#i know Athena SHOULDN'T be dead

[shymebox]

THE THE

[backpackingspace]

Okay but consider by the time the odysseus is baby girling himself during suffering, it's been very well established that he is the distraction/talk their way out of trouble friend. So eurylochus who has probably been putting up with this nonsense since they were children was going no no this is 100% normal just ignore it. While the crew (who was just random subjects yes?) Was going what the fuck what the fuck

[velvetydream]

꒰ : 🩹 [ Patches ] ”♡ᵎ꒱ˀˀ ↷ ⋯

Summary : After the fight he had with Antonius, you were there to patch him up.

Pairing : Telemachus x fem! Reader

Word count : 1.2K Words

Genre : Fluff

Warnings ➵ Telemachus is hurt

a/n : I love this guy sm and omg I can't wait to write more for this silly lil guy T T♡

Also I feel like this isn't m, best work sadly, I just didn't really know how to write this, that's also why it's shorter, but imma defi write a longer one for him again!

Artwork Credits : Gigi on YouTube

┌───────────────────────── ·  ·  ·  · ♡

Athena turns around, sensing someone approaching the chambers of the prince, sitting on the railing in her owl form in an instant.

"My prince? I've been so worried! Your mother is so mad at the suitors! And by the gods look at you! What have those monsters done!" Rushing over to the young man, your hands find their way to his cheeks, holding his face softly in your hands. "I-I'm fine! Don't worry! Just some scratches!" He tried to assure you, looking over to Athena, who just gave him one last look before flying away, leaving him to your mercy. "My prince those aren't just scratches! The queen will be even more angry when she sees this!" Telemachus's face was littered with wounds, blood at the corner of his lips, scratches on his face, and a big one on his eyebrow. "Let me patch you up please, I don't want this to get infected." You softly grab his hand as you lead him to his vanity and sit him down, before gathering everything you need to clean his wounds.

Telemachus simply watches you with a rosy blush on his cheeks, would his mother see him right now she'd start preparing a wedding already. She was counting on you to become his fiance, having known you and your parents for years. You were born in the palace to your father, a warrior, he was away with the king for a long time now, probably dead, while your mother was the closest and most confidante maid she had. So you grew up in the palace, learning the ways to serve, and soon became the maid to the prince. He was barely two years older than you; in the last years, he had grown so much that he was now towering over you.

"This looks bad, my prince; how dare they hurt you like that.." You grumble as you wet cloth and softly clean the dried-up blood, holding his chin with your other hand carefully. Telemachus was watching you the whole time while doing so, admiring your scrunched up eyebrow and nose, concentrated eyes, and how your tongue slightly pokes out from the concentration.

"I'm fine don't w-worry! It's just a scratch!" He tries to assure you, but you just scoff at that; of course, he would say that. Wanting to argue back, you couldn't as a knock echoes through the room, straightening your back as the queen walks in. Bowing slightly you greet her respectfully, your own mother closed behind her. "M-Mother!" Her face was stern as she approached her son. "What happened?" Telemachus was obviously nervous to answer her, knowing very well she hates when he gets hurt, on top of the suitors being the cause of this. "They provoked me. I had to fight back!" Penelope looks at him, disappointed, shaking her head slightly. "You shouldn't have my son, look at your face; that will leave a nasty scar. What would your father say." Her hands were softly on his shoulders as her words enraged him. "He would be proud! Proud that I try to protect my house and mother!" Pulling back from her, he turns his back to her frustrated.

The queen lets out a sigh, looking over at you with thankful eyes for being with him right now and patching him up before she turns around and leaves, your mother also giving you one last look.

"My prince I need to finish cleaning your wounds." He's stood with his back to you, looking at the picture on his nightstand, an old picture; you weren't even born when this was made; he was merely an infant in the arms of his mother, the king, his father beside them. "He wouldn't want you to keep hurting. Let me finish, please." Softly, your hand lays on his arm as he shakes his head, frustrated.

Guiding him to sit down on his bed's edge now, you crouch down to sit in front of him on the floor after getting the utensils you need to clean the wounds. Grasping his hands softly to clean the knuckles that were bruised and bloodied from landing a few good punches on Antinous. "Why..? Why can't I be like my dad? He was amazing.. She would've never scolded him for fighting for her.." You noticed tears gathering in his beautiful eyes. "Oh dear, you're her only son; she is worried. You're just as great as your father, and someday you will see that too, my prince.." Tears fall from his eyes as your hand reaches up to carefully wipe the tears away.

You finish cleaning his knuckles before going to clean up everything you had used. Glancing over to Telemachus again to see his face in his hands, form crouched over and small. "Telemachus.. Don't beat yourself up so much.. Please.." Taking a seat beside him, you didn't treat him as your prince and weren't sitting down as his maid but as his childhood friend. You know you were crossing some lines; you were a servant, and you shouldn't stay longer in his chambers, let alone sit beside him on his bed. "You're an amazing person, remember that time we were kids? When I got bullied by some of the royal girls visiting? I wasn't able to defend myself because I am a mere servant; you stood up for me, telling them off, telling them how much more royal my personality was than their ugly ones." He slowly looks up at you, red and puffy eyes looking into your own. "So start thinking better of yourself alright?" Hand moving to rest on his damp cheeks, his face softly nuzzling against your hand, eyes closed.

"Thank you.." The words softly leave his mouth, before opening his eyes again to look at you. "Of course.. come here.." Opening your arms, he eased into your embrace, his own arms around your waist as his head came to rest on your shoulder. You know this was something he needed right now, a soft embrace to assure him everything was fine. "You're fine.." One hand is softly rubbing over his back, while the other one softly pats over his brown hair.

"I am.. Thanks to you." He leaves your embrace now with a smile. "I'll grow stronger for my family and you!" He has a grin on his lips now as he announces he will grow stronger. Looking over to his balcony now, you follow his gaze, gasping softly. "Woah.. An owl.. And such a pretty one at that too.." You smiled; the owl looked pretty, a light brown with a white spot, and the ends of her feathers looked like they shimmer gold in the sun. Telemachus, though, was shocked that Athena would show herself that easily and even speak to him in his head. 'I like that one, court her.' Before flying away, make you run onto the balcony to watch the owl fly away.

Telemachus quickly follows you as he watches Athena fly away, a bright red hue on his face from her words. "Oh my, you're so red! Do you have a fever?" Looking at him worried and before your hand could meet his forehead to check his temperature, he runs away laughing, yelling how his training should start now and he needs to get stronger, making you giggle and follow him, Argos quickly joining you two.

[sorrynoideasforcoolnickname]

I saw on Tumblr a hc that Ares helped Odysseus during 600 strike and, i don't know why, but it makes SO MUCH SENSE for me personally. People already said about Ody's red eyes in the animatic and that his actions were similar to effects of Ares' intervention. But honestly, can we take a look at how well it fits into the plot?

In God Games it's Ares, who asks "Is she dead?" when Zeus almost kills Athena (and one of the interpretations is that it's because he still cares about her). So when we assume that Ares helped Odysseus, the question "Why would he?" already has a perfectly logical answer. He's still worried about Athena. And damn, everything she's been through shouldn't go to waste.

I don't think it was made on purpose, but the fact that this headcanon fits so beautifully well into the world just makes me feel blessed 🙏

[mer-acle]

Okay it's that time. I just kinda wanna talk about the nightmare sequence in this chapter of Fighting to be Loved, specifically what's real/ what actually happened bc I love to yap about what i wrote whoops

1. The athletics festival where Pallas got killed did take place in the courtyard, and Zeus, Hera and Poseidon were all there for it.

2. Someone pointed out that it's implied that Athena rewatched the moment of Pallas's death with time dives many times, and that person is correct, that's exactly what happened. Like the goddess of strategy wouldn't try to analyze her own mistake in that moment, trying to understand what went wrong.

