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jazlynriddle · 1 month ago

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Welcome to your life - Pt 3:

It's My Own Design Ch 12:

Summary:

Ominis fought to control his expression, to keep his hands from trembling. Five years. Five years since he'd seen his parents, and this. This was the reason they'd given him the honour of their time? This was the reason they'd sought him out at Hogwarts?

The bitterness welling up within him was thick enough to gag on.

New year, new allies, new responsibilities, new avenues of revenue, and new aspects of their own Ancient Magic to explore. As the Keeper and their partners enter their last year at Hogwarts, it remains to be seen if the new school year will bring with it new problems or adversaries, but they are confident in the strength of their relationship with Sebastian and Ominis. The three of them would endure, no matter what befell them.

And if they were wrong?

What a joke, they would suffer no alternative.

Warnings: Sebastian x MC x Ominis! Drug Addiction! Spoilers! Slow-burn corruption! Dark content! Fucked up 1800s orphanages! MC has no love for Anne or Solomon! Dubious happy ending (it's happy for MC, Seb and Ominis at least).

You can also read on AO3! (chapter specific warnings below)

Notes:

Warnings: None, actually lol this chapter is pretty wholesome xD

Holy shit, this chapter is like 10k words in total. Why do my chapters keep getting longer? I tried to cut it, but the chapter refused to be split up, so you guys get an extra long chapter, enjoy! ♡

Why do I do this to myself-

Though, my partner is going overseas for a week in a few days, so I'll try my best to get the next chapter out on schedule, but I miiiiight have to skip an upload again, because they are my muse and I can't write without them, I'll have to see how much we can clear before their trip x')

But, yay! More making up magic stuff, I always like doing that =D

Also, I highly recommend listening to the track ‘Forbidden Friendship’ from the movie How to Train Your Dragon (god I love that franchise, the old TV series were great too. Hate the third movie and its subsequent stuff though) during the fourth segment of the chapter!

I was listening to the track while writing it and I think it goes quite well! ^_^

“I'm Ranrok's uncle.”

The Keeper tensed immediately and Borgok gave a deep laugh, raising his hands and revealing palms decorated with callouses, as he bared his teeth in a sharp grin. “Peace child, I have no quarrel with you.”

“In fact, I am... grateful for what you did.” He lowered his hands to rest on the table once more with a sigh, his expression pensive and sober. “Killing Lodgok showed us all that Ranrok had lost his purpose. His lofty goal of elevating our people giving way to pure lust for war and death.”

At his words, the Keeper relaxed. While they didn't necessarily believe him, yet, it would be better to give him the impression that they did. “You don't share the same desires that he had? For goblin supremacy.”

“I did... for some time, even served as one of Ranrok's Loyalists. But now… Now, I'd just like to be regarded by humans as equals, and for them to respect our customs. That would be enough for me.” A wistful smile formed on his wrinkled face. “Lodgok shared similar sentiments with me, before his passing... he trained under me and to lose the lad, to our own family, not even to a human...”

Borgok heaved a pained sigh.

“I see.” The Keeper nodded slowly, an unsurprising sentiment, but that still didn't explain what the goblin wanted from them. “You have my condolences. Lodgok was a dear friend to me, but your grief must surely be deeper, for he was family.”

“Thank you.” Borgok returned that slow nod with an equally solemn lowering of his head. “Losing the boy, after all the years I spent training him in the art of crafting... I suppose you could say it taught me the weariness of war.”

A wry smile formed on Borgok's lips. “Lodgok spoke well of you, before he was murdered. A human who was both strong and noble, one who looked at him as an equal rather than a lesser. A person he trusted.”

The Keeper felt a deep pang of guilt in their chest as he spoke, recalling the mournful manner in which their goblin friend had spoken his last words.

I was bringing it to you.

The regret they'd felt was beyond description, when they were forced to leave Lodgok's body behind and escape the collapsing mine, blasts of red and black slamming into the crumbling floor and walls as they fled. The knowledge that he’d died trying to get information for them haunting their steps.

“Which brings me to the topic I wished to discuss with you.” Borgok's eyes met the Keeper's as he spoke. “I am no warrior. I'm a metalsmith, and when I served in Ranrok's army, I lent him my hammer, crafted weapons and tools for him. In the wake of Ranrok's failures, I no longer wished to craft the tools of death and so I have lent my skill to another.”

To another, the Keeper's eyes narrowed.

“For many centuries, we've attempted to fight for equality. Hundreds of rebellions and decades of war, yet we have made no progress, only served to deepen wizardkind's hatred for us.” Borgok shook his head, his expression changing to one of resolve and determination. “As such, the wiser of our kind have set their sights on economic victory instead. We shall make ourselves indispensable to wizardkind, that they may come to need us, to rely upon us. Perhaps then, we will have equality.”

The Keeper's eyebrows rose.

“It is the harder path, the slower and less satisfying one. So, naturally, there are those who are impatient and angry, like Ranrok was, my foolish nephew.” Borgok shook his head once more. “I would ask that you help me quell one such rising rebellion leader. Lest he successfully start a war with the wizarding world and throw us back into the cycle of blood and death, setting us back in our economic progress.”

The Keeper hummed thoughtfully, well, that was quite an ask. “I see where you're coming from and you have my sympathy, but this is no small request. What makes you think I can even do anything about him?”

Borgok chuckled knowingly. “Your reputation precedes you, child. I know full well how powerful you are, the armour I craft are not cheap tin. Yet the rare few that made it back from an encounter with you bore such grievous injury, as though they’d worn mere parchment into battle.”

The Keeper couldn't quite suppress their grin at his words. “Fair enough, still, I would be taking on extreme risk by aiding you. Ranrok was after both my life and property, so I had no choice but to engage him. I bear no such obligation here, if you want my assistance, you will need to make it worth the danger.”

The goblin nodded. “That is reasonable, what might you desire as compensation then?”

The Keeper folded their arms, that was a good question.

Seeing their indecision, Borgok smiled. “Tell you what, as a token of goodwill, I'll gift you something to sweeten the deal. Opportunity.”

The Keeper cocked an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“This pub is more than a mere gathering place.” Borgok elaborated, gesturing towards the bar where a tall elder gentleman was wiping a glass with some cloth. “That there, is the owner of this establishment. Order a glass of Strawberry Milk with a Shot of Brandy and a Cinnamon Stick. And then ask him for Borgok's bounty request and tell him I'm open for green.”

The Keeper glanced at the bar. Bounty request. That meant that this bar was a place one could put out bounties, a prickle of excitement crept up their spine, and take them. A source of freelance work. They were already taking requests in and around Hogwarts, but the kind of work for bounty hunters would surely be more lucrative than what children and villagers had to offer.

Albeit likely more dangerous too, but still.

“Alright.” The Keeper gave him a nod and stood.

Borgok waved a hand leisurely as they left the table. “Take your time.”

Striding over to the bar, the Keeper slid onto a barstool and the bartender moved over to attend them, setting down the glass he'd been cleaning.

The aged man had neatly combed back white hair, and curious black eyes that examined them from behind a tiny pair of round spectacles as he approached. He wore a simple but elegant suit that didn't quite disguise the powerful build beneath it, with an apron around his waist and a pair of white gloves.

His voice was deep and gravelly, as he greeted them with a polite smile. “Good evening, what can I get you?”

“Strawberry Milk with a Shot of Brandy and a Cinnamon Stick.” The Keeper replied curtly, restraining their excitement with some difficulty.

“Welcome to the Phantom Mercenaries, it's been a while since we've had a new face seeking to join our guild.” The bartender hummed, his expression unreadable as he began mixing, assumably, the requested drink. By hand, to their surprise, asking casually. “I couldn’t help but notice that you weren't affected by my waitress’ Veela charm. You don’t look quite that young. I take it you're only attracted to specific people or men exclusively?”

“I fail to see how that's any of your business.” The Keeper replied evenly. So, that woman was a creature. That explained the shock when her advances failed to garner a response from them.

The bartender chuckled. “Strictly-business sort, I see. Very well then. Any preferences for bounty types?”

“Not particularly, but for starters, I'm interested in taking Borgok's bounty request. He's open for green.” The Keeper answered smoothly, and the man's hands stilled.

Frowning at them, the bartender set down his shaker. “Is that so... look, kid. Eight Hunters have already attempted that job. Two of them abandoned the bounty after sustaining severe injury and the rest simply never returned for their check-ins. It's not a job I'd recommend for a fresh-faced greenie's first run.”

The Keeper bristled. “I'll be the judge of that, thanks.”

The man shrugged, picking his shaker up and continuing his mixing. “Sure, don't take it personally kid, it's just my duty to warn you.”

The Keeper frowned in confusion at his sudden change of tone.

“Glacius.” He muttered, flashing them a grin as he placed a tall sling glass of pale pink liquid before them, wisps of cold steam wafting from its rim. “A kid who survived having a bounty on their head for a year doesn't need my protection.”

“I had a bounty on me?” The Keeper frowned down at the drink suspiciously and the elder man chuckled.

“Rookwood placed one on you. It was lifted when you killed him, of course. But the number of Hunters that died in the attempts dissuaded others rather quickly.” The bartender explained, before nodding at the drink. “Don't worry, kid. It's not what you ordered, just a strawberry milk mocktail. Wouldn’t want you doing business with a foggy head, might find yourself bartering away your soul.”

The Keeper raised an eyebrow at the man, and he chuckled again. “I guess that paranoia is how you survived.”

With that, the man took a spoon, stirred the drink, scooped some, poured it into his mouth and swallowed. “There, it's not poisoned. I look forward to working with you.”

Tipping their head in gratitude, the Keeper lifted the glass and took a sip, drinking carefully to avoid accidentally swallowing the Mandrake leaf under their tongue.

In truth, they'd never had strawberry milk before, let alone in a mocktail with other fruits, but it was surprisingly pleasant, perhaps a little sweet for their taste, the cinnamon stick was an interesting touch too. More importantly, it was nice that the man didn't seem to take offence at their suspicion, they had a feeling they would fit in well here.

“A lot of the Hunters that took the bounty for you worked with Rookwood to track you down.” The bartender continued, stooping to rummage through the shelves under the counter. “We've got a decent network, but most wouldn't turn down the far reach of the Rookwood Gang's arm.”

That reminded the Keeper of the occasions that they would come across what they'd thought were Ashwinders or Poachers travelling in pairs or alone. Perhaps those were actually bounty hunting Mercenaries all along.

“Aha, here we go.” The bartender straightened with a scroll in his hands, which he presented to the Keeper. “Here's the contract for Borgok's bounty, you're welcome to give it a read.”

Taking the scroll from him, the Keeper unrolled it and examined its contents. Upon the parchment was the image of a goblin, along with his name, Gnarlak, apparently. With the promise of a reward that was open to negotiation scribbled beneath the portrait.

The Keeper frowned, well that wasn't much to go on.

“That's why it's not recommended for greenies.” The bartender chuckled wryly. “Borgok knows very little of that goblin's whereabouts. So, you'll have to do much of the investigation yourself, on top of infiltration and assassination.”

“And you?” The Keeper asked, rolling up the parchment once more and returning it, before picking up their glass again. “Anything you can share about Gnarlak or Borgok?”

The bartender gave a thoughtful hum, idly taking up another glass and beginning to clean it with a cloth. “Borgok's one of the finest metalsmiths amongst the goblins, I heard that Gnarlak tried to recruit him, but Borgok refused, took up work for Gringotts’ instead, it seems.”

The Keeper nodded, Borgok had spoken of economic warfare, so that tracked. Hang on, if Borgok had done metalsmithing for Ranrok, that meant...

“Gnarlak’s an odd one, he was one of Ranrok's commanders and, word on the street is that he was holding a candle for the late rebellion leader. It's only been two years but he's a bit of a rising star, picked up both the remains of Ranrok's Loyalists, and the goblins who were disappointed with Ranrok.” The man paused thoughtfully for a moment.

“Honestly, it's not surprising that Borgok wants him dead, the kill and death rates for Gnarlak’s Loyalists are absurdly high. And the goblin has fast gained a reputation for being a callous commander. It's a wonder why his men seem so loyal and willing to follow him.” The bartender shrugged. “That's about all I've got. The rest you'll need to scrounge up on your own.”

Great, relying on gossip as always.

“I see, thanks.” The Keeper sighed internally and looked down, finding their glass to be almost empty. When did that happen?

“Still keen on taking the job?” The bartender asked. “Over here, most requesters aren't willing to take a greenie with no jobs under their belt. Each failed attempt costs time and makes the target more aware that they're being targeted, lowering the rate of success.”

The elder man began cleaning the shaker, again by hand. Maybe he was bored or something. “So, if you clear this one, you won't have to wait for another requester who's open for greens. But considering the difficulty of this one and your lack of experience, it might be wiser to wait.”

A smirk lifted the corner of the bartender's mouth. “After all, fighting off attackers isn't quite the same as tracking prey.”

The Keeper snorted, finished off the last of their glass, and stood. “I'm a quick learner.”

“Come back with Borgok when you've completed negotiations then.” The bartender chuckled, collecting their empty glass and began cleaning it as the Keeper returned to the table where Borgok still sat, drinking from their untouched mug of water.

“That's fifty galleons, my friend.” The Keeper quipped as they retook their seat.

“They can put it on my tab.” Borgok gave them a deep chuckle in response. “So, what do you say?”

“I'm keen.” The Keeper smirked.

“Excellent.” Borgok grinned. “The look in your eyes tells me you have found something you want from me.”

“Indeed, I have.” The Keeper nodded. “You did metalsmithing for Ranrok, and if I'm not wrong, that means you made collars and armlets of goblin silver for him.”

Borgok's bushy eyebrows rose high on his forehead. “That I did. However, I do not know how Ranrok infused them with power. He never shared that much with me.”

“That's quite alright.” The Keeper shook their head. “I'd simply like you to make those for me.”

“Exactly what use might you have for a dragon collar?” The goblin tilted his head in confusion. “Surely you don't have a dragon.”

“I don't want collars for dragons.” The Keeper grimaced, recalling the dragon that had been forced to attack their carriage on the way to Hogwarts. They would never place such a thing on the Hebridean Black’s child. “I want collars of the same design. But sized for human necks.”

Borgok's eyes widened, and he frowned deeply. “I'm not sure I want to know what you want with such a thing.”

“You don't.” The Keeper supplied. “I'll even pay you for the cost of crafting them and arrange for them to be returned to you upon my death.”

Borgok's eyebrows went right back up. “On top of fulfilling my bounty request?”

“Yes.” The Keeper nodded.

The goblin folded his arms and leaned back in his seat in thought. This was an incredibly good deal for him, he couldn’t possibly turn it down, this the Keeper was certain of. Well, from a profit standpoint at least.

“They're made from goblin silver, you do realise how costly they will be to craft?” Borgok finally asked.

“I am aware.” The Keeper nodded.

However, if they managed to sell the dragon parts, they'd be doing well financially for a while. Not to mention, Penny's work in Hogsmeade and any bounties they cleared would help lighten the load too. Assuming they managed to clear Borgok's of course.

“...how many do you think you'll want?” Borgok asked somewhat grudgingly.

“Two... for now. Along with a single armlet.” The Keeper replied thoughtfully. “And, if you're amenable, I would also come to you for other constructs I need made from goblin silver, I have need of a cauldron as well.”

Borgok's expression was pinched for several minutes, and they decided to remind him how much he needed them. Hey, he was the one talking about making the goblins indispensable to wizardkind for leverage, they were just doing the same.

“I wouldn't mind helping you to suppress aggressive goblin rebellion leaders in the future as well, of course. I care as much as you do about ensuring that Lodgok's sacrifice, in the name of peaceful protest, goes well.” They offered, and honestly, they meant it too.

Lodgok was the first person to give their life for the Keeper. They had never wanted to undo something quite as much as they had in that moment. They'd never screamed no in denial with as much desperation, as they had when his body broke against the rocks, not even when they were first forced to their knees on cold stone.

The Keeper had been utterly unprepared for how loss would feel. They, who had had next to nothing for so long. A disgusting sensation that they had been forced to feel again and again since then. One they knew would attempt to force itself into their life relentlessly for the rest of their days, but one they would rail against with equal persistence for as long as they were able.

Borgok took a deep breath in response to their words. “...very well. I will supply you with any goblin silver metalsmithing you require. On the condition that you offer your continued aid in quelling goblin rebellion leaders that may lead our peoples to war and that you will return my work upon your passing.”

“Deal. Shall we?” The Keeper gestured towards the bar counter as they stood, and Borgok nodded, following them to the bar.

“Come to an agreement then?” The bartender asked pleasantly and the two nodded as they took their seats upon the barstools.

“Now, first off.” The bartender turned to the Keeper with a small smile. “There is the matter of your name. You may use your real name or an alias for business and contracts. You can change it later, but I'd recommend that you avoid doing so since it'll make it difficult to recognise you.”

The Keeper sighed. Names, they really couldn't bother to come up with something, but they probably shouldn’t use their real one... ugh, fine. “Salamander.”

“You're in luck, that isn't currently in use by any of our mercenaries. And the last Salamander died about sixty years back without much to his name.” With a flourish, the bartender unrolled the scroll of parchment he'd presented to them before and offered Borgok a dark red quill. “Please write the details of your agreement upon the back of this contract.”

The goblin grimaced and accepted a small shot glass from the bartender as well, knocking back its contents before he began writing the terms they'd agreed upon before.

A moment later, Borgok passed the parchment and quill to the Keeper and the bartender offered them a shot glass as well, all while keeping his eyes averted from the contract.

“A simple painkiller mixed with wiggenweld potion.” The elder man explained with a faint smirk. “You'll need to write the exact words Borgok wrote, just beneath it, and then sign off at the bottom right corner. And make certain that you concur entirely with the terms, you will not be able to change them later without agreement from Borgok.”

The Keeper frowned at the glass of light green liquid for a moment, getting a feeling that they knew where this was going, considering that neither they nor Borgok had been given any ink. So, they accepted the shot and knocked it back. Giving the contract one last look over to double check, they began writing.

Immediately, they felt their back begin to itch and burn, the red ink that flowed from the quill lining up perfectly with the dull and uncomfortable sensation spreading across their skin. Yup, this quill was using their blood and carving up their back while at it.

At least the text was short, and they quickly felt the wiggenweld stitching their wounds closed as they finished writing, wondering idly how much more painful this would have been without the shot.

The moment their signature was done, their text glowed bright red and drifted up along the parchment to fuse with Borgok's, leaving their signatures separate, one on the left and the other on the right.

As the red glow slowly faded from the parchment, the bartender, who was still keeping his eyes averted from the contract, spoke. “Now then, little greenie, please roll up the parchment.”

The Keeper side-eyed him with some irritation at the nickname, but did as instructed. The elder man then tapped the scroll with his wand and seemingly lifted a second copy of the contract out of itself. Next, he pulled out two ribbons, a stick of wax, and a seal stamp, tied up both the scrolls individually, heated the wax over a candle, before sealing the two ribbons with said wax, his movements practiced and fluid.

Each time his stamp pressed down, the wax shone a bright blue before hardening, and when he lifted the stamp, a tiny burst of blue flame flickered into being over the wax seal, before disappearing in a flash of light. Its ephemeral glow reminding the Keeper of the way phantoms were depicted, as tiny blue flames floating around them called Hitodama, in a Japanese fairytale that Ominis had been reading last week.

Perhaps that was the origin of this pub's name, perhaps not.

The bartender then passed the first scroll to Borgok, and the second to the Keeper with a smile. “Congratulations, Salamander, you've just accepted your first bounty request as a Phantom's Mercenary. You are now an honorary member of my guild.”

“Honorary?” The Keeper cocked an eyebrow as they accepted the scroll, examining the blue wax seal with a flame symbol emblazoned upon it.

The bartender flashed them a sharp grin. “Of course, you'll have to actually complete at least one contract in order to be a bona-fide Mercenary.”

“Of course.” The Keeper huffed in amusement as they tucked the contract away in their satchel. “In that case, do look forward to my official membership.”

“I’m sure I will.” The bartender chuckled as he dripped more wax onto a small dish. “You, and only you, will be able to remove the seal any time you wish to view the contents of the contract, should you simply tie it back up, the wax will seal itself again.”

The bartender then stamped the seal onto the wax, producing yet another blue flame as he continued. “Upon completion, I will place a different stamp upon the wax, that will seal the terms agreed upon. If the request is abandoned or one of you is deceased, I will dissolve this wax seal and the contract will be broken along with it.”

He raised the, now hardened, blue wax token, about the size of a chocolate frog, and rotated it for them to see. On one side was an imprint of Borgok's face and on the other, the Keeper's. “You, however, will not be able to dissolve the contract, even should you shred the parchment to dust or burn it.”

The bartender stooped to deposit the wax token somewhere behind the counter. “You'll also need to check-in with me at least once a month, elsewise I shall assume that you have abandoned the request or have perished. And it's considered good practice to provide me with updates weekly that I can pass on to the requester or that you update them yourself.”

The Keeper nodded. “I'll try, but I'm still in Hogwarts, so I'll only be able to visit on Saturday nights at best.”

The bartender shot them an amused look and they rolled their eyes in response.

“Opening hours are six in the evening till six in the morning, an owl addressed to Alasdair, Phantom's Flask, will find me easily enough.” At his words, the Keeper belatedly realised that they hadn't gotten the bartender's name till now.

“Alright, thanks.” The Keeper nodded again, catching movement out of the corner of their eye, near the staircase landing, and soon spotted Ominis striding leisurely down the stairs, pausing to speak with the doorman. “How much for the drink?

“It's your first drink, so it's on the house.” Alasdair waved a hand lazily. “Ask for the house special in the future, if you're here for Merc business.”

“Got it, and how much for the information?” The corner of the Keeper’s mouth lifted and so too did the elder man's.

“Also on the house, for my Mercenaries at least.” Alasdair chuckled. “It benefits me too if my guildmembers have a reputation for success. So, I only charge Mercs from other guilds.”

A smirk spread across the bartender's face, the lens of his spectacles catching the light as he spoke. “Besides, you've killed a lot of my Hunters. I have high hopes that your membership will cover my losses.”

The Keeper chuckled wryly, keeping an ear out for the sound of Ominis leaving the pub. “In that case, I'd appreciate it if you could help me get in touch with the two that returned from attempting to clear Borgok's bounty request.”

Alasdair hummed thoughtfully. “One of them should be dropping by next Saturday night to give me an update on their current bounty. If you come again, I can introduce you, but anything you want from them, will be up to you to wrangle.”

“Alright, thanks.” The Keeper nodded, distantly hearing the doors of the pub open for Ominis to leave. “I'll be back next week then.”

“Happy hunting.” The bartender waved his cloth at them casually.

“I look forward to your results.” Borgok flashed them a faint smile.

The Keeper gave the goblin a parting nod as well, before lifting their hood and leaving the pub behind Ominis.

“You should have waited, and conferred with us, before joining some mercenary guild and signing a blood contract!” Ominis pinched the bridge of his nose.

The Keeper sighed. “I didn't see any reason to wait, it's an incredible opportunity and this is exactly the type of work I enjoy. I would have insisted on taking the job anyway even if I'd waited to tell you two about it.”

Ominis didn't look too pleased with that statement and the Keeper knew that he was probably more hurt than anything else.

“Ominis, darling, I love you deeply, but this is what I want to do. You wouldn't like it if I told you what to do with your life, would you?” The Keeper reasoned, reaching across the Feldcroft table, that they and their partners were seated around, to touch Ominis’ hand.

“But it's dangerous!” Ominis protested, withdrawing his hand from their reach. “And these are dangerous people you're choosing to work with.”

“Well, so are some of the requests I'm already taking.” The Keeper chuckled. “If anything, I think it's better to have a network and people I can look to for assistance. To work in a place that has rules and security.”

“That bartender does sound like a nice chap.” Sebastian agreed. “Offering to help you and all.”

“My entire life has been fraught with danger, I'd probably feel uncomfortable if that changed.” The Keeper flashed a wry smile. “I grew up in these types of places, with these types of people. If anything, it feels more natural and comfortable than Hogwarts.”

Ominis sighed and folded his arms. “I suppose I just can't imagine why you would want to work in that sort of environment. To put yourself in danger when you know I'll worry.”

“We've talked about this before, haven't we? With Sebastian wanting to be a Curse Breaker.” Reaching out to take Ominis’ hands and move them from their folded position, the Keeper placed a kiss against his knuckles. “We are partners, that means we work together and support each other as equals. Not control each other, or force each other to do what we want. I'm sure you don't want to be part of such a family again.”

Ominis grimaced, thinking clearly of his parents’ ‘traditions’.

“I'll take your feelings and advice into consideration when I act, and bend as much as I can, but if we let ourselves think we can forcefully change each other, well...” The Keeper gave him a faint smile. “You'll just have to remember that I wouldn't needlessly hurt you and try to respect my decisions, even if you don't understand them. As I would for you.”

“...I remember.” With a sigh, Ominis shook his head. “Alright, let's hear your reasons then, what do you even need goblin silver for?”

The Keeper smiled, he would get there, eventually. “As the only material that can contain energy extracted with my Ancient Magic, we will need someone who is willing to craft tools for us from goblin silver.”

“Like a cauldron.” Sebastian volunteered.

“And storage for the energies.” The Keeper continued, giving him a nod. “I also noticed that Ranrok's Loyalists seemed to be able to use Emotional Pain energy through the armlets they wore. It'd be extremely useful if I can store energy in those rather than always using cumbersome jars to take a hit.”

Sebastian hummed thoughtfully. “I wonder if we could make other objects that can release stored energies.”

“Probably.” The Keeper nodded. “I was thinking of investigating the design of the tools he sells us, I doubt I could come close to crafting something with as much skill as he, but I had an idea for a storage system that would require a lot of goblin silver.”

“Yeah yeah, sounds great.” Sebastian waved a dismissive hand, before grinning. “But imagine this...”

He paused, spreading his hands dramatically. “A dagger laced with Fear.”

Ominis sighed and the Keeper gave a fond chuckle.

“Oh, come on, you can't pretend that doesn't sound absolutely wild.” Sebastian implored, gesturing animatedly. “A nightmare inducing blade, a poisoned dagger that isn't fatal! But also, can't be undone with a simple finite by another enemy. Unlike petrificus totalus.”

Ominis blinked for a bit, before humming thoughtfully. “...I suppose I don't mind the idea of giving them a more certain means to disarm without killing.”

“See?” Sebastian beamed at Ominis, shooting the Keeper a quick wink.

Ominis cocked an eyebrow in response and there was a moment of bewildered silence, before realisation struck him and Sebastian rolled his eyes. “You know what I meant.”

A small, amused smile lifted the corner of Ominis lips, and he sighed. “Yes well, I guess I can understand the appeal.”

The Keeper was still debating whether to mention the collars or not, when Ominis folded his arms. “Anything else you'd like to mention?”

They blinked at him in surprise and Ominis huffed with some impatience. “You haven't moved or made a whit of sound for a while. You're only so still before you tell me something potentially upsetting. Out with it then.”

The Keeper hesitated for a moment but decided to be honest. “Dragons are untameable. Yet Ranrok managed to set a dragon upon Fig and I in fifth-year. I believe that it was the collar, laced with Pain, and placed around its neck that allowed him to control it.”

