his lips and raced to the ground. He jumped forward, catching the object, but hit the street hard.

"You damn..." he swore.

I skipped further, Ratter barely catching up to me. I let out a small laugh, which caused many of the bystanders to look at me in fearful concern.

When I was back on the path home, I stopped Ratter. It was a little early to plant seeds, and Mother and Father would profit more from a well maintained path. I took the shovel and got to work.

When I was back at home, the sun was close to the horizon. Back at Hazelbrook, the army men were in their camp, while the locals grouped up to go into the chapel.

I stored away the seeds in our storage. Despite what the church wanted, we won't use their blessed seeds for our field; seeds from last year's harvest sprouted more plentifully in our soil.

Then I tended to the animals in the last light and said my goodbyes. Some of them would die before I’d come back in one- or two-years’ time.

When I went back inside, a savory smell hit my nostrils, coming from the cast iron pot in the middle of the table. Father sat by the table, with short hair and close to no beard now. Mother stood beside one of the chairs, with shears in her hand.

“Smells good like always" I said.

“Rabbit stew, a hare went into the trap,” Mother said, pushing me down on a chair close to the entrance. “But first we need to take care of your unruly mane.”

“For what reason? Nobody cares how I look. Not even me.”

Mother ignored me, and started to cut along my scalp. “Who knows? Maybe you’ll find a nice girl to bring home on your journey.”

“I already found a nice girl years ago.”

My mother didn’t comment. She continued cutting my hair and then moved on to my beard.

When she finished, she took a step back and looked at me. "See, if you're groomed properly, you are quite a handsome young man."

I scoffed. There were many things that one could use to describe me; handsome was not one of them. With the same pointy chin and hawk-like nose, I looked like a copy of my father, save his wrinkles and warts that undoubtedly would come with time.

"Thanks, mum."

I stood up and joined my father at the table. Mother scooped some of the steaming stew into my bowl.

I took a spoonful and moaned at the taste. It could have used more salt, but that’s a luxury we didn’t have. I finished my first bowl with a side of the hard bread and took seconds, the pot still not empty.

“This could’ve fed us for days,” I said while putting another spoonful in my mouth.

“Yes, but I just…” my mother’s voice broke as she struggled for words. “I thought you’d like it as a last meal at home.”

I looked into her brown eyes. “I guess it’s only a little battle on the other side of the map. I should be back within a year.”

The sombre silence settled between us again.

After the meal, my mother went to sleep, and I washed the pot and the bowls with the rainwater outside. When I went back in, my father still sat at the table.

“Sit down, son.”

“I still need to pack my stuff.”

"I already prepared that for you."

He pointed at the corner, where clothes, provisions and other things I might need on the journey lay beside the rucksack we normally use to carry tools.

“Please, sit down.”

I sighed and slid back on the bench.

He started, "The battlefield is a place you will wish you’d never come to."

My hand formed into a fist. I knew this spiel. "Are you drunk again? Are you also going to claim again that you punted the allmage?"

A line formed between his brows and his jaw clenched. "No." He stared deep into my eyes. "I know I normally only talked about the war when I've had a few, but now, I'm sober and you need to listen to me so you're aware what will come for you. The battle is chaos, pain, and loss. I've seen some of my bravest friends freeze at the sheer sight of it. And that cost them their lives."

He reached for my hand. "You will have to make difficult decisions within a heartbeat. Spare a man, and he will drag you to the floor. Kill him, and you'd live your whole life with the tears of his family. Give your life for the lives of others,..." He sighed. "Maker knows that I and my company didn't always choose right."

His eyes reflected the horrors he had seen. "In the end, you can only come home and hope everything will be alright."

I remained silent. He didn't even get this luxury.

He reached under the table and took out a bottle of schnapps and put it on the table between us. I stared at him, anger welling up inside me.

"Don't worry," he said. "This is my promise to you. It doesn't matter how hard it's going to get; this bottle will stay closed. And when you come back, we can decide what to do with it."

I looked in his eyes and gave him a small nod.

My old man pushed himself up, grunting when putting weight on his hurt leg. "Don't be too long. You have long days ahead of you."

With these words he stumbled to the sleeping room, leaving me alone at the table.

Before long, I stood up, took the candle holder and made my way over to the things my father had prepared for me:

My spare clothes, a water skin, provisions like bread, sausage, eggs and carrots for a few days, patches and threads and a needle for repairs, shears to cut my beard,...

The only things missing were my knife, and the tunic that I still wore. I put all of them into the rucksack, then tested its weight. Manageable.

My eyes fell on the patch in the pattern of a flower on the rucksack. I traced my fingers around it. The leather of the patch was a bit softer, I hoped it and the seam would survive the journey. I breathed out of my nose and took my hand off again.

It was time to go to sleep. The tall candle had shrunk significantly, only a few minutes of dim light left. Just enough time to check something.

Instead of going to rest, I fetched a chair to reach the books stored away on the top of the cupboard. ‘Books’ was a generous term; they were collections of self-made parchment pages bound in shoddy leather. I took the one on the very bottom of the stack and carried it over to the table. Carefully, I opened the cover. The first page stuck to it, and when I freed it, the edge of the brittle parchment broke off.

In the candlelight, a rudimentary map of the kingdom appeared, as well as Yrgal could draw it from memory on the uneven parchment. Hazelbrook lay far to the east, Sunhill just a bit further west. That was the farthest I’d been in my life. I traced my fingers further along the indicated street. Not far after, there was a city called ‘Arkyras’, the seat of our baron. Then, the path continued along the coast of the Granaq river, which turned southward as if to escape the massive forest that made up the centre of the map. Eventually, the Granaq reached the city of Torza, where it turned westward again, past the city of Eugenia, to Westpass. From there, the road turned north, along another river to Forlam, the capital of the Kingdom. Simply going there would take months, and going back would take just as long.

I sighed and flipped to the next page. With effort, I deciphered the heading in the highfont symbol.

Naiad

Thankfully, the more common name of the race was written beside it in simple script.