3. Athena doesn't really speak or cry as she tries to staunch the bleeding, both of which she originally very much did. The nightmare is kinda meant to take her voice away bc she feels very powerless right now.

4. Pallas did call Athena "Thena" in reality. Nobody is surprised.

5. The whole scene with Triton is unfortunately pretty accurate to reality as well, he was very rough with her in that moment both verbally and physically. So yeah. That slap did happen.

6. Also her kinda flashing back to learning to dive is in reference to what I laid out in this post. I'm kinda just sighing at Triton in tired exasperation.

7. When Triton demands Zeus to take his daughter back, that's pretty much where we leave reality and enter the fucked up world of Athena's guilt-ridden mind. Bc in reality Zeus yielded pretty quickly (Poseidon was like 'you cannot ask them to keep her, not under these circumstances')

8. So yeah actually Zeus said exactly nothing of what he does in the dream. Surprising, I know. The thing is, he wouldn't even taunt Athena with her love for others bc he just expects her to be cold, so if anything she'd be scolded for it. Which still sucks. He made a big fuss about the whole "Pallas Athena" situation so he actually never acknowledges that title of hers, not even in anger, bc he is personally offended that she insisted on it despite him not wanting her to.

9. Also the most obvious, literally nobody in the family made any prayer even close to this one.

10. Zeus definitely makes comments along the lines of "I shouldn't have let you out of my head." when he's angry at Athena. Very much the "be grateful I birthed you" route. So yeah. Athena has like all the reasons to feel unwanted in general bc honestly the only parental figure who unconditionally loved her is literally the immortal equivalent of dead. Poor owl

So yeah that was that fucked up scene I wrote, stay tuned for more LOL.

[writingnotes520]

Drawings for a Gravity Falls AU @ink-and-stars and I came up with based on this post by @autistic-daydreamer :D Orion came up with a name for it that I really liked, so this AU is called Demi Falls :D

Text for those who can't read it and a description of the AU under the cut:

Mabel Pines: - Cabin 6 - Athena - Weapon: Grappling hook, Stan stole it for her & she named it Grabby - Fatal flaw: Loyalty - Has fist fought a kid on day one because he said Waddles shouldn't be let in the cabin - Makes pins because she can't modify the camp shirts (the pins pictured since they're hard to see are a bisexual pin because you can rip bi Mabel from my cold dead hands, a pin with her shooting star symbol, and a pin with an owl) She's drawn saying "Does this mean Dipper and I get to match?!" in reaction to seeing the camp shirts

Dipper Pines: - Cabin 6 - Athena - Weapon: Sword named Dendron - Found Journal 3 in the Big House attic - Hides his birthmark even more due to a rumor that it marks him as being favored by Athena - Fatal flaw: Curiosity

Anyway this is a Gravity Falls/PJO AU where the twins are sent to New York instead of Oregon, but are still going to live with their great uncle Stan. However, they don't know until they arrive that Grunkle Stan is living as a staff member at Camp Half-Blood, and they, like him, are demigods. The twins are children of Athena, while Stan is a child of Hermes (Ford is as well). Not pictured but probably soon to be drawn include Wendy as a child of Demeter/Hunter of Artemis, Robbie as the son of Apollo, Soos and McGucket as the sons of Hephaestus, and Pacifica as the daughter of Aphrodite :)

[lemotmo]

To the Nonny who posted an ask about...

... how they think that Buddie shouldn't happen in season 8, but rather in season 9.

Okay, look. I read your ask and I understand where you are coming from. I get your frustration. I do.

None of us really expect Eddie to jump out of the closet in episode 1 and shack up with Buck in episode 2? You know? Sure, we joke about it, but we all know it's going to take some time.

I understand that you, as a writer, want to see everything developed and treated with caution. I get why you don't want the Buddie narrative to be rushed. I do. In an ideal world, I would happily sit down and watch two seasons of a very obvious Buddie build-up. I think most of us would, because the 'Will they? Won't they?' of it all? Delicious.

But we also need to be serious here. This is 911. This show is filled with underdeveloped narratives and very flawed character arcs. Realism isn't very high on their priority list. It never was.

This is the show that had Buck realise he was bisexual in one single episode and he didn't even flinch.

This is the show that had Eddie on the path to healing, but then decided he should meet his dead wife's doppelgänger so they could take away his son in the end.

This is the show that has Athena running around playing Robocop, threatening people as she, and she alone, solves all the crimes and murders in LA. Yet she gets to keep her job without any problems.

This is the show that had Bobby dead for 14 minutes, but two weeks later he was walking into the 118, smiling and hugging the others, as if he had had a minor cold and he was coming back from a week off sick.

And yes, Eddie (and all of the other characters really) has a lot of issues and realistically this would take years of therapy and working on himself, but we all know it'll only take a few episodes for him to feel better again. Cue Christopher returns home and all is well again in the Diaz household. Happy times.

It is all far from realistic, but fundamentally that's the nature of this show. It's a silly, wholesome, found-family, sometimes nerve-wracking, highly unrealistic fire fighter procedural.

And that's the whole point of it. The audience love this show because it is so ridiculously over the top. The episodes with the disasters are so iconic! These characters go through the craziest shit and always end up being okay again. It's a big old dose of the found-family trope that everybody loves to watch.

So ultimately, I don't fully disagree with you. You have a great point. And for some other more realistic procedurals? I might even have fully agreed.

But for 911? Knowing this show and how they do things? I'm fully convinced that, if they wanted to pull off queer Eddie and canon Buddie in one single season? They could and they would.

They wouldn't go there right away, because they would need to build the tension. 18 episodes is enough for them to take that tension and use it to elevate the hype. And then in episode 18? BOOM! They drop the 'fully canon' Buddie bomb for real. This way people will go into the hiatus all hyped up, which is always a good thing for a TV-show.

If they decide to not drop the 'fully canon' Buddie bomb in season 8, I do fully expect them to make it canonically absolutely clear that Eddie and Buck are in love. Again, all to create hype during hiatus.

In the end, does it really matter how and when it happens? Whatever the showrunners and writers decide upon? All we, as an audience and as a fandom, can do is accept it and go with it.

And you know what? I'll be seated and transfixed in front of my TV-screen for all of it.

What can I say? I love this flawed, but awesome TV-show so much. ❤️

[sonoftydeusthemusical]

My friend has never heard of Diomedes before; how would you describe him? Like his motivations, his way of thinking, his strengths and weaknesses, his relationships, major plot points?

(I would explain him myself but I'm still not that far in the Iliad.)

Hello, thank you soooo much for this ask and sorry for the late reply!

First of I want to say that we’re by no means experts on Diomedes. We’re still in the process of learning more about him and discovering and exploring him through this musical, so people with a background in ancient studies might have a more detailed/accurate analysis of him than we can provide at the moment. But we still try to answer you to the best of our abilities!

(You’re welcome to correct us in the comments/reblogs ^^” )

In the words of @holy_mother_of_whumpers:

Diomedes kicks ass more than anyone in the Iliad, is scolded more than anyone. Odysseus best friend (according to historians). Shitty childhood (incest, prophesies and and a lot of dead relatives, which is almost as ancient Greek backstories go), shitty post Troy (banished from his city, cursed by Aphrodite). Actually happy ending (founder of cities, immortalized by Athena).

He’s like Odysseus, but with an unbelievably tragic childhood and less disaster energy. He gets stuff done and slays doing it

But here’s our answer…sorry if this is turns out too long!