Both boys frowned and Sebastian hesitantly asked. “You're not-”

“Of course not.” The Keeper quickly interrupted. “I would never collar our dragon chick or do anything so barbaric, its mother gave it to us that it may be free, and that is my intention as well.”

Their partners visibly sagged in relief and the Keeper was mildly offended that the two would even think them capable of such a thing.

“I want to investigate how the collar functions and if it can control a dragon, surely it would work easily on humans.” The Keeper explained and Ominis’ eyes widened.

Sebastian, as always, caught on immediately. “For our guests, right? That makes sense, if we can control them using the collars, it'd be another means of preventing escape.”

“And we could even utilise the collars in our experiments to inject small amounts of energies over time, if I can figure out how to operate them.” The Keeper agreed.

“That's an if.” Ominis countered.

“Yes, I might not figure it out, but knowledge is power, and I'd like to understand my abilities and perhaps, if it's possible to restore an aura after it's been torn.” The Keeper explained. “All part of ensuring that this process is as well understood as possible, before I potentially damage Anne.”

Ominis almost looked surprised at the reminder, and the Keeper wondered how long it'd been since he'd thought of her, as a shade of guilt flickered across his face.

“I suppose that makes sense. I still don't like it, but I'm sorry for getting worked up so quickly, I just...” Ominis trailed off with a sigh.

“It's quite alright. If anything, that panicked state is more painful for you than us.” The Keeper wore a sympathetic smile as they lightly caressed his cheek.

“That's right, you don’t need to worry about us. You get upset because you care. And we know that. And appreciate it.” Sebastian added.

Ominis hesitated for a moment, like he was trying to figure something out, before he shook his head and gave the two a soft smile. “Thank you. For understanding.”

“Of course, we love you.” The Keeper chuckled. “Now, let's not let this distract from your success in acquiring the needed Re'em blood earlier tonight.”

“Oh, yes, you have to tell us all about it!” Sebastian nodded eagerly.

“There's really not much to tell, I'm afraid.” Ominis chuckled. “The queue was longer than I expected, but considering that the poacher vendor would host one customer at a time, and the vendor is only in business once a week, I shouldn't have been surprised.”

“I imagine privacy is an issue for patrons of such a store.” Sebastian snickered.

“Indeed, I managed to trade the two gallons of dragon's blood that I brought with me for four pints of Re'em blood.” Ominis explained. “The vendor said that he would trade a gallon of Re'em blood for a pair of dragon kidneys next week, he's got a buyer looking to buy as many of them as possible.”

“Creepy.” The Keeper commented.

“No less than us asking for the same with Re'em blood.” Ominis chuckled with a wry smile.

“Heh, can't argue with that one.” Sebastian laughed along sheepishly.

“Regardless, he probably knows we've got a dragon chick and are selling its parent's parts.” The Keeper murmured. “It can't be helped, for someone well versed in Poaching, but at least we needn’t fear the vendor tattling on us or anything.”

“Yes well, he did seem mildly amused, perhaps he imagined me to be a pampered noble who'd demanded a dragon for a birthday gift.” Ominis rolled his eyes.

“Hey, at least the getup worked.” Sebastian dragged his chair across the carpet, making a ghastly sound, just to bump shoulders with Ominis and murmur into his ear. “Though, while I think you looked quite dashing in it, I much prefer you out of it.”

Immediately, Ominis’ cheeks reddened, and he covered his face with one hand, while planting the other into Sebastian's, shoving the brunet an arm's length away. “Don't just-”

The Keeper laughed lightly as Sebastian's muffled complaints and Ominis’ flustered bluster filled the air. Perfect, everything was going according to plan. Now, all they needed was to buy some mead, mix the milk substitute, and then wait for the egg to actually hatch next weekend.

If it hatched at all.

Fuck.

The wait was going to be absolutely unbearable.

“Oh, I think I need to use the loo for a bit.” Ominis grimaced, his words causing the Keeper and Sebastian to halt in their tracks, pausing in the otherwise empty hallway outside the Slytherin common room, on their way to breakfast in the great hall.

“Again?” Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

Ominis huffed in annoyance and some embarrassment. “Yes well, my stomach seems to be a tad upset at the moment.”

“We can wait for you.” The Keeper offered, shoving Sebastian lightly in the arm. Perhaps Ominis’ stomach-ache was because he was anxious about the egg’s hatching too.

“No, it's fine, you two go on ahead. I'll catch up.” Ominis shook his head and waved them on as he pushed open the door to the boys’ wash closets.

“Take your time!” Sebastian called after him and the Keeper gave him a pointed look. “What? I'm allowed to ask questions, aren't I? It’s barely been fifteen minutes since he last went.”

The Keeper shook their head with a helpless smile, continuing on towards the great hall. “Heaven knows why he even likes a crass buffoon like you.”

Sebastian grinned roguishly as he followed with a swagger. “It's the boorish charm I bet, posh princelings like a little ruffian between the sheets.”

“Ah yes, that must be it.” The Keeper snorted, shaking their head in amusement. “Wonder what my pull is.”

“Your Slytherin charm, no doubt.” Sebastian snickered. “Rationalising things for him so he can do what he wants guilt-free.”

“Heh, sounds about right.” The Keeper chuckled, and in the calm silence that followed, their mind returned to the state of just pure stress it'd been stuck in before the interruption.

Today was the day they'd estimated, when the dragon egg would hatch, and they were anxious to head to Dìon to wait on standby. Tynx was on orders to owl immediately if the egg showed signs of hatching early, and so far, there hadn't been a letter saying that ‘the chick is arriving’.

Hopefully it would hatch before they had to leave for Natty's Saturday evening lesson and then to visit the Phantom's Flask tonight. Or perhaps tomorrow, during the day, before they had to return to Hogwarts. They wanted to be there when the eg-

“Woah!” Sebastian exclaimed as the Keeper's right foot landed on something that was decidedly not Floor and slid forward.

Quickly, he grabbed their arm to steady them before whatever they'd stepped on made them do an unseemly split in the middle of the empty hallway. Clinging to his supporting arm, the Keeper glared down at the offending object, finding it to be a small journal or notebook.

“Are you alright?” Sebastian asked with a faint smile.

“Yes. No thanks to this.” The Keeper replied dryly, removing their foot from the small book and bending down to collect it. “Now, who could have dropped this?”

“Looks like a diary perhaps, maybe there's a name in it?” Sebastian suggested, peering curiously at the journal over their shoulder.

“Let's see...” As they opened the book to see if he was correct, its well flattened spine naturally flipped to what seemed to be the latest entry, and the Keeper distantly heard hurried footsteps coming from just ahead of them.

Dear diary,

Wonderful news! Father finally agreed to try speaking with the head of the Gaun-

The volume of the footsteps intensified, but before the Keeper could even lift their head, the small book was abruptly yanked from their grasp.

“That's mine!” They were met with the mildly familiar voice and equally familiar face of a younger Slytherin girl, now clutching the book protectively to her chest and glaring angrily at them. “What do you think you're doing with my diary!?”

The Keeper raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the girl. “Well, your diary almost gave me a nasty fall, might want to take better care of your belongings.”

The girl jabbed an accusatory finger in their face. “You were caught thumbing through my personal property, and you dare claim that you didn't steal it!?”

The Keeper glared at the bright magenta tipped finger in their face. Ah, right, Jolene. The cowardly girl who'd disappointed Ominis. “Tread carefully, that is a bold accusation.”

The thinly veiled threat in their voice seemed to get through to her, and Jolene shrunk back, biting her lip and retracting her hand to clutch at her diary.

“You'll see, you're not the only ones who can get close to Ominis anymore, just because you're both orphans!” With that, the redhead fled in the direction of the great hall.

Sebastian stared at her retreating figure with an incredulous expression on his face. “Excuse me? Did she just imply that we're only able to be close to Ominis because we don't have parents? What in Merlin's name...”

The Keeper shook their head exasperatedly. “Hell if I know, girl sounds right barmy.”

A moment of irritated silence passed.

“Should we...?” Sebastian asked, not needing to say much for them to know what he was asking.

“I don't see much reason to, he doesn't need further disappointment.” The Keeper shook their head and Sebastian nodded. “He thinks well of her, let him dream.”

“Good point, I wouldn’t even know how to start explaining the ridiculousness that just occurred.” He sighed. “Not sure what to make of her statement either.”

“I imagine she's jealous? Maybe Ominis’ impression that she'd been intimidated into silence by her parents held water after all.” The Keeper shrugged. “Don't know why she assumes we wouldn't still be close to Ominis even if we had disapproving parents like hers.”

“Not our problem she doesn't have a spine.” Sebastian snorted.

“And I don't think it needs be his problem either.” The Keeper pointed out.

“Agreed.” Sebastian nodded firmly.

“Besides, he's clearly worried enough about the chick.” The Keeper sighed, like themselves. “We don't need to stress him further.”

Sebastian's eyes widened. “Ohhhh, that's why he had to use the loo!”

The Keeper stared at him for a moment, he hadn't realised? “Yes?”

Sebastian stared blankly at them for another moment, before dropping his fist into his other palm. “And that's why you didn't notice the book on the floor, you're stressed about it too!”

The Keeper paused, huh, that was unexpected. “Yes, I suppose I am.”

They sighed, and Sebastian's eyes softened.

Glancing around, he ascertained that the hall was empty once more, before stepping closer and placing a warm hand atop the Keeper's head. “Hey, it'll be alright, the chick's going to hatch just fine, and then we'll be busy as hell for the next two years.”

The Keeper's eyes slipped shut, allowing him to comfort them for a moment, before smiling and opening their eyes again. “Of course we are, but I'm still going to worry about it, and you can't stop me.”

“I guess it wouldn't be you if you weren't overplanning everything.” Sebastian shook his head with a helpless grin as he retrieved his hand.

“Well, I’d be less worried if Ominis could see into the egg.” The Keeper sighed, of course the bloody thing would have magic that interfered with his wand sight.

“I thought I said the two of you didn't need to wait for me.” Ominis voice came from behind them and the two turned to see him approaching at a leisurely pace.

“Feeling better?” Sebastian asked, placing a hand on their blind partner's back and giving it a gentle rub.

“Mostly.” Ominis sighed. “Not sure I've got much of an appetite for breakfast to be honest.”

The Keeper grimaced. “Yeah, me neither.”

Sebastian was about to add his two cents, when a very harried looking owl shot through the air and dropped a letter onto his head. “Ack!”

“Wait, is that-” The Keeper stooped to pick the letter off the floor while Sebastian glared at the dumb bird.

Inside the envelope was a single phrase. ‘The chick is arriving.’

“Guys, we've got to get to Dìon. It's hatching!” The Keeper immediately took off in the direction of the nearest floo, they'd need to fly to Dìon after flooing, so they didn't have much time.

“Now!?” Ominis exclaimed. “Oh, Merlin.”

“Come on!” Sebastian grabbed Ominis hand with a broad grin and dragged him along.

The moment the Keeper's feet touched the floor, they were already running towards the kitchens’ side entrance, quickly followed by the two boys, while Sepulchria found a nice spot to lie down for a rest after the breakneck pace they’d put her through.

Darting through the empty frame, they really needed to get the doors done, the Keeper was met with the heart-stopping sight of the purple egg, resting on a large stack of towels in the middle of the kitchen island counter.

With a long crack along its surface.

“Master! Eggy is hatching!” Tibsy squealed excitedly from her spot beside the counter, the other two elves standing beside her as well.

They barely heard her, taking a few steps forward to stand before it, while Tynx pulled Tibsy away so that the two boys could stand around the counter with the Keeper.

“Is it?” Ominis murmured, voice hushed with nerves.

“There's- there's a crack.” The Keeper's voice was strained, their breath shallow and anxious.

Good God if the baby wasn't actually alive in there, they were going to- Well, they weren't sure, but it wouldn't be pretty.

The egg shook and another crack formed on its surface.

“Oh!” Ominis jolted and his partners gave him a quizzical glance. “Sorry, I heard-”

Another hairline crack and a soft squeak came from the egg.

The egg shook and began to tip onto its side, and the Keeper immediately reached out to stabilise it, but Sebastian caught their hand, stopping them with a gentle reminder. “It's okay, let it figure its way out, the cloth'll keep it from getting injured.”

The Keeper took a deep breath, right. The book had said that the dragon needed to get out on its own or it wouldn't grow properly.

The egg landed on its side, nestled safely on the fluffy towels, and there was a thump from the inside, before another squeak.

“What if it's stuck?” Ominis asked worriedly.

“Oh, no no, I think it's got it.” Sebastian pointed at the egg. “On this side.”

The Keeper took a step around to peer at the egg from beside Sebastian, spotting a piece of the egg that had dislodged from the rest of the shell. There was another thump and the piece of shell dropped from the egg, revealing a scrawny black scaled leg, coated in a thin film of slime.

The leg then disappeared from sight, and they could hear the sound of the baby shifting inside, before a little snout emerged, tiny eyes blinking drowsily as its small jaws opened to release a high-pitched squeak.

Relief hit the Keeper like a boulder and a breathless laugh escaped them, it was alive.

Little innocent purple eyes examined them curiously from under the shell's shade and the Keeper reached a hand towards it slowly.

“Hey there...” The Keeper murmured softly, filled with wonder when the small creature didn't recoil in fear, but poked its snout out further, taking a curious sniff of their fingertips. “Want to come out?”

As they withdrew their hand in encouragement, the little dragon stretched its neck out to follow their fingers, only to be impeded by the remaining shell. The small creature seemed to remember what it'd been doing part way and began to push at the remaining shell once again, cracking more pieces off in its bid for freedom.

“It's so small.” Ominis’ voice was the gentlest they'd ever heard it, which was saying something.

“Yeah...” The Keeper agreed with a breathless chuckle, brushing aside some of the shell so that the dragon could have an easier time wiggling free.

The small creature squeaked as it tumbled from the shell's confines, flapping its tiny wings in an effort to right itself, struggling to hold its disproportionately larger head up on long spindly thin legs.

“There you go.” The Keeper beamed proudly, feeling oddly pleased at its meagre achievement.

Once it had its feet under it, the baby dragon lifted its head, staring with wide eyes at the world now revealed to it from beyond the confines of its shell. Its bright purple gaze ran over the kitchen walls, the three humans, and the three elves. Eventually settling on Sebastian, who had been oddly quiet since the dragon hatched, and to everyone's surprise, the little thing began to wobble across the counter.

Towards him.

“Um.” Sebastian stood stiff, eyeing it warily as it approached him. “Guys-”

The dragon didn't seem quite as uncertain as Sebastian was and continued its determined march towards him.

“Hey-” Sebastian tugged on the Keeper's sleeve. “Why's it coming at me-”

They eyed him with amusement, the boy looked like he was about to panic, especially since the dragon didn't seem to realise that it was reaching the edge of the counter.

Right as it did so, Sebastian quickly scooped the little dragon into his arms before it could fall, as the Keeper had known he would.

He stared down at the tiny dragon in his arms with wide eyes and the baby released a few surprised squeaks. Shifting itself into a more comfortable position, the dragon settled down in his arms contentedly, looking snug and cozy as it nuzzled against his chest.

“I think it likes you.” Ominis giggled.

“Not funny, what do I do-” Sebastian hissed and to his alarm, the baby dragon opened its mouth and began squealing loudly, revealing a maw devoid of teeth.

The Keeper glanced towards Tynx. “Do you have the milk substitute ready?”

“Yes, Master.” Tynx nodded, shuffling forward to offer them a bottle that Poppy had helped them fit with a rubber teat for the dragon beforehand, its glass insides filled with a thick golden-brown liquid.

Taking the bottle, they approached Sebastian. “Hold still and I'll feed it.”

Sebastian gave a shaky nod, and the Keeper held the bottle out to the dragon, tilting it so that a few drops dripped into the dragon's open mouth, before lowering it so that the dragon could follow the scent of food to the bottle.

“Smart little one.” The Keeper chuckled when the baby dragon latched onto the rubber teat and began to drink.

“Of course it is, it's ours.” Ominis waved a flippant hand, before turning his attention to the slab of stone they'd prepared in advance for the dragon as a bed, inspecting its temperature.

The Keeper shot him an amused look, before glancing towards the elves. “Tynx, collect the eggshell pieces and place them with the dragon parts. Tibsy, get some of the towels we prepared for its nest. Penny, bring us a towel damp with warm water.”

The three elves quickly went about following their instructions while the Keeper fed the dragon. When she returned, Ominis helped Tibsy to set up the nest they'd prepared for the dragon, before collecting the wet towel from Penny as the little creature finished its bottle.

The baby crooned softly as the Keeper withdrew the empty bottle and Ominis took their place to towel the dragon clean of the egg's fluids.

“No no, little one, no biting...” Ominis chuckled as the small dragon attempted to gnaw on his fingers with its soft gums, removing and running them along its jaw instead, to keep it distracted while he cleaned it.

“We'll have to feed it again in an hour, let's see if it wants to sleep till then.” The Keeper smiled fondly at the endearing sight.

They'd blocked off all the floor heating pipes except the one closest to the wall, resulting in the wood stove's smoke only travelling under one strip of the first floor, heating it before exiting through the chimney. The upper floors’ heating pipes were also blocked off to concentrate all the heat into that one strip, which they'd placed a large and flat heat-retentive slate stone over.

With a nod, Sebastian carefully set the drowsy dragon down on the towels that covered the slate, creating a warm and cosy nest for its occupant. The small creature pawed at the fluffy towels for a bit, wobbling about to investigate the warm spot, before deciding it was good enough and lay down to sleep.

As it did so, Sebastian examined his slime covered hands and clothing. “Ugh, gross.”

“Don't fuss, we can clean it.” Ominis flapped a hand at him dismissively.

“We need a name for the little one too.” The Keeper murmured thoughtfully.

Before they could say anything more however, the dragon abruptly sneezed in a burst of sparks that danced across the towels, and then sat frozen in place, seemingly startled by its own sneeze.

“Good thing I enhanced that cloth to be fire resistant.” The Keeper chuckled.

Almost as if in reaction to the Keeper's laughter, the dragon squeaked twice, attempted to cover its head with its overly small wings, before giving up and clawing the towels over its head instead, burrowing under the topmost layer of cloth.

“Aww, it's shy.” Ominis cooed in delight, clearly quite charmed by the little creature's mannerisms.

“Not shy enough to clean up after itself.” Sebastian grumbled.

Ominis shook his head. “It's a baby, Sebastian.”

The Keeper hummed lightly. “How about we call it Shy then?”

“Really?” Sebastian raised an eyebrow at them incredulously.

“Well.” Ominis gave a bemused cough. “It is shy.”

“Salazar save me- Look, we must have some standards, let's at least give it some deeper meaning.” Sebastian folded his arms in thought for a long silent moment, before his face lit up and he raised a hand. “How about Shai, that's Hebrew for Gift.”

The Keeper and Ominis blinked in surprise. When did he learn Hebrew of all things?

“I think that's quite lovely, it speaks to the responsibility we were bestowed and sounds like the little one's personality.” Ominis’ approving smile then took on a more coquettish tinge, tone light with exaggerated surprise. “My, Sebastian, how thoughtful of you.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Yes, I do think. Sometimes.”

“Sometimes.” The Keeper grinned fondly and was startled when a soft, low rumbling sound came from the little lump under the towels.

Ominis giggled again. “How precious, it seems to have fallen asleep.”

“I suppose we should leave Shai to rest...” The Keeper grimaced, finding themselves quite loath to leave the little one's side, when a familiar gurgle came from Sebastian's stomach and his cheeks coloured.

“Begging your pardons, but have Master and partners eaten breakfast yet?” Tynx asked tentatively.

“Not yet, we received your owl before that.” The Keeper answered, giving Sebastian a consoling pat on the shoulder.

“Then maybe Masters would like some food for eatings?” Tibsy asked eagerly.

The Keeper glanced back towards the dragon sleeping under the towels.

Seeing that, Penny spoke up. “Penny and others could bring food to Masters, then Masters can eat near little Shai.”

Ominis smiled. “That sounds like a wonderful idea, we can stand about the island counter for breakfast.”

With a nod, the Keeper returned their gaze to the elves. “Good thinking. Thank you, Penny, we'd appreciate something easy to eat while standing.”

The three house elves bowed and popped away in a heartbeat, while the three lovers seated themselves on the floor beside the sleeping dragon.

“That reminds me, how come you know Hebrew?” The Keeper asked Sebastian curiously, keeping their voice hushed and low.

Sebastian's face lit up, seeming quite happy to share. “Remember all the research I did into creating our clay Gōlems? Well, the ritual is Jewish and naturally, the book from the Restricted Section included several others within its pages, most were in Hebrew, and Shai was one of the words I picked up.”

The Keeper nodded, it'd been a simple ritual. They'd inscribed the word Emét, which meant Life, onto the surface of a clay statue and placed a paper with a shem spell written on it into its mouth, before chanting ‘Shem Hamephorash’, till the Gōlem was animated. The means of deactivating the Gōlem was quite elegant as well, as it merely required that the letter E in Emét be damaged or removed in some way, turning the word into Mét, which meant Death.

They wondered if the ease of the ritual was the reason it was even in the Restricted Section, or perhaps if another spell or ritual within the tome was to blame for its categorisation.

Though, the Jewish Gōlems hadn't been designed for battle and even after augmenting them with Ancient Magic, their combat capabilities hadn't been anywhere near as impressive as the Elder Keepers’ Ancient Magic Guardians. They really looked forward to learning how to make their own.

“It's honestly quite amazing how much you manage to keep up there.” The Keeper tapped the side of Sebastian's temple with a teasing smile. “No wonder you suck at everything else.”

“Why than- Hang on.” Sebastian paused, his proud grin quickly morphing into offended indignation.

Ominis struggled to contain his laughter, covering his mouth and leaning against the Keeper's side, shaking with muffled mirth while they grinned unapologetically at the brunet.

“Ugh.” Sebastian huffed, folding his arms and turning his head away. “All that effort and this is the thanks I get.”

The Keeper chuckled softly, reaching across to wrap their fist in his sticky robes. “No darling, this is the thanks you get.”

They pulled him close and pressed their lips against his, feeling him startle, before leaning closer, pushing them back against Ominis, who smiled, lacing his fingers with Sebastian's where they were braced against the floor for balance.

Meanwhile...

“Oh- that's!” Penny flushed and spun around to take her eyes off the three teenage humans entangled together on the floor.

Tibsy giggled beside her as she peered around the corner of the empty door frame and into the kitchens. “Penny should get used to seeing Masters being touchys! The Masters be doing it a lot and Tibsy is thinking them cute!”

“I- I see!” Penny took a deep breath to calm her embarrassment. “But what should we do? Do we interrupt Masters?”

Tynx sighed, teenagers, the young mistress had been much alike when she got older, before she sold him to Gringotts at his urging. She’d needed the money after her father's... untimely death, and Tynx was the most valuable thing she'd inherited. While he did miss her dearly, he was ever so grateful that she'd given him the chance to be bought by the Keeper.

“Let's just leave the plates on the island counter, the Masters will notice when they smell the food.” Tynx suggested, snapping his fingers and levitating the tray he was carrying, sending it soaring through the air towards the counter along with another bottle of dragon milk substitute.

Following his example, Tibsy and Penny did the same with their trays.

“Tibsy is looking forwards to caring for little baby Shai, Tibsy is hoping that shy Shai likes Tibsy.” The elf squealed excitedly.

Penny nodded. “Master was saying they'll teach us to feed the baby dragon, Penny is hoping Shai doesn't bite.”

“Probably not till it grows some teeth...” Tynx sighed, pressing his fingers to his forehead, he certainly wasn't looking forward to the increased workload. With the Masters in school, the elves would have to take care of the dragon during the weekdays. On top of their existing duties.

He knew well how difficult raising babies was, and Master's lady friend had said that Hebridean Black dragons were one of the most clever of dragon breeds. Which meant it would probably be more difficult to raise.

Heaving another sigh, Tynx looked at the two eager elves.

Well, at least they were having fun.

Notes:

Many thanks to my Patreon, cheeky_idler, for naming Shai as a Paid member with voting & suggestion power! ;)

Also, Sebastian's having dad panic haha-

The stuff about Gōlems is genuine real-world Jewish folklore by the way, I made an entire riddle-based dungeon for my DnD group around that actually. A shem is actually a paper with one of the names of God on it, but JK doesn't include divinities in the series, so I didn't write that in xP

Lodgok's death was actually the first time that MC was so emotional in the game, and when they talk to Fig about it later, I felt that the devs really wanted us to feel how upset MC was about that, and I really liked Lodgok, so xP

One of my favourite things to do in fanfiction writing, is to fill in the gaps, to pontificate on how the story went from point A to point B, to close and explain away loopholes.

A question that has bothered me since I was a kid was “why did the goblins stop having rebellions during Harry Potter's era?” Clearly, the wizards treat the goblins no better, yet all the rebellions Harry learnt about were from centuries before. I know the easy answer is that JK didn't want to make her story better and address systemic growth, but bear with me.

Another was “how does a marginalised race become so ‘essential’ to wizardkind yet still not have equality?” Well, I now know that's because racism is stupid and contradictory, and the inspiration for the goblins was potentially steeped in antisemitic conspiracy theories in JK's head.

But if on the assumption that these are unchangeable facts, no matter how unrealistic, how would things need to play out to arrive at the state of Harry Potter in 1996?

I decided to answer both at the same time.

Now, we all know that Borgok's ideal is not a solution for racism. Racists will disparage even when faced with evidence that their sense of supremacy is unfounded and are in fact more incensed when they need their victims, and the events in this fic are my answer to why, in 1996, goblins are still treated like shite but there aren't any ongoing rebellions.

I don't think a solution for racism is something that I could fit into twelve books, let alone a paragraph, but I think that's because there isn't a simple answer. There's awareness, exposure, interaction, and many possible paths but it's within no singular person's sole capability to achieve. It's a constant shared effort by everyone that'll get us closer to equality.

In other news, I think it goes without saying, but one should never enter a romantic relationship thinking “I can fix my partner”. Even things like addiction can't be forced out of a person, the individual has to want to change for themselves. If they don't want to change, you either suck it up or leave.

Of course, if the person does want to change, like Ominis’ desire to be less reactive, you should definitely support them and not expect them to do it on their own strength, but them wanting to change is the make or break of the success of change.

I also had to deal with the fact that in game, it's quite clear that petrificus totalus “kills” the enemies, but we all know that the spell doesn't kill, so I'm going with the idea that the Keeper casts petrificus totalus and then kills the enemies while they're petrified, as a precaution in case during the fight, the spell wears off or someone frees them from the spell.

