#i just really wanted to give kurtz a backstory

[stattic-writes]

Stone Snake

https://statticscribbles.tumblr.com/post/639099629845233664/masterlist

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[statticscribbles]

Sober Up

Summary: Kurtz/Reader, A much longer slightly more in depth backstory for Kurtz TW: Drug use, Smut, Violence

You’re six when your parents first shove you outside pointing to the tree line in the backyard and mumble for you to ‘go explore till dinner’ you know this means there won’t be dinner but you stay quiet content to walk through the patch of trees. You decide since you have hours till it gets dark, hours till they remember where they let you run off to, you’ll explore as far as you can. It takes less than an hour before you reach the edge of the forest, you’re surprised, not by how short the trip was, but that there’s a house in front of you. Within seconds a boy shoves himself in front of you laughing and nodding. “Mom!!! I found a faerie!!! Can we keep her! She’s real tiny; won’t take up much space!” You watch the boy grip your wrist and tug, bringing you closer to the house with the smooth wooden porch and the soft cushions on the rocking chairs.

“Momma!!!” “Conrad, what have I said about-oh, hello, what’s your name sweetheart.” You can her hear voice go soft, you didn’t know mother’s voices could do that, and you stick your free hand out for her to shake like you father taught you. “My name’s Y/N ma’am!” “I’m Conrad, but you’re not supposed to tell the Fae your real name, so call me Kurtz!!” You nod at the boy smiling back. “Well how about you stay for dinner and we’ll call your parents after words. They live across the tree line right?” You nod at the woman letting both her and Kurtz lead you into the house and to a dining table. “Kurtz, what’s a Fae?” You mumble face pink, you’d never heard of them before and his face lights up. “I got a whole book on them!!! I’ll get it!” He rushes off and you stand awkwardly looking around the room, he returns quickly.

“I dunno what a Fae would need to know about- ARE YOU A CHANGELING!!!!” he shouts clapping his hands together, his mother appears and you watch nervously as she beckons him over. “Kurtz, what have I said about shouting?” “That it’s bad for my voice and bad for everyone else’s ears.” He hangs his head and she runs her hand through the faint curls before nodding. “So now we know for next time right?” She asks and he nods. “Yeah of course!! Can Y/N stay the night??” He jumps from the spot he’s in moving back and forth next to his mother. “We’ll have to ask when we call her parents.” Your parent’s don’t pick up and instead of calling the police like your grandma used to do, Kurtz’s mom just smiles and pats your head. Kurtz pulls you back to the table and shows you the pictures and reads some of the stories to you. You nod along as he explains that Fae’s are magic creatures that live in the forest.

“You go wash up for dinner and then we’ll get a room sorted.” You’re not sure what she means by room, you usually sleep on the couch; your parents can’t sleep in the same room anymore. You don’t ask during dinner, or after when Kurtz makes you a brownie sundae that’s so heavy you drop it twice. When it’s time for bed you’re brought to a room with a bed, and a mattress on the floor. Kurtz points to the floor mattress. “You sleep there!” He nods as his mother leaves he leans over to whisper. “You can sleep with me if you wanna, the bed’s huge!” You nod climbing up under the covers with him. This is the first time you stay with Kurtz. ————————————————————————————-

You’re one day away from being eight, Kurtz who’s already eight, insists you’re not missing anything exciting, just an extra finger to hold up. He still calls you faerie sometimes pulling out the mythology and fables book he has pointing out the pictures and nodding. “You’re just as pretty as them, plus you came outta the woods, all faeries do that!” You don’t argue; you’re afraid to tell him you don’t live in a pretty castle, and drink out of flowers. He doesn’t ask ever and you’re relieved when he talks more about his uncle that’s coming over. His mother frowns and he leans over to whisper to you.

“Mama doesn’t like Uncle Malachai cause he sells drugs. But it’s okay cause he’s not really my uncle, my mama just calls him that cause he takes care of us.” You nod, you know what drugs are, it’s all your parents do. You wonder if they know Malachai as well. Kurtz’s mother, she insists you call her by her first name, Sarah, offers to let you have a birthday party at her house. “We can set up a pool if you want.” You hesitate nodding softly. “I’d like that Ms. Sarah, but I don’t wanna trouble you, ‘sides I don’t have enough friends to have a party.” You frown and she smiles. “Well you leave that up to me and Kurtz okay?” You nod confused by what she means, but let her continue on with her plans.

The party is the most fun you can remember having. Kurtz refuses to leave your side rushing you around the other kids and all of his mom’s friends. He pauses his running; letting go of your hand as he flings himself to hug a thin figure. “Hey kiddo, Jesus you’re tall now.” Kurtz returns to your side pulling you along to point at the figure. “This is my Uncle Malachai, Uncle Malachai, this is Y/N she’s an actual faerie, she showed up from the trees!” Malachai nods smirking. “Well nice to meet you Y/N you take care of Kurtz, he’s a handful.” You nod face going serious for a moment. You’re about to run off and follow Kurtz when Malachai’s hand grips your shoulder. “Your parent’s still live cross the tree line?” You nod and he smiles, you rush back off to play with Kurtz. —————————————————————————————-

You frown when the police show up to Kurtz house, hovering behind Kurtz who hovers behind his mother. “Y/N, it’s alright sweetheart, you just have to go stay with your Aunt for a while, okay?” “Can I come over still?” “You have to ask her okay?” “Why can’t I stay on my own? Or with my Grandma?” “You’re only 12, you can’t pay all your bills yet, and she’s too old sweetheart, here, how about we give your aunt all our contact information so you and Kurtz can visit if you want.” You nod smiling at her. She doesn’t bring you back to your house, explaining that the police need to finish up and then you can get all your stuff later. That she’s sure your aunt will have things for you. ————————————————————————————-

As it turns out, your aunt, Penny Peabody wants almost nothing to do with you; she leaves you with Kurtz and his mother as much as she can while you’re supposed to be adjusting. Once everything with your parents settles down; she seems to warm up to you slightly. You know enough to stay out of her hair, but she’ll call you into the living room to spend time with you, and she spends time working on your homework with you.

She lets Kurtz come over as often as he can, which once he gets a bike for Christmas is every weekend and on the days you get out early for school. You spend your summers at his, and he spends the winter and spring breaks as well as other holidays from school with you and your aunt. He watches and listens to her just as much as you do. You know you’re both learning what she does, how she cons people. You don’t want to think about needing to use it. The summers are spent with Kurtz’s mother teaching homemaking skills, you learn how to stitch so tightly that water slows when moving through the tear; you know this is meant for stitches over wounds. You learn plants that can be found everywhere to eat, and heal. When Malachai comes around you learn like you did with your aunt. He teaches both you and Kurtz how to fight with knives as well as your fists; he makes you swear not to tell Sarah. You tell Penny and she laughs and nods, buying you a better set that Malachai has to piss him off.

——————————————————————————— It’s four days into summer vacation before you start high school, Kurtz’s mom is out of town as usual, her work leading to her being away more than she’s home. Kurtz calls and asks if you want to come over. Your aunt drops you off handing you an overnight back and tugging your shoulder. “Y/N, be careful.” “Careful? It’s just Kurtz.” Your aunt nods. “Malachai was telling me-“ “His uncle’s there?” “Yes, be careful.” She warns and nudges you out of the car. You can’t help the nerves that bubble under your skin, why would you need to be careful around Kurtz. You try your best to shake it off as you wait for him to open the door. “Oh hey there little faerie.” Malachai smiles at you.

“Kurtz! It’s for you.” He turns and you step into the hallway watching Kurtz jerk forward and stumble in his socks on the hardwood floor. You pause; hesitating for a moment watching his face, how his eyes look blurry and his mouth hangs open at one corner. “Jangle?” You question and Malachai nods. “You got good eyes kid.” “Just a good memory.” You scowl at him and he rolls his eyes. “Your parent’s chose to do it, can’t help that I was their dealer.” You bite back the comment about him being their murderer instead watching Kurtz smile. “Malachaiiii you didn’t tell me Y/N was here.” “Why you give him Jangle.” “He wanted to try it, he’s a big boy now, fourteen and all that.” You nod, gripping Kurtz’s hand; you watch his face turn bright pink. “Malachai look.” He whispers, holding your hand up looking awe struck.

“Yeah what?” “She’s holding my hand!” Malachai nods and you bite your lip to keep from laughing. “Let’s go sit down yeah?” You nod to Kurtz and he doesn’t stop staring at your clasped hands as you lead him to the couch. He trips twice and you scowl, positioning him on the couch when he flops down, you sit next to him and Malachai nods. “I’ll head out now, you know how to take care of him if goes bad yeah?” “What I did for my parent’s; got it.” He smiles leaving an envelope on the side table next to the couch and walks out the door. Kurtz jerks his head up and frowns as the door clicks closed. “Y/N!” He jumps slightly when you re-enter his field of vision. “Hey Kurtz. You want to watch TV?”

“No. Want something else.” He crosses his arms and you arch an eyebrow. “Kurtz, what do you want?” He shakes his head laying on his side and staring at the blank TV screen. “Kurtz? Come on use your words.” You try not to scowl already he’s reminding you of your parents. You crouch in front of him and laugh a little when he hides his face in the cushion. “What do you want, come on I can get almost anything.” You think you can make out the word ‘okay’ from in between the mumblings he spews into the pillow. You nudge his chin up. “I wanna kiss you.” He ducks his head back down and you wince when your hands stuck under it. “Can you move your head?” He looks up eyes too wide; you nudge his forehead when he tries to kiss you.

“Don’t move; you have the shakes.” He nods, jerking as he freezes, you can still see his hands trembling. You lean over kissing his lips softly, you pull back and watch his pupils dilate before they shrink back to the usual jangle pinpricks. “I meant the cheek.” He laughs as you smack his arm. “Should we redo it then?” He laughs and smiles sleepily. “You tired now? How much did you take?”  You slowly sit him up slightly, and he grabs for you pulling you against him and the couch. “Kurtz, how much did you take?”

“ Um, the uh Washington one.” “A quarter amount?” “Yeah but the silver one. That size.” “So literally a quarter, this?” You hold up the quarter from the table and he nods. “Don’t leave.” You nod rolling your eyes as his arms tighten around you. “I’m right here. Not going anywhere, your death grip is making sure of it.” You laugh and he nods sniffling. “Kurtz? You okay?” He nods and you wipe a stray tear.

“Please don’t leave me. Everyone else does.” “I’m not leaving.” You let him awkwardly curl around you, his limbs uncoordinated and gangly even without the added effect of the Jangle. You wake up to a blanket around both of you and Malachai sitting watching TV. “He asked me to take it, said he wanted to tell you something but he was too scared to do it himself.” Malachai pulls the remainder of the Jangle tube from the table and tucks it into his pocket. “He’ll be fine, just needs to sleep it off.” ——————————————————————————–

You’re nervous about school; you’d never had Kurtz in any of your classes and you’d never been around at lunch the same time. To be fair you’d never been at the same school, so seeing him around is odd and having him in every class is unnerving. He seems unbothered by it, explaining how each of the gangs works, not that there’s many besides the Ghoulies and the Serpents to care about. Kurtz almost corals you over to the Ghoulies, nudging you into their table at lunch. “You stay with them.” You stand intent on following him but he gently shoves you back to the table. “Stay with them.” You watch as the other Ghoulies stare at you almost in awe. “What?” You mumble to them and they laugh.

“You’re that girl Kurtz doesn’t shut up about.” You nod to them frowning when he slides into the Serpent’s caged off area. You grimace when he whoops, fist colliding with one of the other Serpent’s noses. The rest of the Ghoulies leap up and rush towards the Serpent’s laughing and throwing punches. You can’t see Kurtz, and when he appears behind you, you jump slightly. “Look free lunch.” He winks pulling over the trays that the other Ghouls had abandoned. ——————————————————————————–

It doesn’t take you long to officially become a Ghoulie, the other Ghouls bring you up to their base of operations, you’ve only been to the House of the Dead once, but you wonder what the rest of them will say. Malachai is standing at the door watching as Lance, the oldest Ghoulie from Southside High steps forward nudging you and Kurtz forward. “What did you bring this time?”