Starting out with your question about his motivations

Oath bound, Diomedes avenged his fathers death at the age of 14, sacking the city of Thebes (the epic surrounding it is called “Epigoni” but unfortunately it’s a story lost to history, also he was 4 when he took the oath, should that count rly? shouldn't there be an age of consent for oaths? anyway)

The story surrounding his fathers death is tragic and a bit disgusting (he ate brain and Athena who wanted to gift him immortality was too disgusted to do so)

Diomedes doesn’t remember his father, and he still gets compared a lot to him (just see Agamemnon low-key trash-talking him by stating how much of a better fighter his father was to motivate him for battle) so that kind of plays into his motivations

Additionally like so many other heroes, glory and honor are definitely also motivations of his. Often it is Athena who pushes or motivates him to many of his greatest deeds and other feats (like wounding Ares, throwing the spear at Dolon, beating everyone in the funeral games,…..yeah Athena HATES loosing)

What’s interesting that despite the fact that he was raised on war, later on – after Troy (and admittedly, even more warfare) – he’s said to have wanted to settle down more, founded his cities in peace (or as peaceful as life for kings was back then haha)

In the Iliad Diomedes is always the first to volunteer, and despite often getting treated rather badly (Nestor kicked him awake, my boy was even sleeping in his armour, Agamemnon calls him a coward) he tends to keep a cool head and doesn’t retaliate (…except that one time….or two?) BUT he also definitely doesn’t take BS, he calls out Agamemnon for being a bad leader when he suggests to leave (Diomedes insists they stay and fight until they won)

For his way of thinking…he’s rather pragmatic, a good strategist (mentored by athena), first to jump into the fray, trusts his own strength, knows when to back down/when to talk back, can get caught up in the heat of the moment in battles, doesn’t shy away from violence, lies & trickery…. (correct me on this if I'm wrong or missed something)

Strengths & Weaknesses

One thing that makes him stand out among the other heroes is that arguably, he’s one of the few greek heroes whose lives don’t end in a complete tragedy because of his hubris against the gods (…….wellll………..his wife betraying him after he injured aphrodite and being exiled for arogs is an instant where he still pays for his acts against the goddess, but its tame compared to many other heroes fates, who committed lesser crimes) and in the end he even gets deitified (or at least in some versions, like athena wanted to do with his father, but his father messed upppppp so…..)

He’s more level headed than many other heroes (cough Odysseus “i am in the infamous odysseus” King of Ithaca)

He’s one of the best fighters - or THE best fighter of the greeks next to Achilles, the trojans were more scared of him than of Achilles (….since Achilles didn’t fight) without him the Achaeans….would’ve probably lost the war

As for his weaknesses….one thing is something that’s not even within his own control: his young age (compared to the other kings), almost nobody realllyyyy respects him despite his badass deeds on the battlefield and good battle advice, his many ships he brought and his battle experience even before the war and two) the kind of lingering shame of his fathers final moments (nom nom brain, and failing to take Thebes), but also his fathers supposed greatness that he keeps getting compared to and has to live up to

Now…..his relationships…oh boy theres so many, I’ll try to sum up the most important ones I know in once sentence for each

His family:

His father: he doesn’t remember him, but people keep bringing him up and comparing him to him

We dont know much about his relationship with his mother

most…of his other (male) relatives die in his early youth (which is how he ends up as King of Argos) like his grandfathers, and his uncles…

The achaean kings:

Agamemnon: the boss who’s a bully, but Diomedes talks back to him sometimes at least (…unless he’s insulting him, he just accept that)

Ajax: Diomedes almost kills him during the funeral games….the acheans have to break up the fight

Achilles: Diomedes doesn’t like him, Dio is the only one who wants him punished for killing Diomedes cousin that everyone else hated

Odysseus: LOTS of tea to be found here (he seems to see Ody as a mentor figure and keeps picking him as companion for missions, they both have Athena as their patron goddess but while Odysseus leans a little bit more on the wisdom part, Diomedes leans more into the pure strength of battle, they work well together and have a bunch of missions together)

Comrades

Most noteable are Sthenelus (known him since early childhood) and Euryalus, who are with him in Troy, they were part of the Epigoni (its rly a long story)

His wife: is his cousin, he marries her to strengthen his rulership, in the end, its said that she betrayed him with a new lover and exiled him from his own kingdom (another long story)

Glaucus: they met on the battlefield and realized their grandfathers were bro’s so they didnt fight each other, and instead exchanged armours (but Diomedes got the better, golden armour, while Glaucus got the bronze armour..)

There is sooooo much more to say about him, all the stories of the Iliad, the events before AND after it, his relationship with Athena, etc. I barely scratched the surface here so maybe we have to make a whole series of posts about this one day so we can get more into detail because its so much! (Let us know if we should???)

I hope this answered some of your questions, though! And again thank you so much for your interest and apologies for the late reply!

[bidisasterevankinard]

Inspirational Saturday

hi everyone, I was barely active cause mental health is a bitch and I wasn't writing for days, but today i finally broke this block and started a new wip I named "please, stop twisting knife(never wanted to cause your pain)" where Eddie is going to be engaged to a wrong guy for a moment and date this guy for longer moment, not seeing how he destroys his and Buck's friendship (Buck's insecurities and Eddie the king of denial Diaz are gonna be in the fic for long time) I was tagged today by @monsterrae1 <33 meet the moodboard and 966 words of angst I wrote cause I wasn't posted for a moment

“I still don't know how I can help choose the ring for the guy I met like …,” Buck tries to remember all the situations he was with Alec at least in one room,  “3 times? And let's not forget he is not my biggest fan,” Buck says, trying to sound casual. But everyone in the shop, except Eddie, looks strange at him. “Don’t you think Chris, Pepa, Hen, Karen, Chim or Maddie, Bobby or Athena, hell even Ravi, could be a better choice? They at least know him.” 

“And he would not be angry with you for spending time with them. Them not me,” is left unspoken, but Buck has to bite his lip hard not to let it slip from him.

Buck turns away from Eddie, who looks so beautiful and joyful admiring rings. His face has this pure happiness and smile, Buck would be drinking like crazy, like the most thirsty man alive, seeing the purest water, if it wasn’t the face Eddie has because he wants to marry someone else. The guy who made them strangers. Even if Eddie keeps trying to deny it. 

They are not family. They do not have movie nights or dinners, or even fucking calls and texts between them. Buck, thank god to Chris’ stubbornness, has it only with a boy. Mostly calls or texts, of course, because dinners or movies are barely even possible in between Buck’s shifts, Chris' school and social life. Plus to it Eddie and Alec’s attempt to create a family by constantly having family activities, and Buck left behind so easily. 

He is just a memory now. And he always would remember who he was all those years. Temporarily replacement of a missing part for the third member of Diaz household, while Eddie was getting ready to find someone to be permanent. While he was getting ready to let someone take this place to never leave again. 

Really, Buck is not even surprised he was so easily replaced. Just some words from Alec about him wanting Eddie to spend less time with Buck, Buck saying yes man, no problem, and now they are here. Him being not even a friend for Eddie. But just a guy who he still works with. 

Eddie can deny it how he wants, but they are not friends anymore. They are closer to being strangers than friends. 

Isn’t it the most painful of all of this situation?

Buck thought he had Eddie on his side forever, but he lost him too fast. He couldn’t even say a word because Eddie is happy. And why shouldn't he be? 

He has an amazing partner and the best teenager in the world as a family. They are adopting the cat soon. Eddie and Alec want to buy a house together because they started to talk about a new kid in the future, and they just want more space for their family. Family where Buck would not have any place because he is not wanting here by big part. And he wouldn’t even try to make Alec angry trying to be here. 

Just the thought that he knows all about Eddie’s plans for the future from someone, not from him, makes Buck sick, like someone twisting the knife into his guts, so he tries to concentrate on the rings the seller shows them. 

At least about the engagement he found out from Eddie. 

But Buck wishes to hear it from anyone else. Seeing Eddie’s face today, when the knocks on his door was too long and too exciting, almost screaming in Buck’s face how he needed to find the perfect ring right now and Buck should help him, destroyed part of his heart he considered dead for weeks, maybe even months, to never be recovered ever again.