I also decided to make the baby dragon toothless- haha, so that I don't have to write the baby biting someone, like JK did with her Norwegian Ridgeback baby. Let's just say different breeds are different at birth. Look I just want a cute sweet baby scene alright? x'D

Gezuz these are some long notes-

Here's a funny, my partner is so dense it took them three reads of the chapter to realise that Sebastian was saying he preferred seeing Ominis naked and not just in casual wear. That's the dummy who missed me pursuing them for 3 damn years until I finally gave up and confessed point-blank. ʱªʱªʱª(ᕑᗢूᓫ∗)

This is why I advocate direct and open communication, I could have saved myself a lot of time and made this year our 12th year anniversary rather than 10th lol- σ(*´∀｀*)

Man, again, my notes are too long for indents-

#hogwarts legacy #ominis gaunt #sebastian sallow #gender neutral mc #mc x sebastian sallow #mc x ominis gaunt #sebastian x ominis #sebastian x ominis x mc #hogwarts legacy fandom #hogwarts legacy fanfic #hogwarts legacy fanfiction #fanfic #jazlr welcome to your life #jazlr #lgbtqia #nonbinary

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beepboop358 · 3 years ago

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Donnie Darko & Stranger Things: Clocks, Memories, Time Travel, Fire & ST4 Clues

(ST movie DNA series: 3)

This movie is seriously like a goldmine of ST references and clues I was geeking out the whole time xD

Summary: A teenage boy named Donnie Darko sleepwalks out of his house one night and sees a giant, demonic-looking rabbit named Frank, who tells him the world will end in 28 days. When Donnie returns home, he finds that a jet engine has crashed into his bedroom. The movie makes us question what is actually real; is Donnie living in a parallel universe, is he suffering from mental illness like everyone says he is, or is he seeing things everyone else cannot and the world is actually going to end?

What's Real?:

Donnie Darko depicts a "mentally insane" character. Donnie is seeing a giant bunny rabbit named "Frank" who he says tells him what to do, mostly bad and dangerous things, and that the world is going to end in 28 days Donnie takes medication and goes to intense therapy and everyone in his life is convinced he is insane and unwell. This idea of mental instability is a running them in Joyce's family, and I discuss that and the idea of Victor Creel this disturbed character in this post here.

We also see this same theme of "what's actually real?" in ST:

Mike to Will in s2 regarding the mindflayer: "Is this all real? Or is it like the doctors say, all in your head?" (this basically summarizes Donnie Darko LOL)

Joyce to Will in s2 regarding the mindflayer: "These episodes that you're having, I think Dr. Owens is wrong. I think they're real."

Donnie does have telekinetic powers, just like El does. Donnie can also talk to Frank, an "otherworldly monster". Reminds me slightly of how Will can sense the upside down monsters.

Clocks, Memories, Time:

In the opening of the movie, we see a clock. The clock in this movie indicates an impending catastrophic event and "time is running out" to stop it, specifically in this movie, it's the world ending*.

The clock is striking midnight, in the Donnie Darko shots and the ST4 sneak peek clips. *It's a reference to the significance of midnight on the doomsday clock, most prevalent during the Cold War when U.S. and Russia were both building up so many nuclear weapons that mass destruction was possible at literally any moment. Schools did bomb drills frequently in both countries, and people were on edge all the time worrying about if they were going to be bombed or if one was going to malfunction and accidentally go off.

There are a lot of war movies on the st4 video store Fridays list, and we know the military is being brought into Hawkins this season, so there's our idea of war this season, and ofc the show takes place during the Cold War so double jeopardy LOL.

When we see the clock, the words are referring to a memory, a past event.

I think the grandfather clock shown in the st4 sneak peek (rumored to be in Vecna's lair and also Creel's house but unconfirmed) is going to be a portal to past memories like a way to access memories and past events through the powers of the upside down.

(time travel "flashbacks" theory and clocks = memories/past times low-key confirmed LOL 😆)

Portals Through Time/Worlds & Water:

The film also deals with direct time travel and portals between worlds/times: Donnie opens a time portal, from water..... and ends up causing this jet plane to crash into his room.

My jaw literally dropped when this happened guys, my mind was exploding xD

Water in the show is surrounded with the upside down monsters/dimension along with those cryptic water tweets from the stranger writers and the clip of Steve underwater in the st4 sneak peek, so there's the origin of water surrounding the portals to other dimensions (the upside down) in stranger things.

And then ofc we know time will be a big theme in s4, and we have seen tons of clock imagery in the st4 promos, and there are some references to time travel in s3 with Back to the Future, as well as plenty of other shots of clocks in the entire show

Fire:

Frank tells Donnie to burn down this motivational speakers house, so he does. Donnie sets this huge fire, and we know Will is commonly associated with fire in the show. But because Donnie burns down the house, it sets off this other chain of events that result in several other characters deaths, indirectly cause by Donnie following Frank's instructions.

I'm 99% sure the person in front of the car is Will, because the shirt he's wearing looks like the shirt of a teenager, his hair looks similar to that one leaked peak of his photo double, and that image is the 7th of the st4 clips shown. Maybe this is another hint to Will's storyline in s4.

The idea of Will going "mad" or "insane" in s4 is actually likely. The Opera in the HNL control room video that came out one day before the 002/004 "Eleven are you listening?" teaser, where it appears that Noah (Will) is one of the lab subjects in the room, hints to this idea of Will going "mad" and developing "dissasociative amnesia" due to psychological stress and trauma. I recommend you read my post about the opera linked above^ because it explains this concept with way more detail than I did here, and I think it's going to be really relevant for s4.

Causation & Control:

Throughout the film we see the idea of causation; Donnie does something (because Frank tells him to) that causes something else. It's like a chain of events or dominoes falling, one thing causes the other to happen, so now we're playing with the idea of how much control individuals really have, do we really have control over things or does someone else.

(My mind goes to Tess of the D'urbervilles, which is famous for exploring themes of free will, determinism, and the domino effect)

Which makes me think about how this idea may be in ST:

1. Will is controlling things through the DID theory

2. A character we haven't met yet, (my guess would be Victor Creel) is controlling things in the upside down because of a deep connection to it (maybe he created some version of the upside down)

^That idea also fits into the theory that Creel is an evil father/grandfather with special abilities who is pulling the strings from afar which would complete a Star Wars parallel (discussed here.)

Hmmm much to think about!

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rosiehunterwolf · 3 years ago

Note

... Morro

XD y'all really like your Morro, don't you? This is the second Morro request I've gotten (third technically, but there was an issue with the other one so it's not going to be filled) and the first one blew up XD, got way more notes than any fic I've posted before even though it was just a short little thing.

Since I already did a typical Morro fic, though, I decided to try something a little different with this one and tie it into the movie!verse. Hope you enjoy!

Spirit of the Deep

Summary: With Garmadon defeated for good, the ninja are eager to find another way to busy themselves. When Kai finds out about an ancient temple rumored to hold some sort of treasure, the others are immediately in.

Not all adventures are good, though. Before the ninja know it, they are in over their heads with a discovery they will never forget. (Movie!verse AU)

“It’s just through here!”

Kai’s voice rang through the temple, and Lloyd pushed his way through the vines, looking around carefully, his sword drawn. “Kai, not so loud. I don’t have a great feeling about this place.”

“Gee, I wonder why!” Jay squeaked from behind him. “I mean, look at this place!” He waved his hands at the crumbling stone walls, overgrown with weeds and vines. “Kai, what made you think it was a good idea to come here?”

“Oh, Jay, stop being such a coward. It’s going to be fun! There could be puzzles! Or booby traps! And most importantly, treasure!”

“You’re excited about booby traps?”

Lloyd stopped, holding up his flashlight to examine something on the wall. It looked to be an engraving of some sort, like a whirlwind, and below it, some sort of runes that Lloyd couldn’t read.

With a start, he realized the others were far ahead of him now, and he darted after them, desperate to keep up. “Guys! Don’t leave me alone like that! Are you forgetting I don’t have powers to protect myself like you guys do?”

“Fat lot of use powers will be when Kai and Jay inevitably trigger all the traps and the floor disappears beneath us,” Cole grumbled.

“Hey!” Kai yelped, at the same time Jay said, “Do you really think there are traps in here?”

Nya sighed. “If you’re so nervous, Jay, why did you even come with?”

“The rest of you guys were all going! I wasn’t going to be left behind!”

“There does not appear to be any signs of life,” Zane said. “I do not think anyone has been here for a long time.”

“What about traps? Can your sensors detect any traps?”

Zane frowned. “No. There seems to be some sort of interference with my signals.”

Kai suddenly stopped, the others bumping into him at the lack of warning.

“Kai?” Cole asked. “Why’d we stop?”

“There’s something in there.” Kai didn’t elaborate further, stepping over the rubble of the crumbled wall and disappearing from sight.

“Kai, wait!” Nya yelped, hurrying after him.

“So much for sticking together,” Lloyd grumbled as he followed the others into the room. “Seriously, one day this is going to-” he stopped short of walking right into Cole. “What is it?”

The earth ninja simply pointed, and Lloyd went slack.

In the middle of the room, there was a pedestal, intricate carvings in the side of it emitting a faint green glow. Atop it, a scroll was rolled up, the paper worn with age.

“What is that?” Nya breathed.

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it one bit. Maybe we should just go-”

“Can it, Jay.” Cole grabbed the lightning ninja by the back of his shirt. “We didn’t come all this way for nothing.”

“What’s an old scroll doing all the way out here?” Lloyd asked. He reached for it, but Kai stopped him with a sharp yelp.

“Lloyd, don’t! I saw something like this in a movie once! This is a trap. When you take the scroll, the weight on the pressure plate will lift, and the whole place will come down around us! We need to find something that’s an equal weight to replace it with.”

Lloyd eyed the pedestal. “I don’t think…”

Nya sighed. “Kai, you’re confusing movies with reality.”

“I’m not! Trust me!”

“Fine.” Lloyd turned to the group. “Do we have anything?”

Cole pulled something out of his bag, holding it out to them. “I have a rock.”

They blinked at him. “Why do you have a rock?”

Cole shrugged. “Maybe I like rocks.”

Kai shook his head. “Okay, whatever. That should work.” Taking the rock from Cole, he positioned himself over the pedestal. He took a deep breath. “Here goes.”

In the blink of an eye, he had switched out the scroll for the rock. There was an ominous creaking sound, and they all held their breath, waiting. A few small stones clattered down from the roof, but other than that, nothing.

“We did it.” Unrolling the scroll, Kai’s relieved expression quickly changed to one of disappointment. “It’s just a bunch of symbols and gibberish.”

“Zane, do you think you can decipher it?” Lloyd asked.

Zane took the scroll from Kai. His brow furrowed. “This does not appear to match the dialect of any of the official Ninjago languages.”

“Lemme look at that.” Jay took the scroll from him, and Cole scowled at him.

“Be careful with it, nitwit! As far as we know, this is a priceless artifact!” As the others squabbled over the scroll, Lloyd approached the pedestal. Now that he was closer, he could see that there was an engraving on the top that he had missed before.

A funnel, sort of like-

A whirlwind. It was that same symbol he had seen near the entrance.

“Hey, guys,” he called. “I think this may be important, I saw it earlier-” Reaching out, he let his fingers lightly brush the engraving. Suddenly, there was a bright flare of light, and a gust of wind that seemed to come from nowhere sent Lloyd hurtling across the room. He groaned, rubbing his head.

“Lloyd!” Suddenly the others were beside him, Kai gripping his arm so tightly his knuckles turned white. Lloyd waved him off. “Kai, don’t worry, I’m fine-” he stopped, realizing that the fire ninja was no longer looking at him.

Lloyd followed his gaze and froze.

Hovering over the pedestal was a young man with long black hair, a green streak running through it. His clothes were ripped and disheveled, and he was examining himself in awe.

Most noteworthy, though, was the fact that Lloyd could see right through his body.

The man looked up suddenly, spearing them with his gaze. “Who are you? Where am I? What happened to me?”

“Oh. Oh my gosh.” Jay gripped Lloyd’s arm. “I think we just awakened a ghost! Oh my gosh, Lloyd, what have you done?”

“What have I done? Kai’s the one who brought us here! Blame him!”

“Me? You’re the one who touched the pedestal after I clearly told you not to!”

“Well, maybe if you guys had listened to me about the symbol, I wouldn’t have!”

“The scroll distracted us! Blame Zane, he’s the one who couldn’t read it!”

“Me? Nya was the one who-”

“Enough!” a voice bellowed across the room, and they all froze, turning to look at the ghost. “I can’t believe a bunch of kids just released me from the dead. I can’t believe I’m dead!”

“We’re not kids!” Nya snapped. “We’re ninja.”

The ghost looked at her. “Right.”

“We are!”

“Um,” Lloyd swallowed. “Mr. Ghost, sir-”

The ghost rolled his eyes. “It’s Morro.”

“Okay, Morro- we could get in a lot of trouble if our master found out what we did. So, um… maybe you could consider… going back? To wherever you came from?”

“Are you kidding?” Morro laughed. “I was trapped in there for years! I’m never going back!”

“Uh, I think you are.” Kai stepped forward, igniting his fist. “Get back in! Or else!”

Morro’s eyes widened. “An elemental master. I’ll be damned.”

“And there’s more where that came from!” Nya shot a jet of water at him, and Morro shrieked, darting out of the way.

“Watch it! Didn’t anyone ever teach you that water kills ghosts?”

“To have a ghost roaming the city would be unwise.” Zane stepped forward, ice crackling between his fingers. “We have you surrounded. Please go back inside your pedestal.”

“Two can play at that game,” he muttered. As Zane blasted him with ice, a powerful gust of wind shot from Morro’s hands, repelling the ice.

Lloyd felt his jaw go slack. Suddenly, the whirlwind symbols made a lot more sense.

“You’re an elemental master, too?” Cole whispered.

“Got a problem with that?”

The others turned to look at him. “What do we do, Lloyd?”

Lloyd glanced back and forth between his team and Morro. “I have a feeling we’re not going to get rid of him. And… Master never told us about an elemental master of wind. He should probably know about this.”

“Alright.” Nya turned towards Morro. “We’re going to take you to our master. Cooperate, or else.”

Morro sighed. “It doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice, do I? Fine, let’s go.” And, in a flash, he was sliding into Lloyd’s body.

Lloyd screamed, falling to the floor as the chill overtook him, the feeling of a foreign presence taking over his brain-

“Okay, okay kid, I’ll stop!”

Lloyd looked up to see Morro had left his body and was hovering over him, the others just behind, their expressions ranging from horrified to furious glares at Morro.

“Lloyd, are you okay?” Kai reached out, helping him to his feet.

“Geez, kid, you act like you’ve never been possessed before.”

Lloyd blinked at him. “I haven’t.”

Morro snorted. “Look, it’s not going to hurt you. I’m a ghost- I’m weak to water. The city has water everywhere- dripping from the roofs, pooling in the streets- the protection of a human body makes it far less likely that I’ll die on the way there. Besides, a ghost floating around isn’t exactly subtle, and… I have a feeling that attention isn’t exactly something we want.”

Lloyd exhaled slowly. “Fine. Do it.”

This time, he was prepared as the coldness numbed his body, although it still wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

The others looked at him anxiously. “Are you sure you’re okay with this, Lloyd?” Nya asked.

“It’s fine, it’ll be over soon. Now come on, let’s go find my uncle and get some answers.”

Let’s hope this guy actually knows what’s going on.

It took Lloyd a moment to realize the thoughts were Morro’s, but he found himself thinking the same thing. If Master Wu couldn’t fix this… he didn’t know what he was going to do.

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redxblueihateloveyou · 3 years ago

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I can't wait for you to see the whole scene and hear your thoughts. It's so damn heartbreaking. Like Rin seems honestly excited to tell Haru about his decision (and happy to meet him randomly in general) and then what unfolds is just... Oh man it's like watching a happy puppy get kicked. And since up until that point in the movie Rin hasn't seen Haru's angst much cuz he genuinely seems happier with Rin around so no wonder he doesn't see it coming. THEY NEED A CATHARTIC CRYING SESSION I SWEAR

I recently also saw the middle part too (soon, soon, I'll see it all xD). From the moment Rin says "you think making these decisions is easy for me". It's not okay... but dang, I really loved the moment, when Haru starts shaking, then breathes out and evil smile appears on his face. I'm... 👀.

And I get that Rin's always happy to see him, but I don't know how after thinking about it so much, he decided to go about it like this lmao. I'm just facepalming so hard. I've read the transcript of the before that too and I really do not get why he said what he said in that particular moment and once again who even does this like that, I mean.. that was such a weird idea seriously. Like ok, you already decided whatever you decided and it apparently doesn't concern us and his problems also don't concern us, but he could've at least start like "it was a hard decision to make, but in order to swim in the future with you I decided... lalala", he instead just dropped the bomb after Haru said "that's why together we..." and Rin went "yeah, about that, I won't be there". He was practicing this all that time? Oh god, this is just... I have no words for these two tbh. ComMUnICaTiON.

I bet this time Rin was like "okay, I've prepared this whole speech, and we're gonna have a moment.. and oh, under our tree too". I like how he after dropping the bomb and making him split, backed himself up with the whole "Ikuya thinks so too. We both decided it." ARE YOU PLANING A FUTURE WITH IKUYA, RIN? IS HE YOUR SPECIAL SOMEONE? YOUR SHINING? YOUR BABY? I DO NOT GET. "I want to swim with you next year and in the future"... ehmm thanks on that at least haha. Haru just went "ok, you zip it" lmao

Tbh if I were Haru I'd smack him on the head back in s3 already, when he jumped from behind this wall with "Yo, Haru"xD. But he's always so happy when he's back or when they spend time together, that he always decides not to darken any of them with conflicts about "why are you like this", but now it finally overflowed... a bit lmao. Like same was in s2, too, when everything seemed fine and and he was like "here's your sakura pool, baby" and Rin was flirting with him by the bus, and meanwhile we were literally dying inside watching him from afar all that time. And then several months later Haru was like "gtfo with your future, you moron" and Rin is like "😭 baby, I don't get what I did". ahahaa its a bit funny. I esp love when he doesn't talk with us for months and then casually comes in like they were drinking tea together an hour ago lol. It maybe was funny like in s1 when he pretended to be cool about stuff with his "yo, Haru, still hanging out with these losers?" but like now can we stop with trying to be casual about stuff already. I mean, I in 5 minutes could've come up with at least 3 ways of saying it in a way it wouldn't hurt nobody.

Not only he already decided, but he discussed it with a random person before him and he's already found a sponsor and.. omg. Too bad for Haru he misunderstood everything about who they are for each other, I guess.

But fuck, evil!Nanase just fully executed him there. It's just from reviews and summaries I thought he went just around the Rin leaving part so it could be connected to what started the conlict, but he just simply did everything to hurt him as bad as possible. Like damn, he fucking started by giving him flashbacks about his 2x09 "what dream? what future? I'm not you" with his "I can't live like you" and Rin just looked so lost, having all the memories he brought on and he didn't even get what brought this on. It all happened too fast tbh. And then Haru just finished him. Like all the hits were too precise, but the fact that Rin fully lost it only on the moment, when he has s1 flashbacks of hurting Haru says it all tbh.

My point is the whole fight had just... another nature that I thought it originally would be. Bc Haru intentionally made him remember worst moments that are related to him. That's why it changes my point of view on the situation and backs up my previous post about Rin.

Evil!Haru might be evil, but if you combine it, he just basically told him what I said yesterday "if you're planning to make decisions on your own and I'm not a part of your life, then I can't live like that and we don't see the same future for us. you keep coming into my life, bringing this sureness about our future and act like you're a part of it, but then you always leave." He just roasted him, but it's like truth tho lol

Like watching Haru screaming and dying inside while saying that was very heartbreaking, but it doesn't change the fact that it is what it is. Even when Haru is angry in a like "normal" way, he when he says something ugly, he tbh never exactly says what he doesn't mean like many, he mostly not at all far off from the truth, he just tries to slice Rin back, but this time, he just fully dissected him. Like holy fuck, dude.

But he was waiting for so long for him, then thought "I finally have him", but he mostly not there again, except when it's job related, if I heard his "oh btw I've decided this", I'd cry for sure. But murdering him is also an option, I guess lol.

One already has a crying session, it aint cathartic tho, it's painful. But at least Rin now agrees with us about the fact, that he's an idiot haha.

I in no way say that he deserved this, bc the way Haru worded everything is just hell on earth, but at least we all know now that evil!Haru is well aware of what is the most painful way to kill Rin... play on the fact that he loves Haruka Nanase too much. LMAO you gotta admit that it's a bit funny. I've only seen couples do stuff like this before. So it's like... very harsh angst, but it's a mega win too.

One is already having a crying session, but in horrible pain T_T

I bet Rin will for sure cry after Haru comes back and says that he loves him. But I agree, I also want Haru to cry in relief with hugs from Rin and all. I need lots of happiness at the end... like LOTSSSS. We also all need a theraputic fluff after this.

#answered #anonymous #rinharu #harurin #rin matsuoka #haruka nanase #free! the final stroke #free!

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chuuulip · 4 years ago

Text

Another Earth

Pairing: August Walker (werewolf) x Female Reader (red ridding hood)

Warning: 18+, PWP, Oral (M and F receiving), Unprotected Sex, Multiple Orgasm, Slightly ABO Universe, Rough Sex

Words: 7434

Summary: After a failed attempt to sign up for the Halloween haunted house to meet your Superman, the last minute ticket turned your night upside down as you were stuck in another earth.

A/N: Unbeta! Any grammar mistake will be on me. Divider by me 😆 This is for @jtargaryen18 Halloween challenge, and I’m pretty late! Sorry for that life has been busy xD I still have another one in progress (the Andy barber one) and hopefully can post it soon! Thanks to @navybrat817 and @venusdemonroe for giving me the idea for this story and help me discuss what a werewolf August Walker would do in this lol. Actually I wanted to mention a lot....of things but I guess it would be too much for a one shot lil but anyway Happy reading!!!

***

This year's Halloween event was mental. Several big haunted houses are hosted by celebrities. To name a few, there's an Avengers Tower haunted house, The Hall of Justice League, The X-Mansion, and even Walking Dead one.

You knew it wasn't easy. All of them have a huge fandom. The ticket was sold out immediately when it was open for sale, like 3 months before Halloween, and you were terribly upset. You were whining for a month straight to your boyfriend. Or more like your sugar daddy. He was patient and wealthy, but he knew he can't satisfy you enough, so he usually did everything he could for you. But that time, you just have none of it. The relationship, if you could ever say that, fell out immediately because you were unreasonable.

You really wanted to go to The Hall of Justice League and maybe meet Clark Kent. The obsession started because he always visited your dream and mostly engaged in the steamiest dream ever. It's been your wildest dream, really, to have that body blanketed yours, in a really not innocent way.

Just one day before Halloween, you finally secured one ticket for The Hall of Justice League haunted house. Of course, the first thing you did was scream. You had been on their waiting list since the ticket sold out, but you really lost hope since last week. But now, you celebrate it with a bit of a jump and constant scream.

"What the fuck?" Your only housemate barged into your bedroom. Face annoyed.

You stopped your silly jumps and looked at your housemate. With a broad smile, you hug your housemate and shake her body, "I got it! I got the ticket for The Hall of Justice League haunted house! Can you believe that?"

The redhead hugged you, and both of you jumped in a circle. "Oh my gosh...I can't believe it! Congrats!!! I really hope you will meet your Kryptonite." she gave you her suggestive smirk.

"I mean...a girl can only hope. But this is a charity event. I don't think he will be available. What if it's all a decoy and I only meet his wax figure?" you pouted at your friend.

"Well, at least you have the opportunity to see it yourself. But remember, behave, young lady, don't let him if he's there, I mean, witness your brattiness."

"Aye...aye Captain!" you giggled but immediately gave your housemate a military saluted.

That night you dreamed of those big blue eyes and his firm, fantastic arms on yours.

***

Dress in your red riding hood costume, you patiently sat in the backseat of the Uber car. Well, maybe a little bit impatient, since it's already 11pm.

Everything just went down the hill since morning. You can't seem to find your Poison Ivy costume. Not to mention that you were late for work that morning. Your boss was a bitch since she seems annoyed at you every time the male employee or investor became too friendly with you.

Who can blame you? You were just good at acting all cute to them, and it's not your fault that they mostly thought you were a cute little employee.

You check your wrist. The expensive rose gold watch from your ex sugar daddy elegantly pointed at 11.30 pm. You sighed, "do you know how long I will arrive at my destination? It will close soon."

"Hopefully, in 10 minutes. Dunno why it's jam-packed." Said the Uber driver.

You huffed in exasperation, but there's nothing you can do. You arrived very last minute, like 15 minutes before the haunted house closed. Wearing black stiletto boots, you carefully made a small run into the stairs. The booth was stationed to the far left of the building.

"Good night, little red riding hood; you are lucky because we are almost closed. Can I see your ticket, please?" A man dressed as Edwar Scissorhands greeted you at the far left of the building.

You fished out your smartphone from your small basket bag and showed him your barcode. He scanned it and looked at the monitor in front of him. "Hmm, here for a kryptonite, aren't you." He eyed you up and down and smirked at you. "I hope you have a spooky night, little girl."

You smile at him and sashay your way to the entrance. Apparently, they makeover a warehouse into a vast real-life Justice League Hall. Like in the comic. A white half-circle exterior completed with two giant pillars at each side imitated the picture you only seen in comic books. It looks so magnificent.

You entered the door after you scanned your barcode at the scanner next to it. The whooshing noises startle you a bit, but you were too excited and step in immediately.

The inside was bright with a black marble flooring that shone bright; you even can see your reflection. There's a different section of the silvery door like in most sci-fi, alien invasion movies. So futuristic, so clinical.

You darted your eyes and found where you needed to go. A small rectangle monitor with a very digital clock font in it showed you 'Krypton' words. Without hesitation, you did a little run and waited in front of it. The small rectangle monitored turned to green, and it shone. It startled you, but you let out a sigh of relief when it just scanned your body from your head to toe.

"So much for a haunted house." You muttered.

When the door opened, you stepped in. It was a glass elevator. You circled your eyes and found everything was dark. When the elevator ran, bringing you down several floors, the surrounding changed.

Once, the darkness engulfed you like you were being shipped to the deep ocean, but it changed dramatically. Your eyes darted in awe as you drank on the scenery. The scenery of what you would call the imitation of Planet Krypton. So beautiful yet so harsh.

When the elevator stopped, the ding noise pulled you to the present. With excitement, you grabbed your smartphone and took several pictures of the scenery. It was just so surreal that a haunted house would make something like this. But you remember how expensive the ticket was.

"This three grant haunted house better give me a chance to fuck a real-life Clark Kent." you cackled.

There's a weird tower with a green light on top of it. You assumed some futuristic objects were supposed to be 'kryptonite' as it floated sparsely in most parts of the supposed Krypton. A bit further, you could see a white crystal-like triangle building. Oddly enough, it reminded you of the Louvre Pyramid. This one just full of crystal-like pillars crisscrossed it.

Didn't want to waste your time, you decided what path you should choose. It wasn't easy. Your stiletto pierced to the weird substrate like mud but also crystal-like as if it's ice. Carefully, you mind your footing while again stayed alert. There's this odd feeling of being watched. But you reminded yourself that you were in a haunted house, so it's understandable.

You let out a loud scream when suddenly a mummy appeared behind one of the floated crystals. "Holy shit, I didn't see that coming." you try to slow down your breath as you clutched the white ruffle shirt under your red corset.