“Couple of newbies, they wanna work for us and-“ “Kurtz how many times have I told you to stop fucking with the ones from school?” Kurtz just laughs and Lance looks annoyed and confused. “And you brought Y/N too? You guys really need to do more background research when you have recruits. They’re already in.” Malachai shrugs and nods towards the house. “They don’t have the ghoul mark.” “I know; we’ll give it to them now.” “Ghoul Mark?” “To mark you as one of us, for life.”

“Oh like how the serpents have a tattoo?” You ask and Malachai nods. “Yes, just a little more permanent is all.” You grimace at the knife Malachai holds up. “You can’t laser off a scar.” He laughs offering you and Kurtz Jangle tubes. “It helps with the pain.” You shake your head scowling as Kurtz downs half a tube.

“You don’t have to act tough you know. Just take the drugs like everyone else you little addict.” Lance laughs shoving you. You cringe when Kurtz lunges for him. “Kurtz. She’s fine.” Malachai sighs pulling him back. “It’s okay Kurtz.” You nod to him and he glares at Lance. You watch the way Lance glares back, and you can tell Kurtz’s fingers are running along the knife he keeps on himself. ———————————————————————————–

You know Kurtz has been sneaking behind your back more, not that you really watch over him. You can tell he’s drifting from you not just because of the jobs the Ghouls have him running all over the town. “Kurtz we still on for later?” “Course. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” You know he will, you’re expecting a text, explaining how he has a job, how it’ll have to be a rain check, of a rain-check, of a reschedule. No text comes and you’re still surprised when he tugs you towards his bike, you watch his hands shake and you place yours over them; his face pinks like every time you do this and he averts his eyes. You watch is pupils barely larger than pinpricks. “How much did you take?”

“Full tube.” He shrugs off the concern you know is on your face, shoving the helmet at you. “Kurtz you can’t drive while you’re on-“ “You want to walk.” He bites back and you go quiet swallowing and wrapping your arms around his waist. He hums slightly and you close your eyes the entire ride home. You don’t say anything about him being on jangle as he brings you back to his place, his mother out for work like usual. He throws himself on the couch motioning for you to sit, you skirt the edge, perched on the couch as far from him as you can get.

“Why you hate me on Jangle?” He questions and you can’t help a bitter laugh. “Really? Do you even remember what happened to my parents? That they both OD’ed on it? That they spent most of my childhood so drugged up it was easier to send me outside than to deal with me? I don’t want you turning into them!” “I’m not your fucking parents!” He shouts sitting up suddenly angry. “Really? Cause you sure are acting like them. How are you not them, then?” You snarl. Kurtz jerks up gripping your shoulders. “They never loved you like I do! I’m not them!” He shakes you and you cringe back; swallowing as he registers how afraid you look. “You’re right, you’re not them, you’re worse.” You turn and leave, rushing past his mother who looks nervously at your retreating figure. —————————————————————————————–

A quarter has easily doubled to half, but the jump from half to full is what worries you. The entire idea of Kurtz doing Jangle worries you but you know not to say anything about that after the fight you’d had over it. Well it was more the fight you and Malachai had had. You’d avoided Kurtz for an entire week as the handprints against your throat faded.

You’d never seen Kurtz so out of it on Jangle, you’d never seen it make him angry; the most he got was embarrassed around you for whatever reason. Still upset and trying your best to fix the first fight you’d ever had with him you’d stormed the house of the dead, knowing Malachai would be happy to see you until it clicked what you were there for. “Hey there Y/N what can I do for my favourite little faerie then?” “Don’t sell to Kurtz. Don’t let anyone sell to him.” Malachai arches an eyebrow after he laughs for five minutes. “Oh you were serious, huh, well you don’t get to make demands like that.” “It’s not a demand.” You flick your knife out, nudging it at his throat. “Just like this isn’t a threat.”

“Oh, cute.” You drop the knife instantly, his hands curling around your throat as he presses you against the wall. “Listen, I don’t give a shit what you think you got with Kurtz, you try to cut him off from Jangle I’ll cut off your oxygen permanently.” He drops you to the ground kicking your knife over. “You tell him about this-“ “About what?” Malachai smiles helping you up.

“Evolve or die little Fae, Evolve or die.” You nod. You don’t question when Malachai calls you for a special job, out of town, for an unknown amount of time. He tells you you’ll be leaving in a week. You don’t question him aside from asking him what you need to pack. He says he’ll send Kurtz over later. Kurtz doesn’t bother knocking, cracking open the door and whistling as he closes it. You don’t look up pretending to be absorbed in the cooking show on TV. “Y/N, Malachai told me about the job, it’s long right? That’s gonna get you so much cred and-“ You don’t move on your own, but you find yourself on Kurtz lap. “What’s wrong?” “I have to leave for an entire year at least, I’m sure its one of those long jobs.” You frown.

“Not much here you’ll miss.” Kurtz smiles slightly. “Woulda been better to send you, you don’t have anything you miss here.” “You.” You stare at each other and you watch as his hands hover over you before settling one around your waist and the other on your shoulder. “You don’t want me.” You shrug; he licks his lips. “Who says that?” “The other Ghouls. And that fight we just had.” He glares, and you watch one of his hands curl into a fist, you tangle your fingers in his. “Hey Kurtz, drop it, they don’t mean anything.” He nods still glaring slightly. “Kurtz, what’s going on; you’ve been avoiding me, not just cause of jobs and taking all that Jangle.“ “Malachai doesn’t want me around you.”

“Why?” “Say’s you’re a problem area, for me. He told me if I took the Jangle you’d leave me alone and he wouldn’t have to send you away.” You brush your hand on his cheek. “I’m not angry at you, I’m scared for you, I’ve seen what Jangle does; I don’t want you ending up like my parents.” “Cause you hate ‘em right.” He chuckles dryly. “No because I love you. Can’t let anything bad happen to you.” ————————————————————————————-

Malachai doesn’t keep you updated on anything other than what the Ghouls are doing gang wise; halfway through the second month he vanishes and two weeks go by without any news, suddenly a few of the other Ghouls appear at the house he’d stationed you at. “What?” “Malachai’s in prison. He got caught, there was a race and-“

You return to Riverdale, making your way to the house of the dead surprised to see your aunt in the living room. “Hey kid, good trip?” “Trip? Malachai sent me up to the middle of bum-fuck nowhere cause he thought I was gonna make Kurtz go sober.” Penny laughs shaking her head. “What?” “He doesn’t care about Kurtz being sober, he cares about Kurtz listening to him. He won’t listen if you’re around.” “Why wouldn’t Kurtz listen to him, Kurtz like worships him.” Penny shrugs. “I’ll let you figure that out on your own. Now Malachai’s coming back home in a bit so-“ “The other ghouls said he had years left and-“

“If he doesn’t bribe everyone, which we’re going to do, so; we need to fix this place up, the Ghouls have ruined it.” “Why do I have to clean?” “Because you’re one of the only people I can trust, and Kurtz will follow you like a puppy.” ———————————————————————————

The welcome back party is in full swing, you’re sitting to the side, watching most of the Ghoulies mixing alcohol and Jangle; taking shots of it. Kurtz is across the room, drink less and as far as you can tell completely sober. You’re pretty sure someone slipped something into your water, after the sip you’d taken you noticed the taste changed far too much. Whoever put something in must have assumed it vodka; you pretend not to notice how Lance leers at you from across the room.

“Hey little faerieeeee,” you cringe at the nickname but stand up walking over to Malachai; who sways drunkenly. “Try it.” He smirks holding out a shot of vodka that’s more jangle than liquid. “Don’t.” Kurtz is next to you pulling you back and knocking the drink out of Malachai’s hand. You expect the party to freeze like it does in movies, for everything to stop and everyone to watch you. You feel the slap confused at how fast Malachai moved.

“Oh no, you don’t make demands Kurtz, you follow, and you follow me or I hurt her, remember our deal? That was nothing compared to what I’ll do.” Kurtz seems to hesitate fists still clenched; you shift back, hand brushing against his arm. “Deal?” Malachai turns smiling. “Oh yes. Kurtz made a deal with me when you joined. You want to know what it is?” “He’ll do whatever I want, whatever I say, as long as I; and the other ghouls keep you safe and out of trouble.” You glare shaking your head. “That’s not true Malachai you-“ “I what? You think you know me? I tell Kurtz to jump he asks how high, I tell him to OD on Jangle, he doubles the dose. What part of I own him do you not understand little fae.” “I-“

“You what, you’ll call Auntie Penny to rescue him? You’ll kill me yourself? Come on Y/N how many empty threats can you make?” “Trade; not a threat.” ‘Trade?” “You keep him sober, and you have me.” “What can you offer? That he can’t.” “I’m a teenager girl, I’m sure you’ll think of some use for me.” You spit and try not to cringe at how sober he looks when he smiles holding his hand out. “Deal.”

He appears later in the night; you’re expecting him to bring friends; to pimp you out, he just smiles again. “You live here now. You don’t speak to Penny unless I say it’s okay, understand?” “Yes.” “You can continue normally with Kurtz, as friends, I’d hate for him to worry more. For now at least, you’ll cut off friendship with him soon; it’s safer for the rest of them. God knows he already almost killed Lance.” “Lance?” “Oh yeah, we found out he slipped something into your drink, good thing it was water so we noticed. I may have let it slip that it was Lance who did it. Kurtz must’ve heard. Shame Lance is out of commission for three weeks, Kurtz’ll just have to take his place then. Big job, lots of fighting. You can patch him up when he’s finished.” ———————————————————————————-

You shake your head at Sarah’s offer for her to stay. “Y/N it’s not a problem he can barely see out of his eye, it’s a lot more work helping him around, he keeps running into everything.” “Really it’s okay, I’d hate for you to have to cancel work. I’ll be okay I swear.” You nod sternly and she relents leaving in her car. You climb the steps knocking on the door. “Mom if you- Y/N.” Kurtz stands in the doorway in just sweat pants. The ice pack over his eye is moved and you wince in sympathy, noting he seems to be able to look out slightly. “Hey sorry for just showing up but I was wondering if I could stay over? Things aren’t great at-“ “Of course. Be just like when we were little” He grins and you follow him in. “Since it’s past dinner, brownie sundae?” He laughs a little and you roll your eyes.

“Please don’t make me drop it like the first time.” “I’m the one that’s gong to drop it I bet. Besides the floor dirt is half the fun.” He laughs shaking his head. You sit on the couch eating it, half watching the TV. “Thank you.” He nods as you pull his bowl placing it on the coffee table. He shifts; scooting closer to you on the couch. “No problem Y/N. Anything for you.” “Can we call it a night then?” You say after a yawn, he nods nudging you towards his room. You watch as he doesn’t pull out the spare mattress, instead pulling off his sweatpants so he’s down to just his boxers. “Did you bring PJ’s?” he looks curiously at your bag you’ve brought up and you shake your head.

“Ah, here.” He tosses you one of his shirts and you nod, tugging off yours and your bra to put his shirt over before pulling your pants off. “You can turn around now, you didn’t need to do that you know.” He shrugs and climbs into bed holding the covers up for you. “Come on, we can stay up late telling each other secrets.” You laugh curling into his chest. “What’s wrong Y/N, is it just everything at home?” You shake your head sniffling slightly; you can feel Kurtz tense unsure what to do about you crying. “What’s got you crying hm?” “A boy.” You mumble and can feel his hands tighten on you. “Who hurt you?” “No nothing like that, I just, I have a crush on someone but he pretty much avoids me all the time. We spent like two hours together last week and that was all.” You sniffle more and Kurtz wipes your tears. “Baby don’t cry, anyone who’s making you cry that much can’t be worth it, can you tell him how you feel?” You nod. “Great, then do that, as soon as you can.” You can hear the pain and the hitch in his voice. “Kurtz?” “I’m fine.” He snaps.

“You don’t sound fine.” “You know if that boy hurts you I’ll have to kill him right?” “Have fun killing yourself then.” You laugh a little freezing when you realize what you’ve said.  You and Kurtz stare at each other for a moment before you feel his hands shoving the shirt up and off. He pulls you flush against him kissing you. “Kurtz-“ He pauses scooting backwards eyes wide. “I’m so sorry Y/N. I didn’t-“ You bite you lip sighing. “That; uh wasn’t me telling you to stop.” You face is bright pink when Kurtz moves back against you.