He felt and still feels the sharp blade opening his back, cutting out his lungs to get to his heart, sticking and leaving the knife in his almost non-beating organ.

Buck can’t stop thinking, if he would be staying alive a little longer after lighting, would it feel the same, or would a heartbreak by the man who had your heart in his hands for years be way worse? Should Buck buy the suit for his funeral and not Eddie’s wedding?

“Yeah, I could ask them, but it would make no sense to buy the ring with them as they are not my best friend and not gonna be my best man,” Eddie grins at him sheepishly and Buck just forces the smile he perfected for years, making people believe he is fine. 

He never used it with Eddie.

“Best friends, huh? What I was doing for the last nine months, Eddie? What books have I read? What movies have watched? Who is my celebrity crush of the week? A year ago you would answer easily. Now you don’t even know I’m moving to the house I bought some weeks ago.”

It rushes through his brain, making Buck hate himself for being petty and not staying truthful to his words to always have Eddie’s back, even though he knows for Eddie it means nothing now, but not for him. 

For him it was a vow he takes with him to grave. So he presses his little overgrown nails so deep into the skin of his palm that he almost feels like cutting through the skin, and says, “I’m proud to be your best man. Let’s try to choose the perfect ring.”

Buck swallows blood in his mouth from all the organs being crushed and chopped into bloody soup inside him when Eddie just smiles like he can’t see - and Buck hates that he actually can’t, that Eddie never saw him - how he breaks him and shows Buck two rings he likes the most.

tagging @wikiangela @tizniz @wildlife4life @watchyourbuck @exhuastedpigeon @elvensorceress @eddiebabygirldiaz @rainbow-nerdss @rogerzsteven @the-likesofus @thewolvesof1998 @theotherbuckley @transboybuckley @underwater-ninja-13 @puppyboybuckley @paranoidbean @pirrusstuff @anakinfallen @spaceprincessem @spotsandsocks @spagheddiediaz @devirnis @daffi-990 @diazsdimples @fortheloveofbuddie @gaydiaz @giddyupbuck @heartshapedvows @hippolotamus @honestlyeddie @honestlydarkprincess @hoodie-buck @housewifebuck @jeeyuns @jesuisici33 @ladydorian05 @loserdiaz @caroandcats @bigfootsmom @bekkachaos @buddierights @mandzuking17 @malewifediaz @steadfastsaturnsrings @ghost-cowboy @911onabc and anyone who wants

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

The Tragedy of Love, Death and Maggots part 15

Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14

I was awoken by a gentle tugging on my arm. “Fuck off, Athena,” I mumbled. She always did this, raring to go at too-fucking-early o'clock. “We've got nothing important to do, there's no rush.”

“Yes, there is,” came the response. Too deep to be Athena and too feminine to be Brett, I consigned myself to the grim day at the hands of Mrin. Goodness knew what she wanted with-

Ah, fuck. The memory of the previous day rushed into my brain with a mental ‘pop’, and I winced. “Bloody, fucking hell. We gotta stop that thing, don't we?”

Mrin, somehow looking more alert than me, nodded. “Yep. According to my prediction, she's gonna overrun this entire place if we let her. Already, she's begun expanding. Give her two more days, and who knows what we might be facing?”

With a sigh, I rested my head against the wall. “Great. Just fucking great. Can't we run? Brett and Athena aren't gonna be rescued either way, and I don't think they'll want us to die fruitlessly.” A second thought adjoined itself to my grumbling, and I found myself adding, “Besides, you shouldn't be in action right now. You had some god-awful kind of infection just now, and you were half-dead.”

Suddenly discomfited, Mrin shrugged. “Look,” she said, “It's complicated. What happened to me… Let's just say it was a occupational hazard. Thanks for cleaning me up, though. I'm better now.”

That statement did not make me feel better. On top of this hostile shithole, on top of Brett and Athena's deaths, on top of that monstrosity roaming the halls, Mrin was hiding something from me? Had been hiding something from me? Would continue to hide something from me? Did our years of travelling together mean nothing? Damnit.

I trusted her, yes. I'd always trust her. That was just how a partnership worked. But it was the first time I'd ever considered that this didn't go both ways, that she was lying to me. Probably for my safety, or perhaps for her own, but it still stung. It was another straw upon the back of a struggling camel.

She saw it in my eyes. “Look, Doc, it's complicated. After this is all over, I swear I'll tell you everything. No more secrets between us, okay?” There was a pause, as though that promise cost her something. “And, speaking of which… Did you mean it? What you said while you were trying to wake me up, I mean.”

Oh. That. For a moment, the old Doc, the one who got himself blackout drunk on the day of his med school exams and flirted with every woman in the bar came rushing back. Refutations landed on the tip of my tongue, as familiar as the lies I'd always told myself. I forced them back down. Had I not made a promise to myself? To not take the easy way out, as I'd always done?

“Yes. I meant it. I love you, Mrin. And I'm no poet. I don't have a way with words, or a thing for grand gestures, or even the ability to make this… place romantic. All I can offer you is what I've already given: a steady pair of hands and a partner to watch your back. You don't need to love me back. I know I'm a difficult man to love.” I found myself gripping her hands and looking into her eye. “But I hope you do. I really do. I hope you love me like a rock against the stormy sea, like the sun rising in the East every day, like a couple growing old together.” 

“There's a word for that,” she whispered back, leaning in close. “I can't recall it, but I know the Greeks gave it a name. I know it means sensible love. And I know- I know I love you.” She pulled me into a hug, resting her chin on my shoulder. “Never figured I'd find love, you know. Always thought that was for women prettier and smarter than me. Of all things, to find it here and now…” 

A tiny sigh escaped her lips, like the swish of a guillotine. I didn't like that sound, not one little bit. “Doc, there's something I need to do.” Her fingers dug into my clothes. “I- Stay here, will you? Wait for me.”

We disentangled from each other, and I said, “I'll wait for you forever if need be. After all, we did wait for each other all this time.” 

Mrin pursed her lips, the sides of her eyes crinkling up. “Yes, I suppose so. Aren't you gonna ask me what I'm gonna do, though?”

(next bit's gonna have a surprise hehe)

Taglist: @coffeeangelinabox, @dorky-pals, @calliecwrites, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @shukei-jiwa

@thewingedbaron, @pluppsauthor, @cowboybrunch, @wylloblr, @possiblyeldritch

@tragedycoded, @finickyfelix, @urnumber1star, @ratedn, @ramwritblr

@vampirelover890, @possiblylisle, @illarian-rambling, @the-ellia-west, @differentnighttale

@evilgabe29, @glitched-dawn, @rivenantiqnerd, @dragonhoardesfandoms, @xenascribbles

@drchenquill, @everythingismadeofchaos, @owldwagitoutofyou, @dimitrakies, @beloveddawn-blog

@riveriafalll, @the-golden-comet, @rascaronii, @trippingpossum, @real-fragments

@unrepentantcheeseaddict, @the-inkwell-variable, @paeliae-occasionally, @an-indecisive-nerd, @thecomfywriter

@seastarblue, @wyked-ao3

(Anyone else who wants to get added can tell me in the comments, pm me, or send me an ask about it!)

[coquexari]

Happy birthday!

Specifically the lemon sleep deprived Athena was looking at.

Is there a deeper meaning? Is it an inside joke a reference? Do I have to analysis it like my 9 grade English novel study? Or is it just to spite me (also severally sleep deprived) and looking for an answer would be fruitless. As mister hippo of FNAF said "sometimes a story is just a story"

*deranged laughter*

*inhales* I'm ok. I think.

Figured out the sirens name :)

Happy birthday once again!!!!!!