When you feel that you can walk again, you try to do it faster. Several times it looks like the Krypton had shifted in its light as if the sun rose and shone, but the next five minutes, it set. Made the scenery look like it was illuminated by the crystal alone, like a lamp.

When many ghost-like mannequins showed up, it got scarier and scarier, and you immediately lowered your hood to shield you from some view. Your eyes perked up when you finally saw the path to the Fortress of Solitude. It was more like an icy bridge with a dark pond surrounding it.

As your right foot stepped onto the bridge, a loud noise of a clock surprised you. It struck once and counted until it stopped at the twelfth. It was so loud it's voice echoed. You can even feel it under the sole of your boots.

Stunned for a moment, your mind suddenly set on alert mode when the water from both ponds on each side of the bridge rippled. A dinosaur-like head appeared from both ponds. It has a single protruding horn. It opened its mouth and let out a loud growl. A blast of wind came out of it like a thunderstorm. It has sharp teeth like sharks that you assumed could quickly rip your body apart if it sank on yours.

"Holy shit. This is— this is a joke, right? It's not real?" Body trembled in fear; you ran your life out to the Fortress of Solitude. The monsters crawled up out of the water. Its slithered movement mimicked a snake, but it didn't have any problem crawling up without things to latch on.

You screamed as both of the monsters chased you. Run as fast as your legs allow you. This haunted house event might be too much for you. When you can see an oval object that looks like it can be a big mirror or a huge door, your gloved palms immediately bang on it. "Open the door!" You screamed. When the door finally opened, the two snake-like monsters that chased you suddenly disappeared.

"Oh— oh my god. Oh my god…," you chanted as you let yourself drop down on the floor.

"I see you finally make it."

Your face turned to the left. In front of you, stood up tall and proud, Clark Kent with his superman costume. He's just so big. If you compared your tiny body to him, you definitely, nothing.

You replied to Superman's bright smile with a scowl. Slowly you got up from the floor and cleaned your skirt. "Isn't that just too much? What if I fell to the pond? I can't swim, you know?"

He seems surprised, "apologized my lady. It was something the organizer will handle. I don't think they mean any harm."

"Yeah...yeah… right." you walked closer to the hero and already fished out your mobile phone. "So… what did I need to do now I meet you, Superman?"

"Hmm… most attendants ask for pictures. Some of them spent time just talking with me. Since you are the last one, you can take as many pictures as you like and of course. If you have any questions about my protection for the earth, I will gladly answer it." The tone in his voice was more soft than authoritative.

Think of not sabotaging your Halloween any longer; you tried to forgive the silliness of the whole new level of scary from this haunted house. It's hard not to show off your brattiness in this kind of situation. Still, you reminded yourself that he was someone you weren't familiar with—practically a stranger.

Gave him a sweet smile, you took several pictures with him. At one time, you tried to bat your eyelashes at him and asked for a picture where you sat on his lap. You spent a solid 15 minutes talking to the handsome alien. Your fingers touched his biceps here and there. You knew that he knew what you were implying, but he didn't refuse you either. At least not blatantly.

"I apologized, my dear, but I think it's already time." Superman gently put you back on your feet. You gave him an upset face, but you knew it's time to go home. You bid the handsome man goodbye and sneaked a kiss on his cheeks. There's a twinge of pink on his cheeks, and you jump triumphantly at that reaction. Of course, behind his back.

Following the word of 'exit' behind the piles of the crystal-like shape props, you opened the door. The scenery in front of you caught you off guard. The harshed white tundra scenery was replaced by now dark, almost jungly like one. Unconsciously you stepped back and turned your body to come back to the exit door. How shocked you were when it vanished. Disappear without a trace.

As far as your eyes could see, it's only darkness and mist. Only the full moon aided your visions. The exhalation of your breath came out like a plume of white steam. It's definitely colder here than the fake Krypton one. The cold air seeped into your skin quickly as if you were actually in the deep of a forest.

With a loud sigh, you walk straight. You tumbled and fell down on your knees as your boots got caught with something: either roots or a massive branch.

Tired and frightened, you screamed loudly. You weren't sure if this was the continuation of the haunted house or not, but what you want right now just to be back in your apartment and soaked in a warm, relaxing bath.

"Get me out of here!" you yelled again. There's a lot of sounds as if a lot of people stepping on branches. A screeching sound of an owl surprised you, but you tried to follow its direction with your ears.

There's no way you will wait here and do nothing. Oh...my phone! You fished out your smartphone, but it showed no signal. "Shit!." you muttered.

The sounds from a far away crept closed, and you knew it. "You can do it! There's nothing more frightening than that monster snake." tried to encourage yourself; you stood up and slowly navigated. You followed the noises that now closer, like an animalistic growl. It was so intense you can feel all the goosebumps rise up your skin.

You weren't sure how long you have been walking, but you stopped suddenly when there's not only a pair but like 7 pairs of reddish eyes glowed in the dark.

"Come here, little lamb. Don't follow that voice." a vaguely familiar voice distracted you from stepping forward.

"Who the fuck are you, and why you get in my way just now." your voice came out hoarse. There's a twinge of fear in it, and you knew it. You felt like backed down wasn't the best option you had right now.

"I said, come here, or else I can't even save you when they get you."

You stilled as if you didn't hear him talking to you. "Wasn't this still one of the tricks from the haunted house? To let the people scramble in fear?"

"Are you out of your mind? Come here right now, or I left you to death. They will either rip you apart or play your body like a ragdoll before one of them eats you."

You screamed in horror as one pair of red eyes slowly came out. It's huge. Almost four feet of canine shook its fur.

You were hyperventilating right now. Body rooted to the ground as you were surrendered. Welcoming your fate.

"Fuck!"

You heard a curse from behind your back. Maybe the stranger gave up and left you alone to be eaten by the wolves.

The scrunched sound of leaves crushed was loud. Suddenly you felt strong arms hauled you upside down.

Your eyes faced the skin of someone's back. You craned your neck a little bit to get a better view of the wolf. Screamed escaped your lips when you saw not only one but all of them, in a pack, chased both of you.

"Stay still." The stranger yelled.

Did the best thing to not get thrown out by his weird, fast speed, you secured your thumbs in his belt loops. He ran, escaped the pack inside the deep of what looked like a pine forest.

You weren't sure how long you ran with him, but you felt that he's finally slowed down.

When the thud thud sound reached your ears, you opened your eyes and saw that the stranger walked up a stair.

You felt nauseated when he suddenly put you to sit on something that was apparently a countertop. The rushes of blood that circulated through your body made you regain your sense of surroundings.

"Where am I?" you didn't mean to add an ungrateful tone in your sentence, but it was too late.

The stranger eyed you like you were some sort of ungrateful bitch, which maybe you are. "At my cabin," he said flatly.

You haven't had time to look at him in the forest, but now, under the actual lighting inside his house, what you saw might instantly make you drooled, which you already did right now. Stand up in front of you, a shirtless beefy tall man that's definitely more than six feet tall. He has short dark brown hair with a somewhat thick mustache that's complemented by a stubble. The front strands of his hair were loose and slightly curled. Looks likely due to all the running.

The sudden chill of air made you shiver, and he didn't miss your reaction. He left you for a minute and came back with a rug. The sudden heat from it, when he draped the fabric on your shoulder made you let out a gasp of satisfaction.

But the next thing you know, he ripped your stocking. You were shocked, eyeing him in horror. "What the fuck are you doing?!" You threw whatever things that's on your reach. The loud sound of glass hit the wall, and the strong grip on your wrist instantly made your stop.

"Be still!" His azure irises left no room for confrontation. When you felt a sting on your knees, that's when you realized that he just pressed some gauze on it. Likely soaked with alcohol first. There's quite a prominent stain of blood on your legs, and it almost made you nauseated.

"If you stop acting like a brat, you'll heal faster." He looked at you with that cocky smile of confidence. "Understood?"

You just nodded at him. He continued to clean the blood and inspect the wounds. The position where you were sitting right now made it easier to study him carefully.

Although you felt the temperature decreased significantly, the beefy stranger in front of you appeared very sweaty.

Immediately your gaze ran down to his neck and continued its way to his chest and his abs. The unmistakable bulge under his pants made you squirm unconsciously. You were in a haze of fear and lust; you definitely insane.

"Wha— what's your name, sir?"

His strong gazed felt as if his eyes alone can subdue you. Maybe he has these laser eyes like Cyclops, your inner thought buzzed with speculation.

"August. My name is August Walker. What's your name, little lamb?"

How dare this man call you a little lamb? You cleared your throat and told him your name and where you were from.

"New York? It's pretty far from here." He patched you up nicely. The water-resistant gauze looked really neat pressed on your knees and some on your shin. You were impressed.

When your eyes returned to August, you gave him a smile that you hoped looked like a smile of gratitude. Not the kind of smile you always presented to any potential partner in bed, sultry, and flirtatious.

"I— I haven't said anything but— thanks. Thank you for saving my life." Your left fingers instinctively pat his right arms. The feeling of his skin startled you. It's warm; in fact, it felt like he had a very high fever.

"Are— are you alright? Your temperature feels off."

"Don't mind me. Just take care of yourself."

You knew there's something off with him, but you weren't sure if you had a clear mind to think right now. Not with the wolf pack outside and his words on New York being far away from here. Where the fuck am I?

"I… I have a—,"

"I suggest you stay here if you don't want to meet them."

"But I…,"

"You can use the bedroom there," his hand pointed to the door on the far end. "Feel free to use anything you want. Just don't come to the basement. I will meet you after a couple of days, and we figured things out."

His authoritative voice and dominant persona immediately made you want to counter his suggestion. The funny thing was, looked like he sensed it.

He approached you, face just inches away from you. Your eyes immediately glanced away from the delicious plane of his sweaty chest. His fingers drew your chin up, so both of your eyes were at the same level. "Do what I said, understand?. Thrust me; you don't want to know the consequences if you violate my suggestion."

Suggestion, my ass! Your inner mind ready to throw insults at him, but you quickly held it back. In the end, you nodded at him obediently.

—

That night you were restless. But in a weird sense, you felt comfortable staying in that cabin. The first night after August left you to your own devices, you had been pretty careful. Not touched a lot of things except food and items that help you with your long bath.

His cabin was quite spacious. The interior was a mix of something slicked and modern with an equal touch of classic. Tried to look homey. Not to mention his bathroom, it's super luxurious and made you feel at home instantly. Reminded you of your ex (sugar daddy's) bathroom.

Since you couldn't find another bedroom in that cabin and you don't feel like sleeping on the couch, you slept in his bed instead. After all, he said you can use the bedroom there. Still wearing your red riding hood costume, you slipped under the soft comforter.

After that, you woke up feeling a bit groggy. Aimlessly wandered around the kitchen, you weren't sure what to do first. Tried collecting your bearing, you tried to make a coffee. Or any equivalent things of it. Everything felt different; you just knew it. When the only thing you could find was several jars that you assumed were granules of tea, you brew it. You sat on the sofa that faced up a lake. The wall was made of glass, making everything well seen.

You walked closer and gazed at the vast pine forest in front of you. The trees were tall and big, so majestic. Somewhat it's different from the pine trees you usually see. The lake in front of you looked like it had two different colors, fusion together with weird looking fishes and plants that should grow on the land instead of water. Where the fuck am I?

The next day, you woke up feeling a little bit refreshed. You changed your slutty costume into one of the clothes you found in his closet. It was so soft and comfy. You knew when things were from high-quality material.

You continued your days by drinking your tea, ate whatever breakfast you can munch, and read a book that has these unusual fonts. You were sure it wasn't in the alphabet, but one day you absentmindedly swipe your fingers on some of the pages, and the font changed. Hell, it even translated into English in an instant. You were definitely impressed.

One thing you are sure of was, this place was strange. Wherever you were right now, it didn't look like it's on earth. Or the earth that you knew. Why were you so calm? Because you already freak out. After you freak out, you also wondered, did the haunted house event organizer realized that they were the culprit behind what the fuck happened to you right now? Did your housemate recognize that you weren't home for days? Or maybe she thought you fuck the Superman or perhaps found another sugar daddy? It was so absurd yet so real.

The last two nights, you were struck in awe as your eyes were spoiled by two moons. Two fuckin moons. It was always quiet at night, but you heard all the howls that you suspected likely from the pack of those giant wolves.

It was pretty late, almost midnight. You finally found your small bag hindered under the sofa that evening. Now…, now you had some time to check it. The first thing you checked was if there's a signal. Definitely no signal at all.

You curled up on August bed while swiping the pictures on your phone. When you scrolled your pictures with Superman, you realized why August seems familiar. It was none other than August having quite the same face, the same build, even somewhat similar voices with Superman.

"Fuck...maybe I should ask August if he would like to be my Daddy while I'm here." Imagining him spoiled you with gifts and other physical attention made you chuckled at yourself.

Your fingers instinctively crawled under the gray long sleeve shirt you borrowed from his closet (again). Your brain projected an image as if it was August's hands that ran on your upper thigh. Find its way quickly to your wet core. Two fingers slipped under the black lace panty. The panty that you need to wash daily due to no other replacement available. Left you a couple hours with only his buttoned-up shirt without anything underneath.

The sound of a loud howl startled you. It was as if it circled you in close range. Moved as fast as you can, you snatched the oversize robe on you. Your eyes tried to creep behind the curtain in the bedroom.

You knew the owner of this cabin stated that you can't go to the basement. You wouldn't be so lucky if that giant wolf found you first and broke in. Although you haven't been really out of the cabin, you tried to inspect a little bit and found it odd that this cabin was apparently a treehouse-style cabin. How come there's a basement in the house.

You exit the bedroom and go to the kitchen when you last saw August a couple nights ago. Next to the slick wooden cabinet was a particular thing that looked like a door. The surface of your palms works like a stethoscope, felt as if something with pressure from your hands. You tried not to get disturbed by the nonstop howl outside. When you hear something as if the door was shifted, you immediately step back.

"Oh my, finally…," you slipped inside the small door when it opened automatically. It was a small narrow corridor-like, and it was dark. Walk inside carefully, you follow the path that leads you to another door. The metal door let out a weird creaked as you pushed it open.

"Didn't I tell you not to come down here?"

Shocked was evident in your face when you heard his rather gruff tone. You step over, closer to where he sat, that looks more likely an even bigger size of the bed than the one he had upstairs.

"Don't —,"

He warned you, but you being you, could never obey orders. Although challenging, your eyes finally adapt to the only natural light from the glass wall. That said, you were totally confused as you can see the lake parallel to your eyes.

"What the… wait, how there's even a basement down here? Last time I checked, the cabin is a treehouse?"

"It's camouflage. No one can't see it or enter from outside."

"Holy… why there's a three moon?" you switched your gaze from the moon to August. Curiosity got the better of you when you saw his irises were now pale blue. You can still see the outer form that is August, but something was off.

A gasp escaped your lips as August rose up from the bed. The powerful moon shone his feature. He was taller, bulkier, and dangerous as he stalked towards you slowly. Your heart thumped erratically as you were cornered. Back supported by the glass wall as now you can see August in his other form.

"Holy shit. Wha—what are you?"

"Told you not to go here, and you just can't listen, little lamb." his smirk turned maniacal as he looked at the fear on your face. His white fangs, longer than usual. His fingers also look unusual, claw-like.

"Are you— are you a werewolf?"

"Well...you can say that. I'm half human half wolf if you are curious."

"So why— why did you save me?"

The tip of his nose inched closer to yours. You held your breath when his warm skin touched you. It moved to your left cheek and stopped near your ear. "I'm curious," he whispered.

"I haven't really met a pure human in the same age range. So I have followed you since I saw you step out of that door. I follow you until you meet the other wolf pack, and I decide to help you instead of fulfilling my need."

"What need?" you asked him, dumbfounded.

"This," he pulled away from you, his claw-like finger pointed out below his hip. Focusing on the long and hard appendage that was unmistakably, his cock.

"Oh—I- I'm sorry?" you gave him your best apologetic face. Eyes seemed eager to stare longer, but you gazed away quickly. Wait, why did you apologize to him? You cleared your throat, "I— I actually not sure what I should do to help?" tilted your head to the right, you looked him in the eyes, almost challenged him.

Despite almost getting eaten by wolves, August's menacing presence didn't really scare you. Maybe the fact that he was still human and less scary made it easy for you. Not to mention he's hot too, with all his glory.

His somewhat evil chuckled sent shivers down your spine. "If you really wanted to help, I think you know what to do, don't you?"

"W-wait—is—does this mean we 'mate'?" you gave him a somewhat weird expression. "And—and you bite me, give me marks that I'm yours? And knot me, and I will have a litter of puppies, and I become your omega—,"

His pale blue eyes stared at you as if you grew two heads. It softened immediately as he smiled. Broad one showed you a set of white teeth with extra long fangs.

"Oh, my little lamb...what have you read?"

"Err— Omega verse? Fanfic?"

He blinked. Gave you a quizzical expression.

"It's— it's erotica. Where mostly the character you know—," you darted your eyes away from August. "—mate, err have sex. Mostly was written very explicitly."

"Go on." He said.

"They are wolves, scenting, imprinting. An alpha mates with omega, and it's been told in a variety of plots possible. Sometimes two alphas fight too." You were breathless. You didn't realize you explained it to him in a quick, incoherent way.

You staggered backward as he came closer, forgetting that you already cornered. His long fingers reached out to the white robe you put on you. Although his fingers had claws that looked alarming to you, his hand still skillfully unfastened the robe.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration, I think. Pack and hierarchies usually form just for a mating season; they hunt together for food and shelter in the winter. We might be scenting people, I guess. After all, we have a very sensitive sense of smell. But no, we don't bite our mate." He took off the robe from your body, left you only with his grey buttoned-up shirt.

"Well...I love that you are wearing my shirt as if you are mine already."

You purse your lips at him. "Why aren't you in a pack? Isn't it a mating season?"

"I mostly can control myself during the full moon. That's the advantage of being half-human. I don't need to transform myself into a wolf and be in a pack. But I am an alpha if that's what you are curious about."

"Can-can you turn back to your human form? Not like—you know, you aren't in your human form, bu—," your words were cut off by his thumb on your lips.

"You talk too much, aren't you, little lamb…," August leaned down and touched his lips to yours. Your first reaction was to freeze since you were afraid of his fangs. But his surprisingly soft lips coaxed you relentlessly, making you surrender as you closed your eyes. Opening your mouth, his tongue sneaked past your lips easily. His fangs poke at your lower lips, but it didn't hurt.

The non so innocent kiss became more desperate. Your once shied tongue now dances together with August. Your once clasped palms that were situated on top of your chest now scraped at his shoulder.

Your eyes fluttered open as August nipped down from your jaw to your neck. Forgotten, you even close your eyes in the first place. His claw-like fingers unbuttoned his shirt on yours without difficulty, left you only in your black lace panty.

The feeling of temperature as if dropped significantly made you glued your body to August. Smooth skin of your chest pressed to his hot hairy one, seeking warmth. One hand secured behind your back while the other palm on your ass. Massage the globe there.

"Ohh…" you gasped as you felt his finger on your clothed core.

"Hmm… wet already, I see." he let the pad of his finger move up to your clit, while the movement of the claw added sensation to your already. Seeing your reaction, he repeated it a couple times. Made you a mess with only one of his fingers.

Arched your body a little bit, you were thrilled to see his expression. Traveled your hands down from his hairy chest; your eyes still focused on his face, while your palms found their way to his hard cock.

"Oh, so big…," slowly at first, you ran your hands at the tip of his cock. Even without looking at it, you knew it's definitely bigger than any cock you've ever seen.

Eyes widened as your hand slid down to the base. The other weighed his balls. "Holy…," your eyes looked down, stared in awe at his cock.

"Careful little lamb, you drooled on it."

"Who's not?" You eyed him in disbelief.

August let out a weird laugh, "I expect you to worship it, then." He looked at you with a bemused expression as you quickly worked on his length. Stroked it up and down repeatedly.

You go down on your knees, eyes crossed as you focused on his slit that oozed pre-cum. Unconsciously, you stuck out your tongue and brushed it on his slit. Wrapped your right hand at the base of his cock, your gaze rose up to meet his. Left handheld on his upper thigh for support as your lips covered the heat of his cock. You bobbed your head calculatedly as you accommodate him halfway.

"Such a good little lamb for your wolf, aren't you." August's right hand was at the back of your head as he nudged you none too gently. Made you choke at his cock, and pulled it out from your mouth. You gazed at the mix of your saliva and his precum in awe. But it didn't last long as August pulled you to your feet and picked you up.

He climbed up on the bed with you and laid on his back. He situated your hips and pulled it closer, so your opening was hovering on top of his face. On all four, for him. August was rewarded with a yelped and a moan as his tongue licked your clothed core.

The sound of fabric being ripped made you turn your head to the right. "That's my only pa— ohhh," your protest died right away as his tongue lapped your opening. The feel of his claws as he spread your ass cheeks added wonder to your pussy.

Trying to keep yourself busy, you swallowed the head of his cock for a starter. His cock was too big for you; your mouth can only allow half of it. Diligently, you tried to move your tongue while you suck on his cock, hands slid up and down. Feeling all the veins that encircled his length made you shuddered.

August bucked his hips as you put one of your hands to massaging his balls. The action made you gagged as his cock entered further than before. But it didn't take a long time for you to stop due to his sudden attack on your pussy.

His tongue was not lapped at you anymore; it rammed inside your wet core like a starved man. You squealed as the end of his fangs scrapped at your now wet pussy. The pressure on your clit as the pad of his fingers made a circular motion left you breathless. It drove you to your high faster than you ever experienced. A surprised scream left off your lips as his tongue scraped your most sensitive part. Your body quivered as your inner walls spasm, hands held on his cock as you ride your high.

"Ohh— my god, ohh—my god—," you can still feel the kitten licked as August feasted on it.

"Ahh—that' s—that's good." You let your head rested on his left thigh.

"Now, for the main course." August's gruff tone pulled you back from your hazy state. His hard cock was evident on your right hand.

You felt your body shifted position, and now you were on your back. August spread your legs wide and shifted his position. The feeling of his heavy cock on top of your pussy made you nervous but also excited. Unconsciously you nibbled your forefingers while eyes traveled down to his long and hard cock. It made an up and down motion on your opening. You can feel your wet pussy clenched in frustration, ready to be filled.

"August please…," still nibbled at your fingers, you gaze at the wolf on top of you, one elbow supporting your upper body. He's so big, literally and figuratively. If you can't come back to your world, so be it. You didn't mind staying and being his plaything as long as he wanted you.

"Please, what my little lamb?" You pouted at that. You definitely weren't a little lamb. If anything, you should be the succubus.

"Please put that in me—," you writhed underneath him.

"Please put what?" His big body tower over you. His pupils dilated and only left a small ring of pale blue irises. His clawed fingers move up and down your thigh.

"Ple—please, ohhhh, put that cock inside me! Fuck me, my wolf— nhhh—," your plead was answered when August suddenly pushed the head of his cock on your opening.

The back of your head fell to rest on the thick pillow as the intrusion of August's cock sent a surprising jolt on your body. You knew he's big. But when his cock finally spread your lips open and entered you, the overwhelming sensation was something you still didn't expect.

"Ohh— so big—," your pussy clenched immediately when August tried to push deeper but also slowly. The noticeable ridge of his vein scraped at your inner wall deliciously. With closed eyes, you gripped the edge of the pillow as you mumbled about how full you feel right now.

"Work your clit for me. Yes...make that tight pussy cream on my cock."

"Oh—like this?" Your fore and middle fingers slowly pulled the hood and made a circular motion as August asked.

"Yes… Just like that…."

It didn't take you long enough to feel the fast buildup on your lower belly. Something that never happened before. "Ohh—yes—I'm going to cum, my—ahhh," you work your clit faster as August cock made a shallow fuck inside you.

"Yes, cum on my cock, my little lamb. I want to see your pretty face when you cum for your wolf." His wolf tone deliciously affected your body. His growl sent an extra twitch on your clit. And you lose it when he thrust all the way inside your wet pussy.

You scream in ecstasy as your pussy quivered uncontrollably on his hard cock. You feel so full. The feeling of his cock all the way inside you made your brain feel as if it was submerged. Forgotten that you ever closed your eyes, you were rewarded by a sly smirk on August werewolf's face. His eyes were now all dark. His hair loosened, made the curls of it fall to his forehead.

"I see you enjoying yourself, my little lamb." His claws caressed your thigh gently.

"Nnn—of course, I ahhh—I am." A little movement from August made you aware that his cock still inside you. Hard as a rock.

August lifted up both your knees and secured it with his hands. You lifted your upper body with your elbows as he retrieved his cock from your wet core. You gasped when you witnessed August pulled it out, inches by inches. Left only the head inside you.

You moaned when he pushed again. Stretched you like no one else ever had. He did it slowly, knew that you still adapt to his girth. But the feeling when the tip of his cock scraped your most sensitive part every time he thrust inside you, you were tripped to your high even faster than before.

The moan of pleasure became incoherent as August sped up his pace. Repeated syllables of ahhh and ohhh accompanied your plead for him to fuck you like you were a female wolf. Released his pent up frustration to mate.

Both of you fuck like an animal who just needs to reproduce. Lust clouded the atmosphere in the room. Moaned and growled were sung like a prayer under the moonlight that shone its way to the basement.

His balls slapped against your ass every time he plugged in inside you. Sweats trickled down your body, and it looked even animalistic in August. His werewolf form was so majestic that you just wholly let him own you.

His feracious fucking looked like almost to its limit. The buzzed on your lower belly was ready to explode, but you held it.

"Fuck!" He growled.

"Uhh—uhh—uhh—cum in me. Yes—cum in me, my wolf— filled me up with your thick hot cum!" You pleaded like a bitch in heat.

August slammed his cock deep inside you as he screamed and let out a long howl. The feel of his warm cum inside you triggered your orgasm. You wail as your inner walls contracted and squeezed his cock. Spurt and spurt of his cum filled your womb to the brim. Something that you never allowed any of your partners to do in the past.

You didn't realize that you lock both your ankles behind August ass. But also you sensed something changed. August was draped on top of your body, head sneaked at the crook of your neck. Still, in a haze caused by the release of oxytocin in your bloodstream, you missed the way August kissed turned into something more. He bit you.

The still clouded brain of yours pop-up an image of you becoming August omega. His only mate. Bear a litter of pups for him and live happily ever after in his house, in his world. Your pussy unconsciously clenched at his cock that was still inside you. You never really said this to anyone, but you imagine you live in another world since the first time you ever read a story about omega verse.

You mewled when the biting stopped. Maybe August bit you just for fun. When he craned his head up to look at you, something was different. His eyes turned back to his azure color. His fangs now short, back to its regular human teeth, and his body wasn't as hairy as he's before. He's practically not in his werewolf form anymore.

"You changed? Why?"

He looked at you with his quizzical expression. "You wanted me to return to my werewolf form?"

You glanced away from him and kind of embarrassed to declare that his werewolf form was way hotter than his human form. Not that his human form wasn't hot either. Damn, you definitely bang him every time you can, but his werewolf form just made you curl your toes in an instant.

You cleared your throat and looked him in the eyes, "I like it very much."

"Well...the full moon is still in the sky for quite some time. Are you ready for the next round, my little lamb?"