“You’re mine.” He hisses into your ear and you nod. He runs his teeth against your throat; tilting his mouth to the side as he bites down. He twists; moving under the covers so he’s above you, tongue running between your breasts and over your nipples, before he presses his lips back to yours. “Mine.” He groans when your hand palms at the tenting in his boxers. He pins your hands up behind your head hesitating waiting for you to say no, you nod slightly and he keeps his hand locked around your wrists as the other rubs over your underwear. “You know you’re mine right? Not Malachai’s; not the Ghouls; not Penny’s. You’re mine. Only mine.” He mumbles between kisses as his head moves downward, biting against your exposed skin. You nod as the hand rubbing over your underwear pulls them off before continuing.

“You’ll be good for me right Y/N?” You stare wide-eyed as he moves his hand away from gripping yours above your head. You watch him as he takes his boxers off; they join your underwear somewhere on the floor. He doesn’t move his hand back and you flex your fingers, before you move your arms out pulling him back towards you so you can kiss him more. “K-Kurtz-“you whine trying to roll your hips upwards, his hand moves from between your legs to press against your hip pinning you to the bed once more. “That’s not my name is it?” He hums, thumb rubbing over you clit. You moan nodding in response. “Can you tell me my name? I’ll keep doing this if you’re good and call me by my actual name.” “Conrad.” You whimper and he stops. Pulling away to sit up slightly, you frown. “Hmm I dunno if I like that. Give me a sec.” He smirks and you don’t respond, just whining. “Aww what’s wrong babe?”

“You’re a dick!” You pout and he returns to his position over you, arm snaking under you as he pulls you up; he sits on the bed as he pulls you against his chest kissing you as his other hand nudges your legs apart so you straddle him. “I have one.” He hums as he drags your core against it. “Can’t you tell?” You nod, grinding yourself over his dick. He kisses you once more, teeth snapping on your lip as you open your mouth to him. “Do you want me to fuck you?” You nod, one of his hands snaking into your hair to tug it slightly, you pull back and he smirks.

“You need help or-“ You cut him off, slowly pushing yourself onto his dick, smiling at how his eyes widen. You watch him blink for a moment, both of you adjusting, before you roll your hips slightly. You can feel his hands on your hips, they’re shaking slightly and you automatically look for the Jangle eye’s you’ve come to associate it with; surprised when his eyes are almost completely black. “You okay?” You mumble, head drifting to his ear and down his neck as you give him a matching bruise to the ones you’re sure you have. He hums nudging your chin up with his finger kissing you as the hand that’s still on your hip moves you slightly so he can move from under you. You moan into the kiss and you move to match his movement humming contently as he starts to move faster managing to keep pace.

“F-Fuck Kurtz.” “That is what we’re doing.” He pants slightly, his mouth moving against yours as he snaps his hips faster, gaining speed. You moan, shaking slightly unable to form any sort of sentence, you can feel his fingers rubbing off your clit as he pounds into you. “You’ll be good and finish with me right?” You nod as he smirks pulling out, you’re about to ask what’s wrong but instead he kisses you. You gasp as he flips you, leaning down as you squirm, now under him, he kisses you once more as he re-enters you keeping the pace he’d set before he’d flipped your positions. You whimper, watching him as he moves inside you. “Kurtz.” You moan and he smirks moving his fingers away from your clit for a moment. “Please touch me, please Kurtz.” “You have to finish with me remember. Don’t you want to be good? Don’t you want to be mine?” He hums into your ear as he rolls his hips against yours. You nod moaning again as he continues to thrust in and out of you. You’re shaking slightly, his fingers pulsing against your clit.

“It’s okay Y/n, it’s okay; let go, it’s okay.” He mumbles kissing against your neck as you can feel the rhythm he’s created dissolving as he draws closer to finishing. You can feel the coil of heat that had been building since you first kissed is finally snapping. You cry out, gasping slightly as Kurtz bites onto the side of your neck when he finishes. You can feel yourself orgasming around him and you whimper as the sparks dancing behind your eyes settle. Kurtz lays next you, you turn to face him and he offers a lazy smile kissing you slowly. You wrap your arms around him curling into his chest. “Was it okay?” He asks mostly into the top of your head and you nod, pulling back. “Why are you crying? Did I hurt you?” He sounds panicked suddenly and you shake your head. “No just;” You shrug keeping your arms around him; you cough awkwardly trying to stop crying. You swallow offering shaky sigh.

“I love you.” You barely breathe it, the way Kurtz tenses you know he’s heard. “I’d let you kill me if you asked.” He smiles softly and you accept this is the closest you’re going to get to him saying I love you back for the moment. “I know, I don’t want to.” “Even though I’m not going anywhere in life and just gonna end up dead in a ditch and-“ “Kurtz, don’t worry about that right now, can we just enjoy this.” You nuzzle his chest slightly and he smiles nodding, pulling the blanket over both of you. You’re drifting off, almost asleep in his arms when he gasps nudging you back to being awake. “What’s wrong?” ‘We weren’t safe.” He hisses at you and you shake your head.

“You weren’t safe, I’m on the pill.” “Oh, um sorry for waking you.” He looks sheepish and you smile. “Not that bad if I get to see you.” His face pinks slightly and you shift up to kiss him before returning to cuddle him as you fall asleep. ——————————————————————————-

With Malachai gone again you’re able to visit Kurtz whenever you want. Not that his ban had stopped you before; but now you didn’t jump anytime you saw someone in black turn to look at you. You let yourself into Kurtz’s house. His mom’s car not back; she’ll probably be back soon, she’s usually home by now; traffic must be bad you reason. You can’t hear the water running and there’s the faint sound of the TV so you make your way towards the living room. Pausing when you hear a soft thumping sound, like someone running. You hate the panic that grips your chest but you turn, automatically heading for the kitchen instead. You’re surprised you don’t scream, scrambling towards him on the ground.

“Kurtz, Kurtz can you hear me? Of course you can’t; okay hold on. This is going to hurt me way more than you.” You nudge him slightly, he’s convulsing in short bursts all of his muscles trying to fold over themselves. You wait until they seem to shift under the skin seeking relaxation but his brain refusing to send the signals, you twist him to his side, fingers tugging and pulling at his eyelids to try to see his pupils, no luck, simply the bloodshot whites glare back at you. You already have a timer going, if it gets above a minute you’ll call the hospital you assure yourself. You sit in front of him as his body seems to spasm endlessly; it’s been fifteen second when he stops. You wait, carefully positioning a dishrag under his face; he vomits moments later and you cringe at the mixture of frothy bile and jangle. You keep a faint pressure on his shoulder so he doesn’t move as you switch the dishrag for a clean one, grabbing a towel from under the sink to cover him as he trembles. “Y/N?”

“Shhh, just sleep, just sleep.” He doesn’t nod just stares blankly at his eye level not even bothering to try to lift his head. He falls asleep in seconds his face almost the most relaxed you’ve seen. You slowly move around the kitchen, throwing the vomit-covered rag away and grabbing spare pillows and actual blankets to put on the couch. “Kurtz, hey babe, you threw up, do you remember?” You ask softly as he wakes whimpering. “No, just feel floating.” He mumbles and you nod carefully supporting him under his arms as you half drag him towards the couch. You assure him all that happened was that he vomited, and curl next to him despite his protests of you getting sick from him.

His mother comes home within the hour, scolding Kurtz for not calling her; you apologize saying you’d made him sleep as much off as he could, nudging her into the kitchen to talk away from him. “What actually happened Y/N?” “He had a seizure. I don’t know how long it lasted, at least thirty seconds, but he was unconscious and-“ “Sweetheart.” She speaks; you didn’t realize you were panicking or how short your breaths were until she places a hand on your shoulder and has you take a deep breath with her. You try your best not to cry, and to stop yourself from trembling but you can feel Sarah step to the side slightly, a heavier, clumsier hand taking her place. Kurtz evidently heard some of the conversation and as he pulls you into a hug you can tell he’s trying to say something, slurring slightly as his muscles are over relaxed. You wait for a moment, as he seems to prepare himself for what he wants to say.

“I love you.” He doesn’t smile just presses his face into your hair. “I love you too.” You respond automatically and you can feel the smile on your head, he laughs a little before you realize he’s actually crying, Sarah’s retreated up to her room as far as you can tell so you walk back towards the couch. “Ghouls said you left, said you left cause you hated me.” “So you tried to OD on jangle?” “Didn’t mean it, just wanted to forget for a bit.” “Why would I hate you?” “Lance said it was cause I forced you to join the Ghouls, and made you get with me and kept you from your friends; that I was gonna end up hurtin’ you.” “Kurtz you could never hurt me.” “Just did.” He rubs his thumb over your cheek. “You were screamin’ and crying cause of me.” “Because I thought you were going to die.” He cringes as you scowl. ———————————————————————————-

You manage to find a couple of the ghouls sitting outside at lunch, they don’t run from you but you can tell the way fear bubbles under their skin as you sit next to them. “You can’t. Ghouls don’t exist anymore.” They hiss and shove you away. “Don’t touch her!” One of them looks fearfully over and you catch the black leather of the serpents, of course you notice the studded jacket right after, logo-less but unmistakable. You turn about to stand when one of the ghouls pins you down hand over your mouth. “If he comes over here-“ He starts. “Hey!” You can hear someone shout but you slam your head as hard as you can into the ghouls throat hissing as you stomp on his hand shoving him off you as he howls.

“Fucking christ.” You turn, one of the serpents standing a few more running up. You don’t get much of a chance to see anything else before Kurtz is pulling you into his arms. “Kurtz I’m fine; I’m fine I just got shoved to the ground, I’ve gotten worse on jobs.” You assure him muffled into his shirt. “What happened? Which one of you did that.” Jughead asks. “Well obviously the one in pain.” Kurtz nods hauling up who you recognise as James. “You’re a snake now, what we do with other Ghoul’s isn’t your business.” He laughs and Kurtz cuts it off hitting him square in the jaw. “What you do with my girl sure as hell is.” The rest of them pull James away and you turn to Kurtz. “You’re a Serpent now?”

“Sort of; Ghouls disbanded while you were up with your aunt. She didn’t tell you?” “Do you really think I would’ve stayed up with her if I knew that?” Kurtz nods. “So you into G&G then?” “Into what?” You turn to Jughead and Kurtz’s hand on your shoulder makes you hesitate. “What’s up with-“ “It’s called Gryphon’s and Gargoyles, it’s a roleplaying game, you get to pretend to be fantasy characters and-“ “Oh that sounds fun! Can I-“ “If you so much as sit in on a game I’ll take so much G that my blood will turn to powder. You stay the hell away from it.” Kurtz hisses into your ear, you know no one else heard him. “So you joining Kurtz’s game, with him being the Game Master and all.” “Game Master?”

“He basically tells all the quests.” “Oh wow sounds important.” You smile as Kurtz pulls you away from the Serpents. “Game Master?” “Listen, please just; I have to keep you safe. This was the best way.” “So joining another gang under my nose while I can’t contact you is the best way to do it?” “It’s-“ You turn from him to smile at Jughead.

“I want to join the Serpents. How do I do that?” Jughead exchanges a look with Kurtz and you stomp on Kurtz foot, he cringes you step forward closer to Jughead. “I keep him in line, if you  let me join.” You hiss to him and step back smiling. ————————————————————————————-

The Serpent trials are almost painfully easy, memorization and knife grabbing is nothing compared to looking after a high Kurtz, and the dance is mostly hand movements and skimpy clothes. FP asks about your tattoo placement and you point to your side. “How good are you at cover-ups?”

“Your ghoul mark? I’ve always been curious how Malachai chose to mark his Ghouls. Guessing it’s a skull right?” You laugh shaking your head and he smirks.You’re not surprised when the other Serpents and Kurtz seem to hover as you get your tattoo. Kurtz seems annoyed you’re going to try to cover up your ghoul mark, and everyone else just wants to see it. When you tug off your shirt you can hear a few of them gasp, the scar carved into your side, notching over your ribs and sliding into your back is almost an indent; as if something had been removed. “Fucking hell. He does this to kids?” FP glares and you hear the door shut knowing Kurtz has left; his scar is worse.