My friend, you have met a terrible, terrible demise. But, I, uh, y'know, I - I - I don't feel too bad about it. After all, if it weren't for me it would've just been from someone else, y'know? I guess what I'm trying to say is life - life goes on. Well... Well for everyone else life goes on. Not - not for you.. uh.. You're dead. That's neither here nor there.

It reminds me of one summer day in the park. I was having just a delightful picnic with my good friend Orville, and I said to him - I said "Orville, I-I have a story."

And he said to me "What's the significance of the story?" and...

I said to him "O-Orville, not every story has to have significance, y'know? Sometimes, uh, y'know, sometimes a story is just a story. You try to read into every little thing and find meaning in everything anyone says you'll just drive yourself crazy. Had a friend do it once - Wasn't pretty. We talked about it for years. And not only that, but you'll likely end up believing something you shouldn't believe, thinking something you shouldn't think, o-or assuming something you shouldn't assume, y'know?"

Sometimes I said "A story is-is just a story, so just be quiet for one second in life and eat your sandwich, okay?" Of course, it was only then I realized I'd made sandwiches.

Poor Orville was... having such difficulty eating it. Elephants have those clumsy hands, y'know? Actually, I-I suppose that's the problem. They don't have hands at all, do they? The-they're all feet! An-I-I couldn't imagine someone asking me to eat a sandwich with my feet.

Now, if I recall correctly there was a bakery nearby. I said to him, "Orville, let me go get you some rye bread." Now, I-I'm unsure if elephants enjoy rye bread, but I assure you that Orville does.

Now this was on a Tuesday, which was good because rye bread was always fresh on Tuesday. They made sourdough bread on Monday, and threw it out Wednesday... or rather they sold it at a discount for people wanting to feed the ducks, and probably at the end of the day finally they threw it all out - I don't recall.

I do remember a man who would bring his son to the bakery every Wednesday and go feed the ducks. He would buy all of the sourdough bread. Of course, y'know, you're not supposed to feed the ducks sourdough bread at all. It swells up in their stomach and then they all die. At, uh.. at least... at least that's what I've heard. Y'know I-I never saw any ducks die myself, but I did notice a substantial decrease in the duck population over the course of a few years. I just never thought to stop the man and tell him that he was killing the ducks by feeding them sourdough bread! And if you want my opinion on the matter, heh - and I told Orville this as well - "If you wanna feed ducks, or birds, or any kind for that matter, it's best to buy seed."

I mean, when you think about it, breads of any sort don't occur in nature. They don't grow on trees, or spring up from the bushes. I don't think birds know what to do with bread. What was I saying?

Oh-oh, yes yes.

So I bought Orville some rye bread. What a fine day it was.

[cherrymf15]

My thought on Thunderhead which fucked me up, and I would like a lawyer to sue

There will be a ton of spoilers so don't read if you wanna avoid them!

the world building was again just incredible

just scratches something in my brain

My edgey boi Rowan be murdering scythes and I'm so proud

Just straight up abandoned his dad (Faraday) to do it

He is also still a massive simp and we love him for it

Citra really risking everything just to see him for 5 mins though please, also a massive fucking simp

Faraday really showed up and instantly was not like "im not mad just dissapointed" over Rowan MURDERING PEOPLE. I love them please

The thunderhead sections were fucking great and it was nice to see the thoughts of the AI that has to put up with our shit

Greyson is baby

Tyger is DUMB bitch (affectionate)

Curie is Citra's Mum and we love that

the thunderhead really did say fuck you greyson concerning what happened

Also Greyson sweetie we shouldn't be falling for people who have no issuing killing people regardless of how alluring and fascinating they are

CITRA WAS SO FUCKING MAD THAT GREYSON WASNT ROWAN

I FUCKING CACKLED LIKE GIRL THE FUCK

the increased level of the tonists in the book was also really fasicinating and stuff, not by much but im excited to see more in the 3rd book as well

Rand falling in love with TYGER OF ALL PEOPLE(?) was not on my bingo card for this series but I'll take it

Then proceeds to murder him anyway. You DUMB FUCK

Goddard as always can suck my non existent dick and choke on it

the way he came back was horrifying

i literally felt sick

it was so cool

grandslayers were fucking epic

and gone too soon

Citra and Rowan are obsessed with each other

and you can pry that point from my cold dead fucking hands

THE THUNDERHEAD SCREAMING IN ITS OWN WAY AFTER WHAT HAPPENED WAS NOT FINE MY GOOD SIR FUCK YOU

also Thunderhead really just said "FUCK HUMANITY apart from Greyson as he is my son and I love him more"

maries sacrificing herself and saving them both despite her thoughts of rowan was pain

Faraday not knowing marie is dead

fuck

Rowan saying citra looked like a godess as THEY WERE ABOUT TO DIE

LIKE

SIR THERE IS A TIME AND PLACE AND IT IS NOT THE NOW

and then just abandoning us with my children at the BOTTOM OF THE FUCKING OCEAN

MARIE DEAD

GRANDSALYERS DEAD

FARADAY NOT KNOWING SHIT CAUSE HES OFF TRYING TO SAVE THE WORLD

fuck you neal my not so good sir

In conclusion, a cliffhanger has not fucked me up this hard since Mark of Athena (fuck you uncle Rick), and I would like to simultaneously sue and pick this man's brain to see where he can find the fucking audacity to do this to us

also theres definetley more but ive already read the toll and im trying not to mix events in my brain so yeah

[lovely-rants-alot]

@that-asian-child-of-aphrodite @that-one-daughter-of-apollo @childofthewargod @damiedantediane @glee-of-ares-wrath-of-aphrodite

@apollos-weirdest-child @delilah-isnt-dead-yett @athenas-weirdo-daughter @daonedaonlyskh @lovely-liilies-and-lillacs

@aria-pane

ooc: Tagging people up here because this could be triggering.

If you want to be added or removed from the tag list, let me know :)

Tw: Death, alluding to suicidal thoughts and angst.

This was Brook's worse nightmare, and she was living it.

She stood in front of a gravestone. She was still in the outfit she had worn to the funeral.

It was a rough day for everyone. Her not-so-mother had refused to talk to her and got drunk off her ass. She acted like Brooklyn had made it happened and than spat on her dead body.

"It's all my fault." She whispered. "I should've know that branch would break. I shouldn't have climbed." She wiped away the tears from her eyes.

"You would've love the funeral. I made sure that it didn't because the mum show. I'm pretty sure it made your mother madder at me." She chuckled weakly. "I made a speech, you know. Me, the girl who would've skipped graduation to avoid walking across the stage, made a speech."

She could hear her laughing in her head, knowing exactly how she'd reply.

"I nearly didn't come." She admitted. "I didn't think I could do it. Everyone looking at me, either with pity or disgust... Well, you know how much I enjoy that." She sniffled, falling silent for a moment, staring at the words on the gravestone.

Sasha Megan Hayward

Beloved daughter, sister and friend

"I'm sorry, Sasha." She sobbed. "You shouldn't be the one in that grave."

She stood there sobbing for a while.

"It's not fair..."

She looked at all the flowers left on her sister's gravestone. Sasha always thought people didn't care, yet here was at least 25 bouquets of flowers.

She wiped her tears again. "Sweet dreams, Sasha." She whispered, her fingers grazing the gravestone before she walked away.

[anarchyatthesupermarket]

HI i am having Thoughts about your necromancy au and i need to talk about it. i was trying to convince my sister to read it so that i could have someone to talk to about it. but then i realised. yknow who definitly also has Thoughts about YOUR necromancy au? you. feel free to delete this ask i just wanted to ramble(about the later chapters specifically)

Call this my toxic trait buttt I dont think Rae did anything wrong in raising his mom from the dead. LIKE why the fuck shouldnt he?? His mom(and grandpas) didnt deserve to die, why the fuck should he let them, when he HAS the power to bring them back?? like??? Also not Momboo being a massive bitch telling Isla her son deserved to die. LIKE GIRL. i know you have issues but that is NOT how you talk to a grieving mother. ABSOLUTELY DESPICABALE behaviour. ALSO im pissed off at Fenris, Caspian and Aax. Like not them confirming Rae's worst fears when he actually tells them about Momboo and sends HIM away. and blah blah blah its their magic reacting badly but they dont even TRY to sympathise with him. Als.o like Fenris you are literally dating another necromancer. You cannot give Rae shit for being a necromancer without then applying that to your BOYFRIEND???