Gargoyle

I turned the page. I knew enough of the blue skinned people with down feathers above their ears.

I turned the next few pages as well. Zivot, dwarf, berserker, elf, orc,... I knew the strange man I’d met today was none of those.

The next page spoke about ‘Albos’.

‘White hair, red eyes,...”

As soon as I started to read the first line, I knew that was not it either.

That left the last page. The highfont on this page was even less readable. I remembered, this was around the time when Yrgal taught me to write.

Squinting as hard as I could at the page in the low light, I deciphered the symbol on top.

“Souvra,” I said.

At that moment, the candle finally died down, leaving me in the dark.

“Damn it.”

If there was still time tomorrow, I’d need to read further in the morning. I yawned at the unusual time. I placed myself on the coarse straw and pulled the wool blanket over me.

#chapter #story #new story #novel #writing community #writer #book #bookblr #writeblr #fantasy #high fantasy #tw swearing #copying it here got rid off all italics #I hope I redid them all #fantasy novel

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booksandwords · 1 year ago

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Comeuppance Served Cold by Marion Deeds

Read time: 1 Day Rating: 5/5 Stars

The Quote: "I saw your name in the Star-Invocation this morning. Violet Solomon." "Mr Earnshaw's latest opinion piece." Violet said. "He must have been in a good mood. He only called me a 'dissolute temptress'. Last time it was 'vicious negress of dubious intelligence', although he didn't use my name that time." "He's quite the admirer." "Oh, yes." — Dolly White and Violet Solomon

Warnings: The author herself provides a list of warnings be aware in an author's note. "This book contains instances of patriarchal, racist, and ableist violence, both verbal and physical." It is a broad disclaimer but all relevant, for those who need it stated explicitly there is an attempted sexual assault.

Comeuppance Served Cold is an engaging and well-written heist story, starting at the end and it jumps through time following two women until it reaches the end again. This is a female lead story, the women call the shots, use their power and own their situations. There are two male characters aiding the women both are minorities, both are gay, one, Philippe is coloured (his words) and the other, Gabriel is blind. The antagonists are both male and as complex as they can be, everything is a matter of perspective. It is only a short book but it is divided up into three parts, Orphan (pp. 12-82), Grifter (pp. 84-134) and Changeling (pp. 132-187). There are of course meanings to these names, meanings that become apparent as you read and I won't spoil them here. But everything comes back to the prologue.

The two lead characters, the two who share the narration are Dolly White and Violet Solomon, a thief lady's companion and the owner of a speakeasy. Dolly is a woman of mystery, she shows herself as she feels she needs to for the moment. She is working an angle and knows how to get what she wants, what buttons to push, and how to present herself properly in a situation (I present to you Trevor the male escort). She has a repeated line... "Does that bother you?" "Few things bother me, and that's not one of them." (Gabriel and Dolly, p.113) Dolly is also a very accepting woman, though she does have lines. Violet is a savvy woman who wants nothing more than the head of the man who killed her husband, Pedro Avila y Lopez. That he tried to kill her brother and his love is secondary. That he nearly killed her is barely a blip on her radar. Knowing who killed Pedro is one thing, proving it is a whole other thing, let alone getting revenge. one way she has gone about getting some revenge is opening her speakeasy.

Other characters that should be noted. Philippe Solomon, is Violet's older brother and a shape-shifter. His animal is a swamp puma/ cougar. I appreciate the shifter lore, we see Philippe in his animal form and he is so much more animal than human when he is in that form. So few could get through to him, one of these is his love (and mate) blind tattooist Gabriel. Gabriel is handled with grace, I really like his character design and the lore around his tattoos. Gabe's eyesight loss comes with a story, it was a price paid in a magical deal with an infamous tool, his tattoo needles. Fiona is a smart enough creation. Her love story and complicity in all around her are endearing, it empowers her. I do kinda feel bad for Tony, Fiona's fiancee. It may have been hard for women but it must have been harder for queer men of status.

The plot is an unravelling of how Dolly got where she did. It is actually a fairly simple plot, if it was told in a linear manner it would be almost boring. But the way Deeds has chosen to wind details and players in makes it readable and engaging. The characters are used well and are diverse. The racism subplot doesn't feel out of place. What it is necessary to remember while reading is the time that the book is set in, 1929. Judge it in its time frame for bootlegging, racism and social structures. The writing is perfect for this time. It is all just so pretty and powerful. Not for everyone but I think those to whom the blurb appeals or who have an interest in the heist genre would probably appreciate it.

Finishing with my usual dump of quotes • "Miss White, I must warn you off my brother." "Fiona!" Francis straightened up. Honestly! Miss White may be poor. That's no reason to treat her like a gold digger!" "My warning is for her," — (Fiona and Francis, p.22) Francis is a creep. And his ability to veil himself in shadows makes it so, so worse. nuf said. Daddy dearest's enabling, saying he is just playing is patriarchal bull***t. • "We're going nowhere. Once you're out of here, they'll leave us alone." Pedro lowered his gaze "You can't count on that. They aren't like us, these northern gangsters, they have no honor." "Honor, you? You won't even marry my girl!" Mama pointed at him. "You, Pedro Avila y Lopez, I curse you, your child" "Mama, no!" Violet said. — (Camille, Pedro and Violet, pp.42-43) I wanted to mention Camille Soloman, Philippe and Violet's mother. There is a story here but I love the one scene we see of her. There is nothing as intimidating as a pissed-off mother of colour. Their Aunt Lily is just as brilliant with the line. "Don't you 'Tia Lily' me, you hooligan! What have you brought down on us?" (Lily, p.42). • Every society wife knew about this shop or one like it. Sometimes even wealthy families fell on hard times, and sometimes last year's clothes were not given to servants but taken and sold to someone whose watchword was discretion. Sometimes the family fortune was intact but a society wife or daughter had a bootlegger to pay off, an important medical potion to procure, or a special friend to keep in jeweled cuff links and fine shoes. — (Dolly, p.85) There is something timeless and feministic about this. The recognition that women take lovers as well and will, of course, make sacrifices for them and abortions would be necessary. • "I... Fiona is like a daughter to me. If you harm her..." "Yes, I know how much your set values its daughters. Fiona will be unharmed." — (Mr. Lester and Dolly, p.108) I know it's not how it was meant to be read but I read this with such disdain. Dolly honestly doesn't intend on hurting Fiona. But the high social set in this canon does not respect their daughters as anything other than political pawns. • The bartender stared in her direction as she walked back to the bar, but he wasn't watching her, he was watching Gabe. Whatever the tattooist felt for him, it was reciprocated. Dancing on the edge of a volcano, those two. — (Dolly, p.113) I love this mostly for the last line, dancing on the edge of a volcano. It is such a brilliant way to describe blinding, undeniable chemistry.