"Yes, my wolf." You purred seductively at him and witnessed in delight his transformation before your eyes.

***

Comment, like and reblog are highly desirable! Spread the filthiness lol 💋

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mightbewriting · 4 years ago

Note

I’m currently re-reading Bone Mortar (as one does when they are literally two steps away from an academic burnout) and this gem of a sentence really stood out to me:

“But he found he’d forgotten every last fucking one of those responses when forced into such close proximity, that infuriatingly soft smile cracking shale and chipping limestone: excavating something modestly called curiosity, aggressively called infatuation.”

*melts into a puddle of incoherent goo*

Also: “It was a habit Hermione tried very hard to break in herself as it apparently made her look like an unlikeable know-it-all. It was the same reason she’d trained herself to tell her friends and family that she studied postwar German history instead of the social impact of state-sponsored surveillance on civilians in East Germany. Apparently, if someone wanted that much information, they’d ask.” Poor Hermione, I feel this in my bones every single time someone asks about my research lol.

In case you or any of your lovely followers are interested, I have a movie recommendation connected to Hermione’s research topic. It’s called Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) and it could pretty much fit into Hermione’s syllabus. I’m bad at summaries and I don’t want to give anything away, but the plot revolves around the way the Stasi (the East German secret police) infiltrated the cultural milieu of East Berlin.

I hope you are doing well and that life is slowly getting back to normal for you. Hugs from grad student anon🤍

GRAD STUDENT ANON. did you know? could you sense that i was just thinking about you the other day? i was sending you many well wishes and positive vibes, hoping that life is treating you kindly.

also, FUN FACT. i am that person who whenever someone says, 'amanda, have you seen x movie?' the answer is always no. i have not. i have seen very few movies in my life. i am not a movie person and i am aware that this is a personality flaw.

HOWEVER. i have seen the lives of others! and i have seen it because i watched it in the class i took in undergrad that i based hermione's class in bone mortar off of. i cannot tell you how tremendously pleased i am at how full circle this has become xD im pretty sure this means i've done *something* right here bahahaha.

thanks for popping in grad student anon! i hope you're doing so, so well!

#anonymous asks #grad student anon #bone mortar

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isthatbloodonhisshirt · 3 years ago

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Getting to read a new chapter every morning is really good, actually!!! It makes my day ♥️

Lol dude, please stop saying thank you so many times 😂😂 It's making me feel weird, like, I should be the one thanking you. Not the other way around!! You legit wrote like, what, 276k just for this one fic. That's like, almost twice the length of an average long book. Dude. That's legit so much serotonin for me, you don't even know!!! Each of your work is so, so good, if I kept a top 10 sterek fic list yours would legit be like, 9/10 works there. Not even joking. But I only keep a top 3 because there's just too many fics to get lost in lmao 🤣🤣😂

Really?? By Any Other Name (I Will Always Feel The Same) is like, soooo good!!! (Linking it because more people should see it... Go Read It!!!! What are you waiting for?!) It's in my top three and has been since I read it. I hadn't even seen the movie at that time, lol, but I loved the premise (I knew the general idea of the movie...). I actually devoured the whole thing in like, 2 days xD Had to process some stuff in between because feels. Ohgodthefeels.

Anyways. Sorry I rambled, and Thank you for reading through that lol.

PS: Since you asked for my #3, it's an ongoing series by @asterekmess. They are writing the canon rewrite, and have published S1, S2 and The Summer Between S2 and S3 so far. I think S3 will come in October? Yup, October. The link to it is here (to the series as a whole) if you'd like to read this sometime!!

- 🕖

Lol thank you so much ;~; I’m glad you’re enjoying the daily updates. Almost at the end though, but at least the wait overall will be over, right? :P

HAHAHA I CAN’T HELP IT! I am just always so thankful and happy when people share their experience with me about how they feel with my work! For real, it means so much to me and just thank you ;~; And that is legit so, so nice to say so many of mine are in your top ten. Seriously, no words, thank you so much ;~;

Thank you XD It was a fun one to write. It was super weird trying to tag it though because I was like “technically... major character death... because they all die... a lot... but they don’t stay dead... so does it count...?” XD I did in the end just so no one would yell at me about it, but yeah, that one was fun on the tagging front (to be fair it was fun all around. I loved writing that one). ONLY THE GOOD FEELS RIGHT?! NO ANGST AT ALL IN THAT FIC, IT WAS SO FLUFFY RIGHT?! :D lololol

Thank you so much for the rec! I shall add it to my eventual read list of Sterek fics :3 I read the summary for the series and that sounds -chef’s kiss- excellent. Can’t wait, thank you so much for sharing! SHARING IS CARING WHEN IT COMES TO FANFIC!!!!! <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

#Not TW #Blood's yakkity yaks #Anonymous

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themurphyzone · 4 years ago

Text

PatB Oneshot: A Whole New Life for You and Me

For the air mice nyoom’s server Secret Santa for @deez-art! Decided to gift them a fic for the wonderful Brainladdin AU cause it’s so pure and I live for found family. I decided to go with the happy ending for the movie, cause Genie’s reaction upon being freed melts me every time.

@nuttersincorporated came up with the fun idea of Wakko calling Brainladdin ‘Dad’ and Brainladdin denying it every time. I thought it was cute XD

Summary: The evil Snowballjafar has been defeated, but there's still some loose ends that need to be wrapped up. And really, there are way too many emotions going on here for Brainladdin's comfort.

AO3 Link (No FFN post cause AO3 has easier x-over system).

No power, however grandiose and terrifying, could go unchecked by the laws of the universe. Snowballjafar had forgotten there were unseen forces far greater than himself, even with phenomenal cosmic power at his fingertips.

The price to pay? Itty bitty living space inside a cramped magical lamp.

Brainladdin stared down at the black lamp that now contained his former friend turned enemy. While part of him would always remember Snowballjafar as a fellow young orphan on the streets, he also knew that this fate was karma for all of the hamster’s cruelty.

Jaspinky wouldn’t be forced into a union he didn’t want. Yakko wouldn’t be forced to hurt the people he’d come to regard as his younger siblings. Wakko and Dot wouldn’t be forced to live in an ACMEbah under Snowballjafar’s iron command.

ACMEbah was restored. Everyone was safe.

Brainladdin gave the lamp to Yakko, now back to his normal self, or as normal as could be for a wisecracking genie with a penchant for cartoonish humor.

“Allow me,” Yakko said, winking at Wakko and Dot as he zipped towards the palace balcony that overlooked the city. The kids eagerly scrambled over to the balcony to watch the proceedings.

In a flash of light, Yakko now wore a backwards blue cap, Wakko sported some strange armor that covered his chest and face, and Dot had a pink helmet with her trademark yellow flower painted on the side. Wakko and Dot grinned up at Yakko with adoring expressions, hanging off the balcony a little too eagerly for Brainladdin’s peace of mind.

“Wakko! Get off that railing at once!” Brainladdin shouted.

“Yes, Pops,” Wakko said in the universal ‘exasperated teen’ tone, which Brain suspected he’d picked up from Yakko. But Wakko planted his two feet on safe ground anyway, settling for standing on his tiptoes instead.

“I’m not—oh forget it,” Brainladdin sighed. It wasn’t worth arguing about, and he’d rather just take the defeat now instead of prolonging it.

Jaspinky giggled, his jewelry swaying gently with every movement. His blue eyes sparkled once again, a much welcomed change from the abject terror he had experienced while drowning in the sand-filled hourglass. And really, he looked much better in blue and gold than seductive red.

It was an objective fact.

Yakko held the lamp in his left arm, then wound it so fast that it resembled a blue whirlwind. “This is it, folks! The real teeth-clenching, nailbiting, game-winning swing of whatever century we’re in!”

Another magical burst, and Brainladdin found himself holding a tiny triangular flag emblazoned with Dot’s flower. Jaspinky screamed in glee, waving a giant pointing foam finger that now covered his right hand. Brainladdin rolled his eyes, but held the flag as high as he could in a silent show of support.

Dot readied her large mallet as Wakko crouched behind her, punching his fist into the palm of his hand. Yakko zipped to the other side of the balcony, then hurled the lamp towards Dot with all his might.

THWACK!

Dot’s mallet connected with the lamp and sent it soaring high into the blue sky and far beyond the walls of ACMEbah, straight into the heart of the vast desert.

“THAT’S FOR JASPINKY, MY BROTHERS, AND BRAINLADDIN CAUSE I FEEL LIKE BEING GENEROUS, YOU STUPID HAMSTER!” Dot screamed as she dashed around the balcony at high speeds, high-fiving Jaspinky’s foam finger as she passed him.

“And it’s outta here, thanks to my new sister sib! What a swing!” Yakko ruffled Dot’s hair as she threw herself at Wakko, knocking him down from his crouched position. The two laughed and embraced, laughing in joy and relief that their ordeal was really over. The duo began an odd victory dance that involved a lot of stomping both of them and rude hand gestures to the horizon on Dot’s part. “He’s looking at uhhhhhhhh…about a ten thousand year sentence in the Cave of Wonders. Without parole or bail, unless some poor shmuck decides to release him in a cashgrab sequel. But that’s a problem for another time.”

Brainladdin allowed himself a tiny smile. And Jaspinky smiled that bright, silly smile that always seemed to make Brainladdin’s chest flutter swiftly and strange, but not in a wholly unpleasant way either.

To think this entire business had started out as a way to ascend to the throne of ACMEbah. Leave poverty behind him. Get Wakko some actual food and not worry about amputated limbs courtesy of angry shopkeepers.

He hadn’t counted on falling head over heels for Jaspinky’s gentle spirit. Who wanted to marry for love and not for power or fame or wealth. Nor had he counted on striking up a genuine friendship with a powerful magical being, who had wishes of his own yet was bound to the desires of his master.

Wakko lived by the rules of the street rat like Brainladdin, but he’d found a kinship with others willing to show him the affection Brainladdin couldn’t offer him.

Dot could finally be a child, a rather clever and self-sufficient one, and now she had brothers who would watch her back from this point on.

And Brainladdin found himself back to square one. There were other methods to take over ACMEbah, but he couldn’t continue perpetrating this lie.

Jaspinky deserved someone better than him. Wakko should be taken care of by people who would provide for every physical need and show him the love he deserved. He didn’t get along with Dot, but she was protective of Jaspinky, and it was by far her most admirable trait.

Most importantly, this quest would’ve been doomed to fail from the beginning if it hadn’t been for Yakko, who supported the endeavor in his snarky, playful way, entertained with his magic, and didn’t seem to begrudge Brainladdin for not keeping his promise when he’d been blinded by power.

Really, Yakko never should’ve been locked away from the world, only to come out when someone wanted to use him.

“Pondering again, Brainladdin?” Jaspinky asked. He took off the foam finger and set it down gently, then carefully pried the flag out of Brainladdin’s hands. His fingers were warm and gentle, much like how they’d held hands on that whimsical carpet ride just a few starlit nights ago.

“Yes,” Brainladdin said softly. He swallowed the lump in his throat, then took Jaspinky’s hands in his and tried not to think about how this would be the last time he might ever see him. “And I’m sorry I lied to you about being a prince.”

Jaspinky teared up, his impossibly blue eyes reflecting the sky above. “It’s okay. I know why you did,” he whispered, like the lie was easy to forgive, just like that.

A street rat couldn’t hope to change a centuries-old law. Street rats had no power, no connections, no respect. And the Sultan-CEO wouldn’t approve of any match but the ones she selected for Jaspinky, regardless of his wishes.

“I suppose this is goodbye.” Brainladdin squeezed Jaspinky’s hands, just to prolong releasing his hands for a little longer.

“It’s not fair,” Jaspinky whimpered. “I love you.”

Brainladdin had seen those words float around in every step, every touch, every look from Jaspinky. But to hear it spoken out loud…

Well, it seemed he would be yearning for much more than power once he returned to the street.

A few teardrops splashed down from above. Yakko sniffed into a handkerchief, and Wakko and Dot stopped dancing, the reality of the situation sinking in, judging from their crestfallen expressions.

“Sorry. Never been this invested in a love story before,” Yakko said, poofing the handkerchief away as he drifted down next to Brainladdin. “But ya still got one wish left. Might as well use it. Just say the word and it’s riches, elephants, an entourage, and the whole prince shebang.”

Even after I went back on my promise to set you free? Brainladdin wanted to ask, but the words caught in his throat. You still want to offer me a chance to be with Jaspinky?

“Eh, what’s an eternity of servitude to love?” Yakko stretched casually, as if he could read Brainladdin’s thoughts. He bumped noses with Jaspinky, who smiled despite his tears. “You only come across someone like Jaspinky…well, never actually. Then again, trying to score a date can be pretty hard when you’re stuck in a lamp.”

Brainladdin cupped Jaspinky’s cheek in the palm of his hand. He wouldn’t feel his warm, luxurious fur ever again.

“Jaspinky…while I-I reciprocate your affections, I can’t fabricate an entire persona to make you…you know.” Brainladdin looked down, unable to meet Jaspinky’s tearful gaze.

“Um…” Jaspinky just sounded confused.

“He stinks at admitting he loves you even though it’s completely obvious cause he actually wants you to be happy unlike all those other rotten, no-good, stuck-up jerkwad princes!” Dot shouted.

He could’ve done without the insult, but he nodded his thanks to Dot for the translation to Jaspinky terms.

“I understand, Brainladdin,” Jaspinky murmured. He kissed the back of Brainladdin’s hand, soft lips pressing against the calloused skin. Brainladdin allowed a moment for the kiss to settle, then pulled away to take care of one last piece of business.

“Yakko, I wish for your freedom,” Brainladdin declared.

This was his chance to set things right. So that Yakko would have his freedom, never be forced to serve a cruel master again, and fully become the loving, questionably responsible brother he was meant to be.

“Right away! Vipers, monkeys, gold, coming right-” Yakko said, dusting off his gloves and cracking his knuckles. He raised his arms, then paused in surprise, the final wish not quite registering yet. “-wait, what?”

Brainladdin held the lamp up to Yakko. The forever-teenager’s powers would be his own, never subject to anyone’s whims again.

“Yakko, you’re free.”

Blue smoke poured out of the lamp as it rose out of Brainladdin’s hands, swirling around Yakko’s body as he looked on, completely speechless for probably the first time in millennia. His eyebrows drew up in shock, his arms making odd, meaningless motions as if he didn’t know what to do with his own body. Bolts of cosmic, ancient magic weaved around Yakko in indescribable colors, sparking clouds of massive energy that had never been witnessed before or ever again.

Jaspinky rested his jaw on top of Brainladdin’s head, not caring if he squished his fez. Wakko’s tongue lolled out happily, and Dot bounced up and down in sheer amazement before catching herself and settling for a joyful grin. Together they watched the golden shackles around Yakko’s wrists break and vanish into a cloud of magical sparkles.

Yakko stared at his own bare wrists, rubbing them and feeling the fur beneath his bonds, probably for the first time in his long life. He turned them in every possible direction, his mouth making movements that were heavily reminiscent of a fish out of water.

“I’m free?” Yakko asked in disbelief. He gingerly picked up his lamp by the handle, tapping it a few times in case it had any power left. But the lamp had lost its golden sheen, its exterior now a dull brown. Yakko’s chest heaved up and down rapidly. “I’m free.”

His voice was tiny, not at all full of confidence and bravado as Brainladdin had admittedly grown fond of throughout this whole ordeal.

Then he cleared his throat, thrusting the depowered lamp into Brainladdin’s arms and startling Jaspinky enough that his arms slipped off Brainladdin’s head. Jaspinky laughed it off, and Brainladdin nudged him with his foot.

“Quick! Wish for something outrageous! Wish for denial!” Yakko begged as he covered his eyes, turning away from Brainladdin. “That’s it! Denial!”

Brainladdin shrugged, but obliged anyway. “I wish for denial?”

“Psych! Like you really need me for something you’ve already got!” Yakko shouted in Brainladdin’s face, giggling uncontrollably.

Brainladdin sighed and pushed Yakko’s face away from his, but Yakko’s glee was absolutely infectious, and even he couldn’t help but smile as Yakko bounced off pillars and roofs and the ground below, reveling in his newfound freedom. Whatever Yakko planned to do, Brainladdin had no doubts that the genie would use his liberation from the lamp well.

“I’mfreeI’mfreeI’mfree—I’M FREE!” Yakko chanted the mantra over and over. He lifted Wakko and Dot onto his shoulders and nuzzled their noses, and they returned the gesture with huge smiles. Wakko leaned a little too far over for comfort as the trio celebrated in midair, but it seemed that Yakko’s magic allowed him to stay on without worrying about the laws of physics.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to see the world! You know how boring lamp interiors are? It’s good that you don’t, cause you’ll be bored if I answered that!” Yakko exclaimed as he conjured a long, blue slide that allowed Wakko and Dot to safely return to the balcony in style. Then he broke out an enormous suitcase, packing clothes, toys, and other items with a ridiculous amount of arms.

So Yakko planned to leave too. But Brainladdin tried to hang onto the joy of Yakko’s freedom for a little longer, trying not to linger on how his life always consisted of saying goodbye to anyone he met that he’d grown to…tolerate.

“Well, off to see the sights! Tahiti, China, the Galapagos, Pennsylvania, Switzer-“

Yakko paused and looked down, a bag of apples in one hand and a potted cactus in another. His mouth opened in surprise. He was watching Brainladdin.

Then Brainladdin’s vision blurred. He wiped his eyes, and his fingers came away damp. No one else had commented yet, though Jaspinky’s hand was on the small of his back, but Brainladdin said nothing. Best to ingrain the memory of Jaspinky’s soft touch in his mind while he had the chance.

Yakko wiped away a few tears of his own, his form shrinking until he was just a head taller than Wakko.

“Poit. I’ll let you have a moment,” Jaspinky whispered. Brainladdin only registered his words just as the gentle pressure vanished from his back. Dot knelt, taking Jaspinky in her cupped hands. She was silent, only giving Yakko an odd look before retreating into the palace for her own private conversation with the princess, leaving Wakko and Brainladdin alone with Yakko.

A case of déjà vu swept through Brainladdin. He and Wakko alone in the Cave of Wonders. Wakko bouncing along to a bombastic musical number, where he could have a fun childhood experience that ACMEbah refused to grant. Yakko’s excitement over simply talking to living beings.

At first, Yakko was just a means to an end. He was powerful, and it wasn’t difficult to work within the boundaries of his genie limitations. Maybe he could’ve took things more seriously, maybe he could’ve stopped jabbering for just a few seconds so Brainladdin could get a word or two in. Although Yakko had been trapped within a role, he still made everyone smile, he was protective, and he was kind.

“Hey.” Yakko tapped Brainladdin’s forehead. “You really oughta stop that brooding habit of yours.”

“I don’t brood. I ponder,” Brainladdin shot back, ridding himself of the watery veil in his eyes. Yakko provided him with a handkerchief, and Brainladdin blew his nose. The item poofed away. “Thanks, Yakko. For everything, and not just for convenient items you can create without obeying the laws of physics and other scientific fields.”

“Are you really gonna see the world?” Wakko asked, his eyes shining with wonder.

Wakko had expressed a desire to see the world many times before, but only so he could earn enough money to help Brainladdin put bread on the table. One of Brainladdin’s regrets about this elaborate plan falling through, really. Nobody, especially a child, should ever have to worry about rationing one loaf of bread and an apple to last a week.

Here was a prime opportunity for Wakko to experience the world without financial woes dragging him down from truly enjoying it, since Yakko could just create money and food as needed and serve as a somewhat responsible guardian for him.

Brainladdin didn’t ask though, but only because he didn’t know how to broach the topic. Wakko would never follow his own dream if he was constantly worried for Brainladdin, and it didn’t feel quite right to request something of Yakko so soon after his new freedom.

Yakko nodded, wiping away a stray tear from his cheek. “Well, more than what I’m seeing right now, anyway. And really, it’s no problem-o. At least you guys aren’t boring. Can’t say the same about all the other masters I’ve had.”

“I’m gonna miss you,” Wakko admitted. He held up his arms, and Yakko scooped him up in an enormous hug. Wakko flopped like a sack of potatoes, nuzzling into Yakko’s fur.

“Heh, you too, kid,” Yakko murmured. “Boy, have you been filling up on the palace’s sweetcakes or something since we started this whole thing?”

It wasn’t healthy sustenance by any means, but if Wakko was truly putting on weight, then Brainladdin saw no reason to complain.

Yakko shifted his brother so that he was secure in one arm, then set his other hand on the ground next to Brainladdin, who stepped into the offered palm. Yakko set Brainladdin on his shoulder, a gentle brush of magic preventing any accidental falls.

“Yakko…” Brainladdin could barely look him in the eye. “Though your antics could be somewhat over the top, you go about them with a certain degree of charm. And I suppose…I’ll miss you as well.”

“Awww, only somewhat over the top? Looks like I gotta up my game.” Yakko cracked a grin. Then he pushed his nose against Brainladdin’s, and while it was an odd feeling to be nuzzled on the nose, he didn’t push Yakko away either.

Wakko made an angry noise in the back of his throat.

Brainladdin shrugged. His dignity had been torn to shreds anyway. “I can learn to tolerate one more.”

And Wakko immediately closed the distance, his knee digging into Yakko’s smoky tail and somehow making him go ‘oomph’ even though there shouldn’t have been anything with substance there. Wakko’s nuzzle was somewhat rougher than Yakko’s, but it wasn’t anything Brainladdin couldn’t handle.

And this was long overdue, Brainladdin thought as he patted Wakko’s cheek. Had he ever done this while Wakko was awake and conscious to feel it? He wasn’t sure, but as Jaspinky taught him…it wasn’t too late to start.

“Who cares what anyone says? You guys are always gonna be royalty to me,” Yakko declared.

Wakko closed his eyes and almost melted right there, and Yakko had to set him down carefully since the kid’s body composition seemed to be made out of shifting sand with all the physical contact. Brainladdin carefully climbed down Yakko’s arm and tried not to tear up again at his words.

Just as Brainladdin’s feet touched the ground, there was a furious scream from the door on the far side of the room.

“The Sultan-CEO is just…AHHHHHHH!” Dot shouted as she stomped across the tiled floor and slumped against the balcony railing, her head smacking against the metal bars. Her brothers threw their arms around her instantly, and her ire diminished, though she was still wracked with tension.

Jaspinky trailed behind her, his shoulders and tail drooping, the golden band around his tail making sad tap-tap-tap noises.

Shoot. He was still crying.

“I’m sorry, Brainladdin.” Jaspinky twisted his tail between his hands. “Sultan-CEO-Mom’s still awfully mad. Some dictator from the kingdom of Dunlikus was supposed to meet with her but got caught in a whirlywind from Snowballjafar’s evil magic. She wouldn’t listen to us. But…Dot tried to convince her about you. She really did.”

“I believe you, Jaspinky,” Brainladdin quietly said as he patted Jaspinky’s back. Jaspinky sniffed once, twice, then intertwined his tail with Brainladdin’s. While Brainladdin’s tail was crooked and stiff from the amount of times he’d been roughly grabbed while stealing, Jaspinky’s was smooth and unblemished. “Did she say anything to Dot in particular?”

It was rather interesting to watch Jaspinky’s tail flow with every unrestrained emotion. Yet it also served as a reminder of their very different social statuses.

Jaspinky nodded sadly. “She said Dot doesn’t have any good ideas cause she’s just a kid who doesn’t know how the real world works. But then…neither of us have really seen the world outside the palace. The magic carpet ride was my first time, and it really was a magical wonderful memory I’ll treasure forever. But Dot-well, how do we know how the world works if we’re stuck here?”

For all his oddities, Jaspinky could ask the most profound questions.

“You won’t.”

But Jaspinky couldn’t live in the city either. Brainladdin didn’t want Jaspinky’s kindred spirit snuffed out by the cynicism and roughness of the streets.

Jaspinky winced, hurt shining in his blue eyes. Realizing his reply came out blunter than he intended, Brainladdin rubbed a circle into Jaspinky’s hand in a silent apology. Jaspinky lifted Brainladdin’s fez and planted a kiss on top of his head, then made a show of adjusting the fez.

Brainladdin took Jaspinky by the hand and led him to the siblings. He wondered how exactly he’d come to have more physical contact in the past day than what he’d given and received in years. Truth be told, it was a terrifying yet exhilarating change. But it would also be tinged with bittersweet.

After Jaspinky, he doubted he’d be able to ever touch anyone like this ever again.

“It’s okay-“ Yakko tried, hands held out to placate Dot.

“No, it’s not!”

Wakko was silent, but he was the first to spot Brainladdin and Jaspinky joining them. He gently turned Dot so that she was no longer glaring daggers into the buildings of ACMEbah. The fur around her eyes was damp with tears.

Jaspinky climbed up the skirt of Dot’s pink and white dress and perched on her shoulder, humming comfort into her ear. Dot stroked his head with her finger, and his foot kicked rapidly. She gave a tiny laugh.

Which was excellent, because Brainladdin was rather weary of all the crying. “Jaspinky explained what happened with the Sultan-CEO,” he said. “Though it didn’t have the results you wanted, we’d like to commend your effort regardless.”

“What Brainladdin said!” Jaspinky chirped. “Remember that mean ol’ Chance O’ Ler from Turkey? He was so scared of Sultan-CEO-Mom that his pants changed colors! But you didn’t even flinch in front of her!”

“Hey, how come nobody invited me to witness all this?” Yakko pouted, holding up a dramatic Greek mask with an exaggerated frown. “I would’ve drawn pictures of that moment, you know! I’m getting really good with my sketches!”

He snapped his fingers, and five large scrolls materialized, each containing a drawing of everyone in their group. Brainladdin thought it was a surprisingly accurate representation of himself…

…except his hands resembled a lump with misshapen sausages for fingers attached.

It was the most glaring flaw in all the other scrolls too.

“Are those chain-link sausages?” Wakko asked, pointing to his own sketch. Brainladdin was just glad he wasn’t the only one who thought so.

“I like them!” Jaspinky said, wiggling his own fingers.

“It was mostly proportionate. But the hands leave a lot to be desired,” Brainladdin added.

Dot only covered her mouth and ducked her head.

Yakko shrugged, the scrolls disappearing. “Private tutors and art references are hard to come by when you’re stuck in a lamp.”

Then Dot burst into laughter, Jaspinky chortling alongside her as her shoulders rapidly bounced up and down. She lightly struck the railing with her fist multiple times. There were tears again, but they came from joy rather than sadness.

“Those—ha! I can’t—Yakko, you really captured my good side…but oh my gosh-“ Dot could barely speak between breaths, a huge smile breaking out on her face.

Yakko winked at her. “Figured that would snap you outta it.”

Dot just hugged him back, and Yakko let out another ‘oomph’ as tiny yet strong arms encircled him. “Geez, what do you mice feed these kids?” he wheezed.

Jaspinky stood up, dusting his clothes off and trying a small test jump. “Zort! Brainladdin, catch me!”

A mass of fur, clothing, and narf crashed into Brainladdin, knocking him to the ground with no chance to prepare. He spat out a tassel from Jaspinky’s sleeve. The princess was way too cheerful about his impromptu belly flop.