ALSO funny how when Rae raised HIMSELF from the dead, taht didn't trigger their magic or whtv, but when he was revived by Momboo it DID. 🤔🤔🤔🤔 (I dont think this will go anywhere but. thats beside the point.) Actually wait no maybe im onto somethign here. Maybe its because momboo fucked him up while reviving him!! maybe she did this on purpose!!! wait no i think im wrong. whateverrrr im being silly 😋

i cant wait to see how other characters react to Rae's new situation. I think(hope) that Athena and Jamie will still eb on his side.... actually maybe not. But i will hope.

At least Rae has Isla, even though everyone thikns hes a monster(THE EPIC PARALLELS ARE REAL) at least his plan didnt fail and his mom;s alive. slight consolation.

If i was Isla i would be HOSTILE to the afformentioned people (Fen,cas,aax momboo) if the situation gets resovled and doesnt end with Rae's eternal death. Hell id be hostile the entire fucking time. I want to see ISla kick someones shit for Rae because how DARE they call her son a monster for saving HER. do you think that would cause her guilt though? since she kinda maybe sorta ruined her sons life? that he ruined his own life to bring her back?

OKAAY ANYWAY thats most of my thoughts. can you tell that Rae is my favourite character no matter the universe? Can you also tell how unwell i am about this au? i think about it..frequently.... again feel free to delete this i just needed to share my thoughts ad feelings with SOMEONE

I also have so many thoughts about my necromancy au, it's just rotating in the back of my brain 24/7. I'm really hoping this all makes sense.

I agree with you, there's very little reason that Rae shouldn't bring his family back and Momboo's reaction (while coming from a place of trauma and fear) was unreasonable. However, I raise this to you, Rae is dead, he can not age or die. At this moment with how it stands he is going to watch Isla grow old and die, if he brings Raemond and Everett back the same thing will happen. He brought Isla back and he's going to loose her again and why would he be any better at processing his grief. Necromancy can not stop old age.

As for what happened with Momboo bringing Rae back and then Aax/Fenris's magic reacting badly to that, I have so many thoughts about it bc it's also how I imagine magic working in this au. I'm going to try to make this make sense.

I imagine that everyone's magic inside them is like a well, you can take water out of it (to perform magic) and more water will flow in to replace that lost water. You can deepen the well to increase how much water can be taken out of it without it running dry (strengthening your magic) however, if you try to deepen the well too quickly then parts of it might cave in (think exercising without warming up leads to hurting yourself, you try to perform too much magic that you're not ready for and you get weaker because you pushed yourself too far). The thing is is that you don't want your well to collapse or run dry. Rae bringing back Isla caused both to happen. When Momboo brought him back she just refilled his well with water so he could rebuild his well (bring himself back to life because Rae relies completely on his magic to live, other people can survive their well of magic being emptied but he can't). Because of that there was life magic in a well meant for necromancy, it was like dumping a bucket of muddy water into a mountain spring, and it will take days for Rae's magic to replenish and wash out the life magic. Fenris and Aax sensed the life magic in him (magic that wasn't supposed to be there, magic that was wrong for who Rae is) and it set alarms bell off in their heads because that's Rae's body but that's not Rae's magic that's reanimated his corpse. That's what Len's magic and reanimating the hordes felt like, that was a necromancer's magic filling bodies not meant for that form of magic.

The same thing didn't happen when Isla or Centross were brought back because they are both necromancers and so is Rae. That is necromancy magic filling wells meant for necromancy. I don't think Momboo felt as much "wrongness" with bringing Caspian back either because of a combination of Caspian not having magic and Momboo being a life witch.

Rae being called not human is a correct statement because he's dead, he's a corpse that's walking around. He's an abomination/unnatural because he's "living" off of magic that is nothing like his own.

Rae is an abomination, he is a monster. He is both Len (the traitor, the monster, the original sin) and the hordes (the horror, the grief, the terror) that marched on cities. He is a reanimated corpse with the singular goal of bringing his family back no matter the cost.

This is not because of what type of necromancer he is (because there are types, I just haven't been able to talk about them yet), he brought Centross and Isla back with both of their desires being completely separate from his own. He has no control over them. His situation is a bit more like Len and the horde which Len has/had complete and utter control over. Rae didn't have enough magic to bring himself back to life completely (hence the no heartbeat/breathing/just being alive) but he did have enough magic to bring himself back as one of the "mindless undead" which have singular goals according to the necromancer who raised them, his goal being bringing his family back. He's not being rushed into doing that/given the illusion of free will because his "soul" inhabits his body since it was reanimated. Think of it like Rae's soul/ghost is possessing his body, if that helps, but ghosts usually are formed with some goal in mind like revenge, in Rae's case that goal is simply bringing his family back.

Anyways, I could keep talking about this but I feel like I'm making less and less sense as I go on. I'm always happy to answer asks about this series bc I am unwell about it. I hope this made sense and I'm glad you're enjoying the series!!

[writingamongther0ses]

Roll of the Dice

So I'm working on a new WIP idea, inspired by me re-reading PJO with the tv series coming out. I figured that @flashfictionfridayofficial's prompt this week was a good time to work on some character and their dynamics.

Rattle, rattle, clunk.

Once again, the dice, once shaped like knucklebones, clattered on the table. Once again, Hermes scanned the results and groaned. Once again, it was nothing but gibberish.

He had been doing this for what felt like hours: grabbing the dice, shaking and rolling them, and consulting the guide. He had even dug out the old divination instructions Apollo had given him to make sure he was doing the cleromancy right. There was one reason why he did this.

His favorite human had disappeared.

Rhea-Kore Calimeris, known to everyone by RK, had been in Chicago on an errand for Chiron Academy. Her plans had included meeting him for their third date at a local coffee shop in a rare gap in his busy schedule before visiting a local auto show with her friend May Matos. Hermes had gotten to the coffee shop and found no sign of her, excluding her phone, left on the table like she had just gotten up and walked away. May hadn't seen her since they split up at the hotel. There weren't even signs of her running or fighting someone if she had been taken by force.

Now, it was week three of no leads, and Hermes felt like tearing his own hair out.

"How long have you been doing this?"

"Not long enough." Rattle, rattle, clunk. Gibberish. Hermes growled, knocking the dice off the table and watched as they rolled over to the door. Apollo picked up the golden dice with a frown. "I am fully blaming you for this, by the way."

His favorite brother's eyes went wide. "Why me?!"

"You were the one who sent her to Chicago!"

"She's the only assistant that volunteered!"

"Still sent her!" Hermes plunked down in the nearest chair, crossing his arms with a huff. "Now, neither her father nor I know where she is because the connection is dead!" The last time the connection had been dead, RK had been fourteen, still just his champion, and eleven years later, at twenty-five, she was still going to therapy for what happened during that week. It had been, in his opinion, his greatest failure as a patron god. "Why are you here anyway? Shouldn't you be at the academy, looking for her?"

Apollo's face was scrunched up awkwardly. "About that... Father called me..."

Hermes blinked. Dots began to connect.

"He's ordering the search to stop?"

"He's ordering the gods to stop- Hermes-!"

He was already up and moving to march out the door to find his father. Concerns about his behavior, especially towards RK, had been eating at him for weeks before her disappearance, but this was a step too far. Warm hands grabbed him before he could go past the doorframe.