#lgbtq #book review #marion deeds #paranormal #tw attempted sa #tw violence #tw ableism #tw racism #novella #ktreviews #read 2022 #comeuppance served cold

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theforumcat · 2 years ago

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Hello! Please teach me the ways of the salmon bacon!

Salmon bacon is easy. It DOES require a certain level of access to materials, though; namely, an Asian grocery.

It’s one ingredient:

Smoked salmon. It has to be smoked salmon for sushi, though; hot smoked salmon won’t work, and nova lox will… yeah, no, just no.

A salmon is basically wholly made of pork belly of the sea. Someone goes to brine it a bit and smoke it a bit and suddenly it’s raw bacon of the sea. Since it IS fish, you have to be gentler with it than the pork.

Lightly grease a pan - since I have made salmon bacon before, I usually use leftover salmon bacon oil, but I did also once use avocado oil and that was good. My first time I didn’t pre-grease and that was a mistake. Use the pour a little oil in and then wipe around with a paper towel method, because there is LOTS of oil in the fish that you just need to give a sec to start coming out without just getting totally stuck to the pan.

When you cut your fish (it will come in a big slab; I am going to the store to get more shortly and will show you) squish it a little first to see which direction the flesh more readily expands, and cut against that. Cut it around twice as thick as thick American bacon, or about the same as non-American bacon. Once you have it in strips, cut those strips down to be no more than just a little longer than whatever your flipping utensil is.

Put the pan over medium-low heat and let it get nice and hot. Have your tools ready - I use a spatula (make sure it has a nice, thinly bevelled edge), usually something to kinda brace against like a flat or forked wangjangler or a closed tongs, and two plates - one with the salmon, one to accept bacon as it finishes.

While cooking, you have to be more gentle than with terrestrial meat. Some pieces will fall apart. This is just how it is; don’t feel bad. As soon as you get the salmon into the pan, start moving it so it doesn’t sear to the pan. Letting it sear on will make your life harder, because it is less tightly bound to itself. You’re also going to flip it twice as much as regular bacon, cooking both sides twice rather than once.

Cooking salmon you normally take it to a level of peachy pink. If you take salmon bacon to peachy pink a) it will just fall apart and b) people will be amazed that you managed to take brined flesh already renowned for being full of liquid and made it dry. No, no, you are taking the salmon right past peach and into tan or golden. The end stage of peach, when it’s simply looking like overcooked salmon, is the point at which you handle the first flips.

The second flips are kind of whenever. The only thing that isn’t more delicate in the process is how much to cook it. Pork belly bacon is good whether floppy or crispy, but salmon bacon absolutely must be crispy. So far I haven’t found an upper limit to crispiness, but I also have only been working on this since like Sunday, I think.

Anyway, when you pull the pieces out of the pan, they’ll have the consistency of good bacon - a little chewy and crispy, firm to touch. It’ll be pretty colours and taste good; set aside ones that fall apart for things you’d use crumbled bacon for if you like. I let the pan cool and then pour the salmon oil straight back into the container holding the rest of my uncooked salmon (I’m the only one eating it, so a slab of salmon lasts a few meals and I cook it at-need, because it is not nearly as good cold)

Here’s mine from this morning:

I ate it with a mashed avocado and some spinach. This is the crispiest batch I’ve made, and also the best and best-shaped. I had to hurry to class after, but tomorrow or maybe Monday I’ll likely experiment a little to see if I can get something like timing decided.

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friedchickenlover01 · 2 years ago

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GAHHHHH MABFKEIWGSBIFJD THANK U SO FUCKIN MUCH @fuhuaaaa ITS MY FIRST TIME BEING TAGGED!!!! <3

Relationship status:

Single AF, like ur fucker is introverted online as well, wtf did u expect ;-; but tbh dont wanna get into one tho, love me my space

Favourite colour(s):

yellow,

yellow, yellow, yellow, yellow, yellow

but hold up theres a reasoning for it, its bc yellow looks good no matter what kind of yellow it is like neon, pastel, fuckin brownish orangey yellow looks nice

Three favourite foods:

look at my name or blog and ull find out, its motherchicken ass nandos, especially their paella, a complete scam that u can make it a home but im a fool ig

The next one is probably ramen, like korean instant ramen, it can probably be even able to beat nandos but we’ll see.

Last but not least is……..

Fruits!

I love any kind of fruits and will probably eat only fruits if i could but especially apples top the list, theres nothing better than some hydrating, refreshing cold crunchy apples that just hits the spot for me.

Last song I listened to: The Duck Song - The Duck

What can i say? I had to listen to some good old lord’s choir.