Then Jaspinky sprang back up, helping Brainladdin to his feet as well. “Dot, I’m really happy to be your friend,” Jaspinky said. “But if Yakko doesn’t mind, I think it would be amazingly fun and wonderful if you could see the world for yourself.”

“Course I don’t mind!” Yakko exclaimed as he threw Dot into the air and caught her. “I’ll have to redo my travel itinerary, but it’ll be more fun that way! If I put Tahiti before Pennsylvania, we can go snorkeling with dolphins on a nice sunny Friday, no hold on a sec, China should be first cause it’s been way too long since I’ve had dumplings, and Greece can-“

“YAKKO, HOLD ON A SEC!” Dot shouted just as Yakko prepared to throw her again. She dangled somewhat precariously next to Yakko’s legs, but she didn’t seem to mind her position all that much.

It surprised Brainladdin that Yakko was willing to accept a new responsibility so readily, and he caught the wistful look on Wakko’s face when Yakko happily declared he’d love company on his trip, but he knew Wakko wouldn’t accept. From Dot’s forlorn expression as she glanced at Jaspinky, she wouldn’t take her chance either.

ACMEbah had a way of robbing everyone of a happy childhood. It appeared sadly common to every social class.

“I don’t take orders from anyone, not even princesses,” Dot growled. “And I’m not leaving you to the tender mercies of the Sultan-CEO or anyone who just wants a pretty face with money, Jaspinky.”

But Jaspinky shook his head. “You won’t have to worry about me though. Cause I’ll live in the city with Brainladdin and Wakko. So I won’t be alone!”

What? That is possibly the least reassuring thing you could’ve said right now, idiot!

Dot’s expression turned stormy. She was thinking along the same lines too.

“Did-did I say something wrong?” Jaspinky’s ears drooped. “I can do some good in the city. I-I never knew things were so bad. And I wanna help.”

“Put that fluff between your ears to use and think, Jaspinky!” Brainladdin snapped. Jaspinky’s mouth quivered. Brainladdin took a deep breath, mentally counting to ten before clasping Jaspinky’s hands between his own. “I…I’m sorry. For my outburst. But remind yourself of our first meeting in the marketplace. You meant well when you took the apple off the fruit stand and gave it to Wakko, but you barely understood the concepts of money and payment, and you completely froze when the shopkeeper barbarically tried to chop off your hand.”

“You saved me though,” Jaspinky said.

“Yes, but if the shopkeeper had been faster with his sword? If I was too far to help you? And your lack of a disguise was another issue. You waltzed into the marketplace with all your finery and no protection. Someone would notice eventually. The best case scenario? Your clothes and jewelry would’ve been stolen, but that’s all. And if someone chose to kidnap you for ransom or worse, the palace and royal guards would’ve been in an uproar. If that hypothetical situation came to pass, guess which group would be suspected first.”

“N-no,” Jaspinky whimpered. “I-I didn’t mean-“

“I know why you did though. You weren’t malicious, just naïve. There’s nothing to apologize for or forgive.” Brainladdin pulled Jaspinky’s head down until their cheeks touched. Jaspinky’s fur was a different sort of warm, not blistering hot like the desert sun, but more of a soft ray of light.

The princess had walked among the commoners for the same reason Brainladdin had disguised himself as a prince. Because he’d felt trapped by a societal role and just wanted to be free.

“Brainladdin?” Jaspinky’s voice was oddly distant.

“If you leave the safety of the palace—if they realize you’ve taken the lifestyle of a common street rat—they’ll hate you. Nobody will see you. But you’ll be blamed. For things you didn’t do…or just for trying to survive. And you’ll lose your good heart, Jaspinky. I can’t even protect Wakko from the consequences. But he’s already figured out some of it. So please…don’t…l-leave…”

Don’t leave the palace…don’t leave me…

Wakko’s hand rested against Brainladdin’s back. The child was always too generous for his own good. It was a quality that Brainladdin couldn’t bring himself to force Wakko to lose, as much as it was a detriment to his survival.

Brainladdin’s vision blurred, and he felt water leak out of his eyes against his will. He was going to die of dehydration at this rate. Jaspinky nuzzled his cheek, humming a meaningless tune into his ear.

The magic carpet ride had been one of the most awe-inspiring experiences of his life. Soft fabric beneath them, close quarters necessitating physical contact, a navy starlit sky above. Being weightless, being free from the worry of scavenging for scraps or taking over ACMEbah, being able to see the wonder in Jaspinky’s eyes as he touched a cloud for the first time…

They weren’t Brainladdin the street rat and Princess Jaspinky in the sky. No, there were no statuses to worry about, no pressures to conform to.

Jaspinky petting a wild horse as it galloped across the land. The stars twinkling in Jaspinky’s eyes. His excitement when he experienced something he’d never seen or done before.

Yet it would be nothing more than a wistful memory.

“They’re still trapped, you know. There’s gotta be something we can do,” a quiet voice said.

Wakko.

“Jaspinky. Brainladdin. You guys really love each other, don’t you?” Dot asked.

Brainladdin wiped his tears on his vest, not caring that it was one of the few pieces of clothing he owned. He looked up at Dot, who was seated on Yakko’s shoulders.

She’d been nothing more than an irritating obstacle when he tried to woo Jaspinky. But if it weren’t for her presence, Jaspinky likely would’ve been married to someone he didn’t love.

He really couldn’t fault her for hating the made-up Prince Brainli.

“He’s my world,” Brainladdin whispered, his voice barely audible, even to himself. He gave Jaspinky a tiny nuzzle, and Jaspinky’s tail intertwined with his own once again.

“And mine too,” Jaspinky agreed.

Dot watched them for just a moment longer. Then her back straightened, her head tilting proudly. Her foot tapped against Yakko’s chest.

“As someone who’s secretly observed the Sultan-CEO’s political meetings and learned the do’s and don’ts of palace business, I’m the most qualified one here for the position of temporary Sultan-CEO,” she declared. “Yakko. A scroll and quill, if you please.”

Yakko grinned, and the requested items appeared. “Your wish is my command.”

“Thank you,” Dot said with a firm nod.

Brainladdin glanced at Jaspinky and Wakko, but they seemed just as confused as he was. He wasn’t sure if one could just declare themselves Sultan-CEO. That wasn’t really how it worked.

“I, acting Sultan-CEO Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca the Third, also known as Dot, hereby decree that the Royal Marriage Law of 1175 is null and void, and from this day forth, the princess of ACMEbah shall marry whoever they deem worthy.”

The quill jotted Dot’s decree word for word on the scroll, every letter emblazoned with a golden shine.

“Now for the seal of approval!” Dot shouted.

Another flash of magic transformed Wakko into a black and white seal, the scroll was brought down to his nose level, and he gave the paper a large, slobbery lick. Then he clapped, his flippers beating together as Yakko tossed several fish fillets into his mouth.

Then the scroll disappeared, and Wakko transformed back, white bits of fish still coating his mouth.

“This new decree is non-negotiable and binding,” Yakko said. “And I’ve also taken the liberty of framing, enlarging, and sticking it in a palace hallway our dear power-hungry Sultan-CEO frequents. She won’t be able to remove it no matter how hard she tries.”

As if on cue, there was a distant horrified scream that practically blew one of the domed roofs of the palace off.

What just happened? She can really do that?

Jaspinky squealed in glee, right next to Brainladdin’s ear. He barely had time to rub the sensitive hairs before Jaspinky lifted him into the air and spun him around so fast that he saw more stars than the sun in broad daylight. And they were absolutely beautiful.

“I choose you, Brainladdin!” Jaspinky exclaimed. His laughter was like a melody, Brainladdin losing himself in the music, and he was probably grinning like a fool too but he no longer cared about that because he could be with Jaspinky, and there was an entire world for them and them alone!

Brainladdin clung to Jaspinky’s shoulders, steadying himself as Jaspinky set him down again. He brushed Pinky’s jewelry out of the way, and Jaspinky pressed his forehead against his own.

“Call me Brain,” Brainladdin murmured, and he held Jaspinky close.

They were no longer trapped. They were free. They could be together.

His heart quickened, and it was an exhilarating feeling indeed.

“Alright, everyone into the group hug!” Yakko shouted, and a giant hand scooped them up. Brainladdin was instantly sandwiched between Jaspinky and Wakko, Dot squeezing herself into the crook of Yakko’s arm on Jaspinky’s opposite side. It was getting hard to breathe, but he couldn’t tell if that was from the force of Yakko’s hug or a side effect of the emotionally charged atmosphere. “Now that we’re all done baring our souls.”

“Thank you, Dot!” Jaspinky exclaimed, hugging the girl’s cheek. “Thankyousomuch! And now that I’ve got Brainladdin staying with me, you should go with Yakko! No ifs or buts, young lady!”

Dot smirked. “You just wanna get rid of me so you can do stuff with Brainladdin.” There was something sneaky in her voice that Brainladdin heavily disliked. “But I’ll gladly take this vacation.”

“I could never get rid of you, Dot! You’re my best handmaiden!” Jaspinky protested.

“Simmer, Jaspinky,” Brainladdin said, and the princess relaxed. “She’s only teasing. That being said, I highly detest her tone.”

He gave Dot a pointed glare, and she casually placed her elbow against Yakko’s arm. “You’re not a complete jerk, but if I were as bigheaded as you, I’d avoid most of the rooms on the southern side. I still haven’t disabled the booby trapped perfume bottles that spray catfish guts yet. You’ll be mostly safe on the east side though.”

“And you’re not a complete brat. Just an annoyingly clever one,” he muttered.

Dot looked all too pleased with herself.

At least he’d finally confirmed who rigged that perfume bottle on his second night as Prince Brainli in the palace.

“Perfect!” Yakko exclaimed, and confetti showered down on everyone. “So any particular places in mind? A change of scenery would do you some good!”

“Burbank. Machu Picchu. Rome,” Dot said. “I’ll come up with more later. You got any ideas, Wakko?”

Wakko shook his head, only staring at the ground far below them.

“Wakko? Wakster? Wakaroo?” Yakko frowned, gently shaking Wakko, who only went limp. “C’mon, we know you’ve got places you wanna visit. Mostly for the exotic food, right?”

“Sorry. I’d love to go, but-“ Wakko’s face fell.

This wasn’t like before, where Brainladdin refused to let Wakko venture outside ACMEbah. Now neither of them would be alone in this world.

“Look at me, Wakko.” Brainladdin held onto one of Wakko’s fingers with both hands, and the boy obeyed. “As the soon-to-be ruler of ACMEbah, I will be living in the palace with Jaspinky. There’s no more need for concern. And you have a somewhat responsible brother and an irritatingly capable sister who will always have your back. Your new objective is to explore the world for yourself, and if you try to send money back or work yourself to the bone, I shall have to ground you.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Wakko snatched him up for an enormous hug. Brainladdin gasped for air, fairly certain one lung was punctured and his left kidney had been knocked out of place from the tight squeeze.

“Oxygen!” he wheezed. Wakko relented and returned him to Jaspinky, who was more of a white and blue blur than a mouse right now.

“Faboo, Dad!” Wakko exclaimed, much to Yakko and Dot’s joy.

“Yes, faboo indeed,” Brainladdin muttered, a dizzy spell from the lack of oxygen overtaking him. He slumped against Jaspinky. “I expect a letter every night, Wakko.”

If Wakko replied, his voice was lost in Yakko and Dot’s chatter over their travel plans. Brainladdin and Jaspinky were deposited on the balcony, Brainladdin finally recovering his vision so he could see the siblings off.

“Bye-bye! Bring back souvenirs! Troz!” Jaspinky shouted, his jewelry jingling as he waved goodbye to the siblings.

“Farewell for now,” Brainladdin said, crossing his arms over his chest. Best to act like he was ruling ACMEbah after all. He tried not to squeeze too tightly, if only to stop the slight ache in his chest from all this emotional nonsense.

“You heard them! Let’s blow this popsicle stand!” Yakko shouted, and he shot into the sky like a firework with Wakko and Dot in his arms. The two screamed in delight, their laughter echoing off the buildings of ACMEbah. “Let’s give the lovebirds some space!”

“We’re history!” Dot yelled.

“We’re mythology!” Wakko added.

“I DON’T CARE WHAT WE ARE! WE’RE FREE!”

In a shower of magic, they shot across the sky and were gone, off to tour the world to celebrate their new lives.

Jaspinky waved to the sky for a moment longer, then turned to Brainladdin, that stupid, silly, wonderful smile on his face. “I’ve got sweetcakes and tea in the kitchen. Do you want any?”

Brainladdin rolled his eyes. “Don’t ask stupid questions, Jaspinky.”

They headed to the kitchen, walking hand-in-hand, never to be separated again.

o-o-o-o-o

Colorful fireworks burst around them, lighting up the night sky in flares of red and green and blue. The stars shone from above, the earth and all its worries far beneath them. A breeze tugged them along, the magic carpet pulling this way and that with no clear destination in mind. But they didn’t need one.

Whichever way the winds blow, as they say.

“Look, Brainladdin! Another letter!” Jaspinky pointed to a paper drifting towards them, protected by a cloud of Yakko’s magic. He leaned over the side in his excitement to grab it out of the air. Brainladdin kept hold of Jaspinky’s tail just in case, though the magic carpet was sentient enough to lift that side up to prevent accidental falls. The letter floated into Pinky’s hand, and he scrambled back to Brainladdin, showing off the letter proudly. “It’s a J! Wakko’s very good with oregano. I wish he’d teach me!”

He really should’ve been more clear with his expectations for Wakko.

“That’s a Y, Jaspinky. And oregano is a spice. This is the paper craft known as origami.” Brainladdin tucked the Y inside the folds of his royal robe for safekeeping. It would go nicely with the W and D that were already on his nightstand.

“Oh. Well then, it’s a very nice Y!”

“Yes, it’s constructed well.”

Another firework flared, and Jaspinky oohed and awwed at the wondrous sight, his eyes ever an innocent, pretty blue. He’d picked a new outfit for tonight: a purple crop top with matching pants and headband, a see through, puffy material that framed his bare shoulders wonderfully, and golden earrings.

The fireworks paled in comparison.

Jaspinky gasped in awe. “Look, Brainladdin! A shooting star! What’d you wish for?”

Brainladdin glanced at the canopy above, where a meteor shower zipped through the upper atmosphere. “You first.”

“Narf! Alright. I wished for a world where we can all be happy! Your turn!”

Sentimental, yet thoughtful. Of course.

“I wish…for our lives to be fulfilling.”

Jaspinky smiled. “Looks like our wishes came true then.”

“An astute observation,” Brainladdin said.

Jaspinky kissed him, and warmth flooded through Brainladdin’s body. They soared into the starry horizon, the full moon shining from afar. A new world awaited them.

AN: This…uh…this is way longer than I intended it to be. I hope you enjoyed this story. This is my first time writing the Warner siblings, so I combined some of the posts Deez-art made about this AU for my characterization of them. I apologize if they were out of character, but I did have fun with them. Especially Dot. For some reason her dialogue is just fun to write.

Also, Brain angsts too easily. That’s why this story is almost 7000 words.

Some of the dialogue comes directly from the 1992 Aladdin movie.

I HAVE LISTENED TO A WHOLE NEW WORLD HOW MANY TIMES FOR THIS STORY. THIS ISN’T THE FIRST TIME I’VE DONE THIS EITHER. I NEED NEW LOVE SONGS.

As for why this story is published on AO3 instead of FFN, it’s just easier to tag this sort of thing there.

#pinky and the brain #brinky #brainladdin au #patb fanfiction

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prurientpuddlejumper · 4 years ago

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A Lipless Face I Want to Sit On

K!nktober 2020 Kink Bingo!: Facesitting

<- Chapter 9 (continuation of A New Arrangement)

Summary: Post Red-Dragon Chilton refuses to take his mask off again after the first time you were together. Getting him over his insecurity about his face might require a little kink. NSFW.

Frederick Chilton x Female Reader

For @thatesqcrush’s kink bingo! @caked-crusader USED YOUR TITLE XD

2,139 words

A month into your arrangement with Dr. Frederick Chilton, and he was still devastatingly insecure about his appearance. He paid you, officially, as a financial consultant for his estate. Unofficially, he was paying you for sex. Technically—as that would be illegal—he was paying for your company, and you just happened to usually (though not always) have sex. Occasionally, he really would have a financial question for you, or he wouldn’t be up for it and you would just cuddle together and watch movies.

But he wouldn’t remove the mask for you again.

You had already seen his face once, scarred, singed bare of hair and eyebrows, lips absent around his white teeth. You didn’t mind it nearly as much as he did—it was different, and what happened to him was tragic, but he was handsome. He seemed happy with the unconditional acceptance you offered, and the kisses you pressed to his not-lips, and you thought he would start letting his guard down.

Yet when he greeted you at the door on your next visit, though he leaned seductively against the door frame, his cocky smirk was hidden behind a stone-faced mask. The more you flirted and prodded for him to take it off, the more prickly and defensive he became.

“I just want to know all of you,” you pouted.

He snapped, “I am not paying you to know me.”

And with that died not only your hope of greater intimacy, but also your plans to tell him to forget about the money. You were going to admit that you only took it in the first place because of how excitingly taboo it was, and that you would rather be his girlfriend, but a ball of ice sank in your stomach as you read between the lines of his cold words. If it wasn’t on his terms, he didn’t want you.

The fact that you had seen his face had been acceptable only briefly, during a moment of intense passion that overrode the alarm bells of anxiety, and now that the moment had passed, knowing you had seen it only made things worse.

He took to fucking you from behind, bending you over a table or pushing your face into the mattress, rather than let you look at him, even with the mask on. He pinned your hands if you tried to touch his head, his neck—anywhere close enough to mask to threaten its security. It was disheartening to think he was withdrawing from you emotionally, but you enjoyed hearing his noises as his cock sank into your tight entrance. “Oh god—oh god,” he moaned for you. He was very vocal in his pleasure, surprised every time to know that you would have him. No matter how much you voiced your own pleasure, every time you showed up to one of your “appointments” and let him claim you, he still half expected you to run away in disgust. Every time his cock slid between your ass cheeks and found your cunt dripping with arousal for him, he was like a grateful puppy. His vulnerable whimpering behind you turned you on, and his fingers interlaced with yours, squeezing for dear life as he came. It was still intimate. Despite his trying to pull away, he was still intimate in his own, guarded way.

One day you discovered something about Frederick Chilton quite by accident, and that knowledge began to change everything. He gained strength every day, but he was still easily exhausted, so you often catered to him when he was needy. He was getting a little too comfortable treating you as a pet at his beck and call, and so on this particular day when he whined for you to make him a cup of Earl Grey, you whipped about and demanded, “Get it yourself!” He looked shocked by your defiance, unaccustomed to not getting his way, but did as he was told. “Bring me one, too!” you added. He complained the whole time, but did.

When you begged him to do something—pouting, saying please—he might tease you, deny you, or snap with annoyance if he didn’t like the question.

If you told him to do something, he obeyed.

And it seemed, as much as he enjoyed being served, he also gained great satisfaction from being of service. In bed, doubly so. While you first took him to be very dominant—considering his natural role as the wealthy doctor skulking in his mansion who “bought” you, and the way he could get very particular about telling you how to dress, and undress, and what positions he wanted you in—you slowly recognized how much he enjoyed being subservient.

The first time you challenged him when he wanted you to face away from him again, telling him, “No. I’m on top today,” a fire came into his eyes. You grew more assertive in telling him where you wanted him to touch you, and how hard, how fast, and he was eager to please you. He always wanted to please you, and was thrilled when you let him know exactly how—even if it meant looking into your eyes as you fucked. A whole different connection began to grow as you had conversations about it, about who was in charge when, what sorts of things you could ask each other to do, and how to refuse. It wasn’t as though you were doing anything particularly extreme, but it was becoming more of a game, and as such, needed rules. The more he trusted you, the more you took control, and the more you took control, the more he finally relaxed.

When he surrendered to your will, he didn’t have to doubt or question himself, or how desirable he was. Every day, you made him feel that much more confident.

“I’m going to ride your face,” you growled, pushing his shoulders down onto the pillows so his head was up at a slight angle. You crawled on top of him, straddling his chest with your naked thighs. “Mask, or your mouth?” you asked, the timber of your voice demanding an answer, giving him a few seconds to choose.

Behind the mask his eyes were pale, pupils narrowed to pinpricks at the thought of being exposed, and from his throat issued a small tense noise but no words. He was obviously still too nervous to think about removing it, even for your pussy.

“I’m gonna use that mask to make myself come.” You narrowed your eyes and smirked at him, running the tip of your finger down the smooth porcelain contours, your tongue flicking over your lower lip as you crested its pointed nose. He let out a soft moan, chest rising and falling. “When I’m done you can fuck me, but only if you’re a good boy.”

“Yes, mistress.”

You could feel his breathing quicken as you straddled his face, warm puffs of it whistling out the sides of the mask tickling your thighs. His excitement alone was already getting you aroused. You slowly lowered yourself and gasped as your sensitive flesh met cool porcelain. There was no give to its surface, but the smoothly sculpted swell of its lips was tantalizing against your clit. You grasped the headboard for balance, and began to rock, gently at first, spreading your wetness over the hard lips to lubricate them, then grinding your hips against them and feeling shockwaves of pleasure course through your spine as they massaged your clit.

Frederick’s hands gripped onto the back of your thighs, supporting your movements, and spreading your ass cheeks. He groaned. The mask must have been uncomfortably pushing into his face with your weight on it, but his eyes were darkened with lust. He breathed in deeply, smelling you and the slippery essence you were sullying his mask with, and he let out a long, intoxicated moan. He circled his chin, moving the mask against you as his long fingers dug into your thighs, trying to add to your pleasure—which could have been better, honestly. Warm, wet flesh always beat cold, hard porcelain.

“You wanna taste me, Frederick?” you asked, voice thick. He moaned, whimpering with frustration. “I know you want a taste,” you said, rolling your hips against his false mouth. You met his eyes very carefully and held the gaze. “Take off the mask.”

It was a command, but he knew he could refuse it if he wanted to. If it was too far. But signaling you to slow down would be letting you win, and he never admitted defeat. He would never break, never fail to serve you. He admired you, and you deserved anything you wanted from him. His hands left your ass, and you backed off of him as he reached under his chin, and tipped the mask up.

Without any lingering hesitation other than a brief, sweet smile at him, your pussy crashed back down against his face and rode him, hot and dripping, his tongue lapping up your juices. Everything was worth the drawn-out, pornographic, moaning, slurping, voracious noises he made as he ate you out. You nearly came unseated with how intense the waves of pleasure were washing over you, your whole body immediately going warm and tingly and slack, so dizzy you almost forgot where you were. Fortunately his arms wrapped around your hips to draw you in closer, and held you firm against him.

“F-fuck,” you muttered, regaining some of your senses. “Fuck me with your tongue, Frederick.” Your head rolled back as he pointed his dexterous tongue and slipped into your cunt, muffling his groans as he savored your sweet taste. You bucked your hips into his mouth as he plunged his tongue in and out, writhing inside you.

His cock was rock hard, jutting straight upward out of his unzipped pants, weeping with precum. He reached down to jerk himself off, but you caught his hand and pinned his arm under your leg. “Tut-tut. Me first. Your hands are only to touch me, understand?”

“Yes, mistress,” he rasped.

“Good boy.” You stroked his head, caressing the burned stub of an ear as you lowered yourself back onto his tongue and the lewd wet noises continued. He slid a hand down your ass and between your legs to penetrate you, fucking you with two long, thick fingers, while the other hand angled itself to aid his tongue in working your clit. His lack of lips meant his mouth was lacking a few of the usual functions, like sucking, but the way he used his fingers so expertly to add pressure, gently pinch, and work in tandem with his tongue to increase your sensitivity, you would never have missed it.

A warm floating feeling overtook you without warning, and you felt yourself losing control. “Oh god, I’m gonna come, Frederick,” you whimpered. “I’m gonna come in that mouth. Oh god, Frederick—oh god—”

His fingers dug into your hips leaving deep impressions in your skin, holding you firm onto his face as he licked you through your orgasm, you writhing and crying out his praise. Wave after wave shook you, until your cries became ragged and desperate—he was holding you in place and overstimulating you. You might have let him, giving in and letting the warm pleasure build up inside you again, even fiercer this time, every muscle burning and overworked, but you hadn’t asked him to do that. You poked him a little roughly in the middle of the forehead, and told him, “That’s enough.” He whined and loosened his tight grip so you could get up. “Such an eager little slut, Frederick. You’d eat me out all day if I’d let you, wouldn’t you?”

“Y-yes.” He swallowed, eyes gleaming wickedly at the idea. A mingling of your wetness and his saliva dripped down his chin.

You laughed, low and teasing. “I thought you would be excited… it’s time for your reward now.” Leaning back, you reached for his hard and waiting cock. It throbbed in your hand, and he sucked a shallow breath.

“May I fuck you now, mistress?”

His voice was soft and eager, but you didn’t miss the edge of something more demanding creeping into it. “Ask nicely,” you said.

“Please let me fuck you.”

You grabbed a towel from the side of the bed and wiped off his chin. He didn’t flinch as you touched his face, well beyond that now. A smile slowly spread over your lips. “Since you were such a good boy, getting me off so well...” you pretended to think it over, “Fuck me, as hard as you want.”

#frederick chilton #Frederick Chilton x reader #hannibal #Raúl Esparza #kinktober #thatesqcrush kink bingo #my writing

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lady-divine-writes · 4 years ago

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Good Omens - Dodge and Parry (Rated NC17)

Summary: Crowley discovers that he is rather enamored of his angel's bruises ... especially the ones that go farther than skin deep. (2006 words)

Notes: I wrote this for Kinktober 2020, the prompt 'bruises'. So I was going to write a piece about bruise worship, which this sort of is, but it went much deeper. I will try to come up with something kinkier and more fun another time XD

Read on AO3.

“How does that feel, angel?” Crowley asks, soaking his washcloth completely, then wringing it out over Aziraphale’s scalp. “Too hot? Too cold?”

“Neither.” Aziraphale hums happily with eyes shut. “It’s perfect. Sublime, I should say. Like soaking in a nice, warm cup of tea.”

“We’ve added enough dried flowers and wot not that you could just be,” Crowley comments, swiping a hand through the water, swatting at a cluster of rose petals, lavender, sweet jasmine, and chamomile.

“Hmm. Then you could drink me,” Aziraphale says, sinking deeper into the steaming water.

“Ngk … I … I could …” Crowley stumbles, but he recovers, a triumph since that remark from his angel almost had him choking on his tongue. “But let’s save the sweet stuff for later, eh? We’ve gotta get you fixed up.”

“Yes … let’s. Then … I can do you …” Aziraphale mumbles, drifting off, his cheeks rosy from the warmth and the company. Crowley soaps up his cloth and runs it over Aziraphale’s arm, sliding past a mark that has blossomed considerably since he last saw it. He runs the cloth over it again and it seems to darken, the cream-colored suds rinsing into cloudy water and revealing a plethora of purples swirled together, related to one another by hues, tiny freckles sprouting along the fringe like shy violets.

A galaxy of them really.