"Let me go-!"

"No, no, you are not fighting Father-"

"I will if I have to-"

"Father's already arguing with Uncle about it and-" Apollo frowned. "He nearly zapped Athena."

Hermes paused at that.

Athena never got zapped. Almost all of Zeus's children got zapped whenever they did something that the king didn't like, including the second favorite of Artemis, but never Athena. Not even when she helped lead the attempt to overthrow him- his ribs ached at the memory of that particular punishment- did she get hit with the lightning bolt. So, the fact that his father had nearly zapped her...

His heart was racing.

Something was wrong. Something bigger than RK was wrong.

[bluestar22x]

Finding Eden: Chapter 3

Summary: You and Zach have a confrontation with the Canadian Border Patrol

Pairing: Zach Wellison x F!Reader

Rating: 18+

Warnings: Fowl language, violence, mentions of blood, hurt/comfort, pov changes

Word Count: 3,250(ish)

Author's Note: A little late posting this with my major writer's block and real life kicking my ass, but it's here!

xxx

You weren't sure what you'd been expecting, but it wasn't what you'd found.

There was no river separating Washington state from Canada, no fence, no rock wall. Just a simple but obvious line of dirt and grass through the thick forest both countries shared. A line that had once been completely void of trees, but had quickly been invaded by young saplings and stubborn weeds that loved to grow just about anywhere.

You only knew it had been treeless once because Zach had told you so.

"You didn't know what the border looked like?"

"I never looked it up," you'd replied. "My family never visited Canada and my school never taught it."

He pursed his lips. "Huh, I always thought it was common knowledge."

You didn't think he'd intended to make you feel stupid, but you'd felt foolish anyway. Your eyes darted away from his, and you distracted yourself by stroking Athena's head as heat rose to the surface of your cheeks.

"Nightfall should be in a few hours," Zach pressed on, oblivious to your embarrassment. "We should catch some shut eye. It's going to be a long night."

Anxiety replaced your self-consciousness, something like dread sinking low into the pit of your stomach as you nodded at him in agreement.

Rest would make your mind sharper, and you knew you'd need all your brain power if you ran into trouble on the other side of the line.

Something in your gut told you it wouldn't be easy.

If only your gut hadn't been right.

x

Zach woke up to booming thunder and heavy rain, unpleasant sounds in any survival scenario, as far as he was concerned, but especially on that particular night.

A storm meant muffled sound. A storm meant a darker night. A storm meant boot prints that could be followed.

"Maybe we shouldn't leave tonight," you murmured as you sat up beside him, still in your sleeping bag just as he was.

"The longer we stay here, the more we risk being noticed by a border patrol officer," Zach stated with a sigh. "And I don't wanna turn back. Let's wait for the rain to slow down and head out."

"Okay," you said quietly with no hint of a protest.

It bothered him, how quickly you'd come to trust his judgement in less than a week. He didn't feel worthy of it. Not that night.

He'd never tried to cross a border illegally before, had never done anything illegal back when it mattered. Even when he'd thrown fists while he was living out on the streets, it had always been in self defense. He'd always had a temper, but he had managed to restrain himself most of the time to avoid attention from law enforcement.

Technically he had broken one rule because he had loitered many times, but fuck that law. He'd always thought it was just used as an excuse to shoo homeless away like they were unsightly vermin, even though during after hours there were no customers to scare away.

He knew how to be sneaky, it was part of his training in the marines, and he'd put it to good use on the streets so he could linger in places people didn't want him to in order to stay warm, but this was different.

He was going into hostile territory, the kind where he could end up dead, and he had no real back up. You were solely relying on him to get you both to safety and he felt the weight of that responsibility. He was the one who'd suggested you come with him, after all.

At least you knew how to handle a gun.

You dozed back off while waiting for the weather to calm, Athena's head resting on your covered ankles, also asleep, but Zach stayed wide awake, his nerves stealing away any drowiness that had been left in him.

Nearly an hour later the downpour turned into a drizzle and the thunder quieted into the background.

He shook you awake gently. "Time to go."

You nodded at him drowsily and for a brief moment he could see fear flash in your eyes before you masked it with bravery. For some reason it made him feel proud.

Neither of you talked much as you shoved your belongings back into your bags, packed up the tent, and scarfed down some cold canned veggies once again before making your short trek to the border.

Standing inches from the invisible line drawn through the stripped down patch of forest, apprehension stole Zach's breath. His eyes darted towards your form beside him, your company now a reassurance, and he found your eyes watching him, the same emotions he felt mirrored in them.

"Ready?" he questioned, not sure if he was asking you alone or also himself.

You gave him a curt nod. "Ready."

Together, shoulders almost brushing, you made the crossing.

x

You found immediate relief when you entered the thick growth of trees on Canada's side of the border, but you did not allow yourself to fully relax. At any moment you could come across a mounted officer riding along the line and you knew full well the interaction would not be pleasant if you and Zach were caught, even if your lives were spared. If.

Canada had been hit hard during the third war and the following years, but it hadn't become lawless like the United States. In fact, it had become more strict, and their government had a zero tolerance law for anarchists. Since they'd deemed most Americans anarchists after the riots, they would not let any into their country without heavy vetting that made it basically impossible for them to be permitted to do so, nevermind gain citizenship.

To the Canadian border patrol, it was much easier to shoot an American than go through the trouble of vetting them. Especially if they were crossing illegally.

The oversaturated ground squelched under your boots but the sound was thankfully muffled by the pitter patter of rain that was still coming down.

Your lungs ached from how often your breaths were catching and you had to remind yourself to breathe without gasping when you remembered how to properly do so.

You let Zach lead the way, giving him a yard's gap, but both your weapons were out, ready to be fired if need be.

He was as tense as you were, alert even more so, eyes constantly scanning your surroundings, peering into the dark forest intensely despite not being able to see much without a moon or stars to light the night.

You didn't see or hear your worst fear until it was too late.

"Hey!" A man shouted in the distance as you, Zach, and Athena were ambling over the first two lane road you'd come across since entering the country.

You snapped your head in the direction of the voice, spotting a uniformed middle aged man on a large black horse charging at you from a quarter mile down the road.

Your mouth went dry and like a deer in headlights you froze, even though your mind was screaming at you to run. Even though you could hear Athena barking in warning.

Three pairs of eyes and ears and the patrol had still managed to notice you first.

Stupid storm.

You felt Zach yank your right arm hard, dragging you into the cover of the evergreen forest, and your legs started functioning again, pumping hard to keep up with his longer strides.

The thick brush didn't stop the mounted officer from trailing you, his horse barreling through the branches in their path at an alarming speed. You didn't look back, but you could hear the horse's hoof beats getting louder and louder.

The horse and rider were closing in when you crashed into Zach, who had suddenly halted in front of you.

"Why'd you stop?" you nearly screamed, panicked.

He was starring ahead, hands raised, his gun slung over his shoulder uselessly, and your eyes tracked to where he was looking.

Another mounted officer, this one on a chestnut horse, was blocking your path from a few yards off, his shotgun aimed at Zach's chest.

"Where did you think you were going?" the second man growled furiously.

Zach's eyes darted away from him briefly, to his left, and you noticed the thick brush there, just as you assumed he had.

He tugged on your sleeve in the same direction, confirming it without words. Giving you a heads up in one quick gesture. Warning you about what he was going to ask you to do.

"RUN!" he shouted.

You both bolted for the brush, and you heard the second officer's shotgun discharge. You flinched instinctively but kept going. More shots rang out.

Everything was a blur around you as you ran for your life, breaths puffing out of you painfully, heart pounding against your rib cage.

You could hear both patrol officers shouting to each other and their horses' snorts as they struggled to maneuver their massive bodies through the dense foliage, the trees' bendy branches snapping back into their riders' faces and chests painfully as they weaved around their trunks.