Dream trip:

If we’re talkin abt countries than probably south korea, i just love the food man, but tbh i hate HATE packing and like all that stuff so probably a five star luxurious hotel which i could just spend all the money i wished and if i was VIP

Last thing(s) I googled:

Wrong Turn 5 : Bloodlines

Sucker and fan of horror movies, but too much of a scaredy cat for superstitious horror movies, idk, maybe its bc if i have a ghost cursing me than i have like no chance but i’ll probably traumatise it before with my search history lol

i can only handle like gore horror movies where like it has like the most gruesome murder scenes by a serial killer

Also didnt even end up watching the movie ( just like the million more horror movie on my watch list ), procrastination cock blocking me harder than fuckin king kong

Tagging: @gayometer @yanderemommabean @yandereaffections @lovelyyandereaddictionpoint @married-to-google-translater @another-yandere-writer @animeyanderelover @i-cant-sing @anxiousnerdwritings not mutuals but definitely would like to be and also am the biggest fan of them! <3 ( also never really actually approached them bc i was too shy tbh except gayometer )

thank u for the tag, @maddsmallow !!! KISS KISS

Rules: Tag 10 (or less) people you want to get to know better

relationship status: LOL

(ok but fr) i'm single, married to my work (GOOMT) and Silent Hill as a whole, it's true 😩😔 i'm not opposed to relationships, have been in them before, and would welcome one if the right person and right time were to wander over - but it really, really does have to be The Right Person, as i've discovered that i do Not play well with others for a prolonged period of time in my own space (i need my Alone Time, after all!! LOL), i get spooked easily when Deeper Feelings Happen, and, well. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ idk. i haven't been in the right mindstate for it during the past lump of years, but like i said, i'm open to it if the right person strikes, god willing. LOL

favorite color: vibrates intensely GREEN. GREEEENN GREEN GREEN GREEENNNSSs dark forest greens moss greens pastel greens some 70s olives greens but a lot of those PLS do not interact LOL. but i also lose MAD shit over pastels, purples, YELLOWS!!!!!!!! LOVE THAT BITCH and maroons (stop. do NOT look at me) and ofc. black. bc i grew up not only a theatre/musicals kid, but a New Age fuck (AND when Hot Topic was starting to pop up everywhere!! mall goth 4lyfe) and that piece of me has never died (LND especially don't interact). i'm all over the place, but have definitely grown a deeper and broader appreciation for pink within the last decade 🥺🥺🥺 pink my beloved (and P!nk too, just because <3) i'm so sorry i ever snubbed u 😩😔

song stuck in my head: AND WE'D BE ALLLLLLRIGHT! IF THE WIND WAS IN OUR SAILS

AND WE'D BE ALLLLLRIGHT! IF THE WIND WAS IN OUR SAILS

AND WE'D BE AALL-LL-LLLRIGHT! IF THE WIND WAS IN OUR SAILS

AND WE ALL HANG ON BEHIIIIIIIIND

(Roll The Old Chariot (sea shanty))

three favorite foods: fmxkghgh uhhhHHHHH. a bitch loves to eat, so. this is DEFINITELY kinda hard, LOL

i've got a MASSIVE sweet tooth so i rly do love my cakes (very particular and picky about pies tho, top faves are lemon meringue and classic apple (tho lately i've kinda been into cherry :3)), with faves being opera cake, gingerbread, red velvet, and this really fucking bomb-ass Chinese white cake with cream and strawberries in the middle. my parents would always order that cake for my birthday from an incredible place down in LA's Chinatown, and they even did my Bat-Mitzvah cake, too LOL. it was amazing. i'm absolutely fucking DYING to try a lot of the Korean and Japanese cakes i see in mukbangs (don't judge me), and especially the Castillo cake and also those cream waffles. the cream they use is very different and i'm just. absolutely chomping at the bit to try them (tho i know one of the common bakeries they go to for their videos has opened in Chicago tho the name slips my mind atm, but Anyway, i gotta go try it and Hopefully it'll be an Authentic Experience™️)

i'm an ENORMOUS fan of freeze-dried fruit, btw. Target sells these big bags of freeze-dried mangoes and i'm. yeah i just shove 'em into my face constantly LMAO

i also pretty much exist on energy drinks. yeah i take adderall XR at the highest dose they allow. And What About It

once upon a time tho i was really dallying with the idea of becoming a Food Blogger™️ and got SUPER into junk food review websites, but.. MAN. i got a LOT of complaints about that scene, lmao. but i also sure did know my protein bars!!! LOL. can u believe i used to be super fit?? well i'm working on that again, stay tuned

last song I listened to: Santiano (ft. Nathan Evans) (youtube link)

yes it's a sea shanty. .. look. ........ l-look-- LOOK I CAN EXPLAIN--

dream trip: chinhands. hard to say. i'd really like to travel, be Typical and want to go to see Paris and Ireland and Germany and yadda yadda. but i also really want to travel the US as well, i want to go up to Vermont and Maine and the Pacific Northwest (i am a deep forest fuck at heart), but i also........ want to head over to Ohio and see the holler of Knockemstiff. because i read Knockemstiff (Donald Ray Pollock) and it's actually, hands down full disclosure absolutely serious, my favorite book. (and it's a book i recommend but HIGHLY ALSO DON'T because of the content. there is a lot of content that could be triggering for many people, and it's extremely unapologetic and frank. don't even get me started on Donald Ray Pollock's work, we'll be here for 10 thousand years)

but yeah, i'd like to see Knockemstiff, lmao. i'd like to see a lot of places within the US before they're Gone.. if u get what i mean. :\

last thing(s) i googled: uhhh. well i had to search youtube for the two songs above LOL and i'm not sure that counts. uhhhhhhhhhh

oh: i searched "listed" for definition and usage because i was in the middle of writing GOOMT and i needed to know if i was using the appropriate version of "listed", which i apparently wasn't (despite all my time watching videos on the Titanic and other ships :\ bless my heart, LOL). so i went with "list".

.. yeah :3c!!!