Crowley isn’t normally fond of scars and bruises, especially on his angel. Aziraphale bears many types of blacks and blues, with varied stories behind them. Older scars on Aziraphale’s corporation - ones following mortal paths and having faded to silver - come by way of other angels who delight in his suffering. Crowley has seen every one of those, categorized their existence, set their placements to memory. A touch of his fingertips tells him when they were created … and by whom.

Crowley has gathered a list of enemies on his angel’s behalf, and that list is long.

Very long.

Not all of angel’s bruises are visible to the naked, mortal eye, but they’ve dimmed his aura considerably.

Crowley never thought the humans’ quarantine would get to Aziraphale. Being locked inside, forbidden to go out and socialize, leaving him heaps of time to read his books, seemed like a dream come true. With no one coming into his shop to browse, there was nothing keeping him from doing his crossword puzzles till his heart’s content. And it seemed that way for the first few months.

But it didn’t stay that way.

More and more, Crowley would catch his angel sitting in a chair by the window, staring up at the sky, sighing deeply as if for a long lost love, which seemed utterly preposterous to Crowley since every book Aziraphale could ever want lay in a stack beside him. Aside from that, he had his music. And cake! Why, they’d been baking cake every single day! So much cake, in fact, that any poor soul who so much as poked their head out of their door received a cardboard baker’s box packed to bursting with confections, passed along at a socially safe distance courtesy of a long, wooden shepherd’s crook.

And thanks to a wonderful service with a mildly vulgar name, whenever Aziraphale so desired, a delivery person dropped by with a box of his favorite sushi, which Crowley generously tipped for.

But Aziraphale still wasn’t happy. And he was becoming less happy by the day.

Something had changed.

He mentioned several times to Crowley that he felt hemmed in; that lately, being locked inside made it difficult for him to breathe. He longed to walk through the park, soak in the sunshine (when it made itself available), and feed the ducks again.

Crowley didn’t understand it. Aziraphale despised exercise to such a degree that if he sat at Crowley’s kitchen table, preparing to sup, and discovered that he’d left the butter in the fridge, he’d rather do without then to get up and fetch it.

It wasn’t until days later, when Crowley found a stack of newspaper clippings hiding underneath Aziraphale’s ledger, that he began to catch on:

Covid cases increase rapidly as next steps planned

'Tier Three' Covid restrictions in announcement on Monday

More than 80% of positive UK cases in study had no core symptoms

It wasn’t the toll quarantine was taking on Aziraphale. It was the toll this disease that caused the need for a quarantine was taking on the humans he was so fond of. That time spent staring at the sky, Aziraphale spent praying, wondering why the Almighty would let this continue, let so many of Her beloveds die and for what?

From the expression on his angel’s face after, Crowley assumed he got no answers.

It was like the Ark all over again, only without the refreshing rain, and with no rainbow in sight.

Determined to take his mind off of it, Crowley arranged a private movie marathon for his angel at his flat. They sat on his sofa with homemade snacks and watched some old Errol Flynn movies. And it worked! After a while, Crowley started watching Aziraphale more than the film, his angel that much more entertaining. Aziraphale had started the way he watched every movie - sitting primly upright, hands folded in his lap, eyes glued to the screen. But over time, he’d started to inch forward, lean in, muscles twitching to recreate the fight scenes - the swipes of a sword, the parries, his feet shuffling enthusiastically in place to mimic the steps of the actors’ retreats like they were performing a gavotte.

Encouraged that this was a way to break through Aziraphale’s melancholy, Crowley recommended they dig out the old fencing foils and have at it, sans protective gear in honor of old Errol. Besides, they didn’t need it.

“Oh! No, no, no!” Aziraphale argued at first, even with a smile on his lips. “I couldn’t! It’s been so long!”

“Nonsense!” Crowley retorted, heading for his closet. “You were an expert swordsman centuries ago. I’m sure you’ll do wonderfully now. It’s like riding a bicycle.”

“And how’s that, dear?”

“Once you fall off, you get right back on.” Crowley tossed Aziraphale a foil, which he caught without looking, and Crowley smirked knowingly.

Crowley didn’t give Aziraphale a chance to back out, didn’t salute him like at the beginning of an official duel. Crowley came at him like a buccaneer, crowing and catching Aziraphale off-guard. But Aziraphale fought back. He wasn’t upset by Crowley’s abrupt start. On the contrary. He laughed at Crowley’s antics, especially when he tried to evade by climbing over the sofa, and then onto an end table. His joy was infectious. It rang through Crowley’s flat, made the plants (which had initially recoiled at the sound of clashing metal) stand straighter, wave their leaves and cheer. It rose up inside Crowley as if the joy were his own, making him laugh, too.

Laugh till he snorted, which he hadn’t done in a long time.

But it didn’t last as long as Crowley had hoped.

Aziraphale got lost somewhere in the fight, lost in thinking, his mind drifting in all directions while he dodged and parried by rote. His face grew tense, his expression morphing from concentration to anger … to vengeance. He went after Crowley with clouded eyes, as if everything pent up inside him - the sadness and the anxiety - had found a weak spot in Aziraphale’s armor.

And now, it was starting to break through.

Crowley didn’t know who Aziraphale saw when he looked at him. Those world leaders who didn’t take this pandemic seriously, who didn’t act quick enough, who were greedy.

Beelzebub and the Dukes of Hell, whom Aziraphale credited for the speed in which this disease took hold, and the blind, stubborn stupidity of those who refused to do their part to stop it.

Gabriel, who has long since laughed off any correspondence Aziraphale has sent him regarding the matter, rejecting the last dozen with a very snarky ‘Return to sender!’ emblazoned in gold across the envelope.

Or the Almighty, who has the power to stop this but who has refused, and doesn’t have the decency to tell him why.

Or maybe he simply saw Crowley, who treated the whole thing like a joke, not only taking a nap for the first few months but then extending it, leaving Aziraphale alone when he might have needed him most.

Aziraphale attacked, closing in on Crowley fast, fighting with more fist than blade, and Crowley defended.

They struck one another at the same time - Aziraphale bringing his wrist down on the bridge of Crowley’s nose, Crowley’s guard-covered fist coming up to block and accidentally clocking Aziraphale on the jaw.

Both stumbled back, seeing stars.

Had they been human, Crowley’s nose would have broken, and Aziraphale’s jaw would have shattered. As was, Crowley’s nose ended up a bit crooked till a minute ago when Aziraphale snapped his fingers and set it straight. Aziraphale’s jaw still sported an indigo bruise reminiscent of a mum.

“Oh … oh my dear boy! I am so sorry!” Aziraphale apologized profusely when he saw Crowley’s nose, blood pooling underneath.

“Wot?” Crowley sniffed, wiping his Cupid’s bow with the back of his hand, examining the stain left behind with swimming eyes. “Oh, this? It’s nothing. Barely a scratch. Think nothing of it.”

“But … but …” Aziraphale stuttered, on the verge of tears. He dropped his sword, almost dropped to his knees, too, but Crowley hurried forward and gathered him up, wrapped him in his arms and held him.

“It’s all right,” he whispered, hugging Aziraphale tight. “It’s going to be all right, angel.”

“Do you … do you really think so?”

“Yes,” Crowley said with a sigh. Whether he did or not didn’t actually matter. But no one, angel or human, was going to get through today and on to the next if they didn’t believe it was at least possible. Crowley had to hold Aziraphale together, even if he did it with lies. He had to keep the one angel left on earth who still cared going. “I do.”

That’s when Aziraphale’s tears began to fall.

Crowley held him.

An hour went by, and Crowley held him.

Crowley declared Aziraphale the winner, and as a reward, offered to give him a bath and miracle him healed.

But when he got his angel naked and saw the bruises glowing on his skin, he hesitated. He shouldn’t be attracted to them. He shouldn’t find them appealing. On top of being physical damage to Aziraphale’s skin, some of them were bred out of despair. They should have repulsed Crowley, but they were actually glorious, like a small corner of impressionist art brought to life and tattooed on his skin.

Because not all of these new bruises, exploding with vibrant color and depth, were bad. They happened when Aziraphale was still smiling, still laughing. When his leg banged the corner of a table during a particularly rowdy retreat. When he tried to follow Crowley vaulting over the back of the sofa, misstepped, and landed on his knee. When their foils tangled together and Crowley accidentally kicked Aziraphale in the thigh in his effort to separate them. Aziraphale had watched Crowley fly backward, land on his heel, and spin three times like a ballerina, stopping in a perfect arabesque, just to then trip over air and land in a chair. Aziraphale threw his head back and laughed so hard, he walked right into Crowley’s (blunted) sword, the flat tip leaving its circular shadow behind.

Those bruises …

Those are bruises of pleasure.

They run deeper than skin.

And Crowley is quite satisfied by that.

Crowley almost regrets his promise to rid Aziraphale of them.

But being the one who gets to heal Aziraphale is an honor all its own.

However, he realizes with a grin, there is a way to get them back.

He’ll memorize these, too. Their exact locations.

And freshen them up later with his mouth.

#good omens #good omens fanfiction #ineffable husbands #kinktober 2020 #ineffable lovers #crowley x aziraphale #aziraphale x crowley #aziraphale #Crowley

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stranger-who-writes-fiction · 4 years ago

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Alright HERE WE GO...SOME PRESS!

By which I mean, Tom King was on ComicPop discussing Supergirl! So we have CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND INFO! WOO!

Gonna get into it below, but my recommendation, as always: the best way to have an informed opinion is to get the info firsthand, so don’t just take my word for it! Go forth! Watch the thing! (Language advisory, though. There is some swearing.)

Okay. With that out of the way, LET’S GO!

Gonna lead off with a summary of the Supergirl bits, as they discuss a variety of things, from Strange Adventures to Batman/Catwoman to the canned New Gods project:

How Tom King came to be the writer of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow:

King’s longtime editor, Jaime Rich, was moved from the Bat books to the Super books.

King, historically, likes to take on characters that ‘need help.’ He cites the example of Kirby who, upon coming to DC, asked what their lowest-selling title was, which is how he ended up on Jimmy Olsen.

So, when King asks which character needs help, Rich, to King: Supergirl. We have trouble selling that book.

King, describing Supergirl: ‘She’s singular in a way Mr. Miracle and Vision are not.’ Says that if you ask any four year old who Supergirl is, they know.

Editors asked him, ‘what’s your take? what are you gonna do with her?’

King then discusses the difference between his approach to Bat people vs. Super people.

Bat people: It’s a deconstruction approach. King brings up Kite Man from his Batman run. You tear the character down and build them back up, a la Dark Knight Returns

Super people: It’s not about deconstruction. Let them be themselves. They’re wonderful, let them be wonderful.

But he does mention sort of stripping down the character to their purest form; he describes it as chiseling off the barnacles that have built up on the character, over the years.

Additionally, he says ‘evil doesn’t work for the Super family of characters.’

He mentions Superman: Up in the Sky. He says that there’s deep stuff in Up in the Sky, but the theme of every page is simply: Superman is awesome.

King: “I don’t want to make Kara mean or sad. I want to test her.”

The host compares ‘angry Kara’ stories to ‘evil Superman’ stories in that there are many of them, such to the point that people think Kara is relatable because she’s miserable and angry all the time.

The host: I don’t get that.

(Same dude, same.)

King talked to Steve Orlando

They discussed the fact that Supergirl knew her planet; the people who died were her friends, family, classmates.

King summarizes Kara’s original Silver Age origin: she witnessed three huge, traumatic losses of life. First, when Krypton exploded. Then again when the Kryptonite started killing Argo residents, and then again when the meteorites destroyed the lead shielding that was keeping Argo safe.

King: “That’s some f-ing trauma! I don’t know if you’ve read my books, but I love the trauma in characters.”

King thus describes Kara as world-weary, she swears, ‘she has seen some sh*t’.

On the new character, Ruthye:

She’s a child on a vengeance quest.

She’s named after King’s niece, Ruthie.

The pronunciation for the comic character, though, is Ruth-Eye.

One of his sons told him to add the ‘e’ on the end to make it look cooler.

Further discussion of Kara herself:

King noted that there’s sometimes a tendency to be very precious with the character.

King: ‘Let’s not be precious with Supergirl.’

This is not the story of a sixteen-year-old girl discovering the world; King says that Supergirl has been that sixteen-year-old for a long time now.

He describes it more as a move from Supergirl to Superwoman.

Art and Influences:

Talking about the red sun planet that Kara visits for her twenty-first birthday, King says he was reading a lot of Conan, which influenced the look of that portion of the story.

The impetus for getting Evely on the book: King said his editor emailed him, ‘Hey, how about Bilquis?’ King: “And I did a happy dance!”

Evely sent King a mood board of the types of things she wanted to draw; Moebius, Kirby, Wally Wood, landscapes in particular.

Also, King says Evely is fast! She’s already halfway through the book, art-wise, and King is confident the book will release on time.

The host asked him, following up on King’s description of the book as a fantasy/western, ‘Is this True Grit?’

King: “It’s True Grit inspired. The novel AND the movie.”

If asked to give the Hollywood pitch: ‘It’s True Grit in space with Supergirl as Rooster Cogburn.’

Details about this book, as compared to Other Tom King titles:

He’s using captions on this comic--he’d thrown out captions as a storytelling device after Batman, but he found a ‘good voice’ for this comic.

King was prepared to do his usual twelve issues, but they said no one buys Supergirl comics, so it’s eight issues.

King says that Strange Adventures, Rorschach, and to a lesser extent, Batman/Catwoman, were written at a time when the world felt very apocalyptic.

He considers them to be angrier books; they are about what happens when evil is in our life, and how we deal with that.

Supergirl is the start of the ‘next generation’ of titles.

It was written during the pandemic, but King hoped that by the time it was released, the pandemic and this very dark time in our history would be past.

He says it’s a ‘roaring 20s’ book. Not about anger, or trauma, it’s about stepping into the future and kicking a**.

THUS CONCLUDES the Supergirl portion of the interview.

Okay, so! Now that we’ve been objective and presented the information in a straightforward, unbiased manner...SOME THOUGHTS AND OPINONS!

The thing I was most curious about was how King got the book, so I was EXTREMELY PLEASED to get the full story.

This wasn’t like. King desperately wanting to do a Supergirl book, nor was it DC coming to King like, ‘Take Supergirl!’

Sadly, it was, ‘which book needs the most help right now? In the Superman lineup?’

He even said that Supergirl was kind of just sitting around, no one was doing anything with her/there were no plans.

(So the idea that King stole this opportunity from a woman is not true. There were NO PLANS.)

(Also it’s not based on the FS stuff, I suspect they gave the FS team some ideas from his pitch to work with, as that entire event was sort of a stop-gap/fill-in as they hurried to relaunch their line.)

Anyways!

My initial thought that this is DC’s attempt to sell some dang Supergirl books? Not that far off! XD

Boy, I hope it works.

(Important to note: This is not news. Supergirl has historically always sold poorly. I’ve heard from actual Supergirl writers that the trades do not sell, which is a huge problem.

So King, who is KNOWN for having really good trade sales, is as solid a gamble as they could probably hope for.

He said Superman: Up in the Sky is his third best-selling trade. A WAL-MART BOOK! Is just behind Vision and Mr. Miracle!

Basically: If this doesn’t work, I don’t know that anything will.)

As for the specifics of King’s take in particular!

Again...I really want to see it, before I pass judgement on it.

I liked the Andreyko run! And that was pretty edgy!

Also, we have never seen a twenty-something Kara, post-Crisis. She’s always been a teenager. Thus I’m pretty willing to go along with this approach because it’s entirely new territory.

And it does seem like King is enjoying leaning into the idea of a Super who swears and kicks butt and is just a little ‘done’ with it all.

It might not mesh with my ideal Kara but again. I need to see it, before I come to any firm conclusions.

Honestly the thing that gives me the most pause? Is that King says this book really focuses on Supergirl, not Kara, which is a more recent identity for her.

(That is somewhat true! The ‘Kara Danvers’ identity is wholly new to the show; she’s always been Linda Lee, Linda Danvers, Kara Kent, or Linda Lang, when she has a secret identity. Sometimes she doesn’t.)

(Also of note: Tom pronounces it ‘Care-a’, like the cartoon.)

(PERSONALLY I like KAHr-a, like in the show, because it creates a phonetic consistency with ‘KAHl-el’ but that’s not really relevant to a comic book. You can mentally pronounce it however you choose! XD)

So, yeah, I like the Kara Danvers part of her identity, I like earth-bound Supergirl stories, but. This isn’t that. Which I’ll need to make peace with, I guess. XD

Otherwise? Tell me a story, Mr. King. Even if I hate it, Evely will draw it beautifully, Lopes will color it masterfully, and that’s half the battle, right there.

I’m sad King didn’t mention the Gates/Igle run! But I also understand he’s probably been looking at more recent stuff; those Gates/Igle comics are fifteen years old, oh man, oh geez, how are they that old already.

King did confirm that this is 100% in-continuity, and will affect the character going into the future.

But, IDK, given the sort of. Grim beginnings of how this book came to be, what with the reminder that the Supergirl title doesn’t sell well...who knows what the future will look like, for Kara!

I stand by my guess that Kara will graduate to ‘Superwoman’ and the Supergirl mantle will pass to someone else, maybe Ruthye? She might be a bit young, though.

Mmm. What else, what else?

Oh, this is pretty funny, IMO: when King first teased the new character, Ruthye, a bunch of SG fans rushed to google to see if there was any clue as to like. What it could mean.

And they freaked out over some obscure connection where that name appears but hey, turns out! It’s just a made up name! Based on King’s niece!

It’s funny because SG fans never learn, man. Just chill out, read the dang book, then get all upset and huff and puff and blow your twitter house down.

They briefly mentioned the Peter David run; King said the PAD stuff was great.

He’s already teased that ‘treat’ and, okay. Time for some rumination on that specifically.

I’ve read the whole PAD run. It wasn’t my cup of tea, I don’t really like the DnD, angels and demons stuff. Also, it wasn’t Kara; it’s an entirely different character who uses the name ‘Supergirl.’

Also, stuff from that run didn’t age well.

And on top of that, PAD turned out to be...kind of a jerk! As so many folks in the comic industry are.

There’s also...an extremely weird, mean-spirited vibe through the whole back half of the run; I thought maybe I was imagining it at the time, but I recently went back to “Many Happy Returns”, the final story arc of the title, and David’s introduction in the trade...it doesn’t read like a guy who was in it for the love of the character, you know?

All of which to say! I’m not excited about connections to the PAD stuff.

But I know a lot of fans who love that run, love that version of the character.

So like. Eh! Not for me, but to the folks who enjoy it, I hope it’s cool/fun, whatever it is.

(Still think it’ll be a variant or an easter egg or something, but we’ll see.)

(Oh, hmmm! Evely *did* post a WIP of like. Some creepy skull gate that they presumably encounter...hmmmmm.)

Okay, this is crazy long, and there’s no fun art or anything to go with it--OR IS THERE?!?!?!

BOOM. From Bilquis Evely’s twitter today. (GO. FOLLOW. HER. FOR THE GOOD ART.)

(LIKE!!! I look at this and I just! Can’t! Bring myself to not be hyped as all heck! LOOK AT THIS! AND iT’S JUST THE PENCILS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

God, wish that Supergirl sold better, so we could get a full year of this. HNNNNGGGGGGG.

Oh! That was another thing King discussed in detail; that 8 is way different from his usual 12, in terms of pacing and story. The beats fall at different places (obviously) so it was a bit of a challenge for him.

Actually, now that I’m thinking about it...maybe 8 will be good. Issue 10 just dropped for Strange Adventures, and wow, it has felt LONG. (I mean, the last four? Three? issues are also bi-monthly so that doesn’t help but. Still.)

(Superman: Up in the Sky was twelve issues but half the length, because it was a Wal-Mart book, so it was more like six.)

OKAY! For real, I’ve gone on long enough. XD

SOON. Soon. June 15th, to be exact. Mark yer calendars!

#stranger speaks #supergirl: woman of tomorrow #long post #LONG!#dc comics

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piracytheorist · 5 years ago

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Allen & Colin interview (pt.1) summary and tidbits

Because I know y’all are curious ;)

I’m not mentioning everything, because a) it’s in a foreign language for me and I miss stuff, b) I’m not sure what impact it has other than them simply mentioning that stuff in the interview and c) I’m just your average fan with her biases and preferences, some things draw my attention, some don’t. But it was an interesting insight into Colin’s inspirations and work ethic, so I’ll try to mention as much as possible. Also because c’mon it’s Colin and we all want a bit.

If you can and can afford it, I’d suggest supporting Allen on patreon. The work he’s offering is very important, especially in the times we’re currently experiencing.

In the intro, which was recorded after the interview, Allen says: “In this interview, Colin talks about his early life, growing up, having such a wonderful big brother to look up to... Maybe he doesn't say that. You'll have to wait and see.”

There's a lot of laughs in the beginning, as they start getting into the motion of brother interviewing brother. The room they were recording used to be Colin's old bedroom, and Allen asked him where his bed used to be, and almost immediately said "I'm pretty sure the listeners are loving this right now." Hahaha we are.

Colin kept a bit to himself when he was a teenager. He drew a lot and played the guitar, he was introverted when he got into the whole theater thing.

Real artistic, so, he wasn't sure if he wanted to be a musician or an artist, but when he started theater he eventually realized it was theater he wanted above all. Dude. If only we all were so widely talented and had so many opportunities to choose from XD

Honorable detailed mention: Allen mentions how amazed he was by Colin's talent. He remembers one time he was looking after Colin (he said it was about six months after Colin had started learning guitar, and iirc that was when he was 11) and he (Allen) had also recently started, and was trying hard to learn some chords. He heard some Led Zeppelin from Colin's room and was like "Oh he's listening to Led Zeppelin," then he went to his room and he realized it was actually Colin, playing Stairway to Heaven. And he still remembers! What a proud bro, we stan.

Colin learned a lot of music by ear. It was more practical than technical stuff that he worked on. He's very humble about his guitar playing, too.

They talked a bit about playing music with emotion and how sometimes people who concentrate a lot on technique don't use any emotion, and as a musician myself I've seen this a lot, where people focus too much on teaching technique that the result comes off completely emotionless. Though, I mean, I'm trained in classical music, and that's heavily based on building technique, so I can’t say you shouldn’t work on technique, but there are many ways of playing music and so many genres, and there is a healthy balance between technique and emotion, and depending on the style you're playing technique can be applied (or is needed) accordingly.

Colin talked about how he had piano lessons when he was young, and he remembers how the place where he had lessons creeped him out (he laughed at that), so that along with the heavy focus on technique discouraged him, but he wishes he was able to play it.

Don’t we all

He remembers Michael Jackson being one of his first inspirations for music. He remembers Thriller was the first vinyl he got, though the very first music that he bought was a cassette from Huey Lewis and the News - after he had his communion. Gotta say I appreciate the attention to detail XD

Colin: I used to listen to Michael Jackson non-stop. Allen: You did.

I can picture Allen nodding as he said that XD

The first concert he went to was of Jackson's Bad (I think), when he was seven! It was Allen's first concert too.

Their dad used to listen to a lot of Rory Gallagher, Led Zeppelin and Pearl Jam and those became Colin's favourite music to play. Especially Rory Gallagher. He and their mom also used to play in bands, and there was a lot of music in the house in general and Colin said all that contributed to his inclination in music.

He said how once he was an adult, Helen was his biggest supporter in what he did. WE STAN. That meant a lot to him, especially when as a starting actor there'd be times he wouldn't have a job for a long time, but the support from Helen and the rest of his family in general meant a lot to him.

Then they talked about people who used to tell him that he was lucky to have the band (The Enemies) as a job, but how that wasn't luck, it was based on work he did for years before he could go out on stage with them. And again, can confirm, there's a lot of work put behind any decent and above musical performance, it can be as hard as any job, especially when you have to pack up and go to a different place, set up, rehearse, perform, pack it all up and come home late. It's just that the crowd sees only the entertainment part it gets, and doesn't know the work behind it, so a lot of time they don't appreciate it as such.

It's just... I feel that, a lot, you know? Yes, music is fun and we love it, but performing it for a crowd ain't no game.

Colin compared that to acting, with how people see the end result as a snapshot of the entire work behind it, same way we don't see a lot of the work behind professions we don't know about - Colin mentioned an electrician, for example.

I think he’d shared this story before or something about it, but he talked about his very first touch with theater; he’d gone to the youth theater to meet with his friends - just to meet them, and they were rehearsing a play but one actor was missing, so they asked him to read in for him that day. At first Colin was like “No way�� but eventually they convinced him.

That first experience made him realize he could pretend to be anyone he wanted to be and it gave him a newfound confidence. At the time he wasn't playing the guitar publicly, only in his room, and playing in the theater gave him the confidence he didn't have with the guitar at the time, because in the theater he was putting his character out there, not himself.

I think it's interesting how he talks about acting; he mentioned "putting on a skin". And I think, seeing the variety of characters he has portrayed, and how invested you can feel he is during filming, and then seeing him... "collected" in cons and interviews, and not very active in social media... I think "putting on a skin" fits perfectly the way he does it. And I think it's part of why I love his acting, and why his characters feel so different from each other; it's full-on becoming and feeling like another person, not simply acting like one.

His theater group went to the Olivier Theatre in London (for a competition, if I got that right), and they got a standing ovation for their play, and it was then that Colin thought that he could really invest and make a living out of acting. He was about 15-16 at the time.

Again, standing ovation => confidence goes through the roof, can confirm.

It was there that his group won an award, and it was Colin who received that from Anthony Minghella, the director of The English Patient, and Allen said that Minghella said Colin was amazing. a) bruh can you imagine and b) what a proud brother!

Colin said how he was already interested in animation and special effects, and the whole act of making a movie, so even as an actor he still likes wandering around sets and getting to see how they're all made and built, even sets he's not part of. Again he talked about how much is done behind the scenes that the audience never gets to see.

Even from his experience in the Olivier Theatre, Colin already had the ideology that in drama, it was about the group, the team, and not about himself, and he's followed that to the present. He talked about how acting is just one part of a production, and it takes hard work from many people of different professions working together to get to that.

Like, he's so conscious and so respectful of what is behind the scenes of a production and how important everyone is... and like, I feel that says a lot about the humility we see of him, the way he treats his job as any other job, and the way a lot of his co-workers talk with such respect about him. Like, when you respect everything, from the basis to every little cogwheel that make a film and always take the opportunity to learn anything you can from your co-workers...

I love him so much.

He mentioned how his grandmother was a big influence for him too, back in the fourties she’d gone to London to study producing, so he says subconsciously there was always an influence towards drama in his family.

"You can't complain about having a disillusioned bunch of teenagers or kids causing trouble if you're not willing to invest [in their future], to help them realize [their potential]." He said that as part of how that one evening in the youth theater changed his life, and how having the chance to have a safe space to express himself, that being the theater, played such an important part in his life and the lives of pretty much everyone who had taken part in it. And how things like that, giving children the chance to explore hobbies and things they like, can have such a positive impact on their lives and futures.