“How did he decide this? There’s no way I can cover that I’m sorry you’ll have to pick a different spot.” FP shakes his head. “The closer to Malachai the more pain you have to take. The worse your scar; it’s how it is. Okay, my hip then.” The Serpent leave after that and Kurtz slinks back in, silently holding your hand.

—————————————————————————–

You’d been shunned in the Serpents, most of them not trusting you; a fact which you weren’t bothering to change. It gave you a much easier way to look after Kurtz and Jughead never bothered you unless he needed your help wrangling Kurtz to class. “Y/N.” He looks nervous and you nod for him to speak. “Kurtz is gone.” “Gone as in off his rocks on G or?” “Gone, as in he ran off.” You scowl nodding. “He’s probably out in the forest with the Gargoyles, I’ll go check on him. “No, he told me-“ You snarl shoving jughead against the wall.

“If he talked to you then what you need me for?” He frowns shoving you back. “He told me not to involve you, that I was supposed to keep you safe, that the Gargoyle King and him had a deal; he said you’d understand?” “Son of a bitch.” Jughead arches an eyebrow. “So you do know what that means, care to let me know?” You nod sighing and sitting nervously in front of the rest of the Serpents. “When we worked for Malachai, Kurtz made a deal with him, he’d do whatever he asked as long as I was kept out of the messy stuff. I’m guessing he made the same deal with the Gargoyle King, so I’m sure I’ll have to rescue him from whatever he- what?” You trail off as the serpents look away from you. “You know what happens in the game right?” “No Kurtz didn’t tell me anything.” “When you level up, after a certain amount of time, you ascend.”

“Oh so you get extra powers and-“ “In real life, you can ascend too.” “That sounds vaguely cultish.” “It is.” “So what he ascends and joins the gargoyles for good?” Jughead doesn’t meet your eyes. “Jones, what happens.”

“You die.” “Kurtz wouldn’t do that.” You try to reassure yourself. Jughead looks unconvinced but nods. —————————————————————————-

You’d heard about Jellybean’s kidnapping, about Ricky bringing her to somewhere in the forest. You knew because Kurtz had whispered it to you when he thought you were asleep, mumbling the Gargoyle King’s plans and the new game he was playing, how Kurtz fit into it. You pretended to be asleep still knowing he wouldn’t say anything otherwise. He tells you how he has to lead the Jones family through a quest then he’d finally be able to ascend, he pulls you against his chest cuddling you. You can feel him shaking. “I have to ascend he said you’d be safe if I did, he said.” He mumbles kissing your hair and tightening his grip on you, you pretend to wake. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing love, nothing, just got back to sleep; I’m gonna be gone for a little while,I have a big job coming up.” He kisses you moving the pillow back under your head as he faces you in bed. —————————————————————————————-

You’re sitting watching the gargoyles moving around in the shadows. You’re watching the way your aunt hesitates, the eyepatch you’d given her gleams and you wait wondering if you’ll have to bury her as well. You can see the Gargoyle King moving through the shadows as well, you nod to him and he moves forward, hand running through your hair. “Not you, you’re the snake’s one.” He hums muffled under the skull he wears. “What about a trade?” You can hear the crackling of bone as he turns, tilting his head. “Trade?” “Me, for Kurtz, you can do whatever you like to me, just leave him alone.” You hear more cracking and an almost chittering laugh before a breathy hiss fills your ears. “I don’t make trades.” You swallow, hearing your Aunt scream; morbidly you wonder if you’ll have enough to cover both their funerals

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[thedarksideofriverdale]

Things I want out: I think that the backstory for Y/N can be cut out just because I feel it could be better to just give a mini explanation, not a full on backstory of how she got her powers, ya know what I mean? Secondly, I think that I think the same can kinda go far the whole way of how Kurtz and Y/N first met, there can be a mini explanation maybe a mini flashback but that's about it because I don't know how long of a oneshot you'll make and all that. -anon from Kurtz jessica jones au rquest

Hey there! Finally got around to writing this. For context, anon and I have been dming back and forth for awhile about a really cool crossover idea with a Jessica Jones type character and Kurtz. Unfortunately, I can’t budget my time to write a whole story about it, but I will try my best with the oneshot.

People always look for a place of comfort, escape if one chooses to call it. Usually, they are places of worship or relaxation. Unfortunately, you were not known for the ‘usual.’ No, your escape on a Monday night was the White Worm. It was practically empty, not atypical for a weekday. But, the lights were bright, and the music was loud. Which was... good enough for you.

“Tequila sunrise,” you ordered, sitting on the slippery bar stool. The bartender grunted and turned around to make the cocktail. You took this time to observe him. Nice ass. The man chuckled, and you realized you had said that out loud. But, you were too jaded to be embarrassed by these things at your age.

“Thank you,” the man responded, handing you a cocktail. You took a sip, not moving your eyes away from his. He smirked and went to clean the workspace. “You come here often; I’ve seen you.”

“And?”

“Seems like you have a lot of baggage, considering you leave this place drunk every night with tears.”

“Great observation skills. Want a prize?”

“No, but if you want to vent, I’m all ears.”

“I will have plenty to vent about after...” You checked your watch. “three drinks,” you said with a smirk. After the first, you ordered two Vodka Lemons, and the low buzz became much greater.

“Want to talk now?” asked the bartender, leaning closer to you.

Slightly inebriated, you furrowed your brows and slammed your fist against the counter, cracking it. “No,” you replied. The bartender looked skeptically at the crack on the polished wood. You followed his eyes and sighed deeply. “Shit.”

“Wow,” the bartender quipped. “Didn’t realize there was another freak like me.”

You looked at him in shock. “Excuse me?” you asked, motioning him to elaborate.

“Super strength. You work for S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

You let out a great belly laugh. “Luckily, no. You heard of the Jones Agency?”

“Heard of? Of course. I fucking work in the neighborhood, don’t I?”

You raised your brows, finishing off your drink. “Then, why aren’t you working for them?”

Before he could respond, a commotion erupted behind you. The other inhabitants of the bar were smashing drinks, yelling loudly. It looked like it was over a game of billiards, which amused you. But, your conversation partner was getting angrier by the second, so you, being the occasional good samaritan, stumbled away from the bar and towards the fight.

“Now, gentlemen,” you started. “Don’t you think we could work this out a little bit calmer?” The men glared at you, menacing to a normal person. But, you weren’t normal, were you?

“Fuck off, little lady. This doesn’t concern you,” one of them stated.

“I’m not leaving until this fight is broken up.”

“Why you little shit-” another said, lunging towards you. You dodged the blow, grabbing the man’s hand, making his arm quiver. He looked at you in shock and then, you twisted his arm around and pushed it hard against the others, knocking them down.

“Are we done now?” you asked, looking down at them. They stared at you for a moment before scrambling out of the bar. You turned around and looked at the bartender, who had a vacant expression. “If you have powers like me, why didn’t you stop the fight?”

“You had it covered.”

XXXX

“Back again, so soon?” the bartender asked, looking at you while wiping down the counters.

You were in no mood to joke, however. He was back, the dark twist figure of your past. You held the manila folder from work in your hand, setting it down on the counter and grabbing a beer from the bartender. “When you discovered your powers, did you hear of a man named Edgar Evernever?” you asked.

“I knew his kid. Went to Southside High with me, until I dropped out. What does he have to do us being freaks of nature?”

“He had a cult where he’d recruit people like us, using his powers of persuasion and... mind control. He was gone for a long time until now.”

“How’d you get roped in it?”

“The Coopers. When I was younger and out of the ‘experiments,’“ you paused. The bartender nodded. “they adopted me. Problem was was that, their eldest daughter Polly got into the cult because her two children were born with powers. She told Edgar Evernever about my powers, and he kidnapped me. I stayed with the cult for years until finally breaking out of his hold. By that time, I realized he was harvesting our blood. For transfusions... making normal people like us.”

“That’s... heavy.”

You rolled your eyes. “No shit.”

“Do you need help?” You squinted your eyes at him, puzzled. “He’s targeting people like me. And, I prefer not getting attacked. Things to see, places to go, games to play.”

You smirked and nodded. “Fine, you can help, bartender guy.”

“Kurtz.”

“What?”

“My name’s Kurtz.”

XXXX

Months of following dead ends was getting on your nerves. Kurtz was helping loads, but all of the paths were dead ends. The closer you got to finding Edgar, the faster he slipped away. More and more teenagers were getting recruited, and FP was getting bombarded by messages from S.H.I.E.L.D., threatening to shut down the agency. He, in turn, increased the pressure on you. Which meant a lot more nights getting absolutely shit-faced.

“Alright, I’m closing your tab,” Kurtz announced near your slouched body.

You raised your head a fraction and exclaimed, “No! I want- no, I need more.”

“You’re absolutely sloshed. Get up, I’m shutting the bar down for tonight.” He came around the bar, helping you down from the stool. The two of you walked outside as you gave him the directions to your flat. It was near the old Ghoulie territory and stumbling around in the dark was never preferable. But, with Kurtz, it didn’t feel as bad. He took you up the stairs into your apartment and plopped you onto your bed. After he slipped off your shoes, you went under the covers. Kurtz stayed awhile, making sure you didn’t end up vomiting. But, you sensed something more that night. A sense of longing from him as you dozed off.

The next morning, your phone ringing woke up. Hitting the green icon, you slipped the phone between the pillow and your ear. “Hello?” you gruffly greeted.

“Evernever’s been spotted near the rail tracks. We’ve followed his tracks to the middle of the woods,” FP said from the other end.

You sprang up out of bed and slipped on your shoes. “I’m coming ASAP.” Running back to the bar, you slipped into your car and began to back out of the parking lot just as Kurtz came rushing outside. You rolled down the windows and shouted, “It’s Evernever! There’s been a sighting near the tracks.”

Kurtz rushed over to the passenger side and slipped into the car. When you arrived near the other cars of the agency’s operatives, FP was standing outside, hands on his hips with a pensive expression. Once he saw your car, his eyes widened. “Y/N, get in there now! He’s got a whole army of mutants, and four operatives have already gone down,” he barked. You nodded and ran into the woods with Kurtz. After passing trees for about five minutes, they came across a clearing with a small shack in the middle. Two bodies were outside of it, so you guess that this was the place. You turned around to face Kurtz and grabbed his arms. “Anything goes rough, you gotta leave. This is my job; not yours. No one made you sign a contract to give your life for a cause, you got it?” you commanded. Kurtz nodded slowly, and the two of you made your way inside quietly. There was a single lamp inside the sitting room when you entered. No one was there except for another body. You stepped over it to go into the dark hallway. “He likes mind control, so block your mind,” you whispered.

“And how exactly do I do that?” Kurtz asked impatiently.

“Once he starts probing, you’ll know. Just block the sensation of another person in your mind.” Just then, what sounded like a person clapping came from the end of the hallway. You take out your flashlight and shine it at the source. And… there he was. The man who destroyed your life. The man you wanted to destroy.

“Brilliant advice, Y/N. I have to say, you’ve grown up to be so beautiful and intelligent. Part of it is my doing, of course,” Edgar Evernever cockily proclaimed. You started snarling to which he let out a deep chuckle. “Unfortunately, manners seem to be beyond your scope of understanding. Pity, really.” To that, you charged towards him, but he side stepped you. Kurtz saw that and went after him. Managed to land a punch before Edgar pushed him back with greater strength. Kurtz landed on his back and was held there by Edgar, who had his body snug against his. You knew what was going to happen, but you were too winded from crashing into the wall harshly. Coming out of the broken plaster, you huffed as you saw Kurtz’s eyes gloss over. Edgar had entered his mind, and Kurtz didn’t know how to stop it. Then, the man got off Kurtz, and Kurtz stood up mechanically. “Now, one problem taken care of,” Edgar said, wiping his hands on his jeans.

“And the last,” you sneered. You stared at the left wall of the hallway before smashing it with your hands. The shack’s foundation stilt was there, so you punched threw the wall before hitting the foundation harshly. You heard a shout of “No!” from Edgar before the house begin sputtering and collapsing in a span of a few seconds. The roof plaster landed on your head, but barely made you flinch. You heard some screaming from the cult, some managing to escape to the clearing. Edgar lay in the rubble, seemingly unconscious.