THANKS AGAIN TO @maddsmallow FOR THE TAAAGGGG

now uhhhhh. fuck. this is seriously always the hardest part i ALWAYS end up going back to tag more people as i either see them in my notifs or remember. god bless this mess (me)

here we gooooo (obligatory U Don't Have To If U Don't Want To, Tho™️):

@agent-jaselin @bawnjourno @baronvonriktenstein @twinvictim @heather-garland @wishhouse-in-your-soul @acapelladitty @voiceboss @lycansoffspring @glittershvck @dinoswordsb @midnightsingvogel @birdiesbirdies @georgiespapers @mardotmov @magnolian-gold @apocokat @agdab @happyheidi @4toldbygyromancy @amandabe11man @heatherchasesyou @gilles-is-my-husband @vagabond-thulhu @evrart (absolutely hate you for snagging this honestly LOL the absolute fucking legend that you are) @teyvat-writer @storyweaverofgondor @dooderuvent @phantastus @okami-117 @mutodaes @slushieplanet @rkefiko @gilamasan @comicducky @patches998 @frogyjones-art @skywalkerangst @madamtrashbat @robotic-maid and uhhhhh others TBD bc brain :\

ok byee ilu byeeeee~ <3

#Spotify #duck…#friedchickenlover01 #godduckcult #nandoslover028 #anime #fanfic #mutuals

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distinguished-slacker · 3 years ago

Text

Manga colouring prayer post to see Mitsuba’s demon in the next arc cuz at this rate OnS will run out of arcs before the manga finishes 7^7 🙏🛐

#She protecc #She attacc #But most importantly #She deserves her screentime bacc #as I expected #handling cold colours is harder for me #I’m not very good at handling the blue colour and the cold tones in general #I need to practice on that #;-;#owari no seraph #seraph of the end #mitsuba sanguu #tenjiryū #slacky’s colouring #slacky’s art

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erinawritesheadcanons2 · 2 years ago

Note

Tfp Arcee romantic hc's with her little human S/O?

If not then I understand, have a good day/night!!!

Romantic headcanons of Arcee, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper with their little human S/O

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A/N: Hello there anon! I am sorry for the long reply to your request. As you can see, I have another account where I also write anime headcanons like this one with lots of requests (13 requests-) so I hope you understand why I late reply and as a bonus, I added Cliffjumper and Bumblebee.

Warning: None

Gender: Neutral

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Arcee

As an Autobot, I can see Arcee is still careful around you since she doesn't want to accidentally hurt you while. She's bigger than you after all. That's why she is very careful.

Hear me out. Even though she is an Autobot. She is still defensive with her feeling, even if you are smaller than her. You had to understand, that she looses all of her partners when she was in Cybertron.

During the war, Tailgate was killed by the hand of Airachnid and Cliffjumper was killed by Starscream. Because of that, this is why she tries to distance herself from anyone, she doesn't want to be attached and then ended up brokenhearted.

Because you are a human, she would be more twice protective over you and careful with her actions. She is still assertive, even more stern around you than around other Cybertronians but she means well.

Be patient and give her some space. She would open up on her own, do not force her to open up. Unlike Bumblebee or Cliffjumper, she prefers to internalize her feelings than show them.

Once you are over her cold stage, I can say everything will be worth it. Her cold personality is just a mask to cover up that she is very caring, especially to you who happened to be her human S/O.

Hear me out, I know Cybertronians don't have knowledge about humans so I can see Arcee is a bit stiff but when you are sick or injured because of Decepticons, she would try to take care of you by not letting you work too much.

She would also defend you when you are getting bullied by other humans but with a plan. Unlike Smokescreen, she isn't as brash as him but you can see from the scene of Jack Darby versus Vincent, that she would humiliate your bully in the smartest way.

Ⰶ║ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ║Ⰶ

As she speeds up, there are two Vehicons chasing behind the two of you with their guns pointed at you and Arcee. This is your daily occurrence after joining as Autobot to help them protect the earth from Decepticons. Nevertheless, it still scares you knowing Decepticons still going to hurt any creatures that are weaker than them, including you.

To protect yourself as you join Autobot, you would never forget to bring a gun with you inside of your pocket. Carefully pulling it out, you pulled the trigger as the hole of the gun faced the violet coloured cars. Even though it did;t do much like you hope, it was at least helping you a little bit because the Vehicons would dodge as they were distracted and their laser would miss.

"Thanks, (Y/N). Now hold on tight, Ratchet is going to send us a ground bridge over there,' Arcee says.

You nod softly as you hold the handle of the motorcycle harder and get ready. In front of you, there was a tall wall that are blocking the position of the ground bridge. As she was getting faster, there were shotgun and laser sounds shooting near her.

"HANG ON!" Arcee screams.

As she was getting faster, there are enormous ramps on the corner and the motorcycle sped off, flying into the air as the ground bridge appear on the back. Seeing the laser almost hit you, she transformed herself before gently holding you into her chest and using her arm as a protection for you while she was shooting the Vehicons and getting inside the bridge before it disappears.

Ⰶ║ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ║Ⰶ

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❀

Bumblebee

As one of the youngest members of Autobot, Bumblebee is playful or childlike yet mature. Having him as your romantic is like a mixture of comfort but also intense.

He is fun, friendly, caring, and one of the most outgoing Autobot other than Wheeljack, Bulkhead, Cliffjumper and Smokescreen. He would make your day full of fun.

He would be likely to ask you to play games together with you as the two of you compete who is the best racer in a racing car game, there would be a few time he would cheat in front of your eyes.

When you lose, BUmblebee going to tease you but if you win against him, he would playfully sulk and pout. He's not really angry or sour if he loses, to be honest, he's acting like that just to be playful.

Just like Arcee, he is going to be protective of you especially if you are his human S/O but unlike Arcee, he would still let you do your own thing but would not let you follow his mission.

Would kiss the top of your head when no one is looking and chuckle when you are getting embarrassed. Bumblebee is very affectionate so I can see him being cuddly but careful not to squish you.

Would cradle you in his arms carefully and not drop you since you are just a human being. Unlike Smokescreen, he can be very careful when handling humans.

Bumblebee would be one of the sweetest Autobot for a human S/O. Not only he is open-minded and less judgemental, but he would also make sure that you are fine every day without making you feel uncomfortable or awkward.

Ⰶ║ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ║Ⰶ

In the middle of the desert, you were sitting inside of Bumblebee as a cable data connected to the screen in front of you. A two chored race car driving side by side inside of the screen as the car trying to win the race. Unknownbeast to you, you are competing with one of the cheekiest race car players in the Cybertron.

"YES! YES! I'm Getting Close! You jumped on the sit, cheering up when you see the finish line of the racing car game. Not wanting to lose you, Bumblebee made a banana peeling appear in front of your car, making your chosen car slip and hit the side of the lines, causing your car to slow down.