You tripped over a loose rock almost as big as your foot and felt your ankle flare with pain, but you pushed yourself to keep going, knowing that if you stopped to rest it you wouldn't have time to heal before a bullet was embedded in your head or chest.

Luckily it didn't hurt for long.

Your ankle was better by the time you and Zach reached a cliff side a few minutes later. However, while you were more than ready to speed around it in an attempt to put more distance between you and the officers on horseback, he was looking up.

"If we can climb this, we'll lose them," he told you confidently.

"We don't have climbing gear."

He pointed at a dip in the rock, a path that slowly winded up the cliff. It couldn't be natural, but it must've been made a long time ago, judging by the weathered state of the gray rock.

You pursed your lips, unconvinced. "I'm never this lucky."

"Let's go."

Zach stepped ahead of you to start the climb but you halted him, arm out, mouth agape. You'd finally noticed the patch of dark crimson seeping through his shirt at his left shoulder.

"Did you get shot?" you asked in dismay. You felt a swoop in your stomach, as if it had dropped.

"It went through and through," he answered through gritted teeth. "I'll survive."

"Not if we don't get that bleeding to stop," you hissed, forcing yourself to stay quiet when you wanted to shout. "I'm watching the blood stain on your shirt grow in real time."

"Can't stop here," he insisted. "We've got to get higher up first."

You gave him a disapproving look but allowed him to continue forward, knowing that arguing with him would not accomplish anything. He had that stubborn look in his eyes many people got when they'd made their final decision.

The path was narrow, maybe six inches across, but you were able to follow Zach up slowly with Athena tailing you. Everyone, even the dog, was careful as you all made your way to higher ground. You made sure not to look down the entire time, not wanting to risk your old fear of heights suddenly springing forth.

You were about five minutes in and the rain had just ceased when you reached a flat area carved into the rock big enough for a couple small tents to fit, the perfect stopping point, and it wasn't a moment too soon.

Zach had just managed to wrestle Athena out of view of the ground below when the mounted officers found their way to the cliff.

"They must've gone up there!" the second one exclaimed.

"Fuckin' Americans," you heard the first one grumble. "Forget them. The horses can't get up there and I'm not waiting them out in this damn forest all night. We'll call it in."

The second one hummed his agreement and you breathed a sigh of relief when you heard the sound of their horses' hooves fading as they trotted off.

You were so relieved you forgot Zach was injured until he prompted himself up against the backside of the tiny safe zone and groaned loudly.

When you glanced at him his eyes were closed tight, painfully. He was holding his right hand to his wound, trying to put as much pressure on it as possible in his current state. He looked far too pale and shaky for your liking.

You knelt beside him quickly, shrugging your backpack off to search for the medical supplies you'd had on you for weeks. You scrambled to pluck out all the items you thought you could use to treat his wound. Your filled spare water bottle, a few packaged gauze pads, medical tape, medical bandages, and a tiny set of scissors.

You'd never dressed any wound before, let alone a bullet wound, but you'd watched enough reality medical shows back in the day to have picked up a few things.

"Need to take off your shirt," you informed Zach.

"Not even gonna let me take you out on a date first?" he quipped, choking on a chuckle.

"We've already had several meals together and shared a tent the past five nights," you stated, playing into his jest, knowing his type. You'd been raised by one after all. "Don't be shy now."

He gawked at you for a second, surprised by your engagement in his banter, then broke out into a weak grin. "Shy is definitely one thing I'm not."

He nodded at you to go for it and you carefully unbuttoned the olive green button down shirt he'd put on the previous morning before gently removing the damp clothing from his body and setting it down on a boulder beside you as he automatically covered his injury with his right hand again.

"Let me see," you ordered him as you peeled his hand away from it.

The blood had already slowed down quite a bit, a promising sign, but you'd still need to take care of both sides of his wound to minimize the chance of it getting infected.

You used the water on it first, not being shy about pouring the whole bottle out over Zach's damaged shoulder. He winced but took it silently, watching as you worked.

You taped a couple squares of gauze pads onto his exit wound then the front after drying the area off with a clean cotton cloth, or as clean as it could be hanging out in your pack. The final touch was the ACE bandage you wrapped around both his upper arm and across his chest a few times. A technique for bandaging shoulders that you hoped would add enough pressure to completely stop the bleeding and stabilize his arm long enough for it to begin healing.

"Not bad," Zach decided after examining your handiwork. "You ever take a First Aid class?"

"Nope, learned that from the Health channel," you declared.

He gave you a crooked smile. "Who says TV was just mindless entertainment?" He glanced down at the bandage again. "Thanks."

"No big deal," you said. "Least I could do after everything."

Your eyes fell on his bare upper body and for the first time since you'd removed his shirt you dared to let them linger, noting his shaved broad, carved chest and lean waist. Your friends in high school had once called men like him Dorito shaped, and you all had found it very appealing. You still did, finding it necessary to swallow before you could look at his face again.

Your mouth was dry when you spoke. "Do you have any shirts in your pack that might be more clean than the others?"

"The gray Henley," he replied.

You searched his pack for it, slowly helping him ease into it, then his fleece jacket, trying to ignore the jump of his biceps under your fingertips as you did so.

"I'm going to pitch the tent," you informed him after, in a tone that didn't allow room for arguing. "Stay put for now. Let the bandage do its job." You glanced over to Athena and pointed at Zach. "Make sure he doesn't get up yet."

The dog stoically ambled over to his side and laid down against his right hip, head resting on her paws, but eyes still wide and alert.

"Good dog," you murmured.

"That she is," Zach agreed proudly, curling his right arm around her, dried bloody hand and all. "You sure you don't want any help?"

"I know how to set up a tent," you told him. "I need you around for other reasons. So rest up."

"You say that like it'll be easy with a throbbing shoulder," he muttered before shutting his eyes, and you had to wait and observe his chest quietly rising and falling a few times before you were assured enough that he would be alright to turn your focus to the tent.

It took you a while to pitch it by yourself, you'd never done it alone before, but you managed with your limited limbs and knowledge.

Once it was finished and you had switched into a dry orange cotton shirt and a jean jacket you'd found before you met Zach, you strolled over to him. At some point he had actually fallen asleep, despite the pain he was in. You squatted down next to him and woke him with a small squeeze to his right arm.

"Still got an hour or so before dawn," you estimated as his eyes fluttered open. "Let's get into the tent where it's warmer and sleep a little longer."

He mumbled his agreement and you assisted him up onto his feet, letting him lean on you a bit, his legs still a little shaky from the blood loss.

He was so warm you shivered once he parted from you to crawl into his sleeping bag. Not even your own bag could keep the night's chilly damp air from seeping into you again and your teeth were chattering after a few minutes of lying there in the dark. You were tempted to go outside and start a fire, but you didn't want to attract unwanted attention with the smoke. You didn't want the officers to know exactly where you were.

Zach was sound asleep again, clearly too exhausted to be conscious for long, but Athena noticed your shaking and stood so she could snuggle up against you instead of her usual spot right in the middle of you both. You smiled as she plopped down practically on top of you before turning over and burying your nose into her neck.

You did your best to not allow your lips to quiver as her body heat warmed you back up and your mind recounted the night's events with all its horrifying highlights.

You were safe. Athena was safe. Zach was alive and already looking healthier, though he was still weak and in a lot of pain. Your trio being alive was all that mattered. That and the fact that the officers would not be there to trail you in the morning. You repeated those assurances in your head over and over like a mantra.

Eventually you repeated it so much the tears that had threatened to fall dried under your closed eyelids and you were able to slip into a dreamless sleep.

Athena didn't budge the entire time you slept.

xxx

Tagged: @morallyinept @harriedandharassed @love-affair-with-fandoms @captain-jebi

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