Kurtz’s forehead was split open but was healing as you walked over to Edgar and began to punch him continuously. The man became conscious quickly and overpowered you by touching your forehead with his hand, the contact bringing instantaneous pain to your head. You clutched your head as Edgar began kicking you in the stomach, and you looked to Kurtz for help, but he was still trapped. “Fight back!” you yelled, but it seemed fruitless as you lay on the ground, getting pummeled by the cult master. Edgar then took a giant piece of plaster and crashed it against your head, not knocking you unconscious but enough to make your vision hazy.

From your limited vision, you could see Edgar beginning to drag Kurtz out of the shack, but Kurtz didn’t budge. Edgar was just as confused as you were to see the unmoving boy, but it became clear to you quickly; Kurtz broke the control. Kurtz’s left hand was behind his back, his right getting tugged harshly by Edgar. “Move it, minion! What do you think –“ Edgar was cut off as his throat was slit instantaneously by Kurtz. Edgar held onto his throat, waiting for it to heal, but Kurtz just cut it again. And again. And again. The copious amounts of blood loss made Edgar drop to the floor, and he stopped healing.

Once the audible protests had stopped, you slowly got up out of the rubble, eyes squinting at the body. You kicked it hard, but no movement. Kurtz then got down on his knees and put fingers against the body’s neck. “No pulse,” he announced, and you let out a sigh of relief. Kurtz got up from the floor and went to you. You looked up at him, and he smirked. “Happy?”

“More like euphoric,” you whispered, standing up on your toes to give him a chaste kiss. “Thanks.” The two of you exited the ruin shack to see FP and the rest of the agency rounding up the mutants with guns. Finally, the backup from S.H.I.E.L.D. had arrived. FP stopped directing for a moment to look at you, and you gave him a thumbs up. The older man smiled back and then, looked at Kurtz. “Hey kid, you want a job?”

[staliasjeronica]

Riverdale 3.18 Thoughts *Spoilers*

First of all, I have not seen Riverdale in like a million years because it has just gotten so crazy and stupid and I’m sick of Bughead and Hiram for some reason going after his daughter for one stupid thing and it’s just repetitive and boring. Like, I have watched SO many greater shows since I just stopped caring to watch, but I heard that Bughead will break up and Jeronica might become actual friends, and that Hiram is arrested, and shit like that, plus the first episode of the fourth season is a tribute to Luke so I feel obligated to catch up before then to watch it. Either way I hate not finishing a season, especially after watching it for two whole seasons now, so… enjoy my technically not-spoilers since it’s been out for awhile thoughts on this episode of Riverdale! P.S. Bare with me if I have forgotten anything since it’s been awhile.

- AWW NO I REMEMBER THIS THOUGH, POOR BABY TEETH :( He was such an adorable little shit he didn’t deserve this.

- Oh yeah FP is the Sheriff… and Jughead is at a crime scene even though he should not be allowed there (Even if the gang is like… sheriff’s in training or whatever the fuck) Still not sure how I feel about FP, and I can’t wait for my rightful queen Toni to rip the serpents from Jughead’s cold dead hands (even though he’s obviously not dead)

- God damn Betty and Edgar again… she still bothers me. Does she realize that looking up his name might not get her anywhere because he’s not famous and therefore won’t have anything on him? I mean yeah maybe small town shit but like she’s acting like twenty million pages of him and his cult should be on the web.

- He walked in the desert to die? Psh alright… sounds stupid as fuck. He acts like farming opened his eyes to how beautiful life is like… chill bruh it’s not that amazing. I mean, it is, but he’s making it out to be like this BIG BIG thing when it’s not… burying and watering seeds doesn’t make you feel reborn.

- Betty had a point about it not telling her about how her mom can see Charles (even though I know he’s alive lolol we all knew)

- Oh yeah Archie got that one place from Hiram… but that dumb bitch asking how they can honor Baby Teeth as if he doesn’t know that you could simply just… stay silent for a few minutes to mourn, or shit like that. But my boy Mad Dog can also dedicate his next match to him too lol

- Fucking Elio NOBODY LIKES HIM OR THE STORYLINES HE BRINGS. LIKE HIRAM.

- My baby Veronica!!! Love my queen. CHERYL!!!!!!!!!!!! MY OTHER QUEEN. FANGS MY WHITE COVERED BABY!!!! Poor Toni watching her gf be hypnotized by a fucking cult

- Oh good a horrible plan from Jughead that will probably induce Betty to do something stupid and awful and then pretend like she can do it because she’s Betty Cooper… can’t wait…

- Like, they could have tried it out with Fangs/Kevin because they KNOW that Midge is dead.

- YES TONI GO AFTER BETTY FOR USING HER COUSIN. YOU FUCKING GO BABY

- Betty still has that video lol wow what a conniving bitch of a cousin she is. She said she deleted it, and they’re trying to make it out to be a good thing that she lied about a video…

- Veronica my queen,,, I hate that they tie her to Elio’s annoying bitch ass.

- That body does not fucking look like Baby Teeth,,, anyways

- I mean a human could do that lol you just mean that they don’t have a care for anyone. If this weren’t human, they would be like burned from the inside or some insane shit like that… stop being dramatic doc

- What kind of crack… HE TAKES TWO SWINGS AT FP AND THEN STOPS SO FP CAN FUCKING HIT HIM LOLOLOL WOW

- Alice! I miss the old her, before the writers decided to try and destroy her. But lmao this news broadcast tho

- Still can’t believe that they made out Betty and her father’s budding relationship a good thing. The fucking… WHAT? Why? How? Literally stop. Thank GOD Hiram or Penelope ends up murdering his ass…

- FP, THE SHERIFF, SHOULD NOT BE TALKING ABOUT THIS CRAZY SHIT TO HIS FIFTEEN YEAR OLD SON

- GOD I mean I get it, Cheryl needs to be brought back but that would be too convenient wouldn’t it… I’m sorry it’s fabricated??? Omfg “have you ever hugged Jason?” CHERYL’S PAUSE. SHE GOT TO HER FOR A SECOND GUHFADSBFKSFHAKSJ

- If this didn’t work with Cheryl, this won’t work with Alice. But Betty doesn’t communicate with people so she wouldn’t know. Also, there’s no date on it so like… she’s bad at making Charles’ gravestone look real. Like, I already know that she’s undercover with the FBI with Charles bc yeah but like… why wouldn’t they just loop Betty in? She could finally back off and stop getting into people’s business.

- AH THERE’S THE STUPID BETTY COOPER ACTION THAT IS NEVER NECESSARY TO ANYTHING!!! Fucking Betty, you chloroform your fucking mom???

- Archie basically calling himself Jughead… ew… Jughead could never

- I know it’s going to happen but I don’t want Varchie to get back together.

- SHE EVEN FUCKING CUFFED HER TO THE BED OH MY FUCKING GOD send Betty to an actual psychiatric hospital far away, not only because then she won’t be in the fucked up town of Riverdale and actually get help, but because then the show could actually give other actors more screen time

- This literally seems like an evil villain showing the hero their backstory… also Alice gotta point she got the news job because of the farm. Betty we know you never think things through, just stop you’re soo fucking bad. Why does her crying for Betty’s 8th grade graduation mean that she’s not who she is now? That has NOTHING to do with her at the farm??????????? Why does she say “that was the past” like it changes nothing why you acting like it does?

- Betty all of your points really are so traumatic for Alice. Like, yeah I get it you and Polly were raised there but she married a fucking murderer and yet this is all about you. I mean, it makes sense but they make Betty push it so hard that I root against her.

- If I were Alice, I’d be so fucking horrified of my daughter. Like, she has done so much shit to her, and yeah Alice has done bad things too but at least she’s being brainwashed (? bc she’s undercover and not able to get out of her cover?) Betty should not be so okay with fucking chloroforming her own mother.

- Betty really acting like this is all on her huh…. I mean literally bring other people into the plot it’s not that hard to actually make it interesting and share the screen time

- Ummmm alright. Also why would you let her take “G” or whatever the fuck??? ALSO JUGHEAD WHY THE FLYING FUCK DON’T YOU TELL YOUR DAD THAT IT’S YOUR FUCKING MOM???

- Evelyn get the FUCK away from Toni. THE ICONIC LINE “Bitch, I love her.” fsjdkhfhaskjfdhsf

- MAD DOG!!! Of course Randy is taking drugs. I mean, that’s cheating so just tell the news and get him disqualified and you win… easy. My boy is NOT taking drugs.

- JELLYBEAN!!!! AND RICKY!!!! I mean yeah they’re both little shits but uhhh that’s kinda sweet

- Lmao how did she start burning those pictures tho… I mean good for her but like… how?

- Betty… threatening to kill someone is NOT a good thing. Get some fucking help. Like, she’s not even scary. Does no one remember how sweet she used to be? I’d be so fucking concerned for her.

- Ew, kombucha? Cheryl, the farm doesn’t need you for brewing kombucha lolol

- FANGS!!!!!!!!!!! But isn’t he a part of the farm when did he get messed up into this boxing shit tho? DID HE EVEN KNOW BABY TEETH? I mean, yes baby get  screen time, but???

- Edgar saying that Betty is a good person… sksksksks since when? And of course she’s afraid of her daughter, she literally doesn’t care about anyone but herself or Jughead and that is not good. I mean poor Betty for having to hear that but Alice isn’t wrong.

- Did… Did Betty not listen to those tapes at all? I know Edgar is a cult leader and therefore he tricks people into doing and saying what he wants but he never said SHIT to turn Alice against Betty. Betty’s doing that all by herself. He literally said that Betty loved her… he’s right you have given her so many reasons to fear you.

- Betty knows that a therapist is to help people? Then why the FUCK doesn’t she get an actual therapist? She desperately needs it.

- Edgar is actually pretty good with words tbh… but then again he kinda has to in order to be a cult leader

- So no one at the Farm is going to get her arrested for kidnapping? FP would have to arrest her lol but alright

- Varchie FRIENDSHIP is cute but I don’t want them to get back together ugh I know it happens but NOOOOOOOO why does the CW always ruin everything good?

- LUKE!!! 😭😭😭😭😭

- Evelyn really trying to make herself the most hated character by breaking up the best couple lol but I’m so disgusted bc I know that Toni ends up actually wanting to be in the farm… if I remember correctly…

- I mean you’re not a MONSTER, Betty, but you’re an awful person.

- I don’t like Kurtz but I really like the actor for him.

- PLEASE TELL ME MY BOY DIDN’T TAKE DRUGS. AWWW JOSIEEEEEEEE I miss her so much she and Archie deserved better.

- When Betty actually does the right thing (having a change of heart for the good) ssksks I’m not used to Betty actually using her brain. It makes it worse that it’s only because of a cult leader but uhhhh

- THE REF SHOULD BE ABLE TO CALL THE DISQUALIFICATION??? That’s so cheating and that is so fucked…

- Also I love that Archie still has the fake serpent tattoo.

- LMAO FUCK YOU ELIO, EVEN DRUGS CAN’T GET YOUR PEOPLE TO WIN. oh… of course he’s gonna fucking die.

- Ugh I forgot that The Gargoyle King was a thing. It’s just so fucking stupid…

- Poor JB,,, anyways go to your dad to help

[orangenfrottee]

Sweet Water River (WIP, 1/2?)

Sometimes, fire wasn’t the best solution. But it was the first anyone in Riverdale thought of. Things were already pretty out of control when everything started happening at once.

This picks up where chapter fourty-five left us and was meant as a short one-shot. It’s currently at 4000 words and could grow depending on feedback. It still needs some edit work.

Characters: Meant to be full cast. More or less in order of total screen time so far: Betty, Toni, Ethel, Fred, Cheryl, Pretty Poisons, narrator!Jughead, Archie, Veronica, Jellybean, Kevin, Evelyn, Sweat Pea, Fangs, Pop, Ricky, Reggie, Hotdog, Penny, Penelope, Juniper, Edgar, Jughead, FP, Nana Rose, Polly, Hal, Dagwood, Vegas

Relationships: Mostly gen with current canon pairings: Cheryl/Toni,  Archie/Veronica, Kevin/Fangs, Reggie/Veronica, Betty/Jughead, past Archie/Josie (mentioned), Edgar/Everyone (somewhat mentioned)

Tags: crack treated seriously, the farm, arson, fire, Serpent Laws

Warnings: canon typical insanity, canon typical self-harm, canon typical drug use, fire, religiously motivated plural marriages, original names for so far unnamed members of the Pretty Poisons, tiny bit of made-up backstory for Toni

Sweet Water River

An alternative chapter fourty-six.