Seeing this, your mouth gaping open and looking at the screen as the title of the game shows that Bee won the game, "AWWW, C'MON! I WAS CLOSE!" You groaned, crossing both of your arms and pouting.

"But still loose~" Bee chirped teasingly.

"Hahaha, that was not fair, Bee. You made me slip and hit the corner by the banana peel. You're lucky I love you or I would tell Arcee that you made me miss," you laughed.

"Love you too babe," He softly whispers.

Ⰶ║ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ║Ⰶ

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❀

Cliffjumper

I am gonna say this, as his S/O especially since you are human. I can see your relationship as a roller coaster, super intense. His personality is low key like Wheeljack but if Wheeljack is planned beforehand, he's not.

Protective but he is the least protective among Autobots. I can see him letting you join his mission but his eyes would be always on you so no Cons going to hurt you.

Affectionate, I can see Cliffjumper as one of the most affectionate Autobot. He would kiss the top of your head teasingly just to fluster you when you are distracted. He would also cradle you since you are his s/o in his arms.

Cliffjumper likes to tease you a lot, purposely flirting with you when no one is looking. Even if he got caught, especially by Bee or Ratchet, he would ignore them.

Since you are dating him, I can see him bringing you around some places that haven't been reached by other humans and showing beautiful sights.

As you watch the scenery together with him, he would gently place you on top of a tree branch so you can see the total view of the sky and talk together with him.

There would be a time he would prank you on purpose by acting as if he would leave you on the three and not come back just to see your scared reaction if you cannot go down before coming back and laughing his ass off.

Would laugh harder if you ended up pouting and sulking, would apologize when you gave him a silent treatment but that doesn't mean he is sorry at all, he would do it again.

Ⰶ║ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ║Ⰶ

Sitting on Cliffjumper's head, the two of you are throwing jokes to each other, mostly it was a horrible pun but it was so bad that it was very funny "A man got hit in the head with a can of Coke. The man said, 'Thank Goodness it was a soft drink" you winked at the red Autobot.

Even though it was stupid, the red horned Autobot couldn't help but snort and laughed while he was walking on your side, careful not to step on you since you're smaller than him, "HAHAHA! That was one of the stupidest jokes I ever heard, but still hilarious," the male said, wiping a fake Energon from his optics.

"I know right!" You chuckle and roll your eyes.

After those words left your mouth, everything suddenly went silent but it wasn't a typical awkward kind of silence but rather the one that sent a comforting silence where the two of you enjoy each other company.

As the two of you see the sunset going down, the red horned Autobot had an idea before his optics moved toward your tiny from, "Hey Babe, wanna see the sunset from the tree? The sight is more clear," Cliff offers.

"Sure," You smile

Cliffjumper's hands gently placed on the ground, letting you sit on top of his hand and carefully picking you up in his palm. The gentle Autobot carefully places you gently on the strongest tree branch. You couldn't;t help but internally thank the gigantic robot for letting you see the first time of beautiful sight the sun setting down.

Ⰶ║ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ║Ⰶ

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❀

#Transformer #transformer prime #transformer prime imagines #transformer prime headcanons #transformer prime scenario #tfp scenarios #tfp imagines #tfp headcanons #tfp x reader #tfp arcee #arcee x reader #tfp bumblebee #bumblebee x reader #tfp cliffjumper #cliffjumper x reader #arcee #bumblebee #cliffjumper #tfp fluff

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fanfic-gallery · 3 years ago

Text

In your dreams

✎ Kuroo x Reader

✎ Mid terms were killing you, your brain couldn't function, lucky for you, your boyfriend has a plan to help you

✎ Tags: fluff, crack, gn! reader

: ̗̀➛ Manager/Author's note: My exams have already started- and I'm not in the mood to study sooooo ://

"Oh oh! Hydrogen bubbles will form!"

"Bubu, wrong ~ try again," You huffed as you watched Kuroo snicker, munching away at the pocky you were dying to taste.

You've been nothing but declining in your studies, heart sinking everytime you looked at the red stained paper, face scrunch up distinctly remember you had memorized that answer correctly. You were one to carve study materials into your brain, staying up super super late to prepare for your tests everytime.

Kuroo, on the other hand, is a literal genius. You wonder how this guy acts like an idiot half the time but still passes all his subjects with flying colours. He isn't even fazed, if you were him, you would be jumping up and down like a rabbit if you were scoring A after A on papers.

The worst part, the constant teasing with him. "Awww, you got a D again, Chibi-chan? Too bad~ I guess work harder next time~" If he weren't so special to you, you would have sent this man to the hospital with broken ribs. That smug smirk, lingering tone poking at you made you boil in annoyance.

Even though he does make fun of you, Kuroo doesn't like to see you frown, the sadness swirling in your eyes as you stared at the 53 in the red circle. It stings at his heart, so when he came to you with an offer and you cheerfully agreed, he couldn't help but grin. The sparkle in your eye, the smile you held, boy did it tug at his heart strings.

"Alright, here's some test notes, from yours truly. Give it a look and I repeat- NO memorizing, try to understand the material, not shoving the information into your head. I'll be right back." Kuroo stepped out, leaving you to your own devices. The neatly written notes in your hand, eyes trailing over the letters and numbers.

ᴀᴛ ᴄᴀᴛʜᴏᴅᴇ, sᴏᴅɪᴜᴍ ᴡɪʟʟ ғᴏʀᴍ ᴀs ɪᴛ's ɪɴ ᴍᴏʟᴛᴇɴ ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴏᴛ sᴏʟᴜᴛɪᴏɴ

His handwriting is.. hella pretty— it looked like a hot mess from a distant, but looking at it closely, it looks clean and crisp.

"Ahem, you look way more invested in something other than the study guide, care to share to the class, Chibi-chan~?" You squeaked, turning to see a smirking Kuroo, his arms full of small colourful boxes. His leg pushed back, closing the door with a click before he walks back to his spot.