So that’s for the first part! I hope it was all clear :D

#Colin O'Donoghue #Allen & Colin interview

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tonystarkbingo · 4 years ago

Photo

Title Prompt Game - Tags and Summaries

like a warm blanket - suggested by @rebelmeg

@somesortofitalianroast - fluff, snowed in, only one bed

@huntress79 - There's a reason Tony loves being in the workshop - but not the one most think it is. No, it's not that he knows the place blind, or that he loves (even craves) the attention the bots give him - no, it's because it's his safe harbor, the only place where he can really be him, and the one place that is to Tony what a warm blanket on a cold day is to other people.

@darthbloodorange - [Stony] - Steve never liked the cold, ever since he was little. But after the ice? He loathed it. It always brought up feelings and memories he'd rather keep buried. ~ Or the five times Steve struggled to find something to keep him warm at night, and the time he learned he could just use Tony.

@jamesbuckystark - Tony Stark has self-esteem issues. Only the closest of the closest of his friends know this. On his bad days, they cuddle up with him and whisper words of love and encouragement, comforting him like a warm blanket

@psychiccatpanda - [potential ironhusbands] Tony hadn’t worried when Rhodey’d fallen asleep on his shoulder during movie night. His sour patch had been burning the candle at both ends lately splitting his time between DC and New York. But then Rhodey had draped an arm over him and now he was stuck there unless he disturbed him. On the other hand, it wasn’t that bad... it was cozy - like a warm blanket

@rebelmeg - self-esteem issues, sincere compliments, love confessions

@huntress79 - (WinterIron pre-Relationship) If there's one thing Bucky learned about Howard's boy in the first few weeks he was living in the Tower it was Tony's stubbornness, by times as worse as Steve's. So, of course, Bucky watched the genius. And was the first to notice something off - Tony was getting a cold, and he was fighting it. He just didn't expect the former Winter Soldier, of all people, to bring him chicken soup, warm blankets, a cot and a gazillion of other things into the workshop. Huh - who would have guessed that?

@lbibliophile-mcu - [recovering-bucky] Living with Steve was like being wrapped in a warm blanket. Nice on cold evenings, soft and comforting. But sometimes, it can also be confining, smothering. Sometimes, what he needs instead is the freedom of cold air.

Keep reading for more!

Cappuccino, extra shot - suggested by @somesortofitalianroast

@huntress79 - (Road to Stony XD) Despite working as a Barista in a coffee shop, Steve never really liked all the fancy coffees he made for the customers. Until one day, when torrential rain sweeps a new customer into the shop - hot, elegant, smart-mouthed and way above Steve's league. And pretty much the only guy in all of Manhattan to always order the same thing - Cappuccino, with an extra shot of (insert ingredient of choice)...

@darthbloodorange - [Stony] - Tony would never be seen dead walking into a coffee shop. Why would he go for overvalued, overcooked, too sweet coffee when he has the best beans imported and prepared by his very own live-in barista? He has access to the best coffee 24/7. But his barista goes on parental leave, and Tony finds that brewing his own coffee, isn't one of his many talents. So, if he is to get his daily fix, he has to go to a coffee shop. Tony is miserable about the whole situation, that is until he meets an art student called Steve working to pay his way through college.

@psychiccatpanda - (pre-WinterIron) It wasn’t a difficult drink to make. So why was it that this guy never made his cappuccino right? Tony frowned into the froth on top. And part of the fun of going to a coffee shop and buying cappuccino was seeing what kind of foam design you’d get. This guy - James, according to his name tag - apparently only knew how to make hearts. Come on. Tony walked back to the counter to complain again. Behind the counter, Bucky could feel Natasha’s eyes on him like a dagger between his shoulder blades. He’d done it again, just to talk to his most gorgeous customer... who also thought he was an idiot.

@lbibliophile-mcu - "aw, coffee, no" Clint stares despondently at the paper takeaway cup in his hand, the scalding brown liquid running over his wrist to drip on the floor. When he ordered a cappuccino double shot, this was not what he meant. Another loud gunshot echoes in the street outside. Chugging the remaining elixir, he throws the ruined cup in a bin, wipes his hand on his pants, and grabs his bow. Looks like he has a coffee to avenge.

@rebelmeg - tags: coffee shops, love at first sight, awkward flirting

Bitch boy - suggested by @phoenixmetaphor3000

@tehroserose - tags: BDSM, humiliation, consensual nonconsent

@somesortofitalianroast - [Tony/Bucky] : au: sex work, au: camboys, au: bdsm

@darthbloodorange - [Stony] - He was Tony Stark's bitch. Everything else didn't matter. Everything else was stripped away by his Master, his Sir. 100 odd years on this earth, and he finally found his place... and it was at his master's feet.

@summerpipedream - "Excuse you??" screeched Tony. He shoved his paper cup, somehow already devoid of the coffee poured in there 5 seconds ago, into Rhodey's hands before he launches himself at the asshole yellling at them. 5 times Tony was called a bitch and the one time he actually did something about it.

@tehroserose Winterironfalcon- Tony was his bitch. And that's the way he liked it. But, still, he was going to take care of his boy, in his way. And Tony had a fantasy. He wanted to be taken by a stranger, a stranger who didn't listen when he said no. Sam wasn't willing to give him to a stranger. But Bucky? Bucky looked at his bitch with longing. And Sam trusted Bucky. And Tony? Tony didn't need to trust Bucky to do anything other than to listen to Sam and his safeword. And Tony liked it that way. (Tag: Porn with feelings, It was just sex, (no it wasn't), established Sam/Tony, pre Sam/Tony/Bucky)

@huntress79 - (Stony secret relationship) Ever since they fought the Chitauri, everyone knows that Tony and Steve barely get along. Sure, they got a bit better after Tony's almost death, but yeah, it could be better. But then, one morning, the Avengers are shocked to hear Tony calling Steve "Bitch" and - even more shocking - Steve replying with "Jerk" What the heck is going on now? (the Bitch-Jerk exchange is borrowed from Supernatural XD)

@darthbloodorange - [Stony] - He hated Alphas so much. He hasn't ever met one that had a single good intention in their life. All they ever did was take and destroy. This he learned first hand when he was 15 in a back ally after saving Dorothy Elliott from a couple of Alphas. It didn't matter that he was an Alpha himself, he was small and Omega enough for them, a "Bitch Boy". Steve Rogers hated Alphas and was sure he always would. But then he met Tony Stark and his whole world changed... (Tags: Implied/Referenced R*pe, Alpha/Alpha Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Tony Stark has a Heart, Falling in Love)

@psychiccatpanda - Tony had been called worse before - much worse. He'd asked Natasha to be his date for the conference because the Avengers thought he needed a bodyguard for an International Energy Council conference. At least she didn't look like a bodyguard. Justin Hammer had been trying to get his attention for a day and a half when he'd yelled it loud enough for a ballroom full of people to hear. He saw red and turned to do something rash (like break Hammer's nose) when he felt a strong hand on his wrist. Tony twisted around to snap at Nat when she pulled him in for a kiss. Suddenly, swift and blinding vengeance didn't seem quite so important.

@darthbloodorange - [Stony] - Steve Rogers loses a bet with Tony, now he was at Tony's every beck and call. Steve and Tony's relationship is strained as it is, he's not sure it'll make it through this. Tony was milking it for what it was worth; making him wear the maid outfit, making him pick up things he dropped, fetching him drinks. Then Tony goes ahead and calls him "bitch boy" He expected to be fuming, insulted, angry, hurt... but Steve finds he actually likes it. Both are shocked. Maybe they'll make it through this feeling closer than ever before.

Make Thyme for what you Love - suggested by @darthbloodorange

@rebelmeg - pepperony, gardening, fluff

@tehroserose - (Steve and Tony friendship fic)- Steve had grown up with the song. A version of the song at least. His mother said it was the only thing the English had given worth a damn. When he heard Scarborough Fair by Simon and Garfunkel, he cried. Tony watched the tough soldier break down. And right then, he knew he was going to make the time to do something he had promised himself he would do. He was going to find a picture of Sarah Rogers.

@psychiccatpanda - (pre-Stuckony) - When he'd told Pepper why he had hired BarRo Gardening and Landscape Service to care for the plants in the Tower, she'd laughed so hard she'd almost fallen out of her desk chair. 'BarRo Gardening and Landscape Service: Lettuce take care of your plants! Our prices and services can't be beet! We also offer sage advice on selecting the best plants for any office environment.' "They offer sage advice, Pep! How am I supposed to resist that?"

@somesortofitalianroast - Bruce wants to start a garden and put beehives on the top of Stark Tower. Tony reluctantly agrees. Bucky thinks it would be a good idea if he helps. The garden starts out small, mostly herbs and a few easier to care for plants, and grows as Bucky grows more confident in his gardening skills.

@huntress79 - (Stuckony modern AU) At first, Tony hadn't understood why both Steve and Bucky handed him a pot with what turned out to be a thyme plant right before shipping out to their last tour. Sure, it had a nice smell, and wasn't that hard to look after (JARVIS turned out to be as diligent as an auxiliary gardener as in everything else). But then, the plants become so much more - for Tony, it's a promise from "his" soldiers to come back to him. For Steve and Bucky, it's proof that Tony takes care of it - and of himself, despite their absence.

@darthbloodorange - [Stony] - Steve was sceptical when Bruce approached him with the idea of 'Therapeutic Gardening', but he trusted the man and went along with it. He admits it was nice to put aside some time for something that wasn't reports, training, team-building, or learning this new world. Something that wasn't work, something that didn't feel like this uphill battle that he had to fight alone. Unlike everything else in his schedule, he didn't have to work himself up to taking care of his plants. It became a thing after missions, for Steve to sit by his plants and water them, to confide in them. He slowly grows his collection over the months. But he starts to notice new plants in his collection, ones he didn't get himself, but he tends to them anyway. ~ Tony has been trying to look after the plants Bruce gave him, really. But will all the work on his plate he often forgets. But he tries. He notices some of his plants going missing. Plants that he was sure weren't dead the last time he checked on them, which might not be saying much... But he's sure someone has been stealing his plants. And he's going to find out who. ~ Bruce loves gardening, there were so many benefits it offered. It became a personal mission of his to get as many people into gardening as he could. However, he understands that maybe gardening wasn't everyone's thing. Bruce understands when Tony can't keep up with the maintenance of his plants. But he wasn't going to sit around and watch them suffer. So he gathers up those of Tony's plants that need a little more love and slips them into Steve's collection. ------------- (Tags: Accidental Matchmaking, Idiots in Love, Gardening, Team as Family)

Speak of the Devil - suggested by @psychiccatpanda

@somesortofitalianroast - Lucifer crossover : Tony had heard the expression so many times, in multiple languages. “Speak of Devil and he shall appear.” He just never expected it to literally happen.

@rebelmeg - tags: hades and persephone au, greek mythology, merchant of death, unlikely lovers (i'm imagining it pepperony, but it could go a lot of ways)

@tehroserose - Tony was going to kill... well, when he figured out who had left that magical artifact behind, he was going to kill them. Because apparently, and why hadn't Thor been there earlier to tell them this?, the first dead person mentioned in front of the artifact came back. Temporarily, but who knew for how long? And guess what? Steve had mentioned Howard. Actually, Tony wanted to kill Steve for that, except he'd never breathed a word near Steve of what Howard was really like. He hadn't wanted to ruin Howard in Steve's eyes, for Steve's sake. Now Howard was going to ruin himself in those eyes. Tony braced himself as the mean, belittling words that he'd thought he wouldn't have to hear in that voice again came thundering into his ears.

@psychiccatpanda - Tony believed in science not all the hocus pocus the sorority sisters had been whispering about in not-so-hushed tones in the library while he and Rhodey had been trying to study. "I heard if you look in a mirror and say his name three times, he'll appear to kill your worst enemy." Pft - ridiculous. He'd prove there wasn't anything to that stupid urban legend.

@darthbloodorange - [Pre-Stuckony] - Steve and Tony never talked about Howard. Ever. It was probably one of few things that keep their tenuous friendship moving along smoothly. but then Bucky came into the picture... and seemed to have a lot to say about Howard. Things started to click together, suddenly he was seeing the full picture. Howard always was an ass. Steve wasn't choosing not to talk about him out of respect for Tony, he didn't talk about Howard because the man was unpleasant to talk about. Tony listened, totally enthralled and vindicated, as Bucky regaled him with tailed of his father. About all the times Howard discredited Steve's intelligence in front of high-ranking Military figureheads, pressured him into testing, belittled Steve for his time in the USO, and ignored Bucky existence as he was just "Steve's tiresome tag-along pup" Turns out the three of them had a lot more in common than he'd initially thought. ------------- (Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Give Everyone A Damn Hug, Still Salty at Howard in that CA:FA Deleted Scene)

#tonystarkbingomarkiv #tsbmiv #tsb discord party #party games #title prompt game #lemon

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drunk-onsunlight · 4 years ago

Text

Day #9 of Promptmas

Chapter 9: Well maybe just a half a drink more

Summary:

DRUKN KARAOKE!!!

Notes:

I'm sorry for posting late but today was my graduation!!! Finally I received my degree in Literary Studies and I can't be happier. So that's why i'm posting so late, I had a small family reunion and tried to post sooner but didn't work out xD Have fun reading!!

Concept: Ugly Christmas sweater party & Drunkenly singing Mariah Carey

Dialogue: “You have frosting on your face” & “If your hands get cold, you can put them in my pockets”

December 23rd

“I’m going to change, this clothes are soaking wet” Peter dropped MJ’s hand and started walking to the stairs that lead them to the rooms

“Oh, but we wanted to tell you all something first” Pepper hold him back and called everyone’s attention “Tony and Happy did some food for everyone and we want to have a little party. So go get your Christmas sweaters, the ugly ones, and we will eat and play some games tonight”

“Hopefully drink some actual liquor too” Tony added and everyone laughed softly. The wet clothes were making everyone too cold to stay on the living room any longer

“Let’s go change before we freeze to death so we can eat and drink” Happy said to everyone and then grabbed May’s hand and started moving up the stairs. Soon they all started moving and Peter saw MJ walk to the kitchen with Morgan. He decided to let them for a moment and change quickly

Twenty minutes later he was back on the living room, trying to find a place to sit on the huge living room. The coffee table was full of warm food and the TV on the wall was on with a random Christmas movie on it. Peter sat next to May, he loves his Aunt and missed her. Their time together was shorter every year thanks to his responsibilities, and family is very important to Peter

“Pete, do you know where Morgan and MJ are?” May asked him while looking around searching for them

“I don’t know. I saw them walking to the kitchen but I’m not sure if they are changing clothes or plotting something against me” his comment made May laugh a little

“Why don’t you try to find them? Check if they are on the kitchen and tell them we are waiting for them” Peter got up from the comfortable couch and walked to the kitchen. When he got there, he found a pretty adorable scene. MJ was wearing a sweater he gave her last year. It was a black sweater with red rhombuses on the sleeves. On the front a red square that had a ginger bread cookie in the middle and a message in capital letters above and under the red square: Bite me. Morgan was wearing a red sweater with green and white stripes on the arms. Two ginger bread cookies had belts and swords, the message above the cookies was Ginjas. Peter loved their sweaters.

“Try to decorate that Christmas tree with the green frosting and then add some pearls to those cookies” MJ had a pastry bag on her hand, some bowls with frosting from different colors and Morgan was directing MJ’s movements on the cookies

“You’re enjoying this too much, Morgan. You are a good leader too, like your parents” Morgan flushed a little

“Thanks MJ. You’re good at following instructions, by the way”

“Not so much may I say” The two girls looked up quickly and he saw MJ had some red dots on her face. Peter started walking towards MJ and stopped right in front of her

“You have frosting on your face” Peter placed his left hand on MJ’s cheek and removed softly the red frosting dots

“How long have you been there?” MJ whispered but he heard her clearly and he noticed they were too close to each other

“Not long. How is the decoration on the cookies going?” He dropped his hand from MJ’s face and spoke softly too, he didn’t want to break the moment

“Better that I thought actually” He didn’t answer her. A comfortable silence fell on them

“Wow. I never felt like I was a third wheel in the middle of anyone other than my parents” They jumped away from each other and turned to look at Morgan

“How are you doing Peanut? Did you help decorating the cookies or just directing MJ?” Peter tried to ignore Morgan’s comment but he bet his last web formula that he was blushing… a lot

“Of course I helped. Look at my cookies” She pointed a plate with said cookies and he was snowmen and snowflakes. They looked really cute “and MJ is doing the trees. We changed very quickly so we could show everyone these cookies” Morgan looked really proud of herself

“Do you plan to let some cookies to Santa? We have to let him some milk and cookies on a table next to the tree” Peter knew Morgan didn’t believe in Santa but he liked the tradition

“I saved a few cookies for that, don’t worry” MJ was back at finishing the decoration on her tree cookies but pointed another plate away from them to show him the cookies she saved for Santa

“You are a sunshine, Em. We have to go! Everyone is waiting for us to start this party” He grabbed the pastry bag from MJ’s hands and placed it on the sink while the girls cleaned their hands and all of them walked to the living room.

“They are here! We can start with the food!” Happy shouted from the other side of the room and everyone grabbed different deserts and snacks from the table. Morgan ran next to her parents and grabbed a plate to pick her food.

The table had roasted parmesan garlic shrimp, tortilla roll-ups, cheese truffles, cranberry meatballs, fried raviolis, walnut blue cheese stuffed mushrooms and different dips and drinks. Peter was impresses with all the food around.

“You cooked all of this?” Peter had to ask Tony and Happy. Everything looked delicious

“I has been improving my cooking skills and Tony wanted to help, so yeah, we did all of this” Happy confirmed what Pepper had said before and Peter couldn’t be any prouder of them. Everything was delicious

“Happy made his New Year resolution to learn to cook because May doesn’t have idea how to and Thai food is not good for everyday” Tony mocked Happy and May and she blushed a little. They all knew how bad his Aunt could be on a kitchen but he loves her anyway

“Peter survived pretty good to my cooking skills, right Pete??” May tried to defend herself

“Well thanks to that he learned to cook and is pretty good at it” MJ contributed to the conversation and everyone praised Peter

“You are really good too, Em. Have anyone seen those cookies she made? Amazing!” Peter didn’t like to have all the attention on himself so he moved it to MJ’s cookies. He hadn’t tried them but he was sure they were delicious.

“I can’t believe I’m gonna say this but “Ew”. You both need to stop vomiting unicorns and rainbows at each other. It’s getting gross” Morgan’s comments always made everyone laugh and it served to change the subject back to the food and no-ones cooking skills. After some more chat and laughter the food was running out. Pepper decided to bring wine and eggnog for everyone, some juices and sodas for Morgan. Peter handed some eggnog to MJ and served some wine for him.

“Easy with the eggnog. That thing has been aged for weeks” Pepper warned Betty and MJ that were chatting happily and drinking. Cup after cup they laughed louder every time

“Ned, did you managed to buy Betty’s ring after, you know, I had to sneak out of the store?” Peter hadn’t had a chance to talk to Ned properly since they were on the jewelry store

“Yes! It look’s amazing. I hope she likes it” They were speaking softly just in case someone could hear them

“She is going to love it” Peter wants to support them every step of the way no matter what.

“And I would love if you are my best man. If she says yes, of course”

“She is definitely saying yes, and I’m saying yes too!” They were so engrossed in the conversation they didn’t notice Betty and MJ getting closer to them

��Say yes to what?” The girls asked them at the same time

“Ammm… Karaoke” Ned managed to speak before Peter. He definitely wasn’t good at improvising lies

“YES!!! We all have to play karaoke!” Betty started to jump and took MJ’s hands in hers “We need to sing something together, Em!”

“Betty you know MJ doesn’t sing in public” Peter lived with her and he was used to hear her humming song but never singing

“Then have more eggnog because we are going to sing tonight” Betty handed MJ another cup of eggnog and MJ took it without another word. “Everyone!!! How about we play karaoke?” Betty called everyone’s attention and they were all drunk enough to accept without second thoughts

“Thanks Ned” Peter wasn’t very excited about the karaoke singing, he was a terrible singer

“It was the first thing that crossed my mind. Sorry” MJ heard the boys talking and stopped drinking

“You weren’t talking about playing karaoke?” MJ put her chin on Peter’s shoulder and whispered to his ear

“Nope. It was about Betty’s gift” He turned his head slightly to her to answer but turned back quickly when noticed they almost bump their noses together of how close they were

“Upps. I’m drunk and cold. Don’t we have hot chocolate or something?” MJ didn’t move her chin from Peter’s shoulder. That position wasn’t unfamiliar for them. Like Peter wanted to show MJ a meme and she wasn’t wearing her glasses, what was the normal thing to do? She placed her chin on his shoulder. It was easy, now it was quite intimate

“Do you want me to bring you something warm? If your hands get cold, you can put them in my pockets, by the way” When Peter offered that he didn’t think MJ would actually put her hands on his pockets. Like that, it looked like she was hugging him behind

“Relax Peter. Black Cat mode is turned off so I’m not trying to steal something from you” She whispered on his ear again and he noticed his back was totally rigid, he needed to relax. It was just MJ, his best friend/fake girlfriend, all good.

“I know you don’t steal thing because you want to, it’s because you had too. But we will have that conversation later. Sober”

“Thanks Parker” Peter was surprised when he felt MJ’s soft lips on his cheek. It was a fast peck but he knew he was blushing. He felt his neck go red and then his face. MJ was drunk and affectionate, he could handle it

“Who wants to start singing?” Tony was grabbing two microphones in one hand and pointing at everyone with them. The TV had a karaoke mode that was already waiting for the first victim

“ME!!” Betty screamed and jumped to grab the mic from Tony’s hand. She was really drunk “What songs do we have here?” She checked the list until Morgan pointed that if she sang Jingle Bell Rock she could sing along but they had to dance the Mean Girls choreography together. Of course Betty agreed

“MJ come sing with us!” Morgan tried to go for MJ but she just hid behind Peter

“Nope. Not drunk enough for that” MJ dismissed Morgan’s invitation politely and let the girls sing the first song.

The song started and both girls tried to remember the choreography while singing. The singing wasn’t bad, but the choreography was uncoordinated and Tony was trying to tell them how it went and joined the dancing and singing with the girls after a few seconds. Pepper was laughing softly at his husband while the rest of them helped singing

After they finished, everyone clapped for the improvised trio. Now it was May, Happy and Pepper’s turn. They picked Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town and when the song started, everyone was surprised of how good Pepper and May were. Their voices combined perfectly and Happy joined at some parts or the song, trying to make harmonies with them. At the end of the song Morgan and Tony got up to cheer and clap at Pepper. She dismissed them and sat back next to Tony who gave her a lovely kiss and said something to her ear that made her laugh softly

Betty took Ned’s hand and told him they were next. Ned took his glass of wine and drink it all at once before grabbing the microphone Betty offered him. Peter noticed MJ had served another cup of eggnog and was drinking it happily while one of her hands was still in Peter’s pocket

“What are we singing bae?”

“Oh. I perfectly know which song we are singing!” Betty started to search for a song and suddenly stopped and looked at Ned “Ready?”

“Oh, God. Peter and MJ are never letting me see the end of this. Let’s do it” Ned laughed nervously but grabbed the microphone with security. When some bells and an acoustic guitar started playing Peter knew what song it was. Betty and Ned started to sing Mistletoe by Justin Bieber.

“You guys are sooooo cheesy!” Peter was, in fact, not letting Ned forget this, ever

They must have should have sung that song before, they sounded too coordinated and knew every little detail of the back voices to be a first time. After the song ended, they all cheered to them and his friends bowed like they just gave and amazing concert on the living room. After them Morgan took the microphone and picked a song. One I’ve Been Missing by Little Mix started and Morgan sang it perfectly. To Peter’s surprise, MJ hummed the song along too while drinking a glass of wine. She wasn’t in the stage of singing just yet apparently, but absolutely getting there.

After Morgan finished her song, they all clapped and Tony decided it was Pepper and his turn to sing together. Tony picked Christmas (Baby please Come Home) and Pepper sang the song while Tony did the back voices and some dancing. Pepper tried not to laugh while singing but couldn’t help it. Tony’s ugly sweater had actual Christmas decorations and while he danced, all the ornaments moved around him. The song was over too soon and everyone cheered again for the duo.

“MJ! Peter! You guys need to sing something together!” Betty pointed at MJ and Peter turned to see her blushing, but at this point he wasn’t sure if it was the wine or she was actually embarrassed.

“Yes!!! You guys need to sing! Please Pete!” Morgan joined Betty and after that everyone was asking them to sing.

“Ok, loser. Let’s do this” MJ removed her hand from Peter’s pocket and grabbed the microphones “Betty, pick a song for us?”

“Oh yes! I have the perfect one” Betty rose from the couch and searched the song on the set list “Ready? You guys know this one. Everybody does”

Baby It’s Cold Outside started and Peter knew it was a duo. MJ looked at Betty and mouthed something to her he couldn’t see, then she went back to look at the TV with the lyrics on it. When a small ball started to bounce above the lyrics, MJ started to sing and he was so surprised she was actually singing that he almost missed his lines.

The song kept playing and everyone was speechless, Michelle was a damn good singer. She never moved her eyes away from the screen but sang every line in a perfect way. When the song ended everyone started clapping and cheering, even Peter. They were very impressed by MJ’s voice.

She moved back to the couch after letting her microphone on the table. Peter followed close by and when they were sitting together again he couldn’t help but stare

“What?” MJ’s voice sounded little, not close to her actual voice

“You sound amazing. You should get out of that pretty head of your more often and sing aloud” Peter wanted to hear her more often. She didn’t answer anything but her smile gave him all the answers he needed it

Ned, Betty and Morgan took the microphones and Like It’s Christmas by The Jonas Brothers started to play. This time Peter sang along too, it was a nice song and he remembered hearing it on a Netflix series. Then he added it to his Christmas playlist. When that song ended Betty went straight to MJ

“You drunk enough to sing with me?” Betty offered MJ the second mic and MJ ended her cup of eggnog and grabbed the microphone from Betty’s hand

“Come on Betty. Let’s get over this” When everyone saw MJ standing up again, they started to clap once more and Peter joined happily. He could hear her singing his whole life. Betty went to a song and without a chance for them to read the title she pressed play.

All I want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey started and Morgan cheered even louder than before. Betty started to sing the first verse and MJ joined a few lines after Betty. MJ was looking at the screen again but Betty held her hand and when MJ turned to see her they sang the chorus together.

It was like all the drinks hit them right there because Betty and MJ turned to the boys and started singing even louder. Even then, MJ didn’t miss a note. Ned stood up and joined Betty. Morgan, May, Happy, Tony and Pepper started to tell Peter to join MJ too. He stood up and MJ held his hand for a while. They started to sing while looking at each other’s eyes, when the song was getting to its end, MJ decided to knock them out by hitting Mariah’s whistle note perfectly for more time that was humanly possible. The song ended and Peter hugged MJ while everyone clapped the girls.

“You are amazing, Michelle Jones” Peter whispered to MJ’s ear and gave her a little peck close to her lips.

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

Thanks to @spiderman-homecomeme for this amazing idea!

#spideychelle #spideychelle twelve days of promptmas #peter parker mcu #michelle jones mcu #may parker #happy hogan #ned leeds #betty brant #pepperony #pepper pots #tony stark

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