Our story about the small town Riverdale, known as the Town with Pep, took another weird turn. Turns out sometimes just one time too many can have enormous consequences. This time it was as if a single domino stone was tipped that wasn’t meant to and suddenly the whole town fell.

It seems like all of us had this unhealthy fascination with flames. Again and again, it boiled up and over. Maybe the first time it showed its insane face was all the time back then, when we were still young and innocent kids. The weird boy lit a match and believed that was enough to burn his elementary school down to the ground. It wasn’t, but the police took his prints anyway, worrying about a possible arson career in his future. A couple years later, the Southside Serpents tried to set the Riverdale High ablaze in a petty act of revenge but were stopped just in time. These were the times we failed and no flames started licking wallpapers, wood or stone. But with time, we all learned.

The first to succeed was Cheryl Blossom. After she burned a book full of pain with her cousin Betty Cooper, she torched her childhood home Thornhill down to its foundation walls and rid our hometown of its horror house. Later, Betty tried to do the same to her childhood home but forgot to drench the building in gasoline before letting the candle fall. While the house survived, Betty learned. And the next time an occasion arouse, she recruited me, Jughead Jones, and together we set my childhood home aflame. We stayed after to watch the flames over a couple of Pop’s milkshakes.

So, you see, things were already quite out of control when everything started happening at once.

*

Archie Andrews couldn’t take his eyes off Veronica Lodge. With Josie McCoy gone and their relationship ended the way they did, there wasn’t really anything keeping him away from Veronica anymore. They were endgame, weren’t they? So, when they came way too close to kissing again, he crossed the last few inches. They kissed.

Reggie Mantle saw them.

*

Ricky DeSantos was angry. Kurtz stopped contacting him, again, and he was on his own, again. Ever since his older brother Joaquin had to leave Riverdale, he was left on his own. Again and again. As much as the Serpents kept repeating their rules, they never seemed to apply to him. Wasn’t a serpent’s family to be taken care of in the case of death or imprisonment? He never was taken care of. He always ended up alone.

That was why he gladly joined Kurtz’ plot to scare the young Jones girl and show her how fake the Serpents were. No one cared about their families. But that plan failed and he was left as alone as he was before. Hands in his coat pockets he walked further down the streets, wondering what to do now, when his hand made contact with a matchbook he took from the diner. The Serpents didn’t deserve a headquarter. But fire was pretty.

*

Kevin Keller wanted his family with him at the farm. He heard about Josie just taking off at a blink of an eye to tour the states with her father and decided, that if he wanted his father and Sierra with him, he had to act soon. He excused himself from dinner at the farm and went home. Finding the home deserted, he unlocked the front door and sat down in the living room and waited. Surely, they wouldn’t be too long.

*

Ever since joining the farm, Fangs Fogarty did everything with Kevin Keller. When Kevin excused himself from dinner, so did he. He missed his Southside Serpents just like Kevin missed his Dad and stepfamily. He went to visit their campsite and found Sweet Pea and Hotdog at the camp’s fireside. He was glad he got to see Hotdog again. He missed that dog.

Hotdog lifted his head, when he heard the well-known steps of Fangs and gave a happy bark. Sweet Pea looked up from the pan of beans he was heating over the fire and gave a small smile.

“Hey Fangs! Glad to see you back! Hand me another of those cans, I’ll make us some grub.”

Fangs smiled. He missed this. He grabbed a can of kidney beans and opened it on the way to the fire. Handing the can over, he patted his lap to get Hotdog to move to him, wanting to get pet.

“I missed you Sweet Pea. You should come and join us.”

*

At the same time, Betty Cooper hid behind some bushes in the snow and peered into a window of the old Sisters of Quiet Mercy and watched the farmies at their joint dinner of drugged goatmilk, savory muffins with their self-grown magic mushrooms and other weird concoctions.

She was waiting for an opening. She wanted one last shot at saving Juniper and ending this crazy cult for good.

*

Ever since she, Dilton and Ben had gotten so into Gryphons and Gargoyles, everything fell to ruins. Her best friends were dead, she was put on suicide watch, suffered seizures and was sent to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy where her delusions were fed instead of cured. Only saved by a friend, Ethel Muggs spent the last weeks trying to get her life back in order. It wasn’t easy. Her mother wasn’t happy she just fled the Sisters but obviously also didn’t want her daughter drugged. So, she went into helicopter mode. Ethel wasn’t allowed to do anything outside of school but come home straight after her last lesson. No clubs. No school musical. Still, most days she was just picked up right at the school gate. Twice a week she met with a psychologist.

She was healing, but somehow, she felt like something still held her back. Something she had to finally let go to become better. She had to take care of the bunker.

*

Edgar Evernever was a controlling puppeteer and while she did what she had to; Toni Topaz hated every minute of it.  She felt horrible at how she had to betray Betty’s trust after she plotted with her to get the poor Juniper out, but Edgar and his first wife Evelyn knew about it. They had her phone bugged and half the school were their spies. Someone had seen her walk into the bureau of the Blue and Gold and Edgar and Evelyn obviously were able to put one and one together. She hoped she could give Betty a sign, but she knew there were cameras in the corridors and just couldn’t do it. If she failed at proving her loyalty to Edgar, she’d had to leave and Cheryl would be all alone with them.

She felt sick watching Cheryl partake in the goatmilk and the other drugged foods, and she felt sick partaking in them herself. Sometimes she ringed for sanity. She kept seeing her dead mother in the flickering lights in the drowning chamber and repeatedly heard her dead father’s voice advising her to be careful. She clung to Cheryl and the truths she knew. The farm was a cult. Her parents were dead and so was Jason Blossom. She had to keep Cheryl safe. Edgar Evernever was a puppeteer, but she was no puppet.

*

Fred Andrews was at home, cooking dinner for himself and for Archie. Then the phone rang and Mary surprised him with a call. He was always happy to hear her voice. Listening to her chat, phone held between his ear and his shoulder, he finished cooking and split the food on two plates, making sure to give Archie an extra helping of proteins and greens, to ensure his son had a good sized and proper meal he just had to heat up when he came home later tonight after his boxing practice

Taking his plate in hand, he moved to the living room where he sat down on their couch, setting the plate in front of him. Mary was still going on about shenanigans in her law firm, that made him smile. Chewing a piece of cauliflower, he absently lit a couple candles, to give the room a warmer tint.

*

Reggie was livid. He did everything for Veronica. He drove over the Canadian border once a week to get illegal alcohol for her illegal speakeasy. He robbed her father’s illegal drug factory for her. He robbed his own father’s car dealership for her. He got his car taken for her, he got beat up for her, he got shot for her. What for? She held him at arm’s length, only letting him near, when she was lonely, constantly letting him know he was only a replacement, calling him Archie and brushing him off whenever she didn’t have need for him.

He was done with Veronica Lodge and her stupid speakeasy.

*

Jellybean Jones, angry, at her mother who just left town without giving her a good explanation and the rest of her family for always having so much to do and never spending time with her, did what Betty Cooper failed at. After emptying one of Hal’s left-behind canisters of gasoline between the stairs and the living room, she lit a match at the house entry, threw it behind her and left the building. Feeling the heat behind her, proof of her accomplishment, she stood at the road and wondered for a moment where to go now.

Behind her, the Cooper House burned.

*

Veronica Lodge smiled at Pop and thanked him for the takeout order he just finished for her. It was her rare night off and she would be spending it with her Archiekins.

*

Penelope Blossom hugged baby Jason Junior close to her. Riverdale only brought her pain and death. This time she would do it right. She set the baby into a car seat and grabbed her last bag. The two of them would leave the town tonight.

*

Ever since first Cheryl and soon Toni joined the farm, the Pretty Poisons were just abandoned like last week’s trash. But the Poisons weren’t letting them just get away with that. Grabbing bats and pipes, they sat on their bikes and rode towards the Blossom Estate, Peaches at the front. They would trash their stupid poolside that lured them in.

*

Penny Peabody left Riverdale the day of the fight between her and Gladys Jones. But she wasn’t done with the town, so she didn’t go far. Once her informants let her know Gladys was gone, she was back with a simple plan. She set the Riverdale High ablaze.

*

Polly Cooper put Juniper to bed, sure the special goatmilk she gave her before bedtime would ensure she slept through the night. After, she joined the other farmies for the trek into the woods, where they would light a huge bed full of coals and walk across it. It was always a special treat.

*

Chuck Clayton had everything, then Veronica Lodge stepped into his life. And boom, he was left with ruins. When he managed to build up the tiniest bit of a new life, chance happened. He got too close to his art teacher’s daughter, and now he was being kicked out of the program. He lost everything, again. And who’s fault was it? Veronica Lodge’s. He would make sure she lost everything, too. Grabbing some canisters full of gasoline from the back of his truck, he started setting the Penbrooke on fire.

*

Hal Cooper was dead. Killed off in a freak accident during a prisoners’ transport. But most of all Hal Cooper was angry that someone had the atrocity of trying to use him, the Black Hood, the serial killer of Riverdale, as a chess pawn. But he wouldn’t be one. He was better at this game then Hiram Lodge. He’d take the asshole out. But first he would set his biggest fault right. He should have never sold his baby, the Riverdale Register, to that horrible man. He’d rather see it burned to the ground. Tonight.

*

Angry at Rosemary, a girl working at the Maple Club, for overcharging him, the random dude emptied his reserve canister of gasoline from his car in the lobby of the Five Seasons and lit a match from a matchbook complementary to the services at the Maple Club.

*

Archie Andrews was at the boxing gym El Royale getting some training in while waiting for Veronica bringing take out from Pop’s, when one of his boxing members from the juvenile detention center came running in.

“The Gilded Gloves last week was a set up! And I have proof that Hiram Lodge was behind everything!”

He snapped. Hiram Lodge was guilty of pretty much everything. Angry at himself and the stupid gym, Archie trashed what he could and set the rest on fire.

*

Kevin has been waiting for way too long already.  He missed dinner, but he was unwilling to miss the farmies’ nighttime activity in the woods. It was his favorite, walking across burning coals. He acted on instinct and set the old wood structure of his childhood home aflame. If they couldn’t keep living in their house, they surely would come live with him at the old Sisters of Quiet Mercy, right?

*

Fangs didn’t understand. Why didn’t Sweet Pea want to join the farm? Was it their campsite that held him back? It was winter and way too cold to live outside. Fire would surely help them be reborn. He grabbed one of the bigger sticks they used for firewood and flicked the embers and burning wood pieces from the firepit out and towards some of the tents. They immediately caught on fire.

“What the fuck?! Fangs?!”

“You need to join us Sweet Pea, Serpents. There is nothing left here for you now. Come with me, to the farm. All of us. All our Hotdogs. Joaquin. Midge. They’re all there.”

Fists flew.

*

Having waited hours in the bushes for all the farmies to leave, Betty opened the badly closed window with a crowbar. Creeping through the long corridors, she made her way up to the same room Toni led her into. Juniper was fast asleep. Betty picked her up and held her close. This time she would succeed. Holding her firmly she walked the same way back, out of the window and back to the car she parked just out of sight. She placed Juniper securely into a baby seat she just acquired that day.

She went to the back of the car to get some of her father’s extra canisters of gasoline she liberated from the Joneses’ garage. Hurrying back to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, she dumped those through the still open window and threw a match. She knew this probably wasn’t enough to rid Riverdale of the stain that was this building or its history or the farm, but her priority was Juniper. She ran back to the car and drove home to Elm’s Street. Whatever came next, she’d need Jughead.

*

After their laced dinner, it was time for another session of walking through coals. It was cold outside and her girlfriend forgot to take her warm coat, so Toni gave Cheryl her own and went back for the other one. Just inside the door, she heard a soft voice coming from the kitchen.

“It’s going to be okay now, Juniper.”