"hA- what do you mean, I was reading about the cat-something something, yeah that one!" You stumbled, sweat forming faster than air meeting an ice cold glass.

"Sureee, like I'd believe a munchkin like you~" Kuroo snickered again, his index and thumb reaching for you cheek, giving it a little tug. You growled like a pup making the male crackle more.

"Anyways, what are the boxes for?" You shrug his hand off, turning towards the piles of boxes he brought in.

"Well, I heard you have an obsession with these things.. sooo, let's make it a game! For every question you get right, you get one~" Kuroo cracked one box open, pulling at the package before taking a pocky out of the bag.

"Aaaaah! I've craving some recently, especially this favour!" Your mouth started subconsciously drooling a little as you tried to reach for the warping of biscuits from Kuroo's hand, who coughed, moving his hand away, leaning his face further towards yours.

"BUT! If you get it wrong, you get to watch me eat one, how does that sound~? You swear you had saw this coming, it's always a twist with this sly cat. You pouted, cheeks puffing up, your nose wrinkled at the idea. The offer was tempting, but was torment by watching your boyfriend snacking at your favourite treat while laughing at you worth the risk. You bet it was.

"Challenge accepted!" Kuroo smiled brighter, your determination to win lingering at him.

"You are so on~"

—————————

"Copper!"

"Heh, fine, you win this one," You snatched the pocky Kuroo was about to handle to you. It's been an one hour or so since you played along this little game with Kuroo. Not to toot your own horn, but you were pretty confident, you haven't gotten one wrong for quite a while now. You were so sure you were on a roll today.

"Ooh, this is a tricky one, what's the Avogadro Constant?"

"Eh- erm.. wait- was that even in the notes???"

"Mhm~" You swayed, index pressed to your temples as Kuroo slowly started giggling.

"Er... a constant change in reaction?"

"Aaaaand you're... WRONG!"

You winced while Kuroo howled like a hyena. Eyes darted sideways, pink staining your cheeks. Attention drawn back when the feeling of pocky tapped at your bottom lip.

"Open up, Chibi-chan~" Kuroo hummed, dragging the biscuit along the muscle like a paintbrush on a canvas. Eyebrow rose in confusion, lips parting for the stick like treat to be place between them.

"Don't bite it, okay? Don't you dare flinch either~" Glare sinking into your features, knowing him, he was just trying to torture you slower than the last time.

But what he did next.. was not what you expected—

Head leaning in, canine teeth nibbling the pocky between his lips, slow and steady moving towards your end of the snack. Eyes stared into playful hazel eyes, cheeks glowing redder with every inch he draws closer. Eyelids squeezing shut, ready for the soft colliding of his lips with yours as the his breath tickles at your skin.

Nothing.

You snap back, seeing nothing but a whizzing Kuroo who was still chewing at the pocky.

"YOU LITTLE—"

"HAHAHAH, YOU GOT THE QUESTION WRONG, YOU REALLY THOUGHT I WOULD—" A pillow was sent flying, it's marshmallowy filling hitting his cheek with a strong enough force to make him cough up.

"I'll show you.. "

"Total worth it.. "

#haikyuu #haikyuu!!#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x y/n #haikyuu x you #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu crack #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu imagines #kuroo testuro #haikyuu kuroo #kuroo x reader #kuroo x you #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo x y/n

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love-toxin · 3 years ago

Text

plagas; leon.

a/n: in the midst of some writer’s block i stumbled upon an old concept i never finished. enjoy some good ol’ plaga leon <3

warnings: parasitic possession, yandere leon, female reader, violence, blood, groping, leon’s teasing is just straight up bullying, pet names, almost noncon, slight boot kink, chasing.

word count: 1.9k

“Leon..?”

The sun had set on your terrifying journey, and cast a shadow over the room you'd found yourself trapped inside. Not by locks this time, or villagers, or Saddler himself...but by the person you had trusted throughout this entire nightmare. The man that had saved your life stood between you and your only way out, and even then, you doubted that you'd be able to escape if you managed to slip past him. The road home was so long and the stifling, smothering Spanish heat had made way for a chilling cold that breezed through your body in the night and froze you to your spot.

And Leon was gone. His mind and body had succumbed to the disease he'd been injected with, the parasite that he'd protected you from...but instead of saving you, now all you felt was panic, fear, and dread when you looked into his eyes.

“You can’t suck the poison out of this wound, sweetheart...but I won’t stop you if you wanna give it a try.”

Leon took slow steps around you, his footsteps echoing in the marble hall of the castle as he eyed you up like you were his prey, while his fingers spasmed and twitched at his sides, like they were itching to either grab you or wrap themselves tightly around your throat. So much had happened since he'd rescued you from the farmhouse, and reassured you with infectious confidence that everything would be okay. It felt like a lifetime that you'd known him, even if in reality you'd only spent less than a day together--but running and hiding and waiting for Leon to dispatch any threats made the hours seem so long and torturous. You prayed for his safety at every turn, and felt terror grip your heart as you waited for him to come back and retrieve you from hiding…

And now you were here.

"Saddler wants me to kill you, you're not worth the hassle to him. But to me...you're my treasure. Mine."

The way that word rolled off his tongue sounded like an echo in your brain. He said it once before, and it stuck with you awhile--but hearing him say it now was like having it permanently seared into your head.

It wasn’t a secret anymore. You’d fallen in love with Leon, as so many had before. You fell for his confidence, his strength, his effortless teasing and sincere concern for your safety, and maybe it was all just backed by your appreciation for him saving your life and playing the hero so well. But even if it was temporary, you were in love and you wanted him to survive just as much as he wanted to save you, and even if he succeeded and brought you home just for you to never see each other again, there would always be a part of you that loved him, and you had accepted that fact.

But things had changed. Seeing Leon no longer filled you with relief and happiness, that smug grin on his lips as he greeted you after fighting off monsters you could only imagine in nightmares. He took a step towards you, and this time you took a huge one back--and he chuckled, his tone dark and biting, before continuing on and piercing through you with blood-coloured irises.