Was that Betty? She’d love to check but couldn’t risk anything being caught by the cameras. She grabbed Cheryl’s coat from a hook by the backdoor and left.

*

Ethel Muggs emptied another canister of gasoline into the bunker. She was sad to see it go and sad it probably wouldn’t be enough fire to actually destroy the bunker, just its interior. Still. Throwing the empty canister in, she lit one of the matches she got from Pop’s Chock‘lit Shoppe and threw it in. At the same time, she started running. She wanted the bunker gone, but she wouldn’t burn with it.

Soon she had to acknowledge that while the fire might not be enough to destroy the bunker’s walls, it was enough to catch the trees and brushes around the bunker on fire.The wind helped it spread quickly.

She ran faster through the snowy woods. Thankfully she knew the area and the fastest way to the road. She was lucky. Just as she reached the road a car came near. The window was let down and Betty screamed at her to get in the back while she stopped the car.

“Ethel? What the hell happened here?”, Betty closed the window again, to save Juniper from any ash and put the car back to driving once Ethel was safely inside.

*

Reggie Mantle was back at La Bonne Nuit. Entering through the backdoor, he made it downstairs without being seen. It was the rare night off, so the place was empty. He wanted to trash the place, but seeing it, made it harder. This place has been so much work. He trashed some of the glass ware and started to empty the high percentage alcohols onto the seating areas and the tables. He dropped a lit match from one of Pop’s matchbooks they had everywhere and left.

*

When Mary ended the call, Fred stood up to bring the phone back to the station and froze in front of the window. The neighbors’ house was burning. With great presence of mind, Fred grabs their fire extinguisher and runs outside without putting the candles out first and without closing the door behind himself. An unlucky gust of wind brings the curtains too close to the flames. Vegas barks and runs outside, knocking against a side table on his way, starting another fire in the room. Within seconds the whole room is on fire.

Outside Fred has eyes only for the burning Cooper/Jones House and the small girl at the front door, that seems so lost and frightened. He runs over and holds her close.

“Jellybean? Are you okay? Where’s Jughead? And your father?” He tries to steer her away from their house to his and sees his own house nearly as merrily aflame as the other.

*

Toni and Cheryl were trading coats and kisses at the coal side when Kevin joined them.

“I think my dad and Sierra will be joining us at the farm soon.”

“That’s great Kevin. And you’re just in time to be witness to the newbies’ coal walk, too. It’s a magnificent night. Ma Chérie will be completing her initiation. Wasn’t your boyfriend supposed to as well?”

Toni let Cheryl banter with Kevin and concentrated. It was true. Tonight, she had to complete her initiation. She was supposed to be ready. She had to be. For Cheryl.

*

It’s not the first time for Pop Tate to hear the fire alarm at the Shoppe, nor is it the first time he smells smoke. Deliberately calm Pop tells his customers to stand up and leave the diner in an orderly fashion. Being the good man that he is, he makes sure all his patrons get out safe and sound and follows behind. Outside he asks for someone’s phone and calls the fire department. Just then, looking at his Shoppe, he realizes it’s really on fire.

*

Veronica Lodge was never shocked, so she chose to be angry instead. After she gave a short and anonymous call to the fire department about the burning El Royale, she zoomed in on Archie.

“What the hell happened here? Did you just set the building on fire? Archie? That’s stupid! This place isn’t even insured. Do you know how much money you’re just burning for nothing?”

Veronica wasn’t happy with the proceedings at all. And she wasn’t in the mood to listen to Archie’s explanations.

“Let’s go back to Pop’s. Maybe we can hide behind some milkshakes and think of something to do about this.”

They didn’t come far when they met the first scared person fleeing from the Pop’s.

*

“What the hell is going on tonight? How can the whole town of Riverdale just be on fire?”

Jughead and FP Jones were at the police station to pick up a couple of loose ends left over from Kurtz’ apocalypse and to make it easier for FP’s deputy to take over the position of sheriff for the time being, when suddenly all their phones started ringing at once.

“Pop’s and the Maple Club give matchbooks as freebies. Plus, fire = pretty. I’d say it was just a matter of time.”, Jughead answered between phone calls. When he saw Jellybean’s name light up on his mobile phone, he answered immediately. “Jellybean?!”

It’s a man’s voice on the line. “Jughead, she’s fine. She’s with me.”

“Mister Andrews?”

“Yes. Listen, both our houses are on fire and I can’t reach the fire department-“

*

Polly saw the flames first. It must be a good sign for their coal walk tonight. The newly joining farmies were surely blessed.

*

Peaches and the Pretty Poisons were just done trashing the poolside that now, in the winter, hadn’t been looking that inviting in the first place. The ruins of Thornhill loomed dangerously above them, so they decided to smash in the couple of greenhouses they could see on the premises.

“Girls? I guess we’re done her. Let’s go.”

They were just wanting to turn back, when the wind turned and they saw the thick smoke coming from Fox Forest and the town center. The fire must be huge. And it moved towards them. They needed to leave. Walking back to their bikes, she realized old hag Penelope Blossom never left the barn she stayed in to scream at them to leave her property. There weren’t any lights there at all, even her car was gone.

But there were lights in Thistlehouse. With Cheryl and Toni at the old Sisters of Quiet Mercy, was Nana Rose all alone? They couldn’t just leave her behind to fend for herself, she was half blind, couldn’t walk and has been welcoming all of them into Thistlehouse with hot tea or cocoa whenever they needed a little bit of grandmotherly advice.

“Change of plans. Amaranth, Quinoa, check on Nana Rose. Make sure she’s ready to leave. We can’t bring her on our bikes. Barley, Rye, make two teams and check the sheds, barns and the rest of the estate for other wheels. The fire’s coming this way. We have to leave asap.”

*

Toni was halfway across the coals to her Cheryl who was waiting for her with love and adoration plainly on her face and arms open in wait for her. Two more steps. One. Then her naked feet were finally back in the cold white snow and her girlfriend’s arms tightly around her.

“I knew you could do it, my TT. I’m so proud of you. Now we can all get married to Edgar on New Year’s.”

Reveling in her girlfriend’s tight embrace, Tony was terrified to even think of her feet. Or the new deadline of horrors Cheryl revealed. Looking up to blink away tears and check if Cheryl was really alright, she noticed the thick smoke in the sky. That must belong to a huge fire. A fire.

“Babe? Is the forest burning?”

*

The only car the Pretty Poisons found was the Blossom Twins’ red convertible. It would do. They helped Nana Rose, who was so excited about their little nighttime adventure together, to sit on the front passenger seat and placed her chair in the back. Peaches slid in the driver’s seat, signaling to the other’s to get going. They were riding to safety now.

*

Evelyn was the first to act. She clapped her hands twice and rejoiced at how all her sister and brother sheep immediately stopped what they were doing and looked towards her and Edgar for guidance.

“Brothers and Sisters, it seems our night has to be cut short. Please follow us.”

And the sheep did. They left the coals as they were.

TBC

I hope you enjoyed? I’d really apreciate feedback of any kind.

Also, I don’t think anyone will die, but pretty much everything will burn.

[leepace71]

15 Lively Facts About Pushing Daisies

Years before Bryan Fuller created the visually stunning Hannibal, there was the equally pretty and just plain strange world of Pushing Daisies. Lee Pace starred as Ned, a pie-maker who could bring the dead back to life with a simple touch—and back to the dead again with a second touch.

After the love of his life, Chuck (Anna Friel), is murdered, Ned brings her back to life and develops a romance with her, though the two can never touch. Chi McBride played Emerson Cod, a private investigator who enlists Ned’s help in solving cases. In a touch of irony mentioned many times by now, Pushing Daisies had the misfortune of being pronounced dead by ABC in 2008, right before it became standard practice for cult shows to be resurrected. Here are some facts about the beloved series.

1. IT WAS ORIGINALLY INTENDED TO BE A SPINOFF OF DEAD LIKE ME.

Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller left his former creation, Dead Like Me, before its second season, during which he planned to introduce Ned as an adversary for George's grim reaper. Ned would have revived dead bodies before George could claim them, and a romance would have transpired.

2. ADAM BRODY TURNED DOWN PLAYING NED.

Fuller wanted Lee Pace for the role of Ned, but was told by Pace’s agents that he was only interested in movies. So he approached Adam Brody, who said he wasn’t ready to do another series so soon after The O.C. had ended. Then Pace’s manager went around his agents and got Pace the pilot script, which the actor loved.

3. CHI MCBRIDE PITCHED EMERSON’S BACKSTORY HIMSELF.

Chi McBride suggested to Fuller that his character became a private investigator to find his daughter, who disappeared after his ex ran off with her. According to the actor, Fuller initially had a “completely different” story in mind for Emerson.

4. ANNA FRIEL HAD A LITTLE RITUAL BEFORE SHOOTING A SCENE.

Dubbed “The Anna” by director Barry Sonnenfeld, Anna Friel would pump her arms rapidly, like someone running in place, before each scene to keep her energy up. Eventually, Pace, Swoosie Kurtz, and Ellen Greene (who played her aunts) did it, too.

5. FRIEL USED AN AMERICAN ACCENT ALL DAY ON SET.

The English actresses only slipped back to her British accent when her mother called (Mrs. Friel didn’t like the American accent). Jim Dale, the show's narrator, didn’t even realize that Friel was British "until I heard her being interviewed."

6. LEE PACE STAYED IN CHARACTER WHENEVER FRIEL TRIED TO HUG HIM. 

Since Ned and Chuck could never touch, Pace and Friel attempted to not make physical contact with one another for a week, and failed repeatedly. Friel once tried to give Pace a hug, and Pace instinctively flinched. "It's just playing Ned," Pace explained. "I shouldn't be flinching when a beautiful girl like Anna Friel gives me a hug, but I flinched! That's weird, that's odd, that's not normal."

7. THERE WAS A NOTED AMÉLIE INFLUENCE.

Cinematographer Michael Weaver said that Fuller, Barry Sonnenfeld (who directed the first two episodes of Pushing Daisies), an executive producer for the series, and he all agreed to give the show a feel “somewhere between Amélie and a Tim Burton film—something big, bright, and bigger than life.” Pushing Daisies music composer and arranger Jim Dooley described his score as “having an Amélie type of sound.”

8. BARRY SONNENFELD HAD A "NO BLUES" RULE.

Production designer Michael Wylie’s instruction from Sonnenfeld was “virtually no blues.” Friel told ITV, “there’s no blue at all. The director hated blue,” before revealing another big influence for the show was the work of Nighthawks artist Edward Hopper.

9. KRISTIN CHENOWETH MADE A VERY SPECIFIC SONG REQUEST.

Kristin Chenoweth told Fuller that she wanted to sing "Eternal Flame" on the show. Fuller granted her wish, and Chenoweth's Olive sang her heart out in the episode “Comfort Food.” Had the show continued, there would have been an all-musical episode.

10. THE VIEW OF THE TOWN FROM THE PIE HOLE WAS A 180-FOOT LONG, 18-FOOT HIGH ‘TRANSLIGHT.'

It was created from photographs of a series of matte paintings.

11. THE VISUAL EFFECTS SUPERVISOR WAS SO GOOD, SOMETIMES HIS JOB WASN’T RECOGNIZED.

Because there wasn’t enough in the budget to get permission to shoot in the classic Bradbury building, which was used for movies like Double Indemnity and Blade Runner, William Powloski was tasked with recreating it. He went to the building, took 2000 digital photos, and created a digital version of the building.

"Our crew saw the result and asked, 'When did you go shoot the Bradbury building? Because the footage cuts right in with our set,'" Powloski recalled. "I hear this from colleagues, too, 'Hey, great shot inside the Bradbury.' And you really can't see the difference between the physical set and the very specific extension of one of the city's most well-known interiors. You know what, I know where to look and I don't see the seams either. I just love that!"

12. IT HAD MORE EMMY NOMINATIONS THAN EPISODES AFTER ITS FIRST SEASON.

Because of the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Pushing Daisies's first season was only nine episodes long. The show was nominated for 12 Emmys, and won three (including awards for Sonnenfeld and Dooley in their respective categories). In 2009, a year after Fuller had confirmed the series' cancellation, Pushing Daisies won four more Emmys, including one for Chenoweth as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

13. FULLER NEVER WANTED TO REVEAL HOW NED GOT HIS POWERS.

Fuller said that if that part of the mythology was ever revealed, “then all the fun goes out the window.”

14. HAD THE SERIES CONTINUED, THE NARRATOR WOULD HAVE APPEARED, AND THE CORONER WOULD HAVE HAD A CRUSH ON EMERSON.

Fuller intended to put Jim Dale in front of the camera. He also later revealed that Sy Richardon’s coroner character was gay, and his infatuation with Emerson would have been introduced if Daisies had not been cancelled.

15. A FUTURE MOVIE AND/OR MUSICAL ISN’T OUT OF THE QUESTION.

In 2014, Fuller claimed he had met with Sonnenfeld about finding financing for a musical, and talked to Netflix about a “lost season.” Though that was a few years ago, fans are still hoping that Pushing Daisies will rise again.

x

[statticscribbles]

Stone Snake

Summary: My take on Kurtz’s backstory

It’s Fangs who brings up Kurtz’s behavior, how they’d been talking, Kurtz antagonizing them before he’d just stopped for thirty seconds, frozen before he continued, his words slurred slightly. Jughead brushes it off as a slightly too much Fizzle Rocks, but when Sweet Pea says the same thing twice later that week he makes a point of confronting Kurtz; well trying to but he finds Kurtz out for the next two days.

When he shows back up he looks worryingly sick to Jughead. The normally wide alert eyes he has are half closed and glassy. His entire body looks like he’s about to fall over, partially from his own weight and the overall exhaustion that causes him to drag himself into the chair and close his eyes leaning back. Even when Fangs quips how he looks like he’s going to be dragged to hell with all his slouching he doesn’t do more that offer a sleepy chuckle. When he gets up to change classes and his arm jerks outward almost hitting Toni; the rest of the Serpents tense waiting for a fight.

“I’m sorry.” Is all he mumbles before he slips out into the rushing hallway. The Serpents are left confused and Toni doesn’t say anything when he asks if she said something to bother Kurtz.

Jughead watches him at lunch, how his head droops against his shoulder as he curls into the armchair, folding over himself and wincing as he digs through his bag, pulling out a pair of dark sunglasses to cover his eyes. “Kurtz.” He tilts his head up to Jughead who stands over him. “Yes?” Jughead sighs nervous at the lack of fight in Kurtz for the past few days. “You okay?” Kurtz lowers the sunglasses; Jughead notes he looks confused chewing his lip before nodding. “Yes, just stress.” He states, almost questioning himself but Jughead lets it go for as long as it takes Kurtz to stand. It’s no longer let go when Kurtz is walking from the student lounge and his leg gives out from under him. Jughead hears the gasp he sucks in as he falls, stumbling up as if nothing happened, hand digging into the back of his head as he steady’s himself.

“Betty.” Jughead speaks to get her attention and she watches as he sits down next to her. “What’s in Kurtz’s file?” Betty shoots him a confused look. “Besides the criminal activity? I’d assume not much, why?” Jughead shakes his head. “Something’s wrong with him, besides the Fizzle Rocks and G&G issues. I need to know what it is, despite everything he’s still a Serpent.” Betty nods retreating from the student lounge. It takes her fifteen minutes before she returns holding a thin file. “This is it?” She nods scowling as he flicks it open. “C. Kurtz Walters.” Betty speaks but Jughead’s already read down the page scowling. “Of course he’s from there.” Betty skims the rest of the page to find what’s annoyed Jughead, at the bottom of the page written almost as a footnote.

-Request records from the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. - They both look at each other and they know exactly where they’ll be spending their weekend. “You can’t just ask him?” Betty questions in their last class. Jughead shakes his head. “I don’t even know if he’s ever given me a straight answer, better to gather more information before asking.” He shrugs as he tugs his jacket on after the bell rings.

They call on Sister Woodhouse directly, she does little to hide her disgust and annoyance at them showing up. “What do you two want now?” “Our friend, Kurtz. He grew up here, we wanted to get his records for the school to have.” Sister Woodhouse raises an eyebrow as she sits behind her desk. “Why can’t the school request it then? And why you two?” Betty smiles tightly and hands over a folded piece of paper. They wait as she reads it, Sister Woodhouse passing it back to Betty nodding.

“Follow me.” She leads them down a corridor and into a small room filled with filing cabinets. “His name?” “Kurtz, Walters.” Jughead states. “Kurtz?” Sister Woodhouse frowns eyes darting back and forth as if searching for something. “Oh you mean Conrad, such a good boy.” Betty’s eyes dart to Jughead who rolls his, before pulling a half blurred photo he’d manage to get of Kurtz. He shows it to Sister Woodhouse, and she smiles.

“Oh that’s definitely Conrad, wild little boy he was, always wanted to play. Hated camera’s; still does if that’s the best photo you have of him, still unmistakable.” “He hates camera’s?” Betty probes and Sister Woodhouse nods holding the identification photo up, one of the other boy’s is holding Kurtz back, his arms restrained and his eyes wide and fearful. “It was really the flash he hated. Something about those bright lights scared him.” Betty nods hovering her phone to take photos of his files. Sister Woodhouse retreats from watching them to scold one of the children who are peeking in the door. Betty frowns putting her phone away and sliding the file between two of the books in her bag next to the letter her mother forged. Her and Jughead are in his trailer reading over the file.

Name: Conrad Kurtz Walters. Gender: Male Age Admitted: Four D.O.B: October 2002 Reason for Admission: Orphan, untreated illness specified as abandonment reason. Symptoms: Hallucinations, nightmares, tremors, anxiety, loss of appetite, crying spells, violent outbursts. “Jug look at this.” He frowns at the paper Betty pulls out. He notes the dates have changed, it seems to make Kurtz around seven when the second half of the page was written. Therapeutic treatments: Grief counseling, aversion correction. Bereavement and CBT therapies considered. Betty shakes her head as he reads. “Not that, this.” She points to the bottom of the page, her body tensing as her eyebrows furrow. Grief counseling: Failed. Aversion Correction: partial success. ECT advised. Jughead turns the page. ECT approved. ECT administered daily. ECT Successful. Patient reports no negative behaviors or coping mechanisms used three days post ECT. Jughead flips through the rest of the file, wincing as he reads out. Patient reported relapse, staff confirmed, resume ECT. ECT administered daily. ECT successful. Patient reports negative coping mechanisms. ECT rescheduled. ECT administered daily for two additional weeks. ECT successful. Treatment concluded. “ECT?” “Electroconvulsive Therapy. Where they shock you, it’s proven useful for treating depression as well as more serious mood disorders when done right.” Jughead reads. “Why would he need- Jug, oh my god.” Betty pulls out more papers, old notes it looks like and her and Jughead read over them.

Conrad was found at four years old, on the Blossom’s grounds. He was unable to say where he came from, or who his family was, traces of sedative were found in his system. It was likely he was being moved from one area to the other. Potentially part of a human trafficking scheme. She flips the page scanning down the next one. Age ten, Conrad reports nightmares of “where dead people live” he refuses to play Gryphons and Gargoyles with the other children. Sister Lila found him in the ‘king chamber’ he refused to leave. Two of the orderlies had to sedate him. He returned to the “king chamber” despite warnings and punishment’s against it. He appears to return after unsuccessful ECT sessions. When questioned about why he was there, he stated he was talking to his father. Conrad refuses to speak during his allotted therapy sessions preferring to draw. He would often draw pictures of the Gargoyle king, these only increased after successful ECT sessions. He would occasionally draw a figure in all black and gray assumed to be his father.

“His father?” Jughead questions and Betty skims the rest of the report. Conrad reports his father lives ‘where the dead people live’ we can assume his father was abusive or neglectful as the nightmares he reports often have him being locked in a closet like room or chained outside. ECT administered daily to correct the negative thoughts. Aversion to bright lights and flashes still present. Conrad shows improvement and a willingness to socialize through G&G. Betty turns.

“Look a medical report.” Conrad experienced a seizure like episode during picture day. He reported waking with a headache, a common excuse to try to stay in bed. After breakfast where he flung his oatmeal across the room twice he reported the headache having gotten worse. After his usually ECT session his speech was slurred and he had trouble standing. He was brought to picture day covering his eyes when he entered the room crying about the flashes hurting him. Two minutes of waiting in line and being exposed to the flashes of the bulbs caused him to loose consciousness and begin mild convulsions that lasted for fifty-seven seconds. When Conrad regained consciousness he was crying apologizing and asking us not to tell his father or to chain him outside. “Chained? Christ no wonder Kurtz is so fucked- Betty.” Jughead’s eyes widen. “What? Jug What?” “Who do we know that lives ‘where dead people do? And has a place to chain someone outside?” Jughead swallows. “Like hot dog.” He prompts at Betty gasps when she connects his prompting.

“Malachai? You think-” Jughead shrugs, before pulling the file back over. “Disregarding that for the moment, he had a seizure, could it be a reoccurring problem? Maybe why he wasn’t adopted out?” Jughead questions and Betty nods in agreement. “Either way you have a lot more facts to go talk to him about.” She kisses his cheek as she leaves and Jughead groans dreading school.

He’s walking through the hallway, noticing Kurtz slumped in one of the chairs again, it’s closest to the door and he doesn’t move when Jughead calls out to him. “Conrad.” Kurtz head whips up and he jerks from the chair huffing as he glares at Jughead. “I have a couple questions for you.” Kurtz nods. “Fire away then.” “I know you were at the Sister’s for years and-“ “From when I was about five till fifteen. You running a story on the ‘therapy’ they do there?” “Why do you say it like-“ Kurtz snorts. “You really think they know what they were doing when they shocked a seven year old with epilepsy?” “Epilepsy?”

“Yeah, the seizures? I’m sure you read about those in my files, not to mention the ones I’ve had earlier in the week. Running low on my meds, and with you throwing out drug runnin’ I’m out a job.” Jughead frowns. “You can’t pay for-“ “You really think I could anyways? You think Mrs. Fogarty can pay for her treatments too? We’re from the Southside Jones, everyone, even the government want us dead; we’re the dog shit on their new shoes. The reminder of mistakes and something taking up space for the nice prison they want to build. It’ll have wonderful windows, I swear.” Kurtz mocks sneering at Jughead. “You want to play havoc in my brain you’ve already been beaten, you’re years late on that one snake, not even my own parents wanted to deal with me or the hallucinations, bet that was in my file to yeah?”

“Yeah it-“ “You wanna know what fucked up my dad so bad he left me in the middle of the forest?” Kurtz snaps squaring up to Jughead. “I had an episode in front of Fred Andrews. I was going to meet my dad for lunch at Pop’s. We were getting burgers it was our thing. Andrews was on lunch break. I don’t know what it was but one second I’m eating the next I’m on the floor screaming. He freaked and my dad, he just sat back and laughed, said for him not to worry. He tried to drive me to the hospital. That idiot he should’a known better than to take somethin’ belonging to my dad. So after Andrews calmed down, he got me a shake, my dad put something in it. I was half awake drugged and out of it from the seizure and he drove me out into the forest and said if I ever came back to him or told anyone he’d keep me out back all the time, not just when I had episodes.” Kurtz sighs letting his head drop as he stares at the floor. “Kurtz.”

“Don’t go saying you’re sorry for me or ‘I didn’t know I wouldn’t’ve-‘ There’s a reason I didn’t let anyone know, reason I didn’t bother anybody. I’m crazy enough most people stay away from that. Guessin’ snakes don’t have that much brain power.” He half laughs as his breathing hitches his leg going out from under him. Jughead automatically wraps an arm around him hoisting him up.

“Come on Kurtz, you’re a snake too, you’re just as dumb as all of us.” Kurtz laughs shaking his head. “That’s where you’re wrong, I have an excuse, I may be dumb as a pile of bricks but it’s cause my brain is fucked up, you’re just dumb.” Jughead huffs. “Oh really, prove it.” He knows its childish, but he’s surprised at how human Kurtz is acting, he justifies his relief as Kurtz being a Serpent, nothing more. “Well you let me join up didn’t you? Point proven.” Jughead laughs shoving him towards the chair he’d stood from before sitting in the chair next to it.

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Sober Up

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