"I found you, I get to keep you. Finders keepers, huh sweetheart? That's fair, isn't it?"

His gaze held nothing less than a deep, ravenous hunger within him, the unsettling smirk on his face in no way easing that tension that weighed heavily on your mind.

“Maybe I’m just a monster, now...if I am, then so be it. If being a monster means seeing that look on your face forever, then I gotta say, it feels pretty damn good!”

"Y-You're not Leon!"

His shoulders suddenly tensed like he was about to lunge for you, but letting him have the upper hand would mean the end for you. You knew that fact so well that you acted on instinct, and unsheathed the knife whose handle you'd been stealthily gripping this whole time, to stab it into the eye of the man you wished you could have a life with. And you missed, the realization both relieving and terrifying, as the blade clanged and stuck into the wall behind him and barely clipped a few strands of his light-coloured hair.

"Is this my knife? Now that's pretty cute,"

A shudder violently wracked your body as Leon's tongue slipped past his lips, and he turned his head to lick a slow stripe up the gleaming, bloodstained blade. He'd ended plenty of lives with that thing, but it seemed as though his own had yet to be one of them.

"I've played the hero long enough. I want a reward for all my hard work...I want you."

His hand crept up your waist before you could react to it, rough fingers spreading warmth through your stomach as they grazed the exposed skin of your hip. But once you tried to break away from the touch you wished you didn't crave more of, his other hand shot out to grab you by the waist and keep you pressed uncomfortably close to his body, so close that your lips were mere centimeters from his neck and breathing in gave you a good whiff of that faint scent of cologne that still lingered on his skin.

"Don't fight me, pet. I can already hear you crying for me to use you...you know, you're so cute when you're scared."

You squirmed even still, thrashing and shoving against his chest to try and find some way to twist out of his hold--but moving him was like trying to push a brick wall, and his grip on you got tighter and tighter until you whimpered with pain. The things he was saying just didn't make any sense, and you never wanted the real Leon more than you did in this moment. Knowing what it felt like to have his strength used against you instead of to protect you...it was becoming too much to bear, and in your terror you found comfort in Leon's touch again even if it was brief, his thumbs rubbing circles into your skin and working to relax you enough that you weren't so tense.

"You're gonna forget all about that fear when I'm balls deep inside you."

What little comfort you found was gone once he whispered that into your ear. You felt your eyes widen and Leon's fingers worked their way under the waist of your shorts in a moment, the danger so imminent that your reaction ripped itself from your throat in a scream, and you returned to struggling against the unmistakable stiffness that dug into your inner thigh through his tight pants.

"Leon, stop!"

You wailed, beating your fist against his chest and even catching him in the jaw, not that you really noticed in your frenzy nor did he react save for his brow furrowing in fury. It didn't last forever though, it was easy for him to use his leverage to shove you off, your back hitting the ground hard enough to sting while he loomed over you and watched with sick glee as you trembled too hard to get up.

"You don't want me to stop. Be honest, doll."

You weren't expecting this kind of violence from him, especially not when he brought his foot down right between your legs, as was evident by the way you shrieked and tears pricked at your eyes at once. Somehow he managed to aim the heel of his boot right at your clit, and you were certain now that it was by no way an accident by the way he ground into it in slow circles, and watched with a smirk as your hips shakily followed his rhythm of their own volition.

"You want me to take everything from you, and I swear to you I will. I'll strip you of every inch of your pathetic life and make you mine."

The pressure was starting to hurt, and your arms shot out to grab his calf and try in vain to wrench him off of your sensitive areas. It seemed to just entertain him, however, and his taunts were starting to sting your broken heart even more than any physical pain he had inflicted. Even worse was watching him lick his lips as he reveled in your suffering, and one of his hands descended beneath the belt of his trousers to stroke himself under the tent that was so clearly obvious. He loved watching you in pain, and nothing but rage bubbled up in your chest from the humiliation of loving somebody so depraved, even if he wasn't really Leon anymore.

"I hate you,"

You muttered through gritted teeth, trying so hard to hold back your tears that your whole body was shaking. He let slip a soft moan as he twisted his grip on his cock, and didn't stop even as he focused those bloodred eyes on yours and growled in time with an especially rough tug.

"Liar."

Leon's grip fastened on your shoulder, but instead of pushing you back down to the filthy ground, he yanked you forwards and crushed your lips against his. Nothing but heat and the scent of blood overwhelmed your senses, your eyes fluttering closed when he started sucking on your lower lip and grazing it with his teeth. You wanted to hate the shivers that snaked up and down your spine from his kiss, but when it was from the man you still loved, it was difficult to brush those feelings aside. It wasn't impossible, however, because when he prodded past your lips with his tongue and moved in close enough for you to feel his cock twitching through his pants, panic flared up in your throat and you bit down on instinct, the coppery tang of his blood flooding your mouth at once. Leon shoved you off him much harder this time, but with the pain causing him to stagger you managed to scramble to your feet and back away a few steps to get some distance. But the fear of turning your back to him kept you frozen in place.

"You wanna be a brat, huh?"

Despite inflicting some much deserved pain, his glare barely wavered as he pulled his hand from his pants and wiped the blood that dribbled from his mouth, eyes gleaming with a lust for violence that you feared right now more than ever.

"I'll let you have a ten second head start then, sweetheart. Better hurry."

You hesitated, his offer confusing you for a moment, but once the realization dawned on you your feet moved on their own. Sore and stained with tears and blood, you tore off down the castle corridors to search for an escape, and if not, then just a place for you to hide until Leon gave up on you, which would never happen. The thought of monsters barely dwelled in your mind when the most dangerous one was Leon himself, but little did you know that it would only take a short while for you to realize how fragile you really were when he wasn't protecting you, and that escaping without him was just simply not possible.

"...Cheeky little slut. Let's just see how far you get before you come crawling back to me."

#yandere leon kennedy #yandere leon kennedy x reader #yandere leon x reader #leon kennedy x reader #yandere lemon #yandere resident evil #resident evil #resident evil 4 #love-toxin #1k

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